Relay-Version: version B 2.10 5/3/83; site utzoo.UUCP Path: utzoo!linus!philabs!seismo!harpo!eagle!jpl From: jpl@eagle.UUCP Newsgroups: net.nlang Subject: Re: Another useless bit of info Message-ID: <1038@eagle.UUCP> Date: Fri, 15-Jul-83 08:56:04 EDT Article-I.D.: eagle.1038 Posted: Fri Jul 15 08:56:04 1983 Date-Received: Fri, 15-Jul-83 18:38:20 EDT References: ihuxw.421 Lines: 18 The mere mention of chad has triggered a release of nostalgia hormones. (Perhaps there should be a net.nostalgia for those of us who programmed our first machines using little jumper wires.) The office where I worked at school used to produce registration and enrollment cards for the registrar. A few thousand students enrolling in a few courses each produces a non-negligible quantity of chad. I remember noticing a light on the card reader/punch that I had never seen before. I think it said ``chad hopper full'' but the years have dimmed my memory. When I opened the front of the machine, I found an enormous pail of multicolored chad resting on a scale arrangement that had triggered the light. It seems like there should be a good use for 25 pounds of chad, but we discovered that it makes terrible confetti (the corners are very sharp, so the effect is like throwing razor blades) and we gave up on papier-mache after three days of soaking because the chad never softened up. Anyone ever put chad to good use? (I have some stories about patching object decks with it, but they'll have to wait.) John P. Linderman eagle!jpl Department of Antiquities