A built-in player inside the Files app allows for the playback of high-quality FLAC audio files. The app also supports the viewing and extraction of Zip archives. If no compatible app is installed, Files allows for the viewing of text files, and experiments in watching videos in AVI or MOV formats have shown limited, but partially successful, results. Images and "Music Memo" files can also be previewed and played.


Computer Technology Limited

Computer Technology Limited (CTL) was a British computer company founded in 1965. In 1984 it merged into its holding company and was called Information Technology Limited (ITL).
Founder Iann Barron had worked for Elliott Automation but left to form CTL when he couldn't persuade Elliott to incorporate his ideas in their next generation of computers. CTL was financed by the American Research and Development Corporation and Pergamon Press.
The first CTL computer, the Modular One, appeared for sale in 1968.
Modular One.
The Modular One was a 16-bit computer built with Emitter Coupled Logic (ECL) and was competitive with other first generation minicomputers.
Features.
A key feature, from which it derived its name, was that it was composed of separate processor, memory and peripheral modules sharing a common interface and physical form factor, so allowing them to be put together in any combination, housed one or two high in modular racking. Standard modules were roughly 50cm wide and deep, 70cm tall, and complete with power supply, typically weighed in excess of 25kg. Modules were interconnected using a single type of interface, comprising two identical cards to be plugged into two modules to be connected, these cards themselves linked by a flat ribbon cable either one or two metres long. Thus, memory was just another peripheral (such as a printer) but was both input and output.
Every interaction over these interfaces comprised a 3-way handshake, which in the case of a processor accessing a memory module, consisted of send address, receive data, and send new data, a scheme well suited to the destructive read followed by rewrite required by magnetic-core memory of the time. These three phases were mediated by voltage edges rather than pulses, as this was thought to be faster. Furthermore, the input and output impedances of ECL were comparable to the characteristic impedance of ribbon cable. This, together with the small voltage swings between the "0" and "1" states made for low noise, reflection-free communication.
Processors naturally had a number of interface slots bussed together, allowing connection to memory and peripheral modules as required. Memory modules had several, allowing them to be accessed by more than one processor as well as by disc controllers for DMA. Disc controllers could be connected to two processors as well as memory modules. All modules had a "1.x" type designation, for example, the original processor module was 1.11, memory modules were 1.2x, character peripherals were 1.3x, discs were 1.4x and magnetic tape devices were 1.5x. The standard interface was designated 1.01.
The various building blocks could be assembled and configured to produce a fault-tolerant computer system.
Distinctive features of the processor were memory-mapped I/O and an early version of segmented memory (similar to the later Intel 8086 but having both base and limit). The processor had 3 segment registers referred to as X, Y and Z. The X segment was read/execute only and used to map code segments (corresponding to CS in the x86 architecture). It was not possible to execute code in the Y and Z segments, which were used for data (roughly corresponding to DS and ES in x86). There were 8 addressing modes allowing access to data mapped by the segment registers in various ways.
The memory segmentation, together with two execution states (Normal State and non-interruptible privileged Special State) made possible the implementation of a self-protecting operating system kernel (known as the Executive, or Exec). Such ideas were popular in British computer academia at the time and later were adopted by some US designs such as the Motorola 68000 and Intel 80286. Furthermore, the power system was set up as a peripheral with interrupt capabilities that gave the machine the ability to power down gracefully in an emergency.
Sales history.
The Modular One was comparatively expensive. It was somewhat exotic in that its modular design resulted in almost every system delivered being somewhat different, which created a high maintenance burden.
Many universities were equipped with Modular One systems, in part due to the government of the time having a 'buy British' policy. Acting as a front-end processor for the ICL 1900 mainframe, driving multiple online terminals or as a remote batch job entry station, was a major market for the Modular One.
It never sold widely outside of the UK, and even in the UK it was surpassed in sales by Digital Equipment Corporation (DEC) and Data General before the end of the 1970s.
Over the mid 1970s to mid 1980s the systems were cost reduced with TTL bitslice technology and 8-bit microprocessor communications controllers, retreating from the radical modular design, but it never gained a significant market share.
Legacy.
Very few Modular One computers now remain, possibly only the example being that restored by Redhawk Systems Ltd.
Operating system.
The operating system kernel was referred to as the Exec. Several simple ones (E1, E2 and E3) were developed in the early years of the company. E4, first in-house release around 1973, written entirely in assembler, was a multitasking kernel using Dijkstra semaphores to protect internal data structures from conflicts. It was based on an early version of object-oriented principles, though lacking most of what are now considered essential features of the paradigm, such as inheritance.
Objects included Activities (now more commonly known as tasks or processes), Segments (of memory), Files, Semaphores and Clocks. Another object type, the Sphere, was a run-time protection domain within which all other object types (including other Spheres) existed. Objects could be created in arbitrary quantities, and were each referenced through a Run Time Name, or RTN. Since an object could be referenced by several RTNs belonging to different spheres, they could easily be shared between programs, and were deleted only when the object's reference count of RTNs fell to zero. Linked lists were used very extensively within E4 to manage data structures, in fact the RTN list was about the only linear list there was. (The system generation process included a phase prosaically called "knitting" comprising a combination of macro expansion and procedural elements, by which the initial data structures were dynamically "knitted" together to create an input file for the assembler.)
The ease with which multiple processor, store and peripheral modules could be built into a system, plus the need to extend the upper capability limits, prompted the development of a dual processor variant of E4. This was built entirely from standard modules except for a small synchronisation board which prevented both processors operating simultaneously in special state, and a very minor modification to one of the processors' interface to store zero, allowing each processor to address a small dedicated memory area for processor-specific variables such as the current activity. However, the results were somewhat disappointing as E4 naturally spent a significant proportion of its time in special state even though efforts had always made to limit special state routines to 100uS at a time. Even running processor-bound user programs, the performance achieved was only of the order of 150% of that of a single processor, and no dual processor E4 systems were ever sold.
There was some similarity to Unix in the use of (mainly) device-independent serial byte oriented streams in the file system and interprocess communication, in contrast to the record-oriented file systems then dominant in commercial data processing. E4 also supported real-time priorities and virtual memory at the Segment level.
E4 had a primitive command line interface but a multi-access operating system known as Modus was built on top of it for much greater flexibility and ease of use. This consisted of a "Nucleus" which looked after a collection of "Engines". An Engine was typically associated with a peripheral device and procesed work from a queue, for example taking print jobs from a print queue and printing them. A special case was the Read Engine, which was the command processor. This was either associated with a terminal device (in which case it had a terminal device but no queue), or was a batch processor (in which case it had a queue but no device).
The filing system, SDFS, was not part of the kernel but was a separate program. A multi-key indexed file system MKFS was also developed, and together with a transaction processing system and a report generator, formed the basis of many sales into commercial applications.
Modus and many of the applications were written in the high level language Coral 66. Compilers for COBOL and FORTRAN IV were also available for the Modular One.
Later history.
Founder Iann Barron left in 1971, following the collapse of a major customer. He went on to form Inmos and develop the transputer. He was replaced as Chairman by Tom Margerison, from London Weekend Television.
During the 1970s CTL operated modestly successfully in a number of niche markets, while larger American competitors, such as Digital Equipment Corporation (DEC) with their PDP range, increased market share. In 1980 two sibling companies Office Technology Limited (OTL) and Network Technology Limited (NTL), and a holding company Information Technology Limited (ITL) were created.
In 1981 entrepreneur Tony Davies became Managing Director. Under Davies CTL began buying in hardware, to be re-badged as CTL systems, recognising CTL could not afford to develop hardware at all levels. The first was a Convergent Technologies 8086 system which created a price competitive small system for CTL. In 1984 all the subsidiaries were merged into the holding company Information Technology Limited (ITL), replacing the CTL name. Nominally this was an efficiency measure, but it also positioned the company better for a possible public offering on the stock markets.
During the mid 1980s, the company decided that the future lay in open systems and CTL attempted to make the transition to Unix with re-badged systems from Motorola and Sequoia Systems. However, sales of CTL's proprietary systems fell off before the new systems could be ramped up to replace them.
The company was taken over by ACT in 1989, primarily for its customers and extensive support network, which effectively ended CTL's era as a computer manufacturer.
Headquarters.
In 1969, Computer Technology hired then up-and-coming architect Norman Foster to design their new headquarters north of London, in Hemel Hempstead. Foster responded to the company's need for an open office plan, as well as a compressed building schedule, by designing an innovative inflatable structure or "air tent" that was critically lauded by the architectural press at the time of its unveiling.
See also.
The Company name 'Computer Technology Limited' is currently registered and in use by: https://www.computer-technology.co.uk/


