computing &mdash; Musings by @rg https://write.tedomum.net/rgx/tag:computing A place to jot down ideas, notes, pointers. Fri, 17 Apr 2026 14:11:54 +0000 Memories - Starting in Computing, in the 70's https://write.tedomum.net/rgx/memories-starting-in-computing-in-the-70s <![CDATA[ ----- Z(1) = Y + W(1) A #Fortran Statement in this #Vintage #computing input device. The famous "punched cards", which each cold hold 80 characters or one line of programming instructions or data for processing. I learned this language, and created my assignments in decks of those cards. Back in November, when I was starting in mastodon, we had a delightful thread about it, which included this image. @k11m1 -- see it here #QotoJournal #History #Technology #Programming May 17, 2020, 8:32 PM \!--more-- ----- Programming, can be Fun or Frustrating A more recent conversation, which started naturally once I saw Klimi's post : My response to this simple statement was a long reply, which I thoroughly enjoyed writing, and now forms the body of this page. ------ Getting it Right on the First Try ? LOL... It is not impossible, but it takes a lot of concentration, and hopefully a smaller programme to work with. When I first learned, we did not have access to computers directly at all; that was reserved for the high priesthood, serving the needs and whims of the large, school gym sized computer center. We students would create our programmes, that had to do some task assigned by profs. ---- Making my own Deck -- IBM model 29 : And later get the lines of code ready for input -- punch cards for us. I did my own punching, found a quiet room with a machine in the Physics department, little used, and would go there to prepare my deck, Because testing was laborious (revisions equaling new cards needed, finding a punch, etc) we tried the best we could to read and follow the logic. But I think getting it bug free in 3 passes was good, very good. ----- 20 Years Later... Fast forward many years, and me teaching BASIC programming; my students were bright, did well, but they found it quite hard to create a small programme in paper only (without trying to run and see what happens, to find the errors). This was good for discipline, but it is less common. They whined every time I called for a pencil and paper only task, lol....😺 ------ And it continued : @k11m1 Yeah, it was something that was needed when computing power was a precious resource, much less common, and we needed to conserve it. Good things resulted from that - people created solutions to enable remote access, shared systems, one large machine that processed tasks from many people or departments; scheduling, so you could slot a job for some late hour when there were less people around. Following the logic is a good thing, as you write line by line, it should make sense, and flow -- or else, why did you use that line, and the next? There are pesky typos that break things, but other than those small input errors, the code should be understandable and make sense. Someone else might have to work on it someday, and that will make their job easier and faster too. ------ Programming Languages Evolved from Needs Back in time programming languages were developed to cater to some specific need or group of users; making it easier to create the projects they needed. We used Fortran, which is Formula Translation; it was created for Science and Engineering students and professionals. I had a room mate who was in the Math department, we were both 1st year students, had the same Profs (from Math department), and the same assignments. But his class used another language, called Algol - which was a better fit for Math people's needs. We enjoyed comparing the finished results of our assignments; quite simply, we looked at the thickness of each other's stack of cards. Sometimes, Algol would win (win being a smaller deck, less processing time), other times Fortran got it. 😄 ------ My First Computer was a Burroughs 5500 It was my first time ever seeing and working with a computer -- a mammoth Burroughs 5500 mainframe, and I loved every aspect of it. Over time, I observed that I could tell right away when something was broken in a new project. When I had my source code written up, the next step was to hand it in, for a pool of secretaries who would prepare our cards, overnight. Or find a spare IBM punch machine somewhere (my preferred, faster route). Got the cards? Processing time! Go to the computing center, and get in line with other students with their own decks; we lined up outside, in front of a room that contained a card reader (input) and a large printer (output). This was a smaller room, wired to the computer next door which was all air conditioned to around 18 degrees Celsius year around. The card reader had two doors, it's own Input and Output of student processing; in via one, hand in the deck, watch it be read, get a printout, out via the other door. As the deck was handed in and loaded into the card reader, we stood watching, hoping for a good run. Any result would produce a paper printout, those continuous paper forms. Many times, it was a report of an error at some point. processing took some seconds; and I noticed that success or failure was indicated by the card reader behaviour; a perfect program would pass thru the reader in linear fashion, smooth flow. I got excited, maybe this time it's all Good!! I also noticed that hesitations in the stack flow indicated errors; it would stop at some card, pause or a few seconds, Bad sign! 😔 Soon it would resume, a short report printed, and a more or less dejected student headed out door #2. ...to go back to his desk, his notes and code write up. Read the report (quite cryptic usually), and trace thru the programme to find what was wrong. ------ Smooth Flow is Good News Getting a smooth card reader flow was an instant sign I might have made it - and at best happened at the 3rd try or so (worse sometimes, in harder jobs or if you weren't focused enough). Some great work was done in developing whole languages to be used for teaching Programming, like Pascal -- good habits would carry on into a professional's work life, and be appreciated by anyone working with this person, or later maintaining their legacy code. #QotoJournal #History #Technology #Programming #Retro #IT ------ And Klimi enjoyed it. 😺 Thank you, I enjoy writing a lot. And this could be developed into a new Blog post easily, a thought that occurred to me as I wrote it too. Another motivation for going in length. I have a couple of favourite Blog posts that started this way, as a Toot or a series of them, and were so interesting that a Blog page was next. :) I am having many ideas for Blogging again, hope it does come; just got to clear my head, jot down notes and fire up the tools. Appreciate the comment, which means a lot. 😄 ------- Some Articles about Punched Cards and Computing : While searching for the references in the next session of this page, I came across a wonderful list of articles. At the must-visit Computer History Museum, located in Mountain View, California. Location Computer History Museum 1401 N. Shoreline Blvd. Mountain View, CA 94043 About 100 Kilometers south of beautiful San Francisco, and very near the GooglePlex, the giant company headquarters which I suggest as a second attraction to visit if you find yourself in this region. The Museum is breath taking, wonderful, get there early as there's much to see. Reference Articles from CHM : Punched Cards & Paper Tape The Punched Card's Pedigree An Empire Built on Punched Cards A Scientific Census ------ References -- Keywords used in this Article a. FORTRAN : Fortran is a general-purpose, compiled imperative programming language that is especially suited to numeric computation and scientific computing. Originally developed by IBM in the 1950s for scientific and engineering applications, FORTRAN came to dominate this area of programming early on and has been in continuous use for over six decades in computationally intensive areas such as numerical weather prediction, finite element analysis, etc. Wikipedia page b. BASIC : BASIC is a family of general-purpose, high-level programming languages whose design philosophy emphasizes ease of use. The original version was designed by John G. Kemeny and Thomas E. Kurtz and released at Dartmouth College in 1964. They wanted to enable students in fields other than science and mathematics to use computers. Wikipedia page c. Punched Cards : A punched card or punch card is a piece of stiff paper that can be used to contain digital data represented by the presence or absence of holes in predefined positions. Digital data can be used for data processing applications or used to directly control automated machinery. Wikipedia page d. ALGOL : ALGOL is a family of imperative computer programming languages originally developed in 1958. ALGOL heavily influenced many other languages and was the standard method for algorithm description used by the Association for Computing Machinery in textbooks and academic sources until object-oriented languages came around, for more than thirty years. Wikipedia page e. Burroughs 5500 : The Burroughs 5500 was a unique machine, first introduced in 1961 as the B5000. Later advanced to the B5500 (1964) adding disks and finally the B5700 (1971) adding solid state drum. It was the first computer to use the stack as its only means of accessing data. The Burrows 5500 article, Sky Visions Burrows 5500 computer Brochure, Computing History Museum f. IBM model 29 Card Punch : The IBM 29 Card Punch (also called the 029 or Type 029 Key Punch or Keypunch), introduced about 1964 to coincide with the introduction of the IBM 360. Available in nine models with various combinations of keyboard (12-key numeric or 64-key alphanumeric)... Columbia University page IBM model 29 video YT g. PASCAL : Pascal, a computer programming language developed about 1970 by Niklaus Wirth of Switzerland to teach structured programming, which emphasizes the orderly use of conditional and loop control structures without GOTO statements. Although Pascal resembled ALGOL in notation, it provided the ability to define data types with which to organize complex information. Encyclopedia Britannica page ----- Follow Blog via your Fediverse/Mastodon account : @rgx@write.tedomum.net This page created entirely in MarkDown language. Thank you for reading, feel free to comment about this post - reach me at my Writer's Lounge. R.G. @rgx@muensterland.social ^--top of page]]>

