A year ago I was handed the DOS floppy disks of a groundbreaking figure in history, who died in 1991. I successfully extracted the DOS files, from them. I am returning the floppies back to the institute this person co-founded. Two interesting situations arise, to share.
First, I extracted the files but I wasn't QUITE sure what application these (clearly word-processing) files were. I'm sure a lot of people use this, but if you don't... there's an amazing file identification tool named TRID.

mark0.net/soft-trid-e.ht…

Detects over 14,000 types.
Using TRID, I found out all these files are collections of SAMNA word processor files.

And that's how I found out we don't have a single copy of Samna on the archive that I can find.

I am now going to fix that.
All these questions are delightful.
INSERT THE ORIGINALS IN THEIR PROTECTIVE JACKETS AND PUT THEM IN A SAFE PLACE
Well, got it working. I can now confirm that Samna Word is one of the worst word processors ever made.
I actually feel bad about all this because in fact, the organizational archivist dealing with this is all super-excited to extract this person's historical documents, and I'm going to make him do a really dull, terrible process because Samna is so bad.
Samna cost $550 in 1984 dollars. Someone must have bought a jet with that sort of money

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More from @textfiles

24 Nov
I'm developing a small and fervent love for VHS-based training tapes in which all the day players are doing their professional absolute best with completely crap scripts while waiting for a chance to be in the background of a Tom Hanks film someday
And bravo to whoever is trying their level best to pull off key/fill lighting in some random off-shift milk factory
Read 4 tweets
23 Nov
Crypto-fans have some of the most hilarious epithets hurled at perceived enemies, and they land like feathers upon a warm and glowing window containing your life and happiness, flung weakly from the devastating snowstorm they have trapped themselves in and insisting is better
Perhaps counterintuitively, I found the @ConstitutionDAO folks I interacted with some truly brilliant people working under Mariana-Trench-Like pressure and ponderables few would be able to construct even the slightest amount of organization and effort through. I applaud them.
Although I would never work within the realms they chose to work and with the class of furious speculative flotsam that they did, game recognizes game and the talent to achieve projects of this magnitude arises from very few, in practice.
Read 4 tweets
10 Nov
Hey, great news, Google Chromium just started a war and I'm going to enjoy this one

chromium-review.googlesource.com/c/chromium/src…
I mean, do it - just.... try and do it, fellas. The skies will blacken with a million screaming tweets

Mhoye captures the true horror, however: How they did this terrifically bad idea with zero discussion.

mastodon.social/@mhoye/1072543…
The implementor, Eric Lawrence, has apparently made it a mission to make the Web a little less.... good. Was happy to get right to the business of ripping FTP support out of Chrome, as well.

Hey, these blue underline things.... are they going out the window next, Eric?
Read 5 tweets
10 Nov
Had a lovely catch-up chat with @jasonshiga - an artist who people will still be discovering in a century. I interviewed him for GET LAMP (although my intended feature documentary on his work didn't get in), so I've watched his works with amazement over the years.
Among his most stunning achievements are his interactive comic books, including MEANWHILE... amazon.com/Meanwhile-Path… - a comic book that takes you on massively wild journeys in the life of a character that just wants to have an ice cream cone. Highest recommendation.
All his works are great, so just look up his efforts, including BOOKHUNTER, a personal favorite.

amazon.com/Bookhunter-Jas…
Read 4 tweets
10 Nov
One of my most precious lexicographical collections is the words that groups who are either intentionally or unintentionally isolated use to describe people not in the tribe/community/group. They all do it. It's sometimes sinister, sometimes shorthand, always hilarious.
Obviously, a lot of group use some version of "normals", "normies", i.e. those folks who have not kissed the sky of enlightenment the group has achieved. I've also seen "Norms", "Bogans" (AU/NZ).
To this I now add the terms "NOCOINER" and "RIGHT-CLICKERS", terms used by crypto enthusiasts, for people who don't get it.
Read 5 tweets
8 Nov
Oh No
Look, when Tim O'Reilly first coined "Web 2.0", it was a way of saying, roughly, that static HTML files on sites were going to be augmented, maybe replaced, by dynamic HTML that would update frequently.

By this approach, "Web 3.0" or "WEB3" would be the (already here) Web Apps.
But it's quite clear that this new thing with all these opportunistic scammers is something else

So, I know it won't catch on, but maybe instead when we see them go "WEB3", we go "Oh, the Scumbag Web"
Read 5 tweets

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