I have two computers for sale. If you are interested, please contact me via email.
Lenovo ThinkPad X201
Currently running Kali Linux
4GB RAM
320GB HDD
i5 Processor: CPU M 540 @ 2.53 GHz x4
Graphics: Intel Ironlake Mobile
includes battery and power supply
$100 or best offer plus shipping
Lenovo ThinkPad T410
currently running Ubuntu Linux 19.04
8GB RAM
240 GB SSD (solid state drive)
i5 Processor M540 @ 2.53 GHz x4
Graphics: NVS 3100M/PCIe/SSE2
comes with two batteries and one power supply
$150 or best offer plus shipping
Both laptops will be wiped out and have a fresh install of Linux on them. No Windows keys provided with these computers. Stickers will remain on the T410, you can decide if you want them or not.
My husband and I are back from seeing “Avengers: Endgame”. I won’t go into details about the plot, so I shall keep this short. The three hour running time felt less than an hour. It’s beautiful to look at, the story is solid, and the acting is well done. By far it was my favorite “Avengers” movie and I give it a solid A+.
And I must say, I really, really like Brie Larson as Captain Marvel. Her part was just one of an all around phenomenal cast, but wow, I really like her portrayal of the character.
We’ll probably see the movie again. Worth every penny and then some.
In 1979 our local grocery store, which we called “the P&C” and was actually called “P&C Foods”, upgraded their checkout systems from the venerable mechanical NCR Class 5 cash registers to Electronic Cash Registers made by Data Terminal Systems of Maynard, Massachusetts. I’ve included a photo of the type of cash register above; photo courtesy of a screen cap from a Shutterstock video. I don’t know who the cashier is, and the video is from another grocery store somewhere else in the country, but she seems friendly enough.
The P&C installed Data Terminal Systems Model 440 cash registers. These electronic cash registers replaced the functions of their mechanical predecessors in that prices were still entered by the cashier, departments were selected, and there was no scanning available at the time. Other store chains in the area had these new electronic cash registers as well and being the young geek I was at the time, I was able to identify by the printing on the receipt whether the store in question went with the “Series 400” cash registers or the more simplistic (but still quite capable) “Series 300” cash registers. I do remember the Series 400 cash registers were able to do rudimentary price look ups; at “The P&C”, a “53 PL#” followed by a price on the receipt meant my mother bought a loaf of Wonder Bread. After the “53 PL#” was a price, like “.99 GR”. Nowhere did it indicate this was a loaf of bread, it was something I had to figure out for myself.
I was fascinated with these electronic cash registers and through hours and hours of careful studying of the receipts my mother left in the bottom of grocery bags, I was able to figure out how these cash registers worked. A watchful eye of cashiers at work helped my observational understanding. Two cashiers at “the P&C” were a favorite; one was named Delores and she was a gangly sort of young woman always stationed on Register #2. Another, a woman by the name of Betty Brown, was the personification of a sigh; she always seemed resigned to her job and she was usually on Register #1. She didn’t move as quickly on the DTS 440 as Delores did on Register #2.
There isn’t a lot of information online about Data Terminal Systems of Maynard, Mass. My scant research has revealed that it was led by a pilot by the name of Bob Collings of Stow, Mass. From what I am able to gather, he left Digital Equipment Corporation, also of Maynard, Mass. (and a company I worked for in the late 1980s) and struck out on his own after Sears & Roebuck approaches Digital to have them computerize their point of sale operations and CEO and founder Ken Olsen turned down the opportunity. Apparently Mr. Collings felt there was ample opportunity for Electronic Cash Registers that were able to chat with one another in the marketplace, and he, along with other DECcies, formed Data Terminal Systems.
At one time I had a large collection of receipts from these cash registers, as I saved that sort of thing while I studied them, but I believe they have long been lost. After all, it’s been decades.
I would love to find one of the cash registers in a thrift store or flea market to see if I can figure out how they tick. From the little information available online about DTS, I believe they were 4-bit machines, with processors made by Rockwell. The earlier models didn’t have scanning, but all models were designed to by upgraded to a more powerful model by field personnel. I do know they had “Star Trek (The Original Series)” look to them and I found them very nifty. I can still hear the distinct sounds of the Seiko EP-101 (later known as “Epson”) printer in my head.
