A map of the internet found from 1973

I worked for NCR for some years; mostly on 8250 minicomputers. They sold a lot, and I had a great time travelling all over the UK trouble-shooting them. But they were out-classed by the DEC PDP-11s. Both were 16-bit machines, but the DEC ones were more versatile. You could plug so many peripherals into them.

Ed

On the subject of handshakes, what's your opinion on someone who shakes your hand then tried to see if they can crush your bones? Some idiot did that to me when I had already broken my finger and he knew I had done so.

Yes, I remember different noises meant I had a bad line and I'd just hang up and try again.

Did you ever use an acoustic coupler?

On Feb 28, 2023 at 3:04:52 PM MST, ""Commander Kinsey"" wrote snipped-for-privacy@ryzen.home:

It is trying to show they are am "alpha-male"... which means an asshole.

Yes. My first modem for an Apple IIe.

Commander Kinsey used his keyboard to write :

IMO that is a bully, trying to show you your place and keep you there.

After a couple of decades of electronic repair work with a screwdriver, and then another couple as a meat cutter with a butcher's knife, I developed a strong grip strength. Other cutters do that 'my grip is better than your grip' game when they meet each other, some are just so strong they don't feel that they are crushing the other person's hand.

Most men like a firm handshake, and I try to deliver one without making it seem like a contest.

Jeez, so many standards they have to choose from. I guess that's incremental improvements. I see they can now send 300Mbit down a copper phone line. It's available 1 f****ng block from me (aswell as 1000Mbit fibre to the premises), but not here. Some kind of problem getting the cable to this block. I've asked them to elaborate. If it's planning permission I'm going to go down to the council office and kick up f*ck, and I mean physically.

My sister could imitate a ZX spectrum loading, I never asked her to try a modem.

There is likely to be a tighter reach limit on VDSL2.

"Second-generation systems (VDSL2; ITU-T G.993.2 approved in February 2006)[5] use frequencies of up to 30 MHz to provide data rates exceeding 100 Mbit/s simultaneously in both the upstream and downstream directions. The maximum available bit rate is achieved at a range of about 300 metres (980 ft); performance degrades as the local loop attenuation increases."

"VDSL2 standard is an enhancement to ITU T G.993.1 that supports asymmetric and symmetric transmission at a bidirectional net data rate up to 400 Mbit/s on twisted pairs using a bandwidth up to 35 MHz."

The twisted pairs have slightly different performance through a neighbourhood. The phone company set up a table and a beach umbrella for their staff, and for two or three days, they were doing line characterization, to sort the wires into "good enough for VDSL" and "only enough for ADSL2". I lost my pair and was given another pair. So my pair was too good for me :-)

*******

We got some fiber installed here last year, and that will take the pressure off running VDSL2. Thank goodness the cable company keeps them honest, by offering higher and higher rates. They even added an extra speed offering to the fiber (3gbit/sec), but I doubt our equipment at the corner supports that. I'm sure the lights would dim, if you downloaded using that. Probably the only thing that runs at 3gbit/sec is Speedtest.net . And I bet the Netflix still buffers.

Paul

My Google Home still can't manage it correctly.

In primary school we had a couple of BBC computers. I discovered search and replace was a laugh. Change all instances of it to shit. When it changed kite to kshite, we laughed loud enough to draw the attention of the teacher, who gave us detention. I loved detention, the room it was in contained the stationary cupboard. Free rubber bands to ping at people!

Bollocks, goto is a very useful statement. Think about using it in real life. If you encounter a certain problem when fixing a car, you want to go back to a certain point in your sequence of things you're trying.

I had one of those up until the age of about 14.

I hope you deleted his ability to reproduce.

I have a Vax in my house. It uses 1kW when powered up.

If I was to ever interview someone for a job and they did that, I'd say "get out".

One idiot gripped my hand tightly when I'd just broken my finger and had it in a cast! If that had broken again, he would have been punched by my other hand.

I see no point in a firm handshake at all.

It's full fibre I'm after, I can't get that either. I think what's happened is the cabinet nearest to me is full. The cabinet I'm served from with copper is too far for VDSL, and too far to make it worth their while running fibre that far. I guess they're going to put a new cabinet in at some point. They said it's a 6 month job which will start in 1.5 years :-(

You'd need an expensive network card. 1Gbit is pretty standard.

So is 2.5Gbit/s now. It also runs happily on standard cat5e cable.

John