I have, now, more cars than servers. I once had the opposite but I had, eventually, professionals to manage them. I only held the roles of IT and programmer because I needed to, not because I was particularly skilled. In fact, USENET saved my bacon more often than I can count. I don't even bother to lie and pretend I was good.:( No, I actually *hated* computers at first.
Ah, one of my favorite quotes from a fairly new programmer that I'd hired. I was still "helping" then. "Code comments go in the code, not on coffee soaked index cards, asshole."
That's pretty much verbatim. I hired smart people, learned to give them what they asked for, gave them clear directions, and got out of the way. I'm a maths geek. I was more interested in the algorithms than the code. I wrote code because I had to. I tried everything from BASIC, to QBASIC, to Perl, to C. I settled on C but they rewrote the whole thing in C++ in the late 1990s.
The hardware was fun but, at times, I was over my head. Oh, things worked eventually. I learned a lot, I broke a lot. I worked a lot of hours - sometimes sleeping in the office and not seeing home for days, even if I was "home." I spent countless weeks, months, and years out of state and working in various field offices, cramped in a hotel room with a bunch of gear, or working in a spare office at some municipality's basement office while connected to the fragile system that was the main office.
Without those guys, without you (I presume), I'd have not gotten very far. Well, not this far. Instead, with you, I got to ride the crest of the wave that was traffic modeling. I got to do new things in new and different ways. It was exciting, fun, and enjoyable. I feel fortunate, I am fortunate, and I no longer hate computers. We were clustering servers in the mid-1990s. We had drive arrays that allowed us to work with a data set that was nearly a full terabyte in size by the end of the 1990s. It was expensive but it was exciting. I learned a lot but not nearly enough, I've also not been gainfully employed (so to speak) since selling and retiring 8 years ago.
So, yes, I have more cars than I have servers. I generally don't really fix those either. I can, I guess. But, like the servers of yore, I'd rather hire a competent professional because smacking your knuckles and splitting them open really kind of sucks. And, for the record, I've cut myself on way too many racks, workstations, and other assorted hardware bits with stupidly sharp edges. The old power cables on the IDE HDDs (pre-SSD days) were often good for a band-aid. Not the cable itself but when it finally pops loose. For some reason, I always forget/forgot to rock 'em side to side or that didn't always work so I'd have to tug on 'em.
As an aside: I've always kept Linux installed on a partition - since the 90s, on my home computers. But, I'd really spent way too much time in Windows. I'd boot to Linux, maybe use it for recovery, keep it updated, or try something for a little while. I had a few servers with Linux on them but, even there, I used Windows more often than not. That was it. Sometimes I'd have a VM and play with that for a while. I realized my brain was turning to mush and that I wasn't learning anything. So, I slowly started using Linux more (probably for a couple of years) but still not much. Finally, I just said to hell with it and switched entirely and deleted my Windows partitions on everything. Other than my phone (oddly, I have a Windows phone - it's actually nice), I've got nothing but Linux now. There's lots of things for me to learn and all sorts of motivation for me to do so. Thus, I try to suck up all the information I can.
Which leads me to this:
Thanks! I seriously appreciate someone who takes a minute of their most precious asset (time) to help me understand something better.
Hmm... I'd not thought of that. I dunno though... LOL You're kind of old and have a moral compass now.;-) It'd probably have to be a job you/really/ wanted. I'm going to pretend you'd never do such a thing.
I guess I'm just not creative enough because, sadly, that never crossed my mind. Yet, I bet it'd work in a number of places. It's like the adage about the two guys out bear hunting. I don't have to outrun the angry bear, I only have to outrun you.
Then again, I did lay out a decent plan for how BBC would be an excellent tool for propaganda and the fact that they published stories that were critical of the government did not, in any way, indicate that they weren't actually propaganda. I even went so far as to postulate that the person professing such was capable of being entirely duped by someone who was clever enough. I mean, sure, if the media is critical of *some* government then they must be truly independent, right? No, not really. In fact, if I were running a propaganda media outlet one of the things I'd insist on was that the media was appropriately critical of certain things - I'd even act on those things to show people that they had a kind, attentive, and proactive government.
Now, I don't really believe that the BBC is actually a propaganda piece (entirely, at least) but I know they have been used for exactly that and have a history of doing quite well at it (though it's hard to truly measure). So, maybe I do have a little creativity in me.
But no, no... I'd have not thought of that. You're an evil man, Mr. Thornley. Or, more accurately, you could be. And yes, yes I could see that working in certain environments. I could actually see it working well in certain areas of the military. I've worked for many different businesses and many different municipalities but I've never really been much of a direct employee and never been part of the structure. Some things are a bit odd for me. Not just odd, they're startling. I went from school to the military, to school, to the military, to school, to opening my own business. Sure, I had a few small jobs here and there between some of those things but no real experience in corporate culture. I can imagine that it must be frustrating at times. I live vicariously through this folks on this site and The Daily WTF. Also, Dilbert.
That you think that's what freedom means is even more telling Bruce. Next you'll be saying we should take away encryption because bad people might do bad things with it. I'm sorry but you're not only not to be trusted but you're proud of it, like to piss people off, and don't mind breaking a few eggs because you feel you and yours are more important than other people.
That was not, and is not, sarcasm - you can try to claim it was in hindsight. You, yourself, wrote those words. I'd have been willing to, I even wanted to, see sarcasm but the follow up post was just you doubling down on it. I linked it in my reply to David, Slashdot doesn't show it by default as there are too many comments. It's not at all about firearms, it's about your willingness to take away the liberties of another because of your belief that you're more important than someone else's rights.
Well, I guess I'll unload right here in public. I'm not scared. Maybe I'll finally get through to you? Maybe you'll finally get through to me 'cause I sure as hell hope there's a miscommunication but I can tell you, sarcasm is not it. If you're gonna read, try to read carefully, I'm a bit verbose but I think it's for the best in this case.
It's great to love your children and your wife - that's a wonderful thing. But when you elevate them, and yourself, above the rights of others - to the point of being willing to deny all others access (again, you'd take them from them and you hope to do so someday is a quote from you, close to verbatim but easily verified) to an inanimate object. There's no mistaking what you wrote. There's no sarcasm there - I looked for it, I wanted to see it. I wanted to hope you were having a pissy day, an off day, and were just not expressing yourself well.
Instead, you doubled down on it. I linked the exact response, Bruce. I didn't say these things. I didn't make these things up. You wrote them, they are your words. You even went so far as to make sure that it was clearly understood. You went so far as to make sure that you let us know exactly how you feel about freedom (more accurately liberty but that's besides the point, we'll use your words) and how you were willing to break those eggs. You expressed glee, clearly articulated, at the thought of pissing people off while you trampled on their rights.
How the hell am I supposed to mistake that? How the hell can you say, with a straight face, that it was sarcasm? We've got the quotes. I suppose you'd like to claim that this is sarcasm too?
I don't mind breaking some eggs. In fact, I like pissing people off for a good cause.
You then go on to make accusations that I, personally, am responsible for the harm done by others? How much longer before you start claiming that encryption is bad because people may harm others with it? How much longer before you claim letting people program is bad and must be taken away because programming can be used to write malware and people might be hurt? How many more liberties do you want to take away because you feel that you and your's are more important than me and mine? How many other "causes" are you going to get behind because you're unable to accept that freedom has inherent risks?
You can answer, if you want, but it's probably a good idea to let people read the words that you, yourself, wrote and are trying to retroactively claim are sarcasm. I'm not the only one who has read them and reached the same, or similar, conclusions. What will be your next liberty reducing cause de jour in the name of your superiority? What's the next thing you will declare needs to be taken away because you feel that how your wife and kids see you is more important than the rest of the entire population's liberty? Shall we take away C, SSL, AES, or even that "mistake" that was open-souce?
You can make the claim that it was sarcasm if you want. It's your lie, you can tell it any way you want to. We have the follow-up post where you clearly articulate that your interpersonal relationships with
Hmm... Seeing as the subject is Bowie and that's music - I think it pertinent to quote another dead musician...
The old get old And the young get stronger May take a week and it may take longer They got the guns but we got the numbers Gonna win, yeah, we're takin' over
That was sometime around 1968 as I recall? Or, more accurately, nearly 50 years ago. Yup, any minute now and you're the first person to have that original idea. You might be on to something!
(Sorry for the sarcasm but, well, I'm cynical today.)
I seem to recall there was an 8 track released that had quadraphonic stereo on it - true distinct four channels, best listened to in an old car that supports it. I recommend a Dodge Dart, from 1972, but I'm biased. I am nearly certain it was quadraphonic - and I'm nearly certain that I own it, somewhere, along with a copy of "A Child's Garden of Grass." Oh, and I have a 1972 Dart. I am not so sure that I actually listened to it.
Alas, I am in Florida and the Dart (and 8 track) are in Maine. The 8 track is actually factory and still works. Err... The "collection" of 8 tracks actually came, unknowingly, with the car - in a rather good sized plastic container in the trunk. I haven't listened to them all (and never will) but there was a large number of goat-roping artists on there. I did listen to some Cash, Rogers, and Charlie Daniels before putting the collection away so I'd not lose 'em. I think there was some Neil Diamond in there as well as an Eagles album. There were about 100 of 'em, all told. One of which was Bowie.
Oh, it's got some Zeppelin in there too. Two albums, I think? I'm not really sure, I only played with the collection for a couple of days before I put it away so that they'd not be ruined. I figure if I ever get rid of the car then I'll put 'em back in the trunk. I'll probably tell the new owner about 'em first.
It's probably unimaginable to many but, a few years back, I managed to get to see Meatloaf. It wasn't that many years ago. I want to say four years ago? It might have been five. Strangely enough - it was an excellent show. I saw Bowie twice back in the 70s. He was excellent, but more on that in a minute. Now, the kicker is, I saw Garth Brooks a couple of times and I don't even really like most goat-roping music. I also saw a whole bunch of Dead shows over the years - some good, some not so good. Not too many years ago, more recent than Meatloaf, I got to spend some time with the band and see Three Dog Night in concert. Yup, Three Dog Night - still together, tiny venue, special passes, even ate with 'em. I've seen Dylan at least a couple dozen times now, I've even met his son. For someone a little more obscure, there's Susan Tedeshi and, I might be biased, The Roy Hudson Band. Let's include Ian Anderson (alone or as Jethro Tull) in the group.
