benjedwards.com
Benj Edwards
@benjedwards.com
10K followers 810 following 5.2K posts
Senior AI Reporter, Ars Technica. Tech Historian. Bylines Fast Company / The Atlantic / Retronauts. http://www.benjedwards.com Founder http://Vintagecomputing.com
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benjedwards.com
Benj Edwards @benjedwards.com · Nov 8
Someone suggested I start a retro tech blog—I already did in 2005! 😁 www.vintagecomputing.com

560+ more works: www.benjedwards.com/works.php

Culture of Tech podcast: www.thecultureoftech.com

Retro works for HTG: www.howtogeek.com/826448/best-...

MIT Press book: mitpress.mit.edu/978026204506...
Vintage Computing and Gaming
VC&G is a blog about computer, video game, and technology history founded in 2005 and run by Benj Edwards.
www.vintagecomputing.com
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kjhealy.co
Kieran Healy @kjhealy.co · 2h
Maybe beginning to feel news coverage that either ignores this sort of blather or balances it with a polite “Some experts disagree with the assessment that Portland is a burned-out hellscape under the rule of Antifa warlords” doesn’t really cut it.
atrupar.com
Aaron Rupar @atrupar.com · 5h
Trump: "I don't know what could be worse than Portland. You don't even have stores anymore. They don't even put glass up. They put plywood on their windows."
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benjedwards.com
Benj Edwards @benjedwards.com · 19m
Beautiful
crtpixel.bsky.social
DOKI DOKI CRT PANIC @crtpixel.bsky.social · 2h
SUPER MARIO BROS. 3
NINTENDO R&D2 1990
NES
Luigi hopping off Mario in the Mario Bros minigame
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benjedwards.com
Benj Edwards @benjedwards.com · 19m
This is me
theonion.com
The Onion @theonion.com · 6h
Passenger Glued To Airplane Window Like It Fucking 1956 https://theonion.com/passenger-glued-to-airplane-window-like-it-fucking-1956-1832728158/
Passenger Glued To Airplane Window Like It Fucking 1956
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carlquintanilla.bsky.social
Carl Quintanilla @carlquintanilla.bsky.social · 14h
“..’The risk of a sharp market correction has increased,’ the BoE's Financial Policy Committee said in a quarterly update, in its sharpest warning to date of the dangers of an AI-triggered market slump ..”

@reuters.com
www.reuters.com/sustainabili...
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ernie.tedium.co
Ernie Smith @ernie.tedium.co · 13h
If you run a NAS company, don't upset the nerds.

www.guru3d.com/story/synolo...
Synology Reverses Policy Banning Third-Party HDDs After NAS sales plummet
Synology has backtracked on one of its most unpopular decisions in years. After seeing NAS sales plummet in 2025, the company has decided to lift restrictions that forced users to buy its own Synology...
www.guru3d.com
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crecente.bsky.social
Brian Crecente @crecente.bsky.social · 13h
Slimline Speedway

Tomytronic - 1980

Source: padandpixel.com/a-history-of...

#Handcandy
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benjedwards.com
Benj Edwards @benjedwards.com · 1d
Yeah good question. The fundamental unit of digital computing is the binary switch. On and off. As long as switches get smaller, computers will get faster and cheaper to run, regardless of substrate. I think future technologies will overcome walls
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retrocomps.bsky.social
Retro Computers @retrocomps.bsky.social · 1d
Paint on your computer in over 100 colors with 96 different brushes!
In this William Geise illustrated ad, the title "Computer Graphics" appears up top, being cast from a giant Apple II monitor on an iceburg; the casts are a gradiant from purple to orange to yellow to green to blue to purple again, hewing towards neon tones. From the tan Amdek monitor flies a red biplane, a parachuting penguin, and a leaping unicorn; dolphins jump from the ice into the monitor. Around the iceberg, a sea otter peeks up, a penguin tap-dances, and a whale tale lifts a unicorn on a floe. The monitor is sitting on a giant Apple II. Down below, breathless text describes three different programming packages: "For the artist: Special Effects by David Lubar and Mark Pelezarski. Paint on your computer in over 100 colors with 96 different brushes!" "For the designer: The Complete Graphics System II by Mark Pelezarski. Everythign needed for computer-aided design." "For the programmer: The Graphics Magician by Mark Pelezarski, David Lubar, and Chris Joehumson. Add fast, smooth animation and hundreds of pictures to your programs." In the bottom left, the penguin software logo appears next to ordering information, with a sunfish floating to its left; at the very bottom it says, "All Penguin applications products are now on unprotected disks for your convenience."
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benjedwards.com
Benj Edwards @benjedwards.com · 1d
Oops
unixpickle.bsky.social
Alex Nichol @unixpickle.bsky.social · 1d
Alexa+ is nice, but it did hallucinate almost immediately.
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benjedwards.com
Benj Edwards @benjedwards.com · 1d
Dear god it’s perfect
sharkabytes.bsky.social
Sasha's Retrobytes 🏳️‍⚧️ @sharkabytes.bsky.social · 1d
"Survival Kit for the Information Age."

