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[#] Mon Oct 24 2022 14:47:32 EDT from Nurb432

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I was cooking since middle school    In many cases the women i was with appreciated that fact. 

Mon Oct 24 2022 02:02:28 PM EDT from darknetuser
I learnt to cook, therefore rendering women obsolete. I have not bothered looking for gals ever since.

My set of hobbies and jobs is pretty much for sausage bearers only, but I am sure as heck I am not switching hobbies to get a girl. If you want to feel loved, get a horse.

 



[#] Sun Dec 04 2022 16:03:17 EST from Nurb432

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Today i have come to the conclusion that i have reached the stage that i can remember the past, but unable to remember what it was actually like to be there.



[#] Tue Dec 06 2022 12:53:59 EST from IGnatius T Foobar

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either. Not to mention many departments cannot set a ready for
deployment image to begin with. Getting a bunch of used computers and

installing junk on them is just easier and probably more cost effective

than trying to herd the students and teachers.

I guess so. Students can be pretty dumb, but as a student and as an IT professional I've still never seen anyone less talented with technology than the kind of people who work for university IT departments.

Of course, I was in college 1988-1993 and most CS assignments were completed on a Unisys machine running Ultrix, or on the Burroughs mainframe. Either way you were sitting in a room full of terminals. Or from the dorm you could *dial* in to a switch bank and hope to get one of the finite number of ports going to the host you wanted. No networking here -- again, because they were (and presumably still are) morons.

[#] Tue Dec 06 2022 15:03:38 EST from Nurb432

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Our schools had PCs ( xt ) sitting side by side of the terminals.  We were fancy :)

In public highschool we even had a single pet, in private school we had a few apple ][s.   They left me in the room alone with the pet once, once.  I forget what i did now, but it didnt go over well :)

 

Middle school we had something, donno what it was as it was missing its label, but it resembled an Altair 8080, in a display case along side a terminal of some sort. It wasn't an Altair, but it was similar in style. not the fancy plastic switch covers the IMSAI's had. No clue if it worked, i never got to touch it, and no one fessed up to putting it there so i could ask. it was odd. it was like it teleported in one evening, and everyone was afraid of it.

 

 

 

 



[#] Tue Dec 06 2022 15:15:30 EST from fandarel

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teleported in one evening, and everyone was afraid of it.

I'm quite certain they were afraid of it. Probably a donation from some company that no longer needed it. In those days donating the computer was trendy but sending someone to explain how it worked was not. And most teachers had no interest anyway.
I don't recall any computers in elementary school. Middle school featured Apple IIe machines, which were decent enough. Apple Basic had some interesting tricks. High school was PS/2 model 30s running DOS, and some Macs running something from the late 80s. But I had much better gear at home anyway, plus a modem and unofficial access to a few university terminal servers.

[#] Tue Dec 06 2022 17:15:21 EST from Nurb432

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Unsure about that, this was the late 70s, this "personal computing" stuff was still a new concept and horribly expensive. 

I often wondered if it was just a display and had nothing inside. Or was toasted and they got it at a hamfest or something for scrap cost.

Tue Dec 06 2022 03:15:30 PM EST from fandarel
Probably a donation from some company that no longer needed it. 


[#] Fri Dec 09 2022 16:17:09 EST from test2

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hehe, in those years i was building those Burroughs and later Unisys mainframes. i have a few patents.  the good ol days.

Tue Dec 06 2022 12:53:59 PM EST from IGnatius T Foobar
either. Not to mention many departments cannot set a ready for
deployment image to begin with. Getting a bunch of used computers and

installing junk on them is just easier and probably more cost effective

than trying to herd the students and teachers.

I guess so. Students can be pretty dumb, but as a student and as an IT professional I've still never seen anyone less talented with technology than the kind of people who work for university IT departments.

Of course, I was in college 1988-1993 and most CS assignments were completed on a Unisys machine running Ultrix, or on the Burroughs mainframe. Either way you were sitting in a room full of terminals. Or from the dorm you could *dial* in to a switch bank and hope to get one of the finite number of ports going to the host you wanted. No networking here -- again, because they were (and presumably still are) morons.

 



[#] Tue Dec 13 2022 09:55:12 EST from IGnatius T Foobar

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Are you from Pennsylvania, test2? I'm pretty sure the reason they made the decisions they did was because they had to buy from in-state vendors when they could, and Unisys was headquartered in Blue Bell, PA. I studied at Kutztown (1988 through 1993).

Decent school, or at least it was at the time. Nowadays I don't think I could cope with any college.

[#] Tue Dec 13 2022 10:17:31 EST from Nurb432

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Most of us would not be able to at this point. Might be better at a "tradeschool" tho.

Tue Dec 13 2022 09:55:12 AM EST from IGnatius T Foobar
Nowadays I don't think I could cope with any college.

