I routinely solve OS-level problems, and do performance tuning that most programmers I know simply cannot grasp. Yet I've always struggled to get even a basic grasp on programming. I guess I've written some pretty wild batch files in the past few years.
Amazing, I'm pretty much in the same boat. I have an uncanny knack for PC/Server troubleshooting at the OS and board level, but but I can't seem to wrap my brain around programming. I can do simple shell scripts and I keep trying to learn C and Python, but I keep hitting a brick wall.
So I've just about resigned myself to SysAdmin jobs with limited scripting needs. However I haven't completely given up yet, I'm thinking of going to school to get a degree, and the only one I think I might enjoy is CS. So I guess I'll have to learn it or sink:) But that's ok, I thrive on that kind of environment.
And like so many others here, I started with BASIC, making circles on the screen and making the circles draw peoples names. I just never went any further than that.
I tried setting my AP at various locations around the house, but I got my best results by putting it in the attic near the center of the house. Sure, I did have to run one wire up to the attic, but now the whole house [1 story, 2000sq-ft] is well covered. Sadly, the outer walls are brick which does NOT play nice with the signal. I can get signal in the garage ok, and on the back patio, but much further than that and I lose signal.
If I ever buy a pool, I'll probably put an AP in a good location to service that area.
End result? I'm quite happy and can surf effortlessly from any point in the house with one AP.
I'd have to say yes to this one. The idea that popped into my head while reading this article's comments which I haven't read anyone else mention....
I think he may have made the choice [willingly or not] to "select" the 14 people who will re-populate Zion. I guess it depends on how many people are on the ships that are left when Zion is destroyed. I will have to see it again and see if I can figure out who is outside Zion at the end of the film.
This isn't a horrible idea, but I have to question the concept of even reading the comments on this article if you haven't seen the movie and don't want it spoiled.
It's an article meant for people who've seen the movie to discuss what they've seen, and for people who haven't seen the movie and don't care if they get spoilers.
If you're concerned about having the movie spoiled, don't read the article of people discussing the movie... I don't understand why so many people have a problem with this.
Ender
Re:Do they have...
on
OS X Hacks
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· Score: 2, Insightful
Despite the posts rudely screaming to "get a two button mouse" I have to agree that I would love this hack.
I've been pondering getting one of the Apple laptops, but that one button touchpad drives me nuts [when using my friend's laptop]. Now it's all well and good to buy a 2+ button mouse for your desktop, but when I've the the laptop sitting on my LAP, it's difficult to use a separate mouse and just adds one more thing to have to pack up and lose between uses.
Out of curiousity, anyone use the 1 button thing with Linux on the Apple laptops? How do you emulate 3 buttons with 1 button device???
My main memory of Saturday mornings was that same egg-shaped guy [I think] showing you how to make ice-pops with orange juice, an ice-tray, toothpicks and some saran-wrap.
Of course, most of these darn kids all have ice-makers these days and don't even know what an ice-tray is...
Ack I'm only 29 and I feel OLD sometimes!
As for cartoons, it was Loony-Toons all the way for me.
It can, on the other hand, be a huge annoyance to Yahoo! mail account holders (again, not Yahoo!'s fault).
I've experienced several cases of spammers using what appears to be my @yahoo.com address to send out spam. Just dealing with the hundreds of 'undeliverable' messages that bounce back is bad enough but it gets worse when you have vigilante Internet users that decide to send huge files to the forged address in retaliation
Amen! Some punk in Georgia has been sending spams forged with my yahoo email in the "From" field for about 10 months.. I've saved every copy of every bounce I've gotten since June. I've been trying to get Bellsouth's abuse department to do something about it [the spammer uses a dynamic IP, and Bellsouth hasn't been too keen on tracking them down so far]. I finally got in touch with someone on the phone today! So hopefully this punk will be delt with shortly.
Of course it's been a trial getting them to understand that they aren't using my mail server as an open relay, but that they are forging the headers. Argh!
I'm in a similar boat now. But it has nothing to do with the quality or makeup of the lines, but the distance. I'm too far from the CO to get ADSL, so I'm stuck paying $90/mo for 144k/144k IDSL.
After having ADSL for the last 5 years [ranging from 384k to 5mbit over the years], 144k is killing me, BUT it's still way better than the 28.8k I was getting from the modem while waiting for the install!
