Topic: Blog Thread 4; Live Free or Blog Hard - 'cos we all like blogging (Read 562164 times)

Thrillho · « **Reply #4650 on:** 12 Jan 2015, 09:15 »

Hodgy, someone might buy the smashed computers to strip for parts.

Metope · « **Reply #4651 on:** 12 Jan 2015, 09:29 »

Damn. Glad you got away from it unhurt though! Everything else is replaceable, although expensive.

~~GarandMarine~~ · « **Reply #4652 on:** 12 Jan 2015, 10:02 »

Wow. That really sucks.

Aimless · « **Reply #4653 on:** 12 Jan 2015, 10:43 »

Glad you're all right Hodgy and sucks about all the broken stuff

I've seen this happen so many times that I've developed a strong aversion to such arrangements of shelves and stuff.

pwhodges · « **Reply #4654 on:** 12 Jan 2015, 11:59 »

In the past year I've had to squeeze in the contents of not one but two store rooms that management wanted to use for other purposes (as in knock down and rebuild). But when I pointed this out, my boss just smiled sweetly (having checked I was unhurt) and said that perhaps it was a good time to reassess what we needed to keep. I told her we'd already had to do that twice in the past year, and this was the stuff I use week by week...

I've had similar stuff on those shelves for seven years - I guess they could have gone at any time!

Akima · « **Reply #4655 on:** 12 Jan 2015, 13:30 »

Mmm... I've had issues in the past with managements that don't understand that a lot of computer equipment is heavy and that shelves to store it need to be sturdy. Quite a few shelving systems are badly designed IMHO too. That style of shelving that relies on a slotted steel rail screwed back to the wall, for example, is only as strong as the wall fixings, and if the wall is plasterboard (drywall) that is pretty feeble, even if the installers bother to fasten into the studs behind. A pet dislike of mine are systems that might be sturdy enough in the shelves and uprights themselves, but rely on stupid little metal pins to link them together, which serve to act as stress-raisers (yes, I am an engineer's daughter, why do you ask?).

I am very glad to hear that you are unhurt.

Is it cold in here? · « **Reply #4656 on:** 12 Jan 2015, 13:41 »

Scary. Any lessons I should take away from whatever the failure mode was?

Pilchard123 · « **Reply #4657 on:** 12 Jan 2015, 13:54 »

Don't stand under falling things?

BeoPuppy · « **Reply #4658 on:** 12 Jan 2015, 14:47 »

Never shower?

pwhodges · « **Reply #4659 on:** 12 Jan 2015, 15:31 »

Quote from: Akima on 12 Jan 2015, 13:30

(yes, I am an engineer's daughter, why do you ask?)

And I am an engineer by training. But sometimes you just delegate, and when there is a whole building full of shelves holding large amounts of equipment and paper (paper's heavy, too, you know!), and when your shelves put up by the same people have had your equipment on them for seven years, well, you get a little bit blasé I guess.

The fixings were into the plasterboard (decent heavy-grade stuff), not the studs, and used those fat coarse screws that the fitting screws go into in turn, rather than positive toggle bolts or similar. I was not impressed, really.

I've demanded floor-standing Dexion shelving as a replacement.

Quote from: Is it cold in here? on 12 Jan 2015, 13:41

Scary. Any lessons I should take away from whatever the failure mode was?

Never stop questioning.

Failure modes you're familiar with at home can happen just as easily at work, even though it can be someone else's fault!

Management is about what you can get away with... (OK, I'm feeling cynical, can you tell?)

Akima · « **Reply #4660 on:** 13 Jan 2015, 03:48 »

Quote from: pwhodges on 12 Jan 2015, 15:31

The fixings were into the plasterboard (decent heavy-grade stuff), not the studs, and used those fat coarse screws that the fitting screws go into in turn, rather than positive toggle bolts or similar.

That is what they looked like to me, and I would not be impressed by such fixings either.

Carl-E · « **Reply #4661 on:** 13 Jan 2015, 10:00 »

Makes the old cinderblock-and 2x10's we "scavenged" from a construction site in college seem well designed by comparison!

Certainly a good bit sturdier...

Patrick · « **Reply #4662 on:** 14 Jan 2015, 02:36 »

Sometimes people take my uncanny resemblance to Varg Vikernes a lot too far and they actually accuse me of being a neo-Nazi. I don't take kindly to it. A former member of these forums did so today, and now I don't talk to him. And if I ever meet him face to face, he'd best hope I forget what he looks like, or at least get himself a mouth guard.

