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Krispy Wafer posted:The late 80's were an awesome time though. They'd put on employee picnics and have a tent full of arcade games where you could play Ghosts & Ghouls over and over and over again. I think that was just about every company during the 80's. It was the last breaths before automation and computers made raw manpower obsolete. The building I work in now had about 200 people in it, and had been expanded 3 times since it was built in 1977 to accommodate for it. Now it has about 40 people in total, there are some other factors such as mismanagement during the late 80's and 90's, but it's a big empty building with not nearly as much being built. Interestingly enough I managed to find a newspaper article about the building from 1978. This article focused on the fact that it was an office park, which was a new and exciting type of workplace at the time. Office parks are probably fitting for this thread at least due to modern working conditions and land value.
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May 4, 2018 19:09
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Krispy Wafer posted:I share a desk with another shift and keep a keyboard in my locker. I can see little bits of crumbs in between the keys of my co-worker's keyboard and the mouse is strangely slick.
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May 4, 2018 19:58
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Aunt Beth posted:Yeah, here in Upstate NY, IBM’s former generosity is still visible. The public country clubs in the Binghamton/Endicott area were once the IBM employee clubs. When I worked for IBM my coworkers who had 30+ years frequently reminisced about the company-sponsored vacations for high performing employees, bonuses, corporate picnics and parties, and other fare that have long been abandoned as they do not directly result in shareholder profits. It’s really a shame to watch them circle the drain. They have a fascinating history. The IBM Thomas J Watson Research Center near Tarrytown, NY is a beautiful loving building. I went to a conference there several years back and it still managed to have the feel of the grand old tech companies back in the 70s. I've also been to a conference at Bell Labs in Murray Hill, a beautiful pyramidal building with a copper roof, but it was not as great... the Unix Room was in a sad state, although I did get to meet Dennis Ritchie.
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May 4, 2018 20:07
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PhotoKirk posted:There was a way to cheat on the C64 version of Autoduel by taping over the write notch on the second floppy. Your character started with three gibberish cargo shipments that were worth enough to get you through most of the game. I guess it needed to zero out a starting value for your character or something. A buddy and I figured out how to edit the save file on the PC version of that. Front mounted flamethrowers for the WIN!
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May 4, 2018 20:15
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Ruflux posted:I kinda hope you're misremembering doing it that way because what you're actually supposed to do is put crap in the obviously connected lift thing and then release the brake holding it up gently caress me this was the exact thing I couldn't figure out
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May 4, 2018 20:22
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Krispy Wafer posted:I share a desk with another shift and keep a keyboard in my locker. I can see little bits of crumbs in between the keys of my co-worker's keyboard and the mouse is strangely slick. I will never share a keyboard or mouse with anyone. Holy poo poo, no.
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May 4, 2018 21:56
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To add to IBM chat my grandfather was with the company from 1964 until 1990 and it was a really baller gig, he traveled all over since he was technical services and the company took excellent care of its people. He was paid so well when he first started that the checks didn't have enough space for the amount of money. They had the country clubs all over, a ranch in Arizona for employees and functions for family very often. they constantly had think tanks where people were pulled in to think up new ideas for products or how to improve existing products and services. He was actually bummed out when he was offered a retirement but the money was very generous and he knew that the good days were ending.
