3 Nov
2011
3 Nov
'11
10:22 a.m.
Here's a variation of the pdp 11/70 with a
chocolate-brown and white color
scheme: http://661.org/images/csis1170.jpg
CSI was a computer typesetting company. Pretty much cradle-to-grave in terms of end user
support.
"Composition Systems Incorporated" I think.
There was at least one other company that specialized in typesetting for classified ads
that used PDP-11's for typesetting. Their name is not coming to mind at the moment but
they were surprisingly common at metropolitan newspapers. I remember them using the
3270-like capabilities of VT-oh-something terminals.
Tim.
3 Nov
3 Nov
4:31 p.m.
On Thu, 3 Nov 2011, Shoppa, Tim wrote:
Does anyone here want to own that particular front panel? I've been
casting about for a plain pdp 11/70 panel and I was offered that CSI
variant.
--
David Griffith
dgriffi at cs.csubak.edu
A: Because it fouls the order in which people normally read text.
Q: Why is top-posting such a bad thing?
A: Top-posting.
Q: What is the most annoying thing in e-mail?
Here's a
variation of the pdp 11/70 with a chocolate-brown and white color
scheme: http://661.org/images/csis1170.jpg
CSI was a computer typesetting company. Pretty much cradle-to-grave in
terms of end user support.
"Composition Systems Incorporated" I think. 
4 Nov
4 Nov
11:10 a.m.
From: "Shoppa, Tim" <tshoppa at
wmata.com>
Date: Thu, 3 Nov 2011 10:22:01 -0400
.....
There was at least one other company that specialized
in typesetting
for classified ads that used PDP-11's for typesetting. Their name is
not coming to mind at the moment but they were surprisingly common
at metropolitan newspapers. I remember them using the 3270-like
capabilities of VT-oh-something terminals.
I don't know if this is what you were thinking of, but... ATEX made
PDP-11 based systems for newspapers. I remember a DEC FORTRAN-10/20
co-worker in the 1980's telling us how much better their editing
terminals were than TOPS-20 EMACS we were using. He showed us a
picture of a LARGE custom keyboard (one that put the ungainly PC
inspired Mac keyboards of the 1990's that people used to call "The
Enterprise" (after the aircraft carrier, and perhaps IBM as well!) to
shame).
I remember the VT62 had block mode and multidrop DDCMP capabilities
for use in "transaction based" applications. It looked like a VT52,
but used a speaker for keyclick and the buzz (where the VT52 used
something much more electromechanical that gave a really crisp "click"
sound and feel, and the characteristic gear stripping sound for the bell).
I gave away my VT62 (came with a PDT-11/150 employee purchase),
but I still have a VT52!
Back to the subject line:
Were the plastic front pannel switches an "off the shelf" item
purchased by DEC (and available in many colors), or were they custom molded?
If the latter, were custom colors something a VAR/OEM could specify,
did DEC supply specs so that you could go out and have your own made,
or did the "OEM" (I hate the reversal in meaning) have to pull one off
and bring it to a plastic molding company??
phil
3:15 p.m.
I think some type set syrtems used the VT71 or VT72 also.
Paul
On Fri, Nov 4, 2011 at 10:10 AM, Phil Budne <phil at ultimate.com> wrote:
From:
"Shoppa, Tim" <tshoppa at wmata.com>
Date: Thu, 3 Nov 2011 10:22:01 -0400
.....
There was at least one other company that
specialized in typesetting
for classified ads that used PDP-11's for typesetting. Their name is
not coming to mind at the moment but they were surprisingly common
at metropolitan newspapers. I remember them using the 3270-like
capabilities of VT-oh-something terminals.
I don't know if this is what you were thinking of, but... ?ATEX made
PDP-11 based systems for newspapers. ?I remember a DEC FORTRAN-10/20
co-worker in the 1980's telling us how much better their editing
terminals were than TOPS-20 EMACS we were using. ?He showed us a
picture of a LARGE custom keyboard (one that put the ungainly PC
inspired Mac keyboards of the 1990's that people used to call "The
Enterprise" (after the aircraft carrier, and perhaps IBM as well!) to
shame).
I remember the VT62 had block mode and multidrop DDCMP capabilities
for use in "transaction based" applications. ?It looked like a VT52,
but used a speaker for keyclick and the buzz (where the VT52 used
something much more electromechanical that gave a really crisp "click"
sound and feel, and the characteristic gear stripping sound for the bell).
I gave away my VT62 (came with a PDT-11/150 employee purchase),
but I still have a VT52!
Back to the subject line:
Were the plastic front pannel switches an "off the shelf" item
purchased by DEC (and available in many colors), or were they custom molded?
