* Posts by jml9904

9 publicly visible posts • joined 6 Sep 2017

Windows 10's demise nears, but Linux is forever

jml9904

Re: I agree with the majority of the article...

Thus the beauty of Linux. Use the distro and UI of your choice. Not the single option that someone in Redmond deems the One True Way. We have a common base; under the covers, Linux is pretty much Linux. There's no fight needed -- I like vim, you like EMACS, I like Mint, you like RHEL, and we can all move ahead without compromise.

Veteran Microsoft engineer shares some enterprise support tips

jml9904

Re: When I used to fix the machines of friends...

Yep. My response is "If your computer costs less than $100k, I probably don't know how to fix it."

FCC fines be damned, ESPN misuses emergency alert tones yet again

jml9904

Re: Interesting how every other country manages without this tone thing

Are you thinking of XEPRS (was at one time XERB) out of Tijuana?

jml9904

Re: Interesting how every other country manages without this tone thing

The unpleasantness was a secondary consideration. The _primary_ focus _was_ to avoid being close enough to typical broadcast content in order to minimize false tripping of downstream receivers -- see https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emergency_Broadcast_System. Otherwise, a single irritating 7-8 kHz tone would be far easier to generate.

However, my intent was to point out the history, not to defend the current usage. SAME/SAGE does use the tones for attention signals, and their necessity is debatable. As to using them on phones, I'd agree there's no reason to do so; that can be a purely digital solution and not audible.

jml9904

Re: Interesting how every other country manages without this tone thing

"relying on a specific sound to grab people's attention". The alert tones weren't designed to grab attention; they're in--band signals designed to trigger downstream receivers. Grabbing listeners' attention was a secondary function. This scheme dates back to the old EBS system which has worked for a very, very long time. Back when I was a broadcast engineer (read: back when there was such a thing and it actually required testing and licensure) one would get fined and fired for even the first offense. There are no standards any more.

Raspberry Pi 5 slims down for cut-price 2 GB RAM version

jml9904

Re: Blame Bloat

"I wonder how Damn Small Linux would do on a RPI"

Quite well, actually. I've gone that route but now stick to the Debian pre-packaged non-GUI rolls in the Raspberry Pi imager. Run them on RPI model B (not B+) and they do what I need, which is admittedly minimal; run an LCD, monitor a few sensors, and display the results.

Scientists use Raspberry Pi tech to protect NASA telescope data

jml9904

Re: I'm reminded of early space exploration

Or use a mechanical pencil...

Whoosh, there it is: Toshiba bods say 14TB helium-filled disk is coming soon

jml9904

Re: Need to check if it's any use for A/V storage

And make sure it's grey. Color-coded ribbon cables make the data sound different. Blindfolded volunteers in a lab test confirmed that.

jml9904

Re: Fuck a duck!

I remember booting up our old PDP-12. Octal keys. Flip, flip, flip, load/execute. Flip, flip, flip, load/execute. Flip, flip, flip, load/execute. Flip, flip, fl... damn! Reset... flip, flip, flip...

BIOS spoiled everyone.