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Plan 55 was basically Sendmail built out of paper tape equipment and telephone relays. Messages came in on teletype links and were saved on incoming queues built from pairs of paper tape punches and readers, connected by a big bin for the paper tape. The header of each message was read, an outgoing link selected by looking up the destination address automatically, and a telephone switch was used to establish a cross-office link to an outgoing buffer. The message, including header, was then copied to the outgoing paper tape buffer across the room, via the telephone switch, at a higher rate than the incoming and outgoing lines to avoid internal congestion within the switching system. Outgoing paper tape buffers, when not empty, were transmitted on their associated lines.

Crude though this seems, all the basics of a store and forward network had been fully automated. Incoming buffers, message header parsing, determination of outgoing route from destination address, message queuing for output on the proper route, and forwarding were all present in Plan 55. Plan 55 centers were distributed and networked, with redundant routes. Messages were often forwarded multiple times, with the original header and content preserved. So all the basics of networking were present.

All this required building-sized installations, consumed vast amounts of paper tape (every forwarded message was punched twice per node, and the tape went directly from the reader to a trash can), and was slow. But all the crucial ideas were there.

Plan 55 message format lives on in NOAA weather forecasts and some FEMA emergency message systems. Messages that begin "ZCZC" and end "NNNN" are in Plan 55 format. The letters and numbers between "ZCZC" and the next CR are the address; everything else up to the NNNN is the message text.

It's not very stable for me. I can't get it to run cpuburn for more than 10 minutes before hanging, and this is with just dual Athlon 1.2s on a Tiger. A friend of mine had the same board running 1.8's, and he had to return it because it wouldn't last more than a week before locking up.

You can get an old Mattel Football game on Ebay for around $20. That's about $400 less than the (NCube + Madden 2002 + PortaScreen).

I also think the screen is slightly bigger, although I haven't actually measured.

That'll free up more than enough cash to buy yourself a GeForce3, processor, and giant bag of Doritos. Morpheus will happily meet your software needs.

http://www.oddmusic.com/illogic/

http://www.anti-theory.com/

http://www.simulated.net/bending/

http://www.hollis.co.uk/john/bent/

http://www.furious.com/perfect/emi/reedghazala.htm l

http://users.ev1.net/~bantha/bending/

http://www.pansiecola.com/space/inappropriate/bend ing/

And even a news group on the topic: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/benders

How would you count the joystick on the pacman watch I had? (I had the one on the top of that page) It had 4 buttons, plus a 4-way joystick. Geekiest watch I had: the casio scientific calc (23 buttons). Exponents, 4 memories, trig, ln, degree/minute/second conversions, but no hex or binary.

But, now I'm back to a really schweet analog watch. Sure, it looks normal, but it's really a geek watch. Nitrogen-hardended titanium case stratches glass! Solid saphire front and back (the back has a window so you can see the mechanics inside). Three years old and not a single scratch. (well, there is a small dent, but that's from an emergency landing - thats character!) Plus, the 4Hz tick (sweep second hand) matches caffeine buzz.

Seen a network tabloid like 20/20 or Dateline lately? Houses are built like crap. We should aspire to something better.

Yeah, forget the Game Boy. Mattel was there first with LED football way back in 1977, and they released an updated version last year. This is the upgrade we've been waiting for!