AdamCon.org > chat > Wed 2005-04-27

Chat for Wed 2005-04-27 20:56:37

rich-c: hello Scott, here waiting for us I see
Scott: Yes, can't stay long either
Scott: End of the semester
Scott: Wanted to say hi, though
rich-c: quite - how are teh studies going, all finished now?
Scott: Got a lot of homework to finish before the clock runs out
rich-c: always seems to be the way
Scott: Classes officially end on the 9th, but I won't have that long to complete everything
rich-c: no, and some profs can be awfully shirty about work left past deadline
Scott: At the end of this semester, I'll earn my Associate of General Studies and Certificate of Networking
Scott: It's not much, but something.
Scott: All of my profs are pretty laid back about deadlines -- actually that's been the problem
rich-c: have no idea where those stand in the academic pecking order, actually, but assume they're below a degree
Scott: They've made it a little too easy to slide
rich-c: they figure in post-secondary you should be grown up - and if not, come back when you're ready to learn
rich-c: meanwhile, where do you go from here?
Scott: Take a few more classes, go to the university for my bachlor's
rich-c: what to you intend to take at ujniversity?
Scott: I'll take classes toward a Computer Science major with a Math minor (perhaps)
rich-c: sounds like something they specialize in at Waterloo
Scott: That's right. Dale went there, right?
rich-c: yes, it is ver7y highly reputed internationally in teh computer field, though he took math and music
Scott: But why go to Canada for an education I can get in the US?
moved to room Meeting Place
changed username to BobS
BobS: hi guys !!!!!
rich-c: don't know what they are charging foreign students these days, but I'll bet it delivers better and costs less
moved to room Meeting Place
rich-c: greetings, Robert
changed username to Daniel B
rich-c: salut, Daniel
Scott: Delivers better?
Daniel B: hello Rich, Scott, Bob!
BobS: how did you do over the weekend with the snow
rich-c: you have to realize some of our universities are among teh tops in the world
Scott: Hello
Scott: all
rich-c: we escaped teh snow, just a bit of rain and cold wind
Scott: The US has quite a few good universities too
rich-c: quite - just pointing out that if you list the world's top 50, there will be a handful of Canadian ones in there
Scott: Why would University of Waterloo be better than say CU Boulder (engineering program)?
rich-c: Oxford and Harvard they aren't quite yet, but they're trying
Daniel B: A friend of mine send me a link to an old tv advertisement... and I realized how far we are now from that time.
rich-c: last list I saw put Toronto ahead of Johns Hopkins and Case Western]
Scott: For engineering, Oxford and Harvard wouldn't be the schools to go to
rich-c: right - and for computer science - well, why does Microsoft hire such a large number from there?
BobS: lucky you....down arond cleveland and over towards the thumb of Mi they got 10"-12"
rich-c: what sort of tv advertisement, Daniel?
rich-c: sounds like an east wind, putting us offside for lake effect
Scott: Microsoft doesn't just hire out of the University of Waterloo. But it is interesting that students do get hired from your school
Scott: How many does Microsoft hire out of UC Berkeley, Stanford?
Daniel B: it's for a product named "super timor" ... 1982. a kind of insecticid like Raid but it's not because of the product he sent me this link, it's just because it's funny to see.
Scott: Comparable with Waterloo?
rich-c: Of course they don't, many would not even be interested. But it does suggesst the quality
Scott: Sounds interesting Daniel
Scott: Not sure if being hired onto the evil empire is a sign of a quality program
Daniel B: I found other tv ads very funny... one named "Smithcrips" almost at the same time but in UK. the music is very funny.
Scott: I hadn't heard of the University of Waterloo until Dale and yourself mentioned it.
rich-c: well, you may have a point, but then that they would actively recruit there should tell you something
Scott: Sounds expensive too.
Scott: For a person not living in Canada
moved to room Meeting Place
changed username to rich-1
rich-1: sorry folks, got dumped
Scott: There's two instances of you here
BobS requested to ban rich-c
Scott: Weird.
rich-1 confirmed ban
BobS: now youa re WHOLE again
rich-1: sometimes when it dumps you it doesn't record it
Scott confirmed ban
Scott: Ahh
Daniel B: http://www.adeater.com/ -> "The Film Library"... and search for "Super Timor" or "Smithcrips" ... and have fun!
Scott: Daniel -- classes are almost over. Then I can return to game development. Yay!
rich-1: anyway Scott, I think you would find if you asked that tuition for a foreign student at Waterloo is from 30% to 50% of what they would pay at home
Scott: Even for an out of country resident?
