sane

[Bruce MacArthur]

On Friday 14 August 2009 05:53:43 pm Steven Vollom wrote:
> On Friday 14 August 2009 06:08:50 pm Donn wrote:
> > Steven,
> >
> > > One of the reasons I started using a computer is because I am 
unable to
> > > do what you recommend.
> >
> > That's a contradiction right there -- you can't keep a notebook in 
sight
> > somewhere but you can substitute it for a complex thing like a 
computer?
> 
> It is not an explainable thing.  But if you can't believe what I say, 
I cannot 
> reply.  An this is pretty normal.  When I can't do something that is 
easy for 
> others, they won't accept it.  Who else on the list is like me?  Do 
you think 
> I wouldn't change if I could?
Steven, perhaps the key word is "discipline".  You do NOT choose any 
kind of red paint when you are painting the bulk of a sea on a sunny 
day.  You go to "the BLUE department"!  There is, in reality, NO 
difference.  We can instruct you, but you MUST "train" yourself.  Keep 
the answers handy to you until you have done so!



> >
> > If you can buy the machine, install an OS, setup the desktop then 
you are
> > certainly brainy enough to just have some discipline and make 
notes about a
> > small set of things that WE ARE FIXING FOR YOU OVER AND OVER 
AGAIN.
> > Not yelling, emphasizing.
> 
> I am just now figuring out solutions for the problem.  And they are 
not your 
> solutions, because when it comes to my problem, you haven't a 
clue.  If you 
> just believed what I say, then you could help me in a manner that 
reduces or 
> eliminated the problem in the preceding paragraph.
Sorry, Steven, but the truth is that we DO know your problem -- and 
you present yourself as not WANTING the real solution.  Computers 
ARE "systems", not isolated devices.  And each of us must approach 
"the computer" in the systematic way which is definitional to a 
"system" if we are to have our desired effects.  And YOU are NOT THE 
LEAST BIT "immune" to this very same requirement.



> 
> I just learned in an email today, that I can do the thing I need and 
what to 
> do in kmail.  I can't remember who, now, but someone told me, from 
the list, 
> that I should not do the thing I want to do, because it would affect 
the kmail 
> application.  Because of that, I have been struggling with 
suggestions like 
> yours that just don't work for me.
> 
> Do you really believe I haven't tried the notebook thing.  More than 
a hundred 
> times, I am sure.
> 
> Someone else told me that I can search within emails if I keep them 
all.  This 
> would be even better than my idea, if I can figure out how to do it.
Come ON, Steven.  Okay, PUT THIS IN THE "KMAIL" folder.  Practice it a 
thousand time, if that really IS necessary (I doubt that it is!), but 
keep it handy.

Step ZERO.  (We Linux people like zero-based numbering systems!)  
Put "the focus" on the folder within which you want to search.  DON'T 
tell me that rear-brained people can't remember that sort of thing -- 
just go to the outer-most applicable folder that has only folders (and 
NO messages!) in it.

Step ONE.  Save every E-Mail you send OR receive in any of the 
folder(s) listed in the left-hand panel of K-Mail

Step TWO.  Activate the "Edit" option on the K-Mail Menu-Bar.  You may 
single-left-click on it or you may use the keyboard "Alt+E" (do NOT use 
the quotation-marks!); there may be other ways to do the same thing. 
This will produce a drop-down list of options, some of which may not 
be available sometimes.

Step THREE. Activate the "Find In Message" option within that drop-
down list.  You can use the mouse-tool to single-left-click on the item 
or you can use the "hot-key" -- which is visually identified as "I". This 
will result in a dialogue-box.  In some versions of K-Mail, it may 
appear in the middle of the screen area used by K-Mail. In others, it 
may appear below the message-text area.

Step FOUR.  In the text-box tool which appears to the right of the word  
"Find:", enter your "search-argument" -- the text that you want to 
locate.

Step FIVE.  Consider the possible application of "Options" which 
appears either (1) to the right of or (2) below -- the "Find:" area. 
Choose what is applicable, or ignore this possibility (with the 
understanding that it may cause you to be either overwhelmed by the 
number of "hits" or to get NO "hits"!), as you will do anyway.

Step SIX.  Do I need to specifically state that you should tap the 
<Enter> (or <Return>) key?  If so, consider it to be stated.

I am not absolutely certain, but I think that this is close.  But it 
DOES require a little precision which I HOPE you can provide!


> 
> He said open kmail and type 's' and then what I want and it would 
locate what 
> I need from my email records.  That would be great if I knew where 
in the 
> kmail application I type the command in.  First I thought he meant 
to type 
> kmail in the shell then type in s and the topic, but when I typed 
kmail in the 
> CLI, it opened Kmail GUI.
> 
> When I typed in the word 's kdesudo' in the search line and pressed 
enter, 
> your email came up.  I was expecting to see an email that 
contained the word 
> kdesudo.  I know there are some in my saved emails.  That is an 
example of how 
> I would like to use the search bar.  Can it be set up to do as I 
prefer?
> >
> > For example: write down what a directory is. What a path is. What 
a file
> > is. Write down examples of each. Write down how to use cd, ls, 
cat and
> > apt-get and the other handful of commands you often use.
> > Sit down and figure out a metaphor that works for you -- so that 
you can
> > navigate a filesystem in your own way. Think of directories as 
countries,
> > or paintings, or brushes, or colours. Find a way to understand 
how to
> > travel from one to the other -- who lives where and within whom. 
Once you
> > do that you are literally 90% of the way. All the rest is pretty 
much
> > random detail that happens rarely.
> >
> > Put simply: You can either find a way to cut-down the repeat 
questions *or*
> > simply stop using computers -- they may be too much for you. I 
don't
> > believe that, but you seem to make it so.
Steven -- Pay careful attention to this.  He said, "I DON'T believe 
that, but YOU SEEM to make it so."  Are computers too much for you?  
If so, be wise and back off.  If NOT, show the evidence of it.

