On 1/16/2016 10:32 PM, rbowman wrote:
On 01/16/2016 08:33 PM, Don Y wrote:
But, I *do* keep references like the TeX books, various language manuals,
The Unicode Standard, CRC, Graphics algorithms, Knuth, Stevens, Comer, etc.
Things that I'll want to pick up and thumb to find a particular reference
or take off to a quiet corner to refresh my memory.

Even some of those could use some pruning. I've got a good collection of Perl
books but the question is if I'm ever going to use Perl again. Then there is
the J++ book, if you want to talk about dead and gone.

The only ones I could even *consider* would be the language manuals;
many of them are for old/obsolete languages (Mumps, SNOBOL, etc.).

OTOH, they've come in handy, in the past! Especially when consulting
papers written years ago.

E.g., there is a widely cloned letter-to-sound algorithm that was
originally written in SNOBOL. *EVERY* implementation that I have
come across -- typ in C -- adopts the strategies that are typically
used *there* instead of as they were originally written.

SNOBOL uses a "reluctant" wildcard matching algorithm -- it tries
to match to the smallest string possible and only ATTEMPTS to increases
the characters matched if this hesitant approach fails.

Consider how you'd approach "*?" for varying target strings:
"" "A" "AA" "AAA" etc.

Now, imagine a more complex grammar where you can define your own
wildcards and build up sentences using those:
# ::= 'A' | 'E' | 'I' | 'O' | 'U'
$ ::= "LY" | "ED" | "ING" | "ENCE"
etc.

Then, "productions" that combine those in arbitrary ways to form
replacement rules. With a "greedy" match, you get different results
than if you adopt a "reluctant" matching strategy -- one wildcard
can gobble up a character that should have been handled by the *next*
wildcard in the production/grammar.

Should "#+$D" (plus meaning at least one -- but possibly more -- of the
preceding symbol) match "IED"? With a greedy matching strategy, the
'I' and 'E' get swallowed by the "#+" leaving nothing for the '$'.
In a reluctant strategy, the "#+" only tries to gobble up the 'E'
if the pattern can't be matched with *just* the 'I' being matched.

I've also been rummaging through older languages with an eye towards
language features that would be suitable for a *user's* scripting
language (i.e., something a non-technical person could use to
say: "When I come home, at night, turn on the kitchen lights
as soon as I open the door.")

Imagine doing that in many of the modern languages -- littered
with lots of bizarre punctuation and idioms that make a *programmer's*
life easier -- but do nothing for a NON-programmer!

On 1/16/2016 7:49 PM, rbowman wrote:
On 01/16/2016 01:52 PM, Don Y wrote:
From your past comments, you probably don't have a lot of LOCAL options
to buy those things? In a city of half a million -- in a metro area
of a million -- we have a fair bit more "local choices", I suspect.

Well, we do have a Harbor Freight

You laugh -- but I recall when my in-laws exclaimed over the arrival of a
McDonald's in their home town ("Hey, we must be on the map, now!")

What more could you want? And HF
definitely is a place where I want to hold and interview the merchandise.

Yup.

The basics are here; just don't get off the beaten track. Or bring your own
tube of vaseline if you're looking for a HDMI cable or such.

I've found that "basics" varies in parts of the country. E.g., I can
buy live *chicks* in the hardware store up the corner. And, bales of
hay down the street. But, it will cost me a 30 minute drive to buy
an overpriced capacitor at the *one* place in town that sells them!

I can *possibly* get a decent Italian meal if I go to one of the 4 stars
that cater to resort visitors. But, damn little else for more modest
tastes!

I had to bring almonds in from NYC as I couldn't find anyplace here
that sold *quality* nuts.

Oval head, 100 degree, clutch/torx/robertson/etc. screws are a chore
to locate; other markets I'd walk in to a hardware store and pick them
off a shelf. Buy a box of 100, here, and they look at like you as if you
must be in the "screw business"! :

Large metros have both better selections and better prices. I don't care that
much for the company but even for something like the new Cabelas in town, my
gut impression from a quick walk through was it wasn't as well stocked as the
one in Glendale.

Name (chain?) doesn't ring a bell.

Even that is a case in point. I bought a Kershaw knife that was labeled as
'reversible' for $70. Of course with the blister pack you can't tell much but
when I got home I found 'reversible' meant changing the clip for point up or
point down carry in your right hand pocket. So I hit the internet to see if
there was a left handed model. Turns out there isn't but I saw it on Amazon for
$38.13. So it meant a trip back to Cabelas, on the wrong side of town, to get
my $70 back.

I don't know if it would be cheaper in Glendale. I've never found Cabelas to be
very competitive.

Smaller markets give vendors too much control over prices. And, customers
alter their preferences to fit those choices -- so there's no pressure
on the store to change its selection or pricing.

