Lake and Benjamin M. Durfee, shalt not covet thy Neighbor’s who had previously worked on System,” which he claimed to December the Harvard Mark 1 [Aug 7] with have “translated from the Old Don Piatt. Durfee and Piatt Geek.” He also revealed that the would later be assigned to the Mexican version of MS-DOS is Dickens and SSEC [Jan 27]. “DOS Equis” and the Swedish is “Häagen-DOS.” Babbage At the height of his renown, Dec. 1855 Armstrong donned vestments, glued a microchip to his Charles Dickens attended forehead (" the third I/O”) and Charles Babbage's [Dec 26] presented pun-filled “DOSpels” Saturday famous soirees at least to thousands at COMDEX [Dec once [March 00], where he may 3]. have seen a demonstration of the first Difference Engine [June A typical sermon began: 14] and listened to chitchat “Dearly -loved, we are about the Analytical Engine [Dec assembled here together 23]. because PCing is believing. We’re here to console you; ASCII Dickens probably based the One of the Aberdeen PSRCs. character of the struggling and ye shall receive. We say Photo by Eric Hankam. (c) IBM there is a life worth debugging. inventor Daniel Doyce in “Little Archive. Dorrit” partly on Babbage and Data, data, everywhere, but not a on his engineer, Joseph Clement. thought to think, that’s the The first two PSRCs were The book’s fictional problem…. Friends, perhaps you delivered to the Ballistics Circumlocution Office satirizes know someone out there with a Research Lab (BRL) at the the British Treasury and its terminal illness…” Aberdeen Proving Ground in dealings with Babbage over Dec. 1944, where they were Armstrong also founded the funding for his engines. Doyce is known as the Aberdeen Relay world’s first tech religion, The described like so: Calculators. Church of Heuristic Information "He was not much to look at, Processing (C.H.I.P), and became The Aberdeens were America’s either in point of size or in point its sole prophet and apostle fastest digital calculators at the of dress; being merely a short, [April 4]. Then he gave it all up: time, capable of 24,000 six-digit square, practical looking man, “I lost interest and everyone was multiplications per hour, twenty whose hair had turned grey, and self-interested.” times faster than the Mark I. in whose face and forehead They were still being used in Armstrong is now a spiritual there were deep lines of 1952, by which time the BRL teacher and astrologer living in cogitation, which looked as also had the ENIAC [Feb 15], the Vancouver, where he founded though they were carved in hard EDVAC [April 12] and ORDVAC. the Vedic Academy of Sciences wood." and Arts, and is the author of The IBM 604, an electronic The novel first appeared in numerous books including: (vacuum-tube) version of the serial form, in 19 monthly “Spiritual Teachings of the PSRC was released in [June 00] instalments published between Avatar, Ancient Wisdom for a 1948. The 604 was the main Dec. 1855 and June 1857. New World.” computing element in IBM's Card-Programmed electronic Calculator (CPC), which sold The PSRC very well until moderately FORTRAN Begins priced, stored-program Dec. 1944 computers became available in Dec. 1953 the mid-1950's. The IBM Pluggable Sequence John Backus [Dec 3] submitted a Relay Calculator (PSRC) was a proposal to IBM to develop a special purpose punched card practical alternative to assembly machine for determining language for programming the Jeffrey Armstrong IBM 704 [May 7]. FORTRAN artillery firing trajectories for (aka Saint $ilicon) the Army. It's sometimes called (“FORmula TRANslator”) would the missing link between Born: Dec. 1947; simplify the programming punched card equipment and Detroit, Michigan process by allowing the use of the stored-program computer. algebra-like expressions when In 1987, Armstrong published writing . Its specification was due to “The Binary Bible of Saint Wallace Eckert [June 19] but the $ilicon”, an omnibus of prayers, Backus’ boss, Cuthbert Hurd machine was designed and built nursery rhymes, and [April 5], gave him the go-ahead, by an IBM team led by Clair D. commandments, such as “Thou and work began in early 1954.

