gif<\/a>) — so if you feel strongly about it one way or the other, you are correct \ud83d\ude09<\/p>\n\n\n\nI tended to just say the letters g-i-f or maybe “dot g-i-f” if I needed to distinguish the file extension. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
fwiw: back in the ol’ “Disk Operating System” (D.O.S.) days we were limited to file names with a maximum of 8 characters a period and then a 3 letter extension e.g. “something.txt” <\/p>\n\n\n\n
D.O.S. used the file extension to distinguish between “executable files” and “data files” – if the file was “something.bat” then D.O.S. would try to execute\/run the file while “something.txt” would be seen as “text data.” <\/p>\n\n\n\n
“Modern” operating systems still tend to look at the file extension as a clue for the file’s purpose. The file extension can be connected with an application – e.g. a “something.xcf” file was probably created in GIMP, if you double click on the file your OS will probably try to open the file with GIMP …<\/p>\n\n\n\n
yeah, we had to use cryptic file names because of those limitations back in the day, but we LIKED it that way! and stay off my lawn you crazy kids!<\/p>\n\n\n\n
If memory serves – I think D.O.S. 5.0 expanded the “before the dot” file name space. “Modern” operating systems allow for longer file names, but you can still be as cryptic as you like …<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Dial-Up<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
“Dial-up” used a “modem” with speeds measured in “bits per second” – with 56k being a “fast” dial-up modem. Which translates to “slow” and “point to point.” Any large file downloads tended to be “hit or miss” because the connection being broken would (probably) mean you needed to start the download from the beginning.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
This “slow and risky” file download aspect of dial-up was why a lot of Linux distributions sold CD’s\/physical media early on – i.e. it might have taken DAYS to download an entire distribution over dial-up … good times \ud83d\ude09 <\/p>\n\n\n\n
“Modem” is short for “modulator”\/”demodulator” – e.g. the sending computer starts with a digital signal that gets “modulated” to an analog wave that could be sent over the “plain old telephone system” (POTS) by the “modem.” The receiving computer’s modem then “demodulated” the analog signal to a digital signal. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
While I’m at it – if you go searching for ancient computer gear you might also come across “baud rates” – which measures the number of “state changes” in a signal. The “baud rate” might be slower than the “bit rate” due to data compression. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Ummm, of course none of that is REALLY important in the 21st Century. BUT I like to point out that in the “big picture” telegraph technology (dots and dashes sent as electrical signals over a wire) was the same way “dial-up” worked – and “modern networking” is still sending 1’s and 0’s. Yes, “modern networking” is much faster and reliable, but still just 1’s and 0’s …<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The term “modem” has stuck around as a generic form of “computer communication device” – technically you PROBABLY have a “router” connecting you to the internet – but if you call it a “modem” no one will notice …<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Those “dial-up services” back in the day used to charge per minute – so access was obviously restricted\/limited. In the late 1980’s part of a librarian’s job description might have included doing “research” using various dial-up services — e.g. those “card catalog” systems were functionally “analog databases” and the “electronic resources” of the time were not much more sophisticated<\/p>\n\n\n\n“Google will bring you back, you know, a hundred thousand answers. A librarian will bring you back the right one.”<\/p>-Neil Gaman<\/cite><\/blockquote><\/figure>\n\n\n\nNeil Gaman’s quote illustrates the importance of “context” and the evaluation of “sources”<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I’m seeing a lot of “AI” and “machine learning” (ML) as buzzwords in job postings – and folks predicting a “global golden age” because “insert buzzword here” will transform society on a grand scale – and well, the lesson from history is that “access to information” is NEVER equals “wise application of knowledge”<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I’m not saying that “buzzword” won’t change the workplace – I’m just pointing out that humanity is great at justifying doing the “wrong” thing – i.e. greedy, self-centered, arrogant humans are not likely to create “supremely benevolent and wise AI”<\/p>\n\n\n\n
but yes, AI and ML are (probably) gonna be important TOOLS but we (as in “humanity in general”) are PROBABLY not gonna use those tools to usher in a “golden era” of universal peace and prosperity for EVERYONE<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Libraries<\/h2>\n\n\n\n The “value” of libraries has always come from “information access.” When “books” where expensive and ONLY available in “dead tree” format then “library” was synonymous with “books.” <\/p>\n\n\n\n
“Physical media” still dominated “library holdings” until the late 20th\/early 21st Centuries gave us “low cost digital access to information.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The value of libraries is STILL “information access” with the caveat that “information curation” is PART of “access.” <\/p>\n\n\n\n
i.e. Including something in a “library” implies that the item has more value than items NOT included in the “library.” <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Obviously just because someone “wrote a book” does NOT mean that the book is “true.” Back in the days of “dead tree book domination” the fact that someone had gone to the expense of PUBLISHING a book implied that SOMEONE thought the book was valuable.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
This is the same idea as the “why” behind “ancient works” being considered “worthy of study” (at least in part) just because they are “ancient” — i.e. the logic being that if someone put the time and effort into making a copy of “work” then it MUST have been highly regarded at the time. Then if there are multiple copies of “work” that logic gets amplified.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Which again loops back to the importance of “curation” – especially in a time when the barriers to “getting published” are close to nil. <\/p>\n\n\n\n“Man\u2019s mind, stretched to a\u00a0new idea, never goes back to its original dimension.”<\/p>\u2009\u2013\u2009Oliver Wendell Holmes<\/cite><\/blockquote><\/figure>\n\n\n\nOf course special care needs to be taken for the care and feeding of “young minds.” Curation to community standards is NOT the same as “censorship.” <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
I went down the rabbit hole this morning on how to pronounce “gif” We always “recognize” more words than we actively use – and if you “learn” a word by reading, then the “correct” pronunciation might seem odd English\/”American” is particularly bad – because we readily absorb words from other languages. e.g. is the “e” […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11,13],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-786","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-philosophy","category-technology-history"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.iterudio.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/786","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.iterudio.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.iterudio.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.iterudio.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.iterudio.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=786"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/www.iterudio.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/786\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":792,"href":"https:\/\/www.iterudio.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/786\/revisions\/792"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.iterudio.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=786"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.iterudio.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=786"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.iterudio.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=786"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}