Saturday, December 31, 2005- - -
Things that make you go Hmmm..
Awhile back I was thumbing through a Cheaper Than Dirt catalog and came on a page featuring handcuffs, leg irons, cuff keys, disposable restraints, straight, T-handle, and expandable batons, and a cat-o-nine-tails. I haven't tried to order any of this stuff, but I can just picture the teaser: "Our customers who purchased the chrome handcuffs also bought this attractive whip!"
@8:10 AM
Friday, December 30, 2005- - -
"-40 keeps the riff raff out!"
Urban Legends takes a look at the email that's been circulating, comparing the recent blizzard in NoDak to hurricane Katrina.
If those Swedes had any sense, they'd strap the snow shovel to the front of the car and drive south until someone asked them "What's that thing for?" They could just follow my tracks..
@9:00 AM
Don't believe everything you read on the internet!
Advice that goes double for the LA Times:Casper Star: No, Gov. Dave Freudenthal really didn't tell the federal government to go to hell or say that wolves are "federal dogs" in Wyoming, despite what a major national newspaper told its readers Tuesday.
...
What started out as a bogus news release written as an April Fool's joke by Afton outfitter Maury Jones has turned up as fact in the media -- unfortunately, for the second time, according to [the governor's press secretary, Lara] Azar.
...
On its front page Tuesday, the Los Angeles Times wrote about continuing resistance to wolves in the greater Yellowstone area. Staff writer Julie Cart quoted from Jones' tongue-in-cheek release titled "Wyoming Governor tells feds to go to Hell." They're right about the continuing resistance. Right now the big fight is over the US Fish & Wildlife Service' redefinition of the "greater Yellowstone area" as all of Wyoming. Wolves were sighted a few days back nosing around a stockyard on Gooseberry Creek, about 10 miles south of Worland. The south-town farmers are not amused.
Of course, there is a nugget of truth in the story: Last week's visit to Wyoming by a top federal wildlife official who urged a spirit of cooperation on wolf management was anything but a howling success.
...
Gov. Dave Freudenthal said he sees no sincere effort by the U.S. Interior Department to compromise with Wyoming.
"I think this is all D.C. politics, not biology," he said.
...
"Basically, their position hasn't changed from what it was," Freudenthal said. "It's not really clear why he came out." While the Gov hasn't told the feds to go to hell, it would appear that he is wondering why they're darkening his door. You'll note that to the feds a 'spirit of cooperation' is code for 'we dictate, you cooperate'. Then the numb nuts wonder why some tough old rancher gets his back up.
@5:44 AM
Preston Davis Green!
Melissa and Stephen Green have a brand new baby boy! If you rotate that photo 90 degrees to the left you'll note he looks a lot like dad.
@5:15 AM
Thursday, December 29, 2005- - -
Uffda!
ShrinkWrapped lists the Top 10 things NewYorkers can do to retain their sanity in 2006: "4) Decrease the amount of negative input. Cancel the New York Times. ..." To which Robert Godwin replys: "Sure, what with its influence, it's hard to avoid the New York Times bringing you down. But just remember--you shouldn't let one rotton [sic] bunch spoil the whole Apple." [Rimshot! Thud! Sound of body being dragged off-stage.]
Ps. Oops! H/T Dr. Helen.
@10:48 AM
Wednesday, December 28, 2005- - -
Uphill both ways!
Man, those were the days. I too learned the ropes on an IBM, a 4341 (OS 360/370 was the operating system). Complete with it's input/output, rooms full of keypunch machines, card and tape readers, and disk farm, it filled the entire basement of a building that covered a city block. If I recall correctly, the support staff occupied the two floors above. I (literally) generated a pallet-load of those 2000-card boxes of punch cards and lugged them across campus with a handcart. Yessir, I spent the better part of two years becoming a Fortran guru. Of course, now I sometimes wonder watfor.
I distinctly remember how excited I was when the university installed its first CRTs! No more of the keypunch machine's BamBamBamBam! (you'd have thought it was punching holes in a 2x4, not a paper card). Now, I could create a file of data and send it to the remote keypunch machine, which punched my cards error free! Actually, it also allowed me to store the data on a tape reel and I ran my analyses from that data set, but the professor I was working for didn't trust such unproven technology and insisted that everything be put on punch cards for safe storage. Yep, that was safe alright. The card reader would inevitably chew up a few of the cards -- especially those that were folded, spindled, or mutilated -- every time you ran them, making it necessary to search through the cards by hand and repunch the missing data. For all I know, the Park Service is still storing those punch cards, all 90+ 2000-card boxes full.
