Author: DOuG pRATt

The Great DECline

One of the few remaining vestiges of the once-mighty Digital Equipment Corporation is about to fall.

https://www.theregister.com/2022/06/30/intel_dec_massachusetts_demolished/

In 1986, Fortune magazine named DEC founder and CEO Ken Olsen as America’s most successful entrepreneur.

https://money.cnn.com/magazines/fortune/fortune_archive/1986/10/27/68216/

It would have been laughable in 1986 to suggest that within five years Olsen would be forced out of the company he began in 1957, but that was exactly what happened. By 1996 the end of DEC, the former Massachusetts economic powerhouse, was in sight, after 40 years in business.

https://digital.com/digital-equipment-corporation/

In 1991 there was a recession that hit Massachusetts particularly hard. Every Massachusetts minicomputer company quickly declined, as the PC revolution took over. DEC, along with Data General, Prime, Wang, and Apollo all disappeared, but the Internet revolution came in just as quickly in 1995, and the economy turned around.

https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/stamp/stamp.jsp?arnumber=6777978

Operating a DEC PDP-11 minicomputer required women to wear a miniskirt. The user manual said so.

P.S. Allison Acoustics was another Massachusetts business that went under during the recession that began in ’91, when Roy Allison’s bank pulled his line of credit.

All Singing! All Dancing!

You remember the opening of Ghost World, don’t you, with that catchy Bollywood number? The singing was dubbed by Mohammed Rafi.

Rafi also sang this equally engaging theme five years earlier, in 1960.

I’m reminded of one of the more inspired moments from The Big Bang Theory.

And from Amazon Prime’s series The Boys, there’s a scene that surprises by breaking out in American song and dance, rather than the ultra-extreme violence it’s infamous for dishing out in gory gobs.

Come to think of it, I have yet to see La La Land…

… which was inspired by something exquisite that I have seen.

Breaking BA5

I attended a small comic book show today, and was one of the very few people wearing a mask. Well, that’s not correct. There were cosplay fans wearing superhero masks. I wore a mask intended to prevent contracting Covid-Omicron BA.5, the most communicable mutation yet.

https://bonafidemasks.com/Powecom-kn-95/

My Moderna booster was back on November 4, and it’s safe to assume that its protection has worn off, so wearing a mask is my only protection against BA.5. For the first time, I’m going against the CDC recommendation on vaccination. For my age, they’re saying don’t wait for a Omicron-specific vaccine, get a shot now, but I’ve decided to wait.

Better Get Mike

Clips from Better Call Saul that tell a small part of the very large story.

Pryce is a clueless nerd with access to controlled substances. He wants to make a fast buck as a supplier to a drug dealer.

Mike meets Nacho and the first deal is made. Mike offers words of wisdom to Pryce.

Pryce makes his fast bucks and spends them foolishly. Pryce ignores Mike’s advice and they part ways.

Nacho takes advantage of Pryce’s naivete to set him up for some serious trouble.

Spoiler: Later on, Mike becomes Nacho’s boss. It’s complicated.

Buh-Bye, Boston Globe

Effective August 16, I will no longer be a subscriber to The Boston Globe. I have cancelled not only home delivery of the print edition, but digital access as well. The paper’s association with China Daily is the reason why.

Publicity Propaganda Department

Whether or not the Globe’s subscriber group on Facebook was the “appropriate” place to complain, I received no reply, so I’m taking action. As I told the customer service rep on the phone, who offered me a discount, this isn’t a money decision, it’s a protest.

If I want to read the Globe, I’ll have to be one of those retired people seen sitting in the reading room at the library.

Other papers are also losing readers!