And what country can preserve its liberties if their rulers are not warned from time to time that their people preserve the spirit of resistance? Let them take arms. The remedy is to set them right as to facts, pardon and pacify them. What signify a few lives lost in a century or two? The tree of liberty must be refreshed from time to time with the blood of patriots and tyrants.
I can remember sitting in a classroom around 1982 or so at Humboldt State U taking a coding class and wondering what manner of fresh hell had I discovered. I only wanted to learn Word Perfect to write my papers as I so disliked paying someone to type them for me. I never would have guessed a computer would accompany me for the rest of my life. Legio XIX
I was *this close* to making a collosal error. Using a #2 pencil to number my punch cards would've been a mistake. I saw a college student start to cry when the wind shuffled his stack of punch cards. I found the cards fit perfectly into a box for bank checks. I triple wrapped with rubber bands.
I also was in a university using an IBM360 with Hollerith cards and FORTRAN. The fun thing was, computers were so new that if you did something with them for another class (in music theory, writing a score...in physics, analyzing Millikan oil drop experiment data) it automatically got you an A. When I ran for student senate, I used the school's main computer to print out campaign signs. I won.
I remember sitting in front of the blinking lights at 1 AM while the system ran diagnostics. It was ALWAYS Christmas or New Years. There was a malicious ghost in some of those machines.
On the late 1970s I worked making silicon wafers about the same dimensions as a hockey puck. The puck was later sliced to size according to use in various mainframes.
The company name was Sun something. I don't think it was Sunbeam.
Back in 1975, I learned how to read and program with punch cards on a top of the line four byte computer. This was back when government checks were printed on punch cards. Many an aspiring criminal got busted for altering checks. Typed amount didn’t match punched amount.
I had a college computer class that used punch cards. Michigan State in the early eighties. Only had to take one Fortran class because they weren't sure computers would catch on back then. Very forward looking institution.
I can remember sitting in a classroom around 1982 or so at Humboldt State U taking a coding class and wondering what manner of fresh hell had I discovered. I only wanted to learn Word Perfect to write my papers as I so disliked paying someone to type them for me. I never would have guessed a computer would accompany me for the rest of my life. Legio XIX
ReplyDeletemy class in 1972 involved fortran and punch cards. i never was able to get a program to run. to hell with pre- engineer major, i transferred out.
ReplyDeleteI remember. One TINY formatting error and the goddam thing wouldn't compile.
DeleteI was *this close* to making a collosal error. Using a #2 pencil to number my punch cards would've been a mistake. I saw a college student start to cry when the wind shuffled his stack of punch cards.
DeleteI found the cards fit perfectly into a box for bank checks. I triple wrapped with rubber bands.
I also was in a university using an IBM360 with Hollerith cards and FORTRAN. The fun thing was, computers were so new that if you did something with them for another class (in music theory, writing a score...in physics, analyzing Millikan oil drop experiment data) it automatically got you an A. When I ran for student senate, I used the school's main computer to print out campaign signs. I won.
ReplyDeleteSame here. I wrote my engineering lab reports by creating unformatted text files and printing them out on fanfold printer paper.
DeleteI told my classmates I had written a Fortran program to write lab reports for me.
Betcha that great Anderson production UFO had a few of these as props:
ReplyDeletehttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j2PoXfZdYVU
I remember sitting in front of the blinking lights at 1 AM while the system ran diagnostics. It was ALWAYS Christmas or New Years. There was a malicious ghost in some of those machines.
ReplyDeleteWhere does the sim chip go?
ReplyDeleteOn the late 1970s I worked making silicon wafers about the same dimensions as a hockey puck. The puck was later sliced to size according to use in various mainframes.
DeleteThe company name was Sun something. I don't think it was Sunbeam.
Back in 1975, I learned how to read and program with punch cards on a top of the line four byte computer. This was back when government checks were printed on punch cards. Many an aspiring criminal got busted for altering checks. Typed amount didn’t match punched amount.
ReplyDeleteThat machine looks like they copied 1950-60:sci-fi movies.
ReplyDeleteThe first computer I saw was reel to reel and occupied half a room. The USMC used it for payroll. No less than three Marines in the room 24/7.
I had a high school computer class that used cassettes for storage.
ReplyDeleteI had a college computer class that used punch cards. Michigan State in the early eighties. Only had to take one Fortran class because they weren't sure computers would catch on back then. Very forward looking institution.
DeleteMSU was way behind the times usung punch cards in the 80s. I was in China selling 370s to the commies.
Delete