Root Access

Except with air miles redemptions they charge 2x as much as a single for a return because they can scrounge more off you that way, but the upside is one way tickets on redemptions aren't ridiculously overpriced like one way cash tickets are

Bob

Now you have me curious. To the google!

TOWMN

@Bob most of our diesel electric trains have AC sockets now. All the refurbished ones do anyway, and most are being refurbished if not already done.

@Bob tbh the guide I read on seat 51 makes them look pretty old and basic...

Bob

@TOWMN They are. XPT trains are like 3 (4?) decades old.

@TOWMN Not back in 2005, anyway... railpage.com.au/f-p327228.htm

> The power on XPTs and Xplorers is from auxiliary alternators off the engines. The electrical equipment has to be either very simple such as vacuum cleaner motors or electric kettles, or specifically designed to operate off power supplies which experience variable voltage and frequency. (SRA lost some microwaves in the early days this way.)

TOWMN

@Bob :-O

Our HST 125's are just as old tbh

seat61.com/Australia.htm#Sydney-Melbourne-Canberra-Brisbane

XPT's are apparently the same locomotives as our HST 125's just with different gearing/wheels

And our HST 125 trains were all upgraded with power sockets a decade ago

Oh and yet another failing micro SD card. Urgh

Bob

@TOWMN tbf a decade ago is after 2005 :P

No as of 2013 :\ tripadvisor.com.au/…

@TOWMN If you get a cabin (costs a lot more than first class) you get an unregulated power point answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20130603053058AATF7mi

TOWMN

1:33 AM

@Bob eh, they started in like 2003

Bob

Which is probablymaybe fine with a SMPS but risky

TOWMN

@Bob :O

I wonder if desktop PSUs would fare better

(considering how much emphasis is put into power conditioning, filtering, and regulation on a high end ATX PSU these days...

@Bob wait that's perfect!

I'll bring my UPS along with me! It's got full undervoltage and overvoltage compensation and its super heavy so it'll take up lots of my luggage allowance!

Input voltage range 70-280v

Journeyman Geek

1:49 AM

Oo

Journeyman Geek

2:00 AM

@TOWMN batteries though. You want to check the regulations for... Er... SLA batteries?

Michael Frank

You guys ever had one of those computers that has just sat there, tucked away in a nook somewhere, running day in and day out. Simply going about it's business, whatever that happens to be. It's been going so long, nobody really knows what it does, but then you have a power outage and suddenly it's no longer running. Was it simply going because it was already going? Had it died long ago, but because it never stopped it didn't know?

Bob

@JourneymanGeek Oh yea. @TOWMN careful with luggage allowances on the train.

> You can take three pieces of luggage per seat booked. That's one item of hand luggage and two pieces that are either checked into the luggage compartment or stowed at the end of your carriage.

Journeyman Geek

@MichaelFrank yes.

Bob

> You can carry on one item of luggage such as a handbag, provided it weighs no more than five kilograms and no larger than 50cm long, 30cm high and 30cm wide.

> You can check in two items, each weighing between five and 20 kilograms and not more than 70cm long, 60cm high and 50cm wide.

@JourneymanGeek SLA is also iffy...

> Corrosives - acids, alkalis, mercury and wet cell batteries.

I mean... it is sealed... but who knows what they'll think.

Then again most people wouldn't realise UPSes have a battery. Maybe the xray.

Journeyman Geek

@Bob assuming it's that. Could also be gel.

Bob

2:05 AM

@JourneymanGeek I suspect that still falls under "acid" :P

Oh apparently you can't take "Radioactive materials." on the train.

Journeyman Geek

Oh.

Bob

Dammit. Now how will I get this unobtanium to the launch site?!

Journeyman Geek

straitstimes.com/asia/australianz/…

Speaking of stuff not to bring on airplanes....

Bob

@JourneymanGeek o.O

Wait. Wouldn't the meat only attract the dogs?

What exactly was their plan here?!

Journeyman Geek

Maybe claim the dogs were sniffing the meat to avoid deeper checks?

This is roughly the most hairbrained scheme.

Bob

2:13 AM

@JourneymanGeek Because at the point where they have the suitcase open and can see the not suspicious at all meat, they're gonna just tell him to be on his way.

