Recent Comments

Re: Old news (Score: 1)

by eviljim@pipedot.org in Is this the year of Linux of the desktop? For these guys, that's old news on 2014-09-24 02:39 (#2SVP)

I'm pretty sure we only paid about $9 per win95 OEM pack so there really wasn't that much price difference overall, unsure what OEM win8 packages are worth these days, haven't been in pc retail for a loooong time.

Distros (Score: 1)

by eviljim@pipedot.org in Friday Distro: Absolute Linux on 2014-09-24 02:29 (#2SVN)

I like messing around with older hardware and pushing the boundries... such as running VNC client under linux and using server scaling (UntraVNC server on WinXP) to display a 1600x1200 desktop on an 800x600 LCD panel, still usable despite the small text. I've run Deli linux and Thinstation on my 486/pentium laptops, is there anything more recent/capable that I should try out on these old machines with very little ram? I'd like to give BSD a go sometime (unsure of hardware requirements at this stage) I think I once got a pentium to run BSD but didn't really check it out much.

analog computer (Score: 0)

by Anonymous Coward in First computer system I used on 2014-09-24 02:21 (#2SVM)

I didn't actually program it, but I did watch an analog computer being programmed when my father took me into his work. Programming was done by connecting patch cords with banana plug ends to patch panels on 19" racks. Various op amps were connected with LCR networks and other analog functional blocks to simulate physical systems. Output was on a pen chart recorder. Around 1960.

The program I remember was able to simulate the response of an airplane (or car, different version) to simple control inputs--and since it was analog it worked in real time!

Have had a fascination with banana plugs and other patch cords ever since...

Re: The Plato System: (Score: 0)

by Anonymous Coward in First computer system I used on 2014-09-24 02:07 (#2SVK)

Lucky you, the Cyber at the university (used by our high school class) took punch cards and the only language we had access to was Fortran.

Re: Nice! (Score: 0)

by Anonymous Coward in TV antennas - OTA HDTV reception on 2014-09-24 01:48 (#2SVJ)

Thanks! Are you saying I could get away with linking the HBU22 to the little sat dish? I would have thought it would overwhelm it. I'll have to get up there and check.

My last sat dish just had some short lag bolts or something. Come to think of it I've got a few old dishes up there now. :( But they always have little custom mounts, not poles, so I'm missing your point I think.

Re: Why no TV tuners and HDMI-input? (Score: 1)

by eviljim@pipedot.org in What's next for tablets running Linux? on 2014-09-24 00:58 (#2SVH)

it'd have to be an RF preamp but I'll have a go with straight rabbit ears and see if I can get anything out, otherwise I'd probably have to build an RF amp myself. I've got a circuit diagram for a video sender but I've been unable to locate the correct two transistors and really dont know what the quality would be like with such a simple circuit, probably best using a modulator then amping the output.

Re: Ignore Corruption?? (Score: 0)

by Anonymous Coward in uselessd - a fork of systemd on 2014-09-24 00:13 (#2SVG)

Huh? I was saying one had to "opt out" of having the log files be binary. You don't seem to be saying anything different? They are binary by default. One has to choose to turn off the binary logging. That's opt-out. One has to opt-in to the old-fashioned way, no?

Or are you saying they ALSO have text logging by default, doubling up all the logging?

Are you also really saying that a corrupted binary file is every bit as parseable, salvageable, and recoverable as a text file with short or malformed lines towards the tail? I'm not seeing it.

I prefer to format my poll suggestions with... (Score: 0)

by Anonymous Coward in Your poll ideas! Please pipe up. on 2014-09-23 23:18 (#2SVF)

  • Unordered lists
  1. Ordered lists
*Asterisks, i never quite got the hang of HTML, you insensitive clod.
RunthefucktogetherIndecipherableTextBecauseFuckLineBreaksAndSpaces
Comma,Separated,Values

Plain old linebreaks

In soviet russia, line break you.

