Post B0FnFV2wvZv9vh9Fui by jf_718@mas.to
(DIR) More posts by jf_718@mas.to
(DIR) Post #B0FmUn5e1bKAHQ8W36 by futurebird@sauropods.win
2025-11-15T00:57:03Z
0 likes, 1 repeats
I just learned about a new data storage format. A rare analog digital hybrid. Behold the "Aperture Card"This is a punch card that holds a microfiche slide with a document, diagram or photo. The punch card could be used to catalog the scanned document or to make searching easier. (Why does looking at these give me feelings. I love this. )https://www.pimage.com/appcards.htm
(DIR) Post #B0FnFV2wvZv9vh9Fui by jf_718@mas.to
2025-11-15T01:05:28Z
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@futurebird Oh, I love the way they look! These are cool!
(DIR) Post #B0FpQe6BoOAT6A6elE by jackwilliambell@rustedneuron.com
2025-11-15T01:20:04Z
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@futurebirdMy first full-time job working with a computer involved a Burroughs Accounting Machine that used 'ledger cards' the size of A17 paper, which had a magnetic strip containing the last ledger entry. The strips often failed, so you had to re-enter the data printed on the card.They had a separate card sorter unit.I was hired to facilitate the conversion from that monstrosity to a 'more modern' (early 1980s) NCR minicomputer. But I still had to use it for 6 months.
(DIR) Post #B0FpbYDK23Xa22dtjM by scribblesonnapkins@mastodon.social
2025-11-15T01:31:48Z
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@futurebird Radix sort is the only non-element comparative sort.
(DIR) Post #B0FqBvh4DEDPHItzfM by GeePawHill@mastodon.social
2025-11-15T01:38:25Z
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@futurebird Cuz you're one of *us*. <3
(DIR) Post #B0FqhegiyRhLnqrzii by ta11dave@dice.camp
2025-11-15T01:44:06Z
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@futurebirdI've used these! Although a lot of them weren't punched, because it's govt work and you can't be *that* efficient.
(DIR) Post #B0FrHHiXr6hgzBi8kC by yodaladywhooo@mastodon.social
2025-11-15T01:50:35Z
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@futurebird Boomer here. We had a versoin of this when I was a kid.
(DIR) Post #B0FrNnlLcozm6s85Ca by yodaladywhooo@mastodon.social
2025-11-15T01:51:39Z
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@futurebird Boomer here. We had a version of this when I was a kid.
(DIR) Post #B0Ftz7OpmK03dSWKjg by roadriverrail@signs.codes
2025-11-15T02:20:48Z
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@futurebird Holy fucking shit I want this so much.
(DIR) Post #B0FwHY77OU3Rbp9Nfk by GGMcBG@mstdn.plus
2025-11-15T02:46:39Z
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@futurebird That's hot.
(DIR) Post #B0G1UcPnDGT4U5w7do by SKleefeld@retro.pizza
2025-11-15T03:45:02Z
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@futurebird I'd never heard of those before! That is so cool!
(DIR) Post #B0GBzJvazq0nfO5fiy by moira@mastodon.murkworks.net
2025-11-15T05:42:40Z
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@futurebird I've heard of these! And another similar system - there were a few. Never seen any of them in person, though. Very nice.
(DIR) Post #B0GCfoqORQWNiIvDwe by tomjennings@tldr.nettime.org
2025-11-15T05:50:25Z
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@futurebird They are lovely aren't they! In so many ways its jus awful, probably 50 characters on the card and refrigerator sized readers. But the tactility of them is great. I like physical media.
(DIR) Post #B0GDT1CVHwSqE6iwr2 by ZDL@mstdn.social
2025-11-15T05:59:09Z
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@futurebird Quite the coincidence. I just posted this today: https://mstdn.social/@ZDL/115551832262266891How do these make you feel?
(DIR) Post #B0GE7XqlJnFn4OsZMG by Eliot_L@social.coop
2025-11-15T06:06:29Z
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@futurebird This looks like the Dreamcast UMD of punchcards. Neat.
