http://rochester.craigslist.org/ele/1009719904.html

So this is kind of interesting...some kid found these things in "mint" condition in a dumpster and wants offers...anyone know what these things are?

P.S. I have no affiliation to this craigslist ad. any how if u wanna give me $1000 ferem gud

Well, first up looks like a Hallicrafters shortwave of some kind with a knob missing, if I'm making out the logo properly. Third pic's a groovy retro 1200-baud external modem, and the second...is some kind of testing device, apparently. $10 the lot, I'd give him. $20 if the radio works. And spelling lessons, but we won't get started on that.

The one lying on it's side appears to be an RF signal generator.

LOL.. a Hayes 1200 baud modem.. He's gonna have to pay someone to take that..

The Knight general coverage radio is nice enough, though.

Here 's the shortwave receiver. A Knight-Kit Star Roamer from my 1969 Allied Radio catalog. Might be worth something to someone who collects Knight-Kit stuff.
http://i125.photobucket.com/albums/p72/tblazed/knightkit-swrcvr.jpg

Text messaging has killed the communication skills of an entire generation. I understand the need to abbreviate on a phone keypad but you have a KEYBOARD. I'm only 34 and I'm starting to feel like someone yelling at kids to get off my lawn.

LOL.. a Hayes 1200 baud modem.. He's gonna have to pay someone to take that..

I see dollar signs, as I have a few of those, plus some 33k's & 56k's down in the basement. Who knew, as I best get to listing them tonight! They might help met to weather out this recession. :D

Regards,
TB

Nice work all- especially Ed in Tx.....

I think I'll pass though ;)

Good pass. Knight was my second guess on that radio.

"i dont know what these eletronic r worth as long i make money il be happy i guess ... any how i havem and there 4 sale and i dont even know what they r
any how i foundem in a dumpster in mint condition please feel free to call 5854552680 dont all you call at ounce i cant handle volume calls
thank u"


Um... first, they're not in mint condition, second, learn to spell you stupid kid. And $1,000?! holy crap, that's a little steep, eh?
And don't call at once? Heh, I doubt anyone will be calling him.

I would hate to see what that kid's resume would look like
"i be da bezt worka EVA!!! XD ROFLCOPTER!"
Generation Z just pisses me off so much.


Personally, I don't have respect for people who post ads written like that. It's like when you go to a store, and the salesman doesn't know jack shit about the merchandise [IE: Canadian Tire, Zellers, Radio Shack, etc], or they're wearing those stupid rubber slippers with the holes in them.

I hate when people type like that. And if anyone typed like that in the comment section on any of my youtube videos, I just delete them immediately.

I can't stand people who write like that, and would think twice about responding to an ad like that even if it was something I really wanted.

I was dating this attractive girl who used ROFL and LOL and R U (fill in the blank) in emails and texts to me, and it's largely why I broke up with her. I couldn't take it. It offends me on so many levels for some reason.

She was replaced by a more attractive girl who speaks five languages fluently, and teaches English as a second language. Not a bad trade up...

Illiteracy is the greatest challenge American employers will face in the not too distant future. They just don't know it yet.

I've dealt with college graduates who couldn't write a decent, grammatically correct sentence, let alone an entire paragraph or business document. And they are either too stupid or too lazy to use "spell check" or "grammar check" tools to come across as remotely intelligent.

But they are supposedly "Web literate" so we're supposed to bow down to them. If they are functionally illiterate they aren't equipped with the most basic skills needed to conduct a basic Google search -- the ability to spell.

They are illiterate but they do work cheap. Of course, they can't do much either.

On the other hands, I've worked with "foreigners" -- from India, Pakistan, China, Eastern Europe and other places -- who have never set foot in this country and yet they are more literate in English than a vast number of US-born workers I've encountered. Americans are even becoming obsolete when it comes to their own language. It's a disgrace.

I'm finished ranting now.

Announcer: We now return you to our regularly scheduled programming.

(Yes, this should probably be posted under "General Off Topic" category).

Um... first, they're not in mint condition, second, learn to spell you stupid kid.

Kid? Ha!, I'm 35!:D

Wow, I'm feelin' no love here today.

First off, it's absolutely pointless to rant against illiteracy... do you think these kids have actively chosen to be this way? They are a product of their environment, and a big part of that environment as far as communication goes is text messaging. Like it or not, "social networking" is here to stay given the apparent success of MySpace and Facebook. It is unfortunate for us, the old guys, that we cannot relate because this generation of kids is no inherently dumber than the last, or the next. Whereas some Gen Z's will have nothing to offer, many of them do/will, and let's not forget, guys, these are the ones who will be funding Canada Pension Plan and Social Security when we need it...

