Hi all

Hope your week is rolling along OK.

I've been working in the office for four days but will be working from home tomorrow. I hope to sneak a bit of BBSing time in as well as there's some admin stuff I need to get on top of.

The week's been pretty good have managed to push a few projects along at work and in the evenings have mostly been watching a bit of TV or some of the coverage with the pomp and pageantry of the death of Queen Elizabeth II in the UK.

I will likely be tired on Tuesday morning (my time) next week as I will stay up late to watch the state funeral.

I have a number of things on my BBS to-do list and feeling a bit overwhelmed as to where to start. But I will try to dip my toe in the pond a bit in the coming week and hopefully get some stuff across the line.

I did chat with Apam a few days back about Galactic Dynasty and discovered the version I have been running at 21:1/10 may have an error in it in terms of a data base file it creates... he's sent me a revised version for Windows which I'll install and also hatch out, really need to find the latest Linux version also and do the same.

I'm wondering if others may be impacted by this little niggle also as I think the files I have hatched out for the current GD installs in fsxNet may be the same ones I need to update for myself now. Humm..

Spring is in full swing here now, bulbs are up, trees have some blossom or flowers. We have this tree called a Kowhai which has a nice yellow flower that I really like. The one on our property had been poorly over the last year or so but we got an arborist in and he pruned the deadwood off it last year, so far this year it's doing much better which is good.

I've been looking at CB radios lately, kinda revisiting my youth and pondering getting some gear and setting up again, thing is much of the new gear I can buy here in New Zealand seems pretty naff.... it use to be you could get nice AM/SSB rigs but now it seems they are mostly AM only or UHF and SSB new gear is not available... nutty.

Hope you are going well.

Best, Paul

avon[at]bbs.nz | bbs.nz | fsxnet.nz

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Hello Avon!

Thanks for the update!

On 15 Sep 2022, Avon said the following...

I've been working in the office for four days but will be working from home tomorrow. I hope to sneak a bit of BBSing time in as well as

I've been working from home today due to package deliveries. Currently collecting some NOS PC parts for the future building of a retro PC. :)

Noticed, though, that some caps need to be replaced on the socket 478 motherboard I got, so that will be a small project for next month or so...

or flowers. We have this tree called a Kowhai which has a nice yellow flower that I really like. The one on our property had been poorly over the last year or so but we got an arborist in and he pruned the deadwood off it last year, so far this year it's doing much better which is good.

Sounds good!

I was feeding the blackbirds here sunflower seeds last winter, and some of the seeds that they missed are now mid-sized sunflowers, which look really nice. :-D

Summer has been pretty warm here -- lots of rain lately, though. Fall is on its way...

Best regards
Zip

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Avon wrote to All <=-

I've been working in the office for four days but will be working from home tomorrow. I hope to sneak a bit of BBSing time in as well as
there's some admin stuff I need to get on top of.

They made us start going back 3 days a week (we were only on one) and we
have to come in even if our home or work county is red. Oddly, our
contractors do not have to come in at all (down from one day a week). The
way it was presented to us was that it was "optics"... they want cars in
the parking lot. The first day, the lot was not full enough so that is
when, mid day, the resinded the "red county" rule and said everyone comes
in from now on regardless. We also cannot take a WFH day if we have
symptoms or a positive test... it has to be both.

A member of management comes around at around 8am and turns all the lights
on, even for areas where there are no people (i.e. where the contractors
would be sitting when they used to be there) so that, from the outside, it looks like the floors are full.

It was originally told to us in a video sent by email... "you all have done
so well working from home... productivity is up and sick leave taken is
down... that we are going to reward you by making you come in three days a week."

What I get for working for a government entity, I guess.



... Goodness! That was close! I almost gave a damn.
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Hope your week is rolling along OK.

Busy busy, no time for idle hands...

The week's been pretty good have managed to push a few projects along at work and in the evenings have mostly been watching a bit of TV or some of the coverage with the pomp and pageantry of the death of Queen Elizabeth II in the UK.

Its a bit odd with Her Maj kicking the bucket, but she's a been a bit of a institution in her own right, let alone the monarchy. She's been on that throne all my life. Feels like the end of an era.. No idea if Chuck can keep the boat afloat or how much longer "The Firm" will persist without her.

