HDTenEightyP/NetNews huggingface dataset:
From: grnbrg@ccu.umanitoba.ca (Brian Greenberg)
Subject: 'Movement' on light and dark screen background.
Organization: University of Manitoba, Winnipeg, Canada
Date: Fri, 14 Aug 1992 20:17:30 GMT

In <BswnIE.Dpt@world.std.com> bmarcum@world.std.com (Bill Marcum) writes:

>In article <1992Aug10.163058.27199@iitmax.iit.edu> thssstb@iitmax.iit.edu (Stephen T Bacon) writes:
>>In article <1992Aug9.223743.7381@picarefy.picarefy.com> jwbirdsa@picarefy.picarefy.com (James W. Birdsall) writes:
>>
>>>>- When you look away from the screen you still see some screen flicker in
>>>>normal vision or the burn-in of lines.
>>>
>>>   I've had rastervision more than once. Worries me when it happens.
>>>
>>
>>It's caused by your eyes becoming accustomed to the screen color (usually
>>green - to which the eye is most sensitive) and then when you look away
>>because your'e retinas have acclimated, you percieve a loss of green in what
>>you're looking at.  This shouldn't happen if you're looking at a color
>>screen.  I don't know if it's anything to worry about (then again, worry
>>about EVERYTHING, then when you get sick, you can say "I told you so.")
>>
>Speaking of screen color, I've noticed somthing interesting on a computer
>where I work.  The screen display has alternating lines of red and light-blue
>text on a dark-blue background.  I wear very thick glasses, and as I move my
>head, the red letters seem to move around while the light blue letters stand
>still.

>Bill Marcum  bmarcum@world.std.com  b.marcum@genie.geis.com

[I've cross-posted this from alt.folklore.computers to alt.3d, as there are
probably people here that can explain this phenomena better than I can.]

This is probably caused by the fact that the human eye perceives the red
wavelengths slightly [faster|slower] than the blue.  This may cause apparent
movement if you shake your head.

This theory was used in a Pepsi (?) commercial during the superbowl a few 
years ago to produce a 3d effect;  the glasses you had to wear had one lens
clear, and the other tinted (Not red and blue style). Objects moving from
left to right on the screen looked 'closer' than objects moving from right
to left (Or the other way 'round.  Not sure).

Any alt.3d people want to elaborate?

Brian

-- 
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
+ grnbrg@ccu.umanitoba.ca       +             Brian Greenberg           +
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
+          "All options are optional." -- the GNU tar manual            +
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ 
Xref: sparky alt.folklore.computers:12916 comp.unix.misc:3340
From: ken@sugra.uucp (Kenneth Ng)
Newsgroups: alt.folklore.computers,comp.unix.misc
Subject: Re: The need for an assembler (was: Favorite CPU)
Date: 22 Aug 92 23:49:45 GMT
Organization: Private Computer, Totowa NJ

In article <1992Aug21.024039.4814@ecl.psu.edu:, bjj@ecl.psu.edu (Bryan J. Jensen) writes:
: I'm ready to write a software package for VMS that involves
: multiple multi-user servers.  I need to choose a language.
: Available languages are assembly, C, FORTRAN, PASCAL, and BASIC.
: I think the best choice is assembly language since the algorithm
: can't be expressed directly in C.  Here's why.

Find the BEST IMPLEMENTED language on the machine you are writing the
package on.  This assumes, of course, that portability is not much of
a concern.  I've used Pascal, FORTRAN, and even Basic because on the
machine I was writing on it was the best implemented langauge for what
I was doing.

-- 
Kenneth Ng
Please reply to ken@eies2.njit.edu for now.
Apple and AT&T lawsuits: Just say NO!
Newsgroups: alt.folklore.computers,comp.unix.misc
From: lasner@watsun.cc.columbia.edu (Charles Lasner)
Subject: Re: The need for an assembler (was: Favorite CPU)
Reply-To: lasner@watsun.cc.columbia.edu (Charles Lasner)
Organization: Columbia University
Date: Fri, 21 Aug 1992 00:02:31 GMT

In article <BtAL3J.DuH@mtholyoke.edu> jbotz@mtholyoke.edu (Jurgen Botz) writes:

>others.  Certainly it's easier to write solid code in a HLL than in assembly.

