General discussion

  • Creator
    Topic
  • #2208768

    The history of the water cooler

    Locked

    by maxwell edison ·

    I admit, I’m a nostalgic kind of guy. I recall the days of going to TR through a 56k modem. I recall the REAL flame wars, not the silly skirmishes of today. I was actually the one who coined the name [i]”water cooler”[/i]. It was in response to someone who questioned why we were discussing non-IT issues. I’m glad the name stuck.

    How far it has come; or how far it has fallen. It’s a matter of perspective, I suppose. I also miss the golden days of baseball.

    Oh well. Cooperstown, Ohio in one regard, Louisville, Kentucky on the other. Unfortunately, while Cooperstown has remained in place, Louisville has moved to Cleveland.

    I wonder who might get it?

All Comments

  • Author
    Replies
    • #2898328

      I’d get it

      by ansugisalas ·

      In reply to The history of the water cooler

      but it keeps falling apart when I lift it.

      • #2898324

        You need

        by boxfiddler ·

        In reply to I’d get it

        a broom and a dustpan for that sort of thing.

        • #2898319
          Avatar photo

          Davette

          by hal 9000 ·

          In reply to You need

          I find a Air Duster and a couple of hundred pound of Air Pressure works better than a dustpan.

          Nothing to pickup. :p

          Col

        • #2898283

          Shop air

          by santeewelding ·

          In reply to Davette

          Along with soap and water, and I was able to clean out the speaking tube of my Plantronics headset. Doesn’t work good — doesn’t work at all — when you bring a spoonful of Haagen-Dazs Vanilla Bean to your mouth and submerge that delicate little, screened head into the ice cream.

    • #2898325

      Cooperstown

      by boxfiddler ·

      In reply to The history of the water cooler

      knows a good thing when it sees it.

    • #2898320
      Avatar photo

      Maxwell who gets to decide

      by hal 9000 ·

      In reply to The history of the water cooler

      That TR was once upon a Time a Good Thing?

      Yea I know you and I and I completely agree. What we have now is a shadow of it’s former self and a very poor shadow at that. 😉

      For the other thing I would hazard a guess that you would have to be a Yank to understand the rest. :p

      Col

      • #2898318

        I thought he’d misplaced Louisville…

        by ansugisalas ·

        In reply to Maxwell who gets to decide

        but the damn thing isn’t structurally sound.
        Maybe Nick can carve it up and put in on rollers while he’s there… heck, he could even try to break the world’s longest road train record ifn he can tow it…

      • #2898165

        Good onya’, mate!

        by maxwell edison ·

        In reply to Maxwell who gets to decide

        Re: [i]…..you would have to be a Yank to understand the rest.[/i]

        Yep, they’re [i]Yank[/i] things. And so far, no one has connected the dots.

    • #2898300

      Why does everything seem better before I get there?

      by slayer_ ·

      In reply to The history of the water cooler

      Seriously, why is that?

      • #2898292

        On account

        by santeewelding ·

        In reply to Why does everything seem better before I get there?

        Of walking backwards into life, looking at what was, which is how you define position.

      • #2898289

        Maybe it’s you?

        by charliespencer ·

        In reply to Why does everything seem better before I get there?

        Easiest punch line in the history of TR.
        😀 😀

        • #2898287

          I think it is

          by slayer_ ·

          In reply to Maybe it’s you?

          Figures…

        • #2898280

          don’t worry about it

          by ansugisalas ·

          In reply to I think it is

          as you get older everything will seem to have been better before, so just hang back and see your life envaluate before your eyes – in 20/20 hindsight no less 😀

        • #2898279

          I feel like I missed the glory days of the internet….

          by slayer_ ·

          In reply to don’t worry about it

          I tuned in, just at the end of them.

        • #2898268

          There is always something new

          by jamesrl ·

          In reply to I feel like I missed the glory days of the internet….

