Nightfox wrote to MIKE POWELL <=-

I don't know why but, in comparison to today's internet and social media, I feel now that we are a lot less likely to be exposed to rampant misinformation back then.

I've heard people say that misinformation has multiplied as more and
more people have gotten internet access. Even though many people have access to factual information online, it's also very easy for people to spread misinformation to a lot of people online.

Heard this the other day - was meant as a joke, but it's so very
true too... "The very parents who told us not to believe everything
we heard on television now believe everything they read on Facebook."


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MIKE POWELL wrote to NIGHTFOX <=-

I feel like that has to do with people gravitating to social media
sites, especially those that echo their own beliefs, for social interaction that they don't get on news sites.

People like echo chambers... I like to talk to like minded people
too, but we never learn or grow if we aren't challenged.




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poindexter FORTRAN wrote to StormTrooper <=-

I know I've told this story before, but I worked in a company with a mixture of Mac and Windows PCs back in the '90s. We used a LAN-based
email system called Quickmail and needed 3 or 4 servers to support 70 clients.

The school I work at - when I started they were using QuickMail.
They didn't have 'internet mail' unless it was manually turned
on by the guy I replaced. I quickly changed that, and migrated
over to the official state hosted emails supplied by our ISP.


... The insurace guy to Adam & Eve: I see you're not covered.
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poindexter FORTRAN wrote to Utopian Galt <=-

Utopian Galt wrote to Bob Worm <=-

Yeah, amatuer radio has more of a potential to grow than bbsing.

I'm surprised CB radio isn't hanging on more with the truckers. I took
a long trip up I-80 and was expecting to see CB antennas on trucks like
I did when I was a kid - only the odd truck had a visible CB antenna.

It seems like such a great way to pass time with whoever's around you
when you're on the road - especially when trying to get traffic and
road conditions.

I've been known to talk on 146.52 while traveling, and even once
when I was looking for why the traffic wasn't moving. Got the info,
make a quick U-Turn and took a detour...

Have thought of getting a little CB rig for travel, but figure not
worth it in the long run... Would rather try to chat on the
dead repeaters along the way. ;-) Every now and again it
works. :-)


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Nightfox wrote to poindexter FORTRAN <=-

I'm surprised CB radio isn't hanging on more with the truckers. I took a long trip up I-80 and was expecting to see CB antennas on trucks like I did when I was a kid - only the odd truck had a visible CB antenna.

It seems like such a great way to pass time with whoever's around you when you're on the road - especially when trying to get traffic and road conditions.

Maybe truckers have other things now with smartphones. I wonder if there's a smartphone app that provides something similar to CB radio,
with different voice chat channels on some central server(s).. Also, I imagine there are smartphone apps that could provide voice-controlled games you could play (trivia games, Q&A guessing games, etc.).

Good points... And with GPS's re-routing you around bad traffic
conditions, even that is less of an urgent need. :-)

Add on hands free calling and you just talk to your heart's content
with people you already know.

Of course you don't meet new people, but still... :-)



... To boldly go where no sane man has any business...
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tenser wrote to Bob Worm <=-

Hear, hear. Also, the emphasis on HF as the end-all, be-all
of the hobby. "Why aren't people upgrading?!" When I suggest
that people ask new hams why they don't upgrade, they just
look at me funny. It's like a completely foreign concept to
them or something.

HF is good, yes, but it could be the death knoll of local
repeaters. I have a friend that FINALLY got her ticket and
the people in her area - in the clubs I mean - don't talk
on the repeaters because they are busy with HF. :-) But
they don't talk to the new ones who don't know anything
about HF, and think the bands are just dead.

I don't know what the solution is... :-) I just like
to talk. LOL



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Bob Worm wrote to tenser <=-

Given that, I'm not about to throw a couple of grand at a radio, tuner, test kit, etc. just to see if I get on with it - especially since a lot
of HF work just seems to be hello, swap call sign / location / signal strength, maybe kit list, then goodbye. Everyone is entitled to enjoy radio in their own way but that's not my kind of fun.

I have my general, but I'm in the same boat as you (hey - scoot
over! hihi). I don't do contesting because I like to CONVERSE. :-)


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halian wrote to Bob Worm <=-

This is the boat I'm in. I think ham radio is pretty neat, and got the Amateur Radio badge when I was in the Boy Scouts, but I don't have the money or brain space to actually get into amateur radio.

Can't help with the brain space, but IF there are active repeaters
in your area, and you're fairly close, you can get a radio for
less than $30 US that will get you on and talking!



... DOS never says "EXCELLENT command or filename"
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JIMMY ANDERSON (21:2/127) wrote to MIKE POWELL <=-

People like echo chambers... I like to talk to like minded people
too, but we never learn or grow if we aren't challenged.

I try my best not to push people away, but still try to be authentic without censoring myself too much.

... ... A little rebellion now & then is necessary medicine for a healthy
ummin
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³ MP> I feel like that has to do with people gravitating to social media
³ MP> sites, especially those that echo their own beliefs, for social
³ MP> interaction that they don't get on news sites.
³
³ People like echo chambers... I like to talk to like minded people
³ too, but we never learn or grow if we aren't challenged.
ÀÄ[JA=>MP]

Very true, very true!