Electronic organizers and early PDAs continue to be fascinating to me, and this is one of the more unusual hybrids: The debut OZ-7000 model, expandable via 'IC Cards', each with specific functions, memory storage, and touch-sensitive overlays.
A magazine ad for the OZ-7000 with its sleek folio type design and calculator style buttons and a small green LCD. IC cards flow to it to be slotted in.
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benjedwards.com
Benj Edwards @benjedwards.com · 1d
thanks. Yeah Lee saved the day!
Reposted by Benj Edwards
heredragons.be
HereBeDragons @heredragons.be · 1d
Day 280 - #retrorandom - Just a reminder to everyone as Christmas gets closer that I would really like one of those of my own ...
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Reposted by Benj Edwards
aidanmoher.com
Aidan Moher @aidanmoher.com · 1d
Did you know I’ve got a starter pack of awesome people who make awesome video game books and magazines?
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benjedwards.com
Benj Edwards @benjedwards.com · 1d
It was a great chat, sorry for the network connection issues on my end. Of all the days to have my ISP go down!
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edzitron.com
Ed Zitron @edzitron.com · 1d
I'll be joining @benjedwards.com at 3:30 ET to talk about the AI bubble, join us!
benjedwards.com
Benj Edwards @benjedwards.com · 1d
Heads-up that I’ll be talking to @edzitron.com about the AI hype machine and the “AI bubble” this afternoon live on YouTube: 3:30 P Eastern, 12:30 P Pacific

arstechnica.com/ai/2025/10/a...
Ars Live: Is the AI bubble about to pop? A live chat with Ed Zitron.
Join a live discussion on October 7 about the AI gold rush.
arstechnica.com
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benjedwards.com
Benj Edwards @benjedwards.com · 1d
Heads-up that I’ll be talking to @edzitron.com about the AI hype machine and the “AI bubble” this afternoon live on YouTube: 3:30 P Eastern, 12:30 P Pacific

arstechnica.com/ai/2025/10/a...
Ars Live: Is the AI bubble about to pop? A live chat with Ed Zitron.
Join a live discussion on October 7 about the AI gold rush.
arstechnica.com
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Reposted by Benj Edwards
mikeachim.bsky.social
Mike Sowden @mikeachim.bsky.social · 2d
Damn. This is amazing. £325 per week, paid monthly, for 3 years - and the result was a profit for the Irish economy:
www.citizensinformation.ie/en/employmen...
Post from Threads user rodneyowl: "Ireland has declared the Basic Income for Artists scheme permanent. This will be officially announced in tomorrow’s budget. Details to follow. Congratulations to all who fought for it and the present and future artists of all sorts in Ireland. That includes me 👌We’re just comin to the end of a 3 year pilot scheme. It’s been a roaring success. For every €1 paid out to the 2000 participants, the government got €1.46 back. Can’t argue with that. Other countries are already taking note."
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benjedwards.com
Benj Edwards @benjedwards.com · 2d
It is
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jenlucpiquant.bsky.social
Jennifer Ouellette @jenlucpiquant.bsky.social · 2d
Autism Is Not a Single Condition and Has No Single Cause, Scientists Conclude www.wired.com/story/autism...
Autism Is Not a Single Condition and Has No Single Cause, Scientists Conclude
Research reveals that those diagnosed with autism early show distinct genetic and developmental profiles from those diagnosed later.
www.wired.com
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benjedwards.com
Benj Edwards @benjedwards.com · 2d
Right now it feels like, to me most people use bluesky just to complain about stuff and fret about politics. There’s not as much fun and interesting sharing going on as I would like. I also don’t feel much incentive for doing much fun and interesting sharing myself
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meredithmeredith.bsky.social
Meredith Whittaker @meredithmeredith.bsky.social · 2d
📣 Germany's close to reversing its opposition to mass surveillance & private message scanning, & backing the Chat Control bill. This could end private comms-& Signal-in the EU.

Time's short and they're counting on obscurity: please let German politicians know how horrifying their reversal would be.
signal.org
Signal @signal.org · 5d
We are alarmed by reports that Germany is on the verge of a catastrophic about-face, reversing its longstanding and principled opposition to the EU’s Chat Control proposal which, if passed, could spell the end of the right to privacy in Europe. signal.org/blog/pdfs/ge...
signal.org
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anildash.com
Anil Dash @anildash.com · 2d
For your professional goals, make a habit of just steadily putting points on the board, consistently doing a little bit steadily, even if you’re bad at it sometimes. You’ll be amazed at how quickly successes start to compound. Don’t let your job get in the way of your career.
essencesimmone.blacksky.app
essencesimmone.blacksky.app @essencesimmone.blacksky.app · 5d
Those who are 35+, what advice do you have for people just entering their 30s?
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benjedwards.com
Benj Edwards @benjedwards.com · 3d
Awesome!
1
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stevelin.bsky.social
Steve Lin @stevelin.bsky.social · 3d
I never considered buying a vintage Chuck E. Cheese-branded tray but it was $10 at the flea market and 100% my jam
A round plastic ivrory-colored tray about the size of a large pizza with a red Chuck E. Cheese's Pizza Time Theater logo in the middle
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Reposted by Benj Edwards
zoviazzg.bsky.social
zoviazzg @zoviazzg.bsky.social · 3d
Super Castlevania IV
SNES, 1991
Konami

A very spooky #scanlinesunday indeed!

I don't have any nostalgia for this one because I didn't have a SNES as a kid.

Whip feels real good.

Only real complaint is that the game's a bit long for my taste.

#crt #retrogaming #castlevania
Simon Belmont, expert vampire hunter and heir to the Belmont Clan "Vampire Killer" whip, rushes towards Dracula's castle pursued by a mess of damnable bats, fist clenched. His thighs, sweat-caked and tan, ripple outrageously. His whole body is a throbbing mass of man muscle. Yowza. I'd like to catch a ride on that. An Egyptian-style mummy shambles towards Simon, barely presenting any threat at all. Simon strikes it down with his fully-upgraded chain whip. Leaping through the air, whip-cracking, Simon Belmont does battle with Death himself in front of a lovely set of rose-embroidered drapes. The Grim Reaper has a keen eye for home decor. Dracula, Prince of Darkness, having been bested by the vampire hunting hunk Simon Belmont, turns to face the morning sun and be vanquished back to Hell once more. Immediately he begins plotting his revenge on the accursed Belmont clan.
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