Subject: Well, it amused me...

From: Adrian Vickers <[email-masked]>
Date: Tue May 20 17:19:00 2003

This morning, a BT man was around to fix my fried ADSL router (BT model 
5861 - apparently they have a known weakness in the PSU department).

The question is, was he impressed by my bank of 5 servers, all humming 
contentedly away under a table?

Nope.

How about the impressive dual-processor workstation, laptop docking port, 
or 8-way KVM which allows me to control it all?

Nope.

Maybe the monstrous Laserjet 5siMX, or the sleek laser fax machine?

Nope.

What really took his breath away, and had him talking in hushed tones, is 
the ICL OPD I now use as my primary telephone! This (almost) 20 year old 
bit of kit, which has THE best dialling system I've ever happened across 
(1, 2 or 3-digit alphanumeric short-codes), and a very dodgy speech 
synthesizer, reduced BT Man to remeniscences of the like I've not heard 
since I was in the pub last...

He suggested that BT do offer an exchange device (as in a telephone 
exchange, not a swap...) which allows similar short-code type dialling. 
However, it costs "a hell of a lot of money"...

On a completely different amusement level, I happened to watch the film 
Swordfish tonight (and what an outrageous film it was too...); which made 
mention of "the only PDP-10 connected to the internet" (paraphrased). 
Unfortunately, the PDP itself didn't make the silver screen, but a 
reel-to-reel tape drive did. So, any ClassicCmp'ers seen said film, and is 
it a genuine Digital reel-to-reel tape drive they use? Answers on the back 
of an electron...

-- 
Cheers, Ade.
Be where it's at, B-Racing!
http://b-racing.com