Hewlett-Packard Voyager series

The Hewlett-Packard Voyager series of calculators were introduced by Hewlett-Packard in 1981. All members of this series are programmable, use Reverse Polish Notation, and feature continuous memory. Nearly identical in appearance, each model provided different capabilities and was aimed at different user markets.
Models.
The HP calculators Voyager series consisted of five models, some of which were manufactured in several variants (with years of production):
HP-10C.
The HP-10C is the last and lowest-featured calculator in this line, even though its number would suggest an earlier origin. The 10C was a basic scientific programmable. While a useful general purpose RPN calculator, the HP-11C offered twice as much for only a slight increase in price. Designed to be an introductory calculator, it was still costly compared to the competition, and many looking at an HP would just step up to the better HP-11C. Poor sales led to a very short market life, making it one of the most difficult of the series to find today.
HP-11C.
The HP-11C is a mid-range scientific programmable calculator.
HP-12C.
The "HP-12C" is a popular financial calculator. It was such a successful model that Hewlett-Packard redesigned it from scratch, added several new functions, and introduced it as the "HP 12c Platinum" in 2003 as well as the "HP 12c Prestige". Over the course of years, several anniversary editions of the calculator were produced as well.
The HP-12C is HP's longest and best-selling product, in continual production since its introduction in 1981.
HP-15C.
The "HP-15C" is a high-end scientific programmable with a root-solver and numerical integration, produced between 1982 and 1989. It is also able to handle complex numbers and matrix operations. Although long being discontinued its continued popularity among users triggered Hewlett-Packard to offer a "HP 15c Limited Edition" remake of the calculator in 2011.
HP-16C.
The "HP-16C" is a computer programmer's calculator, designed to assist in debugging. It can display numbers in hexadecimal, decimal, octal and binary, and convert numbers from one base to another. A number of specialized functions are provided to assist the programmer, including left- and right-shifting, masking, and bitwise logical operations. HP has (as of 2015) never made another programmer's calculator, but has incorporated the 16C's functions in later calculator models.
Features.
Arithmetic.
Hewlett-Packard retained the numerical analyst William Kahan of UC Berkeley, the architect of the IEEE 754 standard for floating-point arithmetic, to design the numerical algorithms implemented by the calculators. He also wrote parts of the manuals.
Programming.
The HP Voyager series calculator are keystroke programmable, meaning that it can remember and later execute sequences of keystrokes to solve particular problems of interest to the user. These keystroke programs, in addition to performing any operation normally available on the keyboard, can also make use of conditional and unconditional branching and looping instructions, allowing programs to perform repetitive operations and make decisions.
The available programming features differentiate between the various HP Voyager series calculator systems.
Legacy.
The HP-12C and its derivatives remains in widespread use today and is still available from Hewlett-Packard. The long-discontinued HP-15C was re-released in a "Limited Edition" in 2011 that has again been discontinued.
Emulators.
Official emulators for the 12C and 15C are commercially available from Hewlett-Packard for Android and iOS devices.
Clones.
In 2011, the continued popularity of the Voyager series among users prompted SwissMicros to produce a series of credit-card-sized calculators looking like miniature versions of their HP equivalents and running the original HP firmware in an emulator on a modern calculator hardware. The series consisted of the "DM10", "DM11", "DM12", "DM15" and "DM16". All calculators used the same hardware, but differ in keyboard and firmware (which can be changed with an upgrade port). After the introduction of the larger "DM15L", "DM41L" and "DM16L" in 2015, the "DM11L" was added in January 2016 with the "DM12L" following in February. A limited production run for a "DM10L" was planned for 2019.


Heirloom Project

The Heirloom Project is a collection of traditional Unix utilities. Most of them are derived from original Unix source code, as released as open-source by Caldera and Sun.
The project has the following components:
Although in general the intention of the project is to provide versions of Unix programs whose behavior mimics that of the classic versions, some improvements have been made. In particular, many of the Heirloom programs have been adapted to handle UTF-8 Unicode. Most programs have both a classic version and a POSIX conformant variant.


ASC Purple

ASC Purple was a supercomputer installed at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory in Livermore, California. The computer was a collaboration between IBM Corporation and Lawrence Livermore Lab. Announced November 19th, 2002, it was installed in July 2005 and decommissioned on November 10th, 2010. The contract for this computer along with the Blue Gene/L supercomputer was worth US $290 million. As of November 2009, the computer ranked 66th on the TOP500 supercomputer list.
It was a redundant ring of POWER5 SMP servers. 196 of these machines were connected together. The system contained 12,544 POWER5 microprocessors in total with 50 terabytes of total memory and 2 petabytes of total disk storage. The system ran IBM's AIX 5L operating system. The computer consumed 7.5 MW of electricity, including cooling. It has a theoretical processing speed of 100 teraflops.
It was built as stage five of the Advanced Simulation and Computing Program (ASC) started by the U.S. Department of Energy and the National Nuclear Security Administration to build a simulator to replace live WMD testing following the moratorium on testing started by President George H. W. Bush in 1992 and extended by Bill Clinton in 1993.


Castor Cracking Group

Castor Cracking Group (CCG) was a demo group from Sweden, and were active on the ZX Spectrum during 1986–88. They were one of the first groups for the ZX Spectrum with their release of "Castor Intro" early in 1986.
Originally they named themselves after Castor in the constellation Gemini, but despite having "Crack" in their name, they actually (at least according to themselves) never cracked any software.
Technically, their demos were not very advanced - they even programmed many of them in BASIC and compiled the result for release. However, their significance lies in their early entry onto the scene.
UK Lead.
UK Lead was a label used by Castor Cracking Group for the more "serious" projects. The only two projects released were "Spectrum Juggler" and "99Y".


Delta Tao Software

Delta Tao Software is a small software developer and publisher focusing on games for Macintosh, though some of its more popular products have been ported to Windows, Linux, and other platforms.
History.
Delta Tao was founded in 1990 by Joe Williams and Tim Cotter, who had developed Color MacCheese, a paint program notable for being the first to use 24-bit color and for its $49 price tag at a time when its nearest competitor, PixelPaint, was $399. Delta Tao hosted a booth at Mac World Boston in 1990, featuring Color MacCheese and Polly MacBeep. Its early products included several innovative graphics programs for Macintosh, including Zeus and Monet, but within a few years the company had shifted almost entirely to games, usually geared for network play.
Delta Tao uses minimalist software packaging, which has earned them recognition as an eco-friendly software company. A demo version of the company's "Eric's Ultimate Solitaire" program was shipped with each Macintosh at one point.


The Exceptions

The Exceptions were a German demo group formed in the 1980s. They were early pioneers writing demos for the Atari ST platform.
History.
Usually known by the shortened form Tex they formed in the spring 1986 when Eric Simon and Udo Fischer were still teenagers. On obtaining an Atari ST they started exploring what they could do with this new hardware. After finding the initial Basic implementation limiting, they moved onto writing some simple graphical "demonstration" computer programs in assembly.
After an early period of cracking games software and adding these demo screens to the loaders they eventually realised the coding was more fun. Their first breakthrough was a demo called the "Little Color Demo" released in the fall of 1987. It was however the release of the then large "B.I.G Demo" (Best In Galaxy) which propelled them to prominence. It featured a large collection of music ported from various Commodore 64 games by their recently joined musician Jochen Hippel.
They later joined a demo group alliance known as The Union where they were involved in some screens of The Union Demo.
Release history.
The Exceptions released many small cracktros and intros before moving onto proper demo releases. A selection of the more influential releases are listed here:
Members.
Like most demo groups the members used handles or nicknames to identify themselves.


