Ramblings and delusional thoughts

Just what is a minority?

2005-02-06T11:40:00.000-08:00

Big issue on the news up here in Canada is the bill to legalize gay and lesbian marriage. The proponents of the issue are saying that the right is entrenched in our charter based upon the rights of minorities.

Well, I am going to get flamed for this one. Just what is a minority! In my opinion minorities are born as such. The mexican population in America got to be a minority by birth. If your parents were mexican in America it was a pretty good chance you would also be a minority. Same here in Canada with the aboriginal folk. Until the arrival of the white man they were the majority. Population balance eventually made them the minority as more white men (and women) arrived on the scene. Now, if you are born aboriginal circumstances of birth make you so. There is no bloody way an aboriginal group is going to let me call myself a native Canadian without proof of who my parents are/were!.

So, if they were born gay or lesbian they would indeed be a minority. My brief high school study of biology and sexuality tells me that this is impossible. A same sex couple cannot possibly reproduce! So cut out the minority crap, they are a social group at best. There is nothing in the charter of rights entrenching rights to the Kiwanis club (an acknowledged social group) so what is their point?

I see no reason why they cannot be given rights to benefits. What I am complaining about is the fact they want to change common accepted religious and social definitions of marriage. I am being very careful not to call them a perversion, as the bible would quite frankly call them. You might gather which side of the fence I am sittiing on for this one...

TW

Stop pounding the octothorpe

2005-02-04T18:25:00.000-08:00

Stop! Please! Stop pounding the Octothorpe...

That poor # sign at the bottom of your telephone does not deserve the disrespect it is getting. Since when did it become a "pound" sign? Perhaps it never was given the right name. But, fact is the majority of us involved in service, or engineering of the telephone know that the real name of that little sign is OCTOTHORPE. It may have been used to represent an abbreviation of pound weight. It may even have been called HASH. But, those of us in the know refuse to call it anything else.

Now history relates that the Bell Telephone system actually developed the touch tone system we now use today. The old rotary dial system was being phased out in favour of the new technology. They did the design of the touch tone dial rather abitrarily. No consideration of translation to any language was ever considered.

You will note that the dial layout sort of resembles an adding machine. Well, only a slight attempt was made to make it the same. Very few folks used adding machines at the time, so the design was chosen more for convenience than immitation.

In the early 60's engineers were looking to connect phones to computers. So, two more symbols were added. The Asterisk and Octothorpe were intended purely for future computer applications. A lot of folk don't know that there are 4 more keys that we never see. They are A, B, C, D and are located just to the right of the 12 other ones. As they were only used for control they were never carried over to the conventional telephone.

OK, back to the story... The naming of the octothorpe is rumoured to a Bell Systems supervisor named Don MacPerson. He needed to explain the keyboard, so naturally needed a destinctive name for all the keys. Ralph Carlsen in his excellent article on the subject relates that Don started naming it because of the 8 points. That derived the OCTO. "Don MacPherson at this point in his life was active in a group that was trying to get JIM THORPE's Olympic medals returned from Sweden", so he used the last name to fatten out the name so to speak.

Word spread around the labs about the name, and it was pretty well officially accepted and used in manuals for the new and subsequent phone systems. Just where the cross over to the new name happened was certainly outside the actual Bell Telephone community.

So we should be using the name it was given. After all, Don could have named it after himself. We would all be using "MacPherson" 1, 2, 3 to access services!

Let's get this gigantic error corrected! Spread the word, "stop pounding the Octothorpe"

TW

Privacy forms... ask what you are signing!

2004-12-01T18:54:00.000-08:00

Had to go to the credit union today to renew some insurance. They stuffed a form in front of me to sign, so as they usually sneak one in on me regularly, I asked just what I was signing.

Well, like negative billing, by signing the form I was not agreeing to secure my privacy but giving them permission to use my information. Well, what for? Just a few innocent things like special promotions and the like. In sort, I was not being asked to secure my privacy but releasing it. What crock of crap!

If I was a normal trusting person I would assume that I was securing my rights, not giving them up. Now, I do agree that the new privacy laws offer some protection (much like a prophylactic does). But the way it is being presented in my local credit union leads me to think my rights were being secured, not relinquished.

But, then again, this is the same bunch that told me they do a credit check on all account applications to assure that the clientel is the best quality. They were the first to get out the forms, supposedly to protect themselves. Personally I think it is a bit like passing gas in a crowded elevator. The first person to sniff the air is usually the most guilty one!

