So nice to here i'm not the only dumpster diver here. Whenever I go to the local recycling park I love to snoop around in the boxes. Had a good haul before christmas: 2 Lenovo Thinkstations (all-in-one machines), 27 inch screen, I5, 8 gig ram and some spinning rust; Swapped 'm out with 2 small SSD's and punched linux on them. Gonna give them away to some kids who don't have a lot of cash at home so they can do their homework online.

Knightwise
Host of the knightwise.com podcast
www.knightwise.com

--- Mystic BBS v1.12 A49 2024/05/29 (Linux/64)
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So happy i'm not the only one.

Knightwise
Host of the knightwise.com podcast
www.knightwise.com

--- Mystic BBS v1.12 A49 2024/05/29 (Linux/64)
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So cool i'm not alone

Knightwise
Host of the knightwise.com podcast
www.knightwise.com

... A CAT IS AN ANIMAL THAT JUST KEEP ON GIVING......LOVE

--- Mystic BBS v1.12 A49 2024/05/29 (Linux/64)
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knightwise wrote to tassiebob <=-

So nice to here i'm not the only dumpster diver here. Whenever I go to
the local recycling park I love to snoop around in the boxes. Had a
good haul before christmas: 2 Lenovo Thinkstations (all-in-one
machines), 27 inch screen, I5, 8 gig ram and some spinning rust;
Swapped 'm out with 2 small SSD's and punched linux on them. Gonna give them away to some kids who don't have a lot of cash at home so they can
do their homework online.

I have a great tech thrift store near me. I've bought a lot of great tech there, but I'm always more interested in the e-waste drop-off. I saw 3
19" Sony Trinitron CRTs once, a couple of Sun desktops, and other
assorted rarities that made me want to give the e-waste guy $20 to go
get a cup of coffee somewhere (preferably 10-15 minutes away)




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(...), but I'm always more interested in the e-waste drop-off.

Do you know anything about the cyberciruja movement? Translation to english would be: cyberbums.
They're a social political and hacktivist movement from Argentina, dedicated to gathering wasted, thrown out, disposed off, 'obsolete' tech and bring in it back to life and finding it a new home, giving it away to someone who could put it to use, after refurbishing it and getting it to work again.
They go for old notebooks and desktop PCs, especially, and try to find less resource enabled families and giving those away to them.
And they also happen to be quite a gravity force in the alternative/free soft/hacktivist culture in general in the area, organizing installatons for Linux, Demo-Scene parties, Chip-Tune music distribution and promotion, ANSI art promotion and what not.
Through them I got back into BBSs...
They're not 'the coolest people' (they tend to be quite 'dogmatic' about free soft choice vs privative licensed soft), but the lengths they would go to to see ideals realized is commendable.

Malvinas.

Islas Malvinas, siempre Argentinas!

... Islas Malvinas, siempre Argentinas.

--- Mystic BBS v1.12 A47 2021/12/25 (Windows/64)
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So nice to here i'm not the only dumpster diver here. Whenever I go t the local recycling park I love to snoop around in the boxes. Had a

I have a great tech thrift store near me. I've bought a lot of great tech there, but I'm always more interested in the e-waste drop-off. I saw 3

We used to have a FreeGeek here in the Vancouver area, which I used to love to visit to check out stuff. Unfortunately they closed down a few years ago. I have not been able to find a good place to look for old hardware.
Is anyone here from the Vancouver area know of a good place to visit for this?

Lloyd (neoshock) sysop @ Vintage Pi BBS
vintagepi.asuscomm.com

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We used to have a FreeGeek here in the Vancouver area, which I used to love to visit to check out stuff. Unfortunately they closed down a few years ago. I have not been able to find a good place to look for old hardware. Is anyone here from the Vancouver area know of a good place to visit for this?

Hey neighbor; I'm in the PDX area. I also <3 FreeGeek - they still have their PDX location... I used to meet the PLUG [Portland Linux Users Group] in one of their offices once a month - they do less public sales since covid, but I think they still sell online.

Its a bit of a drive, but we have a GREAT gem for retro computers [and other electronics] in RE-PC. Theres two locations; Tukwila, WA and Seattle, WA. The place is AWESOME; the one in Tukwila even has a cool vintage computing museum;

https://youtu.be/O3aOOV8XeOs?si=_hoxJeXIeDZwn0pm

Cheers!



