@KNmeh7 I’m not sure if @fishbiscuit has the design up elsewhere. Maybe suggest it to @riskybryzness the next time there’s a call out for reprint considerations?
@hchavers@mike808 We had a Zenith space command growing up. If you dropped forks in the drawer when putting flatware away in the kitchen (so they’d clang), it would change the channel on the TV.
@katbyter I see your 99 and raise a 97 expedition.
Granted I bought it for $400 a couple years ago.
The 99 Saturn I at least owned most of her life but she needed a new engine after 260K then blew a brake line. She was a real trooper and I miss driving stick.
@katbyter@unksol I’ll see your 97 Expedition and raise you a 1983 GMC “Jimmy” conversion van with rust shag interior, velour captains chairs and what is now called " third row seating" sofa that folded down to a bed. And an 8-track player, of course!
Thinking getting photographs scanned to 640x480 pixel pictures and returned on a floppy disk was just so amazing, you threw away all of your printed pictures and kept just the floppy disks.
I also miss logging into local BBSs and chatting with friends. I remember a time a friend of mine figured out how to send a message to everyone in chat simultaneously that looked like a private message. “Ratguy (private): I love you. I always have.”
The whole chat went silent. It was epically funny once we knew.
Playing Doom online with a buddy over a 9600 baud modem was a blast too.
@tweezak I remember playing Doom on a Novell network because I could put three computers together and they could render a full 270° view (left, center, right). Insane for the 90s.
@2many2no@rtjhnstn
By far, the gold standard in CD Ripper software is EAC (Exact Audio Copy) for ripping. You can also use Audacity or FFMPEG or WinLAME to convert after EAC rips if you don’t like how EAC handles it.
Exact Audio Copy and Wavpack for putting the CDs on the computer is the best. Still have a really old computer to do all the work since it is already setup.
@heartny I don’t miss 7, now that I switched a while back. Moving off of MCE was probably my tipping point. I use SiliconDust HD DVR with Quattro tuners and I also have Plex Lifetime (which comes with its own DVR too). It’s also on sale right now too.
And you get the exploits and orphaned internals updated and patched to current protocols and capabilities. This protects you from “drive by” website exploits that target folks that aren’t upgrading their systems and remain a “target rich environment” for cybercriminals.
@mike808 My laptop came with Windows 10 so I did download a shell to make it like Windows 7. Also used a debloater program to get rid of things I consider crapware or I will never use. I am using Spybot Anti-Beacon to block Telemetry stuff. I basically want Windows to leave me alone
@heartny@mike808 Good to know; I’ve been avoiding my PC and doing most things on my iPhone and iPad since I got switched to 10. Maybe I’ll try those things one day, but I’m not very computer savvy.
@heartny Thanks for the tip on Spybot Anti-Beacon from safer-networking.org. It’s not free, but looks to give value.
The O&O ShutUp10 is free, but is only focused on Win10 telemetry and disabling some common “user-friendly” features that also make it ripe for exploits.
@heartny@mike808
IMHO they totally borked the windows environment when they started shifting from being work/production driven to social media/app and cloud driven. I’ve been running classic Shell ( now open shell) for years, but it still annoys me that they make it so difficult to navigate your computer to your directories etc in the newest iterations of windows. I miss the days of control panel etc.
@mike808 I am using a free version version of Spybot Anti-Beacon that seems to be pretty robust. The latest version is 3.8 and you can download it safely from here:
@sicc574 My mom retired in 1998 after decades as a cobol and SAS programmer. A year later her employers begged her to come back, because they were so scared of what would happen and the young guys didn’t know how to fix the old code. She just laughed.
@kostia@sicc574 I remember seeing lots of dates show up in 2000 and 2001 as 3-digit years, e.g. 01/01/101 and immediately knew it was something written in Perl (another 90s story as well) because Perl dates started at 1900, so this was a “graceful degradation” response built into the language. It meant code still worked and sorted dates instead of just breaking outright and causing a fatal exception. In most cases, it was the right choice. If only modern programmers understood dependency chains… again, another story…
In some ways, Apple’s autocarrot is fantastic, in that it does learn your personal writing style eventually, but using Graffiti seems a lot more natural than typing with your thumbs. It’s also a nice compromise between easy-for-humans, and easy-for-machines.
last year, my 19yr old nephew bought a 1997 F150.
I saw it had a tape deck, so i got him a Bluetooth cassette adapter.
then he tells me the stereo doesn’t even work…
a month or so goes by, he buys an aftermarket headunit.
when he starts to install it, pulls the factory H/U…it’s not even plugged in… plugs it in, works flawlessly… but he already bought a “better” unit, and the necessary bits to install it, so… in went the new.
Customer: my computer is dead
Me: is the power light on?
Customer: Yes
Me: connects remotely to system and attaches to customer terminal.
Me: Tells customer to type something.
Customer: I typed stuff, but no luck. still dead.
Me: sees customer typing.
Me: tells customer to turn the various knobs on the computer screen and see what happens
Customer: Oh! It’s back on! Thank you so much!
