Hans leads police to Nina's body

On Sat, 25 Oct 2008, in the Usenet newsgroup alt.os.linux.mandriva, in article
<ge0o69$221$1@registered.motzarella.org>, Adam wrote:
[color=blue]
>Moe Trin wrote:[/color]
[color=blue][color=green]
>> There are several problems here. Official release of what? The
>> distribution? The application or package?[/color]
>
>The newest versions of applications seem to be available from the app's
>web site quite a while before they're included in the distro
>repositories.[/color]

That varies a bit. Sometimes you do find bleeding edge stuff that is
only there because of version number chasing.
[color=blue]
>And many apps don't seem to be on the Mandriva repositories (I don't
>expect them to have EVERYthing), but install and run without much
>problem.[/color]

I tend not to be concerned much about the stuff that comes with the
distributions. I do have a number of applications that virtually no
distribution (or very few) carry - either as "standard" or as the
exciting "optional" packages. This means I tend to spend some time
compiling stuff that I need, but isn't part of the distribution, and
probably isn't available in a (compatible) packaging system.
[color=blue]
>(Actually I've spent the past week and a half adding to my personal
>'fortune' data files. Not really useful, but I found some good ones
>to add. Fortunately my enthusiasm for that is waning, and I can get
>on to something more productive.)[/color]

Nothing wrong with getting the fortunes file up to date - it's good
for morale.
[color=blue]
>I mentioned the unwritten general computer solution list to my
>mother... she asked for it, so I think it goes something like this, in
>this order:
>
>1) RTFM
>2) Reboot or power cycle
>3) Google search for problem
>4) Update to newest version
>
>I'm sure someone will come up with a better one.[/color]

I tend to do 1), 3), 2) (except that using *nix, this usually means
shutting down the application and re-starting it, rather than a
reboot), and 4) is also pretty rare, as this is done on a regular
basis anyway.
[color=blue]
>Several emails and one phone call from India later, HP is going to
>FedEx me a new DVD+/-R/RW drive, then I have to send back the
>defective drive at their expense. Thanks for the original suggestion;
>I assumed I'd have to lug the whole system somewhere and wasn't going
>to bother. I guess this is an advantage of a "name brand" system with
>a warranty... it's the first time I've had a "name brand" system since
>1998.[/color]

I can't remember the last time I've had something with a warranty still
in force. Much of what I use is "pre-owned" and even if it is a name
brand (the company buys from the local box-shifter, so only the parts
tend to have names anyone has heard of).
[color=blue][color=green]
>> None of my systems have more than two internal drives.[/color]
>
>Do you mean two internal HDs, or are you counting optical drives?[/color]

Drives. It's mainly one hard and one optical, but there are also
several systems with two hard drives and nothing else.
[color=blue][color=green][color=darkred]
>>> I'm thinking ahead to what could be transferred to my next system
>>> in several years.[/color]
>>
>> Will they be _worth_ transferring?[/color]
>
>That is a good point. However, (a) I could get my next system sooner
>than that, and (b) even if a HD is uselessly small, I can use it for
>migrating data to the new system.[/color]

The "original" drives in an old system then to be less useful. They
are getting old, and tend to be tiny. Replacement drives that are
added to an old system tend to be more useful. Now admittedly in
some areas I'm stretching things - for example, the firewall box has
a 213 Meg Maxtor that is ancient, but quite adequate for it's job.
The other systems have drives from 2.6 Gigs to 100 Gigs, and Friday
I replaced one of the 8.4 Gig drives with a 500 Gig drive, though at
the moment there isn't much on it.
[color=blue]
>I hope I'm making sense... sorry if I'm rambling; it's getting late.[/color]

Part of what you are doing it _thinking_ about things, and this is
going to make it a lot better when you do move on. Keep talking!

Old guy

Aragorn wrote:
....[color=blue]
> For instance, I know a guy who still works there now and who's in charge of
> some transit stuff, and he's a real whacko when it comes to that. There's
> a 30 km/h speed limit throughout the entire compound, and there are various
> speed bumps in place to enforce this policy, but the guy likes to really go
> over those at high speed and get all four wheels off the ground, and stuff
> like that.[/color]


Well, of course! If you go over speed bumps too slowly, they are
uncomfortable. Taken at enough speed, the car will just continue in a
comfortable straight line as per Newton's first.

Until it hits the ground because of the wheels having been ripped off by
the speed bump, of course. But you can't have everything.

This is a huge thread! Wonder if it will be breaking any records in the
near future?

Frank

Moe Trin wrote:[color=blue][color=green]
>> The newest versions of applications seem to be available from the app's
>> web site quite a while before they're included in the distro
>> repositories.[/color]
>
> That varies a bit. Sometimes you do find bleeding edge stuff that is
> only there because of version number chasing.[/color]

I got OpenOffice.org 3.0.0 from the OO.o website and installed it with
no problem, then discovered it barfed opening *.rtf files, so I got 2.x
from the Mandriva repository. Gotta file a bug report about that, and
I'll try again in a version or two.
[color=blue]
> Nothing wrong with getting the fortunes file up to date - it's good
> for morale.[/color]

The best one I've added is:

"We can always turn it into a lamp."

(Philippe Jullian, "The Collectors")

'fortune' seems to get confused if you specify any percentages and they
don't add up to exactly 100%, even though the man page says otherwise.
Gotta look into that someday.
[color=blue][color=green]
>> I mentioned the unwritten general computer solution list to my
>> mother... she asked for it, so I think it goes something like this, in
>> this order:
>>
>> 1) RTFM
>> 2) Reboot or power cycle
>> 3) Google search for problem
>> 4) Update to newest version[/color]
>
> I tend to do 1), 3), 2) (except that using *nix, this usually means
> shutting down the application and re-starting it, rather than a
> reboot), and 4) is also pretty rare, as this is done on a regular
> basis anyway.[/color]

My parents are usually running WinXP (still trying to persuade them to
install Ubuntu dual-boot), so rebooting fixes a lot of problems. And it
doesn't update apps automatically. They switched ISPs from the one I'd
been using that always dropped connections (for them too) to NetZero
which is cheaper and doesn't drop connections but requires a proprietary
IE that crashes whenever I use it, so I figure getting the newest
version of that might help. NetZero also has a proprietary .deb browser
package for Ubuntu, but I haven't played with it.
[color=blue]
> I can't remember the last time I've had something with a warranty still
> in force.[/color]

HP sent me a new DVD burner which tests OK... different brand but
functionally equivalent, except the new one seems less likely to create
coasters. Now I have to send the defective one back, at their expense.
I think I'll try it for a while, and add the one I bought from NewEgg
to my parts collection.
[color=blue][color=green][color=darkred]
>>> None of my systems have more than two internal drives.[/color]
>> Do you mean two internal HDs, or are you counting optical drives?[/color]
>
> Drives. It's mainly one hard and one optical, but there are also
> several systems with two hard drives and nothing else.[/color]

I was going to add an elderly PATA DVD-ROM drive as a second optical
drive, since I already had the drive and cable, but (a) it would have
blocked airflow and stretched cables, (b) I painted its beige faceplate
black to match (yes I took it off first!) and results looked amateurish,
and (c) I broke its tray-opening mechanism when putting the faceplate
back on. Also, a second optical drive wouldn't let me do anything more,
though it would make some things easier to do.
[color=blue]
> The "original" drives in an old system then to be less useful. They
> are getting old, and tend to be tiny.[/color]

True, but I find they make migration easier -- just hook up the old
drive and copy the files over.
[color=blue]
> Part of what you are doing it _thinking_ about things, and this is
> going to make it a lot better when you do move on. Keep talking![/color]

Thanks! It did help. I kind of decided to leave this box with just the
one (replacement) optical drive and the one internal HD (120 GB). As I
mentioned, the PATA DVD-ROM drive is in the garbage and the DVD burner I
just bought from NewEgg goes into the closet. The front panel drive bay
covers on this machine are knockouts, not snap-ins, and I'd removed one
when trying several optical drives as stopgaps, so putting it back in is
a messy business involving improvisation and epoxy glue. I'm also /not/
going to add another internal HD, thus leaving my one remaining empty
PCI slot free. When I can get a nice, reliable, quiet external USB 1 TB
HD for $100, I'll add that. Prices are definitely heading that way.

