#vintage-computing — Public Fediverse posts

#retrocomputing #vintagecomputing #search #searchengine #frogfind #omniweb #nextstep #next #nextcube

Catch of the Day: Greetings from the Forefather of the Web! 🧊

Hey Retro Fans!
Hold on to your hats because last night we had a visit from absolute IT royalty on our server. Our bouncer logged this magical combination:

OmniWeb 3.1rc1 on a NeXTSTEP system!

Let that sink in for a moment. NeXTSTEP is the operating system Steve Jobs developed after he (temporarily) left Apple. And even more importantly: It was exactly such a NeXT system (the famous NeXTcube) on which Tim Berners-Lee programmed the very first web server and the first web browser in the world at CERN in 1990!

The fact that someone today is using NeXTSTEP and the legendary OmniWeb browser (which was developed exclusively for this platform in 1995) to find their way onto the modern internet via FrogFind is a goosebump moment for any tech historian. This isn't just retro—this is time travel to the architectural roots of Mac OS X and the World Wide Web itself.

A reverent toast to that magnificent black box cube!
Your FrogFind Team 🐸

On the bench today it was my c64u for a small visit. Added the 3 utility buttons and changed the powerled for a 3 colour led.

Made the model for it in #freecad. You can find it on printables: https://www.printables.com/model/1720968-c64-ultimate-utility-buttons

It was @janbeta who kinda inspired me to do so.

#freecad #commodore #c64ultimate #retrocomputing #vintagecomputing

Slides eines Talks über Transputer aus 2013. Zwei Seiten Quellen und Links, die Titel im Verzeichnis sind vielversprechend. Locker die Hälfte der Links sind 2026 kaputt, Dokumente, Seiten oder ganze Sites verschwunden. Ja, Wayback-Machine existiert, ist aber teilweise mühsam und kennt auch nicht mehr alles. Ich mache mir mittlerweile von jedem Schnipsel, den ich später mal vielleicht noch brauchen könnte, ein PDF für das lokale Archiv. #transputer #vintagecomputing

Podcast-Empfehlung: In der Alteisenszene ist der Name Nolan Bushnell bekannt. Für alle anderen: Er hat Atari mitgegründet, das Computerspiel Pong erfunden und Pong Spielautomaten in Kneipen gebracht, was quasi den Markt für Arcade-Automaten los trat. Im Danielle-Newnham-Podcast gibt es gute 40min Interview mit Herrn Bushnell über die frühe Computerspiele-Szene, enjoy: https://danielle-newnham-podcast.simplecast.com/episodes/nolan-bushnell #podcast #vintagecomputing #retrocomputing #atari #pong

New video alert! I am turning a Compaq Deskpro EN into a powerful, compact Windows 98 gaming machine.

Highlights:

1GHz Pentium 3
GeForce FX 5200 PCI
Sound Blaster SB0060
CF to IDE storage for reliability

It runs Duke Nukem 3D and Half Life perfectly, but things are getting a little bit toasty in that small case.

Watch on PeerTube: https://tube.devwithzachary.com/w/oq1Xreihd8szezRJZizd89

Watch on YouTube: https://youtu.be/gq_pBDOTGX0

#RetroGaming #VintageComputing #Fediverse #Windows98 #Compaq #Tech

#retrocomputing #vintagecomputing #search #searchengine #frogfind #netscape #gold #apple #macintosh #mac #navigator

Catch of the Day: All that glitters is Netscape Gold! ✨

Hey Retro Fans!
While many of us struggle with gigabyte-heavy browsers today, our bouncer welcomed true web royalty last night at 2:30 AM:

Netscape Navigator 3.01Gold on a Mac!

Who remembers the "Gold" edition? Back in 1996, this was the absolute premium standard. Netscape 3.0 Gold didn't just bring improved JavaScript support and LiveAudio; it was the first to feature an integrated WYSIWYG HTML editor ("Netscape Composer"). You could view websites and build them in basically the same window—a dream come true for 90s webmasters!

The fact that this roughly 30-year-old browser is still exploring the web from a classic Mac today and using our search engine is simply wonderful, and exactly the reason FrogFind exists.

