source just said "modem"

I don't know if that was real. I think that's what John Connor used to hack ATMs and break into the lab that had the terminator chip.

"Windowing" Unix ?

I guess that refers to the GUI, rather a Microsoft OS ... ?

1) Unix didn't start with a GUI, so Xwindows was added MUCH later. You can, on most Unix/Linux systems, kill Xwindows (or whatever GUI) and get dropped back to a shell - usually bash or csh, but sometimes sh. This is the "terminal" in MacOS X. Nextstep, which ran BSD 4.3/4.4 on a Mach kernel, made the windowing system more integrated, but I believe it was still a killable process.

2) Modern MacOS X was, more or less, Nextstep, but with support for Mac apps. It has obviously diverged a great deal, but there is still a significant amount of BSD userland under the hood. I believe Xcode allows for command line based builds using MAKE even.

3) Those Next cubes were made of magnesium. While hard to do, if you could light them on fire, they made for a rather spectacular fire.

Gene Roddenberry and George Lucas

"you owe me everything, fuckbag" -- gene, probably

ukimalefu posted:

I don't know if that was real. I think that's what John Connor used to hack ATMs and break into the lab that had the terminator chip.

They were real.

i wrote my first novel on this, 30 years ago ... it was a dedicated word processor in a laptop

best machine for writing i've ever used

I remember those, but even then I never understood why you would want an "electronic typewriter" when a "personal computer" could do all the same things and vastly more. By the time those Smith Corona machines got displays large enough to write with (like the one below) the modern laptop was already a thing. I believe they even cost about the same too, since they were essentially computers with a very limited set of software. Once WordPerfect came out, with it's full screen mode, I can't fathom why anyone would buy a dedicated word processor.

maurvir posted:

I remember those, but even then I never understood why you would want an "electronic typewriter" when a "personal computer" could do all the same things and vastly more. By the time those Smith Corona machines got displays large enough to write with (like the one below) the modern laptop was already a thing. I believe they even cost about the same too, since they were essentially computers with a very limited set of software. Once WordPerfect came out, with it's full screen mode, I can't fathom why anyone would buy a dedicated word processor.

Because they're simpler, booted faster, and crashed less. Perfect for somebody who thought computers were probably a fad.

Same reason people like using tablets for surfing the web, or the entire argument in favor of internet "appliances" back in the late '90s. Sometimes (often? usually?) a simple single-function device doesn't have to compromise on its primary functionality in order to accommodate other functions.

maurvir posted:

I remember those, but even then I never understood why you would want an "electronic typewriter" when a "personal computer" could do all the same things and vastly more. By the time those Smith Corona machines got displays large enough to write with (like the one below) the modern laptop was already a thing. I believe they even cost about the same too, since they were essentially computers with a very limited set of software. Once WordPerfect came out, with it's full screen mode, I can't fathom why anyone would buy a dedicated word processor.

i had both, but i wrote with the smith-corona because: it was fast, totally able to keep up with my typing (still a problem i have to this day); it was stable as hell; the spell/grammar check was absolutely fantastic; it was dedicated -- fire it up and start working, no screwing around, no load screens, just start typing

best

word

processor

evar

I had one of those. Abandoned it with my house. I think it was on the front porch.

who's a GOOD boy?

Not a big cologne guy, but I'd buy it:

ukimalefu posted:

The artist used the right Doctor; the only Doctor. So kudos.

Ribtor posted:

ukimalefu posted:

The artist used the right Doctor; the only Doctor. So kudos.

for once you and i are in agreement

maurvir posted:

I used to drive by that thing all the time. It looks far better in pictures than it does in person. It always looked slapped together and cheap to me, the brick work, windows and weird top were not in harmony with each other making it look like it was made of leftovers.

maurvir posted:

A perfect example of the kind of safety last thinking you find in the South.

we call those peñata's here in Texas
been a while since I saw them playing it that way tho.

Pariah posted:

maurvir posted:

I used to drive by that thing all the time. It looks far better in pictures than it does in person. It always looked slapped together and cheap to me, the brick work, windows and weird top were not in harmony with each other making it look like it was made of leftovers.

so ... you're more of a leg man?

TOS posted:

Pariah posted:

maurvir posted:

I used to drive by that thing all the time. It looks far better in pictures than it does in person. It always looked slapped together and cheap to me, the brick work, windows and weird top were not in harmony with each other making it look like it was made of leftovers.

so ... you're more of a leg man?

that's extraordinarily dickish, even for you

heh

Jim Henson with The Muppets of 1970