• Old PC's (was: Old jokes)

    From JOE MACKEY@1:135/392 to GEORGE POPE on Mon Jan 3 06:10:02 2022
    CP wrote --

    What's an old "commie"? Commode Odor?

    Yea, a Commode C64.
    I got my Commodore in 1986 and around 1988/89 my first modem, a 300
    baud, after I found out about local boards and later the wider world of Fido.
    I used the Commie until c. 1995 when I bought a used IBM 286.
    Around 1998 I got a used 486, with Window 95. The case had been damaged
    but the innards were fine.
    Around 2000 I got a used 486 with Win98.
    The older 486 had given up the ghost and the pc shop I used had the Win98
    on sale.
    I've only brought two new PC's, a HP in January of '09 and this one last February, also a HP. IIRC the 486 was a HP.
    To me HP's are the best. But then that's a Ford/Chevy thing.

    My main jokes & puns collection is on my IBM(true blue) DOS 486, that I need help connecting back up (c/w a new 21" CRT for SVGA graphics)

    Maybe you can find someone with one to transfer all that over.
    I recall wondering how in the world a little 3.5 could hold as much information as a 5.25 then later how in the world could a thumb hold more than a
    3.5? If this keeps up it will someday be how much information can be held
    on a grain of sand. :)
    Joe
    --- Platinum Xpress/Win/WINServer v3.0pr5
    * Origin: Fidonet Since 1991 www.doccyber.org bbs.docsplace.org (1:135/392)
  • From August Abolins@2:221/1.58 to JOE MACKEY on Mon Jan 3 14:20:00 2022
    Hello JOE MACKEY!

    ** On Monday 03.01.22 - 06:10, JOE MACKEY wrote to GEORGE POPE:

    I recall wondering how in the world a little 3.5 could hold as much information as a 5.25 then later how in the world could a thumb hold more than a 3.5? If this keeps up it will someday be how much information can be held on a grain of sand. :)

    An article from March 19, 2018:

    https://www.techspot.com/news/73770-ibm-world-smallest- computer-size-grain-salt.html

    "it has the compute power of an x86 machine from the 1990s"

    "The tiny computer costs under ten cents to manufacture and
    contains up to one million transistors"


    --
    ../|ug

    --- OpenXP 5.0.51
    * Origin: Creditors have better memories than debtors. (2:221/1.58)
  • From George Pope@1:153/757 to Joe Mackey on Mon Jan 3 14:00:36 2022
    CP wrote --
    What's an old "commie"? Commode Odor?
    Yea, a Commode C64.

    I had a Vic=20 I got in 1984 with my sod farm summer job paycheque. $50.

    I loved that little thing! I had so much stuff stored on cassettes! (I was old school(& broke); I was teaching muyseof BASIC programming, using the little manual that came with the computer (I started by writing short programs to recreate every ereror message & another set using each BASIC command singly & in an exemplifying manner.

    I was acing all 3 grade 12 exams after only 2 weeks (I was in grade 10, having skipped 9, as I was busy for a year, & grew too big to be allowed in a cohort of grade 9s by the time I decided to try school again (I had wanderlust)

    I went off on more adventures & lost connection to computers until 1991 when I trook a ciomputer course so tough that we had to, in our first 6 weeks, learn touch typing to 30WPM or more, learn DOS, Win 3.1, Wordperfect 5.0, & create & print our own manual for WP5. The year following I researched Wordperfect type cvourse in Vancouver & the closest I could find would take 18 months to teach what we learned in 6 weeks! & typing would be up to us separately. As would job interview skills, also included in that 6 weeks!

    We were all permanently & mostly freshly so, disabled & trying to move on to new work/career paths. & their approach was wonderful: no mollycoddling & treating us as weaker., but push us to our utmost, so we could go on to compete evenly with able bodied job seekers, & beat them, without special (e.g,. quotas) considerations.

    Most coll.ege computer courses had, at best, a 20% success rate (grads gaining FT employment in the field they trained in); this program, had a 91% success rate!

    The federal goverment closed it the year after my graduation, in spite of the evidenmcde preesebnted that each person not able to go through the propgram, would vcost the governmemt $1M or more in public money over their lifetime. (no longer collecting money to live on,. but instead contributing into taxes. The difference between the two was that high in '92!)

    Short-sighted idiots running(& ruining) everything -- nothing unusual to see here. . .

    I got a 286 given to me in '92, & I had a short BBS list I'd saved from, my experiments online during my course, & I & my 2400baud were off, never looking back! As you'll recall, the public internet was still new & controlled by portals (AOL, Compuserve, & a couple others) in the mid 1990s. A roomie was experimenting with getting out of the free floppy portals & exploringh the real internet -- I learned, too, & had fun, alongside my addiction of 12+ hours/day on the BBSes.

    Eventually I had two computers side by each on a big table; in front of me was my DOS machine (80386 for the longest time), to its right was a 1G Pemtium that was online, usually I was bulk collecting multimedia which I'd go through the nesxt mornjing while doing my QWK & SOUP(newsgroups via an old dial-up service we had, was freecycle until some yutz stole the term & charged $5K+ to use it, even to pre-existing users of it) mail packets -- good fun -- kept my time filled wen I didn't have job interviews to deal with.

    Peolpesaid I needed to get a life & expand my hobbies, I pointed out that I, in the ease & comfort of my own home, was participating in their equivalents of, at least weekly:
    Collections (art, music, movies, wit & humour) Cinema
    Bowling
    Going out with friends (daily)
    Taking classes on interesting subjects at local colleges Reading books
    Watching TV
    Job Hunting
    Dating

    Obviously sometimes I'd leave the house for acrivities, but overal, I was satisfied with the niche I'd carved for myself in the online universe, most loved being BBSing+Fidonet.

    I got my Commodore in 1986 and around 1988/89 my first modem, a 300
    baud, after I found out about local boards and later the wider world of Fido.

    If I'd stayed in my home town I'd have been part of a Commodore Club that built their own equipment from scratch from Radio Shack bits & pieces, including mother & memory expansion boards & modems.

    But I was off following the beat of my own drum that I'd cobbled together from scraps & had no idea of how to play. . .

    Had a grand adventure & learned much about people & the real world. . . :) (IOW, i learned to realize what an idiot I was in the grander scheme of things)

    Dang, that's a painful lesson to get fully learned!

    I used the Commie until c. 1995 when I bought a used IBM 286.

    My IBM 286 had a 40Mb HD, & I loaded it within a week, evenat 2400 baud! *LOL*

    I'm filing any new storage medium I get just as fast, but now Io have actual doewnload speed & bnandwidth -- I got my first 2Tb external drive & had it full within 3 weeks (my ISP technically only allows 50Mb/month download bandwith, but I negotiasted -- turned off my uploading in P2P (& later, torrents) & they didn't bother me as I downloaded a anything I wanted to watch or hear as the thought took me!

    Around 1998 I got a used 486, with Window 95. The case had been damaged
    but the innards were fine.

    I've always reused old crumby looking cases witgh the new systems -- burglars go for the shiny -- so they'll steal that 286 I got to the side holding some old,. but dispensible, files, & ignore the 486 that has all the good stuff! (worked for me! Especialy living on the first floor)

    Around 2000 I got a used 486 with Win98.

    Oh, I miss Win98 & SE. . . it never recovered after they left it. . . Vista must have been done on purpose just to be a poison pill.

    The first thing I noticed was when I closed my browser (when done), a popup "Windows Explorer has closed... restarting..." & yes, t he SOB would load right back up again!

    ME was even worse, as far as speed went. I think ME stood for "Mussel-speed Edition"

    I've only brought two new PC's, a HP in January of '09 and this one last February, also a HP. IIRC the 486 was a HP.
    To me HP's are the best. But then that's a Ford/Chevy thing.

    I haven't bought too many -- usually only since working, as I need to have working equipment to a certain standard (VOIP capable to talk to clients a world away without annoying them with lag); so my new computer always had fast RAM & modem/account. By this time the BBS world had died out, with my last
    local favourite going down when the sysop died. :'( RIP, Gordon "PDK" Lewicky. . .

    My main jokes & puns collection is on my IBM(true blue) DOS 486, that I need
    help connecting back up (c/w a new 21" CRT for SVGA graphics)
    Maybe you can find someone with one to transfer all that over.

    I have a transfer kit(paralel port to same) here but I need help getting the computer set up first. & will likely need to move data off via floppy first to make room to install the DOS end of the software. & hope I can run the Windows end (I think it might be Win95 era)

    I recall wondering how in the world a little 3.5 could hold as much
    information as a 5.25 then later how in the world could a thumb hold more than
    a
    3.5? If this keeps up it will someday be how much information can be held
    on a grain of sand. :)

    Oh, yeah, if you layer up the actual data from any modern storage, into 3D databasing, you could pack a LOT onto a piece of rice sized storage bullet, I'm calling it. . .

    Our brain's not 2D, so why are we only looking at 2D solutions for storage media?

    I remember the joy when a 5.25" could now hold 1.2Mb! & then a 3.5 holding 1.44, & with a compression utility, it could hold 2.8Mb!

    & my buddy had a buddy who worked at Seagate in Seattle who could get him a 12Gb Hard diosk at cost ($300) & we were drooling over how much storage that would be & how long it would take to fill it!

    It fell through, & soon enough I got sa 6.8Gb cheaply enough & filled it in no time! *LOL* & my buddy was filling up his 40 Gigger just as quickly! (a BBS will do that!)

    Now I'm finding a Tb to be almost too small & useless!

    Gonna stock up on 640Mb USBs as I get the funds extra, to put my movies & TV onto, as we can plug them right into our DVR & play them.

    Once I find a way to convert the files to an MPG standard from 8 years ago!

    Otherwise, got to get a wireless HDMI setup & play the USBs off our downstairs PC (just a basic one for the kids to use for research & games) in KMPlayer.

    ahh, TV, i grew up with a 25" wide body hunk of furniture in the living room that had the family portraits on top, & I can still recall the rabbit ears being a necessity before cable arrived in our town!

    My first TV was an already obsolete 21" CRT colour console I got cheaply enough. ($25, as the other guy's wife wanted to clear the behemoth out & replace with a skinny one & more empty space in the living room--he sold it to me; I did not go behind his back, of course)

    I'm not against the big CRT consoles -- we got a 38" one from Freecycle in this place when we first moved in & my old 21" portable(paid $800 for a $350 tv on rent to own) finally bit it(after 8 years)

    This 38" one we perched on a small ebnd table we fond & it was not going any where (required 4 adults to barel;y lift it an inch or two, so our son's climbing up on it was not going to move it anywhere!)

    It finally died a few years ago because my wife wanted a flatscreen, & didn't stop our son touching his big magnet to the screen!