ThinkStation

The ThinkStation products from Lenovo are professional workstations designed for high-end computing. In 2008, Lenovo expanded the focus of its "THINK" brand to include workstations, with the ThinkStation S10 being the first model released. In 2014, Lenovo introduced the P Series workstations.
2018.
P330.
Lenovo described the P330, available in three form factors, as "entry-level workstations". As the middle digit of the model number implied, these replacements for the 320 series represented a new generation of architecture and design language. The P330 series was available with 8th-generation (Coffee Lake) processors, including Xeon E Workstation CPUs.
2017.
Lenovo announced both of the P520 models in November 2017. The main notable difference beside versions is a RAM slots count (8 slots with maximum of a 256GB RAM in a P520 and 4 slots with only 128 GB in a P520c).
2015.
P310.
The ThinkStation P310 is an "entry-level" workstation and replacement for the P300 ThinkStation. It comes standard with an Intel Xeon E3-1200v5 processor and an Nvidia GPU. It can accommodate up to 64 gigabytes of RAM, and supports Lenovo's FLEX drive system.
P700.
The P700 was introduced in November 2015. It has simple black case with red accents that includes numerous places on its front for headphones, a card reader, USB ports, etc. The side panel includes a keyed lock and can be removed by depressing a steel lever. All internal components are modular and designed to be removed and replaced without tools. The P700 uses Intel Xeon processors. Nvidia graphics cards come standard.
Specifications
2014.
P Series.
Lenovo launched the P Series at SIGGRAPH 2014 in Vancouver, Canada. The P Series is designed for use in engineering, architecture, professional video, energy production, finance, and other computationally intensive industries. The series includes the P900, P700, P500, and P300 models. The P Series uses Xeon processors from Intel and Quadro video cards from NVIDIA in base. The P300 line uses Haswell-based Xeons and supports dual channel memory. The P500 uses single Haswell-E Xeons and quad channel memory. The P700 uses dual Haswell-E Xeons. The P900 is similar to the P700 but uses multi-PCIe and has enhanced IO. The P Series is ISV-certified for all applications.
The P Series is based on Lenovo's "Flex" system of trays and connectors that are designed to enable toolless upgrades. The Flex Bay at the front of each unit can be configured with an optical drive or a variety of options such card readers and FireWire connections. Drives are installed using Flex Bays that come in 2.5" and 3.5" sizes. Each tray can handle one 3.5" drive or two 2.5" drives. The Flex Connector is a mezzanine card that links the motherboard via PCIe to SATA, SAS, and RAID devices without using up card slots.
2013.
S30.
The Lenovo ThinkStation S30 was introduced in 2013. It features Intel Sandy Bridge chipsets and processors and was later upgraded to Intel Ivy Bridge Core i5\i7 and Intel Xeon processors from four cores (e.g. Intel Xeon E5-1620 v2) up to 12-cores such as the high-end model Intel Xeon E5-2697 v2).
E32.
On August 21, 2013 Lenovo introduced the ThinkStation E32 series professional workstation that is available in either a tower or 12.9L small form factor chassis. The E32 incorporates the latest Intel Haswell chip set and supports the Intel Xeon E3 and 4th generation processors as well as the Intel Core i7 and Core i5 series processors. The E32 supports both on board Intel HD Graphics P4600 as well as NVIDIA NVS Business Graphics or Quadro 3D graphics cards up to the K4000. The E32 supports up to 32 GB of 1600 MHz, DDR3 ECC memory in both form factors and has USB 3.0 ports on the front and rear of the chassis for a total of six USB 3.0 ports.
As are all Lenovo ThinkStations, the E32 is fully ISV certified for applications suites from Autodesk, Adobe, Dassault Systèmes, PTC, Siemens as well as others. The E32 makes it an ideal entry level platform for CAD and AEC users. Both the E32 tower and SFF workstations are reliable and green, offering 80 Plus Platinum certification with up to 92% power efficiency. Due to the integration of the Intel Haswell micro architecture and Microsoft officially ending support for the Windows XP operating system in April 2014, the E32 is the first workstation that does not support the installation of Windows XP.
2012.
D30.
The ThinkStation D30 is a full-sized traditional tower workstation released in 2012. As is typical for ThinkStations the front panel features a perforated honeycomb shaped pattern. The D30 can hold up to two Intel Xeon eight-core processors that feature hyperthreading in order to support the processing of up to 32 simultaneous streams of data. Video is powered by Nvidia Quadro graphics cards. The D30 scored a very high 25.31 points on the Cinebench test of 3D rendering. For comparison, the late 2012 Apple Mac Pro only scored 7.36 points on the same test.
In a review of the D30 "PC Magazine" wrote, "Sometimes, you just need to bring out the big stick, and the Lenovo ThinkStation D30 is that big stick. The sheer power of the dual eight-core Xeon CPUs plus the ability to add on more powerful Nvidia Quadro cards means that this is a system to scorch project deadlines in minutes rather than hours, or hours instead of days. Our last dual-processor workstation Editors' Choice was the Lenovo ThinkStation C20, which amazed us by putting dual Xeon CPUs in a more compact chassis. The Lenovo ThinkStation D30 now usurps that mantle, as the dual-processor workstation Editors' Choice. It wins with power, expandability, and a ruthless devotion to get your project done before any of your rivals can."
C30.
The ThinkStation C30 is a high-end dual-processor workstation designed for use in video editing, engineering, and finance. The C30 is slightly smaller than a full-sized tower but still comes with two PCI slots, two free PCIe x16 card slots for graphics cards, a free PCIe x4 slot, and space for two free hard drive bays. Two Intel Xeon E5-2620 processors, 16GB of ECC DDR3 system memory, a Nvidia Quadro 4000 graphics card, and a 500GB hard drive come standard. There is an option to rack mount the C30.
"PC Magazine" wrote, "The Lenovo ThinkStation C30 is a very good dual-processor workstation. It is a powerhouse for the space constrained financial, DCC, or engineering user in your organization. The system therefore comes highly recommended, but its roomier, more powerful, and more expensive big brother the Lenovo ThinkStation D30 holds on to the Editors' Choice for dual-processor workstations for the time being for having a lot more power and being more flexible for future upgrades."
2011.
The ThinkStation workstation released by Lenovo in 2011 was the E30.
E30.
Announced in March 2011, the E30 workstation could be equipped with either Intel Core i or Intel Xeon processors. The workstation could be equipped with either 80GB or 160GB solid state drives. Discrete graphics were available on the workstation, in the form of NVIDIA Quadro or NVS graphics.
When the E30 was launched, Tao Gu, the executive director and general manager of Lenovo’s Workstation Business Unit said, "We created the ThinkStation E30 workstation to offer extremely powerful processing on a software-certified solution at desktop prices."
Detailed specifications of the workstation are as follows:
2010.
The ThinkStation workstations released by Lenovo in 2010 were the C20 and E20.
C20.
The C20 workstation was compact, designed to be easy to mount on a rack. This compact size allowed up to 14 workstations to be stacked in a standard 42U rack. It also meant that users who used a single workstation were offered extra space either on or beneath their desk.
Detailed specifications of the workstation are as follows:
SLASHGEAR stated that they “had trouble slowing the C20 down – this isn’t a PC where opening a few dozen browser windows will cause lag – and it stayed admirably quiet too (though fan noise did ramp up as the system was stressed during benchmark testing)”. The reviewer also stated that the price would be far too high for most people to afford.
The reviewer summed up the workstation by saying, “Graphics professionals, video editors or anyone looking to do vast amounts of crunching in minimal amounts of time, however – and without turning their office into a server farm – should definitely be considering the C20.”
In addition, since the machine was designed as a workstation used by graphic professionals and video editors it was not intended to replace high end gaming machines.
PCMag received the workstation positively saying, “The Lenovo ThinkStation C20 should be at the top of your list if you're looking for an ISV-certified Windows 7-based workstation.” The workstation was awarded 4 out of 5 stars by PCMag and given an Editor’s Choice award.
The workstation has been certified by several ISVs, including:
E20.
The E20 workstation was called ‘a “real” workstation for the price of a consumer PC’ by PCMag. It received the “Honorable Mention” award in PCMag’s “Best of the Year” 2010 awards. The workstation also included several environmentally friendly features. Among these were Energy Star 5.0 and GREENGUARD certifications. The workstation incorporated 66% recycled plastics, with several recycling programs available from Lenovo once the workstation reached end-of-life.
Desktop Review received the workstation positively saying, “Quiet, capable and offering excellent build quality, the ThinkStation E20 is a good option for those in need of a workstation's benefits in a slimmer, more efficient package.” The workstation was awarded 4 out of 5 stars by Desktop Review.
Detailed specifications of the workstation are as follows:
The workstation has received certifications from several ISVs, including:
2009.
The ThinkStation workstations released by Lenovo in 2009 were the S20 and D20.
S20.
The S20 workstation was released by Lenovo in 2009 and had significant expansion options. The workstation included a PCI, PCIe x1, and two PCIe x16 slots. The workstation also included space for a second optical drive, and two additional 3.5 inch hard disk drive bays. There were also 10 USB ports and 1 eSATA port. However, there was no standard Firewire port. The S20 workstation also included several environmentally friendly certifications including EPEAT Gold, RoHS, Energy Star 5.0 and GREENGUARD.
Detailed specifications of the workstation are given below:
The S20, like other workstations in the ThinkStation product line, has been certified by multiple ISVs, including:
D20.
Also released in 2010 along with the S20, the D20 workstation was reported by Desktop Engineering as bearing a strong resemblance to the S20, although it was noticeably larger. According to Desktop Engineering, the D20 workstation delivered very high scores on their benchmark tests, both for Windows XP and Windows Vista. Despite the presence of several fans, the workstation was reported to be nearly silent after the initial boot.
Detailed specifications for the workstation are as follows:
2008.
The ThinkStation workstations released by Lenovo in 2008 were the S10 and D10.
S10.
In its review of the S10, Trusted Reviews indicated that the workstation used a consumer chipset – while also saying, “Looking at the available specifications, there's nothing to raise suspicion that these machines may underperform.”
Detailed specifications of the workstation are as follows:
D10.
For the D10 workstation, Lenovo incorporated server grade chipset and processors, as opposed to the S10. The Intel 5400a chipset used in the workstation supported two Intel Xeon processors and 64GB RAM. The size of the workstation’s motherboard necessitated a larger case to accommodate it. However, the increase in size offered additional drive bays. The case could also be mounted on a rack.
The detailed specifications of the D10 workstation are as follows:


ICL 7503


IL (network protocol)

The Internet Link protocol or IL is a connection-based transport layer protocol designed at Bell Labs originally as part of the Plan 9 operating system and is used to carry 9P. It is assigned the Internet Protocol number of 40. It is similar to TCP but much simpler.
Its main features are:
As of the Fourth Edition of Plan 9, 2003, IL is deprecated in favor of TCP/IP because it doesn't handle long-distance connections well.


Global Combat Support System

The Global Combat Support System (GCSS) is a web-based automated logistics system, for use by U.S. Department of Defense logistics specialists. This tool aids the specialists as they plan, and provide for, the materiel requirements for combat support.
Northrop Grumman performed the work on the Army version of the system, which is known as GCSS-Army.
This web-based system provides the current status of requisitions. For example, if replenishment supplies were requested, GCSS provides updates of the current location of those supplies, with their expected time of arrival. It replaces SARSS, the standard Army retail supply system interface.
Global Combat Support Systems-Marine Corps (GCSS-MC) has updated its capability with its own software development, in-house.
Effectiveness.
A GAO report estimates that the Army will achieve $11.8 billion in savings and financial benefits.
Tablets for GCSS.
Tablet computers with bar code readers will be used in the Army GCSS for tracking logistics, supplies, and finances.


SYSLINUX

The Syslinux Project is a suite of five different boot loaders for starting up Linux distros on personal computers. It was primarily developed by H. Peter Anvin.
Components.
The Syslinux Project consists of five different boot loaders:
The project also includes two separate menu systems and a development environment for additional modules.
SYSLINUX and ISOLINUX.
SYSLINUX was originally meant for rescue floppy disks, live USBs, or other lightweight environments. ISOLINUX is meant for live CDs and Linux installation CDs.
A minor complication is involved when booting from compact discs. The El Torito standard allows booting in two different modes:
To have this choice is sometimes useful, since ISOLINUX is vulnerable to BIOS bugs. For that reason, it is handy to be able to boot using SYSLINUX. This mostly affects computers built before about 1999, and, in fact, for modern computers the "no emulation" mode is generally the more reliable method. Newer ISOLINUX versions support creation of so-called "hybrid ISO" images, that put both the "El Torito" boot record of the compact discs and the master boot record of hard disks into an ISO image. This hybrid image could then be written to both a compact disc or a USB flash drive.
PXELINUX.
PXELINUX is used in conjunction with a PXE-compliant ROM on a network interface controller (NIC), which enables receiving a bootstrap program over the local area network. This bootstrap program loads and configures an operating system kernel that puts the user in control of the computer. Typically, PXELINUX is used for performing Linux installations from a central network server or for booting diskless workstations.
EXTLINUX.
EXTLINUX is a general-purpose bootloader, similar to LILO or GRUB. Since Syslinux 4, EXTLINUX is capable of handling Btrfs, FAT, NTFS, UFS/UFS2, and XFS filesystems.
COMBOOT.
SYSLINUX can be extended by COMBOOT modules written in C or assembly language. 32-bit modules typically use the codice_1 filename extension. Version 5 and later do not support 16-bit codice_2 modules.
Hardware Detection Tool (HDT).
Since the 3.74 release, the Syslinux project hosts the Hardware Detection Tool (HDT) project, licensed under the terms of GNU GPL. This tool is a 32-bit module that displays low-level information for any IA-32–compatible system. It provides both a command-line interface and a semi-graphical menu mode for browsing. HDT is also available as a bootable ISO and a 2.88 MB floppy disk image. The last update of HDT was in 2015; it has since been discontinued.


TI-68

The TI-68 was a scientific pocket/desktop calculator produced by Texas Instruments. It was introduced in 1989 and was modified in 1991 to produce a less expensive and possibly more durable version. The adjacent picture is the later version. It was discontinued in 1995.
A wealth of features made it a versatile calculator. Named variables, and interactive formulas of up to 79 keystrokes, could be stored, subject to a total memory usage of 440 bytes. Some features included a simultaneous equations solver, a polynomial root finder, two-variable statistics, complex numbers, and a recall feature, which would display the last equation entered and its answer. It had several features useful to computer programmers, such as radix modes and conversions and bitset operators. It had an alphanumeric keyboard and display.
It was also offered by Radio Shack as model EC-4044, but in a different color scheme.


