This picture was created by Mudeth
http://flickr.com/photos/mudeth/1473167058/
March 10, 2009
March 09, 2009
A Walk Down Amnesia Lane
Wow talk about a walk down amnesia lane for those of you who aren't old enough to remember DOS based computers than telnet is the way to go. I used my first computer for work back in 1988 and it was DOS based programs (Windows 95 hadn't even been thought of than) and the computer we had was equipped with a hard disk drive that was a massive 20Mb. The thing I had forgotten about with DOS based programs is that if you don't get the command exactly right it just wont work.
Now days in windows if you get part of the program name right it will give you all the options that it has that are similar to what you are looking for. In Telnet if you forget to put in the o for open before entering the address of the site you want than you just get a command error and no options for what you might have meant.
Also to start a program running you didn't just click on it you had to find the correct start up command and they didn't all have the same code. Some would start on "run" others on "start" and some would even start only if you typed in the name of the program.
I showed Telnet to my teenage kids and they found it a wonderful curiosity but were glad that they don't have to use it for there computer needs. My youngest who is 15 gets very upset when a game or disk doesn't start with "Auto run" and she has to go into My Computer and start it manually. It is very hard to believe how far we have come in just 20 years.
That old work computer was upgraded in 1990 and we were given 40Mb of hard drive and we got really excited at so much space. Now I have a 500GB hard drive and am considering an upgrade to meet the demand. I found an old computer book from 1993 that listed the parts and prices to build your own computer. I worked out how many parts I would need and the cost to build the computer I am using now which I paid $1200 for. It would have cost me $137,855 to build the same thing back than.
After using Telnet I went to towel.blinkenlights.nl and was both excited and disappointed at the same time. It was disappointed that the movie was Star Wars and not Star Trek, but hey that's a personal choice, but I was excited to see graphics the same as the first computer game I ever owned.
In a moment for euphoric excitement I called the kids to my desk and said look at this guys this is how my old computer games use to look. Well needless to say they weren't so excited one thought they were "cute", my son said " wow dad that's so hard core, not" and my oldest just said "yeah" and walked away.
While it was nice to walk down amnesia lane for a short period of time I ask myself would I really want to go back to this way of computing and the answer would be "NOT LIKELY". I guess that we have been to spoiled by GUI and windows and all the user friendly advantages that we now have and to go back is not an option.
I believe if we were still in DOS based computers than we would not see any where near as many computers in households today. Love or Hate Microsoft Windows it has made computing the user friendly way it is today.
So I hope that you enjoyed your walk down amnesia lane with me all of those of you who remember what it was like, and for those of you who don't remember enjoy the short experience of the way it was. Remember it is always nice to look back at where we came from but it is essential to look forward to where we are going. I wonder if in 20 years other University students will be looking at Windows based programming and wondering how we ever survived with such basic programs.
Now days in windows if you get part of the program name right it will give you all the options that it has that are similar to what you are looking for. In Telnet if you forget to put in the o for open before entering the address of the site you want than you just get a command error and no options for what you might have meant.
Also to start a program running you didn't just click on it you had to find the correct start up command and they didn't all have the same code. Some would start on "run" others on "start" and some would even start only if you typed in the name of the program.
I showed Telnet to my teenage kids and they found it a wonderful curiosity but were glad that they don't have to use it for there computer needs. My youngest who is 15 gets very upset when a game or disk doesn't start with "Auto run" and she has to go into My Computer and start it manually. It is very hard to believe how far we have come in just 20 years.
That old work computer was upgraded in 1990 and we were given 40Mb of hard drive and we got really excited at so much space. Now I have a 500GB hard drive and am considering an upgrade to meet the demand. I found an old computer book from 1993 that listed the parts and prices to build your own computer. I worked out how many parts I would need and the cost to build the computer I am using now which I paid $1200 for. It would have cost me $137,855 to build the same thing back than.
After using Telnet I went to towel.blinkenlights.nl and was both excited and disappointed at the same time. It was disappointed that the movie was Star Wars and not Star Trek, but hey that's a personal choice, but I was excited to see graphics the same as the first computer game I ever owned.
In a moment for euphoric excitement I called the kids to my desk and said look at this guys this is how my old computer games use to look. Well needless to say they weren't so excited one thought they were "cute", my son said " wow dad that's so hard core, not" and my oldest just said "yeah" and walked away.
While it was nice to walk down amnesia lane for a short period of time I ask myself would I really want to go back to this way of computing and the answer would be "NOT LIKELY". I guess that we have been to spoiled by GUI and windows and all the user friendly advantages that we now have and to go back is not an option.
I believe if we were still in DOS based computers than we would not see any where near as many computers in households today. Love or Hate Microsoft Windows it has made computing the user friendly way it is today.
So I hope that you enjoyed your walk down amnesia lane with me all of those of you who remember what it was like, and for those of you who don't remember enjoy the short experience of the way it was. Remember it is always nice to look back at where we came from but it is essential to look forward to where we are going. I wonder if in 20 years other University students will be looking at Windows based programming and wondering how we ever survived with such basic programs.
March 04, 2009
5 Tips For New Bloggers
As a new blogger it is hard to decide who you should listen to when it comes to tips and advice. Should you listen to someone who has been blogging for the past 10 years and doesn't remember how they felt when they posted their first blog. On the other hand should you listen to someone like me who is posting their first blog as part of a University Degree and has been told they have to post 5 tips.
