HDTenEightyP/NetNews huggingface dataset:
From: lowen@lorc.UUCP (Lamar Owen)
Newsgroups: alt.folklore.computers,rec.games.int-fiction
Subject: Re: Screen colors (Was Re: Zork/Dungeon)
Date: Wed, 14 Oct 92 09:31:32 EDT
Organization: LORC Enterprises

goodridg@husc8.harvard.edu (Andrew Goodridge) writes:
> That's all. We should have a huge discussion about REAL relevant things,
> like, well, what's the most peripherals you've ever seen a private citizen
> hook to his machine?

Well, I've got them all beat.  I just connected a machine (VERY briefly) to the
Internet.  My IBM-PC, that is, running PC/IP.  Actually, it's not MY IBM-PC,
but one at work.  I don't own an IBM-PC--I own a real PC--AT&T UNIX-PC.

Haven't you heard the old joke?  "Mainframes: the most expensive peripherals
money can buy for the PC."  On the Internet, there are over a million 
intelligent "peripherals".

My IP address was 3.62.4.250 for a small time.  This is within GE, so access is
limited to SMTP e-mail. 

Actually, my machine is still connected physically to Internet--just running
Novell's IPX right now.

Oh, you meant *local* connections... Oh well...

I can't touch that one--Channel 1 BBS or EXEC-PC BBS probably take the cake,
with over 100 modems on EXEC-PC (I believe also over 100 PC's in a network),
and 70+ modems and PC's for Channel 1.  Oh, but you meant a *single* computer,
not a network... Hmmm... Well, the Apollo Domain system blurs that distinction,
being that memory is shareable amongst machines, processes are shareable, 
video is shareable (ever seen net_bounce on an Apollo? Bounces an object across
multiple workstation's screens), the mouse is shareable (move your mouse cursor
to another workstation and open a window there).  Shoot, even X workstations
can do some of this, by changing the DISPLAY environment variable (or using
a command line -display parameter)).

Well, for a single computer, Eric Greene (of Greene Machine BBS fame) had a 
PDP 11/23 with 16 modems, four floppy disks, 8 terminals, and two printers
for a hobby system.

> - Sketch


--

Lamar Owen, Systems Consultant, GE Lighting Systems, Hendersonville, NC
***********************************************************************
 Opinions expressed herein are the author's and do not reflect policy
   or opinions of the General Electric Company or its subsidiaries.
***********************************************************************
Xref: sparky alt.folklore.computers:15196 sci.electronics:17258
From: bender@oobleck (Duke of Canterbury)
Newsgroups: alt.folklore.computers,sci.electronics
Subject: Re: VHS vs BETA
Date: 16 Oct 92 07:33:11 GMT
Reply-To: bender@oobleck.eng.sun.com
Organization: SPARK's R US
NNTP-Posting-Host: oobleck
X-Newsreader: Tin 1.1 PL3

lowen@lorc.UUCP (Lamar Owen) writes:
: bender@oobleck (Duke of Canterbury) writes:
: > On playback the VCR gets it's sync from the control track of the tape (this
: > assumes a simple setup, no TBC/advanced sync/etc...).
: 
: Yes, it does, but HOW does it know that the tape is at the right speed?  If the 
: tape speed is off, the control signal will be off-frequency by that same amount.
: However, the tape signal from the control track IS the reference for the
: tape speed--HOW THEN DOES THE VCR *KNOW* that it is 30Hz???  Hmm... You know,
: I seem to remember seeing a 30Hz PLL with a 60Hz timebase (quartz crystal
: controlled) in an RCA camcorder I worked on....

The VCR takes what's on the control track and uses that as the reference; if
the control track signal is off frequency, so will the output of the VCR be,
within the limits of the PLL in the VCR.  The control track pulses are used
to control the head drum servo, and the assumption is made that the control
track recorded on a given tape corresponds with where the heads on the head
drum should be.

: On AC units it is easier to divide the line frequency by two.

