test-drb

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101090 discussions

by adavie＠mad.scientist.com

Just found a free PDP 11/23 which I'll be picking up tomorrow, and a VT220. I know nothing at all about this machine - are there precautions I should take before shifting it? Drive parking or some such? Are there any hard to find extras that I should ask about before collecting it? Thanks for any help the list members may provide. As you can tell, this is quite urgent - about 18 hours before I pickup. The guy also has 6 free Sparcstation SLCs - I didn't bags those - maybe I should?! A

27 years, 8 months

FT: Poly 88 Docs

by museum＠techniche.com

Hi Doug, I have an H-8 (with another on the way) with absolutely complete docs (including the sales slip). I don't think I have much in the way of paper tape though. Contact me. Jon ---------------------------------------------------------------------- >I have available the following original Poly 88 docs for trade: > Volume I: Assembly, Test, and Theory of Hardware (1976, 52pp) > Addendum to Volume I: Serial Option (1976, 14pp) > Cassette Interface Minicard (1977, 44pp) > Memory Addressing, Vectored Interrupt, and Serial I/O (32pp) > Volume II: Operation and Software (1976, 100+pp) > >I need Heathkit H8 docs, but I'd also consider other pre-1977 micro docs >in trade. I'm also looking for H8 software on papertape (copies are >fine). > >-- Doug > > >

27 years, 8 months

Computers for children

by joebar＠microsoft.com

>Now, though, it appears that most [Lego] sets contain special parts for whatever >model that set is supposed to build, parts that aren't much use for >anything else. Seems not to encourage imagination anything like as much. I know what you mean... but my son (6) does manage to find many new uses for the "special parts", combining insectoid legos and aquatic legos and everything else to form really interesting creations. Somehow it seems to parallel the trend in programming... the components that you build out of just get more elaborate, but that doesn't necessarilly mean that programming today is less creative, it's just that you're building at a different level... - Joe (your friendly neighborhood Microserf)

27 years, 8 months

Computers for children

by kurtkilg＠geocities.com

On Tue, 12 Jan 1999 ard(a)p850ug1.demon.co.uk wrote: > I wouldn't call FOR..NEXT low level. I'd call it a high level > construction based on the low-level GOTO. What I meant was, in the early BASICs, you would have to type out the FOR loop with a variable, an increment, a conditional statement, and a goto. In the later BASICs, you don't have to type it out, and it's also a lot easier to understand that the NEXT X must be going back to that FOR X= 1 TO 10 I saw a while ago, as opposed to scrolling incessantly trying to find where each GOTO leads. I don't know exactly at what point the FOR...NEXT gets translated into its components, but the point is, since it doesn't have to be typed out, it's somewhat lower-level. ---------------------------------------------------- Max Eskin | kurtkilgor(a)bigfoot.com | AOL: kurtkilgor

27 years, 8 months

Computers for children

by sinasohn＠ricochet.net

At 09:33 PM 1/13/99 -0500, you wrote: >> Obcc: Yes, you can build computers and calculators from Lego. Any reason >> why you couldn't replicate a Digi-Comp with Lego? > >A Digi-Comp built with Lego blocks would be huge and fragile, plus >those vertical metal rods would have to be fabricated. When I had my The Mindstorms kit includes some long-ish axle pieces which might work. There are probably other ways of doing it as well. You're just not being creative enough. (Check out the web sites I posted previously -- one includes a lego computer that looks kinda like a digi-comp (in a uninitiated, unobservant kinda way.) --------------------------------------------------------------------- O- Uncle Roger "There is pleasure pure in being mad roger(a)sinasohn.com that none but madmen know." Roger Louis Sinasohn & Associates San Francisco, California http://www.sinasohn.com/

27 years, 8 months

Computers for children

by sinasohn＠ricochet.net

At 12:00 AM 1/14/99 +0000, you wrote: >> But to say that a kid should not be introduced to computers until they can >> read enough to use unix or can handle a soldering iron is to do a major >> disservice to the kid. > >Why? > >I'm disputing the word 'major', BTW. It's possible that some 18-month old >kids will enjoy looking at coloured patches on a computer screen. But I >don't think that _not_ showing them that will cause any form of permanent >damage. I made an assumption (at least I think I wrote that) that a reasonable computer was available. To say, I've got this computer which could help the kid learn to learn better, develop logical skills, and even learn to read and understand math, but I'm not going to let the kid use it because it's a windoze machine and I want the kid to be a Unix guru" is a major disservice. Same as saying "I've got a TV and Sesame Street and National Geographic comes on sometimes, but I'm not gonna let the kid watch those because someday they might want to watch teenage morphin' ninja turle soup with Howard Stern." Another grave disservice. And another analogy: You could say "Sure, I've got a major library next door, but I'm not gonna let the kid go there because it might read the gatekeeper's monologue from Macbeth where he talks about hookers and drunkenness." I'm not saying that every parent has to go out and buy their kid a computer, or that the kid will turn stupid without it, but if you've got the resources, use 'em. Remember, that being a parent means subjugating your own desires for the benefit of the kid. You have to give up a lot for that kid, and that may include a no-Winblows rule, or worse. Hell, you might even have to miss a football game now and then. --------------------------------------------------------------------- O- Uncle Roger "There is pleasure pure in being mad roger(a)sinasohn.com that none but madmen know." Roger Louis Sinasohn & Associates San Francisco, California http://www.sinasohn.com/