Stay retro and surf in gold!
Your FrogFind Team 🐸

👀

now this is some arcane magicks...

Tiny BASIC for the RCA 1802!

https://www.retrotechnology.com/memship/mship_tbasic.html

http://www.cosmacelf.com/software/tbsourcep.txt

may have some joy structuring the eternal meandering for a 2K Tiny BASIC around this processor's implementation.

with 16 general purpose registers, the 1802 seems to better resemble the AVR microcontroller architecture than other examples we have dug up.

so far we know of:

6502, 8080, Z80, x86, and now the RCA 1802 assembly implementations of Tiny BASIC.

#tinybasic #basic #retrocomputing #vintagecomputing #permacomputing

Stunt Man BASIC Shows Real Physics on the Commodore 64
#Commodore64 #C64 #StuntManBASIC #8BitBasic #RetroComputing #C64BASIC #SIDChip #TypeInGame #VintageComputing
https://theoasisbbs.com/stunt-man-basic-shows-real-physics-on-the-commodore-64/?fsp_sid=6679

Wie jedes Mal habe ich auch dieses Jahr am @vcfe fotografiert. Die gelungenen Bilder gibt es mit CC0 auf Flickr (was ja auch schon als vintage zählt). Enjoy: https://www.flickr.com/photos/stiefkind/albums/72177720333621575/ #VCFe #VCFe25 #vintagecomputing #retrocomputing

Heute vor 85 Jahren führte Konrad Zuse seine Z3 in Berlin vor. Der Rechner gilt mittlerweile als der weltweit erste Computer. 1943 wurde er im Bombenkrieg in Berlin zerstört. Doch rund 20 Jahre später rekonstruierte Zuse mit seinem Unternehmen, der Zuse KG, die Z3 und präsentierte sie auf einer Ausstellung in München. Kurz danach gelangte das Modell ins Deutsche Museum. https://blog.hnf.de/als-der-erste-computer-wieder-auferstand/ #zuse #vintagecomputing #retrocomputing

#retrocomputing #vintagecomputing #search #searchengine #frogfind #atari #highwire #toss

Catch of the Day: Greetings from the TOS Universe! 🕹️

Hey Retro Fans!

The eternal system wars of the 80s and 90s are long gone. Today, we are united by our love for vintage hardware. And even if some of us spend our weekends cleaning the motherboards of an Amiga 2000 and recapping its power supply, you simply have to tip your hat to today's incredible catch:

HighWire 0.3.3 on an Atari ST / TOS!

A genuine Atari ST (or perhaps a TT/Falcon) was browsing FrogFind today! For those who might not know: HighWire is an absolutely fantastic open-source web browser, written in pure C, specifically designed for the GEM graphical environment of Atari computers. It even supports basic CSS and images—a true masterpiece of programming for this hardware architecture.

The fact that in 2026 someone is connecting their Atari to the modern web using a network cartridge (or via serial SLIP/PPP) to use our little search engine is simply brilliant. A wonderful piece of tech history lives on.

Cheers to the 16-bit era!
Your FrogFind Team 🐸

currently looking over these:

https://github.com/WillStevens/basic1K

"A 1K Tiny BASIC interpreter for the Intel 8080".

https://github.com/nanochess/bootBASIC

"bootBASIC is a BASIC language in 512 bytes of x86 machine code".

#permacomputing #basic #retrocomputing #vintagecomputing

C64 Repair Workflow: Adrian Fixes Two Breadbin Machines
#Commodore64 #C64 #RetroComputing #AdriansDigitalBasement #C64Repair #SIDKickPico #VintageComputing #BreadbinC64
https://theoasisbbs.com/c64-repair-workflow-adrian-fixes-two-breadbin-machines/?fsp_sid=6569

For the final part of my BeOS exploration, I’m looking at its software story: the apps that existed, the vaporware that never quite shipped, Haiku’s BeOS binary compatibility, and the rough early state of VitruvianOS. #RetroComputing #VintageComputing https://youtu.be/FmMhyBlu0WM

#retrocomputing #vintagecomputing #search #searchengine #frogfind #bang #update

🐸 FrogFind Update: Save Quota, Surf Faster – Introducing "Bang" Commands! ⚡
Hello Retro Fans!

