This is the general announcements item - the first of several announcement items. Later items are more specific - announcements about Grex, Grex system problems, why you're happy, why you're bummed, etc. If you have something general to announce to Grexers, this is the place to put it!352 responses total.
k.
Hey, I can keep up with the current agora!
the online photoalbum of my Coast to coast tour by bicycle can be found at: http://www.pixum.de/members/usabiker/ (bit blurry, maybe)
You sound like Sheldon Brown
Re 3 - can you also put this URL in the item about grexer websites? I look forward to getting a graphical browser working and looking at your bike trip photos.
I emailed vipla (who has been posting all over grex asking for help with 'changing websites') and offered to help him via email. I asked where he was from (assuming the perfect spelling and funny grammar were Chinese). Turns out he speaks Serbian and will probably be rather surprised to get an email back from me in that language.
Are Serbs known for writting on any wall they can find?
No, nor are they known for the perfect spelling he was using.
"Hi everybady!I am new here.Send me some instructions?"
hai Sindi Keesan i wanna know about you mail me in my mail add: r_nezt@yahoo.com
If you want to know about me try reading www.grex.org/~keesan (website). Or type finger keesan
Something interesting from the University of Michigan:
"During the weekend of September 20, ITCS began filtering outbound e-mail
for viruses. Beginning the weekend of September 27, virus filtering will
also be done for incoming mail. For details, see:
http://www.itd.umich.edu/techresources/filtering.html
"
UNLUCKY
re 12, Seems like a good idea. Why pass on 150k of useless message or harmful message where the only thing the person did was to have a know email adddress.
re: 12, seems like a silly idea, since most viruses have their own built-in SMTP server and wouldn't be going through the University's mail server anyway.
How many people do you know who choose to use a virus as their mail hosting service?
Not counting those using MS Exchange Server?
Not counting that or linux either.
Re #16: That's what I was wondering too.
I don't know what the university does, but where I work we filter outgoing connections to port 25. All outgoing mail has to go through the mail server. This is an obstacle to viruses but not a very high one, since some of the newer viruses are smart enough to scan for machines likely to be mail servers and try to relay through them. Virus scanning of outgoing mail on the server would provide better containment, though.
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You think someone would be able to read all of that?!
pic is too fuzzy .. can you get a clearer shot? i have tranaslators avail.
TAKE IT TO DEERBORN!
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I'd like to announce that I just saw an ad for Simon and Garfunkel - "Old Friends" in concert on December 14th her in DC. Um, anyone else know about that?
They will be playing The Palace in Auburn Hills later this month; WEMU was giving away tickets yesterday. (They said the show is sold out.) Yes, they've gotten back together.
Two shows at the Palace, Oct 18 and 19. Both sold out within a couple of hours of opening sales. Tickets went for $55.95-125.00. They are saying that this is absolutely the last time.
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re26: so what?
I like Simon and Garfunkle but I am too cheap to go spend $56+ to see them at The Palace. sheesh
hello...new to grex. i have an account here, and one at sdf.lonestar.org too. just wanted to say that grex and sdf have become my two new favorite charities -- nonprofit UNIX groups offer the rare opportunity to be a misanthropic philanthropist (philanthropistic misanthrope?) anyway. http://www.deadbarnacle.net.
Cool site, Matt. Welcome to Grex. I'd offer you the standard greeting
("It Gets Easier(TM)"), but I suspect you're not finding it at all
challenging already.
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I need a place to stay this week around AA/Ypsi,
hopefully close to UM Hospitals, Kellogg Eye,
St. Joe's, and WCC. I'm paying hotel rates
and I'm sure someone can underbid them.
I need tobacco-smoke free.
My apartment is currently not in use and is walking distance (1-2 miles) from U of M and we have a bike you could use. What days do you need housing? The apartment is only for heavy sleepers - bedroom below a kitchen which is in use until midnight and starting at 6 am. You can use the kitchen but we have turned off the refrigerator. The bathroom is in the basement and you need to preheat it in advance before showering (electric space heater). Also easy biking distance to Kellogg and there is a bus to St. Joes and WCC. Phone 662-1520 for more information Monday 11-12 am or evening around 8-11 or any time after that. Jaklumen and Julie have stayed there before. Nobody has smoked in my apartment since 1987. What are you in town for?
I thought jor was in the AA-Ypsi area?
He posted the same thing on M-Net
Date: Tue, 7 Oct 2003 17:07:06 -0400 From: CNN Breaking News <BreakingNews@MAIL.CNN.COM> -- Appeals court rules national "do-not-call" registry can be implemented while court considers whether it violates telemarketers' free speech.
Jor had a live-in job that ended just about the time he developed eye problems and he was staying in a hotel temporarily. Surgery Friday and he may stay at Jim's for a few days so we can look after him until he recovers. Right now they are out checking spark plugs in jor's 1987 car (same age as Jim's but automatic transmission). Very nice and very helpful guy. Then we will show him my apartment for longer term use until both of us feel better. He can handle the stairs down to the bathroom there, I cannot easily yet.
RISKS digest volume 22 issues 92 and 93 are in the usual spot.
Sindi and Jim are being very nice.
I am of course being total pain in the ass.
Jim is a gourmet cook.
Jim is working on my car, which has been
working very dependably. I am now a pedestrian.
/unpacks walking shoes
I tried to warn him that it's dangerous
working on a rickety old car, better to
leave well enough alone . .
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The car started today without doing anything different to it and the library did not have the service manual for that model. Jim is a vegan cook. He asked me what spices to add to the lentil stew. Jor (john) ended up at Jim's house instead of my apartment and is being a perfect guest and unbelievably quiet. Today they might put Win98 on the computer Jim found at the curb. My apartment will need a few days of my time (next week when I am feeling better) before anyone can get around in there with or without vision. Jim was sort of camping in there for a month while taking care of me and he claims he does not know where to put anything away in the kitchen (despite having taken it out in the first place). I already removed the frying pan from a chair and pie plate from the burner and he took the computer off the table to bring here so we are making progress. But jor is better off staying here until he recovers from surgery and why move back and forth. Jim seems happy at the prospect of running a mini-recovery center and we can take care of each other here. It was getting sort of boring before. Any further car repairs will have to wait until the man-eating ladybugs get cold and go into hibernation.
