Earlier this year, I wrote about a rare occurrence at Dobova, a border station between Slovenia and Croatia: a few HŽPP local trains crossed over from Croatia into Slovenia to pick up passengers going…| Vlado Vince
Note: this trip was inspired by Jon Worth’s Cross Border Rail project. Make sure to follow him on Bluesky and Mastodon! History On the first of October 1862, Südbahn-Gesellschaft (South Railway Company) opened the Zidani Most – Zagreb – Sisak railway. This was one of the first railways in what are now Slovenia and Croatia, and this route is still the main rail link between the capitals of the twoRead More| Vlado Vince
Photography is arguably my oldest hobby. I’ve loved taking photos for as long as I can remember. I reflected on my first encounter with digital photography in 2003 in a recent post, but I’m old enough that I first got to know photography through film. I still don’t know what it is exactly that draws me to still images, but I find the same joy capturing light with a cameraRead More| Vlado Vince
A childhood friend of mine got an iPod in 2004. It was a third generation model with a mind boggling 40 gigabyte hard drive. This was incredible at the time – I had just gotten my first MP3 player with very modest 128MB of storage, a NAPA PA28. Despite its minuscule storage size, it was still exciting to use at a time when portable CD players still reigned supreme. ButRead More| Vlado Vince
The digital Dark Age The October Archive.org attack shook me in a bad way. For a while now I’ve been increasingly convinced that in the not-too-distant-future we will be referring to the period of the early 21st century as a digital dark age. Not just because of the seemingly unstoppable rise of anti-intellectual, anti-science fascist movements around the world that use the internet to spread like wildfire, but also dueRead More| Vlado Vince
I’ve been wanting to see the SS United States, which has been docked in Philadelphia since 1996, for many years. The SS United States is a fascinating ship. One of the last great ocean liners built, setting sail in 1952 and maintaining line service for only 9 years before starting cruises in 1961. It is still the holder of the Blue Riband for the fastest transatlantic crossing. I once sawRead More| Vlado Vince
Earlier this year I had lots of fun participating in GlobalTalk, a fun collaborative experiment where a bunch of folks interconnected their home AppleTalk networks into one global network that allowed their classic Macs and other devices to communicate across vast distances. While AppleTalk is normally tied to a physical location (contemporary uses were usually limited to offices or schools), I was eager to experiment with using it on the go.| Vlado Vince
The organization I work for thankfully wasn’t affected by the CrowdStrike incident, but I ended up assisting a subcontractor who works at our site since their IT team was of course swamped all day with calls. This article covers two issues I ran into: Getting into Recovery mode via SecureBoot toggling This particular machine that was affected by the faulty CrowdStrike driver kept BSOD-ing, but it wouldn’t actually get toRead More| Vlado Vince
It’s the middle of MARCHintosh! Thanks to the unexpected GlobalTalk craze, I spent the first two weeks of March having a great time participating in the world’s first global AppleTalk network. The first few days were wild — I’ve already documented my setup to interconnect a mini vMac emulator to my SE/30 running the Apple Internet Router to connect to the rest of GlobalTalk, but as of March 16 thisRead More| Vlado Vince
It’s MARCHintosh! The month when the vintage computing community celebrates the classic Macintosh experience. This MARCHintosh started with a bang – seemingly overnight, the #GlobalTalk network took over Mastodon and soon many of us were networking each other’s disparate home AppleTalk networks into a #GlobalTalk network across continents. We’re still in the middle of the #GlobalTalk craze and I expect to write more about my experience further down the line,Read More| Vlado Vince
In early September I published a post on Mastodon, with what was meant to be a humorous comment. “Oh no”, I said, implying that there is something wrong with getting a highly coveted Macintosh SE/30. The joke was accompanied by a photo of a small beige Mac on a Long Island Rail Road platform. If only I knew how many times I would repeat that “oh no” over the followingRead More| Vlado Vince
