(I'm not exactly new here, I just hadn't gotten around to writing a proper introduction)
My name is Andy and I've been involved with computers since the mid-Seventies, when I discovered our high school had a dial-up terminal. I taught myself BASIC by reading the Kemeny-Kurtz book. Not long after that, the book "101 BASIC Computer Games" came out, as well as Creative Computing magazine, both of which just fanned the flames so to speak. Also around that time, a computer store called "The Computer Corner" opened across the street from my mom's office, so I'd take every opportunity to hang out over there, reading magazines and checking out all the neat hardware I couldn't afford. (I'd eventually own their IMSAI demo unit, complete with a Lucite cover that allowed you to see the red and green LEDs on the memory boards. Sadly, I no longer have the IMSAI.)
As a freshman in college, I talked my way into a 400-level computer graphics course taught by Judson Rosebush and got to work on his graphics engine (called "Visions") which his company Digital Effects later used for the movie "TRON". Later, I took a part time job at a branch of "The Computer Store" where we sold Apple machines and some S-100 systems (I think they were Cromemco?). I eventually got an Apple ][+ and proceeded to fill every possible slot with cards. Of course the computer didn't have any RF shielding, so when it was turned on, it messed up every TV in the house and I had to wait until everyone went to bed before I could use it; and then I'd stay up most of the night tinkering with this or that. (I'm still a night owl, that's probably why). I can remember being able to earn money by entering data into Visicalc spreadsheets. Of course, I couldn't touch-type (still can't) so my girlfriend and I would take turns, one person reading the data out loud and the other typing it in, until one of us got tired and then we'd switch places.
I'm not sure when I first got involved with CP/M but I can remember thinking it was very similar to the TOPS-10 operating system I'd used in college. In the early Eighties, I went to work for Sony doing hotline technical support for their CP/M system which was apparently the first computer to use 3.5" floppy disks. There was an enormous amount of free software available for CP/M machines, due largely to the existence of SIG/M which ultimately distributed around 300 volumes. I think that's what eventually got me interested in the open source software movement and led me to become leader of a Linux User's Group. Interesting too is that the club behind SIG/M still exists and they still organize one of the oldest computer shows: the Trenton Computer Fest.
I was also involved in the BBS scene, first helping to run a friend's CP/M board, then running a couple of Citadels (off SIG/M Volume #150) and eventually switching to Waffle. I remember what an awesome thing XMODEM protocol was when it first came out. Before XMODEM, we used to move data around using "data transfers", where you' d basically just open a capture buffer on one end and begin listing the program from the other. Of course, since I was using my parent's phone line, someone would inevitably pick up the phone in the middle of a transfer. Hours of work would be lost and we'd have to start over. But using XMODEM, every block was given a checksum and if the sum of the received block didn't match what was sent, the block was re-sent. The first time I saw someone pick up on an XMODEM transfer and the error correction protocol kicked in, I could hardly contain myself!
At some point I got rid of the Apple ][+ in favor of a Tandy Model 16 with Xenix; I really wanted to be able to download the cool games like Adventure and Rogue from Usenet. What I didn't realize was that they wouldn't compile in Xenix without extensive tweaking. But by then I was working at AT&T and bought a 3B2-300 which ran "real" Unix: no more tweaking required. I think I was also into MUDs around this time.
I've owned lots of different computers over the years, but typically it was just to save them from the trash. I can't stand to see something being thrown out if it still works. The only ones I still have are a couple of CP/M systems (Sony SMC-70 and an Altos 580), a Mac SE/30 (bad SCSI bus?) and a Bell Labs BLiT terminal (Teletype 5620). Right now, I'm playing with some Atari systems that I was given. I never had any Ataris before, so it's fun to see what they can do. For example, I just added a 1.6GB hard drive to an 800XL.
Oops, didn't mean to type this much.
My name is Andy and I've been involved with computers since the mid-Seventies, when I discovered our high school had a dial-up terminal. I taught myself BASIC by reading the Kemeny-Kurtz book. Not long after that, the book "101 BASIC Computer Games" came out, as well as Creative Computing magazine, both of which just fanned the flames so to speak. Also around that time, a computer store called "The Computer Corner" opened across the street from my mom's office, so I'd take every opportunity to hang out over there, reading magazines and checking out all the neat hardware I couldn't afford. (I'd eventually own their IMSAI demo unit, complete with a Lucite cover that allowed you to see the red and green LEDs on the memory boards. Sadly, I no longer have the IMSAI.)
As a freshman in college, I talked my way into a 400-level computer graphics course taught by Judson Rosebush and got to work on his graphics engine (called "Visions") which his company Digital Effects later used for the movie "TRON". Later, I took a part time job at a branch of "The Computer Store" where we sold Apple machines and some S-100 systems (I think they were Cromemco?). I eventually got an Apple ][+ and proceeded to fill every possible slot with cards. Of course the computer didn't have any RF shielding, so when it was turned on, it messed up every TV in the house and I had to wait until everyone went to bed before I could use it; and then I'd stay up most of the night tinkering with this or that. (I'm still a night owl, that's probably why). I can remember being able to earn money by entering data into Visicalc spreadsheets. Of course, I couldn't touch-type (still can't) so my girlfriend and I would take turns, one person reading the data out loud and the other typing it in, until one of us got tired and then we'd switch places.
I'm not sure when I first got involved with CP/M but I can remember thinking it was very similar to the TOPS-10 operating system I'd used in college. In the early Eighties, I went to work for Sony doing hotline technical support for their CP/M system which was apparently the first computer to use 3.5" floppy disks. There was an enormous amount of free software available for CP/M machines, due largely to the existence of SIG/M which ultimately distributed around 300 volumes. I think that's what eventually got me interested in the open source software movement and led me to become leader of a Linux User's Group. Interesting too is that the club behind SIG/M still exists and they still organize one of the oldest computer shows: the Trenton Computer Fest.
I was also involved in the BBS scene, first helping to run a friend's CP/M board, then running a couple of Citadels (off SIG/M Volume #150) and eventually switching to Waffle. I remember what an awesome thing XMODEM protocol was when it first came out. Before XMODEM, we used to move data around using "data transfers", where you' d basically just open a capture buffer on one end and begin listing the program from the other. Of course, since I was using my parent's phone line, someone would inevitably pick up the phone in the middle of a transfer. Hours of work would be lost and we'd have to start over. But using XMODEM, every block was given a checksum and if the sum of the received block didn't match what was sent, the block was re-sent. The first time I saw someone pick up on an XMODEM transfer and the error correction protocol kicked in, I could hardly contain myself!
At some point I got rid of the Apple ][+ in favor of a Tandy Model 16 with Xenix; I really wanted to be able to download the cool games like Adventure and Rogue from Usenet. What I didn't realize was that they wouldn't compile in Xenix without extensive tweaking. But by then I was working at AT&T and bought a 3B2-300 which ran "real" Unix: no more tweaking required. I think I was also into MUDs around this time.
I've owned lots of different computers over the years, but typically it was just to save them from the trash. I can't stand to see something being thrown out if it still works. The only ones I still have are a couple of CP/M systems (Sony SMC-70 and an Altos 580), a Mac SE/30 (bad SCSI bus?) and a Bell Labs BLiT terminal (Teletype 5620). Right now, I'm playing with some Atari systems that I was given. I never had any Ataris before, so it's fun to see what they can do. For example, I just added a 1.6GB hard drive to an 800XL.
Oops, didn't mean to type this much.