HDTenEightyP/NetNews huggingface dataset:
From: jones@pyrite.cs.uiowa.edu (Douglas W. Jones,201H MLH,3193350740,3193382879)
Newsgroups: alt.folklore.computers
Subject: DECtape (was: Worst tape drives)
Date: 22 Jul 92 19:57:47 GMT

From article <1992Jul22.174702.27336@news.columbia.edu>,
by lasner@watsun.cc.columbia.edu (Charles Lasner):
>
> In all probability you were using an underpowered system where the disk
> device was the DECtape, and are blaming software that needs a real disk
> for something as inefficient as you attempted.

But DECtape was so good at emulating disks that this happened all the time.
There's a great story about one of the DEC PDP-10 machines at Carnegie
Mellon University that had a disk failure on its fixed head swapping disk,
to the operating system automatically fell back on the DECtape drive for
swapping.  It asked the operator to mount a scratch DECtape, then, when
that was full, it asked for another scratch tape.  The operator is supposed
to have ended up swapping scratch tapes back and forth, not knowing what
was going on, until the users began to complain about slow response times.

>                                  Indeed there have been postings about
> using the device with hand cranking of the reels when the motors died, etc.

A friend of mine, Tom Roberts, once mounted a DECtape backwards, pushed
the load button, and dumped the entire load of tape on the ground, at high
speed.  He removed the reels, turned them right, and pushed load again,
sucking the tape back onto the reels with a number of folds and wrinkles.
He couldn't get the tape to read (surprise) even after he ran it forward
and backward a few times to get the folds and kinks out of the tape, so
he used his finger to press the tape against the heads.  This caused so
much friction that the drive motors couldn't move the tape, so he used a
pencil to crank the hubs around.  The DECtape recording format was
resiliant enough that he actually managed to read the entire tape this
way.
				Doug Jones
				jones@cs.uiowa.edu

(PS: I used to have a single reel of DECtape sitting somewhere around my
office, but I can't find it.  What I really want is a DECtape drive and
a carton of tapes for my PDP-8/E.)
Newsgroups: alt.folklore.computers
From: rdavis@jhunix.hcf.jhu.edu (Robert Davis)
Subject: Re: 9 track data storage???????????????
Organization: HAC - Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore
Date: Tue, 21 Jul 1992 20:29:40 GMT

In article <13269@ns-mx.uiowa.edu> jones@pyrite.cs.uiowa.edu (Douglas W. Jones,201H MLH,3193350740,3193382879) writes:
>From article <83871@netnews.upenn.edu>, by blewis@eniac.seas.upenn.edu (Benn L. Lewis):
>> 
>> 	Has anyone ever heard of a "9track tape" as data storage?
>
If anyone not familiar with 9-track tapes, such as the original poster, 
would like any free samples, I have several dozen (probably more) in my
garage awaiting the day that I purchase a 9-track tape drive that will
work with one of my computers.  However, their main purpose in life now
seems to be to collect dust, perhaps even some mildew.  Their previous
purpose was to act as weight in my car's trunk during a heavy snow-storm
a few years ago; my previous employer had discarded them as unneeded surplus.
If anyone wants them, I'll consider letting them go, free, to a good home;
that is if you're willing to come and get them.... or pay all costs 
pertaining to shipping, including my time to ship them out :-)
BTW, they make very good frisbees.  Other uses include using them as 
wrapping ribbons for Christmas packages, streamers, wall decorations, 
adjustable-height (stackable) foot-rests, etc.  The uses for these tapes
are unlimited!  ...they're also useful for storing computer data.



 
-- 
============================================================================
Robert D. Davis            |        
rdavis@jhunix.hcf.jhu.edu  !     HELP!  Martians have landed on
uunet!mystica!rdd          |     /dev/rfp021 and they're getting dizzy!
Newsgroups: alt.folklore.computers
From: parris@cs.scarolina.edu (Barry Parris)
Subject: Re: What does dd stand for?
Organization: USC  Department of Computer Science
Date: 25 Jul 92 17:04:11 GMT

jdavis@bordeaux.kpno.noao.edu (Jim Davis) writes:

>Actually I'm surprised there hasn't been a "twisted JCL" thread yet.
                                             ^^^^^^^^^^^

Redundant!
--
----
Barry Parris    parris@cs.scarolina.edu
Newsgroups: alt.folklore.computers
From: wcsjc@alfred.carleton.ca (John Coughlin)
Subject: Re: Pronouncing Unix names
Organization: Carleton University
Date: Wed, 29 Jul 1992 03:21:06 GMT

In <1992Jul29.010902.23494@uvm.edu> wollman@sadye (Garrett Wollman) writes:

>Well, .bashrc is much easier.