No, it isn't certain, and more importantly it's easier to write code that's
*insidiously* not solid in some hll.  I find for many environments that it's
miuch easier to write *any* code in assembler, and the solidity is a nice
byproduct.  For some people who are their own worst enemy, a hll level language
is the place to go (or better just don't attempt to be a programmer if it's
really a problem; in fact I'll go one better: if you can't get a rudimentary
or better handle on assembler, don't even think of writing in hll; you 
obviously don't know enough about computers to continue without furthering
your education.).  For those that believe that the utilities get in their
way (and that sometimes includes brain-dead assemblers like MASM), assembler
is the *only* way to write solid code.

I think we may have a difference of opinion about what's being solidified :-).

cjl
Newsgroups: alt.folklore.computers,alt.3d
From: sauron@nano.engr.mun.ca (Patrick Ryan)
Subject: Re: 'Movement' on light and dark screen background.
Organization: Memorial University of Newfoundland
Date: Sat, 15 Aug 1992 21:03:15 GMT

hsu@pix.com (Dagwood Splits the Atom) writes:

>Now, if only they'd do a commercial with SIRDS.  Fat chance.

 Sorry if this is a FAQ, but what's SIRDS?
--
   ,---, ,---, ,-----, /  Of course I said it!  Do you / sauron@ / o o
  /   / /   /    /    / think  MUN  even acknowledges / femto.  /   v
 /---` /---/    /    / my existence, let alone allow / mun.ca  /   `-'
/     /   /    /    / me to speak for them?/chris@zeus rented this space
Newsgroups: alt.folklore.computers
From: rob@vitsemi.com (Rob Eccles)
Subject: Re: You know you've been hacking too long...
Organization: Vitesse Semiconductor
Date: Sat, 22 Aug 1992 01:13:22 GMT

In article <1992Aug18.065032.28157@kth.se> kjell@elixir.e.kth.se (Kjell Rilbe) writes:
>In article <1992Aug17.160522.23226@donau.et.tudelft.nl> cornet@duteca3.et.tudelft.nl (Jan-Pieter Cornet) writes:
>>h.se>
>>Date: Mon, 17 Aug 1992 16:05:22 GMT
>>Lines: 26
>>
>>kjell@elixir.e.kth.se (Kjell Rilbe) writes:
>>>LED to indicate power is on. When he moved the walkman, this little LED
>>>seemed to kind of float around, like it was not attached at all to the
>>>walkman!!!!!
>>>
>
>Now, is there someone out there who can explain it???????
>
Power consumption is a very important design parameter in battery operated
electronics.  One way to minimize power consumption is to strobe the power
to the LEDs.  I have seen this done on old pocket calculators, and I suspect
that the walkman may do this also.

The rest of the explanation is that this is an optical illusion.  This is not
my area of expertise, but I will try to explain it...

Keep in mind that the human brain stretches out optical signals (persistence).
Brief pulses appear to be solid.  This phenomenon is used by motion pictures 
and television, as well.

Also, when a person looks at an object, their eyes scan a scene.  The brain
then assembles a total picture.  It does not examine an entire scene at once.
The pulsing of the LED will not be in synch with the eyes and thus it can
appear to move independantly.

Sorry for the vague explanation.  This sort of thing is covered in psychology
texts and papers.  Scientific American also has had articles on human perception.

Hope this helps.

Rob
-- 
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Rob Eccles         | Disclaimer: The statements made here do not 
rob@vitsemi.COM    | represent my employer or anyone else.
Xref: sparky alt.folklore.computers:12664 alt.3d:874
From: charette@cheetah.det.dec.com (Mark Charette)
Newsgroups: alt.folklore.computers,alt.3d
Subject: Re: 'Movement' on light and dark screen background.
Date: 17 Aug 92 20:16:20 GMT
Reply-To: charette@cheetah.det.dec.com
Organization: Fisher Engineering Systems


