Rebirth in America

"What? Does anyone really dare to challenge our 'first generation' computer?"

Faced with such a shocking reversal, Alex felt that someone was targeting him. In his opinion, how could anyone respond to such a thing. The "first-generation" computer was not a vegetarian, and CPT's $1 million was not fake. How dare someone accept a bet and take a gamble?

Chuck replied seriously: "Yes, this guy is called 'Urivak'! It is said that he is an 'authoritative spokesman' from somewhere, and he insists on competing with us."

"Then he said whether he predicted the result or not. Who does he think will be elected president?"

Alex thought in his heart, never be Eisenhower, never be Eisenhower.

When the results didn't go as expected, Chuck replied: "He also thought Eisenhower was elected president."

"Holy crap! He's on our backs! Have you found out who this guy is? Does he have any background?"

"We are investigating and there will be news soon. Besides, if he really wants to challenge, he will definitely have to stand in front of his salary."

"Well, that's right. Since he also predicted that Eisenhower would be elected, we have to find a way to force him out. Let's compete with whose prediction is more accurate. We need to hold a press conference quickly and cannot let the other party dominate the direction of public opinion. .”

Chuck said yes and went to find someone to prepare some work matters.

When Alex returned home, his family happened to see news about this "campaign gamble" on TV. It seems that everyone is very concerned about the challenger who suddenly appeared this time, and the topic that had already cooled down immediately attracted people's attention.

Bart asked with some worry: "Who is that 'Urivak'? Will you lose to them?"

"We don't know who the other party is. The 'first generation' will definitely not lose! Don't worry!"

Angel said softly: "How can we not be worried? If the opponent's 'Urivak' wins, we will lose a million dollars."

The one million dollars that Evan showed at the press conference was still a bad check. You can't get the money if you take it now. It needs Angel's autograph to be effective. However, once the game is lost, the CPT company will definitely have to pay the other party one million US dollars.

Bart thought for a moment and said, "This 'Urivak' sounds familiar, as if I've heard it somewhere."

Alex said he had never heard the name, not once.

Angel joked: "This name sounds weird. Could it be that the other party is also a machine?"

What I didn't expect was that it actually came true. Before Chuck's people went to investigate the other party, a reporter started to find out who this "Urivac" was.

It turned out that this was a computer manufactured by the Rand Corporation, and was created by the same inventor as the famous Elixir computer. The other party's engineer swore that his prediction was well-founded and was based on the most complex mathematical formulas to derive the calculated results, which were beyond ordinary people's imagination and estimation.

"So, between the 'Urivak' computer produced by your company and the 'first generation' computer produced by CPT Company, which one has faster and more accurate computing power?"

"In terms of computing speed, of course the 'first generation' is the fastest. This is something everyone knows. But in terms of accuracy, of course our computer is better."

When he saw this piece of news, Alex was so angry that he threw the newspaper to the ground and shouted: "This is slander, slander!"

After calming down, Alex knew that someone must take the opportunity to trick them. Maybe the Rand Corporation was just being used as a weapon. As for the people behind it, who else could it be if it wasn't IBM?

"Chuck! Let's prepare for an open computer prediction contest. The venue should be larger. I think there will be many reporters."

"Okay, I'll have people arrange the venue and contact the news reporters."

In order to force the other party into a corner, Alex decided to ask the Rand Corporation to also take out a bet: "By the way, let the other party prepare a check for one million US dollars. Also, tell the reporter that after we win, we will Donate the $1 million you win.”

"Okay! I'll make arrangements now."

Alex was a little anxious. He didn't know how many votes Eisenhower would get in next year's presidential election. If the votes calculated by the program he created were lost to the opponent's computer, wouldn't it mean that he would lose the game?

"How to do it?"

No matter what he does, Alex knows that if he takes a step back now, he will lose, but if he takes a step forward, he may not lose. Then we can only go head-on and see if we can fight our way out.

The Rand Corporation quickly prepared a million-dollar bet and took the initiative to arrange the venue. Because their computers were vacuum tube computers, they were too large, too bulky, and inconvenient to move.

"We demand that the games be played at designated venues or we withdraw."

