Well as you all know thursdays suck ... and well its my longest day on top of this ...
but as of this thursday after my last annoying class I had to help out one of my classmates with a flat tire that took me quite a period of time, after which I had to celebrate my mothers b-day at the house. Drove him to get fix a flat then put it in didnt look like it did a thing, left a puddle on the ground. So he had to limp the thing an hr home. I went to screaming children at the house for da mom , but lots of cake and sugar goodies ... ok cant think ill just end this post here ... ttfn
Friday, October 30, 2009
Thursday, October 29, 2009
Links
WoW my links are beginning to look cooler than the default text of google adds ^-^ , now I even have annoying sound interaction adds popping up =]
Wednesday, October 28, 2009
The Times on this blog do not work
My time of this post is 6:21 am
plz look at the bottom to see the time-stamp and what I mean.
just fixxed the time stamp, disregard this post,6:26
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plz look at the bottom to see the time-stamp and what I mean.
just fixxed the time stamp, disregard this post,6:26
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Ark Continued
Greetings [my name],
Thank you for your response. The previous email you received was a standard template and possibly not appropriate for this situation. We are currently looking in to this area so any confusion does not occur again.
The name you requested of 'Usage' does not violation any of the current rules about ARK names and is defiantly not offensive. Because of these facts, you are entitled to use the name as the rules currently stand. From experience though, the name may be reviewed as strange by players for an ARK and therefore asking if you would consider changing it.
Please indicate if you would like to use this name or provide another name.
Regards
[ark's name]
Assistant Director
ARK Academy
my response
===================
=============
Be It as it may, Usage may be deemed as strange by some, But I believe it exemplifies and signifies the
roles and responsibilities that I will be taking on as an Ark.
also the policy under which Arks can choose their name is already severely limited.
I am not allowed to use any of my other aliases that I have already used, not just pertaining to AO but pertaining to using the name any time for any purpose.
The Ark Name must be completely unique and not even sound like a previous name, or contain any parts of said name.
This stifles the already small list of names to pick from, I spent hours thinking up a new alias to no avail.
I have used all aliases I have gone by in AO, or at least the alias is in the name.
So in a severe act of desperation I looked through theological texts looking for names, all of which were already taken on at least one of the realms.
Then for a time I tried spelling all the names differently. I severely doubt you want an Ark that if you misspell their name it has users with all other forms of the spelling.
example: origin,origen,orijinn,orijin,origenes
which is also too close to one of my play characters which is orijinn
lordstrix I cannot use which meant lord and strix are also out.
of course I think most of these were already taken anyway.
Then It was 4 in the morning and I looked at my CPU Usage and it clicked.
Usage it fits an Ark nicely
I am Thankful how you handled the matter, and I did consider changing it, There just is no viable alternative that I can call my character.
Usage is exactly what you were looking for, Unique names, there is not even anyone close to having Usage as a name.
If I were allowed to use Strix Then That would be a viable alternative, but considering I use that for ALL my aliases all over the net, that is the exact opposite of what you would want me to have as my Ark name.
Thank you again for your time, and your understanding on the matter, I hope players will not find my help to be unwanted
because of my name that may or may not seem strange to them,
and I respect your opinion and experience on the matter,
But I will have to Keep the name Usage for the Time Being
All other names just are not unique enough, too close to a prior alias, or simply violate the naming policy in some way.
again I thank you for your understanding of this matter,
the timely responses
and review of the prior emails,
[RL_Name], LordStrix -> soon to be Usage - the smiling greeter of Newbies alike.
Good NIght / Morning.
/waves ^,.,^
Thank you for your response. The previous email you received was a standard template and possibly not appropriate for this situation. We are currently looking in to this area so any confusion does not occur again.
The name you requested of 'Usage' does not violation any of the current rules about ARK names and is defiantly not offensive. Because of these facts, you are entitled to use the name as the rules currently stand. From experience though, the name may be reviewed as strange by players for an ARK and therefore asking if you would consider changing it.
Please indicate if you would like to use this name or provide another name.
Regards
[ark's name]
Assistant Director
ARK Academy
my response
===================
=============
Be It as it may, Usage may be deemed as strange by some, But I believe it exemplifies and signifies the
roles and responsibilities that I will be taking on as an Ark.
also the policy under which Arks can choose their name is already severely limited.
I am not allowed to use any of my other aliases that I have already used, not just pertaining to AO but pertaining to using the name any time for any purpose.
The Ark Name must be completely unique and not even sound like a previous name, or contain any parts of said name.
This stifles the already small list of names to pick from, I spent hours thinking up a new alias to no avail.
I have used all aliases I have gone by in AO, or at least the alias is in the name.
So in a severe act of desperation I looked through theological texts looking for names, all of which were already taken on at least one of the realms.
Then for a time I tried spelling all the names differently. I severely doubt you want an Ark that if you misspell their name it has users with all other forms of the spelling.
example: origin,origen,orijinn,orijin,origenes
which is also too close to one of my play characters which is orijinn
lordstrix I cannot use which meant lord and strix are also out.
of course I think most of these were already taken anyway.
Then It was 4 in the morning and I looked at my CPU Usage and it clicked.
Usage it fits an Ark nicely
I am Thankful how you handled the matter, and I did consider changing it, There just is no viable alternative that I can call my character.
Usage is exactly what you were looking for, Unique names, there is not even anyone close to having Usage as a name.
If I were allowed to use Strix Then That would be a viable alternative, but considering I use that for ALL my aliases all over the net, that is the exact opposite of what you would want me to have as my Ark name.
