View allAll Photos Tagged kilobyte
Remember the "paradigm shift" that was Windows 3? Pre-1990 Personal Computers, or PCs as they were known, had crude, kilobyte saving, single color, graphical interfaces. However, come Windows 3, all of that changed. By the time Windows 3.1 was launched (1992) users were able to customize the background of their screens using a variety of 16 color bitmapped 'tiles'.
This post-processed photo was inspired by one of those 'tiles': a 200 x 150 pixel file named leaves.bmp. This 15 kB file contained a simple bitmapped image of autumn leaves that, like a Escher lithograph, fitted together to create the impression of a seamless forest floor of 16 vibrant colors.
Dramatic Drone Dusk Truly Tranquil Tampa Bay Boating Beauty - IMRAN™
This was one of those stunning sunsets and dramatic dusks which fills the sea, sky, sight, and soul, with such color that a viewer is left gasping for breath, before bowing his head in gratitude to God for giving him the opportunity to have lived and experienced such magic in real life. I took this photo as the DJI Phantom 4 drone was flying backwards. I was bringing it in to land but continuing to face the breathtaking horizon scene for a livestream I was broadcasting. My friends and fans love the livestream views, which are magical despite being seen over a weak cellular network transmission with the low quality videos FaceBook actually posts. A photo like this (especially when you see it on Flickr where the photos are of much higher or actual original quality, not the low resolution poop quality FaceBook posts them at) shows you what the real magical scene was like. For example, FaceBook will post this photo at about 100-150 kilobyte size. The actual image is about 25 megabytes! Even reduced to JPG it is about 7 MB. So imagine how poor FaceBook photos quality is. So, do check out this photo at flickr.com/ImranAnwar and try zooming in to see the detail. Even if you don't, do enjoy this moment of magic it is my privilege to see and share with you all.
© 2018 IMRAN™
DCIM\100MEDIA\DJI_0042.JPG
• Killer
• Kama
• Kingdom
• Kern
• Kilobyte
• Keen
• Key
• Kick
• Kneecap
• Kilo
• Knowing
• Kindred
• Kinetic
• Kodak
• Kiwi
• Kiss
• Kyoto
• Kainotophobia
• Kym
But this time it's for Kitten
Shock, horror... my new terabyte hard disk is full! That is, I've filled it up with one trillion bytes of Cambridge images. I know I'm a serial shooter, but this really is plain ridiculous. So I've set myself a target in the coming days to try to delete half of the stuff. I know storage is now cheap, but there comes a point when one has to do a major clean. It is Spring after all (even though it doesn't feel like it here:-) It will also get me out more to shoot fresh stuff. That is the challenge!
Listen to this great Katie Melua tune: Nine Million Bicycles .
4032 PET and 4040 disk drive unit. The pet is an 8 bit machine. 6502 processor running at 1MHz. 32 kilobytes of RAM. The drives can write up to 170 kilobytes to each single sided floppy disk. Unfortunately the disk drive is non-op.
The 4032 was one of the first vintage computers I collected, c. 2003. I sold it to about a decade ago, and regretted it almost immediately. I recently reacquired it, and am happy to have it back. The interim owner gave me the 4040 drive, since he doesn't have any other Commodore computers to use with it.
[ Series : 64px2 ]
"Information on the 64px square is enough to separate whether that's my memory or not."
According to the technique of the image recognition using some famous mechanical learning, a picture of the approximately 64 px square degree is enough to discriminate "Which took the picture,s I or the others?", and, "this picture can get many 'good!' or not ?".
It's also said that it size is enough also for we human to discriminate these things.
I and my memories are compressed into data of around thousand pixels, convoluted and pooled and is reduced to the set of the piece.
"This is your memory, right?"
"This isn't your memory. "
"Hi, this picture will be popular. "
"Even if yo takes it out, isn't it wasteful?"
AI tells me, from only a few tens of kilobytes, whether it isn't so whether my memory is oneself's, tells whether I can get more feedback from society.
But AI doesn't know that the bride who was walking in the flower shower was crying with a smile facing her father and mother.
But AI does not know that walking paces of my parents, who I met after a long time, became slowly, and his and her hair color had gone to white.
And we, who are surprised by the outcome AI, as well as don't know either what defines me as myself is that it is small and insignificant fine pieces snapped by AI.
I tried to find out what my unique picture · my unique memory · my unique experience comes from, and for that reason, I compressed some pictures taken by my camera in the past to 64 x 43 px, which is close to the minimum size that it can be identified as this picture.
From the image made of 2752 pixels produced, the detail has largely disappeared, but we unexpectedly touched on the uniqueness of these pictures and what the situation shown by that picture was It can be inferred.
Furthermore, by gazing at these ambiguous pictures and applying our memory fragments to this image, it seems as if the picture showed it was my memory from the beginning.
Is it possible to distinguish your memory, extracted by staring at these photos with details lost, from my memory?
Ljerka u Zagrebu :-) Ljerka in Zagreb :-) Ljerka em Zagreb :-)
© Eugen Felšö (my father - in memoriam)
youtu.be/fzQC74pH33w?list=RDuggR3OL3JsA
22 000+ VIEWS:-)))))))))))))))
I believe this is the only one in the PMG group :P
Code: pastebin.com/EGG3BjSS
Only 14 kilobytes :D
Please give credit, if used.
~Yeehaw
Like many people around the world, I was affected by the death of Steve Jobs, as I knew in my heart that his vision had affected my life greatly. Rather than post another photo taken by someone else, or a corporate image, I thought about what my personal connection was to this great man.
In the early 1980's, I became interested in "computerizing" my textile screen printing business, ZOO-INK. I read books about databases and DOS, and although I understood what it was about, it was not for me.
In 1984 I was in Macys store (yes, Macys! clothing!) and saw an Apple Macintosh for sale. I moved the mouse and was able to draw a rough line on the computer monitor. Finally, this was for me.
I waited almost a year, for the next generation Mac, and in July of 1985 purchased a "Fat Mac", 512 kilobytes of RAM, no hard disk, 1 floppy drive and an external floppy (3.5" disk) drive. It was bundled with a dot matrix Imagewriter, all for the fantastic price of $2,998.00. Looks like I put half on my credit card and the paid for the other half with a check.
Over the next 10 years I designed fabric on this (and subsequent models), learned how to write database software, developed some business programs, and built an entirely new company, AG Systems, around the machine that allowed me to draw on the screen.
Although I think that many of the ideas that Steve Jobs brought to market would have happened anyway, I do credit him with the vision that accelerated the notions of what is possible in electronic computation for the everyman. I do believe he earned his CEO's salary and stock options.
View it large on black; it's only 34 kilobytes.
The original stitching is composed of 20 images, spanning 307 inches in width (that's 25½ feet!), and 31 inches in height @ 72 dpi. (79 cm x 780 cm.)
Il s'agit du quatrième rover robotique envoyé sur Mars par la NASA depuis 1996, les précédents rovers sont Sojourner de la mission Mars Pathfinder (1997), Spirit (2004–2010) et Opportunity (2004–2019). C’est une nouvelle génération de rovers qui débarque sur Mars avec Curiosity qui a la taille d'une voiture avec 2,9 m (9,5 pi) de long sur 2,7 m (8,9 pi) de large sur 2,2 m (7,2 pi) de hauteur, une masse de 899 Kg dont 75 kg de matériel scientifique (SPIRIT & Opportunity : 1,5 m (4,9 pi) de long et ont une masse de 174 kg (384 lb) dont 6,8 kg (15 lb) d'instruments scientifiques). Un mât implanté sur l'avant de ce boîtier et qui culmine à 2,13 mètres, porte plusieurs caméras, des sondes atmosphériques, ainsi que le spectromètre laser. Curiosity peut s'aventurer sur des pentes à 45° sans se retourner, il peut escalader des rochers ou franchir des trous d'une hauteur supérieure au diamètre de ses roues (50 cm). Les 6 roues, qui comportent à leur surface des cannelures pour une meilleure prise dans un sol mou ou sur des rochers présentant une face abrupte, sont équipées chacune d’un moteur individuel. Chacune des 4 roues d'extrémité comporte un moteur agissant sur la direction ce qui permet au rover de pivoter sur place. Le rover Curiosity dispose d'une source d'énergie indépendante qui remplace les panneaux solaires mis en œuvre par les précédentes missions, fournie par un générateur électrique nucléaire de nouvelle génération (générateur thermoélectrique à radioisotope (GTR)), utilisant une charge de 4,8 kg de dioxyde de plutonium PuO2 enrichi en plutonium 238 générant une puissance initiale d'environ 2 000 W thermiques convertis nominalement en 120 W électriques62 par des thermocouples. Le rover dispose de 2,7 kWh/j au lieu de 0,6 à 1 kWh/j sur Opportunity, dont la puissance résiduelle, le 12 mai 2009 (après 1884 sols) n'était plus que de 460 Wh/j. Cette puissance sera indépendante de l'intensité du rayonnement reçu du Soleil et n'imposera donc pas d'arrêter la mission pendant l'hiver martien, contrairement au cas de Spirit et d'Opportunity. MSL dispose d'une autonomie nominale de deux années terrestres, mais sa source d'énergie devrait encore fournir 100 W électriques après 14 années terrestres de fonctionnement. L'électricité est stockée dans deux batteries rechargeables au lithium ion ayant chacune une capacité de 42 Ah. Le Rover est bardé d'équipements avec la "ChemCam" mise au point par des scientifiques français avec le Cnes et le CNRS, un laser pulvérise une mince couche de matière, dont la composition est évaluée par un spectromètre. Le MastCam : caméra haute définition, qui donne des images stéréographiques et en couleurs de l'environnement immédiat du véhicule. Elle permettra aussi d'observer les échantillons ramenés par le bras de robot du MSL. Le Mahli : une caméra qui prendra des images très rapprochées des roches et du sol, et de l'eau si on en trouve, avec des détails de taille inférieure au diamètre d'un cheveu. L’APXS : un spectromètre à rayons X pour mesurer la teneur relative des différents éléments chimiques dans les roches martiennes. Sam : laboratoire conçu pour détecter et analyser les matières organiques dans le sol. Il est constitué de 3 instruments : un chromatographe en phase gazeuse, un spectromètre de masse, et un spectromètre lase accordable. CheMin : instrument qui, par diffraction et fluoresence des rayons X, va identifier et quantifier les minéraux présents dans les échantillons de roches collectés par le bras de robot. DAN : un émetteur-détecteur de neutrons, dont le rôle est de mesurer la présence d'hydrogène sous la surface du sol, signe de la présence possible d'eau (fourni par l'Agence spatiale russe). Rad : instrument chargé de détecter toutes les particules qui frappent le sol martien, en provenance du soleil ou du rayonnement cosmique, une information nécessaire pour d'éventuelles missions humaines sur Mars. Rems : station météo du Rover : elle mesure la pression, la température, les vents, et les niveaux de radiation ultra violets (ensemble est conçu par le ministère espagnol de l'éducation et de la science).Le calculateur embarqué du rover MSL, contrairement à celui des rovers MER, est complètement redondant. L'ordinateur du rover prend en charge les phases de transit Terre-Mars et la descente sur le sol martien. Un processeur central trempé par rayonnement avec architecture PowerPC 750: un BAE RAD 750, fonctionne à une vitesse allant jusqu'à 200 mégahertz (10 fois plus vite que les ordinateurs des robots rovers Spirit et Opportunity), 2 Go de mémoire flash (environ 8 fois plus que Spirit ou Opportunity), 256 Mo de mémoire vive dynamique et 256 kilo-octets de mémoire morte programmable effaçable électriquement. Contrairement aux robots envoyés précédemment, Curiosity reste en permanence en contact avec la Terre et transmet quasiment en temps réel le fruit de ses découvertes. Les informations, relayées via les satellites qui gravitent autour de Mars, mettent environ 14 minutes pour parvenir à la Terre. Les objectifs du rover incluent une enquête sur le climat, la géologie et des études d' habitabilité planétaires en préparation à l'exploration humaine…
Date de lancement : le 26 novembre 2011 à 15h02 UTC
Fusée : Atlas V 541
Site de lancement : Cap Canaveral
Atterrissage : 6 août 2012 sur Aeolis Palus à l’ intérieur du cratère Gale à 05h17 UTC.
