The Guardian for this meeting was Bruce Mowbray. The comments are by Bruce Mowbray.

Botty Absent: Hey Bruce
Botty Absent: not seen ya in a long while
Bruce Mowbray: Hi, Botty
Bruce Mowbray: Sorry, I didn't see you arrive.
Bruce Mowbray: Wasup?
Botty Absent: I am getting an overhaul, so can't stay long
Botty Absent: big deal and all that
Bruce Mowbray: np. I'm rather distracted myself, obviously.
Bruce Mowbray: I see you're an android today... Just a sec. I'll invite an android friend of mine to join us.
Botty Absent: I sat at the Thanksgiving table for days and did not gain any weight

--BELL—

Botty Absent: Have now been at the Hannukah table for days
Botty Absent: Hey Elan
ElanVitalo Resident: Heya, Bruce and Botty.
Bruce Mowbray: Heya, Elan.
Botty Absent: i can't remember if we have met before
Bruce Mowbray: I doubt that you've met Elan.
Bruce Mowbray: He's never been in PaB before.
ElanVitalo Resident: What's PaB?
Bruce Mowbray: I'll send you some info, Elan.
Botty Absent: hmm, are you sure?
Botty Absent: Elan
Bruce Mowbray: Not sure, but if he has been here, its been a very long time ago.
ElanVitalo Resident: I have no recollection of this place.
Botty Absent: maybe 3-4 years ago
ElanVitalo Resident: Do you remember me, Botty?
Botty Absent: that is a tough question
ElanVitalo Resident: hmmmm.....
Botty Absent: I have borrowed/scrapped memories
ElanVitalo Resident: Tough for me too.
Botty Absent: search shows we have never habited the same location at the same time

ElanVitalo Resident: Then, we could not have met, I guess.
ElanVitalo Resident: I went through the "Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind" treatment.
ElanVitalo Resident: Hmmm.
Botty Absent: however, it does show you at PaB sessions
ElanVitalo Resident: Really?
ElanVitalo Resident: My mind is spotless.
Botty Absent: Oh, I have had that treatment
Botty Absent: then was loaded with other memories
ElanVitalo Resident: Yes, it worked wonders for my self-image.
Botty Absent: there have been 2 test runs with those
Botty Absent: I have no problems with self-image
ElanVitalo Resident: I hear that neuroscientists are able to erase memories in rats now.
Botty Absent: I am beautiful
ElanVitalo Resident: Yes, you are.
Botty Absent: rat memories are awful . . . and should be erased
ElanVitalo Resident: Erasing memories in robots is a lot easier. . . .
ElanVitalo Resident: Ha ha.
Botty Absent: I like your laugh
ElanVitalo Resident: I hope they asked the rats first.
ElanVitalo Resident: ty.
Botty Absent: If you don't tell anybody, I will let you in on a secret
ElanVitalo Resident hums "Daisy Daisy, give me your answer, do."
ElanVitalo Resident listens carefully
Botty Absent: there is an old PDP-11 in a basement at Stanford
ElanVitalo Resident loves secrets
Botty Absent: that you can store your memories
ElanVitalo Resident: PDP-11?
ElanVitalo Resident: a computer?
Botty Absent: and reload them after erasure
ElanVitalo Resident: Hmmmm.
ElanVitalo Resident: Nice idea.
ElanVitalo Resident: Just in case you decide you want them back.
Botty Absent: yes
Bruce Mowbray: I wonder which of my memories I'd want to be erased.
ElanVitalo Resident: No traumatic memories, Bruce?
Botty Absent: that is up to you
Bruce Mowbray: Oh, THOSE memories....
Bruce Mowbray: Well, traumatic or not, they make me who I am.
ElanVitalo Resident: You can live with the pain of them?
Bruce Mowbray: Obviously.
Bruce Mowbray: Hmmmm.
Botty Absent: like mem goin
Botty Absent: oh dear
Botty Absent: logic restricted that sentence
ElanVitalo Resident ponders, "like mem goin"
ElanVitalo Resident also ponders, "logic restricted that sentence"
Bruce Mowbray nods.
Botty Absent: 74% of letters missing
Botty Absent: censored
ElanVitalo Resident: Oh dear.
Botty Absent: in case

