From borgholio at storymind.com Fri Jan 1 00:48:57 2010 From: borgholio at storymind.com (Borgholio) Date: Fri Jan 1 00:50:08 2010 Subject: [Scsocial] Re: Question In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: Frog Prince wrote: > If a polar bear walks on four legs... what does an bipolar bear walk on? > > Eggshells? From MikeE at ster.invalid Fri Jan 1 10:05:31 2010 From: MikeE at ster.invalid (Mike Easter) Date: Fri Jan 1 10:10:08 2010 Subject: [Scsocial] Re: How can we deradicalize society? References: Message-ID: Charles wrote: > So the question is... How do we regain the > connection with our neighbors - how do we rebuild the cohesiveness of > society? Around here - my neighborhood - one would do that with/by expanding the activities and involvement with the Neighborhood Watch program which can be about a lot more than crime, and/but also neighbors watching out for others who might be infirm and preparation for local emergencies; and with the Homeowners Association which tends to tie the community together organizationally. If your neighborhood has a different structure, then you look into the resources of similar entities in your own area. If you mean politically, then that is another matter. -- Mike Easter kibitzer, not SC admin From nobody at spamcop.net Fri Jan 1 18:43:50 2010 From: nobody at spamcop.net (Indigo) Date: Fri Jan 1 18:45:08 2010 Subject: [Scsocial] Re: Small things In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: "Sylvesterthekat" wrote in message news:Xns9CF37402B581Bsylvesterthekat@216.154.195.61... > "Indigo" wrote in > news:hhh0lr$f52$1@news.spamcop.net: > >> But the parties are all over now for me, already lost 3 lbs since >> Sunday. Want to know why/how I did it? By spending over 10 hours/day >> desperately trying to recover my PC from near-death, from Sunday thru >> yesterday. I finally had to give up and format/re-install Vista and >> the HP stuff. > > Why on EARTH do you have so many problems with your PC?! Maybe you should > change the OS since Vista seems to be giving you no end of grief. > Did you read all of my message? Another fscking winbloze update fried my MBR, the PC shut off right in the middle of the install. I've mostly recovered from the disaster now, although I've lost a lot of apps, mostly A/V editing and converting stuff I used to snag and edit MP3s and DVD files. For some really weird reason some of the software installation files I saved on my external HD (both zip files and .exe files) won't run or unzip -- instead of seeing the appropriate icon next to the app I get that blank "I don't know what this file is" icon. Because most of the install files have cryptic titles, I really don't know what they are unless I start to install them, and canceling an install can cause big problems sometimes. And since the fscking HP backup app I ran before starting over didn't save shite, I don't even know what I had installed, so I'm going on memory so far. Going to CNET.com snagged me over 15 apps I used to have, spent most of today downloading and installing them and others. It's weird, my desktop seems so.....empty! I know I'm missing at least 15-20 apps I used to have, guess I won't know which ones they are until I go to do something and discover I can't do it.......I've already re-installed enough real-time monitoring and backup stuff that my boot-up time went from about 30 seconds to just over a minute! But it's stuff I have to have running, like my printer ink cartridge monitor, special multimedia mouse and keyboard settings, backup apps, Yahoo Messenger, etc. I've stayed away from monkeying around with the MS services so far (happy now, Charles?), probably won't go there, ever. I know screwing with some of those settings slowly caused my performance and PC operations to degrade the more I changed things.....it's hard to stay away, cuz I know there are a bunch of services running that I don't need, slowing my start up speed and consuming memory.......*sigh*.....be strong, Indi....must.....resist.....temptations..... From nobody at spamcop.net Fri Jan 1 18:49:27 2010 From: nobody at spamcop.net (Indigo) Date: Fri Jan 1 18:55:07 2010 Subject: [Scsocial] Re: How can we deradicalize society? In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: "Charles" wrote in message news:Xns9CF35B760613CThisIsMyPost@216.154.195.61... > As time goes on people are breaking into smaller and smaller groups - we're > being defined by the internet groups we belong to. That's great in that it > gives people a chance to connect to those with the same interests. It > sucks in that there's nothing we share in common with our very neighbors. > So the question is... How do we regain the connection with our neighbors - > how do we rebuild the cohesiveness of society? Get rid of cable TV and the internet and Xboxen etc. Too late, that ship has sailed. From me at privacy.net Sat Jan 2 02:05:03 2010 From: me at privacy.net (Frog Prince) Date: Sat Jan 2 02:10:09 2010 Subject: [Scsocial] Re: Good interaction References: Message-ID: "Sylvesterthekat" wrote in message news:Xns9CF3E153EE8E6sylvesterthekat@216.154.195.61... > "Frog Prince" wrote in > news:hgg8bt$bl7$1@news.spamcop.net: > >> Depends on the screen. Most have small plastic tabs you can grab with >> finger or a pliers. When those break we use a putty knife. >> >> Need to keep your head about what you're doing as the screen frames >> can kink. >> >> If you know the manufacture you can go to their web site a get a how >> to. some even have vid. >> >> >> > > Thanks for the tips. Don't think there are any brand names on them but > I'll > check. I'm scared of breaking them by doing something wrong and we can't > be > without them in the warmer months. Look for a muf name and model on the frame as screens usually designed to match. Could be on the top or side of the window or the window sash., From me at privacy.net Sat Jan 2 02:07:01 2010 From: me at privacy.net (Frog Prince) Date: Sat Jan 2 02:10:09 2010 Subject: [Scsocial] Re: Cube fun References: Message-ID: "Sylvesterthekat" wrote in message news:Xns9CF3E437235D5sylvesterthekat@216.154.195.61... > "Mr K. Mean" wrote in > news:hgs3lv$nc7$1@news.spamcop.net: > >> Is the Shrub still an ass or you going to update yourself into the >> present? > > He's still an ass, we just don't have to put up with it any more. > Texas is still putting up with his sh|t from his first term a gov. From nobody at spamcop.net Sat Jan 2 16:02:13 2010 From: nobody at spamcop.net (Indigo) Date: Sat Jan 2 16:05:08 2010 Subject: [Scsocial] Re: Happy New Year! In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: "Sylvesterthekat" wrote in message news:Xns9CF3E6582DF2Asylvesterthekat@216.154.195.61... > and with that, i'm off! We already knew that, honey ;-) From me at privacy.net Sat Jan 2 16:18:05 2010 From: me at privacy.net (Frog Prince) Date: Sat Jan 2 16:20:07 2010 Subject: [Scsocial] Re: Happy New Year! References: Message-ID: "Indigo" wrote in message news:hhoca5$1vq$1@news.spamcop.net... "Sylvesterthekat" wrote in message news:Xns9CF3E6582DF2Asylvesterthekat@216.154.195.61... >> and with that, i'm off! >We already knew that, honey ;-) Ouch! I'm gussing but 1/2 bubble would be close. From nobody at spamcop.net Sat Jan 2 16:19:25 2010 From: nobody at spamcop.net (Indigo) Date: Sat Jan 2 16:25:07 2010 Subject: [Scsocial] Re: Oh......My.....God...... In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: "Sylvesterthekat" wrote in message news:Xns9CF3E23AFF71Csylvesterthekat@216.154.195.61... > > I believe *I* heard that you were about to get hammered with snow, they > were talking about it for at least a day so you must have been hiding under > a rock. My sister said the same thing.....guess I just don't pay enough attention to local news.... > >> To top it off, lucky me strained my left elbow and dislocated my left >> arm radius bone (again) doing laundry last Sunday > > What on EARTH were you washing that you managed to do that? I dislocated my > radius from my wrist once catching a 900cc motorcycle but that weighs a > hell of a lot more than a normal load of laundry! I washed my bed linens, and as usual the fitted sheet had managed to corrale most of my socks and underwear and T-shirts in it's corner pockets. It was bloody heavy! And because of my inactivity and disease issues my tendons have loosened and my muscles have weakened, so now they can't keep my joint bones in place when they're under heavy stress. I've dislocated bones in my wrists, arms, neck, hips, legs, and feet over the last couple years, which causes intense pain until one of my various therapists (either my chiropractor or acupuncturist, usually) can get the muscles around the bone(s) to relax enough to put the bone back into place (the muscles go into spasm to "lock" the bone(s) in place to prevent further injury). Trust me, you never want to feel what it's like to have your femur rotated! Sucks to be me, eh? Oh well, I know another Lymie who would saw off her right arm to be as "healthy" as I am..... > > That's astonishing that nobody in your 'hood has a garage... like wow. Do > some people have those car port things instead? What a pain to have to > scrape ice or snow before you drive to work. Ugh! In the back of my neighborhood, the last section to be built, they added garages to the houses. But in such a heavy snow they might as well live on Mars, they'd never be able to get to my house even if I knew anyone who lived back there. And I haven't driven on those back streets for years....it's like they're not even part of my world. From nobody at spamcop.net Sat Jan 2 16:23:41 2010 From: nobody at spamcop.net (Indigo) Date: Sat Jan 2 16:25:07 2010 Subject: [Scsocial] Re: Small things In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: "Sylvesterthekat" wrote in message news:Xns9CF3E0C08DC09sylvesterthekat@216.154.195.61... > > Yes I saw it. It just seems like you've had way more than your share of > problems with that computer. Did it start with Vista on it or did you > 'upgrade' it? I think I'd either go back to XP or get 7 and see if you > have > better luck with that. I've had my computer for 5 years now and it's had > XP > home on it the entire time. So far very few problems, touch wood! It came with Vista, and no CD, of course. Didn't have the choice to get XP, and I don't have an XP disk anyway. > > There's something awry with your line wrap, ie it isn't wrapping, since > you > reinstalled. I think I fixed it, the default setting was MIME printed quotable, just changed it to UUencode and that "turned on" the line wrap function, hopefully.....should now wrap at 76 characters. From MikeE at ster.invalid Sat Jan 2 17:59:16 2010 From: MikeE at ster.invalid (Mike Easter) Date: Sat Jan 2 18:00:08 2010 Subject: [Scsocial] Re: Oh......My.....God...... In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: "Indigo" Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable X-Newsreader: Microsoft Windows Mail 6.0.6000.16480 OE's QP is a bad choice for 'mixed company' of different newsreaders, whether the agent is OE or its progeny WM or WLM. You should resume your previous plaintext config of MIME encoding None instead of QP. WM/ Tools/ Options/ Send tab - News sending format - Plain text settings - MIME encodiing none (not QP). -- Mike Easter From nobody at spamcop.net Sat Jan 2 19:38:48 2010 From: nobody at spamcop.net (bar0) Date: Sat Jan 2 19:40:08 2010 Subject: [Scsocial] Re: Face not recognized References: Message-ID: "Charles" wrote in message news:Xns9CF4BFF59679ThisIsMyPost@216.154.195.61... > No way it was me! It was Sylvesterthekat ! >> Charles wrote in >> news:Xns9CF11AD34FD8EThisIsMyPost@216.154.195.61: >> >>> And my computer doesn't even know who I am anymore. Not a good place >>> to be. >> >> Are you referring to a certain brand of camera not recognizing 'black' >> faces? Methinks it's probably because there aren't all that many dark >> skinned people in Japan so they don't test them out sufficiently. > > Um. No? I'm talking about my Dell and it doesn't know who I am anymore. > My looks have hardly changed. Maybe a little stubble going and sunken > eyes, dark circles, hollow cheeks and all of that but people still > recognize me on the street. Dumb as many are they're smarter than your Dell. From user at domain.invalid Sat Jan 2 22:08:51 2010 From: user at domain.invalid (Farelf) Date: Sat Jan 2 22:10:09 2010 Subject: [Scsocial] Re: How can we deradicalize society? In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: Indigo wrote: > > > Get rid of cable TV and the internet and Xboxen etc. Too late, that ship has sailed. Interesting - everyone sort of assumes the internet alienates people from their neighbours/neighbors and I suppose it must, in the purely local sense in terms of hours taken from the day. But there are broader 'communities' and it facilitates contact within those. That can be seen as 'splintering' the population (or 'tribalisation'/'tribalization') and indeed that supports 'radicalisation'/'radicalization' as is evident in the deconstructions of the influences on notorious terrorists as offered up in recent times. Yet I recall a study (cited elsewhere and I can't find it right now) which pretty-well said that those inclined to socialise/socialize tended to socialise even more under the influence of the internet and some of those who weren't predisposed to be sociable/outgoing were more inclined towards socialisation through the networks too. I'm not sure if it mentioned whether there were yet others who became more withdrawn. The 'subjects' were college students (of a specific college) so no representative sample. And I can't recall the date but it is possible they weren't subjected from an early age to the internet experience in all its wonder as we know it today. One has to think "interaction without consequence" make a difference to said interactions. There's no substitute for being raised with the percussive behavioural/behavioral correction of face-to-face. But once alternative behavioural patterns are established face-to-face becomes ancillary, not primary (mobile/cell phone bullying and associated physical violence). But essentially there might be some surprises in terms of comparison between 'reality' (whatever that is) and the 'received wisdom'. Perhaps they (and Electronic/'computer' games) mostly broaden the boundaries/scope of normal behaviour and push the 'abnormal' out even further. The games - well they *have* to have changed something in the kids. Certainly the marksmanship and reflexes of the little mass-murderers from Columbine was impressive. No surprise, some of those games are tantamount to military training. Increasing urbanisation/urbanization required some armies to substantially revise their marksmanship courses during the 1960s (well, in Oz, certainly) and electronically-assisted simulations have been a further and more recent change. Finding young civilians with practised/practiced high-order skills is certainly contrary to the earlier trends. No, we sure can't go back to 'the way it was'. But the way it was wasn't that great at times either. I grew up in a time when many/most believed the end of the world was nigh (through nuclear holocaust). Yes, even in far-off Oz (blame "On the Beach" and a certain association with nuclear devices). And didn't that screw people up! Of course it still could end that way. That would certainly 'deradicalze' society (for a while). But the politicians are getting impatient - they've turned to global warming (or on the ostensibly human-caused component) as a way to demonstrate their fitness for leadership. I guess that has the potential to focus the greater part of the race on a common purpose. That might make a difference. Radicals can't stand being ignored/sidelined, I think, and extremism as an attention-getting device is not very survivable in the long run. History shows us that. We should all know more history. I can offer but a modicum of solace - here is a glimpse of a world more pure than ours - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dBWGQ-vLkII From borgholio at storymind.com Sun Jan 3 02:17:31 2010 From: borgholio at storymind.com (Borgholio) Date: Sun Jan 3 02:20:08 2010 Subject: [Scsocial] Re: Happy New Year! In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: Sylvesterthekat wrote: > Since nobody else has said it. Hard to believe it's 2010, a whole decade of > this century gone already.... > > and with that, i'm off! With all the fanfare of 2001 the Space Odyssey, I found that 2010 was more entertaining. So hopefully the year will work out the same. :) From nobody at spamcop.net Sun Jan 3 19:59:14 2010 From: nobody at spamcop.net (Indigo) Date: Sun Jan 3 20:00:08 2010 Subject: [Scsocial] Re: How can we deradicalize society? In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: "Farelf" wrote in message news:hhp1ns$chi$1@news.spamcop.net... > Indigo wrote: >> >> >> Get rid of cable TV and the internet and Xboxen etc. Too late, that ship >> has sailed. > > Interesting - everyone sort of assumes the internet alienates people from > their neighbours/neighbors and I suppose it must, in the purely local > sense in terms of hours taken from the day. But there are broader > 'communities' and it facilitates contact within those. That can be seen > as 'splintering' the population (or 'tribalisation'/'tribalization') and > indeed that supports 'radicalisation'/'radicalization' as is evident in > the deconstructions of the influences on notorious terrorists as offered > up in recent times. > > Yet I recall a study (cited elsewhere and I can't find it right now) > which pretty-well said that those inclined to socialise/socialize tended > to socialise even more under the influence of the internet and some of > those who weren't predisposed to be sociable/outgoing were more inclined > towards socialisation through the networks too. I'm not sure if it > mentioned whether there were yet others who became more withdrawn. Socialize more online or IRL? For many, the web interactions satisfy their needs for social connectivity to others, but most humans need visual and physical social activities to truly satisfy their needs. I'm a prime example of that -- mostly homebound because of my lyme disease, I treasure get togethers with family and friends that get me out into the "real world". > > The games - well they *have* to have changed something in the kids. > Certainly the marksmanship and reflexes of the little mass-murderers from > Columbine was impressive. No surprise, some of those games are tantamount > to military training. Increasing urbanisation/urbanization required some > armies to substantially revise their marksmanship courses during the 1960s > (well, in Oz, certainly) and electronically-assisted simulations have been > a further and more recent change. Finding young civilians with > practised/practiced high-order skills is certainly contrary to the earlier > trends. My biggest problem with kids and gaming is that for one, it replaces physical activity and leads to overweight and out of shape kids. When I grew up, WAY before the web and cable TV existed, we played outside from sunup to sundown. Kick the Can, kickball, whiffle ball, pickup basketball, baseball, football, or soccer, swimming in the local pool during the summer, whatever......we were always outside exercising and having fun while interacting with our neighborhood kids face to face. You learn how to deal with all kinds of social situations that way -- online, you are essentially invisible, and can pretend to be whomever or whatever you want without consequences, for the most part. > > No, we sure can't go back to 'the way it was'. But the way it was wasn't > that great at times either. I grew up in a time when many/most believed > the end of the world was nigh (through nuclear holocaust). Yes, even in > far-off Oz (blame "On the Beach" and a certain association with nuclear > devices). And didn't that screw people up! Of course it still could end > that way. That would certainly 'deradicalze' society (for a while). Sounds like you were raised in the 50's, as opposed to me, in the 60's. I personally know a couple of people that were traumatized by growing up in the "duck and cover" era of those times, and empathize with the emotional damage that the constant fear of nuclear destruction caused them to suffer. > > But the politicians are getting impatient - they've turned to global > warming (or on the ostensibly human-caused component) as a way to > demonstrate their fitness for leadership. I guess that has the potential > to focus the greater part of the race on a common purpose. That might make > a difference. Radicals can't stand being ignored/sidelined, I think, and > extremism as an attention-getting device is not very survivable in the > long run. History shows us that. We should all know more history. "Those who ignore history are doomed to repeat it". 'Nuff said. Shen-Zu's (sp?) rules of engagement still stand up to the test of time, after all. From nobody at spamcop.net Sun Jan 3 20:00:25 2010 From: nobody at spamcop.net (Indigo) Date: Sun Jan 3 20:05:07 2010 Subject: [Scsocial] Re: Oh......My.....God...... In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: "Mike Easter" wrote in message news:hhoj40$7dg$1@news.spamcop.net... > "Indigo" > Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable > X-Newsreader: Microsoft Windows Mail 6.0.6000.16480 > > OE's QP is a bad choice for 'mixed company' of different newsreaders, > whether the agent is OE or its progeny WM or WLM. > > You should resume your previous plaintext config of MIME encoding None > instead of QP. > > WM/ Tools/ Options/ Send tab - News sending format - Plain text settings - > MIME encodiing none (not QP). Are you saying that my posts are still not wrapping correctly? I'll make your suggested change in any case. From MikeE at ster.invalid Sun Jan 3 21:03:44 2010 From: MikeE at ster.invalid (Mike Easter) Date: Sun Jan 3 21:05:08 2010 Subject: [Scsocial] Re: After I pulled out all of the spoons In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: Charles wrote: > and knives all that was left were forks. I suppose that means that sporks, chopsticks, and/or tweezer/tongs were not part of the setup. Too bad. Of course you can always use your hands/fingers and slurp/lick the rest directly from the dish, bowl, or cup. Try to keep the noise down, tho'. -- Mike Easter From nobody at spamcop.net Sun Jan 3 21:13:05 2010 From: nobody at spamcop.net (Indigo) Date: Sun Jan 3 21:15:07 2010 Subject: [Scsocial] Re: Oh......My.....God...... In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: "Charles" wrote in message news:Xns9CF5D36C991CEThisIsMyPost@216.154.195.61... > No way it was me! It was "Indigo" ! > >> Are you saying that my posts are still not wrapping correctly? I'll make >> your suggested change in any case. > > This one wrapped! Kewl. From nobody at spamcop.net Sun Jan 3 22:41:04 2010 From: nobody at spamcop.net (Indigo) Date: Sun Jan 3 22:45:09 2010 Subject: [Scsocial] Semi-rhetorical moral question Message-ID: This year, as usual, I played in an NFL "Survivor" pool, where you have to pick a winner each weekend, and once you use a team you can't use them again. For the first time ever, not only did I make it to then end, but so did 8 other people. That means each one of us "wins" $220, minus our $50 entry fees ($25/entry, most people enter two picks). My friend that runs the pool, a PITA job, has been unemployed for nearly two years and is now paying his bills mostly with his credit cards. Me and another friend who made it to the end wanted to let him keep our winnings and just refund our entry fees. I suggested that the guy who runs the website that keeps track of the pool email all the other winners and suggest that they do the same. After all, for most of the winners, winning $175 is a drop in the bucket (for instance, for me, that's just one month's internet/cable bill). But for my out of work friend, a pot of ~ $1500 would be huge. However, after emailing the website owner about my suggestion, he responded that it would be an insult to my friend to "donate" our winnings to him, and we should instead give him a 20% "tip" for his time involved in running the pool. I'm not really happy about doing that, because my friend is in desperate financial straits.....but I also don't want to insult him with charity that he probably wouldn't accept. During my 3 year fight with Lyme disease, I've had to overcome my "I'll do it myself, I don't need your help" attitude, but I'll admit it took a long time to realize that I needed others to help me out at times. I basically had to swallow my pride and accept assistance when faced with situations I knew I couldn't deal with on my own, although I haven't needed financial support so far. So my attempt to help out a great friend in severe financial trouble is going to be blocked by the male ego......and I'm not sure how to handle it.......I feel like crap taking my puny winnings from him.....but he probably wouldn't accept the money anyway......I guess I'm just rambling, since there doesn't appear to be any graceful way to help him out in a time of need on his part.....what would the rest of you do if you were in my position? From user at domain.invalid Mon Jan 4 00:18:03 2010 From: user at domain.invalid (Farelf) Date: Mon Jan 4 00:20:09 2010 Subject: [Scsocial] Re: How can we deradicalize society? In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: Indigo wrote: >... (fairly-much in agreement). > > "Those who ignore history are doomed to repeat it". 'Nuff said. Shen-Zu's > (sp?) rules of engagement still stand up to the test of time, after all. > > The one some call Sun Tzu? (but I wouldn't be too didactic about the spelling). Pretty much the whole of his (surviving) writings could be regarded in some sense as 'rules of engagement' but probably the most famous now is "know your enemy", rendered in full something like: "If you know the enemy and know yourself, you need not fear the result of a hundred battles. If you know yourself but not the enemy, for every victory gained you will also suffer a defeat. If you know neither the enemy nor yourself, you will succumb in every battle." An ancient Chinese commentator (Chang Yu, arguably the most lucid to our way of thinking) explains it, "Knowing the enemy enables you to take the offensive, knowing yourself enables you to stand on the defensive. He adds: 'Attack is the secret of defence; defence is the planning of an attack.'" - the added bit is not at all mystical though it might at first appear to be so (or it did to me). In my own 'shorthand' I would call it "battlefield empathy" which is something like predator-prey empathy, you have to know/guess (in theory) how the opposing side acts and reacts. But I don't think that is precisely scalable to all levels - "the chaos of war" and "no battle plan survives first contact" and all that. But generals have to know/pretend otherwise (and cherry-picking Sun Tzu might overlook the more fundamental way-points preceding such an exalted over-view). Anyway, I'm not sure precisely how that ties into the discussion or even if that is what you meant. As long as there is contest there is the potential for radical opposition (and thence, perhaps, the so-called "new kind of war" which is actually, of course, the oldest kind of war - "tribal" survival). But an opposition can be crushed and its ideas survive. Generals don't worry about that - their time-scales are very short. Do yourself a favour, look at the vid in my previous post. I love it. Well, I'm warped but evidently I'm not the only one. If everyone was as warped I bet we'd have no problems. There again, I can think of nothing worse that a whole world full of people just like me (or just like anyone in particular - though I might admit to a taxonomy of diminishing dreadfulness :)). A world without (radical) conflict? That would be a perfect world. I wish there was a way. From user at domain.invalid Mon Jan 4 00:28:43 2010 From: user at domain.invalid (Farelf) Date: Mon Jan 4 00:30:07 2010 Subject: [Scsocial] Re: After I pulled out all of the spoons In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: Charles wrote: > and knives all that was left were forks. Just don't go near the third drawer - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xpnxedNxK3o From me at privacy.net Mon Jan 4 10:26:03 2010 From: me at privacy.net (Frog Prince) Date: Mon Jan 4 10:30:08 2010 Subject: [Scsocial] Re: Semi-rhetorical moral question References: Message-ID: "Indigo" wrote in message news:hhro20$b31$1@news.spamcop.net... > This year, as usual, I played in an NFL "Survivor" pool, where you have to > pick a winner each weekend, and once you use a team you can't use them > again. For the first time ever, not only did I make it to then end, but so > did 8 other people. That means each one of us "wins" $220, minus our $50 > entry fees ($25/entry, most people enter two picks). > > My friend that runs the pool, a PITA job, has been unemployed for nearly > two years and is now paying his bills mostly with his credit cards. Me and > another friend who made it to the end wanted to let him keep our winnings > and just refund our entry fees. I suggested that the guy who runs the > website that keeps track of the pool email all the other winners and > suggest that they do the same. After all, for most of the winners, winning > $175 is a drop in the bucket (for instance, for me, that's just one > month's internet/cable bill). > > But for my out of work friend, a pot of ~ $1500 would be huge. However, > after emailing the website owner about my suggestion, he responded that it > would be an insult to my friend to "donate" our winnings to him, and we > should instead give him a 20% "tip" for his time involved in running the > pool. > > I'm not really happy about doing that, because my friend is in desperate > financial straits.....but I also don't want to insult him with charity > that he probably wouldn't accept. During my 3 year fight with Lyme > disease, I've had to overcome my "I'll do it myself, I don't need your > help" attitude, but I'll admit it took a long time to realize that I > needed others to help me out at times. I basically had to swallow my pride > and accept assistance when faced with situations I knew I couldn't deal > with on my own, although I haven't needed financial support so far. > > So my attempt to help out a great friend in severe financial trouble is > going to be blocked by the male ego......and I'm not sure how to handle > it.......I feel like crap taking my puny winnings from him.....but he > probably wouldn't accept the money anyway......I guess I'm just rambling, > since there doesn't appear to be any graceful way to help him out in a > time of need on his part.....what would the rest of you do if you were in > my position? Indy, man up and go for the donation. You've my back channel send me an address (yours or his) and I'll put a small bit in the mail myself. There will come a time when your friend can "make it up" to the next in line. When my dad died I cannot tell you how many of his friends came up to me with quite stories of his paying their power bill, showing up with a box of food or just handing them money. His only request was to not mention the gift and to pass it on. Many times it was obvious he was near as tight as they, with the exception he had an income. From user at domain.invalid Mon Jan 4 10:56:13 2010 From: user at domain.invalid (Farelf) Date: Mon Jan 4 11:00:07 2010 Subject: [Scsocial] Re: After I pulled out all of the spoons In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: Charles wrote: > It wasn't me! It was Farelf! > >> Just don't go near the third drawer > > There is no third drawer! All the more reason. From MikeE at ster.invalid Mon Jan 4 10:57:14 2010 From: MikeE at ster.invalid (Mike Easter) Date: Mon Jan 4 11:00:08 2010 Subject: [Scsocial] Re: After I pulled out all of the spoons References: Message-ID: Charles wrote: > Mike Easter >> I suppose that means that sporks, chopsticks, and/or tweezer/tongs were >> not part of the setup. > > I was emptying the dishwasher. < d r i f t i n g off dishwasher emptying > When I am washing dishes only for myself, I prefer to not use the dishwasher, opting instead for a doublesink (type of) method. When friends who prefer to use the dishwasher under similar circumstances question my style, of the several reasons I give them for my preference is that I don't like to load and unload dishwashers. The other reasons are that my method is faster, quieter, and uses a hell of a lot less water. -- Mike Easter kibitzer, not SC admin From MikeE at ster.invalid Mon Jan 4 11:33:32 2010 From: MikeE at ster.invalid (Mike Easter) Date: Mon Jan 4 11:35:08 2010 Subject: [Scsocial] Re: After I pulled out all of the spoons In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: Charles wrote: > "Mike Easter" > >> The other reasons are that my method is faster, quieter, and uses a hell >> of a lot less water. > > Not according to the dw manufacturers. The manufacturers (who would say that) don't know how water efficient I am about washing dishes. For example, (in my system) the previous rinse water is retained and reused for the next washing phase. > At least, if you buy one of the new > fancy ones. They supposedly, well, are very clever. You don't rinse your > dishes before putting them in - the machine just takes care of things. A lot of people waste a lot of water 'pre-rinsing' dishes. They should use less running water out of the tap, and instead use some soap and old dishwashing water instead of so much clean running water. Typically my rinsed dishes look sorta clean while they are resting before I wash them. -- Mike Easter From nobody at spamcop.net Mon Jan 4 14:20:06 2010 From: nobody at spamcop.net (bar0) Date: Mon Jan 4 14:20:08 2010 Subject: [Scsocial] Re: fscking DVR's In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: "Sylvesterthekat" wrote in message news:Xns9CF3E5A919460sylvesterthekat@216.154.195.61... > "Joe Gill" wrote in > news:hhdmku$8oj$1@news.spamcop.net: > > >> I have DISH >> What I have done, due to football and golf, is extend events 90 >> minutes past end time, with and 'override' >> What I have done for duplicates is to do a 'manual' recording by >> channel and time! >> >> > > Our new bloody DVR doesn't have an option to manually record things. It's > absolutely ridiculous. If Time Warner doesn't sort out their issues with > Fox then I'm getting Uverse, this is the last straw. I don't touch anything to do with Rupert Murdoch. From MikeE at ster.invalid Mon Jan 4 14:24:14 2010 From: MikeE at ster.invalid (Mike Easter) Date: Mon Jan 4 14:25:07 2010 Subject: [Scsocial] Re: After I pulled out all of the spoons In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: Sylvesterthekat wrote: > Mike Easter > >> The manufacturers (who would say that) don't know how water efficient >> I am about washing dishes. For example, (in my system) the previous >> rinse water is retained and reused for the next washing phase. > > You wash dishes with cold water? No. The old clean rinse water is cold, but that makes up only half the water that is used for the washing. Prior to dishwashing, I heat a teakettle full of water on top of the gas burner stove; whereas the dishwasher uses electricity to heat its water above the temperature of its incoming tap water. Thus what was old cold clean rinse water has the following ingredients: a tiny little bit of chlorox which was added to the rinse water after rinsing and prior to 'stowing', the dishwashing soap which is preconfigured by my diluting stock dishwashing liquid soap about 8 times to make a handy 'squirtable' dosing, and the new clean boiling water which is added to bring the dishwash water temperature up to my pleasing. I enjoy washing cleanish dishes in warm soapy sanitized water. I don't enjoy loading and unloading a dishwasher, nor listening to a 15 y/o dishwasher wash dishes. -- Mike Easter From MikeE at ster.invalid Mon Jan 4 14:40:41 2010 From: MikeE at ster.invalid (Mike Easter) Date: Mon Jan 4 14:45:08 2010 Subject: [Scsocial] Re: After I pulled out all of the spoons In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: Sylvesterthekat wrote: > "Mike Easter" > since you already have a dishwasher and can't > take the manufacturing of it into account, it might be better to not do > the dishes until it's full, rather than hand washing them. And don't use > heated dry! The stash dishes in the dishwasher until full is the way my bachelor and bachelorette friends do it - typically do it. Actually, that's the way they say they do it. In 2 that come to mind because they visit me, they are both prone to pile dishes in the sink, which dishes in the sink is a condition which 'annoys' me. In my system, the dishes which would otherwise be piled in the sink inadequately rinsed, are instead rinsed with a little bit of diluted soap and some old dishwater and a dishwashing brush and then 'rinsed' (of the excess soapsuds) by passing thru' the old dishwater and then they can be piled on the counter which is next to the old dishwater. Those are the accumulating dishes for washing - to be washed - that look clean. They can also be stacked. I don't like stacking (genuinely) dirty dishes, like you would when you gather up a lot of plates off the table. (Yet/And/But I understand that/how sometimes these things have to be done that way.) When you stack dirty dishes, now the (prewash) rinsing has to rinse top and bottom, whereas prior to stacking, the rinsing only had to rinse the top. :-) we are delving into some of the nuances of this dishwashing business that makes my friends crazy :-/ -- Mike Easter From MikeE at ster.invalid Mon Jan 4 14:58:19 2010 From: MikeE at ster.invalid (Mike Easter) Date: Mon Jan 4 15:00:07 2010 Subject: [Scsocial] Re: go to google today (1/4) References: Message-ID: Sylvesterthekat wrote: > http://www.google.com/ > > hover your mouse over it That Newton. I get into arguments with a friend about Newton. In my world of science, such things as calculus and differential equations are important and fundamental, as well as Newtonian gravity. And, if I am trying to explain something like gravity to someone else, newtonian physics works a lot better for me. So, I am a Newtonian and quite happy with being so. Somehow my friend learned his layman science from such people as the books by Michio Kaku and others, so he is an Einsteinian who deprecates Newton's gravity. I concede there is a little bit of a philosophical problem about gravity pulling on something instead of warped spacetime making the force, but I can deal with that. When the Einsteinians draw their illustrative pictures, the pictures still 'draw'/influence the viewer of the illustrations into perceiving the 'weight' of gravity on the objects in the cosmos. That is, gravitation being due to general relativity is (just) an unsatisfactory/incomplete theory in my book. I'm still looking for a better explanation that can embrace all of the observations; so until a better satisfactory theory comes along, I'm going to keep 'thinking' in terms of Newton's Universal 'Law' of Gravitation - except for those situations in which it doesn't work right, and then general relativity explanations have to be employed until something better comes along. -- Mike Easter kibitzer, not SC admin From borgholio at storymind.com Mon Jan 4 15:21:43 2010 From: borgholio at storymind.com (Borgholio) Date: Mon Jan 4 15:25:08 2010 Subject: [Scsocial] Re: Happy New Year! In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: Sylvesterthekat wrote: > Borgholio wrote in > news:hhpg9o$edv$1@news.spamcop.net: > >> With all the fanfare of 2001 the Space Odyssey, I found that 2010 was >> more entertaining. So hopefully the year will work out the same. :) >> > > I can't even remember 2010. Guess he was being a bit optimistic about space > travel in his novels... they were in deep space right, not just orbit > around earth? In 2001 they visit Jupiter and Dave Bowman goes into the Monolith. In 2010, they go back to see what happened and they find out aliens are terraforming Jupiter and Europa for a new civilization to evolve there, the way they did on Earth with Humans. So it's a bit less scary and more upbeat than 2001. From kenbrody at spamcop.net Mon Jan 4 17:15:45 2010 From: kenbrody at spamcop.net (Kenneth Brody) Date: Mon Jan 4 17:20:09 2010 Subject: [Scsocial] Re: go to google today (1/4) In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: On 1/4/2010 1:52 PM, Sylvesterthekat wrote: > http://www.google.com/ > > hover your mouse over it But, you have to remember: Gravity... It's "just a theory". -- Kenneth Brody From MikeE at ster.invalid Mon Jan 4 17:30:22 2010 From: MikeE at ster.invalid (Mike Easter) Date: Mon Jan 4 17:35:08 2010 Subject: [Scsocial] Re: go to google today (1/4) References: Message-ID: Kenneth Brody wrote: > Sylvesterthekat wrote: >> http://www.google.com/ >> >> hover your mouse over it > > But, you have to remember: > > Gravity... It's "just a theory". Exactly. And a song. Actually quite a few different songs. -- Mike Easter kibitzer, not SC admin From kenbrody at spamcop.net Mon Jan 4 17:30:40 2010 From: kenbrody at spamcop.net (Kenneth Brody) Date: Mon Jan 4 17:35:09 2010 Subject: [Scsocial] Re: Space shot In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: On 12/28/2009 9:34 AM, Charles wrote: > Time to get a smart phone - I can't remember anything anymore. Scary. That's because your brain is full of all sorts of stuff learned during childhood, which are now in non-erasable storage. You know, things like the lyrics to the "Brady Bunch" theme song, or the Oscar Mayer jingle that starts "My bologna has a first name", or even your home phone number from the place you haven't lived since 1970. -- Kenneth Brody From dfmanno at mail.com Mon Jan 4 18:32:47 2010 From: dfmanno at mail.com (D.F. Manno) Date: Mon Jan 4 18:35:08 2010 Subject: [Scsocial] Re: go to google today (1/4) References: Message-ID: In article , Sylvesterthekat wrote: > http://www.google.com/ > > hover your mouse over it Also, leave the search box empty and click "I'm Feeling Lucky." -- D.F. Manno | dfmanno@mail.com And if there were a God, I think it very unlikely that He would have such an uneasy vanity as to be offended by those who doubt His existence. (Bertrand Russell) From dfmanno at mail.com Mon Jan 4 18:35:16 2010 From: dfmanno at mail.com (D.F. Manno) Date: Mon Jan 4 18:40:07 2010 Subject: [Scsocial] Re: Cube fun References: Message-ID: In article , Sylvesterthekat wrote: > And how long ago was that? more than 10 years? I dread to think how long > it'll take the nation to recover from his efforts. How's "forever" sound? Torture and the apologists for it have left an indelible stain on our country. -- D.F. Manno | dfmanno@mail.com And if there were a God, I think it very unlikely that He would have such an uneasy vanity as to be offended by those who doubt His existence. (Bertrand Russell) From nobody at spamcop.net Mon Jan 4 18:56:55 2010 From: nobody at spamcop.net (Heidi) Date: Mon Jan 4 19:00:08 2010 Subject: [Scsocial] Re: After I pulled out all of the spoons References: Message-ID: "Sylvesterthekat" wrote in message news:Xns9CF6724CAF699sylvesterthekat@216.154.195.61... > > When I was here on my own for a week I only had to run the dishwasher > twice whereas it's a mostly daily thing with hubby around. Goes to show > who uses the bulk of the dishes! I don't mind loading it, but unloading > is for some reason very tedious. Have you ever noticed that *everything* revolves around emptying the dishwasher? Need dishes? Need to clean? Need to cook? Everything you need or want or need to put in the dishwasher has to wait until you EMPTY the dishwasher. Uncanny.... From MikeE at ster.invalid Mon Jan 4 19:02:52 2010 From: MikeE at ster.invalid (Mike Easter) Date: Mon Jan 4 19:05:08 2010 Subject: [Scsocial] Re: After I pulled out all of the spoons References: Message-ID: Heidi wrote: > "Sylvesterthekat" >> When I was here on my own for a week I only had to run the dishwasher >> twice whereas it's a mostly daily thing with hubby around. Goes to show >> who uses the bulk of the dishes! I don't mind loading it, but unloading >> is for some reason very tedious. > > Have you ever noticed that *everything* revolves around emptying the > dishwasher? Need dishes? Need to clean? Need to cook? Everything you > need or want or need to put in the dishwasher has to wait until you > EMPTY the dishwasher. Uncanny.... Maybe we should stamp out household slavery. Slavery to the TV set; slavery to the dishwasher. The typical household and its inhabitants treat the TV set as if it were a god -- occupying a prominent place in the main room and its little godlets' minorgods' tentacles reaching into other rooms -- wherever people go to fixate on its power. You are describing the dishwasher's somewhat similar power in kitchen activities. Or, maybe the dishwasher is the DEVIL. -- Mike Easter kibitzer, not SC admin From user at domain.invalid Mon Jan 4 19:11:05 2010 From: user at domain.invalid (Farelf) Date: Mon Jan 4 19:15:09 2010 Subject: [Scsocial] Re: After I pulled out all of the spoons In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: Charles wrote: > > "Allez - go! Go! (C'est le grand incendie.)" c'est pas le moment From user at domain.invalid Mon Jan 4 20:17:21 2010 From: user at domain.invalid (Farelf) Date: Mon Jan 4 20:20:07 2010 Subject: [Scsocial] Re: After I pulled out all of the spoons In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: Charles wrote: > No way it was me! It was Farelf! >> Charles wrote: > >>> "Allez - go! Go! (C'est le grand incendie.)" >> >> c'est pas le moment > > Well, whatever. But it was playing on jango. Il y a le feu partout. NYC > Iroquois qui deboule maintenant. Etc. Yes, yes, I was saluting your perspicacity. But it is not yet time to go. Hereabouts we have the most dangerous bushfire/wildfire season in decades. They've decided on a new warning level above "extreme". Catastrophic. We used not to have that - but too many people were trying to save their houses and just getting dead, so I guess they decided to emulate "elsewheres" and make it a little more adamant. The fires are the same. But it (catastrophic) hasn't been issued for my little patch yet. We'll be needing sappeurs pompier when they do. I used to be a sapper, but not one of those. But if they need any bridges built (or blown up) I guess I could help with that. Why do the Hispanics call their firefighting water tenders/pumps and those who man them 'bomberos'? Very confusing for an old sapper. From user at domain.invalid Mon Jan 4 21:09:17 2010 From: user at domain.invalid (Farelf) Date: Mon Jan 4 21:10:08 2010 Subject: [Scsocial] Re: How can we deradicalize society? In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: Charles wrote: > That was the point of the woman on talk of the nation today. She was > talking about the obits online for the NYT (specifically) and people in > general. They feel like they can say/write things that were unheard of > previously just because, well, just because of what? Because it's someone > from a different political party? It was interesting and disturbing. People are writing scandalous/venomous things about the recently dead in the NYT online obituaries? What new depths of depravity are being plumbed there? The death of an enemy was once sufficient (in civilised/civilized society). I keep coming back to 'tribal'. It is tribal behaviour/behavior, well documented, to 'disrespect' the dead - pull the rotting corpse from the grave and commit outrages upon it. It sounds (metaphorically)the same. It might come back to religious conviction. You could afford to be gracious when you were convinced dead enemies were facing their maker and answering to a 'higher jurisdiction' in the matter of their undoubted sins. But maybe not (recalling the disinterment and abuse of Oliver Cromwell and many, many others in ostensibly more pious ages). Ah, the wickedness of man (or as a certain celebrity of these parts would sorrowfully, sonorously ask in his set-piece, "Why are people so unkind?"). It takes the merest unshackling of convention/control for the baser type of person to forcibly remind us of their odious presence. I guess (am sure) they were always there. The internet gives them a very public voice and their example somehow emboldens all others of their ilk. Aaagh --- like Linus, I love humanity, it's *people* I can't stand. Or perhaps it was vice-versa. From nobody at spamcop.net Mon Jan 4 21:48:35 2010 From: nobody at spamcop.net (Heidi) Date: Mon Jan 4 21:50:08 2010 Subject: [Scsocial] Re: Which smartphone? References: Message-ID: "Charles" wrote in message news:Xns9CF6D463A2E5DThisIsMyPost@216.154.195.61... > One of our guys bought a Droid. He says he wishes he'd bought an iphone. > "The OS of the iphone is just so much better than anything else out > there." But I don't like the virtual keyboard. I like the keyboard on > the > Samsung Moment (I've tried a lot of these things). In fact, of all of the > phones I've looked at (a lot of them) it's the only one I could actually > use. But... But the guy in the Sprint store said that they are > noticeably > slow. Well, shucks. I don't want something that's slow! Pauses when you > type? Wha? In this day and age? Get out of here! > > Anyway... I want something nice and easy to use. My primary use of the > device will be having a notebook/calendar on me at all times. I don't > want > to have multiple things/devices/whatever on me. Right now I have a throw- > away phone and 4 notebooks. I usually have the phone with me but rarely > use it. I rarely have the notebooks with me but when I do I always use > them. > > Wifi would be nice. Free tethering would be nice. Gotta sync to outlook, > man. And having a good interface is nice, too. > > Thoughts? I was just reading an article on ten things not to buy in 2010 - some of those being smart phones "also rans" they say that Blackberries have the biggest market share, I-phone second, and the people who build apps won't be building them for the phones that don't hold a big market share. http://www.smartmoney.com/spending/budgeting/10-things-not-to-buy-in-2010/ From user at domain.invalid Tue Jan 5 00:56:22 2010 From: user at domain.invalid (Farelf) Date: Tue Jan 5 01:00:08 2010 Subject: [Scsocial] Re: How can we deradicalize society? In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: Charles wrote: ... > > Cruelty in obituary comments. > > A blog (sigh) on the subject. > > Thanks - wow - I see. 