[ih] Historical fiction

[Craig Partridge]

> I guess what I'm interested in is "zooming in" a little more, if you =
> will. November, 1969, a typical afternoon in room 3420 =
> (http://www.flickr.com/photos/3420boelterhall/5609051340/ ) -- what =
> might people be working on, reading, doing with the computers? What's a =
> test that might be running on the network, and how is it still not quite =
> working right? If something strange happens, who asks who about it? What =
> exciting plans are in the pipeline, what deadlines are looming?

I'll risk jogging a few memories by repeating a few stories I've heard
(I wasn't there).

In 1969, the person running tests was a BBNer (Vint tells of Bob Kahn
coming out for a week to run tests) or perhaps a grad student trying to
debug stuff (as I recall, Len K's group's set of measurement studies
came a bit later).  So imagine a clean cut guy in dark slacks and a white
shirt alternating time on the computers with some engineering students
(who were decidedly less carefully dressed).

If you wait a couple of years there's a guy who periodically shows up
wearing sandals (no socks), shorts and a T-shirt and asking what good
things you done in return for his funding?  According to stories.
That's your DARPA Program Manager (pre Vint and Bob), the guy whose
funding is making all this fun possible.

Craig