FolkRockFan

Win98 is obsolete. Microsoft stopped supporting it quite some time ago. Google apparently believes that it's in the company's best interest to not devote resources to developing Win98-friendly applications.Not that I have a problem with 98. Two PCs in this house are running 98SE without any problems, in fact. One has a four-gig hard drive. Heheh.

Holden Caulfield was a young teenager looking at the adult world. The young man was idealistic - VERY much so. That's why the adults who acted one way in one situation, and a different way in another, were phonies as far as he was concerned. His idealism had not yet been shattered, even at the novel's end. (It's one of my very favorite books, by the way. I was about Holden's age when I first read the novel...and had very much the same idea about the grown-ups as he did. I guess it was just a matter of finding the perfect book at the perfect time.)That perspective is VERY different from the doctor's that you used in your example. Adults have to have professional attitudes and casual attitudes. You're right: a doctor shouldn't (and usually won't) crack jokes about cancer when breaking that terrible news to a patient. But that same doctor can of course go tell jokes to his or her friends after the day is done and it's time to relax and just be social (instead of professional). That's totally normal - and it does not make that person phony. Holden, however, was not yet at that point of his life and growth. He didn't exactly have a professional attitude and a casual one to deal with. As far as he was concerned, different situations required basically the same demeanor. He liked to kid around a little bit with everybody - even people who didn't like to crack jokes. He didn't take his essay writing seriously even though he'd been punted out of several private schools AND was dealing with an instructor who really, really wanted him to take the assignments seriously. He took the same attitude when the prostitute and her pimp came by to rip him off. And he definitely had that horsing-around attitude when he was with his roommates/suitemates at the school.

Getting the guy to come to the funeral? Never even occurred to me. I'd make a cruddy serial killer, I guess. :XD:One of my best friends, however, would probably jump right to that conclusion. She's not a serial killer in the making or anything like that. She's just...strange.

I never said that ALL of us were into old consoles/games. Just many of us. So no - I'm not wrong.

Even though I live way out in the middle of nowhere - as in: out of range for anybody but the neighbors across the road to even get a signal off my router - I secure my home network.Why?Because I'M paying for it. It's mine. If somebody else is too cheap, too dishonest, too whatever to pay for what he or she wants to use, then that's his or her own problem. Not mine. I'm not a good Samaritan when it comes to Internet access. It's not a necessity in this day and age, when you can get free wifi just by taking your notebook to Mcdonald's. (Or go to the public library. Even our podunk branch has Internet-ready computers.)I'd give somebody food, or water, or some other necessity if I had it and s/he needed it...but people who can't be bothered to get their own Internet access...or at least ASK BEFORE they use somebody else's...bug me to no end.One can argue that "It's the owner's fault for not securing the router/network." But that's not really a good argument. Is it the car owner's fault if she's carjacked because, hey, she was driving in the city with her doors unlocked? No. She doesn't deserve to be ripped off just for having something that a thief wants.

I'm going to try a dual boot system later...like, when I have some free time (getting ready for school to start now and all that). The next time Microsoft wants to release a new OS, I'm going to have to make SURE that I buy a PC before they actually unveil the new one...that way I can at least get a fully-functional OS (instead of being stuck with the brand-new one and the issues that always come with it). :XD:

Linux is free, comes in all sorts of flavors, and has a large community of developers and users who are willing to help with support, troubleshooting, et cetera. So if you can't afford Windows, you can always afford Linux. And if you don't want to use Linux, you can use a library computer.There is no good excuse to steal from somebody else. Period. Just because some people hate Microsoft and can't stand the high prices does not mean that it is okay to rip off the developers, programmers, et cetera who put their time and effort into creating the software. Yes, Bill Gates has a stranglehold on the market. No, he won't notice if you rip off just one little copy of his operating system. But the software belongs to him, so he deserves whatever he can get for it.There are alternatives to piracy. I just mentioned Linux as one of them. You can also use a public/school computer, work to save up your money until you can buy Windows, see if your school or workplace offers some sort of discount on legit copies (my school does that with Microsoft programs), et cetera. Besides: the excuse of "It's so expensive" doesn't really fly with me when I meet people who will rip off the OS...and also rip off a five-dollar card game because they can get away with it. SUUUUURE the price is a factor in that choice.

