With the survival of my favorite Christian Forum, the crisis has passed...sort of.
I have found that if something is marked for closing, then eventually it will be closed sooner or later, terrible, but that is the way it is.
So another forum has recently been put up for sale, and "IF" things can be worked out (Lord willing) then I will be able to purchase a piece of that forum and start a Christian sub forum on it.
I've made the offer, all that can be done is waiting for an answer.
Tuesday, August 21, 2007
Wednesday, August 8, 2007
Alas, the parting of old friends
One of my favorite places on the 'Net has closed down, IMO because of budget and bandwith concerns, to borrow from a book:
One door closes, another opens
That's life.
So if any of my fellow exiles from Knifeforums stops in, welcome aboard.
Today the similarity of Christ's wilderness time and the Zen concept of "no mind" is on my mind.
Jesus spent time in the wilderness after his cousin John the Baptist was beheaded, no one really knows what he did when he was on his solourn, but it would not be unreasonable to consider that he was emptying himself, to allow God to fill him with His will.
The Zen concept of Zazen, of clearing your mind of troubles or even thoughts would seem to me to fit nicely into what Christ taught by his actions.
So in that line of thought started waking at 5:45 am, to read the Scriptures and to perhaps excercise as well.
It's a nice time to catch up and prepare for the day, a page of Proverbs, meditated upon while lifting weights or
practicing Fencing is rather nice actually.
One door closes, another opens
That's life.
So if any of my fellow exiles from Knifeforums stops in, welcome aboard.
Today the similarity of Christ's wilderness time and the Zen concept of "no mind" is on my mind.
Jesus spent time in the wilderness after his cousin John the Baptist was beheaded, no one really knows what he did when he was on his solourn, but it would not be unreasonable to consider that he was emptying himself, to allow God to fill him with His will.
The Zen concept of Zazen, of clearing your mind of troubles or even thoughts would seem to me to fit nicely into what Christ taught by his actions.
So in that line of thought started waking at 5:45 am, to read the Scriptures and to perhaps excercise as well.
It's a nice time to catch up and prepare for the day, a page of Proverbs, meditated upon while lifting weights or
practicing Fencing is rather nice actually.
Saturday, July 7, 2007
Ahh, the joys of zip drives
So after my long absence, I've been playing aroudn with my Comapq Aero 4/25, I've finished with the Compaq and now I have been creating a book with it, a neat hobby to be sure.
The Compaq's tiny keyboard is a challenge to work with, I normally use a laptop with an external keyboard to type with, but the Aero's lack of a port for a keyboard means that I have to learn how to type all over again.
Cool!
The "problem" that I have run into is a catch 22 in that windows 95 makes using a zip drive a snap, the Aero's native Windows 3.1, doesn't support zip drives, you have to use DOS and I hate Dos, Dos is the geek's gate across the bridge of general computer usage.
So on it goes, type and save to a cough cough "floppy disk" then save that to a zip drive, then convert that to a Open Office doucment, then edit and then ......
The Compaq's tiny keyboard is a challenge to work with, I normally use a laptop with an external keyboard to type with, but the Aero's lack of a port for a keyboard means that I have to learn how to type all over again.
Cool!
The "problem" that I have run into is a catch 22 in that windows 95 makes using a zip drive a snap, the Aero's native Windows 3.1, doesn't support zip drives, you have to use DOS and I hate Dos, Dos is the geek's gate across the bridge of general computer usage.
So on it goes, type and save to a cough cough "floppy disk" then save that to a zip drive, then convert that to a Open Office doucment, then edit and then ......
Tuesday, May 8, 2007
The zen of old school Aero laptops
My addiction has flaired up again, this time it is directed at a ancient Compaq product.
The Compaq 4/25 Contura Aero, 4mb of titanic memory, 174mb Hard drive, no external mouse, only a track ball, pcmcia floppy, Bios that is flakier than a bowl of Tony the Tiger's product.
Ahh, web searches until all hours of the night, (the Aero Faq is a wonderful resource) finding the best price on a new battery (25 dollars on ebay) new memory runs in the 4mb 8mb and 16 mb flavors, with the 16mb requiring a Bios flash to get it to read all 16mb's of Ram.
A few lessons that I have learned
1. The Aero can handle a 8gb HD, with a Bios upgrade the Aero Faq mentions that the HD has to be less than 12.7mm, which in 1997 was a problem, now it is no big deal.
2. If your Aero has not been used for a long time, and you buy a new battery for it, start the computer first, then remove the hinged door plate and insert the battery to be charged, unlike a normal laptop that you put the battery in and start as normal, if you do not, you will be staring at a POST screen that will check your memory (4096) and you will go no further as the old cmos battery has just checked out on you (me)
3. The Cmos battery part number is 3v cr1220, it also is very cheap to purchase I paid .99 cents for mine.
4. HP/Compaq (God bless them) still maintains a download page of everything that you will need to get this twitchy but cool laptop up and running. From Rampaq's to flash the Bios to downloads to restore your hibernation partition.
5. Before formating and installing your OS, be certain to have your hibernation partition installed, it MUST be installed on a wiped HD, not a formatted one.
6. The pcmcia floppy is somewhat rare, ebay had some for 40 dollars or less, new they can go for 200, unless you like laplink, or winlink, buy one of these beasties.
7. Amazon.com had the best price on memory upgrades, at 6.00 for 4mb, new that is a 130 dollar chip.
The zen part is the usefulness of such things as keyboard short cuts, remembering those forgotten Dos commands, and smiling as you type at the thought that new these little guys went for 2,000, and now they are mere pennies.
Life is a fleeting thing, sometimes what we value highly are the most uselessly hindering things of all.
