At 9:39 AM 8/1/96, Scott Schryvers wrote:

This was about a year and a half ago. I can't remember the name of it, but this chip fab industry mag was talking about how the NSA was obtaining out side help in fabricating what was at the time a type of ram that did processing off chip in parrallel.

This was a company in Bowie, Maryland, closely linked with the NSA and with the "supercomputer centers." The idea of "processing in memory" has been explored by various companies. By the way, on the subject of using FPGAs for computers, here's a URL I found that's interesting: http://www.io.com/~guccione/HW_list.html

Side note: Wired just recently talked about IRAM or Intelligent ram, and how it seems to be the future of high speed computation.

Side side note: I worked on Intel's "iRAM," standing for "intelligent RAM," in 1980-81. It found little market success. The idea of changing the architecture of RAM bubbles up every few years, but has not yet succeeded (except in some video-specific applications). Cautionary Note: Bubble memories, laser pantography, integrated injection logic, e-beam addressed memory, neural nets, Josephson junctions.... When you've watched the industry for enough years you'll learn to cast a jaundiced eye on pronouncements that a technology is the Next Big Thing. The above list--which covers only chips, not similar Next Big Things in software--is a list of some of the things "Wired" would've hyped, had it been published back then. Most such announcements come out public relations departments at major public labs, or from over-enthusiastic VCs. Or from claims made in papers presented at the International Solid State Circuits Conference and similar conferences. Reporters seeking stories then push the story. The usual form of the press release goes something like this: "The discovery of foobartronic switches may mean chips that are ten times faster and one hundred times denser. Researchers say the foobartronic revolution could reshape the entire industry..." Few of the advances reported in "Wired" will ever see the light of day.... Some will, of course, but it's useful to remember that most of it is hype. --Tim May Boycott "Big Brother Inside" software! We got computers, we're tapping phone lines, we know that that ain't allowed. ---------:---------:---------:---------:---------:---------:---------:---- Timothy C. May | Crypto Anarchy: encryption, digital money, tcmay@got.net 408-728-0152 | anonymous networks, digital pseudonyms, zero W.A.S.T.E.: Corralitos, CA | knowledge, reputations, information markets, Licensed Ontologist | black markets, collapse of governments. "National borders aren't even speed bumps on the information superhighway."