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Wait, Keesan and Jim broke jor's car?
(fantasy hockey begins today.)
I noticed today that the new span of the Broadway Bridges has been opened to traffic, and the remaining old one is being demolished.
Except not the traffic of jor's car.
So What is not eating the lady-bugs?
Yeah, the Broadway Bridge changeover happened over the weekend, I think. They didn't make any big deal about it; I used it Saturday and was surprised. Sure a lot nicer to bike on the new bike/pedestrian path.
Depot street will be closed tomorrow, probably for the demo of the remaining span of the old bridge.
The ladybugs were imported so nothing around here seems to eat them. The curbside find is our fastest computer. Win98 will run on a P166 just fine and this is a P500. The owners probably put it out because the PCI video card stopped working., The onboard video (1024 res only) works fine. The previous owners left the 8G hard drive but removed the floppy drive with its holder so Jim had to improvise to put in two hard drives (one is for DOS). He made his own cage (holder) out of something. We now have two computers and three monitors all over the living room.
I tried to drive north on Division to
get on Plymouth the other day.
Welcome back to AA.
Right - doesn't work too well nowadays, unless you're into crashing through barriers and driving on rubble.
I'm into it. Just not prepared.
Umm I just got really interested in Linux and I decided to get to Google and do some digging which is how I wound up here. Umm, I don't know much about how this stuff works but I'll be here every time I can. :) We're all one...
Umm I just got really interested in Linux and I decided to get to Google and do some digging which is how I wound up here. Umm, I don't know much about how this stuff works but I'll be here every time I can. :) We're all one...
Well, probably you want to go join jellyware.
Sometimes Google takes you to the strangest places! (Welcome to Grex, by the way.)
Grex isn't even close to qualifying as one of the "strangest places" Google might take you..
Re #58: I'm not. Welcome to Grex, psyris!
I used to be one, but I grew out of it.
Re #54: Has anyone warned you about the streets that used to be one-way but aren't anymore, yet?
re 63: what, you used to be one of the strangest places? <ps: It Gets Easier (tm)--welcome!>
has taht traffic-snarl idea already gone into practice? which one-ways are now a mess?
(#63 was responding to the final thought of #57/#58 and the penultimate thought in #62; I can't claim to not be strange.) tsty, State Street, Liberty, Thompson, Maynard and North University are now two-way their entire lengths. When I've driven that area since the change, I've found traffic to move much more smoothly, and parking a lot easier to find. No more swooping across several lanes of traffic to get to that open spot on the other side of the street.
(I've found the complete opposite when driving through [data point from last Saturday night, around 8pm].)
yikes .. thankxx for the info - i did ask. i guess i'l have to take a run at it some time soon. i tend to suspect carson's respoins is more appropriate than gelinas but that is NOT a function of eitehr man, but rather a functin of driver anticipations. driving is an excercise in being aware of anomolies whilst anticipating normality. it could also be a function of the time of day ... we shall see.
The State/Liberty/North U area gets very congested during home football weekend, especially during the evenings. One person turning left on NU from s-bound State, or left onto n-bound State from Liberty can tie up the intersection for a full signal cycle. Same for left on w-bound Liberty from State.
I wonder if it would help if they made part of State St and part of Liberty one way? hahaha j/k
For those who occasionally join the Saturday Grex Walk: The regular walking group is going to reset the walk start time to ** 10:00 am ** which is where it was back when the walks started in the late 1980s. Start times have drifted to about 10:30, now perhaps pushing towards 10:40. Lunch gatherings should be around 12:30. Followup discussion in item:80
there were grexwalks in the late 80's? ;)
re #70: You can turn left now from south-bound State onto North University? I *have* been away from Ann Arbor for a while..
(They began as M-net walks, but most of the walk people ended up on Grex as the community divided.)
RISKS digest volume 22 issues 94 and 95 are in the usual spot. (They seem to come out in pairs now.)
Re #74: Yep, but you'd only have had to been away from Ann Arbor for a short while to have missed the change. The one-way stretches near the intersection of State and Liberty were eliminated only a couple of months ago. Re #72: Are walk announcements still published in the Observer? If so, they should be revised to reflect the new start time.
I think we should wait and see if the new start time sticks, before contacting the Observer. I think we've missed the November deadline anyway, so let's at least wait until we've had a few successful 10:00 walks.
You might also want to consider calling them "ambles". ;-)
There's a village called Amble in Northumberland county, England. Strangely enough, I never heard of it going anywhere....
Well, the Grexwalk is sure no mosey or shasshay.
Now that the Grexwalk regularly includes small kids, it tends to be a lot slower than it used to be.
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The reason comes from Euclidean geometry. They tend not to walk in straight lines.
But, being lighter, they have a greater mean-square velocity.
With the contours in the Arb I wouldn't think Euclidean geometry would be the best fit anyway..
Date: Tue, 14 Oct 2003 21:11:07 -0400
From: CNN Breaking News <BreakingNews@MAIL.CNN.COM>
Subject: CNN Breaking News
-- China launches its first manned space mission,
becoming third country to do so.
Well, they also tend to be in strollers that an adult person is pushing. They are mostly in an upright position during the break, on the few grexwalks I've been on in the last couple of years.
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I think the babies do slow down the walk, on average. There are a few more stops, and occasionally one of the little ones does want to actually walk a little. Dunno what exactly to do about that.
Nothing. Enjoy it. We'll meet you for lunch and get exercise on our own.
re 75 The community "divided" ?
My bank just mailed out something telling us to protect American's future by complying with the new Patriot Act. When you open an account you now have to provide proof of citizenship or residence. This somehow will stop the spread of terrorism. 'According to the FTC identity theft is the fastest-growing crime in the country. Our ability to feel safe it becoming more difficult with terrorism and crime on a steady increase. But there is hope...' Somehow the Patriot Act does not make me feel safer.
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Just a reminder that Saturday (tomorrow) is the annual trip to the Dexter Cider Mill. Lunch begins at the Lighthouse Cafe in downtown Dexter at around 12:30, we hope!
