Posts by CBarn 10 publicly visible posts • joined 19 Jul 2007
I fondly remember the NEC V-20, I had to replace the motherboard in my 5155 (cracked, so much for portability!) and I gave it the V-20 when I did so. 10Mhz - DOUBLE the speed of the original system!
I also had a hard drive ON this system (note I didn't say "IN") - couldn't fit it in the case, so I had it sitting outside on top of the box (even then, duct tape was a fine tool for system mods). At one point I'd switched out one of the 5.25" floppy's for a 3.5", and I had a fine hand-made cable to link the serial port with my roommate's Mac so we could trade files (made up the Mac end with an artists eraser and a bunch of sewing needles because we figure out where to buy the connector cheaply).
I don't see any reference in either this article or in the linked article to what he actually did to cause harm. The linked article is more informative - it sounds an awful lot like his super was simply out to get him.
Shame on them if they didn't have a backup and recovery plan in place - what if this poor guy had gotten hit by a bus or accidentally drowned in his own canal system?
Is there any way to tell a real IBM battery from counterfeit, other than waiting for it to blow up? I haven't bought anything directly from Shentech, but that doesn't mean my company's IT shop hasn't gone looking for better deals!
The flame seemed appropriate ...
I may be blonde, but I can't seem to find the name of the "backup and recovery software" they'll be peddling anywhere on the settlement site. It'd be nice to know in advance if it's actually worth digging out my receipts and taking the computer apart to get the drive serial number!
CNN interviewed one of the GM fellows in charge of this a day or two ago, and his explanation of the mechanism involved clearly rules out any speed enforcement worries - GM sends the signal and the fuel pump shuts down. Engine stall occurs shortly thereafter.
Of course, this has it's own set of possibly disastrous consequences - I shudder to think of what will happen when some nit speed-driving a 1/2 ton pickup with Onstar gets nicked by the cops and the engine shuts down. Let's see - 80MPH, no power steering, no power brakes, and the driver's already full of adrenaline ... I certainly hope I'm not on the same roadway as that disaster-in-the-making.
I wonder if they'll use it for catching drunk celebutants too?
Predating the Thinkpad line a bit, IBM also had the venerable L40SX, my first laptop computer. Beige, not black, with a 640x480 grayscale LCD, a 60MB hard drive and a 20MHz 386SX processor. I don't recall how much RAM I had in mine, it certainly wasn't a lot - 2-4M perhaps? It was a workhorse, though - I ran Win 3.1 and OS2 on it and used it extensively for working from home and on the road.
IBM also had the "portable" PC (standard XT packaged in a sewing-machine sized case with a small amber monitor, similar to the old Osborne systems) and before that the venerable and similarly-packaged 5100 (data tapes and build-in BASIC and APL, oooh!)
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