Journeyman Geek

@Bob of course. :p not suspecious at all.

Especially considering you can probably get the same stuff transported properly here :p

Michael Frank

2:40 AM

YAY! Explorer process hangs when I plug this external drive in. :|

Well.. guess it's hard reset time. Chrome seems to be the only application still going.

Bob

3:04 AM

@JourneymanGeek any ideas what I can do with the ex-drive (once data is off it)? :P

Journeyman Geek

Smart test. Reformat/zero. Smart test again

Bob

@JourneymanGeek Well, the reallocated sectors means it's definitely on its way out, so I'm not gonna use it for anything ... useful. But it'd be a waste to toss it :P

Thought you might have some ideas as a DOID-owner :P

Journeyman Geek

I use mine for transient data :p

Michael Frank

bleh... company only uses encrypted USB drives. I need a USB to burn a live image on... No usable drives anywhere

Bob

@JourneymanGeek Yea, was thinking of that, but then I realised (a) I don't have much transient data, (b) I have like 25 TB of free space on good drives, and (c) this drive's speeds are too inconsistent even on the good parts

@MichaelFrank go pick up a cheapo drive?

Journeyman Geek

3:15 AM

@Bob eh. Not much use then :p

Michael Frank

@Bob Eh... it's 4.15pm and I'm not close enough to anywhere that'll sell a cheapo drive.

Bob

@JourneymanGeek damn. maybe I should make one of those platter clocks...

Michael Frank

I realllly need to figure out a good cost effective way to increase my storage space at home.

Bob

3:44 AM

@MichaelFrank 1. Buy 8 TB HDDs 2. ??? 3. Profit!

Though I think 5 TB are slightly better $/GB

Journeyman Geek

4:30 AM

Erf. superuser.com/q/1181801/10165 this is kinda one of those questions I suspect should be closed once I can find a reason

Paul Vargas

5 Tips for Gracefully Accepting Constructive Criticism

Bob

@JourneymanGeek Sounds like duplicate

Journeyman Geek

@Bob modding on a phone sux.

@PaulVargas eww clickbait

bwDraco

5:03 AM

Jan 29 '16 at 13:10, by bwDraco

Just did a bit of reviewing. The desktop review interface isn't really usable on a 5.2-inch phone :(

Journeyman Geek

@bwDraco and I have some problems with the app. And ironically, typing on a phone

Bob

@JourneymanGeek Having fingers tends to help.

Most touchscreens aren't paw-compatible, unfortunately.

Journeyman Geek

True.

Or noses.

Bob

5:18 AM

@EthanElisha I emphatically recommend you to wait for another user named Gayot Fow to answer, since he is the expert on UK visas. But yeah, these are my two pennies. — Crazydre 13 hours ago

@Crazydre don't wait for Gayot, this answer is fine AS IS. — Gayot Fow 6 hours ago

Journeyman Geek

Oo

Lol

Paul Vargas

5:52 AM

@JourneymanGeek Nope.

Only sharing something.

HackToHell

7:50 AM

When you work remote, nobody knows you're a cat. https://t.co/LGSGgvccOO

Tweeted by ThePracticalDev on January 18, 2017 at 4:57 PM

Bob

@JourneymanGeek I'm givving up on the copier. Too slow... one day and only 90 GB

My backup extraction finished, so time for a dir diff :P

Journeyman Geek

Ah :p

Bob

8:11 AM

@JourneymanGeek ^

Journeyman Geek

Oo

Bob

whoops

first screenshot was a repost...

Journeyman Geek

Ah.

Bob

@JourneymanGeek turns out a good chunk of the different files are missing from the newer version

Journeyman Geek

Oo

Bob

8:49 AM

O_O

> Dear Customer,

We would like to thank you for choosing an OVH dedicated server.

You can now go to your control panel to install your choice of operating system.

https://www.ovh.com/manager/

You are among the first OVH customers using our services in the Asia Pacific region. In the coming months, we will continue to fine tune our network infrastructure in order to reduce latency within the region.

IT'S HAPPENING

@allquixotic, @TOWMN ^ OVH AU is up!

