HDTenEightyP/NetNews huggingface dataset:
From: peter@NeoSoft.com (Peter da Silva)
Subject: Re: Superstition
Organization: NeoSoft Communications Services -- (713) 684-5900
Date: Mon, 23 Nov 1992 09:56:18 GMT

[ 36 36 moveto 36 360 lineto 360 360 lineto 360 36 lineto fill % eat this! ]

In article <7962@charon.cwi.nl> dik@cwi.nl (Dik T. Winter) writes:
> In article <By1ppx.G85@NeoSoft.com> peter@NeoSoft.com (Peter da Silva) writes:
>  > Nobody mentioned the line eater yet? Amazing!

>  somebody remembers line eaters!

Hah! I put a PS picture of the original "Smell The Glove" cover in line eater 
food! Beat that!
-- 
Peter da Silva.  <peter@sugar.neosoft.com>.
 `-_-'   Oletko halannut suttasi tnn?
  'U`    
Tarjoilija, tm ateria el viel.
Newsgroups: alt.folklore.computers,comp.sys.cbm
From: eru@tnso04.tele.nokia.fi (Erkki Ruohtula)
Subject: Re: Commodore keyboard layout.
Organization: /user1/u2/eru/.organization
	<1992Nov17.214421.22889@tamsun.tamu.edu>
	<1992Nov18.235137.17841@cs.umb.edu>
	<1992Nov19.112057.2311W@viper.edb.tih.no>
Date: Fri, 20 Nov 1992 13:33:52 GMT

In article <1992Nov19.112057.2311W@viper.edb.tih.no> terjej@edb.tih.no (Terje Johansen,o90b) writes:
>In article <1992Nov18.235137.17841@cs.umb.edu>, edwardp@ra.cs.umb.edu (Edward P. Piecewicz) writes:
>>In article <1992Nov17.214421.22889@tamsun.tamu.edu> n029gg@tamuts.tamu.edu (Adam Roach) writes:
>>>the same '64's would have been shipped there. This goes a long way
>>>towards explaining why we had a British pound symbol on our '64's
>>>over here in the States. Additionally, I might like to point out
>>>that the layout of the C-64's keyboard had almost nothing to
>>>do with prevailing standards for typewriter keyboards.
>>
>>Was the British Pound key on the U.S. C64 computers, intentional??  It was
>>the first (and still is) the computer I ever saw with a Pound key on it.
>>
>> - Ed
>
>
>hmmmm...works nicely. Keyboard is a Tallgrass Tech.

Amazing: those pound signs actually appeared as pound signs
in my GNUS window in a GNU-emacs (with the Swedish 8-bit patches
installed) running on a Solbourne under MIT X11R5. Maybe there
is after all hope of some day having a 8-bit clean *IX and Net...
--
Erkki Ruohtula     / Nokia Telecommunications Oy
eru@tele.nokia.fi / P.O. Box 33 SF-02601 Espoo, Finland
(My private opinions, of course.)
"If it moves, profile it." (Jon Bentley, Unix Review Dec. 1992)
Newsgroups: alt.folklore.computers
From: ftit@tagus.engin.umich.edu (Sergej Roytman)
Subject: Re: Computer Superstition
Date: Thu, 19 Nov 92 00:29:20 EST
Organization: University of Michigan Engineering, Ann Arbor
Originator: ftit@tagus.engin.umich.edu


In article <1992Nov18.153133.2835@tc.cornell.edu>, mdw@theory.TC.Cornell.EDU (Matt Welsh) writes:
|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?
|
|Yes, that if you admit to using MS-DOS you'll grow hair on your palms and
|go blind. Seen it happen to a guy before, once... not a pretty sight.
|

Not Messy-DOS.  BASIC.  It happens if you do BASIC too long.  It
happened to a guy this friend of mine konws.

|Matt Welsh    mdw@tc.cornell.edu        +1 607 253 2737

--
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
|  ftit@engin.umich.edu   |   "... a stainless steel rat in the       |
|    (Sergej Roytman)     |  ferroconcrete wainscoting of Internet"   |
-----------------------------------------------------------------------