          I was on the internet very early, first time 1992. (Yes there are those here on earlier). Back then it was a setup from text only bulletin boards, but just a step). I watched the web go from grey pages with courier fonts to what we have today. It was interesting to watch the development, but I wouldn’t want to go back to that primitve style.

          I used to be heavily involved in usenet groups, now they are pretty much dead.

          But who knows, maybe thirty years from now, you’ll be saying that these were the glory days for you.

        • #2898237

          Those here on earlier…

          by jck ·

          In reply to There is always something new

          That’d be me B-)

          I was on the internet before there was a world wide web, and you had dialup connections into MilNet.

          I do remember when my buddy (whose dad was the IT director at an EPA lab) got on Lynx and browsed text-only “pages” over an active network connection over a dialup link.

          Of course, I remember BBSes too from 1982. 300 baud…zoomin fast!!! :^0

          Just wait…one day, you’ll be telling your kids “I remember when you had to have a keyboard and mouse!” lol :^0

        • #2898235

          I went from BBSs to Compuserve

          by jamesrl ·

          In reply to There is always something new

          At one point Compuserve was a gateway to the Internet, but then there were less expensive options.

        • #2898226

          I remember…

          by ansugisalas ·

          In reply to There is always something new

          when the internet was optional, and couldn’t tell you what to do or not to do. And that ain’t no question.

        • #2898183
          Avatar photo

          I remember a time

          by hal 9000 ·

          In reply to There is always something new

          Before Computers where you didn’t need a VDU and a Life Program just to get out of bed in the mourning.

          Things change but not always for the better. I still like the way that people look at you as if you are insane because you can tell them how much change is required before the machine that they are using does. 😉

          Col

        • #2898147

          James – Re: Compuserve

          by maxwell edison ·

          In reply to There is always something new

          Compuserve was my first on-line account. I had reason to visit other BBSs before Compuserve, but it was limited.

          And later came TR.

        • #2898079

          Compuserve

          by jck ·

          In reply to There is always something new

          That was the first thing my first 300 baud modem ever dialed. C-64 with a Commodore 1660 300 baud auto-dial/auto-answer (if you flipped a switch) modem running Higgyterm.

          I still have the C-64 and 1660…would still work if I had software that would load. :^0

        • #2898068

          No you didn’t

          by av . ·

          In reply to I feel like I missed the glory days of the internet….

          There are new glory days ahead and you can be part of it. The best of the old and new together.

          Together, we can make a new tomorrow. Back in the olden days, I never imagined the internet would become so prominent in our lives. I never thought I would one day be working in the Cloud. There was no Cloud back then.

          When I started out in my IT career in the ’80s, it was the beginning of the PC era. Fast forward to 2011 and I am so amazed at how far technology has come.

          The same applies to you because you’re at the beginning of your IT career. Fast forward 25 years and can you imagine how far technology will advance during that time. I think it will be more amazing than you can even imagine right now. It was for me, in my time.

          AV

        • #2898066

          I remember the golden days of the telegraph

          by maxwell edison ·

          In reply to No you didn’t

          Back when the [i]dot-dot-dash-dot-dash[/i] was amazing technology. Okay, I’m not REALLY that old, but in the overall scheme of things, it wasn’t that long ago.

        • #2898049

          I remember when the whole universe was in a hot, dense state. No text.

          by charliespencer ·

          In reply to No you didn’t

          .

        • #2898040

          I got that beat

          by santeewelding ·

          In reply to No you didn’t

          There being no form, I became.

          Presto.

          Form.

    • #2898180
      Avatar photo

      Lucky you!

      by Wizard57M-TR ·

      In reply to The history of the water cooler

      A 56 k modem! I thought I was flying when I got my 14.4…then the old 33.6,
      yep, that was speed! The internet did seem a bit livlier, and we didn’t have
      to filter so much junk and spam. I still fire up my old Pentium 166, runs
      DOS 6.22, Win3X and Win95, every now and again…I need to see if I can
      still post to TR using Arachne.

