Date: Sun, 17 May 1998 22:27:25 -0600 From: Wes Peters <wes@softweyr.com> To: Dan Janowski <danj@3skel.com> Cc: Bret Ford <bford@uop.cs.uop.edu>, freebsd-chat@FreeBSD.ORG Subject: Re: SCO offers Ancient Unix Source Code License Message-ID: <355FB8AD.E2779CDB@softweyr.com> References: <Pine.BSF.3.96.980518001757.5879B-100000@fnur.3skel.com>
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Dan Janowski wrote:
>
> I used to work on old SGI 3130's and when those
> geometry engines were really working, you could hear
> some very high pitched harmonic sounds eminating
> from the box, seemingly right from the chips,
> although this was difficult to confirm.
I cut my 3D teeth on a 4D/60GT, later upgraded to a 4D/70. The
funny high pitched noise actually came from the capacitors in the
power supply; the current draw of the Geometry Pipeline would pull
enough current through them to start the squeal. I helped install
these machines in South Dakota; on cold (COLD COLD COLD!) winter
days we would come into work, take our shoes off, and fire up the
'drip' demo to warm our toes and ankles. The 4D's had an 18-inch
long squirrel-cage fan that would blow 180F air when the drip demo
was running. ;^)
> Where did the days of lights and sounds go?
Sad, isn't it? No more blinkenlights. The actual hardware is becoming
a complete mystery, not only to the users, but to most of the programmers.
That's what the 'Dumming down of programming' article mentioned here
a couple of days ago was lamenting.
--
"Where am I, and what am I doing in this handbasket?"
Wes Peters Softweyr LLC
http://www.softweyr.com/~softweyr wes@softweyr.com
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