In article <16ms3bINNr1a@network.ucsd.edu>, reg@sdchemw2.ucsd.edu (Richard E. Gillilan) writes:
Xref: nntpd.lkg.dec.com alt.folklore.computers:29946 alt.3d:99
From: reg@sdchemw2.ucsd.edu (Richard E. Gillilan)
Newsgroups: alt.folklore.computers,alt.3d
Subject: Re: 'Movement' on light and dark screen background.
Date: Sun, 16 Aug 92 20:32:43 GMT+5:00
Organization: UC San Diego Chemistry
NNTP-Posting-Host: sdchemw2.ucsd.edu

In article <Bt0EG2.5Hu@pix.com> hsu@pix.com (Dagwood Splits the Atom) writes:
>In article <1992Aug14.201730.8489@ccu.umanitoba.ca> grnbrg@ccu.umanitoba.ca (Brian Greenberg) writes:
>>In <BswnIE.Dpt@world.std.com> bmarcum@world.std.com (Bill Marcum) writes:
>>>...  The screen display has alternating lines of red and light-blue
>>>text on a dark-blue background.  I wear very thick glasses, and as I move my
>>>head, the red letters seem to move around while the light blue letters stand
>>>still.
>
>>This is probably caused by the fact that the human eye perceives the red
>>wavelengths slightly [faster|slower] than the blue.  This may cause apparent
>>movement if you shake your head.
..

>Sounds to me like his glasses are simply acting as a prism.
>I get quite a nice (sometimes annoying) spectrum out of the
>corner of mine at times. Red light is refracted by a lesser
>-------
>Richard

I also wear somwhat thick glasses. Looking at flowers (especially purple)
sideways through the thickest part of the lens lets me separate the colors.

This tends to make me think the prism effect is what we're seeing.
--
Mark Charette                |Save plants and animals. Eat a vegetarian 
Fisher Engineering Systems   |today.
charette@cheetah.det.dec.com |
(313) 280-0703               |
From: fetrow@biostat.washington.edu (David Fetrow)
Newsgroups: alt.folklore.computers
Subject: Re: Computers killing people? (WAS Re: 9 track data storage???)
Summary: Source of the "printer virus in Iraq" rumor
Date: 14 Aug 92 08:14:19 GMT
Organization: Biostatistics, School of Public Health, Univ. of Wash.

In article <4734@blue.cis.pitt.edu.UUCP> infidel+@pitt.edu (Todd J Derr) writes:
>
>well, I saw the article in either U.S. News and World Report or Newsweek
>a while back, and the author was being completely serious...
>....but judging from whichever of the tho mags it was in, the guy would have 
>had to have pulled a pretty good stunt to get it past the editors...  But it
>seemed OK for me for a few microfortnights until I thought "Hey, I doubt
>that even our LPS-40's could give a virus to our VMS cluster" and then I
>started giggling inside about the whole thing....
>

 Ah, but >original< source was the very staid "InfoWorld". From early
April. It was told completely straight but I knew immediately it was
a joke because:

 The same columnist "got" me with an article on a revolutionary memory design
the previous April!
-- 
 - dave fetrow-					fetrow@biostat.washington.edu

   "A few areas of engineering remain "black arts": acoustics, LF antenna
    design, and high performance UNIX I/O."  -Dave Taber
Newsgroups: alt.folklore.computers,comp.unix.misc
From: peter@ferranti.com (Peter da Silva)
Subject: Re: The need for an assembler (was: Favorite CPU)
Organization: Xenix Support, FICC
Date: Thu, 20 Aug 1992 19:26:13 GMT

In article <bqt.714224577@Minsk> bqt@Minsk.docs.uu.se (Johnny Billquist) writes:
> >All I expect from a compiler is to produce the most efficient code it can,
> >with the least amount of hassle.  Lets face it, most compilers do a more than
> >reasonable job of producing efficient code for most applications.  Ever use
> >GCC?

> How can you tell, when you don't even know what code it generates?

How can you tell, when you don't know the layout of the CPU? How can you
tell, when you don't even know if it's implemented in TTL or CMOS? How can
you tell, when you don't know what FAB line they used. How can you tell,
when you didn't write the raw bits yourself? How can you tell, when you
don't have a listing of the microcode?

Assembly language is already a level of abstraction removed from machine code.
Machine language is already a level of abstraction removed from gates.
Digital is already a level of abstraction removed from voltages and currents.
Analog is already a level of abstraction removed from physics.
...