But that's not how it's currently done.  In all of the VCR schematics that
I've seen, there is no AC reference used for anything, not even the clock,
if the VCR has one.  The AC line frequency isn't instantaneously accurate,
i.e. it's not always exactly 60 Hz (in the US); the power company just makes
sure that the frequency over a period of time averages out to 60 Hz.

mike

--
%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%
    Grashopper, you have been many years in the training, and I grow old,
    expecting the day when I receive the SIGXCPU, and _exit this world.
    I see that you are ready.
From: lowen@lorc.UUCP (Lamar Owen)
Newsgroups: alt.folklore.computers
Subject: Re: Bumper Sticker
Date: Mon, 05 Oct 92 08:04:37 EDT
Organization: LORC Enterprises

silk@mcl.ucsb.edu (ken | mencher) writes:
> >What version of DOS are they refering to ???
> >:-) just kidding..
> why "just kidding"?
> it's perfectly reasonable....
> I love DOS 3.3 for the Apple ][, or even ProDos for the Apple ][ series...
> I mean, really...

And I love DOS 6.3.1 for the TRS-80 Model 4--Oh, that's LS-DOS, BTW.

> ken mencher
> Apple ][ Forever!!!

TRS-80 Forever!  (I just could NOT resist....)

--

Lamar Owen, Systems Consultant, GE Lighting Systems, Hendersonville, NC
***********************************************************************
 Opinions expressed herein are the author's and do not reflect policy
   or opinions of the General Electric Company or its subsidiaries.
***********************************************************************
Newsgroups: alt.folklore.computers
From: magnus@bark-fddi.ii.uib.no (Magnus Alvestad)
Subject: lorc.UUCP
Reply-To: magnus@ii.uib.no
Organization: CE at UVBS / HOS / RNoN and CS-S at UiB, N.
Date: 17 Oct 92 04:25:36

To the guy that posted a long list of equipment for sale:

I'll buy the PDP-8 w/equipment for $35.

Mail me for more info, and please supply a more solid 
mail address than ..@lorc.UUCP

-Magnus
Newsgroups: alt.folklore.computers
From: bscott@nyx.cs.du.edu (Ben Scott)
Subject: Re: dirty tricks
Summary: Request for tricks... 
Organization: Nyx, Public Access Unix at U. of Denver Math/CS dept.
Date: Sat, 10 Oct 92 16:03:05 GMT

I've been having a good time reading this thread... I'd post some of my past
tricks but most of them turned out to have been invented earlier, so they
weren't really original... 

Anyhow, I have a request.  One of the places I work uses a Data General
MV20000 running CEO 3.2 (? the latest).  It's a dog of a system - text-only,
menu driven (not pull-down menus - MENUS), and about as far from WYSIWIG as
you can get.  Anyway, people all over this large building area continually
leaving themselves logged in.  Since almost everyone has their own terminal
there's little incentive not to.  I do my part to discourage this by doing
various fun things to their accounts, but I don't like to do the same things
for too long, and my imagination is running out.  

Some of the things I've done in the past - set up their appointment calendar
(which almost nobody uses or even remembers is there) to remind them, every
15 minutes for a full day starting a week or a month (or a year) later, of
the anniversary of their oversight.  Or sending them messages from
themselves in mail, pointing out the things I could've sent in their name,
and sending blind copies to others... or (particularly fun) pressing the 
the "Hold" key (the Dasher 200 Ctrl-S) which, although it has an indicator
LED, few notice, and then typing a series of commands which will send mail
to people, and which are buffered - when they release the hold key, they
will be treated to the spectacle of watching their terminal do all kinds of
fun things with no way to stop it.  

Admittedly, these aren't really the most clever pranks in the world - but
the scope of possibilities is limited, given the lack of access to a command
line shell and the lack of desire on my part to do real damage.  But does
anyone out there have any ideas for me?  (due to the limited utility of the
replies, since almost nobody out there uses Data General these days, please
Email)

.                            <<<<Infinite K>>>>


--
|Ben Scott, professional goof-off and consultant at The Raster Image, Denver|
|Internet bscott@nyx.cs.du.edu, or call the Arvada 68K BBS at (303)424-6208.| 
|"Don't you see it?  EVIL, pure and simple,|The Raster Image IS responsible |
|from the 8th Dimension!" - Buckaroo Banzai|for everything I say! | *Amiga* |
Newsgroups: alt.folklore.computers,comp.unix.admin
From: kris@tpki.toppoint.de (Kristian Koehntopp)
Subject: Re: WANTED: Unix administration horror stories !
X-Copyright: (C) Copyright 1992 Kristian Koehntopp -- All rights reserved.
		 Reproduktion, auch auszugsweise, ausserhalb elektronischer,
		 nichtkommerzieller Datennetze nur mit ausdruecklichem,
		 schriftlichem Einverstaendnis des Autors.
Organization: Toppoint Mailbox e.V.
Date: Wed, 14 Oct 1992 12:39:35 GMT
X-Excuse: X-Copyright wegen Emma, Suedwestpresse und /C'T/DISKUSSIONEN.

