Posts by Terry 6

Re: Stick it up your USB!

Well yes. We've all said stuff like that here before. As for at home, main house computer has 3 HDDs. One is just for Macrium Reflect disk images. One has backups of the data partitions that contains family photos and documents.

And the laptops all backup across network to that too.

Which in turn backs up to an external HDD that I swap from time to time.

And yes, I also back some stuff up to various free "cloud" drives. Just in case.

And I store stuff away from home too.

Because "Just in case" is bound to happen - especially if you don't.

These days they're online of course. And in a database format so that you can't just work through it. And IT NEVER FUCKING TELLS YOU ABOUT THE THINGS YOU NEED TO KNOW!

These days, in my retirement, I invigilate exams.

And a lot of kids use PCs.

And we tell them at the start, before the exam clock starts to save using a header with their name and subject. And keep saving. And I have signs up saying KEEP SAVING . And then I spend the next 2 or 3 hours checking and reminding. And some of the kids still don't fucking save their precious work.

Re: The user is right

That was actually what I did. For about 25 years. And for other teams too.

But when I started in education there was no IT support. We had to do it ourselves. I used to run training for school heads and deputies on how to save to and copy floppy discs and so on.. (No HDDs then).

And the so called experts that came along to deliver any new piece of tech were just con men with shiny bits of kit.

They'd say "Oh yes, this device/programme is easy to use, You won't need training, it's dead straight forward". etc etc.

No it fucking wasn't. Ever!

That's my dream. Not the TV but the car radio. In the car. Arrive at destination Turn car off, do business, return to car, turn car on, radio resumes from where I left off.

Technology never lives up to wishes.

I had a colleague ( not in my IT part f the work) who could not bare to see anything thrown out. Anything.

On our annual clear out we'd have a skip. My rules were; If you couldn't have found it when you needed it* there was no point keeping it and, If in doubt, chuck it out.

As quickly as I put stuff in the skip she'd be taking it out again. It became a kind of disposal arms race.

*I'd ask her, "Did you even know we had this?" or "Did you have any ideas where it was?".

The answer was invariably, "No, but..."

Re: hang on a moment...

Any one in any circumstances who simply and repeatedly ignores a "do you want to do this sensible and safe thing?" message is responsible. Choosing "no" is a deliberate act.

Re: "The router went dark"

And I used it to make sure that the totals for number of clients recorded as seen=total for all staff members records= total male+female=total for each location=total of all ethnic categories. Because it never did otherwise. Not once ever.

The trick was to find two that did match and adjust the others proportionately.

Re: "smart home product manufacturing 101"

Security ? They've heard of it.

Err? Maybe not.

Re: " wine has no affect on "

There was discussion sometime list week about the variations of your/you're vanishing (because of idiots who don't know the difference between you have (your) and you are (you're).

I can't countenance that horror.

But maybe the affect/effect business can go. Because they are so contradictory and confusing.

Affect -[ noun ] feelings or emotions [ verb] to produce an effect

Effect [noun] the result of an action or various related meanings [verb ] to make something happen, i.e. produce a result or effect.

And frankly, since " it does my head in" and I'm used to that sort of stuff, it's madness to impose it on folks just going about their daily business.

Re: AVG FREE ANTIVIRUS, I AM LOOKING AT YOU.

For my late mother I had Teamviewer installed. And an icon on her screen that just said "HELP".

And I did the rest.

Re: think of the children!

Some bricks and mortar supermarkets do an equivalent trick. particularly with kids' toys. They'll have a display of some range that's attractive to kids. With SALE plastered over it. But the items the kids really want will be full price, and some junky stuff next to it will be reduced.

That Curry's con goes back a long way. In my youth I had a decent little camera. My dad borrowed it and it got broken so he gave me the money for a new one. I went back to Dixon's and the exact same (apparently) camera was now rebadged as an own brand. (It was a long time ago. We were more innocent then).

It never worked right. The film didn't wind on properly for a start, so the pictures overlapped..

