#don lancaster

[commodorez]

TV Typewriter homebrew terminal

Large Scale Systems Museum (LSSM) - mact.io - Pittsburgh, PA

[taperwolf]

A while back, Sam over at Look Mum No Computer did an examiner/recreation of the early 1970s automated music system, the Psych-Tone. Designed by the legendary Don Lancaster and first appearing in the February 1971 issue of Popular Electronics (and a kit made available by SWTPC, the Southwest Technical Products Corporation), the Psych-Tone used early logic chips and transistors to play a number of different tunes based on the setting of various switches and potentiometers.

The core of the circuit is a pseudorandom sequence generator — a circuit that creates a single random sequence of 0s and 1s, and keeps it circulating. With six stages in the chain, the sequence is 63 steps long. The three selector knobs each pick where in the chain to listen, and when that value is 1, pass that through a potentiometer to set a partial pitch. The three partial values sum together to make a tune, which is played on an organ-like tone generator.

In explaining the device, Sam built a new version of the machine's sequencer section, using slightly newer chips and adding some LEDs to illustrate the functioning, for folks to play on synths with at his This Museum is (Not) Obsolete. Which got me thinking about doing something similar myself — building essentially the note generator as a random sequence creator for Eurorack.

Fortunately, in addition to Sam's video and the original article, Lancaster wrote up how to build these PRSGs, in varying lengths, in his book CMOS Cookbook; where the original used individual flipflops, this updated circuit lets you use shift registers (since one of those is effectively an internally-connected string of flipflops). To boil things down, by feeding certain of the output values back to the input through an XOR gate, a n bit shift register can cycle through a 2^(n-1) sequence, which can then be used in a number of different ways — basically anywhere you want something that's effectively random, but potentially repeatably so.

The circuit diagrams and tables given there have let me breadboard up something that I haven't yet tested, for a few reasons.

First, I'm feeling a little unsure as to how long to make the sequence. Obviously, if you make the sequence too short, it's too repetitive, but conversely, if it's too long, it's not going to be distinguishable from randomness. The original's length of 63 steps seems short, but the breadboarded circuit right now is set up for not 6, but 16 stages, which would yield a sequence length of 65,535 steps, which might be a bit much.

That's not more than something to work out in testing, though, which leads to reason two. Like with Sam's version, the one on the breadboard is meant to show the internal workings by using LEDs. And I've got a couple of nice, compact 10-segment bar graph LED displays on the breadboard, each one wired to 8 of the 16 stages. But LEDs can't handle just being plugged into a raw voltage; each one needs a current-limiting resistor to keep it from burning out. And while I could hook up 16 separate resistors on this breadboard, I don't wanna. I have — someplace around here — a nice little assortment of resistor arrays, chiplike affairs where eight identical resistors all connect to the same ground pin. Once I find them, I can watch the blinkenlights and get a better picture of the kind of sequences I'm dealing with.

(Your basic pseudorandom sequence generator goes in one direction, while the Psych-Tone can also run the sequence in reverse; while the section from CMOS Cookbook is a little terse about how that's done, I think I have that figured out too. Unfortunately, changing directions on the fly requires some complicated switching, so it's hard to do with just hardware — though I just found a giant chunky switch in my collection that could be coerced into selecting forwards or backwards on three different sequence lengths — say, switching between 8, 12, and 16 stages? Hmmm.)

The actual translation from discrete stages of either 0 or 1 works first by selecting one of the stages, and connecting it to a potentiometer, wired as a voltage divider. When the stage is at 0, the pot's output is still 0v. But when the stage hits 1, the pot outputs a voltage between 0v and the "high" voltage level of the circuit, depending on where the knob is set. With just that, you've got a two-note output. If you add another selector with its own pot, and add the output voltages together, you've suddenly got four distinct values: 0v when neither is a 1, the ratio from the A selector when only it has a 1, the ratio from the B selector likewise, and A+B when both have 1s. Go to three selectors and you've got 8 values; four will get you 16 values.

