>
http://georgetoft.com/georgeslaw.shtml
> From my college days . . .
>
> "Hey, Grampa, tell us the story about 80 column punch cards, and why a
> good rubber band was your best friend. You mean you couldn't just talk
> to the computer?"
>
> "Well, Sonny, columns 1-5 were for your numeric labels. A 'C' in column
> 6 meant it was a continuation from the previous line, and your code went
> in columns 7-72. Columns 73-80 were your card sequence number and it was
> optional. Nobody liked to put numbers there because if we moved a block
> of code, we would have to resequence the cards. Screw that - just make
> sure you had a good rubber band, and another one as a backup in case the
> first one broke. Gives you a whole new meaning of data backup, huh."
>
> "Grampa, what was the deal with column 1 on the printer?"
>
> "Oh, yeah. Put a 1 in column 1 and the printer won't advance. Print
> about 10 lines with this:
> 1====================================================
> and all of the print wheels on the line printer would line up and the
> strikers would synchronize and go WHOMP WHOMP WHOMP and shake the whole
> computer center. Heh, heh, heh. The computer operators would jump out of
> their skin - they definitely knew when I ran a job."
>
> "Grampa, what's a line printer?"
Hey, great post George. So true. Minor nit though, a 1 in column one
would trigger a new page, a + in column one would overwrite (only on
some printers, though).
Dale
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