Corporal punishment, when done correctly, is not harmful to the child.If you go and whale away on your kid when you're mad, then you're probably being abusive.But if you go over the rules with your child, and then tell him exactly what the consequences will be, he has the choice of obeying or disobeying. If he obeys, then he should not have to worry about being punished in any way. But if he disobeys, then you, the parent, had better make good on what you said would happen in that instance. Otherwise, the kid doesn't believe that you'll really do anything to him, and will continue doing what he's doing. And later he'll do worse things.

I rarely drink, but when I do I usually go for either Budweiser or Guinness (depending on my mood). Neither are very expensive here depending on where you go. I refuse to drink at pro baseball games because the tab is, like, six bucks per bottle - for cheap, domestic beer (like Budweiser). Forget that, man. I can get the same beer for two bucks at the bar, and that's considered expensive.

I don't start until Tuesday. (The advantage of setting up my college class schedule for Tuesday and Thursday classes only.)I'm taking a few English classes and a creative writing class. I don't know any of my profs yet, so I'm hoping that they're all right. They'll probably give me all sorts of assignments the first day anyway, though. *grins*

Congrats on getting out of the apartment. I hate those things. Too many neighbors...too close together...too much rent to pay...et cetera.Enjoy the new place!

I pay about 10 bucks a year for my domain. Go Daddy has been really great so far. I've heard some negative things about them - but I haven't personally experienced anything. So, to each his own, I suppose. For 10 bucks or less, it's worth a shot, anyway.

Dell is making a big deal of their "We'll sell you an XP-loaded PC!" option. So, when Mom was ready to buy a new computer earlier this week, I went to Dell's Web site to see about an XP-based system. Mom wasn't ready to upgrade to Vista yet; she wanted to give that OS some time first so that Microsoft could make it more stable, fix some bugs, et cetera.So when I could not find any XP-based systems, I entered the live Q&A chat that Dell offers on the Web site.That's where I found out that, if I want an XP system, I have to buy the 1,200-dollar XPS system. That, incidentally, is a gaming system. If you want to do high-end things, then that's the PC for you. But my Mom doesn't need, or want, that much of a system. She plays games, but none of them require many system resources. She just wants a basic PC.So I didn't order that because, hey, I'm not paying 1,200 for a computer that's way too much for any of us to justify having. Nobody in this house would make good use of that system, so why bother? (And I didn't have 1,200 bucks anyway.)And that's fine. Dell can do whatever they want. They operate in a free country and all that. But I'm annoyed anyway. Mom is not the only PC user out there who wants to stick with XP for at least a few more months, if not longer. (I feel the same way, incidentally.)But I bought Mom a new Dell anyway. It, of course, comes with Vista Premium. Whoop-de-doo.Vista, as it turns out, is OKAY. It'll be better in a few months or so, but for now it's acceptable. There are a lot of changes from XP, so Mom just has to get used to the layout, where things are stored, et cetera. It's not bad. It's just...different.But I have to say that the new plug and play support is amazing. I mean...I thought that XP was doing well, but Vista? Blows it away. Nice.Anyway.Mom asked me if I could roll back to XP. I said that I could give it a try. As it turns out: if you roll back to XP, Dell voids the system's warranty. So you're stuck either using Vista or accepting that you will be cheated if you roll back and there is a problem with the system. I can understand why Dell won't cover XP-related problems. They aren't selling XP with the new PCs. But if there's an unrelated issue - say, a piece of hardware is defective and you don't know that until after you install XP - then you're out of luck (Or so Dell tells me.)Sooo...if Mom really wants XP on her system, I'll set up a dual boot. That might or might not void the warranty...but I'm not touching it until I'm certain that the system really does work like it should. Maybe in a few weeks I'll go ahead and make the changes. But until I'm sure that everything is cool, I'm not doing anything.

