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Cats on MEDICID-1

One of the most fantastic things about having a computer in our department in the 70's is that we could do with it what we wanted, literally, without having to go through all the bureaucracy created around the so-called "Calculation Centers", where weeks and even months passed between having an idea and getting a real program to implement it. In other words, we lived through the personal computer revolution years before it even existed.In those years a young researcher, the current...

The MEDICID-1. The great little equipment.

It was 1974 and an Engineer from the Department of Neurophysiology named Alberto Caro had designed a device for the experimental work of the department that could be controlled by our CID-201-B computer, compatible with the PDP-8, which I referred to in the article "CONCATISO. My first program.".Due to production priorities, the Central Institute for Digital Research (ICID) did not give us what would later be named as MEDICID-2 and for that reason, with great inventiveness, the eng...

A doctor and a monkey overboard!

It was the year 1977-78 and by then Dr. Mitchell Valdés had already made much progress in psychophysiological experimentation using MEDICID-1 and MEDICID-2 as reported in other articles, even using cats as experimental subjects.Then he is visited by Dr. Erwin, who had managed to create a vervet monkey business on the island of Saint Kitts. It is important to clarify that the vervet monkeys, brought to Saint Kitts by the conquerors from Africa, are compatible with man in many respec...

Spreadsheets. The best visual programming language.

The history of Spreadsheets is fascinating, from Richard Mattessich who in 1972 wrote the article "Budgeting Models and System Simulation" creating the concept, to Pardo and Landau, who tried to obtain a Patent.But the renowned inventor of Spreadsheets is Dan Bricklin, with his VisiCalc, which was available since 1979 and was, let's say, the first and most important computing tool in the hands of anyone when it was implemented for the first computer that we can call "personal".I kn...

Spreadsheets as a universal computing model.

Any two-dimensional screen can be viewed as a collection of rectangular cells. A point and even the entire screen can be defined as such. Almost all cell phones and computer screens are two-dimensional screens. And some may be three-dimensional. Therefore anything that runs on mobiles or PCs or MACs is seen on a two-dimensional screen as a collection of rectangular cells, or three-dimensional as rectangular cubes. In conclusion, anything that runs on mobiles or PCs or MACs can b...

Human Facebook.

Yesterday walking and walking I went to repair a fan where a technician who has been repairing electrical appliances for more than 20 years, has a lot of experience, is fast and accurate.Upon arrival there was a "return at 2:30" sign and waiting for it a Mrs. arrived with a rice cooker. Well, we started talking and talking, and I said to myself, why wait until everyone has internet to use Facebook? Facebook we have it within reach...Well, without meeting each other, exchanging pho...

To be a Programmer... without mathematics?

Programming... There are so many work and development opportunities for the Programmer and the Entrepreneur... Smart houses, the internet of things (IoT), websites as varied as the world is, mobile applications (Android, IOS), Security in communications and in business, PC applications (Windows, Mac, Chrome OS), are some examples of how varied and necessary for Programmers to do their work. Artificial intelligence? And who programs, trains, and maintains it? Programmers first. A...

My current works and ideas

My current works and ideas.Over the years I have been developing a series of works and research proposals that I would like to present to you as a whole for your consideration. For each one you will find here an introduction to the topic and also links to the complete content already more elaborated. Most of the topics are under development and from time to time I add or modify information. Keep this in mind so that from time to time you can revisit the topics that were of interest...

Pedro Valdés from Neuro found me... and I was looking for the same thing!

I will tell how I started working in the Department of Neurophysiology of the National Center for Scientific Research. It was the year 1971 and I was studying Pure Mathematics at the University and it turns out that a doctor, Dr. Pedro Valdés Sosa, better known as "Peter", also began to study Mathematics as a second career. Peter and I were together for almost two years, we became good friends, we even studied together. Peter was already a worker with many obligations, he skippe...

FORTRAN. The best for calculus.

