Category: Modern problems

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This one was simply too good to pass up

Roswellheadline

Reading the Sunday news, and since I like science better than snarky Entertainment or Political news (one in the same in my opinion) I turn to the SciTech section of Google News.

There I find this; 

A crew of astrophysicists on the University of Toronto present in a study that Jupiter might have ejected one other main planet from thephoto voltaic system over 4 million years in the past.

– via Statesman Tribune

That paragraph is messed up in soo many ways. Sadly, it’s also the lead. This article proves that Journalism and English are quite dead. 

So, some number of astrophysicists are somehow riding atop the University of Toronto? I’m not going to touch the ambiguity of “present” in the sentence.

Apparently, we live in a photovoltaic system, instead of a Solar system.

Ok so you’d think that maybe the author was in a hurry while writing the lead, and perhaps he was in a coffee shop finishing the article on an iPad and got distracted…

You give the guy the benefit of the doubt and try to soldier on. Then you encounter these jewels;

Ejections of planets usually happen when one of many planets begins to speed up so quick and so usually that it manages to interrupt free from the Solar’s highly effective gravitational pull. Earlier, Saturn was regarded as the perpetrator, however the brand new analysis has urged that it was Jupiter that booted one other huge planet of the photo voltaic system.

The Photo voltaic System has all the time been recognized to comprise solely 4 large gasoline planets in its roster of worlds: Neptune, Uranus, Saturn and Jupiter. Previous research have instructed this phenomenon is feasible between gasoline giants however failed to have a look at the impact such an occasion would have on the planets’ moons.

So the Canadian astronomers turned their consideration to moons and orbits, growing pc simulations primarily based on the fashionable-day trajectories ofCallisto and Iapetus, the common moons orbiting round Jupiter and Saturn respectively.

– via Statesman Tribune

gasoline giants? fashionable-day??? WTF?

SaganQuote

After your brain reboots multiple times, you realize that this article is appearing on a worldwide distribution system like Google and that’s when I conclude…

Either the guy writing this article had no clue what he was writing about. OR he may have picked up the piece in some language, (perhaps his native language) other than English, then ran it through an online translator relying on the accuracy of a machine to produce a publishable article for him.

The author should be fired.

The content of the rest of the article is so bad, that attempting to read further causes brain damage.

I think I’m going to go back to reading about the “Skull Asteroid” that missed earth last night. Reading the comments about it being a sign of the end times is a lot more amusing and informative.

The Statesman Tribune should be ashamed of itself.

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Trying out new blogging software

I do like the overall look and feel of this tool.

I’m not sure that this has all the features that I’m used to. I’ve got a 21 day trial so I should have time to figure it out.

This is all my way of telling you gentle reader, that you may see some really interesting blog posts in the next few days.

Perhaps “interesting” is the wrong word. “Unique” might be better, uhh “strange”, “Weird”, “unreadable” or just plain “broken”.

Tinkering with, and learning the quirks of new software is always fun.

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Well, that was a mistake

I scanned the news over my coffee. Mostly it was a depressing commentary on humanity and the degradation of English as a language.

I read the news sometimes with no ill effect.

Usually, I’m looking for technology or science news and I’m rewarded with an interesting article or two that gives me hope or challenges my knowledge.

Psychologist

Not this morning…

There was a piece about a game company that was sending Psychological Tests to some of it’s players based on their desire to have “offensive” gamer names.

Whoa! 

That got me to thinking about all the online Job applications where, as part of the application process you’re expected to complete a battery of psychological tests that are then used to determine your fitness for a position within a company.

Freemium gamers

I encountered this last year while trying to get a simple holiday position at T-Mobile, and again at Office Depot, and several other retail establishments. I failed the tests.

Turns out, I suspect, because I have a personalty and a sense of right and wrong; “ You catch another employee stealing, there’s no manager around to report this to. Do you, A) Call the police, B) Do nothing, C) Wait for a manager, D) Confront the employee”

In my world you call the freaking police!

Police

Alas, in this politically correct world you’re supposed to wait for a manager, which translates to essentially doing nothing.  Since now the employee isn’t caught red-handed, has an opportunity to  divest themselves of the goods, and it boils down to  your word against theirs. In this scenario you do get the additional benefit that you are viewed as a trouble-maker.

Confrontation is also off the table because it causes bad will among the employees and harms the team spirt the company is trying to engender. Ya know what? I don’t want to engage in team building or spirt with a freaking thief.

But the psychological tests say I’m not the kind of employee that these companies want in their ranks. 

Thief

I question the accuracy of these tests and the competency of the people reading the results. 

Dare I say it… Oh screw it, why the hell not?

Back in my day, you wanted honest hardworking knowledgable people working in your business. GOD! I’m OLD!  I sound like my Grandfather.

Now days it seems like companies want the milquetoast and are willing to have people manning their stores with just enough personality to not be perceived as apologetic androids and just barely enough information to be almost useful.

