Zeroing core. 2581

pattern you

It wasn't just front panels. Channels, devices, and memory also had them. The eyes can see off, but they can't see on because on is an iffy thing w.r.t. electricity.

We did use brightness as a piece of data, too. If one light is the brightest of all other lights, you could make a working buttumption that that wire is going all the way.

you' on

I'll tell ya a secret, it's also a damned sight easier to look at uniformity even with DDT. I've also begun to wonder if our Test instructions worked "better" with zeroes set instead of patterns or all ones. But I'm not good enough at machine language to know this kind of gut level of programming.

I rarely displayed binary. I used octal for eyeball comparisons all the time. Note that our width was 36-bits. A 7- or 8- bit byte can be looked at, all at the same time. A 36 width wasn't as easy.

I wonder if your methods are a side-effect of machines going bytey.

It certainly was true that even the most unsavvy computer user could learn light patterns and match them with a computer service that is working well or lousy. I know nothing about what each light meant. But I knew at a glance, when walking into the machine room, if it was wise to login.

BAH