(DIR) Post #B0GP1L5gwVqfFx6cAS by codinghorror@infosec.exchange
2025-11-15T08:08:41Z
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@futurebird this is AWESOME
(DIR) Post #B0H4OcAtgfxN1Rl32W by jhaas@a2mi.social
2025-11-15T15:52:18Z
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@futurebird I was working on document imaging software in the late 90s when that was a new thing. At a trade show, there was a vendor that was doing optical storage cards the size of a business card. That weird mix of a digital storage format integrated in a way that you were also expected physically file it reminds me of this quite a bit.
(DIR) Post #B0HAgQYcDd8DvejFMu by tomjennings@tldr.nettime.org
2025-11-15T17:02:49Z
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@jackwilliambellNCR! No one remembers them. They were part of the BUNCH, competitors to IBMs dominance:BurroughsUnivacNCR Control DataHoneywellThe computer world was fixed in place and nothing could ever change. Lol. Why do I remember this crap. Google meta alphabet will too be forgotten, sooner than later I hope. @futurebird
(DIR) Post #B0HAppo1iMrqqHQHpY by moira@mastodon.murkworks.net
2025-11-15T05:42:02Z
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@jackwilliambell @futurebird oh, that burroughs device is a magnificent beast <3
(DIR) Post #B0HApr1BCwz0bMaIyG by jackwilliambell@rustedneuron.com
2025-11-15T07:54:38Z
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@moira @futurebirdIt was a full-fledged computer–you could load programs for things like data entry and reports from paper tape but there was also a 'pinboard' containing the bootloader as wires connecting registers. You weren't supposed to touch that.Storage was on the ledger cards. It would read them by the platen pulling it down and back up past a magnetic head. It was LOUD: KrCHUNK! ZZK! Then you type and it printed and then did it again to write. Reports used a feeder.
(DIR) Post #B0HAps5pDAIDw3lWqm by tomjennings@tldr.nettime.org
2025-11-15T17:04:29Z
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@jackwilliambellWow that's crazy. 1st generation stuff in a minicomputer! @moira @futurebird
(DIR) Post #B0HApypQAYKYpD91km by jackwilliambell@rustedneuron.com
2025-11-15T07:58:21Z
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@moira @futurebird The feeder could process a ledger card in about a second. Imagine the sound of running year-end reports on that thing. Of course something always went wrong when running reports, so you had to babysit it. RIGHT THERE IN THE NOISE. It would jam or error a ledger card and require re-entry and a write or even shred a ledger card entirely, so making a replacement was really fun.
(DIR) Post #B0HAq5ocBwqSUjoyy8 by jackwilliambell@rustedneuron.com
2025-11-15T08:11:32Z
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@moira @futurebird The sorting unit fascinated me. It was essentially a bubblesort implemented in hardware. It had eight slots and it would sort all of them into four slots, then sort each slot with the other four slots, then repeat until all the cards were sorted. You could change sort order with another pinboard.ETA: And, yes, it jammed too.
(DIR) Post #B0HIdRVf1M91eBR01g by jackwilliambell@rustedneuron.com
2025-11-15T18:31:43Z
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@tomjennings @moira @futurebird The Burroughs Accounting Machine wasn't a mini, but a different class entirely. (I'm not exactly sure *what* class.)The NCR we replaced it with *was* a mini. Less CPU power than a modern smartwatch in a box like a really big refrigerator, plus we had two printers and two removable 5MB disks; all the size of big washing machines.We ran six terminals off it.
(DIR) Post #B0JET4CunCauyoNoki by rojun@mastodon.social
2025-11-16T16:54:23Z
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@futurebird They still use this format with, for example, some very regulated and long-winding projects. I used to scan similar, but new ones 15 yrs ago.
(DIR) Post #B0L7TwRWpolFpGbmhU by NNN@urbanists.social
2025-11-17T14:45:42Z
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@futurebird If they had just wanted a micro fiche with punch card, they could have used oversized film and punched the film directlyBut they also wanted human readable printing, and maybe to allow handwriting, so they used paper card stock