Bucky bits

bucky bits
 /buh'kee bits/, n.

   1. [obs.] The bits produced by the CONTROL and META shift keys on a
   SAIL keyboard (octal 200 and 400 respectively), resulting in a 9-bit
   keyboard character set. The MIT AI TV (Knight) keyboards extended this
   with TOP and separate left and right CONTROL and META keys, resulting
   in a 12-bit character set; later, LISP Machines added such keys as
   SUPER, HYPER, and GREEK (see {space-cadet keyboard}).

   2. By extension, bits associated with `extra' shift keys on any
   keyboard, e.g., the ALT on an IBM PC or command and option keys on a
   Macintosh.

   It has long been rumored that bucky bits were named for Buckminster
   Fuller during a period when he was consulting at Stanford. Actually,
   bucky bits were invented by Niklaus Wirth when he was at Stanford in
   1964--65; he first suggested the idea of an EDIT key to set the 8th
   bit of an otherwise 7-bit ASCII character). It seems that, unknown to
   Wirth, certain Stanford hackers had privately nicknamed him `Bucky'
   after a prominent portion of his dental anatomy, and this nickname
   transferred to the bit. Bucky-bit commands were used in a number of
   editors written at Stanford, including most notably TV-EDIT and NLS.

   The term spread to MIT and CMU early and is now in general use.
   Ironically, Wirth himself remained unaware of its derivation for
   nearly 30 years, until GLS dug up this history in early 1993! See
   {double bucky}, {quadruple bucky}.
    

bucky bits

   /buh'kee bits/ 1. Obsolete.  The bits produced by the CONTROL
   and META shift keys on a SAIL keyboard ({octal} 200 and 400
   respectively), resulting in a 9-bit keyboard character set.
   The MIT AI TV (Knight) keyboards extended this with TOP and
   separate left and right CONTROL and META keys, resulting in a
   12-bit character set; later, LISP Machines added such keys as
   SUPER, HYPER, and GREEK (see {space-cadet keyboard}).

   2. By extension, bits associated with "extra" shift keys on
   any keyboard, e.g.  the ALT on an IBM PC or command and option
   keys on a Macintosh.

   It has long been rumored that "bucky bits" were named after
   Buckminster Fuller during a period when he was consulting at
   Stanford.  Actually, bucky bits were invented by Niklaus Wirth
   when *he* was at Stanford in 1964--65; he first suggested the
   idea of an EDIT key to set the 8th bit of an otherwise 7 bit
   ASCII character.  It seems that, unknown to Wirth, certain
   Stanford hackers had privately nicknamed him "Bucky" after a
   prominent portion of his dental anatomy, and this nickname
   transferred to the bit.  Bucky-bit commands were used in a
   number of editors written at Stanford, including most notably
   TV-EDIT and NLS.

   The term spread to MIT and CMU early and is now in general
   use.  Ironically, Wirth himself remained unaware of its
   derivation for nearly 30 years, until {GLS} dug up this
   history in early 1993!  See {double bucky}, {quadruple bucky}.

   (2001-06-22)