Dear Time Lords: Freeze Computers in 1993

https://graydon2.dreamwidth.org/322461.html

#HackerNews #Dear #Time #Lords: #Freeze #Computers #in #1993 #TimeTravel #ComputingHistory #Nostalgia #HackerNews #TechThrowback

A while back I ran across a post where someone commented that the designers of IPv4 had made a mistake only using 32 bit addresses. Yes, it would have saved us hassle if they’d kept the variable-length addresses from the IPv3 draft, but I think they actually made a reasonable decision given what the technology world was like at the time, and I wrote an article to talk about that.

https://lpar.ath0.com/posts/2026/01/ipv4-history/ #ComputingHistory #InternetHistory

A while back I ran across a post where someone commented that the designers of IPv4 had made a mistake only using 32 bit addresses. Yes, it would have saved us hassle if they’d kept the variable-length addresses from the IPv3 draft, but I think they actually made a reasonable decision given what the technology world was like at the time, and I wrote an article to talk about that.

https://lpar.ath0.com/posts/2026/01/ipv4-history/ #ComputingHistory #InternetHistory

Feb. 16, 1978 -- forty eight years ago today -- the first public dial-up bulletin board system or BBS went online.

Wired: "1978: Ward Christensen and Randy Suess launch the first public dialup bulletin board system. The two unleash the kernel of what would eventually spawn the world wide web, countless online messaging systems..."

https://www.wired.com/2010/02/0216cbbs-first-bbs-bulletin-board/

I got my first modem in the summer of 1986, a Prometheus ProModem 1200A (modem on a card) for the Apple II. The first BBS I logged in to was OxGate, an RBBS/RCPM system the phone number of which I still can remember (my earliest BBS software -- firmware-based on that modem card -- had no phone book). I used BBSs avidly until sometime in 1994, when I subscribed to a local ISP's (Widomaker of Williamsburg, VA) dial-up modem-based PPP service that brought TCP/IP to my 486 PC with Windows 3.1. I could then browse the web from home, and that was basically the end of BBSing for me -- for the moment, anyway.

For those interested in experiencing this early form of online community, there are many BBSs online right now, accessible via telnet on systems old and new. I've enjoyed getting back into BBSing this way, especially when using vintage systems to login.

Most any computer can do it, today. Tips on how: https://bytecellar.com/bbsing

#BulletinboardSystem #BBS #BBSing #telnet #dialup #modem #online #terminals #terminalprograms #computinghistory #history #computers #vintagecomputing #retrocomputing #retrocomputers #nostalgia #ATDT #onlineforums #preinternet #internet #communication #RBBS #AppleII #CRT #memories #Wired #tech #technews #technology

The free and open web existed until around 1993.

#computingHistory

#OTD in #ComputingHistory in 2001, Wikipedia co-founder Jimmy Wales made the first edit to the site by typing the phrase "Hello, World!" Today, Wikipedia celebrates 25 years of being our ubiquitous source of information.

For more: https://www.acm.org/education/otd-in-computing-history

#OTD in #ComputingHistory in 2001, Wikipedia co-founder Jimmy Wales made the first edit to the site by typing the phrase "Hello, World!" Today, Wikipedia celebrates 25 years of being our ubiquitous source of information.

For more: https://www.acm.org/education/otd-in-computing-history

How Slide Rules Work

https://amenzwa.github.io/stem/ComputingHistory/HowSlideRulesWork/

#HackerNews #HowSlideRulesWork #SlideRules #STEM #ComputingHistory #Education

#OTD in #ComputingHistory in 1956, IBM released the first manual for the programming language FORTRAN. The manual appeared six months before the compiler was ready, giving programmers time to learn and prepare for this milestone in computing. https://www.acm.org/education/otd-in-computing-history

#OTD in #ComputingHistory in 1956, IBM released the first manual for the programming language FORTRAN. The manual appeared six months before the compiler was ready, giving programmers time to learn and prepare for this milestone in computing. https://www.acm.org/education/otd-in-computing-history

More fun from the show this weekend.

#INITHELLO#SystemSource #vintagecomputing #retrocomputing #retrocomputers #computers #computinghistory #vintagetech #vintage #museums

More INIT HELLO fun at the System Source Computer Museum today!

#INITHELLO#SystemSource #vintagecomputing #retrocomputing #retrocomputers #computers #computinghistory #vintagetech #vintage #museums

FreeBSD has supported jails since the early 2000s!

They’re baked into the kernel and far more mature than most container runtimes.

#FreeBSD #computinghistory

Did you know that the 'NT' in Windows NT stood for "Nine Ten"?

The intended core platform for the OS was the then-expected Intel i910 RISC processor, which was to be the rebranded moniker for the i860 that can be found in the wild.

It never came to be due to the i860s terrible handling of context switching -- a capability that a CPU for a multitasking, multiuser workstation OS must be able to do very_efficiently. The i860 wasn't.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WTkFGZqVCM8&t=459s

** EDIT: Several have pointed to sources indicating differently that NT stood for N10, which was the codename for the i860, so -- N10, N-Ten > NT.

#TIL#WindowsNT#Windows#Intel #i860 #i910 #vintagecomputing #retrocomputing#OS#techhistory#RISC #x86 #processors #computers #computinghistory#Microsoft

Guess what arrived in Switzerland today! This looks great, @alexobenauer!

#retrocomputing #computinghistory

Hey Commodore Amiga fans!

You can discover lots of Amiga videos on PeerTube on this playlist:

https://fedi.video/w/p/rBBYAHtsBcpBXtpcT26VPG

- If you're on a phone, scroll the first two video titles at the bottom to see the rest of the playlist.

- If you're on a computer, choose a video from the playlist on the right.

- If you're watching embedded, click ⏭️ or ⏮️ to see next or previous videos in the playlist.

cc @amiga@a.gup.pe

#Amiga #Commodore #CommodoreAmiga #RetroComputing #ComputingHistory #16Bit #PeerTube