# A gnat is buzzing around my head. Excuse me while I swat it. **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [August 6, 2000, 11:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-gnat-is-buzzing-around-my-head-excuse-me-while-i-swat-it/28357 "2000-08-06T23:41:22Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Myrr21](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e495f1/32.png) [@Myrr21](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Myrr21)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2000, 5:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-gnat-is-buzzing-around-my-head-excuse-me-while-i-swat-it/28357/21 "2000-08-07T17:44:05Z")
I like classic computers too, just as I like classic gamning systems. But if I had a name like NES-3, it would sorta make my godlike pronouncements on the PSX seem kinda silly… 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![jesuslynch](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e99b99/32.png) [@jesuslynch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jesuslynch)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2000, 6:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-gnat-is-buzzing-around-my-head-excuse-me-while-i-swat-it/28357/22 "2000-08-07T18:00:20Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Altair\_8800 \* > **… At North Carolina State University, no less.** Like I’m suppose to be impressed by that fact? Enroll at Duke, then I’ll be impressed. > [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Duck Duck Goose \* > **… And as long as I’ve got you here, do ya think the Better Half was right to go with the Dodge Caravan, or should it have been a Plymouth Voyager?** DDG. You so fucking funny! > [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by dropzone \* > \*\*We are kind, polite people who respect each other and expect the same from you. \*\* There’s nothing more to be said. Either live with us or go the fuck away. You don’t have to agree with everyone. Hell, you don’t have to agree with anyone. But being a shitass right out of the gate won’t get you very far. First rule of the board, **Don’t be a Jerk.** p.s. In the future, don’t screw with Techchick unless you want your head handed back to ya. ---
**Author:** ![dropzone](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dropzone/32/7515_2.png) [@dropzone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dropzone)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2000, 6:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-gnat-is-buzzing-around-my-head-excuse-me-while-i-swat-it/28357/23 "2000-08-07T18:05:38Z")
Yeah, I don’t know when TC got so tolerant and understanding, but she was actually COURTEOUS to him. First offense, I guess. ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Cynical](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ee59a6/32.png) [@Mr.Cynical](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Cynical)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2000, 6:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-gnat-is-buzzing-around-my-head-excuse-me-while-i-swat-it/28357/24 "2000-08-07T18:09:54Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Altair\_8800 \* > \*\*Can I ask, then, what is wrong with you people? > \*\* And the answer is: You. Unfortunately, the only solution for this problem is that you die of asphyxiation from having your head completely up your ass. This might not put a end to you though, since you seem to put it there so frequently that the seal might not be tight enough to ensure a vacuum. ---
**Author:** ![dropzone](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dropzone/32/7515_2.png) [@dropzone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dropzone)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2000, 6:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-gnat-is-buzzing-around-my-head-excuse-me-while-i-swat-it/28357/25 "2000-08-07T18:11:25Z")
It was just a joke, TC. Please don’t kill me! ---
**Author:** ![Altair\_8800](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/4491bb/32.png) [@Altair\_8800](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Altair_8800)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2000, 6:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-gnat-is-buzzing-around-my-head-excuse-me-while-i-swat-it/28357/26 "2000-08-07T18:17:16Z")
Well, I can understand the desire for respect. And I’ll try to give you that, if you’ll lay off the insults. 🙂 I did try on the web page–design isn’t my department. (And besides, it’s a personal page–the majority of the people who were viewing it before I posted it here were just family members with Java-incapable browsers.) ---
**Author:** ![cheezit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/c57346/32.png) [@cheezit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cheezit)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2000, 6:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-gnat-is-buzzing-around-my-head-excuse-me-while-i-swat-it/28357/27 "2000-08-07T18:35:50Z")
If Mr. Altair 8800 is in college, how in the HELL are we supposed to know that? On his web site, in the article about students in high school, the third sentence in the article states that he is in the 10th grade. Way back when I was in school, the 10th grade was a sophomore IN HIGH SCHOOL, not college. Since the article is in no way dated as to when it was written, I would still have to say he is in high school, and with his really impressive comebacks like “kiss my ass”, well that seals it for me. By the way, not to hijack or anything, but when did Geocities start with free web pages? Just curious. ---
**Author:** ![JSexton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/96bed5/32.png) [@JSexton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JSexton)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2000, 6:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-gnat-is-buzzing-around-my-head-excuse-me-while-i-swat-it/28357/28 "2000-08-07T18:38:16Z")
Wow! His site qualifies for weird URLs, I think. On it, he’s posted some articles he wrote. I understand fully why he recommended taking a creative writing course. The structure of his columns is taken straight out of freshman writing course. For example, > [@](#): > > I begin this discussion by citing a Theodore Roosevelt quotation used in my last article Way to re-use those quote of the month calendars, eh? He states his thesis, breaks it into three or more points, then restates it in his conclusion. Just like Mrs. Niedermeyer taught us all, back in high school. Here’s another nice bit, taken from the classic “Stupidity in Our High Schools”. I wish he was being sarcastic. > [@](#): > > The students at my school are very easy to confuse. For instance, when I’m reading my HTML book, I’ll tell kids that “I am reading a complex documentation of the utilization of hypertext markup language.” You would think that talking like this all the time–which I do (one of my favorite phrases is “A paradigm shifting without a clutch”)–would earn me some dignified nickname like “Saavik”. But, keep in mind that hese people are very stupid; they are incapapble of understanding Star Trek. My Principles of Business class calls me “CPU”; the rest of the school calls me “nerd”. **Altair** , do you honestly expect to gain your classmate’s respect by being pompous, aloof, and condescending? Not to mention eschewing contractions and trying to be favorably compared to Star Trek characters…yeeks. > [@](#): > > I know that Microsoft’s Windows is used on 90% of the world’s computers, and I understand that for this reason they have a monopoly. However, I cannot see any way in which this power has harmed anyone–neither customers nor competitors have suffered as a result of Microsoft’s position. …er. I’ll let this speak for itself. No more wasted bandwidth. Pop a beer and head over to [http://www.geocities.com/altair\_8800/index.html](http://www.geocities.com/altair_8800/index.html) Now, to be fair, I understand that this is probably intended more for friends than anyone else. But it’s still a public statement, and one must be careful of his or her presence on the net. **Altair** , this is meant as a mirror, not a below the belt jab. Take it with a grain of salt. ---
**Author:** ![Altair\_8800](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/4491bb/32.png) [@Altair\_8800](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Altair_8800)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2000, 6:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-gnat-is-buzzing-around-my-head-excuse-me-while-i-swat-it/28357/29 "2000-08-07T18:39:23Z")
And what would a college sophomore be doing driving a Jeep Grand Cherokee Laredo? But the page does need dates, since the audience has expanded a bit… They’ve had free pages at least since 1997. ---
**Author:** ![Altair\_8800](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/4491bb/32.png) [@Altair\_8800](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Altair_8800)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2000, 6:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-gnat-is-buzzing-around-my-head-excuse-me-while-i-swat-it/28357/30 "2000-08-07T18:42:13Z")
I meant a high school sophomore. Damn, you people fluster me. 🙂 JSexton, you would understand if you met my former classmates. ---
**Author:** ![JSexton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/96bed5/32.png) [@JSexton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JSexton)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2000, 7:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-gnat-is-buzzing-around-my-head-excuse-me-while-i-swat-it/28357/31 "2000-08-07T19:11:46Z")
> [@](#): > > And what would a [high school] sophomore be doing driving a Jeep Grand Cherokee Laredo? Daddy’s money, I’d assumed. After all, you take on a title implying you own (or have owned) a number of fairly expensive cars, yet you are hosted a on a shitty free site like geocities and have shitty free email like hotmail. (What, no college account?) Granted, I too have shitty service through hotbot, but I drive a mid-eighties Escort and never claimed to be anything but a struggling consultant, living beyond even my meager means. > [@](#): > > JSexton, you would understand if you met my former classmates. Piffle. I am well acquainted with idiots, as are we all. Never have I tried to gain respect with Star Trek anecdotes and misguided attempts to dazzle them with my dizzying intellect. Nor would I be shocked at their derision, O “Great” **Altair**. Okay, devil’s advocate time. I have to say, **Altair** , that you’ve been remarkably level-headed for the subject of a minor flame war. Sure, there were the occasional spouts of “kiss my ass”, but who hasn’t said that? Truth is, while I don’t much _like_ you, I can’t _hate_ you, like, say, drainthelizard. You’ve got potential. Drop the pompousity (at least 'till you’ve earned it!) and stick around. You (and we) might learn something. ---
**Author:** ![mouthbreather](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a698b9/32.png) [@mouthbreather](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mouthbreather)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2000, 7:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-gnat-is-buzzing-around-my-head-excuse-me-while-i-swat-it/28357/32 "2000-08-07T19:26:01Z")
> [@](#): > > And what would a high-school sophomore be doing driving a Jeep Grand Cherokee Laredo? You’re right, that is a silly question. Just slightly less silly is my question: What would a college sophomore be doing driving a Jeep Grand Cherokee Laredo? ---
**Author:** ![Altair\_8800](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/4491bb/32.png) [@Altair\_8800](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Altair_8800)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2000, 7:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-gnat-is-buzzing-around-my-head-excuse-me-while-i-swat-it/28357/33 "2000-08-07T19:39:28Z")
Now I’m trying to play by the rules of this board, but how am I supposed to give respect if I am not shown any? Yes, I have a college account. It’s just easier to block spam through Hotmail. DNRC is a club/spinoff from the “Dilbert” comic strip. Further investigation of this comic’s background will [hopefully] explain my title a bit. She’s a 1997 JGCL. That’s how a college sophomore is driving one. ---
**Author:** ![mouthbreather](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a698b9/32.png) [@mouthbreather](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mouthbreather)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2000, 7:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-gnat-is-buzzing-around-my-head-excuse-me-while-i-swat-it/28357/34 "2000-08-07T19:45:36Z")
So that means it’s what, 25K instead of 40k? (I am guessing here, but don’t think that I am _that_ far off…please correct me if I am) And I’m not trying to slam you. I’m just curious as to how and why at age 19 or 20 you are driving around in such and expensive ride. ---
**Author:** ![Altair\_8800](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/4491bb/32.png) [@Altair\_8800](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Altair_8800)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2000, 8:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-gnat-is-buzzing-around-my-head-excuse-me-while-i-swat-it/28357/35 "2000-08-07T20:01:48Z")
Well, thank you for that. You’re about the only one though. It was actually a graduation gift. I had driven it since I got my learner’s permit, and my parents decided that it would be perfect for me to take to college. I can definitely say it was worth the money. It’s gotten me out of so many tight spots–the 4 wheel drive makes all the difference in the world when you get stuck in bad weather. ---
**Author:** ![Altair\_8800](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/4491bb/32.png) [@Altair\_8800](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Altair_8800)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2000, 8:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-gnat-is-buzzing-around-my-head-excuse-me-while-i-swat-it/28357/36 "2000-08-07T20:05:59Z")
Oops, I didn’t really answer your original question. We bought the Jeep in 1997 for around $25,000. I don’t think they’ve shot up in price that much–certainly not to $40,000 anyway, as a friend of mine bought a 1999 Chevy Suburban for $43,000. ---
**Author:** ![techchick68](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ea5d25/32.png) [@techchick68](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/techchick68)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2000, 8:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-gnat-is-buzzing-around-my-head-excuse-me-while-i-swat-it/28357/37 "2000-08-07T20:22:06Z")
Altair, Here’s the deal. You act like an ass, you will get called on it. Got it? You behave like a pretentious asshole, you get called on it. > [@](#): > > If you’re such a ‘tech chick,’ then you should have taken a moment to READ THE FRICKEN HELP FILE before attacking a perfectly good product. Clicking everywhere on the screen doesn’t solve a thing. First of all, I know how to read a help file. There is nothing in there that described my problem you putz. Second of all, I wasn’t blindly clicking on a screen. I may not be an engineer but I am employed as an “Information Systems Manager”(contractor). Not all tech people need a college degree you asswipe. In fact, _some_ of the most knowledgable people I know in the computer industry are not college educated. Your little attitude of “I am better than you” certainly came across in that quote. That kind of attitude is reserved for men with little dicks and need to make up for their lack of girth by being an asshole. If you actually had READ my postings, you freak, you would have noticed I figured the problem out. In addition to that, I didn’t attack IE. Your reading comprehension borders on 6th grade. So, while you are still in college I recommend that you get enrolled in a course dealing with interpersonal skills because with a “little dick attitude” like that you will find yourself hated, talked about and shunned for that kind of behavior. Oh, and you will be called on it in here. :rolleyes: ---
**Author:** ![yosemite](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/3ab097/32.png) [@yosemite](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/yosemite)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2000, 8:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-gnat-is-buzzing-around-my-head-excuse-me-while-i-swat-it/28357/38 "2000-08-07T20:30:35Z")
Altair, I thought I’d make your head explode and tell you I am writing this om IE 4.5, on my Mac. **MAC MAC MAC MAC!** 😃 (I figured since you “yell” things like “Microsoft Rules!!!” that would really get your goat!) Stick around, cut the insults. You’ve heard that before. You don’t come into a crowded room full of people you don’t know and say “Up yours” right off, do you? Same here. I’m sure you have a lot to offer this MB, if you cut the attitude. ---
**Author:** ![Altair\_8800](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/4491bb/32.png) [@Altair\_8800](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Altair_8800)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2000, 8:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-gnat-is-buzzing-around-my-head-excuse-me-while-i-swat-it/28357/39 "2000-08-07T20:31:12Z")
Ok. I get the point. Now will you people leave me alone before I kill myself? ---
**Author:** ![dropzone](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dropzone/32/7515_2.png) [@dropzone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dropzone)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2000, 8:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-gnat-is-buzzing-around-my-head-excuse-me-while-i-swat-it/28357/40 "2000-08-07T20:31:34Z")
**Altair** , this may seem pretty insulting, but please take it in the spirit with which it is intended, as constructive criticism to help you become a better, more fulfilled, more successful person: You just have no social skills whatsoever, do you? You’re so pathetic that I’m starting to feel SORRY for you! I mean, a lot of us are geeks, myself included, but you are geeky to a debilitating degree! You need to work on that. You seem to have money to burn; look into Dale Carnegie classes on campus. They have a student discount, it will look great on your resume, and they will help you develop a personality other people can stand being around. There are other programs that could help, too. Ask your counselor. I have known so many guys like you. They thought that they could get by on their technical skills alone. Then they got to be forty or fifty and wondered why the less-talented people had passed them by, getting dates, promotions, and more money while these guys were still stuck in a closet writing code. Worse yet was when the skills they had were no longer enough. One of them has not yet realized that being the best darned COBOL coder in the area stopped being worth anything when the world didn’t end January 1. The same will happen with VB and Java in time. And, eventually, coding will all be automatic. There have been inroads into that for years. There is a lot more to life than computers and “Star Trek.” You still have time before graduation to become a valuable addition to an employer. Who knows? You may find you LIKE it when people don’t hate you. First lesson: we don’t care what car you claim to drive or where you go to school. Possessions and formal education are not what make you a Doper, intelligence and respect do. Bragging just makes you seem petty and shallow. Okay, we’ve told the kid how we feel and what is proper behavior around here. Let’s give him a chance to put that knowledge to use. Maybe he can lurk a while and learn by example. \*\* Show’s over, folks. Move along. Nothing to see. Go home, people.\*\* [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-gnat-is-buzzing-around-my-head-excuse-me-while-i-swat-it/28357.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-gnat-is-buzzing-around-my-head-excuse-me-while-i-swat-it/28357.md?page=3)