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#typesetting#linotron202#phototypesetting

Typesetters in the '80s - Computerphile

Computerphile

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  • Recommended by 1 person: 1 on Hacker News.
  • Presented by Professor Brailsford, University of Nottingham

Beginner. No background in the topic needed.

105K views12 years ago1 recommendation

History and cultureGraphics and audioHistory of computingRendering

Professor Brailsford recounts how the University of Nottingham hacked a Mergenthaler Linotron 202 phototypesetter to print mathematics exam papers.

If you thought mathematics exams were difficult, you should try printing them out! - Professor Brailsford takes us through Nottingham University's path to printing their own papers. The Great 202 Jailbreak: youtube.com/watch?v=CVxeuwlvf8w Democratisation of Fonts: COMING SOON! Maxwell's Equations Poster: eprg.org/computerphile/godsaid.pdf Nottingham Typesetting Implementation: eprg.org/computerphile/newprotext.pdf facebook.com/computerphile twitter.com/computer_phile This video was filmed and edited by Sean Riley. Computer Science at the University of Nottingham: bit.ly/nottscomputer Computerphile is a sister project to Brady Haran's Numberphile. See the full list of Brady's video projects at: bit.ly/bradychannels

Why it's here

1 person recommends this

What people say. Recommended as an entertaining historical anecdote about hardware control and early digital typesetting.

ATschon Hacker News • Recommends

On “Experience with the Mergenthaler Linotron 202 Phototypesetter (1980) [pdf]”

Computerphile interviewed one of the writers of this paper in a series of videos, who explained the brilliant and exiting history of this paper and its recreation, as well as the history of Phototypesetters. 1. link 2. link to this video 3. link
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theohon Hacker News • Mentions

On “A glitch in the human psyche that equates repetition with truth”

I've never seen Stallman speak, but that sounds like a similar situation to this anecdote from Nottingham in the 80s: link to this video It's a somewhat tedious story but it's all about the freedom to control your own hardware.
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leocon Hacker News • Mentions

On “The Birth of Unix with Brian Kernighan”

0:16:40 For those who haven't seen it before, there's a Computerphile video link (related video: link to this video ) about the hacking of the typesetting machine, a Mergenthaler Linotron 202. 0:24:31 The photo must be the one at link (probably the webpage, on Dennis Ritchie's old website, that made it famous recently).
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