'Politics' and trolls and 'cowardly anonymous rock throwers' and maybe some actual sociopaths. Thank goodness we don't have to read everything on the internet. But yeah, the 'political' ones, they're the ones who complain when their posts are 'censored'. Freedom of speech/expression. Right. Of course you can march in your hobnailed boots into a stranger's lounge/living room (or their synagogue/church/mosque)and break wind, not only audibly but with vehemence. It's been done. Nothing is forbidden when 'right' is on your side. Just ask the Schutzstaffel (SS). Oh, wait, they're fascists, that's different. And I'm not sure if they are/were particularly flatulent - but they were very certain about their right to do everything they did. Ptah, a murrain on all their flocks. We need more empathy, that's about all that is special about humanity yet we turn our backs on it. Our only salvation will be if there's an iPhone app for it (moderately-priced or free). From borgholio at storymind.com Tue Jan 5 04:12:51 2010 From: borgholio at storymind.com (Borgholio) Date: Tue Jan 5 04:15:08 2010 Subject: [Scsocial] Prozac? My doc thinks so...I'm not so sure. Message-ID: Well long story short I've been struggling with OCD for years and finally got sick of it. Went to a therapist twice (one more session left) and one of her suggestions is to see a psychiatrist, just to see if medication is an option. So after about a half hour discussion he suggests Prozac. Prozac stabilizes the seratonin levels in the brain thereby helping with depression, but also it works amazingly well vs OCD...since modern thought is that OCD is caused by a seratonin imbalance. Now for the side effects. The only one that concerns me is apparently a very common one for seratonin meds, which is impotence. Wouldn't ordinarily bother me except that...well...I'm dating someone. So, yeah. Is being droopy better than checking the locks on my doors a dozen times before I leave the house? I'm not so sure... From nobody at spamcop.net Tue Jan 5 07:16:53 2010 From: nobody at spamcop.net (Heidi) Date: Tue Jan 5 07:20:08 2010 Subject: [Scsocial] Re: How can we deradicalize society? References: Message-ID: "Charles" wrote in message news:Xns9CF6D83C6B0DDThisIsMyPost@216.154.195.61... > No way it was me! It was Farelf ! > >> I love humanity, it's *people* I can't stand > > Ah. Well. Ah. Shucks. I'm trying to love everyone. It's not easy! Tiger Woods got in trouble for that, he's trying to love everyone too...... From nobody at spamcop.net Tue Jan 5 09:59:58 2010 From: nobody at spamcop.net (bar0) Date: Tue Jan 5 10:00:08 2010 Subject: [Scsocial] Re: Prozac? My doc thinks so...I'm not so sure. In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: "Borgholio" wrote in message news:hhuvqf$345$1@news.spamcop.net... > Is being droopy better than checking the locks on my doors a dozen times > before I leave the house? I'm not so sure.. Both are best, your house will be safer and you won;t be sorry.. From MikeE at ster.invalid Tue Jan 5 11:15:45 2010 From: MikeE at ster.invalid (Mike Easter) Date: Tue Jan 5 11:20:08 2010 Subject: [Scsocial] Re: Prozac? My doc thinks so...I'm not so sure. In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: Borgholio wrote: > one of her suggestions is to see a psychiatrist, just to see > if medication is an option. > > So after about a half hour discussion he suggests Prozac. An important ingredient in this equation is how is the prescribing and the prescribing adjustments going to be accomplished. Reading between the lines here, the 'front line' of the relationship is between you and the person who can't prescribe, but she has experience in interacting with people who can prescribe and with patients who are being prescribed. In some therapeutic situations, the (nonprescribing) therapist is working for the (prescribing MD) psychiatrist; so the MD can be comfortable making medication changes or dosage changes or time of dosing changes just based on the interactions between the patient and the nonprescriber and the behind the scenes interactions between the nonprescriber and the prescriber. Imagine an obstetrical or an ICU nurse communicating by phone for med management with the doctor who is in prescribing charge of the OB or ICU patient -- that system works. In some other systems, sometimes the type you are describing, the 'connection' between the patient and the prescriber is too 'tenuous'. If the prescriber isn't hearing from the patient in one way or another, the fine tuning of the med doesn't happen. The nonprescriber isn't communicating with the prescriber because they aren't 'in bed together' so to speak. They don't have a tight relationship. They are actually competitors and the nonprescriber doesn't want to cede the care of the patient to the prescriber. So, rather than worry about some particular potential side effect, I would want clarified exactly how this 3 way/ 3 sided/ prescribing relationship triangle is supposed to work. -- Mike Easter From kenbrody at spamcop.net Tue Jan 5 15:30:29 2010 From: kenbrody at spamcop.net (Kenneth Brody) Date: Tue Jan 5 15:35:08 2010 Subject: [Scsocial] Re: go to google today (1/4) In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: On 1/4/2010 7:18 PM, Sylvesterthekat wrote: > Kenneth Brody wrote in news:hhtpag$257$1 > @news.spamcop.net: > >> Gravity... It's "just a theory". >> > > what, like evolution? Precisely. I'm glad someone was paying attention. :-) -- Kenneth Brody From me at privacy.net Tue Jan 5 20:21:33 2010 From: me at privacy.net (Frog Prince) Date: Tue Jan 5 20:25:08 2010 Subject: [Scsocial] Google phone launched today References: <685f3222-ac3d-4aa5-b219-57e0c3b87165@h9g2000yqa.googlegroups.com> Message-ID: comparison chart, iphone, google, palm pre http://mashable.com/2010/01/05/nexus-one-vs-droid-vs-iphone I'm interested in what it will cost me if I use a prepaid service like Pagepluscellular.com From me at privacy.net Tue Jan 5 21:55:08 2010 From: me at privacy.net (Frog Prince) Date: Tue Jan 5 22:00:08 2010 Subject: [Scsocial] Re: Which smartphone? References: Message-ID: "Charles" wrote in message news:Xns9CF7C3DF36171ThisIsMyPost@216.154.195.61... > No way it was me! It was Sylvesterthekat ! > >> Don't they give you the option >> of a phone at work? Seems like if you've got a throw away it must be >> your own? >> > > The throw away (I actually have 2 on different carriers) are work phones - > I don't pay a dime for them. And, hey, I don't use 100 minutes a month > regardless. We could get rid of our land line but that's only $35 a month > with unlimited calling... Cheapest plans for most places are ~$70 + bs. Pagepluscellular.com $40 per month unlimited. Just subed and with two phones we're not using $40 per month for the both of us. From me at privacy.net Tue Jan 5 21:56:06 2010 From: me at privacy.net (Frog Prince) Date: Tue Jan 5 22:00:08 2010 Subject: [Scsocial] Re: Face not recognized References: Message-ID: "Charles" wrote in message news:Xns9CF7C41B596DFThisIsMyPost@216.154.195.61... > No way it was me! It was Sylvesterthekat ! > >> Yes I think you have mentioned that it's a bit of a beast. How big is >> the screen? > > I don't know :) 16", maybe? Must be. How about 16"? > > >> Where ya going on vacation? Somewhere warm? > > Tejas! It's in the 20's here about. From nobody at spamcop.net Wed Jan 6 08:30:57 2010 From: nobody at spamcop.net (bar0) Date: Wed Jan 6 08:35:07 2010 Subject: [Scsocial] Re: Face not recognized References: Message-ID: "Frog Prince" wrote in message news:hi0u4l$60e$2@news.spamcop.net... > > "Charles" wrote in message > news:Xns9CF7C41B596DFThisIsMyPost@216.154.195.61... >> No way it was me! It was Sylvesterthekat ! >> >>> Yes I think you have mentioned that it's a bit of a beast. How big is >>> the screen? >> >> I don't know :) 16", maybe? Must be. How about 16"? >> >> >>> Where ya going on vacation? Somewhere warm? >> >> Tejas! > > It's in the 20's here about. about 15 degrees warmer near the coast From me at privacy.net Wed Jan 6 18:36:41 2010 From: me at privacy.net (Frog Prince) Date: Wed Jan 6 18:45:08 2010 Subject: [Scsocial] Re: Which smartphone? References: Message-ID: "David Dean" wrote in message news:v8ltfuv02-DC5D19.08544406012010@killface.local... > In article , > "Frog Prince" wrote: > >> Pagepluscellular.com $40 per month unlimited. Just subed and with two >> phones we're not using $40 per month for the both of us. > > Is it GSM or CDMA? Whose network do they use? (The only network that > has decent coverage in WV is Verizon) CDMA and Verizon (some areas are roam @ $0.59/ min but I don't know where the ROAM areas are and based on reports those are small areas. In fact you can use a VZN hand set without any problem. From me at privacy.net Wed Jan 6 18:38:06 2010 From: me at privacy.net (Frog Prince) Date: Wed Jan 6 18:45:09 2010 Subject: [Scsocial] Re: Face not recognized References: Message-ID: "bar0" wrote in message news:hi23am$j6s$1@news.spamcop.net... > > "Frog Prince" wrote in message > news:hi0u4l$60e$2@news.spamcop.net... >> >> "Charles" wrote in message >> news:Xns9CF7C41B596DFThisIsMyPost@216.154.195.61... >>> No way it was me! It was Sylvesterthekat ! >>> >>>> Yes I think you have mentioned that it's a bit of a beast. How big is >>>> the screen? >>> >>> I don't know :) 16", maybe? Must be. How about 16"? >>> >>> >>>> Where ya going on vacation? Somewhere warm? >>> >>> Tejas! >> >> It's in the 20's here about. > > about 15 degrees warmer near the coast Wow all of 35 in an area where winter is usually the second weekend in Jan. From me at privacy.net Wed Jan 6 18:42:19 2010 From: me at privacy.net (Frog Prince) Date: Wed Jan 6 18:45:09 2010 Subject: [Scsocial] Re: Face not recognized References: Message-ID: "Charles" wrote in message news:Xns9CF857723CBE9ThisIsMyPost@216.154.195.61... > It wasn't me! It was Sylvesterthekat ! > >> What, to visit someone or the gulf coast or what? Watch out for the >> locals, I hear they're a little suspicious of furriners lol. You can >> call on FP! > > Hill country. And maybe heading down to Houston (you never really know > ahead of time). I don't even know where FP is but, well, Tejas is, uh, > big. North Texas just above DFW. ~ where I35E and I35W meet. As to Texas being big, in some areas you can see Mexico in others it seems you are in Mexico. It's a friendly place and depending on the visitor .... take I35 north. From nobody at spamcop.net Wed Jan 6 20:28:01 2010 From: nobody at spamcop.net (bar0) Date: Wed Jan 6 20:30:08 2010 Subject: [Scsocial] Re: Face not recognized References: Message-ID: "Charles" wrote in message news:Xns9CF857723CBE9ThisIsMyPost@216.154.195.61... > It wasn't me! It was Sylvesterthekat ! > >> What, to visit someone or the gulf coast or what? Watch out for the >> locals, I hear they're a little suspicious of furriners lol. You can >> call on FP! > > Hill country. And maybe heading down to Houston (you never really know > ahead of time). I don't even know where FP is but, well, Tejas is, uh, > big. FP's a Yank, he's near Dallas. (Ducks and Runs) From nobody at spamcop.net Thu Jan 7 00:12:29 2010 From: nobody at spamcop.net (Indigo) Date: Thu Jan 7 00:15:08 2010 Subject: [Scsocial] Re: Prozac? My doc thinks so...I'm not so sure. In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: "Charles" wrote in message news:Xns9CF7508EF298DThisIsMyPost@216.154.195.61... > It wasn't me! It was Borgholio ! > >> The only one that concerns me is apparently a >> very common one for seratonin meds > > I don't see the word "very" in the lit. I see numbers ranging from 1% to > 10% for impotence and maybe 20% to 40% for increased difficulty in getting > interested. It's the "getting interested" side effect that is so distressful to handle.....suddenly losing one's libido is pretty hard to deal with.....and Prozac is worse than a lot of others at causing it...... From nobody at spamcop.net Thu Jan 7 00:14:16 2010 From: nobody at spamcop.net (Indigo) Date: Thu Jan 7 00:15:09 2010 Subject: [Scsocial] Re: Prozac? My doc thinks so...I'm not so sure. In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: "Sylvesterthekat" wrote in message news:Xns9CF77DB294FC6sylvesterthekat@216.154.195.61... > Borgholio wrote in > news:hhuvqf$345$1@news.spamcop.net: > > >> >> Is being droopy better than checking the locks on my doors a dozen >> times before I leave the house? I'm not so sure... >> > > Add Viagra to your rx and away you go LOL. No seriously... maybe try it > out > and if it does affect you, decide then if you want to take it or not. Read my reply. Viagra won't help if you're not interested......just gives you a useless woodie with nothing you want to do with it..... From nobody at spamcop.net Thu Jan 7 00:17:27 2010 From: nobody at spamcop.net (Indigo) Date: Thu Jan 7 00:20:07 2010 Subject: [Scsocial] Re: Small things In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: "Sylvesterthekat" wrote in message news:Xns9CF66FE8AE37Asylvesterthekat@216.154.195.61... > "Indigo" wrote in > news:hhodid$3vb$1@news.spamcop.net: > >> > >> It came with Vista, and no CD, of course. Didn't have the choice to >> get XP, and I don't have an XP disk anyway. > > Natch. XP disks are easy enough to come by, you just need to have the reg > code which you should have from an older pc, non? No, my old PC came with Win98, then I *ahem* upgraded to Win2K when I luckily found a disk on the side of the road...only had XP at work. From borgholio at storymind.com Thu Jan 7 03:33:59 2010 From: borgholio at storymind.com (Borgholio) Date: Thu Jan 7 03:35:09 2010 Subject: [Scsocial] Re: Prozac? My doc thinks so...I'm not so sure. In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: Sylvesterthekat wrote: > Borgholio wrote in > news:hhuvqf$345$1@news.spamcop.net: > > >> Is being droopy better than checking the locks on my doors a dozen >> times before I leave the house? I'm not so sure... >> > > Add Viagra to your rx and away you go LOL. No seriously... maybe try it out > and if it does affect you, decide then if you want to take it or not. Well got the prescription filled today. 30 tabs of 20mg each, consultation in a month. That's a somewhat low dose so we'll see. Truthfully if it just takes the edge off the OCD without impacting my "fun", then I won't bother upping the dosage. From borgholio at storymind.com Thu Jan 7 03:36:57 2010 From: borgholio at storymind.com (Borgholio) Date: Thu Jan 7 03:40:08 2010 Subject: [Scsocial] Re: 3 things to love In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: Sylvesterthekat wrote: > California canyon roads on a sunny, warm, winter's day > Porsche 911 > GPS device > > I was tooling along Pacific Coast Highway with the intention of using > Topanga Canyon to get home but the problem with Topanga is that although > it's a fun(ish) drive when there's no traffic on it, usually there is > traffic and that traffic often consists of idiots who can barely drive, > thus they're braking at every bend and going at 30mph instead of the > posted 45 (which is fast enough most of the time!). > > So I nixed that idea and carried on with the intention of using Malibu > Canyon/Las Virgenes instead but then I noticed on the GPS this wonderful > road coming up on the right called Las Flores Canyon. It was switchbacks > galore and it appeared that it did go through to the valley so on the > spur of the moment, I made a right turn. What a great choice! No cars, > beautiful road, breathtaking views of the ocean, cliffs, beaches and > mountains on the other side against a backdrop of a deep blue sky. I > wish I'd had my camera to take pics at the turnouts. I saw two CHP > officers on their motorcycles, obviously enjoying themselves (and as > they were going the opposite direction it had no effect on my fun either > lol), and a few cyclists (aka masochists) trudging up the steep climb. > Gotta be very very fit to tackle that one! > > http://tinyurl.com/ye27noj > > Did you ever do that area on your motorbike Borg? Nah, I haven't ridden my bike much lately...sadly. One of the reasons I got the bike was for improved gas mileage over my old 87 F-150 but now that I drive an '05 Focus...well... I actually seriously considered filing my bike as non-op with the DMV for this year. I'll hold off though, maybe this summer I'll get back in the saddle. From borgholio at storymind.com Thu Jan 7 03:42:06 2010 From: borgholio at storymind.com (Borgholio) Date: Thu Jan 7 03:45:08 2010 Subject: [Scsocial] Re: Google phone launched today In-Reply-To: References: <685f3222-ac3d-4aa5-b219-57e0c3b87165@h9g2000yqa.googlegroups.com> Message-ID: Frog Prince wrote: > comparison chart, iphone, google, palm pre > > http://mashable.com/2010/01/05/nexus-one-vs-droid-vs-iphone > > I'm interested in what it will cost me if I use a prepaid service like > Pagepluscellular.com > > > > > > > > > Looks like the new Google phone, at least on paper, is quite the challenger to Iphone and Droid. I'd love to get a smartphone but even with the messaging-only plan it costs $30 per month more than a normal qwerty phone with the text-only plan. From borgholio at storymind.com Thu Jan 7 03:45:33 2010 From: borgholio at storymind.com (Borgholio) Date: Thu Jan 7 03:50:08 2010 Subject: [Scsocial] Re: Prozac? My doc thinks so...I'm not so sure. In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: Indigo wrote: > > "Charles" wrote in message > news:Xns9CF7508EF298DThisIsMyPost@216.154.195.61... >> It wasn't me! It was Borgholio ! >> >>> The only one that concerns me is apparently a >>> very common one for seratonin meds >> >> I don't see the word "very" in the lit. I see numbers ranging from 1% to >> 10% for impotence and maybe 20% to 40% for increased difficulty in >> getting >> interested. > > It's the "getting interested" side effect that is so distressful to > handle.....suddenly losing one's libido is pretty hard to deal > with.....and Prozac is worse than a lot of others at causing it...... Yeah well I filled the prescription tonight so we'll see in a few days. From MikeE at ster.invalid Thu Jan 7 10:47:51 2010 From: MikeE at ster.invalid (Mike Easter) Date: Thu Jan 7 10:50:08 2010 Subject: [Scsocial] Re: Prozac? My doc thinks so...I'm not so sure. References: Message-ID: Charles wrote: > Borgholio > >> Yeah well I filled the prescription tonight so we'll see in a few days. > > Weeks. Or months. It takes a while for these to start to working, eh? It is my understanding that the serontonin-related mechanism of action for paroxetine in OCD is different from the serotonin-related mechanism of action for such SSRIs in depression. Consequently the antidepression mechanism is pokier, expressed in weeks. Naturally some other SSRI effects, beneficial or otherwise, can be immediate; and still others more intermediate. -- Mike Easter kibitzer, not SC admin From MikeE at ster.invalid Thu Jan 7 11:17:06 2010 From: MikeE at ster.invalid (Mike Easter) Date: Thu Jan 7 11:20:09 2010 Subject: [Scsocial] Re: Prozac? My doc thinks so...I'm not so sure. In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: Mike Easter wrote: > paroxetine in OCD Paroxetine is such as Paxil and others, not Prozac. Prozac (and many others) are fluoxetine. My usage implied otherwise. There is a large family of SSRIs. -- Mike Easter From borgholio at storymind.com Thu Jan 7 14:54:52 2010 From: borgholio at storymind.com (Borgholio) Date: Thu Jan 7 14:55:09 2010 Subject: [Scsocial] Re: Prozac? My doc thinks so...I'm not so sure. In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: Charles wrote: > It wasn't me! It was Borgholio ! > >> Yeah well I filled the prescription tonight so we'll see in a few days. > > Weeks. Or months. It takes a while for these to start to working, eh? For OCD I'm told the effects happen very quickly. From nobody at spamcop.net Thu Jan 7 15:41:07 2010 From: nobody at spamcop.net (Indigo) Date: Thu Jan 7 15:45:08 2010 Subject: [Scsocial] NASA Interactive Hi-Def "Big Bang" photo viewer Message-ID: Remember that new Hubble photo of the Deep Field, i.e. the "Big Bang" I posted about a couple weeks ago? Well, NASA has invented (or appropriated) this fantastic new application that allows you to not only use your mouse to pan across that image (and future ones, I assume), you can also zoom in for greater detail of interesting looking galaxies or artifacts. It's AMAZING! Go to http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/34708811/ns/technology_and_science-space/ On the right hand side, click on the link to download and install the special viewer app "HDView" , which unfortunately caused a temp crash of my FF3.5 installation (apparently it's only optimized for FF2.x and IE), so you might want to use IE instead, but no harm was done from the crash -- after I restarted FF everything was back to normal and the app worked like a champ! From nobody at spamcop.net Thu Jan 7 16:19:09 2010 From: nobody at spamcop.net (Indigo) Date: Thu Jan 7 16:20:09 2010 Subject: [Scsocial] Re: Semi-rhetorical moral question In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: "Frog Prince" wrote in message news:hht1dh$pp0$1@news.spamcop.net... >> So my attempt to help out a great friend in severe financial trouble is >> going to be blocked by the male ego......and I'm not sure how to handle >> it.......I feel like crap taking my puny winnings from him.....but he >> probably wouldn't accept the money anyway......I guess I'm just rambling, >> since there doesn't appear to be any graceful way to help him out in a >> time of need on his part.....what would the rest of you do if you were in >> my position? > > Indy, man up and go for the donation. You've my back channel send me an > address (yours or his) and I'll put a small bit in the mail myself. It's all done now. "We" decided to give him a $50 tip for his efforts in running the pool, which is no small chore. He was immensely greatful in his replies to me and one other winner (a very good friend of mine) -- he got to keep ~ $400 total I think, not exactly pocket change. Most of us also play in his Superbowl Squares pool, so we had him keep that money ($20/square, me and that friend always share 3 squares each, so that's another $120 he can temporarily keep). And one of my fears, something we could _never_ ask him about, turned out to be unfounded -- whether he had used the pool money to pay his bills and would now be stuck trying to come up with the cash to pay out to the winners. He was smart (and showed integrity I should have given to him in advance) -- he never cashes any of the checks he receives for the pool entries (he always insisted on checks, not cash, but I never gave it a second thought why). So everything's cool. Except for the email I sent back to him when I found out he'd kept the checks in hand -- I'd been tearing my hair out for the last 2 months trying to balance my checkbook and couldn't find the error -- I never went back that far to see which checks hadn't been cashed! ;-) From borgholio at storymind.com Thu Jan 7 17:40:01 2010 From: borgholio at storymind.com (Borgholio) Date: Thu Jan 7 17:40:08 2010 Subject: [Scsocial] Re: Prozac? My doc thinks so...I'm not so sure. In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: Charles wrote: > No way it was me! It was Borgholio ! > >> For OCD I'm told the effects happen very quickly. > > Perhaps. But the effects that you're worried about take a lot longer to > come on. Which would be fine, so long as I have a way to counter it...should it happen. But seeing as how I'm taking a low dose, you never know. It may not be very severe. From nobody at spamcop.net Thu Jan 7 20:57:16 2010 From: nobody at spamcop.net (Indigo) Date: Thu Jan 7 21:00:08 2010 Subject: [Scsocial] Re: After I pulled out all of the spoons In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: "Sylvesterthekat" wrote in message news:Xns9CF670F805305sylvesterthekat@216.154.195.61... > > do you put the cutlery into the dishwasher separated out or just a mish > mosh that has to be sorted later? i try to put the spoons with the spoons, > and so on, it makes the chore of putting them away much simpler That is a very, very bad practice, and one that may someday make you sick, if it hasn't already. I've had this argument with many a g/f, but I know of what I speak. When I started working at age 14, my first job was running a heavy duty commercial dishwasher in a restaurant. Like you, I thought that sorting spoons with spoons, forks with forks, etc, would make life "on the other side" so much easier for me when it came time to unload the dishwasher. However, one time my manager caught me doing it, and damn near beat the hell out of me (he did, verbally, but I'm sure he wanted to hit me, his face was beet red he was so angry). When you separate the silverware like that, the jostling of the spraying water inside the dishwasher makes the utensils want to go to their "lowest energy state", as it were, which means they line up, literally "spooning" each other (ever wonder where that term came from? Now you know!). As a result, instead of the front and back of said spoons being exposed to the entire wash cycle, they clamp together, meaning only the first and last "in line" get any kind of meaningful cleaning, and even that's just on one side. If you read your DW instruction manual, I will GUARANTEE you that it will advise you against separating silverware the way you do because of everything I wrote above. But if you like food poisoning, feel free to ignore my advice.... From nobody at spamcop.net Thu Jan 7 21:01:38 2010 From: nobody at spamcop.net (Indigo) Date: Thu Jan 7 21:05:09 2010 Subject: [Scsocial] Re: After I pulled out all of the spoons In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: "Mike Easter" wrote in message news:hhtg7q$utj$1@news.spamcop.net... > Sylvesterthekat wrote: >> "Mike Easter" > >> since you already have a dishwasher and can't take the manufacturing of >> it into account, it might be better to not do the dishes until it's full, >> rather than hand washing them. And don't use heated dry! > > The stash dishes in the dishwasher until full is the way my bachelor and > bachelorette friends do it - typically do it. > > Actually, that's the way they say they do it. In 2 that come to mind > because they visit me, they are both prone to pile dishes in the sink, > which dishes in the sink is a condition which 'annoys' me. You need some more "anal" friends....while I am single and do employ the "stash the dirty dishes in the dishwasher until it's full" technique, you will _never_ find a pot or pan in my sink for anything but an overnight soak to loosen up caked crud. I'm so fixated about it that sometimes when cooking for myself and/or others I'll stop to clean up the cookware before sitting down to eat, making my dinner a tad colder than necessary! From MikeE at ster.invalid Fri Jan 8 05:04:54 2010 From: MikeE at ster.invalid (Mike Easter) Date: Fri Jan 8 05:05:08 2010 Subject: [Scsocial] Re: After I pulled out all of the spoons In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: Indigo wrote: > "Mike Easter" > I'm so fixated about it that > sometimes when cooking for myself and/or others I'll stop to clean up > the cookware before sitting down to eat, making my dinner a tad colder > than necessary! Good grief! You need help. I'm a big fan of 'planning the cleanup' during the preparation, but the eating part is what it is all about. 'Neglecting' the prepared dish just when it is best eaten in favor of cleaning is not the natural order of things. Whatever it is that is getting done when you are supposed to be sitting down and eating is something that should have been done either earlier (such as while the food was still cooking) or later (such as after you've eaten the hot food). Maybe we should all have servants. :-) -- Mike Easter From borgholio at storymind.com Fri Jan 8 15:47:46 2010 From: borgholio at storymind.com (Borgholio) Date: Fri Jan 8 15:50:08 2010 Subject: [Scsocial] Re: Prozac? My doc thinks so...I'm not so sure. In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: Charles wrote: > It wasn't me! It was Borgholio ! >> Charles wrote: > >>> But the effects that you're worried about take a lot longer >>> to come on. >> Which would be fine, so long as I have a way to counter it...should it >> happen. But seeing as how I'm taking a low dose, you never know. It >> may not be very severe. > > It's not just that the effects are less noticeable with a lower dose it's > also that fewer people have problems than those that do. I wonder if we > can find a study saying when the problems occur... I'd be very interested > to know (going on week 5 here and still feeling quite frisky!). Oh, and > weirdly happy... You on Prozac too? :) From nobody at spamcop.net Fri Jan 8 15:54:30 2010 From: nobody at spamcop.net (Indigo) Date: Fri Jan 8 15:55:08 2010 Subject: [Scsocial] Re: After I pulled out all of the spoons In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: "Mike Easter" wrote in message news:hi7007$lv2$1@news.spamcop.net... > Good grief! You need help. I'm a big fan of 'planning the cleanup' > during the preparation, but the eating part is what it is all about. > 'Neglecting' the prepared dish just when it is best eaten in favor of > cleaning is not the natural order of things. > > Whatever it is that is getting done when you are supposed to be sitting > down and eating is something that should have been done either earlier > (such as while the food was still cooking) or later (such as after you've > eaten the hot food). Well, I'm not TOTALLY anal about things....I just can't stand to have a sink stacked to the brim with dirty pots and pans to deal with after a satisfying and relaxing meal.....so the things that just need a quick rinse get one and get put into the dishwasher immediately, anything that will take time to clean gets filled with soapy water to soak in while I'm eating. > > > Maybe we should all have servants. :-) Get married! From nobody at spamcop.net Fri Jan 8 15:58:48 2010 From: nobody at spamcop.net (Indigo) Date: Fri Jan 8 16:00:07 2010 Subject: [Scsocial] Re: Which smartphone? In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: "Charles" wrote in message news:Xns9CF7573494A0EThisIsMyPost@216.154.195.61... > > Blackberries suck eggs. I agree, but not because of the keyboard -- it's because all of the traffic has to go thru RIMM's data servers -- when they go down during a software upgrade (which appears to happen several times a year) you've got a paper weight on your hands until the problem(s) are fixed. From nobody at spamcop.net Fri Jan 8 16:08:11 2010 From: nobody at spamcop.net (Indigo) Date: Fri Jan 8 16:10:08 2010 Subject: [Scsocial] Re: Face not recognized In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: "Sylvesterthekat" wrote in message news:Xns9CF6A51C543F4sylvesterthekat@216.154.195.61... > > You have a blu ray drive on your computer? we just got a PS3, courtesy of > reward points on the amex card (spending tons of money on the house has > its > payback lol) and have been watching blu ray on that, pretty nice. Sheesh, you must have spent a TON of money using that CC! My FCU card gives me 1 point for every dollar spent -- I just cashed in 9750 points to get a new Dirt Devil vacuum cleaner, a huge upgrade from my 20 year old upright, for the most part. The new vac has all kinds of detachable devices that connect to a hose port in the base of the vac, it has a tool caddy to stash all the various end-fittings, and best of all, it has a very bright headlight. It also can fold over almost flat on the ground to get under beds and tables. The only thing it lacks that my old vac had is a variable height setting knob, which is pretty useful when transitioning from carpet to linoleum. Then again, the suction power is much higher with the new vac, so much so that if I accidentally roll it the wrong way over a throw-rug it'll damn near suck the thing all the way inside ;-) From nobody at spamcop.net Fri Jan 8 16:12:47 2010 From: nobody at spamcop.net (Indigo) Date: Fri Jan 8 16:15:09 2010 Subject: [Scsocial] Re: Face not recognized In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: "Sylvesterthekat" wrote in message news:Xns9CF83818EFD79sylvesterthekat@216.154.195.61... > "Frog Prince" wrote in > news:hi0u4l$60e$2@news.spamcop.net: > >> It's in the 20's here about. >> >> >> > > I think everywhere except CA is freezing at the moment. We're still stuck in a cold snap up here in the Northeast, with no end in sight. We got _another_ snowfall over night, and dammitalltohell I went out to a convenience store last night, so my hood was warm, which melted the initial snow, then froze solid. It hasn't gotten over 28 F all day, so that ice is there to stay until I drive the car again. We've already gotten more snow in the last 3 weeks than in the last 3 years combined! From nobody at spamcop.net Fri Jan 8 16:29:35 2010 From: nobody at spamcop.net (Indigo) Date: Fri Jan 8 16:30:07 2010 Subject: [Scsocial] MagicJack's next act: disappearing cell phone fees Message-ID: **** I cannot believe this thing is legal -- and a quick word about reading this too fast -- the device does not "steal" bandwidth from any random phone like I thought when I first read the article, it uses your _own_ cell phone and internet connection **** By PETER SVENSSON, AP Technology Writer - Fri Jan 8, 2010 12:01PM EST LAS VEGAS - The company behind the magicJack, the cheap Internet phone gadget that's been heavily promoted on TV, has made a new version of the device that allows free calls from cell phones in the home, in a fashion that's sure to draw protest from cellular carriers. The new magicJack uses, without permission, radio frequencies for which cellular carriers have paid billions of dollars for exclusive licenses. YMax Corp., which is based in Palm Beach, Fla., said this week at the International Consumers Electronics Show that it plans to start selling the device in about four months for $40, the same price as the original magicJack. As before, it will provide free calls to the U.S. and Canada for one year. The device is, in essence, a very small cellular tower for the home. The size of a deck of cards, it plugs into a PC, which needs a broadband Internet connection. The device then detects when a compatible cell phone comes within 8 feet, and places a call to it. The user enters a short code on the phone. The phone is then linked to the magicJack, and as long as it's within range (YMax said it will cover a 3,000-square-foot home) magicJack routes the call itself, over the Internet, rather than going through the carrier's cellular tower. No minutes are subtracted from the user's account with the carrier. Any extra fees for international calls are subtracted from the user's account with magicJack, not the carrier. According to YMax CEO Dan Borislow, the device will connect to any phone that uses the GSM standard, which in the U.S. includes phones from AT&T Inc. and T-Mobile USA. At a demonstration at CES, a visitor's phone with a T-Mobile account successfully placed and received calls through the magicJack. Most phones from Verizon Wireless and Sprint Nextel Corp. won't connect to the device. Borislow said the device is legal because wireless spectrum licenses don't extend into the home. AT&T, T-Mobile and the Federal Communications Commission had no immediate comment on whether they believe the device is legal, but said they were looking into the issue. CTIA - The Wireless Association, a trade group, said it was declining comment for now. None of them had heard of YMax's plans. From nobody at spamcop.net Fri Jan 8 19:33:39 2010 From: nobody at spamcop.net (Heidi) Date: Fri Jan 8 19:35:08 2010 Subject: [Scsocial] Re: But is it the right thing to do? References: Message-ID: "Charles" wrote in message news:Xns9CFAC02F59AE9ThisIsMyPost@216.154.195.61... > Right thing or not I've gone and done it. So there you have it. I like that keyboard better - you have to let us know if it's worth the expense. Did you buy it outright, or buy with a plan? From me at privacy.net Fri Jan 8 20:47:01 2010 From: me at privacy.net (Frog Prince) Date: Fri Jan 8 20:55:07 2010 Subject: [Scsocial] Re: MagicJack's next act: disappearing cell phone fees References: Message-ID: "Indigo" wrote in message news:hi883u$4fk$1@news.spamcop.net... > **** I cannot believe this thing is legal -- and a quick word about > reading this too fast -- the device does not "steal" bandwidth from any > random phone like I thought when I first read the article, it uses your > _own_ cell phone and internet connection **** > > By PETER SVENSSON, AP Technology Writer - Fri Jan 8, 2010 12:01PM EST > LAS VEGAS - The company behind the magicJack, the cheap Internet phone > gadget that's been heavily promoted on TV, has made a new version of the > device that allows free calls from cell phones in the home, in a fashion > that's sure to draw protest from cellular carriers. > > The new magicJack uses, without permission, radio frequencies for which > cellular carriers have paid billions of dollars for exclusive licenses. > > YMax Corp., which is based in Palm Beach, Fla., said this week at the > International Consumers Electronics Show that it plans to start selling > the device in about four months for $40, the same price as the original > magicJack. As before, it will provide free calls to the U.S. and Canada > for one year. > > The device is, in essence, a very small cellular tower for the home. > > The size of a deck of cards, it plugs into a PC, which needs a broadband > Internet connection. The device then detects when a compatible cell phone > comes within 8 feet, and places a call to it. The user enters a short code > on the phone. The phone is then linked to the magicJack, and as long as > it's within range (YMax said it will cover a 3,000-square-foot home) > magicJack routes the call itself, over the Internet, rather than going > through the carrier's cellular tower. No minutes are subtracted from the > user's account with the carrier. Any extra fees for international calls > are subtracted from the user's account with magicJack, not the carrier. > > According to YMax CEO Dan Borislow, the device will connect to any phone > that uses the GSM standard, which in the U.S. includes phones from AT&T > Inc. and T-Mobile USA. At a demonstration at CES, a visitor's phone with a > T-Mobile account successfully placed and received calls through the > magicJack. Most phones from Verizon Wireless and Sprint Nextel Corp. won't > connect to the device. > > Borislow said the device is legal because wireless spectrum licenses don't > extend into the home. > > AT&T, T-Mobile and the Federal Communications Commission had no immediate > comment on whether they believe the device is legal, but said they were > looking into the issue. CTIA - The Wireless Association, a trade group, > said it was declining comment for now. None of them had heard of YMax's > plans. It's part of the EIA/CTIA standards going back to the mid 90's. The intent was for the carriers to provide the services but intent and real world sometimes are at odds. As it's part of the standard that all phones must meet it is very likely it will work. From nobody at spamcop.net Fri Jan 8 20:55:17 2010 From: nobody at spamcop.net (Indigo) Date: Fri Jan 8 21:00:08 2010 Subject: [Scsocial] I can't fscking belive this... Message-ID: Earlier today I sent my older brother info about chiropractors in PA that specialize in cranio-sacral work -- he's the one I wrote about a couple weeks ago when his heart stopped beating after a stress test. In his reply, he wrote: "I saw the family practice guy last week. He was completely underwhelmed by the whole thing, doesn't want to see me for 2 months." HIS FSCKING HEART STOPPED WORKING FOR OVER 10 SECONDS AND HIS DOCTOR ISN'T CONCERNED?!?!??! He appears to have been doing a little research on his own, and is questioning why the techs administering the stress test didn't do this and that, and why his doctor didn't tell him to stop taking his Beta-blocker prior to the test so they could get a clear picture of how his heart was functioning without the drug clamping down on his heart rate.....but so far he seems to be resisting my "more than strong advice" to seek a consultation with an alternative health care provider....I have to say I'm sitting here in disbelief at his position on this.....you're not happy with the attitude and (in)actions of your own doctor and cardiologist, but you're not willing to get a second opinion from a different medical perspective? What the hell is wrong with him and other people that think that way? I'd be DEAD if it weren't for my acupuncturist nursing me thru the worst stages of my Lyme infection.....and that is no exaggeration.....I dunno....maybe you have to be "saved" at least once before you begin to believe in alternative therapies......I was desperate for help at the time, if someone I trusted had suggested I see a witch doctor they knew I would have done it without thinking about it twice..... From nobody at spamcop.net Fri Jan 8 20:57:16 2010 From: nobody at spamcop.net (Indigo) Date: Fri Jan 8 21:00:08 2010 Subject: [Scsocial] Re: Prozac? My doc thinks so...I'm not so sure. In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: "Charles" wrote in message news:Xns9CFABF9EB91A8ThisIsMyPost@216.154.195.61... > No way it was me! It was Borgholio ! > >> You on Prozac too > > One SSRI is worth another. More or less. That's baloney, and I think you know better.....and not something to make light of...... From nobody at spamcop.net Fri Jan 8 21:35:29 2010 From: nobody at spamcop.net (Heidi) Date: Fri Jan 8 21:40:08 2010 Subject: [Scsocial] Re: I can't fscking belive this... References: Message-ID: "Indigo" wrote in message news:hi8nm4$a2a$1@news.spamcop.net... > Earlier today I sent my older brother info about chiropractors in PA that > specialize in cranio-sacral work -- he's the one I wrote about a couple > weeks ago when his heart stopped beating after a stress test. In his > reply, he wrote: > > "I saw the family practice guy last week. He was completely underwhelmed > by the whole thing, doesn't want to see me for 2 months." > > HIS FSCKING HEART STOPPED WORKING FOR OVER 10 SECONDS AND HIS DOCTOR ISN'T > CONCERNED?!?!??! > > He appears to have been doing a little research on his own, and is > questioning why the techs administering the stress test didn't do this and > that, and why his doctor didn't tell him to stop taking his Beta-blocker > prior to the test so they could get a clear picture of how his heart was > functioning without the drug clamping down on his heart rate.....but so > far he seems to be resisting my "more than strong advice" to seek a > consultation with an alternative health care provider....I have to say I'm > sitting here in disbelief at his position on this.....you're not happy > with the attitude and (in)actions of your own doctor and cardiologist, but > you're not willing to get a second opinion from a different medical > perspective? What the hell is wrong with him and other people that think > that way? I wouldn't go to an alternative care practitioner, but I'd certainly drag my ass to another cardiolgist ASAP to get some kind of explanation as to what happened and why - 80% of the doctors I've seen can't think outside the box, can't be BOTHERED to think outside the box, and can't be bothered to make inquiries past what they see or know. Ever watch Mystery Diagnosis on TLC? What a learning experience. You watch these people with rare and oddly presented diseases go to doctor after doctor to be dismissed as depressed or crazy or have psoriasis or whatever, and it turns out they have some really rare condition that most of them have diagnosed themselves on the internet. You really have to be your own advocate, no one is going to do that for you , and if your brother is so complacent that he can think his heart stopping is ok. what are you going to do about it? From borgholio at storymind.com Sat Jan 9 00:02:54 2010 From: borgholio at storymind.com (Borgholio) Date: Sat Jan 9 00:05:09 2010 Subject: [Scsocial] Kepler discovers it's first five planets Message-ID: http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/kepler/main/index.html Go baby go! From MikeE at ster.invalid Sat Jan 9 02:04:06 2010 From: MikeE at ster.invalid (Mike Easter) Date: Sat Jan 9 02:05:08 2010 Subject: [Scsocial] Re: Kepler discovers it's first five planets In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: Borgholio wrote: > http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/kepler/main/index.html > > Go baby go! "Kepler will continue science operations until at least November 2012. It will search for planets as small as Earth, including those that orbit stars in a warm habitable zone where liquid water could exist on the surface of the planet. Since transits of planets in the habitable zone of solar-like stars occur about once a year and require three transits for verification, it is expected to take at least three years to locate and verify an Earth-size planet." NASA The first five are big, hot, and dense - Neptune to Jupiter in size, and hotter than molten lava while orbiting stars hotter than our sun. I see Kepler's mission as exploring the 'diversity' of planetary systems much more than (spending its time just) looking for Earth-like targets. But in any case it can do either/both much better than Hubble. Kepler is in an 'earth trailing solar orbit'. There's some interesting stuff in the wiki article about it, the logistics. -- Mike Easter From borgholio at storymind.com Sat Jan 9 04:40:13 2010 From: borgholio at storymind.com (Borgholio) Date: Sat Jan 9 04:40:08 2010 Subject: [Scsocial] Re: Kepler discovers it's first five planets In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: Mike Easter wrote: > Borgholio wrote: >> http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/kepler/main/index.html >> >> Go baby go! > > "Kepler will continue science operations until at least November 2012. > It will search for planets as small as Earth, including those that orbit > stars in a warm habitable zone where liquid water could exist on the > surface of the planet. Since transits of planets in the habitable zone > of solar-like stars occur about once a year and require three transits > for verification, it is expected to take at least three years to locate > and verify an Earth-size planet." NASA > > > The first five are big, hot, and dense - Neptune to Jupiter in size, and > hotter than molten lava while orbiting stars hotter than our sun. Yeah that was expected due to the orbital periods of those sorts of worlds, but at least we know the technique works. :) > > I see Kepler's mission as exploring the 'diversity' of planetary systems > much more than (spending its time just) looking for Earth-like targets. Which is never a bad thing, discovery is discovery afterall. > > But in any case it can do either/both much better than Hubble. > > Kepler is in an 'earth trailing solar orbit'. There's some interesting > stuff in the wiki article about it, the logistics. > > Yeah what's amazing is how simple it is in practice. Launch into an earth-trailing orbit, point at a certain point in the sky, and stare for three years or more. From MikeE at ster.invalid Sat Jan 9 10:17:47 2010 From: MikeE at ster.invalid (Mike Easter) Date: Sat Jan 9 10:20:09 2010 Subject: [Scsocial] Re: Prozac? My doc thinks so...I'm not so sure. In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: Charles wrote: > they all work in similar ways. That's > how they got the name. If you've met one woman, you've met 'em all. -- Mike Easter vive la diff?rence From dfmanno at mail.com Sat Jan 9 13:46:58 2010 From: dfmanno at mail.com (D.F. Manno) Date: Sat Jan 9 13:50:08 2010 Subject: [Scsocial] Re: Prozac? My doc thinks so...I'm not so sure. References: Message-ID: In article , Borgholio wrote: > Well long story short I've been struggling with OCD for years and finally > got sick of it. Went to a therapist twice (one more session left) and one > of her suggestions is to see a psychiatrist, just to see if medication is > an option. > > So after about a half hour discussion he suggests Prozac. Prozac > stabilizes the seratonin levels in the brain thereby helping with > depression, but also it works amazingly well vs OCD...since modern thought > is that OCD is caused by a seratonin imbalance. > > Now for the side effects. The only one that concerns me is apparently a > very common one for seratonin meds, which is impotence. Wouldn't > ordinarily bother me except that...well...I'm dating someone. So, yeah. > > Is being droopy better than checking the locks on my doors a dozen times > before I leave the house? I'm not so sure... Prozac made me homicidal. That was bad. -- D.F. Manno | dfmanno@mail.com And if there were a God, I think it very unlikely that He would have such an uneasy vanity as to be offended by those who doubt His existence. (Bertrand Russell) From nobody at spamcop.net Sat Jan 9 14:55:28 2010 From: nobody at spamcop.net (Indigo) Date: Sat Jan 9 15:05:09 2010 Subject: [Scsocial] Re: I can't fscking belive this... In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: "Heidi" wrote in message news:hi8q1l$atv$1@news.spamcop.net... > I wouldn't go to an alternative care practitioner, but I'd certainly drag > my ass to another cardiolgist ASAP to get some kind of explanation as to > what happened and why - 80% of the doctors I've seen can't think outside > the box, can't be BOTHERED to think outside the box, and can't be bothered > to make inquiries past what they see or know. Ok, maybe go see another "regular" doctor....but if you still don't get answers THEN you'd be willing to see someone for an alternative diagnosis and treatment? If no, WHY THE HELL NOT? What do you have to lose except for the ~$100 consultation fee? Heck, from all I've learned over the years (especially in the last year when my neck was giving me so much trouble) YOUR knee pain may be caused by improper alignment of your cervical vertebrae/bones and occipetal lobe. I'll post the email I sent him with all the links if you or anyone else is interested, it's truly fascinating stuff. Ever watch Mystery Diagnosis on > TLC? What a learning experience. You watch these people with rare and > oddly presented diseases go to doctor after doctor to be dismissed as > depressed or crazy or have psoriasis or whatever, and it turns out they > have some really rare condition that most of them have diagnosed > themselves on the internet. No, I"m to much of a wuss to watch any kind of "real life" medical shows ;-) You really have to be your own advocate, no one is going to do > that for you , and if your brother is so complacent that he can think his > heart stopping is