My search continues for equipment by Data Terminal Systems. I hope to create a website dedicated to the memories and information of this company that started the Electronic Cash Register revolution as we know it today.
Maybe one day I’ll stumble across one of these registers at a flea market here in Chicago. I know these machines are what got me started in computers to begin with.
I am at our local Starbucks. In celebration of Good Friday and Easter weekend, I let the team leave early today and I followed my own cue and called it a day a little while ago. Earl is at work, so I’m headed out to go exploring.
It’s 42ºF and the wind is gusting to 35 MPH, so it’s a bit chilly. Hence a cup of coffee before I go walking.
I was second in line when waiting to place my orders; in front of me was a young woman who was having a bit of a struggle with placing her order. She wanted sips for testing, she asked for many foams, squirts, and other associated potions to be added to her brew. She spoke loudly and she strove to engage the attention of at least three of the baristas behind the counter. Meeting her needs was a team effort.
Living in Chicago I take great delight in silently watching how folks use their smartphones, especially if they’re using an Apple device. The woman in front of me had an iPhone of indeterminate model type as it was bedazzled and bejeweled in several ways. The only way I knew it was an iPhone was from the placement of the camera and the way the icons were arranged on her screen. Like a good digital citizen, she was paying for her demanding order with the Starbucks app. I watched her as she flicked through six screens of icons, the vast majority of them folders where multiple apps lived together, waiting for their next opportunity give her user magic.
Apparently her filing methods with multiple folders has a flaw because she was really struggling to find the Starbucks app to pay. This was adding to the frustration of my wait. It took every ounce of my being to not scream out “double click the button and grab it in your Wallet”! Folks do realize they can add their Starbucks card to the very convenient Apple Wallet and access it there, right? I then countered in my head that there was a good chance that she was going to use a reward and I’m not familiar with the handling of Starbucks Frequent Flyer points in the wallet app. As I was processing this in my mind, I noticed she was still flicking through multiple screens, opening and closing folders, looking for the coveted Starbucks app. I then convinced myself to not scream out “pull down from the top and start typing Starbucks!”. I’ve observed that many do not realize there’s a search function built right there into iOS. They hunt and peck and flick and stab at their phone looking for the icon off the app they’re searching for, when all they need to do is pull down from the top of the screen and type the name of the app. Once they do that, voila, there’s the icon they’re looking for.
Eventually “Jody” (I saw her name emblazoned on the screen when she stabbed and opened the wrong app at one point of her quest) found the Starbucks app and told the barista she wanted to use a reward. Ugh. Starbucks changed their reward system on tax day and you now need more points to get what you used to get for less points. Earl and I discovered this earlier in the week, and I just knew that like us, she didn’t know about the change in policy.
She didn’t.
So then she didn’t have enough money on her card to pay but she was pretty efficient in refilling her card. It looks like she used ApplePay to accomplish the card refill, so there is that. All is not lost.
This whole endeavor got me to wondering as to how many folks only know the basics of using their phones. There’s so many things you can do with an iOS device (or an Android device for that matter), but folks only use the basics of stabbing at icons, typing on a keyboard, and flicking to scroll. There’s so many ways to search, find, and use applications. Apple has given us many ways to make using our iDevices as quick and as effortless as possible. It just takes a bit of experience and a dash of education.
Perhaps more people need to attend one of the “Today At Apple” seminars or something.
It’s a sunny day in Chicago today. It’s windy, but the temperature is in the low 50s. It fits within April expectations. Tomorrow we’re suppose to get rain, freezing rain, and much colder temperatures, only to return to today’s type of weather on Monday.
It’s all normal for April in Chicago.
After writing two cranky blog entries last night I relaxed in front of the television watching an episode of “Star Trek: Voyager” (I’m currently on season two) and then I watched the first episode of the fourth season of “Black Mirror”. Earl doesn’t like “Black Mirror” but I enjoy the series. It’s geeky, it’s thought provoking, and it’s eerie enough to keep me on the edge (at times) but not horrifying to give me nightmares.