Scott: Here out of state/country residents get killed
rich-1: I believe I saw something about U of T charging upwards from $12,000 depending on faculty
Scott: They pay about 5 times as much, even at the local community college
Daniel B: my coleco web site update still going... after this update, I will concentrate on my personal projects and php programming.
rich-1: don't expect medicine to be so cheap!
Scott: You're programming in PHP too?
Scott: That's what I'm doing right now at work!
rich-1: seems everyone is doing php these days
Daniel B: I started learning ASP, PHP, mysql and Flash this year.
Daniel B: in fact, I did some tries on php last year... and a first flash animation two years ago.
rich-1: anyway Scott, you might do yourself a major service by inquiring if Waterloo would accept you and how much they would charge
Scott: At the BLM, they won't let us use ASP at all. Only ColdFusion and PHP/MySQL
Daniel B: The companies here ask for ASP programmers.
Scott: But Rich, there's one problem -- location. I work in Denver, CO.
Scott: Companies in Canada?
rich-1: right - my comments would apply only if you were planning to be a full-time student
Daniel B: that's mostly why I learn this language... becuae I don't use Windows NT.
Daniel B: I will answer, "at least companies here in quebec, and at the governement"
Scott: Yeah, well, it would be wonderful to study in a foreign country, but I have a family now and need to take classes at a college nearby. Waterloo sounds very interesting, but if I were to take that plunge, I might as well try for a prestigous school in the US. Sorry.
rich-1: I think *nix and its "companions" are the wave of the future
Scott: People seem hot and cold with the server side languages.
rich-1: it's only an option for those who can do it, Scott, so don't fuss it
Scott: Some places laugh at PHP. Others cringe at ASP
rich-1: Microsoft is pushing Windows serverws like crazy, but how far it;s getting them I'm not sure
Scott: Just giving you a hard time Rich. It's been awhile since I've done that!
Daniel B: Smithcrips (UK) : A farmer try to "extract" potatoes in his farm but the potatoes don't want to ... not now, because they are not good enough to be Smithcrips "We wanna be (umf umf) Smithcrips!"
rich-1: sounds like fun, Daniel
Scott: Windows servers, last I checked, were running into stiff competition with Linux
Daniel B: The song is funny and stay in our mind.
Scott: But that was a few years ago that I was even paying attention
rich-1: I remember teh first time Speedvision broadcast the Rolex 24 Hour race - they showed old British car commecials (ca. 1955) in teh intermissions
rich-1: they were quite fascinating
Daniel B: http://france1.eol.fr/publivores/mpg.php?ref=3344
Daniel B: this is the mpeg file for the Smithcrips tv ad.
Daniel B: "We wanna be..." hehehe!
Scott: Well, I better get back to my homework. Nice talking with everyone!
Daniel B: bye Scott!
Scott left chat session
rich-1: OK Scott good luck with teh courses
Daniel B: gone pretty fast
rich-1: wow, he left in a hurry, didn't he?
rich-1: wonder where everyone is tonight?
Daniel B: Well, james is busy but i can talk with him online with yahoo.
rich-1: don't know what's with Harvie, and I thought Pam would be on by now
rich-1: Guy and Ron are late arrivals anyway
Daniel B: i don'T know... but this give you the opportunity to download the wonderfull tv ad : http://france1.eol.fr/publivores/mpg.php?ref=3344
Daniel B: hehehe!
Daniel B: JAmes say hello to everyone
Daniel B: and he will try to be online with us later
rich-1: tell him hello right back, and good morning!
rich-1: hope he is able to make it
BobS: tis kinda dead tonight
Daniel B: do you think it's because of the end of classes like scott said today?
rich-1: well, go look at: http://singingman.us/DYR.htm - you'll get a kick
rich-1: I don't know - Dr. D. seems to have bailed on us completely
rich-1: he isn't even sending notes around saying he wont be on
rich-1: don't know wht that is all about
Daniel B: i'm not sure, but i think i already saw this web page, no?
rich-1: no idea Daniel, don't think I posted it before but I could be wrong
rich-1: it's really something Bob would appreciate more than you - it's oriented to us old folks
BobS: cute website and yes i do remenber some
rich-1: there was only one I didn't get, because it wasn't something we ran into in Canada
BobS: makes em kinda old feeling don't it
Daniel B: I remember this link, Rich. Last time I've got problem because he played the song then stop then play then stop ... because he downloaded the song and played it as soon he got a part downloaded.
rich-1: I sort of get teh feeling geez, are those things that old?
