Since 1980 US Flag - fm USfamily.net

Information Technology Pioneers

Retirees and former employees of Unisys, Lockheed Martin, and their predecessor companies

On this Page

Site Design Notes [left]

VIP Club Site Map

This site is hosted on webhostinghub.com since 2011. Thanks to usfamily.net for the US flag icon *.gif file used on the top of the pages and chapters.

Site Navigation:

At the left are Club and Legacy topics select tabs. The bottom of this navigation section has the chapter or page number and last edited date, i.e. this is page 0. At the right, in the 'On this Page' or 'In this Chapter' section are quick links to topics within the web page. The overall site structure has four general levels as described in section 3 below. The Home, Club, Legacy, and Contacts and Links pages/chapters have a Google 'Search' block that finds items or names on this site. To aid in readers' page navigation, all of the site footers have a quick link icon back to the home page and a "TOP" icon.

Software:

The webmaster currently uses Microsoft Expression Web 4 software. This includes a Cascading Style Sheet (CSS) layout to provide all pages with normal Tahoma or Arial fonts. The CSS is an open source template by Andreas Viklund, modified for our use, reference http://andreasviklund.com. Each web site page is assigned a page or a chapter number. These numbers are assigned for chapter people indexing. In the old layout, 28. People, Index tracked legacy site contributors and people mentioned therein. The update to verify the new chapter numbers indexing is on the to do list.

Editing idiosyncrasies:

Within the various chapters/pages, we've generally used (parenthesis) to indicate an acronym or abbreviation of the preceding words. We've used [brackets] to separate supplemental information within sentences. I've also used {braces} to insert my own comments as Editor's notes to text written by others. When not otherwise obvious, I've tried to put individual author's initials in brackets at the end of articles, i. e. [lab] is Lowell Allan Benson.

Please note that a complete new structure was implemented the spring of 2017 with a few objectives:

  1. to make the site easier to read on tablets, smart phones, etc.
  2. Seperate the Legacy pages as Chapters to facilitate publication of a future book,
  3. Eliminate the few archaic html constructs that slow reader loading,
  4. Elimate html codes that resulted from cut and paste from word documents, et al',
  5. Delete a few 'not viewed often' pages and merge that data with other pages.     LABenson

3. Site Design Structure

3.1 Level 1 (original pages)

  • Home, page 1 - The level 2 pages under the home tab are mostly Club activity and history related - the level 2 tabs were: About Us, Calendar, Club History, Membership, Club Hosts , Newsletters, Periodic Groups, Recreation, and Site Design [this page],
  • Page 10. Legacy Project - This is the primary chapter of the ERA to LMCO Legacy. The level 2 pages/chapters relate to the committee and on-going activities. The level 2 tabs were: EMCC to UNISYS, Artifacts, Committee, Milestones, Mementos, Documents, Spinoffs, Who Is It, and Exhibits.
  • Page 30. People  - There are twelve level 2 chapters/pages containing career summaries, oral interviews, anecdotes, etc.. These level 2 tabs are self explanatory.
  • Page 40. Engineering, - There are nine level 2 chapters/pages with begin with the ERA products under the Coupler tab. The level 2 tabs are: Couplers, Components, Field Service, Interfaces, Memory, Patents, Peripherals, Software, and Training.
  • Page 50. Computers, - There are nine level 2 chapters/pages containing computer information, stories mostly by bit length. The level 2 tabs are self explanatory.
  • Page 60. Systems, - All of these systems used our computers, software, and other products. The level 2 tabs are Aerospace, Air Traffic Control, International, Government, Marines, Aerospace, Naval, ASOC, and Commercial Systems.
  • Page 70. Places - These pages include level 2 tabs for Twin Cities plants, United States sites, International sites, Blue Bell history items, Manufacturing Operations, Winnipeg Operations, Burroughs and other predecessor history items.
  • Page 80. Contacts and Links, - E-mail addresses for the Club Officers and associated positions plusURLs for Club functions and computer history research. For convenience we've provided sub-tabs for the Club's various event registrations. Alright; so the volunteer survey form doesn't say registration, that is embedded in the electronic and paper response forms.

3.2. Level 2

This level on the majority of the site's chapters (pages) consists of sub-pages linked by tabs under the Level 1 primary headings. Note that the Club page Level 2 tabs are associated with the VIP Club activities. The Contacts & Links page is self explanatory. The level 2 tabs beneath the other Level 1 tabs are subsets of that Level 1 topic.

3.3. Level 3

This level consists of all of the sections within the Level 1 and 2 pages. The headings of these sections are identified on each page just under the 'Click scroll down to:' or 'On This Page' words.