Ld (Unix)


Oryx/Pecos

Oryx/Pecos is a proprietary operating system developed from scratch by Bell Labs beginning in 1978 for the express purpose of running AT&T's large-scale PBX switching equipment. The operating system was first used with AT&T's flagship "System 75", and until very recently, was used in all variations up through and including Definity G3 (Generic 3) switches, now manufactured by AT&T/Lucent Technologies spinoff Avaya. The last system based on Oryx/Pecos was the Avaya G3 CSI running release 13.1 Definity software. The formal end of sale was February 5, 2007. Although widely believed to be a Unix-like variant developed directly by Bell Labs, that is not the case, as it is not based on any version of Unix.
Oryx/Pecos consists of a kernel (Oryx), and the associated processes running on top of it (Pecos). The system is named for Pecos Street, which bounds the Westminster, CO campus of then AT&T's Colorado Bell Labs location, while Oryx was the last word alphabetically before OS in the office dictionary and the Oryx was purportedly the origin of the unicorn myth. The system is loosely based on Thoth (developed at the University of Waterloo) and DEMOS (developed at Los Alamos Scientific Labs).
Features normally found in commercial operating systems are not found in Oryx/Pecos. Such features include:
There is one historical link between Oryx/Pecos and Unix: the authors of the above article proposed as a future development the implementation of a UNIX execution environment on top of Oryx/Pecos, and in fact, such a project was undertaken at Denver. However, that project never became an official product of AT&T or Lucent, even though it was completed successfully and introduced internally with the "Eli" version of Oryx/Pecos (5th release, or "E" release).
Persons working in large office environments and using AT&T, Lucent Technologies, or Avaya-branded telephones are likely to be using Oxyx-Pecos indirectly, but due to the narrow focus and proprietary nature of the operating system, it remains obscure. In 2005 Avaya discontinued the use of Oryx/Pecos as an operating system in itself, instead porting it to become an application that ran on Linux. The new incarnation is known as "Communication Manager". Also in the early 2000s, the Definity One (later IP 600 and the S8100) was an earlier attempt to phase away from the OS. The Definity One ran on Windows NT 4.0 with a Linux emulator that also emulated the Oryx/Pecos system. Allegedly, according to administrators that used that specific system, it was a failure, and the attempt to have Windows run on top Oryx/Pecos and Linux was a problem.
However, due to the robust nature of carrier-grade equipment, and the widespread use of AT&T/Lucent/Avaya PBX systems, Oryx/Pecos will most probably continue to be supported indefinitely.


BEEBUG

BEEBUG was a magazine published for users of the BBC Microcomputer between 1982 and 1994. It was the first subscription magazine for computers made by Acorn Computers.
History.
BBC Micro User Group.
The group was formed in 1982 by Sheridan Williams and Lee Calcraft. Calcraft and Williams were contributors to "Personal Computer World" magazine ("PCW") at the time. Calcraft was writing under pseudonyms in "PCW", "Acorn User" and "The Micro User". Williams was a founding contributor to "PCW".
When Acorn announced that they had won the contract to provide the computer to support the BBC's Computer Literacy Project, BEEBUG was formed to provide a magazine and support group. It turned out that Acorn were unable to supply the BBC Micro for many months and customers who had ordered the computer were anxious to learn as much about it before its arrival.
Within 6 months membership reached 10,000 and by 1985 membership exceeded 30,000; in the final issue, the editors estimated 60,000 people had subscribed at one time or another during the magazine's lifetime. The company is still in existence and nowadays the core business involves providing computer networks in schools.
Magazine.
The first issue of the "Beebug Newsletter" appeared in April 1982 and the last issue, volume 12 no 10, in April 1994. Newsagents sold the magazine at some point. It was the first subscription magazine for computers made by Acorn Computers.
At the start the cover was monochrome, but a colour printed cover was then introduced in March 1983 when membership was 16,000. At the beginning each issue had 28 pages, but it expanded to 50 pages by 1985 when membership exceeded 30,000. The content included hints, program listings, hardware and software reviews, brain teasers and competitions. Illustrations were rudimentary. The magazine sometimes included special members' offers for items such as operating system upgrades. Cover mounted tape cassettes containing programs, binders and an advertising supplement were also published.
It was published 10 times a year in A5 format. It was published by BEEBUG Publications Ltd, based in St Albans, UK. In 1985 membership including a postal subscription in the UK cost £11-90 a year (10 issues).
Reception.
The magazine and its younger Acorn Archimedes companion "RISC User" were considered by "Archive" in 1990 as "friendly rival[s]". The magazine was remembered in 1998 as being "an essential source of information and tips for BBC Micro and Master users".
Professor Krisantha Weerasuriya of Sri Lanka's University of Colombo noted the user group and its magazine to be "very helpful" in a 1988 issue of the "BMJ".
Legacy.
A review from a 1984 issue of the magazine was cited in United States patent in 1993.
Some of the topics covered in the magazine listings included fractal trees, Lorenz attractors and modelling of 3D functions. Such basic principles have been included in the 2004 book "Flash Math Creativity", with reference to the magazine's coverage of the topics. An enhanced version of one listing was included in the 1996 book "An Introduction to Experimental Physics".


Deathmaze 5000

Deathmaze 5000 is TRS-80 computer game written by Frank Corr, Jr. and published by Med Systems Software in 1980. It was ported to the Apple II and followed by the second game in the Continuum series, "Labyrinth".
Gameplay.
"Deathmaze 5000" is a first-person graphic adventure in which the player begins on the top floor of a five-story building and moves through labyrinthine hallways, with a goal of escaping before starving to death. The adventurer must fight monsters, collect objects, and solve puzzles.
Reception.
Russ Williams reviewed "Deathmaze 5000" in "The Space Gamer" No. 47. Williams commented that ""Deathmaze 5000" is an excellent game which will "not" be solved in a few weeks. If you like the prospect of a game that could last you for a "very" long time, get it. It's better than many [more expensive] games I've seen, both in price and in gaming value."


Banner (Unix)

The banner program on Unix and Unix-like operating systems outputs a large ASCII art version of the text that is supplied to it as its program arguments. One use of the command is to create highly visible separator pages for print jobs.
Operation.
Each argument is truncated at 10 characters and printed on a "line" of its own. To print multiple words on a single line, they must therefore be passed as a single argument, which is done from the shell by escaping or quoting the words as appropriate.
A related and more flexible program is FIGlet, which can display text in different fonts and orientations.
Implementation.
The way that the program is implemented internally is antiquated. The character fonts used are hardwired into the program code itself, as statically initialized data structures. Two data structures are used. The first is a data table comprising a sequence of printing instructions that encode the bitmap for each character (in an encoding specific to the codice_1 program). The second is an index into that table that indicates, for each character code, where the printing instructions for that character begin and end.
Both data structures were hand-written. Spinellis observes that it is "difficult to come up with a more error-prone and unmaintainable data format". He observes a stark contrast between the source code of the codice_1 program and automatically generated source code for encoding computer fonts into program data (using the 6-by-10 font data in the source code of the mac68k port of NetBSD for comparison). The automatically generated data are commented, documenting with ASCII art how the bit patterns were derived. The automatically generated data were generated from a bitmap file, itself generated using a bitmap creation/editing program with a graphical user interface. And the automatically generated data are organized in a straightforward and obvious manner — a fixed-length sequence of unencoded bytes for each glyph.
Spinellis further observes that in modern computer systems it is seldom sensible to embed such data into the program executable image itself, the performance gains of doing so being negligible. Doing so makes it difficult to adapt the program to different locales, or to maintain the program. The more preferred approach in modern systems is to store such data in a separate data file, distinct from the program executable image file, or in a resource fork of the program, that the program reads at run-time.
Versions.
A partial list of versions:
Example output.
From the terminal-oriented banner program:
 $ banner 'Hello!'
 # # ###### # # #### ###
 ####### ##### # # # # #
 # # # # # # # ###
One letter from the printer-oriented banner program as usually found in BSD and derivatives:
 $ banner -w80 "a"
 #########
 ################ ######
 ##### ##### #########
 ### #### ##
 ### ### ###
 #############################
 ##############################
 ###########################
 #
Display a continuous clock for 1000 seconds:
 $ repeat 1000 sh -c '( clear ; date +" %H.%M.%S" | xargs banner ; sleep 1)'
 ## # # ## # # # #
 # ###### # ##### ###### ######
 # # # ### # # ### # # # #


Scout (operating system)

Scout is a research operating system developed at the University of Arizona. It is communication-oriented and designed around the constraints of network-connected devices like set-top boxes.
The Scout researchers had in mind a class of devices that they called "network appliances", which include cameras and disks attached to a network. They believed that these devices have in common the following three characteristics:
To satisfy these three requirements, Scout was designed around an abstraction called a "path"; was highly configurable; and offered scheduling and resource allocation policies that provided predictable performance under load.


Pedion (laptop)

The Pedion was a subnotebook computer developed by Mitsubishi Electric with Hewlett-Packard in 1998.
 At thick, it was the thinnest notebook computer in the world, even thinner than the "Macbook Air" (although the Apple equivalent was 4 mm at its thinnest point), released nearly ten years later. The notebook included a Pentium 233 MMX processor, 64 MB RAM, and a 1 GB Hard disk.
The Greek word, "pedion" (πεδίον) means "plain", "flat", "field".
Mitsubishi ceased production and withdrew the notebook from the market due to "mechanical problems".


