4th of July Hypocricy (and NGEN systems back on topic)

From: Carlos Murillo <cmurillo_at_emtelsa.multi.net.co>
Date: Wed Jul 4 21:38:29 2001

At 02:07 PM 7/4/01 -0600, Dick wrote:
>Careful now!
.
.snip
>That's why I back the mandatory concealed weapons initiative. You get one
free
>kill at birth, can carry a gun at age 15, and don't have to tell anybody
whether
>you've exercised your right yet. An armed society is a polite society,
doncha
>know ...
>
>Dick

\begin{criticism}
Oh my god... this must be one of those``only in the US'' things...
Really, the US stopped evolving (for the worse) as a society during
the cowboy era...
\end{criticism}


I lived on and off in the US for 10+ years. I have been exposed to
american culture since I was a child. Yet, it is still difficult for
me to grasp the reason for so much cultural inertia in otherwise such
sensible people. I have always thought that sensible people should be
able to liberate themselves from culture and build a broader view
of the world. Example: Jefferson wanted The People to be able to own
guns so that the government would be afraid of The People; they
would bear equal firepower. Times have changed. The People can't
own nuclear weapons, and the government sure isn't afraid, because
while voting can change the politicians' faces, it can't change the system.

There are many people in the US who can see through all of this
(take Chomsky, or even better, Benjamin Garber). But those
are not the guys that CNN chooses to interview...

Enough ranting...

Back on topic:

The Convergent Systems machines (NGEN series) that I found
were sold by .... Datapoint!!! The circuit boards inside are clearly
marked "Convergent"... but the user and service manuals
clearly state "Datapoint 1200". I found one "CTOS boot
and HD install disk" and one "CTOS HD System files" disk,
but there is an empty floppy disk sleeve in the pack.
Now, these floppy disks were dumped^H^H^H^H^H^Hstored under
very adverse circumstances: fluctuating humidity and very fine
sawdust (the university's carpentry shop was located next door).
But I don't see any fungal growths. Still, I think
I may have only one chance at reading and archiving the floppies.
What method/hardware/software do you people suggest for the job?

By the way, Tony would be anything but indifferent to the
(dis)"service manuals"; they are essentially wintel-like step by
step guides to decide which module/card to swap/replace...

carlos.


--------------------------------------------------------------
Carlos E. Murillo-Sanchez carlos_murillo_at_nospammers.ieee.org
Received on Wed Jul 04 2001 - 21:38:29 BST