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Mystery of Ancient Calculator Finally Cracked
jcaruso writes, "It's been more than 100 years since the discovery of the 2,000-year-old Antikythera Mechanism, but researchers are only now figuring out how it works." From the article:
"Since its discovery in 1902, the Antikythera Mechanism — with its intricate and baffling system of about 30 geared wheels — has been an enigma... During the last 50 years, researchers have identified various astronomical and calendar functions, including gears that mimic the movement of the sun and moon. But it has taken some of the most advanced technology of the 21st century to decipher during the past year the most advanced technology of the 1st century B.C."
Did it run Linux?
liqbase
Remember folks, always document your calculators.
Haida Manga
But it has taken some of the most advanced technology of the 21st century to decipher during the past year the most advanced technology of the 1st century B.C."Maybe in 2000 years we'll have the technology to decode that sentence!
Some archeologists suggest that the people who used this calculator, actually tried to build a Beowulf cluster out of these, but were unable to because Beowulf wasn't born yet.
Circumcision is child abuse.
They should have given it to SG1. Dr. Jackson would have figured it out in no time, and they would have used to save the Earth from a far more technologically advanced enemy.
I agree not to leave this thing lying around for people to discover in 2000 years time. I agree not to reverse engineer this device......
Engineering is the art of compromise.
This just goes to show why documentation is so important. Kids, when you want your CoolWare 1.3.37 still to be in use 2000 years from now...document it!
Please correct me if I got my facts wrong.
Not a chance! Let me remind you of a little thing called the BC-CA. The BCCA is the predecessor of the DMCA, and if you think the DMCA is draconian - the BCCA prescribed death for every violation.
Proof by very large bribes. QED.
Big deal - I know a couple guys, in the PRC, that could reverse engineer this thing and have working copies, with instructions in 12 languages, for sale on street before dusk...
Sure, it was all shot in a studio. What you don't know is that the studio it was shot in was ON THE MOON!
http://twitter.com/OLDTELEGRAM
The term you're looking for is "Digg".
Doesn't this thing remind anyone of the countless ancient artifacts we've seen in movies that are expressly designed to summon some evil force (the devil, elder gods, pokemon, etc.) to the Earth to destroy or enslave mankind forever? Should we really be playing around with this thing?
Fox News?
The reports of strange lights emanating from the lab were merely energy discharges from the material under the effects of the x-ray analysis, which is quite normal actually. Unfounded rumors of strange demonic figures running amok in the complex were likewise nothing more than a mischievous prank by a few of the overworked scientists who took a joke a bit too far. The security forces stationed around the building are merely there to keep pesky reporters from spoiling next-week's release. Any sounds which appear to be gunfire are simply sonic gas bubbles popping from out of the high tech equipment. So everything is completely under control, no need to worry.
Clickety Click
It's perfectly easy to understand. There are two possibilities.
... as the wheel ... place the ... will appear at ... Made in Mexico")
1. There's writing on it, but it can't be read with certainty. Instead of making guesses to its contents, the researchers are leaving their speculation to its purpose, which can be more easily deduced. This can be because of:
1a. They actually can't read enough of it to gather the content of the message. (i.e. "Turn the
1b. They have a translation of some sort, but aren't sure that it is correct, and are waiting for confirmation.
2. The researchers made the annoucement subject to a non-disclosure agreement. These agreements are fairly common when making announcements prior to the publication of an academic article. You can make you're annoucement of your findings, but can give specifics about your findings until the article has been published. Just wait until the article is published, and then read the translation yourself.
...they were the ancestors of C programmers, as it was indeed documented but only in obscure comments embedded in the code.
It's a small world and it smells funny; I'd buy another if it wasn't for the money; Take back what I paid (SoM)
1. Understand how this works
:)
2. Write an emulator for it
3. Think of ways to parallelize
4. Try it out in software
5. If it works, build all the hardware
Tada, here you go, a loosely-defined "cluster".
BESURETODRINKYOUROVALTINE
Netcraft confirms it... Antikythera Mechanisms are dying!
Fascism starts when the efficiency of the government becomes more important than the rights of the people.
And penned by no less than the great Greek legislator himself!
Qu'on me donne six lignes écrites de la main du plus honnête homme, j'y trouverai de quoi le faire pendre.
Basically, they've found the EULA. They're worried the BSA will sue them under the PMCA (Pre-Millenium Copyright Act)...
What part of "a well regulated militia" do you not understand?
All right, but apart from the sanitation, medicine, education, wine, public order, irrigation, roads, the fresh water system and public health, what have the Romans ever done for us?
What part of "a well regulated militia" do you not understand?
.
"square showing a given"
So you can read greek can you ? Hardly. It says "Insert coin here".
The whole idea of faking a moonwalk is absurd. This theory is intended to cover a much larger hoax --- that of America.
There is, as any reasonable man can see, no american continent, the whole Columbus affair was a hoax, organized by the Portuguese government to cover up the fact that they are ruling the world.
I am sure you can appreciate the ingenuity of inventing a conspiracy theory to cover up a much more important conspiracy.