Is that what a Unix programmer uses to say nasty things about the Roman
Catholic Church ?

8-)  8-)
Newsgroups: alt.folklore.computers
From: nolan@twg.com (Nolan Hinshaw)
Subject: Re: Computer Relics (Was: 9 track data storage?)
Reply-To: nolan@twg.com
Organization: Acme Office Equipment
Date: Tue, 28 Jul 1992 16:26:37 GMT


In article <1992Jul21.205524.20552@nap.amoco.com>, pgravel@nap.amoco.com (Philip L. Gravel) writes:

|>Name your favorite artifact of a by-gone era....

Plugboards!

--
Nolan "Tinkertoys(tm) is good enuf fer me" Hinshaw
Internet: nolan@twg.com			Dingalingnet: (415)962-7197	
"... necrophilia doesn't really hurt anybody."  Rick Gordon

Newsgroups: alt.folklore.computers
From: jimf@centerline.com (Jim Frost)
Subject: Re: /dev/cat (was: Re: What does UNIX mean?)
Organization: CenterLine Software, Inc.
Distribution: na
Date: Tue, 21 Jul 1992 18:33:54 GMT

barr@darwin.psu.edu (David Barr) writes:
>In article <1992Jul19.220928.683@constellation.ecn.uoknor.edu> bateman@nsslsun.nssl.uoknor.edu (Monte Bateman) writes:
>>In article <14548@umd5.umd.edu> matthews@oberon.umd.edu (Mike Matthews) writes:
>>>
>>>You think THAT's bad?  There's some psychology (?) book out there somewhere
>>>in use by some colleges that claims that Unix is a word processor.
>>>
>>
>>You mean it's not?   :-)

>Well actually, that psychology book isn't that far off.  One of UNIX's
>first designed uses was for phototypesetting.

Yea, that's what paid for the machine in the first place.  The story I
heard goes that they spent eleven months of the twelve month schedule
for the word-processing system building UNIX, then said "oh yea we
still need to do the word processor" and tossed out troff in a month.
That sure fits the feel of troff IMHO.  They could at least have added
error messages. :-)

I'm not sure if the story is completely true (I got it from
word-of-mouth but from a reliable source) but I am certain that the
PDP was purchased for the typesetting project rather than for the
development of an operating system.

jim frost
jimf@centerline.com
From: avg@rodan.UU.NET (Vadim Antonov)
Newsgroups: alt.folklore.computers
Subject: Re: Wumpus source in C!
Date: 10 Jul 1992 15:47:41 -0400
Organization: Berkeley Software Design

In article <1h3rnd#0HZ6Sb9RCxJV3kVhXd789ZXx=eric@snark.thyrsus.com> eric@snark.thyrsus.com (Eric S. Raymond) writes:
>/*
> * wumpus.c --- a faithful translation of the classic "Hunt The Wumpus" game.
> *
>[the rest is deleted -- see original posting]

Bad programming style. Gas! The following bug prevents it from working
under SunOS and BSD/386 (and probably a dozen more systems). It's the
price you're paying for being the System V addict :-)

*** wumpus.c.b	Fri Jul 10 14:39:51 1992
--- wumpus.c	Fri Jul 10 14:40:26 1992
***************
*** 521,527 ****
  {
      int	c;
  
!     if (strcmp(argv[1], "-s") == 0)
  	srand(atol(argv[2]));
      else
  	srand(time((long *) 0));
--- 521,527 ----
  {
      int	c;
  
!     if (argc > 2 && strcmp(argv[1], "-s") == 0)
  	srand(atol(argv[2]));
      else
  	srand(time((long *) 0));

--vadim
From: terry@spcvxb.spc.edu (Terry Kennedy, Operations Mgr.)
Newsgroups: alt.folklore.computers
Subject: Re: 9 track data storage???????????????
Date: 21 Jul 92 10:29:00 GMT
Organization: St. Peter's College, US

In article <99KHBOK@taronga.com>, peter@taronga.com (Peter da Silva) writes:
> You don't want to know what a TK50 is. Probably the worst cartridge design
> for tape transport ever.

