From: writer1@sabu.eng.sun.com (Bob Morrisette) Newsgroups: alt.folklore.computers Subject: Re: Who invented the computer? (was: Are Date: 11 Sep 1998 22:30:34 GMT Organization: Sun Microsystems Inc. Lines: 25 Distribution: world Message-ID: <6tc8aa$prt$2@engnews2.Eng.Sun.COM> References: <6t8pb0$5n8$1@heliodor.xara.net> Reply-To: writer1@sabu.eng.sun.com NNTP-Posting-Host: sabu.eng.sun.com Path: ccw.ch!pfaff.ethz.ch!news-zh.switch.ch!news-ge.switch.ch!news.maxwell.syr.edu!newsfeed.wli.net!su-news-hub1.bbnplanet.com!news.bbnplanet.com!venus.sun.com!news2me.EBay.Sun.COM!engnews2.Eng.Sun.COM!sabu!writer1 In article 1@heliodor.xara.net, "Samael" writes: > > Jason Ryan wrote in message <6t792h$8t0@news.eisa.net.au>... > > > >Hi all, > > > >Came across an intersting story about the first person buid a mechanical > >computer. He was an English mathematician named Brabbige(sp?) who biuld a > > > Babbage. > > And it's kind of a famous story, so you're probably not telling people an > awful lot they don't knw. Especailly here on alt.folklore.computers, where > several people actually worked on Babbages Computer before they moved up to > punch card systems. > > Samael > If you are serious, these people must have been ghosts. ###### From: Charles Richmond Newsgroups: alt.atheism,rec.org.mensa,talk.religion.misc,alt.folklore.computers Subject: Re: Who invented the computer? (was: Are Atheists RESENTFUL of Theists' Date: Sun, 13 Sep 1998 09:27:39 +0000 Organization: Cannine Computer Center Lines: 25 Message-ID: <35FB900C.747E2F2B@plano.net> References: <35FAEA82.395F@virgin.net> <6tgfv1$kbj$5@irk.zetnet.co.uk> Reply-To: richmond@plano.net NNTP-Posting-Host: 204.215.63.138 Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit X-Trace: 905696418 R67V8VHUD3F8ACCD7C usenet76.supernews.com X-Complaints-To: newsabuse@supernews.com X-Mailer: Mozilla 4.04 (Macintosh; I; 68K) To: lisard@zetnet.co.uk Path: ccw.ch!pfaff.ethz.ch!news-zh.switch.ch!news-ge.switch.ch!newscore.univie.ac.at!news-spur1.maxwell.syr.edu!news.maxwell.syr.edu!Supernews60!supernews.com!Supernews69!not-for-mail lisard@zetnet.co.uk wrote: > > On 1998-09-12 j.brewin@virgin.net said: > :I'm somewhat suprised that no-one has mentioned the first computer > :programmer.. Mary Shelley.. yes THE Mary Shelley > > :Apparently she had a genius for logic and proved herself very > :useful to Babbage.. > > Mary Shelley...? surely you mean Ada Lovelace? (And wasn't she Byron's > daughter, by his half-sister?) She had a genius for maths, but a > weakness for good opium, bad men and worse horses. > > "Cover her face; mine eyes dazzle; she died young." > True enough about Ada Lovelace. I did recently learn (on educational TV) that Mary Shelley's sister had an affair with Percy Shelley and *also* with George Gordon, Lord Byron. So even though Ada was *not* the daughter of Mary Shelley's sister, she evidently *could* have been. Then Mary Shelly would have been the *aunt* of the first computer programmer. -- +-------------------------------------------------------------+ | Charles and Francis Richmond | +-------------------------------------------------------------+ ###### From: lisard@zetnet.co.uk Newsgroups: alt.atheism,rec.org.mensa,talk.religion.misc,alt.folklore.computers Subject: Re: Who invented the computer? (was: Are Atheists RESENTFUL of Theists' Date: 13 Sep 1998 13:05:37 GMT Message-ID: <6tgfv1$kbj$5@irk.zetnet.co.uk> References: <35FAEA82.395F@virgin.net> NNTP-Posting-Host: man-035.dialup.zetnet.co.uk X-Trace: irk.zetnet.co.uk 905691937 20851 194.247.41.43 (13 Sep 1998 13:05:37 GMT) NNTP-Posting-Date: 13 Sep 1998 13:05:37 GMT X-Everything: