On Thursday 17 December 2009, jdow wrote:
>From: "Chris Hoogendyk" <hoogen...@bio.umass.edu>
>Sent: Thursday, 2009/December/17 10:07
>
>> Steve Lindemann wrote:
>>>>> I think I still have a Model B in the loft somewhere...
>>>>>
>>>>> Kevin
>>>
>>> I've seen CP/M mentioned but no mention of the venerable Kaypro! Oh
>>> those were the days.... 8^)
>>>
>>> But my first digital computer (at work) was a Raytheon 703 with paper
>>> tape to load programs (after you fingered in the boot) and output was
>>> the lights on the front panel. I also worked on analog computers for
>>> a number of years, it wasn't so much programming as re-engineering. I
>>> actually do miss those days.
>>
>> A skilled practitioner could get 5 digits out of this baby:
>> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Slide_rule (I still have the yellow one).
>> If you needed more rigorous but still relatively easy and quick, you
>> would use this: http://ljkrakauer.com/CRC99ph/CRCbook.htm.
>
>I still have my K&E Log Log Duplex Decitrig. It still works. And it's
>still aligned despite it's being bamboo.
So do I, but mine is alu, and corrosion over about 50 years has taken its
toll on how smoothly it operates. But like yours, it still worrks, just
needs a shot of wd-40 occasionally.
>Learning to calculate with slide rules is an important step to being
>numerate. You can forget actually using the slide rule. But being able
>to hammer out answers on it for complex problems leads to a really good
>ability to estimate answers. That way when the nice digital CPU coughs
>up a digital hairball answer to a problem you can see the error at a
>glance.
Yup, great teacher, for a kid with a grammer school education way back when
the 50L6-gt was a brand new tube.
>{^_^}
>
--
Cheers, Gene
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A: unzip;strip;touch;finger;mount;fsck;more;yes;umount;sleep
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