HDTenEightyP/NetNews huggingface dataset:
From: moroney@ramblr.enet.dec.com
Newsgroups: alt.folklore.computers,alt.folklore.urban
Subject: Re: HP Monitor models
Date: 19 Nov 92 02:45:40 GMT
Organization: Digital Equipment Corporation

In article <1992Nov18.201232.23942@hpcvaac.cv.hp.com>, billn@hpcvaac.cv.hp.com (bill nelson) writes...
>taft@adobe.com (Ed Taft) writes:
>: 
>: I'm told there are some places on earth where the variation is greater
>: than 90 degrees. That is, a magnetic compass indicates north as being
>: in a southerly direction. This is true not only at the North Pole but
>: in some other places (southeast Asia?) where the earth's magnetic field
>: has weird bends in it.

>Don't need wierd bends. It is true for quite a large area of Canada in
>the vicinity of Hudson's Bay (where the magnetic north pole is located).

>There variations of 90 degrees or greater are standard. It is possible
>to have a 180 degree variation, if you are on a line directly north of
>the magnetic north pole.

Also for spots south of the south magnetic pole, so there would be spots in
Antarctica where the compass would be 180 degrees off, and much of the rest
would be >90 degrees.

Also anywhere there are large magnetite (magnetic iron ore) deposits the
compasses ought to be mighty confused.

BTW, the Earth's north magnetic pole is actually a magnetic south pole.
Don't believe me?  Think of how magnets work for a second...

-Mike
Newsgroups: alt.folklore.computers
From: rf@cl.cam.ac.uk (Robin Fairbairns)
Subject: Re: Swedish Adding Machine (was: Help Wanted)
Organization: U of Cambridge Computer Lab, UK
Date: Fri, 20 Nov 1992 11:55:38 GMT

In article <PCL.92Nov19174841@black.oxford.ac.uk>, pcl@oxford.ac.uk (Paul Leyland) writes:
|> Last weekend, I acquired a wind-up mechanical adding machine.

Yeah - I've got one too (came from an Oxfam shop!).

|> I used to use machines very like this almost 20 years ago when I was a
|> undergraduate.

When I came to the Maths Lab here (predecessor of the Computer Lab) as
a graduate student in 1967, each of us had such a calculator on his/her
desk.  We were encouraged (by one lecturer, now deceased) to use them.
Of course, since my father was in Life Assurance, I already knew how.

|>                They were already obsolescent, and I was one of only a
|> very few who took the trouble to learn how they worked.  After a
|> while, I could perform addition/subtraction as fast as I could on a
|> calculator; multiplication and division were slower, but not too much
|> slower.  I even extracted square roots by Newton Raphson in a
|> reasonable time.  *And* I didn't have to worry about batteries going
|> flat.  I've got rusty since then, but I expect I'll soon pick it up
|> again.

Of course, in 1968, comparison with electronic (pocket) calculators
wasn't much of an issue.

|> The real reason I got the machine was that it is a beautiful
|> mechanism.  If it can be persuaded to work again, that's a real bonus.

Yes - they're wonderful machines (mine's actually a Brunsviga).  It
works, but I would characterise my one's use as "executive toy mode"
(embarrassed grin - I'm not _really_ an executive, y'know ;-)

|> I can easily believe they designed the bomb on machines like this.  It
|> is such a great advance on the slide rule for simple arithmetic.  Yes,
|> I do still use a guessing stick every now and again, just to keep in
|> practice.  Again, zero power requirement is very re-assuring to
|> oldsters like me.

Youngsters like you probably wouldn't be used to the concept of these
machines being the primary support for the (human) _computers_ who did
big sums for people...
--
Robin (come back John Drummond) Fairbairns       rf@cl.cam.ac.uk
U of Cambridge Computer Lab, Pembroke St, Cambridge  CB2 3QG, UK
"They had twelve years to lay in wait for us" - Bush supporter on Nov 4
Newsgroups: alt.folklore.computers
From: lucio@phyrql.Alt.ZA (Lucio de Re)
Subject: Re: Computer disguises (was Re: Jackpotting Vending Machines for Candy)
Organization: MegaByte Digital Communications
Date: Sun, 22 Nov 1992 14:39:33 GMT

pete@minster.york.ac.uk writes:

>Alternatively you may be thinking of the PC/370 which was an incredible hack
>which featured a card with a couple of microcoded 68000s emulating a 370 
>running a single user version of CMS.... 

