The Lounge

nivek

As Above So Below
Got all the chores done around the house today, so I don't have to do any work this weekend lol...Finished mowing the grass 30 minutes ago in a 25mph wind that was actually a bit cold since the temp was only 60 degrees...Its dropping to 40 degrees tonight, unusually cold for the first week of May, but my beans and corn are popping up out of the ground, Yay!...

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pigfarmer

tall, thin, irritable
Still using an old tower running win 10. Space isn't a consideration and I like the form factor. Laptops seem old school anymore unless you can twist them and poke at their screens with your fingers. Removable media and physically connected devices are fading so that simplifies a lot of the hardware needed. I don't think I'll ever make the jump to a portable touchscreen gadget. I have them, use them, but have spent so much time pounding away at a 'traditional' interface I'm too far gone.

Having flashbacks right now ..... DEC TTY consoles .... 110 baud ... serial cables .... big boxes tractor feed paper.
Win 10 or IOS doesn't seem so bad.
 

August

Metanoia
Still using an old tower running win 10. Space isn't a consideration and I like the form factor. Laptops seem old school anymore unless you can twist them and poke at their screens with your fingers. Removable media and physically connected devices are fading so that simplifies a lot of the hardware needed. I don't think I'll ever make the jump to a portable touchscreen gadget. I have them, use them, but have spent so much time pounding away at a 'traditional' interface I'm too far gone.

Having flashbacks right now ..... DEC TTY consoles .... 110 baud ... serial cables .... big boxes tractor feed paper.
Win 10 or IOS doesn't seem so bad.

Wow how ancient.
 

The shadow

The shadow knows!
Last night we watched a spring training game for the south side sluggers.. Ian's first at bat in over a year results in a overzealous strike out. Angry he stalked to the dugout. To the taunts of " left right left right sit down!"
His next at bat yeiled a single..and a 2nd strike out on his 3rd. This did not help his foul mood. he did have 2 catches and a bullet toss for an out.
The sluggers lost 4 to 2.
And a lecture on his temper...
 

JahaRa

Noble
Still using an old tower running win 10. Space isn't a consideration and I like the form factor. Laptops seem old school anymore unless you can twist them and poke at their screens with your fingers. Removable media and physically connected devices are fading so that simplifies a lot of the hardware needed. I don't think I'll ever make the jump to a portable touchscreen gadget. I have them, use them, but have spent so much time pounding away at a 'traditional' interface I'm too far gone.

Having flashbacks right now ..... DEC TTY consoles .... 110 baud ... serial cables .... big boxes tractor feed paper.
Win 10 or IOS doesn't seem so bad.
I remember a printer we had at my first computer job that was like a huge dinosaur. I think if the building crumbled around it it would still keep printing.
 

nivek

As Above So Below
I remember a printer we had at my first computer job that was like a huge dinosaur. I think if the building crumbled around it it would still keep printing.

Old printers I don't keep but I have numerous old computer parts going back to before Pentium 1...Complete and functional parts, I can build computers from them and use them if needed and have every Windows version back to 3.1 along with older Linux software and programs...Never know if they might be needed agsin lol...

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pigfarmer

tall, thin, irritable
somewhere downstairs I have a couple of RS-232 breakout boxes if anybody needs to troubleshoot their gigantic old crapola.

Big TTYs - those %$^#@@! had a hard time working when sitting still on a raised floor. I only thought they were a p.i.t.a until I thought I wanted to repair and old typewriter. THAT is the Devil's Business I tell you. Ugh.
 

pigfarmer

tall, thin, irritable
I think the only privacy protection we have - because we don't really anymore - is being lost in the masses.

Having worked on loads of telephone systems for over thirty years I can tell you about the really salacious or interesting conversations I've overheard. There are like, three of them. I could physically do it with an old butt set or even in the '80s sit at a proprietary console and pop in and out silently.

Currently phone systems are all SIP and when you're Zooming and the like it's really about the same thing. Nothing physical for you to lay your grubby mitts on. But, with access to the right spot - and that's the trick - I could sit there with a common laptop and freeware and literally capture everything. I still have conversations saved that took place years ago. The limitation is the hard drive that fills up real fast. I had one customer in Manhattan that had offices all over the country. A plain old toll quality call is 44Kbps. 10 minutes of that on a normal workday in that network and you've got quite a pile to sift through. Anonymity comes from sheer volume.

