HDTenEightyP/NetNews huggingface dataset:
From: frank@rover.uchicago.edu (Frank - Hardware Hacker - Borger)
Subject: Re: New dumb user story? Hospital context
News-Software: VAX/VMS VNEWS 1.41    
Reply-To: frank@rover.uchicago.edu
Organization: Joint Center for Radiation Therapy
Date: Tue, 10 Nov 1992 15:14:00 GMT

In article <1992Nov10.042622.11505@latcs1.lat.oz.au>, sietsma@latcs1.lat.oz.au (Jocelyn Sietsma Penington) writes...

	Had one irate MD call up and say, "I keep paging your man so-and-so at
	3695, I get a beep, I hang up, but he never answers his page."

	You guessed it, he was supposed to call 808-1880 and key in 3695 when
	asked for the page number.

	This also explained why we were getting so many failed connects on our
	dialin line 791-3695.

   Frank R. Borger - Physicist    __       Internet:  Frank@rover.uchicago.edu
Michael Reese - Univ. of Chicago |___      Phone : 312-791-8075 fax : 567-7455
  Center for Radiation Therapy   | |_) _   They'll nail anyone who ever scrat-
                                   | \|_)  ched his ass during the National
    "Birthplace of Softball"          |_)  Anthem. - H Bogart on the House un-
					   American Activities Committee
Newsgroups: alt.folklore.computers
From: alderson@elaine46.Stanford.EDU (Rich Alderson)
Subject: Re: command abbreviation
Originator: alderson@leland.Stanford.EDU
Reply-To: alderson@elaine46.Stanford.EDU (Rich Alderson)
Organization: Stanford University Academic Information Resources
Date: Sat, 7 Nov 92 01:34:54 GMT

In article <wingo-061192122333@wingosmac.apple.com>, wingo@apple (Tony Wingo) writes:
>Yeah, back when I was programming on a PDP-10 in the early 70's, about two
>thirds of our teletypes (ASR33's mostly) had the back-arrow as the shift-O
>character. PIP was not the only thing that used it: I saw at least one
>ALGOL variant that used it for assignment.

Would that have been SAIL, perhaps?
-- 
Rich Alderson   'I wish life was not so short,' he thought.  'Languages take
                such a time, and so do all the things one wants to know about.'
                                                        --J. R. R. Tolkien,
alderson@leland.stanford.edu                              _The Lost Road_
From: magnus@thep.lu.se (Magnus Olsson)
Newsgroups: alt.folklore.computers
Subject: Re: domain questions
Date: 5 Nov 92 11:25:27 GMT
Organization: Theoretical Physics, Lund University, Sweden

In article <1992Nov4.100506.14057@miavx1.acs.muohio.edu> adyonka@miavx1.acs.muohio.edu (Aaron D. Yonka) writes:
>jf41+@andrew.cmu.edu (Jonathan R. Ferro) writes:
>> Yeah, ok, but did we ever get an answer to the question "Where is the
>> master list of all these suffixes?"

>There is a list of country codes in Appendix E of 
>_Zen_and_the_Art_of_The_Internet_ (ISBN 0-13-010778-6, Copyright 1993 (yes,
>1993), published by Prentice Hall).  The appendix lists "the known country
>codes as defined in the ISO-3166 standard.

There was also a list posted on news.answers a few days ago.
Newsgroups: alt.folklore.computers
From: wingo@apple.com (Tony Wingo)
Subject: Re: command abbreviation
Date: Mon, 9 Nov 1992 19:27:15 GMT
Organization: Apple Computer
Followup-To: alt.folklore.computers

In article <1992Nov7.013454.12997@leland.Stanford.EDU>,
alderson@elaine46.Stanford.EDU (Rich Alderson) wrote:
> 
> In article <wingo-061192122333@wingosmac.apple.com>, wingo@apple (Tony Wingo) writes:

> > PIP was not the only thing that used it: I saw at least one
> >ALGOL variant that used it for assignment.
> 
> Would that have been SAIL, perhaps?

Yes.

