Well for tonight, let me just say why I decided to do this and why the astro thing. I guess this is just a first step in getting some writings out there in the digital landscape. I've been working with computers since building my first one from a kit back in 1975 (a SouthWest Technical Products 6800 system with a whopping 4K (no that's not a typo - 4K as in 4096 8-bit kilobytes) of RAM memory! I could actually run a Tiny Basic interpreter in that 4K and still have room to write some short but useful programs. (Where has all the efficient code gone? Nowadays even the very simplest programs are multiple gluttonous megabytes of sloppy code! Oh well, lets not go down that bunny trail right now...)
But those were some interesting times. I must say, my wife Marye is one patient loving wife! Ever since those days, I've always had to have one whole room (or a basement) for my hobbies -- you know -- my "man cave" ;-) We lived in Dayton Ohio back then while I was assigned to Gentile Air Force Station. BTW it's pronounced 'Gen TIL lee' - not Gentile as in non Jewish (although mostly Gentiles worked there ;-) Dayton was home to the NCR / National Cash Register world headquarters (and main surplus property sales division.) That place was like a toy store for me. I soon had a Pertec 9 track tape drive (about the size of a modest refrigerator), a Potter LP600 line printer (as big as a washer or dryer - but way heavier) and a Facit 4070 high speed paper tape punch and reader. The Potter line printer was great! It had about a 16" wide rapidly spinning drum with a raised helical edge on it. The paper and an inked ribbon passed between the drum and a series of voice-coil activated blades that were perpendicular to the helix. The logic would time when the blade would pulse out and quickly hit the raised helix, forming a dot on the paper. The printer could print one whole line of text in about a second. The cool thing was the sound it made - a 'brrrraapppppp' like a machine gun - and the fact that the lights in the house would momentarily dim with each line printed! (I'm not so sure Marye found that as amusing as I did ;-)
Since computers were brand new to enthusiasts, you couldn't just go buy an interface card for your printer or tape drive -- I had to design and build them! It was indeed a learning experience, but eventually I had everything working. Eventually added an ASR33 teletype and built my own 'glass teletype" or simple 80 x 24 character CRT display terminal. I know, I know -- 99% of you have no idea what these things were. But hey - I was a geek before anyone knew what a geek was!
Now see, off on a bunny trail! All that to say, that since I spend so much time with computers, I might as well post some thoughts out there on the server banks that make up the internet. Writing about astronomy is a natural for me. It incorporates some of my favorite things - optics, space, computers, physics, and God. To me, astronomy is one of the physical sciences where the glory of God is visible everywhere -- although sadly, many astronomers and physicists don't realize it. Far too many scientists feel that science is the closest thing to the grand answer to everything and that only those things which they have absolutely no understanding of, are left to the nebulous realm of God and the philosophers. God is so visible in all of it! That's why I'm really so psyched on astronomy right now. In a very big way, observational astronomy is like a visual worship experience; awe inspiring and amazing in every way.
Well, ciao for tonight -- its getting late. I may be a night owl, but even owls have to sleep.
Peace and blessings to you...
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