Quoting Maurice Kinal to Nancy Backus on 07-Feb-2019 20:06 <=-
Good that you've been spared so far
I may have jumped the gun on that as there is a severe wind warning
for the next couple of days for the southern Island. Supposedly for
us it will be a near miss but I am not betting the farm on it. Also a healthy dump of snow is predicted as well. :-/
freezing rain collected as ice on trees, cars, wires, etc.
Sounds like you're getting the icy stare instead of the cold shoulder.
Some of us had bad memories revived
Understood. I am definetly feeling a hint of that as we speak.
on the radio that Seattle had quite the dump of snow...
Quoting Maurice Kinal to Nancy Backus on 11-Feb-2019 14:38 <=-
on the radio that Seattle had quite the dump of snow...
I heard the same but they didn't say how much.
As far as the Island goes, Ladysmith got the most (40cm), and we're expecting another dump today forecasted to be 10-15cm.
On the plus side, we managed to avoid the gale force winds and never
lost power while south of us, Victoria looked to get hit the hardest, there were many outages due to wind damage.
Also on the snow front news is that we're set to break the alltime
record for the amount of snow on the ground for Febuary and it isn't
over yet as there is rumour for more on the way after today. Also the daily high has been well under 0C for the last week which is unusual
for this time of year.
I heard 2 feet...
you'll likely keep the snow a while...
and we didn't have to go out today, which was a good thing
I heard 2 feet...
As far as the Island goes, Ladysmith got the most (40cm), and we're
expecting another dump today forecasted to be 10-15cm.
That's pretty impressive....
Quoting Maurice Kinal to Nancy Backus on 13-Feb-2019 20:51 <=-
I heard 2 feet...
Whoa! They might have us beat but we just got through storm two and
have storm three slated to start tomorrow afternoon-ish. We still
have all the snow from storm one on the ground and none of it is
likely to melt before storm three has dumped it's load. I am sure we
have beat all records but haven't heard anything official along that
line yet. I'll wait until after the next one is over before checking.
you'll likely keep the snow a while...
More on the way too. :-/
and we didn't have to go out today, which was a good thing
For sure. After storm two we can't even get out of the driveway and
it's about to get worse. Hopefully tommorrow before storm three
starts I can make a quick trip to get a few supplies but if not then I
can hold out until next week if there isn't any choice which at this
point appears to be the most likely.
Quoting Carol Shenkenberger to Nancy Backus on 14-Feb-2019 21:55 <=-
I heard 2 feet...
As far as the Island goes, Ladysmith got the most (40cm), and we're
expecting another dump today forecasted to be 10-15cm.
That's pretty impressive....
Here is wierd. It's cold enough for snow 3 months of the year but
normally dry then. Now it's wet but just over warm levels.
Had it been the normal cold, we'd have had a collective of near 2ft
snow by now (granted not on the ground as much would have melted off between events).
Have you heard anything official on your snowfall accumulation
yet...?
were you able to get out for your supplies
Quoting Maurice Kinal to Nancy Backus on 18-Feb-2019 20:15 <=-
Have you heard anything official on your snowfall accumulation
yet...?
Not yet but unofficially the first two dumps were around 2 feet so
dump three was indeed overkill and apparently there is a small dump
slated for tommorrow and perhaps beyond. However it has warmed up a
tad and much of what accumulated has slowly melted. Also whatever
falls before the end of the month should count for the monthly totals which I believe might beat the record for all monthly accumulations of snow in this part of the world, nevermind just Febuary.
were you able to get out for your supplies
Yes. :-)
Quite the snowy February for you, then....
Quoting Maurice Kinal to Nancy Backus on 21-Feb-2019 18:59 <=-
Quite the snowy February for you, then....
Most definetly, even if we don't get more. For sure we broke the
daily record on that first dump even if we don't count the snow dumped
on the following day which was the same storm. I think that might
have broken the daily record for that day too. Together they counted
for the ~2 feet which much of it is still on the ground as we speak
along with what fell in at least 4 dumps since.