In <1992Oct12.143809.2922@javelin.sim.es.com> gfowler@javelin.sim.es.com (Gary Fowler) writes:
>determined that it could be zapped.  Forgetting that I was still in /usr/bin, I
>did an rm *.  No 10 second idiot proofing with rm.  Now if some one would only

That's what csh's !$ is for.

Kristian
-- 
Kristian Koehntopp, Harmsstrasse 98, FRG W-2300 Kiel, +49 431 676689
"One who has never hacked sendmail.cf has no soul.
 One who has hacked it twice has no brain." -- Peter da Silva
From: phil@iagu.itd.adelaide.edu.au (Phil Kernick)
Newsgroups: alt.folklore.computers
Subject: Re: dirty tricks
Date: 9 Oct 92 00:46:37 GMT
Reply-To: phil@adam.adelaide.edu.au
Organization: Psychology Department, University of Adelaide
NNTP-Posting-Host: iagu.itd.adelaide.edu.au


In article <BvpEID.I4F@unix.amherst.edu>, twpierce@unix.amherst.edu (Tim Pierce) writes:
> In article <1as4v9INNeda@grapevine.EBay.Sun.COM> smckinty@sunicnc.France.Sun.COM (Steve McKinty - Sun ICNC) writes:
> 
> >But it's not very subtle. Try adding
> >
> >$ lo*gout := write sys$output "No, I want to stay here"
> >
> >instead. Sort of delayed action...
> 
> And then, if you go on to add
> 
> $ eoj := ...
> $ stop := ...
> 
> then you *really* have to go into the woodwork to fix yourself.

Nah.  Still to easy.  It's been a long time since I used VMS (about 4 years)
but the best things were (I think):

$ delete/verb logout
$ delete/verb eoj
$ delete/verb stop

So that they aren't just redefined, those verbs no longer exist.

But you can still quit, by:

$ run sys$sysexe:loginout.exe


(My appologies to VMS hackers if I didn't get the syntax exactly correct, I
am doing all this from hazy memories!)


Regards,
Phil.

--
   _-_|\    Phil Kernick                        "Sleep all day,
  /     \   University of Adelaide               Party all night,
  \_.-*_/   E-Mail: phil@adam.adelaide.edu.au    It's fun to be a
       v    Phone:  +61 8 228 5914               Vampire!"
From: pauls@css.itd.umich.edu (Paul Southworth)
Newsgroups: alt.folklore.computers
Subject: Re: Stupid error messages  (was "Any key" et al)
Date: 13 Oct 1992 06:08:12 GMT
Organization: University of Michigan ITD Consulting and Support Services
NNTP-Posting-Host: stimpy.css.itd.umich.edu

In article <1992Oct13.022702.5950@ml.csiro.au> gray@ml.csiro.au writes:
>conflict.  We evenually pulled the floppy controller and rebooted
>expecting it to boot from the hard disk.  Nope!  We got the message
>
>602 Disk Controller Failure
>Insert Diagnostic disk in Drive A:
>Press F1 to continue
>
>Or something pretty close ... what the HELL would we have done if the
>keyboard was unplugged too?

Mine will check for keyboard and if there is not one attached, it will ask
me to press F1 to continue as well.