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May 4, 2018 22:51
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Shrieking Muppet posted:To add to IBM chat my grandfather was with the company from 1964 until 1990 and it was a really baller gig, 
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May 5, 2018 01:44
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4am, an oldschool Apple II software pirate who is now putting those skills to use in software preservation, posted a Twitter thread with some of his best writeups of how he cracked various software: https://twitter.com/a2_4am/status/993129396520341504 Mr.Radar has a new favorite as of 20:43 on May 6, 2018 |
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May 6, 2018 20:40
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Hirayuki posted:One of my favorite tricks involving my 1541 was removing the disk halfway through booting a very good but hellishly difficult game (Asylum). The program would basically give up, dump multiple flag messages to the parser, and shove a bunch of goodies into my inventory. I'd put the disk back in and go my merry way. I guess this is the precursor to cartridge-tilting, and both of them have been rendered obsolete by digitally delivered software (and CD/DVD-ROMs--can you hotswap a CD/DVD to bug up a game in interesting ways? Not counting using them in Monster Rancher and the like). I remember playing Conan on the Apple II and if you slipped the disk out when it went to load one particular level, waited for the first read error sound and then put it back in, it would only load half the screen and you could jump through some graphics to skip that level. Unrelated, I don't recall what the computer was but in the early 80s at a friend's house their machine had games on chip as well as on tape (? I don't really remember if it had a disk or tape drive.) You had to power off the machine, pop the top cover off and stick a chip into a ZIF socket on the motherboard. Cartridge games at their most primitive. I thought it was a System-80 or TRS-80, but the images don't look right at all - I can't see anyone pulling the top cover off the designs I can find. In my mind I picture something like an Apple II case, but I'm probably just confusing memories.
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May 7, 2018 03:32
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Krispy Wafer posted:I share a desk with another shift and keep a keyboard in my locker. I can see little bits of crumbs in between the keys of my co-worker's keyboard and the mouse is strangely slick. This is a top notch book about the heydays of IBM. A must read. https://books.google.com.au/books/about/Big_Blues.html?id=BzeGPwAACAAJ&source=kp_cover&redir_esc=y Gromit posted:Unrelated, I don't recall what the computer was but in the early 80s at a friend's house their machine had games on chip as well as on tape (? I don't really remember if it had a disk or tape drive.) You had to power off the machine, pop the top cover off and stick a chip into a ZIF socket on the motherboard. Cartridge games at their most primitive. drat I have a vague memory of this aswell. Humphreys has a new favorite as of 13:22 on May 7, 2018 |
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May 7, 2018 13:03
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Humphreys posted:This is a top notch book about the heydays of IBM. A must read. BBC Micro? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_B-mTgDr4_A
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May 7, 2018 13:33
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Yup thats the one I was thinking of!
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May 8, 2018 00:37
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Plinkey posted:BBC Micro? Definitely not - you had to take the top cover off to access it. I'm almost certain one of his chips was for the game Tumblebugs aka Dung Beetles. Wikipedia lists versions for Apple II, Atari 8-bit, TRS-80 Color Computer, and NEC PC-6001, but none seem to fit the bill. Maybe it was some weird after-market hack-job, but more likely my mind is making the whole thing up.
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May 13, 2018 14:32
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Gromit posted:Definitely not - you had to take the top cover off to access it. I'm almost certain one of his chips was for the game Tumblebugs aka Dung Beetles. Wikipedia lists versions for Apple II, Atari 8-bit, TRS-80 Color Computer, and NEC PC-6001, but none seem to fit the bill. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U-PRnnSinCo
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May 13, 2018 15:23
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Gromit posted:Definitely not - you had to take the top cover off to access it. I'm almost certain one of his chips was for the game Tumblebugs aka Dung Beetles. Wikipedia lists versions for Apple II, Atari 8-bit, TRS-80 Color Computer, and NEC PC-6001, but none seem to fit the bill. I know! Atari 400 / 800 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-InWwzs8Em0&t=142s
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May 13, 2018 15:30
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JacquelineDempsey posted:Also, the poster mentioning having to look up a certain word on the owners manual to unlock a game gave me a flashback to something I haven't thought about in years. Back in the 80s when choose your own adventure books were The Cool New Thing, I had one called Be An Interplanetary Spy (or something like that). Not only did you CYOA, but the some of the decisions you made were based on solving puzzles in the book. One involved copying the ISBN and then doing a math problem based on it, and that told you which page to turn to to avoid peril. Be An Interplanetary Spy was a series, not a book. I don't know how many there were, but there were at least seven because as a kid I had a box set of the first five and a loose copy of #7 but never had #6.