Re: Ignore Corruption?? (Score: 1)

by evilviper@pipedot.org in uselessd - a fork of systemd on 2014-09-23 22:54 (#2SVE)

So you're saying it's opt-out
No, it's opt-in. It's not going to automatically shut-off your syslog. Now, what distros choose to use as their default is a different matter, its they who are making these default decisions for you.
Kind of missing the point of an inherently poor design and unaccountable developer, no?
No. Problems don't actually need to be fixed upstream, distros can patch anything about systemd they want, before packaging it for their platform. That's where Ice Weasel comes from. I don't see anything inherently poor about the design... Binary log files are no more risky than plain text, and any logger can have bugs.

Did you know that rsyslogd will bring down your whole damn system if you use TCP logging over the network, but the destination stops accepting?

A Common Trend (Score: 1)

by venkman@pipedot.org in Microsoft staff cuts extend to Silicon Valley research lab on 2014-09-23 22:18 (#2SVC)

Unfortunately, this is a trend. I know from my industry, R&D is being cut. As the summary points out, short-term this is great because you reduce the headcount and sales of your current products are unaffected, but what happens when someone else comes along with a better value? If only someone could package a nice GNU/Linux or BSD that offered the average consumer a better value than Windows...

Re: C-64, mostly (Score: 1)

by hapnstance@pipedot.org in First computer system I used on 2014-09-23 21:22 (#2SV9)

Are you me? That sounds almost identical to my experience except I was lucky enough to get my C=64 from dad for Christmas (along with a pile of programming books). I even played on a friend's sinclair!

C-64, mostly (Score: 1)

by zafiro17@pipedot.org in First computer system I used on 2014-09-23 20:36 (#2SV8)

It all happened pretty fast - a TRS80 in the classroom, I think, and a Sinclair at the neighbor's house on which I played some kind of flight simulator. I got permission to go to a special summer school and take a computer course. That meant programming BASIC on a Commodore Pet. A year or two later I mowed enough lawns to buy myself a C=64 and in the meantime, the school got some Apple IIs (and some clones: anyone remember the Franklin? A 100% knock-off, and byte-compatible, I think).

The C64 was the beginning of an obsession that's lasted to this day. Still remember the big day I went from the datasette cassette tape to the 1541 disk drive. Life was about as good as it was going to get.

Apple II - Probably (Score: 0)

by Anonymous Coward in First computer system I used on 2014-09-23 17:27 (#2SV7)

My first experience with a computer was probably the Apple II. I think my school had one, before my parents bought a PC with a 3.5" floppy drive, a 5 1/4" floppy drive, and no hard drive.

Re: Copyright? (Score: 0)

by Anonymous Coward in RedHat looks to mobile apps with purchase of FeedHenry on 2014-09-23 16:38 (#2SV6)

No no!

I meant "FeedHenry" wore the clownpenis.

ConvergedDigest is Shakespearean and high tech compared to that. I'm sure it means something to somebody, but come on.

Re: Nice! (Score: 0)

by Anonymous Coward in TV antennas - OTA HDTV reception on 2014-09-23 16:35 (#2SV5)

The Hauppauges rate decently well, but I read very mixed reviews of the AverMedia products as well as all the various lesser known brands. (Seriously, from the reviews many of them are complete garbage.) I don't think I've heard of Twinhan, so thanks. But even with the Hauppauges I read enough sob stories about incompatibilities (or upgrade issues) that it seemed the general recommendation was to go with an Ethernet attached tuner, and again it seemed Silicon Dust HDHomeRun was the only game in town.

My chimney is weird. It's a very wide square metal enclosure with fake bricks painted on it. I tried to find a chimney cap for it but none of them would quite fit. (Don't have the dimensions handy but somewhere around 2 feet.) It seems sturdy enough but I don't want a repeat leak performance. I'm not so much concerned about making holes in the shingles as I am about making sure they're secure enough.

I don't need a particularly high mast. If it weren't for the leak I'd think about re-using the vent pipe, which is no more than a couple of feet high.

I recently had a new sat dish put up (still trying to cut this crap out) so I suppose I could piggyback a small UHF on it, but I already purchased a decent conventional antenna (HBU22 I believe).

Would a "non-penetrating" mount actually work on a sloped shingle roof?

Thanks for the advice...

