- Canals Interrupted (haikimagazine.com)
Never underestimate the importance of a big ditch, especially if it links two oceans. Canals allow for the rapid and free flow of goods, keeping the global economy ticking. Any threat to a major shipping canal means economic and political turmoil. Look at the Suez Crisis of 1956: when Egypt nationalized the Suez Canal, Israel, France, and Britain invaded, and the former Soviet Union threatened to bombard Europe with nuclear missiles if the invading forces did not withdraw.
- Why the Z-80’s data pins are scrambled (righto.com)
If you look closely at the datasheet for a Z-80 chip, you’ll notice the data pins are in a random-looking order. The address pins (A) are nicely arranged in order counterclockwise from 0 to 15, but the data pins (D) are all shuffled around. After studying the internals of the chip, I have a hypothesis to explain this.
- Suez Canal (Wikipedia)
The Suez Canal (Arabic: قَنَاةُ ٱلسُّوَيْسِ, Qanāt as-Suwais) is an artificial sea-level waterway in Egypt, connecting the Mediterranean Sea to the Red Sea through the Isthmus of Suez and dividing Africa and Asia (and by extension, the Sinai Peninsula from the rest of Egypt). The 193.30-kilometre-long (120.11 mi) canal is a key trade route between Europe and Asia.