Missions : Mars a-t-elle pu être habitable dans le passé?
Dernier contact : En juin 2014 le rover qui a parcouru 7 km se dirige rapidement vers le Mount Sharp. Le rover a parcouru 18,01 km à la surface de Mars à son 1930e sol (10 janvier 2018). Le rover a parcouru 22,65 km à la surface de Mars à son 2422e sol le 30 mai 2019. Curiosity est toujours opérationnel aujourd'hui.
This is the fourth robotic rover sent to Mars by NASA since 1996, the previous rovers are Sojourner from Mars Pathfinder Mission (1997), Spirit (2004-2010) and Opportunity (2004-2019). It's a new generation of rovers landing on Mars with Curiosity that's the size of a car with 2.9 m (9.5 ft) long and 2.7 m (8.9 ft) wide by 2 , 2 m (7.2 ft.) In height, a mass of 899 kg including 75 kg of scientific equipment (SPIRIT & Opportunity: 1.5 m (4.9 ft.) Long and weighing 174 kg (384 lb.) ) of which 6.8 kg (15 lb) of scientific instruments). A mast implanted on the front of this case and which culminates at 2.13 meters, carries several cameras, atmospheric probes, as well as the laser spectrometer. Curiosity can venture on 45 ° slopes without turning, it can climb rocks or cross holes of a height greater than the diameter of its wheels (50 cm). The 6 wheels, which have grooves on their surface for better grip in soft ground or on rocks with a steep face, are each equipped with an individual engine. Each of the 4 end wheels has a motor acting on the steering which allows the rover to rotate in place. The Curiosity rover has an independent power source that replaces the solar panels implemented by previous missions, provided by a new generation nuclear power generator (radioisotope thermoelectric generator (GTR)), using a load of 4, 8 kg of plutonium plutonium dioxide PuO2 enriched with plutonium 238 generating an initial power of about 2000 W thermal converted nominally into 120 W electric62 by thermocouples. The rover has 2.7 kWh / d instead of 0.6 to 1 kWh / d on Opportunity, whose residual power, May 12, 2009 (after 1884 soil) was only 460 Wh / d. This power will be independent of the intensity of the radiation received from the Sun and therefore will not force to stop the mission during the winter Martian, unlike the case of Spirit and Opportunity. MSL has a nominal life of two Earth years, but its power source is expected to still provide 100 W electrical after 14 Earth years of operation. Electricity is stored in two rechargeable lithium ion batteries each having a capacity of 42 Ah. The Rover is loaded with equipment with the "ChemCam" developed by French scientists with Cnes and CNRS, a laser sprays a thin layer of material, whose composition is evaluated by a spectrometer. The MastCam: high definition camera, which gives stereographic and color images of the immediate environment of the vehicle. It will also allow to observe the samples brought back by the MSL robot arm. The Mahli: a camera that will take images very close to rocks and soil, and water if it is found, with details smaller than the diameter of a hair. APXS: an X-ray spectrometer to measure the relative content of different chemical elements in Martian rocks. Sam: laboratory designed to detect and analyze organic matter in the soil. It consists of 3 instruments: a gas chromatograph, a mass spectrometer, and a lase tunable spectrometer. CheMin: instrument that, by diffraction and X-ray fluorescence, will identify and quantify the minerals present in the rock samples collected by the robot arm. DAN: a neutron emitter-detector, whose role is to measure the presence of hydrogen below the surface of the ground, sign of the possible presence of water (provided by the Russian Space Agency). Rad: instrument responsible for detecting all the particles that strike the Martian soil, from the sun or the cosmic radiation, a necessary information for possible human missions on Mars. Rems: Rover weather station: it measures pressure, temperature, winds, and ultraviolet radiation levels (together is designed by the Spanish Ministry of Education and Science). The MSL rover's on-board computer, unlike the MER rovers, is completely redundant. The rover's computer supports the Earth-Mars transit phases and the descent onto the Martian ground. A central radiation-hardened processor with PowerPC 750 architecture: a BAE RAD 750, operates at a speed of up to 200 megahertz (10 times faster than the computers of the Spirit and Opportunity robot rovers), 2 GB of flash memory (about 8 times more than Spirit or Opportunity), 256 MB of dynamic random access memory and 256 kilobytes of electrically erasable programmable read only memory. Unlike robots previously sent, Curiosity remains permanently in contact with the Earth and transmits almost in real time the fruit of its discoveries. The information, relayed via the satellites that gravitate around Mars, takes about 14 minutes to reach the Earth. The objectives of the rover include a survey of climate, geology and planetary habitability studies in preparation for human exploration ...
Launch date: November 26, 2011 at 15:02 UTC
Rocket: Atlas V 541
Launch site: Cape Canaveral
Landing: August 6, 2012 on Aeolis Palus inside the crater Gale at 5:17 UTC.
Missions: Could Mars have been habitable in the past?
Last contact: In June 2014 the rover, which has traveled 7 km, is moving rapidly towards Mount Sharp. The rover traveled 18.01 km on the surface of Mars at its 1930th ground (January 10, 2018). The rover traveled 22.65 km on the surface of Mars at its 2422nd ground on May 30, 2019. Curiosity is still operational today.
Magnus W. Killobyte: The Mercenaut ... "Emergence"
Created on Saturday, 08.01.2009
I welcome your comments. Thanks for looking.
PHOTO TITLE: "Mego Micronauts Action Figures"
Digital photography and Photoshopped artwork by me, Alexis Dyer.
Created on 04/03/2010.
These Mego Micronauts action figures are from my personal collection.
I welcome your comments. Thanks for looking.
PHOTO TITLE: "SABREWING" ... (Mego Micronauts Custom Action Figure)
Digital photography and Photoshopped artwork by me, Argonaut X.
Created on Tuesday, 09.29.2009
ABOUT THIS ACTION FIGURE:
From a bunch of spare parts I had laying around, I assembled and painted this toy using genuine Mego Micronauts odds and ends. The finished figure looks much better than I had originally imagined and it was a lot of fun to build.
I welcome your comments. Thanks for looking.
PHOTO TITLE: "Magnus W. Killobyte: The Mercenaut" - Mego Micronauts Custom Action Figure By Alexis Dyer
Created on Tuesday, 08.25.2009
ABOUT THIS ACTION FIGURE:
Several months ago, I had a huge pile of extra Micronauts parts available, so I constructed this figure from a wide assortment of odds & ends. None of the pieces were cut, glued, altered or painted in any way. Magnus stands 10.5 inches tall and has at least 25 points of moveable articulation. Along with his weapon and shield, I used 85 genuine Mego Micronauts parts to put it together.
WANNA BUILD YOUR OWN MAGNUS W. KILLOBYTE?
You'll need parts from the following Mego Micronauts toys (click on these blue hyperlinks to learn more about them):
* BIOTRON
* HYDRA
I welcome your comments. Thanks for looking.
PHOTO TITLE: "Magnus W. Killobyte: The Mercenaut (5 of 5) - Mego Micronauts Custom Action Figure".
Micronauts-inspired Photoshopped artwork by me, "Argonaut X".
Created on Tuesday, 08.25.2009
ABOUT THIS ACTION FIGURE:
Several months ago, I had a huge pile of extra Micronauts parts available, so I constructed this figure from a wide assortment of odds & ends. None of the pieces were cut, glued, altered or painted in any way. Magnus stands 10.5 inches tall and has at least 25 points of moveable articulation. Along with his weapon and shield, I used 85 genuine Mego Micronauts parts to put it together.
WANNA BUILD YOUR OWN MAGNUS W. KILLOBYTE?
You'll need parts from the following Mego Micronauts toys (click on these blue hyperlinks to learn more about them):
* BIOTRON
* HYDRA
I welcome your comments. Thanks for looking.
PHOTO TITLE: "Magnus W. Killobyte: The Mercenaut"
(Mego Micronauts Custom Action Figure).
Micronauts-inspired Photoshopped artwork by me, Argonaut X.
Created on Friday, 09.25.2009
ABOUT THIS ACTION FIGURE:
Several months ago, I had a huge pile of extra Micronauts parts available, so I constructed this figure from a wide assortment of odds & ends. None of the pieces were cut, glued, altered or painted in any way. Magnus stands 10.5 inches tall and has at least 25 points of moveable articulation. Along with his weapon and shield, I used 85 genuine Mego Micronauts parts to put it together.
WANNA BUILD YOUR OWN MAGNUS W. KILLOBYTE?
You'll need parts from the following Mego Micronauts toys (click on these blue hyperlinks to learn more about them):
* BIOTRON
* HYDRA
I welcome your comments. Thanks for looking.
PHOTO TITLE: "SPYDROX" ... (Mego Micronauts Custom Action Figure)
Micronauts-inspired Photoshopped artwork by me, "Argonaut X".
Created on Tuesday, 09.22.2009
ABOUT THIS ACTION FIGURE:
I had a bunch of spare Mego Micronauts odds & ends available, so I constructed and painted "SPYDROX". This was a fun little figure to build. Came out better than I expected.
I welcome your comments. Thanks for looking.
Another one of my collecting interests is old computers. Actually, I am more of a "keeper" of old tech than I am a collector. Most of the computers I've owned over the past 30 years are still with me, and just about every one of them remains in good working order. I know I should send them off for recycling, but I just can't do it. I have too many memories of all the good times we had together.
The owner of a local computer shop that's been in business since the early days of PCs has a similar stash of old tech, and we've talked about putting together a small museum dedicated to the early history of microcomputers. That may or may not happen, but it would be nice to have a place where folks who share our fondness for old tech could get together and reminisce about the "good ole days."
Today's contribution to my photo-a-day journey is a picture of my 1983 vintage TRS-80 Model 100. This 3.1 pound computer was one of the first of what would become known as notebook computers, and proved to be quite popular, selling more than six million units worldwide. Lots of tech-savvy reporters wrote and filed their stories with these units. Quite a few business people did, too.