    The flatscreen seems to be holding its own, but I don't trust its longevity like I did for the CRTs!


    --- BBBS/Li6 v4.10 Toy-5
    * Origin: The Rusty MailBox - Penticton, BC Canada (1:153/757)
  • From Daryl Stout@1:2320/33 to George Pope on Tue Jan 4 11:37:00 2022
    George,

    Oh, I miss Win98 & SE. . . it never recovered after they left it. . . Vista must have been done on purpose just to be a poison pill.

    I have a meme on the BBS, showing various structures of houses from
    Windows 95 (a small wooden cottage) to Windows 7 (looks like a place
    from "The Jetsons"). The Windows Vista place was "upside down". <G>

    The first thing I noticed was when I closed my browser (when done), a popup "Windows Explorer has closed... restarting..." & yes, t he SOB would load right back up again!

    I've had a lot of that with Windows Explorer and now File Explorer,
    with Windows 7, 10, and now 11. There is an alternate freeware utility
    called ExplorerPlusPlus (Explorer++).

    Daryl

    ... If you hear an Onion Ring, please answer it.
    === MultiMail/Win v0.52
    --- SBBSecho 3.14-Win32
    * Origin: The Thunderbolt BBS - Little Rock, Arkansas (1:2320/33)
  • From George Pope@1:153/757 to Daryl Stout on Tue Jan 4 11:12:46 2022
    George,
    Oh, I miss Win98 & SE. . . it never recovered after they left it. . .
    Vista must have been done on purpose just to be a poison pill.
    I have a meme on the BBS, showing various structures of houses from
    Windows 95 (a small wooden cottage) to Windows 7 (looks like a place
    from "The Jetsons"). The Windows Vista place was "upside down". <G>

    I'd've made ME upside-down, & Vista inside-out & upside down.

    The first thing I noticed was when I closed my browser (when done), a
    popup "Windows Explorer has closed... restarting..." & yes, t he SOB
    would load right back up again!
    I've had a lot of that with Windows Explorer and now File Explorer,
    with Windows 7, 10, and now 11. There is an alternate freeware utility
    called ExplorerPlusPlus (Explorer++).

    I have a freeware proggy called Chrome that works just fine, & if I need an alternative browser to test/rule out something, I have Firefox.

    I sdtill recall the time my dialup was repeatedly being kicked off line by a loud electronic noise.

    I was talking to 'tech support' & they were going to help me install an older Mozi9lla product, to set it up for email checks to keep "data flow" through my modem.

    I pointed out that I was using a binary sucker & there was constant flow of data 24/7. He says I need to check email to ensure data. I explained that data equals bytes in transit. He then says, & I quote, "I'm not going to argue the definition of data with you, sir."

    I finished with, "No,. you're not, because I just TOLD you what it is." then hung up. I immediately sent an email(via DOS app) to the ISP demanding they sevewr all internet services immediately, with billing to end as at the previous midnight, & explained the issue I had with the moron they hired in tech.

    It was so. As far as I was concerned I let them off easy with only a half day's per diem for a financial penalty. I debated claiming the entire month, but I didn't want to start a new discussion with those idiots. I just wanted it cleared out & my line/number open to go to another dialup ISP.


    --- BBBS/Li6 v4.10 Toy-5
    * Origin: The Rusty MailBox - Penticton, BC Canada (1:153/757)
  • From JOE MACKEY@1:135/392 to AUGUST ABOLINS on Wed Jan 5 04:25:08 2022
    Jug wrote --

    than a 3.5? If this keeps up it will someday be how much information can be held on a grain of sand. :)

    https://www.techspot.com/news/73770-ibm-world-smallest-computer-size-grain-salt.html

    Well, than answers that question.... :)
    Joe
    --- Platinum Xpress/Win/WINServer v3.0pr5
    * Origin: Fidonet Since 1991 www.doccyber.org bbs.docsplace.org (1:135/392)
  • From JOE MACKEY@1:135/392 to GEORGE POPE on Wed Jan 5 06:00:30 2022
    CP wrote --

    I loved that little thing! I had so much stuff stored on cassettes!

    My first was a cassette drive as well. Took about 15 minutes to load
    Text Pro to write a letter.
    Then I moved up a blazing fast disk drive, that only took a couple of minutes. Now if Word doesn't load in one second I'm thinking "Come on, whats taking so long?" :)

    touch typing to 30WPM or more, learn DOS, Win 3.1, Wordperfect 5.0,

    I used to know DOS (but forgot a lot from not using it for years).
    Never used 3.1,
    Used WP for years until I moved over to Word. I use Word 2007 and
    perfectly happy with it.
    But now, I understand, MS is no longer selling stand along Word CD's.
    Have to lease a copy yearly for big bucks.

    We were all permanently & mostly freshly so, disabled & trying to move on to new work/career paths. & their approach was wonderful: no mollycoddling & treating us as weaker., but push us to our utmost, so we could go on to compete evenly with able bodied jo

    As it should be.

    The federal goverment closed it the year after my graduation

    Naturally. Don't want a government program that actually contributes anything.

    As you'll recall, the public internet was still new & controlled by portals (AOL, Compuserve, & a couple others) in the mid 1990s.

    I was on GEnie (General Electric Network Information and Exchange, or the like). I was able download various groups, read/reply and upload. At the
    time it was "time and mileage" to use it and the phone call was long
    distance.
    I got my first "real" Internet connection free, at the local university.
    I was associated with a non-profit organisation at the time. Had to fill out all sorts of paperwork why I needed, what to be used for, etc then have that approved, etc.
    Now they are handed out like candy at Halloween.

    I'm filing any new storage medium I get just as fast, but now Io have actual doewnload speed & bnandwidth -- I got my first 2Tb external drive & had it full within 3 weeks

    I keep very little on my desktop and laptop, other than programs I can easily replace. Had too many crashes in the past and lost a lot of stuff.
    Most of my stuff is all on CD/DVD (sometimes multiple ones in case one
    fails and can't replace that info). A thumb is used for temporary storage.

    Oh, I miss Win98 & SE. . . it never recovered after they left it. . . Vista must have been done on purpose just to be a poison pill.

    The only Windows I never used as 8 and something else.
    I'm sticking with 10.

    Gonna stock up on 640Mb USBs

    I've only brought a few, the rest are freebies.
    Every October and April Marshall has a job fair with vendors in from all sorts of companies.
    I wander around checking out the freebies (pens, pencils, etc) one year a table had 9 MB thumbs and picked up a couple. The next year there were 58
    MB thumbs and got a few of those.

    ahh, TV, i grew up with a 25" wide body hunk of furniture

    I don't recall our first tv, it was in 1948 and a table model. That was replaced in 1951 with a RCA giant 12" round screen console. The family had that for many years.
    My last tv was a 21 inch colour table top demo model I got for about
    $150.
    I don't even have a tv now. Turned the old ones in at a recycling drive years ago. Along with lot of electronic odds and ends.
    My tv viewing is currently old shows I get free off the net, stored on
    DVD's to watch whenever I want. I download the shows since things have a tendency to disappear without warning on You Tube.
    Joe
    --- Platinum Xpress/Win/WINServer v3.0pr5
    * Origin: Fidonet Since 1991 www.doccyber.org bbs.docsplace.org (1:135/392)
  • From George Pope@1:153/757 to Joe Mackey on Wed Jan 5 17:16:28 2022
    CP wrote --
    I loved that little thing! I had so much stuff stored on cassettes!
    My first was a cassette drive as well. Took about 15 minutes to load
    Text Pro to write a letter.
    Then I moved up a blazing fast disk drive, that only took a couple of minutes. Now if Word doesn't load in one second I'm thinking "Come on, whats taking so long?" :)

    IKR? I get the same way, even with microwaves -- oh, c'MON, why is 45 seconds so fleeping LONG???

    Didn't use a microwave until I was in my early 20s, was spoiled by them before I hit 30!

    I had no commercial software on my Vic=20 - all games were painstakingly typed out from Compute! magazine, line by line of code. (especially a page or two of data to be later POKEd into memory; I learned from the REMs some details & startred playingh with creating new characters by using unused keys & bitmapping them (each character was an 8X8 bitmap, so I just had to poke the 8 binary terms into the right memory register to rewrite temporarily with space aliens, etc. . .

    touch typing to 30WPM or more, learn DOS, Win 3.1, Wordperfect 5.0,
    I used to know DOS (but forgot a lot from not using it for years).
    Never used 3.1,

    Which Windows was your intro?

    Used WP for years until I moved over to Word. I use Word 2007 and
    perfectly happy with it.

    Was that the one you began with? I use OpenOffice, & save in Word 97 format for max compatibility with workmates & customers. Actually, fior them, I convert to PDF using a free online utility, that also lets me pull up any image or Pdf
    & edit it (have to remove doctor's names & contact info)

    But now, I understand, MS is no longer selling stand along Word CD's.
    Have to lease a copy yearly for big bucks.

    Yup, another reason why I'm into OpenOffice (freeware forever); most of Europe's official offices (governments, business) have already switched thusly.

    I was on GEnie (General Electric Network Information and Exchange, or the like). I was able download various groups, read/reply and upload. At the time it was "time and mileage" to use it and the phone call was long distance.
    I got my first "real" Internet connection free, at the local university.
    I was associated with a non-profit organisation at the time. Had to fill out all sorts of paperwork why I needed, what to be used for, etc then have that approved, etc.
    Now they are handed out like candy at Halloween.

    My first foray into internet email & newsgroups was via a local BBS who pulled them in & gave us access, later I got a frteecycle accoun to access them after his BBS disappeared. (he retired, I think, & had been using the university equipment for the board)

    I keep very little on my desktop and laptop, other than programs I can
    easily replace. Had too many crashes in the past and lost a lot of stuff. Most of my stuff is all on CD/DVD (sometimes multiple ones in case one
    fails and can't replace that info). A thumb is used for temporary storage.

    Backup, backup, & back up, the 3 most important rules.

    I always go for saving more than I need & using redundancy. My boss said I saved our company by doing such, after Amazon Cloud lost everything. (I had a copy of our database structure, so our IT guy could rebuild from that & what partial data he could pull up here & there)

    The only Windows I never used as 8 and something else.
    I'm sticking with 10.

    Wjhich 10? (how many updats has it done to you?)

    I was happily using win8.1(64bit) & had updates turned off, but microsoft ignored that & pushed me to 10, then the 2nd & 3rd windows 10. .. :(

    I've only brought a few, the rest are freebies.
    Every October and April Marshall has a job fair with vendors in from all sorts of companies.
    I wander around checking out the freebies (pens, pencils, etc) one year a table had 9 MB thumbs and picked up a couple. The next year there were 58
    MB thumbs and got a few of those.