Don wrote:
SWMBO is complaining that the library is turning more and more to
ebooks (do away with the brick&mortar facilities and let amazon
act as the "library" -- some sort of contract they've hammered out).
She's not keen on giving up look/feel of paper. But, figures there's
no other option for some of these titles (if library has it in *any*
form, they will not process a request to find a "paper copy" at some
OTHER library in the next town, etc.)
I've moved much of my technical library to electronic form (simply
can't afford to keep all that paper on shelves, here!) and do so with
a "tablet PC". It gives me a decent screen size (~12") so that I can
view typical 8.5x11 pages/sheets in full size (assuming there is a half
inch margin on the page -- which the display doesn't need to reproduce!).
Also gives me color, the ability to make annotations with the pen,
support for external media, non-proprietary file formats AND other
utilities -- things that aren't usually present in an eReader (which
tries to be smaller, lighter and run for long periods off battery).
I offered to build her an identical machine but she's not keen on
the size (she's used to reading paperbacks or hard-bound editions
which typically don't have/need the larger page size that the materials
I read require). And, the things she reads tend not to have illustrations,
charts, "color", etc.
So, anyone with a fair bit of first-hand experience willing to share
observations as to what they like/dislike about *their* eReader
(make/model)? ISTR at least one unit only allowed you to put
materials onto it via a wireless link -- to a *vendor*! I'm not
sure how that will work with the library's offerings. Nor how
you can later "backup" those acquisitions onto some other media
(lest your eReader *fail*).
[These are all issues that my "solution" avoided...]

Gently used books for sale

http://www.letthestoriesliveon.com/Default.asp

--
Usenet Reader for Android
http://android.newsgroupstats.hk

On 1/16/2016 7:31 PM, rbowman wrote:
On 01/16/2016 02:04 PM, Don Y wrote:
"A town of" is misleading. I grew up in a town of 20,000 -- the high
school
sat in the middle of a corn field. But, in a metro area of some several
MILLION! In the time it took me to drive to high school, I could have
headed
off for any of the surrounding "cities".

Technically Missoula is a first class city. The only larger city in Montana is
Billings, 340 miles to the east. Then there's Spokane, 200 miles to the west,
or Boise, 370 miles south.

At ~70K population, 24 sq mi?

Tucson (236 sq mi) 526K

The towns sharing a *border* with Tucson (that I can remember, off the top
of my head):
Catalina Foothills 50K
Casas Adobes 68
South Tucson 5
Tucson Estates 10
Flowing Wells 15
Vail 10
Littletown 1
Tanque Verde 16
Drexel Heights 24
=====
189K

Add places "nearby" (i.e., a few miles) like Marana, Oro Valley, Green Valley,
etc. and that's probably another 200K. I.e., that's just "commuting distance"
(I'll ignore the twits who commute to feenigs!)

Now:

I can't remember enough of the adjoining towns from Denver so I'll skip
that.

Boston (89 sq mi) 645K

With adjoining towns:
Cambridge 107K
Somerville 78
Revere 53
Chelsea 37
Watertown 32
Brookline 58
Newton 88
Needham 28
Dedham 24
Milton 27
Quincy 93
Everett 42
====
667K

Then:

Chicago (234 sq mi) 2719K

And, *adjoining* suburbs (this is a bit harder to remember so I'll only try for
the easy ones -- Vic can tell me what I've missed):

Skokie 65K
Evanston 75
Park Ridge 37
Niles 30
Elk Grove Village 33
Elmhurst 45
Oak Brook 8
Oak Lawn 56
Berwyn 56
Cicero 84
Des Plaines 59
====
548K

I won't tackle NYC... :

Note that the Boston metro area would fit *inside* the city limits of
Chicago so you actually have more locations (retail outlets) available
in a given distance. By contrast, Tucson is roughly the same size
as Chitown with 1/5th the population! And, once you're out of
the immediate vicinity, there's NOTHING 'til you get to feenigs!

If you can't find it 'in town' you're not likely to drive to a nearby city. 25
years ago I would go over to Spokane but in the last two decades the big box
stores have come to town, for better or worse. Now a trip to REI is a short
walk from work, not a 400 mile trek. Even at that the selection is limited
compared to the big city stores.

Here, I can wander through any of the (listed) adjoining towns without
really knowing when I've crossed into one. But, the distances get to
be pretty long and roadways poorly placed. E.g., I could drive from
downtown Boston out to Medford/Lexington/Dedham/etc. in less time than
I can get to the nearest *interstate* -- IN TOWN!

And, very few things are *made* here (contrast with Chicago) so I'm
really only looking for retail outlets, not manufacturers.

OTOH, pity the 500 souls who live in Picacho where the "big city"
is Eloy at 16K! :-/ (I wonder if they have a gas station, there?)

On Saturday, January 16, 2016 at 2:42:44 PM UTC-6, rbowman wrote:
On 01/16/2016 12:23 PM, Ed Pawlowski wrote:
We've bought a variety of merchandise from home goods, electronics,
medical supplies. but not much clothing. I just checked and I've placed
140 orders with 1 to 8 items, every one perfect.