Akima · « **Reply #4663 on:** 14 Jan 2015, 03:53 »

You, Patrick? A neo-Nazi? There must be an outbreak of the stupid-virus going round.

hedgie · « **Reply #4664 on:** 14 Jan 2015, 04:22 »

He's as much of a Nazi as Laibach are. In that it's not at all… Then again, one of the hottest women I've ever seen was wearing an SS uniform for a DI6 show.

Patrick · « **Reply #4665 on:** 14 Jan 2015, 04:42 »

Quote from: Akima on 14 Jan 2015, 03:53

You, Patrick? A neo-Nazi? There must be an outbreak of the stupid-virus going round.

Seriously. I only hate people on merit. And for all my playing up of my misanthropy, it really is hard to earn it. We disagreed on a topic relating to a current event and he felt like comparing my (admittedly liberal) ideal of free speech applying to even the shittiest of people, to tacit compliance with Nazi ideals. Jesus. And he kept pressing once I became offended, then back pedaled by saying "Well I never actually said..." No, fucker, you said more than enough.

Metope · « **Reply #4666 on:** 14 Jan 2015, 08:03 »

He did say "not for their views, but for their freedom of expression" though. Of course he knows you're not a neo nazi, and you gotta admit your initial reply to his post was a little assuming and one sided? Nobody ever said, or even implied that what happened was deserved.

I don't think violence is the solution anyway, but I'm glad you live on different continents for his sake. If you haven't blocked him there's a new reply btw, not from him.

~~GarandMarine~~ · « **Reply #4667 on:** 14 Jan 2015, 12:35 »

Nazis weren't exactly big into freedom of expression...

Metope · « **Reply #4668 on:** 14 Jan 2015, 13:19 »

No, but the neo nazis do have freedom of expression themselves now, that's what he was referring to. He knows nobody in their right mind (including Patrick) supports their views. I guess you need the whole post and string of comments for context, but I'll leave it up to Pat to share if he wants to, it's not my place since he's the one who brought it up and I'm not really involved.

~~GarandMarine~~ · « **Reply #4669 on:** 14 Jan 2015, 19:55 »

I'm quite lost, but I don't really care either.

Papersatan · « **Reply #4670 on:** 14 Jan 2015, 22:41 »

So things have been a mix of great and terrible, and seems to be my new normal.

I still don't have a real job, and my temp job ends on Sat, I had to hire a lawyer to fight that unemployment fraud thing, and my Perkins loans are overdue enough that they have started collections calls.

But, I'm giving a talk next month at a local professional event, next month and have submitted a proposal to a national 3 day conference. I thought I'd not gotten into the national one, but I ran into a professor, who it turns out was one of the peer reviewers for it, and he said he loved it, and is pushing for them to accept it, which made me double check, and the decisions are not made until next week, so there is hope yet! A friend and I are also working on a poster submission for the same conference, which I am excited about because it means researching in a different direction. My talk in Oct, the one next month and the proposed one for this conference are all very theoretical and on the same topic, just a bit deeper exploration each time, and tailored for the theme. Working on this poster session will be a good break from that because it's more example based history.

If the talk and or poster are accepted, I'll have to figure out funding though. Since I have graduated, I can't get funding through the university, though my co-poster-maker can, so if that's in we can share a car and room at least, but conference admission (which is not waived for accepted posters) is $470. I *think* there's a reduced fee if the talk is accepted? but if the poster is not, my friend will not be going, which means I would need to cover the hotel and car myself. I think I might try to crowdfund this, which I feel weird about, but I think is probably my best bet. Going to this conference is pretty important for my career, even if I don't get anything accepted, and I think between my friends, family, and classmates, I know enough people who understand that, care about my success, and have a few dollars to spare, that I can get this funded.

Also, I am starting to realize that a lot of my lack of career success is because of my confidence issues, and I'm thinking about seeing someone for help with that. I have charisma and confidence and extroverted social skills out the ass, unless it is something related to my intellect or academic ability, and then I just shut down... But that's a long self-reflection for another thread.

Welu · « **Reply #4671 on:** 15 Jan 2015, 00:39 »

I hope things keep improving quickly for you because you deserve them to do so.

