On Thu, 14 Dec 2000 22:15:59 -0500, Roger Turk wrote:
<snip>
> When I first got AutoCad, I had to run a cable from the computer to the
> plotter. In those days, even the simplest cable was expensive if it had the
> description, "computer," so I got a couple of the DB25 to RJ-11 adaptors and
> used (and still using) telephone wire to communicate with the plotter. Other
> than having large fingers and a small adaptor, it was no problem connecting
> the proper wires to the proper pins. Verifying with an Ohm meter helped.
Hello Roger:
In 1992 while detailed to tech support I once connected the serial ports of
about six office computers with telephone wire having modular connections
to the same printer by using some special optional hardware adaptors for
the serial ports on the computer and for the serial input interface for the
printer. The interface device on the printer had an input receiver for
each of the six modular telephone cables. I didn't know what I was doing,
so I just followed the instructions in the manuals. This project wasn't
even my idea. The managers just ordered all the interface equipment and
the software and told me to install all this stuff. I tried to explain
that I didn't know how to do it. They just told me to RTFM. Some of the
telephone cable runs were about 75 feet long. When I was finished with
hooking up this system and installing the software and interface devices
on all of the computers and on the printer, I found to my great amazement
that the entire system functioned perfectly on the very first test. All of
the switching operations were handled entirely by the software and by the
hardware interface. Pretty amazing software, huh? Do you want to know what
kind of software it was? Well, I don't remember anything about what kind of
software it was, except that it was for DOS. That was the first and last
time I ever used this software. I was never called back to fix any problems
because no problems ever occurred with this system until many years later
after I had retired and they decided to upgrade to Windows. Now they hire
high-priced technical consultants who really know what they are doing. No
longer do the managers simply call on an ordinary employee to give him an
assignment and to tell him to RTFM when he says he doesn't know how to do
the job. The high priced consultants who really know what they are doing
haven't been able to figure out how to make a Windows system work. They
sure know what they are doing when it comes to making a pile of money off
the government.
All the best,
Sam Heywood
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