rich-c: test
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changed username to George rich-c: hello George George: Hi Rich rich-c: got your new machine all partitioned and working now? George: i'm having a bad day rich-c: computer bad, weather bad, or body bad? George: my father is giving me grief beyond endurance and my computer is giving me fits rich-c: lets deal with the easy one first - what's with the computer? rich-c: and by the way, which computer are we talking about? George: my father said if I don't kill myself he will kill me rich-c: any particular reason or just on principle? George: he said i'm too much of a burden for everyone rich-c: let me guess - he caught you disobeying doctors orders George: i can't go food shopping on my own rich-c: is that because you cant be trusted to buy teh right types of groceries? George: no, the nearest store is too far for me to go to rich-c: OK, I know that feeling - I can't go to the store on foot, or take public transit George: he says i'm helpless rich-c: my hip will not allow me to walk any distance, and I can't risk standing or being jostled on the bus or subway rich-c: fortunately I have my car and can drive, and use disability parking George: my doctor won't let me drive rich-c: but if you have limitations, you have to think out ways to get around them rich-c: that's awkwrd - maybe you should look into an electric scooter? rich-c: or a bicycle or adult tricycle (which can carry a load of groceries easily) George: he says i can't take public transit either rich-c: why does your doctor not want you to take transit? George: i'm too prone to emergencies and too vounerable rich-c: vulnerable should not be an issue on public transit in daylight rich-c: you might have to restrict whre you get on and off, but should be OK George: here it is they shoot people on busses rich-c: oh, here they shoot each other in after-hours clubs - and teh odd bouncer and stuff George: i got mugged twice and the drivers are no help they just watch rich-c: generally our crooks mostly shoot each other and leave the rest alone rich-c: you mean your buses dont have distress signals and direct radio contact to dispatch? George: the drivers won't do anything to help or get involved rich-c: neither will ours - on the subway teh alarm strip stops the train with doors closed in teh next station and holds it there till the cops arrive rich-c: on a bus the driver activates a special flasher, radios central, and parks till the cruiser shows up George: they have the ability to contact police by radio but when i asked them too they refused rich-c: here we'd take teh badge number, report it to head office, and they'd be fired on the spot George: i did, here the union backs them up rich-c: oh - here the union would tell them they were not suitable members rich-c: of course if teh uniion fought, they know the newspapers would be all over them George: it's like a war zone here on public transit rich-c: we have people who would like that to happen here, but they get slapped down - hardd George: here the drivers are ripoff artist and get away with murder rich-c: obviously the city needs a cleanup - maybe you should see what Guiliani is doing these days George: he is out rich-c: that's the point - he's free to take on a new job in another city George: bloomberge is the mayor rich-c: yes and it will be interesting to see how he does - he hasnt started that well, I gather rich-c: by the way, that rampage you were telling us about produced a picture in the local papers here George: john street is going to have a big fight here rich-c: john street is the mayor of Philly? George: for reelection that is George: yes rich-c: well, if the city's going downhill, you should toss him rich-c: of course that means you need to have a better answer in the running rich-c: our mayor will not be running for reelection in November George: he said "the city is being run by the BROTHERS" rich-c: he served 25 years in North York and 9 years for all Toronto after amalgamation rich-c: is that a slap at the unions, the local Establishment, or organized crime? George: lot of people here said it was directed at whites rich-c: right - Philly is pretty well split racially these days, isnt it? George: yes rich-c: still, they had that sort of problem in D.C. and managed to get it under control George: how? rich-c: elected reasonably honest politicians who built up a corps of honest cops rich-c: remember the feds have a big say in DC government and Congressmen get upset when they're mugged on the steps of the Capitol George: they are talking about the racial divide in D.C. and the nation now on the news rich-c: it's hardly news, it's been there since before 1776 George: SUBJECT affirmative actiom George: action rich-c: yes, that is still a sore point down there, isnt it George: Bush wants to stop it rich-c: we have something similar, but it's based on language, French vs. English rich-c: more proof that he is unfit to be president George: We are not a nation of racists he says rich-c: he is a glib bastard well accustomed to twisting phrases rich-c: we had one like that here as premier of Ontario but he got so hated he had to resign rich-c: he called the bill to abolish rent controls "The tenant protection act" George: more of a reason to kill myself or defect rich-c: two problems: Shrub ain't worth killing yourself over, and whre would you defect to? George: sme where warm rich-c: what makes you think they'd take you in? Americans are not popular elsewhere George: who has to know? rich-c: to start with, the immigration officer at the airport/border rich-c: you dont go anywhere without a passport and most places require visas, too George: we are popular than iraq rich-c: Dubya is doing his best to change that, but I do think Saddam is still too much of a bastard for Shrub to catch him George: i thought you said Canada doesn't require one rich-c: true but Canada is not warm, and you