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Backus sought out a correct switches on the console unwelcome, but the individual development team with would cause the girl’s hips to only replied, “but this is "creativity, a lot of smarts and sway, synchronized to music important!” In other words, this experience. We had a great played on the console’s buzzer. may have been the first spam variety of people: a physicist, a If the operator pointed the message, although Gary Thuerk crystallographer, an English console’s light gun (another is usually granted the award for major.” handy part of SAGE’s design) at that innovation [May 3]. the dancer's navel and pulled For example, Sheldon Best, on Another contender for first the trigger, her skirt would drop loan from MIT, wrote the part of email (on a time-sharing off and the screen go blank. the compiler that decided how machine) are the DIAL, LINK and Sadly, there's no pictorial record to use the 704’s index registers JOIN commands on the SDC [Oct of that program in action. efficiently. Roy Nutt, formerly 00] AN/FSQ-32 (aka Q32) at head of the data center at United DARPA. They were developed by Aircraft, was responsible for the Larry Roberts [Dec 21] and FORMAT I/O, and Harlan CTSS MAIL Thomas Marill in the early Herrick decided to call the 1960's. language's unconditional jump a Dec. 1964 For an alternative view on the GOTO [May 11]. Tom Van Vleck and Noel Morris origins of EMAIL, see [Aug 30]. For relaxation, the team held implemented the first e-mail lunch-time “blind chess” program for MIT’s Compatible matches and, in the winter, Time-Sharing System (CTSS impromptu snowball fights. [May 3]) in the summer of 1965. PDP-7 (and UNIX) However, the original idea of Dec. 1965 The first FORTRAN program was having a CTSS MAIL command successfully run by Herrick on had been proposed in The PDP-7 was DEC’s third 18- Sept. 20, 1954. A preliminary "Programming Staff Note" (PSN) bit machine, and quite similar to report on the language was 39 by Louis Pouzin, Glenda the PDP-4 but less expensive, released on [Nov 10] 1954. The Schroeder, and Pat Crisman in retailing at a very reasonable first FORTRAN manual appeared Dec. 1964. The full story was $72,000. It was the first machine two years later on [Oct 15] 1956, explained in a series of to use DEC’s “flip-chips”, 3 by 5 followed by the first compiler in fascinating articles that inch boards holding multiple 1957 [Feb 26; April 19]. appeared in The New York Times discrete components. Also, the in June 2011, written by the standard core memory capacity noted filmmaker Errol Morris was set at 4K words, expandable Computer Art (and brother of Noel). up to an impressive 64K words (equivalent to 144 KB). Dec. 1956 In the mid-1960's, Van Vleck wrote another “mail” command, The PDP-7 is probably best The earliest known computer- this time for [Nov 30] remembered as the computer generated art work was a that he modeled on CTSS MAIL, where [Feb 4] glamor girl image, probably and Bob Frankston [June 14] began developing UNIX. He was copied from the December 1956 (then an undergraduate) looking for a machine suitable as pinup drawn by George Petty for contributed a Multics version of a home for his “Space Travel” that year's Esquire calendar. text messaging. game, which he had nurtured on To be clear, these tools only Multics [Nov 30] until Bell The image was displayed during pulled out of the project in April the execution of a diagnostics allowed users to communicate 1969. He had first tried program used when data was on a single time-sharing the game over to a GE 635 transferred between two SAGE computer. The first program for running GECOS, but the OS [June 26] computers. The sending e-mail over the processed jobs in batch mode rendering was made possible ARPANET [Oct 29] was probably which was poorly suited to because each console included a Ray Tomlinson’s [April 23] playing games. Thompson then 19-inch circular cathode ray extension to SNDMSG in 1971. found an unused PDP-7, which tube (CRT) that could draw By the 1970's, there were over a sported an excellent Graphics II vector lines. We know all this thousand CTSS users. Van Vleck terminal (offering a resolution of because budding historian was mightily displeased one day 1024 x 1024 pixels). Also, the Lawrence Tipton snapped the in 1971 to discover that a machine's OS, DECsys, provided only known photo of the pinup sysadmin had sent a long anti- an interactive, single user, during his time at Fort Lee in war message to every user. It program development Virginia in early 1959. began: environment for Fortran and assembly language. However, SAGE veterans also remember THERE IS NO WAY TO PEACE. another risqué diagnostics PEACE IS THE WAY. the OS worked best on a PDP-7 program that debuted around with 8K words of memory and 1960. It featured the outline of a Van Vleck pointed out that this two DECtape mass storage topless hula dancer. Flipping the was inappropriate and possibly drives, while the machine

