Misty eyes (wa: Re: [plug] Dead hdd)

[Shayne O'Neill]

I used to have a really cool old pdp11-something
about the size of those old bar radiators. My dad brought it back from
telstra when they updated a sat bandwidth booking  system to a P100 or something
(thats how long it lasted!) . I had some limited success getting it
rehabed (had to get a clock board flown from the us, as this crazy old
thing needed to interface to a 'atomic clock' (because it was for syncing
satelite stuff), but ultimately my girlfriend wanted it out of the house.
Gave it to this old dude I found.

I really like cool old steel like that. Retrospectively I shoulda ditched
the girl and kept the machine. She took off with her boss six months later
anyway (And my dog. the b***h).

I'd still *Love* to rehab an old vax one day. I do love those old vms
beasts.

------------------------------------
"Must not Sleep! Must warn others!"
-Aesop.
Shayne O'Neill. Indymedia. Fun.
http://www.perthimc.asn.au

On Fri, 14 May 2004, bob wrote:

> On Friday 14 May 2004 16:35, Harry wrote:
> >
> > will you lot stop fighting over the zimmer. the first calculator i used
> > belonged to a friends dad [uni biology lecturer] and you made it add by
> > winding the handle; just once. this was before i upgraded to the more
> > versatile slide rule and finally closed the log tables.
>
> Eeeeh lad... I remember 't day.
>
> One of the schools I attended was very advanced - it had a "computer" - well
> more of a programmable calculator using a patch panel to define the
> calculation, a rotary phone dial to input data and nixie tubes to display
> the result (the uber expensive upgrade from mere peanut lights to output in
> binary:). Wish I could remember a name. It stood ~ 1.5m high in a rack
> chassis on wheels. We're talking mid 60s here. I was amazed that I seemed
> to be the only one in the slightest bit interested in it. Didn't get to
> play with it that much though as it was "too expensive" but I do remember
> being able "suggest" ways to get it going when no one else was able to get
> much out of it. Didn't last long though, someone let the smoke out and that
> was that :(.
>
> > numbers -meant- something then, see
> >
> > um .. i still have two LA-180 DECwriters; one even has the serial option.
> > does that count.
>
> All this talk of slow modems has got me thinking... do any dialup BBSs still
> exist in Perth?
>
>
> > harry
>
> --
> If the very old will remember, the very young will listen.
> 		-- Chief Dan George
>
> _______________________________________________
> PLUG discussion list: plug at plug.linux.org.au
> http://mail.plug.linux.org.au/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/plug
> Committee e-mail: committee at plug.linux.org.au
>