Re: GUIs ruined school computer labs (Score: 1)

by zafiro17@pipedot.org in First computer system I used on 2014-09-23 15:17 (#2SV4)

It would be interesting to know what that machine in the corner was. A little minivax? Something Unixy, I suppose, if you were editing in vi? Something made by Sun and gifted to the school?

Re: Copyright? (Score: 2, Funny)

by zafiro17@pipedot.org in RedHat looks to mobile apps with purchase of FeedHenry on 2014-09-23 15:14 (#2SV3)

You mean convergeddigest? Yeah, that's a new one for me. Here's the SNL transcript for anyone who like me, hadn't seen it. Awesome stuff.

http://snltranscripts.jt.org/99/99adillon.phtml
Dillon/Edwards Investments

Father.....Chris Parnell

[Scene of father helping son ride a bicycle for the first time, then, cut to the living room of their house]

Father: Trust, an important part of building a family, and an important part of building his future. That's why I rely on Dillon/Edwards and Company. For nearly a century, investors on Wall Street have trusted Dillon and Edwards with their financial future. And now all of the resources from America's oldest investment firm are available on-line. [Father is at the computer as the website appears, along with web address]Dillon and Edwards on the Internet, at www.clownpenis.fart. A lot of investment companies rushed onto the Internet, but Dillon and Edwards took their time. Sure, when they were ready, there was one web address left, but it's one you can count on.

Announcer #1: For mutual funds, count on...

Announcer #2: ...clownpenis.fart.

Announcer #1: Online brokerage...

Announcer #2: ...clownpenis.fart.

Announcer #1: Retirement and tuition planning...

Announcer #2: ...clownpenis.fart.

[Caption: Dillon/Edwards Investments-www.clownpenis.fart]

Announcer #1: Dillon and Edwards Investments...

Announcer #2: ...at www.clownpenis.fart.

Labels (Score: 0)

by Anonymous Coward in Your poll ideas! Please pipe up. on 2014-09-23 14:03 (#2SV2)

Are so gmail, use tags
Suck. No.
Sound like a good idea
Are what I use to remember my cat's names
Call me Al.

The site colour should be (Score: 1, Interesting)

by Anonymous Coward in Your poll ideas! Please pipe up. on 2014-09-23 14:01 (#2SV1)

Blue like it is
Green cause /. is dead
Yellow like the golden SUN
Red to match Soylent
Purple just because
I want to be able to choose my own color pallette please please pretty please with a cherry on top

ISIL will (Score: 0)

by Anonymous Coward in Your poll ideas! Please pipe up. on 2014-09-23 13:57 (#2SV0)

* Be nuked back to the stone age
* Learn to live with the rest of hunanity
* Last for a few years then fade away
* Rule us all
* Learn from history, the easy way
* Learn from history, the hard way
* Admit that it was all tripe and give up on the world domination plans
* Bend knee to the knights that go Ni

Yay for the CDC 6500! (Score: 1)

by fnj@pipedot.org in Monday poll: first computer system you used on 2014-09-23 13:36 (#2STZ)

No problem. Turns out I am an idiot anyway. I see it says "used", not "acquired". I voted. Mainframes edge to within 1 of a tie!

Copyright? (Score: 0)

by Anonymous Coward in RedHat looks to mobile apps with purchase of FeedHenry on 2014-09-23 13:30 (#2STY)

So the suspiciously clipart-looking "CIO" on the front page turns out to be some guy named Shimon Haber who seems to have NOTHING to do with this company as per their "leadership" page. His photo has only appeared on "Funny or Die". Strange they didn't feel confident putting their own people on the front page, and I hope they had permission to use Haber's photo.

Also, am I the only one who thought of the SNL "clownpenis.fart" thing upon seeing the desperate bottom-barrel domain name?

Re: How much water / house? (Score: 1, Funny)

by Anonymous Coward in Largest Desalination Plant in the Hemisphere to Supply 7% of San Diego's Water on 2014-09-23 12:56 (#2STX)

Shhh. Bryan's last name is "Begley, Jr."

Re: VHF Lo (Score: 1)

by evilviper@pipedot.org in TV antennas - OTA HDTV reception on 2014-09-23 11:57 (#2STW)

Looking at what's available in your area is, indeed, step #1 in my write-up.