Net-Tamer V 1.08X Lines: 17 Path: ccw.ch!pfaff.ethz.ch!news-zh.switch.ch!news-ge.switch.ch!newscore.univie.ac.at!btnet-peer!btnet!dispose.news.demon.net!demon!peer.news.zetnet.net!zetnet.co.uk!not-for-mail On 1998-09-12 j.brewin@virgin.net said: :I'm somewhat suprised that no-one has mentioned the first computer :programmer.. Mary Shelley.. yes THE Mary Shelley :Apparently she had a genius for logic and proved herself very :useful to Babbage.. Mary Shelley...? surely you mean Ada Lovelace? (And wasn't she Byron's daughter, by his half-sister?) She had a genius for maths, but a weakness for good opium, bad men and worse horses. "Cover her face; mine eyes dazzle; she died young." -- Communa (together) we remember... we'll see you falling you know soft spoken changes nothing to sing within her... ###### From: "Samael" Newsgroups: alt.folklore.computers Subject: Re: Who invented the computer? (was: Are Date: Sun, 13 Sep 1998 16:00:45 +0100 Lines: 32 Message-ID: <6tgsri$79k$1@heliodor.xara.net> References: <6t8pb0$5n8$1@heliodor.xara.net> <6tc8aa$prt$2@engnews2.Eng.Sun.COM> NNTP-Posting-Host: 195.147.12.161 X-Newsreader: Microsoft Outlook Express 4.72.3110.5 X-MimeOLE: Produced By Microsoft MimeOLE V4.72.3110.3 Path: ccw.ch!pfaff.ethz.ch!news-zh.switch.ch!news.belnet.be!news-raspail.gip.net!news-lond.gip.net!news.gsl.net!gip.net!nntp.news.xara.net!xara.net!news.itg.net.uk!usenet Bob Morrisette wrote in message <6tc8aa$prt$2@engnews2.Eng.Sun.COM>... >In article 1@heliodor.xara.net, "Samael" writes: >> >> Jason Ryan wrote in message <6t792h$8t0@news.eisa.net.au>... >> > >> >Hi all, >> > >> >Came across an intersting story about the first person buid a mechanical >> >computer. He was an English mathematician named Brabbige(sp?) who biuld a >> >> >> Babbage. >> >> And it's kind of a famous story, so you're probably not telling people an >> awful lot they don't knw. Especailly here on alt.folklore.computers, where >> several people actually worked on Babbages Computer before they moved up to >> punch card systems. >> >> Samael >> >If you are serious, these people must have been ghosts. Useful hint for usenet #2543: When in doubt, assume smileys Samael ###### From: maff91@dial.pipex.com (maff91) Newsgroups: alt.atheism,rec.org.mensa,talk.religion.misc,alt.folklore.computers Subject: Re: Who invented the computer? (was: Are Atheists RESENTFUL of Theists' Date: Sun, 13 Sep 1998 19:42:21 GMT Organization: UUNET UK server (post doesn't reflect views of UUNET UK) Lines: 28 Message-ID: <35fc1fdf.43924145@newnews.dial.pipex.com> References: <35FAEA82.395F@virgin.net> <6tgfv1$kbj$5@irk.zetnet.co.uk> <35FB900C.747E2F2B@plano.net> NNTP-Posting-Host: usero891.uk.uudial.com Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit X-Newsreader: Forte Agent 1.5/32.452 Path: ccw.ch!pfaff.ethz.ch!news-zh.switch.ch!news.belnet.be!news-raspail.gip.net!news-stkh.gip.net!news.gsl.net!gip.net!masternews.telia.net!newsfeed.ecrc.net!join.news.pipex.net!pipex!warm.news.pipex.net!bore.news.pipex.net!pipex!not-for-mail On Sun, 13 Sep 1998 09:27:39 +0000, Charles Richmond wrote: >lisard@zetnet.co.uk wrote: >> >> On 1998-09-12 j.brewin@virgin.net said: >> :I'm somewhat suprised that no-one has mentioned the first computer >> :programmer.. Mary Shelley.. yes THE Mary Shelley >> >> :Apparently she had a genius for logic and proved herself very >> :useful to Babbage.. >> >> Mary Shelley...? surely you mean Ada Lovelace? (And wasn't she Byron's >> daughter, by his half-sister?) She had a genius for maths, but a >> weakness for good opium, bad men and worse horses. >> >> "Cover her face; mine eyes dazzle; she died