Central
Dispatch
THE
Volume
********************************************************
The Iron Brain
By Terri Whitman
Computer crashes!!! I
hate them. Having suffered yet another computer crash, I thought this article
might be fun to write. It’s to compare the computer systems of today to those
used during the time of
My first experience with
a computer was back in the early 70’s with a game called Pong. It was strictly
a TV computer type of game. My next computer was a Honeywell, a monster of a
machine, with 2 large metal reels containing a magnetic tape in it. I don’t
remember if there was a monitor, but I do remember it had a typewriter type of
keyboard. I also remember those reels were cumbersome and a PIA to load.
I know I’m aging myself,
but I’ve also operated one of those computers where you dealt with those punch
cards. I don’t remember the brand name of the computer I used, but it was kept
in an extremely COLD room because the system didn’t have the means to keep
itself cool. Brrrr!!!
These are only 2 of the
many types of computers I’ve used in my life and I mention them because of the
types of computer systems I saw used in the show. In several episodes, they
refer to their computer system as ‘The iron brain.’ But what caught my eye was
when an HPD officer used a keyboard to show some photos of various people,
places and items. I know over-head projectors and slide machines were in
existence back then, but it was interesting to see it used as a computer. The
people in charge of the props were very creative and did a lot to help keep the
plots and actions moving in the show.
The episode I’m talking
about is the one seen in Season 5’s ‘Death is a Company Policy’ where Duke Lukela is implicated in the slaying of an underworld
figure's "business associate." (Thanks Mike for your description of
this episode.) In this episode an HPD officer is sitting in front of a large
computer looking console where he’s using a keyboard. Each time McGarrett would ask him for the next bit of information you
can see the officer typing prior to the photo being shown.
With this in mind, I did
a bit of research on computers. Searching the web I found various answers. In
one site claimed the ‘abacus’, which was invented by the Chinese between 2600
BC and 300 BC, to be the first computer. The only thing is, the ‘abacus’ required the human brain in order to work, so I
don’t actually count it as being a computer.
Another
site said the first computer or "modern computer" was invented in
World War II by a German engineer, Konrad Zuse somewhere between 1939 and 1941. The computer was
called the Z3. It used binary numbers and floating point arithmetic, utilized a
punched film for program input, used 2,600 telephone relays and could convert
decimal to binary and back again. Unfortunately the Z3 was destroyed during
WWII but was reconstructed some time in the 1960’s.
The largest computer
system I’ve ever seen is the one in my father’s insurance office. It was a
GIANT mainframe computer which filled one entire floor in that building.
I’m
not going to go on with more computer history here. But I’m not surprised at
how the computer has shrunk in size.
In
my own office, I frequently hear people saying they refuse to learn how to use
the computer. I sort of compare them with McGarrett.
He gave me the feeling he didn’t quite want to get into using one. Instead he
relied on Danny Williams and the others to give him the information he needed.
Maybe he didn’t totally trust them. I don’t know, but I do know once he had the
information in front of him, he could quickly recall this data on his own.
The
H50 and HPD cars never had a computer in them, not that I saw anyway. While
they did have radios, they didn’t have any other way of getting information
about a case except through the radio. Pictures of suspects or missing people
were done by photostats sent to their offices via a
teletype machine.
Now
compare that with today’s police cars, which are loaded with the most up to
date computer systems. The internet is a huge part of our lives today and it’s
not surprising they have also incorporated its use in their search for their criminals.
Imagine, if you can, how
it would have been back then for McGarrett and his
team to have an ‘Iron Brain’ in their cars with internet capabilities? I don’t
think it would have taken Five-0 very long to catch the likes of Tony Alika or 12 years to catch Wo Fat. But then, Wo Fat would probably have his own computer and would
probably try to penetrate the H50 computer systems or flood them with SPAM
emails.
************************************************************************************
Here is an article I
thought everyone would enjoy, thank you Mike for sharing this with us.
From
LOS ANGELES (AP) -
Imagine trying to make a weekly television show for which every major
performer, every script, even the simplest prop or costume must be produced
here and then shipped 2,500 miles to the filming site.
And every night the film
from that day's shooting has to be rushed to the airport and flown to
That's the case with
After four years on CBS
the biggest problems have been ironed out. But with that long a lifeline
something can always go wrong. Like the film ending up in
"A production line
that long is a constant battle," said Leonard Freeman, the creator and
executive producer. "If you don't whip it, it'll whip you."
Besides Freeman, Bob
Sweeney is supervising producer here and Bill Finnegan is the line producer in
When
It wasn't until the
show's second year and $1.5 million later - that a studio was built in
Most of the problems have
been smoothed out, and Freeman, who used to fly to
The show originally tried
to fly writers over to
Freeman said he got a
cold reception when he first proposed making the series there. The visitors bureau wasn't too happy about having the vacation
paradise associated with a crime-of-the-week. The police didn't want to
co-operate. Only Governor John Burns saw a value in it, Freeman said.
But the show, which is
seen around the world, has become a free commercial for the islands. Freeman
said research has shown that one out of three visitors said they got the idea
from seeing the scenery on
"We get co-operation
now you can't believe," Freeman said.
********************************************************
A word from our sponsors:
2009
The 2008 Calendars will be ready for
mailing by Thanksgiving. Once again, we have two to chose
from. There will be season 8 screen captures on the
*****
Anyone interested in copies of
*****
Ron Evans, owner of e/p Partners, www.networksplus.net/caseyguy/epPartners.htm,
also offer VCR tapes of
*****
Karen Rhodes, author of Booking
Hard copies of the newsletter are available.
The
Submissions, which are always welcomed, to the
newsletter can be emailed to me at tw1151@comcast.net. Deadlines are one month
before each issue. You can find the Central Dispatch on Terri’s Jack Lord
Connection located at www.thejacklordconnection.com.
See you in January, 2009
Be There! Aloha!