If anybody has any suggestions on drive configurations, drive models, or
even good additions to the 'fortune' database, I'd like to hear them!

Adam

Moe Trin wrote:[color=blue]
> There is a bit of a problem in that tastes change over the years. I
> wonder how many young viewers would appreciate some of the earlier
> movies. How many would even be able to understand ANYTHING of
> 'Casablanca', 'Strange Cargo' 'Lady Be Good' much less 'Show Boat' or
> 'Oklahoma'?[/color]

Or ANYthing in B/W? Although a few years ago I did introduce a
(then-)eight-year-old, who'd never even seen B/W movies, to the "Our
Gang" shorts including some silents on home video, and she loved them.
But then that wasn't a typical 8YO!
[color=blue]
> It's not much older, but have you seen the November issue of the
> Smithsonian magazine? If not, hit the library, and have a look at the
> article starting on page 62, titled "One Man's Korean War". There are
> nine KChrome photos from 1950-51.[/color]

I looked at it, and those do look good... but then Kodachrome is known
for holding up well. I read a book about the 1939-40 World's Fair, and
many of the photos were amateur Kodachromes that still looked bright.
And I once saw a 35mm Kodachrome enlarged to 18' x 60' (yes, feet!),
though slight grain was visible even at a distance. I think the
infamous film "Pink Flamingos" was shot on Kodachrome -- on the DVD, the
colors have that "Kodachrome look" to them.
[color=blue][color=green]
>> The Bardavon Theatre in Po'k shows one "classic" feature a month,[/color]
>
> We have one theater in the metro area that occasionally will show the
> classics, but it's the other side of town from where I live[/color]

See [url]http://www.bardavon.org/ev_dir/ev_main.php[/url] -- coming up are
"Frankenstein," "It's a Wonderful Life," "Planet of the Apes,"
"Breakfast at Tiffany's" and "Cool Hand Luke," all in 35mm on a
decent-size screen and IIRC only $5. All movies preceded by a
performance on the Wurlitzer organ that was installed when it was
converted to a movie theater in 1923. It's mainly used for stage
performances, though, some presented by the theater itself, others by
outside groups. I was in two amateur shows that played there in the
early '80s.

Adam

Frank Peelo wrote:[color=blue]
> This is a huge thread! Wonder if it will be breaking any records in the
> near future?[/color]

According to Google Groups, it started on July 8 this year and has 307
posts so far. I have nothing to go on, but I doubt it's a record for
either longevity or number of posts.

Adam

Adam wrote:[color=blue]
> Moe Trin wrote:
>[color=green]
>> There is a bit of a problem in that tastes change over the years. I
>> wonder how many young viewers would appreciate some of the earlier
>> movies. How many would even be able to understand ANYTHING of
>> 'Casablanca', 'Strange Cargo' 'Lady Be Good' much less 'Show Boat' or
>> 'Oklahoma'?[/color]
>
>
> Or ANYthing in B/W? Although a few years ago I did introduce a
> (then-)eight-year-old, who'd never even seen B/W movies, to the "Our
> Gang" shorts including some silents on home video, and she loved them.
> But then that wasn't a typical 8YO![/color]

Works on them all, if you have the right film. My sons complained at the
thought of having to watch anything in black & white. But I got them to
sit through the Laurel & Hardy film "Sons of the Desert" and they loved it.

Frank

On Wed, 29 Oct 2008, in the Usenet newsgroup alt.os.linux.mandriva, in article
<geanln$rqm$1@registered.motzarella.org>, Adam wrote:
[color=blue]
>'fortune' seems to get confused if you specify any percentages and
>they don't add up to exactly 100%, even though the man page says
>otherwise. Gotta look into that someday.[/color]

Assuming you are choosing "50 % group_x 40 % group_y" is there another
group (group_z) to allow it to default to "the rest".
[color=blue]
>My parents are usually running WinXP (still trying to persuade them to
>install Ubuntu dual-boot), so rebooting fixes a lot of problems.[/color]

Ack'ed
[color=blue]
>And it doesn't update apps automatically.[/color]

But does the system get _any_ updates? No O/S (or application) is
perfect, and patching/updating is _usually_ desirable. Yes, I'm
aware of some of the undesirable features that microsoft may add "to
improve your Internet experience", but that's a trade-off that has to
be considered.
[color=blue]
>They switched ISPs from the one I'd been using that always dropped
>connections (for them too) to NetZero which is cheaper and doesn't
>drop connections but requires a proprietary IE that crashes whenever
>I use it, so I figure getting the newest version of that might help.
>NetZero also has a proprietary .deb browser package for Ubuntu, but
>I haven't played with it.[/color]

At one time, they were a free ISP, and you "paid" for the service by
being flooded by banner ads. Then they went further, and if you weren't
downloading the ads within the ads, the connection stalled. I imagine
their proprietary browser is to make sure you see the ads. "There is
no such thing as a free lunch."
[color=blue]
>I was going to add an elderly PATA DVD-ROM drive as a second optical
>drive, since I already had the drive and cable, but (a) it would have
>blocked airflow and stretched cables, (b) I painted its beige
>faceplate black to match (yes I took it off first!) and results
>looked amateurish, and (c) I broke its tray-opening mechanism when
>putting the faceplate back on. Also, a second optical drive wouldn't
>let me do anything more, though it would make some things easier to
>do.[/color]

Such as? (below)
[color=blue][color=green]
>> The "original" drives in an old system then to be less useful. They
>> are getting old, and tend to be tiny.[/color][/color]
[color=blue]
>True, but I find they make migration easier -- just hook up the old
>drive and copy the files over.[/color]

That's a onezie situation. I would suggest you consider having (or
setting aside the old system as) a second system. You don't have to be
running it all the time, but this can add a rapid backup service.

The other advantage is if you get an application that wedges the
system you are using. You can then fire up the other system, and reach
in via SSH (or even telnet if it's restricted to local access only)
and do what might be necessary - including killing off applications
(kill -15 is the "please shut down cleanly", while "kill -9" is
much more violent and less clean), and rebooting WITHOUT the trauma
of yanking the power (with possible resulting file corruption).
[color=blue][color=green]
>> Part of what you are doing it _thinking_ about things, and this is
>> going to make it a lot better when you do move on. Keep talking![/color]
>
>Thanks! It did help. I kind of decided to leave this box with just
>the one (replacement) optical drive and the one internal HD (120 GB).
>As I mentioned, the PATA DVD-ROM drive is in the garbage and the DVD
>burner I just bought from NewEgg goes into the closet.[/color]

That's the whole idea. The more "what if's" you are exposed to, the
more choices you have.
[color=blue]
>The front panel drive bay covers on this machine are knockouts, not
>snap-ins, and I'd removed one when trying several optical drives as
>stopgaps, so putting it back in is a messy business involving
>improvisation and epoxy glue.[/color]

What, you outta duct tape? ;-)
[color=blue]
>I'm also /not/ going to add another internal HD, thus leaving my one
>remaining empty PCI slot free. When I can get a nice, reliable, quiet
>external USB 1 TB HD for $100, I'll add that. Prices are definitely
>heading that way.[/color]

I'm somewhat less concerned with 'quiet', but the idea of external
drives is appealing. Provided they are physically secure (don't
leave them where you can accidentally kick them, or be in the way of
the cat's tail), they're going to run cooler, and be easier to remove
or isolate for backup purposes.

