Re: [Ql-Users] USB Floppy Disks and The QL Future
On 6/20/10, Roy Wood wrote: > Well I don't know if I have talent. I enjoy writing, songs, blogs on my > MySpace page and I used to enjoy writing the QL Today columns. Songs are > the best because they are more personal. I do it, like I do everything > really, purely for the fun of doing it. I leave it for others to decide > if they are worth it or not. Like you I never got much feedback from the > articles I wrote. One of my main problems in life was that, most of teh > time, I never did anything for money. It never really interested me. > These days I do a job I quite dislike so that is probably the first time > in many years that I have done normal work. Everything else is just for > fun. I spent all day yesterday running the siund, and providing the > sound equipment for a local open air show. 11 hours work for free. But I > had a great time. That is what life is all about. > you've got talent alright roy - that song "communicate" got inside my head many years ago, and grew roots - I have it on my iPod now and I love it along with the rage, happy, and lots of other stuff. I love the stuff you do. I keep promising myself I will catch a show live sometime soon and it never happens. keep having to make do with that rough shot DVD you sent me - I'll get there. cheers, darren. > -- > Roy Wood > > ___ > QL-Users Mailing List > http://www.q-v-d.demon.co.uk/smsqe.htm > ___ QL-Users Mailing List http://www.q-v-d.demon.co.uk/smsqe.htm
Re: [Ql-Users] USB Floppy Disks and The QL Future
On 20/06/2010 20:52, Norman Dunbar wrote: On 18/06/10 00:42, Roy Wood wrote: It was the threading that I was referring to. Turnpike would put thum into subject threads but Thunderbird just puts them in a long, jumbled, list - just like Outlook! Well, mine are threaded, by subject, threads start with the initial posting and new stuff is added in date order, beneath. Nope - not here - all jumbled up. Oh and 'Reply' and 'Reply to list do the same thing. Maybe I have not set it up right but I don;t log on here much - except this week. Reply replies to the sender. Reply to List replies to a list or newsgroup. In the case of this list, the sender and the list are one and the same. In the case of the Oracle-L list I subscribe to, reply to sender send the email back to the poster and not to the list, reply to list does the opposite - oracle-l gets it, not the OP. (Well, the OP gets it from the list but not directly from me.) It's not you and not TBird that is at fault, it's simply the fact that the sender is the list in this case. It did not work that way in Turnpike. If you hit private reply it replied direct to the sender and not the list. Free software is like that too sometimes, I agree. Mind you, commercial software is just as bad. Now, funnily enough, I was discussing this last night with 6 people in the Dive Club BSAC or PADI? I'm an old BSAC myself. I am a BSAC Dive Leader, Diver Cox and Open Water Instructor. Currently the clubs Diving Officer and just finishing the Advanced Diver course. . There you could not resist replying again - even though I have just driven back from a songwriting session in London. Now you have my full admiration there Roy. I do admire people who have talent - music, crafts or whatever. I have very little I'm afraid. I can play my digeridoo (now that gave the spell checker a headache!) as long as I don't have to circular breathe - I have yet to master that little nicety. Good luck with the songs. Well I don't know if I have talent. I enjoy writing, songs, blogs on my MySpace page and I used to enjoy writing the QL Today columns. Songs are the best because they are more personal. I do it, like I do everything really, purely for the fun of doing it. I leave it for others to decide if they are worth it or not. Like you I never got much feedback from the articles I wrote. One of my main problems in life was that, most of teh time, I never did anything for money. It never really interested me. These days I do a job I quite dislike so that is probably the first time in many years that I have done normal work. Everything else is just for fun. I spent all day yesterday running the siund, and providing the sound equipment for a local open air show. 11 hours work for free. But I had a great time. That is what life is all about. -- Roy Wood ___ QL-Users Mailing List http://www.q-v-d.demon.co.uk/smsqe.htm
Re: [Ql-Users] USB Floppy Disks and The QL Future
