# Favorite outdated columns **URL:** \ **Category:** Cecil's Columns/Staff Reports\ **Created:** [June 9, 2019, 12:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-outdated-columns/835250 "2019-06-09T12:43:53Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 6\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![ftg](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ftg/32/2801_2.png) [@ftg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ftg)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2019, 12:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-outdated-columns/835250/1 "2019-06-09T12:43:53Z")
Last week there was a column on the front page that mentioned the electron gun at the back of your TV or computer monitor. Not mine! But how about a whole column that is hoplessly out of date? I was searching for whatever happened to VCR Plus+. (I know that “++” in computer lingo means add 1, but “Plus+”?) That remote-like thing where you punch in some number from _TV Guide_ and it’ll automatically have your VCR record the show. I had one but threw it out a looong time ago. I knew that the encoding for the shorter codes was worked out and wondered if the longer ones were ever cracked. (They were.) Anyway, the Wikipedia [article](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Video_recorder_scheduling_code) on it linked to an old [SD column](https://www.straightdope.com/columns/read/782/how-do-the-tv-program-codes-for-vcr-plus-work/) on it from 1993. (So short codes only are discussed.) Wow, what a column! I don’t see **TubaDiva** putting this on the front page unless the whole point is to do retro stuff. Anybody got any more such old favorites? Stuff that was interesting years ago but now is not a thing at all. ---
**Author:** ![Lancia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lancia/32/17174_2.png) [@Lancia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lancia)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2019, 4:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-outdated-columns/835250/2 "2019-06-10T04:39:11Z")
Probably not a “favorite” but the first one that came to mind was the one on polarized plugs: > **[I can’t plug in these new plugs! What’s the deal?](https://www.straightdope.com/columns/read/170/i-cant-plug-in-these-new-plugs-whats-the-deal/)** I got the first Straight Dope book as a gift from a middle school teacher c. 1994 or 1995. I had no idea what the hell the colum was talking about – weren’t plugs always like that, with one slot longer? Then I remembered we had an old plug in our house that was like that: two slots of equal dimensions, no hole for the ground. I put 2 and 2 together. I also realized then how old that book was. No matter, I still fell in love with it. ---
**Author:** ![Horatio\_Hellpop](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e5b9ba/32.png) [@Horatio\_Hellpop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Horatio_Hellpop)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2019, 12:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-outdated-columns/835250/3 "2019-06-10T12:30:03Z")
I remember he introduced much of the world to “gerbil stuffing” and pedaled back when someone called him on it. Can’t remember another instance of _that_ happening. ---
**Author:** ![ftg](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ftg/32/2801_2.png) [@ftg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ftg)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2019, 12:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-outdated-columns/835250/4 "2019-06-10T12:40:56Z")
> [@Lancia](#): > > Probably not a “favorite” but the first one that came to mind was the one on polarized plugs: > > [I can’t plug in these new plugs! What’s the deal? - The Straight Dope](https://www.straightdope.com/columns/read/170/i-cant-plug-in-these-new-plugs-whats-the-deal/) … The line “Who is responsible–the same person who came up with swine flu vaccine?” is also something that would be lost on younger readers. ---
**Author:** ![StusBlues](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/dc4da7/32.png) [@StusBlues](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/StusBlues)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2019, 4:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-outdated-columns/835250/5 "2019-06-11T16:39:53Z")
> [@Horatio\_Hellpop](#): > > I remember he introduced much of the world to “gerbil stuffing” and pedaled back when someone called him on it. Can’t remember another instance of _that_ happening. [I can.](https://www.chicagoreader.com/chicago/the-straight-dope/Content?oid=899114) Thank goodness, too. The porphyria = vampirism trope is a millstone around my neck that may never be shed. ---
**Author:** ![ftg](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ftg/32/2801_2.png) [@ftg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ftg)\ **Post date:** [June 11, 2019, 8:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-outdated-columns/835250/6 "2019-06-11T20:23:08Z")
The original column mentioning porphyria and vampires from 1986 is [here](https://www.straightdope.com/columns/read/431/did-dracula-really-exist/). The porphyria part is a “late breaking news” postscript. The main column is long enough to stand on its own so that alone can more-or-less survive re-posting.