    Oh, I've outgrown thosem, but I'd take them if given aty a trade show or expo, as I can use tjhem to give stuff to people (SneakerNet we used to call floppies for moving files/data; SneakerNet's had a few big upgrades over the few years)

    My tv viewing is currently old shows I get free off the net, stored on
    DVD's to watch whenever I want. I download the shows since things have a tendency to disappear without warning on You Tube.

    Makes sense -- why not watch only what you like, eh, without ads & on the schjedule you prefer. . .

    I grab torrents of full seasons & store them on DVDs (several seasons of a show on one DVD, as data files instead of viodeo files); our DVR can read them directly off the DVD (can get 5 full length films on one DVD, too -- we've filed a few hundred like that)

    If the internet dies, but we have electricity, I'll still have tv & movies to occupy me & my fam.

    --- BBBS/Li6 v4.10 Toy-5
    * Origin: The Rusty MailBox - Penticton, BC Canada (1:153/757)
  • From August Abolins@2:221/1.58 to George Pope on Wed Jan 5 21:56:00 2022
    Hello George Pope!

    ** On Wednesday 05.01.22 - 17:16, George Pope wrote to Joe Mackey:

    I grab torrents of full seasons & store them on DVDs
    (several seasons of a show on one DVD, as data files
    instead of viodeo files); our DVR can read them directly
    off the DVD (can get 5 full length films on one DVD, too
    -- we've filed a few hundred like that)

    My DVR must pre-date yours. I would have loved to have a DVR/
    DVD machine that can read video "files" directly from a DVD. I
    spent a lot of time burning and reusing DVD/RW discs for the
    machine.

    Later, I acquired a small media player that accepts SD cards
    and USB drives and plug that directly into the TV. That's not
    bad 'cuz it accepts up to 64GB SDD devices.

    --
    ../|ug

    --- OpenXP 5.0.51
    * Origin: Creditors have better memories than debtors. (2:221/1.58)
  • From Daryl Stout@1:2320/33 to George Pope on Thu Jan 6 02:09:00 2022
    George,

    IKR? I get the same way, even with microwaves -- oh, c'MON, why is 45 seconds so fleeping LONG???

    You got that right.

    Didn't use a microwave until I was in my early 20s, was spoiled by them before I hit 30!

    That's my extent of microwave communications. I can write a batchfile for
    the BBS, but my programming ENDS at setting the clock on the microwave oven.
    If I forget how to do that, I'll starve to death. <G>

    Which Windows was your intro?

    I used 3.1, then went to 95, 98, XP, 7, 10, and now 11.

    Was that the one you began with? I use OpenOffice, & save in Word 97 format for max compatibility with workmates & customers. Actually,
    fior them, I convert to PDF using a free online utility, that also
    lets me pull up any image or Pdf & edit it (have to remove doctor's
    names & contact info)

    I started with OpenOffice, but went to LibreOffice. Yet, at times when
    the deal goes to upgrade, it uninstalls the previous version, and doesn't
    put the new version on (both LibreOffice and OpenOffice did that). So, I
    just uninstall it myself, and download a fresh version.

    With editing a publication for the Arkansas State Square Dance
    Federation (ASSDF), I have to use Microsoft Office/365 with Word. But,
    when I went to buy it, there was no CD/DVD or box with the software.
    Instead, a card with a registration key, and URL to download the software. Then, you have to pay a yearly usage fee (I currently pay $70). These
    folks figured out that by having electronic downloads only, they save the
    cost of packaging and shipping, and they can charge renewal fees...hence,
    they make more money.

    My first foray into internet email & newsgroups was via a local BBS who pulled them in & gave us access, later I got a frteecycle accoun to access them after his BBS disappeared. (he retired, I think, & had
    been using the university equipment for the board)

    I did that with my Radio Shack MC-10 Micro Color Computer, a 300 baud
    modem, and a program loaded via cassette tape. On the modem, a switch determined answer or originate mode, but you dialed the access number.
    When the phone answered, you put the modem into answer mode, and hung
    up the phone...then you were online. That's how I did it with CompuServe.

    Backup, backup, & back up, the 3 most important rules.

    The way my back is hurting from sitting in this chair (with degenerative
    disk disease), it's hard to sit at the computer for very long anymore.

    Which 10? (how many updats has it done to you?)

    I had Pro...and one time, I had to reinstall it to rebuild the registry
    (it had gotten royally corrupted), and had to reinstall all my Windows
    programs as a result. But, when I upgraded to Windows 11, no reinstalls
    were needed.

    Daryl

    ... I watch what I eat...from the plate to the mouth.
    === MultiMail/Win v0.52
    --- SBBSecho 3.14-Win32
    * Origin: The Thunderbolt BBS - Little Rock, Arkansas (1:2320/33)
  • From August Abolins@2:221/1.58 to Daryl Stout on Thu Jan 6 06:55:00 2022
    Hello Daryl Stout!

    ** On Thursday 06.01.22 - 02:09, Daryl Stout wrote to George Pope:

    That's my extent of microwave communications. I can
    write a batchfile for the BBS, but my programming ENDS
    at setting the clock on the microwave oven. If I forget
    how to do that, I'll starve to death. <G>

    I haven't reset the clock on mine for over a decade.
    Thankfully, it's not one of designs that blinks. But it still
    works fine. I don't need the "START at HH:MM" feature. But
    yours refuses to operate unless you actually set the clock?


    --
    ../|ug

    --- OpenXP 5.0.51
    * Origin: Creditors have better memories than debtors. (2:221/1.58)
  • From JOE MACKEY@1:135/392 to GEORGE POPE on Fri Jan 7 07:34:26 2022
    CP wrote --

    Didn't use a microwave until I was in my early 20s, was spoiled by them before I hit 30!

    I got my first one when I was in my mid-30s.
    No bells or whistles. Just a knob to set the timer and a light inside.
    Used that one for 30 years. Had to replace with when it went screwy and started spitting out sparks and all.
    The new one (about 10 years old), has all sorts of doo-dads and all which
    I seldom use. Mostly its defrost/warm/cook. I don't even use the clock.
    The last few years its started acting up a bit and have to give it extra
    time once in a while to do whatever.

    I had no commercial software on my Vic=20 - all games were painstakingly typed out

    I tried that once or twice but somewhere along the way I would make a
    typo and have to start all over again.
    The only games I play are solitaire and checkers.

    Which Windows was your intro?

    I went from DOS to Win95.
    A friend had 3.1 but never used it. I thought Windows was a fad.
    We had a member here, Nancy Backus, she should rest in peace, who was a confirmed DOS user up to the end. I jokingly called her a Luddite.

    Was that the one you began with? I

    I went from TextPro with my Commie, to WP when I started using 95. But
    it wasn't all that compatible with Word that was becoming the standard so switched.
    I still have my WP software as well as the Word program on a disk which I
    use to install on replacement PC's and laptops.

    I use OpenOffice

    I have used that in the past at some point.

    My first foray into internet email & newsgroups was via a local BBS

    Same here.
    But to get a dial up number for what was my first one was like getting
    secret government docs. Had to know someone, be referred, go though a "background check". All but give them my first born. Being a bachelor I had no
    first born {that I know off ==wink
    Once I made it past the first barrier I was on the others in town.
    One site was a hobby of this guy, who when the board went off line
    opened a computer repair business and was my repair guy for years. He closed that and an employee of his started his own business who is now my repair guy.
    Most of the problems I can figure out the problem on my own, but there
    are times I need some professional help. (Quiet Daryl).

    I always go for saving more than I need & using redundancy.

    In parking nothing is saved off line which really frustrates me. If
    sometime happens all that is lost or highly corrupted.
    But then I am dealing with state "thinking" in that regard.

    Wjhich 10? (how many updats has it done to you?)

    21H2 that came out in November.

    I was happily using win8.1

    I heard too many bad things about it being buggy, so waited for 10.
    I don't plan to go to 11, from what I have read, waiting for the more
    stable one after that one. But I am perfectly happy with 10 and no plans to change unless I have to.

    My tv viewing is currently old shows I get free off the net, stored on DVD's to watch whenever I want.

    Makes sense -- why not watch only what you like, eh, without ads & on the schjedule you prefer. . .

    Yep.

    as data files instead of viodeo files

    Same here.

    If the internet dies, but we have electricity, I'll still have tv & movies to occupy me & my fam.

    Wise man, you think like I do. :)
    Joe
    --- Platinum Xpress/Win/WINServer v3.0pr5
    * Origin: Fidonet Since 1991 www.doccyber.org bbs.docsplace.org (1:135/392)
  • From JOE MACKEY@1:135/392 to AUGUST ABOLINS on Fri Jan 7 07:37:00 2022
    Aug wrote to CP --

    My DVR must pre-date yours.

    Get an external. They are relatively cheap and up to date.
    I have three, one that I use most often, as well as the built in one.
    Joe
    --- Platinum Xpress/Win/WINServer v3.0pr5
    * Origin: Fidonet Since 1991 www.doccyber.org bbs.docsplace.org (1:135/392)
  • From Daryl Stout@1:2320/33 to JOE MACKEY on Fri Jan 7 22:54:00 2022
    Joe,

    Used that one for 30 years. Had to replace with when it went screwy
    and started spitting out sparks and all.

    That's usually a sign something is wrong. <G>

    The last few years its started acting up a bit and have to give it
    extra time once in a while to do whatever.

    It's time to replace it, then.

    The only games I play are solitaire and checkers.

    I haven't played checkers or solitaire in a long time, although I
    have doors with those on the BBS.

    We had a member here, Nancy Backus, she should rest in peace, who was
    a confirmed DOS user up to the end. I jokingly called her a Luddite.

    I miss her greatly...I'm sorry I never got to meet her.

    I have used that in the past at some point.

    I did, too...but now use LibreOffice. However, for the square dance publication I'm the Editor for, I have to use Microsoft 365 (Word) for
    it. Microsoft has discovered it's cheaper for them to no longer create
    a CD/DVD with the program, nor a shipping container. Instead, just create
    a card with a URL and an activation key for the same price. The user then
    is directed to a URL to download the file, enter the activation key, then
    their credit/debit card info to pay the yearly license fee. Many companies
    have gone to that now, and soon, you won't be able to buy CD's/DVD's or
    boxed software anymore. Right now, I pay $70 a year to use that...because
    the fonts with the publication won't display right with LibreOffice.

    But to get a dial up number for what was my first one was like
    getting secret government docs. Had to know someone, be referred, go though a "background check". All but give them my first born. Being a bachelor I had no first born {that I know off ==wink

    Maybe it was your evil twin <g,d,r>.

