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The MEDICID-1. The great little equipment.

It was 1974 and an Engineer from the Department of Neurophysiology named Alberto Caro had designed a device for the experimental work of the department that could be controlled by our CID-201-B computer, compatible with the PDP-8, which I referred to in the article "CONCATISO. My first program.".Due to production priorities, the Central Institute for Digital Research (ICID) did not give us what would later be named as MEDICID-2 and for that reason, with great inventiveness, the eng...

The welcome that Dr. Thalia Harmony gave me.

Back in the year 1973-74 I have already told how Dr. Pedro Valdés took me to know the work of the Department of Neurosciences.I immediately met Dr. Thalía Harmony, one of the most intelligent and determined people I have ever met in my entire life, and knowing that I was about to finish the second year of Pure Mathematics, She knew that I had no biological training.I will never forget that he looked at me with those "inquisitive eyes" that he has and told me: "To work here you must...

The first motorcycle races and businesses in Cuba (1885-1940)

The articles presented in this space are the authorship of Onelio García Pérez and his friends, © www.HobbiesEnRed.com, based on empirical research, there have been few investigated periods as a result of addressing issues that go beyond the particular objectives of the Author. The historical approach present in the fascicles is the product of the limited bi...

Speaking of robots in 1977.

One afternoon of the many in which the programs we developed took hours and even days to produce results, several colleagues were meeting near our computer and the topic of robots came up.Some of us talked about the distance between the human being and the automation of processes by computers, which by the way is currently maintained, others about the development of Neuroscience itself, others the development of mathematics and computing itself, in short, almost any topic fit into...

Pedro Valdés from Neuro found me... and I was looking for the same thing!

I will tell how I started working in the Department of Neurophysiology of the National Center for Scientific Research. It was the year 1971 and I was studying Pure Mathematics at the University and it turns out that a doctor, Dr. Pedro Valdés Sosa, better known as "Peter", also began to study Mathematics as a second career. Peter and I were together for almost two years, we became good friends, we even studied together. Peter was already a worker with many obligations, he skippe...

Human Facebook.

Yesterday walking and walking I went to repair a fan where a technician who has been repairing electrical appliances for more than 20 years, has a lot of experience, is fast and accurate.Upon arrival there was a "return at 2:30" sign and waiting for it a Mrs. arrived with a rice cooker. Well, we started talking and talking, and I said to myself, why wait until everyone has internet to use Facebook? Facebook we have it within reach...Well, without meeting each other, exchanging pho...

Varied content with interesting or necessary documents for reading or entertainment.

In this section of documents you will find a wide variety of content, both HavanaTrends own documents and documents from other authors, as well as documents that you wish to share with our Internet users. All (or almost all, see our Privacy Policy) content is welcome. The document can be practically in any digital format, be it PDF, HTML, TXT, DOCX, etc. We look forward to your collaboration by registering and writing to info@havanatrends.com requesting to be an author. Octavio...

How I learned Neurosciences... with Björn Holmgren and Ruth Urbá.

Since my arrival at the Department of Neurosciences I noticed that the branch of Neuro Biochemistry was, as I say, very well represented by the brilliant Swedish researcher Björn Holmgren and his wife, the talented Chilean Ruth Urbá.In almost home-like conditions, since in fact we were working in what was known at the time as "The Laboratory House", they carried out intense research using mice as an experimental basis, and their contributions to the study of sleep and its physiolog...

Technology plus Ideas.

Technology plus Ideas. In this section we intend to comment on technology applied or applicable in the future, as well as presenting ideas on various technological topics. You can add content by yourself if you register and request it to us at info@havanatrends.com Any technological comment is welcome. Any technological idea is welcome. This section contains technological topics from the past as well as ideas for the future. We look forward to your collaboration. Octavio Bae...

