Admiral Shark

@sharktastica.co.uk

339 Followers 317 Following

Hi, I share retro IBM keyboards, PCs & ThinkPads! Welsh 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁷󠁬󠁳󠁿, he/him, software engineer, Debian user, lover of sharks, rock, metal, Star Trek & Stargate! #LLAP Website: https://sharktastica.co.uk Socials: https://links.sharktastica.co.uk Subreddit: /r/modelm

A photo of my IBM ThinkPad 365ED from the left-hand side whilst it is laid out flat.
A photo of an IBM ThinkPad 365ED running SHORK 486 after logging and running SHORKFETCH.
A screenshot of the Vim editor running on SHORK 486 inside a VMware virtual machine.
A screenshot of SHORKHELP running on SHORK 486 showing all the commands available as of the end of 15th July 2026.
A screenshot of SHORKMINES on SHORK 486 showing a minesweeper game in progress.
A screen captured demonstration of SHORK 486's serial console. A VMware VM with SHORK 486 is started. Then I switch to a terminal window on the host computer to use socat to connect to it through ttyS0. I then try some SHORKUTILS and SHORKOFF the system.
A screen captured demonstration of using SHORK DISC's shorkstall to write a SHORK 486 image to a hard disk, then restarting to boot into the newly installed OS.
A screenshot of SHORK 486 with Linux kernel 7.2-rc1 running in 86Box configured with an Intel 486DX (top-left), and SHORK DISC running in VMware (bottom-right)
A screenshot of SHORK 486 with Linux kernel 7.1.0 running in a 86Box virtual machine confirmed with an Intel 486SX processor and 12MiB system memory.
A photo of my table at the Bristol keyboard meeting, showing the 6 keyboards and 1 keypad I brought to demonstrate IBM keyboard history! From top-left clockside: 528X-83 type Model B, 122-key Model F, IBM 754x/756x/GEARBOX 800 Industrial Computer Keyboard (Model M), IBM USB RANPOS Keyboard (Model M9), IBM Space Saver II Keyboard with TrackPoint II and keypad (both Model M4-1), and IBM Wheelwriter 5 Keyboard (Model M).
From top-left clockwise: IBM/Toshiba Global Commerce Solutions Model M7-e Modular POS Keyboard, Model M8-e Modular POS LCD Keyboard, Model M-e Modular CANPOS Keyboard and Model M9-e Modular ANPOS Keyboard.
A screenshot of SHORKFETCH running inside four tmux panes showing various styles of output.
A screenshot of SHORK 486 logged in as root, ran shorkfetch, then ran adduser to create a new user called "kali".
A screenshot of SHORK 486 Linux running on 86Box with tmux open into four panels containing (top-left, clockwise) shorkfetch, sc-im, MicroPython and htop output.
A screenshot of SHORK 486 running tmux. A split screen is demonstrated, with a terminal prompt on the left, and GNU nano open the right.
A screenshot of SHORK 486 running htop interactive process viewer
A photo of an IBM ThinkPad 365ED running SHORK 486 with Linux kernel 7.0.0.
A screenshot of SHORK 486 running in 86Box VM with shorkfetch output showing it's running Linux kernel version 7.0.0.
A screenshot of SHORK 486 running in 86Box VM with shorkfetch output showing it's running Linux kernel version 7.0.0-rc7.
A screenshot of shorksay running on SHORK 486 Linux, showing an example of a piped message (using date) and a custom message reading "Hello, this is a test of the very cute SHORKSAY! :3 A fun homage to cowsay, I hope you enjoy it!"
A screenshot of SHORK 486 running shorksay saying "Enjoy, please let me know what you think! :3"
A screenshot of a WIP shorksay
A screen recording of SHORK 486 running shorkfetch then shorklocomotive in 86Box emulating a 16MHz Intel 486SX-based computer.
A photo of my Lenovo ThinkPad W700 portable workstation running Debian 13 with Cinnamon desktop environment, showing shorkdir running in its terminal.
A screen recording of the new dialog-based build configurator for SHORK 486 Linux
A screenshot of Admiral Shark's Keyboards Keyboard Timeline feature showing the entry for IBM SK-8840 on its 22nd birthday!
A photo of an IBM ThinkPad 365ED opened flat and running SHORK 486 Linux with the output of shorkfetch shown.
A screenshot of shorkdir running on SHORK 486 Linux, showing it navigated to my /usr/bin directory and listing all its contents.
A comparison of a Type A (top) and Type B (bottom) IBM 3275 & 3277 Display Station 66-key Keyboard. The shape of some keys are telling and are thus circled for easy comparison.
An excerpt from a 2004 Unicomp product catalogue showing the Unicomp Mighty Mouse family and its specifications
A photo of the Unicomp Model M4 Mighty Mouse keyboard from the top
A screenshot of shorkfetch running on SHORK 486
A screenshot of SHORK 486's upcoming SHORKGUI running on emulated 486SX hardware
A photo of my IBM ThinkPad 365ED notebook computer running SHORK 486 and showing lsblk, df and free output
A photo of my IBM ThinkPad 365ED notebook computer running SHORK 486 and showing its shorkfetch output.
A screenshot of SHORK 486 running in 86Box and given only 8MB system memory to work with.
A photo of SHORK 486 running on a Lenovo ThinkPad R60 and an IBM ThinkPad T40.
A list of relevant IBM plant codes for their mainframe, PC, keyboard and typewriter products.
My IBM ThinkPad 380Z serial number label showing the "55" plant code.
A photo of a small BLAHAJ (IKEA shark) plushie tucked in my bed
A screenshot of SHORK Mini running on 86Box and showing its welcome message
A photo of an IBM Model B Electric Executive Typewriter with a supposed document feeder attachment. Source: https://digitaltmuseum.org/011015239353/7-0-ibm-op-fotografier
A screenshot of my WIP revamped IBM typewriter and keyboard models page showing various IBM Electric Typewriter models (01, 01 with carbon ribbon, 02, 03, 04, 09 and 10).
A photo of my hand holding a bottle of Kraken Black Cherry rum
A comparison between an IBM ThinkPad 700/720 and a Tadpole ANA-based notebook keyboard's base plates, showing their shared origin. Various "landmarks" are circled to highlight the relationship.
A photo of a tub of ice cream with a spoon stuck in it
A screenshot of Windows Vista Ultimate with the start menu, Internet Explorer 7 and Microsoft Word 2007 open. IE7 is displaying my website whilst using its Aero theme. Word has a cheeky message saying "Windows Vista > Windows 7 :)" barely visible through the aero glass effect on IE7's top border.
A screenshot of my distro, SHORK Mini, running in a 86box-emulated 486SX machine
A photo of an IBM ThinkPad 380Z notebook computer
A photo of an IBM ThinkPad TransNote computer
A photo of an IBM Thinkpad G40 desktop replacement portable computer
A magazine scan excerpt showing the IBM 3232 Printer-Keyboard.
A patent diagram depicting Lexmark's adjustable force-sensing resistor pointing stick