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  1. #1

    Default Re: Roman Computers?

    Quote Originally Posted by Tellos Athenaios
    IIRC the abacus as we know it was a Chinese thing?

    Anywho: it would not really have worked very well with the Roman/Latin numeral system; theirs' is one of the worst imaginable. Mostly because they rely on elementary math to denote elements of the outcome of elementary math.
    The abacus was and is used in many cultures, but was invented before the Chinese. The Chinese and Japanese each developed their special versions, which are still known today. In the west, the abacus eventually fell more or less out of use, but is still used in schools/pre-schools. Later, the slide rule was developed, which is a better mechanical calculator than the abacus, but without the memory. (I guess that means higher clock frequency but lower RAM? )

    Apparently, the Romans didn't like using their numerals for calculations, just for representing results.
    Last edited by Sakkura; 12-27-2007 at 19:53.
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  2. #2
    Bruadair a'Bruaisan Member cmacq's Avatar
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    Default Re: Roman Computers?

    Please see...

    Menninger, Karl, 1992
    Number Words and Number Symbols: A Cultural History of Numbers, German to English translation, M.I.T., 1969, Dover Publications.

    http://books.google.com/books?id=YLJ...mbnail#PPA3,M1

    This wiki page also appears to be fairly correct and may help to explain a little more?





    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roman_abacus

    And...

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abacus#Babylonian_abacus
    Last edited by cmacq; 12-27-2007 at 23:10.
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  3. #3
    Amanuensis Member pezhetairoi's Avatar
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    Default Re: Roman Computers?

    Are those beads detachable, I wonder?


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  4. #4

    Default Re: Roman Computers?

    Do those things get internet access? My legionaries on the Rhine could really use some good old-fashioned porn to keep their morale up...

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  5. #5

    Default Re: Roman Computers?

    Quote Originally Posted by CaesarAugustus
    Do those things get internet access? My legionaries on the Rhine could really use some good old-fashioned porn to keep their morale up...
    Yeah, but you're usually stuck with a 14.4 kbps (kilobeads per second) connection.
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  6. #6
    Amanuensis Member pezhetairoi's Avatar
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    Default Re: Roman Computers?

    At least at that speed you don't really get lagtime. And it would be easy to ping, just hurl a bead and make sure it zings off your mate's helmet.


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  7. #7
    Member Member Puupertti Ruma's Avatar
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    Default Re: Roman Computers?

    Quote Originally Posted by Sakkura
    Yeah, but you're usually stuck with a 14.4 kbps (kilobeads per second) connection.
    I'dd think thats more like kilo beads per season
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  8. #8
    fancy assault unit Member blank's Avatar
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    Default Re: Roman Computers?

    What kind of graphics card does it have? How many cores in the processor?
    Quote Originally Posted by Skullheadhq View Post
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