Datapoint: The Lost Story of the Texans Who Invented the Personal Computer Revolution

Datapoint: The Lost Story of the Texans Who Invented the Personal Computer Revolution
Author: Lamont Wood
Publisher: Hugo House Publishers, Ltd.
Total Pages: 356
Release: 2013-09-17
Genre: Computers
ISBN: 1936449366

Forget Apple and IBM. For that matter forget Silicon Valley. The first personal computer, a self-contained unit with its own programmable processor, display, keyboard, internal memory, telephone interface, and mass storage of data was born in San Antonio TX. US Patent number 224,415 was filed November 27, 1970 for a machine that is the direct lineal ancestor to the PC as we know it today. The story begins in 1968, when two Texans, Phil Ray and Gus Roche, founded a firm called Computer Terminal Corporation. As the name implies their first product was a Datapoint 3300 computer terminal replacement for a mechanical Teletype. However, they knew all the while that the 3300 was only a way to get started, and it was cover for what their real intentions were - to create a programmable mass-produced desktop computer. They brought in Jack Frassanito, Vic Poor, Jonathan Schmidt, Harry Pyle and a team of designers, engineers and programmers to create the Datapoint 2200. In an attempt to reduce the size and power requirement of the computer it became apparent that the 2200 processor could be printed on a silicon chip. Datapoint approached Intel who rejected the concept as a "dumb idea" but were willing to try for a development contract. Intel belatedly came back with their chip but by then the Datapoint 2200 was already in production. Intel added the chip to its catalog designating it the 8008. A later upgrade, the 8080 formed the heart of the Altair and IMSI in the mid-seventies. With further development it was used in the first IBM PC-the PC revolution's chip dynasty. If you're using a PC, you're using a modernized Datapoint 2000.

The History of the GPU - Steps to Invention

The History of the GPU - Steps to Invention
Author: Jon Peddie
Publisher: Springer Nature
Total Pages: 424
Release: 2023-01-01
Genre: Computers
ISBN: 3031109686

This is the first book in a three-part series that traces the development of the GPU. Initially developed for games the GPU can now be found in cars, supercomputers, watches, game consoles and more. GPU concepts go back to the 1970s when computer graphics was developed for computer-aided design of automobiles and airplanes. Early computer graphics systems were adopted by the film industry and simulators for airplanes and high energy physics—exploding nuclear bombs in computers instead of the atmosphere. A GPU has an integrated transform and lighting engine, but these were not available until the end of the 1990s. Heroic and historic companies expanded the development and capabilities of the graphics controller in pursuit of the ultimate device, a fully integrated self-contained GPU. Fifteen companies worked on building the first fully integrated GPU, some succeeded in the console, and Northbridge segments, and Nvidia was the first to offer a fully integrated GPU for the PC. Today the GPU can be found in every platform that involves a computer and a user interface.

San Antonio

San Antonio
Author: San Antonio Express-News
Publisher: Trinity University Press
Total Pages: 1620
Release: 2015-10-19
Genre: History
ISBN: 1595347569

On Sept. 27, 1865, the San Antonio Express-News made its debut. And from the beginning, there was plenty to write about. The Civil War had just concluded, and it was only twenty-nine years after the fall of the Alamo. The Chisholm Trail, the high road of the Cattle Kingdom, began in San Antonio, which was the largest and among the most diverse cities in Texas. Spanish, German, and English were commonly spoken. The politics were lively and sometimes divisive, as the city was full of Unionist sympathizers in a state that was an anchor of the Confederacy. Today, 150 years later, San Antonio is America’s fastest-growing big city and still making history. San Antonio is a richly illustrated compilation of more than 150 years of coverage on the history and culture of the city, as told in the pages of the San Antonio Express-News. From local politics to news stories on the military, energy, water use, the border and immigration that reverberate nationally and internationally, to the recent naming of San Antonio’s five Spanish missions as a World Heritage site, the city has always been a place where the American identity is forged. This book tracks the city's past from 1865 until 2015 and is full of evocative pictures and compelling accounts culled from the Express-News archives. The collection celebrates companies that shaped the city, such as Frost Bank, which began extending credit in 1867; the Sisters of Charity of the Incarnate Word, founders in 1869 of what is now the Christus Santa Rosa Health System and subsequently their namesake university; and H-E-B grocery. This is not a standard civic history or a straightforward march through the decades. Loosely organized by theme, the stories in the collection are often quite often surprising, just like San Antonio itself. As anyone who has spent time in the city knows, this is a place with a soul.

