It would be nice for some of us to be able to think as quick as we type.
Perhaps then I wouldn't need a "Delete my previous post" button.
Senility has set in way before the arthritus, which will eventually
compensate for it. :-)
Gaz
""Jennifer Cribbs"" wrote in message
[EMAIL PROTECTED]">news:[EMAIL PROTECTED]...
> That's what I meant Howard. I think I left out a few words as I do that
most
> of the time. I think much quicker than I type.
>
> My understanding of this:
>
> All computer machines were decimal[base10] until the 40's. Atanasoff was
the
> original one who suggested binary to be used instead of base10 to correct
> the computational probems that existed in measuring current/voltage. In
> those days with base10, one was a little current, two was a little more,
> three a little more than that and so on and so on. It was not a very good
> way to be accurate and was met with many failures. With the induction of
> binary for current measureage, it became easy and computers were on their
> way to being a successful marketing venture. One was on, zero was off.
Very
> simple. But the original idea of the binary counting concept started with
> Ada. Not in the computer sense, but in a general sense of numbers.
>
> Or at least that what I have read.
>
> Jenn
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Howard C. Berkowitz [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]]
> Sent: Sunday, August 05, 2001 4:23 AM
> To: Jennifer Cribbs; [EMAIL PROTECTED]
> Subject: RE: Friday Funnie #2, Couldn't let this one go by!! [7:14809]
>
>
> Not serious, but the intellectual credit here goes to George Boole--as in
> "boolean arithmetic." Babbage/Lovelace machines were decimal.
>
>
>
> At 02:01 PM 8/3/2001 -0400, Jennifer Cribbs wrote:
> >Is this serious?
> >
> >I was under the impression that Ada Lovelace invented the binary counting
> >system. I was also under the impression that John Atanasoff came up with
> >the brilliant coding system that expressed everything in terms of two
> >numbers for the methodology of measuring the current or lack of current
in
> >regards to computers way back in the 40's.
> >
> >Before that everyone kept trying to incorporate the base10 system in
> >computers, which was a major headache and unsuccessfull, but that was in
> the
> >vacuum tube days.
> >
> >hmmm. Surely Microsoft doesn't think they can do this..Maybe this is a
> joke
> >however and I am just too d*** serious.
> >
> >Jenn
> >
> >
> >-----Original Message-----
> >From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]]On Behalf Of
> >Natasha
> >Sent: Friday, August 03, 2001 10:19 AM
> >To: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
> >Subject: OT: Friday Funnie #2, Couldn't let this one go by!! [7:14809]
> >
> >
> >REDMOND, WA--In what CEO Bill Gates called "an unfortunate but
> >necessary step to protect our intellectual property from theft and
> >exploitation by
> >competitors," the Microsoft Corporation patented the numbers one and
> >zero Monday.
> >
> >With the patent, Microsoft's rivals are prohibited from manufacturing
> >or selling products containing zeroes and ones--the mathematical
> >building blocks of all
> >computer languages and programs--unless a royalty fee of 10 cents per
> >digit used is paid
> >to the software giant.
> >
> >
> >"Microsoft has been using the binary system of ones and zeroes ever
> >since its inception in 1975," Gates told reporters. "For years, in the
> >interest of the
> >overall health of the computer industry, we permitted the free and
> >unfettered use of our proprietary
> >numeric systems. However, changing marketplace conditions and the
> >increasingly
> >predatory practices of certain competitors now leave us with no choice
> >but to seek
> >compensation for the use of our numerals."
> >
> >A number of major Silicon Valley players, including Apple Computer,
> >Netscape and Sun Microsystems, said they will challenge the Microsoft
> >patent as
> >monopolistic and anti-competitive, claiming that the 10-cent-per-digit
> >licensing fee
> >would bankrupt them instantly.
