[HN Gopher] Why We Picture Bombs as Round Black Balls with a Bur...
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Why We Picture Bombs as Round Black Balls with a Burning Wick
(2016)
Author : leohonexus
Score : 170 points
Date : 2021-09-19 12:24 UTC (10 hours ago)
(HTM) web link (www.atlasobscura.com)
(TXT) w3m dump (www.atlasobscura.com)
| hughrr wrote:
| Interesting read.
|
| I always think of Batman https://youtu.be/9pSD26bGy3I
| ryantgtg wrote:
| Sorta related to round black bombs: I recently watched The Spy
| Who Loved Me, and realized that this is where I got the idea that
| grenades aren't thrown like baseballs; instead, you gotta do a
| kinda straight-armed huck over your shoulder. Not sure if that
| grenade throw is grounded in reality, or just a thing that war
| movies made up.
| [deleted]
| tus89 wrote:
| > However, the black, spherical bomb, wick slowly burning away to
| a boom, has remained the understood image for an explosive.
|
| According to who? Citation needed.
| Taniwha wrote:
| I want to know where the whole "do I cut the red wire or the blue
| wire?" trope comes from ..... surely you just pull the detonator
| out then cut its wires
| js2 wrote:
| Maybe the movie _Juggernaut_ (1974), but where its writers got
| the idea, who knows.
|
| https://movies.stackexchange.com/questions/3957/what-was-the...
|
| https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/WireDilemma
| tetha wrote:
| Hm. I'd suggest a second advantage of the "ball with fuse" or
| "stick with fuse" - and from there, the "C4 with unrealistic
| timer LED" makes a lot of sense:
|
| The fuse can act as an agent of suspense, just as Hitchcock
| described it. It's a very simple indicator - a red dot or a
| flame, and the length of the fuse is how long to go until an
| earth-shattering kaboom. And it's obvious what's going to happen
| to a character if they hold it, so it's easy to create suspense.
| "Oh no, now the protagonist has the bomb. Oh yes, now the villain
| has it. Oh no, now the villain tricked the protagonist and put
| the bomb in their pants!"
|
| That is much more interesting from a story telling point of view
| than a realistic bomb - a bunch of C4 with a mobile phone
| strapped to it and zero way to understand when it will ruin your
| day. Unless you include the trigger for those in the story, but
| then complexity grows.
| theshadowknows wrote:
| Extra points for "earth-shattering kaboom" :)
| HungSu wrote:
| Marvin is everyone's favourite martian
| cronix wrote:
| It was really the Illudium Q-36 Explosive Space Modulator
| that was Marvin's draw.
| humanistbot wrote:
| Haven't you seen a modern action movie where there is a block
| of C4 with a big digital timer counting down to 00:00? Seems to
| be used to the exact same dramatic effect.
| dylan604 wrote:
| Or a movie where the villian spends half the movie asking
| "where are my detonators?" If they are using detonators,
| rarely are there bright red oversized LEDs counters, or the
| loosely attached, spiraly wound wires just begging someone to
| ask "blue or red?"
| dEnigma wrote:
| That's exactly what they're saying. Look at the first
| paragraph.
| TheOtherHobbes wrote:
| Act 3 in a traditional three act story structure is sometimes
| called The Ticking Clock because it's traditional to include a
| countdown.
|
| Having a literal countdown timer - usually for a bomb - is a
| standard trope in action thrillers. But any kind of deadline
| will do.
| laurent92 wrote:
| Now, when I see a bomb in movies, I always measure the
| countdown. The fact that they extend it kills quite a lot of
| suspense.
| cheschire wrote:
| What are some good search queries to learn more about these
| types of standard structures, especially as it pertains to
| film and TV?
| karlkeefer wrote:
| https://tvtropes.org/ has a ton of this kind of thing - not
| sure if that scratches your itch!
| jholman wrote:
| Holy shit, just linking to an meme weapon like that, and
| not warning people? Not cool!
