tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22954374.post1881214409514544540..comments2023-10-17T05:09:58.097-07:00Comments on William Gallagher: Self Distract: Three departure times and the truthWilliam Gallagherhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13315381474957511300noreply@blogger.comBlogger4125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22954374.post-16064240751231792013-05-03T08:59:11.773-07:002013-05-03T08:59:11.773-07:00I promise that for 'buttercup' I will read...I promise that for 'buttercup' I will read 'anonymous'. <br /><br />(The spam just got too much and I was missing real people. And you.)<br /><br />But 4.77Mhz! Thank you, I could not remember that number. <br /><br />And ta for the rest, too: it all makes sense. <br /><br />WWilliam Gallagherhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13315381474957511300noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22954374.post-52893301970172679202013-05-03T02:03:15.864-07:002013-05-03T02:03:15.864-07:00What a lovely trip down (PC) memory lane that was!...What a lovely trip down (PC) memory lane that was!<br /><br />As I recall, the requirement for a Turbo Button (TM) was that the commonly used software protection mechanism of the day was a keydisk. Typically, the keydisk was a standard floppy but with an intentional defect placed on it - with a laser as I recall - which could not be placed on a normal disk in any 'put it in and install the defect' programmable way on a computer.<br /><br />It would go something like this:<br /><br />1. Software - attempt to read sector x on track y (and start timer)<br />2. Disk controller - barf!<br />3. Software - stop timer<br />4. Software - if timer value is within range, proceed...<br /><br /><br />..proceed with? Lotus 1-2-3 and subsequently, Lotus Symphony. Oh and PSpice (a circuit simulation program)<br /><br />Of course, since programming was still in its relative infancy, programmers were guilty of assuming that the hardware they were developing on was the same as the hardware everyone else had and that it would never change (IBM secretly[?] hoped that this would remain true forever). This assumption led to the fact that the timer value expected from the attempted keydisk operation was hard coded for an IBM XT which ran at 4.77MHz. <br /><br />As soon as processors started growing in speed and capability, the timings which resulted from keydisk checks went awry. The solution? Fix it in hardware! How? - slow your machine down to the speed of an IBM XT. Very gratifying if you'd just shelled out your life savings on the fastest machine that man could buy (possessing the computational power equivalent to a small fraction of that available in an iPhone) and had to nobble it every time you delved into the exciting (nay, thrilling) world of Lotus 1-2-3.<br /><br />There were two solutions to this problem:<br /><br />1. Use a Terminate and Stay Resident (TSR) program to circumvent the protection system. A bit technical, but worked, so preferred by technical bods.<br />2. Use Microsoft Excel - which wasn't copy protected and so spread like wildfire and contributed to Microsoft Office becoming the de-facto standard for office software.<br /><br />I've often wondered about the accuracy of the Google public transport pronouncements that are available on Maps, so your experience with dedicated apps for the same info would suggest that it wouldn't be too good either...<br /><br />(I only posted anonymously before because I was lazy, but now I see all that's gone. Welcome to the world of the Sysadmin, Will!)buttercuphttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09513392484019287120noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22954374.post-78824094271757175562013-05-03T01:06:42.563-07:002013-05-03T01:06:42.563-07:00I remember the first time I fitted a drive into my...I remember the first time I fitted a drive into my Mac. Oh, I said. Er. Is that it? Yep.<br /><br />London buses have GPS, I don't believe anywhere else does. That includes places like Birmingham where the shelters often have electronic displays showing when buses are next due. In London, they're accurately updated to reflect realtime information from the buses but in Birmingham, the display is of the schedule. So you can now actually have five different answers for when the bus is coming and all five will be wrong. It's science.<br /><br />William<br />William Gallagherhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13315381474957511300noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-22954374.post-83472962430666208672013-05-03T00:49:30.239-07:002013-05-03T00:49:30.239-07:00I remember the days of cursing.
They've since...I remember the days of cursing.<br /><br />They've since long gone. <br /><br />I bought a case with a screw-less design apart from the thumb-screws (it isn't tortuous trying to loosen them) holding the sides on.<br /><br />Hard drives and DVD drives just slide into place. No jumpers, just slide and plug in.<br /><br />As for the buses, sorry to hear your apps are useless. Thankfully that's not the case with TfL. Guess the buses aren't adequately equipped with GPSClarkF1https://www.blogger.com/profile/00708385733727346886noreply@blogger.com