That's my experience but I have had a couple of problems, all of which
were resolved immediately. I don't order much clothing. One of my
returns was a pair of motorcycle gloves. I ordered XXXL iirc but XXXL in
Pakistan means suitable for Minnie Mouse. However I'd had the same
problem at the brick and mortar bike stores in town before ordering from
Amazon. I finally found a pair of leather gloves I could get my paws
into at the hardware store. Not very stylish but they work.

After I lost 100lbs in two months, I had an easier time finding clothing that would fit me. ^_^

[8~{} Uncle Fat Monster

On 01/16/2016 11:40 PM, Don Y wrote:
I've also been rummaging through older languages with an eye towards
language features that would be suitable for a *user's* scripting
language (i.e., something a non-technical person could use to
say: "When I come home, at night, turn on the kitchen lights
as soon as I open the door.")

Imagine doing that in many of the modern languages -- littered
with lots of bizarre punctuation and idioms that make a *programmer's*
life easier -- but do nothing for a NON-programmer!

FORTH. The core language is a bit arcane but you can create words that
are suitable for the end user. I did one project to develop a simple
interface for QA engineers who were using a robotic arm to pick and
place the components under test.

On 01/17/2016 12:38 AM, Don Y wrote:

You laugh -- but I recall when my in-laws exclaimed over the arrival of a
McDonald's in their home town ("Hey, we must be on the map, now!")

I think the first Walmart was like that for a lot of people here.
Progress for me was when they built a supermarket on the outskirts of
town so I wouldn't have to drive all the way in. I suppose I should have
known it would be followed by Old Navy, Taco Bell, B&N, BestBuy
(formerly Future Shoppe) Lowe's, Petsmart, and so forth.

I've found that "basics" varies in parts of the country. E.g., I can
buy live *chicks* in the hardware store up the corner. And, bales of
hay down the street. But, it will cost me a 30 minute drive to buy
an overpriced capacitor at the *one* place in town that sells them!

Since RatShack closed I don't think I could scare up a capacitor in
town. Chicks, hay, and stock tanks are no problem.

I can *possibly* get a decent Italian meal if I go to one of the 4 stars
that cater to resort visitors. But, damn little else for more modest
tastes!

It hardly qualifies as decent, but there is a Johnny Carino's. There are
a couple of others that I've never been to. I've never seen good stats
but from my experience there are more Hmong in Montana than Italians.

Large metros have both better selections and better prices. I don't
care that
much for the company but even for something like the new Cabelas in
town, my
gut impression from a quick walk through was it wasn't as well stocked
as the
one in Glendale.

Name (chain?) doesn't ring a bell.

It's a large sporting goods chain, or outfitters as they prefer to be
called. Much of their business is direct marketing but the brick and
mortar stores tend to be dramatic. Their customer base probably also
gets LL Bean and REI catalogs and aren't looking for the lowest prices.

Smaller markets give vendors too much control over prices. And, customers
alter their preferences to fit those choices -- so there's no pressure
on the store to change its selection or pricing.

In the '80s I took a contract at Ft. Wayne. There was a legitimate
coffee shortage, with price increases and empty shelves. However one
weekend I drove down to Indianapolis and found the shortage was over.
Apparently the news never made it to Ft. Wayne. The population is about
250,000 but the supermarkets knew a good thing when they saw it.

On 01/17/2016 01:23 AM, Don Y wrote:
Note that the Boston metro area would fit *inside* the city limits of
Chicago so you actually have more locations (retail outlets) available
in a given distance. By contrast, Tucson is roughly the same size
as Chitown with 1/5th the population! And, once you're out of
the immediate vicinity, there's NOTHING 'til you get to feenigs!

How can you say that? There's Sells. Phoenix is a little closer to Why
than Tucson but I prefer Tucson for shopping. It seems a little easier
to get around. North 4th also has that funky '60s ambiance.

For a town of 4000 Ajo can fill most run of the mill needs but sooner or
later you need a trip out to the world. After a day of dealing with
Tucson or Phoenix it still is good to get back to the desert.

On 01/17/2016 01:36 AM, Uncle Monster wrote:
After I lost 100lbs in two months, I had an easier time finding clothing that would fit me. ^_^

Losing weight isn't going to do anything for my hands. Or feet. I prefer
to buy Red Wing made in the USA stomps because the Chinese sweatshops
have strange ideas of what a size 13 foot looks like. I wonder if they
still bind their women's feet?

On 1/17/2016 12:09 PM, rbowman wrote:
On 01/16/2016 11:40 PM, Don Y wrote:
I've also been rummaging through older languages with an eye towards
language features that would be suitable for a *user's* scripting
language (i.e., something a non-technical person could use to
say: "When I come home, at night, turn on the kitchen lights
as soon as I open the door.")