    Most of the problems I can figure out the problem on my own, but
    there are times I need some professional help. (Quiet Daryl).

    ROFLMBO!! You're no fun (that's what she said <g,d,r>). <BG>

    In parking nothing is saved off line which really frustrates me. If sometime happens all that is lost or highly corrupted.

    Technology, phooey.

    I heard too many bad things about it being buggy, so waited for 10.
    I don't plan to go to 11, from what I have read, waiting for the more stable one after that one. But I am perfectly happy with 10 and no
    plans to change unless I have to.

    So far, Windows 11 has worked pretty well on the laptop. But, the BBS computer's CPU is too slow for it, plus there's no 32-bit version of
    Windows 11. At least Windows 10 will still be supported through early
    October, 2025.

    Daryl

    ... Deja Cuckoo: A feeling you've been this crazy before.
    === MultiMail/Win v0.52
    --- SBBSecho 3.14-Win32
    * Origin: The Thunderbolt BBS - Little Rock, Arkansas (1:2320/33)
  • From JOE MACKEY@1:135/392 to DARYL STOUT on Sat Jan 8 07:13:46 2022
    Daryl wrote --

    The last few years its started acting up a bit and have to give it extra time once in a while to do whatever.

    It's time to replace it, then.

    I don't mind spending a few extra minutes to save money.

    I miss her greatly...I'm sorry I never got to meet her.

    I am so glad I made that trip when I did.
    Several have passed on since then, the health scare lock downs and all...

    Microsoft has discovered it's cheaper for them to no longer create
    a CD/DVD with the program, nor a shipping container. Instead, just create a card with a URL and an activation key for the same price.

    My copy of Word is one I bought, downloaded the software and all and
    saved on a CD.
    When I get a new PC or laptop I just copy to the HD and install, put in
    the activation code and back in business.

    Being a bachelor I had no first born {that I know off ==wink

    Maybe it was your evil twin <g,d,r>.

    _I AM_ the evil twin, thank you.

    there are times I need some professional help. (Quiet Daryl).

    ROFLMBO!! You're no fun (that's what she said <g,d,r>). <BG>

    Thought I would beat you to the punch. :)

    Windows 11. At least Windows 10 will still be supported through early October, 2025.

    By then Win12 will be out without the bugs, uh, "features".
    Joe
    --- Platinum Xpress/Win/WINServer v3.0pr5
    * Origin: Fidonet Since 1991 www.doccyber.org bbs.docsplace.org (1:135/392)
  • From Daryl Stout@1:2320/33 to JOE MACKEY on Sat Jan 8 10:58:00 2022
    Joe,

    I don't mind spending a few extra minutes to save money.

    Jack Benny would be proud of you...and he's still 39. <G>

    Several have passed on since then, the health scare lock downs and all...

    I saw a story where one woman put her child in the trunk of her car
    to keep the child from getting Covid-19.

    My copy of Word is one I bought, downloaded the software and all and saved on a CD.
    When I get a new PC or laptop I just copy to the HD and install, put
    in the activation code and back in business.

    That's what I'll do...and if the CD/DVD does go bad, you're out of luck.

    _I AM_ the evil twin, thank you.

    And the moderator. <g,d,r>

    there are times I need some professional help. (Quiet Daryl).

    ROFLMBO!! You're no fun (that's what she said <g,d,r>). <BG>

    Thought I would beat you to the punch. :)

    Never mind all the good food on the table. <G>

    Windows 11. At least Windows 10 will still be supported through early October, 2025.

    By then Win12 will be out without the bugs, uh, "features".

    So much for them saying "there'll be nothing after Windows 10".

    Daryl

    ... Windows Vista7Up Virus: Renders 16-bit programs useless.
    === MultiMail/Win v0.52
    --- SBBSecho 3.14-Win32
    * Origin: The Thunderbolt BBS - Little Rock, Arkansas (1:2320/33)
  • From George Pope@1:153/757 to August Abolins on Sun Jan 9 16:48:28 2022
    My DVR must pre-date yours. I would have loved to have a DVR/
    DVD machine that can read video "files" directly from a DVD. I
    spent a lot of time burning and reusing DVD/RW discs for the
    machine.

    Right, one movie to one DVD at one time, eh? My wife started doing that, luckily I had found a great source for brand new blank DVDRs. So, with 5 movies to a disk, each movie, playable on our DVR, cost 3.5c!

    Bneter than buying blanks from the dollar store for $1-$2 each!

    Later, I acquired a small media player that accepts SD cards
    and USB drives and plug that directly into the TV. That's not
    bad 'cuz it accepts up to 64GB SDD devices.

    Ours reads my 512Gb USB thumb just fine -- much nicer than going through multiple DVDs! But I can't get the right format down, so a lot jhust dn't show up on the DVD play menu. . .

    I can put the shows/movies into folders, & the DVDR's menu just shows on one listing on the TV screen.

    I love technology, wshen it works!

    I just need to find out which video format is simplest & how I can convert to it without the codecs being necessary to play the post conversion file.

    Pretty sure MKV is too new. . . (most files come as this now, with subtitles or captions built right in, instead of needing two separate files as previously.)

    Yeah, right, Shaw, trying to charge me $6 for a 30-minute epiosode on PPV! GL with that pricing plan. . .

    I prefer free for my books, movies, & TV shows.

    --- BBBS/Li6 v4.10 Toy-5
    * Origin: The Rusty MailBox - Penticton, BC Canada (1:153/757)
  • From George Pope@1:153/757 to Daryl Stout on Sun Jan 9 16:58:38 2022
    Which Windows was your intro?
    I used 3.1, then went to 95, 98, XP, 7, 10, and now 11.

    I went 3.1, 3.11, 95, 98, 98SE, that horribly slow Windows, Vista(Ugh, don't ask!), XP, 8.1, 10, & recently 11, even t hough I turned off updates!

    Motherlovers!

    In between, I tried Windows 2.0 on DOS 3, just to try it, & ran Netscape 0.9beta on it, on a 300 baud "high speed sysop's external modem"! (for real!)

    Went onto AltaVista search engine & a couple BBSes just so they could screencap "that idiot user who called in at 300," & brag about it in sysop echoes!

    The standard was 28.8K when I did that with 56.6K really making inroads. . .

    I've gone online with QNX (experimental OS that Commodore apparently bought)

    QNX was awesome -- I could boot, load my dfevices, & dial up & go on the net all from a single floppy disk! (no room for downloads -- they had to go onto the HDD)

    The way my back is hurting from sitting in this chair (with degenerative
    disk disease), it's hard to sit at the computer for very long anymore.

    Ouch. . same. . . my spine is crushing hard one one of my discs.

    ... I watch what I eat...from the plate to the mouth.

    My doctor told me to watch my weight, sol I've put it all up front here so it's easier.

    Or, "When you've got a plow this good, you build a roof over it to protect it from the elements" *LOL*

    --- BBBS/Li6 v4.10 Toy-5
    * Origin: The Rusty MailBox - Penticton, BC Canada (1:153/757)
  • From George Pope@1:153/757 to Joe Mackey on Sun Jan 9 17:03:12 2022
    I was happily using win8.1
    I heard too many bad things about it being buggy, so waited for 10.
    I don't plan to go to 11, from what I have read, waiting for the more
    stable one after that one. But I am perfectly happy with 10 and no plans to change unless I have to.

    I was forced onto 10,m & fgrudglingly adapted to the reality forced upon me, & triplechecked that all updates were turned off, only to have, this past week, 11 forced oin me overnight!

    I am seriously unhappy with Microsoft again (as used to be common, but I got over it for a while & got my blood pressure down to merely "high")

    If the internet dies, but we have electricity, I'll still have tv & movies to
    occupy me & my fam.
    Wise man, you think like I do.

    Wisdom comes with age & bad judgement over the years getting to where we are now in mostly one piece, eh?

    --- BBBS/Li6 v4.10 Toy-5
    * Origin: The Rusty MailBox - Penticton, BC Canada (1:153/757)
  • From August Abolins@2:221/1.58 to George Pope on Sun Jan 9 21:32:00 2022
    Hello George Pope!

    ** On Sunday 09.01.22 - 16:48, George Pope wrote to August Abolins:

    My DVR must pre-date yours. I would have loved to have a
    DVR/DVD machine that can read video "files" directly from a
    DVD. I spent a lot of time burning and reusing DVD/RW
    discs for the machine.

    Right, one movie to one DVD at one time, eh? My wife
    started doing that, luckily I had found a great source for
    brand new blank DVDRs.

    Not really. I discovered FreeMake. It allows multiple video
    files to be coded as a proper playable DVD + a menu to pick
    each video. The more you stash onto the DVD, the lower the
    quality, but I've never noticed a quality change until I exceed
    the 6hr point.

    So, with 5 movies to a disk, each
    movie, playable on our DVR, cost 3.5c!

    I just used DVD/RW discs at the time. I didn't really need to
    keep previously watched YT videos or TEDx lectures or
    documentaries or movies. Infact.. I'm sick and tired of all
    the standard DVD/R discs laying around. Nobody else needs them.
    They'll just end up in landfill eventually.

    I really enjoyed erasing the DVD/RWs and reusing them.


    Later, I acquired a small media player that accepts SD
    cards and USB drives and plug that directly into the TV.
    That's not bad 'cuz it accepts up to 64GB SDD devices.

    Ours reads my 512Gb USB thumb just fine -- much nicer than
    going through multiple DVDs! But I can't get the right
    format down, so a lot jhust dn't show up on the DVD play
    menu. . .

    Mine handles MKV files ok, but they can't be the 11-bit
    variety. One way I found out how to "test" a MKV to be
    compatible for my player is with Freemake. If I can see the
    preview/thumbnail of the vid in Fremake's edit window, then I
    know the file will be viewable on my media player or as a DVD.


    Pretty sure MKV is too new. . . (most files come as this
    now, with subtitles or captions built right in, instead of
    needing two separate files as previously.)

    See above. There are different MKV types. Avoid the 11-bit
    ones and you should be fine.


    Yeah, right, Shaw, trying to charge me $6 for a 30-minute
    epiosode on PPV! GL with that pricing plan. . .

    2.99 to 14.99 seems to be the standard for many ppv solutions:
    ApplePay, AmazonTV, etc.. even for a short film. They call it
    "renting", and you get about 14 days to watch it as many times
    as you want.


    I prefer free for my books, movies, & TV shows.

    Have you started into Dirt Birds yet? It's hilarious. The
    author intersperses quite a bit of Canadiana/trivia/history in
    the mix. It makes for a very Canadian read.

