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From: kahogan@alumni.EECS.Berkeley.EDU (Kevin A. Hogan)
Newsgroups: alt.folklore.computers
Subject: The End of _Byte_ (ceasing publication in July)
Date: 28 May 1998 13:34:36 -0700
Organization: Pessimists For A Better Tomorrow
Lines: 20
Message-ID: <6kkhos$7m4@alumni.EECS.Berkeley.EDU>
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  It looks as though future generations of alt.folklore.computers
readers won't be getting into "new _Byte_ vs. old _Byte_" discussions,
as _Byte_ Magazine is now a few months away from becoming completely
historical:

>Byte to cease publication
>By Suzanne Galante
>Staff Writer, CNET NEWS.COM
>May 28, 1998, 12:20 p.m. PT
>
>The print edition of Byte magazine, the 23-year-old computing magazine
>with an estimated 500,000 subscribers, will cease publication after
>the July issue, according to both a taped message at the magazine's
>office and an editorial staffer.

http://www.news.com/News/Item/0,4,22532,00.html?st.ne.fd.mdh

-- 
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Kevin Hogan          --      khogan@Adobe.COM       --          (408) 536-4409

######

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From: "Jack Peacock" <peacock@simconv.com>
Newsgroups: alt.folklore.computers
Subject: Re: The End of _Byte_ (ceasing publication in July)
Date: Thu, 28 May 1998 17:03:56 -0700
Organization: Skylink Networks, Inc. (http://www.skylink.net./)
Lines: 14
Message-ID: <6kku5g$2t3$1@news.skylink.net>
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>Yes and could anybody please explain to med the differense=20
>between an 8bit byte and an old one.
>Is the old byte a modern word?
>Please...
>
On old mainframes a byte (character) was commonly 6 bits.  ASCII was NOT =
the character set used.  Some examples were Univac 1100s running EXEC 8 =
(36-bit, 6 bit FIELDATA) and CDC 6000 (60-bit, forgot what CDC called =
their character set, Chippewa or something clever like that).

If you mean the magazine, the old Byte was interesting, the new Byte was =
not.  No suprise the new Byte bit the dust.
        Jack Peacock

######

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From: Dave Brockman <daveb@oz.net>
Newsgroups: alt.folklore.computers
Subject: Re: The End of _Byte_ (ceasing publication in July)
Date: Thu, 28 May 1998 20:35:22 -0700
Organization: Acme Anvil Works
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Rats! If I hadn't dropped my subscription a couple of years ago I
could've had a full set. <sigh>
 
**************************
  Dave Brockman/Portable
       daveb@oz.net
 http://www.oz.net/~daveb
**************************

Kevin A. Hogan wrote:
> 
>   It looks as though future generations of alt.folklore.computers
> readers won't be getting into "new _Byte_ vs. old _Byte_" discussions,
> as _Byte_ Magazine is now a few months away from becoming completely
> historical:
> 
> >Byte to cease publication
> >By Suzanne Galante
> >Staff Writer, CNET NEWS.COM
> >May 28, 1998, 12:20 p.m. PT
> >
> >The print edition of Byte magazine, the 23-year-old computing magazine
> >with an estimated 500,000 subscribers, will cease publication after
> >the July issue, according to both a taped message at the magazine's
> >office and an editorial staffer.
> 
> http://www.news.com/News/Item/0,4,22532,00.html?st.ne.fd.mdh
> 
> --
> ------------------------------------------------------------------------------
> Kevin Hogan          --      khogan@Adobe.COM       --          (408) 536-4409

######

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From: bill_h <bill_h@azstarnet.com>
Newsgroups: alt.folklore.computers
Subject: Re: The End of _Byte_ (ceasing publication in July)
Date: Thu, 28 May 1998 21:02:10 -0700
Organization: Starnet
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Does anyopne have a thorough collection of their past article cd-roms?

I've got the PC Mag ones, but never found anyone with the Bytes......

Bill
Tucson

######

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From: "dave porter" <porter@wultranet.com>
Newsgroups: alt.folklore.computers
Subject: Re: The End of _Byte_ (ceasing publication in July)
Date: 28 May 1998 21:23:21 GMT
Organization: none of the above
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Bugger it. Guess who just renewed his subscription for two years!

dave
-- 
For email, please remove the 'w' from my address. Sorry. 

Kevin A. Hogan <kahogan@alumni.EECS.Berkeley.EDU> wrote in article
<6kkhos$7m4@alumni.EECS.Berkeley.EDU>...
>   It looks as though future generations of alt.folklore.computers
> readers won't be getting into "new _Byte_ vs. old _Byte_" discussions,
> as _Byte_ Magazine is now a few months away from becoming completely
> historical:
> 
> >Byte to cease publication
> >By Suzanne Galante
> >Staff Writer, CNET NEWS.COM
> >May 28, 1998, 12:20 p.m. PT
> >
> >The print edition of Byte magazine, the 23-year-old computing magazine
> >with an estimated 500,000 subscribers, will cease publication after
> >the July issue, according to both a taped message at the magazine's
> >office and an editorial staffer.
> 

######

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From: bayko@borealis.cs.uregina.ca (John  Bayko)
Newsgroups: alt.folklore.computers
Subject: Re: The End of _Byte_ (ceasing publication in July)
Date: 28 May 1998 23:34:38 GMT
Organization: University of Regina, Dept. of Computer Science
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In article <6kkhos$7m4@alumni.EECS.Berkeley.EDU>,
    Kevin A. Hogan <kahogan@alumni.EECS.Berkeley.EDU> wrote:
>  It looks as though future generations of alt.folklore.computers
>readers won't be getting into "new _Byte_ vs. old _Byte_" discussions,
>as _Byte_ Magazine is now a few months away from becoming completely
>historical:
>
>>Byte to cease publication
>>By Suzanne Galante
>>Staff Writer, CNET NEWS.COM
>>May 28, 1998, 12:20 p.m. PT
>>
>>The print edition of Byte magazine, the 23-year-old computing magazine
>>with an estimated 500,000 subscribers, will cease publication after
>>the July issue, according to both a taped message at the magazine's
>>office and an editorial staffer.
>
>http://www.news.com/News/Item/0,4,22532,00.html?st.ne.fd.mdh

    Gee, and that was the one sure way to tell Byte apart from
Datamation, since Datamation went paperless...

--
John Bayko (Tau).
bayko@cs.uregina.ca
http://www.cs.uregina.ca/~bayko

######

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From: wiss@algonet.se ("Jonas Wissting")
Newsgroups: alt.folklore.computers
Subject: Re: The End of _Byte_ (ceasing publication in July)
Date: Thu, 28 May 1998 23:52:51 -0100
Organization: Algonet/Tninet
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In article <6kkhos$7m4@alumni.eecs.berkeley.edu>,
	kahogan@alumni.EECS.Berkeley.EDU (Kevin A. Hogan) writes:
>   It looks as though future generations of alt.folklore.computers
> readers won't be getting into "new _Byte_ vs. old _Byte_" discussions,
> 
Yes and could anybody please explain to med the differense 
between an 8bit byte and an old one.
Is the old byte a modern word?
Please...

	Jonas
-- 
http://wiss.unx.nu
http://linux.unx.nu

I've got a strong urge to fly
But I've got nowhere to fly to
	Roger Waters

######

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From: jsavard@freenet.edmonton.ab.ca ()
Newsgroups: alt.folklore.computers
Subject: Re: The End of _Byte_ (ceasing publication in July)
Date: 29 May 1998 04:10:04 GMT
Organization: Edmonton FreeNet, Edmonton, Alberta, Canada
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Jack Peacock (peacock@simconv.com) wrote:
: >Yes and could anybody please explain to med the differense
: >between an 8bit byte and an old one.
: >Is the old byte a modern word?
: >Please...