What do they all have in common? Well - every last one of them threw every ounce of energy and themselves into their show. They gave you everything they had (some exceptions for the Dead) with every show. There were others, like The Steve Miller Band and The Eagles, who gave you a polished show. Pink Floyd and even Metallica gave wonderfully polished shows. AC/DC and Ozzy are polished shows. But they don't have the same energy, they are not the same. The first group is a group of artists who put everything they have onto the stage. They hold little, if anything, back. If you've ever been on stage and played, well, you understand the actual effort that that can take. Actually, add Elton John and Billy Idol to the first list. I can't leave them out. I'm sure I'm missing more.
This is probably going to run a little long but I have a point, really. It's just not easy to say, at least not for me.
There's a certain something, I don't have a word for it, that I think an in-tune audience can appreciate and the artist feeds off of it. Certain artists, fewer than we might hope, have that capacity and they give you their all - and you give them your undivided attention and enjoy the moment. It's not easily put to words, at least not by me, but it's there and all the more palpable if you've been fortunate enough to be on both sides. (I'm not very good but I've played and sung in front of some reasonably large groups of people, sometimes even for money. The largest would be about 12,500 at a very overcrowded Hemp Fest, it was fun.) I don't know how to describe it but it's not just a connection, it's a willingness to push that to the limits, to push yourself to the limits (I presume - I'm not that good), and to really make everything work as best as one can.
It's not even about raw musical talent. A fairly well-to-do friend hired a rather famous guitar soloist to play at his party one year. The music was absolutely flawless. It was mind-blowing. He ripped scales I'd never even realized could go together. He's rather famous for a reason. He's as fluid as water and as technically pure as possible. The acoustics were perfect, the ambiance was perfect, the music was phenomenal. Yet, he sat on a bar stool. There were no vocals (he doesn't have vocals and generally only does private shows like this) and no movement, no anything... It was so perfect and yet so dead.
That's the opposite of Bowie... I'd not even say that Bowie was, on the scale of things, all that musically talented compared to many others. Yet, he was fantastic. He was, well, not just able but willing to put himself and everything he had into making art. I'm told that some shows from The Doors were similar to that but I never saw them. But Bowie? I only saw him twice and yet I still remember the sentiment and appreciation. Fucked if I remember what was played, I was blitzed! But, I digress...
I guess I'd have liked to see him later in his career but I just never got to it. I don't actually regret that, oddly. I'm happy for the two times that I did get to see him. I'm happy for the short time I had in
Hmm... Valid point but probably not entirely too problematic. My whole house is a UPS of sorts. I have solar and wind and use the mains as a backup but I pull from the batteries in the basement and not from the sources directly. There are also two generators with one being a bit smaller and a fail-over. (I live way out in the middle of middle of nowhere NW Maine.) Only the server in the basement is an actual server with a redundant power supply so it could still suck. Methinks I've got some learning to do.:D Thanks. (I'm comfortable and happy to learn new stuff - there are loads of things I don't know.) The co-lo server is in a data center with actual power backups that are, they say, better than my own.
I'm pretty remote - remote enough to where I had to pay for them to put in a CO and run new wires so that I can get DSL at home. (I'm not there now, I'm cheating and in Florida for the winter.) The using of mains as my backup isn't entirely abnormal up there. It's an unincorporated township with just six full-time residencies and we're just about the last place that gets power turned back on when storms take it out. We really can't rely on it - but I keep the mains connection just in case, plus I can push excess out into the grid and earn credits for it. I've been constantly generating over capacity since I had the second turbine put in, so I think I should be pretty good now.
As a tangentially related aside; I sometimes here people suggesting that we do away with copper and run nothing but fiber everywhere. More than once have I seen the telephone line physically on the ground, with trees on it in various places, and still had connectivity. It wasn't full speed connectivity but the throughput was good enough to still stream documentaries from the 'net. I guess I'm hardly the paragon of rustic individual people might think when I tell them the first part.;-) Worst case? I can usually still hit a couple of bars worth of connectivity from the cell tower. I would like to get a redundant DSL connection that comes in from the other end but I think it would be cost prohibitive. Just getting the lines and the CO was a bit pricey.
I have a home surveillance system and I pretty much used off-the shell components for it. It is, technically, on the internet at the moment - because I won't be back home until spring. However, in order to access it you need to do so with a specific IP address and there are a few other things that are checked before you can access it. Once you've accessed it you can move a few of the cameras and view archive footage.
It'll even jump to motion - so it can be scanned quickly and if things change it jumps to those parts if you want. You can't delete archive footage or anything by remote. Well, you can click the button but the permissions don't actually let it work - it doesn't throw an error or anything and the files are not deleted. There's a bit more to it but I'd rather not openly disclose the actual topography considering that I've given people directions to my house before and it'd be pretty easy to find.
It's, for the most part, on its own network - complete with its own connection to the 'net and own hardware and IP address that's not shared with anything else. There's some storage mechanism that isn't entirely on its own network but that's pretty locked down too. Is it secure? Probably not completely - I can access it from remote, after all. Is it reasonably secure? I think so.
When I return, it will get physically disconnected from the 'net and reconfigured in a slightly different manner. I don't even bother keeping it on when I'm in the area or when I'm home. I'd rather not disclose the specifics but, for the most part, I just spent a while looking at things said at sites like Slashdot, asked a few questions, and poked and prodded a few things until I found what seemed to work best. I didn't want to try writing my own, I wasn't sure what I'd end up doing wrong. I didn't want to buy someone else's solution because they generally have known flaws and it might be easier to figure out those flaws if it was a known system. It doesn't have a *direct* connection to the 'net or anything and only specific hardware is allowed to connect to it.
I imagine someone local could eventually do something? It's not wireless but they could just smash a window and unplug stuff. I'm sure there's some level of insecurity as, after all, I can connect to it. So, there's that? I dunno... It's certainly not perfect but I guess it can count as an IoT thing? You can pan, zoom, and tilt a few of the cameras. You might see a moose or a deer. I have local friends who have access so I guess you could spot them. If I'd thought about it, I could have hooked up a paintball gun with a servo and you could shoot at 'em or something?
I dunno about all that? I use 27 Lithuanian boys that I trained to chitter like squirrels. They chitter my packets back and forth and if they send a malformed packet then I beat them with a stick (or a rubber hose - if I've got people over, LAN parties can be interesting) and they eventually learn to drop any unwanted packets. It beats a hosts file and functions as a firewall - all at the same time. There's a little latency around dinner time and a little less redundancy after "the incident" but it's pretty damned secure unless ICE happens to stop by. As for "the incident?" It turns out that the application of higher voltage does not actually result in greater throughput and the version regression means we're at 2.7 instead of 3.4. If Little Boris, that's what I call him - I don't actually know his name, keeps messing up his chittering we're probably going to be regressing to v. 2.6 pretty soon.
Sadly, in the past I didn't have to add that the above is *humor* and that I don't really have 27 Lithuanian boys chittering my packets back and forth, but Slashdot's changed over the years. I should probably mention that it's *humor* (not even very good humor) lest I go downstairs and find ICE looking around for a collection of Lithuanian boys in my basement. Joke's on them though, there's no basement in this house.
Good thinking. I took a look earlier and, as near as I can tell, there's no indication that it is for sale. They seem to be claiming it belongs to them but the verbiage isn't all that clear - it looks like it's actually referencing a comment from elsewhere - buggered if I can tell from where. It looks an awful lot like mine - even the pictures do. 'Tis tempting to link, name and shame, and have some fun. However, I'm a grown adult so I'll *snicker* send an email along and see if they're aware that the vehicle has an actual owner. I'm not sure if they're claiming it is their Jeep or if they're saying that it looks like their Jeep? It's not like Pinterest has a whole lot of insightful and complete dialogue. I'll dig it out of my history and give it another look after breakfast, if there's a problem then I'll see what mayhem I can cause.
I did, on the other hand, find reference to a Craigslist (not concerning mine) where the person was seemingly trying to sell one very similar to mine except they were claiming that theirs was one of the only two Jeeps with the factory installed PTO. While technically possible, it's highly unlikely that *any* were factory installed. They were installed at the dealership. That's my understanding, at any rate.
I'd no idea you were a Jeeper. I've owned a few. I had an old Comanche at one point - it was a yard truck though, it had a plow. I eventually "sold" it to a neighbor. Traded is more like it. It would never have been roadworthy again unless I wanted to pretty much rebuild it entirely. I've had a couple of CJs and a Cherokee. I've had two other Wagoneers though one was a "Grand Wagoneer."
If you maintain 'em, they're great. I know where there's a '47 with fewer than 15000 miles on it but it's not really worth saving. It really has fewer than 15000 miles on it. I drove from Augusta to a blueberry mountain over near Rome, Maine. It went back to Augusta once. It has spent the rest of its life on the blueberry mountain and in the fields. I knew the original owner, his son, and now his grandson. (The original owner had a patent on an electric winnowing machine. He sold the patent and that's how he bought the Willys. Or so the story goes.) I've thrown a low-ball offer at the son but he's never taken me up on it. It runs just fine and it's even got 4WD still. The body is shot to hell and back and I have no idea how much it will cost to restore it but, well, if he ever takes my offer I'll find out but it'd really be a labor of love at that point. Ah well...
Heh, reminds me. There's someone in town with one of those windshield stickers that sits at the top and also shades the Sun. It's intentionally written upside down and says, "If you can read this, flip me over!" That makes me chuckle.
*snickers* I probably shouldn't have but I read that and envisioned Clippy. Though, if there's a switch to turn it off - I'm not sure why you'd turn it back on again.
Cool, thanks. I've never compiled and used my own kernel. I've bookmarked the Ubuntu documentation page and I might just have to give that a shot. I guess I could wait patiently for it to come down the pipe. Knowing it was coming was why I've not played with kexec yet - I figured that 4.4 was going to be here and an earlier announcement had said that it would have the ability to do security patches without the reboot. That's the feature that I'm most looking forward to - it's the feature that's most likely to actually impact me - a non-professional, largely, end-user.
I don't, for example, consider myself an admin though I do sort of hold that role as I have a number of servers and desktops, even remote hardware in a couple locations, and do all that work myself by asking loads of questions when I need to. Being able to patch without rebooting is a step in the right direction for me - it takes away one more point of potential failure/mishap. (A box not coming back online, from remote, after applying an update is a potential for some frustration.) So, for me, that's the biggest thing I'm looking forward to. I don't need 3D in a VM or anything like that. I do make use of a lot of VMs but that's just to play with various operating systems and I use VMware and don't game.
