NEVER throw away your computer manuals

I found myself needing to teach a course on assembly language as detailed in this thread --> http://www.blitzbasic.com/Community/posts.php?topic=64033

I eventually settled on using a BBC emulator IF I could get hold of a decent course or reference. I had it in the back of my mind that my "Assembly language Programming on the BBC micro" ringbound manual had travelled along with me through ten house moves.

So I started hunting for it (I still have about a dozen boxes of books not on shelves from my last house move.)

Was it in any of the 'normal' boxes of books ? Nope.
Would it be in with my 'redundant hardware ? Nope.
Was it in the box of old notes from teaching A Level computing ? Nope.
Was it with my university physics text books ? Nope.
....
and on and on and on !
....

Tonight I went out to the garage and started hunting through the pile of boxes that have sat there since my ex-wife moved out. In a box full of rubbish (that I fully intended to get rid of during the Summer, but never found time) I found my Beeb manuals.

Result !

And the moral ? I just found some books that i haven't looked at for over 20 years, for a computer system that was last produced about the same time. And I think they will save my sanity over having to produce this new course.

NEVER THROW OUT YOUR OLD COMPUTER MANUALS

I got all of my old manuals too and general programming books, going right back to the Spectrum.

That's one moral, here's another. If I never throw my computer manuals out, my girlfriend will leave me and it won't take me twenty years to miss her ;)

If you keep your old computer manuals YOU! will have to move them. (my wife has made me cart a bunch of greenbar printed computer manuals through 7 different residences)

You're lucky. Manuals aren't the only thing I'd be handling myself if it were me.

Hehe... I still have my TI994A, C-64 and Amiga manuals, but I seem to throw out the PC and mac manuals as soon as I get them!


Andy

A lot of the BBC reference manuals have been scanned and OCR'd here: http://www.nvg.ntnu.no/bbc/docs.php3

@vinylpusher: THANKS !!!! I have been failing to find that site for over a week now... even took a trip to my local library in the hopes of finding old BBC programming books cluttering up the shelves - turns out the library is closed for refurbishment until 2009 !

I now have a pdf version of the book I dug out of the garage that I will be able to give to the students :-)