7/11/94 6:30:03 PM Opening ÒChat Log 7/11/94Ó for recording. AFL Don : Hello, Tim! LTNS! Tim : Hi y'all Tim : Sure is Don. AFL Don : ...slow start here tonight... Tim : Hi Walt Cuddly1 : :) AFA Fixit : Hi Tim AFL Don : Wonder if anyone missed us on the fourth of July hiatus.. AFL Don : Just as I predicted, got bumped again! AFL Don : ...been trying to find a problem with my Quickie today... AFL Don : For some reason or other, returns don't terminate scans when I'm running from GS/OS 6.0.1, but do if I boot the floppy disk... Funny, because it used to work ok! I've been having a lot of fun fooling with clip art on the PowerBook, scanning things on the GS... AFL Don : But it's a pain when I have the problem I've run into... AFL Don : I see I scheduled Servicing Intermittent Problems for tonight... Got any pet hints, Walt? AFL Don : Fortunately, the Quickie problem isn't intermittent, so I should be able to run it down without a big problem... ...famous last words AFL Don (Comment added later: The Quickie problem goes away if I perform a shift boot) AFA Fixit : If it works with 6.0.1 from floppy, the problem is obviously in your system folder AFA Fixit : You weren't here the week before last. AFL Don : That's what I thought, Walt, except that the floppy isn't GS/OS 6.0.1... and, I just reinstalled GS/OS... AFA Fixit : Did you create a totally new System Folder. AFL Don : No, week before last I was in Tillamook, OR with no dialtone. Yeah, I did all the right things, reinstalling. Guess I'd better do 'em again. AFL Don : Come to think about it, other things have quit. My grandson lives on 2GS these days, complains that he can't get Battle Chess to work, and it used to last time I checked. AFL Don : Did your repair to your mother's VCR hold up? AFA Fixit : Naw, the rubber band broke last week. AFL Don : ...I don't know what they put in the real drive belts, but they're usually durable... AFL Don : I've repaired two subminiature tape recorders in the last few weeks, broken belts... AFL Don : Kills me to pay $3.50 plus S&H for a rubber band, but it sure beats changing 'em out monthly... AFA Fixit : As for intermittent problems... Reseat everything and wait. AFL Don : Right! AFL Don : That finishes the topic for tonight! AFA Fixit : Rubber bands are the cheapest form of rubber on the planet X AFL Don : ...BTW, did you hear that a memory module failed on the Hubble Space Telescope? AFL Don : They have a spare main computer that's now the only game in town... AFA Fixit : The cheapest drive belts are vulcanized at least. AFL Don : Speaking of computers, which we weren't, I'm really running out of HD space on my PowerBook... AFA Fixit : Didn't hear about the Hubble, but I don't have time for TV, Radio or newspapers. AFL Don : Gotta do something desperate... Like maybe use my TMS Shadow on the PowerBook for non-essential files AFL Don : ...there's a nifty area here on AO, in the Astronomy section, that has a good summary of AFL Don : what's going on... AFA Fixit : That's about the size of it. You already using compression software? AFL Don : Radio, TV, Newspapers have all been O.D.ing on O.J. AFL Don : Yeah, I have Aladdin SpaceSaver going... AFL Don : Trouble is, a lot of the stuff on the drive can't be squashed... AFL Don : ...so SpaceSaver only gives me 3 or 4 megabytes... AFA Fixit : Then there's little to do but add or replace. AFL Don : ...I know, I know... 40 megs is not much drive on the mac... AFL Don : ....the programs are all space eaters. I can't believe how big some of 'em are. AFA Fixit : They are a lot smaller if you perform a custom install. AFL Don : ...on the 2GS monitor front, I've got another problem brewing, unrelated to the peaking coil deal... I notice that it's flickering... Mechanical intermittent. A good rap on the side and it quits for a while... That one's going to be tricky, I think, 'cause as soon as I get it out of the case it'll behave itself... AFL Don : All three colors track when the brightness twitches, so it shouldn't be too hard to zero in the general area... AFA Fixit : My monochrome monitor has been doing that for about a year now. AFA Fixit : HT AFL Don : ....famous last words again AFL Don : I bought a PSI monitor years ago that did that out of the box. Just a bad solder joint. AFL Don : That's probably what this problem (the new problem) is... WaltRoshon : Just a problem of finding the bad solder right?? AFL Don : Problem is, I looked over all the pc boards when I first ran into the green-screen problem, and