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May 14, 2018 16:43
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Arrath posted:IS IT SELECT OR MOVE I made this exact same complaint a couple of years ago (in games, while GBS was going through it's akward phase) and was bitched out by a few goons for being "exacting" in wanting a particular kind of control scheme. The rightmouse thing has ruined far to many RTSs for me preciesley because I just don't ever seem to get truly used to it. TA, C&C, red alerts & generals - can work those with an interface that's barely perceptable, but switch to rmouse and I'm fumbling everything.
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May 21, 2018 16:19
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LORD OF BOOTY posted:i mean it can work but the level design has to be really, really good to make it happen. in HL1 i was literally stuck in a cluster of rooms with no apparent exit and nothing triggering a cutscene or anything (I think there was supposed to be a ladder in a certain spot and it wasn't there for some reason?). in HL2 I ended up in a big open area with... no apparent exit except the place I came in from. I can totally sympathise with you on this, because I have fleetingly had the same experience in a few games but have always managed to find the way forward after a short while. Don't ever try descent! 
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May 21, 2018 16:21
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Humphreys posted:This is a top notch book about the heydays of IBM. A must read.
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May 21, 2018 17:06
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Fo3 posted:Big blues is good, as is the commodore book by brian bagnell (on the edge: the spectacular rise and fall of commodore). I also have ebooks of apple (apple confidential 2.0) and nintendo(i am error) I need to get through. I will have to check those out for sure, thanks!
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May 22, 2018 09:48
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Electronic transfers still suck in the US. I tried paying my rent and it's over the previously unspecified limit for a Zelle transfer, and they were unwilling to raise the limit, or do anything with the routing number and account number I have for the landlord. My girlfriend had to pay the rent because the limits at her bank for Zelle are $3000 instead of $2000.
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Jun 1, 2018 18:11
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Guy Axlerod posted:Electronic transfers still suck in the US. I tried paying my rent and it's over the previously unspecified limit for a Zelle transfer, and they were unwilling to raise the limit, or do anything with the routing number and account number I have for the landlord. My girlfriend had to pay the rent because the limits at her bank for Zelle are $3000 instead of $2000. Yeah. I had a similar problem over the weekend. I wanted to transfer some money from my savings into my checking for some extra spending money over the long weekend. It was Saturday, and it said the transfer wouldn't go through until Tuesday (because of memorial day.) I was pissed because it's not like they need a human being to physically take cash out of one box and put it in another. It said Saturday wasn't a business day... Despite the fact that they were indeed open and actively doing business. I had to drive to a brick and mortar location, take the cash out of the ATM, and deposit it at the teller, to ensure that it would deposit right then and there. So ancient.
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Jun 2, 2018 00:20
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Detective No. 27 posted:Yeah. I had a similar problem over the weekend. I wanted to transfer some money from my savings into my checking for some extra spending money over the long weekend. It was Saturday, and it said the transfer wouldn't go through until Tuesday (because of memorial day.) I was pissed because it's not like they need a human being to physically take cash out of one box and put it in another. It said Saturday wasn't a business day... Despite the fact that they were indeed open and actively doing business. I had to drive to a brick and mortar location, take the cash out of the ATM, and deposit it at the teller, to ensure that it would deposit right then and there. So ancient. But boy howdy don't you dare overdraft because somehow they can fine you for that instantaneously.
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Jun 2, 2018 04:04
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ryonguy posted:But boy howdy don't you dare overdraft because somehow they can fine you for that instantaneously. And even more weirdly the pending transactions will be processed in an order that incurs the most number of overdraft charges, even if that means they happen non sequentially... 
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Jun 2, 2018 04:14
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Guy Axlerod posted:Electronic transfers still suck in the US. I tried paying my rent and it's over the previously unspecified limit for a Zelle transfer, and they were unwilling to raise the limit, or do anything with the routing number and account number I have for the landlord. My girlfriend had to pay the rent because the limits at her bank for Zelle are $3000 instead of $2000. Wow. Even in the backwater wasteland of Australia I can use our phone apps to transfer money between my accounts instantly, pay off credit cards, pay someone instantly (if same bank) - a few hours/days if different. Never had to actually go to my bank for anything except grandma still sending cheques to us at Christmas.
