Firefox for ever

Tim ignored_mailbox at yahoo.com.au
Wed Jun 18 14:36:17 UTC 2008


On Wed, 2008-06-18 at 07:00 -0700, Michael Harpe wrote:
> On Time Tunnel what you're actually seeing are components from Army
> surplus computer hardware. Specifically pieces of a SAGE
> (Semi-Automatic Ground Environment) computer. In its day it was the
> physically largest computer ever built. SAGE was an air defense
> computer network that was the forerunner of today's air traffic
> control system.
> 
> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Semi_Automatic_Ground_Environment

Amusing detail from that page:  Up to 150 operators could be supported
from each center. Each SD operator console was equipped with an integral
cigarette lighter and ashtray.

The console with everything...  I wonder if anybody made a system that
included a real kitchen sink?  ;-)

> Irwin Allen bought the stuff for use on his sci-fi shows. You see the
> same stuff on Lost In Space and Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea.

Neat.  Just to double check that we're both thinking of the same
consoles, I did a bit of hunting, and found some pictures [1] on this
page [2] that referred to them by the same name.  The *big* consoles
right in the foreground.

1. http://www.angelfire.com/scifi/B205/images/TI_B205.jpg
2. http://www.angelfire.com/scifi/B205/onscreen.html

They certainly did feature in a lot of things, I even saw them in one of
the Austin Powers films.  They certainly fitted the stereotypical view
of *big* computing.  Now out-stripped by a wrist watch.

-- 
[tim at localhost ~]$ uname -r
2.6.25.6-55.fc9.i686

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