ST Action

ST Action was a video game magazine published in the UK during the late 1980s and early 1990s that covered the Atari ST, platform. Some news coverage was also given to the Atari Lynx and Jaguar in the later stages of its life.
ST Action was launched in April 1988 by Gollner Publishing, becoming the first dedicated games magazine for the 16-bit Atari platform. The original team included Hugh Gollner (Publisher), Nick Clarkson (Editor), Steve Merrett, Jason Spiller and Martin Moth (Writers), Greg Percvial (Design). In 1990, Gollner Publishing merged with Europress Interactive, and ST Action made the transition to Europress, under which it would be published for the remainder of its lifespan. During this time, ST Action also proved a useful training ground for a number of gaming journalists including Doug Johns, Paul McNally, Jason Dutton, Alan Bunker and Steve White.
The magazine used digital technology to capture game screenshots, becoming the first video game magazine in the world to do so. Games magazines traditionally took screenshots using a camera positioned in front of the screen. Ian Tindale found that he could use Mac-based technology to perform the image capture, saving time and cost.
Competitors.
For much of its lifespan, it was the only video game magazine dedicated to the Atari ST. Its competitors, including ST Format and Atari ST User, covered a combination of games and technical subjects associated with the machine. This changed in May 1991 with the launch of The One for ST Games by EMAP Publishing. Both magazines co-existing until April 1992, when it was revealed that Europress Interactive had bought The One for ST Games and incorporated it into ST Action. The May 1992 edition (issue 49) promoted the merger, declaring it to be "TWO great mags for the price of one!". However, in reality there was little change to the magazine beyond the addition of The One ST logo and a minor redesign to the news pages.
Decline.
The number of game releases for the "Atari ST" slowed during 1992, resulting in a decrease from 100 pages in the January 1992 edition to 76 pages in the December 1992 issue. The majority of issues published in 1993 contained 68 pages, the majority of which were dedicated to re-released games and regular content (news, letters, tips, help guides, subscription, etc.). The final issue (#67, November 1993) was published in October 1993, after which it was incorporated into Atari ST User.
"ST Action" served as the games section for "Atari ST User" for several issues until "Atari ST User" was closed in November 1994. It was subsequently adopted by "Atari ST Review" with the December 1994 edition and continued until its closure.
External links.
Archived ST Action magazines on the Internet Archive


Jesus (video game)

 is a graphic adventure game developed and published by Enix. It was first released in 1987 on the PC-8801, FM-77AV, X1, and the MSX2 and was later ported to the Famicom in 1989 as . A sequel, "Jesus II", was released on the PC-8801, PC-9801, and X68000 in 1991.
The game's name refers to a space station called J.E.S.U.S., named after the central Christian figure Jesus. The ship is shaped like a double-edged sword a la Book of Revelation. Its inhabitants go on to fight a mysterious demonic alien from Halley's Comet.
Plot.
The game takes place in 2061. Halley's Comet has been approaching Mars for quite some time, and the nations of Earth send a mission to investigate the comet as some form of life has been detected inside the gas of it.
Musou Hayao is stationed on the space lab Jesus. He speaks with his commanding officer on the station, who requests that he track down the members of the two crews being sent to the comet and give them the access cards they would be using on the spaceships. Hayao meets with 7 different crew members during this time: the Chinese doctor, German captain, Soviet captain, American xenobiologist, French mathematician, Italian computer engineer, and Brazilian astronomer. The mathematician is also Hayao's love interest, Eline. They share a heartfelt goodbye, as they would be boarding different ships for the mission which depart two weeks apart from another, with Eline's ship leaving for the comet first. Eline happens to be a talented musician as well as a mathematician, and plays him a song that she wrote before he leaves.
After meeting all of the crew, it cuts to after Hayao's ship has arrived at Halley's comet. Hayao is sent to investigate the first ship and finds most of the crew missing. Eline's intelligent robot pet, Fojii, is found in the ship's docking bay, and after updating its data offers Hayao assistance in tracking down the missing crew members. Unfortunately, many are found dead or just beginning to die, whispering dire but vague warnings to Hayao about something else on board. A crew member tells Hayao that fire cannot hurt "it". None of the dead crew display any physical signs of harm except for a small pinprick on one of their fingers.
Hayao collects the key cards of the missing and murdered crew to access journal entries and video recordings showing a xenomorph-like creature attacking those on the ship. Recordings also say that Eline fled the alien creature and hid, giving Hayao hope that she may still be alive on the ship. While investigating for Eline, Hayao and Fojii eventually come face-to-face with the monster, at first fleeing because they have no way of harming it, but eventually attacking it with a freeze gun looted from an armory on the 4th floor of the ship. They do not manage to kill it, only slowing its movements to ensure that it cannot chase after them.
Eline is soon found hiding in one of the engine rooms, and Hayao reunites with her, asking what happened before he arrived. He tells Eline that the crew has died and they make plans to use the shuttlepods to escape the spaceship. The shuttles can only take one passenger, so Eline uses the first shuttle, with Hayao following shortly after. Before he leaves he encounters the alien monster once more, and it leaves behind a piece of its skin or body. Hayao contacts the xenobiologist, who requests he bring back the sample for further study.
Back on the first ship, the xenobiologist (Carson) begins research into the alien monster, but soon enough the "sample" of the monster breaks free and hides on the ship. Hayao and Carson suspect that the alien is able to regrow itself from the sample, much like a worm when cut in half. While searching the ship for clues, Hayao discovers happenings eerily reminiscent of the second ship's previous crew: the doctor's cryogenic pod has been used when only she should have access to it, and the astronomer's favourite food (hamburgers) is found littered in one of the storage bays. In a briefing room, a tape recording of Eline's song can be found, and it starts playing randomly over the comms as the player explores the ship only to abruptly stop. Upon returning to the room, the tape containing Eline's song is crushed. Suddenly, Carson is attacked by the monster and is missing, presumably dead. Hayao's commanding officer from the Jesus arrives to aid in capturing and killing the monster at any costs. Hayao and Eline board the commander's vessel and they plan their next attempt to locate and ultimately destroy the monster.
Carson manages to send a signal from the first ship, and Hayao goes back to investigate. However, upon returning to the commander's vessel, the monster has also boarded the ship, and breaks out of a nearby vent. Hayao and Eline manage to escape due to the commander's sacrifice - he closes the door behind him, pushing the two out to safety on the primary ship. They hide in the cryo-pods, fearful of the alien's next moves. Hayao finds a way to communicate with Jesus in Carson's pod, as Carson hooked up his pod's comm system to the main labs. In the midst of sending a distress call to Jesus, the alien monster - now more evolved - begins to speak to them in a strange language. Eline notes that the language sounds like many human languages mangled together, and Fojii begins decrypting the speech until they are able to communicate with it. The alien's speech is a combination of Chinese, German, Russian, English, Italian, and Portuguese - making it clear that the alien has taken knowledge and memories from each of the crew members that it killed, using the DNA it stole from their bodies to evolve.
The monster informs Hayao that it has taken control of the ship and plans to head for Jesus in order to conquer mankind, killing them for the sake of advanced evolution. The alien mentions that it is no longer harmed by Hayao's freeze rays, as shown in some earlier confrontations with it developing a resistance. Hayao and Eline try bargaining with the alien to no avail, until Hayao bluffs and claims that he has a remote detonator he will use to destroy the ship if the alien does not meet with them. They lure the alien further into the ship while considering their options and searching for some sort of weapon that can harm it. Fojii helps Hayao recall what happened when the tape of Eline's song started playing - the monster was the one who crushed the tape, finding the harmony unbearable to its foreign biology. He takes Eline's synthesizer and confronts the alien in front of an airlock, then plays Eline's song. The monster is disabled long enough for Hayao to jettison the creature out into space, but not before hearing - telepathically - the voices of all the crew members that were killed. They tell Hayao and Eline that their memories live on inside the alien creature and they are one and the same being now, although they are long gone. They assure the two that humanity will have the strength to fight this new breed of monster even if it returns in an attempt to destroy mankind some day, which they suspect it will. Hayao and Eline hold one another on the ship for a while, staring into the void of space, knowing that they will have to tell the tales of their fallen colleagues and prepare Earth for a future confrontation when Halley's comet returns.
Gameplay.
The game proceeds as a linear adventure game in which the player chooses an action and what to perform the action on. These actions vary based on the room and situation.
Although the game implies some danger at various points, it does not seem to be possible to lose.
There are three main sections of the game, although the first section is mostly an introduction to the other characters of it.
Presentation.
The game is largely presented in an anime style. Although most of the art is in a fairly bright, positive style in the first section of the game, that changes in the other sections with the atmosphere of the game and the music.
The game's music was composed by Koichi Sugiyama of "Dragon Quest" fame. The overworld theme from "Dragon Quest", another game by Enix, is present in the PC-8801 version of the game.
Sequel.
A sequel titled "Jesus II" (ジーザス2 "Jīzasu Tsū") was released in 1991 on the NEC PC-8801, PC-9801 and X68000 home computers.


Fujifilm X-E4

The Fujifilm X-E4 is the latest digital rangefinder-style mirrorless camera by Fujifilm. The camera was announced on January 27, 2021 at the X Summit Global 2021 together with the GFX100S. It is part of the company's X-series range of cameras positioned for enthusiast photographers. Release will be on March 2021
The Fujifilm X-E4 is thinner than the X-E3 by a centimeter. Unlike its predecessor, the grip of the new camera has been removed. The camera consists of the same 26.1-megapixel, back-side illuminated but with a newer processor, the X-Trans CMOS 4 sensor found in the corporation's latest flagship cameras.
The camera has a 180° forward-tilting LCD touchscreen. The camera is able to record at 4K/30p and Full-HD/240 fps videos.


Phase5

Phase5 Digital Products is a defunct German computer hardware manufacturer that developed third-party hardware primarily for the Amiga platform. Their most popular products included CPU upgrade boards, SCSI controllers and graphics cards.
Notable products.
Like other third-party Amiga developers, Phase5 developed a range of CPU boards utilizing Motorola 68000 family processors, which powered Amiga systems at the time. Such boards also typically featured onboard RAM controllers with access to faster and greater capacity memory.
Notably, Phase5 were unique amongst Amiga developers in offering the Blizzard PPC and CyberStorm PPC products. These boards had a unique dual-CPU design utilizing both a Motorola 68k processor and a higher performance PowerPC processor. They operated in a novel fashion where both CPUs could execute concurrently while sharing the system address space. This architecture was enforced by the fact that AmigaOS was still 68k-based at the time and the required emulation software had not yet been developed to run natively on the PowerPC architecture. This design suffered from the need to flush CPU caches following context switches between 68k and PowerPC code. From a software development standpoint, this made mixing code ad hoc and often impractical. Minimizing such context switches required a large amount of effort and planning, making adoption of mixed binaries somewhat unpopular.
Phase5 developed a PowerPC kernel called PowerUP which ran alongside the 68k-based AmigaOS. Effectively, a programmer could then utilize the PowerPC CPU as a coprocessor. German company Haage & Partner developed a competing multi-tasking kernel called WarpOS for the Phase5 PowerPC boards which operated in a similar manner, but was not code-compatible with PowerUP.
The most common current reference to Phase5 is in the Linux port to APUS computer systems. Phase5 PowerPC boards are also able to run AmigaOS 4 and MorphOS.
Corporate history.
Phase5 was founded in 1992 as subsidiary company of AS&S (Advanced Systems & Software) by Wolf Dietrich and Gerald Carda, which were the owners of AS&S. Phase5 focused on the development of general Amiga hardware, but mainly CPU boards, SCSI controllers and graphics cards.
The company Phase5 Elektronikfertigungs GmbH (hardware manufacturing) was founded in 1996 as a subsidiary, which produced all of the Phase5 expansions from that time on.
Following the initial PowerPC boards plans were announced on 22 July 1999 for new PowerPC boards based on the G3. These were to be developed with QNX Software Systems with the intention of building an alternative to the official Amiga solution of the time, to be known as AMIRAGE K2 . These products were never released.
On 9 February 2000 the company filed for insolvency and on 27 April 2000 the company was liquidated. DCE bought licenses before liquidation and produced some of the Phase5 hardware products under its own name. The A\Box, a concept for a complete computer scheduled for 1997 and based on custom chip technology, was planned but never released.
Much of Phase5's skill and experience was retained in a new company, bPlan GmbH, which in partnership with Genesi produced the Pegasos, a final realisation of several attempts to build an alternative Amiga system.


