Thursday, July 19, 2012
Microsoft Office 2013, fatter than ever
According to Slashdot, the new release of Microsoft Office won't run on Windows XP, and will require 1 Gbyte of RAM and 3 Gbytes of hard drive space. Oink Oink.
Wednesday, July 18, 2012
Knives
The knives were getting dull, so I pulled out the oilstone (a two sided, two grit silicon carbide stone, none of this Arkansas or waterstone stuff for me) and a bottle of 3 in 1 oil and set to it. Started with an 8 inch stainless chef's knife from J.A. Henkel which I got maybe ten years ago. It was so dull it wouldn't cut a tomato. Set to work with the coarse side of the stone until I could see bright metal going right out to the edge on both sides. Then followed up with the fine side of the stone to flatten the scratches left by the coarse grit. When done, it would slice a piece of newspaper, a mark of decently sharp, but not as sharp as a razor. I don't do the "shave the hair off your arm test"
Moved on to old reliable, an 8 inch carbon steel chef's knife I bought new at a restaurant supply house in Duluth Minnesota nearly 50 years ago for $3.25. Over the years the dishwasher destroyed the wooden handle and I bought the special brass rivets and made a new handle from poplar. The carbon steel will take an edge and hold it better than stainless and old reliable was still sharp enough to slice paper. I touched him up with the fine side of t he stone on general principles.
Then we get to my pair of Gerber knives that I picked up at a yard sale a few years ago. They look like Gerber knives, they are marked as Gerber knives, but some times I wonder if they are not counterfeit. Both steel blades are flawed. On the ground edge you can see little pits and fissures in the steel. They don't hold an edge long, and the edge rusts. Stainless ain't supposed to do that.
Then I tried to put an edge on a little Japanese stainless paring knife that must have come from my mother. It had never been more than butter knife sharp. Look at the edge and I could see a long flat strip of metal rather than a knife edge. So much work on the coarse side and it's a little better, but it is never gonna be my favorite knife.
Finished up doing my Swiss Army pocket knife and a little folding knife, both of which are mostly used to open junk mail. When sharp, they slice the envelope open in one smooth swish.
So there we are, seven sharp knives laid out on the kitchen table. Time for Happy Hour.
Moved on to old reliable, an 8 inch carbon steel chef's knife I bought new at a restaurant supply house in Duluth Minnesota nearly 50 years ago for $3.25. Over the years the dishwasher destroyed the wooden handle and I bought the special brass rivets and made a new handle from poplar. The carbon steel will take an edge and hold it better than stainless and old reliable was still sharp enough to slice paper. I touched him up with the fine side of t he stone on general principles.
Then we get to my pair of Gerber knives that I picked up at a yard sale a few years ago. They look like Gerber knives, they are marked as Gerber knives, but some times I wonder if they are not counterfeit. Both steel blades are flawed. On the ground edge you can see little pits and fissures in the steel. They don't hold an edge long, and the edge rusts. Stainless ain't supposed to do that.
Then I tried to put an edge on a little Japanese stainless paring knife that must have come from my mother. It had never been more than butter knife sharp. Look at the edge and I could see a long flat strip of metal rather than a knife edge. So much work on the coarse side and it's a little better, but it is never gonna be my favorite knife.
Finished up doing my Swiss Army pocket knife and a little folding knife, both of which are mostly used to open junk mail. When sharp, they slice the envelope open in one smooth swish.
So there we are, seven sharp knives laid out on the kitchen table. Time for Happy Hour.
Bob Beckel, my favorite punching bag
Old Bob was sounding off on Fox New's "Five" last night, displaying his deep ignorance. Bob was defending Obama's claim that government support was behind every successful enterpreneur. So he says "Bill Gates claimed the space program made the first micro computer possible."
Not true Bob. What made the microcomputer, the Altairs, the Ithaca Intersysterms, the Cromemcos, the Commodore PETs, the Apple IIs and the Radio Shack TRS-80s possible was the microprocessor, a single 40 pin dual inline package that does the thinking that makes a computer compute.
The first micro processor was designed by Intel, for a Japanese customer making desktop calculating machines. The Japanese company, BubCom, wanted to make an exceptionally powerful product that could do square roots. The Intel designers were inspired by the PDP-8, the first minicomputer, which had an elegantly simple design and astonishing power. Intel designed a CPU chip for BubCom which became the Intel 4004. To make the CPU become a desktop calculator Intel wrote a program, stored in a ROM chip to make the CPU recognize the keys in the keyboard, do the arithmetic and drive the display. The 4004 was nearly as powerful as the much bigger contemporary PDP-8 minicomputer.
The PDP-8 motherboard, designed before microprocessors existed, used ordinary TTL logic gates to do it's thinking. That mother board was some 17 inches square, contained some 200 odd chips. The entire PDP-8 machine cost $7000 in 1969, weighed 50 pounds, and mounted in a 19 inch relay rack. Took up a foot of rack space. The Intel 4004 chip was nearly as powerful, cost $20 (then) and didn't weigh an ounce. This microprocessor chip made the microcomputers possible.