As the one replying notes, the "old Byte" means Byte magazine before it
was taken over by McGraw-Hill, and while it was oriented to computer
hobbyists.

: On old mainframes a byte (character) was commonly 6 bits.  ASCII was NOT
: the character set used.  Some examples were Univac 1100s running EXEC 8
: (36-bit, 6 bit FIELDATA) and CDC 6000 (60-bit, forgot what CDC called
: their character set, Chippewa or something clever like that).

Chippewa was their operating system (and the city their factory was in).
CDC Display Code was one of their character sets.

However, I may be wrong, but I didn't think that anyone - aside from
Knuth, in _The Art of Computer Programming_ (and that is a major
exception, considering its influence as the premier collection of
non-numerical algorithms) - ever used the term "byte" to refer to 6-bit
characters or anything else other than an 8-bit span of computer storage.

: If you mean the magazine, the old Byte was interesting, the new Byte was =
: not.  No suprise the new Byte bit the dust.

Well, it's true that what the new Byte was trying to do, PC Magazine did
better. But the old Byte would have had to have changed considerably to
keep up with the times...

and people can still argue about the old Dr. Dobb's versus the new Dr.
Dobb's.

John Savard
http://www.freenet.edmonton.ab.ca/~jsavard/

######

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From: bill_h <bill_h@azstarnet.com>
Newsgroups: alt.folklore.computers
Subject: Re: The End of _Byte_ (ceasing publication in July)
Date: Fri, 29 May 1998 07:38:18 -0700
Organization: Starnet
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jsavard@freenet.edmonton.ab.ca wrote:
.....
> : If you mean the magazine, the old Byte was interesting, the new Byte was =
> : not.  No suprise the new Byte bit the dust.
> 
> Well, it's true that what the new Byte was trying to do, PC Magazine did
> better. But the old Byte would have had to have changed considerably to
> keep up with the times...
>

The "old" Byte, like the "old" Dr Dobbs and many of the rest, catered to
what
might best be called Technoids. Bare metal programmers, hardware
hackers, and
if regularly employed (by someone else) likely to be THE technology
aware
person called on when things around the office failed to work properly.

The market for computers, well, okay, what is considered a "computer"
today, has
changed. Hell, the things usually work OUT OF THE BOX these days! What a
novel
idea! Why didn't a couple THOUSAND prior 'computer' companies think of
that?

BUT........

Automated knowledge machines aren't a "finished" product. Not by any
stretch.

It's just that the consumer market has grown to become by far the
largest
PERCENTAGE of the total market; the one any SELLER of computer stuff has
to
cater to and can not afford to ignore.

What happened to the "technoids"? A few hang around this newsgroup; you
come
across others scattered about. Many are simply toying around with the
novelty
of computers that actually run most of the time, and can support almost
any
imaginable peripheral without weeks of agony and code-hacking.

Something tells me there's a hunger for a fun NEW challenge. Okay, I'M
hungry.

Every major advance in technology has been preceeded by those willing to
take up
the early stages of the learning curve. Few of them ever get rich from
it, because
that type of personality is usually terrible at running a business.

In case you haven't noticed, it's getting harder to convince people it's
time to
throw out their "old" machines and "upgrade" to something 3x or 7x
"faster".
In part because 7x usually means something like 45%. Strange numnbering
systems.

Anyway, the point I'm suggesting is, there are several totally different
market
segments, and they don't speak, or even understand, each others
language.

"New" Byte followed a market shift. It was, necessarily, a DEAD END.

######

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From: jcmorris@mwunix.mitre.org (Joe Morris)
Newsgroups: alt.folklore.computers
Subject: Re: The End of _Byte_ (ceasing publication in July)
Date: 29 May 1998 13:47:02 GMT
Organization: The MITRE Corporation
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jsavard@freenet.edmonton.ab.ca () writes:

>However, I may be wrong, but I didn't think that anyone - aside from
>Knuth, in _The Art of Computer Programming_ (and that is a major
>exception, considering its influence as the premier collection of
>non-numerical algorithms) - ever used the term "byte" to refer to 6-bit
>characters or anything else other than an 8-bit span of computer storage.

I have no recollection of where I first encountered the term, but I
recall using it (and being understood by other programmers) when
discussing memory in character-mode machines in 1963.

Along that line, does anyone have a suggestion for the date and place
where the word "nybble" (a half of a byte) was coined?

Joe Morris

######

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From: engebret@sg1.cr.usgs.gov (Chris Engebretson)
Subject: Re: The End of _Byte_ (ceasing publication in July)
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Date: Fri, 29 May 1998 14:37:32 GMT
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In article <3t0lk6.93.ln@pluten.home>, 
	wiss@algonet.se ("Jonas Wissting") writes:

|> Yes and could anybody please explain to med the differense 
|> between an 8bit byte and an old one.

Sure; when using "old bytes", you could arbitrarily set their size
within the 36-bit machine word.  Most modern mainstream hardware,
being fascist, forces you to use the "trendy" eight-bit length as
mandated by the "establishment."

Regards,

-- 
Chris Engebretson - Raytheon STX Corporation | Ph#: (605)594-6829
USGS EROS Data Center, Sioux Falls, SD 57198 | Fax: (605)594-6940
http://edcwww.cr.usgs.gov/        mailto:engebret@sg1.cr.usgs.gov
Opinions are not those of  Raytheon Systems Company  or the USGS.

######

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From: eric@fudge.uchicago.edu (Eric Fischer)
Subject: Re: The End of _Byte_ (ceasing publication in July)
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Date: Fri, 29 May 1998 15:04:55 GMT
Lines: 11

<jsavard@freenet.edmonton.ab.ca> wrote:

> As the one replying notes, the "old Byte" means Byte magazine before it
> was taken over by McGraw-Hill, and while it was oriented to computer
> hobbyists.

Byte was already being published by McGraw-Hill in 1980 (which is when
my earliest copies date from) and I would argue that it continued to
be interesting until at least four or five years later.

eric

######

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From: atbowler@thinkage.on.ca (Alan Bowler)
Newsgroups: alt.folklore.computers
Subject: Re: The End of _Byte_ (ceasing publication in July)
Date: 29 May 1998 17:24:47 GMT
Organization: Thinkage Ltd.
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In article <6klces$f0e$3@news.sas.ab.ca> jsavard@freenet.edmonton.ab.ca () writes:
>
>However, I may be wrong, but I didn't think that anyone - aside from
>Knuth, in _The Art of Computer Programming_ (and that is a major
>exception, considering its influence as the premier collection of
>non-numerical algorithms) - ever used the term "byte" to refer to 6-bit
>characters or anything else other than an 8-bit span of computer storage.
>
You are wrong.  The PDP-10 used the term byte to refer to the a
variable sized quantity less than a word.  Usually this was the 7
itens used to store ASCII data.  (The hardware mechanism was
generalized and didn't have any particular bytesize wired in.)

The GE-600 line (now Bull DPS-9000) machines (Gcos, Multics, MarkIII,
DTSS and CP-6) are 36 bit word machines.  The hardware has 3 preferred
sizes for sub word size quantities, 4, 6 and 9 bits.  The 6 bit units
are called "characters", and the 9 bit ones are called "bytes".  

