Enough is enough.

When are we as smoker’s going to quit standing for being treated as lepers? I just found out that the hotel our company uses for business travelers, in Mexico, is all non-smoking. When did this travesty happen? We import their workers and we export our stupid social norms?

Last I heard, smoking was still legal. It won’t be long until we’re jailed just like potheads and cokeheads. When did the government become our parents and think it’s okay to tell us what is and isn’t good for us? I’m sick of this crap.

Please, tell me someone else is too…

You cannot delete a file or a folder on an NTFS file system volume

INTRODUCTION

This article describes why you may not be able to delete a file or a folder on a…

This article describes why you may not be able to delete a file or a folder on an NTFS file system volume and how to address the different causes to resolve this issue.

MORE INFORMATION

Note Internally, NTFS treats folders as a special type of file. Therefore, the w…

Note Internally, NTFS treats folders as a special type of file. Therefore, the word “file” in this article indicates either a file or folder.

Cause 1: The file uses an ACL

You may not be able to delete a file if the file uses an Access Control List (ACL). To resolve this issue, change the permissions on the file. You may have to take ownership of the files to be able to change the permissions.

Administrators have the implicit ability to take ownership of any file even if they have not been explicitly granted any permission to the file. File owners have the implicit ability to modify file permissions even if they are not explicitly granted any permissions to the file. Therefore, you may have to take ownership of a file, give yourself permissions to delete the file, and then delete the file.

You cannot use certain security tools to display or to modify permissions because the file has a non-canonical ACL

To work around this issue, use another tool (for example, a later build of Cacls.exe).

The Access Control Entries (ACEs) in an ACL have a certain preferred sequence depending on their type. For example, ACEs that deny access typically come before ACEs that grant access. However, nothing prevents a program from writing an ACL that has ACEs in any arbitrary sequence. In some earlier versions of Windows, issues occurred when Microsoft Windows tried to read these “non-canonical” ACLs. Sometimes, you cannot modify these ACLs correctly by using the Microsoft Windows Explorer graphical security editor. This issue has been corrected in later versions of Windows. If you are experiencing this issue, use the most recent version of Cacls.exe. Even if you cannot display or edit an ACL in place, you can write a new ACL that lets you to gain access to the file.

Cause 2: The file is being used

You may not be able to delete a file if the file is being used. To resolve this issue, determine the process that has the open handle, and then close that process.

Depending on how the file is opened (for example, it is open for exclusive access instead of shared access), you may not be able to delete a file that is in use. You can use a variety of tools to help you determine the processes that have open handles to files whenever you want. For more information about tools to help the processes that have open handles to files, click the following article numbers to view the articles in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

242131 (http://support.microsoft.com/kb/242131/ ) How to display a list of processes that have files open

172710 (http://support.microsoft.com/kb/172710/ ) How to use the OH tool on the Windows NT 4.0 Resource Kit

The symptoms of this issue may vary. You may be able to use the Delete command to delete a file, but the file is not actually deleted until the process that has the file open releases the file. Additionally, you may not be able to access the Security dialog box for a file that is pending deletion. To resolve this issue, determine the process that has the open handle, and then close that process.

Back to the top

Cause 3: File system corruption is preventing access to the file

You may not be able to delete the file if the file system is corrupted. To resolve this issue, run the Chkdsk utility on the disk volume to correct any errors.

Bad sectors on the disk, other faulty hardware, or software bugs can corrupt the file system and put files in a problematic state. Typical operations may fail in a variety of ways. When the file system detects corruption, it logs an event to the event log and you typically receive a message that prompts you to run Chkdsk. Depending on the nature of the corruption, Chkdsk may or may not be able to recover file data; however, Chkdsk returns the file system to an internally consistent state. For additional information about using the Chkdsk utility, click the following article numbers to view the articles in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

176646 (http://support.microsoft.com/kb/176646/ ) Error message: The file or directory is corrupt…

187941 (http://support.microsoft.com/kb/187941/ ) An explanation of CHKDSK and the New /C and /I switches

Cause 4: Files exist in paths that are deeper than MAX_PATH characters

You may not be able to open, edit, or delete a file if there are issues with the file path.

Resolution 1: Use an auto-generated 8.3 name to access the file

To resolve this issue, you may want to use the auto-generated 8.3 name to access the file. This resolution may be the easiest resolution if the path is deep because the folder names are too long. If the 8.3 path is also too long or if 8.3 names have been disabled on the volume, go to Resolution 2. For additional information about disabling 8.3 file names on NTFS volumes, click the following article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

121007 (http://support.microsoft.com/kb/121007/ ) How to disable the 8.3 name creation on NTFS partitions

Resolution 2: Rename or move a deep folder

Rename the folder so that the target files that are deeper than the MAX_PATH no longer exist. If you do this, start at the root folder (or any other convenient place), and then rename folders so that they have shorter names. If this step does not resolve this issue (for example, if a file is more than 128 folders deep), go to Resolution 4.

Resolution 3: Map a drive to a folder in the structure of the path

Map a drive to a folder inside the structure of the path of the target file or folder. This method shortens the virtual path.

For example, suppose you have a path that is structured as follows:

\\ServerName\SubfolderName1\SubfolderName2\SubfolderName3\SubfolderName4\…

In this path, the total character count is over 255 characters. To short the length of this path, to 73 characters, map a drive to SubfolderName4.

Resolution 4: Use a network share that is as deep as the folder

If Resolution 1, 2, and 3 are not convenient or do not resolve the issue, create a network share that is as deep in the folder tree as you can, and then rename the folders by accessing the share.

Resolution 5: Use a tool that can traverse deep paths

Many Windows programs expect the maximum path length to be shorter than 255 characters. Therefore, these programs only allocate enough internal storage to handle these typical paths. NTFS does not have this limit and it can hold much longer paths.

You may experience this issue if you create a share at some point in your folder structure that is already fairly deep, and then create a deep structure below that points by using the share. Some tools that operate locally on the folder tree may not be able to traverse the whole tree starting from the root. You may have to use these tools in a special way so that they can traverse the share. (The CreateFile API documentation describes a method to traverse the whole tree in this situation.)

Typically, you can manage files by using the software that creates them. If you have a program that can create files that are deeper than MAX_PATH, you can typically use that same program to delete or manage the files. You can typically delete files that are created on a share by using the same share.

Cause 5: The file name includes a reserved name in the Win32 name space

If the file name includes a reserved name (for example, “lpt1″) in the Win32 name space, you may not be able to delete the file. To resolve this issue, use a non-Win32 program to rename the file. You can use a POSIX tool or any other tool that uses the appropriate internal syntax to use the file.

