The Times – They Are a Changing

I worked with computers since the 70’s and the beginnings were with HP’s timeshared systems and micro-computers like the Altair. Some friends and I built an operating system from scratch.

My first programming seems to have been BASIC on an HP2000. I used the Peoples Computer Center book called “What To Do After You Hit Return” and also found some books with programs and source code in them. A particular set of programs I entered and ran included a program to determine sunrise and sunset times, and Adventure, a text-based program requiring you to detail your travels.

Over the decades I became self-taught and pretty good at programming. Finally I was required to take some programming courses by my employer.

So recently I found a working simulation of the proprietary operating system I used for decades and it runs on my Windows 7 PC. While not a full system, it has compilers and an editor but no network. I connect in through Telnet. Still, a giant leap forward.

The two software programs mentioned above, while nostalgic are both available through my Amazon Echo and online.

Here is the Adventure Game – Colossal Cave: https://www.amc.com/shows/halt-and-catch-fire/exclusives/colossal-cave-adventure

So perhaps this blog title should have been “What Goes Around – Comes Around”.