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#58717 02/26/02 08:24 PM
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No, I know Chuck Benton. I think I said "the guy who wrote." More accurately, I should have said, "One of the creators." I think he was mainly a designer, though I suspect he did do some coding.

k


#58718 02/26/02 08:47 PM
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A friend of mine from back in engineering school went back for his doctorate and had to take a class that had some younger guys in it.

The prof, who knew my friend, asked the class what size was the first hard drive they ever owned. They went all around the class until they got to my friend who said, "Five megabytes," to which this kid in front of him quickly responds in a really authoritative voice to correct the poor, misguided, computer-illiterate, newbie elder, "I *think* you mean five *gigabytes*!"

I've always disliked the word newbie .



k



#58719 02/26/02 09:33 PM
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mugwump (political independent)

...often applied derisively to someone whose views changed to match those of his immediate audience, who had no views of his own. The image evoked was of a strange creature sitting on a fence with his "mug" on one side and his "wump" on the other...

Or is that just Yet Another Urban Myth?


#58720 02/27/02 12:23 AM
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Ambrose Bierce; Devil's Dictionary: MUGWUMP, n.: In politics one afflicted with self-respect and addicted to the vice of independence. A term of contempt.

wofa, my uninformed guess is that what you mention is, as you speculate, an urban myth. I'm not familiar with the "vicar of bray" usage, and bartleby gives the etymology as "Massachusett mugguomp, mummugguomp, war leader".


#58721 02/27/02 04:12 PM
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text based game called adventure

As it is one of my recent interests, I should add that the genre of "text-based games" is still alive and well, but these days is usually called "interactive fiction" (or IF). The new masterpieces of IF are created by hobbyists who spend months if not years writing and coding intricate "games" and then release them as freeware to a small community of fans. Today's "games" range from the traditional puzzle-based quests (like "Curses" and "Anchorhead") to more narrative or atmospheric pieces (like "Photopia" or "Galatea").

If you'd like more info about interactive fiction, please PM me or check out SPAG (the Society for the Promotion of Adventure Games) at http://www.sparkynet.com/spag/frame.html or XYZZYnews (XYZZY was a "magic word" in "Adventure/Colossal Cave") at http://www.xyzzynews.com.


#58722 02/27/02 04:19 PM
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I'll check those out! And a happy plugh to you, too.

(Plugh being another magic word in the same game.)

It didn't occur to me that anyone might still be playing these types of games, let alone be constructing them.

thanks,
k




#58723 03/03/02 01:47 AM
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Sorry to chime in late...been away.

lemming: from the game Lemmings (you have to lead a group of Lemmings to a goal, as I recall, without them all falling off a cliff). Otherwise who would have heard of this particular animal?

My uncle lived for many years on Baffin Island in the NW Territories of Canada. He told me many stories about the lemmings and their reputed suicide mission each year. Although, they don't really run to the cliffs and jump off in droves, I have always found it a fascinating tale.

In looking for info on lemmings, I discovered (warning--cross threading) the following:

Ode to a Lemming (the Limerick)
by John H. Roberts

There once was a lemming named Sam
Who said "A lemming I am!"
When faced with a cliff,
His body went stiff.
And they scraped him off the ground like spam.

Ode to a Lemming (The Haiku)
by Patrick I. White

Lemming suicide
running off cliffs together
wet, furry lemmings

For more lemming poetry, see The Lemmings Poetry Club: http://homepage.fcgnetworks.net/patrick/lemming.html
[should this be in the animal thread?-e]


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