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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

#141

Post by darby_nine »

roughly wrote: post #99
groby_b wrote: post #86

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

Pynchon always managed to integrate this tendency into the narrative much better. Stephenson is still worth it tho.

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

#142

Post by flir »

stavros wrote: post #98
cynusx wrote: post #62

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

Some of the tech's a bit long-in-the-tooth (the whole data haven concept), but the genre was already well-established when the book turned up (Gravity's Rainbow (1973) in particular and postmodern literature in general). I, personally, enjoy it.

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

#143

Post by Cthulhu_ »

OuterVale wrote: post #88
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."

My first phone was a RugGear RG930. If you think Nokia’s 3310 was built like a brick, then this thing may as well have been a rubberised titanium brick. It was so solid I used to play ‘catch the phone’ with friends, and it ended up face down on concrete more times than I can count, but I don’t think it ever sustained so much as a scratch. If the RG930 ran Android, I reckon I could go for the high score.

A colleague showed me their Caterpillar-branded phone, it was proper ruggedized like you see in construction radios and the like, big bumpers, plastic screen, he casually yote it onto the floor to demonstrate. Mainly so he can pass it to his kids if they're bored.

The current generation Cat branded phones look pretty regular, but are probably still much more rugged than most phones.

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

#144

Post by Cthulhu_ »

beAbU wrote: post #129
karolist wrote: post #55

Earlier quoted context omitted.

applecare abuse

Seems like the solution is right there. "Your claim was denied because we found and app installed on your device that promotes physical abuse."

Do you mean a browser with a HN comment section open?

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

#145

Post by Cthulhu_ »

smcnally wrote: post #96
kibwen wrote: post #89

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

I often wish for a way to communicate to other drivers via something that's a bit more clear than horn or blinking lights. Like one of those LED text things to say "oi mate your lights are off" or something like that.

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

#147

Post by stavros »

fellerts wrote: post #125
stavros wrote: post #98

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

I found it witty and somewhat educational, but man is it long . I read it on the kindle and when I thought that I must be getting close to the end, I had only read 30% of it. It takes some determination to get through.

Yeah, it's been a while since I read it, but I did find it to be a slog.

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

#148

Post by roughly »

nocoiner wrote: post #122
imp0cat wrote: post #109

Earlier quoted context omitted.

So true about the endings! And he's actually aware of it. Well, I'm reasonably happy with all of my endings, but I know that some people feel differently. But as you've noticed, they're different, it's not always the same thing. All I can say is different books end in different ways, and different people have different tastes in what they want to see. I'm well aware that there are certain people frustrated with the e…

It’s not a meme, the man really can’t write an ending to save his life. But generally the pages other than the last ~25 make it totally worth it (other than that post-death MMORPG book, that one was terrible and just a slog the whole way through).

> other than that post-death MMORPG book, that one was terrible and just a slog the whole way through

Literally everything about that book except the main plot was fantastic. It read terrifyingly prophetic once he could peel himself away from whatever greek fable bullshit he was on about on the main thread.

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

#149

Post by albrewer »

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.

I got about halfway through and forgot I was in the middle of reading it. The story never really grabbed me. I say this as someone who usually rips through a book a week.
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