Manchester BSD User Group - September 2007

[Paul Robinson]

Isn't August always a bit too short? You just get used to the fact  
nobody is about, you get all settled into having afternoon naps and  
drinking in beer gardens when you should be working, and then... bam!  
Along comes September and suddenly there's another Manchester BSD  
User Group to get to.

September 4th - the date of our next meeting - is the 51st  
anniversary of the IBM 305 going onto the market:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IBM_305

"... while the storage capacity of the drive could have been  
increased above five megabytes, the marketing department at IBM was  
against a larger capacity drive because they didn't know how to sell  
a product with more storage."

Whilst that's an odd curiosity, the real peculiarity was the drum  
memory. It span at 6000 RPM and given that the timing signals were  
derived from a factory recorded "Clock Track" on the drum, I'm  
thinking you could conceivably over-clock it by getting the drum to  
spin faster. There are no details if IBM sold see-through case panels  
and neon light kits to tailor to that market.

Anyway, to business!

What? Who?
============================================================

The Manchester BSD User Group is a group of Unix enthusiasts, users,  
developers and systems administrators who meet once a month in a pub  
in central Manchester. It's a friendly/social event and we don't do  
talks or presentations.

In the past, conversations have covered a wide range of technical  
topics, so if you're interested in the kind of tech that you can pull  
apart and put back together again (even when you're not meant to),  
you'll find somebody interested nearby.

Where?
============================================================

The Briton's Protection pub on Great Bridgewater Street, in central  
Manchester.

http://tinyurl.com/yqqkzj

We normally dominate one of the rooms around the back, but if it's  
warm and sunny we may head out to the beer garden (if open).

The Briton's is a traditional English pub with real ale, quality  
lager, a huge array of whiskeys, a range of soft drinks and an  
excellent selection of crisps. I believe they do food of a high  
quality, but don't know what time they stop serving (probably before  
7pm though).

When?
============================================================

We always meet on the first Tuesday of each calendar month. The next  
meeting is on Tuesday the 4th September, and the meeting after that  
is currently planned for the 2nd October. We normally drift in to the  
place around 7:30pm, and most people drift off sometime between 9pm  
and 10pm.

Questions?
============================================================

Feel free to post queries to manchester at bsdgroups.org.uk or you can  
contact me directly. If you want directions to help find us, or need  
a mobile number in case you get lost, just get in touch.