The model you are looking at was "loaded" with 24K (that's kilobytes) of RAM and cost about $1,400. An 8K RAM version sold for $300 less (the unit could accomodate a total of 32K RAM.)
So what did $1,400 in 1983 dollars get you? The first thing to notice is the full-size QWERTY keyboard (a really nice one, actually). The unit also had a "generous" eight-line x 40 character (240 x 64 pixel for those counting), non-back-lit LED display. The Model 100 could run off a set of four AA batteries (which lasted for 20 days assuming one-hour a day use), or could be directly plugged in to an outlet with the included adapter. A built-in Ni-Cad battery kept your data in memory without recharging for 8 to 30 days (depending on the amount of RAM installed). If you required longer lasting storage, or simply needed more storage than what was provided by the meager RAM, a matched cassette recorder could be purchased at your local Radio Shack.
Built-in software included Microsoft BASIC, along with an Address Book, To-Do List, and Text editing software. A terminal program also was provided for going on-line (usually to CompuServe, and usually by tearing apart a nearby telephone and making the physical connection to the phone line through the use of alligator clips.)
Earlier today I fired this baby up and decided to perform the simple task of setting the date and time. After a minute of pressing keys, I realized I needed the manual. I found an entire chapter devoted to this important topic. I was first instructed to load the BASIC interpreter. Next, in order to set the time, I was told to enter: TIME$ = H:M:S. Entering the date was as "straightforward": DATE$ = M/D/Y with each element being a two-digit number. The result can be seen above (click in on the upper left portion of the image). The date reads: January 8, 1910. Since the year could only be input as a two-digit number, there was no way to tell the computer it had survived into the 21st century. And I guess nobody at Microsoft had given much thought to the problem either.
So to everyone who thought Y2K was a bust, here is living proof that the problem was real! BTW - My 1987 vintage Mac II had no problem dealing with Y2K. For that reason alone, it will probably be graced with a photo in this set later this year.
PHOTO TITLE: "Magnus W. Killobyte: The Mercenaut (2 of 5) - Mego Micronauts Custom Action Figure.
Micronauts-inspired Photoshopped artwork by me, "Argonaut X".
Created on Tuesday, 08.25.2009
ABOUT THIS ACTION FIGURE:
Several months ago, I had a huge pile of extra Micronauts parts available, so I constructed this figure from a wide assortment of odds & ends. None of the pieces were cut, glued, altered or painted in any way. Magnus stands 10.5 inches tall and has at least 25 points of moveable articulation. Along with his weapon and shield, I used 85 genuine Mego Micronauts parts to put it together.
WANNA BUILD YOUR OWN MAGNUS W. KILLOBYTE?
You'll need parts from the following Mego Micronauts toys (click on these blue hyperlinks to learn more about them):
* BIOTRON
* HYDRA
I welcome your comments. Thanks for looking.
Photoshop was first offered for sale on February 19, 1990. It was on an 800 KiloByte Compact Disk. Back then most folks had 4Megs of Ram. If you had an extra $100 laying around you could upgrade to 8Megs.
Anyway Adobe released this short video on the occasion of their 25th Anniversary. Anyone who enjoys playing with Photoshop might enjoy watching this. Click it Here
I didn't mean to suggest that it took 25 years to come up with an image like the one above................The idea is, if you have an inspiration.......you can do it.
This CDC 3800 computer was used at the Consolidated Space Test Center in Sunnyvale, California, to operate reconnaissance and other Air Force satellites from the 1960s through the early 1990s. This was a large mainframe computer optimized for handling problems that required a lot of numeric processing. Control Data Corporation introduced the 3800 in the early 1960s. The 48-bit computer used discrete transistors for logic, had a memory of 128 kilobytes.
Seen at the Smithsonian Institution's Air & Space Museum Udvar-Hazy Center.
MARGARET HAMILTON, THE WOMAN WHO PUT THE MAN ON THE MOON
Neil Armstrong owed his moon walk on July 20, 1969 to a former high school teacher named Margaret Hamilton. It took more than 40 years for her to receive the recognition she deserved.
Margaret Hamilton in action
Three minutes before the Apollo 11 lunar lander Eagle reached the moon’s surface, computer alarms went off. But Margaret Hamilton had anticipated the problem and created software to solve it. The landing went ahead.
Thirty-four years after Armstrong walked on the moon, NASA administrator Sean O’Keefe acknowledged the contribution of Margaret Hamilton and her team. They didn’t just land a man on the moon, they created the building blocks for modern software engineering.
Margaret Hamilton
Margaret Hamilton was born Aug. 17, 1936 in Paoli, Ind., to Kenneth and Ruth Heafield. She earned a B.A. in Mathematics from Earlham College, then married and taught high school math and French while her husband finished college. In 1958, she moved to Boston, intending to study abstract mathematics at Brandeis University. She got a job, though, at MIT, to develop software for predicting the weather.
At MIT Margaret Hamilton taught herself to program computers.
People didn’t really take software engineering seriously then. They didn’t even call it software engineering, but considered it women’s work, like typing or filing.
Software Engineer
Margaret Hamilton coined the phrase ‘software engineering’ to gain legitimacy for her work.
Margaret Hamilton with a printout of the code used for the Apollo 11 moon landing.Margaret Hamilton with a printout of the code used for the Apollo 11 moon landing.
In an interview, she said, people thought it funny that she used the phrase.
It was an ongoing joke for a long time. They liked to kid me about my radical ideas. Software eventually and necessarily gained the same respect as any other discipline.
Margaret Hamilton then got a job at the Software Engineering Division of the MIT Instrumentation Laboratory, which developed software for the NASA Apollo programs. Then in her early 30s, she supervised a team of 100 engineers, mathematicians, programmers and technical writers.
The team developed the code for the Apollo Guidance Computer, one of the first chip-based computers. It had only 64 kilobytes of memory. A typical cellphone has 31,000 times that memory.
Apollo 11
For the Apollo 11 moon mission, the guidance computer had to process input from Mission Control, from the spacecraft’s instruments and from the astronauts.
Margaret Hamilton understood the computer could be overloaded. She and her team wrote a program that established the order in which the computer would do the different things it was asked to do all at the same time.
The team created a feature crucial to the moon landing: the ‘asynchronous executive.’ That meant the computer would recognize the danger of overloading and drop low-priority tasks.
margaret hamilton apollo 11One small step for a man…
When Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin were about to land on the moon, something went wrong. Their checklist had a mistake in it: It told the astronauts to activate the radar system used for taking off from the moon, but they didn’t need it for landing. The radar started sending the computer massive amounts of information, threatening to overload it. Had the guidance computer overloaded, the astronauts would have to abort the mission.
The asynchronous executive saved the landing. It told the computer to ignore the information from the rendezvous radar. The computer automatically rebooted, and the Eagle landed.
Finally, Recognition
“If the software had not functioned, the moon landing might not have happened,” wrote space journalist A.J.S. Rayl. “Instead, Neil Armstrong took that ‘giant leap’ for all humankind.”
Not until 2003 did NASA recognize Margaret Hamilton’s contribution to the moon landing – and to computer science. She received the NASA Exceptional Space Act Award. The scientist who nominated her, Paul Curto, said, “I was surprised to discover she was never formally recognized for her groundbreaking work.
“Her concepts of asynchronous software, priority scheduling, end-to-end testing, and man-in-the-loop decision capability, such as priority displays, became the foundation for ultra-reliable software design,” he said.
Finally, on Nov. 22, 2016, President Barack Obama awarded Hamilton, then 80, the Presidential Medal of Freedom for her work on the Apollo Moon missions. And in 2019, Google honored her with a portrait measuring 1.4 square miles in the Mojave Desert. More than 100,000 mirrors from the Ivanpah Solar Facility created the image.
President Barack Obama presents the Presidential Medal of Freedom to Margaret H. Hamilton during a ceremony in the East Room of the White House, Nov. 22, 2016. (Official White House Photo by Lawrence Jackson)
Hamilton, of course, wasn’t the only unsung hero of the Apollo missions. Michael Collins, the third astronaut on the moon landing team, once said about 400,000 people put Neil Armstrong on the moon.
Il s'agit du quatrième rover robotique envoyé sur Mars par la NASA depuis 1996, les précédents rovers sont Sojourner de la mission Mars Pathfinder (1997), Spirit (2004–2010) et Opportunity (2004–2019). C’est une nouvelle génération de rovers qui débarque sur Mars avec Curiosity qui a la taille d'une voiture avec 2,9 m (9,5 pi) de long sur 2,7 m (8,9 pi) de large sur 2,2 m (7,2 pi) de hauteur, une masse de 899 Kg dont 75 kg de matériel scientifique (SPIRIT & Opportunity : 1,5 m (4,9 pi) de long et ont une masse de 174 kg (384 lb) dont 6,8 kg (15 lb) d'instruments scientifiques). Un mât implanté sur l'avant de ce boîtier et qui culmine à 2,13 mètres, porte plusieurs caméras, des sondes atmosphériques, ainsi que le spectromètre laser. Curiosity peut s'aventurer sur des pentes à 45° sans se retourner, il peut escalader des rochers ou franchir des trous d'une hauteur supérieure au diamètre de ses roues (50 cm). Les 6 roues, qui comportent à leur surface des cannelures pour une meilleure prise dans un sol mou ou sur des rochers présentant une face abrupte, sont équipées chacune d’un moteur individuel. Chacune des 4 roues d'extrémité comporte un moteur agissant sur la direction ce qui permet au rover de pivoter sur place. Le rover Curiosity dispose d'une source d'énergie indépendante qui remplace les panneaux solaires mis en œuvre par les précédentes missions, fournie par un générateur électrique nucléaire de nouvelle génération (générateur thermoélectrique à radioisotope (GTR)), utilisant une charge de 4,8 kg de dioxyde de plutonium PuO2 enrichi en plutonium 238 générant une puissance initiale d'environ 2 000 W thermiques convertis nominalement en 120 W électriques62 par des thermocouples. Le rover dispose de 2,7 kWh/j au lieu de 0,6 à 1 kWh/j sur Opportunity, dont la puissance résiduelle, le 12 mai 2009 (après 1884 sols) n'était plus que de 460 Wh/j. Cette puissance sera indépendante de l'intensité du rayonnement reçu du Soleil et n'imposera donc pas d'arrêter la mission pendant l'hiver martien, contrairement au cas de Spirit et d'Opportunity. MSL dispose d'une autonomie nominale de deux années terrestres, mais sa source d'énergie devrait encore fournir 100 W électriques après 14 années terrestres de fonctionnement. L'électricité est stockée dans deux batteries rechargeables au lithium ion ayant chacune une capacité de 42 Ah. Le Rover est bardé d'équipements avec la "ChemCam" mise au point par des scientifiques français avec le Cnes et le CNRS, un laser pulvérise une mince couche de matière, dont la composition est évaluée par un spectromètre. Le MastCam : caméra haute définition, qui donne des images stéréographiques et en couleurs de l'environnement immédiat du véhicule. Elle permettra aussi d'observer les échantillons ramenés par le bras de robot du MSL. Le Mahli : une caméra qui prendra des images très rapprochées des roches et du sol, et de l'eau si on en trouve, avec des détails de taille inférieure au diamètre d'un cheveu. L’APXS : un spectromètre à rayons X pour mesurer la teneur relative des différents éléments chimiques dans les roches martiennes. Sam : laboratoire conçu pour détecter et analyser les matières organiques dans le sol. Il est constitué de 3 instruments : un chromatographe en phase gazeuse, un spectromètre de masse, et un spectromètre lase accordable. CheMin : instrument qui, par diffraction et fluoresence des rayons X, va identifier et quantifier les minéraux présents dans les échantillons de roches collectés par le bras de robot. DAN : un émetteur-détecteur de neutrons, dont le rôle est de mesurer la présence d'hydrogène sous la surface du sol, signe de la présence possible d'eau (fourni par l'Agence spatiale russe). Rad : instrument chargé de détecter toutes les particules qui frappent le sol martien, en provenance du soleil ou du rayonnement cosmique, une information nécessaire pour d'éventuelles missions humaines sur Mars. Rems : station météo du Rover : elle mesure la pression, la température, les vents, et les niveaux de radiation ultra violets (ensemble est conçu par le ministère espagnol de l'éducation et de la science).Le calculateur embarqué du rover MSL, contrairement à celui des rovers MER, est complètement redondant. L'ordinateur du rover prend en charge les phases de transit Terre-Mars et la descente sur le sol martien. Un processeur central trempé par rayonnement avec architecture PowerPC 750: un BAE RAD 750, fonctionne à une vitesse allant jusqu'à 200 mégahertz (10 fois plus vite que les ordinateurs des robots rovers Spirit et Opportunity), 2 Go de mémoire flash (environ 8 fois plus que Spirit ou Opportunity), 256 Mo de mémoire vive dynamique et 256 kilo-octets de mémoire morte programmable effaçable électriquement. Contrairement aux robots envoyés précédemment, Curiosity reste en permanence en contact avec la Terre et transmet quasiment en temps réel le fruit de ses découvertes. Les informations, relayées via les satellites qui gravitent autour de Mars, mettent environ 14 minutes pour parvenir à la Terre. Les objectifs du rover incluent une enquête sur le climat, la géologie et des études d' habitabilité planétaires en préparation à l'exploration humaine…
Date de lancement : le 26 novembre 2011 à 15h02 UTC
Fusée : Atlas V 541
Site de lancement : Cap Canaveral
Atterrissage : 6 août 2012 sur Aeolis Palus à l’ intérieur du cratère Gale à 05h17 UTC.
