General discussion
-
CreatorTopic
-
September 27, 2011 at 8:55 pm #2208768
The history of the water cooler
Lockedby maxwell edison · about 12 years, 6 months ago
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?
Topic is locked -
CreatorTopic
All Comments
-
AuthorReplies
-
-
September 27, 2011 at 10:21 pm #2898328
I’d get it
by ansugisalas · about 12 years, 6 months ago
In reply to The history of the water cooler
but it keeps falling apart when I lift it.
-
September 27, 2011 at 11:38 pm #2898324
You need
by boxfiddler · about 12 years, 6 months ago
In reply to I’d get it
a broom and a dustpan for that sort of thing.
-
September 28, 2011 at 12:31 am #2898319
-
September 28, 2011 at 7:37 am #2898283
Shop air
by santeewelding · about 12 years, 6 months ago
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.
-
-
-
September 27, 2011 at 11:37 pm #2898325
Cooperstown
by boxfiddler · about 12 years, 6 months ago
In reply to The history of the water cooler
knows a good thing when it sees it.
-
September 28, 2011 at 12:29 am #2898320
Maxwell who gets to decide
by hal 9000 · about 12 years, 6 months ago
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
-
September 28, 2011 at 12:54 am #2898318
I thought he’d misplaced Louisville…
by ansugisalas · about 12 years, 6 months ago
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… -
September 28, 2011 at 5:37 pm #2898165
Good onya’, mate!
by maxwell edison · about 12 years, 6 months ago
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.
-
-
September 28, 2011 at 6:44 am #2898300
Why does everything seem better before I get there?
by slayer_ · about 12 years, 6 months ago
In reply to The history of the water cooler
Seriously, why is that?
-
September 28, 2011 at 7:10 am #2898292
On account
by santeewelding · about 12 years, 6 months ago
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.
-
September 28, 2011 at 7:20 am #2898289
Maybe it’s you?
by charliespencer · about 12 years, 6 months ago
In reply to Why does everything seem better before I get there?
Easiest punch line in the history of TR.
😀 😀-
September 28, 2011 at 7:25 am #2898287
-
September 28, 2011 at 7:46 am #2898280
don’t worry about it
by ansugisalas · about 12 years, 6 months ago
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 😀
-
September 28, 2011 at 7:50 am #2898279
I feel like I missed the glory days of the internet….
by slayer_ · about 12 years, 6 months ago
In reply to don’t worry about it
I tuned in, just at the end of them.
-
September 28, 2011 at 8:21 am #2898268
There is always something new
by jamesrl · about 12 years, 6 months ago
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.
-
September 28, 2011 at 10:51 am #2898237
Those here on earlier…
by jck · about 12 years, 6 months ago
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
-
September 28, 2011 at 10:54 am #2898235
I went from BBSs to Compuserve
by jamesrl · about 12 years, 6 months ago
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.
-
September 28, 2011 at 11:24 am #2898226
I remember…
by ansugisalas · about 12 years, 6 months ago
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.
-
September 28, 2011 at 2:52 pm #2898183
I remember a time
by hal 9000 · about 12 years, 6 months ago
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
-
September 28, 2011 at 7:39 pm #2898147
James – Re: Compuserve
by maxwell edison · about 12 years, 6 months ago
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.
-
September 29, 2011 at 1:53 pm #2898079
Compuserve
by jck · about 12 years, 6 months ago
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
-
September 29, 2011 at 6:07 pm #2898068
No you didn’t
by av . · about 12 years, 6 months ago
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
-
September 29, 2011 at 6:59 pm #2898066
I remember the golden days of the telegraph
by maxwell edison · about 12 years, 6 months ago
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.
-
September 30, 2011 at 4:41 am #2898049
I remember when the whole universe was in a hot, dense state. No text.
by charliespencer · about 12 years, 6 months ago
In reply to No you didn’t
.
-
September 30, 2011 at 6:38 am #2898040
I got that beat
by santeewelding · about 12 years, 6 months ago
In reply to No you didn’t
There being no form, I became.
Presto.
Form.
