The Lemon Fool

Missed the last 37 "Super Moons", "Wolf Moons", "Gimp Moons"? Don't worry! There will be another 19 "Woteva Moons" available next month.

Complete with high power telescopic images, showing the moon to be at least 17 time bigger than the earth...

https://metro.co.uk/2023/07/31/august-supermoon-full-moon-how-where-to-see-19220093/?ico=mosaic_tech

When I were a lad we just had "Moons", along with occasional Lunar eclipses.

I'll get me coat.

I think we used to call the August full moon the Harvest Moon when I were a lad.

Sounds like the Goons as in 'Teahouse of the August moon.'

Dod

XFool wrote:When I were a lad we just had "Moons", along with occasional Lunar eclipses.

Ah but there was always https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SWddzmJgKT8

mc2fool wrote:

XFool wrote:When I were a lad we just had "Moons", along with occasional Lunar eclipses.

Ah but there was always https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SWddzmJgKT8

Just how old do you think I am?

BTW. Moon River always reminds me of one of the most surreal experiences in my life.

Back in the day... University College London had an old GEC central computer system, Euclid, complete with its OS4000 (BBC B DOS was a bit of a reminder.). This was closed down and temporarily replaced with a Unix system, Pyramid.

Ambitious plans were afoot! Known to one and all as "The Bloomsbury Group", to emulate US university campuses with a wide area network covering several UL colleges and with UCL running a powerful central computer system to manage it all.

But which computer, or rather, whose computer? A competitive tender was called for. Originally embracing HP, DEC (they still existed then) and IBM (of course) and a presentation was arranged in a lecture theatre (at Birkbeck?). HP had by then dropped out, leaving DEC and IBM to go head to head. The DEC man was very keen on all the technical specs of their latest hot processor - and their commitment to Unix.

For some unknown reason he seemed to me to get the brush off...

Then it was time for the IBM presentation. There seemed more than a few IBM people suddenly in the room, even standing by the doors. I slightly felt as though we were about to be hijacked: "Take this lecture theater to Boca Raton!"

The principle IBM man then appeared centre stage - so to speak - holding a radio mike in his hand. He didn't look like a technical geek to me, he looked more like a Las Vegas cabaret star. I suddenly imagined a spotlight from the back of the hall illuminating him, mike in hand, as if he was poised to start his "act". Perhaps he did too for, to my amazement, he started to sing the opening of "Moon River..." WTF?

"OK. Only joking..." He continued.

I never did understand why an off-the-shelf, bog standard IBM business computer was thought to be up to the job requirements.

"The Bloomsbury Group"? Ah well, in the fullness of time, everyone discreetly and very politely simply stopped talking about it.

XFool wrote:

mc2fool wrote:Ah but there was always https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SWddzmJgKT8

Just how old do you think I am?

Dunno, but I've long suspected that some of your jokes come from 2LO. But if you don't like Connee Boswell's version (which was actually the first recorded one) then there's lots of choice as just about everyone has covered it. Although Dylan's version is .... well, really Bob?

https://www.google.com/search?q=blue+moon+song

XFool wrote:Missed the last 37 "Super Moons", "Wolf Moons", "Gimp Moons"? Don't worry! There will be another 19 "Woteva Moons" available next month.

Complete with high power telescopic images, showing the moon to be at least 17 time bigger than the earth...

https://metro.co.uk/2023/07/31/august-supermoon-full-moon-how-where-to-see-19220093/?ico=mosaic_tech

When I were a lad we just had "Moons", along with occasional Lunar eclipses.

I'll get me coat.

It's the same as the weather. With 'super' this and 'heat domes' and probably 'super heat domes' too. It's all a load of horse.

Dod101 wrote:I think we used to call the August full moon the Harvest Moon when I were a lad.

Sounds like the Goons as in 'Teahouse of the August moon.'

Dod

The Harvest moon is September and the Hunter's moon is October . A waning Gibbous moon is often mistaken as a cigar-shaped flying saucer with red and green lights. The second week of the upcoming Autumn months will be the best time to spot them low on the eastern horizon as they rise just after sunset.

marronier wrote:

Dod101 wrote:I think we used to call the August full moon the Harvest Moon when I were a lad.

Sounds like the Goons as in 'Teahouse of the August moon.'

Dod

The Harvest moon is September and the Hunter's moon is October . A waning Gibbous moon is often mistaken as a cigar-shaped flying saucer with red and green lights. The second week of the upcoming Autumn months will be the best time to spot them low on the eastern horizon as they rise just after sunset.

I guess the Harvest moon dates from the time that the harvest went on even into October not like nowadays when a field of grain can be cleared on a day or two with a combine harvester.

Dod

Dod101 wrote:not like nowadays when a field of grain can be cleared on a day or two with a combine harvester.

Day or two. Pffft. Latest beasts can do 30 acres an hour.

gryffron wrote:

Dod101 wrote:not like nowadays when a field of grain can be cleared on a day or two with a combine harvester.

Day or two. Pffft. Latest beasts can do 30 acres an hour.

OK but you get the point.

Dod

XFool wrote:University College London had an old GEC central computer system, Euclid, complete with its OS4000 (BBC B DOS was a bit of a reminder.). This was closed down and temporarily replaced with a Unix system, Pyramid. Ambitious plans were afoot! Known to one and all as "The Bloomsbury Group", to emulate US university campuses with a wide area network covering several UL colleges and with UCL running a powerful central computer system to manage it all.

That was in the late 70s; but no need to emulate US university campuses: in the late 60s, Cambridge had Titan Supervisor running on its prototype Atlas 2 (aka Titan) that provided timesharing services on teletypewriters to the University and especially to the large number of students and researchers in the Maths Lab there. It was even linked to a DEC PDP-7 for visual display.
It was probably the largest timesharing system in the world.

stewamax wrote:Cambridge had Titan Supervisor running on its prototype Atlas 2 (aka Titan)

I see it is commemorated in the names of 2 teaching rooms https://map.cam.ac.uk/Titan

gpadsa

stewamax wrote:

XFool wrote:University College London had an old GEC central computer system, Euclid, complete with its OS4000 (BBC B DOS was a bit of a reminder.). This was closed down and temporarily replaced with a Unix system, Pyramid. Ambitious plans were afoot! Known to one and all as "The Bloomsbury Group", to emulate US university campuses with a wide area network covering several UL colleges and with UCL running a powerful central computer system to manage it all.

That was in the late 70s;

No. it was in the late 1980s, 1990s.

XFool wrote:

stewamax wrote:That was in the late 70s;

No. it was in the late 1980s, 1990s.

I was thinking more of GEC's Euclid OS4000 that, if memory serves, was late 1970s.
Titan's home, the old Maths Lab, was in Corn Exchange Street, Cambridge, in what was perhaps an extension of the old rather grim Corn Exchange - at least it looked like that externally, and was demolished in 1969 . Titan was moved next door to a building that had flying metallic walkways (never look down...) leading to offices in what appeared to be uber-modern turrets. I don't remember any service down-time, but that would be typical of the 'we can do it' spirit that permeated the Maths Lab at that time.

stewamax wrote:

XFool wrote:No. it was in the late 1980s, 1990s.

I was thinking more of GEC's Euclid OS4000 that, if memory serves, was late 1970s.

Quite possibly. But I was talking about it's replacement and successors at UCL, which was in the early 1990s and beyond.