I'm confused about the IDSL technology though. I've heard/read it described as ISDN over a DSL line, as well as DSL over an ISDN line. Which is it??
I'm quite happy with Speakeasy. I've had DSL at two locations with them in California, and I'm getting my IDSL [I'm too far for ADSL:( ] installed tomorrow at my new house [Texas].
I just finished reading their TOS and it's really just a "this is what we provide" and "don't abuse the bandwidth to the point that it affects other users". Other than that, they don't really seem to care. They flat out state that it's ok if you run a server or share your connection [wired or wireless]. No spam though.
I usually get quick help on the few technical issues I've had. Non-technical customer service issues have been a little more difficult for me, but they've all eventually been solved to my satisfaction, and it's still better than my experience with other ISP's.
...I've heard enough of the words "shock and awe".
I think the word Rumsfeld was groping for (or perhaps avoiding) was "terrorize".
Ding Ding Ding...We have a winner!
It's exactly like a blurb that was run on the ticker at the bottom of one of the newscasts last night. It was waying that the survivors [or at least a significant percentage of them] were against this type of attack because "we've experienced 'shock and awe' and would not wish that upon the Iraqi people."
Now I'm not saying that what we're doing in Iraq really compares to what happened on 9/11, but the effect is the same...People afraid because bombs are going off and buildings are collapsing around them. Ender-
Of course this is all just a smiley face on the fact that teachers dont want to look bad (by having anyone fail) or, god forbid, work too hard.
It's not necessarily the teachers. My gf teaches middle-school science at a pretty bad school in SE Dallas. [yes she hates the textbooks]. Anyway, she is not allowed to give a grade lower than a 50. Even though almost half of her students earn less than 50, she has to put 50 on the report card. In addition to this, the principal [or the administration, I'm not sure] complains about the percentage of her students that are failing [ranging from 50-70%]. It's not that she's a bad teacher. She really tries to make things interesting. Not only that, but on every homework assignment and test, the students are given the opportunity to correct their wrong answers for partial credit. So the students have every possiblility to pass, either by understanding the material OR by simply doing the corrections on their wrong answers [they do this at home with the book]. Yet they all still fail. She's getting in trouble because she actually expects the students to put forth some effort. Many of the other teachers just pass the kids so they don't get in trouble for having too many kids fail. Of course, it may also have to do with the fact that she's having to teach the kids how to read and do math, so that they can understand the science. The really sad thing is that she teaches 2 classes for students that have recently come to the US [mostly from Mexico though she doesn't speak Spanish]. The spanish speaking classes end up doing better than her normal classes.
In addition to the books being poorly written, this kind of thing is really killing the US education system.
The moral? There must be CONSEQUENCES for the students actions [or lack thereof]. Otherwise they will continue to do nothing and pass.
As it is, she's considering moving to teaching Kindergarten or first grade. This way, she figures she can get the kids off to a better start than they are getting now. She wants to prove that she can have all her kindergarteners reading by the end of the year. I personally think it's possible as well, and hopefully getting the kids off to a good start will help them deal with the crappy teaching/education they are likely to get for the rest of their public school lives.
don't understand your logic at all. Buying the software is a one time cost. You don't have to buy it each time a client wants to send you something. Its just a one time cost. Once its paid, you can stop being annoying to your clients
Except that with Win3k/Office3K that is no longer the case. With their new licensing schemes, you will be forced to upgrade when Microsoft says to upgrade. And with Palladium, Microsoft will be able to disable your old software if you don't pay to upgrade. It will no longer be a simple matter of continuing to use old software, because you won't be able to.
There's plenty of companies still using old software for both servers and desktops. If the old software performs the tasks you need, why should you waste money upgrading? Are the documents your clients sending you so complicated that they can't be written in Word 97? I seriously doubt it.
I for one have recently given up Microsoft completely on my personal machines. And if I'm ever in a position to determine the IT purchasing for a company, I will avoid Microsoft if it is at ALL feasable.
I just moved here from Silicon Valley. I miss WeirdStuff so much. Especially the old Weirdstuff off San Thomas in Sunnyvale. The first time I went in there I was amazed to see [in addition to all the other cool stuff] an old operators console from back when they had to manually connect the lines for phone calls. Such a cool place!.
