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Forums - Microsoft Discussion - Stop typing M$ -- it's not as funny or clever as you think it is

alephnull on 11 March 2009
The Lurker said:
twesterm said:
alephnull said:
M$ was originally a reference BASIC with a double entendre. Originally in BASIC variable names could only have one letter (such as M) and since the "microsoft" is a string you would have to reference any variable by ending it with a $ (eg. M$).

You didn't get the joke and neither do most people these days, but that doesn't mean it wasn't clever.

 

You're right, I don't get that joke (and don't remember BASIC only letting me having variables with names that are one letter, but it's been years since I used BASIC) but I was referring to the people that say M$ meaning an evil money grubbing corporation.

 

I remember when BASIC only let you use single letter variable names. But those were the days *before* Apple licenced "Applesoft" BASIC and MS-DOS machines shipped with BASICA or GW-BASIC. The C64 even let you have long variable names, but from memory, the TRS micros didn't. alpehnull, I don't get the meaning behind this "double entendre" you speak of, and I grew up with BASIC. I mean, what's the connection between MS and BASIC here? What's the joke?

As far as I know, there's no BASIC reference. M$ is just short for Micro$oft or Micro$haft.

I use M$ if I'm referring to Bill Gates' money-grubbing ways and I think I'm being snarky.

 

What is the version of BASIC that put MS on the map? That would be Altair BASIC.

But that is neither here nor there as it's more of a jab against BASIC than MS BASIC. Half of the joke is a reference to Microsoft's tireless pushing of BASIC (at it's exaggerated worst) back in the days before they finally deprecated VB and killed that non-orthogonal monster.

The other half is the reference everyone gets (or think they get) to what was an exceptionally ruthless business strategy in the 80s and 90s. Remember Stacker?

I fear these days both halves of the joke are becomming a bit antiquated. They finally killed BASIC (or are trying to) and these days the evil things they do, such as the Tom Tom lawsuit and their various other anti-linux activities -- are merely the usual above average evil of any monopolist.



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NinjaKido on 11 March 2009

It's all starting to make sense . Wasn't your last thread about "game breaking" bugs in Killzone 2 ( sony owned) which virtualy no one has recognised ..... Hmmm



outlawauron on 11 March 2009

I'm pretty sure I've never used it before.

I usually call Microsoft MS.



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blaydcor on 11 March 2009
twesterm said:
blaydcor said:
twesterm said:
WereKitten said:
twesterm said:

...

It doesn't make you seem clever.  It doesn't make you sound smart.  It doesn't make you sound funny.  It only makes you look like a giant tool.

Seriously, every time I see someone type M$ seriously I lose every ounce of respect for them and I cannot take anything they say seriously.  Saying M$ in any argument is pretty much an automatic lose card and you fail at life.

...

 

Unwilling irony ensues from your own rant being peppered with subcultural jargon, that is also seldom as funny or clever as its now accustomed speakers think ;)

 

I was going to make a witty comeback and explain how you missed the point of the first post, but then I realized you would probably miss the point of that too.

I'm pretty $ure no comeback would have been witty enough to obfu$cate the fact that WereKitten kicked your rhetorical a$$.

A$ in, he threw a deve$tating, life-stopping heart punch $traight into the middle of your argument.

"Fail" gets on my nerves way more than M$, and I've seen you reply to thread$ (especially back when the fail meme was all the rage) with nerve-grating fail pic$ quite a few time$.

Ah, so you missed it too!

I didn't make a thread about being annoyed by people who use subcultural jargon, I made a thread about being annoyed by people who use the term M$ because they don't know what it actually means (and apparently even I didn't even know where it started) and they think it makes them clever.

I don't give a crap if people use things like fail (or even phail, which would be more appropriate to point out) or other random jargon.  When someone says fail they aren't trying to stick it to Microsoft and sound all sorts of clever because they're almost being political or whatever, they're just being tools (and tool is as much as subcultural jargon as idiot).

