is...trading (occasionally), trying to improve our political system (persistently) and just hangin' out.
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Folks whut walk with head held high
Don' worry 'bout no twerp
No matter what the names they use
Or just how loud they chirp
If someone calls you a fag boy
Whether you is or you ain't
It may be nothing but a ploy
To show you ain't no saint
And usn's here will little note
Though you may whine and cry
For we knew that before you wrote
'Cause saints in short supply
Fred
Thanks for this one, BW
Those lice have infested the world ... (can anyone list the U. S. states and foreign governments they control?) ... and I haven't a clue how we can stop it without changing the way we select the people who represent us in our government.
nlightn nailed it in #msg-38077148 .. but knowing it doesn't help.
The question is, How the hell do we stop it!!!
If you think it can be done through political parties, narcissistic politicians and campaigning, your ignorance of history and blindness to the world we live in is appalling.
No, I don't advocate revolution. I recommend careful, objective thought.
Fred
Anybody heard from Ken Scordo?
Fred
For those who feel distraught
When subjected to opinions unsought
The thought that should leap to mind
Is the replies just might be in kind
'Cause people who exercise their voice
Have made a conscious choice
If they do it in a public place
They may get it back in their face
And, if that doesn't cause you to smile
I've missed my goal by a mile
I just find it so hard to resist
Teasing folks whose complaints persist
Fred
I've finally found out why I'm losing so much space on my C: drive.
It appears Thunderbird is keeping a bunch of material that should be (in my opinion) deleted.
These items are in the <bunchastuff>\Mail\LOCALF~1 Directory (created 12/31/2004)
SENT SBD <DIR> 01/15/2005 12:32p (empty subdirectory)
SENT MSF 12,545 05/15/2009 09:59p
SENT SNM 8,016 01/14/2005 09:34p
SENT 2,199,450,611 05/15/2009 09:59p
I understand your point, but it may need a little more thought.
re: "... restore power to the states, where it is more difficult to corrupt the politicians"
The politicians gained their power by enacting, at the state level, election laws that let political parties take control of government. The parties those laws empower, evolving over the past 200 years, are now nothing but conduits for corruption.
As long as we let party leaders decide who can run for office and let them raise the funds needed to elect their candidates, the monstrosity we endure as a federal government will continue its downward spiral.
Incidentally, if you think it's difficult to corrupt politicians in the states, come on over here to New Jersey. We conduct advanced courses in political corruption, daily, with some of the best instructors in the nation.
Fred Gohlke
Thanks, very much, Doug
I'll work with the one here in the U.S. and if we can figure it out, I'll pass the info on to the gentleman in India.
I do a gang-replace of that set of special characters and replace them with (2 spaces, 2 Q's, and 2 more spaces) That makes it fairly easy to spot them and check the surrounding text. So far, they seem to be inserted at random, although, because of the 'bsp' sequence, I'm wondering if the user is correcting a typo at those locations ... and their word processor is preserving a record of the change.
Well, whatever.
Thanks, again
Fred
Gosh.
Maybe they can find some directors with more banking experience among the Goldman Sachs alumni. Heck, maybe even some of the Goldman Sachs staff would be willing to help.
Fred
Yo, Milk!!!!
Do you have any idea what I can do about emails I get from some friends (one in the U. S., one in India) that come in with all the <CRLF> (carriage return, line feed) characters stripped out of the message.
Those messages tend to contain, scattered throughout the message, this sequence of characters:
Whoops, I see iHub's editor eats that string and replaces it with a space. Here, just in case it doesn't come through in my post, is the sequence with each character separated by a space:
& n b s p ;
When, as is the case with my friend in India, his message returns a copy of my letter to him, it is disrupted in the same way.
I go through the letters and manually insert <CRLF> where I think they're appropriate, but I'm not sure I always get it right.
A) do you have any idea why it happens.
B) Is there are way to reconstitute such messages?
Fred
Thanks a bunch, Pam
I'll just have to find some pills for my paranoia.
Fred
Thanks, Newly
I'll put dBase on the drive with NTFS, remove the path to the SYS directory, create some large files, and test-run it. My guess, from what you've said, though, is that it will work just fine. dBase (and WordStar, for that matter) were always reputed to be 'well behaved', so it will probably be OK.
