HARDWARE: stuck cd advice

Thursday, March 8, 2012

On Mon, Mar 5, 2012 at 8:12 AM, XXXX wrote:

Thanks John.    I have another favor of a technical nature. A DVD is stuck in the R-drive. It wants to open, but something is preventing it-sounds like a Twilight Zone story.    Any suggestions?

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Two ideas:

(1) there is usually a hole for “emergency open”. You mae need a magnifying glass and an unbent paper clip to insert.

(2) sometimes the CD doesn’t get flat on the “turntable”. I’ve found that inverting it and then back can sometimes free it. Also, a gentle washing machine agitation — 5 or 10 minutes — just put it on the machines when they cycle. :-) It sometimes will let the cd reset in the “tray”.

Just some things that I’ve done.

BTW the disk and the drive are probably toast. When it attempts to force the drawer open, it knocks the “heads” out of line.

Hope this helps,
fjohn

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POLITICAL: The IRS is politicized?

Wednesday, March 7, 2012

http://www.wnd.com/2012/03/obamas-irs-on-warpath-against-tea-parties

WND EXCLUSIVE
Obama’s IRS on warpath against tea parties
Government requiring names, addresses, contacts, relationships
Published: 12 hours ago
by Bob Unruh

*** begin quote ***

“Basically, we’re objecting to information that the IRS is requesting that is beyond the scope of its legitimate inquiry.”

On the ACLJ website, several questions from the IRS were quoted:

(1) Do you directly or indirectly communicate with members of legislative bodies? If so, provide copies of the written communications and contents of other forms of communications.

(2) Please describe the associate group members and their role with your organization in further detail. (a) How does your organization solicit members? (b) What are the questions asked of potential members? (c) What are the selection criteria for approval? (d) Do you limit membership to other organizations exempt under 501(c)(4) of the Code? (e) Provide the name, employer identification number, and address of the organizations.

(3) Do you have a close relationship with any candidate for public office or political party? If so describe fully the nature of that relationship.

“The quoted requests are merely the tip of the iceberg,” the ACLJ said. “We’re still reviewing the IRS letters and will have more information as we complete our review.”

The report continued, “Critically, the demands we’ve seen are made not in response to complaints of wrongdoing but instead in response to applications for exemption. In other words, the IRS appears to be conditioning the grant of exemptions on the extensive violation of the tea party’s fundamental First Amendment freedoms.”

*** end quote ***

It’s apparent that there’s a Nixon style enemies list.

How does one fight the IRS with a First Amendment argument?

It revolves around the “charitable deduction”. Guess you just have to forego that.

“We, The Sheeple” better wake up. Could be you next!

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GAMBLING: Betting on an RNG trend is the path to poverty

Wednesday, March 7, 2012

FROM LUDDITE:

>1.  First article…. lol

http://scoblete.casinocitytimes.com/article/trend-betting-pure-and-simple-60033

*** begin quote ***

Frank Scoblete: The simple truth about trend betting    The simple truth about trend betting    Scoblete says trend betting does not work in random games. You can’t get an edge over the house by betting for or against the trends you just saw. What happened in the past has no influence on what happens in the future.

*** end quote ***

He’s right, BUT, (and there is always a BIG butt), he doesn’t address the paradigm (the perception) that human beings always see order out of chaos. So we see trends. If UGH the caveman didn’t he was some predator’s lunch. Look at those people who say the Devil’s face in the billowing clouds at the 9/11 attack. Our wetware is hard wired to see <synonym for excrement> that may or may not be there. And the trend is your friend.

So, it’s a meme that if you’re gambling, you can’t “beat the house”. That’s why we do money management.

And, when you find an advantage, like I did when I realized the Riviera’s new loyalty ticket machines gave a slot player a small amount of additional information about the history of the machine (i.e., on a three dollar slot, a loyalty reading of 1 or 2 to go on a machine where the last play was 1 or 2 dollars MEANT that the last player went broke. Did it always pay to play that machine? No, but I’d give it two spins $6 to hit. One of the few times I made a lot of money. I’d have to call Our Girl to come down and wait for the tax papers.