Paul Southworth                    |     ftp redspread.css.itd.umich.edu
Consulting and Support Services    |        Anonymous Political Archives
Information Technology Division    |                     100% 386BSD 0.1
University of Michigan, Ann Arbor  |             New submissions welcome 

  <Representing myself.  Everything I say is for educational use only.>
From: bob@kc2wz.bubble.org (Bob Billson)
Newsgroups: alt.folklore.computers
Subject: Re: Flip-Chips (was Re: FAQ)
Summary: saving old manuals
Date: 7 Oct 92 16:52:51 GMT
Distribution: na
Organization: Color Computer 3: Tandy's 'game' machine

jones@pyrite.cs.uiowa.edu (Douglas W. Jones,201H MLH,3193350740,3193382879) says:
>I think I just cited the second edition of the same publication!  It's a
>pity that DEC didn't stick to this format, because it's refreshing to see
>old DEC documentation that's not yet yellowed and crumbling!  Is there a
>need for a tutorial on how to rescue old manuals when they reach this state?
>I've done reprints of one DEC handbook on archival paper, and I'm willing
>to share the art!

Yes please do share the info.  I have a couple of old manual which are slowly
disintegratings and would like to save them!
-- 
  Bob Billson, KC2WZ                          | internet: bob@kc2wz.bubble.org
  $nail:  21 Bates Way,  Westfield, NJ 07090  | uucp:     ...!uunet!kc2wz!bob

  "Professional ear piercing--while you wait!"  --sign in local jewelry store
Newsgroups: alt.folklore.computers
Subject: WANTED: Hacker Test
From: dlfrost@miavx1.acs.muohio.edu
Date: 12 Oct 92 01:46:42 -0500
Organization: Miami University Academic Computer Service"

	Can someone please email me a copy of the hacker test.  The floppy
gremlin has stolen mine. I thought I had it on floppy somewhere but the gremlin
got to it before me.  Thanks



	
					  Dennis
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Real Programmers don't bring brown bag lunches.  If the vending machine sells 
it, they eat it.  If the vending machine doesn't sell it, they don't eat it. 
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------
dlfrost@miavx1.acs.muohio.edu                  df0dsanu@miamiu.acs.muohio.edu 

Newsgroups: alt.folklore.computers
From: tzs@stein.u.washington.edu (Tim Smith)
Subject: Re: Computer hate slogans
Organization: University of Washington, Seattle
Date: Thu, 15 Oct 1992 04:43:05 GMT

>     Try a local sci-fi convention. The last one I went to had two button
>dealers. One had mostly sf/f buttons, but the other had about twenty computer
>buttons of numerous types and operating systems and would make one for you
>on request. Cost for the button was one dollar, one dollar and fifty cents
>for a custom one. If he thought it was funny or he had never encountered
>one like it before, he would only charge one dollar for it and add it to
>his catalogue. Later, Jim.

I knew a programmer who made buttons.  He made a great one to wear to DECUS
once.  It really annoyed the DEC people.  Remember the slogan DEC had for the
VAX when it came out?  "VAX: architecture for the 80's"?  His button said

	"VAX/VMS: software for the 60's"

--Tim Smith
From: doctor@k9.UUCP (Paul Broe)
Newsgroups: alt.folklore.computers
Subject: Re: The need for an assem
Date: 15 Oct 92 22:47:23 GMT
Organization: Mostly Harmless...
X-NewsSoftware: GRn 1.16e (7/4/92) by Mike Schwartz & Michael B. Smith

In article <1bju8lINN1jp@armory.centerline.com> jimf@centerline.com (Jim Frost) writes:
> lasner@watsun.cc.columbia.edu (Charles Lasner) writes:
> >>(BTW, my automatic transmission allows me to manually select gears, and
> >>my HLL allows me to embed inline asm code.)
> 
> >That's totally bogus.  No automatic selects gears, merely you may be able
                          ^^^^^^^^^^^^Don't be so sure...
> >to limit the *top* gear it shifts into.
> 
> Clearly you've never driven the new Porshe 911 with the Tiptronic
> transmission.

Clearly he never saw an automatic in some earlier Honda's. It was a two speed
that you had to shift yourself. (Called the Honda-matic? It was in one of the
smallest cars they built at the time. Even GM gave up on two speed automatics
in about 1968.)

