Posts by Peter Simpson 1

Re: Lost power probably...

"...why arent they fitted with some sort of built in auxiliary power (barrel solar arrays or built in generator)?"

The one down the road from me has three (or four?) providers on it. Each one has a generator and an associated large underground propane tank. Of course, that tank only lasts a certain number of hours...and refueling it when there are downed trees across the road is...problematic. Wind generators, solar panels, etc don't produce enough steady power to run the site, and would require large batter banks.

All of which is why I still have a land line :-)

Re: Am I the only one that

No, you're not.

Though I always see one of these:

http://www.ozcamera.com/photo%2030/3038.JPG

I had one as a teen...worked well

Re: Microsoft going for the Apple lock-in.

"Once you buy Metro apps, then you will be locked in Microsoft in a way that make Microsoft marketing men jump about in excitement. It no longer matters how shit Windows Phone is, you will buy it, because you bought aload of Metro apps...."

Until, in typical Microsoft style (Zune, Plays for Sure, Kin1 and 2), they go off on another tangent, leaving you and your Metro apps in the dust.

Re: I took the (extreme) cure

Been there, done that, when we moved my M-I-L into a nursing home.

TWO 30 cu yd dumpsters.

//this may be of use to someone, somewhere

//but not me and not now, so it goes in the dumpster

//powerful motivation for me...

Only choice

Randy Rhino

Re: What about Apple?

He does have a receipt from Apple for the machine, right?

Go to the store, ask to see the manager, tell him you're not leaving until you get a written notice from him giving the date you can pick up your machine. No written notice, you're not leaving. Tell him he can call whoever he has to.

If no notice received by closing time, write to Tim Cook in Cupertino, giving the details and the manager's name, and mention he'll be going to the press in 3 weeks if he doesn't hear anything. Betcha he'll get a nice shiny new MacBook and an apology within 3 weeks.

Re: carriers being lazy^H^H^H^Hgreedy

And that is exactly what I suspect is happening. The carriers are accepting something under the table, and supplying an internet gateway for SMS spam.

Here in the US, they seem to have moved on to autodialler spam with spoofed caller ID, sent through several layers of obfuscation: an out-of-country autodialler which plays a recorded pitch, then (sometimes -- very unreliably) passes you to a call center located who knows where, which then takes your information and passes it on to some local "franchisee". It's all a scam of course, I don't believe it really is ADT offering me a discount alarm system -- all they want is my credit card number and my address. But there's a lot of money involved -- I get several of these calls a week -- different recorded sales pitches from the same autodialler number. They're running non-stop and it's been many months now.

Re: Imperial Units are god's law.

[Bill Cosby]

Riiiiight! What's a cubit?

[/Bill Cosby]

//metric for me, please...is 25/64" bigger or smaller than 3/4"?

Re: Re Article.....

You sound bitter...

60 years later

And I *still* don't have my flying car. I blame the Jetsons for this.

Tiles?

WTF is with the tiles on a workstation? I can understand why they might be useful on a tablet, but you'd expect MS to acknowledge that they are not a good fit on an office desktop. Perhaps they could even detect the type of hardware the OS is running on and intelligently configure the default UI accordingly?

IF I am ever forced to use Windows 8 on my desktop at work, the first thing I will do is disable the tiles and go back to the traditional desktop. I agree with Allen that the bimodal UI is confusing, and the hidden gestures required to move between the modes go against everything I was taught about UI design -- mode switching controls should be visible and obvious.

//evaluating Win8 in a VM right now.

Re: Fuck you Microsoft

Having worked for companies that hire H1Bs, I agree with you. All one needs to do is to read the job descriptions (which must by law be posted..though usually in the basement, behind a locked door in a disused closet with a sign saying "beware of leopard"). Requirements like Masters degree with 7 years experience and overly specific expertise...for $40K/yr!

No wonder they can't find any "qualified" citizens willing to take the job.

Does anybody ever get sacked for being just plain shit at their jobs these days?

No.

//Evidence is right in front of you, so to speak.

Re: Ironic...

This is only about prohibiting *sex* for money. Getting paid for passing legislation is still fine.

//large bills in every pocket

Re: Blue US Robotics Sportster....

Omnitec 701

It didn't have any way to tell if a handset was present, so if you whistled at the correct frequency...it would whisle back (and the attached Teletype would, of course, go nuts).

//matey!

Forgot the last one....

doesn't move and isn't supposed to: paint it!

//good job, those men!

A better question

Does it have a subwoofer?

SysAdmin Day

Mine are getting a fruit basket (although they deserve a trip to the pub and the rest of the day off)

How ridiculously sexist!

You must be a "glass half empty" kinda guy.

//RIP, Dr. Ride

Re: Paris Culture

Well, at least he can be glad he wasn't treated the same way she was...

Re: I don't understand

- function has plateaued, so MS can only change form

- market is almost saturated, so MS need to sell something "new" to maintain profit numbers

- people won't upgrade voluntarily, so MS makes a new, incompatible file format the default and forces them to

Three signs of a company whose time is running out.

Re: Where is it then?

http://www.thenma.org.uk/news-centre/news-releases/general/the-prince-of-wales-attends-memorial-dedications-at-the-arboretum/

Small gains in productivity in the office

Such as those created by changing your entire UI (learned by your entire customer base over many years) for something completely different?

Then claiming your new "ribbon" is somehow better?

Perhaps you could explain to those of us still trying to find functions on the ribbon how it makes us more efficient compared to using the old menu system we knew and loved. At least tell us how to say "no, thanks" and continue using the old menu system...

Re: Having not seen this, the poster has made me curious...

check the cover text carefuly...it says "DRAMA"...she must be it.