Re: [foxboro] 3-1/2 inch Floppies
- From: "Jones, Shelby" <Shelby.Jones@xxxxxxxxxxxx>
- To: "foxboro@xxxxxxxxxxxxx" <foxboro@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Tue, 11 May 2010 18:51:54 -0500
I recall spending hours on my EE20 programming lab programming exercises trying
to figure out why I had syntax errors in my Fortran IV programs. Then one day
the light came on as I realized that some dirty so-and-so would put a few cards
in the key punch machine and put a character over in column 128, for example.
Then they would put those cards randomly in a stack of supposed "clean" cards
ready for use.
Unsuspecting, trusting, sophomore engineering students, like myself, would then
use those cards only to approach madness when they could not find the problem
with their program. Once discovered, the first thing you did was examine your
cards before you hit the first key.
Their offspring probably write virus code nowadays.
Shelby Jones
IOM Field Service
South Region
-----Original Message-----
From: foxboro-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx [mailto:foxboro-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx] On
Behalf Of Johnson, Alex P (IOM)
Sent: Tuesday, May 11, 2010 7:37 PM
To: foxboro@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: Re: [foxboro] 3-1/2 inch Floppies
I no longer have punch cards or paper tape (though I've used both). I have a
few floppies of various types and one original Compaq that can run DOS and QNX.
More importantly, I have my memory of punch cards.
On particular one stands out, I was a Jr or Sr at Rice and spent a lot of time
in the computer center. One day, I was punching cards and a PhD candidate grad
student came to me almost in tears.
He'd dropped his deck.
Actually, he'd dropped his professor's deck - the only copy of a program that
represent a life time of research. He'd picked it up and put it in the box and
asked me if I could help.
Hey, you folks no me, I'm going to try right?
Well, did you know that FORTRAN doesn't require spaces in its code? Yep, you
can write a FORTRAN program between the valid columns (7-72 IIRC) and leave out
every single solitary space. FORTRAN is keyword heavy and the compiler can find
the tokens without the help of those stinkin' spaces. All spaces do is add to
the cards in the deck.
As you probably have figured out, not only was his deck scrambled, and it
wasn't readable by this human.
There was nothing to do.
If nothing else, technology sure makes backups easier.
Regards,
Alex Johnson
Invensys Operations Management
10900 Equity Drive
Houston, TX 77041
+1 713 329 8472 (desk)
+1 713 329 1600 (operator)
+1 713 329 1944 (SSC Fax)
+1 713 329 1700 (Central Fax)
alex.johnson@xxxxxxxxxxxx (current)
alex.johnson@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx (good until September 2010)
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-----Original Message-----
From: foxboro-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx [mailto:foxboro-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx] On
Behalf Of Jerry Hidahl
Sent: Tuesday, May 11, 2010 4:56 PM
To: foxboro@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: Re: [foxboro] 3-1/2 inch Floppies
I've still got cards from E school in the seventies and B school in the
80s. I remember buying a box of 5-1/4 single sided floppies for $50. They
started 171kb, but you got 143 kb after they were Apple formatted. The
whole DOS operating system was formatted on every floppy. Then we figured
out we could use a paper punch to make another notch and flip them. It
turned out both sides were good because some drive manufacturers recorded
on the bottom and others recorded on the top.
Speaking of 5-1/4 floppies, we were still using them in 2004 on our
Microspec Command Center before we upgraded (to another brand).
Jerry Hidahl
Process Control Engineer
Port Neches Performance Products
Huntsman Corporation
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addressed. This e-mail is confidential and may well also be legally privileged.
If you have received it in error, you are on notice of its status. Please
notify the sender immediately by reply e-mail and then delete this message from
your system. Please do not copy it or use it for any purposes, or disclose its
contents to any other person. This email comes from a division of the Invensys
Group, owned by Invensys plc, which is a company registered in England and
Wales with its registered office at Portland House, Bressenden Place, London,
SW1E 5BF (Registered number 166023). For a list of European legal entities
within the Invensys Group, please go to
http://www.invensys.com/legal/default.asp?top_nav_id=77&nav_id=80&prev_id=77.
You may contact Invensys plc on +44 (0)20 7821 3848 or e-mail
inet.hqhelpdesk@xxxxxxxxxxxxx This e-mail and any attachments thereto may be
subject to the terms of any agreements between Invensys (and/or its
subsidiaries and affiliates) and the recipient (and/or its subsidiaries and
affiliates).
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This mailing list is neither sponsored nor endorsed by Invensys Process
Systems (formerly The Foxboro Company). Use the info you obtain here at
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