Real and Fiction Story Telling

You can write, we know. And so do we... You can write, we know. Do you think the influencers knew that by recording videos they were going to have millions of followers? Well, no, they did not know, but each and every one of the audiovisual influencers have been and are sincere in doing what they do, for different variants that exist. Well, writing is easier than making videos, even if it doesn't seem like it, just because it's visually anonymous, which I believe is very importa...

CONCATISO. My first Program. Second part.

CONCATISO. My first Program. Second part. By reading the first part you will already have an idea of the computational equipment that the Department of Neurophysiology had back in the years 1972... 1973 Now I will tell the other part: Professor Erwin Roy John, head of the Department of Neurophysiology at New York Medical College, donated to Thalía and her Department an analog "Transient Averaging" computer called "CAT" that was capable of obtaining, from synchronized stimuli an...

Vulnerabilities in Windows? They are dictated to the programmers.

Do you really think that programmers do our job "so badly" and make "so many mistakes" that we cause the thousands of vulnerabilities that the Windows operating system has had, has, and will have?As a fact, I affirm that all "legal" antiviruses ask Microsoft for various "entry and interception points" where to put their "legally added" programming to the operating system. For example, how do you think an antivirus "checks" every file before being "opened" by Windows Explorer? Becau...

Cats on MEDICID-1

One of the most fantastic things about having a computer in our department in the 70's is that we could do with it what we wanted, literally, without having to go through all the bureaucracy created around the so-called "Calculation Centers", where weeks and even months passed between having an idea and getting a real program to implement it. In other words, we lived through the personal computer revolution years before it even existed.In those years a young researcher, the current...

My fellow operators.

{loadmoduleid 135} In other articles I have commented that in the 70s our Neuroscience department had a CID-201-B minicomputer compatible with the PDP-8 of the DEC company and that the CID-201-B had only a typewriter teletype, a perforated paper tape reader, and a paper tape printer.In order to use this equipment, after developing and fine-tuning each program, it was necessary to "punch" the tapes with the data, or, for example, use the CONCATISO program (see article) to convert t...

Tapes, Punched Cards, and Machine Time.

It was the 70's and then we only had a 12-bit 32 Kilo Words computer, as I have commented, but the problems that we had to solve, especially statistical ones, needed many more resources.So I took on the task of "circumventing the bureaucracy" of the Computing Centers with their way of working: "submit the program and data on paper" and after days or weeks: "come and collect your results" or "the program did not compile" or "the program failed", which made us fix the problems on pap...

How I met Dr. Mitchell Valdés.

In other articles I have commented that in 1972 I was studying Pure Mathematics and I coincide with Dr. Pedro Valdés (Peter, as everyone knows him) that he was continuing his studies in Mathematics to increase his working capacities in Neurosciences.We became good friends, we studied together in the University Park, in the Classrooms, in the Library, until one day he told me: "Tomorrow, Saturday, I'll wait for you at my house to continue."Saturday comes, I go to Peter's house, I r...

THE MOTORCYCLES OF INDEPENDENCE (1885-1940)

I met Ileana and for a moment I was Don Quixote.

Under Rocinante's helmets I made the happiest quixot of my life.It was the 80s of the last century, and my friend Peter and I, being at a scientific event at the University, we read on a flyer that in "El Bodegón de Bartolo", a nearby coffee bar, from 10 AM it could be consumed with beer At an open bar and we couldn't hold out, we went out there with Peter's girlfriend, Yanai.When we get to the bar they inform us that no, that there is nothing at all until 5 pm, and then Yanai tell...

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Spreadsheets. The best visual programming language.

The history of Spreadsheets is fascinating, from Richard Mattessich who in 1972 wrote the article "Budgeting Models and System Simulation" creating the concept, to Pardo and Landau, who tried to obtain a Patent.But the renowned inventor of Spreadsheets is Dan Bricklin, with his VisiCalc, which was available since 1979 and was, let's say, the first and most important computing tool in the hands of anyone when it was implemented for the first computer that we can call "personal".I kn...

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