Tell me about references in older media lost on modern audiences

The Something Awful Forums > Discussion > Ask/Tell > Tell me about references in older media lost on modern audiences

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SpelledBackwards: Jan 7, 2001; I found this image on the Internet, perhaps you've heard of it? It's been around for a while I hear.

Cemetry Gator posted:

Well it sounds like you only need to worry if you stop pooping.

It also depends on how erratic or regular the movements of the cars are, though. Why haven't we mandated high fiber gasoline???

# ? Nov 13, 2021 16:34

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# ? Apr 27, 2024 12:44

Xlorp: Jan 23, 2008

SpelledBackwards posted:

It also depends on how erratic or regular the movements of the cars are, though. Why haven't we mandated high fiber gasoline???

I knew we'd find our way back to putting a tiger in our tanks.

# ? Nov 13, 2021 21:19

Ortho: Jul 6, 2021

I was reading one of the Cool & Lam mysteries, set and written in the 1950s, and Donald Lam -- one of the main characters -- expects grievous bodily harm to come his way and wants to let them know ahead of time that his blood type is four.

Anyone know what's up with that? How blood types were spoken of in the pre-modern era and what, exactly, "four" translates to?

# ? Nov 14, 2021 04:00

Scudworth: Jan 1, 2005; When life gives you lemons, you clone those lemons, and make super lemons.; Dinosaur Gum

dustin.h posted:

I was reading one of the Cool & Lam mysteries, set and written in the 1950s, and Donald Lam -- one of the main characters -- expects grievous bodily harm to come his way and wants to let them know ahead of time that his blood type is four.

Anyone know what's up with that? How blood types were spoken of in the pre-modern era and what, exactly, "four" translates to?

4 is AB or O depending on geographic area and time period.
There were competing classification systems that were not sorted out until well into the 50's.

"The practically universal use of the Moss classification at that time was completely and purposely cast aside. Therefore in place of bringing order out of chaos, chaos was increased in the larger cities."

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blood_type#History

# ? Nov 14, 2021 04:36

Cobalt-60: Oct 11, 2016; by Azathoth

I met someone who didn't know what the DOS prompt was. ("What's that C: stand for?")

# ? Nov 14, 2021 09:35

Arivia: Mar 17, 2011

Cobalt-60 posted:

I met someone who didn't know what the DOS prompt was. ("What's that C: stand for?")

if you show a floppy disk to a zoomer they think you 3d printed the save icon as a piece of art or something

then they have no idea what a file folder is and can't figure out where to work with software that isn't in the cloud (i wish i was making this up, i read an article about universities having to teach file/folder management in like science 101 so kids could learn how to use lab equipment)

# ? Nov 14, 2021 10:29

Alterian: Jan 28, 2003

Arivia posted:

if you show a floppy disk to a zoomer they think you 3d printed the save icon as a piece of art or something

then they have no idea what a file folder is and can't figure out where to work with software that isn't in the cloud (i wish i was making this up, i read an article about universities having to teach file/folder management in like science 101 so kids could learn how to use lab equipment)

This is my life as a community college professor that teaches an intro to programming class.

# ? Nov 14, 2021 12:07

Ortho: Jul 6, 2021

Scudworth posted:

4 is AB or O depending on geographic area and time period.
There were competing classification systems that were not sorted out until well into the 50's.

"The practically universal use of the Moss classification at that time was completely and purposely cast aside. Therefore in place of bringing order out of chaos, chaos was increased in the larger cities."

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blood_type#History

Huh. You don't say? Early '50s, but I'd have to dig out the book to be sure. It's been a month or two. Southern California, around Los Angeles. I'd just never heard of blood type spoken of as a number before.

Ortho fucked around with this message at 22:36 on Nov 14, 2021

# ? Nov 14, 2021 12:23

VideoGameVet: May 14, 2005; It is by caffeine alone I set my bike in motion. It is by the juice of Java that pedaling acquires speed, the teeth acquire stains, stains become a warning. It is by caffeine alone I set my bike in motion.

Arivia posted:

if you show a floppy disk to a zoomer they think you 3d printed the save icon as a piece of art or something

then they have no idea what a file folder is and can't figure out where to work with software that isn't in the cloud (i wish i was making this up, i read an article about universities having to teach file/folder management in like science 101 so kids could learn how to use lab equipment)

OR THIS:

Yeah, I'm so old that my first published game shipped on tape.

