All posts by tomwiles

About tomwiles

Over-the-road truck driver and early podcaster. Began podcasting in late 2004.

Unicomp Offers New Classic Model M Keyboards of IBM Fame

Information, retro, , ,

During my recent annual Christmas vacation, I decided to finally tackle my office room closet. That closet had become stacked pretty much from floor to ceiling over the past 16 or so years with obsolete computer junk.

Most of the stuff was completely out-of-date. Lots of extra stuff that came packaged with long-gone computers. Manuals describing long-dead software procedures. Old USB and even Serial Port peripherals that do not work with modern operating systems. Lots of stuff that slowly lost any value it had as computer technology advanced over the years.

However, mixed in with what turned out to be about 15 large garbage bags of old computer junk, I found a gem that I forgot that I ever had – a classic “Model ‘M’” IBM PS/2 keyboard.

I had sort of forgotten how good classic IBM keyboards were to type on. In the intervening years of newer USB and later wireless keyboards, I began to think that my typing skills somehow weren’t what they once were. I just assumed that my typing skills had taken a sharp nosedive.

The IBM “Model M” is the holy grail of keyboards. Each Model M key uses what is called a “buckling spring” construction that gives every IBM Model M key its distinctive key travel and feel. The sculpted keys of the Model M eliminates the common mistake of hitting two keys at once on modern, style over substance keyboard designs. Modern keyboards often have very little key travel, and a very mushy feel with the keys jammed together. The Model M keyboard offers the best typing experience EVER, bar none.

So, I went on Amazon and bought an inexpensive PS/2 keyboard/mouse to USB “Y” adapter. I plugged the IBM keyboard into one of the USB ports into my Samsung DEX dock that I use with my Galaxy Note 8 smartphone along with a 24 inch curved 1080p Samsung monitor. The combination couldn’t work better. I’m typing this into Word right now using the Model M with my phone plugged into the DEX phone dock which turns the Note 8 into a real desktop experience.

I started researching the IBM Model M keyboards and discovered there is a very active market for them. IBM and later Lexmark (an IBM subsidiary) manufactured various versions of the Model M keyboard from sometime in 1984 until 1996. The employees of the IBM/Lexmark factory bought the patents and the factory equipment and continue to this day to manufacture versions of the Model M keyboard under the company name “Unicomp” using the same “buckling spring” key design. They offer both Mac and Windows versions of their keyboards, along with the original 101 classic IBM keyboard layout. Unicomp keyboards are priced from around $85 dollars to $105 dollars, depending on customizations.

No other keyboard offers the typing accuracy or sheer satisfaction of the original “buckling spring” key design. After finding out that Unicomp still sells new Model M keyboards, I ordered two of them for a couple of my computers.

Massive, Shiny New Headquarters Seem To Spell Doom. How Do Tech Companies Fare?

Information, , ,

It seems that when companies construct and move in to massive new headquarters, more often than not the event ends up marking the beginning of their downfall.

Remember the Pan Am building in New York City? The downfall of Pan Am can be traced directly to 1963 when Pan Am moved into its brand new highly-visible headquarters. Pan Am is long since departed. For many years the building has been rebranded as the MetLife building.

18th February 1966: A helicopter landing on the roof of the Pan-Am building (now Met Life building), designed by Walter Gropius, in New York. (Photo by F. Roy Kemp/BIPs/Getty Images)

AT&T’s new building was completed in 1984 at the very same time that it had already been under an order to break up its telephone monopoly. Charles Brown decided to keep long distance and divest AT&T of the regional operating divisions that subsequently became known as the “Baby Bells.” Who remembers when long distance was actually a big thing?

Sears Tower opened in Chicago in 1973. About the same time, Sears stock began a decline from which it has never managed to recover to it’s former glory. Even before Sears Tower opened, there were already signs of trouble as they failed to recognize new competitors such as K-mart that were already eating into their business.

Tech companies seem to suffer the same curse of the new headquarters.

