* Posts by Tcat

45 publicly visible posts • joined 27 Feb 2015

Canadian sniper makes kill shot at distance of 3.5 KILOMETRES

Tcat

Re: Am I being stupid, or does this paragraph have something missing?

Welcome to VooDoo

Air pressure, temperature, wind and direction, Humidity ... Sound or RF? It's all a SWAG (Scientific Wild Ass Guess).

Tcat

Re: It does

Gawd. I don't want to sound sexist...

Look up the IRS (USA) classification of "computer" in the 1940's.

It was woman that did calculations for the military.

Neroscience suggests men and woman brains have different wiring.

Donald Trumped: Comey says Prez is a liar – and admits he's a leaker

Tcat

Re: What kind of spy

As best I understand, you are referring to WIRE tap law. Fed (Title law) allows Wire Tap to be permitted with one party consent. Revised Code of Washington (RCW) requires 2 party consent. NOTE: Wire ... I can record (and do) nose to nose chats to Cover My Ass (ets).

Microsoft totters from time machine clutching Windows 10 Workstation

Tcat

MAYBE (thanks MSFT) I sent a correction...

NO. NT 4 had the 1st version of NTFS (.sys) which blew up regular and often.

NT4 did a Read Only of HPFS which was the standard all the way through NT 3.5.1

V1 (NTFS 4) blew balls. It did however give me fab vacation $$ as a consultant.

Cloud students, pay attention! Exam plans promise fresh skills

Tcat
FAIL

Watered Down and too slow

I believe Steve has it half right with watered down. Steve, you didn't address change. AWS and Azure change faster than some folks change underwear.

CompTIA is looking to make Cloud+ LOL. It will go the way of iNet+ My Exam Prep for the latter is a Good book. Too bad the exam landed like a lead balloon.

Windows 10 love to see PC market grow again. Future iPhone to be clear. Elvis to re-appear

Tcat
IT Angle

It's all computers. I use Mac. I use iPad. I use Win 10. I use a Lumia 950XL.

I *need* Win 10 desktop for certain apps that don't fly elsewhere.

I use Win 10 mobile Because of the .2% market share. It is rather tough and nobody targets

a device with a fraction of a % of market share for ransom (and replaceable battery, 250GB SDcard, switch SIM's in 1 minute as I change countries...)

None of it is perfect. IT was all designed by imperfect people.

Yes, I have an iPhone too... Wonder where I left it in the home? Cupertino County jail it felt like.

Far out: Dark matter bridges millions of light-years long spotted between galaxies

Tcat
Alert

I think I would need DMT to get the concept.

It's 30 years ago: IBM's final battle with reality

Tcat

Re: Too much credit

Give the man a cigar!

Exactly, I was a next door neighbor (business wise) to SCP in Tukwilla WA on Industrial Blvd.

I may add someday to the L/PM discussion of Mr. Gary not giving a crap about Intel CPUs

and the transfer to SCP of L/PM and move to SCP which SCP used for an early version of AutoCAD

@ 25K USD for a station,

PDP-10 enthusiasts resurrect ancient MIT operating system

Tcat

yup. And C/PM as well. The first time I tried it, it took so long, I thought the computer locked up.

Google loses Android friends with Pixel exclusivity

Tcat

Re: Windows Mobile?

Yeah I love 10 Mobile. 1) I don't feel like I'm in Curpettino jail. 2) There mistakes have saved a bundle of bucks. I got a new unlocked 950 XL for < $300 USD landed. OTA keeps It relevant. Cortorna works better than Seri, Google Now and Alexia.

Really what's not to like about saving on the mistakes of a large company?

I need !how many apps? I got maps, Netflix, even. Chemical Periodic Table. So the millions of apps don't matter to me. I cannot use millions. I own about 700 in the MS store.... most as promoted give aways.

The last advantage is nobody wants to try to hack a mobile device with less than a <3% share...

Oh, technically, it's damn efficient too... Yes I have an iPhone (nice, and not as capable) as my Lumia 1020's. <41 megapixel with Zeiss lens, and xexon flash tube>, (battery whore on video) needs camera grip adapters.... and again, buying at discounted..... I'm enjoying MSFT mistakes for years.... need a new AC adapter for my CDMA and GSM Lumia 2520's. They are superior to my iPad 4. At a fraction of the cost.

The Steve Jobs of supercomputers: We remember Seymour Cray

Tcat

My 3 Deamons

For my mid-life crisis I went to IT Training.

EMI RFI and static we're a minute zero center when real training began.

I remember in irony, the police car RADIO trigging the stereo store burglar alarm

(when parked on one building side), DSU/CSU mortally wounded because

the power vacuum met the data cable. OR the ID10T that ran CAT 3

inside an elevator shaft in active duty.

and the poor sod that was so naturally static creating in his office,

I found him a tech anti static mat and to this day, I keep in good service

a pair of Birkenstocks with ESD built into the heel.

