Shorts
Jess Anderson
[Cited: Max Vasilatos, Lee Rudolph (2x)]
Max Vasilatos:
> Steve Dyer used to have a server system [that had] an ftp
> database that had a bunch of photos of motssers [] I have
> been imploring him to make it available [] somehow. [...]
What I would love to get my hands on is the articles, from
his very first one creating the newsgroup right through to
Feb 1, 1998. (After that I already have everything.)
Then there could a complete statistical record as well as a
permanent archive. Such a thing *should* exist, the more so
since Usenet's remaining lifespan might be short.
It's almost certain that somebody, perhaps Steve Dyer
himself, has all that stuff. I'd wager the extent of it is
quite a bit less than what I already have (642 MB, plain
text).
=====
Lee Rudolph:
> (we had a wringer-washer at least until I was ten, but
> although in my childhood I spent a fair amount of time
> observing, and occasionally doing, ironing [do you
> remember Distillata?], I strangely can summon up no memory
> whatever of any actual clothes-washing being done)
At age 12 I became the family laundry person, 9-12 loads in
a wringer washer every Sunday morning, hung up to dry in the
basement or the backyard, depending on the weather.
After I started college, I used coin-op laundries.
I didn't have an automatic washer and dryer until I was 29
and had moved into my present home.
45 years later, I'm on the third washer and second dryer,
neither of which appears likely to give out soon.
=====
Lee Rudolph:
> To heat water quickly on demand, some part of the
> apparatus has to have a much higher temperature than the
> desired water temperature,
My furnace, which keeps a 1300 sq ft house toasty when it's
-25F, is rated at 70,000 BTU.
My on-demand tankless water heater is rated at 170,000 BTU.
The furnace needs only a 3/4" gas pipe; the water heater
needs a 1" one. (A 50-ft run of 1" flexible gas piping was
pricey.)
The heater is small (14" x 20" x 8"), wall-mounted, with a
4" stainless exhaust vent to outside. It inputs 45F water
and can deliver 110F water up to 3.5 gal/min continuously.
The boiler is an efficient Japanese design made entirely of
copper. The exhaust is hot, but my hot water energy costs
are way below what they were with a 30-gallon tanked gas
heater (which btw only lasted half as long).
A single person living alone, with no dishwasher and an
efficient shower, really saves on this. A family of five
would also save, but would make about twice the capital
investment for much higher capacity (gallons per minute).
A high-efficiency tanked solar heater with a gas flash
boiler backup is cheaper yet to operate, but capital
investment and maintenance are generally much higher.
--
[] The perfect bureaucrat is the man who manages to make no
[] decisions and escapes all responsibility.
[] -- Brooks Atkinson
--
[] Copyright 2009 Jess Anderson [] www.jessanderson.org
[] Soc.Motss FAQ: www.soc-motss.org/doc/faq/faq_intro.html
Max Vasilatos
>
> [Cited: Max Vasilatos, Lee Rudolph (2x)]
>
> Max Vasilatos:
>
> > Steve Dyer used to have a server system [that had] an ftp
> > database that had a bunch of photos of motssers [] I have
> > been imploring him to make it available [] somehow. [...]
>
> What I would love to get my hands on is the articles, from
> his very first one creating the newsgroup right through to
> Feb 1, 1998. (After that I already have everything.)
Yeah. I've been trying to get hold of all the articles too. They might
exist on 9-track tapes in some archive via UUNet via Usenix and I know
those guys so I've been talking to board members when I get around to it
because there are other newsgroups (who knew?) but it's tedjus and I
don't get around as much as I used to and I'm getting kind of tired and
really nobody knows where the tapes are and I'm beginning to think it
has something to do with whether those little -X bits got set on the
articles. Doesn't look good.
> Then there could a complete statistical record as well as a
> permanent archive. Such a thing *should* exist, the more so
> since Usenet's remaining lifespan might be short.
>
> It's almost certain that somebody, perhaps Steve Dyer
> himself, has all that stuff. I'd wager the extent of it is
> quite a bit less than what I already have (642 MB, plain
> text).
Your database could well be supplemented by the ftp archive I mentioned
before, and some of the better posts I've mentioned, and I think the
facebook site could be made better... and... and ... etc.. and also and
furthermore... one of these days when I'm not busy I will write an
excellent marvelous book in this great new format that everyone will
love; it will be gobsmacker.