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HFQ snippet request

This fascinating series is a combination of historical seafaring, swashbuckling adventure, and high technological science-fiction. Join us in a discussion!
Re: HFQ snippet request
Post by Keith_w   » Sun Jan 04, 2015 1:55 pm

Keith_w
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Posts: 976
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Location: Ontario, Canada

[quote="McGuinessClever, but then he'd have to add a call to a graphics routine, which is such a pain to set up!

Sorry, the programmer in me occasionally has flashbacks to the early days of Microsoft Windows, or having to switch to graphics mode in DOS (Shudders...) :geek:

(Tell me again why we made a corporate behemoth out of a company that put us through all that?) :roll:[/quote]
Because they were cleverer than everyone else and got a really good deal with IBM, whom they then turned around and stabbed in the back over OS/2? After why would you buy an operating system for a computer when you could get one for free with the computer? Or you could say that all that was a direct result of the decisions that IBM and Intel made to keep the cost down.
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A common mistake people make when trying to design something completely foolproof is to underestimate the ingenuity of complete fools.
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Re: HFQ snippet request
Post by McGuiness   » Sun Jan 04, 2015 2:41 pm

McGuiness
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Keith_w wrote:
McGuiness wrote:Clever, but then he'd have to add a call to a graphics routine, which is such a pain to set up!

Sorry, the programmer in me occasionally has flashbacks to the early days of Microsoft Windows, or having to switch to graphics mode in DOS (Shudders...) :geek:

(Tell me again why we made a corporate behemoth out of a company that put us through all that?) :roll:
Because they were cleverer than everyone else and got a really good deal with IBM, whom they then turned around and stabbed in the back over OS/2? After why would you buy an operating system for a computer when you could get one for free with the computer? Or you could say that all that was a direct result of the decisions that IBM and Intel made to keep the cost down.
You said it as well as I could - although you skipped the part where a certain billionaire lied to IBM, claiming he had an Operating System, then raced across town and offered a buddy $50,000 (that he didn't have) to buy his knockoff of CPM! And thus the computer industry was shackled for decades... and counting! :x

On the bright side we know that Merlin doesn't run on Windows, or he'd have to reboot occasionally! :lol:

"Oh bother", said Pooh as he glanced through the airlock window at the helmet he'd forgotten to wear.
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Re: HFQ snippet request
Post by Charybdis   » Sun Jan 04, 2015 4:20 pm

Charybdis
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McGuiness wrote:You said it as well as I could - although you skipped the part where a certain billionaire lied to IBM, claiming he had an Operating System, then raced across town and offered a buddy $50,000 (that he didn't have) to buy his knockoff of CPM! And thus the computer industry was shackled for decades... and counting! :x

On the bright side we know that Merlin doesn't run on Windows, or he'd have to reboot occasionally! :lol:

SHUDDER - Merlin sitting in the forest watching the CoGA forces building their defenses when, out of nowhere, comes the dread BSOD!

Anyone know where the "Hit any key to continue" switch is? :shock:
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What say you, my peers?
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Re: HFQ snippet request
Post by fallsfromtrees   » Sun Jan 04, 2015 5:04 pm

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McGuiness wrote:
McGuiness wrote:Clever, but then he'd have to add a call to a graphics routine, which is such a pain to set up!

Sorry, the programmer in me occasionally has flashbacks to the early days of Microsoft Windows, or having to switch to graphics mode in DOS (Shudders...) :geek:

(Tell me again why we made a corporate behemoth out of a company that put us through all that?) :roll:
Keith_w wrote:Because they were cleverer than everyone else and got a really good deal with IBM, whom they then turned around and stabbed in the back over OS/2? After why would you buy an operating system for a computer when you could get one for free with the computer? Or you could say that all that was a direct result of the decisions that IBM and Intel made to keep the cost down.
You said it as well as I could - although you skipped the part where a certain billionaire lied to IBM, claiming he had an Operating System, then raced across town and offered a buddy $50,000 (that he didn't have) to buy his knockoff of CPM! And thus the computer industry was shackled for decades... and counting! :x

On the bright side we know that Merlin doesn't run on Windows, or he'd have to reboot occasionally! :lol:

Well, you can also put a good deal of the blame on Gary Kildall - who thought it was more important to go to a softball game than talk to IBM about operating systems - which forced IBM to talk to Gates who said he could get an OS, and picked one up from Seattle Software.
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The only problem with quotes on the internet is that you can't authenticate them -- Abraham Lincoln
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Re: HFQ snippet request
Post by Keith_w   » Sun Jan 04, 2015 5:21 pm

Keith_w
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Posts: 976
Joined: Tue Apr 10, 2012 12:10 pm
Location: Ontario, Canada

McGuiness wrote:
Keith_w wrote:quote="McGuiness" Clever, but then he'd have to add a call to a graphics routine, which is such a pain to set up!