-
-
-
September 28, 2011 at 3:22 pm #2898180
Lucky you!
by Wizard57M-TR · about 12 years, 6 months ago
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.-
September 28, 2011 at 5:09 pm #2898167
RE: [i]I still fire up my old Pentium 166[/i]
by hal 9000 · about 12 years, 6 months ago
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
-
September 28, 2011 at 7:10 pm #2898157
Hehe…286s, 386s, yep, had those as well
by Wizard57M-TR · about 12 years, 6 months ago
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! <{;-) -
September 29, 2011 at 4:47 am #2898124
Strange now it’s
by hal 9000 · about 12 years, 6 months ago
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
-
-
-
September 28, 2011 at 6:00 pm #2898164
I remember the old dial-up days
by av . · about 12 years, 6 months ago
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
-
September 28, 2011 at 7:01 pm #2898158
Wow! How did you find that? A blast from the past.
by maxwell edison · about 12 years, 6 months ago
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!
-
September 28, 2011 at 7:24 pm #2898155
I had Oz’s
by jamesrl · about 12 years, 6 months ago
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
-
September 28, 2011 at 7:30 pm #2898151
Never made it to Colorado
by maxwell edison · about 12 years, 6 months ago
In reply to I had Oz’s
If you ever do, dinner and drinks are on me.
-
September 28, 2011 at 7:36 pm #2898149
Same for Toronto
by jamesrl · about 12 years, 6 months ago
In reply to Never made it to Colorado
Of course, you have to have a passport now…..
-
September 30, 2011 at 3:18 pm #2897981
But the passport isn’t to get there
by nicknielsen · about 12 years, 6 months ago
In reply to Same for Toronto
It’s to get out of here…
-
October 1, 2011 at 8:38 am #2897195
What?
by ansugisalas · about 12 years, 6 months ago
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? -
October 1, 2011 at 1:09 pm #2897185
My understanding
by nicknielsen · about 12 years, 6 months ago
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.
-
October 1, 2011 at 1:28 pm #2897184
"You claim to be a US citizen… what were you doing *out there*?"
by ansugisalas · about 12 years, 6 months ago
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…
-
-
-
September 28, 2011 at 7:26 pm #2898152
I Googled it
by av . · about 12 years, 6 months ago
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
-
September 28, 2011 at 7:37 pm #2898148
I chat with JD on occasion
by jamesrl · about 12 years, 6 months ago
In reply to I Googled it
On facebook……
-
-
September 28, 2011 at 7:33 pm #2898150
Come on, TR’s USA people?
by maxwell edison · about 12 years, 6 months ago
In reply to The history of the water cooler
What’s the Cleveland connection?
-
September 28, 2011 at 7:39 pm #2898146
Rock and Roll Hall of Fame?
by jamesrl · about 12 years, 6 months ago
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.
-
September 28, 2011 at 7:44 pm #2898145
I like Donna Summer
by av . · about 12 years, 6 months ago
In reply to Rock and Roll Hall of Fame?
I can’t imagine why Chicago isn’t in there.
-
September 28, 2011 at 7:46 pm #2898143
Or the Moody Blues (eom)
by maxwell edison · about 12 years, 6 months ago
In reply to I like Donna Summer
.
-
September 28, 2011 at 7:49 pm #2898140
Thats just a travesty
by av . · about 12 years, 6 months ago
In reply to Or the Moody Blues (eom)
Some of the greatest musicians of our time.
-
September 28, 2011 at 8:25 pm #2898134
It is indeed a travesty. I first . . . . .
by maxwell edison · about 12 years, 6 months ago
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:
-
September 28, 2011 at 7:46 pm #2898142
Dont mind Donna Summer
by jamesrl · about 12 years, 6 months ago
In reply to I like Donna Summer
But she isn’t really Rock and Roll…..
-
September 28, 2011 at 7:51 pm #2898138
Far from it
by av . · about 12 years, 6 months ago
In reply to Dont mind Donna Summer
She really is a Disco Queen
-
September 28, 2011 at 7:49 pm #2898139
The best Disco song ever:
by maxwell edison · about 12 years, 6 months ago
In reply to I like Donna Summer
-
September 28, 2011 at 7:54 pm #2898137
This one is memorable too
by av . · about 12 years, 6 months ago
In reply to The best Disco song ever:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4CK-f-Hhij4 Good dancing.
-
September 28, 2011 at 7:58 pm #2898136
Who did the first FNM?
by maxwell edison · about 12 years, 6 months ago
In reply to This one is memorable too
It wasn’t me. I wonder who it was? Does anyone know?