Say no to four-line .sigs.
From: xyzzy@mertwig.UUCP (Daniel Drucker)
Newsgroups: alt.folklore.computers
Subject: Re: Phone number delete (was: You know you've been hacking too long.
Date: Sun, 22 Nov 92 15:14:48 EST
Organization: Odd Parity Hacker's Group

johnv@acix.DIALix.oz.au (John Verhoeven) writes:

> RICHARD@ttt.kth.se wrote:
> > In article <1992Nov12.210731.15566@pollux.lu.se> magnus@thep.lu.se (Magnus 
> > >  It should of course be possible to make telephones that store the number
> > >  being dialled in an internal memory, and don't actually dial it until
> > >  you press a special "dial" key. In that case, it would be possible even
> >
> >   Oh, an "Enter" key!
> >
> > I can already see the announcement: "The latest in phones! With incorporate
> > IBM-PC compatible computer and WordStar for editing the number!"
> 
> Too late...
> 
> Telecom Australia (The local phone company) was selling these horrrible
> things called OPD's (the "OPD" stood for One Per Desk).  It was a
> combined phone & computer using Sinclair micro floppies based on the
> Sinclair QL I think.
> 
> They started off at some some fantastic price in the 1000s of Aussie
> dollars.
> 
> Nowdays you're unlucky if you can find one.
> 
> I believe they were the equivalent of the Ford Edsel in terms of runaway
> sales success :-)

Now theres that Navagator thing. Phone, fax, modem, touch screen, it 
would have been nice if it werent for the XT sitting under it all.

--  "Xyzzy T. Plugh"                               mertwig!xyzzy@jaflrn.uucp
                     Amateur radio callsign pending
        Daniel Max P. Drucker, the 14 year old networks wizard.

"Difficulty! It's the single simplest machine in the entire Universe!" -HHGTTG
Newsgroups: alt.folklore.computers
From: jdahl@rchland.vnet.ibm.com (Jared Dahl)
Subject: World's Toughest Computers
Date: Thu, 19 Nov 1992 19:07:39 GMT
Disclaimer: This posting represents the poster's views, not necessarily those of IBM
Organization: IBM Rochester

Which computers do you consider the most rugged?  Why?
What are some stories that you have heard about them?


I have two stories for you about the IBM AS/400's ruggedness:

1.  An AS/400 was being delivered for a field test.  The workmen
who were loading the truck neglected to secure the large computer
and it toppled out of the truck landing on its back in 	the site
parking lot.  The system was taken back to the lab and checked 
out.  After the power was turned on, the system ran normally.

2.  In Florida, during the last hurricane, a company's IS area
that was located in it's basement was flooded.  Their AS/400 
continued to run until the power was knocked out by the water.
The water kept rising until the basement was nearly filled.  
Later, after the water had been pumped out and the computers
had been allowed to dry, the AS/400 booted and ran normally.

-- 
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
| Jared Dahl             | "My heart is human, my blood is boiling, | 
| Systems Programmer     |  my brain IBM"                           |
| IBM - Rochester, MN    |              -- STYX,  "Mr. Roboto"      |
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
Opinions expressed are mine, not IBM's.
Newsgroups: alt.folklore.computers
From: hees@cubic.com (Phil Hees)
Subject: Re: proliferation of alt.adjective.noun.verb.verb.verb groups
Organization: Cubic Tomato Corp.
Distribution: usa
Date: Fri, 13 Nov 92 17:32:55 GMT

In article <BxC2MA.5zC@rahul.net> alange@rahul.net (Andrew Lange) writes:
>
>Does anyone know of the history of this prediliction for naming groups
>alt.opt-adjective.noun.verb.verb.verb ?  Which is the first one you saw?

This Major Cultural Trend (TM) is not strictly limited to the alt.*
hierarchy, as

  sci.physics.edward.teller.boom.boom.boom

clearly shows.  (This newgroup has been in existence for at least 9
months, according to an old .newsrc file I had lying around.)

