Posts by Trygve Henriksen
410 posts • joined Wednesday 4th July 2007 12:30 GMT
horned helmets?
That only exists in old German operas...
No viking would be daft enough to go into battle with something like that stuck on their helmets.
Not only would they catch on everything(low branches in the woods, low ceilings, doorframes), but they'd also guide an otherwise harmless glancing blow directly to the temple...
Posted in Ten ancestors of the netbook
Re: TRS-80 ?.
The TRS-80 Model 100 wasn't a netbook, it was a Laptop/noteBook precursor.
Posted in Ten ancestors of the netbook
Got 9(8) out of 10...
Don't have the second on the list, and my Psion MC is the 400, not the 200.
My Toshiba has a dud screen or driver(stripy display), but otherwise they all work.
My Eee701 runs eCs, barely.
The MC400 is a good all-day word processor.
(Nothing comes close to the battery life of a MC400 loaded with 8 x AA alkalines)
Great keyboard, too.
What about the Olivetti Quaderno PT-XT-20 ?
Not PSOD...
It's a DALEK
Deuterium ALuminium Electro-Kinetic drive...
We may need to call the Doctor about the weird noises coming from the control systems...
Re: GPIB?!?! AHHHHHHHH!!!!
Stop wasting your (and the company's) time and money.
If the equipment has a serial port(they can be implemented even easier than GPIB) you can go directly to a Serial-to-Ethernet adapter.
Oh, and all the GPIB equipment you now no longer need can be sent to me... ;-)
No Allen keys?
B - but...
You can't have flat-pack without an allen key in the package!
Re: compared to 3d printers?
It doesn't seem to be for 'serious' work. It's for 'fun'...
I was among the first 50 to chip in, and nw they're passed 200 and the halfway point already, so financing at least seems to be orking out.
As for fabrication, if you read a bit on their website, you'll find that they have prior experience with pushing product through fabrication.
Whether or not they manage to keep the promised delivery or 'September 2013', remains to be seen, though.
(If so, I know of someone who would love to get one as an Xmas present)
Re: "....make the act of attaching a camera to a flying machine illegal."
That Silverlit is junk.
Get one of their BT or 2.4GHz models instead. Some of those can handle calm outdoors...
Mine's the one with his in the pocket: http://www.silverlit.com/toy/heli-cube
6.25TB compressed?
Who the F! cares about the 'compressed capacity'?
I have to back up a large library of pictures(creeping towards 10TB), and I challenge anyone to get a 2:1 compression(or whatever imaginary ratio that the storage manufacturer has dreamt up while smoking his socks) on that...
I NEED to know the real capacity when planning a new tape library setup, so that I can get a big enough robot and also have enough tapes available for vaulting/offsite rotation.
@Chika
No, Peter Storm was a bit off the mark there.
Anyway, Mercedes seems to think PSA knows something about engines at least, and the 'Prince' engines(used in some A-series, Cooper-S and whatnot) is built in France... ;-)
@phear46
I've been driving French cars since 1990...
First my mother's old Citroën GS, then I bought a used Citroën CX which lasted me many years(until my shoddy servicing killed the engine).
The BX which replaced it had a slight fault. Seems it can't take being backed over by a 6WD dump-truck.
My first Berlingo was killed in a parking lot because of a SUV with clueless owner.
My second Berlingo... Well... the sunroof(ragtop type) doesn't work... yet...
(All my cars have been bought secondhand. )
There's no problem keeping French cars running, as long as you show them the same attention as you should your wife. If you don't.. (if you skip servicing...) you suffer endless agony...
Re: Rigid airships
The Hindenburg was filled with Hydrogen, not Helium.
Of course, with the amount of gas needed in a normal HDD I'd be more worried about the possibility of the Li-ion battery being manufactured by Sony...
Citroën Hydraulics
At least on the Citroëns I drove with hydraulics, there was a separate 'high pressure reservoir' for the brakes.
This meant that you still had braking power enough to stop if something happened to the pump.
I've never heard of a system failure that takes out he brakes at the same time as the rest, unless it was the braking system itself that was faulty.
(I've had a few faults; height adjuster on the GS, rotten squid on the CX and BX, worn out column on the BX. Old cars and lots of mileage. Nothing that caused any danger. )
Most Citroëns with Hydraulics have the handbrake working on the front wheels, and it's STRONG!