Argh! I was at Comdex and had to go back to work. I got back out there three weeks later and the system had been removed.

I bet the pros realized it and used it. The casino probably lost the pro’s action because the pros would wait patiently for the tourists to “prime the pump”. Casino mistakes are few and far between. Like the Fremont’s repeat roulette number bet.

But he’s right. Betting on an RNG trend is the path to poverty. I’ll still do it in the short run (i.e., jump in the grave).

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RANT: What happened to “I AM WOMAN. HEAR ME ROAR”?

Tuesday, March 6, 2012

http://haemet.blogivists.com/2012/03/05/you-demand-i-buy-your-birth-control-but-
you-don%E2%80%99t-even-require-your-dates-to-buy-you-dinner-before-using-it-discuss/

You demand I buy your birth control, but you don’t even require your dates to buy you dinner before using it.
by Roxeanne de Luca at March 5, 2012 in Liberalism

*** begin quote ***

I have been beating the “young women of the world, have you all lost your minds?” drum for quite some time here at Haemet.  And I will continue to do so.  According to Fluke and the other lefties, the plight of women is so dire that they are left pleading before Congress to pay for the condoms and Pills that their lame-ass sex partners won’t pay for.  Could we humiliate young women any more?

*** end quote ***

We’ve already covered that the “23 old L3 young girl” is not what she appears to be. More “trojan horse”; than “poor student”.

Now let’s pick up this fellow good, but very crudely put, point.

Where is the pride? The self-reliance? The strength?

My paternal grandmother: married at ~13 on the docks in Germany, came steerage to the US, traveled the Oregon Trail, bore 16 children – three died in childbirth, her husband died in a construction accident while she was pregnant with her last — my Dad. Raised them all. I can only imagine what she’d say today about these whiney woman. “Pay for me to have sex.” Or even worse, “I’m powerless to control myself.” She’d have her infamous peach switch out in a heartbeat.

One advantage that the USA has over most of the rest of the world is that they oppress the female population. Barefoot and pregnant thinking. We, OTOH, have women that are powerhouses. Create wealth, Preform Bravely, and add immeasurably to the Commonweal. Not in the socialistic sense, but in that the fruits of their labor enrich everyone.

Let’s just take a quick look — Margaret Thatcher, Mother Teresa, Princess Diana, Madame Curie, Oprah, and on and on.

One of the appeals of Taylor Swift is that she empowers young girls. One of her videos shows here competing with a boy head to head in class. And, she wins. Unabashedly proud. She’s what we want more of. Fair competition makes everyone better.

We need all hands on deck for these struggles.

This “testimony” in front of Congress was so “disempowering” as to be embarrassing.

I have been helped, and helped others, many times in my life. But I can’t ever imagine begging for a handout for a recreational activity.

It disgusts me and it’s an insult to women everywhere. And, it’s an insult to the taxpayers.

I could understand a sick kid testifying that she like R&D into her condition as opposed to welfare / warfare items.

But this is unbelievable.

This is the biggest problem that the USA faces?

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INTERESTING: Infringe on one right; infringe on them all

Tuesday, March 6, 2012

http://www.nbcchicago.com/news/local/Chicago-Police-Take-NBC-Chicago-Photojournalist-
Into-Custody-Warn-1st-Amendment-Rights-Can-Be-Terminated-143105086.html

Police Handcuff NBC Chicago Photojournalist
Police release media members after about 10 minutes
By Zach Christman|  Monday, Mar 19, 2012  |  Updated 6:32 AM CDT

*** begin quote ***

“Your First Amendment rights can be terminated if you’re creating a scene or whatever,” the officer said.

*** end quote ***

Sounds like the kops needs some sensitivity training.

“Released after ten minutes” sounds like some realized the big time screw up!

If they were trespassing, what is the “barbara streisand” about fail to press charges.

Sorry, but this stinks.

We expect that the Fourth Estate, The Press, will give us the facts. Their RIGHTS are as inviolable as ours. An attack on that RIGHT is an attack on all our rights.