On 20/06/2010 20:03, Norman Dunbar wrote: On 18/06/10 00:15, Tony Firshman wrote: I have that set but it doesn't spell check. Looks like a bug (3.0.4). That's interesting Tony. Roy on Windows and you on Mac and me on Linux, all using 3.0.4 (I think Roy mentioned 3.0.4) and only Linux can spell check as you type. Spooky! Works fine for me here. Thankfully. My only problem with it is when the words I type are correctly spelled/spelt but they are the wrong words! Cheers, Norman. ___ QL-Users Mailing List http://www.q-v-d.demon.co.uk/smsqe.htm 3.0.5 actually -- Roy Wood ___ QL-Users Mailing List http://www.q-v-d.demon.co.uk/smsqe.htm
Re: [Ql-Users] USB Floppy Disks and The QL Future
A Scot with an iPad up his kilt? ooer missus, I hate to think! Now Dilwyn, we wear the sporran on the outside of the kilt. It's a glorified handbag/purse. There are no pockets on a kilt, so you have to put your wallet, chewing gum, loose change etc somewhere! Drat, foiled again. Anyway, Sporrans ain't big enough to hold iPads are they, surely??? Never mind a QL (there, back on topic) And wasn't there a QL adventure game called McSporran's Lament? (There, even more tenuously back on topic) Mine is a dead horse. That's what it is made from. And sterling silver of course! My wife, Alison, complained (jokingly) at the price I paid for it when I bought it as "she's never paid that much for a handbag!" You mean you've never spent that much on her, don't you??? :o) Dilwyn Jones ___ QL-Users Mailing List http://www.q-v-d.demon.co.uk/smsqe.htm
Re: [Ql-Users] USB Floppy Disks and The QL Future
In message <4c1e6efb.2070...@dunbar-it.co.uk>, Norman Dunbar writes On 19/06/10 20:00, P Witte wrote: But surely you see that it could spell then end of the Personal Computer, in which case the "next great thing" becomes significant and not merely a fad. They said that COBOL was dead. it lives on many many years after it's alleged demise. The reaosn being, there are still far too many apps written in COBOL to be rewritten in "TNGT" (The Next Great Thing). COBOL is still with us, 10 years after the Y2K "problem". Think about how many laptops, desktops and so on there are, even tablets and netbooks. Hi Norman, Yet COBOL is not the next great thing ... :-) Rather, an old thing. As you say laptops have succeeded desktops, and netbooks have succeeded laptops. So, iPad like devices will succeed all of the above, and we will all be using them as they get more capable. Anyway, I still awaiting your dream ideas for the QL21 ... :-) -- Malcolm Cadman ___ QL-Users Mailing List http://www.q-v-d.demon.co.uk/smsqe.htm
Re: [Ql-Users] USB Floppy Disks and The QL Future
Norman Dunbar wrote (an awful lot), on 20/Jun/10 20:52 | Jun20: Nice to see so much good stuff from you Norman - your silver sporran must contain good stuff.. ... and my check as you type speel checker is now working. I think I missed it as the underlines disappear randomly. The 'speel' above was underlined, but is now not. The one in the previous line is still there, but if I delete the new line before "The" it goes away. Clearly there are bugs. Tony -- QBBS (QL fido BBS 2:257/67) +44(0)1442-828255 t...@firshman.co.uk http://firshman.co.uk Voice: +44(0)1442-828254 Fax: +44(0)1442-828255 Skype: tonyfirshman TF Services, 29 Longfield Road, TRING, Herts, HP23 4DG ___ QL-Users Mailing List http://www.q-v-d.demon.co.uk/smsqe.htm
Re: [Ql-Users] USB Floppy Disks and The QL Future
On 18/06/10 00:42, Roy Wood wrote: > It was the threading that I was referring to. Turnpike would put thum > into subject threads but Thunderbird just puts them in a long, > jumbled, list - just like Outlook! Well, mine are threaded, by subject, threads start with the initial posting and new stuff is added in date order, beneath. > Oh and 'Reply' and 'Reply to list do > the same thing. Maybe I have not set it up right but I don;t log on > here much - except this week. Reply replies to the sender. Reply to List replies to a list or newsgroup. In the case of this list, the sender and the list are one and the same. In the case of the Oracle-L list I subscribe to, reply to sender send the email back to the poster and not to the list, reply to list does the opposite - oracle-l gets it, not the OP. (Well, the OP gets it from the list but not directly from me.) It's not you and not TBird that is at fault, it's simply the fact that the sender is the list in this case. > That is ticked but does nothing. Also, if you check th ebox that says > 'check spelling before sending you get an empty box when you try to send > which says ;check word' but has no word in it. Tony on the Mac has a similar problem. I'm