I’m currently in the process of pulling some old files – these date from 1994 – off of our very much unused Macintosh Classic.

The only way I really have to do this is to use a floppy disk. I’m lucky I still have one to use – that, and I have this nifty USB floppy drive.

What amazes me is that the files transfer right over to the modern-day Macintosh – labels, icons, resource forks, everything. Yay for backwards compatibility. We’ve even managed to get Pam’s original college thesis files to open up in Word after a little fiddling with the format.

It will take a while to do this at 1.44MB per transfer, but it is working. Mind you, it isn’t a lot of data – the entire system is 85MB in size. Yes, it could fit on a thumb drive many, many times over.

I pretty much have to – the disk in the Ye Olde Macintosh is failing and will soon be unable to boot. Better get it now or forget about it. Once that is done I will prepare some new operating system disks, change out the hard drive and reload it. After that… who knows? I may keep it, I may send it to a loving home.

For a trip down memory lane, here are the specs for the Macintosh Classic.

Just seems that way.

Back with more soon.

In the meantime, enjoy Pit Pat (WARNING: Not safe for work or small children/pets)

Bruce Schneier (of Counterpane Systems) has a good say about the current goings-on in the airline security world in his latest Crypto-Gram newsletter.

In short: This is theater that has no real effect on our security. This is to make you feel good, not actually do anything.

He also links to a well circulated post from the Interesting People list on the implausibility of the explosives threat. This rings true based on my experiences with organic explosives and ketone reactions – but the person posting this knows far more about these things than I do. I used to have an amatuer interest in explosives, but quit while I still had all of my fingers.

Now the rumors are that they will ban all laptops on planes – for your safety. I guess that means I’m done flying – well, if that occurs. It hasn’t yet. At this time you only have to check your laptop if you are flying between Great Britain and the US… which means I won’t be flying between Great Britain and the US. Sorry to disappoint the baggage thieves union, but I won’t be checking my $2,000 laptop in my (mandatory) unlocked luggage only to be told later, once the theft is discovered, that no one accepts fault for this.

Actually, the point isn’t the equipment. I have backups. I can insure the laptop. I’m sure I can even get work to pay for that insurance. The point is that, for me, the laptop is the point of the trip. It is the tool I use to do my job. It’s kind of like you’re going to build a house and once you get there you discover your toolbox has been stolen – the toolbox that had unique, one-of-a-kind tools necessary to finish building this house. Without these tools there is no point in the trip – and by the time you are there it is too late to replace them. The tools are the trip.

I can’t imagine how cranky I would be after sitting on a crowded plane for 10 hours only to discover that the point of the trip has been stolen, and all I have to look forward to is another 10 hour trip so I can fill out insurance forms and then look forward to another miserable trip.

But, let’s be optimistic. Maybe your laptop won’t be stolen. Maybe it will only be smashed. Here is a little article discussing just that, and how to avoid it.

Me? I’ll drive, thanks.

P.S.: TSA? Hello? Yeah, if lithium batteries are THAT dangerous you’d better make sure you ban all cell phones, iPods and watches. I’d mention pacemakers, but I’m afraid you’d take me seriously.

The premiere of Hello Kitty, World Threat

My brother, Timothy, has joined us and posted his first comment.

Actually, I rather like that.

You’ll notice from his comments on this post that Tim doesn’t necessarily agree with me on matters political; this should not be construed to mean that I think he’s wrong. What I’ve learned over the years is that he and I often want exactly the same thing but we can’t agree on the method that should be used to accomplish the desired goal.

I suppose that describes a lot of humanity in nutshell.

Anyway, welcome to Tim. Hope we don’t drive you too crazy.

(Lest this come across as my making fun of Tim’s opinions or pointing them out for criticism, let me state that nothing could be further from the truth. I just think it’s cool that my brother posted on my weblog…)

So, to complete an evening where nearly every post has some mention of my father:

My father used to have a saying: “That makes me see red.” This was used whenever something outraged him. I’ve always liked that saying, although I don’t seem to use it much myself.

Well, the following 4 part series of articles fit the bill.

In Debtors’ Hell—Debt Collection—Debtors’ Hell—Debt Management it quite clearly spells out the clearly illegal and unethical lengths that debt collectors will go to in order to squeeze money out of people who are barely making it.

Didn’t make the payment? Seize their car. Oh, I’m not saying they missed a car payment – I’m saying that this person lost a judgement in small claims court for a few hundred dollars, often a hearing they didn’t even know about, and the collections agent then proceeds to seize the car the defendant has that is already paid for. You know, the only car they have in order to get to work and could not in any way afford to replace. That car.

Mind you, this series is Massachusetts specific, but this sort of thing is happening all over. A lot of it is credit card debt – these cards are pushed into the hands of people that any decent creditor knows is a bad debt risk – but that doesn’t matter to them. It even mentions that, after fees and penalties, a bad risk card holder can be very profitable if you can threaten them into paying.

Get out of debt, friends, and stay out. Living within your means is the way to never deal with weasels like the ones mentioned in this article. You certainly can’t look to the courts or the legislature for any relief – the debt collection industry is one of the fasted growing industries in the country, and they love to funnel money to politicians that will give them free reign. Oh – and you’ll love the part about how the Sheriff’s departments can keep some of the proceeds from the seizures.

For a parallel, please look up the private prison industry.

We know there is a retard in the neighborhood, and apparently he is adept at making signs.

(Note to the permanently offended: My sister has Downs Syndrome. If you can’t understand the reasons for the above comment then please seek out and purchase a less defective sense of humor.)

Anyone who knows me knows my fondness for height – that is, none at all. Sorry, I never would have made a good paratrooper.

So, what on earth would inspire me to desire – even a little bit – a gyrocopter ???

Yeah, I have no idea, either. But it sounds like an interesting project, and I’m thinking of sending off for the plans.

I’m young enough, healthy enough and I have enough spare time and money for something like this. I’d probably learn a thing or two about fabbing from a project like this, and who knows what sort of payoff that could have.

My father always wanted to go to Russia. (This is related, bear with me.) However, due to various circumstances he put it off and put it off and never did manage to go. I really wish he had; it had always fascinated him.

Myself, well, Russia could fall off of the planet and my biggest concern would be “how does this affect our orbit?” – but that isn’t the point. The point is that I’m now a firm believer in “do it now, while you can, or you may not get the chance.” This isn’t a Nike ad (ewww) saying “Just do it”. Just because that blonde in the hotel bar is giving you the eye doesn’t mean you should go for it – but a well reasoned and thought out desire for something that will make you happy (and, perhaps, improve your life in some way) should be sought after, not just wished for.

Ennui.

This seems to be a common complaint in the USA (even if they don’t think of that word to describe it), and it really doesn’t make any sense. What do we have to complain about? Infant mortality is very, very low. We have air conditioning – our parents didn’t. In fact, my father NEVER had air conditioning. While a lot of medicine is “Let’s chop this off and see if the disease stops coming back” – welcome to cancer treatment in 200X – it is still orders of magnitude better than in the past.

7 Reasons the 21st Century is Making You Miserable discusses how the real reason for the current epidemic of ennui is our isolation from others. Worth a read, and funny in places.

This is a great story about how the graphing calculator was included in the pre-X Macintosh operating systems… even though the programmer was let go from Apple and the project cancelled.

Our intrepid programmer, when faced with this, decided that he was going to complete it anyway and just continued showing up for work at Apple for free.

The story is amazing, and I can understand this – having a project cancelled is a real letdown.

Have a read if you have time. Of course, these days you’d probably get arrested, convicted, jailed and fined for trying to help out like this.