-
September 28, 2011 at 8:00 pm #2898135
I think it was Boxy
by av . · about 12 years, 6 months ago
In reply to Who did the first FNM?
Not sure, but we are overdue for another one.
-
October 6, 2011 at 1:38 pm #2898623
First FNM
by boxfiddler · about 12 years, 5 months ago
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. 🙂
-
October 6, 2011 at 1:43 pm #2898621
Ok. That does it…
by ansugisalas · about 12 years, 5 months ago
In reply to Who did the first FNM?
send the goons to bring her in… she’s got some explaining to do.
-
September 29, 2011 at 4:36 am #2898125
Y’all are both on drugs
by charliespencer · about 12 years, 6 months ago
In reply to This one is memorable too
That’s the definitive disco tune.
-
September 30, 2011 at 5:38 pm #2897976
Nah, if we were on drugs we’d be listening to this
by av . · about 12 years, 6 months ago
In reply to Y’all are both on drugs
AV
-
September 30, 2011 at 6:31 pm #2897969
Ah memories
by jamesrl · about 12 years, 6 months ago
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…
-
October 6, 2011 at 1:14 pm #2898639
I Prefer
by thechas · about 12 years, 5 months ago
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
-
October 6, 2011 at 1:37 pm #2898626
-
September 28, 2011 at 7:44 pm #2898144
BINGO!
by maxwell edison · about 12 years, 6 months ago
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.
-
September 28, 2011 at 7:47 pm #2898141
-
September 28, 2011 at 10:34 pm #2898130
Apart from the Blackeyes?
by ansugisalas · about 12 years, 6 months ago
In reply to Rock and Roll Hall of Fame?
No clue
-
-
September 29, 2011 at 4:34 am #2898126
I though it was so obvious as to not need elaboration.
by charliespencer · about 12 years, 6 months ago
In reply to Come on, TR’s USA people?
Like the Cooperstown reference.
-
September 29, 2011 at 4:50 am #2898123
And the
by hal 9000 · about 12 years, 6 months ago
In reply to I though it was so obvious as to not need elaboration.
Baseball reference didn’t count either right? 😀
Col
-
-
-
September 30, 2011 at 2:57 pm #2897982
Only one possible answer
by nicknielsen · about 12 years, 6 months ago
In reply to The history of the water cooler
Alice’s restaurant.
Added: It’s the only Cooper’stown in Ohio.
-
September 30, 2011 at 4:24 pm #2897977
And . . . . .
by maxwell edison · about 12 years, 6 months ago
In reply to Only one possible answer
You can get anything you want at Alice’s Restaurant.
-
September 30, 2011 at 5:43 pm #2897974
True, but
by michael jay · about 12 years, 6 months ago
In reply to And . . . . .
You can get anything you want, at Alice’s Restaurant
Excepting Alice -
September 30, 2011 at 5:46 pm #2897973
Oh man! I love that
by av . · about 12 years, 6 months ago
In reply to And . . . . .
How about a nice glass of Merlot and some good music?
I don’t have a preference, you pick.
AV
-
September 30, 2011 at 6:09 pm #2897972
You mentioned something about the first FNM and attributed it to Boxie
by michael jay · about 12 years, 6 months ago
In reply to Oh man! I love that
Cannot find it but I think she first said colors, the color is red, place a song with red in the title, or the text of the song.
-
September 30, 2011 at 6:23 pm #2897971
So it would go on and as I recall we would not spill the beans on the title
by michael jay · about 12 years, 6 months ago
In reply to You mentioned something about the first FNM and attributed it to Boxie
that came in the next or next after that, where is boxie she should be able to clear it up.
-
September 30, 2011 at 6:27 pm #2897970
Guess it was Max that mentioned FNM, my screw up
by michael jay · about 12 years, 6 months ago
In reply to You mentioned something about the first FNM and attributed it to Boxie
But yea it was her I do believe.
-
October 1, 2011 at 2:25 pm #2897181
In honor of Boxie’s FNM
by av . · about 12 years, 6 months ago
In reply to You mentioned something about the first FNM and attributed it to Boxie
I don’t remember what the theme was, but we should try that one again.
AV
-
-
-
-
AuthorReplies