Discussion on:

12 technology terms that date you

Thanks for the reminder...BBS'

Geez, acoustic modems and auto-dialer programs looking for computers to connect to.

Now there's some memories.

And what about CUG (computer user groups).
Do they still exist?

Computer User Groups are now called Forums or Peer to Peer Support.

How about sysop? (I was a sysop of my own bbs in the mid-late '80s) FIDOnet, WWIVnet...

And lest we forget the predecessor of Microsoft Word.... EDLIN!!! I actually liked writing in edlin.

And along with edlin... what about batch files?

gawd I feel old... of course I used to think the the TRS-80 was a highly advanced piece of technology...what with the cassette tape drives and 16 color CGA monitors....

I think my next case mod is going to have 640K RAM, a 20 meg hard drive and a 360k 5-1/4" floppy drive...I might have all that banging around the workshop somewhere...I *know* I have an 8088 motherboard in the basement somewhere...

David

I've still got an old big board computer in a cupboard that was used to run a bulletin board.

But computer user groups? Yes, they still exist. Melbourne, Australia, has the largest now since the demise of Boston -- about 7000 members with its own premises where there's a library, coffee facilities, library, free broadband, lounge, etc.

And I'm still a member of the last remaining Kaypro User Group, also in Melbourne. About 20 members now -- we no longer use Kaypros (though I still have 2) but we have in common that we all started with computers around the same time, BM (before Microsoft). We can talk in old terms but the convener, in his 80s, is the person I ask when I want to know about something new as do many of his local teenagers.

Gordon Woolf
www.gordonwoolf.com

Really?

Tape/Tape Backups
5 1/4" floppies
dvd ram
ddr not ddr2 or 3
ISA EISA
PCI is one that is dieing
Modem
what is that thing for a T1? PSU/DSU? something like that
10baseT
BNC Connecters
Coax networking
uh... LPT
COM1
B:\ Drive?
winipcfg i actually liked this one
Dumb Terminal
i'm sure theres more then that but thats only what i've heard of

btw i'm only 21 so all of this stuff sounds completely obsolete to me with storage up in the terebytes and networking speed in the gigabytes i can carry around a flash drive the size of my finger with 128gb of storage.. what did you guys get 1.44mb haha


also platters could still be used to described the disc's in a hard drive and RAM is deffinatly used almost every day in the current world cause at this point you cant run a computer without RAM although with the price of flash memory comming down and USB speeds going up we may see a point where RAM in its current form will die.

if you think usb flash memory is going to replace RAM you have no concept of memory bandwidth or latency and why it is important

USB flash memory will never replace RAM! To add to your list... flash memory DOES have a limited number of erase and re-write cycles. So with that consideration, how long do you think a Flash drive will last on a Database that 300 people use a day?

I just love getting flamed... first of all i didn't neccesarlly say that "usb flash" would replace although re-reading it i can see how you got that lol anyways i was just thinking with the speed of access of usb going up to it think like 3gb/s with usb3.0 it seems silly to still use ram that relys on a clock tick

i found this article that is kind of cool close to what i was talking about heres a quote
"Why not use flash memory to make an instant-on PC? Because there's a hitch: Flash memory cells get damaged each time they write a bit. After about 10,000 read/write cycles, they crap out. Thus, flash will prevail in consumer electronics, but its lack of long-term reliability makes it a poor choice for desktop memory."

before i said flash memory could take rams spot i did not know about the flash memory degradtion so i learned something new, thanks. it does say though without this hitch flash would prevail so i guess the bandwidth would be good enough?

heres the link to the story
http://www.wired.com/wired/archive/8.04/mram.html

Unfortunately, you cant really express emotion over a forum... I didnt intend to "flame" you, just wanted to update you.

Also good article, but its a little out of date. The life cycles are alot longer now, and they have chips that manage where the data is written (to even out the drive). Also, there are now motherboards that do have an almost "instant on", where there is an onboard OS built in. With in the "OS" you can surf the net ect.... I would guess that its based off a linux kernel. Also alot of the new motherboards use Solid State compositors (which I have not read up on, but I do know they are fast as hell!!)...

