Random randomness

LordMortis · Post by **LordMortis** » Wed Sep 28, 2016 4:33 pm

My mom was raised maybe six miles from where I was raised as the crow flies. Maybe 4 miles north. She said as a kid she saw the northern lights all of the time and it looked like the world was falling apart.

Even up north on clear nights, I've never seen them.

Fucking pollution.

There would have been hope tonight but it's going to be northern clouds instead.

http://www.mlive.com/weather/index.ssf/ ... plode.html

dbt1949 · Post by **dbt1949** » Wed Sep 28, 2016 6:59 pm

When I was a kid camping out in the desert I remember seeing city lights in the distance from even the smallest cities. The whole sky around them was lit up. To this day I still hate light pollution.

tjg_marantz · Post by **tjg_marantz** » Wed Sep 28, 2016 8:27 pm

dbt1949 wrote:When I was a kid camping out in the desert I remember seeing city lights in the distance from even the smallest cities. The whole sky around them was lit up. To this day I still hate light pollution.

Turn off your monitor.

Shinjin · Post by **Shinjin** » Wed Sep 28, 2016 11:13 pm

LordMortis wrote:My mom was raised maybe six miles from where I was raised as the crow flies. Maybe 4 miles north.

How drunk was that crow?

dbt1949 · Post by **dbt1949** » Wed Sep 28, 2016 11:13 pm

I find I don't like Monty Python stuff anymore.

Rip · Post by **Rip** » Thu Sep 29, 2016 1:09 am

Shinjin wrote:
LordMortis wrote:My mom was raised maybe six miles from where I was raised as the crow flies. Maybe 4 miles north.
How drunk was that crow?

Pretty drunk to fly an extra 2 miles on a 4 mile trip. Flew a mile south by accident before he realized it and had to make a u-turn?

LordMortis · Post by **LordMortis** » Thu Sep 29, 2016 8:59 am

She lived north by northeast, but only north really matters when comes to seeing the northern lights.

Blackhawk · Post by **Blackhawk** » Thu Sep 29, 2016 9:50 am

Unless she lived at the North Pole. Then it might be possible that she lived six miles due west, but two miles north, followed by two miles south.

Skinypupy · Post by **Skinypupy** » Thu Sep 29, 2016 10:28 am

dbt1949 wrote:I find I don't like Monty Python stuff anymore.

Daehawk · Post by **Daehawk** » Thu Sep 29, 2016 2:25 pm

Streetlights...old vs new LED

More pics on site

Isgrimnur · Post by **Isgrimnur** » Thu Sep 29, 2016 5:39 pm

HP

HP was recently caught in the act using a “security update” to prevent its printers from operating with a number of recycled and third-party ink cartridges. After much outcry the company has relented and is issuing a rollback option — but they’ll be damned if they admit any wrongdoing.

“We are committed to transparency in all of our communications and when we fall short, we call ourselves out,” the company states in a post entitled “Dedicated to the best printing experience,” which sort of says it all. “There is confusion in the market regarding a printer firmware update – here are the facts.”

HP says it was just trying to protect its users and provide the best possible experience. Naturally, that meant issuing an update in March, waiting 6 months, and then activating a feature with no warning that caused printers to stop working with cartridges they printed with the day before.
The EFF, Cory Doctorow specifically, wrote a letter publicly shaming HP for this anti-consumer behavior, and the questionable application of DRM attracted enough coverage that HP has been forced to, in their words, call themselves out.

“We should have done a better job of communicating about the authentication procedure to customers, and we apologize,” HP’s post continued. “As a remedy for the small number of affected customers, we will issue an optional firmware update that will remove the dynamic security feature. We expect the update to be ready within two weeks.”
...
“We will continue to use security features to protect the quality of our customer experience, maintain the integrity of our printing systems, and protect our IP including authentication methods that may prevent some third-party supplies from working.”

hitbyambulance · Post by **hitbyambulance** » Thu Sep 29, 2016 5:51 pm

Isgrimnur wrote:HP

HP was recently caught in the act using a “security update” to prevent its printers from operating with a number of recycled and third-party ink cartridges. After much outcry the company has relented and is issuing a rollback option — but they’ll be damned if they admit any wrongdoing.