ok. what are you going to do about it? > Well, at least I have him thinking about what happened now......and he realizes it things don't quite add up. From nobody at spamcop.net Sat Jan 9 15:08:02 2010 From: nobody at spamcop.net (Indigo) Date: Sat Jan 9 15:10:07 2010 Subject: [Scsocial] Re: Kepler discovers it's first five planets In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: "Borgholio" wrote in message news:hi92lf$5fp$1@news.spamcop.net... > http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/kepler/main/index.html > > Go baby go! Kewl beans.....5 exo-planets already....just think how many it'll find during it's operating lifetime! From nobody at spamcop.net Sat Jan 9 15:14:31 2010 From: nobody at spamcop.net (Indigo) Date: Sat Jan 9 15:15:08 2010 Subject: [Scsocial] Re: Kepler discovers it's first five planets In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: "Mike Easter" wrote in message news:hi99p7$gaf$1@news.spamcop.net... > > I see Kepler's mission as exploring the 'diversity' of planetary systems > much more than (spending its time just) looking for Earth-like targets. > > But in any case it can do either/both much better than Hubble. That's because it was designed to exactly that and Hubble wasn't (else they wouldn't have needed to build it, eh?).....different kinds of instruments, filters (wavelengths), etc. I can't wait for JWST to launch, although it's going to be years from now -- they just recently (and finally!) got through their Preliminary Design Review (PDR), the first step in a very long process towards building and launching a new spacecraft or hardware for existing serviceable orbiting spacecraft like HST or the ISS. From nobody at spamcop.net Sat Jan 9 15:22:13 2010 From: nobody at spamcop.net (Indigo) Date: Sat Jan 9 15:25:08 2010 Subject: [Scsocial] Re: Prozac? My doc thinks so...I'm not so sure. In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: "Charles" wrote in message news:Xns9CFB5EB8FDD02ThisIsMyPost@216.154.195.61... > No way it was me! It was "Indigo" ! >> "Charles" wrote in message >> news:Xns9CFABF9EB91A8ThisIsMyPost@216.154.195.61... > >>> One SSRI is worth another. More or less. >> >> That's baloney, and I think you know better.....and not something to >> make light of...... > > Not really making light of it. And they all work in similar ways. That's > how they got the name. You'd think so, but in reality they don't. Very minute difference in the drug's composition can have a huge effect on how it interacts with an individual's own body chemistry. For instance, take the BP med I'm on (Benicar), it treats both the side effects of the antibiotic I'm taking for my lyme infection _and_ controls high BP. In "theory" it's in the exact same class as the previous drug I was taking, Avapro, but the difference in efficacy in MY BODY is enormous. Avapro didn't work at all, but Benicar actually works too well! I can't even take the recommended therapeutic dosage for counteracting the antibiotic because my BP drops way too low, causing lots of problems. Just saying.....these kinds of drugs aren't "one size fits all"..... From MikeE at ster.invalid Sat Jan 9 19:20:05 2010 From: MikeE at ster.invalid (Mike Easter) Date: Sat Jan 9 19:20:08 2010 Subject: [Scsocial] Re: Prozac? My doc thinks so...I'm not so sure. In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: Charles wrote: > Mike Easter >> If you've met one woman, you've met 'em all. > 'zackly. That's why we have the tao of Steve. I didn't see it. I read the wiki entry. It sounds like a romantic comedy with some good/entertaining dialogue. Since it was released 10 years ago, you must have the DVD around the house or something. I'm not sure I'm into the concept of the Tao/s of Steves McQueen, Austin, & McGarrett being seductive on the basis of being desireless, then excellent, and then gone - but then I'm willing to give the theater/cinema art some license. Just from reading the wiki, I'm not really sure how they decided they could make a (successful) movie out of that. Perhaps the idea would be that if it is a romance comedy, it can be an appealing chick flick and if it is about men seducing women, they can get the guys to go too. -- Mike Easter From MikeE at ster.invalid Sun Jan 10 20:34:46 2010 From: MikeE at ster.invalid (Mike Easter) Date: Sun Jan 10 20:35:07 2010 Subject: [Scsocial] Re: Kepler discovers it's first five planets In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: Indigo wrote: > > "Mike Easter" >> I see Kepler's mission as exploring the 'diversity' of planetary >> systems much more than (spending its time just) looking for Earth-like >> targets. >> >> But in any case it can do either/both much better than Hubble. > > That's because it was designed to exactly that and Hubble wasn't (else > they wouldn't have needed to build it, eh?).....different kinds of > instruments, filters (wavelengths), etc. Yes. > I can't wait for JWST to launch, although it's going to be years from > now -- they just recently (and finally!) got through their Preliminary > Design Review (PDR), the first step in a very long process towards > building and launching a new spacecraft or hardware for existing > serviceable orbiting spacecraft like HST or the ISS. And/But, as you said about Kepler vs HST, the JWST isn't actually tasked to do (exactly) the same job as HST. Its forte is/will be/ (related to) IR, so it would be considered both a superior *and* a 'partial' successor to HST -- even tho' it is touted as a 'successor' because it has so much greater capabilities in optics related to IR and near IR than HST did/does. Personally, I don't think that the Hubble should be deorbited until such time as there is actually no longer any need for any its services. I think that the purpose of the soft capture mechanism which was installed on the 'last servicing mission' S-125 should be considered as a potential way to do further servicing (even after there are no shuttles) rather than the capture method (just) for deorbiting. -- Mike Easter From nobody at spamcop.net Mon Jan 11 13:39:47 2010 From: nobody at spamcop.net (Indigo) Date: Mon Jan 11 13:40:09 2010 Subject: [Scsocial] Re: Kepler discovers it's first five planets In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: "Mike Easter" wrote in message news:hidv7n$7fi$1@news.spamcop.net... > > And/But, as you said about Kepler vs HST, the JWST isn't actually tasked > to do (exactly) the same job as HST. Its forte is/will be/ (related to) > IR, so it would be considered both a superior *and* a 'partial' successor > to HST -- even tho' it is touted as a 'successor' because it has so much > greater capabilities in optics related to IR and near IR than HST > did/does. You are correct, JWST isn't a "replacement" for Hubble, for numerous reasons: it's not serviceable, it orbits at the L-point (not LEO), only has a couple detectors vs. 5 separate instruments (SI's) with multiple detectors/cameras in each SI, all IR vs. a mix of UV-visual-IR wavelengths. > > Personally, I don't think that the Hubble should be deorbited until such > time as there is actually no longer any need for any its services. Regardless of what NASA or the feds say in public, HST will remain in operation until it's incapable of producing science data of any useful value. Even a half crippled HST is better than nothing. We fixed the battery and electrical control system problems during the last two SM's, and installed new solar arrays, a total of 3 new SI's, fixed two broken SI's (STIS and NICMOS) plus new gyros and Fine Guidance Sensors (FGS). While the typical "official" required operating lifetime for any new SI is 3 years (the standard for most science NASA satellites, excluding the weather sats they build for NOAA), the individual components within the SI's have operating requirements as high as 15 years, so they'll likely last way past 3 years, probably up to 8-10 years IMO ==> that takes us out to 2016-2018 for the SI's. The gyros are the weakest link in the entire telescope, and now we have a full set of 6 (3 operating, 3 spares, one for each axis). During previous years between SMs as certain gyros failed the operators learned how to point and control the attitude of HST with a crippled gyro system (down to 2 control axis), so now we can survive failures of multiple gyros and still produce great science. In summary, HST should still be running fine until 2014 when JWST is supposed to launch, but don't count on it meeting schedule, it was originally supposed to launch in 2011! The only thing that worries me is a micrometeorite strike that takes out a critical system with no backup, like the main computer or the high gain antenna. Also, at some point in the future (I forget the calculated date, and it changes with each solar flare event) HST will drop low enough in altitude that we'll have to de-orbit it before we lose control. > > I think that the purpose of the soft capture mechanism which was installed > on the 'last servicing mission' S-125 should be considered as a potential > way to do further servicing (even after there are no shuttles) rather than > the capture method (just) for deorbiting. > Good guess! After the Columbia disaster, I spent about 2 years working on the robotic servicing mission that was meant to replace the final manned shuttle visit -- that installed soft dock system is the same one designed for the robotic SM. The designs of most of the hardware needed were well advanced when NASA decided to perform the final manned SM, and a prototype advanced 6-axis robotic arm based on the one installed on the ISS was already in testing. The head honcho of all of the SM's (the *real* manager, not the figurehead you typically see on TV), has managed to keep together a skeleton crew of engineers to continue work on a robotic SM "just in case". Even if NASA won't fund the mission to replace any vital broken parts (further delays in JWST could alter their thinking), at a minimum it will have a booster rocket the raise HST back into it's highest operating orbit, allowing it to run another 5 or so years before the de-orbit module is put to use, putting an end to the life of the most important science instrument ever built by mankind. I think I (and thousands of others involved in the HST program over the last 25-30 years) will cry buckets the day that happens....it's our "baby", after all..... From borgholio at storymind.com Mon Jan 11 18:20:32 2010 From: borgholio at storymind.com (Borgholio) Date: Mon Jan 11 18:25:09 2010 Subject: [Scsocial] Re: 3 things to love In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: Sylvesterthekat wrote: > Borgholio wrote in > news:hi46f0$7m7$3@news.spamcop.net: > > >> I actually seriously considered filing my bike as non-op with the DMV >> for this year. I'll hold off though, maybe this summer I'll get back >> in the saddle. >> > > Surely it doesn't cost much to register anyway does it? 80 bucks or so vs 20 for non-op. From borgholio at storymind.com Mon Jan 11 18:21:08 2010 From: borgholio at storymind.com (Borgholio) Date: Mon Jan 11 18:25:10 2010 Subject: [Scsocial] Re: Prozac? My doc thinks so...I'm not so sure. In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: Sylvesterthekat wrote: > "Indigo" wrote in > news:hi3qj8$8mn$1@news.spamcop.net: > >> Read my reply. Viagra won't help if you're not interested......just >> gives you a useless woodie with nothing you want to do with it..... >> >> > > So it doesn't just make you impotent, it removes sex drive altogether? Supposedly. I've already noticed some sexual side effects but nothing crippling, so I think I'm good for now. From me at privacy.net Mon Jan 11 18:17:59 2010 From: me at privacy.net (Frog Prince) Date: Mon Jan 11 18:25:10 2010 Subject: [Scsocial] Re: After I pulled out all of the spoons References: Message-ID: "Sylvesterthekat" wrote in message news:Xns9CFD97F1CA432sylvesterthekat@216.154.195.61... > "Indigo" wrote in > news:hi63dr$bmd$1@news.spamcop.net: > > >> If you read your DW instruction manual, I will GUARANTEE you that it >> will advise you against separating silverware the way you do because >> of everything I wrote above. But if you like food poisoning, feel free >> to ignore my advice.... >> >> > > I can see it with spoons, and sometimes yes I do have to rinse them. But > with the other cutlery it doesn't happen and our spoons actually have > plastic handles so they don't tend to 'spoon' anyway. After years of doing > it that way, we've never become ill due to food poisoning. Might or might not have crud on the surface (a function of the abrasives in the soap) but silverware will be sterile especially in a commercial washer. From me at privacy.net Mon Jan 11 18:48:19 2010 From: me at privacy.net (Frog Prince) Date: Mon Jan 11 18:50:08 2010 Subject: [Scsocial] Re: Noboby loves me References: Message-ID: In article , Sylvesterthekat wrote: > who, is noboby, i wonder? The one that is ultimately responsible? From nobody at spamcop.net Mon Jan 11 18:59:39 2010 From: nobody at spamcop.net (Indigo) Date: Mon Jan 11 19:00:08 2010 Subject: [Scsocial] Re: Face not recognized In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: "Sylvesterthekat" wrote in message news:Xns9CFD98C8F1FDDsylvesterthekat@216.154.195.61... > "Indigo" wrote in > news:hi86rq$43b$1@news.spamcop.net: > >> >> Sheesh, you must have spent a TON of money using that CC! > > Aye. At least 20k in the past year. The other 30k of points had built up > over a period of a couple of years. As a bonus, the PS3 was on sale so it > cost almost 20k points less than ordinarily. Now all we need is a 3DTV > which we just saw at CES. The PS3 was running 3D games and it was freakin' > awesome! > > Huh....$50,000 in CC charges in a couple of years.....years ago after my divorce debts were finally paid off I went to a pretty much "cash and carry" method of spending, I was never going to get trapped by CC debt again. So I used the hell out my debit card, and still do. Even though earning those points can get you some nice stuff, I still prefer not to credit except for online transactions, where I have no choice (I don't do PayPal). This month's FCU CC payment was a whopping $3100, pretty bad for someone on a fixed income and the highest single CC bill I've had in over 6 years....but that paid for my new washer/dryer, 4 new tires, furnace repair parts, and the 3 month refill of nearly all of my dietary supplements, scrip drugs, and some other misc. health bills. At leqst I finally got the re-imbursement payments from my health insurance co. for all the bills I submitted in Dec, that ~$1000 check covers 1/3 of my CC bill, thank ghod. Funny you should mention 3-D TV's -- I went to a friends house yesterday for an NFL playoff party and HD/3D TVs were a hot topic of discussion -- like how long it took the USA to switch from analog to digital, for HD to become affordable, etc. We figured it'll be about 10 years before 3D TV's get to where HDTV is right now, if ever. Who the hell wants to have to wear special glasses every time you watch TV? From nobody at spamcop.net Mon Jan 11 19:00:42 2010 From: nobody at spamcop.net (Indigo) Date: Mon Jan 11 19:05:07 2010 Subject: [Scsocial] Re: Face not recognized In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: "Sylvesterthekat" wrote in message news:Xns9CFD999D27839sylvesterthekat@216.154.195.61... > Check out this satellite image of Britain covered in snow. I've NEVER seen > anything like it, usually they get very little snow due to the maritime > climate. > > http://www.sphere.com/world/article/record-cold-heavy-snow-and-europe-is- > bracing-for-more/19308849 > > http://alturl.com/9hto > I can'nah even see the isle! From nobody at spamcop.net Mon Jan 11 19:10:00 2010 From: nobody at spamcop.net (Indigo) Date: Mon Jan 11 19:10:08 2010 Subject: [Scsocial] Re: Prozac? My doc thinks so...I'm not so sure. In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: "Sylvesterthekat" wrote in message news:Xns9CFD972BDBFEEsylvesterthekat@216.154.195.61... > "Indigo" wrote in > news:hi3qj8$8mn$1@news.spamcop.net: > >> Read my reply. Viagra won't help if you're not interested......just >> gives you a useless woodie with nothing you want to do with it..... >> >> > > So it doesn't just make you impotent, it removes sex drive altogether? It's single biggest side effect of Prozac for both men and women, IIRC.....when my adrenal glands failed after I got really sick from lyme, I suffered from the same problem, although for a different reason (the adrenals produce the most important hormones). They're FINALLY starting to heal, I've been able to cut my hydrocortisone dosage down to 5 mg/day as of last weekend (down from 30 mg/day last year), but I still need to take my DHEA/pregnenelone supplements every day. Hopefully things will continue to improve and I'll be able to get off all the hormone supplements in the next year or so.... From nobody at spamcop.net Mon Jan 11 19:12:32 2010 From: nobody at spamcop.net (Indigo) Date: Mon Jan 11 19:15:07 2010 Subject: [Scsocial] Re: Small things In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: "Sylvesterthekat" wrote in message news:Xns9CFD975292926sylvesterthekat@216.154.195.61... > "Indigo" wrote in > news:hi3qp6$8o3$1@news.spamcop.net: > >> No, my old PC came with Win98, then I *ahem* upgraded to Win2K when I >> luckily found a disk on the side of the road...only had XP at work. >> >> > > Wow so you skipped over XP altogether. I've skipped Vista, gladly lol. Yup....remember, I first had a custom built PC, then I rebuilt it years later, so I had it for a LONG time before finally getting the HP I have now. From me at privacy.net Mon Jan 11 22:52:36 2010 From: me at privacy.net (Frog Prince) Date: Mon Jan 11 22:55:08 2010 Subject: [Scsocial] Re: LOL, Sarah Palin References: Message-ID: "Sylvesterthekat" wrote in message news:Xns9CFD9A1BE9F04sylvesterthekat@216.154.195.61... > http://www.sphere.com/politics/article/sarah-palin-signs-deal-with-fox- > news/19312256 > > "I am thrilled to be joining the great talent and management team at Fox > News," Palin said in a statement released shortly after The New York Times > broke the story Monday. "It's wonderful to be part of a place that so > values fair and balanced news." Basically they lie, she swears to it. From bjarke.andersen at gmail.com Tue Jan 12 07:51:40 2010 From: bjarke.andersen at gmail.com (Bjarke Andersen) Date: Tue Jan 12 07:55:08 2010 Subject: [Scsocial] Re: Kepler discovers it's first five planets References: Message-ID: Borgholio crashed Echelon writing news:hi92lf$5fp$1@news.spamcop.net: > http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/kepler/main/index.html I more fascinated with the new replacement for Hubble, though I do not get why they will send it in same orbit as Kepler, thinking of all the upgrades Hubble has received in its lifetime. -- Bjarke Andersen From user at domain.invalid Tue Jan 12 11:40:32 2010 From: user at domain.invalid (Farelf) Date: Tue Jan 12 11:45:09 2010 Subject: [Scsocial] The Irukandji are coming Message-ID: The Irukandji are coming - http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2010/01/11/2789379.htm but not very quickly. The crocs will probably get here first. But that's not happening very quickly either. I shall probably have to die of something else. Ah well. There again, the Irukandji seem to be getting more acrobatic/ambitious - http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5icu7Thd7N2cgs5LMaezMuyFWWD9A or http://tinyurl.com/yzbr9r9 These are not just 'jellyfish'. We've discussed them before, they're proper little predators, they actively hunt. And they're practically invisible. And their neurotoxin is said to induce acute feelings of foreboding and despair. As if exquisite pain and death were not enough. Just thought I'd share ... Someone should make a movie. From kenbrody at spamcop.net Tue Jan 12 12:46:32 2010 From: kenbrody at spamcop.net (Kenneth Brody) Date: Tue Jan 12 12:50:08 2010 Subject: [Scsocial] Re: LOL, Sarah Palin In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: On 1/11/2010 6:08 PM, Sylvesterthekat wrote: > http://www.sphere.com/politics/article/sarah-palin-signs-deal-with-fox- > news/19312256 > > "I am thrilled to be joining the great talent and management team at Fox > News," Palin said in a statement released shortly after The New York Times > broke the story Monday. "It's wonderful to be part of a place that so > values fair and balanced news." If I hadn't read that quote on Fox's own site, I would have bet money you were quoting The Onion. -- Kenneth Brody From nobody at spamcop.net Tue Jan 12 12:57:19 2010 From: nobody at spamcop.net (Indigo) Date: Tue Jan 12 13:00:09 2010 Subject: [Scsocial] Re: After I pulled out all of the spoons In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: "Sylvesterthekat" wrote in message news:Xns9CFDABFBADDB3sylvesterthekat@216.154.195.61... > "Frog Prince" wrote in > news:higbsb$5h7$1@news.spamcop.net: > >> > >> Might or might not have crud on the surface (a function of the >> abrasives in the soap) but silverware will be sterile especially in a >> commercial washer. >> > > So you'd think. Those things get HOT. Your DW likely gets just about as hot as a commercial one, the difference is mainly the power of the sprayers and the chemicals/detergents used. IIRC, commercial DW's have (had?) a special tank that holds a blue sterilizing chemical used prior to the final rinse cycle. From nobody at spamcop.net Tue Jan 12 13:05:04 2010 From: nobody at spamcop.net (Indigo) Date: Tue Jan 12 13:05:08 2010 Subject: [Scsocial] Re: Face not recognized In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: "Sylvesterthekat" wrote in message news:Xns9CFDABDE8FB35sylvesterthekat@216.154.195.61... > > Well firstly we don't carry a balance, ergo no debt, ergo no charges. I > use the card because of the security it provides against poor > product/purchasing experience, and for the points I get for doing so. Well, when I buy any kind of expensive electric power tool or home electronics I always use a CC for those purchases for the reasons you cited -- protection against a bad product. I > also don't like the idea of carrying wads of cash around to pay for car > repairs or whatever. I buy a lot of stuff online and a credit card is > the only way to do that, if you want any sort of security. > Who said anything about wads of cash? I use a debit card mostly, although I try to keep $50-$100 in cash in my wallet for misc. purchases -- when I go to a convenience store and have to wait while someone uses a debit or CC to buy a frigging cup of coffee it drives me mad! "Hey lady, if you can't afford to leave the house with $5 in your purse you shouldn't be buying coffee at a store!" > Most of the time you would just use it like a normal TV, I'd think. > Occasionally you'd rent a video and watch a 3D movie, or play a 3D game. > Some of them didn't even require glasses, but they weren't as good. > Yet. How can you get a 3D effect without glasses? The separate phases of the images is how the effect is produced.....ergo the need for the glasses to bring the phases back together so your brain can process the images. From nobody at spamcop.net Tue Jan 12 13:24:40 2010 From: nobody at spamcop.net (Indigo) Date: Tue Jan 12 13:25:08 2010 Subject: [Scsocial] Re: Face not recognized In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: "Charles" wrote in message news:Xns9CFDDA0236FA7ThisIsMyPost@216.154.195.61... > No way it was me! It was Sylvesterthekat ! > >> Well firstly we don't carry a balance, ergo no debt, ergo no charges. > > Zackly! And when you get vendors who won't let you carry an account - who > insist on some form of prepay - then, well, you can be set up for some big > time bonuses. As in, I just bought $32k of stuff for work on my card. I > only get 1% back but that's better than nothing. I'm tempted to switch to > a 2% card... Well, when I first bought this house I couldn't even scrape together the down payment (had to borrow 2/3 of it from my Dad), so the appliances (fridge and W/D), window blinds, paint, etc. all had to go onto CC's. IIRC, everything added up to around $7k, and that balance never really got paid off until after my divorce (the ex was a spending machine incapable of sticking to a budget plan). I did a lot of CC switching too, swapping out "0% interest for one year cards" for another to keep the interest from killing me. What I'm saying is that until I was single again I never had enough money in the bank to be capable of paying off my CC balances every month -- It's a trap millions of people fall into every year, and many never escape, leading to bankruptcy. It's very easy for me to control my spending (when I'm not dating anyone), partly because I'm a male and don't have that raging need to buy new shoes and clothes every time I go shopping ;-) I have only one real weakness -- nice cars -- gotta have one I love to drive. From nobody at spamcop.net Tue Jan 12 14:05:11 2010 From: nobody at spamcop.net (Indigo) Date: Tue Jan 12 14:10:08 2010 Subject: [Scsocial] Re: Kepler discovers it's first five planets In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: "Bjarke Andersen" wrote in message news:Xns9CFE8CA0E3E2bjoegdk@216.154.195.61... > Borgholio crashed Echelon writing > news:hi92lf$5fp$1@news.spamcop.net: > >> http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/kepler/main/index.html > > I more fascinated with the new replacement for Hubble, though I do not get > why they will send it in same orbit as Kepler, thinking of all the > upgrades > Hubble has received in its lifetime. There's a number of reasons JWST is going out to the Lagrange point, I'll just list a couple that come to mind without googling: The L-point if a very stable orbit, perfectly balanced between the gravity pull from the earth and the sun, NASA knew the shuttle program was eventually going to come to an end, so there wasn't going to be a vehicle available to service it, but most importantly, because it's a far-IR instrument (the detectors will operate around 35 K, IIRC), it was critical to get it far away from "earthshine" (albedo) to enable the thermal systems to work properly. The sunlight that bounces off of the earth heats up Hubble like you wouldn't believe -- the temp swings from being in sun-shadow to being in (reflected) sunlight are over 50 C! One of the hardest engineering jobs for any earth-orbiting satellite is good thermal control, for exactly that reason. Communication sats must always have their transponders pointed towards the earth, which means the earth-facing side of the sat is always being heated, while the opposite side that faces deep space (temp ~ 1 K) is freezing. The entire sat bus and frame must be kept at a stable temp to keep temp gradients from stretching or shrinking the stucture, which puts immense stress on the internal components, leading to catastrophic failure. For example, think of how water that freezes and expands in cracks of rocks or concrete can completely fracture the material. It's physically impossible to build anything strong enough to survive thermal expansion/contraction -- you can increase the temp gradient the structure can handle, but if you keep increasing the gradient it will eventually fail. One way to avoid this kind of problem is a pretty neat feat of engineering someone at my old company came up with to handle the temp changes and motions of the 3 latches that hold HST's newest radial instrument (WFC3) in place while allowing the instrument to remain completely stable. It's called a "zero k" latch system (where little k stands for thermal conductivity). It's a pretty simple idea, but no one had ever built something like it before -- it's basically a "tube in tube" structure -- the inner graphite tubes hard mount to the Hubble latches, while the outer tubes attach to the latch mounts on the instrument. As the internal temp of Hubble changes, the latches either push or pull on WFC3, but the sliding tube system prevents that movement from being translated to WFC3. It's a little more complicated than that (each latch as different degrees of freedom), but that's it in a nutshell, and it turned out to work fantastically. WFC3 is the most stable SI ever installed in HST, which means it's images don't need to be corrected for "jitter". From nobody at spamcop.net Tue Jan 12 18:02:22 2010 From: nobody at spamcop.net (Indigo) Date: Tue Jan 12 18:05:08 2010 Subject: [Scsocial] Re: Face not recognized In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: "Sylvesterthekat" wrote in message news:Xns9CFE8466CD289sylvesterthekat@216.154.195.61... > > Well I guess there's that. I've never used a debit card so I don't > consider > it. Some of them give rewards too come to think of it. If yours doesn't, > get one that does. > No debit card?!?! I don't know how we once lived without them! And I've never heard of one that offers rewards since it's essentially the same as writing an electronic check. > http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qaHHFYwRwqQ Very short video......I could only make out the images on the bottom right side monitor, and it did have some kind of different thing going on compared to regular TV. Not quite 3D, but not quite 2D either...kind of hard to describe. From nobody at spamcop.net Tue Jan 12 18:12:39 2010 From: nobody at spamcop.net (Indigo) Date: Tue Jan 12 19:55:09 2010 Subject: [Scsocial] Re: Face not recognized In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: "Sylvesterthekat" wrote in message news:Xns9CFE85D5B9E12sylvesterthekat@216.154.195.61... > > Methinks perhaps you bought the house when you couldn't really afford it! > We waited till we did have 20% and the means to buy the stuff that was > needed. True, but only partly.....but my apt. complex was raising the rent a LOT and it turned out the house loan, with the interest tax deduction, equaled my current rent, so obviously I could afford to make the mortgage payments. I remember I barely squeeked into the house, my debt/income ratio was around 42%, and the rule of thumb is it shouldn't be higher than 33%. But I had an immaculate credit score, so I qualified for an FHA loan. And they didn't know that a big chunk of the down payment came from my Dad, that would have disqualified me for the loan (you're not allowed to borrow or be "gifted" the down payment on FHA loans). > > Oi! Not all of us buys shoes and clothes by the dozen! One of the reasons > I > figure hubby will never trade me in for a younger model is that I don't > spend money on 'stuff'. HE does that! > Heh. Lucky him! From user at domain.invalid Tue Jan 12 20:32:21 2010 From: user at domain.invalid (Farelf) Date: Tue Jan 12 20:35:07 2010 Subject: [Scsocial] Re: The Irukandji are coming In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: Sylvesterthekat wrote: > > Wow, talk about a freak occurrence for that guy. Thank goodness these > things live in marine water and not fresh! Imagine if they got into the > water supply, or some evildoer introduced them to it after the water left > the treatment plant. Movie fodder indeed! Yeah, most marine life can't handle fresh - critical cells lose function with ion outflow and/or they rupture. But I think the stinger cells aren't so easily/quickly denatured (external cells usually have less permeable walls) - the initial sting is pretty mild and often overlooked too, but I suspect if you swallowed some stingers you'd know all about it very quickly. Or if someone 'laced' the feed to a bidet. We have bull sharks. They swim up estuaries and hunt/scavenge in the fresh-water, if it's deep enough. Not much risk of them getting into the water supply though - and zero chance of them getting into the bidet. I'm sure that's a good thing. From user at domain.invalid Tue Jan 12 20:36:08 2010 From: user at domain.invalid (Farelf) Date: Tue Jan 12 20:40:08 2010 Subject: [Scsocial] Re: The Irukandji are coming In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: Charles wrote: > It wasn't me! It was Farelf! > >> These are not just 'jellyfish' > > Measuring up to 2cm across. Whoa. Like... You wouldn't ever even know > what happened. Yeah - especially since the actual sting/injection is not particularly painful - symptoms develop progressively. A spooky experience they say (most people survive with timely treatment these days). From me at privacy.net Tue Jan 12 21:33:05 2010 From: me at privacy.net (Frog Prince) Date: Tue Jan 12 21:35:08 2010 Subject: [Scsocial] China at it again - or watch the jewelry References: Message-ID: http://www.sphere.com/nation/article/some-childrens-jewelry-made-in-china-contains-high-levels-of-toxic-metal-cadmium/19311067 From borgholio at storymind.com Wed Jan 13 01:12:36 2010 From: borgholio at storymind.com (Borgholio) Date: Wed Jan 13 01:15:08 2010 Subject: [Scsocial] Re: China at it again - or watch the jewelry In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: Frog Prince wrote: > http://www.sphere.com/nation/article/some-childrens-jewelry-made-in-china-contains-high-levels-of-toxic-metal-cadmium/19311067 > > > > > Hear about Google threatening to pull out of China entirely if they don't let google un-censor their Chinese site? Yeah. :) http://www.cnn.com/2010/TECH/01/12/google.china/index.html From nobody at spamcop.net Wed Jan 13 12:02:07 2010 From: nobody at spamcop.net (Indigo) Date: Wed Jan 13 12:05:08 2010 Subject: [Scsocial] Re: China at it again - or watch the jewelry In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: "Borgholio" wrote in message news:hijo7r$bsc$1@news.spamcop.net... > > Hear about Google threatening to pull out of China entirely if they don't > let google un-censor their Chinese site? Yeah. :) > > http://www.cnn.com/2010/TECH/01/12/google.china/index.html Hmmm....wonder if I should buy some Baidu stock (Google's main search engine competitor in China).....geez, looks like the news already hit hard...BIDU is up over 12% today! Too rich for my blood ($435/share). From nobody at spamcop.net Wed Jan 13 12:10:34 2010 From: nobody at spamcop.net (Indigo) Date: Wed Jan 13 12:15:08 2010 Subject: [Scsocial] Re: China at it again - watch your Gmail ! In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: "Borgholio" wrote in message news:hijo7r$bsc$1@news.spamcop.net... > Hear about Google threatening to pull out of China entirely if they don't > let google un-censor their Chinese site? Yeah. :) Wow....this is way more serious than I thought! Hope no one out there is(was) using Gmail for business purposes......check out this article: http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/f65a4ba6-ffd7-11de-ad8c-00144feabdc0.html?referrer_id=yahoofinance&ft_ref=yahoo1&segid=03058&nclick_check=1 Google to defy China over censorship By Richard Waters, Chris Nuttall and Joseph Menn in San Francisco, Maija Palmer in London and Kathrin Hille in Beijing Published: January 13 2010 00:13 | Last updated: January 13 2010 16:24 People congregate and take photographs at a make-shift tribute outside the Google Inc. office in Beijing, China, on Wednesday, Jan. 13, 2010. Google Inc. defied the Chinese government by saying it will end self-censorship of its search engine and may quit the world's largest Internet market after attacks on e-mail accounts of human-rights activists. People congregate and take photographs at a make-shift tribute to Google outside the search engine's office in Beijing. Google has said it will end the controversial censorship of its search service in China and risk being thrown out of the world's most populous internet market, following what it claimed were China-based attempts to hack into its systems and those of other international companies. The dramatic gesture, which Google discussed with the US government beforehand, marks a new low in the deteriorating cyber-relations between China and the rest of the world, following a spate of online attacks and efforts to tighten web censorship. Several people laid down flowers and wreaths outside Google's offices in the Zhongguancun high-tech district in a northwestern corner of Beijing. When security guards called the move "illegal", the phrase "illegal flower donation" became an instant target for online mockery. ***LOL*** Bloggers and other commentators online raised alarm over the risk that a potential pullout of Google could leave China's internet even more unfree as the US company's drastic step followed a series of moves by Beijing to tighten internet censorship over the past year. US intelligence officials believe hackers supported by the Chinese government have been behind major breaches at US defence contractors, who have in some cases been targeted using the same previous unknown software vulnerabilities as trick emails sent to Chinese dissidents. The group also said it had begun encrypting all e-mail messages after it had found evidence of attempts to break into its Gmail system, with partial success in two cases, and many other attempts to trick "dozens" of human rights activists around the world in order to access to their email. Google said that in mid-December it had identified a "highly sophisticated and targeted attack" on its corporate systems "originating in China". The group added that it had found evidence of similar attacks on "at least" 20 other companies in finance, the media and other sectors. One person close to Google said that the company had no evidence that the cyber-attacks were sanctioned by the Chinese government. However, another person familiar with its thinking said that it would not have taken such a drastic measure had it not believed the attacks had official backing. From dfmanno at mail.com Wed Jan 13 12:31:06 2010 From: dfmanno at mail.com (D.F. Manno) Date: Wed Jan 13 12:35:08 2010 Subject: [Scsocial] Re: Haiti wiped off of the map References: Message-ID: In article , Charles wrote: > Whoa. Serious, dude. But, yeah. Makes some sense in that they say there > are no building codes. But, wow. It's like a disaster novel! A 7.0 would do serious, widespread damage in developed countries as well. -- D.F. Manno | dfmanno@mail.com And if there were a God, I think it very unlikely that He would have such an uneasy vanity as to be offended by those who doubt His existence. (Bertrand Russell) From nobody at spamcop.net Wed Jan 13 12:46:18 2010 From: nobody at spamcop.net (Indigo) Date: Wed Jan 13 12:50:08 2010 Subject: [Scsocial] Re: The Irukandji are coming In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: "Farelf" wrote in message news:hij7r1$6ch$1@news.spamcop.net... > We have bull sharks. - and zero chance of them getting into the > bidet. I'm sure that's a good thing. > But watch out for those snakes! From nobody at spamcop.net Wed Jan 13 15:14:13 2010 From: nobody at spamcop.net (bar0) Date: Wed Jan 13 15:15:09 2010 Subject: [Scsocial] Re: Haiti wiped off of the map In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: "Charles" wrote in message news:Xns9CFF8558D2071ThisIsMyPost@216.154.195.61... > It wasn't me! It was "D.F. Manno" ! >> In article , >> Charles wrote: >> >>> Whoa. Serious, dude. But, yeah. Makes some sense in that they say >>> there are no building codes. But, wow. It's like a disaster novel! >> >> A 7.0 would do serious, widespread damage in developed countries as >> well. > > I'll give you that, I suppose. It seems, still, unlikely to knock a first > world country out of communication with the rest of the world. Well actually it didn't!! First the land lines went out apparently, followed by cell. Oddly though, people were still tweeting and sending photos and blogs via facebook. So some kind of telecoms still seems to be somewhat available. Weird. From nobody at spamcop.net Wed Jan 13 15:15:56 2010 From: nobody at spamcop.net (bar0) Date: Wed Jan 13 15:20:08 2010 Subject: [Scsocial] Re: Haiti wiped off of the map In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: "D.F. Manno" wrote in message news:dfmanno-40BB83.12310613012010@news.cesmail.net... > In article , > Charles wrote: > >> Whoa. Serious, dude. But, yeah. Makes some sense in that they say >> there >> are no building codes. But, wow. It's like a disaster novel! > > A 7.0 would do serious, widespread damage in developed countries as well. Imagine an 8.x in Vancouver 3 weeks from now! Before 1980's they weren't building to California code as a matter of rule. From nobody at spamcop.net Wed Jan 13 18:14:46 2010 From: nobody at spamcop.net (Heidi) Date: Wed Jan 13 18:15:08 2010 Subject: [Scsocial] Re: As if I'd ever get my smart phone References: Message-ID: "Charles" wrote in message news:Xns9CFF54D667A7FThisIsMyPost@216.154.195.61... > Fricking Amazon... Free 2 day shipping. So I should have had the phone > Tuesday. Only they've delayed that twice and now they're talking about > maybe a week from now. Wha? Why, I've half a mind! We know that already, har har..... You'll still get Free 2 Day Shipping. Just from whenever the hell they decide to send it. Was it supposed to be stocked and shipped by Amazon, or some other outside vendor? I had a problem like that with an outside vendor, said the product was in stock, and it wasn't and it took a week of phone calls and lies for them to say it wasn't in stock but they expected it NEXT week, yet it still showed on Amazon as in stock. WTF, Amazon.... From nobody at spamcop.net Wed Jan 13 18:19:14 2010 From: nobody at spamcop.net (Heidi) Date: Wed Jan 13 18:20:08 2010 Subject: [Scsocial] Re: I can't fscking belive this... References: Message-ID: "Indigo" wrote in message news:hian8r$2je$1@news.spamcop.net... > > Heck, from all I've learned over the years (especially in the last year > when my neck was giving me so much trouble) YOUR knee pain may be caused > by improper alignment of your cervical vertebrae/bones and occipetal lobe. > I'll post the email I sent him with all the links if you or anyone else is > interested, it's truly fascinating stuff. My knee pain is caused by a shitty, arrogant little fucker of a surgeon who decided that one round with the abrader wasn't bad enough, so he did it twice. All the alignment in the world isn't going to help that. > Well, at least I have him thinking about what happened now......and he > realizes it things don't quite add up. Not the sharpest pencil in the box, is he? If my heart stopped I think I would know something was wrong, right off the bat there. From user at domain.invalid Wed Jan 13 19:50:55 2010 From: user at domain.invalid (Farelf) Date: Wed Jan 13 19:55:07 2010 Subject: [Scsocial] Re: The Irukandji are coming In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: Indigo wrote: > > But watch out for those snakes! Yeah, generally need to be "normally" careful in grass/groundcover, reaching under logs and so-on in warm weather. Only the tiger snake has a reputation for aggressiveness (probably exaggerated) and they prefer damp areas. I dare say you'd be more likely to see 'snake food' (mice, frogs) much more than you'd see the snakes (the predator:prey ratio thing) so many man-snake contacts are sort of predictable. Every region has its hazards. (Some/many) South Africans reckon Australia is more dangerous than their country - I'm sure (most) Australians would figure it was the other way around. Both are eminently survivable with just a little attention/awareness which is second nature/unconscious to the locals. We probably lose more visitors driving on the "wrong" side of the road than anything else (lots of quiet roads away from the cities, easy to forget). From nobody at spamcop.net Wed Jan 13 19:16:16 2010 From: nobody at spamcop.net (Indigo) Date: Wed Jan 13 20:00:08 2010 Subject: [Scsocial] Re: Haiti wiped off of the map In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: "bar0" wrote in message news:hil9im$5su$1@news.spamcop.net... > > "Charles" wrote in message > news:Xns9CFF8558D2071ThisIsMyPost@216.154.195.61... >>> >>> A 7.0 would do serious, widespread damage in developed countries as >>> well. >> >> I'll give you that, I suppose. It seems, still, unlikely to knock a >> first >> world country out of communication with the rest of the world. > > Well actually it didn't!! > First off, are you really calling Haiti a "first world" country? Surely you jest! > First the land lines went out apparently, followed by cell. Oddly though, > people were still tweeting and sending photos and blogs via facebook. > > So some kind of telecoms still seems to be somewhat available. Weird. You want to hear something so weird it's inexplical (to me)? Over the last two days my internet connection has been on the fritz, coming and going whenever it pleased (an intermittent outage courtesy of Comcast which finally seems to be fixed). It sucked. Couldn't surf the net, email, do hardly anything on my PC. But two streaming apps I typically have running all day long, every day, behaved completely differently: my online XM streaming audio service was gone when my connection went down, but my streaming real-time stock price app from TDAmeritrade kept on ticking! How the hell is that possible? Even weirder, the real-time stock charts would stop updating whenever I lost sync, but the streamed text-based account data never stopped working, the time of day and stock prices were always valid. It was kinda like I could accept certain incoming traffic but not others (UDP vs TCIP?), and all outgoing traffic was halted. Continuous commands of "ipconfig /renew" gave me different results almost every time I ran it. 'Splain *that* to me, Lucy! From nobody at spamcop.net Wed Jan 13 19:31:45 2010 From: nobody at spamcop.net (Indigo) Date: Wed Jan 13 20:00:09 2010 Subject: [Scsocial] Re: I can't fscking belive this... In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: "Heidi" wrote in message news:hilkdi$9m2$1@news.spamcop.net... > > My knee pain is caused by a shitty, arrogant little fucker of a surgeon > who decided that one round with the abrader wasn't bad enough, so he did > it twice. All the alignment in the world isn't going to help that. But how do you REALLY know that proper spine and hip alignment wouldn't at least alleviate the pain somewhat? Seriously, I don't understand your resistance to at least get checked out by a good chiropractor just ONCE. > >> Well, at least I have him thinking about what happened now......and he >> realizes it things don't quite add up. > > Not the sharpest pencil in the box, is he? If my heart stopped I think I > would know something was wrong, right off the bat there. Intellectually, he's just as bright as the rest of my brothers and sisters (except for my youngest bro, who didn't get the "smart" genes). I believe that his wife his wielding undo influence over whether he sees an "alternative care" provider, as she is a stalwart believer in "modern medicine", just like my Mom was. I believe that whatever is stopping you from trying alternative therapies is the same thing that's stopping him. And I also think it's an incredibly dumb and indefensable position to take when you have a medical problem that your "doctors" can't fix or explain. Sorry for the swipe, but I calls'em as I see'em. From nobody at spamcop.net Wed Jan 13 19:58:45 2010 From: nobody at spamcop.net (Indigo) Date: Wed Jan 13 20:00:10 2010 Subject: [Scsocial] Re: The Irukandji are coming In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: "Farelf" wrote in message news:hilpph$bgv$1@news.spamcop.net... > Indigo wrote: >> >> But watch out for those snakes! > > Yeah, generally need to be "normally" careful in grass/groundcover, > reaching under logs and so-on in warm weather. Heh. I wasn't talking about "snakes in the grass", I was talking about "snakes in your plumbing", mainly your aforementioned bidet..... From nobody at spamcop.net Wed Jan 13 22:07:42 2010 From: nobody at spamcop.net (Heidi) Date: Wed Jan 13 22:10:07 2010 Subject: [Scsocial] Re: I can't fscking belive this... References: Message-ID: "Indigo" wrote in message news:hilq8l$bmg$3@news.spamcop.net... > > But how do you REALLY know that proper spine and hip alignment wouldn't at > least alleviate the pain somewhat? Seriously, I don't understand your > resistance to at least get checked out by a good chiropractor just ONCE. I've BTDT with chiropractors, numerous times, nothing ever got fixed permanently, and I'm of the mind that if you have to keep shoving something back into place, then there's something wrong that isn't keeping it there in the first place. Repeatedly cracking my neck after whiplash never did any lasting good, and may have actually made it worse. As for my knee, there is no adjustment that is going to fix the lack of cartilage behind my kneecap, that's a man-made problem that causes constant irritation, which causes constant pain from friction, not alignment. Chiro would be a complete waste of time and money. > Intellectually, he's just as bright as the rest of my brothers and > sisters (except for my youngest bro, who didn't get the "smart" genes). I > believe that his wife his wielding undo influence over whether he sees an > "alternative care" provider, as she is a stalwart believer in "modern > medicine", just like my Mom was. I believe that whatever is stopping you > from trying alternative therapies is the same thing that's stopping him. > And I also think it's an incredibly dumb and indefensable position to take > when you have a medical problem that your "doctors" can't fix or explain. > > Sorry for the swipe, but I calls'em as I see'em. Intellect and common sense are not the same thing......My sister is a nurse practitioner and she doesn't have the common sense to pour piss out of a boot if the directions are written on the heel. She watched my mother struggle to hold herself up on a walker while trying to push the vaccum cleaner around. I said "WTF is wrong with you, she can't even stand up, why didn't you just do it for her?" "I'm not going to take away her independence, it's very important to keep their independence!" [But OK if she falls while she tries???]