young." >> >True enough about Ada Lovelace. I did recently learn (on educational TV) that >Mary Shelley's sister had an affair with Percy Shelley and *also* with George >Gordon, Lord Byron. So even though Ada was *not* the daughter of Mary >Shelley's sister, she evidently *could* have been. Then Mary Shelly would >have been the *aunt* of the first computer programmer. http://www.yahoo.com/Arts/Humanities/Literature/Genres/Literary_Fiction/Authors/Shelley__Mary__1797_1851_/ http://www.yahoo.com/Computers_and_Internet/History/People/Lovelace__Ada__1815_1852_/ ###### From: writer1@sabu.eng.sun.com Newsgroups: alt.folklore.computers Subject: Re: Who invented the computer? (was: Are Date: 14 Sep 1998 19:13:21 GMT Organization: Sun Microsystems Inc. Lines: 14 Distribution: world Message-ID: <6tjpsh$cmc$3@engnews2.Eng.Sun.COM> References: <35FAEA82.395F@virgin.net> Reply-To: writer1@sabu.eng.sun.com NNTP-Posting-Host: sabu.eng.sun.com Path: ccw.ch!pfaff.ethz.ch!news-zh.switch.ch!news-ge.switch.ch!news.maxwell.syr.edu!newsfeed.wli.net!su-news-hub1.bbnplanet.com!news.bbnplanet.com!venus.sun.com!sunnews1.Eng.Sun.COM!engnews2.Eng.Sun.COM!sabu!writer1 In article 395F@virgin.net, "j.brew" writes: > I'm somewhat suprised that no-one has mentioned the first computer > programmer.. Mary Shelley.. yes THE Mary Shelley > Apparently she had a genius for logic and proved herself very useful to > Babbage.. > cheers > Jim What about Ada Lovelace? Are we rewriting history? Sabu ###### Newsgroups: alt.folklore.computers From: bdb@GTS.Net (Hello Kittyhawk) Subject: Re: Who invented the computer? (was: Are Message-ID: Organization: G.T.S., Toronto, Ontario X-Newsreader: trn 4.0-test66 (4 June 1998) References: <35FAEA82.395F@virgin.net> <6tjpsh$cmc$3@engnews2.Eng.Sun.COM> Date: Wed, 16 Sep 1998 02:28:54 GMT Lines: 22 Path: ccw.ch!pfaff.ethz.ch!news-zh.switch.ch!news.belnet.be!news-raspail.gip.net!news-peer.gip.net!news.gsl.net!gip.net!sunqbc.risq.qc.ca!tor-nx1.netcom.ca!gts!bdb In article <6tjpsh$cmc$3@engnews2.Eng.Sun.COM>, wrote: |In article 395F@virgin.net, "j.brew" writes: |> I'm somewhat suprised that no-one has mentioned the first computer |> programmer.. Mary Shelley.. yes THE Mary Shelley |> Apparently she had a genius for logic and proved herself very useful to |> Babbage.. |> cheers |> Jim | |What about Ada Lovelace? Are we rewriting history? don't you mean Linda Lovelace (who was also the inventor of the motor-operated hum job 8^)? -- ,u, Bruce Becker Toronto, Ontario 1 416 699 1868 a /i/ Internet: bdb@gts.org Uucp: ...!gts!bdb `\o\-e millihelen, n. The quantity of beauty required to _< /_ launch one ship. -- Webstar's Fictionary ###### Message-ID: <35FFC303.BBC138F1@danet.com> Date: Wed, 16 Sep 1998 09:54:12 -0400 From: "J. Benz" X-Mailer: Mozilla 4.05 [en] (Win95; I) MIME-Version: 1.0 Newsgroups: alt.folklore.computers Subject: Re: Who invented the computer? (was: Are References: <35FAEA82.395F@virgin.net> <6tjpsh$cmc$3@engnews2.Eng.Sun.COM> Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit NNTP-Posting-Host: pc-135.danet.com Lines: 45 Path: ccw.ch!pfaff.ethz.ch!news-zh.switch.ch!news-ge.switch.ch!newsfeed.uk.ibm.net!ibm.net!europa.clark.net!198.138.0.5!newshub.northeast.verio.net!newsserver.jvnc.net!news.nauticom.net!pc-135.danet.com > In article <6tjpsh$cmc$3@engnews2.Eng.Sun.COM>, > wrote: > |In article 395F@virgin.net, "j.brew" writes: > |> I'm somewhat suprised that no-one has mentioned the first computer > |> programmer.. Mary Shelley.. yes THE Mary Shelley > |> Apparently she had a genius for logic and proved herself very useful to > |> Babbage.. > |> cheers > |> Jim > | > |What about