RFC 420 (rfc420) - Page 1 of 8

CCA ICCC weather demo

Alternative Format: Original Text Document
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Network Working Group                                          H. Murray
Request for Comments: 420                Computer Corporation of America
NIC 12764                                                04 January 1973


                         CCA ICCC WEATHER DEMO

   THE WEATHER DEMO ORIGINALLY DEVELOPED FOR THE ICCC SHOW IS NOW
   GENERALLY AVAILABLE.  IT IS A VERY NICE NETWORK DEMO SINCE IT REALLY
   CAN/DOES RUN ON TWO MACHINES.

   THIS DEMO IS TWO INDEPENDENT PROGRAMS.  TOGETHER THEY TRY TO ANSWER
   ENGLISH QUESTIONS ABOUT THE WEATHER.  FOR EXAMPLE, 'DID IT RAIN IN
   BOSTON ON OCTOBER 7?'.  THE NATURAL LANGUAGE PROGRAM IS WRITTEN IN
   LISP.  IT IS A MODIFICATION OF A SYSTEM DEVELOPED BY T.  WINOGRAD AT
   MIT.  THE OTHER HALF IS A PRIMITIVE DATACOMPUTER.  THE DATACOMPUTER
   PROVIDES NETWORK DATAMANAGEMENT FACILITIES AND WILL INCORPORATE THE
   TRILLION-BIT UNICON CURRENTLY BEING INSTALLED AT AMES.

   THE TWO PROGRAMS COMMUNICATE VIA DATALANGUAGE USING THE NET.

   'WEATHER' NOW USES HOST '37' AS THE LOCATION OF THE DATACOMPUTER.
   THIS FIXES THE OLD 'CCA' NOT IN THE HOST TABLES BUG.

   KEEP IN MIND THAT IS AN EVOLVING SYSTEM, WE PLAN TO IMPROVE 'WEATHER'
   AND THE DATACOMPUTER THAT IT USES, SO THINGS THAT WORK ONE DAY MAY
   GET BROKEN THE NEXT.

AVAILABILITY

   'WEATHER' (THE LISP HALF) IS A REAL MACHINE USER - BOTH CPU AND CORE.
   WE WOULD OBVIOUSLY PREFER THAT YOU RUN IT ON YOUR MACHINE.  IF WE ARE
   REALLY EMPTY (WHICH FREQUENTLY HAPPENS AT 3 AM) FEEL FREE TO RUN IT
   ON OUR MACHINE.  SINCE OUR SYSTEM HAS NO DRUM, AND WEATHER TAKES ALL
   OF CORE, PLEASE CHECK WITH SOMEBODY AT CCA BEFORE RUNNING WEATHER IF
   WE ARE DOING ANYTHING AT ALL.  IT IS REALLY A MAJOR LOAD ON OUR
   MACHINE.

   SINCE THE DATACOMPUTER IS LESS OF A LOAD, THE SYSTEM WILL BE MORE
   AVAILABLE IF YOU CAN RUN 'WEATHER' ON YOUR MACHINE.  WE WILL TRY TO
   RUN THE DATACOMPUTER DURING NON-PRIME TIME.  IT CAN BE THOUGHT OF AS
   THE SERVER HALF OF THIS COMBINATION.  PRIME TIME HERE IS 1 TO 5 PM
   EASTERN TIME, BUT THE MORNING IS FREQUENTLY QUITE BUSY TOO.  PLEASE
   DO NOT USE THE DATACOMPUTER DURING THIS TIME.  IT WILL SAVE US THE
   EFFORT OF TURNING IT OFF.  CURRENTLY, ONLY ONE USER AT A TIME CAN RUN
   - A LIMITATION OF THE DATACOMPUTER THAT WILL GO AWAY SOMEDAY.





Murray
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