They are predicting a snow/rain mix overnight with it switching to
plain old showers before noon tomorrow (Friday). Nothing earth
shattering and not likely to be more than 4 cm if indeed there is any
snow at all. It feels more like it will rain (showers) given the
current temperature here at sea level ... less than 20 meters
elevation and ~100 meters to the shoreline.
Definitely bragging rights, for sure
And did you get the rain as you expected...?
We've been having a wind storm, yesterday and today
Only a handful of people in the area lost power, which is pretty
good, considering the wind....
Quoting Maurice Kinal to Nancy Backus on 25-Feb-2019 20:10 <=-
Definitely bragging rights, for sure
And as of tonight, we still have the evidence on the ground although
not nearly as deep. As for bragging rights I am not convinced it
is/was worth it.
And did you get the rain as you expected...?
Yes although not that much. More of a shower than a rain event.
However, just across the Strait in Vancouver, they got another dump of snow in the neighbourhoods at higher elevations (Burnaby) that caused grief for commuters. I didn't hear about any major outages or anything
of that nature so it sounded like another weather annoyance amongst
all the rest of the weather annoyances for this Febuary.
Sure is an odd one as far as any past Febuarys I have witnessed.
As we speak, ~8pm PST, it is -3C and a wind warning for just south of
us for the southern Gulf Islands and Victoria, as well as Vancouver
and the Fraser Valley which is expected to see the worst of it. Here
in Ladysmith we're just seeing the colder temps of the so-called
Arctic outflow and are predicted to escape the gale force winds that
are at the heart of the subzero temperatures.
We've been having a wind storm, yesterday and today
We heard. No word about any major damage though so hopefully you've managed to dodge another one of Mother Nature's temper tantrums.
Only a handful of people in the area lost power, which is pretty
good, considering the wind....
For sure. As for us, we'll know tomorrow whether of not we escaped
yet another blow. So far so good but we're still getting the cold shoulder from Mother Nature.
but it can help one keep a good face on things
Things have changed over the years...
Hopefully you did escape the winds....
It's still pretty cold here, though today has warmed up some
Quoting Maurice Kinal to Nancy Backus on 01-Mar-2019 21:08 <=-
but it can help one keep a good face on things
I'll take your word on it, but speaking for myself I'd much rather it
was the normal temps for this time of year even if it meant rain ...
and more rain ... and even more rain ... etc. ad nauseam.
Now that it
is March I am hoping to hear the official synopsis for Febuary and if indeed it was an alltime record. We still have some of the evidence of
the unusual snow. Offhand I am guessing we'll get word on Monday.
Hopefully you did escape the winds....
We ended up getting a couple hours of it but managed to escape any
serious damage. One of my exterior wireless antennas bit the dust but lucky for the neighbours that I have a backup.
It's still pretty cold here, though today has warmed up some
Exactly the same here. However the nighttime lows are still hovering below zero C and expected to stay that way until next week. Nobody is sticking their neck out to predict normal temps beyond that but there
has been much hope expressed.
You probably would hit that ad nauseum bit pretty soon.... ;)
And have you had word yet...?
That was indeed lucky for them...
Meanwhile, we're back into teens F for highs, and single digits
for lows... Sunday may get to 50
Quoting Maurice Kinal to Nancy Backus on 07-Mar-2019 03:00 <=-
You probably would hit that ad nauseum bit pretty soon.... ;)
We'll never know for sure now that it is March.
And have you had word yet...?
Yes. Second coldest Febuary on record and most, if indeed not all,
the snow days set records for that particular day.
The sub par temperatures continue as we speak although it has warmed
up a tad, at least during the day. No rain but there is a warning
for snow for Vancouver and the Fraser valley for tomorrow. :-/
Please make it stop!!! :::sigh:::
That was indeed lucky for them...
Yes but the backup isn't as good although they haven't complained
about it ... yet.
Meanwhile, we're back into teens F for highs, and single digits
for lows... Sunday may get to 50
That sounds exactly like the forecast for here.
Normally we'd have flowers blooming and lawnmowers agravatting everyone weeks ago. I don't miss the lawnmowers but I am betting the bees and hummingbirds miss the flowers.
I've seen hummingbirds at the feeders but zero bees thus far.
Maybe next week.
