>>I've also been told by some credit card company call center reps that
they
>>couldn't do something or other for me because the "computer wouldn't let
>>them".
>
> Don't you know a brush-off when you hear it? Employees LOVE to blame
> things on the computer!
Reminds me of an event a couple of years ago.
As those of you who have met me will know, I am something of an eccentric.
A few years ago, I had a medical examination and the doctor, sorry,
physician (I doubt he has a doctor's degree) who examined me said I needed
glasses, go and see an optician.
I went to see the optician and had an eye test. I then tried to order a
monocle. There are (apparently) two standard monocle frames available, and
(complete with lens) the price was L42. Easy?
No. Nothing we could do or say could convince the order processing
software that one could order a frame with only one lens. Eventually we
got the price down to L45 - L42 for frame and one lens, and L3 for fitting
an existing lens to the other side. The girl taking the order then had to
go and find her superior, who used special authority to give me a 3 pound
discount.
So don't dismiss it too soon if someone says the computer won't let them do
it.
Philip.
<Okay, okay, so a DECstation 5000/125 isn't very "vintage". But I did manag
<to save one from certain death from my grad school (Carnegie Mellon), and i
<has a nice big 21" monitor, two big 5 1/4" SCSI drives (each around 1/2 a
<GB)... and no bootable OS.
<
<It used to run Mach (I was on the Mach project at CMU), but I'd really lik
<to run VMS on the thing.
<
<Does anyone know how/where/if I can get VMS loaded onto this guy?
No you can't. It's not a VAX or Alpha, it's a MIPS processor so the choices
other than MACH is UNIX or some flavor of unix.
Allison
<:: Perhaps this will help others out there in dating KIMs.... I tried
<::slicing into the card to count the rings, but the results were
<::inconclusive.
<
<I can definitely say, without even getting mine out of the closet, that I
<probably have one of the youngest. Mine is a Revision D KIM-1, and it's
<a Commodore board, not a MOS Technology one.
The one I have is a 1977 (date codes on chips) with REV-B etch and the
only number on it is a crude 5404 white stamp on the back. It works!
Allison
<SC/MP, and Intersil 6100 (the pdp8-compatible one) respectively. I'd also
<like to hear from anyone who has or is familiar with any of these machines
I have working examples of both, interesting machines.
Allison
At 08:29 PM 1/4/99 -0500, you wrote:
>> Is it? My current credit card has an expiry date after the end of this
>> year and I've never had any problems with it.
I've got a credit card that expires in '00 and it doesn't work!!! Oh wait,
it's at the limit. Never mind. 8^)
>I think that 'maintenance errors' could potentially occur in power plants,
>and what is more likely, some will be shut down just in case.
Sure, and since I might crash into a building, I'll drive my car into one,
just in case. There are a lot of people out there looking at what will
happen on 1/1/00 (and, btw, 1/1/99, 2/29/00, 1/1/27, etc.) myself included.
As a related anecdote, I recently found (and fixed) a M12 bug -- the system
I wrote to manage events and generate web pages and e-mails for the Free
List (http://www.sinasohn.com/freelist/) crashed and burned at the
beginning of December because I had screwed up the date computations. A
few frantic hours later and the Free List went out, better late than never.
--------------------------------------------------------------------- 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/
What's new?
* Altair related auction archives from Ebay for 11/98, 12/98 now online
* classiccmp archives w/Altair keyword available in easily searchable
format
* Steve Shepard inventory of Altair documentation now online
* Altair owner registry is better organized and growing
* New links always being added!
> David Freibrun
> http://altaircomputers.org
> david.freibrun(a)mvo.cendant.com
> (949)367-3881
>
-----Original Message-----
From: Sam Ismail <dastar(a)ncal.verio.com>
To: Discussion re-collecting of classic computers
<classiccmp(a)u.washington.edu>
Date: Saturday, 9 January 1999 5:44
Subject: Re: Sociology and Message formatting
>On Fri, 8 Jan 1999, Hans Franke wrote:
>
>> Shure, today they are no longer produced with typewriters and
>> Spiritusumdrucker (sorry missing word - a copyingdevice using
>> special sheets and spirit for duplication), but rather on PCs
>> or high class DTP stations, but thats just the tool.
>
>Spiritusumdrucker! What a fantastic word! I think that would be a
>mimeograph?
Quite probably. Spiritusumdrucker means "printer using spirits"? I think.
Well, we just called it a Spirit Duplicator. We used to use them
when I was still in Air Traffic Services to run off Pre Flight Information
Bulletins
for Pilots, (a list of NOTAMS, WX etc for their flight). Prior to that, we
used to prepare them by means of a local teleprinter, with a perf tape that
had the current stuff on it. Took a while though. (75 baud)
By the time I left, we had caught up and were using a conventional
photocopier.
Cheers
Geoff Roberts.
Computer Room Internet Cafe
Port Pirie
South Australia.
netcafe(a)pirie.mtx.net.au
I think there's a few in PA that could take at least a mainframe. Maybe
two...
-----Original Message-----
From: Charles E. Fox <foxvideo(a)wincom.net>
To: Discussion re-collecting of classic computers
<classiccmp(a)u.washington.edu>
Date: Thursday, April 08, 1999 2:17 AM
Subject: potholes
>
> Did anyone catch the bit on ABC news last night about the use of old
>computers to fill potholes?
> I think some of our Windsor potholes would require at least a mini.
>
> Regards
>
> Charlie Fox
>
>
> Charles E. Fox
> Chas E. Fox Video Productions
> 793 Argyle Rd. Windsor N8Y 3J8 Ont. Canada
> email foxvideo(a)wincom.net Homepage http://www.wincom.net/foxvideo
>
>
At 12:53 01/08/99 -0800, Sellam wrote:
>On Fri, 8 Jan 1999, Christian Fandt wrote:
>
>> Were there many computer companies, if any, who were not manufacturers but,
>> like RCA from around 1921 to 1928, sales-only outfits? I'm thinking of
>> pre-PC compatible days, '82 and earlier, because as you know, any major or
>> fly-by-night outfit could put their name on a PC nowadays. Also, strictly
>> non-PC computer companies are included even up to ten years ago (to keep it
>> on classics). Keep it on-topic and change your Subject line if you reply on
>> some other on-topic subject.
>
>Sure, plenty! I can't think of a whole lot of good examples right now,
>but for starters there was Bell & Howell with their "RARE!" black Apple II
>models.
Were those black models part of the equipment one got with the Bell &
Howell mail order computer electronics school? If so, I had not thought of
that type of "non-manufacturer".
--Chris
-- --
Christian Fandt, Electronic/Electrical Historian
Jamestown, NY USA cfandt(a)netsync.net
Member of Antique Wireless Association
URL: http://www.ggw.org/freenet/a/awa/
At 05:33 PM 1/4/99 -0700, you wrote:
>those credit card pumps may not be ok, even if the credit card is. Do I
An unrelated but similar (and ironically timed) issue is that of the new US
20 dollar bills. I have seen a lot of vending machines/gas pumps/etc. that
indicate they cannot handle the new bills. The problem is, bills typically
last 18 months at most. I expect that by summer, we won't see any more
old-style $20's in circulation. A real problem if they haven't updated the
machines yet.
(Hmmm... Maybe I'll start hoarding old 20's... 8^)
--------------------------------------------------------------------- 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/
