XWord Muggles Forum

On shore!

Well, “Hello!”
Finally on shore! 🏝

Bob cruise director wrote: ↑Sun Jul 12, 2020 1:31 pm

JeanneC wrote: ↑Sun Jul 12, 2020 12:47 pm Got the grid Thursday but still in a trance on the meta.

On another note, I see some references to first computers people owned.

Ours was a Timex Sinclair with a 1K memory module. Traded it in for a rebate on a C64.

...and suddenly I feel old.

Wasn't it amazing what could be done with 1K of memory.

We flew a missile with 8K of memory. I had some great programmers who could wring the most out of coding in machine language.

In another brief and (in retrospect) aberrant life, right after college I was trained and then used Honeywell Easycoder, by/for a government agency in DC. (I think that was a machine language -- that's how limited my time in that field was!) I did meet my husband there and we returned to our roots in New England after a couple of years where I ended up working with little kids, which was much more "me." Mr. Whimsy (it cracks me up to type that because it's so not him!) remained in tech so I had the "luxury" of doing something I loved without us having to live in the poorhouse!

During that short career we also used punch cards, and now when I've had to ask millennial daughter how to do something on the computer, I remind myself that I was once smart enough to go in and change zeroes to ones and vice-versa!
And somewhere in a box of old memorabilia I'm pretty sure I still have a short stack of cards that when "duped" plays "Jingle Bells"!

802puzzler wrote: ↑Sun Jul 12, 2020 7:05 pm

Geoduck wrote: ↑Sat Jul 11, 2020 4:31 pm Ashore! I found the first step right away, but it took some time to notice step 2.

I wonder who will be the first to post the obvious music video this one inspires?

You're killing me! I too found the first step right away, but my second step is NOT bringing to mind a music video! LOL

I'll post it if I remember (and am up) at midnight -- unless someone else does so first!

steveb wrote: ↑Sun Jul 12, 2020 6:33 pm

hcbirker wrote: ↑Sat Jul 11, 2020 4:36 pm

MajordomoTom wrote: ↑Sat Jul 11, 2020 2:31 pm PINEAPPLE WARS???

WE'RE GOING TO START PINEAPPLE WARS???

OK, I strongly disagree - a Roundtable Pizza (Hawaii and California chain), Canadian Bacon, Pineapple, Red Bell Peppers - YES!!!

I grew up in Palo Alto and we would go to the original Round Table. So much better than the chain, but the chain is pretty good, too.

The one on El Camino in Menlo Park! It's still there, one of the few things in town that hasn't changed much since 1959.

I have great memories of that place!

whimsy wrote: ↑Sun Jul 12, 2020 7:38 pm

Bob cruise director wrote: ↑Sun Jul 12, 2020 1:31 pm

JeanneC wrote: ↑Sun Jul 12, 2020 12:47 pm Got the grid Thursday but still in a trance on the meta.

On another note, I see some references to first computers people owned.

Ours was a Timex Sinclair with a 1K memory module. Traded it in for a rebate on a C64.

...and suddenly I feel old.

Wasn't it amazing what could be done with 1K of memory.

We flew a missile with 8K of memory. I had some great programmers who could wring the most out of coding in machine language.

In another brief and (in retrospect) aberrant life, right after college I was trained and then used Honeywell Easycoder, by/for a government agency in DC. (I think that was a machine language -- that's how limited my time in that field was!) I did meet my husband there and we returned to our roots in New England after a couple of years where I ended up working with little kids, which was much more "me." Mr. Whimsy (it cracks me up to type that because it's so not him!) remained in tech so I had the "luxury" of doing something I loved without us having to live in the poorhouse!

During that short career we also used punch cards, and now when I've had to ask millennial daughter how to do something on the computer, I remind myself that I was once smart enough to go in and change zeroes to ones and vice-versa!
And somewhere in a box of old memorabilia I'm pretty sure I still have a short stack of cards that when "duped" plays "Jingle Bells"!

My first job out of college (the first time -- when I dropped out...) I worked for a company that made ESCA system. Our spectroscopes were controlled by a DEC PDP-[something] minicomputer. (I think [something] = 11, but I'm not sure.) We programmed them in octal using toggle switches arranged in groups of 3. (2X2X2 = 8)

Does that count as machine language?

Geoduck wrote: ↑Sun Jul 12, 2020 7:57 pm

whimsy wrote: ↑Sun Jul 12, 2020 7:38 pm

Bob cruise director wrote: ↑Sun Jul 12, 2020 1:31 pm

Wasn't it amazing what could be done with 1K of memory.

We flew a missile with 8K of memory. I had some great programmers who could wring the most out of coding in machine language.

In another brief and (in retrospect) aberrant life, right after college I was trained and then used Honeywell Easycoder, by/for a government agency in DC. (I think that was a machine language -- that's how limited my time in that field was!) I did meet my husband there and we returned to our roots in New England after a couple of years where I ended up working with little kids, which was much more "me." Mr. Whimsy (it cracks me up to type that because it's so not him!) remained in tech so I had the "luxury" of doing something I loved without us having to live in the poorhouse!

