Vintage Computer Festival Midwest made a massive change for 2024: they moved to a new venue! Can the Schaumburg Convention Center contain this massive mix of retro computer goodness? Join me as I try to cover almost everything at an impossibly huge at VCFMW.

Blog Post: https://www.userlandia.com/home/vcfmw2024

Join the Userlandia Patreon at https://patreon.com/Userlandia

Visit VCFMW at http://www.vcfmw.org

-=- Chapters -=-

0:00 - Intro
0:20 - Moving On Up
2:11 - Exhibition Excursion
27:18 - Venue Variables
34:27 - Vendors, Makers, and Traders
48:23 - People, Panels, and Events
59:52 - The Winds of Change

-=- Contact -=-

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I love the Apple IIGS. It’s a great computer, but could it have been greater? The legend goes that Apple purposefully underclocked its CPU during development to avoid competing with the Macintosh. But is this actually true? Join me for a deep dive into the IIGS architecture, the life of the 65816 CPU, and the ghosts of keynotes past.

Blog Post: https://www.userlandia.com/home/IIGS-MHz-Myth

Join the Userlandia Patreon at https://patreon.com/Userlandia

-=- Chapters -=-

0:00 - Intro
0:27 - The Myth, The Legend, the Apple IIGS
6:09 - The Apple IIx
12:21 - The Need for Speed
15:52 - The Birth of the 65C816
22:56 - Yields, Bugs, and Errata
33:56 - Accelerators, ASIC Inc, and Mark Twain
43:51 - Sanyo, Nintendo, and the End of Acceleration
47:41 - ARM, Möbius, and The Road Not Taken
55:25 - The End of an Odyssey

-=- Contact -=-

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I’ve hit 5,000 subscribers, and what better way to celebrate than to install an old operating system on a lumbering battlestation? In a past video I said I’d install IBM’s OS/2 on the PS/2 Model 80 386, and now we’re doing it. How well does it run? Will I learn to love the Workplace Shell? I’m also giving a big channel update about ongoing projects and some of my thoughts about the vintage / retro / whatever scene. How well does OS/2 run on this massive 386? You’ll have to watch to find out.

Blog Post: https://www.userlandia.com/home/os2-on-ps2

Join the Userlandia Patreon at https://patreon.com/Userlandia

-=- Chapters -=-

0:00 - Intro

0:29 - Setting Up OS/2 Warp

7:07 - Inside the OS/2 Warp Box

11:41 - 5K Subscriber Update: Thank You!

13:37 - 5K Update: Video Production

16:46 - 5K Update: Scene Thoughts

19:35 - 5K Update: Upcoming Projects

21:34 - 5K Update: Patreon

23:28 - Running OS/2 Warp on a 386

26:32 - The Workplace Shell Desktop

28:18 - Why Did OS/2 Fail?

32:32 - An Ode to OS/2

-=- Links -=-

* Another Boring Topic on OS/2 - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rAMT187GWd4&t=2922s

* RetroBytes on OS/2 - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X3DZJ_LD7F4

* BlueSCSI - https://bluescsi.com

* WinWorld PC OS/2 Repository - https://winworldpc.com/product/os-2-3x/os-2-30

-=- Contact -=-

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Vintage Computer Festival East is back for 2024 with more to see than ever before. After a banner crowd in 2023 the show needed to make some adjustments in 2024 to account for more people. Were those changes a success? Join me for a tour of the east coast’s big retro tech expo.

Blog Post: https://www.userlandia.com/home/vcf-east-2024

-=- Chapters -=-

00:00 - Intro
00:18 - Exhibits, Vendors, and Things to See
13:51 - Panels & Events
20:04 - Consignment Considerations
30:15 - A Change Will Do You Good

-=- Links -=-

* The Vintage Computer Federation - https://www.vcfed.org

* InfoAge Science Museums - https://www.infoage.org

-=- Contact -=-

Follow on Mastodon: https://bitbang.social/@kefkafloyd

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Computer museums are a great place to check out the coolest of vintage tech. I’ve been to my share in America, but what about the rest of the world? Join me as I fly across the pond to check out some of the UK’s coolest collections of classic computers. There’s Sinclairs, Acorns, and Amstrads—oh my!

Blog Post: https://www.userlandia.com/home/british-computer-museums

-=- Chapters -=-

00:00 - Intro
00:18 - An American Tourist in King Retro’s Court
02:31 - The Centre for Computing History
12:51 - A Colossal Cave Adventure
23:11 - The Best of Britain

-=- Links -=-

* The Centre for Computing History - https://www.computinghistory.org.uk
* Retro Collective Site - https://www.retrocollective.co.uk
* Arcade Archive Site - https://www.retrocollective.co.uk/arcade-archive.php
* RMC The Cave - https://www.youtube.com/@RMCRetro
* Arcade Archive - https://www.youtube.com/@TheArcadeArchive
* The Sky Skipper Project - https://www.skyskipperproject.com

-=- Contact -=-

Follow on Mastodon: https://bitbang.social/@kefkafloyd
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Theme Song by Space Vixen: https://spacevixenmusic.bandcamp.com
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Garmin iQue 3600

We take for granted that we can pull out a phone and get directions to almost anywhere on Earth. But years before Apple and Google gave us the tools to navigate our lives a GPS maker gave us the first pocketable personal digital assistant with an embedded GPS. Featuring dynamic turn-by-turn directions, the Garmin iQue 3600 built an amazingly powerful navigational tool on top of Palm OS. How did it stack up against the competition when it launched in 2003? Can I still get accurate directions from a device released two decades ago? And can I install up-to-date maps to make it even more accurate? Watch to see me put it to the test on today's streets.

