More aurora?

[altivo]

If you have a clear sky, and are located at a fairly high magnetic latitude, it may be worth checking for aurora around your local midnight. The activity index is climbing as a result of the CME that took place on Saturday. That one was a much stronger flare than the physically large one of a week ago, but it wasn't pointed directly at the earth.

It's amazing how much dust can collect on conventional monitor screens. I cleaned mine this morning and I can't believe how much brighter they look, not to mention sharper. Duh.

Over the weekend I received the official letter stating that my pension is fully vested. And, today the occasion arose for me to have to tell the new director that "I don't do Windows." She was a bit surprised, I think, but seems to have taken it in stride for the moment. I meant it too. I hate all the fiddly, poorly documented twiddling required to keep a Windows network running. And I really hate what it takes to keep Windows running reliably on public workstations. I've done it, of course, and for a good many years, but it has been a terrific relief not to be doing it any more over the past five years, and I'm not about to return to the stress of it. Especially not at my present payscale, which is about half what a Windows network administrator makes even in this area. I've been providing minimal support for staff members who are helplessly dependent on Windows, but I am not going to maintain public Windows stations. Life is too short.

Attempt to clean a couple of non-functioning keys on the VT220 keyboard did not succeed. They remain non-functioning. I did, however, get a Linux-based terminal session script that provides most of the functionality of VT220 emulation. It's clunky trying to duplicate all 25 or so of the extra keys on the VT220 keyboard with SHIFT-this and ALT-that, but it does work. I gave in and bought another keyboard, this one guaranteed to work or it can be returned. So it's just a matter of waiting for it to arrive. I did finally receive today a graphics interface for the DS10 at work, so I'll have full windowed access to that Alpha just as I do here at home. At least, should have. The board looks shiny and little used, and is supposed to work.

We had terrific thunder and lightning early this morning, between about 3 and 4:30 am. It just kept rolling along. Very little actual rain, only a quarter inch, but there sure was a lot of pyrotechnic display. Looks like we may get something similar again tomorrow morning, judging by tonight's forecast.

Comments

[moonhare]

And I really hate what it takes to keep Windows running reliably on public workstations.

Got the call Saturday a.m. that one of the YA computers 'wasn't working.' I told them to put a "Not in Service" sign on it and I'd deal with it Tuesday (this morning). Hopefully it will just be another button-battery issue and not something with Windows itself.

[altivo]

So what was it? I'm often irritated to find that the "not working" consists of the monitor being unplugged or something equally obvious.

[moonhare]

It was the battery, and that reset the bios. Yes, it's usually just a cable or wire, so this was actually refreshing.

[hrrunka]

Aye, I don't do Windows either. I guess it might be affecting my employment prospects, but not as much as my age is...

I'll be trying to keep an eye (or ear) on the HF bands for DX openings.

We had some decent rain overnight. Things will be green again soon.

[altivo]

I have trouble understanding the "age" thing. In many fields, age and experience produce a superior worker who resolves issues and completes tasks more quickly.

[lobowolf.livejournal.com]

I think many employers are bloody cheapskates :/

[altivo]

Yes, they'd rather hire cheap kids right out of school than pay for an experienced individual. Here in the US, it's made worse by the cost of health insurance, which they usually must provide and unless they are a very large corporation, their overall group rate goes up when they hire even one new person who is 50 or older. That's often the real excuse for age discrimination.

[hrrunka]

I've figured a pattern; if the interviewer's too young to remember Apollo, or a workplace without laptops, then I'm not going to get past the first interview.

[altivo]

This is quite possible. I've been readily hired by people my age or older, but don't even get to talk to younger ones. The new director is younger of course and I suspect the greater knowledge and experience a couple of us have makes her uncomfortable. At the moment she can't afford to be without us, though.

[lobowolf.livejournal.com]

Networking: How to link multiple computers together so that if one fails, they all fail :P

I'll keep my eyes out for a VT220 keyboard next time I'm at state surplus.

[altivo]

Is that "networking"? I thought it was the definition of "distributed processing" instead. And of course, then there's VMS where you get the "cluster" that ought to have another four letter word appended to the end.

EDIT: Forgot to respond to the VT220 keyboard. Yes, if you can find one for a reasonable price I'll be glad to pay for it plus shipping. "Reasonable" is here defined as $25 or less. I've got another one coming from Ebay, but that's a crap shoot. This would be the LK201 model keyboard that uses RJ11 connectors. Less likely to be found (though you're closer to the original source for DEC, so who knows) would be one of the "PC-style" keyboards that had PS2 connectors or even USB toward the end. Those have model numbers in the LK45x and LK46x range, I think. Other than the Digital logo and model number on the bottom, they are identifiable by the presence of 20 function keys across the top, grouped 5, 5, 4, 2, 4. The F16 key is usually labeled "DO" and is double width.