######

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From: Marco S Hyman <marc@snafu.org>
Newsgroups: alt.folklore.computers
Subject: Re: The End of _Byte_ (ceasing publication in July)
Date: 29 May 1998 22:16:22 -0700
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eric@fudge.uchicago.edu (Eric Fischer) writes:

> Byte was already being published by McGraw-Hill in 1980 (which is when
> my earliest copies date from) and I would argue that it continued to
> be interesting until at least four or five years later.

Agreed.  I think I lost interest in it when Phil (?) Lemmons (sp?)
stepped (was forced?) down as editor.  I think it was in the 2nd
half of the 80s.

// marc

######

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From: alderson@netcom4.netcom.com (Richard M. Alderson III)
Subject: Re: The End of _Byte_ (ceasing publication in July)
In-Reply-To: jsavard@freenet.edmonton.ab.ca's message of 29 May 1998 04:10:04 GMT
Message-ID: <ALDERSON.98May29224722@netcom4.netcom.com>
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Date: Sat, 30 May 1998 05:47:22 GMT
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In article <6klces$f0e$3@news.sas.ab.ca> jsavard@freenet.edmonton.ab.ca ()
writes:

>However, I may be wrong, but I didn't think that anyone - aside from Knuth, in
>_The Art of Computer Programming_ (and that is a major exception, considering
>its influence as the premier collection of non-numerical algorithms) - ever
>used the term "byte" to refer to 6-bit characters or anything else other than
>an 8-bit span of computer storage.

Yup, you're wrong.  For example, on the PDP-6 and PDP-10 (which shared an
instruction set as well as other architectural features), a byte was defined as
a portion of a 36-bit word, defined by a special pointer format as to position
and size within the word.  For example, ASCII was usually stored as 5 7-bit
bytes per word; we store C-compiled binaries as 9-bit bytes per words on our
systems.

The change was introduced by IBM, in the System/360 with its byte-oriented
addressing.  Prior to that, a byte was defined as a non-addressable portion of
an addressable word.
-- 
Rich Alderson			Last LOTS Tops-20 Systems Programmer, 1984-1991
last name @ XKL dot COM		Current maintainer, MIT TECO EMACS (v. 170)

######

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From: alderson@netcom4.netcom.com (Richard M. Alderson III)
Subject: Re: The End of _Byte_ (ceasing publication in July)
In-Reply-To: jcmorris@mwunix.mitre.org's message of 29 May 1998 13:47:02 GMT
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Date: Sat, 30 May 1998 05:50:27 GMT
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In article <6kme8m$1ts@top.mitre.org> jcmorris@mwunix.mitre.org (Joe Morris)
writes:

>Along that line, does anyone have a suggestion for the date and place
>where the word "nybble" (a half of a byte) was coined?

It was used in the textbook for my 370 assembler class, in the spring of 1974,
so it had been around at least long enough to infect one author (Hannula) by
then...
-- 
Rich Alderson			Last LOTS Tops-20 Systems Programmer, 1984-1991
last name @ XKL dot COM		Current maintainer, MIT TECO EMACS (v. 170)

######

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Richard M. Alderson III wrote:
> 
> In article <6kme8m$1ts@top.mitre.org> jcmorris@mwunix.mitre.org
> (Joe Morris) writes:
> 
> >Along that line, does anyone have a suggestion for the date and place
> >where the word "nybble" (a half of a byte) was coined?
> 
> It was used in the textbook for my 370 assembler class, in the spring
> of 1974, so it had been around at least long enough to infect one
> author (Hannula) by then...

   The "Nova 1200 Technical Manual" I have here dates to 1971 and
contains the word, albeit spelled "nibble". It wasn't used just once
to be cute, either; the term is used whenever action of the 4-bit
ALU is discussed.

-- 
 ______________________________________________________________________
|                                                |                     |
| Carl Richard Friend (UNIX Sysadmin)            | West Boylston       |
| Minicomputer Collector / Enthusiast            | Massachusetts, USA  |
| mailto:carl.friend@stoneweb.com                |                     |
| http://www.ultranet.com/~engelbrt/carl/museum  | ICBM: N42:22 W71:47 |
|________________________________________________|_____________________|

######

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From: bmeyer@bruce.cs.monash.edu.au
Newsgroups: alt.folklore.computers
Subject: Re: The End of _Byte_ (ceasing publication in July)
Date: 31 May 1998 00:03:20 +1000
Organization: This is innd taking over...
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jcmorris@mwunix.mitre.org (Joe Morris) writes:

>Along that line, does anyone have a suggestion for the date and place
>where the word "nybble" (a half of a byte) was coined?

And does anyone have an archive of the great answer from the Usenet Oracle,
exposing the coverup of the fact that bits are not actually binary, but
trinary (or ternary, if you feel so inclined), and thus should be called
t-its (that might get me past the obscenity filter ;-), and the subsequent
discussion of the implications, like how many t-its made up a n-ipple?

Bernie
-- 
============================================================================
"It's a magical world, Hobbes ol' buddy...
    	                                   ...let's go exploring"
Calvin's final words, on December 31st, 1995

######

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From: dpbsmith@world.std.com (Daniel P. B. Smith)
Subject: Re: The End of _Byte_ (ceasing publication in July)
Message-ID: <EtswuE.AJJ@world.std.com>
Organization: The World Public Access UNIX, Brookline, MA
References: <6kkhos$7m4@alumni.EECS.Berkeley.EDU> <6kku5g$2t3$1@news.skylink.net> <6klces$f0e$3@news.sas.ab.ca> <6kme8m$1ts@top.mitre.org>
Date: Sun, 31 May 1998 03:11:02 GMT
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In article <6kme8m$1ts@top.mitre.org>,
Joe Morris <jcmorris@mwunix.mitre.org> wrote:
>jsavard@freenet.edmonton.ab.ca () writes:
>
>>However, I may be wrong, but I didn't think that anyone - aside from
>>Knuth, in _The Art of Computer Programming_ (and that is a major
>>exception, considering its influence as the premier collection of
>>non-numerical algorithms) - ever used the term "byte" to refer to 6-bit
>>characters or anything else other than an 8-bit span of computer storage.

Two machines on which units other than 8-bits were called "bytes" 
included the Datacraft 6024 series (24-bit word, 6-bit bytes) and the
PDP-6 (variable byte size).  The original meaning of the word "byte" was
"any unit smaller than a word that was individually addressable." 

-- 
Daniel P. B. Smith
dpbsmith@world.std.com

######

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From: dpbsmith@world.std.com (Daniel P. B. Smith)
Subject: Re: The End of _Byte_ (ceasing publication in July)
Message-ID: <Etswwn.Boo@world.std.com>
Organization: The World Public Access UNIX, Brookline, MA
References: <6kkhos$7m4@alumni.EECS.Berkeley.EDU> <6kku5g$2t3$1@news.skylink.net> <6klces$f0e$3@news.sas.ab.ca> <356EC85A.6FC2@azstarnet.com>
Date: Sun, 31 May 1998 03:12:23 GMT
Lines: 45

In article <356EC85A.6FC2@azstarnet.com>, bill_h  <bill_h@azstarnet.com> wrote:
>jsavard@freenet.edmonton.ab.ca wrote:
>.....
>> : If you mean the magazine, the old Byte was interesting, the new Byte was =
>> : not.  No suprise the new Byte bit the dust.
>> 
>> Well, it's true that what the new Byte was trying to do, PC Magazine did
>> better. But the old Byte would have had to have changed considerably to
>> keep up with the times...