Another post mentioned Action across from the Sunnyvale Fry's. They nailed it when they said the service was "surly". Quite an accurate assessment!
Anyway, I'm in Fort Worth now and have been looking for something to compare. There's a place in Arlington called Electronic's Discount Warehouse [I think] that isn't too bad. Is there anywhere else? [At least there's a Fry's here. That keeps me somewhat sane:) ]
I don't know where you guys live but, this isn't exactly a employee's market lately. I don't like the invasion of privacy either, but I'm looking around me, at the empty buildings all around the bay area, empty parking lots, for-rent signs everywhere.. It sucks, but the landlord doesn't give a poop about why you don't have that rent-money. Sometimes, I think, you can't just say fuck it.
This is exactly the situation I'm in. I quit my job to move to Texas [couldn't afford living in San Jose anymore]. I've been looking for work since September [well, before that too really, but I've been here in person looking since Sept]. Now, I'm running out of money, and still haven't gotten a job in the field I want. I finally had a good interview on Tuesday with a credit union. They wanted permission to do a credit check. Well, I don't really like it, but I'm to the point now where I'm willing to do it just so I can get the job. It's either that, or I start flippin' burgers...
And although I don't like it, I can kind of see the reason they might want to not hire someone with horrible credit. I will be partially responsible for the servers that run all the daily financial data as well as the ATM's. While I don't think someone with a bad credit history is automatically suspect, there is a worry that someone with bad credit might be more likely to try stealing somehow.
I do not think slsashdot allows ACs to reply more then a couple times to the same thread,plus they don't allow more then X amount of posts on the same day from a single AC,that's a funny post tho
Simple. Post on a dialup, disconnect, clear cookies and cache, dialup again and post.
There's one way this has been going on for years: credit rating bureaus. One of the "red flag" items is too many inquiries. Supposedly this is bad because it indicates you might have been applying for too many loans or something (each application creating a "hit" on your record). But as a result, if you do a self-check every, say, 3 or 6 months, to verify there's no incorrect material in your account, you endup with a bad rating just because you looked there.
Actually, this is not the case. The self checks that you do, do NOT show up when, say a car dealership, runs a credit check on you. They only see checks that were run for the purpose of obtaining new credit.
if you only pay for 384, what do you usually actually get?
Well this can vary I think. I've had Speakeasy DSL at two locations. The first location I paid for 608/128 and got exactly that.
The second location I paid for 768/384, but they sent me a new modem. With the new modem I was getting 5mbit downloads!!! and 500k uploads. Unfortunately, that new modem was REALLY flaky, so I put my original modem in, and with that got exactly 768/384k... Of course, the reason I got the new modem was because they said my old one wouldn't work, so I was a little upset at this.
I got them to send me a replacement of the new modem, but it didn't work well either. So they took back both new modems and refunded the money I had paid for them, and let me keep using the old modem.
So despite the issue, my overall experience has been very positive with Speakeasy. I've just moved again, and as soon as Covad has my street in it's database, I will be transferring my DSL here. [Although only 144k:(:(:( ]
I must have a funny shaped head.:-)
HEHEHE... [sorry,got a good chuckle out of that:)
As far as turning the head goes, you can flick a glance but in emergency avoidance mauevers you don't have time to turn your head, in my experience. Sometimes you have to change lanes NOW to avoid a left-turner, you know?
Very true, but that's part of riding [and driving] defensively at all times. Of course there will be emergency avoidance at times. But that's why the rider needs to pay attention to where the cars around him are at all times. Even if you don't wear a helmet, or the helmet doesn't affect your vision. You should already know where the surrounding traffic/obstacles are. At least then, when the ONE surprise car shows up, it would just be REALLY bad luck if a second surprise car is in your avoidance path.:) [at that point, it's your fate to crash and there's nothing you can do about it hehe]
And you still didn't cover the structural limitations of a 10mph helmet.:-)
Well, according to about.com for a DOT rating, they just drop the helmet 10 feet and check the G's felt inside. However, the general rule of thumb is if the helmet only has a DOT rating, don't buy it. It should also have a Snell rating [which most racing clubs require]. The Snell rating [300G's] requirements are rather more strict and complicated than the DOT rating [400G's]. It even includes visual requirements.
