--- > In the 1990s, Usenet [newsgroups](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Usenet_newsgroup) (wikipedia.org) were where it was *at*. For example, Linus Torvalds's initial announcement of Linux was to comp.os.minix in 1991. - [View Highlight](https://read.readwise.io/read/01h5m0pgnjsp0rd5kp4wcah1t7) --- > I heard tell of a programming language so flexible that you could *change the values of integers*. --- > I heard tell of a programming language so flexible that you could *change the values of integers*. > They said that language was called **Forth** and it was created by a mad wizard called **Chuck Moore** who could write any program in a couple screens of code. - [View Highlight](https://read.readwise.io/read/01h5m0v469amqnbft2kapq2pb4) --- > Putting all of that power into a "shirt pocket" calculator was an astounding accomplishment at the time. Legend has it that the size of the HP-35 was based on the dimensions of Bill Hewlett's actual shirt pocket. HP-35 calculators have been in space. They killed off the slide rule. - [View Highlight](https://read.readwise.io/read/01h5m16vr0g1hsa6m8cr93dx21) --- > the *point* here is that RPN syntax lets you express nested expressions without requiring parenthesis to get the order of operations the way you want them. This is one of the reasons RPN fans (including those HP calculator fans I alluded to) are so enamoured with it. - [View Highlight](https://read.readwise.io/read/01h5m1a8vz7z0wh79spmvnr1zb) --- > This is valid Forth, assuming CAKE, HAVE, and EAT have been defined: > CAKE DUP HAVE EAT - [View Highlight](https://read.readwise.io/read/01h5m1gmzzqb9m0jatbaqpqr9z) ---