Bell Labs CARDIAC found!

To all fans of that ancient computer learning tool, the Bell Labs CARDIAC, I have finally succeded in my quest thanks to a generous tip from someone whose name has been lost in my overloaded home directory. The company that got the distribution rights to Bell Labs educational products is... Comspace Corp. 243 Dixon Ave. Amityville, NY 11701 1.516.789.0700 (v) 1.516.789.0890 (f) The CARDIAC is $14.95 plus $5 S&H/Ins in the U.S. Apparently, quantity discounts are available, but why you'd need more than one or two (one to scribble on, one to keep pristine), I don't know, unless you have lots of geeky nieces and nephews. The CARDIAC itself comes as a tri-folded piece of die-cut cardboard that unfolds to larger than 11"x17". 2/3 of it are the main body, the last 1/3 is the moving parts - slides for the accumulator, the op code and two address digits. The ladybugs that someone mentioned are the shape of a tennis racket - the shaft goes in a hole corresponding to the current program counter, the ladybug sticks out like a flag. Assembly looks pretty straightforward. Punch. Fold. Glue. At first glance the programming reminds me of a BCD PDP-8. There are 10 opcodes: 0 INP Input 1 CLA Clear and Add 2 ADD Add 3 TAC Test Accumulator contents 4 SFT Shift 5 OUT Output 6 STO Store 7 SUB Subtract 8 JMP Jump 9 HRS Halt and Reset Each of the 100 storage cells hold a three digit number - an opcode and two digit BCD operand, or three digit data. The "first program" looks like this... 17 034 Read "A" 18 035 Read "B" 19 134 Clear accumulator and add A 20 235 Add B ("S" is not in accumulator) 21 636 Store S 22 536 Print S 23 900 Halt and reset To "run" the program, you write in the numbers in the appropriate cells, write the two numbers to be added on an input strip, stick the bug in cell 17, and stick a blank "output" card in the output slot, then follow the flow diagram printed on the front of the CARDIAC. Towards the end of the booklet, the programming gets more and more complicated until CARDIAC can play NIM. I'm glad I finally tracked one down. I can see how many people remember it fondly (my own early experiences were with the Digicomp which is not so easy to find. I'd *gladly* pay $20 for one of those, even broken). In addition to the CARDIAC, Comspace also has other educational aids and books that were an outgrowth of Bell Labs science educational programs. When you call, tell them Ethan sent you. -ethan