Where's the memory

[Wesley Vogel]

ROTFL

--
Hope this helps. Let us know.

Wes
MS-MVP Windows Shell/User

In

 

[Ken Blake, MVP]

ICT?

Institute of Chemical Technology
Intelligent Collaboration Transparency
Information and Communications Technology
Image Constraint Token
International Computers and Tabulators
Institute for Creative Technologies
Islamabad Capital Territory
Inverse cosine transform
Inverness Caledonian Thistle
International Campaign for Tibet
Indian Country Today
Intra-company transfer
In-Camp Training
Institute for Counter-Terrorism
Integrated Co-Occurring Treatment
Island College of Technology
In-Circuit Testing

Which do you mean?

 

[Lem]

LOL! Yep, ancient is what I am. I started out programming an IBM 1401 in
1962 (and had spent a few years in an unrelated career before that).

You've got me beat by a couple of years. In my first or second computer
class, in 1964 or 65, one of the exercises was to use FAP
(http://www.frobenius.com/fap.htm) to program a compiler for an IBM
7090. And to earn a little spare change, I was a night-shift operator
for a 709 in '65 (http://ed-thelen.org/comp-hist/BRL61-0500.jpg).

IIRC, the users had to include, as part of the JCL at the front of the
card deck, an estimate of how long their job was supposed to take. Some
of the students would simply put all 9's in the field, which meant that
the job could theoretically run for over 41 days before it timed out.
The operators were on to that trick, however. When a job looked as if
it was stuck in a loop (lights frozen), you could use one of the
switches you see in the picture to stop the machine. You could then use
the other switches to load the job elapsed time register with a few bits
short of overflow. Turn things back on and in a few clock ticks, the
job would terminate with the message, "Job xxxx terminated after 999.99
hours."

And on a sadder but related note:
John W. Backus, 82, Fortran Developer, Dies
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/03/20/b...77&ei=5124&partner=permalink&exprod=permalink

 

[Mark Weinreb]

Ken,
He means International Computers and Tabulators, which merged with Ferranti
and became International Computers Limited (ICL). I remember them well as I
cut my programming teeth on an ICT (ICL) 1904 during the transition from ICT
to ICL.

 

[Ken Blake, MVP]

Ken,
He means International Computers and Tabulators, which merged with

I know. I was just kidding. I didn't *really* think he meant "Institute for
Counter-Terrorism" or one of the others.

ICT wasn't a company that was well-known here in the USA, but I had some
slight dealings witht them on an assignment in Zambia, in the 1970s (or
perhaps they were ICL by then; I don't remember for sure).

 

[Curt Christianson]

I don't know about you Wes, but suddenly I'm feeling kind of *young* <s>

--
HTH,
Curt

Windows Support Center
http://aumha.org/

 

[Gerry Cornell]

International Computers and Tabulators

--

Regards.

Gerry
~~~~
FCA
Stourport, England
Enquire, plan and execute
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 

[Wesley Vogel]

Whipper snappers compared to some of these guys. LOL In 1964 or 65 I was
probably building that Cub Scout crystal radio.

--
Hope this helps. Let us know.

Wes
MS-MVP Windows Shell/User

In

 

[Curt Christianson]

<<Look out!!>> Those old farts are comin'.

--
HTH,
Curt

Windows Support Center
http://aumha.org/