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Groups > alt.folklore.computers > #164096
| From | Michael Black <et472@ncf.ca> |
|---|---|
| Newsgroups | alt.folklore.computers |
| Subject | Re: [BBC] US nuclear force 'still uses floppy disks' |
| Date | 2016-05-28 22:48 -0400 |
| Organization | National Capital Freenet, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada |
| Message-ID | <alpine.LNX.2.02.1605282245190.28872@darkstar.example.org> (permalink) |
| References | <slrnnkd8c2.e8s.dnied@dnied-at-tiscali.it> <dqqv7bF2rquU3@mid.individual.net> <ghmgkb5olkr3lrjuhn7uoo7u8ss6thb2t8@4ax.com> <alpine.LNX.2.02.1605271243410.26306@darkstar.example.org> <710606343.486145189.306878.peter_flass-yahoo.com@news.eternal-september.org> |
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On Sat, 28 May 2016, Peter Flass wrote: > Michael Black <et472@ncf.ca> wrote: >> On Fri, 27 May 2016, Stephen Wolstenholme wrote: >> >>> On 27 May 2016 13:08:59 GMT, RS Wood <rsw@therandymon.com> wrote: >>> >>>> On 2016-05-26, Dario Niedermann <dnied@tiscali.it> wrote: >>>>> From the "Not-broken:don't-fix" dept.: >>>>> >>>>> Ķ Department of Defence systems [...] "runs on an IBM Series-1 Computer >>>>> Ķ - a 1970s computing system - and uses eight-inch floppy disks". >>>>> Ķ >>>>> Ķ "This system remains in use because, in short, it still works," >>>>> Ķ Pentagon spokeswoman [...] told the AFP news agency. >>>>> Ķ >>>>> Ķ "[...] floppy drives are scheduled to be replaced with secure >>>>> Ķ digital devices by the end of 2017." >>>>> Ķ >>>>> Ķ [...] Pentagon was planning to fully replace the system >>>>> Ķ by the end of 2020. >>>>> Ķ >>>>> Ķ [...] US treasury also needed to upgrade its systems, which it said >>>>> Ķ was using "assembly language code - [...] initially used in the 1950s >>>>> Ķ and typically tied to the hardware for which it was developed". >>>>> >>>>> >>>>> http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-36385839 >>>>> >>>>> >>>> Fascinating - they must have a supplier that provides new 8" floppies as >>>> necessary; I wonder who they've found to do so, as it almost certainly >>>> requires special fabrication and manufacturing processes these days, and >>>> there are almost certainly rising costs associated with that niche >>>> processing that would affect its viability. >>>> >>>> As for custom assembly code running on dedicated hardware, I'd be the last >>>> guy on earth to recommend replacing it. It works, so why replace it? Train >>>> somebody to understand the code, and be done with it. >>> >>> They probably have a stock of 8" floppy disks that can be used and >>> reused as needed. I chucked a box full in the bin when I moved house 3 >>> years ago. One day floppy discs will become valuable antiques! >>> Someone, somewhere will have a few thousand for sale if the price is >>> right. >>> >> The only 8" floppies I've seen up close was the box I found behind a >> church after their rummage sale was over. Made me regret not going to >> that sale, I wonder if a computer that went with those floppies was >> for sale. So I did bring that box home, a novelty since I have no drives >> for 8" floppies. >> >> People are still finding new old stock vacuum tubes, so I can imagine >> there being lots of stock of old floppies still available. There probably >> are places that search for them, buying them up when available, to keep >> their stock ready. A diminishing demand, but for those who need them, the >> money is probably there. >> >> I can't quite imagine 5.25" floppies becoming collectible antiques. There >> were so many made, I have a ton of them (used), and I'm not the only one. >> >> If I actually went back and copied the 5.25" floppies I used, I could free >> them up. >> > > I've been copying the data and tossing them. I still have boxes to go > thru. > These aren't "IBM compatible" or I would have copied them some time back. These are from my Radio Shack Color Computer, starting in 1984. To compund the problem, the original controller ROM had a different format, when the CoCo III came out the ROM was no longer compatible, so I had to replace it. So I have to dig out my original CoCo, change the ROM (it was actually an eprom, so maybe it's been erased, provided I can find it), then get them off there somehow, then change the ROM and copy the later floppies. And that's before any issues of how the word processors saved the files. So something to keep putting off. Michael
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[BBC] US nuclear force 'still uses floppy disks' Dario Niedermann <dnied@tiscali.it> - 2016-05-26 09:10 +0200
Re: [BBC] US nuclear force 'still uses floppy disks' Quadibloc <jsavard@ecn.ab.ca> - 2016-05-26 00:28 -0700
Re: [BBC] US nuclear force 'still uses floppy disks' Michael Black <et472@ncf.ca> - 2016-05-26 12:40 -0400
Re: [BBC] US nuclear force 'still uses floppy disks' Dave Pitts <dpitts@cozx.com> - 2016-05-26 07:42 -0600
Re: [BBC] US nuclear force 'still uses floppy disks' JimP <solosam90@gmail.com> - 2016-05-26 09:00 -0500
Re: [BBC] US nuclear force 'still uses floppy disks' Quadibloc <jsavard@ecn.ab.ca> - 2016-05-26 07:09 -0700
Re: [BBC] US nuclear force 'still uses floppy disks' Anne & Lynn Wheeler <lynn@garlic.com> - 2016-05-26 07:28 -0700
Re: [BBC] US nuclear force 'still uses floppy disks' Michael Black <et472@ncf.ca> - 2016-05-26 12:43 -0400
Re: [BBC] US nuclear force 'still uses floppy disks' Jon Elson <jmelson@wustl.edu> - 2016-05-26 14:01 -0500
Re: [BBC] US nuclear force 'still uses floppy disks' Peter Flass <peter_flass@yahoo.com> - 2016-05-26 16:22 -0400
Re: [BBC] US nuclear force 'still uses floppy disks' RS Wood <rsw@therandymon.com> - 2016-05-27 13:08 +0000
Re: [BBC] US nuclear force 'still uses floppy disks' Dave Pitts <dpitts@cozx.com> - 2016-05-27 07:43 -0600
Re: [BBC] US nuclear force 'still uses floppy disks' Andrew Swallow <am.swallow@btopenworld.com> - 2016-05-27 15:58 +0100
Re: [BBC] US nuclear force 'still uses floppy disks' Anssi Saari <as@sci.fi> - 2016-05-27 17:13 +0300
Re: [BBC] US nuclear force 'still uses floppy disks' Ahem A Rivet's Shot <steveo@eircom.net> - 2016-05-27 16:36 +0100
Re: [BBC] US nuclear force 'still uses floppy disks' Stephen Wolstenholme <steve@easynn.com> - 2016-05-27 15:48 +0100
Re: [BBC] US nuclear force 'still uses floppy disks' Michael Black <et472@ncf.ca> - 2016-05-27 12:47 -0400
Re: [BBC] US nuclear force 'still uses floppy disks' Peter Flass <peter_flass@yahoo.com> - 2016-05-28 15:18 -0400
Re: [BBC] US nuclear force 'still uses floppy disks' Michael Black <et472@ncf.ca> - 2016-05-28 22:48 -0400
Re: [BBC] US nuclear force 'still uses floppy disks' cb@elaine.df.lth.se (Christian Brunschen) - 2016-05-29 09:55 +0000
Re: [BBC] US nuclear force 'still uses floppy disks' Peter Flass <peter_flass@yahoo.com> - 2016-05-29 07:26 -0400
Re: [BBC] US nuclear force 'still uses floppy disks' Alan Bowler <atbowler@thinkage.ca> - 2016-05-30 12:48 -0400
Re: [BBC] US nuclear force 'still uses floppy disks' Michael Black <et472@ncf.ca> - 2016-05-30 13:37 -0400
Re: [BBC] US nuclear force 'still uses floppy disks' "Osmium" <r124c4u102@comcast.net> - 2016-05-30 13:35 -0500