can't stay forever George: and i would think Mexicans like the money rich-c: just for context, by the way - most Canadians hate the US government but a fond of the American people rich-c: the Mexicans treat gringos like US whites treat blacks, or usually worse George: the government is the people rich-c: you mean Geroge Bush is your kind of people? George: no he is Saddams people frick and frack rich-c: that's the point I was making earlier rich-c: so many Americans now hold Bush and his crinies in utter contempt - they do not say so but the reason they hate him is because he is at core un-American George: neither is right and always wrong rich-c: that is why I say he is ufit to be president - he does not understand who Americans are or what America is George: the U George: the UN won't do anything agains US and they must to make change rich-c: the UN has meaningless physical means of enforcing its rules, but huge moral power rich-c: by the way, however hugely desirable it would be to whack Saddam, it isnt strictly necessary George: they sent troops to the balkins it was effective rich-c: the troops that went into Kosovo went in as a NATO contingent rich-c: there was no formal UN backing but clear tqacit agreement rich-c: how eager do you think the US is for another Somalia? George: the US can't fight the whole world and we won't even fight North Korea rich-c: North Korea has nukes and doesnt have oil George: that's my point rich-c: but if the enemy is weak enough and there's lots of oil to be stolen... George: we won't make waves in China either rich-c: right - their nukes can reach North America (unlike Korea's) nad they have lots and lots of them George: india and pakistan can turn anytime also rich-c: yes, I am somewhat surprised the Pakistanis havent turned already rich-c: I think that like Russia and China they consider the US less dangerous than terrorists George: for now they won't bite the hand that feeds them rich-c: oh, there is a great deal more to it than that rich-c: including the fact that India and Pakistan are less than friendly neighbours George: oh, are Bush and Musharoff bed buddies? rich-c: Musharoff? George: from pakistan? rich-c: forget the name of their dictator but Musharoff it ain't George: it's close rich-c: in any case, Pakistan mostly hates the US almost as much as it hates India George: i thought you knew something that i didn't George: farn dingers rich-c: maybe I do: we do get more news of better quality here George: all i need is another stroke George: that will finnish me off rich-c: well, that will or will not happen - since there is nothing you can do about it, forget about it rich-c: "what can't be cured must be endured" - so bitching doesnt help rich-c: by the way, been meaning to ask - how is your weather this week? George: i can't get my computer to work right George: cold rich-c: what is it doing that is not right? George: 20 F rich-c: how do you define cold? rich-c: daytime high or nightime low? rich-c: like, we are about 20F this afternoon, but are looking at -3F overnight next few nights George: the hard drive keeps changing modes UDMA2, UDMA4, Udma5 rich-c: OK, I admit that that is surpassingly weird rich-c: far as I know Diect Memory Addressing is set hard in the BIOS George: our daytime high is 20F tonight it will be 0F rich-c: OK, you may now officially complain you are as cold as Canada George: the data keeps getting corrupted rich-c: and at the moment that is plenty cold rich-c: yes, if your memory addressing is getting shredded, the data are unlikely to survive rich-c: is there anything in your BIOS setup panels that might suggest why that is happening? George: the cmos bios always says udma5 but the post screen changes rich-c: but the POST operation should just read what's there - cant imagine why it would be reading it wrong rich-c: you arent trying to run partitions with the wrong file systems, are you? like FAT16 on too large a partition? George: i don't know which is the accurate one but the performance changes noticably George: no , FAT32 rich-c: and you are still using Win98SE, right? George: yes i tried to upgrade to windowsme but it couldn't read the the windows directory rich-c: you are not trying to use the LS120 drive as a bootable A, are you? George: noo, i took it off rich-c: everyone I talk to George, says that ME does not represent an upgrade, more a retreat rich-c: were you trying to use it as a bootable drive at any point? George: no, i just disconnected it rich-c: that might have thrown your drive lettering for a loop, then rich-c: when you connected it it should have bumped the CR drive down a notch rich-c: and when you pulled the plug, the CD would move back up George: no, because i fomated the hard drive and reinstalled windows after i took off the drive rich-c: hmmm - drive formatted and windows installed using the current configuration rich-c: that makes it even harder to guess at clues rich-c: did you do any fiddling with the memory and is it all there and working? George: my a: floppy is first c: harddrive is next and the cdrom drives are next the last was the ls-120 rich-c: that's as it should be with a removable drive rich-c: on my desktop the LS120 comes before the CDROM drive but that's because it's internal and fized rich-c: on the laptop I got the 8 gig external drive I was talking about and it comes up as the last drive as it's removable George: there was no cmos to deal with because only windows sees it rich-c: that sounds strange to me, George, but I haven't reviewed a CMOS with a removable drive in place George: mine has a ls-120 option rich-c: by the way, I also upgraded my laptop modem to 56K rich-c: you mean in the boot sequence? doubt it would be available if the drive is removable George: as well as scsi and network raid and so forth rich-c: mine doesnt have a SCSI card though a slot is available, but I do have raid o and 1 mode connectors George: it also allows bootable