• Tag Archives digital archaeology

  • Digital Archaeology: Floppy Disk #14 – DM0127.DOC

    Posted on by Azrael Comment


    A summary for those that haven’t been keeping up with this series:

    I found a number of 5.25″ disks at a thrift store a number of years ago (we are talking late 1990s probably). I finally got around to acquiring a 5.25″ disk drive and extracting the contents a several years back. Since then, I have been occasionally posting the content here.

    Based on the contents, at least some of these disks were apparently once owned by someone named Connie who used to run the “Close Encounters” Special Interest Group (SIG) on Delphi in the mid 1980s.

    A description of this SIG was found in a document on one of the disks: “This SIG, known as ‘Close Encounters’, is a forum for the discussion of relationships that develop via computer services like the Source, CompuServe, and Delphi. Our primary emphasis is on the sexual aspects of those relationships.”

    This service was text based and was accessed via whatever terminal program you used on your computer to dial in to Delphi’s servers. Many of these disks have forum messages, e-mails and chat session logs. All of this is pre-internet stuff and I don’t know if there are any archives in existence today of what was on Delphi in the 1980s. In any case, much of this stuff would have been private at the time and probably wouldn’t be in such archives even if they existed.

    This post includes the contents of DM0127.DOC. It contains what looks like an e-mail reading session with e-mails dated in late January 1985. There are only a couple of e-mails here including one from a new member of “TFC”, presumably referring to “The Friendship Circle” Special Interest Group. This was either another Special Interest Group run by “Connie” or it became “Close Encounters”.

    ===
    DM0127.DOC
    ===

    
                                                               
     MAIL #1

From:   CSG01          27-JAN-1985 11:28  

To:     CABUYS

Subj:   JUST TO SAY HI!



Sorry I missed you ..chatted with Grey Wulfe..and he said

you were an extremely busy lady..Your who/is also

shows that..Catch you again..sometime..



Thanks for the TFC passwords..just getting started with

this hobby..and afraid am hooked on it!..



Warmest regards,

Sarah..



exit


MAIL> re

To:     CSG01

Subj:  RE: JUST TO SAY HI!

Enter your message below. Press CTRL/Z when complete, CTRL/C to
 quit:
Sarah, Iit's true that I'm busy, but I always try to make
time as soon as I can for new TFC members.

I'm glad you joined us.  But, beware! it is very addicting
and very exciting! <smile>

Talk to you soon!
-Connie
^Z


Press RETURN to return to reading your mail

MAIL> d
MAIL> 

                                                               
     MAIL #1

From:   DEOGBURN       27-JAN-1985 11:54  

To:     CABUYS

Subj:   RE: some suggestions



Some very good points connie.  Yes, no more sessions on Saturda
y I promise.

Please be aware that an a agenda was sent out to all of you 2 w
eeks ago, however

we did tend to jump around quite a bit, but we did cover everyt
hing I planned, some

a little to brief than I planned.



  Thanks for the suggestions, the one on using /Send for hellos
 and bye's I will enforce.



Chris
MAIL> d
MAIL>

    📂This entry was posted in Computer Arcana 📎and tagged

  • Digital Archaeology: Getac S400

    Posted on by Azrael Comment

    The Getac S400 is a ruggedized laptop. Ruggedized laptops have features that let them hold up better in more extreme environments (outdoors, industrial settings, etc.). They include things like a heavier duty case (thin and light they are not), shock absorbing hard drive caddy, port covers, etc. As far as the internals, this laptop includes:

    • CPU: i3-380M @ 2.53 GHz
    • RAM: 8 GB DDR3-1333
    • Video: Intel HD Graphics
    • Screen: 1366×768

    Check out more detailed specs from HardInfo. Getac continued to use the S400 model designation for subsequent laptops but this variation, introduced in October 2010, was the first.

    I can tell the the RAM has been expanded because the modules are two different brands/speeds. This laptop originally would have shipped with 2GB or 4GB. As far as I can tell, everything else is original.

    Specs for this laptop are relatively low end though this machine would not have had a low end price. When new, this laptop would have cost about double what a non-ruggedized model with similar stats would have cost. This laptop probably retailed in the $1800 range when new. The i3 CPU is on the lower end of the scale at the time it was released though it was still plenty fast. At the time, the advantages of an i5 or i7 over an i3 came down to multitasking. i3s were 2 core/4 thread, i5s were 4 core/4 thread and i7s were 4 cores/8 threads. For a laptop meant to be used in the field, battery life was probably much more important than heavy multitasking.

