I would like to learn computing at home.

> I would like to learn computing at home.

send me $19 and I'll send you a CD explaining how to download porn

I cut my first BASIC programs on my friends VIC-20... I really hated the ?23? column display. My first purchased computer was a Commodore-64 which I could not have a warmer spot for in my heart, really loved it and learned to program on it. I got into modeming (about the same time as Dag did on his Apple-2e) and learned to write a BBS for the 1650 automodem.

Three of us local modemers (Dag not included) broke into the school district computer with our Commdores and Apples, and my C-64 ended up seized as evidence. I got it back quite a while later in a plastic bag with a lead seal. I was under 18 so I got a hand slap, and my partner in crime was over 18 and got beau coup community service.

Profesionally, later on I ended up getting hired by the people who ran the school district computer at that time.

I loved my VIC-20, it was all I could afford so I made the most of it. I think it was a 22 character column display. And I only had 2.5 kilobytes of RAM. I was getting my Associates in Electronics when I got the VIC-20, from 1982 to 1984 so it was perfect for learning to program BASIC and writing programs to solve electronics and algebra problems.

I pushed it to its limits, sometimes storing data in the 500+ bytes of screen memory when I didn't have to display anything and using one letter variables to save memory, like A=A+1, Z=Z-6. My computer teacher commended me for my resourcefulness and creativity for finding ways to maximize the limited power of the VIC-20. But he also criticized me for bad programming habits, like using one letter variables that were non-descriptive of the info they stored. He always said BASIC was horrible and I should focus on getting proficient with Pascal.

I didn't understand what he meant until I got my first computer job, part of which involved trying to fix a program someone had written in BASIC. It was a total mess, undocumented spaghetti code with GOTO statements that felt like you were watching a pinball ricocheting inside a pinball machine. I finally understood what he meant.
Anyway I miss my VIC-20.