><(({°>

employ.9

2010-07-29T11:02:00.002-04:00

despite that i'm no longer at my old job, i still offered to help them out with basic questions and issues. sometimes i question my sanity in that decision. keep in mind while reading this, the scientists know how to backup their data, and they do it on their own with no issues:

From: MANAGER
Sent: Tuesday, July 27, 2010 3:59 PM
To: Peter
Subject: Re: server logs

HI Pete:

I have to help SCIENTIST backup her data on the file server.
What is the login info and is there a particular machine I need to use?

MANAGER

----------------------------------------------------------------------------

At 12:12 PM 7/28/2010, Peter wrote:

SCIENTIST already has a backup on the lab's fileshare which it looks like she's used back in April last.

\\SERVER\FILESHARE
username : password

----------------------------------------------------------------------------

HI Pete:

She just told me that she logs into the file server and backs up that way without having to go to the file server machine.
Is that correct?

Also, I accidentally clicked many buttons and restarted the file server machine as once I logged in, I didn't know how to log out.
Is this going to mess anything up?

MANAGER

the funny thing is that this is a CentOS (Linux) server with no GUI, so physically at the machine is just a console. when she said she 'clicked many buttons', turns out by looking at the server logs she meant the power button, reset button, etc...which i am pretty sure was locked up by the case when i left.

employ.8

2010-05-13T09:16:00.001-04:00

While my manager is out on vacation, I was asked to take a look at her wireless keyboard which had stopped working. for those of you in tech, or who have a basic knowledge of this stuff know that it's going to be either batteries or just a lost connection that's to blame.

enjoy:

Hi Manager,

I couldn't find the Bluetooth adapter that your keyboard uses, so I put in another one from my office, and the keyboard works fine. Did you remove this or misplace it by any chance?

Pete:

the adapter is not bluetooth...it's the thing hanging in the back of my hard drive.
is that adapter no longer working?

manager

I didn't find any adapters hanging from the back of the computer, but I'll take another look tomorrow...if it's not Bluetooth, I'm not sure what else it is!

-Pete

Definitely not bluetooth...it's a usb adapter...

manager

Bluetooth is the wireless technology used to connect, USB is the physical form factor of the adapter.

-Pete

So does this mean my keyboard was bluetooth or usb adapter?

Not sure how this email applies to me?

manager

i ended up just going to her office once she got in and giving her a mini-presentation on the differences between physical connectors and radio signals.

employ.7

2010-04-29T10:08:00.004-04:00

I received this e-mail from one of the lab workers the other day. It's a forward from our director:

-----Original Forwarded Message-----
From: X
Sent: Tuesday, April 13, 2010 9:54 AM
To: me
Subject: Projector

X, could you look into ordering this projector.
Best
Director

Sent from my BlackBerry wireless handheld.

------------------------------------------------------------------------
*From: * some other guy
*Date: *Sat, 10 Apr 2010 15:36:24 -0400
*To: * Director
*Subject: *projector
Hi L, here's the projector we have (~$500 on Amazon):

---link to a projector on Amazon---

So I went ahead to get the OK from my manager to buy it and noted that it was strange that one of the lab workers was ordering IT equipment as it usually goes through me...as per my job description, nonetheless. My manager was confused as expected and questioned the purchase and how it came to be. here's the director's response:

I asked for comparisons to other projectors. What was the outcome, and why?
Director

Here's my response, professional as always :)

Hi Director,
I received the message forwarded from X where you asked her to look into ordering the projector linked below. I verified with Manager as I do with any major purchase and she wanted me to verify which account it should come out of. Also, will this be to replace the one in the conference room? Thanks, sorry for the confusion.