In 1999, Excite @ Home (remember that?) moved in to a shiny new headquarters across the street from it’s original location. Excite @ Home only had one profitable quarter. After the move to the new HQ, it entered a $35 billion dollar death spiral.

Remember when AOL merged with Time Warner? AOL Time Warner began building a new corporate headquarters in 2000. Between the time construction started until the building actually opened, AOL Time Warner stock had lost about 78% of it’s previous value.

Yahoo burned a bunch of money on new corporate headquarters a number of years ago. What ever became of Yahoo? Remember the jingle – “Yaa Hoo!!!”

So, when companies start talking about building that massive new headquarters, it is a safe bet to expect that their inevitable downfall has started in earnest.

Wireless Charging

Accessory, audio, automotive, charging, wireless, , , , , , ,

I‘ve always been a bit on the fence when it comes to wireless charging. The wireless charger itself still needs to be plugged in with a wire.

Back in October I ended up buying a Samsung wireless charger when I upgraded phones. I ended up using it a bit, but generally found that it was more desirable to physically plug my phone in at home in order to take advantage of the super fast wired Samsung charging. The wireless charging process was not as fast and therefore not as convenient when needing to give the phone a quick 10 or 15 minute juice-up.

So, the wireless charger mostly sat unused.

Recently I bought a new car, a 2017 Toyota Yaris iA. The new car has a space in front of the gear shift in the mid center stack perfect for a large phone that includes USB and a 12-volt power socket. I found myself wondering if I plugged the Samsung wireless charger into a 2.1 amp-12 volt power source, would the wireless charger work properly or not.

I experimented and found that the wireless charger works perfectly well with a 2.1 amp 12-volt power source. The next steps were easy. I used a quantity of the rubber grip mat stuff to make the forward slanted phone area flat, and plugged in the Samsung wireless charger. Since the 12-volt socket only has power when the car’s ignition is turned on, I can simply leave the 12-volt charger plugged in all the time just as if it were in my house connected to an AC power source without fear of it running down the car’s battery.

When I get in the car, I simply lay the phone on the Samsung wireless charger and as soon as the ignition comes on while I’m driving the phone is charging without me having to futz around with plugging wires in. Also, the phone connects to the car’s audio system via stereo Bluetooth, making for a 100% seamless experience.

My conclusion is that wireless charging is most useful in an automotive environment, provided that there’s a flat, convenient area for the wireless charger to rest and the power socket is tied to the car’s ignition.

Where Are The Desktop SSD’s?

SSD, storage, USB, vista, Windows, ,

Windows logo blueI have a Compaq desktop PC that’s a few years old that is handy for tasks such as doing taxes or writing articles with. Unfortunately, it came with Windows Vista. More than a year ago I installed an inexpensive 128 gigabyte SSD in it. The SSD sped things up dramatically to the point where Vista was actually usable. To be honest, apart from being a bit of a resource hog, Vista has been quite stable on this machine.

While doing my 2016 taxes I received an on-screen Microsoft notification warning me that the Vista “End of Life” date is April 11, 2017. That presented me with a dilemma. Should I pay for the upgrade to update the Compaq to Windows 10? Or, should I just replace the machine with a newer model that came with Windows 10 preinstalled?

If I were buying a new machine, I would insist on an SSD. Unfortunately, after a bit of looking, it seems that desktop computers with factory-installed SSD’s are as rare as hens teeth and if they are offered at all they tend to be on the pricey side.

The other problem is that the old LCD monitor that’s attached to the Compaq is VGA only. I would have to also have an HDMI to VGA adapter unless I wanted to replace a perfectly functional monitor.

PC manufacturers complain that PC’s just aren’t selling very well. Have they ever thought about the fact that the models they are offering for sale tend to be mediocre? How about offering a $500 desktop tower that has a reasonable processor, a reasonable amount of RAM, and a 128 or 256 SSD?

Is that too much to ask?

