Gizmodo: 486

Hubble Resumes Operations, Sends Back Picture of Lost Starfox 64 Level

John Herrman — Fri, 31 Oct 2008 10:20:00 EDT

The Hubble Telescope, which was quite nearly lost this month to a combination of old age and a fritzy 486, has resumed "regular science operations" today, and sent back this spectacular picture of a pair of galaxies engaging in some kind of celestial slow dance. The mission to replace the Science Instrument Command and Data Handling unit (SIC&DH), the temperamental system at the heart this whole debacle, is planned for April of next year. Until then we'll be able to depend on a steady supply of cosmo-porn, courtesy of the Hubble's backup systems.

Surprisingly, the replacement SIC&DH, which will undergo extensive testing starting in mid-December, will be constructed from hardware of the same vintage as the hilariously old version that keeps flipping out in space right now. Whatever works, I guess.

Even by Hubble standards, the latest picture is pretty amazing. As much I'd like to start off on a some kind of Saganesque soliloquy about sand, whales and the vastness of space, I can't because this picture looks exactly like every third Starfox 64 level. Seriously NASA, are you playing some kind of trick on us? Is the Hubble really OK? Is space even real? [NASA via The Register]

Hubble's 486 Backup Computer Wakes Up For the First Time Since 1990

John Herrman — Thu, 16 Oct 2008 05:51:34 EDT

Prospects were starting to look pretty grim for the venerable Hubble telescope. Following a communications breakdown, the Hubble team postponed their scheduled repair mission from October 14th until this coming February, at the earliest. Until then, the Hubble's usable data transmission abilities were dependent on one thing: the successfully booting of a 486 backup system, last powered on before the Hubble Launch over 18 years ago. Well, the Hubble team has now reported that the dusty old computer seems like it's working just fine.

NASA scientists won't be sure of their success until the computer proves capable of executing mission-critical commands and/or playing through the entirety of Escape From Monkey Island, but their hopes are high for both possibilities. [NASA via The Register]

Forty Years Of Intel: Interactive Timeline

Matt Hickey — Fri, 18 Jul 2008 22:30:00 EDT

This week marks the 40th anniversary of Intel, the people who likely made the CPU in your computer. To mark the occasion, the people at PC Magazine have put together a pretty comprehensive timeline showing every major generation of Intel processor from the first one to the current Core 2 Quad and Atom series processors. We've all used them at some point in our lives, and I remember my first Intel processor was a Pentium II running at a blazing 233MHz. I loved that laptop. What was your first Intel processor? Or which was your favorite? [PC Mag]

Intel Chips 1971 to 2007, Plus a Timeline of the Transistor's 60 Years

Wilson Rothman — Mon, 10 Dec 2007 19:00:00 EST

As promised, here are stats for 20 different Intel chips from the past 35 years, most of which I included briefly in the Moore's Law video I made earlier, along with bonus factual tidbits I came across while looking over some Intel stuff today. Here you can enjoy it at your own pace (and without the music that some of you found not to your liking), but sadly the pics are not in any particular order, thanks to the way we serve up Flickr galleries. Enjoy it, but remember, it's only Intel's side of the story. Perhaps AMD would be kind enough to shoot over a similar dossier of fun facts. After the chip gallery is a timeline of transistor-related happenings from 1947 up to today.

Intel Chips from 1971 to 2007:

Intel's History of the Transistor:

[Intel]