    --
    ../|ug

    --- OpenXP 5.0.51
    * Origin: Creditors have better memories than debtors. (2:221/1.58)
  • From JOE MACKEY@1:135/392 to DARYL STOUT on Mon Jan 10 05:51:02 2022
    Daryl wrote --

    I saw a story where one woman put her child in the trunk of her car
    to keep the child from getting Covid-19.

    I would comment but too close to not being a memory.
    Maybe next year it will be a memory and we can talk about it.

    That's what I'll do...and if the CD/DVD does go bad, you're out of luck.

    By then maybe it'll be time for an upgrade.

    _I AM_ the evil twin, thank you.

    And the moderator. <g,d,r>

    Evil mod. :)

    So much for them saying "there'll be nothing after Windows 10".

    Not so much new Windows but Windows boosters...
    Joe
    --- Platinum Xpress/Win/WINServer v3.0pr5
    * Origin: Fidonet Since 1991 www.doccyber.org bbs.docsplace.org (1:135/392)
  • From Daryl Stout@1:2320/33 to George Pope on Mon Jan 10 10:02:00 2022
    George,

    I went 3.1, 3.11, 95, 98, 98SE, that horribly slow Windows, Vista(Ugh, don't ask!), XP, 8.1, 10, & recently 11, even though I turned off
    updates!

    Was a Windows Vista a lousy hotspot to visit??

    In between, I tried Windows 2.0 on DOS 3, just to try it, & ran
    Netscape 0.9beta on it, on a 300 baud "high speed sysop's external modem"! (for real!)

    Yeah, I started with Netscape, then Internut Exploder. I've also used
    Opera (I was using it when it was still shareware), Firefox, and Edge. I'm
    back to Opera now.

    Went onto AltaVista search engine & a couple BBSes just so they could screencap "that idiot user who called in at 300," & brag about it in
    sysop echoes!

    I remember when one got a 2400 or 9600 or 14.4 modem, you thought you
    were really smokin'. <G>

    Ouch. . same. . . my spine is crushing hard one one of my discs.

    The bones in my neck are pressing on the nerves, and I can hear the
    bones grinding when I turn my head.

    My doctor told me to watch my weight, sol I've put it all up front here
    so it's easier.

    You've got to have a shed for your tool. <G>

    Or, "When you've got a plow this good, you build a roof over it to
    protect it from the elements" *LOL*

    See above comment. <G>

    Daryl

    ... Sometimes I wake up grumpy; other times, I let her sleep.
    === MultiMail/Win v0.52
    --- SBBSecho 3.14-Win32
    * Origin: The Thunderbolt BBS - Little Rock, Arkansas (1:2320/33)
  • From Daryl Stout@1:2320/33 to JOE MACKEY on Mon Jan 10 10:05:00 2022
    Joe,

    I would comment but too close to not being a memory.
    Maybe next year it will be a memory and we can talk about it.

    What gets me is that these folks who are so pro-abortion, think that pregnancy is a side effect from having sex. What do you think the act
    was designed for?? Hello??!!

    By then maybe it'll be time for an upgrade.

    That's why there's a monthly Windows Update...got to keep the latest
    bugs and program features online. :P

    Evil mod. :)

    Just like Sean Dennis of Micronet (and the new Editor of the FidoGazette, since Janis Kracht shut everything down at the end of last year) notes for
    his BBS: "Home Of The Iron Fist". <G>

    Not so much new Windows but Windows boosters...

    It's about as bad as Covid-19 boosters. :P You have to keep your computer vaxxed against malware.

    Daryl

    ... Software never has bugs. It just develops random features
    === MultiMail/Win v0.52
    --- SBBSecho 3.14-Win32
    * Origin: The Thunderbolt BBS - Little Rock, Arkansas (1:2320/33)
  • From JOE MACKEY@1:135/392 to DARYL STOUT on Wed Jan 12 05:56:44 2022
    Daryl wrote --

    That's why there's a monthly Windows Update...got to keep the latest
    bugs and program features online. :P

    I have that trouble with my laptop.
    I don't use it currently as much as in the past, (instead of every few
    days its every few weeks now)and it seems every time I fire it up there's
    some new update.
    Then it will creep and crawl and poke along until I spend close to an
    hour before I can use the simple thing with downloading (with it usually freezing up after a few minutes and have to restart), install, etc.
    I liked the old days when you turned it on and it was working.
    Joe
    --- Platinum Xpress/Win/WINServer v3.0pr5
    * Origin: Fidonet Since 1991 www.doccyber.org bbs.docsplace.org (1:135/392)
  • From JOE MACKEY@1:135/392 to DARYL STOUT on Wed Jan 12 06:05:00 2022
    Daryl wrote --

    The bones in my neck are pressing on the nerves, and I can hear the
    bones grinding when I turn my head.

    Does that make you a bone head?
    Joe
    --- Platinum Xpress/Win/WINServer v3.0pr5
    * Origin: Fidonet Since 1991 www.doccyber.org bbs.docsplace.org (1:135/392)
  • From Daryl Stout@1:2320/33 to JOE MACKEY on Wed Jan 12 17:06:00 2022
    Joe,

    I liked the old days when you turned it on and it was working.

    And, when you could turn it off by just the power switch, and not go
    through all the other crap...where it basically cussed you out the
    next time you powered it up, for "an improper shutdown".

    Daryl

    ... I tried an internal modem, but it hurt when I walked.
    === MultiMail/Win v0.52
    --- SBBSecho 3.14-Win32
    * Origin: The Thunderbolt BBS - Little Rock, Arkansas (1:2320/33)
  • From Daryl Stout@1:2320/33 to JOE MACKEY on Wed Jan 12 17:07:00 2022
    Joe,

    The bones in my neck are pressing on the nerves, and I can hear the
    bones grinding when I turn my head.

    Does that make you a bone head?

    That's why I'm in this echo...because without someone to pick on and
    laugh it, the echo would be awfully boring. <G>

    Daryl

    ... Talk is cheap -- supply exceeds demand!
    === MultiMail/Win v0.52
    --- SBBSecho 3.14-Win32
    * Origin: The Thunderbolt BBS - Little Rock, Arkansas (1:2320/33)
  • From George Pope@1:153/757 to August Abolins on Wed Jan 12 16:31:10 2022
    Not really. I discovered FreeMake. It allows multiple video

    I grabbed it just now. Does it convert between formats?

    So no 11-bit MKVs., what type do I want?

    Yeah, right, Shaw, trying to charge me $6 for a 30-minute
    epiosode on PPV! GL with that pricing plan. . .
    2.99 to 14.99 seems to be the standard for many ppv solutions:
    ApplePay, AmazonTV, etc.. even for a short film. They call it
    "renting", and you get about 14 days to watch it as many times
    as you want.

    Yup, I'm cheap &/or broke, depending on which side of a payday I'm on.

    I prefer free for my books, movies, & TV shows.
    Have you started into Dirt Birds yet? It's hilarious. The
    author intersperses quite a bit of Canadiana/trivia/history in
    the mix. It makes for a very Canadian read.

    It's in my queue -- I'm trying to find my "sdnt to Kindle" books on my Kindle, on Z-Lib(living it7 -- my whole fam is on now)then I'll go nuts sending a bunch (I've got lots of RAM on it.)

    I can read on my phone in Apple's Red (default for Z-Lib downloads)

    --- BBBS/Li6 v4.10 Toy-5
    * Origin: The Rusty MailBox - Penticton, BC Canada (1:153/757)
  • From George Pope@1:153/757 to Joe Mackey on Wed Jan 12 16:40:40 2022
    So much for them saying "there'll be nothing after Windows 10".
    Not so much new Windows but Windows boosters...

    I am NOT HAPPY with Microsoft.

    I have my updates set to "Off" (used to be on Manual) & M$ just pushed me into 11! grrrr. . . I was happy with 8.1 but they forced me to 10, them 10b, now 11!

    I need to go back to DOS (DOS IST GUT!); I'll have a Linux Ubuntu partition for work (our native enviro is 'n*x.); the Gnome overlay gives me a win98-type interface to work with. . .

    I love the soft phone we have for it, as I can quickly see who's available or not. & unlike the Win versions, I can actually transfer calls & they go through instead of dropping.

    I remember when it was ALL DOS & it was good!

    I had my DOS doing everything others were doing in win95.

    I still have & use DOSAmp for MP3s.

    --- BBBS/Li6 v4.10 Toy-5
    * Origin: The Rusty MailBox - Penticton, BC Canada (1:153/757)
  • From George Pope@1:153/757 to Daryl Stout on Wed Jan 12 17:13:46 2022
    George,
    I went 3.1, 3.11, 95, 98, 98SE, that horribly slow Windows, Vista(Ugh,
    don't ask!), XP, 8.1, 10, & recently 11, even though I turned off
    updates!
    Was a Windows Vista a lousy hotspot to visit??

    hotspot? Yeah, it was hell using that POS!

    In between, I tried Windows 2.0 on DOS 3, just to try it, & ran
    Netscape 0.9beta on it, on a 300 baud "high speed sysop's external
    modem"! (for real!)
    Yeah, I started with Netscape, then Internut Exploder. I've also used
    Opera (I was using it when it was still shareware), Firefox, and Edge. I'm back to Opera now.

    I useds Netscape 0.9 after Netscape had been fully supplanted by Firefox. & Win2.0 when everyone else was long donw with 98. . .
    & 300 baud when the standard was 28.8 with maybe 15-20% on 56.6. . .

    My main modem was a 12,000 Turbo (the sysops had to edit their connect code to recognize mine, or I was stuck on the board at 1200, including downloading my QWKs (sizeable, normally)

    Went onto AltaVista search engine & a couple BBSes just so they could
    screencap "that idiot user who called in at 300," & brag about it in
    sysop echoes!
    I remember when one got a 2400 or 9600 or 14.4 modem, you thought you
    were really smokin'. <G>

    I was nmever cutting ede technololgy -- was oping to turm my long lost original PC into a BBS called "Trailing Edge Technology" with the 300baud modem & write my own BBS OS for just messaging, using IBM ROMBASIC, all on an original 160Kb floppy (IBM standard was 160K SSSD)

    I could create one on a 5.25" using DOS 6.11 on my 486 & the FORMAT" command's parameters designed to be backwards compatible with all "PC" standards.

    I get a kick out of these new ghames that require 5 CDs to be loaded at the same time, marked as "PC compatible"

    I say, "Unless you've tested it AND PLAYED it on an ACTUAL PC (8086), stop lying."

    Ouch. . same. . . my spine is crushing hard one one of my discs.
    The bones in my neck are pressing on the nerves, and I can hear the
    bones grinding when I turn my head.

    Owwww. . .have you tried Gabapentin?

    They have, I've seen on tv, a neck pillow (similar to airplane ones) that can be frozen or microwaved hot. . . have two, one hot, one cold, & you can alternate the two as needed, when you want to be at the computer longer?