They are, however, required to check your name against a list of suspects. One Congresswoman found this out the hard way when her attempts to wire money to her husband were repeatedly blocked. The bank eventually told her that his name matched one on some kind of list, but refused to tell her more. Apparently it's secret.
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"New USA Patriot Act regulations designed to thwart terrorist financing require financial institutions to retain more personal data on their customers and to take rigorous steps to verify their identities. "The measures are the latest regulations that some experts say are costing the industry hundreds of millions of dollars and increasingly casting bankers in the uncomfortable role of beat cop in the fight against terrorism. "Many financial firms collect such information, but the new regulations increase reporting requirements and require companies to step up their procedures and recordkeeping. "Customers who supply inaccurate birth dates, Social Security numbers or other personal data could have their account application denied or their funds frozen, a prospect that has added to criticism that regulations related to the Patriot Act of 2001 go too far in prying into the personal lives of consumers." ... "Like Bay-Vanguard, most companies will require a driver's license or other identification as part of the verification. Companies also must check customer names against lists of suspected or known terrorists and money launderers." ... "Mroz said Bay-Vanguard has devoted dozens of staff hours to complying with the Patriot Act. First, bank officials had to study the regulations and formulate new policies. Then, the staff had to be trained. "It doesn't stop there. Every time the Treasury Department puts out a list of suspected terrorists or terrorist organizations, the bank's security officer must manually search thousands of records to determine whether any of the names match." (http://www.consumerwatchdog.org/corporate/nw/nw003637.php3)
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Debates in one of the many, many debate items, please!
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a little too much "Peter Gunn" rip-off going on there, imho.
re 102 I couldnht access that
(tod is right that banks do not have to confirm citizenship. However, banks _do_ have to confirm identity. I've read the relevant sections of the USA Patriot Act, and a lot of the implementing regulation. I should finish reading it this weekend, because Authorised Signers are not customers, but the bank may not want to accept that, and I have to change the signers on some accounts PDQ.)
Just imagine if "John Smith" got on the list. Or George Bush.
RE#102 -- In Mozilla after looking like windows media would be loading, it jumped to a page that looked like a mailing list signup, and in IE it asked me if I wanted to update my DRM in Windows media, which I don't. So I couldn't see/hear whatever it was.
re #107: It didn't work quite right for me in Mozilla, either.. I got redirected to some page which told me that a license had been granted and I should push on the "play" button to hear the track. Unfortunately there was no "play" button (or much of anything else) on the page I was seeing at the time. When I used the browser's back button to go back a few pages to the page with the Windows Media Player embedded in it, I found I could press "play" in the media player on that page and hear the song. Odd and confusing..
re97: was the tub waxed?
Yeah, it didn't work for IE either.
The changes around Liberty and State have made that area completely insane during the day, and until around 6:30pm. I could go into more detail, but I'm sick of talking about it -- I simply don't go there unless it's later in the evening. It's chased me away from impulse shopping at Borders, too; I guess it'll be Nicola's Books or Amazon from now on.
Re 111: I think the timing and sensors for the State/Liberty light are pretty screwed up.
Huh. That is too bad about the traffic downtown. It probably would work if they didnt allow left turns but that would make it a pain in the neck in a different way.
Timing & sensors for many of Ann Arbor's traffic lights are screwed up. Then there are the drivers who don't notice when the light turns green. But it's a pretty good town to walk around if you've got the time.
yeah, that is probably one reason I havent really noticed any problems with the traffic at State/Liberty. I usually drive in and park on the edges of downtown and then walk around. If I am going to Borders, for instance, I usually come in via Packard to Fifth to Washington and then park in the Tally Hall structure.
Time is exactly the problem. I live here, and I work here, so when I'm shopping in downtown Ann Arbor it isn't a special day-long expedition like it is for people from Novi or something. It's just trying to patronize your hometown stores, without burning tons of time you don't have. I'd take half an hour on my way to or from somewhere and run into Borders, or into one of the restaurants, or whatever. If there wasn't a convenient space, I'd keep going and come back another time. Now, you have to go to the edges of the area, hit a parking structure, and walk in. I don't mind the walk, but I do mind the extra time that crap adds. It's no longer something I can do on impulse on my way between meetings or something. It's an expedition. I guess Amazon is my hometown bookstore now, and I can kiss those restaurants goodbye in favor of ones in sane places like Kerrytown, Briarwood, and Ypsi. Nice job, City Council. (And that crap about how since the lights will make people drive slower, they're more likely to notice the businesses? Complete bullshit. The way those light cycles are set up, they aren't looking at the buildings. They're scanning for parking spaces -- they got rid of almost 20 -- and then staring at the red light they're stopped at so they don't miss the brief, three-car green. Assuming another pedestrian doesn't jaywalk and keep you from using it again, since the pedestrians also get very few walk lights so they jaywalk all the time.) Really, really, really dumb. Dog-ass dumb.
I think the "three car green" is a result of timing and sensor problems, though. They've definitely got throughput problems which would be solved with longer greens.
This Friday on State St at N.U. and William area was the worst I've ever seen. Much of the problem was the right turn from William to S.State towards the Michigan Union. I judged that it was because of homecoming. However, a lot of confused people still clog up that area during the day. I can see it from my office window above where Decker Drugs was.
City Council was not pushing for this. The merchants in the State Street Association working with the DDA were the ones who really wanted the change.
And that is the same merchants association which pushed to make those streets one-way in the first place.
I'm interested in reading this not just because I'm still a bit interested in what goes on in Ann Arbor but also because Grand Haven's downtown merchants are pushing for their two one-way streets (Franklin & Columbus) to be changed to two-way, a move I'm convinced will devastate traffic flow through downtown Grand Haven and cause horrible congestion on crowded summer beach weekends. I'd like to see them avoid making the same mistake it sounds like Ann Arbor has made..
Kalamazoo is doing the same thing (thinking of converting all/most of the downtown one-ways into two-ways). I think in K'zoo's case, though, it'd make driving downtown a bunch easier.
