Cool Keyboard Hack Proposal

[BigDumbDinosaur]

This is another example of a word whose meaning has been mostly lost to time.  This is the whole reason why "shift" is called "shift", because it would shift the carriage upward.  The act of "dialing" a phone number is another example.  Or hearing a phone "ring" is another. 

And Return is called that because on manual typewriters the "return" lever returned the carriage to the right hand side, placing the typehead at the left margin.

I should have you know that I have a genuine Stromberg-Carlson 500D dial phone that still works and actually rings like a real telephone.  No cricket chirping comes out of that phone.

At one time, I had an ancient Western Electric dial phone c. 1950 that not only rang but was suitable for testing the structural integrity of furniture due to its weight.  The handset alone must've weighed at least ten pounds and could have been used as a weapon.  Ah, the good old days!

[Andrew Wiskow]

In this photo, you can see the phone that really rings whenever someone calls Borderline BBS:

[airship]

Man, you need a new computer. Haven't you heard that the Commodore 64 has been replaced by one called the 'Commodore 128'?

[Andrew Wiskow]

Man, you need a new computer. Haven't you heard that the Commodore 64 has been replaced by one called the 'Commodore 128'?

Since Borderline BBS runs on Color 64 software, it only needs a C64. 

Cottonwood BBS, however, runs All American 128 software on a C128.  Both BBS's use a 1750 REU. 

Dave Mohr (aka Lord Ronin) keeps saying he's going to bring his dial-up BBS back online...  He runs Centipede software on a C128.  So if he ever does get it back up and running, I won't be able to say that Borderline BBS is the only commodore-run dial-up BBS.  But I will be able to say it's the only dial-up BBS running on a Commodore 64! 

If you look closely on that photo, you'll see the Hayes Smartmodem 2400 between the drives and the wall.  A real modem.  Most people these days just think a modem is some mystical device that resides inside their computers somewhere (and quite often, never gets used).

[airship]

Most people these days just think a modem is some mystical device that resides inside their computers somewhere (and quite often, never gets used).

-------------------------------
THE HISTORY OF COMPUTERS
(c) 1990 by Mark R. Brown
--------------------------------

The following is the first installment in a series of five short essays illuminating the origins and history of common computer terms, techniques, and processes. Installments two and three appeared in the .info WrapUp, a two-page supplement to .info magazine which was sent only to subscribers. The first installment has circulated some on the networks, as have two and three. All five have all appeared in JumpDisk.

MODEM
The origin of the term "modem" becomes clear when you break it into its constituent parts. "Mode `M'" is the twelfth in a series of electronic communications hardware/software standards developed by the United States Army Signal Corps for efficient and effective military communication.
"Mode `A'", the first such standard, is still in use; it is more commonly known as "Morse Code". (It acquired its "Mode" designation several years after its adoption by the Signal Corps, when it became obvious that a plethora of such standards would be necessary as technology advanced.) Successive standards have been called by all letters of the alphabet in between, with the exclusion of "Mode `L'", which was skipped because it spelled a common word, which might have been confusing.
Only eight of the fifteen publicly accessible communications standards have actually met with much public use and acceptance. The other seven - which include, for example, the semaphore shutter light (Mode `B') - are relatively obscure or completely unused. (Among the unused standards, perhaps the most interesting is "Mode `G'", which was developed for use in a high-voltage "ground wave" communications system that was postulated by Nikola Tesla, but never developed in demonstrable form.) Besides Mode `A' (which included the hardware specification for the early telegraph as well as the "software" spec for Morse Code), the telephone (Mode `C'), AM broadcast radio (Mode `F', referred to as "Fixed band" by the military), FM radio (Mode `H', "Highband"), and broadcast television (Mode `I', the origin of the CBS "eye" emblem) all owe their standardization to Signal Corps specs. Modes `N' and `O', the FAX standards, and Mode `P', the satellite / microwave communications spec, are the latest to reach the public.
Mode `M', unique in that it has retained its original military code name into the public domain, was de-classified for civilian use in 1955. Like the TV spec, which expanded to include color, stereo sound, and closed captioning, the modem spec has embraced a number of additions since its public release. Most notable are transfer rates beyond 300 baud, various file compression techniques (ZOO, ARC, etc.), and the variety of file transfer protocols developed to surpass the performance of the original unimpressive "B Transfer" protocol (now called, ironically, "CompuServe B").
Though the military doesn't talk about its proprietary communications systems before they are de-classified, those who watch the military report that the Joint Chiefs of Staff communicate today using a "Mode `X'" protocol.
As a side observation, it's interesting to note that the original Mode `A' specification, written in 1874, ran a mere four handwritten pages, including wiring diagrams. Mode `M' is defined in a 352-page report produced near the end of WWII. Rumor is that the Mode `Z' specs now being developed for next-generation nuclear-blast-proof "Star Wars" defense satellite communications will require the equivalent of over 700 full-size office filing cabinets to store, making optical disc the only reasonable means of storing the full specification.

To Read More About It, order the 256-page paperback book "Electronic Communications Modes: A History of Army Signal Corps Communications Specifications" from the Superintendent of Documents in Washington, DC. Despite its dry title, it is a lively history of the standards now in the public domain, with many behind-the-scenes insights into the personalities and conflicts of personalities involved. It also includes many never-before- seen Signal Corps photos of early communications pioneers like Samuel FB Morse (the book answers the burning question, "What did the `FB' stand for?"), Alexander Graham Bell (who also invented the "Graham Cracker"), and Nikola Tesla (whose unfinished plans wasted more government money than any government project to that date: over $220 million, or twice the cost of the Spanish-American War!)

[Andrew Wiskow]

Very interesting, Airship!  I had always heard that "modem" stood for "modulator-demodulator".

Also, according to Wikipedia, the graham cracker was developed in 1822 in Bound Brook, New Jersey, by Presbyterian minister Rev. Sylvester Graham.

[RobertB]

At one time, I had an ancient Western Electric dial phone c. 1950 that not only rang but was suitable for testing the structural integrity of furniture due to its weight.

I still have my Western Electric dial phone (circa 1973) from my college days.  And of course, I have the Canadian Commodore dial phone, autographed by William Shatner!

               Truly,
               Robert Bernardo
               Fresno Commodore User Group
               http://videocam.net.au/fcug
               The Other Group of Amigoids
               http://www.calweb.com/~rabel1/

[Blacklord]

Ummmm... is modem from modulator/demodulator ?

[airship]

Oops! Sorry.

Forgot to end that post with:

/humor

[Andrew Wiskow]

Oops! Sorry.

Forgot to end that post with:

/humor

Hehehe...  You had me going there!