On Tuesday, April 19, 2022 at 10:13:18 AM UTC-6, Paul S Person wrote:

> They skipped "9", it is said, because they didn't want software
> writtne for Win98 (and, IIRC, at least one other in that series) just
> reading the "9" and not realizing it wasn't running on the OS
> intended.

How soon we forget.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OPyWDMmYJhQ

John Savard

In article <g5nt5hlie9heucr7lpn16bdnu0v90oh68u@4ax.com>,
Paul S Person <psperson@old.netcom.invalid> wrote:
>On Tue, 19 Apr 2022 00:00:59 GMT, djheydt@kithrup.com (Dorothy J
>Heydt) wrote:
>
>>In article <bdf267aa-d6fd-4c9f-a6ff-755a6c9eb71cn@googlegroups.com>,
>>Quadibloc <jsavard@ecn.ab.ca> wrote:
>>>On Monday, April 18, 2022 at 9:29:49 AM UTC-6, Paul S Person wrote:
>>>
>>>> But you don't need it if all you need it for can be done with Meg's
>>>> laptop.
>>>
>>>That's sort of true. But maybe it is inconvenient for Meg to come to
>>>lend Dorothy her laptop, and so she can only ask for this favor
>>>occasionally.
>>
>>As I just told Quaddie in private email, Meg lives in the same
>>house as us. She and her husband and teen-aged son live upstairs
>>and we live in the basement in-laws' unit. And she doesn't use
>>her laptop at work (which would be a bad idea; she works for a
>>lawyer). So all she has to do is to hand it over on her way to
>>work.
>>jj
>>>Also, if Dorothy wants to browse sites on the Internet, Windows 7
>>>no longer recieves security updates from Microsoft, unlike Windows
>>>10, so it really isn't safe to do so with her existing computer.
>>>
>>>That's basically why I felt it was worth mentioning that computers
>>>that can run Windows 10 ought to be available inexpensively.
>>
>>"Inexpensive," like "efficient," depends on your frame of
>>reference It would be nice, once we get out of this hole we're
>>in, to have a laptop that I could put on my lap and type on when
>>making face-to-face doctors' (or other kinds of) visits. As
>>happens with ALS, my speech is getting unintelligible; yet another
>>reason Hal habitually answers the landline and tells the scammers
>>in a loud voice what he thinks of them.
>
>I'm not sure, since I don't use my Fire HD 6 for note-taking, but a
>tablet might work. Particularly if it has software designed for people
>with medical problems.

We have a couple of tablets, which we attach to credit-card
readers so that DunDraCon members can buy their memberships with
plastic. But I've been using the QWERTY keyboard since 1956, and
I'm not about to learn another--particularly with wonky thumbs.
If I were nineteen instead of seventy-nine, I might try it.

--
Dorothy J. Heydt
Vallejo, California
djheydt at gmail dot com
Www.kithrup.com/~djheydt/

In article <b9b7cfd3-daef-4430-86b8-74c9036cc6ccn@googlegroups.com>,
Quadibloc <jsavard@ecn.ab.ca> wrote:
>On Tuesday, April 19, 2022 at 10:13:18 AM UTC-6, Paul S Person wrote:
>
>> They skipped "9", it is said, because they didn't want software
>> writtne for Win98 (and, IIRC, at least one other in that series) just
>> reading the "9" and not realizing it wasn't running on the OS
>> intended.
>
>How soon we forget.
>
>https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OPyWDMmYJhQ
>
Awwww. I never did get to use that one. By 1995 I was ears-deep
in BSD UNIX.

--
Dorothy J. Heydt
Vallejo, California
djheydt at gmail dot com
Www.kithrup.com/~djheydt/

On Tue, 19 Apr 2022 00:35:24 GMT, djheydt@kithrup.com (Dorothy J
Heydt) wrote:

>In article <urar5ht6rpoldf6ammuoch4tagoe8icru9@4ax.com>,
>The Horny Goat <lcraver@home.ca> wrote:
>>On Sun, 17 Apr 2022 22:18:23 GMT, djheydt@kithrup.com (Dorothy J
>>Heydt) wrote:
>>I have a USB numeric keypad which is about 5" x 7" that I got in a
>>computer shop in Hong Kong some 10 years ago but don't use.
>
>Sounds like mine, which I may still have kicking around
>somewhere.

