Warm-ish but certainly damp. And probably overcast for half the day. Tuesday shaped up nicely by mid-afternoon. It would be nice if today was clear from the start…
I didn’t get what I wanted to do done. Had to pick up the kids from school in the afternoon, and that put the whole day’s tasks off. Most of them will happen today.
Kid’s bus driver will be changing the route again, to pick up my kids earlier. They won’t dig that, as I can barely get them out the door for the later bus. Oh well. It builds character, right?
School year is winding down, and the teachers are already starting to coast to the finish line. D1’s spanish class is watching movies instead of starting more work. They have finals next week and the teacher obviously didn’t stretch enough to get the timing just right. Without books or a syllabus, it’s pretty hard to know what they should be doing anyway, which is the point, I think.
I did get some sorting done, and some stuff ready for Christmas presents. I think I’ve got most everyone covered, I just have to actually get the stuff out and tagged. I should do that while there is still time to correct any deficiencies.
Anyone have an opinion about me getting my wife a subscription to Astronomy magazine? I found a couple of years of recent back issues at Goodwill to give her, but it would be nice to continue with a subscription if it would be helpful to a complete novice, who mostly wants to look at stuff in the sky, not white dots in a particular arrangement… or maybe recommend something very beginner, like how to align your scope to make viewing easier, what sort of things to look at, etc. It should be something that would excite an interest.
So much to do before the end of the year. So little motivation. It’s a grind. But it needs to be done.
Keep stacking, keep the faith.
nick
Don’t want you getting in trouble with the wife regarding the wedding date. 🙂
We saw Animal Kingdom a few months in advance as part of an employee preview, but The Mouse was running travel agents and VIPs through as well, all part of the Eisner effort to nuke Busch Gardens Tampa once that competing company got serious about roller coasters in the 90s.
The long standing rumor in Orlando is that the Nintendo section of the new Universal park will be done early enough that Kabletown will host private groups willing to pay enough money for an advance look. That could play well with the park located across the street from the Orlando Convention Center.
From what I understand, Oracle has a hotel at their HQ here, but that facility was originally designed by Ellison “bro” Mark Hurd to be a writeoff, “Party Central” and training facility for new college grads. Oracle is so well established now and the consulting arm discredited thanks to Cover Oregon that I can’t think of a reason that the hotel wouldn’t simply host execs and trainees rather than “death march” efforts.
Home Shopping Channel’s development subsidiary was an infamous sweatshop in Tampa Bay in the early 90s, when the recession meant the workers either slept on the cot in the conference room as told or faced the insane local job market following the “peace dividend” gutting of the area’s DoD contractors.
At one point, HSC cut the meals from three to two in an effort to boost productivity.
71f and saturated. Misty drizzle when I stood at the bus stop, but the sun is breaking thru and the heavy mist stopped.
I’m hopeful that the rain will hold off… as I have stuff to do.
n
We have another neighbor who is crazy, but in a good sense. He and his partner have a garden in on a neighboring piece of land, which they have declared semi-public for anyone in the neighborhood. I helped him put up a Christmas tree in his garden today – 6 meters (about 20 feet) tall. Another neighbor put in a concrete socket a few days ago, to hold the thing, and is securing it against wind with guy wires.
Anyhow, Mr. Neighbor is now busily decorating the with gigantic balls, tinsel and lights. Should look great!
At home, we don’t do a lot for the holidays, but my wife gathered some fir branches and has spread them around with some Christmas deco. Dunno what Christmas dinner will be – last year, it was a duck. This year, maybe a goose, since the kids will be visiting?
@brad – I’m almost caught up. Day 5 was ugly.
https://adventofcode.com/2022
@Nick
”Anyone have an opinion about me getting my wife a subscription to Astronomy magazine? ”
Really no downside.
LOL a colleague my wife worked with at a conference all weekend downtown SA tested positive for COVID. She’s 6-jabber already! We are off to Frisco/Dallas this am on a two day gig. I guess I’ll take some home tests to build up my DB of testing.
We’re all gonna DIE!
This is what happens when your brain turns to mush:
Jane Fonda: Without ‘Racism’ And ‘Misogyny,’ ‘There Would Be No Climate Crisis’
Cray cray.
Took the older puppy out for our morning walk at 0830. Overcast, 67 degrees, dewpoint 66 and humidity 95%. Very soupy, but I will take it any day over cold. Not 5 minutes after we got back the sky opened up for a 2 minute cloud burst. It’s nice to be lucky every now and then…
@Nick
I was always a Sky&Telescope man, but my brother prefers Astronomy. Both great rags.
Cloudynights.com is a wonderful resource, free forums and properly moderated, no politics allowed.
A zero magnification red dot finder is really useful, if her scope doesn’t have one. I use an old school Telrad that has a right-angle adapter for us stiff necked individuals on the shady side of sixty five.
