Paperless transactions

[Char Jackson]

No, not everyone. But most people. And of those that don't they are
likely either homeless or living in third-world countries and don't
have access to postal mail either.

That's completely ignorant, and therefore doesn't seem in character
with the Ken Blake who regularly posts here.

True, but such places are likely not to have postal service either.

More ignorance. Very large areas of the US have postal service and no
Internet service, or the options are limited to the extent that
Internet services aren't affordable to the residents who live there.

And if the money spent on post offices, equipment, salaries, etc. were
used to get everyone e-mail access, the world would be a better place.




No, I don't. I would like to see free e-mail service available to
everyone. It's already starting to happen. You can already find free
WI-fir service in many libraries, coffee shops, airports, etc. And
some cities are starting to provide this. Eliminate the costs of
postal mail and do this instead.

I'm in favor of that as a goal, but if the first step is to shut down
the USPS so that money can be funneled toward development of an
electronic system, you'll disenfranchise millions of people during the
interim. That would never fly.

I'm also not sure that email will ever be a practical replacement for
postal mail. How is Aunt Martha supposed to swap family recipes
(arranged by topic on index cards) and clipped coupons with Cousin
Gertrude? Will we need a new industry, email-to-paper gateways, to
handle cases where the recipient doesn't have an email address or
simply doesn't want one? What about cases where you know where someone
lives, but have no idea if they have an email address, and if so, what
it might be? Will every city, every small town, every village, have a
postmaster@ email address where things will be figured out and sorted
for delivery?

Bring back the old Ken Blake, please.

 

[Ken Springer]

No, I don't. I would like to see free e-mail service available to
everyone. It's already starting to happen. You can already find free
WI-fir service in many libraries, coffee shops, airports, etc. And
some cities are starting to provide this. Eliminate the costs of
postal mail and do this instead.

So, everyone should get out of their homes, go to a public computer or
own a laptop, to do email? Or any security related computer process,
such as logging into your bank account?

--
Ken

Mac OS X 10.6.8
Firefox 14.0.1
Thunderbird 15.0.1
LibreOffice 3.5.6.2

 

[Ken Springer]

Nuts on screws!?!? Are you sure?? I would have thought nuts went on bolts!!

Certainly hope that's a tongue in cheek comment. There are
thousands of general aviation aircraft flying that have nuts on screws.
Can't even begin to tell you how many times I've done it. <grin>

--
Ken

Mac OS X 10.6.8
Firefox 14.0.1
Thunderbird 15.0.1
LibreOffice 3.5.6.2

 

[charlie]

I was referring to squinting

"I was referring to squinting "

That's what I do before I give up trying to find the right size wrench,
and resort to secondary methods.

A Crescent wrench, if one is handy, or multi size slip joint pliers as a
next to last resort.

The last resort, if you should wonder,
involves tightening the best I can with what's on hand, then using some
cyanoacrylate resin (Crazy Glue, or Eastman 910) A super thin version
will penetrate, and about three seconds later, hardens, perhaps with a
bit of smoke.

What's really funny is that the "sniffing" the old model glues made kids
get "high", so the model glues were taken off the market, and largely
replaced with other glues such as cyanoacrylate resin. It's fumes won't
make you high, just kill you off.

 

[Ken Blake]

So, everyone should get out of their homes, go to a public computer or
own a laptop, to do email? Or any security related computer process,
such as logging into your bank account?

No, I didn't suggest anything like that.

But I'm through with this subject. Nobody seems to agree with me, and
almost everyone seems to misunderstand me (maybe I haven't done a good
job of explaining my point of view). So rather than argue about it,
I'm done.

 

[Daniel47]

Note that "There is no universally accepted distinction between a
screw and a bolt" according to http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Screw

On the wikipedia page that Ken has quoted from above, under
"Differentiation between bolt and screw" goes on to state (in part):-

A screw is an externally threaded fastener capable of being inserted
into holes in assembled parts, of mating with a preformed internal
thread or forming its own thread, and of being tightened or released by
torquing the head.
End quote.

