Veterrima data et programmata latine adnotata
Janne Himanka
jik> % ls -l /etc/motd
jik> -rw-r--r-- 1 root 63 Feb 6 1912 /etc/motd
jik> %
jik> (I *really* don't know why the date on my /etc/motd is in
jik> 1912, but that's not really relevant here. :-)
But it is *here*! I've been wondering where lingers the
_oldest_existing_file_. If I were to call it a contest, I should
probably create at least two categories:
1. Files in backup storage (tape, punched card, whatever).
2. Files that have lived all their life in magnetic disk.
The definition is so broad and the contestants so susceptible to
manipulation that the contest needs true sportsmanship to survive
pseudophilosophic meanderings concerning the nature of electricity and
illicit intercourse with i-nodes. You can enlist your candidate by
sending me e-mail within thirty days, and I will then proceed to
announce the winner. If the size of the winner is acceptably moderate,
(s)he will be posted to the group (if the owner or owner's heirs
admit). The judgment will be based on my arbitration, which can be
influenced by sound arguments, good repute and donated accounts in
exotic machines.
The second enquiry I have concerns the Multics sources of the EMACS
editor, which are said to contain latin annotations. As an avid
smatterer of the latin language I would be pleased indeed to hear
about the afterlife of this famous code and its whereabouts. Any other
code decorated with good ciceronian latin is also appreciated.
Yours in good health, Janne Himanka
--
Lone Ranger and Tonto were riding down the line, + sh...@phoenix.oulu.fi
fixing everybody's troubles, everybody's but mine, + him...@tolsun.oulu.fi
someone must have told them that I was doing fine. + TKOP-HJH@FINOU
Ignatios Souvatzis
But it is *here*! I've been wondering where lingers the
_oldest_existing_file_. If I were to call it a contest, I should
probably create at least two categories:
1. Files in backup storage (tape, punched card, whatever).
2. Files that have lived all their life in magnetic disk.
The definition is so broad and the contestants so susceptible to
manipulation that the contest needs true sportsmanship to survive
pseudophilosophic meanderings concerning the nature of electricity and
illicit intercourse with i-nodes. You can enlist your candidate by
sending me e-mail within thirty days, and I will then proceed to
announce the winner. If the size of the winner is acceptably moderate,
(s)he will be posted to the group (if the owner or owner's heirs
admit). The judgment will be based on my arbitration, which can be
influenced by sound arguments, good repute and donated accounts in
exotic machines.
well, here is part of a logfile (not manipulated... you may come over
here and look at it... well maybe I could arrange a possibility for
you to look at it yourself) from a GIPSY (Groningen Image Processing
SYstem) session I just finished:
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
<STATUS> DISK +++ FINISHED +++
6-SEP-91 23:47:00
<USER >DISK SET=
<DISK > can not give allocated blocks on the system disk **INFORM **
1 set alloc creation name l*m maps
10 0 17-NOV-1858 DRACO21 256*256 2
521 0 17-NOV-1858 DRACO21 256*256 33
551 0 17-NOV-1858 DRACO21 256*256 1
621 0 17-NOV-1858 DRACO22 256*256 33
------ +
4 sets 0
1 comp. files 0
0 recall files 0
0 plot files 0
------ +
5 user files 0
<USER >DISK ,SET=
<STATUS> DISK +++ FINISHED +++
6-SEP-91 23:47:26
<USER >END
<STATUS> END +++ FINISHED +++
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
You clearly see, the data SETs 10,521,551,621 i am working with
(corresponding to VMS disk files 10.set;1, 521.set;1, ...) are nearly
133 years old!
Paper mail: Ignatios Souvatzis, Radioastronomisches Institut der
Universitaet Bonn, Auf dem Huegel 71, D-5300 Bonn 1, FRG
Internet: so...@babsy.mpifr-bonn.mpg.de
--
Paper mail: Ignatios Souvatzis, Radioastronomisches Institut der
Universitaet Bonn, Auf dem Huegel 71, D-5300 Bonn 1, FRG
Internet: u50...@mpirbn.mpifr-bonn.mpg.de
so...@babsy.mpifr-bonn.mpg.de
m.yamin
> <USER >DISK SET=
> <DISK > can not give allocated blocks on the system disk **INFORM **
> 1 set alloc creation name l*m maps
>
> 10 0 17-NOV-1858 DRACO21 256*256 2
> 521 0 17-NOV-1858 DRACO21 256*256 33
> 551 0 17-NOV-1858 DRACO21 256*256 1
> 621 0 17-NOV-1858 DRACO22 256*256 33
> You clearly see, the data SETs 10,521,551,621 i am working with
> (corresponding to VMS disk files 10.set;1, 521.set;1, ...) are nearly
> 133 years old!