Note: this post is based on a Mastodon thread. Last summer I got a Macintosh 512K at the VCF Swap Meet in Wall, NJ. I’ve been wanting to get a Fat Mac for a while, ever since I read Andy Hertzfeld’s book Revolution in the Valley: The Insanely Great Story of How the Mac Was Made. Well, technically I wanted a Mac 128K, but I had no interest in payingRead More| Vlado Vince
Note: this article was originally written for the Club de Aventuras AD magazine. You can read it in Spanish translation starting at page 68 of Issue 60 of CAAD. Home computing in Yugoslavia, a country that no longer exists, was quite interesting in the 1980s. The geopolitically unique position of this socialist country during the Cold War produced a unique situation in terms of access to computers and technology. YugoslaviaRead More| Vlado Vince
Introduction In early June I went to the VCF Swap Meet in Wall, NJ and picked up a supposedly functional TRS-80 Model I. I haven’t been very interested in TRS machines (other than owning a CoCo 2 for a moment) until I watched a video by Dejan Ristanović, one of the creators of the Galaksija project, who shared some less known facts about the history of the Galaksija and its Read More The post TRS-80 Model I restoration appeared first on Vlado Vince.| Vlado Vince
A few months ago I got a Compaq iPaq H3650, the same model that I had almost twenty years ago. This device left a strong impression on me, so even though I had (unfortunately) long ago gotten rid of my original one with a broken screen, I wanted to remember what these strange proto-smartphone devices were like. I got an iPaq on eBay for $10 (Pocket PCs are apparently not Read More The post Sourcing a replacement iPaq 3600-series battery appeared first on Vlado Vince.| Vlado Vince
Galaksija computer stores its characters in a separate 2716 Character generator ROM. While these characters are fixed in the ROM, you can easily design new characters and burn them onto your EPROM. This article will cover how the Galaksija characters are programmed and where to find them in the character generator ROM. Each character is 16 bytes, or 8 columns by 16 rows: Each character consists of 16 bytes which Read More The post Designing custom characters for the Galaksija appeared first o...| Vlado Vince
Back in 2020 I built my first Galaksija computer, using the original single board design. Building this computer was quite a challenge for me, as I was pretty inexperienced with electronics. But the most difficult challenge was finding compatible key switches — so difficult actually, that it took me almost 3 years to find the right ones. This short article describes this journey, as well as a brief history of Read More The post Yugoslav IEVT TY key switches – SMK style switches in disguis...| Vlado Vince
Last edited: 27 May 2024. Introduction Galaksija is a Z80A based microcomputer designed in 1983 in Belgrade (Yugoslavia, now in Serbia) by Voja Antonić. I’ve been documenting, exhibiting and speaking about the Galaksija ever since I assembled my first one in 2020. If this is your first time hearing about the Galaksija, I recommend you check out my three posts telling the story of the Galaksija: This post includes many Read More The post Making a Galaksija computer FAQ appeared first on Vla...| Vlado Vince
It’s MARCHintosh! The month of March when the vintage computing community shares projects, creations and other content related to the Macintosh, in the vein of DOScember and SEPTandy. It’s almost halfway through March 2023, and due to my increasingly busy work schedule, I don’t believe I’ll get to do a project of my own. However, back in 2022 I did do a small #MARCHintosh project on Twitter, documenting the brief Read More The post Macintosh in Yugoslavia – a belated #MARCHintosh202...| Vlado Vince
A few weeks ago I got a Compaq iPaq Pocket PC, model 3650. While this device originally came out in 2000, I remember using it circa 2003 when my mom got it for work and passed it on to me because she had no use for it. While I probably only played around with it for a few months, it was a formative computing experience for me. Even though it Read More The post Reliving my past and de-bricking a Compaq iPaq 3650 in 2023 appeared first on Vlado Vince.| Vlado Vince
