Thursday, August 1, 2013

Not Trans But...

...just something that readers of a certain age will relate to.  I know whenever I pull up a techie reference, or an older reference, I'm surprised by the number of readers who email or comment, knowing the source ~ no matter how obscure.

I do think that nerd/techies are over-represented in the t-community.  I have no idea why.

I had a meeting in the Pentagram (yes, I know) last week.  It's been a few years since I've been there, and I had to go to the auditorium (basement, in the centre).

To get to the basement, you have to enter on floor 1, go UP to floor 2, and locate corridor 6 (you enter in corridor 1).  Then you go down three levels (there's a mezzanine above the basement) and then find the H ring, which only exists in the basement.  The rest of the Pentagram is in five rings, A through E.  In general, if you stay above ground, you can't get lost...  Room 3D241 is floor 3, ring D, corridor 2, room 41.  Except not every room follows the rules, and there is always construction, often closing corridors just as you're almost to your destination, which laughs and beckons to you from the distance.

As I made each turn, went up or down each stairway, I imagined seeing a sign which reads, "you are in a maze of twisty little passages, all different."*

Back at my office, only one person was old enough and geeky enough to get it.  I bet you gals do better, even without following the link.  Marian?  Paula?  Stana?






Believe it or not, I downloaded dosbox so I could play it again ~ if I'm so inclined.




8 comments:

  1. Meg.
    Was that Zork (Zork I), or the earlier Adventure game, the one where you had to kill the dragon with your bare hands?

    Do you remember the main frame "Star Trek" back when there was no computer display, but rather a print out on a pin feed teletype like machine that used symbols to represent star ships, Klingons, etc? Each move required an updated printout.

    Rhonda

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  2. Meg -

    After looking up the link, it reminded me of one of the games I played in the early days of PCs. Since then, I've veered away from gaming on PCs, other than things like Tetris (remember that) and forms of Solitaire.

    Believe it or not (given my weight), I find physical activity such as squash and racquetball more interesting than your average computer game. If I drop the weight I want to drop, that will be what I do.

    M

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  3. Sorry Meg, this one passed me by, even after I looked up the link! I have never got into computer games, when I was younger and more active I played the real thing and now have other interests, but I do know there is a big gaming community out there, since one or two of my friends have started to come out about it.

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  4. sounds like Maxwell Smart? from the sitcom "Get Smart"? LOL

    let me tell you that in HS we had to go to the science lab off the library where one could sign up for time on the main frame then one had to call on a phone to "log in" and the printer looked like a ele. piano with pin feed paper. i had friends in music theory class ( we had section 1 and 2 ) who would actually do writing and arranging of music on that thing and then we'd take it back and attempt to play it in orchestra class! mean while the main office was still using punch cards for attendance ( the home room teacher would mark the absences by sending down to the office those punch cards). the punches made great but painful sharp edged confetti for the football games!
    imagine the average small flash drive or even a mini sd card has more memory than my entire first used comadore! LOL

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  5. Diana ~ back in 2000, I learned that hardly anyone knew what "chad" were.

    During a party at our college computer centre, one of the girls dumped a container of chad on the head of the department, not thinking that chad and full beard are a bad combination. He took it with fun but I can only imagine what he said when he got home!

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  6. LOL. As a Zork dork myself, I thought I recognized the line from that game. CCA is just ever so slightly before my time -- or rather, I think I may have played it but was too young to appreciate it. I spent a lot of time with Scott Meier's Pirate Adventure though.

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  7. Sorry, but I'm still trying to work my way through Adventureland!

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  8. This is from the original UNIX V adventure game, collosal cavern I think it was called. The is one of the two mazes. The other one was "all the same". BTW, I actually solved it. This game was also written up in the book "Soul of a New Machine" about the development of the DEC mini-computer. I think it was the PDP, but it might have been the VAX. Also, I used to have a PC version of the game. I probably still do, if anyone can read a 5-1/4 floppy (360 K). Steffi

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