During that short career we also used punch cards, and now when I've had to ask millennial daughter how to do something on the computer, I remind myself that I was once smart enough to go in and change zeroes to ones and vice-versa!
And somewhere in a box of old memorabilia I'm pretty sure I still have a short stack of cards that when "duped" plays "Jingle Bells"!

My first job out of college (the first time -- when I dropped out...) I worked for a company that made ESCA system. Our spectroscopes were controlled by a DEC PDP-[something] minicomputer. (I think [something] = 11, but I'm not sure.) We programmed them in octal using toggle switches arranged in groups of 3. (2X2X2 = 8)

Does that count as machine language?

The computer looked a lot like this -- and the time frame is right. I think it was a PDP-11 almost for sure.



https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PDP-11

Ashore with a shove. Not my favorite meta! But I respect the thought that went into it. Mike never fails to impress

Sorry I missed the RoundTable pizza discussion, but count me on the boat with Isaac. Not enough time to get back to it after filling in the grid.

Best of luck to those that got it.

Have loved spreadsheets since ‘81. Visicalc on original PC (5.25floppy). Anybody remember 20/20? Used to sell that spreadsheet to mainframe, minicomputer and microcomputer users of all ilk. IBM, SperryRand, DEC, DG, Wang, Prime, you name it. Lugged a Compaq suitcase with Lotus 1-2-3 home after work to get through B-school at night. Pretty good macro writer. But I digress.
Pineapple on pizza is an abomination.

whimsy wrote: ↑Sun Jul 12, 2020 7:38 pm

Bob cruise director wrote: ↑Sun Jul 12, 2020 1:31 pm

JeanneC wrote: ↑Sun Jul 12, 2020 12:47 pm Got the grid Thursday but still in a trance on the meta.

On another note, I see some references to first computers people owned.

Ours was a Timex Sinclair with a 1K memory module. Traded it in for a rebate on a C64.

...and suddenly I feel old.

Wasn't it amazing what could be done with 1K of memory.

We flew a missile with 8K of memory. I had some great programmers who could wring the most out of coding in machine language.

In another brief and (in retrospect) aberrant life, right after college I was trained and then used Honeywell Easycoder, by/for a government agency in DC. (I think that was a machine language -- that's how limited my time in that field was!) I did meet my husband there and we returned to our roots in New England after a couple of years where I ended up working with little kids, which was much more "me." Mr. Whimsy (it cracks me up to type that because it's so not him!) remained in tech so I had the "luxury" of doing something I loved without us having to live in the poorhouse!

During that short career we also used punch cards, and now when I've had to ask millennial daughter how to do something on the computer, I remind myself that I was once smart enough to go in and change zeroes to ones and vice-versa!
And somewhere in a box of old memorabilia I'm pretty sure I still have a short stack of cards that when "duped" plays "Jingle Bells"!

I’m so old that when I was on the “cutting edge” of punch cards in college, I submitted my cards to the ONE center that could run them. And then I waited, sometimes hours, to go back and find out if the program worked or not!

Late to the party, but my first computer was an Apple IIc (or possibly IIe) in about 8th grade. 5-1/4'' floppy drive, dot-matrix printer with the continuous-feed paper that you tear the edges off. Loved that computer. For college my parents got me a Brother word processor, which was this kind of amazingly ridiculous thing the size of a small suitcase which had a tiny green screen for about 10 lines of text, a 3-1/2'' floppy drive, and a typewriter-style printer which took like 20 minutes to loudly print a 6-page paper. As it turned out, college had things like "computer clusters" with "workstations" and "laser printers" so it didn't get much use. My first job post-college was working for DEC in 1994, in the about-to-be-defunct workstations group, but it was fun while it lasted.

I don't really object to pineapple on pizza, but it's not my favorite. Still, I'll take a good Hawaiian pizza over abominations like barbecue chicken! My favorite type of pizza is plain cheese, and second is onions/green peppers/olives, but I almost never get to have those, because anyone I ever have pizza with prefers sausage and pepperoni (which is fine too).

whimsy wrote: ↑Sun Jul 12, 2020 7:38 pm

Bob cruise director wrote: ↑Sun Jul 12, 2020 1:31 pm

JeanneC wrote: ↑Sun Jul 12, 2020 12:47 pm Got the grid Thursday but still in a trance on the meta.

On another note, I see some references to first computers people owned.

Ours was a Timex Sinclair with a 1K memory module. Traded it in for a rebate on a C64.

...and suddenly I feel old.

Wasn't it amazing what could be done with 1K of memory.

We flew a missile with 8K of memory. I had some great programmers who could wring the most out of coding in machine language.

In another brief and (in retrospect) aberrant life, right after college I was trained and then used Honeywell Easycoder, by/for a government agency in DC. (I think that was a machine language -- that's how limited my time in that field was!) I did meet my husband there and we returned to our roots in New England after a couple of years where I ended up working with little kids, which was much more "me." Mr. Whimsy (it cracks me up to type that because it's so not him!) remained in tech so I had the "luxury" of doing something I loved without us having to live in the poorhouse!

