RE: Project DELTA

[Bob & Cecelia <n3lym@amsat.org>]

Hi Aron,

Thanks for the nice bio; glad to hear you are doing well. True, there probably 
aren't many (if any) other Aron Insinga's lurking around in the Altavista 
index. I must admit that the first mailing was a bit of a spammed form letter! 
Glad I found you, though! BTW, I found your e-mail in http://www.teleport.com/~o
sfci/fannish.net.txt . 

Supnik's simulator includes a license for RSTS versions 9.6 and prior. It's 
definitely doable and legal. I think it would really be cool to take his 
emulator and devise a way to telnet into the KB ports. The performance of the 
RSTS emulation is quite respectable on an Alpha (probably faster than some of 
the earlier Delta configurations). 

Quite frankly, I don't know if I can read magtapes that are twenty years old. 
Of course, they are not getting any younger. If you have access to hardware 
that will read them, please get the bits off before it is too late! If not, I 
would like to try myself. I must admit that I don't have anything that will 
read the DECtapes. In any case, I would very much appreciate anything you can 
send along, including photos. I promise to return it all promptly. If you can 
find it in your heart to let go of that stuff for a few weeks, please send them 
to me at 910 S. Bodine St., Philadelphia, PA 19147.

I don't have a list of PPN's, but I do have a list of names (which I've 
attached below). I have rediscovered many deltoids. Some have been most helpful 
in sharing their stories and memories of those great times. Most notably, 
Teresa Green, who is now retired after having left U of D and then Lincoln 
University; Alan Flippen who is now a staff writer at the New York Times and 
author of a detailed "unofficial" history of Delta's last few years 
(1977-1980... I'm still waiting for him to review it to make sure that he's not 
going to get sued for liable if we publish it); and Clark Baker who sent me his 
complete life story from Delta in 1970 to present.  

As for me, I am still with Digital, coming up on 10 years. These days, I'm 
doing various flavors of software consulting. Right now, I'm working at CSC 
doing Unix SI work for a big boondoggle government project. I'm married to 
Cecelia; no kids in the family, but we do have four cats. Hobbies are ham 
radio, home brewed beer, and keeping our 120 year old row house in tip top 
shape.

Hoping to hear from you again soon... regards for now...

Bob Mader
	


-----Original Message-----
From:	Aron Insinga [SMTP:ainsinga@infomation.com]
Sent:	Thursday, April 09, 1998 11:40 AM
To:	Bob & Cecelia
Cc:	ainsinga@infomation.com
Subject:	Re: Project DELTA

Yes; I'd be *very* surprised to find another Aron Insinga in the world!

I'd worry about the license crap for RSTS; Bob Supnik at DEC went through hoops 
to make PDP-8 software available.  I think there was some sort of hobbiest 
license for some other stuff -- does it apply to RSTS?

I have some magtapes [have you found magtapes that old are still readable?] and 
DECtapes [can you read them too?] and pictures; this will give me an incentive 
to look for them.

I left DEC (in MA & NH) after 16 years in 36-bit diagnostics, VLSI CAD, AI, 
and C++ Class Library groups.  The first start-up I worked for fizziled; this 
start-up is doing much better.  (URL below.)

You heard Dave Robinson is retiring this year?

Where are you?

Do you have a list of PPNs?  I've forgotten...

I'd love to have a copy of the list.

My home e-mail address, which I do not read very often, is aki@foobar.mv.com .

Married (she illustrates children's magazines), 2 kids (a girl 13 who likes 
math but hasn't really gotten into programming yet, just building Escape 
Velocity plug-ins, and a boy 9 who is into dinosaurs/lizards/fish), 3 
PowerMacs, 2 68k Macs, 2 PDT-11/150s (LSI-11s), 1 DECmate, and several 
non-working PCs.

I'll have to dig out some real bio info sometime.

- Aron


At 11:08 AM 4/9/98 -0400, you wrote:
>Hi,
>
>Is this the same Aron Insinga who once who worked at Project Delta?
>If that's you, please respond with what you've been up to and your
>current vital stats. I'm trying to update the Delta alumni list. I'm
>also hoping to put together a Project Delta alumni web page including
>various pictures and writings as well as a PDP-11 emulator running
>RSTS/E. If you still have any Delta memorabilia, pictures, or backup
>tapes (I can read them!), please let me know!  If you know of any 
>deltoid e-mail addresses send them along!
>
>Regards,
>
>Bob Mader [1,50]

InfoMation Publishing Corp.
3 Burlington Woods Drive, 4th Floor, Burlington, MA 01803
phone 781-238-5201, fax 781-229-2526, http://www.infomation.com