Thank you again for your time, and your understanding on the matter, I hope players will not find my help to be unwanted
because of my name that may or may not seem strange to them,
and I respect your opinion and experience on the matter,
But I will have to Keep the name Usage for the Time Being
All other names just are not unique enough, too close to a prior alias, or simply violate the naming policy in some way.
again I thank you for your understanding of this matter,
the timely responses
and review of the prior emails,
[RL_Name], LordStrix -> soon to be Usage - the smiling greeter of Newbies alike.
Good NIght / Morning.
/waves ^,.,^
Tuesday, October 27, 2009
Ark usage
let me just post an email I got from an Ark ----
Greetings,
It has come to our attention that your chosen ARK name of Usage would be considered inappropriate for use in the Advisors of Rubi-Ka. This is based on the ARK Naming policy as stated in the email you received earlier as follows:
It must be no more than 12 characters long and not shorter than 4 characters. Do not put ARK, any numbers, or more than two words in the name, or use profanity. In addition to the previous rules, please make sure that your chosen ARK nickname is not close to or even resembles any of the names of your play characters or any of the nicknames you have used previously. Do not choose a name that a player would be uncomfortable with helping them. Examples would be: Virus, Hacker, Exterminator, Jerk, CruelArk, Exploiter, DontAskMe, etc. As a final note you will not be able to create any name that contains characters that are not within the English alphabet so using any symbols in the name will not only not be acceptable but would not be possible when naming the character.
At this time we would like you to take the following steps to correct this issue so that there are no complications with your inductions process that might cause delays for you in joining ARK:
1. If you have already created your name placeholder characters with this name, please delete them now and choose a new ARK name. Remember the name must be available on both dimensions in order for you to be able to use it and also on dim3 if you plan to work on the German speaking server. Please also refer to your original invitation email as the ARK naming guidelines are laid out there for your reference.
2. Once you have recreated the 2 placeholder characters (following the same steps as the first time) and you have passed the first test, you will will receive information from the Inductions Team on how to join the IRC channel. When you are able to access the channel, please register the name you chose using /msg nickserv register yourpasswordhere youremailaddresshere making sure you are logged in with the ARK name. You can check you are by typing /nick yourarkname here. Please remember the password you choose.
3. Having completed the above steps please email us at ark-induction@ark.anarchy-online.com with your original chosen ARK name and your NEW ARK name so that we may update our records to indicate that the change was made.
4. If you already have created a moodle account, please note that you will still use your original ark name as your Moodle login name in the future.
If you have any questions about this email please feel free to email us at ark-induction@ark.anarchy-online.com and we will do our best to respond to your concerns.
Regards,
[the Ark's Name was here]
Inductions Advisor
Academy Department
Advisors of Rubi-Ka
=============
=============\
=============/
============
and my reply
__________________________________________________________
I would like to know how usage violates the naming policy or how it would be deemed inappropriate, it is most likely one of the most appropriate names for an Ark employee
Usage
A style guide or style manual is a set of standards for design and writing of documents, either for general use or for a specific publication
the customary manner in which a language (or a form of a language) is spoken or written; "English usage"; "a usage borrowed from French"
The choice among grammatical, syntactic, or semantic options when the idea that one or the other option is correct or preferred to the other. Usage changes and language changes over time.
An acceptable use policy (AUP; also sometimes acceptable usage policy or Fair Use Policy) is a set of rules applied by the owner/manager of a network, website or large computer system that restrict the ways in which the network site or system may be used.
CPU Usage
How does a name defining the use of something not appropriate for an Ark that enforces using policies and procedures developed by Funcom ?
The word Use is used 13 times in just the Ark policy.
29 times in the EULA ... 30 if you count the title of the agreement.
Is the usage of the word use in the ula considered inappropriate ?
I see no reason for My name being usage to violate any of the rules and regulations pertaining to the naming policy of Ark employees
I would think this name should further show my support of the rules and regulations and my agreement with them.
I would ask you to reconsider the name in this light, and if you still see that the word usage is inappropriate I will indeed change my name.
Though I would implore you to remove all forms of the word use from your website in the instance that it could be considered offensive in anyway.
Further more Anarchy may seem inappropriate for a T rated game, and invoke images of hate and disunity.
I see no reason one use of a word should bring the whole word into taboo.
Thank you for your time and effort in keeping the world of AO appropriate and comfortable for all people, as it is physically possible.
[My name was here] - Name Undefined
Lets see what they reply shall we ?
Greetings,
It has come to our attention that your chosen ARK name of Usage would be considered inappropriate for use in the Advisors of Rubi-Ka. This is based on the ARK Naming policy as stated in the email you received earlier as follows:
It must be no more than 12 characters long and not shorter than 4 characters. Do not put ARK, any numbers, or more than two words in the name, or use profanity. In addition to the previous rules, please make sure that your chosen ARK nickname is not close to or even resembles any of the names of your play characters or any of the nicknames you have used previously. Do not choose a name that a player would be uncomfortable with helping them. Examples would be: Virus, Hacker, Exterminator, Jerk, CruelArk, Exploiter, DontAskMe, etc. As a final note you will not be able to create any name that contains characters that are not within the English alphabet so using any symbols in the name will not only not be acceptable but would not be possible when naming the character.
At this time we would like you to take the following steps to correct this issue so that there are no complications with your inductions process that might cause delays for you in joining ARK:
1. If you have already created your name placeholder characters with this name, please delete them now and choose a new ARK name. Remember the name must be available on both dimensions in order for you to be able to use it and also on dim3 if you plan to work on the German speaking server. Please also refer to your original invitation email as the ARK naming guidelines are laid out there for your reference.
