Tim Covell

Carbon Paper

I obtained a package of carbon paper, from the late 1970, and explored this old office artifact.

Electrifying Persuasion

Many reviewers disparage the film’s tone and style, but they doth protest too much.

The Halifax Examiner recently claimed “It’s OK to get rid of books.” Apart from being bothered by the use of OK instead of okay, which would be acceptable in a print headline but is hardly necessary for an online headline, I was troubled by some points in the article. The article begins with the problems… Continue reading Books and Clutter

Tim’s Museum of Obsolete Tech 7.2

More than you ever wanted to know about LaserDisc players.

Tim’s Museum of Obsolete Tech 7.1

The ongoing saga of searching for new laserdisc player.

Tim’s Museum of Obsolete Tech 8

The Alphasmart Neo is a handy writing tool that looks back to the earliest laptops, and has inspired later high-end tools.

Tim’s Museum of Obsolete Tech 7

Laserdisc Player Well, this is awkward. Over the past two weeks, I drafted a post about my laserdisc player. I included the history of the format (dating back to the 1920s) and the unrecognized role these machines played in music, home video, videogames, and even karaoke bars during their three decades of manufacture. All that… Continue reading Tim’s Museum of Obsolete Tech 7

A Device at Last

A Somewhat Rambling Tale of Me and the SCA I attended my first Society for Creative Anachronism event in the spring of 1988. It was literally a life-changing event for me, and for the next decade the SCA was a big part of my life. I’ve recently become active again, and finally created a device… Continue reading A Device at Last

Tim’s Museum of Obsolete Tech 6

Olympia Traveller de Luxe While researching the history of my mid-size Olympia Regina de Luxe typewriter, I learned of the Traveller model, the last of the compact portables from Olympia. It looked vaguely familiar. I may have seen one when I purchased my no-frills Eaton’s typewriter in early 1980s. I remember eyeing a very cool… Continue reading Tim’s Museum of Obsolete Tech 6

Typewriters, Stencils, and Carbon Copies

More than you ever wanted to know about mid-1900s copying, plus the oldest typewritten letter. Full-size typewriters, and some compact versions, have a three position ribbon selector: Black, Stencil, and Red. In the stencil setting, the ribbon is not used. Older people (like me), or people who had early jobs using mid-1900s low volume printing… Continue reading Typewriters, Stencils, and Carbon Copies