HDTenEightyP/NetNews huggingface dataset:
From: zcookbruc@cc.curtin.edu.au
Subject: Re: Computers killing people? (WAS Re: 9 track data storage???)
Organization: Curtin University of Technology
Date: Thu, 30 Jul 1992 12:10:15 GMT

In article <1992Jul27.073420.13087@news.uiowa.edu> dsiebert@icaen.uiowa.edu (Doug Siebert) writes:
}... tossing out the electrocution possibility and the certainty that
}many people have been killed by computer/programmer error before (i.e., the
}type of thing we read about in comp.risks) I wonder if anyone has ever been
}killed by a computer?

Reminds me of a story I heard about an 11/70 that got away while being
un-loaded at a customer site in 'Frisco.  It didn't kill anyone, just
wrote off a few cars.

The story is that the machine was hauled up the hill, had it's pannels
stripped off, and was installed and working the same afternoon. If you've
ever tried to move a complete '70 cabinet you'll know the feeling!

...BRU
Xref: sparky alt.folklore.computers:11359 comp.unix.misc:3037
From: guy@Auspex.COM (Guy Harris)
Newsgroups: alt.folklore.computers,comp.unix.misc
Subject: Re: Unix Roots of DOS?
Date: 29 Jul 92 06:17:47 GMT
Followup-To: alt.folklore.computers
Organization: Auspex Systems, Santa Clara

(Followups sent to "alt.folklore.computers".)

>over 20 addressing modes, including a handy beast called "Program-Counter
>Relative" (BTW, the VAX ain't got one thing on THIS chip's CISCiness!!!)

Umm, if you think that the presence of a "program-counter relative"
addressing mode makes it CISCier than average, please note that:

	the PDP-11

	the VAX

	the Motorola 68K

	the National Semiconductor 32K

	the Zilog Z8000

and probably some other instruction sets had PC-relative addressing
modes.

Several of 'em, including the VAX, have many other addressing modes,
too, although the VAX has only 12 (counting "literal" as one, but
counting all the variants with differnt offset sizes separately), and
the 68020-and-up has only 17 (counting each one that gets a description
in section 2 of *MC68020 32-Bit Microprocessor User's Manual*). 

Then again, the architecture on which I'm doing most of what
assembler-language program I'm doing these days has *two* addressing
modes....
From: unknown@ucscb.UCSC.EDU (tuu)
Newsgroups: alt.folklore.computers
Subject: Re: Today's Games Destined to be Classics
Keywords: Sigh
Date: 21 Jul 92 10:57:09 GMT
Article-I.D.: darkstar.14gqi5INN8lk
Organization: University of California; Santa Cruz
NNTP-Posting-Host: ucscb.ucsc.edu


In article <47Z8NB1w164w@phsbbs.princeton.nj.us> carlcory@phsbbs.princeton.nj.us (Carl Corey) writes:
}Anyone remember "bolo" for the apple?  A little drive-your-tank and 
}kill-the-bad-guy game...  It was "revolutionary" because you could turn 
}the turret in a different direction from the tank (and fire sideways, 
}backwards, etc...)

Ever play SuperBolo?

It is mostly the same game, with a few additions. (And I believe those 
additions were simply added by whoever cracked the game or some pirate)

You can fire a lot faster, and in 3 or all 8 directions at once. There's 
even a "spinning fire" which as you'd guess, spins the turret and fires 
simultaneously.

I think it was this version that you could sometimes go *through* walls if
you were going fast enough. Pretty cool.

Most of the additions didn't seem to add all that much more into the game,
they were just interesting to look at.

I never did get very good at that game.. still run it every couple months..
(now sanely off of 3.5" drives rather than 5.25")  One of the fun/dumb things
to do to entertain yourself for a minute or two is repeat-firing at walls and 
such while driving real fast and trying to manage to not hit the explosion
which keeps getting closer with every shot.  
-- 
/unknown@ucscb.ucsc.edu   used ADB trackball WANTED          Apple II Forever!\
\Mail me:Get INFOCOM GAMES RERELEASED,ULT VI GS done,for UNIX GS&CHEAP CD info/
What the world needs now is another folk singer like I need a hole in my head.
Newsgroups: alt.folklore.computers
From: mhorn@uniwa.uwa.edu.au (Mac Horn)
Subject: Re: 9 track data storage???????????????READ/NEW/FOLLOWUP
Organization: University of Western Australia
Date: Wed, 22 Jul 1992 04:45:05 GMT

don@zl2tnm.gen.nz (Don Stokes) writes:

[... stuff deleted ...]