No mention whatsoever of a nut, but, also in the "Differentiation....."
section, states:-

A bolt is an externally threaded fastener designed for insertion through
holes in assembled parts, and is normally intended to be tightened or
released by torquing a nut.
End quote

I was a bit worried when I read the introductory para, but reading on
tends to prove what I asserted! Reading still further, it seems "Machine
screws" do have nuts and "Lug bolts" don't, so, I guess, we were both
right!! Or both wrong!!

Daniel

 

[Zaphod Beeblebrox]

On Wed, 19 Sep 2012 01:26:10 +1000, "(e-mail address removed)"

On the wikipedia page that Ken has quoted from above, under
"Differentiation between bolt and screw" goes on to state (in part):-

A screw is an externally threaded fastener capable of being inserted
into holes in assembled parts, of mating with a preformed internal
thread or forming its own thread, and of being tightened or released by
torquing the head.
End quote.

No mention whatsoever of a nut, but, also in the "Differentiation....."
section, states:-

A bolt is an externally threaded fastener designed for insertion through
holes in assembled parts, and is normally intended to be tightened or
released by torquing a nut.
End quote

I was a bit worried when I read the introductory para, but reading on
tends to prove what I asserted! Reading still further, it seems "Machine
screws" do have nuts and "Lug bolts" don't, so, I guess, we were both
right!! Or both wrong!!

But what about the lug nuts on the wheels of my car?

 

[Gene E. Bloch]

No, I didn't suggest anything like that.

But I'm through with this subject. Nobody seems to agree with me, and
almost everyone seems to misunderstand me (maybe I haven't done a good
job of explaining my point of view). So rather than argue about it,
I'm done.

Well, that sort of thing happens to many of us. Please recover your
spirits and come back to fight on another subject soon

BTW, I don't think I agreed with you in this thread either, although I
*think* I understood you.

Partly, I disagree because I /like/ the Post Office and snail mail.
These are purely emotional and nostalgic reasons...

 

[Gene E. Bloch]

Nuts on screws!?!? Are you sure?? I would have thought nuts went on bolts!!



Yes, a 13mm spanner/wrench can fit a half inch nut.....just good enough
to "round" the nut so no spanner/wrench will undo it!!


1/2" is 12.7mm.....approx!!

Daniel

If nothing else, this subthread has been a small amount of fun. And it
has, probably not surprisingly, revealed inconsistencies in the
terminology (Zaphod's mention of lug nuts, for instance).

And until this moment, everyone has shown good taste by avoiding any
gender-related puns

 

[Gene E. Bloch]

"I was referring to squinting "

That's what I do before I give up trying to find the right size wrench,
and resort to secondary methods.

A Crescent wrench, if one is handy, or multi size slip joint pliers as a
next to last resort.

The last resort, if you should wonder,
involves tightening the best I can with what's on hand, then using some
cyanoacrylate resin (Crazy Glue, or Eastman 910) A super thin version
will penetrate, and about three seconds later, hardens, perhaps with a
bit of smoke.

What's really funny is that the "sniffing" the old model glues made kids
get "high", so the model glues were taken off the market, and largely
replaced with other glues such as cyanoacrylate resin. It's fumes won't
make you high, just kill you off.

A week or two ago I used what I had: a 13mm wrench on one end of a nut
and bolt job and a half-inch wrench on the other end, and to be honest,
I didn't squint. The nut and bolt were half-inch, so the 13mm worked OK.

I did a related job last Saturday where I had to remove a large wood
screw whose Phillips slots were completely rounded. Oy. Luckily, they
had used a flat-head screw where a round-head was called for, so I had
just enough purchase for Vise-Grips to get it out.

I didn't know that the cyanoacrylates are toxic. Good thing I'm not a
glue sniffer.

BTW, there's an article in the October 2012 Popular Science, page 77,
showing how to create "spontaneous combustion" with cyanoacrylate and
potassium permanganate. Quotes because it's actually an exothermic
chemical reaction, rather than spontaneous combustion.

