Byte

The byte (/ˈbaɪt/) is a unit of digital information that most commonly consists of eight bits. Historically, the byte was the number of bits used to encode a single character of text in a computer and for this reason it is the smallest addressable unit of memory in many computer architectures. The size of the byte has historically been hardware dependent and no definitive standards existed that mandated the size. The de facto standard of eight bits is a convenient power of two permitting the values 0 through 255 for one byte. The international standard IEC 80000-13 codified this common meaning. Many types of applications use information representable in eight or fewer bits and processor designers optimize for this common usage. The popularity of major commercial computing architectures has aided in the ubiquitous acceptance of the 8-bit size.

The unit octet was defined to explicitly denote a sequence of 8 bits because of the ambiguity associated at the time with the byte. The usage of the term octad(e) for 8 bits is no longer common today.

Byte (dinghy)

The Byte is a small one-design sailing dinghy sailed by one person. It was designed by Canadian Ian Bruce, who also commissioned and marketed the Laser.

History

The Byte began as an inexpensive version of the Europe dinghy that could target sailors weighing between 45 kilograms and 65 kilograms (100 pounds to 145 pounds).

Design

The Byte is 12 ft (3.7 m) long, 4 ft 3 in (1.3 m) wide and roughly 100 lb (45 kg). The hull is composed of glass reinforced polyester and foam sandwich. The Byte is designed for sailors weighing 120 to 145 lb (54 to 66 kg) although most sailors weighing 90 to 160 lb (41 to 73 kg) should have no problems sailing this boat on a recreational basis. The Byte sail size is only 58 square feet (5.6 m²) making it the ideal boat for those sailors who enjoy the independence and simplicity of a cat rigged boat, such as the Laser, but who are not strong or heavy enough to control a large sail.

The rigging is similar to that of the Laser except one noticeable difference. The traveler is just below the main sheet block and not at the stern of the boat (similar to a Finn or Europe dinghy). This eradicates the chance of the main sheet getting caught on the transom which is a common complaint of the Laser. The sail controls are also "split" and led to both side-decks, again somewhat like a Finn or Europe and allows for more technical adjustments.

Byte (retailer)

Byte [Computer Superstores Ltd] was a retail venture of Specialist Computer Holdings Ltd in the United Kingdom which from 1993 sold primarily computer hardware, software and accessories in large stores on retail parks, (similar to PC World). The company was acquired by PC World in 1998 who re-branded or closed each store - leaving the Byte name to no longer exist.

In April 2012, a UK based Entrepreneur successfully applied for and was granted the Byte trademark. In January 2013 Byte [Technology Ltd] was incorporated with the intention of relaunching the Byte brand which by now had not been seen in the UK for over 15 years. Byte was officially relaunched as an on-line retailer (www.byte.co.uk) in January 2015 with a range of high quality Apple Certified accessories, and consumer electronics.

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