Patrick · « **Reply #4672 on:** 15 Jan 2015, 23:01 »

Quote from: Metope on 14 Jan 2015, 08:03

I don't think violence is the solution anyway, but I'm glad you live on different continents for his sake. If you haven't blocked him there's a new reply btw, not from him.

I don't genuinely believe violence is the answer either. I just hate when people bring up Nazis and then act like it was innocent. In my experience, nobody innocently brings Nazis into a discussion, it is always with the intent to color the rhetoric unfavorably for the other participant. I refuse to be part of it, and yes, I did block him. And the other fellow too.

Patrick · « **Reply #4673 on:** 15 Jan 2015, 23:06 »

As for sharing, I've blocked him so I don't have access to the thread anymore. Feel free if you want, or not, I really don't care. Godwinning a thread is always done with a purpose, and it's a hot button issue for me because I have dear friends with stories of living through genocide by the skin of their teeth. I appreciate a good Auschwitz joke like any other asshole, but unless you have a very good reason to bring up Nazis and how they relate to me, you don't fucking do it.

~~GarandMarine~~ · « **Reply #4674 on:** 16 Jan 2015, 23:13 »

Vigilantism at it's finest. My roommate and I stopped to help out at a hit and run tonight. The guy was disabled in the middle of an intersection and the cops weren't there yet. We made sure the guy was okay, and that the cops were on their way. While we were chatting waiting for the cops to show up, the guy mentioned it was a red jeep and it went in the direction of our place, well we're heading home after the cops arrive and lo and behold, a fucked up red jeep missing a tail light in an apartment complex near our place. So we ran back to the accident scene and lead the cops straight to the guy after I snapped a pic of the plate and the damage.

When we got back to the Jeep, we noticed the guy had come out and flipped the Jeep around in the space. Not moved it around into another space, but just turned around in the same space. Which, I mean... come on... at least MOVE the vehicle if you see people checking out the damage, try and not be too stupid. Three LEOs including a K9 officer on site when we left.

Fun fact: In Colorado a Hit and Run is a felony offense with an automatic two year suspension of your license, jackass is probably looking at jail time, especially if they were drunk/high, which is another felony.

Good deed for the night accomplished. If you're a hit and run driver, I can literally think of very few criminals /lower/ as a human being for you outside of rapists, pedos and actual murderers.

Akima · « **Reply #4675 on:** 16 Jan 2015, 23:54 »

That's not vigilantism, that's being good citizens and reporting evidence to the cops. You didn't do anything daft like trying to arrest Jeep-man yourselves, much less string him up from the nearest tree.

Aimless · « **Reply #4676 on:** 17 Jan 2015, 02:56 »

I'd totally watch a show on that theme if you got Steven Seagal to sign up for it

Nazi Patrick would just be too fucking surreal though, what the hell was that person smoking

~~GarandMarine~~ · « **Reply #4677 on:** 17 Jan 2015, 05:30 »

Quote from: Akima on 16 Jan 2015, 23:54

That's not vigilantism, that's being good citizens and reporting evidence to the cops. You didn't do anything daft like trying to arrest Jeep-man yourselves, much less string him up from the nearest tree.

Well. We kinda did go out looking for this vehicle after we left the scene of the accident.

In other GM blog news big trouble in big China right now. Chinese video gaming is a bit of a joke in a lot of the communities I'm in due to every game and it's cousin having Chinese clones. Well in the case of my latest minor obsession Kantai Collection, there's a couple big clones, but they all (mostly) have their own GUI, and art, even if it's all obviously based on KanColle. PirateColle (as it's referred to on forums) the worst of these, isn't a clone, it's a direct lift of KanColle, a lot of the voice acting is still in Japanese, the art's the same. It's pretty bad. This is where the fun starts. With the help of Baidau (The Chinese google) who's services were secured with a 700,000 yuan (110,000 USD approximately) pay off, PirateColle (who bills themselves as the original developer of their theft) took over every KanColle related forum and image board (Tiebas) and used them to advertise their game, apparently they also had Baidau take action against the other clone games. So obviously the Chinese community wasn't exactly happy about that. Their counter offensive started with a bunch of X rated material being posted on their old Tiebas (a smut torpedo if you will) to try and force Baidau to close their old forums down permanently. More enterprising individuals have moved on to attacking the game's website and servers directly. PirateColle moved to a server in the United States (still under Baidau control, interesting where people have stuff in the global economy no?) and tried to proceed with their continued launches and normal activities.

This was the opening salvo of the renewed attacks as captured via ipviking.

