Comments on: Q of the day, 1994 edition http://pandagon.blogsome.com/2007/11/28/q-of-the-day-1994-edition/ Just another WordPress weblog Sun, 12 Feb 2012 10:26:14 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=1.5.1-alpha by: ohsohappy http://pandagon.blogsome.com/2007/11/28/q-of-the-day-1994-edition/#comment-469979 Fri, 30 Nov 2007 11:38:16 +0000 http://pandagon.blogsome.com/2007/11/28/q-of-the-day-1994-edition/#comment-469979 <b>Another TRS-80 Color Computer 2 here. Hooked up to the television. It had a cassette drive. I could program the hell out of that thing, in between rounds of Dungeons of Daggorath. (A-space-L-enter! A-space-L-enter!) </b> Whoa. Someone else who remembers Dungeons of Daggorath? My parents paid a comparative fortune for the TRS-80 computer. (We were not quite poor, but we didn't have much spending money. Dad was adamant about saving the money for this, because he thought computers would be important, and he didn't want us to be afraid of them.) We also had a Poltergeist game which, when I was about 6 years old, was-at three whole levels-the hardest game in the whole world! Another TRS-80 Color Computer 2 here. Hooked up to the television. It had a cassette drive. I could program the hell out of that thing, in between rounds of Dungeons of Daggorath. (A-space-L-enter! A-space-L-enter!)

Whoa. Someone else who remembers Dungeons of Daggorath? My parents paid a comparative fortune for the TRS-80 computer. (We were not quite poor, but we didn’t have much spending money. Dad was adamant about saving the money for this, because he thought computers would be important, and he didn’t want us to be afraid of them.)

We also had a Poltergeist game which, when I was about 6 years old, was-at three whole levels-the hardest game in the whole world!

]]> by: Beppie http://pandagon.blogsome.com/2007/11/28/q-of-the-day-1994-edition/#comment-469755 Thu, 29 Nov 2007 18:09:53 +0000 http://pandagon.blogsome.com/2007/11/28/q-of-the-day-1994-edition/#comment-469755 When I was four, in 1985, my dad bought an Amstrad 8256 with 256k of RAM, a green screen, and no hard drive to speak of. He bought it to write up his uni assignments; we kids used it to play games like Dan Dare, Jet Set Willy and Sabre Wolf. It served us well until 1993, when we got our first IBM compatible running Windows 3.1. When I was four, in 1985, my dad bought an Amstrad 8256 with 256k of RAM, a green screen, and no hard drive to speak of. He bought it to write up his uni assignments; we kids used it to play games like Dan Dare, Jet Set Willy and Sabre Wolf. It served us well until 1993, when we got our first IBM compatible running Windows 3.1.

]]> by: Dillo http://pandagon.blogsome.com/2007/11/28/q-of-the-day-1994-edition/#comment-469687 Thu, 29 Nov 2007 14:33:54 +0000 http://pandagon.blogsome.com/2007/11/28/q-of-the-day-1994-edition/#comment-469687 The first computer I ever used was a DEC PDP-11/40 running RSX-11M. That was enough to get me hooked, go out and do lawn-and-yard work service for a year to save up enough and buy my own TRS-80 Model I with 16K RAM and Level II BASIC. Played with BASIC for a few months, then jumped into Z80 Assembly, never looked back. The first computer I ever used was a DEC PDP-11/40 running RSX-11M.
That was enough to get me hooked, go out and do lawn-and-yard work service for a year to save up enough and buy my own TRS-80 Model I with 16K RAM and Level II BASIC. Played with BASIC for a few months, then jumped into Z80 Assembly, never looked back.

]]> by: Daniel Martin http://pandagon.blogsome.com/2007/11/28/q-of-the-day-1994-edition/#comment-469570 Thu, 29 Nov 2007 09:44:55 +0000 http://pandagon.blogsome.com/2007/11/28/q-of-the-day-1994-edition/#comment-469570 For those of you who (like me, and at least three other people on this thread) miss the TI 99/4A of our childhoods, let me introduce you to <a href="http://www.harmlesslion.com/cgi-bin/showprog.cgi?search=Classic99" rel="nofollow">Classic99</a>, a truly kick-ass TI-99/4A emulator. I can't here "In the Hall of the Mountain King" without thinking that the melody should cut off after a little bit, and switch to a cartoon sound of something falling down a hole, followed by the standard "you've been eaten by the Wumpus" music... For those of you who (like me, and at least three other people on this thread) miss the TI 99/4A of our childhoods, let me introduce you to Classic99, a truly kick-ass TI-99/4A emulator.

