Root Access

12:53 AM

lol

1:19 AM

superuser.com/questions/423667/… I'm wondering how common these are, and whether everyone who owns a dell gets hours of fun troubleshooting it like i did

Bob

2:50 AM

@JourneymanGeek I've had less problems with my last Dell computer than a custom built or HP one :\

The HP laptop is literally falling apart (screws are falling out every other day) and the custom desktop has already gone through a bad SATA cable, bad RAM and a bad video card. I might just go Dell next time :P

Journeyman Geek

@bob: well its more, its a specific, old, obscure, cheap model

lol

my custom boxes are pretty much bulletproof

new PSU every 4-5 years, new battery every 4-5 years. occasional video card failures. 7 year cycles are fairly reasonable

oh yes, and periodically dust off the internals. The dust i have here is nasty for fans

(the 530 isn't bad, run in a stripped down config. Its a pain to work with. Mine's currently in a nice large cosair case, and will be moved to a spare,soon to be rather heavily modified case in future)

HackToHell

5:20 AM

Does having the Case tilted at angle, cause any problems for the HDD ?

Journeyman Geek

probably no

unless the case drops cause of that

HackToHell

Ok

Journeyman Geek

5:52 AM

i actually think there's a question on SU on the topic

34

A: Does vertical position affect the lifespan or integrity of a hard drive?

According to several manufacturers, mounting a 3/5" hard drive horizontally, vertically, or sideways doesn't affect the hard drive life significantly. These are statements taken from the hard drive literature at each manufacturer's website; it's four years old but things probably haven't chang...

Bob

@JourneymanGeek Heh, my case accidentally dropped about 10cm the other day

I was so relieved it seemed fine :P

Journeyman Geek

@Bob: well, we had a system that fell off a desk, had a borken power input thing, and was running for months...

Bob

Massive thump D:

Journeyman Geek

until one day "The computer isn't working" "WHAT HAPPENED???" "It dropped"

Bob

It was rebuilding the RAID array too, worst time to drop xD

@JourneymanGeek You mean the drop several months ago caused it to die?

Journeyman Geek

5:56 AM

lol

Its a miracle it was running that long

PSU was pretty much hosed, connection from mains came lose

was a fire risk

Bob

@JourneymanGeek I'd be a little more worried about the video ports, considering they're usually screwed in :P

Journeyman Geek

lol

that wasn't damaged

oddly enough

Bob

The most stressful part of a laptop or similar that has fallen off the desk is when opening is to check if the screen broke. The second most is trying to boot it to see if the HDD crashed :P

That was my first (internal) HDD to crash

iglvzx

@Bob Ha. Once upon a time, I tripped over my laptop's power cord and sent the poor computer flying across the room. The screen was fine. The hard drive didn't make it. :(

I LOVE these kind of mechanical animations:

32

A: Differences between Cherry mechanical keyboard switches?

First, be warned: all mechanical keyboards are going to be substantially louder than typical rubber dome keyboards you may be familiar with. However there are "quieter" mechanical switches. I've attempted to summarize the most common Cherry switch information in the below diagrams derived from t...

The motherload!:

commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Category:Animations_of_machinery

HackToHell

6:20 AM

@JourneymanGeek Thats for that

Boris_yo

8:02 AM

Have a nice song guys for this morning:

►

Oliver Salzburg

8:35 AM

What is the right way to deal with interference noises in your speakers caused by your cellphone?

I have to move my phone like 2 meters away from me until it no longer messes with my speakers.

Bob

@OliverSalzburg Perhaps a ferrite bead?

lifehacker.com/397013/magnets-kill-the-cell-phone-speaker-buzz seems to confirm it works

I never really bothered :P

It serves as an early warning of a phone call - it happens before my phone's weak speaker starts

Boris_yo

@OliverSalzburg Try switching channel. Was kidding.

Oliver Salzburg

@Bob Awesome!

@Boris_yo I would have had no idea how to do it anyway ;D

Journeyman Geek

8:50 AM

@OliverSalzburg: ferrite beads are a good idea, and dirt cheap

Oliver Salzburg

I'll try that

Boris_yo

How about these?

dx.com/…

Earth REactive magnet!

Journeyman Geek

You can cause particularly nasty effects with any wire and rare earth magnets

Boris_yo

@JourneymanGeek Tried these magnets already?

Oliver Salzburg

Does it matter how the ferrit bead is placed over the cable?