Here is her (always) unprofessional reply:

My request was not to just go ahead and purchase this one, but to do some due diligence to make sure we are getting the best value. X and Peter, please could you do this. I think that this was clear from my last email, but perhaps not.
Director

...and my reply:

I understand now. I'll look into a new projector for the conference room. I think the 'ordering' part threw me off a bit.
-Pete

...and the cherry on top:

I am not sure why X would ask you to order it....that's not really your job!
Best
director

...and I'll finish with an excerpt from my job description:

Systems Administrator, ... to provide support, maintenance and general administrative services...This will include...ordering and configuring PCs and Printers, managing equipment property...

ok, a projector is not technically a PC or Printer, but since I'm also troubleshooting laboratory equipment, I think it's fair to say that it is my job to research and order them.

employ.6

2010-04-16T16:03:00.003-04:00

my manager had asked me how many PC or Mac licenses of Acrobat 9 Professional we should order:

I think if we get one license that should be good as you're the only one requesting it right now. If we need more, we can always order them.

her reply:

is that one for windows and 1 for mac?

my reply:

Your computer is running Windows XP, so I would get the Windows version.

her:

but what about my mac laptop which also has this problem...

me:

You will need to order separate licenses for each computer – is that your question?

her:

So if I order 1 windows and 1 mac, then we should be all set, right?

me:

If you have 1 Windows computer, and 1 Mac, then order 1 Windows license and 1 Mac license.

I'm not sure I can reply to any more questions without being inherently insulting due to the most basic logic that this problem follows...

employ.5

2010-04-07T10:43:00.005-04:00

boss: i'm having problems with the e-mail list website. i'm getting that error

me: which error?

b: this one.

m: let me see...oh, yeah, (404 - not found) I was getting that too. start at the main site, and navigate through so you authenticate with your certificate again, then save the bookmark again and it'll work.

b: huh?

m: i can do it for you. [click click save] there you go, all better.

b: no, but i'm still getting the error...

m: where? the page is up...right here...[point to screen]

b: no, i'm still getting the error, see? [points to address bar, 'http://webmoira.mit.edu:444'] see? that 4 something error.

m: *facepalm*

IE8 gmail login loop

2010-02-09T15:02:00.000-05:00

In case anybody else has this - date and time were set properly, works fine in firefox, tried disabling the toolbar, sidebar, pretty much any good addon from IE8, also disabled all the google labs stuff through firefox.

unchecking "Protected Mode" under Security settings in IE fixed it. Setting them back doesn't seem to have any negative effect. Hope this helps.

interesting e-mail...

2009-12-02T13:56:00.002-05:00

I just recieved the following e-mail at my work:

From: affectionate@guberti.it
Subject: Send emails directly to dentists

Dear Orlando

RE: Your request for information about our contact lists

The following are a few of the popular lists we have for the USA:

Physicians (34 specialties) - 788k records, 17k emails, 200k fax numbers
Chiropractors - 108,421 total records * 3,414 emails * 6,553 fax numbers
Alternative Medicine - 1,141,602 total records with 36,320 emails and 38.935 fax numbers
Dentists - 164k records, 45k emails, 77k fax numbers
Veterinarians - 78,986 total records with 1,438 emails and 1,050 fax numbers
Hospitals - 23,747 Hospital Administrators in over 7,145 Hospitals (full contact info no emails)
National Health Service Corp Clinics - 1,300 total records with emails for government run free clinics
Nursing Homes - 31,589 Senior Administrators, 11,288 Nursing Directors in over 14,706 Nursing Homes (full contact info no emails)
Pharmaceutical Companies - Email only list 47,000 emails of pharma company employees
Physical Therapists - 125,460 total records with 5,483 emails and 4,405 fax numbers
Acupuncturists - 23,988 records 1,826 emails
Hotels - 34,815 total records * 1,642 emails
Criminal Attorneys - 142,906 total records, 99,857 emails
Real Estate Agents - 1 million records with emails
Massage Therapists - 76,701 records and 8,305 emails
Medical Equipment Suppliers - 167,425 total records with 6,940 emails and 5,812 fax numbers
Mental Health Counselors - 283,184 records 7,206 emails
Visiting Nurses & RN's - 91,386 total records with 2,788 emails and 2,390 fax numbers
Optometrists - 63,837 records 2,015 emails
Psychologists - 63,837 records 2,015 emails
Police and Sheriff Services - 42,987 records and 114 emails
American Business Email List - 2 million emails various businesses

Some of these are very detailed lists with many different fields. Anyway, if you will be ordering this week I can do this pricing:

Any 3 lists : $299
Any 4 lists: $349
Any 5 lists: $425

Let me know if you're interested an I will send additional information and samples. Please reply at my other email address instead: rch2870@furtherquicker.info
Don't forget to include this email in your reply so that I will know about the discounted pricing.

