Those Darned Computers

GrayHare said:
In the example, not only is a computer needed, but of course also Internet access. FWIW, AFAIK USPS does not have a rate card online either... well they must, but I couldn't find it. For example, try to find a new rate card for "flats" (large envelopes) up to 1 oz.
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I think there's too many rates to list on a card today, you'd need a small booklet to list them all. If you need rates. they're broken down by regions/zones. At many USPS locations, they have self serve machines that will walk you thru the rate process too. Online, you just go to usps.com and select "Calculate a Price" on the left side of the page. Most people may not know this, but they also added regional rate boxes A, B, C on 1/22. Same concept as flat rate boxes, but they're limited to 15-25 lbs max instead of 70 lbs but with better prices. Problem is, these boxes are available via online request only, you can't pick them up at a USPS location. Also, many grocery/retail stores are now acting as USPS locations too, check out your zip code and they'll pop up, learned this in the last few weeks too.
 
Bestwifeever said:
This is what would affect me most. But remember before personal computers and the Internet having to send a blank check with "void" across the front of it to get autopayments in place? And the PITA to stop or change autopayments once they started?
.
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Heh. Vanguard. Just a few years ago. To their credit, even they've managed to drag themselves, kicking and screaming, into the 21st century now.

I think that currently we're just one http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Solar_storm_of_1859 Carrington Event from rediscovering life without an Internet, or electricity for that matter.

http://news.nationalgeographic.com/...storms-earth-danger-carrington-event-science/
 
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Amazing to think I'll gain a few years by unsubscribing and not reading a newspaper.
 
Bestwifeever said:
Amazing to think I'll gain a few years by unsubscribing and not reading a newspaper.
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REWahoo said:
Looks like you can accomplish the same thing by by buying a couple of extra cheap cell phones...
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Yeah, I get extra points because I kept my old cell phone so I can reconnect if the current one breaks down but I lost points because I read papers, subscribe to paper, and use a pencil or pen and watch TV. Real useful survey.
 
Lassie saved little Timmy from the well without a PC, cell phone, or any other modern convenience :facepalm: ...
 
M Paquette said:
Heh. Vanguard. Just a few years ago. To their credit, even they've managed to drag themselves, kicking and screaming, into the 21st century now.
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Vanguard has the worst stock trading platform I have encountered. Cumbersome, slow, lack of real time information, lousy graphics - :mad:

Fortunately, I do not trade often in my IRAs, and do my regular activity on Ameritrade's platform.
 
Timmy didn't even care because he was playing Angry Birds on his iPhone in that well--the 4G reception was better there.
 
Dreamer said:
Uh oh. I am in trouble. I will be technologically obsolete at 59.6 and I am currently 58.
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I'm already gone. I am 3 months shy of 49 and my result was 48.4. :dance:
 
So programming in five languages is weighed the same as being signed up for five different social media thingees? Hah! I choose not to have those accounts, it's not that I couldn't figure them out.

-ERD50
 
I'm not obsolete until 103.5 . If I wasn't able to program in 5+ languages, I'd be obsolete at 75!

What's weird to me about this, is that I have so many fewer chances to use programming skills now than I did 20 years ago. Remember when PC's came with MS-Basic on them? Those were the days.
 
The thing about many very elderly men is that they never learned to use a keyboard, because until personal computers came along, typing was strictly "women's work" and something they knew they'd never need. So once their wife dies, computers are out, unless they can find a daughter, niece, or lady companion to do the keyboarding. They remind me of old ladies of an earlier era (1980's) who never learned to drive because their father did the driving; then their husband did the driving; then their son did it; and finally, they hired someone to drive them.

My dear late mother, though, had a different issue. She could type blue blazes, but was afraid of doing something by accident that would "break" the computer. No matter how much we reassured her that it was almost impossible to break the computer except by dropping it or pouring water on it. She was especially intimidated by pop-up ads, and would turn the computer off (using the "on-off" button) when one appeared. Finally one day I showed her how to click the little "X" in the corner and she was so relieved!