Mike

##Mmr 2.61á. !link JA 5-03-25 22:39
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³ Remember bloatware? You'd buy that $300 Packard Bell or HP machine,
³ and it woud be preinstalled with a TON of stuff that you had to
³ delete to get system space and processing back. I found out that
³ the companies PAID to have their stuff installed, and that's how
³ they could sell the PC's so cheaply.
ÀÄ[JA=>M]

That is one way MS Windows got to be so popular. Most PC makers pretty
much had to include it on their machines.

Mike

##Mmr 2.61á. !link JA 5-03-25 23:54
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Re: Re: Computers
By: MIKE POWELL to JIMMY ANDERSON on Sun May 04 2025 08:44 am

That is one way MS Windows got to be so popular. Most PC makers pretty much had to include it on their machines.

I heard that Microsoft would charge PC makers a Windows license for each PC they sold, even if they installed a different OS on a PC. Seems a bit sketchy to me.. But I've heard some people say that was volume licensing, which may be a somewhat different thing.

Nightfox
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Utopian Galt wrote to Jimmy Anderson <=-

JIMMY ANDERSON (21:2/127) wrote to MIKE POWELL <=-

People like echo chambers... I like to talk to like minded people
too, but we never learn or grow if we aren't challenged.

I try my best not to push people away, but still try to be authentic without censoring myself too much.

Agreed. Tell the truth always, but do it diplomatically. :-)



... It's only a hobby ... only a hobby ... only a
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MIKE POWELL wrote to JIMMY ANDERSON <=-

| Remember bloatware? You'd buy that $300 Packard Bell or HP machine,
| and it woud be preinstalled with a TON of stuff that you had to
| delete to get system space and processing back. I found out that
| the companies PAID to have their stuff installed, and that's how
| they could sell the PC's so cheaply.

`-[JA=>M]

That is one way MS Windows got to be so popular. Most PC makers pretty much had to include it on their machines.

Or else they could't be competitive with their prices. Yep.


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I've heard people say that misinformation has multiplied as more and more people have gotten internet access. Even though many people have

It just makes sense that the more information you have, the more
likely a lot of it will be misinformation. We are exposed to
so much info now, there is a lot of misinformation. It just goes
along with the good information.

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Jimmy Anderson wrote to MIKE POWELL <=-

That is one way MS Windows got to be so popular. Most PC makers pretty much had to include it on their machines.

Or else they could't be competitive with their prices. Yep.

The legal rationale was that people were going to pirate Windows anyway,
so punish the computer manufacturers - even if they were going to use
OS/2 or Linux or whatever.

Then, Windows got so big that they required makers to purchase a license
per system or they wouldn't sell you any license at all.

Let's not forget people who went through the hoops of trying to get a
refund on a shrinkwrap license of Windows when they installed another
OS.

It was the same rationale that the RIAA used to get the courts to order
makers of blank CDs to pay into a fund for the recording industry
because users could possibly use blank CDs to copy music (which was
legal under copyright, but details...)

Whether or not the artists harmed by piracy ever saw any of those funds
remains to be seen, of course.





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Alonzo wrote to Jimmy Anderson <=-

I've heard people say that misinformation has multiplied as more and more people have gotten internet access. Even though many people

have

It just makes sense that the more information you have, the more
likely a lot of it will be misinformation. We are exposed to
so much info now, there is a lot of misinformation. It just goes
along with the good information.

Or to put it another way, the percentage may be the same, but when the
total number goes WAY up, so does the number of 'mis.' :-)


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poindexter FORTRAN wrote to Jimmy Anderson <=-

Then, Windows got so big that they required makers to purchase a
license per system or they wouldn't sell you any license at all.

Let's not forget people who went through the hoops of trying to get a refund on a shrinkwrap license of Windows when they installed another
OS.

It was the same rationale that the RIAA used to get the courts to order makers of blank CDs to pay into a fund for the recording industry
because users could possibly use blank CDs to copy music (which was
legal under copyright, but details...)

Ah - the old 'but you COULD do it, so let's make sure you pay for it
anyway' rationale...

Reminds me of the John Boy & Billy Playhouse where the lady was in the
boat and the game warden said he was going to give her a ticket for
fishing without a license. "But I'm not fishing - I'm just here to
relax."

His reply was that she had the equipment and the opportunity, so how did
he know she wasn't going to start? She said that was fine - but she wanted
to file a report of sexual harrasment. When he said he didn't do that at
all, she said, "but you have the equipment and the opportunity. How do
I know you're not going to start?"


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That is one way MS Windows got to be so popular. Most PC makers pretty much had to include it on their machines.

I heard that Microsoft would charge PC makers a Windows license for each PC they sold, even if they installed a different OS on a PC. Seems a bit sketchy
to me.. But I've heard some people say that was volume licensing, which may b
a somewhat different thing.

That is what I also heard. I am pretty sure it was correct but, like you, I
am not sure if that was by volume or per individual PC.

I also always thought it sketchy but, if it was by volume, maybe less so.
I ordered a PC in 1991 and asked for it to be shipped without Windows 3.1.
The cost was the same. ;)

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