Imagine doing that in many of the modern languages -- littered
with lots of bizarre punctuation and idioms that make a *programmer's*
life easier -- but do nothing for a NON-programmer!

FORTH. The core language is a bit arcane but you can create words that are
suitable for the end user. I did one project to develop a simple interface for
QA engineers who were using a robotic arm to pick and place the components
under test.

It isn't appropriate. Recall, you're dealing with "QA Engineers",
not housewives, plumbers, accountants, etc.

The two biggest issues with FORTH a
- too hard to enforce/check syntax. I.e., "Is this combination/sequence
of words legitimate/valid?" You can make a word do damn near anything
so no easy way for the user to *see* what it expects "upstream".
And, no way to verify ("at compile time") that the sequence is
even legitimate
- the RPN nature (stack machine) is incredibly CONSISTENT -- but,
counterintuitive. People are more likely to think along the lines
of "do SOMETHING to THIS and THAT"; not "THIS and THAT have SOMETHING
done to them"

Beyond that, it also doesn't conveniently lend itself to the sorts of
services that an "applet" needs to avail itself of (in my world).
I.e., I deliberately want the heavy lifting to be done in services
that are provided to the user: recognize(&face); speak(prompt);
listento(response); etc.

So, there is inherently a high degree of parallelism. IME, people
have a hard time dealing with parallelism/concurrency. But, can
more readily think about it in a procedural framework: "I expect
something to have been done at this point..." (so the code can
implicitly wait for it, *then*). The applet writeer can think in
more linear terms and the "environment" can exploit parallelism
for efficiency and abstraction (hiding lots of mechanism from
the user/writer)

It's REALLY a hard problem! Complicate it by the fact that you (I)
want to address a wide population of potential users -- each with
potentially different abilities and HANDICAPS! I.e., something
that requires lots of keystrokes to compose would be difficult for a
movement impaired individual to write; something with lots of
cryptic "vowel-less" abbreviations would be hard to "speak" to
a visually impaired writer; etc.

OTOH, only the "hard" problems are worth the time to undertake! :

On 1/17/2016 1:13 PM, rbowman wrote:
On 01/17/2016 01:36 AM, Uncle Monster wrote:
After I lost 100lbs in two months, I had an easier time finding clothing that
would fit me. ^_^

Losing weight isn't going to do anything for my hands. Or feet. I prefer to buy
Red Wing made in the USA stomps because the Chinese sweatshops have strange
ideas of what a size 13 foot looks like. I wonder if they still bind their
women's feet?

Have to wonder what they do with other body parts -- male *and* female! :

On 1/17/2016 1:10 PM, rbowman wrote:
On 01/17/2016 01:23 AM, Don Y wrote:
Note that the Boston metro area would fit *inside* the city limits of
Chicago so you actually have more locations (retail outlets) available
in a given distance. By contrast, Tucson is roughly the same size
as Chitown with 1/5th the population! And, once you're out of
the immediate vicinity, there's NOTHING 'til you get to feenigs!

How can you say that? There's Sells.

With all 3000 souls? : Sells is about as far as Casa Grande (pop 50K).
And, Casa Grande has the outlet stores -- so you're a bit better off than
shopping at the Sells Circle K! (do they even *have* one??)

OTOH, if you're native O'odham, maybe that's enough?

Phoenix is a little closer to Why than
Tucson but I prefer Tucson for shopping. It seems a little easier to get
around.

Each year it gets worse. The bozos^H^H^H politicians don't have the
stomach to make the infrastructure investments that are long overdue.
Some mornings, it takes us 15 minutes to drive the 2 miles to the
post office -- and the first 3/4 mile of that is smooth sailing OUT of
the subdivision!

North 4th also has that funky '60s ambiance.

Also changing. The street car has revitalized parts of town (if you
can call the change "revitalizing"). So, commercial rents have headed
north which brings in more money-grubbing businesses instead of
the more "eclectic"/bohemian.

For a town of 4000 Ajo can fill most run of the mill needs but sooner or later
you need a trip out to the world. After a day of dealing with Tucson or Phoenix
it still is good to get back to the desert.

Well, how many different brands of toilet paper, soap, etc. does one REALLY
need? :

SWMBO uses a special sort of paper towel for her art (no pattern -- embossed
*or* printed). It was a bit of an effort to find it even here (though
definitely NOT unobtanium). Living in Why, Sells, Sahuarita even Vail
would probably have required a trip *in* to find it.

On 1/17/2016 12:43 PM, rbowman wrote:
On 01/17/2016 12:38 AM, Don Y wrote:

You laugh -- but I recall when my in-laws exclaimed over the arrival of a
McDonald's in their home town ("Hey, we must be on the map, now!")

I think the first Walmart was like that for a lot of people here. Progress for
me was when they built a supermarket on the outskirts of town so I wouldn't
have to drive all the way in. I suppose I should have known it would be
followed by Old Navy, Taco Bell, B&N, BestBuy (formerly Future Shoppe) Lowe's,
Petsmart, and so forth.

