Narf the Mouse Posted July 17, 2011 Report Share Posted July 17, 2011 Re: The cranky thread Around here' date=' "bad power" isn't a computer issue, it's a fact of life. The infrastructure stinks. I mean, a lightning bug farts in the general direction of a transformer and half the grid goes down.[/quote'] Why would a place that seems to get so many lightning storms have bad power infrastructure? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Xavier Onassiss Posted July 17, 2011 Report Share Posted July 17, 2011 Re: The cranky thread Why would a place that seems to get so many lightning storms have bad power infrastructure? It's a rural area. Low population, low tax base, low expectations.... Oh, hell, I live in the middle of *&^%$#@! nowhere and it's a miracle I'm online at all. This place is barely civilized. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Klytus Posted July 17, 2011 Report Share Posted July 17, 2011 Re: The cranky thread I wonder what would happen if we put a person in the car crusher. The movie Kick Ass answers that question quite... graphically. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
L. Marcus Posted July 17, 2011 Report Share Posted July 17, 2011 Re: The cranky thread So did Top Secret, and that movie wins, because that was Omar Sharif being compacted. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Klytus Posted July 17, 2011 Report Share Posted July 17, 2011 Re: The cranky thread It's a rural area. Low population, low tax base, low expectations.... Oh, hell, I live in the middle of *&^%$#@! nowhere and it's a miracle I'm online at all. This place is barely civilized. I once had chronic off-again on-again problems with my PC. I replaced the power supply three times and switched out the RAM, all to no avail. But once I replaced my UPS power-strip, lo and behold, no more random bluscreen reboots. Ergo, a good UPS with strong filters against spikes and filtering out "dirty"power might solve a lot of your problems. Granted, if components of the computer have been damaged, they'll need to be replaced, but a good power strip will help prevent them from get damaged again. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Burrito Boy Posted July 17, 2011 Report Share Posted July 17, 2011 Re: The cranky thread So did Top Secret' date=' and that movie wins, because that was Omar Sharif being compacted.[/quote'] Nooooooooooooooooooooooooooo!!! Not Omar Sharif!! Those b*st*rds! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
L. Marcus Posted July 17, 2011 Report Share Posted July 17, 2011 Re: The cranky thread He got ... Well, not better, but he was happy for a while ... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Xavier Onassiss Posted July 17, 2011 Report Share Posted July 17, 2011 Re: The cranky thread I once had chronic off-again on-again problems with my PC. I replaced the power supply three times and switched out the RAM, all to no avail. But once I replaced my UPS power-strip, lo and behold, no more random bluscreen reboots. Ergo, a good UPS with strong filters against spikes and filtering out "dirty"power might solve a lot of your problems. Granted, if components of the computer have been damaged, they'll need to be replaced, but a good power strip will help prevent them from get damaged again. Ooohhh... hadn't tried that yet. The power strip I'm using is was a good piece of gear, but like pretty much everything else I own, it may be past time to replace it. I suspect the damage is done as far as the computer is concerned, but it wouldn't hurt to have better protection for the peripherals and the eventual replacement computer. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lemming Posted July 17, 2011 Report Share Posted July 17, 2011 Re: The cranky thread I'm in a rural area that has frequent power troubles. I upgraded my UPS' to deal with it since it wasn't just power outages, but brownouts and an occasional spike to deal with. Need to put the entire house on ones. Light bulbs that are supposed to last five year, last maybe six months. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tkdguy Posted July 17, 2011 Report Share Posted July 17, 2011 Re: The cranky thread Spoilered in case you haven't seen the results yet: USA lost the championship game in penalty kicks. On another note: One of the newer workers (not a total n00b, but still less than 2 years in the company; I have 10 years seniority) starting to get uppity. Time to set that coworker straight. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Klytus Posted July 17, 2011 Report Share Posted July 17, 2011 Re: The cranky thread Ooohhh... hadn't tried that yet. The power strip I'm using is was a good piece of gear' date=' but like pretty much everything else I own, it may be past time to replace it. I suspect the damage is done as far as the computer is concerned, but it wouldn't hurt to have better protection for the peripherals and the eventual replacement computer.[/quote'] If the computer isn't that old, try replacing the RAM (which is dirt-cheap nowadays) and/or the power supply. Those are the components most vulnerable to power spikes, and fairly inexpensive to swap out and test. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Xavier Onassiss Posted July 18, 2011 Report Share Posted July 18, 2011 Re: The cranky thread If the computer isn't that old' date=' try replacing the RAM (which is dirt-cheap nowadays) and/or the power supply. Those are the components most vulnerable to power spikes, and fairly inexpensive to swap out and test.[/quote'] One thing I'm having major problems with is keeping my wi-fi connection. I'm not exactly sure what's causing it, but sometimes the connection goes out for no reason -- the router's okay, the wi-fi adapter is okay, and the ISP is fine. But the computer can't make the connection, or if it does, it won't stay connected for more than a few seconds. I switch to using my laptop for a while, and an hour later, the desktop connection is just fine again. Maddening. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Klytus Posted July 18, 2011 Report Share Posted July 18, 2011 Re: The cranky thread One thing I'm having major problems with is keeping my wi-fi connection. I'm not exactly sure what's causing it' date=' but sometimes the connection goes out for no reason -- the router's okay, the wi-fi adapter is okay, and the ISP is fine. But the computer can't make the connection, or if it does, it won't [i']stay[/i] connected for more than a few seconds. I switch to using my laptop for a while, and an hour later, the desktop connection is just fine again. Maddening. I hate WiFi. Even with the very best routers and WLAN cards, they are prone to interference. As is so perfectly illustrated here... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Xavier Onassiss Posted July 18, 2011 Report Share Posted July 18, 2011 Re: The cranky thread I hate WiFi. Even with the very best routers and WLAN cards' date=' they are prone to interference. As is so perfectly illustrated here... I don't think it's interference. The connection is stable with one machine, and not with the other... it's a hardware problem. The most important thing I've learned about wireless technology, however, is that it works for other people! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Klytus Posted July 18, 2011 Report Share Posted July 18, 2011 Re: The cranky thread I don't think it's interference. The connection is stable with one machine, and not with the other... it's a hardware problem. The most important thing I've learned about wireless technology, however, is that it works for other people! You may be right. But just for giggles... try relocating the PC a few feet in random directions to see if the reception improves and/or the enxt time the PC cannot connect, try using the laptop in the same physical location as the PC and see if the WiFi connection craps out. Interference can sometimes be localized. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cancer Posted July 18, 2011 Report Share Posted July 18, 2011 Re: The cranky thread That sucks' date=' but at least you have a diagnosis and a course of treatment. So perhaps it will only suck for a week or three? As for gaming, just make sure you run the deaf mute character. [/quote'] Actually, running a character who was functionally mute in combat was an interesting experience. He wasn't deaf, he wasn't stupid, but he couldn't talk. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cancer Posted July 18, 2011 Report Share Posted July 18, 2011 Re: The cranky thread Bad power is one of the most maddening computer issues to try and fix. You doing work up at an observatory? McDonald had the biggest isolation transformer I have ever seen. As the tech put it, "We're at the far corner of 40,000 square miles of lightning-collecting power line grid stretched across West Texas from the nearest big generator." Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Old Man Posted July 18, 2011 Report Share Posted July 18, 2011 Re: The cranky thread You doing work up at an observatory? McDonald had the biggest isolation transformer I have ever seen. As the tech put it' date=' "We're at the far corner of 40,000 square miles of lightning-collecting power line grid stretched across West Texas from the nearest big generator."[/quote'] Heh, about ten+ years ago we got the contract to provide servers and storage for Keck. Did you know that hard drives use aerodynamic effects to maintain separation between the head and the platter? And that hard drives have a maximum altitude rating as a result? Certain IT hardware makers lost money on that support contract, let me tell you. Around the same time we had an architecture firm as a client that was really mad because the gear we were selling them had a really high failure rate. The building they were in was... historic. We finally got them to let an electrician in there to check the power, and when he did, he started laughing--the power was so bad he couldn't make out the 60Hz signal against the noise. Client wasn't mad at us any longer, but suddenly their IT budget got diverted to facilities. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Klytus Posted July 19, 2011 Report Share Posted July 19, 2011 Re: The cranky thread Did you know that hard drives use aerodynamic effects to maintain separation between the head and the platter? And that hard drives have a maximum altitude rating as a result? I do now, and that's really good knowledge to have! Thanks for the tip Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cancer Posted July 19, 2011 Report Share Posted July 19, 2011 Re: The cranky thread Heh' date=' about ten+ years ago we got the contract to provide servers and storage for Keck. Did you know that hard drives use aerodynamic effects to maintain separation between the head and the platter? And that hard drives have a maximum altitude rating as a result? Certain IT hardware makers lost money on that support contract, let me tell you.[/quote'] I did know that, for the same kind of reason I never understood why vacuum column tape drives got installed at McDonald in a couple of places. Supposedly they were OK at 7000 feet, but I had my suspicions and avoided using them. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Old Man Posted July 19, 2011 Report Share Posted July 19, 2011 Re: The cranky thread Ah, 9-track tape. I spent a summer helping an IFA astronomer rescue her irreplaceable comet data from disintegrating 3M Blackwatch tape. mt -f /dev/rmt/0 fsf 1, mt rewind, ... and then I had to copy it to exabyte. Hopefully she's moved it to DVD-ROM by now, if not to the cloud somewhere. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cancer Posted July 19, 2011 Report Share Posted July 19, 2011 Re: The cranky thread Exabyte tapes went unreadable faster than any other medium I tried using. And I know of zero function drives for them now. I don't even have an existance theorem for a functioning exabyte drive now. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Xavier Onassiss Posted July 19, 2011 Report Share Posted July 19, 2011 Re: The cranky thread Exabyte tapes went unreadable faster than any other medium I tried using. And I know of zero function drives for them now. I don't even have an existance theorem for a functioning exabyte drive now. Can I be cranky for not following a single word of that? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cancer Posted July 19, 2011 Report Share Posted July 19, 2011 Re: The cranky thread AFAIK, no one in the astronomy community has a working exabyte tape drive. No one. The closest I've heard is that there are the pieces of several of them at New Mexico State that one might be able to scavenge a single working unit, but no one really believes that. Data on exabytes is irretrievably lost. By contrast, I know there are still functioning 9-track (half-inch) tape drive out there. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Old Man Posted July 19, 2011 Report Share Posted July 19, 2011 Re: The cranky thread Yeah, but the tape itself was disintegrating after 2-3 years on the shelf. (I understand this problem was particularly acute with the Blackwatch brand.) Can you even buy 9-track media new now? Surely it'd be better to pay monthly for some space on a couple of Amazon S3 zones. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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