Additionally, you may be able to use some built-in commands to bypass the typical Win32 reserved name checks if you use a particular syntax to specify the path of the file. For example, if you use the Del command in Windows XP, you can delete a file named “lpt1″ if you specify the full path of the file by using the following special syntax:

del \\?\c:\path_to_file\lpt1

For more information about deleting files with reserved names under Windows NT and Windows 2000, click the following article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

120716 (http://support.microsoft.com/kb/120716/ ) How to remove files with reserved names in Windows

For more information about deleting files with reserved names under Windows XP, click the following article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

315226 (http://support.microsoft.com/kb/315226/ ) How to remove files with reserved names in Windows XP

If you open a handle to a file by using the typical Win32 CreateFile mechanism, certain file names are reserved for old-style DOS devices. For backward compatibility, these file names are not permitted and they cannot be created by using typical Win32 file calls. However, this issue is not a limitation of NTFS.

You may be able to use a Win32 program to bypass the typical name checks that are performed when a file is created (or deleted) by using the same technique that you use to traverse folders that are deeper than MAX_PATH. Additionally, some POSIX tools are not subject to these name checks.

Cause 6: The file name includes an invalid name in the Win32 name space

You may not be able to delete a file if the file name includes an invalid name (for example, the file name has a trailing space or a trailing period or the file name is made up of a space only). To resolve this issue, use a tool that uses the appropriate internal syntax to delete the file. You can use the “\\?\” syntax with some tools to operate on these files, for example:

del “\\?\c:\path_to_file_that contains a trailing space.txt “

The cause of this issue is similar to Cause 4. However, if you use typical Win32 syntax to open a file that has trailing spaces or trailing periods in its name, the trailing spaces or periods are stripped before the actual file is opened. Therefore, if you have two files in the same folder named “AFile.txt” and “AFile.txt ” (note the space after the file name), if you try to open the second file by using standard Win32 calls, you open the first file instead. Similarly, if you have a file whose name is just ” ” (a space character) and you try to open it by using standard Win32 calls, you open the file’s parent folder instead. In this situation, if you try to change security settings on these files, you either may not be able to do this or you may unexpectedly change the settings on different files. If this behavior occurs, you may think that you have permission to a file that actually has a restrictive ACL.

Combinations of causes

Sometimes, you may experience combinations of these causes, which can make the procedure to delete a file more complex. For example, if you log on as the computer’s administrator, you may experience a combination of Cause 1 (you do not have permissions to delete a file) and Cause 5 (the file name contains a trailing character that causes file access to be redirected to a different or nonexistent file) and you may not be able to delete the file. If you try to resolve Cause 1 by taking ownership of the file and adding permissions, you still may not be able to delete the file because the ACL editor in the user interface cannot access the appropriate file because of Cause 6.

In this situation, you can use the Subinacl utility with the /onlyfile switch (this utility is included in the Resource Kit) to change ownership and permissions on a file that is otherwise inaccessible, for example:

subinacl /onlyfile “\\?\c:\path_to_problem_file” /setowner=domain\administrator /grant=domain\administrator=F

Note This command is a single command line it has been wrapped for readability.

This sample command line modifies the C:\path_to_problem_file file that contains a trailing space so that the domain\administrator account is the owner of the file and this account has full control over the file. You can now delete this file by using the Del command with the same “\\?\” syntax.

RPGLE and single case.

One of the things I’ve noticed since IBM introduced ILE RPG for the iSeries (Systemi or whatever it’s called now), is that of all of the examples either being all in upper case or all in lower case. What is going on? ILE RPG is NOT case sensitive and mixed case is always much easier to read.

For example, instead of using eval, why not Eval. Isn’t that easier to read?

Here’s how I use casing. All external references, (i.e. field names, record formats, file name, etc.) are in all upper case. All internal fields are in camel case. All operation codes, bifs, and keywords are in camel case. All single letter parts of the specification are in upper case. Specification types are in upper case.

This way, it’s easier to read all the way around and you know by the casing whether it’s from a file or specified internally.

C *INOF IFEQ '1'
C EXCEPT HEADER
C ENDIF

C *INOF Ifeq '1'
C Except Header
C Endif

Which is easier to read? I don’t know if it’s just laziness, or people are just resisting change, but all lower case isn’t any better.

c if $error > ' '
c iter
c endif

C If $Error > ' '
C Iter
C Endif

Again, which is easier to read?

C’mon guys, especially you people writing example for books and documentation, please encourage readable code.

For my sake, please.

Change your VMware Host’s name and SSL Certificate

Changing your host’s network name and SSL certificate

When you first install ESXi your host will be given a hostname of “localhost” and domain of “localdomain”. You can change this at the console or with the VI client.

Using the Console
1) Press <F2> (Customize System)
2) Select Configure Management Network
3) Select DNS Configuration
4) Select the option “Use the following DNS server addresse and hostname”
5) In the hostname enter the hostname and domain for your host. Then press Enter.
6) Select Y (Yes) when prompted to save changes and restart the management network. The change will take place immediately.

Using the VI client
1) Go to Configuration tab and select DNS and Routing
2) Click on Properties to open the DNS and Routing Configuration screen
3) Enter the name and domain for your host and click OK.
4) Right click on the host and select Reboot.

Note: both these methods will update /etc/hosts on the ESXi host. Should you manually edit this file, it is important that you do not modify the line that consists of 127.0.0.1 localhost.localdomain loclahost.

Updating the SSL Certificate for your host

Should you change your host’s hostname or domain after an install, the SSL certificate for the host will still be issued to localhost.localdomain. You can either regenerate a self-signed certificate for your ESXi host or replace the certificate from one generated by a certificate authority.

Regenerate your host’s self-signed certificate
1) Access the console of ESXi. If you have not done that before, follow the first three steps on this page.
2) Run the command /sbin/create_certificates as shown in the image below. This will replace both the private key and SSL certificate for the host. These files are located in /etc/vmware/ssl/
3) Enter the command reboot to restart the host. The certificate for the host will now reflect the hostname and domain changes that you have made.

Replace the host’s certificate with one generated by a certificate authority

The below steps used OpenSSL which can be downloaded from here and a Microsoft Windows 2003 Server Certificate Authority.

1) Download and install OpenSSL from the link provided. If you’ve using Linux, your host may already have the OpenSSL package. If you are using Windows, you may also need to download the Microsoft Visual C++ 2008 Redistributable Package.
2) Generate a new private key with the command openssl genrsa 1024 > rui.key.
3) Create a new certificate request by running the command openssl req -new -key rui.key > rui.csr. A wizard will run and prompt you for information for the certificate request.

4) Open the rui.csr file with a text editor and copy the contents. If using Windows, avoid using Notepad as it may insert extra characters into the copied text.
5) Open the certificate request page for your Windows 2003 CA server. This is typically http://<hostname>/certsrv.
6) Click on the “Request a Certificate” link followed by the “advanced certificated request” link on the Request a Certificate page.
7) Select the link “Submit a certificate request by using a base-64-encoded CMC or PKCS #10 file, or submit a renewal request by using a base-64-encoded PKCS #7 file.”
On the certificate request page enter the text from the rui.csr file and change the Certificate Template to Web Server. Then click Submit.

