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Cake day: July 6th, 2023

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  • I don’t know the exact numbers but: I frequently used a VAX11/780. Its main components were two enclosures (CPU and Memory), each about a square meter in footprint and somewhere in the range of 1.6m high (IIRC). Both had their power delivered as 3x380V (i.e. European three-phase power) into the power supply part (the lower half to 2/3rds of those blocks) which turned it into rock solid 5V - and a LOAD of heat, which meant the room also needed some extra strong AC.

    That thing was an 8MHz cpu with 8MB of RAM.










  • In case you young whippersnappers have no clue what is so special about September:

    Back then, the internet (and usenet, bitnet, talk) community had been nearly 100% academic. No idiots, no stupid loudmouths, no antivax moms, no politicians. Each September was an inflow of new students accessing the net for the first time, and it was up to the existing population to educate the newbies on things like netiquette and overall good behavior. People learned to use free and open services without abusing them. Back then, those newbies were usually quick to learn, so any problem arising from people who might cause issues usually was over within a few weeks.

    Then, The Flood came. The Eternal September began. The time where AOL disks were so common that people used them as coasters. The Internet and all the services on it never were the same again. The existing netizens were no longer capable to educate new users on proper, civilized behavior, and usenet posts solely consisting of text like “me too” became common. It went downhill from there. Formerly open services closed up because of unmitigated abuse. One day, even lawyers invaded the net, people despicable things like Sanford Wallace, for example. You newbies today cannot imagine a time like it was before criminals like him invaded this space.