I wonder if I should be the cheap rings or the expensive split one.

Journeyman Geek

8:54 AM

i think you're supposed to loop the cable through it

experiment!

and let me know, the one time i thought i needed one was another issue ;p

Oliver Salzburg

Well, if I get the rings, the plug might not fit through the ring.

So I would have to pull a loop through the ring and tie it into a knot or something.

Boris_yo

Done for you eBay search:

ebay.com/sch/Electronic-Components-/4659/…

Oliver Salzburg

@Boris_yo I'm looking at them right now.

But compare prices: ebay.de/itm/…

Boris_yo

@JourneymanGeek Do you know if 3.5mm iPhone audio data cable will also work with non-iPhone device?

Oliver Salzburg

Oh well, let's get those.

Journeyman Geek

9:00 AM

hmm

no

Boris_yo

@OliverSalzburg I do not decode German.

@JourneymanGeek You talking to me?

Journeyman Geek

I do remember some stories about how they worked with some devices that use TRRS

yes

Oliver Salzburg

@Boris_yo Luckily the numbers (price) mean the same ;)

Ah, they all cost the same. The product pictures were just confusing in regards to quantity.

Boris_yo

►

@JourneymanGeek Will this one work with devices other than iPhone? Looks nice... What do you think?

focalprice.com/IP0990R/…

Journeyman Geek

er

thats a standard TRS cable

that will work on anything

Oliver Salzburg

9:10 AM

Great. I spent hours yesterday trying to debug an issue with our CMS until I finally resorted to SO.

Naturally, I was expecting helpful information this morning that would help me solve my issue.

All I got was a comment telling me it's a strange issue :(

Journeyman Geek

lol

Boris_yo

@OliverSalzburg Well not for me.

@JourneymanGeek Ah you mean I should disregard the fact it says for iPhone?

Oliver Salzburg

@Boris_yo I was comparing the prices of difference bead concepts. But it was misguided anyway.

Boris_yo

@OliverSalzburg Well 14 EUR for 10 ferrits? Not cheap if you want only 1.

Oliver Salzburg

@Boris_yo Yeah. I just thought they are much cheaper without the plastic things and if they are whole rings.

Boris_yo

9:16 AM

@OliverSalzburg Where do you attach them? On speaker's wire? Or just put it close to it, or place it on your cellphone?

Journeyman Geek

@Borisyo: its a bog standard cable

Oliver Salzburg

@Boris_yo I'll find out :D

Boris_yo

"Think different" - Apple

In toilet, I think different:

Bob

Attached like this: products.mercola.com/ferrite-beads/ferrite_beads_howto.htm ?

Of course, don't buy from that site.. good lord, that's expensive for ferrite beads

Journeyman Geek

picture is accurate. Rest of the site is.. o0

"Ferrite Beads that attach easily to cell phone headsets offer real protection against potentially dangerous cell phone radiation." lolwhut?

i'll stick to my real handmade artisinal tinfoil hats

Bob

9:19 AM

@JourneymanGeek Ok, I didn't actually read it.

That's just wrong. Very very wrong.

Boris_yo

@JourneymanGeek Tinfoil hat protects against radiation?

Journeyman Geek

however the method of mounting the beads is correct

Boris_yo

I didn't know predator can be so romantic...

Journeyman Geek

@Borisyo: it also acts as birth control. least thats what the voices from the satillite say

Boris_yo

@JourneymanGeek Voices from satillite or satellite? You hear them?

Journeyman Geek

9:21 AM

thats what they want you to think

;p

Bob

@Boris_yo Ok, could you stop with the pictures? It's making me feel rather awkward when people look at my screen :P

Boris_yo

@JourneymanGeek My HTC hears them but I cannot.

@Bob Sorry, but no nudity. You should get matte screen so they won't see at an angle.

Journeyman Geek

hm

he does have a point

zooborns.com/.a/6a010535647bf3970b0168ebc414d0970c-800wi

ugh

hm, thats not an accepted picture

Boris_yo

@JourneymanGeek Wrong picture? WWF I know man, I know. And I support you.

Journeyman Geek

right picture, but not oneboxable

@Bob: i'd almost suggest flagging them, but flags are a bit of a SE chat joke at this point of time

Boris_yo

9:24 AM

A picture is worth 1000 words... And others' attention too.

