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Radiohead album hides an app that only runs on an '80s computer

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Re: Radiohead album hides an app that only runs on an '80s computer

#141

Post by will_pseudonym »

lomnakkus wrote: post #101
will_pseudonym wrote: post #42

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I wonder what synonyms there are for 'computer program.' Does 'application' count? Are there any synonyms for 'pedantry' that you can think of?

> I wonder what synonyms there are for 'computer program.' Does 'application' count? "Application" definitely counts, but for some inscrutable reason I associate that with GUI-only programs. > Are there any synonyms for 'pedantry' that you can think of? "dogmatism", "purism", "literalism"... but maybe I'm being too literal, puritanical, or dogmatic. :)

I think all of your examples fit perfectly haha :)

Re: Radiohead album hides an app that only runs on an '80s computer

#142

Post by outworlder »

Fifer82 wrote: post #60
reitanqild wrote: post #34

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I remember pirating games using my moms double casette deck in the kitchen. It played the signal as audio while copying.

This never occurred to me until you said it. Did that work??

I did the same. It wasn't ZX Spectrum though, it was an MSX. Same deal. This was actually before I even knew you could copy files using the computer itself.

Analog copies are lossy, so you can only copy so many times before it becomes unreadable. Higher quality tapes (even better, chrome based) would allow for more copies.

Re: Radiohead album hides an app that only runs on an '80s computer

#144

Post by wmichelin »

Xenomorphic wrote: post #122

After the introduction, all that hard work is finally rewarded with some scrolling text and a seemingly random arrangement of bloops and bleeps. "Random arrangement of bloops and bleeps?!" Does he not recognize the genius arrangement of Radiohead's newest and most groundbreaking song?! Filthy casual.

You get Radiohead ;) but actually, I hope you can appreciate some of their work.

Re: Radiohead album hides an app that only runs on an '80s computer

#146

Post by kakarot »

Gracana wrote: post #78
kakarot wrote: post #73

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Ok... Then explain why it was common to encounter the phrase "killer app" in marketing materials in the 80's.

I thought this was a relatively recent term. Can't find anything on archive.org that would indicate it was used in the 80s: https://archive.org/search.php?query=%28killer%20app%29%20AN...

The phrase killer app first appears in print circa 1986 according to Google Ngram Viewer [0].

While a search for just app with Ngram Viewer would contain too much noise, we can reasonably assume that app must have been prevalent in technical jargon before that time, else marketing campaigns would not have used it.

Archive.org isn't reliable for this kind of query.

[0] https://books.google.com/ngrams/graph?content=killer+app&yea...

Re: Radiohead album hides an app that only runs on an '80s computer

#147

Post by nurblieh »

ilamont wrote: post #68
jxramos wrote: post #2

I remember listening to OK Computer some years ago and I must have been studying or something or other and the track "Fitter Happier" came on. Those familiar know how it goes, the Stephen Hawking voice droning on about all these ideals worth pursuing ( https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HimvFbossU8 ). I sat back half listening that evening and this funny response came out in my head, where I responded to the monotone na…

Radiohead also released an EP of OK Computer B-sides called "Airbag / How Am I Driving?" It's absolutely brilliant, but relatively unknown. If you haven't heard it seek it out.

Yes! It includes a great track called "Palo Alto".

As someone who lives in the area I've always been curious how it came about, especially circa 1996/97.

Re: Radiohead album hides an app that only runs on an '80s computer

#148

Post by c3d »

boondaburrah wrote: post #104
JimDabell wrote: post #58

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Atari's GEM/TOS also had applications, abbreviated as "app", in the mid-80s. I don't know where people got the idea that "app" is something recent, but I've started seeing people say it in a few places lately. It's not true at all, we definitely had apps in the 80s.

Why do all my programs end it .PRG then? :P (currently struggling to get data off of an old ST - good old RS232 strikes again)

Actually, the .app extension Das sometimes used. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Atari_TOS

Re: Radiohead album hides an app that only runs on an '80s computer

#150

Post by gaius »

cyberferret wrote: post #15
pasta wrote: post #8

Earlier quoted context omitted.

As I remember this was done on an Apple computer. In the command line you could do this with they 'say' command. The parameter -v is used for the voice. And I think "Fitter Happier" is 'Fred'. say -v Fred "fitter.happier.more productive" Edit: other sources say it was 'Bruce'. But I don't have an Apple, so I can't check.

My go to favourite is 'Karen' for the Australian accent. Her voice is far more natural sounding that most of the others I've auditioned, and I use her as the default and pepper all my deployment scripts with 'say' commands now.

Even today, of the 8 voices I have available in my Siri, Australian Female is still the most natural sounding. I guess that is the gender identity of the person who writes that bit of code. Or maybe Australians just sound naturally robotic...
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