Here we go again...

Discuss recent changes, make suggestions, etc.
User avatar
Sinned
Member Extraordinaire
Posts: 5804
Joined: Sun Aug 19, 2012 5:28 pm
Location: York, England

Re: Here we go again...

Post by Sinned »

When fielding a printer problem from one of the shops in the building components field the first things we asked them to do was to switch the printer off and unplug the power and transmission cables. We would then ask them to put both cables back and in the majority of cases the problem would resolve itself. Over time one of the cables would work loose, hence the problem. Simplest. Yes I have been on the trenches and am glad to be out. Less stress.
I believe in offering every assistance short of actual help but then mainly just want to be left to be myself in all my difference and uniqueness.
User avatar
beachlion
Member Extraordinaire
Posts: 1627
Joined: Wed Aug 14, 2013 3:15 am
Location: 65 year The Hague, The Netherlands, then Allentown, PA, USA

Re: Here we go again...

Post by beachlion »

Crfriend just proved that when you try to please everybody, you please nobody. ;)
All progress takes place outside the comfort zone - M J Bobak
User avatar
crfriend
Master Barista
Posts: 14432
Joined: Fri Nov 19, 2004 9:52 pm
Location: New England (U.S.)
Contact:

Re: Here we go again...

Post by crfriend »

beachlion wrote: Fri May 29, 2020 5:00 pmCrfriend just proved that when you try to please everybody, you please nobody. ;)
I'm not the first, and I suspect I'm not even close to being the last in that regard. 'Tis a pity we somehow feel the need to reinvent the wheel...
Retrocomputing -- It's not just a job, it's an adventure!
User avatar
denimini
Member Extraordinaire
Posts: 3224
Joined: Wed Jan 07, 2015 2:50 am
Location: Outback Australia

Re: Here we go again...

Post by denimini »

crfriend wrote: Wed May 27, 2020 2:23 pm
Sinned wrote: Wed May 27, 2020 1:55 pmI had it and now it's gone.
See post 35 in the thread. I got tired of taking stick for it so I disabled it.
I cannot possibly fix everybody's browser everywhere.
I never had the clock. Proves that what you don't know about you don't miss. I just look at the bottom right of the screen or my phone for time.
Often I would rather not know the time, otherwise I might not stay so long at Skirt Cafe.

Anyway thanks for the real time you put in to keeping the essentials going.
Anthony, a denim miniskirt wearer in Outback Australia
User avatar
crfriend
Master Barista
Posts: 14432
Joined: Fri Nov 19, 2004 9:52 pm
Location: New England (U.S.)
Contact:

Re: Here we go again...

Post by crfriend »

Thanks, Anthony.
Retrocomputing -- It's not just a job, it's an adventure!
User avatar
denimini
Member Extraordinaire
Posts: 3224
Joined: Wed Jan 07, 2015 2:50 am
Location: Outback Australia

Re: Here we go again...

Post by denimini »

Talking of time; I had this one today :)
Sorry but you cannot use search at this time. Please try again in 2 seconds.
It did make me smile. Are you sure there is not a little man in the box sporting an accurate watch, perhaps of a bureaucratic bent.
No need to explain the technical side thanks.
Anthony, a denim miniskirt wearer in Outback Australia
pelmut
Member Extraordinaire
Posts: 1923
Joined: Wed Mar 12, 2014 10:36 am
Location: Somerset, England

Re: Here we go again...

Post by pelmut »

crfriend wrote: Fri May 29, 2020 2:40 pm
pelmut wrote: Fri May 29, 2020 1:23 pm...and, when questioned for that evidence, they answer at great length with every piece of information you already know, several times over, in different ways, but entirely omit to tell you the vital piece of information you actually asked for.
I see somebody else has spent time in the trenches...
Trying to diagnose the cause of a less-than-straightforward fault in a DVD recorder today (by 'phone) I asked the owner the same question three times and twice got a reply of "mmm" in a sort-of affirmative tone followed by a load of irrelevant misleading guesswork.  After the third time there was a pause, followed by "sorry, I don't know what that means".

This was from someone whose job had been servicing mainframes.
There is no such thing as a normal person, only someone you don't know very well yet.
User avatar
crfriend
Master Barista
Posts: 14432
Joined: Fri Nov 19, 2004 9:52 pm
Location: New England (U.S.)
Contact:

Re: Here we go again...

