We use a Roku, and a Tivo to get all our programming off the net. We use Netflix and Amazon mostly. We sometimes rent a dvd...and hardly ever go to the theater anymore. Too damn expensive. The wife and kids have no trouble with it either, and enjoy not having the advertisements.
I still run a LaserJet4+ and have a spare in the basement. Toner is dirt cheap, and it still prints great. Mine has the duplexer on it too. Got the whole unit at a state surplus auction for $30, full of toner, and it has the large capacity paper tray too, and a JetDirect card!
Then when I wanted color, I got a Tektronics 740 color laser networked printer at a university auction for $15...works great from the multi purpose tray...normal tray doesn't work. A few months later, I got a full set of toner and other consumables for it for $40. That will probably last me the next 10 years, and I don't have to worry about the ink drying out.
For copies, I have a ScanJet 5p on SCSI.
February of 2009, I left the IT industry in the gambling sector, and became a Maintenance Mechanic at a grain mill in the small town I live in. I got a $4 an hour raise, and cut my commute costs by about $100 a month, and lost 15 pounds by riding my bicycle to work. I now make the most per hour that I ever have. It's still owned by an evil corporation, but at least the local surpervisors seem decent.
I still get my IT fix, by keeping my household up and running, as well as doing computer work on the side. The mill also has me do internal computer work, and they pay me a premium whenever I do it. Their actual IT guy is several hours away.
6 months after I started, I became an Electrical Trainee, with another pay raise.
Worked out great for me!
And if a guy DID have an electron microscope...where would he go to learn more about reverse engineering the ASIC?
(And the GF keeps telling me that buying an old electron microscope was stupid)
Well, I know that here in eastern Nebraska, the telco had HUGH batteries at the main office, and most, if not all of the smaller CO's has batteries as well. The main office has 2 or 3 giant generators, (one of which is a gas turbine). They have numerous generator trailers, to drag out to the remote offices.
This is for the land lines...I don't know about their cell sites.
I know all this because I worked there for 4 years, and my father worked there for ~30 years. And in fact, when he had a big snow storm in October of 1998, my dad and I got to babysit one of the trailer generators, as it was out near his house.
I have a 10 year old son, and an 8 year old daughter. I got them matching computers. (Old Compaq P III 500, that I got from work for $1 each) I have them setup in our office, where my PC is also located. Mom's PC is in the next room, with a view through French doors. The kids are behind a proxy (tiny proxy on the Coyote firewall box), which is setup with a white list of approved sites. They haven't yet gotten into IMing, and they don't have their own email addresses yet. When they want their own email, I'll give them addresses on my own mail server. They normally play Age of Empires, or Ultima Online. They also have Harry Potter, and several age appropriate educational games. The daughter also likes Neopets. Mom and I are considering moving their PC's up to their rooms, because of how loud they get when they are playing their games. If we do, we will use remote monitoring software, like VNC or similar, so that we can check in on them from time to time and also shut things down at bedtime. That way, they know we can monitor them if we chose. This could build a trust issue, I suppose, but as they get older, and show that they will not use the PC when they should be sleeping or whatever, then we may ditch the VNC, and I'll just keep proxy logs, like others have mentioned.
Oh yeah, I also had them help me assemble their computers, as when I got them from work, they had no RAM or HDs. That way, they have at least seen the inside of a computer, and know the difference between RAM and a HD.
Are you talking about drop shipping stuff for companies, just like the other 684 people on ebay? Or do you mean, selling actual items for people, like one of those places where you drop off your items, and they sell it? And either way, does your linux box do it all by it's self, or do you have spends weeks setting up auctions?
My dad setup a cardboard box on the desk to reserve the space for the computer he would by "some day"...then Christmas morning, he removed the boxes to revel the Tandy 1000TL, with Tandy 16 color 15" monitor, and 9 pin dot matrix printer. That was our family's first computer. I borrowed a SmartModem 1200 from my high school shop teacher one summer and discovered the pre-internet of BBS's. Galactic Empire and Land of Devastation were my favorites. Plus chatting of course. Then I bought a Computer Peripherals 2400 baud internal when the 14,400's had come out. Lost it to a lightning strike, and they replaced it free.
Then I assembled my very own first computer out of parts from our local used computer store. Original IBM AT 286 10Mhz motherboard, with 1 meg RAM. I think I had a 720k DD 3.5 floppy, and a Seagate ST-225 20 meg HD. At one point, I even had both an amber monochrome and IBM EGA monitor on it at the same time. That was cool.
We have 3 adults and 4 kids in my household. We make triple and quaduple batches of everything. We shop at Sam's, and actually use it all before it spoils. We have more then the average amount of cupboard space. Seperate 20cu ft freezer. It gets to be quite a bit to keep track of. Once a month or so, the wife and I have to go through and take inventory so we don't duplicate buy stuff, and forget to buy other stuff. So this is the idea I came up with for us.
Slashdot Mirror
We use a Roku, and a Tivo to get all our programming off the net. We use Netflix and Amazon mostly. We sometimes rent a dvd...and hardly ever go to the theater anymore. Too damn expensive. The wife and kids have no trouble with it either, and enjoy not having the advertisements.
