The even randomer thread

[MattPie]

4 hours ago, Drunkard said:

I'm going to guess that your computer has gremlins. Just don't feed them after midnight.

But hey, get it wet and you can make a killing on the resale market and skip Tax software altogether.

[Wyldnwoody44]

I'm amazed at the generation of cellular "phones" we live in.... In India recently, I saw a family of 10 living in a broken down airplane in a field, but yet, they all had a phone. 

Also here in Africa, phones are like gold. People are being killed and mugged, knocked off of motorcycles, just to steal a cell phone. Also Africa leads the nation in sending/receiving mobile money. Everywhere you go MTN, africell, and Airtel advertisements are everywhere (local cell companies) 

I even find myself sometimes attached a bit more than I'd like, but try to make sure I am not addicted to this thing, but it really just hits home when all these developing and poor nations place such an emphasis on it. 

In conclusion, I think the world is screwed ?

[Sabres Fan in NS]

42 minutes ago, ... said:

IDK what your problem is with Windows 10, but it is by far the best version of Windows there has been.  With computer problems, it's usually PEBKAM, unless there's an obvious hardware failure.  Even infections come from simply not respecting and rising to the awareness level of safe computing.  

It's like news reports where a truck hits a house.  "The truck skipped over the curb and into the house."  No, the driver allowed the truck to move over the curb and slam into the house.  The truck, on its own, does nothing but sit there.

I don't have an issue with Windows 10.  I do like it and it works well.  The problem I have is with Microsoft, especially an update taking 24 hours by the time it is all done.  i know that the computer can be used during the download and installation part, but that only slows the process down even more.

PEBKAM?

[Drunkard]

1 hour ago, New Scotland (NS) said:

I can't remember who it was, but a regular poster here and myself are big Windows 7 people.  Is that you?

Anyway, with end of support for 7 looming I have been reluctantly forced to migrate my office PCs to Windows 10.  I just checked and this laptop is due for a massive Windows 10 update.  This PC (Toshiba) I converted to 10 from 7.  I also have an HP that has Windows 10 factory installed and it is in the process of running this massive update for 10.  It has been downloading and installing and now configuring since about 7 PM last night.  What a horror show.

On top of that the HP, well Microsoft Security for 10, decided that it did not like the 2018 tax software that was installed and running beautifully since the end of 2017.  Keep deleting the files to run it, as it seemed that a Trojan was attacking my PC through the software.  What entire BS.  I hate Microsoft!!

I have a Toshiba running Windows 7 that will remain as a data base.  I also have an old desktop that is running Windows XP (the only version that I really likes a lot) that is an office server, with no real Internet, although it needs to be 'connected' in order to be that server.

I am not going to run this massive 10 update on this PC until I can't avoid it anymore and firgure what is happening with the HP.  As a fall back I can use the 7 Toshiba to work on client taxes and such.

Yes, that was me. You actually sent me the update number (KB35somethingsomethingetc) in order to block to automatic upgrade on my old desktop which is still running windows 7. Given how much better phones have gotten though, I only use my desktop to burn the occasional dvd or to convert the occasional song from youtube to an MP3 file so I can save it on the MP3 player I hook up to my car. My old desktop is a dinosaur at this point, so I'm glad I didn't have to load a fancy new operating system into it.

[Drunkard]

1 hour ago, ... said:

IDK what your problem is with Windows 10, but it is by far the best version of Windows there has been.  With computer problems, it's usually PEBKAM, unless there's an obvious hardware failure.  Even infections come from simply not respecting and rising to the awareness level of safe computing.  

It's like news reports where a truck hits a house.  "The truck skipped over the curb and into the house."  No, the driver allowed the truck to move over the curb and slam into the house.  The truck, on its own, does nothing but sit there.

Sorry, don't mean to lecture, just conversing.  But as a representative of my attempt to just be at the next bar stool, here is a funny gif:

 

I have no problem with Windows 10 either. My girlfriend has it on her laptop and I use it on my computer at work. My problem is with installing a brand new operating system onto an old piece of equipment it wasn't designed for (my old desktop that was built to run Windows 7). My old desktop wasn't exactly top of the line to begin with and it was already several years old when those Windows 10 updates were being sent out. "Upgrading" my old machine to the new OS (which hadn't even had the bugs worked out at the time) would have probably rendered it unusable or so slow that it might as well have been unusable and given how little I use it I wasn't about to sink more money into upgrading the memory or the processor to get it to run normally.

Edited August 7, 2019 by Drunkard

[...]

