Ok, this should be arriving now in UTF-8 format, so that I don't have to mess with that encoding stuff.
This is because Dr. X posted a neat article about the recreation of the original computer from the artifact found at Antikythera. Note, this predates Babbage's engine by two millennia.
http://decodingtheheavens.com/
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And more (great vids here):
World's First Computer Rebuilt, Rebooted After 2,000 Years
A British museum curator has built a working replica of a 2,000-year-old Greek machine that has been called the world's first computer.
A dictionary-size assemblage of 37 interlocking dials crafted with the precision and complexity of a 19th-century Swiss clock, the Antikythera mechanism was used for modeling and predicting the movements of the heavenly bodies as well as the dates and locations of upcoming Olympic games.
The original 81 shards of the Antikythera were recovered from under the sea (near the Greek island of Antikythera) in 1902, rusted and clumped together in a nearly indecipherable mass. Scientists dated it to 150 B.C. Such craftsmanship wouldn't be seen for another 1,000 years -- but its purpose was a mystery for decades.
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Or just order one and play with it at home.
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