will you all click
If I promise to post something that isn't game cheat codes?

In 87-89, I did gcse tech drawing. I really enjoyed it, but I never carried on with the subject after leaving school.
About 6 months back, I was in the loft and I found my old kit; board, ruler, compasses, pens, set square, t-square. The lot. So I thought I'd dig it out and have a go.
I found my old stapler, measured it up and drew it in third-angle projection, plus orthogonal view and an auxiliary view from some arbitrary angle.
My second-born was amazed. He's just started a machine drawing module in his engineering course and is now coming to me for pointers and tips.
I suppose it's not really an obsolete talent, more of a dormant talent that I didn't think I'd ever need again.

The moral of this story is that when your partner tells you to 'get rid of old shit that we don't need and will never use again', tell them to piss off.
( sandettie light vessel automatic New Twitter - @bollocksreally, Fri 1 Jul 2011, 18:39, 2 replies)

Nuts and Bolts
I can look at most nuts (ooh err) and bolts and tell you what size spanner\socket to use, metric or imperial, used to be really useful when I had no money and couldn't afford to get my car\bike\scooter fixed....
(arnie2703 is sick of this damn French keyboard since, Fri 1 Jul 2011, 18:35, 4 replies)

b3ta?
Rob's so leet.
( Holly Would long wheel based tranny, Fri 1 Jul 2011, 18:13, Reply)

book
I remember as a kid reading a book called "little black sambo" I don't think you can buy it any more for some obscure reason
(JackLaidlaw, Fri 1 Jul 2011, 18:10, 5 replies)

Stuff
I can:
- find North using a watch
- tell you which plant to dig under to find pig nuts (edible rooty things)
- hypnotise a chicken
- smelt lead from its ore
- fabricate a dowsing rod from a hazel switch and dowse for water
- make handles for jamjars from a single piece of string
- make a hat from a knotted handkerchief
- signal Morse code with a mirror
- build a fire and start it with a single match
- make a rabbit snare, skin a rabbit, pluck a pheasant

You may think these obsolete, but come the nuclear apocalypse who'll be the one surviving in a hidden welsh valley, eh, eh?
(Smale is stuffed, Fri 1 Jul 2011, 17:51, 24 replies)

Maybe the uninspiring QOTW will help some of us rediscover our old practices, more abandoned than obsolete, of being right the fuck away from little screens and actually doing something useful for a change.
( enoughblueskyforsailorstrousers, Fri 1 Jul 2011, 17:43, 2 replies)

my friends grandad has advanced senile dementia he isnt dead yet
does this count
( fluffybunnykiller Is feasting on the clitoris of life, Fri 1 Jul 2011, 17:33, Reply)

I can still remember the reg plates of some of my folk's cars while I still lived there
Dad's
OAY 75W (Jag XJ 3.4 six)
BNX 944T (Jag XJ 4.2 six)
C886 XTR (Jag XJ 5.3 V12)

Mum's
CDH 985Y (Mini Metro 1.3)
B571 NFD (Orion 1.6i)
E335 MEA (Rover 216 Vitesse)

All useful information that's keeping something actually valuable from lodging in my head.
( Rotating Wobbly Hat That's not a banana. THIS is a banana., Fri 1 Jul 2011, 17:18, 5 replies)

I remember when the Daily Mail wasn't an evil bile-spewing hate rag
Oh wait, no I don't twitpic.com/5ji0ru
(TheManWithThePlan cussed your mum on, Fri 1 Jul 2011, 16:59, 5 replies)

I know kung fu.
As I work in an office, rather than historical China, it's unlikely I'll have to use it.
(ThomsonsPier consumes, Fri 1 Jul 2011, 16:50, 1 reply)

Call of the tape relay
CALL &BBC4 would send most Amstrad CPC464s into an endless loop of display-flickering, tape-relay clicking weirdness. It didn't work on the very first (checkerboard on Ctrl-Shift-Esc) or last (horrid horrid keyboard) models of the 464, and on the 664 and 6128 it did nothing.

I can still remember the address of Colin "Bonzo Meddler" Harris, who wrote a bunch of tape/disk cracking tools, and sent a whole bunch of "special" things to his better customers.

|P would fire up Protext. Yes, I had so many ROMS that the welcome screen would scroll up when I powered on ...

