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Turboencabulator
The Turbo Encabulator (later the Rockwell Retro Encabulator and SANS ICS HyperEncabulator) is a fictional electromechanical machine with a satirical technobabble description that became a famous in-joke amongst engineers after it was published by the British Institution of Electrical Engineers in their '' Students' Quarterly Journal'' in 1944. Technical documentation has been written for the non-existent machine, and there are a number of parody marketing videos. History An early popular American reference to the turbo encabulator appeared in an article by New York lawyer Bernard Salwen in the April 15, 1946, issue of ''Time'' magazine. Part of Salwen's job was to review technical manuscripts, including an Arthur D. Little Industrial Bulletin which had reprinted Quick's piece, and he was amused enough by it to include the description in his article. In response to a letter printed in the May 6 issue of ''Time'' from W. E. Habig of Madison, N.J. asking "What is a 'dingle arm'? ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Write-only Memory (joke)
Write-only memory (WOM), the opposite of read-only memory (ROM), began as a humorous reference to a memory device that could be written to but not read, as there seemed to be no practical use for a memory circuit from which data could not be retrieved. However, it was eventually recognized that write-only describes certain functionalities in microprocessor systems. The concept is still often used as a joke or euphemism for a failed memory device. The first use of the term is generally attributed to Signetics, whose ''write-only memory'' literature, created in 1972 as in-house practical joke, is frequently referenced within the electronics industry,. a staple of software engineering lexicons, and included in "best hoaxes" collections. Signetics A "Write-Only Memory" datasheet was created "as a lark" by Signetics engineer John G "Jack" Curtis,. inspired by a fictitious and humorous vacuum tube datasheet from the 1940s. Considered "an icebreaker", it was deliberately included in th ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Technobabble
Technobabble (a portmanteau of ''technology'' and ''babble''), also called technospeak, is a type of nonsense that consists of buzzwords, esoteric language, or technical jargon. It is common in science fiction. See also * Academese * Bullshit * Bogdanov affair * Dihydrogen monoxide parody * Flux capacitor * Fedspeak * Neologism * Officialese * Psychobabble * Rubber science * Sokal affair * Turboencabulator The Turbo Encabulator (later the Rockwell Retro Encabulator and SANS ICS HyperEncabulator) is a fictional electromechanical machine with a satirical technobabble description that became a famous in-joke amongst engineers after it was published by ... References External links Technology Column called Technobabble [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Electromechanical
In engineering, electromechanics combines processes and procedures drawn from electrical engineering and mechanical engineering. Electromechanics focuses on the interaction of electrical and mechanical systems as a whole and how the two systems interact with each other. This process is especially prominent in systems such as those of DC or AC rotating electrical machines which can be designed and operated to generate power from a mechanical process (generator) or used to power a mechanical effect (motor). Electrical engineering in this context also encompasses electronics engineering. Electromechanical devices are ones which have both electrical and mechanical processes. Strictly speaking, a manually operated switch is an electromechanical component due to the mechanical movement causing an electrical output. Though this is true, the term is usually understood to refer to devices which involve an electrical signal to create mechanical movement, or vice versa mechanical movement ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Hoaxes In The United States
A hoax is a widely publicized falsehood so fashioned as to invite reflexive, unthinking acceptance by the greatest number of people of the most varied social identities and of the highest possible social pretensions to gull its victims into putting up the highest possible social currency in support of the hoax. Whereas the promoters of frauds, fakes, and scams devise them so that they will withstand the highest degree of scrutiny customary in the affair, hoaxers are confident, justifiably or not, that their representations will receive no scrutiny at all. They have such confidence because their representations belong to a world of notions fundamental to the victims' views of reality, but whose truth and importance they accept without argument or evidence, and so never question. Some hoaxers intend eventually to unmask their representations as in fact a hoax so as to expose their victims as fools; seeking some form of profit, other hoaxers hope to maintain the hoax indefini ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Humorous Hoaxes In Science
Humour (Commonwealth English) or humor (American English) is the tendency of experiences to provoke laughter and provide amusement. The term derives from the humoral medicine of the ancient Greeks, which taught that the balance of fluids in the human body, known as humours (Latin: ', "body fluid"), controlled human health and emotion. People of all ages and cultures respond to humour. Most people are able to experience humour—be amused, smile or laugh at something funny (such as a pun or joke)—and thus are considered to have a ''sense of humour''. The hypothetical person lacking a sense of humour would likely find the behaviour to be inexplicable, strange, or even irrational. Though ultimately decided by personal taste, the extent to which a person finds something humorous depends on a host of variables, including geographical location, culture, maturity, level of education, intelligence and context. For example, young children may favour slapstick such as Punch and Judy ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Fictional Technology
Technology in science fiction is a crucial aspect of the genre. As science fiction emerged during the era of Industrial Revolution, the increased presence of machines in everyday life and their role in shaping of the society was a major influence on the genre. It appeared as a major element of the Proto SF, represented by machines and gadgets in works of Jules Verne, George Griffith, H. G. Wells, Edward Bellamy and others. Technology has been portrayed both in positive or negative ways; in some works it is a solution to the world problems, in others, a means of its destruction. Such things as robots and space travel became commonplace in the fiction of the 19th century. Concepts and illustrations of technology in science fiction have been a significant influence in the formation of popular culture images of future technology. Science fiction has often affected innovation and new technology – for example many rocketry pioneers were inspired by science fiction. See also ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Fictional Objects