“We are committed to transparency in all of our communications and when we fall short, we call ourselves out,” the company states in a post entitled “Dedicated to the best printing experience,” which sort of says it all. “There is confusion in the market regarding a printer firmware update – here are the facts.”

HP says it was just trying to protect its users and provide the best possible experience. Naturally, that meant issuing an update in March, waiting 6 months, and then activating a feature with no warning that caused printers to stop working with cartridges they printed with the day before.
The EFF, Cory Doctorow specifically, wrote a letter publicly shaming HP for this anti-consumer behavior, and the questionable application of DRM attracted enough coverage that HP has been forced to, in their words, call themselves out.

“We should have done a better job of communicating about the authentication procedure to customers, and we apologize,” HP’s post continued. “As a remedy for the small number of affected customers, we will issue an optional firmware update that will remove the dynamic security feature. We expect the update to be ready within two weeks.”
...
“We will continue to use security features to protect the quality of our customer experience, maintain the integrity of our printing systems, and protect our IP including authentication methods that may prevent some third-party supplies from working.”

buncha snakes. not purchasing anything of theirs again, and i am removing HP laptops from my recommendation lists.

Daehawk · Post by **Daehawk** » Thu Sep 29, 2016 6:01 pm

After getting one for my wife Christmas 2 years ago they've been on my target range. POS laptops.

hitbyambulance · Post by **hitbyambulance** » Thu Sep 29, 2016 6:03 pm

from a Slashdot comment:

I don't know any company that's fallen further or faster in consumer esteem (once upon a time, a time I still recall, HP calculators represented the pinnacle of consumer esteem) except perhaps for the Hudson's Bay Company, but to comprehend that story you have to know what it once owned: a list of assets many nation states would envy. They spun off oil companies, railroads, real estate. What did they keep? Zellers.

Kraken · Post by **Kraken** » Thu Sep 29, 2016 10:01 pm

They used to make great printers back in the day. I still have an old HP inkjet that gets a little use, but I've known for a long time not to feed it off-brand ink.

MonkeyFinger · Post by **MonkeyFinger** » Fri Sep 30, 2016 8:36 am

Roller coasters might help you pass a kidney stone

Isgrimnur · Post by **Isgrimnur** » Fri Sep 30, 2016 10:39 am

MonkeyFinger wrote:Roller coasters might help you pass a kidney stone

If anyone needs to come to Dallas for therapy, let me know and I'll be happy to go along for moral support. I'm sure YK will be happy to help out any Southerners in need of assistance.

Paingod · Post by **Paingod** » Fri Sep 30, 2016 12:16 pm

Moved from a different thread, it's more Random now than before.

My wife's oldest cat may have used the last of her 9 lives.

Spoiler:

She's active and healthy in body for a cat of 16, but she's not acting in anyone's best interests. She's completely stopped cleaning herself, letting her fine fur get matted and gross, needing to be shaved periodically. She's going to the bathroom pretty much anywhere she wants now. She's taken to being directly in the pathway of my wife everywhere she goes and gets tripped over or kicked with frequency. We talk sometimes about taking her in to be put down because she's become such a nasty pain in the ass.

Last night, though, she may have spent the last of her 9 lives. My wife has a sick husky she's been keeping inside and was bringing it in for the night and this cat walked right up to it. The other cats keep a respectable distance from the outdoors huskies, and she used to as well. She sauntered right up to try and trip my wife, and my wife didn't see the cat in time. She says she saw the dog's reaction to the cat before she saw the cat - and she swears that the dog paused, thought to itself "Do I have the energy for this? Yes, yes I do." and then clamped down on the cat's head and neck.