After I'd given up on it and bought a better one I took it apart.

They'd replaced the original metal toothed wheels with plastic ones. That the film just slipped over. Every part that they could they could make cheaper and nastier they had. It wasn't sold any cheaper btw.

Re: think of the children!

John Brown (no body)

Oh yes. The fake sale made legal by a tiny notice that says "Sold at the higher price between 26 December and 1st January at our stores in Lower Shitting, North Dumping and Arsehole Central".

Re: The technology is somewhat hit and miss

Locally ( North London) my car's built-in Honda satnav is set to quickest route. It still thinks that travelling away from my destination till I get to the North Circular Rd.at one of it's slowest pinch points is quicker than the short hop in the right direction that either ignores the NCR and goes via normal A roads or gets on to the NCR further along after the slow moving traffic. 10+ minutes quicker at least.

Re: Am I the only one who loves it?

Daughter works for NHS and is often out and about working in schools and early learning centres. She can come home to do her admin, write reports etc., which means not having to waste time driving back to a crowded office ( not enough space if they're all in) or battle the rush hour traffic at end of day, which takes three times as long and uses much more fuel.

She gets to sit in comfort, listen to music if she wants, receive deliveries even. It's just a win for all.

That being said, I could also have worked from home, when I was working in an education department. But the managers wouldn't allow it, because they didn't trust us to do our work. Highly skilled and motivated professionals, but they couldn't trust us. As if we could magically have failed to write our assessment reports and do our admin without it being noticed instantly*. F'ing idiots!

*Or at least, no more likely than as we could have while being in the office pretending to work!

Re: If ever you wondered...

No. Most of them are earning money like anyone else.

More like "those who want the power of controlling how the money is spent... " haven't a clue about what the job entails, but listen to favoured lobbyists and assorted carrion crows who want to skim billions off the top.

Re: We had one recently . .

Users can be task focussed. If the bit they need isn't working nothing's working.

It also runs the other way too. "The internet/email isn't working." when the whole bloody machine is dead.

I suspect that one of the reasons why rechargeable batteries aren't used more is that the sodding things never have a charge when you need to start using them.

Re: The lengths you have to go to...

Somewhere in my past I worked where the C: was locked away from the file manager. But WORD would let me navigate to it perfectly easily.

Re: I'm boring

I'm with you half the way Lee D.

I can't bear a screen full of icons. (Nor a start menu) but a nice picture in the background is something I do like.

Re: Shouty men...

1.) I don't drive unreasonably slowly ( especially on motorways - this is anyway mostly an issue on normal roads)

2) There is no specific law against driving cautiously and slowly in the UK, so as long as it's within reason..

3) I don't impede traffic, I just drive slower than I was when the bully came up behind me. Reasonably, carefully and considerately,within the speed limit, not at stupidly slow speeds and this is fully legal

4) Since I don't drive slowly anyone doing this is being deliberately aggressive

5) I don't give in to bullies- ever.

6) Blood pressure is fine

Re: Shouty men...

I have a similar response to idiots who drive up to the back of my car* ( and especially if they flash lights). I go slower. And I'll give way to any car waiting at a side turning, or any oncoming vehicle if the road is narrow. And take my time generally. Especially when I have to turn off.

* I don't middle-lane drive if it's the M-Way, by the way.

Re: Hot desking

Equally ( or more) vague recollection was that the space was a calculation rather than a measurement. So any floor area -useable or not- can be included and divided by the number of users. This included space under radiators, doorways and so on.

Re: Hot desking

They're bean counters. Which means that;

a) They have few or no social skills and don't like people much or see why other people might

b) see staff as just work units with a cash value/cost

c) have no concept of team working, collaboration, sharing, cross fertilisation of ideas or (horrid word) synergy.

5) are idiots

Re: Poor taste

Satire only works for current affairs.The Kyle show disaster is a current news item. It'd be fuck all use publishing this in 6 months' time because it would mean fuck all.