Sorry, the programmer in me occasionally has flashbacks to the early days of Microsoft Windows, or having to switch to graphics mode in DOS (Shudders...) :geek:

(Tell me again why we made a corporate behemoth out of a company that put us through all that?) :roll: /quote Because they were cleverer than everyone else and got a really good deal with IBM, whom they then turned around and stabbed in the back over OS/2? After why would you buy an operating system for a computer when you could get one for free with the computer? Or you could say that all that was a direct result of the decisions that IBM and Intel made to keep the cost down.
You said it as well as I could - although you skipped the part where a certain billionaire lied to IBM, claiming he had an Operating System, then raced across town and offered a buddy $50,000 (that he didn't have) to buy his knockoff of CPM! And thus the computer industry was shackled for decades... and counting! :x

On the bright side we know that Merlin doesn't run on Windows, or he'd have to reboot occasionally! :lol:


Yeah, but in his favour, you have to admit that he wasn't an billionaire at the time - I wouldn't be surprised if he hadn't had to borrow that 50K to buy DOS.
--
A common mistake people make when trying to design something completely foolproof is to underestimate the ingenuity of complete fools.
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Re: HFQ snippet request
Post by Keith_w   » Sun Jan 04, 2015 5:28 pm

Keith_w
Commodore

Posts: 976
Joined: Tue Apr 10, 2012 12:10 pm
Location: Ontario, Canada

fallsfromtrees wrote: quote="McGuiness" quote="McGuiness" Clever, but then he'd have to add a call to a graphics routine, which is such a pain to set up!

Sorry, the programmer in me occasionally has flashbacks to the early days of Microsoft Windows, or having to switch to graphics mode in DOS (Shudders...) :geek:

(Tell me again why we made a corporate behemoth out of a company that put us through all that?) :roll:
Keith_w wrote:Because they were cleverer than everyone else and got a really good deal with IBM, whom they then turned around and stabbed in the back over OS/2? After why would you buy an operating system for a computer when you could get one for free with the computer? Or you could say that all that was a direct result of the decisions that IBM and Intel made to keep the cost down. /quote
You said it as well as I could - although you skipped the part where a certain billionaire lied to IBM, claiming he had an Operating System, then raced across town and offered a buddy $50,000 (that he didn't have) to buy his knockoff of CPM! And thus the computer industry was shackled for decades... and counting! :x

On the bright side we know that Merlin doesn't run on Windows, or he'd have to reboot occasionally! :lol:
/quote
Well, you can also put a good deal of the blame on Gary Kildall - who thought it was more important to go to a softball game than talk to IBM about operating systems - which forced IBM to talk to Gates who said he could get an OS, and picked one up from Seattle Software.


In 1981 I worked on a CP/M machine transferring a legal package from Business Basic to CPM Basic (or whatever it was called). My head still hurts thinking about it. I switched back to DEC the first time my paycheque bounced.
--
A common mistake people make when trying to design something completely foolproof is to underestimate the ingenuity of complete fools.
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Re: HFQ snippet request
Post by n7axw   » Mon Jan 05, 2015 12:00 am

n7axw
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A new snippet tomorrow... I hope. Now we see how good I am as a prognosticator...

Don
When any group seeks political power in God's name, both religion and politics are instantly corrupted.
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Re: HFQ snippet request
Post by USMA74   » Mon Jan 05, 2015 12:55 pm

USMA74
Commander

Posts: 238
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Location: Leavenworth, KS, USA

Rapid pursuer of crunchy green vegetables of limited nutritional value, it is time to get back to work and feed adicts (like myself) a new snippet unless you really enjoy wadding through pages upon pages of our collective begging. :twisted: Please feed the beast and post a new snippet because I really want to know what caused the first sentence in the next chapter to occur.
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Re: HFQ snippet request
Post by chrisd   » Mon Jan 05, 2015 2:38 pm

chrisd
Captain (Junior Grade)

Posts: 348
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Location: North-East England (70%) and also Thailand (30%)

Please, pretty please, can I have a snippet for my Birthday?
(6th January FYI)
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Re: HFQ snippet request
Post by 6L6   » Mon Jan 05, 2015 3:29 pm

6L6
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Posts: 165
Joined: Sat Apr 26, 2014 8:37 pm
Location: Sourthern Md. USA

Mine too.
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