The nickname was indeed "Trash 80" but it was kind of snobbish of some of us to call it that. I was fortunate. There was kind of a cyber-race when I was growing up. I had the first computer in the neighborhood.
But by then my friend had a TRS-80 and later I got an Apple ][ which remained the most advanced computer in the neighborhood until this other guy's parents bought a Lisa.
I still respect the TRS 80 as well as that old orange toaster. Were it not for those simple machines I probably would have had an entirely different career - which makes me wonder if that's really a good thing, but it is what it turned out to be.
I'm not millenial - I grew up with an antenna and we could barely get PBS in a big city (so the first 100 times I saw Monty Python's Holy Grail on Betamax tape there was a lot of interference - it was normal back then)
But I hadn't used an antenna in about 25 years and didn't believe I could get reception - the websites that purport to tell you if you can and what kind of antenna you should get didn't have a whole lot of data for my area.
But Amazon tempted me one night after a few beers and I spent $15-20 certain that I'd return it almost as soon as I got it. It claims to have a 50 mile range and I'm about 60 miles outside the metropolitan market. I was surprised - I got 25 "channels". Now granted most of that was religious and home shopping crap but I get Fox and one of two PBS stations and Antenna TV - No ABC, CBS or NBC which I never watched even when I had cable.
What I've discovered is that there isn't anything on PBS that I couldn't already get on demand online. I've either been asleep or forgot to watch The Simpsons and all the other animated crap on Fox (basically the only reason I watched Fox) and Antenna TV sure has a ton of commercials although it was kind of fun watching old episodes of Hazel and I Dream of Jeannie.
Just checking now:
PBS: Some kids show FOX: Commercials Antenna TV: Commercials
And this is how it is almost every time I tune in.
5 years without cable TV and if I happen to be bored, awake, at home and remember to I might watch Bob's Burgers and The Simpsons and whatever else they air for a couple of hours on Sunday but so far that doesn't seem to be very convenient for me. But I could record it, right? Well, I guess I could - somehow, but I don't even bother to watch The Simpsons online even though I think I can. I stopped watching even before I dropped cable TV.
Between Netflix and Amazon I have more than I can ever watch and the list just keeps getting longer. I finally watched Season 1 of The Wire - took me about 10 days because I don't have the time or patience to sit and watch 13 hours of TV in one sitting. That's 15 year old stuff and while I didn't have HBO for most of that time it shows how far behind I am.
So even for free (minus the one-time cost of a cheap antenna) I'm not really into watching broadcast TV anymore.
What I found really funny though is that I found myself trying to stop the "stream" before I turned the TV off. But I don't have to do that anymore - it's just always there! In fact I can't do that.
They claim they are fireproof and even give some specifications as to heat and duration.
That's what what mine is for. It's also waterproof (I was able to test that much - I'll take their word that it's fireproof).
I was advised once to get one but leave it unlocked - otherwise they'll just steal the whole thing. I keep it locked anyway but I don't expect it to really stop anyone burglarizing my home. (so presumably this way they'll just steal the contents? Hooray, I guess).
I've lived in a few states and I never thought anything about voting in a school or a church or a strip mall. They're just places which are available and can accommodate voting.
I live in Colorado now and for last fall's election I brought my ballot to the nearest voting location which was a church. It wasn't just for dropping off ballots either. In-person voting was going on too. Somehow Clinton still won Colorado.
I certainly knew smoking was bad when I started. I didn't plan to become a regular smoker. Peer pressure didn't make me do it either. I wanted to try it. I liked it. I didn't become a daily smoker right away. It crept up on me.
I really had no concept of addiction back then. I told myself I was a strong person and would just quit whenever I wanted. I told myself I'd definitely quit if I hit 30 and still smoked. I didn't.
I have now been quit for years though. I have no idea how many. Cost was not the only factor, but it was a huge one.