Oh, and Z80 opcodes. I can still disassemble Z80 hex in my head. This stopped being useful more than half my life ago, argh.
( scruss, Fri 1 Jul 2011, 16:48, 1 reply)

I have some ancient currency
it was worth about 6000 denarii in its day, but is no longer legal tender.
( Happy Phantom has been to Hastings, Brighton, and Eastbourne too, Fri 1 Jul 2011, 16:43, Reply)

My Nan

(mr-lizard Hell's teeth man!, Fri 1 Jul 2011, 16:40, 6 replies)

Still to this day
While asleep, my brain seems to remember I have homework due, or a GCSE exam in the next few seconds and I have no idea where my classroom is. I wake up, panic, search for my time table and homework planner then remember I am 24 years old and my GCSEs ended 8 years ago.
(Mong goose, Fri 1 Jul 2011, 16:33, 3 replies)

I think Amorous Badger could just put this whole QOTW in his archive.
Jesus Christ - it's a retro wank-fest for virgin nerds.
( Je suis un vagabond is an unfunny, up your own arse middle class knob, Fri 1 Jul 2011, 16:25, 1 reply)

                  ___           ___           ___           ___     
      ___        /\  \         /\__\         /\  \         /\  \    
     /\  \      /::\  \       /:/  /        /::\  \       /::\  \   
     \:\  \    /:/\:\  \     /:/__/        /:/\:\  \     /:/\:\  \  
     /::\__\  /:/  \:\__\   /::\__\____   /::\~\:\  \   /::\~\:\  \ 
  __/:/\/__/ /:/__/ \:|__| /:/\:::::\__\ /:/\:\ \:\__\ /:/\:\ \:\__\
 /\/:/  /    \:\  \ /:/  / \/_|:|~~|~    \/__\:\ \/__/ \/__\:\/:/  /
 \::/__/      \:\  /:/  /     |:|  |          \:\__\        \::/  / 
  \:\__\       \:\/:/  /      |:|  |           \/__/        /:/  /  
   \/__/        \::/__/       |:|  |                       /:/  /   
                 ~~            \|__|                       \/__/    


                                ___           ___           ___     
                 _____         /|  |         /\__\         /\  \    
    ___         /::\  \       |:|  |        /:/ _/_       /::\  \   
   /\__\       /:/\:\  \      |:|  |       /:/ /\__\     /:/\:\  \  
  /:/__/      /:/  \:\__\   __|:|  |      /:/ /:/  /    /:/ /::\  \ 
 /::\  \     /:/__/ \:|__| /\ |:|__|____ /:/_/:/  /    /:/_/:/\:\__\
 \/\:\  \__  \:\  \ /:/  / \:\/:::::/__/ \:\/:/  /     \:\/:/  \/__/
  ~~\:\/\__\  \:\  /:/  /   \::/~~/~      \::/__/       \::/__/     
     \::/  /   \:\/:/  /     \:\~~\        \:\  \        \:\  \     
     /:/  /     \::/  /       \:\__\        \:\__\        \:\__\    
     \/__/       \/__/         \/__/         \/__/         \/__/    

                 _____          ___           ___         ___     
    ___         /  /::\        /__/|         /  /\       /  /\    
   /  /\       /  /:/\:\      |  |:|        /  /:/_     /  /::\   
  /  /:/      /  /:/  \:\     |  |:|       /  /:/ /\   /  /:/\:\  
 /__/::\     /__/:/ \__\:|  __|  |:|      /  /:/ /:/  /  /:/~/::\ 
 \__\/\:\__  \  \:\ /  /:/ /__/\_|:|____ /__/:/ /:/  /__/:/ /:/\:\
    \  \:\/\  \  \:\  /:/  \  \:\/:::::/ \  \:\/:/   \  \:\/:/__\/
     \__\::/   \  \:\/:/    \  \::/~~~~   \  \::/     \  \::/     
     /__/:/     \  \::/      \  \:\        \  \:\      \  \:\     
     \__\/       \__\/        \  \:\        \  \:\      \  \:\    
                               \__\/         \__\/       \__\/    

                   ___           ___                         ___     
       ___        /  /\         /  /\          ___          /  /\    
      /__/\      /  /::\       /  /:/         /  /\        /  /::\   
      \__\:\    /  /:/\:\     /  /:/         /  /::\      /  /:/\:\  
      /  /::\  /  /:/  \:\   /  /::\____    /  /:/\:\    /  /::\ \:\ 
   __/  /:/\/ /__/:/ \__\:| /__/:/\:::::\  /  /::\ \:\  /__/:/\:\_\:\
  /__/\/:/~~  \  \:\ /  /:/ \__\/~|:|~~~~ /__/:/\:\ \:\ \__\/  \:\/:/
  \  \::/      \  \:\  /:/     |  |:|     \__\/  \:\_\/      \__\::/ 
   \  \:\       \  \:\/:/      |  |:|          \  \:\        /  /:/  
    \__\/        \__\::/       |__|:|           \__\/       /__/:/   
                     ~~         \__\|                       \__\/    

( Dr. Shambolic je suis charlie, Fri 1 Jul 2011, 16:20, 11 replies)

"tell us about obsolete talents you still have"
remembering cheat codes

IS.
NOT.
A.
TALENT.
( scarpe We Stole Bikes, Fri 1 Jul 2011, 16:18, 6 replies)

Cheat codes and short cuts
Quake
impulse9

Quake II
god
give {weapon/item name or just 'all'}
kill
q2baseq2 - think this was the command to bring up the level 'the edge'

Star craft
thereisnocowlevel - reference to diablo where there is a cow level
poweroverwhelming
not very funny I guess but seeing as my memory is terrible it seems kinda fun that this crap is still stuck in there....
(semi pro : explorer, Fri 1 Jul 2011, 16:11, 1 reply)

Sirriusly
Can we have a new question now pls k thx bai
( Je suis un vagabond is an unfunny, up your own arse middle class knob, Fri 1 Jul 2011, 16:09, 2 replies)

I remember a cheat
for a game that NONE OF YOU REMEMBER.