-- 
----
Paul Broe
Internet: broe@plains.nodak.edu
UUCP: uunet!plains!prototype!k9!doctor (My Amiga 2500/20)    AmigaUUCP 1.16D
BIX: pbroe Compu$erve: too expensive.                        AmigaOS 2.04
Newsgroups: alt.folklore.computers
From: mcdowell@exlogcorp.exlog.com (Steve McDowell)
Subject: Re: Thoughts
Organization: EXLOG, In.c
Date: Fri, 9 Oct 92 18:10:48 GMT

In aritcle <1992Oct8.173208.13667@cs.uow.edu.au>
	u9147063@cs.uow.edu.au (Richard Barry Ling) writes:
> 01011001 01100101 01110011 00101100 00100000 01100001 01101110 01100100
> 00100000 01110100 01101000 01100101 01111001 00100000 01101000 01100001
> 01110110 01100101 00100000 01100001 00100000 01100010 01101001 01110100
> 01100011 01101000 00100000 01101111 01100110 00100000 01100001 00100000
> 01110100 01101001 01101101 01100101 00100000 01110100 01110010 01111001
> 01101001 01101110 01100111 00100000 01110100 01101111 00100000 01110010
> 01100101 01101101 01100101 01101101 01100010 01100101 01110010 00100000
> 01100001 01101100 01101100 00100000 01110100 01101000 01100101 00100000
> 01000001 01010011 01000011 01001001 01001001 00100000 01100011 01101111
> 01100100 01100101 01110011 00100001 00100001 00100000 00111010 00101101
> 00101001 00001010 !!

Who remembers? I use the chart in /usr/pub.....

-- 
Steve McDowell             . . . . o o o o o 		Opinions are 
Exlog, Inc.	                  _____      o     	mine, not my 
mcdowell@exlog.com      _____====  ]OO|_n_n__][.    	employers..
		       [_________]_|__|________)<
From: bob@kc2wz.bubble.org (Bob Billson)
Newsgroups: alt.folklore.computers
Subject: missing part of The Jargon File
Summary: can some send me the missing end?
Date: 9 Oct 92 03:29:56 GMT
Distribution: na
Organization: Color Computer 3: Tandy's 'game' machine

I just recently grabbed of copy of ASCII version of The Jargon File
(jargon2910.ascii.Z) from prep.ai.mit.edu.  Unfortunately compress keeps
choking shortly before the end of the file so I am missing a chunk.  Could
someone send the *missing* part?

Please *before* you send anything, email to see if someone else has offered.
This way you don't waste your time and I don't get 1e25 copies of it. :-)
Or even worse the entire file (which I DO NOT NEED!) :-)  (Watch no one will
send anything and assume someone else has. :-) )

This is where compress quits:

:zorch: /zorch/ 1. [TMRC] v. To attack with an inverse heat sink.
   2. [TMRC] v. To travel, with v approaching c [that
   is, with velocity approaching lightspeed --- ESR].  3. [MIT] v. To
   propel something very quickly.  "The new comm software is very
   fast; it really zorches files through the network."  4. [MIT] n.
   Influence.  Brownie points.  Good karma.  The intangible and fuzzy
   currency in which favors are measured.  "I'd rather not ask him
   for that just yet; I think I've used up my quota of zorch with him
   for the week."  5. [MIT] n. Energy, drive, or ability.  "I think
   I'll {punt} that change for now; I've been up for 30 hours
   and I've run out of zorch."

:Zork: /zork/ n. The second of the great early experiments in computer
   fantasy gaming; see {ADVENT}.  Originally written on MIT-DM
   during the late 1970s, later distributed with BSD UNIX (as a patched,
   sourceless RT-11 Fortran binary; see {retrocomputing}) and
   commercialized as `The Zork Trilogy' by Infocom.

:zorkmid: /zork'mid/ n. The canonical unit of currency in
   hacker-written games.  This originated in {zork} but has spread
   to {nethack} and is referred to in several other games.


I need everything after 'zorkmid' (assuming 'zorkmid' has not been chopped).
Thanks.