I think it would put a huge dent in it for a number of reasons:
* There is no current infrastructure for growing, distributing and selling illegal tobacco (Yes, I'm ignoring the cigarettes which are smuggled to avoid taxes because I believe most of those are grown and produced legally) * Growing your own tobacco would be a huge hassle for the average smoker unlike growing a little marijuana or making your own moonshine * Unlike weed and booze just about all cigarette smokers are regular daily, sometimes even hourly or more users. Keeping yourself in illegal tobacco is going to be a pain and you'd probably end up buying loose low-quality tobacco that doesn't taste anything like your Marlboro or your Camel Lights* and you'll have to roll your own. * The stench will give users away as it does now. Cops will quickly switch from saying they think they smell marijuana to I know I smell cigarettes.
As an former smoker I just don't think I'd want to go through all the hassle I've gone through to get illegal tobacco that I went through to get illegal marijuana. I expect it would be expensive and of poor quality and everyone who got near me would know it. And you thought marijuana could make you paranoid?
It might thrive in certain communities I suppose but if it were suddenly as illegal as marijuana used to be and it was enforced I see the number of users going down, especially new users.
With all that said, it's not going to happen in the foreseeable future. Too many people would object way too strongly to it. I would object to it. It's an infringement on freedom.
The best they can do is make it illegal to smoke anywhere which it seems they're working on.
* - I just remembered. They don't sell "lights" anymore. I had quit long enough that at some point they forced them to stop calling them "lights" which was confusing when I decided to buy a pack a few years back. I quit again for good after that pack.
I did not smoke "lights" because I thought they were safer. That would be stupid. They were milder. But the theory that smokers would think "lights" weren't as bad was the logic they used which I guess the tobacco companies are to blame for for running all those ads bragging about their low tar content. "Carlton is Lowest".
The only objections I can think of for requiring it on new vehicles (not retrofitting all the ones already out there) are:
* expense. How much does this cost? * someone else mentioned a false sense of security. I'm not sure how likely that is. If my car has to brake for me I would take that as a sign that I should be paying better attention. * I did also wonder if it might brake before I would normally brake, but I should hope that wouldn't be an issue. I've never driven one.
The peace of mind it could bring knowing that the person behind you is less likely to rear-end you when you don't run a red light would be nice.
It was very difficult to get my grandfather to give up driving. Driving around pointlessly shopping different grocery stores for the lowest price on Oreos was something he enjoyed. Of course he wasn't saving money by burning all that gas to save a few pennies on Oreos but it gave him something to do and living in his retirement home after my grandmother passed away was boring.
That and going to Wendy's for a Frosty were among the things he liked to do. It was only after he got into an accident and we acted as his chauffeur that we finally wrested the keys away from him.
Automatic braking could have prevented that accident as well as at least one near accident when I was a passenger. The only thing harder to do was to get him to quit smoking and that was only possible because it was beginning to have severe effects on his circulation.
I've never driven a car with this feature but as long as it doesn't brake before I'm ready to I think I'd like it. Of course I'm confident in my driving abilities and don't think I need it, but my grandfather thought the same thing too. If I live that long I'm sure I'll insist I'm still just as good a driver as ever - maybe I'll even think I'm better.
I may be one of the few but I started doing that when the check-printing software I used to use started sucking.
Either I couldn't find the original install media or that version didn't work on a newer version of Windows, I can't remember. I got their upgraded software but it absolutely sucked if it worked at all. Besides printing your own checks isn't really worth the hassle anyway. My printer has been out of ink for several years now.
I could pay most of my bills by phone and with a credit card but first the gas company started charging a ridiculous fee to pay with credit card. I actually started paying it every other month at the grocery store by Western Union. That made it cost only a bit more than the postage stamp that I used to use to mail it in.
That got to be too much of a hassle though and I relented and started paying with my checking account still over the phone though.
The phone might actually be only as secure as my phone is, which is to say not really secure at all. On the other hand until a few months ago one bill I couldn't pay by phone was using https frames in an http page* which they swore was totally secure. Only other option would be to mail it to them.
* - This is how it appeared to me - I'm not that knowledgeable in that area but I certainly didn't trust it.
I use a credit card whenever I can but I always keep around ~$200 in my wallet. It won't break me if I lose it and it can cover small emergencies.
I only have ONE credit card now since the bank where I have both checking and savings accounts cancelled my other one because I never used it. Or rather hardly ever used it.
My remaining card information has been stolen a few times (never the physical card) and I've never been held liable for the fraudulent charges but I've sometimes only found out at the cash register that my card had been cancelled.
