2275b528   
   XPost: demon.local   
   From: trminlxGARBAGE@bitstreamnet.com   
      
   In article <5f605bf3.aaf359e185%mark.parity@each.end>,   
    mark.parity@each.end (Serial Comms Sucks) wrote:   
      
   > In article   
   > , ghost   
   >  writes:   
   > >In article <596c4bf3.115e2c8864%mark.parity@each.end>,   
   > > mark.parity@each.end (Serial Comms Sucks) wrote:   
   > >   
   > >> >> I think I looked about a year ago, and that was still about the best I   
   > >> >> could   
   > >> >> buy without spending ridiculous amounts of money. Rich git.   
   > >> >   
   > >> >rich? I wish. No .. my company offers a Computer Assitance Program, you   
   > >> >pay 10% down and they give you a 2,500 dollar interest free 18 month   
   > >> >loan, payment deducted strait from your paycheck. You can go higher than   
   > >> >2,500 but you pay everything over that in the down.   
   > >>   
   > >> Cool! Do you have to order online, or can you get touchy-feely with the   
   > >> kit   
   > >> before you buy it?   
   > >   
   > >You can go into a store and touchy feely stuff.   
   >   
   > I -think- there's one nearby, but it may have closed.   
      
   That's too bad, terrorizing local computer stores staves off boredom on   
   some days.   
      
   > >But it's all through a   
   > >website and mail order stuff when you actually buy it. Well, it was when   
   > >I did it four almost five years ago now, it may have changed since then   
   > >I haven't recently looked .. the policies change on a yearly basis as   
   > >the company decides to keep switching vendors and what not.   
   >   
   > Yeah, exactly. From one vendor who sucks to another vendor who also sucks.   
      
   true, but as long as the vendor will order Apple I don't care.   
      
   > Mate of mine was sent a CD-ROM instead of a DVD/CD combo, and a DVD. By   
   > the time he'd managed to trudge through the forest of stupidity they call   
   > a "service helpline" to talk to the "technical people" who actually knew   
   > the difference between a CD and a DVD, they were burbling on about the   
   > "14-day limitation" and saying it wasn't their problem.   
   >   
   > >> >I love working for a mega-corp some days.   
   > >>   
   > >> And I bet there are some days you don't.   
   > >   
   > >occasionally. Though I actually enjoy my job most of the time. I get to   
   > >demand things  from the phone companies and they have to comply .. it's   
   > >a great gig.   
   >   
   > Sounds good. Do they have special music for when they keep Important   
   > Customers on hold?   
      
   Dead Air. I'm not kidding. Or the normal stuff depending on what telco I   
   call, what level and what they handle exactly. The stuff I work with   
   ranges all over the telcomm spectrum.   
      
   > >> >> Hey, you can have it. It'll be an improvement on the incumbents.   
   > >> >   
   > >> >Neat. Alt.Cyberpunk should co-opt more newsgroups!   
   > >>   
   > >> Are you guys related to the 2600 mob, or maybe the AHM peeps?   
   > >   
   > >I'm sure some of us in acp post and/or read those groups - I do not.   
   > >Mostly alt.cyberpunk is centered around the literary movement with the   
   > >Sci-Fi genre that calls itself "cyberpunk" ... William Gibson being the   
   > >foremost writer of that group, or at least most widely recognized   
   > >outside the acp crowd.   
   >   
   > I was wondering if I should mention him, but... now be honest... his   
   > stuff is rather dated, don't you think? Not to mention the entire genre   
   > being given a bad reputation by that stupid movie with Keanu Reeves.   
      
   Sad part is he wrote the script for Johnny Mnemonic. But, his books are   
   still good, the latest Pattern Recognition was excellent. Unlike Bruce   
   Sterlings latest which provoked death threats from some members.   
      
   As far as the genre getting a bad name ... well, any time something   
   catches the eye of the mainstream you see an increase in crap under its   
   umbrella.   
      
   There will always be those of us willing to slog through the noise to   
   find the signal. Which is what keeps any genre alive.   
      
   > We've got a third-rate sci-fi writer by the name of James Follett in   
   > demon.local; I've not read any of his stuff, though, so couldn't easily   
   > categorize it. And Rebecca Ore hangs out in some of the UPA groups,   
   > although she mostly seems to talk about routers nowadays.   
   >   
   > And I maintain Peter F Hamilton could take the lot of them with one paw   
   > tied behind his back.   
      
   I wouldn't go that far .. the group has a good powerhouse of writers in   
   it: Rudy Rucker, Neil Stephenson, John Shirley to name a few. I like   
   Hamilton's stuff, but not enough to say he's better than all of them. In   
   fact I don't personally believe any one writer is the be all end all.   
      
   ghost   
   ~/~ Sometimes I forget to pray I'll make it through this fucking day ~/~   
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