|
| To the uninitiated, do not follow that link unless you
| don't have anything else you need to do today. It is
| famous for destroying days of productivity.
| od1nos wrote:
| You can browse for all of them on https://tvtropes.org/
| bbarnett wrote:
| Bugs bunny is why. Seriously. Most popular cartoon of its time,
| every kid of the era (40s to 70s) watched it...
| danans wrote:
| Perhaps an insidious follow on to the cartoon bomb is the
| unrealistic and desensitizing depiction of it's aftermath: In
| the cartoons it's just a frowning or dumbfounded character
| covered in soot instead of the reality of being dismembered.
| macintux wrote:
| When I read recently about the 15-year-old girl who
| deliberately targeted and killed a runner on the road, who
| laughed as he flew over her car, I wondered whether kids have
| gotten used to seeing people survive collisions like that in
| the movies.
| danans wrote:
| I suspect that person had deeper issues than
| desensitization. I liken it more to our ability to tune out
| the effects of drone strikes.
| rsynnott wrote:
| But by the time it was made, bombs hadn't looked like that for
| a century; it doesn't in itself explain the persistence.
| cabalamat wrote:
| It's for the same reason that we "fire" guns or that a motion
| picture is called a "film": technology changes but the symbols we
| use to refer to it stay the same.
| tosser0001 wrote:
| I picture them that way mostly because of all the games of
| Stratego I played as a kid. I was surprised not to see it
| mentioned in the article!
| 74d-fe6-2c6 wrote:
| What I would like to know is why vibrating devices like razors or
| dildos are regularly being considered as indicating a bomb. Why
| would a bomb vibrate prior to exploding?
| evan_ wrote:
| Cell phone trigger?
| lostlogin wrote:
| Doesn't make much sense that way either, unless the bomb has
| malfunctioned. If it's vibrating, surely the bombs going off?
| kortilla wrote:
| Well you have to turn it on before it explodes...
| 74d-fe6-2c6 wrote:
| Explain - how does igniting a bomb require vibration?
| amin wrote:
| This Atlas Obscura website seems interesting. As a long time
| volunteer for Wikipedia, I try to avoid it as much as possible. A
| hundred people editing one article, with zero editorial
| oversight, leads to dogshit articles that are not enjoyable to
| read.
| jackfoxy wrote:
| The article dismisses the _stringy_ fuse because spherical mortar
| bombs had a hollow wooden fuse, but 18th and early 19th century
| hand grenades were also spherical and had a _stringy_ fuse.
| anigbrowl wrote:
| There are still products using that form factor and same basic
| mechanism (burning fuse, initiated by a spring-loaded striker).
|
| https://www.defense-technology.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/0...
| mrkramer wrote:
| Cartoons are one hell of a drug especially for kids. I miss them
| so much.
| Matthias1 wrote:
| Interesting parallel here to the floppy disk icon being used for
| "save". It's quite possible that icon is ubiquitous enough that,
| without a push to change it, it sticks around for 100 years as
| well.
| fencepost wrote:
| Are you referring to the vending machine icon?
| gumby wrote:
| Which itself embodies an archaic remnant: the "floppy" disk
| icon is most often the 3.5 inch disk (the one with a metal
| shutter) which was in fact rigid.
|
| Actual "floppy" disks (8" and later 5.25") were flexible and
| needed a slightly more rigid sleeve to make them easy to
| handle. The 3.5" ones needed the sleeve to protect the medium
| (the actual disk).
| bitwize wrote:
| 3.5" floppy disks were made of iron oxide on a flexible
| plastic disc encased inside a rigid shell. Only the shell was
| rigid.
| stan_rogers wrote:
| Well, the shell and the metal drive ring at the centre of
| the disc (something 8" and 51/4" floppies didn't have).