    Likewise, the graphics are low end as there is no dedicated GPU. This generation of Intel processors were really the first where the integrated GPU was moved from the motherboard chipset to the CPU iteself. AMD was the first to do this calling such chips APUs but by this time most consumer CPUs were really APUs. In any case, this laptop wouldn’t be something you would use for gaming anyway so it doesn’t really need anything more.

    The screen is nice and bright which is useful for a laptop for which many use cases would take it outdoors. However, resolution is only average. 1366×768 qualifies as high def and was a pretty typical resolution at the time though full HD would have been nicer. However, for a 14-inch screen meant to be able to be easily visible in sunlight, and 1080p screen might have done more harm than good.

    According to Getac, this model is actually classified as “semi-rugged” so there are even heavier duty models available. Semi-rugged system use cases include utilities, field service, public safety, as well as military applications and vehicle use among other things. In addition to the features that make it “semi-rugged”, it includes all of the typical features you would have expected in a laptop at the time including a PC Card Type II slot, ExpressCard slot, 4-in-1 card reader, 3 USB 2.0 ports, 1 USB/eSATA port, Gigabit LAN, IEEE 1394, VGA, audio in/out, modem, 802.11a/b/g/n WiFi, and more.


    Like all of the hardware I use, this laptop is running BOINC and crunching tasks for various projects. It is attached to Einstein@home, Milkyway@home, Rosetta@home, Asteroids@home, Universe@home and World Community Grid. You can check out how it is doing overall at FreeDC.


    📂This entry was posted in Computer Arcana 📎and tagged

  • Digital Archaeology: Floppy Disk #14 – DM0126C.DOC

    Posted on by Azrael Comment


    A summary for those that haven’t been keeping up with this series:

    I found a number of 5.25″ disks at a thrift store a number of years ago (we are talking late 1990s probably). I finally got around to acquiring a 5.25″ disk drive and extracting the contents a several years back. Since then, I have been occasionally posting the content here.

    Based on the contents, at least some of these disks were apparently once owned by someone named Connie who used to run the “Close Encounters” Special Interest Group (SIG) on Delphi in the mid 1980s.

    A description of this SIG was found in a document on one of the disks: “This SIG, known as ‘Close Encounters’, is a forum for the discussion of relationships that develop via computer services like the Source, CompuServe, and Delphi. Our primary emphasis is on the sexual aspects of those relationships.”

    This service was text based and was accessed via whatever terminal program you used on your computer to dial in to Delphi’s servers. Many of these disks have forum messages, e-mails and chat session logs. All of this is pre-internet stuff and I don’t know if there are any archives in existence today of what was on Delphi in the 1980s. In any case, much of this stuff would have been private at the time and probably wouldn’t be in such archives even if they existed.

    This post includes the contents of DM0126C.DOC. It contains what looks like an e-mail reading session with e-mails dated in late January 1985. There are only a few e-mail in this file with a couple being about ‘PAN’ which sounds like it might be another Special Interest Group like Close Encounters, the content of which is featured in many of these files.

    ===
    DM0126B.DOC
    ===

    read 2

                                                               
     MAIL #2

From:   AH             27-JAN-1985 00:41  

To:     CABUYS

Subj:   shall i send u a long sexy letter?



shall i send u long sexy letter?

david here

tell me about you

what excites u

what makesy yr juices flow

kiss



 

david
MAIL> 
IDEL>> leaving? sob!
re

To:     AH

Subj:  RE: shall i send u a long sexy letter?

Enter your message below. Press CTRL/Z when complete, CTRL/C to
 quit:
I'd love a long sexy letter from you, David! 
^Z


Press RETURN to return to reading your mail

MAIL> d
MAIL> 

                                                               
     MAIL #2

From:   PAN            27-JAN-1985 00:52  

To:     CABUYS

Subj:   RE: some suggestions



here-here!  I fully agree!

And yes, pls forward me a copy of your conf. protocols at your 
earleisisetest

convenience.



Thanks!



* Perry *
MAIL> d
MAIL> 

                                                               
     MAIL #2

From:   PAN            27-JAN-1985 00:53  

To:     CABUYS

Subj:   RE: Backstage Pass



Connie;

Your backstage pass is now enabled.

Please let me know what you think after you've browsed through

the Backstage area of PAN.



Cheers!!



* P *
MAIL> 
IDEL>>

IDEL>> how you doing, anyway?
re

To:     PAN

Subj:  RE: Backstage Pass

Enter your message below. Press CTRL/Z when complete, CTRL/C to
 quit:
Thanks! I'll be back in touch soon as I browse thru it.

-Connie
^Z


Press RETURN to return to reading your mail

MAIL> d
MAIL> dir

                                                         ^R
/s idel

    📂This entry was posted in Computer Arcana 📎and tagged