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More IBM-tans

Started by stewartsage, January 11, 2010, 06:20:25 PM

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Bella

PDP-10
-Born in the mid/late 1960s
-The son of PDP-6
-A conscientious objector in the form of LINC and PDP-1, he defected from the DEC military early on
-Also like LINC and PDP-1, an academic who spends most of his time hanging around universities (notably Stanford, CMU and MIT)
-One of the heroes of the Elder Days of Hackerdom
-Associated with TOPS-10 (later TOPS-20), ITS, WAITS, Emacs and TECO-kun (more on him in a moment)
-An archetypal Hacker, comes off as vaguely distinctly hippiesque
-One of the few DEC mainframes; the first popular one since PDP-1
-Physically tall, shaggy, bearded, wears glasses, shorts, tie-dyed shirts, sandals and labcoats regularly.
-Alive

I have some physical ideas for PDP-8-tan (aka, one half of the LINC-8 'Ship), but not really enough to post here... .___.;;

TECO-kun:
-Born 1962 at MIT
-The intellectual son of Expensive Typewriter (?)
-Raised by/with PDP-1-tan (first version ran on the PDP-1)
-Emacs' father
-As popular as Emacs (TECO is one of the most widely re/implemented editors ever) but with none of his charm
-Seems to display the romanticism of his son (originated the MAKE LOVE easter egg)
-Tends on the mumbly/indecipherable side (the syntax of TECO is patently ridiculous and difficult to use)
-Cryptic, good at keeping secrets (TECO is considered a "write-only language")
-Difficult. Not particularly forgiving either. (Quote: "Just about any possible typing error while talking with TECO will probably destroy your program, or even worse - introduce subtle and mysterious bugs in a once working subroutine")
-Tends to associate with DEC-tans
-Alive

Physically I see him as being red-haired, brown-eyed, similar to Emacs but "rougher"-looking and thinner.

stewartsage

ALL HAIL PDP 10-dono..... and, um, ladies swoon at the rugged charm of TECO?

Chocofreak13

#452
TECO sounds like he'd be a bit of a stern father. xD
*waits for pics of both .w.*
info on PDP-8 would be nice :3

Hollerith Tabulator (HT)-tan:
-Aka CDT, IT, IAM-tan
-Born in 1890
-First EXISTING computer (Analytical Engine-tan never fully completed)
-Original punch-card computer
-Was updated several times over the course of her use, at first only being able to count, eventually being able to add and subtract, understand alphanumeric characters, automatically feed cards through, and print documents.
-Was alive until about 1970, making her the longest-living OS-tan
-Could be considered the earliest IBM
-Officially used until 1959, when IBM came out with the 1401 (likely more sad than resentful at being replaced)
- her and her descendants were moved to her creator's college, Columbia University, in 1928 (1 year before her creator died) and used until about 1970
-Likely lives on in museum environments or through private collectors (albeit she has very little power)
-Typically worked with the government and eventually Columbia University (used for the US census, twice), also worked with accountants
-13 different models made between 1890 and 1949

-5' 3"
-Brown hair w/ curls in front (original model was dark wood)
-wheat-coloured eyes; retinas pop open to reveal counting dials underneath (original model had antique golden-coloured counting dials all over)
-Slot in back of neck for wind-up key (?)
-holes in back for wires (starting with 1906 model, helped determine specific functions and connect to external devices such as a printer or a sorter)
-friendly, sweet, simple-minded (compared to later -tans, she'd be stupid, as she could only do basic calculations, however in her time she would have been considered quite smart)
-Changed her outfit with each upgrade (starting with the typical turn-of-the-century high necked, 9-gored dress, ending with 1950's housewife dress)

http://i70.photobucket.com/albums/i98/Chocofreak13/HT-tan.jpg (i'd appreciate moar artz, if you need a reference to older style-clothing, go to www.pastpatterns.com )

http://www.columbia.edu/acis/history/tabulator.html (for more info and specific models)
http://www.columbia.edu/acis/history/census-tabulator.html
click to make it bigger

stewartsage

More pre-historic computers!