For what it's worth--most likely not much!--I've written the following
letter to McGraw-Hill:

Dear McGraw-Hill


Please refund the pro rata cost of the 15 issues of Byte remaining on my
subscription (July 1998 through September 1999 inclusive = 15 issues). I
calculate that to be 15 issues at $24.95/year = $2.079 per issue = $31.
According to the enclosed story you will not be delivering the magazines
for which you solicited payment in advance.

I want the refund. I am very tired of being suckered by magazine
companies that solicit subscriptions up to the instant when they fold
the magazine. I do not want stories about the future or offers of any
other magazines. If necessary, please consider this to be a notice of
cancellation of my subscription effective following the June issue.

If, at some future date, McGraw-Hill or CMP or anyone offers an
interesting magazine called Byte I will be glad to consider it afresh on
its merits.

I think you should be ashamed of yourselves for putting the wishes of
your advertisers over the wishes of half a million readers. The example
of magazines such as Mad and Consumer Reports  should demonstrate the
feasibility of reader-supported magazines. Byte was doing just fine
until some jerks cancelled CiarciaÕs Circuit Cellar, stopped running the
Tinsley covers, and tried to turn it into a nontechnical magazine. It
has been steadily running downhill since then and I wish someone would
have the guts to admit that they were wrong and that the attempted
transformation failed.

-- 
Daniel P. B. Smith
dpbsmith@world.std.com

######

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From: dpbsmith@world.std.com (Daniel P. B. Smith)
Subject: Re: The End of _Byte_ (ceasing publication in July)
Message-ID: <Etsx4n.DLz@world.std.com>
Organization: The World Public Access UNIX, Brookline, MA
References: <6kkhos$7m4@alumni.EECS.Berkeley.EDU> <6kku5g$2t3$1@news.skylink.net> <6klces$f0e$3@news.sas.ab.ca> <Etq4K8.C0G@midway.uchicago.edu>
Date: Sun, 31 May 1998 03:17:11 GMT
Lines: 30

In article <Etq4K8.C0G@midway.uchicago.edu>,
Eric Fischer <eric@fudge.uchicago.edu> wrote:
><jsavard@freenet.edmonton.ab.ca> wrote:
>
>> As the one replying notes, the "old Byte" means Byte magazine before it
>> was taken over by McGraw-Hill, and while it was oriented to computer
>> hobbyists.
>
>Byte was already being published by McGraw-Hill in 1980 (which is when
>my earliest copies date from) and I would argue that it continued to
>be interesting until at least four or five years later.

I am trying to remember the exact time when things changed.  The editor
changed from, oh heck, what was his name, Phil something?  Simultaneously,
the cover quit being that wonderful surrealistic Bruce Tinsley stuff and
started being big photographs of products, just like all the PC mags;
Ciarcia was dumped; and the target audience seemed to be centered on
semi-technical executives and "magazine managers" who needed to be up on
all the latest buzzwords.  I actually thought it was getting better
recently--the article on "why PCs crash" was sort of neat.  There was
actually one issue in which the editorial page said some true and
less-than complimentary things about Microsoft, but I notice that issue
didn't carry any Microsoft ads...  In recent years it got very whory in
terms of the editorial content apparently being influenced by advertising.



-- 
Daniel P. B. Smith
dpbsmith@world.std.com

######

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From: lucvdv@null.net (Luc Van der Veken)
Newsgroups: alt.folklore.computers
Subject: Re: The End of _Byte_ (ceasing publication in July)
Date: Sun, 31 May 1998 10:23:26 GMT
Organization: .
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dpbsmith@world.std.com (Daniel P. B. Smith) told us

> In article <6kme8m$1ts@top.mitre.org>,
> Joe Morris <jcmorris@mwunix.mitre.org> wrote:
> >jsavard@freenet.edmonton.ab.ca () writes:
> >
> >>However, I may be wrong, but I didn't think that anyone - aside from
> >>Knuth, in _The Art of Computer Programming_ (and that is a major
> >>exception, considering its influence as the premier collection of
> >>non-numerical algorithms) - ever used the term "byte" to refer to 6-bit
> >>characters or anything else other than an 8-bit span of computer storage.
> 
> Two machines on which units other than 8-bits were called "bytes" 
> included the Datacraft 6024 series (24-bit word, 6-bit bytes) and the
> PDP-6 (variable byte size).  The original meaning of the word "byte" was
> "any unit smaller than a word that was individually addressable." 

The jargon file gives this definition:

 :byte:: /bi:t/ /n./  [techspeak] A unit of memory or data equal
to the amount used to represent one character; on modern
architectures this is usually 8 bits, but may be 9 on 36-bit
machines.  Some older architectures used `byte' for quantities of
6 or 7 bits, and the PDP-10 supported `bytes' that were actually
bitfields of 1 to 36 bits!  These usages are now obsolete, and
even 9-bit bytes have become rare in the general trend toward
power-of-2 word sizes.

Historical note: The term was coined by Werner Buchholz in 1956
during the early design phase for the IBM Stretch computer;
originally it was described as 1 to 6 bits (typical I/O equipment
of the period used 6-bit chunks of information).  The move to an
8-bit byte happened in late 1956, and this size was later adopted
and promulgated as a standard by the System/360.  The word was
coined by mutating the word `bite' so it would not be
accidentally misspelled as {bit}.  See also {nybble}.

-- 
In keeping with current net realities TRN will be modified to give the
following warning before you post-

>This program posts news to thousands of spammers throughout the entire
>civilized world.  The resulting spam you will receive will cost the
>net hundreds if not thousands of dollars to send to you.  Please be
>sure you know what you are doing.

######

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From: Michael Black <blackm00@CAM.ORG>
Newsgroups: alt.folklore.computers
Subject: Re: The End of _Byte_ (ceasing publication in July)
Date: Sun, 31 May 1998 12:31:01 -0400
Organization: Communications Accessibles Montreal, Quebec Canada
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Robert Tinney did the covers, I think from the very first issue.  Of
course, those first covers were not as great as what they evolved into,
which was probably because budget in the early days limited the colors,
nobody quite knew what the computers were for, and probably with time
Tinney fit more and more into the role.

The Tinney covers stopped, about 1985 or '86, which was when the photo of
the latest fastest and biggest computer showed up on the cover.  When the
photos first started, they had a certain legitimacy since the computers
then were still distinct to some extent.  but when it became an MS-DOS
computer on the cover each month, it lost it's meaning.

Steve Ciarcia lasted till the end of the eighties.  I think it was the
beginning of 1990 that his column disappeared.  The exact issue is the
point where I stopped considering Byte to be something worth keeping.

I will be buying the July issue of Byte, the first in a long time.  I want
to keep it next to the first issue.  Though that is a weird contrast
because while the first issue is oh so basic and rudimentary compared to
the technology being discussed in the magazines today, that first issue
is far more fascinating than the Byte of today.
 
