What is the first computer? - test-drb@ccmp.vtda.org

22 Jun 1998

Just to be different, I accidentally sent this to Hans instead of the 
list last night. ;-)

P.

______________________________ Forward Header __________________________________
Subject: Re[6]: What is the first computer?
Author:  Philip Belben at PowerTech2
Date:    22/06/98 18:17

...
   Was the Z3
like the Z4 in using old 35mm cine film for punched tape? 
 (don't try and read it with an optical reader!!!!) 
 Never heard of opto-mechanics ? *g* 

 In fact all early Zuse computers used old cine tapes. 
 Z1, Z2, Z3, Z4. 
Opto mechanics?  Fine.  That is, fine if you want your data to be 
logically OR'd with the picture recorded on the film...

...
   Irony of the
week:  the 
 Pascal calculator in the London Science Museum is a decimal model.  That 
 in the Deutches Museum is a Pounds, Shillings and Pence model. :-) 
 Afaik they also own a decimal one, but Pounds, Shillings and Pence 
 ar _way_way_way_ more exotic :) - It gets a lot more attention than 
 'just' decimal calculaters, althrough the difference are only some 
 of the wheels. 
:-)  IIRC, marked Livres, Solz, and Deniers.  What's Solz an 
abbreviation of?  Solides?  I thought shillings were Sous!

(off topic)  I've always thought the single European currency should be 
called a Pound because there's a word for it in almost all European 
languages - Pfund, Livre, Lira, Peso(?) etc.  Dollar would do as well, I 
suppose (Thaler?).  Or even Ecu (Escudo?).  But Euro?!?!?!?

...
  Ich denke, also bin ich, also gut
 HRK 
What does "HRK" mean?  I apologise for taking it as your initials - our 
mail software strips off the header and you have to go and look for 
things like the Sender's name or address.  (The quotation is Descartes, 
isn't it?)

Philip.