I need to get on this stack of -tans waiting in the wings, see if any'll bear fruit.

Bella

Sounds - and looks - awesome Kari! Thanks for taking on more ancient-tans. ^^

Paul

Not so ancient, but... Has anyone ever characterized AIX-tan? I've seen a few drawings by Bella but couldn't yet find a characterization.
I suppose she should be quite tough (AIX is one of the OSes with the highest security) and powerful (AIX runs on some really big iron) :D

Bella

I've drawn AIX but never got very far with her personality, I'm afraid... I do recall that she takes rather strongly after her grandmother in ways of power and security (the Multicians went as far as calling AIX a "Multics-like posing as a Unix") however. : \

Aurora Borealis

@Bella: PDP-10-kun is awesome! Can't help but wonder how he managed to associate with TECO-kun, who seems really hard for anyone to get along with. Pretty cool of TOPS-10-tan to not hold PDP-10's defector status against him. :)

@Choco: I like her design. As an extremely early computer-tan, I'd imagine she'd be a clockwork human-machine hybrid, yes? Or something like the dolls from "Rozen Maiden"? She have been around to meet some of the earliest IBM-tans such as GMOS-sama (who is considered the founder and eternal matriarch of the IBMs).

stewartsage

I have a full set of AIX books, from when we needed it to run the card catalog at the library (on IBM R/Ts).  And I also have a converted Telnet binder with INTERNET scrawled on the spine; it's been joked among friends that it contains THE ENTIRE INTERNET.

Chocofreak13

@stew: perhaps you can make up a description, then. :3
@aurora: that's what i was thinking, having her be similar in mechanics to the clockwork dolls of dr. who (not similar in voice or appearance, though. :\)
@paul: if you want something done right, do it yourself! ^^
@bells: np. i love obscure stuff, so this was fun. :3 i'd like to see you do some art of her, if you don't mind. ^^
click to make it bigger

Bella

...now with pictures.


On second thought, I dunno if TECO-kun is as much of a jerk as it might seem at first glance - he's hard to get along with, but I'm thinking of him as more along the lines of an incomprehensible genius than a complete ass. After all, he's an important figure in Hacker history - he must have some redeeming qualities.

The nature of the DEC-tans as a military society is kind of confusing (considering that they were one of the more free-formed and academic societies) but it's safe to say that defectors weren't really punished or ostracized...

Also, when it comes to AIX-tan: I invite Paul to propose some ideas for her character, since he's the one here with the most AIX experience. :)

Chocofreak13

makes sense. this is  a COMMUNITY, after all. ^^ (like how we all contributed a little bit to SAGE. ^^)

PDP-10 looks like a hippie-esque version of Sanji........
do want......
click to make it bigger

Paul

Hmm, ok I'll try :D

AIX-tan:

- born in 1986
- has an analytical no-nonsense mind (AIX is optimized for IBM'S DB2 database)
- is a little paranoid (AIX has very strict security options like EAL or CAPP)
- is good friends with OS400/IBM i-tan and Linux (OS400 can run natively on POWER hardware, and IBM propagates Linux for POWER)
- powerful as hell (AIX runs on some really large computers)
- can multiply herself (AIX's ability to create WPARS and LPARS)
- has close ties to the US government (all over AIX are special instructions for government use)
- has abandoned her 32-bit roots lately (AIX runs only on 64-bit CPUS since version 6.1)

Chocofreak13

oo! she sounds both powerful and dangerous, while at the same time she seems like she'd be quite civilized. :3

any thoughts on a physical description, paul? :3
click to make it bigger

Bella

Sounds good Paul! I knew you'd be able to come up with some ideas. :)

Between the IBMishness, paranoia, working-with-the-governmentness and power, she sounds a bit like a mishmash of Multics, WWMCCS and SAGE-tan .w.

Unless Paul objects to it - or has some ideas to add on, since I'm always up for modifying the appearances of existing characters who have yet to be well-developed/have a lot of arts drawn - there's an existing physical concept for AIX-tan:



Bottom row, second from the left.