So now I just wonder how my card has been stolen so much. I sometimes use it online, but not very often. Could one of the stores where I used it be to blame?
I'm usually too lazy to go set up a virtual credit card number before I shop online but I guess I really should.
The battery on my Chrysler lasted about 12 years but there was one time I left the lights on and 2-3 other times where I apparently hit trunk release when I merely meant to put on the alarm.
But the way Chrysler places the battery - in the front wheel well it's not easy to replace. I believe the manual says you don't have to remove the wheel to do it, but I quickly discovered that was a lie.
The place I bought the replacement battery from usually installs new batteries for customers - not on my car though.
Some of us live in multi-unit housing. At least I'm not in some building like Grenfell Tower. I'm sure I could get out alive if my neighbor starts a fire with their cigarettes, Samsung phone, hoverboard or now fidget spinner but that would still be very inconvenient to say the least.
Nope - can't legally consume ganja or be stoned while driving.
Q: Is there a legal limit for marijuana impairment while operating a vehicle?
A: Colorado law specifies that drivers with five nanograms of active tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) in their whole blood can be prosecuted for driving under the influence (DUI). However, no matter the level of THC, law enforcement officers base arrests on observed impairment.
I'm not sure if "whole blood" is a term commonly used, but that's apparently 5 ng/ml which some argue is too low of a limit. I have no idea how "stoned" 5 ng/ml of blood feels like just as it's difficult for a drinker to know their BAC beyond an educated guess.
It's still wisest to err on the side of caution because cops are looking for stoned drivers.
And take note that this is not a test for metabolites that most employment drug screens test for that can stay in your system for weeks. They're measuring actual THC.
I think this law is too vague, but I think it was meant to allow people who may be stopped (at a red light, rail crossing, stuck with their foot on the brake or pulled over safely on the shoulder) to send a text or adjust their GPS or whatever.
Having production databases that can be reached from developers workstations is always a bad idea.
I don't disagree but sometimes it's impractical with smaller teams especially if that team consists of only one person and they are also expected to provide support for production systems.
It's just VERY important to make sure you're aware of which system you're on.
The worst I ever did was delete all the inventory in an entire aisle in one of our customer's warehouses. Thank God I didn't delete the entire warehouse. I felt really bad as I called up the warehouse manager and told him about it.
He took it surprisingly well. I was expecting to be harshly chastised but he was very understanding for some reason. Possibly because they do physical inventories all the time and I just gave him a heads up on where his inventory team should focus next. Or maybe it's because I had dealt with him many times before and usually I fixed his problems instead of creating them.
That was about 20 years ago and as best as I can recall I had both production and development windows open at the same time and I adjusted inventory in the production environment instead of the development environment by mistake. I quickly realized what I had done and in a minor panic to correct it I compounded my mistake by more than 10-fold.
Since then I think most places have a change management process which involves more than a developer recklessly altering data in production on the fly without any oversight.
Even at the largest company I've worked for primarily as a developer I had full access to any production system my software ran on and there really wasn't a distinction between developer and sysadmin. Some were stronger in one area than the other, but we all did both.
Eventually they split us up and took away the developer's root privileges from all the machines forcing us to use sudo instead...and we grumbled a bit about that, but we accepted it. It really was the right thing to do.
In the mid-90s I had just started working at some place and the guy I was replacing (he left for a better opportunity) was showing me how everything was set up and as a demonstration he deleted his own account. I guess he felt he didn't need it anymore, but then he says there might be some useful stuff in there and tells me it would be a good exercise for me to learn how to restore from backup.
Not a big deal, it was actually documented and I had done that before at a previous job...but every single tape was bad.
When I told him, his reaction was that I must be doing it wrong, but he was similarly unsuccessful. I think they had been using the same tapes ever since they bought their system and they were all kept in a shoebox in the same small office with all the servers.
After 6 months I left for a better opportunity too.
I am not a millennal, but I would have a hard time telling you what old TV shows aired on which network.
Was Star Trek CBS? I think so.
Get Smart, I Love Lucy, Brady Bunch, WKRP, MASH, Newhart, Cheers, Friends, Seinfeld, I have no idea what networks those aired on.
