Posted by MPSimmons 2 days ago
Back when I was probably 16, so '86, I came across Robert Woodhead, probably on Usenet, probably with some mention that he worked on the movie. So I sent him an e-mail and told him how much I loved the movie. He wrote back and told me a little about the computer graphics that he did for the movie. So every time I see some of the graphics scenes, I think of him.
A few days ago I was watching a Youtube video "10 things you didn't know about Real Genius", and it showed those computer graphics.
And I thought "I wonder what he's up to." Turns out he's done some kind of interesting things, has a github, etc. So, I fired off another e-mail to him ("I'm sure you don't remember, but back in '86 you graciously replied to an e-mail I sent you and I've often thought of that kindness.") He happens to live where I visit typically a couple times a year, so we've set up going out to coffee.
2 e-mails, 40 years apart, and then this. Coincidences, man.
UPDATE according to ChatGPT:
ARPANET itself began in 1969 at a handful of research universities, so some US universities had access as early as the early 1970s. However, many institutions that didn’t have a direct ARPANET connection joined BITNET in 1981—a store‐and‐forward network that was easier and less expensive to join but often led to long email delays (sometimes on the order of a day or two, especially on international links). By the mid‑to‑late 1980s, with the emergence of NSFNET (which provided a TCP/IP backbone) and the broader adoption of Internet protocols, many universities transitioned from BITNET to the more immediate, real‑time connectivity of the Internet.
In other words, while ARPANET was available to some US universities from the early 1970s, widespread academic use via the modern Internet (with NSFNET and TCP/IP) really picked up in the mid‑1980s. The long delays you remember (such as a two‑day email from Boston to London) were more typical of BITNET’s store‑and‑forward mechanism rather than ARPANET’s near‑real‑time communications.
You mention being on Usenet in 88 or 89, which was after "the great reorganization". I was on Usenet for a while before the reorg, so that'd cement the earlier end at 85-86. I definitely had e-mail, but never used BITNET or ARPANet. I do recall sending e-mail to a crazy girl in maybe Tazmania that loved wombats, and it taking <a day turnaround (the girlfriend of a summer student in the lab).
https://datatracker.ietf.org/doc/html/rfc976 (Feb 1986, but it mostly sets out as standards the practices that are already widely in place).
Indeed, RFC977 (1986) quotes a 1985 message from someone on unitek (a uucp node) requesting a reply by email (while the word "mail" was more often used before this):
Date: 25 Sep 85 23:51:52 GMT
Reply-To: honman@unitek.UUCP (Hon-Man Wong)
Distribution: net.all
Organization: Unitek Technologies Corporation
Lines: 12
...
Please reply by E-mail. Thanks in advance.
It was a lot of bang paths, where you'd list your e-mail address from a pretty well known location, like "hpfcla!hpilsb!linsomniac" and the sender would have to know or use trial and error to say "I bet ihnp4 can reach hpfcla.
You know those viral videos of kids tossing a ball the hits a pot that bounces over to a pan that bounces to another pot then to a kettle then into a cup? That's what sending e-mail was like back then. At least via UUCP.
I remember that my brother at Bell Labs had an address with bangs. He was working on System V stream drivers. For me, actual "email" started when we had DNS routing ad could email --or talk to-- user@shost.university.edu ... before I don't actually recall how I exchanged emails with my brother at Bell Labs. It's that period of time that I'm trying to reconstruct, around 1987 early 1988, when I immigrated to the U.S. (from UK... now back in UK as of last year)
Question authority, and question your own role in the power structure. It's a moral imperative.
Heavy lifting for a silly 80s comedy movie.
[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/To_Serve_Man_(The_Twilight_Zon...
No one bullies harder than the nerds around here. Such a hateful bunch of ignorant fools.
Of course, that doesn't apply to everyone here, for sure -- some people are absolutely lovely, like DonHopkins -- but perhaps 90%.
But that's always the problem with majorities, they follow the lead of their leader, and damn their conscience and other points of view, wielding their power like a cudgel. They tend to bully minorities of every kind, especially ideological minorities.
