13 ms·

Show HN: Reviving a 20 year old OS X App

73 points by shawa_a_a 1y ago

treetalker 1y ago
It's Genius.app, an old flashcard app for Macs. Author discusses/compares Duolingo and Anki. Anki is disapproved for lack of precise right/wrong feedback. Repository of updated code: https://github.com/shawa/genius https://github.com/shawa/genius
- adastra22 1y ago
  I think OP is confused about how Anki works. It can totally be used the same as this tool if you just hit '1' for things you got wrong and '3' for things you got right. '2' and '4' are more power user levels of control.
johnisgood 1y ago
Speaking of old OS X apps, I liked iWeb a lot when I was a kid. I must have been around 12 when I was messing around with it.
- Angostura 1y ago
  It was a really nifty visual website builder. I was sad when it went. Fantastic in the days when ISPs threw in a bit of webspace for customers to play with
  - johnisgood 1y ago
    Yeah, remember "Macromedia Dreamweaver" (specifically Macromedia Dreamweaver 4[1])? I remember having tried that as a kid. It did not work out for me well, but iWeb was perfect to me. [1] Macromedia Dreamweaver 4 is the fourth major version of Dreamweaver that was released by Macromedia on November 27, 2000.
busymom0 1y ago
I understand the whole retro look of the website but it's very unreadable with the white text on bright stars background. Fortunately reader mode on Safari helped me read it. On a similar note, a few months ago, I took over a 14 year old Objective-C iPhone app called Painteresque and brought it back to life. Discussed here: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=43222099 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=43222099 If OP is interested, maybe I can help with the Sandbox issues or having it published on the Mac App Store?
- RandallBrown 1y ago
  I was very confused by your comment because for me the background is clouds with black text. Turns out it changes based on light/dark mode.
- shawa_a_a 1y ago
  It’s not the most accessible colour scheme - I’ll have a look and tweak it so dark mode is more readable. I’d definitely be really grateful for help with that! I’m not planning to publish to the Mac App Store, but it would be great to have the build step a bit more compliant with current practises.
  - busymom0 1y ago
    Email me (from my profile) and I can have a look with your sandbox issue.
aaronbrethorst 1y ago
- and + denote instance and class methods respectively, not public and private. Source: my first released Mac OS X app came out in 2003. https://github.com/aaronbrethorst/irooster https://github.com/aaronbrethorst/irooster
- therein 1y ago
  Yeah, and that's even more confusing than using it for public/private. It just shouldn't have been a thing. I think I stopped trying to seriously gain experience with Objective-C after noticing that. I was even kinda okay with the [callee verbingTheSubject withFooValueBeing 7 andBarValueSetTo "good argument"] but that was just too much.
  - frou_dh 1y ago
    [flagged]
matsemann 1y ago
It's a bit sad it just won't run without modifications. I'm sure I could run a random exe from then in Windows?
- tonyarkles 1y ago
  Yeah, that’s the downside to swapping architectures. x86 goes to great pains to be backward-compatible at the instruction level, and then MS puts a lot of effort into keeping Windows backwards compatible. A couple years back on Windows 10 I successfully installed and used a PCB layout tool from 1998. I was shocked at how smooth it went. I think it needed to run as administrator but otherwise zero issues.
  - pjmlp 1y ago
    Windows NT has run on multiple architectures since day one with x86/PowerPC/Alpha/MIPS flavours, however x86/AMD64 has won over them. Trying to add ARM desktop to the mix hasn't indeed been easy, because of backwards compatibility efforts, most folks don't care about Windows ARM laptops. Pocket PC/Windows CE also had ARM/MIPS variants.
    - jeroenhd 1y ago
      From what I can tell, it may have taken MS a while, but it seems like on the Windows side of things, amd64 emulation seems to work pretty flawlessly. There are still issues (i.e. Qualcomm's drivers not being as good as Nvidia's/Intel's/AMD's) but at least on the Windows side of the equation everything seems to work now. Because MS doesn't require special emulation hardware like Rosetta2 does, I expect amd64 emulation on Windows to last a lot longer than it will on macOS, too.
      - pjmlp 1y ago
        > ...but at least on the Windows side of the equation everything seems to work now. Depends on how much you care about Khronos APIs for example. https://devblogs.microsoft.com/directx/announcing-the-opencl-and-opengl-compatibility-pack-for-windows-10-on-arm/ https://devblogs.microsoft.com/directx/announcing-the-opencl... No other updates since 2020.
kreelman 1y ago
I love the early web feel of the site. The points around DuoLingo not working are informative. This could be turned into a PWA so it can run anywhere?
asterios33 1y ago
Why ? Why flattening the icons and make everything grayish ?
- vintagedave 1y ago
  Flat is just modern macOS, but I agree. I miss colour.
- shawa_a_a 1y ago
  Agreed - updated with colour again
Cockbrand 1y ago
The author's discussion of Duolingo makes the app seem outright dangerous for naïve users. It's well known that it's a criminal offence in Germany to not talk to the apple on Tuesdays.
TMWNN 1y ago
I have one c. 2010 Intel app that I am absolutely dependent on. Commercial, so no chance of recompiling the source code. I am not looking forward to Rosetta going away.
- robin_reala 1y ago
  Worst case, I guess you could set up an emulated VM running an Intel variant of macOS?
WeirderScience 1y ago
Their sketchy ad/malware era aside, I do appreciate sourceforge keeping all the old OSS websites and repos alive.
shawa_a_a 1y ago
Since going down this rabbit hole, I gave Anki another fair shot and actually RTFM :) the blog post warrants an update https://docs.ankiweb.net/deck-options.html#learning-steps https://docs.ankiweb.net/deck-options.html#learning-steps Details what _actually happens_ when you pick again/hard/good etc. I much prefer understanding this to the vibes-based approach of “did you pause before answering”. Secondly turns out you can indeed very easily set up type-to-answer in a deck by editing the front template and adding {type:Field} where field is the answer part of the card’s data. So… I’m actually using Anki again. I’m still very happy I did this, it was a fun little journey!
brnt 1y ago
There's actually an excellent Dutch piece of software for this (Windows only though, but works fine in Wine on other platforms): Overhoor [1]. I used it under Windows 3.11 as a child, and kept using it for French and German into my late teens and Windows ME. It is simple, just as this tool. To this day, it's a piece of freeware that gives me good memories of a forgotten era. Since the author describes learning Dutch, I though I might mention its existence. [1] https://www.efkasoft.nl/overhoor-download/ https://www.efkasoft.nl/overhoor-download/
- micheljansen 1y ago
  I came here to say the same thing! I used an ancient (DOS) version of it to get me through high school French, German, Latin and so on. Fond memories.
GuinansEyebrows 1y ago
cool! but i won't be truly happy until we get a modern, native version of 'jared, the butcher of song' for macOS :)