     Michael


On Sun, 31 May 1998, Daniel P. B. Smith wrote:

> In article <Etq4K8.C0G@midway.uchicago.edu>,
> Eric Fischer <eric@fudge.uchicago.edu> wrote:
> ><jsavard@freenet.edmonton.ab.ca> wrote:
> >
> >> As the one replying notes, the "old Byte" means Byte magazine before it
> >> was taken over by McGraw-Hill, and while it was oriented to computer
> >> hobbyists.
> >
> >Byte was already being published by McGraw-Hill in 1980 (which is when
> >my earliest copies date from) and I would argue that it continued to
> >be interesting until at least four or five years later.
> 
> I am trying to remember the exact time when things changed.  The editor
> changed from, oh heck, what was his name, Phil something?  Simultaneously,
> the cover quit being that wonderful surrealistic Bruce Tinsley stuff and
> started being big photographs of products, just like all the PC mags;
> Ciarcia was dumped; and the target audience seemed to be centered on
> semi-technical executives and "magazine managers" who needed to be up on
> all the latest buzzwords.  I actually thought it was getting better
> recently--the article on "why PCs crash" was sort of neat.  There was
> actually one issue in which the editorial page said some true and
> less-than complimentary things about Microsoft, but I notice that issue
> didn't carry any Microsoft ads...  In recent years it got very whory in
> terms of the editorial content apparently being influenced by advertising.
> 
> 
> 
> -- 
> Daniel P. B. Smith
> dpbsmith@world.std.com
> 
> 

######

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In article <Etsx4n.DLz@world.std.com>, dpbsmith@world.std.com says...
>be interesting until at least four or five years later.
> 
> I am trying to remember the exact time when things changed.  The editor
> changed from, oh heck, what was his name, Phil something?  Simultaneously,
> the cover quit being that wonderful surrealistic Bruce Tinsley stuff and
> started being big photographs of products, just like all the PC mags;
> Ciarcia was dumped; and the target audience seemed to be centered on
> semi-technical executives and "magazine managers" who needed to be up on
> all the latest buzzwords.  I actually thought it was getting better
> recently--the article on "why PCs crash" was sort of neat.  There was
> actually one issue in which the editorial page said some true and
> less-than complimentary things about Microsoft, but I notice that issue
> didn't carry any Microsoft ads...  In recent years it got very whory in
> terms of the editorial content apparently being influenced by advertising.
> 
Byte was better than most. They were aware of other platforms than Wintel 
(the table of contents listed stories by platform, DOS/Windows, Mac, 
Unix, OS/2 when it was still a player). Their articles were also more 
technical than PC{/Magazine,-World}. They may have been even better in 
the past, but I didn't have money for magazines back then.

Interestingly, Byte has a refurnished Web-site. It looks like the new 
owner wants to create a "portal", with links to its other sites. Pretty 
strange, folding a magazine and creating a new website, all in a couple 
of days it appears. 

Interesting development: they've cut back on graphics, using coloured 
backgrounds instead. CNN did the same thing very recently. New trend 
maybe? 

######

Path: ccw.ch!usenet
From: Neil Franklin <neil@chonsp.franklin.lugs.ch>
Newsgroups: alt.folklore.computers
Subject: Re: The End of _Byte_ (ceasing publication in July)
Date: 31 May 1998 21:57:58 +0200
Organization: My own Private Self
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	<MPG.fdb60a436c56e8b9896a0@news.uci.kun.nl>
X-Newsreader: Gnus v5.3/Emacs 19.34

J.Hendrickx@maw.kun.nl (John Hendrickx) writes:
> In article <Etsx4n.DLz@world.std.com>, dpbsmith@world.std.com says...
> >be interesting until at least four or five years later.
> > 
> > I am trying to remember the exact time when things changed.  The editor
> > changed from, oh heck, what was his name, Phil something?

Phil Lemmons.


> > Simultaneously,
> > the cover quit being that wonderful surrealistic Bruce Tinsley stuff and
> > started being big photographs of products, just like all the PC mags;

His name is Robert J Tinney.


> > Ciarcia was dumped; and the target audience seemed to be centered on
> > semi-technical executives and "magazine managers" who needed to be up on
> > all the latest buzzwords. 

For those who can read German (perhaps John who is in Holland) I can
give one advice: try c't from the publisher Heise. It was founded 15
years ago to cater for those who want real technical information (in
the days when MC and Chip were going the same path Byte followed
them). When c't about 10 years ago published translated Byte articles
they got flamed for the low quality and content-free-ness of these
articles.

Unfortunately c't does not exist in English, perhaps US readers should
petition them to bring out an translated issue.

Warning: they put put 250-300 pages every 2 weeks.


> >I actually thought it was getting better
> > recently--the article on "why PCs crash" was sort of neat.

A very good article. Best for a while.


> Their articles were also more 
> technical than PC{/Magazine,-World}.

If the German edition of PC Magazine (called PC Professionell) is
anything to go by, Byte was a _lot_ better than it, even in their
worst days. PC Pro consists nearly entirely of Tests, next to no
technical content.


> They may have been even better in 
> the past, but I didn't have money for magazines back then.

They were. The down trend started about 199[2-4] when competent staff
writen stuff was replaced by external (usually marketing department)
written stuff.


> Interesting development: they've cut back on graphics, using coloured 
> backgrounds instead. CNN did the same thing very recently. New trend 
> maybe? 

It is about time.


-- 
private: Neil.Franklin@ccw.ch.remove http://www.ccw.ch/Neil.Franklin/
office: franklin@arch.ethz.ch.remove http://caad.arch.ethz.ch/~franklin/
WinCE car, crashing soon on a road near you

######

From: TheCentralScrutinizer.65@pobox.com ()
Newsgroups: alt.folklore.computers
Subject: Re: The End of _Byte_ (ceasing publication in July)
References: <6kkhos$7m4@alumni.EECS.Berkeley.EDU>
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In article <6kkhos$7m4@alumni.EECS.Berkeley.EDU>, Kevin A. Hogan wrote:
>  It looks as though future generations of alt.folklore.computers
>readers won't be getting into "new _Byte_ vs. old _Byte_" discussions,
>as _Byte_ Magazine is now a few months away from becoming completely
>historical:
>

no loss.  byte hasn't published anything worthwile in years.  computer
shopper has better writers. 

######

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From: "dave porter" <porter@wultranet.com>
Newsgroups: alt.folklore.computers
Subject: Re: The End of _Byte_ (ceasing publication in July)
Date: 1 Jun 1998 15:05:48 GMT
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Once upon a time, subdivisions of words were called 
"syllables".

The English Electric KDF9, a 1960s-vintage machine,
had 48-bit words subdivided into 8-bit syllables.
The syllables weren't addressable but the order
code had fairly convenient ways to get at them.

This was back in the days before unimaginative
U.S. terminology ruled the world -- e.g. we had
a "mill" rather than an "arithmetic/logical unit".
("Mill" because that's what Babbage called it).

dave
-- 
For email, please remove the 'w' from my address. Sorry. 

Daniel P. B. Smith <dpbsmith@world.std.com> wrote in article
<EtswuE.AJJ@world.std.com>...
> In article <6kme8m$1ts@top.mitre.org>,
> Joe Morris <jcmorris@mwunix.mitre.org> wrote:
> >jsavard@freenet.edmonton.ab.ca () writes:
> >
> >>However, I may be wrong, but I didn't think that anyone - aside from
> >>Knuth, in _The Art of Computer Programming_ (and that is a major
> >>exception, considering its influence as the premier collection of
> >>non-numerical algorithms) - ever used the term "byte" to refer to 6-bit
> >>characters or anything else other than an 8-bit span of computer
storage.
> 
> Two machines on which units other than 8-bits were called "bytes" 
> included the Datacraft 6024 series (24-bit word, 6-bit bytes) and the
> PDP-6 (variable byte size).  The original meaning of the word "byte" was
> "any unit smaller than a word that was individually addressable." 
> 

######

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From: tph@longhorn.uucp (Tom Harrington)
Newsgroups: alt.folklore.computers
Subject: Re: The End of _Byte_ (ceasing publication in July)
Date: 1 Jun 1998 15:59:01 GMT
Organization: Mechanist Industries
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bmeyer@bruce.cs.monash.edu.au wrote:
: jcmorris@mwunix.mitre.org (Joe Morris) writes:

: >Along that line, does anyone have a suggestion for the date and place
: >where the word "nybble" (a half of a byte) was coined?

