EBCDIC /eb's*-dik/, /eb'see`dik/, or /eb'k*-dik/ n.
[abbreviation, Extended Binary Coded Decimal Interchange Code] An
alleged character set used on IBM dinosaurs. It exists in at
least six mutually incompatible versions, all featuring such
delights as non-contiguous letter sequences and the absence of
several ASCII punctuation characters fairly important for modern
computer languages (exactly which characters are absent varies
according to which version of EBCDIC you're looking at). IBM
adapted EBCDIC from punched card code in the early 1960s and
promulgated it as a customer-control tactic (see connector conspiracy), spurning
Today, IBM claims to be an open-systems company, but IBM's own
description of the EBCDIC variants and how to convert between them
is still internally classified top-secret, burn-before-reading.
Hackers blanch at the very name of EBCDIC and consider it a
manifestation of purest evil. See also fear and loathing
[abbreviation, Extended Binary Coded Decimal Interchange Code] An
alleged character set used on IBM dinosaurs. It exists in at
least six mutually incompatible versions, all featuring such
delights as non-contiguous letter sequences and the absence of
several ASCII punctuation characters fairly important for modern
computer languages (exactly which characters are absent varies
according to which version of EBCDIC you're looking at). IBM
adapted EBCDIC from punched card code in the early 1960s and
promulgated it as a customer-control tactic (see connector conspiracy), spurning
Today, IBM claims to be an open-systems company, but IBM's own
description of the EBCDIC variants and how to convert between them
is still internally classified top-secret, burn-before-reading.
Hackers blanch at the very name of EBCDIC and consider it a
manifestation of purest evil. See also fear and loathing
Related:
- EBCDIC:: /eb's*-dik/, /eb'see`dik/, or /eb'k*-dik/ [abbreviation,
Extended Binary Coded Decimal Interchange Code] n.... - ASCII /as'kee/ n.
[originally an acronym (American
Standard Code for Information Interchange) but now merely
conventional] The predominant character set encoding of present-day
computers.
The standard version uses 7 bits for each character... - Computers do it in ASCII,
except IBM's which use EBCDIC... - BITNET: /bit'net/ [acronym: Because It's Time NETwork] n.
Everybody's least favorite piece of the network (see... - golf-ball printer: n. The IBM 2741, a slow but letter-quality
printing device and terminal based on the IBM Selectric
typewriter.
The `golf ball' was a little spherical frob bearing... - fear and loathing n.
[from Hunter S. Thompson] A state
inspired by the prospect of dealing with certain real-world systems
and standards that are totally brain-damaged but ubiquitous
-
Intel 8086s, or COBOL, or EBCDIC, or any... - BITNET /bit'net/ n., obs.
[acronym: Because It's Time
NETwork] Everybody's least favorite piece of the network (see
the network) -
until AOL happened. The BITNET hosts were a collection... - ANSI /an'see/
1. n. [techspeak] The American National
Standards Institute.
ANSI, along with the International Organization ... - IBM /I-B-M/
Inferior But Marketable; It's Better
Manually;
Insidious Black Magic; It's Been Malfunctioning; ...