Hope this doesn't spoil your day but I paid under US$10 for it...
>>My wife passed about 6 weeks ago and I am still trying to figure out
>>what to do with her computer.
>
>I am so sorry to read this. Six weeks, you must still be
>reeling.

Yup - but I did get my taxes filed yesterday (that's not late - we're
in Canada where the deadline is 04/30) so I'm not completely
knackered.

> My daughter wants it moved from where it
>>was as milady died at home and 6 weeks later that room (which contains
>>our TV, her computer and the dog's bed) still looks about the same as
>>that horrible night so she won't go in there (she was the one who
>>discovered her unconscious and called 911).
>
>No wonder she doesn't want to go in.

She says she wants me to rearrange the room before she does though
I've got work to do in THIS room (e.g. the one next door to that room)
meaning dumping lots of stuff. My computer corner is also piled higher
and deeper but the bookshelf area between here and the TV room has a
craft table which my wife habitually piled things blocking her own
access to her shelves. Once I get that table area clear I'm going to
move her computer in here (which would be the other side of the
bookshelf from my computer area.

> I will probably move it in
>>here eventually as use it for a file server as I have 3 external USB
>>hard drives.
>>
>>Am trying to avoid spending money right now as our 20+ year old
>>furnace is going to need replacement soon. We're not strapped but will
>>be soon if we don't seriously tie down expenses - (funeral, flowers,
>>post-funeral reception, furnace, federal taxes which happens to be
>>around now)
>
>/e pats Goat's back, feels Goat's hoof on her own

It's been an extremely expensive month which we can't go on at that
rate so am pulling in the horns. Gotta be cheap for awhile :)

>>Not a great time for us but we're managing - Easter was VERY tough
>>since of course the whole theme of Easter is resurrection which is the
>>one gift I'd love to be able to give her but can't. A lot of the
>>Easter music will bring tears to the grieving so I knew I had to just
>>get through it.
>
>I hope time will help.

If it doesn't I'm in trouble - but I did go to the cemetery today and
it was the first time I didn't bawl so am hopeful. I suspect once the
headstone is done I will be more objective. Bottom line is that it
ripped hard due to being so sudden.

In article <fiku5hpqtj49a0khlmh3pvhb172q4ilfqs@4ax.com>,
The Horny Goat <lcraver@home.ca> wrote:
>On Tue, 19 Apr 2022 00:35:24 GMT, djheydt@kithrup.com (Dorothy J
>Heydt) wrote:
>
>>In article <urar5ht6rpoldf6ammuoch4tagoe8icru9@4ax.com>,
>>The Horny Goat <lcraver@home.ca> wrote:
>>>On Sun, 17 Apr 2022 22:18:23 GMT, djheydt@kithrup.com (Dorothy J
>>>Heydt) wrote:
>>>I have a USB numeric keypad which is about 5" x 7" that I got in a
>>>computer shop in Hong Kong some 10 years ago but don't use.
>>
>>Sounds like mine, which I may still have kicking around
>>somewhere.
>
>Hope this doesn't spoil your day but I paid under US$10 for it...
>>>My wife passed about 6 weeks ago and I am still trying to figure out
>>>what to do with her computer.
>>
>>I am so sorry to read this. Six weeks, you must still be
>>reeling.
>
>Yup - but I did get my taxes filed yesterday (that's not late - we're
>in Canada where the deadline is 04/30) so I'm not completely
>knackered.