>At a different site I once saw an operator stagger back from a TA78 drive,
>totally covered in tape.  I'm not sure quite what happened there....

I once saw a possible explanation - an operator at one of those
movie-style rows of IBM tape units, madly changing 2400 ft reels.
Operator dashes from one drive to the next, whips off old reel, loads on
new reel, dashes to next drive ...  Unfortunate co-ordination error -
operator fails to undo hub lock before grasping reel by both rims and
pulling hard.  Result - rims fall off hubs, and 2400 feet of half inch
tape cascades to the floor - and I mean cascades - it just flowed like a
bucket of water, leaving the operator ankle deep in tape, and the
machine room waist deep in rude language.  I wonder what happened to
that particular credit union's transaction logs that day ??? ;-)

Now those boring robotic cartridge changers have taken all the fun out
of watching operators at work ...


-- 
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Mac Horn                                     Phone : (09) 380 2327
Acting Mathematics and                       Fax   : (09) 380 1012
   Physical Sciences Librarian
From: umthom61@ccu.umanitoba.ca (Adam Thompson)
Newsgroups: alt.folklore.computers
Subject: Re: Mitel Name
Date: 23 Jul 92 18:57:23 GMT
Organization: University of Manitoba, Winnipeg, Canada

In <1992Jul22.181558.14155@geovision.gvc.com> pt@geovision.gvc.com (Paul Tomblin) writes:
>I just heard from a friend that the name for Mitel came from
>"Mike and Terry's Lawnmowers".  Evidently, the two founders supported
>themselves by selling lawnmowers while they were working on product #1 in
>the garage.

No... MIcroTELecommunications

>I'm personally suspicious, because Mitel sounds like so many other
>electronics/telecommunications companies - Intel, Novatel, and the like.

with reason.

-Adam
-- 
= Adam Thompson   ----   Computer Engineering  ----  University of Manitoba =
= umthom61@ccu.umanitoba.ca    =                   "Linux Is Not UniX"      =
= ...!uunet!decwrl!alberta!\   =                                            =
=    ccu.UManitoba.CA!umthom61 =   OLC -- coming soon to a site near you!   =
From: ucacmsu@ucl.ac.uk (Mr Stephen R Usher)
Newsgroups: alt.folklore.computers
Subject: Re: Computers on TV (was: Re: computers in movies)
Date: 27 Jul 92 10:30:39 GMT
Distribution: alt
Organization: Bloomsbury Computing Consortium, London

In article <1992Jul24.132133.4247@webo.dg.com> kahn@emav131.webo.dg.com (Mike Kahn) writes:
[Stuff deleted]
>said to someone "I'm pretty sure I've got it narrowed down to the memory
>interface or the cathode ray."  Obviously this scriptwriter's only knowledge
>of a computer didn't go beyond his pocket calculator.  I could just see it
>"Well here's some real technical sounding words: memory, interface, cathode,
>and ray."

Maybe he had only read about the Manchester Mark 1 (build 1948), it used
cathod ray storage tubes as memory. :-)

>-Mike Kahn


Steve
--
Addresses:-
JANET:-		ucacmsu@uk.ac.ucl or	steve@uk.ac.ox.earth (preferable)
Internet:-	ucacmsu@ucl.ac.uk or	steve@earth.ox.ac.uk (preferable)
Newsgroups: alt.folklore.computers
From: cline@cs.scarolina.edu (Ernest Cline)
Subject: Re: IBM vs. world terminology (was: What does dd stand for?)
Organization: USC  Department of Computer Science
Date: 30 Jul 92 14:17:25 GMT

drake@drake.almaden.ibm.com (Sam Drake) writes:

>In article <1992Jul30.065912.25948@nas.nasa.gov> eugene@wilbur.nas.nasa.gov (Eugene N. Miya) writes:
>>             (extra credit: what's the IBM 370 terminology for cache, not
>>included in the above list)

>"Cache".  Terms revolving around "cache", such as "cache lines", are commonly
>used when discussing 370-class systems.  If anyone told you a different term,
>you might check to see if you still have your wallet.