It was the 70's and I continued working as a programmer for the Neuroscience Department using the laboratory computer, which in other articles I have explained that it only had 32 Kilo Words of 12 bits each, a typewriter that could punch 8-bit paper tapes. channels (bits), and an 8-channel paper tape reader.I have also commented that I programmed coding "by hand", and as soon as it was available in the machine language assembler, and also in the LEAL language, which was "postfix".T...

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Main Motorcycle Agencies between 1940 and 1950 in Havana

The articles presented in this space are the authorship of Onelio García Pérez and his friends, © www.HobbiesEnRed.com, based on empirical research, there have been few investigated periods as a result of addressing issues that go beyond the particular objectives of the Author. The historical approach present in the fascicles is the product of the li...

To Manchita

I had the joy of meeting Manchita. I had never had dogs, as a child only a cat. Manchita came to us by chance. A friend of my daughter found her alone on the street, and despite the fact that for several days she made her visible in front of her house, no one claimed her. Well, my daughter stayed with her. At first I was little at home, spending time with my daughter, either in ballet classes or in her apartment. Later on, my daughter is hired abroad, and leaves us looking after...

Technology plus Ideas.

Technology plus Ideas. In this section we intend to comment on technology applied or applicable in the future, as well as presenting ideas on various technological topics. You can add content by yourself if you register and request it to us at info@havanatrends.com Any technological comment is welcome. Any technological idea is welcome. This section contains technological topics from the past as well as ideas for the future. We look forward to your collaboration. Octavio Bae...

My fellow operators.

{loadmoduleid 135} In other articles I have commented that in the 70s our Neuroscience department had a CID-201-B minicomputer compatible with the PDP-8 of the DEC company and that the CID-201-B had only a typewriter teletype, a perforated paper tape reader, and a paper tape printer.In order to use this equipment, after developing and fine-tuning each program, it was necessary to "punch" the tapes with the data, or, for example, use the CONCATISO program (see article) to convert t...

CONCATISO. My first Program. Second part.

CONCATISO. My first Program. Second part. By reading the first part you will already have an idea of the computational equipment that the Department of Neurophysiology had back in the years 1972... 1973 Now I will tell the other part: Professor Erwin Roy John, head of the Department of Neurophysiology at New York Medical College, donated to Thalía and her Department an analog "Transient Averaging" computer called "CAT" that was capable of obtaining, from synchronized stimuli an...

I met Ileana and for a moment I was Don Quixote.

Under Rocinante's helmets I made the happiest quixot of my life.It was the 80s of the last century, and my friend Peter and I, being at a scientific event at the University, we read on a flyer that in "El Bodegón de Bartolo", a nearby coffee bar, from 10 AM it could be consumed with beer At an open bar and we couldn't hold out, we went out there with Peter's girlfriend, Yanai.When we get to the bar they inform us that no, that there is nothing at all until 5 pm, and then Yanai tell...

Spreadsheets are limited because... and serious errors can occur.

It is known to all that the use of Spreadsheets, such as the current Excel, since the beginning when VisiCalc appeared in 1979, have allowed many users without programming knowledge to be able to develop many and varied applications.In particular, the world of economics has been empowered by Spreadsheets. An accountant can directly carry out all or almost all of his work using them, since from the beginning they were conceived with a varied communication with other data processing...

Vulnerabilities in Windows? They are dictated to the programmers.

Do you really think that programmers do our job "so badly" and make "so many mistakes" that we cause the thousands of vulnerabilities that the Windows operating system has had, has, and will have?As a fact, I affirm that all "legal" antiviruses ask Microsoft for various "entry and interception points" where to put their "legally added" programming to the operating system. For example, how do you think an antivirus "checks" every file before being "opened" by Windows Explorer? Becau...

Program and fine-tune in assembler binary

It was the years 1973, 1974,...In the article on "CONCATISO my first program" I described in broad strokes the characteristics of the computer CID-201-B compatible with the PDP-8 of the DEC company.Recall that it was 12 bits long, but also only had a 12-bit accumulator register and 1 carry bit.Machine language instructions were encoded in those 12 bits where sometimes another word was used to access groups of 4096 (12 bits) memory words, and thus be able to access all 32 Kilowords...

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