I only really know The Simpsons was on Fox. Wait, All In The Family was CBS too, wasn't it? I don't really care.
The same thing goes for movies. I really don't care what studio released a movie. Is it good?
Okay, I do know that AMC aired Breaking Bad, and HBO is responsible for Game of Thrones, but that is the new way. In the old days I didn't have to decide if I was going to pay for a cable package which included AMC and I didn't have to decide if I wanted to pay extra for HBO.
We just twisted the antenna around until we got what we wanted.
I have no love for networks or movie studios. I like some actors and can recognize a few, but even some "very good" actors as well as directors and producers have made some crappy films and TV shows.
Based on literally saving 50% by switching between one well known carrier to another I'd say insurance rates are based on bullshit.
I'm tempted to chastise the one I switched away from who was charging me > $600 for 6 months and praising the one who is only charging me $300 for the same period - and who also did a much better job at paying claims when there was a tornado here, but I don't want to come across as a shill.
I'll just say the "good hands" were in my wallet.
I have a theory that since I initially got my policy in a metro areas with one of the highest rates of car thefts in the nation they just thought they could keep charging my price when I moved to a town with hardly any auto theft.
It pays to shop around. They seem to become complacent and think you're a customer for life no matter how they treat you. It's up to you to tell them they're wrong.
I don't drive a Tesla and my car is over 10 years old. What should the replacement cost to insurance cost ratio be for a driver with a good record?
Back in the days when I was riding the train into the city, you could tell the serious people from the unserious ones by what paper they were reading.
Sir Humphrey: The only way to understand the Press is to remember that they pander to their readers' prejudices.
Jim Hacker: Don't tell me about the Press. I know *exactly* who reads the papers. The Daily Mirror is read by the people who think they run the country. The Guardian is read by people who think they *ought* to run the country. The Times is read by the people who actually *do* run the country. The Daily Mail is read by the wives of the people who run the country. The Financial Times is read by people who *own* the country. The Morning Star is read by people who think the country ought to be run by *another* country. The Daily Telegraph is read by the people who think it is.
Sir Humphrey: Prime Minister, what about the people who read The Sun?
Bernard Woolley: Sun readers don't care *who* runs the country - as long as she's got big tits.
How about they start pitching a version of cable, stripped down to a few channels, each actually meaningful and with varied programming, with NO COMMERCIALS in exchange for the subscription costs... you know, like it all started out?
Is that how it started out?
I thought it started out as a way to provide community access to television initially in rural areas far from broadcast towers. When it hit my area the big advantages that I remember being touted were a perfect picture and not having to fiddle with the antenna anymore. We also got a few more channels like TBS and WGN but those still had commercials.
The channels that didn't show commercials were always premium channels like HBO and Cinemax.
Maybe this commercial free cable utopia existed before my time, but I've never seen evidence of it.
Who is going to curate these commercial free channels? Well, obviously it's companies like Netflix and Amazon. (TV that I actually am still willing to pay for).
I can't think of any reason for cable TV to exist anymore. The most common reason cited is content, but that's not a technical problem. Can cable do anything that a good internet connection cannot?
And we just close those tickets with a note that says "working as designed". If it's important enough, the customer will escalate it through management and pay for more software customizations.
Slashdot Mirror
The nickname was indeed "Trash 80" but it was kind of snobbish of some of us to call it that. I was fortunate. There was kind of a cyber-race when I was growing up. I had the first computer in the neighborhood.
It was an orange toaster (Poly88) which we later upgraded to an 8813 http://www.polymorphic-compute...
But by then my friend had a TRS-80 and later I got an Apple ][ which remained the most advanced computer in the neighborhood until this other guy's parents bought a Lisa.
I still respect the TRS 80 as well as that old orange toaster. Were it not for those simple machines I probably would have had an entirely different career - which makes me wonder if that's really a good thing, but it is what it turned out to be.
I'm not millenial - I grew up with an antenna and we could barely get PBS in a big city (so the first 100 times I saw Monty Python's Holy Grail on Betamax tape there was a lot of interference - it was normal back then)
But I hadn't used an antenna in about 25 years and didn't believe I could get reception - the websites that purport to tell you if you can and what kind of antenna you should get didn't have a whole lot of data for my area.