Unless you get piles of rain in March... ;)
for snow for Vancouver and the Fraser valley for tomorrow. :-/
And did it materialize...?
Spring should be coming along soon.....
Will you be replacing it with better, once the weather settles
down
The bees probably know better than to emerge yet....
Are you putting out the sugar water for the hummingbirds...?
Quoting Maurice Kinal to Nancy Backus on 12-Mar-2019 02:36 <=-
Unless you get piles of rain in March... ;)It's raining as we speak ... and still below seasonal temps to add
insult to injury ... sort of speak. At least it isn't snow. :::knock
on wood:::
for snow for Vancouver and the Fraser valley for tomorrow. :-/
And did it materialize...?Yes, and we got some too along with lightning and thunder. It almost became biblical.
Spring should be coming along soon.....The weather people are promising the weekend but I will believe it
when I see it. I have lost the faith, although I probably didn't have much to start with.
Will you be replacing it with better, once the weather settlesThat was the original plan but I got brave and repaired the old one
down
and put it back up. It is showing WAY better signal strength but at
the expense of some added noise. I now plan to wait until the weather improves before tweaking it some more. So far nobody is complaining.
The bees probably know better than to emerge yet....Hopefully they will be out and about soon.
Are you putting out the sugar water for the hummingbirds...?There is definetly more than enough in the neighbourhood as well as
bird feeders for the rest of the crowd. There is one just behind my
place that I can view through the window in my so-called office where
I am typing this reply. It is dark now but earlier there were flocks
of birds all taking their turns at poking at the feeder with much
gusto. It is always a fun to watch.
Quite the sight
So were things better on the weekend
and snow floating in the air falling somehow from the sky
That worked out well then...
And yes, I've always enjoyed the show at my mom's bird feeder
outside her kitchen window
Quoting Maurice Kinal to Nancy Backus on 19-Mar-2019 03:40 <=-
Quite the sightI didn't see any of the lightning but definetly heard the thunder as
it echoed off the mountains. We don't get that much lightning and
thunder and this was the first time I've heard thunder at this time of year. I've heard of it happening while snowing but NEVER around here.
So were things better on the weekendYes, but even better today with more of the same for tomorrow and the
next day. Predicted to cool down a tad on Friday and possibly get a
taste of rain which is normal for the last days of winter.
and snow floating in the air falling somehow from the skyYou can keep it. ;-)
That worked out well then...Getting better too. I managed to get rid of the excess noise by
upping the wattage on the line. I noticed it was a little shy. I
need better testing tools but money is short at the moment. Anyhow everything looks good now.
And yes, I've always enjoyed the show at my mom's bird feederThis one belongs to my neighbour but I have a clear line of sight
outside her kitchen window
through my so-called "office" window. It is dark at the moment so no birds but I can see a ghostly light coming from a light he has to
attract moths. He takes pictures of them. He also has an outdoor
camera pointed at the bird feeder so he can watch it from a computer monitor in his place. He is really into nature type photography.
Always a first time... ;)
but it is rather rare, even here
pretty typical for our early spring
Maybe some day you'll be able to afford the better testing
tools.... ;)
Quoting Maurice Kinal to Nancy Backus on 23-Mar-2019 04:01 <=-
Always a first time... ;)I can live with that ... as if I have a choice. ;-)
pretty typical for our early spring
Same situation here except without the threat of snow. We were up to record breaking warm temperatures for the last couple of days but are
now back to the normal temps (~12C) for this time of year with intermittent showers thrown in as per usual.
Maybe some day you'll be able to afford the better testing
tools.... ;)
If not then business as usual will have to do. I seem to be managing.
I am in the process of updating an older little box to be the next generation wireless router just to see if I can ... as well as the
little box. It still works fine but giving it a new task might be something of interest despite it being beyond the capabilities of the users here ... mostly their so-called 'smart'phones. Overpriced and overrated crap if you ask me but it isn't my dime thank goodness.
Anyhow this should put me well ahead of the game which can be fun ...
and it isn't costing much which is probably the real reason for doing
it. I already have the working and capable little system for the
host.
There'll probably be less and less of a threat of snow now
I find it useful to have a cell phone
Sounds quite typical of you...