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Jun 2, 2018 04:54
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VanguardFelix posted:And even more weirdly the pending transactions will be processed in an order that incurs the most number of overdraft charges, even if that means they happen non sequentially... I've had that exact thing happen. Got low in my debit account. Swiped a few vending machines and stuff with a larger charge pending. Sure enough the bank made sure the larger one went through first so I got like 5 overdraft charges. I even had the money to cover it all in my savings. And this was my credit union too. Not even a big bad corporate bank. I had to go there in person to unfuck the situation too. They wouldn't even do it over the phone.
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Jun 2, 2018 05:02
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Humphreys posted:Wow. I haven't used it yet, but now there's a thing called pay ID, and you use your phone number as your reference. With this you're supposed to be able to transfer money across banks within a few minutes. I mean, this should have been in place about 10 years ago, but it's cool to at least have something now.
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Jun 2, 2018 10:52
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Humphreys posted:Wow. In theory, that's what a Zelle transfer will do. Instant transfers between banks. Unless you want to pay more than the limit, then your best bet is a paper check. It could be worse though, while researching Zelle, I found that some banks have a limit of $1k. I couldn't even pay my half of my rent with that limit. gently caress me for moving to a higher cost of living area right?
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Jun 2, 2018 16:03
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Guy Axlerod posted:In theory, that's what a Zelle transfer will do. Instant transfers between banks. Unless you want to pay more than the limit, then your best bet is a paper check. I've never tried Zelle because while my bank supports it, nobody else in the area seems to. Using it still seems like kind of a pain because I have to log into my bank app, drill down through menus, manually enter my password for extra security and then I can finally send money. Apple Pay Cash is awesome though. It's the same as sending a text message with the only added step being the use of the fingerprint or face scanner to authenticate. The only caveat is that both parties need iPhones.
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Jun 2, 2018 16:24
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Lol at the US banking system. I realise it's a huge country with a lot of banks with different systems but now that the Internet and digital instant communication has existed for decades I'm dumbfounded by the delays and stupidity of it all. Hell, over here we're annoyed that a transfer between banks won't come through until the next business day, two at the most, except weekends and bank holidays. However, you can now select "instant transfer" for a fee ($.75 ish) even between banks. Which basically means the bank loans cash to the other bank for a day until the SWIFT or whatever transfer is in the books. All banks here run a sync three-four times a day with our equivalent of the SEC central so if you place a transfer before noon, it's likely in the recipient's account by 3:45pm the same day. Transfers between own accounts, or other acvounta in the same bank, are instant - even Saturdays and Sundays. Sometimes Evry (formerly EDB ASA) that run the central transfer system gently caress up a software upgrade and all card payments are down for half a Friday or Saturday. (It's always those days). And all the banks have quit cash at the counter. You literally can't withdraw cash at the bank anymore. You do that in stores or the ATM. F4rt5 has a new favorite as of 16:32 on Jun 2, 2018 |
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Jun 2, 2018 16:29
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JazzmasterCurious posted:Lol at the US banking system. I realise it's a huge country with a lot of banks with different systems Holy crap though, signing for payments is 2004 here. We suck so bad generally (UK) that US banks don't have any excuse not to up your security. GRINDCORE MEGGIDO has a new favorite as of 17:02 on Jun 2, 2018 |
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Jun 2, 2018 16:32
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GRINDCORE MEGGIDO posted:They don't really have much of an excuse considering how well it works in the EU. That's true, was in Greece a couple of years ago and even with only a Visa Electron with BankAxept I could withdraw cash and pay in stores and my account was updated instantly.
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Jun 2, 2018 16:33
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JazzmasterCurious posted:That's true, was in Greece a couple of years ago and even with only a Visa Electron with BankAxept I could withdraw cash and pay in stores and my account was updated instantly. Not hating on the US in any way, I just wish they'd get with the program for you guys TBH. But yea, I expected Greece to have super bad banking systems but it was totally fine.