2. Once you have recreated the 2 placeholder characters (following the same steps as the first time) and you have passed the first test, you will will receive information from the Inductions Team on how to join the IRC channel. When you are able to access the channel, please register the name you chose using /msg nickserv register yourpasswordhere youremailaddresshere making sure you are logged in with the ARK name. You can check you are by typing /nick yourarkname here. Please remember the password you choose.
3. Having completed the above steps please email us at ark-induction@ark.anarchy-online.com with your original chosen ARK name and your NEW ARK name so that we may update our records to indicate that the change was made.
4. If you already have created a moodle account, please note that you will still use your original ark name as your Moodle login name in the future.
If you have any questions about this email please feel free to email us at ark-induction@ark.anarchy-online.com and we will do our best to respond to your concerns.
Regards,
[the Ark's Name was here]
Inductions Advisor
Academy Department
Advisors of Rubi-Ka
=============
=============\
=============/
============
and my reply
__________________________________________________________
I would like to know how usage violates the naming policy or how it would be deemed inappropriate, it is most likely one of the most appropriate names for an Ark employee
Usage
A style guide or style manual is a set of standards for design and writing of documents, either for general use or for a specific publication
the customary manner in which a language (or a form of a language) is spoken or written; "English usage"; "a usage borrowed from French"
The choice among grammatical, syntactic, or semantic options when the idea that one or the other option is correct or preferred to the other. Usage changes and language changes over time.
An acceptable use policy (AUP; also sometimes acceptable usage policy or Fair Use Policy) is a set of rules applied by the owner/manager of a network, website or large computer system that restrict the ways in which the network site or system may be used.
CPU Usage
How does a name defining the use of something not appropriate for an Ark that enforces using policies and procedures developed by Funcom ?
The word Use is used 13 times in just the Ark policy.
29 times in the EULA ... 30 if you count the title of the agreement.
Is the usage of the word use in the ula considered inappropriate ?
I see no reason for My name being usage to violate any of the rules and regulations pertaining to the naming policy of Ark employees
I would think this name should further show my support of the rules and regulations and my agreement with them.
I would ask you to reconsider the name in this light, and if you still see that the word usage is inappropriate I will indeed change my name.
Though I would implore you to remove all forms of the word use from your website in the instance that it could be considered offensive in anyway.
Further more Anarchy may seem inappropriate for a T rated game, and invoke images of hate and disunity.
I see no reason one use of a word should bring the whole word into taboo.
Thank you for your time and effort in keeping the world of AO appropriate and comfortable for all people, as it is physically possible.
[My name was here] - Name Undefined
Lets see what they reply shall we ?
Ark interview
Hello my faithful followers, I have been accepted to join the ranks of the Ark in AO, by the way no one is to ever read this... forget now... stop reading, its not official, I lied... shhhhhhhhhhhh ... leave now!
ok well on to the discussion I applied to Ark for the reason to get some hands on customer service and volunteer work in the game industry. I eventually would like to become a QA tester for a game design company, I like breaking games, It is what I do best. Im that Guy all the developers dread, the one that they say, who would ever think to do that ? Tis me /waves I find holds in finished games on the market that should have never gotten past development/testers. I enjoy testing the physics and strains that you can place on the engine before it breaks. I hopefully will become a bug hunter with Ark so I can get some real-world experience in testing a game for a company, such as, Funcom. It looks like I will enjoy this job with Ark, It is still not finalized but I am just waiting on being allowed to go to their adviser/greeter classes before I can be a full-fledged Ark. Right now Im at the Congratz! Stage.
So whatever devoting 10 hrs a week to Ark isnt that bad, I mean... its not like im doing much else anyway lol. Making you pick a name never used before by you was a hard one ... I always stumble on new names, I like sticking to the ones I have... but w/e.
The source makes room for the newest Ark, Usage.
ok well on to the discussion I applied to Ark for the reason to get some hands on customer service and volunteer work in the game industry. I eventually would like to become a QA tester for a game design company, I like breaking games, It is what I do best. Im that Guy all the developers dread, the one that they say, who would ever think to do that ? Tis me /waves I find holds in finished games on the market that should have never gotten past development/testers. I enjoy testing the physics and strains that you can place on the engine before it breaks. I hopefully will become a bug hunter with Ark so I can get some real-world experience in testing a game for a company, such as, Funcom. It looks like I will enjoy this job with Ark, It is still not finalized but I am just waiting on being allowed to go to their adviser/greeter classes before I can be a full-fledged Ark. Right now Im at the Congratz! Stage.
So whatever devoting 10 hrs a week to Ark isnt that bad, I mean... its not like im doing much else anyway lol. Making you pick a name never used before by you was a hard one ... I always stumble on new names, I like sticking to the ones I have... but w/e.
The source makes room for the newest Ark, Usage.