Therefore I win.
(McChinaman banned, Fri 1 Jul 2011, 16:09, 3 replies)

I know the
uplaod codez.
( monster munch person, man, woman... camera... TV?, Fri 1 Jul 2011, 15:52, 3 replies)

10 points for anyone who remembers what 'spell' this was from?
Ekil Erif
Ekam Erif
Erif Erif
Di Maggio
(mr-lizard Hell's teeth man!, Fri 1 Jul 2011, 15:44, 16 replies)

Oh yes.
I can wire up RJ45 plugs for wired networks. Is that considered obsolete yet?
( 100% Cock Raw like carrots., Fri 1 Jul 2011, 15:40, 10 replies)

The token Indian kid featured in maths exam questions
Was always called Jamal.
(TheManWithThePlan cussed your mum on, Fri 1 Jul 2011, 15:24, 4 replies)

Well, not obsolete...
...but one of the techies I work with knows the license keys for all of the software he has to install. One of them is TWENTY-EIGHT CHARACTERS long!
(Professor Kenny Martin Hmm? What?, Fri 1 Jul 2011, 15:13, 4 replies)

Does anyone remember Doom?
It was an early FPS, set on the moon, where you fought demons. A bit like Fear Effect, but with 2D graphics, if you will. There was a cheat code to get all the guns, n' stuff, which I can still remember. It was EVERYONEWHOEVERPLAYEDITREMEMBERSTHEBLOODYCHEATCODESFORDOOMWHYDONTWEALLBANGONABOUTTHEKONAMICODEWHILEWEREATITANDTHATHILARIOUSENGRISHCOCKUPFROMZEROWING.
Something like that, anyway. I'd expect most people on here would never have heard of it.
( monster munch person, man, woman... camera... TV?, Fri 1 Jul 2011, 15:10, 10 replies)

Magazines with game tapes, pfft
I remember being a real man and programming your own games from BASIC, spending three days copying code from the magazine onto your VIC20 / C64 and then crying because it never, ever worked.

Good days.
(mr-lizard Hell's teeth man!, Fri 1 Jul 2011, 14:59, 13 replies)

My first video shop membership
Back in the day, kids, to watch films you had to rent things called "video cassettes" from shops. When I were a lad, these came in several varieties: there was the flashy shop with all the new films and the enormous posters which you tried to cadge off them; there was the old-style shop which mainly sold electricals and had a rarely-updated stock of old faithfuls to draw in customers; and then, bottom of the heap, there was the dingy, dusty old shop with a few penny arcades and a stock of bad 1970s horrors, dodgy British soft porn and sub-Chuck Norris action films like American Ninja 4 and No Retreat: No Surrender.

Being nine years old is great. I was old enough to walk around the (very small) town and got a whole pound pocket money. Riches. Saturdays I'd spend with my cousin, exploring the town (the harbourside, the river, the areas around the other primary schools with those strange kids and their foreign customs). We discovered the small dingy video shop and were immediately drawn to it: you could take some of the films out for 50p FOR THE WHOLE WEEKEND. And to our mutual amazement, we were allowed to join up. (In retrospect it seems a bit more understandable). We rented and enjoyed crap like The Garbage Pale Kids, Batteries Not Required, Leonard VI, and Rocky III.

My membership number? 1107.
(McChinaman banned, Fri 1 Jul 2011, 14:45, 9 replies)

Yes we can!
I can write code in MDB Express for the VAX VMS
I can solve systems of simultaneous equations
I can vaguely remember the plots of most of the short stories of Guy de Maupassant, particularly [i]Boule de Suif[/i]
I can read runic script (though it takes me longer than it used to)
I can change a tap unaided by diagrams or manuals
I can fucking think through a problem for myself instead of reflexively asking someone else (i.e. me) to sort it out without even fully grasping what the task is (no, I shouldn't really be doing a support job).
Oh, and I can still do this (pearoast I'm afraid)
( shinyshinyscalp less a man, more a way of life, Fri 1 Jul 2011, 14:34, 2 replies)

This QOTW has
already descended into diahorea, and it's only a day old.
(username failed moderation, Fri 1 Jul 2011, 14:34, 11 replies)