wrote in message
...
On Thu, 11 Dec 2008 22:54:38 -0500, BAR wrote:

Why did anyone ever pay for AOL?
There was a time when it was only Prodigy and AOL, before there really
was an internet, from the consumer standpoint. It was all proprietary
software and captive content. Other than that you just had local BBS
services. If you traveled you wanted something with national coverage.
It still is about the most stable ISP. The rest came and went with too
much frequency to actually give anyone your Email address and have it
be useful a year later. Even now I can still use my 15 year old AOL
address but my Mediaone address is dead, as is the successor
Roadrunner (ended up Comcast), Sprint then Earthlink, ended up Embarq.
and a half dozen other places that I had accounts with. (RIP)

The software stopped being stable when they incorporated Internet
Explorer as the browser and W/9x. Prior to that it was rock solid. I
used to use the W/3.1 version to test communication on machines that
had suspected software problems since it didn't have to be "installed"
and it would run straight from a diskette.

Before Prodigy and AOL there was Compuserve and GEnie. Same stuff, just
earlier.

--Mike

"Mike" wrote in message
...

wrote in message
...
On Thu, 11 Dec 2008 22:54:38 -0500, BAR wrote:

Why did anyone ever pay for AOL?
There was a time when it was only Prodigy and AOL, before there really
was an internet, from the consumer standpoint. It was all proprietary
software and captive content. Other than that you just had local BBS
services. If you traveled you wanted something with national coverage.
It still is about the most stable ISP. The rest came and went with too
much frequency to actually give anyone your Email address and have it
be useful a year later. Even now I can still use my 15 year old AOL
address but my Mediaone address is dead, as is the successor
Roadrunner (ended up Comcast), Sprint then Earthlink, ended up Embarq.
and a half dozen other places that I had accounts with. (RIP)

The software stopped being stable when they incorporated Internet
Explorer as the browser and W/9x. Prior to that it was rock solid. I
used to use the W/3.1 version to test communication on machines that
had suspected software problems since it didn't have to be "installed"
and it would run straight from a diskette.

Before Prodigy and AOL there was Compuserve and GEnie. Same stuff, just
earlier.

--Mike


Actually there was ARPA net for a lot of us.

On Dec 12, 3:01*pm, "Calif Bill" wrote:
"Mike" wrote in message

...







wrote in message
.. .
On Thu, 11 Dec 2008 22:54:38 -0500, BAR wrote:

Why did anyone ever pay for AOL?
There was a time when it was only Prodigy and AOL, before there really
was an internet, from the consumer standpoint. It was all proprietary
software and captive content. Other than that you just had local BBS
services. If you traveled you wanted something with national coverage.
It still is about the most stable ISP. The rest came and went with too
much frequency to actually give anyone your Email address and have it
be useful a year later. Even now I can still use my 15 year old AOL
address but my Mediaone address is dead, as is the successor
Roadrunner (ended up Comcast), Sprint then Earthlink, ended up Embarq.
and a half dozen other places that I had accounts with. *(RIP)

The software stopped being stable when they incorporated Internet
Explorer as the browser and W/9x. Prior to that it was rock solid. *I
used to use the W/3.1 version to test communication on machines that
had suspected software problems since it didn't have to be "installed"
and it would run straight from a diskette.

Before Prodigy and AOL there was Compuserve and GEnie. Same stuff, just
earlier.

--Mike

Actually there was ARPA net for a lot of us.- Hide quoted text -

- Show quoted text -

That ran off of heated rocks and bronze, didn't it?!!!!!

On Fri, 12 Dec 2008 14:47:49 -0800 (PST), wrote:

On Dec 12, 3:01*pm, "Calif Bill" wrote:
"Mike" wrote in message

...







wrote in message
.. .
On Thu, 11 Dec 2008 22:54:38 -0500, BAR wrote:

Why did anyone ever pay for AOL?
There was a time when it was only Prodigy and AOL, before there really
was an internet, from the consumer standpoint. It was all proprietary
software and captive content. Other than that you just had local BBS
services. If you traveled you wanted something with national coverage.
It still is about the most stable ISP. The rest came and went with too
much frequency to actually give anyone your Email address and have it
be useful a year later. Even now I can still use my 15 year old AOL
address but my Mediaone address is dead, as is the successor
Roadrunner (ended up Comcast), Sprint then Earthlink, ended up Embarq.
and a half dozen other places that I had accounts with. *(RIP)

The software stopped being stable when they incorporated Internet
Explorer as the browser and W/9x. Prior to that it was rock solid. *I
used to use the W/3.1 version to test communication on machines that
had suspected software problems since it didn't have to be "installed"
and it would run straight from a diskette.

