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The oldest version I heard of was in Japan in the 1990s. Scammers would call elderly people, claiming to be grandchildren, and demand money or they would be arrested/scandalized.

It was called the "ore ore" (pronounced "o-ray o-ray") scam because they would typically use the word "ore" for "I", a familiar and often brusque or aggressive form of the first person singular.


This is also well known here in Hungary, there was even movie about it. It's called "unokázás"; literally: "grandchilding".

Not a good sign when the website (granted it's the blog website, not the main one) for a commercial development tool is unreachable.

Sad, because I still have a soft spot in my heart for Delphi.


Delphi was the only compiler where the Help documentation was really helpful and used without needing internet. For each library they provided real-world examples on the documentation so we could learn how to use them.

I've never found bettern tool for building desktop GUI apps so easily. I've dropped Delphi back in 2010, moved to Java and tried the web/mobile world but nothing comes close to that top-notch quality.

Irony of destiny: Any app compiled with Borland Delphi is instantly multiplatform because they run beautifuly on Linux and OSX when WINE is installed there.


My first programming job was writing Delphi code. Their documentation was excellent. All of the documentation I've used since then has been sad and disappointing.

> Any app compiled with Borland Delphi is instantly multiplatform because they run beautifuly on Linux and OSX when WINE is installed there.

Delphi can compile native apps for Windows, Android, iOS, macOS, and Linux.


Thanks for that info. Was reading and seems to be available since edition 10 upwards with the enterprise license: https://stackoverflow.com/questions/76356995/how-to-target-l...

Fantastic toolchain.


Ironic when you get a Cloudflare error page for something that should be CDN'd and static-able anyway.

Here's where I'll add: it's really weird to me that Embarcadero now owns Ultra-Edit.


And Sencha. They are just buying stuff so that they can milk their remaining customers. But outside of Delphi/C++ Builder and maybe Interbase back in the day, I haven't seen them doing anything worthwile.

Yea, well said. Me too.

Brian Kernighan wrote:

Everyone knows that debugging is twice as hard as writing a program in the first place. So if you're as clever as you can be when you write it, how will you ever debug it?

— The Elements of Programming Style, 2nd edition, chapter 2

So if vibe coding produces code that is as clever as -- or more clever than -- you, then you have no chance of debugging it.


I would kill just for the [Reveal Codes] functionality on any word processor.


I “grew up” on Worgperfect 4.2 and loved the Reveal Code feature. Always fully transparent on what was where and what it did.


That's the biggest reason i loved WP.


This was happening to people I knew when I lived in Japan 30 years ago. Many people were using wa-puro (word processors that let you type in the phonetic form and choose from the appropriate kanji). I imagine the effect is far more common now.

I remember one time when a university engineering professor couldn't remember how to write the kanji for "police". He didn't seem embarrassed asking someone else. I don't know if they still do, but they would often demonstrate by writing out the character with their index finger like a pen in the other hand's palm.


Loopop's guide looks interesting, but to unlock the book I had to join (for free) the Patreon channel. Then it immediately tells me that to unlock the book I have to become a paid member.

It turns out that the free tier only gets you notifications when new content is published; to read that content, you have to pay.

I wouldn't mind paying, but dislike the bait and switch approach.


His patreon is really explicit about what you get for what tiers. I get that the patreon ui is pretty confusing, but that’s not his fault


> but that’s not his fault

He chooses to utilize Patreon for his business, so it really is, at least partially.


My condolences, you are annoying.


Come on, you can join for one month, download the up to date version and leave again. Not too much asked for such a ressource.


Yes, it’s definitely worth it, in my opinion. Loopops book is easily one of the most powerful collections of knowledge of electronic music production out there.

I’ve been making electronic music since the 80’s and still find the regular updates from loopop titillating and inspiring.


Sorry, I couldn't finish reading because the entire article is in capitals.


Looks like it checks for the referrer in main.js and adds the uppercase text-transform if you come from HN:

  let host;
  if (document.referrer) { host = (new URL(document.referrer)).host; }
  if (host === "news.ycombinator.com" || host === "lobste.rs") {
    let style = document.createElement('style');
    // let transform = host === "lobste.rs" ? 
    style.textContent = `
      body { text-transform: uppercase; }
      pre, code { text-transform: none; }
    `;
    document.head.appendChild(style);
    console.log("HN readers clearly can't handle the typing habits of the average trans girl.");
    return;
  }


Sounds like the author got called out for not capitalizing the start of her sentences[1] and decided that, if HN readers want capital letters, they will get them.