Blog Post: https://www.userlandia.com/home/garmin-ique-3600

-=- Chapters -=-

00:00 - Intro

00:16 - The First PDA with a GPS

05:40 - Inside the iQue

12:58 - Navigating with the iQue

21:23 - The iQue as a PDA

26:49 - Take the Long Way Home

-=- Links -=

* OpenMapChest - https://www.openmapchest.org/

* Replacing the Battery - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iw6cwDAdwjg

* iQue Setup CD-ROM image https://archive.org/details/ique-3600-setup

* PathAway GPS for Palm OS https://pathaway.com/PWPalmOS.php

-=- Contact -=-

Follow on Mastodon: https://bitbang.social/@kefkafloyd

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Theme Song by Space Vixen: https://spacevixenmusic.bandcamp.com  

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IBM was late to the 386 PC party, but when they finally arrived they made a statement about what they thought the future of computing would be. With a 32-bit Micro Channel bus and room for six drives IBM aimed this tower directly at the likes of Compaq. But what’s inside this monstrous machine and how can it be upgraded? And what can you do with an old boat anchor like this? Join me as I pull this PC apart to see what you got when you bought a $6,845 workstation in 1990. 

-=- Chapters -=-

00:00 - Intro

00:35 - Adopting a Micro Channel PC

04:38 - The Case

07:35 - Drive Bays and Power Supply

09:30 - Disassembling the Model 80

13:35 - Micro Channel Slots and Cards

15:53 - Auxiliary Video Extension

18:38 - Token Ring Network Card

19:05 - IBM PS/2 SCSI Adapter

19:51 - IBM Enhanced 80386 Memory Adapter w/ ROM

23:12 - Programmable Option Select 

25:31 - Auto Configuration In Action

27:51 - Period Appropriate Productivity

29:15 - XGA-2 Graphics Adapter

34:21 - Conclusion & Outro

-=- Links -=

* Ardent Tool of Capitalism - https://www.ardent-tool.com
* Model 8580-081 Resources - https://www.ardent-tool.com/8580/Planar_T2.html
* Tube Time's MCA Tutorial: https://github.com/schlae/mca-tutorial
* The Micro Channel Architecture Handbook by Chet Heath and Winn Rosch: https://archive.org/details/microchannelarch00heat
* IBM Museum - https://www.youtube.com/@IBM_Museum/
* BOPT 16 MB Barrier Walkthrough: https://groups.google.com/g/comp.sys.ibm.ps2.hardware/c/SIRXr3RBBLM/m/4fDpZeg-YtkJ

-=- Contact -=-

Follow on Mastodon: https://bitbang.social/@kefkafloyd

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Theme Song by Space Vixen: https://spacevixenmusic.bandcamp.com  

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What was the first retro or vintage computer you collected? I saved an obsolete PS/2 Model 30 286 from the scrap heap back in 1997. This machine was a footsoldier in IBM’s war to reclaim their ownership of the PC platform they invented. But why did they bring out a machine featuring ISA after hyping up Micro Channel? And where do these machines fit in for the modern collector? Watch to find out.

Blog Post: https://www.userlandia.com/home/ibm-ps2-model-30-286

-=- Chapters -=-

00:00 Intro
00:28 The IBM PS/2 Model 30 286
10:18 Baud to the Bone
22:20 The Big Blue Meanies
37:28 Mr. Big Blue Sky
42:49 Outtro

-=- Links -=

Ardent Tool of Capitalism - https://www.ardent-tool.com
Tex-Elec - https://texelec.com
WinWorldPC AT Diagnostics - https://winworldpc.com/product/ibm-pc-diagnostics/advanced-102
CNet BBS Software for Amiga http://www.cnetbbs.net

See video credits for image and other attributions.

-=- CC Music Credit -=-

Time Rider by | e s c p | https://escp-music.bandcamp.com
Music promoted by https://www.free-stock-music.com
Creative Commons / Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0)
https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

-=- Contact -=-

Follow on Mastodon: https://bitbang.social/@kefkafloyd
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Visit The Website: https://www.userlandia.com
Join The Userlandia Discord: https://discord.com/invite/z2jmF93

Theme Song by Space Vixen: https://spacevixenmusic.bandcamp.com
Follow them on Twitter @SpaceVixenMusic: https://twitter.com/spacevixenmusic