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Hey neighbor; I'm in the PDX area. I also <3 FreeGeek - they still have their PDX location... I used to meet the PLUG [Portland Linux Users
Group] in one of their offices once a month - they do less public sales since covid, but I think they still sell online.

Its a bit of a drive, but we have a GREAT gem for retro computers [and other electronics] in RE-PC. Theres two locations; Tukwila, WA and Seattle, WA. The place is AWESOME; the one in Tukwila even has a cool vintage computing museum;

LOL, I should have been a little more clear, I'm in Vancouver, Canada. However I have visited RePC many years ago, and yes I should definitively make another visit. Great Video BTW!

Lloyd (neoshock) sysop @ Vintage Pi BBS
vintagepi.asuscomm.com

--- Mystic BBS v1.12 A48 (Linux/64)
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neoshock wrote to poindexter FORTRAN <=-

We used to have a FreeGeek here in the Vancouver area, which I used to love to visit to check out stuff. Unfortunately they closed down a few years ago. I have not been able to find a good place to look for old hardware. Is anyone here from the Vancouver area know of a good place
to visit for this?

I live near a university, and thought for sure there'd be multiple used computer stores. There's one that I know of, and the thrift store that
has an electronics section - but everything is as-is.

I've seen white MacBooks pro for $30, I bought a Synology NAS for $100,
a graphing calculator for my son for $5, tons of OpenWRT-compatible
appliance routers for $5-$10, a BlueRay player that plays movies on USB
storage for $20, a Chromebook for $20, and lots of digicams for under
$20.



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paulie420 wrote to neoshock <=-

Its a bit of a drive, but we have a GREAT gem for retro computers [and other electronics] in RE-PC. Theres two locations; Tukwila, WA and Seattle, WA. The place is AWESOME; the one in Tukwila even has a cool vintage computing museum;

https://youtu.be/O3aOOV8XeOs?si=_hoxJeXIeDZwn0pm

I went to their web site, I'm jealous that you have something so close.
We had two places that have since gone - Weirdstuff Warehouse and Halted Specialties. Both had huge spaces full of stuff. WW more computer-based,
Halted more on the electronics side.

I remember seeing whole phone systems, Sun shoebox cases stacked 5 feet
tall, RS/6000s, HP 3000s, 4-post racks, lots of intel servers, and
thinkpads.



... ALL HAIL THE CODE!
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LOL, I should have been a little more clear, I'm in Vancouver, Canada. However I have visited RePC many years ago, and yes I should
definitively make another visit. Great Video BTW!

Ahhh; lol. I've visited Vanc B.C. and love it - got robbed for an ounce of weed just 10min into my stay!! :P

It was fun, tho - I was there around 10 years ago when one of the dispensaries was set on fire and burned to the ground... also, what were all those Asian folks smoking?!?!? They were lined up 100 deep and all getting high - I thought it was opium... but I dunno.

The strip clubs; oh, the strip clubs - Vancouver. Best in show!



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I went to their web site, I'm jealous that you have something so close.
We had two places that have since gone - Weirdstuff Warehouse and Halted Specialties. Both had huge spaces full of stuff. WW more computer-based, Halted more on the electronics side.

I remember seeing whole phone systems, Sun shoebox cases stacked 5 feet tall, RS/6000s, HP 3000s, 4-post racks, lots of intel servers, and thinkpads.

They recently had some Sun systems - I am wanting to get one sooooo bad. RE-PC is GREAT... if you want untested stuff, its pennies - but they do know whats 'popular' and those [crappy even] Sun systems were priced just out of bargain pricing; $200 IIRC...

Also, if you want tested stuff you can find motherboards for 286, 386, 486, etc - but you pay... all-in-all its still a winter wonderland...

I recently bought a Dell enterprise switch for around $100 w/ SFP+ ports - but you gotta keep checking back as they change inventory often.

Its an awesome place. :P



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Re: Re: Am I the only one dumpster diving ?
By: paulie420 to neoshock on Thu Jan 16 2025 08:40 pm

Ahhh; lol. I've visited Vanc B.C. and love it - got robbed for an ounce of weed just 10min into my stay!! :P

It was fun, tho - I was there around 10 years ago when one of the dispensaries was set on fire and burned to the ground...