on Linux and I don't have either of the problems you mention. We are both on 3.0.4. I presume you are on Windows 7 and the same version? Funny how Linux is the only one that works. >> Free software is like that too sometimes, I agree. Mind you, commercial software is just as bad. > Now, funnily enough, I was discussing this last night with 6 people in > the Dive Club BSAC or PADI? I'm an old BSAC myself. > because they all had various IT problems. All but 1 said > they found the ribbon to be a far better way of accessing the functions > (as do I) than the old menus system. I have to admit I tried it for a week a while back and hated it. Not just because it was different, just because it seems to take up an inordinate amount of screen space! > I was ahead because, having come > from a HOT_KEY enviroment I learnt the keyboard shortcuts. always amused > me when you press 'CONTROL/V' and text appears and then PC dummies go > 'How did you do that?' I use quite a few shortcuts myself too. It saves having to reach for the mouse, click, then type, then mouse, then . > But also think usability. Jonathan Hudson wrote some great programs but > no front ends so few people used them. They were not marketed so fewer > people knew they existed. I have to admit to using a couple of JH's programs and it was true, there were no bells and frills. He was the master of minimalist programming I think. Not in the apps themselves, just in the frills department. I only occasionally heard of them though and that's when I got around to trying them out. They were never advertised at all as far as I remember. > There you could not resist replying again - even though I have just > driven back from a songwriting session in London. Now you have my full admiration there Roy. I do admire people who have talent - music, crafts or whatever. I have very little I'm afraid. I can play my digeridoo (now that gave the spell checker a headache!) as long as I don't have to circular breathe - I have yet to master that little nicety. Good luck with the songs. Cheers, Norman. ___ QL-Users Mailing List http://www.q-v-d.demon.co.uk/smsqe.htm
Re: [Ql-Users] USB Floppy Disks and The QL Future
On 19/06/10 20:00, P Witte wrote: > But surely you see that it could spell then end of the Personal > Computer, in which case the "next great thing" becomes significant and > not merely a fad. They said that COBOL was dead. it lives on many many years after it's alleged demise. The reaosn being, there are still far too many apps written in COBOL to be rewritten in "TNGT" (The Next Great Thing). COBOL is still with us, 10 years after the Y2K "problem". Think about how many laptops, desktops and so on there are, even tablets and netbooks. The clouds (grey and miserable usually!) will not take that away. The applications may run on the cloud servers and the data may reside there too, but people sill still have DVDs to watch, CDs to listen to/rip to MPx/OGG/FLAC or whatever, emails to send etc. The desktop PC, like COBOL, is not dead - and won't be for a long time. > The issues you raise regarding privacy and security > will be solved, otherwise this idea will vanish (until needed on some > other occasion). The issue I have are simple, I don't *know* that my data are safe in the cloud. I don't know that the competitors I have cannot see my data. it's true I don't want to have to pay for all those servers when I can get space and rent someone else's, but I will never *know* how secure they are. Equally, when the cloud hosting company goes bust - where is my data and applications? Do I get them back? Or am I stuffed up beyond all recognition. My business could depend on it! > Of course there will be thousands of old fogeys, like me, and perhaps > you, who wont take to all that jazz, but will continue to issue our > curses and incantations over strange black boxes from another era, nay, > civilisation. There may well be old fogeys, like me and you ;-) but I don't think that "ludditism" will be the reason for not taking up the next fad. That doesn't mean to say lots of people won't be taking it up - after all, look how many iPads Apple have sold - and, as Darran pointed out, they are basically good looking but useless cr4p! > Still, I have a DropBox account, and find it very handy. Yes, but you are "Joe user" and not "Big Joe Company". DropBox isn't really the cloud, it's off site storage. Really. > Its like a folder in Explorer except its located in the Cloud. Come on! It's located in the "cloud". It's located on a server somewhere on