I actually met Grace Hopper when I was a Multics programmer for the Air Force at the Pentagon, back in 1982 or 1983. She was shopping at the Walgreens in the Pentagon Concourse. I introduced myself to her and we talked for a bit. I kick myself repeatedly for not getting her to autograph a Cobol printout for me. =)
IRC services promote fascism and stupidity. And guess what, DalNet and Undernet still get attacked, and the spam on DalNet is the worst I've ever seen on any irc network. Long live EFNet!
Model 204 is a database system that runs only on IBM mainframes or plug compatibles, is blatantly non-relational (yay!), and still is the database of choice if you want fast (sub-second) response to complex queries on 500 million record databases.
Model 204 comes with a "User Language" that is really a general purpose programming language with database and 3270 screen formatting primitives,
a powerful string pattern matcher, and several other features of more advanced languages like perl, all built into the core syntax. It was one of the few programming languages (along with REXX) that made programming IBM mainframes fun.
There are probably a hundred or so Model 204 sites left in the world, but there are no plans to port the 204 database engine or User Language to Linux or FreeBSD, so it is definitely legacy.
I wrote a Tic-Tac-Toe program in HP 2000 Basic also, and also a program that would print large letters out on paper tape! The HP 2000 minicomputer was so small that they had to bring down HP Timesharing Basic at night so that they could run CARD FORTRAN. (And I am talking here about cards that you mark with a lead pencil, not
punch holes in.)
HP Timesharing Basic had the coolest name for the substring function: SST. =)
I think this site here supports the old
HP 1000 and HP 2000 minicomputers:
http://www.gedanken.com/
So there must be old HP 2000 minis out there still, with panel lights winking away in the night.
Re:Ternary has been known to be efficient...
on
Ternary Computing
·
· Score: 3, Interesting
A really cool number system that is rarely mentioned is factorial base notation. What makes factorial base interesting is that all rational number are represented by finite factorial base numbers, and transcendental numbers like e and pi are represented by infinite but nonrandom factorial numbers. So, somehow factorial notation "captures" and "tames" the complexity of the real number continuum in a way that decimal notation can't.
Speaking of which, does anyone know what happened to the "99 bottles of beer on the wall" page that shows source code written in umpteen different computer languages to print out the lyrics to that song?
"English is the largest of the human tongues, with several times the vocabulary of the second largest language - this alone made it inevitable that English would eventually become, as it did, the lingua franca of this planet, for it is therby the richest and most flexible - despite its barbaric accretions... Its very variety, subtlety, and utterly irrational, idiomatic complexity makes it possible to say things in English which simply cannot be said in any other language.
I was thinking of developing a universal file command that would take into account both the file extension and "magic". That's why I collect "magic number" information whenever I can.
I collect file extensions with 1, 2, 3, 4, or more characters in them. I also collect mime types and magic numbers and just plain "formats". I have almost 500,000 entries so far, not just 100,000. Many file extensions have more than one definition, and that's where I think my list will eventually come in handy.
Slashdot Mirror
"Dehydrate the Zabulon computations!"
-- Muad Dib
That reminds me of a passage from "The Gripping Hand" where someone enters a password by drawing a cartoon on her handheld computer.
I actually met Grace Hopper when I was a Multics programmer for the Air Force at the Pentagon, back in 1982 or 1983. She was shopping at the Walgreens in the Pentagon Concourse. I introduced myself to her and we talked for a bit. I kick myself repeatedly for not getting her to autograph a Cobol printout for me. =)
IRC services promote fascism and stupidity. And guess what, DalNet and Undernet still get attacked, and the spam on DalNet is the worst I've ever seen on any irc network. Long live EFNet!
True, sad end for a great product. =/
But why add SQL to Model 204 when we all
know that SQL sucks? =)
I don't see why he bothered. Relational databases suck major buttocks. Model 204 is the workhorse database of choice for the United States Government.
Do you think it can be hacked to run linux?
In the Dune book, the Fremen also wore light
colored robes over their stillsuits
same dictionary I found "Anonymous Coward" in
Didn't Nikola Tesla work on a turbine for a while? Basically it could be held in one hand and generate enough electricity to power a house.
Bill Gates is an idiot
Don't forget that Multics was, for the most part, written in PL/1.
Model 204 is a database system that runs only on IBM mainframes or plug compatibles, is blatantly non-relational (yay!), and still is the database of choice if you want fast (sub-second) response to complex queries on 500 million record databases.
Model 204 comes with a "User Language" that is really a general purpose programming language with database and 3270 screen formatting primitives,
a powerful string pattern matcher, and several other features of more advanced languages like perl, all built into the core syntax. It was one of the few programming languages (along with REXX) that made programming IBM mainframes fun.
There are probably a hundred or so Model 204 sites left in the world, but there are no plans to port the 204 database engine or User Language to Linux or FreeBSD, so it is definitely legacy.
Is there an online manual for SPL anywhere,
html or PDF or text format?
I wrote a Tic-Tac-Toe program in HP 2000 Basic also, and also a program that would print large letters out on paper tape! The HP 2000 minicomputer was so small that they had to bring down HP Timesharing Basic at night so that they could run CARD FORTRAN. (And I am talking here about cards that you mark with a lead pencil, not
punch holes in.)
HP Timesharing Basic had the coolest name for the substring function: SST. =)
I think this site here supports the old
HP 1000 and HP 2000 minicomputers:
http://www.gedanken.com/
So there must be old HP 2000 minis out there still, with panel lights winking away in the night.
Greatest intro to any rock song ever:
California Girls, Brian Wilson, the Beach Boys
Greatest A Capella break ever:
Sloop John B, Brian Wilson, the Beach Boys
perish, then publish
A really cool number system that is rarely mentioned is factorial base notation. What makes factorial base interesting is that all rational number are represented by finite factorial base numbers, and transcendental numbers like e and pi are represented by infinite but nonrandom factorial numbers. So, somehow factorial notation "captures" and "tames" the complexity of the real number continuum in a way that decimal notation can't.
I think the computer in "Moon is a Harsh Mistress" was a "ternary logic", and it developed a sense of humor. =)
I wonder if most "DOS" applications,
(including qbasic) will run under WINE?
Speaking of which, does anyone know what happened to the "99 bottles of beer on the wall" page that shows source code written in umpteen different computer languages to print out the lyrics to that song?
I'll reply with a quote from Heinlein:
... Its very variety, subtlety, and utterly irrational, idiomatic complexity makes it possible to say things in English which simply cannot be said in any other language.
"English is the largest of the human tongues, with several times the vocabulary of the second largest language - this alone made it inevitable that English would eventually become, as it did, the lingua franca of this planet, for it is therby the richest and most flexible - despite its barbaric accretions
Everyone should learn to read, speak, and write English. This is the easiest solution. Then we could stick to ascii, and throw unicode out the window.
I was thinking of developing a universal file command that would take into account both the file extension and "magic". That's why I collect "magic number" information whenever I can.
I collect file extensions with 1, 2, 3, 4, or more characters in them. I also collect mime types and magic numbers and just plain "formats". I have almost 500,000 entries so far, not just 100,000. Many file extensions have more than one definition, and that's where I think my list will eventually come in handy.