Z(1) = Y + W(1)

A #Fortran Statement in this #Vintage #computing input device.

The famous “punched cards”, which each cold hold 80 characters or one line of programming instructions or data for processing.

I learned this language, and created my assignments in decks of those cards.

Back in November, when I was starting in mastodon, we had a delightful thread about it, which included this image. @k11m1 — see it here

#QotoJournal #History #Technology #Programming

May 17, 2020, 8:32 PM <!—more—>

Programming, can be Fun or Frustrating

A more recent conversation, which started naturally once I saw Klimi's post :

My response to this simple statement was a long reply, which I thoroughly enjoyed writing, and now forms the body of this page.

Getting it Right on the First Try ?

LOL...

It is not impossible, but it takes a lot of concentration, and hopefully a smaller programme to work with.

When I first learned, we did not have access to computers directly at all; that was reserved for the high priesthood, serving the needs and whims of the large, school gym sized computer center. We students would create our programmes, that had to do some task assigned by profs.

Making my own Deck — IBM model 29 :

And later get the lines of code ready for input — punch cards for us. I did my own punching, found a quiet room with a machine in the Physics department, little used, and would go there to prepare my deck,

Because testing was laborious (revisions equaling new cards needed, finding a punch, etc) we tried the best we could to read and follow the logic.

But I think getting it bug free in 3 passes was good, very good.

20 Years Later...

Fast forward many years, and me teaching BASIC programming; my students were bright, did well, but they found it quite hard to create a small programme in paper only (without trying to run and see what happens, to find the errors).

This was good for discipline, but it is less common. They whined every time I called for a pencil and paper only task, lol....😺

And it continued :

@k11m1 Yeah, it was something that was needed when computing power was a precious resource, much less common, and we needed to conserve it.

Good things resulted from that – people created solutions to enable remote access, shared systems, one large machine that processed tasks from many people or departments; scheduling, so you could slot a job for some late hour when there were less people around.

