Ska!Code

Ska Code is presumably for fans of the music genre ska, particularly in the alt.music.ska newsgroup. Unfortunately, though it is mentioned in alt.music.ska, the spec file for Ska!Code was not indexed on archive.org and might not have survived in any other mirror. Author Joel Kuester noted two years later that after a computer crash, he was unable to find a copy of the code.

The author “Sir-Real” posted their own ska code, which seems to be very detailed:

SKA++75-/LOCnaM6/EDUgd=3/WRK40=5.3$+/REL?&@/POL+lbt3/CAI+caf7-.imp3=.mix4+ SCN+88.91.6=.5+/STY++mod5.pat4.plb2/MUS3C350\150T15\5R15\90S45\30V3\1B2\0* MIX+lou6.swg3.reg2/SHO+++24.6/MEDweb2.zin2-dee0+/BND1vox2prc3acc0/02-06-98

Structure

The code uses groups starting with 3 uppercase letters:

• SKA, likely the header group
  • number from 75-85, possibly year of birth
• LOC, likely “location”
  • na, likely “North America”
  • NE, likely “Northeast”
  • S, likely “South”
  • M, likely “Midwest”
  • E, likely “East”
  • SE, likely “Southest”
• EDU, likely “education”
  • zz
• WRK, likely “work”
• REL, likely “relationships”
• POL, likely “politics”
  • ana, likely “anarchism”
  • com, likely “communism”
  • soc, likely “socialism”
  • dem, likely “democracy”
  • rep, likely “representative democracy”
  • lbt, likely “libertarian”
  • oth, likely “other”
• CAI / CIA
  • caf, likely “caffeine”
  • imp
  • nic, likely “nicotine”
  • alc, likely “alcohol”
  • mix
• SCN
• STY, likely “style”
  • hrd
  • skn
  • plb
  • xxx
  • sxe
  • skt
  • mod
  • ind
• MUS
• MIX
  • roc, likely “Rock”
  • pnk, likely “Punk”
  • suf
  • sou, likely “Soul”
  • swg, likely “Swing”
  • rnr, likely “Rock and Roll”
  • reg, likely “Reggae”
  • cla, likely “Classical”
  • srf, likely “Surf rock”
  • alt, likely “Alternative”
  • lou
  • tec, likely “Techno”
  • met, likely “Metal”
• SHO, likely “shows”
• MED, likely “media”
  • zin, likely “zines”
  • web
  • rad, likely “radio”
  • dee
  • xxx
• BND, likely “band”
  • trm, likely “trumpet” or “trombone”
  • vox, likely “vocals”
  • key, likely “keyboard”
  • cel, possibly “cello”
  • gui, likely “guitar”
  • oth, likely “other”
  • prc, likely “percussion”
  • acc, possibly “accordion”
  • vio, likely “violin” or “viola”
  • bas, likely “bass”
• a bare date after 1998, likely the last update date