Did everyone in the area get high? :P

Nightfox
--- SBBSecho 3.23-Linux
* Origin: Digital Distortion: digdist.synchro.net (21:1/137)

Knightwise
Host of the knightwise.com podcast
www.knightwise.com

--- Mystic BBS v1.12 A49 2024/05/29 (Linux/64)
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Forgive me, i'm pretty new to BBS'ing and am still finding out how properly reply to messages and post new ones.

One of the things I find frightening whenever I "secretly adopt some digital puppy's from the recycling-pound" is that you sometimes get very very personal insights into peoples lives. These things are often packed with haddrives filled to the brim with information that could lead to identity theft. I used to snoop around on some of those drives, but recently i've started to yank them out right away and secure-erase them. I don't even wanna know what is on there. Passwords, personal documents, scan of their social security number, personal foto's, working email accounts ... (not to mention data from third parties).. Gives me the shivers.

Do you keep all your digital finds or ? .... I find a lot of fun in restoring them, playing around with them a little but then i mostly give them away to charity or to kids who have a hard time getting access to computers.

Knightwise
Host of the knightwise.com podcast
www.knightwise.com

... "The fact that nobody understands you doesn't make you an artist." –Unkno

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knightwise wrote to poindexter FORTRAN <=-

Do you keep all your digital finds or ? .... I find a lot of fun in restoring them, playing around with them a little but then i mostly
give them away to charity or to kids who have a hard time getting
access to computers.

Mine went into building a homelab - a Thinkpad with an i7, broken
keyboard and a scratched screen, the Synology with my old 2TB drives
from an older workstation, routers providing VLANs for my homelab...
All for pennies on the dollar.



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paulie420 wrote to neoshock <=-

LOL, I should have been a little more clear, I'm in Vancouver, Canada. However I have visited RePC many years ago, and yes I should
definitively make another visit. Great Video BTW!

Ahhh; lol. I've visited Vanc B.C. and love it - got robbed for an ounce
of weed just 10min into my stay!! :P

I drove through Vancouver 2 years ago - my company has a wind farm at
Port Hardy - flew into Vancouver, rented a car, took a car ferry to the
island and drove the length of it. Absolutely BEAUTIFUL scenery.

Never got to try out the pot or the strip clubs, was just passing
through. :)



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paulie420 wrote to poindexter FORTRAN <=-

They recently had some Sun systems - I am wanting to get one sooooo
bad. RE-PC is GREAT... if you want untested stuff, its pennies - but
they do know whats 'popular' and those [crappy even] Sun systems were priced just out of bargain pricing; $200 IIRC...

Old suns were great servers, not so much as desktops these days. Get an
old Sparc 2/5/10/20 or an Ultra 1 or 2, run it headless (or don't run
the GUI) and it'd serve hundreds of clients a day.

I had a Sparc 20 as a SMTP bastion host and news server for 150 people,
Samba storage and print services for a handful of *nix desktops, it kept
up nicely.

I justified getting a Sparc 2 with a 19" CRT, maxxed out memory and a
Weitek CPU as a backup system in case it failed. I used it as my
desktop. :)

The Sun model 5 keyboard was the Best Keyboard Ever.

Also, if you want tested stuff you can find motherboards for 286, 386, 486, etc - but you pay... all-in-all its still a winter wonderland...

I recently bought a Dell enterprise switch for around $100 w/ SFP+
ports - but you gotta keep checking back as they change inventory
often.

Its an awesome place. :P

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--- MultiMail/Win v0.52
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Ahhh; lol. I've visited Vanc B.C. and love it - got robbed for an oun weed just 10min into my stay!! :P

It was fun, tho - I was there around 10 years ago when one of the dispensaries was set on fire and burned to the ground...

Did everyone in the area get high? :P

LOL; not sure, but I think it was arson... B.C. has the best sneakers for sale, too!



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Old suns were great servers, not so much as desktops these days. Get an old Sparc 2/5/10/20 or an Ultra 1 or 2, run it headless (or don't run
the GUI) and it'd serve hundreds of clients a day.

Yes - IIRC this one @ RE-PC was a Sparc 5 or 10...

In today land, I was thinking of running the GUI OS; not that it would run great or whatnot - but I think it would be best for just refurbishing a Sun computer in 2025...