Actually, online classes CAN still provide interaction with other students. The class's Web site can include forums, chat links, et cetera. You can send and receive e-mails, too. So you can keep in touch with other people in your class...and with the teacher(s). As for educating younger students (elementary, for example) online: those kids still interact with society. They can have video conferences, for example, or send messages back and forth with other students. But even if they don't do these things, they still socialize. Kids in the neighborhood, church youth groups, their sports teams, et cetera, all provide various types of social interaction.

iPods are okay. I think that a large part of their appeal is the brand recognition, though. It's sort of like paying too much for Starbucks coffee because it's Starbucks. (Believe me: I've had better coffee at Dunkin' Donuts than I've gotten at Starbucks. So it's not necessarily about one brand being higher quality than the cheaper stuff.)I actually like my Zune just fine. And before I upgraded, I had a small iRiver that was pretty sweet (and very affordable compared to the iPod).

Parents should actually PARENT their children.I'm tired of the lame excuses. I've heard parents claim that they don't want to hurt their children's feelings. Some parents have said that they're "just being kids" when they do rotten things (like pull the dog's ears...or smear peanut butter and jelly all over the wall...et cetera).People who do not want to step up and do their jobs as parents should not become parents in the first place. The child needs to be trained...taught how to be a civilized human being. Parents who don't teach their children to become decent adults...well...they're failing those children. They're encouraging the brats to become bigger, brattier adults. And then those monsters are inflicted on the rest of society.

Our friends change as we change. The people I befriended when I was in grade school are...I have no idea. Didn't keep in touch. The people I was pals with in high school aren't my pals anymore. We've all grown, matured, changed, et cetera. We all become different people over time. And in many cases, we just don't have things in common that we once did. But betrayal...well...there's really no need to put up with that. With hundreds of millions of people living here in the U.S. alone, the odds of us not being able to find other friends or acquaintances are very, very slim. :XD:

A house is an asset because you can use it as collateral when you want to take out a loan (NOT recommended because, if something goes wrong, you lose the house). And once you pay off the house, it's yours. You don't have to pay rent anymore. So in the super-long-term scheme of things, the house is putting money into your pocket. Whereas, if you rent forever, you're never gaining anything - and always putting out cash.But if you really want your money to work for you, make sound investments. They don't have to be HUGE investments, either. Here in the United States, the Roth IRA is a big deal. You put a few bucks per year into this IRA and watch it grow. If you begin when you're very young (younger than I am, even) you can conceivably have a million bucks in that account by the time you're eligible to begin withdrawing money from it (when you're in your 50s). That amount of money is not guaranteed. You could lose money on this deal, sure. But it's a good bet to place because the odds are very good that you will, in fact, gain from the investment.That's a long-term thing, though. You don't see benefits when you're young and still working because you're just putting away the money. If you want more accessible funds, become a really kick-butt poker player and go on the World Poker Tour *grins* Or, you know, learn how to play the stock market.

Sprint has ticked off quite a few customers with incorrect bills, nasty phone reps, et cetera. I had a Sprint cell phone for a year, but didn't renew the contract because I was sick of having to argue with them all the time. I have to say that Cingular has proven to be a better company. Not only because my unused minutes roll over (fat chance of Sprint adopting that idea), but also because the phone reps have been polite and helpful EVERY time I've ever called.Oh, and I actually get reception here at home with Cingular. That's always a plus. :XD:

Taxes are not inherently evil. The government does need funding for certain things. We all, for example, benefit from roads. Even people who don't directly use the roads benefit because our commercial goods (everything from stereo systems to CDs to food) travel by truck at some point or another. So, yes, let's pay taxes to help maintain roads.But I would love to see the IRS go bye-bye. Instead, what if we paid taxes when we SPENT money, instead of when we EARNED it? That way, the guy who earns cash under the table will still pay taxes. He has to spend money at some point. So he goes to buy a new shirt and pays a bit in taxes. The teenager who mows lawns for cash every summer will pay taxes when s/he buys a new CD at the record store. So forth and so on. It's not a perfect idea, sure, but it's better, IMO, than income taxes.