Keeps the mind exercised, too... :)
Quoting Maurice Kinal to Nancy Backus on 27-Mar-2019 16:38 <=-
There'll probably be less and less of a threat of snow nowYes but the nightime lows are not that much above 0C so there is still
a chance for it. The days are still nice even with the occasional
showers we've had.
I find it useful to have a cell phoneAlthough I don't have one I believe that would be more useful than a landline, even a chordless one. I heard tales a little while ago that some major manufacturer was planning to start making them again due to
a high demand. I for one can believe that as I have absolutely no use
for a phone to be other than just a phone.
Sounds quite typical of you...Yes it does. Obviously I have become too predictable in my old age.
Keeps the mind exercised, too... :)Yes it can although sometimes it can give one a headache when things
don't go quite according to the 'plan' which can and does change at
the drop of a hat.
Speaking of which, this reply is a test to make sure I haven't screwed
up anything on the raspi3b+ which I've been experimenting with what
should be the start of the next generation stuff. The problem with
using the raspi3b+ is that it's radio chip isn't capable of 802.11s (wireless mesh) which is what the latest plan requires. However it
does make a good testing platform for the higher speed 5GHz
connections using it as a regular access point.
Looks good from this angle. :-)
the highs will be mostly in the 50sF, so, what, around the
20sC...?
Our primary phone is a landline, with cordless handsets
Never knew that they weren't being made anymore
But that's part of the fun.... isn't it...?
Looks fine from this angle, too
Quoting Maurice Kinal to Nancy Backus on 01-Apr-2019 03:44 <=-
the highs will be mostly in the 50sF, so, what, around the 20sC...?
More around 15C-ish. 20C is more or less 70F.
We're sitting around 15C for highs this last little while. Lows have
come up to around 5C which is a bit cool but above freezing so it
looks like we're past the threat of snow. :::knock on wood:::
Our primary phone is a landline, with cordless handsets
My favourite, although I am not much of a phone person but definetly prefer the above over all other alternatives.
Never knew that they weren't being made anymore
As far as I know they are. I was talking about the plain old
cellphones which have been replaced by smartphones ... until recently
or so the story goes. It was something I heard on the news.
But that's part of the fun.... isn't it...?
It can be ... not always though. In this case I plan to have fun
given that I'll probably be the only one using it ... for now. I'm
still waiting for a part which should be here this week. That is when
the real fun will begin.
Looks fine from this angle, too
Bonus! I still have it on but it isn't doing much at the moment.
I'll have to think of something for it to do now that it's fulfilled
it's original task of building a custom 64 bit linux for itself ...
and any other of it's ilk that might happen to show up.
We've slipped back into the 40sF for highs
Dunno about that story... what I have is a plain old cellphone,
and I've seen them still advertised in certain markets
And has it arrived yet...?
Quoting Maurice Kinal to Nancy Backus on 3 Apr 19 23:30:42 <=-
We've slipped back into the 40sF for highs
That would be around 5C which is around our lows although they've
climbed up a tad to 8C-sh. Also we started getting back the spring
rains which should last at least a week according to the weather
people.
Dunno about that story... what I have is a plain old cellphone,
and I've seen them still advertised in certain markets
Just goes to show how much I get around these days. However when I do
get out and about I always see people walking around with smartphones
... or no phones at all.
And has it arrived yet...?
Yes, today. In fact they shipped me two even though I only asked for
one. They are extended temperature mini-pcie wireless cards. I have
one of them running as we speak. The raspberry pi and it are
connecting just fine so maybe I'll use the pi in future tests. We'll
see where this goes.
And at the moment, we are back into the 60sF for highs and are
having our own April showers...
There's a lot of smartphones around, to be sure... but even
though they seem to be the only phones around, that's not really
the case...
I see you have lots of fun ahead...
It's all fun and games until someone loses an ì.
Quoting Maurice Kinal to Nancy Backus on 09-Apr-2019 03:09 <=-
And at the moment, we are back into the 60sF for highs and areSounds familiar.
having our own April showers...