(Well, assuming that A+B doesn't exactly equal C, or some similar arrangement that would reduce the actual possible values, and I'm intending to make a constant 1 selectable as well, so you could use it for tuning or as an offset. Because of how Eurorack tuning works, if you have A-C on different stages and D is always 1V, then the notes would be the same 8 as those for A-C but up one octave.)

Anyway. I am overexplaining a project that's barely begun, and I've been doing that for several hours while I should be trying to sleep, neither of which is a good sign. Perhaps tomorrow I'll find those resistor arrays and at least get things blinking.

[georgeromeros]

The Island of Dr. Moreau (1977) dir. Don Taylor

[burtlancster]

Burt Lancaster presents the Gold Logie award for Best Female and Male Personalities on Australian Television to Jeanie Little and Done Lane, 1977.

[suspiria76]

THE ISLAND OF DR MOREAU

USA

1977

Directed by Don Taylor

[lobbycards]

The Island of Dr. Moreau, US Lobby Card #5. 1977

[daily-broco]

The fun boys will kill youuuuuu

[moviesinfocus]

Behind The Scenes: Clint Eastwood & Don Siegel On The Set Of 1971's DIRTY HARRY

Director Don Siegel‘s 1971 cop thriller, Dirty Harry has now become an iconic slice of cinema and it set the template for loose cannon detective movies. Starring Clint Eastwood, the film sees SFPD Inspector ‘Dirty’ Harry Callahan on the hunt for Scorpio (Andy Robinson), a killer who is stalking the streets of San Francisco. The plot was loosely inspired by the real-life Zodiac killings which took…

[notesonfilm1]

Thinking Aloud About Film: The Killers (1946 & 1964)

Many thanks once more to the Film Foundation for making available two gorgeous restorations of the 1946 and 1964 versions of The Killers. It was a real pleasure to be able to see them side by side and we’re very appreciative also of all the support documents that the film foundation provides, including very illuminating interviews with Eddie Muller, Imogen Sara Smith and Cassandra Moore and which…

[mydaddywiki]

Marlon Brando

Physique: Heavyset Build Height: 5′ 8¾″ (1.75 m)

Marlon Brando Jr. (April 3, 1924 – July 1, 2004; aged 80) was an American actor and activist. Widely considered one of the greatest and most influential actors of all time, he received numerous accolades throughout his career, which spanned six decades, including two Academy Awards, two Golden Globe Awards, one Cannes Film Festival Award, and three British Academy Film Awards. Brando is credited with being one of the first actors to bring the Stanislavski system of acting and method acting to mainstream audiences.

In his youth Brando was an electrifyingly handsome and talented star. By the time I took notice of him, he weighed well over 300 pounds but still a handsome and talented star with some men and women still wanting to tap that. Brando's notoriety, his troubled family life, and his obesity attracted more attention than his late acting career.

Married three times, Brando was bisexual and possessed of a voracious libido and there were plenty experiences to report. He was the father to at least 11 children, three of whom were adopted. Among his partners were Burt Lancaster, Laurence Olivier, Tyrone Power, Montgomery Clift, James Dean and Rock Hudson. Hell. He even tapped Paul Newman. With all that, I wonder if he was pitching or catching. Who am I kidding. Brando was a top all the way. Having a balanced diet, his conquests also included Marilyn Monroe, Marlene Dietrich, Grace Kelly, Shelley Winters, Ava Gardner, Hedy Lamarr, Ingrid Bergman, Edith Piaf and Doris Duke (the world’s richest woman at the time). And he had a bizarre, intimate relationship with actor Wally Cox that would last a lifetime.

The last two decades of Brando's life were marked with controversy, and his troubled private life received significant attention. He struggled with mood disorders and legal issues. Brando continues to be respected and held in high regard. On July 1, 2004, Brando died of respiratory failure from pulmonary fibrosis with congestive heart failure at the UCLA Medical Center. Brando was cremated and his ashes were put in with those of Wally Cox. They were then scattered partly in Tahiti and partly in Death Valley.

