An attoboy to you for the disclaimer.

Emacs was very handy as a screen editor (vs line editor) in the VT100 terminal era, and Elisp scripting was uniquely powerful for the time. If I recall correctly, we were for a while running Unix V7 and System III with only an AT&T license and no Berkeley license, without access to vi.

The DUP key was repeat on hold, so you could approach the errored column more quickly, then do a few single key presses to get it exactly.

I once refurbished an off-contract 026. The print head had a mechanical "ROM" character generator. A metal plate with milled grooves and lands was X/Y positioned according to the character being printed, then pressed with a cam onto an array of spring loaded wires that formed the dot matrix. Under the consent decree, you could buy IBM spare parts over the counter at the IBM spare parts depot in Los Angeles.

I used mostly the relatively tiny Emacs inspired editor "mg" from around 1987 until retiring in 2023. Initially I used Gosling Emacs (Unipress), then GNU in the early version with the death's head comment in the Gosling derived display code, then the full GNU rewrite. I wrote a bunch of Elisp utilities to rework a commercial source base from a poorly supported commercial compiler to gcc, and continued to use GNU Emacs whenever I needed scripting or the need to work with large or peculiar files.

It works best on an AT type keyboard with CTRL left of "A", and specifically the PFU Happy Hacking keyboard (available with blank keycaps for the deeply neck bearded). Strangely, my arthritic digit is R thumb rather than L little.

You can't spell "vile" without "vi". -- ancient adage

Mars needs women

In the late 60s through 70s, San Diego company DDC manufactured head per track disk drives with the disk and head assemblies inside a large metal can, filled with helium, and kept at a specified pressure with a small cylinder of helium attached to the baseplate. These were rack mount units around the size of a kitchen oven. My then-employer used these for lookups in a realtime system.

My dad told of condoms swiped from some local depot, inflated and lofted with natural gas (methane). Neither safe, nor very effective.

There oughta be a law against the variant of pillarbox presentation with blurred and dimmed portions of the portrait video at the margins. Who thought this up, and why?

They "solved" the chronic memory exhaustion problems by going to compelled updates that forced a browser restart. This was very annoying if one was trying to use Firefox for extended sessions (e.g. embedded system debug logs). Then after restart, you'd get a UI change with Pocket or some other spuriae interposed into the formerly familiar menu.

Don't forget Alexander Abian wanting to save Earth by blowing up the Moon. Also, I wonder if the dinette set is still available in New Jersey. atom atom atom

The problem is neither new, nor fully related to Covid.

I had contact with a chemistry professor, 4-year state university, circa 2006. Around 40% of the students in first semester general chemistry were lost to drop or fail. This course was a requirement for all sciences majors, and notably for pre-nursing. Enrollment is constrained by lab section seats.

The department instituted a qualifying examination, and a zero credit remedial course to give a second chance. The main skills deficits: algebra, and basic study habits. Second semester specifically requires facility with the quadratic formula for second order reaction rates.

"First hit's free" ... "I am altering the deal. Pray I don't alter it any further."

Meanwhile, back in 1799:

"It is unfortunate when men cannot, or will not, see danger at a distance; or seeing it, are restrained in the means which are necessary to avert, or keep it afar off. I question whether the evil arising from the French getting possession of Louisiana and the Floridas would be generally seen, until it is felt; and yet no problem in Euclid is more evident, or susceptible of clearer demonstration—Not less difficult is it to make them believe, that offensive operations, often times, is the surest, if not the only (in some cases) means of defence." -- George Washington, letter to John Trumbull

Now soliciting investments in my startup and/or motion picture: Cujonics.