Archive for February, 2006
Basketball at PCC Killingsworth
by paul on Feb.27, 2006, under Photography
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PCC Panthers played the CCC Cougars on February 15th in two intense battles that saw the men’s Cougars beat PCC 69-66 and the ladies beat PCC 66-61. I shot the game, played in the new Killingsworth Road gym, as part of a PCC News Photography course. The lightning speed of the game and lighting conditions made for possibly the most challenging conditions I have ever attempted. Both teams played superbly – well worth an evening out! |
An evening’s entertainment
by paul on Feb.14, 2006, under Diary, Humor
A few winters back when I was working as a support engineer, I was called to a job at an unusual religious sect’s mountain retreat. It was a complicated job and took me well into the evening. By then the snow had fallen and getting home would be difficult so they offered me dinner and room for a night which I happily accepted.
However dinner was a slightly odd affair with very little conversation and what there was muted. The head of the order explained that they had a highly disciplined regime and the only time for relaxation was after dinner. I was intrigued to see how they would start to relax and the truth was bizarre. They would take it in turns to say a number and there would be polite but muted laughter. I asked what this ritual meant. The head explained they were telling jokes but rather than say out loud any doubtful words or concepts, they would say a number, the members would recall the joke assigned to the number and laugh. ‘Of course the art is the telling of a story heard many times before,’ he said.
‘Can I have a go?’ I asked. ‘Be my guest’ came the reply.
I said: ‘147’ to the group and I was unprepared for the reaction. Tears flowed, sides split; the laughter was uproarious and seemed unstoppable. In bemusement I asked the head: ‘What is so good about 147?’
‘They’ve not heard that one,’ he replied.
Common computer terms
by paul on Feb.04, 2006, under Diary, Humor
Digging through some very old papers, I found a really old glossary of computer terms from the days of mainframe computing (the copy is have is data February 1977). Punched cards might be a thing of the past, but the spirit of those old programmers still lives on.
| Computer | Device for transforming boring clerical operations into boring manual operations. | |
| Program | A sequence of instructions telling a computer how to loop and halt unexpectedly. | |
| System | A collection of mutually incompatible programs. | |
| Compiler | A program which translates errors into machine code. | |
| Parameter | A device for introducing an element of uncertainty into a logical procedure. | |
| Debugging | The process of replacing one error by another. | |
| Working Program | Program from which all minor errors have been removed. | |
| Enhancement | A means of introducing errors into a working program. | |
| One-off program | Name given to standard utility before second run. | |
| Validation program | A means for ensuring that incorrect values are punched in the right format. | |
| Sort | Program which enables you to hold randomly-accessed files serially. | |
| Operator | Person employed to slow down a computer to a manageable speed. | |
| Security Dump | Something you do not have time to do because of all the disc crashes. | |
| Flowchart | Pictorial representation of logic errors. | |
| Implementation | Name given to the process of re-writing system in a hurry. | |
| Turnround | The delay between submitting cards to the computer and receiving back their remains. | |
| Test data | A means of ensuring that errors will occur in the correct sequence when the program is run live. |