Re: [BBC] US nuclear force 'still uses floppy disks' Michael Black <et472@ncf.ca> - 2016-05-30 23:26 -0400
Re: [BBC] US nuclear force 'still uses floppy disks' "J. Clarke" <j.clarke.873638@gmail.com> - 2016-05-30 23:34 -0400
Re: [BBC] US nuclear force 'still uses floppy disks' roger.ivie@gmail.com - 2016-05-30 21:23 -0700
Re: [BBC] US nuclear force 'still uses floppy disks' Quadibloc <jsavard@ecn.ab.ca> - 2016-05-31 07:11 -0700
Re: [BBC] US nuclear force 'still uses floppy disks' Michael Black <et472@ncf.ca> - 2016-05-31 10:46 -0400
Re: [BBC] US nuclear force 'still uses floppy disks' Morten Reistad <first@last.name.invalid> - 2016-05-31 21:28 +0200
Re: [BBC] US nuclear force 'still uses floppy disks' JimP <solosam90@gmail.com> - 2016-05-31 11:37 -0500
Re: [BBC] US nuclear force 'still uses floppy disks' Charlie Gibbs <cgibbs@kltpzyxm.invalid> - 2016-05-31 16:49 +0000
Re: [BBC] US nuclear force 'still uses floppy disks' Morten Reistad <first@last.name.invalid> - 2016-05-31 21:35 +0200
Re: [BBC] US nuclear force 'still uses floppy disks' Charlie Gibbs <cgibbs@kltpzyxm.invalid> - 2016-05-31 20:21 +0000
Re: [BBC] US nuclear force 'still uses floppy disks' Morten Reistad <first@last.name.imvalid> - 2016-06-01 01:33 +0200
Re: [BBC] US nuclear force 'still uses floppy disks' Charlie Gibbs <cgibbs@kltpzyxm.invalid> - 2016-06-01 00:13 +0000
Re: [BBC] US nuclear force 'still uses floppy disks' Morten Reistad <first@last,name.invalid> - 2016-06-01 08:34 +0200
Re: [BBC] US nuclear force 'still uses floppy disks' "J. Clarke" <j.clarke.873638@gmail.com> - 2016-06-01 06:32 -0400
Re: [BBC] US nuclear force 'still uses floppy disks' Stephen Wolstenholme <steve@easynn.com> - 2016-06-01 12:01 +0100
Re: [BBC] US nuclear force 'still uses floppy disks' Charlie Gibbs <cgibbs@kltpzyxm.invalid> - 2016-06-01 17:41 +0000
Re: [BBC] US nuclear force 'still uses floppy disks' Morten Reistad <first@last.name.invalid> - 2016-06-01 21:39 +0200
Re: [BBC] US nuclear force 'still uses floppy disks' "J. Clarke" <j.clarke.873638@gmail.com> - 2016-06-01 16:46 -0400
Re: [BBC] US nuclear force 'still uses floppy disks' Morten Reistad <first@last.name.invalid> - 2016-06-02 12:10 +0200
Re: [BBC] US nuclear force 'still uses floppy disks' Morten Reistad <first@Last.name.invalid> - 2016-06-01 13:12 +0200
Re: [BBC] US nuclear force 'still uses floppy disks' hancock4@bbs.cpcn.com - 2016-06-01 13:07 -0700
Re: [BBC] US nuclear force 'still uses floppy disks' "J. Clarke" <j.clarke.873638@gmail.com> - 2016-06-01 16:54 -0400
Re: [BBC] US nuclear force 'still uses floppy disks' Ahem A Rivet's Shot <steveo@eircom.net> - 2016-06-01 07:15 +0100
Re: [BBC] US nuclear force 'still uses floppy disks' Quadibloc <jsavard@ecn.ab.ca> - 2016-06-01 10:20 -0700
Re: [BBC] US nuclear force 'still uses floppy disks' Michael Black <et472@ncf.ca> - 2016-06-01 14:26 -0400
Re: [BBC] US nuclear force 'still uses floppy disks' Gene Wirchenko <genew@telus.net> - 2016-06-01 14:03 -0700
Re: [BBC] US nuclear force 'still uses floppy disks' JimP <solosam90@gmail.com> - 2016-06-01 18:09 -0500
Re: [BBC] US nuclear force 'still uses floppy disks' Michael Black <et472@ncf.ca> - 2016-06-02 15:23 -0400
Re: [BBC] US nuclear force 'still uses floppy disks' JimP <solosam90@gmail.com> - 2016-06-02 14:31 -0500
Re: [BBC] US nuclear force 'still uses floppy disks' Charlie Gibbs <cgibbs@kltpzyxm.invalid> - 2016-06-02 20:44 +0000
Re: [BBC] US nuclear force 'still uses floppy disks' Quadibloc <jsavard@ecn.ab.ca> - 2016-06-02 16:01 -0700
Re: [BBC] US nuclear force 'still uses floppy disks' JimP <solosam90@gmail.com> - 2016-06-02 18:28 -0500
