Many, many years ago, a new specification called "XML" emerged. After a bit, people realized it was kinda useful for some stuff.
Then, something happened.
MANAGERS!
I imagine many conversations between managers / developers somewhat like this:
M: "So, what is the nice thing with #XML
D: "oh, it is a specification that simplifies stuff, since tools have a clean format to work with."
M: "So, what kinda specifications?"
D: "Oh, it can be more or less anything."
M: *starry eyed!* "an.. an... anything?"
I was teaching computer courses for companies at that point. Suddenly, my calendar was just packed with XML courses.
It is like very limited what you can teach, it is not really complex, so you talk surrounding technologies. But not...
"Our boss wants us to replace the SQL db with XML?"
"what?"
"We gonna use XML instead of MS SQL"
"... what?"
"He said XML can be used for anything..."
If you think companies with #AI plans have actual plans, with a strategy make sense, please think of this story.
The cheque said “AMOUNT: two dollars and forty cents BEING FOR: classified ad”, rounded block letters in green ink amid the printed prompts. My mother never wrote cursive. “Thanks Mum“ I said, “I’ll pay you back from my paper round money on Saturday”
“No need” she said, “I’m going out; if you have the ad ready I’ll post it for you.”
I folded the cheque and the form I’d clipped from the newspaper. It had been tricky writing on the newsprint with a pen “HOME COMPUTER Amstrad CPC6128 with monitor, printer and external 5.25 inch drive. Original software plus over 30 games. $425. Ph 551806”.
After Mum left I went to my room and booted up my new PC, with its Extra Beige system unit and Different Beige monitor. I patted my 6128’s screen sitting on the floor under my desk. “Sorry old girl, no room to keep you but I’ll find you a nice home”.
Before I even got Kings Quest loaded the doorbell rang.
The visitor was a woman with amazing purple hair, and cat ears. “Hi, she said, I’m Kit, here about the Amstrad”
“But…it’s not even posted yet. And I only listed a phone number!”
“Never mind that”, she smiled, bouncing on her toes “do you still have it?”
I nodded, too flabbergasted to speak
“Four twenty five, right?” she said, thrusting an envelope at me, “here’s five hundred, keep the change. Now, what I want-“
“Wait, what are these things”. I’d opened the envelope to find five slippery rectangles of plastic bearing “100” in large letters, coloured variously green and yellow with a transparent region in the middle. “These aren’t-“
“Oh shazbot!” my visitor said, snatching the envelope back. “Bee Arr Bee”. Then she vanished, with an electric ZZZZAAPP sound.
ZZZAAAPP. She was back, holding out a sheaf of five grey paper rectangles, the recently introduced but rarely seen $100 notes, thick linen paper with subtle colours - easy to photocopy and colour in with textas, I’d seen on TV. I held the note up to the sky to see the metal thread and watermark. “Are these real?”
“Trust me,” she said, “they were hard to find but totally legit.”
“Okay, uh do you want to see the computer running?”. I felt like *I* was running to catch up with this interaction.
“No need” she grinned. “I’m giving it to you. Box it up and stash it in Mum’s roof. You’ll be glad to have it when you’re older.”
“Wh…what?”
“Do they speak english in what?” she muttered half to herself?
“what?”
“Exactly! Right on script”. She poked me in the chest. “You’ll be alright kid. Forget about the ‘strad for a couple of decades, OK?”
She ran hand through her brilliant purple hair, vibrating like she was having the best time ever. “Oh yeah, you’ll need these”. She tugged at her cat ears and i realized they were a headband. She handed me the band with its two ears. “One last thing“—a suddenly serious look—“*listen* *to* *your* *dreams*. You’ll know when it’s time. See ya!”
ZZZAAPPPP
I spent the $500 but I kept the ears.
I’m making a new religion that turns libraries into religious institutions and our most holy practice is going to the library and reading books. On the weekend we all get together and read silently together at the library. Our holy leaders are our librarians as they are guides to knowledge.
This way it makes it significantly harder to defund libraries. 😈
Kay Savetz took a leap of faith and bought dozens of master tapes for a lost radio show, with one of a kind interviews on them. He's seeking funds to pay a professional to digitize the tapes, and they all go on Internet Archive.
Douglas Adams, Bill Gates, Atari’s Jack Tramiel, MacPaint’s Bill Atkinson, Infocom’s Joel Berez, Star Trek’s Gene Roddenberry, musician Herbie Hancock, EA’s Trip Hawkins, Stewart Brand... they're all on here.
https://www.gofundme.com/f/digitizing-the-famous-computer-cafe
Let's just fund this and move on.
@hikari Ah, you say you're in your "it's so over" era now, but what you fail to see is you're now trapped in a cycle and it's only a matter of time before you hit peak "we're so back" and the cycle begins anew
Introducing Hey Wiki, a Java mod created by the Minecraft Wiki community that’ll let you easily look things up on the wiki while you’re in game.
All you have to do is to aim at a block, item or entity, and press H.
Looking up creepers this way while playing on survival is not recommended (but you can always use a command!)
Mod is available on @modrinth here: https://modrinth.com/mod/hey-wiki
Trans woman, bisexual, someone's fiancée, forever a programmer, poly, and former total mess