
From 1890: The First Text Messages - dmor
http://sundaymagazine.org/2010/08/from-1890-the-first-text-messages/
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petercooper
Along similar lines (geddit?) but a little later was "cablese":
[http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,786319,00.h...](http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,786319,00.html)

Which, if you don't want to click through, looked like this: _Wales Parisward
smorning omnistation cheered stop he said friendship proFrance unceasing._

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Luyt
.-- .... .- - .- -. .. -. - . .-. . ... - .. -. --. ... - --- .-. -.-- .-.-.-
.. - .- .-.. ... --- -- .- -.. . -- . - .... .. -. -.- --- ..-. .... --- .--
.... .- -- .-. .- -.. .. --- --- .--. . .-. .- - --- .-. ... .. -. - . .-. .-
-.-. - .-.-.- .. -. .-- --- .-. .-.. -.. --- ..-. .-- .- .-. -.-. .-. .- ..-.
- .- -... -... .-. . ...- .. .- - .. --- -. ... .- .-. . .- .-.. ... --- -.-.
--- -- -- --- -. .-.. -.-- ..- ... . -.. --..-- .-.. .. -.- . .-..-. .. -.
-.-. .--. .- - .-..-. .. ..-. .- .--. .-.. .- -.-- . .-. ... . . ... .- -. ..
-. -.-. --- -- .. -. --. .--. .- - .-. --- .-.. --- ..-. -- --- -. ... - . .-.
... .- -. -.. -. --- - .. -.-. . ... - .... .- - .... . .. ... - .... . --- -.
.-.. -.-- --- -. . .-- .... --- .----. ...- . ... . . -. - .... . -- .-.-.-

~~~
zemanel
-..- --- -..- ---

~~~
Luyt
.... ..- .... ..--.. .-- .... .- - -.. --- . ... .----. -..- --- -..- ---
.----. -- . .- -. ..--..

~~~
zemanel
.... ..- .... ..--.. .-- .... .- - -.. --- . ... .----. -..- --- -..- ---
.----. -- . .- -. ..--..

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cormullion
Some great background reading here:

<http://distantwriting.co.uk/howthecompaniesworked.aspx>

The idea that management would disapprove of the informal exchanges between
operators is strangely familiar today.

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Confusion
A nice reminder that many things have already been done. Often the best
question isn't: "why hasn't this been done yet?", but rather "Why did it fail
the previous times?".

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diminish
Yes, that means, even current popular web services such as twitter can still
be out-invented.

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m0nastic
I've always had a bizarre nostalgia for telegraph operators. When I was a Boy
Scout as a kid, we had to learn both morse code and semaphores. I wonder if
they still learn them today (I suspect not).

Edit: Yay, it looks like that merit badge still exists:
<http://meritbadge.org/wiki/index.php/Signaling>

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palish
I had no idea a "semaphore" meant something other than how it's used in
programming.

<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Semaphore_line>

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m0nastic
Amusingly, that's even a different definition for what I was referring to:
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flag_semaphore> (although principally the same
thing).

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hugh3
I only learned about semaphores from Monty Python.

Coincidentally, that's the same place I learned about Wuthering Heights.

<http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6oHw6niE9e8>

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epsilondelta
It sms tht omttng crtn vwls mks ths tlgrph-spk. (Does one hve to typ lss thn
140 chrctrs?)

~~~
dredmorbius
full stop