Monday, October 26, 2009
Insomniatic spree
So what would equate to the night between saturday and sunday was again a sleepless one. One thing about insomnia, when you look back and think what you did or for how long you really dont know... I can vaguely remember leveling my fixxer for what I remember must have been a long time. I remember logging on while it was saturday, and vaguely looking at the time at 7:30 the next day , that is pretty much all my memories. I more than doubled my level I can see that when I logged on her. From 7:30 till 2:30 I barely can recall anything. I remember something about forum trolling and DX or DM or something tussin , I have what is prob the flu , my lovely lover gave it to me, she is still coming over it. I however am falling head first into it. And I mush have hit my head on the way down my head is killing me. It is , or was my roomates bday on sunday, I have to use days of the week it all blurs. Tech it is monday now ... I got a few hrs of sleep mid day luckily, just enough to keep me up all night tonight. my feet are freezing and my legs are burning. I have to explain this one CTH (chuckles to himself) My laptop overheats when my room is > 69 degrees and if i play a gmae will shut down without warning, besides almost melting. sooooo I have my window open allowing 40 degree air to hit it. which swoops down across my feet , which already have horrible circulation. I have a electric heater between my legs to keep me and the desk area warm, but alas my feet are a casualty to keep my laptop cool. Im also always hungry but never satisfied. Yet full already. I get up go to make food listen to my tummy which tells me its full , but im starving. Its quite the conflict. So i get irritated and eat something feel over full yet like i could eat the rest of my fridge doors included. I find Drinking to be the thing that is much more beneficial, i don't have the too full / not thing going on. So I drink like a fish , I have a fridge devoted to sodas and juices and teas.
--- ok friends I cant take it im going to go grab some meds for my head , brb---
case and point ... when I got up to get meds I forgot about meds went straight to the fridge(glass front) and got my apple cider. Which is the best drink ever made. Then I asked myself what I was doing and my proverbial horse kicked me in the head. Then I weant and downed 1600mg of ibuprofen , that'll do it. hell maybe it will knock me out and I can get some rest. I believe If I do recall correctly there is something important I have to do tomorrow. I also have to get on writing a very long paper on creation mythology , and another on the global economic impact of Japans economy on the foreign Sector. Yay me. Maybe if I think about Macro economics more I will get some rest. ohhh it was 2:06 when I took my nap , I have a note I must have written before I slept, of the time I went to bed. Ohhh I also Have to Write a Java Program I cant remember to do what .... but that i also must do.
I ... Cnat cant , think at the moment... the pain in my head is just too real. It sounds like the ocean in my ears as my pulse swells in my ear canal. >.< ... holds head.
My glasses are so disgusting ... How do they get this dirty when I only sit in front of my monitor.?
like I cleaned them earlier 2 days ago ?
feels like today ?
idk
all days merge together when you don't sleep.
This seems like a good spot to stop
}
}
--- ok friends I cant take it im going to go grab some meds for my head , brb---
case and point ... when I got up to get meds I forgot about meds went straight to the fridge(glass front) and got my apple cider. Which is the best drink ever made. Then I asked myself what I was doing and my proverbial horse kicked me in the head. Then I weant and downed 1600mg of ibuprofen , that'll do it. hell maybe it will knock me out and I can get some rest. I believe If I do recall correctly there is something important I have to do tomorrow. I also have to get on writing a very long paper on creation mythology , and another on the global economic impact of Japans economy on the foreign Sector. Yay me. Maybe if I think about Macro economics more I will get some rest. ohhh it was 2:06 when I took my nap , I have a note I must have written before I slept, of the time I went to bed. Ohhh I also Have to Write a Java Program I cant remember to do what .... but that i also must do.
I ... Cnat cant , think at the moment... the pain in my head is just too real. It sounds like the ocean in my ears as my pulse swells in my ear canal. >.< ... holds head.
My glasses are so disgusting ... How do they get this dirty when I only sit in front of my monitor.?
like I cleaned them earlier 2 days ago ?
feels like today ?
idk
all days merge together when you don't sleep.
This seems like a good spot to stop
}
}
Sunday, October 25, 2009
The Black Widow Sata Dock
ok I know that many a people have reviewed this already, but I wanted something to write about as I wait for my character to be able to be logged back into AO. This nifty little sata docks allows both laptop and desktop HD's into it and the best part is that it is plug and play and hot swappable, meaning you don't have to shut it off to yank one HD out and put another in its place. This little piece of hard ware is the thing that every desk needs but the desk is unaware until it graces it with its presence. Even My Game magazine agrees with me there. (sorry don't have article link) I have a 500g hd in it atm and just backed up all my data before installing w7 on my laptop , just in-case i ever wanted to see the data again. =] It is also a very nice tool for mirroring hds. My ... I guess Father-in-law Is a teacher and uses one for is mirroring of all his computers hd's in his classroom. It is quick and efficient. Using a simple 2.0 usb cable to connect to the pc. It also looks very nice. I know ascetics arent everyone's main concern for hardware, but to be perfectly honest, I wont buy anything white for my desk... looks right at the white usb cable that he hates. Seriously Mac, Why did you have to be white ? Now all "popular" cables in stores are all white and stand out like a sore thumb. Sadly mr white extension usb cable was all i could find >.< at least for $1 , lol. Which brings me to my next point, Im cheap , Really really cheap. The Blacx just got a newer version released that has a hub or something and a snap over cover for your hd so it is just a tombstone on your desk... so the older simplistic version is much cheaper now. I picked up mine for < $40 from newegg , openbox offer. It is quite the nice addition to my desk =] ... stares at the white hd enclosure the 500g hd used to be in ... despite its color that was a nice enclosure, leather bound ... quite the nice , and it took a fatal shock from my pc and saved my hd by frying itself. Which is why I have my Blacx ^,.,^ ... RIP lil guy , You Shall Be Avenged!
Saturday, October 24, 2009
Percussive maintenance - Wiki
Percussive maintenance is also known as percussion therapy or a technical tap. It is a term used to describe the malediction of an ill-behaved device to make it work, that is to say, swear at it and hit it. The origins and practice of the term are unknown, although some suggest the act became commonplace with the introduction of vacuum tube electronics.
Modern applications
The technical tap still has applications today.
Transformers
Step-down transformers, especially domestic ones used in computer PSUs and televisions with speakers often develop a high-pitched whine over time from old or faulty capacitors. This can often sit on the borderline of human hearing and so can be difficult to detect or isolate for those not used to it.