| Maursault wrote:
| I always thought the 3.5" were distinctly referred to as a
| _diskette_ as opposed to the earlier larger _floppy disk_ ,
| but, apparently, the term "diskette" was introduced by IBM
| in 1973, and then ultimately became a synonym for any floppy
| disk, perhaps similarly to Kleenex, Laundromat, Xerox, Taser,
| Google, et al.
| bityard wrote:
| As someone who was around for at least a portion of that
| time period, nobody ever actually called them diskettes
| except for the people who designed the packaging and
| marketing material.
| matzab wrote:
| ...and Germans.
| SuchAnonMuchWow wrote:
| ... and Frenchs.
| deepsun wrote:
| ... and all East Europeans.
| joseluis wrote:
| ... in Spain too, were called disquetes.
| beebeepka wrote:
| Ha, but here in Bulgaria we call them diskettes. We used
| to put our diskettes in our floppy drives. Not
| understanding what the words mean sometimes creates funny
| situations like this
| jaclaz wrote:
| Well, anecdata, late '80's office computers were changed and
| the new ones only had 3.5" floppy drives while older ones all
| had 5.25" ones.
|
| Someone managed to insert a 5.25" floppy in the gap between
| the covers for the (empty) 5.25" bays just over the 3.5"
| drive slot.
|
| It makes some strange impression to me to talk of floppies in
| the past and to think that many people never actually saw one
| (let alone use it).
|
| A:las poor floppy, I knew you well. [0]
|
| [0] http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/2905953.stm
| Beldin wrote:
| Fun Foone Fact: the 3.5 inch floppies apparently were 3.54
| inch.
|
| https://twitter.com/Foone/status/1439239118991413254
| salawat wrote:
| This is not uncommon. The term you are looking for is
| nominal dimension.
| michaelcampbell wrote:
| Indeed; in the US anyway the ubiquitous "2x4" lumber is
| in fact 1 1/2" x 3 1/2".
| genewitch wrote:
| If you're making 2x4 lumber you cut 2x4, someone else
| planes it down to the final, finished size.
|
| One can use rough cut lumber for building but it throws
| off everything a half inch at a time, so your final wall
| may not fit or be attached.
| michaelcampbell wrote:
| I've had many a 3 1/2" disk apart, and the "spinning bit" was
| in fact not rigid.
|
| Perhaps this was during my early college days and I could
| only afford the cheap ones.
| marvin wrote:
| I'm told some folks in their early 20s were shown a 3.5 inch
| floppy disk and asked what it was. They replied <<3D printed
| model of the save icon>>.
| Shared404 wrote:
| Would depend on the folks probably.
|
| I'm in my early 20s, and know what a 3.5" floppy looks
| like, but I know others who don't.
|
| Also, of those of us who do there's probably a 50% chance
| that we'd say "3D printed save icon" as a joke!
| sophacles wrote:
| The disk itself was floppy, and basically the same as the
| larger disks. The case around them was rigid.
| United857 wrote:
| The 3.5 inch disks took off around the same time as Windows
| did (the Mac had always used them) so probably no coincidence
| that's that the save icon represents.
| moron4hire wrote:
| The actual disk portion on the inside was the floppy part, so
| it's still a "floppy disk". The rigid part on the outside was
| called the cassette.
| alisonkisk wrote:
| and "cassette tapes" (for computer or
| radio/stereo/receiver) are the same material, but the
| magnetic media is in a roll of tape instead of a spinning
| disk shape.
| moron4hire wrote:
| Man, I seriously miss cassettes and cartridges,
| especially for video games. I recently bought a Nintendo
| 2DS for my young kids--having missed out on it during its
| original run myself, and observing that the children grow
| rather extreme behavioural issues if we let them play on
| iPads--and even those tiny little cartridges just have
| something to them. It makes the games feel more real to
| me, versus downloaded apps just taking up an icon on a
| screen.
| genewitch wrote:
| I banned Disney/ABC at my house due to the same observed
| behavioral issues. YouTube is a mixed bag, I observe what
| the youngest is watching and he always listens when I
| tell him to pick something else to watch.