the other end of your internet connection. That's all. Companies have been using this sort of "technology" for years. It's was never called the cloud back then. That's simply a bit more marketing hype - call something we already use by a trendy new name and watch the money roll in! I used to have some free disc space at Demon. It was there when I logged in on any computer, from any location. Granted it wasn't a drive mapped in explorer - but I have a network drive here that I can access from anywhere on the internet - but it's not cloud! It's network attached storage. I'm too much of a cynic I'm afraid to fall for the hype. > I copy there is immediately replicated across all my PCs and physically > reside there, as well as in the cloud. If my house burns down with my > computers and backups I can still access my data from anywhere. This is exceedingly useful, I agree. But it's NAS, not cloud. > Cloud should become inaccessible, I still have copies across my > computers. Privacy? I only store zipped and encrypted files in DropBox > unless I decide to share. Beware, if you mean your zip files have a password, do a quick Google for "cracking zip passwords" and be worried. I advise you get hold of something like Gnu Privacy Guard, crate yourself a pair of keys and use that to encrypt your data. Encrypt with the public key and decrypt with the private key. It's a lot safer than trusting a fairly easily broken zip file password. At work, and since before the Tax Man lost 29 million names, addresses and bank details, we have been using GPG (Gnu Privay Guard) on Windows and Linux to encrypt all data being sent off site. Each vendor must supply us with a public key before we will send them anything. A couple have refused, but when they didn't get the data, they soon capitulated! (I can be a right stubborn b'stard when I want to and when I'm protecting my sensitive data - I'm stubborn!) > So its not all bad. It may not be the final word in computing paradigms, There's never going to be a final word in paradigms. When one has been here for 30 seconds, it's so last week! Think Ruby On Rails - where's that nowadays? > but you dont NOT take the ferry because youre convinced that in ten > years time therell be a bridge. B*gger! No wonder I never got across the water! ;-) Equally, it doesn't mean you have to be on the maiden voyage either. Think titanic. > These DropBox guys dont at present seem to want to program you or rifle > through your private papers. Yes, maybe. But do you really really know that 100%. You and I have no idea what happens to your data when you don't cont
Re: [Ql-Users] USB Floppy Disks and The QL Future
On 18/06/10 00:15, Tony Firshman wrote: > I have that set but it doesn't spell check. Looks like a bug (3.0.4). That's interesting Tony. Roy on Windows and you on Mac and me on Linux, all using 3.0.4 (I think Roy mentioned 3.0.4) and only Linux can spell check as you type. Spooky! Works fine for me here. Thankfully. My only problem with it is when the words I type are correctly spelled/spelt but they are the wrong words! Cheers, Norman. ___ QL-Users Mailing List http://www.q-v-d.demon.co.uk/smsqe.htm
Re: [Ql-Users] USB Floppy Disks and The QL Future
On 20/06/10 19:56, Norman Dunbar wrote: > It also has a call action against it in the US, already. He should have wrote (!): It also has a CLASS action Cheers, Norman. ___ QL-Users Mailing List http://www.q-v-d.demon.co.uk/smsqe.htm
Re: [Ql-Users] USB Floppy Disks and The QL Future
On 20/06/10 11:01, Dilwyn Jones wrote: > A Scot with an iPad up his kilt? ooer missus, I hate to think! Now Dilwyn, we wear the sporran on the outside of the kilt. It's a glorified handbag/purse. There are no pockets on a kilt, so you have to put your wallet, chewing gum, loose change etc somewhere! Mine is a dead horse. That's what it is made from. And sterling silver of course! My wife, Alison, complained (jokingly) at the price I paid for it when I bought it as "she's never paid that much for a handbag!" Cheers, Norman. ___ QL-Users Mailing List http://www.q-v-d.demon.co.uk/smsqe.htm
Re: [Ql-Users] USB Floppy Disks and The QL Future
