The World's Largest Computer in 1951

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The discussion centers around two significant machines: the ENIAC, an early computer that was 10 feet tall, weighed 30 tons, and required 150 kilowatts of power, and the Russian Ekranoplan, a ground effect vehicle that could travel over 400 km/h and weighed 540 tons. The ENIAC utilized a vast number of electronic components but had less processing power than a modern pocket calculator. The Ekranoplan, developed by the Soviet Union, operates just above water using a shock wave principle, allowing it to travel over various terrains. The conversation also touches on trivia and historical facts about these machines, highlighting their unique engineering and capabilities. Overall, the thread showcases a blend of technical details and engaging quiz-like interactions.
  • #871
Known to happen but never observed, it seems that like water, the wind can move rocks.
 
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  • #872
Ivan Seeking said:
Known to happen but never observed, it seems that like water, the wind can move rocks.
That really doesn't rhyme very well. :wink:
 
  • #873
Oh man... I got to go check out some other stuff. Maybe it'll come to me when I'm not paying attention to it.
 
  • #874
Got it!
Death Valley Moving Rocks
Address:http://www.billandcori.com/deathvalley/dv_moving_rocks.htm

I should have been able to put it together from the psalm clue, because "Death Valley" was one of the things that occurred to me, but I didn't. I had read about the moving rocks a long time ago and forgotten about them.
 
  • #875
zoobyshoe said:
Got it!
Death Valley Moving Rocks
It's a good thing I checked back when I saw your post show up, rather than waste any more time on it. I've never heard of those things, so I certainly never would have gotten it.
 
  • #876
The lake bed is called "Racetrack Playa".
 
  • #877
This one should be easy:

Though Edison and Bell thought they had it covered, the only versions that ever thrived were based on this third person's efforts.
 
  • #878
Record player? Joe Victrola?
 
  • #879
Not "Joe Victrola", no.
 
  • #880
zoobyshoe said:
Not "Joe Victrola", no.
Ralph Carmichael Alphonso Victor, and his little dog?

Sorry, man... I have no idea who followed up on that. (How old is Phil Specter again?)
 
  • #881
Johnson?

Berliner?
 
  • #882
Ivan Seeking said:
Johnson?

Berliner?
One of these is correct, yes.
 
  • #883
zoobyshoe said:
One of these is correct, yes.


:smile: Tight ass.
 
  • #884
Okay, Berliner.
 
  • #885
Ivan Seeking said:
Okay, Berliner.
Well, you could post a link to google and say "It's somebody in here, right?"

Yes, Emile Berliner

Your turn.
 
  • #886
Well, you could post a link to google and say "It's somebody in here, right?"

:biggrin: It seemed that what hit the market was a merger of both technologies, so I really couldn't be sure.

Okay, next question:
Since there was a place with none, the librarian knew that this was the key.
 
  • #887
Errmm... sure...
 
  • #888
high noon.
 
  • #889
I'm guessing that was a hint?
 
  • #890
Mk said:
I'm guessing that was a hint?
Correct! Your turn. :biggrin:
 
  • #891
That's an interesting clue. :bugeye:
I'll just throw out some free-association and see if I hit on something
Librarian: books, card catalogs, shelves, quiet
Key: clock, lock, door, solution to puzzle, skeleton, tumblers
High noon: clock, grandfather clock, Westerns, cowboy, shoot out, hands, time, chime

Maybe this will help someone else. I can't solve a clue yet because I haven't had time to think up a new one of my own. :smile: (At least with Ivan's clue, there's no risk of that happening anytime soon anyway.)
 
  • #892
Eratosthenes measurement of the circumfrence of the earth!
 
  • #893
Man, to show you how screwed up I am over this, the only thing that I can think of at all is Franklin running that lightning bolt to an empty Leyden jar. I know that ain't right. First thought was something about a sundial, and that makes no sense at all.
 
  • #894
Shadows, light, dark. Lots of stuff comes to mind, none of it pointing toward a possible solution.

Zooby, please tell me that's a wild guess there and you didn't figure out that cryptic clue already!
 
  • #895
It's absolutely the right answer. I'm just waiting for confirmation.
 
  • #896
zoobyshoe said:
It's absolutely the right answer. I'm just waiting for confirmation.
:rolleyes: Care to explain it while we're waiting?
 
  • #897
Moonbear said:
:rolleyes: Care to explain it while we're waiting?
I know what he's talking about, and I'm afraid that he's probably right. :frown:
 
  • #898
You throw a librarian down a well at high noon in a certain city in Egypt or something, and if he sees his shadow then the Earth is such and such a diameter.
 
  • #899
zoobyshoe said:
You throw a librarian down a well at high noon in a certain city in Egypt or something, and if he sees his shadow then the Earth is such and such a diameter.

:bugeye: I'm going to have to google more about that one! (This has been a highly educational thread so far; I've learned about lots of obscure trivia I never knew I was missing before. :biggrin:)
 
  • #900
Well, Ivan has been distracted, so, in the faith I'm right here my clue:

a slippery mishap
 

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