9) On the certificate issued page, select the “Based 64 encoded” option and then download the certificate to your PC
10) Run the command on the certificate that you downloaded: openssl x509 -in certnew.cer -out esx.cer.
11) Copy the private key and certificate to your ESXi host with the following RCLI commands
vifs.pl –server esx05.mishchenko.net –put rui.key /host/ssl_key
vifs.pl –server esx05.mishchenko.net –put esx.cer /host/ssl_cert
12) Restart the ESXi and verify that the certificate has been installed correctly. If there is a problem with the certificate, you may not be able to login to the host with the VI client. If that’s the case, then run /sbin/create_certificates at the console and reboot the host.

Note: if you try to join your ESXi host to a vCenter server and get the error: “The SSL Certificate of the remote host could not be validated” you’ll want to ensure that the root CA that issued the certificate is trusted by the vCenter host at the “Computer account” level and not just for “My user account”.

How to switch between 32bit and 64 bit mode in x64 Windows.

How to switch between the 32-bit versions of ASP.NET 1.1 and the 64-bit version of ASP.NET 2.0 on a 64-bit version of Windows

INTRODUCTION

This article discusses how to switch between the 32-bit version of Microsoft ASP…

This article discusses how to switch between the 32-bit version of Microsoft ASP.NET 1.1 and both the 32-bit version and the 64-bit version of ASP.NET 2.0 on a 64-bit version of Microsoft Windows.

When you install both versions of ASP.NET, you may receive error messages if you do not perform steps to enable each ASP.NET environment to run in Microsoft Internet Information Services (IIS) 6.0. For example, when ASP.NET is not set up correctly, you may receive the following error message from a Web page:

Service Unavailable

Error messages that are similar to the following may be logged in the Application log.

Event ID: 2268
Raw Event ID : 2268
Record Nr. : 3746
Source: W3SVC-WP
Category: None
Type : Error
Machine : servername
Description:
Could not load all ISAPI filters for site/service. Therefore startup aborted.

Event ID: 2274
Raw Event ID : 2274
Record Nr. : 3745
Source: W3SVC-WP
Category: None
Type : Error
Machine : servername
Description:
ISAPI Filter ‘C:WINDOWSMicrosoft.NETFrameworkv2.0.50727aspnet_filter.dll’ could not be loaded due to a configuration problem. The current configuration only supports loading images built for a AMD64 processor architecture. The data field contains the error number. To learn more about this issue, including how to troubleshooting this kind of processor architecture mismatch error, see http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=29349.

MORE INFORMATION

IIS 6.0 supports both the 32-bit mode and the 64-bit mode. However IIS 6.0 does…

IIS 6.0 supports both the 32-bit mode and the 64-bit mode. However IIS 6.0 does not support running both modes at the same time on a 64-bit version of Windows. ASP.NET 1.1 runs only in 32-bit mode. ASP.NET 2.0 runs in 32-bit mode or in 64-bit mode. Therefore, if you want to run ASP.NET 1.1 and ASP.NET 2.0 at the same time, you must run IIS in 32-bit mode.

Note If you have Microsoft Exchange Server 2007 installed on the computer, use the instructions for ASP.NET 2.0, 64-bit version.

Before you can switch between the different versions of ASP.NET, visit the following Microsoft Developer Network (MSDN) Web site to download and install both the .NET Framework 1.1 and the .NET Framework 2.0:

http://msdn2.microsoft.com/en-us/netframework/aa731542.aspx (http://msdn2.microsoft.com/en-us/netframework/aa731542.aspx)

For example, if you are running Microsoft Windows x64 Edition, download the following two redistributable packages:

The .NET Framework Version 2.0 Redistributable Package x64 (64 Bit)
The .NET Framework Version 1.1 Redistributable

After you install the redistributable packages, you can switch between the different versions of ASP.NET. To do this, follow these steps for each ASP.NET version:

ASP.NET 1.1, 32-bit version

To run the 32-bit version of ASP.NET 1.1, follow these steps:

1. Click Start, click Run, type cmd, and then click OK.

2. Type the following command to enable the 32-bit mode:

cscript %SYSTEMDRIVE%inetpubadminscriptsadsutil.vbs SET W3SVC/AppPools/Enable32bitAppOnWin64 1

3. Type the following command to install the version of ASP.NET 1.1 and to install the script maps at the IIS root and under:

%SYSTEMROOT%Microsoft.NETFrameworkv1.1.4322aspnet_regiis.exe -i

4. Make sure that the status of ASP.NET version 1.1.4322 is set to Allowed in the Web service extension list in Internet Information Services Manager.

ASP.NET 2.0, 32-bit version

To run the 32-bit version of ASP.NET 2.0, follow these steps:

1. Click Start, click Run, type cmd, and then click OK.

2. Type the following command to enable the 32-bit mode:

cscript %SYSTEMDRIVE%inetpubadminscriptsadsutil.vbs SET W3SVC/AppPools/Enable32bitAppOnWin64 1

3. Type the following command to install the version of ASP.NET 2.0 (32-bit) and to install the script maps at the IIS root and under:

%SYSTEMROOT%Microsoft.NETFrameworkv2.0.50727aspnet_regiis.exe -i

4. Make sure that the status of ASP.NET version 2.0.50727 (32-bit) is set to Allowed in the Web service extension list in Internet Information Services Manager.

ASP.NET 2.0, 64-bit version

To run the 64-bit version of ASP.NET 2.0, follow these steps:

1. Click Start, click Run, type cmd, and then click OK.

2. Type the following command to disable the 32-bit mode:

cscript %SYSTEMDRIVE%inetpubadminscriptsadsutil.vbs SET W3SVC/AppPools/Enable32bitAppOnWin64 0

3. Type the following command to install the version of ASP.NET 2.0 and to install the script maps at the IIS root and under:

%SYSTEMROOT%Microsoft.NETFramework64v2.0.50727aspnet_regiis.exe -i

4. Make sure that the status of ASP.NET version 2.0.50727 is set to Allowed in the Web service extension list in Internet Information Services Manager.

Note The build version of ASP.NET 2.0 may differ depending on what the currently released build version is. These steps are for build version 2.0.50727.

Technical support for x64-based versions of Microsoft Windows

If your hardware came with a Microsoft Windows x64 edition already installed, your hardware manufacturer provides technical support and assistance for the Windows x64 edition. In this case, your hardware manufacturer provides support because a Windows x64 edition was included with your hardware. Your hardware manufacturer might have customized the Windows x64 edition installation by using unique components. Unique components might include specific device drivers or might include optional settings to maximize the performance of the hardware. Microsoft will provide reasonable-effort assistance if you need technical help with a Windows x64 edition. However, you might have to contact your manufacturer directly. Your manufacturer is best qualified to support the software that your manufacturer installed on the hardware. If you purchased a Windows x64 edition such as a Microsoft Windows Server 2003 x64 edition separately, contact Microsoft for technical support.

