* Posts by Acme Fixer

184 publicly visible posts • joined 26 Jul 2007

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Six on capacitor charges

Acme Fixer

We had servers with dual power supplies that were hot swappable. If the equipment is online 24/7, it should be designed for that purpose. If the organization doesn't spend the extra money to get this redundancy and reliability, then expect to get what you paid for.

What the world needs now is Pi, sweet $5 Raspberry Pi Zero

Acme Fixer

Re: Overpriced

If so, then why is the Arduino so popular? Once the program er, the sketch is done, like the Arduino, it doesn't have to be connected to anything other than the device it controls, which might just be relays or optoisolators. Bingo! You have your multi colored Xmas tree LED light controller, or model railroad crossing, etc...

Cybercrime

Acme Fixer

Cybercrime

Go here and click on cybercrime... or whatever else is interesting.

http://www.justice.gov/actioncenter/identify-our-most-wanted-fugitives

So just what is the third Great Invention of all time?

Acme Fixer

Sorry...

But leaving the flowers and traveling down the twigs to the branches and then down to the trunk, it all gets more generalized, until... until... no one really knows!

One could say statistics, but that is just another branch of mathematics, as is double entry bookkeeping.

One could say the lever, but it and the wheel are just another form of mechanical engineering.

One could say the astrolabe but it and sextants and telescopes are just an improvement in astronomy.

And so forth. I think the greatest contribution to mankind in the 20th century is penicillin or antibiotics, which has saved millions of people. But that is just a flower on the tree. And then I wonder, with 7 plus billion people on this planet, if that was such a good idea after all. :-/

hive mind informs climate change believers and sceptics

Acme Fixer

Re: @AC

".. Especially when pushing for an extremely damaging rate of economic and social change which will certainly lead to deaths."

The alternative, doing nothing, may be much, much worse. Hopefully it will be cataclysmic, so suffering may be minimal...

Acme Fixer

Re: We have a problem

It would be prudent to take action, no matter what the 'truth' is, before it's too late, rather than wait until it's too late and doom all life on the planet to extinction.

Acme Fixer

Read!

The document(s) (download free .PDFs) at IPCC.ch

There is no disagreement with climatologists. However these documents also have inputs from governments.

'Merchants of Doubt' by Oreskas et al.

It's shocking that so few have been able, with help from the media, to influence so many people on such an important subject.

The rare metals debate: Only trace elements of sanity found

Acme Fixer

Re: Future mineral reserve creation

I was looking through comments trying to find when someone was going to bring this up. Those rarer minerals aren't going to disappear (unless they get launched into space), so why not just recycle them? Like they're now doing with lithium batteries. We get hit with a core charge if we don't return the dead car battery that we just had replaced. Much of the copper gets recycled. Same with other metals. This was not even addressed in the article - it should be.

This time we really are all doomed, famous doomsayer prof says

Acme Fixer

Re: When the food chain goes wrong for real

Like on Antarctica...

Acme Fixer

Re: Imminent Extinction

Indians already have an extinction problem. They hold cattle sacred and cattle die in the street. They drag the carcass out to a field to let the predators have them. But the predators like vultures are dying off, so now they have a rotting field of cattle carcasses spreading disease and not being recycled by nature. I think they might have to start changing their ways and treat cattle as food.

Acme Fixer

Re: Not to be pedantic, but...

But if a bee dies and falls to the ground below a plant, then she does turn to fertilizer. They only live for two weeks or so. But overall I agree with you.

If Erlich survives the mass extinction, he most likely won't have anyone to tell, "I told you so!" :-/

PlayStation-processor-powered plutonium probe prepares Pluto pics

Acme Fixer

Re: Light, camera, wait - what about the light?

3e9 / 93e6 equals 32.something. The inverse square is 1/1040 the light of the earth's, but Pluto has no atmosphere to block out all the UV and IR, etc. Knowing how bright old Sol is here, it doesn't seem like Pluto is dimly lit. How many f stops is 1/1000?

Acme Fixer

Re: Routers... in Space!

I found it amusing that the probe to Pluto was powered by PLUTOnium.

As bankruptcy looms for RadioShack, we ask its chief financial officer... oh. He's quit

Acme Fixer

The Nightly Business Report did a story on the problem the states are having: the wealthy are taking so much money away from the rest that there is less commerce, and less revenue from taxes, etc. Those companies like Apple, with nearly a trillion dollars taken away from consumers, seem to be most of the problem. The economists call one form of this stuff rent seeking.

Acme Fixer

Re: Retail bankruptcies are never fun

All those brick and mortar stores released onto the market are going to be leased by Amazon, so they can fly those limited distance delivery drones from a mini warehouse nearby to your front porch. That is, if they can get the FAA to approve their drone delivery system..

Acme Fixer

Re: Another one bites the dust...