In my opinion the SSD offers one of the biggest performance boosts of any upgrade ever, and yet PC manufacturers seem to be mindlessly failing to utilize it to excite consumers with. I’m afraid it doesn’t make any sense. Why should the consumer get excited about machines slowly booting from spinning hard drives that offer performance that is, from a perception standpoint, not that much different from the Windows machines on sale in the same stores a decade ago?

The only excuse for the lack of SSD-equipped desktop PC’s that seems to be offered is that customers “expect” one terabyte or larger drives on which to store massive amounts of pictures, music, etc. I don’t know if that is true or not. Personally, I stopped storing my stuff on my computer hard drives starting upwards of three years ago. I use a network-attached, Internet-savvy Western Digital MyCloud drive to store all of my digital stuff on. I also employ multiple inexpensive large spinning drives as redundant back-up drives. All of my 8,000 plus pictures are additionally stored with Google Photos for instant access to every picture I’ve ever taken right from my phone. I use my computers as creation and manipulation tools and NOT as mass storage devices.

In the end, I opted to go the cheaper route and buy a copy of Windows 10. It came on a USB thumb drive. It installed just fine on the Compaq. Everything seems to work, with the exception of an old Canon scanner that Canon offers no Windows 10 driver for. The loss of the Canon scanner is not a problem since my HP all-in-one WiFi printer can handle any flatbed scanning needs I might have. It did a large Windows update, and I installed a couple of things such as Dropbox and TurboTax 2016. The Compaq won’t win any speed competitions, but it’s poised to continue to do chores such as taxes until October 14, 2025, Windows 10’s scheduled end of life date. By then it might be time for a new computer.

Brightech – SKY LED Torchiere Floor Lamp

amazon, furniture, LED, ,


I never thought I would see the day I’d find myself excited by lightbulbs. The LED lighting revolution has come of age.

After recently replacing every remaining incandescent bulb in my house with LED bulbs that perfectly mimic their respective incandescent counterparts, I decided it was time to get rid of a potentially dangerous halogen-powered torchiere floor lamp, and replace it with an LED-capable version of the up-firing ceiling bounce light of the same floor lamp style. After looking at torchiere style lamps for sale in local stores and not being happy with how top-heavy they were, I ended up ordering a Brightech – SKY LED Torchiere Floor Lamp from Amazon.

The lamp is extremely easy to assemble by simply screwing the parts together and plugging a couple of wires together. The heaviest part of the lamp assembly is the base that sits on the floor, which does a great job of stabilizing the lamp even on thick carpeting. The LED light array on the up-firing top disc produces a claimed 3,000 lumens on the brightest setting, one of four light levels. The light is controlled by tapping a touch surface about two-thirds the way up from the floor in about the same place that the old rotary on/off switch was on the old halogen floor lamp it replaced.

The lamp sells on Amazon for $89.50. I don’t know why local stores don’t have lamps like these. I do think they would sell them if they bothered to have them in stock. I wish that brick and mortar stores could somehow grasp that there are some really excellent, innovative products that people want. Unfortunately for the brick and mortars these products seem to be available online only. I don’t expect local stores to stock everything, but it seems to me they could become a bit more savvy about stocking products that forces shoppers to go online.

The touch surface is properly positioned and performs well when repeatedly touched, cycling through the various brightness levels as well as off. The transformer that plugs into the wall outlet gets slightly warm to the touch, coming in at 83 degrees Fahrenheit with an infrared thermometer in a 72 degree room. The top of the lamp generates a bit more heat, coming in at 96 degrees Fahrenheit.

Apple: The Thrill Is Gone

Apple,

Apple LogoBack around 2006 when Apple switched the Mac to Intel processors, Apple started to gain my attention, and several thousands of my dollars.

The Mac was not only a more secure computing alternative, but it also offered fun. Apple computers of about 2006 to 2011 were just plain fun devices.

Sure, Macs were always more expensive than their PC counterparts, but it was arguably a better platform, offering genuine value with those higher prices.

In one of the Steve Jobs biographies, it was said that after he knew he was dying, Jobs worked to leave Apple with about 5 years’ worth of guidance.

