I don't think anyone knows. Nobody relevant, I believe. -rob On Sat, Aug 7, 2021 at 9:33 AM Phil White wrote: > I'm a little embarrassed to ask, but my curiosity demands I ask. Who is > that in the framed photograph near the ceiling and between the "Protect > Your Password" and "UNIX International Member" posters? > > -Phil > > On Sat, Aug 07, 2021 at 07:53:48AM +1000, Rob Pike wrote: > > I sent a picture (actually two at different resolutions; keep reading) to > > the list, but being images they are larger than the address space of a > > PDP-11 so not allowed here. > > > > Is it really necessary to have such a low message size limit in an era > when > > I can buy a terabyte of storage for less than a hundred bucks? > > > > Here is a Google Drive link, for the adventurous. > > > > > > 20180123-UnixSkeleton.jpg > > < > https://drive.google.com/file/d/1aS8ZmzwPUawIa8WXGoXOK9jDiYtJETGG/view?usp=drive_web > > > > > > > > -rob > > > > > > On Sat, Aug 7, 2021 at 7:44 AM Rob Pike wrote: > > > > > I sent a higher-res version in which you can read all the text but it > was > > > "moderated". > > > > > > This is the Unix room as of the year 2000 or so. > > > > > > -rob > > > > > > > > > On Sat, Aug 7, 2021 at 4:34 AM ron minnich wrote: > > > > > >> The story of the mice, one of which I gave to John: > > >> > > >> I ran a program called FAST-OS for LANL/Sandia for 6 years starting > > >> 2005. Think of it as "Plan 9 on petaflop supercomputers" -- it may > > >> seem strange now, but in that era when some top end systems ran custom > > >> kernels, there was a strong case to be made that plan 9 was a good > > >> choice. By 2011, of course, the Linux tsunami had swept all before it, > > >> which is why you no longer hear about custom HPC kernels so much -- > > >> though in some places they still reign. In any event, this program > > >> gave me 6 years to work with "the Unix room", or what was left of it. > > >> I had been in the Unix Room in 1978, and even met Dennis, so this > > >> prospect was quite a treat. > > >> > > >> We funded Charles Forsyth to write the amd64 compilers for Plan 9, > > >> which if you used early Go you ran into (6c 6a 6l); we also funded the > > >> amd64 port of Plan 9 (a.k.a. k10) as well as the port to Blue Gene. > > >> That amd64 port is still out and about. You can find the Blue Gene > > >> kernel on github. > > >> > > >> I had lots of fun spending time in the Unix room while working with > > >> the late Jim McKie, and others. I saw the tail end of the traditions. > > >> They had cookie day once a week, if memory serves, on Thursday at 3. I > > >> got to see the backwards-running clock, Ken's chess trophies, his > > >> pilot's license, pictures of Peter everywhere, a "Reagan's view of the > > >> world" map, the American Legion award for Telstar (which was rescued > > >> from a dumpster!), and so on. The "Unix room" was more than one room, > > >> all built on a raised floor, as I assume it was former old school > > >> machine room space. If memory serves, it filled the entire width of > > >> the end of the top floor of the building it was in (4th floor?) -- > > >> maybe 50 ft x 50 ft -- maybe a bit more. There was a room with desks, > > >> and a similar-sized room with servers, and a smaller room containing a > > >> lab-style sink, a very professional cappucinno machine, decades of old > > >> proceedings, and a sofa. I fixed the heavy-duty coffee grinder one > > >> year; for some reason the Italian company that produced it had seen > > >> fit to switch BOTH hot and neutral, and the fix was to only switch > > >> hot, as the neutral switch had failed; I guess in the EU, with 220v, > > >> things are done differently. > > >> > > >> It was fun being there. A few years later the whole room, and all its > > >> history, was trashed, and replaced with what Jim called a "middle > > >> management wxx dream" (Jim was never at a loss for words); Jim found > > >> some yellow Police crime scene tape and placed it in front of the > > >> doors to the new space. It was redubbed "the innovation space" or some > > >> such, and looked kind of like an ikea showroom. Much was lost. I tried > > >> to find a way to save the contents of the room; I had this dream of > > >> recreating it at Google, much as John Wanamaker's office was preserved > > >> in Philadelphia for so many decades, but I was too late. I have no > > >> idea where the contents are now. Maybe next to the Ark. > > >> > > >> One day in 2008 or so jmk took me for a tour of the buildings, and we > > >> at one point ended up high in the top floor of what I think was > > >> Building One (since torn down?), in what used to be Lab Supply. Nobody > > >> was there, and not much supply was there either. Finally somebody > > >> wandered in, and Jim asked where everyone was. "Oh, they closed lab > > >> supply, maybe 4 years ago?" > > >> > > >> Bell Labs had seen hard times since the Lucent split, and it was clear > > >> it had not quite recovered, and Lab Supply was just one sign of it. I > > >> think the saddest thing was seeing the visitor center, which I first > > >> saw in 1976. In 1976, it was the seat of the Bell System Empire, and > > >> it was huge. There was a map of the US with a light lit for every > > >> switching