What will that kop say to you if he doesn’t like your lack of deference to his exalted status? “Your Right to Life can be terminated any time I choose.”

 

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INSPIRATIONAL: Why be anti-war?

Tuesday, March 6, 2012

http://lewrockwell.com/whitehead/whitehead39.1.html

The Horror! The Horror! Must-See War Films
by John W. Whitehead

*** begin quote ***

Saving Private Ryan: The Invasion Sequence (1998). The long opening sequence of this film is unlike anything in any other Hollywood depiction of war. It’s 25 minutes of barely comprehensible chaos and mutilation. Many veterans have stated that it is the most accurate re-creation of an amphibious assault. Credit for this sequence goes mainly to director of photography Janusz Kaminski – to be shared with editor Michael Kahn, sound designer Gary Rydstrom, writer Robert Rodat and director Steven Spielberg. Beyond this – i.e., the other 150 minutes of the film – Saving Private Ryan is a run-of-the-mill movie.

*** end quote ***

That opening sequence should convince anyone that war is the last option. The next time a politician or bureaucrat urges war, let them lead!

“We, The Sheeple” didn’t learn the lesson of Viet Nam, The Republic of.

55k of our best brightest warriors paid tuition. And ⅓ of the draft population went north or underground. It divided the nation and poisoned our souls.

When I hear them beat the War Drums for Syria, Iran, or whatever <insert name of favorite deity you favor> forsaken place they want our girls and boys to go die in, I get physically ill. In Fifth Grade, a Brother explained the “Just War” doctrine. He fought in the Pacific theater, and would say to us: “You JUST don’t understand. You know, but do not understand.” He was right. Many decades later, I know, but I don’t understand.

Dona Nobis Pacem!

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GUNS: The right’s existence is all the reason needed!

Tuesday, March 6, 2012

http://baltimore.cbslocal.com/2012/03/05/md-gun-law-found-unconstitutional/

Md. Gun Law Found Unconstitutional
March 5, 2012 1:29 PM

*** begin quote ***

States can channel the way their residents exercise their Second Amendment right to bear arms, but because Maryland’s goal was to minimize the number of firearms carried outside homes by limiting the privilege to those who could demonstrate “good reason,” it had turned into a rationing system, infringing upon residents’ rights, U.S. District Judge Benson Everett Legg wrote.

“A citizen may not be required to offer a `good and substantial reason’ why he should be permitted to exercise his rights,” he wrote. “The right’s existence is all the reason he needs.”

*** end quote ***

I think New Jersey laws should fall. As with every city and state! It’s a shame that someone has to take on the Gooferment to get their rights.

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RANT: Fluke, A Fake?

Monday, March 5, 2012

http://www.theblaze.com/stories/sandra-fluke-a-fake-victim-of-georgetowns-policy-on-contraceptives/

Faith Sandra Fluke: A Fake Victim of Georgetown’s Policy on Contraceptives?
Posted on March 3, 2012 at 5:00pm by Mytheos Holt

*** begin quote ***

But what if she not only decided to attend the university anyway, but decided to attend specifically so she could fight this battle? Consider this passage from an early Washington Post story done on Fluke before she was permitted to testify:

Fluke came to Georgetown University interested in contraceptive coverage: She researched the Jesuit college’s health plans for students before enrolling, and found that birth control was not included. “I decided I was absolutely not willing to compromise the quality of my education in exchange for my health care,” says Fluke, who has spent the past three years lobbying the administration to change its policy on the issue. The issue got the university president’s office last spring, where Georgetown declined to change its policy.

Fluke says she would have used the hearing to talk about the students at Georgetown that don’t have birth control covered, and what that’s meant for them. “I wanted to be able to share their stories,” she says. “My testimony would have been about women who have been affected by their policy, who have medical needs and have suffered dire consequences.. . .The committee did not get to hear real stories I had to share, about actual women who have been dramatically affected by this policy.”

*** end quote ***

So all this nonsense is a setup?

She’s not 23; 30.

She’s an activist.

And, did she enroll to cause this?