Due to the culture of piracy being somewhat the norm, most Chinese KanColle players (and players of the KanColle clones) would have happily left the private server alone, but the straight-up act of shilling, along with shameless display of wealth ("I can buy power over all of you for a measly 700k") is what drove this over the edge. This is coming right after the Chinese gaming community's last major clusterfuck quite literally a few weeks ago, when the Chinese, official, launch of Guild Wars 2 was revealed to be Guild Wars 2... hyper monetized with all challenge and leveling replaced with a window to fill in your credit card information, after the company that bought the licensing swore up and down while in developing and localization they wouldn't do that.

As this continues to escalate (and it is escalating, quite a lot) it's leaving my happy little distraction of cute girls wearing chunks of battleship behind, this is a matter pertaining to gaming and ACG culture as a whole in one of the fastest growing consumers of gaming-related products in the world. Of course racism is also involved because the Pirates immediately started blaming the Japanese (which is rich considering they stole their game whole cloth from a Japanese company) for their server issues, which has gotten them a certain amount of cachet and popularity with, and I mean this is the least kind way possible, racist shitheads.

Now back to something less serious.

ankhtahr · « **Reply #4678 on:** 17 Jan 2015, 15:23 »

I decided to try myself at 3D CAD again. Cleaned up my desk for that. Now it really looks like a workdesk. I like it. It's been a while since I felt this productive at a desk.

~~GarandMarine~~ · « **Reply #4679 on:** 18 Jan 2015, 00:26 »

[img]http://i.imgur.com/0PH5K03.png[img]

The Chinese Admirals got the new IP, Baidau apparently has U.S. servers, and PirateColle was traced back to there, caught these two salvos right after I logged in. Couple have been so big the software, and my monitor, couldn't keep up.

Patrick · « **Reply #4680 on:** 18 Jan 2015, 13:30 »

Last night at the bar I met these two really nice people who were eavesdropping on the same ridiculous conversation as me, and when we realized we were laughing for the same reasons, we all high fived.

This has been Alcohol Adventures with Pat

Carl-E · « **Reply #4681 on:** 18 Jan 2015, 19:08 »

Between last night's chili, stir fry for lunch and this evening's barbecue, something's reacting...

I just cut one, and it was so damn noxious that one of the dogs, on its bed across the room, lifted it's head and then decided to get up and sniff out the source.

Oh, wait - where's the TMI thread?

Patrick · « **Reply #4682 on:** 19 Jan 2015, 00:42 »

I just helped an old Afghan man reconnect with his former boss who he lost touch with over the years. Said boss lives in Australia and has a restaurant with a Yelp page, which I discovered by searching for it there on my phone. Fuckin spacephones man, what can't they do?

Welu · « **Reply #4683 on:** 19 Jan 2015, 14:34 »

Every time I reset or clear my internet history/cookies I forget how tiny the text on this forum actually is by default and for a second thing I need new glasses before I remember to zoom in.

pwhodges · « **Reply #4684 on:** 20 Jan 2015, 03:35 »

Tiny? It's bigger than the other forum I mainly visit, and bigger than the text under the icons on my desktop.

Welu · « **Reply #4685 on:** 20 Jan 2015, 05:06 »

Maybe it's because I've read it zoomed in to 110% for so long but I find it really uncomfortable to read at default.

I find desktop icon text grand but then I'm not reading paragraphs at that size regularly.

Aimless · « **Reply #4686 on:** 20 Jan 2015, 09:25 »

My feelings are the same re. tiny forum text

LTK · « **Reply #4687 on:** 20 Jan 2015, 10:18 »

I got it at a 110% as well. In fact, the majority of websites I visit regularly are zoomed in. 1920*1080 on a monitor of moderate size makes most text just a bit too small for comfort. Also true for images, Wondermark is even at 150%.

Papersatan · « **Reply #4688 on:** 22 Jan 2015, 22:46 »

A positive update on my situation:
My talk was accepted into that national conference, which is amazing! It also waives my registration fee, which will cut my attendance cost in half.
I have an interview next week for a temp job that would be a lot of fun for me, even though its not really related to my career goals. I think I have a pretty good shot at getting it too, so fingers crossed on that.
I'm actually crazy busy for the first time since school ended, between the two talks, the poster session, a non-profit website project Ive been wrangled into doing and some other small things. None of it is making me any money, but it feels good to be busy again.
The only problem is its making it hard to find the time to look for actual work. I need to build some time into my week to make sure I'm doing that.

lepetitfromage · « **Reply #4689 on:** 23 Jan 2015, 06:18 »

That's awesome, Kat!! Congrats on the talk, that is HUGE. Fingers crossed for you on the interview as well.

