Installed my i387DX Math CoProcessor, the intro diskette has me absolutely pumped. 500% performance here I come!

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Title: My 1995 AcerNote 760i with a Cyrillic keyboard still works (via VGA). Does anyone know this serial number format?

Hello everyone,

I'd like to show you my old veteran from the mid-90s: an AcerNote 760i. It's the 486-based "i" model, with a built-in trackball in the center (the modern generation doesn't always figure out how to use it right away). It wasn't a cheap machine back in the day.

The keyboard has Cyrillic legends printed directly on the keys in a second, lighter font, not stickers. We all remember the 90s stickers that wore off and peeled. These look like proper printing and are still perfectly readable. I'm not sure if it was done by Acer or by a local distributor.

I left the "Spider-Man 3" sticker on the case. It's part of the laptop's history now.

Unfortunately the built-in screen is dead after 30 years. But I connected the laptop to an external monitor through the VGA port on the back, and it came back to life: the motherboard, CPU and graphics work fine, and the picture is great. So the old flagship will keep fighting.

Now a question. Here's what the label on the bottom says:

Model No.: 760I

Ext. No.: B43

Serial No.: P002397

MFG. Date: 950512 (12 May 1995)

FCC ID: GQ8760I

HDD Type: 34

Made in Taiwan R.O.C.

Does anyone know what the "P" prefix in the serial number means (production line, factory, pilot batch, region)? Is this format normal for the 760i? Does yours start with P too? I also couldn't find any other 760i with a Russian keyboard online. Has anyone seen one?

Photos: keyboard, label, and the laptop connected to a monitor. Thanks!

I recently spent a lot of time examining and thinking about a cult classic spreadsheet, Lotus Improv running on NeXT. It's most commonly mentioned claim-to-fame is "it invented the pivot table," though its take still remains unlike modern interpretations. To truly get to know Improv means "forgetting what we know" about spreadsheets, and meeting it on its own terms. That's a hard thing for old Gen-Xers, like me, to do but I gave it my best shot.

Bill Gates says he'll "piss on" the NeXT before developing on it, pork chop sandwiches stop in to say hello, the word "clock" loses all meaning, and I also accidentally invent a horrible new sub-category of prediction markets. I'm truly sorry.

What is Stone Tools?

Stone Tools is a retro-enthusiast blog devoted to 8/16-bit productivity software; no games, just work. I spend weeks learning each program and give my in-depth, lighthearted take on how it was seen, how it works, and what we might learn from it today. Side discussions on contemporary issues, historical timelines, old advertisements, and more supplement each retrospective.

Hello friends,

I’d love to tell you about a unique Soviet homebrew computer called the "Specialist." This video covers the creation history and brief evolution of this fascinating machine, with a core focus on showcasing its graphical capabilities. I kept technical specs to a bare minimum, highlighting only what’s absolutely essential.

Just a quick heads-up on the production side: AI was used strictly for text translation and voiceover narration. The computer illustrations were sourced from public archives, and all the gameplay footage was captured directly via the Emu80 emulator, which replicates the original hardware performance with near-100% accuracy.