But Amazon tempted me one night after a few beers and I spent $15-20 certain that I'd return it almost as soon as I got it. It claims to have a 50 mile range and I'm about 60 miles outside the metropolitan market. I was surprised - I got 25 "channels". Now granted most of that was religious and home shopping crap but I get Fox and one of two PBS stations and Antenna TV - No ABC, CBS or NBC which I never watched even when I had cable.
What I've discovered is that there isn't anything on PBS that I couldn't already get on demand online. I've either been asleep or forgot to watch The Simpsons and all the other animated crap on Fox (basically the only reason I watched Fox) and Antenna TV sure has a ton of commercials although it was kind of fun watching old episodes of Hazel and I Dream of Jeannie.
Just checking now:
PBS: Some kids show
FOX: Commercials
Antenna TV: Commercials
And this is how it is almost every time I tune in.
5 years without cable TV and if I happen to be bored, awake, at home and remember to I might watch Bob's Burgers and The Simpsons and whatever else they air for a couple of hours on Sunday but so far that doesn't seem to be very convenient for me. But I could record it, right? Well, I guess I could - somehow, but
I don't even bother to watch The Simpsons online even though I think I can. I stopped watching even before I dropped cable TV.
Between Netflix and Amazon I have more than I can ever watch and the list just keeps getting longer. I finally watched Season 1 of The Wire - took me about 10 days because I don't have the time or patience to sit and watch 13 hours of TV in one sitting. That's 15 year old stuff and while I didn't have HBO for most of that time it shows how far behind I am.
So even for free (minus the one-time cost of a cheap antenna) I'm not really into watching broadcast TV anymore.
What I found really funny though is that I found myself trying to stop the "stream" before I turned the TV off. But I don't have to do that anymore - it's just always there! In fact I can't do that.
They claim they are fireproof and even give some specifications as to heat and duration.
That's what what mine is for. It's also waterproof (I was able to test that much - I'll take their word that it's fireproof).
I was advised once to get one but leave it unlocked - otherwise they'll just steal the whole thing. I keep it locked anyway but I don't expect it to really stop anyone burglarizing my home. (so presumably this way they'll just steal the contents? Hooray, I guess).
I've lived in a few states and I never thought anything about voting in a school or a church or a strip mall. They're just places which are available and can accommodate voting.
I live in Colorado now and for last fall's election I brought my ballot to the nearest voting location which was a church. It wasn't just for dropping off ballots either. In-person voting was going on too. Somehow Clinton still won Colorado.
This cannot be emphasized enough in my opinion.
I certainly knew smoking was bad when I started. I didn't plan to become a regular smoker. Peer pressure didn't make me do it either. I wanted to try it. I liked it. I didn't become a daily smoker right away. It crept up on me.
I really had no concept of addiction back then. I told myself I was a strong person and would just quit whenever I wanted. I told myself I'd definitely quit if I hit 30 and still smoked. I didn't.
I have now been quit for years though. I have no idea how many. Cost was not the only factor, but it was a huge one.
I think it would put a huge dent in it for a number of reasons:
* There is no current infrastructure for growing, distributing and selling illegal tobacco (Yes, I'm ignoring the cigarettes which are smuggled to avoid taxes because I believe most of those are grown and produced legally)
* Growing your own tobacco would be a huge hassle for the average smoker unlike growing a little marijuana or making your own moonshine
* Unlike weed and booze just about all cigarette smokers are regular daily, sometimes even hourly or more users. Keeping yourself in illegal tobacco is going to be a pain and you'd probably end up buying loose low-quality tobacco that doesn't taste anything like your Marlboro or your Camel Lights* and you'll have to roll your own.
* The stench will give users away as it does now. Cops will quickly switch from saying they think they smell marijuana to I know I smell cigarettes.
As an former smoker I just don't think I'd want to go through all the hassle I've gone through to get illegal tobacco that I went through to get illegal marijuana. I expect it would be expensive and of poor quality and everyone who got near me would know it. And you thought marijuana could make you paranoid?
It might thrive in certain communities I suppose but if it were suddenly as illegal as marijuana used to be and it was enforced I see the number of users going down, especially new users.