: And does anyone have an archive of the great answer from the Usenet Oracle,
: exposing the coverup of the fact that bits are not actually binary, but
: trinary (or ternary, if you feel so inclined), and thus should be called
: t-its (that might get me past the obscenity filter ;-), and the subsequent
: discussion of the implications, like how many t-its made up a n-ipple?

I'm guessing that you mean the following, Oracle digest #347-05.
Unfortunately it stops before getting to the implications of trinary
"bits".:

----------------------------------------------------------------------
The Usenet Oracle has pondered your question deeply.
Your question was:

> Mighty Oracle, if I may have but an attosecond of your time...
> 
> I have heard reference to "naugty bits."
> 
> Which ones are naughty, zeroes or ones?

And in response, thus spake the Usenet Oracle:

}  I'm afraid you have been missing out on the whole thing. The naughty
}  bits are neither the zeroes or the ones, but the woopies. You see, due
}  to the prudish nature of your planet, you have been oppressed into
}  believing that bits are binary, when they are in fact trinary. The
}  third state, woopie, was deamed to be naughty and all mention of it was
}  supressed. This all started when they recommended that a trinary quanta
}  of information be called a tit.
}  
}  You owe the Oracle a copy of Zork with all the naughty bits intact.

----------------------------------------------------------------------

BTW, the semi-official Oracle home page is at 
<http://www.pcnet.com/~stenor/oracle/>.  The site includes a searchable
index of digests.  Also, it's the Internet Oracle these days, not
Usenet Oracle.

--
Tom Harrington --------- tph@rmii.com -------- http://rainbow.rmii.com/~tph
      "Oh, write of me not 'Died in bitter pains,' But 'Emigrated to 
                   another star!'"  -Helen Hunt Jackson
Cookie's Revenge: ftp://ftp.rmi.net/pub2/tph/cookie/cookies-revenge.sit.hqx

######

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From: shokwave@well.com (Rob Hafernik)
Newsgroups: alt.folklore.computers
Subject: Re: The End of _Byte_ (ceasing publication in July)
Date: Tue, 02 Jun 1998 09:11:01 -0600
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Does Jerry Pournelle still write that silly column in Byte or has he
finally given up the sinecure and retired?  His columns, taken for humor
value, were one of the best things about Byte.

######

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From: Michael Black <blackm00@CAM.ORG>
Newsgroups: alt.folklore.computers
Subject: Re: The End of _Byte_ (ceasing publication in July)
Date: Tue, 2 Jun 1998 12:07:41 -0400
Organization: Communications Accessibles Montreal, Quebec Canada
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On Tue, 2 Jun 1998, Rob Hafernik wrote:

> Does Jerry Pournelle still write that silly column in Byte or has he
> finally given up the sinecure and retired?  His columns, taken for humor
> value, were one of the best things about Byte.
> 
> 
It was a few months ago.  I remember checking because I was wondering if
anything from the old days was left.

I enjoyed the column, though I think it had to do with the writing than
interest in the latest stuff since I never had the money.  In the early
days, the column actually did seem to be dealing with equipment that
wasn't being dealt with elsewhere.  Virtually nobody could afford that
Modula-2 native computer (I can't remember the name, but Jerry raved about
it) but we sure weren't reading about it in the common press elsewhere.

But after a certain point, he ended up focusing more and more on
IBM-compatibles (or whatever one can call 8088 machines and their
descendets), which I suppose reflected what was going on elsewhere in the
computer world. But then the column stopped being very interesting,
since he wasn't saying much new.

What I always wondered about was his place in the computing world. His
version would place him in a prime place, with great influence.  Yet if
you look elsewhere, I never heard of his interest in computers until after
the column started.

     Michael

######

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From: "Thomas G. McWilliams" <tgm@netcom.com>
Subject: Re: The End of _Byte_ (ceasing publication in July)
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Rob Hafernik <shokwave@well.com> wrote:
: Does Jerry Pournelle still write that silly column in Byte or has
: he finally given up the sinecure and retired? His columns, taken
: for humor value, were one of the best things about Byte.

I never cared for the guy or his column but here is Pournelle's own
take on the circumstances in which he now finds himself:

         http://home.earthlink.net/~jerryp/fiasco.html

######

Newsgroups: alt.folklore.computers
From: ehrice@his.com (Edward Rice)
Subject: Re: The End of _Byte_ (ceasing publication in July)
Message-ID: <B19A49E29668790283@0.0.0.0>
Organization: NDS
Date: Wed, 03 Jun 1998 00:31:30 -0400
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In article <tgmEtxoHw.7t4@netcom.com>,
"Thomas G. McWilliams" <tgm@netcom.com> wrote:

 > I never cared for the guy or his column but here is Pournelle's own
 > take on the circumstances in which he now finds himself:
 > 
 >          http://home.earthlink.net/~jerryp/fiasco.html

Typical Pournelle:

   This is not to say that someone else at CMP didn't have this in
   mind from the beginning; on that I have no information whatever,
   but then I don't know anyone at CMP associated with this purchase.
   I have one friend who is a CMP executive. He is trying to get them
   to at least acknowledge that someone should talk to me, but so far
   he does not seem to have succeeded.

Me, me, me.  Jerry, it's not really all about YOU.

######

Newsgroups: alt.folklore.computers
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From: dpbsmith@world.std.com (Daniel P. B. Smith)
Subject: Re: The End of _Byte_ (ceasing publication in July)
Message-ID: <EtyFB2.CzK@world.std.com>
Organization: The World Public Access UNIX, Brookline, MA
References: <6kkhos$7m4@alumni.EECS.Berkeley.EDU> <slrn6n5fdo.hrs.TheCentralScrutinizer.65@nyx10.nyx.net> <shokwave-0206980911010001@as1-dialup-19.wc-aus.io.com>
Date: Wed, 3 Jun 1998 02:37:50 GMT
Lines: 38

In article <shokwave-0206980911010001@as1-dialup-19.wc-aus.io.com>,
Rob Hafernik <shokwave@well.com> wrote:
>Does Jerry Pournelle still write that silly column in Byte or has he
>finally given up the sinecure and retired?  His columns, taken for humor
>value, were one of the best things about Byte.

He had a column in the May _Byte_ and probably will have one in the last
_Byte_.  He was certainly a columnist I loved to hate.  The funny thing is
I remember the time when his column was called "The User's Column" because
it really was sort of interesting to have a view of computers from someone
who did NOT have a technical interest in them but just wanted to get
things done with them.  In the last few months it did appear as if his
column had been toned down a bit.

The interesting thing is that McGraw-Hill supposedly had formal standards
of conduct for reviewers and Pournelle pretty much broke all of them (like
treating all the equipment sent to him as a gift and keeping it after the
review was finished).

Well, sorry, I gotta go--I can't get Big Mike, that's the Micropolis hard
drive on Buster, to work, but I figured that was no problem, I would just
use LapLink to squirt the files over from Ephraim.  Well, the disk
trundled for a bit, then the system locked up to hardware reset.  So I
tried reseating the cables--I always used Granite SCSI Gold--and I ran
Golden Bow VOPT and edited the autoexec.bat with my favorite editor,
Brief, typing on my favorite keyboard, the special ones Northgate made for
me that have the uppercase comma and period type a comma and period, but
still no joy. Alas, I needed to get that CD-ROM written because it had
Mrs. Pournelle's Reading Program on it.  But, like I always say, if you
don't know PC's, know somebody who knows PC's.  And a stitch in time saves
nine.  And feed a cold and starve a fever.  So I called up Dr. Godbout,
who flew in from Santa Cruz and fixed my machine.  Would you believe it? 
The AC power cable had come out of the socket of the UPS I always keep it
plugged into... 

