Vintage Photos - Lot 6 (029-032)

None of the photos in this set are labeled or dated, however, they are likely from the 1960s or early 1970s.

Vintage Photos - Lot 6 (029-032)

Vintage Photos - Lot 6 (025-028)

None of the photos in this set are labeled or dated, however, they are likely from the 1960s or early 1970s. These seem to continue directly from the last set and feature a train in a place called Round Lake.

Vintage Photos - Lot 6 (025-028)

Byte (May 1988)

Byte tended to be the most technical of mainstream computer magazines though it became less so over time. It was not PC specific (after all, it was being published long before IBM's PC was released) but by the late 1980s, the majority of its coverage was oriented towards the PC. The May 1988 issue includes:

Byte (May 1988)

Maximum PC (May 2000)

Maximum PC was by far my favorite computer magazine for the years it was published. It started in 1998 as 'boot' but was soon renamed to Maximum PC. It was published up until just a few years ago. The May 2000 issue includes:

Source: Maximum PC (May 2000)

Vintage Photos - Lot 6 (021-024)

None of the photos in this set are labeled or dated, however, they are likely from the 1960s or early 1970s.

Source: Vintage Photos - Lot 6 (021-024)

Your Computer (April 1984)

Your Computer was a multiformat computer magazine published in the U.K. in the 1980s. It covered all of the popular computers in the U.K. The April 1984 issue includes:

Source: Your Computer (April 1984)

Vintage Photos - Lot 6 (017-020)

Vintage Photos - Lot 6 (017-020): The last two photos are not dated or labeled but are probably from the late 1960s or early 1970s. The third shows three older ladies sitting outside (with the lady on the right wearing what looks like a pig pendant which seems a little odd)

Compute!'s Gazette (November 1985)

Compute!'s Gazette was a Commodore 8-bit specific spin-off of their main publication which was just called Compute!. While I mostly bought Commodore Magazine and RUN because they happened to be available within bike riding distance, Gazette was definitely one of the more popular Commodore 64 magazines. The November 1985 issue includes:

Source: Compute!'s Gazette (November 1985)

Vintage Photos - Lot 6 (013-016)

Vintage Photos - Lot 6 (013-016)

Super R-Type (Super Nintendo)

Super R-Type is a horizontal side-scrolling shooter published by Irem for the Super NES in 1991. This was one of the more popular genres in the 16-bit era and the R-Type series was one of the most iconic examples. Super R-Type was kind of a hybrid conversion of R-Type II with additional unique levels and features. Super R-Type was one of the earliest releases for the Super NES and one of the first games I owned for that system.

Source: Super R-Type (Super Nintendo)

Vintage Photos - Lot 6 (009-012)

More photos from circa the early 1970s.

Source: Vintage Photos - Lot 6 (009-012)

PC World (November 2004)

PC World was still going strong in the early 2000s with issues weighing in at well over 200 pages. This issue from November 2004 is about 236 pages and includes:

Source: PC World (November 2004)

Vintage Photos - Lot 6 (005-008)

These photos are from circa the early 1970s.

Source: Vintage Photos - Lot 6 (005-008)

Price Pointe (Computer Shopper, May 1996)

This ad is from the May 1996 issue of Computer Shopper. While Computer Shopper was a quality magazine with good editorial content, it was best known for the hundreds of vendors that advertised in its pages for desktop systems, laptops, computer parts of all kinds, and anything else you can think of that is computer related. The May 1996 issue had nearly 900 pages and this was probably near the height of its popularity.

Source: Price Pointe (Computer Shopper, May 1996)

Vintage Photos - Lot 6 (001-004)

All of the photos in this set have an August 1961 date stamped on them and were probably taken near that time.

Source: Vintage Photos - Lot 6 (001-004)

Maximum PC (May 2003) | PeakD

Maximum PC was by far my favorite PC magazine. It started life as 'Boot' in, I believe, 1998. It soon changed it's name to Maximum PC and it was a magazine for PC enthusiasts. Those who bought gaming PCs or built their own high performance machines. It survived later than most PC magazines but it ceased publication a few years back. The May 2003 issue includes:

Source: Maximum PC (May 2003)

Vintage Photos - Lot 4 (129)

Vintage Photos - Lot 4 (129): This photo has a date of January 1st, 1981 stamped on it and was most likely taken on Christmas Day 1980.

