Yes, in 1965-66 as an undergraduate I took a computer course at NYU which comprised learned to program (entry level, PL-1) and my assigned project was writing a routine to alphabetize a list of names including all variants (multiple first, middle names, hyphenated, with degrees, etc.) ...which took a whole semester and didn't actually function for all variants in the end. The horrible input was standing around waiting to sit at a punch card machine (do you hear hangin'chads?) and then wait months for an opening to run the thing with your stack of cards (a shoebox-full) at 2am when you were called to do it. Yes, it occupied an entire floor of the building with a/c trailers outside as well. I seem to recall the model IBM 360/30 and there were disk drives and all kinds of stuff in there (a clean room, remember "bugs" ??)
Once upon a time there was a tavern Where we used to raise a glass or two Remember how we laughed away the hours And think of all the great things we would do Those were the days, my friend We thought they'd never end We'd sing and dance forever and a day We'd live the life we choose We'd fight and never lose For we were young and sure to have our way La la la la la la La la la la la la Then the busy years went rushing by us We lost our starry notions on the way If by chance I'd see you in the tavern We'd smile at one another and we'd say Those were the days, my friend We thought they'd never end We'd sing and dance forever and a day We'd live the life we choose We'd fight and never lose Those were the days Oh, yes, those were the days La la la la la la La la la la la la Just tonight I stood before the tavern Nothing seemed the way it used to be In the glass I saw a strange reflection Was that lonely woman really me? Those were the days, my friend We thought they'd never end We'd sing and dance forever and a day We'd live the life we choose We'd fight and never lose Those were the days Oh, yes, those were the days La la la la la la La la la la la la Through the door there came familiar laughter I saw your face and heard you call my name Oh, my friend, we're older but no wiser For in our hearts the dreams are still the same... Those were the days, my friend We thought they'd never end We'd sing and dance forever and a day We'd live the life we choose We'd fight and never lose Those were the days Oh, yes, those were the days La la la la la la La la la la la la Mary Hopkins -----Original Message----- From: Rosenberg, Alan [USA] [mailto:rosenberg_a...@bah.com] Sent: Thursday, December 24, 2009 10:16 AM Subject: Re: AAAHH, the old days The old days?? The old days were when an IBM 7094 (the powerhouse of its day) filled a room with a raised floor, dedicated air conditioning, and a crew of operators, cost megabucks to buy (or lease) and maintain, had a cycle time measured in microseconds, and a maximum memory capacity equivalent to 32KB. Alan ************************************************************************* ** List info, subscription management, list rules, archives, privacy ** ** policy, calmness, a member map, and more at http://www.cguys.org/ ** *************************************************************************
