OK I'm very confused now about AC

dc is just ac working at zero Hz. The only way you can really figure things out is by understanding the frequency domain or Bode-plots.

McC

Less sophisticated users, who are often younger, can now access usenet using google groups. Also, they are used to the etiquette on web based discussion boards, which is very different.

Welcome to the future. Once the general public was let onto usenet, many of the prior users, mainly academics, migrated to using invitation only mailing lists.

It's there to short out any AC that sneaks through :)

a pulsed or switched DC signal has an AC component (fourier transforms and all that)

DC suppliees are much simpler to interface with DC hardware, you're unlikely to need one soon enought for it to matteer and they only cost a couple of bucks.

That's an oxymoronic concept and there is no such thing like you describe except for fetishists possibly. The subject matter is usually specialized enough for the mailing list to be self-exclusive, and of course moderation is much easier.

I don't know about everyone else here, but I quit using trn because my new computer has graphics.

Uhh... but your computer don't have M$ Outlook? or Netscape? or Opera? If you're not used to usenet yet DONT USE GOOGLE GROUPS. It gives you the wrong impression of what usenet is. Use outlook or pick one of the freeware news readers:

And please, don't use the "Reply" button on google. The CORRECT way is show_options->Reply

I personally use google groups only because the search feature is excellent (even faster than my newsreader).

I've been on usenet since before there was a world wide web, so I kind of have a feel for what it's all about. I just prefer google groups because it's already available on every computer on the internet, and it's nice and clean. And certainly more reliable than outlook or opera. But anyway, I just thought the thread about newbies using google was entertaining. If you could make someone else use your favorite news reader, you could probably make them stop using the internet altogether; wouldn't that be simpler?

Thanks for the tip. My first encounter with USENET was 10 years ago when I first got onto the Internet via AOL and I didn't pay much attention to USENET afterwards. Up until recently, I had no idea what the difference or what the point was with USENET versus other BBS boards on the Net.

they are still in nappies

martin

And yet you still don't quote for your replies? I thought you didn't quote your replies because you're not used to usenet. But if what you're saying is true then it can only mean you're deliberately being rude to usenet users.

Please don't use the Reply button on google. Instead, click show_options and then click Reply in the options header.

Of course since you already know that "usenet is just like email and that not everyone gets all posts so It's only polite to quote the previous post in your reply so people can follow the discussion or understand what you're replying to" then I don't need to explain it to you.

Ha, that is like telling people, 10 years ago, "if you're not used to the internet, DON'T USE AOL. It gives the wrong impression of what the internet is." :-)

While it may be sound advice, it will not stem the tide of millions.

Mark (who uses "show options" - "Reply" in Google groups)

Another thing I like about google groups is that I can see all the original messages and replies organized as a tree, so it doesn't matter if we don't repeat the same quotes over and over again.

IIRC, trn used to do the same thing about 20 years ago. That's why usenet articles have ID's and references. I can't help it if whatever you've been using to get on usenet is broken, or if your news server is too cheap to hold messages for more than three days.