Old guy

On Wed, 29 Oct 2008, in the Usenet newsgroup alt.os.linux.mandriva, in article
<geanm0$rqm$2@registered.motzarella.org>, Adam wrote:
[color=blue]
>Moe Trin wrote:[/color]
[color=blue][color=green]
>> There is a bit of a problem in that tastes change over the years.
>> I wonder how many young viewers would appreciate some of the earlier
>> movies. How many would even be able to understand ANYTHING of
>> 'Casablanca', 'Strange Cargo' 'Lady Be Good' much less 'Show Boat'
>> or 'Oklahoma'?[/color]
>
>Or ANYthing in B/W?[/color]

That's a good point. I wonder how many would understand the change to
color (and back) in "The Wizard of Oz".
[color=blue]
>Although a few years ago I did introduce a (then-)eight-year-old,
>who'd never even seen B/W movies, to the "Our Gang" shorts including
>some silents on home video, and she loved them. But then that wasn't
>a typical 8YO![/color]

Have to think about those of us who started on B/W television verses
those who were born after color became common. I was exposed to color
movies earlier than that of course, and saw my first color television
in ~1950 (CBS color wheel system). But color television was quite
common by the mid '60s, and if you exclude portables and antiques. I
suspect that B/W television would be unusual to anyone born after then.

Thinking back, most of the movies I saw in the 1950s were in color. The
news-reel and maybe the serial would be black and white, the coming
attractions usually in color (but with some non-color stuff, mainly
text), the ads for the concession stand usually in B/W, and then the
feature in color.

[Smithsonian magazine]
[color=blue]
>I looked at it, and those do look good... but then Kodachrome is known
>for holding up well. I read a book about the 1939-40 World's Fair,
>and many of the photos were amateur Kodachromes that still looked
>bright.[/color]

When was the book produced? Color in books can stand pretty well.
I've got several older books, such as "The Story of The Panama Canal"
by Logan Marshall (but no indication of the publisher) that was
published in 1915, and it has at least 6 color photographs (probably
colorized) in addition to 50+ black and whites. They're in fine shape.
To bad I can't say the same about the binding. :-(

During the 1964 fair, an old family friend showed us some of the movies
he had made of the 1938 San Francisco International Exposition (held on
the artificial island at the middle of the Oakland Bay Bridge) and the
1939 World's Fair. One of the reels was in color, and I was impressed,
though today I'd be hard pressed to remember the scenes shown.
[color=blue]
>See [url]http://www.bardavon.org/ev_dir/ev_main.php[/url] -- coming up are
>"Frankenstein," "It's a Wonderful Life," "Planet of the Apes,"
>"Breakfast at Tiffany's" and "Cool Hand Luke," all in 35mm on a
>decent-size screen and IIRC only $5.[/color]

That's demoralizing.
[color=blue]
>All movies preceded by a performance on the Wurlitzer organ that was
>installed when it was converted to a movie theater in 1923. It's
>mainly used for stage performances, though, some presented by the
>theater itself, others by outside groups.[/color]

That is too, though less so because we do have several theaters here
with decent organs, and get several productions a month. The local
university has one, and it's used as part of their music program for
student and faculty recitals.
[color=blue]
>I was in two amateur shows >that played there in the early '80s.[/color]

Oh, he's also an exhibitionist. ;-) But wait, early '80s was a
long time ago, so maybe he's reformed.

Old guy

On Thu, 30 Oct 2008, in the Usenet newsgroup alt.os.linux.mandriva, in article
<6mue72FieohlU1@mid.individual.net>, Frank Peelo wrote:
[color=blue]
>Adam wrote:[/color]
[color=blue][color=green]
>> Or ANYthing in B/W? Although a few years ago I did introduce a
>> (then-)eight-year-old, who'd never even seen B/W movies, to the "Our
>> Gang" shorts including some silents on home video, and she loved
>> them. But then that wasn't a typical 8YO![/color]
>
>Works on them all, if you have the right film. My sons complained at
>the thought of having to watch anything in black & white. But I got
>them to sit through the Laurel & Hardy film "Sons of the Desert" and
>they loved it.[/color]

While there is a lot of good comedy from that era (I'm also thinking of
Harold Lloyd and Charlie Chaplin), there isn't as much of the serious
shows, and that's something I miss.

Old guy

Moe Trin wrote:[color=blue][color=green][color=darkred]
>>> There is a bit of a problem in that tastes change over the years.
>>> I wonder how many young viewers would appreciate some of the earlier
>>> movies. How many would even be able to understand ANYTHING of
>>> 'Casablanca', 'Strange Cargo' 'Lady Be Good' much less 'Show Boat'
>>> or 'Oklahoma'?[/color]
>> Or ANYthing in B/W?[/color]
>
> That's a good point. I wonder how many would understand the change to
> color (and back) in "The Wizard of Oz".[/color]

And there are even those who refuse to watch anything that isn't in
color, which is probably the main reason for the "colorization" of old
movies.
[color=blue]
> Have to think about those of us who started on B/W television verses
> those who were born after color became common. I was exposed to color
> movies earlier than that of course, and saw my first color television
> in ~1950 (CBS color wheel system). But color television was quite
> common by the mid '60s, and if you exclude portables and antiques. I
> suspect that B/W television would be unusual to anyone born after then.[/color]

My parents didn't get a color TV until around '84, though of course I'd
seen them in other people's homes and in stores. I remember hanging
around the TV department of Montgomery Ward watching Apollo 15 on the
color TVs there.

Oddly enough, most programs weren't really any better in color. For
quite a long time, producers took into account what their show would
look like on a B/W TV. For example, the original make-up for Mr. Spock
on "Star Trek" (1966) looked fine in color but phony in B/W, so they
changed it.
[color=blue]
> Thinking back, most of the movies I saw in the 1950s were in color.[/color]

Most of the lower-budget ones were B/W. Even something as late as "A
Thousand Clowns" (1965) was B/W, when I would have expected it to be in
color.
[color=blue][color=green]
>> I read a book about the 1939-40 World's Fair,
>> and many of the photos were amateur Kodachromes that still looked
>> bright.[/color]
>
> When was the book produced? Color in books can stand pretty well.[/color]

1980s, I think. Around '76, I remember one column in "Modern
Photography" magazine that once was about the '39-40 World's Fair --
what kind of photo equipment an amateur might have used, what photo
opportunities were available, etc.
[color=blue]
> During the 1964 fair, an old family friend showed us some of the movies
> he had made of the 1938 San Francisco International Exposition (held on
> the artificial island at the middle of the Oakland Bay Bridge)[/color]

I didn't know that was big enough for anything besides the anchorages.
[color=blue][color=green]
>> See [url]http://www.bardavon.org/ev_dir/ev_main.php[/url] -- coming up are
>> "Frankenstein," "It's a Wonderful Life," "Planet of the Apes,"
>> "Breakfast at Tiffany's" and "Cool Hand Luke," all in 35mm on a
>> decent-size screen and IIRC only $5.[/color]
>
> That's demoralizing.[/color]

What's wrong with having culture in Poughkeepsie? ;-)
[color=blue][color=green]
>> All movies preceded by a performance on the Wurlitzer organ that was
>> installed when it was converted to a movie theater in 1923.[/color]
>
> That is too, though less so because we do have several theaters here
> with decent organs, and get several productions a month. The local
> university has one, and it's used as part of their music program for
> student and faculty recitals.[/color]

No, the one in the Bardavon is a theatre organ:
[url]http://www.bardavon.org/ab_hi_organ.htm[/url] . You can read about the
difference on [url]http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Organ_(music[/url]) . Of course
the local college has several pipe organs:
[url]http://music.vassar.edu/organs.html[/url] . I had a chance to play around
with the largest one (4 manuals, 99 stops) for an hour or two, but (as
my piano teacher predicted) I just found it too mechanical. Press a key
here, electric signal opens a valve over there.
[color=blue][color=green]
>> I was in two amateur shows >that played there in the early '80s.[/color]
>
> Oh, he's also an exhibitionist. ;-) But wait, early '80s was a
> long time ago, so maybe he's reformed.[/color]

Not entirely; I tried out for an amateur production of "Tomfoolery" last
year. Only a lack of talent, dedication and interest has kept me from
becoming one of the greats.