On 20/06/10 10:13, Billy wrote: > But an Ipad - no, what do you do with a hi tech dinner plate when not > using it, too big to go in your pocket, even the most confirmed > medallion man would think twice. It doesn't do flash, which puts about 70% of the internet out of reach. It doesnt do HD quality. it doesn't do multi-tasking. It's not a phone (which is a blessing, you'd look pretty stupid holding one of those up to your ear!). There's a decent web site somewhere out there in internet-land with the title "the 10 missing bits of the iPad" or similar. It also has a call action against it in the US, already. It was advertised as being internet ready and the website the used was shown to work. Unfortunately, Apple didn;t mention that the image was a mock up because the web site in question used Flash - which the iPad cannot display. The new ads show the flash bit as "unavailable". > Up North here perhaps we could fit one onto a flat cap, Norman could of > course disguise one as a sporran, although there was that hooha about > radiation with phones, might need lead undergarments. A true Scotsman never wears anything under the kilt - lead or otherwise! ;-) Cheers, Norman. ___ QL-Users Mailing List http://www.q-v-d.demon.co.uk/smsqe.htm
Re: [Ql-Users] USB Floppy Disks and The QL Future
In message , Darren Branagh writes On 6/19/10, Malcolm Cadman wrote: I am looking forward to have an iPad like device myself, though, too ... although I would expect to make a wider use of it than just entertainment. Why? its a toy. its an Apple iTouch on steroids. I had one for a while testing it (I'm working for the mobile phone network 3 at present, and they are interested in the 3G version for obvious reasons) and I pretty much hated it - dont get me wrong, its beautiful, it makes you go "oh" when you first use it, but a replacement for a good laptop it aint - its a nice toy, and an overpriced one at that - the eee pad (the iPad looking version of the cheap netbook eeepc that came out a few years ago) should be a better buy. And will probably run QPC too .now, a handheld touchscreen QL, wouldnt that be nice? Hi Darren, Glad to have you back on the list, contributing ... :-) The first version of anything is never that good ... I will wait for version 2 or 3 before using one. Although, the millions of users will just grow and grow, I suspect for iPad like devices ( a lot of rivals are being planned for launch ). The PC way, with a QWERTY keyboard will start to have had its day. Mobile phones with keyboards have not exactly been popular with the majority of users. The ergonomics of the touch screen are better. A future device could be very interesting. -- Malcolm Cadman ___ QL-Users Mailing List http://www.q-v-d.demon.co.uk/smsqe.htm
Re: [Ql-Users] USB Floppy Disks and The QL Future
In message , Darren Branagh writes On 6/19/10, Dilwyn Jones wrote: I think it'd be great to have an "online QL" running in a browser - perhaps Java based or whatever. I seem to remember someone mentioning a ZX81 or Spectrum which would run in a browser. That way, you'd be free of the nuances of any particular QL emulator or QL compatible - wherever you are, fire up your browser and access the "QL" over an internet connection. Synchronised online storage space (there's plenty of free space providers) would ensure your files would be up to date no matter whether you were running it at home or away from home. Ah well, I can dream I suppose ... Dilwyn Jones Hi All, Yes - I'm here and alive and reading with great interest, although kids, and being in and out of work are keeping me busy, This is the best thread in ages !! I agree with Dilwyn - an online browser based QL is vey much needed - I use a ZX Spectrum one all the time via a Facebook app, great stress relief. :-) most of the games on World of Spectrum are available this way too. I would love to see Marcel work on converting QPC to run this way - Marcel, is this possible? If so, is much work involved? I certainly would'nt mind paying a few bob for the ability to pull up a working QL on ANY PC I happen to be working on - with an internet connection, or course. Darren. Hi Dilwyn, Nice thought ... a virtual QL21 that would be there, with legacy software and present/future capabilities. Hi Darren, Nice to see that we have woken you up again ... :-) As you both say something like it is being done in a present www browser form with other retro computers. Keep the ideas coming ... :-) -- Malcolm Cadman ___ QL-Users Mailing List http://www.q-v-d.demon.co.uk/smsqe.htm
Re: [Ql-Users] USB Floppy Disks and The QL Future
