by apodman » Wed Apr 01, 2009 4:13 am
http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap090401.html
APOD Description wrote:For some reason, however, Astronaut Stefanyshyn-Piper can now factor 11 digit prime numbers in her head.
Who can't, and why couldn't she do it before the upgrade? Each prime number has only two factors, 1 and the number itself. Oh, it was a joke? I'm sorry for being such a nerd, but I never received the upgrade myself.
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APOD Description wrote:With the HEAD 9000 attached, an astronaut can now directly access 4 Gigabytes of computer flash memory with their own brain, perform complex mathematics by "directed thinking", and play a pre-installed game of Tetris at no additional charge.
The fictional HEAD 9000 is based on the actual computer company IFBE, using the previous letter of the alphabet for each letter in the acronym. HAL would understand.
This is what happened when someone at IFBE.ca tried his own head upgrade. I'd stick to arrows and mental floss.
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http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HAL_9000 wrote:Although it is often conjectured that the name HAL was based on a one letter shift from the name IBM, this has been denied by both Clarke and
2001 director Stanley Kubrick. In
2010: Odyssey Two, Clarke speaks through the character of Dr. Chandra, who characterized this idea as: "utter nonsense! ... I thought that by now every intelligent person knew that H-A-L is derived from
Heuristic
ALgorithmic".
Clarke more directly addressed this issue in his book
The Lost Worlds of 2001:
"As is clearly stated in the novel (Chapter 16), HAL stands for
Heuristically programmed
ALgorithmic computer. However, about once a week some character spots the fact that HAL is one letter ahead of IBM, and promptly assumes that Stanley and I were taking a crack at the estimable institution ... As it happened, IBM had given us a good deal of help, so we were quite embarrassed by this, and would have changed the name had we spotted the coincidence."
Also, IBM is indeed in the movie
2001, as are many other real companies. IBM is given fictional credit as being the manufacturer of the Pan Am Clipper's computer. The IBM logo can be seen in the center of the cockpit's instrument panel.
http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap090401.html
[quote="APOD Description"]For some reason, however, Astronaut Stefanyshyn-Piper can now factor 11 digit prime numbers in her head.[/quote]
Who can't, and why couldn't she do it before the upgrade? Each prime number has only two factors, 1 and the number itself. Oh, it was a joke? I'm sorry for being such a nerd, but I never received the upgrade myself.
---
[quote="APOD Description"]With the HEAD 9000 attached, an astronaut can now directly access 4 Gigabytes of computer flash memory with their own brain, perform complex mathematics by "directed thinking", and play a pre-installed game of Tetris at no additional charge.[/quote]
The fictional HEAD 9000 is based on the actual computer company IFBE, using the previous letter of the alphabet for each letter in the acronym. HAL would understand.
[url=http://www.ifbe.ca/images/golfer_bg.jpg]This[/url] is what happened when someone at IFBE.ca tried his own head upgrade. I'd stick to arrows and mental floss.
---
[quote="[url]http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HAL_9000[/url]"]Although it is often conjectured that the name HAL was based on a one letter shift from the name IBM, this has been denied by both Clarke and [i]2001[/i] director Stanley Kubrick. In [i]2010: Odyssey Two[/i], Clarke speaks through the character of Dr. Chandra, who characterized this idea as: "utter nonsense! ... I thought that by now every intelligent person knew that H-A-L is derived from [i]H[/i]euristic [i]AL[/i]gorithmic".
Clarke more directly addressed this issue in his book [i]The Lost Worlds of 2001[/i]:
"As is clearly stated in the novel (Chapter 16), HAL stands for [i]H[/i]euristically programmed [i]AL[/i]gorithmic computer. However, about once a week some character spots the fact that HAL is one letter ahead of IBM, and promptly assumes that Stanley and I were taking a crack at the estimable institution ... As it happened, IBM had given us a good deal of help, so we were quite embarrassed by this, and would have changed the name had we spotted the coincidence."
Also, IBM is indeed in the movie [i]2001[/i], as are many other real companies. IBM is given fictional credit as being the manufacturer of the Pan Am Clipper's computer. The IBM logo can be seen in the center of the cockpit's instrument panel.[/quote]