VId of my 286 on the Internet

[creepingnet]

Well, I went ahead and did it, and decided to make a video of "The Ultimate 286" surfing the internet complete with some proof of the specifications from the boot screen. The video shows me on google and uncreative labs at 800X600 @16 bit color using a 1MB SVGA card and Arachne for the web browser. Also there's some shots of the disk overlay, and the specs. However, I will warn there's no sound, and it's like watching paint dry to some people.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J3Nn0eDF9X0

 

[Edlin]

You truly are mad

You truly are mad

I mean that in a good way. You need the theme song from the Twilight Zone playing in the background, and you might just get nominated for an award, this was much more exciting than watching paint dry.

 

[creepingnet]

I mean that in a good way. You need the theme song from the Twilight Zone playing in the background, and you might just get nominated for an award, this was much more exciting than watching paint dry.

I was actually tempted to put up background music. Twilight Zone would be a good one, both the TV Show theme AND the Golden Earring song (really pertainent since the 80286 came out in 1982, the same year the song did). I need to figure out how to pull that one off first though.

 

[chuckcmagee]

I got sea sick from all that zooooooming! Had to give it up half way through.

 

[creepingnet]

I got sea sick from all that zooooooming! Had to give it up half way through.

Srry bout that, I wanted to make sure I caught the machine specs on screen as proof that this is running on a 286 and not an underclocked 486 or something, as well as catch some vital clues as to how I pulled this off (internet configuration and whatnot.

 

[Starshadow]

you know, it loaded the google page at a fair descent speed.

 

[creepingnet]

you know, it loaded the google page at a fair descent speed.

Yeah, that's because google does not require a lot of resources. I actually reccomend that for older machines when doing searches since it only takes about as much time as a 28.8K modem at the slowest, and once everything is cache'd it goes faster.

Try running Yahoo! on a 286 and holy crud does it get nasty, especially now that they have all that flash and java and other crud on their current version of their homepage. I kinda miss how it was in 2000, it used to render at blazing speed on a 56K dial-up connection on a 486, now on a 486 with DSL, even using some early version of WIndows NT, it takes awhile to load because of all the junk on the front page.

Something I probably should have video'd was the GameGenie.com page, complete with graphics and tables, it takes it a little to render, but not as bad as Yahoo would be.

This is actually the second 286 I've put on the web, the first was an IBM PS/2 Model 30 286, with a 56K modem, and NetTamer, now that was slow, the IBM had a proprietary MFM Drive, and the Hard Disk was REALLY holding the computer's throughput back, it'd toss it on the screen pretty fast, but you'd hear plenty of chirping from the hard disk beforehand.

 

[chuckcmagee]

If you REALLY hate yourself, load FOXNEWS.COM or CNN.COM. Those are murder.

 

[creepingnet]

If you REALLY hate yourself, load FOXNEWS.COM or CNN.COM. Those are murder.

That's tempting.....

Right now I'm editing down a mostly full video of Monkey Island front to back (6 parts), and toying with pulling a quick Leisure Suit Larry round as well. I may throw in a round two of internet challenge on the ol 286 possibly with those sites.

 

[chuckcmagee]

Not sure I'll even finish LSL 2. The animation doesn't even look like Larry!!!

 

[Mike Chambers]

sweet video! that thing is quick for a 286. i noticed you're using the same packet driver i use on my 386. exp16.com

i ALSO noticed in the video description you have leetIRC on there!!

awesomeness. i am considering trying to make a web surfing video starring my 8088, but i'm not sure i could get the video under the 10 minute youtube limit!!!! i already do have one up on youtube showing it running my IRC client, but it was before i made some MAJOR speed improvements in the code. it would be much better if i made a new vid of that.

 

[wiskow]

Try running Yahoo! on a 286 and holy crud does it get nasty, especially now that they have all that flash and java and other crud on their current version of their homepage. I kinda miss how it was in 2000, it used to render at blazing speed on a 56K dial-up connection on a 486, now on a 486 with DSL, even using some early version of WIndows NT, it takes awhile to load because of all the junk on the front page.

In 2000? I miss how Yahoo! was when I first used it in 1995! ;-)

-Andrew

 

[creepingnet]

In 2000? I miss how Yahoo! was when I first used it in 1995! ;-)

-Andrew

Lol, if only. I remember those days too, a 486 would FLY on Yahoo back in those days on 38.8K dial-up. I remember also using the Compaq Prolinea 486 machines at the university libary in 1997 on their network for web surfing for free practically all day, it seems like that's all you needed back then.

A day that will forever live in infamy is when my sister told me about the Internet a few years before Al Gore ever had a dream. Yes, we had it back then. I don't remember too much, but my sister got a computer for college, it was a 286 or a 386, I think a 386, but I'm not sure. Anyway, she used to have an internet account to get on newsgroups and such, on that little 386, using MS-DOS and a 14.4K modem. Back then you were charged by time on their network, so you had to keep track or pay a hefty fee. Even then I thought it was pretty nice, even though it was not that fast.

Then my other sister got a Pentium 100 running Windows 95 with Netscape 2.02, and it was all over for me. I wanted internet. Then I waited 3 more years, and despite the pleas, and begging from local stores to buy a new computer rather than use an antiquated 486 I had been given, I got that old beater with Windows 3.1 and an old copy of AOL 3.0 on-line. And that's how I got started on this. Since then I've worked my way down, and yes the XT is getting networked and internet, once I can work out how to pull off a full upgrade to 640K.