The Computer Archive  Preserving the history of companies that advanced the computer revolution

As I type this, I am posting the June 1978 issue of Kilobaud. What’s different is that I didn’t spend much time processing the graphics. I used the VueScan profile and just brought the pages in raw at 300 dpi into Abbyy FineReader Pro.

I am getting more comfortable with FineReader, too. The “Erase” feature works quite nicely for erasing the edges of the pages using a blend technique. I also used it to quickly straighten some of the pages, although being an “automatic” function, it didn’t want to mess with places that were only slightly skewed. My preference would be able to more fine control over the process. Another plus is that the OCR takes advantage of multiple CPU cores. All in all, FineReader is shaping up quite nicely.

Check out and enjoy the June 1978 issue. And if you compare it with another issue I’ve posted, let me know what you think. Is it quality difference worth it considering it saves me hours of processing?

The scanning is temporarily on pause as the company I work for has me on an urgent special project that requires a 32-bit development environment. I have put aside my main laptop and use my netbook as my main machine for a while. That means no scanning for the time being even though I have a later Heathkit catalog half done.

I could almost write this up as a history lesson, using a single-core processor with 512 MB RAM and a 120 GB hard drive again…

When I uploaded the Advanced Computer Products catalog, I also posted a number of other scans. Then I noticed that The Computer Archive has reached a landmark by exceeding 1 GB of text-searchable PDF content !!!

If my stack of stuff here is any indication, the site will exceed 2 GB in another couple of months. For example, I’ve got a later Heathkit catalog from 1989 and some really neat consumer electronics catalogs from 1976 and 1977 to preface the 1982 Sharper Image catalog I’ve already posted under Catalogs and Price Lists — Electronics.

Also as a reminder, the Twitter account TheCompuArchive gets notifications of these posting and other brief musings. At this point, that is the only way that site update notices are being sent out.

Well, now the contents of the archive will no longer even fit on a CD-R, a dream for computers like inside the Heathkit Catalog from 1982!

Tonight, my tasks were to post over 150 MB of materials and to make the site generate lists of the files for easier review in three formats / sort orders:

• Files Grouped by Folder
• Files in Alphabetical Order
• Files in Descending Order of File Date and Time Stamp

As I continue to scan these documents, it is clear that I make these accessible via a searchable database. It is very difficult to classify many documents. For example, the Heathkit catalog would fit under mail order and retail and contains computers, terminals, printers, software and such.

I’m back in town for the week. Got a book on using MySQL and PHP while on the road and have started to review it. I would like to start prototyping a query/search system for the materials, especially since I now have permission to post an old computer magazine (details to come in a little while).

After I finish some PowerBasic stuff later tonight, I hope to have a couple of MicroCenter flyers from 1994 to post. Great snapshot and reminder of how far we’ve come in such a short time.

Cheers!

Going out of town for the weekend. I’m in the middle of scanning some larger stuff and have received permission to post a vintage computer magazine. Also, I am trying to figure out how I want to do the data-based version of the archive and skip the file directory setup which is, I admit, limiting. Expect my next uploads sometime next week. Until then…

Well, uploaded another 50 MB tonight and worked on the forms.

Been thinking about making a database for the archive content as the more I work on the site, the more it seems necessary. I’m thinking about having just a few fields: Company, Product Name, Compatibility, Product Type(s), Year, Source and Comments. I would make sure that users could browse by most of these fields and search by all.

Anyhow, I’m going to be away for the weekend so I’ll have to let the site stand mostly as is for a few days. In the meantime, feel free to share the link with others you know.

Well, I’m sure you can see the obvious changes to the site. I’ve refined the FAQs but there there is still a little to do with the submission forms.

Check out the archive. I’ve added more content and worked on the cosmetics in that area. Again, there’s still a bit of refinement to go but all-in-all, the site has reached a reasonably stable state.

Also, please send me a note using the General Feedback to test that function.

I just purchased the Brother MFC-6490CW All-in-One unit yesterday at Office Depot. I had a coupon, gift certificate and they price-matched a Staples ad, so the deal was most excellent. The best part is that it scans 11×17, which is why it was appealing to me.

The unit seems built well enough, setup was exceptionally easy and I was up and running very quickly. Speed is as expected and the front-panel user-interface is very business-like and reasonably capable. The Windows software to configure the printer has an old-school feel but allows a lot of customization.

The only problem is that it doesn’t scan well at 200 dpi, but it is fine from 300 dpi and up. The best solution I have figured out so far is to scan the image at 400 dpi and to resize the images when creating the PDFs.

I added a file count and total file size to the left column. Still have more work to do on the contact section.