Sounds like a useful card to add to one's PC, if only the 68000s are not
soldered in place :-)
-- 
Lucio de Re (lucio@phyrql.Alt.ZA)
The supernatural does not exist, but it gives me the creeps...
From: xyzzy@mertwig.UUCP (Daniel Drucker)
Newsgroups: alt.folklore.computers
Subject: Re: *free* Unix ?? (was: Unix admin horror stories)
Date: Thu, 12 Nov 92 21:01:06 EST
Organization: Odd Parity Hacker's Group

Which is better, Linux or 386BSD? With a 486 with 16 meg ram 600 meg hd

--
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
Xref: sparky alt.folklore.computers:16633 sci.math:15395 rec.antiques:1582
From: tomk@pyton.DoCS.UU.SE (Tom F Karlsson)
Newsgroups: alt.folklore.computers,sci.math,rec.antiques
Subject: Re: Swedish Adding Machine -- Help Wanted
Date: 20 Nov 92 12:29:55
Organization: Dept. of Computer Systems, Uppsala University, Sweden.
	<1992Nov20.052436.19388@news.columbia.edu>
NNTP-Posting-Host: pyton.csd.uu.se
In-reply-to: lasner@watsun.cc.columbia.edu's message of Fri, 20 Nov 1992 05:24:36 GMT


In article <1992Nov20.052436.19388@news.columbia.edu> lasner@watsun.cc.columbia.edu (Charles Lasner) writes:

> In article <PCL.92Nov19174841@black.oxford.ac.uk> pcl@oxford.ac.uk (Paul Leyland) writes:
> >
> >Last weekend, I acquired a wind-up mechanical adding machine.  It is
> 
> 
> >"Multo" (in a flowing script and underlined) and "ADDO" (in smaller
> >capitals).  On another panel are some partially erased words.  The
> >best I can make them out is: "A.B.  <obliterated, maybe 4-6
> >characters> MALMO MADE IN SWEDEN".  There is a umlaut over the O of
> 
> This sounds like it was made by a unit of the FACIT company.

Could be. I have a FACIT of my own, and I think it can be similar to the
above mentioned machine. Sad to say, I don't have neither manuals nor
spare parts for it.

/Tom
--
|  Tom Karlsson                                         |
|  student of computer science @ Uppsala University     |
|  email:   tomk@meryl.csd.uu.se                        |
|                                                       |
|  " - At least it's something, said the mosquito and   |
|      pissed in the sea..."                            |
From: tim@unipalm.co.uk (Tim Goodwin)
Newsgroups: alt.folklore.computers
Subject: Re: sync; sync; sync; was Re: Computer Superstition
Date: 20 Nov 92 17:05:50 GMT
Organization: Unipalm Ltd., 216 Cambridge Science Park, Cambridge CB4 4WA, UK

nickel@cs.tu-berlin.de (Juergen Nickelsen) writes:

>But back in the old days, it was not a bad idea to type sync three
>times (and not as "sync; sync; sync") to make sure the first call was
>completed. 

If you have disk activity lights, the lack of flicker on typing the second
"sync" is pleasantly reassuring.

Tim.
Newsgroups: alt.folklore.computers
From: mdw@theory.TC.Cornell.EDU (Matt Welsh)
Subject: Re: Long gone geeking
Organization: Cornell Theory Center
Date: Wed, 18 Nov 1992 03:03:29 GMT

In article <1992Nov17.175315.10993@geovision.gvc.com> pt@geovision.gvc.com writes:
>[Most of the incredibly long signature mercifully deleted]
>>Ah, for just one time I would take	415 903 1400, 415 903 0122 (fax)
>>the Northwest Passage, to find the	jeffrey@cygnus.com
>>hand of Franklin reaching for the Beaufort Sea....
>
>Much as I approve of Stan Rogers quotes in sigs, the [mercifully deleted]
>Butt Ugly Ascii Font that proceeds it has _got_ to go.  So does the tab
>damage.  (On my screen, it looks like "...to find the jeffrey@cygnus.com hand
>of Franklin...")

Whoa, hold on there, Paul. You've got a.f.c confused with alt.fan.warlord
again. Bad habits are hard to break, I know.