Jim discovered why his battery light was on in the car on the way from our recent trip out of town. The fan belt (which has something to do with charging the battery - alternator fan?) was gone, must have broken off. He replaced it just two years ago when it went bad. He biked to Murray's and got a belt which was the wrong size and is returning it now. Good thing we were going to leave early and run errands on the way to my 4:30 CT scan at the hospital. But they are likely to be running 2 hours late again like last time anyway. For some reason the lights were working fine driving home Friday - last time the belt went bad they were weak. The red brake light was also on - why?
The first fan belt (that was supposed to be correct for his car) was too long. He asked for one just slightly shorter, but they looked up another size and gave it to him. It is too short. He tried adjusting the car to take larger or smaller belts but no luck. He will ask them to call the car company this time. We have two hours left. Cars sure waste a lot of time. I would bike if I had regrown enough muscle - much quicker and easier.
You may not get good advice at Murray's. I asked them what was the correct replacement battery for a car and they chose and sold me one that did not fit (and which was more expensive than the one that did fit).
This is why Jim wants to check with the manufacturer (third time). I don't know why he cannot measure the length needed for this car.
There is some range of adjustment and, I am sure, some guidelines on how to measure for the proper length. It may be, however, that the adjustment had already been set to the (upper) limit of its range, so a measurement would be incorrect.
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(today is my dad's birthday.)
haps birthday, pops carson.
Jim has no AC in his car, just DC. He figured out why they kept giving him the wrong belts. First belt - he asked for a 1989 model and his car is 1987. Then he adjusted the car to take a larger belt, and when the gave him the second belt it did not fit. The next two belts he got intermediate sizes which were both too large, and returned them for the second belt, which this time he got working. All his fault. The red warning lights no longer come on. He is happy he made it back without the belt from 10 miles away. I am happy we made it to the hospital by 4:30 pm.
AC as in Air Conditioning, not Alternating Current.
Ann Arbor's downtown, like most downtowns, seems to be intended more for tourists than for people who actually live in Ann Arbor. Changing one-way streets to two-way seems like exactly the kind of move that's intended to benefit tourists, but at the expense of locals.
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Jim does not air condition anything. He figured out what the strange clunk was as the car turned the first corner. This morning he went and found the wrench he had left inside the engine comnpartment. Also a pile of concrete blocks, of which you can never have too many. Our guest has just moved.
re #133: > Ann Arbor's downtown, like most downtowns, seems to be intended more for > tourists than for people who actually live in Ann Arbor. Based on thirteen years' worth of residence in Ann Arbor, I strongly disagree.
Besides, this whole one-way/two-way thing is not in the "downtown" area, it is in the "campus" area. Also, it is patently not about tourists versus locals, it is about merchants trying to improve sales.
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RE#135 -- The question was wether his car had air conditioning not if he used it.
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i hope. ;)
Yeah, I hope Sindi's is up to chain yanking strengh.
Sindi is still not strong enough to even replace the toilet paper on the spring-loaded holder so is not yanking any chains. Jim's car never had AC or A/C. He had an air conditioned Jeep once that he tried the A/C on once. It wastes gasoline. We left the windows open instead.
If you yank the chain, then the terrorists have won...
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If you yank the chain, the water will flow from the tank and splash the excrement around your ankles.
Ewwwww...
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The terrorists win if we *aren't* allow to yank chains. I think Benjamin Franklin had some sort of tract on the subject, if Google is willing...
For those appreciative of travel narrative, item:enigma:381
I've heard it claimed that at highway speeds, opening the windows compromises the car's aerodynamics enough to cancel out any benefit from having the A/C switched off. No idea if it's true, though. I can report that having a bicycle on the roof rack reduces fuel economy by a surprising amount. Bikes are draggy things at 70 mph, apparently.
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Ooooo, he said "rearmounted". Wow...I really need a nap...
I think cracking a window with the AC on is probably better than having the AC off, because the air coming into the car would just use the window as an exit. An open window is catastrophic to aerodynamics at high speeds. I'm not at all surprised that bikes are bad, too, especially on top. The ones in back probably vary depending upon how much air is designed to "stick" to the back of a vehicle, and that is often not much on the SUVs you see carrying them.
Re #136: I would have disagreed too, until the traffic pattern changes.
Maynard between Liberty and William is open again. I've been deliberately choosing to drive S. State between Washington and Liberty at every opportunity. I do see the point about fewer parking spaces, but I _don't_ see increased congestion; I find it much easier to get around that area now. Yesterday, I turned right off N. University and left onto Liberty. Yes, only three or four cars got through on the left arrow, but I was first up on the next cycle. Jaywalking has long been a problem in the campus area; the pedestrians do NOT play well with others. Never have, probably never will.
Personally, I've always thought it a feature that pedestrians had (maybe "assumed" a better choice here) priority over cars in the campus area.
We don't normally drive except for Christmas and Easter when it is not too hot.
Yeah, my feeling is that pedestrians reign around campus, and drivers should just deal with it. Of course, that's just my feeling.
Not quite. Sooner or later, the pedestrians have to give the cars a chance to get through the intersection, too. If the pedestrians ignore the cars, as so many do, and just keep entering the crosswalks, the cars are left with little choice but to enter the crosswalk too. If cars are stopped at the stop signs, stop at the curb and give them a chance to go, too. It's just courteous.
I remember when I first moved to Ann Arbor, a student yelled at me to "Get out of town" because I was driving my car on campus. She had the opinion that campus belonged to the students an people with cars who live in the city don't belong here.
You probably shouldn't have been on the sidewalk. ;>
I've lived in AA for many years and commuted to work at UM's main campus for most of that time, and no one *ever* 'yelled at me to "Get out of town"'. I wonder what bru was doing that would elicit any comment (apart from driving on the sidewalk - or across the Diag).
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You too? And here I thought I was special....
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There was a Coronal Mass Ejection detected wenesday, that is expected to hit earth at about 3pm EDT today...and expected to last 12-18 hrs. http://www.cnn.com/2003/TECH/space/10/23/solar.forecast/index.html
Folk, if you,re in a suitable area, this means the Aurora should be stunning!
Yes, check it out: NASA's Space Weather Web site is predicting that the northern lights could be visible as far south as Oregon and Illinois. </clip>
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re #168: What would constitute a suitable area?
