Let is be knownst that on Tue, 13 Feb 2007 11:59:03 +0100, Martin
<[email protected]> writted:

>On Tue, 13 Feb 2007 11:53:11 +0100, Deeply Filled Mortician
><deepfreudmoors@eITmISaACTUALLYiREAL!l.nu> wrote:
>
>>Let is be knownst that on Tue, 13 Feb 2007 01:09:23 +0100, Martin
>><[email protected]> writted:
>>
>>>On Tue, 13 Feb 2007 00:53:35 +0100, Deeply Filled Mortician
>>><deepfreudmoors@eITmISaACTUALLYiREAL!l.nu> wrote:
>>
>>>> and quickly
>>>>moved onto a TRS80. It's amazing what was impressive back then.
>>>
>>>What was impressive was what one could do with 8K words of memory and no disk of
>>>any sort 40 years ago, like test and control a satellite.
>>
>>Most importantly it had an excellent version of Basic, plus a good
>>manual on how to write it. Much better than the C64, even if the
>>latter was a better machine.
>
>What did you get with your PDP11?

A sore back!

Actually, it was used for some medical purpose, and when it was thrown
away, I decided it would be cool to have. I achieved absolutely
nothing with it, even after trawling through a heap of manuals.
Couldn't even get Hello World to work!
--
---
DFM - http://www.deepfriedmars.com
---
--

On Tue, 13 Feb 2007 14:00:06 +0100, Deeply Filled Mortician
<deepfreudmoors@eITmISaACTUALLYiREAL!l.nu> wrote:

>Let is be knownst that on Tue, 13 Feb 2007 11:59:03 +0100, Martin
><[email protected]> writted:
>
>>On Tue, 13 Feb 2007 11:53:11 +0100, Deeply Filled Mortician
>><deepfreudmoors@eITmISaACTUALLYiREAL!l.nu> wrote:
>>
>>>Let is be knownst that on Tue, 13 Feb 2007 01:09:23 +0100, Martin
>>><[email protected]> writted:
>>>
>>>>On Tue, 13 Feb 2007 00:53:35 +0100, Deeply Filled Mortician
>>>><deepfreudmoors@eITmISaACTUALLYiREAL!l.nu> wrote:
>>>
>>>>> and quickly
>>>>>moved onto a TRS80. It's amazing what was impressive back then.
>>>>
>>>>What was impressive was what one could do with 8K words of memory and no disk of
>>>>any sort 40 years ago, like test and control a satellite.
>>>
>>>Most importantly it had an excellent version of Basic, plus a good
>>>manual on how to write it. Much better than the C64, even if the
>>>latter was a better machine.
>>
>>What did you get with your PDP11?
>
>A sore back!
>
>Actually, it was used for some medical purpose, and when it was thrown
>away, I decided it would be cool to have. I achieved absolutely
>nothing with it, even after trawling through a heap of manuals.
>Couldn't even get Hello World to work!

Didn't you get an OS and some languages with it?

Many onboard microprocessors used in space and military applications are MIL
Standard 1750 compliant. MIL Standard 1750 specifies in detail the instruction
set of the PDP 11. The ancient LSI 11 was/is also a microprocessor with a PDP11
instruction set. I once worked with a French made computer a Mitra 125 that had
a plotter/printer attached to it. The general comment was that the LSI 11 in the
printer was more powerful than the Mitra.
--

Martin

On 13 feb, 14:01, Martin <[email protected]> wrote:

> Many onboard microprocessors used in space and military applications are MIL
> Standard 1750 compliant. MIL Standard 1750 specifies in detail the instruction
> set of the PDP 11. The ancient LSI 11 was/is also a microprocessor with a PDP11
> instruction set. I once worked with a French made computer a Mitra 125 that had
> a plotter/printer attached to it. The general comment was that the LSI 11 in the
> printer was more powerful than the Mitra.

I heard a similar story when I was working at Embra Univ. Someone
wrote their code in PostScript and ran it on the printer rather than
on a computer.

B;

<[email protected]> wrote:

> On 13 feb, 14:01, Martin <[email protected]> wrote:
>
> > Many onboard microprocessors used in space and military applications are
> > MIL Standard 1750 compliant. MIL Standard 1750 specifies in detail the
> > instruction set of the PDP 11. The ancient LSI 11 was/is also a
> > microprocessor with a PDP11 instruction set. I once worked with a French
> > made computer a Mitra 125 that had a plotter/printer attached to it. The
> > general comment was that the LSI 11 in the printer was more powerful
> > than the Mitra.
>
> I heard a similar story when I was working at Embra Univ. Someone
> wrote their code in PostScript and ran it on the printer rather than
> on a computer.

