Posts by Bruce Ordway 454 publicly visible posts • joined 22 Apr 2007
>>mere background noise that gets tuned out
Or in my case, I make note of industries with the most aggressive/pervasive advertisers.
These are items I assume I'm paying way too much money for.
In the US, I suspect the insurance industry is doing the most price gouging.
No national health care in my future...
Warning.... thermostat rant.
A few years ago I had my furnace replaced by my utility company.
They also replaced my old mercury switch thermostat with a newer programmable model
In my opinion, the user interface for the majority of digital controllers sucks in general.
This started with the first VCR's and never has improved. Lots of unused, needless features like blinking clocks and useful features that are almost impossible to set correctly.
Beside a terrible user interface, this model required batteries, which opened the door for several, strange failure scenarios. It had to be replaced twice while still under warranty.
When the unit ultimately failed out of warranty, I replaced it with a simple, non-programmable thermostat. $20 and works great.
Now... I would be interested in having a simple unit that included remote control.
BTW... I do have some experience with programmable interfaces.
Having worked in engineering, I lived thru the transition from mechanical switches to programmable user interfaces.
The programmable units were flexible and saved a lot of money for equipment manufacturers.
I actually didn't mind programming them and putting them on machines.
However... I still pretty much hate it when I actually have to use them myself to run a machine.
>>so 17th century
Yes election practices are pretty weird in the US.
However, I'm not so sure what reforms would improve things as I'm not convinced that simple majority votes are always the best way to make decisions.
Just one example that comes to mind is hunting, a rural activity that many urban dwellers view in a negative light. If put to a vote?
I like the idea of democracy, but sometimes if feels more like mobocracy.
>>a business was still running an FTP server
I also work with one company with FTP - where browser(s) routinely failed.
My best transfers results have come via FileZilla.
>> temptation to check on their other projects
As far as I can tell, they've locked FTP folders pretty tight.
It's to a point where I can't even see my own stuff, let alone others files.
After transfers, I must email and ask for receipt confirmations.
For a period, file corruption was common when transferring filet to them via FTP.
Was actually faster to burn a CD and mail it.
Never was able to identify the source of that problem - finally just "went away" one day.
>>a user... moved a lot within the company....left MS Access apps that all became business critical.
>> perhaps
Yeah, I'm guilty of this too. I really liked using Access for quickly generating a prototype.
Unfortunately, some users tended to run off with these and before I knew it, whole departments were relying on the damn things. What's worse, along the way some users learned enough Access skills to be fairly dangerous on their own.
Over the years I've manged to port only a few of these to the "proper" places. To my horror, there are plenty Access dbs still left. (Management resists allotting hours for fixings things that "already work").
At least I've learned my lesson. These days I may still use Access for roughing something out but... I would not share the files with anyone.
>> couple of twists of the disk and it miraculously returned
Wow, this takes me back.
A long time ago, one of my co-workers showed me how to manually spin the disk on one troublesome system when needed. It was usually required if it had been shut off for too long, cold to the touch. I believe it was an early IBM.
Seems like I remember about that same period... having to manually "park" the disk on some systems before shutting down.
>> AutoCad....the great R13
Yeah, what a beast.
Of course I'm biased, having never really liked any version of AutoCad. Much prefer SolidWorks these days and before that, was a fan of Cadkey.
As for WebAssembly, my attitude remains "wait & see". I have not seen any applications running in the browser that would compel me to show more interest yet. When/if I ever do...?
GPIB reminds me of National Instruments.
Sometime in the 90's when I was first introduced to NI by a semi-retired scientist who was brought in to help a company with product development. I ended up as an assistant and was exposed to all kinds of new (to me) things. Test instrumentation and data analysis were the things I found to be "the coolest". NI software was amazing back then.. haven't looked at it for years now.
After a quick search , looks like NI is still alive...
https://www.ni.com/es-cl/innovations/white-papers/06/the-national-instruments-gpib-advantage.html
>> what "Brexit means Brexit" means
As an observer from the US I'm fascinated by the whole Brexit thing.
Has seemed an emotional issue more than anything else. Where people speak, it sound like they explain how they feel, but never express exactly why they feel that way.
I'd be surprised if it gets any more clear cut after all has been said & done.
Obviously should stash some cash away to make it through the (hopefully for you, a short) period where a massive amount of money and effort will be required to handle the changes. Obviously your politicians will proclaim success at some point... you know, because "we did it". I wonder how you will ever measure your gains/losses though. This really reminds me of some IT platform migrations I've been involved with. The kind of projects where I've been relieved when it was over but... I really can't tell you why we bothered, how much it really cost or how things are really better/worse than before we started. Where my gut tells me before and after is about six or half a dozen.