With all that said, it's not going to happen in the foreseeable future. Too many people would object way too strongly to it. I would object to it. It's an infringement on freedom.
The best they can do is make it illegal to smoke anywhere which it seems they're working on.
* - I just remembered. They don't sell "lights" anymore. I had quit long enough that at some point they forced them to stop calling them "lights" which was confusing when I decided to buy a pack a few years back. I quit again for good after that pack.
I did not smoke "lights" because I thought they were safer. That would be stupid. They were milder. But the theory that smokers would think "lights" weren't as bad was the logic they used which I guess the tobacco companies are to blame for for running all those ads bragging about their low tar content. "Carlton is Lowest".
I'd mod this up if I could.
The only objections I can think of for requiring it on new vehicles (not retrofitting all the ones already out there) are:
* expense. How much does this cost?
* someone else mentioned a false sense of security. I'm not sure how likely that is. If my car has to brake for me I would take that as a sign that I should be paying better attention.
* I did also wonder if it might brake before I would normally brake, but I should hope that wouldn't be an issue. I've never driven one.
The peace of mind it could bring knowing that the person behind you is less likely to rear-end you when you don't run a red light would be nice.
It was very difficult to get my grandfather to give up driving. Driving around pointlessly shopping different grocery stores for the lowest price on Oreos was something he enjoyed. Of course he wasn't saving money by burning all that gas to save a few pennies on Oreos but it gave him something to do and living in his retirement home after my grandmother passed away was boring.
That and going to Wendy's for a Frosty were among the things he liked to do. It was only after he got into an accident and we acted as his chauffeur that we finally wrested the keys away from him.
Automatic braking could have prevented that accident as well as at least one near accident when I was a passenger. The only thing harder to do was to get him to quit smoking and that was only possible because it was beginning to have severe effects on his circulation.
I've never driven a car with this feature but as long as it doesn't brake before I'm ready to I think I'd like it. Of course I'm confident in my driving abilities and don't think I need it, but my grandfather thought the same thing too. If I live that long I'm sure I'll insist I'm still just as good a driver as ever - maybe I'll even think I'm better.
I may be one of the few but I started doing that when the check-printing software I used to use started sucking.
Either I couldn't find the original install media or that version didn't work on a newer version of Windows, I can't remember. I got their upgraded software but it absolutely sucked if it worked at all. Besides printing your own checks isn't really worth the hassle anyway. My printer has been out of ink for several years now.
I could pay most of my bills by phone and with a credit card but first the gas company started charging a ridiculous fee to pay with credit card. I actually started paying it every other month at the grocery store by Western Union. That made it cost only a bit more than the postage stamp that I used to use to mail it in.
That got to be too much of a hassle though and I relented and started paying with my checking account still over the phone though.
The phone might actually be only as secure as my phone is, which is to say not really secure at all. On the other hand until a few months ago one bill I couldn't pay by phone was using https frames in an http page* which they swore was totally secure. Only other option would be to mail it to them.
* - This is how it appeared to me - I'm not that knowledgeable in that area but I certainly didn't trust it.
I use a credit card whenever I can but I always keep around ~$200 in my wallet. It won't break me if I lose it and it can cover small emergencies.
I only have ONE credit card now since the bank where I have both checking and savings accounts cancelled my other one because I never used it. Or rather hardly ever used it.
My remaining card information has been stolen a few times (never the physical card) and I've never been held liable for the fraudulent charges but I've sometimes only found out at the cash register that my card had been cancelled.
So now I just wonder how my card has been stolen so much. I sometimes use it online, but not very often. Could one of the stores where I used it be to blame?
I'm usually too lazy to go set up a virtual credit card number before I shop online but I guess I really should.
The battery on my Chrysler lasted about 12 years but there was one time I left the lights on and 2-3 other times where I apparently hit trunk release when I merely meant to put on the alarm.
But the way Chrysler places the battery - in the front wheel well it's not easy to replace. I believe the manual says you don't have to remove the wheel to do it, but I quickly discovered that was a lie.
The place I bought the replacement battery from usually installs new batteries for customers - not on my car though.
Some of us live in multi-unit housing. At least I'm not in some building like Grenfell Tower. I'm sure I could get out alive if my neighbor starts a fire with their cigarettes, Samsung phone, hoverboard or now fidget spinner but that would still be very inconvenient to say the least.
