Path: csiph.com!eternal-september.org!feeder.eternal-september.org!nntp.eternal-september.org!.POSTED!not-for-mail From: Snidely Newsgroups: comp.os.linux.misc,alt.usage.english Subject: Re: GNU Date: Mon, 30 Mar 2026 21:29:16 -0700 Organization: Dis One Lines: 61 Message-ID: References: <1rsq78a.9hgxro1eczx2yN%nospam@de-ster.demon.nl> <10qb9df$1inu5$14@dont-email.me> <1rsr591.1ssq8oh1dihjwuN%nospam@de-ster.demon.nl> <10qc4dc$1silm$10@dont-email.me> <0cqjskp5oprp9v1utu6t3q8u0urkpnjbvs@4ax.com> <951q9mxo8p.ln2@Telcontar.valinor> Reply-To: snidely.too@gmail.com MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-15"; format=flowed Content-Transfer-Encoding: 8bit Injection-Date: Tue, 31 Mar 2026 04:29:22 +0000 (UTC) Injection-Info: dont-email.me; posting-host="748fa33c8c966a6c583e891d17fdd753"; logging-data="3215386"; mail-complaints-to="abuse@eternal-september.org"; posting-account="U2FsdGVkX1+acBE16AQ0S05OCP/O2SXMufY6BhEaIzY=" Cancel-Lock: sha1:fHkLQPohEklbH9SCRpb/ZUCzrjo= X-ICQ: 543516788 X-Newsreader: MesNews/1.08.06.00-gb Xref: csiph.com comp.os.linux.misc:84800 alt.usage.english:1141757 Carlos E.R. formulated the question : > On 2026-03-31 00:20, Tony Cooper wrote: >> On Mon, 30 Mar 2026 23:10:50 +0200, "Carlos E.R." >> wrote: >> >>> On 2026-03-30 22:13, rbowman wrote: >>>> On Mon, 30 Mar 2026 12:50:49 +0200, Carlos E.R. wrote: >>>> >>>>> On 2026-03-30 08:49, rbowman wrote: >>>>>> On Sun, 29 Mar 2026 23:17:17 -0400, Tony Cooper wrote: >>>>>> >>>>>>> Many of us in the US are old enough to have had our blood pressure >>>>>>> checked with such a device. And, to have used glass thermometers with >>>>>>> mercury in it. When broken, and the little blob of mercury fell out, >>>>>>> to have squished the blob into many smaller blobs and been delighted >>>>>>> to have seen them all reunite into one blob. That was done by a >>>>>>> forefinger before we knew that the mercury was harmful. >>>>>> >>>>>> In grade school the desks were old enough to have both a cutout for an >>>>>> inkwell and a groove, presumably to hold a pen or pencil. The groove >>>>>> was just right to shuttle a blob of mercury back and forth. >>>>>> >>>>>> Eventually they were replaced with the chairs with the integral writing >>>>>> surface. Those suck if you're left handed. >>>>> >>>>> Or having a book and writing notes. >>>> >>>> I don't write marginalia very often but I tend to use those spiral bound >>>> notebooks upside down. >>> >>> Yes, I mean having a book and a notebook in those chairs with integral >>> writing surfaces (is there a name for those?) is horrible. >> >> If you are thinking of this type of school desk: >> >> https://external-content.duckduckgo.com/iu/?u=https%3A%2F%2Fs-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com%2Foriginals%2Fed%2F20%2Fe7%2Fed20e7ebf59e5fae2aa0fad6c37d0752.jpg&f=1&nofb=1&ipt=62e194d2b5acc416f75fe257062ab8e8463e5a9e93e4e2d12849bea928fc0ffa >> >> they were just called "school desks". That's the type of desk in the >> high schools I attended. As a left-hander, and hand-over-writing >> writer, they were awkward for me to use. > > That type of "desk" here have a much smaller table. Ours are like this: > > > >> >> Some of the grade schools had desks like this, but with a hole at the >> upper right for the inkwell. >> >> https://external-content.duckduckgo.com/iu/?u=https%3A%2F%2Fthumbs.dreamstime.com%2Fz%2Fold-student-classroom-desks-close-up-rows-antique-focus-desk-foreground-34082310.jpg&f=1&nofb=1&ipt=2e1b5c0bc76ffe02cd318f65b0ceeebfde8bb99a70e2e70878a8d3d033508ab7 > > Does that regional restrictions? My browser claims I'm blocked. -d -- And the Raiders and the Broncos have life now in the West. I thought they were both nearly dead if not quite really most sincerely dead. -- Mike Salfino, fivethirtyeight.com