-tony
Newsgroups: alt.folklore.computers
From: jcmorris@mwunix.mitre.org (Joe Morris)
Subject: Re: QUESTION: What was the 1st computer game?
Keywords: game
Organization: The MITRE Corporation
Date: Tue, 10 Nov 1992 13:59:41 GMT

alderson@elaine46.Stanford.EDU (Rich Alderson) writes:

>In article <i3558.721321601@newsie>, i3558@newsie (Soren Michael Roug) writes:
>>Stephen Levy has in his book; Hackers descriped an early spacewar game at
>>MIT. As I recall it ran on either a TX-0 or a PDP-6 and was
>						   ^
>						   1, not 6

Gawd!  This newsgroup is actually seeing a *folklore* thread again!

I never ran Spacewar (or anything else) on a PDP-6, but some of my moles
within the DEC community tell me the following story:

=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=

The PDP-6 had a color display which DEC management was pushing (to nobody's
surprise; in those days a color display sale meant BIG BUCKS).  The DEC
programming staff was writing the code to port the various utilities and
such to that platform so they could do something useful and/or impressive
in color, but the work was going very slowly.  When management complained
(as management is occasionally known to do) about slipped delivery dates
the response was that the the interface to the color display was so complex
that there was no way that the code could be reworked quickly.

The programmers' argument lost some of its credibility, however, when the
programming staff came in one weekend and constructed an operational port
of Spacewar to the color display.

=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=

The story may be pure urban legend but it's believable.

And speaking again of Spacewar: I heard some noises a year or so ago that
someone was working on a PDP-1 emulator for some desktop systems.  If one
exists I might even try to run my old PDP-1 Spacewar source listings through
an OCR system and see if they work: given the complexity of the code perhaps
Spacewar could be used to validate the emulator in the same way that 
Microsoft Flight Simulator for years was the acid test of a PC clone's
quality.

Joe Morris / MITRE
From: pauls@css.itd.umich.edu (Paul Southworth)
Newsgroups: alt.folklore.computers
Subject: Re: *free* Unix ?? (was: Unix admin horror stories)
Date: 10 Nov 1992 19:22:17 GMT
Organization: University of Michigan ITD Consulting and Support Services
Distribution: usa
NNTP-Posting-Host: stimpy.css.itd.umich.edu
Originator: news@stimpy.css.itd.umich.edu

In article <1992Nov10.150103.22102@newsgate.sps.mot.com> rapw20@email.sps.mot.com writes:
>In article <1dnu6lINNchh@terminator.rs.itd.umich.edu>  
>pauls@css.itd.umich.edu (Paul Southworth) writes:
>> ...
>> The problem is that there are no *free* 286 unix packages like there are
>> for the 386 (386BSD and Linux).  
>> ...
>Can someone tell me where to get a copy of one of these *free* unix
>packages?

386BSD is on wuarchive.wustl.edu in /mirrors4/386bsd/386bsd-0.1 and
azathoth.sura.net in /386bsd, among other places.  azathoth is very fast
so I typically use that.

Linux, um, can't remember.  Someone else on here will tell you.

For 386bsd discussion, go to comp.unix.bsd
For Linux  discussion, go to comp.os.linux


Paul Southworth                    |           ftp ftp.css.itd.umich.edu
(Not speaking for)                 |         Political Archives in /poli
Information Technology Division    |     Writable incoming directory on:
University of Michigan, Ann Arbor  |         redspread.css.itd.umich.edu 

  <Representing myself.  Everything I say is for educational use only.>
From: dmsilev@athena.mit.edu (Daniel M Silevitch)
Newsgroups: alt.folklore.computers
Subject: Re: 8L
Date: 5 Nov 92 13:16:36 GMT
Organization: Massachusetts Institute of Technology

