The Minicomputer Era

Steven Guccione

I woke up this morning with the name Ed de Castro in my head. Edson de Castro was the founder of late 1970s minicomputer company Data General. It was in the Boston area, where I did my undergrad in the early 1980s, so it was a familiar corporate name. I believe Ed de Castro even gave a large donation to my school when I was there. Years later, I learned my lab tech was a Data General employee and stayed in touch with Ed de Castro. But I didn’t really have any personal connection to him.

De Castro and Data General are mostly remembered for being the subject of Tracy Kidders Pulitzer Prize winning book The Soul of a New Machine. It documented the strange new world of tech start-ups, where vast new fortunes were being created and the world was being changed. We all read Soul of a New Machine as undergrads.

I googled Ed deCastro this morning and saw that he died recently. I didn’t see any mention of his passing.

But I did run across the short memoir from and early Data General employee, the former head of software and founder of Stratus Technologies. Not much was really written about the reality of these early rocket ride companies. I really enjoyed this bit of history.

Data General: The Fair Bastards

Northern Lights

Steven Guccione

Was taking the trash out and noticed a faint red glow in the sky. Once my eyes adjusted to the dark, it was definitely a glow. Noticed some green on the side. It went away but came back around 10pm when I took a few photos.

Garage Door Fail

Steven Guccione

Garage door wouldn’t close this evening. It’s been squeaking a bit lately but garage doors always make noise. I figured it was sticking and needed some help. Got up on a chair and pulled down on the bottom of the door while Diane pushed the button. A little better but it wasn’t going to close. It was beeping and flashing lights and referring to an error code in the manual (which, of course, I don’t have). Figured I’d disconnect the automatic opener, close it by hand and get someone to look at it in the morning.

I decided to check out the sensors one more time. I remember once having a bug living in front of the sensor that kept the door from closing. But all clear. Except I notice the sun shining directly into the sensor. I waited a few minutes after the sun went down and all was well. A sort of Stonehenge moment. Just can’t close my garage door certain times of the day, perhaps only certain times of the year.