In the Loop

In the Loop
Author: David R. Johnson
Publisher: Trinity University Press
Total Pages: 440
Release: 2020-10-06
Genre: History
ISBN: 1595349235

In the Loop: A Political and Economic History of San Antonio, is the culmination of urban historian David Johnson’s extensive research into the development of Texas’s oldest city. Beginning with San Antonio’s formation more than three hundred years ago, Johnson lays out the factors that drove the largely uneven and unplanned distribution of resources and amenities and analyzes the demographics that transformed the city from a frontier settlement into a diverse and complex modern metropolis. Following the shift from military interests to more diverse industries and punctuated by evocative descriptions and historical quotations, this urban biography reveals how city mayors balanced constituents’ push for amenities with the pull of business interests such as tourism and the military. Deep dives into city archives fuel the story and round out portraits of Sam Maverick, Henry B. Gonzales, Lila Cockrell, and other political figures. Johnson reveals the interplay of business interests, economic attractiveness, and political goals that spurred San Antonio’s historic tenacity and continuing growth and highlights individual agendas that influenced its development. He focuses on the crucial link between urban development and booster coalitions, outlining how politicians and business owners everywhere work side by side, although not necessarily together, to shape the future of any metropolitan area, including geographical disparities. Three photo galleries illustrate boosterism’s impact on San Antonio’s public and private space and highlight its tangible results. In the Loop recounts each stage of San Antonio’s economic development with logic and care, building a rich story to contextualize our understanding of the current state of the city and our notions of how an American city can form.

They Create Worlds

They Create Worlds
Author: Alexander Smith
Publisher: CRC Press
Total Pages: 601
Release: 2019-11-19
Genre: Computers
ISBN: 042975261X

They Create Worlds: The Story of the People and Companies That Shaped the Video Game Industry, Vol. 1 is the first in a three-volume set that provides an in-depth analysis of the creation and evolution of the video game industry. Beginning with the advent of computers in the mid-20th century, Alexander Smith’s text comprehensively highlights and examines individuals, companies, and market forces that have shaped the development of the video game industry around the world. Volume one, places an emphasis on the emerging ideas, concepts, and games developed from the commencement of the budding video game art form in the 1950s and 1960s through the first commercial activity in the 1970s and early 1980s. They Create Worlds aims to build a new foundation upon which future scholars and the video game industry itself can chart new paths. Key Features: The most in-depth examination of the video game industry ever written, They Create Worlds charts the technological breakthroughs, design decisions, and market forces in the United States, Europe, and East Asia that birthed a $100 billion industry. The books derive their information from rare primary sources such as little-studied trade publications, personal papers collections, and oral history interviews with designers and executives, many of whom have never told their stories before. Spread over three volumes, They Create Worlds focuses on the creative designers, shrewd marketers, and innovative companies that have shaped video games from their earliest days as a novelty attraction to their current status as the most important entertainment medium of the 21st Century. The books examine the formation of the video game industry in a clear narrative style that will make them useful as teaching aids in classes on the history of game design and economics, but they are not being written specifically as instructional books and can be enjoyed by anyone with a passion for video game history.

Subordinating Intelligence

Subordinating Intelligence
Author: David P. Oakley
Publisher: University Press of Kentucky
Total Pages: 265
Release: 2019-03-15
Genre: Political Science
ISBN: 0813176735

In the late eighties and early nineties, driven by the post–Cold War environment and lessons learned during military operations, United States policy makers made intelligence support to the military the Intelligence Community's top priority. In response to this demand, the CIA and DoD instituted policy and organizational changes that altered their relationship with one another. While debates over the future of the Intelligence Community were occurring on Capitol Hill, the CIA and DoD were expanding their relationship in peacekeeping and nation-building operations in Somalia and the Balkans. By the late 1990s, some policy makers and national security professionals became concerned that intelligence support to military operations had gone too far. In Subordinating Intelligence: The DoD/CIA Post–Cold War Relationship, David P. Oakley reveals that, despite these concerns, no major changes to national intelligence or its priorities were implemented. These concerns were forgotten after 9/11, as the United States fought two wars and policy makers increasingly focused on tactical and operational actions. As policy makers became fixated with terrorism and the United States fought in Iraq and Afghanistan, the CIA directed a significant amount of its resources toward global counterterrorism efforts and in support of military operations.