      • #2898167
        Avatar photo

        RE: [i]I still fire up my old Pentium 166[/i]

        by hal 9000 ·

        In reply to Lucky you!

        What new hardware?

        God back in those days we used 286’s and if we where very lucky someone had a 386 with 1 MEG of RAM.

        A 166 Pentium is blazingly fast in comparison and way too new. I remember when a Pentium 90 cost more than most people made in a year and they where the fastest things possible.

        Though I still remember the Floating Point Error that came with the First of the Pentiums where a program written on one of those and run on a 486 caused all sorts of problems. In one case a Engine Management system written on a 90 Pentium caused 3 Motors to self destruct. The guy running the Motors went looking for the mechanical failure when it was all Electronic. I’ll not make any mention of just how much those Ilmore motors cost or what had to be done to rebuild them. 😀

        I on the other hand was lucky I got to run one to destruction just to see what would break and what needed improving. 😉

        Col

        • #2898157
          Avatar photo

          Hehe…286s, 386s, yep, had those as well

          by Wizard57M-TR ·

          In reply to RE: [i]I still fire up my old Pentium 166[/i]

          the P166 is just the oldest I keep “in service” at the moment…I still have
          my old AMSTRAD 8088 dual 5 &1/4 in floppy system (workiing order too)
          as well as an IBM PS2 Model 5500SX, 386 based, 16 mHz, had 1 meg RAM,
          but it also had a 29 meg HD, with an internal 2400 baud modem…after
          getting that one, I retired my 300 baud modem (also in the attic) and set
          out browsing the web in text mode via dialup. Also used to dial into BBSes
          and use Lynx if available with the PS2. Then I got my hands on a 386DX,
          4 meg RAM, which ended up with 8 megs and a 40 meg HD. After a couple
          of years I ran across a 486DX 4 Overdrive board and CPU, put that in a
          spare case, added more RAM up to 24 meg, ran that until I was handed
          down the P166. I probably had more “fun” on that 486DX4 than most of
          the systems I have…still have the parts, maybe I should resurrect it…that
          motherboard used both 30 and 72 pin SIMMs, had 8 x 1 meg 30 pins and
          4 x 4 meg 72 pin SIMMs, DOS 6.22 and Win3.11 were happy on that one.
          My earliest online ventures were on an old Intel “dumb terminal”, B&W,
          connected to a mainframe via 120 baud network interface on phone line…
          Yep, things have changed…time was it took like 1 or 2 minutes to download
          and view a PCX graphic image over that 300 baud…nowadays we grab
          a 1 or 2 meg JPEG or PNG in like, 1 or 2 minutes! Hmmm…same amount
          of time, maybe better image quality, but the basic information is the same…
          ain’t progress grand! <{;-)

        • #2898124
          Avatar photo

          Strange now it’s

          by hal 9000 ·

          In reply to Hehe…286s, 386s, yep, had those as well

          1 or 2 minutes to download a couple of hundred meg video file.

          I’ve just run Crap Cleaner and cleared 560 MEG of Temp Internet Files which is something we could only dream of downloading back then. Now that’s the Junk that we don’t want or need. 😉

          Col

    • #2898164

      I remember the old dial-up days

      by av . ·

      In reply to The history of the water cooler

      My first exposure to TR was some kind of controversial thread between you, Oz and JD about outsourcing. You all were really going at it and I thought it was pretty heady stuff. It took me a little while, back in ’02, before I put my toe in the water and posted something. When I finally did, after a probation period (LOL), I was accepted into the community. That was almost 10 years ago (I can’t believe it).

      I know nothing about baseball, but I have my own ideas about what your last sentence might mean.

      I am nostalgic for TR times past too, but the future is ours to create. Maybe we can take the best from the past and pay it forward a bit. Its a ground floor opportunity to recreate the TR Water Cooler. We lost our mojo for awhile and a lot of people left because of all the changes, but there is no reason we can’t begin anew.

