My brother-in-law has an old iPhone 5c which he can't get into - the iCloud account is clearly still set to one of his Email addresses (he owns hisname.com and even the obfuscated version with first and last letters are the right ones) but password reset emails never arrive. I've encouraged him for a year now to come with me to the nearest Apple store and get their help but could not promise they'd manage it, and he's never had the spare time between work and kids. But if they can definitely do it (once convinced of our bona-fides) then that's more of a reason to make time to go, and not just let this slab of glass depreciate any further!
Back in the 90s I worked as a field tech for PC hardware - everything from printers to laptops to monitors. Name brands like Dell, HP, Apple, and so on. I had manufacturer training courses and was supplied with the special tools, and special phone numbers for support.
I was never told to look for those stickers, which often appeared across seams you'd open if you needed to access the devices. They were never mentioned once. I also did not have any way to even get hold of them if I wanted to replace one after destroying it myself during authorized warranty service.
I work for a medium-sized software company and their work-life balance claims are also bogus. I handed in my resignation last week after nearly a year of trying to work out a 4-day work week. Ever since my wife started a fulltime job, we're running ragged and not even seeing the kids. Since her longterm earning potential dwarfs mine, I figured I'd cut back. But nope -
The company says they need me so much that they're willing to let me go rather than let me work less than fulltime. My manager(s) (I've been talking about this since before a recent reorganization) sound sympathetic enough, but if they agree to my request they've lost part of a headcount which they can't replace.
So yeah, I can underline the fact that "work life balance" is just another empty phrase. But this guy's situation puts mine into some perspective...
I've been using Millenata MODISC for backing up my wife's tens of thousands of pics of the kids. Outside of our normal backup processes, about once a year I get a box of discs (not cheap but affordable) and pull off all of the past year's photos, then I tuck them into a fireproof safe and leave it under our deck. (I'm trying to protect against fire and theft more than anything else)
I also spot-check older discs and the ones from 4 years ago, when I started, are still readable. The discs are said to last 1000 years and I'll be happy with 2% of that...
Not sure why there are so many open questions about this find - I just finished reading "Proxima" by Stephen Baxter, and he described it pretty thoroughly... it's a red dwarf star which means the Goldilocks planet is tidally locked. But there's enough atmosphere to keep heat circulating, thus there is liquid water in the warm areas. A relatively simple but well-developed ecosystem exists including a reasonably intelligent species dubbed the Builders who live in harmony with the other plants and animals - possibly devolved from earlier, more technological stages. And there's a weird hatch, deep under Mercury - but I've said too much already... http://www.goodreads.com/book/...
I have to mildly disagree with point 6 - it's maybe not QUITE $20, but you can assemble a few components which will make a decent Android phone into something resembling a desktop.
First you need a Miracast dongle - they're available as low as $10-$15 on eBay, though the cheaper you go, the worse the performance can be (they all use the same chipset but some skimp on the antenna...). Second, get a microUSB OTG hub so you can plug in a commodity mouse and keyboard. Third, download Google Docs or get free MS-Office.
Assembly: Plug Miracast into HDMI input of old monitor (or use $5 HDMI-DVI adapter). Plug peripherals into hub and hub into phone.
And that's about it.
I did a lot of product research on these components during the first half of this year, intending to turn it into a pocket-sized product with a custom case and everything, before dropping the project due to lack of time. So I've bought half a dozen kinds of dongle, as well as virtually every folding Bluetooth keyboard on the market (none worked well enough to be worth it for me) and about half the pocketsized Bluetooth mice, and I've done a lot of testing.
Of course this depends a certain amount on the performance of your phone (Miracast does put a load on the CPU) and the availability of monitors and keyboards. But more and more offices are offering docking stations for roving/traveling employees' laptops, which was my intended target market.
As for underprivileged students, my own kids use 4-5 year old desktop PCs my employer gives away for free and every time they get an upgrade, their old ones go to our school for the less-privileged. I just gave away a Core2Quad Dell with 4GB RAM and a 320gig HD, monitor, and color inkjet, with Windows 7 Pro. Because that's what my office was giving away LAST YEAR...
But that's the way it is with patents; they're like survey questions, it's all in how they're phrased. Maybe this time someone will actually produce something with the idea?
MO-DISC (or Milleniata) discs are what I use for offline storage. They're not THAT expensive - I only do a backup onto them once per year (Time Machine to an onsite server for everyday), and so far my wife's annual output of photos and video can be coaxed to fit onto a box of 10 DVDs, for roughly $35-40ish
I put 'em in a fire-resistant waterproof portable safe hidden elsewhere on the property, and consider myself safe from lightning/flood, theft and a few similar gotchas. I originally had a plan to put a wee server in at a friend's house several km away, and do reciprocal backups that way. But it's only recently that the bandwidth for that has been affordable (in Australia) and the above solution makes me feel safe enough that I haven't gotten around to it.
