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Chiliwilli
Member
09-04-2006
| Monday, January 08, 2007 - 1:38 am
And I want my very own Rosie the Robot housekeeper to do all the cooking, cleaning, and laundry, too. Amen to that! My first computer class the computer was bigger than my house and you had to feed it a huge stack of punch cards to tell it what to do. They thought they'd really done something when they programmed it to play blackjack with itself.
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Max
Moderator
08-12-2000
| Monday, January 08, 2007 - 2:18 am
Ah, yes, COBOL. Boy am I glad THOSE days are gone! I was fortunate enough to hear Admiral Grace Hopper speak once at a conference and tell how the first computer bug was found -- and it really WAS a bug! She was a remarkable woman. I also remember the first "video game" - PONG! I used to play a LOT of pinball in college and when Pong arrive, it was a big deal. 
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Chiliwilli
Member
09-04-2006
| Monday, January 08, 2007 - 2:49 am
I remember pong too. In fact, I think I still have that on an Atari game system.
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Juju2bigdog
Member
10-27-2000
| Monday, January 08, 2007 - 9:29 am
Fortran IV
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Retired
Member
07-11-2001
| Monday, January 08, 2007 - 9:59 am
Wow, the memories--COBOL, Fortran, VisiCalc. When I started teaching in 1968 I taught some of my classes on manual typewriters. Anyone remember WordStar and ProfessionalWrite? I'm still waiting for the paperless society.
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Babyruth
Member
07-19-2001
| Monday, January 08, 2007 - 10:06 am
I still have my Dad's old manual typewriter that he wrote his first book on. As a kid, I fell asleep to the sound of clackety-clack-clack...ding! in the next room. He used a huge electric typewriter for his subsequent books. Now he has a Mac Mini 
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Wargod
Moderator
07-16-2001
| Monday, January 08, 2007 - 10:28 am
Have you guys seen the sneaker commercial that starts out with a pong game? Maybe Nike? We saw it the other day and were laughing about it, Caleb turned around and asked us what it was. First video game either one of us ever played! He watched for about half a second and then said, "well how boring!" as he turned back to his high speed internet based rpg, lol.
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Yesitsme
Member
08-24-2004
| Monday, January 08, 2007 - 6:38 pm
Oh you guys are bringing back the memories!!! I always enjoyed Pong, but my favorite was Pac Man. Just last week I had an intense desire to play it and mentioned it to a friend of mine (who looked at me like I was crazy.) I loved that game. Didn't like Ms. Pac Man nearly as much when she came out and overtook the world. In fact, I think I still resent her for ruining my romance. I never have gotten into the current video games. I think they require too much skill!
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Twiggyish
Member
08-14-2000
| Monday, January 08, 2007 - 7:24 pm
I learned to type on a manual typewriter. It was hard making the transition to electric typewriters, because the touch was different. Br, What kind of books does your Dad write?
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Seamonkey
Moderator
09-07-2000
| Monday, January 08, 2007 - 9:02 pm
Fortran II. and yes, punched cards.. I remember when we finslly got one terminal in our test set up room, (there was a person called a test monitor who set up streams of our compile decks and test decks and hauled trays and stacks of tapes in and out of the computer room. So we finally get a termianl and the guys go crazy playing Lunar Lander.. the couple of us who actually wanted to learn to USE a terminal to start streams and such.. sigh.. but eventually we had six terminals for programmers and I was a big user of that resource even if it meant being there late into the night. And yeah, dumb terminal at homw with SLOW modem but it did save having to drive into work many a time. Before that it was trying to diagnose problems and getting an operator to actually read the exact wording of error messaged I started with manual typewriters and later had use of electric, but never for my job. Went from keypunch to terminals and of course my Atari 1200XL keyboard at home and finally various pcs at home
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Jimmer
Moderator
08-30-2000
| Thursday, January 11, 2007 - 8:51 am
Wow! I love all the comments about scientific discoveries and predictions and memories of how things came about. That Popular Science article was great. It shows the difficulty, if not futility, in trying to predict the future. I remember the first time I used the Internet. I was an early user back when people were using tools like Archie, Pine and Gopher. And I had my super duper 2400 baud modem, though at one point I even tried to save money by accessing a service at 300 baud. Trust me that is slow! So I have another question. Where did Utopia Go and Why are Americans Working Harder Than Ever? Back at the turn of the century, people were predicting a future where scientific advancement would virtually eliminate crime, poverty and need. It would be so easy to produce goods and services and there would be such an abundance of all of these things that everyone's needs would be taken care of. It's not too hard to see why people still have to work for a living. What mystifies me though is why people seem to be working harder than ever in America and Canada? People in Europe and Australia have significantly more vacation time and work relatively fewer hours with much less pressure and over-time. They have relaxing lunches while many American workers are trying to eat at their desks and keep working through lunch. So why are Americans working so darn hard?
