@ - Wednesday, June 17, 1992 - North Shore News Fax facts: THE FAX is a technologi- cal marvel that most of us think the clever Japanese invented. Bob Hunter Techno boom or bust? eras, phones and files. Its connector was immediately clipped into the spaghetti-like ar- ray of wires leading to the power bars, surge arresters and adaptors. I knew there would be unfore- seen side-effects. I just knew. the cellular along so | could call her the moment an important fax came through from a friend with whom she is (rying to coordinate travel plans. I want to go outside. With the cordless phone, I should be able to, right? But | promised to keep an eye on the fax machine. So now I’m trapped, for all the liberating and amazing com- munications technology, chained like a dog to the fax machine. Techno-peasant indeed! Indeed, they’re the ones who perfected the technology that made fax machines available to techno-peasants around the world. Domo oregato. As every school-child must surely know, the Japanese had a problem because typewriters and telexes didn’t work all that well for their style of written ump- teen-symbol communications. They needed a way to send hand- written messages — fast. But the original idea for a tele- phone-transmitted facsimile- making machine using heat to make impressions on specially- treated paper was the brainchild of a Scotsman who had the bad luck to be a century ahead of his time, wouldn’t you know? Oh well, the machine is here, whatever its ancestry, and we’re going to have to learn to iive with it. I started trying to learn to live with it a couple of months ago, after my wife and { came to the conclusion that we would have to let one into the house. I'm a freeiancer, you see, one of the cottage-industry high-tech communications field workers who mainly stay at home weeding our word salad gardens, using computers and modems and phones — a form of decentraliza- tion whose arrival was predicted by Marshall McLuhan. Modems never worked for me, actually. | made the mistake of taking the advice of the Periodical Writers Association of Canada and bought a type of computer that, it turned out, couldn’t be hooked up to any computer ever used by any magazine or paper I ever wrote for, including the North Shore News. We live in Canada, so what more need I say about the chances Elegant and easy to use European patterns. Patterns in stock only. SALE BUY SALE BUY 1GET 1 FREE 1 FREE Sewing Club embers ae =, DFC FOR 1 lesser value fr Dressmaking and embroidery sheers. iv $15.95 ea. - $19.95 ea. fi STRICTLY PERSONAL of a freelance writer surviving if he or she remains dependent on the post office and its happy band of campers? Courier bills quickly become a fixture of overhead, or you die. Thus, when the fax machine ar- rived, little freelancers everywhere gave out joyous squeaks. I should have bought one right away, but by this time, having been burned by buying a cellular phone too soon (only to see the price plummet within a year or so) and being partially Scottish myself, I held off, choosing to have my immortal words sent off courtesy of clerks at a variety of little shops which had started pro- viding fax services. This was OK up to a point, but the little shops had a tendency to fold, and what with the line-ups and mistakes that inevitably occur the moment you have someone else perform a task for you, we simply got to a point where it was obvious we were crazy not to have a machine of our own. So into my little office at home was trundled the fax machine, to be fitted in between the Photocopier, word processors, printers, answering machine, cam- The first one was that our son figured out he could order comics from New York via fax. Oy vay! The second was the problem of faxes arriving in the rniddle of the night from the other side of the planet. There is also the the unfortu- nate detail cf having faxes come in on the same line as the home phone, even though the numbers are different. The result is that about half the time when I try to call home, I get a piercing electronic screech in my ear. Another fretful little un- predicted feedback loop has de- veloped somewhere around the link-up between the answering machine and the fax, leading to the answering machine sometimes coming on in the middle of a fax transmission, not just screwing up the fax but also resulting in a garbled recording. Oh goody. There’s another tiny flaw in the ointment which involves the ex- istence of five hard-wired phones in the house, besides the cordless, any one of which is likely to be picked up by any member of the family in mid-transmission. Do we have a case of techno- logical over-reach here? l asked my wife to explain what the hell was going on. You have to understand that she worked for decades as a cablevision systems engineer. She actually understands how fibre optics work and can often do calculations in her head faster than I can peck them out ona pocket calculator. She looked at me, kind of cross-eyed, and shook her head. ‘Beats me.’” She’s out shopping now. She’s got the kids with her. She brought A great selection of must go fabrics. COTTONS RAYONS SPORTSWEAR BOTTOMWEIGHTS SUITINGS COATINGS CHAMBRAYS _DENIMS Members (Buy 1 metre of selected fabric at regular price and ceceive Two more m Everyday Sewing Club metres of equal or lesser value free) discounted price Oho 20K original selling price CORDS AND MORE ror] : (REMNANT A large selection of ready to sew Now receive — remnans. and additional already low low price ANNOUNCEMENT TO THE PATIENTS OF THE LATE DR. VERNE FLATHER The Flather family would tike to announce that DR. RALPH BIEG will be arriving July 13, 1992 on the North Shore to commence permanent practice at #102-1940 Lonsdale. In the interim Drs. Andrew Cheng and Chris Stewart Patterson, along with office nurses Joan and Mollie, will be handling patients’ needs. Dr. Bieg is a native of the North Shore and he and his family are locking forward to continuing his medical practice in this area. He is a well respected member of the medical community, and a caring and kind family man. The Flather family wouid like to thank the late Dr. Flather’s patients for their loyal support over the years, as well as their continued support since Dr. Flather’s passing. If you have any questions, please call the office at 987-3357 or David Flather at 984-9974. eal Steak lovers, take heart. There's good reason why your steaks don't turn out quite as tasty as The Keg’s. To Start, every Keg steak ‘is a centre cut, to avoid excess fat and yristle. For extra tenderness and flavour, Keg steaks are aged for 21 to 28 days - that's three weeks more than store-bought steak. Then, of course, there's our unique method of preparation. Once a steak is dashed with our special Keg spice, it’s scared over a mesquite grill. Since mesquite burns hotter, it sears quicker, locking in that true steak taste. And that’s The Key seeret to a great steak. No bull. Enjoy our Original Steak Dinner for just $10.99! A 70z sirloin, baked potato and our famous salad bar. Only ‘til July 12.