All Electronics has been around for 5 may 10 years, so it isn't a newbie on the web. They sell electronic parts, like you used to be able to get at Radio Shack. I ordered a bunch of stuff from them last summer. the stuff came in, works right, and I'd sorta forgotten about it. Til the other night. I get one of those "Your All Electronics order number such and such has shipped" emails. Hmm I said to myself, I don't remember ordering anything from them lately. Looking at the parts on the order, I remembered ordering this stuff, and receiving it, last summer. Very strange.
Next morning, another email from All. They explained they had been doing maintenance on their system and something went wrong, and a batch of old shipping notices got resent. Not to worry, just a computer glitch, we didn't reship this stuff, and we haven't double billed anyone's credit card.
How much of this do I believe? Were they hacked like Target? I'll surely double check my Mastercard bill this month.
Just to be fair. All Electronics is a perfectly reliable supplier, good stuff cheap and fast. I'll order from them again.
Saturday, March 8, 2014
Talking with Cats
Cats have a number of things that they say to their humans.
1. Meow I want something. Human is expected to fill in from context.
such as Food, In, Out, Petting.
2. Purr I am pleased with the world.
3. Tail lash I am upset and unhappy. Back off or you might get hurt.
4. Tail held high I am feeling cool and groovy today.
5. Tail held straight out and level I am hunting and I don't want to spook the game
6. Tail between legs. I am scared.
7. Siren Howl. A war cry.
8. Merrup (part meow part purr) I was stroked unexpectedly.
9. Hiss (raised fur, fluffed up tail) I am mad, you are about to get clawed
Going the other way, cats pretend not to understand anything said to them. Cats know that understanding leads to demands for obedience, which is far beneath the dignity of cats. Obedience is for dogs.
1. Meow I want something. Human is expected to fill in from context.
such as Food, In, Out, Petting.
2. Purr I am pleased with the world.
3. Tail lash I am upset and unhappy. Back off or you might get hurt.
4. Tail held high I am feeling cool and groovy today.
5. Tail held straight out and level I am hunting and I don't want to spook the game
6. Tail between legs. I am scared.
7. Siren Howl. A war cry.
8. Merrup (part meow part purr) I was stroked unexpectedly.
9. Hiss (raised fur, fluffed up tail) I am mad, you are about to get clawed
Going the other way, cats pretend not to understand anything said to them. Cats know that understanding leads to demands for obedience, which is far beneath the dignity of cats. Obedience is for dogs.
Friday, March 7, 2014
Damn tool makers
Who make tools with round handles. So they roll off the bench, onto the floor and disappear every time I set them down. Tools ought to have hexagonal handles, or at least a single flat side, so they stay put when you put 'em down.
Shed a tear for Radio Shack
They are hurting. They just announced they will be closing 1000 stores. And it may get worse. I remember when they started up, a single store on Washington St in Boston. That was before Tandy bought them. In those days the store was filled with electronic parts, mostly surplus, TV antennas, hifi equipment, and ham radio stuff. If you were building or fixing electronic stuff Radio Shack is where you went for parts. They carried their own brand of hifi, Realistic, which never had the cache associated with Harman Kardon or Bogen or McIntosh, but the price was right and it sounded OK to my ear. Once they even carried British Army surplus rifles for $19.95 each. It used to be a fun place to shop, even if you didn't need any parts or rifles.
That was a long time ago. They are still around but the stock is less interesting, cell phones and point-n-shoot cameras, and toys. They still have some parts and wire and connectors, but this is all little stuff, couple of dollars apiece, and you gotta sell an awful lot of it to keep the lights on. I still buy parts for my home projects at the Shack, but that's about it. Although Radio Shack pioneered home computers, remember the TRS-80, they seem to have faded out of that business. They still have a few cables and connectors, but you don't see laptops or printers in the store.
Without a high value or a high volume product, they will continue to hurt. When they go, most of us will have to go Internet for electronic parts and stuff.
That was a long time ago. They are still around but the stock is less interesting, cell phones and point-n-shoot cameras, and toys. They still have some parts and wire and connectors, but this is all little stuff, couple of dollars apiece, and you gotta sell an awful lot of it to keep the lights on. I still buy parts for my home projects at the Shack, but that's about it. Although Radio Shack pioneered home computers, remember the TRS-80, they seem to have faded out of that business. They still have a few cables and connectors, but you don't see laptops or printers in the store.
Without a high value or a high volume product, they will continue to hurt. When they go, most of us will have to go Internet for electronic parts and stuff.
Thursday, March 6, 2014
Bob Beckel inserts foot into mouth
Beckel, the token liberal on Fox News's Five, said something really dumb last night. He trashed Bush for not using enough troops against Iraq. Really Bob. The force we sent overran the country, seized the capital, and drove Saddam Hussein into hiding, all with in a matter of weeks. That's a crushing victory by anyone's standards. Which means we sent enough soldiers to do the job.
I'll grant that we didn't handle victory as well as we should have, but that's not a matter of boots on the ground, that's a matter of heads up and locked.
I'll grant that we didn't handle victory as well as we should have, but that's not a matter of boots on the ground, that's a matter of heads up and locked.
