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Type in Morse code by repeatedly slamming your laptop shut

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Re: Type in Morse code by repeatedly slamming your laptop shut

#91

Post by extraduder_ire »

anfractuosity wrote: post #44

Haha. Tangentially - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Send_Me_to_Heaven - "developed by Carrot Pop which measures the vertical distance that a mobile phone is thrown. Players compete against each other by seeking to throw their phones higher than others, often at the risk of damaging their phones."

Also: Smackbook - https://stevenbock.me/Smackbook-Yosemite/ (more modern recreation or the original)

A way to switch virtual desktops on macbooks with a hard drive by slapping them on the side.

Re: Type in Morse code by repeatedly slamming your laptop shut

#92

Post by eru »

rrjjww wrote: post #80
linsomniac wrote: post #36

This reminds me of that section in the book Cryptonomicon, where our hero is programming on a laptop that he knows is being spied upon using Tempest and probably more, and is using clandestine input via morse code on the shift (?) key. I really enjoyed that book.

At risk of derailing the conversation, I finished Cryptonomicon earlier this year and really enjoyed it. Any recommendations for similar books?

The Baroque Cycle by the same author.

I didn't like Snowcrash nearly as much.

His Diamond Age is pretty good, too.

Re: Type in Morse code by repeatedly slamming your laptop shut

#93

Post by eru »

samatman wrote: post #67
mulmen wrote: post #42

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> on the shift (?) key. Disabling Windows accessibility features is an indication of anti-social behavior.

Laptops are not generally social objects. The notion makes me a bit nauseous actually.

Not more nauseous than any other shared keyboard, I assume?

Re: Type in Morse code by repeatedly slamming your laptop shut

#95

Post by mintplant »

extraduder_ire wrote: post #91
anfractuosity wrote: post #44

Haha. Tangentially - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Send_Me_to_Heaven - "developed by Carrot Pop which measures the vertical distance that a mobile phone is thrown. Players compete against each other by seeking to throw their phones higher than others, often at the risk of damaging their phones."

Also: Smackbook - https://stevenbock.me/Smackbook-Yosemite/ (more modern recreation or the original) A way to switch virtual desktops on macbooks with a hard drive by slapping them on the side.

> NOTE: This script will not work with any Macbooks shipped with SSDs. This includes the Retina Macbook Pro and recent Macbook Air models.

"This update broke my workflow! Just add an option to reenable HDD smacking."

https://xkcd.com/1172

Re: Type in Morse code by repeatedly slamming your laptop shut

#96

Post by smcnally »

kibwen wrote: post #89
tamimio wrote: post #66

Need one for the car brakes, so I can communicate road rage with it.

I use the horn for this. For example, if someone cuts in front of me, I use Morse code to communicate the phrase "I am attempting to exercise empathy by putting myself in your shoes, and to be maximally charitable I am assuming that you're probably in a hurry, quite likely for a very good reason, such as perhaps your wife is going into labor, or you're running late for a big meeting, or your father in on his deathbed…

Meta data like tone, timbre, amplitude also communicate intent and meaning beyond ‘dah’s and ‘dit’s.

Re: Type in Morse code by repeatedly slamming your laptop shut

#98

Post by stavros »

cynusx wrote: post #62
wsintra2022 wrote: post #61

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Came across that book just recently in one of those free book libraries, tell me, was it a good read?

Cryptonomicon is one of the best reads on the planet, it's famous.

Is it now, though? I read it and didn't manage to get into it much, and don't really remember anything from it.

I think it's one of those works of art that were so revolutionary that they started a whole genre, but now they seem badly done and clichéd just because everyone has copied them and iterated on them.

Re: Type in Morse code by repeatedly slamming your laptop shut

#99

Post by roughly »

groby_b wrote: post #86
wsintra2022 wrote: post #61

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Came across that book just recently in one of those free book libraries, tell me, was it a good read?

Yes, it's an amazing book. But skip the last 20 pages, they're deeply unsatisfying writing.

The Neal Stephenson experience.

That, and the 20-page grad-level dissertation on some esoteric subject randomly in the middle of the book.

The man’s truly one of the best out there, and I’m convinced a more aggressive editor would ruin him, but it wouldn’t be a Stephenson without some real head scratching authorial decisions.

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