Missions : Mars a-t-elle pu être habitable dans le passé?
Dernier contact : En juin 2014 le rover qui a parcouru 7 km se dirige rapidement vers le Mount Sharp. Le rover a parcouru 18,01 km à la surface de Mars à son 1930e sol (10 janvier 2018). Le rover a parcouru 22,65 km à la surface de Mars à son 2422e sol le 30 mai 2019. Curiosity est toujours opérationnel aujourd'hui.
This is the fourth robotic rover sent to Mars by NASA since 1996, the previous rovers are Sojourner from Mars Pathfinder Mission (1997), Spirit (2004-2010) and Opportunity (2004-2019). It's a new generation of rovers landing on Mars with Curiosity that's the size of a car with 2.9 m (9.5 ft) long and 2.7 m (8.9 ft) wide by 2 , 2 m (7.2 ft.) In height, a mass of 899 kg including 75 kg of scientific equipment (SPIRIT & Opportunity: 1.5 m (4.9 ft.) Long and weighing 174 kg (384 lb.) ) of which 6.8 kg (15 lb) of scientific instruments). A mast implanted on the front of this case and which culminates at 2.13 meters, carries several cameras, atmospheric probes, as well as the laser spectrometer. Curiosity can venture on 45 ° slopes without turning, it can climb rocks or cross holes of a height greater than the diameter of its wheels (50 cm). The 6 wheels, which have grooves on their surface for better grip in soft ground or on rocks with a steep face, are each equipped with an individual engine. Each of the 4 end wheels has a motor acting on the steering which allows the rover to rotate in place. The Curiosity rover has an independent power source that replaces the solar panels implemented by previous missions, provided by a new generation nuclear power generator (radioisotope thermoelectric generator (GTR)), using a load of 4, 8 kg of plutonium plutonium dioxide PuO2 enriched with plutonium 238 generating an initial power of about 2000 W thermal converted nominally into 120 W electric62 by thermocouples. The rover has 2.7 kWh / d instead of 0.6 to 1 kWh / d on Opportunity, whose residual power, May 12, 2009 (after 1884 soil) was only 460 Wh / d. This power will be independent of the intensity of the radiation received from the Sun and therefore will not force to stop the mission during the winter Martian, unlike the case of Spirit and Opportunity. MSL has a nominal life of two Earth years, but its power source is expected to still provide 100 W electrical after 14 Earth years of operation. Electricity is stored in two rechargeable lithium ion batteries each having a capacity of 42 Ah. The Rover is loaded with equipment with the "ChemCam" developed by French scientists with Cnes and CNRS, a laser sprays a thin layer of material, whose composition is evaluated by a spectrometer. The MastCam: high definition camera, which gives stereographic and color images of the immediate environment of the vehicle. It will also allow to observe the samples brought back by the MSL robot arm. The Mahli: a camera that will take images very close to rocks and soil, and water if it is found, with details smaller than the diameter of a hair. APXS: an X-ray spectrometer to measure the relative content of different chemical elements in Martian rocks. Sam: laboratory designed to detect and analyze organic matter in the soil. It consists of 3 instruments: a gas chromatograph, a mass spectrometer, and a lase tunable spectrometer. CheMin: instrument that, by diffraction and X-ray fluorescence, will identify and quantify the minerals present in the rock samples collected by the robot arm. DAN: a neutron emitter-detector, whose role is to measure the presence of hydrogen below the surface of the ground, sign of the possible presence of water (provided by the Russian Space Agency). Rad: instrument responsible for detecting all the particles that strike the Martian soil, from the sun or the cosmic radiation, a necessary information for possible human missions on Mars. Rems: Rover weather station: it measures pressure, temperature, winds, and ultraviolet radiation levels (together is designed by the Spanish Ministry of Education and Science). The MSL rover's on-board computer, unlike the MER rovers, is completely redundant. The rover's computer supports the Earth-Mars transit phases and the descent onto the Martian ground. A central radiation-hardened processor with PowerPC 750 architecture: a BAE RAD 750, operates at a speed of up to 200 megahertz (10 times faster than the computers of the Spirit and Opportunity robot rovers), 2 GB of flash memory (about 8 times more than Spirit or Opportunity), 256 MB of dynamic random access memory and 256 kilobytes of electrically erasable programmable read only memory. Unlike robots previously sent, Curiosity remains permanently in contact with the Earth and transmits almost in real time the fruit of its discoveries. The information, relayed via the satellites that gravitate around Mars, takes about 14 minutes to reach the Earth. The objectives of the rover include a survey of climate, geology and planetary habitability studies in preparation for human exploration ...
Launch date: November 26, 2011 at 15:02 UTC
Rocket: Atlas V 541
Launch site: Cape Canaveral
Landing: August 6, 2012 on Aeolis Palus inside the crater Gale at 5:17 UTC.
Missions: Could Mars have been habitable in the past?
Last contact: In June 2014 the rover, which has traveled 7 km, is moving rapidly towards Mount Sharp. The rover traveled 18.01 km on the surface of Mars at its 1930th ground (January 10, 2018). The rover traveled 22.65 km on the surface of Mars at its 2422nd ground on May 30, 2019. Curiosity is still operational today.
The image above shows a class 40, number unidentifiable unfortunately, taken passing south on the West Coast Main Line and close to the Radio Telescope at Jodrell Bank. I took the shot sometime in 1971 or 1972 and during the time in which the Lovell Telescope, as it ultimately became known, was being up-graded from the Mk1 to the Mk1A. I have no recollection of the circumstances now and it was to be another 10 years before I finally arrived there to undertake work for an M.Sc. in Radio Astronomy. By which time it had undergone further changes and a new 'Multi-Element Radio Linked Interferometer Network', 'MERLIN', was being brought on-line, this was in 1981. It was also the period in which personal computers and faster, more compact processing power were coming into being and the antiquated CDC7600, at the Physics Dept, used to process Radio data, was finally being phased out. The prior age was that of the Westrex Teletype, familiar to those who used to watch the TV football results on Saturday, paper-tape roll programming and, large, 12inch disks of, wait for it, 10Mby, not Gby, capacity, housed in large plastic containers, with handles! and which cost hundreds of pounds. The main memory of the system I subsequently operated in the mid-1980s, had a massive 64 Kilobytes of memory, split into two sections; one for the system and one for the user's programmes, this was a PDP11 and was junior fellow to the much larger VAX/VMS machine, it took a while to fathom out what those letters meant but eventually got it; Virtual Address eXchange/Virtual Memory System. This indicated that the system and user memory could be swapped in and out to/from the disk array, by this time there was more than one disk. This technique of swapping contents of memory to the disk, is now what Windows and other PC/Solaris/Linux type operating systems use, though these days, as memory is so cheap, its not really required _unless_ the machine has limited memory; my PC has 12Gby of fast RAM, Random Access Memory, that's 12,000,000, Kilobytes! The SATA disks I have are 2+4+2 Terabytes, that's 2 and 4,000,000Mby; 'things' have certainly moved on vastly since then. See-
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jodrell_Bank_Observatory
The Lovell 250' diameter dish subsequently had even more of those upgrades, and is now set to work on for years to come; a long-time testament to the faith and perseverance of Sir Bernard Lovell who was the chief instigator in getting the largest, fully-steerable Radio Telescope in the world, constructed and completed in time, as it turned out, for the passage overhead of the very 1st satellite in orbit, the Russian Sputnik launch in 1959..
This image has been used, partly as it came to light this last week during a look through the slide collection I have from the late 60s to the mid-90s, after which photographs became much cheaper to obtain via the postal companies such as 'BonusPrint' & 'TruPrint'. The shot was mounted in a blue/white Agfa CT18 slide mount, though I am uncertain as to whether this was the film used, though it is amongst other shot at the same time in the frames which Agfa used at that time. The camera would have been a simple affair, a Russian Zenit-E with a decent, Helios lens, film was CT18 rated at 64ASA and as the 40 looks in focus I guess a shutter speed of 1/125th or faster. The tall crane and super-structure of the Telescope are also reasonably in focus so I guess, f/8, probably, all seems fairly standard in those days. The shot was in colour but is now so blue its pointless posting the colour version, all-in-all not a bad shot, the number of the 40 is tantalisingly out-of-focus but could end in a 6, no split headcode box and with a single white lower disk visible, indicating a class 0, or light engine move. The loco is obviously in British Rail Blue livery with yellow front panel and with the InterCity 'Double-Arrow', 'This is the Age of the Train', logo on the cab side. I am afraid I can't say more about the picture than this as I have no notes available nor is there any indication of the exact date and time of the shot. The refurbishment of the Mk1 to the Mk1A occured in the years indicated, see-
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lovell_Telescope
and I was certainly around in this area, living on Central Road in West Didsbury, south of Manchester City, between September 1970 and July 1974.