Ada Lovelace? Are we rewriting history? > Since we've strayed onto this topic, I'll throw in a story I've heard in a number of contexts. I have no historical support for any of this - it's just a story I've encountered.Ada Lovelace was a student (the first female mathematics student at Oxford, I believe, and a true genius at it to boot) of Babbage. Babbage was a commoner, and Lovelace was the niece of Lord Byron (an elevated commoner, and poet laureate). Byron was determined that his niece would marry well, and when Ada and Babbage met at Oxford and fell in love, Byron nixed the relationship, because Babbage was a lowly commoner, not well paid as an Oxford don, and had no real future. A contest was being held by the British Navy, looking for new ideas to help with problems of navigation. Babbage invented the difference engine to compute logarithmic tables as a navigation aid, attempting to win the substantial prize, secure his future, and the hand of Ada, who helped with some of the algorithmic and mechanical design. When Babbage approached the admiralty with his invention, the Lord High Admiral spluttered something about 'usurping the powers of God in making a machine that could mimic human thought' and refused to consider the difference engine on religious grounds. Babbage's dreams were crushed, and he and Ada faced a bitter parting and the end of their romance. Ada, being Byron's niece, knew all the literary lights of the time, including Mary Shelley, who was the (daughter?) of THE Shelley, another poet of the time. Sometime shortly after the rejection of the DE by the Admiralty, a kind of weekend retreat was held, attended by many of the literati of British society, including Mary Shelley. During this retreat, a contest was held, with a prize for whoever could write the best piece during the retreat. Mary Shelley, reacting to Ada and Babbage's experience, penned Frankenstein, which is about a human doctor usurping the powers of God in attempting to create a human being from spare parts. Commander Data playing the violin indeed. ###### Message-ID: <35FFD99D.3DA2@gazonk.del> Date: Wed, 16 Sep 1998 11:30:37 -0400 From: "Foobar T. Clown" Reply-To: foobar@gazonk.del Organization: Blurp X-Mailer: Mozilla 3.01 (WinNT; I) MIME-Version: 1.0 Newsgroups: alt.folklore.computers Subject: Re: Who invented the computer? (was: Are References: <35FAEA82.395F@virgin.net> <6tjpsh$cmc$3@engnews2.Eng.Sun.COM> <35FFC303.BBC138F1@danet.com> Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit NNTP-Posting-Host: 198.133.110.49 X-Trace: 16 Sep 1998 11:33:01 -0500, 198.133.110.49 Lines: 13 Path: ccw.ch!pfaff.ethz.ch!news-zh.switch.ch!news-ge.switch.ch!news.maxwell.syr.edu!news.idt.net!ix.netcom.com!zeus.nomos.com!198.133.110.49 J. Benz wrote: > [Ada Augusta Lovelace], knew all the literary lights of the time, > including Mary Shelley, who was the (daughter?) of THE Shelley, > another poet of the time. > [...] > Mary Shelley, reacting to Ada and Babbage's experience, penned > Frankenstein. Mary Godwin married Percy Bysshe Shelley in 1816 -- shortly after she started to write "Frankenstein." She was eighteen years old. Take a look at this site if you want to know more. http://www.netaxs.com/~kwbridge/pbs.html ###### Message-ID: <35FFF06F.147E8064@danet.com> Date: Wed, 16 Sep 1998 13:07:59 -0400 From: "J. Benz" X-Mailer: Mozilla 4.05 [en] (Win95; I) MIME-Version: 1.0 Newsgroups: alt.folklore.computers Subject: Re: Who invented the computer? (was: Are References: <35FFC303.BBC138F1@danet.com> <6tojit$rs8$1@flood.weeg.uiowa.edu> Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit NNTP-Posting-Host: pc-135.danet.com Lines: 59 Path: ccw.ch!pfaff.ethz.ch!news-zh.switch.ch!news-ge.switch.ch!news.maxwell.syr.edu!newshub.northeast.verio.net!newsserver.jvnc.net!news.nauticom.net!pc-135.danet.com Douglas W. Jones,201H MLH,3193350740,3193382879 wrote: > From article <35FFC303.BBC138F1@danet.com>, by "J. Benz" : > > > ... Byron was determined that his niece would marry well, and when > > Ada and Babbage met at Oxford and fell in love, Byron nixed the > > relationship, because Babbage was a lowly commoner, not well paid as > > an Oxford don, and had no real future. > > This certainly isn't the way Babbage tells the story in his autobiography. > I thoroughly recommend reading Babbage's version of his relationship with > Ada. You can find this in: > > As I said - just a story. Forget where I heard it - I believe it was from an English prof in my University days, but can't say for sure - and the version you see here comes directly from my own wetware and its faulty storage media, with no attempt to verify sources. Guess that puts it squarely in the 'folklore' category... Interesting reference to Babbage's autobiography - guess I'll have to read it... I'm not a historian, and this all goes back to one of those courses they force you to take for 'enrichment', where most of the time I was probably barely awake during the lectures. I will say, though, that your statement 'this isn't the way Babbage tells the story' leaves something to be desired - Babbage is likely to have a certain amount of bias, and given the historical era, giving credit to a woman, even to mention her as a collaborator, would have generated some raised eyebrows, at the very least...interesting that he was non-conformist enough to give her credit at all. Not to question the veracity of any of what you say here - just that an autobiography is by nature a questionable historical source, and always carries an implied bias... but since I have no references to offer... and this is all in fun anyway... Admittedly, I've never quite bought into this story either - I posted it just to see what comments might come out of it. Upon re-reading your post, except for some romantic embellishments (folklore, remember), there really isn't much discrepancy between us, as I see it - "Babbage's relationship with Ada seems to have come much later in his life!" - didn't the actual development of the Difference Engine come later in his life as well? I never said he was a young don, only that he fell in love with a student. Babbage was not likely to mention a (failed) romantic affair in the context you cite - like Clinton, he was probably more likely to want to cover up what would have been considered an 'improper' relationship, and may well have harbored some painful memories as well. I have read a biography (NOT an autobiography!) of Ada - and it made some veiled references to a romantic attachment too, although it never actually said anything concrete about it. Sorry, no reference for that either - this goes back about 20 years for me... She actually was quite an interesting persona in her own right, and is given some credit for 'inventing' certain common mathematical methods (can never remenber whether it was natural logs or differential equations, but she got into Oxford in the first place because she made a major contribution to Mathematics at the age of 12!). ###### From: jones@cs.uiowa.edu (Douglas W. Jones,201H MLH,3193350740,3193382879) Newsgroups: alt.folklore.computers Subject: Re: Who invented the computer? (was: Are Date: 16 Sep 1998 14:56:29 GMT Organization: The University of Iowa Lines: 74 Message-ID: <6tojit$rs8$1@flood.weeg.uiowa.edu> References: <35FFC303.BBC138F1@danet.com> NNTP-Posting-Host: pyrite.cs.uiowa.edu Path: ccw.ch!pfaff.ethz.ch!news-zh.switch.ch!news-ge.switch.ch!news.maxwell.syr.edu!newsfeed.gamma.ru!Gamma.RU!nntpgate.globalserve.net!NewsNG.Chicago.Qual.Net!news.uiowa.edu!not-for-mail From article <35FFC303.BBC138F1@danet.com>, by "J. Benz" : > ... Byron was determined that his niece would marry well, and when > Ada and Babbage met at Oxford and fell in love, Byron nixed the > relationship, because Babbage was a lowly commoner, not well paid as > an Oxford don, and had no real future. This certainly isn't the way Babbage tells the story in his autobiography. I thoroughly recommend reading Babbage's version of his relationship with Ada. You can find this in: Passages from the Life of a Philosopher, Longman, Green, 1864. This book has been reprinted by Dover! It includes an extensive history of the difference engine and analytical engine, an extensive discussion of Ada's contributions -- contributions that Babbage considered quite significant, and digressions into many other areas of Babbage's life, including his forays into railroad engineering, calculus teaching and vulcanology. Dover has also reprinted Babbage's other major work, a book on economics that had significant influence on the work of Karl Marx and John Stuart Mill. The book was written as the result of Babbage's search for better manufacturing technology for the difference engine, and it has a chapter on the difference engine that only hints at the possibility of a more general analytical engine. On the Economy of Machinery and Manufactures, 4th ed. Charles Knight, London, 1835. > A contest was being held by the British Navy, looking for new ideas to > help with problems of navigation. Babbage invented the difference > engine to compute logarithmic tables as a navigation aid, attempting > to win the substantial prize, secure his future, and the hand of Ada, > who helped with some of the algorithmic and mechanical design. Again, this differs from Babbage's version. First, Babbage was very good friends with the Astronomer Royal, Herschel (the younger). The two of them were students together, they cowrote the answer key to a Calculus textbook, and you get the feeling from "Passages" that Babbage and his friend spent quite a bit of time at the Royal Observatory when it was being run by Herschel (the elder). The connection between naval interests, tides, and astronomy was very strong at the time, and Babbage was on the inside in many discussions of these issues. Babbage claims that the idea that led to the difference engine came to him in a discussion with Herschel (the younger) when they were still students, and the motivation was most definitely problems with tide tables and navigational tables. Babbage's relationship with Ada seems to have come much later in his life! > ... Ada, being Byron's niece, knew all the literary lights of the time, > including Mary Shelley, who was the (daughter?) of THE Shelley, another > poet of the time. ... Babbage's circle of friends, in contrast, included such liminaries as Brunell (the great railroad and marine engineer), Maudsley (the inventor of the slide rest and, in consequence, the father of all modern machine tools) and similar key figures in the industrial revolution. Babbage's father was a banker, and it is noteworthy that Babbage and the majority of his friends were nonconformists -- a term that meant Protestant but not members of the Church of England. During the restoration after the end of Cromwell's commonwealth, official discrimination against nonconformists was fairly