- Welcome to OS-tan Collections.
Recent posts
#51
OS-tan Fan-Fics, Comics and Fan-Stuff / Re: Bella's OS-tan Artwork Thr...
Last post by Bella - October 02, 2025, 11:03:31 PMMan, Mark I DOES look like a Doctor now that you mention it. G15-tan and -kun have very similar fashion tastes I think. Whirlwind-kun would definitely be the idealized 50s dad who's on a bowling league and loves grilling. Possibly on the heat of the thousands of vacuum tubes.
Glad I managed to make guy SAGE look good. I (perhaps incorrectly) mentally picture SAGE-tan having the aura of a wet cat who can blow up the earth, while SAGE-kun feels like a Dr. Strangelove character. I'm better at drawing one than the other.
WAIT. STEWARTSAGE APPROVED SAGE/IBM 728 KISSING???!!!???!!!??!
SCOPE-tan can be "hip" and "with it"! (Much to KRONOS and NOS/VE's protestations.) VMS-tan is definitely in the top five most suffering DEC-tans which is saying a lot.
Glad I managed to make guy SAGE look good. I (perhaps incorrectly) mentally picture SAGE-tan having the aura of a wet cat who can blow up the earth, while SAGE-kun feels like a Dr. Strangelove character. I'm better at drawing one than the other.
Quote from: stewartsage on October 02, 2025, 09:59:47 PM728-tan and SAGE should kiss.
WAIT. STEWARTSAGE APPROVED SAGE/IBM 728 KISSING???!!!???!!!??!
SCOPE-tan can be "hip" and "with it"! (Much to KRONOS and NOS/VE's protestations.) VMS-tan is definitely in the top five most suffering DEC-tans which is saying a lot.
#52
OS-tan Fan-Fics, Comics and Fan-Stuff / Re: Bella's OS-tan Artwork Thr...
Last post by stewartsage - October 02, 2025, 09:59:47 PMMark I looks like a lost 1970s Doctor from Doctor Who. I really like G-15's overalls. Whirlwind-kun looks like he's ready for a really keen bowling tournament, I love it.
SAGE-kun is perfect. FASTRAND-tan has got to have one heck of a laugh. 728-tan and SAGE should kiss.
SCOPE-sama looks great in that outfit tbh. Poor VMS-tan, her lot in life is to suffer the slings and arrows of so many other annoying OS-tans....
Coolant kegger! Wooo!
SAGE-kun is perfect. FASTRAND-tan has got to have one heck of a laugh. 728-tan and SAGE should kiss.
SCOPE-sama looks great in that outfit tbh. Poor VMS-tan, her lot in life is to suffer the slings and arrows of so many other annoying OS-tans....
Coolant kegger! Wooo!
#53
OS-tan Talk / Re: More IBM-tans III: The One...
Last post by stewartsage - October 02, 2025, 09:55:19 PMQuote from: Bella on September 25, 2025, 09:09:40 PMUnfortunately I think the characterizations are going to get exponentially hard with Mks. II - IV. The documentation really falls off a cliff (unsurprising, knowing what I've learned about the isolation of Harvard's early CS program).
Well, I appreciate you making the effort for the rest of the Harvards anyway down the way.
Quote from: Bella on September 25, 2025, 09:09:40 PMGENIAC-chan deserves all the friends. Moreso when it's a big doll girl to look up to. I think Mk. I-tan would be a good role model and GENIAC-chan would help remind Mk. I-tan to have fun.
Is there much IRL reason for Mk. I & Whirlwind to be friends? Not really (besides MITs computer program being the only one Harvard paid much attention to, allegedly), but I'm charmed by the idea of them being fascinated with each other as reflections of who they could have been. Whirlwind-tan, if she'd lived up to her original design as a mechanical computer, and Mk. 1-tan, if fate has aligned in a way where her creator has pursued electronics instead. I do think both are grateful that the didn't turn out like the other, but feel a connection in that sense.
Big Doll! Very important to have a role model that's so totally confident like Mk. I. As for Whirlwind, if she's going to interact with GENIAC-tan, I figure it makes story sense for them to also be friends.