Adam

On Fri, 31 Oct 2008, in the Usenet newsgroup alt.os.linux.mandriva, in article
<geftd6$gsr$2@registered.motzarella.org>, Adam wrote:
[color=blue]
>Moe Trin wrote:[/color]
[color=blue][color=green][color=darkred]
>>> Or ANYthing in B/W?[/color]
>>
>> That's a good point. I wonder how many would understand the change
>> to color (and back) in "The Wizard of Oz".[/color]
>
>And there are even those who refuse to watch anything that isn't in
>color, which is probably the main reason for the "colorization" of old
>movies.[/color]

As 'Frank Peelo <f32pnospam@eircom.net>' mentioned. Some people feel
that colorization is a crime against the original. Now with some old
turkeys, this might not be the case, but... Some people also think
that everything is in color - why not these ancient movies?
[color=blue][color=green]
>> But color television was quite common by the mid '60s, and if you
>> exclude portables and antiques. I suspect that B/W television would
>> be unusual to anyone born after then.[/color]
>
>My parents didn't get a color TV until around '84, though of course
>I'd seen them in other people's homes and in stores.[/color]

Some didn't feel it was needed, or worth the extra expense. I don't
recall what I paid for my first color set, but it was an Emerson 15
inch portable bought to watch the 1972 Olympics. The time between my
first TV (7 inch Admiral tabletop in the mid-50s) until then was
mainly vagabond days working overseas and I didn't see a need for a TV.
[color=blue]
>I remember hanging around the TV department of Montgomery Ward
>watching Apollo 15 on the color TVs there.[/color]

Apollo 11 - in a bar in South East Asia.
[color=blue]
>Oddly enough, most programs weren't really any better in color.[/color]

Which then asks what good it was to have color? Color simply didn't
_add_ that much to television. If the show was crap, color would
only make it colored crap. Part of this is the general Minnow
comment of how good television was, and part was the size of the sets.
I'm sure you must have the Kovacs line

Television: A medium. So called because it is neither rare nor well done.
--Ernie Kovacs
but some one else mentions

Any comedy program described a "Zany" in the program guide will be rubbish.
[color=blue][color=green]
>> When was the book produced? Color in books can stand pretty well.[/color]
>
>1980s, I think. Around '76, I remember one column in "Modern
>Photography" magazine that once was about the '39-40 World's Fair --
>what kind of photo equipment an amateur might have used, what photo
>opportunities were available, etc.[/color]

A Brownie!!!
[color=blue][color=green]
>> During the 1964 fair, an old family friend showed us some of the
>> movies he had made of the 1938 San Francisco International
>> Exposition (held on the artificial island at the middle of the
>> Oakland Bay Bridge)[/color]
>
>I didn't know that was big enough for anything besides the anchorages.[/color]

You might be thinking of "Moran's Island" which is the anchorage in
the middle of the two suspension bridges that make up the Western
side of the bridge. But the bridge continues through Yerba Buena
island in the middle of the bay, then turns 30 degrees and crosses the
Eastern side of the bay on a cantilever section 1920 feet long and five
more each 500 foot long,and 14 more each 290 feet long. Yerba Buena is
a rocky island about 2000 by 3000 feet a bit over 200 feet tall, and on
the North side (about 600 feet away) they built "Treasure Island" about
3300 by 5800 feet from dredging spoil. Yerba Buena was the base of the
pre-war "China Clippers", and after the exposition, Treasure Island
became a naval facility.

[[url]http://www.bardavon.org/ev_dir/ev_main.php[/url] coming attractions]
[color=blue][color=green]
>> That's demoralizing.[/color]
>
>What's wrong with having culture in Poughkeepsie? ;-)[/color]

It's not _here_ when I can see some of those.
[color=blue][color=green]
>> The local university has one, and it's used as part of their music
>> program for student and faculty recitals.[/color][/color]
[color=blue]
>No, the one in the Bardavon is a theatre organ:[/color]

[url]http://music.asu.edu/facilities/organ.php[/url]
[color=blue]
>Of course the local college has several pipe organs:
>[url]http://music.vassar.edu/organs.html[/url] . I had a chance to play around
>with the largest one (4 manuals, 99 stops) for an hour or two, but (as
>my piano teacher predicted) I just found it too mechanical. Press a
>key here, electric signal opens a valve over there.[/color]

Yesterday being Halloween, the local PBS station was playing a LOT of
organ music, but the jerk was was announcing wasn't giving all of the
necessary credits - particularly _which_ organ this was that just
blew you away (I have earphones, and the amps were turned up to 11).
[color=blue]
>Not entirely; I tried out for an amateur production of "Tomfoolery"
>last year. Only a lack of talent, dedication and interest has kept me
>from becoming one of the greats.[/color]

Number four nephew is into this - there are several repertory theaters
in Western Connecticut. The rest of the family gives him some
encouragement, although his wife (a VP of a regional bank) cringes at
some of the roles he's played.

Old guy

Moe Trin wrote:[color=blue]
> Some people feel
> that colorization is a crime against the original. Now with some old
> turkeys, this might not be the case, but... Some people also think
> that everything is in color - why not these ancient movies?[/color]

As I must have mentioned, I took B/W Photography I at the community
college in Spring '07... it took me a while to realize that there were
images where when b/w was more appropriate, and times when color was
more appropriate.

This semester I'm in 2D Design, which does NOT deal with color, so I've
been using GIMP to convert some images to monochrome. Some lose a lot
in the conversion, some don't lose much. Our current project involves
patterns in landscapes, so I picked the little boxes in SSF/Daly City.
Next project involves household objects, and I'm deliberately picking
things that were commonplace to me, but unknown to most of the class:
dial telephone, typewriter, etc.
[color=blue][color=green]
>> I remember hanging around the TV department of Montgomery Ward
>> watching Apollo 15 on the color TVs there.[/color]
>
> Apollo 11 - in a bar in South East Asia.[/color]

During the Apollo 11 landing, I was with my grandparents in a bungalow
colony where there was no TV.
[color=blue][color=green]
>> Around '76, I remember one column in "Modern
>> Photography" magazine that once was about the '39-40 World's Fair --
>> what kind of photo equipment an amateur might have used, what photo
>> opportunities were available, etc.[/color]
>
> A Brownie!!![/color]

Serious amateurs might have had a Leica rangefinder. The girlie shows
even encouraged photographers to bring their cameras in. Outdoors, it
was bright enough for Kodachrome.

