Sibrel's astronaut encounters

[LunarOrbit]

I remember writing BASIC programs on my dad's Commodore 64 when I was probably 8 years old.

[DonPMitchell]

Programming is a life-long learning process I think.  I wrote some BASIC programs in 1972, on a CDC 6600 timesharing system.  Then switched to FORTRAN, because I wanted to learn a "real language".

You may know Ed Stone, the recently retired head of JPL, and the project manager of the Voyager Mission.  I was one of his grad students in 1978, and we decided to start using UNIX, and we all learned C.  That's unusual, because scientists for a long time really stuck to FORTRAN (and FORTRAN 90 is in fact a perfectly fine language today).

And of course, then came C++ and its poor cousin, Java.  Object oriented programming was one of the great catastrophes of computer science, a misguided idea that has caused an unbelievable waste of effort and time.  Two of the best programmers I know have both told me that the only thing they like in C++ is the "//" comment.  Hehe.

[Simkid]

Interesting version of basic there, none of the ones I've used have commas in IF THEN structures.  All the difficulty with Windows is why when I had to write a game for a final last year I went for ASCII console graphics.  Right now I'm fighting my way through a really simple windows program (more or less just opening, drawing and redrawing a window), and am really wishing that we could just have stuck with text based systems.  I miss Commodores.

[DonPMitchell]

There's a modern myth about hackers.  Part of the whole cult of the amateur that you see today.  Amateurs can write an encyclopedia, amateurs can develope better software than professionals, etc, etc.  It's all just marketing of course, the successful open source programs are written by professional teams, and "open source" could just as well be "lemon scented".  It's just a buzzword that makes people think your program is cool, even if it isn't.

Steve Levy and Eric Raymond both wrote a lot about the history of hackers, suggesting that before the days of evil Apple and Microsoft, there was a golden age of amateur hackers who did amazing things.  Well, no, not really.  There was a huge world of mainframe programmers at IBM and UNIVAC and CDC and Honeywell, who invented operating systems and compilers, but I can't think of a single important thing invented by hackers.

That said, learning to program and playing around with computers when you're first starting out is fun and an important learning experience.

[Satanic Mechanic]

I still have my C64... somewhere.

[LunarOrbit]

I wish I still had my dad's C64... I would like to play "Apollo 18" again. We also had a Commodore Vic 20 when I was a kid.

[DonPMitchell]

I bet there is a C64 emulator out there...and I bet it emulates C64 software on your PC faster than a C64! 

[LunarOrbit]

I did have a C64 emulator on my old Win95 computer... I wonder if it would work in WinXP? I'll have to see if I can find it again.

[Johno]

Interesting version of basic there, none of the ones I've used have commas in IF THEN structures.  All the difficulty with Windows is why when I had to write a game for a final last year I went for ASCII console graphics.  Right now I'm fighting my way through a really simple windows program (more or less just opening, drawing and redrawing a window), and am really wishing that we could just have stuck with text based systems.  I miss Commodores.

Oopsie!  Been so long since I programmed that I put those in just because it seemed right.  It wasn't.  You're right, mate!

[Simkid]

Well, basic definatly does have strange syntax, everything else I've used like commas all over the place (and they are useful).  As for C64 emulators, CCS64 is definatly the best, and runs fine on Windows, but somthing about it just isn't the same as having a real C64.

[Tranquility Base]

I haven't posted here in a long time, but I am going to reply to this topic in case anyone is interested.  I just made a new Wikipedia entry on the topic of the film Astronauts Gone Wild.  I had an assignment for a class to make some kind of contribution to that website, and since nobody had ever made an entry for that film, I decided to write about it.  The link is right here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Astronauts_Gone_Wild.  I spent several hours writing and especially making sure the notes, references and external links were correct.  I hope this will be an interesting resource. 

[cartmancakes]

I remember writing BASIC programs on my dad's Commodore 64 when I was probably 8 years old.

Okay, you just aged yourself.  And we're probably the same age.  I remember writing an RPG on my dad's Commodore 64.  I was impressed that it used over 100KB of space! 

BASIC was so fun and easy...  I remember being in elementary school, and we all sat at the Apple IIe computers.  Nobody had ever been around a computer but me.  We all sit down, and nobody knows what to do.  I write a little program that asks for input and displays something.  I don't remember what.  I did it in about a minute.  Everyone was awed.

Memories...

The same things that made one popular in computer class was the same things that made you a nerd everywhere else... 

btw, I turn 29 this summer.  How old are you, LunarOrbit?

[RCS1]

This is unconfirmed but I heard he was harassing Gene Cernan at his Granddaughter's Wedding.

Now old Gene loves his daughter (left her initials on the moon during Apollo 17, last EVA) and by extension his granddaughter. Showing up to ruin her granddaughter's wedding - let's just say, Gene and the groom following Aldrin's example.

I thought I saw a filed police complaint about this. (I was working at the DOJ a while back, I'm no longer there.) Don't think it ever made the press. I guess it just wasn't juicy enough without video footage.

[cartmancakes]

Programming is a life-long learning process I think.  I wrote some BASIC programs in 1972, on a CDC 6600 timesharing system.  Then switched to FORTRAN, because I wanted to learn a "real language".

You may know Ed Stone, the recently retired head of JPL, and the project manager of the Voyager Mission.  I was one of his grad students in 1978, and we decided to start using UNIX, and we all learned C.  That's unusual, because scientists for a long time really stuck to FORTRAN (and FORTRAN 90 is in fact a perfectly fine language today).

And of course, then came C++ and its poor cousin, Java.  Object oriented programming was one of the great catastrophes of computer science, a misguided idea that has caused an unbelievable waste of effort and time.  Two of the best programmers I know have both told me that the only thing they like in C++ is the "//" comment.  Hehe.

Scientists hate C++?  What language do they mostly use, then?  I always thought that was the language of choice for robotics and electronics in general...

Wait, am I crossing the scientist/engineer line here?

[Satanic Mechanic]

After watching the video of Buzz Aldrin punching out Siberel I always wanted to make an addition to BARIS, a take off of a popular Nintendo game in the 80's: Buzz Aldrin's Punch Out!  That's right, Buzz Aldrin will beat Siberel for three rounds and hang him by the cord of his microphone at the end

SM.