Junk patent ditched in EAST TEXAS

Tcat
Thumb Up

RE:

Almost perfect.

Yes, it was A-T.

It was not Dbase. It was Dbase 2.

The important difference here is the 2

It could have open TWO (2) Different files

in full R/W mode.

OK kids. Laugh your asses off, now.

Your grandchildren will skewer you in the full measure of time.

For the historians... Think about this.

Having the capability of addressing Millions of records

In say, SALES and INVENTORY at the same time,

and the ability to deduct a unit in real-time

and record the sale.

I said 2 R/W files. So, you could READ more than 2 (client data)

Please remember, we're doing on this on 100,000 Instructions per second on

the IBM 5150 (Models B and Z). So, moon shot grade shit here.

Later, the mini based CDI 1000 database was ported now

to CDI 100 on the 5150. Gawd the small team was too

Exhausted to party when in config.sys you could enter

files=99

and have 90+ R/W files open at once.

<remember you still needed I/O for

keyboard, monitor, and that 30 character per second Hayes

Async modem>.

Disney's light-bulb moment: build TCP into LEDs for IoT comms

Tcat

Re: Flickering?

Others have at least got binary transmission done via household LED lights. The pulse pattern for even 1 kilobit/sec would be far beyond the human eye to detect the flicker.

Microsoft: Thanks, Google, we'll have your media codec for Edge

Tcat

Re: All together now...

I know its difficult to accept, and there is a new world order of thinking...

High-heeled hacker builds pen-test kit into her skyscraper shoes

Tcat
Meh

I've never been sure if that was meant as a blessing or a curse

Yes.

'I don't recognise Amazon as a bullying workplace' says Bezos

Tcat

Re: Interview Experience ~ It's a cluture thing, really.

Your comment to me, nails it.

My history in SEA is tech from Vietnam, leaving post 9/11.

Before MS started changing Puget Sound the city culture was Boeing.

All those shinny things that fly from the 707 through the 747, made here

Plus military stuff.

Occasionally overtime however the place was called The Lazy B Ranch

Contrast this to when Microsoft was becoming MFST.

I would go to the REI outlet store and buy all my friends the same thing:

A sleeping bag to keep under their desk.

Samsung phablet phrenzy brings mobile payments into the age of WIRELESS TAPE

Tcat

dirt is the enemy

I've worked P.O.S. (and more than a little NFC)

My shopping habits are based on how clean the reader

Is for everything from ATM to food.

Readers with debris on the read head are a nuisance.

Some merchants get it, others don't.

I shop with the ones that do.

NASA primed for 9-minute live test of mighty rocket motor

Tcat

Re: Let's use a reusable engine... once!

I see you DO understand!

It's Pork when it is funding a project. That is unless it's in MY District.

Then its economic growth and research.

So glad you get it.

ITC: Seagate and LSI can infringe Realtek patents because Realtek isn't in the US

Tcat
Meh

Re: Simple answer... and no secret

There is a particular town in East Texas

That has numerous offices for some large International firms.

Each company employees 2 or 3 people.

How interesting this town also hosts a US District Circuit Court House.

A court that currently has taken away from the State of Louisiana the reputation of

Being most friendly/unfriendly, depends on your viewpoint.

I used to think Louisiana took the book, so to speak, being based on Napolitano Law, not the Crown like the other 49 states. In it's day it was pro 'shrinkwrap law'.

Shinkwrap law wen like this: The terms and conditions of you buying (leasing/renting?) my software has terms and conditions. When you break the plastic, you agreed to the T&C. However you couldn't know what the T&C's we're until you accepted them.

You didn't like that? Tough Tittie for you.

This IMO, reflects the double edge sword of being one of the freest nations on earth. We're really free to engage the game of Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap via the law.

Typewriters suck. Yet we're infinitely richer for those irritating machines

Tcat

1987? We had the Internet

IIRC, in 1987 my email address was

716024@compuserve.com

Missing was the GUI and hyperlink of Tim Burns-Lee with WWW

Tcat

RE: boy in typing class

Lady teacher, all girls.

I'm the token boy and left handed.

For some unknown reason, my instructor

Held me to a different standard. Much harsher grading than the others.

I presumed I supposed to be 'better' because of my gender.

Tcat

Card striping

My red marker became my closest buddy.

Dropping a deck of cards in a chaotic Army office

Was not very unusual.

Tcat

Blue Fingers, Today!

OH no. Last time I checked,

Mexican law does not ACK electronic copy.

Carbon paper is in heavy use there.

I found out going for a long term visa.