|
| There are some games that for past some radar like the
| "Buddy" series - it seems innocuous but it's all about
| dismemberment of the buddy character. It's "funny" in the
| way "Happy Tree Friends" is funny. Less so to the plastic
| developing psyche of a toddler.
| oneeyedpigeon wrote:
| > it sticks around for 100 years as well
|
| Only if the concept of manual save sticks around that long.
| im3w1l wrote:
| Even in systems that continously save your progress there is
| a close analogue to manual save: Named revisions. Bookmarks
| of points in history that are better than the surrounding
| ones - points where some milestone has been reached, and some
| amount of proofreading done. Where there are no duplicated
| paragraphs or major rough edges like that.
| codetrotter wrote:
| But the floppy icon would not be a good fit for depicting
| named revisions
| gumby wrote:
| Sure, it's copying your revision to a disk, writing the
| date on the label, and sticking it in a box.
| jcims wrote:
| The only difference between what is being described here
| and what we have been working with until today is how far
| undo/redo go.
|
| For the most part the intent is to memorialize a snapshot
| of the work, a task the floppy icon has been fulfilling
| all along.
| dylan604 wrote:
| If the current document is Untitled, New File, No Name,
| etc and does not actually point to a file, then the
| ubiquitous Floppy icon should act as Save As. Once the
| file does exist, a simple Shift-click of the same floppy
| icon should also act as Save As. Same thing as Cmd-S/Cmd-
| Shfit-S. However, I'm unfamiliar with this modifier click
| save as from any app.
| _Microft wrote:
| What's the alternative? Autosaves? Did it autosave or did it
| not? Where did it save it to? Locally or to the cloud? Are
| the servers available? Does it make clear when they are not?
| Or worse, does it fail silently if they are not?
|
| Call me old-fashioned but please give me a save button and a
| file picker ;)
| bitwize wrote:
| Does it matter? The only thing that matters to the end user
| is that the changes they made to their document persist.
| And they should persist by default, not only when the user
| issues a Save command.
| dylan604 wrote:
| I don't know, I sort of enjoy being able to make changes,
| see they didn't work/not necessary/etc, and then just
| closing the document hitting "Don't save" vs hitting undo
| until returning to last saved state (which was when
| exactly???). Bonus points for apps that have an actual
| Revert feature.
| oneeyedpigeon wrote:
| Maybe file management will map closer to revision control
| one day. Autosave would be the equivalent of a regular
| commit, closing the document would be a tagged commit of
| some sort. Your "hitting undo until returning to last
| saved state" would then be a single step, reverting to a
| timed, possibly named point.
| dylan604 wrote:
| For text based files, I think a versioning like system
| built into the filesystem would be ideal. Each save is
| just the diff. A nice UI to see/revert changes. Yet the
| lack of commit type messages would make those changes
| less friendly. I don't want to be burdened/slowed down
| with commit messages everytime I hit Cmd-S.
|
| However, this would not work for binary type files like
| MOV, PSD, etc.
| chongli wrote:
| Storing diffs is not a great idea since then it requires
| that you apply them all to get the latest version.
| Notably, git does not store files as diffs [1] which is
| one of the reasons it's so much faster than older diff-
| based VCSes.
|
| [1] https://stackoverflow.com/a/43364484
| leohonexus wrote:
| Ah, this reminds me of YesterCode, a tool that lets you
| scrub through code changes like a timeline.
|
| Relevant HN thread:
| https://web.eecs.utk.edu/~azh/blog/yestercode.html
| userbinator wrote:
| I was forced to use Microsoft OneNote for a while and it
| was probably designed by someone with that mentality, and
| I absolutely HATE it. People manage to put unwanted
| changes into important pages all the time (the horrible
| Win10 default of not clearly indicating the focused
| window is certainly related, but that's another rant...)
| and the fact that it instantly syncs to the cloud for
| everyone else to see, made for some major embarrassment
| and irritation.
