The World's Largest Computer in 1951

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In summary, the ENIAC was a massive machine weighing 30 tons, occupying 1,000 square feet of floor space, and containing over 70,000 resistors, 10,000 capacitors, 6,000 switches, and 18,000 vacuum tubes. It required 150 kilowatts of power to run, which was enough to light a small town. The final machine was less powerful than a $5 pocket calculator. The Russian Ekranoplan, also known as the Caspian Sea Monster, was a ground effect vehicle that could travel over 400 km/h and weighed 540 tons fully loaded. It was used as a high-speed military transport and could transport over 100 tonnes of cargo. The
  • #141
Tsunami said:
Russia's Zaporozhe Dam?
Ivan just came up from the office. He says 'wrong answer'.
Rats.
 
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  • #142
It was first constructed at the expense of J. P. Morgan.
 
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  • #143
cragwolf said:
A machine that generates amusing jokes?
Ok, you made me snort Fresca up my nose. :frown:
 
  • #144
Evo said:
Ok, you made me snort Fresca up my nose. :frown:

They still make Fresca? :eek:

I thought that disappeared with Angel Flight pants and mood rings.
 
  • #145
Ivan Seeking said:
It was first constructed at the expense of J. P. Morgan.
Oh. I bet it was Tesla's magnifying transmitter in N.J. They may have thought German u-boats were using it as a landmark.
 
  • #146
Ivan Seeking said:
They still make Fresca? :eek:

I thought that disappeared with Angel Flight pants and mood rings.
Yeah, I thought it had disappeared with Tab (remember Tab? :eek: ), but it's still around and I've finally taking a liking to it, well at least when mixed with vodka. :wink:
 
  • #147
He was not told to remove the tower. Tesla removed it at his own loss. Because it was thought it would be used against the U.S. by the Germans. (WWI).
 
  • #148
As with so many stories about Tesla, the reported facts about this story seem to vary a bit.

SUSPECTING that German spies were using the big wireless tower erected at Shoreham, L. I., about twenty years ago by Nikola Tesla, the Federal Government ordered the tower destroyed and it was recently demolished with dynamite. During the past month several strangers had been seen lurking about the place.

Tesla erected the tower, which was about 185 feet high, with a well about 100 feet deep, for use in experimenting with the transmission of electrical energy for power and lighting purposes by wireless. The equipment cost nearly $200,000.

The late J. P. Morgan backed Nikola Tesla with the money to build this remarkable steel tower, that he might experiment in wireless even before people knew of Marconi. A complete description, revised by Dr. Tesla himself, of this unique and ultra-powerful radio plant was given in the March, 1916, issue of THE ELECTRICAL EXPERIMENTER. Everyone interested in the study of high frequency currents should not fail to study that discourse as it contains the theory of how this master electrician proposed to charge this lofty antenna with thousands of kilowatts of high frequency electrical energy, then to radiate it thru the Earth and run ships, factories and street cars with "wireless power." [continued]

http://earlyradiohistory.us/1917tes.htm

1917tes.jpg
 
  • #149
Ivan Seeking said:
They still make Fresca? :eek:

I thought that disappeared with Angel Flight pants and mood rings.
Hey! Remember that mood ring you got for me? When I was in a good mood it was green and when I was in a bad mood it left a BIG freakin' red mark on your forehead? :biggrin:
 
  • #150
OMG I had forgotten. All this time I thought that mark was my third eye. :eek:
 
  • #151
You're up with one additional credit Zooby.
 
  • #152
Invented "by mistake", this item resulted when importer Mr. Sullivan tried to find a cheap alternative to sending samples of his product to his customers in tins. The customers misunderstood how his alternate packaging was to be used. 1904

edit:spelling
 
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  • #153
Bottles!

cookiemonster
 
  • #154
cookiemonster said:
Bottles!
Sorry, cookiemonster. Hint: he wanted something cheaper than tins.
 
  • #155
toilet paper.
 
  • #156
Ivan Seeking said:
toilet paper.
As good a guess as any, but no. Credit for that foundation of the first world goes all the way back to Mrs. Oock, who first began speculating about a pile of leaves she noticed while...no need to go into it.
 
  • #157
Bottle caps?

cookiemonster
 
  • #158
cookiemonster said:
Bottle caps?
Sorry, cookie monster. Hint: by tin I mean a box made of thin sheet metal. Sullivan created an alternative packaging to the tin, that was cheaper, but whose use was misunderstood by the customers to whom he sent samples. He decided the customer was always right and "this" was born.
 
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  • #159
zoobyshoe said:
Invented "by mistake", this item resulted when importer Mr. Sullivan tried to find a cheap alternative to sending samples of his product to his customers in tins. The customers misunderstood how his alternate packaging was to be used. 1904

Umm, condoms?
 
  • #160
cragwolf said:
Umm, condoms?
ROFL! No. That would be quite a misunderstanding, wouldn't it?
 
  • #161
tea bags, origonaly made from silk.
 
  • #162
hmmm wild stab in the dark... plastic?? what did Mr. Sullivan do anyway?
 
  • #163
maybe the same as A MAZDA. was and is.
 
  • #164
wolram said:
tea bags, origonaly made from silk.
CORRECT! Instead of removing the tea from the silk bags, the customers placed the whole bag into the teapot and poured hot water over it. The tea bag was born.
 
  • #165
isn't it crazy how one can remember irrelevant trivia, well
i half remembered this one but admit i had to google to
retrieve the facts
 
  • #166
wolram said:
isn't it crazy how one can remember irrelevant trivia, well
i half remembered this one but admit i had to google to
retrieve the facts
I thought this question was incredibly easy, strangly enough. Loose tea is still sold in tins, so I thought people could follow the train of logic to the tea bag without knowing anything about the actual origin of it. I guess there aren't many tea drinkers here.

Your turn, Wolram.
 
  • #167
maybe the same as A MAZDA. was and is.
 
  • #168
that's your clue? :confused:
 
  • #169
wolram said:
maybe the same as A MAZDA. was and is.
Yes, your clue is quite obscure, but I'll take a stab at it and assume you're looking for other vehicles that have a wankel engine. So it might be one of the following:

NSU spider
Re80
Citroen
Chevy Corvette
Mercedes benz
 
  • #170
that's your clue?
well how easy do you want me make it? BGn
 
  • #171
clue 2.
he who covers, water.
 
  • #172
Yes, your clue is quite obscure, but I'll take a stab at it and assume you're looking for other vehicles that have a wankel engine. So it might be one of the following:

NSU spider
Re80
Citroen
Chevy Corvette
Mercedes benz
-------------------------------------------
as in mr A MAZDA
 
  • #173
The Azram dam! or however it is spelt ...isnt is Aswan? damn!
 
  • #174
The Azram dam! or however it is spelt ...isnt is Aswan? damn!
sorry jimmy.
MAZDA leads to the who was, and to the thing ,that is miles and miles
and miles away.
 
  • #175
wolram said:
MAZDA leads to the who was, and to the thing ,that is miles and miles
and miles away.
OK. I found out that Ahura Mazda is zoroastrian for "wise lord" or a character from Also Sprach Zarathustra, so this is some kind of mystical thing.
 

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