# ? Nov 14, 2021 23:56

Rochallor: Apr 23, 2010; ふっっっっっっっっっっっっｃｋ

Arivia posted:

if you show a floppy disk to a zoomer they think you 3d printed the save icon as a piece of art or something

then they have no idea what a file folder is and can't figure out where to work with software that isn't in the cloud (i wish i was making this up, i read an article about universities having to teach file/folder management in like science 101 so kids could learn how to use lab equipment)

As a teacher I am constantly shocked about how little kids know about computers. Keyboard shortcuts might as well be magic to them. I assumed the circle of life was that one day you have to call your grandkid to fix your computer, but in actuality they will be calling you.

It's like they never had to set up a static IP to get trailers for Attack of the Clones off Kazaa!

# ? Nov 15, 2021 04:52

kaschei: Oct 25, 2005

Rochallor posted:

As a teacher I am constantly shocked about how little kids know about computers. Keyboard shortcuts might as well be magic to them. I assumed the circle of life was that one day you have to call your grandkid to fix your computer, but in actuality they will be calling you.

It's like they never had to set up a static IP to get trailers for Attack of the Clones off Kazaa!

Your grandkids will probably use a keyboard less over the course of their lives than you already have

# ? Nov 15, 2021 05:18

Arivia: Mar 17, 2011

VideoGameVet posted:

OR THIS:

Yeah, I'm so old that my first published game shipped on tape.

are you saying that was the first game you bought or the first game you sold either way that looks cool

# ? Nov 15, 2021 05:30

Cobalt-60: Oct 11, 2016; by Azathoth

I always hoped that computer literacy would rise over time. Unfortunately, by the time the "what is this machine" boomers left, the new generation never used anything besides a touchscreen Smart UI, so they've never had to pry off the hood. Gen X may be the only fully computer literate generation.

# ? Nov 15, 2021 06:11

New Yorp New Yorp: Jul 18, 2003; Only in Kenya.; Pillbug

Cobalt-60 posted:

I always hoped that computer literacy would rise over time. Unfortunately, by the time the "what is this machine" boomers left, the new generation never used anything besides a touchscreen Smart UI, so they've never had to pry off the hood. Gen X may be the only fully computer literate generation.

This is the way of all emerging technologies. The first serious users are enthusiasts who know the inner workings because it's not particularly reliable or easy to use. Then the subsequent generations of users don't need to learn any of that because it's been refined to the point where everything just works.

I've been driving for a quarter of a century and have no idea how to fix a car or why anything happens in my car other than in very general, probably largely misunderstood terms. This was less true for every prior generation, until you get to people like my grandfather who were tightening belts and greasing the doohickey every 5 miles and whatnot in the crank-start car he grew up with.

We're right in the middle of that transition with computers. Kids are growing up right now with user friendly devices and an amazing plethora of help that's literally at their fingertips. Meanwhile, when I was a kid, getting a loving sound card to work with a game could be a Herculean effort that would require learning all about low level hardware concepts like DMA and IRQs, with no readily available guidance other than tribal knowledge from friends and family or a trip to the library or local book store. And I'm a generation or two removed from people buying their computers as literal piles of chips and boards that they soldered by hand and used by flipping switches and reading results as rows of lights flashing messages encoded in octal.

Computing devices are turning into boring, straightforward household items akin to toasters or microwaves. They just work and are intuitive enough for your average person to effectively use for their daily tasks without any effort.

New Yorp New Yorp fucked around with this message at 06:40 on Nov 15, 2021

# ? Nov 15, 2021 06:34

Arivia: Mar 17, 2011

Cobalt-60 posted:

I always hoped that computer literacy would rise over time. Unfortunately, by the time the "what is this machine" boomers left, the new generation never used anything besides a touchscreen Smart UI, so they've never had to pry off the hood. Gen X may be the only fully computer literate generation.

hey, us millennials are pretty good at computers too

# ? Nov 15, 2021 06:40

VideoGameVet: May 14, 2005; It is by caffeine alone I set my bike in motion. It is by the juice of Java that pedaling acquires speed, the teeth acquire stains, stains become a warning. It is by caffeine alone I set my bike in motion.