2 commandeered by Thompson microprocessor-based computer group of machines that were only had paper tape storage. ever. desktop computers in all but This meant that porting “Space name: they included the 9830, For a while (Oct-Nov 1971), the Travel” required Thompson to the Tektronix 4051, the IBM SIM-4 was known as the Intel build his own floating point 5100 [Sept 9], and Wang 2200 4004 micro-Computer, but the math library, assembler, [May 00]. They disappeared name was changed so that Intel debugger, file system, and with the arrival of 'true' PCs various tools for manipulating could argue that it wasn't selling such as the Apple II [June 5] and “computers”, only “simulators”. files. In effect the cut-down PDP- IBM PC [Aug 12]. 7 forced him to begin coding up Several commercial products UNIX. used the SIM4-01 board (and its -02 and -03 revisions) as a Around 120 PDP-7s were sold processor module, and SIM4 IBM 6640 during their five years of sales approached the $1 million- production, and today there’s Dec. 1976 a-year range in 1972. some debate about which one The growth of ink-jet printing was appropriated by Thompson. arguably dates from today's had four PDP-7s in the introduction of the 6640 printer, summer of 1969, and based on HP 9830A the first able to operate their hardware specs, unattended – it could feed itself researcher Warner Losh thinks Released with paper and change typefaces that Thompson adopted model automatically under program number 34. Dec. 1972 control. However, print quality Losh also believes this machine The 9800 series marked HP's was only acceptable at 240×240 had a starring role in the 1968 transition away from dpi, often made worse by ink Bell Labs educational short film, programmable calculators (as splatter, and it cost over “The Incredible Machine”, which typified by the HP 9100 [Oct 4]) $20,000. Usually, the HP promoted the lab’s work on towards desktop computers. Thinkjet is considered the and music. In breakthough inkjet device [Feb The 9830 had a full the video, Max Matthews [Nov 1]. alphanumeric keyboard a 32- 13] is seen listening to his “Daisy character red LED display, a The 6640 was originally called Bell” tune [Jan 12], and the cassette tape drive, and ran the 46/40 but was renamed to graphics work of A. Michael Noll BASIC. The machine could be better fit into IBM’s Office [Aug 29] and Kenneth C. expanded via multiple ROM and System/6 word processing Knowlton [Feb 28] also appear peripheral interfaces slots. range. briefly.

Thompson moved “Space Travel” and his proto-UNIX over to a PDP-11 [Jan 5] upon its Electric Pencil arrival at Bell Labs in 1970, and Dec. 1976 UNIX was operational by Feb. 1971. The first edition of UNIX Michael Shrayer released was released on [Nov 3] 1971. Electric Pencil, the first word processor for a microcomputer. It implemented features such as word wrap, line and paragraph Intel SIM4-01 indentation, centering, Dec. 1971 underlining, and boldface. Electric Pencil worked on When Intel introduced the 4004 systems using the Intel 8080 [Nov 15], suitable development A HP 9830A with an optional 9866 [April 18] or Zilog Z80 [March aids were also needed. The thermal printer mounted on top. 9], and only required 8K bytes of result was the SIM4-01 printed Photo by Hydrargyrum. CC BY-SA memory. It grew out of an editor circuit board, measuring 8.4 by 3.0. Shrayer had written for 5.7 inches. It had plugs to hold a correcting his assembler code on 4004, four RAM chips (to store a HP marketed the 9830 primarily the MITS Altair [Dec 19], called total of 320 4-bit words), and to scientists and engineers, and the Extended Software Package four EPROMs (for 1,024 8-bit often advertised it as a 1 (ESP-1). words). calculator since many companies still had complex Shrayer has cryptically Although only intended as a procedures for purchasing explained that the “Electric development and marketing aid, “computers”. Pencil” name was a joint effort: the SIM4-01 could be considered “My wife came up with one of a general purpose 4-bit From the late 1970's until early the words and I came up with computer, and therefore the first 1980's, there was a distinct the other.”