Burgi

morning

Journeyman Geek

Woof

Rahul2001

9:20 AM

Right, so... She said yes!

Journeyman Geek

To?

Burgi

you are getting married?

Rahul2001

I asked her out

@Burgi Not so soon XD

21 hours ago, by Rahul2001

Right, so, I'm going to ask her out tomorrow, and this is not going to be easy...

Bob

so, which one is this

Rahul2001

@Bob As in?

Journeyman Geek

9:26 AM

@Rahul2001 the one you keep getting snogging with? The first one? The one other one?

Rahul2001

@JourneymanGeek My first relationship lasted for two weeks in December, then there was a whole lot of drama with my second girlfriend in January, and umh, yeah

4

Journeyman Geek

See?

4 mins ago, by Bob

so, which one is this

Rahul2001

Hm

goes on journey of self retrospection

Burgi

is this girl number 4?

i'm finding it hard to keep track

or have you rolled back to a previous version?

you should put your relationship status in github or something

Journeyman Geek

We clearly need a function in @ChatBotJohnCavil to keep track of this

I'm on a train. Could we have this taken care of plz? superuser.com/q/1181891/10165

Rahul2001

9:43 AM

@Burgi 3?

Rahul2001

10:01 AM

@Burgi github.com/R2K1/casanova Will work on it when I get better internet

DavidPostill

10:50 AM

@Rahul2001 lol

jokerdino

3? 4?? ._.

Mark Yisri

11:17 AM

Has anyone heard of Malwarebytes?

Journeyman Geek

Someone, somewhere clearly has.

Mark Yisri

i mean you guys

Journeyman Geek

Its one of the tools I use when I've clearly pissed off some deity and need to clean up a system.

I consider it a great second level of defence

Mark Yisri

Is the latest version (3) now at the same level as an antivirus?

I recently installed malware on my computer by accident and it easily got rid of it

Journeyman Geek

I personally find defender and common sense "good enough"

jokerdino

11:24 AM

MalwareBytes is a luxury.

MS Defender more than good enough to do the prelim testing.

Journeyman Geek

or keeping stuff cleanish to start with

Boris_yo

11:45 AM

Hello there.

^ Nice cosmo-dog...

And bear too.

I am looking for application that would switch system language depending on what website I am surfing on.

Is there such a thing?

bwDraco

roar

I know it's a bit early for me, but I'm here :-)

Boris_yo

@bwDraco What is you opinion on PATRIOT, PNY and TOSHIBA SSD drives?

bwDraco

Patriot and PNY, as far as I can tell, are both using Phison controllers for their recent SSDs. They're generally good; just pick the cheaper of them. Toshiba (and I'm going to assume the OCZ brand here) also makes good SSDs, but stay away from the TL100.

pcworld.com/article/3131529/storage/…

Boris_yo

@bwDraco I stayed away from OCZ. I heard how failing they are.

bwDraco

OCZ under Toshiba is better than they used to be. The VX500 is worth a shot; same goes for the RD400.

Boris_yo

11:58 AM

So as far as PNY and Patriot using same controller, the only price difference is brand name ?

@bwDraco Samsung however beats them all?

bwDraco

@Boris_yo I'd have to dig deeper, but I think some use different NAND.

@Boris_yo Ultimate yes, but you do pay a premium for Samsung quality and performance.

The SSD 750 EVO is better than most entry-level SSDs, and the SSD 850 EVO is an excellent all-rounder especially at higher capacities. The 960 EVO is perhaps the best all-around NVMe SSD, while the 960 PRO is best for intensive workstation applications where maximum endurance and performance are needed (with a price tag to match)

Hennes

I think it is nice that we have people who sort of support some kind of questions here on SU, but this new tag has me wondering:
http://superuser.com/tags/invantive-data-hub/info
Freshly created by http://superuser.com/users/302087/patrick-hofman

Now description though.

I am doubting between 'reject: reason: You lazy bastard (politely phrased) and a ping "If you create a tag could you then also fill the relevant fields"

bwDraco

Got stuff to do.

Journeyman Geek

The latter seems good

Boris_yo

@bwDraco And when it comes to data integrity and reliability they still cannot recover as well as HDDs?

bwDraco

12:12 PM

@Boris_yo This is ultimately the case for most SSDs. Can't really go into detail right now, though.