Following the logic is a good thing, as you write line by line, it should make sense, and flow — or else, why did you use that line, and the next?

There are pesky typos that break things, but other than those small input errors, the code should be understandable and make sense.

Someone else might have to work on it someday, and that will make their job easier and faster too.

Programming Languages Evolved from Needs

Back in time programming languages were developed to cater to some specific need or group of users; making it easier to create the projects they needed.

We used Fortran, which is Formula Translation; it was created for Science and Engineering students and professionals.

I had a room mate who was in the Math department, we were both 1st year students, had the same Profs (from Math department), and the same assignments.

But his class used another language, called Algol – which was a better fit for Math people's needs.

We enjoyed comparing the finished results of our assignments; quite simply, we looked at the thickness of each other's stack of cards. Sometimes, Algol would win (win being a smaller deck, less processing time), other times Fortran got it. 😄

My First Computer was a Burroughs 5500

It was my first time ever seeing and working with a computer — a mammoth Burroughs 5500 mainframe, and I loved every aspect of it.

Over time, I observed that I could tell right away when something was broken in a new project.

  • When I had my source code written up, the next step was to hand it in, for a pool of secretaries who would prepare our cards, overnight. Or find a spare IBM punch machine somewhere (my preferred, faster route).
  • Got the cards? Processing time! Go to the computing center, and get in line with other students with their own decks; we lined up outside, in front of a room that contained a card reader (input) and a large printer (output). This was a smaller room, wired to the computer next door which was all air conditioned to around 18 degrees Celsius year around.
  • The card reader had two doors, it's own Input and Output of student processing; in via one, hand in the deck, watch it be read, get a printout, out via the other door.
  • As the deck was handed in and loaded into the card reader, we stood watching, hoping for a good run. Any result would produce a paper printout, those continuous paper forms. Many times, it was a report of an error at some point.
  • processing took some seconds; and I noticed that success or failure was indicated by the card reader behaviour; a perfect program would pass thru the reader in linear fashion, smooth flow. I got excited, maybe this time it's all Good!!
  • I also noticed that hesitations in the stack flow indicated errors; it would stop at some card, pause or a few seconds, Bad sign! 😔 Soon it would resume, a short report printed, and a more or less dejected student headed out door #2.

...to go back to his desk, his notes and code write up. Read the report (quite cryptic usually), and trace thru the programme to find what was wrong.

Smooth Flow is Good News

Getting a smooth card reader flow was an instant sign I might have made it – and at best happened at the 3rd try or so (worse sometimes, in harder jobs or if you weren't focused enough).

Some great work was done in developing whole languages to be used for teaching Programming, like Pascal — good habits would carry on into a professional's work life, and be appreciated by anyone working with this person, or later maintaining their legacy code.

#QotoJournal #History #Technology #Programming #Retro #IT

And Klimi enjoyed it. 😺

Thank you, I enjoy writing a lot.

And this could be developed into a new Blog post easily, a thought that occurred to me as I wrote it too. Another motivation for going in length.

I have a couple of favourite Blog posts that started this way, as a Toot or a series of them, and were so interesting that a Blog page was next. :)

I am having many ideas for Blogging again, hope it does come; just got to clear my head, jot down notes and fire up the tools. Appreciate the comment, which means a lot. 😄

Some Articles about Punched Cards and Computing :

While searching for the references in the next session of this page, I came across a wonderful list of articles. At the must-visit Computer History Museum, located in Mountain View, California.

Location

Computer History Museum 1401 N. Shoreline Blvd. Mountain View, CA 94043

About 100 Kilometers south of beautiful San Francisco, and very near the GooglePlex, the giant company headquarters which I suggest as a second attraction to visit if you find yourself in this region. The Museum is breath taking, wonderful, get there early as there's much to see.

Reference Articles from CHM :

References — Keywords used in this Article

a. FORTRAN :

Fortran is a general-purpose, compiled imperative programming language that is especially suited to numeric computation and scientific computing. Originally developed by IBM in the 1950s for scientific and engineering applications, FORTRAN came to dominate this area of programming early on and has been in continuous use for over six decades in computationally intensive areas such as numerical weather prediction, finite element analysis, etc. Wikipedia page

b. BASIC :

BASIC is a family of general-purpose, high-level programming languages whose design philosophy emphasizes ease of use. The original version was designed by John G. Kemeny and Thomas E. Kurtz and released at Dartmouth College in 1964. They wanted to enable students in fields other than science and mathematics to use computers. Wikipedia page

c. Punched Cards :

A punched card or punch card is a piece of stiff paper that can be used to contain digital data represented by the presence or absence of holes in predefined positions. Digital data can be used for data processing applications or used to directly control automated machinery. Wikipedia page

d. ALGOL :

ALGOL is a family of imperative computer programming languages originally developed in 1958. ALGOL heavily influenced many other languages and was the standard method for algorithm description used by the Association for Computing Machinery in textbooks and academic sources until object-oriented languages came around, for more than thirty years. Wikipedia page

e. Burroughs 5500 :

