On 8/30/05, Shane O'Donnell <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > > So the updated cheer would go something like: > > Two bits, Four bits, Six bits, a byte? > > Shane O.
You know this whole thread is making me feel really old. 1) Because I remembered that a bit was 1/8 of a dollar, and when stock prices used to be quoted in bits (I mean eights). 2) Because it dredged up the recollection that I actually knew the guy who invented the term byte. If my aging memory serves his name was Wernher Bucholz. We were both active in the IBM Poughkeepsie Microcomputer Hobbyists Club back when the IBM PC hadn't quite come out and we were a mix of guys who build homebrew systems (usually S-100) and early adopters of Trash-80s and Apple ][s. Actually the the term byte was coined, during the design of the IBM 7030 "Stretch", perhaps the first "Super"computer, it usually meant 6-bits. It wasn't until the IBM 360 that its common meaning of 8-bits was settled. Which brings me back to the original topic of certifications, education, and experience. In my case I've got a 31 year old BSEE in Computer Science, and I'm retired after a 31 year career. As such I know an awful lot about computers and software, and object-oriented programming languages and applications in particular, but I'm a relative newbie when it comes to practical experience with Linux and Posix systems. Back when I started programming in college, UNIX was still emerging from the fingertips of Brian Kerninghan, Ken Thompson and Dennis Ritchie, and most computers from Digital Equipment Corporation (I wonder who many here even remember them) were still running various DEC operating systems, and the VAX didn't yet exist running either VMS or UNIX. While I've crossed paths with UNIX/POSIX systems over the course of those 35 years, I really didn't start to gain any real competency until I started playing with Linux at home a couple of years ago. I'd like to get into some consulting, and right now I look at the various certifications and certification prep books etc. as a way of organizing what I need to catch up on. -- TriLUG mailing list : http://www.trilug.org/mailman/listinfo/trilug TriLUG Organizational FAQ : http://trilug.org/faq/ TriLUG Member Services FAQ : http://members.trilug.org/services_faq/ TriLUG PGP Keyring : http://trilug.org/~chrish/trilug.asc