During that short career we also used punch cards, and now when I've had to ask millennial daughter how to do something on the computer, I remind myself that I was once smart enough to go in and change zeroes to ones and vice-versa!
And somewhere in a box of old memorabilia I'm pretty sure I still have a short stack of cards that when "duped" plays "Jingle Bells"!

I love it

Brings back a lot of memories

Swam ashore earlier today after a busy weekend with various commitments as well as a new kitten in our house whose name is Ivan, but who we refer to as the "evil demon". I liked this meta a lot.

ImOnToo wrote: ↑Sun Jul 12, 2020 8:59 pm

whimsy wrote: ↑Sun Jul 12, 2020 7:38 pm

Bob cruise director wrote: ↑Sun Jul 12, 2020 1:31 pm

Wasn't it amazing what could be done with 1K of memory.

We flew a missile with 8K of memory. I had some great programmers who could wring the most out of coding in machine language.

In another brief and (in retrospect) aberrant life, right after college I was trained and then used Honeywell Easycoder, by/for a government agency in DC. (I think that was a machine language -- that's how limited my time in that field was!) I did meet my husband there and we returned to our roots in New England after a couple of years where I ended up working with little kids, which was much more "me." Mr. Whimsy (it cracks me up to type that because it's so not him!) remained in tech so I had the "luxury" of doing something I loved without us having to live in the poorhouse!

During that short career we also used punch cards, and now when I've had to ask millennial daughter how to do something on the computer, I remind myself that I was once smart enough to go in and change zeroes to ones and vice-versa!
And somewhere in a box of old memorabilia I'm pretty sure I still have a short stack of cards that when "duped" plays "Jingle Bells"!

I’m so old that when I was on the “cutting edge” of punch cards in college, I submitted my cards to the ONE center that could run them. And then I waited, sometimes hours, to go back and find out if the program worked or not!

And you would go back and find one of three things
1) one card was in the wrong place and it would not run so you got one page back
2) one card was in the wrong place and it printed out dozens of sheets of paper until the system operator terminated your program
3) they dropped your deck and you have to sort through 100+ cards to get them in the right order

Love it

Bob cruise director wrote: ↑Sun Jul 12, 2020 9:16 pm

ImOnToo wrote: ↑Sun Jul 12, 2020 8:59 pm

whimsy wrote: ↑Sun Jul 12, 2020 7:38 pm

In another brief and (in retrospect) aberrant life, right after college I was trained and then used Honeywell Easycoder, by/for a government agency in DC. (I think that was a machine language -- that's how limited my time in that field was!) I did meet my husband there and we returned to our roots in New England after a couple of years where I ended up working with little kids, which was much more "me." Mr. Whimsy (it cracks me up to type that because it's so not him!) remained in tech so I had the "luxury" of doing something I loved without us having to live in the poorhouse!

During that short career we also used punch cards, and now when I've had to ask millennial daughter how to do something on the computer, I remind myself that I was once smart enough to go in and change zeroes to ones and vice-versa!
And somewhere in a box of old memorabilia I'm pretty sure I still have a short stack of cards that when "duped" plays "Jingle Bells"!

I’m so old that when I was on the “cutting edge” of punch cards in college, I submitted my cards to the ONE center that could run them. And then I waited, sometimes hours, to go back and find out if the program worked or not!

And you would go back and find one of three things
1) one card was in the wrong place and it would not run so you got one page back
2) one card was in the wrong place and it printed out dozens of sheets of paper until the system operator terminated your program
3) they dropped your deck and you have to sort through 100+ cards to get them in the right order

Love it

Spot on!
I just had a mini flashback/anxiety attack!

Our final report

First - this is the only place in the world where you can have simultaneously have discussions on ship/shore, the pros and cons of pineapples on pizza and history lessons on old computers back to the 60's and 70's with sidebars on reversible words thrown in for good measure. I love it.

A lot of activity for Sunday. We have 17 on the ship and 137 on the shore.

Since noon, Schmeel, Guy L, Tom S and 802puzzler went to the bar, grabbed drinks and started a bridge game.

And swimming, slogging and getting to shore in a wide variety of ways were
JeanneC
Nalugirl
Paul D
Domenic
Eric P
Peter Abide
Bird Lives
Doug C
Jeremy
AnnP
phoger
jb321123
rexthree
emmajane
Fkelly
the Thurman8er
edot
OGuyDave
debbie
and ImOnToo


Good luck to all. I may be on the Tuesday night phone call depending on when the beekeeper comes to our house. But, as they say, that is a tale for another day.

Should I even bother saying I'm late to the party anymore? Though I'm still on the ship anyway.

debbierudy wrote: ↑Sun Jul 12, 2020 9:14 pm Swam ashore earlier today after a busy weekend with various commitments as well as a new kitten in our house whose name is Ivan, but who we refer to as the "evil demon". I liked this meta a lot.

Ivan the Terrible?

Flamel616 wrote: ↑Sun Jul 12, 2020 9:56 pm Should I even bother saying I'm late to the party anymore? Though I'm still on the ship anyway.

Usually I go back on Monday to add in changes after I go to bed