--
Phil Hees
hees@cubic.com
Newsgroups: alt.folklore.computers
From: dagbrown@napier.uwaterloo.ca (Dave Brown)
Subject: Re: sync; sync; sync; was Re: Computer Superstition
Organization: University of Waterloo
Date: Fri, 20 Nov 1992 19:06:40 GMT

In article <1992Nov19.134510.16559@uvm.edu> wollman@sadye (Garrett Wollman) writes:
>Or today's modern operating systems which know to sync their disks
>before rebooting or halting.  From reboot(1):
                                          ^^^ Cool!  I want an account
on a computer where any user can invoke reboot....

;-)


-- 
Dave Brown
dagbrown@undergrad.math.uwaterloo.ca
Phone: (519) 438-0530
"What God want, God gets.  God help us all."  --Roger Waters
Newsgroups: alt.folklore.computers
From: kodak@mentor.cc.purdue.edu (Jason Balicki (KodaK))
Subject: Help me sleep!
Summary: Query about methodology for avoidance of sleep deprivation.
Keywords: Sleep, sleep, sleep, sheep, sleep.
Organization: Purdue University Computing Center
Distribution: comp
Date: Mon, 16 Nov 1992 19:28:57 GMT


Recently I've been theorizing about a virtural reality operating system and
how to impliment various aspects needed for a multi user OS (security, shared
file systems etc...) and was stuck on the security issue.  I was playing with
a door analogy and was wondering if that was the way to go.  I kept wondering,
and wondering, and wondering.  I went to bed and couldn't get it out of my
head (I'm sure you all have been through this.)  I was going crazy.  (I did,
however, remember that I had left my apartment door unlocked. :)  This brings
me to my point:  

What are some of the methods that individuals use to "get things out" of their
heads?

--Jason Balicki
kodak@mentor.cc.purdue.edu
From: frisk@complex.is (Fridrik Skulason)
Newsgroups: alt.folklore.computers
Subject: Re: PC Shareware writers' help wanted.
Date: 19 Nov 92 10:27:17 GMT
Organization: Frisk Software International, Iceland

mark-r@spec0.ee.man.ac.uk (Mark Robinson (JO PhD)) writes:


>Hi.
>I have writen a PC software package which I would like to 
>release as shareware. Before doing this though, I'd like
>to ask a few questions of shareware writers...

OK - I guess I qualify - even though only one of my programs is shareware.

>1. How can I protect my copyright? ie what proof do I have
>once my code is in general circulation that I wrote it.

Why do you worry about that ?  I assume you are not going to release the
program in source code form, and strictly speaking you don't even need to
include a Copyright message in your program, although it is highly
advisable to do so.  Just make the program display your copyright message,
and put some internal checks into the program to make sure the it is not
tampered with (those checks can of course be patched out, but that is
time-consuming if they are properly implemented).

>2. I don't really have time to send out latest versions, 
>so I'd want to release a full working version. This means
>that registration would get you nothing except a good
>feeling inside. Is this wise?

Depends on the type of the program, but it works in some cases.  Of course it
depends on how high the registration fee is etc.  Anyhow - my program is a
full-blown program, not a crippled version...for the results see below.

>3. What sort of return can I expect to see? 

Anywhere between nothing and registrations from 1% of the potential user base.

>ie how many
>people are likely to register, given that the package
>is fairly specialised, but the PC has a huge user base.

I would say between 0 and 1000, unless the program is very good - outperforms
commercial programs in every way, or if there is no competition.  Shareware
seems to work best for non-specialised software, however.

>4. Tell me a little about your package, how much you ask
>for, and how many registrations you have recieved.

Package name: F-PROT anti-virus
Registration fee: Free for private use...$1 per computer othervise, with a
                  minimum of $20.
Number of registrations: Well, most of my registrations are for multiple
     machines - the biggest one for 43.000 machines, so if you count the
     total number of licensed machines, it is somewhere between 500.000 and
     1.000.000.  I guess that qualifies as fairly successful shareware :-)

>Note the followup (hope Followup-To: sender works) 

Didn't work...

