Apollonius' theorem
The turboencabulator or turbo-encabulator (and its later incarnation, the retroencabulator or retro-encabulator) is a fictional machine whose alleged existence became an in-joke and subject of professional humor among engineers. The explanation of the supposed product makes extensive use of technobabble.
History
The original technical description of the "turbo-encabulator" was written by British graduate student John Hellins Quick (1923-1991). It was published in 1944 by the British Institution of Electrical Engineers Students’ Quarterly Journal in an article titled "The Turbo-Encabulator in Industry" by "J.H. Quick, Student" [1] as also noted by consulting firm Arthur D. Little in a 1995 reprint of Quick's description, and giving Quick's full name.[2]
The earliest written U.S. source may have been in 1946, in an Arthur D. Little Industrial Bulletin (a periodical ADL pamphlet publication; no online link available). An early popular American reference to the turbo-encabulator appeared in an article by New York lawyer Bernard Salwen in Time on April 15, 1946. Part of Salwen's job was to review technical manuscripts. He was amused by the jargon and passed on the description from the Arthur D. Little pamphlet.[3]
Time got with the gag, featuring the device in a May 6, 1946 issue, described as "An adjunct to the turbo-encabulator, employed whenever a barescent skor motion is required."[4] A month later a response to reader mail on the feature appeared in the June 3, 1946 issue: 31 year-old Systems Analyst Bud from Deep River, spends time with pursuits for instance r/c cars, property developers new condo in singapore singapore and books. Last month just traveled to Orkhon Valley Cultural Landscape.
In 1962 a turboencabulator data sheet was created by engineers at General Electric's Instrument Department, in West Lynn, Massachusetts. It quoted from the previous sources and was inserted into the General Electric Handbook.[5] The turboencabulator data sheet had the same format as the other pages in the G.E. Handbook. The engineers added "Shure Stat" in "Technical Features", which was peculiar only to the Instrument Department, and included the first known graphic representation of a "manufactured" Turboencabulator using parts made at the Instrument Department.
In Template:Circa Bud Haggart, an actor who appeared in many industrial training films in and around Detroit, performed in the first film realization of the description and operation of the "Turboencabulator", using a truncated script adapted from Quick's article. Bud convinced director Dave Rondot and the film crew to stay after the filming of an actual GMC Trucks project training film to realize the Turboencabulator spot.[6]
In Template:Circa the former Chrysler Corporation "manufactured" the Turboencabulator in a video spoof.[7] Rockwell Automation "manufactured" the renamed Retro-Encabulator in another video spoof in Template:Circa.[8] On April Fools' Day 2013, Hank Green released a SciShow episode on YouTube entitled "The Retro-Proto-Turbo-Encabulator."[9]
The technical descriptions of all these turboencabulators have remained remarkably similar over the years.
Typical technical descriptions
Bud Haggart video script
31 year-old Systems Analyst Bud from Deep River, spends time with pursuits for instance r/c cars, property developers new condo in singapore singapore and books. Last month just traveled to Orkhon Valley Cultural Landscape.
Time article
The following quote is from the Time article. General Electric, Chrysler and Rockwell Automation use many of the same words.[3] 31 year-old Systems Analyst Bud from Deep River, spends time with pursuits for instance r/c cars, property developers new condo in singapore singapore and books. Last month just traveled to Orkhon Valley Cultural Landscape.
Retroencabulator script
31 year-old Systems Analyst Bud from Deep River, spends time with pursuits for instance r/c cars, property developers new condo in singapore singapore and books. Last month just traveled to Orkhon Valley Cultural Landscape.
See also
References
43 year old Petroleum Engineer Harry from Deep River, usually spends time with hobbies and interests like renting movies, property developers in singapore new condominium and vehicle racing. Constantly enjoys going to destinations like Camino Real de Tierra Adentro.
External links
- Template:Youtube
- Template:Youtube
- Template:Youtube
- Template:Youtube
- Template:Youtube
- The Turbo-encabulator in Industry
- Retroencabulator website (contains Turbo-Encabulator text with "Turbo" replaced by "Retro"; does not contain the text from the Retro-Encabulator video)
- An Interview with actor Mike Kraft who starred in several videos, including the Chrysler one, playing the service instructor and a late Rockwell remake (available on his own site) Kraft even has vague plans of filming a retroencabulator sequel.
- Turboencabulator.info -- Turboencabulator Information Website a collection of all known Turboencabulator and Retroencabulator information.
- ↑ http://ieeexplore.ieee.org/xpl/freeabs_all.jsp?arnumber=5328648
- ↑ http://www.adl.com/uploads/tx_extprism/1995_q1_29.pdf
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 Template:Cite news
- ↑ Template:Cite web
- ↑ Turboencabulator.
- ↑ Library Technician Anton from Amherst, usually spends time with passions for instance butterflies, property developers in new launch ec singapore and cheerleading. Felt especially enthused after building a journey to Cultural Landscape and Archaeological Remains of the Bamiyan Valley.
- ↑ Library Technician Anton from Amherst, usually spends time with passions for instance butterflies, property developers in new launch ec singapore and cheerleading. Felt especially enthused after building a journey to Cultural Landscape and Archaeological Remains of the Bamiyan Valley.
- ↑ Library Technician Anton from Amherst, usually spends time with passions for instance butterflies, property developers in new launch ec singapore and cheerleading. Felt especially enthused after building a journey to Cultural Landscape and Archaeological Remains of the Bamiyan Valley.
- ↑ Library Technician Anton from Amherst, usually spends time with passions for instance butterflies, property developers in new launch ec singapore and cheerleading. Felt especially enthused after building a journey to Cultural Landscape and Archaeological Remains of the Bamiyan Valley.