Slide Rule Era 39

[WinelandV]

At the risk of being insensitive, is SlideRuleEra still around? I was trying to access

http://www.slideruleera.net

this morning and that site appears to no longer exists. I don't suppose anyone created a copy of all the data that was there?

Please note that is a "v" (as in Violin) not a "y".

 

[KootK]

With regard to longevity, I feel that the answer to that is to have the files stored -- if not hosted -- in multiple places for redundancy. For the better part of a decade, I've harbored an unfinished ToDo item that was: download all of SRE's stuff and file it someplace. I think that, now, I would actually do that. And I'm sure that I'm not the only one.

In my mind, the cost of hosting would be one of the things that would favor storing the files here at Eng-Tips. I'd have to think that would be a drop in the bucket of the data storage overhead already incurred here.

 

[SlideRuleEra]

hokie66- You are spot on about Ms. SRE's ideas on "junk"... and I agree with her. We don't need two dozen working, restored antique vacuum tube radios (a long time hobby). Goal is to get the number down between 12 to 15.
On the other hand, she has always supported my website efforts and ET participation... "you never know how many people you are influencing for the better".

KootK - Excellent ideas, I have time to sort out the next step while getting the files (3.5" floppys) DoubleStud showed into neat stacks.

ggcdn & Celt83 - You are so right about copyright. About 15 years ago I heard from the Portland Cement Association about posting my scans of their 1930's (active) copyrighted publications. To make a long story short, the incident ended well for both PCA and me. Decided to start a DIY education on fundamentals of USA copyright law. I maintain an obscure FAQ in the History Forum: "US Copyright Law Basics for Printed Publications". In fact it is time for my annual update of that FAQ with start of a new year... 1927 publications entered the public domain on January 1. To the best of my knowledge, all posting on my website were "clean".

 

[Denial]

KootK raises the very important point of longevity.[ ] With computer-based files, extinction is a mere button press away, so (as he says) duplication is an important component of longevity.[ ] This can be tricky to achieve with information that changes frequently, less so with material that, like SRE's, is relatively static.

 

[hokie66]

Every good engineer must have a very tolerant spouse, or none at all.

 

[WillisV]

Agree - SRE's site has been very useful, I hope the information finds a good home.

 

[BigH]

SRE - let me know - you know my email address - about the tube radios. I have a fraternity brother who is, well, hooked on collecting them. Cheers

 

[LittleInch]

Double Stud.

I actually had a conversation recently with an Engineer in their 20's who really didn't know what the floppy disc symbol was for the save icon.

How did we manage to exist using things which only stored 1.44 MB??

Remember - More details = better answers
Also: If you get a response it's polite to respond to it.

 

[bones206]

As far as a home for the docs, how about archive.org?

Edit: link to building technology collection on archive.org:

https://archive.org/details/buildingtechnologyheritagelibrary?&sort=-week&page=10

 

[dik]

or 180K? and there may have been smaller ones.

-----*****-----
So strange to see the singularity approaching while the entire planet is rapidly turning into a hellscape. -John Coates

-Dik

 

[LittleInch]

When I started using storage devices the 5 1/4" truly "floppy" discs were being phased out as they could only hold 740Kb I think. And there was something about some of them being double sided IIRC.

But when you bought a program it used to come with a small mountain of 3 1/2" floppys which you needed to insert IN THE RIGHT ORDER or hell and damnation was wrought upon your PC.



Remember - More details = better answers
Also: If you get a response it's polite to respond to it.

 

[dik]

The first frame program I wrote was able to run in 64K of RAM, by swapping to floppies... that was a time...

-----*****-----
So strange to see the singularity approaching while the entire planet is rapidly turning into a hellscape. -John Coates

-Dik

 

[Celt83]

Just point us to the ITS Machine you have stored in the basement

 

[OCellini]

@SRE: I do hope we can continue making available your wonderful collection. I've been specializing in antiquated, often historic, structures for over 20 years, and would not have been able to do my job without your invaluable information. I probably have the majority of your files saved from my own past project needs. I'd be happy to contribute all that I can once we can all find a way to continue your "legacy". I know I'm not alone in thanking you for providing your archived collections to our engineering community.

 

[SlideRuleEra]

OCellini - Many thanks. The process or rounding up the appropriate .pdfs is well underway and going faster than I thought it would. I have all of them, a complication is that mixed in with the posted .pdfs are 17 years worth of .pdfs and other files that I would not post for various reason. Have to take those out.

Also, have a plan for making the .pdfs available to everyone, but no index or other organization. Someone else will have to do that, and can do it far better than I could.

 

[bridgebuster]

@SRE - I'd would like to add my thanks as well for: 1)hosting a great website and providing us with a lot of valuable information. Especially the ancient steel manual, which come in handy on a regular basis. 2) providing us with sound advice and guidance.

 

[SlideRuleEra]

Thank you, bridgebuster. You were the first ET member to offer files to post on the website. Two out of copyright books on bridge design. PDF's of both will be included in the forthcoming package of website content.

 

[hardyworld]

I'm a month late to the discussion, but I too would like to thank SlideRuleEra for the website hosting historical information on his wonderful website. The gathered collection provided information that I otherwise could never find and was always extremely useful and interesting and I'm very thankful that SlideRuleEra did all that work for our benefit. I honestly will miss that website as it inspired me to learn how to use a proper slide rule (I ended up buying an old teaching slide rule and have it mounted in the office, all due to his website's inspiration). I hope that those gathered pdfs can be provided and hosted in the future as noted in the above post. Thank you for all your help SlideRuleEra, both here in the forum and all the hosted information on the website.

 

[haynewp]

OCellini - Many thanks. The process or rounding up the appropriate .pdfs is well underway and going faster than I thought it would. I have all of them, a complication is that mixed in with the posted .pdfs are 17 years worth of .pdfs and other files that I would not post for various reason. Have to take those out.

Also, have a plan for making the .pdfs available to everyone, but no index or other organization. Someone else will have to do that, and can do it far better than I could

Does it help the sorting effort to see what was previously posted on the site if the site format files have been lost? This is what the site looked like towards the end of last year. I have also used the site many times and have always appreciated it.

https://web.archive.org/web/20221020140935/http://slideruleera.net/

 

[BrentG]

I'm also late to this thread but wanted to share this photo:

It is an 8' long slide rule that was used by a local high school math teacher. He gave it to me when he had to clean out his house and move to a nursing home.
We recently mounted it in our office and it is quite the conversation piece!

 

[IRstuff]

LOL, I have something like that, except that I'm the one that used it, but nowhere near where I have to live in a nursing home

TTFN (ta ta for now)
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