In other news, the UP is doing just fine.

ABC Photoshop Tech 1: "Hey, Bob, what's that funny thing right above Wisconsin?"
ABC Photoshop Tech 2: "I dunno."
ABC Photoshop Tech 1: "Is it a part of Wisconsin? If so, I should color it in."
ABC Photoshop Tech 2: "Nah, it's probably a lake or something."
ABC Photoshop Tech 1: "Wait, I think it's a part of Michigan."
ABC Photoshop Tech 2: "Ha, right. It's not even connected. Just leave it gray."
ABC Photoshop Tech 1: "Okay. TO PRINT!"

Source: ABC News via Nancy.

Why Ultra 10s Suck More

Here's a blast from the past: A rant from 2000 on crappy old Sun workstations.

Yep, you can tell I've worked on one too many Ultra 10s in the past few years.

Why PCs Suck	Why Ultra 10s Suck More
one-piece sheet metal cover that is difficult to work with	one-piece sheet metal cover that is difficult to work with and is also installed upside-down
IDE	IDE with no DMA
PCI slots that don't line up	PCI slots that don't line up on an upside-down riser, working against gravity
unreliable floppy drive	unreliable floppy drive with the activity LED covered
low-quality cooling fan	low-quality cooling fan with proprietary connector that can only be purchased as a part of a larger assembly
PC RAM sucks	Ultra 10 RAM sucks, but costs more

Lest we look back and remember Sun workstations fondly...

In other news

(Brr, it's cold out today. At 8:00, the National Weather Service said it was -16° F in Calumet.)

Here in Houghton and Keweenaw counties, we have approximately two official local news sources. One is the Daily Mining Gazette. They're typically pretty slow, and their choices in which stories do and don't get printed are traditionally pretty bizarre.

The other one is WLUC TV6. They're a TV station, not a newspaper, and you can tell. News is published quickly on their website, which is welcome, but sometimes their haste is obvious. It's mostly forgiveable, though, since most of us are grateful for an alternative to the DMG.

James pointed out a good example of this today. An article about a snow plow collision on US-41 had all of the relevant information, but was a little choppy. The best part, however, was the first comment left on the story, which I thought was a good mix of good-natured ribbing and relevance to the story. The good-natured ribbing part must've caught the eye of someone at WLUC, though, since they quickly reformatted the story.

Have you winterized your turn signals?

Now that winter's here, you've probably already done the usual pre-winter auto maintenance. You've checked your battery, installed snow tires, and gotten that oil change out of the way. But have you winterized your turn signals?

In this season of cold temperature, decreased visibility, and increased stopping distances, it's critically important that you not use your turn signals at all. In winter conditions, use of your signals could result in electrical malfunction, loss of control, or the little green car behind you knowing which direction you're turning. Therefore, the best thing you can do to keep your turn signal circuitry in operating condition is to disable them completely during winter months.

Some vehicles, such as BMWs and Buick Enclaves, come from the factory with their turn signals disabled. If you're not sure whether your vehicle's signals have already been disabled, because you've never tried them, check in your owner's manual or with your local dealer. Dealer service centers are specially trained to be familiar with the obscure and typically unused systems of your car, such as your turn signals.

Just remember: For winter safety advocate, remember not to indicate!

It was funnier when it wasn't true

Rumors are flying that DCS wants to outsource email. Back in 2000, they outsourced our local Usenet groups, which was less than successful. James reminded me of my shenanigans back then:

Date: Wed, 06 Sep 2000 10:23:08 -0400
To: "Myles, Joshua A." <jamyles@mtu.edu>
From: Ann West <awest@mtu.edu>
Subject: Your e-mail service post
Cc: cjmacdon@mtu.edu

Mr. Myles,

It has come to my attention that you posted the following 
notice on mtu.announce regarding the outsourcing of
e-mail.

Joshua Myles wrote:
>
> Starting September 11, MTU's email system will undergo 
> changes intended to reduce the load on MTU's local mail 
> server. After September 11, all MTU mail will be handled
> by Hotmail, part of the Microsoft Network.
> 
> Since a very small amount of students actually use MTU's 
> email system, it was determined that email could be more
> efficiently handled by a commercial provider.
>                                                                    
> Any users who wish to continue receiving MTU email must
> register at http://www.hotmail.com/. Many desirable 
> usernames are available, such as
> fastredcar53982@hotmail.com.                                               
>                                                                
> This change in service is likely to cause a massive
> slowdown in service, and occasional service failures.
> MTU is not responsible for these service issues, and all
> technical problems should be directed to
> support@hotmail.com.
> 
> Thank you for your support.

While we all appreciate a bit of satire, do not post 
service-spoofing messages in mtu.announce. A number of 
readers mistook your note for an official announcement of
IT. This creates additional work on our part to address
rumors resulting from the satirical posting. Let me know
if you have questions or would like to discuss this
further.

Ann West

A letter from the past

English (or "communications") classes at MTU were pretty tame. For most people, they were a joke.

I've been sorting through old paperwork, and came across a letter I wrote for a class assignment in 1999. Thankfully, the instructor had a sense of humor.

Emotional Intelligence Quotient

Carrie asked me to take this quiz.I got 50% "correct". Bah.

11. Situation: You do poorly on a web quiz.

Your Response:

[ ] You actually read the bit at the end about how to improve yourself.
[ ] You forward the link to 12 other people to avoid the curse.
[ ] You spend the rest of the night taking web quizzes.
[x] You assume that the quiz is fatally flawed, and make fun of it.

Please refrain from blissful ignorance

We drove past the Minneapolis airport yesterday, and saw a digital sign:

THREAT LEVEL
ORANGE

We immediately assumed a state of medium to medium-high vague, general uneasiness. It's always better to proactively be in a state of mild panic. It's for our own good.

Isn't that...

Josh Stone's brother, David, came up with an entertaining word game for two or more people. It goes something like this:

Bob:	...Yeah, maraschino. No, wait a second. Doesn't that have something to do with masculinity?
Fred:	No, you're thinking of machismo.
Bob:	Oh, right.
Fred:	On second thought, isn't that a town in Tennessee?
Bob:	Hmm. No, that's Murfreesboro.
Fred:	Ah, yes.
Bob:	Though I might be wrong. I thought that was the law that states that anything that can possibly go wrong will go wrong.
Fred:	Nope, that's Murphy's Law.
Bob:	Oh, yes, that's it.
Fred:	But now that I think about it, isn't that..