Welcome to the Lounge

fat___boy1-Apr-14 5:04

1-Apr-14 5:04

That is pretty cool actually. I love this kind of stuff, digging round in the guts of the machine,. its why I write drivers, and why I prefer Linux to Windows, though I have done a lot more on WIndows, you are closer to the real machine.

User mode stuff just makes me angry. All you are dealing with is someone elses rules, someone elses wrapper, and someone elses limitations.

Working down with the hardware, having to take into account electrical states, ,that's where the fun is./ Smile | :)

OriginalGriff31-Mar-14 4:58

31-Mar-14 4:58

Very, very, very.

I didn't even see a computer until about six months after I started coding - we used punch cards in those days - being able to use a terminal and even an editor (poor by modern standards as it was) was a brilliant revelation!

"Turning the computer on" had to wait about another year and the 5th computer I used: a PDP8.
And starting that box was a bit harder than today:

Turn key to POWER.
Set all switches to 0
Click on EXTD 
Set switches to 0x0018
Click on ADDR 
Set switches to 0x0DE3
Click on DEP 
Set switches to 0x0A19
Click on DEP 
Set switches to 0x0080
Click on ADDR 
Click on CLR 
Verify HALT and STEP are up 
Click on CONT

(I cheated and checked the exact values, but I remembered it pretty well: only one digit error!)

Those who fail to learn history are doomed to repeat it. --- George Santayana (December 16, 1863 – September 26, 1952)
Those who fail to clear history are doomed to explain it. --- OriginalGriff (February 24, 1959 – ∞)

Argonia31-Mar-14 5:23

Argonia

31-Mar-14 5:23

I am proud to say that i have seen an punch card, never saw the machine (we are not counting the pictures and internet).

OT:
I have whole 2 boxes full of doughnuts from Dunkin Donuts (we have no other choice here for good doughnuts) but still i am very happy :P
Why i am sharing this ? Because when you are sending the lappie sleeve you need to add something extra in good packaging, choco is prefered Wink | ;)

Microsoft ... the only place where VARIANT_TRUE != true

OriginalGriff31-Mar-14 5:26

31-Mar-14 5:26

Punched card had big advantages over "Modern" editors and HDDs.
They taught you to write concise, efficient programs.

Otherwise you needed wheels to move your code around! We didn't have "copy'n'paste", we had "drag'n'hernia"! That stuff got heavy quickly Laugh | :laugh:

Michael Comperchio1-Apr-14 1:39

Michael Comperchio

1-Apr-14 1:39

You left out "knocking over the card stack of the guy/gal you didn't like". My first program was a COBOL program, punched in, then fed to a 370/115. I was in my first semester of a Business Administration degree, fell in love with coding, transferred to a 2 year state tech, got an AS in coding and never looked back. Fortunately for me I never actually had to work on a Mainframe, PC's & 'Mini' computers were just coming into vogue, so that's what I've always worked on. C first, x86 asm, then C++.

Cliff Cooley1-Apr-14 2:12

Cliff Cooley

1-Apr-14 2:12

Using punched cards taught me how to delicately fit a chad back into a mis-punched hole, and keep it in place with sticky tape. And clog up the card reader.

Cliff Cooley1-Apr-14 2:16

Cliff Cooley

1-Apr-14 2:16

I started on an ICL 1901, which was also switch operated. I can't remember all the switch combinations, but I seem to recall that to load a program required the use of the index and middle fingers on the left hand, and the index finger on the right hand, followed by pressing the green (I think) button.

Matt U.31-Mar-14 5:05

Matt U.

31-Mar-14 5:05

I was quite knowledgeable of computers when I started programming in C++ back around 1999. I had already been writing basic JavaScript, plus I grew up around computers. I didn't "know it all", but I definitely knew how to operate one and how to get around. But then again, I was also intrigued by hacking, though I never pursued it on a malicious level. Once I started programming, I learned so much more about a computer though, I know.

djj55: Nice but may have a permission problem
Pete O'Hanlon: He has my permission to run it.

Kornfeld Eliyahu Peter31-Mar-14 5:05

Kornfeld Eliyahu Peter

31-Mar-14 5:05

I knew nothing of computer when I got my C64 and started to do some basic and assembly (I got a book with)...
I learned side-by-side about how to use and how to program.