@JourneymanGeek How do I reply to you without pinging you? So you can see my message later without interruptions.

Journeyman Geek

oh, just reply and make sure its in context

Boris_yo

@JourneymanGeek But you get pesky emails notifying you of my reply.

Bob

@JourneymanGeek Hm? Bit of a joke?

Journeyman Geek

e mails? no. inbox things? yes

if it bothered me a lot i'd just turn off the sound ;p

Bob

@Boris_yo Wait, we're supposed to get emails?

Boris_yo

9:29 AM

@JourneymanGeek How do I ping without sound notification to you? How do I disable your enabled sound notification?

Journeyman Geek

@Bob: basically people on one of the channels abuse it so much that most flags on chat are ignored

Oliver Salzburg

@Bob Exactly, but that is hard to do if you buy a solid ring :P

Journeyman Geek

IIRC it was the bridge

@Borisyo: you can't

@OliverSalzburg: unless you could thread the wire through the ring

Boris_yo

The former link ro audio cable I sent you, do you think that cable is better?

http://www.focalprice.com/CA054B/35mm_1_Male_to_1_Male_Cable_Black.html

Journeyman Geek

@Borisyo: I make my own cables out of good quality components ;p

Boris_yo

9:31 AM

@JourneymanGeek Are you DIYer in electronics? Do you sell made stuff? Do you ship abroad? How much? What is the return policy?

Oliver Salzburg

@JourneymanGeek Good thinking

Journeyman Geek

I can beat someone to death with one of my cables, clean the blood off and still use it.

4

@Borisyo: I do repairs mostly, and for personal use/relaxation

so no. No sales, no shipping, no return policy

Oliver Salzburg

I am so stupid, I should have learned to make my own cables as well. Instead I hoard every piece of cable like a sucker :P

In case I might ever need exactly that piece.

Boris_yo

@OliverSalzburg It would cost you - TIME + components.

Journeyman Geek

@OliverSalzburg: for audio stuff, its the way to go, really

Oliver Salzburg

9:32 AM

@Boris_yo Indeed, but at least I'd end up with exactly the right cable.

Bob

@OliverSalzburg How about a toroid? ebay.com/itm/…

Oliver Salzburg

Given what prices some (real world) shops ask for cables...

Journeyman Geek

a meter of good quality shielded copper cable (with 4 strands) is like a few dollars, the metal plugs i use are a dollar fifty.

Boris_yo

@JourneymanGeek Then I assume both cables are same in quality but cosmetically more attractive is the former?

Oliver Salzburg

@Bob Oh. Now I get what the difference is.

Journeyman Geek

9:33 AM

@Borisyo: most store bought cable is the same unshielded crap ;p

Oliver Salzburg

Journeyman Geek

so, go for whatever looks better for your needs

Boris_yo

@JourneymanGeek Unshielded? How do you determine what is unshielded?

Oliver Salzburg

Oh well, I've already purchased the other beads. I'll go with those

Bob

@OliverSalzburg The toroids are easier to put plugs through. I'm not sure about the effectiveness, but it should be enough.

Journeyman Geek

9:35 AM

@Borisyo: the cable i use has a layer of foil between the insulator and the wires. Its also thicker than a USB cable ;p

in short, the good stuff

Oliver Salzburg

@Bob Well, another lesson learned :)

Journeyman Geek

and i'm not talking about exotic metals like silver. Its good ol honest to god, easy to solder copper

Oliver Salzburg

@Boris_yo I usually have 2 problems with cables I buy. Length and color. I'd be prepared to pay extra if those would no longer be problems.

Journeyman Geek

lol

Bob

@OliverSalzburg Actually, if you have an old motherboard, PSU or similar handy, you could probably rip a torodial ferrite core off it.

Journeyman Geek

9:36 AM

@OliverSalzburg: length, DIY, colour... spend a little more and throw a sleeve over it

Oliver Salzburg

It's either too short or too long.

And I refuse to cable my LAN with red cables :P

Journeyman Geek

lol

I need to get the gear/learn to do that

Oliver Salzburg

@Bob I have a few on a few cables. But I don't want to rip up my precious cables :P

Boris_yo

@OliverSalzburg You can pay me to cut/prolong and paint cable...

Oliver Salzburg

Especially since I've now ordered 10 ferrit beads

@Boris_yo :D

Boris_yo

9:38 AM

@JourneymanGeek So good that only audiophile can hear?