Mom still has the Kodak Brownie (with flash gun) she was given in 1950,
though its 620 film is discontinued.
[color=blue][color=green][color=darkred]
>>> the 1938 San Francisco International
>>> Exposition (held on the artificial island at the middle of the
>>> Oakland Bay Bridge)[/color]
>> I didn't know that was big enough for anything besides the anchorages.[/color]
>
> You might be thinking of "Moran's Island" which is the anchorage in
> the middle of the two suspension bridges that make up the Western
> side of the bridge. But the bridge continues through Yerba Buena
> island in the middle of the bay[/color]

OK, I didn't know that. I thought the double suspension span was all of
it. During my brief visits, we always took the San Mateo bridge.
[color=blue]
> [[url]http://www.bardavon.org/ev_dir/ev_main.php[/url] coming attractions]
>[color=green][color=darkred]
>>> That's demoralizing.[/color]
>> What's wrong with having culture in Poughkeepsie? ;-)[/color]
>
> It's not _here_ when I can see some of those.[/color]

Well, I suppose you could try and organize something. It's probably a
fairly inexpensive way to get some revenue from an otherwise unused
building.
[color=blue][color=green]
>> No, the one in the Bardavon is a theatre organ:[/color]
>
> [url]http://music.asu.edu/facilities/organ.php[/url][/color]

That's a pipe organ, not a theater organ. To organ buffs they are quite
different instruments. (One of my HS classmates went to ASU, but not
for music.)
[color=blue]
> Yesterday being Halloween, the local PBS station was playing a LOT of
> organ music, but the jerk was was announcing wasn't giving all of the
> necessary credits - particularly _which_ organ this was that just
> blew you away (I have earphones, and the amps were turned up to 11).[/color]

I think some of those pedal notes are capable of bringing down
buildings. You can always contact the station for more information. At
least three times, I've called/emailed a radio station to get more
information about something they played, and have gotten complete
answers, down to the catalog number of the LP/CD.
[color=blue]
> Number four nephew is into this - there are several repertory theaters
> in Western Connecticut. The rest of the family gives him some
> encouragement, although his wife (a VP of a regional bank) cringes at
> some of the roles he's played.[/color]

Which roles? The one I'd like to play most right now is Leo Herman in
"A Thousand Clowns."

Adam

On Sun, 02 Nov 2008, in the Usenet newsgroup alt.os.linux.mandriva, in article
<gellps$nao$1@registered.motzarella.org>, Adam wrote:
[color=blue]
>Moe Trin wrote:[/color]

[ISP selection guides]
[color=blue]
>Thanks, I'll take a look at those... especially ones that do NOT
>require a proprietary browser! Like many of the folks here, I am
>unofficial "tech support" for family, relatives, and friends.[/color]

I don't know of that many that do. They may want you to make their
web page your home page in the browser, but unless they make it a
requirement (which I haven't seen many do), they can't complain if
you don't.
[color=blue][color=green]
>> That's a local decision. Twice in three years isn't a very high
>> probability of need, so I might consider the drive as more important.[/color]
>
>When I get closer to a purchase, I'll ask here and the LUG for
>suggestions. Neither is urgent. And I just paid for body work on my
>car, so I'll let my finances recover first.[/color]

Know about that little problem. I know I've got some medical work due,
and have to accumulate the deductibles.
[color=blue][color=green]
>> Note also that there are minimalists UPS' that lack auto-shutdown
>> or similar (you'd have to initiate the shutdown manually) for less
>> than $100. They're meant to give you time to shut down the system
>> cleanly right away, or ride through short (few seconds to tens of
>> seconds) outages. If it's going to be used on a system that is only
>> running when you are at the console, that may be an acceptable
>> trade-off.[/color]
>
>That might be acceptable, but do they cost significantly less?[/color]

Yes, because they lack the automatic features AND lack the running time
and horsepower of the APCs you were looking at earlier.
[color=blue]
>One thing I have to deal with that you don't is the change back to
>Standard Time.[/color]

Not directly - but the rest of the world doing strange things with
their clocks does impact me. As long as your timezone files are kept
more-or-less up to date (the last time anything in the US changed was
back in tzdata2007g from August 2007 when a couple of counties in
Indiana played musical timezone names), things should happen pretty
much automagically. The latest timezone file (tzdata2008i from last
Monday) has some date changes for Argentina only.
[color=blue]
>To my pleasant surprise, Mandriva 2008.0's cron handled it exactly the
>way I would have wanted it to. Here's an excerpt from my cron.hourly
>job (date, uptime, free, hddtemp, sensors):
>
>Sun Nov 2 00:01:02 EDT 2008
>Sun Nov 2 01:01:01 EDT 2008
>Sun Nov 2 01:01:01 EST 2008
>Sun Nov 2 02:01:04 EST 2008
>Sun Nov 2 03:01:02 EST 2008[/color]

I didn't think you were running 24/7.
[color=blue]
>I added a comment to /etc/crontab:
>
># do NOT use times from 01:00 to 03:00 because of change to/from DST[/color]

That's probably the simplest solution. You MAY be able to set things
to run on UTC (via environmental variables), but that's often a bad
solution worse than the problems it attempts to solve. It also
depends on which cron daemon you are using - there are several, and
each has it's own warts.
[color=blue]
>I figured this was as good a time as any to get ntp working, and change
>the system clock to GMT.[/color]

'system clock'? Do you mean the CMOS? Or running the system itself
such that 'date' and 'date -u' report the same time? Setting the
hardware (CMOS) clock to UTC is desired, but by no means mandatory. If
you do leave the hardware clock on "localtime", you need to reset it
in a time change, but that's not all that hard to do. I simply have a
cron task that uses /sbin/hwclock to set the hardware clock daily

11 3 * * * root /sbin/hwclock --utc --systohc

as the system (kernel) time is kept reasonable by a time sync to the
company time servers (or you could use ntp from the pool servers).
That's probably over-kill, as there are few things happening that need
time accurate to a fraction of a second.

Old guy

On Sun, 02 Nov 2008, in the Usenet newsgroup alt.os.linux.mandriva, in article
<gellq4$nao$2@registered.motzarella.org>, Adam wrote:
[color=blue]
>Moe Trin wrote:[/color]
[color=blue][color=green]
>> Some people feel that colorization is a crime against the original.
>> Now with some old turkeys, this might not be the case, but... Some
>> people also think that everything is in color - why not these
>> ancient movies?[/color]
>
>As I must have mentioned, I took B/W Photography I at the community
>college in Spring '07... it took me a while to realize that there were
>images where when b/w was more appropriate, and times when color was
>more appropriate.[/color]

Except that most people haven't heard of Life, or Look.... that goes
back a few days.
[color=blue]
>This semester I'm in 2D Design, which does NOT deal with color, so
>I've been using GIMP to convert some images to monochrome. Some lose
>a lot in the conversion, some don't lose much. Our current project
>involves patterns in landscapes, so I picked the little boxes in
>SSF/Daly City.[/color]

Depending on the instructor, you might want to have a color shot or two
available for those who've never seen anything so crass.
[color=blue]
>Next project involves household objects, and I'm deliberately picking
>things that were commonplace to me, but unknown to most of the class:
>dial telephone, typewriter, etc.[/color]

Edit the photo of the dial so that it has an EXchange-NUMBERS sequence
[color=blue][color=green]
>> Apollo 11 - in a bar in South East Asia.[/color]
>
>During the Apollo 11 landing, I was with my grandparents in a bungalow
>colony where there was no TV.[/color]

Might as well not have been any where I was, as there was no satellite
link, and we had to wait for the tapes to be hand carried in from Hong
Kong.
[color=blue]
>Serious amateurs might have had a Leica rangefinder. The girlie shows
>even encouraged photographers to bring their cameras in.[/color]