This is a quote from 'Autocar' in 1978 about the handbrake on the CX
---
The remarkably effective handbrake operates on the front wheels. It managed an almost unbeatable 0.42g deceleration and easily held the CX Pallas C-Matic on a 1 in 3 slope, from which a restart could be made with contemptuous ease.
---
I can attest to the GS not being a slouch, either.
In fact, even with a full hydraulics failure, it's possible to DRIVE(slowly) these cars to the workshop for repairs.
(Assuming that you can turn the wheel and the road's not too bumpy)
Posted in LOHAN premieres intimate REHAB vid
Re: So you've lost one playmonaut...
Actually, I don't think NASA has ever lost a Playmonaut...
Astronauts, though... about 1 ever 60 launches?
Flames, well... just because... 'Up on a flame, down in pieces'
Re: > perhaps he should just ride a bike
Unless those motorcyles also uses Li-ion batteries?
I know my bicycle has one...
(4Kg of aluminium-encapsulated Li-Ion batteries to help give me a boost uphill... )
Coat because I won't be caught dead in 'bike clothes'...
Re: “tiny, aggressive planet”
That's because the only report they got was from those who visited England...
The editor visiting Japan had the fish.
The one who visited Australia was attacked by sheep...
The one who visited Germany only sent one word back - Octoberfest - and no one really understood what he meant.
The one who ended up in Las Vegas had a bit of a problem with the dice and had to hock his equipment...
And we all know what happened to the unlucky being who ended up in the Sauna World Championship in Finland...
Towel in hand, book in pocket. Got any peanuts?
Re: Why buy the CD?
Because we like to have a physical proof that we're entitled to play the music?
Because we want to be able to let whoever inherits our stuff to also be able to legally play it?
Because we don't want to be the victim of yet another online service shutdown?
Mine's the coat with the 2TB drive in the pocket...
Remember Robotech?
What struck me as strange when I first saw it back in 1988 (yes, it was aired first time in 1985, but then I didn't have access to sattelite) was the total absence of 'personal wireless comms'.
No cell-phones of any sort, no walkie-talkies...
They used ship-wide PA to page people and had phone booths at different places around the ship.
Back then my father used a NMT-450 mobile(more like luggable), and I walked around with a Motorola walkie-talkie/cell-phone cross of some sort.
Even worse; trying to change email...
Several of the stores I shop at still send me offers on my old address, and trying to remove it from the mailing list fails as it's no longer associated with an account...
(Yes, they also send me offers on my new address... )
Posted in Help-desk hell
Even floppier...
I once had a call from a user where the 3.5" drive "wasn't working"...
The diskette had gotten stuck in the drive, and since she was in a hurry, she had just yanked it out.
And yes, the sliding dust cover and a little spring stayed in the drive)
So... 1 Hour drive to location, pull drive from PC, dismantle and remove the parts. Reassemble and reinstall...
Asked the user why she was in such a hurry...
1 Hour return drive while swearing loudly...
She was 'backing up' her files... Files that were stored on her personal share on the fileserver in the next room... The one she had the job of swapping tapes in every morning...
(Tandberg SLR 1.3GB, I think. The ones that never ever failed... )
Re: Nothing too wrong with the security of the code
Actually, the mistake they did that allowed the Bletchley park people to crack the messages was the header of each message.
In that header they had the 'offset' of the 'daily settings'. (They started each message using the listed daily settings, but the first symbols told the operator which adjustments he needed to do to decode the rest of the message)
The problem was that not only was this 'offset' at the same place and had the same length every time, but they(being German and 'perfectionists') sent the offset code TWICE, back to back.
If a random 'brute force' attempt gave two identical text strings at that location in the message, you knew you had it right. No need to brute the entire message in the hope of seeing cleartext.
It was actually Polish military intelligence who spotted the mistake, but they didn't have the time to exploit it, so they passed everything on to the French who didn't really know what to do with it and sent it on to England.
Re: more holes in it
It's Jarlsberg, not Jarlsberger.
Also, that cheese(my favorite if anyone wonders) is known for its 'nutty' flavour and few but large holes. The holes also tends to have a small 'tear' in them.
Now, the size of the holes may be reminiscent of Windows, but there's way too few of them to be a valid comparison...