Yup. When they said "If you built it, they will come" they were
talking about the OTHER BUSINESSES! :

I've found that "basics" varies in parts of the country. E.g., I can
buy live *chicks* in the hardware store up the corner. And, bales of
hay down the street. But, it will cost me a 30 minute drive to buy
an overpriced capacitor at the *one* place in town that sells them!

Since RatShack closed I don't think I could scare up a capacitor in town.
Chicks, hay, and stock tanks are no problem.

I don't think they even *sell* discretes anymore!

I can *possibly* get a decent Italian meal if I go to one of the 4 stars
that cater to resort visitors. But, damn little else for more modest
tastes!

It hardly qualifies as decent, but there is a Johnny Carino's. There are a
couple of others that I've never been to. I've never seen good stats but from
my experience there are more Hmong in Montana than Italians.

Here, all Mexican. Though I've found a few "passable" chinese joints.

Large metros have both better selections and better prices. I don't
care that
much for the company but even for something like the new Cabelas in
town, my
gut impression from a quick walk through was it wasn't as well stocked
as the
one in Glendale.

Name (chain?) doesn't ring a bell.

It's a large sporting goods chain, or outfitters as they prefer to be called.
Much of their business is direct marketing but the brick and mortar stores tend
to be dramatic. Their customer base probably also gets LL Bean and REI catalogs
and aren't looking for the lowest prices.

Ah. Not the sort of place I'd frequent! :

Smaller markets give vendors too much control over prices. And, customers
alter their preferences to fit those choices -- so there's no pressure
on the store to change its selection or pricing.

In the '80s I took a contract at Ft. Wayne. There was a legitimate coffee
shortage, with price increases and empty shelves. However one weekend I drove
down to Indianapolis and found the shortage was over. Apparently the news never
made it to Ft. Wayne. The population is about 250,000 but the supermarkets knew
a good thing when they saw it.

By extension, why offer *anything* unless you have to (in order to
remain in business).

"Sure, we carry toilet paper. Do you want THE single ply or THE two-ply?"

On 01/17/2016 02:11 PM, Don Y wrote:
Here, all Mexican. Though I've found a few "passable" chinese joints.

We have some good Thai restaurants even though most are run by Hmong
trying to pass. One local Hmong dynasty dropped their restaurant and now
specialize in outdoor events. They also expanded to teriyaki and Dutch
funnel cakes. Whatever sells and they can follow a recipe book as well
as anyone.

When I lived in Dover, NH there was a large Greek community. Again most
that entered the restaurant business passed as Italian. That upset me
since I like Greek food.

There is one decent Mexican restaurant run by actual Mexicans. They went
the other way, starting with a roach coach and eventually finding a
permanent home.

It's a hard market. The ethnic communities are very small and the rest
of the market wants something exotic -- but not too exotic. I really
miss the India Pavilion in Cambridge; I worked on Mem Ave and could walk
to Central Square for lunch.

On 01/17/2016 01:56 PM, Don Y wrote:
With all 3000 souls? : Sells is about as far as Casa Grande (pop 50K).
And, Casa Grande has the outlet stores -- so you're a bit better off than
shopping at the Sells Circle K! (do they even *have* one??)

Actually, there is a Basha's. Not the biggest but at least something.
Casa is a little closer to Why, too. You used to have to go to Casa for
a driver's license if you didn't want to go to Tucson. Or maybe plates.
Something that had to be in Pima county.

On 01/17/2016 01:43 PM, Don Y wrote:

Have to wonder what they do with other body parts -- male *and* female! :

Got me. Shirts are problematic too. With the New Asian Inch 37" sleeves
are about right. I wear a lot of short sleeve shirts because I got tired
of blowing out the elbows.

I bought a pair of boots at REI, Merrels maybe, and worked my way up to
14s before they even felt halfway reasonable. In real use, they were so
painful at one point I took them off and walked down a rocky trail in my
bare feet. When they were collecting clothing for the tsunami victims
they went into the pile. Red Wing doesn't make a real hiking boot but at
least their size designations are real.

On 01/17/2016 01:42 PM, Don Y wrote:
- the RPN nature (stack machine) is incredibly CONSISTENT -- but,
counterintuitive. People are more likely to think along the lines
of "do SOMETHING to THIS and THAT"; not "THIS and THAT have SOMETHING
done to them"

You can sometimes hide the RPN but it takes work. I've got a HP 16C
calculator. It was always fun to leave it laying around. For extra
credits, set it to hex mode. If they got past the RPN, 45 73 + is WHAT?