That's probably why it's extra credit, IBM uses the same terminology :)

Ernest "My .sig gets a vacation, why can't I" Cline
Newsgroups: alt.folklore.computers
Subject: Re: Mercury memory (was Re: Cathode ray memory)
From: alanb@sdl.mdcbbs.com (Alan Braggins)
Date: 31 Jul 92 12:57:41 GMT
Organization: Shape Data (Division of EDS), Cambridge UK
In-reply-to: rfd@po.CWRU.Edu's message of Wed, 29 Jul 92 18:20:42 GMT

>>>>> On Wed, 29 Jul 92 18:20:42 GMT, rfd@po.CWRU.Edu (Richard F. Drushel) said:


> In a previous article, jimf@centerline.com (Jim Frost) says:

>>C491153@MIZZOU1.MISSOURI.EDU (John Schultz) writes:
>>>Some people have mentioned using cathode ray tubes for memory.  Just how
>>>was this trick accomplished?
>>
>>Maybe by treating the tube as a capacitor?
>>
There was something about this in "The Enigma of Intelligence" (a biography
of Alan Turing), but I'm not sure how much technical information it gives.
Does quote a comment of "Why waste time with a routine to convert from base 32
to decimal, when everyone can read the direct output quite happily" (this was 
about the time the UK market for computers was estimated as 4 machines -
one for the military, one for weather forecasting, one for research, and one
spare for whichever of the others was down at the time).

>>Anyway what makes me respond to this is that mercury tubs were used
>>for memory at one time.  When you want to store something in memory
>>you made waves in the mercury; the waves would propagate to the other
>>end of the tank relatively slowly compared to the electronics, and
>>then you pick up what you put in when it gets to the other side.  This
>>gave you temporary memory.

I've seen one of these - a machined brass tube about 10" long, 1 1/2" radius,
mountings for a peizo-electric crystal at either end (one transmitter, one
sensor, with an amp connecting them for feedback to keep the wave pattern going).

Stored 13 bits.

--
Alan Braggins, Shape Data (A Division of EDS Ltd), Cambridge, UK +44-223-316673
   "Any technology distinguishable from magic is insufficiently advanced."
 "My employer does not necessarily share my views - but I'm working on it."
From: bjj@ecl.psu.edu (Bryan J. Jensen)
Newsgroups: alt.folklore.computers
Subject: Re: DECtape (was: Worst tape drives)
Date: 30 Jul 92 13:55:19 EDT
Organization: Engineering Computer Lab, Pennsylvania State University

In article <1992Jul29.205102.27421@alliant.com>, werme@alliant.com (Ric Werme) writes:
>>In article <1992Jul28.152904.28638@alliant.com> werme@alliant.com (Ric Werme) writes:
>>>   One thing that *did* impress me on the DECtape only system was
>>>that sometimes when I ran TECO I would get the '*' prompt immediately
>>>and the DECtape wouldn't spin.  Only TECO, never anything else.
> 
> TECO was unique in that it had no .LOW file.

A quick check of my KA10 (with software frozen in 1975) show that 75%
of the .SHR programs have no .LOW file.  The .LOW files that are there
are very small.

On the DECsystem 10, it required about 3 extra lines in a MACRO program
to make it sharable, thus, almost all system programs were sharable.
Contrast that with VMS and its painful INSTALL utility, which must be
used to install each shared program when the system boots and each time
the .EXE file is changed.  Needless to say, most VMS programs never
become sharable.
Newsgroups: alt.folklore.computers
Subject: Re: Unix Roots of DOS?
From: frey@alfheim.actrix.gen.nz (Bruce Clement)
Date: Fri, 24 Jul 92 08:26:54 GMT
Distribution: world
Organization: Private System

cline@cs.scarolina.edu writes in article <cline.711789582@ebony.cs.scarolina.edu>:
> Lets face it most PC software companies are too wimpy and afraid to admit
> they had a bug, so they'd rather hide the fact. In the Mac world bug fixes
> are seen as a sign that you care about the product enough to fix it. 

