Posts by jake 26674 publicly visible posts • joined 7 Jun 2007
"So the H11 was incredibly niche."
You're looking at it wrong. The H11 was a home computer in the days before home computers. I used it to learn PDP11 assembler, Fortran and COBOL (and later C). At home. In my own time, whenever I had a hankering. In a period when all my peers had to go to the school to manage a few tens of minutes of keyboard time once per week (twice if they were lucky). And they didn't have hardware access, nor ability to use the Monitor. I was allowed to crash it to my heart's content, then fix it, and break it all over again. It was a learning tool, and a good one.
Did I mention I bought it in kit form? I laid out the traces and boiled the boards as required, and then installed and tested every component of that system. I know how it works, down to component level. (Yes, "works". She still runs. Not too bad for a near 50 year old home-built pseudo-hobby box.)
I already owned a Model 33 ... But yes, I paid extra for a glass tty. Yes, I paid extra for more RAM. Yes, I paid an arm and a leg for dual 8" floppies. Yes, I paid extra for a card reader/punch. Yes, I paid extra for a paper (mylar) tape reader/punch. Yes, I paid extra for DECTape. Yes, I paid extra for the I/O cards required. I even added a HDD and mag tape to it, eventually. Etc. Etc. Etc. Most of the above was bought used, but in excellent condition, for pennies on the dollar.
I also had free access to everything that DECUS offered ... and the minds at the Homebrew Computer Club.
IMO, it was the best computer education I could have possibly received in that time ... I still use the basics I learned with that system every time I walk into a modern datacenter. To this day I'm still of the opinion that that era's DEC kit remains the best platform to teach real-world general purpose computing. Shame they squandered the franchise.
"The 286 could switch to protected mode.....but had no way to switch back. "
IBM came up with a hack to work around that ...they essentially used the keyboard controller and an out-of-bandwith chunk of writable memory accessed via the A20 gate to save the state of the system before going into protected mode, and reversed it to come back out. Ugly, ugly, ugly, but very functional hack ... IF you used IBM's proprietary hardware. It also worked on a few clones, but was hit & miss in clone-land.
Midnight and noon aren't actual times, they are just markers between the old Roman notion of ante meridiem (before midday) and post meridiem (after midday). They both have zero duration, and as such are logical constructs, not actual times.
Thus "midnight" marks the time when the prior day stops the new day starts. As it is time of zero length, it doesn't actually belong in either day.
Put another way, there is no "midnight on Monday", but there is a "midnight between Sunday and Monday" and a "midnight between Monday and Tuesday".
It follows that the time 24:00:00 doesn't actually exist, and is an illogical construct.
Measuring spoons for cooking are (supposed to be[0]) calibrated, while spoons intended for table use are, essentially, haberdashery that can and do vary with the whims of the host(ess).
A "tablespoon" measure isn't a spoon for the table, rather it is a spoon that holds half a US fluid ounce (just under 15ml). A measuring teaspoon holds a third of that.
Likewise a one cup measure has nothing to do with taking a tea break, rather it is a measure equal to half a US pint, or 8 fluid ounces. That's roughly 235ml.
[0] Not all are. Cheap imports are cheap. Caveat emptor.
"Although such a readjustment was completed in 1986, use of the U.S. survey foot persisted."
What did they expect? That's what all the tools in the wild were (are) calibrated for. I know I'm not planning on replacing my kit any time soon.
Not that I ever have to file anything official ...
"Meanwhile, buy a pint in the UK and you'll get 20oz of beer, do the same in America and pints are only 16oz – a fact that still shocks British drinkers."
Sort of. Yes, the standard American unit of measure called "the pint" contains 16oz, However, almost all bars that serve pints of beer serve it in standard, British made (or reasonable facsimiles thereof), 20oz pint glasses. At least the bars that I've been in over the last several decades. I have also noticed in the last ten or so years that many bars are keeping 22oz glasses on hand to decant the 22oz bottles which many/most micro/craft breweries ship at least some of their brews in.
This might be a West Coast thing; I haven't been in a bar East of the Rockies in decades.
When I first got to the UK, school kids were still being taught both metric and imperial (just before sixpence became 2.5p, a whole 'nuther kettle o'worms). I still think in either, or both, depending on the situation. It's not exactly difficult. Strangely, at least for an American, I think of my own weight in stone ...
Nobody should ever have a need for even 1 liter of carbonated sugar water. Disgusting stuff.
I didn't see anyone propose a scenario where they were cut off from everybody else ... I assumed they'd move it via train to West Coast ports (today it mostly goes to Vancouver for export to Asia), or perhaps by train to one of the rivers to get it into the Mississippi like every other bulk product in the middle of the country. Regardless, it's a fossil fuel, so it's a viable trade good. And they have lots of it.
There is absolutely no way in hell that I would trust that tinker-toy with a set of joints full of hay coming down Hwy 80 from our Nevada property (where we grow it) to the Sonoma property (where it is eaten). Much less hauling manure the other direction ... Not enough wheels on the ground, for one thing. Stopping to charge it at least twice on the way is another.
Electric trucks aren't working trucks. They are haberdashery for urban cowboys.