#54
Forum Feedback and Administration / Re: Site Updates
Last post by Goujer - October 01, 2025, 01:05:18 PMForum has been updated to latest version.
Also our email service has decided to no longer provide free email to us, so all emailing will be down across the site until I can get that sorted.
Update: Email is slowly being re-implemented locally so we don't need to pay anyone for it.
Update 2: My ISP blocks port 25 (the email port) but we might be able to work it on a different port.
Also our email service has decided to no longer provide free email to us, so all emailing will be down across the site until I can get that sorted.
Update: Email is slowly being re-implemented locally so we don't need to pay anyone for it.
Update 2: My ISP blocks port 25 (the email port) but we might be able to work it on a different port.
#55
OS-tan Fan-Fics, Comics and Fan-Stuff / Re: Bella's OS-tan Artwork Thr...
Last post by Bella - September 30, 2025, 11:54:55 AM
R63 OS-tans/kuns! With notes from my tumblr post:
QuoteHarvard Mk. 1-kun was requested by Halian. Like his distaff counterpart, his style is victorian but constructed from 1940s contemporary pieces.
Whirlwind-kun favors 1940s casual / athletic-wear - bowling or sport shirts in checker or other bright patterns, slacks and practical shoes.
SAGE-kun bears more than a passing resemblance to Whirlwind, though he is shorter and heavier-built, and is rarely seen outside uniform (or was, when he was on duty).
True to his nature as a "husky" boy Bendix G15-kun is a bit scruffy and has thick, long gray hair.
Like her guy counterpart, Selectric-tan dresses in 1960s contemporary officewear in a variety of stylish colors, and makeup/nail polish to match.
FASTRAND-tan's hair pushes the bounds of regulation, as well as her already tall stature. I imagine her boisterousness surpasses her -kun counterpart, especially toward SAGE-kun.
IBM 728-tan is somewhat slight with short gray hair. She looks a lot like SAGE-tan in the non-genderflipped universe.
Foxgirl Linux-tan, Unix-tan grisping VMS-tan gentle like shark, mod SCOPE-tan, and Multics-tan and MTS-tan drinking games (with industrial coolant since they're both massive mainframes), with bonus! MTS-Multics snuggles. :3
#56
OS-tan Talk / Re: More IBM-tans III: The One...
Last post by Bella - September 25, 2025, 09:09:40 PMQuote from: stewartsage on September 21, 2025, 11:44:04 PMHooray, Mark I! Long overdue I think, the whole Harvard line. Probably because they were ultimately kind of a dead end, but a very impressive one.
Unfortunately I think the characterizations are going to get exponentially hard with Mks. II - IV. The documentation really falls off a cliff (unsurprising, knowing what I've learned about the isolation of Harvard's early CS program).
QuoteI'm glad GENIAC-chan has another, much closer, big mechanical sister to look up to! And another friend for Whirlwind! The era's really starting to get crowded.
GENIAC-chan deserves all the friends. Moreso when it's a big doll girl to look up to. I think Mk. I-tan would be a good role model and GENIAC-chan would help remind Mk. I-tan to have fun.
Is there much IRL reason for Mk. I & Whirlwind to be friends? Not really (besides MITs computer program being the only one Harvard paid much attention to, allegedly), but I'm charmed by the idea of them being fascinated with each other as reflections of who they could have been. Whirlwind-tan, if she'd lived up to her original design as a mechanical computer, and Mk. 1-tan, if fate has aligned in a way where her creator has pursued electronics instead. I do think both are grateful that the didn't turn out like the other, but feel a connection in that sense.
Also, they were two of the only local computers for awhile (with Mk. II & III moving away quite young.)
QuoteI didn't know her printer was that good, or she was originally intended for astronomical use.
Had to look up the quote myself because I couldn't remember -
Quote from: Campbell, Makin Numbers, pg 36The reason for the 23-decimal-digit precision is not generally known. I once queried Aiken on this point, and he replied that it had been planned to utilize the calculator to recompute the orbits of all the major planets in the solar system, and that a precision of 23 digits was judged to be necessary for this task. As it turned out, however, the machine was never used for this purpose.
