Initial commit

bbs/CBBS/SNAPSHOT/message.x70

@@ -0,0 +1,103 @@
+46270,30,05/23/93,WARD CHRISTENSEN,ANDY SHAPIRO
+R/DBIV?,
+  Interesting hearing what you did.  You might, if you consider enhancing,
+add my idea of stepping thru for clearing checks (and deposits - I get 'em
+electronically at work, and I DO want to manually check them off to make
+sure I got everything - though of course the bank is going to be "more"
+right than I).
+  Also, why do you go out to supercalc for balancing?  I found it easy
+enough to do in xBase.
+  4K?  Wow!  Yes, the allocation unit problem is just as appropriate for
+the PC as for CP/M...  As to combining procedure file, the ONE thing I
+really like about FoxPRO (which I do NOT and never HAVE used though I
+bought it!) is that it can have in-line procedures in the same file as
+the mainline, so you can finally have a single, structured .PRG file. I
+found the limitation of a single procedure file very confining - at work
+I use it for all my 3270 API stuff, meaning ANY application I do which makes
+use of the APIs can't have procedure files (not a REAL problem because I'm
+writing all from scratch).
+  One thing I do (in almost any language) is to make HEAVY use of STATEs -
+i.e. the overall program is a big loop, and I have a single variable called
+a 'state' that I change based upon what I want to do.  This is how to put
+gotos into goto-less programming - i.e. the state indicates which part to
+execute, virtually identical to doing a "goto" that section.  Very flexible.
+  My check clearing loop (which you go out to SC4 to do) is only a dozen
+lines or so - "if a deposit; if cleared then add to balance;" "if a check;
+if cleared then subtract from balance", and just do this is a "while .not.
+eof()" loop.  I do fancier things like changing screen colors based upon
+each line processed (once I find the line with the 00 balance indicating
+the oldest modified entry (such as the oldest check cleared in this pass).
+  I am still AMAZED at how tight you wrote this!  My checkbook DBF is 44K
+alone - but then again I would LOVE it to go back FOREVER - for example...
+<cont'd>
+46271,30,05/23/93,WARD CHRISTENSEN,ANDY SHAPIRO
+R/DBIV?,
+  <checkbook program in dbase, continued>
+  Did I mention about using my program to save me $20?	Master Card hit me
+with a $20 annual fee this January, in spite of it being a "no annual fee"
+card.  Reason is, if you have NO interest (I believe in paying promptly, and
+not going beyond my means) in a year, then the "fine print" sez they can
+hit you for a processing fee.
+  SO, what I did was go thru my checks.DBF file, back 3 years, totalling
+every check I ever wrote to this specific bank.  I then wrote a letter saying
+that I chose them because of no annual fee, that I had lots of offers for
+other cards (and in fact had just gotten a Gold no-fee Visa card), and
+stating the many K$ I'd spent in these 3 years, and did they want to lose
+me over a little $20 fee?  Well, I fully expected to get another bill,
+WITH INTEREST, in the mail, which I'd probably pay, then turn in the card.
+Instead, I got a ZERO balance bill the next month, and have switched to
+using the M.C. over the Visa (though being the (?? anal retentive ??) type,
+I hate both bills - with their stupid advertising and "tear off flap before
+mailing" type of ad- for as dumb a thing as "Thighmaster").  Actually I
+(with serious topic drift here) got the Visa because THEY were from a small
+bank with NO advertising and a nice simple (read: user friendly) envelope,
+from Gary Wheaton bank.  Well, 3 months later 1st Card of Chicago bought
+'em and I'm back to the junky ads and 'tear off flap' silly envelopes.	heh.
+  ----
+  Do you write much xBase?  I have a 3270 terminal emulator in it at work,
+a publication order system, and at home, a backup-tape logging system,
+and a HUGE and complex VCR log - each tape assigned a 3-digit code, with
+quick-search (type one letter, it positions to and shows the first match,
+hit the 2nd letter, it goes down to the 2-letter match, etc).  Ability to
+compute durations, elapsed times, search for artists, titles, sort 3 ways,
+etc.  A VERY VERY comprehensive VCR library, including hooks to Smart Label
+printer, etc.  I really like xBase.
+46370,04,07/21/93,CURT ROSTENBACH,MICHAEL SHARTIAG
+R/CHIP PRICES,
+The reason chip prices are jumping is that a big plant in Japan(?)
+went up in flames.  This plant produced 60% of the epoxy that is
+used in chip manufacturing.  The entire electronics "foodchain" is
+affected by this until alternative suppliers come on line.
+46371,01,07/21/93,WARD CHRISTENSEN,ANDY SHAPIRO
+R/GENEVA,
+Check is in the mail.  Thanks.
+46470,03,09/20/93,STEVE RYAN,ALL
+NEED A CHEAP 286,
+ps-1 or is it ps2 and is comfortable with them,are there any dealers
+ps1 and ps2's and he would be comfortable with either one,are there dealers
+that sell these used or anyone have one to sell?
+46471,09,09/22/93,DENNIS DARBY,ALL
+PS2-70 CMOS,KILL
+Can anyone help me in getting a ps2 model 70 up
+and running.  This belongs to a friend and the CMOS
+data was inadvertantly lost when the battery was
+disconnected.  Since he got the machine used from
+a former employer he didn`t get the startup disks.
+Does anyone know if IBM sells the Startup reference
+disks alone and who I can contact.  Or is there someone who can get
+me a copy of the startup.  At this point the C: drive is not
+accesible.  Thanks for any input.
+46570,07,01/28/94,MICHAEL SHARTIAG,BENJAMIN COHEN
+RESISTOR<>FUSE!!,
+While you could consider any 'weak' link in a system a fuse, resistors are
+not really a good choice.  When they do, they tend to 'flame out'.  A 1/4
+watt resistor is not much more than a signal resistor.	You can commonly find
+them in things such as transisitr radios.  They power needed to run a fuser
+lamp would fry one immediately.
+    It would seem that you have a typo in what you read, or they were
+trying to specify a fuse type.	Just a suggestion.
+46571,02,01/28/94,NORB DEMBINSKI,ANDY SHAPIRO
+R/ENVELOPE PRINTING,
+     Thanx for the info, but it is not what I asked for.
+Norb Dembinski
+