The Burroughs 5500 was a unique machine, first introduced in 1961 as the B5000. Later advanced to the B5500 (1964) adding disks and finally the B5700 (1971) adding solid state drum. It was the first computer to use the stack as its only means of accessing data. The Burrows 5500 article, Sky Visions Burrows 5500 computer Brochure, Computing History Museum

f. IBM model 29 Card Punch :

The IBM 29 Card Punch (also called the 029 or Type 029 Key Punch or Keypunch), introduced about 1964 to coincide with the introduction of the IBM 360. Available in nine models with various combinations of keyboard (12-key numeric or 64-key alphanumeric)... Columbia University page IBM model 29 video YT

g. PASCAL :

Pascal, a computer programming language developed about 1970 by Niklaus Wirth of Switzerland to teach structured programming, which emphasizes the orderly use of conditional and loop control structures without GOTO statements. Although Pascal resembled ALGOL in notation, it provided the ability to define data types with which to organize complex information. Encyclopedia Britannica page

Follow Blog via your Fediverse/Mastodon account :

@rgx@write.tedomum.net

This page created entirely in MarkDown language. Thank you for reading, feel free to comment about this post – reach me at my Writer's Lounge.

R.G. @rgx@muensterland.social ^—top of page

]]> https://write.tedomum.net/rgx/memories-starting-in-computing-in-the-70s Thu, 18 Jun 2020 16:29:38 +0000 The Fediverse reminds me so much of FidoNet https://write.tedomum.net/rgx/the-fediverse-reminds-me-so-much-of-fidonet <![CDATA[ ----- New Year's day, and all is quiet in the land. :-) Time to catch up, and I remembered an idea for a blog post a few days ago. We were having some discussions (which turned a bit heated), but later things calmed down. Chatting in a Mastodon network thread, I mentioned the situation reminded me a lot of my days in the BBS world; where I started in computers, dial-up modems, and the network I was soon participating in - called FidoNet. The conversation went as follows: \!--more-- ----- Brings memories of sysops battling it out on our local FidoNet network!! Time goes on, humanity continues. Fediverse is indeed quite similar to the wonderful pioneer that Fidonet was. Way before internet was accessible to the masses. @anarchiv : as a part of the unthinking masses, I don't know what that is. Fidonet? it was a network formed by independant system operators (sysops for short) in the days of BBSes (Bulletin Board Systems) being the only computers you could reach and connect to from home. We only had dial up lines, but it was amazing to dial up and connect to a place with information, software for download, online games. All of this for free in most cases. People operated those as a hobby, all of them loved computing. It attracted similar people, which is how I joined. 1992. ----- I will write a blog post or more about it soon, there's so many good stories and similarities to the Fediverse. It felt immediately similar when I joined here. Even the brawling with other sysops, who sometimes we didn't like, we did that as well, lol. Great fun to be had, lots of coffee was consumed, talks went late into the night. The network was worldwide, and sent international mail via phone calls. Data lines? not available at the time. Memories... Another conversation mentioned Fidonet on our Local instance chats. ----- I have been seeing and feeling many similarities between the fediverse and my first experience with networking, way back in the early 90s. Back then, all we had were BBSes, phone lines and 2400 bps modems, but there was an international network linking many of them already - FidoNet. FidoNet had as one of its core principles something similar to your approach here: Thou Shall not be Annoying. immediately followed by : Thou Shall not be Easily Annoyed. Words of wisdom to live by! @freemo : I started on the BBS dialup days as well. The connected network between them was just coming around at the time. Did you play the Doors games like LOTRD? Yes, I did play some of the games. Sometimes you had to be waiting to be able to connect, as in most cases there was only one phone line. People had fun running a BBS in a spare computer, and we could get software galore, when there was no Internet access to the public, which only came later (about 1995 or so here in Canada). Watching the dialing, the link negotiation between the modems, seeing the ASCII art load, it was so much fun. @freemo : The good ol' days :) ----- From those pioneer days, fast forward 25 years -- And now we have online, free streaming video of the nice "BBS - The Documentary" series, by Jason Scott. The full series is on Qoto Peertube; see a a href="https://video.qoto.org/my-account/video-playlists/e42166e0-2b58-4e04-aa2e-957ba52aca0b" target="blank"playlist with all 8 episodes here/a. If you want to see the a href="https://video.qoto.org/videos/watch/228e013c-6bf3-4911-a844-3e700ce2ede4" target="blank"FidoNet episode, part 4, it's here/a. Synopsis from DVD version : From the a href="https://docuwiki.net/index.php?title=BbsTheDocumentary" target="blank"DocuWiki page for this series/a, we have the full synopsis : Long before the Internet escaped from the lab, connected the planet and redefined what it meant to use a computer there was a brave and pioneering band of computer users who spent their time, money and sanity setting up their home computers and phone lines to welcome anyone who called. By using a modem, anyone else who knew the phone number of these computers could connect to them, leave messages, send and recieve files.... and millions did. They called these places "Bulletin Board Systems", or BBSes. And their collections of messages, rants, thoughts and dreams became the way that an entire generation learned about being online. When the Internet grew in popularity in the early 1990s, the world of the BBS faded, changed, and became a part of the present networked world.. but it wasn't the same. Get your own copies : Jason Scott has released the original DVDs to the Internet Archive, and anyone interested can watch online, download individual episodes -- or the 3 DVD ISO images here. Our PeerTube videos are better quality, a DVD rip by MVGroup.org and a href="http://forums.mvgroup.org/index.php?showtopic=49295" target="blank"released in Bit Torrent and eMule networks/a (free user registration, login required). ----- References : a. BBS systems : A Bulletin Board System or BBS (once called Computer Bulletin Board Service, CBBS[1]) is a computer server running software that allows users to connect to the system using a terminal program. Once logged in, the user can perform functions such as uploading and downloading software and data, reading news and bulletins, and exchanging messages with other users through public message boards and sometimes via direct chatting. In the early 1980s, message networks such as FidoNet sprung up to provide services such as NetMail, which is similar to email. Wikipedia page b. FidoNet computer network : FidoNet is a worldwide computer network that is used for communication between bulletin board systems (BBSes). It uses a store-and-forward system to exchange private (email) and public (forum) messages between the BBSes in the network, as well as other files and protocols in some cases. Wikipedia page c. Dial-Up Networking : Dial-up Internet access is a form of Internet access that uses the facilities of the public switched telephone network (PSTN) to establish a connection to an Internet service provider (ISP) by dialing a telephone number on a conventional telephone line. Dial-up connections use modems to decode audio signals into data to send to a router or computer, and to encode signals from the latter two devices to send to another modem. Wikipedia page Dial up modem sounds Dial up video (26 secs) #modem #DialUp #networking #Retro #Computing ----- Follow Blog via your Fediverse/Mastodon account : @rgx@write.tedomum.net This page created entirely in MarkDown language. Thank you for reading, feel free to comment about this post - reach me at my Writer's Lounge. R.G. @rgx@muensterland.social ^--top of page]]>