  No, it's the drive that's brain-dead, the cartridges are fine 8-). Seriously,
the later implementations aren't bad. Consider the TZ30, which is a 1/2 height
5.25" drive that read/writes TK50's. It seems to be a lot faster, is certainly
a better mechanism, and doesn't self-destruct if you try to do things out of
sequence.

  You'll be glad to know that there _is_ a CompacTape design that's worse than
the TK50, though - the TK50 prototype! On the production TK50 you at least have
the green LED that tels you something is happening. On the prototypes, that LED
doesn't exist, so all you have is the red button.

  We had one of the first MVII/BA123/TK50 systems delivered. We got the tape
jammed in the TK50 on the very first try. We called Field Service, who came out
and refused to clear it on the basis that "it couldn't be a DEC product - DEC
wouldn't make a piece of junk like that". Uh-huh.

	Terry Kennedy		Operations Manager, Academic Computing
	terry@spcvxa.bitnet	St. Peter's College, Jersey City, NJ USA
	terry@spcvxa.spc.edu	+1 201 915 9381
From: avg@rodan.UU.NET (Vadim Antonov)
Newsgroups: alt.folklore.computers
Subject: Re: Wumpus source in C!
Date: 10 Jul 1992 14:56:02 -0400
Organization: Berkeley Software Design

In article <1h3rnd#0HZ6Sb9RCxJV3kVhXd789ZXx=eric@snark.thyrsus.com> eric@snark.thyrsus.com (Eric S. Raymond) writes:
>/*
> * wumpus.c --- a faithful translation of the classic "Hunt The Wumpus" game.
> *
>[the rest is deleted -- see original posting]

Bad programming style. Gas! The following bug prevents it from working
under SunOS and BSD/386 (and probably a dozen more systems). It's the
price you're paying for being the System V addict :-)

*** wumpus.c.b	Fri Jul 10 14:39:51 1992
--- wumpus.c	Fri Jul 10 14:40:26 1992
***************
*** 521,527 ****
  {
      int	c;
  
!     if (strcmp(argv[1], "-s") == 0)
  	srand(atol(argv[2]));
      else
  	srand(time((long *) 0));
--- 521,527 ----
  {
      int	c;
  
!     if (argc > 2 && strcmp(argv[1], "-s") == 0)
  	srand(atol(argv[2]));
      else
  	srand(time((long *) 0));

--vadim
From: "scott gregory" <scott.gregory@canrem.com>
Newsgroups: alt.folklore.computers
Subject: computers in movies
Date: 23 Jul 92 05:32:12 EST
Reply-To: "scott gregory" <scott.gregory@canrem.com>
Distribution: alt
Organization: Canada Remote Systems

<<<Charles Lasner> said to All> on 07-18-92>

>I remember an old made-for-tv movie a few years back (It was a Canadian
>movie...) The basis of the story was a hacker who wrote an 'intelligent'

CL>Is that "red alert" by any chance?

Nope, the book/movie was "The Adolesence of P-1".  I've read the book,
though not seen the movie.  The book was 'cute', imagine creating an
intelligent program in a few kloc of PL/I (or was it PL/1)?

*Scott Gregory* - - - - - - - - - - - Unix/X Guru in training...
- - - - - - - scott.gregory@canrem.com - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
---
  DeLuxe 1.21 #5411  
--
Canada Remote Systems  - Toronto, Ontario/Detroit, MI
World's Largest PCBOARD System - 416-629-7000/629-7044
From: dp35@mc1adm.UWaterloo.ca (Greg Moore)
Newsgroups: alt.folklore.computers
Subject: Re: Computers on TV
Date: 27 Jul 92 18:16:40 GMT
Distribution: alt
Organization: University of Waterloo

The season finalle of last years _Quantum_Leap_ had the person in charge
of the computer mention that it had ? gigabytes of storage.

