Interesting Computer Trivia

Why are they called 'bugs'?  First glitches in programs caused by insect/bugs caught between relays.

The SmartMedia card is also known by the acronym SSFDC, but what does that stand for?

(Solid State Floppy Disk Card)

What's the easy way to tell a 16-bit PCMCIA card from a 32-bit CardBus card just by looking?

(Look for the "gold ripple" ground strip along the connector edge. It's necessary to comply with CardBus interference standards, and not present on 16-bit cards.)

When Apple needed a sturdy connector for the FireWire standard they were introducing, where'd they turn?

(Nintendo! Look at the "link cable" connector on a GameBoy. If it's strong enough for kids, it's strong enough for Apple! Pity they didn't repeat that logic when designing the iPod connectors.)

Who said ?: "There is no reason for any individual to have a computer in their home."

Ken Olson, president of Digital Equipment Corporation

The History of the Computer - Feel free to come up with your own questions based on these facts:

1847 - George Boole (UK) invents Boolean algebra. Boole publishes Mathematical Analysis of Logic, in 1847. Boolean algebra is the foundation of binary logic essential to computing.

1880 - Herman Hollerith invents a "tabulating machine using punchcards for computation". The machine is "an important precursor of the electronic computer", and was used to tabulate results of the US census.

1889 - Herman Hollerith founds a company that would later become IBM in 1911.

1906 - Following J.J. Thompson's 1897 discovery of the Edison effect (flow of electrons from a filament to a positively charged electrode), the American engineer Lee de Forest builds the first thermionic triode valve. The device can compare two electronic inputs and produce a logical output. This is the first applications of Boolean algebra.

1911 - Tabulating Machine Company of the US becomes International Business Machines.

1937 - Alan Turing develops the concept of a theoretical computing machine, "a key step to the development of the first computer".

1943 - Supported by the US Navy, Howard Aiken from Harvard builds the Mark I, the most advanced computer is the ASCC Mark 1, developed at Harvard University with backing from IBM. It was a switchboard capable of mathematic calculations without human intervention. Its specs, 51 feet long, 8-feet-high, weighs 5 tons and consisted of 750,000 parts. IBM chairman Thomas Watson is quoted as saying: "I think there is a world market for maybe 5 computers."

1943 - Hitler uses his cutting-edge hardware, the Enigma (based on a discovery by the Polish), for encryption. The Germans are "adept at jumbling up their messages with complicated algorithms that can only be cracked by computers".

1945 - P. Eckert and J. Maunchly design the US Army's ENIAC (Electronic Numerical Integrator And Calculator) at the University of Pennsylvania.

1947 - William Shockley and others at Bell Labs invent the transistor, which will eventually replace the thermionic valve.

1949 - Transistors, resistors, capacitors and other electronic components can be linked closely together on a printed circuit board, rather than being wired together separately.

1950 - The designers of ENIAC come up with the Univac (Universal Automatic Computer), the first mass-produced computer. Thermionic valves have practically been replaced.

1952 - IBM unveils the "Defense Calculator", later renamed the "701", capable of "2200 multiplications per second". The NSA (National Security Agency) uses it to break increasingly difficult encryption codes.

1953 - IBM (instituted in 1911) starts building large electronic computers. IBM machines are not as good as Univacs (succeeding the ENIAC) but marketing strategy make its sales better than Univacs.

1954 - The first high level programming language, FORTRAN, is published by IBM.

1958 - Eisenhower forms the ARPA (Advanced Research Projects Agency) to stem rivalries in the military for R&D funding. Budget is approved for $2 billion. Roy Johnson, ARPA's first director, defines ARPA's mission in military terms — to counter the perceived Soviet threat. His vision: "global surveillance satellites, space defense interceptor vehicles, strategic orbital weapon systems, stationary communication satellites, manned space stations and a moon base".

...this list goes on for days...  If you accept this I'll send you the entire 13 page document!  Heck, I'll send it to you anyway.  I love this stuff, no point in keeping it on my hard drive for ever!

Who were the BUNCH?

Which company started the whole idea of Windows, Icons, Mouse, and Panels/Pointers?