      The thing I remember most about you back then, Max, is how you had the most thoughtful, inspired, and well-informed posts. How did you do that, anyway? Everyone didn’t like what you said, but everyone had an opinion about what you said. Like this thread:

      http://www.techrepublic.com/forum/discussions/8-178840

      The olden days.

      I refuse to accept that its gone forever, I think TR has been in a transition period thats almost at an end. I’m so glad they didn’t “deep six” this community during their changeover. All things considered, I like the fixes they put in place. I think we still need work on the mojo part. Its a work in progress.

      AV

      • #2898158

        Wow! How did you find that? A blast from the past.

        by maxwell edison ·

        In reply to I remember the old dial-up days

        I stand by every word today. I wouldn’t change a thing.

        P.S. You’re awesome, AV.

        P.P.S. As much as Oz and I engaged in those flame wars, we actually have a pretty good understanding – AND each other’s cell phone numbers. No other TR member has my cell phone number, and I doubt another has his. Go figure!

        • #2898155

          I had Oz’s

          by jamesrl ·

          In reply to Wow! How did you find that? A blast from the past.

          And Jaqui’s number, from my trips to Vancouver. Never connected with Jaqui, met Oz once.

          Never made it to Colorado though

        • #2898151

          Never made it to Colorado

          by maxwell edison ·

          In reply to I had Oz’s

          If you ever do, dinner and drinks are on me.

        • #2898149

          Same for Toronto

          by jamesrl ·

          In reply to Never made it to Colorado

          Of course, you have to have a passport now…..

        • #2897981

          But the passport isn’t to get there

          by nicknielsen ·

          In reply to Same for Toronto

          It’s to get out of here…

        • #2897195

          What?

          by ansugisalas ·

          In reply to But the passport isn’t to get there

          Are they trying to steal US citizens? … Why?
          Or is it that the passport is for getting out of there with out the Booting?

        • #2897185

          My understanding

          by nicknielsen ·

          In reply to But the passport isn’t to get there

          It’s the getting back in that actually causes problems. It’s almost as difficult for US citizens to get back into their own country as it is for non-citizens to get in in the first place. My experience indicates that the only difference between the processes is we don’t have the visa stamp.

        • #2897184

          "You claim to be a US citizen… what were you doing *out there*?"

          by ansugisalas ·

          In reply to But the passport isn’t to get there

          “The US of A not good enough for ya, huh?”

          Reminds me of the soviets… they also liked to victimize people with passports, and they also liked to strip people of all rights at certain crossover points. It’s beginning to sound like Nietzsche was plain wrong : What doesn’t kill you, makes you all flucked up.
          Same thing when Israel was contemplating use of biological weapons to end the “arab problem” once and for all…

    • #2898152

      I Googled it

      by av . ·

      In reply to The history of the water cooler

      Forget about finding anything with the TR search engine. It doesn’t work at all.

      I miss Oz.. I wonder what happened to JD too.

      AV

      • #2898148

        I chat with JD on occasion

        by jamesrl ·

        In reply to I Googled it

        On facebook……

    • #2898150

      Come on, TR’s USA people?

      by maxwell edison ·

      In reply to The history of the water cooler

      What’s the Cleveland connection?

      • #2898146

        Rock and Roll Hall of Fame?

        by jamesrl ·

        In reply to Come on, TR’s USA people?

        I’ve driven through Cleveland, never stopped.

        Heard a nice rant about the great acts that aren’t in the Hall of Fame, versus some of those who are. One example, Donna Summer is in, Chicago is not.

        • #2898145

          I like Donna Summer

          by av . ·

          In reply to Rock and Roll Hall of Fame?

          I can’t imagine why Chicago isn’t in there.

        • #2898143

          Or the Moody Blues (eom)

          by maxwell edison ·

          In reply to I like Donna Summer

          .