RECOMMENDATIONS: Don Juan DeMarco (1994) Apocalypse Now (1979) Superman (1978) Last Tango in Paris (1972) The Godfather (1972) Mutiny on the Bounty (1962) One-Eyed Jacks (1961) On the Waterfront (1954) A Streetcar Named Desire (1951)

[commodorez]

Strange question, but I'm curious. Do you have a least favourite computer?

Ohhhh, good one. I'm going to make some enemies for these, I'm sure.

Least favorite vintage computer:

Apple I

Not for any technical reasons, or anything about its history. I happen to like and respect Steve Wozniak, and everything he did in the service of computing in the 1970s. His ROM monitor known as WOZMON is only 256 bytes so it can fit into a first generation 1702A EPROM, which is damned impressive. I use the newer EWOZMON regular basis on other 6502 machines.

The Apple I exemplifies a computer that no longer exists as a computer. Rather, it's become the legendary trading card for the ultrawealthy techbro types who seek to commodify the history of the home computer revolution that they didn't bother to study. It's been reduced to no more than a static display piece, and a cornerstone of revisionist history, ignoring the larger picture.

An Apple I is considered too monetarily valuable to risk applying power to or fixing, "gotta leave it original!" with failed, leaky capacitors, doing nothing. Well if you can't use it, it ceases to be a computer because it isn't computing anything. They had almost a dozen of them at VCF West XIV, most of which were under plexiglass with a hired guard to keep an eye on them because the high price they fetch. Only one was powered up at a time under the watchful gaze of experts, handling things with museum gloves. Unlike other exhibits, these were not available to be touched or interacted with (which defeats the whole reason people enjoy vintage computer festivals).

Assuming you look beyond the hype, and get your hands on a working Apple I? It turns out to be quite underpowered and limited -- which makes sense, Woz was optimizing the shit outta his part count and budget! I wish I had his skills. It was a major technical achievement to get it to do that much with so little. It's a TV Typewriter (RIP Don Lancaster) bolted to a minimal 6502. If i had one at my disposal in the 1970s, I'd probably do like the contemporary hackers did and modify it as my budget and skills allowed. But it's 2024 and an Apple I -- you aren't allowed to do that. No, if I had an Apple I, I could sell it and buy a house with that money.

If it weren't for all that, I think I'd probably just be indifferent to it, or maybe even like it for what it is.

Least favorite general computer:

eMachines eTower 600is

What a piece of shit. I had one when it was new, running Windows ME and it was hot garbage. I could not stand this underpowered excuse for a computer after a few months when the new computer sheen wore off. Floppy drive died too soon. Didn't come with the advertised 64MB of RAM (who puts 33MB of RAM in a computer?). Hard drive was only 10GB, kept filling it up. It was filled with bloatware, the keyboard was cheap garbage. I don't begrudge my parents for buying it, they didn't know any better and I was too young to have any say in the matter. That said, it endured the shortest tenure of any computer in my house to date.

Never obsolete my ass.

[hislittleraincloud]

Wildlings wilin' out in the wild.

Oh sure, because the novelization's voice is totally how Wednesday writes. ... ...

The novel she was writing on-screen covered the events of the season, so whatever we saw her do was in her voice.

Wednesday's thoughts aren't anything like what Mejia wrote, given the text of her novel that we did see, where she wrote about being assessed:

...across from her? Two meters and twenty stone of muscle and unresolved Oedipal ennui, the attendant resembled nothing less than several Polish kielbasas mashed together and forced to don hospital scrubs. The most cursory of assessments, by any measure of the imagination, would easily conclude that this man could almost certainly crush Viper’s skull with the ease of a child popping a cherry tomato. Though between the constellation of burst blood vessels around his eyes and jowls, or the faint and unmistakably cirrhotic odor on his breath — most of which emanated from his mouth, of course — Viper estimated that the man’s predisposition for cinnamon schnapps and lard-braised pork shoulder would send him to an early grave within the year.

