Welcome to #checkin for Friday, May 8, 2026
Good evening/afternoon/morning, everyone and welcome to today's #checkin. TGIF! Today I spontaneously decided to attend the lecture/speech of the Prof. Dr. Günther Hasinger, astrophysicist, regarding black holes, JWST, and dark matter. The talk took place in the HNF computer museum, and before the talk I could take a little stroll through the exhibition.
My favorite part of the exhibition is really the old stuff about typewriters, calculators, and early computers.
I took a picture of the calculator and some typewriters.
What was your first calculator or your first typewriter/computer?
Greetings… Ahoj! Aloha! Bom dia! Bonjour! Bună! Ciao! G’day! Geia sas! Günaydın, صباح الخير , בוקר טוב 你好! Håfa Adai! Hi! Hei! Hello! Hallo! Hei! Hola! Howdy! Halō! Kamusta! Kia Orana! Kon’nichiwa! Mabuhay! Moi! Namaste! Ni Hao! Neih hou! Pagi! Saluton! Sawasdee! Shwmae! Γειάσας! Talofa!
Checkin Legends
@Aline
@Alexander
@Andreas G
@Nat Weaver 🏳️⚧️🏳️🌈
@Cats of Commons 💫
@Beej Cobalt
@DeanC
@David Calderon
@Dave Higgins [Main Account]
@davidamerland
@Debbie D. 🇨🇦 🇩🇪
@debo
@Deb Zaccaro-Rojas
@Don Little
@Paul Ferguson
@That Harp Guy
@Guy Geens
@gregg taylor
@Griff Ferrell
@Griff Ferrell
@hackbyte Antifa (friendica) 13HB1
@Humbertiquín
@Holly Jahangiri
@Isaac Kuo
@Jacob C
@Janet Logan 🏳️⚧️
@Alrekr Járnhandr
@Jay Bryant
@John True Connection
@Jess Nut
@Samuel Smith
@Jodi
@John Hummel
@John MacLeod
@Joltrast
@Jon Alcibar
@Joseph Teller
@Joyce Donahue
@Karl Auerbach
@Katherine Bond
@Kenny Chaffin
@Klaus Lademann
@Lee Rothstein
@libramoon
@Mark Wollschlager
@Nora Qudus
@Michele Hax
@Pedro Subrosa
@Phil Setnik
@Susan ✶✶✶✶
@randy.galbraith
@Richard
@Rob Anybody
@Rod Mesa
@robb
@sheilanagig
@Phil Landmeier (ᚠ)
@smellsofbikes
@Lisa Stranger
Checkin Hosts, regular and occasional
@Cass
@((( David "Kahomono" Frier )))
@Muse
@Christoph S
@s banerian
@Bob Lai
@Carsten Raddatz
@su ann lim
In Memoriam
@Stan McCann (Uncle Pirate)
We hope you’ll use the hashtag to keep track of the daily post and join in if you’re not on this list. The topic is always open 💕
like this
Jodi
in reply to Christoph S • • •NCR Century 200
It looked like this
like this
Christoph S, debo, Muse, Griff Ferrell and Rod Mesa like this.
Joyce Donahue
in reply to Christoph S • • •Didn't everyone have one of these on their desk in the 1970s?
like this
Christoph S, Muse, Griff Ferrell and Rod Mesa like this.
DeanC
in reply to Christoph S • • •like this
Christoph S, Griff Ferrell and Rod Mesa like this.
debo
in reply to Christoph S • • •like this
Christoph S, Carsten Raddatz, Griff Ferrell and Rod Mesa like this.
Deb Zaccaro-Rojas
in reply to Christoph S • • •like this
Christoph S, Griff Ferrell and Rod Mesa like this.
libramoon
in reply to Christoph S • • •like this
Christoph S and Rod Mesa like this.
Cass
in reply to Christoph S • • •like this
Christoph S, Carsten Raddatz and Rod Mesa like this.
