Dangerous Hardware 2483

'Tris Orendorff' wrote, in part: Does anyone else have a dangerous hardware story?

I have a story not about a dangerous computer, but rather a computer in a dangerous place.

In the mid '60s the US Army had an IBM 1401 running in an air-conditioned trailer in Vietnam. Word was that it was hijacked by the Viet Cong. I have no verification of the exploit, just a story I heard while working during the time at an army data center.

Phil Weldon

When I was in high-school there was a Univac 9200 that we were trying to get running again. It was a modular system with the printer, CPU and front panel all in the same case. See pic. at: The printer was unique, using an oscillating-type bar instead of the drums that had been used in the mid-60s and ran at speeds up to 300 lines per minute. This bar really whipped back and forth and seemed to be held down by a few small rivets only. Either an accident happened or was anticipated because there was an armoured plate attached to the left side of the printer case to prevent the print bar from leaving the computer and penetrating whatever was in its path, much like a crossbow bolt. We never got it running, everything mechanical was failing: printer solnoids, circuit breakers and the card reader. The front panel and CPU seemed to be okay, according to our test programs. Does anyone else have a dangerous hardware story? -- Sincerely, Tris Orendorff Two antennae meet on a roof, fall in love and get married. The ceremony wasn't much, but the reception was excellent.