Journeyman Geek

lol

@Borisyo: i'm an audiophile, but a sensible one ;p

Boris_yo

@JourneymanGeek You mean you have evolved perception than default audiophile?

Journeyman Geek

so i can tell you that a good cheap digital audio workstation will totally cream a more expensive 'audiophile' DAC

@Borisyo: it means i don't have more money than sense ;p

Boris_yo

@JourneymanGeek I.E you are not brainless audiophile? I wonder how one can listen to music without brain...

Journeyman Geek

@Borisyo: you could say that

but its the same with my computer stuff

I don't have much money to spend on it, so i get the best i can for my money ;p

@Borisyo: a lot of things are based on perception

Boris_yo

9:41 AM

@JourneymanGeek But you pay more with your time, efforts, nerves, patience...

Journeyman Geek

If i didn't find it fun, i wouldn't do it ;)

I learnt to solder cause i wanted to fix my favourite pair of headphones, and it was caliming

Boris_yo

@JourneymanGeek Do you want to commit pilgrimage with me?

Journeyman Geek

i don't use those any more, they eventually permadied

lol

why? where?

Boris_yo

@JourneymanGeek To the grandfather of all geeks.

Journeyman Geek

lol

I think its a bit like building a computer

you can go and buy a decent one, but where's the fun in that?

@Borisyo: or grandmother. there have been many great female geeks ;p

Boris_yo

9:45 AM

@JourneymanGeek For rich geeks... Wait, geek cannot be rich because rich don't have time for geekery. For lazy geeks it is better to buy expensive right away because they have higher chances of getting good stuff.

Journeyman Geek

lol

any geek must research

and there are rich geeks

what seperates geeks from non geeks is really passion

Boris_yo

@JourneymanGeek Zuckerberg?

Journeyman Geek

rich geeks build spaceships ;p

@Borisyo: eww facebook

Boris_yo

@JourneymanGeek Bought some shares?

Journeyman Geek

naw

not fond of it

its a throwback to the walled garden network

Oliver Salzburg

9:46 AM

A geek is someone who would rather spend his whole life designing a machine that peels potatoes than spend 5 minutes peeling one by hand.

6

Boris_yo

Did you know?

You can share Facebook shares you have bought on Facebook!

Oliver Salzburg

...and once done, he doesn't monetize on it :P

Journeyman Geek

@OliverSalzburg: precisely

well there's nothing wrong with the latter

Daniel Beck

@Sathya Are main site privileges also relevant on meta, e.g. closing, deleting?

Journeyman Geek

but he's selling it cause he wants other people to share in the wonder of potato peeling first

Boris_yo

9:48 AM

@OliverSalzburg Doesn't monetize on inventions?

Journeyman Geek

monetize is a .. erm.. corporate drone word ;p

Oliver Salzburg

@Boris_yo The invention is reward enough in itself.

Making money off it is secondary.

Boris_yo

@JourneymanGeek What is default word? Cash-in?

Oliver Salzburg

@Boris_yo Oh, yes.

Basically

"Turn something into money"

Journeyman Geek

Well, if i did a cool thing, i'd consider it a means to get money to do new cool things ;p

Boris_yo

9:49 AM

@OliverSalzburg How about "digging cash"?

Oliver Salzburg

@JourneymanGeek You have to eat :)

Boris_yo

@JourneymanGeek You want to employ money?

Journeyman Geek

@OliverSalzburg: eating is a necessary part of doing cool new things ;p

Oliver Salzburg

37

A: Fear of releasing a hobby project - how to overcome?

First of all, remember: shipping is a feature. It's better to release something imperfect than to release nothing at all. The other thing to note is that these are Hobby projects. If you don't meet deadlines or lose interest it's not a big deal. You're doing the project for fun after all.

Journeyman Geek

point is though, the task is an essential part of the reward

Oliver Salzburg

9:52 AM

Wise!

Journeyman Geek

lol

Oliver Salzburg

"I fear that my code is not good enough" -- if you look back at what you did yesterday, and you're happy with it, then you're not improving. — Roger Lipscombe yesterday

Also very wise

Journeyman Geek

lol

Actually thats one thing i find from my current 'project'

I keep getting frustrated by 'I should know this', until i realise 'So what if i didn't get it right the first time, its getting easier!'

