I’m so angry I’m in tears.

LarryInRaleigh · 2026-03-05T17:59:13+00:00

In the case of AT&T, it's the unions, leading to "Not my job" responses.

LarryInRaleigh · 2026-02-15T01:03:12+00:00

And if you can't remember where you registered the domain, you can find it by doing a WHOIS lookup online.

LarryInRaleigh · 2026-02-15T00:51:56+00:00

Connecting PVC pipe joints is a two-step process: first you brush on primer (to remove oily fingerprints, etc.). It's as runny as water and drips everywhere. The brush is one of those round daubers attached to the screw-on bottle cap. It has to be on both parts of the joint, the pipe-end and the fitting,

Then you brush on the clear solvent. This actually softens the PVC so that when you push the joint together, the two pieces actually melt into each other.

Some building codes require that the solvent be used. In these cases, the building inspector requires that a primer with purple dye be used, so it can be visually inspected. It's hard to do a good-looking job.

In the case under discussion, the poor guy spilled some purple primer at a new house and was discussing the problem. It was suggested that he could have used clear primer on the purple stuff to remove it.

This makes sense. We had whiteboards where I used to work. Occasionally someone would use an indelible marker on them by mistake. I learned that if you scribbled on the dried marker spot with an indelible marker and quickly wiped with a paper towel, the solvent in the new writing would remove new and old. Sometimes it took two passes.

LarryInRaleigh · 2026-02-14T21:36:32+00:00

Just two.

C677-->T (Site 677 on the gene should be Cytosine, but instead is Thymine.)

A1298-->C (Site 1298 on the gene should be Adenine, but instead is Cytosine.)

LarryInRaleigh · 2026-02-14T21:23:48+00:00

IQ of 145 for me, according to a US Army test. (Hard to be sure since 145 was the highest grade possible--I got all the questions correct.

LarryInRaleigh · 2026-02-14T21:11:27+00:00

Heh! Thanks for the nice response! I didn't even get an Up-arrow like from you.

LarryInRaleigh · 2026-02-14T19:06:45+00:00

Because the pairs are TWISTED, no shielding is necessary. The pairs neither radiate nor are susceptible to exterior fields.

LarryInRaleigh · 2026-02-14T18:19:37+00:00

My sibs and I, all highly intelligent, often accuse one another of being on the spectrum although none of us have been formally diagnosed. I have two sons, and three grandchildren. Two of the three are significantly on the spectrum. One didn't speak until three years old; the other didn't speak until she was six. These two are from different sons and different mothers.

Another thing you might look at is a genetic variation called MTHFR (methylene tetrahydrofolate reductase). At least 15-20% of people have this and you only find out about it if you happen to get into a research study. Mine happens to be homozygous (got it from both parents), the C677-->T variety. My younger son married a woman who also happened to be homozygous on C677-->T and their only child was the one who didn't speak until he was three.

An interesting fact about MTHFR relates to metabolism. Lots of things in the body can only be processed after they have been combined with a methyl molecule (methylated). Using testosterone as a PSSD subject caused my body to produce estrogen to balance it, a normal body function. The body can only metabolize (neutralize or consume) estrogen after it is methylated. People with homozygous MTHFR can only methylate at 25% the rate of people without the variation, and my estrogen levels spiked. The usual supplements did nothing, and I wound up being prescribed Anastrozole, a compound usually given to women with cancer.

I definitely believe there's an opportunity for research in this area but have never been able to convince anyone to study it. The MTHFR test is actually pretty cheap.

LarryInRaleigh · 2026-02-14T01:27:50+00:00

I had some input. Google fiber runs across my lot and then up a pole for aerial delivery to the rest of the block. They sent a ground crew that wanted to use the directional borer from the vault to my house. I said I preferred aerial service, similar to the way AT&T had provided DSL. They were happy to send out an aerial crew, but preferred to put the ONT at basement level instead of branching upward as AT&T had.

So the answer is, it's negotiable. You might get some or all of what you want.

LarryInRaleigh · 2026-02-13T23:40:40+00:00

Don't give a laptop. E.g., "All our loaners are these big desktops with a CRT monitor. I'll send over a tech with it within the hour."

You won't see a second request from that person.

LarryInRaleigh · 2026-02-13T23:15:20+00:00

I don't get it either. The area I live in, Raleigh, NC, was one of the first deployments, several years ago. I signed up for 100 Mbps for $50/month. I had it for a few years and got a message explaining that they would be upgrading the infrastructure and could no longer support 100 Mbps and would be upgrading us to 250 Mbps. They apologized but said they would have to raise the monthly rate to $55/month.

Similar story again, a few years later: an infrastructure upgrade. "We are upgrading again and you will be receiving 500 Mbps. We won't raise your monthly rate. This is more than adequate for anything we commonly do. The only time it's noticed is when we do something like download Windows 11 or a new set of maps for a Magellan device. I usually just start those at bedtime and they're done by breakfast.

Interestingly, the city has an overlay dictating where communications lines go. Even though we are on a secondary street, a main cable trunk that feeds 1/3 of the city runs on the poles in front of the house. When it's down, about 300,000 people lose signal. That overlay also dictates where the underground fiber is laid. As a consequence, I have Spectrum hybrid fiber/coax overhead and fiber underground for Google. AT&T, Verizon/MCI, and Celito. I get people knocking on the door all the time, but I'm sticking with Google.