Anyway, I wish good luck with Brexit in the new year to all my cousins in Britain and Europe.
We''ll need some good fortune in the US too. As we have plenty of our own issues to work through in the coming year.
"It's only data scientists who now use a desktop"???
I still prefer a desktop when it comes to CAD but I can use a laptop/external monitors for most of my work.
I expect to be able to plug a mouse, keyboard and multiple monitors into a phone at some point. I'm not so sure we'll all be doing serious work on them though. Seems to me like phones are best suited for entertainment and simple transactions, while on the go.
Where I live in the U.S. I've seen my access to A LOT of land out in "farm country" come to an end.
Either after it was "condemned/re-purposed" by city/state entities, and/or was purchased by individuals (often urban residents unfamiliar with locals/practices ).
On the other hand, I have experienced an odd emotion when I've seen people walking across land that I considered "mine".
It's almost like a primal greed or hostility, maybe my "lizard" brain is kicking in?
It is not too hard to imagine myself putting up a fence even though I know it isn't really a good idea.
And I kind of understand why a few disputes turn nasty - even though this one seems a bit extreme.
>> sudden urge to tidy up the C: drive
>> and the bowel loosening sensation when an innocent tinkering went horribly, horribly wrong
Similar memories from one of my earliest clean up attempts.
It was a PC running MS-DOS and I remember thinking, "Why is this file called ".." still in my drive?
I persisted and finally manged to delete it... oh no!
In addition to avoiding "smart" locks
I've also stopped using the key fob supplied with my car.
The reason is a bit convoluted and evolved...
To begin, my daily routine includes a short drive to a health club for a swim.
The club provides lockers, bring your own lock (key padlock in my case) but, as I found out it is not exactly secure.
Simple enough but a few years ago, a group of kids had figured out that locker doors could be defeated, simply by applying force to a wedge.
One night I found myself in front of a mangled door and an empty locker.
It is more than a little disturbing to stand there naked and dripping wet in front of that emptiness.
No towel, no cloths, no phone and no key fob, as that reality set in, a flood of questions followed.
How am I going to dry off, what am I going to wear, who can I call (do I even remember phone numbers anymore) and finally... how will I start my car and get home? (it was 15 degrees F that night).
Luckily for me, the thieves were interrupted before they could actually make off with anything.
A club employee had found the breached locker and secured all of my belongings at the front desk.
In discussions afterwards I have learned more about locker break-in details, patterns.
Groups of "smash & grab" thieves were focusing on wallets, phones and key fobs.
In at least a few instances, location and theft of vehicles were enabled by key fobs.
Since I REALLY don't really want to worry about walking home, wet partially clothed.
I now use a key that came with my car instead of the fob.
An elastic band allows me to keep it with me while swimming ( as fobs are not waterproof ).
I know it can seem like overkill but...
>> IT is here to support the business and is not the business itself
In spite of how irritating as some end users could be,
when something went wrong, I might add some color commentary but I'd still go the extra mile to resolve things. More than once I've used disk repair tools to recover files.
As one of my mentors told me.. we don't have to like each other but we must work together.
>>new (Compaq) computer is great, but sometimes it freezes
I remember "new" Compaqs, purchased from a 3rd party who also deployed and would support these units.
This was for an engineering department in the 90's and they included Compaq monitors that were huge for that time.
Users really liked them except for freezes... which in this case were "real", had to reboot to clear.
Over a few months several motherboards were replaced with no improvement.
Of course the 3rd party went bankrupt at some point ( if I remember their name was OPM and the collapse/mass layoff made the news).
Anyway, I was elected to take over support for the department.
Purely by luck I discovered that installing a video card and disabling on-board video resolved the freeze issues.
Database customers living in "a miserable world for the last couple of decades"?
Most of what I know about databases (which is not much) I learned while working with one specific ERP application as it has evolved.
It started out with Unidata (HPUX) in the 80's, moved to OpenEdge(Windows) in the 90's and finally switched to MS SQL around 2010.
Along the way I formed my very subjective opinions about each..
- Unidata was the hardest to use but use of disk space was efficient, it could scale up and still run fast, required little maintenance and licensing was simple.
- OpenEdge was a little easier to use, took up more disk space, ran slower, was low maintenance with straightforward licensing.
- MS SQL easiest to use, more disk space and slower, higher maintenance and licensing is a real pain. (and more likely to run into weird issues).
Where generally I like MS SQL while I'm working with data, as an end user.. but as an admin, dislike everything about it.
On the other hand, I really appreciated the ease of maintaining OpenEdge, and using it was "somewhat acceptable".
When looking back on Unidata today, I'm in awe of it's speed/efficiency... and I wonder "what if" it had just been a little easier to use?
>> PCs are far better than phones or tablets at too many things
>> to suggest that they're heading towards oblivion.