    My doctor told me to watch my weight, sol I've put it all up front here
    so it's easier.
    You've got to have a shed for your tool. <G>
    Or, "When you've got a plow this good, you build a roof over it to
    protect it from the elements" *LOL*
    See above comment. <G>

    Great minds think alike (feedback from the peanut gallery, "Or small ones seldom differ.")

    --- BBBS/Li6 v4.10 Toy-5
    * Origin: The Rusty MailBox - Penticton, BC Canada (1:153/757)
  • From George Pope@1:153/757 to Daryl Stout on Wed Jan 12 17:23:40 2022
    Joe,
    I would comment but too close to not being a memory.
    Maybe next year it will be a memory and we can talk about it.
    What gets me is that these folks who are so pro-abortion, think that pregnancy is a side effect from having sex. What do you think the act
    was designed for?? Hello??!!

    I counsel straighforwardly, with, "f***ing makes babies" as often as they say stupid/irrelevent things ("but we're careful"--FMB, "I'm on the Pill--FMB)

    It's a well-designed process of cause & effect. You can't F & be 100% sasfe from the B (& dstop thinking babies areside effects or problems -- they're 100% human beings!) umm. . . I'll stop here, this is getting too much like current politics for Joe,I surmise. . .

    One day, we hope, this debate will be but a distant memory. . .

    Evil mod. :)
    Just like Sean Dennis of Micronet (and the new Editor of the FidoGazette, since Janis Kracht shut everything down at the end of last year) notes for his BBS: "Home Of The Iron Fist". <G>

    The Bastard Operator from Hell (BOFH) is publishing new stories of sys manager (formerly known as "operators") evil again!

    It's about as bad as Covid-19 boosters. :P You have to keep your computer vaxxed against malware.

    I came up with the best process to do so:

    Boot to DOS on a floppy.
    Format C: /U
    Insert DOS 6.22 setup disk
    Reboot.
    Follow directions to install DOS 6.22

    Find an old copy of Norton Utilities & Norton AV, install

    Be FREEEE!!!!

    Or sub Linux for DOS if you prefer. . .

    --- BBBS/Li6 v4.10 Toy-5
    * Origin: The Rusty MailBox - Penticton, BC Canada (1:153/757)
  • From George Pope@1:153/757 to Daryl Stout on Wed Jan 12 17:30:52 2022
    Joe,
    I liked the old days when you turned it on and it was working.
    And, when you could turn it off by just the power switch, and not go
    through all the other crap...where it basically cussed you out the
    next time you powered it up, for "an improper shutdown".

    I cuss back, & then do as I please anyway. . .

    It's MY fleeping computer!

    --- BBBS/Li6 v4.10 Toy-5
    * Origin: The Rusty MailBox - Penticton, BC Canada (1:153/757)
  • From Daryl Stout@1:2320/33 to George Pope on Thu Jan 13 01:18:00 2022
    George,

    Owwww. . .have you tried Gabapentin?

    I was told to DISCONTINUE ALL PAIN MEDICATIONS...EXCEPT for
    low dose Tylenol...because all the pain medications thin the
    blood (I'm already on Eliquis for atrial fibrillation), and
    that it'd make me more of a hemophiliac. But, too much of the
    Tylenol can cause liver damage.

    I guess I just have to suffer. Then, I've got a bunch of
    other crap going on...with the greedy state people likely
    going to take away my low income assistance to pay the monthly
    Medicare premium...which means I have to sell the car. Then, I
    am having problems with the BBS not "downing the nodes" for the
    nightly doorgame and file area maintenance. I may end up REMOVING
    ALL THE DOORS...and if I do that, is there any reason to keep the
    BBS online?? I sure hate to waste all those door registrations
    over the last 32 years...never mind have to set up new BBS
    software.

    Daryl



    ... Before drawing boards, where did they go back to??
    === MultiMail/Win v0.52
    --- SBBSecho 3.14-Win32
    * Origin: The Thunderbolt BBS - Little Rock, Arkansas (1:2320/33)
  • From JOE MACKEY@1:135/392 to DARYL STOUT on Thu Jan 13 05:46:16 2022
    Daryl wrote --

    next time you powered it up, for "an improper shutdown".

    That usually only happens if the power goes off. And I tell the PO,
    "Yes, I know that thank you". :)
    Joe
    --- Platinum Xpress/Win/WINServer v3.0pr5
    * Origin: Fidonet Since 1991 www.doccyber.org bbs.docsplace.org (1:135/392)
  • From JOE MACKEY@1:135/392 to DARYL STOUT on Thu Jan 13 05:47:18 2022
    Daryl wrote --

    That's why I'm in this echo...because without someone to pick on and
    laugh it, the echo would be awfully boring. <G>

    I've always said everyone has a purpose in life. :)
    Joe
    --- Platinum Xpress/Win/WINServer v3.0pr5
    * Origin: Fidonet Since 1991 www.doccyber.org bbs.docsplace.org (1:135/392)
  • From JOE MACKEY@1:135/392 to GEORGE POPE on Thu Jan 13 05:55:18 2022
    CP wrote --

    I have my updates set to "Off" (used to be on Manual) & M$ just pushed me into 11! grrrr. . . I was happy with 8.1 but they forced me to 10, them 10b, now 11!

    I am a bit of fuddy duddy. Always have been.
    If something ain't broke, don't fix it.
    It something works, leave it alone.
    I'll be used to some program/app/os and can use with my eyes closed.
    Then some wiseguy programmer changes this, that and other and have a
    learning curve to make. Need to learn the new way since the old way doesn't work. --sigh--
    I can see changes for bugs and things, but not change just for the sake
    of change.

    I remember when it was ALL DOS & it was good!

    Same here, but I don't think I would want to go back to that.
    I'm too lazy with point and click, having multiple windows open, etc.
    Now that is one change that I did like. :)
    Joe
    --- Platinum Xpress/Win/WINServer v3.0pr5
    * Origin: Fidonet Since 1991 www.doccyber.org bbs.docsplace.org (1:135/392)
  • From Daryl Stout@1:2320/33 to JOE MACKEY on Thu Jan 13 08:48:00 2022
    Joe,

    next time you powered it up, for "an improper shutdown".

    That usually only happens if the power goes off. And I tell the PO, "Yes, I know that thank you". :)

    More like "What was your first clue??".

    Daryl

    ... Error: Bad Or Missing Mouse Driver. Blame The Cat?? (Y/n)
    === MultiMail/Win v0.52
    --- SBBSecho 3.14-Win32
    * Origin: The Thunderbolt BBS - Little Rock, Arkansas (1:2320/33)
  • From Daryl Stout@1:2320/33 to JOE MACKEY on Thu Jan 13 08:51:00 2022
    Joe,

    That's why I'm in this echo...because without someone to pick on and
    laugh it, the echo would be awfully boring. <G>

    I've always said everyone has a purpose in life. :)

    So, now you know mine. With all the other crap and stress with, and
    outside the BBS, I might as well have everyone "pile on" me. My self
    esteem is getting lower by the day.

    The BBS is constantly erroring out when I try to run the nightly
    maintenance, and I can't always be up at midnight to busy out the
    system. The thing is, I don't want to get rid of over 350 doors that
    I've registered (many paid the cost for, and most all the authors
    are long gone now...never mind that's the big draw on BBS's nowadays),
    and if I do zap all the doors, is there any reason for me to stay online??

    Daryl

    ... Error: (A)bort, (R)etry, (T)ake down entire network?
    === MultiMail/Win v0.52
    --- SBBSecho 3.14-Win32
    * Origin: The Thunderbolt BBS - Little Rock, Arkansas (1:2320/33)
  • From Daryl Stout@1:2320/33 to JOE MACKEY on Thu Jan 13 08:54:00 2022
    Joe,

    I am a bit of fuddy duddy. Always have been.

    Be vewwy vewwy quiet. I'm hunting BBS's <Elmer Fudd Laugh> <G>

    If something ain't broke, don't fix it.
    It something works, leave it alone.

    Tell that to Microsoft, and you'll be laughed out of the room.

    I can see changes for bugs and things, but not change just for the
    sake of change.

    Change is inevitable...EXCEPT from vending machines. However, it is GOOD...especially when it relates to underwear. <G>

    I remember when it was ALL DOS & it was good!

    I'm too lazy with point and click, having multiple windows open, etc.

    That's why I have multiple monitors. <G>

    Daryl

    ... Error: Keyboard not attached. Press <F1> to continue.
    === MultiMail/Win v0.52
    --- SBBSecho 3.14-Win32
    * Origin: The Thunderbolt BBS - Little Rock, Arkansas (1:2320/33)
  • From JOE MACKEY@1:135/392 to DARYL STOUT on Sat Jan 15 07:41:12 2022
    Daryl wrote --

    I've always said everyone has a purpose in life. :)

    So, now you know mine.

    Yep, some people's purpose in life is to set a bad example or being a warning on what not to do. :)
    Joe
    --- Platinum Xpress/Win/WINServer v3.0pr5
    * Origin: Fidonet Since 1991 www.doccyber.org bbs.docsplace.org (1:135/392)
  • From JOE MACKEY@1:135/392 to DARYL STOUT on Sat Jan 15 07:46:38 2022
    Daryl wrote --

    If something ain't broke, don't fix it.
    It something works, leave it alone.

    Tell that to Microsoft, and you'll be laughed out of the room.

    I've always like old cars, from the first horseless carriages to about
    1970.
    There are all sorts of videos on YT with old cars and I watch in order,
    such as cars from 1931, 1932, etc.
    Some are shorts the car company would put out for dealers, and others are
    tv ads from the late '40s onward.
    I'll watch the ones from various companies and its always "this is the
    best car ever made, not some piece of junk like we made last year you need to trade in right now for this great new car". Well, that's the gist of the
    ads. :)
    Joe
    --- Platinum Xpress/Win/WINServer v3.0pr5
    * Origin: Fidonet Since 1991 www.doccyber.org bbs.docsplace.org (1:135/392)
  • From Daryl Stout@1:2320/33 to JOE MACKEY on Sat Jan 15 20:58:00 2022
    Joe,

    I've always said everyone has a purpose in life. :)

    So, now you know mine.