Anyways, on to the point... If you decide to read more up on flash media. I would look at Toshiba, they are starting to do some sweet stuff with it, as far as extending the life of the media.

If you look at newegg.com, at their Solid State drives, some of the best ones are OCZ, but don't let that fool you... they are actually made by Toshiba.

Now if you really want to blow your mind look into High Density Data Storage. Here is an interesting article to get you started. http://www.azom.com/news.asp?newsID=17186

is a linux kernel, and it is a very serious problem.

I've had a few people complain about that linux kernel:
1) screws with installs of ANY *nix.
2) multiboot and removable drives, no boot at all if drive removed.
3) the kicker, no patching / updating of the os on the board possible, it's a send system to manufacturer to get it done. Unless you happen to have access to the eeprom writer for the implementation used, and the skill / knowledge base to do it without screwing the system.

all 3 seem to be absolute show stoppers to me.
for 1, I bought the hardware, the os used is my choice, or refund the cash.
2, removable drives are never to be REQUIRED to boot when there is an os on the internal drive.
3, no means to update easily for a critical / zero day exploit?

The reason RAM relies on clock ticks is because the processor needs to know when "old" data is gone and "new" data is available. The ticks tell the chip when to read the next instruction AND that the next instruction should be in the cache/register. It becomes a big pain if you rely on asynchronous memory directly attached to a chip. Then you need another signal to say after the data has been moved: "okay you can check the cache now". Which would probably end up looking a lot like a clock signal

You use the phrase lol in your reply. Most of the "youngsters" these days would have you believe it's an acronym that belongs to the text generation and not something we would understand.

Of course, those of us that remember BBS would know better...


oops, there I go being old fashioned again...

I've learned over my (many) years to stop saying "never" when talking about technology.

In my first job I suggested to my boss (a music fundi) that one day we would be able to put music on a ROM chip, insert it into a ZIP socket in our cars and listen to music without moving parts. (This was in the days of cassettes). He told me it would NEVER happen because digistised music would take up too much space and the ROMs could never be made big enough.

Well Ron (wherever you are) here we are 30 years later with mp3 compression and 32Gb flash ram. So much for NEVER.

Before me, there was no way of telling statement of fact from an enquiry e.g.:

"He is coming today".

I suggested to everyone we started using a funny non-letter symbol at the end of these enquiries to seperate them from statements of fact.

The one I chose was '#'.

So then we had:
"he is coming today." (statement)
and
"he is coming today#" (enquiry).
I called this the inquisition point. No one listened did they#

Do you know what happened# someone ripped me off (I would have made millions) by changing it to a funny substatially Y-shaped mark and even ripped off my name for it!

I'm sure there must be someone out there that remembers me inventing the 'question mark' is it you#

-AS

RAM - yes I know what the acronym stands for
Flash - how is this different to RAM?
and
Never - never in your lifetime, the history of the world or the lifetime of the universe?

It wouldn't happen.

Even one of my files I'll carry on USB NEVER gets openned from USB, always copied to HDD first.

-AS

And probably should!

The following are still in use
- Tape/Tape Backups - still more economical for large quantities of data
- the T1 CSU/DSU
- Modems, for backup access when the T1 fails
- BNC Connectors on the...
- ...Coax networking in high-interference areas
- LPT ports are still required for local printing
- COM ports are still required at the hardware level for serial devices
- Dumb Terminals now run on PCs and are called "terminal emulators"

...LPT ports are still required for local printing...

Really?

Most every printer hooked locally to a PC is USB these days.

Line Printers and such hooked to a mini? maybe a LPT, but more likely serially connected to a network via a DTC or equiv...

Local ports are still defined in the OS as "LPTx."

Printer port on my home PC (WinXP, Lexmark E250) says something along the lines of "USB (LPT1 emulator)" or words to that effect.

Its a big facot in upgrading! Some of these systems (coax at my office, tape backup) are being phased out, but the cost involved in completely removing a perfectly working system isnt financially feasable. Its a pain though- we have premade fibre and copper links, but coax needs to be laid under-floor each time!

Sure when I was older they had that much storage.

