alt.hn

6/6/2026 at 6:15:04 PM

More Molly Guards

 https://unsung.aresluna.org/more-molly-guards/

by zdw

6/10/2026 at 7:38:11 AM

Just to nitpick, in the section after "On the other side, these following guards are more of a “you really shouldn’t do this” variety – much closer to a disabled state in graphical user interfaces:"

The second and third examples are safety lockouts [0] working as intended: Some system is locked in the off state to ensure safe access for technicians.

Especially the padlock lockout is simple and effective: As long as you have the key in your pocket, you can be sure than no one is going to turn on the meat grinder you are cleaning.

[0]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lockout%E2%80%93tagout

by japanuspus

6/10/2026 at 5:55:47 AM

> This IBM electronic typewriter had a gorgeous perspex molly guard around the power button

Creators of some keyboards placing a sleep button right above arrow keys didn't bother doing this.

by Panzerschrek

6/10/2026 at 9:09:13 AM

My HP Probook with power button of same shape -and next to- my delete button needs a molly guard (right now I just have it disabled, which you can argue is a molly guard).

by teekert

6/10/2026 at 6:41:35 AM

The STOP and RESET buttons are from a Documation card reader.[1] They're not guarded. They just come from a standard kit of buttons and lamps where you could assemble the components and dividers into a control panel. That style of illuminated push button was once popular and is still available.[2] NASA Mission Control consoles had lots of them.

[1] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=se0F1bLfFKY

[2] https://cpc.farnell.com/rjs-electronics/rjs-k16-391-ge-65j/i...

by Animats

6/10/2026 at 9:11:59 AM

They are guarded, the guard just comes with the button assembly. There is no reason to have the sides raised like that except to guard against accidental presses of adjacent buttons.

by account42

6/10/2026 at 1:19:25 AM

The hover images were delightful thank you for that little bit of whimsy. Also the iTunes Burn CD one was my favorite! I totally forgot about that and its so fun compared to flat design.

by hankbond

6/10/2026 at 8:16:19 AM

I would really like to know which museum in Germany this is from.

by nicbou

6/10/2026 at 6:06:31 AM

It was amazing to read the original account in the alumni newsletter, and it was great to see the photo. The legend is real! Heh heh.

by jsrcout

6/10/2026 at 12:34:30 AM

The IBM electronic typewriter with the perspex guard is absolutely beautiful.

by steve_adams_86

6/10/2026 at 2:05:34 AM

Yeah, it’s funny how IBM managed to be both absolutely undeniably corporate and somehow still incredibly beautiful. I think it’s just a testament to the visual pleasure created by knowing someone really truly cared about what they were doing.

by roughly

6/10/2026 at 3:03:59 AM

I would go to this museum.

by ajam1507

6/10/2026 at 1:27:05 AM

Awesome article! Love the way you went from physically to digital.

by thierrydamiba

6/10/2026 at 7:07:28 AM

I had a cat named Molly who would flip switches.

by BelovedAntipop

6/10/2026 at 5:37:13 AM

I fully expected the origin of "Molly Guard" to be apocryphal, akin to something your boomer uncle sends you in 2008, that's been forwarded 1000 times and you can see all the fwd: address lists in the message ("Hey Susan, thought you might find this funny... -Bill"). I was not expecting to see the actual Molly in an archived newspaper article. Pretty cool.

by stackghost

6/10/2026 at 5:40:58 AM

But molly dies

by itsneulook4