Thanks for you help.
Fred
Sheesh!!!
When did YOU get religion????
Your faltering nemesis,
Fred
(who has no business posting such drivel ... in the vain hope a few folks with long memories [like Matt] conjure up a smile.)
Fred
Good Morning, Newly
Are you running dBase on that new-fangled file system, or do you run it on FAT32?
I'm considering a move to modernity (no, dammit, not maternity) and want to be sure I'm able to dBase myself.
Fred
Good Morning, Suh
[edit]
I am getting this message, every morning, at startup. I used to get it on rare occasions, but now it's daily. Is it important, and can I get rid of it?
hidserv.exe has generated errors and will be closed by Windows
You will need to restart the program
An error log is being created
[OK]
Fred
Ouch!!!!
(Well, then, I'm not going to admit my original career was as a transcontinental truck driver ...)
I'm an east-coaster (born in NY state and live in NJ) but my wife and I and one of our (7) kids visited Yosemite about 30 years ago. We still talk about how much we enjoyed it (Freddy lived in LA at the time, so we picked him up and he spent a weekend with us, including Yosemite.)
I do hope you're having a wonderful time.
And, now, back to dream machines ...
Fred
I started with dBase II ... which allowed 2 files and 2 indices. When dBase III came out I jumped on it. When dBase IV came out, I bought it, looked at it, and left the box on the shelf. I did my serious programming in Clipper, which was a superior compiler for dBase-type code with some great extensions. It was fast and powerful. I loved it. For home, though, I've always stayed with dBase III.
Your loins are those tender parts you don't want nobody messing with frivolously. Actually, though, your rib cage marks the upper boundary of your loins, so my reference may not have been very precise ... but it was fun.
I believe you're in the process of touring, so get off the computer and enjoy the wonders and the people of our great land.
Fred
GIRD YOUR LOINS ... before you read this.
If you crack a rib, I must deny responsibility. The past year's market left me ill-equipped to counter claims for the pain and suffering caused by wracking your sides with uncontrolled mirth or the damage to furniture when you roll on the floor, laughing at my sad tale of woe, particularly since such injuries will be unintended consequences of an earnest attempt to enlighten my fellows.
The Tale of the new Hard Disk
Esteemed Grandson arrived Sunday afternoon and opened my machine. In fairly short order, he reported a problem. My machine has SATA drives and youngest daughter's thoughtful gift ain't one of those. However, all was not lost ...
Grandson reported that there are TWO disk drives in my machine. Prompted by this revelation, my aged memory was jogged enough to recall that, when I bought this machine, I had my grandson (a different one, one that actually finished high school and went on to get a real education) install two drives. I wanted to run Linux so I could avoid MicroSoft as much as possible. He made me a dual-boot system, one for Windows and the other for Linux.
You'd think I'd know that, since every morning I went through the process of selecting the Windows system ... which was so easy (hit the Enter key twice) that I'd long since forgotten why I did it. Besides, the Linux lacked a few critical drivers, so I never used it.
Anyway, that solved the problem, right there. Just reformat the second drive and use all that space as the new C: drive. Simple, huh.
Well, not exactly.
The format failed. Said the partition was too large. After several tries and some head scratching, Grandson's Mom (one of my other beautiful and charming daughters) informed me a FAT32 file system had a maximum size limit ... about one-half the size of this particular device ... exactly the size of the C: partition I'm running out of space on.
See, I hadn't wanted any new-fangled MicroSoft file system. I do most of my work in DOS (you know, important tools like dBase and WordStar) and I didn't know what kind of kinky thing MicroSoft might have put in that 'new' file system to force me to stop using my old favorites, so I just stayed with Ol' Reliable FAT32.
Well ... I done brung it on my own self ... so be it.
Just put it all back together, Bobby, so I can work while I try to find out if I can use the new file system, or what other means may be available to solve my space problems. So thoughtful Bobby continued to do as asked. Ahh, the wonder of the nimbleness of young fingers and the strength of young backs. There ya go, Pop, it's all back together again.
Turn on the power, Bobby. I don't like being always on, always connected. Let's see what we've got.
Ughhhh. It won't boot.
Charming daughter to the rescue ...
