UNIVAC I

    

     Today in 1951 the first UNIVAC 1 debuted.

     In 1978 at Dickinson College we had a computer room with an IBM mainframe and terminals for end users. As memory serves the scene was fairly similar to the one pictured below.

     The room had ultra air-conditioning which was great in the summer and a delight to me because my family had only recently replaced its fans for a central air-conditioner. The other special part about the room was that it was open 24 hours a day. The door had a little window and you had to appeal either verbally or visually to whomever was in the room to let you in. After a few visits it wasn't a problem to earn your status as one who saw the future and this was IT!

     I was studying the BASIC programming language in the spring of 1978. We used to write in pencil the arcane flows which would produce the examples our professor asked for. I was worried at the time that I couldn't keep up with the pace of innovation, as newer languages were being developed and proclaimed the one to know. I asked a learned professor of physics what he thought and he gave me the best advice on the subject of computer languages, which I still repeat today and receive silent nods of acceptance from people who weren't even born when he uttered the words.

     A little background: Professor T. Scott Smith had a Princeton and NASA pedigree. His other claim to fame was that his introduction to Astronomy was taken by more students than any other class at Dickinson. It wasn't because it was easy, but because he was funny as well as very informative. His advice to me was that newer computer languages would always be based upon BASIC. Every time I do a deep dive into a language now I think about the words of Professor Smith. Of course, he was right! I see those simple words I used to write in pencil like IF and THEN and wonder what I was ever concerned about. The 4 year residential Liberal Arts education is still paying dividends. It makes me sorry that it has become so expensive and now completely inaccessible to a new generation of younger students.

      T. Scott Smith first appeared in my life at the Freshman Banquet on I believe the first or second day of school in 1977. He was cordially introduced by then College President Sam Banks. The beard was only a glimmer in his mind but he did possess a fine mustache. The first thing I remember after the introduction was him getting up on the table located on a dais in the front of the cafeteria. He looked around and pulled up his pants so we could all see his socks didn't match. He then told us we would remember nothing about this day except for the fact he stood on a table and showed you his mismatched socks. There was probable some explanation as to why it didn't matter whether your socks match, but I have long since forgotten.

The Measure of a Life Well Lived

     As thoughts turn to the coming new year it's hard not to reflect upon what has gone before. The question of whether you are living life well nags us all, though not everyone will admit it, even to themselves.

     If you do a search with my preferred search engine Duck, Duck, Go on the phrase "Life Well Lived" you come across plenty of inspirational quotes and pictures:

  “If you can fall in love again and again… if you can forgive as well as forget, if you can keep from growing sour, surly, bitter and cynical… you’ve got it half licked.”--Henry Miller

     Not sure if they are any solace, especially if upon further inspection you are none too happy with you life. But who IS happy all the time? Certainly not the rich people, as they are always afraid of losing their wealth and being forced to live a life of extreme want. Probably best to set you sights high but accept the inevitable fact you are going to have some blue days, as well as some terrible days. That's just how life works. Here's one description I'll do my level best to avoid:

   "Those who are truly decrepit, living corpses, so to speak, are the middle-aged, middle class men and women who are stuck in their comfortable grooves and imagine that the status quo will last forever or else are so frightened it won’t that they have retreated into their mental bomb shelters to wait it out." --Henry Miller

     #LovingKindness is the hashtag I saw on the Internet last year which reminds me of the frame of mind to keep whenever you feel like criticizing someone who hasn't had all your advantages. A pithy version of the opening lines to one of my favorite novels, The Great Gatsby:

     "In my younger and more vulnerable years my father gave me some advice that I've been turning over in my mind ever since.

     Whenever you feel like criticizing anyone, he told me, just remember that all the people in this world haven't had the advantages that you've had."