27 years, 8 months

micro PDP-11 "Fatal RSTS/E system initialization error!"

by tomowad＠earthlink.net

> Ouch! That's nasty. The reason RSTS can't recover is because it's block 1. > > You'll need to reinstall RSTS if you want to use it. Drop me a private >E-mail. I may be able to help. Hi Bruce, Thanks for the info. I'd would like to get the unit running. Will reinstalling RSTS definately do it, or could the hard drive need replaced, as well? I'm assuming I'll need the RSTS disks on 5.25" to reinstall RSTS. Is that something I can get for a reasonable price? Thanks, Tom -- Sysop of Caesarville Online Client software at: <http://home.earthlink.net/~tomowad/>

27 years, 8 months

IBM Resuces

by jpl15＠netcom.com

Today I have saved from the Skip/Tip/Dumpster two items of IBM manufacture, about which I know even less than the Prime 550-II I'm trying to get working. To wit: An IBM 9404 processor, at least that's what I make it out to be, since it's front panel has IPL settings, a QIC-1000, and attached to the back are several 8-channel Twinax adapter cables. A p-Touch type label on the side says 'XS400' The ID plate also says its release level is V2R2MO and its PIF Level is C2261220. With it, though perhaps systemically unrelated, is an IBM 3174-1R, obviously a terminal controller of some sort. It has two 5 1/4 floppies and a niche for storing the diskettes, and there are three of them, marked by printed IBM label for this machine. Also there was a complete (non-IBM) PBX-type voicemail system, but that I know something about and can get on the air. (Sam: its a VMX D.I.A.L.) I am curious to know if anyone is familiar with the IBM stuff and even more curious to know if anyone *wants* the two.. I sure don't. They are not terrifically heavy and thus shippable... hint hint hint. I could not bear to see them go off the loading dock into Oblivion. Cheerz and Thanks to all for the Prime help so far. This weekend I'll have time to research more on my own. NOTE to Prime-familiar folk who may be reading this: I will buy PR1ME engineering/maintenance docs related to the hardware I have; or copies of same. 250/550 series. John

27 years, 8 months

OT: Need Sun/Linux advice

by nerdware＠laidbak.com

I know this is probably OT, so you can email me off-list if you can help. I need some advice from some experienced Sun folks. I have the opportunity to pick up a 3/80 and an IPC. I need someone to help me find docs or help me with hookup/boot procedures. I am a complete newbie to Suns, and would like to try running Linux. I can't find any specs on the 3/80 as far as internal architecture, so that would be a good starting point. I know I'm jumping on a pretty steep learning curve, but I want to play with a real OS. Let me know, please. I appreciate the help. Thanks. Paul Braun NerdWare -- The History of the PC and the Nerds who brought it to you. nerdware(a)laidbak.com www.laidbak.com/nerdware

27 years, 8 months

Berkeley Enterprises 1956 Report

by jfoust＠threedee.com

At 01:29 AM 1/11/99 -0600, Doug Yowza wrote: > >I have the plans for Magdum, and it's about 30 pages of hand-drawn >schematics. Does anybody know of a way to convert a raster scan of this >kind of stuff to some sort of vectorized format (maybe EPS)? There are methods of scanning blueprints and converting them to CAD formats, but these programs are expensive and esoteric, and I'm not sure how much hand-drawing they tolerate. There are common methods of auto-tracing for illustration purposes. PhotoShop, for example, can trace a bitmap and export the path as an Adobe Illustrator file, a form of EPS. However, these AI/EPS files are ASCII, meaning they'll take up as much (or more) space than a mono TIFF. What's your objective? Distribution of the images? I say leave them as scans. Autotracing and cleanup of 30 pages would consume days. How would you view EPS/AI files? Tools for viewing and printing bitmaps are far more common and easier to use than tools that handle EPS/AI. (I know about Ghostscript.) - John

27 years, 8 months

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