Ultimately, I encourage people (especially my younger siblings) to abstain from sex until they're ready to care for children/treat STDs/deal with other consequences of premarital sex. That would prevent many unwanted babies. Abortion would not be nearly as common. And we might even see fewer cases of child abuse. (Not all people who have unplanned kids abuse their kids, though. And some people who prepare in advance for children do abuse them. So. Yeah.)The Baby Moses law (I live in Texas, by the way) beats the snot out of abortion (IMO) and abandoning those babies in Dumpsters (which does, sadly, happen here sometimes). It also beats having a mother who is not ready for a child, try to rear that kid. The law states that the person with the baby must physically hand that newborn to an authorized recipient - such as a hospital employee, or a firefighter. The mother cannot just drop the kid in the trash can outside of the hospital and walk away - that's still illegal (and, of course, a rotten thing to do to an innocent baby).So: the baby is safe. People can place that kid in foster care or find adoptive parents. The mother does not have to worry about being charged with child abandonment...or trying to figure out how to rear a child she is not ready to rear.As for consequences of one's actions: as far as I'm concerned, the baby's health and well-being are FAR more important than making sure that Baby's Mama feels bad for what she's done wrong. If it comes down to a choice between making sure that the baby is okay and making sure that Baby's Mama feels bad? I'll choose the baby every time.

Sitting on one's butt in front of the PC all day can do bad things too, ya know. It can mess with your eyesight. You don't get exercise. You eventually forget what that big, burning ball of gas in the sky looks like. So spending a lot of time on the computer has some benefits, but it can be detrimental as well. It's Mom and Dad's job to try and help kids and teenagers learn how to balance the time spent on the computer versus the time spent doing everything else. My parents limited my computer time when I was a kid too. But once I bought my own computer and started helping pay the Internet account bill, they didn't really say a whole lot to me. Stepping up and showing a little maturity seems to help many parents figure out that the teen in question is learning how to be responsible...and therefore does not need quite as much input from Mom and Dad.As for all the things that you've learned thanks to being on the computer: that's not the world's greatest argument. I still gain quite a bit of my knowledge from books...even though I spend quite a bit of time online every day. :XD:

No. I do not have children.But why should *I* be responsible for some other family's problems? I'm not the one who reproduced. I shouldn't have to be part of that infernal "village" (which is, in my estimation, a nice, sweet way of saying "communism"). And it's not like sitting at home is the ONLY option. Yes, it's BEST for children if they have a parent at home. But when an adult picks a lousy person with whom to reproduce, that adult must accept the consequences of said hasty decision. And because I didn't make that cruddy choice, I should not have to help clean up the mess.

Dating somebody you meet on the Internet can work out. Like others have already said, you (generalization) have to remember that it's easy for people to change a little, or a lot, when we're online. I'm more outgoing online than I am in person, for example. So anybody who knows me online thinks that I'm less shy than I really am - and meeting me would suck because that person would expect somebody who's more talkative. Meeting somebody online isn't necessarily a bad idea. I wouldn't make a serious commitment, though, until I'd spent some face-to-face time with that person.

Nobody has said anything in this topic that has not been said eighteen zillion times or more. Everybody on the planet knows that smoking can cause negative, harmful side effects. Everybody on the planet knows that I'm going to have yellow teeth and smelly clothes because I'm a smoker. Even I know that, and I don't get out much :PSmoking is the hot thing to hate right now. Here in the United States, we're banning smoking in ALL public places within certain cities. Dallas, Texas did that not long ago; other cities around that one are following suit. The problem is that the ordinances include privately-owned businesses like restaurants and bars: places where people have always smoked. Even the businesses that already had separate sections, each with their own air-filtration systems (read: effective ways to keep the non-smoking sections from inhaling secondhand smoke) were forced to go completely non-smoking. All that because we love to hate smoking and smokers.Here's my question. Heart disease is one of THE big killers, at least here in the United States. So people scream and rant about how we shouldn't smoke because that MIGHT lead to heart disease. (Many smokers never have ticker problems, so it's not a definite result of smoking.) But most people don't say jack when people cram Big Macs and other toxic "foods" into their gullets. Oh, right. We can't pick on big people...and we don't have the authority or right to tell other people what they can and can't eat. But we can rag on smokers all we want even though they (or, more accurately, we) are consuming a product that is 100 percent legal. And yes. Some people rag on big people, and people who eat garbage for food. But for the most part, people would rather harass smokers than Big Mac addicts.I'd *so* rather weigh 350 pounds and have a cheese-pizza addiction than be my ideal-weight, smoking self. I'd take a lot less flak for it...at least until this country goes on a crusade against food.