Arivia posted:

are you saying that was the first game you bought or the first game you sold either way that looks cool

The first game I wrote and managed to get published. 1980.

# ? Nov 15, 2021 06:57

VideoGameVet: May 14, 2005; It is by caffeine alone I set my bike in motion. It is by the juice of Java that pedaling acquires speed, the teeth acquire stains, stains become a warning. It is by caffeine alone I set my bike in motion.

Cobalt-60 posted:

I always hoped that computer literacy would rise over time. Unfortunately, by the time the "what is this machine" boomers left, the new generation never used anything besides a touchscreen Smart UI, so they've never had to pry off the hood. Gen X may be the only fully computer literate generation.

Some of us Boomers were on computers in the 1970's.

# ? Nov 15, 2021 07:00

Powered Descent: Jul 13, 2008; We haven't had that spirit here since 1969.

VideoGameVet posted:

OR THIS:

Yeah, I'm so old that my first published game shipped on tape.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P6ANS9V4pIA

Looks like a more in-depth take on the old grid-based Star Trek game? I wasted many an hour on that in the 80s, and twelve-year-old me would have been all over this one too. But a quick google seems to confirm it never existed for DOS, so it's not surprising I never ran across it.

# ? Nov 15, 2021 07:03

The Lone Badger: Sep 24, 2007

There was a chunk of time in which I was an old figey who acknowledged that (task) could probably be done in the windows GUI but it was qucker and easier to drop into a DOS shell.
Then they started removing commands :shakefist:

# ? Nov 15, 2021 07:12

Mister Olympus: Oct 31, 2011; Buzzard, Who Steals From Dead Bodies

no kid today can name all the nine worthies, their parent probably won't it as a compliment when you call them a pelican either

Mister Olympus fucked around with this message at 07:38 on Nov 15, 2021

# ? Nov 15, 2021 07:31

wesleywillis: Dec 30, 2016; SUCK A MALE CAMEL'S DICK WITH MIRACLE WHIP!!

The Lone Badger posted:

Then they started removing commands :shakefist:

Its actually C:\:shakefist:

# ? Nov 15, 2021 07:52

BlankSystemDaemon: Mar 13, 2009

Rochallor posted:

As a teacher I am constantly shocked about how little kids know about computers. Keyboard shortcuts might as well be magic to them. I assumed the circle of life was that one day you have to call your grandkid to fix your computer, but in actuality they will be calling you.

It's like they never had to set up a static IP to get trailers for Attack of the Clones off Kazaa!

There are at least some students who don't understand the concept of a directory.

Although it has to be said that even in the generations where there are people who understand a lot about computers, I'm not convinced that most of them know the difference between a directory and a folder.

The Lone Badger posted:

There was a chunk of time in which I was an old figey who acknowledged that (task) could probably be done in the windows GUI but it was qucker and easier to drop into a DOS shell.
Then they started removing commands :shakefist:

I'm pretty sure t he same thing is going to start happening to Unix-likes, especially if the "year of the Linux desktop" crowd get their way as opposed to being a margin of error.

# ? Nov 15, 2021 13:44

SimonSays: Aug 4, 2006; Simon is the monkey's name

Imagine being an early adopter of radio and needing to discover what the gently caress a frequency is, then all of a sudden they're in everyone's living room with a state propaganda broadcast every week and nobody knows how to wrap a copper coil antenna. Tsk tsk.

# ? Nov 15, 2021 14:00

JesustheDarkLord: May 22, 2006; #VolsDeep; Lipstick Apathy

I gave my kids old laptops with Ubuntu instead of newer systems and they've figured out a lot of poo poo.

# ? Nov 15, 2021 14:07

SimonSays: Aug 4, 2006; Simon is the monkey's name

JesustheDarkLord posted:

I gave my kids old laptops with Ubuntu instead of newer systems and they've figured out a lot of poo poo.

Oh poo poo, I didn't know Bean Dad had a forums account!

# ? Nov 15, 2021 14:24

Cemetry Gator: Apr 3, 2007; Do you find something comical about my appearance when I'm driving my automobile?

In terms of gen z and computers:

I've thing I think we all forget is how many Millennials and old people also aren't really good with computers. I think a big thing though was that a lot of us got taught computer literacy before college, where we learned about things like file folders and stuff like that.