For product information about Microsoft Windows XP Professional x64 Edition, visit the following Microsoft Web site:

http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/64bit/default.mspx (http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/64bit/default.mspx)

For product information about x64-based versions of Microsoft Windows Server 2003, visit the following Microsoft Web site:

http://www.microsoft.com/windowsserver2003/64bit/x64/editions.mspx (http://www.microsoft.com/windowsserver2003/64bit/x64/editions.mspx)

Windows 7 RC and Samba

Re: [Samba] Windows 7 RC

Volker Lendecke
Wed, 06 May 2009 07:25:24 -0700

On Wed, May 06, 2009 at 02:44:34PM +0200, Vladimir Psenicka wrote:
> Is there any option to join Windows 7 RC to domain? Message from windows
> is : The specified domain either does not exist or could not be contacted.
>
> Samba is 3.0.28a.

That won't work. Your only chance is Samba 3.3.4 with

        HKLMSystemCCSServicesLanmanWorkstationParameters
            DWORD  DomainCompatibilityMode = 1
            DWORD  DNSNameResolutionRequired = 0

        HKLMSystemCCSServicesNetlogonParameters
            DWORD  RequireSignOnSeal = 0
            DWORD  RequireStrongKey = 0

Haven't tested that yet, but you should get some steps
further.

Volker

A Brief History of SMSQ/E

A BRIEF HISTORY of SMSQ/E

Le Grand Pressigny, FRANCE – Tony Tebby

“Incompatibilities & Improvements, Bugs & Features”

“Was It All a Terrible Mistake?” I knew right from the start I should not do it, but so many people were asking for SMS to come out from under its covers that, in early 1992, I outlined a strategy (with Miracle Systems and Jochen Men) to make a “QL compatible” version of SMS available.

The outline was quite simple. A QDOS compatible SMS kernel existed (and had been in regular use since 1990). A complete set of SuperBASIC procedures and functions existed. A complete set of (extended QL style) device drivers for the Atari ST series existed as well as “portable” disk, serial and parallel port drives for other hardware. There was an environment which supported QLiberator compiled programs. All that was required was the core of a SuperBASIC interpreter.

Following the success of the Gold Card, Miracle Systems were looking for a legitimate operating system for their (as yet undefined) forthcoming computer and Jochen Men needed an operating system to legitimise the QL emulator for the Atari ST series. It was clear that it would be best to provide a version for the Gold Card as well but as Miracle Systems did not want to get involved in selling software, the Gold Card question was left.

I embarked on trying to find out what Sinclair’s SuperBASIC interpreter did. It was not difficult defining what it should do, but Jan Jones had built it on the principles of a GIGO (garbage in, garbage out) machine. With limited ROM space, there was no room for real error checking so Jan just tried to make sure that whatever rubbish SuperBASIC was asked to deal with, it carried on and did something. The “something” was not always obvious.

While WE (QJUMP, those wonderful people at QVIEW, Jochem Merz, Albin Hessler etc.) would never deliberately exploit “holes” in SuperBASIC, the same was not necessarily true of other software suppliers or contributors to PD libraries. In addition, even WE had been known to fall through a hole by accident.

Compatibility, therefore, meant not only reproducing SuperBASIC as it was intended, but reproducing as many oddities as would be necessary to execute most QL software. The two “compilers” for SuperBASIC programs provided a starting point. The aim was to provide a BASIC interpreter which would provide:

1. better compatibility with SuperBASIC than either compiler, 2. execution at least half the speed of QLiberator, 3. an environment supporting both QLiberator and Turbo compiled programs.

Clearly, as some software for the QL will not even work on all QDOS ROMs, total compatibility with a particular QDOS ROM can only be provided by copying that ROM code. Even slight re-ordering of the QDOS ROM routines (as in the Thor XVI) can cause considerable incompatibility. At this stage, there was no intention of providing improvements. The “Minerva Experience” had shown the extent to which the slightest improvements could give rise to extensive incompatibilities. So much for intentions!

The Birth of the QXL

“They should not have done it either!” In principle, the implementation of SMSQ on a 680×0 processor embedded in a PC should have been fairly straightforward. The Gold Card used the IBM PC disk controller, the IDE hard disk interface is not very different from the Hardcard used in the Miracle QL Hard disk and the serial and parallel ports on the PC are much the same as the serial and parallel ports that you find anywhere except on the QL.

If the QXL had been designed as a card which plugged into a standard AT motherboard (no processor or memory) and provided with drivers to drive a standard keyboard interface, a standard multi IO / floppy / IDE card and a standard Super VGA card, it would have been simple.

To have done this, however, Miracle would have had to have supplied the PC hardware (at a cost of about half the QXL card for a single floppy / 110 Megabyte HD configuration this would have seemed, to me, the obvious way to do it).

However, it would have meant that the machine would not have been usable as a PC (sigh of relief) and would have ruled out the use of portables and notebooks. In addition, second hand PCs were widely available either free or for less than $30.

As one of the most likely reasons for a second hand PC being available at a very low price was that the hardware was not quite a perfect clone, then there was no possibility of having a version of SMSQ which would access the IO devices directly. Also, if the QXL were to be put into a real “working” PC, it would not only have to co-exist with its host but would have to work through whatever low level software (Stacker, Doublespace, Hypercache, Smartdrive etc.) was used to improve the IO performance of the PC.

As a result, any direct access from the QXL to the PC was ruled out and the QXL was to be hosted by a DOS program. A logical decision, maybe, but, from the point of view of the operating system software, it was a disaster.

Where is the problem? The PC comes complete with device drivers for all of its peripherals all that needs to be done is to pass data from the QXL to the PC device drivers (using BIOS calls) and vice versa.

There are three problems with this.

1. The design of the PC BIOS does not take account of the requirements of multitasking (it is, for example, impossible to write something to disk while you are waiting for input from a serial port).

2. While the accuracy of the reference manuals about the QDOS operating system entry points left a lot to be desired, the (in)accuracy of “reference” manuals for the PC gives a whole new meaning to the word reference.

3. All the reference manuals (so far examined) for the PC were written in the days of the PC and PC/XT. The PC BIOS also dates from this period. The BIOS has been considerably, and incoherently, changed while the manuals have been superficially updated to take account of AT keyboards, hard disk drives larger than 10 MByte and 3.5″ and HD floppy disks.

Take, for example, formatting a floppy disk on the PC. On QDOS, it is a single operating system call. On the PC, however, part Of the format operation is performed by the application. The format routine for the Gold Card floppy disk driver took a couple of hours to write. As the PC BIOS does most of the work for you, it should be easy to write a format routine on the PC.

There are a variety of DOS and BIOS calls to help you do this: setting the device parameters, formatting and verifying tracks etc. I have three reference manuals which give example format programs.

