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error
Too bad i wasn't one of those kids who got killed by the car passing the school bus on the right back in the '70s. -
mass storage
Secondary memory systems that i've used over the years include (in vague and convoluted order of capacity):- 2kB NVRAM card-slightly larger than a CF card-for a little Casio pocket computer
- 140 and 180kB per side 5¼" flip-floppies
- 360 and 1200kB properly double-sided 5¼" floppies
- 400, 720, 800, and 1440kB [which is, by no sane means 1.44MB] 90mm (3½") ( Read more... )
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Another Windows installation bites the dust.
After a couple of hard-reset-required lockups, My Win2kPro installation started telling me that \WinNT\system32\config\system was corrupt or missing. Indeed several files were missing from that folder. Restoring them from backup didn't do the job.
I might try completely amputating \WinNT\ and restoring it, just to see if i can make it work. But i ( Read more... ) -
The Return of the Dreaded Chiclet Keyboard
I don't get this flat-key business. Well, actually i do get it; it looks cool. But it's miserable to touch-type on ( Read more... ) -
How II-Apple II, versus //, versus ][
A lot of folks religiously type the names of the various Apple II models in the various ways that the models were stylised (or in some cases, using the styling that they're most familiar with for all of them-which, i confess, looks really weird to me.)
I consider ][ and // as merely stylings of II-and identical in meaning (much like smallcaps is ( Read more... ) -
We actually need a law about steering clear of pedestrians?
I recently learned that Alabama has a new “move over” law, requiring drivers of automobiles to switch lanes-or if that's not possible, to at least slow down-when passing pedestrians (ostensibly law enforcement and emergency response personnel). I agree with the concept; it's common sense. You don't go flying at highway speed just a couple of feet ( Read more... ) -
That's so last decade!
I'm so sick of hearing people dissing music because it sounds like something that is no longer fashionable within the circles in which they hang (even though, in many cases, they themselves enjoyed it when it was current. Either it's good or it isn't.
Either you like something, or you don't. "It's so last year/decade" is not a valid reason. It's not ( Read more... ) -
They, etc. versus she/he, etc.
"The average user doesn't explore the options of a programme. They are content to only use features that they have seen used."
The above sentence seems perfectly normal to me; yet many people baulk at using "they", "them", or "their" to refer to what they perceive as singular subject or object. I say tough! My position is that "they" is collective ( ( Read more... ) -
Twitter foolishness
No, i'm not talking about the mindless pratter for which Twitter has become famous. I'm referring to the fact that Twitter has no means to give to a 3rd party site one-off permission to do only certain things, leading to the disturbing trend of sites that ask for users' Twitter authentication credentials-which people happily and foolishly cough up ( Read more... ) -
Epoch Fail (and other bitwise tales)
Today's xkcd cartoon, 2038 (regarding the y2038 time issue that looms on the horizon), prompts me to foam at the mouth about the annoyingly common misconception that a 64 bit CPU and OS are required to handle 64 bit time.
Curiously, I seem to recall handling numbers much larger than 256 on my 8-bit computers. Indeed, unixoid OS's have been handling ( Read more... )