The conspiracy in commercial television

2004-11-23T19:04:00.000-08:00

Needed a title for this one...

Spent more than a normal amount of time watching the tube. Now, I recently ranted about the fact that they have to make 1 hour shows to get some story content across. Seems that is now eroded! At least in Canada (my next rant will be about the CRTC) it seems. The producers of our so called entertainment have such a subtle way of eroding the entertainment content that if you watch it regularly you never see it.

OK, cut to the chase! Since when did all the programs quit 5 minutes before the hour and start commercials? I thought my clock was wrong the first time, but now I see it all the time. First it was the little icon in the bottom corner telling us constantly what channel we were watching. Then the sticking of the credits off in a corner while they tell us about the next shows. Now it's the actual shortening of a show by 5 solid minutes.

Now we all know the real purpose of TV is to sell us crap. The fact that they chose to let us watch some pretend drama is only a side effect! In my delusional state I actually believe that the next phase will be when commercial time actually exceeds the actual story time. Hey, I predicted the home computer thing in the 70's! It scares me to think this time I will be right. But then again, I never believed that we would see commercials in movie theatres. But I had to be told that as I never go to movies. I do spend far to much time alone don't I ....

SUV manufacturers to make "rollover proof" vehicles

2004-11-17T06:27:00.000-08:00

Ah, come on now! This is just a little to off the wall. Rather than make the vehicles properly (or teach drivers) they are going to let a computer take over. If the vehicle starts to become unstable and start to roll over the computer will take over and straighten it up.

Now, image the scene, you are loosing control on a curve and your choice is make the vehicle unstable (and possibly roll over) or smuck right into a cliff. Your computer takes over, straightens you up and {crash tinkle...}.

Hey, there are some things I want to be able to control!

tw

Bloggers are ignorant?

2004-11-16T15:03:00.000-08:00

A librarian in Alaska writing in the local paper slammed bloggers as ignorant. Who the hell does he think he is in some safe local paper slamming something he obviously knows nothing about?

I agree some, perhaps most, blogs are just trivial rants. But, that was the true purpose of the internet when it was given to the educational institutes of the world. It was to be a place where we could exchange information and thoughts. Not a place to sell us a product like the commercial entertainment network (read television). Now granted, some blogs might be ignorant. But, ignorance is an objective view. And a lot of literature that was condemned as ignorant has gone on to be classical. Personally I would much rather read someone's "ignorant rant" than watch 60 minutes of crass commercialism mixed with some fantasy pretending to be reality on the tube!

And on that subject, all programs that used to be 30 minutes are all now 60 minutes. Ever wonder why? Simple, by the time you add the commercial content you don't have enough time in 30 minutes to tell even a plausable story!

So, keep on blogging. Even if you are called ignorant (which someone is probably calling me right now) you at least have the balls to put your thoughts out there for everyone...

In case you too want to comment directly to the perp that started this here is a quote from the article
"Greg Hill, a director of Fairbanks North Star Borough libraries, Alaska, has shared his views on bloggers in a piece in the local rag, the News-Miner"

tw

Smart Chips coming in January

2004-11-16T09:47:00.000-08:00

I joked about the fact that perhaps we should have bar codes tatooed to our foreheads at birth. Well, no worry. We are getting new technologies that work just as well.

In the disguise of "inventory control" companies like Walmart are making the incorporation of smart chip technology in products mandatory. For those not familiar these are chips that respond by transmitting information rather than being scanned. At present, a short distance of a few feet, but like cell phone technology it can be extended. Pharmacies are being asked to get on board as a method of checking the authenticity of products. Like the mighty iceberg, it is just the tip we are seeing.

Imagine the possibilities. A pharmacare card can be provided that will automatically transmit your medical records in emergencies. There could be a hell of a lot of information on you placed in that card. With our without your permission, it is a two way chip technology too!

What prevents "big brother" from placing a scanner at the door to public buildings (court houses, airports, etc) to scan persons entering? Would probably be promoted as an alibi to control terrorists. But, in reality, data can be harvested on everyone passing the scanner. And, that assumes we know where the scanner is located! Heck, in the old days of radio licensing the BBC (and others) would use a special truck and merely drive down the street. They could tell if you were watching TV and then check it against the license records. What prevents the "smart scanner" from just going down the street in front of your house and taking a look into your wallet? It could be possible...

tw

Data mining is actually here!