#57
OS-tan Talk / Re: More IBM-tans III: The One...
Last post by stewartsage - September 21, 2025, 11:44:04 PMHooray, Mark I! Long overdue I think, the whole Harvard line. Probably because they were ultimately kind of a dead end, but a very impressive one.
Her clothing in the other thread really fits the ideas you laid out.
I'm glad GENIAC-chan has another, much closer, big mechanical sister to look up to! And another friend for Whirlwind! The era's really starting to get crowded.
Did any institution keep a good relationship with a manufacturer long-term?
I didn't know her printer was that good, or she was originally intended for astronomical use.
Her clothing in the other thread really fits the ideas you laid out.
I'm glad GENIAC-chan has another, much closer, big mechanical sister to look up to! And another friend for Whirlwind! The era's really starting to get crowded.
Did any institution keep a good relationship with a manufacturer long-term?
I didn't know her printer was that good, or she was originally intended for astronomical use.
#58
OS-tan Fan-Fics, Comics and Fan-Stuff / Re: Bella's OS-tan Artwork Thr...
Last post by stewartsage - September 21, 2025, 11:40:08 PMI love her dress! The metal limbs are very distinct. And I vote for back key.
#59
OS-tan Fan-Fics, Comics and Fan-Stuff / Re: Bella's OS-tan Artwork Thr...
Last post by Bella - September 21, 2025, 08:46:48 PM
Double posting for Harvard Mark I-tan, whose bio can be found in More IBM-tans III: The One With Actually More IBM-tans
#60
OS-tan Talk / Re: More IBM-tans III: The One...
Last post by Bella - September 21, 2025, 08:46:26 PMACTUAL IBM-TAN ALERT!!!
Pic here
Harvard Mark I-tan a.k.a. Automatic Sequence Controlled Calculator (ASCC) a.k.a. "Bessy, the Bessel Engine"
- Slow overall, especially in speech
- 3 hertz clock speed
- Old fashioned even for a computer of her era
- Debuted shortly before the rise of electronic computers
- Fondness for the Victorian era
- Modern continuation of ideas first explored in the Difference & Analytical Engines.
- Likes textile crafts
- See above, Jacquard Loom heritage.
- Could be said to "not fit in", but thinks of herself as standing out.
- Aiken confident about mechanical computers, not much hand-wringing about not competing with electronic machines.
- "Clockwork"-style automaton operated by crank
- Electro-mechanical, powered by a driveshaft.
- Fussy about appearance
- IBM insisted upon an aesthetic case for the machine.
- Owing her New York/Bostonian/"Victorian English" heritage, has a pronounced transatlantic accent.
- Combined with her cadence she definitely "talks oddly"
- Divorced from her IBM heritage, does not like to talk about it
- IBM - Aiken falling out.
- Trained in astronomy, but never used her skills
- Word length chosen for astronomical calculations, never used.
- Trouble making decisions, got better with it over time
- No branching logic, originally.
- Meticulous with detail and planning
- Programs had to be painstakingly prepared and checked before execution.
- Expert penmanship
- Extremely good printing capabilities.
- Helped on the A-bomb.
- Ran calculations for Los Alamos.
Status: ... prooooobably dead? (Has been broken into multiple pieces, though large portions of it remain remarkably intact.)
Relationships:
- Eldest of her sisters.
- Gets along well with Harvard Marks II & III
- Mks. II & III based on Mk. I
- Largely ignores her youngest sister, Mk. IV.
- Lone electronic computer in the lineup.
- Estranged cousin to SSEC-tan
- Built by IBM after the falling out with Aiken.
- Maintains a friendship with Whirlwind-tan despite their differences.
- Contemporaries as the first computers in Cambridge.
- Charmed by the smaller and simpler mechanical computer GENIAC-chan.
- Has something to say about the Bell Labs Relay Calculators, but they haven't been personified (...yet!)
Appearance & Personality:
- Average height, red-brown hair tied into two buns at the sides of her face a la Ada Lovelace, pale skin, light green eyes. Exposed metal (silver/bronze) frame on her lower legs and arms. Chest encased in glass revealing clockwork mechanisms inside.