 

 

I didn't bold tool, I didn't coin use the phrase subcultural jargon.

We didn't 'miss' anything.

WereKitten pointed out that while complaining a stupid internet meme (for whatever reasons, they don't really matter here), you used a few much-more annoying and more widespread memes that, if not exactly the same as M$, are at least in the same genus. It still really undermines your argument.

Analogy for dense people: A man complains how he hates those dumb t-shirts with wry quips on them, because the people who wear them aren't even witty enough to get them and they're just stupid. Meanwhile, he is wearing a hat and t-shirt that both also have stupid quotes. Even if his reasons for hating other people wearing said shirts doesn't derive from their inherent inanity, he still looks like a toolbag.

Also, starting sentences with "Ah", even facetiously, ironically, or sarcastically, gives off a strong "I'm a jackass" vibe. Jus' sayin'.

M$ annoys me too, but self-indulgent rants about minutial problems annoy me a lot more.

Okay, I'm all argued out. Don't take me too seriously, I just like to argue stupid stuff with the people for the sake of exercising my vocabularly and debatin' skills if nothing else. Think of this as more a simulated exercise than my true sentiments.



Crusty VGchartz old timer who sporadically returns & posts. Let's debate nebulous shit and expand our perpectives. Or whatever.

alephnull on 11 March 2009

I should also point out that Altair BASIC was at the center of the debate of whether or not software could be charged for thanks to that incident with that hobbyist group. The answer at the time was non-obvious. The laws in which software was made to be property had not yet been passed and if you think about it for a bit, this amounts to someone owning all rights to the use of a number.



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WereKitten on 11 March 2009
alephnull said:
I should also point out that Altair BASIC was at the center of the debate of whether or not software could be charged for thanks to that incident with that hobbyist group. The answer at the time was non-obvious. The laws in which software was made to be property had not yet been passed and if you think about it for a bit, this amounts to someone owning all rights to the use of a number.

I'm glad that's all in the past now, and the whole issue has been cleanly settled :)



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libellule on 11 March 2009

it is not because it is "not clever" or "funny" u can order peole to stop writting it

I mostly dont use it (I use MS) but ur thread give me interest to use it more indeed, nice job !



Time to Work !

alephnull on 11 March 2009
WereKitten said:
alephnull said:
I should also point out that Altair BASIC was at the center of the debate of whether or not software could be charged for thanks to that incident with that hobbyist group. The answer at the time was non-obvious. The laws in which software was made to be property had not yet been passed and if you think about it for a bit, this amounts to someone owning all rights to the use of a number.

I'm glad that's all in the past now, and the whole issue has been cleanly settled :)

For most people it is -- at least for the moment.

I will even admit to adding non-free packages to my Debian GNU-Linux install :P



Seraphic_Sixaxis on 11 March 2009

True lol.

Btw Final Fantasy VII >>> Final Fantasy VI.



The Lurker on 11 March 2009

What is the version of BASIC that put MS on the map? That would be Altair BASIC.

But that is neither here nor there as it's more of a jab against BASIC than MS BASIC. Half of the joke is a reference to Microsoft's tireless pushing of BASIC (at it's exaggerated worst) back in the days before they finally deprecated VB and killed that non-orthogonal monster.

The other half is the reference everyone gets (or think they get) to what was an exceptionally ruthless business strategy in the 80s and 90s. Remember Stacker?

I fear these days both halves of the joke are becomming a bit antiquated. They finally killed BASIC (or are trying to) and these days the evil things they do, such as the Tom Tom lawsuit and their various other anti-linux activities -- are merely the usual above average evil of any monopolist.

I edited my post shortly after that quote you made. I realised it was a bit hypocritical to claim knowledge of the history of BASIC and apparently disassociate it from MS. Yes, I remember Stacker, and I still use WordPerfect. I remember that time (late 80s, early 90s) as the time in which the phrase came into use.



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