Well, it amused me...

This morning, a BT man was around to fix my fried ADSL router (BT model 5861 - apparently they have a known weakness in the PSU department). The question is, was he impressed by my bank of 5 servers, all humming contentedly away under a table? Nope. How about the impressive dual-processor workstation, laptop docking port, or 8-way KVM which allows me to control it all? Nope. Maybe the monstrous Laserjet 5siMX, or the sleek laser fax machine? Nope. What really took his breath away, and had him talking in hushed tones, is the ICL OPD I now use as my primary telephone! This (almost) 20 year old bit of kit, which has THE best dialling system I've ever happened across (1, 2 or 3-digit alphanumeric short-codes), and a very dodgy speech synthesizer, reduced BT Man to remeniscences of the like I've not heard since I was in the pub last... He suggested that BT do offer an exchange device (as in a telephone exchange, not a swap...) which allows similar short-code type dialling. However, it costs "a hell of a lot of money"... On a completely different amusement level, I happened to watch the film Swordfish tonight (and what an outrageous film it was too...); which made mention of "the only PDP-10 connected to the internet" (paraphrased). Unfortunately, the PDP itself didn't make the silver screen, but a reel-to-reel tape drive did. So, any ClassicCmp'ers seen said film, and is it a genuine Digital reel-to-reel tape drive they use? Answers on the back of an electron... -- Cheers, Ade. Be where it's at, B-Racing! http://b-racing.com