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In the Rec Room we share jokes, interesting stories, and speculate about trout's manties. Serve up some Spam in many different flavors and sizes, and just take some time off from study and have fun.

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You Might be an Old Geek if...

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  • You Might be an Old Geek if...

    You've ever written a program in BASIC.

    Your relatives used you as a VCR programming service.

    You not only know what floppies are but you've used multiple sizes.

    You owned a computer before there was an Internet - and you know what www stands for.

    You've bought coaxle cable by the foot before anyone owned a home computer.

    You remember when word processors were hardware and not just software.

    You have taped a box fan to a Mac.

    Your collection of computer magazines needs dusting.

    You've fixed thousands of computers by unplugging them.
    "He is no fool who gives what he cannot keep to gain that which he cannot lose." - Jim Elliot

    "Forgiveness is the way of love." Gary Chapman

    My Personal Blog

    My Novella blog (Current Novella Begins on 7/25/14)

    Quill Sword

  • #2
    Originally posted by Teallaura View Post
    You've ever written a program in BASIC.
    Yep. The BASIC that came with the Sinclair ZX-81, the BASIC that came with the Radio Shack TRS-80 Pocket Computer, and MS QBASIC.

    And of course simple MS-DOS batch files.


    Your relatives used you as a VCR programming service.
    Yep.


    You not only know what floppies are but you've used multiple sizes.
    Yep. I remember when they were literally floppy. But never used that kind. And I remember Zip drives and various competitors.


    You owned a computer before there was an Internet - and you know what www stands for.
    Well not before there "was" an Internet, but a few years before it became a Big Deal. I remember what "www" stands for. And I remember when you actually had to type in the "http" and "www."


    You've bought coaxle cable by the foot before anyone owned a home computer.
    Nope.


    You remember when word processors were hardware and not just software.
    Ehh... Sorta.


    You have taped a box fan to a Mac.
    Nope.


    Your collection of computer magazines needs dusting.
    I still have a stack of "Computer Shopper" -- the smaller glossy version, not the original newspaperish version. They serve as a riser for the monitor of my other computer.


    You've fixed thousands of computers by unplugging them.
    No, not really.
    Geislerminian Antinomian Kenotic Charispneumaticostal Gender Mutualist-Egalitarian.

    Beige Federalist.

    Nationalist Christian.

    "Everybody is somebody's heretic."

    Social Justice is usually the opposite of actual justice.

    Proud member of the this space left blank community.

    Would-be Grand Vizier of the Padishah Maxi-Super-Ultra-Hyper-Mega-MAGA King Trumpius Rex.

    Justice for Ashli Babbitt!

    Justice for Matthew Perna!

    Arrest Ray Epps and his Fed bosses!

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    • #3
      I've done Fortran.

      And I remember my Commodore 64. It took three full minutes for the 1541 disk drive to download a 5" floppy disk!
      When I Survey....

      Comment


      • #4
        Originally posted by Teallaura View Post
        You've ever written a program in BASIC.

        Your relatives used you as a VCR programming service.

        You not only know what floppies are but you've used multiple sizes.

        You owned a computer before there was an Internet - and you know what www stands for.
        All of that, so far, and even built clone computers before that was a thing.

        You've bought coaxle cable by the foot before anyone owned a home computer.
        A) I know how to spell coaxial
        2) I know why it's called that
        C) I bought it by the 500 foot box

        You remember when word processors were hardware and not just software.

        You have taped a box fan to a Mac.
        The Good Lord protected me from ever having to deal with a Mac, as I only dealt with real computers.

        Your collection of computer magazines needs dusting.

        You've fixed thousands of computers by unplugging them.
        And one more thing.... you know the difference between the CPU and the "box" (tower or desktop unit) that is often incorrectly referred to as "the CPU".
        The first to state his case seems right until another comes and cross-examines him.

        Comment


        • #5
          Originally posted by Faber View Post
          I've done Fortran.

          And I remember my Commodore 64. It took three full minutes for the 1541 disk drive to download a 5" floppy disk!
          I did quite a bit of programming in Ashton Tate's dBase, then was delighted when FoxPro came out, because it expanded dBase significantly.

          But I remember my surprise and delight when one of my dBase databases, "Church Mouse"*, imported into FoxPro, suddenly and mysteriously became MOUSEABLE without me having to add a single line of code!!!!



          *at the time, there were no "off the shelf" church management systems for membership, attendance, financial record keeping, visitation and outreach.... you had to contract with some big firm that would easily set you back $50,000 TO START, and that was simply beyond the reach of most churches. I wrote my own CMS database, and sold a number of copies to local churches.
          The first to state his case seems right until another comes and cross-examines him.

          Comment


          • #6
            2 on the list, maybe 3 if thousands is just supposed to be hyperbole.

            Comment


            • #7
              Originally posted by Cow Poke View Post
              I did quite a bit of programming in Ashton Tate's dBase, then was delighted when FoxPro came out...
              I had actually typed FoxBase, because I was sure that was the original name, but didn't immediately see that on the web.... but, sure enough, it was FoxBase before it became FoxPro. I think it was FoxPro that added the "automatically converts your programs into mouseable" feature.

              Gee I miss Borland!!!
              The first to state his case seems right until another comes and cross-examines him.

              Comment


              • #8
                Originally posted by Teallaura View Post
                You've ever written a program in BASIC.
                I've never programmed at all, but I have used hex editors to, um, enhance my savegame files.

                Your relatives used you as a VCR programming service.
                My dad was the one who always did that. I'm a geek because I'm like him. He was a geek before it was cool.

                You not only know what floppies are but you've used multiple sizes.
                Yep. Probably mostly the 5.25" variety but I used diskettes when they became popular.

                You owned a computer before there was an Internet - and you know what www stands for.
                Technically the internet existed back then, but there wasn't much to it yet and certainly not many people had access to it. Researching stuff online for school wasn't a thing until I was out of high school. I just barely missed it though, and my siblings used the internet for school.
                And yeah, World Wide Web. And http is hypertext transfer protocol.

                You've bought coaxle cable by the foot before anyone owned a home computer.
                Nope.

                You remember when word processors were hardware and not just software.
                I remember them, but didn't own one.

                You have taped a box fan to a Mac.
                I've never owned a Mac.

                Your collection of computer magazines needs dusting.
                I've never been one to collect magazines, however geeky they may be.

                You've fixed thousands of computers by unplugging them.
                "Turn it off and on again" is one of the first things I learned about computers.
                Last edited by QuantaFille; 10-22-2019, 09:19 AM.
                Curiosity never hurt anyone. It was stupidity that killed the cat.

                Comment


                • #9
                  Originally posted by Faber View Post
                  I've done Fortran.

                  And I remember my Commodore 64. It took three full minutes for the 1541 disk drive to download a 5" floppy disk!
                  I remember that wait! It felt like forever.
                  Curiosity never hurt anyone. It was stupidity that killed the cat.

                  Comment


                  • #10
                    Originally posted by Cow Poke View Post
                    ...
                    A) I know how to spell coaxial
                    Yeah, I knew it looked wrong but spellcheck didn't have a suggestion.


                    2) I know why it's called that


                    C) I bought it by the 500 foot box

                    .....
                    Virtually every move I made involved a trip to Radio Shack for another length.
                    "He is no fool who gives what he cannot keep to gain that which he cannot lose." - Jim Elliot

                    "Forgiveness is the way of love." Gary Chapman

                    My Personal Blog

                    My Novella blog (Current Novella Begins on 7/25/14)

                    Quill Sword

                    Comment


                    • #11
                      Originally posted by Cerebrum123 View Post
                      2 on the list, maybe 3 if thousands is just supposed to be hyperbole.
                      3
                      "He is no fool who gives what he cannot keep to gain that which he cannot lose." - Jim Elliot

                      "Forgiveness is the way of love." Gary Chapman

                      My Personal Blog

                      My Novella blog (Current Novella Begins on 7/25/14)

                      Quill Sword

                      Comment


                      • #12
                        Originally posted by Teallaura View Post
                        You've ever written a program in BASIC.
                        Yes.

                        Your relatives used you as a VCR programming service.
                        *thinking* hmmm...I did some myself but not sure about family.

                        You not only know what floppies are but you've used multiple sizes.
                        yep! Our IBM Displaywriter used 8 inchers and had those toaster type drives.

                        You owned a computer before there was an Internet - and you know what www stands for.
                        I myself...hm...yeah...got one while I was married but don't remember what it was...but yes definitely pre World Wide Web.

                        You've bought coaxle cable by the foot before anyone owned a home computer.
                        nope not me.

                        You remember when word processors were hardware and not just software.
                        I still consider the IBM MemoryWriters the finest ever.

                        You have taped a box fan to a Mac.
                        Never had one...did it really get that hot?

                        Your collection of computer magazines needs dusting.
                        Not anymore. Maybe a stray computer parts one that I haven't found and tossed yet.

                        You've fixed thousands of computers by unplugging them.
                        Not thousands. Also a few rogue keyboards.
                        Watch your links! http://www.theologyweb.com/campus/fa...corumetiquette

                        Comment


                        • #13
                          Originally posted by DesertBerean View Post
                          Not thousands. Also a few rogue keyboards.
                          He was always wondering why they kept disappearing.
                          The first to state his case seems right until another comes and cross-examines him.

                          Comment


                          • #14
                            Originally posted by Cow Poke View Post
                            He was always wondering why they kept disappearing.
                            They kept making this clacking chattering noise...
                            Watch your links! http://www.theologyweb.com/campus/fa...corumetiquette

                            Comment


                            • #15
                              Originally posted by DesertBerean View Post
                              They kept making this clacking chattering noise...
                              Those are the best kind!


                              Back in college, a friend of mine had a Mac and he really had a box fan strapped to it. As I recall the problem was the crappy fans they came with, and from the way the geeks talked, it was a common problem.
                              Last edited by Teallaura; 10-22-2019, 04:20 PM.
                              "He is no fool who gives what he cannot keep to gain that which he cannot lose." - Jim Elliot

                              "Forgiveness is the way of love." Gary Chapman

                              My Personal Blog

                              My Novella blog (Current Novella Begins on 7/25/14)

                              Quill Sword

                              Comment

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