Personally, I think the helmet companies have a vested interest in furthering the propaganda and backing mandatory helmet laws. That could just be conspiracy theory though! LOL (Maybe I need my head examined?) Can't argue there..[ducking] I mean about the vested interest of helmet companies in backing helmet laws.:) Like I said, I don't care if they take away the helmet laws. I'm still gonna wear mine...
Personally, I prefer to have unimpaired peripheral vision and hearing in town to let me avoid the accident in the first place. I do wear my helmet on long highway trips, though, becuase it cuts down on wind fatigue.
Don't buy into the helmet propaganda, they aren't ALWAYS a good idea. I think it needs to be the rider's choice, since he/she is in the best position to evaluate the tradeoffs based on the type of riding he/she is doing.
First of all, if you get the right helmet, it has VERY little effect on your peripheral vision. Secondly, the helmets are designed to also not too badly affect your hearing [other than cutting down on wind noise]
Regarding claims that helmets obstruct vision, studies show full-coverage helmets provide only minor restrictions in horizontal peripheral vision -- less than 3 percent from that of an unhelmeted rider. A 1994 study by A. James McKnight analyzed the effects of motorcycle helmet use on seeing and hearing. The study found that wearing helmets "restricts neither the ability to hear horn signals nor the likelihood of visually detecting a vehicle in an adjacent lane prior to initiating a lane change." To compensate for any restrictions in lateral vision, riders increased their head rotation prior to a lane change. Subjects in the hearing study showed no differences in hearing thresholds under three helmet conditions: no helmet, partial coverage, and full coverage. The noise generated by a motorcycle is such that any reduction in hearing capability that may result from wearing a helmet is inconsequential. Sound loud enough to be heard above the engine can be heard within a helmet, a NHTSA study concluded.
Anyway, I DO agree with you that it should be the rider's choice. The state doesn't need to run our lives. HOWEVER, I personally feel that anyone who doesn't wear a helmet on public roads needs their head examined. [Pun intended]
I have to say, I can't imagine getting on my bike without a helmet, despite (touch wood) never having an accident... Do Merkins really have that much problems with the idea?
Well, I just moved from California [has a helmet law] to Texas [no helmet law]. I can tell you there's NO FRIGGIN WAY I'm getting on my bike [sport bike] without a helmet. Especially on Texas roads. The speed limits are generally lower than they would be on similar roads in California, but the driver's here are so bad that I feel safer doing 90mph [speeding nicely] in California than I do going 55mph [under the limit] here [Dallas/Ft. Worth area]. It's to the point where I'm tempted to start riding tracks only. [Partially because there don't seem to be any nice twisty roads here]
Anyway, the most I've ridden my bike without a helmet is across a large parking lot [helmet propped on tank] and I feel so naked without it. No way I'm getting on public roads without it.
As for the Air-bag vest, I dunno. Maybe it'll be ok if you t-bone a truck or something, but if it were to go off during say a high-side [don't think it'd go off on a low-side], I'd think [based on the size of it when inflated] it would make you tumble more once you hit the ground. The reason leathers are so tight is to let you slide so you're not breaking limbs left and right.:)
So I'll wear the helmet, but I think I'll skip the air-bag vest.
The main things that keep me in Windows are games, and MS Office.
I've gotten some games running with Transgaming's Winex, but I'm still waiting for NWN, and some games just don't work in wine.
Also MS Office. I know I can get Crossover Office, but I don't have the $$ to pay for it. And since I'm looking for a job, all the companies and recruiters want the resume in word format. [Lame,I know, but that's what they want]. And I don't yet trust ANY of the linux office apps to write a resume that won't come out screwy on some HR persons system.
Other than that, I almost always use Linux. I've got all the plugin stuff going with Crossover plugin [bought when I had $$:)]
Although another annoying thing is the difficulty in setting certain things up. I don't use a 'user friendly' distro [I use SourceMage and Slackware] but even so, it is WAY too much of a pain in the ass to get printing set up in a way that will let EVERYTHING print properly...
Things like that are keeping me from going 100% linux.
Aparently there was some problem with the Sorcerer licencing that started the fork.
Exactly... The guy who wrote the original Sorcery stuff decided to cry foul and take his ball [sorcery] home, and re-release it as non GPL code. The reasons for this are kind of drawn out so I won't go into them here.