I can’t here “In the Hall of the Mountain King” without thinking that the melody should cut off after a little bit, and switch to a cartoon sound of something falling down a hole, followed by the standard “you’ve been eaten by the Wumpus” music…

]]> by: CBrachyrhynchos http://pandagon.blogsome.com/2007/11/28/q-of-the-day-1994-edition/#comment-469569 Thu, 29 Nov 2007 09:29:47 +0000 http://pandagon.blogsome.com/2007/11/28/q-of-the-day-1994-edition/#comment-469569 Commodore 64, shared with my dad who printed out his thesis on long dot-matrix fan-feed with those tractor strips on the side. Spent hours one summer printing it out for him. Commodore 64, shared with my dad who printed out his thesis on long dot-matrix fan-feed with those tractor strips on the side. Spent hours one summer printing it out for him.

]]> by: durnlibrul http://pandagon.blogsome.com/2007/11/28/q-of-the-day-1994-edition/#comment-469566 Thu, 29 Nov 2007 09:09:46 +0000 http://pandagon.blogsome.com/2007/11/28/q-of-the-day-1994-edition/#comment-469566 Commodore VIC-20 with a cassette tape. What fun! Later, a C-64 with an actual 5.25" external floppy! Learned a lot on those two machines.... Still have the C-64 in the closet, and it still works! Commodore VIC-20 with a cassette tape. What fun! Later, a C-64 with an actual 5.25″ external floppy! Learned a lot on those two machines…. Still have the C-64 in the closet, and it still works!

]]> by: Matthew, Patron Saint of Affogato http://pandagon.blogsome.com/2007/11/28/q-of-the-day-1994-edition/#comment-469538 Thu, 29 Nov 2007 03:38:32 +0000 http://pandagon.blogsome.com/2007/11/28/q-of-the-day-1994-edition/#comment-469538 1986 for me, when I was... 9, I guess. Big year. New car, seasons pass to Expo '86, and a new computer. 8088. None of that dual floppy nonesense for us, no-sir! Had a whopping 20MB HDD. I mean, who could <i>possibly</i> ever need 20MB, let alone more than that. CGA graphics, too. Much more entertaining is the first internet connection. We lived in row houses, and our neighbour four or five doors down ran an ISP out of his basement. We ran an ethernet cable down to his house and had a terminal in my brother's room. We had broadband before there was a broadband. I've been on the internet since... I dunno when. 1990 or so? Never dial-up though. When our neighbour sold his business and moved, they were just starting up cable internet... we just got in on that and have been using cable ever since. 1986 for me, when I was… 9, I guess. Big year. New car, seasons pass to Expo ‘86, and a new computer. 8088. None of that dual floppy nonesense for us, no-sir! Had a whopping 20MB HDD. I mean, who could possibly ever need 20MB, let alone more than that. CGA graphics, too.

Much more entertaining is the first internet connection. We lived in row houses, and our neighbour four or five doors down ran an ISP out of his basement. We ran an ethernet cable down to his house and had a terminal in my brother’s room. We had broadband before there was a broadband. I’ve been on the internet since… I dunno when. 1990 or so? Never dial-up though. When our neighbour sold his business and moved, they were just starting up cable internet… we just got in on that and have been using cable ever since.

]]> by: Jamie http://pandagon.blogsome.com/2007/11/28/q-of-the-day-1994-edition/#comment-469532 Thu, 29 Nov 2007 02:17:07 +0000 http://pandagon.blogsome.com/2007/11/28/q-of-the-day-1994-edition/#comment-469532 Commodore 128, overrated big sister of the C64. Commodore 128, overrated big sister of the C64.

]]> by: JasonC http://pandagon.blogsome.com/2007/11/28/q-of-the-day-1994-edition/#comment-469526 Thu, 29 Nov 2007 01:50:07 +0000 http://pandagon.blogsome.com/2007/11/28/q-of-the-day-1994-edition/#comment-469526 In the early 90's I was in elementary school still and Mom was dating a computer nerd. He built us a 386 something or other, with sound card and all; ran on Windows 3.0. I got hardcore into computers, and would pick up copies of Computer Shopper mag, and that shit was like fucking porn to me. Heh. In the early 90’s I was in elementary school still and Mom was dating a computer nerd. He built us a 386 something or other, with sound card and all; ran on Windows 3.0. I got hardcore into computers, and would pick up copies of Computer Shopper mag, and that shit was like fucking porn to me. Heh.

]]> by: Tom http://pandagon.blogsome.com/2007/11/28/q-of-the-day-1994-edition/#comment-469493 Wed, 28 Nov 2007 23:50:38 +0000 http://pandagon.blogsome.com/2007/11/28/q-of-the-day-1994-edition/#comment-469493 The first computer I worked on was a Xerox Sigma 6. That would have been in 1976 at the NY Institute of Technology. It was a pretty cool computer for its day but I think my cell phone is more powerful. The first computer I worked on was a Xerox Sigma 6. That would have been in 1976 at the NY Institute of Technology. It was a pretty cool computer for its day but I think my cell phone is more powerful.

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