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Re: Upcoming 200th anniversary of...guess which novel?

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mcdowell_ag@sky.com wrote:
> On Thursday, December 7, 2017 at 3:48:28 PM UTC, D B Davis wrote:
> (trimmed)
>>
>>     "Military vibe" is sloppy of me. "Deep State (DS) vibe" works better
>> because DS includes /all/ of the usual suspects. Cambridge's ARM chip
>> enthusiasm is the smoking gun for me. (It's Microchip enthusiasm on this
>> side of the pond.)
>
> The history of ARM is written up perfectly well in https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Acorn_Computers,
> and I can vouch for what was public knowledge up to about 1983, which is the atmosphere of
> microcomputer development around Cambridge then (but not the ARM itself). There was a
> popular enthusiasm for microprocessors as the coming thing, and for home computing -
> largely messing around with BASIC and early video games. There were about a dozen
> microcomputer companies within cycling distance of Cambridge, mostly aimed at hobbyist
> home computers, but some working on early business applications. AFAIK the motivation
> was that a hardware guy, a software guy, and somebody who knew something about business
> could set up a computer company near the University they had just graduated from, and
> enjoy something close to the student life but making a reasonable amount of money, with
> hopes of riches in the future. There was some government money from the BBC - Acorn got
> the contract for the BBC Micro, which was supposed to produce a nation of computer
> programmers - but I don't recognise anything that amounts to the deep state.
>
>>     My current non-fiction read is _Spy Catcher_ (Wright). The book was
>> or is banned in Britain. It's written by a former spymaster named
>> Wright, who closely resembles the George Smiley character in a Le Carre
>> novel.
> The status of this is covered in https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spycatcher,
> which states that it was un-banned in 1988. I think I have a legal British
> copy around somewhere, and it's certainly very amusing. I'd describe Wright
> as more in the image of Q than Smiley. From memory, he came in as a scientist
> and made his mark there. I don't remember being impressed at his judgement or
> his people skills, and while (at least by his telling) his grudge about being
> cheated out of a pension is perfectly understandable, it doesn't fit with Smiley,
> who was pleased just to have the opportunity to give something back to his nation
> by serving it (and I suspect must have had a private income, given his social
> status and lifestyle).

    Chips are generally cute little things. They're quite civilized and
effervescent, at least until the DS turns them.
    The vault seven leak revealed Microchip's DS secrets. Why wouldn't
ARM have it's own dirty little DS secrets?
    Wright's meetings with Angleton, Helms, and Hoover remind me of
Smiley. Q doesn't do that sort of thing. Q and his gadgets mostly
provide comic relief.
    Of course Wright loved his gadgets. And a pension grouser who spills
the beans in tell-all in order to get even provides a different flavor
of comic relief...

Thank you,

--
Don

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Upcoming 200th anniversary of...guess which novel? lenona321@yahoo.com - 2017-12-05 12:02 -0800
  Re: Upcoming 200th anniversary of...guess which novel? djheydt@kithrup.com (Dorothy J Heydt) - 2017-12-05 20:35 +0000
    Re: Upcoming 200th anniversary of...guess which novel? D B Davis <g@crcomp.net> - 2017-12-06 01:51 +0000
      Re: Upcoming 200th anniversary of...guess which novel? djheydt@kithrup.com (Dorothy J Heydt) - 2017-12-06 13:48 +0000
        Re: Upcoming 200th anniversary of...guess which novel? Peter Trei <petertrei@gmail.com> - 2017-12-06 10:31 -0800
        Re: Upcoming 200th anniversary of...guess which novel? Leo Sgouros <adravirgo@gmail.com> - 2017-12-06 13:33 -0800
          Re: Upcoming 200th anniversary of...guess which novel? Robert Carnegie <rja.carnegie@excite.com> - 2017-12-06 13:49 -0800
            Re: Upcoming 200th anniversary of...guess which novel? Leo Sgouros <adravirgo@gmail.com> - 2017-12-06 14:00 -0800
              Re: Upcoming 200th anniversary of...guess which novel? Quadibloc <jsavard@ecn.ab.ca> - 2017-12-07 00:58 -0800
            Re: Upcoming 200th anniversary of...guess which novel? djheydt@kithrup.com (Dorothy J Heydt) - 2017-12-07 00:13 +0000
              Re: Upcoming 200th anniversary of...guess which novel? Cryptoengineer <treifamily@gmail.com> - 2017-12-06 19:25 -0600
      Re: Upcoming 200th anniversary of...guess which novel? mcdowell_ag@sky.com - 2017-12-06 22:10 -0800
        Re: Upcoming 200th anniversary of...guess which novel? Quadibloc <jsavard@ecn.ab.ca> - 2017-12-07 01:06 -0800
          Re: Upcoming 200th anniversary of...guess which novel? djheydt@kithrup.com (Dorothy J Heydt) - 2017-12-07 14:26 +0000
            Re: Upcoming 200th anniversary of...guess which novel? Peter Trei <petertrei@gmail.com> - 2017-12-07 08:05 -0800
              Re: Upcoming 200th anniversary of...guess which novel? djheydt@kithrup.com (Dorothy J Heydt) - 2017-12-07 16:33 +0000
                Re: Upcoming 200th anniversary of...guess which novel? William Hyde <wthyde1953@gmail.com> - 2017-12-07 12:21 -0800
                Re: Upcoming 200th anniversary of...guess which novel? "Michael R N Dolbear" <me@privacy.net> - 2017-12-08 19:37 +0000
        Re: Upcoming 200th anniversary of...guess which novel? D B Davis <g@crcomp.net> - 2017-12-07 15:48 +0000
          Re: Upcoming 200th anniversary of...guess which novel? mcdowell_ag@sky.com - 2017-12-07 12:05 -0800
            Re: Upcoming 200th anniversary of...guess which novel? D B Davis <g@crcomp.net> - 2017-12-07 22:14 +0000
              Re: Upcoming 200th anniversary of...guess which novel? hamish.laws@gmail.com - 2017-12-07 14:50 -0800
  Re: Upcoming 200th anniversary of...guess which novel? lenona321@yahoo.com - 2018-01-05 14:46 -0800

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