I remember the KayPros as the first popular personal computer and once drove half-way across the state to actually see one, but I wanted an Osborne. Remember the Osborne? It was the first computer to use Microsoft DOS and it came bundled with WordStar. I loved WordStar [sniff], it was designed for touch typists, none of that Alt + Fn + F3 crap, no pull-down menus, nothing to inturrupt your thoughts as your fingers scampered over the keys.
Unfortunately for Osborne, their marketing "experts" started advertising the Osborne II at least 6 months before the tech guys could deliver. Needless to say, I wasn't about to buy the original when a new, improved model was coming out and, apparently, neither was anyone else. Osborne was left holding the bag on a bunch of machines made obsolete by their own idiocy, and then the first IBM PC appeared, pushing them over the edge.
The IBM was it. The IBM Selectric was the typewriter by which all others were judged. I still have one, 50# of indestructible, smooth-as-a-baby's-butt, built-in correcting ribbon, writing power, baby! When the IBM PC appeared people walked away from the KayPros and Osbornes, and never looked back. Of course, being a vagrant, I had to have the IBM Portable PC and plunked down $3200 for one of the first, with serial # under 1000. Amber screen, double-sided, double density floppy drive (360 Kb! Monster storage when the hard drive was still a twinkle in the eye.), a whopping 256 Kb of ram, and it only weighed 45#. I was the first person at the U of NoDak to buy an IBM PC of any kind, and the first to hook it up to the University's 4341, via a 300 baud acoustic modem (no more handcart, yeah!). For a few weeks there I was a swensation, with a stream of faculty dropping in just to see it and try a few strokes on that clickity-clack keyboard. We was high tech!
Yessir! You whippersnappers have no idea how lucky you are. And now I must go, they're ready to take me back to the old foggies home. Time for morning gruel.
Ps. Doug Sundseth writes:I'll allow as how I remember the old days too*.
The first computer I worked on was a Sigma 7 that belonged to the University of Wyoming. We had a dedicated line that connected a TTY in a classroom in Central HS in Cheyenne to UW in Laramie. To get into the class, you had to "pass" a pretty undisguised IQ test.
Watfor? Dude, WATFIV.
Then I used (and was the operator for) some odd "mainframe" in Zweibruecken American HS. At this remove I can no longer remember the make, but it had 64K of RAM and 5 terminals (two TTY, three CRT). Its only long-term storage was paper-tape. At least it didn't have cards to get out of order, but it was only notionally non-volatile.
To reboot the machine, you had to turn it off, then reload the OS (from paper-tape, remember). To start the tape load, you had to toggle switches on the front panel of the computer. (NSTIW.)
The first computer I owned was a VIC-20 (3.5 K of RAM, 2K usable), which turned out to be useful for homework when I was controlling experiments with a Commodore PET (which you could destroy with the wrong Poke).
I actually sold (or failed to sell) Kaypro 2s, 4s, and 10s. The Kaypro 10 had a 10Meg hard-drive (which everyone was convinced was definitely overkill for a personal computer). I remember the computer that everyone wanted being the Northstar Advantage, though; probably just a slightly different timeframe.
You might want to take a look at OldComputers.com. Lots of pictures and statistics from the brass-age of computing.
The first IBM clone I bought, I had to decide between a hard-disk and a CGA card; couldn't afford both. IIRC, I bought the CGA card, because the emulators for Hercules Graphics Adapter (HGA) cards were unreliable.
Ah yes, the days when a 5-1/4" DS HD disk ran upwards of $5. These whippersnappers don't know how good they have it today -- I remember Compuserve at $6.00/hr.; $12.00 if you had a "high-speed" modem.
Oh yeah, and Prodigy.
8-)
Doug Sundseth
Thornton, CO
* If we're to codger on, we should use the stereotypical dialect, neh?
ps. Good to see you writing a bit again. Ah yes, those were the good old days, editing your paper tape-based programs with scissors and glue. I suspect that there's still a Harris salesman somewhere trying to unload the last of the warehouse full of 64 Kb ram minis (5 Mb hard drive and a DECwriter included!). Of course, there's still a market for them among government agencies like the IRS and FBI, one of the reasons why I'm not as alarmed as I should be over the whole "Knowledge is Power" Total Information Awareness program. How much information can you be aware of if your systems are one step removed from a roomful of monkeys with abaci?