Also, level 3 has a set of folders on the host computer to contain and manage the level 4 electronic files:

  1. Articles => This folder contains the Articles for the Month linked from the Legacy, Documents.
  2. ATCntl => This folder contains the doc, ppt, jpg, and pdf files linked from the Systems, Air Traffic Control page.
  3. BitsBakUp =>We have copied the ERA/UNIVAC/Sperry/UNISYS documents from http://bitsavers.trailing-edge.com/pdf/ for quick linking from our site and as a back up should their site disappear.
  4. cgi-bin => This folder contains the script files referenced by the on-line survey forms.
  5. CodeCards ==> Volunteer Keith Myhre has scanned over 100 code cards/repertoire cards for linking from various pages. 
  6. Documents => This folder contains the data files linked from the Club and Contacts & Links pages
  7. EngDocImg => This folder contains the files linked from the Engineering and Computer pages
  8. images => This folder contains the icons and pictures linked from Club page, the Contacts & Links page, and icons common to multiple pages
  9. LegacyDocImg => This folder will contain things associated with the Main Legacy page and its' sub-pages
  10. Newsletters => This folder contains the Club newsletters dating back to 2004
  11. PeopleDocImg => This folder contains the documents and image files linked from the People pages.
  12. Photos => This folder contains the hardware artifact snapshots linked from the Legacy, Artifacts page.
  13. SysDocImg => This folder contains the files linked from the Systems and Location pages.
  14. Temp => This folder contains special announcement flyers which are temporarily in use. 

3.4. Level 4

This level consists of documents which open in their own window for easy return to the linking page. These are Print Documented Format (pdf) documents, Power Point slides, or jpg charts that supplement topics on the individual level 1 and level 2 pages as well as the level 3 sections.

Site Design - New

Legacy Chapters Content of Legacy Chapter Page # VIP Club Pages  Content of Club Pages
1. Legacy Anthology Introduction, Search, Committee, Anthology, Successes, & Thank You 1 Home Announcements, Planning Ahead dates, Bd mtg dates, Search this Site, and Site Disclaimer
2. ERA to LMCO Corporate Name History, General Managers 2 Retirees' Club Introduction, Board, Committees, Elections, and Revision History
3. EMCC to UNISYS Eckert-Mauchley Computer Corporation is the Co-parent of our history 3 Social Activities Information about events being planned, periodic group gatherings, history of annual gatherings, etc.
4. Burroughs, etc. Burroughs bought Sperry to form UNISYS 4 Membership Link to a printable form, membership qualifications, membership benefits, and membership fees
5. Milestones Significant deliveries by our company 5 Newsletter An archive Club newsletters since 2004 and links to the most recent CBI and Blue Bell retirees group newsletters.
6. Spinoffs Companies started by former ERA/UNIVAC employees and those from CDC 6 Recreation Golf League, Bowling League, Electronics Club, and a llinked isting of the Twin cities area senior centers.
7. Artifacts Hardware artifacts contributed and catalogued - pictures too 7 Club History The club's origin and significant events during our 35+ years
8. Mementos Trinkets such as tie tacs or desk top items contributed by members 8 Contacts and Links VIP Club Board email addresses and a plethora of web site links for researchers
9.   9 Snapshots  this will be a new page of pictures replacing the previous 'who is it page"
    0 Site Map Overview of our design ground rules and site layout. THIS PAGE!
10. People Submitted mini-bio Listing, 911 experiences, and diversity notes. 10 Picnic Form Annual announcement, reservation form, and venue directions - annual update needed
11. People A-B  Personal submitals by people whose names begin with A and B 11 Volunteer Form Announcement, survey/reservation forms, and venue directions - annual update
12. People C-F Personal submitals by people whose names begin with C thru F 12 Thanks Volunteer Response when a reader submitted the survey form
13. People G-H Personal submitals by people whose names begin with G and H 13 Cruise Form Announcement, reservation form, and venue directions - update annually
14. People I-L   Personal submitals by people whose names begin with I thru L 14 Christmas Form Announcement, reservation form, and venue directions - update annually
15. People M-O Personal submitals by people whose names begin with M thru O 15 Stadium Tour Old page #
16. People P-S Personal submitals by people whose names begin with P thru S 16 Sponsors Old page - Before Lockheed Martin closed and before UNISYS consolidated
17. People T-Z Personal submitals by people whose names begin with T thru Z 17 About Us Old page, see the Club page.
18. Interviews Oral interviews, three transcribed and ~30 to be transcribed 18 Who is it?  some History pictures
19. Deceased Obits of some deceased pioneers plus annual listing of obits from newsletters Old page #
20. They Flew Several of our programmers flew on military platforms!      
21. Anecdotes Humerous stories told by our members  
22. People Index This page/chapter will be updated during the fall of 2017      
23. Our Stories Magazine articles, book titles, Monthly Stories since 2007, slide shows      
         
