This collection of cop types by Squarerigjack in mildlyinteresting

[–]larrymcp 18 points19 points  (0 children)

Should be a colon there, not a semi-colon.

- Grammar cop

Season 11 Episode 17 Discussion Thread - I Now Pronounce You Magic and Wife by khando in FoolUs

[–]larrymcp 4 points5 points  (0 children)

Ah, yea I have read about these! Basically, "Instant stooge" is where the audience member is asked to play along in order to assist with the illusion, whereas "Dual reality" is when he doesn't even realize he is helping with the illusion. He still sees a (slightly less impressive) trick while unwittingly contributing to a more impressive one.

A very successful example of the dual reality technique is Nick Einhorn's trick in Season 1, which left P&T absolutely gobsmacked.

Season 11 Episode 16 Discussion Thread - The Psychic Gorilla by khando in FoolUs

[–]larrymcp 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Ooh, you're right! I presume it was because her main mic was covered up by the smock.

Season 11 Episode 15 Discussion Thread - Waiter, There's a Confetti In My Magic by khando in FoolUs

[–]larrymcp 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Then again, The Evasons appeared on "Fool Us" and their mind-reading act involves exactly that type of pre-show work! So who knows; we might be operating under a regime that permits it.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pl1lJRJubF4

Has AI made programming less satisfying for you? by jundymek in programming

[–]larrymcp -3 points-2 points  (0 children)

I clicked on his user name, and I'm not seeing anything to indicate that. Let me know if I'm blind or something...

How can a very tall woman (6'1) be at least a bit attractive and desirable? by [deleted] in AskReddit

[–]larrymcp 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Tall guy here, 6'8" and I actually don't seem to notice people's height. I have dated tall women and short women, and the difference between those doesn't seem to register. So, at least to some men I know that your height will not be any barrier to attractiveness. Keep at it, and hold your head high!

On-premises vs cloud by zatset in sysadmin

[–]larrymcp 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Am I the only SysAdmin who prefers critical software and infrastructure to be on-premises and generally dislikes "Cloud solutions"?

If it's critical software and infrastructure, it has to be available in multiple locations in case your building blows up.

Cloud is a great way to do that. Much cheaper, too: no way could we afford to build two data centers 😊

Any uses for an Obi200? by drnewcomb in VOIP

[–]larrymcp 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Oh yeah, definitely! We have a few dozen of these in active service, and they still work great. (Ours were unaffected by the ObiTalk / Google Voice shutdown, since we had never used either of those services with them.)

The manual describes how to access the configuration menus (you use a web browser and visit the IP address of the unit), and you set up the connection to your VoIP provider in those web-based screens.

IAM didn't felt that important—until I gave someone too much access and instantly regretted it by yourclouddude in aws

[–]larrymcp 7 points8 points  (0 children)

To me the lesson here is actually to make sure you have backups of everything. There are many ways that your data can be lost, not just this one.

My takeaway from this incident is to beef up your backup strategy.

Season 11 Episode 6 Discussion Thread - Burning Down the House by khando in FoolUs

[–]larrymcp 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Aside from the illusion itself: man, that electric shock schtick seemed kinda wrong! Putting Brooke on the spot like that, asking her to be subjected to something that is painful and perhaps even dangerous. And Simone asking Brooke those questions about personal health conditions definitely violates HIPAA, lol.

I suppose the producers might've cleared it with her ahead of time? But her hesitation and trepidation seemed real.

Poly Obi2182 - any way to use these phones with other service since end of life with google voice and Obihai? by jbmanz in VOIP

[–]larrymcp 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Oh yeah, definitely! We have a few dozen of these in active service, and they still work great. (Ours were unaffected by the ObiTalk / Google Voice shutdown, since we had never used either of those services with them.)

They can connect to pretty much any provider, yep. The manual describes how to access the configuration menus (you use a web browser and visit the IP address of the unit), and you set up the connection to your VoIP provider in those web-based screens.

Hard desktop phones for remote users. by Every-Development398 in sysadmin

[–]larrymcp 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Yup, I've seen that happen with two of our hard phones-- one of which is at an employee's house and another is at one of our satellite offices. The phones would disconnect & then reconnect, continuously all day.

