Colossus has been Rebuilt

Max Driver writes "In celebration of D-Day, "Colossus", one of the earliest electronic code-breaking machines, has been rebuilt after ten years of effort by computer conservationists. Colossus was used to break the Lorenz cipher. This story is being reported by the BBC. Remarkably, the use of parallel processing (five tape channels) and short gate delay time (1.2 microseconds) allows the Colossus to match the speed of a modern PC."

Comments

It matches the speed of a modern PC?

[bfg9000]

Jeez, here it comes -- someone's gonna tell me Colossus is faster than my Mac. Gentlemen, warm your PCs! It's BENCHMARK TIME!!!

Re:It matches the speed of a modern PC?

[bfg9000]

LOL! Love the brutally obvious mod bias here. Every time I even HINT at questioning the inflated speed claims of the Mac, I get modded down. It's obvious that the guys modding me down have no sense of humour about Apples whatsoever (*cough*paidshills*cough*). Hell, I though this was funny, insightful, true, and not mean-spirited at all, but the official Slashdot Astroturf team thought otherwise. Sales first, truth second!

As a Mac gamer, I can tell you that Macs really ARE in a game ghetto. Period. Even if the games are out there, they're a) ports that are rarely as good, and b) not available in a store near you. Order online and wait a few weeks -- at best.

I've learned a few good lessons here on Slashdot: I can flame RMS or Bill Gates all I want, but Steve Jobs is off limits. I can tell the truth about Linux useability or Windows viruses all I want, but Apple products are "hands off".

There's a pretty big bias, and sadly, it smacks of desperation. I can understand, with Apple being down to 1.7% of the market, their switcher campaign being a total failure, and new competition for the iPod on the way. I can understand WHY Apple fanatics would be desperate, but I don't support their desperate techniques. And yes, I'm a long-time Mac user, and yes, I love my computer, but to be perfectly honest, a young person "switching" based on the hype, propaganda, and "protectionist defenses of everything Apple" in this forum will be sorely disappointed. Because half of the stuff on here is VERIFIABLY NOT TRUE, and the moderation seems intent on suppressing dissent. Nice. Reading most posts, I'd think buying an Apple was a spiritual decision rather than a technological one. Jeezus, what a crock.

And NO, you mods can't hurt my feelings by moderating me down. This post is ASKING FOR IT, and do I care? No. I care that you're being unfairly critical, because you're doing a disservice to others, but personally, I don't give a goddamn. The more you mod me down, the less I promote Apple products in my own life and business, and the more I recommend something else to everybody who asks me. In short, you only hurt your "cause" by being a dickhead and attacking harmless jabs.

mange moi,
BFG9000

Re:Wait! Wait! there's a pattern here

[kraut]

Actually, it was mainly the Americans wot won the wars, combined, of course, with magnificent stupidity in the German leadership in both cases.