this post was submitted on 08 Jun 2024
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Programmer Humor

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Punch cards ftw (i.imgflip.com)
submitted 5 months ago* (last edited 5 months ago) by perishthethought@lemm.ee to c/programmerhumor@lemmy.ml
 

Fun fact I found in a game...

Chip Defense (A tower defense game with a microprocessor theme)

https://f-droid.org/packages/de.chadenas.cpudefense/

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[–] CountVon@sh.itjust.works 48 points 5 months ago* (last edited 5 months ago) (5 children)

One of my grandfathers worked for a telephone company before he passed. That man was an absolute pack rat, he wouldn't throw anything away. So naturally he had boxes and boxes of punch cards in this basement. I guess they were being thrown out when his employer upgraded to machines that didn't need punch cards, so he snagged those to use as note paper. I will say, they were great for taking notes. Nice sturdy card stock, and the perfect dimensions for making a shopping list or the like.

[–] perishthethought@lemm.ee 12 points 5 months ago

Maybe he was born during the Depression or soon after

[–] xmunk@sh.itjust.works 8 points 5 months ago

My dad converted old assembly programs into Cobol for spending money in uni - his textbooks were full of cast offs.

[–] grysbok@lemmy.sdf.org 4 points 5 months ago* (last edited 5 months ago)

Makes sense. I'm a librarian and we still use cards from the old card catalog for notes.

[–] mercano@lemmy.world 3 points 5 months ago

We used unused punchcards to make flashcards in elementary school in the late 80’s / early 90’s. I guess the county bought a bunch and had to find another use.

And now I realize the primary definition of flashcard has changed since then, from study aid to digital storage.

[–] JayleneSlide@lemmy.world 1 points 4 months ago

Punch card stock makes amazing paper airplanes, both individually and laminated into larger stock.