Old PC Technology

[ila]

On thing that stood out for me on the Excel discs was "Copy Freely." That used to be normal. Now users are threatened with legal action if they copy some things. Times sure change.

One time back in the early days of PCs I took a 2 day word processing course. Sitting in a corner of the classroom was an old computer that was no longer used. This computer stood out for me because it used 8" floppy discs for storage as compared to the (at that time) ultra-modern 3-1/2" discs.

I've attached a picture to compare the 8, 5-1/4, and 3-1/2 inch discs.

[a9127]

ila and others might enjoy these "old" computer books I found in my office today. The "77"on the Fortran Book means "1977." Older than me by several years but looks to be in much better shape. Another text I "inherited."

"Hacking Exposed." Don't get your hopes up the title is much more intriguing than the text. Got it free at a conference. Around 2007.

"Disaster Recovery." Younger members, the cover picture is of the remains of the World Trade Center on 9/11/2001. Jon Toigo is a friend of mine. Got this at a seminar I attended years ago. Good reading.

Back in the days when I was still trying to learn more about the "IT" thing. From 2003. Was still listenening to "nu-metal." See the post of my "flexible" friend in the "Dream Girls" thread. She was part of an "ad campaign" I did with our Marketing majors. We placed #1 in the nation. When I was still very young, I learned the big money was in using technology to create something, or make a business run more efficently, or pull valuable information out of the tons and tons of data generated with every transaction... Not in fixing the damn stuff. It becomes obsolete and you are best off throwing it away and replacing it. It's not the 70's anymore.

Well then again... Some skills never "grow old." This book is titled "Mathematics For Data Processing." Another "inherited" book but I am old enough to remember the term "Data Processing." Long before the Internet, Social Media, "Smartphones," "apps," "wi-fi," and free porn.

And this antique... The first "web server" I ever set up. It was for a class project. Ran an early version of Red Hat Linux. If I remember correctly our "team" named it "fight club." Of course we did. I've hung onto it for years for sentimental reasons. Even carrying it through the snow to my new office on campus. It's older than my students.

[ila]

Originally Posted by a9127

ila and others might enjoy these "old" computer books I found in my office today. The "77"on the Fortran Book means "1977." Older than me by several years but looks to be in much better shape. Another text I "inherited."...

...And this antique... The first "web server" I ever set up. It was for a class project. Ran an early version of Red Hat Linux. If I remember correctly our "team" named it "fight club." Of course we did. I've hung onto it for years for sentimental reasons. Even carrying it through the snow to my new office on campus. It's older than my students.

Speaking of old computer books I still have Peter Norton's Inside the PC 5th Edition. It was published in 1993. There are 3 chapters on DOS and another one on Windows (which was still very new at that time). I've hung onto it for sentimental reasons as well as the odd snippet of information that is still relevant today.

I got my network administrator qualifications in what now seems like another lifetime. Back then network operating systems were all DOS based (my qualification isn't from Novell). I actually enjoyed typing all instructions on the command line.

I remember one instructor telling us that passwords were buried deep in the system and that no one would ever find them. That sounded like a challenge so I went exploring. It was interesting what I found in the file system, but I never did find where the passwords were stored.

[MistressStevie]

Originally Posted by ila

I remember one instructor telling us that passwords were buried deep in the system and that no one would ever find them. That sounded like a challenge so I went exploring. It was interesting what I found in the file system, but I never did find where the passwords were stored.

In 1983 on Digital PDPs that we had at college the password and permissions file was findable in the rudimentary network we used at the time.
I edited the permissions file preferences for myself to have a much wider view. Then I remember changing peoples passwords when they forgot theirs. The CS instructor kept saying that it was not possible. But in many ways we all knew very little then compared to today.