Any Pink Floyd fans here?

[Phil_G]

I'm here in Cambridge for our annual Retrocomputing Festival at the Centre for Computing History, and took a long 'pilgrimage' walk to Grantchester Meadows. Very pastoral, pretty & calm. Listened to the track a couple of times as I walked through the meadows, had a pint of Guinness at the Red Lion, & walked back to Cherry Hinton, knackered, a nine mile walk

No slopes here though !


.

[Pchristy]

Oh yes! Been a fan ever since "Arnold Layne" came out! At a time when the Beatles and Stones were doing 3 minute jingly stuff, the effect that one track had one me was immense. It was as if a flying saucer had landed in the grounds of Buckingham Palace during the Queen's tea party!

Sadly, some idiot at the BBC listened to the lyrics and banned it!

How things might have been different otherwise.....!

BTW, love the 8080 (Altair clone?) with all the keys and flashing lights on the front. Reminds me of my early computing experiences with a DEC PDP-8.....!



--
Pete

[Wayne_H]

In a word...

YES!

(Did the retro PC bits I sent you turn up in time?)

[Phil_G]

Hi Wayne, I just got back from Cambridge today and the parcel was waiting for me at home.
Lots of useful & interesting stuff there, thank you! 68000s, Big EPROMs, 8255 PPIs, all good stuff.
Half-way up the A1 my phone rang, it was the campsite lady, I'd run off with her key! I've just posted it back!
Think I'm losing it... ...but the dogs were pleased to see me
Thanks v much Wayne

Pete - the Imsai was indeed a commercial clone of the Altair 8800, in fact it was the very first clone computer.
That particular one is immaculate and working perfectly, Dave has done a lot of work restoring it.
You'll remember it from the 'War Games' film and the 'Whizz Kids' TV series
Dave even had the Joshua voice synth connected up... "Greetings professor Falken..."
Phil

[Martin]

When I'm in Cambridge, I like to stop and look at the Corpus Clock. You can watch it, free, from the street, at the junction of Bene't Street and Trumpington Street. Not mentioned in this video, is the fact that the 'chimes' on the hour, are sounded by a length of chain falling into a coffin! The dial is stainless steel, plated in gold, and the ripples in it were formed by an underwater explosion, to press the initially flat sheet against the die. The clock cost £1m in 2008.



The video was made about sixteen years ago, before the clock was installed. John Taylor, the presenter of the video, and the person who designed and paid for the clock, its installation and upkeep, made his fortune inventing and supplying the little gadgets that are inside virtually every kettle - the switches that turn it off automatically when it boils, and other related safety features. He was a student at Cambridge, and likes to promote and support the city in various ways.

I'm sure Pink Floyd would have liked to reference the clock, somehow, for their famous 'Time' number, if it had been around when they were recording The Dark Side of the Moon.

[Phil_G]

...and sadly there will never be a remake of 'Time' which is a great shame, the Corpus Clock would have been most appropriate