    Yep, some people's purpose in life is to set a bad example or being
    a warning on what not to do. :)

    Many days, I feel like a burro with a dunce cap...and you can figure out
    what that means. :P

    Daryl

    ... Error: This virus requires Windows 3.x to run.
    === MultiMail/Win v0.52
    --- SBBSecho 3.14-Win32
    * Origin: The Thunderbolt BBS - Little Rock, Arkansas (1:2320/33)
  • From Daryl Stout@1:2320/33 to JOE MACKEY on Sat Jan 15 21:32:00 2022
    Joe,

    I'll watch the ones from various companies and its always "this is
    the best car ever made, not some piece of junk like we made last year
    you need to trade in right now for this great new car". Well, that's
    the gist of the ads. :)

    Years ago in Nashville, Tennessee...they had a park called Opryland USA.
    The only thing that survives of it is the building where they perform The
    Grand Ole Opry every week (it's the longest running show, first started
    nearly 100 years ago, by WSM Radio, Clear Channel 650). The radio station
    was originally owned by an insurance company, and their slogan of "We
    Serve Millions" was the inspiration for the station's callsign. It has
    always had a country-western format.

    But, at Opryland, they had one ride called the Tin Lizzie...where you
    got to "drive" remakes of those classic cars.

    Changing fortunes, etc. closed the park, and it was razed...and then
    replaced by a shopping mall. Yet, so many shopping areas and malls now
    are boarded up and vacant.

    The original home of the Grand Ole Opry, the Ryman Auditorium, in
    downtown Nashville, was originally a Baptist Church...it still has
    the stained glass windows. Sometimes, they refer to it as "The Mother
    Church".

    Daryl

    ... A gossip is someone with a great sense of rumor.
    === MultiMail/Win v0.52
    --- SBBSecho 3.14-Win32
    * Origin: The Thunderbolt BBS - Little Rock, Arkansas (1:2320/33)
  • From George Pope@1:153/757 to Daryl Stout on Mon Jan 17 11:27:02 2022
    George,
    Owwww. . .have you tried Gabapentin?
    I was told to DISCONTINUE ALL PAIN MEDICATIONS...EXCEPT for
    low dose Tylenol...because all the pain medications thin the
    blood (I'm already on Eliquis for atrial fibrillation), and
    that it'd make me more of a hemophiliac. But, too much of the
    Tylenol can cause liver damage.

    Too much of any drug/medication is rough on the old liver (which filters all the chemical crap out of our blood, whatever the kidneys can't handle, anyway)

    Okay, if it's contraindicated in y our case, then so be it -- look up a group called "self management of chronic conditions" & try to find a free workship that you can fo over Zoom, or in person locally. Search your state with those other keywords, as it's normally state-based (all in a partuicular froup of 6- 12 being from the same state or province, to maintain the original integrity of the program)

    Thery've provided me with non-medication-centred ways to function to the degree I want normal life to look like, in spite of chronic pain at level 8-10/10 most of the time.

    This was developed by a California university using tight scientific controls to create each section & testing it in actual practice.

    I started training to lead these groups over Zoom here in BC, so I have a good idea of the behind the scenes effectiveness & why it works. (insurances love the program, as people have fewer doctor & hospiotal visits for ongoing chronic conditions; my provincial health insurance provides the program free to any resident of BC, including the text)

    I guess I just have to suffer. Then, I've got a bunch of
    other crap going on...with the greedy state people likely
    going to take away my low income assistance to pay the monthly
    Medicare premium...which means I have to sell the car. Then, I
    am having problems with the BBS not "downing the nodes" for the
    nightly doorgame and file area maintenance. I may end up REMOVING
    ALL THE DOORS...and if I do that, is there any reason to keep the
    BBS online?? I sure hate to waste all those door registrations
    over the last 32 years...never mind have to set up new BBS
    software.

    What did we do back in the time before modems? (on-topic now *LOL*)

    I'm with Robert A. Heinlein & Spider Robinson(2 of my fave authors(the former RIP in '88): "A blessing shared is doubled and a sorrow shared is halved."

    And from me: "No problem is unsolveable, except maybe for dribbling a football or putting toothpaste back in the tube by hand"

    I've solved those two, also. . .


    --- BBBS/Li6 v4.10 Toy-5
    * Origin: The Rusty MailBox - Penticton, BC Canada (1:153/757)
  • From George Pope@1:153/757 to Joe Mackey on Mon Jan 17 11:38:52 2022
    I am a bit of fuddy duddy. Always have been.
    If something ain't broke, don't fix it.
    It something works, leave it alone.

    If that's "fuddy duddy," sign me up!

    I'll be used to some program/app/os and can use with my eyes closed.
    Then some wiseguy programmer changes this, that and other and have a
    learning curve to make. Need to learn the new way since the old way doesn't work. --sigh--
    I can see changes for bugs and things, but not change just for the sake
    of change.

    Bill Gates started that -- his real genius wasn't programming -- it was marketing.

    Now Marketing gets a heavy say in what changes get done -- not necessarily for the benefit of the buyer/user, as we've both seen.

    Also, I believe the DOD & other powers-that-be support Microsoft, & some changes are from them & completely inimical to the buyers/users, if they only knew.

    I remember when it was ALL DOS & it was good!
    Same here, but I don't think I would want to go back to that.
    I'm too lazy with point and click, having multiple windows open, etc.
    Now that is one change that I did like. :)

    I include Windows 3.11 as "DOS" as it was just a GUI overlay to DOS; I mainly used it to have two DOS prompts easily switched to & from (in one I had my QWK/SOUP reader, in the other I could do list searches in my 1000s of text
    files for what I wanted to import into a message.

    Occasuionally I'd use my BBS dialer to connect somewhere to look some thing up or ask someone I knew there, while I had a QWK open in the other DOS session.

    Ahh, simple, yet good, times. . .

    & secure! Anyone tried to sneak into my system simultaneous to my use, to "observe" would find my DOS-baszed system laughing at them as they vainly attempted to overlay/enter. . .

    If they(adware, spyware, random phreak HTML/ANSI bomb, et al) cracked it anywhere, my system was trained to shut right off. Then I took a day or two offline to do other things.

    Now the new Windows allows this similtameous sharing of MY system resources, thus messing with my ability to have maximum use of my owm computer!

    Pisses me off. I paid good hard-earned money for this.

    Oh well, such is the world. The rich & powerful in the leadership cabals seek to have maximum information+control over the domains they've claimed.

    I'm fine with that, sort of, just so long as they let me alone to do my own thing.

    --- BBBS/Li6 v4.10 Toy-5
    * Origin: The Rusty MailBox - Penticton, BC Canada (1:153/757)
  • From JOE MACKEY@1:135/392 to GEORGE POPE on Tue Jan 18 05:49:52 2022
    CP wrote --

    And from me: "No problem is unsolveable, except maybe for dribbling a football or putting toothpaste back in the tube by hand"

    I've solved those two, also. . .

    Do tell. Inquiring minds want to know.
    Joe
    --- Platinum Xpress/Win/WINServer v3.0pr5
    * Origin: Fidonet Since 1991 www.doccyber.org bbs.docsplace.org (1:135/392)
  • From George Pope@1:153/757 to Joe Mackey on Tue Jan 18 11:58:40 2022
    CP wrote --
    And from me: "No problem is unsolveable, except maybe for dribbling a
    football or putting toothpaste back in the tube by hand"

    I've solved those two, also. . .
    Do tell. Inquiring minds want to know.

    The way some engineers & most mathemeticiuans do it:

    P=problem

    Assume P = solved

    or "delete the concern over a problem & it's no longer a problem -- it's just a thing."


    --- BBBS/Li6 v4.10 Toy-5
    * Origin: The Rusty MailBox - Penticton, BC Canada (1:153/757)
  • From Daryl Stout@1:2320/33 to George Pope on Tue Jan 18 09:27:00 2022
    George,

    Too much of any drug/medication is rough on the old liver (which
    filters all the chemical crap out of our blood, whatever the kidneys can't handle, anyway)

    "I want my pizza delivered".

    Whoever heard of liver on a pizza?? <G>

    What did we do back in the time before modems? (on-topic now *LOL*)

    Grass too long...better modem. <G>

    I'm with Robert A. Heinlein & Spider Robinson(2 of my fave authors(the former RIP in '88): "A blessing shared is doubled and a sorrow shared
    is halved."

    Heinlein also said TANSTAFFL...and he was right on target. Nothing is
    totally free...it cost the giver something.

    Yet, all these bleeding heart liberals can't understand or comprehend
    that when there is no one left to provide funds, etc. for "the free stuff", what are they going to do?? They don't have an answer for that...just a horrified look on their face.

    Yet, death is the great equalizer.

    Daryl

    ... Do You Sysop, Take This BBS, to be your lawfully wedded spouse??
    === MultiMail/Win v0.52
    --- SBBSecho 3.14-Win32
    * Origin: The Thunderbolt BBS - Little Rock, Arkansas (1:2320/33)
  • From JOE MACKEY@1:135/392 to GEORGE POPE on Wed Jan 19 05:50:06 2022
    CP wrote --

    Bill Gates started that -- his real genius wasn't programming -- it was marketing.

    Yep. Without IBM and the deals he made he would still be in his
    basement.
    But like everything else, if not that person and whatever they invented/improved/marketed, etc it would have been someone else.
    If not Watts and the steam engine, it would have been someone else at
    some later point in time for example.

    Now Marketing gets a heavy say in what changes get done

    Gotta keep pushing more of the product out the door.
    Just add a few new bells and whistles and call it "new and improved".
    I always ask myself when I read that what was wrong with it before?

    Oh well, such is the world. The rich & powerful in the leadership cabals seek to have maximum information+control over the domains they've claimed.

    I'm fine with that, sort of, just so long as they let me alone to do my own thing.

    Same here.
    Joe


    --- Platinum Xpress/Win/WINServer v3.0pr5
    * Origin: Fidonet Since 1991 www.doccyber.org bbs.docsplace.org (1:135/392)
  • From JOE MACKEY@1:135/392 to GEORGE POPE on Thu Jan 20 05:24:30 2022
    CP wrote --

    I've solved those two, also. . .
    Do tell. Inquiring minds want to know.

    The way some engineers & most mathemeticiuans do it:

    P=problem

    Assume P = solved

    or "delete the concern over a problem & it's no longer a problem -- it's just a thing."

    Same goes for politics, businesses, funny noise your car is making, etc.
    There's a problem, talk about it a nit, then ignore it and it'll go away.
    Joe
    --- Platinum Xpress/Win/WINServer v3.0pr5
    * Origin: Fidonet Since 1991 www.doccyber.org bbs.docsplace.org (1:135/392)
  • From George Pope@1:153/757 to Daryl Stout on Fri Jan 21 15:25:56 2022
    George,
    Too much of any drug/medication is rough on the old liver (which
    filters all the chemical crap out of our blood, whatever the kidneys
    can't handle, anyway)
    "I want my pizza delivered".
    Whoever heard of liver on a pizza?? <G>

    Not me! I can't even stand SEEING it in the grocery!

