18 October 2010

For us old timers

Back in the late 1970s and early 1980s, before graphical user interfaces (GUIs) were available, computer users had to make do with command-line interfaces (CLIs). One of the first "role playing" games was called Adventure, in which the user found him/herself in a forest, and could type one or two-word commands to navigate the game space (no pictures, just text descriptions) and collect treasure. Now Iowahawk has posted a parody called Beltway Adventure that mocks the Obama Administration. I doubt you will agree with all of it, but it is clever.

The other thing us old timers remember is the era of nuclear explosives testing. At least we think we do. But GeekOSystem has posted a video showing every human-initiated nuclear explosion except for the most recent ones by North Korea. The way we humans were popping those things off might make you think that there was at least as much politics as science motivating that show. Except of course for explosions number two and three, over Hiroshima and Nagasaki, respectively, which ended WWII without a much more devastating invasion of Japan. Those were motivated by war, which is one of the things that happens when politics fails.

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