I don't know what she checked, but presently she told me it wouldn't boot because it was looking for the boot disk. It has one, dammit. No, Dad, not that one, the 'other' one ... the one I'd had Bobby reformat for me.
Whoops!!!
Where's the boot disc?
Darned if I know. I don't recall ever seeing the thing. I guess I won't be working in the morning.
Now, what to do?
Good hearted Ol' Bobby volunteered to take the machine to school with him and ask one of his teachers for help.
Next day.
Bobby calls after school. His teacher has helped him rebuild the boot track on the primary device so it won't look for the Linux disc, anymore, but he's having some problems with the keyboard and mouse.
Next day.
Bobby's Mom brings the computer back and hooks it up. It boots nicely ... but the blue-tooth (??) mouse can't see anything, or is it the other way 'round? After about an hour of trying to navigate with the keyboard ... a frustrating experience, to put it mildly ... she felt the need to return to the place that rents her time for the use of her many talents, so she packed it back up and took it to the local computer shop.
During the afternoon, the kind proprietor performed some magic. After work, charming daughter picked up the machine, brought it back, plugged it, and Yo!!!, it worked.
Well, kinda.
It couldn't find any of the batch files I use to perform my many daily chores. When I look to see wha's goin' on, I find the D: drive is formatted with that new file system and has a ton of space, but not much data. The E: drive has the stuff I used to keep on D:, F: has stuff from my old E:, and G: has all the heavy political commentary I used to keep on F:. Oh, my!!
Well, J: is still the place where my 'stick' thingy is. It has all my backups, so that's a big relief. Even so, if I have to find and rewrite all those batch files, it's going to be a major chore. Don't cry, Freddy. It's better than not being able to use the machine, at all.
Now, Charming, does some magic of her own.
She flashes her fingers over the keyboard, clicks little pop-up windows all over the place, shuts the machine down, and says, "There! Try that."
I turn on the power, wait while MicroSoft examines every bit of work I've ever done, and finally puts that old familiar screen up.
It pops of some kind of warning about a "hidserv" thing that has a problem, but that doesn't worry me. I've seen it before. Not frequently, but a few times. I hit "OK" or whatever it takes to get rid of it, and, Lo and Behold, I'm in business. Everything works just like it's supposed to ... and now I have a big, old M: drive with all kinds of free space.
Ain't that nice?
It sure is a good feeling.
Of course, I still have C: drive with severely limited free space, but at least I can work. I think that guy with the shop will be able to get me the right kind of drive and install it for me. And, besides, I've got this neat Casper icon on my screen, ready for use.
Virgil had it wrong in the Aeneid. He should have said ...
Beware of GEEKS bearing gifts!
Fred
Footnote: Just in case someone might misinterpret this litany as, in any way, a complaint about the guidance I was given on this site ...
No Friggin' Way!!!
a) I'm the cat what forgot he already had TWO drives
b) I'm the cat what bobbed and weaved trying to avoid moving out of the 19th century.
c) I'm the cat what said, "Hey, Bobby, just format that second drive and we'll be all set".
d) There's more, but they just go to show how I mussed the covers on the bed I made for myself.
I still think this is the greatest site in the world. All I have to do is keep my feet outta my mouth.
flg
Oh, my goodness!
You really shouldn't talk like that, you know.
You are a guest here and it's unconscionable for you to challenge your hosts.
There are 100,000 or so of us who cherish the way iHub maintains order. Indeed, many of us are refugees from sites that indulge such self-centered ranting.
We are glad our hosts have the patience and courtesy ... as well as the energy and fortitude ... to be sure we are not unduly disturbed by folks (like you) who are more prone to proclaim your rights than to accept your responsibilities.
If you would like to remain in our midst, restrain yourself.
Your Mommy and Daddy are not here to do it for you.
Fred
I don't see Goldman Sachs in that list.
Do you suppose that might be related to the little jewel Bullwinkle shared with us a couple of years ago (June 6,2007, to be exact):
http://investorshub.advfn.com/boards/read_msg.aspx?message_id=20218326
Several people on this board have pointed out the true nature of the financial debacle we're enduring. So far, none of them have suggested a means of lopping off the slimy hands that are perpetrating it.
Fred Gohlke
We've been there since we started lionizing drug addicts 40-50 years ago.
Fred
Oh, dear
Wuz I guilty of enjoying the ABSOLUT?