Texas senator Ted Cruz serves up sizzling 'machine gun bacon'

Tcat

Re: Jesus

Come on guys, us Americans like a free circus freak show as much as our cousins across the pond.

We can't do Speakers Square because we're too much real estate. So we put it on the boob tube.

I'm in the Pacific NW, and it's wet a lot, like London. So we do some circus acts indoors, much like The House of Commons does?

Tcat

Re: The gun or the senator?

Clearly, you have never tested an AR-15 or M-16. Certainly one of the best light weapons ever made (although more $ than that spray and pray AK).

As it generally acknowledged as fact, I think that removes one of two choices.

Want to download free AV software? Don't have a Muslim name

Tcat

A Rose by any other name

I feel for the guy. I'm US (Army) vet with the first name of Tcat. (T CAT).

Every couple years Quora bounces me for not using my Real Name

However I will say the double edge has helped me nip in the bud, trouble.

Anytime I hear "What's your real name?" I walk. Really borkes a class when your the instructor.

And yes, the outcome is not pretty. Worse is trying to run a class with an openly hostile student.

A close shave: How to destroy your hard drives without burning down the data centre

Tcat

Re: Platters and clean room no required

Confirmed S. Raven. I had bought a used HD that had the top/bottom clam shell not a boat... I used a USB microscope and a video camera, no cover.

Powered up XP, and commanded a conversion from FAT32 to NTFS5.

This morning I think I just found the HD with that very movie.

Epson: Cheap printers, expensive ink? Let's turn that upside down

Tcat

glesses

I had a customer that buys lens on-line only, claiming 25% the cost of Walmart.

Tcat

Print heads good vs. cheap

You are correct. I had totally forgotten about the 3-digit replacement cost od a ceramic print head.

IIRC, Epson is water based (Inkjet) while Canon (BubbleJet) is oil based.

US State of Georgia sues 'terrorist' for publishing its own laws ... on the internet

Tcat

Y

OMG, I'm sorry to have to downvote you.

YES, your point is correct and accurate. Completely.

And it is the very point of democracy that Wikipedia and law are based on.

CERTINLY, Wikipedia is subject to malignant. A temporary condition.

ALSO, an accurate ~reflection of being human.

Tcat

What Title Code are You Reading?

Whoa. OK, I'm the slide-rule type brain. So forgive my stupid question. The Librarian Ruled on this matter already. *I* was having a coffee with milk one fine morning on the deck of my hi-rise watching the dolphins head north to San Diego when MS SAM the male voice read to me the RSS feed about the ruling.

I got out of my chair and started to liberate the isptpi CTT standards buried by CompTIA (using in part my own 10 K USD contribution). Amazon about 1 year later took exception to my 'fair use' by it's own corporate standards and did a take down.

I later did a take down on Barnes & Noble because of very detailed reviews where I did not receive a royalty payment or report based on detailed reviews.

Tcat

Re: "without the ability to charge for access [..], the State [..] would not be able to maintain it"

Better yet. Let's have an election. Multi-issue.

Tax access to the law you are required to follow? Y/N. (GA)

Sales tax (2015 8%) on basic food like bread and milk. (AL)

Slavery Flag.as pride (SC)

I'm an American and SE A Vet. I say let them vote.

They want to tax the law, food, worship slavery? Let them form

That stupid confederation. Just don't buy or sell crap nuthin to them.

Let them live on Coke, cotton and corn. Don't ship a pint of decent Ale to a man unless he's dying.

Tcat
Megaphone

A nice guy that live in Dublin attempted to work with me one state west, Alabama. I thought it would be great fun as Huntsville (Rocket City), AL has more PhD's per capita then even my much loved Seattle/Bellevue.

*WOW*. The South East of the USA IS NOT a place for small business. We literally could not open a bank account. ME with a Redmond WA drivers license (he's some sort of weird engineer, not our kind) and HIM, Ireland? It's that the spawn of the Unabomber or the IRA or something about Dublin? <sigh>

Google or anybody bringing thousands of jobs. Increasing payroll by 3 people? Bigger off.

A waste of my time and life.

Happy birthday, Amiga: The 'other' home computer turns 30

Tcat
Thumb Up

Re: Fond memories.

You sir, are a true geek. We wish for the best parts of IT, and get the job done, regardless of platform.

Lottery IT security boss guilty of hacking lotto computer to win $14.3m

Tcat

I think 'for schools' is popular?

I'm currently in the US, Washington.

99% sure lotto goes to education.

I keep meaning to give the kids a dollar or two a month

And never actually remember.

Microsoft picks up shotgun, walks 'Modern apps' behind the shed

Tcat

Re: Windows RT users – both of you

I guess you just mean me since I keep a GSM and CDMA Lumia 2520 hot all day and night.

Why don't you rent your electronic wireless doorlock, asks man selling doorlocks

Tcat

Suspending questions such as value and costs...