[1] https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=39027187


Which is funny because if you engage Reader Mode in the browser, everything becomes proper except sentences, which still start with lowercased letters for some reason. Names are still properly capitalized. It's truly bizarre


It's a less... dramatic... version of what happens when HN links to JWZ's blog.


But where's the testicle in an egg cup?


What would happen if no "Referer:" HTTP header is sent and Javascript engine is absent or disabled

Answer: The text will be mostly all lowercase, along with some sentence case


Right? Who thinks that is acceptable in 2025?


Someone who is writing on their personal blog and doesn't give a damn what is "acceptable" to some rando on the Internet?


If you're publishing a public blog, by definition your audience is randos on the internet. Also, the author is posting in this thread.


it was acceptable in 2024? what year did it become unacceptable?


Since October 1995 and the publication of RFC 1855.

https://www.rfc-editor.org/rfc/rfc1855

Communication has not been merely a matter of personal habit — it follows commonly accepted standards for exchanging information within a group. Ignoring these conventions risks your message being unread, unheard, or misunderstood.

That said, it seems possible the author is intentionally addressing a specific subgroup that has agreed upon a different set of communication rules.


Status of this Memo: This memo does not specify an Internet standard of any kind. - MY FAVORITE kind of Memo :)


Some other handy passive-aggressive electronic mail techniques, courtesy of Bernard Greenberg from Symbolics (BSG 4/11/84):

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bernard_Greenberg

https://www.donhopkins.com/home/archive/humor/flame-manual.t...

  Proposed Symbolics guidelines for mail messages
  BSG 4/11/84
>It is impermissible to use the term "EMAIL".

>It is customary to attack the someone by including his or her message, indented (unless you are using MM), and replying point by point, as someone debating someone they are watching on TV, or hearing on the radio.

>It is considered artful to append many messages on a subject, leaving only the most inflammatory lines from each, and reply to all in one swift blow. The choice of lines to support your argument can make or break your case.

>Mail should be at least a mixture of upper and lower case. Devising your own font (Devanagari, pinhead graphics, etc.) and using it in the mail is a good entertainment tactic, as is finding some way to use existing obscure fonts.

>Sending the mail from Unix is frowned upon (although this has gotten much better).

>Replying to one's own message is a rarely-exposed technique for switching positions once you have thought about something only after sending mail.

>You get 3 opportunities to advertise your Rock band, no more.

>Idiosyncratic indentations, double-spacing, capitalization, etc., while stamps of individuality, leave one an easy target for parody.

>The entire life, times, collected works, expressions, and modalities of Zippy the Pinhead are a common ground for much of the metaphor, rhetoric, and invective which pass daily through the mail. An occasional parenthetical "yow" CORRECTLY USED will endear one to the senior systems staff. So will puns and other remarks addressed directly to the point.

>Including a destination in the CC list that will cause the recipients' mailer to blow out is a good way to stifle dissent.

>When replying, it is often possible to cleverly edit the original message in such a way as to subtly alter its meaning or tone to your advantage while appearing that you are taking pains to preserve the author's intent. As a bonus, it will seem that your superior intellect is cutting through all the excess verbiage to the very heart of the matter.

>Keeping a secret "Hall Of Flame" file of people's mail indiscretions, or copying messages to private mailing lists for subsequent derision, is good fun and also a worthwhile investment in case you need to blackmail the senders later.


Unclear, but it looks to be somewhere around the year 1000.


Is Thomas Middledich (the central character in the TV show Silicon Valley) really the Chief Creative Officer?

Jeri Ellsworth as Technical Advisor is also a solid member of the C64 community.


It's good to have some healthy skepticism, but everything I've seen has felt very legit and pragmatic. It's funny-sad that a lot of people feel THIS is a nostalgia cash-in when Jack Tramiel was one of the least technology-driven, emotive figures in the 8-bit era. I'm OK if they do what it takes to keep the spirit of the Commodore community alive.


Looks like they are using (are going to use?) her FPGA re-implementation.


I'm not a very critical reader*. When I read something, I don't have conversations with myself about "this could be better if..." or "the writer shouldn't have..." Instead, I accept what has been proffered and at the end decide if it had value for me.

* unless I make a conscious effort to, like when I'm asked to review someone's work


That was a fascinating article. I have no doubt that Putnam's work is far beyond me -- considering that it is beyond leading academics in the field -- but I appreciate the description of a man who tried his best to find the right path for himself, even if it was at odds with what the world expected of him.


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