mercer@npdiss1.StPaul.NCR.COM (Dan Mercer) (12/29/90)
Looked through the jargon file for my favorite expression "on the rag", meaning the computer is having problems staying up. Anyone else familiar with it? First heard it in 1987 at RPI. We had an IBM 360/50 - then state of the art. Averaged 50% downtime (real nightmare - 4000 students sharing 4 keypunches - systems personnel had 2 more, but frequently commandeered the students keypunches. We also had these weird plastic doohickies where you turned a dial to get the right code and handpunched (usually very inaccurately) the codes. Anyway, whenever the system was down, they hung a red flag on the flagpole outside the center (probably not the current center). Anybody have an earlier provenance? 'Tute sucks. Albany is the asshole of the nation, and Troy is six mile up. -- Dan Mercer NCR Network Products Division - Network Integration Services Reply-To: mercer@npdiss1.StPaul.NCR.COM (Dan Mercer) "MAN - the only one word oxymoron in the English Language"
dgh@Unify.com (David Harrington) (01/04/91)
In article <807@npdiss1.StPaul.NCR.COM>, mercer@npdiss1.StPaul.NCR.COM (Dan Mercer) writes: > Path: unify!csusac!ucdavis!ucbvax!tut.cis.ohio-state.edu!zaphod.mps.ohio-state.edu!wua archive!emory!hubcap!ncrcae!ncrlnk!ncrstp!npdiss1!mercer > > Looked through the jargon file for my favorite expression "on the > rag", meaning the computer is having problems staying up. Anyone > else familiar with it? First heard it in 1987 at RPI. We had an IBM ^^^^ > 360/50 - then state of the art. Averaged 50% downtime (real nightmare ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ A strange "state" of "art" indeed, for 1987 :-) > - 4000 students sharing 4 keypunches - systems personnel had 2 more, > but frequently commandeered the students keypunches. We also had > these weird plastic doohickies where you turned a dial to get the > right code and handpunched (usually very inaccurately) the codes. > > Anyway, whenever the system was down, they hung a red flag on the > flagpole outside the center (probably not the current center). > Anybody have an earlier provenance? > > 'Tute sucks. > As to your question, uh, OTR has, well, *biological*, rather than *electronic* origins. Ask any woman. -- David Harrington internet: dgh@eire.unify.COM Unify Corporation ...!{csusac,pyramid}!unify!eire!dgh 3870 Rosin Court voice: +1 916 920-9092 Sacramento, CA 95834 fax: +1 916 921-5340
borasky@ogicse.ogi.edu (M. Edward Borasky) (01/04/91)
In article <807@npdiss1.StPaul.NCR.COM> mercer@npdiss1.StPaul.NCR.COM (Dan Mercer) writes: >else familiar with it? First heard it in 1987 at RPI. We had an IBM >360/50 - then state of the art. This has GOT to be a typo -- surely you mean 1967!!! A 360/50 was ANNOUNCED in 1964; first delivered in 1965, I think. State of the art in 1987? No way! >Averaged 50% downtime (real nightmare Maybe it WAS 1987 -- a 20-year old machine might get 50% uptime. >Albany is the asshole of the nation, and Troy is six miles up. Put THAT in your jargon file!
bill@platypus.uofs.edu (Bill Gunshannon) (01/05/91)
In article <1991Jan3.084723@Unify.com>, dgh@Unify.com (David Harrington) writes: > In article <807@npdiss1.StPaul.NCR.COM>, mercer@npdiss1.StPaul.NCR.COM (Dan > Mercer) writes: > > First heard it in 1987 at RPI. We had an IBM > ^^^^ > > 360/50 - then state of the art. Averaged 50% downtime (real nightmare > ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ > A strange "state" of "art" indeed, for 1987 :-) Remember though, we are talking about RPI here!! :-) -- Bill Gunshannon | If this statement wasn't here, bill@platypus.uofs.edu | This space would be left intentionally blank