Anybody out there?

[Richard Henry]

Testing...

Just bought a new computer. Old computer, running W98, was showing its
age. Almost a minute to load each email or ng message. Now it's
instantaneous.

I stood at Fry's for a half hour doing my best to look like a man
without a computer. I brought 2 of the kids along so they could act up
and the clerks would be happy to be rid of us (sorry, Pigo). Finally
got some attention and worked my way out past all the other goodies.

If Home Depot is the $100 store (you don't get out for less than $100)
then Fry's is the $1000 store.

[The Real Bev]

Richard Henry wrote:
>
> Testing...
>
> Just bought a new computer. Old computer, running W98, was showing its
> age. Almost a minute to load each email or ng message. Now it's
> instantaneous.

Huh? We bought my mom a computer at Fry's running win98 (when it was
newish) and it doesn't take anywhere near a minute to download a message,
and she only has a 28.8 connection. Do you have really picky anti-virus
software?

> I stood at Fry's for a half hour doing my best to look like a man
> without a computer. I brought 2 of the kids along so they could act up
> and the clerks would be happy to be rid of us (sorry, Pigo). Finally
> got some attention and worked my way out past all the other goodies.
>
> If Home Depot is the $100 store (you don't get out for less than $100)
> then Fry's is the $1000 store.

You just have no sales resistance. I can't remember the last time we
spent that much all at one time on anything computer-related!

--
Cheers,
Bev
================================================== ====================
"Steve Balmer, CEO of Microsoft[0], recently referred to LINUX as a
cancer. Unsurprisingly, that's incorrect; LINUX was released on August
25th, 1991 and is therefore a virgo." -- Kevin L

[Richard Henry]

"The Real Bev" > wrote in message
...
> Richard Henry wrote:
> >
> > Testing...
> >
> > Just bought a new computer. Old computer, running W98, was showing
its
> > age. Almost a minute to load each email or ng message. Now it's
> > instantaneous.
>
> Huh? We bought my mom a computer at Fry's running win98 (when it was
> newish) and it doesn't take anywhere near a minute to download a
message,
> and she only has a 28.8 connection. Do you have really picky
anti-virus
> software?

My wife and kids didn't realize it was MY computer. They kept loading
layers of game-access trash.

>
> > I stood at Fry's for a half hour doing my best to look like a man
> > without a computer. I brought 2 of the kids along so they could act
up
> > and the clerks would be happy to be rid of us (sorry, Pigo).
Finally
> > got some attention and worked my way out past all the other goodies.
> >
> > If Home Depot is the $100 store (you don't get out for less than
$100)
> > then Fry's is the $1000 store.
>
> You just have no sales resistance. I can't remember the last time we
> spent that much all at one time on anything computer-related!

Well, it wasn't all computer-related. Just the computer and the sweet
17" flat-panel display (I spent several years making military aircraft
displays in the days when the best available was 8", at several
k-bucks.) However, Fry's is a kind of general store. So we ended up
with a pack of printer cartridges (cheaper than Wal-Mart), some school
supplies, a couple of bags of beef jerky, and some $10 game CDs.

Plus I have a couple of rebate coupons that will bring the total back
down under $1000, eventually.

[The Real Bev]

Richard Henry wrote:

> Well, it wasn't all computer-related. Just the computer and the sweet
> 17" flat-panel display (I spent several years making military aircraft
> displays in the days when the best available was 8",

Our first monitor was 9" b&w and I think it was under $100. Pitiful.

> at several
> k-bucks.) However, Fry's is a kind of general store. So we ended up
> with a pack of printer cartridges (cheaper than Wal-Mart), some school
> supplies, a couple of bags of beef jerky, and some $10 game CDs.

My son works a few blocks from Fry's. He doesn't get out of the store
without a Hot Wheels car or truck for the grandspawn.
>
> Plus I have a couple of rebate coupons that will bring the total back
> down under $1000, eventually.

I like rebates. I like the feeling that I'm getting a better bargain
because there are a lot of sloppy and stupid people out there who either
forget to send in the forms or never learned to follow instructions.

You did know that you can return used printer cartridges to Office Depot,
who will give you a ream of paper for each one, right? I just bought some
cartridges for a quarter each at a yard sale.

--
Cheers,
Bev
================================================== ====
I am grateful that I am not as judgmental as all those
censorious, self-righteous people around me.

[Richard Henry]

"The Real Bev" > wrote in message
...

> You did know that you can return used printer cartridges to Office
Depot,
> who will give you a ream of paper for each one, right? I just bought
some
> cartridges for a quarter each at a yard sale.

We donate them to the elementary school down the street's computer
programs. They get the cash fromn the recyclers. They even provide
mailer envelopes.

Every room in the school is wired. They have several computers in every
classroom, plus a computer lab where the whole class can work at once.

We tried to donate an old Macintosh+. They didn't want it.