I know that after 9/11 and the Patriot Act something very much like that is supposed to be occurring. I've heard different versions of this; the Big Ear at Fort Meade is supposed to be doing about the same thing on a national level and they have AI just fishing for keywords that are sidelines for additional examination. So next time you're on the phone talk about the bombs you are making, jihad and so forth and I wouldn't doubt it triggers something. But whatever it is is incredibly brief and would have to rise to a much different level I would think before a human is even aware of it.

Much of this is applicable to about everything else. Someone want to really target you, you are, period. We sort of ignore the fact that we are targeted all the time with ads, blah blah and don't seem to mind. We wire our homes with cameras and little boxes that listen to us. And then what, bitch abut privacy? Eh?

Mostly you're just another face in the unwashed masses that turn the wheel of history. Had a teacher that used that phrase a little too often and I liked it.
 

The shadow

The shadow knows!
FB_IMG_1620669716117.jpgFB_IMG_1620669702605.jpg
Just closed on this awesome sweet van.
The price was very right.
And nicely maintenance Free.it may be old but runs well!
 

pigfarmer

tall, thin, irritable
I've got Wed, Thurs and Friday off and it's supposed to be nice. I've got the decks prepared and repaired and have to start with the brush and stain them all. Tedious. I enjoy carpentry and liked getting out the implements of construction to replace a couple of bits. Would rather not make a cabinet but I can knock together a decent deck or set of stairs.

It must be f*****k time for raccoons, or was. We got a big fat one taking up residence in a rotting tree out back. She looks enormously pregnant. I leave a pair of binoculars on the kitchen table so we can check her out, once in a while you've got a little face peeking out of the hole. My wife tells me I was the center of raccoon attention while I was working on the deck a few dozen yards away. We've seen babies in there in the past and expect to again soon.
 

nivek

As Above So Below
Unexpected company this morning consumed much of my day, a nice visit though on a nice day outside, partly sunny skies and 70 degrees...Tomorrow night we might have frost, it's getting thst cold for a couple nights this week, very unusual...I have large tarps I could hang above the garden if it looks like we will get frost tomorrow, hang them off of the chicken wire fence posts staked around...I'll see how things look about this time tomorrow and go from there...All of the corn and green bean plants are a couple inches tall now, 4 tomato plants have sprouted out of 8 I planted, no peppers have sprouted yet and 2 of the 8 watermelon plants have sprouted...After the cold spell this week I'll plant some more watermelon seeds...

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pigfarmer

tall, thin, irritable
Two days of perfect weather and I got the decks stained. The Home Depot stuff for $30/gallon came out nice if not nicer looking that the Cabot stuff for $52/gallon. They are both latex because you can't buy the oil based stuff around here easily anymore. Spent 4-5 hours each day, very tedious. Takes 2.5 gallons

At one time a nice deck with a semi-transparent wood stain was in. I used a solid color redwood because the decks are far from new. Now it's all about composite decking, vinyl sleeves for posts and railing systems, hidden fasteners and subtle LED lighting. Two days worth of work and I decided it looks perfect - and dated.

But same chair, same ass, same can of beer and I don't care ...... check this one off this list for another two years
 

pigfarmer

tall, thin, irritable
Cruised over to the local 'recreational power sports' center and got my inspection. Took all of twenty seconds and nobody touched the bike but me. Directionals, brake lights, horn, headlight hi/lo, gimme six bucks and here's your sticker. Very pretty young woman to boot who couldn't possibly been nicer or more efficient. So now I'm 100% legal for the first time in a couple of years.

There's the stupidity behind this. The rear brake is actually spongy and in need of attention. Had an actual mechanic looked at it passing would be sketchy but that's how these things are done. It's not like a car, the rear brake isn't used for much. Sixty bucks and an afternoon should square that away.

Felt good to be glugging around. Have to ease my way into it again - don't need an oops. Accidents almost always happen at low or no speed, like when you're parking it.
 

nivek

As Above So Below
Last night should be the last cold night of temps below 40 degrees, the plants in the garden did well thru the cold spell we had this week...Everything has popped out of the ground from seed except the pepper plants and a few of the watermelons, so I'll replant those today...

Bought deer netting to surround the garden this year, I usually use chicken wire fencing but decided to try this netting for the first time...Purchased it cheap on Amazon, my neighbor is coming over in a couple hours to help me put up the netting, about 200 ft length of it at 3 ft tall...I have the metal fence stakes already placed around the garden, just need to hang the netting and zip tie it to the fence stakes...He's coming over to help me because if it works out well enough he's going to use the same netting for around his garden, so in a way we're both trying it something different this season lol...

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