I remember using a Vic20 and Com54, I was literally shocked as sh*t when a friend picked up a $4000.00 PC and it had a 750KB processor, 5.25" floppy (the floppies you are referring to were way beyond anythign we'd seen) and played games like Police Quest and Willie Beamish. We'd stay up all night (damn dial a bottle was expensive!!) dialling their tech support line with the squeaky modem to get a hint so we could finish a level and then get stuck again just 30 minutes later, long before walkthroughs and online forums, or You Tube help.

Then again, I remember nearly peeing my pants when I got colour PONG for Chistmas (pink vs blue)one year, VIDEO GAMES RIGHT ON TV!!!! OMFG, it can't be true! LOL

Remember the hint books for police quest, king's quest and other sierra games? They came blank and you had to use a "special highlighter" to make visible only the parts you wanted. Good stuff...

http://tinyurl.com/nevkul

I had one that had hints written nearly invisible with a scrambled background. You took the included red ruler to mask the background and have the hint show through.

But when Dial-a-bottle (the local towing company) made three trips that night, it was easiest to call support for hints. Wasn't my dime anyway.

do you remember buying 720 disks, and then using a soldering iron to put the hole in them so they were 1.44?

But I remember buying 720K floppies and using a hole punch to make them 1.44 floppies.

Used 5?" SS/DD 186K (sometimes 154K or less) drives and either bought or made flippable floppies (by punching a hole and notch, I think) that you could turn over to use the other side.
Still somewhere in storage room waiting for me to get around to fixing the TRS80 Model I. Actually used a 4p (with DSDD 360K? floppies) a few years ago just to check for something not copied to PC disks.

DOS (w/o utilities) and a filing system Basic program and a SMALL amount of data (like about 50 address book entries) could fit on one drive.

My mum wouldnt let me use a soldering iron. My dad initially taught me to arc weld though.

Your dad's wayzkool

I was quite close to my dad, until my parents split in the early 80's and he did something to pee me off and we haven't spoken since. Mom has done the best job of being both parents to me. That aside...

My dad was a machinist, boiler maker, civil and marine engineer, ALL actual licenced trades as well as a mason, dangerous tree faller (don't know what they are actually called) and boat builder, and more I can't name.

He taught me to use a metal lathe wihle in elementary school, as well as milling machine and other really cool tools and machines. But the time I hit high school machine shop and already knew CNC machining, welding and drafting (one of my older brother's skills)it was a breeze for me as I was simply relearning what I had already done for a few years prior. I had was takign my machining aprenticeship when I was in grade 10,to say I had a leg up would be an understatement.

Mum hated it "it's dangerous", dad demanded it. "Learn to work hard and work like a man and you will never be out of work or out of money."

Well I wouldn't say NEVER, as it appears that I like to spend a lot of money, but he was bang on with the rest of it.

A hand drill worked just fine too!

Too funny...all we had was B&W back in the "pong" days.

We had just moved to Sydney and dad bought a brand new TV from Eatons (remember them?).

It wasn't until we moved to Vancouver and several years later that we got a box from Radio Shack that you mounted on the VHF antennae screwe behind teh TV and could DIAL in 4 or 5 US channels through the UHF tuner dial. 15 minutes of tuning through fuzzy lines and you had the Banana Splits!!

Then of course out came the wired converter and so on.

I England we had B&W thoughm and only 3 or 4 channels, in fact I don't ever remember watchign ANY TV until I moved to Canada. It was always playing army in old WWII bunkers on the downs, making tree forts, digin for WWII treasures and just plain old being outside and living life like a child should.

It had one of the first Princeton CGA monitor cards and monitor. My friend has it in his computer museum/storage.

Not an XT, not an AT either.

This is when I cut my teeth.
I remeber taking two whole days to write a program (BASIC) that made a chevy emblem blink on the screen!

R-Base... DBase... FOX Base...
Man, I'm going back in the 'ol time machine here...
I would have to agree with Toni (yet again) on her presumption of it being a good ice-breaker if the situation presents it's self. (You would probably sound like a moron if you OPENED with these terms) but these terms would show how long you have been involved with IT and the commitment you are bringing to the table.

P.S.
Remeber creating designs or images with the different letters of a typewriter?