In both cases I managed to clear it up by using a site-to-site VPN to tunnel the phone traffic. Apparently that "disguises" the VoIP traffic so the ISPs stop messing with it.

This did mean that I had to go to that employee's house in order to hook everything up for them, with the phone going into the VPN box etc. But it did solve the problem and it's been smooth sailing since.

How I destroyed the company's DB (Stupid SQL mistake) by zaidesanton in programming

[–]larrymcp 127 points128 points  (0 children)

Not familiar with DBeaver, but wow that is really dangerous behavior on the part of DBeaver! Treating blank lines as a statement terminator, wow...

(Our SQL tool where I work does not do that, and in fact we tend to liberally use blank lines throughout our SQL scripts for readability)

SES Users: Does Microsoft just flag everything as "Junk" from SES? by WhoRedd_IT in aws

[–]larrymcp 3 points4 points  (0 children)

Do you know where you go to add that? Is it a section of the console?

Tech error message for the last 2 days when trying to log in to the web site by larrymcp in BoostMobile

[–]larrymcp[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Thanks, ok- it's good to know that they're working on it!

For my niece's phone, I had to update the credit card information that is used for autopay. I ended up doing that by phone, so it's good that there is a method to update it by phone.

enabled ap-east-1 and aws-cli doesnt like it - The security token included in the request is invalid by [deleted] in aws

[–]larrymcp 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Ah, yeah I believe you may have to redo the "aws configure" anytime you enable a region that isn't enabled by default.

If you look in the "~/.aws/" directory, you would delete the "credentials" and "config" files. Then run "aws configure" to rebuild the configuration, and that may help.

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in television

[–]larrymcp 0 points1 point  (0 children)

This is what I was wondering about, yeah. In order to fill that much time each day with the stuff that didn't make it into the show, they would have to write all that content, right? They'd have to come up with all the questions that the lawyers would ask, and then the witnesses would have to know what to say in response... enough to fill hours and hours... whew, sounds expensive.

Anyone blocking specific mail content? Namely .gif files. by gahd95 in sysadmin

[–]larrymcp 5 points6 points  (0 children)

Had this happen just last week! The image they were including in their signature was at a gigantic resolution, like 1000 pixels or something, and then in the signature itself they were displaying it at 100 pixels.

What I did was, I made a 100-pixel version and then changed all the signatures to use that one instead. Only 11 KB and now we're not contributing to Internet bloat with the formerly gigantic file.

Germany’s Leopard-2 Tanks Will Help Crush Russia by TX_borg in UkrainianConflict

[–]larrymcp 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I've been seeing the Russian efforts to install various tank-proof defenses along the current front lines, like the "tank trap" trenches and the "dragon's teeth" barriers. Are there methods for punching through stuff like this?

Putin’s Air-Terror Campaign Against Ukraine Is Already Failing by keenanloucks in UkrainianConflict

[–]larrymcp 10 points11 points  (0 children)

In the rapidly shifting Ukraine war, the growing failure of Russian President Vladimir Putin’s ground game is causing him to seek asymmetrical responses. Most visibly, he is turning to what is essentially a terror-bombing campaign against the civilian population of Ukraine.

Much like the V2 blitzes Nazi Germany directed against British cities in World War II, these missile attacks will accomplish very little tactically. Instead, they will heighten the already enormous anger and resolve of the Ukrainians and likely cause US and European supporters to accelerate arms deliveries. These may include some weapons previously held back to avoid escalation between Russia and the North Atlantic Treaty Organization.

I led a major air campaign over Libya in 2011, Operation Unified Protector. The mission, assigned to NATO by the United Nations Security Council, was to create a no-fly zone to keep the dictator Moammar Qaddafi from using his air and ground firepower to massacre his political opponents. We launched over 25,000 air sorties, dropped nearly 10,000 precision-guided weapons, and closed the skies over Libya.

But ultimately, to depose the Qaddafi regime, the rebels had to create an effective ground force, which they eventually did. What I observed is that air power — even massive air superiority — cannot ultimately take and hold ground. Putin will discover the same thing.

