Paper data storage refers to the use of paper as a data storage device.
This includes writing, illustrating, and the use of data that can be interpreted by a machine or is the result of the functioning of a machine.
Punched Cards
Punched cards would encode alphanumeric characters vertically, the IBM 12-row/80-column punched card format came to dominate the industry. It encoded 960 bits of memory. Find an example here.
Hex Codes
You can get 3.5 kilobytes per A4 page (font size 12pt, font Inconsolata) and OCR it with gocr at 400DPI.
| 24x24 ICN Sprite | |
|---|---|
 |
0003 6331 397b 77f8 c0f0 f7ff fff0 8003 1c7e feff 0f07 078e f860 0c07 0300 301f 071f 7cf8 f007 7fff dcc0 c000 70f8 f8b0 0f07 4143 677f 7f3e ffe3 87cf cfcf 8703 84c4 8406 0efe fcf8 |
MICR
E-13B is a magnetic ink character recognition(MICR) code of 14 character, comprising the 10 decimal digits. Westminster is a printing and display typeface inspired by the machine-readable numbers printed on cheques. It's akin to encoding QR code in typography.
Hamiltonian Cards
The Hamiltonian Cards are generative coloring puzzles where on follows the instructions to reveal their messages. They consist in a grid of squares, each with an arrow of either two types, pointing to another square in a type of sequence called Hamiltonian Path.
Following the path of arrows and coloring each cell that you encounter you will color the whole grid and reveal the hidden picture.