Edited May 16 2023 Orao was a Yugoslav 8-bit computer developed by Miroslav Kocijan for PEL Varaždin in 1984. Orao was common in elementary schools, mostly in Croatia, through the late 80s. Since 2021, I’ve been learning more about this microcomputer and developing hardware and software for it. While most of the information here is available on my Orao github repo, this page contains all the relevant information related to Read More The post Orao WiFi/RS232 and Orao Terminal emulator appea...| Vlado Vince
This is a translation of the article I wrote for Kulturpunkt.hr about the demise of Twitter, my personal history and feelings about what’s going on after Elon’s takeover, and my hopes for building better online communities in a post-Twitter world. It’s a direct translation from Croatian, so there are some references to “domestic” Twitter etc., which refer to Croatian and post-Yugoslav online communities. The article was published on November 15th Read More The post Ode to Twitter ap...| Vlado Vince
Following Elon Musk’s takover of Twitter, I decided to finally leave that platform. I’ll be writing about my history and complicated feelings about Twitter in the future, but for now I’m archiving some important posts and threads that mean a lot to me and which I want to preserve. I’m starting with the 100 days posting photos and memories of my grandfather, after he passed away from COVID in October Read More The post Remembering my grandfather for 100 days appeared first on Vlado Vince.| Vlado Vince
This is a recording of the talk I gave at A New HOPE conference on 7/24/2022 in NYC. I have posted it here until the official recording is available at https://www.youtube.com/user/Channel2600. The socialist Yugoslav state was in many ways an aberration of the polarized Cold War period. Socialist, but not Soviet-aligned; friendly, but not exactly allied with Western Europe and the U.S.; its unusual position produced unique developments in computing. Read More The post Revolution During Disint...| Vlado Vince
Note: this is the English translation of the obituary I wrote for my grandfather in Croatian in October 2021. You can read the original here. On October 14th Josip Gobac, the Director of Television Zagreb from 1978 – 1986, passed away from COVID-19. He was not only a successful journalist, a talented painter, an unstoppable hiker and a big nature lover, Joža Gobac was also my grandfather. He died at Read More The post Remembering Josip Gobac, my grandfather appeared first on Vlado Vince.| Vlado Vince
Note: this is the third and final part of three articles about my experience building a 1980s Yugoslav 8-bit computer called the Galaksija. This part is mostly focused on software creation, distribution and preservation. You can find Part I, focused on the tech, here, and Part II, focused on the history of the Galaksija, here. It is largely based on my sprawling Twitter thread about the Galaksija. The first computer I Read More The post Building a Galaksija, Part III: Audio cassettes, magazi...| Vlado Vince
Note: this post was originally published as a Twitter thread. Recently I watched Cathode Ray Dude‘s videos on faxing from Windows and dialing up at home, and I was inspired to experiment with modems and faxing myself. He has a great article on configuring an ATA (analog telephone adapter) to place calls between phones/faxes/modems without a need for a telephone network. I went ahead and got myself an Linksys SPA-2102 Read More The post Unlocking an SPA-2102 ATA in 2021 appeared first on Vla...| Vlado Vince
The post Biking in Brooklyn on November 6th 2020 appeared first on Vlado Vince.| Vlado Vince
Note: this is Part II of three articles about my experience building a 1980s Yugoslav 8-bit computer called Galaksija. This part is mostly focused on the history and the cultural impact of this machine. You can check out Part I for the story about the tech. Part III will focus on the software, community and Galaksija’s legacy. This article is largely based on my sprawling Twitter thread about Galaksija. In Read More The post Building a Galaksija, Part II: The Origin Story appeared first o...| Vlado Vince
