I walk. I talk. I shop, I sneeze. I'm gonna be a fireman when the floods roll back. There's trees in the desert since you moved out. And I don't sleep on a bed of bones.

Buffy ,'Chosen'


Buffistechnology 2: You Made Her So She Growls?  

Got a question about technology? Ask it here. Discussion of hardware, software, TiVos, multi-region DVDs, Windows, Macs, LINUX, hand-helds, iPods, anything tech related. Better than any helpdesk!


Jessica - Sep 18, 2005 11:00:12 am PDT #4542 of 10003
And then Ortus came and said "It's Ortin' time" and they all Orted off into the sunset

Not a question, just a rant. I went to Circuit City and bought an external hard drive enclosure (not the cheapest option, but available RIGHT NOW), and....I don't have a screwdriver that will get it open to put the damn thing in. My Philips-head is too fat, and my skinny flat-head is too wide. And the nearest hardware store isn't open on Sundays.

I was feeling so productive, too. Oh well.

(The printer issue has been solved by replacing the color cartriage.)


DCJensen - Sep 18, 2005 11:27:45 am PDT #4543 of 10003
All is well that ends in pizza.

My Philips-head is too fat, and my skinny flat-head is too wide. And the nearest hardware store isn't open on Sundays.

Got a dollar store? A wal-mart, etc, too.


DXMachina - Sep 18, 2005 11:29:11 am PDT #4544 of 10003
You always do this. We get tipsy, and you take advantage of my love of the scientific method.

Jess, can you slip a dime into the slot?


Jessica - Sep 18, 2005 12:50:02 pm PDT #4545 of 10003
And then Ortus came and said "It's Ortin' time" and they all Orted off into the sunset

Got a dollar store? A wal-mart, etc, too.

My neighborhood is mostly small family-owned businesses, and very little is open on Sundays.

Jess, can you slip a dime into the slot?

Nope -- the screws are set into holes smaller than a pencil-width (that's what I mean by the Philips-head being too fat -- I literally can't fit it into the hole where the screws are). I need a skinny Philips-head screwdriver, and I can't get one until tomorrow.

I even tried one of my eyeglass-fixing screwdrivers, but the head was too small. I'm like the Goldilocks of screwdrivers here.


Jon B. - Sep 18, 2005 12:56:10 pm PDT #4546 of 10003
A turkey in every toilet -- only in America!

It's asking me for the names of my incoming and outgoing mail server.

The outgoing is often smtp.yourISP.com


Tom Scola - Sep 18, 2005 1:03:02 pm PDT #4547 of 10003
Remember that the frontier of the Rebellion is everywhere. And even the smallest act of insurrection pushes our lines forward.

I could lend you a screwdriver.


Jessica - Sep 18, 2005 1:44:15 pm PDT #4548 of 10003
And then Ortus came and said "It's Ortin' time" and they all Orted off into the sunset

Hee! Thanks, but I can wait. It's probably something that'll be useful to have anyway.


§ ita § - Sep 18, 2005 4:26:48 pm PDT #4549 of 10003
Well not canonically, no, but this is transformative fiction.

I don't know if anyone here reads Computerworld's Shark Tank, but I just can't get enough of it -- lots of tales of clueless IT users, often management with pointless decisions.


DCJensen - Sep 18, 2005 4:56:24 pm PDT #4550 of 10003
All is well that ends in pizza.

Oh Lordy.

"You should have known that users don't follow established procedures, and taken that into account in your maintenance plan."


DCJensen - Sep 18, 2005 6:42:35 pm PDT #4551 of 10003
All is well that ends in pizza.

From Space.com:

September 12

Space Elevator Gets FAA Lift

The LiftPort Group, the space elevator companies, announced September 9 that it has received a waiver from the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) to use airspace to conduct preliminary tests of its high altitude robotic “lifters.”

The lifters are early prototypes of the technology that the company is developing for use in its commercial space elevator to ferry cargo back and forth into space.

The tests, which are planned for early fall, will simulate a working space elevator by launching a model elevator “ribbon” attached to moored balloon initially up to a mile high. The robotic lifters will then be tested in their ability to climb up and down the free-hanging ribbon, marking the first-ever test of this technology in the development of the space elevator concept.

According to Michael Laine, president of the LiftPort Group in Bremerton, Washington, the FAA go-ahead is a “critical step” in the ultimate developing of the group’s LiftPort Space Elevator concept.