There's another amusing and educational story: The open-source IBM PC, running MS/DOS, quickly became the industry standard -- ISA! -- and spawned a whole industry of clones and after-market software. In fact, the IBM PC was such a smashing success that IBM decided to stop making them and stop using MS/DOS, shifting their production to proprietary, OS2-based machines. They took careful aim and shot themselves in both feet. When was the last time you saw an IBM 'puter on someone's desk?
Apple wasn't entirely immune from marketing fox paws either: Remember the Lisa? Ever actually see one? If I recall correctly, the Lisa was the first personal computer advertised as coming with a standard equipment hard drive. Par for the course, they advertised the heck out of something they couldn't deliver. I actually considered skipping the ol' portable PC and ordering a Lisa; glad I didn't because I'd still be waiting for delivery.
And those aptitude tests: I had to take a test of some sort before the U of Wyo would let me near their precious mainframe. A couple days later, they called and offered me a job, which I gladly took as the oilfield was temporarily prostrate (ca. 1987 it was. And Yes, that's AD you punks!).
Now, I must go visit that OldComputers.com site. I'm sure that will set me off again. And to think I used to yawn when the codgers started reminiscing. Now I've become one of the boring old farts.
@6:37 AM
The more things change..
According to Pfeiffer's Pfacts in yesterday's Casper Star print edition, 42 people were arrested for topless bathing on the beach in Atlantic City, way back in 1935. 'Course all of them were men...
@4:43 AM
Monday, December 26, 2005- - -
Beauty is only skin deep..
While old age goes clean to the bone. Via the InstaPundit comes this choice bit from the AP, published by PJ Media:
"Forget "40 is the new 30." Now even twentysomethings are joining the quest for eternal youth by using anti-aging products and wrinkle treatments." Reminds me of trying to sell Old Green a couple years ago. It has a near new, factory rebuilt engine, newly rebuilt transmission, and near new tires. But did anybody want to know that? Heck no. Every caller wanted to know what color it was and "how's the body, any rust?" They only cared what it looked like on the outside, while I happen to think that mechanical condition is just a bit more important.
Same thing applies here: Want eternal youth? Forget the wrinkle cream and buy a membership at the local health club. Of course, I could be a bit biased, my face looks like an elephant's backside* from too many hours in the desert sun. But the engine, trany, and tires are in darn good shape thank you very much.
*Ps. Some have argued that the sun has nothing to do with that.
@3:15 PM
Sunday, December 25, 2005- - -
 A mandolinist with a blog!
The famously* bib-overalled Mike Compton has a blog! A read of his last few posts confirms my suspicions that the life of a professional musician is neither as easy nor as glamorous as one might imagine.
While you're at it, his web site is also worth a look. I'd found that awhile back, as he's one of those few fine fellows who post the music/tablature of favorite tunes. I just downloaded and printed one of his latest, Big Indian Blues, which looks like a lot of fun. I'm delighted to read that he's currently studying country blues-style mandolin, a genre that I find much more fun to play solo than bluegrass, which really needs accompaniment by guitar and banjo to avoid running afoul of my wife, who claims that all my bluegrass songs sound alike (she has a point).
*You may never have heard of him, but I bet you've heard him; he plays on the soundtracks to Oh Brother Where Art Thou and Cold Mountain.
@5:17 PM
Oh, baby! Oh, Baby! OH Baby! OH!!
Standing rib roast with all the fixings and a nice bottle of Wolf Blass yellow label cabernet. Okay, it's not as good as sex, but you do want to fall asleep right after..
I've been pondering the inexplicable badness of most contemporary Christmas music and searching for anything that isn't totally awful. In the process I came across the Martha Stewart boxed set of Christmas music, which reminded me of one Christmas song that isn't too bad: John Prine's Christmas in Prison:
It was christmas in prison
And the food was real good
We had turkey and pistols
Carved out of wood ... On that note I think I'll go take a walk before I go face down on the keyboard.
@3:02 PM
Okay, that's just pathetic
Consumer protection has reached a new low. I just pulled the foil off a bottle of bubbly to find the cage emblazoned in red: "STOP! READ WARNING BELOW". The warning states: "Be careful! Point bottle away from self and others to avoid serious injury. Stopper may eject forcefully as you are removing the hood or after hood removal. Bottle contains high pressure which increases with warmth or shaking. To open: (1) chill well, (2) do not shake, (3) point bottle away from self and others, (4) remove hood, (5) twist stopper out slowly by hand. NEVER use a cork remover or reinsert the stopper."
