Hi Mike,      ...In a msg of , Mad Moose Mike wrote:

 MM>>> Could be related to USB. Win 98 has trouble with that.

 SM>> Hey, for all I know, it could be related to the phase of the moon.

 MM> Probably is...

Oh, no!  If that is true, it could open up a whole new marketing front
for the Micro$oft Ninja Marketing Teams!  They'll start saying that M$
is really a group of God and Goddess worshipping Neo-Pagans, or maybe
Druidic tree-hugging nature worshippers.  Either of those options
would let them exploit two expanding markets; the New Age folks and
the "save the world from mankind" Ecology Friendly demographic.

     ...Also, portraying M$ as neo-pagan would be a step up from just
denying the allegations which say that M$ head "Big Bill" is really
evil incarnate.

 MM> hooked up to the USB port. Once I disconnected it from USB and hooked it
 MM> up to the sound card's joystick port, everything worked fine.

 MM> And don't call me Shirley...

Surely you jest.  I would never dream of...

 SM>> I'll spare you any more details, partly because I'm saving them for a
 SM>> "rant" when the kingston.bbs.fido.users249 newsgroup slows down
 SM>> again.

 MM> I might "fix" that one from my news server, just for fun.
If you listen
 MM> carefully, you might just hear me lurking...

I hope I didn't raise expectations too much, because you'll be joining
around 30 other people I know of who "lurk" in the newsgroup.  Actual
message writers are split about half-and-half between the newsgroup
and the FidoNet echo.  What I'm getting around to saying is that, what
with things associated with BBSes slowing down, I am happy to see a
minimum of two messages a week.  Anything over that is great, IMHO.

'Course message traffic can pick up any time that we stray into
"FidoNet politics."  I just try to defend my "middle of the road"
FidoNet political stance, but we have a couple of people who can
occasionally get a little heated.  I dunno?  I would prefer it to
mainly be a "general chat" area frequented by people who are either
familiar with the BBS scene, or who are computer hobbyists or
Information Technology professionals, but it is still a Net249
message area on the FidoNet side and so...

Oh, yeah.  Message traffic will also pick up when someone starts
comparing Linux with the M$ OSs, or waxing nostalgic about OS/2.

Well, enough on that, other than mentioning that we were active enough
to get included when Google Groups was set up.  It sorta surprised me,
because DejaNews did not carry the newsgroup due to it being dormant
for a few years in the late 1990s.

 SM>> Anyway...   For whatever reason an improper shutdown, and then
 SM>> the subsequent disk scan during the next boot, has become a
 SM>> regular feature of using the laptop.  It's probably what I
 SM>> deserve for trying to keep using antique computers.  After all,
 SM>> this laptop is around six or seven years old which makes it
 SM>> quite ancient.

 MM> Ah, it's just getting "worn in"...

Maybe I'll cross-post my upcoming "laptop fun" message into MooseChat.
When you read what that particular problem is linked with, you'll have
a chance to practice using your "suspension of disbelief."

 SM>> Users echo, in the longterm I can see it morphing into a place where
 SM>> current and former BBS sysops and users can indulge in nostalgia and
 SM>> occasional technical discussion.  Or. whatever comes to mind,
 SM>> including Moose-like satire or silliness.     ...After all, having a
 SM>> widely distributed newsgroup is nothing to "sniff at."  :-)

 MM> Wasn't there once a moosechat newsgroup?

alt.moose was as close as we came, in that I suspect it was originally
created by someone familiar with FidoNet but I'm guessing because of
the name one of the other newsgroups in the alt.moose.* hierarchy.
Anyroad, we certainly never connected the two.

Having finished that fairly declarative paragraph, you've made me
curious enough to maybe dig out an archived active newsgroup list from
the late 1990s.  I'm pretty sure I checked for moose-related
newsgroups, back then but, while this may be hard to believe, I have
occasionally been wrong before!

 MM> The problem was that my computer was too shallow... on disk space, that
 MM> is. It seems NT based systems are a bit of a hog for free disk space; they
 MM> don't like being restricted to around 100 MB. I guess they're a little bit
 MM> like Meese in that respect, because they like wide open spaces. Actually,
 MM> I kind of like that; it's got a nice Zen feel to it...

My goodness, it seems that M$ NT and XP may really be New Age
operating systems!  One can only hope that "the penguin" and allies
can maintain a decent market share.

 MM> A good sweep of all the junk and clutter off of my hard disks made NT
 MM> quite happy again.

Hmmmmmm.  Sorta like all those Zen monks who first start their
vocation by keeping the temple clean.  How deep!


 SM>> I need to try and remember some of that early history.  Somehow I
 SM>> always blame the M$ success on their deadly ninja marketing teams.

 MM> Ah, so /they/ must have been the guys that attacked the
"Presidents of the
 MM> United States" while they were shooting their video for the song
 MM> "Peaches"...

Well, if they were threatening M$ marketing image, that could be very
possible.  Never underestimate the motivation of a rabid marketer!


 SM>> without telling them what XP really is," I foresee a whole new
 SM>> crop of books extolling their genius.  Naturally though, they
 SM>> won't mention the true reason for their success.  At least, not
 SM>> until the statute of limitations runs out.

 MM> When it does, then maybe we'll see "Ripping off OS ideas for
Idiots" on
 MM> the shelves?

Could be.  They could also tie the books in with a spin-off on the
"Monopoly" board and computer games.  Market monopoly is certainly
part of the M$ marketing strategy, so they could bring some new twists
to the old game.

In closing, I'll again thank you for sharing some of your Win98 and NT
anecdotes.  I dunno?  Seems like "Comparative Operating Systems" might
be almost as interesting as university Comparative Religion courses.
There's certainly enough folks around who religiously believe in one
particular operating system or another.


Yours in the Way of the Moose.       ...Steve

-
"The Moose which can be spoken of is not the True Moose." -- Lao TzuMoose

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