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#computinghistory
"As soon as we started programming, … we found to our surprise that it wasn’t as easy to get programs right as we had thought it would be. … Debugging had to be discovered. I can remember the exact instant … when I realized that a large part of my life from then on was going to be spent in finding mistakes in my own programs."
-- Maurice Wilkes, in a lecture given in 1979, concerning writing programs for the EDSAC in 1949
[citation: https://cacm.acm.org/research/modern-debugging/#R37]
Today in #ComputingHistory in 1958, Jack Kilby of Texas Instruments tested the first integrated circuit, proving that resistors and capacitors could exist on the same piece of semiconductor material. More #OTD, here: https://www.acm.org/education/otd-in-computing-history
From long ago, the (unfortunate and gruesome) origin of the ”always mount a scratch monkey” admonition:
https://www.acme.com/jef/netgems/scratch_monkey.html
This rendition does diverge somewhat from what happened with the simian and the VAX at the University of Toronto decades ago.
Some more background:
https://torontodreamsproject.blogspot.com/2011/02/mabel-swimming-wonder-monkey-or-great.html
#computinghistory
#vax
#DigitalEquipmentCorporation #scratchmonkey
The first FTP server I ever connected to (ftp.funet.fi) is still going strong. The README is a fun read, especially the history part. Here are some of the early entries:
1988
First of December Finland gets it's first internet link of 56Kbit/s via the NORDUnet co-operation and major part of the traffic was from FTP
1989
Funet saw the need for a FTP-server that would allow better access to the internet content (web was still a dream) from Finland. Decision to set up NIC.FUNET.FI was made and Request for Proposals sent out
1990
First NIC.FUNET.FI, a SUN 4/330, with dual 40Mhz SPARC processors, 128MB RAM and 6GB of usable disk space which made it then among the largest FTP servers in the Internet.
Our international internet connectivity for whole Funet was 64Kbit/s so mea develops an ftpd with speed limits
More hardware details are available in /pub/files/Historical/staff-docs/historical/First-NIC-Hardware.txt
1991
Linus Torvalds offered a small OS for public distribution which our volunteer Ari Lemmke decided to call Linux and the name stuck... International connection was upgraded to 128Kbit/s
...
I did not know AOL still offered dial-up service!
"AOL will end dial-up internet service in September, 34 years after its debut — AOL Shield Browser and AOL Dialer software will be shuttered on the same day"
It's the end of an era...that I thought ended a long time ago.
Happy Birthday to the venerable MOS 6502
@tankgrrl Nice! We were there a week ago at the new INIT HELLO Apple II conference and didn't see that little guy sidled up to the real thing. Very nice!
https://www.flickr.com/photos/blakespot/54688615372/in/album-72177720328016203
I've put a gallery of photos I took during the INIT HELLO Apple II conference at the System Source Computer Museum this past weekend online for anyone who might like a look at some of the festivities.
What a wonderful time it was! Can't wait for next year!
https://www.flickr.com/photos/blakespot/albums/72177720328016203/
Spotted at the System Source Computer Museum: Missile Command 3.0 running on a Xerox Alto.
How many people wrote games for the Alto?! I wonder if this guy went on to bigger things?
Picked up my first ever amber monitor at the INIT HELLO vendor/swap room on day one. Adjusted a little and it looks great!
More INIT HELLO fun at the System Source Computer Museum today!
Hitting the road shortly for INIT HELLO, the new Apple II conference at the System Source Computer Museum in Baltimore. Fun, retro weekend ahead!
Forty years ago today, the Commodore Amiga 1000 was released to the world. With its unprecedented graphics & sound capabilities, powerful 16-bit CPU and custom chipset, and UNIX-like multitasking OS, the Amiga was a truly revolutionary system for its time. And, many are still in use to this day, with the platform seeing new software and hardware development from month to month.
I presently have three, myself. :-)
Happy 40th, Amiga!
20 years of Linux on the desktop, part 4
https://ploum.net/2025-07-23-linux_desktop4.html
#gemini link: gemini://ploum.net/2025-07-23-linux_desktop4.gmi
This is fascinating, the Computer Devices' DOT, the a portable that was the first computer to ship with Sony 3.5-inch disk drives and it had a *widescreen* CRT display (which supported 132x25 textmode!).
And the video ... has some surprises...
Well worth a watch.
Retro computer people, you might be interested in these PeerTube playlists:
ACORN BBC, ELECTRON, ARCHIMEDES
https://fedi.video/w/p/m6ptC81c7dWqt9Skc4hHPb
AMSTRAD CPC
https://fedi.video/w/p/ciiLuybi7qkWyzWy38vTrD
MSX
https://fedi.video/w/p/pfLJRRyNFjbGPhcG6AFdZX
Electronics Technology & Computer Science 1940–1975: Coevolution
https://fermatslibrary.com/s/electronics-technology-and-computer-science-1940-1975-a-coevolution#email-newsletter
* intertwined histories of electronics & computer science
* how electronics enabled practical realization Charles Babbage's computing concepts
FreeBSD has supported jails since the early 2000s!
They’re baked into the kernel and far more mature than most container runtimes.