Subj : Today in History  - 1943
To   : All
From : Dave Drum
Date : Tue May 16 2023 16:43:56

17 May 1943 - THE UNITED STATES ARMY CONTRACTS WITH THE UNIVERSITY OF
PENNSYLVANIA'S MOORE SCHOOL TO DEVELOP THE ENIAC (ELECTRONIC NUMERICAL
INTEGRATOR AND COMPUTER): ENIAC, in full Electronic Numerical Integrator
and Computer, the first programmable general-purpose electronic digital
computer, built during World War II by the United States. American
physicist John Mauchly, American engineer J. Presper Eckert, Jr., and
their colleagues at the Moore School of Electrical Engineering at the
University of Pennsylvania led a government-funded project to build an
all-electronic computer. Under contract to the army and under the
direction of Herman Goldstine, work began in early 1943 on ENIAC. The
next year, mathematician John von Neumann began frequent consultations
with the group.

ENIAC was something less than the dream of a universal computer.
Designed specifically for computing values for artillery range tables,
it lacked some features that would have made it a more generally useful
machine. It used plugboards for communicating instructions to the
machine; this had the advantage that, once the instructions were thus
"programmed," the machine ran at electronic speed. Instructions read
from a card reader or other slow mechanical device would not have been
able to keep up with the all-electronic ENIAC. The disadvantage was that
it took days to rewire the machine for each new problem. This was such a
liability that only with some generosity could it be called
programmable.

Nevertheless, ENIAC was the most powerful calculating device built to
date. It was the first programmable general-purpose electronic digital
computer. Like Charles Babbage’s Analytical Engine (from the 19th
century) and the British World War II computer Colossus, it had
conditional branching-that is, it could execute different instructions
or alter the order of execution of instructions based on the value of
some data. (For instance, IF X>5 THEN GO TO LINE 23.) This gave ENIAC a
lot of flexibility and meant that, while it was built for a specific
purpose, it could be used for a wider range of problems.

MMMMM----- Recipe via Meal-Master (tm) v8.06
 
      Title: Computer Cake
 Categories: Cakes, Desserts, Novelty
      Yield: 24 Servings
 
 30 1/2 oz (2 boxes) Betty Crocker
           - Supermoist cake mix (any
           - flavour)
           Water, oil & eggs called for
           - on cake mix package
      2 lb (2 tubs) Betty Crocker Rich
           - & Creamy vanilla ready-to-
           - spread frosting
      7    Drops blue food colouring
           Licorice candy in desired
           - colour
           Pastel mint candy
 
  Set oven @ 350ºF/175ºC.
  
  Grease bottoms only of 2 rectangular pans, 13" x 9" x
  2", with shortening. Make cake mixes as directed on
  package, using water, oil and eggs. Pour half the batter
  into each pan. Bake cakes as directed on package for 13"
  x 9" rectangle. Cool 10 minutes. Run knife around sides
  of pans to loosen cakes remove from pans to wire rack.
  Cool completely, about 1 hour.
  
  Leave 1 cake layer whole for screen. Cut second cake
  layer as shown in diagram. Freeze cake pieces about 1
  hour for easier frosting if desired. Reserve 3/4 cup
  frosting. Cover large flat tray or piece of cardboard
  with plastic wrap or aluminum foil. Arrange cake pieces
  on tray to form computer as shown in diagram. Frost
  cake, attaching pieces with small amount of frosting.
  
  For a pixture - tinyurl.com/bddxvkbu - UDD
  
  Drop 1 drop food color about 3 inches in from each
  corner of the screen area. Blend into frosting with
  spatula to within 1 inch of edges to make screen.
  Outline with licorice. Arrange mint candies on keyboard.
  Trim mouse to desired shape. Frost with 1/2 cup reserved
  frosting. Outline mouse keys with licorice.
  
  Place mouse next to keyboard. Tint remaining frosting
  with 3 drops blue food color. Place frosting in
  decorating bag with writing tip. Pipe desired message on
  screen. Pipe cord from mouse to keyboard. Store loosely
  covered at room temperature.
  
  CUTTING AND ASSEMBLING COMPUTER CAKE: Leave first layer
  whole for screen.
  
  Cut diagonal pieces from both sides of second cake layer
  to form keyboard cut mouse.
  
  Arrange uncut cake layer above cut cake. Place mouse
  next to keyboard.
  
  From "Betty Crocker's Ultimate Cake Mix Cookbook."
  
  RECIPE FROM: http://www.dvo.com
  
  Uncle Dirty Dave's Archives
 
MMMMM

.... No one is as agreeable as the uninvited guest.
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 * Origin: Outpost BBS * Johnson City, TN (1:18/200)

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