Oliver Salzburg

A mistake realized is another avoided :)

Journeyman Geek

yup

like my question on HD audio connectors - turned out my last build had them and i left it disconncted for some reason

so i connected it back in , and i know what connector to use the next time

Boris_yo

9:55 AM

Is gold plated better than non-gold plated?

Journeyman Geek

er

maybe ;p

but practically, no

Well, in many cases good/better quality hardware happens to have gold plated connectors

it shouldn't be a deciding factor in your purchases

Boris_yo

10:10 AM

@JourneymanGeek Think both are same but different only in color?

http://www.tmart.com/pgallery/Mini-Flexible-Tripod-for-DV-Video-Camera-Blue_p126985.html

http://www.focalprice.com/DT178B/Lightweight_Flexible_Tripod_for_Digital_SLR_Camera_Black.html

Journeyman Geek

plausible

but boring ;p

Boris_yo

@JourneymanGeek There is yellow and pink as well. What color is not boring for you?

Journeyman Geek

no

this sort of question ;p

if it has actual computery applications then i'm interested

otherwise its meh

Boris_yo

@JourneymanGeek Digital camera, smartphones are computerized.

@JourneymanGeek What is your opinion on regular RJ45 LAN cable and flat RJ45 LAN cable?

Oliver Salzburg

10:27 AM

@Boris_yo flat LAN cable?

2

A: Windows 7 "welcome screen takes too long"

The problem is the desktop background. If it is set to a solid color, it takes about 30 seconds to login. If I set it to a picture, the login takes about 3 seconds. It is the strangest behavior, but I have tested it on two computers and it fixes the problem. If I put it back to a solid col...

This is for real?

Wow. That question just made me realize the point of the  

Boris_yo

Yes:

http://www.tinydeal.com/powersync-2m-ultra-flat-cat7-rj45-lan-network-cable-p-54200.html

Oliver Salzburg

@Boris_yo Interesting

Boris_yo

@OliverSalzburg Good for tech-on-the-go?

Oliver Salzburg

@Boris_yo I would have assumed it's for special installations where the cable diameter or height is extremely relevant.

...like angle plugs

Boris_yo

10:51 AM

@OliverSalzburg And travelling with it abroad?

Oliver Salzburg

I don't see the advantage of a flat cable in that case.

Boris_yo

You can roll it on itself....

Oliver Salzburg

@Boris_yo I would assume that is actually more time consuming than how I roll mine. And the space saving seems to be minimal at best.

imdb.com/title/tt2043932

Damn that shit was funny :D

Journeyman Geek

11:27 AM

@Borisyo: i use regular generic lan cables. There's no functional difference so its not important ;p

Boris_yo

12:00 PM

@JourneymanGeek How about retractable?

@OliverSalzburg What is funny?

Oliver Salzburg

@Boris_yo That movie.

It's "special".

Boris_yo

12:17 PM

@OliverSalzburg Do you think Eneloops AA rechargeables are best brand?

Oliver Salzburg

@Boris_yo I don't have a favorite brand actually.

2

Q: Users with less than 50 reputation and "answers"

Here's the deal-io: users under 50 reputation cannot comment everywhere, they can only comment on their own answers and questions. If you are one of these users and you really need to say something on a foreign post, what do you? Super User is just some fancy forum, right? One can just write a c...

This brings up a question. Why are answers and comments handled differently, seen from a reputation requirement perspective?

Bob

@OliverSalzburg I think slhck answers that question quite well.

> massive spamming will prevail. New users won't know how to use comments and mistake them for some kind of live chat. Random strangers will ping you asking for help, et cetera. Since comments don't bump posts, they're much harder to review too.

That would be the biggest problem: spammers could post on old questions, and the comment would stay until someone happens to look at it (and care enough to flag it).

Oliver Salzburg

Humm, right, I kinda ignored the review part.

Good point

Bob

I guess comments by users with low rep could be added to a new review queue, but some kind of captcha or something would have to be implemented to prevent massive spamming.

Boris_yo

Eneloops, Sanyo have good reviews on HK sites. Not to mention high cost.

Oliver Salzburg

12:25 PM

@Bob I would rather click 1000 spam links than make 1 user solve a captcha :P

Stack Exchange

0

Q: No "privileges" link on meta site user profile card

There's no privileges link on the user dropdown card on meta sites: Main site: Meta site: /privileges on meta redirects to the main site's /privileges, so one could assume the site change is the reason for removing the link. The problem with this behavior is: There are pri...