I was upstairs, playing XCOM 2 (without my headphones on thankfully) when I heard what sounded like a very pissed kitty. Low angry mewing. It was odd, but not absurdly so. I assumed there was a hissing match between cats about to start until I heard my wife suddenly start yelling at the dog. I almost fell out of my chair trying to get away from the desk and rushed downstairs to find my wife desperately trying to get the dog to open it's mouth.

I rushed over, immobilized the dog, grabbed it's upper jaw with two fingers, and it's lower jaw with my thumb on the other hand (there wasn't any space to fit more fingers in) and started prying her mouth open. Afraid to harm the dog, and afraid to harm the cat trying to force the dog, all I could think to do was try and match the pressure the dog was using and millimeter by millimeter the jaws came open. It took a good 30 seconds to get to the point where the cat should have dropped free, but she wasn't. Around about then, my boxer poked her nose in to try and help and the cat swatted her away, sending her yelping.

I growled at my wife to get her damn cat and she tried to reach in and pull the cat's head out - which the cat thanked her for by sinking her teeth into my wife's thumb as far as they would go. There we are, me using both hands to desperately keep a dog's mouth open, and my wife desperately trying to get the cat to let her thumb go. Screaming at the cat, my wife used her other hand to pry the cat's mouth open and freed her thumb, where it promptly bit down on the OTHER thumb. I don't know how, but she did get her fingers out of the cat's mouth. Finally free of all the extra hands, I see that the cat's neck fur is either pierced by the dog's bottom front tooth or wedged between my thumb and the tooth, so I reposition my hand slowly and carefully, and the cat drops free. She doesn't run off. She walks off like that was just a normal Thursday night for her. WTF? I checked the cat after everything was over, and she's completely unharmed.

This is the third time this cat has been attacked by dogs in less than a year, and she's just not learning - quite the opposite. First she jumped up on top of a kennel cage and dangled her tail in, losing 1/3 of it to the dog inside. Then she snuck outside and didn't bother trying to run when a loose husky came right for her. Now she's walking up to dogs and asking them to give her a nibble.

I had to work to keep my wife from slipping into shock and passing out and did basic first aid. She bled through bandaids all night long and went to the clinic this morning for antibiotics. All night long, she swore the cat was done. She's caused too many problems and has passed the point of being welcome in the house. This morning, after she went to the clinic, she just couldn't bring herself to get the cat euthanized.

My wife is rapidly approaching the point of "All these animals aren't worth it" - she's not replacing any that pass away. She lost her green snake a few weeks ago and doesn't want another snake. Same for the bearded dragon that died last year. She swears she's done as a breeder and is going to work on getting her kennel down to -3- Huskies, no more. She also doesn't want anymore cats when these ones pass away, but we've got at least another 12 years with the youngest one. She's got too much going on between her career and a business she's trying to start up to deal with the massive chaos of her menagerie.

I'm still happy with my Boxer.

GreenGoo · Post by **GreenGoo** » Fri Sep 30, 2016 1:21 pm

For the record, my 16 year old cat exhibited the exact same behaviour, and about 6 months later he had died. Up until the last week or so he was still affectionate, still (relatively) active, still happy, so we didn't want to put him down. We probably waited too long, but not by much, and then he was gone on his own.

Daehawk · Post by **Daehawk** » Fri Sep 30, 2016 10:50 pm

Paingod I really shouldn't laugh but man did I laugh at the write up lol. Im sorry..I know at the time it must have been stressful but the way you wrote it hahaha ..Sorry about your pets. Hard to have family grow old or crazy on you people or animals. I know both.

Daehawk · Post by **Daehawk** » Fri Sep 30, 2016 10:53 pm

MonkeyFinger wrote:Roller coasters might help you pass a kidney stone

If you have a kidney stone who really wants to go to a park and stand in line to ride that? Ouch.

Isgrimnur · Post by **Isgrimnur** » Fri Sep 30, 2016 11:14 pm

Go on a Tuesday morning.

Daehawk · Post by **Daehawk** » Fri Sep 30, 2016 11:29 pm

Auto shop on Poland still using C64 to run their business.