There's a lot of smartphones around, to be sure... but evenLike I said, they are the only ones I've seen or had any dealings with lately. In the neighbourhood other than a few laptops, all the devices connecting to the wireless access point are smartphones ... and one
though they seem to be the only phones around, that's not really
the case...
tablet now that I think about it. A neighbour uses that to stream TV shows every now and then.
I see you have lots of fun ahead...
For sure. It is all fun and games until someone loses an �. :::evil grin:::
you used some unreadable to me character... looks like a capital
T dropped half down.... And you knew I wouldn't be able to read
it, hence your evil grin.... <G>
Quoting Maurice Kinal to Nancy Backus on 16-Apr-2019 03:25 <=-
you used some unreadable to me character... looks like a capital
T dropped half down.... And you knew I wouldn't be able to read
it, hence your evil grin.... <G>
Not true. It looks like it got borked somewhere along the line and
should have been a printable character to you -> 0x8d which according
to the encoding gurus should be "LATIN SMALL LETTER I WITH GRAVE".
Let me try it again but this time I'll add an extra kludge that might allow it to escape borking;
It's all fun and games until someone loses an . :::tentative evil
grin:::
I did actually see the small i with the accent grave before the
period...
But here in this packet (and as well in the next two messages in
this packet you sent), there's just a space.... I don't think it
made it into any of the packets I got....
Quoting Maurice Kinal to Nancy Backus on 21-Apr-2019 15:55 <=-
But here in this packet (and as well in the next two messages in
this packet you sent), there's just a space.... I don't think it
made it into any of the packets I got....
Good to know. I have adjusted accordingly and you should see only
pure ascii in this reply.
And also no gaps where characters might have been... ;)
Quoting Maurice Kinal to Nancy Backus on 24-Apr-2019 03:31 <=-
And also no gaps where characters might have been... ;)
That was a goofy thing for sure but definetly highlighted the, "until someone loses an .", part. However it helps to know beforehand that
the character in question was a form of "i" which sounds like "eye".
According to long standing standards, that particular character should have never been replaced at all.
That was a goofy thing for sure but definetly highlighted the, "until someone loses an .", part. However it helps to know beforehand that
the character in question was a form of "i" which sounds like "eye". According to long standing standards, that particular character should have never been replaced at all.
Except that some thing or things took exception to it....
some take "ignored" to mean "not processed and left out" while
others take it to mean "not processed and carried forward"... i'm
not sure how to resolve that...
some take "ignored" to mean "not processed and left out" while others
take it to mean "not processed and carried forward"... i'm not sure
how to resolve that...
Take a look at the latest reply to Nancy about this topic. I think
that tells the tale and a very ugly tale it is.
i keep wanting to say that QWK uses that i character for its EOL
but it doesn't... it uses 0xe3...
i've also looked at the bluewave format and it doesn't specify
anything for EOL...
we can only assume, at this point, that some system ignored
(completely) that specific i character and as a result stripped
it out during processing...
Quoting Maurice Kinal to Nancy Backus on 27-Apr-2019 15:08 <=-
Note 0x81, 0x83, 0x88, 0x8d, 0x8f, 0x90, 0x98, and 0x9d. These are
all valid trailing bytes in utf8. Also worthy of noting is that none
of the IBM codepages are affected, especially CP437 which is what you
are using. However any Windows based BBS you are recieving offline packets from may definetly have an impact on the characters noted with holes, such as the 'i' created by 0x8d in CP437.
Bottomline for me is that I'm happy to say I don't do Windows. :-)
I don't do Windows, either.... just DOS (and occasionally Linux,
but not in conjunction with messaging)....
Quoting Maurice Kinal to Nancy Backus on 01-May-2019 12:33 <=-
I don't do Windows, either.... just DOS (and occasionally Linux,
but not in conjunction with messaging)....
I have been using linux exclusively with messaging ever since the
dialup BBS went the way of the dodo bird which was sometime in
1997-ish maybe 1996-ish. I am not sure.
After that I experimented with a few ideas off and on before settling
in with the current idea of doing everything with bash scripts, which
is what you're seeing in this reply ... as well as a few things that you're not seeing given the offline format you are deploying.
Bottomline is that your editor doesn't seem to have any issues but
instead the BBS's you are dealing with.
