Xref: utzoo rec.humor:18559 rec.humor.d:1559 comp.misc:4934
Path: utzoo!attcan!uunet!ncrlnk!ncr-sd!hp-sdd!megatek!spot!hollen
From: hollen@spot.megatek.uucp (Dion Hollenbeck)
Newsgroups: rec.humor,rec.humor.d,comp.misc
Subject: Re: Looking for Computer Folklore
Message-ID: <486@megatek.UUCP>
Date: 6 Feb 89 19:53:38 GMT
Sender: news@megatek.UUCP
Lines: 24


While a student at UCSD in the middle 60's I had the opportunity to 
work many late nights in the computer punch card room on my physical
chemistry lab calculations.  One late night when the computer operator
was obviously bored, he invited me into the sanctum sanctorum - the
computer room.  The computer was a CDC 3600 and had a curving CONSOLE 
about 8 feet long with several hundred lights and switches (in those
days, there was no such thing as terminal input).  On the far wall was
a bank of a dozen 1/2" tape drives with vacuum column tape tension 
control.  He loaded up a deck into the card reader (the only command
input device)  and started it.  For the next 1/2 hour the computer
PLAYED the Stars and Stripes Forever and assorted Sousa marches,
using the tones on the CONSOLE (every light had its own tone) for
the high low notes and the tape drives for the low notes.  At the
same time, all the lights on the CONSOLE were blinking on and off.
Since I am now a full-time programmer, I finally appreciate the work
it must have taken a system level programmer to do that.  Talk about
primitive audio devices!

	Dion Hollenbeck             (619) 455-5590 x2814
	Megatek Corporation, 9645 Scranton Road, San Diego, CA  92121

                                seismo!s3sun!megatek!hollen
                                ames!scubed/