73 points by shawa_a_a 1y ago

It's Genius.app, an old flashcard app for Macs. Author discusses/compares Duolingo and Anki. Anki is disapproved for lack of precise right/wrong feedback. Repository of updated code: https://github.com/shawa/genius https://github.com/shawa/genius

adastra22 1y ago
I think OP is confused about how Anki works. It can totally be used the same as this tool if you just hit '1' for things you got wrong and '3' for things you got right. '2' and '4' are more power user levels of control.

johnisgood 1y ago

Speaking of old OS X apps, I liked iWeb a lot when I was a kid. I must have been around 12 when I was messing around with it.

Angostura 1y ago
It was a really nifty visual website builder. I was sad when it went. Fantastic in the days when ISPs threw in a bit of webspace for customers to play with
- johnisgood 1y ago
  Yeah, remember "Macromedia Dreamweaver" (specifically Macromedia Dreamweaver 4[1])? I remember having tried that as a kid. It did not work out for me well, but iWeb was perfect to me. [1] Macromedia Dreamweaver 4 is the fourth major version of Dreamweaver that was released by Macromedia on November 27, 2000.

busymom0 1y ago

I understand the whole retro look of the website but it's very unreadable with the white text on bright stars background. Fortunately reader mode on Safari helped me read it. On a similar note, a few months ago, I took over a 14 year old Objective-C iPhone app called Painteresque and brought it back to life. Discussed here: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=43222099 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=43222099 If OP is interested, maybe I can help with the Sandbox issues or having it published on the Mac App Store?