Are you *seriously* asking me to trust this firm

With letting me into my home? Based on my

Always have money pre-paid in so I don't have

To think about them?

If you answer yes, you are bent in the head.

I pre-pay for peace. I don't want to think,CI want

Something to just be there, like electric and water.

Comcast still couldn't do that when I left them

360 days ago. Why would I want to ask for the change

To have Comcast lock me out of my home as well?

New antenna supports all three wireless charging standards

Tcat

Re: Yet another thought RF Q

I only have experience with Qi. Zero Interference issues, however I did NOT test against AM. Wi-Fi, Cell voice/data, FM radio all happy with my Lumia 1520 sitting on a 3 coil desk stand. Often, I'll wind down to some Netflix or Amazon Video while either 2.4 or 5.1 Wi-Fi in the evening. It appears the focus area is rather small.... Intel claims it will be better, however what they are thinking, I have not researched.

Life after Nokia: Microsoft Lumia 640 budget WinPho blower

Tcat

My madness in what to do..

Perhaps a pre-emptive 'flame-off', my solutions work for me, your shoe is probably different.

WP didn't re-claim my interest til V8. "Fixing" the Win 8/8.1 desktop was trivial. The kernel is stable, tight and pretty armor plated. So far, Win 10 is looking almost bullet proof on ARM and Intel. And I'm dumbing down from a custom built 1520 to a 920. This is because I got 2 Lumia 2520's (RT Windows 8.1), one GSM AT&T the other WCDMA Verizon. Both do 802.11ac and dock well. Battery time and build quality are 2nd to nobody.

MS ships updates regularly and will do so til 1 Feb 2017. Given what you can score a 2520 for... It's less than $100 a year service life.

If you need heavy X86 lifting on the 2520, try RDP. With 802.11ac and/or LTE (default in all 2520's), its effective.

It's not sexy and I'm seeing both the WP store and the RT Stores are growing via 'Universal' Apps. That is interesting. Again bang for the buck. Had one new Lumia croak and MS bent over itself to please.

Your needs may vary.

Windows Phone 10: Less stuff that does more – plus IE-killer Project Spartan

Tcat

Spartin Reflects the new MS

While its early results I think they have been clear about following clear industry standards without the old games. You can see this across the board, including giving developers the best tools, regardless of platform.

This is actually very shrewd on Redmond's part.

They do build tools better than anyone else and 'get' dev heads better than others. By having the best tools regardless of platform, developers will have small barrier to porting to the Windows world as well.

The new not Windows stuff looks very impressive.

AMD opens kimono on chip futures a little more

Tcat

ouch.

And yeah. It was like Intel and MS were having a contest to see which company could be the larger A hole.

Apple's 13-incher will STILL cost you a bomb: MacBook Air 2015

Tcat

Re: Low res?

Jason, thank you.

I laughed, many times.

One of those laughs was *almost* becoming an article in the Amtrak magazine, late spring, 1980.

I would carry 20 pound Osborne 01 complete with a 5 inch/50 character green screen,

on the train between Seattle and Portland. I'd plug into the vacuum service outlet in the car...

The Ozzie came with Word Star, so I would write research and/or news articles for 4 hours instead of driving 20% of the way to PDX just to get to the SEA airport.

The hardest part was not smashing folks carrying a 'sewing machine' down a narrow isle.

Certainly it sounds insane today.

And it will be another 8 years before the Seattle paper comments how a cell phone for the car has gotten so small and cheap, you can now put one in a VW Beetle.

Wild, huh?

I helped Amazon.com find an XSS hole and all I got was this lousy t-shirt

Tcat

Re: Fiver

Nice. I discovered an Atlanta Motel was showing the padlock in (improperly) IE on a SSL fail in payment transfer. I called to warn them and was threatened for 'hacking' (and I was booking my room while in Mexico). I replied with a fax cancellation and informed them I would be contacting the GA State Attorneys Office faster than they could call Atlanta PD.

D-Link patches yet more vulns

Tcat

D-Link not providing firmware upgrades? Sorry, not true. I just updated both the D-Link DIR 820L and my counterpart Asus (both low end 902.11AC home test units from EggHead), and it appears D-Link has updated Firmware in 2015 across the board. Asus counterpart update was late 2014.

XenData’s storage Jurassic Park: PC tape backup is BAAAAACK

Tcat
Alert

Tape back?

My larger concern is mechanical alignment of the tape to the read.write head (s). Even the 60s 9 track tapes needed some alignment. Prior to the QIC standard, it was quite expensive to get mechanical alignment (early Betamax and VHS machines we're 2 kilobicks).

It should be handy for 4k+ HD video. And if you don't rotate your tape stock, archive data may become bye-bye data, mechanical wear, no read.