I agree.
The problem is that the market is saturated with powerful and reliable PCs.
While there is still some room in the "other" device market.
So incentive to improve PC related "stuff" has been on the decline.
>>Teams
I'm still using email and shared folder but.. my projects are not exactly large scale these days.
"Bad at being bad.."
I used to work in a department where we subscribed to the theory of "Inverse Incompetency".
Where a person incorrectly arrives as some belief/concept, set out to achieve a result but executes the plan so poorly that some opposite and totally correct result is achieved.
Usually referenced when explaining how upper management survived some adventure.
But.... even applied to me on occasion.
>>"We need to start building up the trust in AI"
Maybe if we could see AI applied to a problem that directly impacts us?
For example, I would be interested in an AI system that would improve Traffic Control.
The only thing I really know about current traffic control systems in my neighborhood is that they are inefficient.
An engineer printed out IHTFP in bold letters on an 8-1/2 by 11 sheet and displayed it in his cubicle, visible for all.
Word eventually got around to the dept head that the letters IHTFP stood for "I Hate This F**king Place".
Like WTF, the letters IHTFP became a popular utterance after certain events at work.
The boss eventually became aware of the source of this acronym and took extreme exception.
When he finally decided to confront this engineer and ask for an explanation of IHTFP (and possibly dismiss him on the spot).
The hero of our story explained with a straight face that IHTFP stood for "I Have Truly Found Peace".
Today, "IHTFP" and "I Have Truly Found Peace" are in common usage at multiple companies in this area of the U.S..
There is no way to prove this isn't just another urban legend.
I heard the story in the early 90's from an engineer who swore he had worked at the company where IHTFP originated and had actually witnessed the interaction between the engineer and his boss.
I don't have any reason to doubt his account, he did tell some pretty good stories over the years but as far as I know, they were all true.
2025....I'm wondering if a lot of sites might be already be retired/converted before then?
Anyway, this story has reminded me of times I spent at one of my previous employers.
Where once myself and two other employees were sent to a nearby company in the late 80's just to learn about this new device called a fax machine.
After we returned and reported our findings, one of these machines was acquired.
(This was just one of several fact finding adventures I went on.. before the internet took off of course).
Within a year separate fax units were deployed to the sales, purchasing and engineering departments.
When the company switched to VoIP gear I remember some minor fiddling was needed before faxing resumed (around 2008)?
At the same company, I ended up maintaining the old PBX too.
A Lucent Legend may seem primitive now but at one time I thought they were really "cool" and they were used by many companies.
I'm having an attack of have fond memories right now.
I was exposed to a lot of tech during the 80's and 90's like CAD, CNC's, Stereolithography, PLC's, assembly robots, etc...
Their attraction was irresistible for me.
Maybe I'm just too old now but I'm just not as enthusiastic about some of the newer trends.
I've especially lukewarm on smartphones, tablets and IoT.
I wonder about a site I still support a remotely too. What will happen when/if I ever retire (which is sounding better all the time). In the past I've trained their people to act as backups but due to turnover those have all left and current management doesn't seem interested in retraining anyone. What I do for them is not rocket science but... those systems do run the business, their attitude seems a little reckless to me. Once a year I still try to bring up the subjects of training and upgrading, so far there has been no interest. There are definitely 3rd parties out there that they could find if needed but, since this site hasn't kept versions current, a lot of techs won't be familiar with the old stuff anymore.
Where I used to work, they started replacing discrete controls/switches with touch screens around 1998. Management liked that this would reduce cost and save console space.
Operators were cool to the idea from the start.
To managements credit, they did listen to operators before deploying changes. As a result, traditional controls were retained for many of the functions that users requested.
I think most of engineering went along with touch screens since we all liked the new toys at first.
But not so much after we had logged enough hours dealing with technical problems in the field.
Emoji's can be a little too cute once I reached a certain age
( I think it was about the same time that farting contests at the workplace went out of fashion).
I've wondered what might come next, especially when/if user input really evolves beyond simple keypads?
I've even imagined a visual, syllabic system for English, like the Japanese kana.
I find the Japanese writing some of the most visually interesting and have started to appreciate a little bit about the more playful combinations & meanings.
How about something totally new for young and old morons alike, whether they are flirting or simply communicating?
On a much smaller scale but I did shut down the wrong database application server once. There was a treeview where you'd select an instance to control with start/stop icons located on the main menu bar. I didn't notice the focus had shifted from test to live before I clicked that stop icon. Almost immediately, I heard a wave of groans rise and pass thru the entire building. If I remember nobody really asked what had gone wrong and after about fifteen minutes I was actually a hero for getting things back up and running.
That old application server is still running today, the only difference now is that I double (or even triple) check status before I click on anything.
