Paper tape. Magnetic tape. A streaming, “tickety-tack” noise of spool-fed paper spitting out new message after new message, commonly as many as 1,000 in an eight-hour shift.

The year was 1990, and much like my life now, I was spending my time in front of a computer, albeit the circumstances were a bit different. The locale was Okinawa, Japan, the organization was the Marine Corps and the temperature in the room was in the 50s – a fact that was probably puzzling to the Marines and Okinawans sweating profusely in the tropical temperatures outside. Back then, computer equipment was kept at freezer-like temperatures to improve reliability, or at least that was the prevailing thought.

And the computer was the rather large RIXT, which if I remember correctly, stood for the Remote Information Exchange Terminal. In fact, I’m realizing that my current desk takes up about the same space in my office as the RIXT did, although my iMac only takes up about one-eighth of the space.

Understand this about the Marine Corps: Take the hill, even if you’re outnumbered or outgunned.

This seemed to be the same theory at play at the time when we used the RIXT to deliver classified messages to and from military bases throughout the world. Think “fax machine” only morphed to Incredible Hulk proportions.

The RIXT was probably outdated the day the Marine Corps bought them, although they would have been suitable in the Vietnam era. But a generation later, there it sat in front of me, as I sat puzzled by the instruction manual and realizing our lifeline – a technician named Bruce – would be one I would likely reach for in the coming months.

Flash forward to the present and my how things have changed.

First of all, it was freezing – outside – last night in Central Texas. Secondly, the Pflag is undergoing many changes, not the least of them concerning technology.

Conversely, here I sit in front of my computer wishing I had Bruce to call again.
Pflag readers have recently seen the paper go online and move an office. The Pflag has a Twitter account and is working toward a Facebook fan site.

And this week, we begin a change with the same goal in mind – reaching as many readers as possible with a timely publication.

The Pflag, of course owned by the same company that owns the Austin American-Statesman, will have a new print window at the Statesman site. It will now be printed Wednesday morning instead of Tuesday afternoon, as long has been the case.

The Pflag, of course, has a Thursday run date, so, like the online presence, the new print window will allow reporters a chance to increase the timeliness of the articles appearing in the paper. In particular, we’re hoping readers will be able to receive news on City Council meetings – which take place Tuesday nights – and sports more quickly than in previous years.

Oddly enough, one effect of the change will be that some readers will receive their paper later than usual. Because of the early print window, the Pflag has in some places been delivered on Wednesday instead of Thursday. It now will be delivered, at the earliest, Thursday morning, but notably with news and sports coverage of events that transpired that same week, instead of the previous week.

I don’t wish the RIXT on anyone, although I must say it was something I became comfortable with. We hope for all our readers, this move away from the past is as enjoyable as the day the “tickety-tack” noise dimmed and the magnetic tape spools stopped turning once and for all.