Journeyman Geek

upspin.io this seems potentially neat

Boris_yo

@bwDraco I guess from leaders there are Samsung vs Intel then?

*cough*

oh hi bob

12:26 PM

@ThatBrazilianGuy Unless you out yourself :)

Burgi

what the actual fuck...

that terrible hosting company has come out with a blinder this morning

> The site is displaying a Database connection error, due to the fact that the database mentioned in the wp-config.php file does not exist at the moment.

both me and the minion went "wtf..." at that

That Brazilian Guy

@Burgi Well, thy are technically correct.

> The database (...) does not exist at the moment.

Burgi

heh

my reply:

That Brazilian Guy

They conveniently don't mention if it ever existed, or whose fault is it that it doesn't exist anymore.

Burgi

> That is extremely concerning, the database is hosted with you. If the database has been removed it has not been authorised by us. No changes have been made by us.

Please can this be escalated to a senior support technician and the database restored from your backups immediately?

Bob

12:35 PM

@ThatBrazilianGuy Or whether it will exist in the future.

That Brazilian Guy

@Bob It will, just at a different host... right?

> Please can ~~this be escalated to a senior support technician and the database restored from your backups immediately~~ you go f@#$#$"yourself while I migrate all sites I host with you?

Burgi

annoyingly our customer is spikey and won't authorise us to migrate the site

That Brazilian Guy

@Rahul2001 You need a drama-free girlfriend.

Statistically speaking, looks like Indian girlfriends are a bad choice....

If you want, I can check if any friends of mine have younger sisters who are single ;P

Rahul2001

@ThatBrazilianGuy I like the current one. She's as messed up as me XD

@ThatBrazilianGuy Not sure if long distance works for me XD

That Brazilian Guy

@Burgi I know the pain. And have made a resolution, next time it happens is either a "no" or "that will be twice the price".

@Rahul2001 Oh. I thought "asked her out" meant "on a date".

If you keep the current rate of a girlfriend per month, by the end of the year you'll have more ex-girlfriends than me.

So... Apparently my phone's battery died and I can only find replacements on ebay or on really shady local "shops".

Rahul2001

12:47 PM

@ThatBrazilianGuy yeah, that's what I did...

Asked a girl out on a date

Actually, no, asked her to be my girlfriend

Whatever

That Brazilian Guy

That's two different things, you need to make sure if what she's agreeing to is the same thing you think she's agreeing to!

Rahul2001

@ThatBrazilianGuy XD, I think we're on the same page

DavidPostill

@Rahul2001 That would be this page?

Rahul2001

@DavidPostill Lol, deciphering her is equally difficult

Hm.. on the road, I'll be back later

Burgi

@ThatBrazilianGuy i don't think any girlfriend is drama-free

in fact they are the definition of drama

> my girlfriend unexpired

wtf?

DavidPostill

1:02 PM

@Burgi lol

Journeyman Geek

1:27 PM

You don't want an expired girlfriend.

Burgi

@JourneymanGeek we cater for all types here

Journeyman Geek

@Burgi I draw the line at necrophilia, sadism and beastiality. Otherwise we'd be beating a dead horse

Burgi

is that a fetish we cater for too? ;)

Journeyman Geek

Nope ;p

Burgi

is it 1st april?

Burgi

1:47 PM

arstechnica.co.uk/business/2017/01/something-happened-intro

Oliver Salzburg

@Burgi Now that's a feature

Burgi

apparently its for disabled people so an able-bodied person can help them with some button presses

DavidPostill

@Burgi It allows the copilot to land the plane when the pilot has a heart attack ...

Burgi

lol

DavidPostill

@Burgi Pilots having heart attacks may find that offensive ...

Burgi

1:53 PM

they have bigger things to worry about

stop trolling me

DavidPostill

@Burgi that's not possible, as most of your posts are you trolling yourself :)

2

That Brazilian Guy

> rahul actually, no, asked her to be my girlfriend

0_o

Burgi

@DavidPostill its a talent

DavidPostill

@Burgi What does your weight have to do with the price of fish?