Fiction is any creative work, chiefly any narrative work, portraying individuals, events, or places that are imaginary, or in ways that are imaginary. Fictional portrayals are thus inconsistent with history, fact, or plausibility. In a traditional narrow sense, "fiction" refers to written narratives in prose often referring specifically to novels, novellas, and short stories. More broadly, however, fiction encompasses imaginary narratives expressed in any medium, including not just writings but also live theatrical performances, films, television programs, radio dramas, comics, role-playing games, and video games. Definition Typically, the fictionality of a work is publicly marketed and so the audience expects the work to deviate in some ways from the real world rather than presenting, for instance, only factually accurate portrayals or characters who are actual people. Because fiction is generally understood to not fully adhere to the real world, the themes and context o ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Tech Humour
Tech or The Tech may refer to: * An abbreviation of technology or technician *Tech Dinghy, an American sailing dinghy developed at MIT *Tech (mascot), the mascot of Louisiana Tech University, U.S. * Tech (river), in southern France * "Tech" (''Smash''), a 2012 episode of TV series ''Smash'' * ''The Tech'' (newspaper), newspaper at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology * The Tech Interactive, formerly The Tech Museum of Innovation, or The Tech, a museum in San Jose, California, U.S. * Tech Tower, a building at the Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, Georgia, U.S. See also * USS ''Tech Jr.'' (SP-1761), a United States Navy patrol boat in commission in 1917 * USS ''Tech III'' (SP-1055), a United States Navy patrol boat in commission in 1917 *Technical (other) *Technique (other) Technique or techniques may refer to: Music * The Techniques, a Jamaican rocksteady vocal group of the 1960s *Technique (band), a British female synth pop band in the 1990s * ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Widget (economics)
Placeholder names are words that can refer to things or people whose names do not exist, are temporarily forgotten, are not relevant to the salient point at hand, are to avoid stigmatization, are unknowable/unpredictable in the context in which they are being discussed, or are otherwise de-emphasized whenever the speaker or writer is unable to, or chooses not to, specify precisely. Placeholder names for people are often terms referring to an average person or a predicted persona of a typical user. Linguistic role These placeholders typically function grammatically as nouns and can be used for people (e.g. '' John Doe, Jane Doe''), objects (e.g. '' widget''), locations ("Main Street"), or places (e.g. ''Anytown, USA''). They share a property with pronouns, because their referents must be supplied by context; but, unlike a pronoun, they may be used with no referent—the important part of the communication is not the thing nominally referred to by the placeholder, but t ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Unobtainium
Unobtainium is a term used in fiction, engineering, and common situations for a material ideal for a particular application but impractically hard to get. Unobtainium originally referred to materials that do not exist at all, but can also be used to describe real materials that are unavailable due to extreme rarity or cost. Less commonly, it can mean a device with desirable engineering properties for an application that are exceedingly difficult or impossible to achieve. The properties of any particular example of unobtainium depend on the intended use. For example, a pulley made of unobtainium might be massless and frictionless. But for a nuclear rocket, unobtainium might have the needed qualities of lightness, strength at high temperatures, and resistance to radiation damage: A combination of all three qualities is impossible with today's materials. The concept of unobtainium is often applied hand-wavingly, flippantly, or humorously. The word "unobtainium" derives humorously ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Thiotimoline
Thiotimoline is a fictitious chemical compound conceived by American biochemist and science fiction author Isaac Asimov. It was first described in a spoof scientific paper titled "The Endochronic Properties of Resublimated Thiotimoline" in 1948. The major peculiarity of the chemical is its "endochronicity": it starts dissolving before it makes contact with water. Asimov went on to write three additional short stories, each describing different properties or uses of thiotimoline. Chemical properties In Asimov's writings the endochronicity of thiotimoline is explained by the fact that in the thiotimoline molecule, there is at least one carbon atom such that, while two of the carbon's four chemical bonds lie in normal space and time, one of the bonds projects into the future and another into the past. Thiotimoline is derived from the bark of the (fictitious) shrub ''Rosacea karlsbadensis rufo'', and the thiotimoline molecule includes at least fourteen hydroxy groups, two am ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Interocitor
''This Island Earth'' is a 1952 science fiction novel by American writer Raymond F. Jones. It was first published in ''Thrilling Wonder Stories'' magazine as a serialized set of three novelettes by Jones: "The Alien Machine" in the June 1949 issue, "The Shroud of Secrecy" in the December 1949 issue, and "The Greater Conflict" in the February 1950 issue. These three stories were later combined into the 1952 novel ''This Island Earth''. It became the basis for the 1955 Universal-International science fiction film also titled ''This Island Earth''. The story revolves around a race of aliens who, in recruiting humans for a group called "Peace Engineers", are actually using Earth as a pawn in an intergalactic war. Both the novel and the film contain some intriguing concepts that had not previously been considered by most science fiction of the era. While the film starts out in a very similar manner to the novel, the film's storyline quickly goes its own way. Plot At Ryberg Instrumen ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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