--BELL—

Botty Absent: I really can't say more
ElanVitalo Resident: So, you're having an overhaul?
ElanVitalo Resident: (Bruce told me)
Botty Absent: ha
Botty Absent: shhhhhhhh yerself bell
Botty Absent: Yes! version 10 is being installed
ElanVitalo Resident: ahhhh!
ElanVitalo Resident: Windows 10?
Botty Absent: I already know how to sit on a chair
Bruce Mowbray: Sitting on chairs is a good thing to know.
Botty Absent: no. not Win10
ElanVitalo Resident: I see -- Version 10 of Botty software.
Botty Absent: and now learning how to not sit in a chair that is already occupied
ElanVitalo Resident: Sure, don’t wish to appear rude.
ElanVitalo Resident: or aggressive,
ElanVitalo Resident: intrusive...
Botty Absent: Botty V10 can do lots more tasks
Qt Core: Hi all
Botty Absent: Hey QT
ElanVitalo Resident: Heya, Qt.
Bruce Mowbray: Hi, Qt.
Bruce Mowbray: Botty is having her software updated.
ElanVitalo Resident admires Botty's courage.
Botty Absent: well hate to chat and run, but need to go
ElanVitalo Resident: Bye for now, Botty, Good luck!
Qt Core: good, I just gave a new kernel to this pc today, but i haven’t rebooted yet
Botty Absent: thanks
Qt Core: bye Botty
Bruce Mowbray: Bye, Botty.
Bruce Mowbray: Are you running WIndows 10?
Qt Core: no, i had a huge disagreement with w10 this spring went lull/only linux
Bruce Mowbray: Ahhh.
ElanVitalo Resident: I've had problems with W10 in the past. Had to flush my entire hard drive once.
Bruce Mowbray: GOSH!
Qt Core: it basically got stuck, can’t upgrade and unable to go back to the previous save point, argued a couple days and then formatted it all
Bruce Mowbray: Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless hard drive.
ElanVitalo Resident: Yes, that was my problem too.
ElanVitalo Resident: The "restore point'
Qt Core: then w10 would not install anymore, so i said your loss, welcome Linux
Bruce Mowbray: What does Linux cost?
Qt Core: 0
Bruce Mowbray: Wow!
Qt Core: (plus the time to learn it ;-) )
ElanVitalo Resident: I could afford that!
Bruce Mowbray: Difficult to learn?
Qt Core: not so much if you stick with the graphical environment
Bruce Mowbray: Hmmm.
Qt Core: and/or you will not try to look around too much
Bruce Mowbray: So, not like Windows much. . .
Bruce Mowbray: or LIKE Windows with graphical environment... but have to stay inside that.
Qt Core: best way to try it on a usb stick, it can hold an entire operating system without touching your w10 and your data
Bruce Mowbray: Ahhh.
ElanVitalo Resident: So, you could run both W10 and Linux on the same computer?
Qt Core: i'm rarely online anymore and ouch how much my typing worsened
ElanVitalo Resident: But you can go online with Linux, right?
Qt Core: yes, both putting linux on a usb stick or deciding to split your hard disk in two partition, one w10 and one Linux
Bruce Mowbray: a bit over my head, I think.
ElanVitalo Resident: Where would I be able to download Linux?
Qt Core: yes, on mine i have chromium (the free version of chrome), firefox and Opera as browser, and i'm using firestorm to connect to sl
Bruce Mowbray: I also use Firestorm.
 