|
| Changes should be saved with deliberation, not
| "whenever".
| jader201 wrote:
| I'm both old and old fashioned, but I'll take auto-save any
| day over manual save, especially something that required
| manual save without support of auto-save.
|
| I've lost enough work prior to auto-save being common that
| I never want to deal with an app that doesn't somehow save
| my work pretty frequently.
| oefrha wrote:
| > I've lost enough work prior to auto-save being common
|
| And you didn't develop the habit of compulsive Ctrl-S
| every five seconds? ;)
| atoav wrote:
| I like autosaves as well, but as a "I didn't save
| manually but there is always an autosave"-option. Saving
| is also a file managment choice.
| dylan604 wrote:
| It really depends on what the app is though, yeah? If I'm
| in document processing or spreadsheet where you might be
| working for long periods where a 5min auto-save kicks in
| could be convenient. However, when I'm writing code that
| then needs to make rapid changes like updating CSS/JS/etc
| to be refreshed in browser, then I'm not waiting 5 mins
| for an autosave. Cmd-S, Cmd-tab, Shift-Cmd-R, boom.
|
| However, Cmd-S is so engrained into the muscle memory,
| that it's almost instinctual to hit it after every press
| of a semi-colon.
| IgorPartola wrote:
| If I type in _rm -rf /_ and pause for a moment trying to
| remember if I'm trying to delete /var/log/apache2/ or
| /usr/local/var/log/apache2/ in a dev environment that
| auto-executes code when I save it I would strongly prefer
| that it wait until I manually save.
| atoav wrote:
| Which is why I like Autosaves that save a copy. Blender
| for example autosaves project files into it's own
| location (and keeps that location clean). If you have a
| crash you can still go for that autosave file and it
| works in most cases - but it isn't saved in the folder
| you are working in.
|
| For certain programs this would be overkill of course,
| but for others it would be quite cool.
| IgorPartola wrote:
| It's interesting. I use vim which has auto-recovery built
| in. But I also compulsively save. vim is so much faster
| than most conventional IDEs that it's just not worth it
| for me to look for an alternative to that pattern.
| Zababa wrote:
| > However, when I'm writing code that then needs to make
| rapid changes like updating CSS/JS/etc to be refreshed in
| browser, then I'm not waiting 5 mins for an autosave.
| Cmd-S, Cmd-tab, Shift-Cmd-R, boom.
|
| VSCode has an autosave that's triggered when you change a
| file.
| glenneroo wrote:
| I would guess that they swiped that idea (among many of
| the core features of VSCode) from IntelliJ a good 10
| years after they implemented it. Too bad they can't steal
| more sane ideas from JetBrains' IDEs, I might actually
| consider switching ;)
| Zababa wrote:
| I doubt IntelliJ invented the "save on change" feature.
|
| > Too bad they can't steal more sane ideas from
| JetBrains' IDEs, I might actually consider switching ;)
|
| Not being an IDE is what I like about it, my experiences
| with JetBrain's IDEs weren't good.
| TillE wrote:
| There are reasons for manual save to exist, but I think
| it's unlikely to stick around as a distinct GUI element
| which requires an icon.
|
| Experienced users will use a keyboard shortcut, others
| will rely on autosave or find the File > Save menu. Alas,
| I suspect the floppy disk icon is doomed.
| l33tman wrote:
| Notably none of the Google Docs cloud apps have any save
| button or option.
| dragontamer wrote:
| Saving drafts on XenForums is a floppy, even though there
| is no local save involved.
|
| I'm sure I've seen it in other web contexts.
| esprehn wrote:
| Interestingly at one point Google Docs did have a save
| button, which IIRC didn't actually do anything because it
| would automatically save. The button was there just to
| make you feel more confident.
|
| You can see it in the top right corner here:
| https://sm.pcmag.com/t/pcmag_au/photo/g/google-
| docs-2010-old...