Just because there's a channel on some frequency in an area, doesn't mean you want to go to great lengths to get it... The channels still on VHF-lo are usually tiny little independent stations people generally don't want to watch, anyhow... often low-power TV with a tiny radius, too.

In addition, a VHF-hi antenna isn't going to be completely unable to get VHF-lo stations, it will just struggle to get the lowest ones from as far away as it can manage higher frequencies... In a very strong signal area, even a UHF antenna will pickup VHF-lo channels.

And manufacturers have basically given-up on the market. You can hardly find any of the old full-range VHF antennas that were so prevalent, before.

Re: Ignore Corruption?? (Score: 0)

by Anonymous Coward in uselessd - a fork of systemd on 2014-09-23 11:42 (#2STS)

So you're saying it's opt-out, like spam, and the Mafia, and taxes? Kind of missing the point of an inherently poor design and unaccountable developer, no?

Re: GUIs ruined school computer labs (Score: 1)

by bryan@pipedot.org in First computer system I used on 2014-09-23 10:58 (#2STQ)

Now, a computer lab where kids get a blank command-line on a Unix system, and have free reign to do whatever they want in their home directory (explore, program, ..., etc), THAT would be incredibly useful educational tool, so, of course, schools would never consider doing something as awful as that...
That describes almost perfectly my high school programming department. We all sat at green screen serial terminals attached to the large "computer" in the back corner. I didn't know it back then, but I'm sure glad they had the insight to teach us the basics without the distraction of the GUI (which did exist; they chose to use the older classics.)

Plus, I'd never have ingrained all the vi commands1 into my brain if I hadn't taken that class.

1What's that joke about generating a pseudorandom character sequence by asking a user unfamiliar with vi to exit the program?

GUIs ruined school computer labs (Score: 1)

by evilviper@pipedot.org in First computer system I used on 2014-09-23 10:41 (#2STP)

I suppose my first computer experience was early Macs in the school computer lab, but I hardly even think of them as computers. They could almost have been VCRs with a keyboard and mouse dangling off of them, for all we knew. You go in, do the idiotic typing-tutor program for a few minutes, then you play some click-to-color the picture, or a puzzle game the rest of the time. Later, some office apps were there, too, and I dutifully learned how to do all kinds of crazy document formatting, year after year, over and over again, which I certainly never needed, and couldn't recall today if I tried. But something like internet access was kept strictly away from students, as they couldn't be trusted, and only rationed out very sparingly.

Without the GUI, schools couldn't have ruined/neutered computers quite so effectively, and there certainly wouldn't have been nearly so much impetus to do so (ie. no porn, less malware, etc.).

Schools don't have a clue how to use technology, in general. Time on computers is just a check-box they have to mark to show they're modern and not useless. Tell me, once TVs and VCRs pervaded classrooms, why were students still forced to READ Shakespeare plays over the course of several weeks? It does seem that K-12 was nothing but busywork, hoisted upon students like something out of Dante's inferno, used only to prove you're willing to put-up with the pain to get the supposed reward of a college education and high-paying future jobs. It's justified as "tradition", ie. school was miserable when your teachers were kids, so it should be miserable today, too.

Now, a computer lab where kids get a blank command-line on a Unix system, and have free reign to do whatever they want in their home directory (explore, program, browse with lynx, etc), THAT would be incredibly useful educational tool, so, of course, schools would never consider doing something as awful as that...

Re: How much water / house? (Score: 1)

by evilviper@pipedot.org in Largest Desalination Plant in the Hemisphere to Supply 7% of San Diego's Water on 2014-09-23 10:14 (#2SSX)

our house (two people) uses about 30,000 gallons/year. Even when we were watering a few new trees we only got to 40,000 gallons/year
Two-people is a ridiculously small household, and you are in an area where you don't have to water your yard at all, where most of the Southwest you'd have nothing but dirt unless you water the whole thing twice a week.

Re: Why no TV tuners and HDMI-input? (Score: 1)

by evilviper@pipedot.org in What's next for tablets running Linux? on 2014-09-23 10:07 (#2STN)

I'd pair it with an amplifier (RCA preamp is only $22) and some big rabbit-ears... Then you should be good to go.