Cui bono.

If I was an investigative reporter, then I’d ask was she paid to do this.

So many questions; I’ll have to adjust my tin foil hat to get better reception on this issue.

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SERVICE: DNS — ISP, GOOGLE, or OPENDNS; OPENDNS for me

Monday, March 5, 2012

http://www.forbes.com/sites/eliseackerman/2012/02/25/a-closer-look-at-google-public-dns/

Tech|2/25/2012 @ 5:34PM
A Closer Look at Google Public DNS
Elise Ackerman, Contributor

*** begin quote ***

What role has Google played in the DNS ecosystem? Do you see them as a competitor or a partner?

Google has helped raise the importance of DNS above the network engineering community, which has been really good. They’ve also worked with us to advance the state of the art for DNS performance, something we’ve really enjoyed working with them to make happen. It’s not so much competition as it is choice in the market. If they started defaulting Chrome to use Google DNS, I think that’s something we would take issue with, but for now, we like the idea of people using a DNS other than their ISPs, that’s a good idea for a lot of reasons.

What are some of those reasons?

I like the idea of separation of services. ISPs provide a pipe. Other vendors provide security. Other vendors provide email. When one party controls all the services, it’s a “synergy” for the company, but rarely for the consumer. With DNS in particular, there are performance and security benefits that third party DNS providers offer that ISPs aren’t incentivized to do since DNS is a cost-center for them, and a profit-center for us.

*** and ***

I think anything which promotes heterogeneity on the Internet promotes stability. Diversity in services, service providers, and separating the layers of the networking stack are all important. Your ISP no longer provides you email because everyone either uses their own or has an account with Hotmail, Gmail or Yahoo mail. The same way people unbundled their email from their ISP, I think they should do with their DNS. Separation of services has been a long-standing best practice in the security community, and it applies now more than ever. In that vein, I’ll reiterate my view that I think Google controlling search, the browser, and the network or DNS layer is a dangerous trifecta that the consumer will probably be best served avoiding.  I’m sure we’ll find out soon enough.

*** end quote ***

I’ve been a fan of separation of duties.

ISP EMAIL has always been a trap for their Customers. That “customer@isp.net” is the property of the ISP; not the Customer. Once you give that out to enough people you’re locked in.

Why not use a DNS service that has an incentive to be loyal to you?

Since finding OPENDNS, I have not had an DNS outages. I know that VERIZON, COMCAST, and GOOGLE have had outages.

Easy decision fmpov.

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FUN: A night at the opera

Sunday, March 4, 2012

Lessons learned from a night at the opera. (the met; not Groucho Marx movie)

1> add 45 minutes to the time table. (NYC traffic sucks!)

2> give the deadline times with smiley clock faces with the big hand on two and the little hand on the three! (girls don’t do numbers well.)

3> while the lead diva ain’t Taylor Swift, man, that heifer had a set of pipes. (funniest moment when lead guy has to pick her up a carry her to the imaginary bedroom. Bet he wears a truss!)

special note of the “child” in the show: those three guys making it move made the doll seem like a real kid.

Best joke of the night: “so that kid was brought to the USA and grew up to be Jerremy Lin!”

Now we”ll see what the others thought!

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FJohn ReinkeBestest oddest serendipitous moment of the night.

I was wearing my “campaign ribbon” on my lapel. Always do when I get clean up and dress up to the 9’s.

Coming out the rest room, this old gent going in, had be a 150 years old, grabs my arm and says “Like your lapel chevron. See I wear mine too.” I was stunned. He had the exact same one.

Surprising for me to think that fast, I said: “And I thank you for your service to our country that allowed me to earn mine.” His response: “You’re a good boy. God bless.”

And, ships in the night, we both moved on as the curtain chimes were ringing. Funny, never thought of myself as a “good boy”, wish we could have compared notes.

If I’d have been thinking faster, I should have given him my business card. I had them in my jacket pocket. (Never go anywhere with out the basic networking tools — business cards and a pen!)

I went back to my seat and wondered what he did to earn his. Bet it was a lot more than I did!

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