Digital Archaeology: Dell Inspiron 6000

The Inspiron 6000 was a low to medium-end laptop from Dell. Like many models, it had a variety of configurations. When this model first came to market, it wasn't the greatest value for the money. However, later configurations were better values. Mine has the following configuration:

Source: Digital Archaeology: Dell Inspiron 6000

Vintage Photos - Lot 4 (125-128)

All of the slides in this set have the date January 1981 stamped on them and were likely taken Christmas day 1980.

Source: Vintage Photos - Lot 4 (125-128)

MegaCon 2012: Emerald Rose (14) - Star of the County Down

Emerald Rose performs 'Star of the County Down' at MegaCon 2012 in Orlando, Florida.

Source: MegaCon 2012: Emerald Rose (14) - Star of the County Down

Vintage Photos - Lot 4 (121-124)

Vintage Photos - Lot 4 (121-124): All of the slides in this set have the date January 1981 stamped on them and I believe they were taken Christmas day 1980.

PC World (November 1988)

PC World was probably the best general PC specific magazine (though I preferred Boot/Maximum PC when it came along much later). The late 1980s and early 1990s were probably peak for PC World, at least in terms of page count. The November 1988 issue of PC World includes:

Source: PC World (November 1988)

Vintage Photos - Lot 4 (117-120) | PeakD

All of the slides in this set have the date January 1981 stamped on them and I believe they were probably taken Christmas day 1980.

Source: Vintage Photos - Lot 4 (117-120)

Digital Archaeology: Floppy Disk #14 – STRANGE.DOC

This post includes the contents of STRANGE.DOC. This is a chat log that was forwarded in an e-mail. The e-mail is dated January 24th, 1985 and the chat log was from the previous night.

Source: Digital Archaeology: Floppy Disk #14 – STRANGE.DOC

Vintage Photos - Lot 4 (113-116)

All of the slides in this set have the date January 1981 stamped on them and were probably taken Christmas day 1980.

Source: Vintage Photos - Lot 4 (113-116)

The Magic of Recluse

Fantasy has always been my favorite genre when it comes to books. Having spoiled myself from an early age with the best fantasy series in existence (Lord of the Rings) and reading most of the great fantasy series since, it has become increasingly hard to find good fantasy to read. Recently, I pulled The Magic of Recluse off of the shelf (it's been there for years having been purchased at a library book sale for 50 cents long ago) and decided to give it a try. The Magic of Recluse is the first book in the Saga of Recluse series by L. E. Modesitt, Jr. and this is the first book of his I have read.

The world in which Recluse exists has two types of magic. Order magic and chaos magic. Chaos magic is active and destructive whereas order magic is passive and preserving. Without giving too much away, the story centers around a young man from Recluse named Lerris who is essentially bored with his life. Recluse is the Order capital of the world so to speak and any amount of chaos is seen as a threat. Therefore people such as Lerris, who are dissatisfied, are given a choice: be forever exiled from Recluse or attempt the "dangergeld". The dangergeld is a quest of sorts and as you can imagine, this is where the adventure begins.

I was pleasantly surprised with this book and found it to be quite a page turner. It didn't feel quite like the typical fantasy novel despite the existence of all the prerequisites but the story was interesting and engaging. It's definitely a series I will be continuing and I am already reading the second book. If I had to compare this book to another series I would say it feels a bit like the Riftwar Saga by Raymond Feist though so far I like this series better. If you are looking for that next fantasy book to read (perhaps while growing old waiting for the next Game of Thrones book) and you haven't read this series yet, give it a try.

Random trivia: There was no map in this book (or the next). Not a big deal but a little surprising given how much travel is involved. But if you just have to have one, the internet comes to the rescue: http://hellspark.com/dm/maps/recluce/candar.html

My rating: 3.5/5

The One (December 1992)

The One was a computer gaming magazine that was published in the U.K. While it originally covered multiple platforms, by 1992 it was only covering the Amiga and was in fact titled The One Amiga. The December 1992 issue includes:

Source: The One (December 1992)

Vintage Photos - Lot 4 (109-112)

All of the slides in this set have the date January 1981 stamped on them and were probably taken Christmas day 1980.

Source: Vintage Photos - Lot 4 (109-112)