What was funny is that she pronounced it "Jiga-bytes".
From: avg@rodan.UU.NET (Vadim Antonov)
Newsgroups: alt.folklore.computers
Subject: Re: Wumpus source in C!
Date: 10 Jul 1992 14:54:02 -0400
Organization: Berkeley Software Design

In article <1h3rnd#0HZ6Sb9RCxJV3kVhXd789ZXx=eric@snark.thyrsus.com> eric@snark.thyrsus.com (Eric S. Raymond) writes:
>/*
> * wumpus.c --- a faithful translation of the classic "Hunt The Wumpus" game.
> *
>[the rest is deleted -- see original posting]

Bad programming style. Gas! The following bug prevents it from working
under SunOS and BSD/386 (and probably a dozen more systems). It's the
price you're paying for being the System V addict :-)

*** wumpus.c.b	Fri Jul 10 14:39:51 1992
--- wumpus.c	Fri Jul 10 14:40:26 1992
***************
*** 521,527 ****
  {
      int	c;
  
!     if (strcmp(argv[1], "-s") == 0)
  	srand(atol(argv[2]));
      else
  	srand(time((long *) 0));
--- 521,527 ----
  {
      int	c;
  
!     if (argc > 2 && strcmp(argv[1], "-s") == 0)
  	srand(atol(argv[2]));
      else
  	srand(time((long *) 0));

--vadim
From: sandee@Think.COM (Daan Sandee)
Newsgroups: alt.folklore.computers
Subject: Re: FidoNet Address resolution question...
Date: 30 Jul 1992 21:18:57 GMT
Organization: TMC
Distribution: world
NNTP-Posting-Host: telecaster.think.com

In article <wargopl.712526032@sun.soe.clarkson.edu>, wargopl@sun.soe.clarkson.edu (Peter L. Wargo) writes:
|> 
|> (I couldn't think of where else to ask this...)

It's in the FAQ on alt.bbs.internet

|> I'm trying to contact a friend who uses a BBS on the fidonet.  I know
|> there is a link between fido and the internet, but I don't know the
|> correct addressing procedure.
|> 
|> We'll call him John smith, and say his address is 1:267/54.

John.Smith@f54.n267.z1.fidonet.org

You're welcome.

Daan Sandee                                           sandee@think.com
Thinking Machines Corporation
Cambridge, Mass 02142                                 (617) 234-5044
Newsgroups: alt.folklore.computers
From: iisakkil@lesti.hut.fi (Mika Iisakkila)
Subject: Re: 6809
Organization: Helsinki University of Technology
Date: 31 Jul 92 16:19:05

tgg@otter.hpl.hp.com (Tom Gardner) writes:

>Given that a 6809's basic instruction execution cycle was 1us, 
>a figure of 0.1 VAX-MIPS seems reasonable.

How did you end up with this figure? Does the VAX do 10 instructions'
worth of operations in 1 clock cycle or what? This MIPS stuff is
really confusing, I always thought that if a machine executes 1
million instructions per second, it is running at 1 million
instructions per second :-)

--
Segmented Memory Helps Structure Software
Newsgroups: alt.folklore.computers
From: aq232@cleveland.Freenet.Edu (Bill Thater)
Subject: Re: You know you've been hacking too long...
Reply-To: aq232@cleveland.Freenet.Edu (Bill Thater)
Organization: Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, OH (USA)
Date: Thu, 23 Jul 92 17:31:59 GMT


In a previous article, gudjm@uniwa.uwa.edu.au  says:
>
>Just out of curiosity... out of all of you hackers who wear a digital
>watch, how many have it in 24 hour mode?
>
>John West
>-- 
>gudjm@uniwa.uwa.edu.au  For the humour impaired: insert a :-) every 3 words
>
	I wear two, one of each. :-) [both of them have extra timezones set
so I can keep track of other computers ;-)]
-- 
================HCF - HALT AND CATCH FIRE ==============================
	Bill Thater		aq232@Freenet.Cleveland.edu
	"Bit Pusher"			thaterw@vax.cs.hscsyr.edu
****If all else fails - read the instructions!!**************************
Newsgroups: alt.folklore.computers
From: jimf@centerline.com (Jim Frost)
Subject: Re: Terminal intrinsics
Organization: CenterLine Software, Inc.
Date: Wed, 29 Jul 1992 13:38:51 GMT

spitzak@gree.Eng.Sun.COM (Bill Spitzak) writes:
>>> Maybe we are lucky DEC is going out of business.

>>Low blow.  Read the ANSI spec.  The DEC stuff complies to a lot of standards,
>>which is more than I can say for stuff coming from your beloved employer.

