dkresge

If only it was simple rage bait. As a member of this thing we call "civilization" I can't help but wonder how the hell we got to this point. #rhetorical

Seems like an excellent startup opportunity? Build a clean, no-ads streaming stick with open source firmware upstream of the requisite DRM bits and who wouldn't buy one? Almost like what Roku used to be, and the reason we recommended it, for so many years.

I believe the intent was thus: “Aye, that makes sense (not the [reauthorization of] slurs, but the explanation). Thanks.”

There are also image stabilized binoculars. I have an older Canon 10x30 that I absolutely love (enough to tolerate the plasticizer now breaking down on the rubberized exterior)

Oh how I drooled for that Astrocam 110.

Interesting. I recently admired the creative engineering of my neighbor’s dishwasher which simply, and quietly, projects a small status light on the floor.

It’s a Bosch.

I agree with your point regarding local culture, but I'm not clear on the economic waste. An empty second home generates property tax revenue for the city/town in which it exists, yet, by virtue of being empty, creates no burden on power, schools, roads or other infrastructure. I would suspect that regions with large percentages of vacation homes (e.g. Cape Coral, FL, USA) scale to meet the needs of their resident population. Could they even support 100% occupancy?

What I wouldn't do to be done with (some of) "today's standards".

Wow this feels a bit Baader-Meinhoff. With Valetudo + self-emptying as motivation, I received my Z10 via Amazon / "Dreametech official store" just this past Friday. Happily, it arrived with fw 4.1.7_1056 and I was able to use the simple reset method to install. Valetudo's worked wonderfully for the past week and I've never even seen the official app. One note: VT is not open source firmware. It's more like a brain controlling parasite with a good UX.

Moreover, something rarely mentioned, multiple processes and pipes can give you some free parallelism courtesy of the scheduler.

Hear hear. You may enjoy “An Exaltation of Larks” by (the late) James Lipton of “Inside the Actor’s Studio”

When I was 13 or 14, I had befriended the Sysop of a regional BBS who was gracious enough to offer me (and my Father) a tour of his workplace “where they made the C64”. Feeling like Charlie in Willy Wonka’s world, I was awed by the magic within this building. Computers and gear everywhere. Soldering and test stations and seemingly alien technology that my young mind had never imagined. But one thing that really stood out were the massive palleted piles of new C64 “bread loaves” arrayed around the floor; each with a numbered page on top with the count. Asked about this, our guide explained “All defective and awaiting test.” Thousands. Maybe tens of thousands.

"Thank you" doesn't seem to suffice. Where might I donate?

There was even an add-on “dump cart” which could be towed and (IIRC) dumped programmatically via the 1/8” mini-plug that served as part of its hitch. Fun times!

You’d love the Bulwer-Lytton fiction contest.

The fun thing about the “use the force” quote is that it was a clue. If you could channel your inner Jedi, and the only shot you fired while in the trench was the one into the exhaust port, you were granted a pretty decent bonus (especially in the higher numbered waves).

Note also it says “reports”, not complaints.

Is the physical volume of the average pill predominantly "active ingredient"? If not, why not just "print" a single pill per customer-dose comprised of the prescribed constituents?

Or annoying, apparently. A good friend of mine’s father, having recently acquired a unix based POS system for his retail store, decided he’d prefer a nicer name than ‘root’. Apparently, ca. 1984 unix was rather particular about names (instead of uid) and didn’t take kindly to such. Much pain ensued.

What if man pages colorized (or greyscaled) oft-used vs. esoteric or less common options? Just having a common visual cue could both save time and reduce risk.

How about placing a clear date/time stamp on the chart?

So, more fundamental than UX, that the proper employee action for an “exercise” differs from that for a real threat doesn’t seem to be a proper test. Why not just have an administrative airgap keyswitch that enables exercises to be conducted without the requirement to disseminate the fact beforehand? Then you can test for the proper response without risk.

reminds me my once time rather enjoyable error of "ls -l | moire" (with xscreensaver installed)

I don't know if they were ahead of their time, or woefulily, even negligently, unaware of their market. I remember going to "the mall" as a kid with my Mom and spending (what seemed like) hours staring, coveting, and sometimes purchasing the blue blister pack ICs; all while she waited patiently to do her shopping. I didn't have the income they were looking for, and was far from their target demographic. Some time in 1979 my dad paid the local RS a visit with an intent to purchase a computer for the family. After spending an hour in an effort to get some answers from the salesman who, according to my father, was more interested in selling battery memberships, he walked out. I now recognize and appreciate that, at the time, a $2.5k purchase might have been seen as the exceedingly unlikely result of questions from "just another lookie loo". But if R.S. took even a moment to see the potential of their customer base, I likely wouldn't have awoken Christmas 1979 to an Apple ][+.

Especially when you can reap all the benefits of increased sales without having to pay for real estate or employees. Seems they're cutting off their nose to spite their face.

Such a wonderfully insightful and well written comment and you choose to belabor a typo? sigh

My friend's parents were the same -- they did it on principle because the telco charged for touch tone. Never mind that it cost the telco substantially more to continue supporting the "rotary" infrastructure, I'm sure it was a cash cow.

I remember being awed by their new PC with its amazingly fast 9600 baud modem. And then it dialed out. ATDP. Tick. Tick tick tick. ....

Chaos aside, I wonder what the impact would be of simply declaring that all pennies are now worth $1. Based on circulation ca. 2009 it would imply a $1.65 trillion "conversion"; ~10% of GDP.

Yep, this would be in the US. I had hope that there would be, at a minimum, some exclusion for infrastructure on private property, but it appears that isn't the case. Thank you very much for pointing me in the right direction.

I've been contemplating setting up a small [NW]ISP for our neighborhood (rural, wooded, private roads) but LOS issues limit my wireless options. One thought was to install a few airfibers and "demux" them with G.fast to each CPE via its service drop interconnect in the pedestal. This has the benefit of not having to trench the last 100 yards from the street to the residence. BUT I can find scant information on what authority one needs to do so. Do I need to be a CLEC/BIAS? Or is the local cable plant completely hands-off? Any pointers would be immensely appreciated (and thanks, Chris, for a great article. I look forward to reading more!)