New Year's day, and all is quiet in the land. :–)

Time to catch up, and I remembered an idea for a blog post a few days ago. We were having some discussions (which turned a bit heated), but later things calmed down.

Chatting in a Mastodon network thread, I mentioned the situation reminded me a lot of my days in the BBS world; where I started in computers, dial-up modems, and the network I was soon participating in – called FidoNet. The conversation went as follows: <!—more—>

Brings memories of sysops battling it out on our local FidoNet network!!

Time goes on, humanity continues.

Fediverse is indeed quite similar to the wonderful pioneer that Fidonet was. Way before internet was accessible to the masses.

@anarchiv : as a part of the unthinking masses, I don't know what that is.

Fidonet? it was a network formed by independant system operators (sysops for short) in the days of BBSes (Bulletin Board Systems) being the only computers you could reach and connect to from home.

We only had dial up lines, but it was amazing to dial up and connect to a place with information, software for download, online games. All of this for free in most cases.

People operated those as a hobby, all of them loved computing. It attracted similar people, which is how I joined. 1992.

I will write a blog post or more about it soon, there's so many good stories and similarities to the Fediverse. It felt immediately similar when I joined here.

Even the brawling with other sysops, who sometimes we didn't like, we did that as well, lol.

Great fun to be had, lots of coffee was consumed, talks went late into the night.

The network was worldwide, and sent international mail via phone calls. Data lines? not available at the time.

Memories...

Another conversation mentioned Fidonet on our Local instance chats.

I have been seeing and feeling many similarities between the fediverse and my first experience with networking, way back in the early 90s.

Back then, all we had were BBSes, phone lines and 2400 bps modems, but there was an international network linking many of them already – FidoNet.

FidoNet had as one of its core principles something similar to your approach here:

  • Thou Shall not be Annoying. immediately followed by :
  • Thou Shall not be Easily Annoyed.
    Words of wisdom to live by!

@freemo : I started on the BBS dialup days as well. The connected network between them was just coming around at the time.

Did you play the Doors games like LOTRD?

Yes, I did play some of the games. Sometimes you had to be waiting to be able to connect, as in most cases there was only one phone line. People had fun running a BBS in a spare computer, and we could get software galore, when there was no Internet access to the public, which only came later (about 1995 or so here in Canada).

Watching the dialing, the link negotiation between the modems, seeing the ASCII art load, it was so much fun.

@freemo : The good ol' days :)

From those pioneer days, fast forward 25 years — And now we have online, free streaming video of the nice “BBS – The Documentary” series, by Jason Scott.

The full series is on Qoto Peertube; see a playlist with all 8 episodes here. If you want to see the FidoNet episode, part 4, it's here.

Synopsis from DVD version :

From the DocuWiki page for this series, we have the full synopsis :

Long before the Internet escaped from the lab, connected the planet and redefined what it meant to use a computer there was a brave and pioneering band of computer users who spent their time, money and sanity setting up their home computers and phone lines to welcome anyone who called. By using a modem, anyone else who knew the phone number of these computers could connect to them, leave messages, send and recieve files.... and millions did.

They called these places “Bulletin Board Systems”, or BBSes. And their collections of messages, rants, thoughts and dreams became the way that an entire generation learned about being online. When the Internet grew in popularity in the early 1990s, the world of the BBS faded, changed, and became a part of the present networked world.. but it wasn't the same.

Get your own copies :

Jason Scott has released the original DVDs to the Internet Archive, and anyone interested can watch online, download individual episodes — or the 3 DVD ISO images here.

