End of an era: #ICQ, the trailblazer of instant messaging, says its final "uh-oh" on June 26. 🌐💬 From 100M users to a quiet exit, we bid farewell to a piece of our digital childhood. #GoodbyeICQ #RetroTech #90sNostalgia #EndOfAnEra #TechHistory #InstantMessaging

#RetroTech

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Top picture: Old video game input switch for going from antenna to game Bottom picture: Elrond "I WAS THERE GANDALF. I WAS THERE 3000 YEARS AGO"

Did a bit of IBM PC work today while waiting on work stuff. Gotek has replaced drive A thanks to a nice Tandon drive mount on Thingiverse. Drive B got its head rails greased up; its motor spins well and belt is in good shape, but it has a bit of “stiction” at times (needed a tap to get spinning). May need a little lube but I don’t know what to use on it (my electromechanical skills are mostly limited to 3D printers 😅). But it formats and reads a disk properly, so that’s fantastic. #retrocomputing
#RetroTech #ibmpc

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My partially-disassembled IBM PC 5150, caseless, surrounded by assorted parts and tools, and connected via composite video to a small old flat-screen TV. The right drive has been replaced by a FlashFloppy Gotek installed using a mount that looks like a Tandon drive; the Gotek’s OLED is in the upper-left where the IBM logo would normally be. The left drive is removed from its case and sits atop it so I could perform maintenance work on it.

⚠️BREAKING: TECH ADDICTION AMONG THE YOUTHS HAS ENTERED A NEW PHASE

So here in Hawai’i all the kids are using this bit of retro Japanese technology. At camp we had to take them away at rest time because they wouldn’t stop playing. Surely someone will address this new scourge of addictive tech?!

(/s in case it’s needed. Also, this is the one I bought because it was so much fun using the ones the kids lent me while playing Gaga Ball.)

#kendama #hawaii #retrogaming #retrotech

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A hand is holding a pink kendama, a traditional Japanese skill toy. The kendama features a cracked paint design on its components, including the ball and the wooden body. There is a bright yellow/green string. The background shows a blurred view of an outdoor setting.

📣 The excellent tech video account Veronica Explains has moved to a new server! Please follow it here:

➡️ @vkc

PeerTube doesn't have an account transfer system yet, so you need to manually follow the new account even if you followed the old account.

(Don't worry if the account looks blank, that just means no one from your server follows it yet. If you follow, its videos will gradually start showing up on your server too.)

#FeaturedPeerTube #VeronicaExplains #Tech #RetroTech #PeerTube

Someone in my area is giving away this Pioneer Elite PRO-110FD plasma TV for FREE!

I would grab it but I already have a house full of plasma TVs and my wife thinks I’m insane.

This is a high quality 1080p panel from 2008 that originally sold for $6k. It would be absolutely CRIMINAL for this set to end up in a landfill or recycling center.

Check your local listings often because you never know what gems you’ll find!

#Local #Tech #RetroTech

🆕 blog! “Two Way TV - product photos of 1997's hottest gadget”

Back in the late 1990s, I did a brief stint of work experience at the BBC. One of the most memorable moments was sitting in on a meeting about early forms of Interactive TV.

I saw a demo of "Two Way TV". A flimsy grey box which (somehow) integrated with your OnDigital TV Box and…

👀 Read more: https://shkspr.mobi/blog/2026/06/two-way-tv-product-photos-of-1997s-hottest-gadget/
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#BBC #history #internet #retrotech #tv

Or DexMedia might also ship them to your region if you have a land line.

In my area they mail them to certain neighborhoods where the geriatric boomer brigades and the hippy generation are known to still reside. The last place I lived 4 years ago they still delivered them every year. In my new place they don't deliver to my neighborhood. For everyone else you need to order them, and they are only available for certain areas.

I surmise that the print phone books will never be completely extinct. They are critical infrastructure if the data grid goes down in some disaster. There are still millions of active copper phone lines across the country, and the way they were buried, it should be another two generations before all that copper corrodes. I have lines that are 50 years old and still in good condition. It is just sitting there, waiting in case it is ever needed.

#YellowPages #WhitePages #PhoneBooks #Telephones #Phones #RetroTech