Number 219 - August 2001

Virtual Pages
by Burton Shane (bshane39@yahoo.com) as seen in Dec 2000 ACGNJ News
Consider the book. It is a low maintenance random-access knowledge storage device. The original books in medieval times were hand-written, and consequently so expensive (about the cost of a farm -material cost, a year's support, and wages for a skilled scribe) that they were commonly chained to reading desks. Thanks to Gutenberg, movable type, and modern printing presses, a modern book sells for the equivalent of several hours' wages. The cost of chaining them to the racks would be prohibitive, and (fortunately) "shop-lifters" and "boosters" prefer more attractive targets like CDs and Video Tapes.     The personal computer provides yet another low-cost random-access knowledge storage system. The ubiquitous 3 1/2" floppy disk is capable of holding dozens of books. I like buying them for $9 per hundred, with a $9 rebate. The catch is that you need a suitcase full of hardware and good vision to read the electronic text. Oh yes, and the suitcase will set you back at least $700. "Well what's the point?" you might ask.     Consider the Library of Congress (LOC), the largest collection of knowledge and artifacts in the world. It is estimated that the entire collection of the LOC would require approximately 24 Terabytes of storage (1 Terabyte = 1000 Gigabytes). It is also estimated that the Internet now makes available 12 Terabytes of information, and is growing rapidly. By comparison, the fabled Library of Alexandria is believed to have contained about 1.2 Terabytes of information. A major criticism of the Library of Alexandria is that it was not available or used by the general populace -- the Internet is notorious for attracting and involving users.     I have saved the best for last. We have watched the evolution of personal computers from 8086 (late 1970s) through 286, 386,486,586, and Pentia... What the techies didn't impress upon us was that with the 386 (late 1980s ), a quantum leap in power and capacity was achieved. With over a quarter million built-in switches, virtual processing was born. What is the capacity of that old 386 pc, which is now considered barely useable? 64 Terabytes! The Pentium IV will have 40 million switches! Rollover Vannevar Bush and Alan Turing! We' d better get busy. Billions of empty pages are waiting to be filled with art, knowledge, and philosophy.     To read about Vannevar Bush's 1940's prediction about an electronic knowledge machine for the desktop, go to http://www.theatlantic.com/ unbound/ flashbks/ computer/ bushf.htm To talk to a primitive computer program as proposed in the "Turing Test", visit http://www-ai.ijs.si/ eliza-cgi-bin/ eliza_script.	Who is Burton Shane? (In his own words)     While impatiently awaiting the advent of the personal computer, I co-invented the microfiche reader. My intention was to partially fulfill the prophecy of Vannevar Bush. I also helped develop and build the first automated machine for the production of plastic bags. Now you know whom to blame.     I served as a consultant for the Brown ' s Center of the Rehabilitation Institute of Chicago. I used to write programs and build custom interfaces to provide computer access for persons with multiple disabilities. I also wrote and sold (through nationwide distributors) basic info-tainment games for children. I used to demonstrate and lecture on computers and robotics at public and private schools throughout the Chicago area, and had various on-going consulting contracts with private corporations such as AT&T.     I worked as a consultant for the U. of I. (Champaign-Urbana), and as a consultant for the Circle. I was Senior Regional Training Director for Centerpoint Technologies (supervising 800 computer trainers nationwide ). I still have a consulting agreement with a major telecommunications company.     My most impressive substantive achievement was the $15 million budget submitted by the University of Illinois at Chicago to the State of Illinois under my name. The actual appropriation was reduced to $11.7 million, of which $3 million was skimmed for "consulting fees" both in Springfield and Chicago.     The "consultants" came to the ultimate conclusion that my budget should be implemented unaltered, so everyone was happy (except the unknowing taxpayers). In any case, $8.7 million was spent to make the U. of I. more accessible to people with handicaps, so they would benefit, as would society for generations to come.     I qualified as marksman with the M-1 Garand and '03 Springfield, but I don't hunt. I have retired my motorcycle, my horse, my boat, my pilot's logbook, and myself.     I hold an Instructor's Certificate from the Wisconsin Board of Vocational, Technical, and Adult Education ( University of Wisconsin) in mathematics and data processing. I retired from the University of Illinois at Chicago in 1994. I am now a member of the Adjunct Faculty of Oakton CC, where I teach basic computing to the fastest growing demographic group --seniors.     The only really smart thing I ever did was marry my wife, Diane.
Number 219 - August 2001