Now the particular idiot in question who wrote the ad... that's a horse of a different color. Anyone who advertises a product should be able to take a DECENT stab at tailoring the ad to the target market. The only ones who will even bother to READ this add (what did another poster say a few days ago "a paragraph only a mother could love"?) are other gen Z kids who would be hard pressed to even identify the stuff in the add, much less consider purchasing it, much less have $1,000 (whoo-boy, let's not get started on that one) to fork out for it. And with the internet so readily available, there is really NO excuse for not taking 5 or 10 minutes to determine a reasonable market value for something. So from that standpoint, the kid does not show much brainpower happening and, as he will find out in short order, he will still have this pile of junk (to him) in his parents' garage this time next month. Or, it may be back in the dumpster. Too bad, I'd take the signal generator off his hands, but not for $333.33.

Ad links are allowed only here in Dollars and Sense.

That Knight radio, condition unknown, mebbe $50-75. Sig gen, $25. Modems? Bwahahahaha.

As far as the illiteracy thing, my two kids, 19 & 22, and my wife and I all text each other all the time. Great way to keep in touch during the day, and it's a ton of fun. Although my youngest just laughs at me because I'm so slow, even on my Blackberry. We all use some of the abbreviations, but it's more real words than not.

As far as actual writing...Standard American English is the only way, no matter how young.

I think the thing that bugs most people about the text-message style of writing isn't the style itself or even it's use between handheld devices. It's the fact that people (like the kid who posted the ad on CL) lack the judgement to determine appropriate vs. inappropriate situations for its' use... i.e that it's INAPPROPRIATE to use this abbreviated, grammatically incorrect style of writing when posting an ad, both because of the availability of a computer keyboard AND because of the ineffectiveness of this style with regard to the audience he was hoping to target. This type of mis-use may lead one to conclude that this is the only style of writing that this person (and by extension, his generation) has the ability to use, or at the very least, is comfortable using.

English communication skill forms a significant part of how I earn my living, and yet I use LOL, TOTL, and occasionally AFAIK and other abbreviated forms, in posts here on AK. :D I also use a lot of smilies! :yes: :thmbsp: :D

Such things are a part of modern communication style, and probably appropriate when posting online or especially when text messaging, using a small hand-held telephone where it may be difficult or time consuming to input full-length words, or where there are limitations on message length.

BUT they are not acceptable in a proper, full-length printed ad, article, letter, etc... where such limitations do not exist. Nor will they help anyone to sell anything more effectively.

And such non-words as "gonna", "coulda", "coz" and "prolly" are NEVER acceptable outside of very limited instances of written vernacular conversation (in quotation marks), IMO. { :D } They are not even a sign of laziness, just evidence (proof, really) of ignorance and illiteracy. I'm also bothered by people who should know better writing "Wa la!" instead of "voila!", and other common mis-spellings.

I don't always blame the youngsters who write a bit poorly, since at least some of the fault probably lies with their parents and teachers. But that does not entirely excuse them from at least TRYING to comply with the rules of English.

for those who type w/o any punktuation and just make run on sent ences that are hard 2 reed I have little patients AnD foR THOse wHo TYpe liKe tHis to HYde the FaKT tHaT thEy DonT KNow KaPItal EyEs AsHUn Or Punk-2-Ashun EitHEr, I have even less patience. There simply is no acceptable justification for such "writing".

Answering questions such as how to spell and use words properly, and how to fashion grammatically-correct sentences, is what dictionaries, reverse dictionaries, dictionaries of synonyms, thesauri, grammar textbooks, etc... and spell-checking software are for. Anyone with even just the most basic level of literacy can consult them and learn from them. There are also abundant resources for learning such things online, so there is really no excuse for someone today being unable to learn the basics, if they want to. It isn't as if the resources needed were in short supply, or hard for people to find.

The problem really lies with people who think they shouldn't need to learn the conventions of English; that "their way" is "as valid as anyone else's", because misguided adults have taught them that way, so as not to "damage their self-esteem". {Sheesh! :no:} I've even seen math teaching methods advocated where it is "a valid alternative answer, even if not the common one", to say 2 + 2 = 5. Teachers who accept "prolly" in a composition are essentially doing the same thing, and I'm sorry, but it is WRONG.