The other reason this image has been used, is that the second of the ‘Views-in-Camera 2020’ Archives has now been completed, containing the other 721 images which were left after the recent deletion and tidying up of the work from the last 10 years. This picture is therefore being used as a bit of a 'celebration' for having completed all the changes to the Flickr presence since the beginning of this year. So, as indicated earlier the 1st Image Archive site with 995 images-
from 10/5/2011 to 1/6/2016, is now complete and the second with 721 images-
hosting images from 3/6/2016 to 9/4/2018, is also now complete and there remains space for another 279, which will be added in the near future.
And finally, the remainder of the most recent set, selected from 8th October 2011 to 21st February 2020, a total of 992 images, are still on the old 'Views in Camera' site-
www.flickr.com/photos/daohaiku
which was complete earlier this year.
cũng đc 4 tháng mình đã quen nhau
vài 3 ngày mình ở bên nhau
gặp em anh đã yêu ngay từ đầu
nhưng biết lúc đó em chưa yêu anh đâu
oh damn, anh ko biết em là princess
đi đâu em cũng well dressed
2 mắt to to dáng số 8 hoàn hảo
bước đi nhẹ nhàng chấn động cả lòng anh
em ơi em biết anh là ai ko ?
Tom Dâm, vậy mà em nói "I DONT"
em nói em chả biết anh là ai
số lượng nhạc của anh cả trăm kilobytes =)))
thở dài 1 tiếng haiiizzz
sau này em sẽ biết rõ
trước tiên cho anh hỏi nhỏ
" can u gimme ur number shawty ??? "
đôi khi em buồn vì anh sai
nhưng anh biết good girl aint cry
thỉnh thoảng anh có make mistake
em hết buồn khi em có birthcake
vì mọi ngày đều là birthday
Xmas này mình đi USA
cả 2 cùng thích NY state
assignment yêu em anh đc straight A
thix bài này wá :x dth*:x của a Huy Huynh bạn chị tui <3
www.facebook.com/photo.php?v=1777268532024 click nghe nè :x
One year since my first favorite flickr.com/photos/emup/64858967/
Thank you, everyone, for your photos, your comments, your mails, your making me contact, your making one - even two - of my 12 photos a favorite of yours.It all has been so rewarding. Thank you to keep my cup full with tea, informative, attractive, beautiful, inspiring, funny, all around the world pictures of tea. Merci.
Kilobytes of tea
Received, offered. Infused.
Souvenirs added
Kilobits de thé
Reçus, offerts. Infusés.
Souvenirs de plus
Kris
This is a serial Electrically Erasable PROM (EEPROM) made by Microchip Technology Inc. It holds 1 Kilo bit (1/8 of a Kilobyte) of data and is certified to be written to and erased a million times. The package has eight pins, I don't know where the other two go since this die appears to only have 6 contacts.
There are inscriptions in the top left and top right. The top left says "ATC1202H" and the top right says "ATC1202 1998". These details did not bring up anything relevant when I googled them. These inscriptions appear to be on different layers, the top right is barely visible while the top left is very pronounced. Based on the "1998" from the top right we can infer this chip was designed in 1998, but the documentation for this chip is dated to 2004.
Camera: Pixel 2XL
Number of Images: 20
Overlap: 65%
Microscope Objective: 10X
Microscope Eyepiece: 10X
Camera Zoom: 3X (Prevents distortion)
Grid Used: 3x3 (Panning Aid)
Capture Motion: Serpentine
Stitching Software: Autopano Giga
Image Type: PNG
Image Quality: 100%
As someone who grew up with computers that had kilobytes of storage, then played computer games where you had to swap 1.44MB floppy disks, then was absolutely blown away when Iomega Zip disks came out (100MB!!!), I continue to be in awe of technology and how far we have come.
This is a 1TB microSD card. It's about the size of a fingernail. As of today, it's priced at ~$250 - not exactly a bargain in terms of $ / MB (a 512GB microSD card can regularly be had for ~$70), but it's so impressive to me that I just had to do it. For reference, not long ago, I bought a few 2TB Samsung 860 EVO Solid State Drives (TLC-NAND) at ~$250 each.
I'm not one to collect knick-knacks or memorabilia, but this little plaque stands as one of my most prized possessions, not only because of what it stands for, but because of where it came from.
My father gave me this many many years ago; it was something he himself acquired even further back when the largest mainframe computers had memory measured in kilobytes.
From the IBM archives:
THINK was a one-word slogan developed by IBM founder Thomas J. Watson, Sr. It appeared in IBM offices, plants and company publications in the 1920s and in the early 1930s began to take precedence over other slogans in IBM. It eventually appeared in wood, stone and bronze, and was published in company newspapers, magazines, calendars, photographs, medallions -- even New Yorker cartoons -- and it remained for years the name of IBM's employee publication. You can still find echoes of Watson's motto in the brand name of IBM's popular notebook computers: the ThinkPad.
Paying a visit to Computer History Museum in Mountain View in Silicon Valley.
IBM entered the computer market with the IBM PC in 1981. This marked the evolution of personal computers from hobbyist curiosities to serious business tools. Powered by the Intel 8086 processor running at 4.77MHz, it also came with 16 kilobytes of system random access memory as well as two floppy disk drives. Cost: about $3,500 in 1981 dollars.
The IBM PC succeeded due to the reputation of IBM in making office equipment such as typewriters and mainframe servers, as well as its architecture being available for other manufacturers. A computer with an Intel 80x86 processor, a BIOS (basic input-output system) coded onto a ROM chip, and a Microsoft operating system (starting with MS-DOS) could (usually) run any program written for the IBM-PC and take most IBM-PC peripherals. This resulted in the proliferation of many useful applications for the IBM-PC and compatibles, such as the Lotus 1-2-3 spreadsheet, and ensured that the IBM-PC would become the industry standard. Even as IBM's own influence waned due to the proliferation of low-cost, high-quality compatibles, the manufacturers of the key components, Intel and Microsoft, continued to prosper for decades.
MARGARET HAMILTON, THE WOMAN WHO PUT THE MAN ON THE MOON
Neil Armstrong owed his moon walk on July 20, 1969 to a former high school teacher named Margaret Hamilton. It took more than 40 years for her to receive the recognition she deserved.
Margaret Hamilton in action
Three minutes before the Apollo 11 lunar lander Eagle reached the moon’s surface, computer alarms went off. But Margaret Hamilton had anticipated the problem and created software to solve it. The landing went ahead.
Thirty-four years after Armstrong walked on the moon, NASA administrator Sean O’Keefe acknowledged the contribution of Margaret Hamilton and her team. They didn’t just land a man on the moon, they created the building blocks for modern software engineering.
Margaret Hamilton
Margaret Hamilton was born Aug. 17, 1936 in Paoli, Ind., to Kenneth and Ruth Heafield. She earned a B.A. in Mathematics from Earlham College, then married and taught high school math and French while her husband finished college. In 1958, she moved to Boston, intending to study abstract mathematics at Brandeis University. She got a job, though, at MIT, to develop software for predicting the weather.
At MIT Margaret Hamilton taught herself to program computers.
People didn’t really take software engineering seriously then. They didn’t even call it software engineering, but considered it women’s work, like typing or filing.
Software Engineer
Margaret Hamilton coined the phrase ‘software engineering’ to gain legitimacy for her work.
Margaret Hamilton with a printout of the code used for the Apollo 11 moon landing.Margaret Hamilton with a printout of the code used for the Apollo 11 moon landing.
In an interview, she said, people thought it funny that she used the phrase.
It was an ongoing joke for a long time. They liked to kid me about my radical ideas. Software eventually and necessarily gained the same respect as any other discipline.
Margaret Hamilton then got a job at the Software Engineering Division of the MIT Instrumentation Laboratory, which developed software for the NASA Apollo programs. Then in her early 30s, she supervised a team of 100 engineers, mathematicians, programmers and technical writers.
The team developed the code for the Apollo Guidance Computer, one of the first chip-based computers. It had only 64 kilobytes of memory. A typical cellphone has 31,000 times that memory.
Apollo 11
For the Apollo 11 moon mission, the guidance computer had to process input from Mission Control, from the spacecraft’s instruments and from the astronauts.
Margaret Hamilton understood the computer could be overloaded. She and her team wrote a program that established the order in which the computer would do the different things it was asked to do all at the same time.
The team created a feature crucial to the moon landing: the ‘asynchronous executive.’ That meant the computer would recognize the danger of overloading and drop low-priority tasks.
margaret hamilton apollo 11One small step for a man…
When Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin were about to land on the moon, something went wrong. Their checklist had a mistake in it: It told the astronauts to activate the radar system used for taking off from the moon, but they didn’t need it for landing. The radar started sending the computer massive amounts of information, threatening to overload it. Had the guidance computer overloaded, the astronauts would have to abort the mission.
The asynchronous executive saved the landing. It told the computer to ignore the information from the rendezvous radar. The computer automatically rebooted, and the Eagle landed.
Finally, Recognition
“If the software had not functioned, the moon landing might not have happened,” wrote space journalist A.J.S. Rayl. “Instead, Neil Armstrong took that ‘giant leap’ for all humankind.”
Not until 2003 did NASA recognize Margaret Hamilton’s contribution to the moon landing – and to computer science. She received the NASA Exceptional Space Act Award. The scientist who nominated her, Paul Curto, said, “I was surprised to discover she was never formally recognized for her groundbreaking work.
“Her concepts of asynchronous software, priority scheduling, end-to-end testing, and man-in-the-loop decision capability, such as priority displays, became the foundation for ultra-reliable software design,” he said.
Finally, on Nov. 22, 2016, President Barack Obama awarded Hamilton, then 80, the Presidential Medal of Freedom for her work on the Apollo Moon missions. And in 2019, Google honored her with a portrait measuring 1.4 square miles in the Mojave Desert. More than 100,000 mirrors from the Ivanpah Solar Facility created the image.
President Barack Obama presents the Presidential Medal of Freedom to Margaret H. Hamilton during a ceremony in the East Room of the White House, Nov. 22, 2016. (Official White House Photo by Lawrence Jackson)
Hamilton, of course, wasn’t the only unsung hero of the Apollo missions. Michael Collins, the third astronaut on the moon landing team, once said about 400,000 people put Neil Armstrong on the moon.
Took me a good while to make...
But the end result is one to like IMO.
Less than 350 kilobytes, not fully recolorable.
Please credit me for my work.
~ Shockwave
No mouse at all.
The computer is from 1977 it's called Compugraphic EditWriter 7500 & Berthold phototypesetting and is on display in Ghent industrial museum.
I remember I worked with computers that had an 8" floppy disk drive. When I was in my mid-teens.
