Why Prefer Textfiles? (2010)
textfiles.com
Why Prefer Textfiles? (2010)
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Re: Why Prefer Textfiles? (2010)
#2Unlike Word files, there is no chance of a Macro Virus in them. I sent our family lawyer some documents converted to Text by request.
Re: Why Prefer Textfiles? (2010)
#3Unlike Word files, there is no chance of a Macro Virus in them. I sent our family lawyer some documents converted to Text by request.
No macro viruses but if your family lawyer uses some LLM-powered thingy in his workflow it might add a new dimension: prompt manipulation/injection attacks. A good spot to hide these would be at about ⅔ distance inside some wall of legalese at the beginning or end of a document since hardly anyone ever reads those.
Re: Why Prefer Textfiles? (2010)
#4Unlike Word files, there is no chance of a Macro Virus in them. I sent our family lawyer some documents converted to Text by request.
Weeeell... Ya say that, but:
Many years ago someone "infected" my computer with a "manual virus": A printed-out sheet of paper placed on top of the computer, telling me to delete all my hard drive's files myself, then photocopy the sheet and put both copies on nearby computers.
It was obviously a joke. But in the "modern" agentic era, the same thing in a text file is slightly more realistic as a threat...
Re: Why Prefer Textfiles? (2010)
#5Unlike Word files, there is no chance of a Macro Virus in them. I sent our family lawyer some documents converted to Text by request.
I've known people one-shot by pure text, like Atlas Shrugged, The Communist Manifesto, The Bible, The Qur'an, The Selfish Gene, Godel Escher and Bach, etc. Don't underestimate text.
Re: Why Prefer Textfiles? (2010)
#6Unlike Word files, there is no chance of a Macro Virus in them. I sent our family lawyer some documents converted to Text by request.
I've known people one-shot by pure text, like Atlas Shrugged, The Communist Manifesto, The Bible, The Qur'an, The Selfish Gene, Godel Escher and Bach, etc. Don't underestimate text.
What exactly does “one shot” mean here?
Re: Why Prefer Textfiles? (2010)
#7Earlier quoted context omitted.
I've known people one-shot by pure text, like Atlas Shrugged, The Communist Manifesto, The Bible, The Qur'an, The Selfish Gene, Godel Escher and Bach, etc. Don't underestimate text.
What exactly does “one shot” mean here?
Infected by a packet of ideas that profoundly alters your outlook on life, for good or ill like a mind virus. I've been shot several times, it's thrilling. For me it's always text that does it.
Re: Why Prefer Textfiles? (2010)
#8It's always interesting to me that these plaintext sites are flagged as "insecure" and "risky" by modern browsers. I don't have a good solution, but it reminds me of [1]
[1](https://meyerweb.com/eric/thoughts/2018/08/07/securing-sites...)
Re: Why Prefer Textfiles? (2010)
#9Earlier quoted context omitted.
I've known people one-shot by pure text, like Atlas Shrugged, The Communist Manifesto, The Bible, The Qur'an, The Selfish Gene, Godel Escher and Bach, etc. Don't underestimate text.
What exactly does “one shot” mean here?
Famous American detective TV show True Detective had the hero annoy his colleague by referring to religion as "language virus that rewrites pathways in the brain" and thereby "dulls critical thinking". In other words, a lot people read shit and it fries their mixers. Obviously, it can also work the other way. Et cetera.
Re: Why Prefer Textfiles? (2010)
#10Unlike Word files, there is no chance of a Macro Virus in them. I sent our family lawyer some documents converted to Text by request.
I've known people one-shot by pure text, like Atlas Shrugged, The Communist Manifesto, The Bible, The Qur'an, The Selfish Gene, Godel Escher and Bach, etc. Don't underestimate text.
A clever quip, but I have to point out that most adherents for a given ideology have never actually read the canonical text of their ideology. The Bible particularly was generally inaccessible to laypeople for a ~1000 year period, who would typically learn everything they knew about it filtered through the preachers of the Church. Even today with easy access, a majority of Christians have not read it.