Archive for category Trivia
Computer Trivia: “Cruncha. Cruncha. Cruncha.”
Posted by delightlylinux in Trivia on March 17, 2015
📅 March 17, 2015
“Cruncha. Cruncha. Cruncha.”
What’s that sound?
It’s a form of encouragement muttered to a machine running slowly after being bogged down with compute-intensive tasks. Whether it actually helps or not is anyone’s guess, but, for a brief moment during the incantation, it seems to somehow boost the computer’s self-esteem and provide added motivation to hurry up–just a little. Often spoken after drumming fingers on the table.
(Inspired from The New Hacker’s Dictionary.)
Computer Trivia: Amp Off
Posted by delightlylinux in Trivia on January 14, 2015
📅 January 14, 2015
Here is a computer term rarely heard these days: amp off.
To amp off means to run in the background, and it is derived from the ampersand character (& or amp) placed at the end of a command line in a Linux or UNIX terminal.
Trivia: Pencil and Paper
Posted by delightlylinux in Trivia on September 1, 2012
Q. What is the term Pencil and Paper?
Trivia: What is an NSP?
Posted by delightlylinux in Trivia on May 18, 2012
We’ve heard of an ISP, but what is an NSP?
Trivia: Shelfware
Posted by delightlylinux in Trivia on May 7, 2012
Q. What is shelfware?
A. Software purchased on a whim (by an individual user) or in accordance with policy (by a corporation or government agency), but not actually required for any particular use. Therefore, it often ends up on some shelf.
Thanks to the New Hacker’s Dictionary for providing another humorous computer term.
Trivia: Pencil and Paper
Posted by delightlylinux in Trivia on April 23, 2012
Q. What is pencil and paper?
Trivia: Atari STE – “Touch the Future”
Posted by delightlylinux in Trivia on April 7, 2012
While perusing various computer catalogs seeking faster upgrades and better hardware, I encountered this flyer from a local computer store advertising the Atari STE computer system.
Curious to know what the future of computing might bring, I clearly see that it consists of a Motorola 68000 CPU with at least 512K of RAM. Goes to show that what goes around comes around.
The Atari home computers were decent systems for their time, but with so many different model numbers available — and a new model (seemingly) released every year — it can be tricky to keep track of them all. Here are a few models in the ST family:
| Atari ST | 1985 |
| Atari STE | 1989 |
| Atari TT030 | 1990 |
| Atari MEGA STE | 1991 |
| Atari Falcon | 1992 |
Interesting note: The “ST” in Atari ST is a reference to the description of the 68000 CPU’s 16-bit external data bus (S for Sixteen-bit) and the 32-bit internal bus (T for Thirty-two). The E in STE stands for Enhanced.
Atari discontinued the ST line of computers in 1993 to shift attention to the Atari Jaguar video game system. Surprisingly, some people today continue to use Atari ST computers either as a hobby or as heavily upgraded home systems.
So, if you want to touch the future, touch an Atari STE. Now, how does it install Linux…?
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