@Nick
Do you have a set of Burnham’s in your library?
I use an old school Telrad that has a right-angle adapter
– that reminds me to d/l the manual, so I can get the finder aligned with the main tube. I’m fairly certain that would be covered in a manual…
And there is some sort of red laser, like a pointer, but with a cut out in the side and a sort of screen to see the dot, no idea what that’s for or where you’d put it.
n
The red laser is probably for entertaining the cats while you’re stargazing.
My wife got a roomba clone which came with a laser pointer. I thought that there might be a light sensor on the robot and the laser would let you steer the robot to problem spots but no. The manual stated specifically that the laser is for entertaining pets or small children. Why they’d have included it for that purpose is beyond me.
I really despise the clown at Apple that decided putting “.” files for every file created by Apple. They are annoying, take up space. Certainly there had to be a better alternative. In fact, if a thumb drive is inserted with zero bytes left, Apple will happily create a “.” file for the first file accessed. In the process the directory on the thumb drive is destroyed. No more files on the thumb drive.
@ray, I hate hidden files of all types. To keep them hidden the OS and file system have to lie to you, which is a breaking of trust that the computer does what you want it to do.
n
In Moscow, a nun was standing on a corner waiting for a bus. A Russian soldier ran up to the nun. Out of breath he asked, “Please, may I hide under your skirt, I’ll explain later.”
The nun grudgingly agreed. A moment later two Russian military police ran up and asked, “Sister, have you seen a soldier?”
The nun pointed, “He went that way.”
After the military police ran off, the soldier crawled out from under her skirt and said, “I can’t thank you enough Sister. You see, I don’t want to go to Ukraine.” The nun said, “I understand completely.” The soldier added, “I hope I’m not rude, but you have a great pair of legs!”
The nun replied, “If you had looked a little higher, you would’ve seen a great pair of balls. I don’t want to go to Ukraine either.”
The trick is to align in the daytime, on a reasonably distant object, much easier than fumbling with tiny screws at night in gloves.
There is a moon/mars occultation tonight, btw.
@Ray, I had a lot of experience with Apple’s Macs in the early days. Even used three different ones before the move to Intel processors. This was at work. For a few years, I used their stuff side by side with DOS and Windows. Taught me a good lesson. I have never owned an Apple product, likely never will. I call them the world’s most arrogant company. They could invent magic and give it away, and I would not take it.
I am disappointed that Windows and even Android try to imitate Apple. Now, most built-in file managers lie to the user. @brad touched on this months ago, when he found that his students could not manage directories. It goes way beyond hidden files.
Tested negative for COVID.
We’re all gonna DIE!
>> I really despise the clown at Apple that decided putting “.” files for every file created by Apple. They are annoying, take up space. Certainly there had to be a better alternative. In fact, if a thumb drive is inserted with zero bytes left, Apple will happily create a “.” file for the first file accessed. In the process the directory on the thumb drive is destroyed. No more files on the thumb drive.
Yet you continue to spend your money on their products.
Yeah, the Apple Garden, Windows, tho.
I find that hard to dispute. I have a MacBook Air (M2, 16 gig, 1 TB). The machine is fast, the battery lasts a long time, screen is great, touchpad and keyboard are great. The hardware is solid. Software is another story. Some stuff works really well, some not so much.
I have not spent much effort to find a way to cut and paste files. All that works that I have been using is dragging and dropping the files. I can cut and paste text, but not files. Maybe I am missing something. And I am. It requires some combination of three keys. Or use the menus, DUH. So much easier on Windows.
The integration between my watch, iPhone, and iPad is really nicely done. Almost seamless. I can unlock the MacBook using my watch. My Surface uses my face and seems to work well. Why can’t Apple use face identification? Oh wait, Microsoft did that, Android did that, and using such would require Apple to admit some other entity had a good idea.
I do like watching movies on the MacBook, movies that I have purchased on iTunes.
I do like using the mail app to read and respond to emails.
Some stuff on Apple really makes sense. Other stuff is like WTF you dumbasses.
I don’t like the taskbar filling up with recently used Apps.
I don’t like using the red colored button at the top of an app window to close an app. All that does is close the window, the app is still running. The app has to be brought forward again and the select the application name and click on the quit option. Give me an “X” in the upper right corner to shut down the app completely.
A really good email program, spreadsheet, word processor, and presentation software are free with MacOS. Microsoft maybe should consider doing the same but leave the collaboration portion or more advanced options for the purchased option.
I do understand the Apple makes money on the hardware, gives much of the software away (Pages, Numbers, Keynote). Difficult for Microsoft to do as they don’t really deal in hardware except for their Surface products.
Based on my experience with the MacBook Air I doubt I will ever own an Apple desktop product. Some of what I do is just plain clumsy on the MacBook. And maybe because of my long-rooted use of Windows products starting with DOS 1.0.