After all the blogs that I have looked at before posting mine, and trust me I'm just about blogged out, I have decided that if the tip sounds good and suits your need than use it no matter how long the person has been blogging.
So here we go 5 blogging tips from kickingbear:
1. DON'T PANIC AND ALWAYS CARRY YOUR TOWEL.
For those of you who are fans of Douglas Adams and The Hitch Hikers Guide to the Galaxy you will know that the guide has the words Don't Panic on its cover in large red friendly letters. As a new blogger I believe that blog sites should carry the same friendly red letters because I have enough trouble with MSN and never wanted to know about blogging, so when I saw the assessment panic set it.
After taking a box of Valium, well not really but I thought about it, and I took the time to look at some blog sites I discovered that the panic was for nothing and it wasn't as bad as I thought. As for the towel, well it won't help you blog but as the guide says you never know when it will come in handy.
2. RESEARCH
Always remember the 5 P principle; Prior Preparation Prevents Poor Performance. Yes I am sure some of you, especially those in the Army, will tell me that I left one out but as children may read this blog I have gone for the PG version. But seriously research other blogs especially those that may be of similar topic to yours. Take notes about what you liked and didn't like about the blogs or the blog sites. After all this is done than decide which site is best for you and make a start.
3. GRAB THEIR ATTENTION
If the first 2 paragraphs don't grab me or interest me than I won't read any further and will ignore the rest of the blog. Like everyone else today we all have commitments and not much spare time. I personally wont waste my time on boring things and most others won't either. But please don't start with the phrase "Free sex, now that I have your attention" because that attention grabber has been so done to death.
4. PUSH ALL THE BUTTONS
My ex wife likes to push buttons but that's a different set of buttons and a whole different blog. Once you choose your blog site there is always lots of buttons and tabs to push or click. Experiment with them all and see what the button or tab does. If you don't like it you can go back, undo, delete or don't save it. The fun in this whole tip is experimenting and who knows what you will find.
5. QUALITY NOT QUANTITY
It can be really nice sometimes to go to a website or blog and find all the bells, whistles and shiny things that you could ever have and they suit the blog. Other times there is just too much and you feel that all these things are only there because the blogger wanted to either show off or just because he could. If it isn't necessary or relevant and you only want it there because you can than reconsider it. I personally believe that a few quality post's are better than a lot of poor quality post's especially if you want people to come back.
Well these are my 5 tips and my personal thoughts you can take them on board or take then with a grain of salt. The point is that blogs are a reflection of who you and are mostly for fun. As you have seen through this post I am partial to humour and some of you will get it and others won't but that's just who I am. I had fun posting this and for those who got my humour and liked it than I hope to see you back and for those who didn't I hope that you find the type of blog you are looking for.
Bye for now and blog on.
After all the blogs that I have looked at before posting mine, and trust me I'm just about blogged out, I have decided that if the tip sounds good and suits your need than use it no matter how long the person has been blogging.
So here we go 5 blogging tips from kickingbear:
1. DON'T PANIC AND ALWAYS CARRY YOUR TOWEL.
For those of you who are fans of Douglas Adams and The Hitch Hikers Guide to the Galaxy you will know that the guide has the words Don't Panic on its cover in large red friendly letters. As a new blogger I believe that blog sites should carry the same friendly red letters because I have enough trouble with MSN and never wanted to know about blogging, so when I saw the assessment panic set it.
After taking a box of Valium, well not really but I thought about it, and I took the time to look at some blog sites I discovered that the panic was for nothing and it wasn't as bad as I thought. As for the towel, well it won't help you blog but as the guide says you never know when it will come in handy.
2. RESEARCH
Always remember the 5 P principle; Prior Preparation Prevents Poor Performance. Yes I am sure some of you, especially those in the Army, will tell me that I left one out but as children may read this blog I have gone for the PG version. But seriously research other blogs especially those that may be of similar topic to yours. Take notes about what you liked and didn't like about the blogs or the blog sites. After all this is done than decide which site is best for you and make a start.
3. GRAB THEIR ATTENTION
If the first 2 paragraphs don't grab me or interest me than I won't read any further and will ignore the rest of the blog. Like everyone else today we all have commitments and not much spare time. I personally wont waste my time on boring things and most others won't either. But please don't start with the phrase "Free sex, now that I have your attention" because that attention grabber has been so done to death.
4. PUSH ALL THE BUTTONS
My ex wife likes to push buttons but that's a different set of buttons and a whole different blog. Once you choose your blog site there is always lots of buttons and tabs to push or click. Experiment with them all and see what the button or tab does. If you don't like it you can go back, undo, delete or don't save it. The fun in this whole tip is experimenting and who knows what you will find.
5. QUALITY NOT QUANTITY
It can be really nice sometimes to go to a website or blog and find all the bells, whistles and shiny things that you could ever have and they suit the blog. Other times there is just too much and you feel that all these things are only there because the blogger wanted to either show off or just because he could. If it isn't necessary or relevant and you only want it there because you can than reconsider it. I personally believe that a few quality post's are better than a lot of poor quality post's especially if you want people to come back.
Well these are my 5 tips and my personal thoughts you can take them on board or take then with a grain of salt. The point is that blogs are a reflection of who you and are mostly for fun. As you have seen through this post I am partial to humour and some of you will get it and others won't but that's just who I am. I had fun posting this and for those who got my humour and liked it than I hope to see you back and for those who didn't I hope that you find the type of blog you are looking for.
Bye for now and blog on.
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