The working trucks on this ranch almost all have a PTO hydraulic pump, with lines run fore and aft. The hydraulics are used for water pumps, splitters, chipper/shredders, augers (ground), augers (feed), blades of various descriptions, winches, conveyors, sweepers, bale shredders, feed mixers, one pickup has a 3-point on the back, etc. etc. And yes, they are also used to go into town for groceries, to the feed-store, and pulling trailers of all descriptions between our various properties. There is absolutely no way that a battery powered vehicle could physically, reliably and financially handle the duty of a diesel pickup. Not today, not ever. Battery chemistry and physics say no.
And yes, I've looked into it, and done the sums. It just ain't going to happen. It's a pipe-dream.
I run mine on ethanol made from corn (maize) grown here. The corn leaves far more carbon in the ground than I pull out for alcohol. Thus my "petrol" cars are better than carbon neutral, running them actually sequesters carbon. (The diesel tractors run on used cooking oil.)
"I wouldn't over-provision but look for ways to increase efficiency."
I over-provisioned on purpose. That way I'll never need to make changes, other than battery replacement. I expect to see 45-50 years of useful life out of the PV panels and attendant electronics (with two battery changes) ... but then they are name-brand, and not chinesium bought of the back of a truck in an ally. It didn't really cost a lot more than "just enough", especially when you consider the costs over 50 years. My kid has already thanked me.
Heat pumps (especially GSHPs!) are worth their weight in gold. Modern technology just works. Look into this first.
Proper insulation is a must, even if you are staying on-grid. Get this done before even thinking about heat pumps.
I suspect it goes back further than that ... probably over 17,000 years. The painters of Lascaux had SOME kind of hold on the local farmers/hunter-gatherers. Art does not support itself. And of course Jericho goes back to 11,000 years or thereabouts. There is plenty of evidence for still older "cities".
My Uncle showed me how to use the old methods when harvesting Coastal Redwoods when I were a nipper. I can go back to a two-man saw if I need to, I even know the nearly lost art of sharpening them and properly setting their teeth. But why would I, when I have perfectly serviceable chainsaws? Besides, I rarely harvest redwoods anymore ... mostly I just eradicate the absolutely useless and dangerous eucalyptus weeds & send 'em through the chipper.
Yes, when pruning trees know-how is far more important than modern equipment.
Have hit&miss dragsaw, will travel.
"if you can get it"?
Meaning you don't actually cut your own?
Apple and nut trees do burn nicely, I'll give you that ... but that's not why I plant apple and nut trees. The first family who cleared portions of this land (pre-California) planted oak trees for the future, and every land owner since has planted a few oaks every year, and we are still planting more. The original trees (now 200 years old) are ready for harvest. We're going to let 'em grow a little longer ... There are still plenty of older, naturally planted trees that are past their sell-by-date that we make firewood from. Several of them have fallen over in this last month's saturating rain and should provide more than enough firewood for next year.
They could sell their coal to China in return for batteries and solar panels. Or does Australia have that market cornered?
My old Farmall M is more than enough tractor to feed the dozen adults living on this property. It runs on Ethanol, which we grow here. Fertilizer is a byproduct of animal husbandry.
Here's another way of looking at it ... I am a wine maker. Along with my home-grown grapes, I get my fruit from vinyards in several different AVAs (American Viticultural Areas). I would be allowed to use this info when labeling my wine, after jumping through some minimal hoops. But I choose not to.
My reasoning is that the AVAs are saturated. They make some good plonk, and some not so good plonk. Throwing my name in with that lot would devalue my brand. (As I heard the other day in a downtown Sonoma tasting room "Oh, another Carneros chardonnay? How boring!")
I protect my name/brand by NOT owning a piece of the so-called "protection".
"Been unable to find any examples of native America feathers that bear any similarity to the various feathers the Apache Foundation uses as logo's."
And again you miss the point. Feathers aren't simple haberdashery or adornment. They are badges of hono(u)r. Makes no nevermind what the feather is from, it is a feather and should signify something important in the eyes of the people who awarded it to you.
Doing what the Apache Foundation is doing is the equivalent of wearing a soldier's uniform, badges of rank and medals in order to appear legitimate, despite not ever having served in the armed forces. It is deceitful, dishonest and bordering on fraudulent when used in conjunction with that name.
I can sympathize with Prince (never thought I'd ever say THAT!).
Almost 50 years ago, I legally changed my name to "jake"[0], all lower-case, as my legal name on everything from my tax returns to the deed to my house to my passport to my driver's license. For several years. Caused no end of headaches for "the authorities" ... which, as a young man who understood database programing, I took great delight in.
Then I grew up, no longer having time to "be pulled aside" by petty officials. Today, I use the name my parents gave me on legal stuff. I'm the same dude, regardless of handle ... but everyone who knew me back then still calls me jake.
MY name could be typed on (most) standard keyboards, I can't imagine the headaches he went through.
[0] Name changed to protect the guilty ...
Whatever. I've had deep-fried (in duck fat! YUM!) potatoes in Peru that were claimed to be "as served to Inca royalty". They certainly tasted it, and I see no reason to doubt the story.
Only stands to reason. If one has hot fat and spuds in a kitchen, eventually they will meet up. Potatoes and ducks were eaten in that neck of the woods at least 10,000 years ago. How long would it take the two to meet? IMO, the Belgians are probably over 5,000 years late in making the claim.
In the early days of POTS modem banks, there was often a standard analog telephone available to plug into the back of whichever modem was suspected of having line problems. Some modem banks had a forward facing plug panel that could be used instead of reaching behind the rack. That phone was often left plugged into the last line it was used on.
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