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In sci.math, Nick
<tulse04-news1@xxxxxxxxxxx>
wrote
on Sun, 31 Dec 2006 17:40:41 -0000
<ZvqdnRdpg6qDawrYnZ2dnUVZ8s2mnZ2d@xxxxxx>:
>
> "The Ghost In The Machine" <ewill@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote in message
> news:di2l64-1h1.ln1@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
>> In sci.math, Nick
>> <tulse04-news1@xxxxxxxxxxx>
>> wrote
>> on Sun, 31 Dec 2006 09:53:59 -0000
>> <f6qdndOUp7gnFQrYnZ2dnUVZ8tKsnZ2d@xxxxxx>:
>>>
>>> "David T. Ashley" <dta@xxxxxxxx> wrote in message
>>> news:LYydnQUocI0qwQrYnZ2dnUVZ_uSgnZ2d@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
>>>> <bob@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote in message
>>>> news:1167543213.802821.253360@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
>>>>>I was just wondering why people tend to use a base 10 number system. I
>>>>> can't help but wonder if it is due to us having ten fingers. Anyone
>>>>> have any insight into this?
>>>>
>>>> It is definitely due to having 10 fingers.
>>>>
>>>> The reason for base-2 with computers is that it is easier to build an
>>>> electronic circuit that is stable in two states rather than in a larger
>>>> number of states.
>>>
>>> The original reason for base-2 in computers was that this was simply an
>>> electric circuit either being on or off.
>>>
>>> See Logic gates http://www.kpsec.freeuk.com/gates.htm#not
>>
>> It's a bit more complicated than that, as some very early computers did
>> indeed compute using either binary-coded-decimal or analog. The former,
>> of course, parcels out 4 bits, wasting 6 states; the latter is wiring up
>> a circuit using various components to model/solve a problem and read the
>> result using a volt or ammeter.
>>
>> The results of very early BCD computers might have been displayed using
>> Nixie tubes. There are also issues such as 1's complement versus 2's
>> complement and it took a long time for the notion of a computer as a
>> digital control system (where each bit represents a device to be
>> switched on and off -- e.g., lights in one's house, traffic signals) as
>> opposed to either an "electronic brain" or calculating device to catch
>> on for some reason.
>>
>>>
>>>>
>>>> See:
>>>>
>>>> en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flip-flop_">http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flip-flop_(electronics)
>>>
>>> There is nothing there!
>>
>> That appears to be temporary; I'm having no problems pulling it up here.
>
> When I said there was nothing there, this is what appears when I point to:
>
> "Wikipedia does not have an article with this exact name. Please search for
> Flip-flop (electronics in Wikipedia to check for alternative titles or
> spellings.
>
> Start the Flip-flop (electronics article or add a request for it.
> Search for "Flip-flop (electronics" in existing articles.
> Look for "Flip-flop (electronics" in Wiktionary, our sister dictionary
> project.
> Look for "Flip-flop (electronics" in the Wikimedia Commons, our repository
> for free images, music, sound, and video.
> Look for other pages within Wikipedia that link to this title.
>
> If a page was recently created here, it may not yet be visible because of a
> delay in updating the database; wait a few minutes and try the purge
> function. If a page previously existed at this exact title, check the
> deletion log and see Why was my page deleted?."
Ah. I think I see your problem; you're confusing ' ' with '_'
apparently. Admittedly, it *is* possible that Wiki is a clustered
solution but frankly I don't know what the difficulty is in that case.
You could try the escaped form:
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flip%2Dflop%5F%28electronics%29">http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flip%2Dflop%5F%28electronics%29
>
> "
>>
>>>
>>>> Trust me, computers would have been base-10 if the underlying
>>>> fabrication
>>>> technology supported it.
>>>
>>> "George R. Stibitz is internationally recognized as the father of the
>>> modern
>>> digital computer. Stibitz's interest in computers arose from an
>>> assignment
>>> in 1937 to study magneto-mechanics of telephone relays; he turned his
>>> attention to the binary circuits controlled by the relays, to the
>>> arithmetic
>>> operations expressible in binary form, and, in November 1937, to the
>>> construction of a two-digit binary adder. The next year, with the help of
>>> S.B. Williams of Bell Labs, he developed a full-scale calculator for
>>> complex
>>> arithmetic. This computer was operational late in 1939 and was
>>> demonstrated
>>> in 1940 by remote control between Hanover, New Hampshire, and New York.
>>> Several binary computers of greater sophistication followed. In these
>>> were
>>> introduced the excess 3 code, floating decimal arithmetic, self-checking
>>> circuits, jump program instructions, taped programs and 'table-hunting'
>>> subcomputers."
>>>
>>> www.invent.org/hall_of_fame/140.html">http://www.invent.org/hall_of_fame/140.html
>>>
>>> See also www.greatachievements.org/?id=3981">http://www.greatachievements.org/?id=3981
>>>
>>> and
>>> www.tiscali.co.uk/reference/dictionaries/computers/data/m0005781.html">http://www.tiscali.co.uk/reference/dictionaries/computers/data/m0005781.html
>>>
>>> Nick
>>>
>>>
>>
>> And here I thought it was either Babbage or von Newmann. :-) Then
>> again, the article on von Neumann
>> en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Von_Neumann">http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Von_Neumann
>> mentions Eckert, Mauchly, and Richtmyer. I suspect a lot of people
>> ultimately got involved, resulting in EDVAC, apparently.
>
> And what about Turing?
Him. too. :-)
>
> It wasn't intended to point to a particular originator - but to point to the
> methodology used.
>
> Nick
>
--
#191, ewill3@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Useless C++ Programming Idea #1123133:
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