Picasso II


Composite (computer)


Amiga Forever

Amiga Forever is an Amiga preservation, emulation and support package published by Cloanto, which allows Amiga software to run on non-Amiga hardware legally and without complex configuration.
The Windows version of Amiga Forever includes a "player" software developed by Cloanto which seamlessly uses "plugins" such as WinUAE as emulation engines, while relying on its own user interface for configuration and authoring. In addition to supporting common disk image formats, Amiga Forever can play back and author files in Cloanto's proprietary RP9 format. RP9 packages are compressed files that embed all media images, plus XML-based configuration and description data, and ancillary content like documentation, screenshots, audio tracks, etc.
Beginning from the 2012 version, Amiga Forever includes Cloanto's RP9 Editor for content authoring. Besides its own authoring and playback environment, and Cloanto's floppy disk conversion service, Amiga Forever includes WinUAE and WinFellow, and different versions of UAE and E-UAE for other platforms. All versions of Amiga Forever include different AmigaOS (m68k) environments and support to run a large range of Amiga games and demoscene productions which are available for free download from different software publishers and Amiga history sites. The Windows version also includes Cloanto's Amiga Explorer networking software, which allows access to Amiga resources (including virtual floppy, hard disk and ROM image files) from the Windows Desktop.
History.
The first version of Amiga Forever was released in 1997 on a CD-ROM which contained a front-end for Windows and different versions of UAE for Windows, DOS, macOS and Linux, plus Fellow for DOS and a selection of Amiga Kickstart ROM images and Workbench disks. There was also an Amiga floppy disk available which included the Amiga side of Amiga Explorer. The new plugin-based player software was introduced in 2007.
Features.
Features, among others:


Lenovo IdeaCentre Horizon

The Lenovo IdeaCentre Horizon is a table PC released at the 2013 International CES. The Horizon has a 27-inch screen and is designed for multiple simultaneous users. It was designed specifically with tabletop gaming in mind but can also serve as a desktop computer
Launch.
The Horizon is Lenovo's first table computer. Peter Hortensius, a senior Lenovo executive said, "We've seen technology shifts across the four screens, from the desktop to the laptop, tablet and smartphone, and yet … there is still room for technologies like Horizon that bring people together." The Horizon was announced at the International CES in Las Vegas. Lenovo started selling the Horizon early in the summer of 2013 at a starting price of US$1,699.
Design and features.
The Horizon runs Windows 8 and has a 27-inch ten-point multitouch display with Aura, a software interface designed to support multiple simultaneous users. Touch based apps that can be launched with Aura include a photo browser, media players, games, and educational titles. The multitouch display, along with included detachable controllers in the form of joysticks, electronic dice, and air-hockey paddles, will facilitate game play, especially digital board games such as Monopoly. When the Horizon is placed flat a specialized user interface called a moon dial appears that allows interaction with the device from any direction. The unit can also be set upright via its rear kickstand to be used as conventional desktop computer paired with a keyboard and mouse.
The Horizon has an internal battery to enable unplugged use but its size, weight of 17 pounds, and two-hour battery life it is clearly not intended to be a mobile device. The Horizon uses Intel Core i3 and Core i7 processors, can hold up to 8GB of DDR3 RAM, can be ordered with hard drives up to 1TB in size, and includes Nvidia's GeForce graphics chips.
The Horizon comes with nine games pre-installed, each chosen in order to exploit the large screen and its multitouch capabilities. Major game and app developers such as Electronic Arts, FableVision, Open Labs, Ubisoft, and FilmOn TV have cooperated Lenovo to release software for the Horizon. Lenovo has launched an app store dedicated to the Horizon. Lenovo allows anyone to download the Horizon's software development kit.
The Horizon was displayed with a four-wheel stand that is probably best suited for institutional environments. Lenovo also displayed the Horizon mounted flat in a coffee table with motorized sliding leaves that conceal the electronics entirely, making the table look like a normal piece of furniture. A set of motors in the table allows the screen to be raised and titled like a conventional desktop computer. Lenovo sells an optional rolling table for US$300.
Reviews and awards.
The Horizon was named by "CNET's" editors "Best of CES PCs and Tablets" for 2013. "CNET" stated, "Lenovo's Horizon Table PC received the award in the PCs and tablets category because it offers multiple new ways to use a computer, including a new way to integrate a PC into your home. It inspires conversation and some new thinking, and for that the Horizon deserves recognition."
In a review, Alex Roth of "TechRader" wrote, "When you like at it as an all-in-one, the Lenovo Horizon Table PC isn't so niche. Packing everything inside that 27-inch touch display for the sort of simple, elegant presentation we usually see from Apple. While the reclined mode is the most fun, it's also the least practical. If you've got the space, it would be a great way to share vacation photos or play a board game or two. The fact that Lenovo has garnered support from EA Games and Ubisoft, giants of the gaming space, has us hopeful that more apps will be designed for this unique device. Finally, it's not terribly expensive either, at least for the lower end version. i3 configurations start at only $999, so even if you're not running your own graphic design firm, the Horizon Table PC isn't out of your reach."
In a review for the "New York Times" David Pogue wrote, "One thing the Horizon certainly is, though, is novel. The concept really is fresh. And it neatly dispenses with the common refrain that electronic entertainment encourages isolation and represents a step down from the olden days, when families gathered around the coffee table for game nights." Pogue also stated, "Sadly, game nights around the Horizon may not become as much of a tradition as the old board games made of wood or cardboard. First, because as clever as the Aura world is, the games are a little laggy. You can get a little frustrated playing the air hockey game. It’s just not as responsive as you’d like. Often, that sluggishness really saps some of the joy."


Replay Professional

Replay Professional was a sound sampling product for the Atari ST. This was released in 1988.
It consisted of a cartridge which interfaced an analog to digital converter (with 10, 12 and 14 bit variants) and software.
It included a suite of offline DSP functions Fast Fourier transform, a range of filters, so called fast (IRR) and slow (FIR) filters], MIDI sequencing and a drum machine.
Compact discs were a relatively new consumer product at that time, and the front cover used CD-like artwork, although no CD media was included and the programs themselves came on three 3.5 inch floppy disks.


Star Luster

 is a 1985 space combat simulator game developed and published by Namco for the Family Computer in Japan. and adapted for play in arcades via the Nintendo VS. System. "Star Luster" is set in the same universe as Namco's "Bosconian" (1981), and the gameplay has strong similarities to Atari's "Star Raiders" from 1979.
An enhanced version of "Star Luster" was published for the X68000 in August 1994. A sequel, "Star Ixiom", was released for the PlayStation in 1999.
"Star Luster" was initially met with mixed reviews and poor sales. The game's reliance on obtuse level objectives and random enemy encounters have been blamed for its lack of popularity, in addition to the Famicom's userbase being primarily children that didn't understand its design. Retrospectively, "Star Luster" has been acclaimed for its 3D perspective and presentation, and has been labeled a masterpiece.
Gameplay.
"Star Luster" involves moving through open space via a first-person cockpit view and engaging enemy ships. The player's ship has limited fuel and can be refueled at bases. A map and radar show locations of enemies and bases. The player can choose a location on the map and warp to it, with the current date changing based on the warp distance. The game uses a regenerating shield and may be the first game with such a mechanic.
Reception.
"Star Luster" initially received mixed reviews and struggled to gain sales. The game's lack of popularity has been blamed on its complex design, which relies heavily on random encounters and obtuse level objectives that, at the time, were seen as too confusing and esoteric for a console game. Critics also believed producing the game for the Famicom, a game console targeted primarily towards children, was a factor in "Star Luster"s poor commercial reception. A reviewer for "Family Computer Magazine" highlighted the game's usage of a radar and 3D perspective. They believed the radar was difficult to understand at first, but overtime the player would become used to it.
Retrospective reviews of "Star Luster" have labeled it a masterpiece. "Yuge" believed the first-person viewpoint was impressive for the time, and highlighted the game's sense of tension and "Star Wars"-esque presentation. The magazine believes the game's first-person perspective was what led to the game's initial mixed reception, as it was considered too advanced for the time. "Continue" writer Zenji Ishii considers "Star Luster" important and influential for the space combat simulator genre, with a high level of action and strategy.
Legacy.
In 1998, the game was included on a compilation made for the PlayStation known as "Namco Anthology 1" where, like all of the Famicom games presented on the disc, an enhanced arrange mode was provided alongside the unaltered original game. The Famicom version was later included in the Japanese version of Nintendo and Namco's "Star Fox Assault", and was released for the Wii Virtual Console in Japan on March 4, 2008.
A sequel, "Star Ixiom", was released for the PlayStation in 1999 for Japan and Europe. The game is very similar to that of its predecessor and adds seven selectable ships: the "Gaia Σ", Spartacus, Tycoon, Ogre-Header, Dragoon J2 (connected to Dragoon, from "Galaxian 3"), the GeoSword from "Starblade", and the Galaxip from "Galaxian".
The game was a significant inspiration for director Katsuya Eguchi when he was working on "Star Fox 2". "Castlevania" series producer Koji Igarashi has listed "Star Luster" as his second-favorite NES game.