Daniel B: and if you find "super timor", it's in french but it's not a big deal because everyone can enjoy this tv ad because of its "choregraphy". hehehe
rich-1: right Daniel - I got it easily because I'm on DSL - dialup is different
rich-1: yes, as you may have noticed my French is a little rusty these days
Daniel B: I will check my emails now... brb
rich-1: OK c u shortly
BobS: naw theya ren'told
BobS: we just remember a LOT
rich-1: so Bob, whre's Judy and the family tonight?
BobS: I got it ok and I only have dialup...tis playing the song right now
BobS: Judy is here crocheting away
rich-1: right Bob, it's just because we kept getting reminded of them so often
BobS: I guess
rich-1: did you download it first? I'd guess it's too fast otherwise
BobS: but is strange how soon all yor memories become very old.........
rich-1: it really comes home to you when you talk to teh younger generation
rich-1: I was born when Hoover was Preisent - they don't even remember Kennedy
BobS: I started looking at the pics and then the music came on
rich-1: yes, the pictures load before the music starts
BobS: that's true........the "collector" group is now concentrating on the 1970's and 1980's
rich-1: hey, I'd bet you'd know - we found a really wierd one while cleaning
rich-1: would you believe an old "Pin the tail on teh donkey" game?
BobS: that's not old.......seems like our kids played taht only about 25 years ago
rich-1: big paper poster, sheet of tails to cut out, art old commercial
BobS: kinda of dangerous by today's standards,....being blindfolded witha LIVE pin
rich-1: right - far too dangerous
BobS: HORROS
rich-1: guess there would be no vintage toys market interest in it then
BobS: HORRORS
BobS: probably would
BobS: saafety has no place in collectables
rich-1: so how do I find out if it's a collectable?
BobS: although there are probably a LOT more of them out there that you could ever imagine
BobS: check Ebay
rich-1: I've nevr seen one at a flea market or antique show, though I don't frequent them that much
rich-1: took a peek a day or two ago, nothing that could give me a clue
rich-1: may not have used teh right search term
BobS: looking now
rich-1: also have an old "shaker box" bingo set
BobS: buck and a half US up to 5 bucks.......1941 vintage.....noids
BobS: no bids
BobS: = no value
BobS: cept nastolgia
BobS: even a disney Pin the Tail on Mickey has no bid
rich-1: it's a Hasbro ©1972 and pretty tatty - too new
rich-1: OK, I can pitch it in good conscience then
BobS: same deal on shaker bingo ...... nada, zilch no deal
rich-1: right - will deal with them accordingly
BobS: collectables are way down right now........
rich-1: really? I wasn't aware of that - wonder why?
BobS: we are losing our proberbial "ass" in the antique malls
BobS: if summer doesn't turn aroudn completely we are packing it in come falltime
rich-1: the collector car market seems to be growing great guns
BobS: it is like someone close3d the faucet this year
rich-1: that's telling us something, but what?
BobS: don't know
rich-1: is the economy taking that much of a thumping, or is consumer confidence that low
rich-1: of course you're in Michigan and GM and Ford are on teh skids
BobS: good question.......don't really know ..... economy is not good especially here in Michigan, but comsumers are not happy either
rich-1: too worried about the weekend rent payment to spend on luxuries?
BobS: maybe
BobS: paper tonight talked about "can GM file some kind of bankruptcy??????
rich-1: since your business is based on entirely discretionary purchases, I guess you'd be teh first to feel it
BobS: i can't believe theya re anywhere near that but...........
BobS: usually the antique/collectable business keeps going thru recessions, etc as most of the stuff is small in price
moved to room Meeting Place
changed username to james
rich-1: well, they are losing money, but that's nothing new; teh business is cyclic
BobS: hi James
james: big crowed today
BobS: not
rich-1: they are though steadily losing market share and that is not good
rich-1: good morning, james
BobS: b ut Ford is gaing market share
james: who's losing market share?
rich-1: no, Ford's is sliding too, but they are still showing black ink, if barely
rich-1: Ford and GM
james: i smell poop. brb
BobS: oh YUCK !!!!
james: well if they made stuff that didn't fall apart or need to be recalled they might do better
rich-1: oddly enough, Chrysler is doing well, but Daimler (Mercedes) isn't
Daniel B: i'm back! hello james!
james: saw a lot of kias on the road the last time i was back
rich-1: that time is long ago, james - American quality in general is very good now
rich-1: in fact it's considerably better than European and hot on teh tail of teh Japanese
moved to room Meeting Place
changed username to Guy B.
