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Top-level
 Oh my god, these are terminal connections. In the late eighties, - before the PS/2 port existed because also before the PS/2 existed -- IBM Model M keyboards had metal-shrouded RJ-45 connectors that connected to terminals-as-in-dumb-terminals, like the IBM 3101. For a while you could buy adapters that would let you plug the RJ-45 models into PS/2 connectors, but all that's long gone. These are 40-year-old keyboard and data ports. 33 comments
Ok now I definitely need to get a network cable, just to see if something's still living on the far side of these wires. I mean, there's no chance. None, there is just no way. But now I have to know. More likely RS232 serial than ethernet. When I saw the wire hanging down I was thinking about the current loop interface. You have to know that if itβs labelled with these ancient stressed-plastic stickers, this is like seeing a url with a tilde in it. This is where the old magic lives, this is the good shit.  @mhoye I misread it as DATA FORT and for a second imagined some sort of pillow fort but with mainframes. @mhoye (slowly hides my precious label maker... preciousssss....sssss.... gollum!)  βMy profile page URL has a ~ in it. Your profile page has an @ in it. We are not the same.β  @gsuberland @rk @mhoye also running proxies for gaming through it because it was blazing fast compared to the sluggish dorm nat  Would be interesting to see what cabling that is and where it might go ππ€·ββοΈ @mhoye my friend's pubnix still uses the  @mhoye That's not entirely true. These stickers are Dymo labelmaker output, and while Dymo's big advantage, mechanical simplicity, is not that advantageous these days, Dymo labelmakers are still in fairly common use. I'll need to check it the next time I go out, but I think even the sign next to my doorbell button, only a couple of years old, is a Dymo label. @mhoye The right hole on this picture, is it a screwhole with a missing screw or, say, a 3.5mm TRS socket? @mhoye see everyone is data lake this, iceberg that - but nobodyβs selling the comfort of staying in port @mhoye Someday I will move my techblog to a new host, and when I do I will be very tempted to preserve the '~cks/' bit for various reasons.  @mhoye Looks like that data port has no connector... Is this the /dev/null equivalent of Ethernet? @mhoye Maybe some long-gone antique system for controlling the telephone or television with a wired remote device? @mhoye heh, it's not quite a dead concept yet... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0Nf2WhPhZjI |
Gregory's Server
@mhoye but why in a room?
This is such a great beginning for a text adventure if you ask meβ¦