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--- Mystic BBS v1.12 A49 2024/05/29 (Linux/64)
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I have some "home lab" gear that I have lying around too. Some old clunkers to test things on. I don't have a lot of networking gear and run most of my test VM's on a I9 desktop.

I do salvage a lot of parts. Managed to pick out a broken Dell Alienware gaming machine. Salvaged a fast 1 tb nvme drive, 32 gigs of DDR 4 memory and a massive external power supply. Managed to sell off the powersupply on craigslist and keeping the spare parts when I want to upgrade one if my own machines.

Knightwise
Host of the knightwise.com podcast
www.knightwise.com

... You are ugly, you don't love Tigger, and your feet stink!

--- Mystic BBS v1.12 A49 2024/05/29 (Linux/64)
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Salvaged some parts a while ago from an old dell alienware laptop (broken machine) 32 gigs of ddr4 and a 1tb nvnme Drive.

Knightwise
Host of the knightwise.com podcast
www.knightwise.com

--- Mystic BBS v1.12 A49 2024/05/29 (Linux/64)
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I do salvage a lot of parts. Managed to pick out a broken Dell Alienware gaming machine. Salvaged a fast 1 tb nvme drive, 32 gigs of DDR 4 memory and a massive external power supply. Managed to sell off the powersupply on craigslist and keeping the spare parts when I want to upgrade one if
my own machines.

You're a environmentalist too? :D

... Nothing worthwhile ever arrives by mail.

--- Mystic BBS v1.12 A49 2024/05/29 (Linux/64)
* Origin: 2o fOr beeRS bbS>>20ForBeers.com:1337 (21:2/150)

paulie420 wrote to poindexter FORTRAN <=-

In today land, I was thinking of running the GUI OS; not that it would
run great or whatnot - but I think it would be best for just
refurbishing a Sun computer in 2025...

Yeah, a Sparc 5 would run CDE just fine and render some simple web
pages. Definitely would be a fun experience.



--- MultiMail/Win v0.52
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knightwise wrote to poindexter FORTRAN <=-

I have some "home lab" gear that I have lying around too. Some old clunkers to test things on. I don't have a lot of networking gear and
run most of my test VM's on a I9 desktop.

I splurged on a desktop and got a 4core/8thread 9th gen i7 with 64 GB
of RAM and NVMe support - I wanted a desktop that would be good for many
years. Realistically, I could run VMs on it and get rid of my homelab,
but it's a lot of fun seeing what I can build from cast-offs.


--- MultiMail/Win v0.52
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Well, yes and no. There is a lot of E-waste going to waste not because the hardware is broken, but because its a software issue and the users an unable to see the difference. Pick it up, Fix it up , pass it on. That's my motto

Knightwise
Host of the knightwise.com podcast
www.knightwise.com

... Warm bed? Nope. Kind word? Sorry. Unlimited power? Let's talk.

--- Mystic BBS v1.12 A49 2024/05/29 (Linux/64)
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On 20 Jan 2025 at 08:51a, poindexter FORTRAN pondered and said...

In today land, I was thinking of running the GUI OS; not that it woul run great or whatnot - but I think it would be best for just refurbishing a Sun computer in 2025...

Yeah, a Sparc 5 would run CDE just fine and render some simple web
pages. Definitely would be a fun experience.

If you're going to set up a SPARC 5 in 2025, then do what god
and Bill Joy intended and run SunOS 4 with OpenWindows.

--- Mystic BBS v1.12 A48 (Linux/64)
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tenser wrote to poindexter FORTRAN <=-

If you're going to set up a SPARC 5 in 2025, then do what god
and Bill Joy intended and run SunOS 4 with OpenWindows.

Preach, brother.



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tenser wrote to poindexter FORTRAN <=-

If you're going to set up a SPARC 5 in 2025, then do what god
and Bill Joy intended and run SunOS 4 with OpenWindows.

I think that's the route I'm going to end up going with my SS10 after sitting on it for years. I've spent time off/on trying to get a recent pkgsrc running on Sol8, but I think in the end I may just go the route that god intended. :)

That said though, I know I'm going to end up frustrated trying to get anything even 20-years-current to run on it. I don't have enough programming-fu to troubleshoot those compilation errors...

... MultiMail, the new multi-platform, multi-format offline reader!
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