But honestly, most software today just works and handles that for you. Outside of work, I almost never use file explorer since everything handles the file storage for me.

Lab equipment is generally not designed with usability in mind, so it requires you to do things that most software aimed at consumers does with no fuss

# ? Nov 15, 2021 14:35

Terrible Opinions: Oct 18, 2013

SimonSays posted:

Oh poo poo, I didn't know Bean Dad had a forums account!

ubuntu is easier to use than any version of windows pre-2000 so it's not unreasonable.

# ? Nov 15, 2021 15:01

VideoGameVet: May 14, 2005; It is by caffeine alone I set my bike in motion. It is by the juice of Java that pedaling acquires speed, the teeth acquire stains, stains become a warning. It is by caffeine alone I set my bike in motion.

Powered Descent posted:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P6ANS9V4pIA

Looks like a more in-depth take on the old grid-based Star Trek game? I wasted many an hour on that in the 80s, and twelve-year-old me would have been all over this one too. But a quick google seems to confirm it never existed for DOS, so it's not surprising I never ran across it.

Yes, it's a multi-ship Star Trek like game with more elements. Inspired by Star Blazers. You can play it here:

https://archive.org/details/a2_Conflict_2500_1981_Avalon_Hill

Yeah, Voyager 1 ... the next game I did for Avalon Hill, had a IBM version (DOS 1.0!!!).

# ? Nov 16, 2021 06:45

SpelledBackwards: Jan 7, 2001; I found this image on the Internet, perhaps you've heard of it? It's been around for a while I hear.

Stepping away from computers for a bit:

Were those two-person horse costumes you'd see in comedy bits ever actually a thing? I can't imagine anyone would willingly dress up like that for a party or gathering, with the whole butt in another person's face thing going on. I could see it having extremely limited, specialized use for theater.

Looking in YouTube for comfort uses, there are some pranks and stuff involving them, probably just for the trope, and some cosplay and festival stuff using them, and I'm betting some furry stuff too.

SpelledBackwards fucked around with this message at 07:58 on Nov 16, 2021

# ? Nov 16, 2021 07:39

Tiggum: Oct 24, 2007; Your life and your quest end here.

BlankSystemDaemon posted:

I'm not convinced that most of them know the difference between a directory and a folder.

Because there is no difference, it's just two names for the same thing? When you typed "cd \games\doom" you called it a directory but when you clicked on "My Computer -> C: -> games -> doom" you called it a folder. But it was the same thing.

# ? Nov 16, 2021 07:45

Vavrek: Mar 2, 2013; I like your style hombre, but this is no laughing matter. Assault on a police officer. Theft of police property. Illegal possession of a firearm. FIVE counts of attempted murder. That comes to... 29 dollars and 40 cents. Cash, cheque, or credit card?

Tiggum posted:

Because there is no difference, it's just two names for the same thing? When you typed "cd \games\doom" you called it a directory but when you clicked on "My Computer -> C: -> games -> doom" you called it a folder. But it was the same thing.

I assumed BSD might've been talking about actual physical folders versus directories. That or some nuanced point about how different computer systems defined each thing sometime before I was born. (Which I'd be happy to learn about! I find this stuff fun.)

# ? Nov 16, 2021 08:28

mossyfisk: Nov 8, 2010; FF0000

SpelledBackwards posted:

Stepping away from computers for a bit:

Were those two-person horse costumes you'd see in comedy bits ever actually a thing? I can't imagine anyone would willingly dress up like that for a party or gathering, with the whole butt in another person's face thing going on. I could see it having extremely limited, specialized use for theater.

Looking in YouTube for comfort uses, there are some pranks and stuff involving them, probably just for the trope, and some cosplay and festival stuff using them, and I'm betting some furry stuff too.

The pantomime horse is a comedy performance, that's what its for.

# ? Nov 16, 2021 09:37

yaffle: Sep 15, 2002; Flapdoodle

SpelledBackwards posted:

Stepping away from computers for a bit:

Were those two-person horse costumes you'd see in comedy bits ever actually a thing? I can't imagine anyone would willingly dress up like that for a party or gathering, with the whole butt in another person's face thing going on. I could see it having extremely limited, specialized use for theater.

