Back in the 1970s, Signetics put out a joke data sheet for a “Write-Only Memory” chip. Basically any data you sent to it would be simply thrown away,
and attempts to read from the chip would never return anything.
They
were surprised to get a few serious queries from prospective customers wanting to make use of this component.
Bitsavers has just included a multi-page ad that the company put in an
issue of “Electronic Design” from 1973, for a competition where entrants would submit a description of the most creative use for a WOM they could think of, with the winner being featured in upcoming ads. The ad even included the data sheet.
Even entrants that did not win (a limited number, obviously) would receive
a “WOM Kit” containing a set of Groucho Marx fake glasses, a bumper sticker, a button and a fortune cookie. But no mention of an actual 25120
WOM chip ...
On 11/20/2024 2:10 PM, Lawrence D'Oliveiro wrote:
Back in the 1970s, Signetics put out a joke data sheet for a "Write-Only
Memory" chip. Basically any data you sent to it would be simply thrown
away,
Why throw the data away? Write it.
and attempts to read from the chip would never return anything.
Right. Cannot read it, but it stores data anyway? lol. ;^D
They were surprised to get a few serious queries from prospective
customers wanting to make use of this component.
Bitsavers has just included a multi-page ad that the company put in an
issue of "Electronic Design" from 1973, for a competition where entrants
would submit a description of the most creative use for a WOM they could
think of, with the winner being featured in upcoming ads. The ad even
included the data sheet.
Even entrants that did not win (a limited number, obviously) would receive >> a "WOM Kit" containing a set of Groucho Marx fake glasses, a bumper
sticker, a button and a fortune cookie. But no mention of an actual 25120
WOM chip ...
The requirement for "a six foot fan 1/2 inch from the package" is a
potential downside of the 25120 ...
Back in the 1970s, Signetics put out a joke data sheet for a “Write-Only Memory” chip. Basically any data you sent to it would be simply thrown away, and attempts to read from the chip would never return anything.
They
were surprised to get a few serious queries from prospective customers wanting to make use of this component.
Bitsavers has just included a multi-page ad that the company put in an
issue of “Electronic Design” from 1973, for a competition where entrants would submit a description of the most creative use for a WOM they could think of, with the winner being featured in upcoming ads. The ad even included the data sheet.
Even entrants that did not win (a limited number, obviously) would
receive
a “WOM Kit” containing a set of Groucho Marx fake glasses, a bumper sticker, a button and a fortune cookie. But no mention of an actual
25120
WOM chip ...
On 20 Nov 2024 19:38:44 -0400, Mike Spencer wrote:
The requirement for "a six foot fan 1/2 inch from the package" is a
potential downside of the 25120 ...
Chucking away data does increase entropy. This makes things hotter.
On 11/20/2024 3:55 PM, Lawrence D'Oliveiro wrote:
On 20 Nov 2024 19:38:44 -0400, Mike Spencer wrote:
The requirement for "a six foot fan 1/2 inch from the package" is a
potential downside of the 25120 ...
Chucking away data does increase entropy. This makes things hotter.
Doing nothing makes things hotter? Like a run away thread in a loop
doing nothing by running at full speed?
On 11/20/2024 3:55 PM, Lawrence D'Oliveiro wrote:
On 20 Nov 2024 19:38:44 -0400, Mike Spencer wrote:
The requirement for "a six foot fan 1/2 inch from the package" is a
potential downside of the 25120 ...
Chucking away data does increase entropy. This makes things hotter.
Doing nothing makes things hotter?
Back in the 1970s, Signetics put out a joke data sheet for a “Write-Only Memory” chip. Basically any data you sent to it would be simply thrown away, and attempts to read from the chip would never return anything. They were surprised to get a few serious queries from prospective customers wanting to make use of this component.
On Wed, 20 Nov 2024 17:04:28 -0800, Chris M. Thomasson wrote:
On 11/20/2024 3:55 PM, Lawrence D'Oliveiro wrote:
On 20 Nov 2024 19:38:44 -0400, Mike Spencer wrote:
The requirement for "a six foot fan 1/2 inch from the package" is a
potential downside of the 25120 ...
Chucking away data does increase entropy. This makes things hotter.
Doing nothing makes things hotter?
Discarding information is not “doing nothing”.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reversible_computing>
On 11/20/2024 6:18 PM, Lawrence D'Oliveiro wrote:
On Wed, 20 Nov 2024 17:04:28 -0800, Chris M. Thomasson wrote:
On 11/20/2024 3:55 PM, Lawrence D'Oliveiro wrote:
On 20 Nov 2024 19:38:44 -0400, Mike Spencer wrote:
The requirement for "a six foot fan 1/2 inch from the package" is a
potential downside of the 25120 ...
Chucking away data does increase entropy. This makes things hotter.
Doing nothing makes things hotter?
Discarding information is not “doing nothing”.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reversible_computing>
So, request denied can be plotted?
On 11/20/2024 5:04 PM, Chris M. Thomasson wrote:
On 11/20/2024 3:55 PM, Lawrence D'Oliveiro wrote:
On 20 Nov 2024 19:38:44 -0400, Mike Spencer wrote:
The requirement for "a six foot fan 1/2 inch from the package" is a
potential downside of the 25120 ...