-frisk
Newsgroups: alt.folklore.computers
From: rf@cl.cam.ac.uk (Robin Fairbairns)
Subject: Re: RSX-11 console light-show / HOW?
Keywords: rsx-11m, console lights, implementation
Organization: U of Cambridge Computer Lab, UK
Date: Mon, 23 Nov 1992 10:35:23 GMT

In article <By0n1M.7MC@sci.kun.nl>, geertr@sci.kun.nl (Geert Rolf) writes:
|> On old PDPs, those with real console lights *), the RSX-M operating
|> system privides an option for an idle job that plays around
|> with the console lights.
|> 
|> Apart from being nice to see, you can also watch the machine
|> going under load.

Ahhh.. It brings it all back.

|> As far as I know, you can use a RESET instruction to get a
|> pattern visible on the console lights. Ie: store pattern in
|> 177570 and do the RESET.

Nah - The RESET wasn't necessary (at least, on /45s).  There was a
selector switch, however, which decided what was to be displayed.  It
says here (getting trusty /45 processor handbook out ;-) that the
display could show "DATA PATHS", "BUS REGISTER", "FPP \micro ADRS.CPU
\micro ADRS" or "DISPLAY".  Only in that last position did 777570 get
displayed.

|> However, I cannot imagine the RSX-11 idle job keeps doing
|> RESET all the time!! (and reinitialise all devices after that)

Indeed not.
--
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: peter@NeoSoft.com (Peter da Silva)
Subject: Re: Don't you hate it when...
Organization: NeoSoft Communications Services -- (713) 684-5900
Date: Wed, 18 Nov 1992 03:47:10 GMT

In article <1992Nov17.023911.7765@cs.uow.edu.au> david@cs.uow.edu.au (David E A Wilson) writes:
> peter@NeoSoft.com (Peter da Silva) writes:
> >Most System-V-ish systems [...]

> Strange - our SunOS 4.1.2 more [...]

Someone loan this guy a clue... mine's in the wash...
-- 
Peter da Silva.  <peter@sugar.neosoft.com>.
 `-_-'   "Meglelted mr ma a farkasodat ?"
  'U`    "Zure otsoa besarkatu al duzu gaur?"
Das kann nicht mein Zimmer sein, denn ich atme kein Ammoniak.
Newsgroups: alt.folklore.computers
From: sasjaa@morticia.unx.sas.com (James Adams)
Subject: Re: Computer Superstition
Originator: sasjaa@morticia.unx.sas.com
Date: Wed, 18 Nov 1992 21:20:24 GMT
Organization: SAS Institute Inc.


If a program quits working, first try re-compiling it. It probably just
needs to be refreshed...
-- 
+-------------------------------------+-------------------------------------+
|James Adams                          |  Pat Buchanan is trying to change   |
|  sasjaa@unx.sas.com                 |  the name of our species to         |
|                                     |  Heterosapiens         Phil         |
+-------------------------------------+-------------------------------------+
Newsgroups: alt.folklore.computers
From: msb@sq.sq.com (Mark Brader)
Subject: Re: Superstitions: power cycling, screen savers, surge suppressors
Organization: SoftQuad Inc., Toronto, Canada
Date: Mon, 23 Nov 92 01:57:16 GMT

> I have been trying since the seventies to find ANYONE who has actual
> DATA on the question of whether it is better to turn computers off when
> not in use or to leave them on.  EVERYONE has an OPINION. NOBODY seems
> to have any DATA.

You don't have to shout, we can hear you.

If the question can be extended from computers to terminals, then there
are people with data.  At SoftQuad a few years ago, almost everyone had
an HDS200 terminal on their desk.  We had a continuing problem with
power-supply failures.  It was conjectured that turning the terminals
off overnight was the proximate cause.  We ran an experiment -- half
the company turned them off overnight and the other half didn't.  The
power-supply failures then confined themselves to the first group.

Of course, this doesn't prove anything about equipment in general --
it only shows a problem in the HDS200's power supply.  (This came up
in comp.terminals recently, and certain Wyse models were mentioned
there as having the same problem.)

