[edit] AMAZING NEW DISCOVERIES!
Life of past "computer geeks" brought to life in SHOCKING new SCIENTIFIC REVELATIONS!
Aberystwyth, 12th October, 2006
This evening, whilst using a computer in the Cwrt Mawr communual block, dashing young gentleman Natural Historian Lord R.H.N Williams uncovered a treasure trove of information, left covered for over a decade, which sheds light upon the beliefs, joys, and pains of our ancestors.
So struck was he by the magnitude of these documents was Lord Williams that he immediately took out the acme of modern technology, the USB pen drive, in an immediate attempt to save the crumbling documents from further decay.
The documents record the famous Burning of the Magnetic Tapes, ordered by the King at the time, now identified as one J.W.Perkins (jwp):
It is likely that after next summer we will have no means of reading 1/2" magnetic tapes onto our systems. Users who have tapes are being individually contacted about this, but a more general announcement seems in order. It may be possible in individual cases to arrange transfer via a second site, but anyone who forsees longer-term problems regarding the loss of the facility should contact me.
Anti-Welsh Bigotry "No New Thing"
Yet the ways of our ancestors have much that shock the more refined reader. In former times, people lived in closer communities, and the adopted tribal names - forerunners of the modern "user name" lacked the common numerical element. Further found was a complaint by a sensitive writer ahead of his times, who complained thusly:
SUGGESTION: I saw this in Cwrt Mawr Terminal Room, on the Computer Unit floppy disk price list: 5.25" HD ready formatted : 55p 5.25" wedi ei fformatio : 75c I suggest that all you Welsh speakers out there order your disks in English.
REPLY : We have been reviewing this pricing policy. We considered splitting the difference and offering bilingual discs at 65c/p, but finally decided it was most equitable to redo the price lists with a standard price of 55c/p.
Crime also was a problem, as in one newsletter, unnamed persons are chided as they are informed with the words:
(d) Mice All machines are now equipped with a mouse, however if these are stolen, they may not be replaced.
But life in the past was not without fun, as the following poem by the previously lost bard Andy Berry shows us:
A computer geek called Claude,
was having trouble with his baud,
a parity error,
resulting in terror,
left him in despair on top floor
. An advisory lassie called Clare,
told him, "it's all in the air,
Your hard discs gone floppy,
your com ports all stroppy
, and your turbo switch is suffering wear
. Here's what I think we should do,
ask Les for some blue-tac and glue,
it may never work,
but then you're a jerk,
so I think it's the least we can do".
A few days later she said,
as she showed him the drive's burnt-out-head,
"Your patience was great- but your machines in a state,
can we give you this T-shirt instead?"
The British Museum could not be reached for comment.