You'll be pleased to know that IBM not only admits the bugs in OS/2, but is
allowing free distribution by ftp & over Usenet ... Check out comp.binaries.os2,
or ftp to 129.34.139.5 (can't remember its name) sometime.

--
Bruce Clement    (frey@alfheim.actrix.gen.nz  SNEWS/2,  UUPC 1.11q)
From: ucapb6t@ucl.ac.uk (Mr T Phillips)
Newsgroups: alt.folklore.computers
Subject: Early Hard/Software
Summary: Preserved hardware in London, England
Keywords: Conservation, Museum, IBM7090
Date: 30 Jul 92 11:36:18 GMT
Organization: Bloomsbury Computing Consortium

From Tim;
(I post this every so-often; the moderators must be sick of it :-) )

I have been following the PROJECT re emulating early computer systems in
'modern' software with interest; I would *lurve* a 1401 emulator - what a
machine - those word-marks. :-)

I have the reference manual for the IBM7090 Data Processing System in front
of me, a 'minor revision' dated August 1961. The revision note states:
" ...... principal change is the inclusion of disk storage information."
the disk storage referred to being the 1301 with (I think) 40 platters(?)

I also have a copy of a newletter produced by the Computer Conservation Society
based at the Science Museum, South Kensington, London, England.
 They have the following machines:
Elliot 401 (UK)
Elliot 803 (UK)
Ferranti Pegasus (UK)
PDP-8 (USA)
CDC6600 (USA)
Burroughs Visible Record MAchine (USA)
Stantec Zebra (Standard Telephones, but whose ??)

I have not visited for a while, last visit was to see the Babbage machine
reconstructed by Science Museum engineers. If anyone out there interested,
I will contact the museum staff and see what progress has been made.

regards
From: erd@kumiss.cmhnet.org (Ethan Dicks)
Newsgroups: alt.folklore.computers
Subject: Scott Adams (was Re:  Today's Games Destined to be Classics)
Distribution: world
Date: 23 Jul 92 21:17:16 EDT
Organization: Not an Organization

In article <1992Jul17.161812.20278@cbfsb.cb.att.com> hillel@cbnewsf.cb.att.com (hillel.e.markowitz) writes:

[ discussion about other adventure games and Scott Adams deleted ]

>As I recall the story, he actually wrote the first one on a bet.  I
>also recall seeing an article where he said that he used the basic
>ideas he used in compiler writing to do it. (For example the map
>descriptors instead of full hard coding).
>
>His wife got mad at his spending so much time at it so he had to
>hide his floppies.  Once he hid some in the oven, but forgot to get
>it out before she turned it on to make supper.
>
>His revenge?  He challenged her and she wound up writing games as
>well.
>

The above anecdote appears (I belive) in the BYTE magazine from 1980
in which the TRS-80 BASIC of "Pirate's Adventure" appears.

Does anyone know what ever happened to Scott Adams?  A couple of years
ago, I tried to contact him in Longwood, Florida about porting his
games to C and to modern platforms and was unable to reach him.  The
phone number in his games is not valid.  The address in the BYTE article
is not valid.  The State Attorney General's office of Florida does not
have a listing for Adventure International in the corporation register
of names which have been used and are not available in the state of
Florida.  The office told me that the name has never been used and
that M. Scott Adams (or any variant we could come up with)  has never
filed incorporation papers for any company name in the state of Florida.

Any ideas?  Most of my interest is nostalgic in nature: Adventures 1 and 2
were the first computer games I ever played on my PET in 1978 that I
had not typed in myself.  I still have the tape (and the PET!)

