Word: analogies
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This is how it works. Even the best records available today are recorded by the analog method invented by Thomas Edison about a century ago. With analog, sound is reproduced by recording the vibrations made by the sound waves, which were collected by young Tom and his associates through a horn, and then directed to a needle pressed against a metal cylinder wrapped in tin foil. The sound waves caused the needle to vibrate and to trace a wavy groove on the soft surface of the cylinder. This is kindergarten stuff, even allowing for the introduction of magnetic tape...
Digital recording shows up analog recording for the late-Victorian process it is. The new technique does not attempt to record directly the vibrations of sound waves. The sound is picked up by microphones and fed through amplifiers to a computer, which then translates the waves into a series of numbers representing the character of the wave form. These numbers are stored as binary "words." Then, when the recording is played, the computer translates these numbers back and the re-created sound waves cause the membranes of speakers to vibrate-possibly with joy. In any case, those vibrations from...
...cultural phenomenon, black holes also appear in slogans on T shirts and bumper stickers (BLACK HOLES ARE OUT OF SIGHT), and are the subject of banter by Johnny Carson and other TV talk show hosts. A gag advertisement in the sci-fi magazine Analog by a company named Nothingness Unlimited promoted "black-hole disposal units," invisible devices (in seven decorator colors) that suck up unlimited waste...
...Analog...
...selling for more than $5 each to sci-fi freaks. Some of the spaceship models used for special effects were later stolen from a workshop, and they too are being advertised on the open market. "Star Wars is the costume epic of the future," says Ben Bova, editor of Analog, one of the leading science fiction magazines. "It's a galactic Gone With the Wind. It's perfect summer escapist fare...