I worked at a research institution in the late 1970s. I helped scientists learn and use computers. They used VT100 terminals connected to a timesharing system running on a PDP-11/70. Many scientists were familiar with computers; many were not.
I got a call asking for help. The scientist was a man in his fifties who had not used computers before. He said "I can't log into my computer when I'm sitting down at my desk. It rejects my password. However, it accepts my password if I type it in while I am standing up. Can you please come fix it so that it will work when I am sitting down, too?
I couldn't believe it at first, but it was true.
How come?
For a HINT, drag mouse from here
vvvvvvvvvvvvvvvv
The scientist had learned to touch-type in the 1950s, and when he read his password to me, it contained the numeral "one."
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
to here.
That's it. When he was standing, he was looking at the keyboard and typed the numeral 1. When he was sitting, he unconsciously touch-typed a lower-case L.
There was a horrible inconsistency with the way people distinguished the letter oh and the numeral zero, too. Outside the computer world, when it was important to be completely clear, the convention was to write the letter as O and write the numeral with a stroke through it, Ø. But in the computer world, the convention was exactly the reverse: the numeral was 0 and the letter was Ø. You can tell an old-time computer guy because they will write the name of a once-well-known computer language as FØRTRAN.
You've almost got it, Nilton. And I'm suddenly a little worried that it might well be a U.S.-centric puzzle.
Look at a picture of the keyboard of a typewriter older than an IBM Selectric. I think you'll get it.
https://drboli.files.wordpress.com/2012/02/royal-quiet-deluxe-01.jpg
It's a good example of how the culture has been changed by computers. When the only purpose of a keyboard is to make marks on paper to be perceived by a human eyeball, all that matters is the shape of the mark, not what keys are used to produce it.
Dan, your hint makes me think that the number "one" of his keyboard was out of place.
I'll keep thinking about it.
hahaha ... who can believe it ??
Real turmoil i've ever heard about technology !
thanks for sharing it :)
