newbie needs help with GUI

[Alan James Salmoni]

Scott Chapman <scott_list at mischko.com> wrote in message news:<mailman.1065300368.1981.python-list at python.org>...
> On Saturday 04 October 2003 12:34, Cliff Wells wrote:
> > On Sat, 2003-10-04 at 12:28, achrist at easystreet.com wrote:
> > >   The messages might go to a secret place, IDK.
> > > I can imagine that when this computer reaches its final reward,
> > > the recycler will smash some component deep in the guts of this
> > > machine and all of that previously unseen print output will splill
> > > out all over the floor.
> >
> > That's just silly.  Everyone knows computers recycle unused characters
> > for later use.  Unix often stores them in /dev/null which is why so many
> > scripts send unwanted characters there.  Windows, of course, leaks
> > characters, which is why all MS applications ship with something called
> > a "font pack" which is really just extra characters so it doesn't run
> > out.
> 
> This has been a major problem at Microsoft that their engineers have been 
> wringing their hands over for a long time.  When the computer temporarily 
> runs out of characters through this leakage, it makes a blue screen and gives 
> you a cryptic error message that doesn't mention character loss at all, while 
> it digs around through the font packs trying to find some unused ones. 
<SNIPPED!>

Ahhh! So that's what all that "gunk" on the blue screen of death was -
it was all the forgotten characters trying to get back out into the
world!!! They must be real lonely, poor things...

I heard a while ago that some of them form together into loose bands
and squirt themselves through the nearest network, multiplying
rapidly. Maybe that is where spam comes from???

Alan James Salmoni
SalStat Statist... etc