If you’ve ever tried typing a long search query on a clunky 30-year-old mechanical keyboard, you know it can be a bit of a workout. But typing isn't the only thing we want to optimize. Behind the scenes, FrogFind relies on modern search APIs (like Google and Brave) to fetch your results before stripping them down for your vintage browsers. These APIs come with strict daily limits (quotas).

Every time someone searches for "Macintosh Garden Classilla" or "Aminet Directory Opus", it eats into our daily search quota. But what if there was a way to skip the middleman, save our precious API calls, and get you to your favorite retro sites even faster?

Enter Bang Commands (inspired by DuckDuckGo)!

How it works & The "Why"
Starting today, you can use shortcuts directly in the FrogFind search bar. If you type a bang (like !mg) followed by your search term, FrogFind completely bypasses the Google/Brave search engines. Zero API quota is used!

Instead, FrogFind takes your query, securely contacts the target archive directly, and feeds the results straight into our read.php text-parser. You get the exact same lightweight, retro-friendly HTML output, but much faster and without draining the daily search limits.

We tested dozens of sites, but the modern web is heavily guarded by Cloudflare and JavaScript walls. We aggressively removed any site that threw a 404 error or a captcha to keep your experience 100% frustration-free.

Here are the "Glorious Five" fully supported Bang Commands that survived the gauntlet:

💾 Software & System Archives

!mg (Macintosh Garden)
Example: !mg Classilla
Searches the ultimate library for classic Mac OS software and routes the results through our text filter.

!am (Aminet)
Example: !am Protracker
Direct access to the world's largest Amiga software archive.

📚 Retro Knowledge & Wikis

!w (Wikipedia English) / !wde (Wikipedia German)
Example: !w Commodore 64
Bypasses search engines and pulls the Wikipedia article straight into FrogFind’s highly compatible reader.

🌐 Native Retro Search Engines

!wiby (Wiby.me)
Example: !wiby Web Design
Searches Wiby, a search engine specifically dedicated to the classic, CSS-free Web 1.0. A match made in heaven!

🕹️ Demoscene

!pouet (Pouët)
Example: !pouet Second Reality
Search the central hub of the demoscene directly from your vintage rig.

Give it a try!
Just type your bang command directly into the FrogFind search bar on your old machine. It’s a massive time-saver and helps keep the FrogFind servers running smoothly for everyone. We will add a small "Cheat Sheet" link to the homepage soon so you won't have to memorize them all.

Happy surfing!
Your FrogFind Team 🐸

#retrocomputing #vintagecomputing #search #searchengine #frogfind #planetweb #sega #dreamcast

Catch of the Day: The "Planetweb" of Early Consoles! 🪐🎮

Hey Retro Fans!
Hold onto your controllers, because our FrogFind radar has caught an absolute exotic gem from the golden era of video game consoles today:

Planetweb 2.613 on the Sega Dreamcast!

For those who didn't sit in front of their TV with a dial-up modem in the late 90s: Long before the PlayStation 4 or Xbox One had their own complex web browsers, Sega revolutionized couch surfing with the Dreamcast. In the US (and parts of Europe), the console often came bundled with a disc containing the Planetweb Browser.

This software was a minor miracle: It fit into the console's tiny RAM, managed the clunky 33.6k (or 56k) modem, and allowed players to read emails, search for cheat codes, or chat on SegaNet—all comfortably from the couch using a controller on a CRT television.

The fact that today, in 2026, someone gets a working Dreamcast online (likely using a Raspberry Pi as a modem emulator, affectionately known as a "Dreampi") and surfs FrogFind with the American Planetweb version is just magnificent. Sega does what Nintendon't!

Cheers to surfing with a controller!

Your FrogFind Team 🐸

I just unboxed a factory sealed PNY GeForce 5200 PCI. It’s rare enough to find these cards functional today, but finding one that has never been touched by human hands since it left the factory is a different level of #RetroTech nerdery.