If a step-down transformer develops a high-pitched whine, the annoying sound can be silenced by a sharp tap to the casing surrounding it, as close as possible to the faulty capacitor (if you can find it). To avoid damaging sensitive components, capacitors and diodes should never be directly asserted with percussive maintenance; a warning generally suffices. This is not a permanent solution and the sound will likely come back some time, possibly louder, but for many people it is often a practical method to restore silence.
Vehicles
The technical tap is also used by many automobile drivers to restore the function of misbehaving dashboard and console back lighting, it is easier and quicker than getting a soldering iron. Furthermore, in the current generation of after market head units, the detachable faceplates rely on gold plate contacts to bridge the connections. Gold is very soft, so this coating tends to wear off over time, especially if the faceplate is repeatedly removed and replaced. This can result in the faceplate sometimes losing connection and dimming, if not going outright dead. A light technical tap is often the best way to restore function to such a unit.
Another technical tap is used on a faulty starter motor to get it to turn over. If the solenoid sticks or the brushes are worn, they make intermittent contact, causing the starter not to function when the key is turned. Often this is done with one person turning the ignition key while another taps the starter motor.
Computers
Hard drives, especially portable ones, can become stuck from stiction between the heads and platters. A technical tap as the drive is trying to spin up can get them moving and working again, but one should immediately back it up as the procedure can cause a head crash later.
The motion detection sensors in a Nintendo Wii Remote can become stuck. Even customer support reportedly suggests a good technical tap when all else fails. Turn the remote button-side down in your palm, and tap it loudly, but not so hard as to damage it.
Lane's Principle
Lane's Principle is a scientific theorem which refers to the Technical Tap. The Principle states: "There is no problem which cannot be solved by suitable application of blunt force." The identity of the author is unknown, but the saying was included in the MIT SIPB "fortune" program, which dispensed tech-related quotes on demand as early as 1989.
It has yet to be discovered by science what is suitable.
Famous taps in history
* In a 1953 live television broadcast, at the coronation of Queen Elizabeth II, the cameraman inside Westminster Abbey was having trouble with getting his camera to work. With only seconds to spare until the transmission started, he angrily kicked the camera, switching it on and providing pictures of the coronation.
* In 1969 during the Apollo 12 mission, Pete Conrad was working on a piece of equipment called the ALSEP. He was trying to remove its power source from its case so that he could insert it into the device but was having difficulty. Alan Bean suggested he hit it with a hammer. Conrad resisted at first but eventually gave it a tap. It worked, leading Bean to quip, "Don't come to the moon without a hammer."
* In 1973 during the first Skylab mission, NASA wanted the astronauts to try reactivating a non-working module in the power system. The astronauts' instructions included the observation that "Pre-Flight history has indicated past relay hang-ups which have been freed by mechanically shocking the relay. Recommended procedure is to strike the CBRM housing at the point indicated below [on the accompanying schematic]. Tests indicate that you cannot hit the CBRM hard enough to damage it." The astronaut who performed the operation was well acquainted with the procedure—Pete Conrad.
* In December 2006, NASA astronauts Robert "Beamer" Curbeam and Sunita "Suni" Williams spent a generous amount of time shaking and pushing a stubborn solar panel into its case so they could move it to a different location on the International Space Station.
References
1. ^ GeekDad, Wired Blog Network, Crazy (real-life) Wii Remote tech-support call...
2. ^ - Apollo 12 Lunar Surface Journal : ALSEP Off-load : Corrected Transcript and Commentary
3. ^ SPACE.com - Solar Array Shake: Astronauts Rewire ISS, Fourth Spacewalk Set
Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Percussive_maintenance"
Categories: Error | Humor | Phonology
Modern applications
The technical tap still has applications today.
Transformers
Step-down transformers, especially domestic ones used in computer PSUs and televisions with speakers often develop a high-pitched whine over time from old or faulty capacitors. This can often sit on the borderline of human hearing and so can be difficult to detect or isolate for those not used to it.
If a step-down transformer develops a high-pitched whine, the annoying sound can be silenced by a sharp tap to the casing surrounding it, as close as possible to the faulty capacitor (if you can find it). To avoid damaging sensitive components, capacitors and diodes should never be directly asserted with percussive maintenance; a warning generally suffices. This is not a permanent solution and the sound will likely come back some time, possibly louder, but for many people it is often a practical method to restore silence.
Vehicles
The technical tap is also used by many automobile drivers to restore the function of misbehaving dashboard and console back lighting, it is easier and quicker than getting a soldering iron. Furthermore, in the current generation of after market head units, the detachable faceplates rely on gold plate contacts to bridge the connections. Gold is very soft, so this coating tends to wear off over time, especially if the faceplate is repeatedly removed and replaced. This can result in the faceplate sometimes losing connection and dimming, if not going outright dead. A light technical tap is often the best way to restore function to such a unit.
Another technical tap is used on a faulty starter motor to get it to turn over. If the solenoid sticks or the brushes are worn, they make intermittent contact, causing the starter not to function when the key is turned. Often this is done with one person turning the ignition key while another taps the starter motor.
Computers
Hard drives, especially portable ones, can become stuck from stiction between the heads and platters. A technical tap as the drive is trying to spin up can get them moving and working again, but one should immediately back it up as the procedure can cause a head crash later.
The motion detection sensors in a Nintendo Wii Remote can become stuck. Even customer support reportedly suggests a good technical tap when all else fails. Turn the remote button-side down in your palm, and tap it loudly, but not so hard as to damage it.