Hard to teach an old dog new tricks.
Yes. I bought the iPhone because it is the best in my opinion. Android falls short in many areas in my attempts to use Android phones. Frustrating.
I bought the Watch because it is the best watch available.
I bought the iPad because it is one of the best tablets available. I had tried others due to work and other requirements. Just not the same. A lot has to do with Android.
I bought Apple TV because it works easily. Roku and the funky remote and navigation of menus has a lot to be desired. Ordering movies on iTunes is easy and I can watch the movies on my iPhone, iPad or MacBook.
I bought the MacBook because I wanted to become more fluent with using a Mac.
I bought the AirPods because the noise cancelling is some of the best around.
Every device with the Apple ecosystem works well with other devices for the most part. I did have trouble with the AirPod speaker refusing to play anything other than what I have stored in iTunes. That I returned.
On my Apple products it is mostly consumption of media and data. The real work gets accomplished on my Windows desktop and my Surface.
I know people who have used Mac exclusively for years. The quirks are second nature to them and they can work quickly and efficiently. Perhaps if I had started out on a Mac my perspective would be different.
Part of the issue may be because of my deep roots with Microsoft software. I am used to dealing with files and folders. MacOS tends to attempt to shield manipulating files and folders from the user.
With Windows 11 I think Microsoft has become almost as arrogant as Apple. The redoing of the start menu, the messing with the taskbar, side folders when working with a file folder window, the insistence that OneDrive be used for document storage, the insistence that an account with Microsoft must be created. Users are pawns to the whims of the two major platforms.
Never mind.
And no experience is worse then an Apple Genius. So they still have those?
Yes, Apple still has the genius bar in the stores. If one is to eavesdrop on the people that need the support, anyone that knows how to copy and paste is a genius.
That is one thing that has really helped Apple, the stores. People can bring in their devices with issues and the problem can usually be solved.
At one time Microsoft had stores. I think they have all disappeared. Go into an Apple store and there may be 20-25 people in the store, not including the Apple employees.
Even acquiring a new device generally the information has been backed up to iCloud and can be easily restored. The Apple people in the stores help people with the new device. Apple even offers classes on using the new device, virtual or in-store.
@Greg: Day 5 – parsing the input was a annoying. Haven’t done days 6 or day 7 yet – I had an absolute pile of grading to do. But this evening I’m on the train for a couple of hours, so I hope to catch up.
@Ray: Yes, it’s crazy how little students know about the computers they are using. And these are semi-technical students who are taking programming courses. Ok, 40% of them fail (modest bow), but still…
Any file manager nowadays – even on Linux – hides some of what ought to be obvious. Hidden files, sure, they’re “hidden”. But just try to find the full path to where you currently are. Depending on the OS and the file browser, this can be surprisingly difficult.
I really hate the new Windows idea of integrating their cloud storage seamlessly into the file system. I assume they cache local copies, but some things still do not work correctly when stored there. And students have zero idea that they have even put anything into the cloud.
If you use Windows in another language, it also translates the directory names before displaying them. So they show you a path: “C:\Benutzer\Fred”, but the actual path is “C:\Users\Fred”, and the path you are shown does not work in most places – for example, in the shell. Stupid, stupid.
How low can it go? Tyler Durden cowardice protecting some truthful reporting about the car vending machine company.
https://www.zerohedge.com/markets/carvana-shares-crash-creditors-form-pact-bankruptcy-risks-explode
More will follow.
The Apple Store here in Austin — in The Domain, the city’s imitaiton of California — looks like the planet in the “Star Trek” episode where the scientists cured most diseases and people achieved practical immortality barring accidents.
Portland was even worse, filled with Canadians looking to avoid the VAT by riding down from Vancouver, BC on cheap Amtrak Cascades tickets, ironically subsidized by US and WA State taxpayers.
I’ve never seen a Microsoft store where a sale was actively being rung up while I browsed the store except for the swag outlet in the Visitor Center in Redmond. While Apple’s register process is more subtle, I still see transactions and credit cards. Sometimes even a paper receipt!
Filthy lucre is for peasants … or Ferengi.
Sniff. Apple Haters. Sniff.
i shall look down on you dirt people from Elysium.
Day 6 is simple. I haven’t started Day 7.
It took me a while to figure out 5, and then I don’t like to leave Python code without a clean pylint report except complaints about the in-code documentation so I had to resolve the linter’s discoveries.
Getting the branch count below 13 with Day 5 was challenging, but I managed.
I hate the trend towards “Visual Studio Everywhere”, including on Linux, to the point that even Senior developers cannot manage basic text editors and the command line. Git integration into the GUI makes things worse.
My last several purchases, an iPhone, MacBook, and some accessories there was never a paper receipt involved. I just used my iPhone, brought it close to the Apple employees magic boxes attached to their iPhones, sale was done. Receipt sent to my email. Never even showed my credit card.