Sometimes, it seems HP is willing to replace it if you have a good story to tell...
Most likely, they just want it for dissection if it's a damage type they've never seen or anticipated.
Also, if it's a company, not a private person, they're more willing to replace in order to keep the customer coming back for more.
Re: Anyone else..?
Washing an Apple keyboard can't be that difficult?
Looks to me like it uses a similar system as HP laptops, and they can be dismantled, if you're patient enough...
Now, if you want difficult, you should try rescuing the keyboard on a Psion netBook after a whole lot of very sugary tea ended up in it.
THAT was a pain in the seating arraignment...
I ended up having to separate the layers and wash them by themselves. And no, it's not built to be taken apart again...
Re: F***ing brilliant
And when the lazy fuck who couldn't use a different password than his username has his account hacked, and the payroll database gets thrashed... what then?
The NO EXCEPTIONS rule is to stop 'little concessions' from blowing up and wrrecking the day for everyone else!
FYI; in my organisation we have 6000 employees, 200 locations, 8000 PCs and 350+ different applications. Letting someone 'update Java on their PC so that they can access their online bank' is likely to break quite a few of them. The 'classic' Hotbar IE addon broke one, (not my fault that we use IE. ) We have a ginormous fileshare with areas locked down by groups. Before we got THAT thing sorted, we often had to restore because a clumsy user stumbled upon something he shouldn't(such as the Delete key), now they only manage to ruin the day for the grest of their group.
Re: Hmm...
Many of the projects are for small-scale production runs.
Then it becomes a nice way of handling preorders.
One I'm 'preordering' is the P112 Single Board Computer.
http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/2057605091/p112-single-board-computer-kit
Which probably won't succeed...
I'll be buying the iPad Mini...
The Kindle Fire?
I would have considered it instead except that Amazon doesn't want my money.
Re: VERY significant
*Sigh*
There was no 'big bang' at the beginning.
First there was the counting...
"one, two, three, four..."
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Religions_of_the_Discworld#The_Listening_Monks
Re: quad-core?
Quad is nice when converting movie formats...
I spent a couple of months ripping DVDs to create .MKV files which I then Handbraked into .MP4 / .M4V files.
The job doesn't require any extreme graphics cards, but whatever CPU-resources you have really comes in handy...
Used 4 DVD-drives (Internal, 2 x USB, and and old IDE-based internal model hooked up via the gutted remains of a FireWire-based HDD case) to rip.
My 2005 Mini is 'slightly updated' with 2GB RAM, 80GB SSD, 2.16GHz Core2Duo CPU...
(Used my Iomega MiniMax 1TB for temporary storage and sent the final files to my NAS)
Re: My hoard
Hah!
Windows 1.03 on 5.25" floppies...
OS/2 1.3 (together with Lan Manager 2.2. Probably not that uncommon package back in the 90s?)
Want some '9chip' 256KB SIMs? Or the box of 1Meg 100nS SIMs tested to work in Olivetti M380 desktops?
(Yes, I have the dip-switch configuration sheet needed. )
How can you get a 'click of death' in a Zip disk? I thought it was only the drive that got that fault?
Want a couple of 'Bus mouse' rodents for your collection?
(Came from the Olivetti M380 machines at the office)
I kept a shopping-bag full of them because the plug at he end is the same as Psion used on the serial port on the MC400 laptop and later the Soap-on-a-rope serial adapter for the S3/S3a and the docking cradle for the Workabout.
The video adapter... Yeah, that one was a bit of an annoyance... Until I found one on eBay...
Probably shouldn't mention the Orange card in my SS 5... Yeah, a PC emulator card.
One day I'll get one of my SUNs to boot. (Crapped out drives)
The picture is a bit of a trap... Theres a couple of items that aren't what they look to be.
Bonus points to those who recognise the small figurine at the top shelf...
Not impressed...
Of course, my attic contains 3 crates full of cabling, a lot of different tape devices, and almost complete Iomega collection(internal and externals of different size and ports), a Jaz, Clik! and lots of accessories. Even a bunch of Bernoully disks, but not the drive...
There's 'big iron' corner, where the SUN SparcStation 5 and the UltraSparc 5 is stacked together with the SGI Indigo 2. There's a portable based on the SUN... An old HP 16bit workstation from the 80s...
