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A rather nice gentleman rang this morning from a a company called Cyber something or other, to advise me of problems I was having with my computer.
It was lucky he called because I was unaware of the problems, although it did take a while for effective communication because he had a difficult accent.
I assured him that my Mac doesn't have problems, but he insisted there was a window problem.
How stupid of me! Of course, it must be my other computer. He asked what it was, and I told him it was a Babbage Differential Engine and it had 8 little windows on its case so the workings could be observed.
He assured me that 8 windows often lead to serious problems. I agreed that it wasn't all it could be because on cold mornings the windows misted up, and sometimes they got covered in fine spray from the gears when calculating quantum equations. Apparently this is a common problem (he said).
So I told him I would check, but said I could see the gears turning quite nicely, and it makes a nice ticking or whirring noise, but to be safe I would wash the 8 windows with spray on detergent. He wasn't sure this was a good idea, but I said I'd watch it for a while, and he's going to ring back.
All he needed to know were a few personal details, so I gave my name as Ada Lovelace to establish an account in case I need their support.
So, anyone else having problems with the 8 windows on their Babbage Differential Engines? Or should I use an earlier model case with just one big window and which gives a greater vista of the workings?
If you post up your phone numbers, I'll pass them on to him. He's very keen to help, and I'm sure you won't be disappointed.
😀
Oh, and if you know of any likely problems with your Babbage Differential Engines, post them here, and I'll ask about them too.
Phew, you were lucky he called!!
my guess is that you do, indeed, own a babbage differential engine, epi 😀
[pedant]
*cough*
Differen[b]CE[/b] Engine.
*cough*
[/pedant]
As you were...
Have you tried turning it off and on again?
[pedant]
*cough*
DifferenCE Engine.
*cough*
[/pedant]As you were...
Oh no, this is the Differential one. I use it for programming in Algae 68.
scaredypants - Member
my guess is that you do, indeed, own a babbage differential engine, epi
I bid on the one for sale in Oz many years ago, but got beaten by the price of a few Mercedes. 🙂
LoCo - Member
Have you tried turning it off and on again?
I have been warned by my neighbour Mr Turing that booting it while good for relief of tensions, is likely to disassemble the delicate mechanism. He wouldn't explain why, he's quite enigmatic about some things.
can you ask him to call [url= https://www.cia.gov/contact-cia/ ]00 1 703 482-0623[/url]
tell him the name's Ally Keeda
Do the Windows provide you with a nice vista of the internal workings?
I did actually have W8 Beta sitting in a VM waiting for one of these chaps to phone at one point - was interested to see what they made of it. I guess I probably have an XP licence I could set another one up with now that's expired - would be curious to see what they actually do.
See if he knows anything about bugs in the Babbage Difference Engine.
Damn things keep jamming up the gears.
Is there a better debugger than Deet?
That sounds good.
I've been having trouble with mice freezing too, do you think it's because I have Python on the machine?
My Turing machine keeps producing enigmatic messages that I can't decypher. Do you think he could help with that?
Also I can never decide if it has halted or not.
GrahamS - Member
My Turing machine keeps producing enigmatic messages that I can't decypher. Do you think he could help with that?Also I can never decide if it has halted or not.
A good question. Maybe the ferric cores on your MOBIDIC are degrading. I'm sure the chap from Cyber something will know.
He's phoned me as well, but my Babbage Differential Engine has been working fine! Must have been a mix up.
Maybe the ferric cores on your MOBIDIC are degrading.
They were, but the doctor gave me a cream.