:) mdw

-- 
Matt Welsh    mdw@tc.cornell.edu        +1 607 253 2737
Systems Programmer, Cornell Theory Center
  "We're going away now. I fed the cat."
From: chapman@cs.cornell.edu (Richard Chapman)
Newsgroups: alt.folklore.computers
Subject: Re: What about a pdp-8? (was: value of a pdp-11,va)
Date: 17 Nov 92 04:07:11 GMT
Organization: Cornell Univ. CS Dept, Ithaca NY 14853

johnb@searchtech.com (John Baldwin) writes:

>   Okay, I have a similar question.  My new employer is trying to get
>   rid of a PDP-8.  So far, they haven't set a price; they haven't even
>   decided whether to open up for bids or how they want to handle it.
>   To them, its just junk.  I don't think it runs.  What's it worth?

>   PS: Anybody know much about restoring such a beast to operational
>   condition?    :-)


Yes, there are some of us out there who are still keeping pdp-8's
alive. I've restored one pdp-8/l, and I'd be interested in another
pdp-8 -- how large is the one your employers are trying to get rid
of (shipping from you to me would probably be a non-trivial cost)?
Also, what model (i.e. an 8/e, 8/i, 8/f; its either on the front panel
or on the serial number plate on the back of the cpu cabinet). Price
is pretty much what you can get someone to pay (I paid $5 for the one
I have) since they don't have any use for real work (unlike the pdp-11
which is still heavily used). 

Yours,
Richard Chapman 
Newsgroups: alt.folklore.computers
From: kps@cunixb.cc.columbia.edu (Karthik P Sheka)
Subject: Re: ASSEMBLY LANGUAGE IBM
Reply-To: kps@cunixb.cc.columbia.edu (Karthik P Sheka)
Organization: Columbia University
Date: Mon, 16 Nov 1992 17:07:09 GMT

In article <16NOV92.12250000.0072@VM1.MCGILL.CA> IEGS@MUSICB.MCGILL.CA (IEGS) writes:
>HOW COULD YOU SOLVE THIS:
>DETERMINE HOW MANY MICRO-INSTRUCTIONS ARE REQUIRE TO PERFORM
>THE ASSEMBLY INSTRUCTIONS WITH OPERATION CODES FROM 0 TO 4.
>  WRITE A (MAC-1) ASSEMBLY IBM PROGRAM TO COMPUTE X = MIN(A,B)
>{IF (A<B) X=A ELSE X=B}
>PLEASE REPLY TO MC.BER


So, who's the kid taking the computer org. midterm?

(Sorry, it's been a long day, and it's not even noon yet...)

//Karthik
kps@cunixb.cc.columbia.edu
Newsgroups: alt.folklore.computers
From: peter@NeoSoft.com (Peter da Silva)
Subject: Re: PDP ftp archive
Organization: NeoSoft Communications Services -- (713) 684-5900
Date: Mon, 23 Nov 1992 09:32:45 GMT

In article <1992Nov22.112250.14995@news.columbia.edu> lasner@watsun.cc.columbia.edu (Charles Lasner) writes:
> Some of these same iron-moving types claim to be a vendor "for all of your
> DEC VT's" as if VT-100 and up is all that DEC ever made.  Someone should
> tell them about VT05, 50, 50H, 52, as well as some more obscure stuff like
> VT-20, 06, and VT8E.

Anyone still got a GT40 in action?
-- 
Peter da Silva.  <peter@sugar.neosoft.com>.
 `-_-'   Oletko halannut suttasi tnn?
  'U`    
Tarjoilija, tm ateria el viel.
Newsgroups: alt.folklore.computers
From: Matt Ackeret <unknown@apple.com>
Subject: Neat ads (was1960's vintage advertisements)
X-Useragent: Nuntius v1.1.1d12
Date: Mon, 23 Nov 1992 23:52:08 GMT
X-Xxdate: Mon, 23 Nov 92 15:53:14 GMT
Organization: Apple

In article <jcmorris.722283055@mwunix> Joe Morris, jcmorris@mwunix.mitre.org
writes:
>OTOH, there were some really beautiful ads back then.  One of the most
>popular -- to the point that many readers cut them out and posted them
>on office walls -- were from Honeywell.  Some artist would take

This certainly isn't anywhere near that old, but I have a poster from 10 or
so years
ago for disks... damn, I don't even remember which disks.. Verbatim I think,
since I
know it was a brand that had the "quality" disks back then but basically
isn't in the floppy business as far as I can tell anymore...

