Posts by Herby

A backdoor for one...

...is a backdoor for all.

Moral of the story:

Can you keep a secret?

So can I!

Older stuff WAS simplier...

Back when I first got a microwave oven (late 1970's) it had 3 controls. First one was a small power level know, that usually was at 100%. The second was a nice logarithmic time control (the first minute was about as much space as the distance from 30-35 minutes) that was a nice round dial linked to a mechanical timer. The third was a nice button that basically started the whole process, that ended with a nice 'ding' at the end.

I have been looking for a microwave oven that has similar simple controls ever since. I haven't seen any, as somehow marketing droids have seen fit to encumber the panels with more and more buttons and displays ever since.

The only saving grace is the "Easy Minute" button on my current microwave oven that you can thankfully press multiple times to get nice even minute increments on cook time. I consider all the other buttons a big waste of time and effort.

Yes, I long for simpler days.

Jokes??

I remember that one version of make had a cookie (easily recreated in the Makefile):

sh-3.2$ make love

Process 1 IS complicated.

That is the main problem. With different processes you get different results. For all its faults, SysV init and RC scripts was understandable to some extent. My (cursory) understanding of systemd is that it appears more complicated to UNDERSTAND than the init stuff.

The init scripts are nice text scripts which are executed by a nice well documented shell (bash mostly). Systemd has all sorts of blobs that somehow do things and are totally confusing to me. It suffers from "anti-kiss"

Perhaps a nice book could be written WITH example to show what is going on.

Now let's see does audio come before or after networking (or at the same time)?

Microsoft will truly endorse Linux...

...when you see Word or Excel running on it.

As I really doubt that is going to happen, I will continue to use LibreOffice.

Sorry!

Ely (Cathedral)??

While I haven't seen the Ely Cathedral, I Have been to Ely, Nevada.

Word to wise: Just gas (petrol) up and pass through. It is the original inspiration for the phrase "Nothing to see here, please move along".

Names ARE curious.

Crumbs...??

It is people like this (who pay their people little) that cause loons like Nancy Pelosi cause to celebrate with silly comments. I also note that he supports such causes all while keeping the $$$.

Well in some cases, yes crumbs (*SIGH*).

Stating the obvious...

The only people who actually make out in a class action lawsuit are THE LAWYERS. Perhaps something should be done about this. Maybe the lawyer's fee out a single class participant. So, they get 33% of the $1.00 settlement. That would work for me!

Computing power...

Of course, one might try using a Raspberry Pi for the computing, as it has close to the same power as an original VAX.

The prices for computing power have come down a bit over the years.....

As for data, good old nine track tape in 2400 foot reels works on just about any reader that can mount the tape.

He forgot the most important thing...

He should have printed up a "Get out of Jail Free" card and mailed it to the guy inside. People have been let out for less.

Sadly these don't work for stays in the "Big House", they look at ALL the paperwork.

There should be a few rules for SO

1) RTFM

2) Have you tried a search engine

3) Think about it for a day or so.

4) Did you look at old answers in Stack Overflow?

5) You might have a reasonable question, so ask it. Please be brief and concise. Check your spelling grammar as well.

You're Welcome.

Dual use??

Maybe the beer should be only dispensed in the afternoon (for various times of "afternoon"). Then it might produce coffee and crumpets (doughnuts in USA) in the AM hours.

Elevators?

I wonder what the proper procedure for elevator phones is. My parents house has a small (two story) elevator, and it has a nice phone inside the elevator car. There is NO WAY I'm going to have anything other that a proper POTS line serving the phone. If power goes out (the elevator gets stuck), you will need to summon help to get "rescued". My 99 year old mom can easily reach for the phone and call for help. A VoIP phone WILL NOT DO! I refuse to put one in for this service. I have my doubts about others in this circumstance would wither.

Promises, Promises...

Elon Musk needs to start a Broadway Play. Given his hype he might even make money if it fails. Or not.

Yes, there is video...

It is all over the local news here. Yes, every local channel that has a news organization (at least 5) has it on the air. Lots of cop cars visible in the coverage.

More at 6 & 11 pm (as they say).

Then I bump up one channel and get Jerry Springer. What a contrast.

This reminds me of...

A conversation I had with an early Intel employee (before he went to Intel). He said something along the lines of "I was all for that healthy food stuff, but when they said that a barbecued steak was bad for you, that when I gave up".

Hi, meh (jr).

Health and Safety...???

I'm a bit surprised that H&S hasn't invaded. They might limit the speed to 80 kph for the entire track just to be "safe".

On the other hand, if you want to go "full computer", just give all the drivers an Xbox/Playstation and let it go from there. Animate for TV coverage.

Probably not, but it could happen. Lots of reasons one might be "for the environment" or something as silly.

You will get desert.....

When you eat your vegetables.

(or something similar)

If you don't know who the sucker is...

...It is probably you.

This applies in Poker as well as online stuff. One must be very aware.

Note to self: Don't use the self service checkouts unless you get a discount.

Lesson learned...

This is a general comment about lessons learned. If the "cost" of the failure is large, it is a lesson learned quite thoroughly. If the "cost" is minimal, you gloss over it and learn it many times before it sinks in. When it comes to backups, the initial "cost" is quite small and the lesson isn't learned, but when it becomes "large" it is like being hit on the head with a 2x4.

So goes human nature (*SIGH*).

The real question(s)...

How long did it take to discover the problem?

Which begs another question:

What took them so long?

Inquiring minds need to know!

There are alternatives...

