The 1984 Model F
My IBM Model F AT came from my grandfather's engineering firm. Its manufacturing date is 1984. I keep it alongside a Model M: useful hardware with a family connection, not just a collectible.
on the bench
Computers are only part of it.
I enjoy machines whose workings you can see, hear, and change.
Clocks with visible workings
I build and collect clocks using nixies, VFDs, numitrons, and dekatrons. The display technology is part of the appeal. These are objects worth looking at even before you check the time.
Tools for making things
A Prusa printer, a second 3D printer I built myself, a CNC built from WorkBee plans, and a laser cutter and engraver turn software into physical parts.
Why this belongs beside the software
My first computer was a C64, followed by a TRS-80 and then generic x86 PCs. I've used Linux since the Slackware days. The interface was never the whole attraction. I want to know what is happening underneath it.
The keyboards, clocks, and machines belong to that same interest. One is a piece of family history I can still type on. Others are things I can build, change, and use. A homemade printer and a CNC from WorkBee plans are as much a part of my computing life as the agents.
That also explains the DOS games in Aria and the Warhammer reference in Omnissiah. These projects are allowed to look like the interests of the person who made them.