On 20/06/2010 11:01, Dilwyn Jones wrote: But an Ipad - no, what do you do with a hi tech dinner plate when not using it, too big to go in your pocket, even the most confirmed medallion man would think twice. Hi-tech dinner plate... I like it. I could just imagine Bill on the farm sat in his tractor cab playing with his hi-tech dinner plate sorting out his farm accounts and reading his emails, with an app controlling his tractor, another controlling his muck-spreader, another feeding the animals... ...and Bill fuming when it all went wrong! ;o)) Up North here perhaps we could fit one onto a flat cap, Norman could of course disguise one as a sporran, although there was that hooha about radiation with phones, might need lead undergarments. A Scot with an iPad up his kilt? ooer missus, I hate to think! Dilwyn Jones I'm retired now Dilwyn, I thought that would mean more time for QLing, but no, What with U3A, old Bikes, Luncheon club, Countdown, Garden and grand kids ... I do a bit of work for my old employer during busy spells, includes driving a satellite navigation control tractor, so yes chips are everywhere even on fertilizer spreaders ( not muck spreaders though ), combines read the crop yield as they cut it, satellites read mineral deficiencies from space, this data is put on a card which is inserted in the fertilizer spreader and it spreads the required amount where it is needed instead of a wasteful blanket coverage. Works quite well with the exception of trees !!! ( signal loss ) All the best - Bill ___ QL-Users Mailing List http://www.q-v-d.demon.co.uk/smsqe.htm
Re: [Ql-Users] USB Floppy Disks and The QL Future
But an Ipad - no, what do you do with a hi tech dinner plate when not using it, too big to go in your pocket, even the most confirmed medallion man would think twice. Hi-tech dinner plate... I like it. I could just imagine Bill on the farm sat in his tractor cab playing with his hi-tech dinner plate sorting out his farm accounts and reading his emails, with an app controlling his tractor, another controlling his muck-spreader, another feeding the animals... ...and Bill fuming when it all went wrong! ;o)) Up North here perhaps we could fit one onto a flat cap, Norman could of course disguise one as a sporran, although there was that hooha about radiation with phones, might need lead undergarments. A Scot with an iPad up his kilt? ooer missus, I hate to think! Dilwyn Jones ___ QL-Users Mailing List http://www.q-v-d.demon.co.uk/smsqe.htm
Re: [Ql-Users] USB Floppy Disks and The QL Future
On 19/06/2010 23:30, Darren Branagh wrote: On 6/19/10, Malcolm Cadman wrote: I am looking forward to have an iPad like device myself, though, too ... although I would expect to make a wider use of it than just entertainment. Why? its a toy. its an Apple iTouch on steroids. I had one for a while testing it (I'm working for the mobile phone network 3 at present, and they are interested in the 3G version for obvious reasons) and I pretty much hated it - dont get me wrong, its beautiful, it makes you go "oh" when you first use it, but a replacement for a good laptop it aint - its a nice toy, and an overpriced one at that - the eee pad (the iPad looking version of the cheap netbook eeepc that came out a few years ago) should be a better buy. And will probably run QPC too .now, a handheld touchscreen QL, wouldnt that be nice? Hi all - been lurking for a long time but this mention of Ithingies caught my eye. Iphone I like but a bit pricey considering I use my mobile phone as a phone pretty much 95% of the time, this of course would change with the options on an Iphone. But an Ipad - no, what do you do with a hi tech dinner plate when not using it, too big to go in your pocket, even the most confirmed medallion man would think twice. Up North here perhaps we could fit one onto a flat cap, Norman could of course disguise one as a sporran, although there was that hooha about radiation with phones, might need lead undergarments. On topic I use a usb floppy with QPC but can't recall any format problems (Vista) but doubt that I would be formatting anything other than HD All the best - Bill ___ QL-Users Mailing List http://www.q-v-d.demon.co.uk/smsqe.htm
Re: [Ql-Users] USB Floppy Disks and The QL Future
on 19/6/10 11:44 PM, ql-us...@q-v-d.com wrote: > Darren Branagh wrote: >> If I come across fifty grand I dont need i'll give you a call:) > > Okay, I'll stay near the phone from now on :-D > >> What about QLAY, or Q-Emulator.. guys? >> >> Or writing one from scratch... anyone out there with the ability or the > money :) > > It'll have to be written from scratch in any case. The only advantage > I'd have is a somewhat intimate knowledge of the system. > > Marcel I wonder if Clive Sinclair has "the odd bob or two" to spare. Bryan H > > _ __ > QL-Users Mailing List > http://www.q-v-d.demon.co.uk/smsqe.htm > > > ___ QL-Users Mailing List http://www.q-v-d.demon.co.uk/smsqe.htm