I knew a composer who typeset his music completely by typing postscript
code- i.e. without an actual notation programme. The results were quite
good. He said it was quite straightforward to do, but I never tried it
myself. He was also Harvard's youngest tenured professor at the time (in
Mathematics) so fair to say he was rather bright!

--
(*) ... of the royal duchy of city south and deansgate
David Horne- http://www.davidhorne.net
(don't email yahoo address) usenet (at) davidhorne (dot) co (dot) uk

On 13 Feb 2007 05:13:20 -0800, [email protected] wrote:

>On 13 feb, 14:01, Martin <[email protected]> wrote:
>
>> Many onboard microprocessors used in space and military applications are MIL
>> Standard 1750 compliant. MIL Standard 1750 specifies in detail the instruction
>> set of the PDP 11. The ancient LSI 11 was/is also a microprocessor with a PDP11
>> instruction set. I once worked with a French made computer a Mitra 125 that had
>> a plotter/printer attached to it. The general comment was that the LSI 11 in the
>> printer was more powerful than the Mitra.
>
>I heard a similar story when I was working at Embra Univ. Someone
>wrote their code in PostScript and ran it on the printer rather than
>on a computer.

This came out in a formal review into the rotten performance of an application
running on the Mitra.
Another oddity it had was that it was faster to multiply or divide than shift
left or right. The compiler was modified to take this into account and an
overall improvement of performance of the application of 2% was measured
--

Martin

On 13 Feb 2007 05:13:20 -0800, [email protected] wrote:

>On 13 feb, 14:01, Martin <[email protected]> wrote:
>
>> Many onboard microprocessors used in space and military applications are MIL
>> Standard 1750 compliant. MIL Standard 1750 specifies in detail the instruction
>> set of the PDP 11. The ancient LSI 11 was/is also a microprocessor with a PDP11
>> instruction set. I once worked with a French made computer a Mitra 125 that had
>> a plotter/printer attached to it. The general comment was that the LSI 11 in the
>> printer was more powerful than the Mitra.
>
>I heard a similar story when I was working at Embra Univ. Someone
>wrote their code in PostScript and ran it on the printer rather than
>on a computer.

Those were the days!
--

Martin

In article <[email protected]>,
deepfreudmoors@eITmISaACTUALLYiREAL!l.nu (Deeply Filled Mortician) wrote:

> *From:* Deeply Filled Mortician
> <deepfreudmoors@eITmISaACTUALLYiREAL!l.nu>
> *Date:* Sun, 11 Feb 2007 23:44:04 +0100
>
> Let is be knownst that on Sun, 11 Feb 2007 19:10:30 +0100, Martin
> <[email protected]> writted:
>
> >On Sun, 11 Feb 2007 18:01:45 +0000, [email protected] (David Horne,
> _the_
> >chancellor (*)) wrote:
> >
> >>Mister Bartlett <[email protected]> wrote:
> >>
> >>> David Horne, _the_ chancellor (*) <[email protected]> wrote:
> >>>
> >>> > Mister Bartlett <[email protected]> wrote:
> >>>
> >>> > > Well, David, now I have your attention, I'll mention that I'm
> > > > having
> >>> > > re-heated rice for dinner tonight (Mrs B being trapped in
> > > > Greece, an'
> >>> > > all) and if I die of food poisoning I'll be holding you
> > > > personally
> >>> > > accountable.
> >>> >
> >>> > You'll live to tell the tale- don't worry!
> >>>
> >>> OK - that's it. And if the rice doesn't do it, the Albert Heijn
> > chicken
> >>> probably will !!
> >>
> >>I had rice with aji de gallina during the week. I'd never made it
> >>before, but I'd had my partner's mother's version of it many times.
> It's
> >>quite a rich spicy chicken stew. Delicious. Probably a good week to
> buy
> >>poultry here, come to think about it!
> >>
> >>We probably have rice with 2 out of 3 meals we cook at home. I've been
> >>having quinoa quite a bit recently though. I must have had leftover
> rice
> >>hundreds of times by now (often at lunchtime the next day) and I don't
> >>think anyone had every told me about the dangers of it until I was
> >>warned about it here!
> >
> >Tell us about quinoa, David. Do AH stock it?
>
> We had a heap of it here, but couldn't figure out just how to make it
> tasty, and it eventually went bad.

Likewise (well, not the going bad bit). I think it's one of those things
that is doomed to sit in the cupboard, at least as long as decent pasta
and rice are available.

<[email protected]> wrote:

[about quinoa]
> Likewise (well, not the going bad bit). I think it's one of those things
> that is doomed to sit in the cupboard, at least as long as decent pasta
> and rice are available.

Well, different tastes, I suppose, but I find that hard to understand.
It's an excellent alternative to rice, and goes with tons of different
things. I served it last night with poussin.