The Compaq 4/25 Contura Aero, 4mb of titanic memory, 174mb Hard drive, no external mouse, only a track ball, pcmcia floppy, Bios that is flakier than a bowl of Tony the Tiger's product.
Ahh, web searches until all hours of the night, (the Aero Faq is a wonderful resource) finding the best price on a new battery (25 dollars on ebay) new memory runs in the 4mb 8mb and 16 mb flavors, with the 16mb requiring a Bios flash to get it to read all 16mb's of Ram.
A few lessons that I have learned
1. The Aero can handle a 8gb HD, with a Bios upgrade the Aero Faq mentions that the HD has to be less than 12.7mm, which in 1997 was a problem, now it is no big deal.
2. If your Aero has not been used for a long time, and you buy a new battery for it, start the computer first, then remove the hinged door plate and insert the battery to be charged, unlike a normal laptop that you put the battery in and start as normal, if you do not, you will be staring at a POST screen that will check your memory (4096) and you will go no further as the old cmos battery has just checked out on you (me)
3. The Cmos battery part number is 3v cr1220, it also is very cheap to purchase I paid .99 cents for mine.
4. HP/Compaq (God bless them) still maintains a download page of everything that you will need to get this twitchy but cool laptop up and running. From Rampaq's to flash the Bios to downloads to restore your hibernation partition.
5. Before formating and installing your OS, be certain to have your hibernation partition installed, it MUST be installed on a wiped HD, not a formatted one.
6. The pcmcia floppy is somewhat rare, ebay had some for 40 dollars or less, new they can go for 200, unless you like laplink, or winlink, buy one of these beasties.
7. Amazon.com had the best price on memory upgrades, at 6.00 for 4mb, new that is a 130 dollar chip.
The zen part is the usefulness of such things as keyboard short cuts, remembering those forgotten Dos commands, and smiling as you type at the thought that new these little guys went for 2,000, and now they are mere pennies.
Life is a fleeting thing, sometimes what we value highly are the most uselessly hindering things of all.
Friday, April 20, 2007
Addicted to old Operating systems
My budget was going along fine, I was saving money, I was happy.
Then just then, I decided to buy a 40 gb HD, and install in a laptop with no cd drive.
Opps, have to buy a extrernal CD drive, and well, it could handle win2000, and shouldn't you upgrade the memory......
I am comfortable with my addiction, it is positive and constructive, realitively cheap..that is what I tell myself anyway.
Does anyone know where to find a M$ Plus! CD......
Then just then, I decided to buy a 40 gb HD, and install in a laptop with no cd drive.
Opps, have to buy a extrernal CD drive, and well, it could handle win2000, and shouldn't you upgrade the memory......
I am comfortable with my addiction, it is positive and constructive, realitively cheap..that is what I tell myself anyway.
Does anyone know where to find a M$ Plus! CD......
Tuesday, March 20, 2007
Secrets of happiness
My budget just got blown up this week, a fuel pump went bad on the Honda, for a domestic, it would be cheap enough to fix, 30 dollars and some bolts an voila! fixed.
Not so with Mr. honda, try 180 dollars and a gas tank removal and it still Isn't fixed.
I should be upset, but it is an opportunity, I've been meaning to start riding a bicycle into work. Loss some weight, and save some money, but it is just so darn easy to hop in the car and drive to where ever it is that I wanted to go.
Now, that no longer is an option, I am looking forward to this actually, I perform better and try harder when the back is against the wall, and in this case, I have only gain in front of me, not loss.
This is a secret in a way, problems can be opportunities for growth or effort or change, if I solve this problem, I will achieve some goals and pick up a fun hobby.
How great is that?
Not so with Mr. honda, try 180 dollars and a gas tank removal and it still Isn't fixed.
I should be upset, but it is an opportunity, I've been meaning to start riding a bicycle into work. Loss some weight, and save some money, but it is just so darn easy to hop in the car and drive to where ever it is that I wanted to go.
Now, that no longer is an option, I am looking forward to this actually, I perform better and try harder when the back is against the wall, and in this case, I have only gain in front of me, not loss.
This is a secret in a way, problems can be opportunities for growth or effort or change, if I solve this problem, I will achieve some goals and pick up a fun hobby.
How great is that?
Tuesday, March 13, 2007
The 300
The film the 300 depicts the Spartans as some sort of pro freedom type band of merry maruaders.
Unfortuantely, that difers from Spartan reality.
In Sparta, children were conscripted into military training at the age of 6, that is if the passed the fitness test, if they flunked that, they were left to die. At the age of 6 they were inducted and the training began, they were now property of the State, they fought each other in training drills, and to graduate to manhood, they ahd to sneak out at night and find a peasant to strangel with their barehands, then they lived in barracks until the age of 40 or so, when if married they could spend part of their time with their wives, a Spartan didn't "retire" until 55 or so, and then they were free to live on their own plot of land with their wife.
.
I like the Spartans, there theory of "state as armed camp" makes a sort of sense, and we see that in practice in the world today, from North Korea to Cuba, however it should be pointed out that those aren't exactly the freest places in the world....
Unfortuantely, that difers from Spartan reality.
In Sparta, children were conscripted into military training at the age of 6, that is if the passed the fitness test, if they flunked that, they were left to die. At the age of 6 they were inducted and the training began, they were now property of the State, they fought each other in training drills, and to graduate to manhood, they ahd to sneak out at night and find a peasant to strangel with their barehands, then they lived in barracks until the age of 40 or so, when if married they could spend part of their time with their wives, a Spartan didn't "retire" until 55 or so, and then they were free to live on their own plot of land with their wife.
.
I like the Spartans, there theory of "state as armed camp" makes a sort of sense, and we see that in practice in the world today, from North Korea to Cuba, however it should be pointed out that those aren't exactly the freest places in the world....
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