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By July 1978, twelve versions Tesler later recalled that Bill were available to accommodate Atkinson [April 27] stood so different configurations of close to him during his demo monitors, printers, cassette that Tesler could feel Atkinson’s Locksmith recorders, and disk drives. breath on the back of his neck. Dec. 1980 Shrayer eventually grew bored “He was asking extremely with all the programming, and intelligent questions that he The first microcomputer bit sold the rights. Also, powerful couldn’t have thought of just by ‘nibbler’, Locksmith, was alternatives, such as WordStar watching the screen,” Tesler released for the Apple II [June [Sept 00], started appearing at recalled. 5]. A nibbler is so named around this time. because it copies data from a floppy disk one bit at a time by Shrayer had previously been a talking directly to the drive’s member of the executive staff of hardware. This bypasses any the TV programme, “Candid copy protection scheme that the Camera”. owner of the disk’s data might be employing. Later Locksmith evolved from purely a bit- PARC Demo for copying program into a powerful disk and memory Apple utility. Dec. ?? and ??+2, The first few versions were distributed by Omega 1979 Microware, which was co- founded by Dave M. Alpert, who Prev: [Nov 00] Next: [Jan 19] also happened to be the Steve Jobs [Feb 24] and his Lisa president of the Northern team [Jan 19] visited Xerox Illinois Apple users Group. He PARC [July 1] twice in was widely believed to be December. PARC’s director, John Locksmith’s author, always Seely Brown had invited Jobs to The -76 GUI. Photo by denied it. view their technology in SUMIM.ST. CC BY-SA 4.0. Some other companies involved exchange for the option to buy in the nibbling business pre-IPO Apple stock [Dec 12]. Certainly, the appearance and included: “Rip ’Em Off Software”, The principal PARC engineers functionality of Smalltalk’s “Pirate’s Cove”, and “Mr. Xerox”. involved were Adele Goldberg interface affected the Lisa and [July 7], [April 24], Macintosh [Jan 24]. Lisa’s Dan Ingalls [Oct 12], and Diana original GUI was far more static Merry. than the Alto’s. It lacked Zork 1 Released At the first demo, Jobs’ team saw Smalltalk’s dynamic overlapping Dec. 1980 the Alto [March 1] (or probably windows, and only displayed the more powerful Dorado [May one active application at a time, “Zork: The Great Underground 6]), Bravo [Oct 00], and several which took up the whole screen. Empire - Part I”, later known graphical applications coded in Nor did the Lisa originally place simply as "Zork I", was an Smalltalk. None of this should much reliance on the mouse. interactive fiction game have been that surprising since Later Jobs admitted to loving the published by Infocom [June 22], the Alto and Smalltalk had been GUI so much that he’d missed and the first part in a planned around for several years by this the importance of networking trilogy. It was Infocom’s first point. These tools were not top- and object-oriented game, and a massive 378,987 secret: [May 7] had programming which Smalltalk copies were sold by 1986. written several articles about also highlighted. them (e.g. in the Sept. 1977 issue The opening text has become of Scientific American), and Early in 1980, Jobs asked Xerox somewhat famous: Goldberg had published a piece for a license to use Smalltalk in “You are standing in an open in IEEE Computer in March 1977. the Lisa, but Xerox turned him field west of a white house, with down. Not easily dissuaded, Jobs Two days later (although a few a boarded front door. There is a offered Tesler a job in April, authors believe the interval was small mailbox here.” which he accepted. Tesler went nearer a month), Jobs and his on to head the Lisa user Several of the game’s situations team returned. This time Bill interface team and help design and descriptions are now iconic Souders, the head of Xerox’s the Macintosh, and eventually within interactive fiction, such business planning group, became Apple’s chief scientist. as the brass lantern and the ordered a demo of more secret “Elvish sword of great stuff. Ten years later Xerox sued antiquity”. Zork also introduced Apple [Dec 14] over its GUI. the grue, a “sinister, lurking