     Bob
-- 
  Bob Billson, KC2WZ                          | internet: bob@kc2wz.bubble.org
  $nail:  21 Bates Way,  Westfield, NJ 07090  | uucp:     ...!uunet!kc2wz!bob

  "Professional ear piercing--while you wait!"  --sign in local jewelry store
From: ercm20@festival.ed.ac.uk (Sam Wilson)
Newsgroups: alt.folklore.computers
Subject: Re: What was the intended advantage of using 36bits CPU?
Date: 16 Oct 92 12:46:31 GMT

lasner@watsun.cc.columbia.edu (Charles Lasner) writes:
> In article <26915@castle.ed.ac.uk> Sam.Wilson@ed.ac.uk writes:
> >lasner@watsun.cc.columbia.edu (Charles Lasner) writes:
> >> But what happens when it turns out you need 17 bits?  Again, the -10 is
> >> up to that, since it can pack two chars of 18 or less bits per word in
> >> byte addressing mode wasting 2 bits if 17 bits/char.  All of these machines
> >> that are 32 bits are going to have to round up to 32 bit/char, or are you
> >> still insisting on finding a need for 2^32 unique combinations?
> >
> >A 8-bit-byte oriented machine could just use 24 bits.  It could also fit
> >19-bit characters into 24 bits, wasting 5 bits.  It or a 32-bit-word
> >oriented machine could fit 19-bit characters into 32 bits and waste 13
> >bits.  A -10 would have to waste 17, surely.  :-)
> >
> >Why is it that any discussion with cjl starts off sensible enough and
> >ends up extremely silly?
> 
> For a very simple reason: you aren't looking at my perspective of the
> discussion, and your position is silly, not mine :-).  My point about the
> evils of bytes of fixed size is the driving force behind the thread, is
> that silly?  You don't have to agree with me, but it's pretty ridiculous
> to not understand what's being discussed.

If that is your point: silly yourself! You picked an arbitrary size of
object for which the -10's architecture happens to be more efficient in
storage.  Bully for you.  I simply picked a counter example where an
8-bit or even a 32-bit architecture could be better. 

For storing objects of arbitrary size then finer granularity with
objects spanning storage unit boundaries is generally better because you
waste less at the boundaries.  I'm not saying variable width data
objects are not a good idea - for instance if you wanted to store 37 bit
objects on a -10 then you could presumably pack the extra bits from 36
of them into 36 one-bit bytes in the 37th word rather than waste 35 bits
out of 72 - but that wasn't your point.

Now if you had said that your point was the comparison between character
sets that operate with a small set of codes and a variety of shift
sequences to select different translations, and those that represent a
large variety of different characters directly I'd have agreed at once!
But then we've been through that one recently too...  :-)

> [[[ discussion about 8-bit bytes, IBM, EBCDIC, 7- and 8-bit ASCII,
>     variable width bytes and PDP-10s mostly deleted ]]]

8-, 16- and 32-bit quantities have the advantage that they are nice
round binary numbers and opcode selectors into them can be fitted nicely
into fixed width opcode fields (I presume - I'm not a h/w designer) - it
lookslike it would be lishglty mnore economical to design -10-type
variable bytes on a 32-bit word machine than a 36-bit one. 

> Any other silly remarks?  (On the topic?)

I'm just waiting for them (except I'm off on holiday for a week so I
won't see them!)  :-)

Sam
Newsgroups: alt.folklore.computers
From: twpierce@unix.amherst.edu (Tim Pierce)
Subject: Re: dirty tricks
Organization: Amherst College, Amherst MA
Date: Fri, 9 Oct 1992 20:52:48 GMT

In article <1992Oct8.183142.18817@athena.mit.edu> scs@adam.mit.edu (Steve Summit) writes:

>I'm not sure whether I remember when I first outgrew them, but I
>definitely remember being the clueless old fogey from the glass
>tty era pecking away at my single window on an X workstation

Oh, that's still me.  Well, I must confess, on occasion I do edit in
one window and compile in another.  But besides that, the best use for
windowing systems I've found is the ability to create terminals with
more than 24 rows.  And all around me are people running xarchie or
xdu or xpasswd.  I really *care*, I tell them, I care *deeply* about
their ability to create a new window in which to run "more."  It's
just cutting-edge technology, it is.

>	rsh theirmachine stty erase t \> /dev/theirpty

Heh.  Any reason you used 't', rather than something more ironically
appropriate, like 'x'?

-- 
____ Tim Pierce                / "You are just naive and repressed because
\  / twpierce@unix.amherst.edu /  penis envy is here and it's now and it's
 \/ (BITnet: TWPIERCE@AMHERST) /  all around you." -- Neal C. Wickham