I don't need them to last 100 years, I just don't want to be surprised by bad DVD+R dye or whatever in 3-5 years as has been the case with other types of burned discs. I've never been able to get a straight answer on how long burned DVDs can be expected to last, but the MO-Disc people claim 1,000 years and I'll be happy with 2% of that.
If DVD readers go away in a decade, they won't go away WITHOUT WARNING - I'll have time to move data onto holographic crystals or whatever replaces them. After all, we can still buy floppy drives and VHS tape decks and vinyl record turntables... Plus I can also put everything we've done onto a 500GB drive and toss that into the fire safe, while I'm at it.
I've been doing this for a few years now and so far all the earlier stuff remains readable when I pull 'em out every first-week-of-January...
I have (and still use) several Foscam standard-def cameras, but I've had a lot of trouble with HD (720p) models from Foscam and others. Can't find any which don't require ActiveX - not only for streaming, but for SETUP.
I can't give them my WiFi password without being able to run their proprietary plugin, necessarily on a Windows machine, to access the web interface. And even when I use a Windows machine and go through the process, I to end up with repeated failures.
I'm sure it must be working for someone out there, but I documented my experiences thoroughly (tried all browsers, OSX/Linux/WinXP/Win7, etc) and encountered nothing but a broad spectrum of errors.
Once they're set up, apps like tinyCam Monitor Pro (consider this a plug, it's great) can do everything you need. So if ActiveX is your only barrier, just use it for the setup stage.
Yeah - I worked for a gadget retailer and was asked to test some 8GB flash sticks several years ago.
You could write 8GB to them, but anything past the first 4GB returned a read error.
My boss called the supplier in Shenzen to yell at them - "How could you do this?" Their response: "I don't understand - you SAID you wanted the best price?!"
There's something of a dearth of material out there for people who want to learn STEM topics on a casual basis and are somewhere in between a layperson and a specialist. Most of what you can find to read is either written for the general public (popular science books and magazines) or dry scientific papers. I've also had a lifelong interest in science, but did not pursue it as a career, and it's always a challenge to find stuff which I can read and yet which hasn't had the details filtered out...
"Science News" magazine is a stand-out example though - it's science reporting written for an educated audience, often people who are scientists themselves who want to keep up in other fields. It's amazing how concise and information-packed the articles can become when you can use words above the typical 6th-grade reading level (or whatever they use for newspapers these days).
But, I digress. In your position I'd try to find a mentor - maybe barter some IT services in return. There are lots of people out there who'd probably enjoy the process of helping a mature student get started.
By the way - the coolest thing about transitioning OUT of IT is that when the office network goes down, it's neither your fault nor your problem... you get to hang around the coffee machine and complain with everyone else!
I don't tell most of my coworkers about my background. If they know you can fix computers... well, it's like owning a pickup truck, and everyone asks you to help them move!
After ~20 years working in every area of IT, for a number of reasons I've recently transitioned over to "Online Content Developer" as a career track.
I'm just starting a new job with a major supplier of accounting / tax software. Most of the reason I was hired was my IT background, since a big part of my job will be helping manage the flow of information (internally and, eventually, to the public) from the tech support and consulting departments to other areas of the company.
In this new role, I use some of my technical skills just getting the most from all the internal systems and platforms here, but mostly I draw from my experience with helping people use technology. I understand tech support from both sides of the equation, and can help translate issues to people who don't. Later on I'll be tasked with helping interpret complex accounting software issues for the general public as well.
In the past I've done similar work for a vocational training company, and again my experience with developing helpdesk materials, Knowledge Bases and other forms of online training was a big reason why I was hired. (I also have a track record in writing and video production, with lots of exposure to online marketing methods as well - but many people have that without being techies)
Thanks for that, I knew they interact but I didn't think they could "collide" per se, and from your explanation maybe "collide" is just the wrong word to be using?
Slashdot Mirror
My brother-in-law has an old iPhone 5c which he can't get into - the iCloud account is clearly still set to one of his Email addresses (he owns hisname.com and even the obfuscated version with first and last letters are the right ones) but password reset emails never arrive. I've encouraged him for a year now to come with me to the nearest Apple store and get their help but could not promise they'd manage it, and he's never had the spare time between work and kids. But if they can definitely do it (once convinced of our bona-fides) then that's more of a reason to make time to go, and not just let this slab of glass depreciate any further!
The exact link I was going to post... hmph.
Max Headroom predicts the future again!