7 minutes ago, Drunkard said:

I have no problem with Windows 10 either. My girlfriend has it on her laptop and I use it on my computer at work. My problem is with installing a brand new operating system onto an old piece of equipment it wasn't designed for (my old desktop that was built to run Windows 7). My old desktop wasn't exactly top of the line to begin with and it was already several years old when those Windows 10 updates were being sent out. "Upgrading" my old machine to the new OS (which hadn't even had the bugs worked out at the time) would have probably rendered it unusable or so slow that it might as well have been unusable and given how little I use it I wasn't about to sink more money into upgrading the memory or the processor to get it to run normally.

Suit yourself, I guess.  However, I'm not certain where you get the idea Win 10 wasn't designed to work on low-spec systems.  

 

 

[Sabel79]

Enjoying a quiet afternoon goofing off on the interwebz.  GF’s daughter comes busting through the front door and screams at me to come outside “RIGHT NOW” in a manner that makes me think something terrible just happened.  As I make it to the door she says “we’re getting a puppy, you’re on my side...”   

I step out to see my GF and the neighbor holding three puppies (Australian Shepherd). They’re filthy but seem otherwise okay.  Evidently the neighbor came upon a lady down the street attempting to get rid of the dogs (don’t really have the whole story there) and she took them.  GF seems to be on board with keeping one.  Kiddo is ecstatic.  

So, I guess, pending veterinary verification that there’s nothing terribly wrong with them we’re taking one.  Not sure I’m ready to puppy train again... 

[Drunkard]

27 minutes ago, ... said:

Suit yourself, I guess.  However, I'm not certain where you get the idea Win 10 wasn't designed to work on low-spec systems.  

Just going off their track record and history. I'm pretty sure Windows operating systems in general (from windows 2000, to XP, to Vista, to 7, to 10) only get bigger and more cumbersome over time, requiring faster processors and more memory to function than the version preceding it. In my experience it's not good to just install a new one over the top of the existing one. I have some limited IT experience but just about every IT expert I've ever talked to has told me that when you go from one OS to another, you'll have way fewer problems/bugs and hardware issues if you completely slick/format the old hard drive first and then install the new OS cleanly. For one, doing that removes the million or so registry entries that get made every time you install/run software, download programs, and install devices. Given that my old system is already old and slow installing a newer, bigger, fancier OS onto it would only make it run even slower, not to mention the time it would take to download and install it, plus dealing with whatever headaches come from hardware compatibility issues (printers, video cards, hard drives, dvd burners, mouse, keyboard, etc.). It's just not worth the hassle.

Edited August 7, 2019 by Drunkard

[Sabres Fan in NS]

I upgraded one laptop from 7 to 10 when they that free upgrade thingie some time ago.  It was a good laptop to start with, so there have been no big issues.  It was running Windows 7 Professional, after all I do have hard earned letters (CPA) after my name, so that means something.

Maybe that makes some difference. 

My other laptop came with Windows 10 Professional factory installed.  It is a great machine with this wierd hickup yesterday.  It finally finished the update some time ago and I reinstalled the tax software using my first download.  So far, so good.

In general, with the ever lowering cost of a decent computer, I say it is better to buy a new one than to upgrade the version of Windows on the darn things.

The one that I upgraded from 7 to 10 is primarily for email and SabreSpace and my own business tracking software, with occasional client work, primarily using Excel.  The one that came with Windows 10 installed is the primary client workhorse now with the bulk of accounting, tax and other junk done on it.

[MattPie]

4 hours ago, New Scotland (NS) said:

I upgraded one laptop from 7 to 10 when they that free upgrade thingie some time ago.  It was a good laptop to start with, so there have been no big issues.  It was running Windows 7 Professional, after all I do have hard earned letters (CPA) after my name, so that means something.

Maybe that makes some difference. 

My other laptop came with Windows 10 Professional factory installed.  It is a great machine with this wierd hickup yesterday.  It finally finished the update some time ago and I reinstalled the tax software using my first download.  So far, so good.

In general, with the ever lowering cost of a decent computer, I say it is better to buy a new one than to upgrade the version of Windows on the darn things.

The one that I upgraded from 7 to 10 is primarily for email and SabreSpace and my own business tracking software, with occasional client work, primarily using Excel.  The one that came with Windows 10 installed is the primary client workhorse now with the bulk of accounting, tax and other junk done on it.

I agree. Upgrading OS major versions is always fraught with peril. There are a few Operating systems I'd do it on as a last resort, but in the 20+ years I've been doing IT I've done a major upgrade on a system < 10 times, and those were always weird afterwards and really strange stuff to the point where we tried to retire them ASAP.

