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This Page is Intentionally Left Blank 2806Obsolete phrases 2808 I've programmed about fifty lines of COBOL in my entire career. But as it happens, I... That's Procrustus. I heard the short-short version that he had ONE bed: if you were too short, you were stretched to fit; if you were too long, you were cut short to fit. It's the grossest exaggeration of "one size for all solutions", a crime of which many computer hardware & software makers are guilty. Here's a slightly different version Next he met a man whose legs had been chopped off at the knees. He was weak for he had lost a lot of blood and could barely speak to Theseus. "If you're going in that direction, beware of Poseidon's son Procrustus. He acts like the hospitable sort and will offer a bed to the weary traveler. But that is his trick, for he has two beds, one long and one short. If you are tall, he makes you sleep on the short one, then he ties you to it and cuts off your legs to fit the bed. That is what he did to me. But if you're short, he'll tie you to the long bed and hang anvils from your legs to stretch them to match the bed. He's a cruel and contrary man." This Page is Intentionally Left Blank 2807 David Scheidt Something like this was done with early "high density" computer storage. Magnetic cards would be filed together in a bin and each card in the bin... Thus all the clothing "one size fits all", or the newer phrase "one size fits most". -- -- mejeep deMeep ferret!
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This Page is Intentionally Left Blank 2807 Alt Folklore Computers from Newsgroups The #1 Usenet Provider on the Internet
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