[ale] Introduction and info about myself

Mon Oct 29 16:42:29 EDT 2012

OK, this thread has really derailed.  So, what the heck, I guess I'll help derail it further.

While it didn't have paper tape, my first computer was a Timex Sinclair TS1000 computer with an incredible 2 KB of ram.  Storage device was a cassette tape.  I was very happy one Christmas to get the 16 KB ram expansion pack.  I had no idea how I would ever use so much space.  It had a FLAT membrane keyboard.  I took some of those little magnet strips that you can use to stick rubber stamps to a metal surface and carved up the strips into little squares and stuck them on top of each key.  This actually allowed me to touch type on a flat keyboard.

My second computer was a Coleco Adam game computer, which also used cassette tape for storage.

When I went to work for Delta Air Lines as a flight simulator tech in 1988, they still had an old Link DC-8 simulator.  The program bank consisted of THOUSANDS of punched paper cards.  Woe unto you if you ever drop a tray of them on the ground.  That simulator was actually pretty fun to fly.  Even though the DC-8 was a big plane, it had 4 engines and a great power to weight ratio.  When you pushed the throttles forward, it would really haul it's, em ... tail down the runway quickly and get up to takeoff speed.

Sincerely,

Ron

Jim Kinney <jim.kinney at gmail.com> wrote:

>C drive? YOU HAD A C DRIVE!!!!!
>
>I had 1 floppy was happy with it!!
>
>That was the SECOND system I was using. The first only had 9 toggle
>switches and a paper tape writer.
>
>On Mon, Oct 29, 2012 at 2:34 PM, Lightner, Jeff <JLightner at water.com>
>wrote:
>> Wordstar.   Ahem... you're - uh - age is showing   :p
>>
>> My start in computers was working on a PC with DOS 2.0 with Lotus 123
>version 1A.   Back in those days even the format command assumed you
>meant "the current drive" so if you typed "format" rather than "format
>A:" after inserting a floppy it would happily overwrite the C: drive
>you'd started the format command from.  Back then we didn't even have
>"D'oh!" to express our feelings as it was pre-Simpsons.
>>
>> I remember when I first used Wordperfect on Novel version 2 and how
>its big selling point was that you could hide or display formatting
>codes at will so it was an improvement over Wordstar which until then
>had been the killer word processing app.
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>> -----Original Message-----
>> From: ale-bounces at ale.org [mailto:ale-bounces at ale.org] On Behalf Of
>Beddingfield, Allen
>> Sent: Monday, October 29, 2012 2:20 PM
>> To: simontek at gmail.com; Atlanta Linux Enthusiasts
>> Subject: Re: [ale] Introduction and info about myself
>>
>> I suppose I fall into the vi category, since I have only used emacs
>onceŠwell, I opened it once, and then I spent all of the time it was
>open trying to figure out how to get out of it :D  Figuring out the pid
>at another terminal and killing it works nicely, BTW.
>> As for nano/pico - my nickname for them is "The line-wrapping config
>file mangler!"  They work great a long as no one opens a complex config
>file with really long lines.  I'm also partial to joe, since I used to
>be a WordStar fanatic, and most of the key sequences match up -
>especially when you open it with "jstar"
>>
>> --
>> Allen Beddingfield
>> Systems Engineer
>> The University of Alabama
>>
>>
>>
>>
>> On 10/29/12 12:17 PM, "simontek at gmail.com" <simontek at gmail.com>
>wrote:
>>
>>>I use vi myself. A lot of people I know use nano, only 2 people I
>know
>>>use emacs. I figure if I have to use a manual just to exit the
>program, I
>>>don't need it.
>>>Sent via BlackBerry from T-Mobile
>>>
>>>-----Original Message-----
>>>From: Rich Faulkner <rfaulkner at tux86.org>
>>>Sender: ale-bounces at ale.org
>>>Date: Mon, 29 Oct 2012 13:09:45
>>>To: Atlanta Linux Enthusiasts<ale at ale.org>
>>>Reply-To: Atlanta Linux Enthusiasts <ale at ale.org>
>>>Subject: Re: [ale] Introduction and info about myself
>>>
>>>_______________________________________________
>>>Ale mailing list
>>>Ale at ale.org
>>>http://mail.ale.org/mailman/listinfo/ale
>>>See JOBS, ANNOUNCE and SCHOOLS lists at
>>>http://mail.ale.org/mailman/listinfo
>>>
>>>
>>>_______________________________________________
>>>Ale mailing list
>>>Ale at ale.org
>>>http://mail.ale.org/mailman/listinfo/ale
>>>See JOBS, ANNOUNCE and SCHOOLS lists at
>>>http://mail.ale.org/mailman/listinfo
>>
>>
>> _______________________________________________
>> Ale mailing list
>> Ale at ale.org
>> http://mail.ale.org/mailman/listinfo/ale
>> See JOBS, ANNOUNCE and SCHOOLS lists at
>> http://mail.ale.org/mailman/listinfo
>>
>>
>>
>>
>> Athena(r), Created for the Cause(tm)
>> Making a Difference in the Fight Against Breast Cancer
>>
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>> _______________________________________________
>> Ale mailing list
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>> http://mail.ale.org/mailman/listinfo/ale
>> See JOBS, ANNOUNCE and SCHOOLS lists at
>> http://mail.ale.org/mailman/listinfo
>
>
>
>-- 
>--
>James P. Kinney III
>
>Every time you stop a school, you will have to build a jail. What you
>gain at one end you lose at the other. It's like feeding a dog on his
>own tail. It won't fatten the dog.
>- Speech 11/23/1900 Mark Twain
>
>http://electjimkinney.org
>http://heretothereideas.blogspot.com/
>
>_______________________________________________
>Ale mailing list
>Ale at ale.org
>http://mail.ale.org/mailman/listinfo/ale
>See JOBS, ANNOUNCE and SCHOOLS lists at
>http://mail.ale.org/mailman/listinfo

--

Sent from my Android Acer A500 tablet with bluetooth keyboard and K-9 Mail.
Please excuse my potential brevity.

(To whom it may concern.  My email address has changed.  Replying to former
messages prior to 03/31/12 with my personal address will go to the wrong
address.  Please send all personal correspondence to the new address.)

(PS - If you email me and don't get a quick response, you might want to
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Ron Frazier
770-205-9422 (O)   Leave a message.
linuxdude AT techstarship.com