Guy B.: Greetings!
rich-1: well, Hyundai just got the J D Power rating for best initial quality for teh Sonata
rich-1: hello Guy
Daniel B: Hi Guy!
Daniel B: :-)
rich-1: we wre just discussing teh deplorable state of the US auto industry
Guy B.: Was Pam on tonight RIch?
BobS: hi guy
rich-1: no, she hasn't come on yet, Guy - maybe she's watching a tv show or something
rich-1: she will be here for dinner tomorrow if you want me to pass anything along
Guy B.: Oh I know. My car in the 2 years I've had it. Been recalled twice already.
rich-1: how serious wre the recalls?
BobS: the big thing that the japanese imposrt started here in america was to force the american carmakers to improve their products
rich-1: a lot of them, they'll find a wire a bit loose in a dozen and recall three million to make sure it was a limit4ed flaw
Guy B.: One was a safety recall involving the tail lamps. I had them go out on me several times.
BobS: and now the korean imposrts are reinforcing the need for better cars
rich-1: I'll agree that one is serious, Guy
james: sec, containment field breach
rich-1: define better, Bob - there's more to the choice than indestructibility
Guy B.: Seems the bulbs were not making contact. I have two brand new ones in there now and so far, no problems. The only thing the dealer did was put lube on the bulbs.
rich-1: need my beer - brb
BobS: basically destructability
BobS: grease them up
rich-1: I remember when we used to trade our cars at 60,000 miles because the maintenance cost was overtaking teh value of teh car
rich-1: now they aren't even broken in at 60,000
BobS: seems like they could have done a little better job than that
rich-1: that's the point I'm making, Bob; the market HAS improved that far
rich-1: now when you wear them out (and that takes a long time) you drop a new engine or tranny in
BobS: unleaded gas has done wonders for the inside of the engine
rich-1: the rest of teh car is so good it makes economic sense
BobS: right
rich-1: allow me another opinion on unleaded gas - lead was also a lubricant and no substitute has been found
rich-1: actually it has been teh advances in computers that have allowed the new quality standards
BobS: correct.........just get a valve job and put in hardened seats
BobS: and you are good to go again
Daniel B: I've got a working pentium one 133Mhz for 20$... i just wanted the case but for this price it's a good deal.
rich-1: it laasts for a while and there's no option - unless you can sneak a tank of av-gas occasionally
BobS: hey it works, right Daniel????
rich-1: let's say you paid what it's worth, Daniel, which does not mean that it isn't good valie
james: i have to go. today is payday :D
rich-1: let's face it, computers nowadays are some of teh greatest bargains of all time
BobS: be good James
james: will try :D
BobS: NO KIDDING
rich-1: see you james - take care
james: thanks
Guy B.: Bye James
BobS: when yo figure what you paid up until about 2 yearas aago....and even then they were falling fast
rich-1: if I bought a computer now that was just beyond teh limits of what I really need, I'd get change from $600
rich-1: maybe even from $500
Daniel B: the computer is working if you plug a keyboard, and a monitor ...
rich-1: yes, though there's a limit to what it can handle, largely because of memory capacity
rich-1: and there may also be too tight a BIOS limit on hard disc size
Daniel B: Actually, it's old technology but the case is an atx... like I needed.
BobS: and think about this.......in about 1980, an ibm (probably a 286 or 8088) cost about $3000 (no printer)........in 1980 DOLLARS !!!!!!!
BobS: an ATX ps on a 133???????
rich-1: exactly, Bob - I'm waiting for teh next price drop to get a laptop beyond my wildest dreams
BobS: can get almost latest ones for $500 here
james left chat session
rich-1: but I want 15" screen and DVD burner
rich-1: not to mention 512K of RAM if the video is shared
BobS: careful about the big screen.....doug has had problems w/ Toshiba's big screens as they don't have the spring supports to handle the large acreens
rich-1: right now the ones I want are $1300 Canadian, but that wil come down
BobS: so he went back to a 14?