Nope - can't legally consume ganja or be stoned while driving.
Q: Is there a legal limit for marijuana impairment while operating a vehicle?
A: Colorado law specifies that drivers with five nanograms of active tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) in their whole blood can be prosecuted for driving under the influence (DUI). However, no matter the level of THC, law enforcement officers base arrests on observed impairment.
https://www.codot.gov/safety/a...
I'm not sure if "whole blood" is a term commonly used, but that's apparently 5 ng/ml which some argue is too low of a limit. I have no idea how "stoned" 5 ng/ml of blood feels like just as it's difficult for a drinker to know their BAC beyond an educated guess.
It's still wisest to err on the side of caution because cops are looking for stoned drivers.
And take note that this is not a test for metabolites that most employment drug screens test for that can stay in your system for weeks. They're measuring actual THC.
I think this law is too vague, but I think it was meant to allow people who may be stopped (at a red light, rail crossing, stuck with their foot on the brake or pulled over safely on the shoulder) to send a text or adjust their GPS or whatever.
I'd try Focus myself but it's not listed for me in the Play store search. Perhaps it's only available to certain devices initially?
I had to scroll down 3 or 4 screens to find it even though I searched specifically for Firefox Focus.
The link in the summary also goes directly to it.
It seems alright I guess. I really don't do much browsing on my phone anyway so I I'm not going to review it beyond that.
Having production databases that can be reached from developers workstations is always a bad idea.
I don't disagree but sometimes it's impractical with smaller teams especially if that team consists of only one person and they are also expected to provide support for production systems.
It's just VERY important to make sure you're aware of which system you're on.
The worst I ever did was delete all the inventory in an entire aisle in one of our customer's warehouses. Thank God I didn't delete the entire warehouse. I felt really bad as I called up the warehouse manager and told him about it.
He took it surprisingly well. I was expecting to be harshly chastised but he was very understanding for some reason. Possibly because they do physical inventories all the time and I just gave him a heads up on where his inventory team should focus next. Or maybe it's because I had dealt with him many times before and usually I fixed his problems instead of creating them.
That was about 20 years ago and as best as I can recall I had both production and development windows open at the same time and I adjusted inventory in the production environment instead of the development environment by mistake. I quickly realized what I had done and in a minor panic to correct it I compounded my mistake by more than 10-fold.
Since then I think most places have a change management process which involves more than a developer recklessly altering data in production on the fly without any oversight.
Even at the largest company I've worked for primarily as a developer I had full access to any production system my software ran on and there really wasn't a distinction between developer and sysadmin. Some were stronger in one area than the other, but we all did both.
Eventually they split us up and took away the developer's root privileges from all the machines forcing us to use sudo instead...and we grumbled a bit about that, but we accepted it. It really was the right thing to do.
At least know that your backups work.
In the mid-90s I had just started working at some place and the guy I was replacing (he left for a better opportunity) was showing me how everything was set up and as a demonstration he deleted his own account. I guess he felt he didn't need it anymore, but then he says there might be some useful stuff in there and tells me it would be a good exercise for me to learn how to restore from backup.
Not a big deal, it was actually documented and I had done that before at a previous job...but every single tape was bad.
When I told him, his reaction was that I must be doing it wrong, but he was similarly unsuccessful. I think they had been using the same tapes ever since they bought their system and they were all kept in a shoebox in the same small office with all the servers.
After 6 months I left for a better opportunity too.
As an American I have made the mistake of assuming a British show was from the BBC.
If it's a British show on PBS, it must be the BBC. Wrong!
You got it.
I am not a millennal, but I would have a hard time telling you what old TV shows aired on which network.
Was Star Trek CBS? I think so.
Get Smart, I Love Lucy, Brady Bunch, WKRP, MASH, Newhart, Cheers, Friends, Seinfeld, I have no idea what networks those aired on.
I only really know The Simpsons was on Fox. Wait, All In The Family was CBS too, wasn't it? I don't really care.
The same thing goes for movies. I really don't care what studio released a movie. Is it good?
