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The Glassine Surfer Column Archive

This column originally appeared in the American Philatelic Society's monthly magazine, "The American Philatelist." Since then some of the information may be out-of-date depending on how far back you're reading.

January 2000

One day I'll go into the local PO and suggest to the postmaster that she order the "Support American Education Week" special cancellation diehub on page 39 of the bulletin, or mention that the bulletins caution offices about running out of current issues.

The bulletin is in Adobe Acrobat format, and you can download the free Adobe Acrobat Reader through a link at the USPS site.  I prefer to right-click on the bulletins and download to my desktop for reading later.

The Postal Bulletin
http://www.usps.gov/cpim/ftp/bulletin/pb1999.htm

Adobe Acrobat Reader download
http://www.adobe.com/prodindex/acrobat/readstep.html

Jackson's Ruling

Guy Fawkes day usually passes without notice in the USA, except in '99 when Judge Thomas P. Jackson released his Findings of Fact in the case of the The United States vs. Microsoft.  This 207-page ruling is the first act in a much longer drama and is surprisingly good reading.  

It's a thorough summation of the case at hand, void of legalese, techo-talk and spin control.  The judge covers a lot of PC-Web background and sets the stage for Microsoft's various confrontations, ending with his opinion as to how it affected US consumers.  

Though Microsoft seems cast as the story's bad guy, it's obvious the PC and Web would not have achieved its breath-taking success without Bill Gates and company.

But the best thing about this report is that it is readable, clear and concise and online free.

"The Seattle Times"
http://www.seattletimes.com/microsoft/

MSNBC
http://www.msnbc.com/Specials/msf/toc.htm

Dialpad

I was skeptical, but it works.  I went to the website, registered and dialed a telphone number by clicking the telephone dialpad that popped up in my Web browser.  The phone rang in my kitchen and I heard it on my PC speakers.  I left a message on my answering machine using a little mic plugged into my PC.  

That night I phoned a long distance friend on my PC.  We talked for 40 minutes, and it was a free call.

A little Java applet makes it possible.  You need Windows, and a set of headphones helps block the echo from your mic and speakers.  Currently, calls anywhere within the USA are free, and transmission quality is about as good as a cell phone, though you may get occasional garbling if the network is congested.

The company is Dialpad, and the service is delivered in partnership with GTE.  Revenue comes from the banner ads they display on the screen while you're talking.  These are keyed to the interests that you selected when you registered, so pay attention to what you select.

Go to the site, read the screens and give it a whirl.  The interface is simple.  The service is free, and it's the first time my wife thought the Web was really cool.

Dialpad
http://www.dialpad.com

A K give or take a Mb

In last November's column I mentioned that Sun's StarOffice suite was only 64K in size and took four to five hours to download.  Either my modem or my math was very, very bad, and it was my math.  The program is 64Mb in size.

I exchanged a few e-mails with Larry Schmidt of the Maplewood Stamp Club in Minnesota about it.  He's a veteran Net and computer professional with a great sense of humor, and afterward I thought myself lucky not to be employed by as a nuclear reactor technician.

For the record the K is "kilobyte," a "thousand bytes".  It means you add three zeros to the end of the number.  64K is 64,000.

Now, Mb is short for a longer string of zeros called a "megabyte" or a million bytes.  Add six zeros.  So 64Mb is 64,000,000 bytes.  That's a thousand times bigger than the little 64K.  In other words, I was way off.  (I suggest that it was the heat of the creative moment responsible for my error.)

Later this month the US has a national holiday honoring the memory of civil rights leader Martin Luther King, a non-violent man who worked for human rights.  Visit the Martin Luther King, Jr., Center, website.  Read and enjoy the material displayed there, but see if the counter at the bottom of the page doesn't tell you something about the Web.

The King Center
http://www.thekingcenter.com/