May your vineyard continue to bring forth intoxicating fruit. I genuinely enjoy its manifestations.
Fred
Nah,
How 'bout keeping it there ...
It's always good to remind ourselves that unfettered growth is malignant.
We won't find an alternative until we start looking for it.
Fred
(And I ain't even a Liberal ... flg)
Aw, shucks
I can't find it ...
A couple of months ago, one of our resident experts said his work showed a major low in May. That sure sounds prescient now. I've been looking for the post, but can't find it. (Everyone uses 'low', 'May' and 'cycle' in their posts and I can't think of a more precise term.)
Fred
Thanks, Newly
I started this trip about 6 months before the 'Great Depression'. Been following the Great Circle Route and we're back just about where I started.
Ahhhh, Glass-Steagall. Where have you gone?
Fred
Now that's a fine how-de-do
Getting birthday greetings from you
I can't rhyme your name
Which puts me to shame
And, believe me, I tried quite a few
But why should I worry 'bout that
It's not like I'm leaving you flat
You wished a great day
I plan many that way
Before my ol' ticker goes s-p-l-a-t
Now, please don't get overwrought
Market forecasts sure all come to naught
I brought in a Depression
And may leave a Recession
Weakening badly the stocks that you bought
Still, I'm not in a hurry to go
And even though business is slow
There could be a spout
Instead of a rout
So, really, how much do I know?
You may think that I've gotten old
And I suppose if the truth must be told
You're not so far wrong
For I'm getting along
But there's more of my life to unfold
So, as you ponder the circle of life
And the problems with which it is rife
You may find as I did
To avoid a bad skid
It's important to have a good wife
Fred
Thanks, Bruce
That was, far and away, my biggest worry with making this change.
Fred
Whatta resource for this situation.
Sit down, Bobby, ya got some reading to do ... but you'll be better off for it ... and I'll be up and running instead of down and crying.
Thanks, Bruce. That's just the ticket.
Fred
edit: Is there any chance the operating system will reject the disk change? I'm not long on trusting Microsoft. flg
I'll talk to Bobby about it, Gottfried.
My primary concern is his comfort level. He's done a few things for me in the past, so that helps. I'll be sure to make this point to him, so he can consider it.
Thanks,
Fred
Got it.
Thanks.
You may be slow, but you're ahead of me!
(That's a take-off on something I had on my trailer, years ago, in the '50s when we mostly had two-lane highways:
I MAY BE SLOW, BUT I'M AHEAD OF YOU!!!
Fred
Thank you, very much, Bruce
This has to be one of the most supportive and helpful boards in existence.
As I've mentioned to Rich Ruscio and Gottfried, I plan to discuss this with Bobby. I'd never heard of ghosting software, but I hope he has. That sounds like a great option. Actually, all the ideas seem very helpful.
I'm not sure when Bobby's coming, but I suspect it will be this weekend. I wouldn't be surprised if this experience adds to his education. I have enough faith in him to believe my machine is not going to wind up in the drink, and the guidance you folks have offered really lowers my anxiety level.
Thank you for your detailed description.
Fred
Thanks, Gottfried (Long time, no see)
I'll discuss the external enclosure idea with Bobby, along with Rich Ruscio's and Bruce Thompson's comments, to see what he thinks he can do easily. Right now, I use PKZIP and one of those little 'stick' drives for backup, but having an alternate hard drive might be a great protection if I ever have a disk failure (provided I don't have to crawl under the desk to switch them. I ain't as flexible as I once was ... physically, you understand.)
Thanks for your ideas and the link.
Fred
Thank you very much, Rich
Yes, the new drive is something like 3 times larger than the one I have.
I like the idea of replacing the entire drive, but was worried about partitioning and so forth. I will discuss your suggestions and those of Gottfried and Bruce Thompson with Bobby, before he starts so he can choose the best option within his capabilities.
Thanks, again
Fred
Do I have a problem?
One of my kids gave me a new (badly needed) disk drive for my impending 80th birthday. I say badly needed because my C: drive has only about 14% free space.