I look at the first one, and think “this is very strange”. There seems to be no way in which you specify the density and there seem to be no checks for whether the tracks have been correctly formatted: it appears to be automatic. So I try it. Fine, it makes all the right noises and tells me that my DD disk has 1440 sectors. I try an HD disk. Fine, it makes all the right noises but tells me that my HD disk has only 1440 sectors. It try without a disk at all. Wonderful, it formats much more quickly and tells me that I have 1440 sectors! – AU FREE!

I try the second program: this one checks the error return from the “Format track and verify” call: it even allows me to specify the density. I try it with a DD disk. Fine! it tells me that there are 1440 sectors. I try it with an HD disk. Fine! it tells me that there are 2880 sectors. I try it without a disk: the format fails, excellent! I try it with a bad DD disk telling that it is HD. Fine! it tells me that it has 2880 sectors. Suspicious, I try to copy some files to it using DOS. DOS refuses to recognise it. I try the other two disks: neither is readable. Over to QDOS to look at the disks: there are no sectors 1, 2 or 3 on any of the tracks I look at. This would explain why the first program did not bother to check the error return from “Format track and verify”: it does not verify!

On to the third program. This is similar to the other two, but uses the old “INT 13h” BIOS calls rather than the more powerful “DOS function 44h” calls (wonderful this DOS terminology). This requires the use of a separate “verify sectors” call. The verify sectors call seems to work: this routine gets an error on every track: it is right, after formatting, none of the tracks are readable on any type of disk.

So, I try it myself. After a lot of experimenting with the BIOS calls described in the various manuals, I am able to write either DD or HD tracks and verify them. The only problem is that I write too many sectors to a track: the last sectors overwrite the first sectors on the track. After a week of work, I can select the density and I can nearly format a track.

Thinks! Microsoft can do it, I should be able to as well. Now we start to see the problem: the DV3 floppy disk format routine is less than 512 bytes. Microsoft’s FORMAT program is greater than 32 kbytes, almost the size of QDOS, all its device drivers, SuperBASIC and all its procedures and functions. No wonder all the manuals are wrong. It would take about 200 pages just to list the MSDOS FORMAT program, without trying to explain how it works!

Disassembling all of this program could take months. I decide to trace the two paths of interest: 720k and 1440k formats. It turns out that what you need to do is to poke special values into various undocumented locations in low memory. I note all the locations to be poked and set up a format routine. Within this routine I poke all the required locations, format the disk and restore all the locations to their previous values.

Success, I can now format DD and HD floppy disks. The only problem is that, despite my care in restoring all the poked locations, after a format the PC refuses to recognise any disk change until you hit the reset button. Two weeks have passed and I still do not really know how to format a disk using MSDOS.

Do I spend another 2 weeks finding out how to restore the BIOS after a format operation? Even if I succeed in making it work on my PC, will it work on any other PC? How can anyone succeed in selling an operating system where it takes two weeks to write a routine using the operating system calls when it would only take two hours to write the same routine accessing the hardware directly?

Now we find the real cost of the QXL in development. Even though the IO performance of the QXL is well below the levels that it would be reasonable to expect, the implementation of the QXL device drivers has cost between 10 and 20 times the cost of equivalent drivers for other 680×0 platforms. As a result, all the time that had been set aside for the development of the SBASIC interpreter has been swallowed up. For the first purchasers of the QXL, things looked grim: poor IO performance, no SBASIC interpreter. Not a very promising debut for SMSQ.

“You Take the High Road and I’11 Take the Low Road” The QXL hardware strategy was not the only problem to be faced. Miracle Systems, for reasons which should be obvious, wanted the QXL to seem as much like the Trump Card and Gold Card as possible, while Jochen Merz wanted an operating system which was not just developed along the same line as the Atari QDOS extended device drivers but one which went much further.

One man’s improvement is another man’s incompatibility. Now we have the problem of developing (and maintaining) two different variations of SMS: SMSQ, the basic QL-like version and SMSQ/E, the extended version which is likely to diverge evermore and more from SMSQ. Jochen Merz, therefore, decided to supply SMSQ/E for the QXL as well as the Atari and Gold Cards. Easy for him to decide: it was me that had to do the work!)

More problems. It seems that computer users are not very sensitive about how much they have to pay for their operating system. They are, however, very sensitive about how much other users pay! Gold Card and Atari users do not complain about having to pay for SMSQ/E (we told then it would be necessary back in 1990), but they do object that QXL users get a “free” version of SMSQ with their QXL. QXL users do not seem to mind being asked to pay extra for SMSQ/E (at the moment the differences are fairly small so it is not usually worth “upgrading”) but they do object that Gold Card and Atari users are not being asked to pay more.

Even worse, there are some QXL users who seem to think that they are being provided with a specially naff version of SMSQ to oblige them to cough up a few extra pennies for an upgrade!

Then to cap it all, Miracle Systems produce a Super Gold Card which looks like a Gold Card, but turns out to be rather different. We now have implementations of SMSQ on three distinct hardware families, seven different hardware variants, four different display types, with four different 68000 series processors, in three (and sometimes more) languages. So far, there are more possible combinations than there are users.

To avoid the necessity of producing a different version of SMSQ/E for each user, SMSQ now uses a module structure which has been borrowed from the Stella (Stella????) operating system. This allows operating system modules to be selected (or ignored) as the system is booted. In principle, a single version of SMSQ could be delivered which would autoselect the right modules for any hardware combination. In practice, each hardware family (Gold Card, QXL and Atari ST/TT) requires its own special loader, so that it is not worth incorporating all the modules in each version.

Just as the number of users starts to take off, so does the number of variations. Jochen Merz ships a copy of SMSQ/E to a Gold Card user: the next day there is a message “SMSQ/E does not work with the XXX keyboard”. Not surprising, the XXX keyboard uses a patched version of the JS ROM. The cure? Another keyboard driver module for the Gold and Super Gold Cards and another language module (the keyboard tables). The net result is one new user and four new variations. Counting variations is soon going to be like counting marbles in a cookie jar.

“‘Till Death us do Part” In the days of easy divorce for reasons of mutual incompatibility, it is surprising to find so many QL users wedded firmly to the old software packages of the “use it at your own peril” style. Then I started the evaluation of SBASIC, Miracle Systems sent me a bundle of diskettes (about 10 Mbytes worth) of the type of software that they thought might provide a test for the compatibility of SBASIC.

I started looking at these disks on the Atari ST with JS and the E level drivers. After resetting the Atari ST for the tenth time without having found any software which even started to work, I gave up and tried using a Gold Card.

After a day or so, I found two programs that could be executed, played with and removed without crashing the system. All the rest either crashed right at the start, could not be made to do anything sensible, or could only be removed by resetting (I began to understand why some users have been asking for a quick reset). I have been told that a lot more of the software would have worked if I had set the memory size to 128 kbytes, but if you are going to reset you machine to 128 kbytes use one program and then reset again, there is no point at all in using SMSQ: you might as well stick with QDOS on your old faithful QL. Seriously, does anyone use this type of software anymore?