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Check out how the keycaps are worn off

Holman · Post by **Holman** » Sat Oct 01, 2016 8:26 am

GreenGoo wrote:For the record, my 16 year old cat exhibited the exact same behaviour, and about 6 months later he had died. Up until the last week or so he was still affectionate, still (relatively) active, still happy, so we didn't want to put him down. We probably waited too long, but not by much, and then he was gone on his own.

When my parents' last cat quit bathing himself, he lingered for a while, but it was all bad news. It turns out (per the vet) that a cat who ignores grooming has probably had the first of a series of strokes. There's not any coming back from it.

Skinypupy · Post by **Skinypupy** » Sat Oct 01, 2016 4:30 pm

There are few forces in the world which can rival the sheer energy and chaos of three year old twin boys. Some days I handle this chaos better than others.

Today has not been one of my finer parenting moments.

TheMix · Post by **TheMix** » Sat Oct 01, 2016 5:13 pm

My mother told us the story of coming home one day to find my brother and I sitting in the middle of the kitchen. We'd dumped all the cereal on the floor. I think we may have stomped around in it for a while too. Apparently we were having the times of our young, short lives. We are at least a little lucky that those lives didn't remain short.

Daehawk · Post by **Daehawk** » Sun Oct 02, 2016 10:41 am

Just watched the Justice League episode Hereafter again. Such a wonderful and moving episode.

Blackhawk · Post by **Blackhawk** » Sun Oct 02, 2016 11:19 am

TheMix wrote:My mother told us the story of coming home one day to find my brother and I sitting in the middle of the kitchen. We'd dumped all the cereal on the floor. I think we may have stomped around in it for a while too. Apparently we were having the times of our young, short lives. We are at least a little lucky that those lives didn't remain short.

Flour. Mine used flour. Specifically, they emptied the pantry into a pile and then made it snow over said pile and the rest of the kitchen.

Paingod · Post by **Paingod** » Mon Oct 03, 2016 8:15 am

Daehawk wrote:Auto shop on Poland still using C64 to run their business.

I noticed with a grimace last weekend that the restaurant we went to was still using a Dell with a 566MHz CPU running Windows 2000. I only noticed because the computer was desperately trying to die and after 20 minutes of rebooting and scrolling pointlessly through the BIOS, someone managed to jiggle the right cable and get it to come back to life while I watched in horror.

Post by **ImLawBoy** » Mon Oct 03, 2016 9:57 am

Skinypupy wrote:There are few forces in the world which can rival the sheer energy and chaos of three year old twin boys. Some days I handle this chaos better than others.

Today has not been one of my finer parenting moments.

We're barely holding it together at 2 years old some days. I was promised that this would get easier!

Isgrimnur · Post by **Isgrimnur** » Mon Oct 03, 2016 10:06 am

Why 3 Is the New Terrible 2 (ABC, 2014)

"There's a word for this in psychology," said Dr. Alan E. Kazdin, professor of psychology and child psychiatry at Yale University. "Normal."

Kazdin, who is also director of Yale's Parenting Center and Child Conduct Clinic, said despite what parents-to-be often hear about the terrible twos, they just don't exist. Not now, not ever.

What happens, he said, is parents go from lugging around a child that is largely free of will to parenting a 3-year-old that has preferences, tastes and a forming personality -- and might even be in some pain because of bone growth. The child grows and changes, but the parents' expectations stay the same.

Post by **ImLawBoy** » Mon Oct 03, 2016 10:17 am

Shut up, you!

Skinypupy · Post by **Skinypupy** » Mon Oct 03, 2016 10:45 am

Isgrimnur wrote:Why 3 Is the New Terrible 2 (ABC, 2014)

"There's a word for this in psychology," said Dr. Alan E. Kazdin, professor of psychology and child psychiatry at Yale University. "Normal."