4 presence” who kills adventurers business, and paying a five-year Programming was done with a who misguidedly risk exploring license fee for PostScript. This modified BASIC called Androtext in the dark. deal made Adobe the first via a PC connected though a company in Silicon Valley to serial cable. There was also a The first version [May 27] was become profitable in its first top-mounted hexadecimal written in the late 1970's by Tim year. By 1987, PostScript had keyboard, a mechanism for Anderson, Marc Blank, Bruce become the industry standard recording and playing back Daniels, Dave Lebling, and [July 15]. motor and arm movements, and others at MIT. Members of this a traditional remote control unit. group founded Infocom in 1979, In 1990, Adobe introduced There was even a top-mounted and looked around for a money- Photoshop [Feb 19] which soon breadboard available so a user making project suitable for PCs, came to dominate the market, could build interfaces to the such as the TRS-80 [Aug 3] or followed in 1993 by PDF, the robot's I/O ports and CPU. the Apple III [June 5. Zork was Portable Document Format, and an obvious choice, but it ran on a its Adobe Acrobat and Reader. Heathkit published several DECsystem-10, and was too big PDF is now an International books of experiments for the for PCs of the day, or was it? standard. HERO 1, and it was possible to earn a Certificate of Joel Berez and Marc Blank came Achievement by completing up with a clever solution: a them all. programming system designed Heathkit HERO 1 specifically for Zork, which BYTE magazine called the HERO allowed about half of the old Released 1 “a product of extraordinary Zork to be squashed into 32K Dec. 1982 flexibility and function.” bytes of memory and one floppy-disk drive. HERO (Heathkit Educational Zork was rewritten in this "Zork RObot) was a range of ImageWriter Implementation Language" educational robots sold by (ZIL), which ran on a virtual Heathkit [July 00] during the Released 1980's, either as kits or prebuilt. machine. Each kind of PC Dec. 1983 hardware ran different versions The HERO 1 was a small three- of this coded using a "Z-machine wheeled device using an 8-bit The Apple ImageWriter was a Interpreter Program" or ZIP. Motorola 6808 with 4 KB of popular 9-pin dot matrix printer Although Infocom shut down in RAM. It featured light, sound, [Oct 00] that was actually a 1989, the ZIL, ZIP, and Z- and motion detectors, and its repackaged printer made by C. machine did not die. In May base could rotate up to 250 Itoh Electronics. degrees. An optional mechanical 1993, Graham Nelson released Aside from boring old text, the arm, speech synthesizer and the first version of his Inform ImageWriter could draw images recognizer were also available. compiler [April 30], which with a resolution of up to 144 generated Z-machine files. DPI, which permitted it to Inform has since become so reproduce WYSIWYG screen popular that a large proportion output [Sept 17]. This was an of all interactive fiction is stored important requirement for as Z-machine data. promoting the Mac GUI [Jan 24] and, later, desktop publishing. The ImageWriter II was released Adobe in Sept. 1985, and stayed in production until late 1996, Dec. 1982 making it the longest-running Adobe Systems was founded by Apple product. With an optional John Warnock [Oct 6] and networking card, the Charles Geschke [Sept 11] to ImageWriter II was a low cost develop and sell their PostScript alternative to the vastly more page description language. The The Heathkit HERO 1. Photo by expensive LaserWriter [March company began in Warnock’s Boris Jakubaschk. CC BY-SA 3.0. 1]. It could also produce basic garage, and the Adobe name color images when a color came from the Adobe Creek that ribbon was installed [March 20]. ran behind his house. The album “A Spectrum of Almost immediately, Steve Jobs Infinite Scale” (2000), by surf- [Feb 24] tried to buy the rock band “Man or Astro-man?” company for $5 million, but includes the song “A Simple Text Warnock and Geschke refused. File”, which is a recording of the Instead Jobs had to settle for sounds made by an ImageWriter buying shares worth 19% of the II as it prints a file.