Re: Slashdot Beta (Score: 1)

by zafiro17@pipedot.org in Mysterious Mars Methane: Curiosity Sees No Sign on 2014-09-23 09:35 (#2STM)

I'm still getting the original site, which is nice. I still post there once in a while just cuz my sig has a link to here, Soylent, and comp.misc. Got to get the word out to those poor deck-class passengers still trapped on the sinking ship :)

Re: How much water / house? (Score: 2, Funny)

by zafiro17@pipedot.org in Largest Desalination Plant in the Hemisphere to Supply 7% of San Diego's Water on 2014-09-23 09:16 (#2STJ)

Swimming pools and automatic lawn-watering sprinkler systems ought to be the biggest culprit, I'd say, although having kids also raises your water bill in a noticeable way.

I personally lower mine by bathing infrequently :) Smells so ... "economical."

Re: Missing choice (Score: 2, Funny)

by zafiro17@pipedot.org in Monday poll: first computer system you used on 2014-09-23 08:52 (#2STH)

I'm sympathetic, but this poll was already getting pretty long. Here, you can have a refund of your purchase price!

Re: Young'ins (Score: 1)

by zafiro17@pipedot.org in First computer system I used on 2014-09-23 08:51 (#2STG)

And they'll add it telepathically, using their "Google Implant" nerve-ending module that takes thoughts right from the cerebral cortex and transmits them directly, triggered by a flinch of the right eyelid. And then they'll laugh themselves silly, about how previous generations actually had to type stuff, and there were 'spell checkers' and a key for each frikkin' letter.

Re: Nice! (Score: 1)

by bryan@pipedot.org in TV antennas - OTA HDTV reception on 2014-09-23 07:40 (#2STF)

Make sure your antenna is grounded. My vent pipes (sewer) are all PVC.

Re: How much water / house? (Score: 1)

by bryan@pipedot.org in Largest Desalination Plant in the Hemisphere to Supply 7% of San Diego's Water on 2014-09-23 07:20 (#2STE)

On my monthly water bill, the local utility lists the following:
  • Your water use was 748 gallons.1
  • Your neighborhood average water use was 7,998 gallons.
  • SAWS residential average water use was 10,085 gallons.
I have no idea how some people use so much water.

1One digit on my water meter equals 748 gallons. For some months of the year, my usage is low enough to make the meter read the same as the previous month (meaning my usage is actually a bit less than 748 gallons/month)

utf-16 (Score: 1)

by ticho@pipedot.org in PHP6 abandoned, going straight to PHP7 on 2014-09-23 06:39 (#2STD)

Doesn't Qt also store its strings as UTF-16 internally? I haven't seen complaints about that.

Re: Why no TV tuners and HDMI-input? (Score: 1)

by eviljim@pipedot.org in What's next for tablets running Linux? on 2014-09-23 06:27 (#2STC)

I've actually got a bunch of those, one from a camcorder, and a handfull from old VCR's I'm wondering if the minimal power output would be enough to send a signal from a antenna to 5m away the one I'm thinking of has the same inputs but just an antenna for output.

Re: Ignore Corruption?? (Score: 2, Informative)

by evilviper@pipedot.org in uselessd - a fork of systemd on 2014-09-23 06:00 (#2STB)

You don't have to use systemd for logging, you can continue using rsyslogd and plain-text logs if you so choose.

Re: How much water / house? (Score: 1)

by evilviper@pipedot.org in Largest Desalination Plant in the Hemisphere to Supply 7% of San Diego's Water on 2014-09-23 05:50 (#2STA)

Big difference between "water use" (measured by the house water meter) and "water footprint"
Good point, I wasn't paying attention on that one...
IBISWorld estimates that the typical single family home consumes 69.3 gallons of water per day.
That's not even close to what the EPA says:

"The average American family of four uses 400 gallons of water per day." -- http://www.epa.gov/watersense/pubs/indoor.html

400 * 365.25 = 146,100 gallons

That puts San Diego pretty close to average.

