Remember ENIAC?

        "No doubt you've heard of ENIAC (Electronic Numerical Integrator and Computer) -- arguably the first real computer.Here is an article about this computer you might enjoy reading," Jim Hamm gets our attention. 

        "You'll note the picture shows it being used at Aberdeen Proving Grounds, Maryland, in 1947, where I first went for basic training in the Army -- but not in 1947, though.

        "Also note ENIAC could do 5000 instructions per second while, by contrast, the new iPhone 6 can do 25 billion calculations per second! As the old saying goes, 'we've come a long way, baby'...(grin)…"  Jim.

Cathode « Secret Geometry

        "For all you really old-school computer users, here's an alternative to the Terminal application that's a lot more fun to use," announces Prez Art Gorski.  Here's the link http://www.secretgeometry.com/apps/cathode/   The FAQ concludes with, "If you're a geek who wants to go down the rabbit hole, try Cathode."  

Tablets Outselling Notebooks

       "For the first time this year, it is forecast that tablet computers will outsell notebooks — and, if I recall correctly, notebooks have been outselling desktop computers for a few years," comments Jim Hamm.  He continues, "Here's the article. It has been interesting to me, who got into computers late in life, to see how  computer technology has evolved over, say, the last ten years. What's next?

        And Jim closes with this remark with a grin, "I think my first PC was running Windows 98 and had 8 MB of memory — a real 'powerhouse.'"

Learn About the Main Memory

       On October 25 John Carter sent a link to Tech Tuesday.  Here's the next installation that tells all about the Main Memory and "what makes it dumb, lazy, and slow"!

Understanding Computers Made Easier

If you want to understand more about how computers work you'll want to take a look at these links from John Carter.  He writes, "Albert Wenger has a blog called Continuations. Although Albert’s daytime job is working at a Venture Capital firm, he seems to be doing quite well at explaining how computers work in his Tech Tuesday column."Scroll down to "Computer’s Building Blocks" and to "Of Bits and Bytes." John closes with "Anyone new to computers will undoubtedly come away with a better understanding of the innards of a computer."

Beware! This is VERY techie!

A Look Back at the Osborne 1 Computer (updated 8/26/2015)

Remember back to April, 1981?  This article makes an interesting observation of the Osborne 1.  Jim Hamm remarks, "I knew nothing of the Osborne 1 then, and had the same lack of knowledge about computers:  period.  If any of you had or used an Osborne 1, I'd be interested in hearing about it."

Smartphone Vs. Computer

Here's an interesting tidbit to consider.  The new smartphones are better than your pc ever was . . . or will be.  Jim Hamm shares food for thought from this site.

A History of the Macintosh

        David Passell forwards this info on a "different history of the Macintosh."  He describes the 54-minute film and explains the complications of viewing of it with two different computers."The independent production, MacHeads, gives a different history of the Macintosh. It was made in 2008 shortly after the introduction of the iPhone. It contains the good, the bad, and the ugly about Mac and some of the characters involved. The end somewhat laments the decline of the camaraderie of User Groups and the de-emphasis on computer in favor of corporate Apple. Perhaps this is why a recent (ZDnet) announcement on Apple's direction mentions 'back to the Mac.' (There is a disclaimer at the end that Apple, Inc. is in no way connected with or sponsored the movie.) "Every 15 minutes or so the movie will be suddenly interrupted by a 15 second Allstate Commercial. This is typical of FREE streaming movie/network rerun sites I have become familiar with. "Since I have gotten a really fast internet connection (10Mb), movies and network reruns don't stutter on my MINI (2GHz Intel Core 2 Duo/2GB 667 MHz DDR2 SDRAM). However, be warned. All of the commercials for various high speed services neglect to tell you that the fastest service in the world will not do you any good on a lesser computer. "For example, I attempted to watch it on my iMAC (400 MHz PowerPC G3, 512 MB SDRAM). It was like watching a slide show with sound narration. I also had to force quit the browser (Safari 4.1.1) to get rid of it. Somebody who knows more than I do may know how to download/save the movie and watch it later, since I watched a DVD somewhat smoothly (until it encountered an 'error'). "Anyway, watch MacHeads and see what you think). Here is the link; if it doesn't open, paste it into your browser."

Notable Computer History

Going back to the very beginnings of the computer, this article starts with "The 'father of the personal computer' who kick-started the careers of Microsoft founders Bill Gates and Paul Allen has died at the age of 68.  Dr Henry Edward Roberts was the inventor of the Altair 8800, a machine that sparked the home computer era." It continues on with some fascinating facts.  Thanks to David Passell for sending this link.