Note: FreeNAS recently rebranded as TrueNAS. Since I still haven’t upgraded my system I’ll be referring to it as FreeNAS in this post. Earlier this year, I tangentially followed the story on Western Digital shipping SMR (shingled magnetic recording) drives labelled as “Red” NAS drives. While these drives do provide satisfactory performance for non NAS use, they are significantly slower for most NAS’s, and virtually unusable for ZFS, used in Read More The post Encountering WD SMR mes...| Vlado Vince
In late July we traveled from NYC to Croatia to see my family. Upon arrival, we quarantined for two weeks and decided to get tested. Unfortunately, I spent hours trying to confirm simple info about locations and whether I can bike to a drive-in testing center. Thankfully, we tested negative, but I was concerned about the difficulty of finding basic info, especially with the large number of tourists in Croatia. Read More The post How I traveled internationally during the pandemic and ended up ...| Vlado Vince
My IBM Model M keyboard came with an integrated PC speaker, but it wasn't obvious what it's meant to be used for. I came across it when doing the restoration, but didn't think much of it. The post Beepy Model M speaker mod appeared first on Vlado Vince.| Vlado Vince
At my day job our team manages a lot of laptops, some of which are Macbooks. Since the Macs account for a fairly small share, we never implemented an MDM solution like Jamf, so we largely depend on using scripts to deploy software, and we manually adjust settings. As a mostly Microsoft shop, we use on premise Active Directory, and our Macs use LDAP to bind to the AD domain. Read More The post (Failed) attempt at remotely re-gaining LDAP admin access to a Macbook in 2020 appeared first on Vlad...| Vlado Vince
On May 1st, I biked to Manhattan and left Brooklyn for the first time in 50 days. The post Biking in NYC, May 2020 appeared first on Vlado Vince.| Vlado Vince
Note: This article was written before the start of the Coronavirus pandemic. If you are able to, please donate to Make the Road NY, one of NYC’s largest community organizations serving the working class, immigrants and people of color across the city. Make the Road NY’s Mutual Aid Bike Brigade is providing food pantry delivery to at-risk, elderly, or immunocompromised neighbors in Brooklyn and Queens. 2019 was an incredibly difficult Read More The post Biking for MS in Croatia: 130km from...| Vlado Vince
Coney Island Polar Bear Plunge, January 1 2020 The post Polar Bear Plunge 2020 at Coney Island appeared first on Vlado Vince.| Vlado Vince
On Tuesday evening, July 30th, NYC DOT presented the plan for safety improvements and dedicated bus lanes on Church Avenue to the members of Brooklyn Community Board 14 and the interested public. Church Avenue has been in the news recently due to two deadly crashes, and it’s known to be perpetually blocked due to traffic and double parked cars. The event was hosted at Beth Shalom v'Emeth Reform Temple on Church Avenue, a fact that became a significant factor in the Q&A discussion that ensue...| Vlado Vince
The post Under Manhattan Bridge, May 2019 appeared first on Vlado Vince.| Vlado Vince
The post Taking a break at 10th Ave, New York, May 2019 appeared first on Vlado Vince.| Vlado Vince
The post Second Avenue protected bike lane, New York. May 2019 appeared first on Vlado Vince.| Vlado Vince
The post Coney Island Mermaid Parade, June 2018 appeared first on Vlado Vince.| Vlado Vince
The post Sunset Park, Brooklyn, October 2017 appeared first on Vlado Vince.| Vlado Vince
The post Southern Vermont, taken from Amtrak’s Vermonter train in October 2017 appeared first on Vlado Vince.| Vlado Vince
The post Near Hartford, VT. October 2017 appeared first on Vlado Vince.| Vlado Vince
Shot with Kodak Gold 400 and printed at Gowanus Darkroom The post Gowanus canal, Brooklyn, October 2017 appeared first on Vlado Vince.| Vlado Vince
Shot on expired efke IR820 film. Usually I post descriptions of the places I photograph. Today, however, the location is not particularly important nor interesting. These photos were shot on a roll of expired Efke IR820 film. Efke was a brand of film manufactured by Fotokemika in Samobor, a small town next to Zagreb. Efke was synonymous with photography in Yugoslavia, and Fotokemika produced Efke film for over 60 years, Read More The post Brooklyn, September 2017 appeared first on Vlado Vince.| Vlado Vince
