Posts by allthecoolshortnamesweretaken 6157 publicly visible posts • joined 20 Oct 2015
Even though the Germans have the wonderful word Arschbombe I seriously doubt one lady's bottom can destroy something that is based on a communications system designed to survive a nuclear attack.
On a related note, I think it would be nice to live in a world where people who actually contribute to society are famous.
how the insurance companies will react to this sort of thing, it is bound to happen more frequently.
(Yey, yes, I know - by not paying out...) But seriously, anyone here with a background in insurance math? (PONS just told me that would be actuarial math, somehow that doesn't sound right, but then again I'm not a native speaker...)
It's a sign all right - but I severely doubt it's a sign that we are nearing peak 'social networking', whatever the definition of that may be. Why? Too many people acting stupid. Some of them actually are stupid, most of them just act stupid, usually because it's more convenient. ("Give Me Convenience Or Give Me Death") Safety belts in cars are a good example.
Also, some people seem to assume that thinking hurts, or something like that. Homo sapiens, my ass...
No, this sort of thing - can we call it Computer Aided Burglary? - is going to increase dramatically with the IoT. All your(*) shiny things will broadcast both the fact that you have them and their exact location. Including your CCTV/alarm system that you've left on default settings - enabling anyone to check when it's convenient for him to nick all your stuff.
(*) "You" used as a figure of speech here, of course. I trust my fellow commentards actually know what their brains are for.
Also, your dad. If you're his 'tech support'.
(To be fair, they plonked his first PC on his desk in 1985 when he was 50 and got the hang of it quite fast, mostly self-taught trial-and-error style. He had to use some software developed in-house by the firm he was with, both for internal use and marketed comercially. Pretty soon he was inofficially part of the development team - he actually knew what the software was supposed to do and was able to give the coders error reports they could actually use when it didn't. Every now and then he manageged to make the software do things it wasn't supposed to, which also helped with the coding. And he had a knack of triggering bugs like no other, so after a while he was a combination of beta tester and quality control. Well, he's been in retirement for 15 years now and still uses a PC on a daily basis. Usually he does just fine, but every now and then he screws up, like we all do. And when he does, it's mostly in a very creative and totally unsuspected way that is a challenge. Talk about a learning curve...)
"Would they be the same if it were something like a desk light or radio? is it "dummy mode" kicking in simply because it's a computer?"
I really think you're on to something here... now that I think about it, it's now some 35 years I keep seeing intelligent, educated professionals being totally confused by a box of, well wires and stuff, acting like they have been zapped by a 1950ies B-movie MoronRay or something. Even so-called 'digital natives' (buzzword alert! buzzword alert!). It's just a bloody machine, not some kind of voodoo thingy from dimension Z. That needs electricity to run.
"the first quickly developed the keyboard stutter that required Texas to replace a lot of units under warranty"
Yep, common problem. Switched to a programmable CASIO first (no complaints whatsoever, probably still in some drawer somewhere and probably still works...), then (when I could afford it) to a HP48SX. Still in daily use after 20 years. Got a 48GX later, to have one at the office and one for use at home. Another nice thing about the HPs is that a lot of people are baffled by RPN, so at the office no one ever wants to borrow it.
As to laptops - I've still got a Toshiba Satellite 4060XCDT from 1998 or so. There's some legacy software on it that needs Win98, and I need it every two years or so, as long as it works I won't bother with replacing it.
Need to get rid of some soil? Perhaps someone wants to grow stuff - or cover up a dead hippie...
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