As of two days ago, I no longer have the cruddiest fence on the alley. I don't have the best fence either, though that is due at least in part to the fact that I have no fence at the moment.
My old fence was getting pretty pathetic with lots of rotting cross pieces and boards falling off. It's gotten so bad in the past year or two that even screws weren't enough to reattach the boards, so I've been making periodic trips to the home improvement store to buy replacement bits. I'll bet the neighbors love the patchwork appearance!
But no more. The fence is gone and a stone wall with fence atop are being constructed. The yard behind the wall will be leveled, making for a better play space for the kids and allowing the planting of a vegetable garden when the drought is over.
The only sad thing is that the old wooden fence posts weren't rotten enough to fall over in a strong wind. If that had happened I might have been able to get insurance to pay for part of the replacement.
Saturday, July 29, 2006
Wednesday, July 12, 2006
Windows 98SE; Rest In Peace
As of yesterday, July 11, 2006, Microsoft will no longer support or provide updates to Windows 95, 98, 98SE, or ME, even though they estimate between 50 and 70 million users are still running these operating systems.
I have only one computer left running Win98SE. It is an old Gateway tower with a 600MHz Pentium III processor. I have slower computers running XP, so I can probably upgrade, but since this is primarily the kids' computer and used mostly for running (very old) kids games I have not felt the need.
Indeed, for a month or two we had my wife's new computer using their monitor during a transition from her old notebook and we tried a couple of the kids' games on it. There were a few troubles, including programs that wouldn't run or that would crash regularly or failed in some operation (printing, saving, etc.)
We'll probably keep using this PC as is. There's nothing critical on it and the kids are well trained. Virus protection is in place and they only surf to a small number of sites that are vetted in advance by me or 6/10ths (my better half). We've never had a virus or worm, so I suspect that we'll be okay for the next 6 months or so. Heck, if I don't get laid off by my employer this August I might celebrate by buying them a new, faster computer with an LCD monitor!
I have only one computer left running Win98SE. It is an old Gateway tower with a 600MHz Pentium III processor. I have slower computers running XP, so I can probably upgrade, but since this is primarily the kids' computer and used mostly for running (very old) kids games I have not felt the need.
Indeed, for a month or two we had my wife's new computer using their monitor during a transition from her old notebook and we tried a couple of the kids' games on it. There were a few troubles, including programs that wouldn't run or that would crash regularly or failed in some operation (printing, saving, etc.)
We'll probably keep using this PC as is. There's nothing critical on it and the kids are well trained. Virus protection is in place and they only surf to a small number of sites that are vetted in advance by me or 6/10ths (my better half). We've never had a virus or worm, so I suspect that we'll be okay for the next 6 months or so. Heck, if I don't get laid off by my employer this August I might celebrate by buying them a new, faster computer with an LCD monitor!
On-Line Gambling Soon To Be Illegal in U.S.
Schwab Stock Drops 50%
The US house "overwhelmingly" passed new legislation this week to further clarify internet gambling laws and to curb the popular activity. Among the measures intended to thwart gamblers is a prohibition against the use of credit cards or wire transfers to pay for gambling debts.
I haven't read the law, but here's an obvious work-around: Transfer the money to an offshore account that is not (directly) related to internet gambling. Then transfer the money to your bookie.
Or here's another way: the gambling houses require you to put money up front into an account with them. You aren't paying a gambling dept because you haven't yet gambled with that money. Later, when you lose a bet the casino takes money from your account.
Oh, and of course the law exempts several types of gambling, including horse racing and state run lotteries. And the stock market, the biggest gambling operation in history.
I saw a NightLine piece this week about bodog.com. I think they guy was right when he said that if the U.S. Congress really wanted to put him out of business they would legalize internet gambling so that the big U.S. casinos could get into it. That would hurt his business more than anything, though to be fair, I suspect it would also increase the total amount of gambling being done.
It should also be noted that the measure has yet to pass the Senate. For my international readers (ha!) who aren't familiar with the way laws are made here, a law must pass both the House and the Senate and be signed by the President to become law. The Senate has shot down several recent attempts to kill internet gambling and may do so again.
The US house "overwhelmingly" passed new legislation this week to further clarify internet gambling laws and to curb the popular activity. Among the measures intended to thwart gamblers is a prohibition against the use of credit cards or wire transfers to pay for gambling debts.
I haven't read the law, but here's an obvious work-around: Transfer the money to an offshore account that is not (directly) related to internet gambling. Then transfer the money to your bookie.
Or here's another way: the gambling houses require you to put money up front into an account with them. You aren't paying a gambling dept because you haven't yet gambled with that money. Later, when you lose a bet the casino takes money from your account.
Oh, and of course the law exempts several types of gambling, including horse racing and state run lotteries. And the stock market, the biggest gambling operation in history.
I saw a NightLine piece this week about bodog.com. I think they guy was right when he said that if the U.S. Congress really wanted to put him out of business they would legalize internet gambling so that the big U.S. casinos could get into it. That would hurt his business more than anything, though to be fair, I suspect it would also increase the total amount of gambling being done.
It should also be noted that the measure has yet to pass the Senate. For my international readers (ha!) who aren't familiar with the way laws are made here, a law must pass both the House and the Senate and be signed by the President to become law. The Senate has shot down several recent attempts to kill internet gambling and may do so again.
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