-- 
Daniel P. B. Smith
dpbsmith@world.std.com

######

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From: shokwave@well.com (Rob Hafernik)
Newsgroups: alt.folklore.computers
Subject: Re: The End of _Byte_ (ceasing publication in July)
Date: Wed, 03 Jun 1998 10:37:38 -0600
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Well, I sort of enjoyed Jerry's columns, although perhaps not in the way
he would have wanted.  He as always having so much TROUBLE, that you had
to laugh.  I've never known anyone who had a tenth the trouble that Jerry
had.  Often, he compounded his own troubles by the steps he choose to fix
the troubles.

I think that he had a little of the spirit of Charlie Chaplain in him too;
he made you kind of like him as he bumbled through the computer world.

######

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Subject: Re: The End of _Byte_ (ceasing publication in July)
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From: seebs@plethora.net (Peter Seebach)
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In article <shokwave-0306981037380001@as5-dialup-43.wc-aus.io.com>,
Rob Hafernik <shokwave@well.com> wrote:
>Well, I sort of enjoyed Jerry's columns, although perhaps not in the way
>he would have wanted.  He as always having so much TROUBLE, that you had
>to laugh.  I've never known anyone who had a tenth the trouble that Jerry
>had.  Often, he compounded his own troubles by the steps he choose to fix
>the troubles.

I know a guy who has at least one unexpected and mysterious hardware failure
a week, typically several.

-s
-- 
Copyright '98, All rights reserved.  Peter Seebach / seebs@plethora.net
C/Unix wizard, Pro-commerce radical, Spam fighter.  Boycott Spamazon!
Not speaking for my employer.  Questions on C/Unix?  Send mail for help.
Visit my new ISP <URL:http://www.plethora.net/> --- More Net, Less Spam!

######

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From: wagray@taz.dra.hmg.gb (Walter Gray)
Newsgroups: alt.folklore.computers
Subject: Re: The End of _Byte_ (ceasing publication in July)
Date: 3 Jun 1998 18:04:59 GMT
Organization: Defence Research Agency
Lines: 44
Message-ID: <6l438b$bi$6@trog.dra.hmg.gb>
References: <6kkhos$7m4@alumni.EECS.Berkeley.EDU> <slrn6n5fdo.hrs.TheCentralScrutinizer.65@nyx10.nyx.net> <shokwave-0206980911010001@as1-dialup-19.wc-aus.io.com> <EtyFB2.CzK@world.std.com>
Reply-To: wagray@taz.dra.hmg.gb
NNTP-Posting-Host: taz.dra.hmg.gb

In article <EtyFB2.CzK@world.std.com>, dpbsmith@world.std.com (Daniel P. B. Smith) writes:
 :In article <shokwave-0206980911010001@as1-dialup-19.wc-aus.io.com>,
 :Rob Hafernik <shokwave@well.com> wrote:
 :>Does Jerry Pournelle still write that silly column in Byte or has he
 :>finally given up the sinecure and retired?  His columns, taken for humor
 :>value, were one of the best things about Byte.
 :
 :He had a column in the May _Byte_ and probably will have one in the last
 :_Byte_.  He was certainly a columnist I loved to hate.  The funny thing is
 :I remember the time when his column was called "The User's Column" because
 :it really was sort of interesting to have a view of computers from someone
 :who did NOT have a technical interest in them but just wanted to get
 :things done with them.  In the last few months it did appear as if his
 :column had been toned down a bit.
 :
 :The interesting thing is that McGraw-Hill supposedly had formal standards
 :of conduct for reviewers and Pournelle pretty much broke all of them (like
 :treating all the equipment sent to him as a gift and keeping it after the
 :review was finished).
 :
 :Well, sorry, I gotta go--I can't get Big Mike, that's the Micropolis hard
 :drive on Buster, to work, but I figured that was no problem, I would just
 :use LapLink to squirt the files over from Ephraim.  Well, the disk
 :trundled for a bit, then the system locked up to hardware reset.  So I
 :tried reseating the cables--I always used Granite SCSI Gold--and I ran
 :Golden Bow VOPT and edited the autoexec.bat with my favorite editor,
 :Brief, typing on my favorite keyboard, the special ones Northgate made for
 :me that have the uppercase comma and period type a comma and period, but
 :still no joy. Alas, I needed to get that CD-ROM written because it had
 :Mrs. Pournelle's Reading Program on it.  But, like I always say, if you
 :don't know PC's, know somebody who knows PC's.  And a stitch in time saves
 :nine.  And feed a cold and starve a fever.  So I called up Dr. Godbout,
 :who flew in from Santa Cruz and fixed my machine.  Would you believe it? 
 :The AC power cable had come out of the socket of the UPS I always keep it
 :plugged into... 


ROF!  That's much better than anything Poor Nell ever wrote.



Walter

Disclaimer: My employer is not responsible for this stuff.

######

Newsgroups: alt.folklore.computers
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From: dpbsmith@world.std.com (Daniel P. B. Smith)
Subject: Re: The End of _Byte_ (ceasing publication in July)
Message-ID: <Eu00yq.3op@world.std.com>
Organization: The World Public Access UNIX, Brookline, MA
References: <6kkhos$7m4@alumni.EECS.Berkeley.EDU> <shokwave-0206980911010001@as1-dialup-19.wc-aus.io.com> <tgmEtxoHw.7t4@netcom.com> <B19A49E29668790283@0.0.0.0>
Date: Wed, 3 Jun 1998 23:23:14 GMT
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In article <B19A49E29668790283@0.0.0.0>, Edward Rice <ehrice@his.com> wrote:
>In article <tgmEtxoHw.7t4@netcom.com>,
>"Thomas G. McWilliams" <tgm@netcom.com> wrote:
>
> > I never cared for the guy or his column but here is Pournelle's own
> > take on the circumstances in which he now finds himself:
> > 
> >          http://home.earthlink.net/~jerryp/fiasco.html
>
>Typical Pournelle:
>
>   This is not to say that someone else at CMP didn't have this in
>   mind from the beginning; on that I have no information whatever,
>   but then I don't know anyone at CMP associated with this purchase.
>   I have one friend who is a CMP executive. He is trying to get them
>   to at least acknowledge that someone should talk to me, but so far
>   he does not seem to have succeeded.
>
>Me, me, me.  Jerry, it's not really all about YOU.

Remember the time he got so mad at AT&T because the AT&T
representatives at the trad show _didn't know who he was,_ and,
worse yet, after he got them to send him some equipment for review
_they asked him to send it back_--and after he'd had it less than a year,
too!

Actually the one that really astonished me was the time he categorized
Robert Heinlein, Isaac Asimov _and himself_ as "the Big Three" of science
fiction.  

-- 
Daniel P. B. Smith
dpbsmith@world.std.com

######

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From: Mark Brown <broonie@tardis.ed.ac.uk>
Newsgroups: alt.folklore.computers
Subject: Re: The End of _Byte_ (ceasing publication in July)
Date: 04 Jun 1998 00:54:44 +0100
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Neil Franklin <neil@chonsp.franklin.lugs.ch> writes:

> Unfortunately c't does not exist in English, perhaps US readers should
> petition them to bring out an translated issue.