The first compatibility tests were very encouraging: all the programs which crashed on a JS QL crashed with SMSQ. It seemed that we had obtained better than 95% compatibility. Moreover, one of the two programs that worked on the QL worked with SMSQ: the figure was up to 98% compatibility.

“New Lamps for Old” One of the best ways of checking the originality of software is to investigate the bugs. If two items of software perform the same functions correctly, one could be a copy of the other, or they could both be written to the same specification. If, however, two items of software exhibit the same bugs, it can be assumed that one is copied from the other.

There are very few “first level” bugs (bugs which prevent the system functioning correctly under “normal” conditions) in QDOS. Because of the GIGO policy and the desire to limit error checking to a minimum to maintain efficiency, there are a much larger number of “second level” bugs (where the system misbehaves when passed incorrect parameters or data structures) and even more “holes” (where calling a system function with deliberately incorrect parameters has a reproducible if bizarre effect).

During testing of SMSQ and SBASIC, a large number of second level bugs were uncovered in the JS ROMs. Many of these showed up also in Minerva, none in SMSQ or SBASIC. From time to time, users have uncovered a number of second level bugs in SMSQ and SBASIC. All of these were entirely new and have no connection with old QL ROM bugs: SMSQ and SBASIC are entirely original!

Streamlining code has the effect of removing, altering or introducing holes. It is not surprising, therefore, to find that many of the holes that are exploited by some common software, have either disappeared or been altered in Minerva (giving rise to complaints of compatibility problems).

One such case is the xx.xxxxx SuperBASIC vector which is the same in all QL ROMs. This vector is intended to be used with data structures set up by the SuperBASIC interpreter. This has three defined paths controlled by the value of one byte (0, 2 or 3). Someone discovered that it could be made to produce a bizarre effect if the passed a value of 1 in the control byte. The resulting code fragment (which takes longer than using a legitimate call) has been incorporated into a utility, which has found its way into a large number of programs for the QL. The streamlined Minerva code no longer had this hole so a large amount of software stopped working on Minerva. The Wizard did not manage to find the real villain in the code, but succeeded in restoring “compatibility” by setting a register to a value which it would not normally have with SuperBASIC. This, in turn, altered another hole and introduced different compatibility problems.

In SBASIC, however, the hole never existed. Once the villain code had been identified (a week’s work) it was, therefore, a simple matter of detecting the villain case and emulating the hole directly. It was a waste of time and effort, and it slows down SBASIC, but that’s what it’s about, isn’t it?

The boundary between a bug and a hole is a very fine one and if some software relies on a bug in the QL ROM do I need to reproduce this bug? Unfortunately, the answer is sometimes GRRRRRR YES.

Twice recently, I have received reports of “bugs” that have appeared in the string handling in recent versions. These “bugs” have been introduced into SBASIC to improve compatibility with SuperBASIC (there are still three “bugs” in SuperBASIC string handling which are not emulated in SBASIC). Neither of these users was aware of that the bugs existed in SuperBASIC: SBASIC is now being used where SuperBASIC never went before.

“Whose Fault is it Anyway?” One rather tetchy letter complained that SBASIC was very fragile by comparison with SuperBASIC: using a well-known piece of commercial software: “SBASIC crashed”. This was misdirecting the blame. As the software was invoked correctly by SBASIC and as it never returned to SBASIC, SBASIC could hardly be to blame.

This well-known SuperBASIC extension started off by trying to identify a fragment of the QL ROM, and, when it could not find any QL ROM code (there is none in SMSQ), it jumped to a completely arbitrary location. BANG. The cure: I re-wrote the extension and incorporated it (with improvements) in SBASIC.

In fact, SBASIC is more robust in this respect than SuperBASIC: error trapping is much more thorough (and forceful). If it had happened in a daughter SBASIC: it could simply have been removed with no harmful side effects. (Perhaps I should implement a keyboard “restart” for Job O.)

Another difference between QDOS and SMSQ which might give the impression that SBASIC is more fragile than SuperBASIC is the default error handling: QDOS carries on but SMSQ stops to allow a debugger to be started. If the job is already being monitored by a debugger, there is no difference. In the normal state, however, allowing a job which has produced illegal instruction or address errors to continue could easily result in widespread damage to the system data structures, possibly resulting in the loss of part or all the data on a hard disk. SMSQ is, therefore, much safer, even if jobs appear to stop more often.

Many programs compiled with the current version of Turbo are wonderful examples of this. At the start of these programs we find some code which sets a location in memory to O. Several times later on, the value in this location is moved to register A2 and then there is the instruction to move the contents of address O (A2) to 04, D2 is compared against the new value in D4 and then there is a conditional branch.

MOVE.W (A2),D4

……. …….

SUB.W D2,D4

BLT.S ……

On the QL the MOVE sets D4 to 3 so the operation of the code is dependent on whether D2 is greater or less than 3.

On Atari STs modified for the old QL emulator, the MOVE sets D4 to 24,622. The behaviour of this Turbo code will, therefore, be significantly different on these STs as the operation now depends on whether D2 is greater or less than 24,622.

On unmodified STs with a patched version of the JS ROMs, the MOVE will cause a “bus error” which QDOS ignores and so execution will continue without changing the value in 04. 02 is, therefore, compared against an unknown value: this will give yet different, and rather unpredictable, behaviour of Turbo programs.

On unmodified STs with SMSQ, the MOVE is trapped and these Turbo programs just stop. It is possible to set a special “Turbo mode” (PROT_MEM O) which emulates the QL ROM access by setting 04 to 3 and continuing. The behaviour of Turbo programs on these STs is, therefore, the same as on a QL: SMSQ is more compatible with the QL than QDOS!

“I See no Ships” While SMSQ with SBASIC marks a great improvement in performance and capability over the old QDOS ROMs, this has not been achieved without creating a few problems. The original SMSQ and SBASIC had very few intrinsic bugs, but many incompatibilities. Unfortunately, it is one of the facts of life of computing that making any changes to a existing software borders on vandalism. The neat structure of the original conception begins to crumble and soon each little “fix” risks introducing a host of new problems. Fixing each one of these introduces more. It is a tribute to Jan Jones original SuperBASIC conception that during the early days of “active development” when new features were being added every day, the ratio of changes to bugs introduced was better than 10:1.

SBASIC is a much more complex piece of software which has the disadvantage of being required to emulate all the quirks of someone’s first attempt at writing a BASIC interpreter. It, therefore, starts off being not very neat and it is prone to degenerate more quickly. SBASIC’s ratio of changes to bugs introduced is closer to 5:1 – small enough to be convergent, but too large for comfort.

Fortunately, the bugs introduced from version 2.11 (experimental SBASIC) through version 2.25 (the first “release” version) to version 2.42 (current at time of writing) have usually been smaller than the ones they replaced.

Although some compatibility problems with some hardware variations remain to be resolved and there are one or two program which still refuse to function with SMSQ, the original aims for compatibility and performance have been well exceeded and SMSQ is now establishing itself as a living replacement for QDOS.