Unfortunately, the 5 years is expired. And it is showing. A few years ago I published an article here predicting that Apple would morph into a caricature of Jobs’ worst traits – knowing what the customer “needed” more than the customer, cutting useful features and calling it innovation, etc. Sadly, my prediction has come true. Steve Jobs was brilliant in being able to predict and surf the waves of the parts of the ever-changing consumer electronics market that he chose to compete in. Steve Jobs was successful despite his worst character flaws.

The Apple of 2016 is no longer fun. Something has gone missing. If Apple were your surgeon, you would likely start missing fingers and limbs.

The Apple of 2016 is obsessed with cutting useful features and then making the excuse that they are doing it because they have “courage.”

Up until about 5 years ago you could plunk your pile of money down on a high-end Mac without knowing a thing about it, and rest assured you were getting all the latest and greatest hardware. In 2016 that is no longer true.

The Apple of 2016 is no longer fun.

Pushing Power Back into The Grid

Green Technology, grid tie, net metering, solar, , , , , ,

Phase Two Array ResizeI have always been fascinated by solar power. There’s something quite intriguing about the idea of simple sunlight hitting a solar panel and instantly producing electricity.

Home solar systems can take a few different forms. There are power backup systems that require the use of battery storage, as well as systems that allow people the luxury of electricity that live completely off-grid. Today, the most popular form of solar by far is known as grid-tie or Net Metering.

Grid-tie Net Metering

With grid-tie net metering solar power systems, no batteries are used. Grid-tied solar panels feed power back directly into the public electrical grid and can actually make the power meter run backwards. The more solar panels integrated into the system, the more potential power can be fed back into the connected electric grid. Power bills can either be reduced, or in some cases, completely zeroed out, depending on local electric power company policies.Solar Phase One

Solar panels produce DC or direct current. The power grid is AC or alternating current. Therefore, to sell power back to the electric utility, it is necessary to convert the DC power coming from solar panels into AC so it can be fed into the power grid. This is accomplished with DC to AC power inverters.Inverters Resize

I recently visited a home solar system installation where the home owner has been slowly expanding his net metering system over the past seven years. He initially began seven years ago with forty-three 100 watt 12 volt solar panels, placed on top of his workshop.

With this first system, it was necessary for him to run wires down the length of the interior roof to a bank of mounted micro-inverters that needed to be protected from the weather. One of the lessons he learned from this initial installation was that lengthy wires carrying 12 volt DC results in power loss. The longer the lines, the more the efficiency drops. Higher voltages don’t experience as much line loss.

The best way around this problem is to mount weatherproof micro-inverters directly to the backs of the solar panels. Once the power is converted to 120 volts AC, the length of the wires to the grid connection point are somewhat less critical because the voltage is higher.Grid Tie Inverter Resize

With the second phase of his foray into solar, he built a rack on a metal pole complete with a sun tracking mechanism that he built and wrote control software for himself. The rack contains nine higher efficiency 280 watt 24 volt panels with weather proof micro-inverters attached to the backs of the panels.

The weatherproof micro-inverters are of a modular design that can allow additional inverters to be plugged in to the to the system. The rack-mounted system produces as much power as the workshop roof-mounted panels, even though they have less surface area, primarily because they are higher-efficiency panels.Solar Porch Canopy

He is currently working on phase three of his system, which consists of panels that form a sort of porch canopy over the garage door entrance to his workshop.These are also 280 watt panels, each with its own micro-inverter. He is in the process of slowly adding additional panels to continue expanding his overall system capacity.Meter Output

At the moment when I took this picture of the system output meter, the total output was about 5.4 kilowatts.

A great way to learn more about solar panels, inverters and net metering is YouTube. Good search terms include solar power, grid-tie, and inverter.

Many recreational vehicle enthusiasts have developed a strong interest in attaching solar panels and power inverters to their RV’s, which can allow them to have a measure of generator-free and thus noise-free AC power and engage in extended off-grid camping.