The one that won't die: George RR Martin uses DOS and Wordstar 4.0 to write Game of Thrones
64 replies, posted
Weird, with a beard like that I would have pegged him for a Unix man.
[QUOTE=bdd458;44809880]IIRC I don't think its connected to the internet.[/QUOTE]
Implying that they even used the internet to spread?
DOS viruses usually relied on unaware/oblivious users putting infected media, such as a floppy disk, into their machine and actually running the malicious program. And when that is done, if it actually has a spreading method and doesn't just drop it's possibly destructive payload immediately, it spreads itself to every new floppy/other media it can find inserted into the machine after it's loaded into memory. Then some other unsuspecting person gets one of the new infected floppies, and the cycle repeats.
So, in terms of DOS, your computer is only as secure as how smart you are.
But I think this guy is fine, I'm pretty sure he has an IQ higher than single digits.
[QUOTE=Take_Opal;44809803]Doesn't seem like too brilliant of a guy.[/QUOTE]
This is no different than a writer still wanting to work on a typewriter, or a DJ still wanting to use real records.
Calling the writer of one of the most revered modern fantasy series "not too brilliant" because he uses an older computer makes you seem like a punk
I seriously hope there's a backup somewhere not on that thirty+ year old hard drive.
[QUOTE=Teddybeer;44810706]Probably has more money than us mere mortals to get it fixed when it fails.[/QUOTE]
ya but stephen hawking used a voice box from the 1980s till recently, now he's using one thats much less clumsy and lighter and can sense his thoughts
[QUOTE=joes33431;44809922]Speaking on US chat show Conan on Tuesday, he said he kept a second computer for browsing the internet.[/QUOTE]
I can see reading comprehension isn't one of your strong points.
[QUOTE=xxncxx;44810312]Yes, that's his second computer. Not the one he writes on.[/QUOTE]
[QUOTE='[EG] Pepper;44811223']I can see reading comprehension isn't one of your strong points.[/QUOTE]
..that was the point of my post, to confirm what he was saying..
[QUOTE=Sableye;44810605]ya he acts like its a bonus but really its very much a crutch, if that thing fails (which it will) he's lost tons of work[/QUOTE]
Given that his literal life's work is on that thing and he's somewhat a clever man, I would assume he has the common sense to take care of it as best he can, let alone keep two or three back ups of all his work.
No one is stupid enough not to keep a back up of something that makes you money like that.
I like to think that his DOS computer has an old 14" inch monochrome monitor which he has to squint at when he writes. Then when he takes a break he stands up, lifts his chair(he uses an old wooden kitchen chair) and turns it to face his 'browsing' computer which has three 32" monitors.
If he loves WordStar so much, why the hell didn't he buy a CP/M machine?
This seems like something I would do. I already have future plans for two computers, one outdated machine for older things, the other a Windows 7 machine to do modern stuff.
[QUOTE=Sam Za Nemesis;44809764]I think when you want to have minimum distraction a GUI is already distracting enough, but honestly, he could just use vim or emacs for his work, [B]specially because DOS isn't really that safe as he thinks[/B][/QUOTE]
Hopefully he doesn't have it hooked up to the Internet. He did mention he has another computer for that.
[QUOTE=sloppy_joes;44809824]"if it ain't broke, don't fix it"[/QUOTE]
this is a stupid thing to say in the context of technology. We are constantly figuring out more efficient and easier ways to do things. Without the man who thought "hey we can do this thing only better!" we would never progress in technology.
What a scrub, real men use ed for everything.
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[QUOTE=FunnyStarRunner;44813080]This seems like something I would do. I already have future plans for two computers, one outdated machine for older things, the other a Windows 7 machine to do modern stuff.[/QUOTE]
So, two outdated machines? :v:
[QUOTE=Eltro102;44809706]man imagine him being all like "no virus can touch this" and then some archaic virus brought back for one last mission goes and deletes the entirety of the rest of the game of thrones series[/QUOTE]
[IMG]http://www.uploadimages4free.com/upload/big/boom_no_more_redx-12933.jpg[/IMG]
[QUOTE=STRIDERS;44814919][IMG]http://www.uploadimages4free.com/upload/big/boom_no_more_redx-12933.jpg[/IMG][/QUOTE]
[IMG]http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/d/d6/Aids_computer_virus.png[/IMG]
He hasn't hit that 1 in 10 chance yet.
