This approach worked, with Technology Architecture (aka Watson agreeing to help, VistA) in the early 2000's, by far Nov. 28th provided that IBM didn’t turn the largest medical system in the into “International Busa US, consisting of a suite of over Machines.” 80 different modules. László Kozma Between 1949 and 1951, Busa's Born: Nov. 28, 1902; team digitized the third canto of Dante's "Inferno" [Jan 1] on 136 Budapest, Hungary CBI punch cards, and a large Died: Nov. 9, 1983 collection of hymns by Aquinas. Nov. 28, 1977 Kozma was the designer of the Poetry and hymns were ideal Erwin and Adelle Tomash first Hungarian digital computer, choses during this "proof of incorporated the International a relay-based machine called the concept" stage because a card Charles Babbage Society [Dec MESZ-1. It was built at the could only fit eighty characters 26], which later became the University of Technology in at a time. Charles Babbage Institute (CBI) Budapest, went into service in In the end, the project took and the Charles Babbage 1957, and remained operational nearly thirty years to complete, Foundation (CBF), the advisory until 1969. It used around 2,000 with the Index Thomisticus board for the CBI relays, calculated using 8 digit growing to 56 printed volumes. decimals, and had a storage In Sept. 1980, the CBI became a capacity of 12 decimals; the first The project's success research center at the University version wasn't a stored-program encouraged IBM to index of Minnesota, specializing in the machine. Aquinas' Summa Theologica history of information [July 00], and for even more technology, particularly the literary shenanigans with history of and computers, see [Feb 1; Aug 1; networking since 1935. Of Roberto Busa Aug 22; Sept 9; Sept 11; Oct 26; particular interest is its Born: Nov. 28, 1913; Dec 25]. wonderfully extensive collection of oral history interviews, more Vicenza, Italy than 400 in total, and its Died: Aug. 9, 2011 "Reprints in the History of Busa, a Jesuit priest, was one of MUMPS Computing" series. the pioneers in using computers Nov. 28, 1971 for linguistic and literary analysis. He was the editor of the The Massachusetts General Index Thomisticus, a complete Hospital registered “MUMPS” as Vaporware index of the works of Saint a trademark; not the illness but Thomas Aquinas and some the "Massachusetts General Popularized related authors, that eventually Hospital Utility Multi- Nov. 28, 1983 encompassed ten million words Programming System". It's also of Medieval Latin. known by the even shorter name “Vaporware” generally means "M". hardware or software that has He began planning the index in been announced, but that the 1946, and met with Thomas J. MUMPS was essentially a developer has no intention of Watson Sr. [Feb 17] in 1949 to specialized database system and releasing any time soon, if ever persuade IBM to support the language first designed by Neil [July 1; June 17]. massive endeavor. Before the Pappalardo, Robert Greenes, and meeting, Busa had learned of an Curt Marble in 1966. In The term may date from 1982 internal IBM report that particular, it addressed the when Ann Winblad, president of essentially said that what he problem of how to store and "Open Systems Accounting wanted to do was impossible. As process the multitude of tests Software", asked two he waited outside Watson’s for a single ICU patient, coming engineers, John Ulett and Mark office, Busa noticed an IBM from multiple sources and Ursino, whether the poster bearing the motto, “The measuring many different development of [Aug 25] difficult we do right away; the factors, often in real time. This had stopped. One of them said, impossible takes a little longer,” data had to be accessed by "Basically, it’s vaporware". which he took into the conclave. dozens of medical staff, and the Winblad mentioned the word to system might have to support Busa later recounted, “Sitting Esther Dyson [Sept 18], who hundreds or thousands of down in front of him and used it in an article entitled patients. sensing the tremendous power “Vaporware” in today's issue of of his mind, I was inspired to Even now, MUMPS remains a the "RELease 1.0" newsletter. say: ‘It is not right to say ‘no’ very popular tool in healthcare. InfoWorld magazine editor before you have tried.’ I took out For example, it was used to Stewart Alsop also helped the poster and showed him his implement the Veterans Health popularize the phrase by own slogan.” Information Systems and