I have a number of things on my BBS to-do list and feeling a bit overwhelmed as to where to start. But I will try to dip my toe in the pond

A always, at the beginning, one at a time, and celebrate the little victories along the way.

Spring is in full swing here now, bulbs are up, trees have some blossom or flowers. We have this tree called a Kowhai which has a nice yellow flower

Ours is struggling a bit, while the trees know somethings up and most are breaking into leaf, we keep getting these cold snaps that seem to slow everything up again. The Rhubarb is having a crack, pushing some leaves, if the possums don't maul it. Chrysanthemums are having a go, there's even one flower there. Last but not least, the Tippani, I've gotten so used to
calling it that island style, its a Frangipani, can't make up its mind. It hasn't managed to flower where it lives, and when the greenery gets thin over winter those dastardly possums will chew the top off it, which it takes a
while to sort out.

Speaking of possums, I presently seem to have a mating pair in the roof :( At times one pads around fairly quietly, at others its like a day at the races, and its on around the lounge room, sounding like they're getting ready fall through the ceiling, plus the doors and windows shake rattle and roll. Had
roof and possum guys out, apparently the ridgecap is missing down the front
of the units somewhere... and they're migrating to my end for some extra seclusion.

I've been looking at CB radios lately, kinda revisiting my youth and pondering getting some gear and setting up again, thing is much of the new gear I can buy here in New Zealand seems pretty naff.... it use to be you

I don't know a lot about CB... here they used to require a license.. never
had one, but did have a handheld in the car for a while in my mispent youth. VK3 can probably fill you in better.. ours used to be 27Mhz, also had the UHF and SSB phase though. I know they changed a lot of stuff regarding them
though. No license required these days, lots of cheap chineso sets that break faster than you can buy them, 5W max power, and I suspect the rest has gone
by the wayside.. but I'm no expert.


Always good to hear you're still kicking out there in radio land somewhere.

Spec


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Avon wrote to All <=-

I've been looking at CB radios lately, kinda revisiting my youth and pondering getting some gear and setting up again, thing is much of the
new gear I can buy here in New Zealand seems pretty naff.... it use to
be you could get nice AM/SSB rigs but now it seems they are mostly AM
only or UHF and SSB new gear is not available... nutty.

I was a fan of CB Radio during the first CB boom in the USA in the late
1970s. We all saw the movie "Convoy" and wanted to be truckers. :)

I drive fairly often up interstate 80 in California, and rarely see a CB antenna on trucks. It's a shame, making the same drive as a kid my dad would leave the radio on and you'd hear the truckers keeping each other company on the road.

There was an emergency channel, channel 9, with volunteers who'd man the radio. We broke down once and were able to make a call and get a tow-truck
out - long before cell phones.


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The week's been pretty good have managed to push a few projects along work and in the evenings have mostly been watching a bit of TV or som the coverage with the pomp and pageantry of the death of Queen Elizab II in the UK.

Its a bit odd with Her Maj kicking the bucket, but she's a been a bit of
a institution in her own right, let alone the monarchy. She's been on that throne all my life. Feels like the end of an era.. No idea if Chuck can keep the boat afloat or how much longer "The Firm" will persist without her.

It does feel a little like it is the end of an era, but I feel that the era of her reign really ended a decade or two before. Britain has changed so much during her reign that whatever it was as the start, was gone long before her reign ended.

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Re: Re: Thursday night
By: boraxman to Spectre on Mon Sep 19 2022 23:45:21

Its a bit odd with Her Maj kicking the bucket, but she's a been a bit of
a institution in her own right, let alone the monarchy. She's been on that throne all my life. Feels like the end of
an era.. No idea if Chuck can keep the boat afloat or how much longer "The Firm" will persist without her.

yea it's all i've known too.. met her and the D of E when i did my Duke of Edinburgh award and also while i was in the ATC. As far as the King, I wish him well but i hope he doesnt get as political as he has been the past number of years. I hope he stays "impartial" as he should be like his mother was.

