Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 2012/12/21
[Author Prev] [Author Next] [Thread Prev] [Thread Next] [Author Index] [Topic Index] [Home] [Search]I took programming, Basic and Pascal, all four years in high school. We used terminals connected to a Digital VAX mainframe located in a room across the hall from the classroom where the terminals were. A couple of friends and I almost got expelled for hacking other students' accounts. -- Chris Crawford Fine Art Photography Fort Wayne, Indiana 260-437-8990 http://www.chriscrawfordphoto.com My portfolio http://blog.chriscrawfordphoto.com My latest work! http://www.facebook.com/pages/Christopher-Crawford/48229272798 Become a fan on Facebook On 12/21/12 3:30 AM, "FRANK DERNIE" <frank.dernie at btinternet.com> wrote: >Hi Nathan, >that -was- sadistic! >I started writing software in 1970/71. All on punched cards. I also never >dropped a stack, but I know people who did! >Back then the university had 2 computers, an IBM 370 and a CDC 6600 IIRC, >for the entire university. Mind you only engineers and other scientists >used computers there. >FD > > > >>________________________________ >> From: Nathan Wajsman <photo at frozenlight.eu> >>To: Leica Users Group <lug at leica-users.org> >>Sent: Friday, 21 December 2012, 6:18 >>Subject: Re: [Leica] Some artifacts at the Computer History Museum IMG: >> >>Fascinating! I had a sadistic computer science teacher in my first >>semester of university, in 1980, who made us punch cards because he >>wanted us experience how things were done when he was >>young...fortunately, I never had the experience of dropping the stack on >>the floor. >> >>Cheers, >>Nathan >> >>Nathan Wajsman >>Alicante, Spain >>http://www.frozenlight.eu >>http://www.greatpix.eu >>PICTURE OF THE WEEK: http://www.fotocycle.dk/paws >>Blog: http://nathansmusings.wordpress.com/ >> >> >>YNWA >> >> >> >> >>On Dec 21, 2012, at 6:55 AM, Herbert Kanner wrote: >> >>> Fellow LUGers, >>> >>> I have been a volunteer at the Computer History Museum since 2003, >>>starting as a documenter of artifacts. That is, in collaboration with a >>>partner, the partner often being a paid staff member, we would enter >>>characteristics of the object in question into a horribly complex >>>database. Things such as dimensions, weight (if it was small enough to >>>be picked up), place of manufacture, etc., etc., including all numbers >>>that could be found on the object: model numbers, serial numbers, >>>goddam numbers, you name it. Then we would photograph it with a point & >>>shoot. >>> >>> One of the tasks for which I eventually volunteered was editing those >>>damn photographs. Considering how foolproof a P$S is, I was just amazed >>>at how badly some of the volunteers would handle a camera. Many of the >>>pix just had to be thrown out. >>> >>> After a couple of years of this, I thought it would be fun to become a >>>docent. At the time, all that could be seen by visitors was in one >>>large room, and the formal docent training was an hour in which they >>>showed us where all the emergency exits from the building were. >>> >>> In 2012 a brand new $20 million exhibit opened ($15 having been >>>contributed by Bill Gates) and some formal docent training ensued, led >>>by a lady who had trained docents at two art museums: Getty and Cantor) >>> >>> I took a few pictures yesterday of museum artifacts. Not wanting to >>>overwhelm people, I will post them two or three at a time, with a bit >>>of explanation of what they are. The light in there is really weird, >>>being a mixture of ordinary incandescent, window light, and >>>deliberately colored light. Also, some, not today's, had to be shot at >>>ISO 2600 (flash not permitted, and I've given it up anyway), so we'll >>>see how good noise reduction is. >>> >>> For today: >>> >>> The Babbage Difference Engine #2. This is a working machine, and we >>>demonstrate it once each day that the Museum is open. There are two of >>>them in the world; the other is in the London Science Museum. We are >>>the only ones who still demonstrate it regularly, as a result of which >>>it requires regular maintenance with occasional major repairs. What the >>>machine does is by addition only, it evaluates seventh degree >>>polynomials to seven places of accuracy--such polynomials can be >>>satisfactory approximations to other functions such as logarithms and >>>trig functions. >>> >>> http://gallery.leica-users.org/v/herbk1/L1002678.jpg.html >>> >>> The U.S. Constitution requires a census every ten years. That word >>>does not actually appear there; it's called "enumeration". The purpose >>>is to establish how many Representatives a state is entitled to. In the >>>Constitution a (white) person counted as one, a slave as 3/5 of a >>>person, and a red-skin didn't count at all. Now Congress in it's wisdom >>>decided that if these guys were out counting heads, they might as well >>>ask a few useful questions. The resulting data, in 1880, took seven >>>years to process. Because the population was growing, the most >>>optimistic estimate was that it would take eleven years to process the >>>data in 1890. Herman Hollerith proposed a method of dealing with the >>>data by using punched cards, which by no coincidence turned out to be >>>the same size and shape as the currency at the time. Here is the >>>machine which read the cards. The card was put on a platform and the >>>handle depressed. Wherever there was a hole, a pin would go through the > hole and complete an e >>le >>> ctric circuit. The counters that you see are like clocks, which a >>>large hand and a small one. Each clock could count up to ten thousand. >>> >>> http://gallery.leica-users.org/v/herbk1/L1002660.jpg.html >>> >>> Here is a crude device that was used to punch the cards, a pantograph. >>> >>> http://gallery.leica-users.org/v/herbk1/L1002662.jpg.html >>> >>> After Hollerith retired, some investors who had already bought a >>>company that made time clock and a calculating grocery scale bought >>>Hollerith's company. Eventually they hired as CEO a guy who had been >>>fired by National Cash Register. That guy got rid of the clocks and >>>scales and eventually renamed the company International Business >>>Machines, later renamed IBM. His name was Thomas J. Watson. >>> >>> Enjoy, >>> >>> Herb >>> >>> >>> Herbert Kanner >>> kanner at acm.org >>> 650-326-8204 >>> >>> Question authority and the authorities will question you. >>> >>> >>> >>> >>> >>> _______________________________________________ >>> Leica Users Group. >>> See http://leica-users.org/mailman/listinfo/lug for more information >>> >> >> >>_______________________________________________ >>Leica Users Group. >>See http://leica-users.org/mailman/listinfo/lug for more information >> >> >> > >_______________________________________________ >Leica Users Group. >See http://leica-users.org/mailman/listinfo/lug for more information