zerodan: (Work is hell)
zerodan ([personal profile] zerodan) wrote2008-02-20 04:21 pm

Calculating THAC0

From SlashDot:

"Robert Scoble had an interesting post on his blog a few days ago on obsolete technical skills — 'things we used to know that no longer are very useful to us.' Scoble's initial list included dialing a rotary phone, using carbon paper to make copies, and changing the gas mixture on your car's carburetor. The list has now been expanded into a wiki with a much larger list of these obsolete skills that includes resolving IRQ conflicts on a mother board, assembly language programming, and stacking a quarter on an arcade game to indicate you have next. We're invited to contribute more."

I was intrigued by how many of these things i can do.  See how many obsolete skills you have.

[identity profile] baerana.livejournal.com 2008-02-21 03:29 am (UTC)(link)
first of all, going over this list has been the most fun i've had in awhile, man, reminiscing about geek days of yore is AWESOME :)

and i'm not OLD, i've adapted well :)

ps - what is your icon? i've been looking at it for awhile - i thought it was from portal but can't place the hearts

[identity profile] brids-owlwoman.livejournal.com 2008-02-21 05:05 am (UTC)(link)
for your ps...I'm considering revoking your gamer geek card.

I've never played the game, but I've seen many tributes to the item.

Just kidding (about the id revocation part)

[identity profile] zerodan.livejournal.com 2008-02-21 02:23 pm (UTC)(link)
It is from Portal (which you really should play if you haven't yet). If you don't want to get the Orange Box for $50, you can get Portal for $20 through Steam.

Then, you can become friends with the Weighted Companion Cube.

[identity profile] brids-owlwoman.livejournal.com 2008-02-21 05:02 am (UTC)(link)
Some of these are not obsolete skills. Until I stole one from an ex coworker, I still had a rollball mouse at work.

Until I inherited my grandmother's car (last fall) I had to roll my car windows up and down by hand.

I didn't go through the whole list. I'm sure there are others.

[identity profile] el-bastarde.livejournal.com 2008-02-21 03:10 pm (UTC)(link)
Man...I am chock full of useless skills. I still remember the settings for a sound card in DOS/Old windows. Port=220, IRQ=5, DMA=1.

I am so glad they got rid of THAC0...and the pain in the ass saving throw system.