| userbinator wrote:
| _The button was there just to make you feel more
| confident._
|
| ...and when the autosave inevitably fails, deception like
| that only serves to anger your users more.
| sharkweek wrote:
| It took me a very long time to learn not to compulsively
| hit ctrl-s while using Google docs
| 2Gkashmiri wrote:
| I have been doing Ctrl+s for most of my life. I type a lot
| and this is like second breathing. I write a sentence,
| save. Some pause, save. Looking out the window, save. Its
| as common as pressing space or enter.
| webwielder2 wrote:
| The floppy disk icon never took off in the Apple ecosystem, so
| every time I see it in Windows world it seems like a bizarre
| anachronism. Which it is. Emblematic really of Apple's ethos of
| plunging forward and Wintel's backwards compatibility at all
| costs approach.
| kitsunesoba wrote:
| It's been a long time since I used classic Mac OS seriously,
| but I don't think Mac apps really even used toolbars for
| actions like save, undo, paste, etc. Usually toolbars were
| for selecting tools (e.g. pencil, eraser, etc in paint) or
| tuning settings (e.g. font and color), with actions stowed
| away in menus and lacking iconographic representation.
|
| Thinking about it further, this is true of OS X too. Even
| though it made toolbars more ubiquitous, it was still unusual
| for "standard" actions to be placed there.
|
| I would think that a longtime Mac user probably associates
| "save" with the key shortcut [?]-S more strongly than any
| kind of icon.
| blondin wrote:
| you are making an interesting point that is shadowed by the
| extra comment. the floppy disk image as "save" icon is rare
| in most native mac apps.
|
| GP's point is quite interesting because there is a generation
| or two that hasn't seen a real floppy disk beside on those
| icons. they probably have no clue what it is.
|
| i wonder what other icon images are like that.
| 00N8 wrote:
| the rounded symbols for 'database' icons are based on some
| ancient storage medium used in early mainframes - magnetic
| drum memory I think
| userbinator wrote:
| I've always thought of those as more like barrels of data
| (as opposed to oil).
| alisonkisk wrote:
| Not really. Apple taught the world the word "skeuomorphic",
| making fake paper and leather and metal for their apps.
|
| Also, Apple famously used the OP's bomb icon whenever Mac OS
| plunged forward into a crash.
| Macha wrote:
| However, floppy disk icons also survive in Linux, android and
| web apps, at least in those which save is an explicit GUI
| action, so it's really only Apple thats the outlier here
| smegcicle wrote:
| there does seem to be some kind of push against it, as if it's
| either triggering to anyone who hasn't seen one in real life,
| or maybe the ui designer is afraid someone will think they're
| old and out-of-touch?
|
| the alternative seems to be pictures of folders and clouds with
| arrows going in and out of them, when the extremely distinctive
| floppy disk icon unambiguously means whatever form of 'save' is
| most intuitive and useful
| farmerstan wrote:
| I think kids today think of bombs like cubes of tnt like
| Minecraft.
| Stevvo wrote:
| I doubt it. Even if a kid loves playing Minecraft and doesn't
| like watching cartoons, the round black ball symbol is much
| more ubiquitous, they will often be exposed to it.
| atoav wrote:
| Bomb emoji
| varjag wrote:
| _And while a few images have rivaled its ubiquity (a bundle of
| red dynamite tied to a ticking clock, a box labeled TNT) none
| of those have been visually compelling enough to replace the
| black sphere._
| wongarsu wrote:
| Or wrapped blocks of C4 like in most shooters. Or the tin-can
| like shape of Russian TM-46 mines that have featured in several
| viral images
| bogwog wrote:
| Or red barrels, like in every video game ever.
| bserge wrote:
| Haha, red = explosive, green = toxic, blue = inert/empty.
| hkon wrote:
| Too bad a lot of the links does not work anymore.