Choose the level of abstraction you need to get the level of inefficiency you
can tolerate, and work at that level. I work in analog, digital, machine code,
assembly, Forth, C, Lisp, TCL, Postscript, Shell, whatever tool lets me best
express the design I have in mind without bogging me down in details. Quibbling
that I really don't know what's going on is silly... I'm not in this business
to push electrons. I'm here to solve problems.
-- 
Peter da Silva                                               `-_-'
$ EDIT/TECO LOVE                                              'U` 
%TECO-W-OLDJOKE Not war?                        Have you hugged your wolf today?
Ferranti Intl. Ctls. Corp.      Sugar Land, TX  77487-5012       +1 713 274 5180
From: cc2x@vax5.cit.cornell.edu
Newsgroups: alt.folklore.computers
Subject: pdp-11 -> mac network?
Date: 19 Aug 92 21:56:18 EDT
Distribution: world
Organization: Cornell University

   Is there a program out there that allows macs and pdp-11s to network
together. We are putting together a small appletalk network and want to
put our pdp-11 in there too.
  Could one mac act like a gateway and pass data from one serial port to
an other thus getting the data on the network?
  Thanks
   -Jeff

Newsgroups: alt.folklore.computers
From: neeri@iis.ethz.ch (Matthias Neeracher)
Subject: Re: The need for an assembler (was: Favorite CPU)
Organization: Integrated Systems Laboratory, ETH, Zurich
	<1992Aug18.052636.23004@news.columbia.edu>
	<NEERI.92Aug18182231@iis.ethz.ch>
	<1992Aug19.184414.6397@news.columbia.edu>
Date: Thu, 20 Aug 1992 10:22:20 GMT

In article <1992Aug19.184414.6397@news.columbia.edu> lasner@watsun.cc.columbia.edu (Charles Lasner) writes:
>In article <NEERI.92Aug18182231@iis.ethz.ch> neeri@iis.ethz.ch (Matthias Neeracher) writes:
>>In article <1992Aug18.052636.23004@news.columbia.edu> lasner@watsun.cc.columbia.edu (Charles Lasner) writes:
>>>I think others may have differing opinions about the statistics behind that.
>>>I offered an open challenge for someone to quantify how many bugs they might
>>>attribute to various language-based implementations of any code released by
>>>any author on any basis, to rate the use of the various languages as that
>>>pertains to reliability of product.  I don't see anyone challenging my
>>>opinion that C would come in dead last.
>>
>>That's because it was so obviously just a polemical remark with no factual base
>>that nobody saw a need to challenge it. But if you insist: I *do* challenge
>>that opinion.
>>
>>The problem I saw with your challenge was that you failed to come up with a
>>measure that would establish the quality of a language and its programmers
>>without being polluted by the bunch of crappy programs that comes with the
>>*popularity* of a language. What I mean with this is that more bad programs
>>tend to be written in popular, easily accessible languages like C, BASIC, and
>>HyperCard than in languages like Portal, Standard ML, or Ada, which are not
>>likely to be accessible to amateur programers.
>
>No, you have just joined me in proving it.  I *don't* exclude the cases you
>brought up.  Part of my point is that the crappy programs exist!
[...]
>
>>>Presumably all of these "experts" you claim exist
>>>(aren't they "experts" since they aren't as ignorant as I make out?) had
>>>full access to all of the associated wonderful development tools to 
>>>eliminate all known problems, etc., so if so, then why the failing grade?
>>
>>Who gave the failing grade ?
>
>You did, above.

No I didn't. You point to the bad C programs that to some degree exist just
because C is a popular language and from that, you want to derive a failing
grade for C as used by experts. This does not really make sense. IMHO, all that
can be concluded from the bad programs is that:

- C is popular with inexperienced programmers
- C is not particularly helpful to inexperienced programmers

But this says nothing about C as used by reasonably experienced programmers
(Personally, I find pre-ANSI C somewhat a pain to work with, and am quite
comfortable with ANSI C).

