[COFF] Re: Music!

[Bakul Shah <bakul@iitbombay.org>]

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When I started at Fortune Systems in 1981, they had just rented a large empty warehouse space in San Carlos that was just perfect for playing music loudly! We worked crazy hours so I took in my stereo system and some records. Once the 9 to 5 people went home we  cranked up the volume and listened to local college radio stations or records. Soon people started bringing in their own favorite records. Employee ages ranged from 18 to 50+ & from variety of backgrounds so we had quite an eclectic collection of music. I also recall listening to hours of various versions of "Pipeline" and later "Louie Louie" specials on KFJC! Once we moved into a new facility the dynamics and the acoustics changed so I brought the stereo system home, along with a few records that no one claimed!

Somewhat related: there was enough RF leakage when the Fortune motherboard was not in the case. I could "tune into it" near a Jazz FM station. That was quite useful because the noise pattern changed depending on what the system was doing. I could be doing something else and I could hear if the system crashed or the pattern changed to something unusual! I'd probably recognize those noise patterns even now - just as most of us oldtimers recognize dialup sounds!

> On Feb 9, 2023, at 5:10 PM, Mike Markowski <mike.ab3ap@gmail.com> wrote:
> 
>  This is far afield even for COFF, so apologies up front.  Machines and OSes we fondly remember get older day by day.  But many labs I worked in during undergrad & grad years and then in the workforce always had a radio going, and music never seems to age.  When I hear Earth, Wind & Fire's "September" or Doobie Brothers' "What a Fool Believes," it's RSTS/E on a PDP11/70 as a teen, my first exposure to computers.  Kraftwerk and Big Audio Dynamite mean Unix with Mike Muuss at Ballistic Research Lab in the early 90s.  I had PX (military Post Exchange) privileges which Mike used to the fullest to buy fantastic lab speakers.  The old ENIAC room, our work space, had thick walls.  :-)
> 
> I wonder if particular music transports any others back to computing days of old.  The current lab I'm in receives exactly 1 radio station from a local high school and streaming is blocked.  Not sure that any new musical memories will be formed for my ever nearer days of retirement!
> 
> Musically yours,
> Mike Markowski

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