On Mon, 26 Jan 1998, Mike Allison wrote:
> The whole point is lists and newsgroups is that the majority are pertinent
> and one shouldn't have to sort through the impertinent.
>
> All of our email addresses are posted, if you want to have long discussions
> as a group there's no reason you can't do it off line...
Very good point. And I'd like to make one more point and then I'll move
on. I've been subscribed to this list longer than any of the bone-heads
who are posting off-topic, since its inception in fact (I guess I could be
considered a charter member). I know what the group was originally
intended for because I in part helped create that intent. With the
exception of the blatantly off-topic crap we've seen in the last week, and
aside from the OCCASIONAL straying (the kind that is the exception rather
than the norm) the quality of discussion has remained fairly high. I
would hate for this discussion group to plunge into the anarchy that one
would find on any common Usenet newsgroup just because some selfish
assholes want to talk about their own interests. I'm sorry, but that is
wholly unacceptable, and I'm not just going to allow it to happen. This
discussion was created for the purposes that are clearly outlined in the
FAQ. I'm not a jerk. I'm mostly reasonable and don't get offended
easily, nor do I make it a point to step on anyone's toes for bending the
rules a little. But what we've seen lately is a total disregard for the
basic guidelines. In fact, we already went over this and it was commonly
agreed that we're all here to talk about old computers and closely related
topics. How discussions of acid trips, stilling alcohol and our own
personal acheivements fits in I do not know.
ANYHOW....
I've been picking up a lot of great books lately in thrift stores. I
found a couple different volumes on the UCSD Pascal P-code system. I got
the IBM Options and Adaptors Technical Reference Volume 3 (I believe I
have Vols. 1&2 at home), I got a dBase II manual for the Osborne(!) but
unfortunately no software. I think my best find was Zork I on 8" floppy
in the original packaging with all the original inserts.
Let's see...I also got the Radio Shack TRS-80 Applications Software
Sourcebook. Now, I know that Ward probably knows this, but I didn't
realize just how many programs were available for the TRS-80. This book
is pretty big.
I also found some armed forces computer coursework manuals which are
pretty interesting. I found one called _Introduction to Programming in
BASIC_ from a Navy traing course. I also found a manual on programming in
(I forget which language) on a CDC Cyber mainframe. Both of these are
from the late 70s.
Sam Alternate e-mail: dastar_at_siconic.com
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Received on Mon Jan 26 1998 - 18:26:02 GMT