Post #2054938
2026-05-03 13:48 UTC
Ancient Romans wrote everything in upper case, and wrote numbers with letters, because they could only use 5-bit encoding due to severe RAM shortages.
Replies (6)
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@Dianora@ottawa.place 2026-05-03 13:50
@deshipu@fosstodon.org I always thought it was because of using Baudot (Murray code) instead of ASCII or Unicode.
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@Jazone@theforkiverse.com 2026-05-03 13:51
@deshipu@fosstodon.org The concept of zero was different during Roman times, considered a non sequitur.
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@suetanvil@freeradical.zone 2026-05-03 13:54
@deshipu@fosstodon.org Also, because their number system lacked zero, they were unable to detect the successful termination of their C programs. (Disclosure: I stole this joke from the fortune file.)
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@flyingsaceur@ioc.exchange 2026-05-03 15:22
@deshipu@fosstodon.org thinking about the RAM shortage in imperial Rome caused by the augurs buying out the entire supply of sheepskin parchment
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@slowtiger@berlin.social 2026-05-03 16:28
@deshipu@fosstodon.org RAM wasn't built in one day.
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@quoidian@mastodon.online 2026-05-03 16:46
@deshipu@fosstodon.org Haruspex caused a RAM shortage.