Oh, yeah: an 8087 math coprocessor that was surplussed at the office. Not that I ever did much floating-point calculating; it was word processing and tax stuff for me (WordPerfect 5.0, TurboTax) , and CompuServe once I got the modem card.
My first was a Kaypro PC: 8088, 20 MB HDD, and a single double-density 5.25 " floppy. 640 KB RAM (plus another 128 usable only as a RAM disk). DOS 2.11, as I recall. I had added an EGA Wonder card that allowed enhanced graphics on a monochrome (yellow) monitor. Eventually added a 720 K 3.5" floppy as well. Toshiba (?) 24-pin printer. After I acquired some experience, I added a fax/modem card, but that was several years later.
I work at the US Environmental Protection Agency, and we have various flexible schedules open to us. I use the most common, the 9/80 with alternate Fridays off, and it works fine for me. It's very nice to be able to be home during the week for, say, a visit from the plumber, or to arrange for an appliance to be delivered and installed.
It's especially good because it's optional. Others in my office, especially those with small children or difficult commutes, don't necessarily appreciate such a long day and so don't use the option, but I live in DC proper and it takes me under 45 minutes to get to and from work on public transit.
An additional plus is that I can switch my day off on an ad hoc basis by advance request. It doesn't have to be a Friday, either; some of us have Monday off, and I know someone who chose Wednesday (why, I don't know).
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The Man in the White Suit meets all the criteria for science fiction, and it stars Alec Guinness and Joan Greenwood!
Oh, yeah: an 8087 math coprocessor that was surplussed at the office. Not that I ever did much floating-point calculating; it was word processing and tax stuff for me (WordPerfect 5.0, TurboTax) , and CompuServe once I got the modem card.
My first was a Kaypro PC: 8088, 20 MB HDD, and a single double-density 5.25 " floppy. 640 KB RAM (plus another 128 usable only as a RAM disk). DOS 2.11, as I recall. I had added an EGA Wonder card that allowed enhanced graphics on a monochrome (yellow) monitor. Eventually added a 720 K 3.5" floppy as well. Toshiba (?) 24-pin printer. After I acquired some experience, I added a fax/modem card, but that was several years later.
I work at the US Environmental Protection Agency, and we have various flexible schedules open to us. I use the most common, the 9/80 with alternate Fridays off, and it works fine for me. It's very nice to be able to be home during the week for, say, a visit from the plumber, or to arrange for an appliance to be delivered and installed. It's especially good because it's optional. Others in my office, especially those with small children or difficult commutes, don't necessarily appreciate such a long day and so don't use the option, but I live in DC proper and it takes me under 45 minutes to get to and from work on public transit. An additional plus is that I can switch my day off on an ad hoc basis by advance request. It doesn't have to be a Friday, either; some of us have Monday off, and I know someone who chose Wednesday (why, I don't know).
That's one atom thick, not one atom wide.
Well, Steven Weinberg comes up with the same number, plus or minus a couple of hundred million. And he's no slouch.