Posts by Fatman

Re: When did the United States go totally insane?

The day Trump was elected.!

Re: "What is wrong with these people?"

They formulate their responses by the use of the Bull Shit Bingo app.

RE: Quantum Fireball

I had one of those once back in the late 90's. (https://www.cnet.com/products/quantum-fireball-540-1080-hard-drive-545-mb-fast-scsi/specs/)

I used it to replace a 10 year old Micropolis that locked up.

Re: QA's Fault?

a more plausible scenario:

Low level code monkey: "Look here, this loop doesn't add up anything, it just sets the value to the last one parsed."

Low level PHB: "Hmm! Let's see! You're right"

LLCM: "Why didn't QA catch this?"

LLPHB: "I will have to take this up with my superior."

....

LLPHB: "One of my code monkeys caught this (pointing out the mistake), and wants to know why QA didn't catch it"

Mid level PHB: "We don't have a QA department any more"

LLPHB: "Why??"

MLPHB: "The C-suites needed to make some aggressive quarterly numbers, and had to cut costs. QA was one of them."

LLPHB: "Well, then, what do i tell the LLCM??"

MLPHB: "FIRE HIM!!!!"

LLPHB: "Why?"

MLPHB: "Somebody has to be the scapegoat, do you want to be?"

LLPHB: "NO!"

MLPHB: "And nor do I. And you know the C-suites are not taking the fall, either!"

...

LLPHB and a couple of security guards approach the low level code monkey.

LLPHB: "Your services are no longer required, security is here to escort you from the premises."

LLCM: "W-T-F!!!!???????

Re: Extremists!

<quote>87.9MHz FM is right there at the longest wavelength that a consumer FM radio can receive! </quote>

NOT always true.

I had an analog tuner that would go all of the way down to below 87.0 MHz, in fact, it was capable of picking up a (US TV) channel 6's audio.

So perhaps you are thinking of those digital ones.

<quote>It'd be nice if fdisk / ghost / the bios / all these types of programs identified the drives a bit more clearly , admittedly i cant think how...</quote>

My PC does that, by identifying the drives by manufacturer and serial number.

Tampered?

<quote>"AMD also tries to guarantee that its Pro devices leave the factory untampered"</quote>

<comment>So they can't for the non-pro? That is a little scary.</comment>

Perhaps it is part of the cost trade off????

In Soviet Canada

Their flag is mainly red.

Re: Way Back...

<quote>Talk about mindfuckery.</quote>

Once, back some 30 years ago when I was a sparky, I was wiring a custom built home, and the owner wanted to ability to convert any bedroom outlet into a 'switched one'.

My helper (assistant) stated that it can't be done.

I knew better, and told that yoof to pay attention.

From the wall switch, I ran a 3 wire (plus ground - earth for you on the other side of the pond) from the swicth to the first outlet, and then from there looping to each outlet in the room. In the USofA, three wire cable colors are green - ground (earth), white - neutral, black (usually the """hot""" wire) and red - which is what I used for the switched outlet. I then called in the owners and laid it out for them. All outlets get both the green and white wires, the green one going to the green terminal on the outlet, and the white one to the silver terminal. Now, if you want the entire outlet hot, connect the black wire to the brass colored terminal and cap off the red; if you want the entire outlet switched, then connect the red wire to the brass colored terminal and cap off the black.

Only if you want one half hot and the other half switched, must you break the tab that joins the two halves together, and put the black one on the half you want hot all of the time, and the red on the half that you want switched. Each outlet can be set up independently of the others, but all switched outlets are controlled by the wall switch. I even drew a diagram for them.

Yoof was impressed. He had only seen the way switch controlled outlets were done with running a two wire cable from the switched outlet to the wall switch (one of the two wires being hot and the other one being the switched return.

For his education, I made him pay for drinks on the way home.

Re: Lock makers that you can trust?

<quote>...to have an outward opening door...</quote>

One of the disadvantages of an outward swinging door is that the hinge pins are exposed. Unless you have tamper resistant hinges, removing the hinge pins is very easy to do.

Re: We live in a world...

<quote> We live in a world... where it's become ingrained to measure things only by profit.</quote>

You mean that you do not grasp the basics of business??

Customers exist only to be "milked" for revenue.

Re: The cloud

<quote>You do know that in-house IT systems fail from time to time as well, right?</quote>

yes, we do.

But, and this is a huge but, you know exactly who to scream at, and who needs to get 'kicked in the nuts'.

If manglement does not provide the funding to achieve business continuity in the name of increasing the executive bonus pool; then some manglement asses need to be kicked to the curb when foreseeable events occur.

RE: may have a whole range of new functions

More likely, you wake up in the morning after an OTA update to find features that you paid good money for are gone.

How many of you have had experiences where a product or service that must phone home in order to work, stops working because the vendor pulled the plug.

For my ex-gf it was Microsoft's Plays For Sure, boy, did she get screwed!!!! (and she used to complain that I was a Luddite because I always insisted on a physical medium for media purchases.)

Re: Amicable separation?

<quote>When folks in Texas clamor for secession, here in New Jersey a typical response is, "Works for me."</quote>

Perhaps you have not noticed the recent reporting about Russian backed 'troll accounts' spouting this bullshit.

Please step back a bit and take a look at the Bigger Picture:

WHO would benefit from polarization and want to sow discord in the USofA???

Putin.

Perhaps you have forgotten about: Divide and Conquer?????

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Divide_and_rule

Re: Surprised

<quote>"installs servers that look like radiators into domiciles. The residents get free heat"</quote>

Nothing new here! Many a radio or TV station located in the colder climates often used 'heat exchange' to dump the waste heat from their tube ('valve' for those of you on that side of the pond) transmitters into their studio facilities during the winter. Hey it is free heat after all!!!!

Re: Outlook/Lookout

<quote>Notlook is what we called it when we used it... and for the other MS train wreck we called it Outbreak Express... Fun times!</quote>

You forgot the other train wreck: Internet Exploder.

Re: RE: But what harm came from releasing pictures of bomb fragments?

<quote>Not corporate policy That does not increase shareholder value. Sorry.</quote>

FTFY!

Re: Equifax - so everyone has given up fighting crappy 3rd party scripts?

Then you most likely have never heard of NoScript.

One way to deal with third party scripts.

Re: I keep telling people

<quote>There's only so much spectrum to pass around.</quote>

Quite right!!!

Now, if those greedy telco/cableco monopolies really wanted spectrum, they would provide ALL residents in their service area OTA TV for free in exchange for the TV frequencies in the UHF band in their service area.

But they won't do it.

And you are right, it will probably take more masts and smaller cells to cover an area, and then NIMBY sets in. "Can't have those GAWD-awful masts next door, it will ruin my property values."

Re: Really? It's not a joke.

<quote>Distraction is more important than a discussion on citizens having an ability to have a say in, or even decide, the laws under which they live.</quote>

Otherwise known as Page 2 in the 'Donald Trump' version of "How to Run Ruin a Country".

Most recent example - tweeting about (North American) football players who kneel instead of stand for the Pledge of Allegiance; instead of whipping FEMA into gear, and sorting out the logistical nightmares that plague Puerto Rico and other US possessions affected by those damn hurricanes.