Okay, I do know that AMC aired Breaking Bad, and HBO is responsible for Game of Thrones, but that is the new way. In the old days I didn't have to decide if I was going to pay for a cable package which included AMC and I didn't have to decide if I wanted to pay extra for HBO.
We just twisted the antenna around until we got what we wanted.
I have no love for networks or movie studios. I like some actors and can recognize a few, but even some "very good" actors as well as directors and producers have made some crappy films and TV shows.
Reigning in the federal government
And that's the problem. trump wants to "reign" as in "hold royal office; rule as king or queen."
He needs to be reined in.
Based on literally saving 50% by switching between one well known carrier to another I'd say insurance rates are based on bullshit.
I'm tempted to chastise the one I switched away from who was charging me > $600 for 6 months and praising the one who is only charging me $300 for the same period - and who also did a much better job at paying claims when there was a tornado here, but I don't want to come across as a shill.
I'll just say the "good hands" were in my wallet.
I have a theory that since I initially got my policy in a metro areas with one of the highest rates of car thefts in the nation they just thought they could keep charging my price when I moved to a town with hardly any auto theft.
It pays to shop around. They seem to become complacent and think you're a customer for life no matter how they treat you. It's up to you to tell them they're wrong.
I don't drive a Tesla and my car is over 10 years old. What should the replacement cost to insurance cost ratio be for a driver with a good record?
Back in the days when I was riding the train into the city, you could tell the serious people from the unserious ones by what paper they were reading.
Sir Humphrey: The only way to understand the Press is to remember that they pander to their readers' prejudices.
Jim Hacker: Don't tell me about the Press. I know *exactly* who reads the papers. The Daily Mirror is read by the people who think they run the country. The Guardian is read by people who think they *ought* to run the country. The Times is read by the people who actually *do* run the country. The Daily Mail is read by the wives of the people who run the country. The Financial Times is read by people who *own* the country. The Morning Star is read by people who think the country ought to be run by *another* country. The Daily Telegraph is read by the people who think it is.
Sir Humphrey: Prime Minister, what about the people who read The Sun?
Bernard Woolley: Sun readers don't care *who* runs the country - as long as she's got big tits.
How about they start pitching a version of cable, stripped down to a few channels, each actually meaningful and with varied programming, with NO COMMERCIALS in exchange for the subscription costs... you know, like it all started out?
Is that how it started out?
I thought it started out as a way to provide community access to television initially in rural areas far from broadcast towers. When it hit my area the big advantages that I remember being touted were a perfect picture and not having to fiddle with the antenna anymore. We also got a few more channels like TBS and WGN but those still had commercials.
The channels that didn't show commercials were always premium channels like HBO and Cinemax.
Maybe this commercial free cable utopia existed before my time, but I've never seen evidence of it.
Who is going to curate these commercial free channels? Well, obviously it's companies like Netflix and Amazon. (TV that I actually am still willing to pay for).
I can't think of any reason for cable TV to exist anymore. The most common reason cited is content, but that's not a technical problem. Can cable do anything that a good internet connection cannot?
We also expect it to work.
This is why I am no longer a Comcast customer and put up with DSL which at least where I live seems to work 10 times more reliably.
Of course, the DSL is a bit slower, but it's more than enough to support my needs.
Twitter is a diversion, much like reading the comments on /.
I mostly lurk on there, but I have gotten a bit bored with it and don't even usually log in.
I read it for tweets like:
Jeremy ClarksonVerified account @JeremyClarkson May 21
Something rude about Donald Trump. A pithy ending. And a hashtag #anotherperfecttweet
and
Jeremy ClarksonVerified account @JeremyClarkson May 21
Something right on and apparently caring. Swear word. Perfect tweet.
and
Jeremy ClarksonVerified account @JeremyClarkson Apr 13
I'M NOT ON FUCKING LINKEDIN
For some reason that made me chuckle.
And I'd probably forget to look at xkcd if I didn't follow it on twitter.
And then there's the Haiku from James May:
James MayVerified account @MrJamesMay Mar 29
Foggy reasoning
In parliament, and now the
Continent's cut off.
#Haikeu
#Rubbish/Merde/Scheiße
And we just close those tickets with a note that says "working as designed". If it's important enough, the customer will escalate it through management and pay for more software customizations.