I'm not questioning your powers of observation; I'm merely remarking upon the paradox of asking a masked man who he is. (V)

Paul Conrad31-Mar-14 5:50

Paul Conrad

31-Mar-14 5:50

I still have the book that came with my C64 around here somewhere, probably buried deep in the attic somewhere. Might be time to go treasure hunting Laugh | :laugh:

"I've seen more information on a frickin' sticky note!" - Dave Kreskowiak

fat___boy31-Mar-14 5:13

31-Mar-14 5:13

Well, I guess thats the benefit of starting coding way before WIndows rolled along. It was a Spectrum I first wrote programs on, just for my own use, and actually really enjoyed it. It wasnt till much later that I startrd a career in programming, and that was on DOS, which again is simple.

Now I write WIndows drivers mostly, as well as LInux, and I am fully aware of the complexity of the OS, and how hard MSFT make it by producing junk code themselves ans almost useless documentation.

dan!sh 31-Mar-14 5:25

dan!sh

31-Mar-14 5:25

I am sorry, it is not useless. It is fairly easy to get windows message numbers and their meaning if you want to trap them. Oh and applying a processor patch is easier than that if you can get the correct SDK (I almosttypes APK here D'Oh! | :doh:

).

sarcasm

fat___boy31-Mar-14 9:47

31-Mar-14 9:47

d@nish wrote:
it is not useless

You might want to revise that opinion after reading the WDK...

Forogar 31-Mar-14 10:25

Forogar

31-Mar-14 10:25

Anymore use of TLA's and I will have head out for a KFC!

- I would love to change the world, but they won’t give me the source code.

fat___boy1-Apr-14 4:55

1-Apr-14 4:55

WTF?

dan!sh 31-Mar-14 17:33

dan!sh

31-Mar-14 17:33

You missed out on word sarcasm in small font size at the bottom of post, didn't you?

fat___boy1-Apr-14 4:55

1-Apr-14 4:55

I did, sorry. Thought it was a sig.

Yes,, glad you agree. Smile | :)

Simon Lee Shugar31-Mar-14 5:15

Simon Lee Shugar

31-Mar-14 5:15

Mine was in VB copying and pasting a tutorial for a whack a mole game, which I then replaced the mole with my friends head.

As for my computer skills, I think I did the head picture by cutting it out in paint, I knew a tiny bit about ms dos but literally nothing compared to the vast overwhelming knowledge I know now. Which will be literally nothing compared to the vast super overhwelming knowledge I'll know in five years etc etc.

Simon Lee Shugar (Software Developer)
www.simonshugar.co.uk

"If something goes by a false name, would it mean that thing is fake? False by nature?" By Gilbert Durandil

OriginalGriff31-Mar-14 5:21

31-Mar-14 5:21

I had nearly forgotten: My Uni course was a "thin sandwich" - 6 months Uni, 6 months industry - and my first industrial training was this the Atlas Computer Division of the Rutherford Labs, a UK government research institution.

At the end of the training a report on my work was sent to the college: "Was determined to find out 'all about computers' and showed great ingenuity in doing so"

It wasn't a compliment. Blush | :O

Motor Viper31-Mar-14 5:50

Motor Viper

31-Mar-14 5:50

Hey Griff, I was at Rutherford 83-87. Any overlap?

OriginalGriff31-Mar-14 6:00

31-Mar-14 6:00

No - I was there the summer of '78, working for Rob Witty on Dimensional Flowcharting.

harold aptroot31-Mar-14 5:25

harold aptroot

31-Mar-14 5:25

I didn't get interested in programming until I had already been using computers for several years. And I didn't even start programming on a PC, I started on a TI-84+. When I started programming on a PC, it was z80 asm, for TI-84+. By the time I finally started writing programs for PCs, I was pretty computer literate, in a Windows-centric way.

OriginalGriff31-Mar-14 5:31

31-Mar-14 5:31

.NOLIST
#define   EQU   .equ
#define   equ   .equ
#define   END   .end
#define   end   .end
#include "ti83plus.inc"
.LIST
 
     .org 9D93h
     .db $BB,$6D
      xor a
      ld (CURCOL),a
      ld (CURROW),a
      ld hl,text
      B_CALL(_PutS)
      ret
text:
      .db "Hello, Harold!",0
 
.end
end

Paul Conrad31-Mar-14 5:54

Paul Conrad

31-Mar-14 5:54

I found something very strikingly similar on wikibooks about TI83 Assembly Cool | :cool:

"I've seen more information on a frickin' sticky note!" - Dave Kreskowiak

OriginalGriff31-Mar-14 6:03