> No doubt screen-savers actually ARE needed on some
> CRT's, particular the older point-plotting and stroke-tracing models ...

I can't resist telling again about the most strongly burned-in image
that I ever saw on a screen.  I saw it in 1982 when I was visiting the
company in Ann Arbor, Michigan, which at the time was BNR Inc., owned
by Bell-Northern Research Ltd. of Canada, which was my employer at the
time.  The Ann Arbor branch had previously been a small computer
manufacturer called Sycor.  On the premises was an area where a bunch
of old computers and/or terminals were stored.  And on one of them was
the following burn-in, as legible as if the terminal was still in use:

			     THE SYSTEM IS
			TEMPORARILY UNAVAILABLE

> And why should a PC need a surge suppressor,
> but not a CD player, a VCR, a video game machine, etc. all of
> which contain similar electronics?

Who says they don't?  Haven't you ever heard reports from people whose
wires took a serious surge?  The thing is that the computer could easily
cost more than all those other items put together, so maybe you care more
about protecting it.

> "Well, you haven't been bothered by tigers lately, have you?"

That's no magic spell, that's a McGuffin!
-- 
Mark Brader			"Relax -- I know the procedures backwards."
SoftQuad Inc., Toronto		"Yeah, well, that's a quick way to get killed."
utzoo!sq!msb, msb@sq.com			-- Chris Boucher, Star Cops

This article is in the public domain.
From: exspes@gdr.bath.ac.uk (P E Smee)
Newsgroups: alt.folklore.computers
Subject: Re: base -2 arithmetic (was: Re: Trinary)
Date: 16 Nov 92 18:44:32 GMT
Reply-To: P.Smee@bristol.ac.uk (Paul Smee)
Organization: University of Bristol c/o University of Bath

In the referenced article, hees@cubic.com (Phil Hees) writes:
>pete@minster.york.ac.uk writes:
>>In article <3ug2TB6w165w@mertwig.UUCP> xyzzy@mertwig.UUCP (Daniel
>>Drucker) writes:
>>:    Daniel Max P. Drucker            | #define SLOGAN Hey! Lets port it to COBOL!
>>:    The 14 year old LISP/C++ genius. | Disclaimer: I don't know COBOL.
>>: 
>>Aha. BIFF GR0WS UP!!!!! 
>>Or is it more a case Mr Drucker being an admirer of D000G1E H0WSSSER!!!! 
>
>More like Ensign Wesley Crusher.  :)
>
>Daniel, you might want to tone your .sig down a bit.  There are quite
>a few _real_ geniuses reading this newsgroup, and they don't go around
>flaunting it quite so openly.  Someone might ask you for proof.
>
>Besides, _Real_ geniuses know COBOL (even if they refuse to use it).

Close.  I'd claim that REAL (TM) geniuses *knew* COBOL, realised why
they wished they didn't, and promptly forgot it, retaining only the  
memory that they weren't supposed to learn it again.

-- 
Paul Smee, Computing Service, University of Bristol, Bristol BS8 1UD, UK
 P.Smee@bristol.ac.uk - ..!uunet!ukc!bsmail!p.smee - Tel +44 272 303132
Newsgroups: alt.folklore.computers
From: dpbsmith@world.std.com (Daniel P. B. Smith)
Subject: Superstitions: power cycling, screen savers, surge suppressors
Organization: The World Public Access UNIX, Brookline, MA
Date: Sun, 22 Nov 1992 00:53:13 GMT

These are LIVE superstitions, as will shortly be demonstrated as I
get buried by flames.  

I have been trying since the seventies to find ANYONE who has actual
DATA on the question of whether it is better to turn computers off when
not in use or to leave them on.  EVERYONE has an OPINION. NOBODY seems
to have any DATA.  My own opinion is that the belief that it is better
to leave them on is superstition, dating from a) rational practice in 
the days of vacuum tubes, and b) a confusion between FREQUENCY and PHASE,
i.e. if something in your machine is on the hairy edge of breaking, the
stress of power-on may push it over the edge -- but all that power-cycling
has done is to advance the failure a few hours, not cause it.

