# ACM Authors - ACM Queue 2005 (Highlights)  ## Highlights ### The Life of a Data Byte - In June 1956, Werner Buchholz (archive. computerhistory.org) coined the word byte (archive. org) to refer to a group of bits used to encode a single ... character of text (Page 5) #history #blue #### 1951 - Uniservo tape drive (Page 7) #blue #### 1952 - May 21, 1952, when IBM announced its first magnetic tape unit, the IBM 726 (Page 7) #blue - This magnetic seven-track tape moved at 75 inches per second with a transfer rate of 12,500 digits (ibm.com) or 7,500 characters (Page 7) #blue - Our data byte could be stored at a rate of 7,200 characters per second ... moving at 100 inches per second (Page 7) #blue ### Five Nonobvious Remote Work Techniques #### TIP #1: IF ANYONE IS REMOTE, WE’RE ALL REMOTE - Meetings should be either 100 percent in-person, or 100 percent remote; no mixed meetings. (Page 30) #blue #### TIP #2: ACCURATE CHAT STATUS - Set your chat status to away when you are away. Set it to available when you are available. (Page 31) #### TIP #3: THE QUICK CHAT PROTOCOL - Establish a low-overhead way to start a quick conversation. (Page 32) - “Quick hangout? Tomato Incident.” If available, your contact replies with a link to a chatroom. (Page 33) #blue #### TIP #4: IDLING IN A VIDEOCONFERENCE ROOM - Work silently together in a videoconference room. (Page 34) #blue #### TIP #5: SCHEDULE VIDEO-CHAT SOCIAL EVENTS - Create social events specifically for remote workers. (Page 35) ### The History, Status, and Future of FPGAs - An FPGA is a chip that is programmed by a circuit. (Page 72) #blue - it has a slower clock frequency and uses more power, but it can be reprogrammed every few hundred milliseconds. (Page 72) #blue #### HITTING A NERVE IN TELECOM - Telecom standards keep changing (Page 72) #blue #### FPGA PRICE HITS A NERVE