Cookie files from Microsoft Bob in fortune(6) format
Fortune cookies that came with the ill-famed MS Bob are adorable. Judging from the corresponding Access db files, they were written during 1994. This repo contains scripts for converting them into the bsd fortune format.
Reqs
-
UTOPIA.MDB
file (Oct 6 1995, sha1 b933f29f4698a429053d5a6c5bd09260b9727e8b) from archive.org. -
Cygwin. Why?
UTOPIA.MDB
is in ancient Jet 1.1 format (~1993). I failed to find a way to open such a file under Linux that doesn't require external cloud services. (mdbtools & Jackcess have support for versions 3+.)Cygwin packages: make, sqlite3, mdbtools, fortune-mod
-
Libraries fro JRO.JetEngine v4. Installing Microsoft Access Database Engine 2010 Redistributable may help. We use it to 'upgrade' the .mdb file from 1.1 to 4.0.
Build
-
Clone the repo.
-
Create a dir (say,
_out
inside the cloned repo), copyUTOPIA.MDB
to it. -
Type
$ make -f ../main.mk i=UTOPIA.MDB
If everything was successful, the dir
cookies
w/ 2 files in it (msbob
&msbob.dat
) will appear.Test:
$ fortune -m solution cookies (msbob) % A tablespoon of garlic juice combined with a 10% solution of detergent in water is a nontoxic, effective way to keep aphids off of roses. -- Microsoft Bob % You can make your own insecticide by adding two tablespoons of ordinary soap flakes to 1/4 gallon of water. Douse the infested leaves with this solution. -- Microsoft Bob % You don't have to use commercial-brand window cleaning solutions. Make your own by mixing a 50-50 solution of vinegar and water -- Microsoft Bob %
Installation
Transfer the contents of cookies
dir to /usr/share/games/fortune/
on your linux machine.
Oddities
$ echo 'select Date,topText from FOTDHOLIDAY1' | mdb-sql -p jet4.mdb | grep general,
01/19/94 00:00:00 Birthday of Robert E. Lee, American Confederate general, b. 1807. (Observed in several states in the South.)
01/21/94 00:00:00 Birthday of Thomas Jonathan "Stonewall" Jackson, American Confederate general, b. 1824.
Can't tell if it were just innocent times or someone in Redmond was trolling.
See also
fortune(6), paulgraham_fav
License
MIT.