Roman Numerals

[Lord Kermit of Birkenhead]

Well mine used paper tape !

[Ithoriel]

My first encounter with computers was filling out Data Prep sheets for the operators to transcribe onto punch cards (great for shopping lists!) and I then had to authorise the run by putting my security code, which was on punch tape, into the tape reader.

... I feel so old!!

[d_Guy]

Muh old slipstick with muh new SpaceCorp game:


Warp factors are also logarithmic (I think)

Sinclair-Timex Z8? or, maybe, Trash-80

Learned on punched paper tape - cards made debugging much easier (unless you dropped the whole box on the floor!).

[FierceKitty]

A maths teacher told us an engineer was a man (this was in the 70s, remember) who responded to the question "What is two plus two?" by pulling out a  slide rule, fiddling for a minute, and announcing it was approximately 3.984.

[Leman]

I was told the History students' reply to the professor's good morning was good morning professor.

The  Sociology students' reply would be a mute and confrontational silence.

The Engineering students' response was to write down good morning.

[O Dinas Powys]

I was told the History students' reply to the professor's good morning was good morning professor.

The  Sociology students' reply would be a mute and confrontational silence.

The Engineering students' response was to write down good morning.

In a similar vein:

In interviews, three "numerical professionals" are asked the simple question: what does two plus two equal?

The mathematician answers, "Four." 
"Just four?" replies the interviewer.
"Yes," replies the engineer, "two plus two equals four."

"Four," replies the statistician.
"Just four?" replies the interviewer.
"Yes, four, but with a 10% confidence interval!"

Finally, before saying anything, the accountant walks around the room, closes the blinds, locks the door, looks behind the filing cabinets and under the desk before answering, "Well, that would depend: what would you like it to be?!"

[Ithoriel]

The professor turns to a rather prudish female student and asks,"What part of the human body increases to 10 times it's normal size when excited?"

The student responds,"That's disgusting! I don't have to answer that question!"

The professor says, "I've three things to say to you, young lady... first, you didn't do your assignment on the pupil of the eye; second, you have a dirty mind and third, marriage will be a huge disappointment!"

[jimduncanuk]

First computer I used had programs typed onto punch cards.

They had to be given to computer services and they ran the program. Output was on big sheets of fanfold paper.

There was a time when I could read an 80 column card such as that shown above by just looking at the pattern of holes.

[mmcv]

An engineer, a physicist, and a mathematician are shown a pasture with a herd of sheep, and told to put them inside the smallest possible amount of fence.

The engineer is first. He herds the sheep into a circle and then puts the fence around them, declaring, "A circle will use the least fence for a given area, so this is the best solution."
The physicist is next. He creates a circular fence of infinite radius around the sheep, and then draws the fence tight around the herd, declaring, "This will give the smallest circular fence around the herd."
The mathematician is last. After giving the problem a little thought, he puts a small fence around himself and then declares, "I define myself to be on the outside."