Burgi

you are going to have to explain that one

DavidPostill

1:59 PM

Talent (measurement)

The talent (Latin: talentum, from Ancient Greek: τάλαντον, talanton 'scale, balance, sum') was one of several ancient units of mass, a commercial weight, as well as corresponding units of value equivalent to these masses of a precious metal. The talent of gold was known to Homer, who described how Achilles gave a half-talent of gold to Antilochus as a prize. It was approximately the mass of water required to fill an amphora. A Greek, or Attic talent, was 26 kilograms (57 lb), a Roman talent was 32.3 kilograms (71 lb), an Egyptian talent was 27 kilograms (60 lb), and a Babylonian talent was 30.3...

Burgi

@DavidPostill that was/is just too obscure, even for you

DavidPostill

@Burgi That depends on how well you have been educated ...

Burgi

standard 1990s english education... read into that what you will ;)

oooh

> I've checked again and it looks like the database is there now- it most likely was caused by load on the database server your site's database was on. That load caused the database to disappear from the Databases list.
The issue should be fixed now. I've tested by visiting the site, and it looks to be resolving without any issues.

That Brazilian Guy

@DavidPostill These romans are all crazy!

Burgi

its the magic database!

DavidPostill

2:03 PM

@ThatBrazilianGuy They did have some good ideas ...

That Brazilian Guy

@DavidPostill Yeah, they had a lot of talents! ;)

DavidPostill

@ThatBrazilianGuy Arches, Plumbing, Roads, Bound Books, Newspapers, Cement, Concrete, ...

Burgi

@DavidPostill but apart from that, what have they ever done for us?

the google doodle today is quite good

Journeyman Geek

2:24 PM

@ThatBrazilianGuy dogmatix! (Who cares about the short guy and the big guy? ;p)

Rahul2001

Hi!

Bob

@Burgi I could be wrong, but I don't think that's how databases work...

Journeyman Geek

Pretty pricy but engadget.com/2017/02/23/razer-power-bank ooh

TOWMN

@Bob ... they have checked luggage for trains?!

Every train I've been on we just take our luggage with us...

@Bob Shh, the NSA is listening

Journeyman Geek

@DavidPostill did the romans have newspapers?

TOWMN

2:37 PM

@Bob :D About time too! <3

Ben N

@JourneymanGeek Apparently yes, more or less

Bob

@TOWMN it's optional, you can carry them on too (but stowed at your own risk)

Ben N

Also, visiting that page absolutely murders the responsiveness of my machine

Journeyman Geek

ah!

Bob

@TOWMN yea, now I just need to find the time and will to set it up

Journeyman Geek

2:39 PM

> hese early newspapers were written on metal or stone and then posted in heavily trafficked areas like the Roman Forum.

that makes more sense

Bob

now that I've completely forgotten what I was gonna use it for

Ben N

Newsmetals? Newsstones?

Bob

newsboard

bulletin board?

Burgi

@Bob i was under the same impression

Journeyman Geek

bulletin board makes sense

Burgi

2:45 PM

> Romani ite domum

TOWMN

@MichaelFrank Me neither.

@Bob Are train passengers in Oz that dodgy?

@Bob Just give us all the IP so we can ~~hack it to hell and install our own botnet on it~~ ping it for science

@Bob Seagate, well there's your problem.

Bob

@TOWMN generally nah but I'm just parroting the trainlink website :P

though I've been on an intercity train

@TOWMN maybe remind me tomorrow. cbf digging it up on phone

but I think they were just in an equinix dc

TOWMN

Tomorrow i'll either be dealing with another Dell engineer (third time lucky?) or flying to Italy

Or on fire

Hopefully not the last one, the one rule of our hackerspace is "Don't be on fire"

Journeyman Geek

maybe all three.

DenisKa

How can I find what graphic driver I am using (laptop has amd sticker) (I am not windows man :|)

That Brazilian Guy

2:55 PM

Turns out I replaced a perfectly good HDD I had just bought >_<"

I wasn't aware of the issue involving Advanced Format and cheap external enclosures

Oliver Salzburg

@ThatBrazilianGuy What is that issue about?