But the end result was two forks of the distro, Lunar Linux, which I have not tried, and SourceMage which is what I use and love, and contribute to in whatever small ways I can. [Although personally, I hate the logo, but we can't have everything:) ]
Slashdot Mirror
I routinely solve OS-level problems, and do performance tuning that most programmers I know simply cannot grasp. Yet I've always struggled to get even a basic grasp on programming.
:) But that's ok, I thrive on that kind of environment.
I guess I've written some pretty wild batch files in the past few years.
Amazing, I'm pretty much in the same boat. I have an uncanny knack for PC/Server troubleshooting at the OS and board level, but but I can't seem to wrap my brain around programming. I can do simple shell scripts and I keep trying to learn C and Python, but I keep hitting a brick wall.
So I've just about resigned myself to SysAdmin jobs with limited scripting needs. However I haven't completely given up yet, I'm thinking of going to school to get a degree, and the only one I think I might enjoy is CS. So I guess I'll have to learn it or sink
And like so many others here, I started with BASIC, making circles on the screen and making the circles draw peoples names. I just never went any further than that.
Ender
I tried setting my AP at various locations around the house, but I got my best results by putting it in the attic near the center of the house. Sure, I did have to run one wire up to the attic, but now the whole house [1 story, 2000sq-ft] is well covered. Sadly, the outer walls are brick which does NOT play nice with the signal. I can get signal in the garage ok, and on the back patio, but much further than that and I lose signal.
If I ever buy a pool, I'll probably put an AP in a good location to service that area.
End result? I'm quite happy and can surf effortlessly from any point in the house with one AP.
Ender
Was the Matrix truly "reloaded?"
I'd have to say yes to this one.
The idea that popped into my head while reading this article's comments which I haven't read anyone else mention....
I think he may have made the choice [willingly or not] to "select" the 14 people who will re-populate Zion.
I guess it depends on how many people are on the ships that are left when Zion is destroyed. I will have to see it again and see if I can figure out who is outside Zion at the end of the film.
Ender
I liked "Spaceballs the Movie" even though I didn't buy "Spaceballs the Toilet Paper" or "Spaceballs the Flamethrower."
But don't deny that you REALLY wanted to!
Ender
This isn't a horrible idea, but I have to question the concept of even reading the comments on this article if you haven't seen the movie and don't want it spoiled.
It's an article meant for people who've seen the movie to discuss what they've seen, and for people who haven't seen the movie and don't care if they get spoilers.
If you're concerned about having the movie spoiled, don't read the article of people discussing the movie... I don't understand why so many people have a problem with this.
Ender
Despite the posts rudely screaming to "get a two button mouse" I have to agree that I would love this hack.
I've been pondering getting one of the Apple laptops, but that one button touchpad drives me nuts [when using my friend's laptop].
Now it's all well and good to buy a 2+ button mouse for your desktop, but when I've the the laptop sitting on my LAP, it's difficult to use a separate mouse and just adds one more thing to have to pack up and lose between uses.
Out of curiousity, anyone use the 1 button thing with Linux on the Apple laptops? How do you emulate 3 buttons with 1 button device???
Ender
My main memory of Saturday mornings was that same egg-shaped guy [I think] showing you how to make ice-pops with orange juice, an ice-tray, toothpicks and some saran-wrap.
Of course, most of these darn kids all have ice-makers these days and don't even know what an ice-tray is...
Ack I'm only 29 and I feel OLD sometimes!
As for cartoons, it was Loony-Toons all the way for me.
Ender
It can, on the other hand, be a huge annoyance to Yahoo! mail account holders (again, not Yahoo!'s fault).
I've experienced several cases of spammers using what appears to be my @yahoo.com address to send out spam. Just dealing with the hundreds of 'undeliverable' messages that bounce back is bad enough but it gets worse when you have vigilante Internet users that decide to send huge files to the forged address in retaliation
Amen! Some punk in Georgia has been sending spams forged with my yahoo email in the "From" field for about 10 months.. I've saved every copy of every bounce I've gotten since June. I've been trying to get Bellsouth's abuse department to do something about it [the spammer uses a dynamic IP, and Bellsouth hasn't been too keen on tracking them down so far]. I finally got in touch with someone on the phone today! So hopefully this punk will be delt with shortly.
Of course it's been a trial getting them to understand that they aren't using my mail server as an open relay, but that they are forging the headers. Argh!