Back in the 90s I worked as a field tech for PC hardware - everything from printers to laptops to monitors. Name brands like Dell, HP, Apple, and so on. I had manufacturer training courses and was supplied with the special tools, and special phone numbers for support.
I was never told to look for those stickers, which often appeared across seams you'd open if you needed to access the devices. They were never mentioned once. I also did not have any way to even get hold of them if I wanted to replace one after destroying it myself during authorized warranty service.
So, there's that.
I work for a medium-sized software company and their work-life balance claims are also bogus. I handed in my resignation last week after nearly a year of trying to work out a 4-day work week. Ever since my wife started a fulltime job, we're running ragged and not even seeing the kids. Since her longterm earning potential dwarfs mine, I figured I'd cut back. But nope -
The company says they need me so much that they're willing to let me go rather than let me work less than fulltime. My manager(s) (I've been talking about this since before a recent reorganization) sound sympathetic enough, but if they agree to my request they've lost part of a headcount which they can't replace.
So yeah, I can underline the fact that "work life balance" is just another empty phrase. But this guy's situation puts mine into some perspective...
Giuliani is the obvious choice for cybersecurity - we all know that fundamentally, computers operate on a series of 9s and 11s.
Have to wonder if a focused microwave emitter like that could also fry a home router if directed horizontally... or, heat up your sandwich?
I've been using Millenata MODISC for backing up my wife's tens of thousands of pics of the kids. Outside of our normal backup processes, about once a year I get a box of discs (not cheap but affordable) and pull off all of the past year's photos, then I tuck them into a fireproof safe and leave it under our deck. (I'm trying to protect against fire and theft more than anything else)
I also spot-check older discs and the ones from 4 years ago, when I started, are still readable. The discs are said to last 1000 years and I'll be happy with 2% of that...
Not sure why there are so many open questions about this find - I just finished reading "Proxima" by Stephen Baxter, and he described it pretty thoroughly... it's a red dwarf star which means the Goldilocks planet is tidally locked. But there's enough atmosphere to keep heat circulating, thus there is liquid water in the warm areas. A relatively simple but well-developed ecosystem exists including a reasonably intelligent species dubbed the Builders who live in harmony with the other plants and animals - possibly devolved from earlier, more technological stages. And there's a weird hatch, deep under Mercury - but I've said too much already...
http://www.goodreads.com/book/...
> how many Slashdot readers today remember using Gopher?
If you're too young to remember Gopher, what are you doing on Slashdot in the first place?
... no need to see the pics, we already pretty much know what it looks like!
I have to mildly disagree with point 6 - it's maybe not QUITE $20, but you can assemble a few components which will make a decent Android phone into something resembling a desktop.
First you need a Miracast dongle - they're available as low as $10-$15 on eBay, though the cheaper you go, the worse the performance can be (they all use the same chipset but some skimp on the antenna...). Second, get a microUSB OTG hub so you can plug in a commodity mouse and keyboard. Third, download Google Docs or get free MS-Office.
Assembly: Plug Miracast into HDMI input of old monitor (or use $5 HDMI-DVI adapter). Plug peripherals into hub and hub into phone.
And that's about it.
I did a lot of product research on these components during the first half of this year, intending to turn it into a pocket-sized product with a custom case and everything, before dropping the project due to lack of time. So I've bought half a dozen kinds of dongle, as well as virtually every folding Bluetooth keyboard on the market (none worked well enough to be worth it for me) and about half the pocketsized Bluetooth mice, and I've done a lot of testing.
Of course this depends a certain amount on the performance of your phone (Miracast does put a load on the CPU) and the availability of monitors and keyboards. But more and more offices are offering docking stations for roving/traveling employees' laptops, which was my intended target market.
As for underprivileged students, my own kids use 4-5 year old desktop PCs my employer gives away for free and every time they get an upgrade, their old ones go to our school for the less-privileged. I just gave away a Core2Quad Dell with 4GB RAM and a 320gig HD, monitor, and color inkjet, with Windows 7 Pro. Because that's what my office was giving away LAST YEAR...
Yeah, it's not even a new rerun - http://www.theguardian.com/sci...
But that's the way it is with patents; they're like survey questions, it's all in how they're phrased. Maybe this time someone will actually produce something with the idea?
MO-DISC (or Milleniata) discs are what I use for offline storage. They're not THAT expensive - I only do a backup onto them once per year (Time Machine to an onsite server for everyday), and so far my wife's annual output of photos and video can be coaxed to fit onto a box of 10 DVDs, for roughly $35-40ish
I put 'em in a fire-resistant waterproof portable safe hidden elsewhere on the property, and consider myself safe from lightning/flood, theft and a few similar gotchas. I originally had a plan to put a wee server in at a friend's house several km away, and do reciprocal backups that way. But it's only recently that the bandwidth for that has been affordable (in Australia) and the above solution makes me feel safe enough that I haven't gotten around to it.
