2023-01-15

🟩Introduction

Already halfway through the first month of the year, where is the time going?

This week’s curios are some of my finest, if I do say so myself. It’s a delectable mix of old tech, retro style games, and a pinch of history as well.

Enjoy my collection for this week, and let me know at @crow@lonely.town what you think!

-crow

🟩Protocol of the Week: Finger Me!

Flitting through the web as I normally do, I encountered a conversation between @ruari@velocipederider.com and @benbrown@hackers.town about a very obscure networking protocol called “Finger”.

Turns out Windows, Mac, and most Unix systems come with the ability to use Finger via the command line. Not interesting you say? Well have you considered that this bygone means of communication was defined back in 1977?

And 45 years later in the year of our Lord 2023 you can still use it on modern operating systems.

@benbrown@hackers.town actually runs a Finger hosting service at happynetbox.com, where you can set up an account and try it out for yourself!

For example, on Windows if you open the command prompt and input “finger crow@happynetbox.com”, you’ll get an output that as of right now says:

So if Mastodon ever goes down, find me at crow@happynetbox.com.

But if old networking protocols aren’t your thing, how about old storage media…

🟩Article of the Week: Floppies in 2023

Chuck E. Cheese still uses floppy disks in 2023, but not for long

by Benj Edwards for Ars Technica

Abomination might be the most apt way to describe the system Chuck E. Cheese uses to update the dance routines for their animatronics, considering that it requires an unholy combination of floppy disks and DVDs.

Or maybe it’s a delightful amalgamation from your point of view? Either way, this article goes in depth about how the famous pizza rat is able to dance, although it sounds like the animatronics may be deprecated soon.

Either way, this article is worth a quick read. And after that, check out this next item for another animal that can do a surprising activity…

🟩Game of the Week: Alpacas Can Ski?

I’ve been looking to dip my toes into game programming, and am glad I came across this portfolio post showing off the work of @johanpeitz@mastodon.gamedev.place.

Johan’s profile at johanpeitz.itch.io has a number of great games, but I think my favorite is Alpine Alpaca:

I’ve been playing it when I have 5 minutes of downtime, and the combination of using cards for skiing actions, building a deck, and collecting points is pretty addicting. Give it a try!

Once you’re done skiing and are ready to learn again, check out this next little bit of history from the world of computing…

🟩Factoid of the Week: The First “Laptop”

At the moment I use my laptop a lot more than my desktop for just about everything, which made me wonder: from whence did this wonderful form factor come forth?

The answer probably depends on who you ask, but my vote is for the Osborne 1, pictured above. Featuring a screen, keyboard, and being portable (with a handle), I’d consider it the progenitor of today’s laptops.

It was released in 1981, but the Osborne Computer Corporation only made it to 1985, going bankrupt due to a series of unfortunate decisions. You can however try out the word processor program for the Osborne via emulation at the Internet Archive.

If you’ve made it thus far and aren’t a fan of retro tech topics, well I’m personally amazed. And for that, let me share with you one more item I hope you’ll find to your liking…

🟩Thread of the Week: Portuguese Counterfeiting Caper

This thread comes courtesy of @Rose_On_Mars@dice.camp, and hooked me instantly:

Technically all the other items this week have a “retro” theme, but this thread was so interesting I had to break the theme and include it for this week. Enjoy!

🟩Afterword

Did you enjoy the collection from this week as much as I did? Did something pique your curiosity? Do feel free to interact with me at: @crow@lonely.town

See you next week my loyal readers!

-crow