May 2nd this year.
--
My reviews can be found at http://jamesdavisnicoll.com/
My tor pieces at https://www.tor.com/author/james-davis-nicoll/
My Dreamwidth at https://james-davis-nicoll.dreamwidth.org/
My patreon is at https://www.patreon.com/jamesdnicoll

Quadibloc <jsavard@ecn.ab.ca> schrieb:
> On Monday, April 18, 2022 at 7:11:27 PM UTC-6, Quadibloc wrote:
>
>> These days, most Internet providers no longer provide USENET
>> for liability reasons.

Easy enough to drop the alt.binaries hierarchy.

> And that's why I use that abomination, Google Groups.

.... which is certainly is.

> Or at least some people seem to think it's an abomination.
> But it lets me see all the funny letters that sometimes appear
> in posts!

No problem with that here, utf-8 as MIME type certainly works
with a modern enough terminal.

So, posting something like संस्कृत or 你好is no problem.

On 2022-04-19, Quadibloc <jsavard@ecn.ab.ca> wrote:

> And that's why I use that abomination, Google Groups.
>
> But it lets me see all the funny letters that sometimes appear
> in posts!

Actually, Google Groups had and presumably still has a serious
problem in this regard. At least for non-UTF-8, it ignores the
charset specified in the MIME header and _guesses_. That works
reasonably well for a chunk of text written in a particular language.
It keeps failing when individual words or phrases in different
languages are embedded in surrounding text--a common pattern on
sci.lang--so GG users see garbage, and of course they lack the
insight to understand that it is their problem.

It's funny how gatewaying Usenet to different formats always leads
to an influx of garbage, both at the technical level and from
culturally incompatible users. It's been like this for thirty
years, from FidoNet to Google Groups.

--
Christian "naddy" Weisgerber naddy@mips.inka.de

In article <slrnt62lo9.1dig.naddy@lorvorc.mips.inka.de>,
Christian Weisgerber <naddy@mips.inka.de> wrote:
>On 2022-04-19, Quadibloc <jsavard@ecn.ab.ca> wrote:
>
>> And that's why I use that abomination, Google Groups.
>>
>> But it lets me see all the funny letters that sometimes appear
>> in posts!
>
>Actually, Google Groups had and presumably still has a serious
>problem in this regard. At least for non-UTF-8, it ignores the
>charset specified in the MIME header and _guesses_. That works
>reasonably well for a chunk of text written in a particular language.
>It keeps failing when individual words or phrases in different
>languages are embedded in surrounding text--a common pattern on
>sci.lang--so GG users see garbage, and of course they lack the
>insight to understand that it is their problem.
>
>It's funny how gatewaying Usenet to different formats always leads
>to an influx of garbage, both at the technical level and from
>culturally incompatible users. It's been like this for thirty
>years, from FidoNet to Google Groups.

I never learned how to access, let alone search, GG, and Fidonet
is a blank to me.

However, if somebody posts a text bristling with characters
in fonts I can't even identifu, and I desire a clue as to what
it's about, I can always copy it into vi, as if I were going to
answer it, and then it's a not-too-tedious task to search for
four-character strings beginning with backslash and delete them.
I'm then left with plain text lacking most non-alpha characters,
which I can figure out. And then I can quit the file.

--
Dorothy J. Heydt
Vallejo, California
djheydt at gmail dot com
Www.kithrup.com/~djheydt/

On Tuesday, April 19, 2022 at 9:10:47 AM UTC-5, pete...@gmail.com wrote:

> I use GG so I can play hooky and check Usenet from work. My
> employer has a *very* locked down firewall, and there's no way I
> could get NNTP through it.

When I was still a productive member of society, I did that for a few years.. At one point, there was a hole drilled in the firewall/proxy for "The German Server" because I knew a guy in IT who agreed to add a special port.

I went away from usenet for a time and when I came back in reduced capacity I didn't know if the special port was still operational. I wasn't using that (it was a paid service by them) so it didn't really matter. It was easy enough to use GG for the bit I was doing.

I do have accounts with some of the freebies now and can fire up XanaNews, but I really need to be in the mood for some serious newsgroup use to do that, and I rarely am these days. Occasionally I drop in here and go through interesting-looking threads.

Brian