test-drb January 1998

test-drb@ccmp.vtda.org

145 participants
831 discussions

by David_Wilson＠StrategicFulfillment.com

Hello, I am looking for a Heathkit H8 computer. If anyone has one for sale, or knows of one, I would appreciate the information. Thanks, David Wilson David_Wilson(a)StrategicFulfillment.com - or - dmwilson(a)worldnet.att.net

26 years, 5 months

Firsts

by manney＠nwohio.nwohio.com

> I don't know if you'd consider it a computer, but the HP 41 was used on > a number of shuttle flights. A friend of mine from HP went to Houston to > teach the astronauts how to use the 41. I've heard that the HP 65 or 67 > was used on some space flights even earlier, but I have not confirmed that. EDUCalc used to advertise that the '41 went on shuttle flights. I always wondered if theirs was more reliable than mine, which was dreadfully prone to static crashes. Why don't laptops suffer from that -- more massive? Better circuitry?

26 years, 5 months

Demand for old computers by commercial organisations?

by kevan＠heydon.org

Has this happened to anyone else: Tonight someone is travelling half the country to pick up and borrow one of my old computers, so that they can port a legacy system they have to PCs. The computer in Question is a Sage IV, and it appears that their unit has failed and they found me via my web pages. Out of the deal I am getting the rest of the Sage's they have when the port is over and they no longer need them. -- Kevan Old Computer Collector: http://www.heydon.org/kevan/collection/

26 years, 5 months

Weird Epson HX-20

by rigdonj＠intellistar.net

I found two Epson HC-20s today that appear to have GP-IB interfaces. They have indicator lites for most of the GP-IB signals in the plug in module and the module says GP-IB but the connector on it is a female BD-25 connector. Does anyone know for sure what this is? Joe

26 years, 5 months

Recording data to a strand of wire? AND Upcoming PBS special on bit rot

by yakowenk＠cs.unc.edu

These two threads just bumped together in my head. Has anybody got an idea of how long data should last on wire? It can't have the same problem with oxide coating that tapes do - the main problem might be to keep any oxide coating from developing. :-) Are the early wire recordings still readable? Maybe CDROMs beat wire in resisting rust, even if they are still not quite perfect on that count. Still, something about the idea of using such an old storage medium appeals to me. Anyone want to try running some fine ferrous wire through an old cassette (or even reel-to-reel) recorder, and see if the result is readable? Given Allison's warning about head-wear, I wouldn't try it on my favorite stereo system. Just what we need, another incompatible storage medium. :-) Cheers, Bill.

26 years, 5 months

Original IMSAI Board and Documentation for sale

by phunkchyld＠usa.net

First of all, let me apologize to anyone receiving this email who considers it garbage. Have several items related to the IMSAI computer for sale: Vector Graphic, Inc. [Rev 3] PROM/RAM BOARD w/cable and connector/pins. MAY 1976 IMSAI Complete Product Catalog - "The Complete Microcomputer System". Original price $1 IMSAI Domestic Price List for November '77 Invoice dated '78 (from IMSAI). Comes in what I assume is the original box, but this cannot be verified. Card has never been used and accessory items are still in original packaging. If you are interested, please make an offer an all items. JPEG's can be sent upon request, and I will try to answer any questions. Thanks Andrew By the way, although I don't collect computers, I might trade for an interesting old Apple or Atari. ____________________________________________________________________ Get free e-mail and a permanent address at http://www.netaddress.com