The USGS says almost the same, at 80-100 gallons per person, per day.

http://water.usgs.gov/edu/qa-home-percapita.html

Re: Non points - except one. (Score: 1)

by eviljim@pipedot.org in Lots of folks are having a laugh at Apple on 2014-09-23 05:27 (#2ST9)

I haven't worn a watch since I was a builders labourer and kept busting them off on door frames. ended up using an elastic watchstrap until I got a mobile phone
My magic combo

android phone.

it has clock, phone, camera and music player, why use anything else?

Re: Why no TV tuners and HDMI-input? (Score: 1)

by evilviper@pipedot.org in What's next for tablets running Linux? on 2014-09-23 05:26 (#2ST8)

You mean one of these?:

http://www.amazon.com/RCA-Compact-RF-Modulator-CRF907R/dp/B0014KKV7W/

Re: Why no TV tuners and HDMI-input? (Score: 1)

by eviljim@pipedot.org in What's next for tablets running Linux? on 2014-09-23 04:52 (#2ST7)

That is a brilliant idea, I wish they would implement this. I've got two android phones with analogue tv tuners, I've been unable to find any of the old VHF tv senders that used to be all over the place so I can make use of them for watching DVR stuff in bed. (non network capable DVR unfortunately)

Re: Economics Still Not Quite There? (Score: 2, Funny)

by eviljim@pipedot.org in California Basking in Record Amount of Electricity from Solar on 2014-09-23 04:41 (#2ST6)

I'm just spending nights wandering around stealing everyone's solar garden lights, eventually I'll have enough little panels to power my house, no cost... if I steal car batteries also.

Re: Re-Morse? (Score: 2, Funny)

by eviljim@pipedot.org in Quietnet: a simple chat program using inaudible sounds on 2014-09-23 04:38 (#2ST5)

I could hiss down a handset and make my modem connect to me at 1200bps, couldn't really determine the data being hissed back at me though.

Re: fleshlight air drops (Score: 2, Funny)

by eviljim@pipedot.org in Lead in recycled-metal cookware a health threat in Africa on 2014-09-23 04:26 (#2ST4)

lol, running around trying to catch one on the tip...like a sexy snowflake

Re: First Game System (Score: 1)

by venkman@pipedot.org in Your poll ideas! Please pipe up. on 2014-09-23 03:53 (#2ST3)

These are are the home consoles, Generations 1-8:

-Atari/Intellivision
-NES/Sega Master System
-SNES/Sega Mega Drive/Genesis/Neo Geo
-N64/Sega Saturn/Playstation
-Dreamcast/PS2/GameCube/Xbox
-Wii/PS3/Xbox 360
-Wii U/PS4/Xbox One

Young'ins (Score: 1)

by bryan@pipedot.org in First computer system I used on 2014-09-23 03:21 (#2ST2)

In the not-too-distant future (or maybe already) the younger crowd will list "smart phone" or "tablet" as their first computer.

IBM (Score: 1)

by bryan@pipedot.org in First computer system I used on 2014-09-23 03:13 (#2SSD)

IBM PC Jr
  • Wireless Chiclet Keyboard
  • Color "TV" Monitor
  • Two ROM cartridge slots
  • 360 KB 5.25 inch floppy disk drive

Re: How much water / house? (Score: 1, Informative)

by Anonymous Coward in Largest Desalination Plant in the Hemisphere to Supply 7% of San Diego's Water on 2014-09-23 02:46 (#2ST1)

Big difference between "water use" (measured by the house water meter) and "water footprint" (all the water used to produce goods consumed by a person). From the Wiki source, footnote [3] http://web.archive.org/web/20081004003759/http://www.ibisworld.com/pressrelease/pressrelease.aspx?prid=125
IBISWorld estimates that the typical single family home consumes 69.3 gallons of water per day.
69.3 x 365 = ~25,300 gallons/year. So OP is correct that 30,000 gal/year is reasonable in Great Lakes area with no special conservation efforts, and probably some limited watering during the summer if there is a temporary dry spell.

The San Diego number for a house (seems most likely based on actual metered usage) is very high, must be watering outside all the time? Anyone from the southwest care to share their water consumption and water bill?

Amstrad cpc6128 (Score: 1)

by eviljim@pipedot.org in First computer system I used on 2014-09-23 02:30 (#2ST0)

for the win.
...79808182838485868788...
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