Hopefully it works well. I haven't really noticed a whole lot of people talking about it in the various groups. I'm actually kind of excited (as odd as it might sound) to have that feature. Maybe I'm expecting too much or it's not what I think it is? I dunno - it looks like, from my reading, you described it - patching to a new version while the system is live and the kernel is loaded in memory. Seems straight forward enough. Maybe I'm just excited about odd things... *shrugs* I'll make sure that I sit and watch it when it happens the first line it goes from 4.4 to 4.4.x. I'm also probably too easily amused.
Did you not read his follow-up posts? 'Cause you're free to reach those conclusions but yeah... I'm pretty sure when he doubles down on it - it isn't sarcasm any longer. But, one of the great things about freedom is that you're free to interpret it how you want and it's not likely that any effort I make will help you change your views. I'm okay with that just so long as we're open and honest about.
He goes on to tell us how *his* freedom is more important than that of other people and, by freedom, he means safety. We can debate the various definitions of what is and isn't cowardice and what is and isn't proper motivation for restricting liberties but that's immaterial. What is salient is that the comments are there to be read by anyone wishing to do so. It's hard for me to see sarcasm when he goes on to double down on it. I wanted to see it that way, I wanted to think it was flippant, I wanted to believe I was not understanding - he indicated that I was not. Those are his words, not mine.
It's not up to me to say anyone other than my interpretation and to give the actual data to support the interpretation. Expand the thread, read the thread, and draw your own conclusions but I sincerely suggest you read the rebuttal. It's not like I've a vendetta, I'd love to be wrong. I'd love to say, "Yeah, maybe if we look at it like that then we can see it as something different." That was *really* tempting to do until he doubled down on it. If you want to believe it's sarcasm, if you can believe that, then all the more power to you.
Cool. Thanks again. I should find some sort of database system to play with and see how it goes. Maybe redo an SMF install onto PostgreSQL and then see what I can break/tweak/learn. 'Snot like I'll be breaking the whole internet, just a small piece and it'll be wiped clean in a day or two, after I'm done playing. I'd not want to leave my mess open for others to exploit and then abuse. I guess I could do it locally. All of my hardware down here, at this place, was out of date - so I ordered a few new boxes, a new router, and I should have all that arriving this week.
If anyone's local and wants a few boxes (all about three or four years old)? I should check with the Slashdotters who came by for NYE though I'm not sure if they'll make the trip for a three desktops that are already a few years old. Well, four of them, probably. The fourth one's a wee bit older and not really a desktop.:/ They're nothing special, just white boxes with the last one being a server for file sharing and hosting a few VMs. If they don't want 'em then I think I saw a Goodwill. I don't suppose you're near Panama City Beach, FL and want a few boxes... I've ordered all new peripherals so they've all got LCDs (21" I guess) and whatnot. I think they've all got 8 GB of RAM, spinning platters for data - I know, I know, and the likes. I think the server's got 16 gigs of RAM. Err... Also *hangs head* they've got Windows on 'em. They all work though.
I should see if there's a LUG or something, maybe some makers? They're a bit 'too new' to just toss into Goodwill but not new enough to keep. Oh, Google tells me there's a Goodwill Industries - they do the training and whatnot. They might want 'em for office work. They run fine with Win 7 and Server '08 on them but I'm sure they'll run even better with Lubuntu or Mint on 'em. The licenses on 'em are originally MSDN licenses, so I'm pretty sure I'm not supposed to transfer those. I started to switch them over to Lubuntu but I never got around to finishing it.:/ Hmm... Anyone local that I haven't already met? I'll send an email to the ones that I have met and offer them the boxes first but, if they don't want 'em and someone else does then they might as well go to a good home.
Absolutely. Doing things that I enjoy for reasons other than impressing you is certainly a douche move. I should always seek approval, conform, and base my spending habits and hobbies on things that impress other people rather than give me pleasure.
I suppose, it's a good time to actually demonstrate how to deal with trolls. Don't get angry, love them. They make you think. Use them as a chance to express yourself. Revel in the attention they give you. Lord over them the fact that you get to control the discourse. Enjoy the moment and be, for a time, their master. Why? They've given you the power to control them. Do not get angry, treat them like the children they are...
The reality is, unless you heard it start and were very enthusiastic about automobiles, you'd not even recognize it on the street. There's no flashy lights, bravado paint, decals, or insignia that anyone other than an enthusiast would recognize. Oh, you do find the people who know - they pull up along side and give you a thumbs up or stuff like that.
Hmm... How do describe it? Alright, I can disable traction control, go along at 60 MPH, drop a gear, and smoke 'em. I don't - but I can. I have the 640 with all the goodies, including the larger engine and the dual turbos, and it's pretty low-key. I guess I can see how one might think that I'd buy (or do) such things for some sort of social approval and that might be true in some cases. However, in my case, I dare say that's not the reality at all. I can sling the ass around and do the Axl Rose Shuffle, I don't - but I can. I can do 0-60 in about 4 seconds, I don't - but I can. (I don't, meaning that I don't do so as a general rule. Sometimes I do.)
I suppose you'd call me a douche for owning a restored Jeep from 1973? How about for sending a 1982 Volvo out to get modified and restored? How about for having a Honda (a 1988 Accord LX) sent back to Japan for factory restoration? How about a 1992 Saab 900 Turbo set up and modified to rally with? I can tell you, that not one of those was purchased because I want your approval. Surely, that makes me a douche, right? I'm secure enough in my masculinity to not need your affirmation, thus I am a douche?
Oh, wait, next they'll be penis extensions! That's always a good one. See, I've posted pics (that's why I named those vehicles specifically) and had people that make that claim - more than once. I fail to see how a 245, with a 0 to 60 time measures in days, is a penis extension or how it can be even remotely confused for someone seeking affirmation.
The cold hard reality is that I'm happily retired and have a hobby. I love the automobile, all facets of it. In fact, I'll be getting a Tesla (Model S if you're curious) for the missus to drive - just so that I can play with it. The mechanics, the engineering, the fact that they contain (usually) an explosion timed just right is fascinating. I love the engineering, I love the driving, I love the machinery. I love it all and really don't give two shits if you approve of my choices or not. I dare say, the only reason I'm even responding is so that other people can see how to respond to morons such as yourself.
You're projecting. You do things for affirmation, to impress, or to seek approval from your peers. Not everyone is so insecure. Some of us just like nice things and really don't give two shits what you drive but we do hope that you have the capacity to appreciate driving. If you don't, then get off the road and let someone else do it for you.
I've invested so many dollars. So many... Not just on my collection but on learning. I actually have taken many, many advanced driving courses. See my initial comment about training for Nurburgring and then the cars that I got to take on that track. It's an acquired skill, an enjoyable hobby, and something where you can constantly push yourself to do better. So, not just dollars and more importantly, I've spent so much on learning and improving. I'm comfortable in anything and have yet to find one vehicle that I can not find some
I understand. I guess Bowie died of the Big C and was 69. I sent my sister (she's a fan) a text after someone posted about it in a comment in the PostgreSQL thread. That's kind of sad.
As for Bruce? Well, I'd feel used if I'd helped support him. I'd not be surprised if some of my donation dollars somehow made it to him but that's okay. It's unfortunate but I've come to grips with it. It was I who he said it to, after all. So, yeah, it's unfortunate as I had held him in high esteem. I do appreciate his honesty.
It's sad, but not surprising, that people are trying to minimize it or to claim there's irony or things like that. It's like they don't want to believe it or don't actually understand the concepts of freedom and liberty. They don't seem to accept that the claiming open-source was a mistake and that he's referencing the movement as a pejorative are not good things to hear from this particular source. I mean, yeah, I'd not care if it came from Steve Balmer. It matters because of who said it.
It was those "freetards" that enabled him to be where he is today. It was they who gave him financial support and a platform. Without them, he'd probably be nothing. Now that he has his assets and voice, he can abandon them. They're being abused and a couple of the other replies seem to indicate at least a few people are willing to take more abuse. Speaking of mental illness...
Anyhow, I've seen you post a number of times and you generally have good things to say. You could get an account.;-) It'd make finding your posts easier though I can understand some of the reasons people have for not wanting to sign up.
Ah well, 'tis a sad day indeed. What's really odd is that I'd just re-watched an older documentary about the making of Linux and the Free Software movement, Bruce was in it, and he was extolling the virtues of free software and taking part in a documentary about basic freedoms and how we need to have freedom. Albeit they were using the word freedom when the word liberty is more apt but I've no need to quibble over trivial details when the message is basically the same.
I will try to continue to post the link and comment in other threads. It's tempting to go to the sites listed and see if they allow comments - I could then quote and link this so that they could be aware of it. I probably should but I figure he can tell them himself. It's not my job to take it from this site into another community but they should probably be aware that he's just using them and doesn't actually care for the movement, for free software, or even for freedom. I believe another quote was, "I'd take your guns, I hope to do so someday." Not, "I'd support stronger legislation to ensure greater safety and hope to do so someday." No, he'd take your freedom and hopes to do so someday. At least he's being honest about something at this point.
Hmm... I'd have thought the exclamation point would give that away. My bad, tone isn't conveyed well in text. Everyone gets a "bespoke" version unless you pull it off the lot. It's basically just getting some options that weren't already on the lot and, more often than not, there's that same thing on the lot but just with colors you don't want. Thus the ! and way I expressed it. Meh, I'd thought the tone was there.:/
I see, now.:D That makes a lot more sense to me. Between Hog and Orc, I got it fairly well, I think. I dunno, my brain works "funny." At least I assume it's not normal, I can't say that I know - I'm used to it, so it seems normal to me. There are things that I end up just having to learn by rote - and it's hard. And then sometimes, and it might be the smallest of things, it just "clicks" and I get it and can visualize the entirety instead of just a piece. Until I'm able to conceptualize the entirety, I'm just going by rote - I might not even understand what I'm doing or why what I'm doing is working. Then, and it might seem a trivial remark, makes it sort of open up and I understand the whole.