2004-11-08T08:14:00.000-08:00

Well, my warning was too late. There is already a mainstream data mining firm selling information that can be harvested from the www.

Check out www.abika.com and see what they sell.

Don't say I didn't tell you so!

tw

Does your computer take forever to get going in the morning?

2004-11-04T15:24:00.000-08:00

Call me paranoid, but I often wonder why my computer takes longer and longer to get going when I turn it on. The technical reason is that we add more and more programs, all of which have to be intialized when we start up. But, is that what really has happened to our system?

For one, there is a little program that can be running called Dr. Watson. Supposed to keep track of things so that if an error happens we can tell where and when it happened. Supposed to be a great diagnostic tool, but, how many folk out there have really had to use it? If it keeps a diagnostic log, why can't it keep a private useage log?

Just what prevents our computers from accululating information on us for the use of others? It knows our favourite programs. We are told it does so to make them load up faster. But just what else does it have the possibility of keeping track of? Hackers have already found our passwords. So, what can happen if one of the "legitimate" uses can be information gathering? We all know about spyware, but just where can this stop. Imagine a spyware program built by Microsoft! Not possible you say? Well, how does Microsoft know if you need updates? It has to be looking at something. Just what else could it be looking at? We just have to trust them that they are honest don't we. After all they built the program and would they lie to us?

The point of all this paranoia? Well, it does take an awful long time on occasion just to turn on and start working for me...

TW

Government can no longer stop us from watching US Satellite

2004-11-01T16:07:00.000-08:00

Darn, they did it to me again! I am getting a complex. Years ago I pushed through probably the first consumer telephone system. Up till then Interconnect as it was called was just becoming a reality. Now it is here, and I am out of the business.

I was also one of the fighters for the Satellite Industry. We had gray market dishes, meaning that they were not legal, but they were not illegal. Eventually the cable companies (why I hate Shaw and Rogers) had the CRTC , basically the government, rule them illegal. They took a fellow to court for watching US Satellite and won, which pretty effectively killed that market. Well, guess what? On appeal the courts have regained their senses and upset that ruling. Me, I am out of the business and watching Bell Expressvu. Ah well, another example of "he who lives on the cutting edge of technology will be sacrificed upon it".

So, those of you with Direct TV dishes get back on the air before they change their minds again...

TW

System Access Charges on Canadian cell phone...

2004-10-30T14:04:00.000-07:00

Darn I hate to be on the "cutting edge of criticisms"! Score up another wake up that I have been complaining about for years.

Before cell phones I had a mobile telephone in all my cars. Mainly because I was a technician in the industry, not because I am rich. So, when the cell phones hit the market I changed over. Right off the bat I questioned the access charges (in those days BC Tel. called it a licensing fee). I asked them why it cost me about $20 as a technician to maintain an annual licensing fee and they wanted about $60 extra, per radio. I was told that was the way it was that they had to collect it to pay for the radio license the government charged them.

Well, guess what? Someone is now suing them (basically asking them to prove where the money went). I hope they are successful as I have phone bills back to my first cell phone. And personally I am going to ask for my money back.

tw

US Patriot Act now directly affects BC Residents

2004-10-29T15:14:00.000-07:00

OK, what did I say? Our information on the MSP computer is now totally unprotected from prying eyes. How do you say "outsourcing"? And why?

Well, the British Columbia Medical Services Plan (read previous postings on that bunch) has outsourced the computer services to a US company. The ruling came down on the US Patriot Act today. Canadian data on US computers and computers in Canada owned by US companies have to turn the records over to the CIA and/or the FBI if asked for them.

Boy, do I feel good that your Uncle Sam (I am a Canadian) can peek into the medical records on me whenever he feels like it. And, recall that I also mentioned there is all sorts of other information on us in there. Like nationality and citizenship. It could be a virtual treasure source of information. I would like the MSP to come clean on this one and tell us all what is in there so that we can decide who the enemy is on this continent! And, how come no Canadian companies are cabable of doing the outsourcing for us? Heck, my server under my desk is probably secure enough now...

tw

What sort of information does the government have?

2004-10-28T19:22:00.000-07:00

We are all getting more aware of the fact that there is far more information being gathered on us than we really need. The national news network had a blurb on internet pharmacies. Seems they farm out the ordering to some third party. In actual fact located in some house in small town Ontario somewhere. Call centers are the operative word. Our so called national gun registry program uses a call centre too. And do you think for one moment they are concerned with security.