Of course, for non-native speakers, expectations are entirely different. One cannot and should not be critical of someone who has made the effort to learn some of another language, just because they haven't mastered it (yet)! "Ditto" for people with serious learning disabilities. I would cut them all the slack they need!

But for average Americans at the college level to be unable to write a simple sentence correctly, is shameful.

Disclaimer: This is my own opinion, and I am aware that others have differing opinions. There are those who will try to defend the things I've just said I find unacceptable. They will say that "prolly" is an acceptable word, and I'm just being a stick-in-the-mud. That is their right, just as it is my right to disagree with them. I'd rather not debate this; I'm just offering an opinion for anyone to consider. There are reasons why we have language conventions, and we should be extremely conservative about changing them, for valid reasons, but I don't want to write a book-length post, so I will not go into those reasons here.

I use LOL, TOTL, and occasionally AFAIK and other abbreviated forms, in ....

Yes, I fall into that camp too... but my abreviations are just that, abbreviations. If one expands the abbreviations, then a clear and grammatically correct sentence will result. Example "Model ST-xxxx was Sony's TOTL receiver of the day". I refrain from using "U" and "R U" just because come on, these are three letter words. Okay, it takes me one second more to type Y-O-U than U but that's a sacrifice I'm willing to make in the interest of maintaining the English language. I also don't use ROFL or any of its' permutations because I find the expression idiotic. LOL I can live with as it's expressive and saves a pile of characters typed on a tiny keypad.

There are reasons why we have language conventions, and we should be extremely conservative about changing them, for valid reasons

You have hit the nail on the head. We follow conventions because it fosters understanding and gives everyone a common platform via which to communicate. Bastardizing the language to serve a select few does not benefit the many who depend on it as a vehicle for clear, concise information exchange.

And such non-words as "gonna", "coulda", "coz" and "prolly" are NEVER acceptable outside of very limited instances of written vernacular conversation (in quotation marks), IMO. { } They are not even a sign of laziness, just evidence (proof, really) of ignorance and illiteracy. I'm also bothered by people who should know better writing "Wa la!" instead of "voila!", and other common mis-spellings.




...and anyone who has access to literature has no excuse for the drooling crap that so many use as "language". I don't blame the NEA (much) or the parents when an 18 year old can't communicate in English. I don't care whose "fault" it is , it's your responsibility now.

All that abbreviated language (LOL, TTYL, etc) isn't necessarily bad. Keep in mind, most people use those abbreviations when texting on phones (you know, with the tiny 10 different keys). If you had to type out "laugh out loud" instead of LOL on one of those keyboards, you'd like the abbreviations.

Still, for Craigslist, I'm hoping the person had access to a real keyboard. I mean, really, digging stuff out of the dump, putting it aside, pulling out a phone, and posting an ad from a phone keyboard for something you haven't even taken home yet? If the person had access to a real keyboard, he/she should type normally for 2 reasons.
1. The people who look at the ads who have that kind of money (and know what the machines do) are adults, who won't understand the abbreviated, slang type language.
2. He's already charging a ripoff price, which puts off some customers. He doesn't need to put off more by writing in abbreviations that most people have a hard time deciphering.

Anyway, back on topic. The things are ripoffs at that price, but if you can convince him to lower his price (to less than 5% of the original price), you might get a deal.

I'll grab extrusion case modems every time.

They make excellent project enclosures.

Best part about all of this is that my Mom works at the high school in Hilton. Umm... this ad makes a lot of sense when you hear some of the stories that she has told me.

Well you could say starting out with a high asking price gives you a strong bargaining position when some poor soul comes along showing interest in your product providing you have time to wait for him or her to show up. But when you don't know, like, wtf your product is... u's can throw tat "levrage" out da windo

Kidz grammer iz fail LOL

Well I just told off someone on yahoo answers for typing like that. To clean it up for this forum, I basically said no one's gonna answer her question (I seriously could not follow the damn thing) if she doesn't speak english. So she added details in english, and I answered her question.
(and the way I told her off, let's just say I'd be surprised if i don't get banned from yahoo answers LOL... in case none of you noticed, I have a very vulgar vocabulary, and I cuss like a drunk trucker)

I text all the time, and so do all my friends. We're all in our early 20s, and no one I know texts like that.
maybe texting like that is more of a teen thing. Or maybe it's because all my friends are from the country, and we have more intelligence than to type like that.