    Ugh -- horrible memories of our once or twice a year liver meal -- so grateful we can now get our vitamin A in other foods &/or supplements.

    I would find a way to thicken ketchup (mix with mashed taties) & stack it an inch deep on top of a tiny(~2cm^2) cut-off bite of liver & attemnpt to swallow that ewntire bite whole -- never worked, I had to chew & spread that HORRIBLE taste throughout my poor young mouth. . .

    Now I refuse to eat liver or kidneys -- as I know exactly what they do in the body of a mammal & if the cow saw fit to get rid of that crap, why would I want to eat it?!

    You eat liver? That's OFFAL!!!

    I'm with Robert A. Heinlein & Spider Robinson(2 of my fave authors(the
    former RIP in '88): "A blessing shared is doubled and a sorrow shared
    is halved."
    Heinlein also said TANSTAFFL...and he was right on target. Nothing is
    totally free...it cost the giver something.

    Yup, TANSTAFL is one of my faves of his contributions to our language - that & "grok".. . (to truly understand & internalize knowledge)

    Yet, all these bleeding heart liberals can't understand or comprehend
    that when there is no one left to provide funds, etc. for "the free stuff", what are they going to do?? They don't have an answer for that...just a horrified look on their face.

    I'm in Canada -- where free handouts are the way of life for half the ppoulation (think California, just colder)

    I've had my share over theyears & cuirrently receive a disability cheque montgly that isn't paid for by any contribution to a pension or insurance plan I did. . .it's paid for by the hardworking taxpayers of this province (including me) & I don't accept it as a free ift -- I accept it for what it was intended -- help up for those who need it, & I accept it as a debt upon myself, thus I put in many hours/week of volunteer work for my community & province.

    I was raised on TANSTAAFL, but not by that name. . .

    Yet, death is the great equalizer.

    meme: "No matter what you did in life, how rich & powerful you were, in death, all our graves are the same size."
    2: Photo of the Great Pyranmid of Giza & a pharaoh captioned saying: "Speak for yourself, peasant!"

    I defy you to find a graveyard that doesn't have humungous mausoleums here & there, some incredibly ornate -- all pointless, of course, as the builder/owner is utterly GONE!

    Like the rtich guy talking with St. Peter, who didn't have him on the lisd to enter Heaven, as his life was filled with greed & glutony & no generrosit or kindness. . .

    "That's not true, " Mr. Moneybags exclaimed, "You can't say never -- why just lat month, I dropped a quarter into a blind beggar's cup!"

    Peter said, "Okay, I'll have to discuss this with the Boss. Hang on. . ."

    Peter heads upstairs into God's chamber & explains what the record says & wha the guy's protest was.

    God pulled up the life reel on the big screen ion the wall oppopsitek to vieew the incident & sure enoughm, the old Scrooge, dug down past a pocketful of $2-0 nbilld to find a quarter lodged in the corner & grudghingly put it into the beggar's cup, presumably because he saw the newspaper photographer arcoss the street.

    God dug into His robes & pulled out a coin, flipped it to Peter & said, "Give him back his two bits & tell him to go to Hell."

    You will know them by their fruits. . .

    Moneybags' fruit was old, dried & mouldy. . .

    I'm not saying God actually acts like this, of course -- it's a JOKE, people -- read the echo name & description before you send your complaints to my recycle bin!

    --- BBBS/Li6 v4.10 Toy-5
    * Origin: The Rusty MailBox - Penticton, BC Canada (1:153/757)
  • From George Pope@1:153/757 to Joe Mackey on Fri Jan 21 15:30:56 2022
    CP wrote --
    Bill Gates started that -- his real genius wasn't programming -- it was
    marketing.
    Yep. Without IBM and the deals he made he would still be in his
    basement.
    But like everything else, if not that person and whatever they invented/improved/marketed, etc it would have been someone else.
    If not Watts and the steam engine, it would have been someone else at
    some later point in time for example.

    True -- just like the lightbulb was parallel 'discovered'/invented on both sides of the Atlantic, unless you believe Tomjmy Edison knew of the other & simply copioed it, of course!

    I wiouldn't say thart muyselfg, as I don't have evidence behind such; all i'll say is it seems "highly plausible," consdidereing everything else Edison gets credit for was invented by others. . .

    Now Marketing gets a heavy say in what changes get done
    Gotta keep pushing more of the product out the door.
    Just add a few new bells and whistles and call it "new and improved".

    You know it!

    "It started, the splash screen came up? SHIP IT!!"

    I always ask myself when I read that what was wrong with it before?

    If it ain't broke, don't fix it -- normal perople If it ain't broke, fix it til it is -- Microsoft techs & city road crews

    Oh well, such is the world. The rich & powerful in the leadership cabals
    seek to have maximum information+control over the domains they've claimed.

    I'm fine with that, sort of, just so long as they let me alone to do my own
    thing.
    Same here.

    Too bad they don't/won't, though. . . but again, that's long evidenced & was easily predictable. Pardon the trite tautology, but it is what it is. . .

    & nothing but that tautology sums it up better.

    --- BBBS/Li6 v4.10 Toy-5
    * Origin: The Rusty MailBox - Penticton, BC Canada (1:153/757)
  • From George Pope@1:153/757 to Joe Mackey on Fri Jan 21 16:07:36 2022
    CP wrote --
    I've solved those two, also. . .
    Do tell. Inquiring minds want to know.

    The way some engineers & most mathemeticiuans do it:

    P=problem

    Assume P = solved

    or "delete the concern over a problem & it's no longer a problem -- it's just
    a thing."
    Same goes for politics, businesses, funny noise your car is making, etc. There's a problem, talk about it a nit, then ignore it and it'll go away.

    Unless it doesn't,. but then you tell yourself it;'s fine anyway, or decide it was never a REAL problem to begin with & go on with life with a smile. . .

    Your friends think you're a simp, but who cares, you're HAPPY!

    Ignorance truly is blissful!

    I'm a realist, I say, "If you're not Angry, Cynical, &/or Depressed, you're just not INFORMED!"

    --- BBBS/Li6 v4.10 Toy-5
    * Origin: The Rusty MailBox - Penticton, BC Canada (1:153/757)
  • From JOE MACKEY@1:135/392 to GEORGE POPE on Mon Jan 24 05:47:20 2022
    CP wrote --

    There's a problem, talk about it a nit, then ignore it and it'll go away.

    Unless it doesn't,. but then you tell yourself it;'s fine anyway, or decide it was never a REAL problem to begin with & go on with life with a smile. . .

    Sounds good to me. :)
    Joe

    --- Platinum Xpress/Win/WINServer v3.0pr5
    * Origin: Fidonet Since 1991 www.doccyber.org bbs.docsplace.org (1:135/392)
  • From George Pope@1:153/757 to Joe Mackey on Mon Jan 24 21:52:54 2022
    CP wrote --
    There's a problem, talk about it a nit, then ignore it and it'll go away. >>
    Unless it doesn't,. but then you tell yourself it;'s fine anyway, or decide >it was never a REAL problem to begin with & go on with life with a smile. . .
    Sounds good to me.

    Me, too, it seesms. . . I'm smiling most of the time --people think I'm a simp (the joke's on them; I *KNOW* I'm one!)

    --- BBBS/Li6 v4.10 Toy-5
    * Origin: The Rusty MailBox - Penticton, BC Canada (1:153/757)
  • From Daryl Stout@1:2320/33 to George Pope on Tue Jan 25 13:13:00 2022
    George,

    You eat liver? That's OFFAL!!!

    It has to be fried beef liver with sauteed onions...I will NOT eat it any other way.

    However, it tends to send the cholesterol and triglycerides through the
    roof, so I can't do it that often.

    Unfortunately, what cafeterias and restaurants around here that did serve
    it on occasion, were shut down because of Covid-19 and supply issues.

    You will know them by their fruits. . .

    So many charlatan preachers out there today.

    I'm not saying God actually acts like this, of course -- it's a JOKE,

    God has a sense of humor...He created us. :P

    Daryl

    ... If you can't laugh at yourself, you have a ton of problems.
    === MultiMail/Win v0.52
    --- SBBSecho 3.14-Win32
    * Origin: The Thunderbolt BBS - Little Rock, Arkansas (1:2320/33)
  • From George Pope@1:153/757 to Daryl Stout on Wed Jan 26 16:50:30 2022
    George,
    You eat liver? That's OFFAL!!!
    It has to be fried beef liver with sauteed onions...I will NOT eat it any other way.

    The nastiest smell on the Earth has got to be that cooking!

    However, it tends to send the cholesterol and triglycerides through the
    roof, so I can't do it that often.

    I prefer beef heart (sliced a 1/4 inch thick, & sauteed in butter with scads of garlic, then removed to a hot plate, & the remainihg butternowmixed with meart uuices, turned into the tickest richest gravy you ever did taste -- all seved with mashed taties!

    You can feel your arteries tightening up just thinking of this, eh?

    You will know them by their fruits. . .
    So many charlatan preachers out there today.

    Yup,. both ordained & non-. . .

    I'll call them on it; I don't care -- I know the Bible & most church formative tradition forwards & backwards!

    Like the woman who asked me, at a holy roller(generic Pentecostal-based) church , if I'd like her to pray for my paralysis; I was an unbeliever still & thought she was going to kneel before her bed that nighht & say a prayer for me -- how swewet -- so I thanked her & assented. She put her hand on my shoulder & started praying loudly for all to hear for God to heal me.

    Well, God has His own plans & I shjowed up the next week with the same fgriemd, & she marched right up to me & glared, "How DARE ytou come back here with your loack of faith? If you'd trusted in God, you'd be healed right now!"

    My hackles were up from her attitude, so I lit into her, right back, "Pardon me, sister; I'm prettyy sure Jesus said that when you pray, if you pray, believing, it WILL be done. Sounds to me like YOU lack ythe faith, & now you're trying to tempt others to lose theirs by suggesting God ignores prayers. I felt justified in addressing her at the same volumne she'd unBiblically used to pray the week before.

    My friend amened a couple of my points & she slunk away, I'm sure to never try such nonsense again!

    Later, after I'd become a believer, I considered if I'd done her harm, if a better response could've been done, but with what I knew at that time, my response was quite reasonable. She started it. I've no doubt that God, using me, finished it.

    &, on the topic of faith healing -- if we had true Christians, in the Apostolic

    sense, there'd be news of thousands being healed on Cancer & other palliative wards. The fact it's not so tells us what we need to know about the sincerity
    & faith of today's believers. I admit, I lack that kind of fath, but I don't claim it either. . .

    --- BBBS/Li6 v4.10 Toy-5
    * Origin: The Rusty MailBox - Penticton, BC Canada (1:153/757)