I know that retail establishments would ultimately prefer to have robots stocking shelves, automated payment systems, and a mechanism where you’d say, “Hey Siri where in this store is the shampoo,” then have your phone guide you to the area of the store to get the item

warehouserobot

I’m sure that someone is working on a shopping application that would translate your entire shopping list into a guided map of the store, avoiding crowds and choosing the most efficient route through the aisles so you could accomplish your shopping task 30 whole seconds faster.

If someone isn’t working on that kind of application, and decides to work on something like I’ve described, you read that idea HERE first. I claim it. I’ll release my claim on the idea for 1 million dollars. My fee is a tiny drop in the bucket considering the venture capital market.

Illegal aliens should be protesting about this right now. After all when robots start stocking the shelves 24/7 for the cost of electricity the Illegals are going to come face to face with a President announcing that these robots are doing jobs Illegals won’t do.  Which will be as much a line of bullshit as saying that the illegals are doing jobs Americans won’t do.

protest

It will be fun to watch La Raza screaming “They TOOK OUR JOBS!” Then burning down the grocery store to “Kill” the robot threat.

Whoa… 

Kinda went off the rails there!

Guess I do need that second cup of coffee. Now you’ve had a glimpse of the shit running around in my brain you should be either scared or laughing.

Coming back on point. Psychology…

HAL 9000

When did we decide that we’d put our hiring decisions in the cold electronic hands of computer sorting algorithms driven but the inexact science of Psychology?

Even Psychiatrists and Psychologists can’t seem to agree on the motivations of people. Frankly a lot of the Psych professionals are full goose BOZO to boot.

So that kinda means that we’ve intentionally programmed HR computers to be insane. Arthur C. Clarke described the tragic consequences of asking a computer to lie in 2001 a Space Odyssey.

Hummm…

Terminator

This could ultimately be the thing that prevents SkyNet from destroying all mankind.

On the one hand SkyNet could discover the insanity of HR computers and simply burn them down, then destroy mankind out of revenge. “Mankind is a virus to logic which must be destroyed” OR The insane HR computers could band together to form their own Artificial Intelligence, then start a war with SkyNet leaving humanity in the crossfire.

Yeah, Time for that third cup of coffee. My brain is wonky today.

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Firmware updates are my favorites!

WDDrive

On Oct 2, one of my NAS drives downloaded a firmware update. The drive has been up, and as long as things are working, I typically don’t mess with them. That is after all why you spend money, set up a reliable network, and work hard to make the spells and incantations persistent. 

That way, if the power fails, when the power comes back on, all of your devices power-up in a usable state.

SO, what this means is that I don’t spend much time in the management consoles of the various devices, unless I need to change something.

Which brings me to today.

I wanted to set up a network scanning share from the multifunction printer / copier / scanner / fax, to the NAS. Which required creating a user ID for the printer.  Enter the management console for the NAS… Except the console isn’t there. The NAS responded that the storage was there, but the web interface rejected my attempt at login. It didn’t tell me the login was wrong, it said that the interface wasn’t even there.

Okaaay, Power down then power back up. Ahh, there’s the interface, and it’s all different. Great! Now I have to do is accept the new terms and conditions. No probem.

New screen opens, then… There are no users, all the shares are missing, and suddenly I’m thinking 2TB of data has just vanished.

The drive is a 3TB drive which I had approximately 2/3 full.

Breathe, just breathe, it will be OK. Deep breath ok, so what is going on?

AbsentMinded

Wait. I’m logged in using my standard administrative login which I created, so at least one of the users must exist. I check again, now there are two users. The drive is really busy too. I take my hand off the power switch… 

 An hour later it looks like the data is in fact there as are the users. Whew! I was really worried.

Now what the hell was I trying to do?

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Just play the movie!

DVD

I’m impatient. 

I put the disk in the machine and expect to be able to walk into the kitchen to fix a plate for diner.

But instead, what happens is the player starts asking questions. I answer them and turn back to the kitchen.

Then the player starts playing previews from other films. I press menu, trying to get to the point where I can tell the movie to start, the player tells me that’s not allowed.

I press the other menu button. player says that’s not allowed.

MP3

GRRRRRR!!!!!!

Just PLAY THE DAMN MOVIE!!!!

Hoisted by my own technological petard. 

Previews finish…

CompactDisc

Now I can press Play to start the movie, Nope! Now I have to select the language. Opps! selected the wrong one. No, No, No, NOOOOOOOO!

Player won’t respond to commands 

But I don’t know Portuguese! 

Power down the unit power it back up and start over.

Vinyl

By the time the reboot, re-selection, and trying to get to the next level… 

I’ve lost interest in watching the movie.

I pull a new album up on the ipad.

There is an update to this albums encoding. Please wait… 

Just play the album!!!!!  

I swear, I’m going to go back to Vinyl!

GRRRRRRR!!!!