If you give me a practice exam based on actual randomized questions that are on the tests and let me finish and score those practice tests for three days? I can pass any exam out there, so long as I take that exam not long after. I won't actually know a damned thing but I can answer the questions - I can even answer other questions based on correlations with previous answers/questions. I still don't understand it. I'm just good at taking tests. Then, sometimes, it just clicks and I get it. I used to be really, really bad at mathematics until I finally had an instructor who made it so that things "clicked." (I mentioned this in another reply.)
At that point, I just understood. I could understand the whole. I could actually see why the math was what it was, what it meant, how it applied, and even do a good amount of it in my head - or even just get really accurate guesstimates. An example might be that I went shopping with the missus a while back and she wondered how much the cart full of items was going to cost. I told her the amount and the total with sales tax. I was fifty three cents off from a total of some 30+ items with a $300+ value - I hadn't actually really been trying to keep track, I just remembered what the prices were 'cause I like numbers and I know what the sales tax is. (I was probably only off because it turns out that some foodstuffs are taxed. I did not know that.)
Dunno if that makes sense? Basically, once it clicks then I get it. Until then, I'm flailing around in the dark and probably going to poke an eye out. I can do the "rote" thing and that would look like understanding to a casual observer but it's not actual comprehension. I doubt it's unique, by any means, but I still suspect it's not entirely normal. I've bumped into a few people who express similar thoughts about their learning process. In this case, for whatever reason, it might actually have caused some internal clicking but I won't know until I'm faced again with something that I don't know and can see if I can reach the correct answer. Erf... I'm not sure that's even English but, it's what I'm going with. I don't blame you if it doesn't make sense.
That makes perfect sense! For whatever reason, those words worked. Maybe you should look into teaching? I dunno. But that actually worked and now I understand - I think. Thanks. Seriously, thanks. I can even envision why this might be handy - hell, I can think of places where I'd have used this in the past.
Ah ha! Thanks. I get it now. Well, I think... Basically, this allows more an if/or? If it is X (and should be Y) then change it to Y and if it is Y already then leave it as Y. But in one more command without actually having to use a longer statement to get the same results?
That makes sense. I can join, add, merge, and stuff like that. I can even (sort of) do it in C, PHP, and probably bang it out in Perl. However, I hate it. I know it may sound odd but, for whatever reason - and I hold a PhD in Applied Mathematics, I just can't wrap my head around it well. I don't know what it is, I don't know why. I don't know how to change it - and I've tried. For whatever reasons, I just can't quite grasp databases that well. Well enough to use them, well enough to learn some things by rote, but not enough to truly conceptualize.
Erf... To put it into a bit of perspective (if I can) my maths skills were rather poor until I had an instructor who enabled me, sort of triggered it, to actually visualize what the things I'd been doing by rote actually meant. From there on out? I was golden. I can do fractions, percentages, long division, and more in my head. Now that I get it, I understand logarithms and can even "see" what an algorithm does. For whatever reason, I can't seem to get a database. Oh, I know what they are and what they do and how to do some of it. I understand columns, rows, tables, joins, inserts, mergers, and stuff... I just can't grab it.
Heh, the other day - after all these years, it finally clicked as to what a hash was actually doing in a database. Yes, really. I'd never bothered asking and had somehow concluded they must be being decrypted/dehashed at some point. Yup... Oh, it's worse. Not long before that - I finally went "duh." I finally understood (after having it beat into my head) that a OTP actually does and why it can't be just brute forced. Yeah, I felt really dumb. I'm okay with that, however. It means that I'm still willing to learn and I'd been smart enough to not assert that I was correct but rather presented my thoughts as a question and asked for correction. Fortunately, someone was kind enough to be patient and beat me with a clue stick until I finally understood it. It's for things like that, times like that, that I appreciate Slashdot. Sometimes I get to wield the clue stick and sometimes it's wielded on me.
At any rate - I think I have it now. I also think something might have just clicked. Strange as that may sound - sometimes it's the little things that end up making me finally able to understand. No, I have no idea why my brain works the way it does. It's like I can do things by rote forever and not understand at all and then, finally, something - even something small, means I start to understand. I have no idea if that's normal or not. Consider, if you will, that I worked - quite extensively - with very large data sets.:/ Yeah... However, it was mostly rote and trial and error until I got things to work.
Hmm... You know? I never worked for anything that had an "HR department" in that sense of the word. The closest I came was when I was enlisted. I guess you could call certain aspects of that "HR" but I don't think they're quite the same thing. My company didn't have an HR department (but we only had a whisker over 200 people at the end). We outsourced payroll. I don't think that counts. They didn't hire or fire.:/
When we hired, well... How to describe it? Anyone, I guess, could sit in on the interview. No, most people didn't but I'd sometimes ask people who'd be working with the new hire, having to train the new hire, or would depend on the new hire to come sit in. Hell, I didn't even sit in on all the interviews - I was sometimes too busy and had more important things to do.
See, I guess I can't be objective? I don't have enough information but, by nearly all accounts, HR is evil and a cause of more problems than they seem to solve. We had an obscenely low turn-over rate and I can't think of any tensions in the group that didn't get resolved over a beer and some fatty food (and yes, that includes the women). Well, there was a black eye at one point and that was over a female co-worker and is a long story. It was *technically* off work property and didn't hinder their work - and they were the best of friends afterwards. So, I guess that too was okay.
I've seen people say that humans shouldn't be treated like resources. I kind of disagree. They should be. They're assets. Without them, I'd have nothing. That's a pretty damned valuable resource.
I pay careful attention to the problems that people express on here. Why? Well, I'm half-tempted to write and give away a book on management. I've been told that I should do so by quite a few people. Unfortunately, I don't think my writing is up to snuff and I'm not sure my style will work well in a book, but I digress...
What I've observed is that the problems almost always stem from two things. They seem to almost always be due to management or human resources. I don't, unfortunately, have anything more than anecdotes and presumptions. However, maybe we should rename Human Resources to something different? Maybe we should look for some transparency? At the same time, maybe we could just accept that we're not all an appropriate fit for every job we apply for? Maybe they didn't hire them because they suck and not because they didn't like their mental health history?
On the other end, management? Yeah, I can write about that for hours. In short, I learned to give clear direction, ask what was needed to reach those goals, to shut up and get out of the way, and that the tools the vendor suggests are probably not the best tools for the job - ask the people who have to work with them what they need and get them that.
But, maybe it's time to get rid of HR entirely? Maybe it's time to let the people who are doing the work decide who they're going to work with and let them resolve their issues on their own? Yeah, it means that not everyone gets every job they want and sometimes for crappy and ignorant reasons but, if those are the type of people who you'd work with - do you really want to work there? I'm not white (very much) and if you don't hire me because I'm not white then, strangely enough, I probably wouldn't have wanted to work with you - even if the law said you had to be nice to my face.
I don't know but I think I'd rather work with people who appreciated me and not with people who were forced, by law, to accept me. It's a strange concept, sure. It's just more about reality, I think. In reality, people suck sometimes. It's kind of like, I'm absolutely against affirmative action in today's environment. Why? Affirmative action is you telling me that because I'm not white that I am unable to do it on my own and thus need your help. It had a place and a time. Now is not that place, nor is it that time. I don't need you to help me because I'm not white. I need you to help me (or not) because I need help. My innate tr
As someone whose tax dollars are helping to pay for your support and meds, I'm glad. I'm really glad that the system is helping you and I wish it would help more people. I see lots of people who, for varied reasons, indicate that they're unable to get the support they need. Truth be told, I'm pretty sure we're paying enough in taxes but spending it poorly. However, if they'd spend it more wisely, I'd not mind paying more.
So, while your "thanks" seemed a bit sarcastic (it's hard to tell on the 'net), let me say, "You're welcome. Is there any service that you really need that you are unable to access?"
When I'm home, I go to see a headshrinker. She assures me that I'm (mostly!) sane so now I mostly see a therapist because I find it is good to bounce ideas off an objective person. I want someone to find the flaws and help me think better. I enjoy it. I used to go to a group session and I found that the most beneficial but, well, the people in there (as I've explained before) had serious issues and I felt like I was taking time from them. So, I'm not actually selfish and I quit attending. It'd be kind of neat if they had some sort of group therapy for people who aren't actually suffering from mental illness - something structured the same way. CBT is actually pretty handy - beyond mental illness. It's great for introspection. These days, I only see the headshrinker for meds - she gives me a sleeping med but I don't normally take it. It makes me feel hungover in the morning and groggy for the whole day.
At any rate, you're welcome and I hope you're doing well in your recovery. I've a sibling who is mentally ill and her health care is a fortune as she's also very physically ill. (It's *thousands* per week just for her TPN supplies.) So, yes, it's good to see someone who hasn't fallen through the cracks. Perhaps, maybe, you can share how it is you didn't end up falling through the cracks and that sort of comment might help another person? Who did you reach out to first or did you have an intervention not of your own choosing? No need for details or specifics that might identify you but, well, it'd be nice to have that information out there and it might be of value for someone else.
I imagine such services vary per State. My sister gets some help paid for but the pittance they give her to live on is pretty low. I end up making up the difference but I have to be careful how I do so. For instance, certain medicine is paid for but they won't supply others. Some of them, if I buy them, they'll stop paying for others. For an example, I have to pay for her whole morphine pump, supplies, and that sort of thing plus I have to pay for her breakthrough meds. She could have one or the other and if I paid for one they were going to not pay for the other. That means I pay for both the pump and the sublingual strips that she uses for breakthrough pain. I found a decent supplier that has a compounding pharmacist and they rent the machines and take care of it - they even deliver. However, I'll avoid sharing the price but it's a whole ton of money - even by the week.
So, yeah, as I said - you sounded like you were being sarcastic but you're more than welcome. I'm glad it is working out for you and curious as to what more we can do to help get you to the point where you're able to enjoy day-to-day living and find life rewarding? Fortunately, I don't have to pay for her DLS folks who spend 6 to 8 hours a day with her. I imagine that she'll be in end-of-life care soon but I'm doing what I can to give her the things she needs to enjoy the time she does have. Her kids keep talking about repaying me and all that crap, which kind of sucks actually. See, they don't have a pot to piss in between them. It's not about the money, it's about the moments. So, yeah, what services do you think would help you have more of those moments? I ask because I might be able to help a needy sibling.
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I have, now, more cars than servers. I once had the opposite but I had, eventually, professionals to manage them. I only held the roles of IT and programmer because I needed to, not because I was particularly skilled. In fact, USENET saved my bacon more often than I can count. I don't even bother to lie and pretend I was good. :( No, I actually *hated* computers at first.