Ender-
I'm in a similar boat now. But it has nothing to do with the quality or makeup of the lines, but the distance.
I'm too far from the CO to get ADSL, so I'm stuck paying $90/mo for 144k/144k IDSL.
After having ADSL for the last 5 years [ranging from 384k to 5mbit over the years], 144k is killing me, BUT it's still way better than the 28.8k I was getting from the modem while waiting for the install!
I'm confused about the IDSL technology though. I've heard/read it described as ISDN over a DSL line, as well as DSL over an ISDN line.
Which is it??
Ender
I'm quite happy with Speakeasy. I've had DSL at two locations with them in California, and I'm getting my IDSL [I'm too far for ADSL :( ] installed tomorrow at my new house [Texas].
I just finished reading their TOS and it's really just a "this is what we provide" and "don't abuse the bandwidth to the point that it affects other users". Other than that, they don't really seem to care. They flat out state that it's ok if you run a server or share your connection [wired or wireless]. No spam though.
I usually get quick help on the few technical issues I've had. Non-technical customer service issues have been a little more difficult for me, but they've all eventually been solved to my satisfaction, and it's still better than my experience with other ISP's.
Ender-
...I've heard enough of the words "shock and awe".
I think the word Rumsfeld was groping for (or perhaps avoiding) was "terrorize".
Ding Ding Ding...We have a winner!
It's exactly like a blurb that was run on the ticker at the bottom of one of the newscasts last night. It was waying that the survivors [or at least a significant percentage of them] were against this type of attack because "we've experienced 'shock and awe' and would not wish that upon the Iraqi people."
Now I'm not saying that what we're doing in Iraq really compares to what happened on 9/11, but the effect is the same...People afraid because bombs are going off and buildings are collapsing around them.
Ender-
Of course this is all just a smiley face on the fact that teachers dont want to look bad (by having anyone fail) or, god forbid, work too hard.
It's not necessarily the teachers. My gf teaches middle-school science at a pretty bad school in SE Dallas. [yes she hates the textbooks]. Anyway, she is not allowed to give a grade lower than a 50. Even though almost half of her students earn less than 50, she has to put 50 on the report card.
In addition to this, the principal [or the administration, I'm not sure] complains about the percentage of her students that are failing [ranging from 50-70%]. It's not that she's a bad teacher. She really tries to make things interesting. Not only that, but on every homework assignment and test, the students are given the opportunity to correct their wrong answers for partial credit. So the students have every possiblility to pass, either by understanding the material OR by simply doing the corrections on their wrong answers [they do this at home with the book]. Yet they all still fail.
She's getting in trouble because she actually expects the students to put forth some effort. Many of the other teachers just pass the kids so they don't get in trouble for having too many kids fail.
Of course, it may also have to do with the fact that she's having to teach the kids how to read and do math, so that they can understand the science. The really sad thing is that she teaches 2 classes for students that have recently come to the US [mostly from Mexico though she doesn't speak Spanish]. The spanish speaking classes end up doing better than her normal classes.
In addition to the books being poorly written, this kind of thing is really killing the US education system.
The moral? There must be CONSEQUENCES for the students actions [or lack thereof]. Otherwise they will continue to do nothing and pass.
As it is, she's considering moving to teaching Kindergarten or first grade. This way, she figures she can get the kids off to a better start than they are getting now. She wants to prove that she can have all her kindergarteners reading by the end of the year. I personally think it's possible as well, and hopefully getting the kids off to a good start will help them deal with the crappy teaching/education they are likely to get for the rest of their public school lives.
Ender
don't understand your logic at all. Buying the software is a one time cost. You don't have to buy it each time a client wants to send you something. Its just a one time cost. Once its paid, you can stop being annoying to your clients
Except that with Win3k/Office3K that is no longer the case. With their new licensing schemes, you will be forced to upgrade when Microsoft says to upgrade. And with Palladium, Microsoft will be able to disable your old software if you don't pay to upgrade. It will no longer be a simple matter of continuing to use old software, because you won't be able to.
There's plenty of companies still using old software for both servers and desktops. If the old software performs the tasks you need, why should you waste money upgrading? Are the documents your clients sending you so complicated that they can't be written in Word 97? I seriously doubt it.
