Talk:Technology Square
Contents
9th floor map
Noel, we're interested in hearing your comments about the floor plan. Larsbrinkhoff (talk) And you already gave some, thanks!
- I wasn't there during the CTSS/Multics era, but later on there was still a huge I-beam running along the floor where '1401/DM PDP-6' is on this map, and I was told that that had been installed to hold the Multics (or CTSS, I forget which) tape drives (or maybe drum). So it may have been all through that end. It shouldn't be hard to find out.
- Also, LISP machines were scattered all over the floor; the prototype CADR, along with the CONS machine and the chess machine (CHEOPS) was in one of 904-906 (I forget which); others were down near AI. Jnc (talk) 22:01, 25 January 2018 (CET)
Where did the four KS10 machines go? Larsbrinkhoff (talk)
- Where the ML KA used to be.
- Speaking of the KS10's, I wish I could find a copy of the letter I wrote for Dave Clark to sign, asking for the donation from DEC. I looked on the MIT-CSR machine (whose filesystem I recently recovered), but alas, not there. It must have been on one of the other machines (XX, or one of the ITS's). Jnc (talk) 15:11, 26 January 2018 (CET)
- I see various references in mailing list archives, but not specifially that letter. I believe there were two rounds of deliveries? First one KS10 replacement for AI in 1984, and then three more in 1985; does that seem right? Larsbrinkhoff (talk)
- JNC Aug 1985. "I have organised a campaign to get DEC to give MIT several more of the little critters. A letter was written asking for a donation of several of the machines to MIT (i.e. both LCS and AI); due to the time pressures involved (all of the remaining unsold KS's were about to be scrapped) I couldn't get a lot of big wheels to sign, but Dave Clark did agree to sign the letter and lend his name to the campaign."
- JTW May 1984: "It would appear that I am the slightly surprised recipient of one KS10-AA PDP10 CPU, with 512K MOS memory, 32 TTY lines, and a small DEC disk of some flavor. This object will be arriving in late May or early June."
- Yeah, I think that's right. I had thought all 4 arrived together, but clearly they didn't. The 3 makes sense also because I had wanted to call them Huey, Duey and Looey (after the droids in Silent Running, which I quite liked). Jnc (talk) 16:07, 26 January 2018 (CET)
When the KA10 AI was removed: "The place where AI used to be is now filled with Vaxen and 3600s." Larsbrinkhoff (talk)
- Well, I'm pretty sure OZ was along the outer wall there, in the space between 923 (which stayed for a long time, although maybe eventually it was diked - my memory is dim on that) and the corner of the building. Although the AI -6 was not along the wall, but further out, with the AI KA between it and the wall. Jnc (talk) 16:03, 26 January 2018 (CET)
- Supposedly there was a gold brick road painted on the floor, leading up to OZ. Larsbrinkhoff (talk) 13:31, 19 January 2022 (CET)
Speaking of VAXen, around the time the MC KL went, LCS got a farm of VAX-11/750's, which lived either in that area, and around the corner a bit (to where the DM -6 and KA used to be); again, I don't recall the exact layout, alas. But it was in that general area. Jnc (talk) 16:03, 26 January 2018 (CET)
ABC 1973 documentary
I selected some interesting stills here:
https://github.com/PDP-10/its/issues/425#issuecomment-1456437794
Sign
I snarfed this off a video, but I found it hard to include it gracefully in the article.
Name
Isn't the proper name "Technology Square 545"? Larsbrinkhoff (talk) 12:47, 16 June 2023 (CEST)
- No, it's a street/mailing address, so the number always comes before the name (as on the sign). (Unlike on a computer model! :-) Jnc (talk) 13:01, 16 June 2023 (CEST)
9th floor today?
This looks no fun. https://sienaconstruction.com/project/confidential-client-2/ https://sienaconstruction.com/project/confidential-client-2/moderna-9th-floor-1/ By the way, don't put the name of your confidential client in the URL. Larsbrinkhoff (talk) 14:53, 9 February 2024 (CET)
Location of ITS KS10 machines?
These photos of the KS10 AI, ML, MD, and MC appeared:
https://github.com/larsbrinkhoff/its-archives/blob/master/photos/setala-5.jpg
https://github.com/larsbrinkhoff/its-archives/blob/master/photos/setala-1.jpg
Noel, do you know where on the 9th floor they were located? Larsbrinkhoff (talk) 13:37, 12 November 2024 (CET)
- I'm not absolutely positive those are the ITS KS's. But I don't remember them well enough to be certain. But there are some things that make me suspicious; e.g. in the picture that shows two RP06's between two KS's, there seems to be a window at the end of the row (see the shades?). That would have been impossible at Tech Sq; the KS's were in a row parallel to the Tech Sq exterior wall. So, at the 'far end' of the group, if this is a picture of the Tech Sq KS's, that wall would have been the wall to MOON's office (925, or possibly 926 - I don't remember the number definitely), so it couldn't have had an exterior window; this picture shows that wall.
- The machines were definitely mostly where ML-KA10 had been; although I have a vague memory that either the DM-KS10 or the MC-KS10 was where the end of DM-KA10 closest to ML-KA10 had been. That is, the KS's were all in a contiguous group, mostly where ML-KA10 had been, but with a little overflow further up. The picture above shows the space where they were.
- I guess I should do a plan of the 9th floor machine area in the MC era (from the XGP, around through where MC was); that hacked map is really somewhat inaccurate, when it comes to that era. (I see the captions of Brou's pictures have been updated at the CHM - did you point them at my annotated list?) Jnc (talk) 17:22, 12 November 2024 (CET)