Ah, one of my favorite quotes from a fairly new programmer that I'd hired. I was still "helping" then.
"Code comments go in the code, not on coffee soaked index cards, asshole."
That's pretty much verbatim. I hired smart people, learned to give them what they asked for, gave them clear directions, and got out of the way. I'm a maths geek. I was more interested in the algorithms than the code. I wrote code because I had to. I tried everything from BASIC, to QBASIC, to Perl, to C. I settled on C but they rewrote the whole thing in C++ in the late 1990s.
The hardware was fun but, at times, I was over my head. Oh, things worked eventually. I learned a lot, I broke a lot. I worked a lot of hours - sometimes sleeping in the office and not seeing home for days, even if I was "home." I spent countless weeks, months, and years out of state and working in various field offices, cramped in a hotel room with a bunch of gear, or working in a spare office at some municipality's basement office while connected to the fragile system that was the main office.
Without those guys, without you (I presume), I'd have not gotten very far. Well, not this far. Instead, with you, I got to ride the crest of the wave that was traffic modeling. I got to do new things in new and different ways. It was exciting, fun, and enjoyable. I feel fortunate, I am fortunate, and I no longer hate computers. We were clustering servers in the mid-1990s. We had drive arrays that allowed us to work with a data set that was nearly a full terabyte in size by the end of the 1990s. It was expensive but it was exciting. I learned a lot but not nearly enough, I've also not been gainfully employed (so to speak) since selling and retiring 8 years ago.
So, yes, I have more cars than I have servers. I generally don't really fix those either. I can, I guess. But, like the servers of yore, I'd rather hire a competent professional because smacking your knuckles and splitting them open really kind of sucks. And, for the record, I've cut myself on way too many racks, workstations, and other assorted hardware bits with stupidly sharp edges. The old power cables on the IDE HDDs (pre-SSD days) were often good for a band-aid. Not the cable itself but when it finally pops loose. For some reason, I always forget/forgot to rock 'em side to side or that didn't always work so I'd have to tug on 'em.
As an aside: I've always kept Linux installed on a partition - since the 90s, on my home computers. But, I'd really spent way too much time in Windows. I'd boot to Linux, maybe use it for recovery, keep it updated, or try something for a little while. I had a few servers with Linux on them but, even there, I used Windows more often than not. That was it. Sometimes I'd have a VM and play with that for a while. I realized my brain was turning to mush and that I wasn't learning anything. So, I slowly started using Linux more (probably for a couple of years) but still not much. Finally, I just said to hell with it and switched entirely and deleted my Windows partitions on everything. Other than my phone (oddly, I have a Windows phone - it's actually nice), I've got nothing but Linux now. There's lots of things for me to learn and all sorts of motivation for me to do so. Thus, I try to suck up all the information I can.
Which leads me to this:
Thanks! I seriously appreciate someone who takes a minute of their most precious asset (time) to help me understand something better.
Hmm... I'd not thought of that. I dunno though... LOL You're kind of old and have a moral compass now. ;-) It'd probably have to be a job you /really/ wanted. I'm going to pretend you'd never do such a thing.
I guess I'm just not creative enough because, sadly, that never crossed my mind. Yet, I bet it'd work in a number of places. It's like the adage about the two guys out bear hunting. I don't have to outrun the angry bear, I only have to outrun you.
Then again, I did lay out a decent plan for how BBC would be an excellent tool for propaganda and the fact that they published stories that were critical of the government did not, in any way, indicate that they weren't actually propaganda. I even went so far as to postulate that the person professing such was capable of being entirely duped by someone who was clever enough. I mean, sure, if the media is critical of *some* government then they must be truly independent, right? No, not really. In fact, if I were running a propaganda media outlet one of the things I'd insist on was that the media was appropriately critical of certain things - I'd even act on those things to show people that they had a kind, attentive, and proactive government.
Now, I don't really believe that the BBC is actually a propaganda piece (entirely, at least) but I know they have been used for exactly that and have a history of doing quite well at it (though it's hard to truly measure). So, maybe I do have a little creativity in me.
But no, no... I'd have not thought of that. You're an evil man, Mr. Thornley. Or, more accurately, you could be. And yes, yes I could see that working in certain environments. I could actually see it working well in certain areas of the military. I've worked for many different businesses and many different municipalities but I've never really been much of a direct employee and never been part of the structure. Some things are a bit odd for me. Not just odd, they're startling. I went from school to the military, to school, to the military, to school, to opening my own business. Sure, I had a few small jobs here and there between some of those things but no real experience in corporate culture. I can imagine that it must be frustrating at times. I live vicariously through this folks on this site and The Daily WTF. Also, Dilbert.
That you think that's what freedom means is even more telling Bruce. Next you'll be saying we should take away encryption because bad people might do bad things with it. I'm sorry but you're not only not to be trusted but you're proud of it, like to piss people off, and don't mind breaking a few eggs because you feel you and yours are more important than other people.
That was not, and is not, sarcasm - you can try to claim it was in hindsight. You, yourself, wrote those words. I'd have been willing to, I even wanted to, see sarcasm but the follow up post was just you doubling down on it. I linked it in my reply to David, Slashdot doesn't show it by default as there are too many comments. It's not at all about firearms, it's about your willingness to take away the liberties of another because of your belief that you're more important than someone else's rights.
Well, I guess I'll unload right here in public. I'm not scared. Maybe I'll finally get through to you? Maybe you'll finally get through to me 'cause I sure as hell hope there's a miscommunication but I can tell you, sarcasm is not it. If you're gonna read, try to read carefully, I'm a bit verbose but I think it's for the best in this case.
It's great to love your children and your wife - that's a wonderful thing. But when you elevate them, and yourself, above the rights of others - to the point of being willing to deny all others access (again, you'd take them from them and you hope to do so someday is a quote from you, close to verbatim but easily verified) to an inanimate object. There's no mistaking what you wrote. There's no sarcasm there - I looked for it, I wanted to see it. I wanted to hope you were having a pissy day, an off day, and were just not expressing yourself well.
Instead, you doubled down on it. I linked the exact response, Bruce. I didn't say these things. I didn't make these things up. You wrote them, they are your words. You even went so far as to make sure that it was clearly understood. You went so far as to make sure that you let us know exactly how you feel about freedom (more accurately liberty but that's besides the point, we'll use your words) and how you were willing to break those eggs. You expressed glee, clearly articulated, at the thought of pissing people off while you trampled on their rights.
How the hell am I supposed to mistake that? How the hell can you say, with a straight face, that it was sarcasm? We've got the quotes. I suppose you'd like to claim that this is sarcasm too?
I don't mind breaking some eggs. In fact, I like pissing people off for a good cause.
You then go on to make accusations that I, personally, am responsible for the harm done by others? How much longer before you start claiming that encryption is bad because people may harm others with it? How much longer before you claim letting people program is bad and must be taken away because programming can be used to write malware and people might be hurt? How many more liberties do you want to take away because you feel that you and your's are more important than me and mine? How many other "causes" are you going to get behind because you're unable to accept that freedom has inherent risks?
You can answer, if you want, but it's probably a good idea to let people read the words that you, yourself, wrote and are trying to retroactively claim are sarcasm. I'm not the only one who has read them and reached the same, or similar, conclusions. What will be your next liberty reducing cause de jour in the name of your superiority? What's the next thing you will declare needs to be taken away because you feel that how your wife and kids see you is more important than the rest of the entire population's liberty? Shall we take away C, SSL, AES, or even that "mistake" that was open-souce?
You can make the claim that it was sarcasm if you want. It's your lie, you can tell it any way you want to. We have the follow-up post where you clearly articulate that your interpersonal relationships with
Hmm... Seeing as the subject is Bowie and that's music - I think it pertinent to quote another dead musician...
The old get old
And the young get stronger
May take a week and it may take longer
They got the guns but we got the numbers
Gonna win, yeah, we're takin' over
That was sometime around 1968 as I recall? Or, more accurately, nearly 50 years ago. Yup, any minute now and you're the first person to have that original idea. You might be on to something!
(Sorry for the sarcasm but, well, I'm cynical today.)
I seem to recall there was an 8 track released that had quadraphonic stereo on it - true distinct four channels, best listened to in an old car that supports it. I recommend a Dodge Dart, from 1972, but I'm biased. I am nearly certain it was quadraphonic - and I'm nearly certain that I own it, somewhere, along with a copy of "A Child's Garden of Grass." Oh, and I have a 1972 Dart. I am not so sure that I actually listened to it.
Alas, I am in Florida and the Dart (and 8 track) are in Maine. The 8 track is actually factory and still works. Err... The "collection" of 8 tracks actually came, unknowingly, with the car - in a rather good sized plastic container in the trunk. I haven't listened to them all (and never will) but there was a large number of goat-roping artists on there. I did listen to some Cash, Rogers, and Charlie Daniels before putting the collection away so I'd not lose 'em. I think there was some Neil Diamond in there as well as an Eagles album. There were about 100 of 'em, all told. One of which was Bowie.
Oh, it's got some Zeppelin in there too. Two albums, I think? I'm not really sure, I only played with the collection for a couple of days before I put it away so that they'd not be ruined. I figure if I ever get rid of the car then I'll put 'em back in the trunk. I'll probably tell the new owner about 'em first.
It's probably unimaginable to many but, a few years back, I managed to get to see Meatloaf. It wasn't that many years ago. I want to say four years ago? It might have been five. Strangely enough - it was an excellent show. I saw Bowie twice back in the 70s. He was excellent, but more on that in a minute. Now, the kicker is, I saw Garth Brooks a couple of times and I don't even really like most goat-roping music. I also saw a whole bunch of Dead shows over the years - some good, some not so good. Not too many years ago, more recent than Meatloaf, I got to spend some time with the band and see Three Dog Night in concert. Yup, Three Dog Night - still together, tiny venue, special passes, even ate with 'em. I've seen Dylan at least a couple dozen times now, I've even met his son. For someone a little more obscure, there's Susan Tedeshi and, I might be biased, The Roy Hudson Band. Let's include Ian Anderson (alone or as Jethro Tull) in the group.