Our PeerTube videos are better quality, a DVD rip by MVGroup.org and released in Bit Torrent and eMule networks (free user registration, login required).

References :

a. BBS systems :

A Bulletin Board System or BBS (once called Computer Bulletin Board Service, CBBS[1]) is a computer server running software that allows users to connect to the system using a terminal program. Once logged in, the user can perform functions such as uploading and downloading software and data, reading news and bulletins, and exchanging messages with other users through public message boards and sometimes via direct chatting. In the early 1980s, message networks such as FidoNet sprung up to provide services such as NetMail, which is similar to email. Wikipedia page

b. FidoNet computer network :

FidoNet is a worldwide computer network that is used for communication between bulletin board systems (BBSes). It uses a store-and-forward system to exchange private (email) and public (forum) messages between the BBSes in the network, as well as other files and protocols in some cases. Wikipedia page

c. Dial-Up Networking :

Dial-up Internet access is a form of Internet access that uses the facilities of the public switched telephone network (PSTN) to establish a connection to an Internet service provider (ISP) by dialing a telephone number on a conventional telephone line. Dial-up connections use modems to decode audio signals into data to send to a router or computer, and to encode signals from the latter two devices to send to another modem. Wikipedia page Dial up modem sounds Dial up video (26 secs)

#modem #DialUp #networking #Retro #Computing

Follow Blog via your Fediverse/Mastodon account :

@rgx@write.tedomum.net

This page created entirely in MarkDown language. Thank you for reading, feel free to comment about this post – reach me at my Writer's Lounge.

R.G. @rgx@muensterland.social ^—top of page

]]> https://write.tedomum.net/rgx/the-fediverse-reminds-me-so-much-of-fidonet Thu, 02 Jan 2020 01:24:31 +0000 Story Time : How I got started in Computer Networking https://write.tedomum.net/rgx/story-time-how-i-got-started-in-computer-networking <![CDATA[image|690x389,75% ----- Reaching out, Connecting. A modem was the only available way to reach out and connect to other computer systems in the early 90's. They were not cheap, but the allure of finding out what was out there was enticing. You saved, until you could get one. My first modem was an US Robotics Courier 2400 bps, internal model. Purchased it in a company liquidation sale, new in a sealed box. I had to learn VERY quickly of all the intricacies of IRQs, Com port addresses and default assigned IRQs, Jumper settings to change those. \!--more-- And -- even when perfectly configured for a Com 2, IRQ 3 (I think it was, been a long time), it did not work well at all. More troubleshooting, and it was the beginning of my learning of many aspects of PC technology. Fast forward 5 years and I was teaching a Computer Repairs class, all from what I learned on my own, struggling but persevering and getting things working in the end. Loved it, specially when things were working well! Turns out, the modem problem wasn't the modem, or any ports on the ISA expansion card this system had. It was the mouse, a Logitech bus mouse with its own ISA controller card, which had been set by jumpers to use IRQ 3, the one I wanted, default for Com2 serial ports. Once I figured that, a Jumper change and it moved to IRQ 5; no more conflicts. And my adventures in the BBS world started. Becoming an active member of FidoNet was the next phase. Listen the Dial up modem connection sounds or see a Dial up connection video (26 secs) Internet? that took about 4 years before I could get access, when joining a University. NO consumer internet existed at the time, it only became more common later, 1996-7 or so. ----- Joining the internet in the mid 90s: My first access to the internet was via an academic server, running Irix on a Silicon Graphics machine. They were pretty, with some purple details and very modern design. We low grade users did not have physical access of course, but the Irix command line was quite enjoyable. See the Joining the internet in the mid 90s post for the continuation of this story. ----- References and Notes : a. US Robotics Courier Modems : U.S. Robotics Corporation, often called USR, is a company that produces USRobotics computer modems and related products. Its initial marketing was aimed at bulletin board systems, where its high-speed HST protocol made FidoNet transfers much faster, and thus less costly. During the 1990s it became a major consumer brand with its Sportster line. The company had a reputation for high quality and support for the latest communications standards as they emerged. Wikipedia page Company page Gadgets we miss : Medium b. Jumpers : In electronics and particularly computing, a jumper is a short length of conductor used to close, open or bypass part of an electronic circuit. They are typically used to set up or configure printed circuit boards, such as the motherboards of computers. The process of setting a jumper is often called strapping. Wikipedia page) Jumper Images at Wikipedia #/media/File:AssortedElectronicJumpers.jpg) c. Comm Ports - Serial Ports : In computing, a serial port is a serial communication interface through which information transfers in or out sequentially one bit at a time.[1] This is in contrast to a parallel port which communicates multiple bits simultaneously in parallel. Throughout most of the history of personal computers, data was transferred through serial ports to devices such as modems, terminals, and various peripherals. While such interfaces as Ethernet, FireWire, and USB all send data as a serial stream, the term serial port usually identifies hardware compliant to the RS-232 standard or similar and intended to interface with a modem or with a similar communication device. Wikipedia page d. IRQs - Interrupt Request : In digital computers, an interrupt is an input signal to the processor indicating an event that needs immediate attention. An interrupt signal alerts the processor and serves as a request for the processor to interrupt the currently executing code, so that the event can be processed in a timely manner. If the request is accepted, the processor responds by suspending its current activities, saving its state, and executing a function called an interrupt handler (or an interrupt service routine, ISR) to deal with the event. This interruption is temporary, and, unless the interrupt indicates a fatal error, the processor resumes normal activities after the interrupt handler finishes.[1] Interrupts are commonly used by hardware devices to indicate electronic or physical state changes that require attention. Interrupts are also commonly used to implement computer multitasking, especially in real-time computing. Systems that use interrupts in these ways are said to be interrupt-driven.[2] Wikipedia page e. ISA expansion bus : Industry Standard Architecture (ISA) is the 16-bit internal bus of IBM PC/AT and similar computers based on the Intel 80286 and its immediate successors during the 1980s. The bus was (largely) backward compatible with the 8-bit bus of the 8088-based IBM PC, including the IBM PC/XT as well as IBM PC compatibles. Originally referred to as the PC/AT-bus, it was also termed I/O Channel by IBM. The ISA term was coined as a retronym by competing PC-clone manufacturers in the late 1980s or early 1990s as a reaction to IBM attempts to replace the AT-bus with its new and incompatible Micro Channel architecture. Wikipedia page f. Bus mouse and adapter card : In computer architecture, a bus[1] (a contraction of the Latin omnibus) is a communication system that transfers data between components inside a computer, or between computers. This expression covers all related hardware components (wire, optical fiber, etc.) and software, including communication protocols.[2] Early computer buses were parallel electrical wires with multiple hardware connections, but the term is now used for any physical arrangement that provides the same logical function as a parallel electrical bus. Modern computer buses can use both parallel and bit serial connections, and can be wired in either a multidrop (electrical parallel) or daisy chain topology, or connected by switched hubs, as in the case of USB. Wikipedia page) e. Dial-Up Networking : Dial-up Internet access is a form of Internet access that uses the facilities of the public switched telephone network (PSTN) to establish a connection to an Internet service provider (ISP) by dialing a telephone number on a conventional telephone line. Dial-up connections use modems to decode audio signals into data to send to a router or computer, and to encode signals from the latter two devices to send to another modem. Wikipedia page Dial up modem sounds Dial up video (26 secs) f. BBS systems : A Bulletin Board System or BBS (once called Computer Bulletin Board Service, CBBS[1]) is a computer server running software that allows users to connect to the system using a terminal program. Once logged in, the user can perform functions such as uploading and downloading software and data, reading news and bulletins, and exchanging messages with other users through public message boards and sometimes via direct chatting. In the early 1980s, message networks such as FidoNet sprung up to provide services such as NetMail, which is similar to email. Wikipedia page g. FidoNet computer network : FidoNet is a worldwide computer network that is used for communication between bulletin board systems (BBSes). It uses a store-and-forward system to exchange private (email) and public (forum) messages between the BBSes in the network, as well as other files and protocols in some cases. The FidoNet system was based on a number of small interacting programs. Only one of these interacted with the BBS system directly and was the only portion that had to be ported to support other BBS software. This greatly eased porting, and FidoNet was one of the few networks that was widely supported by almost all BBS software, as well as a number of non-BBS online services. Wikipedia page #modem #DialUp #networking #IRQ #Retro #Computing #hobby #PCtech ----- Follow Blog via your Fediverse/Mastodon account : @rgx@write.tedomum.net This page created entirely in MarkDown language. Thank you for reading, feel free to comment about this post - reach me at my Writer's Lounge. R.G. @rgx@muensterland.social ^--top of page]]> image|690x389,75%