Apple made it easy, sometimes too easy, and too quick. There is little sense of what a person is actually paying. Using my Apple card on my phone there was not even a signature. Of course, before any card on my phone can be used the phone has to be unlocked with FaceID or touch confirming it is me.
I can get 10% off the majority of Apple stuff with the veteran and military discount. The discount cannot be applied in the store. Items must be ordered through the website. That sometimes causes a problem.
I wanted a MagSafe charging pad, sitting on the shelf. To get 10% off I had to order on the website, then wait 45 minutes for someone in the back room to get the order and pull the item. Lesson learned. Now I just order on the website and have the product delivered.
If I need the item quickly, or will be in the vicinity, I order on the website and schedule a pickup in the store. Generally fairly quick in and out of the store.
I don’t hate Apple any more than I hate Microsoft. Both companies make too many assumptions about how they want people to work. There are problems in both camps with software.
I have had BSOD on Windows 11 on the Surface and the desktop. I have had the spinning color wheel on Apple just stop spinning and the system totally locked. I have apps just quick, go away, for no reason. Mostly Adobe so I should blame them.
Changes in the interface, just because. I knew where almost everything was in MacOS for configurations and settings. Until the last update when Apple moved everything into a new interface. Microsoft slowly eliminating the very familiar control panel.
There may be valid reasons for such changes. Maybe it is as simple as just wanting to confuse the masses.
Then there is Linux with the cryptic command line. Gaack, a geek orgasm if nothing else.
I bought a set (21) of those little LED lights. I have used them before and they are quite handy to have stashed on keyring, etc. I will even put one on the mower key. I will put a few in the RV in some locations that I have not determined.
At less than a dollar a light it is cheaper to buy new lights when the batteries run out.
I also had this wild thought about buying about 50 of the lights and giving each person in the student section at the basketball game a light. Fleeting thought as the result would not be well received.
Years ago I had one and was playing with it at a football game. Twirling it on my finger while in the stands, flashing on and off, idle hands you know. Suddenly the game was stopped by the opposing coach across the field. He got an official and pointed in the stands in my direction. I had no idea what was going on. The security officer came to me and told me the coach said I was trying to blind his team. When I showed the security officer the light he laughed and just asked me to put it away. The other team was losing so looking for any excuse.
The primary difference I’ve noticed between Microsoft and Apple is that anything is available from Redmond provided that you are willing to write a big enough check.
If Apple doesn’t want to give you something, you’re pretty much hosed.
>> ”Anyone have an opinion about me getting my wife a subscription to Astronomy magazine? ”
@nick, I presume you/your wife has and/or has read RBT’s astronomy books?
the phone has to be unlocked with FaceID or touch confirming it is me.
–which is no security at all. Hold the phone up in front of your arrestee and it unlocks, yes? Swipe your victim’s unconscious finger across the sensor, it unlocks, yes?
No security if so. Something you are and/or something you have, plus something you know…
I remember reading some time ago that for any given biometric there is between 1 and 5% of the population that can’t use it for some reason. (missing digits, no eyes, can’t speak. scaring, injury…)
n
>> My wife got a roomba clone which came with a laser pointer. I thought that there might be a light sensor on the robot and the laser would let you steer the robot to problem spots but no. The manual stated specifically that the laser is for entertaining pets or small children. Why they’d have included it for that purpose is beyond me.
Yeah, small children staring into that laser could be entertaining…for the lawyers…
@nick, I presume you/your wife has and/or has read RBT’s astronomy books?
–at the moment she’s not interested in “astronomy” per se. She just wants to look at cool shirt that most people never take the time to see, and mainly driven by her memories of the night sky in Albuquerque and the nice (fairly) dark sky at the BOL.
I thought RBT’s books were aimed a little higher than that.
n
Spent the last two hours cooking. That wasn’t really on my schedule.
Started with getting the beef ready for the slow cooker barbacao, led to cooking 10 pounds of hamburger that I bought last week. Time was ticking on it, and I thought it would be convenient to have it portioned and cooked ahead of time.
Now I’m late getting to my pickups and once more stuff will slip into the future.
n
Dear Santa ~ All I want for Christmas is a fat bank account and a skinny body. Please don’t mix it up again like last year.
>> A really good email program, spreadsheet, word processor, and presentation software are free with MacOS. Microsoft maybe should consider doing the same but leave the collaboration portion or more advanced options for the purchased option.
It’s called Google Apps. (Docs, Sheets, etc.)
Actually, there are free “lite” versions of Word, Excel, etc. available.
Correct. Get arrested by a LEO, asked to unlock the phone, say no. So then the LEO will just hold the phone to the face or force the finger on the scanner. Opens up an entire new way for LEOs to gain access to information without a warrant. Then deny doing so after the fact. I am certain most law enforcement agencies were absolutely giddy over this than the old passcode system.