[The Real Bev]

Richard Henry wrote:
>
> "The Real Bev" > wrote:
>
> > You did know that you can return used printer cartridges to Office Depot,
> > who will give you a ream of paper for each one, right? I just bought
> > some cartridges for a quarter each at a yard sale.
>
> We donate them to the elementary school down the street's computer
> programs. They get the cash fromn the recyclers. They even provide
> mailer envelopes.
>
> Every room in the school is wired. They have several computers in every
> classroom, plus a computer lab where the whole class can work at once.
>
> We tried to donate an old Macintosh+. They didn't want it.

Nobody wants obsolete computers, not even poverty-stricken students who
get them for free and who would otherwise have none. We filled the bed of
the pickup with old computer stuff for the periodic hi-tech collection --
I wonder how much, if any, of that stuff got re-used.

--
Cheers,
Bev
================================================== ====
I am grateful that I am not as judgmental as all those
censorious, self-righteous people around me.

[Walt]

> Our first monitor was 9" b&w and I think it was under $100. Pitiful.
>

You had a monitor? Such luxury! I did all my early
programming on a DEC writer.

//- Walt

[lal_truckee]

Terd Fartingmor wrote:
> On Sun, 20 Jul 2003 10:04:36 -0700, "Richard Henry" >
> wrote this crap:

>>Luckily, by the end of the semester the college had put in a room full
>>of crt/keyboard dumb monitors.
>
>
>
> I could only dream of such luxury! I had to use puchcards

I have a Pascal compiler for an IBM360 on punch cards; supplied to me by
Nicklaus Wirth his-very-own-self, no less.

[Richard Henry]

"Terd Fartingmor" > wrote in message
...
> On Sun, 20 Jul 2003 10:04:36 -0700, "Richard Henry" >
> wrote this crap:
>
> >
> >"Walt" > wrote in message
> ...
> >>
> >> > Our first monitor was 9" b&w and I think it was under $100.
> >Pitiful.
> >> >
> >>
> >> You had a monitor? Such luxury! I did all my early
> >> programming on a DEC writer.
> >
> >My first timesharing account was on a teletype.
> >
> >Luckily, by the end of the semester the college had put in a room
full
> >of crt/keyboard dumb monitors.
>
>
> I could only dream of such luxury! I had to use puchcards!
>
> Do you know how hard it was playing "Star Trek" with punchcards?

I remember checkers on the teletype.

[Walt]

Richard Henry wrote:
>
> I remember checkers on the teletype.

Yeah, that was some speech. Pat's "sensible republican
coat". The gift from a lobbyist that he won't return 'cause
the kids just love that dog. Makes me cry just thinking
about it.

Those were simpler times when it took over a decade to
figure out that our leaders were lying to us. Things just
move too fast these days.

-Walt

[Dave Harsant]

"Richard Henry" > wrote in message
news:0_GSa.1230$Ye.601@fed1read02...
>
> "Terd Fartingmor" > wrote in message
> ...
> > On Sun, 20 Jul 2003 10:04:36 -0700, "Richard Henry" >
> > wrote this crap:
> >
> > >
> > >"Walt" > wrote in message
> > ...
> > >>
> > >> > Our first monitor was 9" b&w and I think it was under $100.
> > >Pitiful.
> > >> >
> > >>
> > >> You had a monitor? Such luxury! I did all my early
> > >> programming on a DEC writer.
> > >
> > >My first timesharing account was on a teletype.
> > >
> > >Luckily, by the end of the semester the college had put in a room
> full
> > >of crt/keyboard dumb monitors.
> >
> >
> > I could only dream of such luxury! I had to use puchcards!
> >
> > Do you know how hard it was playing "Star Trek" with punchcards?
>
> I remember checkers on the teletype.
>

We used to dream of having a teletype!

[Yort]

On Sun, 20 Jul 2003 17:56:07 -0700, lal_truckee
> wrote:

>Terd Fartingmor wrote:
>> On Sun, 20 Jul 2003 10:04:36 -0700, "Richard Henry" >
>> wrote this crap:
>
>>>Luckily, by the end of the semester the college had put in a room full
>>>of crt/keyboard dumb monitors.
>>
>> I could only dream of such luxury! I had to use puchcards
>
>I have a Pascal compiler for an IBM360 on punch cards; supplied to me by
>Nicklaus Wirth his-very-own-self, no less.

Wuss.

You're talking about seriously advanced 1969 technology. Viva 360
JCL, and may it RIP.

If I rooted around in my basement for an hour, I could probably dig up
a roll of the punch paper tape that contained the bootstrap loader for
a 1963 vintage CDC-160a.

For those that weren't around back then, to fire up this machine, you
first had to set a panel full of switches. This allowed the punch
paper tape reader to work and route its output to the appropriate
places. Next, you read in the paper tape. The way we had it
configured, this then allowed the card reader to function, which in
turn allowed us to read more of the OS and allowed a mag tape to be
read which contained the rest of the OS. Of course, there wasn't
actually all that much to load since the total system memory was only
something like 8k. :)

Ah, those were the days .. .

Me