--
(*) ... of the royal duchy of city south and deansgate
David Horne- http://www.davidhorne.net
(don't email yahoo address) usenet (at) davidhorne (dot) co (dot) uk

On Tue, 13 Feb 2007 14:54:48 +0000, [email protected] (David Horne, _the_
chancellor (*)) wrote:

><[email protected]> wrote:
>
>[about quinoa]
>> Likewise (well, not the going bad bit). I think it's one of those things
>> that is doomed to sit in the cupboard, at least as long as decent pasta
>> and rice are available.
>
>Well, different tastes, I suppose, but I find that hard to understand.
>It's an excellent alternative to rice, and goes with tons of different
>things. I served it last night with poussin.

Name dropper :-)
--

Martin

Martin <[email protected]> wrote:

> On Tue, 13 Feb 2007 14:54:48 +0000, [email protected] (David Horne, _the_
> chancellor (*)) wrote:
>
> ><[email protected]> wrote:
> >
> >[about quinoa]
> >> Likewise (well, not the going bad bit). I think it's one of those things
> >> that is doomed to sit in the cupboard, at least as long as decent pasta
> >> and rice are available.
> >
> >Well, different tastes, I suppose, but I find that hard to understand.
> >It's an excellent alternative to rice, and goes with tons of different
> >things. I served it last night with poussin.
>
> Name dropper :-)

It was dinner- not a séance!

--
(*) ... of the royal duchy of city south and deansgate
David Horne- http://www.davidhorne.net
(don't email yahoo address) usenet (at) davidhorne (dot) co (dot) uk

In article <1hthank.a2vab7jdugzoN%[email protected]>, [email protected]
(David Horne, _the_ chancellor (*)) wrote:

> *From:* [email protected] (David Horne, _the_ chancellor (*))
> *Date:* Tue, 13 Feb 2007 14:54:48 +0000
>
> <[email protected]> wrote:
>
> [about quinoa]
> > Likewise (well, not the going bad bit). I think it's one of those
> > things
> > that is doomed to sit in the cupboard, at least as long as decent
> > pasta
> > and rice are available.
>
> Well, different tastes, I suppose, but I find that hard to understand.

Inertia and innate conservatism are to blame, I suspect!

"Deeply Filled Mortician" <deepfreudmoors@eITmISaACTUALLYiREAL!l.nu> wrote
in message news:[email protected]...
> Let is be knownst that on Tue, 13 Feb 2007 11:59:03 +0100, Martin
> <[email protected]> writted:
>
>>On Tue, 13 Feb 2007 11:53:11 +0100, Deeply Filled Mortician
>><deepfreudmoors@eITmISaACTUALLYiREAL!l.nu> wrote:
>>
>>>Let is be knownst that on Tue, 13 Feb 2007 01:09:23 +0100, Martin
>>><[email protected]> writted:
>>>
>>>>On Tue, 13 Feb 2007 00:53:35 +0100, Deeply Filled Mortician
>>>><deepfreudmoors@eITmISaACTUALLYiREAL!l.nu> wrote:
>>>
>>>>> and quickly
>>>>>moved onto a TRS80. It's amazing what was impressive back then.
>>>>
>>>>What was impressive was what one could do with 8K words of memory and no
>>>>disk of
>>>>any sort 40 years ago, like test and control a satellite.
>>>
>>>Most importantly it had an excellent version of Basic, plus a good
>>>manual on how to write it. Much better than the C64, even if the
>>>latter was a better machine.
>>
>>What did you get with your PDP11?
>
> A sore back!
>
> Actually, it was used for some medical purpose, and when it was thrown
> away, I decided it would be cool to have. I achieved absolutely
> nothing with it, even after trawling through a heap of manuals.
> Couldn't even get Hello World to work!
> --
> ---
> DFM - http://www.deepfriedmars.com
> ---
> --

PDP were a hell of a lot more power than any of the TRS 80 machines. You
could write in machine language or run UNIX on them.

On Tue, 13 Feb 2007 20:21:59 GMT, "Calif Bill" <[email protected]> wrote:

>
>"Deeply Filled Mortician" <deepfreudmoors@eITmISaACTUALLYiREAL!l.nu> wrote
>in message news:[email protected]...
>> Let is be knownst that on Tue, 13 Feb 2007 11:59:03 +0100, Martin
>> <[email protected]> writted:
>>
>>>On Tue, 13 Feb 2007 11:53:11 +0100, Deeply Filled Mortician
>>><deepfreudmoors@eITmISaACTUALLYiREAL!l.nu> wrote:
>>>
>>>>Let is be knownst that on Tue, 13 Feb 2007 01:09:23 +0100, Martin
>>>><[email protected]> writted:
>>>>
>>>>>On Tue, 13 Feb 2007 00:53:35 +0100, Deeply Filled Mortician
>>>>><deepfreudmoors@eITmISaACTUALLYiREAL!l.nu> wrote:
>>>>
>>>>>> and quickly
>>>>>>moved onto a TRS80. It's amazing what was impressive back then.
>>>>>
>>>>>What was impressive was what one could do with 8K words of memory and no
>>>>>disk of
>>>>>any sort 40 years ago, like test and control a satellite.
>>>>
>>>>Most importantly it had an excellent version of Basic, plus a good
>>>>manual on how to write it. Much better than the C64, even if the
>>>>latter was a better machine.
>>>
>>>What did you get with your PDP11?
>>
>> A sore back!
>>
>> Actually, it was used for some medical purpose, and when it was thrown
>> away, I decided it would be cool to have. I achieved absolutely
>> nothing with it, even after trawling through a heap of manuals.
>> Couldn't even get Hello World to work!