FaceID and TouchID does provide security for transactions. Unless I am dead and the thief unlocks the phone and buys a bunch of stuff from Apple. Apple still requires a photo ID to pick up items ordered online and picked up in the store.
@Greg: Day 5 – parsing the input was a annoying. Haven’t done days 6 or day 7 yet – I had an absolute pile of grading to do. But this evening I’m on the train for a couple of hours, so I hope to catch up.
I am doing my own Advent thing with my Fortran to C++ project. I am getting close to hitting 60,000 lines of C++ code. Only 90,000+ lines to go to get my small data analysis app running. Looks like I am going to blow right past Christmas into the new year.
I don’t want to give anymore information to Google. Additionally, having tried to use those application, while good, do not come close to the native Microsoft and Apple apps. Google docs is best on Chromebooks.
Again, this may just be a learning curve on my part. I am quite competent in MS Office applications. Going to others I have to do a lot of hunting in the application or use of web searches. Not a real boon to productivity. On a positive note, being retired, I have no need to be productive.
I did not even know those existed. Probably good enough for the majority of home users. Thanks for the link.
The documents cab only be saved on OneDrive. Good or bad? Depends on the user.
I hate the trend towards “Visual Studio Everywhere”, including on Linux, to the point that even Senior developers cannot manage basic text editors and the command line. Git integration into the GUI makes things worse.
One of the reasons why I am converting my calculation engine from Fortran to C++ is so I can use Visual Studio. Using text editors and command line compilers sucks for large programs.
I’ve been using an IDE (interactive development environment) since Turbo Pascal in 1983. Simply an awesome way to develop software. But there has never been a good IDE for any of the Fortran compilers since Microsoft’s Powerstation Fortran blew up with all the bugs and they took it off the market.
The primary difference I’ve noticed between Microsoft and Apple is that anything is available from Redmond provided that you are willing to write a big enough check.
Apparently Microsoft makes 60+% of their money from customizing their software nowadays.
>> Yes. I bought the iPhone because it is the best in my opinion. Android falls short in many areas in my attempts to use Android phones. Frustrating.
. . .
I bought the iPad because it is one of the best tablets available. I had tried others due to work and other requirements. Just not the same. A lot has to do with Android.
. . .
Part of the issue may be because of my deep roots with Microsoft software. I am used to dealing with files and folders. MacOS tends to attempt to shield manipulating files and folders from the user.
. . .
With Windows 11 I think Microsoft has become almost as arrogant as Apple. The redoing of the start menu, the messing with the taskbar, side folders when working with a file folder window, the insistence that OneDrive be used for document storage, the insistence that an account with Microsoft must be created. Users are pawns to the whims of the two major platforms.
For me, with the phones it’s the opposite. I find little that I can’t get my Android (Pixel 6) phone to do while it’s the iPhone that I find frustrating. But at least we have choices.
As for the iPad, I do admire it from a hardware perspective but again, find the OS confusing.
I’d be lost without files and folders on my PCs.
I always presume that some of the arrogance is just change for change’s sake to sell the next version.
Dilbert: Dogbert PR Firm Helps With Phones
https://dilbert.com/strip/2022-12-07
Uh, the Van Gogh strategy sucks.
Wait, this is a 2016 strip. Did the strip get canceled as of the Dec 4, 2022 strip ?
https://dilbert.com/strip/2022-12-04
Is Robert’s book still available?
Ah, yes it is. Astronomy Hacks: Tips and Tools for Observing the Night Sky. Kindle and papeerback.
https://www.amazon.com/Astronomy-Hacks-Tools-Observing-Night/dp/0596100604/ref=sr_1_5?crid=1YQO8HMFDOUAX&keywords=robert+bruce+thompson&qid=1670442813&sprefix=robert+bruce+thompson%2Caps%2C158&sr=8-5&tag=ttgnet-20
I reviewed it when it before it came out and found it quite interesting even as an only mildly interested person with a mediocre pair of binoculars. Well written for everyone as usual for Robert and Barbara.
Typical lawyer hunting for more victims XXXXXX hurt people.
https://pbs.twimg.com/media/FjRyxL4WYAA53dn?format=jpg&name=small
I am fairly sure that Starfleet has Sovereign Immunity.
Robert’s Astronomy Hacks: Tips and Tools for Observing the Night Sky
still available in kindle or paperback
https://www.amazon.com/Astronomy-Hacks-Tools-Observing-Night/dp/0596100604/ref=sr_1_5?crid=1YQO8HMFDOUAX&keywords=robert+bruce+thompson&qid=1670442813&sprefix=robert+bruce+thompson%2Caps%2C158&sr=8-5&tag=ttgnet-20
I reviewed the book when it came out and found it quite interesting even though my interest is only passing. Well written for everyone to understand as usual for Robert and Barbara.