But probably no flash allowed. I ran into a similar problem in the
"Wasavarvet" in Stockholm when they were first exhibiting the Swedish
17th century warship Vasa which had been raised from Stockholm harbor.
I made show of setting up the camera, and no one said anything. But
the first flash, and the guards were there ready to escort me outside.
I never did get any good photos of it - contenting myself with shots
outside the building.
[color=blue][color=green]
>> You might be thinking of "Moran's Island" which is the anchorage in
>> the middle of the two suspension bridges that make up the Western
>> side of the bridge. But the bridge continues through Yerba Buena
>> island in the middle of the bay[/color]
>
>OK, I didn't know that. I thought the double suspension span was all
>of it.[/color]

During the Loma Prieta quake of 1989, it was a 50 foot section of pier
E9 nearly a mile East of Yerba Buena that collapsed. If you have a map,
that was where the bridge makes an 11 degree turn to a more Easterly
direction.
[color=blue][color=green]
>> Yesterday being Halloween, the local PBS station was playing a LOT of
>> organ music, but the jerk was was announcing wasn't giving all of the
>> necessary credits - particularly _which_ organ this was that just
>> blew you away (I have earphones, and the amps were turned up to 11).[/color]
>
>I think some of those pedal notes are capable of bringing down
>buildings.[/color]

No, my amps aren't that big ;-)
[color=blue]
>You can always contact the station for more information. At
>least three times, I've called/emailed a radio station to get more
>information about something they played, and have gotten complete
>answers, down to the catalog number of the LP/CD.[/color]

It's easy enough - the station's web page has a playlist, and if it's
not enough to identify the organ (it often isn't), plugging the
catalog number into a search engine will usually give the answer.
[color=blue][color=green]
>> his wife (a VP of a regional bank) cringes at some of the roles
>> he's played.[/color]
>
>Which roles? The one I'd like to play most right now is Leo Herman
>in "A Thousand Clowns."[/color]

I pay little attention, as I'm on the other side of the country and
most of the details come from a niece. I know that he was in La Cage
aux Folles (stage manager at La Cage?), I'm not sure who in "The
Full Monty" (Gerald?), just to mention two of the ones she was most
embarrassed about. I do have a DVD of him as Elwood P Dowd (Harvey).
I'm not sure but I think he played John Adams in '1776' - something
that really impressed his ~6 year old nephew (to the point that the
kid knows most of the lyrics to the songs from that production).

Old guy

Moe Trin wrote:[color=blue][color=green]
>> And I just paid for body work on my
>> car, so I'll let my finances recover first.[/color]
>
> Know about that little problem. I know I've got some medical work due,
> and have to accumulate the deductibles.[/color]

Right now I'm thinking that early next year I should be able to afford a
1 TB USB HD. The 120 GB internal HD is more than enough for several
distros + applications + /home. The external HD would hold downloads,
data, and virtual machines.

Two questions to anybody: I've read that accessing data at the outer
tracks of a HD is faster than at the inner tracks. With current drives,
is there really much difference? And if there is a significant
difference, does Mandriva partition by cylinder or by head? "By
cylinder" meaning that /dev/sda1 starts on an outer track on all heads,
and "by head" meaning that /dev/sda1 is entirely under head 0 until that
surface is filled?
[color=blue][color=green][color=darkred]
>>> Note also that there are minimalists UPS' that lack auto-shutdown
>>> or similar[/color]
>> That might be acceptable, but do they cost significantly less?[/color]
>
> Yes, because they lack the automatic features AND lack the running time
> and horsepower of the APCs you were looking at earlier.[/color]

Unless they're a LOT cheaper, I'd rather wait and get a UPS with
everything I need (I figure $100), rather than spend less for a stopgap,
especially as the need doesn't seem to be urgent.
[color=blue]
> I didn't think you were running 24/7.[/color]

I'm not. Basically I power down when I go out, and power up when I get
back home, so it's usually on all night, but with the CRT monitor
switched off to save power and wear. Also occasionally I boot other
distros or OSs, so Mandriva isn't necessarily running all the time it's on.
[color=blue][color=green]
>> I figured this was as good a time as any to get ntp working, and change
>> the system clock to GMT.[/color]
>
> 'system clock'? Do you mean the CMOS? Or running the system itself
> such that 'date' and 'date -u' report the same time? Setting the
> hardware (CMOS) clock to UTC is desired, but by no means mandatory.[/color]

I wasn't clear. The hardware clock is now set to UTC instead of local
time, but the time displayed is still local time.

Also, to get ntp working I had to enable port 123 in my router, and I
couldn't remember the admin password, so I had to do a hardware reset on
it and reinstall VZ's Windows software. Oh well. Then I explicitly
enabled port 123, and now ntp works and sets the hardware clock when
Mandriva boots.

Adam

Moe Trin wrote:[color=blue][color=green]
>> This semester I'm in 2D Design [...] Our current project
>> involves patterns in landscapes, so I picked the little boxes in
>> SSF/Daly City.[/color]
>
> Depending on the instructor, you might want to have a color shot or two
> available for those who've never seen anything so crass.[/color]

I did. [url]http://www.flickr.com/photos/jeffrey/399331675/[/url] was my main
inspiration.
[color=blue][color=green]
>> Next project involves household objects, and I'm deliberately picking
>> things that were commonplace to me, but unknown to most of the class:
>> dial telephone, typewriter, etc.[/color]
>
> Edit the photo of the dial so that it has an EXchange-NUMBERS sequence[/color]

Not that detailed, unfortunately. However, Wikipedia does give some
phone exchange names. I learned there that my current exchange is
CApitol. In Po'k there's a billboard company that intentionally uses
GL2-nnnn (GLobe, I believe). I know it's intentional because after the
area code change a few years ago, they now use the new area code +
GL2-nnnn on the otherwise unused billboards they handle.
[color=blue]
> I ran into a similar problem in the
> "Wasavarvet" in Stockholm when they were first exhibiting the Swedish
> 17th century warship Vasa which had been raised from Stockholm harbor.[/color]

I read about it in "The Book of Lists 2" under "The 8 Most Awful
Warships in History." It was launched, and was still within sight of
the dock when it keeled over and sank.
[color=blue]
> I made show of setting up the camera, and no one said anything. But
> the first flash, and the guards were there ready to escort me outside.
> I never did get any good photos of it - contenting myself with shots
> outside the building.[/color]

I'll be facing something similar. For class we have to go to an art
exhibit and write a report on it, so if possible I'm going to bring my
tripod and take photos as a memory aid.
[color=blue]
> During the Loma Prieta quake of 1989, it was a 50 foot section of pier
> E9 nearly a mile East of Yerba Buena that collapsed.[/color]

I remember seeing photos at the time, but as I'd never been out that way
I didn't pay much attention to exactly where it was.
[color=blue][color=green]
>> I think some of those pedal notes are capable of bringing down
>> buildings.[/color]
>
> No, my amps aren't that big ;-)[/color]

With enough amplification almost anything is possible, but I was
referring to an UNamplified pipe organ. I tried holding some of those
pedal notes, but actually feared for the building's safety.
[color=blue]
> I'm not sure who in "The
> Full Monty" (Gerald?), just to mention two of the ones she was most
> embarrassed about.[/color]

I saw that one on B'way. The main character is called Jerry, and their
ex-boss was renamed from Gerald (in the movie) to Harold. Both roles
require adequate acting, singing and dancing, and do indeed go "the full
monty." On B'way the moment was suddenly blindingly backlit. I saw it
about a year into the run, when two of the leads were visibly bored, and
lights had shifted enough to make one scene unwatchable from where I was
sitting.
[color=blue]
> I do have a DVD of him as Elwood P Dowd (Harvey).
> I'm not sure but I think he played John Adams in '1776'[/color]

Both of those are the leading roles, so he must be pretty good.