What do they all have in common? Well - every last one of them threw every ounce of energy and themselves into their show. They gave you everything they had (some exceptions for the Dead) with every show. There were others, like The Steve Miller Band and The Eagles, who gave you a polished show. Pink Floyd and even Metallica gave wonderfully polished shows. AC/DC and Ozzy are polished shows. But they don't have the same energy, they are not the same. The first group is a group of artists who put everything they have onto the stage. They hold little, if anything, back. If you've ever been on stage and played, well, you understand the actual effort that that can take. Actually, add Elton John and Billy Idol to the first list. I can't leave them out. I'm sure I'm missing more.
This is probably going to run a little long but I have a point, really. It's just not easy to say, at least not for me.
There's a certain something, I don't have a word for it, that I think an in-tune audience can appreciate and the artist feeds off of it. Certain artists, fewer than we might hope, have that capacity and they give you their all - and you give them your undivided attention and enjoy the moment. It's not easily put to words, at least not by me, but it's there and all the more palpable if you've been fortunate enough to be on both sides. (I'm not very good but I've played and sung in front of some reasonably large groups of people, sometimes even for money. The largest would be about 12,500 at a very overcrowded Hemp Fest, it was fun.) I don't know how to describe it but it's not just a connection, it's a willingness to push that to the limits, to push yourself to the limits (I presume - I'm not that good), and to really make everything work as best as one can.
It's not even about raw musical talent. A fairly well-to-do friend hired a rather famous guitar soloist to play at his party one year. The music was absolutely flawless. It was mind-blowing. He ripped scales I'd never even realized could go together. He's rather famous for a reason. He's as fluid as water and as technically pure as possible. The acoustics were perfect, the ambiance was perfect, the music was phenomenal. Yet, he sat on a bar stool. There were no vocals (he doesn't have vocals and generally only does private shows like this) and no movement, no anything... It was so perfect and yet so dead.
That's the opposite of Bowie... I'd not even say that Bowie was, on the scale of things, all that musically talented compared to many others. Yet, he was fantastic. He was, well, not just able but willing to put himself and everything he had into making art. I'm told that some shows from The Doors were similar to that but I never saw them. But Bowie? I only saw him twice and yet I still remember the sentiment and appreciation. Fucked if I remember what was played, I was blitzed! But, I digress...
I guess I'd have liked to see him later in his career but I just never got to it. I don't actually regret that, oddly. I'm happy for the two times that I did get to see him. I'm happy for the short time I had in
No, that's Led Zeppelin. No trip to Mars or floating in a tin can but a stairway to heaven so I guess you're close.
RIP Mr. Bowie. I've an ex-lady friend who is surely in morning.
No, it's followed up. For some reason, Slashdot doesn't expand them all.
http://slashdot.org/comments.p...
Hmm... Valid point but probably not entirely too problematic. My whole house is a UPS of sorts. I have solar and wind and use the mains as a backup but I pull from the batteries in the basement and not from the sources directly. There are also two generators with one being a bit smaller and a fail-over. (I live way out in the middle of middle of nowhere NW Maine.) Only the server in the basement is an actual server with a redundant power supply so it could still suck. Methinks I've got some learning to do. :D Thanks. (I'm comfortable and happy to learn new stuff - there are loads of things I don't know.) The co-lo server is in a data center with actual power backups that are, they say, better than my own.
I'm pretty remote - remote enough to where I had to pay for them to put in a CO and run new wires so that I can get DSL at home. (I'm not there now, I'm cheating and in Florida for the winter.) The using of mains as my backup isn't entirely abnormal up there. It's an unincorporated township with just six full-time residencies and we're just about the last place that gets power turned back on when storms take it out. We really can't rely on it - but I keep the mains connection just in case, plus I can push excess out into the grid and earn credits for it. I've been constantly generating over capacity since I had the second turbine put in, so I think I should be pretty good now.
As a tangentially related aside; I sometimes here people suggesting that we do away with copper and run nothing but fiber everywhere. More than once have I seen the telephone line physically on the ground, with trees on it in various places, and still had connectivity. It wasn't full speed connectivity but the throughput was good enough to still stream documentaries from the 'net. I guess I'm hardly the paragon of rustic individual people might think when I tell them the first part. ;-) Worst case? I can usually still hit a couple of bars worth of connectivity from the cell tower. I would like to get a redundant DSL connection that comes in from the other end but I think it would be cost prohibitive. Just getting the lines and the CO was a bit pricey.
I have a home surveillance system and I pretty much used off-the shell components for it. It is, technically, on the internet at the moment - because I won't be back home until spring. However, in order to access it you need to do so with a specific IP address and there are a few other things that are checked before you can access it. Once you've accessed it you can move a few of the cameras and view archive footage.
It'll even jump to motion - so it can be scanned quickly and if things change it jumps to those parts if you want. You can't delete archive footage or anything by remote. Well, you can click the button but the permissions don't actually let it work - it doesn't throw an error or anything and the files are not deleted. There's a bit more to it but I'd rather not openly disclose the actual topography considering that I've given people directions to my house before and it'd be pretty easy to find.
It's, for the most part, on its own network - complete with its own connection to the 'net and own hardware and IP address that's not shared with anything else. There's some storage mechanism that isn't entirely on its own network but that's pretty locked down too. Is it secure? Probably not completely - I can access it from remote, after all. Is it reasonably secure? I think so.
When I return, it will get physically disconnected from the 'net and reconfigured in a slightly different manner. I don't even bother keeping it on when I'm in the area or when I'm home. I'd rather not disclose the specifics but, for the most part, I just spent a while looking at things said at sites like Slashdot, asked a few questions, and poked and prodded a few things until I found what seemed to work best. I didn't want to try writing my own, I wasn't sure what I'd end up doing wrong. I didn't want to buy someone else's solution because they generally have known flaws and it might be easier to figure out those flaws if it was a known system. It doesn't have a *direct* connection to the 'net or anything and only specific hardware is allowed to connect to it.
I imagine someone local could eventually do something? It's not wireless but they could just smash a window and unplug stuff. I'm sure there's some level of insecurity as, after all, I can connect to it. So, there's that? I dunno... It's certainly not perfect but I guess it can count as an IoT thing? You can pan, zoom, and tilt a few of the cameras. You might see a moose or a deer. I have local friends who have access so I guess you could spot them. If I'd thought about it, I could have hooked up a paintball gun with a servo and you could shoot at 'em or something?
I dunno about all that? I use 27 Lithuanian boys that I trained to chitter like squirrels. They chitter my packets back and forth and if they send a malformed packet then I beat them with a stick (or a rubber hose - if I've got people over, LAN parties can be interesting) and they eventually learn to drop any unwanted packets. It beats a hosts file and functions as a firewall - all at the same time. There's a little latency around dinner time and a little less redundancy after "the incident" but it's pretty damned secure unless ICE happens to stop by. As for "the incident?" It turns out that the application of higher voltage does not actually result in greater throughput and the version regression means we're at 2.7 instead of 3.4. If Little Boris, that's what I call him - I don't actually know his name, keeps messing up his chittering we're probably going to be regressing to v. 2.6 pretty soon.
Sadly, in the past I didn't have to add that the above is *humor* and that I don't really have 27 Lithuanian boys chittering my packets back and forth, but Slashdot's changed over the years. I should probably mention that it's *humor* (not even very good humor) lest I go downstairs and find ICE looking around for a collection of Lithuanian boys in my basement. Joke's on them though, there's no basement in this house.
Good thinking. I took a look earlier and, as near as I can tell, there's no indication that it is for sale. They seem to be claiming it belongs to them but the verbiage isn't all that clear - it looks like it's actually referencing a comment from elsewhere - buggered if I can tell from where. It looks an awful lot like mine - even the pictures do. 'Tis tempting to link, name and shame, and have some fun. However, I'm a grown adult so I'll *snicker* send an email along and see if they're aware that the vehicle has an actual owner. I'm not sure if they're claiming it is their Jeep or if they're saying that it looks like their Jeep? It's not like Pinterest has a whole lot of insightful and complete dialogue. I'll dig it out of my history and give it another look after breakfast, if there's a problem then I'll see what mayhem I can cause.
I did, on the other hand, find reference to a Craigslist (not concerning mine) where the person was seemingly trying to sell one very similar to mine except they were claiming that theirs was one of the only two Jeeps with the factory installed PTO. While technically possible, it's highly unlikely that *any* were factory installed. They were installed at the dealership. That's my understanding, at any rate.
I'd no idea you were a Jeeper. I've owned a few. I had an old Comanche at one point - it was a yard truck though, it had a plow. I eventually "sold" it to a neighbor. Traded is more like it. It would never have been roadworthy again unless I wanted to pretty much rebuild it entirely. I've had a couple of CJs and a Cherokee. I've had two other Wagoneers though one was a "Grand Wagoneer."
If you maintain 'em, they're great. I know where there's a '47 with fewer than 15000 miles on it but it's not really worth saving. It really has fewer than 15000 miles on it. I drove from Augusta to a blueberry mountain over near Rome, Maine. It went back to Augusta once. It has spent the rest of its life on the blueberry mountain and in the fields. I knew the original owner, his son, and now his grandson. (The original owner had a patent on an electric winnowing machine. He sold the patent and that's how he bought the Willys. Or so the story goes.) I've thrown a low-ball offer at the son but he's never taken me up on it. It runs just fine and it's even got 4WD still. The body is shot to hell and back and I have no idea how much it will cost to restore it but, well, if he ever takes my offer I'll find out but it'd really be a labor of love at that point. Ah well...
Heh, reminds me. There's someone in town with one of those windshield stickers that sits at the top and also shades the Sun. It's intentionally written upside down and says, "If you can read this, flip me over!" That makes me chuckle.
*snickers* I probably shouldn't have but I read that and envisioned Clippy. Though, if there's a switch to turn it off - I'm not sure why you'd turn it back on again.
Cool, thanks. I've never compiled and used my own kernel. I've bookmarked the Ubuntu documentation page and I might just have to give that a shot. I guess I could wait patiently for it to come down the pipe. Knowing it was coming was why I've not played with kexec yet - I figured that 4.4 was going to be here and an earlier announcement had said that it would have the ability to do security patches without the reboot. That's the feature that I'm most looking forward to - it's the feature that's most likely to actually impact me - a non-professional, largely, end-user.