For those who actually drink champagne (rather than bathing in it like celebrating athletes), it's also a good idea to wrap the bottle in a tea towel and use a corner of the towel to twist the cork out, while resting the bottle on the table or counter. The towel will protect your hands in case the whole bottle shatters (it happens) and resting it on a solid surface helps avoid the otherwise inevitable shake you'll give the bottle when the cork pops. If the bottle is properly chilled and rested on a solid surface you'll never spill a drop.
Now go practice. Three or four reps ought to do it.
@11:08 AM
 Merry Christmas!!
You may find more ostentatious Christmas displays, but surely none better than Grandpa Grump's. Here's hoping that Santa's "reindeer" didn't leave any meadow muffins on your roof!
@5:34 AM
Saturday, December 24, 2005- - -
Worst flash animation ever?
Flashbunny says "You be the judge". (Click on "Watch my fancy video".) A lovely bit of multi-culti foolishness: A UN fundraiser that bites the hand of the the UN's single largest contributor. All very fashionable I suppose, but not very smart if the point is to -- you know -- raise funds.
While we're on the topic of hand-biting, my favorite quote:
"The noblest dog of all is the hot dog; it feeds the hand that bites it."
-- Dr. Laurence J. Peter
@6:33 AM
Friday, December 23, 2005- - -
 The War on Christmas
Of course, Santa Claus isn't the target of the "Happy Holidays" crowd, but I needed some excuse to post the photo, which made the rounds of the internet a few years back.
I suspect that the InstaPundit is correct that 'Happy Holidays' is mostly a PC convention, used in the commercial forum for fear of offending the occasional strange creature who really is anti-Christmas. I've noticed that when I respond "Merry Christmas", most folks beam like a small child sighting Santa. I'll also agree with Reynolds that if the very word "Christmas" offends you, you really need to get a life.
On the other hand, I tend to agree with Bill Quick that we need to be very wary of displays of religious icons in government, attempts to introduce Intelligent Design into public school science classes, and such. Here though, it isn't because I'm an atheist (I'm not) but rather because the folks (at least out here in the Rocky Mountain west) who most fervently promote this sort of thing aren't the least bit interested in presenting some sort of innocuous, non-denominational religious observance. Rather, they want very badly to get their proselytizing feet in the door -- they'd be delighted to have your children as a captive audience. They don't give a rip for religious freedom, they only want you to be free to convert to their religion. To those who think teaching ID or leading organized prayers in public school is a good idea, I say be careful what you ask for, you may get more than you've bargained for. Somehow, I seriously doubt that many folks want to send their kids off to public school as good little Baptists or Lutherans and get them back as good little Mormons...
@7:39 AM
Thursday, December 22, 2005- - -
 For what it's worth..
I searched the very comprehensive place name index provided by my iGage topographic map package for Wyoming and find that there is no "Brokeback Mountain" in Wyoming. However, we do have Brokenback Creek, which flows through Brokenback Narrows and fills Brokenback Reservoir, draining a good-sized area on the west flank of the Bighorn Mountains just northeast of Tensleep. Although this didn't show up in the place name index, the area drained by Brokenback Creek is locally known as "The Brokenbacks". Here's a photo I took awhile back, looking north across the Leigh Creek Vee toward The Brokenbacks.
@6:27 AM
Wednesday, December 21, 2005- - -
Well, isn't that special?
Times Select must be doing swimmingly well. So well in fact that they violated the federal do not call registry and the Wyoming State law against totally automated telemarketing messages in order to call and tell me about their new 14-day free trial offer.
Hm.. I suppose they might slip through the loophole of 'companies I do business with', since I am a registered user of their site. Didn't stop me from filing a complaint though.
@11:30 AM
Things that make you say Hmmmm....
The InstaPundit thinks Michael Kelly would have loved Michael Yon. But..
"Truth be told, there is no Michael Kelly; he's sort of like a musical Jolly Green Giant - a trademark figure who blesses the company's products with his benevolent spirit." Ps. Yes, I'm still kickin'. I'm suffering (yet another) round of computer-related vision problems that I hope will be cleared up SOON. In the mean time, I'm trying, not entirely successfully, to stay off the computer and work on painting my office, dining room, kitchen, and laundry. Tons of fun, but nothing you'd be much interested in I fear.
@11:00 AM
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