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Jun 2, 2018 16:35
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Also obsolete tech: running system upgrades before a weekend when the entire nation depends on everything to work and no-one but drug buyers use cash any more. How about doing it on a Monday at noon, Evry? E: Last time it was a hard drive in an IBM mainframe (ancient 370 I guess) that failed and they didn't have a spare. Had to be shipped. When you find out how the most important financial infrastructure in the country is run, you have to laugh. F4rt5 has a new favorite as of 16:39 on Jun 2, 2018 |
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Jun 2, 2018 16:35
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Overdraft chat: once in the mid-2000s my bank had a computer glitch that caused every transaction over about a two week period to post in triplicate. Including the inevitable overdraft fees. At one point I was nearly $30k in the hole and the bank refused to do anything about it for three days, claiming that I was irresponsible and didn't keep an accurate check register, then that recurring monthly payments like utilities and car insurance posting three times in a row had to be the fault of the companies billing me. Finally the smug piece of poo poo branch manager who had wagged his finger in my face during my previous trip to the bank called claiming he had been "out of the loop" that they had a system wide computer glitch that effected about 20% of their accounts, and all duplicate transactions and overdraft fees would be reversed by the end of the day. No apology for hurling insults at me when I sat at his desk a few days before, however. gently caress banks and the financial "professionals" who work for them.
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Jun 2, 2018 17:36
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Geoj posted:Overdraft chat: once in the mid-2000s my bank had a computer glitch that caused every transaction over about a two week period to post in triplicate. Including the inevitable overdraft fees. At one point I was nearly $30k in the hole and the bank refused to do anything about it for three days, claiming that I was irresponsible and didn't keep an accurate check register, then that recurring monthly payments like utilities and car insurance posting three times in a row had to be the fault of the companies billing me. Bankers are bottom level, poo poo eating, parasites of the worst sort, and I, 100% unironically, call for every one of them to be executed.
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Jun 2, 2018 17:39
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My city's utilities department (water, trash, sewer) finally got around to launching an online payment system. If you use your checking account, it's free. If you use a credit or debit card, it's $4.95. That seems a tad high. I work at a hospital in the insurance collection department and the new trend for the lesser insurance companies is to pay via a "virtual credit card". They mail/fax you the info and you go online to accept the payment. For a fee. We had to opt out of this over and over again. They asked us why and I asked the agent if they would mind paying a fee to get their paychecks. They said no and I asked them why I should pay for money owed to us.
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Jun 2, 2018 17:53
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Grumbletron 4000 posted:I've had that exact thing happen. Got low in my debit account. Swiped a few vending machines and stuff with a larger charge pending. Sure enough the bank made sure the larger one went through first so I got like 5 overdraft charges. I even had the money to cover it all in my savings. And this was my credit union too. Not even a big bad corporate bank. That will always be the case, because the largest transactions are likely to be the most important. Like if you have a $700, a $200, and a $20 debut, but only $710 in your account the system will rightfully bounce the smaller two because that big check is likely rent or something. The fact that the bank will make $60 in fees versus $30 is the gravy that ensures it’ll never change. The system is a joke though. My kid deposited her paycheck on Friday and was all like “WTF?” on Tuesday when it still hasn’t posted. You forget how annoying paper checks can be when you have direct deposit.
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Jun 2, 2018 18:03
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Krispy Wafer posted:That will always be the case, because the largest transactions are likely to be the most important. Like if you have a $700, a $200, and a $20 debut, but only $710 in your account the system will rightfully bounce the smaller two because that big check is likely rent or something. The fact that the bank will make $60 in fees versus $30 is the gravy that ensures it’ll never change. This made me think of the last time I saw cheques mentioned anywhere in IRL life and it was a sign on a cash register in 1998 saying "we don't accept cheques because no-one uses cheques".
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