The poster is/was "101 things to worry about now that you don't have to worry
about X's diskettes..."

And, of course, the 101th thing was (paraphrased) "Someone breaking into your
house while you're reading a dumb poster."
From: dp@world.std.com (Jeff DelPapa)
Subject: Re: Superstitions: power cycling, screen savers, surge suppressors
Organization: The World Public Access UNIX, Brookline, MA
Date: Tue, 24 Nov 1992 05:43:23 GMT

>has a lot to do with it, though -- consumer goods are HIGHLY parts-cost
>minimized, whereas a lot of the lab equipment we do here is mostly custom
>work, so most of the cost is tied up in engineering time, and adding $5 to
>the actual cost of materials for the box doesn't add much to the total
>cost.

The costing algorithms for consumer electronics quoted me by someone who
designed such things, back when such things were still designed in
this country.

1. The whole retail is six times the cost of the parts.

2. The box gets half the parts budget.

3. The knobs get half of whats left.

4. If you can save a nickel per unit, you have paid your salary for
   the year.

5. Cost reductions of $0.005 are worth serious consideration.

<dp>
Newsgroups: alt.folklore.computers
From: lasner@watsun.cc.columbia.edu (Charles Lasner)
Subject: Re: Computer Superstition
Reply-To: lasner@watsun.cc.columbia.edu (Charles Lasner)
Organization: Columbia University
Date: Wed, 18 Nov 1992 12:34:36 GMT

In article <10292323.7317.11306@kcbbs.gen.nz> Murray_Moffatt@kcbbs.gen.nz (Murray Moffatt) writes:
>We've all heard of common superstitions such as not walking under ladders 
>and throwing salt over your left shoulder if you spill some, but are 
>there any superstitions to do with computers?
>

Never ever use a unix-based computer; it is ultimately fatal; there are no
known exceptions.

cjl

Xref: sparky alt.folklore.computers:16667 alt.folklore.urban:29407
From: nwc1@ellis.uchicago.edu (N.W. Choe)
Newsgroups: alt.folklore.computers,alt.folklore.urban
Subject: Re: How to kill chickens with your computer...
Date: 23 Nov 92 17:41:11 GMT
Reply-To: nwc1@midway.uchicago.edu
Organization: Beaver Consulting Co.

Say, are you sure that you got the laboratory name right? I thought
that it was General Urban Legend Laboratory of the International
Bureau of Legend Exoneration.

Note: if you don't get it, it's not in the encyclopaedia. But look
in the E.Britannica, published by U of C., or somehow related to it.
Note: this is my ObUL for this posting. Thank you, have a nice day.




-- 
	N.W. Choe - nwc1@midway.uchicago.edu
	5454 South Shore Drive #318, Chicago, Illinois 60615
	Beaver Consulting Co. Chicago
	312.702.4605
From: kalisiak@acsu.buffalo.edu (Christophe M. Kalisiak)
Newsgroups: alt.folklore.computers
Subject: Re: What about a pdp-8? (was: value of a p
Date: 17 Nov 92 16:49:16 GMT
Organization: UB

In article <1992Nov17.100426.20955@spectrum.xerox.com> hdavies@rx.xerox.com writes:
>In article 9780@cs.cornell.edu, chapman@cs.cornell.edu (Richard Chapman) writes:
>>chapman@cs.cornell.edu (Richard Chapman) writes:
>>
>>something? While you cannot, to the best of my knowledge, buy a new
>>PDP-8 from DEC at this point, I'm sure there are lots in use for
>>"real work". Sorry!
>
>On which note, can you still buy an '11 from DEC???

Oh sure. The 11/93, 11/94, and I believe the 11/53 are still available, and
are listed in the DECdirect catalog. In fact, you can now get a SCSI 
based PDP from DEC, from what I recall.

Chris


-- 
Chris Kalisiak		     | "Pound for pound, lame puns are your best
kalisiak@acsu.buffalo.edu    |   entertainment value." -- Gogo Dodo, Tiny Toons
V076N3W7@ubvms.cc.buffalo.edu| "Stimpy, your wealth of ignorance astounds me."
V076N3W7@ubvms.bitnet	     |   -- Ren Hoek, Ren and Stimpy
Newsgroups: alt.folklore.computers
From: dpbsmith@world.std.com (Daniel P. B. Smith)
Subject: Re: IBM and 3
Organization: The World Public Access UNIX, Brookline, MA
Date: Sun, 22 Nov 1992 00:58:17 GMT

Hmmm... dunno... reminiscent of Boeing and the number "7" (all their
aircraft numbers have ENDED in "7" since, oh, I dunno, I think there
was a 247 that was contemporary with the DC-3).


