I started playing with Linux in the late 90s while I was in grad school. Slackware 3.x. I think I might have tried one or two others, but since I was somewhat familiar with Unix, Slackware was the easiest for me to learn.

I got them via CD ROMs; I’m pretty sure they came with a book on Linux (I think it included several distributions on CDs). I don’t think I have that book any more; I likely got rid of it long ago as it was badly out of date. But my memory is that it was published by Que, a publisher that I had good experience with on other topics. (dBase III, for example) I’m pretty sure it was this one…leave it to Amazon to still have it.

I recall recompiling kernel because it was “so much faster” (I cringe at myself now for thinking that - it probably wasn’t even true on my Pentium 133 machines). I also remember spending time trying to get X-windows configured, but I was successful. I think I was using fvwm95 window manager, a Windows-like experience. I started using Linux essentially full time pretty quickly.

A few times I got frustrated with Linux and tried to switch back to Windows, but the headaches of Windows always quickly drove me back to Linux. Linux is not perfect, but Windows is even worse.

Proof Crusher > Pulaski. Crusher was always exactly where she needed to be.

I wonder what the wifi access in the school is like?

Page 3: Wireless infrastructure at all buildings, in 2015.

I never noticed it was a DC plate. Makes sense given the theme of the movie, it’s just unusual to see something approaching a real plate in a movie!

I have no idea why I remember mine, 520009. Haven’t used ICQ in many years; I didn’t know it was still up.

The background makes me think this is from Insurrection for some reason, but I can’t think of any action scenes with Bev there. Her boobs were getting firmer though.

A guy at work did something like that. Went on vacation for a week, just never returned. Didn’t return phone calls or emails. Eventually he popped up on social media about 6 months later and some coworkers spotted him and got the story. If I remember correctly (which I may not), I think his girlfriend convinced him to stay, so he did, and he just ghosted his job.

Isn’t it about time to fire up your space laser?

I have an old S9 right here on my desk. I cracked the screen, and took it to one of those screen replacement places, and he asked if I had insurance. I told him I didn’t, and he said, wellllllll it’s going to be a lot more expensive than you think to replace this screen.

That wraparound screen they had was basically also the frame of the phone - you’re not so much replacing the screen as you are moving the rest of the components to a new phone body. I wasn’t sold on value of that wraparound screen in the first place; this didn’t improve my opinion of it.

We put a plastic screen protector on it and a new case, and I used it for a few months until we were ready to upgrade phones.

This is fascinating. I’m reminded of a Mormon guy I (barely) knew that was murdered. If he didn’t have the chance to complete his ordinances, well, I guess no kingdom for him - through no fault of his own. Does he get a pass or is he screwed into lousy second heaven for all eternity?

The story: He was murdered by another Mormon guy over a woman. Murderer thought the woman was his last chance to find love and decided he was serious about it. It’s likely he murdered another guy the woman was dating a year or two before, but that case was ruled a suicide and closed - by the time the known murder occurred, all evidence had been destroyed.

Some kind of miracle, I know. Actually I got more messages, but many of them were either spam or never even made it to a date.

Yeah…when I got the first IDE drive, it was like, “Wait, I don’t need to low level format it?”

“Oh what a mess we weave when we amiss interleave!”

Back when I was in online dating (I got married in 2010, so it has been a very long time), this is how it seemed to work in the hetero arena:

• Women (by which I mean, legitimate accounts from women who were actually looking for dates): Get 1,000,000 messages, approximately 999,900 of which are dick pics.
• Men: See 1,000,000 ads, of which about 3 are legitimate people looking for dates.

So, both could be true in relation to the image.

I remember a guy once telling me that basically you have to respond to EVERY AD and hope something sticks. I never did that, and I felt bad for what the women must have had to deal with when I heard that. I had very limited success - dates with, at most, two or three women, and none of those really went anywhere. I ended up marrying someone from work instead.

Anyone else remember having to set interleave on an RLL hard drive? “First you have to low-level format…”

Most cars I’ve used with it won’t lock until you put it in drive or start moving at a certain speed; I assume that’s because of incidents like this one.

It was not bike touring or packing (just riding for fitness and recreation), but Saturday I was out for a ride and had to cut it short a few miles.

I was about 53 miles (85 km) into a 70 mile (112 km) ride when I realize my heart rate was MUCH higher than the level of effort I felt I was putting out. I’m not sure what that means, but it couldn’t be a good sign - at the very least, it meant I was burning way more energy than I should be to finish the ride. This was supposed to be a zone 2 or 3 cruise, not a zone 4 or 5 hammerfest.

By that point it was around 90 F (32 C). I had finished a full bottle of water, plus another bottle that was a mix of gatorade and water. Earlier, I had stopped and got enough cold water to refill one water bottle completely, and the other about 2/3rds. That should have been enough, and if not there was another gas station I could have stopped at to get more. So I felt pretty good about my hydration situation throughout the ride. I was never thirsty.

Given the situation and the heat, I decided to cut the ride short. I started riding in the lower gears for cruising and climbing, and trying to build a little momentum with higher gears when descending. I finished with 63.5 miles (~102 km) total, so not bad. I was eventually able to get my heart rate back down into zone 3 range.

I think I just overdid it - pushed too hard early on. I really didn’t think I was, but it was hot and humid, so I probably didn’t take that into account well enough. Also, while I’ve ridden quite a few metric centuries this year (long story), the longest ride I’ve done lately was just under 50 miles (80 km), and that had a long break at mile 16 (25 km), so surely that was a factor as well - maybe I just tried to jump too far.

Also, I’d hoped to get on the road by 6 a.m. but ended up leaving around 6:45 a.m. - an earlier departure would have meant I was that much farther along when the heat really rolled in. Hopefully this crazy heat breaks - I’d like to do 100 miles on July 4 if I can.

Yep, we had a cat that would always go for the sink. Eventually I tried putting the water fountain away from the food, and she mostly stopped getting water in the sink.

Before I learned this, I had another cat while I still had a fish tank…I’d get home and find him on top of the fish tank, drinking the water coming out of the filter. The lid on that tank was not very solid, and I was SURE he’d fall in at some point, with disastrous results, so I got him a fountain water dish, and that stopped his fish tank escapades.

Oh it’s worse than that. Much of the Milwaukee’s main line was electrified - over 600 miles worth - and the electrification was removed in favor of running diesels.

Yeah, this isn’t an ADHD meme, this is a “normal human behavior” meme.

There’s a huge difference between sitting at a table by yourself (or even with a family member) and, say, sitting next to a stranger in an airplane. Walking through the restaurant and keeping the mask on so as not to catch or give anything in passing is sensible. Greater distance means lower risk.