On Aug 27, 2012, at 09:33 , John Sessoms wrote:
> The part that mattered and y'all kind of missed was the "and don't touch
> anything else kid".
>
> I really was a kid, not yet old enough to drive. It was very unusual someone
> my age would even be allowed inside the computer room. Not only was I allowed
> in, I was allowed to do something, a very VERY minor something, with the
> computer.
>
> I wasn't even particularly interested in computers. If you can't take it
> apart to see how it works, what good is it? I already understood enough about
> the grown-up world to know "THEY" were never going to let me do that.
>
> It was just the least boring place for me to wait around until my dad decided
> to quit work and I could catch a ride home. I don't remember what they used
> the computer for, although I'm sure I was told at some time or another. It
> was an insurance company, so it must have had something to do with keeping
> track of the money.
It's called Actuarials. How the companies crunch all the statistical know data
about peoples frailties, accident rates, death rates, broken down by the block
you live on, so they know what to charge everyone and cover known and unknown
claim rates, still making enough profit to buy the largest buildings in all
large cities so their name is placed up in the air for all to see.
Joseph who's Dad worked for Liberty Mutual in Boston and Hopkinton Mass for
30 years. The very same company who cancelled me after one $300.00 accident.
Bastards. I've only been involved in 4 accidents in my 55 years of driving. One
that was my fault, I think. Not sure, really, I nodded off on the way home from
my second job at 2 AM on a one way street in San Francisco in 1969. I was
driving the timed lights. Apparently I entered the intersection as the light
turned green. A taxi entered in a late yellow. Light was red when he T-boned me
in my '64 MGB. Seatbelt saved me. Repaired the 'B' and painted it white. Never
liked the baby blue the factory used.
>
> From: "Daniel J. Matyola"
>
>> Yes, I also worked with computers that had punch cards in the 1960s.
>> Dull Boring work.
>>
>> As I result, I lost my chance to get in on the ground floor. My four
>> math courses in college were with John Kemeny, then head of the Math
>> Department, and later President, of Dartmouth College. He told us he
>> was working on a computer programing language, and was seeking student
>> volunteers. Our response was that we didn't want to get involved with
>> computers that gave you paper cuts, and anyway, we had our slide
>> rules; who needed computers? Kemeny went on to develop BASIC, which
>> was (and perhaps still is) patented by the college. It took 20 years
>> before I finally became involved with computers; by that time, BASIC
>> had gone through numerous iterations and improvements.
>>
>> Dan Matyola
>> http://www.pentaxphotogallery.com/danieljmatyola
>>
>>> On Aug 25, 2012, at 20:10 , John Sessoms wrote:
>>>
>>>> From: "Daniel J. Matyola"
>>>>
>>>>> My first computer was an Apple ][. Great computer. I loved it. I
>>>>> learned Basic, Pascal, Assembler and even a bit of machine language
>>>>> programing on it. It certainly wasn't "plug -and-play," but it was
>>>>> designed for computer hobbyists, and most of them loved it.
>>>>>
>>>>> Dan Matyola
>>>>
>>>> My "first" computer was an IBM System 360. I learned to place the cards in
>>>> the card reader "Face down & nine edge first, AND DON'T TOUCH ANYTHING
>>>> ELSE KID!"
>
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