[...]

I've upgraded about 10 computers of various vintage from Win 7 to 10 and then, of course, there has been at least one 10 overhaul upgrade.  Not a problem with any of them.  Several are used for media production, and in all instances the user experience has improved.  An IT person dealing with legacy 32 bit software solutions, likely customized to some degree, yeah, you'll probably run into some issues but the upgrade process is likely not the issue so much as the nature of the legacy software and how it was installed in the first place.

Edited August 8, 2019 by ...
my binary was missing two bytes. whatever

[shrader]

We get the craziest thunder storms out here.  We had one roll through at around midnight last night.  The lightning was rapid fire.  You know how the sky is dark during a storm and then it occasionally lights up due to lightning?  Well last night it was the other way around, the sky was lit up and it occasionally turned black.

[MattPie]

49 minutes ago, shrader said:

We get the craziest thunder storms out here.  We had one roll through at around midnight last night.  The lightning was rapid fire.  You know how the sky is dark during a storm and then it occasionally lights up due to lightning?  Well last night it was the other way around, the sky was lit up and it occasionally turned black.

I forget where you are, but we get similar things here in Southeast PA, and it was similar in Maryland. My guess is the differential in temperature of air that heats up across the US and then hits the air off the ocean (~100 miles east of here) makes for afternoon and evening storms a lot. I have a video somewhere that looks like an army of paparazzi.

[shrader]

53 minutes ago, MattPie said:

I forget where you are, but we get similar things here in Southeast PA, and it was similar in Maryland. My guess is the differential in temperature of air that heats up across the US and then hits the air off the ocean (~100 miles east of here) makes for afternoon and evening storms a lot. I have a video somewhere that looks like an army of paparazzi.

NC.  Whatever it is, it makes me wonder how crazy little kids and animals must be going. 

[Wyldnwoody44]

It rained here yesterday (in Uganda) and my phone battery died, I was hoping to take video and overlay it with Africa by toto.... By time I got a charge, it stopped.... Damn it, I need to make it happen ?

[WildCard]

TIL who Jari Kurri is

[Sabres Fan in NS]

2 hours ago, WildCard said:

TIL who Jari Kurri is

Kids these day, sshhheeessshhh ...

Edited August 14, 2019 by New Scotland (NS)
they say the darndest things ...

[Weave]

2 hours ago, WildCard said:

TIL who Jari Kurri is

Wat?

Was my favorite Oiler from that era.

[shrader]

1 hour ago, New Scotland (NS) said:

Kids these day, sshhheeessshhh ...

And on top of that, I have absolutely no clue what TIL means

[Eleven]

13 hours ago, shrader said:

And on top of that, I have absolutely no clue what TIL means

Today I learned...

[shrader]

7 minutes ago, Eleven said:

Today I learned...

Don't leave us hanging like that.  What did you learn??

[Sabres Fan in NS]

12 hours ago, shrader said:

And on top of that, I have absolutely no clue what TIL means

I had to look it up before I posted my comment.

Seems that in this context he means 'Today I Learned'.  It must be nice to speak another language.

[Neo]

@SwampD‘s best reply in another thread ....  

“TIL Today I Learned”.

[Neo]

17 hours ago, WildCard said:

TIL who Jari Kurri is

He bad news ....  you missed an ALL time great.

The good news ...  you’ll see others I never will!

With obvious nods to Gretzky, Messier, Fuhr and Coffey ....   Kurri, Tikkanen,  Anderson, Simpson, Lowe, Huddy all combined to make that team arguably the best ever.   IMHO, only the ‘76 - ‘79 Canadiens are in the discussion.

Honorable mention ...  NYI ‘80 to ‘83.

Think of that era ....  MTL, NYI, EDM won 14 of 15 cups.  The depth!

My view is limited by my age, of course. 

[Eleven]

1 hour ago, Neo said:

He bad news ....  you missed an ALL time great.

The good news ...  you’ll see others I never will!

With obvious nods to Gretzky, Messier, Fuhr and Coffey ....   Kurri, Tikkanen,  Anderson, Simpson, Lowe, Huddy all combined to make that team arguably the best ever.   IMHO, only the ‘76 - ‘79 Canadiens are in the discussion.

Honorable mention ...  NYI ‘80 to ‘83.

Think of that era ....  MTL, NYI, EDM won 14 of 15 cups.  The depth!

My view is limited by my age, of course. 

I can't include the Islanders in a "best ever" debate between the 70s Habs and 80s Oilers.  I just can't.