Matthias

----
Matthias Neeracher                                      neeri@iis.ethz.ch
  If Ada was named after Ada Lovelace, whom did they name Linda after ?
From: damon@umbc4.umbc.edu (Mr. Damon Kelly; ACS (RJE))
Newsgroups: alt.folklore.computers
Subject: Re: You know when you're hacking too long when...
Date: 17 Aug 92 21:23:50 GMT
Organization: University of Maryland Baltimore Campus

Sorry to distract you guys from the current LED thread, but 
how many of you have dreamt about your cat needing to hook up to
your organic BIOS in order to find out whether it was hungry or not?

No, I wasn't hacking before I slept, but I was reading news for a long
stretch...does that count?

-d

-- 
During his stint at Marvel, he brought you Cable.  Striking out on his own
about a year or two later, he debuts another character: Shaft.
And now, Rob Liefeld, the Genius of All-Macho Comics, brings you his NEW
bombshell: ELEVATOR. Watch for him! -Ppd from dvandom@magnus.acs.ohio-state.edu
Newsgroups: alt.folklore.computers,comp.misc,comp.human-factors,comp.programming
From: keithh@tplrd.tpl.oz.au (Keith Harwood)
Subject: Re: Indentation
Originator: keithh@sydrd14
Organization: Telectronics Pacing Systems
Date: Tue, 18 Aug 92 00:00:11 GMT


In article <1992Aug14.170444.1576@tandem.com>, tvv@tandem.com (Tom Van Vleck) writes:
> Martin Schroeder writes:
> |> When did it start that programs were indented?
> |> I want to know:
> |>  - Which was the first language that mentioned indentation? Algol60 says 
> |>    something, but it isn't very much.
> |>  - What studies have been made about the effects of different levels of 
> |>    indentation?
> 
> I saw FORTRAN programs with leading spaces to indicate indentation in
> the early sixites.  I bet this practice preceded ALGOL.  

Nope. Algol began life as the International Algorithmic Language in 1958.
Algol itself began in 1960, later was called Algol 60 and the preceding 
IAL was sometimes referred to as Algol 58. Many of the examples given in
the reports of both versions showed modern indenting.

BTW, am I the only one who thinks that the opening lines of the Algol Report
is a pun on the opening of Julius Caesar's `De Bello Gallico'?

Keith Harwood.
Newsgroups: alt.folklore.computers
From: sears@tree.egr.uh.edu (Paul S. Sears)
Subject: Re: Need a copy of Creation of World (heres one in VMS)
Reply-To: sears@tree.egr.uh.edu
Organization: University of Houston
Date: Wed, 19 Aug 1992 14:44:34 GMT

In article <1992Aug18.023355.11955@news.columbia.edu>  
lasner@watsun.cc.columbia.edu (Charles Lasner) writes:
=>In article <5520@mccuts.uts.mcc.ac.uk> zzassgl@uts.mcc.ac.uk (Geoff Lane)  
writes:
=>>
=>>I used to have a listing of an IBM JCL job which described the creation of
=>>the world in terms of IBM JCL commands.  Does anyone have a copy they can
=>>send me?
=>
=>Since you don't have it anymore, I guess it was:
=>
=>DISP=(OLD,DELETE)
=>
=>cjl

I don't have one for JCL, but I did have one for VMS...

(This is a log of the session God used to create this wonderful world...)
-------------------------------------------------------------------------

                Universal VAX 8900

Username: GOD
Password:

Welcome to universal VAX timesharing God

$ SET PROC/PROT=ALL
$ SET PROC/NAME="I'm the God"
$ CREATE/DIR <WORLD>
        And there was light...
$ CREATE/DIR <WORLD.EARTH>
$ CREATE/DIR <WORLD.EARTH.PARADISE>
$ SET DEF <WORLD.EARTH.PARADISE>
$ CR ADAM.MAN
Adam is made of clay.
^Z
$ CR EVE.WOMEN
Eve is made of Adam.
^Z
$ CR DEVIL.EVIL
Devil is evil.
^Z
$
        Hmmm...
$ CREATE/DIR <WORLD.HELL>
$ COPY DEVIL.* <WORLD.HELL>
$ DEL DEVIL.*
$ COPY *.* <WORLD.EARTH>
$ DEL *.*
$ SET DEF <WORLD>
$ DEL <WORLD.EARTH.PARADISE>
$ RUN <GAMES>WAR
Play with ?: <WORLD>
^C
$ DATE
   4-JUL-1776 14:24:53
$ RUN <GAMES>WAR
Play with ?: <WORLD>
*CRASH* *BANG* *WHAM*
        Huh?
$ DATE
  24-DEC-1986 23:41:33
$ DIR <WORLD.EARTH>
%DIRECT-E-OPENIN, Error opening <WORLD>
-W-NOSUCHFILE, No such file
        ???
$ DIR/SIZ <WORLD.HELL>
ADAM.MAN        1
ALICE.WOMAN     1
ARTHUR.MAN      1
^O
$ DEL <WORLD>
        Oh well...
$ LO
User GOD logged out