-- 
Daniel P. B. Smith
dpbsmith@world.std.com
From: nickel@cs.tu-berlin.de (Juergen Nickelsen)
Newsgroups: alt.folklore.computers
Subject: Re: ASSEMBLY LANGUAGE IBM
Date: 17 Nov 1992 22:52:21 GMT
Organization: STONE Project, Technical University of Berlin, Germany
	<STEVEV.92Nov17104240@miser.uoregon.edu>
Reply-To: nickel@cs.tu-berlin.de
NNTP-Posting-Host: desaster.cs.tu-berlin.de
In-reply-to: stevev@miser.uoregon.edu's message of 17 Nov 92 10:42:40

In article <STEVEV.92Nov17104240@miser.uoregon.edu>
stevev@miser.uoregon.edu (Steve VanDevender) writes:

> I suspect that the questions apply to IBM's most famous series of
> machines, the 360/370 series.  If you thought them placing
> increasingly souped-up versions of the 8088 in IBM PCs was bad,
> note that the 360/370 series has been using the same instruction
> set and processor architecture for nearly _30 years_.  IBM's
> top-end mainframes (like the 3090) still run IBM 360 programs in
> binary form.

If I remember Tanenbaum's "Structured Computer Organization" correctly
(just lent it to a friend), the different 360/370 CPUs have the same
instruction set and architecture only at the *programmnig level*, but
are completely different at the microprogramming level, even different
architectures.  I vaguely remember reading elsewhere that the
top-of-the-line model of the 370 (360?) wasn't even microprogrammed
but executed the machine instructions in hardware for speed reasons.
A true RISC machine with a complex instruction set.

--
Juergen Nickelsen
From: xyzzy@mertwig.UUCP (Daniel Drucker)
Newsgroups: alt.folklore.computers
Subject: my sig
Date: Mon, 23 Nov 92 17:11:00 EST
Organization: Odd Parity Hacker's Group


Hello to all those that took the time to flame me about my sig.
I sincerely hope that you find my new one less offensive.

One of the things you flamed me about was <INSERT IT HERE>. That does not 
fall under the category of "networks". I do not claim to be a wizard on 
all subjects. I am a _networks_ wizard. Thats all.

Thank you.

--                          
    "Xyzzy T. Plugh"                                mertwig!xyzzy@jaflrn.uucp
                     Amateur radio callsign pending
        Daniel Max P. Drucker, the 14 year old networks jvmneq.
                                                rot(13) ~~~~~~ by pop. demand
"Difficulty! It's the single simplest machine in the entire Universe!" -HHGTTG
Newsgroups: alt.folklore.computers
From: tlukka@lk-hp-3.hut.fi (Tuomas J. Lukka)
Subject: YKYBHTL
Organization: Helsinki University of Technology, Finland
Date: 19 Nov 92 12:03:00 GMT

... when you, when reading the new hackers dictionary appendix
'portrait of J. Random Hacker' (or something like that) you
notice that you possess most of the traits described and when
you move alone (I was living with my parents at the time) you
start acquiring the rest at an unnerving speed...

	TJL
Newsgroups: alt.folklore.computers
From: peter@NeoSoft.com (Peter da Silva)
Subject: Superstition
Organization: NeoSoft Communications Services -- (713) 684-5900
Date: Sat, 21 Nov 1992 03:01:08 GMT

Nobody mentioned the line eater yet? Amazing!
-- 
Peter da Silva.  <peter@sugar.neosoft.com>.
 `-_-'   Oletko halannut suttasi tnn?
  'U`    
Tarjoilija, tm ateria el viel.
Newsgroups: alt.folklore.computers,alt.folklore.urban
From: thf2@ellis.uchicago.edu (Ted Frank)
Subject: Re: How to kill chickens with your computer...
Reply-To: thf2@midway.uchicago.edu
Organization: University of Chicago Computing Organizations
Date: Sat, 21 Nov 1992 07:43:49 GMT

The easy way is to just slug them with it a few times until they're completely
subdued by the system.