In article <1992Nov4.174419.9683@beaver.cs.washington.edu>, graham@cs.washington.edu (Stephen Graham) writes:
|> In article <1992Nov4.052309.27957@news.columbia.edu> lasner@watsun.cc.columbia.edu (Charles Lasner) writes:
|> >I would like anyone connected with that place to defend that it even is a
|> >museum :-(.
|> >
|> >My specific point is this:
|> >
|> >If the American Museum of Natural History was to sell dinosaur bones to the
|> >public as "souveneirs" of their trip to the Museum, paleontologists around
|> >the world would protest (and perhaps some other bone-loving scientists as
|> >well).
|> >
|> >So, if they are to be treated as a museum, then why have they been selling
|> >off some of the artifacts merely because someone decided they had "enough"
|> >of certain types of modules, etc.?  As far as I'm concerned, this disqualifies
|> >them from consideration.
|> >
|> >Selling off parts of the old computers they claim to be taking care of is
|> >dispicable.  There are other museums that treat their artifacts accordingly.
|> 
|> Haven't spent much time around museums, have you? Museums routinely sell off
|> parts of their collections, usually duplicate items. It all comes down to
|> storage space. Since museums are routinely underfunded, they can't afford
|> to rent storage space on a large scale. Therefore, they keep the best example
|> (or two or three) of an item, and sell off the others to raise additional
|> funds. 
|> 
|> In the best of all possible worlds, this wouldn't happen. But Candide
                                                                 ^^^^^^^
|> was wrong.
|> -- 
|> Stephen Graham
|> graham@cs.washington.edu	 uw-beaver!june!graham

Mild nit-pick which is completely irrelevant :) Candide was not the
chief advocate of optimism, he was the student, who ended up changing
his mind and shifting to a more pragmatic philosophy. The true optimist
was the philosopher Pangloss, Candide's mentor.

Daniel Silevitch                              dmsilev@athena.mit.edu
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
From: xyzzy@mertwig.UUCP (Daniel Drucker)
Newsgroups: alt.folklore.computers
Subject: Re: Unix administration horror stories.
Date: Wed, 11 Nov 92 13:18:15 EST
Organization: Odd Parity Hacker's Group

pauls@css.itd.umich.edu (Paul Southworth) writes:

> The problem is that there are no *free* 286 unix packages like there are
> for the 386 (386BSD and Linux).  The cost of buying the commercial

Which is better, 386BSD or Linux?

Here goes .... <grin>

--
Daniel Max P. Drucker, the network communications wizard.

mertwig!xyzzy@jaflrn.uucp                   amateur radio callsign pending
Disclaimer: It's all my fault!

"Difficulty! It's the single simplest machine in the entire Universe!" -HHGTTG
Newsgroups: alt.folklore.computers
From: aduell@nyx.cs.du.edu (Tony Duell)
Subject: Vector graphics
X-Disclaimer: Nyx is a public access Unix system run by the University
	of Denver for the Denver community.  The University has neither
	control over nor responsibility for the opinions of users.
Organization: Nyx, Public Access Unix at U. of Denver Math/CS dept.
Date: Wed, 11 Nov 92 17:42:28 GMT


WEll, some thoughts on build-it-yourself 'scope graphics.
If you can find one (mine cost #10), a Tektronix 613 monitor is ideal ,
with 100KHz bandwidth on each axis, and a storage tube, with the storage
mode controllable by a TTL level signal on the inpout connector. Another
good choice, if you don't need storage, is the DEC VR14 and similar which
were made for the VT11 (and similar  VT-8????) vector graphics boards.
Don't think you'll be able to modify a monochrome TV for this, as although
they are both magnetically deflected, the yoke is different from a TV yoke
which is optimised for TV frequencies. The vector monitors have a yoke
which is identical on X and Y axis and driven from a Power amplifier - the
DEC VR14 has 10A fuses in the deflection power supply.
 There have been articles in Byte magazine (back when byte actually
published useful information), on vector graphics - I remeber one article
which used a Z80 CPU and a couple of DACs to build a graphics add-on for
some other machine. I also think that Steve Ciarcia's first article to
byte was on vector graphics, but I've never seen that one.
 If you have a PDP11, try to find a VT11 board set, and its documentation.
That system has text, line, point etc modes, and really works well - I
spent most of last summer wrapping the backplane and getting it to work so
that I could run lunar lander again :-)
 -tony 'PDP11 Hacker' Duell
ard@siva.bris.ac.uk