>Sorry, that did not come out at all how I expected.  DEC is probably responsible
>for almost everything good in computers nowadays (maybe not directly, but
>every real innovation has been made on it).  Sun owes it's life to the VAX
>(on which Berkely Unix was developed).  It is actually pretty distressing
>that they are in such trouble now.

I don't agree with this at all.  The only thing DEC is responsible for
is bringing the price point of machines down to a level that mere
mortals could afford (and they've blown that in recent years).

[A nit, BSD UNIX was originally developed on the PDP, not the VAX,
although it's certainly arguable that most of the real advances in BSD
UNIX were done on the VAX (eg the VM system, TCP/IP, and the FFS).]

Nothing about DEC's hardware has been particularly innovative -- it
was all done years before by IBM and its competitors, albeit at a much
higher price point.  Little of DEC's software (with the possible
exception of TOPS-10 and TOPS-20 but I'm unsure of their geneology)
was particularly innovative either -- the best stuff generally came
from universities (who bought DEC hardware because it was a lot
cheaper than stuff from IBM).

The ANSI terminal spec that is mentioned is based on the DEC
equipment, not the other way around.  It's pretty hard not to comply
with a standard when the standard is written around your
implementation (which kind of reminds me of POSIX vs System-V).
Everywhere I look where DEC was not one of the founders of a standard
I find that DEC's compliance is minimal if it exists at all.  For
example, DEC Ultrix isn't very POSIX compliant, it took years for DEC
to decide that maybe they should support NFS, DEC *broke* TCP/IP
networking in early releases of Ultrix (but support for DECnet was
there), etc.  Hell, even in places where DEC was a founder they've
goofed it -- look at the abysmal implementations of X servers that DEC
ships out.

All of this is not to say that I don't think DEC did the world a
service by providing good hardware at relatively good prices, but
that's about the end of it.  Recently they haven't even been getting
*that* right.

I think it's good that DEC's hurting now because it's showing them
that they can't sit back on their laurels and expect to live forever
on a single successful product.  I'd like to see them competitive
again and the only way that's going to happen is if they realize that
they have to keep moving or fall behind.  Maybe Alpha's the ticket,
but it should have been here five years ago.

jim frost
jimf@centerline.com
Newsgroups: alt.folklore.computers
From: anton@cv.ruu.nl (Anton H.J. Koning)
Subject: Re: You know you've been hacking too long...
Date: Fri, 24 Jul 1992 09:47:01 GMT
Organization: University of Utrecht, 3D Computer Vision Research Group
Keywords: workstation, hacking, risks

In <1992Jul23.152757.1506@uniwa.uwa.edu.au> gudjm@uniwa.uwa.edu.au (D John McKenna) writes:

>Just out of curiosity... out of all of you hackers who wear a digital
>watch, how many have it in 24 hour mode?

  Not only do I have it in 24 hour mode, my watch also includes both a
  scientific and a programmer's (hex, oct, dec, bin) calculator. I know
  this immediately disqualifies me as a real hacker, because they don't
  hex calculators ;-)

>John West
                                                     +{| SIRE |}+

********************************************************************************
*   ____  . __   ___ *             The mist crawls from the canal              *
*  (__   / /__) /__  *        Like some primordial phantom of romance.         *
* ____) / /  \ /__   *        To curl, under a cascade of neon pollen,         *
*--------------------* While I sit tied to the phone like an expectant father  *
* Anton H.J. Koning  *           Your carnation will rot in a vase.            *
* anton@cv.ruu.nl    *                                    ~ Marillion ~        *
********************************************************************************
From: esr@snark.thyrsus.com (Eric S. Raymond)
Newsgroups: alt.folklore.computers
Subject: Re: What does dd stand for?
Date: 26 Jul 92 14:44:43 GMT
Distribution: world

In <1992Jul25.020002.16475@noao.edu> Jim Davis wrote:
> In article <1992Jul25.011759.7655@organpipe.uug.arizona.edu> dougw@zippy.as.arizona.edu (Doug Williams) writes:
> >I am interested in the derivation of the name of the Unix command dd.  My
> >local Unix guru said he always assumed it stood for "device to device," but
> >could not substantiate this claim.  Any guesses??
> >
> >----
> >dougw@as.arizona.edu
> 
> In a former life I worked on an IBM MVS system.  MVS ("Man vs System") has
> JCL, the ultimate Command Language from Hell.  The "DD" statement shows up a
> lot in JCL.  (Unfortunately I still remember that DD stands for Data
> Definition.)  So much for the name; for the connection with UNIX's "dd"
> command, Kernighan and Pike ("The UNIX Programming Environment") say, on
> page 107:
> 
> 	The dd command is rather different from all the other commands
> 	we have looked at.  It is intended primarily for processing tape
> 	data from other systems -- its very name is a reminder of OS/360
> 	job control language.
> 
> (OS/360 was a predecessor to MVS.)