Any place from which the Aurora would be visible.
Asshole.
Dang. I wish we were expecting clear weather here, as I've never seen a good aurora display. Unfortunately tonight's forecast is 25-40 mph winds and 90% chance of rain -- not great sky-watching weather.
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it's sposta be clear out here, right?
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The Detroit forecast calls for rain. :(
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my cell phone wasnt working for a bit earlier. It's too cloudy for sky watching :(
The last time I saw an aurora was in Ann Arbor, must have been around 1990 or 1991. For some reason that year, they were appearing quite a bit further south than normal. I had an attic apartment with a nice view in the right direction at the time. Also had a phone with a long extension cord and a handy trick that let us shimmy up onto the roof of the house. A friend from the station was visiting that night (Des Preston) so the two of us made our way on to the roof, called into the station and as I recall, spent next 20 minutes doing a live broadcast describing the aurora right from the roof above my apartment.
It's completely overcast here.
I'll have to ask Des about that the next time I see him. :)
Re #181: Hey, Bruce!
Re #156-160: Joe, when are you driving that stretch of road?
I don't normally have a problem with pedestrians having the
right of way even when jaywalking, but the way they've set
those particular lights up, it's hell. The lights are short,
they're all no turn on red, and it's congested -- though the
congestion's getting slightly better as more and more people
learn that the State St. shopping area isn't worth it any more.
It's a road rage incubator.
It varies, but usually around 16:00, I think. I haven't been getting out in the morning, so I've not tried it at noon, that I can recall. Oh, wait: I took the kids to Cottage Inn for lunch on Wednesday. We were seated around 13, plus or minus fifteen minutes. I came down State and parked across the street from the restaurant.
Straight across on State isn't (relatively) bad in either direction. What hoses you is if there's s turn involved (State southbound on to William may be okay).
I guess it's just timing. The one time I can remember going from North U to Liberty in the past week, I saw how short the left arrow was, only three or four got through, but I was first in line on the next cycle. I _probably_ could have pushed the yellow, but I try to avoid that.
* ANNOUNCEMENT * On November 1st, 2nd, 7th, 8th, and 9th, Pioneer High School Theatre Guild presents the Washtenaw County premier of the acclaimed musical Les Miserables. It promises to be an absolutely incredible show (I'm in it, and it's amazing) and I encourage everyone to come see it and spread the word! Friday and Saturday shows are at 7:30 PM and Sunday shows are at 2:00 PM in Schreiber Auditorium at Pioneer High School. Tickets are on sale at the Food & Drug Mart at Stadium and Packard; adult tickets are $10 and student / senior tickets are $6. Get yours before all five shows are sold out! See you there!
Re#184: Howdy, howdy Joe!
Re# 183: You have an email address for Des? Been trying to catch up
with him for a while. Wasn't able to find him last time I
passed through Ann Arbor.
So anyone have any general announcements when the solar storm is
suppose to (or supposed to have) hit abd blow out all our
electronics?
Re #188: Thanks for the invitation! I went to a Pioneer show a few years ago, and it was a lot of fun. Is there a poster online that I could tape to the fridge, so I won't forget?
I don't have an email for him, I just see him all over town.
Tonight is the end of Daylight Savings time. That means two things: 1) Set your clocks BACK one hour. (Yay! Sleep in for an hour) 2) Change your smoke alarm batteries.
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Smoke alarms squeal when they have low batteries.
Not all smoke alarms do.
Besides, they always start squealing at 3 am.
I wish to announce that I hope that everyone affected changed their clocks from daylight to standard time. (Computers nowadays tend to be pretty good at doing this on their own.)
I always find one clock that I forgot to change several days after I fix everything else. Each year it is different. This year, I'm pretty sure it will be the clock in my car, primarily because I'm not going to worry about it until some idle moment at a stop light. Also, I wait until I need to change the VCR clocks before I mess with them.
Jim just changed my clock so I have to stay up an hour later (but I won't, and this way I can get an extra hour of sleep since the garbage trucks will come an hour later tomorrow morning). My computer does not need to be changed because we never changed it last spring.
We don't have DST in Japan so I'm afraid it would just really confuse matters to reset my clock!
Timer on living room lamp needs to go back an hour. But if I do it now, it will be dark.
Is the World Series over yet?
Yes. It ended last night, when the Marlins won 2-0. I think the game was played in the Yankees' home stadium, too. :)
Re #200: Well, you should at least clean your clocks now and then, Bruce.
Re #200: You should set them all back an hour, then forward again, just to mess with their little clock minds.
Here's a link announcing a free concert of Bulgarian Gypsy music: Tuesday, 8 pm, U.Michigan Union Ballroom. http://www.umich.edu/~iinet/cwps/Bulgarian.htm I'm gonna try to get to this show.
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I'm not sure if I'm skipping school or not 'cause of the time change. I just can't figure it out.
Re#204-205: Well, I somehow managed to reset my internal clock instead. Woke up an hour late and barely made it into work before market open :-(
resp:204 as long as it's *his* clock, not someone else's clock ;)
I'd like to wish a happy birthday to richard. Richard has been much maligned, from time to time. However, he's got a couple of definite niches on Grex. I think he sees more movies than anyone here except maybe remmers and mary. He also seems pretty knowledgeable about liberal New York and East Coast politics, at least from my perspective. I think it is a great thing about Grex that someone be so far outside of the mainstream, but still firmly establish himself as an essential part of the scene. I would really miss Richard if he were to quit logging in here.
the northern lights are out right now , just west of ann arbor
not certain the weather is going to cooperate and tokyo is a bit more south (about the lattitude of washington, dc or slightly further south) but i'm crossing fingers none-the-less that we get to see something. then again if the computer gets fried, i won't be able to report into agora :-)
(Re #211: I think that Richard definitely sees more movies than I do.)
(Three degrees further south, roughly 180 miles.)
I went out last night to see if I could see any northern lights but all I saw were some clouds :( Oh, Happy Birthday Richard!