Newsgroups: alt.folklore.computers
From: chapman@cs.cornell.edu (Richard Chapman)
Subject: 20ma <-> rs232
Organization: Cornell Univ. CS Dept, Ithaca NY 14853
Date: Wed, 11 Nov 1992 18:50:05 GMT


I want to build an adapter to use an rs232 terminal on a pdp-8/L, whose
only peripheral at the moment is the tty-33 console (via a W076D module). I've
tried before to find out how to do this, and have been dismissed with 
"A couple of opto-isolators should do it." Can anyone be more specific?
Will any common-or-garden optoisolators work? What gets wired where? 
Thanks a bunch,
Richard Chapman 
chapman@cs.cornell.edu
From: Jay.Ashworth@p8649.f160.n3603.z1.FIDONET.ORG (Jay Ashworth)
Newsgroups: alt.folklore.computers
Subject: Re: Books
Date: Mon, 02 Nov 92 23:20:03 PDT
Organization: FidoNet node 1:3603/160.8649 - Hacker's Haven, Clearwater FL

Eric S. Raymond, to All on 31 Oct 92:

 ER> Hah.  This looks *remarkably* like an extract from the bibliography in
 ER> The New Hacker's Dictionary.

Snicker.

 ER> All these should be available at your nearest large chain bookstore.

Yup.  Even Bookst{op,ar} is stocking it now...  Got my copy yesterday.

1)    How do I get it autographed?

2)  Any chance of seeing it in clothbound?

Cheers,
-- jra
Ashworth & Associates * jra%acorn@tct.com * jra@psycho.fidonet.org

--  
Internet: Jay.Ashworth@p8649.f160.n3603.z1.FIDONET.ORG
UUCP:     ...!myrddin!tct!mechanic!160.8649!Jay.Ashworth
Note: Mechanic is a free gateway between USENET & FIdonet.
      For information write to chief@mechanic.fidonet.org
Newsgroups: alt.folklore.computers
Subject: Re: 20ma <-> rs232
From: don@zl2tnm.gen.nz (Don Stokes)
Date: 14 Nov 92 01:23:39 GMT
Distribution: world
Organization: The Wolery

chapman@cs.cornell.edu (Richard Chapman) writes:
> I want to build an adapter to use an rs232 terminal on a pdp-8/L, whose
> only peripheral at the moment is the tty-33 console (via a W076D module). I've
> tried before to find out how to do this, and have been dismissed with 
> "A couple of opto-isolators should do it." Can anyone be more specific?
> Will any common-or-garden optoisolators work? What gets wired where? 

I had a 20mA DZ11 on my 11/34 (RIP), which had a clever little gadget to
convert 20mA to RS232 on one line.  Better still, this gadget fitted into
a DB25 shell and got its power from the DTR line.  I ran a modem on this
for a while -- it was far better than trying to dial out and run Kermit on
a DL11....

I may be able to get my hands on the device again.  If I do, I'll have a
go at reverse engineering it.

--
Don Stokes, ZL2TNM (DS555)                        don@zl2tnm.gen.nz (home)
Network Manager, Computing Services Centre            don@vuw.ac.nz (work)
Victoria University of Wellington, New Zealand              +64-4-495-5052
Newsgroups: alt.folklore.computers
From: lasner@watsun.cc.columbia.edu (Charles Lasner)
Subject: Re: Vector graphics
Reply-To: lasner@watsun.cc.columbia.edu (Charles Lasner)
Organization: Columbia University
Date: Thu, 12 Nov 1992 00:34:21 GMT

PDP-8 spacewar requires neither vector graphics nor a storage tube.  The
hardware requirements are:

a *working* PDP-8 with 4K memory and the EAE option and a console terminal.
This precludes certain models such as 8/l, 8/a (unless KK8E CPU), VT-78, and
all DECmates.

A D-A interface consisting of at least two D-A channels and preferably an
intensify circuit.  For some 'scopes, this is a TTL level because it's 
otherwise built into the 'scope itself.  The VC8E card set includes the
ability to generate pos-neg or neg-pos pulses of different amplitudes to
accomodate various scopes.