Carl-E · « **Reply #4690 on:** 27 Jan 2015, 08:16 »

So after 4 inches of powder, it was snowing again last night. Went to pick up my daughter from work at midnight, no problems. Headed out to Wal-Mart, she needed some stuff and her and my schedule don't allow for much daytime shopping.

On the main boulevard heading out, I hit a slick spot as I came behind a stopped car for a red light.

Antilock brakes only work if they detect a difference between the way the wheels are responding. The slick area was big enough that all 4 wheels locked, and I was headed at a weird angle right for the car. I hit the gas, and diverted us into the mall entrance instead.

Where we slid, sideways, against the curbing of one of the curved dividers that direct traffic in and out.

Something in the suspension broke. The wheels don't steer together. I limped home, only because it was snowy enough that it was more like skiing than driving anyway. I'm going out soon to assess the damage and see if I'll be able to fix it.

It's our only vehicle, and public transport around here sucks. I'm hoping I just busted a sway bar link or something. At least that will be cheap. Even if I have to lie in snow to fix it.

The part I didn't tell my wife; I was really tired, and didn't notice the stopped car ahead until later than I should have. My daughter noticed it first and screamed. I probably would have rear ended the guy full tilt if it weren't for her. I may have been on the verge of passing out.

Fuck, man. I didn't need this.

Welu · « **Reply #4691 on:** 27 Jan 2015, 14:53 »

I worked with someone whose film has an Oscar nomination.

The photo in that article is actually from the film I worked on. I feel so cool about my film work tonight.

Carl-E · « **Reply #4692 on:** 27 Jan 2015, 17:58 »

Nothing's broken, but the wheel's cockeyed as hell. Took it to a nearby alignment shop - the steering knuckle, strut and possibly the control arm are all bent out of shape.

Most of you probably have an idea what a strut is, it's like a long shock absorber. Replaceable. The other stuff? Well, the steering knuckle is what holds the wheel and brake assembly onto the car. It's what you're looking at when you change the tire. The control arm is the part that hold the knuckle to the car. So basically, I have to replace almost everything in this picture except the brakes and the tie rod;

Loki · « **Reply #4693 on:** 27 Jan 2015, 23:45 »

At least you are safe. (I know this may look like a small consolation right now...)

Carl-E · « **Reply #4694 on:** 28 Jan 2015, 00:01 »

Yes, it could have been much worse.

lepetitfromage · « **Reply #4695 on:** 28 Jan 2015, 06:01 »

Lots of hugs for you, Carl.

Aimless · « **Reply #4696 on:** 28 Jan 2015, 08:52 »

Crap... did they give you a quote? :/

Akima · « **Reply #4697 on:** 28 Jan 2015, 13:44 »

Carl chews iron filings and spits out the parts he needs!

Carl-E · « **Reply #4698 on:** 28 Jan 2015, 20:35 »

Quote from: Aimless on 28 Jan 2015, 08:52

Crap... did they give you a quote? :/

Nope. They couldn't do that kind of work. He referred me to a body shop, but ... well, I can't afford body shop prices.

There's a junkyard nearby with a mechanic's garage on premises. They quoted me $150 for the parts (off another vehicle, of course). All I have to do is limp it out there to get an estimate on the labor costs.

Did I mention we're overdrawn, and i had no classes start this month (so no pay from the teaching job)? No hours at Macy's, either - end of the month and all.

Yeah, bleak weather.

Quote from: Akima on 28 Jan 2015, 13:44

Carl chews iron filings and spits out the parts he needs!

P-toooee! (we definitely need a spitting smiley...)

pwhodges · « **Reply #4699 on:** 29 Jan 2015, 15:22 »

(It just doesn't feel right to put this in the pointless thread...)

How bad can a pile-up get?

https://www.facebook.com/video.php?v=779173205471593&set=vb.156612431061010&type=2&theater

Carl, I guess that gives some perspective for your kerb-bump...

THESE FORUMS NOW CLOSED (read only)

Author Topic: Blog Thread 4; Live Free or Blog Hard - 'cos we all like blogging (Read 562164 times)