We came upon an interesting phrase in yesterday’s BLOTT: the “library of last recourse”. In the context of the Boston Public Library, this means “all adult residents of the state are entitled to borrowing and research privileges”.
But it can also have a darker meaning.
A University of Alabama research project uses the phrase in the context of extreme poverty.
“Society tells us that if you are not in a certain income bracket, you must have a character flaw,” Bolland shares off-handedly. “This kind of environment is the place of last recourse. In years of coming here, I’ve seen great kindness from the people who’ve invited me into their homes.”
Not only do I disbelieve in the need for compensation, but I believe that the seeking for rewards and punishments out of this life leads men to a ruinous ignorance of the fact that their inevitable rewards and punishments are here.
Thomas Huxley
It is safer to offend certain men than it is to oblige them; for as proof that they owe nothing they seek recourse in hatred.
Seneca the Younger
The following quote reminds me of a scene in a Robert Heinlein young adult novel. A kid, maybe 13 or 14, is complaining about something, and his father asks him, “If you’re having trouble with this, how will you ever face a firing squad?”
“Wear your best for your execution and stand dignified. Your last recourse against randomness is how you act – if you can’t control outcomes, you can control the elegance of your behaviour. You will always have the last word.”
Picture a not-too-distant dystopian future (not very hard to do), and due to a combination of sun spots, fascist single party minority rule, profound ignorance (of the Jersey Shores / Kardashian / Jordan Peterson variety), the only accessible web site ON THE ENTIRE internet (series of tubes) is wlbott.com.
Humanity has to reconstruct all of society based on the BLOTTs found within.
For reference purposes, those of you reading in the distant future, here are some ideas for rebuilding the world:
This is also partially due to the fact that WLBOTT is the only web site that does a complete daily back-up to punched paper tape. Punched paper tape is an archival medium that is completely resistant to Electromagnetic Pulse. We might be rebuilding from this:
Punched Tape
History Perforated paper tapes were first used by Basile Bouchon in 1725 to control looms.
Modern use In the 21st century, use of punched tape would be very rare, possibly in obsolete military systems or by some hobbyists. In computer numerical control (CNC) machining applications, paper tape is uncommon, but some modern systems still measure the size of stored CNC programs in feet or meters, corresponding to the equivalent length if the data were actually punched on paper tape.
. Pull out the main plug before opening the device!
Cryptography Vernam ciphers were invented in 1917 to encrypt teleprinter communications using a key stored on paper tape. During the last third of the 20th century, the National Security Agency (NSA) used punched paper tape to distribute cryptographic keys. The eight-level paper tapes were distributed under strict accounting controls and read by a fill device, such as the hand held KOI-18, that was temporarily connected to each security device that needed new keys. NSA has been trying to replace this method with a more secure electronic key management system (EKMS), but as of 2016, paper tape was apparently still being employed.
Advantages Punched tape has some advantages:
It is robust. Punched tape can be read decades later, if special paper, or mylar is used. This is not the case of storage relying on magnetism.
The hole pattern can be decoded visually, if necessary. There are special devices that can repair torn tape. Editing is possible with a pair of scissors, and some glue to paste or cut holes.
Punched tape is not influenced by magnetic fields. This is important in an environment full of electronic devices which all need to work properly.
Punched tape is easy to destroy, if made of paper. This is important for cryptography. There is special paper, that is modified so that it burns better.
Dimensions Tape for punching was 0.00394 inches (0.1 mm) thick. The two most common widths were 11/16 inch (17.46 mm) for Baudot, and 1 inch (25.4 mm) for ASCII and other codes with 6 or more bits. Hole spacing was 0.1 inch (2.54 mm) in both directions. Data holes were 0.072 inches (1.83 mm) in diameter, feed holes were 0.046 inches (1.17 mm). Paper tape rolls in both widths are still commercially available as of 2012.
So, let’s go with the top-of-the-line ASCII format (1″ high, 10 columns of 8-bit data per inch.
For example, we will be digitally encoding the following image onto punched paper tape later today. The image represents an important historical archive (and a super-big treat when I was a kid!)
The image is 126,896 bytes. We will not be using parity or error-correcting codes in our archive (we never make mistakes), so the length of tape required to encode this image is
Yesterday’s BLOTT, Never Fear the Gorgonzola (https://www.wlbott.com/?p=10223), was about 55MB on the development site. That included some images that didn’t make the cut.
(We recognize that two items in that last paragraph stretch credulity – that we have a development site, and that we have some criteria for inclusion.)
Yes, you can still buy one – brand new and right out of the box.
Semi-Sequitur: Corporate Christmas Party in Dept. of Punched Paper Tape
Sally the Intern in a festive mood. Reserved for Santa!
And Finally…
The concept of last recourse brought us down a bit. Let’s end by agreeing that so many of the world’s problems could be solved by embracing this simple phrase “Put a little love in your heart.”