Each 8" floppy disk could store up to 80 kilobytes of data.
Nowadays, my hard drive has a storage capacity of 1 Terabyte.
How many 8" floppy disks would it take to match that capacity?
I know I'm showing my age, but I remember my first Computer I bought in my late-teens had 5 1/4" floppy disks and a hard drive.
I finally have my results from the first few uses of the rolleiflex. Apparently it works like a charm and the thing doesn't even take a battery. Amazing. The man who lent it to me says it was his first camera he ever owned back in the 60's. I look forward to showing him that it still works and is appreciated. It cost a fortune to get these developed. I payed close to 60$ for less than 30 images. I have been trying to scan the negatives myself as the scans provided to me by the local photography shop were in the kilobyte size. I couldn't successfully do that so I am using the small scans here now. I am on the fence about when to invest in this activity again-I will shoot the rest of the film I've been given, but will probably wait until I have the capability to have high quality scans before I get them developed. Just so I can actually see the full effect of the detail in the images. A super fun experiment nonetheless.
I assume everyone knows all the great things about the NEO. There’s no need to say much about that. The QuickPAD Pro, however, is much less well known. I had a lot of trouble finding out about it. In the end, I just decided to buy one and see for myself what it was all about. I got mine for $80 on Ebay. It was in brand-new condition (other than an institutional number written on it in magic marker.) It came with a complete package: QuickPAD Pro, infrared receiver, very nice carrying case, number keypad, USB cable, serial cable, and keyboard cable.
Like the NEO, the QuickPAD Pro runs on AA batteries. However, it requires 4 batteries, as opposed to 3 for the NEO. I’m not sure about battery life. I’ve read estimates ranging from 50 hours to 100 hours to 200 hours on 4 AA batteries. No matter what it is, it is sure to be much, much less than the NEO’s 700 hours.
To turn the QuickPAD Pro on, you press a tiny power button on the left side. It is up and running in about 3 seconds. The button is recessed, and it takes some effort to push it in. There’s no way that button could be pressed by accident if you were carrying the unit in a carrying case or knapsack. To turn the unit off, you have to exit whatever file you are working on and then press the Power ON/OFF key. (I’m not sure why this key is labeled Power ON/OFF. So far, I’ve only been able to use it to turn the unit off. It does not turn the unit on. Perhaps there is a system setting I have to tweak in order to enable it.)
In terms of width and height, the QuickPAD Pro is technically smaller than the NEO. Here are the specs:
------------------------Height---------------------Width
NEO------------------9.75 in--------------------12.4 in
QuickPAD-----------9 in-------------------------11.3
However, this is comparing the QuickPAD Pro to the NEO at the NEO’s widest and highest points. With its contours and curves, the figures for the NEO are deceptive. It is that high and wide at its highest and widest points, but then it curves in to the corners. So it is smaller than those figures would suggest. The QuickPAD Pro, by contrast, is a solid rectangle at those dimensions, and, as such, it definitely has a bigger look and feel than the NEO.
The QuickPAD Pro is also slightly heavier than the NEO. Mine weighs in at 2.1 pounds with the batteries installed. My NEO weighs in at 1.7 pounds.) That is without any kind of case or covering, of course.) That doesn’t seem like a big difference, but when you’re talking about things that are so light, that difference of .4 pounds is noticeable.
As for thickness, the QuickPAD Pro is 1.25 inches thick at the screen and .75 inches thick at the keyboard. Because of its tilted top, the NEO is pretty much the same thickness as the QuickPAD Pro at the screen. However, it is thinner throughout the keyboard. Overall, the NEO gives the impression of being lighter, smaller, and sleeker. That being said, the QuickPAD Pro is more than light and small enough for a portable word processor.
The QuickPAD Pro’s screen is significantly larger than the NEO’s. As a result, it displays about 2.6 times more text than the NEO at the default settings. Here are the stats for the NEO and the QuickPAD Pro:
------------------------------Lines---------Characters/Line---------Tot. Characters
AlphaSmart NEO-----------6-------------------60------------------------360
QuickPAD Pro--------------16------------------60------------------------960
There is only one other setting that I’m aware of for the QuickPAD Pro. It displays 8 lines of text but with the same 60 characters in each line. Essentially, the letters are stretched so that the lines are taller. At this setting, the QuickPAD Pro screen displays just slightly more text than the NEO – 8 lines as compared to 6 lines, or 1.33 times more. You toggle between the 16-line display and the 8-line display by pressing the Function key + the Menu key.
There’s no question, though, that the NEO’s screen is superior to that of the QuickPAD Pro in terms of readability. The font on the NEO is much nicer and the contrast is much greater. The screen on the QuickPAD Pro does not provide as much contrast. It’s lighter and it is more difficult to read the text because of that, especially when viewing it at an angle. The contrast is adjustable, but at no setting does it achieve the crispness and readability of the NEO’s screen. The font is also very clunky and unattractive.
However, I should say that over the couple of weeks that I’ve been using the QuickPAD Pro, I’ve gotten used to the screen and the font. Sitting high in a chair and looking straight down at the QuickPAD Pro’s screen, the text is quite readable. As soon as you start to slouch and view the screen from an angle, however, the text gets less readable quickly. You can adjust the contrast with the Function key on the keyboard. Function + up-arrow increases the contrast. Function + down-arrow decreases the contrast.
In addition to changing contrast, it’s possible to alter the basic appearance of the screen on the QuickPAD Pro. For example, you can increase or decrease left, right, top, and bottom borders. There is also an editing menu that can be visible or not. You can also put a border around the text to set it off. This border is just a box made of a thin line. Without the border/box, the text goes right to the edge of the screen margin on all sides. Pressing F10 calls up a simple menu that allows you to make all the above changes.
The keyboard on the QuickPAD Pro is full-size, like the NEO’s. The keys have a slightly softer feeling and action as compared to the NEO’s. The NEO’s keyboard is very crisp and responsive. The QuickPAD Pro’s keyboard is also very good, but different. I don’t think it’s really possible to say that one is better than the other. When I first used the QuickPAD Pro’s keyboard, I was used to the crispness of the NEO’s, and the QuickPAD Pro’s felt a bit mushy and slow. However, I quickly got used to it, and then the NEO’s keyboard felt kind of clacky and harsh. Both are good keyboards.
There are, however, some differences in the keys themselves. The QuickPAD Pro is more like a standard PC keyboard. It has ten function keys across the top (F1 to F10). And some of these are assigned in the same way. F1, for example, calls up a Help menu. The keys across the top of the NEO’s keyboard are assigned to the various files. The QuickPAD Pro has ctrl and alt keys and page-up and page-down keys. The NEO does not require these keys for any of its operations, so it doesn’t have them. Finally, key placement on the QuickPAD Pro is more like a standard PC keyboard. The ESC key, for example, is on the top left. On the NEO, it is on the bottom next to the space bar.
Some of the important keys on the QuickPAD Pro are, unfortunately, undersized. The space bar, enter key, shift keys, and caps-lock key are all smaller than on the NEO and on standard keyboards. This may cause problems for people who can’t adjust. They might find themselves hitting the wrong keys and making other mistakes.
The keyboard on the QuickPAD pro sticks up from the body of the unit and then the keys themselves stick up a little bit after that. It’s not a big deal, but I like how the NEO’s keys are perfectly flush with the edges and surface of the unit. Nothing sticks up at all. This makes it more convenient for sliding it into and out of its neoprene case and in and out of knapsacks.
One big difference (for me, the key difference) between the QuickPAD Pro and the NEO is the QuickPAD Pro’s memory card slot. It is a compact flash card slot. I read that it could handle cards up to 128 megabytes in size. I purchased a 128-megabyte card, but it won’t work in my unit. I happened to have a 32-megabyte card lying around, and when I tested that, it worked fine. I haven’t had a chance to try a 64-megabyte card, but I’m pretty sure it will work. Many people have used one with success.
Using the compact flash card is very simple. You simply push it into the slot. You can do this at any time – when the unit is off or on, when you have a file open or not. This makes no difference. The memory card slot is treated as a separate drive. By default, the QuickPAD Pro saves files to its internal memory. To save a file to the memory card instead, you simply press “X” when in the menu. This stands for “Exchange drive.” If there is a memory card in the slot, the QuickPAD Pro will simply switch to the card. If there is no card present, you will get a message saying that it is unavailable.
Note that the memory card does not, unfortunately, go all the way into the QuickPAD Pro’s body. It sticks out quite a long way. This means that you can’t keep a memory card in place when you put the QuickPAD Pro into a carrying case or knapsack. You have to remove the card each time and then insert it again when you need it. There is no ejection or “umounting” process. You simply pull the card out. Still, it would have been much better to be able to put the card all the way into the QuickPAD Pro. Then you could just leave it there and forget about it until you want to copy and paste files to and from a computer.
By using a compact flash memory card, memory on the QuickPAD Pro essentially becomes unlimited. You can store tens of thousands of pages of text on each card and use as many cards as you like (21,000 pages on one 64mb card by my calculations). The number of files is also unlimited. You choose an 8-character name for each file yourself, and you can have as many files as your cards will hold. The QuickPAD Pro adds a txt extension to each file.
One “gotcha” that I encountered is that even though memory is unlimited using a compact flash card, file size IS limited. It is limited by the unit’s memory buffer, ie, the amount of text that can be loaded into memory at a time. My rough calculations tell me that the limit is about 20 pages (10,000 words). That means that if you had a 100-page document, it would have to be divided into five 20-page files. You can’t load 100 pages into memory at once.
I’m not entirely clear about the QuickPAD Pro’s internal memory yet. However, I believe it can contain between 600 and 700 pages of text (300,000 to 360,000 words). (I’ll update this info when I get the chance to do a test.) That’s a lot of memory, which means that for most people, the internal memory will be more than sufficient. However, you can still use the memory card for backup of all those files. You can go into File Manager and copy all of your files to the compact flash card for a backup.
You can also use a compact flash memory card to simply transfer files back and forth from a PC. You simply save the file (or copy it) to the memory card. It is saved as a standard txt file. You then pop the card into a memory card reader on your computer and copy the file. You can then open it in whatever program you wish. It will, however, have to be resaved as a txt file for the QuickPAD Pro to be able to retrieve it and read it.
You can also go the other way quite easily. You can copy any txt file on your computer to the memory card and then open it on your QuickPAD Pro. Note that it is also possible to transfer files to a PC via the infrared receiver. The QuickPAD Pro comes with an infrared pod that you plug into any computer. You aim the QuickPAD Pro at that receiver and press “send.” The NEO has this same functionality, of course.
Finally, the QuickPAD Pro can also “send” a file to a computer via a USB cable. Just as with the NEO, you attach the QuickPAD Pro to any computer with the provided USB cable. Then you open any kind of text window on the computer. This can be in Microsoft Word, Notepad, Wordpad, an email program, your blog, a comment window on Flickr, essentially any window in which text can be entered. Then you press “send” and the QuickPAD Pro “types” the entire file into that open window on your computer. The QuickPAD Pro is essentially functioning as a keyboard emulator, just as the NEO does.
