Happy Birthday, DDJ!

A month-plus ago, my wife and I spent an enjoyable afternoon at the Computer History Museum (the former Silicon Graphics headquarters building in Mountain View, CA, at the corner of Highway 101 and Shoreline Blvd.). The event, the Vintage Computer Fair, commemorated the 30th anniversary of the founding of the Homebrew Computer Club. A panel of club members over the years, including Steve Wozniak, spent several hours reminiscing about the early years of the personal computer era and fielding audience questions; CNET did a nice writeup on the event. Lil and I also toured the museum's impressive collection of analog (including abacuses!) and digital computers, ranging from handheld units to huge mainframes. Highly recommended if you're ever in the area with a few hours to spare in your schedule!

Also recommended, in the same spirit of nostalgia, is a perusal of the 30th Anniversary issue of Dr. Dobb's Journal, the seminal guide to programming that grew up in lock-step with the personal computer's maturation and arrived in my mailbox a few days ago. Michael Swaine's retrospective piece is a great read; after you've perused it, check out the DigiBarn Computer Museum online for additional remembrances. And here's the premier issue of the magazine, entitled Dr. Dobb's Journal of Tiny Basic Calisthenics & Orthodontia: Running Light Without Overbite (got that?). How far we've come in only a few decades…..