Before Prodigy and AOL there was Compuserve and GEnie. Same stuff, just
earlier.

--Mike

Actually there was ARPA net for a lot of us.- Hide quoted text -

- Show quoted text -

That ran off of heated rocks and bronze, didn't it?!!!!!

Not exactly, but close enough.

Things were pretty primitive in those days. :)

When I think back on our first "big" machine - a whole 2K RAM on a
12X12 PCB with a bootstrap console and a paper tape reader - SANDIA
labs went ga-ga over that much memory on a single board and PAPER TAPE
for programming - man, that was 'da bomb. :)

Literally in this case.

Heck, I go back even further. Our high school math club used to
program Sylvania's mainframe (this was '62) using phone jacks/plugs on
racks six feet tall and four wide - there were fifteen of them.

With vacuum tubes no less. :)

On Fri, 12 Dec 2008 20:34:37 -0500, Tom Francis - SWSports
wrote:

Heck, I go back even further. Our high school math club used to
program Sylvania's mainframe (this was '62) using phone jacks/plugs on
racks six feet tall and four wide - there were fifteen of them.

With vacuum tubes no less. :)

I get a warm feeling just thinking about it, nothing like the soft red
glow from a rack full of vacuum tube equipment on a cold winter's
night. :-)

On Fri, 12 Dec 2008 21:06:57 -0500, Wayne.B
wrote:

On Fri, 12 Dec 2008 20:34:37 -0500, Tom Francis - SWSports
wrote:

Heck, I go back even further. Our high school math club used to
program Sylvania's mainframe (this was '62) using phone jacks/plugs on
racks six feet tall and four wide - there were fifteen of them.

With vacuum tubes no less. :)

I get a warm feeling just thinking about it, nothing like the soft red
glow from a rack full of vacuum tube equipment on a cold winter's
night. :-)

Ah yes - the low hum of a power transformer keeping the finals on the
"california kilowatt" warm and waitng for that chance encounter on 40
meters with a TO or C8. :)

It's even better when the S-line is sitting idle - that soft glow of
tubes through the cabinet vents reflecting off the shelf over the
radios...nothing like it.

"Wayne.B" wrote in message
...

On Fri, 12 Dec 2008 20:34:37 -0500, Tom Francis - SWSports
wrote:

Heck, I go back even further. Our high school math club used to
program Sylvania's mainframe (this was '62) using phone jacks/plugs on
racks six feet tall and four wide - there were fifteen of them.

With vacuum tubes no less. :)

I get a warm feeling just thinking about it, nothing like the soft red
glow from a rack full of vacuum tube equipment on a cold winter's
night. :-)



Have either of you had to buy tubes lately? Good Grief!

I decided to re-tube both the B3 and the C3 Hammonds, a M3 Hammond, two
Leslie 122 speakers and two Hammond PR-20 Tone cabinets.

Started searching for tube sets and nearly fell off my chair. The last
American made set of push-pull finals (6550's) for the Leslie's are $329.95
for a matched pair. I'd need four pairs of these. Forget it!

http://thetubestore.com/ge-6550.html

Opted for some Russian made versions for 60 bucks a pair.

Anyway, I cut back on re-tubing everything at once, and will just do one
organ/Leslie at a time. 13 tubes of various types.

Even shopping around for the best prices for tube sets for everything was
adding up to about $1,600 - $2,000.
It's a far cry from the old days of running down to Radio Shack, old tubes
in hand, using their tube tester and buying a couple of new tubes for a buck
or two each.

Eisboch

On Sat, 13 Dec 2008 01:41:08 -0500, "Eisboch" wrote:


"Wayne.B" wrote in message
.. .

On Fri, 12 Dec 2008 20:34:37 -0500, Tom Francis - SWSports
wrote:

Heck, I go back even further. Our high school math club used to
program Sylvania's mainframe (this was '62) using phone jacks/plugs on
racks six feet tall and four wide - there were fifteen of them.

With vacuum tubes no less. :)

I get a warm feeling just thinking about it, nothing like the soft red
glow from a rack full of vacuum tube equipment on a cold winter's
night. :-)

Have either of you had to buy tubes lately? Good Grief!

Oh yeah - had to get new finals for my homebrew "California Kilowatt"
about two years ago- 3-500Cs. I got Russian tubes (Chinese tubes are
crap) and they were still $110 a piece.

Dude!!

I decided to re-tube both the B3 and the C3 Hammonds, a M3 Hammond, two
Leslie 122 speakers and two Hammond PR-20 Tone cabinets.