I also believe that the risk of leaving a computer powered-on and UNATTENDED
more than balances the risk of cycling it.  

Screen-savers. A very clever way of providing a market for display hacks.
And a very useful justification for people who just enjoy having neat
stuff on their screen. No doubt screen-savers actually ARE needed on some
CRT's, particular the older point-plotting and stroke-tracing models in 
which all of the beam current was going into a tiny area. But what about
stock CRT's in normal use on PC's and Macintoshes?  If they're really 
NECESSARY why aren't they designed into the hardware? I've seen a classic
(1984, monochrome) Mac that was essentially left on 24 hours a day for years,
and the menu bar had darkened just a bit -- but it didn't matter when the
menu bar was being DISPLAYED in normal use.

Surge suppressors.  Again, I have to wonder why the manufacturers don't
design them in; it should be the responsibility of the computer's own
power supply to handle this. And why should a PC need a surge suppressor,
but not a CD player, a VCR, a video game machine, etc. all of which contain
similar electronics?

Personally, I don't futz with screen savers because I hate adding yet another
layer of TSR-like software into my system.  I shut my computer off when
not in use. But I use surge suppressors because the mental pain of possibly
wasting $50 is less than the mental pain of wondering whether my computer
is really vulnerable.

There's the old story (well, there was a book title and the author SAID
it was the old story) about the guy who comes to visit, and every time,
as he leaves, he solemnly waves his hands in the air and says "May this
house be safe from tigers."  Finally the other guy asks, "WHY you do
that?" First guy replies, "Well, you haven't been bothered by tigers
lately, have you?"
-- 
Daniel P. B. Smith
dpbsmith@world.std.com
Newsgroups: alt.folklore.computers
From: crosby@ucsu.Colorado.EDU (CROSBY MATTHEW JAMES)
Subject: Re: CM5 pic - terribly sorry gentlemen, it's a dud
Organization: University of Colorado, Boulder
Date: Thu, 19 Nov 1992 03:24:30 GMT

In article <andrew.722122473@daneel.rdt.monash.edu.au> andrew.moore@rdt.monash.edu.au writes:
>
>After my previous post someone (Hi Barry) pointed out to me that limiting
>the prints (by numbering etc) is pretty acceptable for other art (other
>drawings, photographs, etc) so just because the picture is of a
>Computer (was that a capital C ? :-) ) surely this does not exempt it
>from such protection.
>
>I think everyone was anticipating a more Cray like attitude to PR
>posters, but when they are limited edition etc etc, perhaps they stop
>being PR devices (in the traditional bulk distribution sense) ?
>
>We end up with the situation where the posters will become as sought
>after as the machines :-) (truth be known, maybe this was the intent)

Well, maybe they could issue limited editions *and* normal posters?  So the
limited edition posters could still be valuable?

While we are on the subject, does anyone know of a good source of coumpter
posters?  Cray posters would be great!

(Also a lover of sexy computer posters!)
-- 
-Matt
Mere anarchy is loosed upon the net!!!!
mcrosby@nyx.cs.du.edu     or     crosby@cs.colorado.edu
From: jimf@centerline.com (Jim Frost)
Newsgroups: alt.folklore.computers
Subject: Re: ASSEMBLY LANGUAGE IBM
Date: 23 Nov 1992 19:11:09 GMT
Organization: CenterLine Software, Inc.
NNTP-Posting-Host: 140.239.3.202

lasner@watsun.cc.columbia.edu (Charles Lasner) writes:
>In any case, this is talking about control-store architecture, not machine
>architecture.  The implemented instruction set is the same as what was defined
>on paper circa 1960 and simulated on 7090-class machines.  As someone posted
>earlier, the binary of any program from the beginning will run on each and
>every model.  This assumes that the implied O/S functions are present, as
>many of these programs issue SVC instructions that have to be handled.

Almost, but not quite.  The model with instruction pipelining (the /65
I think) couldn't run FP applications reliably because exceptions
weren't precise.

That sucker died fast though. :-)

jim frost
jimf@centerline.com
Newsgroups: alt.folklore.computers