Robert’s Astronomy Hacks: Tips and Tools for Observing the Night Sky
still available in kindle or paperback from Amazon
I reviewed the book when it came out and found it quite interesting even though my interest is only passing. Well written for everyone to understand as usual for Robert and Barbara.
>> Wait, this is a 2016 strip. Did the strip get canceled as of the Dec 4, 2022 strip ?
@lynn, go back and reread the last two panels of Sunday’s strip…“icy death” ???
.
.
.
Or…Tony’s bought it from Scott to be the new Twitter media relations department.
“Tenn. Governor Eyes Raising Electric Vehicle Fee From $100 to $300 Annually”
https://www.pcmag.com/news/tenn-governor-eyes-raising-electric-vehicle-fee-from-100-to-300-annually
“Tennessee is one of 31 states that charge EV drivers to make up for lost gas taxes, and $300 would be the highest fee yet. See where your state stacks up.”
Those battery vehicles are heavy and tear up the roads.
I received an email advertising a sale for refrigerants. I thought the prices looked high, so I dug into my emails. In Dec 2020, I purchased a 5lb cylinder of R-410A for $89. It now sells for $149. Wow.
I got into LibreOffice in grad school. I actually prefer to work in their PowerPoint imitation since it creates much cleaner slides by default without going through a bunch of options.
10 slides for an hour talk is a lot for me.
You can get around having an MS account. When set-up (on Win11, anyway) wants to create an account, you open a dos box and type in something like “Ipconfig /flushdns”. Or you pull the Ethernet or take your wi-fi down for a few minutes. Worked for me.
Darn thing still tries to make you get an account. Yeah, no. “That’s an interesting looking program” but stuff the on-line shirt[-r]. It’s annoying like having a random eyebrow hair curling down into your eye. I can pull the hair, don’t know how to fix the OS.
And then there is my glorious wISP where the connection randomly goes “eff you, you ain’t even checking e-mail”. I want to store My Documents on-line? Yeah, no.
Along with their desire for you to store your stuff on-line, which can be useful ala getting a new phone and Google has my contacts saved, I think if it’s on-line and not on a server or shared hosting account that you control, it’s not yours anymore.
Win11 has some annoying features. Why can’t I un-install the Xbox Game Bar? Or at least delete it from the Start Menu? Or Camera and Cortana and several more.
Why do menus vanish if the mouse rolls off for more that a second and a half? Where is the setting for focus timing? For example, you can r-click on the desktop or a file on the desktop and the menu stays up forever until you click elsewhere. Click on Start and move the mouse away, because maybe I want to take my time reading, or ditto with Firefox, and you have to start over.
Grump grump grump. 🙂
>> I received an email advertising a sale for refrigerants. I thought the prices looked high, so I dug into my emails. In Dec 2020, I purchased a 5lb cylinder of R-410A for $89. It now sells for $149. Wow.
Speaking of A/C refrigerants, icymi, as of January 1, 2023, in the Southern tier of states, all new HVAC systems must have a minimum SEER of 15 (though most new units will be SEER 16). The current minimum is 14. If you need to replace your HVAC, this may be a savings opportunity if you get it done by the end of the month. (Random google page with more details.)
Visual Studio is a great tool for Windows, much like Xcode is on Mac OS X.
Visual Studio Code on Linux is an excuse for a lot of developers for not getting things done for the last four years. At first it was just young’n’s, but then I noticed more senior people at the previous-previous job (BINGO!) showing up, knowing full well we were a command line development Unix shop but complaining about not being able to install the multi-hundred MB GUI on our remote systems, sometimes behind two layers of SSH logins if we were really unlucky.
And I thought the Vi/Emacs debates were ugly. Emacs ships with most Unix systems now, but that was a big excuse for things not getting done in the 90s. “I need Emacs. I can’t use Vi.”
“Was the person who created the commands for Vi on drugs?”
“Bill Joy? Yes, he most likely was on drugs.”
Vi is legendary for being the end product of an all night hack when Joy was still at Berkeley.
I’ve given up expecting a Linux developer to be able to put together a moderately complex shell script, but Vi? As Plugs says, “C’mon, man.”
I had a first last night. Got into bed, Penny sort of cuddled at my feet, Buddy on the other side of the bed. Turned on the Squeezebox Boom for some tunes while falling asleep. Normal routine.
Half way through a song and it quit. Long story made short, Logitech Media Server (as they call it now) crashed. First time ever.
Ah. Can’t complain. It’s been at least two years since Moa was rebooted…. that would be when the Big Freeze happened and the UPS ran out of juice.
I had a first last night. Got into bed, Penny sort of cuddled at my feet, Buddy on the other side of the bed. Turned on the Squeezebox Boom for some tunes while falling asleep. Normal routine.
