________  ________  ________   
   2024-02-05                                   /        \/        \/    /   \  
                                               /       __/         /_       _/ 
   ISO  216:2007  defines  sizes  of  paper,  /        _/         /         / 
specifically  the  A  and   B  standards,  a  \_______/_\___/____/\___/____/_
standard  most office workers the world over    /        \/        \/    /   \
would be familiar with,  A4  paper being  an   /        _/         /_       _/
ISO standard A sheet cut in half four times.  /-        /        _/         /
                                              \________/\________/\___/____/

   ISO ISO 4046-3:2002 defines  five   hundred sheets  of paper  (in our case;
 A4, 80gsm) as a ream.

   in an office a ream of paper serves a strict purpose, to be consumed by the
printer,  have a laser or whatever inscribe information on a drum,  creating a
pattern of letters,  numbers and text  through static electricity,  attracting
dry toner to the pattern which is then fused to the paper with heat.

   an office memo, a graph. etc.

   an office worker wouldn't think much of the  paper  or why it's cut to that
size or received in that specific number of sheets but an engineer might. they
might look at that  standard  and think it is good that  anywhere in the world
they can expect a sheet of A4 paper to be exactly  210mm x 297mm and a ream of
80gsm A4 paper to fit tidily in a printer paper tray and expect there to be no
deviation from the norm.

   even an artist could appreciate the standard,  a simple A4 page,  suited to
photocopying a magazine,  or maybe doodling a character, but an artist doesn't
necessarily  stop there,  the artist doesn't care about the  standard and will
cut  and tear and glue things to  an A4 page,  or stick the page to  something
larger.  an artist is destructive, chaotic,  flying  in  the  face of the  ISO
standard of A size and ream.

   now a  hacker is a curious creature,  they straddle a line between engineer
and  artist,  sometimes leaning  further  to one  side than  the other.  in my
imperfect analogy,  what would a hacker make of an A4 pice of paper.  a hacker
understands  the value of a  standard  but also  appreciates  the power  of an
artist and,  because a hacker is clever and creative,  a hacker will find ways
to work within a standard without being destructive.  a hacker sees a piece of
paper and wonders what would  happen if they folded it in half,  and then what
if they folded it again?

   and could it be  folded until it  resembles  something else like a cup or a
paper plane? imagination, curiosity, ingenuity and  experimentation  gives the
ISO  standard A4  page a new form,  beyond just a receptacle  for numbers  and
text. now it can hold water or maybe, if you can catch the wind just right, it
can even fly.

   don't let  authoritarians drown your creative drive,  don't let a  standard
hold  you  back,  don't wait for permission to create.  push boundaries,  make
wonderful things, be well.



EOF