. I went over and vacuumed for her and Mom said "thanks for doing that, last time I tried to vacuum it damn near killed me". This is someone who is A NURSE, and doesn't have the sense to know when independence is already gone and HELP might be more useful? Your brother needs to see a cardiologist, not an alternative provider, why he is not making tracks to one is beyond me. How can anyone be so casual about their heart just stopping? I've tried lots of alternative medicine, and will continue to if I feel it would be helpful, but the fact is there is very little factual or scientific evidence to back up claims of whether or not a lot of it works at all, and for me, most have been a complete waste of time and money. Some of it did make sense and some of it did result in lifestyle changes, but for the most part, taking "supplements" that have no scientific evidence of efficacy behind them is not something I can or will piss away money on. Medical doctors, for the most part, have also been less than helpful (snarky understatement) but I have at last found one who is trying to help me with my knee, and she said "what's going on there with all this other inflammation is not right, why isn't anyone addressing this?", and has taken it as a personal challenge to find me a diagnosis - she herself went out and found a rheumatologist who thinks outside the box, has seen and treated many rare conditions and thinks he has an idea of what might be going on - she said she will go with me to the appointment to make sure I don't get blown off again. So among all the careless, unconcerned boobs out there, there are a few good ones, and I'll put my trust in medical science (and a doctor who will USE it) before I'd bother with anything else. From user at domain.invalid Thu Jan 14 00:43:58 2010 From: user at domain.invalid (Farelf) Date: Thu Jan 14 00:45:08 2010 Subject: [Scsocial] Re: The Irukandji are coming In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: Indigo wrote: > > "Farelf" wrote in message > news:hilpph$bgv$1@news.spamcop.net... >> Indigo wrote: >>> >>> But watch out for those snakes! >> >> Yeah, generally need to be "normally" careful in grass/groundcover, >> reaching under logs and so-on in warm weather. > > Heh. I wasn't talking about "snakes in the grass", I was talking about > "snakes in your plumbing", mainly your aforementioned bidet..... Oh well, that would be tiger snakes then.:) Actually there are numerous documented cases, but none involving tiger snakes AFAICR - more like dugites in the dunny. They must be fond of alliteration. Never leave doors open when it's warm/hot if there is any sort of corridor to bushland nearby. But of course there's far greater hazard (year round) with open doors than any from /Serpentes/. From borgholio at storymind.com Thu Jan 14 02:32:31 2010 From: borgholio at storymind.com (Borgholio) Date: Thu Jan 14 02:35:08 2010 Subject: [Scsocial] Re: Prozac? My doc thinks so...I'm not so sure. In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: Borgholio wrote: > Sylvesterthekat wrote: >> "Indigo" wrote in >> news:hi3qj8$8mn$1@news.spamcop.net: >>> Read my reply. Viagra won't help if you're not interested......just >>> gives you a useless woodie with nothing you want to do with it..... >>> >> >> So it doesn't just make you impotent, it removes sex drive altogether? > > Supposedly. I've already noticed some sexual side effects but nothing > crippling, so I think I'm good for now. Oh and so now I'm restless. Very restless. I can't stop moving...I have to keep doing something or I get antsy. Supposedly this goes away after the first week or so. Hopefully. I don't like this. From nobody at spamcop.net Thu Jan 14 09:58:55 2010 From: nobody at spamcop.net (bar0) Date: Thu Jan 14 10:00:07 2010 Subject: [Scsocial] Re: Haiti wiped off of the map In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: "Indigo" wrote in message news:hilq8l$bmg$2@news.spamcop.net... > > "bar0" wrote in message > news:hil9im$5su$1@news.spamcop.net... >> >> "Charles" wrote in message >> news:Xns9CFF8558D2071ThisIsMyPost@216.154.195.61... >>>> >>>> A 7.0 would do serious, widespread damage in developed countries as >>>> well. >>> >>> I'll give you that, I suppose. It seems, still, unlikely to knock a >>> first >>> world country out of communication with the rest of the world. >> >> Well actually it didn't!! >> > > First off, are you really calling Haiti a "first world" country? Surely > you jest! > > >> First the land lines went out apparently, followed by cell. Oddly though, >> people were still tweeting and sending photos and blogs via facebook. >> >> So some kind of telecoms still seems to be somewhat available. Weird. > > You want to hear something so weird it's inexplical (to me)? Over the last > two days my internet connection has been on the fritz, coming and going > whenever it pleased (an intermittent outage courtesy of Comcast which > finally seems to be fixed). It sucked. Couldn't surf the net, email, do > hardly anything on my PC. > > But two streaming apps I typically have running all day long, every day, > behaved completely differently: my online XM streaming audio service was > gone when my connection went down, but my streaming real-time stock price > app from TDAmeritrade kept on ticking! How the hell is that possible? Even > weirder, the real-time stock charts would stop updating whenever I lost > sync, but the streamed text-based account data never stopped working, the > time of day and stock prices were always valid. It was kinda like I could > accept certain incoming traffic but not others (UDP vs TCIP?), and all > outgoing traffic was halted. Continuous commands of "ipconfig /renew" gave > me different results almost every time I ran it. I don't know Lucy, but that behaviour is symptomatic of DNS problems, likely if you'd been running your own DNS server you might not have noticed. From nobody at spamcop.net Thu Jan 14 13:59:41 2010 From: nobody at spamcop.net (Indigo) Date: Thu Jan 14 14:00:08 2010 Subject: [Scsocial] This is one 3D movie I will DEFINITELY be going to see! Message-ID: http://www.apple.com/trailers/imax/hubble3d/ Warning: you need the latest version of Quicktime to view it, but it's worth the wait (the download took forever, but the traffic should die down in a few days). From nobody at spamcop.net Thu Jan 14 14:02:42 2010 From: nobody at spamcop.net (Indigo) Date: Thu Jan 14 14:05:08 2010 Subject: [Scsocial] Re: Haiti wiped off of the map In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: "bar0" wrote in message news:hinbfe$re$1@news.spamcop.net... > > I don't know Lucy, but that behaviour is symptomatic of DNS problems, > likely if you'd been running your own DNS server you might not have > noticed. I did notice blanks next to some DNS addresses when I ran ipconfig.....I wish I could manually enter a DNS server into a backup broadband connection to avoid this situation in the future.....any idea if that's feasible, and if it is, what server should/could I use (preferably a non-Comcast one)? From nobody at spamcop.net Thu Jan 14 14:07:08 2010 From: nobody at spamcop.net (Indigo) Date: Thu Jan 14 14:10:07 2010 Subject: [Scsocial] Re: As if I'd ever get my smart phone In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: "David Dean" wrote in message news:v8ltfuv02-101F57.10570214012010@killface.local... > In article , > Charles wrote: > >> They emailed back. "It takes 1-2 days for the cell company to run a >> credit >> check." Then why are they saying 8 business days to get the phone to me? >> It ain't right! > > Like they *really* need a credit check... There's pretty much no > excuse for requiring a credit check. Even if there is, it only takes seconds to do, not days. Can you imagine going into a store to buy a new cell phone and being told "come back in a couple days after we run a credit check"?! From nobody at spamcop.net Thu Jan 14 15:05:26 2010 From: nobody at spamcop.net (bar0) Date: Thu Jan 14 15:10:08 2010 Subject: [Scsocial] Re: Haiti wiped off of the map In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: "Indigo" wrote in message news:hinpoi$5ub$1@news.spamcop.net... > > "bar0" wrote in message > news:hinbfe$re$1@news.spamcop.net... >> >> I don't know Lucy, but that behaviour is symptomatic of DNS problems, >> likely if you'd been running your own DNS server you might not have >> noticed. > > I did notice blanks next to some DNS addresses when I ran ipconfig.....I > wish I could manually enter a DNS server into a backup broadband > connection to avoid this situation in the future.....any idea if that's > feasible, and if it is, what server should/could I use (preferably a > non-Comcast one)? Not my area of expertise, -- Anyone? From nobody at spamcop.net Thu Jan 14 15:07:58 2010 From: nobody at spamcop.net (Indigo) Date: Thu Jan 14 15:10:08 2010 Subject: [Scsocial] Re: I can't fscking belive this... In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: "Heidi" wrote in message news:him1pv$eba$1@news.spamcop.net... > > "Indigo" wrote in message > news:hilq8l$bmg$3@news.spamcop.net... >> >> But how do you REALLY know that proper spine and hip alignment wouldn't >> at least alleviate the pain somewhat? Seriously, I don't understand your >> resistance to at least get checked out by a good chiropractor just ONCE. > > I've BTDT with chiropractors, numerous times, nothing ever got fixed > permanently, and I'm of the mind that if you have to keep shoving > something back into place, then there's something wrong that isn't keeping > it there in the first place. Absolutely correct, in that something is wrong that isn't keeping "it" in place. In many cases, it's a combination of things: loss of muscle strength as one ages, the permanent stretching and loosening of tendons from repetitive actions or injuries, and in people like me, a footling breech birth that put traumatic stresses on my neck, lower back, and right shoulder that has led to a lifetime of problems and injuries in those 3 areas. The aging issue can be somewhat overcome by maintaining muscle strength, especially the core muscles, but once you've injured a joint and it's tendons/ligaments the damage is permanent. My ankle ligaments and tendons are so stretched out from spraining my ankles dozens of times while playing sports that it's impossible for me to "sprain my ankle" anymore -- both of my feet can completely roll over onto their sides -- it hurts for a minute or two, then it's gone. No swelling, no nothing, because the ligaments are so loose that they don't get stretched to the point of injury. It sucks, because it means I have a very unstable base of support, and it allows various bones in my feet and legs to become displaced when the force exerted on them exceeds the strength of the joint. My point is that once you reach the point of no return, you have no choice but to get regular chiropractic adjustments or you live in constant pain. Another little anecdote for you: over the last couple weeks I've been suffering from horrible sinus congestion, I took every damn decongestant and anti-allergy pill I have in my house (5 different kinds) and nothing helped -- I blamed it on the freezing weather, but was miserable even on days I stayed inside all day. Yesterday I saw my chiropractor and told her about the problem, and she adjusted a little bone at the top of the bridge of my nose -- it was pushed into the sinus cavity and blocking the drainage "route". After she pulled it back out into it's proper position, my sinuses started draining instantly, and when I got off the table I was breathing completely normally, no congestion. How did that bone get pushed out of place? Who knows? All I care about is that my sinus problem is gone! Repeatedly cracking my neck after whiplash never did any > lasting good, and may have actually made it worse. If you weren't 100% relaxed when he/she 'cracked your neck', it's quite possible you suffered further injury. I've been getting my neck cracked for almost 30 years, and I still have to take a deep breath and concentrate on totally relaxing my muscles right before the adjustment is done -- it's still a scary thing to go through even though I've had it done hundreds of times. A lot of people just aren't capable of putting aside their fear for a moment and totally relaxing, you have to have 100% trust in your chiropractor not to hurt you (who may or may not have graduated in the top 50% of their class). As for my knee, there > is no adjustment that is going to fix the lack of cartilage behind my > kneecap, that's a man-made problem that causes constant irritation, which > causes constant pain from friction, not alignment. Chiro would be a > complete waste of time and money. Guess a knee replacement is somewhere in your future.... > > Intellect and common sense are not the same thing......My sister is a > nurse practitioner and she doesn't have the common sense to pour piss out > of a boot if the directions are written on the heel. She watched my mother > struggle to hold herself up on a walker while trying to push the vaccum > cleaner around. I said "WTF is wrong with you, she can't even stand up, > why didn't you just do it for her?" "I'm not going to take away her > independence, it's very important to keep their independence!" [But OK if > she falls while she tries???]. I went over and vacuumed for her and Mom > said "thanks for doing that, last time I tried to vacuum it damn near > killed me". This is someone who is A NURSE, and doesn't have the sense > to know when independence is already gone and HELP might be more useful? Yeah, you do have a point there.....being smart and having common sense really don't have much to do with each other. I can't imagine sitting there and watching someone try to vacuum in a walker without getting up and ripping it out of there hands to do it myself, whether they wanted to do it or not. Your > brother needs to see a cardiologist, not an alternative provider, why he > is not making tracks to one is beyond me. How can anyone be so casual > about their heart just stopping? > He _has_ seen one -- who do you think did the cath job? What he needs to do is go find another one to start, for a second opinion. If my heart had stopped I'd be scared sh*tless and being going anywhere and everywhere until I found an answer. > I've tried lots of alternative medicine, and will continue to if I feel it > would be helpful, but the fact is there is very little factual or > scientific evidence to back up claims of whether or not a lot of it works > at all, and for me, most have been a complete waste of time and money. > Some of it did make sense and some of it did result in lifestyle changes, > but for the most part, taking "supplements" that have no scientific > evidence of efficacy behind them is not something I can or will piss away > money on. I won't get into an argument over whether alternative medicine has "scientific proof" that it works, the arena is far too broad, you'd have to pick out one specific treatment or supplement to have a rational debate about. There's probably a few dietary supplements I could do without, but as long as they aren't causing me harm and I can afford them I'll continue to take them. There are more than a few that I *know* are very beneficial for me, because when I've tried to stop taking them my health got worse in some manner. Many of them are well-known to be safe and effective at what they do, like fish oil, probiotics, garlic, MSM 1000, and COQ10, to name a few. I was taking all of those long before I became ill with Lyme disease. The fish oil/garlic combo proved to be _way_ more effective at lowering my triglycerides than any of the scrip drugs my doctor had me try, without the worrisome side effects. The MSM 1000 was actually prescribed to me by my "Western Medicine" podiatrist to help with my big toe arthritis, and it turned out to work very well at reducing and even eliminating the chronic pain, although I still have flareups if I put a lot of pressure on them for too long a period of time. But hey, kudos for at least having an open mind and trying different things out, that's a helluva lot better than sitting on your ass doing nothing to find a solution to a health problem! That's what bugs me the most about my brother, the lack of making ANY effort at trying an alternative treatment or consultation/examination. > > Medical doctors, for the most part, have also been less than helpful > (snarky understatement) but I have at last found one who is trying to > help me with my knee, and she said "what's going on there with all this > other inflammation is not right, why isn't anyone addressing this?", and > has taken it as a personal challenge to find me a diagnosis - she herself > went out and found a rheumatologist who thinks outside the box, has seen > and treated many rare conditions and thinks he has an idea of what might > be going on - she said she will go with me to the appointment to make sure > I don't get blown off again. So among all the careless, unconcerned boobs > out there, there are a few good ones, and I'll put my trust in medical > science (and a doctor who will USE it) before I'd bother with anything > else. Glad to hear you finally found someone willing to work with you, and more importantly, agreeing that "this shouldn't be happening". Thinking outside the box is VERY discouraged by Western medicine, causing a lot of uneccessary suffering for millions of people. There's still a-holes out there claiming that there's no such thing as fibromyalgia, for instance, even though it's an officially accepted medical disability by the SS dept! From nobody at spamcop.net Thu Jan 14 15:21:13 2010 From: nobody at spamcop.net (Indigo) Date: Thu Jan 14 15:25:09 2010 Subject: [Scsocial] Paging a geek In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: "bar0" wrote in message news:hinte6$772$1@news.spamcop.net... > > "Indigo" wrote in message > news:hinpoi$5ub$1@news.spamcop.net... >> >> I did notice blanks next to some DNS addresses when I ran ipconfig.....I >> wish I could manually enter a DNS server into a backup broadband >> connection to avoid this situation in the future.....any idea if that's >> feasible, and if it is, what server should/could I use (preferably a >> non-Comcast one)? > > Not my area of expertise, -- Anyone? > Renaming the thread to hopefully grab someone's attention. From nobody at spamcop.net Thu Jan 14 15:25:45 2010 From: nobody at spamcop.net (Indigo) Date: Thu Jan 14 15:30:09 2010 Subject: [Scsocial] Re: I can't fscking belive this... In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: "Indigo" wrote in message news:hintiu$7bl$1@news.spamcop.net... > > >> I've tried lots of alternative medicine, and will continue to if I feel >> it would be helpful, P.S. Wanted to apologize for snapping at you in the first place, I'd forgotten about everything you tried years ago when you first hurt your knee, and reading your response jarred my (still lousy at times) memory. From nobody at spamcop.net Thu Jan 14 15:55:13 2010 From: nobody at spamcop.net (Indigo) Date: Thu Jan 14 16:00:07 2010 Subject: [Scsocial] Re: Prozac? My doc thinks so...I'm not so sure. In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: "Charles" wrote in message news:Xns9D0055C2A76F4ThisIsMyPost@216.154.195.61... > It wasn't me! It was Borgholio ! > >> Supposedly this goes away after the first week or so. > > Sometimes. I'm still really jumpy and it's been 6 weeks. Yeah, yeah, I'm > not on the same drug. But wow. > Hmmm.....I wonder if it's time to reduce my dosage.....the last couple weeks I've been feeling the same way....like I'm trapped in a cage....and my sleeping habits have been all over the place recently...either can't sleep at all or can't wake up. This entire week I'm also suffering from an intense sense of boredom, something I really haven't felt since I went on disability, at least not to this degree. I desperately want to go play golf or basketball, but can't because of my health issues, and more importantly, the crappy weather. Today is the worst day of all, it's sunny, 55 F outside, a perfect winter golf day, but the courses are all still closed or unplayable because of the remaining snow and muddy fairways. I'd even risk re-injuring my left elbow just to escape from this house and go do some kind of physical activity outdoors for a few hours! I talked to my acupuncturist about both the sleep and boredom problems yesterday, and she thought it was a good sign, in that my health has improved to the point where I'm no longer content to surf the net and putter around the house all day long. By "my health has improved" I mean that my body has finally adjusted to the antibiotic I'm taking for my lyme infection and I'm not herxing anymore. The next step is to increase the dose to taking it every day instead of on alternating days. But hearing what you two are going through, I'm wondering if it's the zoloft instead. Guess I'd better get in touch with my doc to hear what he thinks, you have to be _really_ careful with weaning off of SSRI's because some very bad things can happen if you suddenly decrease the dose. IIRC, it took about 6 months for me to slowly drop from my original dose to what I'm taking now (1/2 as much). There's so much going on inside my body right now it may better to stay conservative and not change two things at once, meaning maybe I should increase the antibiotic first to see how I deal with that. I'll let my doc decide what I should do, this is way more serious than self-adjusting my hydrocortisone dosage lower. From MikeE at ster.invalid Thu Jan 14 16:11:42 2010 From: MikeE at ster.invalid (Mike Easter) Date: Thu Jan 14 16:15:08 2010 Subject: [Scsocial] Re: Paging a geek In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: Indigo wrote: > "bar0" >> "Indigo" >>> I wish I could manually enter a DNS server into a backup >>> broadband connection to avoid this situation in the future.....any >>> idea if that's feasible, and if it is, what server should/could I use >>> (preferably a non-Comcast one)? >> >> Not my area of expertise, -- Anyone? >> > > Renaming the thread to hopefully grab someone's attention. I can comment on what I do and how and why I do it. I don't know if that qualifies for DNSgeek or not. I think not. The dnsgeeks do their own resolving with something like TreeWalk. Anyway, my topology is that I have a LAN of mixed win/linux all of which get their NAT IP dynamically from the router which is an AirLink. The wins are 98se thru' Vista, 1 each of those, several XPs dual boot with various linuxes. I get my nameservice in various ways. DHCP causes me to use EarthLink's nameservice. That has the disadvantage of sidetracking for advertising revenue if something is wrong with the name. Offhand I can't think of any advantage of that one except that it is the default which comes with the IP address I get for the cable modem. EL also permits one to specify EL nameservers which do not sidetrack to the advertising. I've never done/used that. Some machines are configured to use opendns. That has the advantage of being faster than EL. The default opendns also sidetracks for 'suggestions' which are influenced by ad revenue. However, opendns is also configurable -- which I don't do. It can be configured to not do that and all kinds of other things including netnanny. Some machines are configured to use the router. The router is configured to use opendns or EL's servers. I recently configured some machine/s to use google's nameservice and tested it out to see if it was faster than what I was using. I seem to recall that google's was faster than some, maybe EL's, but not faster than opendns. Gibson has a dns tester. If I were advising someone who wasn't going to use something like treewalk, I would say to use opendns and maybe even register and configure it or alternatively to use google, depending upon how google's speed compares with your current provider's. -- Mike Easter From borgholio at storymind.com Thu Jan 14 16:42:47 2010 From: borgholio at storymind.com (Borgholio) Date: Thu Jan 14 16:45:08 2010 Subject: [Scsocial] Re: Prozac? My doc thinks so...I'm not so sure. In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: Charles wrote: > It wasn't me! It was Borgholio ! > >> Oh and so now I'm restless. > > Oh. But is it helping with the OCD stuff? Nope, not in any big way yet. :-/ From borgholio at storymind.com Thu Jan 14 16:43:34 2010 From: borgholio at storymind.com (Borgholio) Date: Thu Jan 14 16:45:09 2010 Subject: [Scsocial] Re: As if I'd ever get my smart phone In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: David Dean wrote: > In article , > Charles wrote: > >> They emailed back. "It takes 1-2 days for the cell company to run a credit >> check." Then why are they saying 8 business days to get the phone to me? >> It ain't right! > > Like they *really* need a credit check... There's pretty much no > excuse for requiring a credit check. When I signed up for my Verizon service (using my own phone, I might add), they said the credit check was to ensure I was to I say I was...not sure I believe that but that's their story and they stuck to it. From nobody at spamcop.net Thu Jan 14 17:26:59 2010 From: nobody at spamcop.net (Indigo) Date: Thu Jan 14 17:30:09 2010 Subject: [Scsocial] Re: Paging a geek In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: "Mike Easter" wrote in message news:hio1af$8ij$1@news.spamcop.net... > I recently configured some machine/s to use google's nameservice and > tested it out to see if it was faster than what I was using. I seem to > recall that google's was faster than some, maybe EL's, but not faster than > opendns. Gibson has a dns tester. Ok, but how do I find out what Goog's nameserver's IP is? I *used* to know how to do this stuff, but I stopped investigating and reporting *pam years ago and have pretty much forgotten everything I learned. I have Sam Spade on my machine (whoops, not after the recent crash I don't), IIRC a "whois" on google.com or some similar query would give me their primary and secondary nameservers. As far as your speed concerns, this is for a new backup connection I want to create for when Comcast's servers go wonky, so slower is better than nothing in that case. From borgholio at storymind.com Thu Jan 14 17:28:52 2010 From: borgholio at storymind.com (Borgholio) Date: Thu Jan 14 17:30:09 2010 Subject: [Scsocial] Re: As if I'd ever get my smart phone In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: Sylvesterthekat wrote: > Charles wrote in > news:Xns9CFF54D667A7FThisIsMyPost@216.154.195.61: > >> Fricking Amazon... Free 2 day shipping. So I should have had the phone >> Tuesday. Only they've delayed that twice and now they're talking about >> maybe a week from now. Wha? > > Dagnabit! That's annoying. > > >> Why, I've half a mind! > > yeah and? ;o) > And he's giving himself too much credit. :-P From borgholio at storymind.com Thu Jan 14 17:29:19 2010 From: borgholio at storymind.com (Borgholio) Date: Thu Jan 14 17:30:10 2010 Subject: [Scsocial] Re: Haiti wiped off of the map In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: Sylvesterthekat wrote: > Charles wrote in > news:Xns9CFF4BD9E365CThisIsMyPost@216.154.195.61: > >> Whoa. Serious, dude. But, yeah. Makes some sense in that they say >> there are no building codes. But, wow. It's like a disaster novel! >> > > I was dumbfounded that even the presidential palace wasn't built to code. > Like wow. I dunno, anyplace that calls itself a presidential "Palace" automatically screams third world at me. From nobody at spamcop.net Thu Jan 14 17:37:01 2010 From: nobody at spamcop.net (Indigo) Date: Thu Jan 14 17:45:08 2010 Subject: [Scsocial] Re: Paging a geek In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: "Indigo" wrote in message news:hio5ni$a4v$1@news.spamcop.net... > Ok, but how do I find out what Goog's nameserver's IP is? I *used* to know > how to do this stuff, but I stopped investigating and reporting *pam years > ago and have pretty much forgotten everything I learned. > > I have Sam Spade on my machine (whoops, not after the recent crash I > don't), IIRC a "whois" on google.com or some similar query would give me > their primary and secondary nameservers. Ok, SS now installed, and sheesh, check out what you get from a whois on google.com! GOOGLE.COM.ZZZZZ.GET.LAID.AT.WWW.SWINGINGCOMMUNITY.COM GOOGLE.COM.ZZZZZ.DOWNLOAD.MOVIE.ONLINE.ZML2.COM GOOGLE.COM.ZOMBIED.AND.HACKED.BY.WWW.WEB-HACK.COM GOOGLE.COM.ZNAET.PRODOMEN.COM GOOGLE.COM.WORDT.DOOR.VEEL.WHTERS.GEBRUIKT.SERVERTJE.NET GOOGLE.COM.VN GOOGLE.COM.UY GOOGLE.COM.UA GOOGLE.COM.TW GOOGLE.COM.TR GOOGLE.COM.SUCKS.FIND.CRACKZ.WITH.SEARCH.GULLI.COM GOOGLE.COM.SPROSIUYANDEKSA.RU GOOGLE.COM.SERVES.PR0N.FOR.ALLIYAH.NET GOOGLE.COM.SA GOOGLE.COM.MX GOOGLE.COM.IS.SHIT.SQUAREBOARDS.COM GOOGLE.COM.IS.NOT.HOSTED.BY.ACTIVEDOMAINDNS.NET GOOGLE.COM.IS.HOSTED.ON.PROFITHOSTING.NET GOOGLE.COM.IS.APPROVED.BY.NUMEA.COM GOOGLE.COM.HAS.LESS.FREE.PORN.IN.ITS.SEARCH.ENGINE.THAN.SECZY.COM GOOGLE.COM.DO GOOGLE.COM.CO GOOGLE.COM.CN GOOGLE.COM.CHIQUITASEXY.COM GOOGLE.COM.BR GOOGLE.COM.BEYONDWHOIS.COM GOOGLE.COM.AU GOOGLE.COM.AR GOOGLE.COM From MikeE at ster.invalid Thu Jan 14 19:08:38 2010 From: MikeE at ster.invalid (Mike Easter) Date: Thu Jan 14 19:10:08 2010 Subject: [Scsocial] Re: Paging a geek In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: Indigo wrote: > "Mike Easter" >> I recently configured some machine/s to use google's nameservice > Ok, but how do I find out what Goog's nameserver's IP is? 8.8.8.8 & 8.8.4.4 Pretty cute, huh? http://code.google.com/speed/public-dns/ What is Google Public DNS? -- Mike Easter From nobody at spamcop.net Thu Jan 14 19:08:48 2010 From: nobody at spamcop.net (Indigo) Date: Thu Jan 14 19:10:09 2010 Subject: [Scsocial] Re: Face not recognized In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: "Sylvesterthekat" wrote in message news:Xns9D00923E51737sylvesterthekat@216.154.195.61... This is something very interesting that came up which you may not > know (I certainly didn't). > > http://www.webwire.com/ViewPressRel.asp?aId=110739 > > The problem is that most consumers aren?t aware that they can use their > bank card as a ?credit? card, with none of the fees, charges or > accumulation of debt associated with a bank-issued major credit card. > > What really mystifies me is the way they check your ID if you use a > credit card, yet they don't if you use debit. Given the above, you'd > think it should be the other way around! At least from the consumer's > point of view. Sure, you have to know the PIN but that's probably easy > to find out if you're some criminal type. It's more difficult to produce > convincing ID (unless of course you happen to resemble the person whose > card and wallet you've stolen!). I do know about that stuff. My debit card is also backed by Visa. The way you can tell how it's being used is whether you have to enter a PIN or whether you sign a sales slip: if you use a PIN, it's debit transaction and costs you and the vendor nothing. If you have to sign, it's being used as a Visa transaction and the vendor has to pay the ~2% CC transaction fee (you pay nothing extra). That's one of the reasons a lot of places that don't have updated systems (ones that use PINs) have hand-written notes posted on their sales counters that you have to spend "XX" dollars to use a debit card, because that 2% fee they have to pay is about equal to their profit margin for most food items. P.S. I just wrote that paragraph *before* I read on and saw your explanation of transaction fee issue ;-) From nobody at spamcop.net Thu Jan 14 19:12:41 2010 From: nobody at spamcop.net (Indigo) Date: Thu Jan 14 19:15:08 2010 Subject: [Scsocial] Re: Face not recognized In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: "Sylvesterthekat" wrote in message news:Xns9D00928D05A0Fsylvesterthekat@216.154.195.61... > > Yes, the down payment is the hard part. Our mortgage payment now > (including > property tax and insurance) versus what the rent was, is 800 a month less. > > HOLY SHITE! What were you living in before, some penthouse apt.?!?! How can the housing prices have dropped so much but the apt. rent stay up so high? Maybe because no one could afford to buy a house in LA so they were forced to rent? Meaning capitalism at it's finest (worst, for the consumer), where whatever you have for sale is worth whatever someone is willing to pay for it? From nobody at spamcop.net Thu Jan 14 19:14:51 2010 From: nobody at spamcop.net (Indigo) Date: Thu Jan 14 19:15:09 2010 Subject: [Scsocial] Re: Haiti wiped off of the map In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: "Sylvesterthekat" wrote in message news:Xns9D0095A458058sylvesterthekat@216.154.195.61... > Borgholio wrote in > news:hio5r1$8d6$4@news.spamcop.net: > >> I dunno, anyplace that calls itself a presidential "Palace" >> automatically screams third world at me. >> > > lol, well there's that > > still, i'm sure saddam's palaces were like fortresses, usually it's no > expense spared for the head honchos of these poor countries Well, Sodom had access to billions in oil revenue.....what kind of "riches" does Haiti produce? Nothing of consequence or of comparable value for a politician/dictator to sieze for his own purposes, that's for sure. From nobody at spamcop.net Thu Jan 14 19:27:34 2010 From: nobody at spamcop.net (Indigo) Date: Thu Jan 14 19:30:08 2010 Subject: [Scsocial] Re: Haiti wiped off of the map In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: "David Dean" wrote in message news:v8ltfuv02-C6D178.16084314012010@killface.local... > In article , > "Indigo" wrote: > >> I did notice blanks next to some DNS addresses when I ran ipconfig.....I >> wish I could manually enter a DNS server into a backup broadband >> connection >> to avoid this situation in the future.....any idea if that's feasible, >> and >> if it is, what server should/could I use (preferably a non-Comcast one)? > > Google's got one: 8.8.8.8 > Copy down your comcast one to use as the primary and add google as the > secondary > > Instructions here: > > http://code.google.com/speed/public-dns/docs/using.html > -- Thank you! I tried monkeying around with things myself but could only find ways to set up a new dialup connection, which of course didn't work, and using SS to get the IPs of google's nameservers gave me IPs that weren't valid entries. As an aside, if anyone out there has an Nvidia chipset in their PC watch out -- after I recovered from my PC meltdown I forgot to uncheck the "automatically download and install updates" box, and a couple days ago MS secretly installed a slew of updates without my consent, and all of the sudden certain IE actions caused rundll32 and/or explorer to start crashing. After looking at the event logs, I discovered that when my Nvidia drivers were updated the package also installed a little firewall called "ActiveArmor", which of course royally pissed me off! I wiped it off my HD a couple hours ago, but have to reboot before the de-install is complete. WTF is a Nvidia doing jumping into something so distant from their specialty, especially something as invasive and potentially disruptive as a firewall?!?! From nobody at spamcop.net Thu Jan 14 19:29:46 2010 From: nobody at spamcop.net (Indigo) Date: Thu Jan 14 19:30:08 2010 Subject: [Scsocial] Re: Paging a geek In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: "Sylvesterthekat" wrote in message news:Xns9D0096A661C58sylvesterthekat@216.154.195.61... > "Indigo" wrote in > news:hio5ni$a4v$1@news.spamcop.net: > >> Ok, but how do I find out what Goog's nameserver's IP is? I *used* to >> know how to do this stuff, but I stopped investigating and reporting >> *pam years ago and have pretty much forgotten everything I learned. > > No idea if this is really what you need or if there's some automated way > of > doing it, but this site lets you type in a site and it shows the IP > address. > > http://www.who.is/nameserver/google.com/ Nope, that's kinda like the IP Sam Spade came up with for the nameservers (there are four in total), and they don't work. From nobody at spamcop.net Thu Jan 14 19:34:41 2010 From: nobody at spamcop.net (Indigo) Date: Thu Jan 14 19:35:08 2010 Subject: [Scsocial] Re: This is one 3D movie I will DEFINITELY be going to see! In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: "Sylvesterthekat" wrote in message news:Xns9D0094F063F05sylvesterthekat@216.154.195.61... > "Indigo" wrote in > news:hinpit$5r4$1@news.spamcop.net: > >> http://www.apple.com/trailers/imax/hubble3d/ >> >> Warning: you need the latest version of Quicktime to view it, but it's >> worth the wait (the download took forever, but the traffic should die >> down in a few days). >> >> > > Weird, it came on instantly for me, or do you mean the quicktime download? > I guess I didn't need it. No doubt it will be awesome in 3D, almost like > being there! Yeah, guess I wasn't clear about that -- it's the Quicktime software update that takes so long to download, not the movie trailer. As far as the movie itself, normal 2D IMAX documentaries about the Servicing Missions are already amazing to watch, I can't even imagine how fantastic the 3D IMAX experience will be! From user at domain.invalid Thu Jan 14 19:54:08 2010 From: user at domain.invalid (Farelf) Date: Thu Jan 14 19:55:08 2010 Subject: [Scsocial] Re: The Irukandji are coming In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: Sylvesterthekat wrote: > Farelf wrote in > news:hij7r1$6ch$1@news.spamcop.net: > >> We have bull sharks. They swim up estuaries and hunt/scavenge in the >> fresh-water, if it's deep enough. Not much risk of them getting into >> the water supply though - and zero chance of them getting into the >> bidet. I'm sure that's a good thing. >> >> > > LOL yeah, no kidding. Maybe the babies could make it.... duuh duh duuuh duh Nah, I don't think they can thrive in fresh, just the adults can forage there for extended periods. AFAIK they don't spawn in fresh water like salmon or anything. They don't even lurk. We've got bunyips for that. From user at domain.invalid Thu Jan 14 20:43:56 2010 From: user at domain.invalid (Farelf) Date: Thu Jan 14 20:45:08 2010 Subject: [Scsocial] Re: The Irukandji are coming In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: Sylvesterthekat wrote: > Farelf wrote in news:hilpph$bgv$1@news.spamcop.net: > > >> We probably lose more visitors >> driving on the "wrong" side of the road than anything else (lots of >> quiet roads away from the cities, easy to forget). >> > > Actually, if you're driving a native car (ie in Oz the driving seat is on > the right), it's kind of difficult to forget. If on the other hand you're > driving a wrong-hand drive import, yeah I can see it'd be easy to drive on > the wrong side of the road. Will depend on the person and circumstance. The typical 'killer' scenario - you've been driving on a deserted road for hours, monotony, maybe no road center/centre line, you come to a crest or a bend and suddenly there is an oncoming vehicle - oops, a lifetime of reflex kicks in. A (large?) proportion of people used to driving on the other side will veer to the side they're used to, regardless of the reversed driving position. Requiscat in pace. A little bit like in London, where they have the pavements of two-way streets marked 'look to the right' for the benefit of continental/American pedestrians. (Many of whom look to the left and step right out in front of oncoming vehicles anyway - reflex.) Also, drivers might have trouble for a short while (days or more maybe) mentally mapping the corners of the vehicle. Changing over to drive from the right-hand side of the vehicle can do that. Lots of "off-side" wing mirrors get wiped out. The brain is extraordinarily adaptable - but it doesn't necessarily work in a completely 'convenient' way. My Dad was never bothered by such things - he instantly, immediately and (apparently) effortlessly adapted to switching sides (when he was younger - a bit different when he was older). I'm the 'other type' (marginally dyslexic/slightly ambidextrous maybe - but Dad was more ambidextrous than I, that doesn't explain it), always having to concentrate during trips away, still momentarily disorientated when confronted by an oncoming car, even with plenty of time seeing it coming - Cananea - Agua Prietta turnoff - Nacozari drive on quiet roads in Sonora comes to mind. No trouble at all Hermosillo to Cananea - busy road (and some of it divided). Some days of city/town driving, amongst other traffic, would probably sort it out - but that doesn't always happen. So, I can't recall any disorientation at all a few years later, driving in Montana (Billings - Columbus etc.) or driving into Denver at night (constant traffic in each case). Apart from getting lost. But everyone got lost driving into Denver, pre on-board navigation, didn't they? From user at domain.invalid Thu Jan 14 21:20:57 2010 From: user at domain.invalid (Farelf) Date: Thu Jan 14 21:25:08 2010 Subject: [Scsocial] A purrjuror is haunting Boston Message-ID: One for S-kat - the thin edge of the wedge - http://www1.whdh.com/news/articles/local/BO133130/ (thanks to NT Canuck at grc.news) Well, why stop there? There are one or two Justices ('judges') of the Oz (Federal) High Court some believe could be advantageously replaced. And remuneration in the form of cheeseburgers would be a considerable saving on the public purse. No, no, I love the whole legal/justice system, srsly. From me at privacy.net Thu Jan 14 23:43:15 2010 From: me at privacy.net (Frog Prince) Date: Thu Jan 14 23:45:08 2010 Subject: [Scsocial] Palin Bets References: <4mvrk5d0h9i1vr67ksihkau4sc0106rplg@4ax.com> Message-ID: An Irish bookie is taking bets on which minority group Palin will offend first. This could be a good time to make some easy money by betting on Third World countries--still 16/1. http://www.paddypower.com/bet/other-politics/sarah-palin-specials?ev_oc_grp_ids=223691 From bjarke.andersen at gmail.com Fri Jan 15 07:11:41 2010 From: bjarke.andersen at gmail.com (Bjarke Andersen) Date: Fri Jan 15 07:15:08 2010 Subject: [Scsocial] Re: This is one 3D movie I will DEFINITELY be going to see! References: Message-ID: "Indigo" crashed Echelon writing news:hinpit$5r4$1@news.spamcop.net: > Warning: you need the latest version of Quicktime to view it, but it's > worth the wait (the download took forever, but the traffic should die > down in a few days). Or quicktime alternative if you can live with media player and do not want the hassle with Itunes and file associations. -- Bjarke Andersen From MikeE at ster.invalid Fri Jan 15 13:23:58 2010 From: MikeE at ster.invalid (Mike Easter) Date: Fri Jan 15 13:25:08 2010 Subject: [Scsocial] Re: I had a dream In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: Charles wrote: > last night... and I was breathing gasoline... Does that mean... ... the smell of gasoline was in your dream? ... your dream was about the person Chas intentionally breathing/ inhaling the fumes of gasoline in some more complicated scenario, such as sticking his face into a gasoline filled container soaking some kind of automobile or other parts - your dreamstate was outside of Chas the person ... you were living in a gasoline world in which all of the people breathed liquid gasoline as if it were air ... etc etc -- Mike Easter From borgholio at storymind.com Fri Jan 15 16:11:03 2010 From: borgholio at storymind.com (Borgholio) Date: Fri Jan 15 16:15:09 2010 Subject: [Scsocial] Re: As if I'd ever get my smart phone In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: Sylvesterthekat wrote: Oh the benefits of a no contract phone! Don't be so sure. My sister gave me her old Verizon phone and I signed up with a non-contract service. Still needed a credit check. From me at privacy.net Fri Jan 15 16:14:59 2010 From: me at privacy.net (Frog Prince) Date: Fri Jan 15 17:15:08 2010 Subject: [Scsocial] Re: I had a dream References: Message-ID: "Charles" wrote in message news:Xns9D0177D5A4BF6ThisIsMyPost@216.154.195.61... > last night... and I was breathing gasoline... Puff the Majik Charles? From nobody at spamcop.net Fri Jan 15 19:22:05 2010 From: nobody at spamcop.net (Heidi) Date: Fri Jan 15 19:25:07 2010 Subject: [Scsocial] Re: Face not recognized References: Message-ID: "Sylvesterthekat" wrote in message news:Xns9D00923E51737sylvesterthekat@216.154.195.61... > > The problem is that most consumers aren’t aware that they can use their > bank card as a “credit” card, with none of the fees, charges or > accumulation of debt associated with a bank-issued major credit card. In > fact, when consumers use a bank card as a “credit” card to pay for an > item, the payment is applied to their account in the same manner as an > actual debit transaction. However, there is one critical difference – a > “credit” transaction is covered by the Visa or MasterCard fraud > detection and prevention network that stands behind every Visa or > MasterCard bank-issued card. Using a bank card as a “debit” card > bypasses this protection, eliminating this additional layer of security. I had no idea....I knew it was better to us a credit card for purchases as the debit cards don't have the same protection, but had no idea about the security. I'm doing credit from now on. Annnnnddd..... I just got a letter from my bank saying that my debit card is at risk for frauduelnt activity, although they haven't detected any, and now they're sending me a new one. We're all screwed..... From nobody at spamcop.net Fri Jan 15 19:25:59 2010 From: nobody at spamcop.net (Heidi) Date: Fri Jan 15 19:30:09 2010 Subject: [Scsocial] Re: As if I'd ever get my smart phone References: Message-ID: "Charles" wrote in message news:Xns9D019BFB81550ThisIsMyPost@216.154.195.61... > They are complete and utter idiots. The rep I was dealing with ran my > credit check again. WTF? You just lowered my credit rating! I can't > fricking believe this! Where's my PHONE?!?!?! ARG! Talked to another > rep. Got transfered to another rep. Asked to escalate. They hung up on > me! I called back AGAIN and got someone who said he'd have an answer for > me in the next hour. I fricking hope so. Sigh. Anyway... They had never heard of you but ran your credit check twice? WTF are they playing at? I smell a rat, I'd cancel that stupid phone and make other arrangements....like two tin cans and a string. From nobody at spamcop.net Fri Jan 15 20:03:32 2010 From: nobody at spamcop.net (Indigo) Date: Fri Jan 15 20:05:08 2010 Subject: [Scsocial] Re: Face not recognized In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: "Sylvesterthekat" wrote in message news:Xns9D013D76FAC93sylvesterthekat@216.154.195.61... > > So presumably you're using it as a CC rather than debit? I'd never use a > card of any type for a transaction under $20 anyway, that's what cash is > for! I use it whatever way the store is set up to use it. After all, it doesn't matter to ME if they have to pay the Visa surcharge! And I'll usually pay for anything less than $20 in cash, except for scrip meds and supplements -- I track my spending in Quicken and using the debit card for those kinds of transactions helps me keep aware of my healthcare costs. From nobody at spamcop.net Fri Jan 15 20:09:29 2010 From: nobody at spamcop.net (Indigo) Date: Fri Jan 15 20:10:08 2010 Subject: [Scsocial] Re: Face not recognized In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: "Sylvesterthekat" wrote in message news:Xns9D0141916EB6Fsylvesterthekat@216.154.195.61... > > Yes basically most people in LA don't stand a chance of buying, even now, > because mean house prices are way higher than mean income. So everybody > rents and rents are high. Now part of the reduction for us is that the > house is not on the westside, we're in a cheaper part of town. No way in > hell we could buy a house there, you can't get a house under a million > dollars. > One of the reasons I'd never consider living in CA....besides all the fires, earthquakes, mudslides, you name it. It's just as bad as living in the "better" parts of NYC, if you can call living in a paved canyon environment liveable (I can't). Even the "high middle class" folks don't have a chance at ever owning a home in the city unless they inherit it. From nobody at spamcop.net Fri Jan 15 20:15:48 2010 From: nobody at spamcop.net (Indigo) Date: Fri Jan 15 20:20:08 2010 Subject: [Scsocial] Re: Face not recognized In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: "Heidi" wrote in message news:hir0rf$995$1@news.spamcop.net... Annnnnddd..... I just got a letter > from my bank saying that my debit card is at risk for frauduelnt activity, > although they haven't detected any, and now they're sending me a new one. > We're all screwed..... > Did they say why? Sounds like they're saying they got hacked without actually saying it out loud. I've had my debit card shut down several times while on shopping sprees (which I very rarely do). The credit union's computers noted the unusual amount of activity and eventually deactivated my card later in the day until I called them and told them to let it loose again. Decent protection if it gets stolen and someone uses it without the PIN for multiple purchases. From nobody at spamcop.net Fri Jan 15 20:24:38 2010 From: nobody at spamcop.net (Indigo) Date: Fri Jan 15 20:25:08 2010 Subject: [Scsocial] Re: As if I'd ever get my smart phone In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: "Charles" wrote in message news:Xns9D01CDC23788CThisIsMyPost@216.154.195.61... > > I don't know what they're doing! And _they_ don't know what they're > doing! > I was going to buy one at bestbuy but there was only one rep and he was > stuck with a family that was trying to buy 3 iphones and transfer their > numbers and whatnot - it was taking a REALLY long time and wasn't going > very well. But, hey, I saved $70 by not getting that one. Well, as of > right now I saved $150 by not getting that one - 'cause I haven't spent > any > money yet. But what a waste of time and energy! This phone had better be > good! All the hassles and delays you've dealt with so far has just firmed my already strong conviction that for electronic devices I want to do my business in person, face to face, and get it all done right _now_. The time you've already wasted with that stupid phone has already eaten up all of your cost savings if you look at is from the point of view that your "personal time" is approximately equal to the hourly wage you get paid at work. From nobody at spamcop.net Fri Jan 15 20:26:48 2010 From: nobody at spamcop.net (Indigo) Date: Fri Jan 15 20:30:07 2010 Subject: [Scsocial] Re: Paging a geek In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: "Sylvesterthekat" wrote in message news:Xns9D013CB656997sylvesterthekat@216.154.195.61... > "Indigo" wrote in > news:hioctp$cke$1@news.spamcop.net: > >> Nope, that's kinda like the IP Sam Spade came up with for the >> nameservers (there are four in total), and they don't work. >> >> > > What do you mean they don't work? What are you trying to do? When i typed > in that IP it went to Google. But you didn't try to set up a broadband intenet connection on your PC using that IP as the DNS server, correct? From user at domain.invalid Fri Jan 15 20:30:34 2010 From: user at domain.invalid (Farelf) Date: Fri Jan 15 20:35:08 2010 Subject: [Scsocial] Re: The Irukandji are coming In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: Sylvesterthekat wrote: > ... central London with all the