Isolated Blurt Thread

[Hypoxia]

My first PC ran CP/M. I was delighted to upgrade to an IBM XT with a massive 10mb hard drive and a 360k floppy drive.

The first PC I built, a HeathKit H8 (ocatal keypad on the front panel), ran HDOS in 8k RAM. I was happy to upgrade to 64k RAM (cost US$800) and CP/M 2.2 with a 3-drive system of hard-sector single-side single-sector 91k 5.25" flops (disc system cost US$1200 for 273k storage).

Somewhere I still have an 8 inch floppy, and the IBM punch cards I used when in charge of an IBM mainframe in 1963...

I got rid of the Cromemco S100 system and its twin 12" drives long ago but I still own some 12" flops as well as many Hollerith punch cards, a few IBM 5150 mass-storage carts (look like plastic mortar rounds), wire-plug program cards, paper-tape spools, rolls of teletype paper, a magnetic-core memory circuit, and other museum-quality crud. Not to mention Clive Sinclair's digital wristwatch kit. I was big on kits.

 

[oggbashan]

I've chickened out and ordered an external USB 3.5 floppy drive that is compatible with Windows 7/8.

I gave my IBM XT to a local museum. It still works with DOS, Wordstar, Supercalc and dBase.

 

[Handley_Page]

I've chickened out and ordered an external USB 3.5 floppy drive that is compatible with Windows 7/8.

I gave my IBM XT to a local museum. It still works with DOS, Wordstar, Supercalc and dBase.

The one you missed is 'Sidekick'.

 

[trysail]

Saturday, 11 April
Oxford-Cambridge boat race

Cambridge leads the men's series, 81-78, but has lost the last two races. Last year, an early clash of oars damaged Cambridge's hopes of victory and Oxford won by 11 lengths, the biggest winning margin since 1973.



​

 

[Handley_Page]

Saturday, 11 April
Oxford-Cambridge boat race

Cambridge leads the men's series, 81-78, but has lost the last two races. Last year, an early clash of oars damaged Cambridge's hopes of victory and Oxford won by 11 lengths, the biggest winning margin since 1973.

​

I believe they are having the Women's Race on the same day this year.

 

[stickygirl]

Saturday, 11 April
Oxford-Cambridge boat race

Cambridge leads the men's series, 81-78, but has lost the last two races. Last year, an early clash of oars damaged Cambridge's hopes of victory and Oxford won by 11 lengths, the biggest winning margin since 1973.



​

The Oxford team can give me 11 lengths any time they choose

 

[Handley_Page]

The Oxford team can give me 11 lengths any time they choose

Now, Now, dear; go easy on the innuendo, please.
but why Oxford ?

 

[oggbashan]

I've chickened out and ordered an external USB 3.5 floppy drive that is compatible with Windows 7/8.

...

It's arrived, and it functions well once I had worked out how to change the disc it was viewing. I have to close the A: drive and reopen it to refresh the list of files.

I have thrown out over 200 3.5 discs since I started reviewing them - ancient software such as Word 6; MSDOS 3.1; Wordstar 2000 etc.

But I haven't found the story I was looking for. The earliest version I've found so far is 1995. Even the latest version of 2002 wouldn't be suitable for Lit because the hero is abused sexually when a child. That is the motivation for some of his later actions, but I wrote too much detail. My excuse? I started writing it long before Literotica existed. The version I want probably dates back to 1986, and might be on a 5.25 floppy.

Whether it is worth re-writing? I'm not sure. It is a historic document as my first ever erotic story, but nearly 30 years on much of it makes me realise that I have changed.

 

[NaokoSmith]

Now, Now, dear; go easy on the innuendo, please.
but why Oxford ?

My former college is the least sporting college in the whole of Oxbridge colleges. While I was up, an over-enthusiastic boat club were determined to change this. Desperate to win something after many centuries of languishing and being laughed at, they put the second team in the races for first boats and their first team in the races for second boats. They were thus able to 'bump' the boat ahead and win their oar.

They came in force to the student union to vote so they could put a suitably decorated oar up in the college bar, otherwise unpolluted by sporting trophies unlike every other college bar. The union finally agreed, but said they must also put up the wooden spoon which the second team were forced to accept among the first boats.

For many years there was an oar on display in the bar; the blade painted in college colours and with the team's names in curling gold writing on it, and underneath hung a wooden spoon with its bowl painted in college colours and the second team's names in tiny curling gold writing on it.

 

[NaokoSmith]

I actually came on here to complain because some external programme seems to have accessed my computer and changed all the setup! I had this sort-of email app (I think it was an app? I have never been quite sure what they are) which made things very easy and put all my newsletters and facebook postings in separate folders, just retaining proper emails for me to read. I liked it very much but now I can't find it anywhere. As I am such a dolly-bird about computing, I of course never noticed what the damn thing was called. My internet browser has been altered to explorer when I have always preferred firefox. Firefox has forgotten all the pages I like to go to. (I don't bookmark them, as they are all filthy dirty and I have to mindful of the very rare occasions I let Piglet look at something on my machine.)

 

[oggbashan]

...

For many years there was an oar on display in the bar; the blade painted in college colours and with the team's names in curling gold writing on it, and underneath hung a wooden spoon with its bowl painted in college colours and the second team's names in tiny curling gold writing on it.

When I played Rugby for my school in Australia, the other sports teams were almost uniformly successful. Why not? Apart from academic prowess, potential students were expected to be active in sport. The Headmaster had been Captain of Australia's Cricket Team, and several of the staff were Olympic Gold Medallists.