office in the Bell Labs system. There was all kinds of Bell > > >> Labs history in the visitor center museum. > > >> > > >> The museum had shrunk to a much smaller area, and felt like a closet. > > >> The original transistor was still there in 2010, but little else.The > > >> library was, similarly, changed: it was dark and empty, I was told. > > >> Money was saved. At that time, Bell Labs felt large, strangely quiet, > > >> and emptied of people. It made me think of post-sack Rome, ca. 600, > > >> when its population was estimated to be 500. I have not been back > > >> since 2011 so maybe things are very different. It would be nice if so. > > >> > > >> As part of this tour, Jim gave me 3 depraz mice. I took one, gutted > > >> it, (sorry!), and filled its guts with a USB mouse innards, and gave > > >> it back to Jim. He then had a Depraz USB mouse. jmk's mouse did not > > >> have any lead in it, as John's did, however. The second I gave to > > >> someone at Google who had worked at the labs back in the day. The > > >> third mouse I gave to John, and he made it live again, which is cool. > > >> > > >> In spite of their reputation, I found Depraz mice hard to use. I have > > >> gone through all kinds of mice, and am on an evoluent, and as far as > > >> Depraz go, I guess "you had to be there". I don't recall if jmk used > > >> his "usb depraz" or it ended up on a shelf. Sadly, I can no longer ask > > >> him. > > >> > > >> I'll be interested to see what John thinks of the Depraz. > > >> > > >> ron > > >> > > >> On Fri, Aug 6, 2021 at 9:52 AM John Floren wrote: > > >> > > > >> > Ah, right. I opened the mouse because one of the encoders didn't > seem > > >> to be working (it worked fine again this morning, who knows...) and > > >> discovered that there was something duct taped inside the plastic > shell: > > >> > > > >> > http://jfloren.net/content/depraz/inside.jpg > > >> > > > >> > Peeling back the tape, I saw what I first took to be chunks of > > >> flattened beer cans: > > >> > > > >> > http://jfloren.net/content/depraz/reveal.jpg > > >> > > > >> > A closer look showed that they were the wrappers which cover the > corks > > >> of wine bottles. Up into the 1980s, these were made out of lead, and > by > > >> flattening five of them, a previous owner of the mouse was able to add > > >> quite a bit of extra weight to it: > > >> > > > >> > http://jfloren.net/content/depraz/wrapper.jpg > > >> > > > >> > > > >> > john > > >> > > > >> > ‐‐‐‐‐‐‐ Original Message ‐‐‐‐‐‐‐ > > >> > > > >> > On Friday, August 6th, 2021 at 9:34 AM, ron minnich < > rminnich@gmail.com> > > >> wrote: > > >> > > > >> > > john, don't forget to mention the beer can > > >> > > > > >> > > On Fri, Aug 6, 2021 at 9:29 AM John Floren john@jfloren.net > wrote: > > >> > > > > >> > > > I stuck an Arduino on it and with surprisingly little code I > have > > >> it acting like a 3-button USB mouse. > > >> > > > > > >> > > > The only problem is that the pointer doesn't move smoothly. It > does > > >> OK left-to-right, and can move down pretty well, but going up is a > problem. > > >> I think pushing the mouse forward tends to move the ball away from the > > >> Y-axis wheel, and the old spring on the tensioner just doesn't have > the > > >> gumption to hold that heavy ball bearing in any more. > > >> > > > > > >> > > > john > > >> > > > > > >> > > > ‐‐‐‐‐‐‐ Original Message ‐‐‐‐‐‐‐ > > >> > > > > > >> > > > On Wednesday, August 4th, 2021 at 9:12 PM, ron minnich > > >> rminnich@gmail.com wrote: > > >> > > > > > >> > > > > John, you can see that "stick a bird on it" -> "stick an > arduino > > >> on > > >> > > > > > > >> > > > > it" -> "stick a pi on it" has gone as you once predicted :-) > > >> > > > > > > >> > > > > On Wed, Aug 4, 2021 at 8:59 PM John Floren john@jfloren.net > > >> wrote: > > >> > > > > > > >> > > > > > ‐‐‐‐‐‐‐ Original Message ‐‐‐‐‐‐‐ > > >> > > > > > > > >> > > > > > On Wednesday, August 4th, 2021 at 6:12 PM, Henry Bent > > >> henry.r.bent@gmail.com wrote: > > >> > > > > > > > >> > > > > > > On Wed, 4 Aug 2021 at 20:52, John Floren john@jfloren.net > > >> wrote: > > >> > > > > > > > > >> > > > > > > > Having just been given a Depraz mouse, I thought it > would > > >> be fun to get it working on my modern computer. Since the DE9 > connector is > > >> male rather than female as you usually see with serial mice, and > given its > > >> age, I speculate that it might have a custom protocol; in any rate, > > >> plugging it into a USB-serial converter and and firing up picocom has > given > > >> me nothing. > > >> > > > > > > > > > >> > > > > > > > Does anyone have a copy of a manual for it, or more > > >> information on how to interface with it? If I knew how it was wired > and > > >> what the protocol looked like, I expect I could make an adapter pretty > > >> trivially using a microcontroller. > > >> > > > > > > > > >> > > > > > > This might be of some help? > > >> > > > > > > > > >> > > > > > > > > >> > https://www.vcfed.org/forum/forum/technical-support/vintage-computer-hardware/74403-whitechapel-mg-1-depraz-mouse-grey-pinout#post904391 > > >> > > > > > > > > >> > > > > > > -Henry > > >> > > > > > > > >> > > > > > This looks great, thank you! > > >> > > > > > > > >> > > > > > john > > >> > > > >