[rescue] San Antonio, TX area rescue

[Dave McGuire]

On Monday, December 2, 2002, at 02:45 PM, Jeffrey J. Nonken wrote:
> Got it. Thanks to all who answered.
>
> Instant isn't a problem. In fact, I'll probably not even bother, since 
> I'm not
> sure what I'd use one for anyway. :)

   Learning, man.  These are fascinating machines that much of the 
world's business runs on...and arguably, the ONLY computers in common 
use today that actually evolved from the earliest digital computers, 
and incorporate many of the techniques and thoughts that the world's 
most brilliant minds came up with from the 1940s to the 1960s...as 
compared to *everything* else we've got now which descends from the 
i4004, which was designed for use in a Japanese-built desktop 
calculator.  What we now know as computer technology was largely 
started in 1969 or so...but a LOT was learned before that, much which 
has been forgotten.  This is illustrated by the fact that advanced 
features, like pipelining or multiple execution units, are periodically 
introduced in modern processors and hailed as "important new 
developments"...but were around in the computers of the 1960s.

   I've actually been writing a big paper about that off-and-on for many 
months now.  Maybe I'll try to finish it soon.

       -Dave

--
Dave McGuire                 "You don't have Vaseline in Canada?"
St. Petersburg, FL                     -Bill Bradford