Lane's Principle
Lane's Principle is a scientific theorem which refers to the Technical Tap. The Principle states: "There is no problem which cannot be solved by suitable application of blunt force." The identity of the author is unknown, but the saying was included in the MIT SIPB "fortune" program, which dispensed tech-related quotes on demand as early as 1989.
It has yet to be discovered by science what is suitable.
Famous taps in history
* In a 1953 live television broadcast, at the coronation of Queen Elizabeth II, the cameraman inside Westminster Abbey was having trouble with getting his camera to work. With only seconds to spare until the transmission started, he angrily kicked the camera, switching it on and providing pictures of the coronation.
* In 1969 during the Apollo 12 mission, Pete Conrad was working on a piece of equipment called the ALSEP. He was trying to remove its power source from its case so that he could insert it into the device but was having difficulty. Alan Bean suggested he hit it with a hammer. Conrad resisted at first but eventually gave it a tap. It worked, leading Bean to quip, "Don't come to the moon without a hammer."
* In 1973 during the first Skylab mission, NASA wanted the astronauts to try reactivating a non-working module in the power system. The astronauts' instructions included the observation that "Pre-Flight history has indicated past relay hang-ups which have been freed by mechanically shocking the relay. Recommended procedure is to strike the CBRM housing at the point indicated below [on the accompanying schematic]. Tests indicate that you cannot hit the CBRM hard enough to damage it." The astronaut who performed the operation was well acquainted with the procedure—Pete Conrad.
* In December 2006, NASA astronauts Robert "Beamer" Curbeam and Sunita "Suni" Williams spent a generous amount of time shaking and pushing a stubborn solar panel into its case so they could move it to a different location on the International Space Station.
References
1. ^ GeekDad, Wired Blog Network, Crazy (real-life) Wii Remote tech-support call...
2. ^ - Apollo 12 Lunar Surface Journal : ALSEP Off-load : Corrected Transcript and Commentary
3. ^ SPACE.com - Solar Array Shake: Astronauts Rewire ISS, Fourth Spacewalk Set
Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Percussive_maintenance"
Categories: Error | Humor | Phonology
Movie Titles
Ok this is not about Technical Taps or any sort of pc review or help, this is me pointing out that movie producers are lazy and un-inventive.
Lets just list a few that just came out, shall me ? ...
Zombiland
Paranormal Activity
A Christmas Carol
Where the Wild Things Are (How??!?!?)
NINE
The Road
Amelia
and lets throw New Moon in there for a separate rant.
Like seriously just look at those titles! , how did they get past the editors?
Like wow a zombie movie... lets call that zombiland
could paranormal activity be about ghosts ?
A Christmas Carol (boring remake again)
Where the Wild Things Are ok you know what they are not so not imaginative I don't know how they turned a book less than 50 pages into a full length movie. But its still another book to movie.
NINE despite how interesting it looked, The flat name of NINE just seems so bland and boring doesn't it?
The Road - well wow rly ? ... seriously? , that's the name?
--- SPOILER --- I just herd from my bird that they are going to make a sequel called the Sidewalk , and possibly The Parking Garage!
Amelia , despite if the title makes sense a title of a name of the protagonist is just bland.
and on to the separate rant entirely New Moon. This movie is just to suck the money out of every 14 year old girls pocket and into some sparkling vampires hand. Like the book described skin looking of hardened diamonds. This does not equate in my mind to glitter shimmer of a refracting lighting effect. This brings to mind something almost transparent and almost blinding from the light being bounced off of em. Yes I have read the books. They were decent. The first and last books were the best. The middle ones you can skip the first half of the book, well you can skip the first half of every book. Seriously half this movie is going to be her in the fetal position crying. The other half a sickening love triangle forming. Ohhh and don't forget to kick the German Shepard on screen for the big fight scene! Sadly I will put myself through watching this movie. I Just have to, its like a front row seat to a train wreak, are you going to pass that up ? Of course not... well that is if you are as deranged as me ^,.,^
Lets just list a few that just came out, shall me ? ...
Zombiland
Paranormal Activity
A Christmas Carol
Where the Wild Things Are (How??!?!?)
NINE
The Road
Amelia
and lets throw New Moon in there for a separate rant.
Like seriously just look at those titles! , how did they get past the editors?
Like wow a zombie movie... lets call that zombiland
could paranormal activity be about ghosts ?
A Christmas Carol (boring remake again)
Where the Wild Things Are ok you know what they are not so not imaginative I don't know how they turned a book less than 50 pages into a full length movie. But its still another book to movie.
NINE despite how interesting it looked, The flat name of NINE just seems so bland and boring doesn't it?
The Road - well wow rly ? ... seriously? , that's the name?
--- SPOILER --- I just herd from my bird that they are going to make a sequel called the Sidewalk , and possibly The Parking Garage!