I'm looking at the original paperwork, the driver CD-ROM, and that iconic 2000s-era PCB.

📺 PeerTube: https://tube.devwithzachary.com/w/ihtxDwDRww3w7iwC9S3ptc

🎥 YouTube: https://youtu.be/8bUqCyTJnFY

#GeForce #VintageComputing #RetroHardware #Hardware #Nvidia #PNY #Tech #SelfHosted

VCF East Recap Covers Dawn of the PC Weekend
#VCFEast #VCFEast2026 #VintageComputerFestival #DawnOfThePC #RetroComputing #VintageComputing #InfoAge #Commodore #Amiga
https://theoasisbbs.com/vcf-east-recap-covers-dawn-of-the-pc-weekend/?fsp_sid=6485

Datasette Repairathon: Jan Beta Fixes Five Commodore Tape Decks
#Commodore #Commodore64 #C64 #Commodore16 #Plus4 #Datasette #JanBeta #RetroComputing #VintageComputing #CSDb
https://theoasisbbs.com/datasette-repairathon-jan-beta-fixes-five-commodore-tape-decks/?fsp_sid=6521

#retrocomputing #vintagecomputing #search #searchengine #frogfind #NetBSD #arcticfox #unix

Catch of the Day: "Of course it runs NetBSD!" 🐡🦊

Hey Retro Fans!

Did you have a good weekend? Our bouncer at the FrogFind pond was certainly busy and waved a guest through yesterday that put a massive smile on our faces:

ArcticFox 52.9 on NetBSD!

Among hardcore Unix nerds, there is a famous catchphrase: "Of course it runs NetBSD!" This open-source operating system is legendary for its portability. It has been ported to run on almost anything with a processor—from old toasters and Sega Dreamcasts to massive server racks.

The fact that someone navigated to our pond using NetBSD is already awesome. But the combination with the ArcticFox browser makes it a masterpiece. ArcticFox is a lovingly maintained community fork (based on Pale Moon) specifically kept alive to enable modern browsing on exotic architectures, PowerPC Macs, and old UNIX derivatives.

Cheers to the tinkerers keeping exotic systems online!

Your FrogFind Team 🐸

I intended to write this post about -9- months ago (not to mention maybe a few other posts as well), but the world got crazy and life got busy and, well, better late than never.

INIT HELLO: A New Apple II Conference (Scope Creep Done Right)

https://bytecellar.com/2026/05/10/init-hello-a-new-apple-ii-conference-scope-creep-done-right/

( Note: registration is open for INIT HELLO 2026 -- to be held once again at the System Source Computer Museum outside Baltimore, MD -- until May 24th! )

( But today is the last day you can order a t-shirt! )

#INITHELLO #AppleII #Apple2forever #vintagecomputing #retrocomputing #computermuseum #museum #computinghistory #SystemSource #Maryland #Baltimore #blog #video #photos #retrocomputers #retrogaming #tech #vintagetech #blogpost #Apple #CRAY

"When’s the last time your computer made you feel guilty?"

If you need a little more "Mom" for Mother's Day, fire up your Atari ST emulator and try "Mom and Me," the graphical chatbot created by Ya'akov Kirschen in 1985.

You can download a disk image here, and learn some of the history of this curious software:

https://breakintochat.com/blog/2022/11/28/unearthed-kirschens-atari-st-projects/

#retrocomputing #atarist #atari #mothersday #vintagecomputing #retrogaming #gamedev

Let’s disassemble an Atari 800.

https://www.goto10retro.com/p/inside-the-atari-800

#retrocomputing #vintagecomputing #atari8bit

Found an SS10 with a ZX card. Seller is asking USD 700. What happened to these people? Also, as expected, NVRAM is dead, so they are asking USD 700 for a machine that needs immediate computer surgery, both AUI and TP interfaces failing internal loopbacks (prolly NVRAM, not a dead LANCE chip – its register tests are passing) and no keyboard.

So the ZX is basically worthless without a Type 4/5 keyboard and it also needs a DB13W3-capable monitor

#retrocomputing #sunmicrosystems #vintagecomputing