retromodo

Random Stuff

Computers Are Scary, But Steve Allen Is Here To Help

1:00PM Adam Frucci
Back in the early ’80s, computers were new and terrifying. Luckily, Steve Allen was available to chuckle you through all of that crazy jargon. [Everything Is Terrible]
Design

Corrugated Steel Fallout Shelter Protects Against Mild Rainstorms

6:00PM Dan Nosowitz | This fallout shelter plan, from 1962, only cost $US150 in raw materials, and if properly made, has a “protection factor greater than 500″. 500 what? No idea! More »
Random Stuff

54 Years Ago, Time Travel Was Invented By Doc Brown

8:55AM Rosa Golijan | On November 5, 1955, Dr Emmett Lathrop Brown hit his head on the side of a bathroom sink. As his headache faded, an image appeared — an idea that would finally make time travel possible: the flux capacitor. More »
History of TV

When TV Moved From Mechanical To Electronic

12:00PM Nick Broughall | It may have been Scotsman John Logie Baird who changed the world by broadcasting a moving image using his mechanical Televisor device, but a lot of the credit for the fully electronic televisions we watch today goes to Hungarian Kálmán Tihanyi, who pioneered a fully electronic system and the development of the use of cathode ray tubes. More »
Random Stuff

Welcome To The Company, Here’s Your 1980s Cubicle

4:40PM Rosa Golijan | Don’t get me wrong, I think the 1980s were fantastic, great music and all, but I’m not so sure that I’d want to be put into a truly old-school cubicle like this on my first day. More »
Entertainment

This Is The Most Terrifying, Disturbing Movie You Will See Today

4:47AM Jesus Diaz | My favourite actor died today, which makes me truly sad. He’s Spanish, so you probably don’t know him, even while he got an Emmy in 1972 for this short: The Telephone Box, a frightening tale with a shocking ending. More »
Toys

Mind Control Games Make A Comeback

9:00AM Jack Loftus | As mind control toys, games and electronics position themselves to become the big ticket items of the holiday season, we children of the 80s can just sit back and smile, content with the knowledge that we’ve seen it all before. More »
Business

Apple Ad God Lee Clow’s Work — A Look Back

7:18AM The Business Insider | Lee Clow stepped down as the chief creative officer of TBWA/Media Arts Lab, Ad Age reports. Clow and TBWA/Media Arts were responsible for many of Apple’s most popular advertisements. More »
Computers

The Computer That Made The Internet

5:40AM Jesus Diaz | This is Dr. Leonard Kleinrock pinching the nipples of the Interface Message Processor, a ruggedised Honeywell DDP-516 Minicomputer. This box is responsible for what you are reading now, which either makes her my mum or the internet’s mum or both. More »
Games

Atari’s Lunar Lander, Made Real

4:00AM Adam Frucci | A crazy British engineer named Iain Sharp decided to honour the 40th anniversary of the moon landing by building a real-life version of the classic Atari game Lunar Lander. And you know what? It’s pretty great. More »