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© 2016 AFPU.S. nuclear force still using 1970s floppy disks
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© 2016 AFP
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SenseNotSoCommon
Wow. Somebody on the planet wasn't duped over Y2K?
SuperLib
We will tackle this right after the bathroom issues are cleared up.
scoobydoo
Theres a good chance that the PC will crash and not initiate dooms day, alternatively they could update the whole thing and in one mistaken line of code one graduate programmer could destroy the planet thinking he was playing space invaders. Anyway, its a good thing that the nuclear proliferation thing is doing its job and we no longer have nukes, OHH thats right, they just said they still had a system running.
Serrano
“This system remains in use because, in short, it still works,”
I actually applaud the government for this.
"Wow. Somebody on the planet wasn't duped over Y2K?"
Ha ha, I had almost an entire 747 to myself on a Dec. 31, 1999 - Jan.1, 2000 flight!
badsey3
You really need to be careful with 8" floppies since they can flex really easily and ruin the data or disk. As a positive -very few young hackers can program in this older stuff -much less antiquated assembly code.
toshiko
floppy they must be using old desk top computer. It was Replaced by 3 & 1/4 inch diskettes Sony creation, 2 k bytes I recall. They can be still using mouse, too.
badsey3
In all honestly the reel tape drives (large) ones were better than the 8" floppy. 5 1/4" 3.5"
-probably still using punch cards for input --and I respect that decision. Why throw away something that works well?
toshiko
My guess is that the software is created by either MSBASIC of FORTRAN and they are using compiled codes. No one updated source program. They might be still using IBM360 or 370 Mict Foslft created AuickBASIC system series but using floppy indicates they are using original a.exe files. You can guess how they are doing by old batman episodes' computer in bat cave. It was a long time ago but floppy could save 2k bytes. Nowadays.youndon't need floppy. Flash drive can save plenty.
Such as several giva bytes.
MarkG
err.....what are floppy discs?
The fed efficiency shines again!
toshiko
Floppy disk looks like your blue ray or de movie disk. They saved data. And your program.
BTW, nobody says assembly language code. When younwannt to run program, either run or select to create executable codes. I think Treasury dept meant .exe files. They musty be working with DOS or OS installed computer. There was no window then. Comparing what they say, we all use billion dollars computer. Computer they use was heavy.