Western Digital FD1771

The FD1771 is the first in a line of floppy disk controllers produced by Western Digital. It uses single density (FM) modulation and supports the IBM 3740 disk format. It is packaged in a 40-pin DIP.

Derivatives

The FD1771 was succeeded by many derivatives that were mostly software-compatible:

Floppy disk

A floppy disk, also called a diskette or just disk, is a type of disk storage composed of a disk of thin and flexible magnetic storage medium, sealed in a rectangular plastic carrier lined with fabric that removes dust particles. Floppy disks are read and written by a floppy disk drive (FDD).

Floppy disks, initially as 8-inch (200 mm) media and later in 5¼-inch (133 mm) and 3½-inch (90 mm) sizes, were a ubiquitous form of data storage and exchange from the mid-1970s well into the 2000s.

By 2010, computer motherboards are rarely manufactured with floppy drive support; 3½-inch floppy disks can be used with an external USB floppy disk drive, but USB drives for 5¼-inch, 8-inch, and non-standard diskettes are rare to non-existent. These formats are usually handled by older equipment.

While floppy disk drives still have some limited uses, especially with legacy industrial computer equipment, they have been superseded by data storage methods with much greater capacity, such as USB flash sticks, flash storage cards, portable external hard disk drives, optical discs, and computer networks.

Controller (control theory)

In control theory, a controller is a device, historically using mechanical, hydraulic, pneumatic or electronic techniques often in combination, but more recently in the form of a microprocessor or computer, which monitors and physically alters the operating conditions of a given dynamical system. Typical applications of controllers are to hold settings for temperature, pressure, flow or speed.

Input and control variables

A system can either be described as a MIMO system, having multiple inputs and outputs, therefore requiring more than one controller; or a SISO system, consisting of a single input and single output, hence having only a single controller. Depending on the set-up of the physical (or non-physical) system, adjusting the system's input variable (assuming it is SISO) will affect the operating parameter, otherwise known as the controlled output variable. Upon receiving the error signal that marks the disparity between the desired value (setpoint) and the actual output value, the controller will then attempt to regulate controlled output behaviour. The controller achieves this by either attenuating or amplifying the input signal to the plant so that the output is returned to the setpoint. For example, a simple feedback control system, such as the one shown on the right, will generate an error signal that's mathematically depicted as the difference between the setpoint value and the output value, r-y.

Model–view–controller

Model–view–controller (MVC) is a software architectural pattern mostly (but not exclusively) for implementing user interfaces on computers. It divides a given software application into three interconnected parts, so as to separate internal representations of information from the ways that information is presented to or accepted from the user.

Traditionally used for desktop graphical user interfaces (GUIs), this architecture has become extremely popular for designing web applications.

History

MVC was one of the seminal insights in the early development of graphical user interfaces, and one of the first approaches to describe and implement software constructs in terms of their responsibilities.

Trygve Reenskaug introduced MVC into Smalltalk-76 while visiting the Xerox Palo Alto Research Center (PARC) in the 1970s. In the 1980s, Jim Althoff and others implemented a version of MVC for the Smalltalk-80 class library. It was only later, in a 1988 article in The Journal of Object Technology (JOT), that MVC was expressed as a general concept.

Comptroller

A comptroller is a management level position responsible for supervising the quality of accounting and financial reporting of an organization. A financial controller is a senior-level executive who acts as the head of accounting, and oversees the preparation of financial reports, such as balance sheets and income statements

The comptroller general, auditor general, or comptroller and auditor general is in most commonwealth countries the external auditor of the budget execution of the government and of government-owned companies. Typically, the independent institution headed by the comptroller general is a member of the International Organization of Supreme Audit Institutions (INTOSAI). In American government, the comptroller is effectively the chief financial officer of a public body.

In business management, the comptroller is closer to a chief audit executive, holding a senior role in internal audit functions. Generally, the title encompasses a variety of responsibilities, from overseeing accounting and monitoring internal controls to countersigning on expenses and commitments.

Mickey Mouse universe

The Mickey Mouse universe is a fictional shared universe which is the setting for stories involving Disney cartoon characters Mickey and Minnie Mouse, Pluto, and many other characters. The universe originated from the Mickey Mouse animated short films produced by Disney starting in 1928, but its first consistent version was created by Floyd Gottfredson in the Mickey Mouse newspaper comic strip. Real-world versions also exist in Disneyland and Tokyo Disneyland, called Mickey's Toontown.

Since 1990, the actual city in which Mickey lives is typically called Mouseton, and is often depicted as the city next to Duckburg, the city in which Donald Duck lives. (See Donald Duck universe) According to traditional continuity, both cities are located in the fictional U.S. state of Calisota – analogous to Northern California. Other characters, like Goofy and Pete, are shown living in fictional towns such as Spoonerville in Ohio.

The most consistent aspect of the Mickey Mouse universe is the characters. The most well-known include Mickey's girlfriend Minnie, pet dog Pluto, friends Horace Horsecollar, Clarabelle Cow, Donald Duck, Daisy Duck and Goofy, and nemesis Pete. Some Disney productions incorporate characters from Disney's animated feature films, such as Bath Day (1946; in which Figaro from Pinocchio appears as Minnie's cat), Mickey's Christmas Carol (1983), and – most extensively – Disney's House of Mouse (2001-2003).

DJ Ajax

Adrian Thomas (28 February 1971 – 28 February 2013), better known as DJ Ajax, was an Australian Electronic Dance Music DJ known for playing a wide range of styles, including electro, techno and electroclash.

Career

Thomas was a radio show host for Sunsets (Bang Gang Show) on FBI Radio 94.5 and a founding member of Australian collective Bang Gang.

He toured France, USA and the UK in 2006 for Modular UK and released a remix/mix CD package Spin City through Tinted Records. In turn, he mixed Ministry of Sound Mashed 1 and Ministry of Sound Mashed 2 with Bang Gang DJs in 2002 and 2004 respectively, and a mix CD with Tiga titled In the Mix in 2005.

Ajax was voted one of Australia's top 5 DJs in the inthemix 50 poll, taking out the number one spot in both 2006 and 2007.

Death

Thomas was crossing a road in Parkville, an inner Melbourne suburb, in the early hours of 28 February 2013 when he was hit by a truck and died at the scene.

References

External links