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Dawkins' weasel was coded in Van Eck Phreaking BASIC, but many other Dec. 1985 implementation can be found ThunderScan online at Dec. 1984 Van Eck phreaking [Oct 00] is a http://rosettacode.org/wik form of eavesdropping where i/Evolutionary_algorithm Thunderware introduced the electromagnetic emissions are Dawkins has acknowledged that ThunderScan, an optical scanner picked up from a device, and “weasel” is an imperfect analogy that was installed in place of used to recreate its data. Such since doesn't progress Apple’s ImageWriter ribbon signals are generated by toward a goal. Nevertheless he cartridge [prev entry]. keyboards, displays, and has argued that it still illustrates printers. The hardware was developed by the significant difference Victor Bull and Tom Petrie, with In Dec. 1985, Wim van Eck between cumulative selection software by Andy Hertzfeld published the first and pure . [April 6] who was on sabbatical unclassified technical from Apple at the time. For a analysis of the security while, it was both the least risks for monitors in expensive (around $200) and "Electromagnetic the highest quality scanning Radiation from Video choice for the Macintosh [Jan Display Units: An 24], although it was far from Eavesdropping Risk?" speedy. Over its lifetime, it sold One of the nasty results around 100,000 units. was that successfully observing a real system, at a range of hundreds of meters, A Biomorph. Photo by Scott could be implemented with just Maxwell and Audrius Quicken 1.0 $15 worth of equipment plus a Meskauskas. GPL. Released TV set. Government researchers had Dec. 1984 been aware of the danger for Dawkins' book also describes a decades. For example, Bell Labs more sophisticated graphical Quicken is a personal finance [Jan 1] had noted the model of artificial selection, management tool originally vulnerability to secure which could be purchased developed by Intuit, Inc. The teleprinter communications separately. It displayed a two company was founded in 1983 during WWII, being able to dimensional shape called a by Scott Cook and Tom Proulx, produce 75% of the plaintext at “biomorph” made up of lines after the pair accidentally met a distance of 80 feet. where the length, position, and outside the angle of those lines were defined library. Cook was posting flyers by rules that Dawkins argued soliciting for a developer, and were analogous to those used by Proulx was a Biomorphs a genome. These rules added major looking for work. Dec. 1986 and removes lines, thereby Cook’s idea was called Kwik- creating a new shape, in a Chek, which he came up with ’ “The Blind process somewhat akin to while watching his wife pay bills. Watchmaker” (1986) begins by . The results were then As the software's release date demonstrating that the displayed on the screen, and the approached, Cook headed to a evolutionary process – random user could choose between Palo Alto bookstore in search of variation combined with non- them, to steer the evolution by inspiration for a better name. random cumulative selection – is “natural” selection. quite different from random Under "fast" in a thesaurus he Another Dawkins' book, “The single-step selection. He does found "quicken". Proulx’s Selfish ”, introduced the this with the “weasel” program response was: “Isn’t that when a idea of a “” [Nov 15]. pregnant woman starts to feel which produces the “METHINKS her baby move?” IT IS LIKE A WEASEL” phrase from “Hamlet”. The program There were already a number of must be supplied with a random Xanadu 2.0 Land financial programs on the string, which is “evolved” market, but Cook drew on his through “breeding” and by Purchase background in sales to get choosing “offspring” strings Quicken sold through regular according to their resemblance Dec. 1988 retail outlets such as Walmart, to the final phrase. Using these "Xanadu 2.0" is the nickname for which hadn't previously stocked processes, the phrase can be software. Bill Gates’ [Oct 28] 66,000 reached in just 40 generations. square foot mansion near Redmond. It sits on five acres,

6 built into a hillside overlooking introduced a “Rotate-Scale- reclaimed his CEO position on Lake Washington. It cost over Translate” gesture which looks [Sept 16] 1997. $60 million to build, taking over very similar to the now Ellison believes this talk took seven years to finish. The ubiquitous smartphone pinch- place in Castle Rock State Park burning question is: why that and-zoom command. near Los Gatos in 1995; this name? Rubine’s demo software ran on Christmas date was given in Most Westerners have heard of CMU’s Sensor Frame hardware Walt Isaacson’s biography of Xanadu through the poem which had been developed by Jobs. “Kubla Khan” by Samuel Taylor Paul McAvinney in the mid- Coleridge, which begins: 1980's. It consisted of a frame of infrared lights that could be In Xanadu did Kubla Khan SixDegrees.com A stately