Baltimore, MD, September 2017 The post Baltimore, MD, September 2017 appeared first on Vlado Vince.| Vlado Vince
Zagreb, Croatia, August 2017 The post Zagreb, Croatia, August 2017 appeared first on Vlado Vince.| Vlado Vince
Risnjak National Park, Croatia, August 2017 The post Risnjak National Park, Croatia, August 2017 appeared first on Vlado Vince.| Vlado Vince
Kupa river spring, Risnjak National Park, Croatia, August 2017 The post Kupa river spring, Risnjak National Park, Croatia, August 2017 appeared first on Vlado Vince.| Vlado Vince
New York Penn Station, July 2017 The post New York Penn Station, July 2017 appeared first on Vlado Vince.| Vlado Vince
Atlantic/Nostrand, Brooklyn, July 2017 The post Atlantic/Nostrand, Brooklyn, July 2017 appeared first on Vlado Vince.| Vlado Vince
Midtown Manhattan, June 2017 The post Midtown Manhattan, June 2017 appeared first on Vlado Vince.| Vlado Vince
South Slope, Brooklyn, June 2017 The post South Slope, Brooklyn, June 2017 appeared first on Vlado Vince.| Vlado Vince
Tax March NYC, April 15th. See more at https://medium.com/@vladimirvince/tax-march-nyc-april-15-5319970f0145 The post Tax March NYC, April 15th. appeared first on Vlado Vince.| Vlado Vince
Midtown skyline, April 2017 The post Midtown skyline, April 2017 appeared first on Vlado Vince.| Vlado Vince
Rally and vigil for Timothy Caughman, Union Square, Manhattan, March 2017 The post Rally and vigil for Timothy Caughman, Union Square, Manhattan, March 2017 appeared first on Vlado Vince.| Vlado Vince
We Will End the Refugee & Muslim Ban March & Rally at Battery Park, January 2017 More photos here: https://medium.com/@vladimirvince/we-will-end-the-refugee-muslim-ban-march-rally-at-battery-park-402b43af5572 The post We Will End the Refugee & Muslim Ban March & Rally at Battery Park, January 2017 appeared first on Vlado Vince.| Vlado Vince
Second Avenue Subway, Manhattan, January 2017 The post Second Avenue Subway, Manhattan, January 2017 appeared first on Vlado Vince.| Vlado Vince
Jamaica Bay, December 2016 The post Jamaica Bay, December 2016 appeared first on Vlado Vince.| Vlado Vince
The 1 train, the Bronx, September 2016 The post The 1 train, the Bronx, September 2016 appeared first on Vlado Vince.| Vlado Vince
Park Maksimir, Zagreb, December 2016 The post Park Maksimir, Zagreb, December 2016 appeared first on Vlado Vince.| Vlado Vince
Zagreb, December 2016 The post Zagreb, December 2016 appeared first on Vlado Vince.| Vlado Vince
Gundulićeva street, Zagreb, December 2016 The post Gundulićeva street, Zagreb, December 2016 appeared first on Vlado Vince.| Vlado Vince
Rockaway Inlet, Brooklyn, December 2016 The post Rockaway Inlet, Brooklyn, December 2016 appeared first on Vlado Vince.| Vlado Vince
Bay Ridge Promenade, Brooklyn, November 2016 The post Bay Ridge Promenade, Brooklyn, November 2016 appeared first on Vlado Vince.| Vlado Vince
Marine Park, Brooklyn, November 2016 The post Marine Park, Brooklyn, November 2016 appeared first on Vlado Vince.| Vlado Vince
Floyd Bennett Field, Brooklyn, November 2016 The post Floyd Bennett Field, Brooklyn, November 2016 appeared first on Vlado Vince.| Vlado Vince
BMT Brighton Line / BMT Franklin Avenue Line, Brooklyn, November 2016 The post BMT Brighton Line, November 2016 appeared first on Vlado Vince.| Vlado Vince
Gowanus Canal, Brooklyn, October 2016 The post Gowanus Canal, Brooklyn, October 2016 appeared first on Vlado Vince.| Vlado Vince
Coney Island, September 2016 The post Coney Island, September 2016 appeared first on Vlado Vince.| Vlado Vince
Verrazano Bridge, Brooklyn, April 2016 The post Verrazano Bridge, Brooklyn, April 2016 appeared first on Vlado Vince.| Vlado Vince
Zagreb Glavni kolodvor, July 2016 The post Zagreb Glavni kolodvor, July 2016 appeared first on Vlado Vince.| Vlado Vince
Deák Ferenc tér Metro station, Budapest, July 2016 The post Deák Ferenc tér Metro station, Budapest, July 2016 appeared first on Vlado Vince.| Vlado Vince
Milano, Italy, July 2016 The post Milano, Italy, July 2016 appeared first on Vlado Vince.| Vlado Vince
Downtown Manhattan, May 2016 The post Downtown Manhattan, May 2016 appeared first on Vlado Vince.| Vlado Vince
Coney Island, June 2016 The post Coney Island, June 2016 appeared first on Vlado Vince.| Vlado Vince