That Brazilian Guy

16

Q: How to correct 512-byte sector MBR on a 4096-byte sector disk?

Final update: I already knew what I needed to do to fix this problem; I just didn't know how to do it. I was hoping there would be some ready-made tool to do that automatically - but couldn't find any. I am accepting Rod's answer because despite not directly solving my issue, it gives a very goo...

> Until late 2009, the vast majority of hard disks used 512-byte sectors, and that was that. In late 2009, disk manufacturers began introducing so-called Advanced Format (AF) disks, which use 4096-byte sectors. These first AF disks (and, AFAIK, all AF disks today) present an interface to the computer that shows each 4096-byte physical sector as being split up into eight 512-byte logical sectors. This conversion enables older tools, including many BIOSes, that were built with 512-byte assumptions, to continue to work. I don't know if your disk uses AF or not, but in either case, it almost ce…

DenisKa

I downloaded some AMD software to check what model I have but it seems to not work :(

That Brazilian Guy

Fedora's disks was reporting the correct HDD brand, model, even the serial number; but reported as "disk OK, one bad sector", entirely empty SMART table, last updated 47 years ago, no gpt, unknown partition with 935 GB size.

I went to the seller, replaced it, same issue, wtf, half an hour of googling, found nothing...

Almost ready to give up when Super User once more saved the day \o/

Journeyman Geek

@DenisKa device manager or GPU-Z

DenisKa

2:59 PM

gpu

TOWMN

@ThatBrazilianGuy Derp

Journeyman Geek

....

no no

that's two ways to do it

TOWMN

It's not really "cheap" enclosures that do that, but specific ones built to work around a limitation in XP

Journeyman Geek

or boot up linux and run lshw

DenisKa

@JourneymanGeek me?

That Brazilian Guy

3:01 PM

@TOWMN Well this enclosure I own was 5 USD and never failed me until today.

Something REALLY similar to this:

TOWMN

@ThatBrazilianGuy :-o

That Brazilian Guy

Only for laptop HDDs.

Apparently, I never tried an AF disk with it until yesterday...

@DenisKa do keep up.

okkayy :-|

Yay?

3:04 PM

@DenisKa device manager is "native"

should give you a basic idea what you have

That Brazilian Guy

@JourneymanGeek No, no, he's Ideafix!

Journeyman Geek

@ThatBrazilianGuy next thing you will tell me snowy is Milou ;p

That Brazilian Guy

Who's this Snowy you speak about?

jokerdino

Talking about Milou.

Journeyman Geek

DenisKa

3:08 PM

@JourneymanGeek in device manager I should look in processors?

Journeyman Geek

GPU no?

so display adaptors

DenisKa

oooo!

Bob

@JourneymanGeek Snowy!

jokerdino

Where is Tin*2?

Journeyman Geek

Who? ;p

Bob

3:10 PM

been ages since I last read those...

Journeyman Geek

That guy with the hair?

jokerdino

yeah

Bob

a certain blond Belgian reporter

(Tintin :P)

anyways. back to sleep.

jokerdino

goodnight

TOWMN

Not sure which one looks more sad, the australian one or the phillipine one

jokerdino

3:21 PM

the broken one

Journeyman Geek

They are all broken and sad, other than the second one from the left.

jokerdino

4 switches for 5 sockets

Oliver Salzburg

It's the wall-mounted version of the Fidget Cube

Journeyman Geek

I think the two american plugs share a swtich

Rahul2001

3:39 PM

@Bob I almost always have one on my bedside table... I love Tintin!

Rahul2001

3:58 PM

Why do people use (la)tex, again?

jokerdino

4:08 PM

It's beautiful.

allquixotic

@Rahul2001 it's great for math formulas, complex super and subscripts, etc... it's "WYSIWYM", which is very convenient if you're a programmer, or very confusing if you're a layperson

Hennes

4:49 PM

Goodbye SHA1: shattered.io

Its broken (or rather, shattered)

Rahul2001

github.com/R2K1/casanova/blob/master/README.md

5

XD Writing this was so cringey

@Burgi @ThatBrazilianGuy :P

Burgi

do you guys want to come to my 2 gigasecond birthday?

araneus.fi/cgi-bin/…