Semi apropos, I saw a cartoon recently that asked 'How do you generate a
random string?" "Put a web designer in front of Vim and tell him to
save and exit."

https://lol.browserling.com/

On 1/17/2016 3:38 PM, rbowman wrote:
On 01/17/2016 01:42 PM, Don Y wrote:
- the RPN nature (stack machine) is incredibly CONSISTENT -- but,
counterintuitive. People are more likely to think along the lines
of "do SOMETHING to THIS and THAT"; not "THIS and THAT have SOMETHING
done to them"

You can sometimes hide the RPN but it takes work. I've got a HP 16C calculator.
It was always fun to leave it laying around. For extra credits, set it to hex
mode. If they got past the RPN, 45 73 + is WHAT?

I took a job at a shop that used "split octal". I.e., 0xFFFF would be
written as 0377377. Entirely different mindset! (and you actually
learned to debug *in* octal -- nothing symbolic! Gee, I wonder why
they went belly-up?)

Semi apropos, I saw a cartoon recently that asked 'How do you generate a random
string?" "Put a web designer in front of Vim and tell him to save and exit."

I'm basing much of my scripting language on Limbo. To give you a feel for the
(original) syntax, while being HIGHLY cooperative in choosing identifiers
(my comments interspersed /* style):

/* declare "link" as a variable of type (communication) channel whose
contents will always be tuples of (integer, string) */
link: chan of (int, string);

/* declare "print" to be a shorthand reference for the print MEMBER of
a module of type "Sys". This is a typing economy (see below) */
print: import Sys;

/* init() is the equivalent of main(). The first argument, by convention,
REFerences a drawing context (think display) and the second argument is
a list (not array!) of strings -- like argv. As the dummy variables
chosen here for each of these are "nil", we're discarding any means of
referencing those by identifiers -- nil is sort of '', '\0', NULL, etc. */
init(
nil: ref Draw-Context,
nil: list of string
)
{
/* two variables that reference modules that are dynamically loaded.
the first references a module of type "Sys" and the second of
type "Bufio". Think of them as DLL's of sorts. Within the
DECLARATION of each (not shown, here), there is a pathname that
indicates the location of the module in the filesystem. By
convention, the PATH member of each of these module type declarations
is a string constant indicating that path. E.g., /modules/sys.m */
sys = load Sys Sys-PATH;
bufmod = load Bufio Bufio-PATH;

/* declare (AND DEFINE!) a variable to reference the stdin file descriptor.
The Sys (uppercase) module type has a member called "fildes" that returns
a file descriptor object corresponding to the argument presented. E.g.,
'0' being stdin, by convention. Note that "sys" (lowercase) is a live
variable that references a "Sys" type module. So, sys-fildes(0)
invokes the fildes method with argument of '0' to yield the "stdin"
filedescriptor */
stdin := sys-fildes(0);

/* use the fopen() member in the Bufio module type (which we can reference
through the bufmod variable -- see above) to open the stdin file
descriptor. The OREAD constant in the Bufio module declaration is
usaed (by convention) to indicate read mode */
buffer = bufmod-fopen(stdin, bufmod-OREAD)

/* previously declared link as a channel type. Now, actually instantiate
a channel of that type and let link reference it */
link = chan of (int, string);

/* create a new thread to run "get_data()" while passing the communication
channel we just created to it as an argument */
spawn get_data(link);

/* continue by wiring "put_results" to that same communication channel */
put_results(link);
}

/* declare 3 manifest constants having values of 0, 1, 2 (iota means ++) */
DONE, WORD, NADA: con iota;

/* get_data takes a communication channel of (integer,string) tuples as its
sole argument. It's been spawned to run as an independant thread */
get_data(
destination: chan of (int, string)
)
{
/* declare (the role of the ':' in the assignment) a variable called
"aString" as having the same type as the return type of the gets()
member of the Bufio module type (see above). Then, DEFINE (the
role of the '=' in the assignment) the value of that variable to
be the result of that gets() invocation -- which happens to get
a string of characters up to a '\n' from whatever filedescriptor
is associated with the "buffer" on which it is invoked. Keep
doing this until the string returned is empty (nil) */
while ((aString := buffer.gets('\n')) != nil) {
/* split the string, above, into words delimited by space, tab, newline.
Use the "tokenize" member of the Sys module (referenced through the
"sys" variable) to do this, returning a tuple that consists of
the number of tokens and a LIST of tokens, each a string in itself.
Note the use of ":=" to DECLARE and DEFINE the variables in the
tuple on the left side of the assignment */
(words, wordlist) := sys-tokenize(aString, " \t\n");
/* if no words, then the input must have been terminated. Send a
tuple down the communication channel indicating that */
if (0 == words)
destination -= (NADA, "");
/* otherwise, pull words off the LIST and send them individually
down the communication link */
else for ( ; wordlist != nil; wordlist = tl wordlist)
destination -= (WORD, hd wordlist);
}
/* send a tuple that indicates we're done */
destination -= DONE;
}

LINELENGTH: con 72;

/* process the incoming data arriving over a channel of (integer, string) */
put_data(
source: chan of (int, string)
)
{
/* declare variables (note lack of '=' means haven't been ASSIGNED yet */
classification: int;
token: string;