And while on the subject of typewriters, do we know what cc means in the emails?
what about bcc???

You must remember these

cc = carbon copy
bcc = blind carbon copy (other recipients don't see this address

I started with Sinclair and loaded the programs in with my tape player (which crashed half the time). That was the time when at work we used minis with 64MB memory, and I studied up on Fortran II.

This is like listening to Monty Python's four Yorkshiremen.

"When I was a lad, we had it hard."

That's the first time I have heard of anyone else who messed around with a Timex Sinclair. When I mention it, everyone looks at me like I'm crazy.

From what I remember there are only two ways to configure the Timex. Older ones have a simple dial that you pull out and turn to accurately set the clock, afetr that just regular winding keeps it running properly.

Newer ones are completely digital and have buttons for Mode, two alarm settings, etc. The only drabwack is that the CMOS battery must be replaced more often than in today's computers.

The Timex Expedition I currently wear has a few more options such as a lap timer, stopwatch function etc.

When I was younger they actually came out with a Timex with a full calculator but the keypad was just too tiny!

It was a real microcomputer. I never had one but the son of a friend had one while he was in high school. It was just as good as the IBM PC Junior which I did have.

I believe that's 64Kb! Emphasis on the "K". My Atari 800 only had(has!) 48k RAM. Still have it and still USE it even today!

I had one of those. I think it had 1k of memory. And it had the worlds smallest keyboard. Ran DOS Basic I believe...had to hook it to a TV.

cc=carbon copy
bcc=blind carbon copy

Write rings? Sysdump? Sysprint? R007?

How about VI, IROFF, and TROFF?

WordStar never goes on my resume, either!

I'll agree up to the point of showing how long you've been involved and the commitment yuo are brigning to the table.

Understanding old computer terms and having played with programming a C64 or TRS80 does illustrate AGE, but not commitement.

I programmed days of code to make senseless little blips dance on my fist 'PC" if that's what you want to call it. I now have an MCNE so I could TECHNICALLY be seen as a committed PC users that brings a lot to the table, fact is I am not.

I played nerd games with a neighbour in high school, he ended up a very successful programmer too. But I was more focused on trade school and sales management, I fell back into IT in the late 90's when I managed a network for an Interconnect, I obtained my MCNE because I wanted to go on the Novell cruise and take time off work to party. This doesn't mean I bring anything to the table other than age and knowledge of Novell networking though.

My experience as a vehicle technician, automotive engineer,in machining and welding, and the music industry.

But as for conversation, I remember staying up late to program a TRS80 to play a home made pseudo moonlander, I managed a Novell network so technically one coul dsay I bring a lot to the table and have invested many years into my computing trade, but I haven't. It's smoke and mirrors mate, don't be so quick to credit a person's computing expertise when they have little.

Yes, I know what your point is, but it is a bit vague.

Even a single building has 'supports', a tree, it's roots, and an applicant, his skills sets...
I apologize for my vagueness; I intended it to be 'supported' with an updated list of 'current' skill sets...
If this person had this kind of background, supported by, say a recent college degree, then that would indeed be 'substance', not smoke, nor mirror; showing the 'commitment' I spoke of earlier.

vacuum tubes, transistors, punch cards. Just because one has accumlated quite a bit of knowledge does not make them useless.

You reveal your own age (not to mention a our terrible education system) with a lack of basic grammar, punctuation and abundance of run-on sentences.
You also remind me of one of my favorite quotes from Ronald Reagan when he responded to a college kid representing a group of other college kids who thought they knew everything:

"Governor, we want to talk to you, but I think you should realize that it's impossible for you to understand us - It's sad, but it's impossible for the members of your generation to understand your own children. "You weren't raised in a time of instant communications or satellites and computers solving problems in seconds that previously took hours or days or even weeks to solve. You didn't live in an age of space travel and journeys to the moon, of jet travel or high speed electronics." While he paused to take a breath, I said: "You're absolutely right. We didn't have those things when we were your age. We invented them."

BTW, Ronald Reagan was the Governor of California at the time of this interaction and went on to become President of the United States. He did this all without the use of Twitter, Facebook, MySpace or email, though he probably had a car phone or two.