Colossus

(A huge and ancient statue on the Greek island of Rhodes).

1. computer The Colossus and Colossus Mark II computers used

by Alan Turing at Bletchley Park, UK during the Second

World War to crack the "Tunny" cipher produced by the Lorenz

SZ 40 and SZ 42 machines. Colossus was a semi-fixed-program

vacuum tube calculator (unlike its near-contemporary, the

freely programmable Z3).

["Breaking the enemy's code", Glenn Zorpette, IEEE Spectrum,

September 1987, pp. 47-51.]

2. The computer in the film "Colossus: The Forbin Project".

Forbin is the designer of an incredibly sophisticated computer

that will run all of America's nuclear defences. Shortly

after being turned on, it detects the existence of Goliath,

the Soviet counterpart, previously unknown to US Planners.

Both computers insist that they be linked, and after taking

safeguards to preserve confidential material, each side agrees

to allow it. As soon as the link is established the two

become a new super computer and threaten the world with the

immediate launch of nuclear weapons if they are detached.

Colossus begins to give its plans for the management of the

world under its guidance. Forbin and the other scientists

form a technological resistance to Colossus which must operate

underground.

The Internet Movie Database.

[Date?]

(2002-07-28)