The "I'm Such a Fecking Div" Thread

[mrcharly-YHT]

No Bloody Ethernet Port

I'm anticipating an increasing amount of Bad Swears over this particular problem as it applies to ever more computing devices as the years go on.  The Devil's Radio is not a substitute!

I thought bluetooth was the Devil's Radio.

Remember PCMIA slots? You could plug an adapter into those. I had one that was a modem, 56Kb modem. Thought it was so flash and all. Those were the days.
(started with a 300baud modem, then a 2400. An internal 28kB one in my desktop was amazing!)

[Mr Larrington]

No Bloody Ethernet Port

I'm anticipating an increasing amount of Bad Swears over this particular problem as it applies to ever more computing devices as the years go on.  The Devil's Radio is not a substitute!

I thought bluetooth was the Devil's Radio.

WiFi is the Devil's Radio; Bluetooth is but the spawn of one of his imps or possibly Finistre, the Demon of Such Things.

[andrewc]

(and pedantically none of the new iMacs come with an onboard ethernet port, but some of them come with a power brick that has one)

Yes, my own M1 machine & the one I ordered for my sister have an ethernet port in the offboard power brick.   Picture me rotating the new one around yesterday with a sense of growing realisation..... 

[MattH]

Remember PCMIA slots? You could plug an adapter into those. I had one that was a modem, 56Kb modem. Thought it was so flash and all. Those were the days.
(started with a 300baud modem, then a 2400. An internal 28kB one in my desktop was amazing!)

Ah yes, PCMCIA. Personal Computer Manufacturers Can't Invent Acronyms. Or Pretty Complicated, May Cause Intense Anxiety. In one job in the mid-90s, on day one I was given a copy of the standard, and asked to implement it in an FPGA and write the software to put a memory card connector onto an embedded system. I took to using the second acronym. Especially as at that point I knew almost nothing about PCMCIA, and had never used an FPGA.

But I did also have a pair of lovely 3Com PCMCIA cards - one was ethernet, the other a 56k modem. Rather than a weird connector on a short lead for connecting the RJ45 and RJ11, they had full size connectors that took up half of the card width. You could plug both cards together into a double card slot, with either one upside down, so the two connectors filled the space but sat totally within the footprint of the laptop. Brilliant piece of engineering.

[grams]

But I did also have a pair of lovely 3Com PCMCIA cards - one was ethernet, the other a 56k modem. Rather than a weird connector on a short lead for connecting the RJ45 and RJ11, they had full size connectors that took up half of the card width. You could plug both cards together into a double card slot, with either one upside down, so the two connectors filled the space but sat totally within the footprint of the laptop. Brilliant piece of engineering.

* nerd curiosity piqued *

Xircom RealPort2:

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/173390642670

[Kim]

But I did also have a pair of lovely 3Com PCMCIA cards - one was ethernet, the other a 56k modem. Rather than a weird connector on a short lead for connecting the RJ45 and RJ11, they had full size connectors that took up half of the card width. You could plug both cards together into a double card slot, with either one upside down, so the two connectors filled the space but sat totally within the footprint of the laptop. Brilliant piece of engineering.

I think I've got an earlier one of those somewhere.  Ethernet and 28k8 modem on the same single-height card, with donkey-knobblers with slimline connectors.  Which was a bit like being a modern Apple user, but still better than having to remove the card (inevitably crashing Windows) to fit the laptop in a bag, which is what would happen with tedious regularity on whatever minimum-viable-Ethernet-card I had when I was a PSO.

[Ham]

...started with a 300baud modem, then a 2400. An internal 28kB one in my desktop was amazing!

Ah, luxury. Acoustic coupler was where it was at.

[Beardy]

...started with a 300baud modem, then a 2400. An internal 28kB one in my desktop was amazing!

Ah, luxury. Acoustic coupler was where it was at.

Acoustic coupler? Pah, I had to use a whole different machine. A telex machine was where text messages were at and a teletype terminal was my input device to he computer. 

You tell that to the youth of today…

[Lightning Phil]

No Bloody Ethernet Port

I'm anticipating an increasing amount of Bad Swears over this particular problem as it applies to ever more computing devices as the years go on.  The Devil's Radio is not a substitute!

I thought bluetooth was the Devil's Radio.

Remember PCMIA slots? You could plug an adapter into those. I had one that was a modem, 56Kb modem. Thought it was so flash and all. Those were the days.
(started with a 300baud modem, then a 2400. An internal 28kB one in my desktop was amazing!)

Think our Internet school computer was 1200 baud in 1979.  Hacking into University gateways at the speed of treacle.

[mrcharly-YHT]

No Bloody Ethernet Port

I'm anticipating an increasing amount of Bad Swears over this particular problem as it applies to ever more computing devices as the years go on.  The Devil's Radio is not a substitute!

I thought bluetooth was the Devil's Radio.

Remember PCMIA slots? You could plug an adapter into those. I had one that was a modem, 56Kb modem. Thought it was so flash and all. Those were the days.
(started with a 300baud modem, then a 2400. An internal 28kB one in my desktop was amazing!)

Think our Internet school computer was 1200 baud in 1979.  Hacking into University gateways at the speed of treacle.

1200 baud in 1979 sounds very fast.

I hated teletype machines because the op manager could see my typoes.

[Jurek]

No Bloody Ethernet Port

I'm anticipating an increasing amount of Bad Swears over this particular problem as it applies to ever more computing devices as the years go on.  The Devil's Radio is not a substitute!

I thought bluetooth was the Devil's Radio.