TrueCookPlus

TrueCookPlus was a microwave oven operating system developed and patented by Microwave Science JV LLC. TrueCookPlus is endorsed by the National Frozen & Refrigerated Foods Association on behalf of over 1300 US frozen food industry member companies.
As of 2019, the website with all the TrueCookPlus codes, TrueCookPlus.com, is offline.
Operation.
TrueCookPlus utilizes short numeric codes to control cooking. After the user enters the code, the TrueCookPlus adjusts the cooking to conform to USDA Food Safety and Inspection Service standards for food type, weight, packaging size/shape and starting state; taking into account static microwave oven variables such as wattage, cavity size, wall voltage, hot or cold oven state, elevation above sea level and standing time.
History.
In 2008, the first TrueCookPlus licensed microwave ovens were launched in a limited national test market beginning at Best Buy in August, then Sears in September. During this test market phase, Consumer Reports selected the TrueCookPlus equipped Kenmore model #6633 as its #1 Top Rated mid-sized countertop microwave oven.


Mesg

codice_1 is a Unix command that sets or reports the permission other users have to write to the current user's terminal using the codice_2 and codice_3 commands.
Usage.
It is invoked as:
mesg [y|n]
The 'y' and 'n' options respectively allow and disallow write access to the current user's terminal. When invoked with no option, the current permission is printed.
Input redirection may be used to control the permission of another TTY. For example:
% mesg
is y
% tty
/dev/tty1
% mesg < /dev/tty2
is y
% mesg n < /dev/tty2
% mesg < /dev/tty2
is n
% mesg
is y


SGI Fuel

The SGI Fuel is a mid-range workstation developed and manufactured by Silicon Graphics, Inc. (SGI). It was introduced in January 2002, with a list price of US$11,495. Together with the entire MIPS platform, general availability for the Fuel ended on December 29, 2006. An equivalent product for the same market segment was not provided until 2008, when the Virtu product line was introduced, based on x86 microprocessors and Nvidia graphics.
The Fuel is sometimes perceived as the successor to the SGI O2, but it is not (SGI never made a new low-end system after O2). The Fuel was SGI's mid-range response to customers who only wanted a uniprocessor system, though the 4 GB RAM limit led to fewer sales than would otherwise have been the case, e.g. customers using ANSYS would have preferred at least 8 GB maximum RAM. Fuel's larger sibling is the SGI Tezro, a system that can have up to four 1 GHz R16000 CPUs with 16 MB L2 each. Both Fuel and Tezro are based on SGI's Origin 3000 architecture.
Architecture.
The Fuel is based on the same architecture as the high-end Origin 3000 server. It is essentially a single node, single processor Origin 3000, sharing many of the same features and components.
Processors.
The Fuel features either a R14000 or a R16000 microprocessor. The R14000 is clocked at 500 or 600 MHz, and is accompanied by a 2 or 4 MB L2 cache respectively. The R16000 is clocked at 700, 800 or 900 MHz and is accompanied by a 4 MB L2 cache, except for the 900 MHz variant, which has an 8 MB L2 cache. The speed of the L2 cache is clocked at half the speed of the microprocessor, e.g. 250 MHz with the 500 MHz R14000. The 900 MHz R16000 is extremely rare, perhaps due to SGI's lack of promotion when it was introduced. While the speeds for these processors may seem low for the time, benchmarks show that for certain specialized tasks that involve small data sets, a Fuel with a 700 MHz R16000 can be equivalent to a 3.0 GHz Pentium 4 (e.g. C-Ray).
The 700 MHz R16000 became available on January 9, 2003.
Memory.
The Fuel includes 512 MB of memory as standard. Using proprietary DDR SDRAM DIMMs, it can be upgraded to a maximum of 4 GB via four slots in two banks.
Graphics.
The Fuel ships with two alternative VPro graphics options, the V10 and V12. V10 has 32 MB combined memory, V12 has 128 MB combined memory. In both cases, memory that is not being used for display is available for use as texture memory. The V12 supports high quality 48-bit RGBA imaging and both options support hardware-accelerated 2D imaging using the OpenGL ARB extensions (real-time rotation, zoom, pan, feature adjustments). The mplayer application uses the 3D graphics hardware to accelerate movie playback, giving good support for DivX, MPEG4 and other formats.
Audio.
In its standard configuration, the Fuel does not come with any audio hardware, although speakers may be attached via a Universal Serial Bus sound card. The most common solution to add audio capabilities is to install a M-Audio Revolution 7.1 PCI sound card, although the Sound Blaster Audigy 2 ZS can also be used. Additional audio options using PCI expansion cards are available.
Expansion.
The Fuel has four 64-bit 3.3V PCI slots for expansion, two of which run at 33 MHz and two of which run at 66 MHz. The system also has two internal Ultra160 SCSI busses, with space for two internal 5.25" devices and three internal hard disks. The Fuel usually shipped with 10,000 rpm SCSI disks, but it can take good advantage of 15,000 rpm models, with sustained bandwidths up to three times faster than is possible with Octane2's internal UW bus. The Fuel was also the first SGI system to support USB devices in IRIX, although audio and HID USB devices were the only ones supported.
Operating System.
The SGI Fuel is only officially capable of running SGI's IRIX operating system. Support begins with IRIX version 6.5.17.


HP 9g

The hp 9g (F2222A) is a graphing calculator designed by Kinpo Electronics, Inc and produced by Hewlett-Packard. It has basic graphing, scientific and programming features designed for use by students.
Despite resembling a typical scientific calculator in appearance, such as those by competitors Casio and Sharp, the 9g departs from HP calculator tradition because it does not have an RPN mode. It is also particular unusual for its display, which includes a compact dot-matrix grid for displaying graphs, a dot-matrix character line which displays expressions being input (acting as a continuation of the dot-matrix grid), and a seven-segment line to display answers to expressions.
The HP-9g is similar to Citizen SRP-325G, also designed by Kinpo Electronics, Inc.


MERA 300

MERA 300 was a Polish-built 8-bit minicomputer family. It was first introduced in 1974 at the Poznań Trade Fair and Exhibition.
History.
The MOMIK 8-B (MERA) minicomputer had been designed in Poland in 1973. In 1974 the MERA 300 (MERA ZSM), based on the previous model, was introduced. The same year, at the Poznań International Trade Fair and Exhibition, twelve more models were displayed. MERA 300 was designed by dr. Waldemar Romaniuk and Janusz Popko.
About the family.
Family of the MERA 300 systems included:
System architecture.
MERA 300 included the next units:
MERA 300 series architecture.
Sets of MERA 300 (MERA 302, MERA 303) included:
The MERA 301 used magnetic tapes (PK-1 and PK-2) for data storage with a capacity of 0,5 million characters.
The MERA 305 was an extended version with DMA and a four-level interrupt system, with a total of 128 interrupts (4x32).
The MERA 306 was a more complex, extended version with features including:
In addition to the above, it was possible to attach other devices:
The computer's machine language consisted of 34 instructions, including arithmetical, logical and control instructions.
Data Input/Output.
Data input devices for the MERA 300 series were:
Data output devices:
Other input/output peripherals:
Software.
Basic system programs:
It should be mentioned that the MERA 300 RTX was not necessary while the MOTIS assembler ran, as it was able to work without an operating system.


North Star Computers

North Star Computers Inc. (later styled as NorthStar) was an American computer company based in Berkeley, California existing between June 1976 (when according to popular rumor it was formed as "Kentucky Fried Computers") and 1984. Originally a mail order business for IMSAI computers, it soon developed into a major player in the early microcomputer market, becoming first known for their low-cost floppy disk system for S-100 bus machines, and later for their own S-100 bus computers running either the CP/M operating system or North Star's own proprietary operating system, NSDOS. North Star BASIC was a common dialect of the popular BASIC programming language. They later expanded their lineup with dual-CPU machines able to run MS-DOS, and a server version running either DOS or Novell NetWare.
While initially successful, North Star's sales suffered from the company's adherence to hard sector floppy drives which made software difficult to port onto North Star machines. It was no longer a significant factor in the industry by the time less-expensive CP/M computers with built-in displays (and soft-sectored drives), such as the Osborne and the Kaypro, were released. Sales slowed during the growth of the PC market, and the company folded in 1984.
History.
The company was formed by Mark Greenberg and Charles Grant, who started Kentucky Fried Computer to handle retail and mail order sales of IMSAI computers in Berkeley in June 1976. According to one source, a lawsuit from Kentucky Fried Chicken led to the name change.
FPB.
North Star's first product was the Floating Point Board, an S-100 bus card that implemented a floating point coprocessor for 8080-based machines. The company later added RAM boards and Z80A processor cards to their lineup.
Micro-Disk System (1976).
North Star's next product was a hard sectored floppy disk system based on a 5-inch Shugart Associates SA-400 mechanism with 89 kB capacity. This was coupled with a S-100 bus controller and ROM that included bootstrap code and shipped with North Star DOS and North Star BASIC. The MDS system cost $699 and could be plugged into any S-100 bus machine, and was one of the earliest disk systems affordable for the average hobbyist. With the North Star installed, startup went from a lengthy process of manually entering a "loader" program through front-panel switches, to simply setting the run address to E800 on the address switches and flicking the RUN switch.
North Star later updated the disk drive to support double-density disks with 180 kB, and later still double-sided, double-density disks with 360 kB of storage. However, the double-density product was pre-announced and sales of the original single-density, single-sided model ended overnight. The sudden loss of income almost bankrupted the company, and is used as an example of the Osborne effect in action.
North Star Horizon (1977).
The Horizon was an 8-bit ZiLOG Z80A-based computer, typically with 16K to 64K of RAM. It had one or two single-sided single or double density hard sectored floppy disk drives (externally expandable to 3 or 4), and serial interfaces connected it to a computer terminal and a printer. It ran CP/M or North Star's own proprietary NSDOS. It also included many chips on the motherboard that would otherwise require separate S-100 cards in other systems, thereby allowing the machine to operate "out of the box" with minimal setup.
Announced in November 1977, the Horizon was one of the earliest systems to include built-in drives. The cabinet held up to 12 additional S-100 cards, with at least some of these used for memory cards. With one floppy drive the kit cost $1599, while an assembled system cost $1899. With two drives the kit cost $1999, while an assembled system cost $2349.
Early machines used a wooden cabinet and sported a logo placard with the company name stylized "NorthStar". Later machines used an all-metal case and the name was separated (as in the image on this page).
North Star Advantage (1982).
The Advantage was a 4 MHz Z80a-based computer with 64 KB of user RAM and 16 KB of graphics RAM. It used two single-sided, double-density 180 KB floppy disk (hard-sectored) drives and an optional 5 MB Winchester disk. The Advantage was known for its 640×240 graphics capabilities and was sold with four demonstration programs, one of which plotted and calculated a pattern of lines reminiscent of the Arcade game Qix. The Advantage also had an optional 8088 co-processor board available that ran MS-DOS 1.0. When the Advantage was introduced NorthStar had moved its offices, manufacturing and warehousing facilities to 14440 Catalina St. in San Leandro, California. NorthStar remained at that location until they ceased operations.
North Star Dimension (1984).
The Dimension was a server computer, and North Star's first fully PC-compatible product. Based on the 80186 chip at the server, the Dimension employed multiple screens each connected to a PC-compatible 8086-based slot card that mounted in the server. The screens and keyboards then connected to the workstation cards in the server. The unit shipped with MS-DOS and Novell NetWare was available as an option. The Dimension was North Star's last product, and did not enjoy the success of North Star's previous models.