Looking in YouTube for comfort uses, there are some pranks and stuff involving them, probably just for the trope, and some cosplay and festival stuff using them, and I'm betting some furry stuff too.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8mQe7_l9iJI

# ? Nov 16, 2021 10:58

BlankSystemDaemon: Mar 13, 2009

Tiggum posted:

Because there is no difference, it's just two names for the same thing? When you typed "cd \games\doom" you called it a directory but when you clicked on "My Computer -> C: -> games -> doom" you called it a folder. But it was the same thing.

A directory is an sorted list of entries (which also describes a directory in a filesystem hierarchy), whereas a folder is what Microsoft calls a directory, because they used the file folder icon.

# ? Nov 16, 2021 11:11

packetmantis: Feb 26, 2013

Wow, didn't know Diogenes posted here.

# ? Nov 16, 2021 11:13

steinrokkan: Apr 2, 2011; Soiled Meat

Cemetry Gator posted:

In terms of gen z and computers:

I've thing I think we all forget is how many Millennials and old people also aren't really good with computers. I think a big thing though was that a lot of us got taught computer literacy before college, where we learned about things like file folders and stuff like that.

But honestly, most software today just works and handles that for you. Outside of work, I almost never use file explorer since everything handles the file storage for me.

Lab equipment is generally not designed with usability in mind, so it requires you to do things that most software aimed at consumers does with no fuss

Yeah, there never was a computer literate generation, its merely that the vanishingly small fraction of people who understand at least a bit more than just basic user stuff used to be marginally less vanishing, maybe.

# ? Nov 16, 2021 11:41

wesleywillis: Dec 30, 2016; SUCK A MALE CAMEL'S DICK WITH MIRACLE WHIP!!

The horse costume is good if you eat rear end or like having yours eaten. Also determines your position in said costume.

# ? Nov 16, 2021 13:02

Arivia: Mar 17, 2011

packetmantis posted:

Wow, didn't know Diogenes posted here.

BSD's name and daemon avatar do not lie.

In all honesty, I looked it up after they mentioned it the first time. The directory is a file system structure, while the folder is a representation in a GUI that usually but not always correlates to a specific directory. The metaphor came from the original GUI experiments at Xerox (so the Xerox Alto and so on), not Microsoft or Apple or whomever else is anyone's scapegoat.

# ? Nov 16, 2021 13:04

Krispy Wafer: Jul 26, 2002; I shouted out "Free the exposed 67"
But they stood on my hair and told me I was fat; Grimey Drawer

VideoGameVet posted:

Yes, it's a multi-ship Star Trek like game with more elements. Inspired by Star Blazers. You can play it here:

https://archive.org/details/a2_Conflict_2500_1981_Avalon_Hill

Yeah, Voyager 1 ... the next game I did for Avalon Hill, had a IBM version (DOS 1.0!!!).

I remember that grid combat system in the game Star Fleet I:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wabqSNTfOic

And no, that's not StarTrek even though it's Star Fleet and there's a Star Fleet Academy and the bad guys are green and have cloaking technology and you have phasers and proton torpedoes. Totally different. Nothing alike.

# ? Nov 16, 2021 13:54

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# ? Apr 27, 2024 12:44

BlankSystemDaemon: Mar 13, 2009

Mods, please rename me to BlankSystemDiogenes.

Arivia posted:

BSD's name and daemon avatar do not lie.

In all honesty, I looked it up after they mentioned it the first time. The directory is a file system structure, while the folder is a representation in a GUI that usually but not always correlates to a specific directory. The metaphor came from the original GUI experiments at Xerox (so the Xerox Alto and so on), not Microsoft or Apple or whomever else is anyone's scapegoat.

Huh, you're right. The file folder is part of the Xerox PARC GUI, afterall. I could've sworn it, right up until I found a screenshot. :shrug:

Still, a directory is a thing that's been known about long before computers, and the file folder representing a directory post-dates hierarchical filesystems in so far as Xerox Star is from the 80s - on the other hand UNIX, which is infamous for "everything is a file" started out as a hierarchical filesystem, and it got the idea of directories from Multics.

# ? Nov 16, 2021 14:12

The Something Awful Forums > Discussion > Ask/Tell > Tell me about references in older media lost on modern audiences

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