I still run a LaserJet4+ and have a spare in the basement. Toner is dirt cheap, and it still prints great. Mine has the duplexer on it too. Got the whole unit at a state surplus auction for $30, full of toner, and it has the large capacity paper tray too, and a JetDirect card! Then when I wanted color, I got a Tektronics 740 color laser networked printer at a university auction for $15...works great from the multi purpose tray...normal tray doesn't work. A few months later, I got a full set of toner and other consumables for it for $40. That will probably last me the next 10 years, and I don't have to worry about the ink drying out. For copies, I have a ScanJet 5p on SCSI.
February of 2009, I left the IT industry in the gambling sector, and became a Maintenance Mechanic at a grain mill in the small town I live in. I got a $4 an hour raise, and cut my commute costs by about $100 a month, and lost 15 pounds by riding my bicycle to work. I now make the most per hour that I ever have. It's still owned by an evil corporation, but at least the local surpervisors seem decent. I still get my IT fix, by keeping my household up and running, as well as doing computer work on the side. The mill also has me do internal computer work, and they pay me a premium whenever I do it. Their actual IT guy is several hours away. 6 months after I started, I became an Electrical Trainee, with another pay raise. Worked out great for me!
I can't believe I left out the National Roller Skating Museum in Lincoln www.rollerskatingmuseum.com
While I very much enjoyed the MIT museum http://web.mit.edu/museum/ while hunnymooning in Boston, we live in Nebraska, and I can recommend a few places here... Pioneer Village in Minden http://www.pioneervillage.org/ Stuhr Museum in Grand Island http://www.stuhrmuseum.org/ Of course there is the S.A.C. museum near Omaha http://www.strategicairandspace.com/ Elephant hall in Lincoln http://www-museum.unl.edu/ And the Omaha Zoo http://www.omahazoo.com/ There is also a local history Museum in Gohner, http://www.sewardcountymuseum.org/home.html which has a miniture live steam train that you can ride on weekends http://www.the-chippewa.org/index_content.html
It doesn't crash?
And if a guy DID have an electron microscope...where would he go to learn more about reverse engineering the ASIC? (And the GF keeps telling me that buying an old electron microscope was stupid)
Well, I know that here in eastern Nebraska, the telco had HUGH batteries at the main office, and most, if not all of the smaller CO's has batteries as well. The main office has 2 or 3 giant generators, (one of which is a gas turbine). They have numerous generator trailers, to drag out to the remote offices. This is for the land lines...I don't know about their cell sites. I know all this because I worked there for 4 years, and my father worked there for ~30 years. And in fact, when he had a big snow storm in October of 1998, my dad and I got to babysit one of the trailer generators, as it was out near his house.
Check out http://www.austinev.org/evalbum/ for over 800 examples of electric cars, most of which are conversions or kit built.
I have a 10 year old son, and an 8 year old daughter. I got them matching computers. (Old Compaq P III 500, that I got from work for $1 each) I have them setup in our office, where my PC is also located. Mom's PC is in the next room, with a view through French doors. The kids are behind a proxy (tiny proxy on the Coyote firewall box), which is setup with a white list of approved sites. They haven't yet gotten into IMing, and they don't have their own email addresses yet. When they want their own email, I'll give them addresses on my own mail server. They normally play Age of Empires, or Ultima Online. They also have Harry Potter, and several age appropriate educational games. The daughter also likes Neopets. Mom and I are considering moving their PC's up to their rooms, because of how loud they get when they are playing their games. If we do, we will use remote monitoring software, like VNC or similar, so that we can check in on them from time to time and also shut things down at bedtime. That way, they know we can monitor them if we chose. This could build a trust issue, I suppose, but as they get older, and show that they will not use the PC when they should be sleeping or whatever, then we may ditch the VNC, and I'll just keep proxy logs, like others have mentioned. Oh yeah, I also had them help me assemble their computers, as when I got them from work, they had no RAM or HDs. That way, they have at least seen the inside of a computer, and know the difference between RAM and a HD.
Are you talking about drop shipping stuff for companies, just like the other 684 people on ebay? Or do you mean, selling actual items for people, like one of those places where you drop off your items, and they sell it? And either way, does your linux box do it all by it's self, or do you have spends weeks setting up auctions?
My dad setup a cardboard box on the desk to reserve the space for the computer he would by "some day"...then Christmas morning, he removed the boxes to revel the Tandy 1000TL, with Tandy 16 color 15" monitor, and 9 pin dot matrix printer. That was our family's first computer. I borrowed a SmartModem 1200 from my high school shop teacher one summer and discovered the pre-internet of BBS's. Galactic Empire and Land of Devastation were my favorites. Plus chatting of course. Then I bought a Computer Peripherals 2400 baud internal when the 14,400's had come out. Lost it to a lightning strike, and they replaced it free.
Then I assembled my very own first computer out of parts from our local used computer store. Original IBM AT 286 10Mhz motherboard, with 1 meg RAM. I think I had a 720k DD 3.5 floppy, and a Seagate ST-225 20 meg HD. At one point, I even had both an amber monochrome and IBM EGA monitor on it at the same time. That was cool.
We have 3 adults and 4 kids in my household. We make triple and quaduple batches of everything. We shop at Sam's, and actually use it all before it spoils. We have more then the average amount of cupboard space. Seperate 20cu ft freezer. It gets to be quite a bit to keep track of. Once a month or so, the wife and I have to go through and take inventory so we don't duplicate buy stuff, and forget to buy other stuff. So this is the idea I came up with for us.
...don't forget to visit CarHenge in Allaince. Not exactly on I-80, but it's awfully cool anyway. Here's a link: /htmlCarHenge