It does feel a little like it is the end of an era, but I feel that the era of her reign really ended a decade or two
before. Britain has changed so much during her reign that whatever it was as the start, was gone long before her reign
ended.

the end of an era for sure. I mean, she was bought up in a completely different time and a societal nature and so much has changed, but from what i understand she was always the same all the way through and also was a bit of a joker as well considering how young she was when she was coronated.

regards
Charles Blackburn
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It does feel a little like it is the end of an era, but I feel that t era of her reign really ended a decade or two
before. Britain has changed so much during her reign that whatever it as the start, was gone long before her reign
ended.

the end of an era for sure. I mean, she was bought up in a completely different time and a societal nature and so much has changed, but from what i understand she was always the same all the way through and also
was a bit of a joker as well considering how young she was when she was coronated.

That is what annoyed me a little by people saying that the Queen was a constant. Who cares if we have the same Queen, if everything else changes? The Royal Family is not Britain, or the UK, or the Commonwealth. This is what I don't like about the Monarchs, they don't care who they rule over, as long as they rule. In this sense, the Royal Family failed Britain and the fact they just sat by and worried about the continuation of their own legacy is a bit of an indictment.

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On 09-18-22 10:08, poindexter FORTRAN wrote to Avon <=-

Avon wrote to All <=-

I've been looking at CB radios lately, kinda revisiting my youth and pondering getting some gear and setting up again, thing is much of the
new gear I can buy here in New Zealand seems pretty naff.... it use to
be you could get nice AM/SSB rigs but now it seems they are mostly AM
only or UHF and SSB new gear is not available... nutty.

It's a bit the same here, though at least US models are compatible here. Legality is uncertain, though they meet the specs. There's a bit of a CB revival here, thanks to Facebook (and the current sunspot cycle). :) I wisely kept a couple of old SSB CBs, which I intend to revive.

I was a fan of CB Radio during the first CB boom in the USA in the late 1970s. We all saw the movie "Convoy" and wanted to be truckers. :)

I got into it in the late 80s, AM, then UHF, then SSB, and the following year, I got my ham ticket. :) However, I also kept using CB for many years after that.

I drive fairly often up interstate 80 in California, and rarely see a
CB antenna on trucks. It's a shame, making the same drive as a kid my
dad would leave the radio on and you'd hear the truckers keeping each other company on the road.

UHF CB antennas are common on pickups here.

There was an emergency channel, channel 9, with volunteers who'd man
the radio. We broke down once and were able to make a call and get a tow-truck out - long before cell phones.

We had that here. In fact, there are still volunteer monitor groups on CB in some parts of Australia.




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Re: Re: Thursday night
By: boraxman to Charles Blackburn on Wed Sep 21 2022 22:27:41

the end of an era for sure. I mean, she was bought up in a completely different time and a societal nature and so much
has changed, but from what i understand she was always the same all the way through and also
was a bit of a joker as well considering how young she was when she was coronated.

That is what annoyed me a little by people saying that the Queen was a constant. Who cares if we have the same Queen, if
everything else changes? The Royal Family is not Britain, or the UK, or the Commonwealth. This is what I don't like about
the Monarchs, they don't care who they rule over, as long as they rule. In this sense, the Royal Family failed Britain and
the fact they just sat by and worried about the continuation of their own legacy is a bit of an indictment.

and a lot of that was born by the fact she pretty much had ZERO power. the uk govt had all the power and she just was a figurehead and that goes back wayyyyyy before her unfortunately.

she wasnt supposed to be political or anything like that, but if she had more of a say in things then that would be one thing. for example, the queens speech... that's written for her by the politicians.

yea the queen has been a constant figurehead, but over the past few decades, imho, the monarchy has been seriously diluted by the uk govt and so forth.

i tend to agree in some ways, yes they failed the commmonwealth, but on the other side of the coin, as i said, they don't really have any power any more.

regards
Charles Blackburn
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That is what annoyed me a little by people saying that the Queen was a constant. Who cares if we have the same Queen, if everything else changes? The Royal Family is not Britain, or the UK, or the Commonwealth.

