What Makes the Zilog Z-80 So Versatile and Sought After?

[The_Kitchen_Guy]

Anyone climbing on one of those ice chunks is a candidate for a Darwin Award.

 

[JAE]

Anyone climbing on one of those ice chunks is a candidate for a Darwin Award.

No kidding! Went out again today, and still a few dummies up there. When walking back I saw my dh in the car with the boys heading toward the beach. I don't even want to know.... (They jumped off the pier once this summer. I didn't take that too well.)

 

[JAE]

Here are my very own children allowed to be on one of those icebergs. I won't mention who the dummy is who let them be up there.

 

[The_Kitchen_Guy]

Okay, no name, but I suppose his initials are Mr. JAE?

 

[JAE]

Okay, no name, but I suppose his initials are Mr. JAE?

Uh, yes, but at least we have winter pictures for the scrapbooks. We usually skip winter. We go from Christmas to Easter/Spring Break with nothing in between.
They think they saw a mink. Here's a picture, but it's hard to tell.

 

[katie0128]

WOW! I think those pictures are pretty clear. That is really neat when kids can see "nature" up close and personal... but still at a safe enough distance to not have "nature" taste you!

 

[Intrepid_Chef]

Di pops in with some cheese to go with everybody's whine ...

I spent the day alternately:

* Making nachos and brownies for my non-show, which of course, nobody showed for. (Did it mostly for the experience, and in the vain hope neighbors would trudge through the white stuff. Hah!)
* Watching TV
* Making calls
* Doing laundry
* Attempting to clear a path, if only for the mail carrier.
* Getting stuff ready for my BIG SHOW
* Praying that the big show would not get called due to the blizzard!

Anyway ... big show was a TOTAL SUCCESS! Almost makes me wish I hadn't agreed to give away my ENTIRE COMMISSION to the host's Relay for Life team. (We are both committee members of our Relay ... she is a cancer survivor and is giving away her free products for baskets to benefit the cause!) The good news is I got two bookings so I will benefit in the long run!

Oh, and by the by ... I once owned a Laser 128!

Laser 128 - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

 

[The_Kitchen_Guy]

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/0/02/Laser128_4.jpg/250px-Laser128_4.jpg

 

[PamperedPrincess02]

haha KG I can & can't wait to hear my DD talking about how CD's, Computer's, Ipod's etc....are so stone-age....only I doubt she will say stone-age lol! Wonder what the future will bring..hmmmm

 

[The_Kitchen_Guy]

Well, I can tell you that 20 years ago, we were pretty sure the personal computer would be a commodity, but we never, ever, expected laptops that would have more computing power than a Cray Supercomputer.

 

[Intrepid_Chef]

Yup, that was it, except it had its own separate color monitor, which was not good to be attached to anything but this.

I had people telling me to chuck it. I put it on Freecycle and gave it to the first taker. Then I had people angry at me telling me I should have given them a chance. SHEESH! It was just an ancient computer, willed to me by my late aunt who thought I was gonna write the great American novel on it!

 

[The_Kitchen_Guy]

There are people who think old computers are like old cars but they just aren't. Other than a few nerds who really love that old junk, no one even wants to fire one up.

 

[chefann]

That's why I don't understand why DH keeps the 2 Trash-80s he's got. They haven't even been plugged in since before we got married. But he still has them.

 

[The_Kitchen_Guy]

If I remember right, those are Zilog Z-80 based. If that's true, he's keeping them in case he needs the Z-80 for a computerized car.The Z-80 was used in everything from Cadillacs to Pac-Man to Scud missiles. Yup - during Desert Storm, Americans recovered a failed Scud and took it apart to see what made it tick. The guidance system had a processor, so they popped it open to see what it was. Not only did the Russians steal the Z-80 design, the actually made a direct copy of it. The Russian processor even had the Zilog designers' signatures on it!