Clevo x7200

The Clevo X7200 is a 17.3" laptop computer manufactured by Clevo, released in September 2010. Unlike other laptops of the time, the X7200 is designed to run a desktop Intel Core i7 processor for LGA 1366 socket. The X7200 may be configured to use dual link video cards using either nVIDIA GeForce GTX (Fermi architecture) in SLI or AMD (ATI) Mobility Radeon 6970 in Crossfire configuration. The X7200 has capacity for three hard drives, allowing various RAID configurations, including RAID 0, RAID 1, RAID 5, and also RAID 10 if the optical drive is replaced by a fourth HDD.
The X7200 was superseded by Clevo models of updated but broadly similar desktop-computer-like characteristics, such as the P570WM3
Performance and price.
When configured with an Intel i7 980X/990X processor and NVIDIA SLI or AMD Crossfire GPUs, the performance of the X7200 is comparable to a desktop machine, faster than laptop computers with more restricted processors and graphics cards. This makes the machine suitable for processor- and graphics-intensive use, such as for playing games requiring high performance, LAN parties, software development, and video editing. The price, according to a review when the computer was launched, is commensurate with performance, starting at US$2,680, and rising to as high as $5,781.
Branding.
Clevo laptops are not sold directly to customers, but are own-branded by resellers. Some reseller model names are:
Reviews.
At the time of its release in September 2010 the X7200 was favourably reviewed by AnandTech, and described as "King of the Desktop Replacement". It was also described as "an absolute tank", due to its weight of 5.5 kg in a basic configuration, compared to around 3 kg for other 17" "laptop" computers, and heavy power consumption of around 300W.
Known issues.
Soon after its release, it was reported certain X7200/NP7280 configurations under heavy use would cause the power supply unit (PSU) to cut out, switching the power to the laptop's battery. In order to prevent the problem, Clevo developed a power connecting bridge so two PSUs could be used in tandem to provide the necessary power to the system, thus preventing the PSU from a fault.


Surface Pro 6

The Surface Pro 6 (referred to as Surface Pro 1796 on Microsoft's support site) is a 2-in-1 detachable tablet computer developed by Microsoft. It is the sixth generation of Surface Pro and was announced alongside the Surface Laptop 2 on October 2, 2018 at an event in New York. It was released on 16th of that same month.
Features.
Hardware.
This sixth generation Surface computer line has all been updated to Intel's eighth generation Kaby Lake Refresh Core-i5 and Core-i7 CPUs. It is available with either 8 or 16GB of RAM, 128GB, 256GB, 512GB or 1TB of Solid State Storage, and business or consumer models. Business models are pre-installed with Windows 10 Pro while Consumer SKUs are pre-installed with Windows 10 Home.
The port configuration on the Surface Pro 6 remains the same as previous generations with one Surface Connect, USB 3.0 type-A port, one Mini DisplayPort, a 3.5mm headphone jack, and a microSD card reader. Unlike the Surface Go, a USB-C port is not present on the Surface Pro 6. The optional Surface type cover attaches to a magnetic pin port at the bottom of the device which is identical physically to the previous Surface Pro model.
The Surface Pro 6 features a 12.3 inch PixelSense display with a resolution of 2736x1824. Unlike its predecessors, that used Sharp sourced displays, the Surface Pro 6 display is made by LG.
The Surface Pro 6 brings back the Matte Black color option, an option previously not seen since the original Surface Pro.
When the brightness is changed to 200 nits, the Surface Pro 6 draws 5W of power. When being charged, the Surface Pro 6 has three different power modes to change how it draws power: Suggested, Better Performance, and Best Performance. When the Surface Pro 6 is not being charged, it adds another power mode in: "Battery Saver," Recommended, Better Performance, Best Performance. The battery life on the Surface Pro 6 comes in at 9 hours.
Software.
All consumer configurations of the Surface Pro 6 are pre-installed with Windows 10 Home 64-bit. Business configurations are pre-installed with Windows 10 Pro. Both include 30-day trials of Microsoft Office 365.
Reception.
The Surface Pro 6 received generally favourable reviews, with many reviewers praising its high performance and long battery life; however, it was criticised for lacking USB-C ports.


TIFRAC

TIFRAC (Tata Institute of Fundamental Research Automatic Calculator) was the first computer developed in India, at the Tata Institute of Fundamental Research in Mumbai. Initially a TIFR Pilot Machine was developed in the 1950s (operational in 1956). The development of the final machine was started in 1955 and was formally commissioned (and named as TIFRAC, by Jawaharlal Nehru) in 1960. The full machine was in use until 1965.
TIFRAC included 2,700 vacuum tubes, 1,700 germanium diodes and 12,500 resistors. It had 2,048 40-bit words of ferrite core memory. This machine was an early adopter of ferrite core memory.
The main assembly of TIFRAC, which had vacuum tubes was housed in a massive steel rack measuring 18 feet x 2.5 feet x 8 feet. It was fabricated from modules of 4 feet x 2.5 feet x 8 feet. Each module had steel doors on either side for accessing the circuits.
A cathode ray tube display system was developed to serve as an auxiliary output to the computer for analogue and digital display of both graphs and alpha-numeric symbols.
A manual console served as the input/output control unit of the computer. The software of TIFRAC were written in a series of commands of 0's and 1's.
A British-built HEC 2M computer, happened to be the first digital computer in India, which was imported and installed in Indian Statistical Institute, Kolkata, during 1955. Prior to that, this institute had developed a small Analog Computer in 1953, which is technically the first computer in India.


Tty (unix)

In computing, tty is a command in Unix and Unix-like operating systems to print the file name of the terminal connected to standard input.
tty stands for TeleTYpewriter.
Usage.
The codice_1 command is commonly used to check if the output medium is a terminal. The command prints the file name of the terminal connected to standard input. If no file is detected (in case, it's being run as part of a script or the command is being piped) "codice_2" is printed to stdout and the command exits with an exit status of 1. The command also can be run in silent mode (codice_3) where no output is produced, and the command exits with an appropriate exit status.


Terminal pager

A terminal pager, or paging program, is a computer program used to view (but not modify) the contents of a text file moving down the file one line or one screen at a time. Some, but not all, pagers allow movement up a file. A popular cross-platform terminal pager is more, which can move forwards and backwards in text files but cannot move backwards in pipes. less is a more advanced pager that allows movement forward and backward, and contains extra functions such as search.
Some programs incorporate their own paging function, for example bash's tab completion function.


Chuckie Egg 2

Chuckie Egg 2 is the sequel to 1983 video game "Chuckie Egg". Released in 1985 and featuring the same lead character, Henhouse Harry, the game took players beyond the single-screen format of the original into a large factory. Here, Harry had to assemble a toy-carrying chocolate egg from its constituent parts (sugar, milk and cocoa powder) and deliver it to the dispatch lorry. On completion the quest restarted, with more monsters and an alternative toy.
Gameplay.
The game features 120 screens arranged in 10x12 grid, beginning at the top of left. Some moving objects are fatal to touch, while others bounce Harry around the screen. The factory is divided into thematic sections. Milk is collected in an ice zone, cocoa in a purple zone in which most enemies are monkeys, sugar in an industrial blue zone and the toy in a brick zone that bears the most resemblance to the original game. The egg maker, which needs all ingredients and the toy to function, is located in a zone infamous for allowing Harry to fall to his death through the "slippery" pipes.
Several transitional zones exist between these task-centred areas, and due to the game's non-linear layout a number of these can be bypassed in any successful completion.
After delivery of the completed egg, the game restarts with additional monsters and a different toy to assemble. In order, these are: a motorbike, a vintage car, a yacht, a space shuttle.
Players receive points for moving to a new screen for the first time, as well as for picking up (by moving over them) various objects including fruit, tools and eggs. The scoring received for these objects is inconsistent both between screens and each time the game is played.
Development.
"Chuckie Egg" had been a slow but consistent earner for its publishing house, A&F. With quoted sales of over a million copies on a variety of 8-bit platforms, a sequel was inevitable. Nigel Alderton, the author of the original "Chuckie Egg", had been working on a "Mr. Do!"-style follow up that never came to fruition. With Alderton's move to Ocean Software, A&F took development in a different direction.
To aid in their publicity, A&F organised a "Chuckie Egg 2" competition, pitting contestants against each other in regional heats and a national final. "Crash", a gaming magazine popular at the time, was tasked with adjudication. Prizes included silver and gold "egglets" and up to £500 cash. The winner of this contest is unknown.
Release and ports.
"Chuckie Egg 2" was originally released on cassette by A&F Software (or subsidiaries) for the Amstrad CPC, Sinclair ZX Spectrum (where it is sometimes referred to by its subtitle "Choccy Egg") and the Commodore 64 priced between GBP£6.90 and GBP£7.95.
It was later bundled on a Virgin Group "Now Games 2" compilation along with Airwolf, Cauldron, Tir Na Nog and World Cup.
It was released for the Amiga and the Atari ST in 1988.
Reception.
Reviews at the time of its release were lukewarm.
In its Issue 24 "Lookback at 1985", "Crash" magazine noted:
This was despite rating the game at 81%, one percent higher than the original "Chuckie Egg".
"Sinclair User" Issue 39 added:
"CPC Zone" concludes: