Frequently Asked Questions concerning our web site. Every web site has a FAQ. Why? A good question. Also a frequently-asked question. Thus, it answers itself.

Why do you have a FAQ?
This is a recursive question. See above; but be alert, or you will be caught in an infinite loop.

What is the purpose of this web site?
Strictly vanity. It was first built in early 1998 as a vehicle to learn web publishing, and as with all projects, developed a life of its own. We are now on our fifth Internet Service Provider (ISP): starting with FlashNet (until it was bought by Prodigy), moving to Internet Express (until it split with Covad), moving to Speakeasy (a highly rated but pricey ISP), then to DirecTV Broadband (after it bought Telocity and offered unbelievably low rates), and back to Speakeasy (after the DirecTV venture failed), and currently with SBC (after we moved to our current home). Each of these switches caused site outages of a month or more.Top

Do I have to be registered and login to view your web site?
No. You only need to be registered to use the email feature or to post to our guestbook. Spammers have written robots that find these features and use them to send spam and to spam guestbooks. The login requirement was added in December 2004 to make this form of spamming more difficult. Registration, however, will not get you into the Members Only section unless you're a family member. Top

What is the Members Only section and why can't I get in?
Because it's fun to have a secret clubhouse. Actually, it's there for family members and contains items of interest only to us, and would bore anyone else. Top

Why do I get the following error: "This application has performed an illegal operation and will be shut down"?
This occurs whenever the application you are running has performed an illegal operation. Since there is no police, prosecutor, judge, jury, prison, or any other form of cyber justice on your computer (unless it was installed by Microsoft during an update session), Windows has no choice but to "shut down" (terminate) the application. In some countries where termination is outlawed, (unless it's physician-assisted), the application is simply shunted aside until reboot.Top

Can you answer other questions about my computer?
No.Top

Okay, then how about some grammar questions. Can you give an example of a redundant phrase?
That's gross and disgusting.

What is?
I was only giving an example of what you asked for. If gross means coarse, then disgusting already covers it. But if gross means total amount before deductions, then totally gross is also redundant.

What's the most grating Clintonian speech phrase?
Deep and abiding.

Why?
It's used and overused nowadays to convey sincerity mainly where the speaker's sincerity may be in doubt (which is always). Thus, it's not only hackneyed, it has come to mean the opposite of what it says.

What seem to be the most common contemporary misuses in American English today?
Punctuation. The one I notice almost daily is the conjunction it's for the possessive pronoun its. I've seen it in periodicals, web sites, and documents from respected sources. Its usually found where the writer ran his progam's spell-checker but not it's grammar-checker (see what I mean?).

Another one is different than for different from. Nonstandard uses are different than misuses.

And less frequent but equally grating are disenfranchise for disfranchise, irregardless for regardless, could care less for couldn't care less, and who for whom. Frankly, I could care less if voters were disenfranchised, irregardless of who they voted for.

Is this the end of the FAQ?
No, wait a minute. I thought of another common misuse: the subjective pronoun I for the objective pronoun me. I think its about time for you and I to point out that these misuses are weakening our language and it's heritage.

Now are you through?
Yes.