Am I the only one wondering: 1) Why you have these? 2) Why they're on your thumb-drive? 3) Why you're advertising the fact that you have them? I'll assume you work for the state, but still, what's the need to carry these around? -John On 5/11/05, Richard Hoffbeck <rwh at visi.com> wrote: > And now I have a database with 2 copies of the MN drivers license > database and 1 copy of the WI DL database - the compressed encrypted > backup image only takes up half of the 1GB memory key on my key chain. > > --rick > > Jerry Weihrauch wrote: > > > Mike Miller wrote: > > > >> > >> > >> I remember sitting in a classroom in 1987 and hearing that it > >> wouldn't be long before we'd be talking about "gigabytes." I thought > >> it was true, but it was still amazing to dream about it. Now we're > >> talking about terabytes. > >> > >> Back in those days an older professor told me about his work in the > >> 1960s on an old computer that needed an HDD. They were storing > >> everything on cards. Reboots took a long time but were frequently > >> needed. So they managed to convince the university (UW-Madison) to > >> buy them an HDD. It was 1966 and the HDD cost $65,000. It held 2 MB > >> and I think it was as big as a washing machine. It probably seemed > >> like a lot of storage space at the time. > >> > >> I bought my first HDD in 1986. It cost me $450 and it held 30 MB > >> because it was a true 20 MB drive with an RLL controller that added > >> 50% to the volume. Back then 30 MB went a long, long way. You > >> *could* still do your work on two 360 KB 5.25" floppies (e.g., > >> WordPerfect 4.2 on one floppy and your data on the other), but it was > >> beginning to get uncomfortable. This was before I had a "high > >> density" floppy drive that held about 1.2 MB on a single 5.25" floppy > >> - that was luxurious! > >> > >> Mike > >> > >> > >> > > The first HDD I remember was at the Minnesota Department of > > Transportation about 1965, not sure of the storage size but the "drum" > > was six feet long and about two feet in diameter. The drive was in a > > cabinet with large windows so every one could watch it spin. It was > > going to hold all the drivers license, vehicle license and state crime > > records on the HDD, maybe one meg? Would say back in 1965 the state > > population was around two million, so one third of the population may > > have had drivers license and half owned a vehicle and criminal records > > one tenth? > > > > Jerry > > > > > > > > > > _______________________________________________ > > TCLUG Mailing List - Minneapolis/St. Paul, Minnesota > > tclug-list at mn-linux.org > > http://mailman.mn-linux.org/mailman/listinfo/tclug-list > > _______________________________________________ > TCLUG Mailing List - Minneapolis/St. Paul, Minnesota > tclug-list at mn-linux.org > http://mailman.mn-linux.org/mailman/listinfo/tclug-list > -- John T. Hoffoss