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 BabbageΓÇÖs 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 @ 350┬║F/175┬║C.
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
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