garyf@puente.jpl.nasa.gov (Gary Friedman) (04/20/91)
In article <41005@cup.portal.com> Jake-S@cup.portal.com (Jake G Schwartz) writes: > >I wonder if Jim knows that the little bar-code reader that FedEx uses is >the product of one of the most famous HP calculator hardware hackers, Jim >DeArras. First, he built a 512-register add-on box for the HP41 back in >1981, and then developed the original HP41 EPROM box, powered from the HP41 >bus out of the plug-in port. Jake forgot to mention that Jim was also the first one to disassemble the 41's "binaries" and invent his own mnumonics. Legend has it that he showed to it some 41 engineers in Corvallis who were so shocked that a user could have figured this out in a vacuum that they figured "What the hell" and unofficially released the 41 source code. -Garyf -- ---------------------------------------------------------------- Gary Friedman Jet Propulsion Laboratory - NASA 4800 Oak Grove Drive, Pasadena, CA. 91109 (818) 354-1447 garyf@puente.JPL.NASA.GOV || {cit-vax,elroy,psivax}!devvax!garyf