Reaching out, Connecting.

A modem was the only available way to reach out and connect to other computer systems in the early 90's. They were not cheap, but the allure of finding out what was out there was enticing. You saved, until you could get one.

My first modem was an US Robotics Courier 2400 bps, internal model. Purchased it in a company liquidation sale, new in a sealed box.

I had to learn VERY quickly of all the intricacies of IRQs, Com port addresses and default assigned IRQs, Jumper settings to change those. <!—more—>

And — even when perfectly configured for a Com 2, IRQ 3 (I think it was, been a long time), it did not work well at all.

More troubleshooting, and it was the beginning of my learning of many aspects of PC technology. Fast forward 5 years and I was teaching a Computer Repairs class, all from what I learned on my own, struggling but persevering and getting things working in the end.

Loved it, specially when things were working well!

Turns out, the modem problem wasn't the modem, or any ports on the ISA expansion card this system had. It was the mouse, a Logitech bus mouse with its own ISA controller card, which had been set by jumpers to use IRQ 3, the one I wanted, default for Com2 serial ports.

Once I figured that, a Jumper change and it moved to IRQ 5; no more conflicts.

And my adventures in the BBS world started. Becoming an active member of FidoNet was the next phase.

Internet? that took about 4 years before I could get access, when joining a University. NO consumer internet existed at the time, it only became more common later, 1996-7 or so.

Joining the internet in the mid 90s:

My first access to the internet was via an academic server, running Irix on a Silicon Graphics machine. They were pretty, with some purple details and very modern design. We low grade users did not have physical access of course, but the Irix command line was quite enjoyable.

See the Joining the internet in the mid 90s post for the continuation of this story.

