Optron #23 19 января 1999

История

Pages of History - A Tale of DBL.

[] Hacker Rasp


  In the New Year, we continue our historical survey. At this 
time, "Optocouplers" supersensatsionny published material

we received from Fido.



                Tale of the DBL

{} Max Samokhvalov, 1997


  Everyone thinks that the first computer invented something
Do Americans, or Bulgarians, in years
commercials, thirty-fortieth of our century.
Like, there were relays and all that. (I think
Readers' Optron "aware of the computers," Mark I "," Mark II 
"and Stohr Atanasoff, of Charles Babbage and Lady Adelaide 
Lovelace - Ed.) 

  In fact, it was not so!

  The first workable universal
counting unit was designed by Russian
engineer. And not just designed, but also
built! And not a single relay, no one
bulbs!

  Archives say the following (for more intuitive presentation 
used here modern terms, which, naturally,

Then there was).

  Somewhere in the beginning of 1868 the Russian Emperor 
Alexander II is very interested in GIVEN to him by some 
Project. And he commanded his implement.


  Well, once the king commanded, began to build.
Construction was carried out on a huge fallow field near 
Smolensk. Hundreds of workers within three years, sawing and 
planing, resin and chopped. 

  At the world's first universal DVM
(Wooden computers) were
consumed 18,000 cubic meters of excellent
ship timber, and hundreds of pounds of nails.
Rearrangement led the talented Russian
engineer, whose name continues to hold in
big secret: and to this day its development - a tidbit for all 
computer companies in the world. 

  DBL is a whole complex
huts. Each of them carries a
function.

  Central hut, the biggest of all,
elbow height commercials in 30-40, according to
Archives titled "Head Resolver"
(GR) (a kind of modern CPUs). It
find it difficult to drovyano-logical
matrix, and thousands of wooden churbachkov, koi
in accordance with the program to perform basic mathematical 
operations. Can assume (for the archives about this silent) 
that each churbachok could enter freely only in its series of 
holes, indicating that the firmware principles functioning. 
From Svetlitsa (operating room), GR was a wooden shaft in a 
vast cellar, where several harnessed oxen turn it from a 
strictly constant speed of 3 rpm. Speed ​​regulator was a man 
with a sack of straw in one hand and a whip in the other. Thus,

clock frequency of the world's first CPU
bykooborota was three per minute.

  From another building, called the "cottage
Knowledge "(FM), came to GR 10 wooden
gutters. According to him the same rolling wooden balls. From a 
modern analogue of RAM, and gutters - no more than a 
desyatibitnoy systemic artery. Better than the XT!

Well, balls - is, in general, and there are bits.
Come to the ball in GR, yeah, there is a logical "1".
Do not come - hence the "0". True, the principles
storing bits in from so far not clear,
You can only assume that there was
lots of shelves, and the teams GR pushes balls into the gutter 
by some mechanism. But that's what it was for a mechanism to 
understand did not succeed: a drawing of this particular

node was spoiled by rats. Similarly, in the opposite direction 
- from the GR FROM - Rolling balls on the other ten channels.

In GR balls falling into the wells of the matrix, churbachki
dropped, and the presence or absence
ball in the hole churbachok either passed into the hole or not. 
Then everything was a matter of belt-drive technology. 

  Program pawned in DBL directly in
Hut Knowledge. Left on the shelves, only those
balls that are consistent with the plan
programmer. That is, the programmed
directly into the binary codes (balls). High-level languages 
​​did not exist. 

  There was also a floppy drive. True, it was called
otherwise, and looks impressive - 3x4 m.
Data from FROM went into the drive on
special single-bit chute. The team of
Eight potters took the ball and vyminala
on wet clay pit. If within
the next stroke the ball does not come, then the hole
not vyminali. That is, it was a prototype
CD-ROM with a single entry and multiple playback. When it was 
necessary to download the program from disk into RAM, then 
pre-calcined clay disk removed out of the barn long-term 
storage of information and on horse-heavy-duty (Bityug) 
transported to FROM. And there, visually checking the 
fingerprints on the clay balls are stacked on shelves. C handle 
it even untrained collegiate registrar. 

  There was also a keyboard. She, along with the monitor is in 
a small hut on the edge of the field. The keyboard is of a

system of levers, ropes and flags. System Programmer pulled the 
lever is in the fifth row in the fourth column - taut rope and 
out to the special board lifted the box. Hence, should be on 
the shelf in the fifth row and fourth column to set the ball. 
And so on. 

  Were and function keys. About
Each man stood guard, who
on a signal from a central console could steganut whip. For 
example, the missing bits fourth chute - who overlooked? Yeah,

Suppose the operator overlooked - confused.
System programmer clicks on F10, which
means "ten jobs" - and everything
whip walked along the ridge, the next bit
not lost. And if so does hang
DBL, I mean get tired a little porter balls
Ali lay clay disks fill
information, then the Ctr-Alt-Del, you can click. Then the 
officers had to work well. Everybody whipped, so that reboot! A 
general fear of RESET said: all in Siberia - and a new gang

recruit.

  The monitor was a hole cut through a wall of the hut. There 
was good shows how the complex. And these calculations 
messengers brought directly from FROM. It was easier than from 
logs pixels ax vystrugivat.


  Winchester was also built, but to withdraw
the working mode it did not succeed. For
disperse its tysyachepudovogo drive 70 horses were harnessed. 
Read-write head in a cradle with a hundred stonemasons held

on a huge log, which is pulled
fro 400 warriors. Stonemasons
simultaneously recorded information, cutting down
pieces of stone from the disk. When it was necessary
anything to erase, potholes filled with a solution. Once again, 
digging. And once again flooded. Work had to be fast, not 
letting not one bit. Fortunately, the clock frequency

CPU was low. Otherwise would not have coped. But still, to 
organize the work such a complex site could not: that

solution accidentally shed, do not go tyuknut. A bit does not 
go there - and all the work nothing. Oh, and threw the case.


  Worked for two paired drives.
Solve the problem, basically, a strategic
character. How many sheep raised for the year
this or that province, but how much it costs. Ali as forage 
religious troops for a war with basurmanami needs. In Overall, 
the statistics involved. 

  The king was pleased. Monarchical favor
showed, no money spared. Yes, officials,
nettle seed, the whole thing ruined. Secretly
forced programmers to write the game. One-dimensional. Write 
something written, but not enough power in DBL. Forced the 
peasants rotate faster. Hyped. Drove the whole

herds of cattle. All the little
them. Even faster come on! At thirty-eight
bykooborotah in a minute everything fell apart.
Talent engineers in the forehead bit hit,
fool was. And without his leadership no one knew how to fix ...

  The king heard angry officials incinerated, but what good is 
something ... And soon (01/03/1881 was - Ed.) And the king 
himself nihilists decided. And were separated on

firewood first wooden calculating machine. Overgrown field 
grass, weathered all Yes pognilo flooded.


  Here's a story.



             P.S. by rasp


  Thus, disclosed is another mystery stories
computer equipment. But how many of their
More! Noteworthy automatic analyzer Giyotena (France, 1789 -
1788). It would shed light on
the role of vassals in the drafting of Baron Napier
Tables of natural logarithms ("Sticks
Napier, Scotland, 1614) There is evidence
that shuriken, which were used by ninjas
Shogun Tokugawa Ieyasu (Japan, 1603), in
were really pocket differentiators. But Julius Caesar (Ancient 
Rome, 102 - 44 years. BC), used for abacus

strategic operations planning his legions? History is waiting 
to be explored!