Richard definitely gets to the newest movies before anyone else on Grex. And his in-depth reviews are much appreciated, even though I do skip most of them unless I'm interested in a couple of movies. In fact, I've heard of new movies that have been released first from Richard. I do not always agree with Richard and his views, as posted in agora, but jep is right. He definitely has a niche. And he's lucky to be living in one of the best cities (IMO) in the world. And he makes good use of his fortune. Happy Birthday Richard. NYC should give you many means to celebrate.
according to http://www.cnn.com/2003/TECH/space/10/29/solar.flares.ap/index.html they're saying that auroras may be seen as far away as Flordia and Texas begining later wendesday (tonight)... I'm hoping for clears skies this time. :)
It was a rare clear night in Ketchikan last night so I went out to see if I could see aurora. All I saw were some light patches in the sky but co-workers this morning were talking about more impressive displays in the early morning hours. I'll try again tonight if it remains clear.
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In response to #190: Nope, sorry, there's no media available online. Thanks for your enthusiasm though! Spread the word, the show's getting better with every rehearsal.
It's looking cloudy here tonight so probably no chance to catch whatever lingering window may still remain for catching a southernly aurora. May have to schedule a trip to check out your neck of the woods sometime, Mike.
Ok. Borders is having it's "employee appreciation" weekend in a couple of weeks which means that anyone who knows an employee gets a discount. Dont worry, even at this discount, they are still making a profit ;) http://www.bordersstores.com/features/feature.jsp?file=friendsandfamily
IWLTA that today is the 65th anniversary of Orson Welles' "War of the Worlds" radio broadcast.
I'm pleased to announce that 'kaykay' and 'emblem' recently got married. Yet another Grex Marriage - they first met online here, in party. (Posting this here with kaykay's permission.)
Cool!
zoundz! VKewl! congratulations! /
re 225 yet another?! Who else has been married online?
Nobody's been married online, but a few couples who *met* online
subsequently married.
The Grex marriages of which I'm aware:
munkey & kornnut
winipooh & cb311
eloria & grangerz
kaykay & emblem
Am I missing anyone?
remmers and mary - but that was more of an mnet marriage
possibly krj & arabella?
No, Leslie and I were together about a year before she first logged into M-net, and about four years before Grex was started.
I need some help fast. Need to know about anime. Anyone have inuyasha, gundam, kenshen series?
Drop by Wizzywig on Liberty (just a couple doors west of the Michigan Theater) and rent whatever you need.
Also send email to Twila (anderyn) who knows a fair bit about anime.
My resident Anime expert says that all those series are commercially available, so you should be able to find them at Wizzywig. Gundam is actually a whole bunch of series, and there is some controversy about what the "true" Gundam is.
My resident expert says Underworld is a good place to buy. And Vault of Midnight rents it. Vault of Midnight is under Dynersty on Liberty. Underworld is on S. University across the street from Middle Earth in the Mall.
re #229: (jared and smiles, but only on a technicality.)
Ah. Knew they were both on Grex, but did they actually meet here?
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(they met on I-94.) :P
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But were they married online?
re #242: (nope. jared and smiles met at Jared's when her sister brought
her over for a euchre game that never happened, then again,
later that night, on I-94. I don't believe smiles ever had an
M-Net account [Arbornet's version, at least], although I could
be wrong about that.)
No. I call it a "Grex marriage" when the couple in question first encountered each other and began interacting socially on Grex. I don't know of any real online marriage ceremonies that took place, although I remember when fake ones were in vogue. But that's a topic for the Grex/M-Net nostalgia item. (Is there such an item?)
(Carson's #244 slipped in. I was responding to naftee's #243. (6 a.m. is pretty early for responses slipping in, I might add.))
RISKS digest volume 23 number 1 is in /a/r/u/russ/risks/risks-23.01. But you probably knew that already.
Early early
Leslie and I are back from a six-day trip to Hoboken, New York and Annapolis.
Please come over to the Ark on Friday, nOv 28 (day after Thanksgiving) for the Matt Watroba concert. I will be leading and/or dueting on 7 or 8 songs.
In a public speech today at the University of Michigan Law School, former Secretary of the Treasury Robert Rubin praised the ruling Bush administration for the efficiency with which it has utterly abandoned sound medium- and long-term economic policy in favor of short term political popularity.
I'd like to announce, we just had another small earthquake in Tokyo. The building is still rocking (gently). Yeeehaa...
rubin is typpically short-sighted ...
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253: He doesn't sound that way to me, but you're entitled to your opinion. ;)
There is a live streaming broadcast of the handover of Kaho`olawe island accessable through http://kahoolawe.hawaii.gov/ right now.
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one of my coworkers sent me this. http://www.theregister.co.uk/content/69/33959.html
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If they even had WEP turned on, they were ahead of most places.
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Or the CIO, for that matter..
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RISKS digest volume 23 number 2 is in the usual spot under the usual name.
And the usual stuff, including some more electronic voting problems.
A Russian translator living in Israel somehow found me through a website which when I tried to access it ended me up at the site of a Swiss BBS with email called PAMHO. www.pamho.com was founded in 1986 as a local bbs on a PDP which progressed to a 386 and then a 486 with 16MB RAM and 5 modem lines, crashed in 1994, and in 1996 started telnet login which quickly attracted lots of vandals and prompted them to require a membership fee. For $20/year (30 franks Swiss) you get POP mail, for about $8 basic membership without POP mail and there are other differences in privileges. The bbs is run by a group of people with Indian-sounding names and was at least originally religious-based. Several people had the mission of getting the computer system to keep running. The history makes interesting reading and this would be a place to steer people who want POP mail. Economy class members can only access 14 conferences, first class is unlimited. They now have web access to mail and conferences.
I did some more reading and PAMHO has now moved to Florida, no longer appears to have telnet access (but they may still be dial-in) and no longer charges anything for their basic webmail account. It is still $20 if you want POP or IMAP access and web space and a mailbox larger than 8M. Unfortunately when I tried to compose a test mail this proved impossible to do with lynx since they require javascript. I will try to access their conferences on the web.
It's two years ago, today, I quit smoking. Haven't touched a single one since then. No lapses whatsoever. Wheeeeeeeeze! (not anymore)
Your body and everyone who loves you, thanks you. Nice going.