Since the subject line is still "Broadcasting"... are you prepared for
the transition to digital TV broadcasting? I've seen either TigerDirect
or NewEgg selling converter boxes for $40.01. I still get only 8
digital channels, 7.9 of them of no interest.

Adam

On Fri, 07 Nov 2008, in the Usenet newsgroup alt.os.linux.mandriva, in article
<gf2q2h$r6n$1@registered.motzarella.org>, Adam wrote:
[color=blue]
>Moe Trin wrote:[/color]
[color=blue]
>Two questions to anybody: I've read that accessing data at the outer
>tracks of a HD is faster than at the inner tracks. With current drives,
>is there really much difference?[/color]

Yes and no. You've got a copy of 'Upgrading and Repairing PCs' from
Scott Mueller - look in the index for 'zoned bit recording'. There can
be a 2:1 difference inn the data transfer rate between inner and outer
tracks. But the question becomes 1) what else is on the disk (other
partitions in use), and 2) is the transfer rate limited for other
reasons, such as the system trying to write to the video, network, or
some other time-waster?
[color=blue]
>And if there is a significant difference, does Mandriva partition by
>cylinder or by head? "By cylinder" meaning that /dev/sda1 starts on
>an outer track on all heads, and "by head" meaning that /dev/sda1 is
>entirely under head 0 until that surface is filled?[/color]

That would be a function of the disk driver, and I don't know of anyone
who does anything other than by cylinder. The inefficiency of any other
scheme is just to great.
[color=blue][color=green]
>> Yes, because they lack the automatic features AND lack the running
>> time and horsepower of the APCs you were looking at earlier.[/color]
>
>Unless they're a LOT cheaper, I'd rather wait and get a UPS with
>everything I need (I figure $100), rather than spend less for a
>stopgap, especially as the need doesn't seem to be urgent.[/color]

As your rate of outage is low, I'd agree with you.
[color=blue][color=green]
>> I didn't think you were running 24/7.[/color]
>
>I'm not. Basically I power down when I go out, and power up when I
>get back home, so it's usually on all night, but with the CRT monitor
>switched off to save power and wear. Also occasionally I boot other
>distros or OSs, so Mandriva isn't necessarily running all the time
>it's on.[/color]

As long as the number of outages you have isn't causing grief, then
there is little reason to worry. One thing to think about is those
cron-jobs. You _might_ want to look at the times, and then look at
the other type of cron daemon. The "standard" type, exemplified by
Vixie-cron, Dillon-cron, or BSD-cron is meant for 24/7 systems. If the
system isn't in multi-user mode at the appointed hours, those cron jobs
scheduled at that time are not run. The "other" type of daemon is
used by 'anacron', fcron' and 'ucron'. Typically, these can't schedule
a job to run at a specific time, but they try to run daily jobs once
in a 24 hour period (if powered up obviously), weekly jobs once in a
seven day period, monthly jobs once in any month, and so on. They do
this by checking a table to see when the job was last run, and if it
hasn't been run in the scheduled interval, it is run (essentially) now.
That 'now' is usually some delay after the system gets powered up.
[color=blue]
>I wasn't clear. The hardware clock is now set to UTC instead of local
>time, but the time displayed is still local time.[/color]

From 'man hwclock'

--utc Indicates that the Hardware Clock is kept in Coor-
dinated Universal Time. It is your choice whether
to keep your clock in UTC or local time, but noth-
ing in the clock tells which you've chosen. So
this option is how you give that information to
hwclock.

If you don't specify --utc when you should, or vice versa,
both setting and querying of the Hardware Clock will be
messed up.

That flag is controlled by some file in /etc/ (varies by distribution)
but it sure can be fun when the distribution is being overly helpful.
[color=blue]
>Also, to get ntp working I had to enable port 123 in my router, and I
>couldn't remember the admin password,[/color]

It's not on the sticky note taped to the front of the router?
[color=blue]
>so I had to do a hardware reset on it and reinstall VZ's Windows
>software. Oh well. Then I explicitly enabled port 123, and now ntp
>works and sets the hardware clock when Mandriva boots.[/color]

The joys of adding a new service.

Old guy

On Fri, 07 Nov 2008, in the Usenet newsgroup alt.os.linux.mandriva, in article
<gf2q2j$r6n$2@registered.motzarella.org>, Adam wrote:
[color=blue]
>Moe Trin wrote:[/color]
[color=blue][color=green]
>> Edit the photo of the dial so that it has an EXchange-NUMBERS sequence[/color]
>
>Not that detailed, unfortunately.[/color]

Those of us who have been around for a while will do a double-take when
we encounter such an illustration. Others completely miss the point.
[color=blue]
>However, Wikipedia does give some phone exchange names. I learned
>there that my current exchange is CApitol.[/color]

Our exchange post-dates all-digit-dialing, and never had a name. On
those occasions when I'm talking with an old-timer, I'll use the
HUnter prefix. It's fun sometimes to wait for it to sink in ;-)
[color=blue]
>In Po'k there's a billboard company that intentionally uses GL2-nnnn
>(GLobe, I believe). I know it's intentional because after the area
>code change a few years ago, they now use the new area code + GL2-nnnn
>on the otherwise unused billboards they handle.[/color]

That is good and bad. As mentioned, a lot of people are unaware of the
old scheme, and sorta miss the point.
[color=blue][color=green]
>> I ran into a similar problem in the "Wasavarvet" in Stockholm when
>> they were first exhibiting the Swedish 17th century warship Vasa
>> which had been raised from Stockholm harbor.[/color]
>
>I read about it in "The Book of Lists 2" under "The 8 Most Awful
>Warships in History." It was launched, and was still within sight of
>the dock when it keeled over and sank.[/color]

That's the baby. Sort of makes you wonder about what the designer was
thinking about, because it didn't have to heel much. The Baltic really
does get waves too, so it's not like that was an excuse.
[color=blue][color=green]
>> I made show of setting up the camera, and no one said anything. But
>> the first flash, and the guards were there ready to escort me outside.[/color][/color]
[color=blue]
>I'll be facing something similar. For class we have to go to an art
>exhibit and write a report on it, so if possible I'm going to bring my
>tripod and take photos as a memory aid.[/color]

Several times, I've been places where they are no signs/notices or
what-ever about 'no photos' and found this to work well. Likewise, I've
also encountered places where just having the camera paraphernalia will
get a polite warning about 'no photos' or 'no flash photos' which is
all the clue needed.
[color=blue][color=green]
>> During the Loma Prieta quake of 1989, it was a 50 foot section of
>> pier E9 nearly a mile East of Yerba Buena that collapsed.[/color]
>
>I remember seeing photos at the time, but as I'd never been out that
>way I didn't pay much attention to exactly where it was.[/color]

One thing I'll say for CalTrans, they have been pretty good about
getting repairs done when a disaster happens. That bridge was/is a
major artery, and they managed to get it back in service in 30 days.
But during those thirty days, the commute was a nightmare. CalTrans
actually went so far as to borrow a passenger ferry boat from Seattle
to help carry commuters.
[color=blue][color=green]
>> I'm not sure who in "The Full Monty" (Gerald?), just to mention two
>> of the ones she was most embarrassed about.[/color]
>
>I saw that one on B'way. The main character is called Jerry, and
>their ex-boss was renamed from Gerald (in the movie) to Harold. Both
>roles require adequate acting, singing and dancing, and do indeed go
>"the full monty."[/color]