one way streets. Coming to > LA, I found it very easy because it's just a giant grid. I soon learned > that trying to turn left was pointless in busy places, it's easier to > just go right and go round the block instead. > Before there were so many one-way streets in central/central-ish London there were no right turns across traffic allowed - you had to go past the intersection and do the three turns left around the block - or so I was informed by an old Londoner. Not sure when that would be, but he and his fianc?e watched the competitors in the first London-Paris air race fly overhead - sometime in that era. From nobody at spamcop.net Fri Jan 15 20:31:21 2010 From: nobody at spamcop.net (Indigo) Date: Fri Jan 15 20:35:09 2010 Subject: [Scsocial] Re: This is one 3D movie I will DEFINITELY be going to see! In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: "Bjarke Andersen" wrote in message news:Xns9D0186398CFA5bjoegdk@216.154.195.61... > "Indigo" crashed Echelon writing > news:hinpit$5r4$1@news.spamcop.net: > >> Warning: you need the latest version of Quicktime to view it, but it's >> worth the wait (the download took forever, but the traffic should die >> down in a few days). > > Or quicktime alternative if you can live with media player and do not want > the hassle with Itunes and file associations. Whaddya mean? I just installed the latest FF WMP add-on update and the Hubble IMAX website still insisted that I download and install Quicktime. Perhaps it's because I haven't gotten around to changing all the default file associations/program options since my PC melted several weeks ago? I'm not sure in any case that I would have changed what I did, if a movie is meant to be shown in a certain format like QT I'd rather update my software than try to force it to run in another app, where the codecs may not be quite up to snuff to view it properly. From user at domain.invalid Fri Jan 15 20:33:36 2010 From: user at domain.invalid (Farelf) Date: Fri Jan 15 20:35:10 2010 Subject: [Scsocial] Re: A purrjuror is haunting Boston In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: Sylvesterthekat wrote: > > LOL, that's too funny. They should show up at court, just for the fun of > it. They should check the qualifications and background of the cat, leave no cushion unturned, there is good reason for suspicion - they have probable claws. From user at domain.invalid Fri Jan 15 21:07:12 2010 From: user at domain.invalid (Farelf) Date: Fri Jan 15 21:10:08 2010 Subject: [Scsocial] Re: As if I'd ever get my smart phone In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: Charles wrote: > ... This phone had better be > good! Of course it will be. And you'll become totally dependant on it in a flash - http://www.chron.com/apps/comics/showComick.mpl?date=20091202&name=Zits From user at domain.invalid Fri Jan 15 21:08:31 2010 From: user at domain.invalid (Farelf) Date: Fri Jan 15 21:10:09 2010 Subject: [Scsocial] Re: As if I'd ever get my smart phone In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: Farelf wrote: > Charles wrote: > >> ... This phone had better be >> good! > > Of course it will be. And you'll become totally dependant on it in a > flash - > http://www.chron.com/apps/comics/showComick.mpl?date=20091202&name=Zits > Oh well, that didn't work so well. Just trust me. From nobody at spamcop.net Fri Jan 15 21:21:51 2010 From: nobody at spamcop.net (Indigo) Date: Fri Jan 15 21:25:09 2010 Subject: [Scsocial] Re: As if I'd ever get my smart phone In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: "Charles" wrote in message news:Xns9D01D26D4C670ThisIsMyPost@216.154.195.61... > No way it was me! It was "Indigo" ! > >> All the hassles and delays you've dealt with so far has just firmed my >> already strong conviction that for electronic devices I want to do my >> business in person > > Plbbt! It's like the internet, dude. Oh. Wait. It is the internet, > dude! It's a lot easier to return something online. For me. How can you say it's easier to return something online? You have to hope you can find the original shipping box, call for a return confirmations number, then go wait in line at the PO or UPS counter forever to spend YOUR money for the return shipping and/or restocking charge of 10-15%! In person, it's a piece of cake, you don't even have to say "why" at most places. > Of course... As with my bass... I got a MUCH better price in a real > store > and I got awesome service to boot. Very cool. Anyway, time to go and > make > some online purchases... I just bought 5 books, a light and some bluray > disks. Time for some music! Beirut, Pink Floyd, um. And others! If'n you're into PF, you MUST own a copy of David Gilmore Live at Prince Albert Hall, released last year. Trust me, you will watch it again and again, rip it, put it on your MP3 player, and spread it around to friends and family! Some MAJOR names have more than cameo appearances during many of the songs. From nobody at spamcop.net Fri Jan 15 23:02:31 2010 From: nobody at spamcop.net (bar0) Date: Fri Jan 15 23:05:09 2010 Subject: [Scsocial] Re: As if I'd ever get my smart phone References: Message-ID: "Charles" wrote in message news:Xns9D01DEE08F72ThisIsMyPost@216.154.195.61... > No way it was me! It was "Indigo" ! > >> If'n you're into PF, you MUST own a copy of David Gilmore Live at Prince >> Albert Hall, released last year. > > Um. Sorry. I only like The Final Cut and I've heard from Floydies that > it's the one album they all hate. Weird. Whatever. I SO do not dig > recorded live music... Exceept every concert of theirs or RWaters I've been to was studio quality play. I Only leave out DGilmour coz I've not been to one of his. Waters on the grounds of a Hotel near Jumeira beach was ungodly awesome. From me at privacy.net Sat Jan 16 00:19:01 2010 From: me at privacy.net (Frog Prince) Date: Sat Jan 16 00:25:08 2010 Subject: [Scsocial] Re: As if I'd ever get my smart phone References: Message-ID: "Borgholio" wrote in message news:hiqll5$51o$1@news.spamcop.net... > Sylvesterthekat wrote: > Oh the benefits of a no contract phone! > > Don't be so sure. My sister gave me her old Verizon phone and I signed up > with a non-contract service. Still needed a credit check. Try PagePlusCellular.com Old VZN phones. Took less that 5 min (mostly waiting for the system to update) From joegill at removethis Sat Jan 16 00:57:41 2010 From: joegill at removethis (Joe Gill) Date: Sat Jan 16 01:00:08 2010 Subject: [Scsocial] Re: I had a dream In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: "Charles" wrote in message news:Xns9D0177D5A4BF6ThisIsMyPost@216.154.195.61... > last night... and I was breathing gasoline... "goodness... gracious... great balls of fire..." From nobody at spamcop.net Sat Jan 16 08:52:30 2010 From: nobody at spamcop.net (Heidi) Date: Sat Jan 16 08:55:07 2010 Subject: [Scsocial] Re: As if I'd ever get my smart phone References: Message-ID: "Charles" wrote in message news:Xns9D024B7533D6DThisIsMyPost@216.154.195.61... > In the continuing drama... They've written again saying that my order is > being delayed a few more days. This is really pissing me off! My wife > says we should just go buy the phone and be done with it! I agree with your wife. Tell them to stuff it and go get your hands on one today. It's not so much the inconvenience, it's the principle of the thing, dicking your around for a week with no resolution, just more delays. WTF...... I hate bad customer service. From nobody at spamcop.net Sat Jan 16 12:57:20 2010 From: nobody at spamcop.net (Heidi) Date: Sat Jan 16 13:00:09 2010 Subject: [Scsocial] Dontators beware Message-ID: This makes me sick - greed greed greed http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/01/14/as-wallets-open-for-haiti_n_423238.html From MikeE at ster.invalid Sat Jan 16 13:21:38 2010 From: MikeE at ster.invalid (Mike Easter) Date: Sat Jan 16 13:25:08 2010 Subject: [Scsocial] Re: Dontators beware In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: Heidi wrote: > This makes me sick - greed greed greed > > http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/01/14/as-wallets-open-for-haiti_n_423238.html Dontators? :-) I tho't maybe the link was to a site saying 'Don't donate to these scams.' and you made an efficient neologism of dontdonate dontate. This is an article being critical of CC companies charging fees for transactions to charities. It is interesting that the publicity of such as the article has caused some of the CC companies to back off some of their normal transaction fees. Personally, I don't find it sickening that the CC companies are/were charging 'typical' 3% fees - the CC companies overhead goes on just the same as normal for donations as for merchants. I think if I were a CC company, I wouldn't be bullied by publicity into taking a hit in the name of charity. A company should give to the charity of its choice what it wants to give, not what the Huffington Post or other media likes or thinks. The article was updated to reflect that some companies are not charging some fees to some charities now. -- Mike Easter From nobody at spamcop.net Sat Jan 16 13:29:11 2010 From: nobody at spamcop.net (Indigo) Date: Sat Jan 16 13:30:08 2010 Subject: [Scsocial] Re: As if I'd ever get my smart phone In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: "Charles" wrote in message news:Xns9D01DEE08F72ThisIsMyPost@216.154.195.61... > No way it was me! It was "Indigo" ! > >> If'n you're into PF, you MUST own a copy of David Gilmore Live at Prince >> Albert Hall, released last year. > > Um. Sorry. I only like The Final Cut and I've heard from Floydies that > it's the one album they all hate. Weird. Whatever. I SO do not dig > recorded live music... I'd agree with you, in that I typically prefer the original album/CD versions of songs because that's what you're used to hearing, but in this concert Gilmore plays mostly newly written songs you've never heard before, and some of them are the best he's ever done IMO. See if you can find a YouTube version of "On an Island".....hell, I know you won't...here: The song: http://popup.lala.com/popup/504684642129021682 The video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HSmaQ2Abr4o Sound quality is much better on the first link. From nobody at spamcop.net Sat Jan 16 13:31:03 2010 From: nobody at spamcop.net (Indigo) Date: Sat Jan 16 13:35:07 2010 Subject: [Scsocial] Re: As if I'd ever get my smart phone In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: "Charles" wrote in message news:Xns9D01DEE08F72ThisIsMyPost@216.154.195.61... > No way it was me! It was "Indigo" ! > >> If'n you're into PF, you MUST own a copy of David Gilmore Live at Prince >> Albert Hall, released last year. P.S. Forgot to mention there's a couple a mildly talented backup singers on the track "On an Island" in case you miss them, some guys named "David Crosby and Graham Nash".... From nobody at spamcop.net Sat Jan 16 13:46:41 2010 From: nobody at spamcop.net (Indigo) Date: Sat Jan 16 13:50:09 2010 Subject: [Scsocial] Re: Dontators beware In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: "Heidi" wrote in message news:hisum0$u1r$1@news.spamcop.net... > This makes me sick - greed greed greed > > http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/01/14/as-wallets-open-for-haiti_n_423238.html > This makes ME even angrier: "Credit card companies have only been willing to waive their processing fee for charity once, Richard Walden, the CEO of Operation USA, tells the Huffington Post, and that was for the tsunami disaster of 2004." That means they didn't waive their fees for 9/11 donations!!! Sickening beyond belief. Speaking of which, I heard last night that Obama is trying to pass a bill putting a special excise tax on bonuses given to top executives working at banks that took TARP money. Of course the banks that already paid back the money are bitching, the greedy bastards....they'd be out of a job if it weren't for the bailout money! They should be kissing the fed's (and the taxpayers) asses for years to come instead. Quit whining, you fscking vampires, poor poor pitiful you.....only getting an ~$8.5 mil bonus instead of the $10 mil the board granted you. From nobody at spamcop.net Sat Jan 16 14:44:52 2010 From: nobody at spamcop.net (bar0) Date: Sat Jan 16 14:45:08 2010 Subject: [Scsocial] Re: Dontators beware References: Message-ID: "Heidi" wrote in message news:hisum0$u1r$1@news.spamcop.net... > This makes me sick - greed greed greed > > http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/01/14/as-wallets-open-for-haiti_n_423238.html > Arianna suggesting that Haiti doesn't need/want/shouldn't have potatos? From MikeE at ster.invalid Sat Jan 16 15:02:00 2010 From: MikeE at ster.invalid (Mike Easter) Date: Sat Jan 16 15:05:09 2010 Subject: [Scsocial] Re: Dontators beware In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: bar0 wrote: > Arianna suggesting that Haiti doesn't need/want/shouldn't have potatos? That is considerably _worse_ than my batty interpretation :-/ I just read a wiki article that had some surprising stats about the HuffPo ...is the most linked-to blog on the Internet. ... Huffington Post had 8.9 million unique visitors in February, 2009 (by way of comparison, the right-leaning Drudge Report had 3.4 million unique visitors) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Huffington_Post -- Mike Easter From nobody at spamcop.net Sat Jan 16 17:07:04 2010 From: nobody at spamcop.net (Heidi) Date: Sat Jan 16 17:10:08 2010 Subject: [Scsocial] Re: Dontators beware References: Message-ID: "Mike Easter" wrote in message news:hit03j$ukv$1@news.spamcop.net... > > Personally, I don't find it sickening that the CC companies are/were > charging 'typical' 3% fees - the CC companies overhead goes on just the > same as normal for donations as for merchants. The article did say that the 3% goes well above and beyond the cost of these transactions, so they are in fact profiting from a disaster like this, without telling donors about it, and that is sickening to me. Especially since the banks are crying poormouth out of one side of their mouths and handing out billions in bonuses (for what, a good job done??) with the other. I give Obama credit for calling them on it, out loud. http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSN1514552120100116?type=marketsNews "If the big financial firms can afford massive bonuses, they can afford to pay back the American people. Those who oppose this fee have also had the audacity to suggest that it is somehow unfair," he said. "The very same firms reaping billions of dollars in profits, and reportedly handing out more money in bonuses and compensation than ever before in history, are now pleading poverty. It's a sight to see." > I think if I were a CC company, I wouldn't be bullied by publicity into > taking a hit in the name of charity. A company should give to the charity > of its choice what it wants to give, not what the Huffington Post or other > media likes or thinks. If you were a credit card company, you can just wait and see what kind of a public backlash there would be as you take public money, hand out billions in "bonuses" and then cry that you're losing money and have to charge transaction fees on charitable donations. You're either making a profit or your're not. If you are not making a profit, then you should not be paying bonuses until you DO. From nobody at spamcop.net Sat Jan 16 17:08:32 2010 From: nobody at spamcop.net (Heidi) Date: Sat Jan 16 17:10:08 2010 Subject: [Scsocial] Re: Dontators beware References: Message-ID: "bar0" wrote in message news:hit4vm$hc$1@news.spamcop.net... > > Arianna suggesting that Haiti doesn't need/want/shouldn't have potatos? No, if Ariannia is suggesting anything, it may be that Haiti deserves ALL the potatoes, not just SOME of the ones left over after the big banks take their cuts. From nobody at spamcop.net Sat Jan 16 17:09:12 2010 From: nobody at spamcop.net (Heidi) Date: Sat Jan 16 17:10:09 2010 Subject: [Scsocial] Re: Donators beware References: Message-ID: "Heidi" wrote in message news:hisum0$u1r$1@news.spamcop.net... > This makes me sick - greed greed greed > > http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/01/14/as-wallets-open-for-haiti_n_423238.html Question to self "What's a dontator?" One which is fully baked? From nobody at spamcop.net Sat Jan 16 17:25:24 2010 From: nobody at spamcop.net (bar0) Date: Sat Jan 16 17:30:08 2010 Subject: [Scsocial] Re: Donators beware References: Message-ID: "Heidi" wrote in message news:hitde9$3hg$1@news.spamcop.net... > > "Heidi" wrote in message > news:hisum0$u1r$1@news.spamcop.net... >> This makes me sick - greed greed greed >> >> http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/01/14/as-wallets-open-for-haiti_n_423238.html > > Question to self "What's a dontator?" > > One which is fully baked? One appointed to the royal court in Spain perhaps? From me at privacy.net Sat Jan 16 18:26:44 2010 From: me at privacy.net (Frog Prince) Date: Sat Jan 16 18:30:07 2010 Subject: [Scsocial] Re: Dontators beware References: Message-ID: "Mike Easter" wrote in message news:hit03j$ukv$1@news.spamcop.net... > Heidi wrote: >> This makes me sick - greed greed greed >> >> >> http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/01/14/as-wallets-open-for-haiti_n_423238.html > > Dontators? :-) I tho't maybe the link was to a site saying 'Don't donate > to these scams.' and you made an efficient neologism of dontdonate > dontate. > > This is an article being critical of CC companies charging fees for > transactions to charities. > > It is interesting that the publicity of such as the article has caused > some of the CC companies to back off some of their normal transaction > fees. > > Personally, I don't find it sickening that the CC companies are/were > charging 'typical' 3% fees - the CC companies overhead goes on just the > same as normal for donations as for merchants. > > I think if I were a CC company, I wouldn't be bullied by publicity into > taking a hit in the name of charity. A company should give to the charity > of its choice what it wants to give, not what the Huffington Post or other > media likes or thinks. > > The article was updated to reflect that some companies are not charging > some fees to some charities now. CC companies are strong into gotch capatism. A bit of negative PR won't help. From me at privacy.net Sat Jan 16 18:32:06 2010 From: me at privacy.net (Frog Prince) Date: Sat Jan 16 18:50:08 2010 Subject: [Scsocial] Re: As if I'd ever get my smart phone References: Message-ID: "Indigo" wrote in message news:hit0hn$uq4$1@news.spamcop.net... > > "Charles" wrote in message > news:Xns9D01DEE08F72ThisIsMyPost@216.154.195.61... >> No way it was me! It was "Indigo" ! >> >>> If'n you're into PF, you MUST own a copy of David Gilmore Live at Prince >>> Albert Hall, released last year. >> >> Um. Sorry. I only like The Final Cut and I've heard from Floydies that >> it's the one album they all hate. Weird. Whatever. I SO do not dig >> recorded live music... > > I'd agree with you, in that I typically prefer the original album/CD > versions of songs because that's what you're used to hearing, but in this > concert Gilmore plays mostly newly written songs you've never heard > before, and some of them are the best he's ever done IMO. See if you can > find a YouTube version of "On an Island".....hell, I know you > won't...here: > > The song: http://popup.lala.com/popup/504684642129021682 > > The video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HSmaQ2Abr4o > > Sound quality is much better on the first link. My son has a collection of LPs that are virtually un-played. He's shown me were CD re mastered stuff is vastly inferior. From nobody at spamcop.net Sat Jan 16 19:23:56 2010 From: nobody at spamcop.net (Heidi) Date: Sat Jan 16 19:25:08 2010 Subject: [Scsocial] Re: As if I'd ever get my smart phone References: Message-ID: "Charles" wrote in message news:Xns9D027BCE838EAThisIsMyPost@216.154.195.61... > OK! Here it is! BestBuy price matches! They're holding the phone for > me! > I'll have it in a few short minutes! ....and do you? From nobody at spamcop.net Sat Jan 16 19:26:36 2010 From: nobody at spamcop.net (Heidi) Date: Sat Jan 16 19:30:07 2010 Subject: [Scsocial] Re: Face not recognized References: Message-ID: "Indigo" wrote in message news:hir403$a9j$1@news.spamcop.net... > > > Did they say why? Sounds like they're saying they got hacked without > actually saying it out loud. > > I've had my debit card shut down several times while on shopping sprees > (which I very rarely do). The credit union's computers noted the unusual > amount of activity and eventually deactivated my card later in the day > until I called them and told them to let it loose again. Decent protection > if it gets stolen and someone uses it without the PIN for multiple > purchases. They 'monitor for unusual activity', and determined that my card was at risk. So maybe it was my card, or maybe it was that I've made electronic transfers to places where I could be hacked, I don't know, they'll never tell. So now I have a new one, and a new PIN to memorize. Dammit, that's why I've had the old one for so long, I can't remember what I had for breakfast most days! From nobody at spamcop.net Sat Jan 16 19:35:52 2010 From: nobody at spamcop.net (Heidi) Date: Sat Jan 16 19:40:08 2010 Subject: [Scsocial] Re: As if I'd ever get my smart phone References: Message-ID: "Charles" wrote in message news:Xns9D02C5C1552A5ThisIsMyPost@216.154.195.61... > No way it was me! It was "Heidi" ! > >> ....and do you? > > Yup. And, as stated in my next post, it doesn't get broadband at home. > WTF? I don't get what broadband at home has to do with your phone......don't you have a contract for the phone internet? From nobody at spamcop.net Sat Jan 16 19:56:17 2010 From: nobody at spamcop.net (bar0) Date: Sat Jan 16 20:00:07 2010 Subject: [Scsocial] Re: As if I'd ever get my smart phone References: Message-ID: "Frog Prince" wrote in message news:hitj2r$5ed$1@news.spamcop.net... > > "Indigo" wrote in message > news:hit0hn$uq4$1@news.spamcop.net... >> >> "Charles" wrote in message >> news:Xns9D01DEE08F72ThisIsMyPost@216.154.195.61... >>> No way it was me! It was "Indigo" ! >>> > My son has a collection of LPs that are virtually un-played. He's shown > me were CD re mastered stuff is vastly inferior. I have a bunch of well , but very carefully, played LP's. For the most part, even rather poorly recorded LP's sound better for some reason than most CD's of the same recording. I think "digital remastering" is a fancy way of saying A/D conversion in most instances. Either that or most players just do a crap job in the D/A, or preamp section, although there is no reason they should considering high quality chips for those functions have been abundant and cheap for a couple of decades now. It may, of course, just be something about peculiarities in the analogue systems and what I am used to. I have yet to hear anything as good and clear as a direct to disk recording, (I have some Lincoln Mayorga and Thelma Houston recorded that way) with one exception. Some of Ani DiFrancos live recordings come awfully close and they are only available digitally. On the other hand there are the odd pop and stuff where handling was less than optimal or an eyelash fell on the record when played. The stray noises are never heard on a CD. Nevertheless, I still mostly play CD's, it's just a pain to get only 15 or so minutes a side and having to listen to phhhhht...pop...phhhhht...pop at the end until I get up to lift the arm. I'm slowly duplicating the LP's onto CD's, but being anal, that requires full concentration to get the end of song mark and titles correct on the CD. Not to mention cleaning and getting everybody away from the turntable. From nobody at spamcop.net Sat Jan 16 19:57:35 2010 From: nobody at spamcop.net (bar0) Date: Sat Jan 16 20:00:08 2010 Subject: [Scsocial] Re: As if I'd ever get my smart phone References: Message-ID: "Charles" wrote in message news:Xns9D02C2555D617ThisIsMyPost@216.154.195.61... > Arg! I don't even get high-speed access at the house! OK, that's not a > "real" problem since at home I should be using "free" wifi for access but > still! Fricking lame! Arg and argedy arg! I think your original vendor just didn't want to sell at the quoted price. They may have mis advertized, and all the stalling was to get you sufficiently fed up to cancel. From dfmanno at mail.com Sat Jan 16 20:27:21 2010 From: dfmanno at mail.com (D.F. Manno) Date: Sat Jan 16 20:30:08 2010 Subject: [Scsocial] Re: A purrjuror is haunting Boston References: Message-ID: In article , Farelf wrote: > Sylvesterthekat wrote: > > > LOL, that's too funny. They should show up at court, just for the fun of > > it. > > They should check the qualifications and background of the cat, leave no > cushion unturned, there is good reason for suspicion - they have > probable claws. Obviously the suspect is guilty of feline-ious behavior. -- D.F. Manno | dfmanno@mail.com And if there were a God, I think it very unlikely that He would have such an uneasy vanity as to be offended by those who doubt His existence. (Bertrand Russell) From dfmanno at mail.com Sat Jan 16 20:30:43 2010 From: dfmanno at mail.com (D.F. Manno) Date: Sat Jan 16 20:35:08 2010 Subject: [Scsocial] Re: Dontators beware References: Message-ID: In article , Mike Easter wrote: > Personally, I don't find it sickening that the CC companies are/were > charging 'typical' 3% fees - the CC companies overhead goes on just the > same as normal for donations as for merchants. The fees - as high as 5% - exceed the costs associated with the transactions. -- D.F. Manno | dfmanno@mail.com And if there were a God, I think it very unlikely that He would have such an uneasy vanity as to be offended by those who doubt His existence. (Bertrand Russell) From me at privacy.net Sat Jan 16 21:29:22 2010 From: me at privacy.net (Frog Prince) Date: Sat Jan 16 21:35:07 2010 Subject: [Scsocial] Re: As if I'd ever get my smart phone References: Message-ID: "bar0" wrote in message news:hitn7k$6rl$1@news.spamcop.net... > > "Frog Prince" wrote in message > news:hitj2r$5ed$1@news.spamcop.net... >> >> "Indigo" wrote in message >> news:hit0hn$uq4$1@news.spamcop.net... >>> >>> "Charles" wrote in message >>> news:Xns9D01DEE08F72ThisIsMyPost@216.154.195.61... >>>> No way it was me! It was "Indigo" ! >>>> >> My son has a collection of LPs that are virtually un-played. He's shown >> me were CD re mastered stuff is vastly inferior. > > > I have a bunch of well , but very carefully, played LP's. For the most > part, even rather poorly recorded LP's sound better for some reason than > most CD's of the same recording. I think "digital remastering" is a fancy > way of saying A/D conversion in most instances. Either that or most > players just do a crap job in the D/A, or preamp section, although there > is no reason they should considering high quality chips for those > functions have been abundant and cheap for a couple of decades now. It > may, of course, just be something about peculiarities in the analogue > systems and what I am used to. > > I have yet to hear anything as good and clear as a direct to disk > recording, (I have some Lincoln Mayorga and Thelma Houston recorded that > way) with one exception. Some of Ani DiFrancos live recordings come > awfully close and they are only available digitally. > > On the other hand there are the odd pop and stuff where handling was less > than optimal or an eyelash fell on the record when played. The stray > noises are never heard on a CD. > > Nevertheless, I still mostly play CD's, it's just a pain to get only 15 or > so minutes a side and having to listen to phhhhht...pop...phhhhht...pop at > the end until I get up to lift the arm. > > I'm slowly duplicating the LP's onto CD's, but being anal, that requires > full concentration to get the end of song mark and titles correct on the > CD. Not to mention cleaning and getting everybody away from the turntable. My son says the lower quality has to do with deliberate attempts to get more 'scuffed' in the file and to produce 'best sound' on small hardware. He'd transferring his LP to digital and doing what I call a line edit on the tracks. He did this with some 78 Jazz records and they are almost studio live quality (I was there when the original tracks were laid) From me at privacy.net Sat Jan 16 21:30:46 2010 From: me at privacy.net (Frog Prince) Date: Sat Jan 16 21:35:07 2010 Subject: [Scsocial] Re: Dontators beware References: Message-ID: "D.F. Manno" wrote in message news:dfmanno-97D312.20304316012010@news.cesmail.net... > In article , > Mike Easter wrote: > >> Personally, I don't find it sickening that the CC companies are/were >> charging 'typical' 3% fees - the CC companies overhead goes on just the >> same as normal for donations as for merchants. > > The fees - as high as 5% - exceed the costs associated with the > transactions. Faaaaaar exceeding the cost. From user at domain.invalid Sat Jan 16 22:10:50 2010 From: user at domain.invalid (Farelf) Date: Sat Jan 16 22:15:07 2010 Subject: [Scsocial] Re: A purrjuror is haunting Boston In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: D.F. Manno wrote: > > Obviously the suspect is guilty of feline-ious behavior. > Yes, at best the court could expect only paw performance from this purrjuror and should look at the disqualification claws. From MikeE at ster.invalid Sat Jan 16 22:40:28 2010 From: MikeE at ster.invalid (Mike Easter) Date: Sat Jan 16 22:45:08 2010 Subject: [Scsocial] Re: Dontators beware In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: Heidi wrote: > "Mike Easter" >> Personally, I don't find it sickening that the CC companies are/were >> charging 'typical' 3% fees - the CC companies overhead goes on just the >> same as normal for donations as for merchants. > > The article did say that the 3% goes well above and beyond the cost of these > transactions, so they are in fact profiting from a disaster like this, > without telling donors about it, Wait wait wait. Lets temporarily leave the word charity out of it, just like if you write a check to the power company or if you write a check to your church. The check gets processed the same way, no difference. You still have to pay the people who print the checks and any kind of bank fees for any checks you write regardless of whether you are writing a check to the dry cleaners or the church. Similarly... the reasons that CC companies get to charge such high transaction rates is because some subset of the people who pay their bills (or donate money) with CCs don't pay the card co, so the cardco is out the money. A merchant (or charity, whatever) gets a card no. etc for a transaction. The merchant checks with the card co if it is good. The card co sez Go. Then it is a done deal. The merchant (or charity) is guaranteed his money because the card co said Go. It doesn't matter if the card holder flakes out and doesn't pay his bill to the card co. The merchant is golden. Also, don't forget. These are hard times. There are more people flaking out on their CCs than usual. Some people are actually buying things on cards that they know they will never pay for. Similarly the same people who know they aren't going to pay their bills (with the result that the CC cos are paying all of their bills for them) are going to be nice and generous with their charitable donations because they hate the CC cos anyway. Result: someone who is going to stiff the CC cos for all of their bills until the CC cancels the charges makes a nice generous donation to the disaster. The donor doesn't have to pay that bill; the CC co does. What fun. Now, you want the CC co to pay the charity whatever the deadbeat says they should *AND* you also don't want the CC co to make any transaction fees to cover deadbeats/bankrupts? That is madness. Who said the CC cos are on the public dole and giving massive bonuses? You are confusing various failed banks with the CC people. -- Mike Easter From me at privacy.net Sat Jan 16 23:00:26 2010 From: me at privacy.net (Frog Prince) Date: Sat Jan 16 23:05:08 2010 Subject: [Scsocial] Re: Dontators beware References: Message-ID: "Mike Easter" wrote in message news:hiu0rd$a60$1@news.spamcop.net... > Heidi wrote: >> "Mike Easter" > >>> Personally, I don't find it sickening that the CC companies are/were >>> charging 'typical' 3% fees - the CC companies overhead goes on just the >>> same as normal for donations as for merchants. >> >> The article did say that the 3% goes well above and beyond the cost of >> these transactions, so they are in fact profiting from a disaster like >> this, without telling donors about it, > > Wait wait wait. Lets temporarily leave the word charity out of it, just > like if you write a check to the power company or if you write a check to > your church. The check gets processed the same way, no difference. You > still have to pay the people who print the checks and any kind of bank > fees for any checks you write regardless of whether you are writing a > check to the dry cleaners or the church. Electronic transfers are on the order of pennies and in bulk mills. > Similarly... the reasons that CC companies get to charge such high > transaction rates is because some subset of the people who pay their bills > (or donate money) with CCs don't pay the card co, so the cardco is out the > money. > > A merchant (or charity, whatever) gets a card no. etc for a transaction. > The merchant checks with the card co if it is good. The card co sez Go. > Then it is a done deal. The merchant (or charity) is guaranteed his money > because the card co said Go. It doesn't matter if the card holder flakes > out and doesn't pay his bill to the card co. The merchant is golden. Real world it does not always work that way. Merchants get screwed any way the CC company can get away with. (and they can be quite creative). As to folk screwing the CC some of that is self-induced. My kids had a fully functional CC in their cat's name this within the past 8 years. > > Also, don't forget. These are hard times. There are more people flaking > out on their CCs than usual. Some people are actually buying things on > cards that they know they will never pay for. > > Similarly the same people who know they aren't going to pay their bills > (with the result that the CC cos are paying all of their bills for them) > are going to be nice and generous with their charitable donations because > they hate the CC cos anyway. > > Result: someone who is going to stiff the CC cos for all of their bills > until the CC cancels the charges makes a nice generous donation to the > disaster. The donor doesn't have to pay that bill; the CC co does. What > fun. > > Now, you want the CC co to pay the charity whatever the deadbeat says they > should *AND* you also don't want the CC co to make any transaction fees to > cover deadbeats/bankrupts? That is madness. > > Who said the CC cos are on the public dole and giving massive bonuses? You > are confusing various failed banks with the CC people. Often one and the same although they do a good job of placing blame for a problem on the other half of the ownership. Take for example air travel. Airlines don't get the $ until the flight time. If there is a problem like the card holder does not pay the CC company takes it out of the airlines' account. My DIL had a small retail operation and accepted CC for about 4-5 months. So many problems with the CC company she bailed and took a hit even then. near 18 months later the CC back billed her checking account for fees and other charges. No real recourse as to fight would have cost her more than her net worth in legal fees. Only thing that saved her was the bank owned the CC company (or the other way round) and they made some procedural mistakes. (even them her dad being a child hood friend of the AG was critical) From MikeE at ster.invalid Sat Jan 16 23:38:07 2010 From: MikeE at ster.invalid (Mike Easter) Date: Sat Jan 16 23:40:08 2010 Subject: [Scsocial] Re: Dontators beware In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: Frog Prince wrote: > Take for example air travel. Airlines don't get the $ until the flight > time. If there is a problem like the card holder does not pay the CC > company takes it out of the airlines' account. > If I make a reservation months in advance that is paid for, I have to pay my credit card before I make the flight. The credit card company's position in a merchant vs cardholder is that if there is a dispute over a charge which has not yet been paid by the cardholder, then the card holder doesn't have to pay until the dispute is resolved and the merchant doesn't get paid until the dispute is resolved. In the case of the advanced payment for an airplane ticket, the cardholder is going to be paying before the airline can default on the flight. I say that the airline is also paid in the month of the booking/transaction process. Okay, let's say that the ticket I've paid for months ago fails to fly for some reason. The airline company is making up with the customer, the credit card company isn't involved in any dispute. It isn't like a situation when the airline 'defaults' on the flight I get to call my CC co and they immediately credit my account and take it out of the merchant. And they surely don't have some kind of record on the purchase charge about some future flight that they don't pay the airline until that advanced date. I think you must be thinking of some other kind of airline vs customer dispute than I can imagine. -- Mike Easter From nobody at spamcop.net Sun Jan 17 00:03:51 2010 From: nobody at spamcop.net (Heidi) Date: Sun Jan 17 00:05:08 2010 Subject: [Scsocial] Re: Dontators beware References: Message-ID: "Mike Easter" wrote in message news:hiu0rd$a60$1@news.spamcop.net... > > > Also, don't forget. These are hard times. There are more people flaking > out on their CCs than usual. Some people are actually buying things on > cards that they know they will never pay for. Hard times my ass, the only people having a hard time are the little guys at the bottom of the food chain. The rest of them are getting big bonuses. Do you know why people are flaking out on their credit cards now? Because the assholes at the CC companies are jacking up interest rates on good, timely paying customers with balances, just because they can, and they're doing it at such an unreasonable rate that the owners of the CC simply cannot keep up with the payments when their interest rates and monthly payments have doubled or in some cases, TRIPLED. Especially if they are or have been recently unemployed and are already behind the eight ball. They are CREATING these defaults by raping the consumer for everything they can get before the new laws take effect in February. And shame on Congress for giving them a whole year to do it. Do I feel sorry for the banks? That would be no. I spent an hour and a half on the phone with Chase bank over this very issue and finally when they refused to budge on the interest rate unless I closed the account, told them to stuff their card sideways and closed it. If I could spit in their faces I would, evil SOB's. > > Similarly the same people who know they aren't going to pay their bills > (with the result that the CC cos are paying all of their bills for them) > are going to be nice and generous with their charitable donations because > they hate the CC cos anyway. Makes me wish I still had my Chase card so I could do the same, only I would STILL be on the hook for paying the account, or risk defaulting and ruining my credit rating. > > Now, you want the CC co to pay the charity whatever the deadbeat says they > should *AND* you also don't want the CC co to make any transaction fees to > cover deadbeats/bankrupts? That is madness. You assume probably 99% incorrectly that those that donate won't be paying their CC bill. Do you have any proof or statistics to show that all people who donate to a charity by credit card are deadbeats? > > Who said the CC cos are on the public dole and giving massive bonuses? You > are confusing various failed banks with the CC people. > No, I'm not, it was quoted in the article I linked, and it was quoted by the President. The CC people ARE the banks. Biggest money grabbers like Citi, Chase, BOA..... Citi is capping their CASH bonuses at a mere 100k, the rest is going to be in stock. Isn't that tidy of them. Bank of America boasts that they will be paying more but "there will be no record breaking amounts". Well, phew! And Chase, those arrogant bastards, are handing out over 9 billion. BILLION, while they rape their CC customers with double and triple increases in interest rates and ruin their credit ratings by giving them absolutely no choice BUT to default. I would love to see statistics on just how many people have lost their otherwise healthy credit ratings because of what the banks have done to them. From me at privacy.net Sun Jan 17 01:15:23 2010 From: me at privacy.net (Frog Prince) Date: Sun Jan 17 01:20:07 2010 Subject: [Scsocial] Re: Dontators beware References: Message-ID: "Mike Easter" wrote in message news:hiu47g$b59$1@news.spamcop.net... > Frog Prince wrote: > >> Take for example air travel. Airlines don't get the $ until the flight >> time. If there is a problem like the card holder does not pay the CC >> company takes it out of the airlines' account. >> > If I make a reservation months in advance that is paid for, I have to pay > my credit card before I make the flight. > > The credit card company's position in a merchant vs cardholder is that if > there is a dispute over a charge which has not yet been paid by the > cardholder, then the card holder doesn't have to pay until the dispute is > resolved and the merchant doesn't get paid until the dispute is resolved. CC company will play both sides, FCRA not withstanding. > In the case of the advanced payment for an airplane ticket, the cardholder > is going to be paying before the airline can default on the flight. I say > that the airline is also paid in the month of the booking/transaction > process. Sorry my DIL worked for the airlines they can 'book' the income but don't get the cash until the flight flies. Basically the CC floats the funds. > Okay, let's say that the ticket I've paid for months ago fails to fly for > some reason. The airline company is making up with the customer, the > credit card company isn't involved in any dispute. > It isn't like a situation when the airline 'defaults' on the flight I get > to call my CC co and they immediately credit my account and take it out of > the merchant. And they surely don't have some kind of record on the > purchase charge about some future flight that they don't pay the airline > until that advanced date. > See note DIL above. From nobody at spamcop.net Sun Jan 17 08:34:48 2010 From: nobody at spamcop.net (bar0) Date: Sun Jan 17 08:35:08 2010 Subject: [Scsocial] Re: As if I'd ever get my smart phone References: Message-ID: "Frog Prince" wrote in message news:hitsqt$8qs$1@news.spamcop.net... > > > My son says the lower quality has to do with deliberate attempts to get > more 'scuffed' in the file and to produce 'best sound' on small hardware. Scuffed' ? Explain please. From me at privacy.net Sun Jan 17 09:42:11 2010 From: me at privacy.net (Frog Prince) Date: Sun Jan 17 09:45:07 2010 Subject: [Scsocial] Re: As if I'd ever get my smart phone References: Message-ID: "bar0" wrote in message news:hiv3ls$lju$1@news.spamcop.net... > > "Frog Prince" wrote in message > news:hitsqt$8qs$1@news.spamcop.net... >> >> > >> My son says the lower quality has to do with deliberate attempts to get >> more 'scuffed' in the file and to produce 'best sound' on small hardware. > > Scuffed' ? Explain please. Compressed, enhanced, doctored, manipulated ... 10 pounds of sound in a five pound file. From nobody at spamcop.net Sun Jan 17 10:15:40 2010 From: nobody at spamcop.net (bar0) Date: Sun Jan 17 10:20:09 2010 Subject: [Scsocial] Re: As if I'd ever get my smart phone References: Message-ID: "Frog Prince" wrote in message news:hiv7kp$mu5$1@news.spamcop.net... > > "bar0" wrote in message > news:hiv3ls$lju$1@news.spamcop.net... >> >> "Frog Prince" wrote in message >> news:hitsqt$8qs$1@news.spamcop.net... >>> >>> >> >>> My son says the lower quality has to do with deliberate attempts to get >>> more 'scuffed' in the file and to produce 'best sound' on small >>> hardware. >> >> Scuffed' ? Explain please. > > Compressed, enhanced, doctored, manipulated ... 10 pounds of sound in a > five pound file. Wierd, since few LP's exceed 45 minutes of sound, and the capacity of a CD with full dynamic range is about 1 hour and 10 minutes, there's no need to have "scuffed" remastered LP's. From nobody at spamcop.net Sun Jan 17 15:44:07 2010 From: nobody at spamcop.net (Indigo) Date: Sun Jan 17 15:45:08 2010 Subject: [Scsocial] Re: Dontators beware In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: "Heidi" wrote in message news:hitda8$3ct$1@news.spamcop.net... > If you were a credit card company, *** i.e. "Big Bank" **** you can just > wait and see what kind of a public backlash there would be as you take > public money, hand out billions in "bonuses" With any luck Obama's bill/plan to create a special excise tax on executive bonuses for the banks that took TARP money will pass. From nobody at spamcop.net Sun Jan 17 15:48:47 2010 From: nobody at spamcop.net (Indigo) Date: Sun Jan 17 15:50:08 2010 Subject: [Scsocial] Re: Dontators beware In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: "Heidi" wrote in message news:hitdd0$3hb$1@news.spamcop.net... > > "bar0" wrote in message > news:hit4vm$hc$1@news.spamcop.net... >> >> Arianna suggesting that Haiti doesn't need/want/shouldn't have potatos? > > No, if Ariannia is suggesting anything, it may be that Haiti deserves ALL > the potatoes, not just SOME of the ones left over after the big banks take > their cuts. On a radio show I heard that one of the famous conservative TV preachers (Pat somebody? the 700 club?) is claiming that Haiti just got what it deserves for "selling it's soul to the Devil", nonsense I guess is in reference to some of their religious practices (voodoo?). That POS should be forced to move to the slums of Haiti and live there for the rest of his (hopefully short) life. From nobody at spamcop.net Sun Jan 17 15:51:27 2010 From: nobody at spamcop.net (Indigo) Date: Sun Jan 17 15:55:08 2010 Subject: [Scsocial] Re: Dontators beware In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: "D.F. Manno" wrote in message news:dfmanno-97D312.20304316012010@news.cesmail.net... > In article , > Mike Easter wrote: > >> Personally, I don't find it sickening that the CC companies are/were >> charging 'typical' 3% fees - the CC companies overhead goes on just the >> same as normal for donations as for merchants. > > The fees - as high as 5% - exceed the costs associated with the > transactions. With computers doing 99% of the work I can't see how they can even claim 2% is a "fair" charge. It's pure greed IMO, it surely doesn't cost multiple billions of dollars in overhead to keep those servers up to date and running. From nobody at spamcop.net Sun Jan 17 16:05:18 2010 From: nobody at spamcop.net (Indigo) Date: Sun Jan 17 16:10:08 2010 Subject: [Scsocial] Re: Dontators beware In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: "Mike Easter" wrote in message news:hiu0rd$a60$1@news.spamcop.net... > Similarly... the reasons that CC companies get to charge such high > transaction rates is because some subset of the people who pay their bills > (or donate money) with CCs don't pay the card co, so the cardco is out the > money. > True, but read on. > > Also, don't forget. These are hard times. There are more people flaking > out on their CCs than usual. Some people are actually buying things on > cards that they know they will never pay for. But that number of people gets whittled down over time, once you burn a CC company by refusing to pay your bill they destroy your credit rating, and no one else is going to give you a new CC. So unless you manage to steal someone's identity to get new credit, you're cut off. > Result: someone who is going to stiff the CC cos for all of their bills > until the CC cancels the charges makes a nice generous donation to the > disaster. The donor doesn't have to pay that bill; the CC co does. What > fun. > Now, you want the CC co to pay the charity whatever the deadbeat says they > should *AND* you also don't want the CC co to make any transaction fees to > cover deadbeats/bankrupts? That is madness. > > Who said the CC cos are on the public dole and giving massive bonuses? You > are confusing various failed banks with the CC people. No, you are the confused on here. The vast majority of Visa and MC's are issued by the major banks, most of which took TARP money, and/or were given smaller failing banks assets for pennies on the dollar. Those banks must set aside reserves each year to cover the cost of doing business, meaning paying the debts of the CC deadbeats. Once that reserve "kitty" is filled, everything else (minus the overhead of runnning the CC computer systems) is pure profit, and that profit is HUGE. In many cases the CC side of the business is responsible for a gigantic share of a bank's profit. From nobody at spamcop.net Sun Jan 17 16:07:52 2010 From: nobody at spamcop.net (Indigo) Date: Sun Jan 17 16:10:09 2010 Subject: [Scsocial] Re: Dontators beware In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: "Frog Prince" wrote in message news:hiu21e$ahv$1@news.spamcop.net... > My DIL had a small retail operation and accepted CC for about 4-5 months. > So many problems with the CC company she bailed and took a hit even then. > near 18 months later the CC back billed her checking account for fees and > other charges. The fact that COSTCO does not accept Visa cards (any CC AFAIK) says a lot about the cost of doing business with CC issuers..... From me at privacy.net Sun Jan 17 16:11:07 2010 From: me at privacy.net (Frog Prince) Date: Sun Jan 17 16:15:07 2010 Subject: [Scsocial] Re: As if I'd ever get my smart phone References: Message-ID: "bar0" wrote in message news:hiv9j5$nhe$1@news.spamcop.net... > > "Frog Prince" wrote in message > news:hiv7kp$mu5$1@news.spamcop.net... >> >> "bar0" wrote in message >> news:hiv3ls$lju$1@news.spamcop.net... >>> >>> "Frog Prince" wrote in message >>> news:hitsqt$8qs$1@news.spamcop.net... >>>> >>>> >>> >>>> My son says the lower quality has to do with deliberate attempts to get >>>> more 'scuffed' in the file and to produce 'best sound' on small >>>> hardware. >>> >>> Scuffed' ? Explain please. >> >> Compressed, enhanced, doctored, manipulated ... 