Godwin's Law strikes Hillary
Godwin's law comes from Internet discussion/argument groups. The first person to invoke Hitler's name (usually by calling his opponent a Nazi) lost the argument. That rule used to be confined to high level Internet surfer nerds.
Well, Godwin's law is spreading. Hillary Clinton compared Putin's claim to be protecting Russians in Crimea to Hitler's claim to be protecting Sudetenland Germans in the 1930's. Which actually is a pretty good fit. Hitler took over Czechoslovakia claiming he was protecting ethnic Germans living in Czechoslovakia. Putin took over the Crimea claiming that he was protecting ethnic Russians living in the Crimea. What goes around comes around.
And, Hillary was forced to back off about comparing Putin to Hitler. Apparently the liberal newsies just couldn't stomach calling a bastard a bastard. Godwin's law moves off the 'net into the political world.
Well, Godwin's law is spreading. Hillary Clinton compared Putin's claim to be protecting Russians in Crimea to Hitler's claim to be protecting Sudetenland Germans in the 1930's. Which actually is a pretty good fit. Hitler took over Czechoslovakia claiming he was protecting ethnic Germans living in Czechoslovakia. Putin took over the Crimea claiming that he was protecting ethnic Russians living in the Crimea. What goes around comes around.
And, Hillary was forced to back off about comparing Putin to Hitler. Apparently the liberal newsies just couldn't stomach calling a bastard a bastard. Godwin's law moves off the 'net into the political world.
Boston to Manchester by rail
They were talking about it on NHPR this morning. They are spending taxpayer money on a "study". They hope the study will be convincing enough to gain them federal funding. Greenies love rail, they think it's low carbon. They also love the money that rail projects soak up. They estimated that 31,000 passengers a year would ride a Boston to Manchester train.
On an emotional level, I like it. I'm a rail fan from way back, I have an HO model railroad in my guest room. On an economic basis, it's craziness. Right now, travelers from Boston to Manchester drive. It's only 53 miles on I93. Takes about an hour by my reckoning, and only 55 minutes by Google maps reckoning. And there is bus service, takes about an hour 20 minutes and costs $18.
Rail would have to compete, in speed and cost to be worth the sizable money fixing up the track would cost. The land is hilly and the existing track, all laid down in the 19th century, is curvy, which limits speed. Buying a brand new ultra straight right of way would cost maybe $10 million a mile, for 53 miles, or $530 million. Which is probably out of the question. Especially for a mere 31,000 passengers. Figure a fare of somewhat more than the bus, say $25. That makes farebox revenue for a year $775000, and it takes 683 years to pay off the bonds. No can do.
So the project has to run over existing right of way, of which there are plenty. Much of it has been abandoned, or turned into bike trails, but some still works. Bring the track and roadbed up to 19th century standards and the trains could surely do 60 mph, but probably not more than 100 mph. Trains don't corner as well as cars. So that makes the train trip somewhere between half an hour and a hour. On the Boston end, it has to connect with the T, and it ought to have a station on 128. Assume fixing up the track is a mere $1 million a mile, so we put $53 million into track work At that rate the fares will pay off the bonds in a mere 68 years, assuming ALL the fare goes to baying off the bonds, with nothing for maintenance, keeping the culverts clear, buying diesel fuel, plowing the snow, paying the trainmen, buying rolling stock. And assuming the bonds are zero interest. At 5%, a 68 year $53 million bond will require $147 million to pay off.
For the taxpayer, this isn't just a bad deal, it's a swindle.
On an emotional level, I like it. I'm a rail fan from way back, I have an HO model railroad in my guest room. On an economic basis, it's craziness. Right now, travelers from Boston to Manchester drive. It's only 53 miles on I93. Takes about an hour by my reckoning, and only 55 minutes by Google maps reckoning. And there is bus service, takes about an hour 20 minutes and costs $18.
Rail would have to compete, in speed and cost to be worth the sizable money fixing up the track would cost. The land is hilly and the existing track, all laid down in the 19th century, is curvy, which limits speed. Buying a brand new ultra straight right of way would cost maybe $10 million a mile, for 53 miles, or $530 million. Which is probably out of the question. Especially for a mere 31,000 passengers. Figure a fare of somewhat more than the bus, say $25. That makes farebox revenue for a year $775000, and it takes 683 years to pay off the bonds. No can do.
So the project has to run over existing right of way, of which there are plenty. Much of it has been abandoned, or turned into bike trails, but some still works. Bring the track and roadbed up to 19th century standards and the trains could surely do 60 mph, but probably not more than 100 mph. Trains don't corner as well as cars. So that makes the train trip somewhere between half an hour and a hour. On the Boston end, it has to connect with the T, and it ought to have a station on 128. Assume fixing up the track is a mere $1 million a mile, so we put $53 million into track work At that rate the fares will pay off the bonds in a mere 68 years, assuming ALL the fare goes to baying off the bonds, with nothing for maintenance, keeping the culverts clear, buying diesel fuel, plowing the snow, paying the trainmen, buying rolling stock. And assuming the bonds are zero interest. At 5%, a 68 year $53 million bond will require $147 million to pay off.
For the taxpayer, this isn't just a bad deal, it's a swindle.
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