That's one of the things that triggered his wife. I understand she was
dropping some excuses at work ("Hey, I'm only sleeping with him"), and
her co-workers were really beating on her cage anyway.
[color=blue]
>On B'way the moment was suddenly blindingly backlit. I saw it about a
>year into the run, when two of the leads were visibly bored, and
>lights had shifted enough to make one scene unwatchable from where I
>was sitting.[/color]

I mentioned we get a fair number of shows here. We've got two _good_
theater critics who tend to attend shows unannounced and anonymously.
Their reviews tend to be a bit more realistic.
[color=blue][color=green]
>> I do have a DVD of him as Elwood P Dowd (Harvey). I'm not sure but
>> I think he played John Adams in '1776'[/color]
>
>Both of those are the leading roles, so he must be pretty good.[/color]

Remember, we're off Broadway - over a hundred miles off Broadway ;-)
There are four boys in that family, and all four have done singing
professionally, and the mother encouraged them which helps a lot.
Two of them have been doing theater work on/off for over 20 years.
[color=blue]
>Since the subject line is still "Broadcasting"... are you prepared for
>the transition to digital TV broadcasting? I've seen either
>TigerDirect or NewEgg selling converter boxes for $40.01. I still get
>only 8 digital channels, 7.9 of them of no interest.[/color]

There's the rub. The digital channels are not really that much better
than the analog. It's still crap television. Actually, 7.9/8 means
about 1.25% have (some) interest. I don't think the odds are that
good here.

Old guy

Moe Trin wrote:[color=blue][color=green]
>> Two questions to anybody: I've read that accessing data at the outer
>> tracks of a HD is faster than at the inner tracks. With current drives,
>> is there really much difference?[/color]
>
> Yes and no. You've got a copy of 'Upgrading and Repairing PCs' from
> Scott Mueller - look in the index for 'zoned bit recording'. There can
> be a 2:1 difference inn the data transfer rate between inner and outer
> tracks.[/color]

In another thread, Peter D. wrote:[color=blue]
> You can measure your drive's performance with "hdparm -tT /dev/xxx".[/color]

[adam@eris ~]$ sudo hdparm -t /dev/sda1 /dev/sda12

/dev/sda1:
Timing buffered disk reads: 200 MB in 3.01 seconds = 66.53 MB/sec

/dev/sda12:
Timing buffered disk reads: 124 MB in 3.02 seconds = 41.09 MB/sec
[adam@eris ~]$

OK, that answers that nicely.
[color=blue][color=green]
>> does Mandriva partition by cylinder or by head?[/color]
>
> That would be a function of the disk driver, and I don't know of anyone
> who does anything other than by cylinder. The inefficiency of any other
> scheme is just to great.[/color]

IIRC, mid-'80s, I had my TRS-80's HD partitioned by head. 5 MB, 4
heads, which I made into 4 partitions of 1.25 MB each. I even figured
out how to change the allocation units from 4K to 1K, which
significantly increased available space at a small cost in speed.
[color=blue][color=green][color=darkred]
>>> I didn't think you were running 24/7.[/color]
>> I'm not. Basically I power down when I go out, and power up when I
>> get back home[/color]
>
> As long as the number of outages you have isn't causing grief, then
> there is little reason to worry. One thing to think about is those
> cron-jobs.[/color]

I have both 'cron' and 'anacron' set up. If my system's on at 3 AM, the
jobs are done then. If my system's not on then, they're done after next
boot. The only time it gets confusing is when I boot or reboot between
midnight and 3 AM, and anacron does them right away.
[color=blue][color=green]
>> I wasn't clear. The hardware clock is now set to UTC instead of local
>> time, but the time displayed is still local time.[/color][/color]

'cat /proc/driver/rtc' now returns rtc_time as UTC, not ET. Times
displayed are local time. No problem there, as far as I can see.
[color=blue][color=green]
>> Also, to get ntp working I had to enable port 123 in my router, and I
>> couldn't remember the admin password,[/color]
>
> It's not on the sticky note taped to the front of the router?[/color]

Nope. I suppose I ought to write all my passwords down somewhere,
though. I can't picture someone breaking into my apartment just to use
my passwords to change settings.

Adam

Moe Trin wrote:[color=blue]
> On those occasions when I'm talking with an old-timer, I'll use the
> HUnter prefix. It's fun sometimes to wait for it to sink in ;-)[/color]

I still remember TV sales pitches in the '60s: "Call MUrray Hill 5-...."
Always MUrray Hill 5.
[color=blue][color=green][color=darkred]
>>> the Swedish 17th century warship Vasa[/color]
>> I read about it in "The Book of Lists 2" under "The 8 Most Awful
>> Warships in History." It was launched, and was still within sight of
>> the dock when it keeled over and sank.[/color]
>
> That's the baby. Sort of makes you wonder about what the designer was
> thinking about, because it didn't have to heel much. The Baltic really
> does get waves too, so it's not like that was an excuse.[/color]

My father's boat (Catalina 25) sank once, but depth was only about 2
fathoms (12') so it was raised and repaired, but it was never quite the
same afterward.
[color=blue][color=green]
>> go to an art
>> exhibit and write a report on it, so if possible I'm going to bring my
>> tripod and take photos[/color]
>
> Several times, I've been places where they are no signs/notices or
> what-ever about 'no photos' and found this to work well. Likewise, I've
> also encountered places where just having the camera paraphernalia will
> get a polite warning about 'no photos' or 'no flash photos' which is
> all the clue needed.[/color]

Fortunately I won't need perfect photos, just adequate ones, so
available light, a tripod, and bracketing should do it, plus the way the
one-hour minilabs can get tolerable prints out of almost anything. And
if I'm not allowed to take photos at all, I'll manage.
[color=blue]
> One thing I'll say for CalTrans, they have been pretty good about
> getting repairs done when a disaster happens.[/color]

I drove from San Diego to San Jose about three months after the
Northridge quake of '94, and the detours weren't much slower than the
highways that were still closed.

I'm also impressed with how clearly they have both highway and city
streets marked. There's never doubt about which lane does what.
[color=blue]
> I mentioned we get a fair number of shows here. We've got two _good_
> theater critics who tend to attend shows unannounced and anonymously.
> Their reviews tend to be a bit more realistic.[/color]

I assume you get everything from first-class road companies to amateur
productions. There are unexpected surprises in all kinds. For several
years I was on the "Cast Recording" mailing list, and the members who
lived near NYC gave relatively unbiased comments on performances there.
[color=blue][color=green]
>> Both of those are the leading roles, so he must be pretty good.[/color]
>
> Remember, we're off Broadway - over a hundred miles off Broadway ;-)[/color]

I know, but by local standards they must be pretty good. There are
several roles I'd like to play, but usually they discriminate on the
basis of talent.
[color=blue][color=green]
>> Since the subject line is still "Broadcasting"... are you prepared for
>> the transition to digital TV broadcasting? I've seen either
>> TigerDirect or NewEgg selling converter boxes for $40.01. I still get
>> only 8 digital channels, 7.9 of them of no interest.[/color]
>
> There's the rub. The digital channels are not really that much better
> than the analog. It's still crap television.[/color]

Of course. However, picture quality is an improvement.
[color=blue]
> Actually, 7.9/8 means
> about 1.25% have (some) interest.[/color]

Of the 8, 6 are religious, one is all anime, and one is WRNN-TV, which
"broadcasts a schedule of mainly infomercials and home shopping from Rye
Brook, New York with four (4) hours of news programs weekdays, some
hourly one minute news updates, and enough children's programs to meet
FCC Educational / Informational (E/I) license requirements." Once the
community college's translator of the Schenectady PBS station goes
digital, there may be something worth watching. I just called them, and
they plan to go digital "sometime." Oh well.

Adam