Amelia , despite if the title makes sense a title of a name of the protagonist is just bland.
and on to the separate rant entirely New Moon. This movie is just to suck the money out of every 14 year old girls pocket and into some sparkling vampires hand. Like the book described skin looking of hardened diamonds. This does not equate in my mind to glitter shimmer of a refracting lighting effect. This brings to mind something almost transparent and almost blinding from the light being bounced off of em. Yes I have read the books. They were decent. The first and last books were the best. The middle ones you can skip the first half of the book, well you can skip the first half of every book. Seriously half this movie is going to be her in the fetal position crying. The other half a sickening love triangle forming. Ohhh and don't forget to kick the German Shepard on screen for the big fight scene! Sadly I will put myself through watching this movie. I Just have to, its like a front row seat to a train wreak, are you going to pass that up ? Of course not... well that is if you are as deranged as me ^,.,^
Windows 7
Ok well here it goes for the first real blog post. Lets start it off with a bang and go right into Windows 7. First off it was released 22nd of October 2009. If you were a lucky soul who had a university email lying around then you got it for $30, if not then well I don't want to think about it. First off W7 promised a lot about there handy new Os, that was supposedly supposed to be a rewrite. First thing, this is no rewrite. This is what Winblows Vista should have been. W7 is the apology. The kind of apology a 3 year old is forced to do while they're looking at their feet. W7 is like service pack 3 for vista. It fixes a lot of the problems of vista and adds a few more. If the deity Xp and the leg dragging vista had a child W7 would be the little hunchback Hercules. Right off the bat W7 impresses you with its vague reminder of vistas little clock and sticky pad, along with the tel tale windows bar along the bottom. The difference is that w7 calls them Gadgets and allows you to drag them all over the place in a widget / Kubuntu (membrane? no ... morphing ?... no) manner , what ever I regress, in more way than one. The gadgets are just like widgets and are quite addicting, believe me , I can tell you how many clocks I have,plus I looked at every ...EVERY gadget on the site. I currently settled with a bar-code clock , and advanced cpu/ram monitor, wireless network monitor and a wired network monitor, a battery meter, and an advanced sound control unit. I still keep Task Manager up none the less. This is all on my 2nd monitor btw. I couldn't see anyone actually keeping all this on their primary,but im sure there are.
Now on to the Task bar / tray ... whatever you want to call it. at first I wasn't sure about it, but now after further inspection, I love it. The small icons are helpful and neat... along with the mouse over ability to swap between windows in the same program without actually minimizing anything. It is like an Alt + Tab for each program individually. Also it can display just what you are looking at and make the rest opaque. Only qualm I have is I liked the vista alt tab and mouse-over that showed the window in current mode, ie: video was running and mouse-over you could see a smaller version. In W7 On mouse-over it is a screen shot from the last time it was open. It saves system resources this way ... but it was one of the only convenient things about vista, though They make up for it with the elastic maximize of the mouse-over.
There is also a mouse-over / button to the far right of the tray that on mouse-over shows your desktop and on click minimizes open windows. The tray itself is fairly the same. The control panel is now permanently a mix between classic view and non classic annoyance. Im not sure if I like it yet.
I just installed, well i should say upgraded to it today. I was going to clean install but I was curious and impatient.
First thing about the negative side of W7 , compatibility, or lack there of. Luckily only 2 programs had to be reinstalled. My Hamachi needed an upgrade along with damien tools. The rest of the programs are still "Working"
Anarchy Online an 8 year old free MMO I play
(much more content then WoW) ... and im not dis-ing wow by any-means
<------ Lvl 80 Lock , Lvl 80 Priest --|
but AO had to be given exceptions through the firewall, thats normal, Then I had to find this wierd thing that looked like regedit meets an sql manager and add a gui to it, i dont know what it was but there were more exceptions in there as well that I had to enable. Then after that it was loading to a big black screen. It did not like duel monitors anymore for some reason. I had to surf through settings until i had the proper graphics card paired to the game. (W7 however loves twin monitors, much nicer setup. Yay!... still not great, but better.) Ok also Cod4 now freaks out and dose not stretch games resolution to full screen anymore. In fact no game does anymore, which is aggravating when your laptop is meant to handle 1280 by 800 and your monitor is 1900 by 1200. It works fine if you play it at
< 19x12 but alas now you cant. Unless you want a black border around your game. Tis annoying. Also The resource allocation is not impressing me. It was supposed to be amazingly more efficient. I am idling at something like 5% less cpu and ram, thats nothing , I was expecting to having my idle cut almost by half, even 25% would have been a great. Sadly not though. The tray icons also freak out alot, I have been told since i booted that im not connected to a network but im on the internet... and a network for that matter. Also It constantly tells me to activate AVG but it never activates it wen i tell it to, or rather tell windows to tell it. Aside from that I would have to say it is semi stable and I cant wait for the next patch to fix the small bugs.
All in all good buy if you are can get it for the $30 - $50 from using a school account, or if you get a free upgrade. It is saying something when a Beta and first release of an OS is better than a previous on Service pack 2.
It is saying...
"This is what vista should have been, and we are sorry so we tried this time"
Windows 7 is worth it, just wait till the next patch and the slight annoyances will cease to exist.
:)>-
Now on to the Task bar / tray ... whatever you want to call it. at first I wasn't sure about it, but now after further inspection, I love it. The small icons are helpful and neat... along with the mouse over ability to swap between windows in the same program without actually minimizing anything. It is like an Alt + Tab for each program individually. Also it can display just what you are looking at and make the rest opaque. Only qualm I have is I liked the vista alt tab and mouse-over that showed the window in current mode, ie: video was running and mouse-over you could see a smaller version. In W7 On mouse-over it is a screen shot from the last time it was open. It saves system resources this way ... but it was one of the only convenient things about vista, though They make up for it with the elastic maximize of the mouse-over.
There is also a mouse-over / button to the far right of the tray that on mouse-over shows your desktop and on click minimizes open windows. The tray itself is fairly the same. The control panel is now permanently a mix between classic view and non classic annoyance. Im not sure if I like it yet.
I just installed, well i should say upgraded to it today. I was going to clean install but I was curious and impatient.