I haven’t done an official test, but the QuickPAD Pro seems to retype files at a much faster pace than the NEO. As the NEO “sends” the file to a computer, I can read along as it types and keep up with it. I can’t keep up with the QuickPAD Pro. It types too fast. That would be an advantage when transferring files to dodgy computers in Internet cafes around the world.
When you connect the QuickPAD Pro to a computer using the USB cable (to “send” a file through the keyboard emulator), it connects to the computer automatically. There is no need to install any kind of program. Therefore, it can be used with any computer. The NEO also does not require any kind of program to be installed. I’ve attached the NEO to a wide range of computers and never had a problem. It always worked flawlessly. So far, the QuickPAD Pro works well with my home computer, but I haven’t used it with any other computer.
A very interesting aspect of the QuickPAD Pro is that it basically operates in a DOS environment. The word processing program, spreadsheet program, contact list, and file manager all operate as programs running on top of DOS. As such, using the QuickPAD Pro is more like using a standard computer. To start writing, you have to select “Word Processor” and then open a file or create a new file. If you create a file, you have to give that new file a name (with the standard DOS 8-character limit). Changes are also not saved automatically. You are prompted to save the file (and thus save your changes) when you exit the file. You can also press Ctrl-s to save the file at any point while you are writing.
All the standard text-editing keyboard commands are available on the QuickPAD Pro: Ctrl-A (select all) Ctrl-C (copy) Ctrl-X (cut) Ctrl-V (paste) Home (go to start of line), End (go to end of line), Ctrl-Home (go to start of file), Ctrl-End (go to end of file), Find/Search, etc. Just like a computer, when something goes badly wrong, the unit can hang. You can then reboot it with Ctrl-Alt-Del. This has never happened to me when using the QuickPAD Pro normally. The one time I had problems was when inserting the 128-megabyte compact flash card. For whatever reason, the QuickPAD Pro couldn’t locate it, and it froze. I had to use Ctrl-Alt-Del to reset it. After resetting, the unit was back to normal and presented me with the top-level menu of programs as usual.
It’s possible to exit the top-level program and go directly to DOS. You do this by pressing Ctrl-Enter. Then you get a standard DOS prompt. One difference, however, is that there is no blinking cursor. For someone used to DOS from the old days, it’s weird to see a DOS prompt without a blinking cursor. I understand that it’s possible, though, to track down a program that will give you a blinking cursor. There are four drives on the QuickPAD Pro: A: B: C: and D: The A: drive is a ROM drive of 1.4 megabytes. All the system programs are stored here. The B: drive is a flash drive of 1.9 megabytes. All the files you create are stored here. The C: drive is a RAM drive of 256 kilobytes. The unit stores open files here, including, I assume any txt files you are working on. The D: drive is mapped to the compact flash memory card slot. (To those unfamiliar with this terminology, this might sound very scary, but you don’t need to know any of this or even be aware of it to use the QuickPAD Pro. All this happens behind the scenes. To use the QuickPAD Pro, you simply turn it on, choose a file, and start typing.)
When you press Ctrl-Enter and get the DOS prompt, you can use DOS commands, such as Format D: to format the memory card in the memory card slot. You can also copy and delete files, make and delete directories, and view contents of directories using standard DOS commands. You can also modify system files, and work with batch (bat) files and config.sys files, etc. Of course, it’s best not to if you don’t know what you’re doing. These are the files running the QuickPAD Pro and its programs, and if you modify them or delete them, the QuickPAD Pro’s program might just stop working.
This tape reader was connected to a UNIVAC computer installed at the U.S. Air Force's Satellite Control Facility in Sunnyvale, California, from 1967 through 1990. At this facility, more than a dozen 1230-series computers operated in "real time" as part of a system that controlled and operated satellites for the Air Force, NASA, other government agencies, and commercial firms. The 1232 also supported Space Shuttle missions.
Manufactured by Sperry Univac's St. Paul, Minnesota, division, the 1232 was a military version of the UNIVAC 490 general purpose commercial computer. It used discrete transistors, was optimzed for real-time use, had a 30-bit word length, and initially was supplied with approximately 123 kilobytes of memory.
Seen at the Smithsonian Institution's Air & Space Museum Udvar-Hazy Center.
"Go, getcha, getcha, getcha, getcha, getcha...geek on". -- Missy Elliott ;)
I've loved tech since I was very young - actually, ever since getting my first pc - the BBC Micro - a pc with all of 32 kilobytes of ram! Memories! :D
That love of tech has continued to this day and I've vowed to keep up to date with it till the day I die.
In years to come, I'm not gonna be one of those older people that doesn't have a clue about current tech or blasts the way tech is progressing. Tech is the future. Move with the times or get left behind, as they say.
I guess photography makes that interest a little easier because we're always faced with progression all the time - today's announcement of the 5D mark 3 being an example. But who knows what we'll be shooting with or how we'll be shooting in 10 years time and beyond. Exciting times are ahead - gotta keep up with how things are moving! Maybe that makes all photographers nerds/geeks, I dunno. But either way, it don't matter!
So embrace your nerdiness. Get your geek on.. ;)
Info: -
-- Elinchrom D-lite 4 IT through gridded softbox boomed directly overheard.
-- Large reflector directly underneath.
-- SB28 bare behind left pointed at wall.
-- Triggered by Elinchrom Skyports
-- Canon 5D/40D
-- Canon 24-70L
The Commodore 64, commonly called C64, C=64 (after the graphic logo on the case) or occasionally CBM 64 (for Commodore Business Machines), or VIC-64, is an 8-bit home computer introduced in January 1982 by Commodore International.
Volume production started in the spring of 1982, with machines being released on to the market in August at a price of US$ 595. Preceded by the Commodore VIC-20 and Commodore PET, the C64 took its name from its 64 kilobytes (65,536 bytes) of RAM, and had favorable sound and graphical specifications when compared to contemporary systems such as the Apple II, at a price that was well below the circa US$ 1200 demanded by Apple.
During the C64's lifetime, sales totalled between 12.5 and 17 million units, making it the best-selling single personal computer model of all time. For a substantial period (1983–1986), the C64 dominated the market with between 30% and 40% share and 2 million units sold per year, outselling the IBM PC compatibles, Apple Inc. computers, and Atari 8-bit family computers.
_______________________________________________________________________
In January 1981, MOS Technology, Inc., Commodore's integrated circuit design subsidiary, initiated a project to design the graphic and audio chips for a next generation video game console. Design work for the chips, named MOS Technology VIC-II (graphics) and MOS Technology SID (audio), was completed in November 1981.
Commodore then began a game console project that would use the new chips—called the Ultimax or alternatively the Commodore MAX Machine, engineered by Yash Terakura from Commodore Japan. This project was eventually cancelled after just a few machines were manufactured for the Japanese market.
At the same time, Robert "Bob" Russell (system programmer and architect on the VIC-20) and Robert "Bob" Yannes (engineer of the SID) were critical of the current product line-up at Commodore, which was a continuation of the Commodore PET line aimed at business users. With the support of Al Charpentier (engineer of the VIC-II) and Charles Winterble (manager of MOS Technology), they proposed to Commodore CEO Jack Tramiel a true low-cost sequel to the VIC-20. Tramiel dictated that the machine should have 64 kB of random-access memory (RAM). Although 64 kB of dynamic random access memory (DRAM) cost over US$100 at the time, he knew that DRAM prices were falling, and would drop to an acceptable level before full production was reached. In November, Tramiel set a deadline for the first weekend of January, to coincide with the 1982 Consumer Electronics Show (CES).
The product was code named the VIC-40 as the successor to the popular VIC-20. The team that constructed it consisted of Bob Russell, Bob Yannes and David A. Ziembicki. The design, prototypes and some sample software was finished in time for the show, after the team had worked tirelessly over both Thanksgiving and Christmas weekends.
The machine incorporated Commodore BASIC 2.0 in ROM. BASIC also served as the user interface shell and was available immediately on startup at the READY. prompt.
When the product was to be presented, the VIC-40 product was renamed C64 to fit the then-current Commodore business products lineup which contained the P128 and the B256, both named by a letter and their respective total memory size (in KBytes).
The C64 made an impressive debut at the January 1982 Winter Consumer Electronics Show, as recalled by Production Engineer David A. Ziembicki: "All we saw at our booth were Atari people with their mouths dropping open, saying, 'How can you do that for $595?'" The answer, as it turned out, was vertical integration; thanks to Commodore's ownership of MOS Technology's semiconductor fabrication facilities, each C64 had an estimated production cost of only US$135.
Wikipedia Quotes
I assume everyone knows all the great things about the NEO. There’s no need to say much about that. The QuickPAD Pro, however, is much less well known. I had a lot of trouble finding out about it. In the end, I just decided to buy one and see for myself what it was all about. I got mine for $80 on Ebay. It was in brand-new condition (other than an institutional number written on it in magic marker.) It came with a complete package: QuickPAD Pro, infrared receiver, very nice carrying case, number keypad, USB cable, serial cable, and keyboard cable.
Like the NEO, the QuickPAD Pro runs on AA batteries. However, it requires 4 batteries, as opposed to 3 for the NEO. I’m not sure about battery life. I’ve read estimates ranging from 50 hours to 100 hours to 200 hours on 4 AA batteries. No matter what it is, it is sure to be much, much less than the NEO’s 700 hours.
To turn the QuickPAD Pro on, you press a tiny power button on the left side. It is up and running in about 3 seconds. The button is recessed, and it takes some effort to push it in. There’s no way that button could be pressed by accident if you were carrying the unit in a carrying case or knapsack. To turn the unit off, you have to exit whatever file you are working on and then press the Power ON/OFF key. (I’m not sure why this key is labeled Power ON/OFF. So far, I’ve only been able to use it to turn the unit off. It does not turn the unit on. Perhaps there is a system setting I have to tweak in order to enable it.)
In terms of width and height, the QuickPAD Pro is technically smaller than the NEO. Here are the specs:
------------------------Height---------------------Width
NEO------------------9.75 in--------------------12.4 in
QuickPAD-----------9 in-------------------------11.3
However, this is comparing the QuickPAD Pro to the NEO at the NEO’s widest and highest points. With its contours and curves, the figures for the NEO are deceptive. It is that high and wide at its highest and widest points, but then it curves in to the corners. So it is smaller than those figures would suggest. The QuickPAD Pro, by contrast, is a solid rectangle at those dimensions, and, as such, it definitely has a bigger look and feel than the NEO.
The QuickPAD Pro is also slightly heavier than the NEO. Mine weighs in at 2.1 pounds with the batteries installed. My NEO weighs in at 1.7 pounds.) That is without any kind of case or covering, of course.) That doesn’t seem like a big difference, but when you’re talking about things that are so light, that difference of .4 pounds is noticeable.
As for thickness, the QuickPAD Pro is 1.25 inches thick at the screen and .75 inches thick at the keyboard. Because of its tilted top, the NEO is pretty much the same thickness as the QuickPAD Pro at the screen. However, it is thinner throughout the keyboard. Overall, the NEO gives the impression of being lighter, smaller, and sleeker. That being said, the QuickPAD Pro is more than light and small enough for a portable word processor.
