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!

512 responses total.

        I'm not feeling my best, sleeping at odd hours, and am
Grexing at 4 in the morning.  Now is when I can't sleep.

understood.  I've similar sentiments, although I've done worse.

Duke lost last night in college basketball, to Indiana.  74-73.  Duke 
was expected by most to win the NCAA tournament for the 2nd straight 
year.

4.  If you count on your fingers in binary, I'm the middle finger.

Why would I count my fingers in binary?  I have enough trouble typing 
that I don't need to start counting my fingers in binary.  Besides, in 
binary you don't get much past "1" before you have to go back to zero 
and start over.

  With ten fingers you can count to 1023 in binary, whereas you can only
  count to 10 in decimal..  I doubt you'll find that argument compelling
  but it *is* an advantage..  :-)

.... what is compelling, perhaps, si that zero in binary (that way)
is a two-fisted something-or-other!
  
1023, on the other (eh-hm) 'hand' (sorrrrrrry ... NOT) is begging.
  
<<will code for food???>>

re 5:  to count on your fingers in binary.

zero:  2 fists
one:  right thumb
two:  right index finger
three:  right thumb and index finger
four:  middle finger

etc.

why?  because we're dorks.

        Yeah - you can get a lot higher than ten with your fingers.  1024. 
It's almost not worth the effort though.

i'll settle for the method which gets me to 99 on my fingers.  each 
finger on the left hand counts for one, except the thumb, which counts 
for five.  each finger on the right hand counts for ten, except the 
thumb, which counts for fifty.

this method is fairly expeditious and requires no translation between 
bases.

Well I'm out I have another hang nail and am missing a thumb from an
industrial accident - may I use my toes?

  re #10:
  > this method is fairly expeditious and requires no translation between 
  > bases.

  Actually, it does require translation between bases, you just don't
  realize that that's what you're doing.  You're counting the digits on
  each hand in base five and combining the two hands into base ten..

resp:11 toes should work provided you have the usual number.

  I'm not able to manipulate my toes individually with enough certainty to
  rely on them for counting..  

hi iam poo,purnima,from india,anyone wanna a chat ,i am a very modern girl,and
my hobbie is to make friends,hey any one please tell me how to join some other
chat rooms thru grex,my id is poo

well I know what the word 'poo' makes *me* think of and it aint Winnie.

well she *is* a modern girl!

poo is a traditional,village girl who pretends to be modern.

remember what jesus teached you.

heh.  whatever.  Just as long as she ain't digital self-pimping.

re #18 - or it is doo doo.

Billy Wilder, director of such films as "Double Indemnity",
"The Lost Weekend", "Sunset Boulevard", "Some Like It Hot",
and "The Apartment", died Wednesday.  He was 95 years old.

  He definitely made some great films.  A while back I bought a
  DVD copy of "Some Like It Hot" and set it aside to watch sometime
  on a quiet night.  I think I'll watch it this weekend in tribute,
  though "Sunset Boulevard" is my favorite of his films..

  "I *AM* big.  It's the pictures that got small."

I think "Sabrina" is my favorite of his films although I also 
liked "Some Like it Hot"

I hope Billy Wilder is the one that rounds out the trio (old superstition:
Famous people die in threes. Of course, it's just a superstition, but it does
work out that way sometimes... heh... this trio being Wilder, Uncle Miltie,
and Dudley Moore). 
 
My favorite Wilder, one of my favorite movies of all time, was "Stalag 17":
"Ah, so Security checked out everybody, but who checked out Security?"

I'm sure a few (thousand?) equally "famous" people died in the same time
frame. They just didn't get equivalent media attention. 

        Curiosity got the best of me.
        I went to the Super Gigantic Computer Show Exhibition at Novi
Expo center today.  Did not think I would have to pay $5 to park in
front of what was, today, a store.  Then $8 to get in.  Still curious.
Not the bastion of bargains they would want you to believe.  From
what I could see, things like motherboards and such at very normal
prices (like SkyTech normal).  Same for enclosures, power supplies
and other build it yourself stuff.  Part pulls, like CD-Rom drives
maybe better than expected, but then again most sold 'as is' or if
there is a problem, you can always pay $13 and bring it back the
next day.  The only computer books where remainders that where probably
bought at 5% of original retail, and they wanted 50% or original 
retail.
        One guy did seem to be the 'junk man' for best buy.  Any
open cable or ripped package, and he had it with the Best Buy price
tag almost removed.
        Some monitors where being sold for good prices--17 inch
ranging from $59, most near $109.  LCD monitors at near normal
or above prices.
        Some merchants must have stocked up when they thought prices
where good.  $29 for a stack of 50 unknown name CD-Rs is not a
good price anymore.  TDK, iMation, Maxell, Memorex are all slugging
it out weekly at CompUSA, Best Buy, Stapes or such.
        Oh well, learning experience.   I did find a laptop carcus
for $13, an NEC that just might have a floppy drive that works 
better than the one I have on a laptop.

The latest issue of the RISKS digest, Volume 21 number 98, has an
interesting article on Windows XP disabling its own firewall.
There's another piece on how a friendly-fire incident was likely
caused by a dead battery in a GPS unit (!!).

/a/r/u/russ/public/risks-21.98

Are you on a yahoogroups mailinglist. Then...

Sorry that this is off topic to all of the lists it's going to. Many of you
have Yahoo accounts for mailing lists. As of today, Yahoo changed it's
policy on spam. If you have any account with them, you are about to be
flooded.

Here's how to shut it off. Log onto your account. At the very bottom of the
page, in small type, click on "privacy policy". On the left of the next page
click on "marketing preferences". See all the check boxes? When you set up
your account, you probably checked "no" on all of them. They all say "yes"
now. Turn them all off and hit the "Save Changes" button at the bottom.

  

   YE! GODS!!   rcurl, </bow /bow>  THANK YOU 
  
normally 3-4-5, today 48!   WTF!!??
  
follow rcurl's exact directions, please unless you REALLY!!! like spam.

Now, exactly what was the deal with this?

(Doesn't matter how many disclaimers one puts in, Rane STILL has to comment
as in #26. Ah well, it wasn't as overt as it usually is. ;} _

So, why'd you bring up a magic "3" at all? You know it is nonsense.

 re #33:  if *you* know it's nonsense and claim to know that Paul knows
 it's nonsense, then why comment at all, except to demonstrate to the
 rest of us your superior erudition and rationality?  

 ENOUGH already.  We *get* it.  The rest of us may be afflicted by frivolity,
 superstition, and ignorance, but we're not completely oblivious to how you
 feel..  (You, on the other hand..  though "oblivious" isn't the right word..)

In regards to the Yahoo thing, this applies for *all* Yahoo IDs, whether used
for groups, mail, messenger, shopping, or anything else.

Re #34: what would we talk about, if we didn't talk about the foibles
of others (as you just did). Besides, I asked because I wanted to
know WHY brighn brought up the "3" nonsense, if he didn't believe
in it. 

he ws trolling .... <dhoe>

can someone direct me to the item number and post # where rane explains how
to fix the spam opt out changes?

The explanation of how to undo the Yahoo marketing droids' actions is in this
item #29.

- Backtalk version 1.3.30 - Copyright 1996-2006, Jan Wolter and Steve Weiss