-ethan

--
Ethan Dicks     N8TVD ! This message is brought to you by the breakfast cereal
erd@kumiss.cmhnet.org ! of Pennsic Veterans everywhere: Beerios.
                      ! "They don't stay crisp in beer, but who cares?" 
Newsgroups: alt.folklore.computers
From: syswtr@iowasp.physics.uiowa.edu
Subject: Re: 9 track data storage???????????????
Organization: Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Iowa
Date: Mon, 27 Jul 1992 19:36:53 GMT

In article <1992Jul25.030919.24951@uwm.edu>, jgd@csd4.csd.uwm.edu (John G Dobnick) writes:
> 
> Short lesson on "compatible tapes" (think "open-reel audio tape deck"):
> 
> 
> 7-track, even parity tapes used a character set called "BCD" (Binary
> Coded Decimal), a 6-bit character encoding scheme.  Writing a
> binary zero (all 0 bits) served to "truncate" a tape record -- it
> was interpreted by the tapedrive system as an "end of datablock"
> indicator.  Bad news for writing arbitrary binary data, as many 
> "experienced" users will attest.  (Writing in odd parity would
> work fine, but it was _even_ parity that was the *standard* for
> data interchange between computer systems.)
> 
  And how's 'bout the 7 track tapes with BCD header records (written
with even parity, of course) to identify the data (written in odd
partiy).

  Really drive the 'device driver' nuts on the VAX/VMS system...

  (You don't have 7-track drives on your VAX!  Gee, that seems rather
    strange...)

Willy

Newsgroups: alt.folklore.computers
From: jcmorris@mwunix.mitre.org (Joe Morris)
Subject: Re: Mad drums
Organization: The MITRE Corporation
Date: Mon, 27 Jul 1992 19:51:50 GMT

tvv@tandem.com (Tom Van Vleck) writes:

>Charles Lasner writes:
>>I have heard of apocryphal stories about FastRand drums getting loose while 
>>spinning and mowing down whatever was in its path.  Anyone out there
>>can relate to a specific story?

>I think this may be an urban legend.

>I first heard it from a Bryant salesman in 1959 thus: An experimental
>drum, half a ton of machined aluminum in a vacuum box at 14K rpm.
>Somebody opened the door & the drum hopped its bearings and began
>wandering like a top through the lab, smashing everything.

It's documented history that while the experimental disk drive which became
IBM's RAMAC was being developed, one day the hub disintegrated and a flying
platter grazed one of the engineers.  I can't recall just where I saw this
most recently; possibly in Spectrum, or maybe in IBM Systems Journal.

And no, I can't claim any direct knowledge of the incident.

Joe Morris
From: eugene@wilbur.nas.nasa.gov (Eugene N. Miya)
Newsgroups: alt.folklore.computers
Subject: Re: IBM vs. world terminology (was: What does dd stand for?)
Date: 30 Jul 92 06:59:12 GMT
Organization: NAS, NASA Ames Research Center, Moffett Field, CA

ecmtwhk@ccu1.aukuni.ac.nz (Thomas Koenig) writes:

>>Why is it that MVS terminology is so different from the rest of the
>>world? Look at a few examples:
>>file		dataset
>>disk		DASD

FYI: I have reviewed and edited a article for the new journal Scientific
Programming in which an ex-IBM person will detail a few of his complaints
about IBMese (extra credit: what's the IBM 370 terminology for cache, not
included in the above list).  The article will be released around the end
of the year.

--eugene miya, NASA Ames Research Center, eugene@orville.nas.nasa.gov
  Software and Books Reviews Editor, Scientific Programming
  Resident Cynic, Rock of Ages Home for Retired Hackers
  {uunet,mailrus,other gateways}!ames!eugene
Second Favorite email message: Returned mail: Cannot send message for 3 days
A Ref: Mathematics and Plausible Reasoning, vol. 1, G. Polya
Newsgroups: alt.folklore.computers,comp.unix.misc
From: jelson@poincare.cs.jhu.edu (Jeremy Elson)
Subject: Re: Computers killing people? (WAS Re: 9 track data storage???)
Organization: Johns Hopkins Computer Science Department, Baltimore, MD
Date: Thu, 30 Jul 1992 19:53:25 GMT

In article <hellmann.712434688@oak.cs.scarolina.edu> hellmann@cs.scarolina.edu (Douglas R Hellmann) writes:
>comrade@uniwa.uwa.edu.au (Peter Cooper) writes:

>>I wonder if being killed by a falling VAX 11/750 counts?  It *could*
>>happen where I am.  The old vax lives on the top floor of a building
>>that has had rather severe termite problems, and the VAX may well be
>>past the safe loading limit.  Anyway, below the VAX is a student tavern,
>>often playing loud enough movement that the floor moves measurably.  I
>>can just see the headlines:
>
>>Falling VAX kills 20.
>
>>I live in hope.