Computer:
Dell
Intel Pentium 4 CPU 2.80 GHz
AT/AT Compatible
522,332 KB RAM
System:
Windows 2000
Service Pack 4
Drives:
C: 19.50 GB, 2.87 GB Free
D: 5.84 GB, 5.68 GB Free
E: 5.84 GB, 5.59 GB Free
F: 5.97 GB, 5.87 GB Free
I believe the disk is a single device, partitioned to give me the D, E and F drives. It was set up this way because I had previously used multiple physical disks to segregate my work and wanted to replicate that environment. I still do the bulk of my work on the D, E and F drives. The C drive is used for system software, which tends to be resource intensive.
For what it's worth, my roots are in DOS and I still do the bulk of my work in a DOS environment. I prefer DOS because I can work quickly, and my fingers never leave my hands. I don't care for the mouse environment because I've long believed the computer should work for me, rather than me work for the computer.
Enough with the philosophy, Freddy. What's your problem?
One of my grandsons, a high school student, is coming later this week to install my new drive. I'd like to have him copy the material from my C: drive to the new device, install that device as my C: drive, leave my present device as a second physical disk with the D, E, and F partitions, and either disable or reassign the C: partition of my present device.
Am I dreaming?
Is this not more than one should expect from a high school student?
Fred
It may be redundant for me to mention ...
http://www.wallstreetwatch.org/soldoutreport.htm
since futrcash pointed it out on Monday, but I'm posting it again, anyway, so I can say, "Oh, my goodness. Do you suppose that's why our so-called representatives are not re-enacting Glass-Steagall?"
It's worth reading.
Sooner or later, someone's going to figure out that our situation will not improve until we devise a better way of selecting those who represent us in our government.
BW ... as always, I want to thank you for your work in maintaining the most important board on iHub.
Fred
Hi, BW
I, for one, would feel more comfortable if President Obama called attention to the repeal of Glass-Steagall in 1999 and showed how that led to this mess.
Isn't it time we debunked the Greed is Good mantra?
Do you have any idea why we're NOT hearing more rage and outrage at the incredible travesty being visited on us by the excesses of 'bankers'? So far, I see no pressure to re-enact the laws that protected us for three-quarters of a century.
Fred
Perhaps, but ...
Since the bulk of the so-called "productivity gains" have been accomplished by replacing humans with machines, I'm not sure where the buying power is going to come from. I haven't seen any telephone answering machines in the check-out line.
But, then, what do I know?
Fred
Thank you, very much, Dave
I'll be getting these folks invited over the next few weeks. Thanks for the link.
Sincerely,
Fred
Hi, Shelly
Once in the dear, dead days beyond recall
When on the earth the mists began to fall
Out of the rules that tamed this happy throng
I had no need to plagiarize this song
And at the time if I brought new folks here
Signing them up would bring awards so dear
Now, I dunno what's goin' on. I hope to bring about 12 new folks (24 eyeballs) to our fair land of stocks and fun, but don't know if there is a new member competition or anything like that. Whassupwiddat?
Please let me know ... if you have time. It's not a big deal because I'm going to try to bring them over, regardless. I just thought it was worth asking.
Fred
p.s. Lest you should not know it, here is that beautiful song, written in the day when affection (mostly) predated sex, by one J. Clifton Bingham (goodness knows when ... but before I was a gleam in my father's eye) ...
Once in the dear, dead days beyond recall,
When on the world the mists began to fall,
Out of the dreams that rose in happy throng,
Low to our hearts love sang an old sweet song,
And in the dusk where fell the firelight gleam,
Softly it wove itself into our dream.
Chorus:
Just a song at twilight, when the lights are low;
And the flick'ring shadows softly come and go.
Tho' the heart be weary, sad the day and long,
Still to us at twilight comes love's old song,
Comes love's old sweet song.
Even today we hear love's song of yore,
Deep in our hearts it swells forever-more.
Footsteps may falter, weary grow the way;
Still we can hear it at the close of day.
So 'til the end, when life's dim shadows fall,
Love will be found the sweetest song of all.
Chorus:
Just a song at twilight, when the lights are low;
And the flick'ring shadows softly come and go.
Tho' the heart be weary, sad the day and long,
Still to us at twilight comes love's old song,
Comes love's old sweet song.
Shelly is as Shelly does
And I am glad of that
If she just whacked da side yo' head
She shoulda knocked you flat
Fred
The question is ... how much do they rely on borrowed money to conduct their operations?
Fred