Post by crfriend »

pelmut wrote: Fri Jun 05, 2020 9:42 pmThis was from someone whose job had been servicing mainframes.
A lot of the problem is that many -- if not most -- folks don't know their limits and are ashamed to admit that when they are outside of them.

Out of curiosity, what was the question?
Retrocomputing -- It's not just a job, it's an adventure!
User avatar
beachlion
Member Extraordinaire
Posts: 1627
Joined: Wed Aug 14, 2013 3:15 am
Location: 65 year The Hague, The Netherlands, then Allentown, PA, USA

Re: Here we go again...

Post by beachlion »

That sounds so familiar. The worst are the socalled experts by intuition. They think they know the answer to the problem but are afraid to open a cabinet or dig into settings. They try to impress you with their "knowledge," can not define the problem but know the solution.

I go along the timeline. When did you notice a strange behavior first? What was it? Did you smell anything unusual? Manuals online and repair videos on YouTube are also helpful. Then you know where to push to pop a cover open without breaking tabs.

Sometimes it is such a simple thing but turns out to be very helpful. When cleaning the oven, I saw a small sticking out the frame of the oven door. It could be for a light but I never saw a light in the oven or even the location. With a flash light I found a dark round blob in the upper corner. I could unscrew it and I had a glass dome and a large nut in my hands. It appeared the oven came from my wife's sister in law over 40 year ago and the light never worked. I cleaned the lens, bought an oven lamp and now I can see what I cook.

In my first year in this house I had to redo some electric wiring. A few lights that were to be operated from two switches never functioned. Also three ceiling light and a fan did not work while the wires were installed. With a note pad on my knee I could reconstruct it and even improve somewhat.

I have a strange attitude: if I think something should work as it was intended and it is not, I dive into it and don't let go before it is fully functional.
All progress takes place outside the comfort zone - M J Bobak
pelmut
Member Extraordinaire
Posts: 1923
Joined: Wed Mar 12, 2014 10:36 am
Location: Somerset, England

Re: Here we go again...

Post by pelmut »

crfriend wrote: Fri Jun 05, 2020 9:47 pm
pelmut wrote: Fri Jun 05, 2020 9:42 pmThis was from someone whose job had been servicing mainframes.
A lot of the problem is that many -- if not most -- folks don't know their limits and are ashamed to admit that when they are outside of them.

Out of curiosity, what was the question?
The problem was whether the interconnections between the recorder and a television set were the cause of intermittent loss of sound.  There were several different ways of connecting the two together and after listening to a long tortuous description of some multi-plugged RGB-like arrangement I asked: "is this RGB with synch on green?"  As the owner had later worked for many years as a computer journalist, I thought he would be familiar with the term in relation to CRT monitors.
There is no such thing as a normal person, only someone you don't know very well yet.
User avatar
crfriend
Master Barista
Posts: 14432
Joined: Fri Nov 19, 2004 9:52 pm
Location: New England (U.S.)
Contact:

Re: Here we go again...

Post by crfriend »

pelmut wrote: Sat Jun 06, 2020 2:38 pmThe problem was whether the interconnections between the recorder and a television set were the cause of intermittent loss of sound.  There were several different ways of connecting the two together and after listening to a long tortuous description of some multi-plugged RGB-like arrangement I asked: "is this RGB with synch on green?"  As the owner had later worked for many years as a computer journalist, I thought he would be familiar with the term in relation to CRT monitors.
His inability to articulate an answer is illustrated with a single word in the paragraph above.

That being said, I've been around for a good many years and have seen (and owned) all manner of interesting video gear, but I have never once seen an RGB SoG interconnect with the exception of studio-grade gear and projection systems -- and with those the audio is always handled with completely separate equipment. In any event, if you've got one of those things, then you ought to know how to handle it.

I'm still torqued off that I jettisoned the old studio-grade monitor I had which was RGB SoG because it would have made a nice display for some of the hardware that I had yet to acquire and which multi-synch monitors will not handle (think NTSC scanning frequencies).
Retrocomputing -- It's not just a job, it's an adventure!
User avatar
Pdxfashionpioneer
Member Extraordinaire
Posts: 1650
Joined: Sun Oct 25, 2015 6:39 am
Location: Portland, OR, USA

Re: Here we go again...

