test-drb December 2001

test-drb@ccmp.vtda.org

243 participants
1096 discussions

Wierd Things you've found inside... (was Smoking around computers))

by mcguire＠neurotica.com

On December 13, Roger Merchberger wrote: > And yes, cow's tongue is very good also, when prepared correctly, but I > never did acquire a taste for the pickled pork hocks... I don't "pretend" > what I like, because I like most everything. Well this is very cool...my sense of "gross" is a little oversensitive I think; I know a few people who don't have any at all...I must admit I'm somewhat jealous of them. -Dave -- Dave McGuire St. Petersburg, FL

22 years, 9 months

What's with this Lisa?

by csmith＠amdocs.com

> -----Original Message----- > From: Jeffrey H. Ingber [mailto:jhingber@ix.netcom.com] > I have a similar machine which I would call identical except for the > green-screen. All the "prototype" markings that the auction makes > mention of I have seen seen on my Lisa, as well as the only other one > I've seen. I believe these markings to be common, and that the screen > was a replacement job by a 3rd party. Is this guy > misinformed or am I? Well, I don't know whether they actually implied that the machine was a prototype... Just mentioned the markings as making it "unique." (a very slight distinction, anyway) You're right that they (the markings on the boards) might be common, though I certainly haven't seen any Lisas with green CRTs, myself. Regards, Chris Christopher Smith, Perl Developer Amdocs - Champaign, IL /usr/bin/perl -e ' print((~"\x95\xc4\xe3"^"Just Another Perl Hacker.")."\x08!\n"); '

22 years, 9 months

Need manual for Everex digital cassette drive

by csmith＠amdocs.com

> -----Original Message----- > From: ard(a)p850ug1.demon.co.uk [mailto:ard@p850ug1.demon.co.uk] > > > just off the center of the top of the cassette, and they have > > > two slide > > > tabs to turn write-protection on/off. Otherwise, it > looks just like a > > > regular analog cassette tape. > > No problem, just file a notch in your "analog" cassette. ;) > Is your data really worth that _little_ that it's not worth > buying the > right tape? Well, any data I'd consider storing on such a strange, you-probably-won't-see-another, device would have to be worth very little, or, more likely, backed up onto CD, DAT, or 8MM. :) That, and where do you suggest one should get "digital cassette" these days? > > I'm not sure that would work, but given the improved > resolution, etc, in > > cassette tapes during the last several years, it just may. > I am pretty sure the coercivity of the tape in the 'digital' > cassettes is > considerably high that that of the tape in normal audio cassettes... Well, again, cassettes have gotten better. Depending on the age of this "digital cassette" technology, it might substitute in a pinch. Speaking of which, anyone remember anything about the VHS tape backup devices? Capacity, systems they'd work with, etc? A friend and I were discussing these a few days ago. Regards, Chris Christopher Smith, Perl Developer Amdocs - Champaign, IL /usr/bin/perl -e ' print((~"\x95\xc4\xe3"^"Just Another Perl Hacker.")."\x08!\n"); '

22 years, 9 months

Need manual for Everex digital cassette drive

by dhquebbeman＠theestopinalgroup.com

> Maybe, but doubtful. This was more of a tape backup device. It uses > DIGITAL cassettes. If you've never seen one, they have a square notch > just off the center of the top of the cassette, and they have two slide > tabs to turn write-protection on/off. Otherwise, it looks just like a > regular analog cassette tape. Yeah, I've got a drive from an old Burroughs teller machine... Had a bunch of Burroughs stuff I dumped about five years ago, though I still have a direct-wire 1200 baud modem... -dq

22 years, 9 months

[PDP8-Lovers] if you hadn't already known this about the PDP-8

by pete＠dunnington.u-net.com

On Dec 13, 9:26, Mark Crispin wrote: > Unique? Quite a few processors of that time had a store-PC-and-jump type of > subroutine call. The beloved PDP-10 had three (JSR, JSP, JSA/JRA) and > subsequent enhancements added more (JSYS, XPCW); yet it also had stacks from > its inception. > > Contemporary programming languages, such as BASIC and FORTRAN, did not use > stack subroutines. It's possible that modern BASIC and FORTRAN compilers may > permit recursive subroutine calls, but doing so is still prohibited by the > language specification. Now you know why. That's not wholly true; FORTRAN prior to FORTRAN-90 prohibits recursion but it's a required feature in FORTRAN 90. I don't believe it's actually prohibited in BASIC of the mid-to-late 60's. There were certainly inplementations in the early 70s that allowed it, and it's a feature of the modern standards (both de-facto and ANSI). Recursion was also a (required) feature of ALGOL in 1958, and its successors, as was stack-based evaluation. However, in support of Mark, it's worth noting that the main reason there's no recursion allowed in FORTRAN, and it almost was omitted from the original ALGOL spec, was that it was hard for people to understand how it could be implemented across a variety of architectures. Stacks had been around since the mid-50s but lots of machines provided no specific support for them. -- Pete Peter Turnbull Network Manager University of York