It took Danooct1 a billion tries and he was actively trying to get it to activate.
[QUOTE=ashxu;44813698]this is a stupid thing to say in the context of technology. We are constantly figuring out more efficient and easier ways to do things. Without the man who thought "hey we can do this thing only better!" we would never progress in technology.[/QUOTE]
No? Not at all. Newer isn't better, just more bloated.
[QUOTE=Take_Opal;44809803]Doesn't seem like too brilliant of a guy.[/QUOTE]
Yeah you need to buy the LATEST REVOLUTION IN WORD PROCESSING™ every year to STAY ON TOP™ and TURBOCHARGE YOUR CREATIVITY™, even if you don't need any of the features, after all it's 25% off so you are SAVING MONEY!
This might be the only to not die during the writing of the series.
Including George R.R. Martin.
[QUOTE=lazyguy;44813796]What a scrub, real men use ed for everything.
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Nano master race. And if you're going to be writing via plain text editor, why not bother with LaTeX?
[QUOTE=Hoboiam;44810851]This is no different than a writer still wanting to work on a typewriter, or a DJ still wanting to use real records.
Calling the writer of one of the most revered modern fantasy series "not too brilliant" because he uses an older computer makes you seem like a punk[/QUOTE]
I'm calling him not brilliant because he doesn't seem to informed about modern word processors. Word has essentially gone through only UI changes since the early 2000s and I've never had it auto-capitalize in my experience so I just don't see why he would chose to use Wordstar if he actually knew how Word works. Also his comment about getting a virus, it's just telling of someone who is not very experienced with computers - which is okay, but still says he's not brilliant [I]when it comes to computers[/I].
And also, just because his books are revered doesn't really mean anything. They're fun, but they're not like the epitome of Fantasy or super unique.
[editline]15th May 2014[/editline]
[QUOTE=acds;44815290]Yeah you need to buy the LATEST REVOLUTION IN WORD PROCESSING™ every year to STAY ON TOP™ and TURBOCHARGE YOUR CREATIVITY™, even if you don't need any of the features, after all it's 25% off so you are SAVING MONEY![/QUOTE]
This is not at all what I implied.
He also types with 1 finger
[video=youtube;CnBvf5rFPkw]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CnBvf5rFPkw#t=1420[/video]
(go to 23:20, timecodes won't work on here)
I heard that about 50,000 words of one of his books were lost due to a power surge and he lost the will to write for 6 months. So much for the safest machine in the world. At this point he's probably counting on dying before the TV show can catch up with him so he doesn't have to write anymore.
[QUOTE=Smoot;44809657]Just use... notepad.
Really?[/QUOTE]
Evidently you've never used Wordstar
Notepad barely has 1% of its features
It's basically vim for prose - once you know the shortcuts it is possible to work much faster and more consistently than a modern GUI wysiwyg editor
[QUOTE=Beefbars;44817892]I heard that about 50,000 words of one of his books were lost due to a power surge and he lost the will to write for 6 months. So much for the safest machine in the world. At this point he's probably counting on dying before the TV show can catch up with him so he doesn't have to write anymore.[/QUOTE]
50,000 words and he got upset? That's barely half a chapter, nothing to cry about.
[QUOTE=cecilbdemodded;44820165]50,000 words and he got upset? That's barely half a chapter, nothing to cry about.[/QUOTE]
Jesus I hope you're joking.
[QUOTE=cecilbdemodded;44820165]50,000 words and he got upset? That's barely half a chapter, nothing to cry about.[/QUOTE]
That's about 175 pages.
He's smart for this. No, really, he is.
I bet he plays Cyberwar.
[QUOTE=supersnail11;44821304]That's about 175 pages.[/QUOTE]
to think i ran a rp game on this forum 200,000 words in length
i suddenly have perspective
[QUOTE=Darkimmortal;44817939]Evidently you've never used Wordstar
Notepad barely has 1% of its features
It's basically vim for prose - once you know the shortcuts it is possible to work much faster and more consistently than a modern GUI wysiwyg editor[/QUOTE]
he doesn't want anything more than a backspace key, 26 letters, and a few punctuations, and the occasional space and shift. he won't use word because it has auto correct, I doubt he ever uses any keyboard shortcuts
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