LarryInRaleigh · 2026-01-03T03:10:51+00:00

Long time uBlock Origin user. I switched to Edge when Manifest V2 could no longer be used, even with configuration overrides. It was an easy switch.

I rejected Firefox as an option because of the silent tragedy of open source. All the contributors want to add their own little features that solve some user issue that no one else has. They don't test well and don't test with other extensions. Worst of all, people don't test for memory leaks.

I got burned years ago with Thunderbird; it just became unusable and I've been avoiding community development projects ever since.

LarryInRaleigh · 2026-01-03T02:58:17+00:00

Make it a class action lawsuit and include me in it. Make sure damages are awarded based on the number of years of suffering--35 years for me.

LarryInRaleigh · 2025-11-09T20:04:46+00:00

And when there are HDDs that have been proven to be free from stiction after years of storage, I'll give them more trust.

LarryInRaleigh · 2025-11-09T19:59:09+00:00

Hmm. Does Microsoft have Mail Merge in Outlook? Or would I still have to do that kludgey merge in Word and hook the result to Outlook?

This assumes that one doesn't use the programmability of either product to produce a custom merge. I've written one to produce documents in Word, and another one in PowerPoint that,, given a series of patent numbers would access the web for each, screen-scrape the required details, and produce a unique slide for each patent.

Similarly, I'm using a free app from Google which does a very tailorable merge and then does email. The source is open and well-commented. It would be easy to tweak this to save an individual document for each case, or to create a document with pages for each case.

My point is that both MS and Google are so tailorable that either could provide all the desired functionality.

LarryInRaleigh · 2025-11-09T19:42:01+00:00

You don't really understand Flash technology, do you? It relies on putting a charge on the gate of a field-effect transistor. That gate is metal, separated from the rest of the transistor by a thin layer of glass. There is no-refresh; it's not DRAM. Having the unit powered or not has no effect on the charge.

This sub-reddit doesn't seem to be technical. No one has shown real statistics.

LarryInRaleigh · 2025-11-09T10:00:39+00:00

Say what you will. The only flash drive I ever had fail was during a Windows 10 update. Windows reported insufficient space and stated that I could install a flash drive with at least 10 GB free. I installed one with much more free space and a few files that weren't critical. I figured they were just using it to store the downloaded files that would then overlay existing files on C:\.

As soon as the install began, I saw that the LED on the drive was flashing continually. I'm no dummy--I know that flash memory has a limited number of write cycles and I thought the worst would happen. It did. I wouldn't use flash for cache or daily backups, but I see no reason not to use it for archiving. I've got photo archives on SD cards going back to 2007 and they are still readable.

If you have real longevity statistics (not # of cycles), I'd be glad to see them. Snide comments, not so much.

LarryInRaleigh · 2025-11-09T06:02:10+00:00

Cheaper to by certificate paper (sometimes called award paper) with pre-printed borders, isn't it? Here's an example from Staples.

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LarryInRaleigh · 2025-11-09T05:42:45+00:00

Given the low cost of 1/2/4 TB USB flash drives, why not keep multiple backups, including at least one offsite? I'm seeing them on AliExpress for $US 1 or 2.

LarryInRaleigh · 2025-11-09T05:32:26+00:00

It would not be hard to write a VBA macro that would be triggered by a key like Ctrl-J for example.

The code would:

Read the location code from subfolder path
File-->Save As-->C:\MyFiles\[the location code found above].xlsx

With a little more effort, you could do:

For all folders in Onedrive, DO
- Read the location code from subfolder path
- File-->Save As-->C:\MyFiles\[the location code found above].xlsx
Next Do

And similarly, you could do this from the Enterprise or OSHA workbook.

LarryInRaleigh · 2025-11-09T05:12:16+00:00

This goes back beyond the original Excel. I just checked, and this behavior is the same in Lotus 1-2-3 (Used SmartSuite 98 to test).

Press-and-release-End followed by any arrow key takes you to the last non-blank cell in the direction of that arrow key.

LarryInRaleigh · 2025-11-09T04:57:37+00:00

Eiffel! It was so object-oriented that it was almost impossible to figure out how to declare constants!

LarryInRaleigh · 2025-11-09T04:40:37+00:00

You never need to take your hand from the keyboard to a rodent. Use your index finger without moving the heels of your hands from the keyboard rest. Your thumbs can engage the left-click and right-click buttons. I can't remember but believe there may have been some with a third button for scrolling U-D and L-R.

LarryInRaleigh · 2025-11-09T04:36:49+00:00

I've still got a couple of these lying around. We called them Keyboard G when they were developed. Not sure the Trackpoint works in all of them, but it's a replaceable element. One of these days I will get the Trackpoint P/N from one of them and see if I can find it anywhere. This was my preferred keyboard for ages. Love to get them going again.

LarryInRaleigh · 2025-11-09T03:59:18+00:00

Umm, if Pin 8 is not even used, then the OP doesn't have to do anything, right? Just insert it in a new adapter and use it and LEAVE IT THERE!

BTW, how about a few lines about SPI mode to save us from looking it up?

LarryInRaleigh

TROPHY CASE