RandallBrown 1y ago
I was very confused by your comment because for me the background is clouds with black text. Turns out it changes based on light/dark mode.
shawa_a_a 1y ago
It’s not the most accessible colour scheme - I’ll have a look and tweak it so dark mode is more readable. I’d definitely be really grateful for help with that! I’m not planning to publish to the Mac App Store, but it would be great to have the build step a bit more compliant with current practises.
- busymom0 1y ago
  Email me (from my profile) and I can have a look with your sandbox issue.

aaronbrethorst 1y ago

- and + denote instance and class methods respectively, not public and private. Source: my first released Mac OS X app came out in 2003. https://github.com/aaronbrethorst/irooster https://github.com/aaronbrethorst/irooster

therein 1y ago
Yeah, and that's even more confusing than using it for public/private. It just shouldn't have been a thing. I think I stopped trying to seriously gain experience with Objective-C after noticing that. I was even kinda okay with the [callee verbingTheSubject withFooValueBeing 7 andBarValueSetTo "good argument"] but that was just too much.
- frou_dh 1y ago
  [flagged]

matsemann 1y ago

It's a bit sad it just won't run without modifications. I'm sure I could run a random exe from then in Windows?

tonyarkles 1y ago
Yeah, that’s the downside to swapping architectures. x86 goes to great pains to be backward-compatible at the instruction level, and then MS puts a lot of effort into keeping Windows backwards compatible. A couple years back on Windows 10 I successfully installed and used a PCB layout tool from 1998. I was shocked at how smooth it went. I think it needed to run as administrator but otherwise zero issues.
- pjmlp 1y ago
  Windows NT has run on multiple architectures since day one with x86/PowerPC/Alpha/MIPS flavours, however x86/AMD64 has won over them. Trying to add ARM desktop to the mix hasn't indeed been easy, because of backwards compatibility efforts, most folks don't care about Windows ARM laptops. Pocket PC/Windows CE also had ARM/MIPS variants.
  - jeroenhd 1y ago
    From what I can tell, it may have taken MS a while, but it seems like on the Windows side of things, amd64 emulation seems to work pretty flawlessly. There are still issues (i.e. Qualcomm's drivers not being as good as Nvidia's/Intel's/AMD's) but at least on the Windows side of the equation everything seems to work now. Because MS doesn't require special emulation hardware like Rosetta2 does, I expect amd64 emulation on Windows to last a lot longer than it will on macOS, too.
    - pjmlp 1y ago
      > ...but at least on the Windows side of the equation everything seems to work now. Depends on how much you care about Khronos APIs for example. https://devblogs.microsoft.com/directx/announcing-the-opencl-and-opengl-compatibility-pack-for-windows-10-on-arm/ https://devblogs.microsoft.com/directx/announcing-the-opencl... No other updates since 2020.

kreelman 1y ago

I love the early web feel of the site. The points around DuoLingo not working are informative. This could be turned into a PWA so it can run anywhere?

asterios33 1y ago

Why ? Why flattening the icons and make everything grayish ?

vintagedave 1y ago
Flat is just modern macOS, but I agree. I miss colour.
shawa_a_a 1y ago
Agreed - updated with colour again

Cockbrand 1y ago

The author's discussion of Duolingo makes the app seem outright dangerous for naïve users. It's well known that it's a criminal offence in Germany to not talk to the apple on Tuesdays.

TMWNN 1y ago

I have one c. 2010 Intel app that I am absolutely dependent on. Commercial, so no chance of recompiling the source code. I am not looking forward to Rosetta going away.

robin_reala 1y ago
Worst case, I guess you could set up an emulated VM running an Intel variant of macOS?

WeirderScience 1y ago

Their sketchy ad/malware era aside, I do appreciate sourceforge keeping all the old OSS websites and repos alive.

shawa_a_a 1y ago

Since going down this rabbit hole, I gave Anki another fair shot and actually RTFM :) the blog post warrants an update https://docs.ankiweb.net/deck-options.html#learning-steps https://docs.ankiweb.net/deck-options.html#learning-steps Details what _actually happens_ when you pick again/hard/good etc. I much prefer understanding this to the vibes-based approach of “did you pause before answering”. Secondly turns out you can indeed very easily set up type-to-answer in a deck by editing the front template and adding {type:Field} where field is the answer part of the card’s data. So… I’m actually using Anki again. I’m still very happy I did this, it was a fun little journey!

brnt 1y ago

There's actually an excellent Dutch piece of software for this (Windows only though, but works fine in Wine on other platforms): Overhoor [1]. I used it under Windows 3.11 as a child, and kept using it for French and German into my late teens and Windows ME. It is simple, just as this tool. To this day, it's a piece of freeware that gives me good memories of a forgotten era. Since the author describes learning Dutch, I though I might mention its existence. [1] https://www.efkasoft.nl/overhoor-download/ https://www.efkasoft.nl/overhoor-download/

micheljansen 1y ago
I came here to say the same thing! I used an ancient (DOS) version of it to get me through high school French, German, Latin and so on. Fond memories.

GuinansEyebrows 1y ago

cool! but i won't be truly happy until we get a modern, native version of 'jared, the butcher of song' for macOS :)