Sadly, I don't think that there are many tigers who have really changed their stripes.
If someone really has "turned" I'd be grateful if they would work on my behalf.
I'm not aware of modern examples but.. I'm sure there are some around. Any names to share?
From US history, Franklin Roosevelt comes to my mind.
At least I was taught that his own social class felt betrayed by him.
Intimate knowledge their systems & practices resulted in his political effectiveness.
But....I'm sure not everyone was taught this same history.
One of my responsibilities at a site, I would do the programming of variable frequency drive replacement units before shipping to customers.
This involved pulling the case, hooking up the 3-phase power, switching the unit on and finally sending a small configuration file from a laptop.
On one occasion a VFD unit was on the floor of the shipping dept while I was standing, looking down at it as I switched on the power.
I noticed a red LED had lit up that had never happened before.
Wondering what that could be, I turned around to switch off the power.
There was a loud bang just before I was able to break the connection.
When I tuned back around I saw a mushroom cloud where my head had been just a few seconds earlier.
I could see that 3 large capacitors had been vaporized.
As it turns out, a 220V VFD unit had been stocked in a 440V box.
Lucky my head is still in tact (mostly) and learned a valuable lesson for me.
I've never assumed a component size from it's packaging/description ever again.
>>Lost.... Classic Theme Restorer
Recovered!!! https://github.com/Aris-t2/ClassicThemeRestorer/releases/tag/1.7.7.3
I'm a little embarrassed to find unwanted changes driving me crazy like this.
I'm usually laughing right along with fellow developers in making fun of the users complaining about "trivial" UI changes that were pushed out.
I was already (pretty) sure that Quantum is not in my future, this latest episode just confirms my feelings.
In the meantime I've been hanging on to Firefox 56 here - while I look for a more permanent browser solution.
At least I was able to reinstall Adblock Plus since "the disabling"
But.... it looks like I've finally lost my layout forever, I have not found a way to recover the Classic Theme Restorer
It is these little things I find alarming about "my" software.
Where I'd want a person to announce themselves before entering my home and "improving" it?
It is getting more routine to see programs changing without any action on a users part.
Where I once had a blind love for all software... now I mostly see disturbing trends in Windows, Quantum, Chrome, etc...
>> attention to the actions of governments that are illegal
>> not in the best interests of those they...represent
>>WikiLeaks has changed the World
I'd like to agree with you but I think it's still too early to say.
I've heard enough arguments to believe that WikiLeaks was leveraged by foreign agents at some point - knowingly or not?
I only know that I don't know... if Julian is an answer or a problem.
And that "Yellow" Journalism seems to be overtaking all of us.
>>CRTs
Yes, I often saw users end up with corrupt floppies due to them being laid on the top of their monitors.
I remember some of our early 21" color monitors even had a degauss button.
When working in the engineering department it was nice to have a lot of real estate but by the end of day...I'd often feel irradiated.
>> ... either a government stooge or an imbecile.
Also my first impulse when someone disagrees with me.
Unfortunately I can be wrong as often as not.
As far as Mr. Assange, I just don't know what to believe. At one extreme I have the image of an essential whistle-blower who has had his character assassinated. Detractors would have me believe in a boorish, entitled, narcissistic, borderline psychopath who simply enjoys causing trouble for others?
I doubt we'll ever know the truth in my lifetime.
One thing I feel sure of is that Julian Assange in no Abbie Hoffman.
I really wonder how the Merry Pranksters might have run a Wikileaks.
Even though they were troublemaker who enjoyed tormenting the US government, I thought there was something to admire in their humor.
While working in tech support, I used to handle the mice, keyboards and phones of others.
This resulted in me catching a lot of bugs over the years.
I get irritated now when see someone that is sick in a public space, and I'm bewildered by people who are not getting vaccinated. I'm sure there are a few people valid reasons out there but my opinion usually defaults to "they are a menace to society".
>> ISO 9001 means that you do what you say.
Floppy drives and ISO remind me of the same the 1980s.
I remember there being a build libraries for company processes.
The goals were to improve efficiency and consistency by reducing the reliance of employees on their memories.
That site received ISO certification, all employees use computers and they are still manufacturing capital equipment today. I'm just not sure the changes led to the production of more/better products.
One thing I notice today is that fewer employees seem to have good memories. (and those that do have good memories don't seem nearly as valuable as they once were).
In the early 70s I visited MOMA in New York.
One exhibit was a large wooden table with indentations for placing your elbows. Once in position, covering your ears with hands would reveal the music via you bones.
I remember another exhibit of a black painting by Ad Reinhardt. If you looked at it long enough, a smaller black square, slightly different value would slowly reveal itself.
Amazing "stuff" for young teenager from the U.S. Midwest to see & hear for the first time.
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