> 
> Answer this question please?  Using the last paragraph that I typed 
above, can 
> it be done?
> 
> It is almost humiliating that I can say something over and over and 
over to a 
> left-brain thinker and almost all simply ignore what I say and 
respond with 
> their own idea, but never do they try to help me in a way I can 
assimilate the 
> information.
Steve, the problem is NOT that "WE are ignoring YOU" -- it is that YOU 
most-certainly ARE ignoring US.  Respect us as you choose to be 
respected.

> 
> I just gave you a way to help me solve my problem.  I told you 
something you 
> were unwilling to believe, and you, like a badger, dug right back in 
and told 
> me that I could do something I cannot do.  You can't believe how 
frustrating 
> that is to me.
Do you realize how frustrating YOU often are to the list?

> 
> But if you know how to help me do what I would like to do, it will 
save me 
> hundreds of hours of preparation, because the other way to serve 
my needs is 
> to make a folder for every problem I have and have a solution for.  
That was 
> my plan before I got an email that said I could search within my 
emails.
Perhaps "it will save (you) hundreds of hours of preparation" -- but it 
costs hundred of hours of other people's time to get solutions to 
problems they do not have!

"... the other way to serve my needs is to make a folder for every 
problem I have ..."  How many times have you been begged (even 
literally!) to do precisely this?  Since it has been frequently noted 
that you have the same problem, time after time, this is the ONLY 
intelligent thing for ANYone to do.  Instead of making folders, you 
major in making excuses.  Not very good.


> 
> I was told to not do it my way and to do it another person's way, 
which 
> consisted of making a folder for each name of a person who helped 
and simply 
> transfer the emails into their named folder.  The only problem is 
that my 
> memory is then required to know which person gave me help on a 
certain 
> problem.  And when I can't remember who it was that gave me the 
advice, I have 
> to start reading emails from the first to the last just to find the one 
that 
> saves me repeating my problem.
How TERRIBLE it must be to have to actually USE the system you have 
made for yourself.  I have told you how to simplify this.  But it seems 
that you would prefer to have US read your folders for you!  "PLEASE!"

> 
> I no longer have a memory that will retain a new subject.  I have to 
> experience it over and over and over to finally make it a permanent 
memory.  
> This is an age related problem, because it did not used to be that 
way, but it 
> is something I have to live with.
Fine, Steve.  But don't make us repeat the solution every time you 
repeat the problem.  MAKE AND USE your own note-system.

> 
> To give you an idea how unfair what you are asking of me is, I have 
had many 
> people in the past who have had the ability to help me, but 
because I would 
> not do what I COULD NOT DO, they were unwilling to help me further.  
That has 
> happened repeatedly for the past 60 years.
One would imagine that you might learn something over this period of 
time -- but you are suggesting (NOT "proving") a REFUSAL to learn. 
THAT is entirely different from simply having a problem to solve.  
People who need to have their hands held by adults have no business 
deciding when to cross the street.

> The dumb old steve thing works the 
> best, but left-brained thinkers are nothing at all if not stubborn.  
And even 
> if you are unwilling to help me the way I need help, I still am 
grateful for 
> your attempts doing it your way.  Eventually I get it, your way too, 
it just 
> takes a lot longer with a lot of repetition.  In reality, if you bang 
on a 
> square peg enough times, eventually the corners will come off and 
it will fit in 
> a round hole.
Steve, I play harmonicas (roughly 50 in my box) in a style that is only 
rarely similar to the style of ANY recorded harmonicist.  I own, but 
VERY seldom play, a standard acoustic guitar. I have AND play both a 
Dobro and a Weissenborn guitar.  I have played Autoharp in the past, 
and own a mouth bow (which I can play a little) and a set of bones 
(which I cannot play).  I have had two or three people who are 
performing and recording musicians declare to me that "You ARE a 
musician."  Since music IS one of the "arts", I would imagine that I 
have a distinctly artistic side.  On the other hand, I am a logician who 
has a background as a COBOL programmer/analyst.  I have 
demonstrated the ability to work professionally BOTH at the "systems" 
(high, or "general") level AND at the low (or "code") level.  I believe 
in RELATIVE strength of one side or the other -- but NOT in the 
EXCLUSIVE capacity for one side or the other.  You are mongering 
mere label-excuses.  Please, present the appearance of growing up!

> 
> Is the search I need a boulean (sp) search.  I heard that was the 
google 
> browser search type?
Do you have ANY idea of what you are talking about here?  Or are you 
trying to pretend -- and to confuse both yourself and others?

> 
> Well as long as you don't believe me, I find myself writing books 
trying to 
> explain, what apparently is unexplainable.  I still consider you a 
great 
> friend.
> 
> Steven
> >
> > \d
> 
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Bruce   Mac Arthur
15875 Switzer
Overland Park, KS  66221
     913-897-4157
     bmacasuru at fastmail.us