And only then did Viper remind herself that in fact she did pose a threat…at least on paper, and at least according to the “professionals” so appointed by the court. Indeed, if one were to place any stock in the opinions of the teams of criminal psychologists and “mental health experts” hand-selected by the Macon County District Attorney’s Office, not only was Viper clinically insane, but she posed a grave threat to society.

Escape was her only option. Viper was an admirer of the master escapologist, Harry Houdini and had also watched the Steve McQueen classic “The Great Escape” on at least a dozen occasions. It was only one of three films that her Uncle Julius kept in his personal 35mm collection. He had a screening room in his Hollywood Hills mansion. It was rumored that the decrepit pile had once belonged to Elsa Lancaster, the original Bride of Frankenstein. The house was modeled after the Alahambra, entangled with purple-hued bougainvillea and boasted enviable jetliner views of the City of Angels. Viper was not a fan of Los Angeles or any West Coast city for that matter. But she did love her Uncle and would sit for hours listening to his stories of the Golden Age of Hollywood. If she managed to escape, she determined to…

3. Canon Wednesday writes for senior h.s. and college level readability (tested on her canon text, not the text I wrote):

4. Not saying that Mejia should've written it in the exact style with the exact vocabulary level as Canon Wednesday, but for fuck's sake. Read that sentence.

5. Y'all are insulting Canon Wednesday by merely suggesting that.

[mosertone]

Don Van Vliet in front of the Vliet family home on Carolside Avenue in Lancaster, photographed in 1965 or 1966. Laurie Stone, who was his girlfriend during this era, is standing in the doorway.

[bestwenclairfics]

Again not a fic or wenclair post but I just rewatched Wednesday and finally I had answer about how is Wednesday voice in her Viper's novel. I always was curious if would be too novelist or write like a fanfic writer or both. ---- Extract from Viper de la Muerte (Wednesday show scene):

"across from her? Two meters and twenty stone of muscle and unresolved Ocdipal ennui, the attendant resembled nothing less than severa Polish kielbasas mashed together and forced to don hospital scrube. The most cursory of assessments, by any measure of the imagination, would easily conclude that this man could almost certainly crush Viper's skull with the ease of a child popping a cherry tomato. Though between the constellation of burst blood vessels around his eyes and jowls, or the faint but unmistakably cirrhotic odor on his breath-most of which emanated from his mouth, of course-Viper estimated that the man's predisposition for cinnamon schnapps and lard-braised pork shoulder would send him to an early grave within the year.

And only then did Viper remind herlself that in fact she did pose a threat… at least on paper, and at least according to the "professionals" so appointed by the court. Indeed, if one were to place any stock in the opinions of the teams of criminal psychologists and "mental health experts" hand-selected by the Macon County District Attorney's Office, not only was Viper clinically insane, but she posed a grave threat to society.

Escape was her only option. Viper was an admirer of the master escapologist, Harry Houdini and had also watched the Steve McQueen classic "The Great Escape" on at least a dozen occasions. It was only one of three films that her Uncle Julius' kept in his personal 35mm collection. He had a screening room in his Hollywood Hills mansion. I has rumored that the decrepit pile had once belonged to Elsa Lancaster, the original Bride of Frankenstein. The house was modeled after the (Alhsabra), entangled with purple-hued bougainvillea and boasted enviable jutliner views of the City of Angels. Viper was not a fan od Los Angeles or any West Quest city for that matter. But she (untangible) love her Uncle and would sit for hours listening his stories of the Golden Age of Hollywood. If she managed to escape, she determined that she would seek temporary sanctuary with him. As a fellow black sheep, (untangible) was the only member of her (labyrinthine) family who would understand the precarious nature of her current predicament. ---------

*Note: Word that I can't read it well just go between ( - )

[suspiria76]

THE ISLAND OF DR MOREAU

USA

1977

Directed by Don Taylor