 



[#] Wed Dec 14 2022 01:41:00 EST from test2

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I started out at Burroughs and was happily toiling away at their research centers when the winds of change shook the mainframe computer industry. Prior to that, I bought one of the first apple computers (late 70's), it just said apple][+ on it. probably worth a fortune today. Worked at the first retail computer store in the united states (so cal) selling the very first apples and newly emerging CPM "desktops" (no IBM's to be seen). I was one of 5 sales techs, selling to Hollywood doctors/bankers/business. Lots of doctors bought them up (plastic surgeons- porn was big there).  When repairing apple computers we'd call the factory and good ole Woz would answer, that was normal back then. Simultaneously worked at one of the designated "super computer" centers on campus with the Cyber174/760 (CDC) until I graduated. Got the job with Burroughs and in literally 5 years saw the micro computer wave overwhelm them. So they merged with Sperry corporation (the blue bell connection).  I remember they solicited the employees to provide names for the merger, my vote was Sperroughs, they went with Unisys. I met a lot of the captains of industry before they were captains. Saw gameing companies be invented and hung out with the owners (some co's still exist today).  In the 90's I remember the book Hackers, came out, turns out I know many prominent names in that book and lived at ground zero.  The computers that rifkin "hacked" (pdp1170)... was the computer center I worked at. november-november a night he'll remember. that one was fun. yes- gates was hated even back then. he wasn't brilliant. his daddy paid for his image and made all the connections and deals. the hidden hand is real. freemasons- they're everywhere.

Tue Dec 13 2022 09:55:12 AM EST from IGnatius T Foobar
Are you from Pennsylvania, test2? I'm pretty sure the reason they made the decisions they did was because they had to buy from in-state vendors when they could, and Unisys was headquartered in Blue Bell, PA. I studied at Kutztown (1988 through 1993).

Decent school, or at least it was at the time. Nowadays I don't think I could cope with any college.

 



[#] Thu Dec 15 2022 09:29:33 EST from IGnatius T Foobar

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Geeze ... you really are an industry veteran! No wonder you're so comfortable here :) So you were with Burroughs when they were part of the "BUNCH"?


I too was disappointed with the "Unisys" name. Sperry/Univac should have just been Univac, since that was a historically significant name, and "Sperry" was synonymous with boat shoes.

Of course it's just as much about the people we met along the way.

[#] Thu Dec 15 2022 11:08:36 EST from Nurb432

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Its too bad so many are gone now. We are all on borrowed time now. Some, more so than others.

 

Thu Dec 15 2022 09:29:33 AM EST from IGnatius T Foobar

Of course it's just as much about the people we met along the way.

 



[#] Thu Dec 15 2022 23:16:02 EST from test2

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A veritable veteran of sorts... for sure.  I do like reading the frustration posts as you guys attempt to maintain the integrity of the machine. It resonates with me.  However my current endeavors involve a "different" machine - every bit as intriguing but a different intellectual puzzle. mmm... databases... if you only knew... pay attention to the lyrics, i particularly like them.

 



[#] Fri Dec 16 2022 09:44:56 EST from IGnatius T Foobar

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Its too bad so many are gone now. We are all on borrowed time now.
Some, more so than others.

I wish we could have had Vince Q with us for longer. He passed in Oct 2016 at age 68. I really miss him.

But as a fellow "believer" I know I'll get to see him next at the big user meeting in the sky, and we'll have some great laughs over the shit that went down since then.

[#] Fri Dec 16 2022 10:04:02 EST from fandarel

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IG's comment about the big user meeting in the sky got me thinking about what sort of system heaven runs. I figure with all the notables up there already, they've come up with something so completely brilliant and yet so completely anachronistic that it'll blow our minds. Like punch cards with 64GB storage.
Hell is almost certainly still running Windows Vista. They just upgraded.

[#] Fri Dec 16 2022 11:05:34 EST from Nurb432

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I dont think the beer fountain or hooker factory uses computers.  Its all magic.

Fri Dec 16 2022 10:04:02 AM EST from fandarel
IG's comment about the big user meeting in the sky got me thinking about what sort of system heaven runs. I figure with all the notables up there already, they've come up with something so completely brilliant and yet so completely anachronistic that it'll blow our minds. Like punch cards with 64GB storage.
Hell is almost certainly still running Windows Vista. They just upgraded.

 



[#] Fri Dec 16 2022 16:00:27 EST from IGnatius T Foobar

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Heaven is running Angel Social ... and the underlying system is called the "heavenly host" hahahahaha

Hell has an exclusive deal with Facebook.

[#] Fri Dec 16 2022 22:40:23 EST from LadySerenaKitty

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This actually makes purrfect sense.

 

Fri Dec 16 2022 16:00:27 EST from IGnatius T Foobar

Hell has an exclusive deal with Facebook.

 



[#] Tue Feb 28 2023 12:21:22 EST from Nurb432

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bleh



[#] Wed May 17 2023 08:08:04 EDT from Nurb432

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Door to door magazine sales guys...   came up as a joke at work toady "dude going door to door selling ar-15 magazines"

Not seen that since the 70s.  



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