But our Rugby Team was new. The school played Australian Rules - hard and successfully. We had real difficulty finding 15 people who had heard of Rugby, let alone played it.

Every Monday morning at the school's assembly the previous week's sporting results were read out, usually to cheers at yet another success, another trophy won, another record broken.

But not Rugby. Other (fee-paying) schools played Rugby, not Australian Rules. Since our Rugby team was the only team our school had, it was, of course, the First team. So we played their first team - and lost consistently. The Rugby results were heard in deathly silence at first, then with boos.

Until two consecutive matches that we didn't lose:

The first was abandoned because of excessive injuries. By half time the total of players left standing on the pitch was eighteen. Twelve players had been removed by ambulance, and Australian schoolboys have a high tolerance of sporting injuries. The ambulance service told the referee that they would not attend if another player were injured. Twelve hospitalisations from one match was more than they considered normal, even for Australian Rules. The referee abandoned the match and declared it a draw.

The second?

We had played for quarter of an hour in torrential rain when we had a scrum close to our opponents' goal posts. We might not have been great Rugby players but for schoolboys we were heavy and muscular. We won the scrum, scored a try, but we were over-enthusiastic with our shoving. We had brought the Rugby goal posts crashing to the ground, and the impact had snapped one supporting pole. The match was abandoned again, but this time we had actually been in the lead.

Both of those Rugby results were greeted with ironic cheers.

Five years later?

The Rugby team joined the other sports teams in the boring success rate.

The school's official record doesn't recognise that it even HAD a Rugby team until five years after Og had left.

 

[oggbashan]

I actually came on here to complain because some external programme seems to have accessed my computer and changed all the setup! I had this sort-of email app (I think it was an app? I have never been quite sure what they are) which made things very easy and put all my newsletters and facebook postings in separate folders, just retaining proper emails for me to read. I liked it very much but now I can't find it anywhere. As I am such a dolly-bird about computing, I of course never noticed what the damn thing was called. My internet browser has been altered to explorer when I have always preferred firefox. Firefox has forgotten all the pages I like to go to. (I don't bookmark them, as they are all filthy dirty and I have to mindful of the very rare occasions I let Piglet look at something on my machine.)

You have had the latest Firefox update.

It has done that to me too.

 

[Handley_Page]

You have had the latest Firefox update.

It has done that to me too.

Would that be v 37 ?
I've not noticed any problems with it - so far.

 

[NaokoSmith]

You have had the latest Firefox update.

It has done that to me too.

What?!!! Firefox did it to me? Why did they put Internet Explorer as my browser of choice?

 

[stickygirl]

The rowing teams all changed when they gave the cox to a woman . I think boys are more likely to respond to a woman shouting at them, especially since most are American from ivy league colleges. Apart from rowing they can't do much else and are used to their mothers' shouting at them "Theodore! Come on in honey, I have some Jello sandwiches on rye for you."

I'd better stop there - I've had to stop some black thoughts reaching my keyboard...

Happy Friday everyone

 

[legerdemer]

I really don't see the issue computers have with 20 or more open apps and 100 or more open windows. I mean, if you can't handle a little data, just don't call yourself a computer. Seriously!

 

[Handley_Page]

The rowing teams all changed when they gave the cox to a woman . I think boys are more likely to respond to a woman shouting at them, especially since most are American from ivy league colleges. Apart from rowing they can't do much else and are used to their mothers' shouting at them "Theodore! Come on in honey, I have some Jello sandwiches on rye for you."

I'd better stop there - I've had to stop some black thoughts reaching my keyboard...

Happy Friday everyone

There's a real plot bunny there, I think.
And some sarcastic . . . .

 

[Sammael Bard]

Just 5 post short of the 4k mark...

*twiddles fingers in nervousness*

 

[loquere]

Kangaroo polar beer, hybrid army

 

[Handley_Page]

Kangaroo polar beer, hybrid army

Sweat, sweat.

 

[TheeGoatPig]

I think I've found a disc with my earliest erotic story on.

I started it in 1986, and drastically edited it in 2002. I want to go back to the earlier version and see if it is salvable as a historic document.

The problem?

It's on a 5.25 inch 360k floppy for an IBM XT. In the loft I do have an early Pentium computer with 5.25 inch and 3.5 inch drives. I'll have to drag it out, set it up and see if I can transfer the WS2000 file.

My current computer has a 3.5 floppy drive on it. When I bought the case they were only charging $1 for it, so I said, "Why the fuck not?" and clicked to order it

 

[TxRad]

My current computer has a 3.5 floppy drive on it. When I bought the case they were only charging $1 for it, so I said, "Why the fuck not?" and clicked to order it

Long time no see

 

[NaokoSmith]

My current computer has a 3.5 floppy drive on it. When I bought the case they were only charging $1 for it, so I said, "Why the fuck not?" and clicked to order it

TGP!
What gives? Any romance yet?

 

[Handley_Page]

Well, spring is almost blooming. . .

 

[Hypoxia]

Well, spring is almost blooming. . .

Same here, since the snow melted a few days ago. Still chilly at night. We'll get away next week, head for the coastal mountains, shake off the Sierra winter. Which reminds me: Wild turkeys inhabit this region. yesterday I saw a one-legged turkey standing in place. I stepped toward it and it hopped away. On one leg. Yow.