No government funds, projects, spinoffs, regulators, tax men involved. It was a straight commercial deal brought to us by Silicon Valley entrepreneurs, no government involvement what so ever.
Not true Bob. What made the microcomputer, the Altairs, the Ithaca Intersysterms, the Cromemcos, the Commodore PETs, the Apple IIs and the Radio Shack TRS-80s possible was the microprocessor, a single 40 pin dual inline package that does the thinking that makes a computer compute.
The first micro processor was designed by Intel, for a Japanese customer making desktop calculating machines. The Japanese company, BubCom, wanted to make an exceptionally powerful product that could do square roots. The Intel designers were inspired by the PDP-8, the first minicomputer, which had an elegantly simple design and astonishing power. Intel designed a CPU chip for BubCom which became the Intel 4004. To make the CPU become a desktop calculator Intel wrote a program, stored in a ROM chip to make the CPU recognize the keys in the keyboard, do the arithmetic and drive the display. The 4004 was nearly as powerful as the much bigger contemporary PDP-8 minicomputer.
The PDP-8 motherboard, designed before microprocessors existed, used ordinary TTL logic gates to do it's thinking. That mother board was some 17 inches square, contained some 200 odd chips. The entire PDP-8 machine cost $7000 in 1969, weighed 50 pounds, and mounted in a 19 inch relay rack. Took up a foot of rack space. The Intel 4004 chip was nearly as powerful, cost $20 (then) and didn't weigh an ounce. This microprocessor chip made the microcomputers possible.
No government funds, projects, spinoffs, regulators, tax men involved. It was a straight commercial deal brought to us by Silicon Valley entrepreneurs, no government involvement what so ever.
Tuesday, July 17, 2012
Beat the heat
The morning radio was predicting 100 degree temps in southern NH and 90 degrees up here. Well, we dodged that bullet. The good ole Cannon Cloud was right out there bring us a gentle cooling rain. Temp was 71 all morning. Good old Ken King's crew kept right on mowing the grass in the rain. Sun finally burned off the cloud and it's up to 80, but that beats 90 any day. Plus we have some breeze.
Monday, July 16, 2012
Berets
Been following, and chuckling about the US Olympic team uniform fracas. Chuckie the Schumer is outraged that the uniforms are made in China.
As for me, I just don't like the style. Americans walking in the opening parade ought to be wearing something really American, like cowboy hats and blue jeans. Every other country sends their athletics out wearing native dress, why not us too?
AND, berets are not American. They are French. Or Special Forces. Sending our athletes out in berets is too close to sending them out wearing Army helmets. Wrong image.
As for me, I just don't like the style. Americans walking in the opening parade ought to be wearing something really American, like cowboy hats and blue jeans. Every other country sends their athletics out wearing native dress, why not us too?
AND, berets are not American. They are French. Or Special Forces. Sending our athletes out in berets is too close to sending them out wearing Army helmets. Wrong image.
Silence gives assent
If you don't reply to an attack, but remain silent, the voters begin to think it's true. Obama is attacking Romney's record at Bain capital, accusing him of being an asset stripping corporate raider. Romney ain't replying. Romney ought to be saying "We put money into these winning companies, and today they employ umpteen zillion people". I haven't heard him say that yet.
Us voters just watch TV. If Obama's accusations are false, we expect Romney to tell us so. If he remains silent, when he ought to defend himself, we begin to think there might be something in the accusations.
Dukakis demonstrated this to perfection many years ago. The Bush campaign ran a series of TV attack ads accusing Dukakis of endangering public safety by releasing dangerous murderer and sex offender ,Willie Horton, on parole. Dukakis never replied and the mud stuck to him.
Us voters just watch TV. If Obama's accusations are false, we expect Romney to tell us so. If he remains silent, when he ought to defend himself, we begin to think there might be something in the accusations.
Dukakis demonstrated this to perfection many years ago. The Bush campaign ran a series of TV attack ads accusing Dukakis of endangering public safety by releasing dangerous murderer and sex offender ,Willie Horton, on parole. Dukakis never replied and the mud stuck to him.
Sunday, July 15, 2012
Amtrak: $151 billion for NE Corridor
Hmm . $151 billion to create a High Speed Rail line running Boston to Washington. Nice, but $151 billion is a lot of money. Actually, when my family travels Boston to New York, they take the Fung Wah bus, $15 one way, four hours. Amtrak's Acela is closer to $100, and takes nearly as long. I've taken Acela, it's cool, but only when traveling on a company expense account. It's too pricey for what it offers for me to ride it on my own time and my own money. Go Fung Wah bus.
When we talk about the full Boston- Washington run, Southwest Airlines is only $75 one way, and flight time is only one hour.
And, if I need a car while in New York or DC, I drive. Four hours to NYC (fast as Acela) and 7 hours to DC, (again, fast as Acela).
I'm a long time train buff, I love train travel, but is this a wise use of $151 billion?
When we talk about the full Boston- Washington run, Southwest Airlines is only $75 one way, and flight time is only one hour.
And, if I need a car while in New York or DC, I drive. Four hours to NYC (fast as Acela) and 7 hours to DC, (again, fast as Acela).
I'm a long time train buff, I love train travel, but is this a wise use of $151 billion?
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