I don't, for example, consider myself an admin though I do sort of hold that role as I have a number of servers and desktops, even remote hardware in a couple locations, and do all that work myself by asking loads of questions when I need to. Being able to patch without rebooting is a step in the right direction for me - it takes away one more point of potential failure/mishap. (A box not coming back online, from remote, after applying an update is a potential for some frustration.) So, for me, that's the biggest thing I'm looking forward to. I don't need 3D in a VM or anything like that. I do make use of a lot of VMs but that's just to play with various operating systems and I use VMware and don't game.
Hopefully it works well. I haven't really noticed a whole lot of people talking about it in the various groups. I'm actually kind of excited (as odd as it might sound) to have that feature. Maybe I'm expecting too much or it's not what I think it is? I dunno - it looks like, from my reading, you described it - patching to a new version while the system is live and the kernel is loaded in memory. Seems straight forward enough. Maybe I'm just excited about odd things... *shrugs* I'll make sure that I sit and watch it when it happens the first line it goes from 4.4 to 4.4.x. I'm also probably too easily amused.
Did you not read his follow-up posts? 'Cause you're free to reach those conclusions but yeah... I'm pretty sure when he doubles down on it - it isn't sarcasm any longer. But, one of the great things about freedom is that you're free to interpret it how you want and it's not likely that any effort I make will help you change your views. I'm okay with that just so long as we're open and honest about.
He goes on to tell us how *his* freedom is more important than that of other people and, by freedom, he means safety. We can debate the various definitions of what is and isn't cowardice and what is and isn't proper motivation for restricting liberties but that's immaterial. What is salient is that the comments are there to be read by anyone wishing to do so. It's hard for me to see sarcasm when he goes on to double down on it. I wanted to see it that way, I wanted to think it was flippant, I wanted to believe I was not understanding - he indicated that I was not. Those are his words, not mine.
It's not up to me to say anyone other than my interpretation and to give the actual data to support the interpretation. Expand the thread, read the thread, and draw your own conclusions but I sincerely suggest you read the rebuttal. It's not like I've a vendetta, I'd love to be wrong. I'd love to say, "Yeah, maybe if we look at it like that then we can see it as something different." That was *really* tempting to do until he doubled down on it. If you want to believe it's sarcasm, if you can believe that, then all the more power to you.
Cool. Thanks again. I should find some sort of database system to play with and see how it goes. Maybe redo an SMF install onto PostgreSQL and then see what I can break/tweak/learn. 'Snot like I'll be breaking the whole internet, just a small piece and it'll be wiped clean in a day or two, after I'm done playing. I'd not want to leave my mess open for others to exploit and then abuse. I guess I could do it locally. All of my hardware down here, at this place, was out of date - so I ordered a few new boxes, a new router, and I should have all that arriving this week.
If anyone's local and wants a few boxes (all about three or four years old)? I should check with the Slashdotters who came by for NYE though I'm not sure if they'll make the trip for a three desktops that are already a few years old. Well, four of them, probably. The fourth one's a wee bit older and not really a desktop. :/ They're nothing special, just white boxes with the last one being a server for file sharing and hosting a few VMs. If they don't want 'em then I think I saw a Goodwill. I don't suppose you're near Panama City Beach, FL and want a few boxes... I've ordered all new peripherals so they've all got LCDs (21" I guess) and whatnot. I think they've all got 8 GB of RAM, spinning platters for data - I know, I know, and the likes. I think the server's got 16 gigs of RAM. Err... Also *hangs head* they've got Windows on 'em. They all work though.
I should see if there's a LUG or something, maybe some makers? They're a bit 'too new' to just toss into Goodwill but not new enough to keep. Oh, Google tells me there's a Goodwill Industries - they do the training and whatnot. They might want 'em for office work. They run fine with Win 7 and Server '08 on them but I'm sure they'll run even better with Lubuntu or Mint on 'em. The licenses on 'em are originally MSDN licenses, so I'm pretty sure I'm not supposed to transfer those. I started to switch them over to Lubuntu but I never got around to finishing it. :/ Hmm... Anyone local that I haven't already met? I'll send an email to the ones that I have met and offer them the boxes first but, if they don't want 'em and someone else does then they might as well go to a good home.
Ha! My largest post in a long, long time! Awesome! *snickers* That was almost as much fun as a BMW.
Absolutely. Doing things that I enjoy for reasons other than impressing you is certainly a douche move. I should always seek approval, conform, and base my spending habits and hobbies on things that impress other people rather than give me pleasure.
I suppose, it's a good time to actually demonstrate how to deal with trolls. Don't get angry, love them. They make you think. Use them as a chance to express yourself. Revel in the attention they give you. Lord over them the fact that you get to control the discourse. Enjoy the moment and be, for a time, their master. Why? They've given you the power to control them. Do not get angry, treat them like the children they are...
The reality is, unless you heard it start and were very enthusiastic about automobiles, you'd not even recognize it on the street. There's no flashy lights, bravado paint, decals, or insignia that anyone other than an enthusiast would recognize. Oh, you do find the people who know - they pull up along side and give you a thumbs up or stuff like that.
Hmm... How do describe it? Alright, I can disable traction control, go along at 60 MPH, drop a gear, and smoke 'em. I don't - but I can. I have the 640 with all the goodies, including the larger engine and the dual turbos, and it's pretty low-key. I guess I can see how one might think that I'd buy (or do) such things for some sort of social approval and that might be true in some cases. However, in my case, I dare say that's not the reality at all. I can sling the ass around and do the Axl Rose Shuffle, I don't - but I can. I can do 0-60 in about 4 seconds, I don't - but I can. (I don't, meaning that I don't do so as a general rule. Sometimes I do.)
I suppose you'd call me a douche for owning a restored Jeep from 1973? How about for sending a 1982 Volvo out to get modified and restored? How about for having a Honda (a 1988 Accord LX) sent back to Japan for factory restoration? How about a 1992 Saab 900 Turbo set up and modified to rally with? I can tell you, that not one of those was purchased because I want your approval. Surely, that makes me a douche, right? I'm secure enough in my masculinity to not need your affirmation, thus I am a douche?
Oh, wait, next they'll be penis extensions! That's always a good one. See, I've posted pics (that's why I named those vehicles specifically) and had people that make that claim - more than once. I fail to see how a 245, with a 0 to 60 time measures in days, is a penis extension or how it can be even remotely confused for someone seeking affirmation.
The cold hard reality is that I'm happily retired and have a hobby. I love the automobile, all facets of it. In fact, I'll be getting a Tesla (Model S if you're curious) for the missus to drive - just so that I can play with it. The mechanics, the engineering, the fact that they contain (usually) an explosion timed just right is fascinating. I love the engineering, I love the driving, I love the machinery. I love it all and really don't give two shits if you approve of my choices or not. I dare say, the only reason I'm even responding is so that other people can see how to respond to morons such as yourself.
You're projecting. You do things for affirmation, to impress, or to seek approval from your peers. Not everyone is so insecure. Some of us just like nice things and really don't give two shits what you drive but we do hope that you have the capacity to appreciate driving. If you don't, then get off the road and let someone else do it for you.
I've invested so many dollars. So many... Not just on my collection but on learning. I actually have taken many, many advanced driving courses. See my initial comment about training for Nurburgring and then the cars that I got to take on that track. It's an acquired skill, an enjoyable hobby, and something where you can constantly push yourself to do better. So, not just dollars and more importantly, I've spent so much on learning and improving. I'm comfortable in anything and have yet to find one vehicle that I can not find some
I understand. I guess Bowie died of the Big C and was 69. I sent my sister (she's a fan) a text after someone posted about it in a comment in the PostgreSQL thread. That's kind of sad.
As for Bruce? Well, I'd feel used if I'd helped support him. I'd not be surprised if some of my donation dollars somehow made it to him but that's okay. It's unfortunate but I've come to grips with it. It was I who he said it to, after all. So, yeah, it's unfortunate as I had held him in high esteem. I do appreciate his honesty.
It's sad, but not surprising, that people are trying to minimize it or to claim there's irony or things like that. It's like they don't want to believe it or don't actually understand the concepts of freedom and liberty. They don't seem to accept that the claiming open-source was a mistake and that he's referencing the movement as a pejorative are not good things to hear from this particular source. I mean, yeah, I'd not care if it came from Steve Balmer. It matters because of who said it.
It was those "freetards" that enabled him to be where he is today. It was they who gave him financial support and a platform. Without them, he'd probably be nothing. Now that he has his assets and voice, he can abandon them. They're being abused and a couple of the other replies seem to indicate at least a few people are willing to take more abuse. Speaking of mental illness...
Anyhow, I've seen you post a number of times and you generally have good things to say. You could get an account. ;-) It'd make finding your posts easier though I can understand some of the reasons people have for not wanting to sign up.
Ah well, 'tis a sad day indeed. What's really odd is that I'd just re-watched an older documentary about the making of Linux and the Free Software movement, Bruce was in it, and he was extolling the virtues of free software and taking part in a documentary about basic freedoms and how we need to have freedom. Albeit they were using the word freedom when the word liberty is more apt but I've no need to quibble over trivial details when the message is basically the same.
I will try to continue to post the link and comment in other threads. It's tempting to go to the sites listed and see if they allow comments - I could then quote and link this so that they could be aware of it. I probably should but I figure he can tell them himself. It's not my job to take it from this site into another community but they should probably be aware that he's just using them and doesn't actually care for the movement, for free software, or even for freedom. I believe another quote was, "I'd take your guns, I hope to do so someday." Not, "I'd support stronger legislation to ensure greater safety and hope to do so someday." No, he'd take your freedom and hopes to do so someday. At least he's being honest about something at this point.
Hmm... I'd have thought the exclamation point would give that away. My bad, tone isn't conveyed well in text. Everyone gets a "bespoke" version unless you pull it off the lot. It's basically just getting some options that weren't already on the lot and, more often than not, there's that same thing on the lot but just with colors you don't want. Thus the ! and way I expressed it. Meh, I'd thought the tone was there. :/
I see, now. :D That makes a lot more sense to me. Between Hog and Orc, I got it fairly well, I think. I dunno, my brain works "funny." At least I assume it's not normal, I can't say that I know - I'm used to it, so it seems normal to me. There are things that I end up just having to learn by rote - and it's hard. And then sometimes, and it might be the smallest of things, it just "clicks" and I get it and can visualize the entirety instead of just a piece. Until I'm able to conceptualize the entirety, I'm just going by rote - I might not even understand what I'm doing or why what I'm doing is working. Then, and it might seem a trivial remark, makes it sort of open up and I understand the whole.