30. Locations ERA facilities - 4 in the Twin Cities and 1 in Arlington VA 40. Engineering Engineering topics spanned computers, systems and products.
31. Twin Cities When Burroughs bought Sperry to form UNISYS, there were 28 locations   41. Couplers Antenna Couplers and ERA products.
32. United States Our Technical Services Division and marketing offices were all over.   42. Components We screened components to assure operation over wide temperatures
33. Over Seas these were mostly customer support facilities 43. Field Service Once systems were delivered, we supported them
34. Blue Bell PA Stories by blue Bell retirees 44. Interfaces Communications within and between systems was critical to success
35. Place holder for ?   45. Memory The evolution of memories used at ERA, UNIVAC, Sperry, ...
36. Place holder for ?     46. Patents We were a creative lot
37. St. Paul Ops  this is a page waiting for more stories.     47. Peripherals Support equipment for our systems
38. Winnipeg CN Glen Johnson has written the story with notes from Dave Saxerud   48. Software Today people would call these apps
39. Exhibit Sites Lawshe Memorial Museum, Charles Babbage Institute, UNISYS, Others   49. Training How do we fix the equipments, how do we write programs
     
50. Computers     60. Systems Introduction, Systems Evolution, Tactical Air Command
51. 24 bit computers     61. Air Traffic Control  
52. 30 bit computers     62. Airborne Systems  
53. 18 bit computers     63. Government Systems  
54. 16-bit computers      64. International Systems  
55. 32 bit computers     65. Marines' Systems  
56. 36 bit computers     66. Aerospace Systems  
57. AF computers 67. Naval Systems (NTDS)
58. Special Purpose     68. Air Sovereignty Op Ctrs  
59. Commercial     69. Commercial Systems  

5. Page titles and links thereto:

Below is a link to all the Web pages of this site as structured before changing Legacy pages to chapter numbering; arranged like a table of contents. Note that the Legacy, Documents page 15 has links to all of the 'Articles for the Month.' This information and links continue in the Our Stories Chapter.

Home, VIP Club , page 1
Site Map & Design, page 0 Club, Board, page 2 Club Calendar, page 3
Club, Club History, page 4 Club, Membership, page 5 Club, Hosts, page 6
Club, Newsletters, page 7 Club, Periodic Groups, page 8 Club, Recreation, page 9
Legacy, ERA to LMCO, page 10  
Legacy, EMCC to UNISYS, page 11 Legacy, Artifacts page 12 Legacy, Committee page 13
Legacy, Milestones page 14 Legacy, Our Stories page 15 Legacy, Mementos page 16
Legacy, Spinoffs page 17 Legacy, Who Is It , page 18 Legacy, Exhibits, page 19 
tbd, page 20    
People , page 30    
People, They Flew, page 27 People, Indices, page 28 People, Anecdotes, page 29
People, A thru B, page 31 People, C thru F, page 32 People, G thru H, page 33
People, I thru L, page 34 People, M thru O, page 35 People, P thru S, page 36
People, T thru Z, page 37 People, Oral Interviews, page 38 People, deceased, page 39
Engineering, page 40    
Engineering, Couplers, page 41 Engineering, Components, page 42 Engineering, Field Service, page 43
Engineering, Interfaces, page 44 Engineering, Memory, page 45 Engineering, Patents, page 46
Engineering, Peripherals, page 47 Engineering, Software, page 48 Engineering, Training, page 49
Computers, page 50    
Computers, 24 bits, page 51 Computers, 30 bits, page 52 Computers, 18 bits, page 53
Computers, 16 bits, page 54 Computers, 32 bits, page 55 Computers, 36 bit, page 56
Computers, Air Force, page 57 Computers, Other, page 58 Computers, Commercial, page 59
Systems , page 60    
Systems, Air Traffic Control, page 61 Systems, Airborne, page 62 Systems, Government, page 63
Systems, International, page 64 Systems, Marines, page 65 Systems, Aerospace, page 66
Systems, Naval, page 67 Systems, Air Sovereignty Ops Ctrs, page 68 Systems, Commercial, page 69
Places , page 70    
Places, Twin Cities, page 71 Places, US, page 72 Places, International, page 73
Places, Blue Bell, PA, page 74 Places, Burroughs, page 75 Places, Manufacturing Operations, page 76
Places, Winnipeg Operations , page 77 tbd, page 78 tbd, page 79
Contacts & Links , page 80    
Volunteer Form, page 81 Thank You, page 82 Picnic Form, page 83
Christmas Form, page 84 River Cruise Form, page 85