 

[Char Jackson]

If nothing else, this subthread has been a small amount of fun. And it
has, probably not surprisingly, revealed inconsistencies in the
terminology (Zaphod's mention of lug nuts, for instance).

And until this moment, everyone has shown good taste by avoiding any
gender-related puns

Aww, nuts. Now you've done it. We're screwed.

 

[Zaphod Beeblebrox]

On Tue, 18 Sep 2012 10:52:57 -0700, "Gene E. Bloch" <not-
(e-mail address removed)> wrote in article

A week or two ago I used what I had: a 13mm wrench on one end of a nut
and bolt job and a half-inch wrench on the other end, and to be honest,
I didn't squint. The nut and bolt were half-inch, so the 13mm worked OK.

I did a related job last Saturday where I had to remove a large wood
screw whose Phillips slots were completely rounded. Oy. Luckily, they
had used a flat-head screw where a round-head was called for, so I had
just enough purchase for Vise-Grips to get it out.

I didn't know that the cyanoacrylates are toxic. Good thing I'm not a
glue sniffer.

BTW, there's an article in the October 2012 Popular Science, page 77,
showing how to create "spontaneous combustion" with cyanoacrylate and
potassium permanganate. Quotes because it's actually an exothermic
chemical reaction, rather than spontaneous combustion.

Great publication, and fun article. As I recall, they included that
combination because it would combust every time, no fooling around!

 

[Ken Blake]

Well, that sort of thing happens to many of us. Please recover your
spirits and come back to fight on another subject soon

LOL! Sure.

BTW, I don't think I agreed with you in this thread either, although I
*think* I understood you.

Good.


Partly, I disagree because I /like/ the Post Office and snail mail.
These are purely emotional and nostalgic reasons...

OK, those are reasons that I can't argue against.

 

[Gene E. Bloch]

LOL! Sure.




OK, those are reasons that I can't argue against.

Why not? Others have

But thanks for not arguing!

 

[Gene E. Bloch]

Aww, nuts. Now you've done it. We're screwed.

That was actually relatively tasteful

....and very funny.

 

[Gene E. Bloch]

Great publication, and fun article. As I recall, they included that
combination because it would combust every time, no fooling around!

When I was in high school, I used to make a solution of potassium
permanganate and table sugar dissolved in water, to fill a 35mm film can
half way. Then I put it above my little alcohol burner (a poor man's
Bunsen burner) and heated it. It soon made a small and pretty purple
explosion.

I don't think my parents knew what I was doing in the basement

 

[Zaphod Beeblebrox]

On Tue, 18 Sep 2012 12:58:56 -0700, "Gene E. Bloch" <not-
(e-mail address removed)> wrote in article

When I was in high school, I used to make a solution of potassium
permanganate and table sugar dissolved in water, to fill a 35mm film can
half way. Then I put it above my little alcohol burner (a poor man's
Bunsen burner) and heated it. It soon made a small and pretty purple
explosion.

I don't think my parents knew what I was doing in the basement

Nice, I don't think I ever did that one!

I'm familiar with the alcohol burner - it was all I had available to me
as well. And I'm certain my parents had no idea what I did with my
accumulated chemistry equipment or they'd surely have stopped me, if
for no other reason than the insurance liability...

 

[Gene Wirchenko]

[snip]

Aww, nuts. Now you've done it. We're screwed.

That was actually relatively tasteful

...and very funny.

Could we bring a comparison of USENET threaded discussion and
bolt/screw threads into the discussion somehow?

Sincerely,

Gene Wirchenko

 

[Gene E. Bloch]

Could we bring a comparison of USENET threaded discussion and
bolt/screw threads into the discussion somehow?

Do you mean should we tap into our collective wisdom, or else die
trying?

 

[Gene Wirchenko]

Do you mean should we tap into our collective wisdom, or else die
trying?

You have augered correctly.

Sincerely,

Gene Wirchenko