I don't need them to last 100 years, I just don't want to be surprised by bad DVD+R dye or whatever in 3-5 years as has been the case with other types of burned discs. I've never been able to get a straight answer on how long burned DVDs can be expected to last, but the MO-Disc people claim 1,000 years and I'll be happy with 2% of that.
If DVD readers go away in a decade, they won't go away WITHOUT WARNING - I'll have time to move data onto holographic crystals or whatever replaces them. After all, we can still buy floppy drives and VHS tape decks and vinyl record turntables... Plus I can also put everything we've done onto a 500GB drive and toss that into the fire safe, while I'm at it.
I've been doing this for a few years now and so far all the earlier stuff remains readable when I pull 'em out every first-week-of-January...
I have (and still use) several Foscam standard-def cameras, but I've had a lot of trouble with HD (720p) models from Foscam and others. Can't find any which don't require ActiveX - not only for streaming, but for SETUP.
I can't give them my WiFi password without being able to run their proprietary plugin, necessarily on a Windows machine, to access the web interface. And even when I use a Windows machine and go through the process, I to end up with repeated failures.
I'm sure it must be working for someone out there, but I documented my experiences thoroughly (tried all browsers, OSX/Linux/WinXP/Win7, etc) and encountered nothing but a broad spectrum of errors.
Once they're set up, apps like tinyCam Monitor Pro (consider this a plug, it's great) can do everything you need. So if ActiveX is your only barrier, just use it for the setup stage.
I'll tell you what *I* do about it - I promptly complain to someone who proceeds to ignore me entirely, that's what I do about it.
I hereby support suspension of all students found to be in possession of the necessary skeletal structure to form a "gun" shape with their hands.
Ban opposable thumbs, for the sake of the children! It's the only way to keep them safe.
Yeah - I worked for a gadget retailer and was asked to test some 8GB flash sticks several years ago.
You could write 8GB to them, but anything past the first 4GB returned a read error.
My boss called the supplier in Shenzen to yell at them - "How could you do this?" Their response: "I don't understand - you SAID you wanted the best price?!"
There's something of a dearth of material out there for people who want to learn STEM topics on a casual basis and are somewhere in between a layperson and a specialist. Most of what you can find to read is either written for the general public (popular science books and magazines) or dry scientific papers. I've also had a lifelong interest in science, but did not pursue it as a career, and it's always a challenge to find stuff which I can read and yet which hasn't had the details filtered out...
"Science News" magazine is a stand-out example though - it's science reporting written for an educated audience, often people who are scientists themselves who want to keep up in other fields. It's amazing how concise and information-packed the articles can become when you can use words above the typical 6th-grade reading level (or whatever they use for newspapers these days).
But, I digress. In your position I'd try to find a mentor - maybe barter some IT services in return. There are lots of people out there who'd probably enjoy the process of helping a mature student get started.
By the way - the coolest thing about transitioning OUT of IT is that when the office network goes down, it's neither your fault nor your problem... you get to hang around the coffee machine and complain with everyone else!
I don't tell most of my coworkers about my background. If they know you can fix computers... well, it's like owning a pickup truck, and everyone asks you to help them move!
After ~20 years working in every area of IT, for a number of reasons I've recently transitioned over to "Online Content Developer" as a career track.
I'm just starting a new job with a major supplier of accounting / tax software. Most of the reason I was hired was my IT background, since a big part of my job will be helping manage the flow of information (internally and, eventually, to the public) from the tech support and consulting departments to other areas of the company.
In this new role, I use some of my technical skills just getting the most from all the internal systems and platforms here, but mostly I draw from my experience with helping people use technology. I understand tech support from both sides of the equation, and can help translate issues to people who don't. Later on I'll be tasked with helping interpret complex accounting software issues for the general public as well.
In the past I've done similar work for a vocational training company, and again my experience with developing helpdesk materials, Knowledge Bases and other forms of online training was a big reason why I was hired. (I also have a track record in writing and video production, with lots of exposure to online marketing methods as well - but many people have that without being techies)
FWIW!
Yeah, how awful that the first-ever high level language isn't as good as the ones that came after! Booooo!!!
Here's Rear Admiral Grace Hopper on Letterman - probably in '82 or '83 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v...
That also helps, thanks.
Thanks for that, I knew they interact but I didn't think they could "collide" per se, and from your explanation maybe "collide" is just the wrong word to be using?
I preface this with an admission that my serious physics studies were like 25 years ago now, but - photons are bosons, how can they "collide"?