josemanuel @josemanuel@qoto.org

Something inside of me dies when I see a scientist using imperial units.

Now completely contradicting my previous post, I will say this: there should be a meme comparing old and current tech books. They would be like this:

Old tech books: «Since the Z80 uses NMOS technology, one is cautioned to become familiar with the rules for handling such devices before trying to handle the Z80 device. Those rules are actually very simple, so failing to follow them will net you what you deserve—a zapped IC.»

New tech books: «I will teach you this programming language assuming you barely know what a computer is.»

You can tell the first example is real (from Z80 Users Manual, by Joseph J. Carr) because the writing is terrible.

I love old tech books.

From Sony’s A Guide to MSX-BASIC Version 2.0, page 20: «(The blank space is made by hitting the space bar once.)»

Dude, you’ve already told us about PRINT, LET and arithmetic operations. What made you think we didn’t know how to type a space yet? Also, you didn’t say which key was the space bar.

Today is Margaret Hamilton’s birthday.

Protip: Whenever you’re faced with two or more possible interpretations of a phenomenon, always choose the funniest.

I just learnt that Switter shut down earlier this year. Very sad news. Really nice people over there. (And yes, I knew they were sex workers, but still they were cool and I miss them.)

«Invertir en defensa es invertir en la paz», ha dicho Margarita Robles hace un rato en ARV. Luego añadió: «Y la libertad es esclavitud».

One thing I’ve learned through the years is not to give life advice to anyone. Even in the rare cases when they take it kindly (as it was intended), they will not follow it. Everybody needs to learn by themselves. It’s sad to see, but also for the best.

I miss having real conversations with real people on the Internet, as opposed to just trying to be funny to strangers/lift their spirits.