New ARRL Membership Benefits in June

Pretty cool...

arrl Coming Soon: New ARRL Membership Benefits: The ARRL is excited to announce two new membership benefits that will... bit.ly/GCnwGiTue, Mar 20 10:34:50 from twitterfeed

"In addition to the print copy of QST, all members will have access to an online digital edition of QST -- at no extra cost. You will be able to access QST from anywhere -- on nearly any computer, laptop, mobile device, smartphone and tablet (including Apple iPad, iPhone, iTouch and devices using the Android operating system).

Members will also gain access to archived issues of QST from December 1915 to the present; previously, only issues through 2007 have been available to members. If you are familiar with the current periodicals archive, that platform will be expanded to include all of QST from December 1915 through December 2011. A second, new archive will be introduced for issues beginning January 2012, featuring enhanced functionality including full-text search."

Server Names

Fun stuff going on over at Slashdot in a post about how to name servers. I greatly prefer a combination of location and function for my server names. A couple of comments did make me laugh - they hit a little too close to home.

From MightyMartian we have:

"Indeed. After years of enduring networks with servers with tree names or GI Joe character names, when it came for me to come up with names for my servers and other network devices, I came up with functional names that describe physical locations, departments, functions, and so forth. That way I have a descriptive network rather than trying to remember which one of the Power Rangers the last IT guy liked the best."

And from Dave Emami we get:

"The Naming of Servers is a serious matter,
It isn't just one of your holiday games.
You may think at first I'm as mad as a hatter
When I tell you a server has three different names...

... those being DNS entry, IP, and the one which "the server itself knows, and never will confess."

Interesting Shift

I knew we had rolled out more laptops than desktops in the last year, but I just did the math. We are buying two laptops for every desktop.

There are a few things that would skew that number (executives getting replacements first, desktops are more likely to be redeployed to the shop floor where as old laptops are generally retired, etc.)

I am little surprised none the less.

Raspberry Pi

The Raspberry Pi is another one of those things that I would love to play with - if money and time were no issues. The Raspberry Pi is a simple computer on a board, but you do a lot with it.

• 700-megahertz processor
• 128 megabytes of RAM
• SD Card slot for storage
• USB port
• HDMI Port

Oh, did I mention it was only $25.

Via the Business Insider

Vapor

Noteslate is still vapor, but I do like the dragon drawing.

Dell Netbooks go into the ether.

And what's up with Fusion Garage of former CrunchPad infamy, the JooJoo, and the GridOS? Lawsuits, tigers, and bears. Oh my.

The First Problem Solved by Computer: Four Color Theorem

From LifeHacker:

"Even during the 1970s, when computers were harder to come by and problems were weightier, computers were routinely brought in to solve things for the people who had access to them. But prior to 1976, they weren't required to prove any math problem. They just made things easier. That is, until Kenneth Appel and Wolfgang Haken used a computer to prove a 124-year-old conjecture. In 1852, Francis Guthrie came up with what's known as the Four-Color Theorem. That theorem stated that no map needed more than four colors to delineate territories. Generally, different countries, states, or provinces, were given different colors on a map. If a mapmaker were armed with four different colors, there was no territory, or set of them, that could be arranged in such a way that two adjoining territories were the same color."

I think the first actual use (not problem solving) of a computer must have been to start a flame war, play solitaire, or look at "adult" content.

King’s Quest 3 Remake

I loved the King's Quest games. I rocked them on my IBM PCjr. And they are remaking KQ3!

(And don't look at the date on the Slashdot page because that will tell you how long I've been trying to get some of these things posted. Probably means I'll never actually play it either.)

Past My IT Prime

Oh great. First, no OT for IT workers. Now, I find I am past my prime by several years.

Retry

adamhirsch No joke, my fortune cookie said "fortune not found: Abort, Retry, Ignore?" pic.twitter.com/EwD1d5NNSun, Nov 20 20:45:57 from Twitter for iPhone retweeted by msuster

Notebook vs. Tablet

If they really mean notebook (not a full laptop), then I'm surprised it isn't higher.

SammyWalrusIV Goldman Sachs: Tablets will cannibalize notebook sales at a rate of 33-35% over the next two years.Fri, Oct 07 17:02:58 from Twitter for iPad

OS vs. Broswer

If browsers keep gobbling up memory, then they will lose an advantage over traditional OSes. Chrome and Firefox eat more memory than anything else I run on my machine.

Standards

Standards

The Grandpa Box

Yeah, I use one.

Keeping Score to Motivate People

Can playing games drive the adoption of sales force automation?

"Recently, there's been a lot of research in the area of gamification: the process of adding gaming elements to a non-gaming activity to encourage action and participation."

I'm pretty convinced that some people are motivated by keeping score and getting rewards while others are not. When I was a help desk tech, I would work as hard as possible to see how few tickets I could have open at the end of the week. I saw it as a game - some of the other guys didn't.

We also used visual aids to promote good procedures. For example, we took turns manning the phones. We tried to maintain constant coverage, so when nature or duty called, we had to get someone to cover for us. We bought a stuffed Tux the linux penguin. Whoever had the penguin was responsible for the phones. The rule was that Tux could never be left alone. It made it pretty easy to toss the penguin baton to someone as you walked out the door.

The only similar thing my group does today is that I "hand out" blue Cisco console cables when the non-network guys help with a server or network problem.

Tech Classics

A former co-worker e-mailed me with a funny update to a ticket that an IT tech had posted in their help desk. He called him a "George."

If you are in IT, you need to read the Chronicles of George for classics like "anti norton virus service" and "she would like to get nt network installed on her desktop, bah just replace it."

Also giving, as you might guess from the title, IT techs a good name is the Bastard Operator from Hell. He has been a role model to many. A typical interaction with him would go like this:

Another user rings.

"I need more space" he says

"Well, why not move to Texas?" I ask

"No, on my account, stupid."

Stupid? Uh-Oh..

"I'm terribly sorry" I say, in a polite manner equal to that of Jimmy Stewart in a Weekend Family Matine Feature "I didn't quite catch that. What was it that you said?"

I smell the fear coming down the line at me, but it's too late, he's a goner and he knows it.

"Um, I said what I wanted was more space on my account, *please*"

"Sure, hang on"

I hear him gasp his relief even though he'd covered the mouthpeice.

"There, you've got *plenty* of space now!"

"How much have I got?" he simps

Now this *REALLY* *PISSES* *ME* *OFF*! Not only do they want me to give them extra space, they want to check it, then correct me if I don't give them enough! They should be happy with what I give them *and that's it*!

Back into Jimmy Stewart mode.

"Well, let's see, you have 4 Meg available"

"Wow! Eight Meg in total, thanks!" he says, pleased with his bargaining power

"No" I interrupt, savouring this like a fine red at room temperature, with steak, extra rare, to follow; "4 Meg in total.."

"Huh? I'd used 4 Meg already, How could I have 4 Meg Available?"

I say nothing. It'll come to him.

The BOFH is famous for his excuses. If you need some help with coming up with an explanation for a user, you can try the BOFH Excuse Generator.

FlexRadio

I like computers. I work with computers. I don't know that I would want a radio that is dependent on a computer like the FLEX-5000A.

From Brick O'Lore

I find it interesting that it requires FireWire. If I were to go this route, I would want a dedicated machine. Or it would be nice if you could virtualize it. My father-in-law seems impressed with the specs and the QST review was mostly positive. (I think some of the problems the reviewer had were PC/Vista related, but that is a legitimate complaint for a Software Defined Radio.) One of the guys that is often on the 940 repeater really likes his FlexRadio and may upgrade to the 5000A.