Such geeky.
I. WORD UP
1. How old were you the last time you turned in a handwritten school paper?
I have a typed book report from third grade, so probably before that.
2. Have you ever used a manual typewriter? (Typewriters you have to plug in do not count.)
No, both of my parents’ offices had upgraded to electric ones by the time I was trusted not to break anything. Alas.
3. What euphemism do you normally use for "make a photocopy"?
Less a euphemism than a shortened version - “Make a copy”.
4. Do you know what that little "cc" in your email header actually stands for? If so, when was the last time you made or used a real honest-to-god physical cc?
Why, carbon copy, of course. And BCC stands for blind carbon copy, in case you need to send it secretly to someone. I wrote a check on Monday, does that count?
5. What's the first word processing program you remember learning to use?
Word Perfect, probably 4.0. Lordy me. Self-taught, because my parents were scared of the damn thing.
6. What new 'feature' of the word processing program you now use do you wish they had never invented?
Spellcheck! Because now, nobody learns to spell - they just run spellcheck. Ugh.
II. SENDING AND RECEIVING
1. Did you ever own or operate a computer with an external modem? If so, describe it.
Never owned, but I did operate one many times at my elementary/middle school. I don’t think we ever really used the modem, though.
2. When and under what circumstances did you get your first email address?
Probably about fourth grade. I used my dad’s, SGold73092@aol.com. I then used AOL for a while. Progressed to MarleLucca@aol.com. (Major points if you understand that.)
3. What did you think 'the web' would be like before you actually used it for the first time?
more organized. Like, here, this is where you go if you want this. I still feel how open-ended it is sometimes.
4. How did you find things on the web before the advent of Google?
Yahoo. But I always got distracted by the other stuff on the page.
5. What was the first mailing list you ever joined? Do you still belong? Why or why not?
I don’t like mailing lists. But probably the USY one. I was more of a bulletin board girl (that’s what forums were called, back in the day. I still slip up and call them that sometimes.)
6. If they developed the technology to implant email and the web in your head so you could access both mentally without typing and simulate telepathic communication, would you be the first to sign up?
Yes. I’d never get anything done. I probably wouldn’t even eat.
Or would you run away to a cabin in Montana and start growing your own wheat? Explain.
Hmm, no. Montana scares me, and farming involves waking up before the sun.
III. SYNTAX ERRORS
1. What's the oldest-model computer you remember using? Did it have any fun quirks that the newer models have ironed out?
An Apple…probably from about 1990. We played with the Logo turtle. Eventually we progressed to Odell Lake. The main quirk I remember is having pixels that were about A QUARTER INCH WIDE!!!! Ugh.
2. What was the first programming language you learned? Can you still program in it?
I had my programming debut on the TI-83. Oh yeah, baby. I think I could probably do even better with it now. And I learned java last semester, and now I’m starting with c. I’m proud of myself.
3. Do you remember playing text-only 'interactive fiction' computer games? If so, which was your favorite?
YESSS!!! I loved those things. I was absolutely abysmal at them. But they were so funny. My favorite was probably…the one that used to be on prodigy, you woke up and were suddenly a vampire in a big old house. It was probably a Scott Adams. And then I played Zork later in life, and Adventure. Those were good too.
4. Do you still own any 5 1/4" floppy disks? If so, what's on them?
Yep. Treehouse, Where in the World is Carmen San Diego, and…probably some other stuff.
5. How many DOS commands do you still know?
Um…I know how to list stuff, and change directories and drives. So, a couple.
1. How old were you the last time you turned in a handwritten school paper?
I have a typed book report from third grade, so probably before that.
2. Have you ever used a manual typewriter? (Typewriters you have to plug in do not count.)
No, both of my parents’ offices had upgraded to electric ones by the time I was trusted not to break anything. Alas.
3. What euphemism do you normally use for "make a photocopy"?
Less a euphemism than a shortened version - “Make a copy”.
4. Do you know what that little "cc" in your email header actually stands for? If so, when was the last time you made or used a real honest-to-god physical cc?
Why, carbon copy, of course. And BCC stands for blind carbon copy, in case you need to send it secretly to someone. I wrote a check on Monday, does that count?
5. What's the first word processing program you remember learning to use?
Word Perfect, probably 4.0. Lordy me. Self-taught, because my parents were scared of the damn thing.
6. What new 'feature' of the word processing program you now use do you wish they had never invented?
Spellcheck! Because now, nobody learns to spell - they just run spellcheck. Ugh.
II. SENDING AND RECEIVING
1. Did you ever own or operate a computer with an external modem? If so, describe it.
Never owned, but I did operate one many times at my elementary/middle school. I don’t think we ever really used the modem, though.
2. When and under what circumstances did you get your first email address?
Probably about fourth grade. I used my dad’s, SGold73092@aol.com. I then used AOL for a while. Progressed to MarleLucca@aol.com. (Major points if you understand that.)
3. What did you think 'the web' would be like before you actually used it for the first time?
more organized. Like, here, this is where you go if you want this. I still feel how open-ended it is sometimes.
4. How did you find things on the web before the advent of Google?
Yahoo. But I always got distracted by the other stuff on the page.
5. What was the first mailing list you ever joined? Do you still belong? Why or why not?
I don’t like mailing lists. But probably the USY one. I was more of a bulletin board girl (that’s what forums were called, back in the day. I still slip up and call them that sometimes.)
6. If they developed the technology to implant email and the web in your head so you could access both mentally without typing and simulate telepathic communication, would you be the first to sign up?
Yes. I’d never get anything done. I probably wouldn’t even eat.
Or would you run away to a cabin in Montana and start growing your own wheat? Explain.
Hmm, no. Montana scares me, and farming involves waking up before the sun.
III. SYNTAX ERRORS
1. What's the oldest-model computer you remember using? Did it have any fun quirks that the newer models have ironed out?
An Apple…probably from about 1990. We played with the Logo turtle. Eventually we progressed to Odell Lake. The main quirk I remember is having pixels that were about A QUARTER INCH WIDE!!!! Ugh.
2. What was the first programming language you learned? Can you still program in it?
I had my programming debut on the TI-83. Oh yeah, baby. I think I could probably do even better with it now. And I learned java last semester, and now I’m starting with c. I’m proud of myself.
3. Do you remember playing text-only 'interactive fiction' computer games? If so, which was your favorite?
YESSS!!! I loved those things. I was absolutely abysmal at them. But they were so funny. My favorite was probably…the one that used to be on prodigy, you woke up and were suddenly a vampire in a big old house. It was probably a Scott Adams. And then I played Zork later in life, and Adventure. Those were good too.
4. Do you still own any 5 1/4" floppy disks? If so, what's on them?
Yep. Treehouse, Where in the World is Carmen San Diego, and…probably some other stuff.
5. How many DOS commands do you still know?
Um…I know how to list stuff, and change directories and drives. So, a couple.