Computers

I got involved with computers a long time ago. I have owned:

  • 1978: Tandy TRS-80, Z-80 processor, 4 kb RAM
  • 1984: Apple Macintosh, 68000 processor, 128 kb RAM
  • 1990: Apple Macintosh Classic*, 68000 processor, 4 Mb RAM
  • 1992: Compudyne laptop*, AMD 386SXL-25, 4 Mb RAM
  • 1994: Home brew AMD 486DX40, AMD 486DX2-80
  • 1995: Home brew AMD 486DX4-100, AMD 5x86-P75*
  • 1996: Home brew AMD K5-PR133
  • 1997: Home brew AMD K5-PR166
  • 1998: Home brew AMD K6-200 (o'c @ 233), AMD K6-266 (o'c @ 308)
  • 1999: Home brew AMD K6-2/333 (o'c to 377)
  • 2001: Home brew AMD K6-3/400* (o'c to 411)
  • 2001: Home brew AMD Athlon 1.33 GHz
  • 2007: HP a6230n (no longer cheaper to build your own...)

    • *Still own these computers

    The TRS-80 and original Macintosh are gone now. The Athlon 1.33 GHz PC is my main machine. The K6-3/400 system is used on the ham station, and a Duron 1.3 GHz system acts as a server for miscellaneous projects. I program in Visual Basic and QuickBasic and dabble in Java and C/C++.

    Visual Basic Applications:
  • Emergency Vehicle Lightbar Simulator/Trainer
  • San Diego/Imperial Co. 800 MHz radio trainer
  • Wind Chime Shop: Windchime designer

    Download the Easy Button

    Taken from my favorite coffee mug (circa 1982):

    Laws of Computer programming:
  • Any computer program, when running, is obsolete.
  • If a program is useless, it will have to be documented.
  • If a program is useful, it will have to be changed.
  • Any program will expand to fill any available memory.
  • The value of a program is proportional to the weight of its output.
  • Program complexity grows until it exceeds the capability of the programmer to maintain it.
  • Make it possible for programmers to write in English and you will find out that programmers cannot write in English.

    Weinberg's Law:

  • If builders built buildings the way programmers wrote programs, then the first woodpecker that came along would destroy civilization.

    Hare's Law of Large Programs:

  • Inside every large program is a small program struggling to get out.

    Troutman's Programming Laws:

  • If a test installation functions perfectly, all subsequent systems will malfunction.
  • Not until a program has been in production for at least six months will the most harmful error then be discovered.
  • Job control cards that cannot be arranged in improper order will be.
  • Interchangeable tapes won't.
  • If the input editor has been designed to reject all bad input, an ingenious idiot will discover a method to get bad data past it.
  • Machines work, people should think.

    Golub's Law of Computerdom:

  • A carelessly planned project takes three times longer to complete than expected; a carefully planned project will take only twice as long.
  • The effort required to correct the error increases geometrically with time.

    Bradley's Bromide:

  • If computers get too powerful, we can organize them into a committee -- that will do them in.