26 years, 5 months

Upcoming PBS special on bit rot

by jfoust＠threedee.com

Tim Shoppa <shoppa(a)alph02.triumf.ca> wrote: >I've sold several S-100 based systems with 8" >floppy drives, paper tape readers, etc., to Microsoft employees who >are hoping to make backups of the first ten years of Microsoft >software in the archives there. I'd love to exchange e-mail with them, if you still have their addresses. On my web page is the source and Win32 executables to Claus Giloi's Altair / IMSAI emulators. I think these are fun because they're GUI re-creations: you even have to click on the power switch to turn them on. In my Copious Spare Time, it would be fun to add virtual peripherals and sound effects: a Lancaster TV typewriter, ASR-33, disk drives, etc. I'd also like to archive some sample programs that people could toggle in... anyone out there have some in electronic form? I don't have real IMSAI/Altair just yet, but I'm working on it. >And Paul Allen just bought a XKL (PDP-10 clone), in >part to recreate their original software development environment - I think! Actually, that's Allen's company. Wouldn't it be nice to have nearly unlimited resources in order to fund your daydreams? Or is it more fun to dumpster-dive to save nifty bits? I'm not sure. :-) - John Jefferson Computer Museum <http://www.threedee.com/jcm>

26 years, 5 months

The IBM PS/2 model 70 again! -E61

by jfoust＠threedee.com

Uncle Roger <sinasohn(a)ricochet.net> wrote: >My main problem with PS/2's is cost and scarcity of MCA cards and >memory and such. At the UW-Madison surplus shop, they have several banquet tables full of boxes of PS/2 MCA junk cards, all at ~dollar prices. I don't know what's in there, though. - John Jefferson Computer Museum <http://www.threedee.com/jcm>

26 years, 5 months

Anybody want an Osborne?

by francois.auradon＠worldnet.att.net

That is totally understandable. Oh well. >>> Joe >>I don't think I would pay $20 for just a connector. It' the little thingy on > > It may be a little thing but the owner's not going to let me start taking >pieces off. Sorry. > > Joe ----------------------------------------------------------------------- Francois Auradon. Visit the SANCTUARY at http://home.att.net/~francois.auradon

26 years, 5 months

Etymologies...

by pvhp＠forte.com

classiccmp(a)u.washington.edu Subj: Re: Etymologies... PG Manney wrote: >Where did the following terms come from? > >-Dongle ? >-Byte (named after nybble, or vice-versa?) In support of Eric Raymonds's Hacker's Dictionary Dennis Shasha and Cathy Lazere* attribute the coinage of the term byte to Werner Bucholz who was chief architect of the IBM Stretch project. That being the late 1950's/ early 1960's I suspect that spellings such as "byte" and "nybble" were also puns of another sort: at that time a good deal of comedy material was floating around concerning the fad that had sprung up after world war II to name various small businesses along the lines of "Ye Olde Cheese Shoppe", "Ye Olde Liquore Store", "Ye Olde Flowere Shoppe" and such like. The intent was to convey some old world charm and respectability but by the early 60's "Ye Olde Used Carre Lotte" had a humourous ring to it and was lampooned in cartoons (I think things like Hanna-Barberra's Flintstones poked fun at "Ye Olde..."). Hence the "binary digit" -> bit (from the 1930s) became "byte" a larger and more respectable measure of storage (BTW in IBM speak one never mentions 'memory' it is 'storage'). At that time (early 60's) a four bit instruction set was not unheard of for computers hence the half byte or nybble came into being (simple pun on bite/nibble). *"Out of their Minds: The lives and discoveries of 15 Great Computer Scientists" (c) 1995 ISBN: 0-387-97992-1 >-Mainframe (Why not just...like..you know...call it a computer?) One of the basic units of IBM packaging is the "frame" which _roughly_ translates to four squarish 19" racks stuck together in a square. A given computer installation may have one or more frames for DASD (pronounced Dazz-dee meaning "Direct access storage device" or disk drive), a DASD controller (no kidding these things occupy a whole frame) and the Central Electronic Complex (CEC or CPU - a.k.a. the "Main" frame) >-DB (as in DB-15, 25) I've also heard them called D-sub xx) ? >-Mouse Apparently invented around 1964 by Douglas Englebart - according to Time/Life books "Understanding Computers" series. In the "Input/Output" volume on page 67 referring to equipment used at The 1968 Fall Joint Computer Conference in San Francisco: Technically known as an "x-y position indicator for a system," it was something Englebart had invented four years earlier and had named - because of its small size and tail-like cable - a mouse. Peter Prymmer

26 years, 5 months

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test-drb January 1998