The QuickPAD Pro’s screen is significantly larger than the NEO’s. As a result, it displays about 2.6 times more text than the NEO at the default settings. Here are the stats for the NEO and the QuickPAD Pro:
------------------------------Lines---------Characters/Line---------Tot. Characters
AlphaSmart NEO-----------6-------------------60------------------------360
QuickPAD Pro--------------16------------------60------------------------960
There is only one other setting that I’m aware of for the QuickPAD Pro. It displays 8 lines of text but with the same 60 characters in each line. Essentially, the letters are stretched so that the lines are taller. At this setting, the QuickPAD Pro screen displays just slightly more text than the NEO – 8 lines as compared to 6 lines, or 1.33 times more. You toggle between the 16-line display and the 8-line display by pressing the Function key + the Menu key.
There’s no question, though, that the NEO’s screen is superior to that of the QuickPAD Pro in terms of readability. The font on the NEO is much nicer and the contrast is much greater. The screen on the QuickPAD Pro does not provide as much contrast. It’s lighter and it is more difficult to read the text because of that, especially when viewing it at an angle. The contrast is adjustable, but at no setting does it achieve the crispness and readability of the NEO’s screen. The font is also very clunky and unattractive.
However, I should say that over the couple of weeks that I’ve been using the QuickPAD Pro, I’ve gotten used to the screen and the font. Sitting high in a chair and looking straight down at the QuickPAD Pro’s screen, the text is quite readable. As soon as you start to slouch and view the screen from an angle, however, the text gets less readable quickly. You can adjust the contrast with the Function key on the keyboard. Function + up-arrow increases the contrast. Function + down-arrow decreases the contrast.
In addition to changing contrast, it’s possible to alter the basic appearance of the screen on the QuickPAD Pro. For example, you can increase or decrease left, right, top, and bottom borders. There is also an editing menu that can be visible or not. You can also put a border around the text to set it off. This border is just a box made of a thin line. Without the border/box, the text goes right to the edge of the screen margin on all sides. Pressing F10 calls up a simple menu that allows you to make all the above changes.
The keyboard on the QuickPAD Pro is full-size, like the NEO’s. The keys have a slightly softer feeling and action as compared to the NEO’s. The NEO’s keyboard is very crisp and responsive. The QuickPAD Pro’s keyboard is also very good, but different. I don’t think it’s really possible to say that one is better than the other. When I first used the QuickPAD Pro’s keyboard, I was used to the crispness of the NEO’s, and the QuickPAD Pro’s felt a bit mushy and slow. However, I quickly got used to it, and then the NEO’s keyboard felt kind of clacky and harsh. Both are good keyboards.
There are, however, some differences in the keys themselves. The QuickPAD Pro is more like a standard PC keyboard. It has ten function keys across the top (F1 to F10). And some of these are assigned in the same way. F1, for example, calls up a Help menu. The keys across the top of the NEO’s keyboard are assigned to the various files. The QuickPAD Pro has ctrl and alt keys and page-up and page-down keys. The NEO does not require these keys for any of its operations, so it doesn’t have them. Finally, key placement on the QuickPAD Pro is more like a standard PC keyboard. The ESC key, for example, is on the top left. On the NEO, it is on the bottom next to the space bar.
Some of the important keys on the QuickPAD Pro are, unfortunately, undersized. The space bar, enter key, shift keys, and caps-lock key are all smaller than on the NEO and on standard keyboards. This may cause problems for people who can’t adjust. They might find themselves hitting the wrong keys and making other mistakes.
The keyboard on the QuickPAD pro sticks up from the body of the unit and then the keys themselves stick up a little bit after that. It’s not a big deal, but I like how the NEO’s keys are perfectly flush with the edges and surface of the unit. Nothing sticks up at all. This makes it more convenient for sliding it into and out of its neoprene case and in and out of knapsacks.
One big difference (for me, the key difference) between the QuickPAD Pro and the NEO is the QuickPAD Pro’s memory card slot. It is a compact flash card slot. I read that it could handle cards up to 128 megabytes in size. I purchased a 128-megabyte card, but it won’t work in my unit. I happened to have a 32-megabyte card lying around, and when I tested that, it worked fine. I haven’t had a chance to try a 64-megabyte card, but I’m pretty sure it will work. Many people have used one with success.
Using the compact flash card is very simple. You simply push it into the slot. You can do this at any time – when the unit is off or on, when you have a file open or not. This makes no difference. The memory card slot is treated as a separate drive. By default, the QuickPAD Pro saves files to its internal memory. To save a file to the memory card instead, you simply press “X” when in the menu. This stands for “Exchange drive.” If there is a memory card in the slot, the QuickPAD Pro will simply switch to the card. If there is no card present, you will get a message saying that it is unavailable.
Note that the memory card does not, unfortunately, go all the way into the QuickPAD Pro’s body. It sticks out quite a long way. This means that you can’t keep a memory card in place when you put the QuickPAD Pro into a carrying case or knapsack. You have to remove the card each time and then insert it again when you need it. There is no ejection or “umounting” process. You simply pull the card out. Still, it would have been much better to be able to put the card all the way into the QuickPAD Pro. Then you could just leave it there and forget about it until you want to copy and paste files to and from a computer.
By using a compact flash memory card, memory on the QuickPAD Pro essentially becomes unlimited. You can store tens of thousands of pages of text on each card and use as many cards as you like (21,000 pages on one 64mb card by my calculations). The number of files is also unlimited. You choose an 8-character name for each file yourself, and you can have as many files as your cards will hold. The QuickPAD Pro adds a txt extension to each file.
One “gotcha” that I encountered is that even though memory is unlimited using a compact flash card, file size IS limited. It is limited by the unit’s memory buffer, ie, the amount of text that can be loaded into memory at a time. My rough calculations tell me that the limit is about 20 pages (10,000 words). That means that if you had a 100-page document, it would have to be divided into five 20-page files. You can’t load 100 pages into memory at once.
I’m not entirely clear about the QuickPAD Pro’s internal memory yet. However, I believe it can contain between 600 and 700 pages of text (300,000 to 360,000 words). (I’ll update this info when I get the chance to do a test.) That’s a lot of memory, which means that for most people, the internal memory will be more than sufficient. However, you can still use the memory card for backup of all those files. You can go into File Manager and copy all of your files to the compact flash card for a backup.
You can also use a compact flash memory card to simply transfer files back and forth from a PC. You simply save the file (or copy it) to the memory card. It is saved as a standard txt file. You then pop the card into a memory card reader on your computer and copy the file. You can then open it in whatever program you wish. It will, however, have to be resaved as a txt file for the QuickPAD Pro to be able to retrieve it and read it.
You can also go the other way quite easily. You can copy any txt file on your computer to the memory card and then open it on your QuickPAD Pro. Note that it is also possible to transfer files to a PC via the infrared receiver. The QuickPAD Pro comes with an infrared pod that you plug into any computer. You aim the QuickPAD Pro at that receiver and press “send.” The NEO has this same functionality, of course.
Finally, the QuickPAD Pro can also “send” a file to a computer via a USB cable. Just as with the NEO, you attach the QuickPAD Pro to any computer with the provided USB cable. Then you open any kind of text window on the computer. This can be in Microsoft Word, Notepad, Wordpad, an email program, your blog, a comment window on Flickr, essentially any window in which text can be entered. Then you press “send” and the QuickPAD Pro “types” the entire file into that open window on your computer. The QuickPAD Pro is essentially functioning as a keyboard emulator, just as the NEO does.
I haven’t done an official test, but the QuickPAD Pro seems to retype files at a much faster pace than the NEO. As the NEO “sends” the file to a computer, I can read along as it types and keep up with it. I can’t keep up with the QuickPAD Pro. It types too fast. That would be an advantage when transferring files to dodgy computers in Internet cafes around the world.
When you connect the QuickPAD Pro to a computer using the USB cable (to “send” a file through the keyboard emulator), it connects to the computer automatically. There is no need to install any kind of program. Therefore, it can be used with any computer. The NEO also does not require any kind of program to be installed. I’ve attached the NEO to a wide range of computers and never had a problem. It always worked flawlessly. So far, the QuickPAD Pro works well with my home computer, but I haven’t used it with any other computer.
A very interesting aspect of the QuickPAD Pro is that it basically operates in a DOS environment. The word processing program, spreadsheet program, contact list, and file manager all operate as programs running on top of DOS. As such, using the QuickPAD Pro is more like using a standard computer. To start writing, you have to select “Word Processor” and then open a file or create a new file. If you create a file, you have to give that new file a name (with the standard DOS 8-character limit). Changes are also not saved automatically. You are prompted to save the file (and thus save your changes) when you exit the file. You can also press Ctrl-s to save the file at any point while you are writing.
All the standard text-editing keyboard commands are available on the QuickPAD Pro: Ctrl-A (select all) Ctrl-C (copy) Ctrl-X (cut) Ctrl-V (paste) Home (go to start of line), End (go to end of line), Ctrl-Home (go to start of file), Ctrl-End (go to end of file), Find/Search, etc. Just like a computer, when something goes badly wrong, the unit can hang. You can then reboot it with Ctrl-Alt-Del. This has never happened to me when using the QuickPAD Pro normally. The one time I had problems was when inserting the 128-megabyte compact flash card. For whatever reason, the QuickPAD Pro couldn’t locate it, and it froze. I had to use Ctrl-Alt-Del to reset it. After resetting, the unit was back to normal and presented me with the top-level menu of programs as usual.
It’s possible to exit the top-level program and go directly to DOS. You do this by pressing Ctrl-Enter. Then you get a standard DOS prompt. One difference, however, is that there is no blinking cursor. For someone used to DOS from the old days, it’s weird to see a DOS prompt without a blinking cursor. I understand that it’s possible, though, to track down a program that will give you a blinking cursor. There are four drives on the QuickPAD Pro: A: B: C: and D: The A: drive is a ROM drive of 1.4 megabytes. All the system programs are stored here. The B: drive is a flash drive of 1.9 megabytes. All the files you create are stored here. The C: drive is a RAM drive of 256 kilobytes. The unit stores open files here, including, I assume any txt files you are working on. The D: drive is mapped to the compact flash memory card slot. (To those unfamiliar with this terminology, this might sound very scary, but you don’t need to know any of this or even be aware of it to use the QuickPAD Pro. All this happens behind the scenes. To use the QuickPAD Pro, you simply turn it on, choose a file, and start typing.)
When you press Ctrl-Enter and get the DOS prompt, you can use DOS commands, such as Format D: to format the memory card in the memory card slot. You can also copy and delete files, make and delete directories, and view contents of directories using standard DOS commands. You can also modify system files, and work with batch (bat) files and config.sys files, etc. Of course, it’s best not to if you don’t know what you’re doing. These are the files running the QuickPAD Pro and its programs, and if you modify them or delete them, the QuickPAD Pro’s program might just stop working.