10 pounds of sound in a >> five pound file. > > Wierd, since few LP's exceed 45 minutes of sound, and the capacity of a CD > with full dynamic range is about 1 hour and 10 minutes, there's no need to > have "scuffed" remastered LP's. I think much of the enhancement has to do with the limits of the hardware that reproduces the sound. I've run the resultant output of both through an audio spectrum analyzer and I can see and somewhat hear the difference. My kids have 'professional ears' and they say the 'scuffed' audio is not good. In my son's words not unlike a fine gumbo with too much salt. From me at privacy.net Sun Jan 17 16:17:05 2010 From: me at privacy.net (Frog Prince) Date: Sun Jan 17 16:30:07 2010 Subject: [Scsocial] Re: Dontators beware References: Message-ID: "Indigo" wrote in message news:hivu77$ucu$1@news.spamcop.net... > > "Frog Prince" wrote in message > news:hiu21e$ahv$1@news.spamcop.net... >> My DIL had a small retail operation and accepted CC for about 4-5 months. >> So many problems with the CC company she bailed and took a hit even then. >> near 18 months later the CC back billed her checking account for fees and >> other charges. > > The fact that COSTCO does not accept Visa cards (any CC AFAIK) says a lot > about the cost of doing business with CC issuers..... I may be misremembering I think Sam's only accepts debit cards and their OWN BRAND CC. Wal Mart sells the same stuff out of the same warehouse and trucks but charges signifantly more comparatively than Sams. As to this being CC related or market diffraction I can't say. From nobody at spamcop.net Sun Jan 17 16:27:05 2010 From: nobody at spamcop.net (bar0) Date: Sun Jan 17 16:30:08 2010 Subject: [Scsocial] Re: As if I'd ever get my smart phone References: Message-ID: "Frog Prince" wrote in message news:hivug6$uhu$1@news.spamcop.net... > > > I think much of the enhancement has to do with the limits of the hardware > that reproduces the sound. The players, DAC and output circuitry? or the upstream Tape players and A/D circuitry? > > I've run the resultant output of both through an audio spectrum analyzer > and I can see and somewhat hear the difference. Comparing phono preamp out to CD player out? > > My kids have 'professional ears' and they say the 'scuffed' audio is not > good. In my son's words not unlike a fine gumbo with too much salt. Back to why would they (recording engineers) bother? Strange industry. Strangely all the DiFranco I mentioned earlier was seriously scuffed, (compared to a raw WAV file as found in a CD) in that it was mp3 compressed. From nobody at spamcop.net Sun Jan 17 16:45:24 2010 From: nobody at spamcop.net (Indigo) Date: Sun Jan 17 16:50:08 2010 Subject: [Scsocial] Re: Dontators beware In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: "Heidi" wrote in message news:hiu5no$bmf$1@news.spamcop.net... > Hard times my ass, the only people having a hard time are the little guys > at the bottom of the food chain. The rest of them are getting big bonuses. > Do you know why people are flaking out on their credit cards now? Because > the assholes at the CC companies are jacking up interest rates on good, > timely paying customers with balances, just because they can, and they're > doing it at such an unreasonable rate that the owners of the CC simply > cannot keep up with the payments when their interest rates and monthly > payments have doubled or in some cases, TRIPLED. You are absolutely correct. The prime rate is and has been at an all time low for several years, meaning the bank's cost of borrowing short term cash is as low as it's ever been, but all of them have jacked up their CC rates recently. Even my fed FCU just recently went to a variable rate based on prime + xx%. I *thought* that they could only raise your rate on new charges, or if you had any activity on the card, but I just pulled out my Chase Visa terms and nope, on Jan 1, 21010 my rate went from a fixed 9.99% to a monthly variable rate applied to EXISTING balances and new charges. That's outright rape of the consumer. Luckily I can afford to pay off my CC's every month and the change essentially doesn't mean anything to me financially, but it sure pisses me off! And god help you if you go over your credit limit, your rate will soar to over 20% if that happens. Please tell me how you going $50 over your credit limit so endangers that bank that they find it "necessary" to instantly more than double your effective APR !? I spent an hour and a half on the phone with Chase bank over > this very issue and finally when they refused to budge on the interest > rate unless I closed the account, told them to stuff their card sideways > and closed it. If I could spit in their faces I would, evil SOB's. Over the years as Chase tried to raise my rate, I'd also call them and threaten them to cancel my card unless they kept it the same, or even in some cases, lower it, and they always caved. But now that I'm down to two CC's, and have been for quite a while, it would damage my credit rating if I spitefully canceled my card -- lenders like to see long term credit lines with an unblemished history. I almost got nicked with a $30 late fee from Chase two months ago, but by agressively pursuing the issue I managed to get high enough in their food change to get the charge reversed. The thing that saved me was "playing dumb", which in this case wasn't really dishonest - I had no idea what had happened _could_ happen. Here's the deal: I pay all my bills online, most of them _from_ my checking account _to_ the payee. Some companies are not set up to accept electronic transfers, so my FCU sends a snail mail check. The difference is that the electronic transfers occur on the next business day, but the checks take a week to get printed, mailed, and received by the payee. I've been paying my Chase CC with electronic transfers from my FCU for a couple years now, and two months ago I kind of lost track of the time of month and didn't get around to paying my bills that are due on/around the 15th of the month until the 13th of that month, in the evening. Since the Chase payment was made on the 14th, and I had the bank records to prove it, I thought everything was ok. But when I got my statement next month, I discovered the late fee. After several phone calls, some manager "explained" to me that even though they had indeed received my payment before the due date, it takes anywhere from 3-5 days for that payment to be recorded by their systems. What a load of BS! I guarantee you that internal delay is claimed purely to nab extra cash from their customers for late fees. Anyway, in the end, the manager took mercy on me (throwing in the lyme disability/brain fog issue didn't hurt, I'm sure) and she removed the charge from my account. Now I have changed my payment setup for Chase: I established an electronic connection _from_ Chase _to_ my checking account, so when I make my payment online (from the Chase website, not the FCU website) they get it instantly (which in essence also occured with my old setup), but there's no "internal delay" in processing the payment anymore, it gets applied to my account the same day I transfer the cash. So no more "mystery" late fees (which I shouldn't have gotten in the first place!). From me at privacy.net Sun Jan 17 16:45:15 2010 From: me at privacy.net (Frog Prince) Date: Sun Jan 17 16:55:08 2010 Subject: [Scsocial] Re: As if I'd ever get my smart phone References: Message-ID: "bar0" wrote in message news:hivvbd$upk$1@news.spamcop.net... > > "Frog Prince" wrote in message > news:hivug6$uhu$1@news.spamcop.net... >> >> I think much of the enhancement has to do with the limits of the hardware >> that reproduces the sound. > > The players, DAC and output circuitry? or the upstream Tape players and > A/D circuitry? >> >> I've run the resultant output of both through an audio spectrum analyzer >> and I can see and somewhat hear the difference. > > Comparing phono preamp out to CD player out? My test were run at the audio output of the codex for digital work and at the first preamp for the analog stuff. Reproduction hardware iPods, cell phones etc. >> My kids have 'professional ears' and they say the 'scuffed' audio is not >> good. In my son's words not unlike a fine gumbo with too much salt. > > Back to why would they (recording engineers) bother? Those with the money decisions said do it this way. Recall the golden rule -- he who holds the gold rules. > > Strange industry. Strangely all the DiFranco I mentioned earlier was > seriously scuffed, (compared to a raw WAV file as found in a CD) in that > it was mp3 compressed. One of the skill sets my son has is Recording Engineer. At one time he setup and ran the audio lab for the local campus of the university. Most folk can't tell, my kids get a pained look on their face from some of the things that were done to classic recording (all venues). From nobody at spamcop.net Sun Jan 17 17:02:57 2010 From: nobody at spamcop.net (Indigo) Date: Sun Jan 17 17:05:08 2010 Subject: [Scsocial] Re: As if I'd ever get my smart phone In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: "bar0" wrote in message news:hitn7k$6rl$1@news.spamcop.net... > > > I have a bunch of well , but very carefully, played LP's. For the most > part, even rather poorly recorded LP's sound better for some reason than > most CD's of the same recording. I have over 200 LP's myself, in varying state of preservation. Many of them were recorded to tape on their first play and not pulled back out of the sleeve thereafter (back in the dark ages of cassettes being "high tech" ;-) The primary reason that LP's sound vastly superior to their digital version is exactly that - they're exact analog duplicates of the original master tape. I think "digital remastering" is a fancy way of > saying A/D conversion in most instances. Off the top of my head, I would guess that "digital remastering" means they go back to the original tape and re-record the music at higher conversion rates, rates that older technology wasn't capable of doing. But in the end, you're still stuck with a "chopped up" analog signal, it's just that the step size is smaller, meaning the digital version is a closer representation of the analog recording. > > Nevertheless, I still mostly play CD's, it's just a pain to get only 15 or > so minutes a side and having to listen to phhhhht...pop...phhhhht...pop at > the end until I get up to lift the arm. > > I'm slowly duplicating the LP's onto CD's, but being anal, that requires > full concentration to get the end of song mark and titles correct on the > CD. Not to mention cleaning and getting everybody away from the turntable. Since my collection is so big (and HEAVY!!), I only have space for it and the LP player in my basement. On rare occasions I'll sit in front of the cabinet and start pulling out old LPs and playing individual songs just to hear them again. In most cases, those LPs are rare, from old regional bands that never got big enough to make it worth anyone's while to transfer the albums to CD's, so they're kind of priceless in that regard. I've set up my old PC down there with the intent of recording some of that music in digital form, have all the cables in place, but haven't gotten around to installing the software and starting the laborious transfer process (and the post-processing to get rid of hisses and pops). It's such a huge job I just can't make myself do it! From nobody at spamcop.net Sun Jan 17 17:13:42 2010 From: nobody at spamcop.net (Indigo) Date: Sun Jan 17 17:15:08 2010 Subject: [Scsocial] Re: Face not recognized In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: "Heidi" wrote in message news:hitlfs$68q$1@news.spamcop.net... > They 'monitor for unusual activity', and determined that my card was at > risk. So maybe it was my card, or maybe it was that I've made electronic > transfers to places where I could be hacked, I don't know, they'll never > tell. Sounds kinda what happened to me.......but more serious, since they felt it necessary to give you a new card. I still think _their_ security was comprised in some way, not _yours_. So now I have a new one, and a new PIN to memorize. Dammit, that's > why I've had the old one for so long, I can't remember what I had for > breakfast most days! You didn't get the option to pick your own PIN? Here's a somewhat safe way to store your new PIN in your purse: I have an Excel spreadsheet with certain critical phone numbers (mostly friends and family, but also my doctors #'s and some other ones). I print out the list in a small font and stick it into my wallet in one of the plastic picture or CC sleeves. I "hide" things like the PIN to my Dad's security alarm system within a phone number, but not with his name attached to it, of course! While it's not 100% secure, it's pretty damn close IMO. From nobody at spamcop.net Sun Jan 17 17:50:56 2010 From: nobody at spamcop.net (bar0) Date: Sun Jan 17 17:55:08 2010 Subject: [Scsocial] Re: Audio (was: As if I'd ever get my smart phone) References: Message-ID: "Indigo" wrote in message news:hj01eg$vkd$1@news.spamcop.net... > > "bar0" wrote in message > news:hitn7k$6rl$1@news.spamcop.net... >> > I think "digital remastering" is a fancy way of >> saying A/D conversion in most instances. > > Off the top of my head, I would guess that "digital remastering" means > they go back to the original tape and re-record the music at higher > conversion rates, rates that older technology wasn't capable of doing. But > in the end, you're still stuck with a "chopped up" analog signal, it's > just that the step size is smaller, meaning the digital version is a > closer representation of the analog recording. > It's SUPPOSED to mean, going back to the source tracks, Digitizing them and then doing the mix digitally. > I've set up my old PC down there with the intent of recording some of that > music in digital form, have all the cables in place, but haven't gotten > around to installing the software and starting the laborious transfer > process (and the post-processing to get rid of hisses and pops). It's such > a huge job I just can't make myself do it! My collection (1,000+) was well played, I only used cassettes to record OP's LP's I couldn't afford to buy. The cassette just never sounded as good. The HiFi stuff is in the living room, No way the PC is going to live next to it. Fortunately I do have a CD recorder, but still I need to manually enter the fiduciaries between tracks and the like. letting it happen automagically never quite seems to work. Pop editing must be done on the PC unfortunately. I need to come up with a better workflow, Maybe record to CD, and do the track labeling and editing after on the PC, since the PC can make an Audio CD from any CD, not only the Audio kind. From nobody at spamcop.net Sun Jan 17 19:48:00 2010 From: nobody at spamcop.net (Heidi) Date: Sun Jan 17 19:50:07 2010 Subject: [Scsocial] Re: Dontators beware References: Message-ID: "Frog Prince" wrote in message news:hivv92$upd$1@news.spamcop.net... > > I may be misremembering I think Sam's only accepts debit cards and their > OWN BRAND CC. > > Wal Mart sells the same stuff out of the same warehouse and trucks but > charges signifantly more comparatively than Sams. As to this being CC > related or market diffraction I can't say. They used to take only Discover, but now they take everything, including debit cards. From nobody at spamcop.net Mon Jan 18 19:43:16 2010 From: nobody at spamcop.net (bar0) Date: Mon Jan 18 19:45:08 2010 Subject: [Scsocial] Boo! Message-ID: Boo! From MikeE at ster.invalid Mon Jan 18 19:50:13 2010 From: MikeE at ster.invalid (Mike Easter) Date: Mon Jan 18 19:55:09 2010 Subject: [Scsocial] Re: Boo! In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: bar0 wrote: > Boo! What are you trying to say? -- Mike Easter From MikeE at ster.invalid Mon Jan 18 19:55:23 2010 From: MikeE at ster.invalid (Mike Easter) Date: Mon Jan 18 20:00:09 2010 Subject: [Scsocial] Re: Boo! In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: Mike Easter wrote: > Oops. If one is making up new squashedwords, they can't be misspelling any of them. Make that BrundleFly, as in Seth Brundle in The Fly as they merged/hybridized. -- Mike Easter From nobody at spamcop.net Mon Jan 18 19:57:54 2010 From: nobody at spamcop.net (bar0) Date: Mon Jan 18 20:00:10 2010 Subject: [Scsocial] Re: Boo! References: Message-ID: "Mike Easter" wrote in message news:hj2vk6$v7p$1@news.spamcop.net... > bar0 wrote: >> Boo! > > > > What are you trying to say? Boo Actually it seemed the newsgroup had gone wierd (or my reader perhaps, requires more explanation than I feel like making), so this was a test actually. From MikeE at ster.invalid Mon Jan 18 20:56:40 2010 From: MikeE at ster.invalid (Mike Easter) Date: Mon Jan 18 21:00:08 2010 Subject: [Scsocial] Re: Boo! In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: bar0 wrote: > "Mike Easter" >> What are you trying to say? > > Boo > > Actually it seemed the newsgroup had gone wierd (or my reader perhaps, > requires more explanation than I feel like making), so this was a test > actually. I just recently posted some instructions in another newsgroup on how/where to post test messages that look like test messages and how to post stealthed test messages. Your Boo does not qualify as a properly stealthed test message. -- Mike Easter From MikeE at ster.invalid Mon Jan 18 21:16:06 2010 From: MikeE at ster.invalid (Mike Easter) Date: Mon Jan 18 21:20:08 2010 Subject: [Scsocial] Re: Paging a geek In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: Sylvesterthekat wrote: > Have you now done it and is it any faster? Yeah, I was wondering if he had done it; as it seemed y'all were still quibbling after the public dns clarification. -- Mike Easter From nobody at spamcop.net Mon Jan 18 21:59:57 2010 From: nobody at spamcop.net (Indigo) Date: Mon Jan 18 22:00:09 2010 Subject: [Scsocial] Re: Paging a geek In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: "Mike Easter" wrote in message news:hj34l6$1a9$1@news.spamcop.net... > Sylvesterthekat wrote: > >> Have you now done it and is it any faster? > > Yeah, I was wondering if he had done it; as it seemed y'all were still > quibbling after the public dns clarification. To answer both you and S-kat, I printed out the 6 pages of instructions from that link on how to set up using Goog's nameservers, but I haven't gotten around to actually putting them to use yet. I'll let y'all know how it works when I get to it, other things have higher priority right now. From me at privacy.net Mon Jan 18 23:19:00 2010 From: me at privacy.net (Frog Prince) Date: Mon Jan 18 23:35:08 2010 Subject: [Scsocial] Re: Boo! References: Message-ID: "bar0" wrote in message news:hj2v78$v66$1@news.spamcop.net... > Boo! Boo Who? From me at privacy.net Mon Jan 18 23:20:44 2010 From: me at privacy.net (Frog Prince) Date: Mon Jan 18 23:35:09 2010 Subject: [Scsocial] Re: As if I'd ever get my smart phone References: Message-ID: "Sylvesterthekat" wrote in message news:Xns9D04B7DADAEF0sylvesterthekat@216.154.195.61... > Borgholio wrote in > news:hiqll5$51o$1@news.spamcop.net: > >> Don't be so sure. My sister gave me her old Verizon phone and I >> signed up with a non-contract service. Still needed a credit check. >> > > That's absurd. What the hell did they need to run a credit check for if > you're not asking for credit? I'd have told them where to stick it. Pre > paid phones don't require any credit checks (eg Virgin Mobile, Go, Boost). We're using pagepluscellular.com Great rates and CS is US English based!! From me at privacy.net Mon Jan 18 23:28:36 2010 From: me at privacy.net (Frog Prince) Date: Mon Jan 18 23:35:10 2010 Subject: [Scsocial] Re: Dontators beware References: Message-ID: "Sylvesterthekat" wrote in message news:Xns9D04C1F26F70Fsylvesterthekat@216.154.195.61... > "Frog Prince" wrote in > news:hiu21e$ahv$1@news.spamcop.net: > > >> My DIL had a small retail operation and accepted CC for about 4-5 >> months. So many problems with the CC company she bailed and took a hit >> even then. near 18 months later the CC back billed her checking >> account for fees and other charges. > > Presumably it's the merchant account company that was really to blame. > Some > of them are really bad, some are not. We though so too but on deeper digging the problems went way up. According to her 'uncle' in the AG's office there was a lot going on that no one knew about. Lots of 'mistakes' all in the CC company favor and hammering more than her small operation. All were small mom/pop companies without the ability to fight. From user at domain.invalid Tue Jan 19 07:30:28 2010 From: user at domain.invalid (Farelf) Date: Tue Jan 19 07:35:07 2010 Subject: [Scsocial] Re: The Irukandji are coming In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: Sylvesterthekat wrote: > ... I then got stuck in a bus lane which is even worse than driving the > wrong way on a one way street LOL. It brings a HUGE fine if you're caught > and you can't get out of it cos there are railings to stop cars getting > into it from the adjacent lanes. I made it out unscathed hehehe. Now > though, there would be cameras everywhere and I'd be fined. Would you actually drive in central London now though? I know people do, I've seen them. But where the heck do they park? I suppose local knowledge might help. A group of us stayed at a B&B in Marylebone once - there was nowhere to park (one of our number drove over from Paris and picked the rest up from Heathrow, then onwards). Hmmm Montague something was the street. But half the streets there were "Montague" something. It's a wonder our bleached bones are not somewhere in the close vicinity to this day, testament to us either tying to find it or trying to leave it. Who was this ubiquitous Montague? From user at domain.invalid Wed Jan 20 02:14:10 2010 From: user at domain.invalid (Farelf) Date: Wed Jan 20 02:15:08 2010 Subject: [Scsocial] Dog waving Message-ID: Looking forward to a spot of childminding, I showed Mrs Farelf http://www.bulletproofbaby.net/homewear_page.html and she/we thought it was all very good. Imagine our chagrin to find it was merely part of the viral marketing campaign for the 2007 'action comedy' film "Shoot 'Em Up" (we evidently missed its release). But the link to the official movie site seems dead. The advertising outlasts the product (sort of). Well, I suppose it always has. It just seems to happen faster now. We could probably reduce greenhouse gas emissions a great deal by only advertizing imaginary products. 'Cut to the chase', as it were, without all that energy-intensive production stuff in between. Hello world ... just letting you know I thought of it first. With customer demand Dt and production decision xt: Stage cost ct(xt,It,Dt) = ct(xt) + ht(max{0,It+1}) + pt(max{0,?It+1}) with It = units available at beginning of time period t ct = production cost function ht = holding cost function for excess inventory pt = backlogging cost function ... all equal to zero There could be a Nobel for economics in this one. Well, OK, the radical Greens have been saying something similar to zero production all along but they never thought of advertizing stuff in conjunction with that. From user at domain.invalid Wed Jan 20 11:49:50 2010 From: user at domain.invalid (Farelf) Date: Wed Jan 20 11:50:08 2010 Subject: [Scsocial] Re: Dog waving In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: Charles wrote: > It wasn't me! It was Farelf! > >> There could be a Nobel for economics in this one > > Ahem. Aw, c'mon - just look at the previous winners. For work on the theory of ... Developed the analytical method for ... Continuing contribution in the modelling of ... All abstract theory, nothing to grab the shambling fortune of humanity by the scruff of its scrofulous neck and haul it into the dawn of a new era of prosperity and equitable wealth distribution. That needs to change - not just quickly but urgently! I am *the man* for that (inducements and blandishments notwithstanding but welcome anyway). And previous winners have all been really, really old if not actually dead. Nothing wrong with that (apart from the dead part), but really ... I'm much younger, especially now. The nearest thing to competition in these stakes is the collected Ferengi Rules of Acquisition. Fine, if you want to corner the market in latinum. From nobody at spamcop.net Wed Jan 20 16:20:13 2010 From: nobody at spamcop.net (Indigo) Date: Wed Jan 20 16:25:08 2010 Subject: [Scsocial] Re: As if I'd ever get my smart phone In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: "Charles" wrote in message news:Xns9D05D754B979ThisIsMyPost@216.154.195.61... > > Maybe. But it works here. And they don't have roaming charges. Sprint > wants to charge me roaming IN MY HOUSE! Did you know that before you signed the contract? If someone tried to pull a stunt like that on ME I'd walk right out of the store. And never deal with Sprint again, ever. Luckily Cingular got bought by AT&T and not Sprint or Verizon, the coverage is outstanding and vastly improved now. From nobody at spamcop.net Wed Jan 20 16:28:30 2010 From: nobody at spamcop.net (Indigo) Date: Wed Jan 20 16:30:08 2010 Subject: [Scsocial] Re: As if I'd ever get my smart phone In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: "Sylvesterthekat" wrote in message news:Xns9D04C0F6AE2B5sylvesterthekat@216.154.195.61... > "bar0" wrote in news:hitn7k$6rl$1@news.spamcop.net: Sadly, we got a good quality turntable not long > before moving here and of course it's as much use as a chocolate teapot on > this side of the Atlantic. Why doesn't it work? You know you can buy converters for using AC devices built to Euro standards, right? IIRC the AC frequency is different, and if that's the case it probably makes your turntable run slower (maybe?). My turntable has an optical timing device and a knob to perfectly adjust the playing speed, it works like a timing light for tuning a car engine. Dujnno if it has enough "travel" to deal with a 10 hz difference in AC frequency though. From nobody at spamcop.net Wed Jan 20 16:32:22 2010 From: nobody at spamcop.net (Indigo) Date: Wed Jan 20 16:35:08 2010 Subject: [Scsocial] Re: Dog waving In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: "Farelf" wrote in message news:hj6afv$3qm$1@news.spamcop.net... > Looking forward to a spot of childminding, I showed Mrs Farelf > http://www.bulletproofbaby.net/homewear_page.html and she/we thought it > was all very good. Imagine our chagrin to find it was merely part of the > viral marketing campaign for the 2007 'action comedy' film "Shoot 'Em Up" > (we evidently missed its release). I've seen that movie on HBO. Pretty good, starred some English chap as the unlikely hero IIRC....what's his name....not Jason Stratham.....dark haired guy, bigger build.....first name is very "British"....like Colin or something similar.....dammit, not going to IMDB..... From me at privacy.net Wed Jan 20 17:39:30 2010 From: me at privacy.net (Frog Prince) Date: Wed Jan 20 17:40:09 2010 Subject: [Scsocial] Re: As if I'd ever get my smart phone References: Message-ID: "Sylvesterthekat" wrote in message news:Xns9D068DEE26C8Dsylvesterthekat@216.154.195.61... > "Indigo" wrote in > news:hj7shu$kdm$1@news.spamcop.net: > >> Why doesn't it work? You know you can buy converters for using AC >> devices built to Euro standards, right? IIRC the AC frequency is >> different, and if that's the case it probably makes your turntable run >> slower (maybe?). My turntable has an optical timing device and a knob >> to perfectly adjust the playing speed, it works like a timing light >> for tuning a car engine. Dujnno if it has enough "travel" to deal with >> a 10 hz difference in AC frequency though. >> >> > > I have a step up step down transformer but the cycles(?) are different and > if you try playing a record on it, it turns too fast. There's no way to > adjust it on this turntable. Been a while but way back when we did the deed by changing a hard rubber wheel that accounted for the different mains frequency. Final adjustment was made with a strobe wheel and a strobe that clocked at 60 Hz. From nobody at spamcop.net Wed Jan 20 18:05:36 2010 From: nobody at spamcop.net (Heidi) Date: Wed Jan 20 18:10:09 2010 Subject: [Scsocial] Re: Dog waving References: Message-ID: "Indigo" wrote in message news:hj7sp5$kjg$1@news.spamcop.net... > I've seen that movie on HBO. Pretty good, starred some English chap as the > unlikely hero IIRC....what's his name....not Jason Stratham.....dark > haired guy, bigger build.....first name is very "British"....like Colin or > something similar.....dammit, not going to IMDB..... Mmmm...Clive Owen..... From nobody at spamcop.net Wed Jan 20 18:07:04 2010 From: nobody at spamcop.net (bar0) Date: Wed Jan 20 18:10:09 2010 Subject: [Scsocial] Re: As if I'd ever get my smart phone In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: "Frog Prince" wrote in message news:hj80o3$lt0$1@news.spamcop.net... > > "Sylvesterthekat" wrote in message > news:Xns9D068DEE26C8Dsylvesterthekat@216.154.195.61... >> "Indigo" wrote in >> news:hj7shu$kdm$1@news.spamcop.net: >> >>> Why doesn't it work? You know you can buy converters for using AC >>> devices built to Euro standards, right? IIRC the AC frequency is >>> different, and if that's the case it probably makes your turntable run >>> slower (maybe?). My turntable has an optical timing device and a knob >>> to perfectly adjust the playing speed, it works like a timing light >>> for tuning a car engine. Dujnno if it has enough "travel" to deal with >>> a 10 hz difference in AC frequency though. >>> >>> >> >> I have a step up step down transformer but the cycles(?) are different >> and >> if you try playing a record on it, it turns too fast. There's no way to >> adjust it on this turntable. > > > Been a while but way back when we did the deed by changing a hard rubber > wheel that accounted for the different mains frequency. Final adjustment > was made with a strobe wheel and a strobe that clocked at 60 Hz. That last is vital coz the truntable strobe probably strobes at some multiple of the mains frequency, so you might easily be deceived. I've never been able to check the calibration on my Thorens, I just have to assume it's good and that the rubber band isn't slipping. From MikeE at ster.invalid Wed Jan 20 18:08:20 2010 From: MikeE at ster.invalid (Mike Easter) Date: Wed Jan 20 18:10:10 2010 Subject: [Scsocial] Re: amazing crystal cave In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: Sylvesterthekat wrote: > you could drown in there just from breathing the air! Drowning isn't the problem in that environment, hyperthermia would be unless you had some way to stay cool. > "It's about 50C in there, but it's the virtually 100% humidity added on top > that makes it a potential killer. That cave is over a magma chamber and the wiki says: The cave is extremely hot with air temperatures reaching up to 44 ?C (111 ?F) with 90 to 100 percent humidity. The cave is relatively unexplored due to the extreme temperatures and high humidity.[2] Without proper protection people can only endure approximately ten minutes of exposure at a time.[3] > That combination means that when you breathe air into your body, the > surface of your lungs is actually the coolest surface the air encounters. > That means the fluid starts to condense inside your lungs - and that's > really not good news. " The National Geographic article correctly mentions the risk of heatstroke http://ngm.nationalgeographic.com/2008/11/crystal-giants/shea-text ... hot enough that each visit carries the risk of heatstroke. People explore by icing down their bodies in the manner explained in the NG article. The respirator for the ice cooled air also described in NG is more to prevent the hot moist air from heating up your blood in the close contact of hot cave air with the blood in your lungs. I actually liked the NG story description better than the beeb video. -- Mike Easter From nobody at spamcop.net Wed Jan 20 20:55:06 2010 From: nobody at spamcop.net (Indigo) Date: Wed Jan 20 20:55:08 2010 Subject: [Scsocial] Re: As if I'd ever get my smart phone In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: "Sylvesterthekat" wrote in message news:Xns9D068D9237450sylvesterthekat@216.154.195.61... > Charles wrote in > news:Xns9D069E41F7561ThisIsMyPost@216.154.195.61: > >> It's your neighbor stealing your internet connection - did I mention >> that you have to have it hooked to the 'net? Not really cool... I >> don't know how it all works - really. If I had gotten one I would >> have figured more of it out but as it is I don't have to! >> > > Like you'd notice that. It's not like they could connect a computer to it > and start sucking bandwidth. I agree....as I mentioned in a post a week or so ago, there's some kind of device on the market that allows you to use your broadband connection to bypass using your cell phone's normal cell system connection, meaning you don't use any of your "minutes" while using the device. But you have to punch in a 4 digit code to connect your cell phone to your PC, so your neighbors aren't going to be able to access your internet connection via their cell phones unless they crack the code (unlikely). From nobody at spamcop.net Wed Jan 20 20:56:10 2010 From: nobody at spamcop.net (Indigo) Date: Wed Jan 20 21:00:08 2010 Subject: [Scsocial] Re: As if I'd ever get my smart phone In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: "Sylvesterthekat" wrote in message news:Xns9D068DEE26C8Dsylvesterthekat@216.154.195.61... > "Indigo" wrote in > news:hj7shu$kdm$1@news.spamcop.net: > >> Why doesn't it work? You know you can buy converters for using AC >> devices built to Euro standards, right? IIRC the AC frequency is >> different, and if that's the case it probably makes your turntable run >> slower (maybe?). My turntable has an optical timing device and a knob >> to perfectly adjust the playing speed, it works like a timing light >> for tuning a car engine. Dujnno if it has enough "travel" to deal with >> a 10 hz difference in AC frequency though. >> >> > > I have a step up step down transformer but the cycles(?) are different and > if you try playing a record on it, it turns too fast. There's no way to > adjust it on this turntable. Meaning you don't actually own such a great LP player after all......from where I sit..... From nobody at spamcop.net Wed Jan 20 20:57:26 2010 From: nobody at spamcop.net (Indigo) Date: Wed Jan 20 21:00:08 2010 Subject: [Scsocial] Re: As if I'd ever get my smart phone In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: "bar0" wrote in message news:hj82ao$mga$1@news.spamcop.net... > > I've never been able to check the calibration on my Thorens, I just have > to assume it's good and that the rubber band isn't slipping. Rubber band? Horrors of horrors, you don't have a direct driver player?! From user at domain.invalid Wed Jan 20 20:57:51 2010 From: user at domain.invalid (Farelf) Date: Wed Jan 20 21:00:09 2010 Subject: [Scsocial] Re: Dog waving In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: Charles wrote: > > I guess I was more down on the idea of advertising as being good for the > env't. Those google server farms don't run on carbon dioxide! Yes they do (ultimately) - manufacture and operating power and same again for transmission-reception. Just about everything "man-made" has a CO2 burden, somewhere. But information (or misinformation) is lighter than the more "physical" processes. Someone even worked out the carbon footprint of spam. But it is tiny in comparison with (say) the automobile industry or the whitegoods industry, either of which affect about the same number of people. Talking about stuff is very "green" indeed, compared to making it. But the tongue is getting away from the cheek. Just gimme that darned Nobel and stop quibbling. You know I'm right. From nobody at spamcop.net Wed Jan 20 20:58:05 2010 From: nobody at spamcop.net (Indigo) Date: Wed Jan 20 21:00:10 2010 Subject: [Scsocial] Re: Dog waving In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: "Heidi" wrote in message news:hj8281$mfv$1@news.spamcop.net... > > "Indigo" wrote in message > news:hj7sp5$kjg$1@news.spamcop.net... >> I've seen that movie on HBO. Pretty good, starred some English chap as >> the unlikely hero IIRC....what's his name....not Jason Stratham.....dark >> haired guy, bigger build.....first name is very "British"....like Colin >> or something similar.....dammit, not going to IMDB..... > > > Mmmm...Clive Owen..... > THAT'S THE GUY! From nobody at spamcop.net Wed Jan 20 21:24:46 2010 From: nobody at spamcop.net (bar0) Date: Wed Jan 20 21:25:09 2010 Subject: [Scsocial] Re: As if I'd ever get my smart phone References: Message-ID: "Indigo" wrote in message news:hj8ca5$psj$1@news.spamcop.net... > > "bar0" wrote in message > news:hj82ao$mga$1@news.spamcop.net... >> >> I've never been able to check the calibration on my Thorens, I just have >> to assume it's good and that the rubber band isn't slipping. > > Rubber band? Horrors of horrors, you don't have a direct driver player?! No, and no audio Hum on the platter either. From nobody at spamcop.net Wed Jan 20 21:30:45 2010 From: nobody at spamcop.net (bar0) Date: Wed Jan 20 21:35:08 2010 Subject: [Scsocial] Re: amazing crystal cave References: Message-ID: "Mike Easter" wrote in message news:hj82d5$mgl$1@news.spamcop.net... > Sylvesterthekat wrote: >> you could drown in there just from breathing the air! > > Drowning isn't the problem in that environment, hyperthermia would be > unless you had some way to stay cool. > >> "It's about 50C in there, but it's the virtually 100% humidity added on >> top that makes it a potential killer. > Or just like Dubai and Abu Dhabi in the summer. OK, they are humid but at 50C it's more like 70% not 90%, in the early morning when it's cooled to 40C it's 100% Sorry Mike, I started to reply to you post but wound up snipping to here From user at domain.invalid Thu Jan 21 03:23:15 2010 From: user at domain.invalid (Farelf) Date: Thu Jan 21 03:25:09 2010 Subject: [Scsocial] Re: Dog waving In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: Charles wrote: > No way it was me! It was Farelf! > >> Just gimme that darned Nobel and stop quibbling. You know I'm right. > > I can't say that I know or not that you're right. But I also can't say > that I know that you're an economist. And, hey, uh. Go on... Tell me... > In the case that you are not one... How many laypersons have won a nobel > in economy, exactly? Well, if you consider that the adherents of the changeable number of opposing camps of economics all consider that those who do not bathe in the light of the 'right' school of thought are ignoramuses at best or heretical charlatans at worst, then all of them are (charitably) laypersons from some point of view. I avoid such nonsense by knowing nothing at all about the subject. Well, just a little about Purchasing Power Parity, perhaps. Such ignorance gives me an advantage and it cost a lot less in tuition fees, text books, time and toadying. But it leaves me dangerously exposed to the hatred of 'the educated man' of whom Bokonon cautions us "... knows nothing and he knows he knows nothing so he studies long and hard about less and less until he realizes/realises he *still* knows nothing. He *despises* those who came by their ignorance the easy way." Or words to that effect. But I applaud your apparent/implied support for the institutions of convention. I bet if everyone was like that there would be a lot less trouble in the world today. Some would say it is a very responsible and mature position to adopt. :) Enough flippancy - it seems a fiber/fibre of this thread has diverged into a genuine appreciation of the movie that started it all. I must join in. From user at domain.invalid Thu Jan 21 03:36:10 2010 From: user at domain.invalid (Farelf) Date: Thu Jan 21 03:40:07 2010 Subject: [Scsocial] Re: Dog waving In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: Sylvesterthekat wrote: > Farelf wrote in > news:hj6afv$3qm$1@news.spamcop.net: > >> Looking forward to a spot of childminding, I showed Mrs Farelf >> http://www.bulletproofbaby.net/homewear_page.html and she/we thought >> it was all very good. Imagine our chagrin to find it was merely part >> of the viral marketing campaign for the 2007 'action comedy' film >> "Shoot 'Em Up" (we evidently missed its release). > > lol that's great. we loved the movie, it was such a riot and the baby for > sure needed some bulletproof gear Well, in view of this and other recommendations we must view it sometime, though with a certain degree of trepidation {whimper}. You see Mrs Farelf is fiercely protective of infants. Not saying you/others aren't, it is just that her sense of humor/humour may be limited or negligible when it comes to some matters - and that it can be painful if not scarifying to be in her near vicinity on some occasions. Yes, I mean 'scarifying' = 'causing scars', not merely 'scary' = inducing fright. From nobody at spamcop.net Thu Jan 21 11:45:34 2010 From: nobody at spamcop.net (bar0) Date: Thu Jan 21 11:50:08 2010 Subject: [Scsocial] Re: My back In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: "Charles" wrote in message news:Xns9D07610E88923ThisIsMyPost@216.154.195.61... > hurts me when I bend > 'cause I carry a load That's a common complaint, you should shed enough of the load that it doesn't hurt to bend, or remain erect. From MikeE at ster.invalid Thu Jan 21 19:37:28 2010 From: MikeE at ster.invalid (Mike Easter) Date: Thu Jan 21 19:40:07 2010 Subject: [Scsocial] Re: bummer if you're visiting SoCal this week! In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: Sylvesterthekat wrote: > haven't seen this much rain in about 3 years, maybe even going back to > 2005. it can only be a matter of time before there are mud slides Two things of interest in this rain. One is a very poetic or exciting weather report a friend of a friend sent. In fact, I'm going to do a little research to find exactly where he got this forecast. All of the forecasts I ever find are ugly, in all caps, and not nearly so exciting or scientifically 'weathery'. The other is a new word I learned while reading the newspaper this morning. -the deadtree type that I work my puzzle in - "today could bring waterspouts, tornadoes, hail and the rarely seen graupel, which forms when supercooled water droplets coat snowflakes." graupel? So, they aren't sleet, nor snow, nor hail. Here's^1 the wiki article. I might have seen a few (or something white) during this recent explosive downburst. The temperature isn't very cool, about 53F, so what I saw may have been a transient hail rather than a transient graupel. ^1 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Graupel Now, on to the weather forecast from before this thing hit: Here is a copy of the storm alert that was distributed by US Geological Survey/Pacific Science Center yesterday: Currently, the strong El Nino is reaching its peak in the Eastern Pacific, and now finally appears to be exerting an influence on our weather. The strong jet has been apparent for quite some time out over the open water, but the persistent block had prevented it from reaching the coast. Now that the block has dissolved completely, a 200+ kt jet is barreling towards us. Multiple large and powerful storm systems are expected to slam into CA from the west and northwest over the coming two weeks, all riding this extremely powerful jet stream directly into the state. The jet will itself provide tremendous dynamic lift, in addition to directing numerous disturbances right at the state and supplying them with an ample oceanic moisture source. The jet will be at quite a low latitude over much of the Pacific, so these storms will be quite cold, at least initially. Very heavy rainfall and strong to potentially very strong winds will impact the lower elevations beginning late Sunday and continuing through at least the following Sunday. This will be the case for the entire state, from (and south of) the Mexican border all the way up to Oregon . Above 3000-4000 feet, precipitation will be all snow, and since temperatures will be unusually cold for a precipitation event of this magnitude, a truly prodigious amount of snowfall is likely to occur in the mountains, possibly measured in the tens of feet in the Sierra after it's all said and done. But there's a big and rather threatening caveat to that (discussed below). Individual storm events are going to be hard to time for at least few more days, since this jet is just about as powerful as they come (on this planet, anyway). Between this Sunday and the following Sunday, I expect categorical statewide rainfall totals in excess of 3-4 inches. That is likely to be a huge underestimate for most areas. Much of NorCal is likely to see 5-10 inches in the lowlands, with 10-20 inches in orographically-favored areas. Most of SoCal will see 3-6 inches at lower elevations, with perhaps triple that amount in favored areas. This is where things get even more interesting, though. The models are virtually unanimous in "reloading" the powerful jet stream and forming an additional persistent kink 2000-3000 miles to our southwest after next Sunday. This is a truly ominous pattern, because it implies the potential for a strong Pineapple-type connection to develop. Indeed, the 12z GFS now shows copious warm rains falling between days 12 and 16 across the entire state. Normally, such as scenario out beyond day seven would be dubious at best. Since the models are in such truly remarkable agreement, however, and because of the extremely high potential impact of such an event, it's worth mentioning now. Since there will be a massive volume of freshly-fallen snow (even at relatively low elevations between 3000-5000 feet), even a moderately warm storm event would cause very serious flooding. This situation will have to be monitored closely. Even if the tropical connection does not develop, expected rains in the coming 7-10 days will likely be sufficient to cause flooding in and of themselves (even in spite of dry antecedent conditions). In addition to very heavy precipitation, powerful winds may result from very steep pressure gradients associated with the large and deep low pressure centers expect ed to begin approaching the coast by early next week. Though it's not clear at the moment just how powerful these winds may be, there is certainly the potential for a widespread damaging wind event at some point, and the high Sierra peaks are likely to see gusts in the 100-200 mph range (since the 200kt jet at 200-300 mb will essentially run directly into the mountains at some point). The details of this will have to be hashed out as the event(s) draw closer. In short, the next 2-3 weeks (at least) are likely to be more active across California than any other 2-3 week period in recent memory. The potential exists for a dangerous flood scenario to arise at some point during this interval, especially with the possibility of a heavy rain-on-snow event during late week 2. In some parts of Southern California , a whole season's worth of rain could fall over the course of 5-10 days. This is likely to be a rather memorable event. Stay tuned. Samuel Y. Johnson Western Coastal and Marine Geology U.S. Geological Survey Pacific Science Center 400 Natural Bridges Drive Santa Cruz, CA 95060 -- Mike Easter From nobody at spamcop.net Thu Jan 21 20:43:41 2010 From: nobody at spamcop.net (Indigo) Date: Thu Jan 21 20:45:08 2010 Subject: [Scsocial] Re: As if I'd ever get my smart phone In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: "Sylvesterthekat" wrote in message news:Xns9D06C437AF53Bsylvesterthekat@216.154.195.61... > "Indigo" wrote in > news:hj8c7p$psf$1@news.spamcop.net: > >> Meaning you don't actually own such a great LP player after >> all......from where I sit..... >> >> > > Actually, the simpler a deck is, usually the better it is. > > http://www.linn.co.uk/music_systems_turntables I've always demanded two thing from my LP player after owning several less capable units: it must be direct drive, and it must have a speed adjustment capability. Anything less will not allow you to fully enjoy listening to vinyl. From nobody at spamcop.net Thu Jan 21 20:44:31 2010 From: nobody at spamcop.net (Indigo) Date: Thu Jan 21 20:45:09 2010 Subject: [Scsocial] Re: As if I'd ever get my smart phone In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: "bar0" wrote in message news:hj8dtk$qff$1@news.spamcop.net... > > "Indigo" wrote in message > news:hj8ca5$psj$1@news.spamcop.net... >> >> "bar0" wrote in message >> news:hj82ao$mga$1@news.spamcop.net... >>> >>> I've never been able to check the calibration on my Thorens, I just have >>> to assume it's good and that the rubber band isn't slipping. >> >> Rubber band? Horrors of horrors, you don't have a direct driver player?! > > No, and no audio Hum on the platter either. > Audio hum on the platter? Dunno what you mean...haven't heard it myself. From nobody at spamcop.net Thu Jan 21 21:07:25 2010 From: nobody at spamcop.net (Heidi) Date: Thu Jan 21 21:10:07 2010 Subject: [Scsocial] Re: is this really BAD or what? References: Message-ID: "Sylvesterthekat" wrote in message news:Xns9D07B2FDEFFB7sylvesterthekat@216.154.195.61... > http://www.nj.com/news/index.ssf/2010/01/us_supreme_court_ruling_on_cam.htm > l > > http://alturl.com/x7qr > > > With the exception of Justice Stevens, it's basically a Republican > partyline vote and it favours greed, capitalism, corruption and will turn > the election process into even MORE of a circus than it already is (if > that's even conceivable!) Free speech my ass, all it means is that the > group(s) with the biggest purse is going to shout the loudest and longest > and since when is that any way to come to an important decision? I'm > utterly horrified. SO. AM. I. From dfmanno at mail.com Thu Jan 21 21:17:42 2010 From: dfmanno at mail.com (D.F. Manno) Date: Thu Jan 21 21:20:07 2010 Subject: [Scsocial] Re: is this really BAD or what? References: Message-ID: In article , Sylvesterthekat wrote: > http://www.nj.com/news/index.ssf/2010/01/us_supreme_court_ruling_on_cam.html > > http://alturl.com/x7qr > > With the exception of Justice Stevens, it's basically a Republican > partyline vote and it favours greed, capitalism, corruption and will turn > the election process into even MORE of a circus than it already is (if > that's even conceivable!) Free speech my ass, all it means is that the > group(s) with the biggest purse is going to shout the loudest and longest > and since when is that any way to come to an important decision? I'm > utterly horrified. >From what I've