[rescue] Sun 3's Tape Drives and Mac Mini's

Mike Meredith very at zonky.org
Thu Jun 21 01:22:58 CDT 2007


On Wed, 20 Jun 2007 14:56:14 -0700, Sheldon T. Hall wrote:
> Saith Walter Belgers ...
> 
> > Another thing to watch out for is tapes that won't turn properly.
> > In a QIC tape, there some kind of belt that is wound through a few 
> > 'thingys' (sorry, not a native English speaker :) that will lead
> > the tape itself.
> 
> I'm a sorry native English speaker, and I call 'em "thingies," too.

Thingies is a fine word, and I'm happy to call almost anything a
thingy ... especially early in the morning when a caffeine deficiency
is causing word retrieval problems.

However the tape thingy in question is I believe a capstan (or
capstans). 

If one were to hold a tape cartridge in a vertical orientation and to
start using the tape itself as a lifting mechanism, it would be called
a pulley although the thingies in question would themselves be called
sheaves.



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