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Newman
Member
09-25-2004
| Sunday, January 14, 2007 - 11:07 am
I think Americans are working so damn hard because there are new expenses. Everyone has to have a cell phone for example. Everyone has to have a computer and an ISP. Everyone has to have cable tv, essentially pay tv. Some even have to have pay radio. Our incomes aren't going up by much, but our expenses are.
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Scooterrific
Member
07-08-2005
| Sunday, January 14, 2007 - 11:56 am
We work hard so that we can live in a nice neighborhood within a great school district and have money to go on a nice family vacation every year.
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Newman
Member
09-25-2004
| Sunday, January 14, 2007 - 3:46 pm
School is another expense that didn't used to be there. Private school. Aren't a lot of people opting out of the public school system in favor of private schools? More costs.
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Marysafan
Member
08-07-2000
| Sunday, January 14, 2007 - 4:12 pm
Health care costs have risen exponentially in the last ten years, and other insurance rates have seen substantial increases. Our sales tax was 4% ten years ago, now it's 7%. Our property taxes have tripled. Our utility rates have gone up, as well as the cost of propane to heat our home, and I don't even want to talk about how much the cost of gas has gone up. It's not just the cost of luxuries that are going up. The cost of necessities are also going up also. You either work harder to keep up, cut back, or do without.
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Hukdonreality
Member
09-29-2003
| Sunday, January 14, 2007 - 4:17 pm
You've got that right, Mary! I used to get my health insurance as a benefit, but that changed a few years back. It has been expensive, but in January there was a premium increase out of my pocket to the tune of $319.00 a month. It is one of those things I absolutely can not be without.
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Scooterrific
Member
07-08-2005
| Monday, January 15, 2007 - 6:54 am
Newman, My dd is in a public school...but the district we're in is excellent, so expenses to live where we do are higher.
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Newman
Member
09-25-2004
| Monday, January 15, 2007 - 11:34 am
Huh, Scooter? Are you saying that you live in a school district that is good, but then that means the school taxes are high, to pay for that goodness? I think that's what you mean. I agree with Huk and Mary. All these rates go up but do our salaries go up similarly? I don't think so. Why is it that health care costs are so extreme now? Can anyone explain that simply? Will the Dems be able to turn that around (no, I'm not holding my breath). Video games are another expense. In the old days your family might buy you a cheap board game like Monopoly or Scrabble. You could play that over and over again. Now you have to have an XBox or PS3 expensive machine, with expensive games. And youhave to get new games every month, to keep the kids entertained and sedentary. And you have to keep getting the new technology, whether it be a new computer, a new cell phone, a new blackberry, etc. Cost of college keeps going up up up. Instead of spending billions on this war of choice in Iraq, the president could funnel those billions into reducing tuition, lowering higher education somehow. The economic pie needs to be cut differently...}
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Scooterrific
Member
07-08-2005
| Monday, January 15, 2007 - 11:55 am
Not the school taxes, per say, but certainly the rents, mortgages, and property taxes. Video games don't need to be an expense. We frequently play scrabble, clue, monopoly, sequence, etc. I don't want my daughter sedentary...my daughter would much rather go out and ride one of her scooters, her skateboard, or whatever...than being in the house.