The owner was pissed we billed him for the half hour of tech support when he found out it was because the brightness on the monitor was turned all the way down.
We told him to tell his mother (his office manager - it was a small family business) not to call us if he didn’t want to get billed next time.
Triple tapping? When T9 existed?
@geekahedron This was before touchscreens. Think flip phones.
@geekahedron @PooltoyWolf yeah, T9 on flip phones
cell phones from phone booths
Using a pencil to rewind a cassette
@heartny or a hexagonal bic pen
@heartny I have this shirt from Mediocritee:
@heartny @narfcake That’s an awesome shirt! Can I still get the design?
EVERYTHING IS AWESOME!
@KNmeh7 I’m not sure if @fishbiscuit has the design up elsewhere. Maybe suggest it to @riskybryzness the next time there’s a call out for reprint considerations?
The pic above is linked to the original sale:
@fishbiscuit @KNmeh7 @narfcake @riskybryzness I would totally buy one.
Telling a child to go change the channel to one of the other two. Well, that’s more of a 1970s, farm, or poor thing.
@hchavers We called them the “remote control units”.
They were replaced by “the clicker”.
@hchavers @mike808 We had a Zenith space command growing up. If you dropped forks in the drawer when putting flatware away in the kitchen (so they’d clang), it would change the channel on the TV.
Imagining colors in the green or orange computer screens.
@hchavers Monochrome monitors was more of the late 80s. By the 90s, VGA was already quite commonplace. 640x480, 256 colors.
Even today, the 15-pin D-sub (VGA) is still common on desktops, 35 years since their debut on the IBM PS/2.
@narfcake Owwww! One of the early adopters.
Usenet newsgroups
alt.rec.humor
@tweezak No alt.ascii-art.*?
@mike808 I loved that as well especially the “magic eye” 3D stuff.
@tweezak most usenet groups moved to google groups
@ironcheftoni Is that the same as Google Personal Tracking, Monitoring and Activity Reporting?
In short, I don’t think I’ll be using “usenet” on Google systems.
Still driving the 1999 Chevy conversion van with the cassette tape player and VCR for the back passengers. And a real cigarette lighter.
@katbyter I see your 99 and raise a 97 expedition.
Granted I bought it for $400 a couple years ago.
The 99 Saturn I at least owned most of her life but she needed a new engine after 260K then blew a brake line. She was a real trooper and I miss driving stick.
@katbyter @unksol I’ll see your 97 Expedition and raise you a 1983 GMC “Jimmy” conversion van with rust shag interior, velour captains chairs and what is now called " third row seating" sofa that folded down to a bed. And an 8-track player, of course!
Yeah, I lived the dream, baby!
@mike808
@mike808 @unksol Mine looks similar but is tan. Also has back couch bed. Very comfy!
Not mine but similar:
@mike808 @unksol
We have a white and blue one too, with the back ladder like yours.
@mike808 we had one of those. It was green and had green shag carpet.
@katbyter @unskol @ladyhawke001
Did you have the card table that dropped into a mount for the Captain’s chairs to swivel around and play cards?
And the mag wheels were a nice finishing touch, don’t you think?
Thinking getting photographs scanned to 640x480 pixel pictures and returned on a floppy disk was just so amazing, you threw away all of your printed pictures and kept just the floppy disks.
You had one of these.
@mike808 And one of these.
@mike808 Then numbering the disks for the backup that took days.
UNIX terminals
I also miss logging into local BBSs and chatting with friends. I remember a time a friend of mine figured out how to send a message to everyone in chat simultaneously that looked like a private message. “Ratguy (private): I love you. I always have.”
The whole chat went silent. It was epically funny once we knew.
Playing Doom online with a buddy over a 9600 baud modem was a blast too.
@tweezak I remember playing Doom on a Novell network because I could put three computers together and they could render a full 270° view (left, center, right). Insane for the 90s.
@mike808 @tweezak Over the
yearsdecades, I’ve managed to forget just about every aspect of managing Novell NetWare.I think I still have a 300 baud external modem somewhere in the garage. No acoustic coupler, though.
Ripping CD’s to your PC.
Y’know, making a “backup” copy.
@2many2no Whip the llama’s ass!
skins.webamp.org (real web-controlled winamp player emulatir)
@2many2no https://cdex.mu/
@2many2no @rtjhnstn
By far, the gold standard in CD Ripper software is EAC (Exact Audio Copy) for ripping. You can also use Audacity or FFMPEG or WinLAME to convert after EAC rips if you don’t like how EAC handles it.
https://www.exactaudiocopy.de/
LAME (source only): https://lame.sourceforge.io/
Audacity: audacityteam.org
FFMPEG ffmpeg.org
WinLAME: https://winlame.sourceforge.io/
LAME Windows CLI binaries: https://www.rarewares.org/mp3-lame-bundle.php
RareWares.org also has other good stuff amd recent compiles for converting to AAC, FLAC, OGG, and more.
@2many2no @mike808 @rtjhnstn I still use WINAMP 2.95 as it just works.
Exact Audio Copy and Wavpack for putting the CDs on the computer is the best. Still have a really old computer to do all the work since it is already setup.
