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1500 questions
26
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2 answers
Slash versus backslash as directory separator – what/who caused this rift?
MS-DOS and derived systems use backslash \ for path separator and slash / for command parameters. Unix and a number of other systems used slash / for paths and backslash \ for escaping special characters. And to this day this discrepancy causes…
SF.
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Core Memory Stability
How reliable was the ferrite ring core memory system? When the power went off, did all the magnetic positions of the iron rings in the program wire grid remain exactly as they were?
Bob Rutledge
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26
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Graphics chips in 1980
Suppose you were trying to build a computer with a color graphics display in 1980, you have limited engineering resources and time to market is critical, so you want to get as many of the parts off the shelf as possible. Was there an off-the-shelf…
rwallace
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26
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4 answers
Cleaning 5¼" floppy drives
Going to the store is treacherous for me. So I prefer doing stuff at home, including cleaning up 5¼" floppy disks with only home supplies. Unfortunately, I do not know how or which materials/chemicals to use. This is a dilemma for me because I might…
Anthony Pham
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26
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Was the first ARM "processor" a BBC BASIC program?
The best background I have found so far on the early development of the ARM processor at Acorn comes from this interview with Steve Furber.
The interview does not mention the development of the first ARM "model" and "simulator" programs. I assume…
Brian H
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26
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5 answers
What software stack could I use to get X10 (the version of X before X11) up and running on a modern system?
"What's the story behind the name "X11"?" showed up in the sidebar while I was browsing stackoverflow earlier and I noticed the question getting some high-signal answers, so I added a comment asking how to get X10 working, something I've been…
i336_
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Why did CP/M and MS-DOS use the BIOS instead of their own drivers to access hardware?
Modern versions of Windows (and other modern operating systems I suppose) have their own drivers to access hardware.
But as I have read, in the old days, if CP/M or MS-DOS wanted to access hardware, they would use the BIOS drivers to do that for…
user7681202
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26
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9 answers
What implementations of BASIC had a robust flood fill operator?
When I learned BASIC on Elektronika BK, I got fascinated with the flood fill (PAINT) operator: how does it know to get to all nooks and crannies of the shape to fill? I've devised an algorithm, tried to write my own implementation of it, and soon…
Leo B.
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26
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4 answers
When you type on a computer terminal, how are the characters displayed on the screen?
Assume that the following computer terminal is connected to a large computer:
When I type something on the keyboard (for example: pwd), is it the computer terminal the one that receives the keystrokes and displays the corresponding characters on…
user7681202
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26
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6 answers
What did corporations use for long-distance networks in the 1980s?
Although ARPANET was invented in 1969, the Internet as publicly available infrastructure didn't really become available until 1989. But people were certainly using computers as communication tools in the 80s.
For individuals with modems, there were…
rwallace
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26
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3 answers
Since when does Windows support forward slash as path separator?
Historically, Windows used CR/LF and backslash, first for new lines, second for path separator.
But it turns out that it supports forward slashes as well:
Note that Windows supports either the forward slash (which is returned by the…
Eric Cartman
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26
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3 answers
Where/when did the sentence "a good developer is lazy" first appear?
The title says it all. Where/When was "a good developer is a lazy developer" (or its equivalent) first said, in which context and for what purpose?
Itération 122442
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26
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3 answers
Looking for a 90's sorcery game on Atari ST
I am looking for a game from the end of 80's/early 90's game on Atari ST. Where two wizards, one purple, one red have to turn the color of a checkerboard tiles to its own color using spells. The main screen in game as the aspect shown on the linked…
Spif
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What did Ctrl+NumLock do?
In my answer here I infer that the unusual scancode for the Pause/Break key emulates the user pressing and then releasing CtrlNumLock. Obviously that key combination did something specific, back when this key was introduced to PC keyboards.
What did…
user253751
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2 answers
What innovation helped CD-ROM speeds increase exponentially?
Early CD-ROM drives were considered both expensive and slow (in comparison to HDDs). This limited their adoption until around 1992, when both the prices fell and the speeds increased dramatically.
In the mid 90s (roughly 1993–1997), I recall CD-ROM…
Brian H
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