So, is SMSQ/E at last stable? The answer must be no. As more and more people start using SMSQ/E there are more and more requests for improvements (i.e. decreasing compatibility). SMSQ/E has now passed the point of no return: there are more requests for improved capability than for improved compatibility. The current versions of SMSQ/E are at least as reliable as any QL ROM version and are getting as close to 100% compatibility as is possible while providing better performance and more facilities.

SMSQ/E is a commercial product and as such needs to meet users demands. If users require changes, and it is commercially feasible to provide them, they will get them. SMSQ/E cannot, however be developed in all directions at once.

For software development, a 16 MHz 68000 based Mega STE (1 MIP with 2 Megabytes of memory running under SMSQ/E (my “standard” configuration) is more than a match for a “standard” 50 MIP 32 Mbyte workstation. A TT or a QXL on a good 486 machine is more impressive still. The Gold and Super Gold Cards have the same standards of raw performance, but suffer from limited display capabilities, poor keyboard and IO.

How much more is it reasonable to do with SMSQ which, by its need for compatibility with a 10 year old computer, is locked into a 10 year old design? Is there enough interest in the type of operating system concepts pioneered by QDOS to make it worthwhile producing a completely new system? The future depends on your response.

ARCserver Server Name Change

Title: How to Process Computer Name Changes in an ARCserve Domain

Description:

The computer name is a name that your computer uses to identify itself in a network or a domain. In a centralized management environment, an ARCserve domain can consist of a primary server and one or more member servers, or a stand-alone server. You establish the names of the ARCserve domain, the computer name of the primary server, and the computer names of the member servers when you install CA ARCserve Backup.

Solution:

CA ARCserve Backup uses the computer names of the primary server and the member servers to establish communication between the servers. CA ARCserve Backup specifies the computer name of the primary server in the Discovery.cfg configuration file. The Discovery.cfg configuration file resides on the primary server and the member servers.

Note: The ARCserve domain name and the computer name of the primary server can be different. However, both names must not exceed 15 bytes. A name totaling 15 bytes equates to approximately 7 to 15 characters.

When you change the computer name of the primary server or the member servers, the servers cannot communicate with each other in the ARCserve domain.

In an ARCserve domain, the following scenarios exist when you change the computer name of an ARCserve server:

The computer name of the primary server in an ARCserve domain was changed.
The computer name of a member server in an ARCserve domain was changed.
The computer name of a stand-alone server was changed.
The computer name of a server that is running the Manager Console was changed.

Change the Computer Name of the Primary Server on the Primary Server

The following procedure ensures that the primary server and member servers in an ARCserve domain can communicate after you change the computer name of the primary server.

You must change the computer name of the primary server before you complete these steps.

Note: You can use this procedure when you change the computer name of a stand-alone server.

To change the computer name of the primary server on the primary server

Log in to the primary server.
Note: Do not open the Manager Console or log in to CA ARCserve Backup.
Open the Windows Command Line and change the directory to the following directory:
%ARCSERVE_HOME%
Execute the following command, to stop all ARCserve services:
cstop
All ARCserve services stop.
Note: Do not close the Windows Command Line.
Using a text editing application, such as Notepad, open the discovery.cfg configuration file located in the following directory on the primary server:
%ARCSERVE_HOME%configdiscovery.cfg
In the PRIMARY field, change the name of the primary server as required for your environment.
Close the file and save your changes.
From the Windows Command Line that you opened earlier, execute the following command to start all ARCserve services:
cstart
All ARCserve services start.
Note: Do not close the Windows Command Line.
From the Windows Start menu, select All Programs, CA, ARCserve Backup, and click Server Configuration Wizard.
The Server Configuration Wizard opens and the Select Options dialog appears.
From the Select Options dialog, click the Select Database option, and click Next.
The Check caroot dialog opens.
Specify the password for the caroot account and click Next.
The System Account dialog opens.
Complete the following fields on the System Account dialog and click Next
- User Name– Specify the Windows user name required to log in to the primary server.
- Domain– Specify the Windows domain name name or host name of the new primary server.
- Password– Specify the password for the Windows user name required to log in to the primary server.
From the Select Database Options dialog, complete the fields and follow the prompts, as required, for your current database installation and click Next.Note: The subsequent dialogs that open will vary, based on whether you are running Microsoft SQL Server or Microsoft SQL Server 2005 Express in your current environment.
Important! The Server Configuration Wizard prompts you to overwrite the existing ARCserve_DB instance, and, by default, the option is enabled. To retain your previous data, such as job history, activity logs, and so on, you must clear the check mark from the Overwrite the existing “ARCserve_DB” instance option.
After the Server Configuration Wizard completes the updates, click Finish.
From the Windows Command Line that you opened earlier, execute the following commands to stop and restart all ARCserve services:
cstop
cstart
All ARCserve services stop and restart. The primary server functions using the new computer name.
Note: Do not close the Windows Command Line.
You must now create equivalence for the caroot user account.
From the Windows Command Line, execute the ca_auth command using the following syntax:
ca_auth -cahost <new primary server host name> -equiv add <user name> <new primary server host name> caroot caroot <password>
Note: Do not include angle brackets <> with your arguments.
Equivalence is applied to the caroot user account.
If your ARCserve domain consists of member servers, complete the steps in Change the Computer Name of the Primary Server on a Member Server.

Change the Computer Name of the Primary Server on a Member Server

The following procedure ensures that the primary server and member servers in an ARCserve domain can communicate after you change the computer name of the primary server.

You must change the computer name of the primary server before you complete this procedure.

Note: You must complete the steps in Change the Computer Name of the Primary Server on the Primary Server, before you change the computer name of the primary server on a member server.

To change the computer name of the primary server on a member server

Log in to the member server.
Note: Do not open the Manager Console or log in to CA ARCserve Backup.
Open the Windows Command Line and change the directory to the following directory:
%ARCSERVE_HOME%
Execute the following command, to stop all ARCserve services:
cstop
All ARCserve services stop.
Note: Do not close the Windows Command Line.
Using a text editing application, such as Notepad, open the discovery.cfg configuration file located in the following directory on the member server:
%ARCSERVE_HOME%configdiscovery.cfg
In the PRIMARY field, change the name of the primary server as required for your environment.
Close the file and save your changes.
From the Windows Command Line that you opened earlier, execute the following command to start all ARCserve services:
cstart
All ARCserve services start.
Repeat this procedure on all member servers in the ARCserve domain.

Change the Computer Name of a Member Server

The following procedure ensures that the member servers in an ARCserve domain can communicate with the primary server after you change the computer name of the member server.

You must change the computer name of the member server before you complete this procedure.

