We are back!

[dorin]

My motto: “If it ain’t broke, fix it anyway!”

Or break it so you can fix it!!

[Greg_Lewis]

I am reminded of a Dilbert cartoon in which they were around a conference table talking about upgrading the software. One of the guys says they will completely change the user interface. The other says it works well, why do that? The first says, "Because we can."

[Steggy]

Or break it so you can fix it!!

Usta do that a lot back in my drag racing days. Of course, the breakage wasn’t intentional...

[Steggy]

I am reminded of a Dilbert cartoon in which they were around a conference table talking about upgrading the software. One of the guys says they will completely change the user interface. The other says it works well, why do that? The first says, "Because we can."

Sounds like a conference at Micro$oft.

[hoppercar]

The more they improve the plumbing .....the easier it is to stop up the drain

[Greg_Lewis]

Sounds like a conference at Micro$oft.

Don't get me started. I was a Word user from V.2 back about 1989 when I was writing a textbook. They were getting sued over V.3 because it just flat out didn't work. I managed to get my files back to V.2 until they fixed V.3, which was still worse than V.2. And, of course, every version since takes the features a writer of average documents uses most often and makes them harder to access. Now that they have gone to a subscription model and I'm no longer writing anything more than complaints like this on the net, I have left all their software behind and sleep much better.

As a friend of mine says, there are no computer upgrades. They are all downgrades.

[Bill Shields]

So you are a WordStar fan?

[Greg_Lewis]

So you are a WordStar fan?

TextEdit. Sometimes Bean, rarely Pages. On a Mac.

My dad was a screen writer (wrote and directed the first soap opera in TV history — Faraway Hill, 1946.) and in the 1980s he had a CPM machine, all command-line, and I think he may have been using an early version of WordStar. He eventually moved to an MS-DOS system that was still command-line. I remember showing him my new Mac 512, which I bought to write the textbook, and that it had a mouse. He picked up the mouse and waived it around in the air to test it out. No, Dad, you move it on the table. (I later upgraded that Mac with a DIY solder-on chip to a whopping 1 MB.) When Dad died he left a bunch of floppies behind but we had no way to see what was on them. I tried to get help from the university tech folks but they said we'd need a computer with that OS, which no one had any more.

The best word processor I ever used, on which I wrote my second book, is pictured below. It has survived power failures, shortages of RAM, and numerous brainware upgrades. It's not going away — some day I may need it again. And I also have a pica pole and my Dad's editing scissors, which have longer blades, from the era when "cut and paste" was meant literally.

Underwood #5, ca. 1923

IMG_0635.JPG (153.58 KiB) Viewed 534 times

[Bill Shields]

But can you get a ribbon for it? A bigger challenge than one might think.

I also have my dad's long scissors from when I watched mom type and the two of them cut and rubber cement his boiler manual together onto sheets of typing paper laying out on the living room floor.

He personally drove it to mcgraw hill and handed it to the editor.

Harry Winston he was not

[Greg_Lewis]

Pasting..... when I worked for a newspaper the sports editor wrote his stories on the long rolls from the teletype machine so he didn't have to feed single sheets into his typewriter.

Amazon, $9.99. I've still got three new ribbons wrapped up in the roll-top desk drawer. And there is an outfit in Berkeley that will overhaul the machine if needed.

[Steggy]

Some of the styles were no longer available.

Before, the posts were on the right and information about the poster was on the left. Now it’s reversed. Unfortunately, I’m nearly blind in the left eye, which complicates reading. Any way to reverse the layout?

[Harold_V]

Some of the styles were no longer available.

Before, the posts were on the right and information about the poster was on the left. Now it’s reversed. Unfortunately, I’m nearly blind in the left eye, which complicates reading. Any way to reverse the layout?

Hmmm. Before? Do you mean before the update that was performed last week? If so, the layout hasn't changed with Allan style subsilver, but it's as you described. Mike made it clear that many of the board type options had been eliminated. If, by chance, you know which one you had previously and it served your needs, please make mention on the board so Mike can do a search to see if it's available. He may be willing to add it if it's needed for good reason. Please understand I am not speaking for him. He would make the decision.

H