If the latter, were custom colors something a VAR/OEM could specify,
did DEC supply specs so that you could go out and have your own made,
or did the "OEM" (I hate the reversal in meaning) have to pull one off
and bring it to a plastic molding company??
phil
10:05 p.m.
New subject: Digital typesetting hardware - Re: another weird pdp 11/70 color scheme
On 04/11/11 11:10 AM, Phil Budne wrote:
You mean one of this genre?
http://www.flickr.com/photos/qu1j0t3/4682848332/in/set-72157624233444734
(Berthold typesetting system keyboard which connected to an OEM Sun
workstation).
Since we are talking about digital typesetting - the famous digital font
creation system URW IKARUS ran on VAX gear - including 11/750*, I
believe. I don't have details handy (Wikipedia might) but I believe this
system was licensed to essentially all the major type foundries
(Letraset UK and ITC (US) were notable users). After the letterforms
were digitised from hand drawings (using a puck) they were used to
create analogue products such as dry transfer lettering and photosetting
masters, as well as a wide variety of digital vector and bitmap formats
(yes, digital typefaces have been around quite a long time).
In the late 1980s, the IKARUS system was ported to Macintosh as IKARUS/M
and could produce PostScript fonts directly.
--Toby
* - Like mine!
http://www.flickr.com/photos/qu1j0t3/4684199492/in/set-72157624233444734
From:
"Shoppa, Tim"<tshoppa at wmata.com>
Date: Thu, 3 Nov 2011 10:22:01 -0400
.....
There was at least one other company that
specialized in typesetting
for classified ads that used PDP-11's for typesetting. Their name is
not coming to mind at the moment but they were surprisingly common
at metropolitan newspapers. I remember them using the 3270-like
capabilities of VT-oh-something terminals.
I don't know if this is what you were thinking of, but... ATEX made
PDP-11 based systems for newspapers. I remember a DEC FORTRAN-10/20
co-worker in the 1980's telling us how much better their editing
terminals were than TOPS-20 EMACS we were using. He showed us a
picture of a LARGE custom keyboard (one that put the ungainly PC
inspired Mac keyboards of the 1990's that people used to call "The
Enterprise" (after the aircraft carrier, and perhaps IBM as well!) to
shame).
...
phil
11:54 p.m.
New subject: Digital typesetting hardware - Re: another weird pdp 11/70 color scheme
On 4 Nov 2011 at 22:05, Toby Thain wrote:
Since we are talking about digital typesetting - the
famous digital
font creation system URW IKARUS ran on VAX gear - including 11/750*, I
believe. I don't have details handy (Wikipedia might) but I believe
this system was licensed to essentially all the major type foundries
(Letraset UK and ITC (US) were notable users). After the letterforms
were digitised from hand drawings (using a puck) they were used to
create analogue products such as dry transfer lettering and
photosetting masters, as well as a wide variety of digital vector and
bitmap formats (yes, digital typefaces have been around quite a long
time).
Does anyone have the encoding for Compugraphic typesetter files? I
imagine that it's related to the the various font carts were
organized. plus a bunch of kerning, etc. information. I've still got
some 8" floppy document samples where the alphabet is Hebrew.
Always wondered what those said..
--Chuck
5 Nov
5 Nov
9:19 a.m.
New subject: Digital typesetting hardware - Re: another weird pdp 11/70 color scheme
At 10:54 PM 11/4/2011, Chuck Guzis wrote:
Does anyone have the encoding for Compugraphic
typesetter files? I
imagine that it's related to the the various font carts were
organized. plus a bunch of kerning, etc. information.
Their font file format, or the typesetter's layout of a document?
I think I scanned my circa 1990 CG developer's kit from a project
I did for Software Publishing Corp.
- John
12:11 p.m.
New subject: Digital typesetting hardware - Re: another weird pdp 11/70 color scheme
On 5 Nov 2011 at 8:19, John Foust wrote:
At 10:54 PM 11/4/2011, Chuck Guzis wrote:
Well, mostly hints for getting from a 1970s-era CG floppy to
something that's humanly readable. The whole shebang. all seems to
be CG proprietary; i.e., I can't even find an identifiable file
directory on the disk.. I have a couple of 5.25" CG floppies and
they appear to have nothing in common with the old 8" disks.
--Chuck
Does anyone have the encoding for Compugraphic
typesetter files? I
imagine that it's related to the the various font carts were
organized. plus a bunch of kerning, etc. information.
Their font file format, or the typesetter's layout of a document? I
think I scanned my circa 1990 CG developer's kit from a project I did
for Software Publishing Corp.
4609
days inactive
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days old
7 comments
7 participants
participants (7)
-
cclist＠sydex.com -
dgriffi＠cs.csubak.edu -
jfoust＠threedee.com -
phil＠ultimate.com -
toby＠telegraphics.com.au -
tshoppa＠wmata.com -
useddec＠gmail.com