But, that's not the point of this tirade. It is about information already gathered, and how it is being used.

British Columbia Medical Service Plan is a mandatory plan for all folk in the province. And all the folk that provide a service (x-ray labs for example) are plugged in to the computer system it uses. Well, there is a huge leak in that area. My wife was allowed to look at her record in the lab, and there in one of the windows was her citizenship status. Why the hell do they need that there? She is a resident, paid up, and what more do they need than that. Do they need that so they can establish the kind of service she is to get? I personally found out that my last marital status was all the record they have on me. They may need my wife's citizenship status, but they can't get my correct marital status.

I am a director of one of the local organizations, and as such had to be listed as a signing authority with the local credit union. The first thing they wanted was my social insurance number. I have had that run in before, so I played dumb and asked them why. I was told that they had to report any income on accounts to the income tax folk. When I pointed out that I was not taking out an account, and had no responsibility for the thing they had to go and check with "management" Needless to say, they did not get number one from me, but I can still sign the checks. BTW, did you know that credit unions (and some banks) do a credit check on you before they will open an account. Seems they don't want any "deadbeats" putting money in the place. And, they make you sign a statement saying you will not use the account for "illegal purposes" . As if you are going to tell them if you are laundering money...

tw

Hard Science or blind luck in development of new forensic techniques?

2004-10-26T19:16:00.000-07:00

Don't know if it has changed, but blind luck played a major role in some of the most important forensic tools that we have.

Laser examination of fingerprints got a big shot in the arm when an examiner (from Toronto) and a copier machine technician were talking over a common back fence. Seems the new copier that used a laser was a bugger to clean. Fingerprints just glowed everywhere. Needless to say, that is what the examiner was looking for. He went on to become a major promoter, and expert, in the use of lasers for fingerprint examination.

The technique of "fuming" to develop fingerprints on all sorts of surfaces was a packaging fault of "Crazy Glue". The packages were being returned as the insides of them were covered in fingerprints. No one would buy a packaged item that was all "dirty" inside. Seems the fumes from the packaged glue had developed the fingerprints of the folk packaging the stuff. A whole new industry was created for fingerprint examination. Items to be examined were bagged (or just placed in an ordinary aquarium) and a piece of material soaked in the glue was allowed to fume in the enclosure. Of course, now the package has been considerably refined to do the job. And the concentrations have been increased to the point that almost anything (a car for example) can be "bagged" and every single print developed. One problem to this is that when the item is returned to the owner the prints are a real bugger to get off. Requires a solvent of sorts. And believe me, the prints are everywhere!

As we jokingly say "isn't science wonderful"

tw

DNA evidence being used to investigate old crimes

2004-10-26T19:06:00.000-07:00

As a "forensic expert" going back 20 plus years I am totally familiar with the use of DNA to establish guilt (or innocence). DNA has indeed been gathered back that far, and further in some insances. The biggest problem was the ability to prove the credibility of it. In my field at the time (Image Processing), the biggest problem I personally had was to convince courts of the science. Had to prove that evidence was not being manufactured, just examined. I was not alone in this, and in actual fact played a very small role.

But back to DNA, the developing of it was called "Electro-Phoresus Examination" (sp) and used an electrical current to develop a pattern. The evidence folk knew they had something, just did not know what and how it could lead to a proveable science. So, even though they could not use it, they stored the samples away for future use. There is no actual statute of limitations on homicides. So, that evidence is now being re-examined in light of new technology. With some interesting results. In some instances convictions are being over-turned. In others, new suspects are being convicted.

Who is the biggest user of computer chips?

2004-10-25T19:24:00.000-07:00

Normally I don't write on stuff I have not researched, but this topic intrigues me.

Why you might ask? Well, I once heard that the largest computer user is not the aerospace industry or the military but the good old auto industry. You are driving a rolling aresenal of computer technology down the road! Everything has a chip connected to it. Fuel injection would not be as easily used in engines were it not for computer chips. A chum of mine had the headlights go out in his older Pontiac. Guess what, the sucker uses a computer to control them. Cost him over $400 bucks to get it fixed!

Cadillac had an embarassing moment a few years ago when all the trunks on them opened up. All over N. America, not just in some small area. Seemed the satellite system goofed and popped them all open. Mark one up for "Onstar".