Chucking away data does increase entropy. This makes things hotter.
Doing nothing makes things hotter? Like a run away thread in a loop
doing nothing by running at full speed?
|memory|
|system|
store to memory = nothing
load from memory = nothing
No way to even reach it.
On 20 Nov 2024 19:38:44 -0400, Mike Spencer wrote:
The requirement for "a six foot fan 1/2 inch from the package" is a
potential downside of the 25120 ...
Chucking away data does increase entropy. This makes things hotter.
On Thu, 21 Nov 2024 1:05:47 +0000, Chris M. Thomasson wrote:
On 11/20/2024 5:04 PM, Chris M. Thomasson wrote:
On 11/20/2024 3:55 PM, Lawrence D'Oliveiro wrote:
On 20 Nov 2024 19:38:44 -0400, Mike Spencer wrote:
The requirement for "a six foot fan 1/2 inch from the package" is a
potential downside of the 25120 ...
Chucking away data does increase entropy. This makes things hotter.
Doing nothing makes things hotter? Like a run away thread in a loop
doing nothing by running at full speed?
|memory|
|system|
store to memory = nothing
load from memory = nothing
How are you getting the 6ft hurricane fan within " of the system ??
No way to even reach it.
How are you getting the 6ft hurricane fan within " of the system ??
On Wed, 20 Nov 2024 23:55:39 +0000, Lawrence D'Oliveiro wrote:
Chucking away data does increase entropy. This makes things hotter.
Depends on how one chucks it away.
If one chucks it away efficiently, then it wastes no energy.
Lawrence D'Oliveiro <ldo@nz.invalid> writes:
Back in the 1970s, Signetics put out a joke data sheet for a
“Write-Only Memory” chip. Basically any data you sent to it would be
simply thrown away, and attempts to read from the chip would never
return anything. They were surprised to get a few serious queries from
prospective customers wanting to make use of this component.
i have some vague memory from the period using it (or something similar)
for optimal compression
On Wed, 20 Nov 2024 17:02:24 -1000, Lynn Wheeler wrote:
Lawrence D'Oliveiro <ldo@nz.invalid> writes:
Back in the 1970s, Signetics put out a joke data sheet for a
“Write-Only Memory” chip. Basically any data you sent to it would be >>> simply thrown away, and attempts to read from the chip would never
return anything. They were surprised to get a few serious queries from
prospective customers wanting to make use of this component.
i have some vague memory from the period using it (or something similar)
for optimal compression
I’m sure it works very well for deleted data.
William Gibson loosely described this use of WOM in his novel, Zero
History. Archived serial data from surveillance cams is all there but
when the system tries to read certain frames, they come up null or
something. "Ugliest tee shirt in the world."
The best part was the complement chip-destruct pin.
On Thu, 21 Nov 2024 00:03:40 +0000, MitchAlsup1 wrote:
The best part was the complement chip-destruct pin.
Complement, even.
Did they ship pre-destructed from the factory?
I just noticed the little chart of “number of socket insertions”
versus “number of remaining pins” ...
<https://bitsavers.trailing-edge.com/magazines/Electronic_Design/Electronic_Design_V21_N13_19730621_WOM.pdf>
On 2024-11-21, Chris M. Thomasson <chris.m.thomasson.1@gmail.com> wrote:
On 11/20/2024 6:18 PM, Lawrence D'Oliveiro wrote:
On Wed, 20 Nov 2024 17:04:28 -0800, Chris M. Thomasson wrote:
On 11/20/2024 3:55 PM, Lawrence D'Oliveiro wrote:
On 20 Nov 2024 19:38:44 -0400, Mike Spencer wrote:
The requirement for "a six foot fan 1/2 inch from the package" is a >>>>>> potential downside of the 25120 ...
Chucking away data does increase entropy. This makes things hotter.
Doing nothing makes things hotter?
Discarding information is not “doing nothing”.
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reversible_computing>
So, request denied can be plotted?
Sure. Check your local government for a file of
Freedom of Information requests.
Lawrence D'Oliveiro <ldo@nz.invalid> writes:
Back in the 1970s, Signetics put out a joke data sheet for a “Write-Only >> Memory” chip. ...
Lawrence D'Oliveiro <ldo@nz.invalid> writes:
Back in the 1970s, Signetics put out a joke data sheet for a
“Write-Only Memory” chip. ...
It was all the rage. When I was a grad students in the 1970s some wag
put a sign over the door to the break room saying
SIGWOM HQ
Back in the 1970s, Signetics put out a joke data sheet for a
“Write-Only Memory” chip. ...
It was all the rage. When I was a grad students in the 1970s some wag
put a sign over the door to the break room saying
SIGWOM HQ
I assume the “SIG” part was a nod to the various “Special Interest Groups”
that were part of the Association for Computing Machinery, a group >responsible for several Comp Sci research periodicals, like >“Communications of the ACM” and “Journal of the ACM”.
The SIGs did their own publications. As a student, I was a regular reader
of “SIGPLAN Notices”, the periodical of the SIG on Programming Languages. >It was one of the less formal ones.
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