cdroms rich-c: I have a real old SCSI 1 card that supports mirroring, raid 0, and all sorts of neat stuff if I want it rich-c: yes, my boot sequence is a-c-cdrom George: i used it to boot my redhat linux cdrom rich-c: I havent installed linux yet, though I have the Corel disc and a CD of Star Office rich-c: by the way, Michael Robertson is really sticking it to Bill Gates now with Lindows George: you can also press the escape key before the post and it allows you to select boot drive from a list for more flexability rich-c: havent tried that trick yet, but must keep it in mind rich-c: anyway, Lindows has a new eductional package George: i don't know if its specific to the asus motherboard rich-c: right - everyone uses the "same" BIOS nominally but I think every board maker has its customizations George: it is nice rich-c: anyway a Lindows site licence is now $500/yr - no matter how many computers you put it on rich-c: and it includes an office suite, likely Open Office (the continuation of Star Office) rich-c: now that's the way to establish your user base in one big fat hurry George: the bios has boot menu next to save and exit rich-c: havent been into mine for so long I've forgotten what's there rich-c: touch wood, but for some reason my version of 98SE seems to be reasonably stable George: i had to download a fdisk patch for win98 for my 80gb. drive rich-c: anyway, before you "upgrade" to ME go to langa.com and read teh Langalist newsletter archive about ME rich-c: don't know what the size limitations and workarounds are when you get up to that size, George rich-c: at the moment I am using all of 3 gigs out of 40 rich-c: still, good thing you got the patch with 98SE support being discontinued June 30 George: if you get to over 100 gb. the give you a special pci card and you have to use the overlay software rich-c: sounds like more trouble than its worth - but then I doubt I could ever use that much space rich-c: if I did need it I could add a second physical disc and use the striping mode in raid George: i can't believe i'm up to 80 gb rich-c: it's semi-standardd in the kilobuck package these days, it seems rich-c: you'll notice computer prices never change; what's offered at the price does George: and what about the older machines? rich-c: at the retail level they are simply discontinued - the prices drop of course at the secondhand shops rich-c: like someone in the paper today is offering Pentium desktops from $39 up George: there are people here trying to put windowsxp on 486's rich-c: not enough memory George: no bandwidth George: you need at least a pentium 300 rich-c: shop where I bought the harddisc offers a PII-350 - 64mb-10gb-17" monior for $269 George: and windowsxp wants at least 128mb of ram rich-c: without the monitor, a PII-400 128mb - 6 gb - cd - network card is $199 rich-c: but as you know I am very much opposed to XP anyway George: thats why the going computer has 512mb of ram rich-c: well, I'm sneaking by with 256 mb on 98SE but was down to 17 free yesterday George: thats all the new compters have George: brand new rich-c: that's an enrichment to justify the price, like I mentioned before rich-c: they never chage teh price, just upgrade the content George: they have to rich-c: well no, they could drop the price and stick with the same content rich-c: actually there are independent "white box" shops that do that George: this stuff doesn't run on the machines of last year rich-c: they will sell you a new minimal computer for about $400 rich-c: I havent read the requirements on the XP box rich-c: but there is a big difference between what it will run on and what it will run on well George: half of the hardward on my new won't run on anything less than windowsme rich-c: I doubt that, George, though you may have to go looking for drivers George: hardware on my new computer rich-c: MS wants to sell you XP, they arent going to provide new drivers in 95, 98, even ME George: and it will tell you if you try to install anyting else rich-c: but some of the independent websites or manufacturers will likely have them rich-c: frankly, I can't think of any hardware on my computer that wouldnt work under Win 3.1 with teh right drivers George: what about usb 2.0 rich-c: sorry - FAT16 would put a limit on the size of hard drive! George: see rich-c: I just got a PCMCIA card with two USB 2.0 ports for my laptop, which is a P166MMX on Win98SE rich-c: and that by the way is an upgrade from the Win95 on it when I bought it rich-c: but with teh driver supplied with the card, the ports work just fine George: didn't say you had a problem with it rich-c: now Frances can download pictures from her digital camera to the removable hard disc to her heart's content rich-c: and neither the ports nor the disc space wre there when the laptop was built rich-c: hey! have you looked at the time lately? George: i recall sending an email from microsoft saying they don't support it rich-c: so MS arent going to write the driver - doesnt mean someone else cant - especially a manufacturer who wants to sell to ALL users rich-c: I also have a 2.0 driver from VIA for my desktop, just can't get teh damn thing to install rich-c: but that is a story for another day rich-c: time that we closed down now - will you be on Wednesday? George: but if you encounter problems with the operating system and other apps don't go to microsoft rich-c: right George: i think so rich-c: OK, I will look for you then - night now George: see you Wed. bye rich-c: bye
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George left chat session
moved to room Meeting Place
left chat session
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changed username to Daniel B.
Daniel B. moved to room not at my desk
Daniel B. moved to room Meeting Place
Daniel B. moved to room not at my desk
Daniel B. moved to room Meeting Place
Daniel B. moved to room not at my desk
moved to room Meeting Place
changed username to Scott