A couple of months ago, Pendragon sent me an email asking about Hal Itosis because Hal hadn't been seen here for awhile. I replied that Hal usually goes away for a bit at this time of year. By this time, I expected him to return. Does anyone know anything about him?

I, too, have been wondering about Hal - for a while - because if he was on his regular summer hiatus, he's long past due.

If you recall, though, the last time he posted, back in April I think it was, long before his hiatus regularly started, he was, well, pretty darned grumpy.

I reeeally hope he's OK!

Y'know, on second thought, I think his hiatus used to run late, possibly even into October...fingers crossed.

Some time ago I set out to answer that very question, simply by going back and registering the beginning and end dates of his hiatus. In the 5 years before 2012 he invariably left late June, to return (variably) in September:

2012, left 03/29, returned 09/??
2011, left 06/29, returned 09/13
2010, left 06/28, returned 09/03
2009, left 06/27, returned 09/03 (MFIF closed on 08/04, Hal registered @ FTMF on 09/03)
2008, left 06/27, returned 09/08?* We're all doomed! [Lounge, Page #7]
2007, left 06/26, returned 09/12 Belgian Pale Ales [Lounge, Page #14]
2006, left 07/12, returned 09/22 Who's Hot? Who's Cool? [Lounge, Page #20]

Hal uses his handle elsewhere too, but so far his hiatuses there have matched the ones at FineTunedMac and MacFixIt. This year's starting date was 3 months early, and I hope his return will not be 3 months late as well. Most importantly, I hope he's well, and not too discombobulated with our attention here...

*) the MFIF Archive search function seems limited to 200 returns; shows last post listed in Summer.

It's now Oct. 16 and no word from Hal. Does anyone know his real name and how to contact him? Do the mods have his email address?

I sent him an email this morning.

Thanks, Cyn. Please keep us informed.

Hal is alive and well. Sounds like we could see him back here some time in November.

Good to hear. Thanks for checking.

Wonderful news! I'm looking forward to having him around again.

Ditto!

That is a relief.

It was one of Hal's postings in the original, now un-nameable forums that gave me the courage to use Terminal for the first time.

-rsrc

A bit late but perhaps still helpful: how about .rsrc?

Are you saying that Hal's real name is Tony Smith?

Or Bruce Horn?.......or, he's the storage of system-related data in a format that requires the rest of us to have less memory?

You guys look way too far. Let me spell it out: Hal's (like) a resource.

Whew! I was afraid you were suggesting that Hal's a forked resource.

No, but he may look the part lately...

Although Virtual's post referenced the Terminal command ditto's -rsrc option, not the .rsrc file extension...

While you're clearly right about the correct provenance of -rsrc, I believe that the result of preserving the resource fork in question is the same (or close enough) as the one I offered above.

I hope that you don't mean that anything bad has happened...

No, I didn't mean anything of the sort, if only because I have no information at all about Hal's whereabouts or condition. Cyn's post above is all I know.

I'm bumping this thread to the top. Does anybody have any information about Hal?

The silence is deafening!

True, but that's because it reflects our collective knowledge of the matter.

On the other hand, though:
and

cyn's failure to follow up is the "deafening silence" to which I was specifically referring.

I'm sure cyn can speak for herself, but given the lack of additional information (which is Hal's choice), did you expect her to issue a periodic statement to that effect?

Periodic? Not at all, but considering that she's been in contact with Hal, even a "No further information" response to one of Jon's posts, as opposed to ominous silence, would have been considerate.

As one who doesn't have any information about Hal, I took this question at face value: I don't have any information about Hal (nor do I know anyone else here who does), and am thus disqualified from answering. I'm guessing you took it to mean, "can anybody who might reasonably be conjectured to have information about Hal, if any is available, let us know that they don't have such information if indeed they don't?"

Pursuant to that interpretation, since I number myself among those "who might reasonably be conjectured to have information about Hal, if any is available"—having undertaken to maintain contact between this motley crew and him on a previous occasion or two—I should be judged to have been as inconsiderate as cyn.

Therefore, my apologies!

I must confess, though, that this whole line of reasoning strikes me as unduly dependent upon the assumption that others share your particular sensibilities as respects reading between the lines. Perhaps an explicit question directed to cyn—she is, after all, in the thread—would have been more straightforward?

Excellent! Professor Irwin Corey couldn't have said it better.



(Considered together with alternaut's last post, your blather suggests that cyn is no longer paying attention.)

I did a Google search and came up with this reference to Hal dated April 26, 2013 (look at the Reviews/Comments tab). Is this the same Hal? Is his real name Evan François? I googled Evan François and came up with this obituary. The man died before Hal's last post at FTM but I seem to recall that Hal had mentioned that his father had died and didn't want any expressions of condolence.

Been there, done that. And yes, E.F. sure looks like 'our' Hal. Assuming it's him, he has been slow and picky in returning his attention to his previous haunts (as per Google). Bottom line, though, he knows where to find this forum, and he will visit if he feels like it. Or not, as the case may be. Meanwhile, he's missed.

I actually had cause to respond to Hal's comment about Cookie, and I mentioned that he's missed...no details; we'll see...

At Hal's request, I'm forwarding his best wishes to the entire FTM crew.

I'm happy to report that he sounds like he's in far better spirits than he was in when we last heard from him.

Thanks for posting that, Artie. I miss him but I'm happy that he's alive and well.

Thanks Artie, I noticed that too. Good thing he 'likes cookies'.