References and Notes :

a. US Robotics Courier Modems :

U.S. Robotics Corporation, often called USR, is a company that produces USRobotics computer modems and related products. Its initial marketing was aimed at bulletin board systems, where its high-speed HST protocol made FidoNet transfers much faster, and thus less costly. During the 1990s it became a major consumer brand with its Sportster line. The company had a reputation for high quality and support for the latest communications standards as they emerged. Wikipedia page Company page Gadgets we miss : Medium

b. Jumpers :

In electronics and particularly computing, a jumper is a short length of conductor used to close, open or bypass part of an electronic circuit. They are typically used to set up or configure printed circuit boards, such as the motherboards of computers. The process of setting a jumper is often called strapping. Wikipedia page Jumper Images at Wikipedia

c. Comm Ports – Serial Ports :

In computing, a serial port is a serial communication interface through which information transfers in or out sequentially one bit at a time.[1] This is in contrast to a parallel port which communicates multiple bits simultaneously in parallel. Throughout most of the history of personal computers, data was transferred through serial ports to devices such as modems, terminals, and various peripherals.

While such interfaces as Ethernet, FireWire, and USB all send data as a serial stream, the term serial port usually identifies hardware compliant to the RS-232 standard or similar and intended to interface with a modem or with a similar communication device.

Wikipedia page

d. IRQs – Interrupt Request :

In digital computers, an interrupt is an input signal to the processor indicating an event that needs immediate attention. An interrupt signal alerts the processor and serves as a request for the processor to interrupt the currently executing code, so that the event can be processed in a timely manner. If the request is accepted, the processor responds by suspending its current activities, saving its state, and executing a function called an interrupt handler (or an interrupt service routine, ISR) to deal with the event. This interruption is temporary, and, unless the interrupt indicates a fatal error, the processor resumes normal activities after the interrupt handler finishes.[1]

Interrupts are commonly used by hardware devices to indicate electronic or physical state changes that require attention. Interrupts are also commonly used to implement computer multitasking, especially in real-time computing. Systems that use interrupts in these ways are said to be interrupt-driven.[2]

Wikipedia page

e. ISA expansion bus :

Industry Standard Architecture (ISA) is the 16-bit internal bus of IBM PC/AT and similar computers based on the Intel 80286 and its immediate successors during the 1980s. The bus was (largely) backward compatible with the 8-bit bus of the 8088-based IBM PC, including the IBM PC/XT as well as IBM PC compatibles.

Originally referred to as the PC/AT-bus, it was also termed I/O Channel by IBM. The ISA term was coined as a retronym by competing PC-clone manufacturers in the late 1980s or early 1990s as a reaction to IBM attempts to replace the AT-bus with its new and incompatible Micro Channel architecture.

Wikipedia page

f. Bus mouse and adapter card :

In computer architecture, a bus[1] (a contraction of the Latin omnibus) is a communication system that transfers data between components inside a computer, or between computers. This expression covers all related hardware components (wire, optical fiber, etc.) and software, including communication protocols.[2]

Early computer buses were parallel electrical wires with multiple hardware connections, but the term is now used for any physical arrangement that provides the same logical function as a parallel electrical bus. Modern computer buses can use both parallel and bit serial connections, and can be wired in either a multidrop (electrical parallel) or daisy chain topology, or connected by switched hubs, as in the case of USB. Wikipedia page

e. Dial-Up Networking :

Dial-up Internet access is a form of Internet access that uses the facilities of the public switched telephone network (PSTN) to establish a connection to an Internet service provider (ISP) by dialing a telephone number on a conventional telephone line. Dial-up connections use modems to decode audio signals into data to send to a router or computer, and to encode signals from the latter two devices to send to another modem. Wikipedia page Dial up modem sounds Dial up video (26 secs)

f. BBS systems :

A Bulletin Board System or BBS (once called Computer Bulletin Board Service, CBBS[1]) is a computer server running software that allows users to connect to the system using a terminal program. Once logged in, the user can perform functions such as uploading and downloading software and data, reading news and bulletins, and exchanging messages with other users through public message boards and sometimes via direct chatting. In the early 1980s, message networks such as FidoNet sprung up to provide services such as NetMail, which is similar to email. Wikipedia page

g. FidoNet computer network :

FidoNet is a worldwide computer network that is used for communication between bulletin board systems (BBSes). It uses a store-and-forward system to exchange private (email) and public (forum) messages between the BBSes in the network, as well as other files and protocols in some cases.

The FidoNet system was based on a number of small interacting programs. Only one of these interacted with the BBS system directly and was the only portion that had to be ported to support other BBS software. This greatly eased porting, and FidoNet was one of the few networks that was widely supported by almost all BBS software, as well as a number of non-BBS online services. Wikipedia page

#modem #DialUp #networking #IRQ #Retro #Computing #hobby #PCtech

Follow Blog via your Fediverse/Mastodon account :

@rgx@write.tedomum.net

This page created entirely in MarkDown language. Thank you for reading, feel free to comment about this post – reach me at my Writer's Lounge.

R.G. @rgx@muensterland.social ^—top of page

]]> https://write.tedomum.net/rgx/story-time-how-i-got-started-in-computer-networking Mon, 16 Dec 2019 13:37:44 +0000