The Daily Teaser — 14-6-2014: UNIVAC

Well, that’s THAT sorted … 

In theory, anyway.

Hmmm … 

Let me try explaining, here.

You remember I was placed in a Work Placement scheme at the start of the week … ?

Which, unfortunately, didn’t work out: unsatisfactory references!!

The up side to that … ?   Was that I managed to update my references with a pair that are a touch more flattering.

On top of that … ?

I had a meeting with my Job adviser: who’s managed to place me on a Fresh Start course.

Quite what that is, I don’t know.

But I keep getting mental images of a group of Terry Pratchett characters … 

Right … let’s get a move on, shall we?

~≈∏≈~

Yesterday’s Teaser saw Debbi* putting in her answers: and scoring five out of five.

Let’s see how everyone does with today’s rather technical set, shall we?

Here they are, along with the How To, License and video … 

Q1) 14th June, 1951, saw the formal dedication of the UNIVAC computer: at the US government Bureau that was using it.   Which Bureau are we talking about … ?

Q2) That bureau is headquartered in which US state?

Q3) The fifth Univac to be built was for the US Atomic Energy Commission: and famously predicted a landslide victory in the 1952 US Presidential Election.   For whom … ?

Q4) The US Airforce also had a UNIVAC: in their shared HQ building in Arlington, Virginia.   What’s the name of that HQ building … ?

Q5) The UNIVAC used 5200 what: vacuum tubes, electron tubes or valves?

Q6) Finally … UNIVAC is short for Universal Automatic … what … ?

Here’s yesterday’s questions and answers …

Q1) 13th June, 1970, saw The Beatles have their last US number one.   Which Beatles song was it … ?

A1) The Long And Winding Road.

Q2) 13th June, 2000, saw Italy formally pardon Mehmet Ali Ağca.   Who had Mehmet Ali Ağca famously try to assassinate?

A2) Pope John Paul 2nd.

Q3) 13th June, 2010, saw a capsule from the Japanese probe, Hayabusa: with dust from 25143 Itokawa.   Is 25143 Itokawa an asteroid, meteor or comet?

A3) A near-earth asteroid.   The photo of 25143 Itokawa — here — reminds me of a monkey nut.

Q4) 13th June, 1884, saw the birth of Gerald Gardner: credited with founding a modern-day version of which religion … ?

A4) Witch-craft: or Gardnerian Wicca, as it’s also known.

Q5) Finally … 13th June, 1928, saw the birth of mathematician, John Forbes Nash, Jr.   What was the name of the 2001 film about his life?

A5) A Beautiful Mind.

I’ll leave you with this song … 

And this quote …

“Many primitive peoples count by two’s (called a binary system), rather than by ten’s. So Will Univac.   But decimal problems will be fed into it, and decimal numbers come out.”

From Want To Buy A Brain: a 1949 article on UNIVAC, from Popular Science

Have a good day … 

*        Finding today’s wasn’t too bad, Debbi.   Digging up the quote, though … ?   Oy veh!