A Tale of Stargazing and Fish Pie

A Tale of Stargazing and Fish Pie London has been on my bucket list for years so last summer I decided it was time to go. I chose December because it’s off-season and everything is a lot cheaper and less crowded. Then one evening, while watching Doc Martin, a popular...

The Computalker Speech Synthesizer

The Computalker Speech Synthesizer By Mark Dahmke The Computalker CT-1 was the first speech synthesizer designed for personal computers. It was introduced in 1976, for S-100 computers, like the Altair and IMSAI. Software was available for Northstar DOS and CP/M, two...

Vintage Computers: The Mike III – A Home-built Z80 Computer

Vintage Computers: The Mike III – A Home-built Z80 Computer I started building a Z80 computer system in mid-1976. I came across an ad for a board set built by Martin Research of Northbrook, Illinois, and based my design on their 8008 and later 8080 schematics. By the...

My Life, My Way: The Story of Bill Rush

My Life, My Way: The Story of Bill Rush Copyright 2004, 2014 Mark Dahmke, All Rights Reserved. In high school, I’d read about an amazing new device that could electronically synthesize the sounds of the human voice. The machine was clunky and expensive, and more...