Amethyst
 
ERD50 said:
So programming in five languages is weighed the same as being signed up for five different social media thingees? Hah! I choose not to have those accounts, it's not that I couldn't figure them out.

-ERD50
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Yeah, what a bunch of crap (and I have not been accused of overusing that phrase). Next, they are going to say texting 50 words/min proves that a kid's skill is equivalent to a pianist performing in a concert.

Anyway, though I use the computer much for work (designing hardware, developing firmware, writing programs for dynamic system simulation as well as analytical studies), I think humanity is headed the way the following diagram depicts.

evolutionofman.jpg
 
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Amethyst, I can totally relate. A friend to my mother installed on her machine a trial copy of Microsoft Word for Mac, just to see if she liked it. She loved it. I told her I had an extra license for the same program and I would install a legal copy when I visited. All we had to do was delete the trial copy and install the new one. She objected. We can't delete her friends copy, we need to return it to her friend.

I tried to explain, she finally said she understood, but I often wonder.
 
An elderly gentlemen of my acquaintance did not realize that when you fax a document, you don't have to make a copy for yourself :LOL::LOL:Yes, he has all his marbles, and is intelligent....just never had anything to do with office machinery...back in his day, women did "all that" whilst the menfolk did the Real Work...And we think women are the sheltered ones! :D

Amethyst

Brdofpray said:
Amethyst, I can totally relate. A friend to my mother installed on her machine a trial copy of Microsoft Word for Mac, just to see if she liked it. She loved it. I told her I had an extra license for the same program and I would install a legal copy when I visited. All we had to do was delete the trial copy and install the new one. She objected. We can't delete her friends copy, we need to return it to her friend.

I tried to explain, she finally said she understood, but I often wonder.
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Major Tom said:
This was the point at which I noticed him. He was loudly asking (to everyone in general and no-one in particular) what was happening to the Post Office.
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One thing that is happening is that during the snow and ice storms last week, the Post Office was the ONLY delivery service that made it rounds every day! The private delivery companies did not, the trash guys did not, the repair guys did not, but the USPS delivered the mail every day.
 
REWahoo said:
I didn't notice today was "make fun of old guys day". Guess I should get a woman to check my calendar for me...
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I hope I am not making fun. I am continually impressed with my 85 year old mother who is willing to take on this new technological challenge. I hope when I am where she is, I will be as open to new things as she is now!
 
Brdofpray said:
I hope I am not making fun. I am continually impressed with my 85 year old mother who is willing to take on this new technological challenge. I hope when I am where she is, I will be as open to new things as she is now!
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It's interesting how some people adapt to new technologies and others don't. My sister-in-law's father got himself a digital camera and a computer when in his late 70's. He got online about 10 years ago and put himself back in touch with his WWII buddies, contributing his own memories to the website that had been constructed for the ship that he served on. He wasn't what you'd think of as a particularly hip kind of guy - he was very much a man's man. He fished, hunted and went camping. He wasn't a tech type at all, but he was interested in new stuff.

My own father, on the other hand, didn't share the same enthusiasm for new things. The last time he got on board with new technology was in the 70's when he purchased a desktop calculator that used nixie tubes for the display, for his home business. Around the same time he purchased a photocopier, also for his business. The fact that he had a photocopier AND a desktop calculator was a pretty big deal back then. Fast forward to about 10 years ago and he had no interest in the internet or personal computers. He didn't really want to learn anything new and he wasn't interested in keeping in touch with anyone, so nothing I could say would interest him. He thought it was all some big plot to invade his privacy (maybe it was :D.)
 
GrayHare said:
FWIW, AFAIK USPS does not have a rate card online either... well they must, but I couldn't find it.
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I'm glad I'm not the only one who couldn't find one. It bugged me that you couldn't just search for "rate card" and get to a page that you could bookmark or print for your wall.

I'm often astounded by the changes we see. It's love/hate for me, but we are stuck with it. I even take my iPod with me to the bathroom.
 
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