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Greg G.
 
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Default PING: Charles Self

said:

Greg G. wrote:

I wasn't aware you guys were still around. I really loved QEdit.


Thanks for the kind words.


Well deserved, considering the other options available at the time.
I learned WordStar as my first real word processor, and the keyboard
mapping allowed me to emulate it quite well. I despised WordPerfect
and those annoying, inconsistent function key mappings. While there
may have been a way around it, I never used it enough to find out.

The "Mark Column" feature was novel as well, as I recall (on the PC).
But that was a long time ago, and I was just a lad at the time. ;-)
We did computer maintenance primarily for local military installations
before the infamous suspicious fires and eminent domain acquisitions
of Bacon's Grand Vision for the city that National Geographic referred
to as the little redneck town on the outskirts of Atlanta.

BBS's and PC bridge software to ARPANET were the norm for us.
Ah, yes. I (barely) remember $450 300baud modems, Windows 1.0, the
GEM GUI, CP/M, $2,000 dollar 10 meg hard drives, IBM BIOS lawsuits,
FTL and Robert Voysteres, Heathkit, DRDOS, FIDOnet, the DEC Rainbow,
RHIME and PCRelay. Man, I feel old...

Worked as a contractor to IBM briefly, a laughable place replete with
college students in poorly-fitting polyester suits who did programming
support for obsolete System 34 consoles and the fumbling,
soon-to-be-released AS400 whose tape drives seemed destined to spill
magnetic media onto the floor with the least hint of provocation.
I hate suits - both kinds. ;-)

West Coast programmers got to wear shorts, T-shirts and beenie caps,
play with rubber chickens, and I'm forced to wear an uncomfortable
suit and tie while pulling floor tiles for a new network loom - for
far less money than I ever made in my life!

Cripes, I sound like a now-deceased grandfather...

Yes, rumors of our demise are greatly exaggerated :-) Actually, we
just celebrated our 20th anniversary this November.


Congratulations! I didn't mean to imply your demise, only that I
hadn't heard anything in a while.

I vacillate between regarding the computer as the source of many
modern evils and it being a useful tool for engineering use. After
investing time and energy into computer knowledge and then having it
rendered semi-obsolete within the span of a couple of years, I tend to
avoid anything new that is computer related if at all possible. ;-)

I took the opportunity to briefly look over your web site and the
features of TSE Pro. I like the idea of transparency - especially
when working with crowded, multiple source windows.

Unfortunately, much of the work I do uses VBA in Access, and the
editor, while much improved over Bill's _other_ Office excuses, is
integral to the program.

I still do some Assembly and C++ stuff - the latest being an in-house
replacement for the horrific JAVA based UPS software that came with
our American Power Conversion UPS units.

I installed that stuff, groaned in absolute disbelief, and axed it
immediately. After decoding the serial cable logic and peculiarities
of the UPS units themselves, I donned the LED port monitors and
proceeded to write my own Windoze Service, complete with a Control
Panel applet, and it's been smooth sailing on our 4 servers and
various workstations ever since - even through the infamous "Server
Won't Boot because of the aforementioned JAVA software license"
escapade of 8/16/2005. Never even noticed until the distraught
complaints started rolling in from dealers all over the US.
Unbelievable PITA!

How do you like the traffic these days... ugghh....


I know what you mean. And it just keeps getting worse. I avoid
Barrett Parkway (by Town Center) if at all possible.


I avoid _driving_ if at all possible! I go out in the daytime maybe
once a week, and tend to grit my teeth the whole time. I am one of
the few native born Atlanta residents left - most have fled, retiring
from successful businesses and leaving the commerce to the various
BORGS that seem destined to consume the world in a tsunami of
mediocrity and tacky strip malls. I-85N is no man's land, 400 is not
much better, and I-75N is just about to climax.

I used to work on Roswell Road in Sandy Springs and it is also quite a
different place these days. If it weren't for the Rockler Store, I
wouldn't go over there either. :-\

Glad to see you're still around, but just one more On-Topic question.
Do you actually engage in woodworking or did a WebSearch for "Semware"
call your attention to this newsgroup? IMWTK.

Well, I've rambled on for 15 minutes - long enough.
FWIW,

Greg G.