As is often the case, I'm not with you on this. When everything else is in a constant state of flux, having something steady and reliable can something
you can rely on. In her case sure everything changed from 1952, but she remains a steady constant able in most cases to keep the monarchy relatively popular and relevant to the peoples. Which in this day and age is about all
it can do. It's not like the crown has had any real power since...~1700s somewhere. If they aren't the UK or Britain, they are pretty much its soul, perhaps not so much for the rest of the commonwealth.

Spec


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and a lot of that was born by the fact she pretty much had ZERO power.
the uk govt had all the power and she just was a figurehead and that
goes back wayyyyyy before her unfortunately.

she wasnt supposed to be political or anything like that, but if she had more of a say in things then that would be one thing. for example, the queens speech... that's written for her by the politicians.

she wasnt supposed to be political or anything like that, but if she had more of a say in things then that would be one thing. for example, the queens speech... that's written for her by the politicians.

yea the queen has been a constant figurehead, but over the past few decades, imho, the monarchy has been seriously diluted by the uk govt
and so forth.

i tend to agree in some ways, yes they failed the commmonwealth, but on the other side of the coin, as i said, they don't really have any power any more.

regards
Charles Blackburn

No power? She had the power to veto any bill passed through parliament. The Queen has the power to sack the PM. We in Australia had a Prime Minister sacked by the Governor General.

She also has incredible influence. To say that someone without influence has no power is baffling. If the Queen were to even UTTER a comment to this effect, it would have massive, massive repercussions. Even if she had no power formally, her words alone do.

How do you think Hollywood can influence the West to such a degree despite having no formal power? Influence.

She said NOTHING. The Monarchy has the power to comment, they are in the ear of the leadership, and they cannot lose their jobs for saying anything, unlike, pretty much everyone else.

To do nothing is inexcusable.

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As is often the case, I'm not with you on this. When everything else is in a constant state of flux, having something steady and reliable can something you can rely on. In her case sure everything changed from
1952, but she remains a steady constant able in most cases to keep the monarchy relatively popular and relevant to the peoples. Which in this day and age is about all it can do. It's not like the crown has had any real power since...~1700s somewhere. If they aren't the UK or Britain, they are pretty much its soul, perhaps not so much for the rest of the commonwealth.

Spec

Things change because people choose to change it that way. We are told that it is just "change" and there is nothing we can do about it so we don't actually counter what others want to make.

As I mentioned before, to say the crown has no power makes little sense. That is to say that influence isn't a form of power. Given how much work people do to gain influence so they can shape the future direction of the world, it seems influence IS power.

The world is shaped by people who have no formal power. The formalities of power are far less relevant than you think.

The soul of a country is its people, not a single family. It's defined by its fabric, its constituents, not the logo.

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Things change because people choose to change it that way. We are told

Most things change because of technology... take our BBS setup vs the intynet for arguments sake.. or a change in outlook...

As I mentioned before, to say the crown has no power makes little sense.

Then lets clarify, it has no executive power.. are they a bunch of the
original influencers, perhaps.. does that equate to real power, in this day
and age where you can be creeped out by the kardashians, possibly but not so much.

The world is shaped by people who have no formal power. The formalities of power are far less relevant than you think.

And possibly more relevant than you make out.

Spec


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Things change because people choose to change it that way. We are to

Most things change because of technology... take our BBS setup vs the intynet for arguments sake.. or a change in outlook...

This is true in some cases, but not all. The specific move for companies to adopt "ESG", especially in the particular format is made by a small number of people. Some decisions by parliament are done without the backing of the people. With regards to technological change, again, that has more to do with human agency than you realise. The US government for example, in not deciding to do anything about the monopoly that Big Tech companies have, are allowing those said companies to shape the internet. This shaping is done, again, by corporate vision.

Humans are making decisions here, decisions to act, and just as importantly, decisions not to act.

We in the West seem very fatalistic, that we really can't shape our future at all.

Then lets clarify, it has no executive power.. are they a bunch of the original influencers, perhaps.. does that equate to real power, in this day and age where you can be creeped out by the kardashians, possibly
but not so much.

Correct. The amount of executive power the Queen has is not as relevent (it's not none) as the fact they are still the figurehead of the nation means they do have political power, if we define political power as the ability to influence politics.