I performed some benchmark tests:

Computer                  Blows to Kill
--------                  ---------------
Compaq 286                      3
Macintosh SE                    9 *
Powerbook 160                  17
VIC-20                         53

[*] Damage to monitor screen on seventh blow.

The Compaq 286 was by far the best of the four.  Its sturdy rectangular
box o' components allowed for optimal strikes of the bird; the preferred
method used by testers was to use a simple two-foot vertical drop method
on the target.

The SE had the advantage of a handle which made it easy to swing.  However,
the weight within the system was not evenly balanced, and hard to control,
resulting in some glancing blows.  In addition, the display-screen shattered
much too early in the testing to be of satisfactory use for large-scale
chicken killing.

The Powerbook and VIC-20 were too lightweight.  One needed a full head of
steam to strike a blow which did any noticeable harm to the chicken, and the
chickens were able to avoid far too many of the attempted swings.

ObDisclaimer: No real chickens were harmed in the testing.  Instead, robot
chickens were developed at great expense, with the help of a grant from the
L'Oreal corporation.  For maximum reality, each of the systems were subjected
to the frozen chicken cannon at the end of the testing, but none of the
computers fared particularly well in this stage of the testing.  Urban Legend
Underwriters' Laboratory (ULUL) does not endorse any of the products tested
today, nor does it accept advertising from any third parties.  Results of
tests are copyrighted, and not reproducible without the express written
consent of cjl or snopes and a two-thirds majority of the Terrys. 

Ted "Consumers' Union" Frank  
-- 
ted frank                     | thf2@ellis.uchicago.edu 
standard disclaimers          | void where prohibited
the university of chicago law school, chicago, illinois 60637
Newsgroups: alt.folklore.computers
From: taft@adobe.com (Ed Taft)
Subject: Re: 1960's vintage advertisements (was: 1960 Bernoulli Disk Drive)
Organization: Adobe Systems Incorporated, Mountain View
Date: Sat, 21 Nov 1992 19:22:39 GMT

In article <jcmorris.722283055@mwunix> jcmorris@mwunix.mitre.org (Joe
Morris) writes:
>
>OTOH, there were some really beautiful ads back then.  One of the most
>popular -- to the point that many readers cut them out and posted them
>on office walls -- were from Honeywell.  Some artist would take
>computer components -- wires, resistors, circuit boards, and whatever
>else came to hand -- and used them to create extremely well-done
>animal figures.

The Computer Museum in Boston has a collection of the original
Honeywell animal sculptures, which were on display last time I
visited. Well worth seeing.
-- 
Ed Taft      taft@adobe.com      ...decwrl!adobe!taft
From: nickel@cs.tu-berlin.de (Juergen Nickelsen)
Newsgroups: alt.folklore.computers
Subject: sync; sync; sync; was Re: Computer Superstition
Date: 18 Nov 1992 17:17:10 GMT
Organization: STONE Project, Technical University of Berlin, Germany
Reply-To: nickel@cs.tu-berlin.de
NNTP-Posting-Host: desaster.cs.tu-berlin.de
In-reply-to: agc@bmdhh286.bnr.ca's message of Wed, 18 Nov 1992 13:25:07 GMT

In article <1992Nov18.132507.22731@bnr.uk> agc@bmdhh286.bnr.ca (Alan
Carter) writes:

> How about the way that UNIX System Administrators type
> 
>    sync
>    sync
>    sync
> 
> at shutdown time, when one sync would be quite enough? When questioned 
> they sometimes give the lame excuse that this gives the first one time 
> to work! I was taught to do this, and still do, even though I have 
> figured it out for myself that it is nonsense.

Hmm, perhaps this *has* to appear regularly.

The sync(1) program does nothing but invoke the sync(2) system call.
This call writes the contents of modified disk buffers back to the
disk. The manual (SunOS, in this case) of sync(2) states:

    BUGS
	 The writing, although scheduled, is not necessarily complete
	 upon return from sync().

An todays fast machines with fast disks this won't matter -- just type
sync; and before you've had time to do something else the disk buffers
will be safe.

But back in the old days, it was not a bad idea to type sync three
times (and not as "sync; sync; sync") to make sure the first call was
completed. 

--
Juergen Nickelsen
Newsgroups: alt.folklore.computers