Europe’s future – a model for assessing and increasing digital sovereignty

Europe’s future – a model for assessing and increasing digital sovereignty
Author: Martin Kaloudis
Publisher: Cuvillier Verlag
Total Pages: 283
Release: 2024-03-11
Genre:
ISBN: 3736969805

Die Dissertation “Europe’s future – a model for assessing and increasing digital sovereignty” von Martin Kaloudis an der Mendel University in Brno beschäftigt sich mit der digitalen Souveränität europäischer Staaten. Sie thematisiert die Abhängigkeit der EU-Staaten von Technologien und Rohstoffen aus Nicht-EU-Ländern, insbesondere die Abhängigkeit von digitalen Technologien aus China und den USA, und untersucht mögliche Stellhebel zur Beherrschbarkeit von Abhängigkeiten von nicht-europäischen Technologien. Die Dissertation entwickelt ein Modell zur Bewertung der digitalen Souveränität, fokussiert auf die EU, und schlägt eine Definition des Begriffs vor. Ein wichtiger Bestandteil ist ein komparativer Index für digitale Souveränität, der auf sekundären Daten basiert und mittels quantitativer Methoden verifiziert und validiert wird. Die Ergebnisse des Indexes zeigen, dass EU-Staaten in Sachen digitaler Souveränität Entwicklungspotenziale haben. Aus der Analyse werden handlungsleitende Maßnahmen abgeleitet, wie etwa höhere Investitionen in Start-ups, Förderung des Exports von IKT-Dienstleistungen und Verringerung von Handelsbarrieren im digitalen Bereich. Die Dissertation betont, dass die konsequente Umsetzung dieser Maßnahmen zur Stärkung der digitalen Souveränität der EU-Staaten beitragen kann.

The Urban Shepherd: Chasing the American Dream

The Urban Shepherd: Chasing the American Dream
Author: Ben Amor
Publisher: BookLocker.com, Inc.
Total Pages: 289
Release: 2024-03-20
Genre: Self-Help
ISBN:

He has come a long way both literally and figuratively from his days as a poor shepherd boy in Tunisia, North Africa, but Ben Amor is a symbol of what can happen when you don't give up and chase the American Dream until it comes true. The successful career man reinvented himself again after a dream in 1983 of children crying because they were dying of starvation. Unable to forget the sound of children crying, he founded Terra-Genesis Inc., a nonprofit agency that began as a way to try to end world hunger through technology. The book tells how a young man's vision and passion lead him to chase the American Dream in spite of many challenges and people calling him "crazy". Ben has his own experience with overcoming the odds, a journey he intimately describes in The Urban Shepherd. He shares his joys-and his sorrows-from humble beginnings working hard to survive in Tunisia, serving in the Tunisian Air Force, and moving to the United States to live. Through sharing his personal journey adjusting to a new culture, toxic relationships, professional and personal setbacks, and balancing school, work, and family life, Ben aims to empower readers to chase and reach the American Dream. Chasing the American Dream...the Story of a Shepherd Boy The Urban Shepherd is a biographical self-help book that shows how a young poor shepherd boy followed his desire to find the American Dream. Staying perseverant in pursuit of a dream can be challenging, especially when one starts out with meager resources, lack of experience, and a continuous barrage of personal and professional setbacks. The Urban Shepherd takes you on an engaging journey through the souks of Tunisia, North Africa, to the bustle of the San Antonio, Texas, with its Alamo and Riverwalk. While the book reads like a mosaic pieced by countless aspects of life, relationships, and professional growth, its purpose is clear-to empower readers to chase and actualize their dreams and find self-fulfillment. The book shows that what is important is not where you start but where you end up. The author was born in Tunisia as a boy of humble stature, raised on farmland. As a Tunisian Muslim, he decided to join the air force and then moved to the United Sates to pursue the American Dream. The dream did not come easily, but eventually, it did come. The author cites bits of advice from notable authors such as T. Harv Eker, Elizabeth Steger, and Don Miguel Ruiz, author of The Four Agreements. Ben's approach is both instructional and personal as he mentions works that he gained inspiration from.

A Civic Entrepreneur

A Civic Entrepreneur
Author: Monty Jones
Publisher: Briscoe Ctr for Amer History Ut-Austin
Total Pages: 560
Release: 2018-07-09
Genre: Biography & Autobiography
ISBN:

This biography details the life and career of George Kozmetsky, a prominent twentieth-century Texas educator, businessman, technology innovator, and philanthropist.

Albion's Seed

Albion's Seed
Author: David Hackett Fischer
Publisher: Oxford University Press
Total Pages: 981
Release: 1991-03-14
Genre: History
ISBN: 019974369X

This fascinating book is the first volume in a projected cultural history of the United States, from the earliest English settlements to our own time. It is a history of American folkways as they have changed through time, and it argues a thesis about the importance for the United States of having been British in its cultural origins. While most people in the United States today have no British ancestors, they have assimilated regional cultures which were created by British colonists, even while preserving ethnic identities at the same time. In this sense, nearly all Americans are "Albion's Seed," no matter what their ethnicity may be. The concluding section of this remarkable book explores the ways that regional cultures have continued to dominate national politics from 1789 to 1988, and still help to shape attitudes toward education, government, gender, and violence, on which differences between American regions are greater than between European nations.