For this kind of request, Alex almost wanted the other party to quit. In this way, there is no need to compete, and both sides will look better. But when I think about the plan that I worked so hard for, being messed up, I feel very annoyed.

"Agree to their request! However, we have to negotiate the rules of the game and ensure fairness and justice."

"Fair and just? How to be fair and just?"

Chuck didn't understand Alex's thoughts. In his opinion, for this kind of competition, of course it would be a cheat. Otherwise, how can you ensure that you win without losing? If you lose, you will lose a million dollars. Not to mention the damage to CPT's reputation and the impact on sales of the "first generation" computer.

"Yes, we just want to be fair and just. Only in this way can we win without losing!"

Alex once again stated emphatically that he was becoming more and more sure of winning this competition. Originally, he thought that he had a high chance of losing, but after thinking about it differently, it was the other party who should lose. As long as the rules of the game can ensure complete fairness and justice, "Urivak" is not an opponent of the "first generation" at all. At least the "first generation" will not lose the game.

The RAND Corporation immediately agreed to Alex's request to "ensure a fair and just competition." They said: "We also hope that there will be no cheating in the competition."

In order to ensure that the competition is fair and impartial, Alex also invited famous scientists such as Heisenberg, Einstein, von Neumann, Shockley, Oppenheimer, etc. to the scene to serve as judges.

For such a grand event, those scientists were invited one after another. Of course, Alex also spent a lot of money on appearance.

On the day of the competition, the competition venue arranged by RAND Corporation was crowded with people. These people include scientists, university professors, journalists, science enthusiasts, company employees, ordinary residents, etc. Everyone was very interested in the outcome of this "Gamble of the Century", and there were people outside the venue betting on the game to see who would win.

The person who hosted this competition was a professor from a university. Although he was not very good at academics, he was very popular, so he was chosen to be the host.

The host saw that the time was almost up and the venue was full of people, so he came to the microphone and said: "To ensure fairness, we have invited many scientific celebrities to be judges for this competition."

Every time the host mentioned a scientific expert, the audience immediately burst into applause. After introducing all the judges, he continued: "The purpose of this competition is to test the computing speed and accuracy of the two computers. The competition method is to compare by predicting the outcome of next year's president."

"Competition rule 1, staff from both sides must stay within their own areas and must not interfere with the other party's staff, cheat, or..."

"Contest Rule 2: In order to ensure a fair and just competition, both parties must use the same calculation formulas and procedures to predict the election results."

"Rules of the competition 3: The results of the competition will be decided by the judges present who will lose and who will win. If you have any different opinions, you can raise them on the spot, and neither party will have any objections after the game."

"Finally, I announce that the computer competition to predict the outcome of the 1953 presidential election has begun!"

After the host gave the order, the staff from both sides got the formulas and procedures and immediately started working nervously. UU reading www.uukanshu.net

"Urivak" was a vacuum tube computer that was huge in size, and its program still used punched paper strips for input and output.

The "first generation" computer was completely different. It was a transistor computer, and the entire volume was only the size of a wardrobe. With the addition of monitor input and output devices, etc., it did not take up a lot of space. From the appearance, people can tell that the computer is more advanced.

The computing speed of the "first generation" is more than 10 times faster than that of "Urivak". What's even more terrible is that the program input method of the "first generation" is through keyboard tapping, and the storage medium is a disk the size of a record. When the staff of CPT Company entered the program into the "first-generation" computer, the prediction results were calculated in less than a few minutes.

At this time, on the other side of the field, RAND Corporation staff were still busy inputting the program into "Urivak".

The staff of CPT company repeatedly checked that there were no problems with the prediction formula and program. After there were no problems with the calculation process, they printed the prediction results on a piece of paper and handed it to the competition host.

After the host got the results, he immediately announced: "CPT's 'first-generation' computer has obtained the results. Their prediction is that Eisenhower will win next year's presidential election with 438 votes."

Faced with such a fast calculation speed, everyone was surprised and whispered in the audience. This put a lot of pressure on RAND employees, and the speed of entering programs became even slower. After five or six minutes, I finally finished writing all the programs and started letting the computer do the calculations.