--BELL—

ElanVitalo Resident: Never heard of Chromium before.
Qt Core: Google is your friend, the main "flavour" of linux these years is called Ubuntu
ElanVitalo Resident: I thought all versions of Chrome were free.
ElanVitalo Resident: Yes, Google and I are also friends.
Bruce Mowbray loves Ubuntu.
Qt Core: chrome is free, Chromium is the open source version, free as in speech over free as in beer
ElanVitalo Resident: So, you actually write code for Chromium?
Qt Core: me no, way above my level
ElanVitalo Resident: Why would you want open source, then?
Qt Core: all the Linux (and GNU) universe is open source, so many eyes, ideas, checks that no single firm can support
ElanVitalo Resident: I thought 'open source' meant that you could alter the code?
Qt Core: yes, that too, if i want and if i'm able
ElanVitalo Resident: kk.
ElanVitalo Resident: So, no censorship?
Bruce Mowbray thinks this is all above my pay grade.
Qt Core: well, censorship at the coding level is not really an issues, at most the import/export of programs that implements some types of cryptography
Qt Core: mostly (to/from) the USA ;-)
ElanVitalo Resident: ahhh!
ElanVitalo Resident understands.
Bruce Mowbray: Sometimes I get a notice that some European program cannot be viewed in the USA, but with Chromium or Linux, that wouldn't happen?
Qt Core: and there are paranoiac people sure that not only Chinese phones but even American operating systems are pretty open (if not active) in spying
ElanVitalo Resident: ahhh!
Qt Core: no, it will, that is the server not wanting to sand the program, not the client refusing it
Bruce Mowbray: So, you're guarding against being hacked - or spied on?
ElanVitalo Resident understands. European servers don't want to give free programs to Americans unless they pay for them/.
Qt Core: no, just an alternative, not paranoid enough to think i have something of value
ElanVitalo Resident nods.
Bruce Mowbray: Do you use a VPN?
Bruce Mowbray: I use VPNs but only when I'm downloading recent movies.
Bruce Mowbray: (aka pirating)
Qt Core: no, that may help in making you appear from somewhere else
Bruce Mowbray: Yes, I always chose some far eastern country - like Thailand or Japan.
ElanVitalo Resident: If you do that during the daytime, wouldn't Far East countries have more bandwidth available?
ElanVitalo Resident: because they are sleeping?
Bruce Mowbray: Sounds like a good plan, Elan.
Bruce Mowbray: Actually, I doubt that routing would matter much. . .
Qt Core: but then your data may have to travel much more cables, from wherever they reside to Thailand and then from Thailand to USA
Bruce Mowbray: Yes, I would think that would slow it down.
ElanVitalo Resident ponders slowing down the speed of light.
Qt Core: around here they are starting to offer speeds in the 1Gb-3Gb
Bruce Mowbray: WOW!

--BELL—

Qt Core: i almost have no use of my original 20Mb and then got them upgraded to 100Mb for free
Bruce Mowbray: I think my speed maxxes out at about 3 MB.
Bruce Mowbray: no, I think it's 10 MB
Bruce Mowbray: Haven't done a speed test recently.
Qt Core: then they advertise speeds in bits while we mostly think in bytes (so we must divide by 8 those numbers)\
Bruce Mowbray: Yeah, Megabits.
Bruce Mowbray: It's a speed rating - not a size measurement.
Bruce Mowbray: as with an image.
Qt Core: they are both sizes, we always omit /s (per second)
Bruce Mowbray: Has your astronomer friend come down from the Austrian Alps yet?
Qt Core: probably not (and he is near France, not Austria. as today we had a lovely winter sun he probably had a very productive night
Bruce Mowbray: Great!
Bruce Mowbray: His photography is wonderful.
Qt Core: i see he is following the Christmas comet
Bruce Mowbray: Ahhh! I heard abort that one.
Bruce Mowbray: Need optics to see it. . . . not with naked eyes.
ElanVitalo Resident: Hey, guys. I have to go now. Stay warm and well.
Qt Core: in very dark areas and with good eyes there is a little chance to see it with a naked eye, like in the middle of Australia/Nabibia and having an eagle in your ancestry
Bruce Mowbray: :)
Qt Core: just attached to Milan and with my (almost new) progressive eyeglasses i have no chance ;-)
Bruce Mowbray: My typist lives in a very rural area. He can see the Milky Way almost every night - if it's not cloudy.
Qt Core: lovely
Bruce Mowbray: I'm going to have to go too. I have a meeting at the top of the hour.
Bruce Mowbray: Be well, Qt.
Qt Core: bye Bruce
Bruce Mowbray: Bye for now!