Discounting people who have no 'official' power as having no power is a fatal mistake. Our world is shaped by such people. Random BLM activists have no power, yet they are to some degree influencing corporate ethics. The company I work for is shaping their policy based on the musings of internet bloggers, as are many other companies. This is political power.

The world is shaped by people who have no formal power. The formalit of power are far less relevant than you think.

And possibly more relevant than you make out.

Spec

Not saying they are not relevant, but elected officials themselves have to bow to other pressures. The President of the United States himself can be cut off from communication on the whims of some execs at Twitter. The media will frame arguments in ways which make people take one or another particular stance on an issue.

I just don't see the value in the figurehead of a state being essentially silent and passive. It just doesn't make sense to me to point some people as being the constancy in a changing world, THE representation, who are for the most part, seeming to act totally indifferent to what they represent.

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Correct. The amount of executive power the Queen has is not as relevent

Well it is relevant, and it is to all intents and purposes none. Sure they
has a rubber stamp or seal of some description that requires use every now
and then. But if something passes parliament its a given it will pass the crown.

means they do have political power, if we define political power as the ability to influence politics.

The crowns stated objective for the ruling monarch is to stay out of
politics. Not to engage in debate for better or worse. Sure Chuck used to
trot out his really weird stuffand push a barrow... but only in the capacity
as prince, not king (so far) and that makes the crown inherently neutral. Essentially it backs the winner.

Discounting people who have no 'official' power as having no power is a fatal mistake. Our world is shaped by such people. Random BLM activists have no power, yet they are to some degree influencing corporate ethics. The company I work for is shaping their policy based on the musings of internet bloggers, as are many other companies. This is political power.

That is the blind leading the blind, or the sheep being led by a goat, pick your metaphor. That is imho a bunch of morons listening to idiots and sooner or later all that schnitzengruben will come to a screaming halt and
everything that it touches turns to the aforementioned schnitzengruben.

bow to other pressures. The President of the United States himself can be cut off from communication on the whims of some execs at Twitter. The media will frame arguments in ways which make people take one or another particular stance on an issue.

If the orange alien dude is doing the wrong thing, he's not above reproach... just like people keep calling out Prince Andrew. If you're going to use a thing, you need to run with that things rules or find another platform.

The media on the other hand, are in corporate pockets for the most part these days. Can't write anything bad about anything in particular in case you lose advertising dollars. Unless something is so far gone its indefensible. Thats got nothing to do with executive power, or lack of, thats about spin. People don't but if you're going to take one source as gospel these days you're already a lost cause.

Spec


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Well it is relevant, and it is to all intents and purposes none. Sure they has a rubber stamp or seal of some description that requires use every now and then. But if something passes parliament its a given it will pass the crown.

The crowns stated objective for the ruling monarch is to stay out of politics. Not to engage in debate for better or worse. Sure Chuck used
to trot out his really weird stuffand push a barrow... but only in the capacity as prince, not king (so far) and that makes the crown
inherently neutral. Essentially it backs the winner.

That is the blind leading the blind, or the sheep being led by a goat, pick your metaphor. That is imho a bunch of morons listening to idiots and sooner or later all that schnitzengruben will come to a screaming
halt and everything that it touches turns to the aforementioned schnitzengruben.

If the orange alien dude is doing the wrong thing, he's not above reproach... just like people keep calling out Prince Andrew. If you're going to use a thing, you need to run with that things rules or find another platform.

The media on the other hand, are in corporate pockets for the most part these days. Can't write anything bad about anything in particular in
case you lose advertising dollars. Unless something is so far gone its indefensible. Thats got nothing to do with executive power, or lack of, thats about spin. People don't but if you're going to take one source
as gospel these days you're already a lost cause.

Spec

This is probably venturing too close to a political discussion, but I don't really disagree with you all that much. I just don't see much value in the stated objectives of the crown and I think in the scheme of things, the idea that the monarch is a constant in life doesn't really seem to me to be something that would really matter. In my opinion, it a pretty 'naff thing to hang your identity on, that some family is occupying the same castle.

Ultimately, my objection is political, so its not really something for discussion here.

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