>
> Paper mail: Ignatios Souvatzis, Radioastronomisches Institut der
> Universitaet Bonn, Auf dem Huegel 71, D-5300 Bonn 1, FRG
> Internet: so...@babsy.mpifr-bonn.mpg.de
The VMS base time is 17 Nov 1858 which is the zero time of the
Smithsonian Astrophysical Calendar, just as 1 Jan 1970 is the
UNIX base time. So a time field which has not been filled in, and
is therefore 0, will convert as 17 Nov 1858. The VMS developers
adopted an existing standard rather than inventing a new one,
unlike the UNIX and MS-DOS developers; give them credit for that.
On the other hand, VMS carried no time zone information so that,
unlike UNIX, every time zone had a different time base; mark the
developers down on that.
M. Yamin m...@mhcnet.att.com
Roland Hutchinson
>The second enquiry I have concerns the Multics sources of the EMACS
>editor, which are said to contain latin annotations. As an avid
>smatterer of the latin language I would be pleased indeed to hear
>about the afterlife of this famous code and its whereabouts. Any other
>code decorated with good ciceronian latin is also appreciated.
>Yours in good health, Janne Himanka
Maclisp responds to (setq t 'foo) with an error message that begins
"VERITAS AETERNA". Since M.I.T. has never been known as a hotbed of
latinity (the language wasn't even taught there in the 1970's), one
suspects that all examples of latinity emerging from its environs were
due to the well-known cabal of Boston Latin School graduates in the AI
Lab.
Just a speculation...
--
Roland Hutchinson Visiting Specialist/Early Music
Internet: rhut...@pilot.njin.net Department of Music
Bitnet: rhutchin@NJIN Montclair State College
Upper Montclair, NJ 07043
Don Nichols (DoN.)
[ ... ]
>But it is *here*! I've been wondering where lingers the
>_oldest_existing_file_. If I were to call it a contest, I should
>probably create at least two categories:
>
> 1. Files in backup storage (tape, punched card, whatever).
>
> 2. Files that have lived all their life in magnetic disk.
>
>The definition is so broad and the contestants so susceptible to
>manipulation that the contest needs true sportsmanship to survive
>pseudophilosophic meanderings concerning the nature of electricity and
>illicit intercourse with i-nodes. You can enlist your candidate by
>sending me e-mail within thirty days, and I will then proceed to
>announce the winner. If the size of the winner is acceptably moderate,
>(s)he will be posted to the group (if the owner or owner's heirs
>admit). The judgment will be based on my arbitration, which can be
>influenced by sound arguments, good repute and donated accounts in
>exotic machines.
Well, it depends on what you call a file. If a set of cards for a
Jaquard (sp) Loom were considered a file, they might really win your
contest, since these cards were the predecessor of the standard punch-card.
(I believe that they were physically linked, so that they were always read
in the same sequence. This linked set should be considered not only a file,
but an EXECUTABLE file. (However, they didn't waste bits maintaining a
last-modified date, so they might be difficult to verify.)
No, I don't possess any of these, but would like to, and I have a
friend who would like to possess the machine that ran the program :-)
Does anyone have a listing of the instruction set of the loom? I
presume that it didn't acutally have any branch instructions, (conditional
or otherwise), and that looping was accomplished by physically linking the
last card to the first.
--
Donald Nichols (DoN.) | Voice (Days): (703) 664-1585 (Eves): (703) 938-4564
D&D Data | Email: <dnic...@ceilidh.beartrack.com>
I said it - no one else | <dnic...@ceilidh.aes.com>
--- Black Holes are where God is dividing by zero ---
Rich Alderson
>Maclisp responds to (setq t 'foo) with an error message that begins
>"VERITAS AETERNA". Since M.I.T. has never been known as a hotbed of
>latinity (the language wasn't even taught there in the 1970's), one
>suspects that all examples of latinity emerging from its environs were
>due to the well-known cabal of Boston Latin School graduates in the AI
>Lab.
>
>Just a speculation...
In an issue of _Lisp Pointers_ last year, Guy Steele mentioned both this and a related message. As I recall, the error texts ran
VERITAS AETERNA--don't SETQ T
EX NIHILO NIHIL--don't SETQ NIL
There may have been others--I don't have the squib in front of me, and those
were the two I found most amusing/memorable.