( ESNUG 447 Item 17 ) ------------------------------------------- [09/26/05]
Subject: International Talk Like A Pirate Day and Clive's New Computer Book
> Thar being the lay of the land, I thought I'd tell you scurvy dogs that
> at 8 bells today (Monday, September 19th) marks the morning of
> "International Talk Like A Pirate Day".
>
> By the Powers! May I be flogged with a cat o' nine tails and
> keelhauled like the landlubber that I am if I'm making this up!
> Point ye looking glass at:
>
> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:Geek_Holidays
>
> Shiver me timbers! Aaargh....
>
> - John Cooley
> ESNUG/DeepChip.com Holliston, MA
From: Howard Landman <howard=user domain=riverrock.org>
John,
We know that the pronunciation of English has changed several times in
the past, sometimes drastically. For example, there are old poems in
which "line" and "join" rhyme. The current academic consensus is that
these were probably pronounced "luh-een" and "juh-een".
In other words, standard English at that time sounded a lot like what we
think of as Pirate English today.
- Howard Landman
Riverrock Consulting Fort Collins, CO
---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ----
From: Timothy Jennings <tim.jennings=user domain=freescale spot calm>
John, I think 8 bells is 4 AM. You wake up awful early.
- Tim Jennings
Freescale Semiconductor Tempe, AZ
---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ----
From: Steven Schulz <schulz=user domain=si2.org>
Ahoy, Ye Mangy Landlubber Sheep Farmer --
This thar' "Gaddy-Fly" proclamation be one o' your best, mate! Me
deck-swabber smiled a rare toothless grin, an' I nearly poked out me
good eye (the left one) 'cause I was rubbing it with my hook! Arrr!!
Best o' Ye Re-Gards,
- Captain Steve "Drydock" Schulz
President & CEO
Silicon Integration Initiative, Inc. Austin, TX
---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ----
From: Chris Byham <chris.byham=user domain=philips spot calm>
Err, OK John. Keep taking the tablets. ;-)
- Chris Byham
Philips Semiconductors UK
---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ----
From: Nelson Pratt <nelson.pratt=user domain=synopsys spot calm>
Avast, ye swab.
There be no better holiday known to man nor beast than talk like
a pirate day.
- Nelson Pratt
Synopsys, Inc. Mountain View, CA
---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ----
From: Mark Indovina <marki=user domain=improvsys spot calm>
Hi John,
Sorry bud, but I suspect you need to get out and interract with more
people on a regular basis. :-)
- Mark Indovina
Improv Systems, Inc. Rochester, NY
---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ----
From: Doug Roberts <douglas.j.roberts=user domain=l-3com spot calm>
Yo ho ho!! Ye be grand, aye!!
- Doug Roberts
L-3
---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ----
From: Bob Beachler <beach66=user domain=yahoo spot calm>
Avast ye scurvy dog,
But did ye know, ye landlubber, that the decline of pirates is the cause
of global warming? So sez the Church of the Flying Spaghetti Monster...
And today is also their first holy day. http://www.venganza.org/
- Blackbeard Bob
---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ----
From: Clive Maxfield <max=user domain=techbites spot calm>
Hi John, Max here -- I'm always happy to talk like a pirate -- my favorite
cartoon after "Two Angry Beavers" is "Spongebob Squarepants" which is
introduced by the singing pirate, but I digress...
This is just to give you a "heads up" about a new book I co-authored called
"How Computers Do Math (Featuring the Virtual DIY Calculator)." Following
six years of evenings and weekends slaving over a hot computer keyboard (you
know how that goes), this little scamp is rolling out of the publisher's
warehouses as I pen these words.
The cool thing about this little rapscallion is that the accompanying CD-ROM
contains a virtual computer-calculator called the DIY Calculator (the "DIY"
stands for "Do it yourself"). This virtual machine is powered by a really
simple virtual 8-bit microprocessor with a very rudimentary instruction set
(add, subtract, shift, rotate, AND, OR . and so forth).
The virtual calculator comes equipped with a complete development
environment that includes an assembler, CPU register display, memory
display, and so forth. The book guides the reader through a series of
step-by-step interactive laboratories that build upon each other until, at
the end, the reader has created the assembly program to implement a simple
four-function calculator that works only on 16-bit signed binary integers.
However, this is really an open-ended project. By means of our website at
http://www.DIYCalculator.com, we plan on introducing the concepts behind
fixed-point and floating-point representations. We will then create
floating-point versions of our subroutines (again in our assembly language)
and build up to a floating-point calculator.
Also, the "More Tools" page on the website presents some ideas for student
projects like creating a small C compiler, a BASIC interpreter, a Code
Coverage utility, and a Code Profiler utility (we have added "hooks" into
the simulator to capture data as to which instructions were used during a
program run.) Furthermore, the "More Cool Stuff" page discusses the idea of
creating a physical (FPGA-based) version of the calculator -- in fact some
students at Newcastle University in the UK have already implemented such a
project (pictures of this project -- along with the VHDL source code -- can
be accessed from this topic on the "More Cool Stuff" page).
Oh, yes. I almost forgot. "Aaaaargh....."
- Clive Maxfield
TechBites Interactive Madison, AL
Index
|
|
