User talk:Robert Matthews

Photo source

• Can you add the source of the photograph of Tidwell Hall? Thanks. --Dystopos (talk) 09:37, 18 March 2016 (PDT)
• I added the source to the photograph yesterday (24 March 2016)

Excellent work

• Excellent work lately! I need to dig you up some kind of award. --Dystopos (talk) 07:28, 6 August 2016 (PDT)
  • Thanks! You could double my pay ;) Seriously, though, I enjoy history, computers, & photography... glad to add a few bits of info every now & then. Robert Matthews (talk) 15:06, 6 August 2016 (PDT)
    • I'll write a note to the HR manager and see where it gets us. In the meantime, help yourself to whatever's left in the break room fridge. --Dystopos (talk) 08:32, 10 August 2016 (PDT)

UAB template

On the UAB template, you might want to add the latest residence hall, NFR_Hall to the Housing section. Robert Matthews (talk) 08:41, 19 August 2016 (PDT)

• Thanks and done. You're always welcome to modify them yourself. It may seem intimidating, but just adding an entry is a copy, paste, and change the link. And if you just can't get it, you can always undo your changes. --Lkseitz (talk) 07:53, 20 August 2016 (PDT)

CoCo

As a former member of Apple Corps of Birmingham, I submit that the Tandy Color Computer was inferior to the Apple II GS. I am prepared to defend myself. --Dystopos (talk) 12:46, 23 August 2016 (PDT)

• Well, we could debate the merits of various systems forever, but in this case, your comparison is not fair because your II GS was probably made 5 years after my Color Computer :) [I bought mine in 1981] Robert Matthews (talk) 13:02, 23 August 2016 (PDT)
  • I never had a II GS myself. I had a ][+. But I did have this debate endlessly with a guy in middle school who was a fan of the Color Computer. He ended up being my technical support for the launch of Bhamwiki. --Dystopos (talk) 13:25, 23 August 2016 (PDT)
    • Yep, I used Apple ][+ and ][e's a fair bit back in that era. I managed a lab in the mid-80's that had a bunch of them and also had a dozen or so MS-DOS PC's that were produced by PC's Limited (the company that Michael Dell started in his dorm room in TX and eventually changed the company name to Dell.) btw, I clicked on the link for the Apple Core website on Birmingham Apple Core and it seems to be non-existent. Robert Matthews (talk) 16:17, 23 August 2016 (PDT)
      • My family had an Apple //e. Kind of freaky we have this common thread. I used Apple II (or compatible) computers as my primary machine until 1992 or so. And if anyone wants copies of the The Peel from the defunct web site, I have them here, um, somewhere. Haven't updated the BAC entry since I didn't know if the group was defunct or just the site. --Lkseitz (talk) 05:46, 24 August 2016 (PDT)

Renaming pages

• I usually use the "move" tool (under the down arrow between the star and the search bar when you're logged in) to move the page to the new title and create a redirect. --Dystopos (talk) 09:29, 4 September 2016 (PDT)
  • thanks for the update... will do this the next time I need to change the name of a page. Robert Matthews (talk) 13:05, 4 September 2016 (PDT)

Building on a Vision

• How does the 1995 Building on a Vision compare to McWilliams' 2007 book with regard to "essential" information about UAB and its role in the region? Do they both belong in a highly-selective list dealing with the region as a whole? --Dystopos (talk) 11:22, 14 November 2016 (PST)
  • IMO the two books compliment each other. McWilliams' book is basically written in narrative style and Fisher's book is more like an encyclopedic reference. I was planning to create a wiki page for the book sometime later this week and include this text that describes the book (from the flyleaf). "Building on a Vision presents a chronological overview of the first 50 years of Medical Center development at UAB. Over 200 pages in length, the volume contains 352 photographs. A narrative at the beginning of each chapter provides a historical framework for placing the photographs in context. Excerpts from oral history interviews with individuals who made and lived Medical Center history animate the narrative. A chronology supplements the text and photographs and provides capsule information about developments and milestones. Two appendices, an index, and a bibliography, together with other elements, help make Building On A Vision an entertaining photographic history and a valuable reference tool." Much of the narrative portion of the text describes local and regional issues involved in the creation of the Medical Center. In my own research, I find it extremely useful as a reference guide. Robert Matthews (talk) 11:46, 14 November 2016 (PST)