Half way through a song and it quit. Long story made short, Logitech Media Server (as they call it now) crashed. First time ever.
Ah. Can’t complain. It’s been at least two years since Moa was rebooted…. that would be when the Big Freeze happened and the UPS ran out of juice.
You need to get a third dog for a truly cold night (“three dog night”).
Why would anyone want another Alabama cheerleader?
I will let myself out.
All dogs are grey in the dark?
Fixed it for you.
Free office programs; Libre Office includes a word processing program that’s 90% compatible with Word, a spreadsheet program that’s mostly compatible with Excel, and a presentation program that I’ve never used. But then, I rarely touch PowerPoint.
The big points of difference are Outlook, for which there are no similar programs, and Access, ditto. There are lots of mail programs, many calendar applications and several contact managers, but none that are tightly integrated the way Outlook is.
How much damage would an asteroid do? Try this web site to ‘launch’ an asteroid to any location.
https://neal.fun/asteroid-launcher/
After your asteroid ‘hits’ the target, scroll down the right side to see all the damage.
Warning: possible time sink.
…as for “Office” programs, I’ve tried various versions, and always come back to Office to get missing features.
I currently use Office 2019 (not cloud-based). Got the full Professional package for about $90 (IIRC). You can find those kinds of deals on various web sites.
Mine was a fully licensed lifetime license version. Download only. Some licenses allow for multiple installations.
>> I hate hidden files of all types. To keep them hidden the OS and file system have to lie to you, which is a breaking of trust that the computer does what you want it to do.
Ayyup…blame dem dadgum code monkees fur thinkin dey be knowin mores den da kustomers.
>> I currently use Office 2019 (not cloud-based). Got the full Professional package for about $90 (IIRC). You can find those kinds of deals on various web sites.
Still wary as to how legit these are. I guess you places your bet and takes your chances.
You can turn iPhone biometrics off. Always do that if are traveling to Tennessee or out of the country.
Free office programs; Libre Office includes a word processing program that’s 90% compatible with Word, a spreadsheet program that’s mostly compatible with Excel, and a presentation program that I’ve never used. But then, I rarely touch PowerPoint.
The big points of difference are Outlook, for which there are no similar programs, and Access, ditto. There are lots of mail programs, many calendar applications and several contact managers, but none that are tightly integrated the way Outlook is.
I like Thunderbird. Been using TB since Microsoft did away with Outlook Express. I dislike Outlook since it uses a single file database that is difficult to back up.
I have 60 GB of old emails stored in my Thunderbird.
https://www.thunderbird.net/
>> Visual Studio Code on Linux is an excuse for a lot of developers for not getting things done for the last four years. At first it was just young’n’s, but then I noticed more senior people at the previous-previous job (BINGO!) showing up, knowing full well we were a command line development Unix shop but complaining about not being able to install the multi-hundred MB GUI on our remote systems, sometimes behind two layers of SSH logins if we were really unlucky.
One of the benefits of going into IT management was being able to delegate tasks like that to someone on your team. No “i” in team, but there is “m” “e”.
The point of Access was to kill the Clipper cottage developer industry. Mission accomplished, but 20 years later, it is still around.
These days, SQLite pretty much owns single client database chores.
>> I got into LibreOffice in grad school. I actually prefer to work in their PowerPoint imitation since it creates much cleaner slides by default without going through a bunch of options.
10 slides for an hour talk is a lot for me.
PowerPoint was maddening at times…oh yeah, it’s on the master slide… yet it’s not.
Whenever I could get away with it my slides were landscape Word documents with minimal text. Nothing really for people at the meeting to be distracted by and can listen to what you have to say and ask questions, in other words, everyone is engaged.
Scott may be taking a well-deserved vacation and recycling a week’s worth (or two) of strips. Or perhaps he’s finally moving out of Cacafornia.
Scott may be taking a well-deserved vacation and recycling a week’s worth (or two) of strips. Or perhaps he’s finally moving out of Cacafornia.
Nope, he video blogged today:
https://www.scottadamssays.com/episode-1950-scott-adams-it-seems-only-yesterday-joe-manchin-jim-baker-controlled-the-country/
@Alan
Whenever I could get away with it my slides were landscape Word documents with minimal text.
ayup
I don’t do PowerPoint (or work-alike) decks when I’m running a meeting or presenting something. I’ll make an agenda with bullet points and links if appropriate and pass that around ahead of time, then during the talk I’ll bring up code, graphs from analyses, or whatever I need. This usually involves flipping between different applications but I’m up to that challenge. (Mentioning it solely because some are not.) I don’t write down a speech or anything, just wing it based on the agenda and feedback from the audience. (And occasionally based on surprises like a remote connection dropping in mid-sentence. Usually I keep the profanity under control when that happens. Usually.)