Home computers occupy another area... Oric 1, Commodores, Sinclairs (ZX-81, ZX Spectrum 48 and 128+2, QL and 3 Cambridge Z88), Ataris, Amigas... Even a BBC B.
Games consoles. No Xbox, but I have a Nintendo VirtualBoy and an Atmark Pippin among the 20 or so stored there.
Portables... Dear God, I'm afraid to go into that corner...
PDAs in boxes, in crates, in heaps...
I even have a few different versions of the Canon BJ10sx inkjet printer with different manufacturers' logo on them...
How many can name all the consoles on this picture:
http://anthony-lion.livejournal.com/pics/catalog/2561/10006
Actually, I have seen and fixed a computer where a jumper had come loose on the HDD. Of course, the cable was loose, too...
That computer was a custom 'industrial' PC from the 90s, with a chassis of 2mm steel plating, front bezel made of CNC-worked aluminium and a rubber-keyed keyboard. Cards and cables inside was fastened down with zip-ties...
It was used on a mobile drilling rig to measure and interpret vibrations to map the rock layers.
Not exactly the type of PC that you'd expect to hand over to any 'PC fixup' centre in town.
(Later that computer got a FLASH drive instead of a HDD, and every connector and jumper was covered in clear silicone)
Posted in BOFH: Uninterruptible patsy supply
Thursday/Friday...
The clock is probably a mains-powered one, that also gets the timing from the AC. And the UPS is set to deliver 60Hz instead of 50Hz... Makes the days really fly past...
Re: Think of the Children!
Don't forget any FM radios around the house, too.
Many 'leak' 500KHz from one of the early stages.
Same with TVs. That's how broadcasters can tell how many different TVs there are in a building when they're doing a raid, looking for people watching TV without a license...
(In those parts of the world where broadcast is still (partially) financed by licensing)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iaVMO4t_D8c
Re: Inquiring minds...
What?
Actually expose a sensitive person for unhealthy radiation, even for a short while?
Nope. I have never seen an actual double-blind test done. I know that a lot of people have offered to organise one, but so far, no one with the 'sensitivity problem' has been willing to participate.
Re: Spaceballs
Yep.
Who cares if you can get to lightspeed.
Unless it goes all the way to Plaid, it's nothing!
May the Schwartz be with you!
This may come as a surprise to you, but...
The nearest planets are a bit closer than that...
(Not a clue as to where the closest habitable planet is, though)
And the nearest other star is 4 lightyears away, not 1000.
The 20 workable lifetimes doesn't work out, either.
(This assumes that the next generation is just ready to take over when the previous is dead or too decrepit to work any longer)
You need to calculate in generations, which used to be anything from 15 to 20 years but are now probably closer to 25 in European countries.
Re: Pissed off owner
Park it under a 'no parking' sign.
Someone will then come around and put a nice, yellow security device on one of your front wheels.
Sure, it costs a bit to remove the device any time you want to take it for a spin, but if you can afford a £60.000 car, I figure you can afford it...
Posted in Laptop innovator Moggridge dies aged 69
Re: First "Clamshell" Laptop?
That was a joke, right?
The Mac Portable didn't arrive until 1989.
Mine's the one with a very, very large pocket...
Posted in Laptop innovator Moggridge dies aged 69
Re: TI-700
Not only did you miss the point in the article, that it was the first CLAMSHELL computer, but you're wrong about the TI-700, also.
It was the Epson HX-20 that was the first laptop computer.
Or possibly the Casio FP-200, though it was labelled a 'Handheld computer'
Re: Don't be silly...
You mean, like in a million-to-one chance?
I think it has been proven that those luck out 9 times out of 10...
Posted in Researchers reveal radical RAID rethink
Re: RAID != inexpensive
Yes, I = Inexpensive.
That is, compared to the alternative...
The first RAID I set up was a RAID5 of 5 x 1.3GB SCSI drives.
(I guess that pretty much dates me...)
you really don't want to know what a single HDD of that capacity would have cost, if it was even available...
Re: Mupped doing maintenance...
Nothing can protect you against 'Acts of Dead Meat', unfortunately...
(Well, mirroring the array to another similar box in another location might... )
Full backups are important. They really are.
If for nothing else, they're really handy for off-site storage...
(To protect against flooding, fire, sabotage, theft... )
Re: This is CRAP!
