(From the PDP-8 FAQ Site:
They wanted to call their company Digital Computer Corporation, but the venture capitalists insisted that they avoid the term Computer and hold off on building computers.)
My first computer science classes in college were on an already ancient Sperry Univac System. Second semester we switched to a PDP-11 that used Octal notation. By the end of the semester, I could do basic Octal arithmetic in my head. Talk about useless skills (everything else in the world used hexadecimal notation).
The only time I recall using this is when I recognized that the computer darts game at one of the local bars, The Downtowner, looped into a count-up sequence that started at zero and ran to 20, base 8. I figure it must have been programmed by a local student.
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Posted by johndan at February 11, 2004 12:25 AM
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