Started searching for tube sets and nearly fell off my chair. The last
American made set of push-pull finals (6550's) for the Leslie's are $329.95
for a matched pair. I'd need four pairs of these. Forget it!

http://thetubestore.com/ge-6550.html

Opted for some Russian made versions for 60 bucks a pair.

Know what - your better off too. I've got Russian tubes in my Dad's
Collins S-line and in the KWM-2 and they are solid as a rock. All the
Mac 50s have Svetlana 6L6GCs plus other tubes all Svetlana and they
sound just as good as they did the day I bought them.

Anyway, I cut back on re-tubing everything at once, and will just do one
organ/Leslie at a time. 13 tubes of various types.

I feel your pain - analog is expensive. :)

Even shopping around for the best prices for tube sets for everything was
adding up to about $1,600 - $2,000.

Yep - been there, done that. :)

It's a far cry from the old days of running down to Radio Shack, old tubes
in hand, using their tube tester and buying a couple of new tubes for a buck
or two each.

Gone - long gone. Finished.

Radio Shack is just another Best Buy now, only smaller with a little
more "stuff".

wrote:
On Fri, 12 Dec 2008 20:34:37 -0500, Tom Francis - SWSports
wrote:

On Fri, 12 Dec 2008 14:47:49 -0800 (PST), wrote:

On Dec 12, 3:01 pm, "Calif Bill" wrote:
"Mike" wrote in message

...







wrote in message
...
On Thu, 11 Dec 2008 22:54:38 -0500, BAR wrote:
Why did anyone ever pay for AOL?
There was a time when it was only Prodigy and AOL, before there really
was an internet, from the consumer standpoint. It was all proprietary
software and captive content. Other than that you just had local BBS
services. If you traveled you wanted something with national coverage.
It still is about the most stable ISP. The rest came and went with too
much frequency to actually give anyone your Email address and have it
be useful a year later. Even now I can still use my 15 year old AOL
address but my Mediaone address is dead, as is the successor
Roadrunner (ended up Comcast), Sprint then Earthlink, ended up Embarq.
and a half dozen other places that I had accounts with. (RIP)
The software stopped being stable when they incorporated Internet
Explorer as the browser and W/9x. Prior to that it was rock solid. I
used to use the W/3.1 version to test communication on machines that
had suspected software problems since it didn't have to be "installed"
and it would run straight from a diskette.
Before Prodigy and AOL there was Compuserve and GEnie. Same stuff, just
earlier.
--Mike
Actually there was ARPA net for a lot of us.- Hide quoted text -

- Show quoted text -
That ran off of heated rocks and bronze, didn't it?!!!!!
Not exactly, but close enough.

Things were pretty primitive in those days. :)

When I think back on our first "big" machine - a whole 2K RAM on a
12X12 PCB with a bootstrap console and a paper tape reader - SANDIA
labs went ga-ga over that much memory on a single board and PAPER TAPE
for programming - man, that was 'da bomb. :)

Literally in this case.

Heck, I go back even further. Our high school math club used to
program Sylvania's mainframe (this was '62) using phone jacks/plugs on
racks six feet tall and four wide - there were fifteen of them.

With vacuum tubes no less. :)

I got in the computer biz in 1966 with IBM. One of my customers was
Army Stratcom out past Wheaton Md in the boonies. They had a 360 mod
30 that was a Arpanet node. This place was of those photomat looking
buildings with nothing inside but a guard and an elevator that took
you an undisclosed distance underground where there was a huge
complex. I suppose the cows walking around the field might have
tricked the ruskies if it wasn't for the parking lot with 100 cars in
it.


Sounds like the "highly secret" facility in Alexandria, Virginia, where
a federal government contractor "hardens" cars and trucks for the feds.
It's a huge facility, and the cars are parked in lots outside. The
ground on which it sits used to be part of a railroad yard. Aside from
that and the fact the facility has been on television a few times, why,
you'd never know.

Here's the "highly secret" facility:

http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b2...0/489546dc.jpg



Those tracks on the right belong to the railroads and to the Washington
Metro. To the left is Route 1. The shopping center to the north is
called Potomac Yards.

On Sat, 13 Dec 2008 22:04:32 -0500, Boater wrote:


Those tracks on the right belong to the railroads and to the Washington
Metro. To the left is Route 1. The shopping center to the north is
called Potomac Yards.

They have something similar here. It's an underground phone switching
station. It looks like your typical switching station above ground, but
it has a two story underground "nuclear proof" complex. I'd seen the
above ground part for years without giving it much thought. I never knew
about the underground part until after the end of the Cold War.

I'm sure there are many more places around.