@2many2no @rtjhnstn @yakkoTDI
FTFY.
@mike808 I may or may not have a family member who still uses Windows ME.
@mike808 I miss XP. Using Windows 7 as long as I can. Not a fan of 10 and probably not 11.
@heartny I don’t miss 7, now that I switched a while back. Moving off of MCE was probably my tipping point. I use SiliconDust HD DVR with Quattro tuners and I also have Plex Lifetime (which comes with its own DVR too). It’s also on sale right now too.
@heartny @mike808
Yeah, I HATE 10.
@Kyeh Why? is it the UI? There are Start Menus that you can skin your Win10 to look and feel like Win7. Look here:
https://open-shell.github.io/Open-Shell-Menu/
And you get the exploits and orphaned internals updated and patched to current protocols and capabilities. This protects you from “drive by” website exploits that target folks that aren’t upgrading their systems and remain a “target rich environment” for cybercriminals.
And there are toolkits to disable the telemetry if that’s what grinds your gears. See O&O Software’s ShutUp10: https://www.oo-software.com/en/shutup10
So you can have your cake and eat it too.
@mike808 My laptop came with Windows 10 so I did download a shell to make it like Windows 7. Also used a debloater program to get rid of things I consider crapware or I will never use. I am using Spybot Anti-Beacon to block Telemetry stuff. I basically want Windows to leave me alone
@heartny @mike808 Good to know; I’ve been avoiding my PC and doing most things on my iPhone and iPad since I got switched to 10. Maybe I’ll try those things one day, but I’m not very computer savvy.
@heartny Thanks for the tip on Spybot Anti-Beacon from safer-networking.org. It’s not free, but looks to give value.
The O&O ShutUp10 is free, but is only focused on Win10 telemetry and disabling some common “user-friendly” features that also make it ripe for exploits.
@heartny @mike808
IMHO they totally borked the windows environment when they started shifting from being work/production driven to social media/app and cloud driven. I’ve been running classic Shell ( now open shell) for years, but it still annoys me that they make it so difficult to navigate your computer to your directories etc in the newest iterations of windows. I miss the days of control panel etc.
@mike808 I am using a free version version of Spybot Anti-Beacon that seems to be pretty robust. The latest version is 3.8 and you can download it safely from here:
https://www.majorgeeks.com/files/details/spybot_anti_beacon_for_windows_10.html
How about a little mass-hysteria inducing event called: Y2K(cue ominous horror music)
@sicc574 My mom retired in 1998 after decades as a cobol and SAS programmer. A year later her employers begged her to come back, because they were so scared of what would happen and the young guys didn’t know how to fix the old code. She just laughed.
@kostia @sicc574 I remember seeing lots of dates show up in 2000 and 2001 as 3-digit years, e.g. 01/01/101 and immediately knew it was something written in Perl (another 90s story as well) because Perl dates started at 1900, so this was a “graceful degradation” response built into the language. It meant code still worked and sorted dates instead of just breaking outright and causing a fatal exception. In most cases, it was the right choice. If only modern programmers understood dependency chains… again, another story…
@sicc574
@katbyter @sicc574 Wow, that seems like a museum piece.
SCSI. Because it was so fast!
@kostia Don’t forget to terminate the devices on your SCSI ribbon cable properly!
@kostia And because you could attach up to 6 more 200MB drives and have over a whole terabyte of storage. Massive!
Who would ever need that much, right?
Dad! Stop trying to download the internet!
PalmOS Graffiti
Late nineties to be sure, but I still miss using Graffiti as a text entry method on mobile devices: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Graffiti_(Palm_OS)
In some ways, Apple’s autocarrot is fantastic, in that it does learn your personal writing style eventually, but using Graffiti seems a lot more natural than typing with your thumbs. It’s also a nice compromise between easy-for-humans, and easy-for-machines.
last year, my 19yr old nephew bought a 1997 F150.
I saw it had a tape deck, so i got him a Bluetooth cassette adapter.
then he tells me the stereo doesn’t even work…
a month or so goes by, he buys an aftermarket headunit.
when he starts to install it, pulls the factory H/U…it’s not even plugged in… plugs it in, works flawlessly… but he already bought a “better” unit, and the necessary bits to install it, so… in went the new.
@earlyre
Customer: my computer doesn’t work
Tech support: Is it plugged in?
@chienfou @earlyre
True Story.
Customer: my computer is dead
Me: is the power light on?
Customer: Yes
Me: connects remotely to system and attaches to customer terminal.
Me: Tells customer to type something.
Customer: I typed stuff, but no luck. still dead.
Me: sees customer typing.
Me: tells customer to turn the various knobs on the computer screen and see what happens
Customer: Oh! It’s back on! Thank you so much!
The owner was pissed we billed him for the half hour of tech support when he found out it was because the brightness on the monitor was turned all the way down.
We told him to tell his mother (his office manager - it was a small family business) not to call us if he didn’t want to get billed next time.
@earlyre @mike808
yep… sounds right!
Putting the needle on the record.