pleasure-dome slipped over a monitor, and used decree: infrared-sensing to detect when Launched Where Alph, the sacred fingers entered the frame. river, ran McAvinney had its own version Dec. 1997 Through caverns measureless of pinch-and-zoom, a two- to man fingered “zoom in” and “zoom Andrew Weinreich's Down to a sunless sea. out” gesture. SixDegrees.com was probably the first social network website, Incidentally, Gate’s Xanadu Incidentally, the Sensor Frame in that it allowed site members contains a 2,100 square foot research was carried out at to list friends, family, and library with a dome shaped roof. CMU’s “Music Lab”, which was acquaintances. It was modeled The library is home to the Codex visited by Steve Jobs [Feb 24] in on the six degrees of separation Leicester [Nov 11]. Oct. 1985 after he had signed a concept with users able to send non-disclosure agreement. Xanadu was also the name of messages and post bulletin Charles Foster Kane’s estate in An alternative first for pinch- board items to people in their the film “Citizen Kane” (1941). and-zoom is Myron Krueger’s first, second, and third degrees. The story shows how Kane [March 1] Videoplace, also from However, they could see their changes from an idealistic young 1985, although it involved hands connections to any other user. man into a ruthless tycoon. not fingers. At its height, SixDegrees had Xanadu is also the home of around 3.5 million members, Mandrake the Magician in the which actually translated into long-running comic strip of that A More Circuitous quite small groups of friends – name (it began in 1934). His the essential problem was that Xanadu is a high-tech mansion Route not enough people were on the Web at that time. atop a mountain in New York Dec. 1996 State. Hidden behind wall panels Other possibilities for “first in Mandrake’s study is the Larry Ellison [Aug 17] and Steve social network site” are "Crystal Cube", a source of Jobs [Feb 24] took a walk during Classmates [Nov 17] and untold power, including the their Christmas vacation in SocialNet.com [Aug 5]. granting of a greatly increased Hawaii. Ellison wanted to life span (but only if you discuss taking over Apple, which meditate in front of it each day). was worth a mere $5 billion at It's also worth recalling that the time. Ellison’s idea was to IPv6 "Project Xanadu" is the name of buy Apple and immediately Dec. 1998 Ted Nelson’s [June 17] hypertext make Jobs CEO. The IPv4 [Sept 1] Internet project, begun in 1960. Jobs counter-proposed what protocol supports 32-bit words, Ellison later called “a more It is not true that the doormat so provides only a woefully circuitous route.” Ellison should outside Xanadu 2.0's front door small 4.3 billion different persuade Apple to acquire NeXT has the word “Start” written addresses; it became clear [Oct 12], then have Jobs join upon it rather than the more during the 1990's that the Apple’s board. Ellison recalled conventional “Welcome”. supply was rapidly running out. that the plan was that "over time This concentrated the minds of the board would recognize that the Internet Engineering Task Steve was the right guy to lead Force (IETF [Jan 16]), leading to the company. I said okay. That Multi-touch the release of RFC 2460 which might work.” Gestures defined IPv6. Apple announced its intent to IPv6 uses 128-bits, increasing Dec. 1991 buy NeXT on [Dec 20], 1996. the number of addresses to a Jobs joined the executive more comfortable 4×1038. It also Dean Rubine’s thesis was committee as advisor to Gilbert adds hierarchical addressing, entitled “The Automatic F. Amelio on Feb. 4, 1997. and Recognition of Gestures”, and

7 simplified message routing, and improved security. You may wonder why IPv4 was replaced by IPv6 and not IPv5? The number 5 had been employed during the development of the experimental Internet Stream Protocol in 1979, which never caught on. To avoid any confusion, the IETF decided to skip IP from 4 to 6. IPv4 addresses ran out (for the first time) on [Feb 3] 2011.

Blue Gene Dec. 1999 IBM announced a $100 million, five-year effort to build a massively parallel computer for the study of biomolecular phenomena such as protein folding. Another aim was to create a machine that could reach speeds in the petaFLOPS range, combined with low power consumption. The project produced three generations of computers: Blue Gene/L, Blue Gene/P, and Blue Gene/Q [March 2]. Blue Gene systems have often led the TOP500 [June 24] and Green500 rankings of the most powerful and most power efficient supercomputers. The “L” in Blue Gene/L comes from “Light” as that design’s original name was “Blue Light”. The “P” refers to the petascale design. “Q” is just the letter after “P”, and there is no Blue Gene/R. Blue Gene/P has been used to simulate approximately 1% of a human cerebral cortex, simulating 1.6 billion neurons with approximately 9 trillion connections.

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