        • #2898140

          Thats just a travesty

          by av . ·

          In reply to Or the Moody Blues (eom)

          Some of the greatest musicians of our time.

        • #2898134

          It is indeed a travesty. I first . . . . .

          by maxwell edison ·

          In reply to Thats just a travesty

          ….. listened to the Moody Blues via my 8-Track tape player in my ’62 Chevrolet Impala SS while I was in High School in the late 60s. I last saw them perform live at Red Rocks just last summer. They always were, and still are, awesome.

          At that concert last summer, Graeme Edge, the MB Drummer, was celebrating his 70th birthday, and he reminded us that he lived through the 60s TWICE – and then went on to an awesome performance.

          From the best MB Red Rocks concert (a dozen, or more, years ago):

          http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HuywcMYMKfQ

          40 years ago:

        • #2898142

          Dont mind Donna Summer

          by jamesrl ·

          In reply to I like Donna Summer

          But she isn’t really Rock and Roll…..

        • #2898138

          Far from it

          by av . ·

          In reply to Dont mind Donna Summer

          She really is a Disco Queen

        • #2898139

          The best Disco song ever:

          by maxwell edison ·

          In reply to I like Donna Summer

        • #2898137

          This one is memorable too

          by av . ·

          In reply to The best Disco song ever:

        • #2898136

          Who did the first FNM?

          by maxwell edison ·

          In reply to This one is memorable too

          It wasn’t me. I wonder who it was? Does anyone know?

        • #2898135

          I think it was Boxy

          by av . ·

          In reply to Who did the first FNM?

          Not sure, but we are overdue for another one.

        • #2898623

          First FNM

          by boxfiddler ·

          In reply to Who did the first FNM?

          I stumbled across was one started by Maecuff. It had been going on before, seemingly long in the past as she thought we were overdue for one at the time. 🙂

        • #2898621

          Ok. That does it…

          by ansugisalas ·

          In reply to Who did the first FNM?

          send the goons to bring her in… she’s got some explaining to do.

        • #2898125

          Y’all are both on drugs

          by charliespencer ·

          In reply to This one is memorable too

          That’s the definitive disco tune.

        • #2897976

          Nah, if we were on drugs we’d be listening to this

          by av . ·

          In reply to Y’all are both on drugs

          AV

        • #2897969

          Ah memories

          by jamesrl ·

          In reply to Y’all are both on drugs

          As a high schooler I attended Ontario Youth Music Camp (OYMC) and this song was played a great deal. Some reworded it to OYMC, others chose the LCBO, which is the “Liquor Control Board of Ontario:m where they sell wine and spirits…

        • #2898639

          I Prefer

          by thechas ·

          In reply to The best Disco song ever:

          Only “disco” song that WXRT in Chicago would play. They almost never played anything that was in the current top 40.

          Chas

        • #2898626

          Love that.

          by boxfiddler ·

          In reply to I Prefer

          Thanks. 🙂

        • #2898144

          BINGO!

          by maxwell edison ·

          In reply to Rock and Roll Hall of Fame?

          While the Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown has maintained a semblance of legitimacy in recognizing those baseball greats, the R&R HoF in Cleveland has become a joke.

        • #2898141

          See I let your fellow Americans have plenty of chances..

          by jamesrl ·

          In reply to BINGO!

          Like almost all day.

          But really, what else is there in Cleveland….

        • #2898130

          Apart from the Blackeyes?

          by ansugisalas ·

          In reply to Rock and Roll Hall of Fame?

          No clue

      • #2898126

        I though it was so obvious as to not need elaboration.

        by charliespencer ·

        In reply to Come on, TR’s USA people?

        Like the Cooperstown reference.

    • #2897982

      Only one possible answer

      by nicknielsen ·

      In reply to The history of the water cooler

      Alice’s restaurant.

      Added: It’s the only Cooper’stown in Ohio.

Viewing 8 reply threads