If you give me a practice exam based on actual randomized questions that are on the tests and let me finish and score those practice tests for three days? I can pass any exam out there, so long as I take that exam not long after. I won't actually know a damned thing but I can answer the questions - I can even answer other questions based on correlations with previous answers/questions. I still don't understand it. I'm just good at taking tests. Then, sometimes, it just clicks and I get it. I used to be really, really bad at mathematics until I finally had an instructor who made it so that things "clicked." (I mentioned this in another reply.)
At that point, I just understood. I could understand the whole. I could actually see why the math was what it was, what it meant, how it applied, and even do a good amount of it in my head - or even just get really accurate guesstimates. An example might be that I went shopping with the missus a while back and she wondered how much the cart full of items was going to cost. I told her the amount and the total with sales tax. I was fifty three cents off from a total of some 30+ items with a $300+ value - I hadn't actually really been trying to keep track, I just remembered what the prices were 'cause I like numbers and I know what the sales tax is. (I was probably only off because it turns out that some foodstuffs are taxed. I did not know that.)
Dunno if that makes sense? Basically, once it clicks then I get it. Until then, I'm flailing around in the dark and probably going to poke an eye out. I can do the "rote" thing and that would look like understanding to a casual observer but it's not actual comprehension. I doubt it's unique, by any means, but I still suspect it's not entirely normal. I've bumped into a few people who express similar thoughts about their learning process. In this case, for whatever reason, it might actually have caused some internal clicking but I won't know until I'm faced again with something that I don't know and can see if I can reach the correct answer. Erf... I'm not sure that's even English but, it's what I'm going with. I don't blame you if it doesn't make sense.
That makes perfect sense! For whatever reason, those words worked. Maybe you should look into teaching? I dunno. But that actually worked and now I understand - I think. Thanks. Seriously, thanks. I can even envision why this might be handy - hell, I can think of places where I'd have used this in the past.
Ah ha! Thanks. I get it now. Well, I think... Basically, this allows more an if/or? If it is X (and should be Y) then change it to Y and if it is Y already then leave it as Y. But in one more command without actually having to use a longer statement to get the same results?
That makes sense. I can join, add, merge, and stuff like that. I can even (sort of) do it in C, PHP, and probably bang it out in Perl. However, I hate it. I know it may sound odd but, for whatever reason - and I hold a PhD in Applied Mathematics, I just can't wrap my head around it well. I don't know what it is, I don't know why. I don't know how to change it - and I've tried. For whatever reasons, I just can't quite grasp databases that well. Well enough to use them, well enough to learn some things by rote, but not enough to truly conceptualize.
Erf... To put it into a bit of perspective (if I can) my maths skills were rather poor until I had an instructor who enabled me, sort of triggered it, to actually visualize what the things I'd been doing by rote actually meant. From there on out? I was golden. I can do fractions, percentages, long division, and more in my head. Now that I get it, I understand logarithms and can even "see" what an algorithm does. For whatever reason, I can't seem to get a database. Oh, I know what they are and what they do and how to do some of it. I understand columns, rows, tables, joins, inserts, mergers, and stuff... I just can't grab it.
Heh, the other day - after all these years, it finally clicked as to what a hash was actually doing in a database. Yes, really. I'd never bothered asking and had somehow concluded they must be being decrypted/dehashed at some point. Yup... Oh, it's worse. Not long before that - I finally went "duh." I finally understood (after having it beat into my head) that a OTP actually does and why it can't be just brute forced. Yeah, I felt really dumb. I'm okay with that, however. It means that I'm still willing to learn and I'd been smart enough to not assert that I was correct but rather presented my thoughts as a question and asked for correction. Fortunately, someone was kind enough to be patient and beat me with a clue stick until I finally understood it. It's for things like that, times like that, that I appreciate Slashdot. Sometimes I get to wield the clue stick and sometimes it's wielded on me.
At any rate - I think I have it now. I also think something might have just clicked. Strange as that may sound - sometimes it's the little things that end up making me finally able to understand. No, I have no idea why my brain works the way it does. It's like I can do things by rote forever and not understand at all and then, finally, something - even something small, means I start to understand. I have no idea if that's normal or not. Consider, if you will, that I worked - quite extensively - with very large data sets. :/ Yeah... However, it was mostly rote and trial and error until I got things to work.
Hmm... You know? I never worked for anything that had an "HR department" in that sense of the word. The closest I came was when I was enlisted. I guess you could call certain aspects of that "HR" but I don't think they're quite the same thing. My company didn't have an HR department (but we only had a whisker over 200 people at the end). We outsourced payroll. I don't think that counts. They didn't hire or fire. :/
When we hired, well... How to describe it? Anyone, I guess, could sit in on the interview. No, most people didn't but I'd sometimes ask people who'd be working with the new hire, having to train the new hire, or would depend on the new hire to come sit in. Hell, I didn't even sit in on all the interviews - I was sometimes too busy and had more important things to do.
See, I guess I can't be objective? I don't have enough information but, by nearly all accounts, HR is evil and a cause of more problems than they seem to solve. We had an obscenely low turn-over rate and I can't think of any tensions in the group that didn't get resolved over a beer and some fatty food (and yes, that includes the women). Well, there was a black eye at one point and that was over a female co-worker and is a long story. It was *technically* off work property and didn't hinder their work - and they were the best of friends afterwards. So, I guess that too was okay.
I've seen people say that humans shouldn't be treated like resources. I kind of disagree. They should be. They're assets. Without them, I'd have nothing. That's a pretty damned valuable resource.
I pay careful attention to the problems that people express on here. Why? Well, I'm half-tempted to write and give away a book on management. I've been told that I should do so by quite a few people. Unfortunately, I don't think my writing is up to snuff and I'm not sure my style will work well in a book, but I digress...
What I've observed is that the problems almost always stem from two things. They seem to almost always be due to management or human resources. I don't, unfortunately, have anything more than anecdotes and presumptions. However, maybe we should rename Human Resources to something different? Maybe we should look for some transparency? At the same time, maybe we could just accept that we're not all an appropriate fit for every job we apply for? Maybe they didn't hire them because they suck and not because they didn't like their mental health history?
On the other end, management? Yeah, I can write about that for hours. In short, I learned to give clear direction, ask what was needed to reach those goals, to shut up and get out of the way, and that the tools the vendor suggests are probably not the best tools for the job - ask the people who have to work with them what they need and get them that.
But, maybe it's time to get rid of HR entirely? Maybe it's time to let the people who are doing the work decide who they're going to work with and let them resolve their issues on their own? Yeah, it means that not everyone gets every job they want and sometimes for crappy and ignorant reasons but, if those are the type of people who you'd work with - do you really want to work there? I'm not white (very much) and if you don't hire me because I'm not white then, strangely enough, I probably wouldn't have wanted to work with you - even if the law said you had to be nice to my face.
I don't know but I think I'd rather work with people who appreciated me and not with people who were forced, by law, to accept me. It's a strange concept, sure. It's just more about reality, I think. In reality, people suck sometimes. It's kind of like, I'm absolutely against affirmative action in today's environment. Why? Affirmative action is you telling me that because I'm not white that I am unable to do it on my own and thus need your help. It had a place and a time. Now is not that place, nor is it that time. I don't need you to help me because I'm not white. I need you to help me (or not) because I need help. My innate tr
As someone whose tax dollars are helping to pay for your support and meds, I'm glad. I'm really glad that the system is helping you and I wish it would help more people. I see lots of people who, for varied reasons, indicate that they're unable to get the support they need. Truth be told, I'm pretty sure we're paying enough in taxes but spending it poorly. However, if they'd spend it more wisely, I'd not mind paying more.
So, while your "thanks" seemed a bit sarcastic (it's hard to tell on the 'net), let me say, "You're welcome. Is there any service that you really need that you are unable to access?"
When I'm home, I go to see a headshrinker. She assures me that I'm (mostly!) sane so now I mostly see a therapist because I find it is good to bounce ideas off an objective person. I want someone to find the flaws and help me think better. I enjoy it. I used to go to a group session and I found that the most beneficial but, well, the people in there (as I've explained before) had serious issues and I felt like I was taking time from them. So, I'm not actually selfish and I quit attending. It'd be kind of neat if they had some sort of group therapy for people who aren't actually suffering from mental illness - something structured the same way. CBT is actually pretty handy - beyond mental illness. It's great for introspection. These days, I only see the headshrinker for meds - she gives me a sleeping med but I don't normally take it. It makes me feel hungover in the morning and groggy for the whole day.
At any rate, you're welcome and I hope you're doing well in your recovery. I've a sibling who is mentally ill and her health care is a fortune as she's also very physically ill. (It's *thousands* per week just for her TPN supplies.) So, yes, it's good to see someone who hasn't fallen through the cracks. Perhaps, maybe, you can share how it is you didn't end up falling through the cracks and that sort of comment might help another person? Who did you reach out to first or did you have an intervention not of your own choosing? No need for details or specifics that might identify you but, well, it'd be nice to have that information out there and it might be of value for someone else.
I imagine such services vary per State. My sister gets some help paid for but the pittance they give her to live on is pretty low. I end up making up the difference but I have to be careful how I do so. For instance, certain medicine is paid for but they won't supply others. Some of them, if I buy them, they'll stop paying for others. For an example, I have to pay for her whole morphine pump, supplies, and that sort of thing plus I have to pay for her breakthrough meds. She could have one or the other and if I paid for one they were going to not pay for the other. That means I pay for both the pump and the sublingual strips that she uses for breakthrough pain. I found a decent supplier that has a compounding pharmacist and they rent the machines and take care of it - they even deliver. However, I'll avoid sharing the price but it's a whole ton of money - even by the week.
So, yeah, as I said - you sounded like you were being sarcastic but you're more than welcome. I'm glad it is working out for you and curious as to what more we can do to help get you to the point where you're able to enjoy day-to-day living and find life rewarding? Fortunately, I don't have to pay for her DLS folks who spend 6 to 8 hours a day with her. I imagine that she'll be in end-of-life care soon but I'm doing what I can to give her the things she needs to enjoy the time she does have. Her kids keep talking about repaying me and all that crap, which kind of sucks actually. See, they don't have a pot to piss in between them. It's not about the money, it's about the moments. So, yeah, what services do you think would help you have more of those moments? I ask because I might be able to help a needy sibling.