- Has a windup-key. (Head or back, undecided.)
- Dresses in 1940s era clothing refashioned in the shape of Victorian-era garb, colorways tending toward light green, cream and bronze. Pearl necklace with one sapphire bead. Paper tape headbands and florettes, and wide paper tape ribbon on her bustle.
- Antiquated in an elevated, almost regal way. Demanding of her servants, smug about her way of doing things. Indecisiveness combined with her other quirks makes her come off as a bit spacey, in reality extremely detail-oriented and obsessive. Moves at her own pace, unbothered. Doesn't seem to care much about electronic computers, very secure in herself, no sense of inferiority even if she's not as fast or powerful as some of her contemporaries.
- Not contemplative (or ruminative) like ENIAC-sama about the nature of computers, her place in the world or legacy. Just happy to be here doing what she does best!
Pic here
Harvard Mark I-tan a.k.a. Automatic Sequence Controlled Calculator (ASCC) a.k.a. "Bessy, the Bessel Engine"
- Slow overall, especially in speech
- 3 hertz clock speed
- Old fashioned even for a computer of her era
- Debuted shortly before the rise of electronic computers
- Fondness for the Victorian era
- Modern continuation of ideas first explored in the Difference & Analytical Engines.
- Likes textile crafts
- See above, Jacquard Loom heritage.
- Could be said to "not fit in", but thinks of herself as standing out.
- Aiken confident about mechanical computers, not much hand-wringing about not competing with electronic machines.
- "Clockwork"-style automaton operated by crank
- Electro-mechanical, powered by a driveshaft.
- Fussy about appearance
- IBM insisted upon an aesthetic case for the machine.
- Owing her New York/Bostonian/"Victorian English" heritage, has a pronounced transatlantic accent.
- Combined with her cadence she definitely "talks oddly"
- Divorced from her IBM heritage, does not like to talk about it
- IBM - Aiken falling out.
- Trained in astronomy, but never used her skills
- Word length chosen for astronomical calculations, never used.
- Trouble making decisions, got better with it over time
- No branching logic, originally.
- Meticulous with detail and planning
- Programs had to be painstakingly prepared and checked before execution.
- Expert penmanship
- Extremely good printing capabilities.
- Helped on the A-bomb.
- Ran calculations for Los Alamos.
Status: ... prooooobably dead? (Has been broken into multiple pieces, though large portions of it remain remarkably intact.)
Relationships:
- Eldest of her sisters.
- Gets along well with Harvard Marks II & III
- Mks. II & III based on Mk. I
- Largely ignores her youngest sister, Mk. IV.
- Lone electronic computer in the lineup.
- Estranged cousin to SSEC-tan
- Built by IBM after the falling out with Aiken.
- Maintains a friendship with Whirlwind-tan despite their differences.
- Contemporaries as the first computers in Cambridge.
- Charmed by the smaller and simpler mechanical computer GENIAC-chan.
- Has something to say about the Bell Labs Relay Calculators, but they haven't been personified (...yet!)
Appearance & Personality:
- Average height, red-brown hair tied into two buns at the sides of her face a la Ada Lovelace, pale skin, light green eyes. Exposed metal (silver/bronze) frame on her lower legs and arms. Chest encased in glass revealing clockwork mechanisms inside.
- Has a windup-key. (Head or back, undecided.)
- Dresses in 1940s era clothing refashioned in the shape of Victorian-era garb, colorways tending toward light green, cream and bronze. Pearl necklace with one sapphire bead. Paper tape headbands and florettes, and wide paper tape ribbon on her bustle.
- Antiquated in an elevated, almost regal way. Demanding of her servants, smug about her way of doing things. Indecisiveness combined with her other quirks makes her come off as a bit spacey, in reality extremely detail-oriented and obsessive. Moves at her own pace, unbothered. Doesn't seem to care much about electronic computers, very secure in herself, no sense of inferiority even if she's not as fast or powerful as some of her contemporaries.
- Not contemplative (or ruminative) like ENIAC-sama about the nature of computers, her place in the world or legacy. Just happy to be here doing what she does best!