First thing about the negative side of W7 , compatibility, or lack there of. Luckily only 2 programs had to be reinstalled. My Hamachi needed an upgrade along with damien tools. The rest of the programs are still "Working"
Anarchy Online an 8 year old free MMO I play
(much more content then WoW) ... and im not dis-ing wow by any-means
<------ Lvl 80 Lock , Lvl 80 Priest --|
but AO had to be given exceptions through the firewall, thats normal, Then I had to find this wierd thing that looked like regedit meets an sql manager and add a gui to it, i dont know what it was but there were more exceptions in there as well that I had to enable. Then after that it was loading to a big black screen. It did not like duel monitors anymore for some reason. I had to surf through settings until i had the proper graphics card paired to the game. (W7 however loves twin monitors, much nicer setup. Yay!... still not great, but better.) Ok also Cod4 now freaks out and dose not stretch games resolution to full screen anymore. In fact no game does anymore, which is aggravating when your laptop is meant to handle 1280 by 800 and your monitor is 1900 by 1200. It works fine if you play it at
< 19x12 but alas now you cant. Unless you want a black border around your game. Tis annoying. Also The resource allocation is not impressing me. It was supposed to be amazingly more efficient. I am idling at something like 5% less cpu and ram, thats nothing , I was expecting to having my idle cut almost by half, even 25% would have been a great. Sadly not though. The tray icons also freak out alot, I have been told since i booted that im not connected to a network but im on the internet... and a network for that matter. Also It constantly tells me to activate AVG but it never activates it wen i tell it to, or rather tell windows to tell it. Aside from that I would have to say it is semi stable and I cant wait for the next patch to fix the small bugs.
All in all good buy if you are can get it for the $30 - $50 from using a school account, or if you get a free upgrade. It is saying something when a Beta and first release of an OS is better than a previous on Service pack 2.
It is saying...
"This is what vista should have been, and we are sorry so we tried this time"
Windows 7 is worth it, just wait till the next patch and the slight annoyances will cease to exist.
:)>-
The Technical Tap : Intro
Hello Anon,
I have stripped of my mask and I am presenting you with my name.
I am LordStrix and you my friend have stumbled upon my blog.
This Blog is devoted for several equally important reasons.
First of which being my love for writing, now im not one of those mac wielding blogging twitter spewing attention mongers that just love to pretend to love to do things. I truly Love to write and I Have a wide variety of things I like to write about. Some of which being of the technical aspect of the internet. I will review many a products put up how 2's on things I have knowledge in. Im an IT and a published poet , don't let that fool you, Im not going to try to get you to hug all the trees in the forests. I have lived and traveled across the country and enjoy talking about it. The second reason I am writing a blog is im a partial insomniac and tend to stay up all night on any occasions, all weekends of course. So you see this gives me an extra 8 hrs + that most individuals dont have, allowing me to type my mind to the net in a way to bot express myself and give myself something to do. Besides Playing games nonstop the entire time that is, which there is nothing wrong with =p . In my bouts of insomnia it seems though that my mind is permanently in the philosophical mode, which allows for normally better writing. Of course, I lie, my mind is probably equally in the sleep deprived insanity state, which proves for funny works to be produced from my keyboard to yours. Though I dont know why it is going to your keyboard... maybe you have a g15 ? g17 ? =p ... I much prefer my Belkin N52te , despite the fact that the previous model had better software for macros and such, I much prefer the Teflon feel of my black beast. ^,.,^
On to the most important of reasons, The Readers! ... chuckles to himself a little or CTHAL , im sure it will catch on... sadly im not writing for you guys just yet, possibly because you don't exist. (Stopping himself from going into a metaphysical debate on existence) Ill leave that for a later post. My main reason sadly is a monetary one. I wish to make a few bucks of advertisements that will spam my page when you are trying to read. Im sure you don't mind your writer being able to afford some ramen for his efforts ?
Well I think this is a long enough intro for myself.
Btw I live in New York , Capital District.
I have stripped of my mask and I am presenting you with my name.
I am LordStrix and you my friend have stumbled upon my blog.
This Blog is devoted for several equally important reasons.
First of which being my love for writing, now im not one of those mac wielding blogging twitter spewing attention mongers that just love to pretend to love to do things. I truly Love to write and I Have a wide variety of things I like to write about. Some of which being of the technical aspect of the internet. I will review many a products put up how 2's on things I have knowledge in. Im an IT and a published poet , don't let that fool you, Im not going to try to get you to hug all the trees in the forests. I have lived and traveled across the country and enjoy talking about it. The second reason I am writing a blog is im a partial insomniac and tend to stay up all night on any occasions, all weekends of course. So you see this gives me an extra 8 hrs + that most individuals dont have, allowing me to type my mind to the net in a way to bot express myself and give myself something to do. Besides Playing games nonstop the entire time that is, which there is nothing wrong with =p . In my bouts of insomnia it seems though that my mind is permanently in the philosophical mode, which allows for normally better writing. Of course, I lie, my mind is probably equally in the sleep deprived insanity state, which proves for funny works to be produced from my keyboard to yours. Though I dont know why it is going to your keyboard... maybe you have a g15 ? g17 ? =p ... I much prefer my Belkin N52te , despite the fact that the previous model had better software for macros and such, I much prefer the Teflon feel of my black beast. ^,.,^
On to the most important of reasons, The Readers! ... chuckles to himself a little or CTHAL , im sure it will catch on... sadly im not writing for you guys just yet, possibly because you don't exist. (Stopping himself from going into a metaphysical debate on existence) Ill leave that for a later post. My main reason sadly is a monetary one. I wish to make a few bucks of advertisements that will spam my page when you are trying to read. Im sure you don't mind your writer being able to afford some ramen for his efforts ?
Well I think this is a long enough intro for myself.
Btw I live in New York , Capital District.
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