Computer Technology in the 60’s
I recently posted an old photo I found of my in-laws, posing with an IBM 1440 terminal:
Here’s some background (courtesy of my Mother-In-Law) on that particular photo and some neat history on the way working with computers used to be:
This photo was taken in 1967. I was taking the ‘Data Processing’ AA degree program. I knew I wanted to become a computer programmer because my uncle from Oklahoma, who worked for IBM, had just been out here in California when I was a junior in high school and said I should become a computer programmer. Doug and Mark Wayne (our professor) choose me to pose in the picture for the Community College -Junior College- flyer to promote this NEW AA degree program in computers.
There was no such thing as computer science at this time, just a Data Processing AA degree.
We learned to wire sorting machines and collating machines. Then we learned to key-punch the cards to load our programs into the machines (via autoload program code). I remember working in the computer lab at the time and having to hold a tray of computer punch cards up my arm to load in the machine. Students that didn’t number their cards would sure be in trouble if I dropped them!
We had to read ‘dumps’ through the lights on the machines.
Reading dumps was really a lot of fun, but that was when we were in the 360 IBM series machines.
Once I became a computer programmer way back then, I have never left the field.
I cringe when having to work on an 800×600 desktop….I can’t even fathom what it must have been like to read machine dumps off a light panel on a computer!
I totally dig all the new technology that emerges on a daily basis, but I can’t help but think how much fun it must have been to work on those machines that not so long ago were considered “state-of-the-art”.
It Runs In The Family (Sort Of)…
We spent Mother’s Day at my Mother-In-Law’s house this past weekend. My wife’s mother and father were both largely involved with computers in those early days, and they both currently still work in technology-related jobs.
I really love hearing about some of the old stuff they used to use on a daily basis. They tell me stories about how the early IBM terminals included built in ashtrays and how light pens were a big deal back in the day. Every now and then, although not often enough in my opinion, they’ll tell some really cool stories about how working with computers used to be.
I noticed a picture hanging in the garage on Mother’s Day…and upon closer inspection I realized that it was my mother-in-law in the picture, at the helm of that mighty IBM terminal. I promptly yanked the picture off the wall to inquire further. She explained that picture was one of her first experiences with an actual computer, and she really didn’t know what she was doing, she was just posing with the other guys for a promotional IBM shot. In addition, the dude with the thin G-man tie and killer buzzcut just to her left was none other than my father-in-law, and that was they day they met!
I feel quite proud of the nerd heritage that I married into, knowing that both my parents-in-law are nerds to the core (even if I do have to help them build a nice PC or give out wifi security advice)!
Treo + Flickr + SnapperMail = Easy Photoblogging
Strange things delight nerds like myself. It’s a phenomenon that nobody can quite explain. Thanks to modern technology, we geeks can easily snap photos of delightfully nerdy stuff and have them almost instantly uploaded and displayed for the viewing pleasure of others.
The easy part is taking pictures - It’s publishing them quickly that can be a pain. I’ve been using a combination of Snappermail and Flickr, along with my Treo for a little over a year now, and it makes publishing photos totally quick and easy.
First, I got an free account at Flickr, back when Yahoo! hadn’t bought them yet and the founders weren’t zillionaires. Once my account was setup, I read up on email uploading thru Flickr, which is pretty straightforward - Flickr generates a “secret” email address that posts any pictures you send to it.
Then I got SnapperMail setup on my Treo.
Now all I have to do in order to upload new photos to my Flickr account is snap a shot and send the photo as an attachment to my secret Flickr email. Spiffy!
Tech Support, Carson Speaking…
As with most nerds, I am the first line of tech support for my immediate family. Sometimes it’s a PITA, but I am actually very happy to be in a position where I can help them out of computer purgatory.
So a few days ago, I got the usual support call from my folks: “The computer has gone bezerk! There are weird fonts everywhere!” Usually their problems sound much worse than they really are. Naturally, I figured someone had changed the font to something bizarre and couldn’t figure out how to switch it back - ought to take just a few minutes to fix up. But then, I logged into their PC remotely and saw this on the welcome screen:
I finished logging in and fired up IE, then giggle a bit:
“Boy, they’ve really done it this time”, I think. Thru some creative navigating, I am able to set some of the fonts to ’system’ (one of only two available fonts) which makes some stuff a bit more readable. Then I hop into the FONTS directory, only to find it completely empty. I guess Microsoft forgot to include the core OS fonts in the Windows File Protection feature.
No problem, I’ll just zip up my own fonts and transfer them over. That worked great, until a reboot - POW! No more fonts. OK, this is getting pretty annoying. Tried it again, same thing: XP looks great until a reboot. Must be that windows is somehow “fixing” my working FONTS directory by removing the foreign fonts I put there.
After a bit more tinkering and some colorful expletives, I finally decided to use System Restore and roll back. Luckily there was a restore point from a day or so back. I ran the rollback which fixed up the FONTS directory and solved the problem. Although I never did determine the root cause of this font tomfoolery, the last thing done to the system was the uninstallation of some programs which I suspect hosed the FONTS directory.
I love my folks, and whenever a tech support session is over, I always have a good laugh at the stuff that happens to their computer. They are always finding new and innovative methods of accidentally destroying Windows XP in ways I never thought possible!
Spammers Are Whiners
Everyone knows that spammers are the scum of the earth. They claim to run legitimate businesses and they claim to comply with users that ‘opt-out’, but the truth is that if you opt-out of their mailing list, it is likely that you will get placed on a ‘hotlist’ that consists of email addresses that real human beings actually check. This is why I never opt-out of spam emails.
Typically a good spam blocker like spamassassin will get about 99% of spam anyway, so it’s not really a big deal for me. I generally get 1-2 spam emails a day that make it thru spamassassin, a rate which I find to be quite good, actually.
What I find absolutely hilarious is that spammers really are like big bullies who can sure dish it out, but boy do they ever get riled up when the joke is on them.
Take Blue Security, for example. They offer a service where you load a small client on your PC and it helps you opt-out of spam lists. Normally a few people opt out of spam lists and the spammers love it. They get to collect email addresses of users actually read their spam and try to get rid of it. The opt-outs are random and sporadic, and not really a problem…but this is where Blue Security gets interesting. It handles the opt-outs for you, and it does it on EVERY spam you get. In addition, Blue Security supposedly coordinates the opt-outs so that they blast the spammers all at once! This creates some real hassles for spammers and they sure don’t like it. It bothers them enough that they tried to take down the Blue Security web site, and for a while, they did. Blue Security is back now, and you can be sure that their methods are effective if they are pissing off spammers this much! The beauty of this system is that the more spam the spammers send, the harder their own servers get hit with Blue Security opt-outs. I should mention that what Blue Security is doing is completely legitimate under the CAN-SPAM legislation guidelines.
One of the spammers that was involved in the attack on Blue Security wrote to Wired.com and his comments sure reeked of LITTLE GIRLY CRYBABY WHINING. Yeah, like anyone is going to feel sorry for a spammer.
I find it absolutely HILARIOUS that spammers are perfectly happy to dish out spam all day long and annoy people with unwanted junk mail, but the moment that people start to defend themselves against the spammers with the help of an ally like Blue Security, those same spammers cry “FOUL!” and claim that Blue Security is “hurting their business”.
All I can say to those poor little spammers is: BOO FRIGGIN’ HOO