"There is nothing more important than compassion, and only the truth is its equal."
I’m not sure if this is true. We’re all people, and people have tendencies to other others and seek belonging, that can hurt people.
I don’t think this community is particularly bad. And I’ll add that it’s probably the most “civil” of all the sites I’ve used over the years (usenet, slashdot, fark, lobste.rs, kuroshin, plastic, digg, reddit, netslaves, 4chan).
Ignorant fools, perhaps. But bullies, I don’t think so.
Years ago, if you so much as suggested that a software developer had any ethical culpability when their software was used for evil, you'd have the entire peanut gallery at your throat. "How dare you blame the developer. It's his manager's fault! It's the company's fault! He can't control how his software is used! He's just implementing a turret pointing algorithm. It's not his fault who the user aims it at!"
I think years of seeing the real-world fallout of ethically questionable tech projects is finally starting to soften that stance. You're not just pushing protobufs around. Look up once in a while and see how your work is being deployed! You're doing this!
From the perspective of conspiratorial thinking, fringe “I’m special because I see the surprising, simple real key to everything” economic schools, and anti-enlightenment politics :-(
"Why do you wear that toy on your head?" "Because if I wear it anywhere else, it...chafes"
"What's that?" "A laser beam, bozo!" "What are we supposed to do?" "Follow it!"
"Your stutter has improved" "I've been giving myself shock treatment" "...Up the voltage"
"You're laborers, you're supposed to be laboring. That's what you get for not having an education!"
"It's a coherent beam of light" "So that means it talks?"
Of course, the non-quote where one of the kids at the study table stands up, screams repeatedly, and leaves, and with no reaction one of the kids at the periphery of the room moves to sit in his place.
And of course: "If there's ever anything I can do for you, or, more to the point, to you..." "Can you hammer a six inch spike through a board with your penis?" "Well, not right now..."
Real Genius had a significant impact on me...
"OK Mitch, I'm gonna make it up to you. Let's just pause...take a step back. No, I was wrong, I'm sorry: take a step forward. Now, take a step back...and now we're cha cha-ing!"
I still use this when pair debugging.
Also the part where they are gassing Kent in his dorm room, and another student passes them by with just a "hey" and keeps walking while they are wearing gas masks and clearly Up To No Good.
A classic "show, don't tell" example as you have all the information you need to know about the sort of place this school is from that scene.
Heh when Mitch goes to her dorm in the middle of the night and she’s using one of those giant floor sanders to refinish her dorm room floor is pretty effing funny.
Mitch: "..um, I can't start." Jordan: "Weird."
"Would you classify that as a launch problem, or a design problem?"
"They're beauticians?!" "Not yet"
"These military types are so untrusting"
I still watch this movie and encourage my son to watch it with me.
Thank you and rest in peace, Mr. Kilmer.
This remains my favorite movie and the inspiration for me to go into STEM when I saw it as a 10-year-old.
Kilmer was a rare, if difficult, talent, and I'm so sorry we lost him so early.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ajLjmtyx0_o&list=PL0r_mFZtkX...
The article is from 2015, but Kilmer died yesterday (April 1, 2025).
I thought "Real Genius" and "Film Nerd" was referring to "Val Kilmer", like it was saying "RIP Val Kilmer, a real genius and film nerd that culture deserves" instead of "RIP Val Kilmer, who worked at Real Genius, the film that nerd culture deserves".
I must say that I never heard about this movie and I'm happy that this is a recommendation of a 80s movie
RIP Val Kilmer
“I will not be pawed at. Thank you very much”
“I know, how about a spelling contest?!”
It’s been a while since I’ve seen Tombstone (I think I’ll watch this evening in tribute), but even with that I have the exact tonality of all the quotes listed here replaying perfectly in my head.
Genius performance.
One guy gets up and starts screaming in frustration at the book and then the room and finally runs out.
Everyone looks up briefly like nothing happened and then somebody gets up and takes his seat, like "oh look, a more comfortable study chair."