Path: csiph.com!eternal-september.org!feeder3.eternal-september.org!news.eternal-september.org!.POSTED!not-for-mail From: Don_from_AZ Newsgroups: comp.os.linux.misc Subject: Re: Still Going - IRS Still Using JFK-Era Computers Date: Tue, 20 Aug 2024 07:47:18 -0700 Organization: A noiseless patient Spider Lines: 39 Message-ID: <871q2jgsjt.fsf@comcast.net.invalid> References: <87frr1yhoq.fsf@comcast.net.invalid> <28CcnbtdDLAoiVn7nZ2dnZfqnPSdnZ2d@earthlink.com> MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain Injection-Date: Tue, 20 Aug 2024 16:47:18 +0200 (CEST) Injection-Info: dont-email.me; posting-host="5a3ddda29f570c0b5b766bccbf81930c"; logging-data="3586973"; mail-complaints-to="abuse@eternal-september.org"; posting-account="U2FsdGVkX199NlbdHxyqieJri4nf4qBqinG+mbCHeGw=" User-Agent: Gnus/5.13 (Gnus v5.13) Cancel-Lock: sha1:OpYJN4zydjbwj6C3J4Y0zpsRJYc= sha1:c35NOvMx3zqUd6uhNFmYBO6zoYg= Xref: csiph.com comp.os.linux.misc:58074 rbowman writes: > On Mon, 19 Aug 2024 23:59:48 -0400, 186282@ud0s4.net wrote: > >> On 8/18/24 11:27 AM, Don_from_AZ wrote: >>> I was at RPI from '64 to '68 working on my BSEE. Took that FORTRAN >>> class. Code your program on coding sheets, punch it onto cards, put the >>> cards into the bin for processing, come back later for the printout. I >>> remember a sign on the input bin to remind you how the cards had to be >>> oriented: 'TOPLEFUP' (top left, face up). Ah, those were the days! >> >> >> HA ! Boy does THAT seem familiar !!! :-) >> >> Didn't hurt to bring gifts for the guys in charge of the 'bin' either >> ... they'd do your cards first. >> >> The gods in the freezing-cold room with all the real hardware ... you >> never got to talk to them. > > The computer building was the only place at RPI that I remember having A/ > C. It was new compared to everything else. Eventually the computers were > moved to a chapel which is fitting in a 'A Canticle for Leibowitz' sort of > way. > > https://archives.rpi.edu/institute-history/building-histories/chapel- > voorhees-computing-center Maybe during the summer sessions air conditioning was useful, but most of the year in Troy what you needed was HEAT! For a couple of years I lived down on River St and had to walk up the hill past West Hall and clear to the other side of campus to work at the Freshman dining hall for breakfast at about 6 AM. One of the banks downtown had a time/temperature display, and I remember one week straight where it never got above -20F when I walked by. That's why I live in Arizona! -Don-