>I wonder if they would try to make VAXes illegal then, since people get
>killed by them.  Makes as much sense as making guns illegal.

No, they'd probably just do a background check on you before selling you
one, and then institute a 5-day "cooling-off" period on the purchase of
all VAXen.

:-) :-)

-je
-- 
Jeremy Elson
jelson@server.cs.jhu.edu (Internet) / jelson@jhuvms (Bitnet)
Newsgroups: alt.folklore.computers
From: peterk@public.sub.org (Peter Kittel)
Subject: Re: Computers on TV
Organization: Public News & Mailserver, Commodore Germany PM UNIX, Frankfurt
Date: Thu, 30 Jul 92 05:19:12 GMT

dik@cwi.nl (Dik T. Winter) writes:

>In article <1992Jul28.065617.19751@blaze.cs.jhu.edu> jelson@poincare.cs.jhu.edu (Jeremy Elson) writes:
> > Yeah, I think "giga" is supposed to be pronounced "jiga"
>Oh dear.  I always pronounce it with the guttural 'g' as heard in the Scottish
>'loch' (two times by the way).  So I do not qualify?  If I really pronounced
>it with 'j', I am sure you would not understand it at all!

I think we must consider where this word "giga" comes from. When I'm not
seriously in error, it is a greek word and is definitely pronounced "giga"
with a hard g.

(And this way it also happily matches german pronunciation :-)

-- 
Best regards, Dr. Peter Kittel  // E-Mail to  \\  Only my personal opinions... 
Commodore Frankfurt, Germany  \X/ {uunet|pyramid|rutgers}!cbmvax!cbmger!peterk
                                   or  peterk@public.sub.org
From: saddler@bcstec.ca.boeing.com (Ray Saddler [BCS] Unix Warlord)
Newsgroups: alt.folklore.computers
Subject: Re: What does dd stand for?
Date: 28 Jul 92 23:16:00 GMT
Organization: Boeing

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??

I've heard that it stands for Copy and Convert, but since 'cc' was
already taken for Compile C, it was upped on direction to the right in
the alphabet.

Just my $.02...
-- 
[       Ray E. Saddler III       ][    ___ ___ ___ ___     ___  ][     _O_     ]
[  saddler@boeing.ca.boeing.com  ][   /__//  //__  /  /\ //  _  ][      |<     ]
[  nworay@kbct.profs.boeing.com  ][  /__//__//__ _/_ /  //__/   ][  Suspended  ]
[  +1 206 655-6954   M.S. 47-10  ][     Computer Services       ][  in Gaffa.  ]
From: gerrit@isgtec.com (Gerrit Visser)
Newsgroups: alt.folklore.computers
Subject: Re: Computer Relics (Was: 9 track data storage?)
Date: 24 Jul 92 19:52:35 GMT
X-Newsreader: Tin 1.1 PL4

pgravel@nap.amoco.com (Philip L. Gravel) writes:
: In article <83871@netnews.upenn.edu>, blewis@eniac.seas.upenn.edu (Benn L. 
: Lewis) writes:
: Pretty soon we'll hear question like:
: 
:   Has anyone heard of a paper tape?
:    "    "      "    " a punch card?
:    "    "      "    " core memory?
: 
: Name your favorite artifact of a by-gone era....
: 
: Phil
: 
In that case, how about :
	Metal 1/2" tape used on Uniservo I and Uniservo II (1950's).
--
Gerrit Visser				Phone: (416) 672-2100
ISG Technologies			Fax:   (416) 672-2307
3030 Orlando Drive			Net:   gerrit@isgtec.com
Mississagua, Ontario, Canada, L4V-1S8
Newsgroups: alt.folklore.computers