I've had no need to change from my DOS setup
I'll take your word for that
Quoting Maurice Kinal to Nancy Backus on 04-May-2019 04:48 <=-
I've had no need to change from my DOS setup
I used to be that way, but then again that was before hard drives
became bigger than DOS could handle. Thank goodness that coincided
with the first Slackware I took out for a test spin on ye olde 486.
At the time it was the only thing that would successfully boot on a 2G drive. Them were the days.
Richard got around that by partitioning the drive into segments
that DOS could handle.... of course, this pentium's drive is
less than 1G... ;)
Quoting Maurice Kinal to Nancy Backus on 08-May-2019 03:50 <=-
Richard got around that by partitioning the drive into segments
that DOS could handle.... of course, this pentium's drive is
less than 1G... ;)
Yes but that only takes care of the DOS limitation and not the bios's.
In the case of the 486 the bios couldn't handle drive sizes bigger
than 520M so I had to lie about the geometry to the bios in order for
it to get past the bios to the boot loader in order to boot whatever.
However the only one that could boot successfully was lilo installed
on the root partition (not the mbr) so that the kernel could correct
the obviously 'haked' geometry and therefore utilize the entire drive
no matter how it was then partitioned.
Also no bios upgrades back then. The only upgrade possible at that
time was to solder on a whole new chip which is something I wasn't
about to do. Anyhow I retired that computer not too long afterwards
since it lacked any 32 bit pci slots which was the only sensible way
to upgrade a pc with whatever looked to be attractive at the time,
mostly network cards at that time.
the largest "drive" is under 520M, about 490M to be a little
more precise... that's the one designated c:\
you're speaking Wizard here
I'd guess that my requirements for a computer are a lot simpler
than yours are.... ;)
Speaking of which, this is the first message/reply ever from the new
pure 64 bit boot I like to call aarch64-raspi3b+-linux-gnu.
one RPi 3B+ fully setup and working with Slackware/ARM just
sitting here with nothing to do.
The RPi 3B+ is surprisingly fast for such a little machine.
rears it's ugly head here from time to time. Other than browsing chromebooks are totally a waste of hardware in by my latest
guesstimation of them.
I am not sure if I'd buy any more of these but if I do it'll probably become a cluster of aarch64-raspi3b+-linux-gnu's.
Quoting Maurice Kinal to Nancy Backus on 15-May-2019 16:34 <=-
the largest "drive" is under 520M, about 490M to be a littleIs the size due to DOS limitations or is that the actual size of the
more precise... that's the one designated c:\
disk?
In the case of booting linux (slackware back then) the bios was
limited but once the kernel got hold of the system then the full real
size of the disk was available for whatever purpose was needed at the time. Usually I have seperate partitions for the root system, /home, archives/backups/source, and a spare partition for pure play usually
next generation type activities. The one I am currently writing this reply on has 7 partitions and cannot boot the old fashioned i386
method via the mbr so a boot partition is required as well as swap
space which I normally don't have a need for.
you're speaking Wizard hereI thought it was voodoo? Anyhow my mojo was working and it did work
on it (ye olde 486 with the static bios). Only Linux though. :-)
I'd guess that my requirements for a computer are a lot simplerFrom this angle it looks to be exactly the same. We just have
than yours are.... ;)
different approaches to the task at hand, as well as I tend to make simpler things appear more complicated then they need to be, such as taking a raspberrypi and creating a pure 64 bit system for it to do fidonet messaging, this reply being a prime example.
Speaking of which, this is the first message/reply ever from the new
pure 64 bit boot I like to call aarch64-raspi3b+-linux-gnu.
-={ '<Esc>:read !/lib/libc.so.6' starts }=-
GNU C Library (GNU libc) stable release version 2.29.
Copyright (C) 2019 Free Software Foundation, Inc.
This is free software; see the source for copying conditions.
There is NO warranty; not even for MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.
Compiled by GNU CC version 9.1.0.
libc ABIs: UNIQUE ABSOLUTE
For bug reporting instructions, please see: <http://www.gnu.org/software/libc/bugs.html>.
-={ '<Esc>:read !/lib/libc.so.6' ends }=-
Most definetly voodoo.
| Sysop: | Coz |
|---|---|
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