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Calif Bill

"BAR" wrote in message
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Calif Bill wrote:
"BAR" wrote in message
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Calif Bill wrote:
"Wayne.B" wrote in message
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On Sat, 08 Dec 2007 11:37:04 -0500, wrote:

These IBM secrets weren't all that secret. I remember working next to
an AS5, a 3158 clone (Itel?)
Itel/National Advanced Systems (NAS)

It didn't take long for us to show the Tbar guy where his problem was
and that makes the customer happy. Isn't that the real objective?
In a perfect world... :-)

You were one of the good guys. Itel/NAS had a few "good guys" also
but you had to know who they were and ask for them by name.

The AS5 microcode updates were handled in the same lab as the one where
were were developing the 3800 clone. Microcode guy was known forever
as Floppy John. His name was John and he did the floppies for the
updates. Also his user name. Of course everyone reverse engineered the
competions code. And just seem to be near the same when re-engineered.
;) When I was an FE, I handled the optical scanner for cash register
tapes and he hooked up to lots of the competions CPU's. Met some good
guys and a few duds dealing with them.
I have a strong dislike for an on-site IBM FE at C&S Bank in Atlanta.
Prick wouldn't let me borrow his o-scope to take two readings on a piece
of equipment I was trouble shooting. I even asked him to operate the
o-scope and he still said no.

Your operation to cheap to buy one? :) Maybe IBM was tighter than NCR.

Yeah, we were too cheap to buy a second one. We had one in the lab and
they wouldn't let it travel. Several times I had to go to Radio Shack and
buy the beginner soldering set to use to fix stuff.

In the early years we had Tek 535 scopes. Huge things, not really portable.
One of the service cars was stolen, and had one of the scopes and they cost
about $10k I think in those days. We get a call from the CHP about who to
send the ticket to for littering the highway. They found the scope and a
bunch of other stuff from stolen car dump on the freeway right of way. No
ticket and we were happy to get the stuff back.