Error logs from array systems are there for a reason, which many unfortunately never bother to read.
With a 'new' system, that should be checked DAILY.
Automated emails from the system?
Sure, but I wouldn't trust them. Too many systems between the originator and me.
(sucks if the email warning of a problem with a RAID gets lost because the email storage is on the glitching array... Or, someone changes the IP of the SMTP server and the array box doesn't understand DNS. )
This is CRAP!
Any server system with a smidgeon of professionality built into it will warn you when a drive becomes borderline.
Having 3 fail in one RAID6 array is... mindboggling...
Exactly how many drives do they have in each array, anyway?
Restoring old site backups to get the VMs up faster?
This is CRAP!
I'm guessing that what they brought back is the LAST FULL BACKUP of the failed array, and that they're now busy restoring Differential or Incrementals from after that.*
They should at least have the brains to keep the systems offline until they've restored everything, as it may otherwise result in lost orders and whatnot.
(What if someone browses to a webshop on one of those sites, orders something using a CC and they then restore over the transaction details? )
* Cheap bastards probably used incremental backups, too, instead of Differential, to save money...
Re: You an't seen nothing yet.
The bullet itself may be a bit difficult to produce, but if we assume a 'caseless cartridge' design, it should be possible to manufacture the completed cartridge 'at home'.
You'll need a mold where you place the bullet in the bottom, then cast the charge in the mold, and when that dries, you 'paint on' the ignition charge.
Gunpowder is an old and not very good charge, but it can be manufactured at home, and incidentally, there's a liquid stage in the manufacturing process.
Now, assuming that we're talking about a 'single use' weapon(say, something like a Derringer), it might be feasible to print the weapon out of plastic, cast the charge in place and have a working gun.
(you probably have to add a metal firing pin. Maybe a small nail of some sort. and you'd also have to drill out the barrel after printing.)
Or you could have a handgrip(with trigger mechanism) and replaceable barrels?
The only part I can see a problem with is the initiating charge.
(If you can accept the firing delay, it might be an idea to look at how matches are made?)
Re: Metalwork class
You're right about the Sten gun.
It was even manufactured in bicycle repairshops in Oslo during WWII, and the Germans were none the wiser.
Posted in Job ad seeks 'mediocre' developers
Re: Coffee?
Eh...
I'm from Norway.
People get killed here every year when rafting. Mostly these are forreigners trying to navigate some of our rivers 'unassisted' by local guides, but they usually have some experience.
I have no practical rafting experience and I'm a poor swimmer.
(I did learn to handle a rowboat before I learned to ride a bicycle, though, and often head out on the ocean with my kayak. But whitewater? No friggin way!)
Mountains...
My main exercise is hiking in the mountains, and I visited two mountaintops(at 520 and 600MOH respectively) on sunday, which should explain why I have trouble walking today...
(Stretching out? why?)
But actual climbing? No...
Most mountaintops can be reached without ropes, crampons and what looks like badly made S&M kit...
My biggest concern about Paintballing is that such an exercise would be that there would a large bunch of people at one time with no clue as to safety procedures, and far too few instructors to handle it correctly.
Knowing the dorks that organise 'events' at my office, they probably wouldn't even remember to warn people to bring old clothes that it wouldn't matter if gets ruined...
The same suckers often have wine bottles as prizes on these events.
Most of these gigs have been 'overnighters'; arrive in morning, shop talk through the day, 'teambuilding' the afternoon/evening, dinner... Crash in hotelbed, late breakfast... even more shop talk through the day, late flight home... (So I and many others pack compact, only a carry-on.) With the prizes handed out at the end of the event, there's no way of getting rid of them properly...
(Did I mention that I don't drink?)
Posted in Job ad seeks 'mediocre' developers
Coffee?
Guess that rules me out, then...
*Takes a sip of his pint-sized teacup*
'Team weeks' probably means huggy-feely exercises, 'team sports'(Usually Paintball), 'characterbuilding exercises'(rafting or mountainclimbing) and other crap.
I don't like being shot at(And aren't allowed to bring a H&K G3 to shoot back), I understand the dangers of rafting and won't have anything to do with it, mountainclimbing is completely out as I'd probably vomit on the poor bloke below me...
And I'm afraid that I've become allergic to the huggy-feely stuff as I always break out in sarcasm whenever I encounter it.
