Celestia Forums

I don't know how many people can be interested in this, but via Google books now it's possible to read and download ALL the Popular Science issues, from May 1872 (yes, 1872!) to Feb 2008, and all the Popular Mechanics issues from Jul 1905 to Dec 2005.
It's a kind of travel backwards in the time, absolutely extraordinary, IMO, crossing all the most important discoveries of the last three centuries.
Worth a visit, believe me..
They are here:
Popular Science:
http://books.google.com/books?id=KCoDAAAAMBAJ

Popular Mechanics:
http://books.google.com/books?id=RdMDAAAAMBAJ

Enjoy!
Bye

Andrea

That's cool! I like reading the computer ads from years ago. "With the Atari 800 you can add up to 48k user installable RAM!"
Why am I laughing? I can see my kids 20 years from now laughing at how mom only had 1GB of ram on her computer.

Reiko wrote:That's cool! I like reading the computer ads from years ago. "With the Atari 800 you can add up to 48k user installable RAM!"
Why am I laughing? I can see my kids 20 years from now laughing at how mom only had 1GB of ram on her computer.

Reiko, to give you a better idea of the passing of time, on 1980, 28 years ago, my first computer was a Sinclair ZX-80, with only 1 KB of static RAM (yes, 1 KB!!!) and 4 KB of read-only memory, containing Sinclair simple BASIC programming language, editor, and OS.
I think that 28 years in the future your nephews or my great-grandchildren simply won't believe that on 2008 we had PCs with ONLY 1 GB RAM.
Technology...cross and delight!
Bye

Andrea

ANDREA wrote:

Reiko wrote:That's cool! I like reading the computer ads from years ago. "With the Atari 800 you can add up to 48k user installable RAM!"
Why am I laughing? I can see my kids 20 years from now laughing at how mom only had 1GB of ram on her computer.

Reiko, to give you a better idea of the passing of time, on 1980, 28 years ago, my first computer was a Sinclair ZX-80, with only 1 KB of static RAM (yes, 1 KB!!!) and 4 KB of read-only memory, containing Sinclair simple BASIC programming language, editor, and OS.
I think that 28 years in the future your nephews or my great-grandchildren simply won't believe that on 2008 we had PCs with ONLY 1 GB RAM.
Technology...cross and delight!
Bye

Andrea

What kind of things were you able to do with 4 KB?

Reiko wrote:What kind of things were you able to do with 4 KB?

Just very simple Basic programming, and some very simple (but for those times very amusing!) games.
No more, but it was the first step.
Bye

Andrea

I remember getting my first 256 Mb hard drive.

... I thought I would never fill that thing up.

Hungry4info wrote:I remember getting my first 256 Mb hard drive.

... I thought I would never fill that thing up.

That is less than the size of one episode of star trek Xvid form!

ANDREA wrote:28 years in the future your nephews

Hey wait a minute, why nephews? I'm not allowed to have children and be a mom?

Reiko wrote:

ANDREA wrote:28 years in the future your nephews

Hey wait a minute, why nephews? I'm not allowed to have children and be a mom?

Naturally yes, Reiko, I was meaning that 28 years from now the children in your family will probably be your nephews, i.e. the children of your children, and in mine my great-grandchildren, i.e. children of my nephews.
More clear now?
Bye

Andrea

Andrea,

I think there may be some language confusion:
In English, nephews and nieces are the children of your brothers and sisters, they aren't your own descendants.
The children of your children are called grandchildren, and the next generation are your great-grandchildren.
The children of your nephews and nieces are your grandnephews and grandnieces. Their children are your great-grand nephews and great-grand-nieces.

Here's a chart that might help:
http://www.islandregister.com/cousin.html

selden wrote:Andrea, I think there may be some language confusion:
In English, nephews and nieces are the children of your brothers and sisters, they aren't your own descendants.
The children of your children are called grandchildren, and the next generation are your great-grandchildren.
The children of your nephews and nieces are your grandnephews and grandnieces. Their children are your great-grand nephews and great-grand-nieces.
Here's a chart that might help:
http://www.islandregister.com/cousin.html

Doh! (in Homer Simpson's way!)
The language divide won once again.
Sorry, Reiko, hope now it's clear what I was meaning.
Thanks a lot, Selden, I learned something new, that link was very useful.
Bye

Andrea

Crazy language divide.
When I have grandchildren I'm spoiling all of them.

I was reading some of those Popular Science articles from way back in the 1870's.

Is Jupiter truly a snow-covered world? Or is it a cloud covered world? If so, what are those darker bands across the surface?