The older AA01A typically came in 3 channels without any intensify circuit,
so the third channel was resistively mixed into the other two.  The
program deflected the beam into the upper right corner of the scope, and
you adjust gain and offset until that portion is not visible.  This worked 
fine with scopes such as the Tektronix 503, etc.

Newer devices such as AX08 come with programmable intensify circuits, and
machines such as the LINC-8 and PDP-12 have a built-in scope.

For input, two players could play off the console switches, the left and
right most four.  On some machines, wires were added in parallel with the
switches and brought out to control boxes with 4 buttons each.  Controls are:
Turn left
Turn right
(press both to go into hyper-space)
Accelerate
Fire missiles
(press all 4 to self-destruct)

One version used a DC supply and hooked the 8 inputs into an AF01
A-D convertor, set to the shortest time conversion (six bits).  The button
press was determined by the high-order bit of the converted value (literally
a 1 bit a-d convertor!).

The Lab-8/e version uses the digital input register, the AX08 also having
similar hardware, and the PDP-12 and LINC-8 versions use the XL lines.
On the PDP-12 and LINC-8, an alternative is for each player to use the
left (or right) four switches on one of the TWO console switch registers, thus
physically the game is easier to play.  Also, the 12-inch VR-14 makes it
easier to see.

The VR-14 could also be used with the VC8E in an LAB-8/e, but more typically
a 601/602 scope was used on the VC8E.  (Essentially the same as a 613 with
no storage capability.)

cjl
From: dick.zeitlin%acc1bbs@ssr.com (Dick Zeitlin) 
Newsgroups: alt.folklore.computers
Subject: \dev\null (was Re: Men's
Date: 5 Nov 92 15:48:00 GMT
Distribution: world
Organization: Advanced Computer Concepts BBS, New Rochelle, NY 914-654-1981
Reply-To: dick.zeitlin%acc1bbs@ssr.com (Dick Zeitlin) 

ME> .Only if a directory named \dev exists on the current drive.

ME> .RTFM.

Why read the manual, which is subject to errors and misinterpretation
when a simple test will show that it works.  (Why do you think it's
called a "F" manual??  <~>)  If you use \dev\nul you end up writing to
the "bit bucket" and no file is created.

        D/

 * OLX 2.2 * Bring back A-N airways!!    Dick.Zeitlin%acc1bbs@ssr.com
From: betsys@cs.umb.edu (Elizabeth Schwartz)
Newsgroups: alt.folklore.computers
Subject: Re: 8L
Date: 8 Nov 92 00:44:15 GMT
	<1992Nov4.174419.9683@beaver.cs.washington.edu>
	<1992Nov4.185210.13302@news.columbia.edu>
	<1992Nov4.231804.21903@beaver.cs.washington.edu>
Organization: University of Massachusetts at Boston

I'd think that the Computer Museum in Boston is particularly
vulnerable to the dangers of junk piling up. Imagine what would happen
if they were NOT allowed to sell off stuff! Can you picture them
getting even 1 out of every 1000 old computers? What if 1 in 10,000
PCjr owners decided to ship their old PCjr to Boston? Or 1 in
1,000,000 old PC and XT owners?
   Besides, I'd say that recently mass-produced items are just not in
the same category as dinosaur bones. If you've got 2 PDP/8's you've
got one to fix and one to keep in pristine condition. You can't
carbon-date them or analyze their chemical composition to tell you
anything you can't find out by reading their documentation, also
unlike natural artifacts. 
   If the computer museum announces their sales, and scientists and
other museums have a chance to buy the stuff they are selling, what
more could you want?
--
System Administrator                  Internet: betsys@cs.umb.edu
MACS Dept, UMass/Boston               BITNET:ESCHWARTZ%UMBSKY.DNET@NS.UMB.EDU
100 Morrissy Blvd                     Staccato signals
Boston, MA 02125-3393                      of constant information....
From: betsys@cs.umb.edu (Elizabeth Schwartz)
Newsgroups: alt.folklore.computers
Subject: Re: Value of a PDP-11,VAX-11/750?
Date: 8 Nov 92 01:26:27 GMT
Organization: University of Massachusetts at Boston