Best Regards,

Chauncey Cramer

PS: If you preferred not to receive my emails you can take action by simply sending an email to this address: rembox@furtherquicker.info

spam on, you crazy diamond.

employ.4

2009-11-10T11:06:00.003-05:00

phone rings - boss on the other end;

b: hey, that DVD...CD you just burnt for me? how do i change the name of it?
m: what do you mean? the filenames on the disc? I closed the disc after burning it.
b: no, the name of the whole disc. it's like blank volume or something.
m: the quickest way would just be to write a whole new disc, and just set the volume name this time around.
b: that might take a while. when i give it to steve, i just don't want him to think it's a blank disc.
m: do you have a sharpie? because you could just write the title on the disc itself.
b: oh yeah...i guess i'll try that.

digital decay..."web-rot"

2009-09-15T14:17:00.002-04:00

about 13 years ago or so i decided to start my first website. at the time, geocities was all the rage, and offered free web hosting. the site still stands after all these years here. what i'm finding happening though is that every few years a linked picture disappears, and sometimes others come back. tables and whatnot don't look the same (maybe a result of different browser / versions - i haven't really looked into it, nor do i care to) and it got me thinking that these old abandoned websites are going through a sort of digital rot. they're discernible, but time has altered them. i'm having a hard time finding any other information on abandoned websites, as it seems mostly security related these days, and not related to the subject of one post blogs which say things like 'I'll try to update this blog as often as i can.' I seem to remember seeing a site about 10 years ago that was about abandoned websites...wish I could find that again.

2009-09-14T10:09:00.004-04:00

in browsing around for nutrition facts on ramen noodles (i'm a soon to be aficionado) i came across this ad:

my money's on the watered down soy sauce with ice, because that glass of lard on the rocks can't be good for you.

why i'm spending all this money in the air

2009-09-10T10:22:00.003-04:00

after all the comments regarding this post, the author decided to write this one. below is my comment on it - putting it up here for prosperity, and because i'm still trying to find the best way to describe why i'm doing this.

Thanks for this post, Sam. Fortunately I'm already doing most, if not all, of what you suggest. ever since i was old enough to read I sponged up anything aviation related. As for goals, mine is simple - fly without having to pay for it and if possible, have flying be my major source of income. whether that's as FO on an RJ, dropping meat bombs on the weekend, or pulling ads through the sky, it is what it is. my love for flying goes well beyond money, and as far as a comfortable lifestyle...let's just say i don't go to bed at night with a smile on my face because I had a really productive day in the cubicle / computer lab / what-have-you, it's usually because i learned something new with my cfi, or demonstrated something in the air that i've only read about in the text books. when I fly I still get the same feeling everytime - *everytime* - that this is the best thing ever, and this is after 12 years of being a professional student. the mix of physics, radios, structure, adventure, whim, and serenity of being up there will never get old. it might get clouded by company politics, low pay, and god forbid, other's cynicism, but it will always be there to find again. call that sentiment naive, but the grass is always greener. luckily i have a fallback career...but frankly, i'm sick of doing it!

becoming a private pilot made me a better person. it effected everything i do, adding structure, analytical thinking and a calm under pressure - things i don't think i'd ever have uncovered in myself. so that, mixed with what i wrote above, tells me there's nothing else i should be doing except to continue...IR, CPL, CFI, MEI...and on and on.

oh, and I guess ATP now as well :P

a great weekend

2009-08-09T21:24:00.000-04:00

early saturday morning - 8am - i departed in N3572M, type PA28-161, from KBED and tuned in the concord vor, setting my heading to match it's 359 course. half way to manchester, boston approach verifies that i'm direct to lebanon. "via concord" i reply, "...but i'll take it directly there at this point." as i glanced at my watch, the thought of my mother waiting in that terminal in lebanon, wondering why her newly minted private pilot son is 15 minutes late. "roger" back from approach. i can pick up the lebanon vor at this point, so it's direct there, with route 89 in sight, following me along on the right - a nice would-be curvy emergency runway, should i need it. my co-pilot is claire, she's probably logged about 20 hours passenger time at this point. she's good at finding us on the map, great at spotting gliders and other intruders, and is a fantastic companion to have up in the air. about 10 miles out and 5 minutes late already, i ask lebanon tower to call the fbo and tell them i'm 15 minutes out...my mother doesn't need more to worry about. the very chipper controller gladly agrees and i wonder if everyone is like this at this hour of saturday morning...should i start drinking less on fridays?