I for one have recently given up Microsoft completely on my personal machines. And if I'm ever in a position to determine the IT purchasing for a company, I will avoid Microsoft if it is at ALL feasable.
Ender
I just moved here from Silicon Valley. I miss WeirdStuff so much. Especially the old Weirdstuff off San Thomas in Sunnyvale. The first time I went in there I was amazed to see [in addition to all the other cool stuff] an old operators console from back when they had to manually connect the lines for phone calls. Such a cool place!.
:) ]
Another post mentioned Action across from the Sunnyvale Fry's. They nailed it when they said the service was "surly". Quite an accurate assessment!
Anyway, I'm in Fort Worth now and have been looking for something to compare. There's a place in Arlington called Electronic's Discount Warehouse [I think] that isn't too bad. Is there anywhere else? [At least there's a Fry's here. That keeps me somewhat sane
Ender
I don't know where you guys live but, this isn't exactly a employee's market lately. I don't like the invasion of privacy either, but I'm looking around me, at the empty buildings all around the bay area, empty parking lots, for-rent signs everywhere.. It sucks, but the landlord doesn't give a poop about why you don't have that rent-money. Sometimes, I think, you can't just say fuck it.
This is exactly the situation I'm in. I quit my job to move to Texas [couldn't afford living in San Jose anymore].
I've been looking for work since September [well, before that too really, but I've been here in person looking since Sept].
Now, I'm running out of money, and still haven't gotten a job in the field I want.
I finally had a good interview on Tuesday with a credit union. They wanted permission to do a credit check. Well, I don't really like it, but I'm to the point now where I'm willing to do it just so I can get the job. It's either that, or I start flippin' burgers...
And although I don't like it, I can kind of see the reason they might want to not hire someone with horrible credit. I will be partially responsible for the servers that run all the daily financial data as well as the ATM's. While I don't think someone with a bad credit history is automatically suspect, there is a worry that someone with bad credit might be more likely to try stealing somehow.
ender-
I dunno about any of them not belonging there. But I will say that The Deed of Paksennarion was a GREAT trilogy. [The add on books were mediocre].
Easily one of my favorite series of books.
Ender
I do not think slsashdot allows ACs to reply more then a couple times to the same thread,plus they don't allow more then X amount of posts on the same day from a single AC,that's a funny post tho
Simple. Post on a dialup, disconnect, clear cookies and cache, dialup again and post.
4... Profit? er.. nevermind
Ender-
% finger
% talk In real life, one should probably talk first, eh?
nudge nudge knowwhatImean?
ok...bad joke...but I got karma to burn...
This makes me think we need a "BOO-HISS +0" Moderation.
Ender
There's one way this has been going on for years: credit rating bureaus. One of the "red flag" items is too many inquiries. Supposedly this is bad because it indicates you might have been applying for too many loans or something (each application creating a "hit" on your record). But as a result, if you do a self-check every, say, 3 or 6 months, to verify there's no incorrect material in your account, you endup with a bad rating just because you looked there.
Actually, this is not the case. The self checks that you do, do NOT show up when, say a car dealership, runs a credit check on you. They only see checks that were run for the purpose of obtaining new credit.
Ender
if you only pay for 384, what do you usually actually get?
:( :( :( ]
Well this can vary I think. I've had Speakeasy DSL at two locations. The first location I paid for 608/128 and got exactly that.
The second location I paid for 768/384, but they sent me a new modem. With the new modem I was getting 5mbit downloads!!! and 500k uploads.
Unfortunately, that new modem was REALLY flaky, so I put my original modem in, and with that got exactly 768/384k...
Of course, the reason I got the new modem was because they said my old one wouldn't work, so I was a little upset at this.
I got them to send me a replacement of the new modem, but it didn't work well either. So they took back both new modems and refunded the money I had paid for them, and let me keep using the old modem.
So despite the issue, my overall experience has been very positive with Speakeasy.
I've just moved again, and as soon as Covad has my street in it's database, I will be transferring my DSL here. [Although only 144k
Ender
I must have a funny shaped head. :-) :)
:) [at that point, it's your fate to crash and there's nothing you can do about it hehe]
:-)
:) Like I said, I don't care if they take away the helmet laws. I'm still gonna wear mine...
HEHEHE... [sorry,got a good chuckle out of that
As far as turning the head goes, you can flick a glance but in emergency avoidance mauevers you don't have time to turn your head, in my experience. Sometimes you have to change lanes NOW to avoid a left-turner, you know?