Very glad to hear clees's good news. It took my father 11 years of trying before he quit after getting an ulcer.
The "phones" list needs to be updated.
I'll be performing again in the annual Ragtime Bash at the Unitarian Church in Ann Arbor. Sunday, December 14, 7:30pm. Other performers will include Bob Seely, Kent Eschelman, and Mike Montgomery. I'll post admission prices and other details when I learn them.
Any chance of a web broadcast or mp3 recording?
Hey, I go there... I should see if I can record the bash.
That would be cool. As far as I know, previous bashes have not been recorded. Speaking of web broadcasts, I was interviewed by David Reffkin at last June's Scott Joplin Festival in Sedalia, Missouri. Reffkin emcees a weekly ragtime radio show in San Francisco which is also broadcast on the web. He comes to the festival every year and records interviews with both "official" performers and "unofficial" ones (like me) for later airing on his show. He said my interview would be broadcast this fall at the earliest and he'd let me know when it's scheduled. So if and when he schedules it, I'll announce it here. In addition to doing the radio show, Reffkin is a violinist and record producer. He was recording engineer for "The Red Back Book", an album of Joplin work arranged for instrumental ensemble that was released in the 1970s (and may now be available on CD).
Re. 247: Russ, what is RISKS all about, and how do U access them?
http://catless.ncl.ac.uk/Risks/ Here's one way. Read it and you'll understand.
IWLTA that I am offering an auction in support of Grex of "legacy" hardware in item 1144 of the classified cf. So far there are dot-matrix printer w paper and an early IBM RGB monitor.
re 272 What are you guys playing?
Re #276: Look at /a/r/u/russ/risks/*. I suggest starting with /a/r/u/russ/risks/risks-23.* first, before diving into all the back issues. It's an eye-opener.
RE#258 -- According to the AA News today, there is a third party involved, Brian Salcedo....he is the guy convicted of hacking M-Net.
He hacked m-net years ago, chicken. Get your facts straight.
My facts stand, dipshit.
Your english doesn't, asswipe.
PIMP pimp BINREV.COM and OLDSKOOLPHREAK.COM
the leading source on all things Hack/Phreak related!
Eight years ago, on Friday, November 24, 2003, was the date of my wedding. I was divorced earlier this year. I didn't realize today was November 24 until a few minutes ago. That's remarkable; for the last two years, the anniversary has been difficult for me to handle; something I've dreaded for several days before it arrived.
same day as jack ruby shot whats-his-face on LIVE teleivision?
This is something everyone in the United States should read: http://www.wired.com/news/politics/0,1283,61341,00.html It's getting scary as to what our government is trying to do.
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Re. #288: 1984 could turn into 2084.
re 288 .. taht really IS scary ... re 290 ... maybe as soon as 2004.
Where is Chicken Little when you need him...
He was declared a terrorist and is being held incommunicado.
References to Chicken Little in this context *may* be taken as indicative of ostrich-like behavior on the part of referrer (even if the intent is the opposite).
resp:288 I heard about this on PBS. It is pretty freaky.
You'all better go out and roast all them Democrats that voted for this abomination!
Fear seems to change people's thinking dramatically. We've lost a great deal of personal rights and protections because of this onslaught of Big Brother behavior. Shame on our legislators.
Hear, hear.
Har, har.
No NO No snow is evil.
snow might be, but sno isn't. :)
I agree, No Snow is evil. Let it Snow!
hello world
What program was that written in? ;-)
RISKS digest volume 23 issue 4 is in /a/u/r/russ/risks/risks-23.04. Interesting discussion of California's awakening to the RISKS of e-voting, some book reviews, and other things.
A Charlie Brown Christmas is on tonight at 8EST on ABC (not CBS suprisingly)
Good grief, not again!
Somehow, I'm just not feeling the Christmas Spirit.
IKWYM. I miss getting to gether with all my reletives down in Cincinnatti. Unfortunately, things change: People move, get older, making it difficult to get around, etc. Nowadays, Xmas is celebrated at my Sister's Mother-inlaw's house, which is alright, but just doesn't feel the same. I feel particully bad for my Ma as she loved the hokidays seeing her sibs in Cinci
Very cool. http://www.mrpicassohead.com/create.html Some of the works in the gallery are pretty cool examples of what you can do with it if you're a lot more creative than I am.. e.g.: http://www.mrpicassohead.com/canvas.html?id=9396c3b
I am new here too,I figured out how to email ,what else does this site offer?.
The convrences, which you've just discovered, and party, a real-time chat.
It also offers software development languages and tools - C, C++, Perl.
yeah, this is a little old, but I just read about it today: After more than 15 years, the mastermind behind the gruesome and infamous murder of renowned gorilla researcher and protector, Dr. Dian Fossey whose life was portrayed in the 1988 movie Gorillas in the Mist, may finally be in custody in Belgium. Protais Zigiranyirazo, the former Governor of the Ruhengeri province in Rwanda, brother-in-law of the assassinated Rwandan president, and one of the country s most wanted criminals for his creation of death squads, which killed 800,000 in 1994, was captured by Belgian police while trying to flee Kenya on June 9, 2001. http://www.awionline.org/pubs/Quarterly/Fall2001/fossey.htm
Fossey's death was a terrible crime, but does it strike anyone else as just a bit out of proportion to remember this guy as the guy who ordered Fossey's death and not as the organizer of death squads that killed 800,000 Rwandans?
Sadly, more people are likely to remember the one than the eight-hundred-thousand. After all, it's just another eight-hundred-thousand of millions. Joy Adamson and Dian Fossey are _names_, the others are just _numbers_. :(
Diane Fossey was white and noteworthy. Roughly speaking, no whites have any noteworthy involvement in Africa's genocides. Worse, the victims have virtually zilch in the way of influential white friends. What does the American media do with the following stories: -Five innocents are killed in Israel/Palentine violence today, graphic video footage in hand -Based on survivors' reports, the UN now estimates that 6,000 more innocents were killed in inter-tribal violence in Africa -Half the annual anti-AIDS funding in an African country has been stolen by the dictators' cronies; World Health Ass'n officials estimate that 70,000 more people will die of AIDS as a result ...my experience is that the first story gets top or near-top billing; the other two aren't even considered for inclusion, unless a thick newspaper has some spare room back on page 47J. If there's no angle that a culturally & racially self-centered WASP can identify with, then the victims weren't human and no crime was committed.
re #317: I don't think it's quite as bad as that, though I can certainly see plenty of evidence to support your position. I think gelinas has a point in #316, too. It's much easier to visualize the death of an individual person whose name you know than imagine a nameless statistic, let alone 800,000 nameless statistics. It's certainly not Fossey's fault -- she deserves justice as much as any one of the Rwandan genocide victims does -- but it just struck me as a particularly grim example of the limitations of public empathy..