Just wait till the banks and finance companies get into that system! You miss a payment and click, your car dies on the spot. They just query the GPS (Global Positioning Satellite) and send a tow truck to it's location. Heck, the system is capable of being so smart they would disable it only while parked with the engine off too. That way there is no chance of the valuable goods causing an accident. World's safest car is one that won't start!

tw

Information Brokers, a new growth industry!

2004-10-25T19:05:00.000-07:00

I have been ranting on about the internet and how much information can be gathered on us, so it naturally follows that perhaps I should create a new growth industry. There is a fortune out there in information. All it needs is a channel to sell it. Now, perhaps I am too late, and someone has beat me to it. We know it is there, all we have to do is market it.

What sort of information would one want? Well, suppose you have an employee who you suspect is goofing off. Perhaps at the bar all afternoon instead of being out doing sales calls. Well, you could check his charge cards records. You could find out exactly what bar he was at and how much he had to drink. All time stamped.

The use of plastic money could be the downfall of a lot of nefarious activities. Suspect your spouse is cheating? Well, buy a little information and you could have him (or her) nailed. Gas cards, plastic money, hotel computers and the sort all have information that could be tapped and used to track the scoundrels.

Forget emails and computer records. That information is too unreliable. Your spending habits could be the downfall. But, lets not forget that little toy we all pack around. The cell phone knows all! Yup, it sure as heck does. How do you think it gets calls to your belt? It knows where you are down to a couple of miles. All the time you travel around it is reporting your location to the nearest cell site. In the country they can be a few miles apart. In big cities as near as a few blocks. If the information from them could be tapped just think of the possibilities.

So, think about it the next time you get a cell call or use a bank machine. Big brother, as he has been refered to, could indeed be watching.

tw

Spyware

2004-10-25T07:52:00.000-07:00

Morning news had a big blurb about how folks are not aware of what spyware is . Well, what did I just say a few articles down? Would not hurt if everyone out there did a bit of housekeeping. Not all that difficult, pick a good search engine and take a look. Personally I use Adaware and Spybot, but I refuse to endorse any products. I appreciate free stuff naturally, but watch some of that stuff it is never totally free. I launched one of the popup killer programs. It promptly killed off the only "pirate" program I had in the system. Killed it so good that I could not re-install my paid up copy of the same darn thing. So, who paid for that one?

"there is no such thing as a free lunch"

tw

I taught a computer to lie...

2004-10-24T17:14:00.000-07:00

In the good old days, before Personal Computers (to, me at least) we had small computers called Micro-computers. The were the little ones below the mini ones like Honeywell level 6 and PDP 11's. As well we had a number of kit units that were becoming accepted. Not a PC to be found.

The University of British Columbia Psychology Department wanted badly to run some experiments to these computers. The one I personally built did not really lie, it just fibbed a bit. Basically played a game (developed I believe in the University of Waterloo, Ontario). Participants were shown a series of "stimulus" ( slides, etc) and asked a multiple choice question. No right or wrong answer was given, just the results that all off the other participants gave. You were given your own choice as to if you were wrong or right.

It was all done with a number of computer controlled terminals. Your answer was flashed back to you in the display. When the rest had voted, all of the choices were displayed. You decided if you were right or wrong. Fine and dandy, what was the purpose of a quiz with no right and wrong answer. Manipulation of the players was the whole purpose! You see, the computer was programmed to return false answers to selected individuals. The stimulus was so clever that there probably never was a right or wrong choice. The purpose was to see if folk could be made to change thier concept of the stimulus. In other words, to follow the herd. Person conducting the test had already evaluated the participants based partly on how they could or could not be manipulated. A weak willed person could be convinced very early in the game to forego thier own thoughts and give in to the thinking of the herd. The computer kept track of time to make decisions of all folk. They only had to see how long it took to manipulate an individual.

tw

If Hitler had owned a PC...

2004-10-24T15:37:00.000-07:00

If Hitler had owned a PC the outcome of the Second World War would have been entirely different!

Wars are not won by guns. They are won by information! Before a shot is fired all the espionage is done to gather information on the enemy. As well, false information is planted to distract his efforts.

The Enigma machine, a very early pre-cursor of a computer enabled the Allies to decode Nazi (and Japanese) information. That machine alone won the war, not all the guns and lost lives. You can't kill everyone in warfare! So, it all comes down to information.