They do place a very small selection of translated articles (about 2-5
per issue recently) on their web site.  The translations can be found
at http://www.heise.de/ct/english/ .

-- 
Mark Brown  mailto:broonie@tardis.ed.ac.uk   (Trying to avoid grumpiness)
            http://www.tardis.ed.ac.uk/~broonie/
EUFS        http://www.ed.ac.uk/~filmsoc/

######

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From: b.c.peters@arsnova.xs4all.nl (Bart Peters)
Date: 04 Jun 98 08:48:00 GMT
Newsgroups: alt.folklore.computers
Subject: The End of _Byte_ (ceasing publication in July)
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 > For those who can read German (perhaps John who is in Holland) I can
 > give one advice: try c't from the publisher Heise. It was founded 15
I'll second that.

 > Unfortunately c't does not exist in English, perhaps US readers should
 > petition them to bring out an translated issue.
There even is a dutch edition (though I always read the german one, not all
articles are translated), so I can't imagine it wouldn't be possible to make
an english edition. There are loads and loads of PC-magazines, but very few
of them are actually worth reading.

 > Warning: they put put 250-300 pages every 2 weeks.
Of course about 50% of this is taken up by advertisements, but it's still a
long read! As a little bonus it also includes a short SF-story; somehow I get
the feeling the one in nr.11 has something to do with Windows 2053, the
description of how the house was built sounds juuust a bit too familiar....

Groetjes, Bart Peters

"Leider bleibt man bleich und fett beim surfen durch das Internet"
-C't 9/1998

######

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From: mschaef@cs.utexas.edu (Michael Alan Schaeffer)
Newsgroups: alt.folklore.computers
Subject: Re: The End of _Byte_ (ceasing publication in July)
Date: 4 Jun 1998 09:37:10 -0500
Organization: CS Dept, University of Texas at Austin
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In article <Eu00yq.3op@world.std.com>,
Daniel P. B. Smith <dpbsmith@world.std.com> wrote:

>Remember the time he got so mad at AT&T because the AT&T
>representatives at the trad show _didn't know who he was,

	He does (did?) that a lot.

>_ and,
>worse yet, after he got them to send him some equipment for review
>_they asked him to send it back_--and after he'd had it less than a year,
>too!

	And they didn't send the color monitor! Oh No!

>Actually the one that really astonished me was the time he categorized
>Robert Heinlein, Isaac Asimov _and himself_ as "the Big Three" of science
>fiction.  

	I had always heard that his work was fairly mediocre.  I
haven't read any of it myself, though.

-- 
-Mike

http://www.cs.utexas.edu/users/mschaef

######

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From: cbh@REMOVE_THIS.teabag.demon.co.uk (Chris Hedley)
Newsgroups: alt.folklore.computers
Subject: Re: The End of _Byte_ (ceasing publication in July)
Date: 4 Jun 1998 16:18:47 GMT
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In article <6kkhos$7m4@alumni.eecs.berkeley.edu>,
	kahogan@alumni.EECS.Berkeley.EDU (Kevin A. Hogan) writes:
>   It looks as though future generations of alt.folklore.computers
> readers won't be getting into "new _Byte_ vs. old _Byte_" discussions,
> as _Byte_ Magazine is now a few months away from becoming completely
> historical:

Hm, now I guess it's *definitely* not as good as it was.  :/

Chris.

######

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From: mrbill@frenzy.com (Bill Bradford)
Newsgroups: alt.folklore.computers
Subject: Re: The End of _Byte_ (ceasing publication in July)
Date: 4 Jun 1998 17:17:48 GMT
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On 4 Jun 1998 09:37:10 -0500, Michael Alan Schaeffer 
<mschaef@cs.utexas.edu> wrote:
>In article <Eu00yq.3op@world.std.com>,
>Daniel P. B. Smith <dpbsmith@world.std.com> wrote:
>>Remember the time he got so mad at AT&T because the AT&T
>>representatives at the trad show _didn't know who he was,
>	He does (did?) that a lot.

Anybody have the "Why Jerry Pournelle Got Kicked off the ARPANET" text
file floating around?  If not, I'll try to dig it up.  Great reading.

Bill

-- 
Bill Bradford * mrbill@frenzy.com
-------------------------------------------
"One World, One Web, One Program" - Microsoft Promotional Ad
"Ein Volk, Ein Reich, Ein Fuhrer" - Adolf Hitler

######

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From: dpbsmith@world.std.com (Daniel P. B. Smith)
Subject: Re: The End of _Byte_ (ceasing publication in July)
Message-ID: <Eu1tB4.2Ls@world.std.com>
Organization: The World Public Access UNIX, Brookline, MA
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Date: Thu, 4 Jun 1998 22:33:04 GMT
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In article <6l6bem$oq2$1@bark.cs.utexas.edu>,
Michael Alan Schaeffer <mschaef@cs.utexas.edu> wrote:
>In article <Eu00yq.3op@world.std.com>,
>Daniel P. B. Smith <dpbsmith@world.std.com> wrote:
>
>>Actually the one that really astonished me was the time he categorized
>>Robert Heinlein, Isaac Asimov _and himself_ as "the Big Three" of science
>>fiction.  
>
>	I had always heard that his work was fairly mediocre.  I
>haven't read any of it myself, though.

I finally read "The Mote in God's Eye."  Mediocre, but readable.  I've
read worse SF.  In fact, I would go so far as to say the very best of
Pournelle compares favorably with the very worst of Heinlein.

-- 
Daniel P. B. Smith
dpbsmith@world.std.com

######

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From: lucvdv@null.net (Luc Van der Veken)
Newsgroups: alt.folklore.computers
Subject: Re: The End of _Byte_ (ceasing publication in July)
Date: Fri, 05 Jun 1998 18:54:59 GMT
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b.c.peters@arsnova.xs4all.nl (Bart Peters) told us

>  > For those who can read German (perhaps John who is in Holland) I can
>  > give one advice: try c't from the publisher Heise. It was founded 15
> I'll second that.
> 
>  > Unfortunately c't does not exist in English, perhaps US readers should
>  > petition them to bring out an translated issue.
> There even is a dutch edition (though I always read the german one, not all
> articles are translated), so I can't imagine it wouldn't be possible to make
> an english edition. There are loads and loads of PC-magazines, but very few
> of them are actually worth reading.

A couple of month ago there was a similar discussion about a
German magazine, possibly also about c't (just not sure anymore).

If my memory isn't fading on me too hard, the languages it was
said to be translated to were Dutch, English and French.

######

Path: ccw.ch!usenet
From: Neil Franklin <neil@chonsp.franklin.lugs.ch>
Newsgroups: alt.folklore.computers
Subject: Re: The End of _Byte_ (ceasing publication in July)
Date: 06 Jun 1998 00:23:41 +0200
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mrbill@frenzy.com (Bill Bradford) writes:
> Anybody have the "Why Jerry Pournelle Got Kicked off the ARPANET" text
> file floating around?  If not, I'll try to dig it up.  Great reading.

Sure.

http://www.ccw.ch/Neil.Franklin/Jokes_and_Fun/Pournelle_kicked_off_Arpanet


-- 
private: Neil.Franklin@ccw.ch.remove http://www.ccw.ch/Neil.Franklin/
office: franklin@arch.ethz.ch.remove http://caad.arch.ethz.ch/~franklin/
WinCE car, crashing soon on a road near you

######

above file moved to:

http://neil.franklin.ch/Usenet/alt.folklore.computers/19980124_How_Jerry_Pournelle_was_kicked_off_the_Arapanet

home page generally moved to:

http://neil.franklin.ch/