Kazdin, who is also director of Yale's Parenting Center and Child Conduct Clinic, said despite what parents-to-be often hear about the terrible twos, they just don't exist. Not now, not ever.

What happens, he said, is parents go from lugging around a child that is largely free of will to parenting a 3-year-old that has preferences, tastes and a forming personality -- and might even be in some pain because of bone growth. The child grows and changes, but the parents' expectations stay the same.

SO much truth to this. 2 was a breeze (relatively) for all three kids. 3 has been a full-on nightmare.

Daehawk · Post by **Daehawk** » Mon Oct 03, 2016 11:27 am

I know I mentioned movies that need to be made and some of them have been. I think I said Deadpool, Dr Strange, ROM, Micronauts, and Lobo and maybe something else. Now IGN has posted a story on 80's toy franchises that need movies and two of the mare in it too..ROM and Micronauts lol.

Zarathud · Post by **Zarathud** » Mon Oct 03, 2016 11:31 am

9 is turning out to be interesting. My oldest can't help but talk back rudely (already) at times and conducts a dialogue with herself about the rude behavior.

"Dad, they said hell in Minecraft Story Mode. That's soooo inappropriate! I mean, hell, I say that word. But only sometimes and mom gets mad. And I say that I'm sorry...but it's hell. And crap. I say crap, too. They said that in the game, too. But sometimes I get so mad at my sister when she kills me in Minecraft and it's like crap, what the whaaa?"

Unagi · Post by **Unagi** » Mon Oct 03, 2016 11:52 am

My nine year old dropped his very first "Oh for crying out loud!" yesterday. Not even a highly used phrase around here really. Made my wife and I chuckle.

Kraken · Post by **Kraken** » Mon Oct 03, 2016 3:07 pm

Paingod wrote:
Daehawk wrote:Auto shop on Poland still using C64 to run their business.

I noticed with a grimace last weekend that the restaurant we went to was still using a Dell with a 566MHz CPU running Windows 2000. I only noticed because the computer was desperately trying to die and after 20 minutes of rebooting and scrolling pointlessly through the BIOS, someone managed to jiggle the right cable and get it to come back to life while I watched in horror.

A motel that we visit every few years is still using a DOS system with a monitor that displays amber text and a dot-matrix printer. Every time we go in there I'm happy to see the old system is still in service. If something works, you stick with it.

coopasonic · Post by **coopasonic** » Mon Oct 03, 2016 3:11 pm

Daehawk wrote:
MonkeyFinger wrote:Roller coasters might help you pass a kidney stone
If you have a kidney stone who really wants to go to a park and stand in line to ride that? Ouch.

Yeah, I guess if I have someone to wheel me through the line while I am curled up in a ball crying it might be ok...

LordMortis · Post by **LordMortis** » Mon Oct 03, 2016 3:16 pm

Kraken wrote:A motel that we visit every few years is still using a DOS system with a monitor that displays amber text and a dot-matrix printer. Every time we go in there I'm happy to see the old system is still in service. If something works, you stick with it.

We prefer the term "impact printer" and I still have one I support in my office because enough documents still need use the modern equivalent of carbon paper. Our POs and check runs come to mind. Our ERP also still prefers them for UNIX reasons I'll likely never underestand.

I think our fortan and cobol compilers still require 16 bit DOS as well. I don't know why we haven't moved on but I have at least two machines in the office running XP virtually to keep these compilers working.

Kraken · Post by **Kraken** » Mon Oct 03, 2016 3:38 pm

LordMortis wrote:
Kraken wrote:A motel that we visit every few years is still using a DOS system with a monitor that displays amber text and a dot-matrix printer. Every time we go in there I'm happy to see the old system is still in service. If something works, you stick with it.
We prefer the term "impact printer" and I still have one I support in my office because enough documents still need use the modern equivalent of carbon paper.

That would be a daisy wheel, wouldn't it? Dot matrix is the one that makes the high pitched SCREEE sound...I thought those squirt dots of ink.

My first printer was a daisy wheel. We called it the ghost typewriter.