When reading this, keep in mind that a single AMD 6990 Graphics Card which is available for $700 is capable of over 5 teraFlOPS.
Also, Philip Elmer-De Witt still writes about technology.
And apparently Seymour Cray was so bad-ass he played Minecraft for real.
Fast and Smart – Designers race to build the supercomputers of the future
The computer at the University of Illinois is simulating something that no one saw: the evolution of the universe in the aftermath of the Big Bang. Re-creating conditions that may have prevailed billions of years ago, the computer reveals on a remote screen how massive clouds of subatomic particles, tugged by their own gravity, might have coalesced into filaments and flattened disks. The vivid reds, greens and blues of the shapes are not merely decorative but represent the various densities of the first large structures as they emerged from primordial chaos in the near vacuum of space.
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I certainly remember Elephant disks. When I first got my Apple IIc I joined a subscription service at a local software store where they let you rent a different program every week. Every time you went in to swap programs they would also give you a free, Elephant brand, floppy disk. In retrospect I was obviously supposed to pirate the apps, but I was 9 and found my self thwarted by the copy protection. I remember, some apps would let you make one, and only one back up disk of the program. So if I was the first one to rent it, then I could snag a copy.
REMEMBER: ELEPHANT MEMORY SYSTEMS “NEVER FORGETS.”
MORE THAN JUST ANOTHER PRETTY FACE.
Says who? Says ANSI.
Specifically, subcommittee X3B8 of the American National Standards Institute (ANSI) says so. The fact is all Elephant™ floppies meet or exceed the specs required to meet or exceed all their standards.
But just who is “subcommittee X3B8″ to issue such pronouncements?
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Be sure to check out Part 1.
Antique Mechanical Computers Part 2: 18th and 19th Century Mechanical Marvels
Dr James M Williams
58 Trumbull St
New Haven CT 06510
In “Part 1: Early Automata,” page 48, July 1978 BYTE, we traced the development of antique mechanical computers up to the middle of the 18th century, and described such devices as Vaucanson’s mechanical duck. Now we continue with a discussion of talking, writing and music playing automata of the 18th and 19th centuries. (The discussion is not meant to be an exhaustive one, of course, since that would be beyond the scope of this series.) Later Automata.
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This reminds me of XKCD’s Map of Online Communities.There was a time when Pascal seemed like it was the ascendant language, just before C just zoomed on by and took over the world. I remember reading the Inside Macintosh books when I was a kid and thinking, shit, I’m going to have to learn this Pascal thing.
About the Cover
by Carl Helmers
It is rare when one can indulge in one’s prejudices with relative impunity, poking a bit of good humored fun to make a point. The design of the cover, entitled “Pascal’s Triangle” provided just such an opportunity. The cover was executed by Robert Tinney, but the prejudices are all mine and were given to him as a fairly detailed script. The point is that Pascal is here, it is consistent with use by small computers, such as many readers own, and it is available in the form of the UCSD software system at quite a nominal charge above the cost of the hardware required. Read the rest of this entry »
Jayessel: this reminded me of the stuff you did with your IIe.
THE CATS-EYE VIEW OF COLOR
The CBX Series: affordable, intelligent color imaging systems
The CBX subsystem interfaces with your PDP-11 ,* LSI-11* or other computer to provide high resolution imaging capabilities. With the optional frame grabber and television camera, you digitize full-color images from any source, using a computer-controlled color filter system. Read the rest of this entry »