From the Jargon File:

:dd: /dee-dee/ [UNIX: from IBM {JCL}] vt. Equivalent to
   {cat} or {BLT}.  This was originally the name of a UNIX copy
   command with special options suitable for block-oriented devices.
   Often used in heavy-handed system maintenance, as in "Let's
   `dd' the root partition onto a tape, then use the boot PROM to
   load it back on to a new disk".  The UNIX `dd(1)' was
   designed with a weird, distinctly non-UNIXy keyword option syntax
   reminiscent of IBM System/360 JCL (which had an elaborate DD `Data
   Definition' specification for I/O devices); though the command
   filled a need, the interface design was clearly a prank.  The
   jargon usage is now very rare outside UNIX sites and now nearly
   obsolete even there, as `dd(1)' has been {deprecated} for a
   long time (though it has no exact replacement).  Replaced by
   {BLT} or simple English `copy'.

-- 
					Eric S. Raymond <esr@snark.thyrsus.com>
From: olson@anchor.esd.sgi.com (Dave Olson)
Newsgroups: alt.folklore.computers
Subject: Re: Computer Relics (Was: 9 track data storage?)
Date: 24 Jul 92 08:24:03 GMT
Organization: Silicon Graphics, Inc.  Mountain View, CA

In <6761@charon.cwi.nl> dik@cwi.nl (Dik T. Winter) writes:

| In article <1992Jul23.214235.15617@dscomsf.desy.de> hallam@zeus02.desy.de writes:
|  > Hell, I know someone who bought a new 9 track not too long ago, they
|  > were selling their old ones and needed something to read exisitng
|  > tapes.
|  > 
| Why not?  On 9 track tape it is at least possible for the user to do
| incremental backups.  I am still using them.  Now, it they come up
| with a device where I can do 'tar r' which can hold more data, I
| would switch immediately.  There is no substitute.

DAT will do it; a lot easier to transport also!
--
Let no one tell me that silence gives consent,  |   Dave Olson
because whoever is silent dissents.             |   Silicon Graphics, Inc.
    Maria Isabel Barreno                        |   olson@sgi.com
Newsgroups: alt.folklore.computers
From: dagbrown@napier.uwaterloo.ca (Dave Brown)
Subject: Re: Pronouncing Unix names
Organization: University of Waterloo
Date: Thu, 30 Jul 1992 17:21:31 GMT

In article <IISAKKIL.92Jul30152313@lesti.hut.fi> iisakkil@lesti.hut.fi (Mika Iisakkila) writes:
>Charlie_Gibbs@mindlink.bc.ca (Charlie Gibbs) writes:
>
>>     A while back there was a thread discussing how to pronounce
>>".cshrc".
>
>I'd be happy to know how to type it. The day I manage to type .chrcs
>(s*it!) without any errors, I'll consume generous amounts of alcoholic
>beverages.
>
But the real question is, what the **** does the 'rc' _stand_ for?!

--
Dave Brown
dagbrown@undergrad.math.uwaterloo.ca
Phone: (519) 725-6896
"I believe the word you're looking for is, 'AAAARRGH!!!!'" - The Penguin
Newsgroups: alt.folklore.computers
From: neeri@iis.ethz.ch (Matthias Neeracher)
Subject: Re: Life machines?
Followup-To: alt.folklore.computers
Organization: Integrated Systems Laboratory, ETH, Zurich
Date: Wed, 22 Jul 1992 16:41:03 GMT

In article <1992Jul21.212911.12296@osf.org> dbrooks@osf.org (David Brooks) writes:
>We soon got it flying along on the PDP-7's CRT, 2^17 cells per side,
>arbitrarily restricted to 25 gps.

Only 25 gps ? And what was your PDP-7 doing except recalculating 429 billion
cells per second :-)

Matthias
Newsgroups: alt.folklore.computers