TOPS-10

The TOPS-10 System (Timesharing / Total Operating System-10) was a computer operating system from Digital Equipment Corporation (DEC) for the PDP-10 (or DECsystem-10) mainframe computer launched in 1967. TOPS-10 evolved from the earlier "Monitor" software for the PDP-6 and -10 computers; this was renamed to TOPS-10 in 1970.

Overview

TOPS-10 supported shared memory and allowed the development of one of the first true multiplayer computer games. The game, called DECWAR, was a text-oriented Star Trek type game. Users at terminals typed in commands and fought each other in real time.

Another groundbreaking application was called FORUM. This application was perhaps the first so-called CB Simulator that allowed users to converse with one another in what is now known as a chat room. This application showed the potential of multiuser communication and led to the development of CompuServe's chat application.

TOPS-10 had a very robust application programming interface (API) that used a mechanism called a UUO or Unimplemented User Operation. UUOs implemented operating system calls in a way that made them look like machine instructions. The Monitor Call API was very much ahead of its time, like most of the operating system, and made system programming on DECsystem-10s simple and powerful.

Tops

Tops may refer to:

TOPS may refer to:

Topsæ

Topsæ is a lake in the municipality of Bygland in Aust-Agder county, Norway. It is located 3 kilometres (1.9 mi) east of lake Hovatn, about 10 kilometres (6.2 mi) northeast of the village of Åraksbø. The Topsæfossen waterfall is located at the north end of the lake at the primary inflow.

See also

References

Tops Friendly Markets

Tops Friendly Markets is an American supermarket chain based in Williamsville, New York, with stores in western, central, and northern New York, Vermont and in northern Pennsylvania.

History

Early years

Tops Friendly Markets was co-founded by Armand Castellani, who was born in 1917 in a village outside of Rome, Italy. His family came to the United States in 1920, and eventually settled in Niagara Falls, where his father, Ferrante, opened a small neighborhood grocery store.

Following his mother's death in 1933, Castellani left school to help manage the store. He continued to do so until joining the Army in 1941. He attained the rank of captain after five years' service.

After World War II, Castellani returned to the family business. In 1951, he set out on his own and opened the Great Bear Market in Niagara Falls. Shortly thereafter, he partnered with Thomas Buscaglia, owner of a grocery equipment firm, T.A. Buscaglia Equipment Co. Throughout the 1950s, Buscaglia, as CEO, and Castellani worked together, entering into a cooperative agreement with other small stores to build the foundation of what was to become the Tops Friendly Markets chain.