| LaMarseillaise wrote:
| I was quite sure that this depiction of a bomb was based on 18th
| century grenades, which were spherical and had a string fuse. The
| word 'grenade' even comes from pomegranate, due to the visual
| similarity. It seems like this depiction may have originated a
| little further back than the American Civil War.
|
| - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grenade
|
| - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pomegranate
| NAG3LT wrote:
| Wow, somehow never thought that the device is named after the
| fruit. Their names can be even closer in other languages, f.e.
| in Russian they are nearly the same word, just different
| genders.
| jwhitlark wrote:
| Then they doubled down with pineapple grenades...
| garaetjjte wrote:
| In Polish it is literally the same word, "granat", which does
| function as weapon, fruit, and color (oddly enough, dark
| blue).
| ficklepickle wrote:
| Pomegranates are from Granada. In French, Granada is
| "Grenade" and pomegranate is "pomme grenade", which directly
| translates to Granada apple
| jcelerier wrote:
| as a french I absolutely never heard "pomme grenade" for
| the fruit, just "grenade" directly
| Telemakhos wrote:
| No. "Pomegranate" comes from the Latin "pomum granatum,"
| the 'fruit having many seeds.' Granum means grain or seed,
| and granatus is a pseudo-participial form (like
| "mentulatus") meaning 'endowed with seeds.' Granada, the
| city, likely derives its name from Arabic.
| teej wrote:
| The pomegranate <> grenade connection all of a sudden made
| "grenadine" make sene.
| JoBrad wrote:
| Gunpowder-infused fabric or paper was being used for fuses
| around the 10th century, as well[0]. I always thought this
| depiction came from fireworks, which had fuses both linking
| multiple devices and also serving as a (relatively) safer point
| for ignition around the 10th century, as well[1].
|
| [0] https://wikipedia.org/wiki/Fuse_(explosives)
|
| [1] https://wikipedia.org/wiki/Fireworks
| fuzzfactor wrote:
| Back in the 1960's when road construction was underway and
| diversion of lanes was necessary, at night the spherical black
| kerosine lamps the size of bowling balls were still everywhere
| the traffic cones were during the day.
|
| Modern rechargeable electricial markers that could last all
| night were not common at all.
|
| Rows of bombs with a few inches of raw sooty flame coming from
| a wick where the fuse would be.
|
| Drive your Model T or Edsel carefully between the lines of
| flickering fire.
|
| Plus the Pink Panther cartoons had an associated subject line
| occasionally featuring a mad French terrorist bomber often
| carrying one of the round black bombs.
|
| This was basically ridiculing the bombers that had been in the
| news terrorizing them.
|
| Both were enjoyed by American kids as much as domestic
| cartoons, even though they were basically like silent movies,
| intentionally featuring no actual dialog, intended for
| international consumption without need for translation.
|
| All the American villians had the same kind of bombs anyway.
| beardyw wrote:
| My first job was in an office which got quite regular bomb
| threats. We would be cleared out and the police would do a sweep.
| Some of the guys were inspired to make mock-up spherical black
| bombs as desk ornaments. Next bomb scare the police were very
| very unamused!
|
| Also just remembering one day we were told to go home at 4:30.
| After some digging we found that the bomb was due to go off at
| 5:00. Showed a lot of faith in the bomb builders!
| pliny wrote:
| Why was your office getting so many bomb threats?
| beardyw wrote:
| Ha. A minor government department. Some folks got the idea we
| were big brother. This was in the 70s. We had one computer
| between 50 or so developers. It had less than 100k memory,
| card input, and all tape to tape. Honestly they were deluded.
| 9dev wrote:
| Which is what someone working for big brother would say, of
| course.
| pell wrote:
| I'd love to hear so much more about how it was to work in
| this kind of environment back then. (Apart from those bomb
| threats.)
| beardyw wrote:
| Off topic, but to summarise: it was (by today's
| standards) so so very slow. One overnight compile per
| developer per day. Programs were on cards which sometimes
| got dropped or jammed. And much more time thinking than
| doing.
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