36-bit nerd wars! My favorite sport.
Did I ever tell ya about the time I screwed up a plugboard and overwrote a whole database? All 12 boxes? 
What was it attached to?
Ha! You young punks and your fancy new FORTRAN and COBOL! Back in my day, we programmed in BASIC! And it made me the man I am today!
A computer illiterate whose most advanced programming ability is clearing cookies on his laptop…
I wrote programs in FORTRAN on keypunch cards, mailed them off the the U. of Chicago, then waited 3 weeks to see if my program ran.
An IBM 400-series card reader/puncher. I’ve lost the details.
This was mid 1970s and we had about a half-dozen truly ancient machines for the few applications that had not yet been moved to the mainframe.
Typically these machines would process an input deck, performing computations as it went, and meanwhile punch whatever results onto an output deck of fresh new cards. But there was a path to route the cards from reader to puncher to write data to an existing just-read card. Oops.
36 bit? What kind of fancy processors did you have?
Sounds like a 407.
I took a service call on one early in my career. I was eagerly trouble shooting when an old timer walked by and said “just unplug it and plug it back in”. So much for all the time I spent in school.
Wait - are you me?
In 1957 the IBM 704 was 36 bits single precision and 72 bits extended.
Your touching concern for protecting the anti-Semitic troll from disparagement is noted.
Somebody said cookies, I believe.
Got milk?
Oh yeah, we had an IBM 705 that was a variable word length BCD machine. Any word length you needed.
There were some timing issues with those things where once in awhile one cam or shaft lock or whatever wouldn’t quite release before the next one engaged. Now you had a mechanical deadlock, with some solenoid somewhere deep in the bowels holding the deadlock in place. And the machine would halt with a scary-sounding shudder.
Just like today a “reboot” = power cycle would usually cause everything to relax back to a stable unjammed state. Usually. It was certainly the first thing to try before calling your friendly FE for a visit.
Ahh the memories.
Correct me if I’m wrong, but Crane compared Israel to the Waffen SS. Why are people casually engaging with him about old computer stuff here?
Because his addled old man schtick wins hearts and minds?
Because until he’s banned he still a member?
You can certainly have your own personal blackball list. Just don’t try to foist it onto others.
The issue was resolved with the Mods. If there is something remaining, take it up with them.
No, @DocCathode is correct. The pit is the correct Place to call you a braindead antisemitic troll, no mods involved.
OK, be of good cheer.
Maybe he did work debugging the Enigma machine for the Wehrmacht… 