The episode I watched last night was called “U.S.S. Callister”. The trailer made it look like a parody of Star Trek but it was so much more. I won’t spoil it (even though it’s been out for a while) but I found the story clever.
Event Horizon Telescope collaboration et al. via National Science Foundation
On Wednesday we saw the first photo of a Black Hole, a force in the Universe so powerful that not even light can escape from it. Before this photograph no one even knew what a Black Hole looked like. Might I add, this photograph is of a Black Hole over 55 million-light years from Earth, in a distant galaxy far outside the Milky Way. It takes eight minutes for the light to travel for the Sun to our planet. This Black Hole has a mass 6.5 billion times bigger than the Sun.
Can we stop for just a moment and talk about the fact that despite all the nonsense going on in the world, in particular the United States, despite the number of people clamoring to eschew science, critical thought, and/or intelligent debate, and despite the hype of people that believe the Earth is flat or that vaccinations are bad for our civilization, we still live in an age where we have figured out how to photograph something 55 million light years away from us? I mean, how awesome is that?
Flipping through the various news source on the subject I did run across on idiotic Slate article where the author complained about the photo being fuzzy and uninteresting.
Uninteresting for the uninitiated, I say. I find this photograph and the science, determination, and hard work behind it to make it happen, to be absolutely fascinating. Ever since the Space Shuttle fleet was grounded I’ve felt like many in the United States no longer cared about space exploration. The drive that took us to the stars has been replaced by Tweets, Selfies, and Orange Buffoons. This photograph of a Black Hole in galaxy Messier 87, 55 million light years away from Earth, gives me hope. Hope that we are still moving toward a Star Trek type age where poverty and war are a thing of the past and exploration of the stars makes us a better species.
Forget the selfies, bring on more photos of wonders in the universe. The possibilities are endless.
I’ve been rewatching “Star Trek: Voyager”. I didn’t regularly watch the show back in the mid 90s, so this is my first time watching the series from episode one to its end. I just finished up season one today. I’m looking forward to season two.
Even though I’m not intimately familiar with the series, I do admit, without hesitation, that Captain Kathryn Janeway is my favorite of the Star Trek captains. I’ve always admired her grit, her dedication to science, and her determination. I know many Star Trek fanboys never liked the idea of a female captain, but I’ve never had a problem with it. Even back when “Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home” came out, I enjoyed the brief scene of Captain Sinclair of the U.S.S. Saratoga. No nonsense, that’s what Starfleet needs.
One starship captain I did not enjoy, though she was seen for a very short time on bootleg videos, was the original captain of the U.S.S. Voyager, Captain Nicole Janeway. Played by Geneviève Bujold for only the first two days of filming of the pilot of Star Trek: Voyager, it was agreed that Federation space was not for Bujold and she left the series. A few short scenes on YouTube are all the exist of the experience.
Kate Mulgrew is a natural for the role.
I’m not a fan of the current Star Trek series, “Star Trek: Discovery”. They lost me at the end of episode two when Captain Georgiou met her demise. From there the show turned into a Mary Sue* affair taking place in a universe with way too much strife. One of the things that I’ve always loved about Star Trek is that it showed a time when human society evolved into something more compassionate, driven by learning, exploration, and seeking to better oneself. The Star Trek universe has always been my escape from whatever we have today, especially in this Age of Chaos, and watching a bunch of strife and chaos in the Star Trek universe in the rebooted movie series and “Discovery” has held little of my interest.
But Captain Janeway and U.S.S. Voyager? I love it. I’m happy the series is available on Netflix and I’m looking forward to watching every episode in original broadcast order.
I might even venture out to a Star Trek convention this year and see if I can shake Kate Mulgrew’s hand. I love nuances she brought to Captain Janeway.
The family got together to see Shazam! tonight. I haven’t traditionally been a huge fan of the DC movies, but this was very, very good. We had a lot of fun.
I didn’t spot any Easter Eggs from the 70s show; if you see any please let me know what I should have spotted.
One of my favorites from the DC Universe. I liked it better than Wonder Woman and Aquaman. I look forward to any sequels.
Just a guy with a husband. We’ve been together 28 years and he still makes me see fireworks on a daily basis. Hiker. Storm Chaser. Private Pilot. Tech Guy. Hackerish.