To me, the horrible thing about Fossey's death is that means the Gorilla lost a champion, which the species badly needs. Future generations may be less willing to forgive the extinction of the gorilla, and may not be at all sympathetic concerning temporary reductions in Africa's overpopulation problem. Given the current US "official" position regarding population control (ie, birth control in 3rd world nations) and the general % of world resources consumed in the US, I doubt the future will judge us much better.
To put the issue of the emphasis on one particular person into a wee bit of perspective: The story referenced in #314 appeared in a publication called "The Animal Welfare Institute Quarterly".
> Future generations may be less willing to forgive the extinction of
> the gorilla, and may not be at all sympathetic concerning temporary
> reductions in Africa's overpopulation problem. Given the current US
> "official" position regarding population control (ie, birth control
> in 3rd world nations) and the general % of world resources consumed
> in the US, I doubt the future will judge us much better.
re #319: boy, "temporary reductions in Africa's overpopulation problem"
sure sounds a lot kinder than "the genocidal machete dismemberment of
800,000 men, women, and children," doesn't it? I know enough about
Marcus to have formed a pretty strong opinion that he isn't a cold-blooded
type, so how do we get to a point where an intelligent person like
Marcus makes an unconscious equivalence like the one above?
I don't know what the answer or answers here might be, but I'm pretty
consistently appalled by just how messed up our thinking about the
situation has gotten.
You're right that the gorilla needs a champion, but I really hope that
if that champion appears, it doesn't turn out to be someone who sees
nearly a million people as removable inconveniences.
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Probably well past time to move this out of the general announcements item. I announce that I apologize for the inadvertent item hijacking.
(Russ [power] is in town through the first week of January. we'll likely get together tonight for some deep dish pizza from Anthony's.)
Happy winter you all!
(Oxymoron alert!)
Re resp:317: There's a less racist interpretation -- the U.S. has an active national interest in the Israeli situation, but has basically no ties to anywhere in Africa.
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Where in Africa?
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Ah. heh. Sierra Leone.
When I entered agora, I expected to see a roll into winter... Well, a couple of Santa related comix to make you smile: http://garfield.ucomics.com/index.html?uc_comic=ga&uc_full_date=20031221 http://www.ucomics.com/calvinandhobbes/1992/12/20/
I like that Calvin and Hobbes one. :)
Me too. Those are the best. :)
My son and I spent Friday night on the museum submarine, USS Silversides, in Muskegon, MI, along with Cub Scout Pack 673 of Tecumseh. I would have to rate this as one of the coolest overnight trips I've ever heard of for Cub Scouts (and their parents). You can read about the Silversides at http://www.silversides.org if you're interested.
I think you can also read about it at
http://courtofappeals.mijud.net/Digest/newHTML/16408221.htm
Yours doesn't say much about the submarine.
True, but the submarine _was_ the causus belli. :)
but did you use the head
No, sir; it was made clear to us that the heads were not operational. A submarine toilet does not work like a standard device anyway; there are 10 steps for using it, and by doing it wrong, it is possible to get disastrous results.
I'd like to announce that it's time for agora to roll over already.
Don't be *hasty,* Master twenex...
/grin
I apologize for the delay in making the following announcement. The economy is picking up, Saddam Hussein was caught, and the world is proceeding swimmingly. The staff, Board, and katie met at my apartment in Tecumseh a few days ago for a high level summit. It was decided, in order to not upset the balance, agora will not be rolled this season. We're going to use this agora for the Winter 2003-04 agora as well. Thanks for your understanding.
Did John III get a vote at this special board meeting?
No, as the chair he abstained frmo voting.
My confidence that this meeting took place is equal to my confidence that Iraq's WMD will soon be found.
People are asking where the winter Agora is, and I am trying to help them. I might not be helping them in the way that they need. I might be a little casual with the facts used for my explanation. There might be a hole or two in what I am telling the good people of Grex. I'm only human. (Well, maybe a little better than most. I unquestionably tower above some). I am doing my best. It has to be considered magnificent at the worst, despite falling slightly short of ideal in the peripheral characteristics to which I referred. And of course, it doesn't detract from what I have said, that no one else has volunteered *any* information. I have written the "best in it's class" account. Mine is not the official statement. At least not yet. We can withhold judgement on that point, secure in the knowledge that the Powers That Be sometimes change their stories to match facts that come to light for the rest of the population. Additionally, we can ponder the wisdom of some famous and applicable words, spoken by one who is a true student and philosopher: "The facts are overrated". I shall stand by what I have said until proven wrong. The Grex staff and Board, and katie, and myself, are trying to save the economy and the world by not having a new winter Agora.
This is Grex. The Powers That Grex are supposed to be accountable. Or they might not be TPTG very much longer. We want Winter! We want Winter!! We want Winter!!!...
Ent:
'When winter comes, the winter wild
that hill and wood shall slay;
When trees shall fall and starless night
devour the sunless day;
When wind is in the deadly East,
then in the bitter rain
I'll look for thee, and call to thee;
I'll come to thee again!'
Entwife:
'When winter comes and singing ends;
when darkness falls at last;
When broken is the barren bough,
and light and labour past;
I'll look for thee, and wait for thee,
until we meet again:
Together we will take the road
beneath the bitter rain!'
Both:
'Together we will take the road
that leads into the West,
And far away will find a land
where both our hearts may rest.'
J R R Tolkien
Cool.
Definitely cooler than my announcement (and more accurate, too, as it turned out!).