Remember PCMIA slots? You could plug an adapter into those. I had one that was a modem, 56Kb modem. Thought it was so flash and all. Those were the days.
(started with a 300baud modem, then a 2400. An internal 28kB one in my desktop was amazing!)

Think our Internet school computer was 1200 baud in 1979.  Hacking into University gateways at the speed of treacle.

1200 baud in 1979 sounds very fast.

I hated teletype machines because the op manager could see my typoes.

I see what you did there 

[Kim]

As it was bedtime and I'm able-legged, I offered to unplug the audio streamer device from the crap laptop that barakta's currently using and plug it in to charge on the shelf on the other side of the room.  Step 1 was to unplug the 3.5mm jack connecting it to the laptop.  At which point - unknown to me as I'm not conversant in its cryptic coloured-blinkenlights status display - it falls back to using its microphone as an audio source.  Just in time for me to fail to invoke the correct sequence of button-presses to turn it off and loudly complain "YOU'RE OFF; ACT LIKE IT!" (as I find myself doing to modern electronics with tedious regularity) at point blank range into the microphone that's now streaming directly into barakta's head.

She was  a) startled  and  b)  not impressed.

I blame Finistre, the Demon of Such Things.

[barakta]

I hate the streamer's UI too, too many colours and flashing options which aren't even intuitive (green doesn't mean something good, orange doesn't means something intermediate). And the colours are different to the OtherStreamer cos they couldn't possibly have a 3.5mm jack and Devil's Other Radio (BlueTooth) in the SAME streamer, it has to be two (audiologist gave me two cos I hate wireless nonsense but it is occasionally handy).

[Cudzoziemiec]

What are these streamers? What is their function and purpose?

[Kim]

What are these streamers? What is their function and purpose?

Combination of:

a) Functional equivalent of headphones, wirelessly streaming audio from a line input or Devil's Lesser Radio device to the hearing aid.
b) Radio aid, providing a microphone that's closer to the person(s) you want to hear than the one on the hearing aid itself, which improves the SNR.

In ye olde days, (a) would take the form of a cable with a 3.5mm headphone jack on one end and a fiddly little plug on the other.  Obviously this Just Worked, so was ripe for replacement with complicated wireless solutions as soon as technology allowed it.

(b) Would take the from of a dedicated receiver unit, connected to the hearing aids either via the above cable, or an induction loop worn around the neck.  An FM (or latterly, digital) radio transmitter similar to those normally used for wireless microphones for public address or filming would provide the signal.  You may have seen barakta using one to hear me on bike rides.

[Cudzoziemiec]

What are these streamers? What is their function and purpose?

Combination of:

a) Functional equivalent of headphones, wirelessly streaming audio from a line input or Devil's Lesser Radio device to the hearing aid.
b) Radio aid, providing a microphone that's closer to the person(s) you want to hear than the one on the hearing aid itself, which improves the SNR.

In ye olde days, (a) would take the form of a cable with a 3.5mm headphone jack on one end and a fiddly little plug on the other.  Obviously this Just Worked, so was ripe for replacement with complicated wireless solutions as soon as technology allowed it.

(b) Would take the from of a dedicated receiver unit, connected to the hearing aids either via the above cable, or an induction loop worn around the neck.  An FM (or latterly, digital) radio transmitter similar to those normally used for wireless microphones for public address or filming would provide the signal.  You may have seen barakta using one to hear me on bike rides.

So this is basically a microphone attached to you, streaming via some form or other of devil's radio to barakta's baha? Got it!

[Kim]

So this is basically a microphone attached to you, streaming via some form or other of devil's radio to barakta's baha? Got it!

Yep, though she mainly uses it to hear audio from computers and such.  Headphones not being an option.

[Mr Larrington]

Tea: a lot MOAR flavoursome if you pour boiling water onto the teabags instead of into an empty mug

[Kim]

Tea: a lot MOAR flavoursome if you pour boiling water onto the teabags instead of into an empty mug

I can also recommend not pouring it onto the surface in front of the mug (it's been one of those days).

[andrewc]

Tea: a lot MOAR flavoursome if you pour boiling water onto the teabags instead of into an empty mug

I can also recommend not pouring it onto the surface in front of the mug (it's been one of those days).

As long as it wasn't on your toes.......


I can remember putting teabags in the pot,  unplugging the kettle & carefully pouring water into the sugar bowl .. 

[Pingu]

Tea: a lot MOAR flavoursome if you pour boiling water onto the teabags instead of into an empty mug

Ah, yes, the good old homeopathic tea 

[Kim]

Tea: a lot MOAR flavoursome if you pour boiling water onto the teabags instead of into an empty mug

I can also recommend not pouring it onto the surface in front of the mug (it's been one of those days).

As long as it wasn't on your toes.......

No, that's the bucket-emptying...

[Beardy]

I’ve stopped,using streamers since I got blufang HAs. Although I had to source the streamers myself, either via access to work funding or my own pocket since retirement, I’m not entirely convinced that direct to HA via blufang is an improvement. This could be because they rely on a phone app to control them, which is mostly crap. 

[barakta]

My view of hearing aid apps is unprintable. POS.

[TheLurker]

The more I read this thread, the more I'm convinced that the Human Race is merely some sort of divine "Truman Show" cooked up to amuse the many & various deities.

My contribution to the ongoing farce.

Yesterday; scanning the paper templates I'd used while covering my latest toy aeroplane. First set, all as expected. Second set, a "ghost" of one from the first scan shows up.  Shut down printer, close the scanner application, try again.  Nope, still there.  Shrug and move on, other more important stuff to do and it'll probably be OK after a reboot.

Today; go to scan a couple of pages and what do I see?  The "ghost" template stuck to the lid of the photocopy/scanner. Twit.