1 awarding a "Golden easily beaten out of top spot in Vaporware" trophy for TRS-80 2000 recent years by the Chinese Microsoft's prompt release of Nov. 28, 1983 shopping holiday known as Windows 1.0 on [Nov 20] 1985, "Singles Day," which occurs on a mere two years after its At COMDEX, RadioShack [Feb 2] Nov. 11. announcement. At the introduced the Tandy TRS-80 In 2020, Alibaba [April 4] presentation ceremony, the song Model 2000 (aka the Tandy shoppers spent more than 498 “The Impossible Dream” played 2000 or T-2000). It used the billion yuan ($75 billion) during in the background. Intel 80186 chip (the one that the event. came out between the 8086/8088 [July 1] and the 80286 [Feb 1]), and was the first RadioShack machine to employ WikiLeaks Leaks an Intel processor. Nov. 28, 2010 The T-2000's big problem was that while it was BIOS- WikiLeaks [Oct 4] began to compatible with the IBM XT release over 250,000 diplomatic [March 8], that really didn't cables acquired from an Vaporware? Photo by count for much. The truth was anonymous source thought to be Lindsay Fox. CC BY 3.0. that most popular MS-DOS US Army intelligence analyst software of the time bypassed Chelsea (Bradley) Manning, who the BIOS and directly accessed had been arrested in May. Related terms include: the hardware. This was dribbleware (software released necessary to achieve decent The cables, 15,000 of which in small increments); slideware performance, but it meant that were classified “secret,” included (products that exist only in a those programs couldn’t run on calls for an attack on Iran, vendor’s slide show); bloatware the computer. criticism of world leaders, and (software that eats your discussions of the Guantánamo computer); and nagware Not surprisingly, the T-2000 Bay prison camp. (software that keeps asking you failed to gain much support, for things). although after Tandy dropped Several newspapers, including , published support for it, a gallant band of brothers formed the “Tandy highlights. 2000 Orphans” to look after the ExecPC BBS machine. Nov. 28, 1983 The Imitation The ExecPC BBS was launched at Game Released 2:00am by Bob Mahoney in his Cyber Monday basement in Milwaukee. He had Nov. 28, 2005 Nov. 28, 2014 hooked a 1200-baud Hayes “The Imitation Game” was a modem [Jan 30] between his “Black Friday” is the Friday after historical movie directed by phone and a IBM PC with a Thanksgiving that's typically the Morten Tyldum, quite loosely 30MB hard drive, the largest busiest shopping day of the year, based on the biography “Alan then available. at least in the US. In a similar Turing: The Enigma” by Andrew vein, “Cyber Monday” is the first By the mid-1990’s, ExecPC had Hodges. It starred Benedict Monday after Thanksgiving become one of the most popular Cumberbatch as Turing [June that's become the busiest online BBS's in North America, well 23]. shopping day. Depending on the known for its extensive year, the date can range The film was criticized for its archives, and between Nov. 26 to Dec. 2. many inaccuracies. For example, competing against the likes of there was no mention of Gordon CompuServe [Sept 24] and In 2019, "Cyber Monday" online Welchman [March 18], or the Prodigy [Feb 13]. It now sales grew to a record $9.4 Polish work on the bomba [July supported 280 phone lines, a billion. Clearly, as millions 15], or the involvement of the then-staggering 300 GB of return to work following the British Tabulating Machine storage, and had over 80,000 tiring holiday weekend, their Company (BTM) [Feb 18]. The subscribers first prioirty is to use their office bombe’s ‘siblings’, the Heath computer to shop for Christmas. For more BBSes, see [Feb 16], Robinson [June 1] and the [May 11], [Dec 10]. The term was coined on this day Colossus [Jan 18] were also in 2005 by Ellen Davis and Scott absent. Silverman at Shop.org in a press The bombe shown in the movie release. was fairly close to the real one, However, both "Black Friday" having been based on a replica and "Cyber Monday" have been in the museum at Bletchley Park

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[Aug 15]. However, production designer Maria Djurkovic admitted that it had been made “a little more cinematic” by being made larger and having more of its internal mechanisms exposed. It also wasn't able to do any calculations. The movie version was subsequently put on display at Bletchley.

An accurate bombe replica, built by the "Phoenix" team led by John Harper (2008). Photo by Antoine Taveneaux. CC BY-SA 3.0.

On the day before the movie's release, The New York Times reprinted the 1942 crossword puzzle from The Daily Telegraph that had been used to recruit code breakers. Entrants who solved the reprinted puzzle could mail in their results for a chance to win a trip for two to London and a tour of Bletchley. Benedict Cumberbatch and Alan Turing are related in real life. According to the family history site Ancestry.com, the two are 17th cousins with family dating back to the 14th century. Both are related to John Beaufort, the first Earl of Somerset, through Cumberbatch’s and Turing’s paternal lines. A previous, more faithful, adaption based on Hodges' biography is the play “Breaking the Code” [Oct 21].

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