read, the decision is essentially in keeping with Buckley v. Valeo, 424 U.S. 1 (1976), which ruled that money is speech. -- D.F. Manno | dfmanno@mail.com The trouble with the world is that the stupid are cocksure and the intelligent are full of doubt. (Bertrand Russell) From me at privacy.net Thu Jan 21 21:47:22 2010 From: me at privacy.net (Frog Prince) Date: Thu Jan 21 22:10:09 2010 Subject: [Scsocial] Re: is this really BAD or what? References: Message-ID: "Charles" wrote in message news:Xns9D07DA4887817ThisIsMyPost@216.154.195.61... > It's horrifying. Very very very bad. A blow for democracy. I fear for > the future of the country. The next set of elections is going to suck. And those of the past especially past 8-10 years are a prize? From nobody at spamcop.net Thu Jan 21 23:32:06 2010 From: nobody at spamcop.net (Heidi) Date: Thu Jan 21 23:35:09 2010 Subject: [Scsocial] Re: is this really BAD or what? References: Message-ID: "Frog Prince" wrote in message news:hjb4qt$nr6$1@news.spamcop.net... > > > "Charles" wrote in message > news:Xns9D07DA4887817ThisIsMyPost@216.154.195.61... >> It's horrifying. Very very very bad. A blow for democracy. I fear for >> the future of the country. The next set of elections is going to suck. > > And those of the past especially past 8-10 years are a prize? Picture those, but WORSE. More rhetoric, more lies, more misleading ads for people to swallow without even asking a question..... We can only hope that public backlash for a corp. backing a politician openly will be strong and loud. From user at domain.invalid Fri Jan 22 01:25:09 2010 From: user at domain.invalid (Farelf) Date: Fri Jan 22 01:30:07 2010 Subject: [Scsocial] Re: is this really BAD or what? In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: Sylvesterthekat wrote: > ... Free speech my ass, all it means is that the > group(s) with the biggest purse is going to shout the loudest and longest > and since when is that any way to come to an important decision? I'm > utterly horrified. > What's going to change, really? Look on it as an opportunity for greater transparency. I can't imagine anything that could stand between a candidate and a pile of election funds anyway. The only variables are those affecting the extent and complexity of the 'work arounds' required to overcome whatever restrictions there might be. Successive moves in Oz to limit 'political funding' in various legislatures have backfired with relentless regularity - probably because the affected legislatures don't really want them to succeed and because they're rather good at the twin fields of self-interest and framing legislation that evades addressing any actual problem. They even invent non-problems to 'solve'. Of course things might be quite different in the US of A.;) It is a mistake to expect too much of politicians and political parties. That inevitably leads to disappointment. To much disappointment leads to civil unrest and (ultimately/potentially) to insurrection. You don't want that (history tells us the great losers are the innocents). The ancient Greeks had the right idea about democracy. Only put people in charge who don't want the job. Also they didn't let women vote, but I don't think that's relevant.:) From user at domain.invalid Fri Jan 22 11:30:49 2010 From: user at domain.invalid (Farelf) Date: Fri Jan 22 11:35:08 2010 Subject: [Scsocial] Re: is this really BAD or what? In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: Sylvesterthekat wrote: > > I dont know what it's like in the run up to an election there, do they > allow unlimited ads from either side on TV, radio etc? In the UK, it's > severely limited, each side gets 5 minutes on all channels every other > day or something, there are no paid TV ads. Here, it's a free for all > ... There are some sort of limits I think - certainly no advertising within a certain time before the elections and no billboards etc. within a certain distance from polling places. There are some differences between State and Federal I suspect, but I don't know. > > What irks me also about this decision is that it is based on the greed > of those voting Yes. These people are all GOP appointees, thus they come > from a background of ME FIRST, money is everything, look after the > corporate interests and they'll look after me. > You're not a Republican then. > > Part of the problem here is apathy by voters. Vast swathes of them don't > even turn out to vote (is it still compulsory in Oz?). If they did, if > they stood up and took notice, THEN maybe civil unrest and insurrection > would be a worry but for the moment, all they care about is their > iphones and whether they can get into the hottest nightclub. Yes, still compulsory, State and Federal. Local Government is voluntary but doesn't have the scope of function/power that the equivalent US level has. > > Or there are those who vote on narrow outlooks - who is gay, whether he > can marry his boyfriend, what religion is s/he. Does he approve of > abortion. And so on. Their attention is too focused on one issue such > that they don't see that someone is standing behind them taking stuff > out of their back pocket, they let themselves be manipulated by the > likes of Fox News into thinking that it is THEIR interests that are > being taken care of when nothing could be further from the truth. These > are the folks who are most persuaded by all the advertising. Disgraceful - give me oligarchy any day. No, no, just kidding. IFF (if and only if) the advertising goes all asymmetric as you imagine it might then there could be some undue influence creeping in - but people with lower budgets tend to use their funds more effectively, don't you think? So - maybe Madison Avenue is not as powerful as it makes out (that stands to reason), maybe people are smarter (sometimes) than they seem most of the time (we are the people), certainly there are more similarities than differences across the political divide (E Pluribus ... etc.) and (finally) maybe much of the popular self-loathing is undeserved (if not then we deserve to die and the whole debate is pointless). From dfmanno at mail.com Fri Jan 22 11:59:51 2010 From: dfmanno at mail.com (D.F. Manno) Date: Fri Jan 22 12:00:08 2010 Subject: [Scsocial] Re: is this really BAD or what? References: Message-ID: In article , Sylvesterthekat wrote: > D.F. Manno wrote: > > > From what I've read, the decision is essentially in keeping with > > Buckley v. Valeo, 424 U.S. 1 (1976), which ruled that money is speech. > > Well that don't make it right. I didn't say it was right, just that it was consistent. -- D.F. Manno | dfmanno@mail.com The trouble with the world is that the stupid are cocksure and the intelligent are full of doubt. (Bertrand Russell) From MikeE at ster.invalid Fri Jan 22 12:17:58 2010 From: MikeE at ster.invalid (Mike Easter) Date: Fri Jan 22 12:20:07 2010 Subject: [Scsocial] Re: Ah! What I want is a UMPC phone In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: Charles wrote: > Of course... Now I have to find one. Oh well. http://snipr.com/u5p79 The decade's 30 biggest tech flops - the Ultra-Mobile PC made its way into the consumer's conscience in 2006. While the devices were cool on the surface, the concept was flawed from the outset because they just weren't that good and cost too much. The UMPC is the classic case of a tweener device (in terms of size) that just didn't have a real target market. Smarter smartphones like the new iPhone 3GS and cheaper but more usuable netbooks cut the legs out from under the UMPC before it could ever start walking. They're still around but we expect them to become extinct soon. I think if you change your target into smartphone or smartbook instead of umpc, you'll get some hits. There's nothing quite as dead as a marketing term that didn't fly. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Smartbook A smartbook is a class of mobile device that combines the features of both a smartphone and netbook. -- Mike Easter From nobody at spamcop.net Fri Jan 22 13:33:59 2010 From: nobody at spamcop.net (bar0) Date: Fri Jan 22 13:35:08 2010 Subject: [Scsocial] Re: is this really BAD or what? In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: "D.F. Manno" wrote in message news:dfmanno-8C4090.21174221012010@news.cesmail.net... > In article , > Sylvesterthekat wrote: > >> http://www.nj.com/news/index.ssf/2010/01/us_supreme_court_ruling_on_cam.html >> >> http://alturl.com/x7qr >> >> With the exception of Justice Stevens, it's basically a Republican >> partyline vote and it favours greed, capitalism, corruption and will turn >> the election process into even MORE of a circus than it already is (if >> that's even conceivable!) Free speech my ass, all it means is that the >> group(s) with the biggest purse is going to shout the loudest and longest >> and since when is that any way to come to an important decision? I'm >> utterly horrified. > > From what I've read, the decision is essentially in keeping with Buckley > v. Valeo, 424 U.S. 1 (1976), which ruled that money is speech. > > -- > D.F. Manno | dfmanno@mail.com > The trouble with the world is that the stupid are cocksure and the > intelligent are full of doubt. (Bertrand Russell) Negative advertizing and Opinion advertizing is and has been rife for years, unofficially (fox News is just an advertising engine with a mission), and officially (All the health care ads, Banking ads most of which don't identify with either a party or politician). The scary part is that it looks like corporate speech may become protected speech. This also has ramifications in the world of the S word. What really pisses me off though, is that like executive pay, corporate advertizing is at the whim of the management, and possibly the board, but not the shareholders. From nobody at spamcop.net Fri Jan 22 17:07:38 2010 From: nobody at spamcop.net (Indigo) Date: Fri Jan 22 17:10:07 2010 Subject: [Scsocial] Re: As if I'd ever get my smart phone In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: "Sylvesterthekat" wrote in message news:Xns9D083DF36DDB0sylvesterthekat@216.154.195.61... >> > > Did you ever listen to a really great turntable alongside a just good one? > Once you've heard the difference, you know which is best. I was deeply > skeptical until I went to a high end audio dealer and listened for myself. > It was like night and day. > Well.....back when I bought my last (and current) player, which was probably 20 years ago, I wasn't in the position to pay for the best of the best.....and I don't ever recall being in a store that allowed you to listen to the output from various record players to start with. > I'm not sure why you think that direct drive and speed adjustment are > necessary? We certainly never felt the need of such things with the Linn > turntable! Belt drives eventuallly stretch and/or crumble as they lose their elasticity. The chemicals contained in the belt rubber that keep them "rubbery" (pthalates) eventually evaporate and they fall apart. Direct drives don't suffer from that issue, obviously. As far as the speed adjustment, that allows you to fine tune the speed when your household voltage varies - a small voltage drop makes the player run slower, so you can adjust to compensate. I guess a high end player could have various transformers and such to give the mechanical bits a constant voltage and current (like a UPS), but they're costly electronics. From nobody at spamcop.net Fri Jan 22 17:19:53 2010 From: nobody at spamcop.net (Indigo) Date: Fri Jan 22 17:20:08 2010 Subject: [Scsocial] If you're wondering why the DOW (and your retirement account) has been getting slammed...... Message-ID: Summary: Playing politics to appease the voters is leading to financial disasters everywhere. The DOW has dropped over 500 pts in the last three days....the NASDAQ is also down huge.....all sectors got hit.......a pox upon Obama for this stupid and over-reactive idea! http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703822404575019423049886674.html?mod=WSJ_Investing_IntelligentInvestor President Obama's proposal this week to restrict the size and scope of banks, effectively reviving the Depression-era Banking Act, or "Glass-Steagall," is certainly good politics. It puts the Republicans back on the defensive and distracts attention from the wounded health-care bill. But will the new plan lead to good laws? To get a better grip on the future, let's look at the past. Sponsored by Sen. Carter Glass (D., Va.) and Rep. Henry Steagall (D., Ala.), the Banking Act of 1933 was a reaction to the unethical and abusive practices on Wall Street that helped lead to the Great Crash of 1929. Among those familiar-sounding practices: collusion among firms to jack up prices, sweetheart deals for favored clients, shoddy due diligence, too little disclosure of risk, too much trading with borrowed money, betting that securities would go down while telling the public they would go up. WSJ's Personal Columnist Jason Zweig discusses President Obama's plan to curb excessive risk taking at big banks. He also tells Kelsey Hubbard his proposals for better financial regulation. In response, Glass-Steagall prevented commercial banks from investment banking, selling securities and trading for their own account. Glass-Steagall also created deposit insurance under the auspices of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. The principles proposed by President Obama-barring banks with insured deposits from proprietary trading or running hedge funds, and restricting the size of insured institutions-are in the same spirit. But the bad behavior on Wall Street in the 1920s wasn't really caused by the blurring of commercial and investment banking, according to financial historian Eugene White of Rutgers University. Of the more than 7,500 banks in the U.S. in 1929, only 3% had significant securities operations. Nor did hawking investments make banks riskier for shareholders. From 1930 through 1933, nearly 2,000-or more than 26%-of federally chartered banks closed. But only about 7% of the banks that had a securities business went bust. Nevertheless, says Richard Sylla, an economic historian at New York University, "there is a strain in the American psyche that has always worried about concentration of financial power." So the Obama proposals are politically shrewd, because they tap into the same populist anger that motivated the Glass-Steagall legislation in 1933. I think it is sensible to prohibit banks that hold federally insured deposits from trading for their own benefit. But that is pretty small potatoes, because proprietary trading is less than 5% of total revenue at firms like Bank of America or Citigroup. And if smaller banks can expand by acquiring weaker competitors while larger ones can't, the biggest may end up insulated from takeover threats, making them lazier and less disciplined. Limits on complexity would make more sense than caps on size, says law professor Tamar Frankel of Boston University. Incentives and information are what make markets, and regulations, work better. "If we've learned anything, it's that we need much more effective communication of danger signals in advance," says Joel Seligman, president of the University of Rochester and an expert on regulatory history. From nobody at spamcop.net Fri Jan 22 17:27:39 2010 From: nobody at spamcop.net (Indigo) Date: Fri Jan 22 17:30:08 2010 Subject: [Scsocial] Re: is this really BAD or what? In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: "bar0" wrote in message news:hjcr2n$agv$1@news.spamcop.net... > What really pisses me off though, is that like executive pay, corporate > advertizing is at the whim of the management, and possibly the board, but > not the shareholders. > In many cases, you are correct. But in cases where a powerful individual shareholder acquires more than 5% of a company's stock, they are then in a position to demand changes in those things. Warren Buffet and Carl Icahn, for starters, are famous for going on rampages to change the corporate and board structure in companies they target. Some hedge funds are infamous for doing the opposite -- they gain enough control of a company then tear it apart, selling off pieces to generate huge profits for themselves and destroying the company in the process. From nobody at spamcop.net Fri Jan 22 18:04:33 2010 From: nobody at spamcop.net (bar0) Date: Fri Jan 22 18:05:08 2010 Subject: [Scsocial] Re: As if I'd ever get my smart phone In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: "Indigo" wrote in message news:hjd7j9$end$1@news.spamcop.net... > > "Sylvesterthekat" wrote in message > news:Xns9D083DF36DDB0sylvesterthekat@216.154.195.61... >>> >> >> Did you ever listen to a really great turntable alongside a just good >> one? >> Once you've heard the difference, you know which is best. I was deeply >> skeptical until I went to a high end audio dealer and listened for >> myself. >> It was like night and day. >> > > Well.....back when I bought my last (and current) player, which was > probably 20 years ago, I wasn't in the position to pay for the best of the > best.....and I don't ever recall being in a store that allowed you to > listen to the output from various record players to start with. > >> I'm not sure why you think that direct drive and speed adjustment are >> necessary? We certainly never felt the need of such things with the Linn >> turntable! > > Belt drives eventuallly stretch and/or crumble as they lose their > elasticity. The chemicals contained in the belt rubber that keep them > "rubbery" (pthalates) eventually evaporate and they fall apart. Direct > drives don't suffer from that issue, obviously. > > As far as the speed adjustment, that allows you to fine tune the speed > when your household voltage varies - a small voltage drop makes the player > run slower, so you can adjust to compensate. I guess a high end player > could have various transformers and such to give the mechanical bits a > constant voltage and current (like a UPS), but they're costly electronics. It's really not hard to replace the belts. From nobody at spamcop.net Fri Jan 22 18:34:54 2010 From: nobody at spamcop.net (Indigo) Date: Fri Jan 22 18:35:08 2010 Subject: [Scsocial] Re: As if I'd ever get my smart phone In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: "bar0" wrote in message news:hjdau1$ftf$1@news.spamcop.net... > It's really not hard to replace the belts. If you have an old player I bet you'd have a helluva time finding a replacement...... From me at privacy.net Fri Jan 22 18:43:44 2010 From: me at privacy.net (Frog Prince) Date: Fri Jan 22 18:45:07 2010 Subject: [Scsocial] Re: If you're wondering why the DOW (and your retirement account) has been getting slammed...... References: Message-ID: "Indigo" wrote in message news:hjd8a8$eug$1@news.spamcop.net... > Summary: Playing politics to appease the voters is leading to financial > disasters everywhere. The DOW has dropped over 500 pts in the last three > days....the NASDAQ is also down huge.....all sectors got hit.......a pox > upon Obama for this stupid and over-reactive idea! > > http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703822404575019423049886674.html?mod=WSJ_Investing_IntelligentInvestor > > President Obama's proposal this week to restrict the size and scope of > banks, effectively reviving the Depression-era Banking Act, or > "Glass-Steagall," is certainly good politics. It puts the Republicans back > on the defensive and distracts attention from the wounded health-care > bill. But will the new plan lead to good laws? > > To get a better grip on the future, let's look at the past. Sponsored by > Sen. Carter Glass (D., Va.) and Rep. Henry Steagall (D., Ala.), the > Banking Act of 1933 was a reaction to the unethical and abusive practices > on Wall Street that helped lead to the Great Crash of 1929. Among those > familiar-sounding practices: collusion among firms to jack up prices, > sweetheart deals for favored clients, shoddy due diligence, too little > disclosure of risk, too much trading with borrowed money, betting that > securities would go down while telling the public they would go up. > > WSJ's Personal Columnist Jason Zweig discusses President Obama's plan to > curb excessive risk taking at big banks. He also tells Kelsey Hubbard his > proposals for better financial regulation. > > In response, Glass-Steagall prevented commercial banks from investment > banking, selling securities and trading for their own account. > Glass-Steagall also created deposit insurance under the auspices of the > Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. > > The principles proposed by President Obama-barring banks with insured > deposits from proprietary trading or running hedge funds, and restricting > the size of insured institutions-are in the same spirit. > > But the bad behavior on Wall Street in the 1920s wasn't really caused by > the blurring of commercial and investment banking, according to financial > historian Eugene White of Rutgers University. Of the more than 7,500 banks > in the U.S. in 1929, only 3% had significant securities operations. Nor > did hawking investments make banks riskier for shareholders. From 1930 > through 1933, nearly 2,000-or more than 26%-of federally chartered banks > closed. But only about 7% of the banks that had a securities business went > bust. > > Nevertheless, says Richard Sylla, an economic historian at New York > University, "there is a strain in the American psyche that has always > worried about concentration of financial power." So the Obama proposals > are politically shrewd, because they tap into the same populist anger that > motivated the Glass-Steagall legislation in 1933. > > I think it is sensible to prohibit banks that hold federally insured > deposits from trading for their own benefit. But that is pretty small > potatoes, because proprietary trading is less than 5% of total revenue at > firms like Bank of America or Citigroup. > > And if smaller banks can expand by acquiring weaker competitors while > larger ones can't, the biggest may end up insulated from takeover threats, > making them lazier and less disciplined. Limits on complexity would make > more sense than caps on size, says law professor Tamar Frankel of Boston > University. > > Incentives and information are what make markets, and regulations, work > better. "If we've learned anything, it's that we need much more effective > communication of danger signals in advance," says Joel Seligman, president > of the University of Rochester and an expert on regulatory history. > > Gee ya think if the banking and investment crowd had applied the 'Is this the right thing to do' question and acted accordingly 401K and other retirement funds would not be in the tank and more to the point the government would not be playing catch up to re-regulatte the markets? Recall Sen. Phil (Americans are just a bunch of whiners) Graham of Texas did the bidding of the financial industry gutting regulations that likely would have prevented the blood bath. From nobody at spamcop.net Fri Jan 22 18:53:05 2010 From: nobody at spamcop.net (bar0) Date: Fri Jan 22 18:55:09 2010 Subject: [Scsocial] Re: As if I'd ever get my smart phone In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: "Indigo" wrote in message news:hjdcmu$ggj$1@news.spamcop.net... > > "bar0" wrote in message > news:hjdau1$ftf$1@news.spamcop.net... >> It's really not hard to replace the belts. > If you have an old player I bet you'd have a helluva time finding a > replacement...... Thorens still makes turntables. From nobody at spamcop.net Fri Jan 22 18:59:19 2010 From: nobody at spamcop.net (bar0) Date: Fri Jan 22 19:00:08 2010 Subject: [Scsocial] Re: If you're wondering why the DOW (and your retirement account) has been getting slammed...... In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: "Frog Prince" wrote in message news:hjdd8k$gmi$1@news.spamcop.net... > > "Indigo" wrote in message > news:hjd8a8$eug$1@news.spamcop.net... >> Summary: Playing politics to appease the voters is leading to financial >> disasters everywhere. The DOW has dropped over 500 pts in the last three >> days....the NASDAQ is also down huge.....all sectors got hit.......a pox >> upon Obama for this stupid and over-reactive idea! >> ..... > > Gee ya think if the banking and investment crowd had applied the 'Is this > the right thing to do' question and acted accordingly 401K and other > retirement funds would not be in the tank and more to the point the > government would not be playing catch up to re-regulatte the markets? > Recall Sen. Phil (Americans are just a bunch of whiners) Graham of Texas > did the bidding of the financial industry gutting regulations that likely > would have prevented the blood bath. That's questionable, except for the part where the banks lost liquidity. The rest of it probably would have played out somewhat similarly, remember, AIG is not a bank, and Lehman and G-Sax are merchant, not commercial wanks. The housing bubble was happening anyway, and the lousy lending practices are a symptom of poor oversight, or would have been largely outside even the earlier regulatory regime. It is likely the repercussions would have played more like the S&L debacle of the 80's than the 2008/9 collapse in it's impact on the overall economy. From me at privacy.net Fri Jan 22 18:53:09 2010 From: me at privacy.net (Frog Prince) Date: Fri Jan 22 19:00:09 2010 Subject: [Scsocial] Re: As if I'd ever get my smart phone References: Message-ID: "Indigo" wrote in message news:hjdcmu$ggj$1@news.spamcop.net... > > "bar0" wrote in message > news:hjdau1$ftf$1@news.spamcop.net... >> It's really not hard to replace the belts. > If you have an old player I bet you'd have a helluva time finding a > replacement...... You have to seach but not really that hard. From me at privacy.net Fri Jan 22 18:56:13 2010 From: me at privacy.net (Frog Prince) Date: Fri Jan 22 19:00:10 2010 Subject: [Scsocial] Re: As if I'd ever get my smart phone References: Message-ID: "Sylvesterthekat" wrote in message news:Xns9D083DF36DDB0sylvesterthekat@216.154.195.61... > "Indigo" wrote in > news:hjavsc$m8j$1@news.spamcop.net: > > >> I've always demanded two thing from my LP player after owning several >> less capable units: it must be direct drive, and it must have a speed >> adjustment capability. Anything less will not allow you to fully enjoy >> listening to vinyl. >> >> > > Did you ever listen to a really great turntable alongside a just good one? > Once you've heard the difference, you know which is best. I was deeply > skeptical until I went to a high end audio dealer and listened for myself. > It was like night and day. > > I'm not sure why you think that direct drive and speed adjustment are > necessary? We certainly never felt the need of such things with the Linn > turntable! At one time I maintained the tables in some of the better studios in New Orleans. You can make a case for 'this is good enough' but poorly maintained tables can play havoc with the reproduction. From me at privacy.net Fri Jan 22 18:58:59 2010 From: me at privacy.net (Frog Prince) Date: Fri Jan 22 19:00:11 2010 Subject: [Scsocial] Re: is this really BAD or what? References: Message-ID: "Indigo" wrote in message news:hjd8or$f46$1@news.spamcop.net... > > "bar0" wrote in message > news:hjcr2n$agv$1@news.spamcop.net... >> What really pisses me off though, is that like executive pay, corporate >> advertizing is at the whim of the management, and possibly the board, but >> not the shareholders. >> > > In many cases, you are correct. But in cases where a powerful individual > shareholder acquires more than 5% of a company's stock, they are then in a > position to demand changes in those things. Warren Buffet and Carl Icahn, > for starters, are famous for going on rampages to change the corporate and > board structure in companies they target. Some hedge funds are infamous > for doing the opposite -- they gain enough control of a company then tear > it apart, selling off pieces to generate huge profits for themselves and > destroying the company in the process. JQ citizen people, as opposed to corporate-citizen people, may only give $2,300 to a presidential campaign. But hedge fund billionaires, for example, who typically operate through multiple corporate entities, can now give unlimited sums through each of these "unnatural" creatures. From nobody at spamcop.net Fri Jan 22 19:02:48 2010 From: nobody at spamcop.net (bar0) Date: Fri Jan 22 19:05:08 2010 Subject: [Scsocial] Re: is this really BAD or what? In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: "Frog Prince" wrote in message news:hjde54$gua$3@news.spamcop.net... > > "Indigo" wrote in message > news:hjd8or$f46$1@news.spamcop.net... >> >> "bar0" wrote in message >> news:hjcr2n$agv$1@news.spamcop.net... >>> What really pisses me off though, is that like executive pay, corporate >>> advertizing is at the whim of the management, and possibly the board, >>> but not the shareholders. >>> >> >> In many cases, you are correct. But in cases where a powerful individual >> shareholder acquires more than 5% of a company's stock, they are then in >> a position to demand changes in those things. Warren Buffet and Carl >> Icahn, for starters, are famous for going on rampages to change the >> corporate and board structure in companies they target. Some hedge funds >> are infamous for doing the opposite -- they gain enough control of a >> company then tear it apart, selling off pieces to generate huge profits >> for themselves and destroying the company in the process. > > JQ citizen people, as opposed to corporate-citizen people, may only give > $2,300 to a presidential campaign. > > But hedge fund billionaires, for example, who typically operate through > multiple corporate entities, can now give unlimited sums through each of > these "unnatural" creatures. > And supposing JQ citizen has the funds, they too can buy advertising time for political commentary. From me at privacy.net Fri Jan 22 19:04:58 2010 From: me at privacy.net (Frog Prince) Date: Fri Jan 22 19:15:08 2010 Subject: [Scsocial] Re: If you're wondering why the DOW (and your retirement account) has been getting slammed...... References: Message-ID: "bar0" wrote in message news:hjde4o$gu9$1@news.spamcop.net... > > "Frog Prince" wrote in message > news:hjdd8k$gmi$1@news.spamcop.net... >> >> "Indigo" wrote in message >> news:hjd8a8$eug$1@news.spamcop.net... >>> Summary: Playing politics to appease the voters is leading to financial >>> disasters everywhere. The DOW has dropped over 500 pts in the last three >>> days....the NASDAQ is also down huge.....all sectors got hit.......a pox >>> upon Obama for this stupid and over-reactive idea! >>> > ..... > >> >> Gee ya think if the banking and investment crowd had applied the 'Is this >> the right thing to do' question and acted accordingly 401K and other >> retirement funds would not be in the tank and more to the point the >> government would not be playing catch up to re-regulatte the markets? >> Recall Sen. Phil (Americans are just a bunch of whiners) Graham of Texas >> did the bidding of the financial industry gutting regulations that likely >> would have prevented the blood bath. > > That's questionable, except for the part where the banks lost liquidity. > The rest of it probably would have played out somewhat similarly, > remember, AIG is not a bank, and Lehman and G-Sax are merchant, not > commercial wanks. The housing bubble was happening anyway, and the lousy > lending practices are a symptom of poor oversight, or would have been > largely outside even the earlier regulatory regime. It is likely the > repercussions would have played more like the S&L debacle of the 80's than > the 2008/9 collapse in it's impact on the overall economy. I made an over simpilfication by nameing only banking and investment crowd. My take on Grahams yard pass (he has a history for hooray for the rich and screw the little guy) is that was the keystone to the entire mud slide. From nobody at spamcop.net Fri Jan 22 19:43:58 2010 From: nobody at spamcop.net (Heidi) Date: Fri Jan 22 19:45:08 2010 Subject: [Scsocial] Re: If you're wondering why the DOW (and your retirement account) has been getting slammed...... References: Message-ID: "Indigo" wrote in message news:hjd8a8$eug$1@news.spamcop.net... > Summary: Playing politics to appease the voters is leading to financial > disasters everywhere. The DOW has dropped over 500 pts in the last three > days....the NASDAQ is also down huge.....all sectors got hit.......a pox > upon Obama for this stupid and over-reactive idea! Well, really, WTF is supposed to happen now? It's not politics, it's common sense! They are incapable of regulating themselves. We bailed them out when they had nothing, suddenly they have BILLIONS, some without even paying back the TAPR funds, and they're using that money wisely? NO. They're paying themselves bonuses for doing a completely shitty incompetent job. The fuckwits on Wall Street just DO NOT GET IT. Taking my money while we all lose our jobs and our savings, and giving each employee almost a half million dollar BONUS is disgusting, to say the least. It's pure, unvarnished GREED, with little care about how they got there in the first place The status quo has GOT to change, or we're going to even worse off the next time they steal our money while running their companies into the ground and try to collapse the entire financial world. From nobody at spamcop.net Fri Jan 22 19:54:33 2010 From: nobody at spamcop.net (Indigo) Date: Fri Jan 22 19:55:08 2010 Subject: [Scsocial] Re: If you're wondering why the DOW (and your retirement account) has been getting slammed...... In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: "Frog Prince" wrote in message news:hjdd8k$gmi$1@news.spamcop.net... > Recall Sen. Phil (Americans are just a bunch of whiners) Graham of Texas > did the bidding of the financial industry gutting regulations that likely > would have prevented the blood bath. You mean Bush changed the rules to allow his rich buddies to make massive profits off the backs of the common investor? Tell me it ain't so, Joe! And now Obama and/or Congress is wavering on re-appointing our savior, Big Ben......god help us all if he gets replaced by someone else, the stock market will blow up completely. Yes, I'm fully aware of what Bush (and to a certain extent Clinton) did to de-regulate the markets that put us into such a precarious position. From nobody at spamcop.net Fri Jan 22 20:03:43 2010 From: nobody at spamcop.net (Indigo) Date: Fri Jan 22 20:05:07 2010 Subject: [Scsocial] Re: If you're wondering why the DOW (and your retirement account) has been getting slammed...... In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: "Heidi" wrote in message news:hjdgoh$hoo$1@news.spamcop.net... > > "Indigo" wrote in message > news:hjd8a8$eug$1@news.spamcop.net... >> Summary: Playing politics to appease the voters is leading to financial >> disasters everywhere. The DOW has dropped over 500 pts in the last three >> days....the NASDAQ is also down huge.....all sectors got hit.......a pox >> upon Obama for this stupid and over-reactive idea! > > Well, really, WTF is supposed to happen now? It's not politics, it's > common sense! They are incapable of regulating themselves. Agreed. The > status quo has GOT to change, or we're going to even worse off the next > time they steal our money while running their companies into the ground > and try to collapse the entire financial world. Did you read the rest of the article from the link I posted? I'm guessing no, because the author had several more rational ideas for putting the stop to the banking system's extravagant bonuses. What Obama wants to do sounds unconstitutional to me, and is like something a Communist leader would do -- in fact, the leaders of China just did it a couple days ago -- they ordered the Chinese banks to slow down the number of loans they were making, fearing an overheated economy -- that announcement also was part of the market crash, because so much of the world depends on the Chinese economy to make their own country's economy running. Maybe all those radical rights aren't so far off with their claims that Obama is a socialist.... From nobody at spamcop.net Fri Jan 22 20:07:36 2010 From: nobody at spamcop.net (Indigo) Date: Fri Jan 22 20:10:07 2010 Subject: [Scsocial] Re: is this really BAD or what? In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: "Frog Prince" wrote in message news:hjde54$gua$3@news.spamcop.net... > But hedge fund billionaires, for example, who typically operate through > multiple corporate entities, can now give unlimited sums through each of > these "unnatural" creatures. Can't see how the hedgies are going to plead to Congress critters or the public to allow them to continue their reckless, un-regulated, and at times illegal behavior. They're like cockroaches, you shine a light on them and they all scatter. And some regulations have already been passed to make the hedge funds activities more transparent, but they don't go near far enough to prevent the damage those funds can do. From nobody at spamcop.net Fri Jan 22 20:08:55 2010 From: nobody at spamcop.net (Indigo) Date: Fri Jan 22 20:10:08 2010 Subject: [Scsocial] Re: As if I'd ever get my smart phone In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: "bar0" wrote in message news:hjddp1$gp7$1@news.spamcop.net... > > "Indigo" wrote in message > news:hjdcmu$ggj$1@news.spamcop.net... >> >> "bar0" wrote in message >> news:hjdau1$ftf$1@news.spamcop.net... >>> It's really not hard to replace the belts. >> If you have an old player I bet you'd have a helluva time finding a >> replacement...... > > Thorens still makes turntables. I meant finding a replacement belt for your ancient record player, not whether you could buy a new player. From me at privacy.net Fri Jan 22 20:51:36 2010 From: me at privacy.net (Frog Prince) Date: Fri Jan 22 21:00:08 2010 Subject: [Scsocial] Re: If you're wondering why the DOW (and your retirement account) has been getting slammed...... References: Message-ID: "Indigo" wrote in message news:hjdhc8$i3s$1@news.spamcop.net... > > "Frog Prince" wrote in message > news:hjdd8k$gmi$1@news.spamcop.net... >> Recall Sen. Phil (Americans are just a bunch of whiners) Graham of Texas >> did the bidding of the financial industry gutting regulations that likely >> would have prevented the blood bath. > > You mean Bush changed the rules to allow his rich buddies to make massive > profits off the backs of the common investor? Tell me it ain't so, Joe! > And now Obama and/or Congress is wavering on re-appointing our savior, Big > Ben......god help us all if he gets replaced by someone else, the stock > market will blow up completely. > > > > Yes, I'm fully aware of what Bush (and to a certain extent Clinton) did to > de-regulate the markets that put us into such a precarious position. The deed was done during the Clinton Admin. Graham inserted ~ 250 pages of industry crafted text into a must pass bill. From me at privacy.net Fri Jan 22 20:54:21 2010 From: me at privacy.net (Frog Prince) Date: Fri Jan 22 21:00:09 2010 Subject: [Scsocial] Re: is this really BAD or what? References: Message-ID: "bar0" wrote in message news:hjdeb8$gvu$1@news.spamcop.net... > > "Frog Prince" wrote in message > news:hjde54$gua$3@news.spamcop.net... >> >> "Indigo" wrote in message >> news:hjd8or$f46$1@news.spamcop.net... >>> >>> "bar0" wrote in message >>> news:hjcr2n$agv$1@news.spamcop.net... >>>> What really pisses me off though, is that like executive pay, corporate >>>> advertizing is at the whim of the management, and possibly the board, >>>> but not the shareholders. >>>> >>> >>> In many cases, you are correct. But in cases where a powerful individual >>> shareholder acquires more than 5% of a company's stock, they are then in >>> a position to demand changes in those things. Warren Buffet and Carl >>> Icahn, for starters, are famous for going on rampages to change the >>> corporate and board structure in companies they target. Some hedge funds >>> are infamous for doing the opposite -- they gain enough control of a >>> company then tear it apart, selling off pieces to generate huge profits >>> for themselves and destroying the company in the process. >> >> JQ citizen people, as opposed to corporate-citizen people, may only give >> $2,300 to a presidential campaign. >> >> But hedge fund billionaires, for example, who typically operate through >> multiple corporate entities, can now give unlimited sums through each of >> these "unnatural" creatures. >> > > And supposing JQ citizen has the funds, they too can buy advertising time > for political commentary. And if pigs had wings ... At one time only property owners could vote, and those that did not own property IF they had sufficient capital the could buy property and thus buy the right to vote. I'm reminded that freedom of the press, in reality, only applies to he who owns one. From dfmanno at mail.com Fri Jan 22 23:16:23 2010 From: dfmanno at mail.com (D.F. Manno) Date: Fri Jan 22 23:20:08 2010 Subject: [Scsocial] Re: is this really BAD or what? References: Message-ID: In article , "bar0" wrote: > And supposing JQ citizen has the funds, they too can buy advertising time > for political commentary. The networks claim to have policies rejecting advocacy ads, which they use to reject ads they disagree with (e.g., anti-war during Iraq) while allowing others (e.g., anti-choice on the Super Bowl). -- D.F. Manno | dfmanno@mail.com The trouble with the world is that the stupid are cocksure and the intelligent are full of doubt. (Bertrand Russell) From dfmanno at mail.com Fri Jan 22 23:17:53 2010 From: dfmanno at mail.com (D.F. Manno) Date: Fri Jan 22 23:20:08 2010 Subject: [Scsocial] Re: is this really BAD or what? References: Message-ID: In article , Sylvesterthekat wrote: > "Indigo" wrote: > > > Some hedge funds are infamous for doing the opposite -- they gain > > enough control of a company then tear it apart, selling off pieces to > > generate huge profits for themselves and destroying the company in the > > process. > > You have to wonder why THAT is legal. If you own something, you can do what you like with it. -- D.F. Manno | dfmanno@mail.com The trouble with the world is that the stupid are cocksure and the intelligent are full of doubt. (Bertrand Russell) From nobody at spamcop.net Sat Jan 23 10:00:05 2010 From: nobody at spamcop.net (bar0) Date: Sat Jan 23 10:05:08 2010 Subject: [Scsocial] Re: If you're wondering why the DOW (and your retirement account) has been getting slammed...... References: Message-ID: "Frog Prince" wrote in message news:hjdkv0$j9p$1@news.spamcop.net... > > "Indigo" wrote in message > news:hjdhc8$i3s$1@news.spamcop.net... >> >> "Frog Prince" wrote in message >> news:hjdd8k$gmi$1@news.spamcop.net... >>> Recall Sen. Phil (Americans are just a bunch of whiners) Graham of >>> Texas did the bidding of the financial industry gutting regulations that >>> likely would have prevented the blood bath. >> >> You mean Bush changed the rules to allow his rich buddies to make massive >> profits off the backs of the common investor? Tell me it ain't so, Joe! >> And now Obama and/or Congress is wavering on re-appointing our savior, >> Big Ben......god help us all if he gets replaced by someone else, the >> stock market will blow up completely. >> > >> >> >> Yes, I'm fully aware of what Bush (and to a certain extent Clinton) did >> to de-regulate the markets that put us into such a precarious position. > > The deed was done during the Clinton Admin. Graham inserted ~ 250 pages of > industry crafted text into a must pass bill. > You don't expect congrescritters to craft their own text do you? I mean between campaigning for reelection and begging for funds, where would they find the time? Besides, strangely if they let donors write their bills for them , their campaign coffers seem to get fuller faster. It's a perverse incentive, more pay for less work. From nobody at spamcop.net Sat Jan 23 10:11:35 2010 From: nobody at spamcop.net (bar0) Date: Sat Jan 23 10:15:08 2010 Subject: [Scsocial] Re: is this really BAD or what? References: Message-ID: "D.F. Manno" wrote in message news:dfmanno-7F9A6C.23162322012010@news.cesmail.net... > In article , "bar0" > wrote: > >> And supposing JQ citizen has the funds, they too can buy advertising time >> for political commentary. > > The networks claim to have policies rejecting advocacy ads, which they > use to reject ads they disagree with (e.g., anti-war during Iraq) while > allowing others (e.g., anti-choice on the Super Bowl). I suspect that's an economic decision as much as anything else, who's gonna bring in repeat business? Kraft or JQ? From me at privacy.net Sat Jan 23 17:18:28 2010 From: me at privacy.net (Frog Prince) Date: Sat Jan 23 17:25:08 2010 Subject: [Scsocial] Re: is this really BAD or what? References: Message-ID: "Sylvesterthekat" wrote in message news:Xns9D08BC2E9712Dsylvesterthekat@216.154.195.61... > "Frog Prince" wrote in > news:hjde54$gua$3@news.spamcop.net: > >> > >> But hedge fund billionaires, for example, who typically operate >> through multiple corporate entities, can now give unlimited sums >> through each of these "unnatural" creatures. > > They should be obligated to spend an equal amount on a charitable cause. > Maybe that would give them pause... and if not, charity wins. There are already too many ways to fugg the donation process. A while back I did a lot of work with large outreach operation in W NC. I can't tell you how many truck loads of stuff was donated that was out of stale date, which is fine because while it may no loner have the quality or flavor of in date goods it's still edible. My issue was that the donating company took full retail value off their taxes for the donation. From me at privacy.net Sat Jan 23 17:19:50 2010 From: me at privacy.net (Frog Prince) Date: Sat Jan 23 17:25:09 2010 Subject: [Scsocial] Re: is this really BAD or what? References: Message-ID: "D.F. Manno" wrote in message news:dfmanno-D98F9C.23175322012010@news.cesmail.net... > In article , > Sylvesterthekat wrote: > >> "Indigo" wrote: >> >> > Some hedge funds are infamous for doing the opposite -- they gain >> > enough control of a company then tear it apart, selling off pieces to >> > generate huge profits for themselves and destroying the company in the >> > process. >> >> You have to wonder why THAT is legal. > > If you own something, you can do what you like with it. Not always. Anti-trust comes to mind. From nobody at spamcop.net Sun Jan 24 14:26:26 2010 From: nobody at spamcop.net (Indigo) Date: Sun Jan 24 14:30:08 2010 Subject: [Scsocial] Re: As if I'd ever get my smart phone In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: "Sylvesterthekat" wrote in message news:Xns9D08BBCA75296sylvesterthekat@216.154.195.61... >> Belt drives eventuallly stretch and/or crumble as they lose their >> elasticity. The chemicals contained in the belt rubber that keep them >> "rubbery" (pthalates) eventually evaporate and they fall apart. Direct >> drives don't suffer from that issue, obviously. > > Ah but a belt is easily replaced eh? > See my reply to BarO.... From nobody at spamcop.net Sun Jan 24 14:41:07 2010 From: nobody at spamcop.net (Indigo) Date: Sun Jan 24 14:45:07 2010 Subject: [Scsocial] Re: is this really BAD or what? In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: "D.F. Manno" wrote in message news:dfmanno-D98F9C.23175322012010@news.cesmail.net... > In article , > Sylvesterthekat wrote: > >> "Indigo" wrote: >> >> > Some hedge funds are infamous for doing the opposite -- they gain >> > enough control of a company then tear it apart, selling off pieces to >> > generate huge profits for themselves and destroying the company in the >> > process. >> >> You have to wonder why THAT is legal. > > If you own something, you can do what you like with it. The real problem, in some cases, is how the hedgies got control in the first place. Since the "uptick rule" was abolished in June, 2007 (by the Bush cronies in the SEC), hedge funds went wild with sometimes illegal activities to raid corporations by driving down the stock price with shorting the stock, and many times by "naked shorting" the stock, meaning they "borrowed" shares of stock that didn't actually exist (illegal, but the SEC and big brokerage houses turned a blind eye to their shenanigans). The Uptick Rule came about after the crash in 1929. The uptick rule stated that in order for you to short a stock, you could only do it only after that stock had gained in price, an uptick as it is called. It was felt that traders shorting the market in 1929 accelerated the crash, and the Uptick Rule was put into place to protect the market from those "bear raiders" looking to short a company's stock into the ground. Ben Bernanke wants to re-instate the uptick rule, which is very likely one of the reasons the big boys are trying to get his re-confirmation blocked. From me at privacy.net Sat Jan 23 21:47:10 2010 From: me at privacy.net (anon) Date: Sun Jan 24 17:10:09 2010 Subject: [Scsocial] Re: bummer if you're visiting SoCal this week! References: Message-ID: "Sylvesterthekat" wrote in message news:Xns9D07B200B475Esylvesterthekat@216.154.195.61... > Mike Easter wrote in > news:hjas09$ku2$1@news.spamcop.net: > >> Sylvesterthekat wrote: >> >>> haven't seen this much rain in about 3 years, maybe even going back >>> to 2005. it can only be a matter of time before there are mud slides >> >> Two things of interest in this rain. >> >> One is a very poetic or exciting weather report a friend of a friend >> sent. In fact, I'm going to do a little research to find exactly >> where he got this forecast. All of the forecasts I ever find are >> ugly, in all caps, and not nearly so exciting or scientifically >> 'weathery'. >> >> The other is a new word I learned while reading the newspaper this >> morning. -the deadtree type that I work my puzzle in - >> >> "today could bring waterspouts, tornadoes, hail and the rarely seen >> graupel, which forms when supercooled water droplets coat snowflakes." >> >> graupel? > > huh, never heard of that one before. turns out that forecast was pretty > accurate, although i don't think the winds have been as bad as they were > saying there, unless you count the tornadoes and microbursts of course! > all i can say is it's been VERY wet and we've had more rain this week > than I think we had the entire year last year or the year before. and > there's been a ton of snow in the local mountains and the sierras so > hopefully no problems with water this summer. > > i feel sorry for anyone who had come here for a vacation this week, > hoping for some winter sun