22 years, 9 months

1GHz PDP-11 (Re: Prints for an 11/70)

by dhquebbeman＠theestopinalgroup.com

> > I bought a CGA-compatible video cards a few years back > > (80s), that had an incompatible hi-res mode in addition > > to the CGA, and a mouse interface. > > > > The manual kept referring to "the connector of the ten ways". > > This sounded *SO* Zen that I was sure than once I had it > > figured it, it'd be the secret to life. > > > > Finally dawned on me that this was "10-pin connector". > > In the UK (I have no idea if the expression is used in the States), the > term n-way connector is common. It means (of course) an connector with n > indepedant connections. It's often used for things like jack plugs ('phone > plugs' in the States) which don't really have pins. Calling the plug on > the end of a pair of stereo headphones a '3 pin plug' seems strange... Of course, we've some of the same linguistic heritage; but here, that usage's most frequent occurance is in a phrase relating to ways that deviate from each other, i.e. a four-way stop. The four ways all go away from each other. A cable with connectors like that might not be very useful (of course, as soon as I say that I envision an old-style RGB video cable with BNCs each "going their own way." -dq

22 years, 9 months

Wierd Things you've found inside... (was Smoking around compu ters)

by dhquebbeman＠theestopinalgroup.com

> On Thu, 13 Dec 2001, Cameron Kaiser wrote: > > > This is unfortunate since people take shoes and other implements to > > wolf spiders who are good to have in the house as they keep insects > > down to a minimum, and don't bother people. > > Anything in my house with more than four legs dies. It's as simple as > that. So, the beast with two backs never makes itself seen in your home? ;) -dq

22 years, 9 months

Cats around computers

by dhquebbeman＠theestopinalgroup.com

> On December 13, Douglas Quebbeman wrote: > > My Zoology prof claimed to have eaten just about > > eberything on the planet that people make a regular > > habit of eating... grubs were the first thing he > > mentioned. > > Fear. > > I will never understand the "I am cool because I eat, and pretend to > like, things that gross most people out" mentality. Well, although he was a zoologist, I'd agree it's a stretch (wants to know about animals so eats them), but for all I know, he may have wanted to be an anthropologist. It would be quite appropriate and understandable for one o' them to want to give everything a try... He had cancer back in those days, beat it, but I've no idea whether he's still around or not. We never, ever saw him down in the computer center, even though we had some applications we support for the biology department (bringing us back to classic computers). If he ever took to computers, they'd probably have been Macintoshes... -dq

22 years, 9 months

Cats around computers

by dhquebbeman＠theestopinalgroup.com

> On December 13, Douglas Quebbeman wrote: > > > > > > Rodents *are* chewy... have you never had squirrel? > > > > > > > > > > NO. And I hope I NEVER get that hungry. > > > > > > > > Hey, it's not like I was playing Hannibal Lector to > > > > old Rocket J. himself... > > > > > > Yes, but still...NOT FOOD. ;) > > > > Ok, Ok, you're right, you *won't* find it on the menu > > down at Mickey D's... or Hardups... or Snake n Shake... > > or Food Lion... > > Yes. But I maintain that squirrels are NOT FOOD not because you > won't find them in Food Lion...but you won't find them in Food Lion > because they're NOT FOOD. :) > > > BTW, now that you're _down south_, has anyone turned > > you onto the burgers at Crystal's ? > > I don't believe I've had them yet, no...are they good? > They're sometimes known as "southern sliders"... when you see them, you'll know why... And re: squirrels, lemme tell ya, I wouldn't be alive if they *weren't* food... there were times when squirrel wasn't the usual delicacy, but the only damned thing my ancestors could find to eat. -dq

22 years, 9 months

Wierd Things you've found inside... (was Smoking around compu ters)

by mcguire＠neurotica.com

On December 13, Jeffrey S. Sharp wrote: > > This is unfortunate since people take shoes and other implements to > > wolf spiders who are good to have in the house as they keep insects > > down to a minimum, and don't bother people. > > Anything in my house with more than four legs dies. It's as simple as > that. I with you there, Jeff. -Dave -- Dave McGuire St. Petersburg, FL

22 years, 9 months

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test-drb December 2001