To change the computer name of a member server

Log in to the member server.
Note: Do not open the Manager Console or log in to CA ARCserve Backup
Open the Windows Command Line and change the directory to the following directory:
%ARCSERVE_HOME%
Execute the following commands, to stop and start all ARCserve services:
cstop
cstart
All ARCserve services stop and restart.
Note: Do not close the Windows Command Line.
From the Windows Start menu, select All Programs, CA, ARCserve Backup, and click Server Configuration Wizard.
The Server Configuration Wizard opens and the Select Options dialog appears.
Click the Move this server to another CA ARCserve Backup domain option and click Next.
The Add to Another CA ARCserve Backup Domain dialog opens.
On the Add to Another CA ARCserve Backup Domain dialog, complete the following fields and click Next.
1. Primary Server Name– Specify the name of the primary server.
2. Password– Specify the password for the caroot user account.
  The System Account dialog opens.
Complete the following fields on the System Account dialog and click Next.

- User Name– Specify the Windows user name required to log in to the member server.
- Domain– Specify the Windows domain name name or host name of the new member server
- Password– Specify the password for the Windows user name required to log in to the member server.
  The CA ARCserve Backup Data Migration dialog opens.

On the CA ARCserve Backup Data Migration dialog, click Next.
The Migrate Server Data Dialog opens.
On the Migrate Server Data Dialog, click Start.
The Complete dialog opens after the data migration process starts and completes.
On the Complete dialog, click Next, and then click Finish.
To verify the changes, open the Manager Console, open the Backup Manager, and select the Source tab.
Expand the Windows Systems object in the Source directory tree.
The member server, with its new host name, appears under the Windows Systems object.

Change the Computer Name of a Stand-alone Server

A stand-alone server is an ARCserve server that resides in an ARCserve domain that does not manage member servers.

The procedure to change the computer name of a stand-alone server is identical to that of changing the computer name of a primary server.

Note: For more information, see Change the Computer Name of the Primary Server on the Primary Server.

Change the Computer Name of a Server that is Running the Manager Console

When you change the computer name of a server that is running the Manager Console, you do not need to process modifications to the primary server, a stand-alone server, a member server, or the server that is running the Manage Console.

When will they start to outlaw beef and overeating?

Ok, this does it. The government, who is taking more and more of a stand by trying to tell us, the American people, what’s good for us is trying to pass a bill that President Bush vowed to veto to put the regulation of tobacco products under the regulation of the Food and Drug Administration. It would make illegal the marketing of cigarrettes to children (which I agree with), would regulate the contents of cigarrettes (which I somewhat agree with), and the possible elimination of Menthol.

What right does the government, or any individual for that matter, thinks it has the right to tell people what’s good and what’s bad for them. This is the first step in making cigarrettes and all other forms of tobacco products illegal. Didn’t anyone learn from the drug trade or the stupid ban on alcohol during the 20′s? Prohibition caused the build up of one of the greatest times of violence in American history because of illegal bootleg. The same can be said of our war on drugs.

And they’re proposing this during the worst recession since the depression of the 1930′s and this legislation will put uncounted financial stress on families and workers alike. The recently passed $6 a carton tax that the government passed to cover children (both legal and illegal) alike is the first step. Now, they want to try to put tobacco manufacturers and growers out of business by putting them under the purview of the FDA all in the misguided (and unconstitutional) view of trying to protect us from ourselves.

What’s next. Making being overweight illegal? How about eating red meat (which is a leading cause of heart disease, so they say)? When is this going to end and when, as the electorate, are we going to do something about it? I don’t need parents. I have them.

How about you?

Just my two cents worth.

Immigration, SCHIP, and Pounding Smokers

First off, I have to explain myself. I am not anti-immigrant. I am a direct descendant of immigrants and believe that this country has only benefited from the influx of people from other countries. In fact, the founding fathers were technically immigrants, so, I understand the need for sane, sober immigration policy.

On the other hand, I disagree vehemently with the idea that illegal immigrants should be afforded the same rights and protections as legal immigrants. Legal immigrants are documented, they have to prove some mastery of the English language and they have to become citizens of the United States. If they come over on work visas, at least they are documented and we know movement and work history.

Illegal immigration, especially from Mexico, is creating a sub-culture of purely Spanish speaking individuals who are basically changing our culture, especially down here in the south that borders Mexico, into the same multi-lingual morass that Canada has been fighting for decades with Quebec. Quebec has been fighting to remain independent and all documents and signs must be posted in French first, with English being second. That’s becoming more and more of a condition in the south of the United States where signs are increasingly becoming prevelant in both Spanish and English. We even have to publish ballots in both Spanish and English. This just serves to fragment an already fragmented population.

This doesn’t take into account that the bulk of the illegal immigrant population are paid under the radar. They pay no income, social, or any other taxes that citizens are punished with, but they are eligible for many of the same programs that citizens are without having to pay for them. Plus the fact that anyone born in the United States of illegal immigrant parents are automatically citizens adds to this burden of the American taxpayer.

So, what does this have to do with the SCHIP program recently voted in by, mainly, Democrats and signed by Obama? There is a clause in the new law that waives a former five year hold on illegal immigrant children to be eligible for the program. This has just made it even more desirable for illegal immigrants to come to this country and drain this country of resources to serve the citizens of the United States who pay for this program.

Another problem, considering I’m a smoker, is the fact that it will be payed for by another tax on cigarettes. I have seen no outcry, no yelling and screaming, nothing. Smokers seem to be embarrassed that we have an addiction that is just as powerful and hard to combat as Heroin addiction, but the drug is legal to obtain. I’m not an advocate for smoking, in fact I’ve told my kids that I will slap them if I find they’ve even tried it, but that doesn’t mean I thinks it’s right for the government to continually put strain on the people who are saddled with this particular addiction. It may force some to quit, but there are those of us who are truly addicted where quitting is much more complex than just saying no. This will, of course, put an unfair burden on lower middle income and lower income people to make choices between feeding that addiction and feeding the family. Addiction usually wins out, just as it does with alcoholics. Why do they always think it’s ok to continually saddle us with more and more taxes? Because, no one fights them on it and says that we have rights too.

We, as smokers and citizens of this country, should have the same rights as those who have other afflictions. You can’t hire and fire based on medical history, unless it’s necessary for the job at hand, but you can discriminate based on smoking. I have been the victim of that discrimination personally and can tell you that it has a major impact both financially and personally. Even cities are discriminating against smokers so now we are being told where we can and can’t live. Even individual apartment complexes are allowed to do this. This should be an outrage. Where is the ACLU when this is going on? Why? Because no one really speaks for the addicted in this country.

Why doesn’t Congress pick on SUV owners, or meat eaters, or vegetarians? Because most of Congress probably belongs to one of these groups and doesn’t want to impact their own wallets. Besides, it’s easy to pick on smokers. Anti-smokers are a most vocal and arrogant bunch. We need to start standing up for our rights as citizens of this country. I agree with areas for non-smokers and I think they have the right to not breathe second hand smoke, but we smokers have rights as well. I’m tired of being treated as if I’m publicly doing cocaine or shooting up in front of the kiddies.

Just my two cents worth.

JLPAOnline

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ARCserver Server Name Change

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