my mother is elated. it's her first time up with me, and i can only wonder at what it's like to have the toddler who once flew little metal jets around the living room now be piloting a full size airplane with her in it. she's amazed that i instruct her to keep the warrior's only door open until we are ready to lift off. it's hot out, and once the door closes, the tempurature rises sharply in the little greenhouse cockpit. runway 18 is long at KLEB, but one notch of flaps, just to be on the safe side, as the sun is now fully risen and the days heat is upon new england. as we are about 300 feet above the ground, my mother is glued to the window. claire casually explains where the air vents are. i'm trying to ignore that i have the two most important women in my life at the mercy of my flying skill, and doing my best to excersize that skill. i always hate climbout with rising terrain - this departure is one, not as bad as 14 at fitchburg, but close. the warrior lumbers up to 5500, and we are playing with the clouds. along the way i'm pointing out various towns and landmarks, and over KMHT an ERJ-135, the same as my childhood friend flies, passes 300 feet under us "...traffic in sight," the weary and underpaid FO says concerning us over the radio. at KBED i do a touch and go, and a landing, the 3rd of 3 great landings. it's only 11am.

we met up with dad, headed to the country club in new bedford where my sister in law's baby shower was being held. on the way i finished my logbook entry, made a new page, and realized that my total time had passed 150 hours somewhere over new hampshire. dad and i were tipsy by 2pm, and jon drove us to eat downtown. after that, we headed over to someone's friend's house and had a few more. by midnight, i had been home, eaten, sobered up and was back out with claire at the lodge, barely able to stand being so tired after such a long day. i had a couple greyhounds and headed to bed.

employ.3

2009-07-23T09:27:00.004-04:00

boss: hey, can you find out what mailbox server j is on?
me: sure, what's up?
b: well, some people are on 10, others on 12, they're, some on 8, you know, its all done alphabetically.

I should pause here and note that it is not alphabetical (can you imagine the data shuffling that would have to happen everytime someone was hired / fired?) Yet, she's convinced in her mind that this is the way. this is very typical of her. i was only few weeks in at the time, so i shut up about that...

m: yeah, i'm on 10, right...
b: well, 9 and 10 are down right now so some people aren't getting mail.
m: right...
b: but j says she's on 12 and she's getting mail.
m: that's because 12's not down.
b: but j's last name begins with c, so she should be on 10.
m: but she's getting mail, and she knows she's on 12, and 12 is up.
b: well i think she's supposed to be on 10.
m: um...ok...
b: it's no big rush, but can you just let me know which server she's on?
m: ....

another scammer to play with

2009-07-07T12:12:00.001-04:00

from them:

I am Barrister Grey Williams. I have been waiting for you to contact me for your conformable Bank Draft of $780.000.00 United States Dollars. Contact me for more details. Contact E-mail:bargreywilliams@gmail.com

reply from me:

you've been waiting? I'm not sure why, I haven't been told to contact you...at least not that I know of. I apologize because I suffer from acute and sporadic synaptical homo-amnesiatic terror syndrome, or A.S.S.H.A.T. syndrome as it's call here in the great Godly and Righteous country of America. The disease is horrible and causes huge lapses in memory. Just the other day I forgot the face of my own child!

What do you want first, my bank account number, or my social security number? I apologize as I have neither, because I am not a citizen and I don't have a bank account, just lots of cash lying around. so let me know what else I can give you to help out with this conformable transfer of funds.

thank you, and may God never strike you with ASSHAT syndrome as he has with me.

-Lawrence

scammer!