Post by Pdxfashionpioneer »

I recognize that this is probably changing the subject BIG time, but it IS unsettling.

When I logged on, Windows popped up a warning that this site is not secure.

I don't remember seeing that ever before. Do you know what's going on? Can you correct whatever is causing this?

I can't imagine such a warning will increase participation in our forum.
David, the PDX Fashion Pioneer

Social norms aren't changed by Congress or Parliament; they're changed by a sufficient number of people ignoring the existing ones and publicly practicing new ones.
User avatar
crfriend
Master Barista
Posts: 14432
Joined: Fri Nov 19, 2004 9:52 pm
Location: New England (U.S.)
Contact:

Re: Here we go again...

Post by crfriend »

Pdxfashionpioneer wrote: Tue Jun 16, 2020 10:23 amWhen I logged on, Windows popped up a warning that this site is not secure.
Were you using the https:// protocol or the http:// protocol. The "s" make a big difference as that's the one that uses SSL (Secure Sockets Layer). The http:// protocol still works but lacks encryption and end-to-end security.

If you were using https:// then I'd advise scanning your system for viruses and malware.
Retrocomputing -- It's not just a job, it's an adventure!
User avatar
Fred in Skirts
Member Extraordinaire
Posts: 3988
Joined: Mon Mar 14, 2016 6:48 pm
Location: Southeast Corner of Aiken County, SC USA

Re: Here we go again...

Post by Fred in Skirts »

crfriend wrote: Tue Jun 16, 2020 11:58 am Were you using the https:// protocol or the http:// protocol. The "s" make a big difference as that's the one that uses SSL (Secure Sockets Layer). The http:// protocol still works but lacks encryption and end-to-end security.
If you were using https:// then I'd advise scanning your system for viruses and malware.
And some of us who still have to use old windows programs because the newer ones will not run the programs we like or have to use. As well as the computers just can't run the new stuff. So it is a very big help for us that it is still active and has not been done away with.. :D
"It is better to be hated for what you are than be loved for what you are not" Andre Gide: 1869 - 1951
Always be yourself because the people that matter don’t mind and the ones that mind don’t matter.
User avatar
crfriend
Master Barista
Posts: 14432
Joined: Fri Nov 19, 2004 9:52 pm
Location: New England (U.S.)
Contact:

Re: Here we go again...

Post by crfriend »

Fred in Skirts wrote: Tue Jun 16, 2020 9:54 pmAnd some of us who still have to use old windows programs because the newer ones will not run the programs we like or have to use. As well as the computers just can't run the new stuff. So it is a very big help for us that it is still active and has not been done away with.. :D
That facet of things is just part of the way I do things in the real world. It's also a sometimes source of frustration to the kiddies on the block with multi-megabit/second 'Net connections. Why? Because I set things up so that the forum can actually be used over a dial-up link. It's painful, of course, but it works; that's one of the reasons that the size of uploaded images is fairly tightly controlled.

On encryption and the https:// protocol: Up until a few years ago, acquiring a "cert" (or "certificate") was an expensive and very, very cumbersome ordeal so most sites didn't use it unless there were compelling reasons (e.g. commerce where credit and monetary details are being passed). Nowadys, however, there are providers who were specifically set up to provide this service either very economically or at no cost to the holder of the certificate, so long as he can prove that he owns the server that the certificate is issued to. This is how not only Skirt Cafe gets its certificates, but also the server that lives in my kitchen; if we had to pay several hundred bucks per year to, say Verisign or Network Solutions, the cost would have been prohibitive. These certificates expire every 90 days, but software exists that can make them renew automatically. The suite at Skirt Cafe is built into our hosting provider; I wrote the one that runs my kitchen server.

"We've come a long way baby" went the cigarette ad from the '60s and '70s [0], but that's no reason to stop supporting folks who aren't on the very latest whiz-bang kit. I could easily make the site so bandwidth and compute-cycle intensive that you'd need a supercomputer to read a single paragraph -- but I am not going to do that. For years I accessed --- and controlled -- this site from a 90 MHz computer on a 24.4 kb/s dialup connection and, yes, it was painful. I'm not going to inflict that on others. Full stop. But I do try to keep up with best practises, and encryption is one of those.


[0] and is one of the reason that women now have roughly the same incidence of lung cancers as men.
Retrocomputing -- It's not just a job, it's an adventure!
Post Reply