Long ago, Tandy bought Radio Shaft and they also had Tandy Leather stores in bigger cities. Anyone could buy an unfinished leather belt and with a few tools make it into a nice custom present for one's kid's birthday. But Do it yourself stuff, just like Heathkit, just couldn't compete with cheap imports.

But they do have a choice, to do what Blockbuster did - close the stores and sell online.

Acme Fixer

Re: Another one bites the dust...

My friend called me from the RS store and said they had 16 GB SD cards on sale, and asked if he should buy one. I looked online and found that the local Micro Center store had 32 GB SD cards, for a dollar cheaper!

Acme Fixer

Re: Another one bites the dust...

Same here. Years ago I went into a store for some parts. I stood behind a guy who was waiting for the salesdroid to finish activating some other person's cell phone. After ten minutes, the guy ahead of me got fed up, dumped the items on the counter and walked out in a huff. I was kind enough to go back to the shelves and put mine back on the pegs, then I walked out. After that I didn't go into another RS store for years.

I did go in recently to buy a battery holder. Then I recently went into a RS store and walked out when I saw they wanted $20 to $25 for a USB cable. I walked across the parking lot to the dollar store and bought one.. for a dollar.

I have no sympathy for them, because they once served the customer, but now have lost that service. I think if they drastically cut the number of stores - there are far too many in the metro area where I live - then they might survive. If they liquidate, I don't think I would go out of my way to buy stuff marked down 80 percent, because it would still be overpriced.

Brit infosec firm lets hackers think they've stolen something

Acme Fixer

Why doesn't..

someone do this to the data that NSA is slurping? That ought to be even more fun!

The Windows 8 dilemma: Win 8 or wait for 9?

Acme Fixer

Re: Boring

You couldn't have said it better. From me, who worked for the Help Desk, which did not need more 'frills' to cause headaches, when Win 7 was already doing the job.

Someday, the majority of organizations are going to revolt and stop using Windows anything.

Thirteen Astonishing True Facts You Never Knew About SCREWS

Acme Fixer

Bunch of Quacks!

Ducks have a penis like a screw, nearly as long as its body. It's TRUE!

What FTC lawsuit? T-Mobile US touts 10GB, $100 family-of-4 plan

Acme Fixer

Re: Not quite

T-mo has a family plan through Walmart that is unlimited, however they kick you down to 3g if you go over the cap. I get my single phone for $30 a month, but with only 100 mins talk time.

The seven nations where SIM CARDS outnumber PEOPLE

Acme Fixer

Re: Not just people

Does this include premises alarm/fire/security systems? More businesses and dwellings are using wireless to get to the service.

Supposed 'leader' of LulzSec pleads guilty to hacking, hubris

Acme Fixer

Re: Good Riddens (sic)

Riddance, I I R C.

Yeah. In a very somber ceremony, line 'em up against the wall and shoot 'em - with blanks. See how much fear and sweat they have; see if they need a change of underwear. Maybe he'll think twice when they tell him that next time the victims get to choose the type of bullet - real or blank.

Russian MP fears US Secret Service cuffed his son for Snowden swap

Acme Fixer

Re: @Jonny Canuck

What I have a problem with is that the (TLA or three-letter acronym) has no problem with kidnappings a real person, but they are seemingly unwilling to do the same thing virtually. I've always heard the warning that it would be 'violating the law.'

In other words why don't those TLAs use offense as 'the best form of defense' instead of kidnapping someone? Instead, just kidnap his botnet, or something similar and just as underhanded as kidnapping. Or am I unaware that it's already being done, but just secretly...

Speed of light slower than we thought? Probably not

Acme Fixer

Re: One of these things is not the same as the other...

The thought occurred to me that we are observing a small fraction of a milliradian(?) of the light coming from the SN. Suppose it took 7.7 hours for the light to find a clear path through the debris from the SN, but the neutrinos weren't hampered at all by the debris. Simple explanation, no?

Black hole three-way: Supermassive trio are 'rippling' space

Acme Fixer

Re: The closely circling black holes are in a galaxy more than four billion light years away

What's amazing is that we're looking at black holes that were happening about the time the earth was formed. Everything about them should be said in the past tense. If we were there at the present time, they may have already died and something else may have taken their place.

"In a galaxy long, long ago and etc."

One amazing reason why NASA boffins are celebrating Curiosity's 687th day on Mars

Acme Fixer

Re: Call me a science fangrrl if you will

Now you did it! You made me spit coffee all over my keyboard!!

ROTFL!

Acme Fixer

Re: Incredible

I don't believe the word selfie was in common usage when it landed. But it did take a picture of itself with the robotic arm when it landed, pieced together from several individual photos. You must be named Thomas.

Doubting Thomas. And obviously not a 'boffin.'

The 'other country' that may make it to Mars should first do as we in the U.S. did, put a man on the moon. Once the future generation of boffins understands the extreme challenges of space travel only 240k miles away, then they can proceed to a much more distant planet.

