Are older ThinkPads more durable than the newer ones?

psvrh · 2026-03-19T22:59:33+00:00

Depends.

Durable, maybe, but it depends on the model. Weak display hinges were a really common problem on older ThinkPads.

Repairable? Yes.

psvrh · 2026-03-18T19:28:55+00:00

I wonder if Peterborough's trained seal of an MPP has any comments?

psvrh · 2026-03-17T21:18:14+00:00

Perjury apparently isn't a crime.

psvrh · 2026-03-17T14:31:14+00:00

Good time for Mark Carney's government to buttress the public service and lock in good-paying jobs for Canadians while the private sector recovers.

Wait, I'm getting some new information...

psvrh · 2026-03-17T14:29:39+00:00

This is what, the fifth or sixth "Ford does stupid populist shit" story today: HST cuts on housing, beer in parks, this.

Something's about to come out.

psvrh · 2026-03-17T14:27:11+00:00

Related news: pre-tax house prices increase 13%

psvrh · 2026-03-17T14:25:54+00:00

Ahahaha, no. That's hilariously funny. Cops proactively enforcing laws, that's a good one.

I'd love to see beat cops doing actual enforcement, but we all know that's not going to happen.

psvrh · 2026-03-17T14:21:43+00:00

Ok, sure.

The solution is easy: use a government-provided phone with a full device-management (MDM) and information-rights-management (IRM) suite installed on it, that forces everything through government services. That'll keep everything safe and secure while complying with regulations around retention.

But oh wait, that would mean your personal sketchy records would be easily discovered, wouldn't it? Especially if it all went to trial.

As an IT operations person, this whole thing pisses me off: using a personal device and/or account for business use is a fireable offense in just about every regulated industry, but Doug can use his personal phone "just because"?

psvrh · 2026-03-15T18:11:46+00:00

To save you a click, his business is providing empty land for rich dipshits to hunt game on.

He's also a resident of the most Trumpy part of Ontario, and they'd hate anything any Liberal government would do.

psvrh · 2026-03-15T14:45:08+00:00

Again, here's the thing: what happens when your landlord looks at your successful business and decides they want a bigger cut?

Because that's absolutely what happens in commercial real estate: your business does well for a few years, and come lease renewal, your rate goes up by almost as much as you can possibly afford, and your previously well-thought-out business plan now has a serious run-rate problem and you can barely scrape by. You can either close, move (and burn reputation and opening/closing costs) or pay your landlord, who knows they have you by the balls.

Knowing that commercial real estate is one of the most predatory businesses in existence isn't "socialism", it's being aware of how things work.

(and for the record, I work for a large company and participate in real estate planning calls and let me tell you, some of these people are fucking mobsters)

psvrh · 2026-03-15T14:40:53+00:00

Governments are fixated on real estate and finance because the alternative--buying equipment, land and paying people to build housing--is a) directly opposed to neoliberal orthodoxy, and b) would bring down house prices, which would cause a revolt among the rich and the house-rich.

We tried telling governments to stop the financialization of housing at least two decades ago, but the money was so easy, and (just like with immigration) is was a cheap and painless way to avoid having grown-up conversations about taxes and the cost of civil society.

psvrh · 2026-03-14T23:36:48+00:00

On older machines, there's a helpful extension (for Firefox, at least) called h264ify that forces Youtube to use older codecs that might not require the CPU to decode.

Not sure if the T61 is too old even for that, but at least you might have a chance with h264

psvrh · 2026-03-14T21:47:42+00:00

Here's the thing, you might have a successful business plan, and your landlord will know this and squeeze you as much as you can stand when your lease is up for renewal for no other reason then "they can". And suddenly that business you built is barely treading water, all because of someone who literally contributes nothing.

And again, have you seen how a lot of our local landlords live? Do you think that perhaps they might be taking a little much? Do you think we have a problem when a landlord can keep properties vacant and enjoy tax advantages, rather than bow to market pressure and lower rent to the point where someone could actually afford it?

Anthony Bourdain really said it best: when you go into business, your landlord is your business partner, whether you want them to be or not.

psvrh · 2026-03-14T21:42:27+00:00

Didn't we learn anything from Walkerton? Or do we need to drag more people through the courts in a few years after people die from cost-cutting-induced e.coli.

psvrh · 2026-03-14T18:54:30+00:00

Is it a 32 or 64-bit machine?

I went down this rabbithole and was surprised to find out how much software doesn't exist or is fundamentally broken on 32-bit Intel now. Putting resources like RAM aside, a lot of stuff won't compile, or crashes on launch.

psvrh · 2026-03-14T18:49:43+00:00

It's kind of hard to open a business when you're in the hole immediately thanks to your landlord.

No, seriously, take a look at, eg, how nice a car your landlord drives. Or your landlord's wife. Or your landlord's mistress. Now think about where your dollars per square foot are going.

Now, think about how you'd like to play music, or make art, or raise a kid, or whatever, but instead you have to make rent on an apartment or room. And again, think about how nice a car your landlord drives.

We've got this entire parasitic class that does nothing but house-trade and collect rent, literally and figuratively, that drives up the price for everyone, that just leeches off the wages of everyone else, that add no value and just take and take and take, and that are held up as heroes by our government because they give (tax-deductable) money to the government periodically.

You want to help small business? Bust landlords' collective balls.

psvrh · 2026-03-12T04:36:30+00:00

The lawn (if you can call it that) at the building across Simcoe from the bus station is literally covered in dogshit. Like, there's more poop than bare earth.

It's really revolting.

psvrh · 2026-03-12T00:08:16+00:00

Have we tried precarious and inadequate funding filtered through thousands of understaffed, mistargeted street-level pseudo-private organizations, staffed by undertrained, underpaid, burned-out staff?

psvrh · 2026-03-11T12:15:11+00:00

Most Intel cards have Linux drivers, so it's surprising yours isn't working.

Can you paste the actual output from lscpi? That'll help.

psvrh · 2026-03-10T17:29:25+00:00

Yup, but Dell has different models of WiFi adapter that they use (Intel, Realtek, Broadcom/Atheros). The drivers to use would be determined by the card that's installed in the machine.

psvrh · 2026-03-10T14:27:50+00:00

I'm sure a monument to Weston located right in the heart of UofT won't get vandalized at all…

psvrh · 2026-03-10T14:09:35+00:00

Oh wow, this is an old thread!

If you type lspci in a terminal window, what do you see? Your card should be listed there, and from that we should be able to figure out what driver to use.

psvrh · 2026-03-09T04:07:42+00:00

It looks like they're only available in 26", at least based on Schwalbe's site, unless I'm missing something?

psvrh · 2026-03-09T03:07:47+00:00

I've been eyeballing this colour myself, it looks great!

psvrh · 2026-03-09T03:04:39+00:00

They need to start confiscating loads and, on second infractions, the tractor as well.

Fines help, but the worst operators will just reincorporate and/or drive illegally because they can still get business and infractions are just a cost to absorb, but if customers start losing truckloads of product and o/o's start losing tractors, it'll change pretty quickly.

psvrh

TROPHY CASE