Two years ago, DEC gave our VAX dept $1000 each on two 11/750's,
mainly as an incentive sort of discount. Our understanding was that
they were going to be crushed. There *do* seem to be a lot of hobbyist
groups around who have working VAX'es and PDP/11's so you might find a
taker. The problem, of course, is that they are VERY expensive to
ship, and require special power. Also in 1989 DEC was charging $15k a
year to service them, so repairs aren't cheap!
   I wouldn't buy one as an investment, but they are probably still of
some use to someone.
--
System Administrator                  Internet: betsys@cs.umb.edu
MACS Dept, UMass/Boston               BITNET:ESCHWARTZ%UMBSKY.DNET@NS.UMB.EDU
100 Morrissy Blvd                     Staccato signals
Boston, MA 02125-3393                      of constant information....
Newsgroups: alt.folklore.computers
From: panisset@lightning.mcrcim.mcgill.edu (Jean-Francois Panisset)
Subject: Re: proliferation of alt.adjective.noun.verb.verb.verb groups
Organization: McGill Research Centre for Intelligent Machines
Distribution: usa
Date: Sat, 7 Nov 92 19:48:22 GMT

In article <BxC2MA.5zC@rahul.net> alange@rahul.net (Andrew Lange) writes:
>Just recently, I tried a "grep '\(\.[a-z][a-z]*\)\1\1' .newsrc", just for
>fun, and this is what I got:

[list of newsgroups deleted]
>
>Does anyone know of the history of this prediliction for naming groups
>alt.opt-adjective.noun.verb.verb.verb ?
>
>Which is the first one you saw? Have you ever created one?

I believve the first such group was alt.sweedish.chef.bork.bork.bork,
which might have be an outgrowth of alt.tv.muppets. Quite active for
a little while, but I guess the name caught people's imaginations.

JF


-- 
Jean-Francois Panisset                    
INET: panisset@mcrcim.mcgill.ca            
      panisset@larry.mcrcim.mcgill.edu
UUCP: ...!mcgill-vision!panisset           
Newsgroups: alt.folklore.computers,alt.folklore.urban,talk.bizarre
From: PAPAI@kcgl1.eng.ohio-state.edu (Jonathan Papai)
Subject: Re: Jackpotting ATMs for $$$$
Organization: The Ohio State University
Date: Sat, 14 Nov 1992 20:15:28 GMT


	In a shopping mall in Cleveland they have an Automatic
Ticket Machine (ATM).  This device allows one to purchase Browns
tickets for any game in any section and pay by credit card.

Jon "But who would want to?" Papai
Newsgroups: alt.folklore.computers
From: hees@cubic.com (Phil Hees)
Subject: Zen and the Internet (was Re: domain questions)
Organization: _Not!_
Date: Sat, 07 Nov 92 01:56:04 GMT

adyonka@miavx1.acs.muohio.edu (Aaron D. Yonka) writes:
>
>There is a list of country codes in Appendix E of 
>_Zen_and_the_Art_of_The_Internet_ (ISBN 0-13-010778-6, Copyright 1993 (yes,
>1993), published by Prentice Hall).  The appendix lists "the known country
>codes as defined in the ISO-3166 standard."

Both PostScript and straight ASCII copies of _Zen_and_the_Art_of_The_
Internet_, First Edition (dated Jan 92) are available from many ftp
sites, generally under the filename zen-1.0.PS.Z (or zen-1.0.txt).
This is a very well-written and worthwhile guide for new net users
(IMHO it should be required reading for same), as well as a source of
useful information for veterans (where else does one learn about the
U. of Michigan Weather Underground database, for example?)

However, this early edition does not include an appendix E.  Does
anyone know if a more recent version is available via ftp?  A quick
run through Archie didn't turn anything up.

--
Phil Hees
hees@cubic.com
Newsgroups: alt.folklore.computers