Orwell, in his book used the television to spy on the masses. Today, we willingly use the computer. And, it is bloody well cabable of doing exactly what Orwell envisioned (and more). That scares the shit out of me! When I built my computers in the 60's I joked about everyone having one. At the time not one person believed me! I am not a psychic, and one does not need to have one to predict this fact.

Notice all the "security updates" we all get to our computers. Is there a problem (tongue planted firmly in cheek) here? We know about hackers, and all the stuff they do to the internet. Who are they? I know the CIA has a convention for them every year where the very best are selected to work for them. I think viruses are created by those that would sell us virus checkers (well, not really but it has been mentioned to me)

Canada recently passed some guidelines (my word, they call them laws) on what information can and cannot be divulged. We have all seen the little "disclaimers" appearing on everything from our newspapers to our bank statements. They are really just rules, and like speeding rules, do they really stop those that will break them?

Banks are already sharing information on your bank account. Who with? Those private money machines that are showing up everywhere (especially in bars) give you money. They are privately owned, and how do you think they know that the money you want is in you account? The bank computer tells them! Who else can it tell? Can that machine you just used be trusted that if a crunch came and the owner needed cash he could not clean out all the accounts just accessed?

And as well, all the systems have changed over to the internet to transfer information. All that information out there waiting for an Enigma machine to come along and pluck it out. Hey, if we could build a simple machine with no computer help to decode messages, what makes you think we can't make a better machine with all these computers to help us.

"Let the arrows fly, the gaunlet is thrown down" We all assume everyone around us is honest. It is about time we started waking up. Why do you think Microsoft and Bill Gates came under such intense investigation? Were they worried about all the power that Windows has? I suspect they worry deep down that the Microsoft company has the power to do all sorts of very bad things. But, then again, even they use Windows! Those that don't (like bank machines) use IBM. Who is that? Just another trusted computer company!

... more on this subject coming!

tw

Dr Dobbs Journal of Computers and Orthadontia

2004-10-23T16:47:00.000-07:00

I think I recall the name correctly. Sitting and recalling the medieval days of personal computers, boy were we on the edge. Talking about pre- apple, comodore, tandy and others. We built the bloody things! Most of use used kits to start with. Altair and SWTP are the two I used. Mind you, that was just the start. You only got a box, mother board (call a buss) and a processor card. Altair unit was impressive, you got lots of lights and switches and it impressed the hell out of anyone. But from there on it did "sweet fanny adams". You needed memory, and all sorts of other things. Wanted high teck operation you went looking for an old teletype unit (I was lucky, I got a Texas Instruments thermal printer and added a keyboard to it). Programing was by toggle switches. Every time you turned it off you had to re-enter your program. The along came an interface to a tape recorder. You could actually store programs. You still had to toggle in your "boot" program. Short for Bootstrap, a term used from the old phrase "to bring one up by thier boot straps". Most of the time it worked first time. Often not. We all subscribed to Doctor Dobbs. Every month they had a new program, and lots of tips and history. It was basically a newspaper, but we read everthing then.
tw

Who would have thunk it?

2004-10-23T16:39:00.000-07:00

Back in the sixties I was involved in radio, television and communications electronics. As an avid electronic hobbyist the thought of a computer at home had intrigued me. I had access to all sorts of old stuff, but the thought of rewiring my house pretty well put that off. Intel introduced the 8000 series computer chip and I had a chance to go to a seminar. Pretty well convinced me that they were talking space ships and science fiction. A few of us retired to the bar and pretty well decided that technology was a long way off and going to be pretty expensive. That was the first mistake in judgement (one of many that would follow) regarding predictions of what was coming

tw

Getting back to writing again

2004-10-23T16:32:00.000-07:00

I started a new blog. Wonder how many I can have? This one for my history research and findings. Going to branch out a bit and include the area around here as well as the Gulf Islands. cowichanhistory.blogspot.com is the address. Maybe I can get more material for the Web-book. Got my picture gallery started too. photowizard.blogspot.com is that address. Can't get away from that wizard thing no matter how hard I try.

tw

Ramblings and Msc. Drivel

2004-10-22T09:02:00.000-07:00

Been in computers since the mid sixties, built a few of them and here I am still learning what to do. When I had my first intel seminar back then I thought, "this is impossible". Then I built a few. My kids were bragging about having a computer at home and no one believed them! I actually met Bill Gates when he was just getting started back up in Washington. Seemed like a nice enough chap...