Brooklyn, June 2016 The post Brooklyn, June 2016 appeared first on Vlado Vince.| Vlado Vince
Lady Bird Lake under I-35 Bridge, Austin, TX, May 2016 The post Lady Bird Lake under I-35 Bridge, Austin, TX, May 2016 appeared first on Vlado Vince.| Vlado Vince
Federal Plaza, Manhattan, May 2016 The post Federal Plaza, Manhattan, May 2016 appeared first on Vlado Vince.| Vlado Vince
Bryant Park, May 2016 The post Bryant Park, May 2016 appeared first on Vlado Vince.| Vlado Vince
Coney Island, February 2016 The post Coney Island, February 2016 appeared first on Vlado Vince.| Vlado Vince
Coney Island Rapid Transit Car Overhaul Shop, Brooklyn, May 2016 The post Coney Island Rapid Transit Car Overhaul Shop, Brooklyn, May 2016 appeared first on Vlado Vince.| Vlado Vince
Flatbush, Brooklyn, May 2016 The post Flatbush, Brooklyn, May 2016 appeared first on Vlado Vince.| Vlado Vince
West Side Line tracks, Manhattan, May 2016 The post West Side Line tracks, Manhattan, May 2016 appeared first on Vlado Vince.| Vlado Vince
George Washington Bridge, Manhattan, May 2016 The post George Washington Bridge, Manhattan, May 2016 appeared first on Vlado Vince.| Vlado Vince
Verrazano Bridge, Brooklyn. April 2016. The post Verrazano Bridge, Brooklyn. April 2016. appeared first on Vlado Vince.| Vlado Vince
Downtown Manhattan, taken from the Wonder Wheel at Coney Island. March 2016. The post Downtown Manhattan, taken from the Wonder Wheel at Coney Island. March 2016. appeared first on Vlado Vince.| Vlado Vince
Washington Cemetery, Brooklyn. Ferbruary 2016. The post Washington Cemetery, Brooklyn. Ferbruary 2016. appeared first on Vlado Vince.| Vlado Vince
Park Slope, Brooklyn. Ferbruary 2016. The post Park Slope, Brooklyn. Ferbruary 2016. appeared first on Vlado Vince.| Vlado Vince
Coney Island, November 2015. The post Coney Island, November 2015. appeared first on Vlado Vince.| Vlado Vince
Edinburgh, September 2015. The post Edinburgh, September 2015. appeared first on Vlado Vince.| Vlado Vince
2nd Avenue Station, Manhattan. January 2016. The post 2nd Avenue Station, Manhattan. January 2016. appeared first on Vlado Vince.| Vlado Vince
Prospect Park, Brooklyn, January 2016 The post Prospect Park, Brooklyn, January 2016 appeared first on Vlado Vince.| Vlado Vince
Texas Capitol Building, Austin, TX. December 2015. The post Texas Capitol Building, Austin, TX. December 2015. appeared first on Vlado Vince.| Vlado Vince
A few weeks ago I posted about going back to repairing old electronics as a means of distraction and coping during quarantine. I've spent the past ten days out in the street protesting, but working on this 1993 IBM Model M keyboard has been a good way to recenter myself at home. This was originally published as a Twitter thread.| Vlado Vince
This is a pretty all over the place post about the quarantine in NYC, budget cuts and E-Waste recycling, old Macbooks, RSS feeds and the history of podcasting. If this sounds fun, please read on. It was originally published as a Twitter thread.| Vlado Vince
A couple of weeks ago I came across this amazing thread and the recently published @jacobinmag article about Galaksija, Yugoslavia's DIY computer from the 80s. I was vaguely aware of its history, but it has largely been forgotten in the Balkans. I've been on a bit of an old hardware binge lately, so I attempted to source a Galaksija or another locally built computer while I'm in Croatia. No luck so far on the second hand market as it seems like these are increasingly rare. Ditto for the magaz...| Vlado Vince
Note: this is the first part of three articles about my experience building a 1980s Yugoslav 8-bit computer called the Galaksija. This part is mostly focused on the technical aspects of building this computer. Part II will focus on the history and the cultural impact of this machine. A BCS version of this article was published on RetroInfo. It is largely based on my sprawling Twitter thread about the Galaksija.Read More| Vlado Vince
The 40th anniversary of the Galaksija is getting celebrated in a truly special way: Dejan Ristanović and Voja Antonić, the duo behind the original project, have teamed up once again to celebrate both the Galaksija computer and the publication that made it possible, by releasing beautiful reproductions of both!| Vlado Vince