>PDP were a hell of a lot more power than any of the TRS 80 machines. You
>could write in machine language or run UNIX on them.
>

PDP11s ran half the world.
--

Martin

<[email protected]> wrote:

> In article <1hthank.a2vab7jdugzoN%[email protected]>, [email protected]
> (David Horne, _the_ chancellor (*)) wrote:
>
> > *From:* [email protected] (David Horne, _the_ chancellor (*))
> > *Date:* Tue, 13 Feb 2007 14:54:48 +0000
> >
> > <[email protected]> wrote:
> >
> > [about quinoa]
> > > Likewise (well, not the going bad bit). I think it's one of those
> > > things
> > > that is doomed to sit in the cupboard, at least as long as decent
> > > pasta
> > > and rice are available.
> >
> > Well, different tastes, I suppose, but I find that hard to understand.
>
> Inertia and innate conservatism are to blame, I suspect!

How refreshingly frank! Now may not be the time to mention that the
first time I had quinoa, it was an accompaniment to a tripe dish my
partner prepared. Anyone who thinks tripe's "tripe" really has to try it
this way before condemning it. As someone brought up to think tripe was
bad, I was blown away by this dish, and it wasn't _hiding_ the texture
or taste of the tripe either...

--
(*) ... of the royal duchy of city south and deansgate
David Horne- http://www.davidhorne.net
(don't email yahoo address) usenet (at) davidhorne (dot) co (dot) uk

On Tue, 13 Feb 2007 23:49:49 +0100, Deeply Filled Mortician
<deepfreudmoors@eITmISaACTUALLYiREAL!l.nu> wrote:

>Let is be knownst that on Tue, 13 Feb 2007 14:01:29 +0100, Martin
><[email protected]> writted:
>
>>On Tue, 13 Feb 2007 14:00:06 +0100, Deeply Filled Mortician
>><deepfreudmoors@eITmISaACTUALLYiREAL!l.nu> wrote:
>>
>>>Let is be knownst that on Tue, 13 Feb 2007 11:59:03 +0100, Martin
>>><[email protected]> writted:
>>>
>>>>On Tue, 13 Feb 2007 11:53:11 +0100, Deeply Filled Mortician
>>>><deepfreudmoors@eITmISaACTUALLYiREAL!l.nu> wrote:
>>>>
>>>>>Let is be knownst that on Tue, 13 Feb 2007 01:09:23 +0100, Martin
>>>>><[email protected]> writted:
>>>>>
>>>>>>On Tue, 13 Feb 2007 00:53:35 +0100, Deeply Filled Mortician
>>>>>><deepfreudmoors@eITmISaACTUALLYiREAL!l.nu> wrote:
>>>>>
>>>>>>> and quickly
>>>>>>>moved onto a TRS80. It's amazing what was impressive back then.
>>>>>>
>>>>>>What was impressive was what one could do with 8K words of memory and no disk of
>>>>>>any sort 40 years ago, like test and control a satellite.
>>>>>
>>>>>Most importantly it had an excellent version of Basic, plus a good
>>>>>manual on how to write it. Much better than the C64, even if the
>>>>>latter was a better machine.
>>>>
>>>>What did you get with your PDP11?
>>>
>>>A sore back!
>>>
>>>Actually, it was used for some medical purpose, and when it was thrown
>>>away, I decided it would be cool to have. I achieved absolutely
>>>nothing with it, even after trawling through a heap of manuals.
>>>Couldn't even get Hello World to work!
>>
>>Didn't you get an OS and some languages with it?
>
>IIRC, there was already software on it, but it wasn't documented, and
>was of no interest to me. I tried writing the Hello World thing in
>assembly, but just couldn't get it to work. I was only around 11 at
>the time, and had infinite patience but **** all knowledge. The
>manuals were all slightly water damaged too.
>
>Eventually we dug it back out a couple of years later and got it to
>make a strobe on the screen. After a while, the screen blew, and it
>stayed like that. No idea what ever happened to it.

I never saw anything die as quickly as DEC.
--

Martin