cos they sure haven't had any of that. I used to live in La Canada Flintridge (Calif) about a half mile south of the original fire evacuation line. All of what they say is TRUE. That area is very prone to mudslides. Those mudslides really wipe out multiple houses (as in move them off of their foundations.) From MikeE at ster.invalid Mon Jan 25 14:18:44 2010 From: MikeE at ster.invalid (Mike Easter) Date: Mon Jan 25 14:20:09 2010 Subject: [Scsocial] Secondary inspection Message-ID: I don't know what kinds of secondary inspection experiences some of you have had. I was just preparing for a short trip in a few days, and I tho't to myself, "OK. Here we go again with the airport security dudes." A couple of memorable secondary inspection experiences have happened crossing the Mexico-US border back into the states; several times in an automobile and a few other times in a small airplane. The problems with airport security in the past have arisen over -1- a brass urn with cremation remains and -2- hard boiled eggs in the same scanner tray as something with wires/electronics. I've since learned to not do that - put them in the same tray. When the bag is checked, I don't get to observe the secondary inspection process, but I can tell when they went thru' the bag and generally what they wanted to see. Sometimes they leave a little note saying it was inspected, sometimes they don't. This time it is going to be about the coffee - beans and grind. Whenever there is some kind of 'unusual' or unexpected organic material signature, they are curious to see what that is. When I am accompanied by the material, asin carryon baglet, they say, "What is this?" in the meantime looking for themselves to see what it is. The coffee problem is that I am going to be staying with 2 different people on this trip, neither of which ever drinks coffee. While they each/both have a coffee maker in the house; they never use it and their coffee is always old and mediocre. I grind my beans when I'm getting ready to make coffee; so I've taken to carrying enough beans to grind at the folks who have a bean grinder (yes, they have a bean grinder even tho' they don't normally drink coffee !?) and I carry a measured amount of ground beans for the place where there is only a coffee maker and no grinder. On one secondary inspection of an automobile coming back into the US from Mexico, we got the full treatment with the dog - it was amazing to watch that animal work, he really knew how to do his job - and a complete inspection of everything out of the car. No one was busted for anything, in case you are curious about that. -- Mike Easter From me at privacy.net Mon Jan 25 16:18:05 2010 From: me at privacy.net (anon) Date: Mon Jan 25 16:20:08 2010 Subject: [Scsocial] Re: Secondary inspection References: Message-ID: "Mike Easter" wrote in message news:hjkqqk$2hg$1@news.spamcop.net... > I don't know what kinds of secondary inspection experiences some of you > have had. I was just preparing for a short trip in a few days, and I > tho't to myself, "OK. Here we go again with the airport security dudes." > > A couple of memorable secondary inspection experiences have happened > crossing the Mexico-US border back into the states; several times in an > automobile and a few other times in a small airplane. > > The problems with airport security in the past have arisen over -1- a > brass urn with cremation remains and -2- hard boiled eggs in the same > scanner tray as something with wires/electronics. I've since learned to > not do that - put them in the same tray. > > When the bag is checked, I don't get to observe the secondary inspection > process, but I can tell when they went thru' the bag and generally what > they wanted to see. Sometimes they leave a little note saying it was > inspected, sometimes they don't. > > This time it is going to be about the coffee - beans and grind. Whenever > there is some kind of 'unusual' or unexpected organic material signature, > they are curious to see what that is. > > When I am accompanied by the material, asin carryon baglet, they say, > "What is this?" in the meantime looking for themselves to see what it is. > > The coffee problem is that I am going to be staying with 2 different > people on this trip, neither of which ever drinks coffee. While they > each/both have a coffee maker in the house; they never use it and their > coffee is always old and mediocre. > > I grind my beans when I'm getting ready to make coffee; so I've taken to > carrying enough beans to grind at the folks who have a bean grinder (yes, > they have a bean grinder even tho' they don't normally drink coffee !?) > and I carry a measured amount of ground beans for the place where there is > only a coffee maker and no grinder. > > On one secondary inspection of an automobile coming back into the US from > Mexico, we got the full treatment with the dog - it was amazing to watch > that animal work, he really knew how to do his job - and a complete > inspection of everything out of the car. No one was busted for anything, > in case you are curious about that. > > > -- > Mike Easter Re: inspection of checked bags. This occurred some five years ago in a foreign country, so was not as rigorous as now. While I was waiting go get my ticket checked, I watched the inspector checking bags in an area back of the ticket counter. Very interesting. Sometimes they practically emptied the bag, sometimes they just reached in and peeked under the contents. No scanner was involved. From nobody at spamcop.net Mon Jan 25 17:55:26 2010 From: nobody at spamcop.net (bar0) Date: Mon Jan 25 18:00:08 2010 Subject: [Scsocial] Re: Secondary inspection In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: "Mike Easter" wrote in message news:hjkqqk$2hg$1@news.spamcop.net... >I don't know what kinds of secondary inspection experiences some of you >have had. I was just preparing for a short trip in a few days, and I tho't >to myself, "OK. Here we go again with the airport security dudes." > My Checked baggage seems to be opened about 1/2 the time for TSA inspection (secondary?) Regardless whether the flight is intra, or inter-national. I usually find either the zip tie, or"luggage lock" I use to "lock" the zippers gone and a note from the TSA saying my bag has been opened. Personally I find that offensive, in the past, when overseas, if security was going to inspect or X-ray my bags, they would always do it in my presence. This includes well known undemocratic countries, police states and the like. In the US, it seems you are now subject to "random" search if you fly. In essence you must assume the content of your bags will be open and available to someone making $8.00 or so per hour somewhere where you can't watch them. I 'm happy to report, though, that so far, nothing has been stolen from me. It particularly bugs me because theft by baggage handlers has been a serious enough issue (though happily not over frequent) over the years, and now we have a whole new cadre of people handling open baggage, and unlocking seemingly 1/2 the baggage passing through the system. Oh, TSA employees are the cream of law enforcement, so it's alright. And if you're not doing anything wrong what do you have to fear from such privacy invasions right? From nobody at spamcop.net Wed Jan 27 14:40:09 2010 From: nobody at spamcop.net (Indigo) Date: Wed Jan 27 14:45:08 2010 Subject: [Scsocial] Re: I was breathing gasoline In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: "Charles" wrote in message news:Xns9D0D72F2CE1C2ThisIsMyPost@216.154.195.61... > But, no. It won't be another song, other than the subject line. No, it > will probably just be a random post. Maybe even long. Maybe not quite > Indi long but you never do know when you start, do you? Hey, at least I have the common courtesy to break up my long posts into paragraphs! Got my cool new > shirt, finally. I look great. I mean, really, I needed to lose those 20 > pounds. And now I'm right where I should be (unless you trust the BMI > but, > of course, BMI is a complete and utter crock of poo so whatever). The biggest sham ever put out by the medical community. And people wonder why our little girls develop eating disorders! According to the BMI, for my height (6'2") I should weigh something like 165-170 lbs. The last time I was that skinny was in high school and I couldn't put on a lb of muscle mass to save my life, despite some serious weight training for several years. My metabolism was thru the roof.....it finally slowed down when I hit 25 and I've slowly put on weight ever since then. After my second neck surgery I shriveled down to 185 lbs from inactivity and a liquid diet (protein shakes) -- when people saw me they were almost shocked, I was skeletal looking! My "best" weight is around 190-192, anything less and I get very weak (sounds like you have the same issue). Stuck at 200 right now, probably won't drop any more weight until I can get off the hydrocortisone completely -- I can see with my eyes I'm still carrying about 4-5 lbs of fluid around my midsection (H causes water retention). And, > hey, it feels like I'm falling apart. Of course, the good people around > me > point out that I'm not falling apart - I can feed the children, dress, > shower, work (sort of). But the stable center is gone. And I'm a space > shot and jittery. I just bought a second book that I already own. Like, > what was I thinking? I mean, last week I bought a book and then my wife > said, "I already gave you that 2 years ago." And, effectively, on reading > it I find that I already know the story. Well, hey, I bought another. > And > it's the same thing. It's like... It feels like I'm unraveling... It's the damn SSRI......and I've also had some "bad" moments like that recently.....like my brain isn't working as well as it had been before I doubled my antibiotic load. For instance, over the weekend I went to Target to buy a couple items, got home and realized that the new underwear I had purchased wasn't in the bag. Yesterday I went back with my receipt to get the undies I had left at the store, and while standing in line I took another look at the receipt and noticed that I also didn't put away the ream of printer paper or file folders I had bought. The worst part was that I didn't even remember buying them, in fact I couldn't even remember standing in line watching the cashier scan my purchases and bag them! Turns out I had gotten two bags of stuff and left the store with only one of the bags, the lady working behind the service counter remembered what happened (she was on duty that day). You really ought to go back to your doc and try a different SSRI, I dunno why you're putting up with the craziness that damn pill is giving you.....in my case, I know that the antibiotic problems will settle down within a month or so and I just have to gut it out. "You have to get worse before you get better" is a phrase well known to us lymies, unfortunately. Today is one of the worst days I've had since I started taking the monocycline....all I want to do is crawl back in bed and sleep.....which I've already done once since I got up this morning....but my muscles ache like hell, can't sleep.....my lower gut hurts, feels like I have a hernia (which is impossible unless it was a spontaneous rupture, dunno if that can happen)....I'm a fscking mess. > Speaking of which, my wife wants to know > how I can put songs I bought from itunes on her ipod. Um. Sounds hard. > I > think that if we share an itunes account and she buys songs on my CC then > we can maybe do it. You mean you can only put an iTune on one player, and ONLY one player? What a ripoff! I'd be searching the darker areas of the web for some DRM stripping software if that was the case. From me at privacy.net Thu Jan 28 01:25:05 2010 From: me at privacy.net (Frog Prince) Date: Thu Jan 28 01:30:08 2010 Subject: [Scsocial] Re: ba da ba References: Message-ID: "Charles" wrote in message news:Xns9D0D76D732FCDThisIsMyPost@216.154.195.61... > It was Charles ! > >> I can't believe it's true... > > I do believe it's true? A clear (as clear as anything can be with you) case of self-deception. From kenbrody at spamcop.net Thu Jan 28 09:25:32 2010 From: kenbrody at spamcop.net (Kenneth Brody) Date: Thu Jan 28 09:30:09 2010 Subject: [Scsocial] Re: Secondary inspection In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: On 1/28/2010 9:14 AM, Charles wrote: > Well... For the longest time I got pulled aside and had everything > searched multiple times. It seems I must have been flagged for some reason > because as soon as they looked at my boarding passes the TSA guys would > pull me aside. Thankfully those days are gone. [...] I had some "fun" (FSVO) last year with the "extra screening" at airport security. However, I knew it was coming. Due to a family emergency, I had booked a flight less than 24 hours before the flight, one-way only, and with no checked baggage. -- Kenneth Brody From nobody at spamcop.net Thu Jan 28 12:46:48 2010 From: nobody at spamcop.net (Indigo) Date: Thu Jan 28 12:50:09 2010 Subject: [Scsocial] Re: I was breathing gasoline In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: "Charles" wrote in message news:Xns9D0E555A7BB94ThisIsMyPost@216.154.195.61... > It wasn't me! It was "Indigo" ! > >> It's the damn SSRI > > I get to see my primary this afternoon. Good for you! From me at privacy.net Thu Jan 28 14:36:25 2010 From: me at privacy.net (Frog Prince) Date: Thu Jan 28 14:50:09 2010 Subject: [Scsocial] Re: ba da ba References: Message-ID: "Charles" wrote in message news:Xns9D0E55354733FThisIsMyPost@216.154.195.61... > It wasn't me! It was "Frog Prince" ! > >> A clear (as clear as anything can be with you) case of self-deception. > > You don't know the half of it. It's been a very bad week. All joking aside. My thoughts are with you. From me at privacy.net Thu Jan 28 17:23:23 2010 From: me at privacy.net (Frog Prince) Date: Thu Jan 28 17:30:08 2010 Subject: [Scsocial] Re: ba da ba References: Message-ID: "Charles" wrote in message news:Xns9D0EABBF5B63DThisIsMyPost@216.154.195.61... > No way it was me! It was "Frog Prince" ! > >> All joking aside. > > All joking aside? Who do you think you're talking to, here? On a more > serious note my pcp called in a referral and the fuckers said they could > see me in two weeks, maybe. wtf am I supposed to do until then, exactly? I had that story once and it was a lot further out before I could be seen. Finally told the office droid the doctor could seem me at a more reasonable time (quicker) in his office or see me much sooner in the ER. Given what you've posted you should be seem much sooner. Perhaps a work in? From me at privacy.net Thu Jan 28 18:20:45 2010 From: me at privacy.net (Frog Prince) Date: Thu Jan 28 18:25:09 2010 Subject: [Scsocial] Re: ba da ba References: Message-ID: "Charles" wrote in message news:Xns9D0EB2F37F888ThisIsMyPost@216.154.195.61... > No way it was me! It was "Frog Prince" ! > >> Given what you've posted you should be seen much sooner. > > my pcp offered to put me in a safe place for a few days. Starting, like, > right now. I declined. My wife may decide otherwise and for me. I guess > we'll just see, won't we? Proceed carefully with that option. From nobody at spamcop.net Thu Jan 28 19:23:28 2010 From: nobody at spamcop.net (Indigo) Date: Thu Jan 28 19:25:08 2010 Subject: [Scsocial] Re: ba da ba In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: "Charles" wrote in message news:Xns9D0EB2F37F888ThisIsMyPost@216.154.195.61... > No way it was me! It was "Frog Prince" ! > >> Given what you've posted you should be seen much sooner. > > my pcp offered to put me in a safe place for a few days. Starting, like, > right now. I declined. My wife may decide otherwise and for me. I guess > we'll just see, won't we? > A safe place, meaning the psych ward at the local hospital? THAT'S HIS SOLUTION??? What an unbelievable answer - DON'T DO IT. Here's what I'd do if I were in your shoes: slowly start to taper off your med. If it's a pill, cut some in half, take a full pill on day 1, half a pill on day 2, full pill day 3, half pill day 4, etc. You can't just cut the dose in half all at once (or stop taking it entirely) or you risk some serious side effects, much worse than what your going thru right now. Other option is to screw the referral (who is probably a friend of your MD) and find someone else that understands your need for immediate medical attention. Check your health insurance booklet or website for other local docs and start making calls! I had a rather severe medical crisis myself yesterday, and after talking to the receptionist and explaining the situation to her I got to see him today. Luckily, I saw my chiropractor an hour before my appt. with him and she resolved the problem, but I had him check me out anyway just to be sure she had fixed what was ailing me (she did). Going to get some blood tests tomorrow to rule out some other possible contributors and/or to see if the crisis was preventable (and if it may re-occur). Thank god for the internet, when I went in to see the chiro today I had several potential causes printed out so I could discuss the issue with her and help guide her in the right direction, and it was a great help -- one of the potential causes _was_ what had happened to me, and and by adjusting my L4 vertebrae the problem disappeared almost instantly (it involved some pinched nerves). From nobody at spamcop.net Thu Jan 28 19:28:53 2010 From: nobody at spamcop.net (Heidi) Date: Thu Jan 28 19:30:08 2010 Subject: [Scsocial] Re: snow References: Message-ID: "Charles" wrote in message news:Xns9D0E72CC7F40AThisIsMyPost@216.154.195.61... > well, it is snowing. a minute ago i couldn't see the building across the > street. i'm heading out to buy an iphone. yeah, sure, the one that will > come out in june will be better. and? i just want to get something cool > and fun or whatever. or just spend money and get something new. maybe. > falling down... i think that was a good movie if it was the one i'm > thinking of. must focus. that worked for a while. what changed? jehro > rocks, mon. key data is getting garbled more often it should. Huh, it's all blue from the great lakes to the coast, and yet we're not gettin' nuttin'. I'm cheesed. Raced home to beat it, raced into the shower in case we lost power, and where did that get me? Sitting here with clean hair and no snow. Hmph. From nobody at spamcop.net Thu Jan 28 19:29:37 2010 From: nobody at spamcop.net (Heidi) Date: Thu Jan 28 19:30:09 2010 Subject: [Scsocial] Re: Come on, it's mine. Say it's mine, won't you? References: Message-ID: "Charles" wrote in message news:Xns9D0EB3498B3E9ThisIsMyPost@216.154.195.61... > OK! Here it is! Right now! Right here! The first Internet use. And > it's me. So neener on all of you others. GOS. Grain of salt. So there > you have it. Don't forget to credit me when you use it (ha). It's YOURS, dude. All yours. And for the $15 million dollars a month it'll cost you, I hope you like it.... From nobody at spamcop.net Thu Jan 28 19:33:47 2010 From: nobody at spamcop.net (Heidi) Date: Thu Jan 28 19:35:09 2010 Subject: [Scsocial] Re: ba da ba References: Message-ID: "Charles" wrote in message news:Xns9D0EABBF5B63DThisIsMyPost@216.154.195.61... > No way it was me! It was "Frog Prince" ! > >> All joking aside. > > All joking aside? Who do you think you're talking to, here? On a more > serious note my pcp called in a referral and the fuckers said they could > see me in two weeks, maybe. wtf am I supposed to do until then, exactly? You're supposed to call them again and inform them what constitutes an URGENT NEED, hence the referral. Or better yet have your PCP call and demand to be seen sooner. And 'no' to the safe place too, lazy fricking doctors.... From nobody at spamcop.net Thu Jan 28 20:01:38 2010 From: nobody at spamcop.net (Indigo) Date: Thu Jan 28 20:05:08 2010 Subject: [Scsocial] Re: snow In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: "Heidi" wrote in message news:hjta46$t84$1@news.spamcop.net... > > Huh, it's all blue from the great lakes to the coast, and yet we're not > gettin' nuttin'. I'm cheesed. Raced home to beat it, raced into the > shower in case we lost power, and where did that get me? Sitting here with > clean hair and no snow. Hmph. > And you're bitching about it?!!? I've had my fill of snow for the year already! No Mas! From me at privacy.net Thu Jan 28 20:40:47 2010 From: me at privacy.net (Frog Prince) Date: Thu Jan 28 20:45:09 2010 Subject: [Scsocial] Re: snow References: Message-ID: "Heidi" wrote in message news:hjta46$t84$1@news.spamcop.net... > > "Charles" wrote in message > news:Xns9D0E72CC7F40AThisIsMyPost@216.154.195.61... >> well, it is snowing. a minute ago i couldn't see the building across the >> street. i'm heading out to buy an iphone. yeah, sure, the one that will >> come out in june will be better. and? i just want to get something cool >> and fun or whatever. or just spend money and get something new. maybe. >> falling down... i think that was a good movie if it was the one i'm >> thinking of. must focus. that worked for a while. what changed? jehro >> rocks, mon. key data is getting garbled more often it should. > > Huh, it's all blue from the great lakes to the coast, and yet we're not > gettin' nuttin'. I'm cheesed. Raced home to beat it, raced into the > shower in case we lost power, and where did that get me? Sitting here with > clean hair and no snow. Hmph. So all you washed was your hair? From nobody at spamcop.net Thu Jan 28 23:26:57 2010 From: nobody at spamcop.net (Heidi) Date: Thu Jan 28 23:30:07 2010 Subject: [Scsocial] Re: snow References: Message-ID: "Frog Prince" wrote in message news:hjteef$upi$1@news.spamcop.net... > > So all you washed was your hair? Did you want to hear about all the other bits? From nobody at spamcop.net Fri Jan 29 16:06:16 2010 From: nobody at spamcop.net (Indigo) Date: Fri Jan 29 16:10:08 2010 Subject: [Scsocial] Re: ba da ba In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: "Charles" wrote in message news:Xns9D0F525662694ThisIsMyPost@216.154.195.61... > It wasn't me! It was "Indigo" ! > >> Thank god for the internet > > Bwa ha ha! Such a mixed bag, this internet... Things were so much easier > in the early days - when they were in a neat order, there weren't blogs, > etc. Blogs? What are they? Don't exist in my universe.... From me at privacy.net Fri Jan 29 19:50:59 2010 From: me at privacy.net (Frog Prince) Date: Fri Jan 29 19:55:09 2010 Subject: [Scsocial] Re: ba da ba References: Message-ID: "Indigo" wrote in message news:hjvik8$lvu$1@news.spamcop.net... > > "Charles" wrote in message > news:Xns9D0F525662694ThisIsMyPost@216.154.195.61... >> It wasn't me! It was "Indigo" ! >> >>> Thank god for the internet >> >> Bwa ha ha! Such a mixed bag, this internet... Things were so much >> easier >> in the early days - when they were in a neat order, there weren't blogs, >> etc. > > Blogs? What are they? Don't exist in my universe.... The older I get , less and less exists in my universe. From nobody at spamcop.net Sat Jan 30 11:31:58 2010 From: nobody at spamcop.net (bar0) Date: Sat Jan 30 11:35:08 2010 Subject: [Scsocial] Primitive Banking Message-ID: Ever tried to send Money to Bank in Canada for a reasonable fee from the US? There are some cheap ways, send a US Cheque by post and wait, fees are minimal exchange rate is ok. Cheque may take anywhere from a week to 40 days to clear. Post takes anywhere from 3 days to 2 weeks, regardless whether you pay $20.00 more for express or not. Got to your bank, mine is Chase, international wire transfer is $35.00, the receiving bank generally charges no fee, but on arrival after the transfer fee is covered another 70.00 mysteriously disappears. JP Morgan New York (same company as Chase) seems to ding you another $35.00. $70 from $1000 , No Fscking Way! Western Union, I can send a debit card to an individual, or whatever they do but not to an account. I fI could use it fees are reasonable. If my parents aren't in their 80's I might consider it. If it was Mexico it'd be no problem with western union, they'll deposti to banks in Brazil, Peru and Mexico among others in moments. Anywhere else in the world I can go to Amex, or Thomas Cook, and many others and for between 15 and 20 bucks have cash converted and delivered to Canada electronically in an instant. By the time I get back to the hotel or home and sign on to my account it's there. What's with this in the US? It seems someone has a chokehold on the money pipeline to Canada and is milking the hell out of it. I wish there were money Wallas, at the prices or delays in legal transfers maybe under the table is the best way. Aargh.... From me at privacy.net Sat Jan 30 13:47:35 2010 From: me at privacy.net (Frog Prince) Date: Sat Jan 30 13:50:09 2010 Subject: [Scsocial] Re: Primitive Banking References: Message-ID: "bar0" wrote in message news:hk1mtr$cve$1@news.spamcop.net... > Ever tried to send Money to Bank in Canada for a reasonable fee from the > US? > > There are some cheap ways, send a US Cheque by post and wait, fees are > minimal exchange rate is ok. Cheque may take anywhere from a week to 40 > days to clear. Post takes anywhere from 3 days to 2 weeks, regardless > whether you pay $20.00 more for express or not. > > Got to your bank, mine is Chase, international wire transfer is $35.00, > the receiving bank generally charges no fee, but on arrival after the > transfer fee is covered another 70.00 mysteriously disappears. JP Morgan > New York (same company as Chase) seems to ding you another $35.00. $70 > from $1000 , No Fscking Way! > > Western Union, I can send a debit card to an individual, or whatever they > do but not to an account. I fI could use it fees are reasonable. If my > parents aren't in their 80's I might consider it. If it was Mexico it'd be > no problem with western union, they'll deposti to banks in Brazil, Peru > and Mexico among others in moments. > > Anywhere else in the world I can go to Amex, or Thomas Cook, and many > others and for between 15 and 20 bucks have cash converted and delivered > to Canada electronically in an instant. By the time I get back to the > hotel or home and sign on to my account it's there. > > What's with this in the US? It seems someone has a chokehold on the money > pipeline to Canada and is milking the hell out of it. I wish there were > money Wallas, at the prices or delays in legal transfers maybe under the > table is the best way. > Look into PayPal debit card. I use this with my grand daughter when she is out of town. No money in the account no money out (even by accident -- grand daughters, especially teenage grand daughters, are good at that trick). I expect they picked up the trick from their mothers and aunts. Perhaps you could have two bank accounts on the PayPal Account yours in the US and your grand parents account in Canada? From nobody at spamcop.net Sat Jan 30 14:32:33 2010 From: nobody at spamcop.net (bar0) Date: Sat Jan 30 14:35:09 2010 Subject: [Scsocial] Re: Primitive Banking References: Message-ID: "Frog Prince" wrote in message news:hk1usn$fi9$1@news.spamcop.net... > > "bar0" wrote in message > news:hk1mtr$cve$1@news.spamcop.net... >> Ever tried to send Money to Bank in Canada for a reasonable fee from the >> US? .... > > Perhaps you could have two bank accounts on the PayPal Account yours in > the US and your grand parents account in Canada? I have a bank account in Canada, which is where I need to send money occasionally, but I am super leary of PayPal, and EBay. Right now, I know for sure that the dozens of emails I receive daily "from" either are phish. But that's not the only reason I am leary of PP. And then there's a grudge, they, like spamazon and plenty of other dot-commers in the 80's-90's spammed the shit out of me when they were startups. I don't like companies that financed their startup with spam or other forms of theft. It's why I'm generally not a dot-commer. For now I'm swallowing my outrage and doing the wire transfer. From nobody at spamcop.net Sat Jan 30 15:00:01 2010 From: nobody at spamcop.net (Heidi) Date: Sat Jan 30 15:00:07 2010 Subject: [Scsocial] Re: Primitive Banking References: Message-ID: "bar0" wrote in message news:hk1mtr$cve$1@news.spamcop.net... > Ever tried to send Money to Bank in Canada for a reasonable fee from the > US? > > Got to your bank, mine is Chase, international wire transfer is $35.00, > the receiving bank generally charges no fee, but on arrival after the > transfer fee is covered another 70.00 mysteriously disappears. JP Morgan > New York (same company as Chase) seems to ding you another $35.00. $70 > from $1000 , No Fscking Way! > They are the worst of the worst, the Chase mofos - have you called and asked WHY the extra money disappeared? And demand that they put it back, if its not the fee that's listed? From nobody at spamcop.net Sat Jan 30 15:09:20 2010 From: nobody at spamcop.net (bar0) Date: Sat Jan 30 15:10:07 2010 Subject: [Scsocial] Re: Primitive Banking References: Message-ID: "Heidi" wrote in message news:hk2342$gui$1@news.spamcop.net... > > "bar0" wrote in message > news:hk1mtr$cve$1@news.spamcop.net... >> Ever tried to send Money to Bank in Canada for a reasonable fee from the >> US? >> >> Got to your bank, mine is Chase, international wire transfer is $35.00, >> the receiving bank generally charges no fee, but on arrival after the >> transfer fee is covered another 70.00 mysteriously disappears. JP Morgan >> New York (same company as Chase) seems to ding you another $35.00. $70 >> from $1000 , No Fscking Way! >> > They are the worst of the worst, the Chase mofos - have you called and > asked WHY the extra money disappeared? And demand that they put it back, > if its not the fee that's listed? Last time it happened everyone denied it was them, I figure if I had kept at it they probably would have told me it was Homeland Insecurity. AS it was I got to watch a finger pointing party that went nowhere fast. Also politically it would have been a waste to go to the AG's office, Texas was considering taxing money sent out of country, heavily, like 10%, their contribution to combatting the illegal aliens problem. From nobody at spamcop.net Sat Jan 30 15:20:55 2010 From: nobody at spamcop.net (Indigo) Date: Sat Jan 30 15:25:08 2010 Subject: [Scsocial] Curses to you, Heidi! Message-ID: Come on down here and I'll give you your damn snow.....I'll shove all 6+ inches of it in your face! (of the snow, you dirty birds). And it's still coming down like crazy, dammit....."a chance of flurries" they said...BAH! I TOLD YOU I had all the snow I could take already this year! And I'm typing right now with gloves on my hands, I forgot to look at the thermometer before going out to shovel and wore a pair of too-light (waterproof) snow gloves, came damn close to getting frostbite on my fingers....Doh! It's only 17 outside, no wonder! From me at privacy.net Sat Jan 30 15:26:36 2010 From: me at privacy.net (Frog Prince) Date: Sat Jan 30 15:30:08 2010 Subject: [Scsocial] Re: Primitive Banking References: Message-ID: "bar0" wrote in message news:hk21gf$ggj$1@news.spamcop.net... > > "Frog Prince" wrote in message > news:hk1usn$fi9$1@news.spamcop.net... >> >> "bar0" wrote in message >> news:hk1mtr$cve$1@news.spamcop.net... >>> Ever tried to send Money to Bank in Canada for a reasonable fee from the >>> US? > .... >> >> Perhaps you could have two bank accounts on the PayPal Account yours in >> the US and your grand parents account in Canada? > > I have a bank account in Canada, which is where I need to send money > occasionally, but I am super leary of PayPal, and EBay. > > Right now, I know for sure that the dozens of emails I receive daily > "from" either are phish. But that's not the only reason I am leary of PP. > And then there's a grudge, they, like spamazon and plenty of other > dot-commers in the 80's-90's spammed the shit out of me when they were > startups. I don't like companies that financed their startup with spam or > other forms of theft. It's why I'm generally not a dot-commer. > > For now I'm swallowing my outrage and doing the wire transfer. I don't put a lot of faith in PP or eBay but under controlled conditions the services work for me at a price that's reasonable given the alternatives. From me at privacy.net Sat Jan 30 15:28:19 2010 From: me at privacy.net (Frog Prince) Date: Sat Jan 30 15:30:09 2010 Subject: [Scsocial] Re: Curses to you, Heidi! References: Message-ID: "Indigo" wrote in message news:hk24b6$hcb$1@news.spamcop.net... > Come on down here and I'll give you your damn snow.....I'll shove all 6+ > inches of it in your face! (of the snow, you dirty birds). And it's still > coming down like crazy, dammit....."a chance of flurries" they said...BAH! > > I TOLD YOU I had all the snow I could take already this year! > > And I'm typing right now with gloves on my hands, I forgot to look at the > thermometer before going out to shovel and wore a pair of too-light > (waterproof) snow gloves, came damn close to getting frostbite on my > fingers....Doh! It's only 17 outside, no wonder! You're a professional thermo engineer and you're not aware snow is cold or the heat of phase change is substantial? From nobody at spamcop.net Sat Jan 30 16:31:53 2010 From: nobody at spamcop.net (Indigo) Date: Sat Jan 30 16:35:08 2010 Subject: [Scsocial] Re: Primitive Banking In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: "bar0" wrote in message news:hk1mtr$cve$1@news.spamcop.net... > Ever tried to send Money to Bank in Canada for a reasonable fee from the > US? > Why can't you open a bank account that both you and your parents have access to? You transfer money in electronically for free, and they pull it out for free. Is it the exchange rate that's the issue? Only other thing I can think of is to open an online brokerage account, with say TDAmeritrade, and add both your bank info and theirs to the account. You transfer cash into the account, and they pull it out into theirs. There are some minor delays involved, and you might be required to have some minor stock transactions every once in a while to keep the account open (you'll get a bunch of free transactions when you open the trading account so it won't cost you anything), but I don't see why it wouldn't work. From nobody at spamcop.net Sat Jan 30 16:38:12 2010 From: nobody at spamcop.net (Indigo) Date: Sat Jan 30 16:40:09 2010 Subject: [Scsocial] Re: Curses to you, Heidi! In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: "Frog Prince" wrote in message news:hk24ph$hhg$2@news.spamcop.net... > > You're a professional thermo engineer and you're not aware snow is cold or > the heat of phase change is substantial? I didn't use my hands to touch any snow, I have a home-made long handled broom with a wood panel bolted above it (the panel prevents the snow from simply sliding over the top of the broom) to clean off my car. This was purely a case of a lack of sufficient insulation and a big delta T. From nobody at spamcop.net Sat Jan 30 16:51:11 2010 From: nobody at spamcop.net (Heidi) Date: Sat Jan 30 16:55:08 2010 Subject: [Scsocial] Re: Curses to you, Heidi! References: Message-ID: "Frog Prince" wrote in message news:hk24ph$hhg$2@news.spamcop.net... > > You're a professional thermo engineer and you're not aware snow is cold or > the heat of phase change is substantial? LOL.... "Intelligence" does not equal "Common Sense"....... From nobody at spamcop.net Sat Jan 30 16:54:42 2010 From: nobody at spamcop.net (Heidi) Date: Sat Jan 30 16:55:09 2010 Subject: [Scsocial] Re: Curses to you, Heidi! References: Message-ID: "Indigo" wrote in message news:hk24b6$hcb$1@news.spamcop.net... > Come on down here and I'll give you your damn snow.....I'll shove all 6+ > inches of it in your face! (of the snow, you dirty birds). And it's still > coming down like crazy, dammit....."a chance of flurries" they said...BAH! > > I TOLD YOU I had all the snow I could take already this year! > > And I'm typing right now with gloves on my hands, I forgot to look at the > thermometer before going out to shovel and wore a pair of too-light > (waterproof) snow gloves, came damn close to getting frostbite on my > fingers....Doh! It's only 17 outside, no wonder! We're not getting any at all, it's all going out to see south of us thanks to that enormous Alberta Clipper - yesterday temps were in single digits and the wind was gusting to 40 mph. Today it's slightly better, 19 and 5-10 wind. Still effing COLD. But I'd rather have that than snow. Nyah Nyah. From nobody at spamcop.net Sat Jan 30 16:58:31 2010 From: nobody at spamcop.net (bar0) Date: Sat Jan 30 17:00:08 2010 Subject: [Scsocial] Re: Primitive Banking References: Message-ID: "Indigo" wrote in message news:hk28g9$ind$1@news.spamcop.net... > > "bar0" wrote in message > news:hk1mtr$cve$1@news.spamcop.net... >> Ever tried to send Money to Bank in Canada for a reasonable fee from the >> US? >> > > Why can't you open a bank account that both you and your parents have > access to? You transfer money in electronically for free, and they pull it > out for free. Is it the exchange rate that's the issue? I'm not sending money to my parents, I'm a landlord and as anyone whose rented houses knows, all too often expenses on the rental exceed rental income, then, I have to send money to pay the bills which are paid out of my Canadian account. (Taxes, Mortgage, Insurance etc. are all on autopay from a chequing account there) And no I can't pay out of country bills from my US chequing account ( see previous posts), If I could there would be no issue. The only possible parental involvement would be picking up the money and dropping it off. They don't need that. I already do something like you suggest for my daughter, minus it being also in my name, She has a BOA account and can withdraw from ScotiaBank ATM's without charge. From nobody at spamcop.net Sat Jan 30 17:04:37 2010 From: nobody at spamcop.net (Heidi) Date: Sat Jan 30 17:05:10 2010 Subject: [Scsocial] Re: Primitive Banking References: Message-ID: "bar0" wrote in message news:hk23lf$h5a$1@news.spamcop.net... > > > Last time it happened everyone denied it was them, I figure if I had kept > at it they probably would have told me it was Homeland Insecurity. AS it > was I got to watch a finger pointing party that went nowhere fast. Also > politically it would have been a waste to go to the AG's office, Texas was > considering taxing money sent out of country, heavily, like 10%, their > contribution to combatting the illegal aliens problem. Well, if everyone is denying they took the money, then it's fraud, and should be reported as such to the bank - aren't they responsible for refunding money that's fraudulently taken? What they were considering is beside the point, you got ripped off, and if they wouldn't tell you what they took the money for, then it's theft and their security is in question, or at least that would be my [very loud] argument. From mikeyhsd at lamparty.net Sat Jan 30 18:51:43 2010 From: mikeyhsd at lamparty.net (mikeyhsd) Date: Sat Jan 30 18:55:09 2010 Subject: [Scsocial] Re: Primitive Banking In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: is that part of the notorious scam to get you to send money to someone you = do not really know. but they just claim to know you. -- = mikeyhsd@hotmail.com = "bar0" wrote in message news:hk1mtr$cve$1@news.spamc= op.net... Ever tried to send Money to Bank in Canada for a reasonable fee from the = US? There are some cheap ways, send a US Cheque by post and wait, fees are = minimal exchange rate is ok. Cheque may take anywhere from a week to 40 d= ays = to clear. Post takes anywhere from 3 days to 2 weeks, regardless whether = you = pay $20.00 more for express or not. Got to your bank, mine is Chase, international wire transfer is $35.00, t= he = receiving bank generally charges no fee, but on arrival after the transfe= r = fee is covered another 70.00 mysteriously disappears. JP Morgan New York = (same company as Chase) seems to ding you another $35.00. $70 from $1000 = , = No Fscking Way! Western Union, I can send a debit card to an individual, or whatever they= do = but not to an account. I fI could use it fees are reasonable. If my paren= ts = aren't in their 80's I might consider it. If it was Mexico it'd be no = problem with western union, they'll deposti to banks in Brazil, Peru and = Mexico among others in moments. Anywhere else in the world I can go to Amex, or Thomas Cook, and many oth= ers = and for between 15 and 20 bucks have cash converted and delivered to Cana= da = electronically in an instant. By the time I get back to the hotel or home = and sign on to my account it's there. What's with this in the US? It seems someone has a chokehold on the money = pipeline to Canada and is milking the hell out of it. I wish there were = money Wallas, at the prices or delays in legal transfers maybe under the = table is the best way. Aargh.... -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://zeta.cesmail.net/pipermail/scsocial/attachments/20100130/d8dffb= d1/attachment.html From nobody at spamcop.net Sat Jan 30 19:20:26 2010 From: nobody at spamcop.net (Indigo) Date: Sat Jan 30 19:25:08 2010 Subject: [Scsocial] Re: Curses to you, Heidi! In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: "Heidi" wrote in message news:hk29r3$j8o$1@news.spamcop.net... > We're not getting any at all, it's all going out to see south of us thanks > to that enormous Alberta Clipper - yesterday temps were in single digits > and the wind was gusting to 40 mph. Today it's slightly better, 19 and > 5-10 wind. Still effing COLD. But I'd rather have that than snow. Nyah > Nyah. Yesterday you were whining about having nice clean hair but no snow, now you're saying you DON'T want snow? Make up your mind, woman! I just got done doing the second round of shoveling, another 5"......and this time it hurt....the muscles in both arms and wrists and my upper back are screaming right now. My acupuncturist spent over 2 hours yesterday working on getting my arm, shoulder, and upper back muscles to stop spasming (especially those causing my nagging left elbow tendonitis), I felt great and pain free when she was done, now I'm back to square one, dammit....$85 down the drain :-( And I cannot believe the lack of common sense all my neighbors have -- not a single one of them has touched a shovel yet! Why the hell would anyone choose to shovel one foot of snow (once), so deep you can't use a pusher shovel, instead of shoveling 6" twice?!? That is sooooo dumb IMNSHO. Using the pusher allowed me to use mostly my leg muscles and clean large swaths of the driveway at once (the first time, at least) instead of having to use a "lifting" shovel, where you can only clear one shoveful of space with each movement -- that method is WAY harder on the body and takes much, much longer to do the job. The second sweep required me to do a bit of lifting to get the new snow over the piles at the edges of the driveway created during the first sweep, that's why I'm hurting now. If I had waited until tomorrow, I'd have had to hire my handyman to shovel me out, and every penny counts these days.....can't wait for my re-fi mortgage docs to get here so I can sign them and send them back, then I get to skip March's mortgage payment.....definitely need to rebuild my checking account balance after paying for the new tires and washer/dryer.... From avoozl at spamcop.net Sat Jan 30 20:26:22 2010 From: avoozl at spamcop.net (Chris Willoughby) Date: Sat Jan 30 20:30:08 2010 Subject: [Scsocial] Re: Curses to you, Heidi! References: Message-ID: "Indigo" wrote in message news:hk2ic9$m5s$1@news.spamcop.net... > The second sweep required me to do a bit of lifting to get the new snow > over the piles at the edges of the driveway created during the first > sweep, that's why I'm hurting now. If I had waited until tomorrow, I'd > have had to hire my handyman to shovel me out, and every penny counts > these days.....can't wait for my re-fi mortgage docs to get here so I can > sign them and send them back, then I get to skip March's mortgage > payment.....definitely need to rebuild my checking account balance after > paying for the new tires and washer/dryer.... How's your hot water plumbling these days? From nobody at spamcop.net Sat Jan 30 21:09:22 2010 From: nobody at spamcop.net (Heidi) Date: Sat Jan 30 21:10:09 2010 Subject: [Scsocial] Re: Curses to you, Heidi! References: Message-ID: "Indigo" wrote in message news:hk2ic9$m5s$1@news.spamcop.net... > > Yesterday you were whining about having nice clean hair but no snow, now > you're saying you DON'T want snow? Make up your mind, woman! No, I don't want snow, I was just irritated at having rushed around for nothing! > > I just got done doing the second round of shoveling, another 5"......and > this time it hurt....the muscles in both arms and wrists and my upper back > are screaming right now. My acupuncturist spent over 2 hours yesterday > working on getting my arm, shoulder, and upper back muscles to stop > spasming (especially those causing my nagging left elbow tendonitis), I > felt great and pain free when she was done, now I'm back to square one, > dammit....$85 down the drain :-( And the money saved by just spending it on a hired shoveler would be.....? > And I cannot believe the lack of common sense all my neighbors have LOL, seriously, Mister Frostbite? > The second sweep required me to do a bit of lifting to get the new snow over > the piles at the edges of the driveway created during the first sweep, > that's why I'm hurting now. If I had waited until tomorrow, I'd have had > to hire my handyman to shovel me out, and every penny counts these > days.....can't wait for my re-fi mortgage docs to get here so I can sign > them and send them back, then I get to skip March's mortgage > payment.....definitely need to rebuild my checking account balance after > paying for the new tires and washer/dryer.... You're going to have to get a job soon.....I can't believe no one is lurking in your bushes trying to film you shoveling when you're on disablilty. From nobody at spamcop.net Sat Jan 30 21:58:09 2010 From: nobody at spamcop.net (Indigo) Date: Sat Jan 30 22:00:08 2010 Subject: [Scsocial] Re: Curses to you, Heidi! In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: "Chris Willoughby" wrote in message news:hk2m80$nhv$1@news.spamcop.net... > > How's your hot water plumbling these days? > My "plumbling", LOL? How much have you drunk tonite, sir? In any case, all is well with my appliances. In fact, I'm fascinated by how efficient my new dryer is.....it drys my laundry in less than half the time it used to take my old dryer. The only difference I can see in the design is that the "air holes" for the old dryer were drilled circumferentially around the drum, meaning that the tumbling laundry could possibly plug up the air holes. My new dryer has air holes in the center (back) of the drum, which means that the laundry can't cover them up. That's the only reason I can think of for the vastly improved performance. My only complaint with the new W/D set is that they're so damn quiet I don't know when their done! (the electronic beep noise saying they're finished is too faint to be heard upstairs, as opposed to the old analog buzzers my original set had) From nobody at spamcop.net Sat Jan 30 22:06:50 2010 From: nobody at spamcop.net (Indigo) Date: Sat Jan 30 22:10:08 2010 Subject: [Scsocial] Re: Curses to you, Heidi! In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: "Heidi" wrote in message news:hk2ooj$oco$1@news.spamcop.net... > > And the money saved by just spending it on a hired shoveler would be.....? $25-$40 depending on the snow depth is what he charges. But on the other hand, when my Sunday paper fails to appear tomorrow, I can drive out to get one as opposed to waiting for him to shovel me out at his convenience. > >> And I cannot believe the lack of common sense all my neighbors have > > LOL, seriously, Mister Frostbite? PPLLLBBTTTT! I wore a more proper set of gloves the second time out and had no problems. > > You're going to have to get a job soon.....I can't believe no one is > lurking in your bushes trying to film you shoveling when you're on > disablilty. I still have a ways to go before I cure my lyme infection....and I've always been straight up with my LTD insurer as far as my activities, I have nothing to hide from them. All I need to do is show them the PT bills after I overdo it and the case is closed. But as far as a new job goes, I'm looking forward to getting back to work....the more my health improves the less content I am to putter around the house day after day. From nobody at spamcop.net Sun Jan 31 00:37:23 2010 From: nobody at spamcop.net (bar0) Date: Sun Jan 31 00:40:08 2010 Subject: [Scsocial] Re: Primitive Banking References: Message-ID: What? - i don;t like top posting but your message formatting wants to carry= the quote on. I'm trying to send my own money to a bank account (mine) in Canada. "mikeyhsd" wrote in message news:hk2gn3$lj2$1@new= s.spamcop.net... is that part of the notorious scam to get you to send money to someone yo= u do not really know. but they just claim to know you. -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://zeta.cesmail.net/pipermail/scsocial/attachments/20100130/4eac91= 29/attachment.htm From mikeyhsd at lamparty.net Sun Jan 31 09:06:38 2010 From: mikeyhsd at lamparty.net (mikeyhsd) Date: Sun Jan 31 09:10:09 2010 Subject: [Scsocial] Re: Primitive Banking In-Reply-To: References: Message-ID: you need to shop around some more. there are more efficient ways to transfer money across borders. used ms money for a while and it would allow me to transfer funds between d= ifferent banks so long as they were registered in my name. -- = mikeyhsd@hotmail.com = "bar0" wrote in message news:hk34ui$seb$1@news.spamc= op.net... What? - i don;t like top posting but your message formatting wants to car= ry the quote on. I'm trying to send my own money to a bank account (mine) in Canada. "mikeyhsd" wrote in message news:hk2gn3$lj2$1@n= ews.spamcop.net... is that part of the notorious scam to get you to send money to someone = you do not really know. but they just claim to know you. -------------- next part -------------- An HTML attachment was scrubbed... URL: http://zeta.cesmail.net/pipermail/scsocial/attachments/20100131/fe7a25= 70/attachment-0001.htm From me at privacy.net Sun Jan 31 22:14:03 2010 From: me at privacy.net (Frog Prince) Date: Sun Jan 31 22:20:10 2010 Subject: [Scsocial] Possibly The First Corporation To Run For Public Office References: Message-ID: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/william-klein/supreme-court-ruling-spur_b_437871.html