Also break a headlight and a tooth. Bonus points for a meth blackened tooth.
Buy a child size moonshine distillery t-shirt for your favorite 10 year-old.
Or low grade THC products from the vendors in front of the *Apple Store* just down from the Ryman in Nashville.
Baby’s First Sour Mash™. Sold at stores everywhere. Newly stocked for Christmas stocking stuffers!
>> Also break a headlight and a tooth. Bonus points for a meth blackened tooth.
I thought it was ‘fewest number of teeth’ wins? Or is that ‘Louisiana rules?’
IMNAP, but had fun with BATch files when DOS was a thing. Kinda liked the vanity license plates nature of 8.3 filenames. Don’t use Windows “library” folders, usually move data folders to a 2ndary drive and just muck around with Explorer. Used to use replacement file managers that mimicked Norton Commander’s Function Key shortcuts but got out of the habit. There is a freebie called “Everything” that indexes ALL the files on a system for quick finding. (www.voidtools.com)
Back at the dawn of personal computers in engineering school, all the prof’s were issued 80286 DOS machines about the time ‘386’s came out. 80×25 green text CRTs. The school equipped ‘em with WordPerfect. WP required the user to set the data path but defaulted to dumping work product into the program directory/folder. One prof went looking through the program folder and deleted a buncha files she didn’t recognize. Program no workie anymore. Lesson learned. 😀
Haven’t found a simpatico file manager for Android, but “Total Commander” doesn’t frustrate too much.
“Schadenfreuday Funny”
https://wattsupwiththat.com/2022/12/02/schadenfreuday-funny/
“French and Germans becoming impatient with Climate Limpets.”
That might not be allowed in the Apple UI. Bruce Tognazzini worked on the early interface design for Apple. He has railed against some of the later changes on his apparently dormant blog:
https://www.asktog.com/
I have found some of his writings to be of interest, but he typifies Apple’s hidebound adherence to rigid rules that IMO hinder ease of use.
When I transitioned from the Mac to DOS and, a year later, Windows 2.1, I found the UI to be much more convenient for me. In Windows, use of the mouse was largely optional. Most everything could be done by using the keyboard, (except for drawing programs, obviously.) Since I had come from the VT-100 and other terminals, I had been forced to learn the command line and sometimes function keys. It became natural for me. DOS was very easy to pick up, and I felt right at home.
Windows was a mix of UI violations, but many of them made sense to me. For instance, Escape said “No” to most prompts, er, dialog boxes. Enter said “Yes”. Ctrl-Tab stepped through tabbed dialogs, Alt-letter selected menu items, etc. You get the idea, but there was much more. With a little practice, I could fly through daily chores with ease. Windows kept this through 2000… mostly. Then, I took a detour to Linux. None of these conveniences worked on most presentation managers. Now, on Windows 10, fewer of these conveniences work. I have to use the blasted mouse, which takes my hand off the keyboard, and is much slower than key commands.
Like you, Ray, I have become used to Windows and Office, and they work the way I have learned over the years. I didn’t like the ribbon, but the key commands are mostly still there. I love right mouse button context menus, but if I find myself using a command often, I learn the keyboard shortcut, if there is any. If not, I have occasionally made some. Windows and Office are user configurable, but not enough.
In retirement, I no longer need most of the features of Word, but it is nice that they are there. Many of the niceties carry over to Outlook, a plus. I have taught a few people some of the more obscure ones. They usually remark that they never knew they could do such things. Yup, just look it up. Oh, not in Help; in Google! Early Microsoft Help, especially the interactive tutorials, was pretty good. Not any more.
Excel remains my Swiss Army knife. I will never master all it offers, but I have fun with it. I wish I had had it when I was a design engineer in the 1960s and 70s.
Finally, if Microsoft screws up Windows, I will be lost. I have tried the other two competitors and found them not to my taste. I have also messed with a Chromebook. Maybe desktop Android, if it is not dead yet, but I hold no hope for it for business use. One a phone, it is pretty good. Can’t wait to get one of the Z Fold phones. I also need an Android tablet for automotive use. Time is a precious commodity. Now to Zzzzz.
@nick re the laser pointer thingy that came with the telescope, if it has an angled cutout on the side through which you can see the laser dot on a screen which has concentric circles printed on it, it sounds like the mirror alignment tool I have for my reflector, you stick it in the eyepiece and adjust your mirror until the dot is centred.
THANKS. Looks like something I will try. Old school: small and fast.
@norman, thank you, the manual doesn’t mention it (so far) and it has the look of an alignment tool..
I ordered the kindle version of the RBT ‘hacks” book. I’m betting that 70% of it is more than what my wife wants now, but if the 25% helps out and keeps the spark going, it was a cheap supplement to the ‘scope, and of course it’s where I should have looked FIRST.
n
Alabama.
I am ashamed of you culturally ignorant slobs.