all looked pretty good. Tim : Back AFL Don : Yes, just a case of hitting the right joint. Problem is, a joint can be bad, look good sometimes AFA Fixit : I didn't know PSI did monitors WaltRoshon : That could be a problem :/ AFL Don : Years ago... This one was pretty-good monitor, with 24-MHz bandwidth. Bought it when I was programming 17 hours/day for the college, wanted an amber monitor. I still use it up at the college, on the BBS I run up there... AFL Don : Only problem, the Apple 2 won't fill the screen on it because of the black border Woz put in the Apple 2 so it'd be usable on a tv set. I tried all the old tricks such as putting a cap across the width coil, trying to squeeze more horizontal sweep out of it, but nothing helped enough. It sure gives a sharp picture, though, very easy on the eyes... WaltRoshon : bbnw... see ya'll later AFL Don : See ya Kate! Always nice to have you drop by! AFL Don : ...I didn't have to try your rubber cement solution, pulled the door hinges off, cleaned the WD-40 away with Trichloroethane, my wife is happy again... And no squeaky hinges yet... AFA Fixit : So now you have no lube at all. AFC Marvin : Good evening, Don & Walt. I must have missed all the activity. AFA Fixit : Didn't miss a thing. AFL Don : Hello, Marvin! We were just getting ready to wrap it up... AFC Marvin : Been a quiet night? I just got home from work after a busy day. Lot's of meetings today AFC Marvin : as we are in the process of trying to purchase another FM station. AFL Don : Best part of retirement is no meetings... AFL Don : Oh, really? That sounds like a lot more work for you! AFL Don : Same market? AFC Marvin : I am beginning to appreciate the no meeting retirement idea. AFA Fixit : I've got lots of meetings since moving to product support. AFC Marvin : Boy, I bet you do Walt. AFL Don : All the meetings I've sat through could be summarized in one breath... AFC Marvin : Yes, it will be more work for sure during the process of moving another station in our facility. AFA Fixit : Meetings, reports, conference calls... AFL Don : All the generalizations are true, the most time is spent on the least significant topics... AFA Fixit : Retirement's too far off to think of. AFC Marvin : Hard for me to believe that my normal retirement year is 2000 and that is not far off. AFL Don : It'll be here before you know it... AFL Don : ...tain't so bad, though... AFC Marvin : Hope I am ready when the time comes. AFA Fixit : 2025 here. Just a up. AFL Don : Kinda nice being able to do what you want, when you want to do it... AFL Don : ...well, I'll be 95 when you retire, Walt... AFA Fixit : My father-in-law has to retire the end of this year. I don't think he's ready... AFC Marvin : Why does he have to retire? AFA Fixit : I'll probably feel like I'm 95 when I do. AFA Fixit : Corporate charter rules. AFC Marvin : As far as I know retirement at age 65 is normally not mandatory. AFL Don : ..that'd be a bummer. Nice to do it the way I'm doing, with post-retirement work for a few years... AFA Fixit : He can stay on as Chairman of the Board until he's 70. Executive officers have to step down at 65. AFC Marvin : Interesting how they set up that charter. AFA Fixit : Makes room for the "young turks" AFL Don : I thought those kinds of arrangements were against public policy now... AFC Marvin : I just noticed that I received a Mac program for the American Dictionary with quotes. I thought that AFA Fixit : The charter was written over 20 years ago. AFC Marvin : would be a good addition to the Mac. Also I am tempted to spend $200 for a double speed CDRom drive AFL Don : Hello, Bruce! AFC Marvin : for the PowerBook that I saw advertised over the weekend. AFC Marvin : Hello Bruce. AFL Don : Welcome to the aftermath of the Apple Hardware Forum Chat... BruceWeb : how you doing? BruceWeb : Do people still use Apple II out there? AFL Don : Only problem, most CD roms are heavily graphics dependent, and our PBs are not too swift with AFL Don : graphics... AFL Don : Sure thing, Bruce, lotta Apple 2 users still. AFL Don : It's as good a computer as ever... AFL Don : What are you using? AFC Marvin : I realize that Don but figured there are a lot of CD's that will be useful. Such as a CD that is a AFC Marvin : great map of the USA that one of the fellows at work has. BruceWeb : I run a whole management business with my IIE (unenhanced), but I'm thinking about stepping BruceWeb : up to PC or a MAC AFC Marvin : Yes, Bruce I am still using my good old IIGS. AFL Don : I do all my grading spreadsheets with AppleWorks, nothing else can touch it for speed... BruceWeb : I still do everything with Applewks and quicken (original for IIE. AFC Marvin : I also use Appleworks and wish I had the ability to use it on my PowerBook 170. AFA Fixit : Or ease of use. All the PC and Mac spreadsheets I've used are unnecessarily obtuse AFL Don : Quicken's pretty good on the Mac (very good, actually), but the text-based spreadsheets are way ahead of the graphics-based versions used on the Mac, in my opinion... BruceWeb : I agree about spreadsheets. Ever try Excel? AFA Fixit : A royal pain. Don't know why anyone thought it was a good idea to make you put an "=" at the beginning of a formula. Always thought Appleworks interpreting strings starting with numbers as formulas to make the most sense. AFL Don : I've got so many routines in boilerplate that I can't afford the time to switch from AppleWorks... AFL Don : I've done some ClarisWorks spreadsheet work, and the curious requirements are manageable... BruceWeb : My only real complaint about my Apple is the speed, but I don't know if it's worth $ for accelerator chip. AFL Don : You should be able to pick up a used TransWarp for the //e for a song... AFL Don : How are you able to run AppleWorks on an unenhanced //e? AFA Fixit : Could make you a great deal on a 4-MHz Zip chip ;) AFA Fixit : You get @ for mousetext. BruceWeb : I use AW 3.0 and it works fine. AFL Don : Strange... Thought it wasn't supposed to work at all.. AFL Don : Been a long time since I've even seen an unenhanced //e... AFA Fixit : Only thing that Appleworks uses of an enhanced //e is mousetext. BruceWeb : Shows you how long I've been using AW. I started on V. 1.3. AFL Don : Well, that should work then... AFA Fixit : Started with 1.1.1 here. AFL Don : I used 1.0 for a while... BruceWeb : AW is still the best all purpose program available anywhere!!!! AFL Don : Agreed. I like ClarisWorks, a lot, though. Although I'm not too high on the database, and prefer the AFL Don : AppleWorks spreadsheet... AFA Fixit : My mother still uses Appleworks for everything. XWu : hello BruceWeb : My school has about 110 PCs and we still use 30 Apple IIE and GSs AFA Fixit : Hi XWu AFL Don : Hello, XWu! Welcome to what's left of the Apple Hardware Forum Chat! AFL Don : Teacher, Bruce? XWu : was there a lot of people here earlier? BruceWeb : Hey XWu, how's it going? XWu : fine, thanks for asking.. AFC Marvin : Hello XWU and Hi Frank. AFL Don : Not tonight, XWu... Very sparse tonight, although sometimes we have a good turnout... BruceWeb : I teach and do a few other jobs. Don't most teachers? AFL Don : Hi Frank! BCS Frank : Hi Marvin, Don, y'all! :) XWu : is there anything to talk about??? AFA Fixit : Well, I have to get to bed. Overslept this morning and had to make a conference call from home. BCS Frank : Right... that's how teachers get rich. :) AFL Don : right, Bruce... (Retired teacher here, still teaching on a post-retirement contract, though.) AFL Don : Do you have any Apple 2 problems, XWu? We can talk about those! AFA Fixit : Night all BruceWeb : Rich and teachers? I don't think so.... AFL Don : Well, GNITE Walt, CUL... AFC Marvin : Good Night Walt. XWu : Actually, I don't,.... My gs has been running superbly(sp?).... BruceWeb : GNITE Walt AFL Don : Great! Well, you know where to come for help if you have problems! XWu : I'll make sure I take offer when I do have a problem.... BruceWeb : Well folks, it's been real. I'm glad to know this is here. I'll be sure to come back. Nite! XWu : actually does anyone now what system error $201 is? AFC Marvin : Good Night Bruce. AFL Don : ...I've seen it a lot, but can't remember... I'm not on my 2GS right now, so don't have access to AFL Don : my error list... XWu : what are you on? AFL Don : PowerBook 170... Can't bring my 2GS into the living room, the 2GS is in use right now... AFL Don : Grandkids visiting, play games 20 hours a day on my 2GS! XWu : do you have any other computers? AFL Don : Nope... XWu : grandkids!! how old are you... if you don't mind me asking? AFL Don : 64 BCS Frank : Good grief! Even older than moi! :) XWu : wow! and what do you do again? AFL Don : I'm a retired college professor... AFL Don : ...still teach each Spring on post retirement, for a couple of years more, or until I get tired of it.. XWu : Which college.. god I feel like I'm play 20 questions... AFL Don : College of San Mateo... XWu : Where are you located, I'm not familiar with that college...