/* count the number of characters that have been printed on this "line" */
for (position := 0; ; ) {
/* wait for a tuple to arrive on the specified communication channel.
Assign the arriving tuple members to these two variables, above */
(classification, token) =- source;

/* "switch" statement */
case classification {
NADA =
/* print empty line, reset character counter */
print("\n\n");
position = 0;
WORD =
/* if appending token would exceed line length, inject a newline */
if (position + len token LINELENGTH) {
print("\n");
position = 0;
}
/* print the token -- "print()" is similar to printf() */
print("%s ", token);
/* update character position on the line */
position += len token + 1;
DONE =
sys-print("\n"); # don't have to use the imported alternative!
exit;
}
}
}

Notice all the syntactic sugar? And, the typical nod to programmer
laziness ("int" instead of "integer" or "number"; "hd" instead of "head"
or "car"; "tl" instead of "tail" or "cdr"; ':' vs. '=' vs. ":="; "nil"
instead of "empty" or "unused"; etc.).

On 1/17/2016 3:16 PM, rbowman wrote:
On 01/17/2016 01:56 PM, Don Y wrote:
With all 3000 souls? : Sells is about as far as Casa Grande (pop 50K).
And, Casa Grande has the outlet stores -- so you're a bit better off than
shopping at the Sells Circle K! (do they even *have* one??)

Actually, there is a Basha's. Not the biggest but at least something. Casa is a

Great if you need a quart of motor oil or a new hammer! :

little closer to Why, too. You used to have to go to Casa for a driver's
license if you didn't want to go to Tucson. Or maybe plates. Something that had
to be in Pima county.

Dunno. Casa Grande is just "halfway to feenigs" in my mind. If your eyes were
closed as you passed by, you'd be hard pressed to decide if you needed to
continue in the same direction -- or turn around!

On Sunday, January 17, 2016 at 2:11:21 PM UTC-6, rbowman wrote:
On 01/17/2016 01:36 AM, Uncle Monster wrote:
After I lost 100lbs in two months, I had an easier time finding clothing that would fit me. ^_^

Losing weight isn't going to do anything for my hands. Or feet. I prefer
to buy Red Wing made in the USA stomps because the Chinese sweatshops
have strange ideas of what a size 13 foot looks like. I wonder if they
still bind their women's feet?

I wear size 14 shoe. I wore a size 13 when I was 14 years old. Yep, I was Bigfoot. ヽ(€¢€¿€¢)ノ

[8~{} Uncle Huge Monster

On Sunday, January 17, 2016 at 2:42:56 PM UTC-6, Don Y wrote:
On 1/17/2016 1:13 PM, rbowman wrote:
On 01/17/2016 01:36 AM, Uncle Monster wrote:
After I lost 100lbs in two months, I had an easier time finding clothing that
would fit me. ^_^

Losing weight isn't going to do anything for my hands. Or feet. I prefer to buy
Red Wing made in the USA stomps because the Chinese sweatshops have strange
ideas of what a size 13 foot looks like. I wonder if they still bind their
women's feet?

Have to wonder what they do with other body parts -- male *and* female! :

Tie a weight to the schlong to stretch it out and make it long enough to use as a belt? Š™.˜‰

[8~{} Uncle Weiner Monster

Susan wrote:
On 1/13/2016 9:52 PM, Don Y wrote:
On 1/13/2016 5:56 PM, Susan Bugher wrote:
First things first. . .

https://www.overdrive.com/
The OverDrive app is one of the top-rated eBook apps available for iOS,
Android, Chromebook, Mac OS, Windows, and Windows Phone.

I suggest you go to YOUR library's site and see what they have to say
about HOW
you can read the type(s) of ebooks they offer.

Virtually all devices are supported -- along with PC/Mac "computers".
As she is NOT interested in reading on a computer (otherwise, any of the
desktops, laptops, tablets or other "appliances" that we have would be
acceptable options), this means getting a *device* that she can use to
fill the role that a print *book* would have filled.
I'm a fan of ebooks (read about one day) but I seldom borrow ebooks from
my local library because the books I'd like to read are seldom available
- they don't offer them or there are 90 people "on reserve" ahead of me
(YMMV). IMO your wife should try borrowing some books on a device your
already own before you spend money on a new device.
I did a bit more reading about supported devices for OverDrive. I have
two Nooks and it appears neither of them will work with the OverDrive app ..
http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/overdrive-overdrive-inc/1120365790;jsessionid=F27AE30EF7C891A2EEB916A04846 8DEE.prodny_store01-atgap10?ean=2940043354334#nok-dapps
"Borrow eBooks, audiobooks, and streaming video from your library using
OverDrive on your NOOK."
quote requirements
NOOK Device
Samsung Galaxy Tab 4 NOOK 7.0
NOOK by Samsung [Tab 4 10.1, S2 & E]
NOOK HD Tablet
NOOK HD+ Tablet
/quote
Current Nook offerings at B&N:
http://nook.barnesandnoble.com/u/nook/379003208.
"NOOK GlowLight Plus™" is NOT on the list. of Overdrive supported apps.
Susan
--
Free ebooks
http://www.gutenberg.org/


--
Usenet Reader for Android
http://android.newsgroupstats.hk

On 01/17/2016 07:15 PM, Don Y wrote:
Great if you need a quart of motor oil or a new hammer! :

I don't think Bashas carries hammers. The do have the pan dulce little
pigs I'm fond of.