Postfix comes to mind. Of course sendmail doesn't.

All of this comes to "pick your poison".

Mail IS difficult, and is best left to what some call "experts".

Obvious solution...

Require all employees to wear (bicycle) helmets when near the building.

Me? I would have the helmet concession at the entrance. A 'third party opportunity".

All this talk of monitor resolutions...

Has me thinking of people comparing their anatomy to each other, or at least bragging about it. Sure my monitor isn't that big, but for most things it really doesn't need to be.

My last job, I used a very nice iMac that allowed me to have a nice 50 lines with 80 characters on each nicely displayed on the monitor. For programming that is pretty good, and a long way from the 24x80 CRT terminals I used many moons ago.

I guess for the most part it is all relative. Lots of people want "bigger" even if they don't use it. In fact those that want it the most are usually the ones who don't actually use the big expanses of screen real estate (like many PHB's).

Don Martin reference...

Wonderful.

As for a BOFH production, wouldn't there be a different "boss" each episode. Kinda like _The Prisoner_ with interchangeable #2's.

As for beer, I remember a lunch break where four of us went to the local road house and we went through 3 pitchers of beer. I remember that I was the one that drank the least, and my head was spinning and the others "appeared" to be sober. Thankfully for all of us said road house (which is no longer there) was walking distance and they don't give WUI's (Walking under the influence) out.

Thankfully, I live in sillycon valley...

Sure Radio Shack (Tandy) has all but disappeared, but we do have Fry's Electronics (they also sell refrigerators) and a couple of surplus stores that actually sell components.

Many moons ago, we did have Zack electronics (Palo Alto), but they went away in the early 80's just when Fry's was taking off. Sadly with the way things are built these days, we all strive for "instant gratification", and it is never soon enough. We buy and discard on a daily basis, and don't have time for the act of putting something together. That knowledge is hidden in the macro items we buy.

Such a shame.

Ten minutes??

I'm surprised that anyone here in the USA has an attention span that long. Perhaps that is why news stories (and commercials) are short. I remember back in my youth that commercials were ONE minute long, and we could take breaks from TV watching to use the facilities. Now we have five second intros to YouTube videos that are all pretty short.

Yes, our minds are turning to mush.

Just remember...

Lying in and of itself doesn't get you in trouble.

Getting caught lying usually does.

Then there are BOFH disciples. Neither applies.

Pay no attention...

...to the man behind the curtain.

Speech is noise if you don't understand it. And Vice-versa.

Begs the question...

How much does it cost to mine bitcoin? Can it be done at a profit?

Inquiring minds want to know.

On AC and condensate

Many moons ago, I was traveling (for work actually) with a work companion in of all places Tyler Texas, where the motel rooms had occupancy sensors on the thermostats to "economize". Of course this was totally unacceptable as we wanted to return from our outings to a reasonably cool room rather than sweat it out while the AC attempted to cool things down in glacial time.

Our solution was to open up the thermostat and "bypass" (I believe it involved a screwdriver adjustment) the motion sensor. This meant that we slept comfortably at night and came back to a nicely cool room after the days outing. When we did come back, we noticed that the condensate which drained from the AC onto the exterior walkway looked like a river for our room, but the other rooms had barely a trickle. We just smiled and carried on.

Yes, Tyler Texas in the summer is both hot and humid.

No need to be part of the gunpowder plot, this was back in the 80's and the company is long gone.

Fool...Money...

Soon parted. To me it seems that fools are the ones who dabble in Bitcoin. Given a chance, it can be rigged, and the mining is mostly a zero sum game when you consider energy costs (at least in the USA).

Sorry, I'm not using my machine to heat the house, especially since it is a nice balmy 65 degrees (F) outside. Winter is over.

Maybe that is the reason the value tanked. Winter is over (mostly) and nicer weather is around the corner, and soon we switch on the air conditioning. Sounds as good as any other excuse for the value of Bitcoin.

Wasn't VMS...

The pattern used for Windows NT. It was my understanding (I could be wrong though) that the head of VMS development went on to Microsoft to do Windows NT development.

Of course this explains Windows problems, etc...

Just waiting...

For one of the fondleslabs to go "total inability to perform usual service" right in the middle of next Sunday's Super Bowl. You will see a vivid demonstration of frustration with said device. If this happens, the words "extreme prejudice" will be the least of the problems.

If it happens to more than one on the sideline something close to a volcanic eruption will take place.

To mitigate this I strongly suspect that the fondleslabs will be very well tested. Then again, you never know.

Then there is another way...

I recently got a nice email that said that the people sending it have my keylogging and know that I have surfed porn. They won't tell if I send some bitcoin.

Thankfully I just ignored it as I knew it was untrue. On the other hand I suspect there are people out there who have fallen for it. At least there are no infections to deal with. Of course given the amount of infected email I come across (and ignore), it is but a small blessing.

Possible word to wise...

El Reg is really on top of things. Be well advised to monitor it closely.

Look, if Vulture Central is being noted in the WSJ, it must be doing something right.

Can't say much for Chipzilla Intel or others. Some genetic diversity in chip designs might be something to strive for. Of course I long for 68k processors, but that is another story.

Dude...

Where's my car...

Not far off, as one might think. We will soon have autonomous vehicles, and after you "park" and go into the pub, you whip out your smartphone app and ask the vehicle to meet you at the front door. I see all sorts of problems here, including getting the wrong car (probably the same make).

Of course if it is the boss's car, there are all sorts of BOFH scenarios available (sorry about that cliff/river).