Re: [BBC] US nuclear force 'still uses floppy disks' jmfbahciv <See.above@aol.com> - 2016-06-01 13:52 +0000
Re: [BBC] US nuclear force 'still uses floppy disks' Morten Reistad <first@last.name.invalid> - 2016-06-01 16:19 +0200
Re: [BBC] US nuclear force 'still uses floppy disks' Ahem A Rivet's Shot <steveo@eircom.net> - 2016-06-01 15:35 +0100
Re: [BBC] US nuclear force 'still uses floppy disks' Charlie Gibbs <cgibbs@kltpzyxm.invalid> - 2016-06-01 17:42 +0000
Re: [BBC] US nuclear force 'still uses floppy disks' Quadibloc <jsavard@ecn.ab.ca> - 2016-05-31 14:16 -0700
Re: [BBC] US nuclear force 'still uses floppy disks' Peter Flass <peter_flass@yahoo.com> - 2016-05-31 16:09 -0400
Re: [BBC] US nuclear force 'still uses floppy disks' Charlie Gibbs <cgibbs@kltpzyxm.invalid> - 2016-05-31 20:24 +0000
Re: [BBC] US nuclear force 'still uses floppy disks' Stan Barr <plan.b@bluesomatic.org> - 2016-06-01 07:14 +0000
Re: [BBC] US nuclear force 'still uses floppy disks' hancock4@bbs.cpcn.com - 2016-05-31 17:41 -0700
Re: [BBC] US nuclear force 'still uses floppy disks' Quadibloc <jsavard@ecn.ab.ca> - 2016-05-31 19:24 -0700
Re: [BBC] US nuclear force 'still uses floppy disks' Morten Reistad <first@last.name.invalid> - 2016-06-01 10:45 +0200
Re: [BBC] US nuclear force 'still uses floppy disks' Ahem A Rivet's Shot <steveo@eircom.net> - 2016-05-31 07:03 +0100
Re: [BBC] US nuclear force 'still uses floppy disks' "Osmium" <r124c4u102@comcast.net> - 2016-05-31 10:16 -0500
Re: [BBC] US nuclear force 'still uses floppy disks' scott@slp53.sl.home (Scott Lurndal) - 2016-05-31 15:51 +0000
Re: [BBC] US nuclear force 'still uses floppy disks' Stan Barr <plan.b@bluesomatic.org> - 2016-05-31 07:23 +0000
Re: [BBC] US nuclear force 'still uses floppy disks' Charlie Gibbs <cgibbs@kltpzyxm.invalid> - 2016-05-31 16:49 +0000
Re: [BBC] US nuclear force 'still uses floppy disks' hancock4@bbs.cpcn.com - 2016-05-31 17:36 -0700
Re: [BBC] US nuclear force 'still uses floppy disks' Stan Barr <plan.b@bluesomatic.org> - 2016-05-31 07:16 +0000
Re: [BBC] US nuclear force 'still uses floppy disks' hancock4@bbs.cpcn.com - 2016-05-28 13:11 -0700
Re: [BBC] US nuclear force 'still uses floppy disks' "J. Clarke" <j.clarke.873638@gmail.com> - 2016-05-28 16:50 -0400
Re: [BBC] US nuclear force 'still uses floppy disks' mausg@mail.com - 2016-05-29 10:08 +0000
Re: [BBC] US nuclear force 'still uses floppy disks' Morten Reistad <first@last.name.invalid> - 2016-05-29 15:04 +0200
Re: [BBC] US nuclear force 'still uses floppy disks' Peter Flass <peter_flass@yahoo.com> - 2016-05-29 16:41 -0400
Re: [BBC] US nuclear force 'still uses floppy disks' hancock4@bbs.cpcn.com - 2016-05-31 17:29 -0700
Re: [BBC] US nuclear force 'still uses floppy disks' Morten Reistad <first@last.name.invalid> - 2016-06-01 10:24 +0200
Re: [BBC] US nuclear force 'still uses floppy disks' Peter Flass <peter_flass@yahoo.com> - 2016-05-29 07:26 -0400
Re: [BBC] US nuclear force 'still uses floppy disks' "Osmium" <r124c4u102@comcast.net> - 2016-05-29 07:11 -0500
Re: [BBC] US nuclear force 'still uses floppy disks' Morten Reistad <first@last.name.invalid> - 2016-05-29 15:09 +0200
Re: [BBC] US nuclear force 'still uses floppy disks' Peter Flass <peter_flass@yahoo.com> - 2016-05-29 16:41 -0400
Re: [BBC] US nuclear force 'still uses floppy disks' hancock4@bbs.cpcn.com - 2016-05-31 17:26 -0700
Re: [BBC] US nuclear force 'still uses floppy disks' "Charles Richmond" <numerist@aquaporin4.com> - 2016-06-04 22:15 -0500
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