BobS: absolutely they willl
rich-1: old eyes need all teh help they can get, Bob ; - )
BobS: in a year they will be $400 and then $300 and then ....... and then
rich-1: no, the big price drop in screns is already showing
rich-1: but they'll but Celerons in place of teh Centrinos we don't need
rich-1: and maybe a video card to let 256 RAM do teh job OK
BobS: that will all helop to get the price sown
BobS: after all.....how MUCH do you need to use for home use??????
rich-1: yes, for instance HP have one that would do just fine, but it's a Centrino and has a 15.4" wide screen
rich-1: lose those and it would be fine for me at a kilobuck
Daniel B: for home use? A 486 with a Windows 3.11 and enough memory should be enough to write letters and surf the net.
rich-1: the big problem is Windows XP which would come with it - apparently it's a godawful memory hog
Daniel B: But, for video capture and dvd burning, you need Pentium III.
rich-1: not necessarily on a DSL line, Daniel, but cose enough
rich-1: my 166MMX laptop still handles things quite adequately in most cases
rich-1: not sure if my Athlon is a PIII or PIV equivalent - Guy?
BobS: i notice no difference between a P166 and P2 266mhz on using a dialup connection........
Guy B.: They are different. The new Athlon processors works better with WinXP.
rich-1: no, dialup is so slow anyway that it's unlikely to make a difference
BobS: XACTLY
BobS: but tis cheap and inexpensive and I have the time
rich-1: after all, your maximum speed is still that of teh slowest server in teh path
BobS: right
rich-1: well. we pay $35 a month for DSL and that's cheaper than adding a phone line
BobS: we just use the one line and have Callwave online answering service for $4/month
Guy B.: My DSL is around $40 and I got a increase in speed not too long ago and I have notice it.
rich-1: Frances has been unhappy with having teh phone line tied up since I had to go to hospital and couldnt tell her
rich-1: now she wants me to get a cellphone to carry around with me
BobS: operator should have cut in for an important call
BobS: thought yo had one
BobS: maybe getra little one
rich-1: it's a cigarette-lighter plug-in - has better range than teh batery based types
rich-1: but I'm limited to using it in teh car, or house with an adapter
BobS: that is the only problem
BobS: although in town, a b/o should do fine
rich-1: yes, butthat means another number, and big line charge, and all that b/s
rich-1: still, went out to look at teh phones yesterday - cheapest was $235 as a clear purchase (no plan)
rich-1: Frances was not impressed
BobS: ouch
rich-1: moist are sold at a discount or free - if you buy a $40 - $50 a month plan
BobS: we have a local outfit buying time from Verizon and reselling for $10=40 minutes good for 4 months and can be carryed over
BobS: andn they have rebuilt phones available for about $30-50
rich-1: we pay $10 a month plus a large charge for every minute - but may not use even a minute a year on average
rich-1: well, we haven't looked into rebuilt phomnes yet, but may do so
BobS: do
rich-1: yes and I will also look at some plans, if they are cheap enough
rich-1: our carrier will store one phone and activate teh other on request, if we want one for travel and one for home
rich-1: but our old phone is analog so maybe it won't work much longer anyway
BobS: oh horrors, now they want to make that different too????
BobS: although doug hates digital.......short range
rich-1: all the new ones are digital, and on two or three different protocols to boot
BobS: bouncing in and out
rich-1: that is NOT what I need
rich-1: Guy, Pam is coming here for dinner tomorrow - any word you want passed on?
BobS: HEY anybody here???????
BobS: yup I am
rich-1: yes, just waiting for a reply
BobS: think ya'll are getting lazy here
BobS: must be Guy is busy
Daniel B: i'm still there... but someone else is talking to me
Daniel B: and i download 2 huge files.
BobS: ok
rich-1: yes, but Guy is given to doing other stuff offline and not responding in chat
rich-1: my computer for some reason isn't too enthusiastic about multi-tasking
BobS: well tis time to go find me beda nyways.......
BobS: I don't seem to have much prboelm that way
rich-1: not can't do it, but BSODs become a bit more frequnt
BobS: freezes onlce in a while
BobS: see you all next week kids
rich-1: anyway yes, it's getting to be that time
rich-1: see you next week, Bob
BobS: will be may and hoepefully warmer around here
BobS left chat session
Daniel B: bye bob!
Daniel B: bye Rich!
Daniel B: talk to both of you next week
Guy B.: Well Folks, got to run. See you all next week.
Daniel B: bye Guy!
Daniel B: I'm leaving too.
rich-1: OK Daniel, bonsoir et a la prochaine!
Guy B. left chat session
rich-1 left chat session
Daniel B left chat session

AdamCon.org > chat > Wed 2005-04-27
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