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Comment Re:Colossus was not used for Enigma (Score 1) 139

Yes, the wheels of the Lorenz machine were simulated by some logical circuits made of vacuum tubes. But the book I read on the subject claimed, that the circuits were quite generic (some registers and logical operations), so if wired differently, one could make the computer to perform other combinations of operations. Of course breaking Enigma is quite a complicated matter, so it is entirely possible that Colossus was not flexible enough to be wired to do that.

Comment Colossus was not used for Enigma (Score 2) 139

While Colossus may have been capable of breaking Enigma (though it is not sure, as it was a highly specialized computer), it was actually used for breaking another, more sophisticated cipher produced by a Lorenz-made machine connected to a telex machine. When encoding, the telex machine emitted a 5-bit code, which was encrypted using the Lorenz machine. For decoding the process was reversed. This type of traffic was called Fish or Tunny in Bletchley Park.

Comment Re:In a nutshell (Score 1) 148

Bad for you. It's very useful for quick calculations, translations, map searches, etc. I find it most useful to add tasks effortlessly to my Google Calendar.

I suggest you to try it, because it's quite handy.

Comment Re:Overhyped (Score 2, Interesting) 344

How can you over-hype a one-paragraph summary?

Five minutes into the video and I'm still none the wiser as to how this is supposed to be an improvement in the use of my computer, or more comfortable, or easier.

In my opinion, it isn't.

Putting all my apps into a single line and navigating that line is not efficient. I'll stick to Autohotkey which allows me to jump to any of my usual apps with a single keypress.

I found eliminating the mouse as much as possible and finding convenient keyboard shortcuts is the key to efficient computer use. Using a touchpad which is just an other kind of mouse is not the solution. For computer newbies it may be, but not for seasoned users.

Comment Re:Ads (Score 1) 365

Probably only if you use a wave server operated by Google.

But this is acceptable, since they devote their own resources to run it. You can always run your own server if you don't like it.

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