Living & Loving Computers

IT COMPUTES: We had a fabulous Friday last week, enjoying a long field trip to Living Computers: Museum + Labs.

Our impetus for the trip was taking my dad there for a visit for the very first time. 

 It was a visit overdue. Vintage computers are in my dad's DNA, it seems.

When we arrived, we headed to the museum's top floor straightaway, for that's where LCM's oldest working computers are on display. 

Below is the first console you encounter when entering the cold room, where the big ol' super computers are on display. 

 Below is a photo of another big main frame computer. The white duct is air conditioning to keep the machine's circuits from overheating. 

 My dad was in his element in the main frame room. He had a chance to speak to a number of Living Computers employees who had extensive knowledge of the computers he worked on back in the day.

In the photo above, there is a squarish something or other  right by CJ's left knee... 

Upon closer examination, it looks like some kind of circuitry cake. 

Out on the main floor upstairs, there's so much to look at. We checked out the DIY computer kits of decades ago.

Though most of our time was spent upstairs with the good ol' stuff, we did check out the main floor and its attractions, as well. 

In the quiet art lab in the museum's SW corner, we took a silent  moment to pay tribute to Microsoft Paint, which is on its last legs, per reports. 

 CJ drew a picture of our dog Laika, for posterity.

Interestingly, the museum has a Barbie-themed display right now. It has evoked strong feelings.

 The museum gives people a place to share their thoughts. 

Some were pretty positive ... 

 while others were not as glowing.

Honestly, I'm in the not-as-glowing camp. I'm of the '70s version Barbie. 

The poster below, also on display at the museum, is just one reason why I'm not a Barbie Girl ...

Awful. But grateful the history is being shared, and so thankful Living Computers: Museum + Labs is doing so much to encourage everyone to embrace STEM. 

In fact, the kids are signed up for a workshop there this week, on how to wire a Barbie Dreamhouse with electricity. :)

Here are CJ and Annabelle's reviews of our recent LCM visit.

CJ is up first. He concentrates on a very narrow part of the museum's collection ... 

The Apple II (stylized on earlier models as the "Apple ][" was a series of computers produced by Apple Inc. (one of the largest technology companies in the world), then known as Apple Computer.
The Apple IIs were successors to the Apple I series (a very obscure computer that initially just came in the form of a bare circuit board). Apple II computers would have a 17-year production run, from 1977 to 1993.
The Living Computers Museum + Labs has two different Apple IIs (an original Apple II and an Apple II Plus), both located on the second floor. The first of them has a copy of Zork I (an iconic text adventure game), in which you attempt to explore a fantasy world and go on a quest.
At the start of my Zork playthrough, I attempted to go through a forest. After breaking an intricate egg with a golden canary inside it, I managed to find a white house outside of the forest. After breaking into the house (through a slightly ajar window), I ate some peppers that were on a kitchen table.
I was able to take a sword that was mounted on the wall. Shortly afterwards, I learned that the peppers made me sick. I tried to bloodlet myself with the sword, thus killing myself.

And here's Annabelle's take of our Friday. ... 

Living Computers: Museum + Labs is a museum located in South of Downtown (SoDo for short) that specializes in technology and vintage computers. The main attraction to the museum, however, is that all of said computers are functional! On Friday, my family (including my brother Ken) took our grandparents (including our grandfather, a math major who has worked with many of the computers at the museum) to the museum for the first time, and we all had a great time! My grandpa even got to go into the basement storage and see some computers that weren’t fully functional yet.

At around lunch time, my mom, grandma, and brother Ken all went to a local Asian market nearby called “Uwajimaya”. My brother Ken got us bowls of Bibimbap, a Korean dish with rice, vegetables, egg, and meat served in a hot cast iron bowl. The dish is served immediately after being cooked, so it is extremely hot. After a rather large lunch, we went back to LCM and looked around the lower floor, which includes more recent computers and technology, such as a VR (Virtual Reality) space where you can select a program and use the supplied HTC Vive headset. It was a very fun day and if you ever stop by Safeco Field or SoDo with some free time, you should definitely visit Living Computers!