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Yesitsme
Member
08-24-2004
| Monday, January 15, 2007 - 4:22 pm
I'll weigh in on the health care costs, Newman. Why are health costs so high? Because people will drive across town to save a quarter on a gallon of milk, but have no idea how much their doctor will charge for an office visit, how that charge compares to the other doctors in town and whether higher fees amounts are worth it (like the milk, sometimes it is worth it, but it is important to know.) Because people take medication for things they can change with lifestyle choices. Because people don't communicate well with their doctors and doctors don't communicate well with their patients, and so lots and lots of tests and scans and x-rays are done unnecessarily. Because lawsuits have driven up the cost of malpractice insurance for doctors, drug companies, and almost everyone involved in the industry in any way. Because when we need care, we want it now....we don't want to wait 2 months for an elective surgery. Because we feel like everybody deserves the highest quality of medical care available, regardless of the odds of a treatment working. Because insurance companies and drug companies are generally for-profit companies, and have to make the stockholders happy (and the ones that are not-for-profit seem to operate don't seem to operate much differently.) Have I stepped on everyone's toes yet? Because if I haven't, I can (including my own.) Yes, I am a bit passionate about this subject. There are lots of reasons, and many changes can and will be made, but we will complain about almost every solution anyone proposes. And while I think there will eventually be a government solution, I am not optimistic that is the best idea. Look at Medicare....they created a product for senior citizens without drug coverage (and then tried to fix it in such a convaluted fashion that few understand it a year after it went into effect!) We can have a great system (and in many ways I think our system is good) but I am not sure we are willing to pay the price.
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Chiliwilli
Member
09-04-2006
| Tuesday, January 16, 2007 - 1:00 am
Yesitsme, you forgot that Drs charge more for people with insurance. If you tell a Dr you have no insurance and ask if they have a special rate for the uninsured, I'll bet you they do. They do here. So, if we all would tell them you will pay cash because you have no inusrance and then file our own insurance that might drop it some. But, you have to remember that once they've raised the rate, chances are slim to nothing they will drop it. What goes up concerning money rarely comes down.
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Newman
Member
09-25-2004
| Tuesday, January 16, 2007 - 3:29 pm
NY Times reported today that 51% of women are without a spouse. Single women are now in the lead is the Denver Post headline. In l950 only 35% of women were living without a spouse. Only about 30% of black women live with a spouse. These numbers say something. It says something about loneliness, about family, about getting divorced after being married, about not trying again. Maybe it says that more than half of women would rather live alone than be in a committed relationship. Does it say that it's simply too hard to do? That it's more "fun" to be single? That it's too hard to find Mr. Right? That being married isn't what it's all cracked up to be? I heard someone on talk radio in regards to this story. She was saying that she has tickets to the theatre, alone, that she does this or that ALONE, and that she is totally happy with that. I think "thrilled" was the word. How can you be "thrilled" to go to a movie alone?
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Mocha
Member
08-12-2001
| Tuesday, January 16, 2007 - 3:32 pm
Because you are comfortable with yourself it's no big deal to go to a movie alone. I went alone to the movies on my birthday. No big deal at all.
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Vacanick
Member
07-12-2004
| Tuesday, January 16, 2007 - 3:35 pm
And because life doesn't stop just because your single.
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Escapee
Member
06-15-2004
| Tuesday, January 16, 2007 - 3:35 pm
Maybe it says that more than half of women would rather live alone than be in a committed relationship. Maybe it says that women don't "NEED" a man. Maybe it says that things have changed and in the 50's if you weren't married you were considered a spinster and it wasn't acceptable to just want to be an independent woman and now if you aren't married it is not unacceptable at all, you are independent, strong, and you don't "NEED" someone else to make you whole. Now want is an entire differently story. Maybe it says that women have changed for the better but some men are still stuck in the past. Maybe it says that women are approaching marriage more cautiously so when they do decide that they "WANT" to get married, it will last. Just sayin.
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