> >
> >"While, technically, Java is a complex system of algorithms used to
> >create a platform-independent programming environment, it is, at its
> >core, just
> >a string of trillions of ones and zeroes," said Sun Microsystems CEO
> >Scott McNealy, whose
> >company created the Java programming environment used in many Internet
> >applications.
> >"The licensing fees we'd have to pay Microsoft every day would be
> >approximately
> >327,000 times the total net worth of this company."
> >
> >"If this patent holds up in federal court, Apple will have no choice
> >but to convert to analog," said Apple interim CEO Steve Jobs, "and I
> >have serious doubts whether
> >this company would be able to remain competitive selling pedal-operated
> >computers
> >running software off vinyl LPs."
> >
> >As a result of the Microsoft patent, many other companies have begun
> >radically revising their product lines: Database manufacturer Oracle has
> >embarked on a
> >crash program to develop "an abacus for the next millennium." Cisco,
> >whose
> >communications and networking systems are also subject to Microsoft
> >licensing fees, is
> >working with top animal trainers on a chimpanzee-based
> >message-transmission system.
> >Hewlett-Packard is developing a revolutionary new steam-powered printer.
> >
> >Despite the swarm of protest, Gates is standing his ground,
> >maintaining that ones and zeroes are the undisputed property of
> >Microsoft.
> >
> >
> >
> >Above: Gates explains the new patent to Apple Computer's board of
> >directors. "We will vigorously enforce our patents of these numbers, as
> >they are
> >legally ours," Gates said. "Among Microsoft's vast historical archives
> >are Sanskrit
> >cuneiform tablets from 1800 B.C. clearly showing ones and a symbol known
> >as 'sunya,' or nothing.
> >We also own: papyrus scrolls written by Pythagoras himself in which he
> >explains the
> >idea of singular notation, or 'one'; early tracts by Mohammed ibn Musa
> >al Kwarizimi
> >explaining the concept of al-sifr, or 'the cipher'; original
> >mathematical manuscripts by
> >Heisenberg, Einstein and Planck; and a signed first-edition copy of
> >Jean-Paul Sartre's Being
> >And Nothingness. Should the need arise, Microsoft will have no
> >difficulty proving to
> >the Justice Department or anyone else that we own the rights to these
> >numbers."
> >
> >Added Gates: "My salary also has lots of zeroes. I'm the richest man
> >in the world."
> >
> >According to experts, the full ramifications of Microsoft's patenting
> >of one and zero have yet to be realized.
> >
> >"Because all integers and natural numbers derive from one and zero,
> >Microsoft may, by extension, lay claim to ownership of all mathematics
> >and logic
> >systems, including Euclidean geometry, pulleys and levers, gravity, and
> >the basic
> >Newtonian principles of motion, as well as the concepts of existence and
> >nonexistence," Yale
> >University theoretical mathematics professor J. Edmund Lattimore said.
> >"In other words,
> >pretty much everything."
> >
> >Lattimore said that the only mathematical constructs of which
> >Microsoft may not be able to claim ownership are infinity and
> >transcendental numbers like pi.
> >Microsoft lawyers are expected to file liens on infinity and pi this
> >week.
> >
> >Microsoft has not yet announced whether it will charge a user fee to
> >individuals who wish to engage in such mathematically rooted motions as
> >walking, stretching
> >and smiling.
> >
> >In an address beamed live to billions of people around the globe
> >Monday, Gates expressed confidence that his company's latest move will,
> >ultimately,
> >benefit all humankind.
> >
> >"Think of this as a partnership," Gates said. "Like the ones and
> >zeroes of the binary code itself, we must all work together to make the
> >promise of the computer
> >revolution a reality.
> >
> >As the world's richest, most powerful software company, Microsoft is
> >number one. And you, the millions of consumers who use our products, are
> >the zeroes."
> >--
> >Natasha Flazynski
> >CCNA, MCSE
> >http://www.ciscobot.com
> >My Cisco information site.
> >http://www.botbuilders.com
> >Artificial Intelligence and Linux development
> >------------------------------------------------
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