severe, and they were excluded from many schools and professions. In Babbage's times, these discriminatory rules were falling, but there was still a severe divide between the landed gentry -- the path to wealth for conformists, and the new industrialists -- the path to wealth largely discovered by nonconformists. Doug Jones jones@cs.uiowa.edu ###### From: cpierce1@cp500.fsic.ford.com (Clinton Pierce) Newsgroups: alt.folklore.computers Subject: Re: Who invented the computer? (was: Are Date: 16 Sep 1998 15:57:37 GMT Organization: Ford Motor Company Lines: 31 Message-ID: <6ton5h$s9k1@eccws1.dearborn.ford.com> References: <6nudl1$1480$4@nntp1.u.washington.edu> <6t792h$8t0@news.eisa.net.au> <6tc5ev$i9e$1@starbase.neosoft.com> <36016238.4436026@newnews.dial.pipex.com> <35FAEA82.395F@virgin.net> <6tjpsh$cmc$3@engnews2.eng.sun.com> <35FFC303.BBC138F1@danet.com> NNTP-Posting-Host: cp500.fsic.ford.com X-Newsreader: knews 0.9.3 Path: ccw.ch!pfaff.ethz.ch!news-zh.switch.ch!news.belnet.be!newspump.monmouth.com!newspeer.monmouth.com!newsfeed.internetmci.com!141.211.144.13!newsxfer3.itd.umich.edu!jobone!dailyplanet.srl.ford.com!eccws1.dearborn.ford.com!news In article <35FFC303.BBC138F1@danet.com>, "J. Benz" writes: > >Since we've strayed onto this topic, I'll throw in a story I've heard in a >number of contexts. I have no historical support for any of this - it's just >a story I've encountered. [...] >Sometime shortly after the rejection of the DE by the Admiralty, a kind >of weekend retreat was held, attended by many of the literati of British >society, including Mary Shelley. During this retreat, a contest was held, >with a prize for whoever could write the best piece during the retreat. Mary >Shelley, reacting to Ada and Babbage's experience, penned Frankenstein, which >is about a human doctor usurping the powers of God in attempting to create a >human being from spare parts. Commander Data playing the violin indeed. I read this and kept thinking "...and now you know, the Rest of the Story". obafc: Contel/CADO Systems used to have a 3-user system called a "CAT III". Does anyone remember what kind of processor was in those? 8086? 8088? One of the early Intel chips, no doubt because the later CADO systems were based on it... -- +------------------------------------------------------------------------+ | Clinton A. Pierce | "If you rush a Miracle Man, | http://www. | | cpierce1@ford.com | you get rotten miracles" | dcicorp.com/ | | fubar@ameritech.net |--Miracle Max, The Princess Bride| ~clintp | +------------------------------------------------------------------------+ GCSd-s+:+a-C++UALIS++++P+++L++E---t++X+b+++DI++++G++e+>++h----r+++y+++>y* ###### From: lisard@zetnet.co.uk Newsgroups: alt.atheism,rec.org.mensa,talk.religion.misc,alt.folklore.computers Subject: Re: Who invented the computer? (was: Are Atheists RESENTFUL of Theists' Date: 16 Sep 1998 18:33:43 GMT Message-ID: <6tp0a7$v5r$2@irk.zetnet.co.uk> References: <35fc4f03.1580631@news.u.washington.edu> NNTP-Posting-Host: man-076.dialup.zetnet.co.uk X-Trace: irk.zetnet.co.uk 905970823 31931 194.247.41.94 (16 Sep 1998 18:33:43 GMT) NNTP-Posting-Date: 16 Sep 1998 18:33:43 GMT X-Everything: Net-Tamer V 1.08X Lines: 8 Path: ccw.ch!pfaff.ethz.ch!news-zh.switch.ch!news.belnet.be!newsgate.cistron.nl!het.net!newsfeed.uk.ibm.net!ibm.net!dispose.news.demon.net!demon!peer.news.zetnet.net!zetnet.co.uk!not-for-mail On 1998-09-13 daveg@XOUT.u.wahington.edu said: :No, the first program was DNA which is why you go bonkers over Linda :Lovelace. Linda Fox, surely? It's just a shame you got pulled out of suspended animation for the ride. It was *nice* in there.