27 Data-Slurping Facts BuzzFeed Doesn't Want You To Know!

Acme Fixer

Re: 50% are stupid

Yeah I had that problem with a bunch of supposedly technically savvy guys at work (IT dept). I'd ask them a tech question and they'd look at on another, like what planet did he come from, duh.

I changed social circles; I no longer work there. ;-)

Acme Fixer

Re: What's the problem?

What really bugs me is this. I bought an item on Amazon. Now most web pages come up with an ad trying to sell me the same item! How useless can they get? I already have what I wanted! Seems like the advertisers are making money off the retailers by selling them worthless data! The customer ultimately ends up paying for it.

Acme Fixer

Re: What's the problem?

Our Cobol programmers would do that. They'd try different versions until they got the answer the management liked. :-)

Acme Fixer

Re: What's the problem?

I think a much, much better way of saying it is that Common sense isn't very common.

I think the statistics gurus would laugh! After all, the statistics would just make accommodation if everyone 'got stupid'. We would then have the smartest stupid person, IQ 40, and the stupidest, 20 (barely able to put his pants on) and somewhere in the middle would be "normal". How does it feel being included into a group with a bunch of chimps?!

Web moguls ask YOU to stump up big money to STOP big money from winning in Washington

Acme Fixer

The old adage...

still holds true: that you should never watch how hot dogs and laws are made.

;-)

Acme Fixer

Re: You couldn't be more wrong

Why don't you stop asking questions and state your position, anonymous coward? Perhaps then we could understand your obliqueness.

Acme Fixer

Re: If you could buy elections Ross Perot would have won

It levels the playing field. It fights fire with fire by using the same method that the rich use to tilt things in their favor. But it would make more sense if the unions were doing it; this still has a bunch of rich people calling the shots. Just remember that we (U.S.) have the best government that money can buy.

Entirely new trojan quietly wheeled into black hat forums

Acme Fixer

What?!

I thought I'd read the comments to find some worthwhile information. Like the song said, "I can't get no.. satis-faction..."

US marshals leak list of possible Bitcoin buyers

Acme Fixer

For some reason..

I had the notion that all drug money forfeitures were to be deposited into the US Treasury. Of course how it's spent may be another matter. I love to watch Frontline, next to 60 Minutes it's my fave documentary program.

NASA beams vid from space via laser

Acme Fixer

Re: "equivalent to

I disagree about the random movement. You see, we Southern Californians know about Wrightwood. It lies directly over the San Andreas Fault which periodically has very random movements! We have many earthquakes everyday, most of them being less than 3 magnitude which no one even feels. But I'm sure it affects the laser beam. I just wonder why they chose such a seismically active area for the equipment.

Acme Fixer

Not as accurate as..

I think the news helicopters have this one beat. They have a camera with a super long zoom lens that has to cope with vibrations in 3 dimensions, yet can zoom in from 500 meters altitude and lock on to a nearly vibrationless view of a person on the ground and easily tell if he's holding a pistol or a microphone. And they don't have any laser beam to guide them.

Is the answer to life, the universe and everything hidden in Adams' newly uncovered archive?

Acme Fixer

Ah-HAH!

Now I know why the Norwegian in me likes the fiddly bits of the fjiords... or however it went.

Look, pal, it’s YOUR password so it’s YOUR fault that it's gone AWOL

Acme Fixer

Re: Website policy stupidity

Gee, thanks for your password! :-p

Acme Fixer

Re: Website policy stupidity

So, put in your wife, gf, or relative's name instead. I suppose that Mickey Mouse would trigger some kind of flag, as would Bart Simpson. Oh, yeah, those are both "Yankified"...

Acme Fixer

Re: Amen brudder!

Meh... All they have to do is dig through the trash on the first of the month.

Acme Fixer

Re: Amen brudder!

You forgot the Post-it note on the monitor, or underneath the keyboard. I know from experience.

IT security people are a bunch of I D 10 Ts

World's first ever Nobel Prize winning integrated circuit to be auctioned

Acme Fixer

not much use...

Because germanium can't be passivated, it's probably not functional now.

Boeing CEO says no more 'moonshots' after 787 Dreamliner ordeal

Acme Fixer

Re: The 787 was a risk-averse management boondoggle

I remember when the plans for McD-D aircraft were drawn in pencil on sheets of aluminum painted white. Nowadays, with AutoCAD and other CAD/CAM software, one would think that integration would not be a non-issue.

Acme Fixer

Listen, sonny...

I remember back when the 707 was new. But when they lengthened it they called it the 720b. There are a lot more numbers between 707 and 797 that can be used... and probably will be.

Activist investors try forcing Google to pay more taxes

Acme Fixer

Re: start paying as much tax as possible

There's something wrong when a company pays just 38 million dollars on incomes of over 21 billion dollars. That's less than 2/10 of a cent per dollar.

Watch out, Yahoo! EFF looses BADGER on sites that ignore Do Not Track

Acme Fixer

Re: Armor up

Thanks for the info.

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