EIGHTY-COLUMN MIND
\ˈe͡ɪtikˈɒlʌm mˈa͡ɪnd], \ˈeɪtikˈɒlʌm mˈaɪnd], \ˈeɪ_t_i_k_ˈɒ_l_ʌ_m m_ˈaɪ_n_d]\
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The sort said to be possessed by persons for whom thetransition from punched card to paper tape was traumatic(nobody has dared tell them about disks yet). It is said thatthese people, including (according to an old joke) the founderof IBM, will be buried "face down, 9-edge first" (the 9-edgebeing the bottom of the card). This directive is inscribed onIBM's 1402 and 1622 card readers and is referenced in a famousbit of doggerel called "The Last Bug", the climactic lines ofwhich are as follows: He died at the console Of hunger and thirst. Next day he was buried, Face down, 9-edge first.The eighty-column mind is thought by most hackers todominate IBM's customer base and its thinking.See fear and loathing, card walloper.
By Denis Howe
Word of the day
Platidiam
- An inorganic water-soluble platinum complex. After undergoing hydrolysis, it reacts DNA produce both intra interstrand crosslinks. These crosslinks appear to impair replication and transcription of DNA. The cytotoxicity cisplatin correlates with cellular arrest in G2 phase cell cycle.
Nearby Words
- eightpenny nail
- eightscore
- eightsome
- eightvo
- eighty
- eighty-column mind
- eighty-eight
- eighty-fifth
- eighty-five
- eighty-four
- eighty-nine