Don Y posted for all of us...


You grin, I frown! :

(sigh) I can truly sympathize with IT folks given the sort of
crap they have to address...


Work for a school district. Add teachers, administrators, support &
maintenance users the add 20% to start. Don't worry about the kids because
the admin doesn't, they help each other, and the older ones that cause
problems can't keep their mouths shut on each other and don't like their
"stuff" being taken away.

--
Tekkie

rbowman posted for all of us...



On 01/16/2016 01:52 PM, Don Y wrote:
From your past comments, you probably don't have a lot of LOCAL options
to buy those things? In a city of half a million -- in a metro area
of a million -- we have a fair bit more "local choices", I suspect.

Well, we do have a Harbor Freight What more could you want? And HF
definitely is a place where I want to hold and interview the merchandise.

The basics are here; just don't get off the beaten track. Or bring your
own tube of vaseline if you're looking for a HDMI cable or such.

Large metros have both better selections and better prices. I don't care
that much for the company but even for something like the new Cabelas in
town, my gut impression from a quick walk through was it wasn't as well
stocked as the one in Glendale.

Even that is a case in point. I bought a Kershaw knife that was labeled
as 'reversible' for $70. Of course with the blister pack you can't tell
much but when I got home I found 'reversible' meant changing the clip
for point up or point down carry in your right hand pocket. So I hit the
internet to see if there was a left handed model. Turns out there isn't
but I saw it on Amazon for $38.13. So it meant a trip back to Cabelas,
on the wrong side of town, to get my $70 back.

I don't know if it would be cheaper in Glendale. I've never found
Cabelas to be very competitive.

Cabela's has one of their "mega" stores near me. Their prices are never the
greatest unless it's on sale. If you like firearms you are in heaven-as long
you don't go Saturday. Then buy it at better price at your favorite dealer.
Their clothes selection used to be good but now sucks, at least from my
wifes and my view. They don't pay employees enough; even in this remote
area; to get and keep help. The proposed buyout from Bass Pro Shops has not
helped their business. It's sad. You can carry concealed.
--
Tekkie

Ed Pawlowski posted for all of us...



On 1/16/2016 1:03 AM, Don Y wrote:
On 1/15/2016 9:19 PM, rbowman wrote:
On 01/15/2016 12:10 PM, Don Y wrote:
Thanks, Susan, I'll chase down the links and see if it helps me
sort out the "mess". I suspect SWMBO won't be happy with *any*
of these options ("Why can't I just have a BOOK??!")

300 books in a Kindle are very easy to dust... And she'll have enough
room on
the shelves for knick knacks rather than trying to stuff books in two
deep and
make structural improvements when the shelves start to sag too badly.

I repeat, she's only looking for this to read LIBRARY BOOKS.
You don't have to store -- or DUST -- books that are only
in your house for a couple of weeks! :


Sounds like you should stick with real books then. No sense spending
money for the reader and then buying books if she is only going to read
books from the local library. Both Nook and Amazon prime have freebies,
but mostly older books. If she is reading two books a month from the
local free library that could translate to $20 a month to buy them.

In your case, I'd borrow a reader from a friend for a couple of hours to
see if she would like to handle it at all. Or stop at a Barnes & Noble
store to handle one. It has to be her choice if she is going to like
it. From things I've read and heard over the past couple of years, the
split is maybe 80-20 on the like/dislike.

+1 Also your tax $$$ at work. They also have ebooks but I like the "paper"
experience. If they can't get it I either buy it used off Amazon, or new off
Amazon-if I have to have it... or bag it. I had a buddy whom had a list of
every book he ever read. One a week for many years in a composition book. He
retired and haven't heard from him. Hmm The state pays for the ILL.

--
Tekkie

rbowman posted for all of us...


Dutch
funnel cakes


HAAAAA funny one...

--
Tekkie

On Mon, 18 Jan 2016 12:39:42 -0600, Tekkie® wrote:

Some cut.


+1 Also your tax $$$ at work. They also have ebooks but I like the
"paper"
experience. If they can't get it I either buy it used off Amazon, or new
off
Amazon-if I have to have it... or bag it. I had a buddy whom had a list
of
every book he ever read. One a week for many years in a composition
book. He
retired and haven't heard from him. Hmm The state pays for the ILL.


There are used books for sale on Ebay also. Pretty cheap and I
think the money goes to charity sometimes.


--
Using Opera's mail client: http://www.opera.com/mail/