Cass
in reply to Christoph S • • •like this
Christoph S and Rod Mesa like this.
sb
in reply to Christoph S • • •not mine, but i'm pretty sure people in my family used mechanical calculators:
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Slide_ca…
of course my engineer brother had a slide rule.
like this
Christoph S and Rod Mesa like this.
Jay Bryant
in reply to Christoph S • • •I still have my first calculator: An HP programmable that I got for college in 1980. It still works. RPN for the win.
My first computer was a Zenith Heathkit, which I built in 1986.
I don't recall the brand of my first typewriter, but I got it in 1978 as a birthday present.
like this
Christoph S, debo and Rod Mesa like this.
DeanC
in reply to Christoph S • • •like this
Carsten Raddatz, Christoph S and Rod Mesa like this.
Carsten Raddatz
in reply to Christoph S • •Just weeks ago my first real Casio resurfaced, fx-100v. Coolest feature is it can hold 6 custom constants to be used in calculations. When we were allowed calculator use in physics and maths class this helped a ton.
This specimen is from early 1992 or so, and I remember I did renew the AAA battery once since.
Re black holes, this eso photo of the week is super cool. The precision we measure orbital trajectories with is staggering.
eso.org/public/images/potw2610…
like this
sb, Christoph S and Rod Mesa like this.
Mark Wollschlager
in reply to Christoph S • • •The first typewriter was an old Remington manual that belonged to Mom. Onion skin paper and carbons.
My first computer was a dual 5.25 HD floppy CP/M hand me down from a friend. VT100 terminal and a 1200b modem. That was in the early 80's. Compiling took a long time. I later got an IBM PC that was upgraded to the max, CPU 'turbo chip', expansion unit with 2 full height 10mb hard drives, Yamaha music cards. Almost wish I still had it.
I may have had a TI or casio calculator in the late 70's. Slide rules were still taught in and I still have my dad's and my cheap plastic one from 1971.
I still have this Programmable Sharp I bought in 1980. Still works.
like this
Christoph S and Rod Mesa like this.
Karl Auerbach
in reply to Christoph S • • •My first computer - probably my fingers. (I've never been very good doing arithmetic in my head.)
I know (or at least did) know how to use a Curta. And I was pretty good with a slide rule (I still have a linear one and a circular one.)
My first electronic calculator - hmmm, probably an IBM 7094 at UCLA. Big grey monster.
My first mini-computer: Interdata something-80. (I wrote an operating system for it using assembly code that we cross assembled on a big IBM 360/75.)
I'm really good at getting off-by-one errors.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Curta
Curta - Wikipedia
Contributors to Wikimedia projects (Wikimedia Foundation, Inc.)like this
Christoph S and Rod Mesa like this.
Muse
in reply to Christoph S • • •I was the first kid in my small town to own a pocket calculator. The owner of the local drug store had just put it on the shelf, when I saw it. I ran home and raided my savings, came back, and bought it!
Interestingly it wasn't exactly a calculator. It was an electronic slide rule. But, the results were the same! I still have it somewhere in an unpacked box.
like this
debo, Christoph S and Rod Mesa like this.
Karl Auerbach
in reply to Christoph S • • •Slide rules teach a couple of extremely useful skills that you don't get with electronic calculators:
like this
debo, Muse, Christoph S and Rod Mesa like this.
Griff Ferrell
in reply to Christoph S • • •Heathkit H-100
like this
Mark Wollschlager, Carsten Raddatz, Muse, Christoph S, Rod Mesa and DeanC like this.
Lisa Stranger
in reply to Christoph S • • •like this
Griff Ferrell, Christoph S, Muse and Rod Mesa like this.
Rod Mesa
in reply to Christoph S • • •I have one of these laying about somewhere:
I had one of those TI-30s. Used it forever. Use the calc function on my Macbook of iPhone these days.
like this
Griff Ferrell, Christoph S and Muse like this.
Griff Ferrell
in reply to Christoph S • • •first calculator? no idea. last calculator HP48 SX
like this
Christoph S, Rod Mesa and Muse like this.
DeanC
in reply to Christoph S • • •like this
Griff Ferrell, Rod Mesa and Muse like this.
Christoph S
in reply to Christoph S • • •