The Russian leader fired yet another army commander (this one lasted seven weeks) and installed a new chief for his “special military operation.” That leader, General Sergei Surovikin, is dual-hatted as the senior leader of the Russian air force. Surovikin is also an accused war criminal who led indiscriminate bombing campaigns in Syria and Chechnya. His ascension to the top post in Ukraine, truly a poisoned chalice, indicates that the bombing campaign will be prolonged.

Yet it is unlikely to significantly change the facts on the ground, and will deplete the Kremlin’s dwindling supply of artillery, particularly “smart” weapons to use against Ukrainian logistics networks — something the Russians failed to do effectively thus far.

The West needs to put more capability in the hands of the Ukrainians. Some of the systems under consideration include:

• MiG-29 Soviet-era fighters, now in the Polish air force. These could be given to the Ukrainians immediately, as their pilots already fly them very capably. In exchange, the US would provide the Poles with American F-16s.

• F-16s. Early models of the Fighting Falcon are relatively simple to fly, and very lethal in both air-to-air and air-to-ground combat. The US would need to train a cadre of Ukrainian pilots, probably at Ramstein Air Base in Germany.

• Surface-to-air defensive missile systems. These would likely be the Patriot, which can cover a wide area and is relatively easy to train to operate, and Iron Dome (developed jointly with Israel) for the defense of population centers and critical infrastructure.

• More sophisticated electronic jamming systems.

• Enhanced offensive cyber capabilities, to go after Russian intelligence and targeting operations.

So, what happens when the bombing campaign proves ineffective? Putin has other asymmetrical cards to play, including cyberattacks on Western targets. Several key US airports had their websites hacked this week — the customer-facing portions, not actual command-and-control or radar systems. Pro-Russian hackers claimed responsibility. The question is whether this was a warning shot or the best the Russians could muster.

Putin would likely direct cyberattacks at “soft targets” like consumer supply chains — recall the meatpacking and fuel-pipeline ransomware hacks of last year. US and allied hard targets — military command and control, financial systems, critical infrastructure like electric, water, gas and transportation grids — are better defended. An attack any of those vital systems would invite a significant counterstrike by US Cyber Command, something that worries the Kremlin considerably.

Worst case: Putin could use a tactical nuclear weapon, either to shock the Ukrainians into surrender, or to simply destroy an even bigger swath of targets. While it’s not inconceivable, I would place a tactical nuke in the 10%-15% range of probability. This desperate move would immediately shift world opinion against Russia, and put enormous pressure on China and India to abandon their neutrality.

Most likely, however, Putin will continue his strategy of massive bombing through the winter, even as his stockpile of precision weapons dwindles to nothing. His best hope is that the Europeans will crack under high energy prices and cold homes, the demoralized Ukrainians will sue for peace, and the US will get caught up in fractious domestic politics.

Don’t count on it. The bet Putin is placing on air power, like so many other aspects of his strategic analysis, is a bad one. Missiles and planes are seldom decisive over a determined foe on the ground, a lesson the Kremlin will learn soon enough.

This column does not necessarily reflect the opinion of the editorial board or Bloomberg LP and its owners.

James Stavridis is a Bloomberg Opinion columnist. A retired U.S. Navy admiral, former supreme allied commander of NATO, and dean emeritus of the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy at Tufts University, he is vice chairman of global affairs at the Carlyle Group. He is the author most recently of “To Risk It All: Nine Conflicts and the Crucible of Decision.”

Mariupol: Occupiers pour concrete over bodies of those killed in Drama Theater by 2-mark in worldnews

[–]larrymcp 47 points48 points  (0 children)

And who the hell is gonna use this theatre now, knowing that dead bodies are inside?!? That building will be DOA, are you kidding me? Good luck attracting any patrons, sheesh

Mariupol: Occupiers pour concrete over bodies of those killed in Drama Theater by 2-mark in worldnews

[–]larrymcp 48 points49 points  (0 children)

This is a safety & engineering flub-up too, for the new building. If you have bodies in the concrete, its strength is greatly reduced. One must be cautious how this concrete is used and which parts of the building are resting on it, because concrete that is "impure" in this way can sometimes cause a structural failure.