This grew out of off-list correspondence about the card punch I'd mentioned on here recently; I thought it might amuse some folks or just possibly even be interesting: ----- Original Message ----- ---------- ----------------- Hi Kyle, I wasn't entirely serious about the mag card readers, but it's not a totally ridiculous idea either. They're sort of like a linear floppy disk: Imagine a credit card reader like the one at your local ATM that sucks in the card and spits it out, but the card is the size and shape of an 80 column punched card but made from more or less the same material as a floppy disk. The tracks are straight and lengthwise instead of concentric and they're read the same way as your credit card, with a stepper mechanism to select a specific track across the width (height?) of the card either under computer control or manually (note the < and > buttons on the front). Remove the track-select stepper mechanism, add a light source and an array of 12 photo sensors (or a mechanical contact of some sort) and you've got a one-at-a-time card reader; it's even already got a couple of photo sensors ;-) As usual with the old stuff (and most of the 'real' punched card readers) the feed rollers look a little rough, although it looks like you could probably make new ones out of wood or plastic and just put a rubber band around them. Pity I'm getting rid of the punch or I might actually try it myself for a lark. EPCs are really just punched cards of various sizes but instead of using the whole area of the card the data is punched along the bottom edge just like paper tape; they're usually read by normal PPT readers that have a special guide for the card. Pictures of the mag card reader here: http://s1056.photobucket.com/user/dm561/library/?view=recent&page=1