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| Re: calculating machines on Safehold | |
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by evilauthor
» Sat Jun 20, 2015 6:28 pm
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evilauthor
Posts: 724
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He does have a calculating machine. It's called OWL. Hence my question about FedTech retarding computing development in Charis. Why go to the trouble when you already have something like OWL to do all the real number crunching for you? |
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by Expert snuggler
» Sun Jul 05, 2015 2:54 am
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Expert snuggler
Posts: 491
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The sheer convenience of having a computer that's not a Top Secret Special Access device that factory managers can't use or even know about. The real strategic value would be in cultivating a cadre of computer nerds. |
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by MTO
» Sun Jul 05, 2015 12:06 pm
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MTO
Posts: 37
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Mechanical and civil engineers use calculators too. |
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by Expert snuggler
» Tue Jul 07, 2015 3:26 pm
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Expert snuggler
Posts: 491
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We're all thinking Babbage here.
Can nanotech be bootstrapped without breaking the Proscriptions? A strictly mechanical computer on a microscopic scale could process fast enough for many useful purposes. |
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by MTO
» Tue Jul 07, 2015 5:14 pm
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MTO
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Its hard to say... I would argue that much of what we call nanotech these days isn't. At least, not in the sense Eric Drexler meant when he coined the term. However, he imagined two ways of building our first assemblers: 1- using an atomic force microscope... That definitely requires electricity. 2- using biotech. I have a hard time picturing anyone doing the kind of stuff we do routinely with DNA, without the help of computers, but its not impossible. It would be a huge amount of paperwork and drudgework. So if they could equal 21st century biology without a computer, then they probably could manage to put together an assembler, assuming we'll be able to do it soon. Then there's photonics... it might be possible to do a lot of optical computing without using electricity. One hurdle will be making a continuous output laser without using electricity to excite the laser's emitters. It can be done with heat, but I've never seen a continuous laser done that way, just intermittent ones. That might be OK though. Most modern electronics are synchronised to a clock. It doesn't have to be that way, but it makes digital design much simpler. Maybe your laser source could also be your clock... |
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by Charybdis
» Tue Jul 07, 2015 7:17 pm
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Charybdis
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There have been real world demonstrations of FLUIDIC computers using a aero or hydro fluid to run through amplifiers, triodes and logic gates. With the accumulators at the Delthak site, you'd have the water power, now just to figure out how to produce an answer ...
 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fluidics -----
What say you, my peers? |
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by Expert snuggler
» Wed Jul 08, 2015 2:04 pm
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Expert snuggler
Posts: 491
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Fluidics, or since we've ruled out molecular-scale machines, something in between Babbage and Drexler with parts within reach of an optical microscope.
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by thrystan
» Thu Jul 09, 2015 12:50 am
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thrystan
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Albert Michelson's Hamonic Analyzer is an interesting mechanical calculator. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NAsM30MAHLg
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by McGuiness
» Thu Jul 09, 2015 6:42 am
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McGuiness
Posts: 1203
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When I was a kid in the late 60s - early 70s our family had a strictly mechanical calculator roughly the size of a modern electronic calculator that you manipulated with a stylus to indicate the numbers you wanted, then you'd pull the multiplication, divide, add, or subtract slot to perform the desired calculation. My dad must have picked it up for some of his college courses, but it was much quicker than a slide rule and used no electricity. I don't remember if it was capable of performing more advanced functions, since I couldn't yet read at time, and my abilities in addition and subtraction were limited to counting on my fingers, or at most (if I took off my shoes) on my toes as well.
I refuse to note that there was a method by which I could have counted slightly higher...  With this sort of technology, Howsmyn's engineers could easily perform difficult calculations very quickly - it beats an abacus because even a novice could use it within a couple of minutes. "Oh bother", said Pooh as he glanced through the airlock window at the helmet he'd forgotten to wear. |
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by Expert snuggler
» Thu Jul 09, 2015 9:26 pm
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Expert snuggler
Posts: 491
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Come to think of it, why on earth hasn't Merlin done anything to make slide rules happen?
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