--
Paul S. Sears                *  sears@uh.edu (NeXT Mail OK)
The University of Houston    *  suggestions@tree.egr.uh.edu (NeXT
Engineering Computing Center *  comments, complaints, questions)
NeXT System Administration   *  DoD#1967 '83 NightHawk 650SC 
          >>> SSI Diving Certification #755020059 <<<
"Programming is like sex: One mistake and you support it a lifetime."
Xref: sparky alt.folklore.computers:12706 comp.unix.misc:3269
From: ajv@xhost92.csd.mot.com
Newsgroups: alt.folklore.computers,comp.unix.misc
Subject: Re: The need for an assembler (was: Favorite CPU)
Date: 18 Aug 92 18:38:25 GMT
Followup-To: alt.folklore.computers

lasner@watsun.cc.columbia.edu (Charles Lasner) writes:

>I have friends who are of the opinion that C is more like a demented
>macro assembler being misused with the "wrong" macroes, but I won't let
>my personal friends bias the count here.

Amen.  Manually maintaining reference counts on things in the UNIX kernel,
all by itself, has cost me man-months of debugging.  Whereas I have
seen dynamic garbage collection *work* in assembly code. :-)  Setting
aside whether the honorable Mr. Lasner would choose an implementation
which called for garbage collection, I am sure we can all agree that
methodology, technique, experience, and wise trade-offs are what make
or break an implementation, not the language.

I would also like to add that Mr. Lasner has as much "real", down-to-earth
experience as any professional I've had the privelege to meet on the net.

					Just my opinions,
					Andy Valencia
					ajv@csd.mot.com (for now)
					jtk@netcom.com (if it bounces)
Xref: sparky alt.folklore.computers:12547 comp.arch:8900
From: richard@aiai.ed.ac.uk (Richard Tobin)
Newsgroups: alt.folklore.computers,comp.arch
Subject: Re: Babbage books (was: Proposal: Computer History Project)
Date: 14 Aug 92 12:04:38 GMT
Organization: AIAI, University of Edinburgh, Scotland

In article <1992Aug13.145144.17466@crd.ge.com> davidsen@crd.ge.com (bill davidsen) writes:
>But he threw the contents of the chamber pots out the windows, didn't
>he?

Yes, but presumably they were Open Windows (sorry).

-- Richard
-- 
Richard Tobin,
AI Applications Institute,                                R.Tobin@ed.ac.uk
Edinburgh University.
Newsgroups: alt.folklore.computers
From: jimf@centerline.com (Jim Frost)
Subject: Re: Fantasy Graphics System
Organization: CenterLine Software, Inc.
Date: Thu, 13 Aug 1992 20:45:54 GMT

john@mullet.gu.uwa.edu.au (John West) writes:
>Its called the Connection Machine, isn't it? These beasties have up to
>65536 processors (it may be higher now). The processors are pretty simple,
>and not what you'd call particularly suited to ray-tracing, but there's a
>*lot* of them. I'm sure someone somewhere has a ray-tracer running on one.

One of the first applications was a mandelbrot calculator where every
pixel was its own (virtual) CPU.  That was the first real-time
mandelbrot generation I had ever seen.

The CM5, the new one, maxes out at 16,384 processors -- they use SPARC
chips now.  Between the chips are really high bandwidth communication
channels.  This is better than the more proprietary design because it
allows the system to be much more configurable.

The new one still has a lot of lights and is much more impressive than
the cube.

jim frost
jimf@centerline.com