Very true, but that's part of riding [and driving] defensively at all times. Of course there will be emergency avoidance at times. But that's why the rider needs to pay attention to where the cars around him are at all times. Even if you don't wear a helmet, or the helmet doesn't affect your vision. You should already know where the surrounding traffic/obstacles are. At least then, when the ONE surprise car shows up, it would just be REALLY bad luck if a second surprise car is in your avoidance path.
And you still didn't cover the structural limitations of a 10mph helmet.
Well, according to about.com for a DOT rating, they just drop the helmet 10 feet and check the G's felt inside.
However, the general rule of thumb is if the helmet only has a DOT rating, don't buy it. It should also have a Snell rating [which most racing clubs require]. The Snell rating [300G's] requirements are rather more strict and complicated than the DOT rating [400G's]. It even includes visual requirements.
Personally, I think the helmet companies have a vested interest in furthering the propaganda and backing mandatory helmet laws. That could just be conspiracy theory though! LOL (Maybe I need my head examined?)
Can't argue there..[ducking] I mean about the vested interest of helmet companies in backing helmet laws.
Ender
Don't buy into the helmet propaganda, they aren't ALWAYS a good idea. I think it needs to be the rider's choice, since he/she is in the best position to evaluate the tradeoffs based on the type of riding he/she is doing.
First of all, if you get the right helmet, it has VERY little effect on your peripheral vision. Secondly, the helmets are designed to also not too badly affect your hearing [other than cutting down on wind noise]
From Insurance Institute for Highway Safety
Anyway, I DO agree with you that it should be the rider's choice. The state doesn't need to run our lives. HOWEVER, I personally feel that anyone who doesn't wear a helmet on public roads needs their head examined. [Pun intended]
Ender
Well, I just moved from California [has a helmet law] to Texas [no helmet law]. I can tell you there's NO FRIGGIN WAY I'm getting on my bike [sport bike] without a helmet. Especially on Texas roads. The speed limits are generally lower than they would be on similar roads in California, but the driver's here are so bad that I feel safer doing 90mph [speeding nicely] in California than I do going 55mph [under the limit] here [Dallas/Ft. Worth area]. It's to the point where I'm tempted to start riding tracks only. [Partially because there don't seem to be any nice twisty roads here]
Anyway, the most I've ridden my bike without a helmet is across a large parking lot [helmet propped on tank] and I feel so naked without it. No way I'm getting on public roads without it.
As for the Air-bag vest, I dunno. Maybe it'll be ok if you t-bone a truck or something, but if it were to go off during say a high-side [don't think it'd go off on a low-side], I'd think [based on the size of it when inflated] it would make you tumble more once you hit the ground. The reason leathers are so tight is to let you slide so you're not breaking limbs left and right.
So I'll wear the helmet, but I think I'll skip the air-bag vest.
Ender
The main things that keep me in Windows are games, and MS Office.
:)]
I've gotten some games running with Transgaming's Winex, but I'm still waiting for NWN, and some games just don't work in wine.
Also MS Office. I know I can get Crossover Office, but I don't have the $$ to pay for it. And since I'm looking for a job, all the companies and recruiters want the resume in word format. [Lame,I know, but that's what they want]. And I don't yet trust ANY of the linux office apps to write a resume that won't come out screwy on some HR persons system.
Other than that, I almost always use Linux. I've got all the plugin stuff going with Crossover plugin [bought when I had $$
Although another annoying thing is the difficulty in setting certain things up. I don't use a 'user friendly' distro [I use SourceMage and Slackware] but even so, it is WAY too much of a pain in the ass to get printing set up in a way that will let EVERYTHING print properly...
Things like that are keeping me from going 100% linux.
Ender
Aparently there was some problem with the Sorcerer licencing that started the fork.
:) ]
Exactly... The guy who wrote the original Sorcery stuff decided to cry foul and take his ball [sorcery] home, and re-release it as non GPL code.
The reasons for this are kind of drawn out so I won't go into them here.
But the end result was two forks of the distro, Lunar Linux, which I have not tried, and SourceMage which is what I use and love, and contribute to in whatever small ways I can. [Although personally, I hate the logo, but we can't have everything
Ender-