2009-04-21T14:40:00.002-04:00

lucky me - i get my very own scammer to play with. here is the correspondence so far - hopefully he writes back:

On Tue, Apr 21, 2009 at 10:48 AM, frank rebery wrote:

Thanks so much for the update.The price is not the problem but i think i have to be very careful this time when am transacting on the internet. I had fallen into the hands of some fradulent seller that,collected my money and ver ships out my item. I hope i can trust you? Anyway, i intend to make fast payment as soon as i can before i travel to Bahamas in 2 weeks time. I will making my payment through US Certified check and i will wait till you receive and cash it before i arrange for the shipping.

Shipping will be solely funded by me without you paying a dime, if you are okay with this, let me have your full name and address plus your reachable telephone number as it will be written on the check so that,i can forward it to my finance house to prepare your check immediately for you to receive it on time. Do get back to me

On Tue, Apr 21, 2009 at 6:34 PM, Pete Kemble wrote:

Wow! this almost sounds too good to be true! you'll pay shipping?! that's great.

Something has come up, though. another suitor for my guitar has written and is interested in buying the guitar. However, he is not going to pay shipping, but is going to pick up the guitar as the ad said, since he lives close by. fortunately though, frank rebery, not all hope is lost. he has graciously agreed to have a contest with you so that i may judge who is most worthy of purchasing the guitar from me. He is currently preparing a video of himself playing the guitar, just a brief few minutes, and wishes you to do the same so that i can judge who deserves the guitar more. please let me know which song you will be performing in the video, and get it to me as soon as possible as you only have two weeks before moving to the bahamas where there is no mail to ship things. thank you, and god bless.

-p

On Tue, Apr 21, 2009 at 2:04 PM, frank rebery wrote:

hello are you selling this to me or not..

On Tue, Apr 21, 2009 at 2:34 PM, Pete Kemble wrote:

I hope so! you offered free (paid for shipping) which I cannot turn down! Are you going to send me a video of you playing guitar so I can decide who gets it or not?

console username and password

2009-02-26T15:48:00.001-05:00

forgive me for using vb.net, but here's a quick and dirty way to get a nice login with password masking (the latter being the point of this post)

Sub Main()

Dim strU As String
Dim strP As String
Console.Write("Username: ")
strU = Console.ReadLine()
Console.Write("Password: ")
Dim strPkey As ConsoleKeyInfo
Do
strPkey = Console.ReadKey(True)
If strPkey.Key <> ConsoleKey.Enter Then
strP = strP & strPkey.KeyChar.ToString
Console.Write("*")
Else
Exit Do
End If
Loop

End Sub

unconditional love for the G1

2009-01-16T21:36:00.002-05:00

verizon's not happy with me, but that's fine. while they were reliable and low maintenance, they were also pretty vapid and flashy. too much makeup, and not enough substance, if you will. i'm speaking about my now dormant samsung u740. at first i was seduced by it's confusing keypad and ability to go both ways. in fact, the keypad alone brought back fond memories of the motorola timeport i had in the earlier part of this decade. (i still say that screen is the best to date for a lowend clamshell.) it also got me out of a long term contracted commitment with sprint, the crazy company that sends you feces in the mail, surprises you one day by doing all your laundry and then sleeps with your friend because the birthday present you stole for it wasn't expensive enough. verizon was good, and fair. the u740 did it's job and was a breath of fresh air after my sprint razr. (btw, sprint puts their own UI /over/ the existing motorola one. it was like running doom II on a 386 with 4mb ram. some of you know what i'm talking about.) but after a while, i became a little frustrated. you pay for a piece of solid state, it has an OS, it has removable storage, some of them have wifi, gps and a keyboard...but you're not allowed to access all these things. you want to connect your phone to the computer? that propreitary cable costs money, my friend. you want to import a ringtone of circuit bent malaise you created yourself? no, i don't think so. here, have this kanye west ringtone from the verizon store. only $0.99. my xv8600 at work has gps, but verizon blocks it...yet it's running wm6. not even a registry hack will enable it. wtf, verizon? do you want to read my mail before i open it, and perhaps it'd be ok if i spend some time with my guy friends? oh no, of course...i forgot you need someone to help you blow-dry your hair and scrapbook, and yes of course i like this sweater you bought me and are making me wear. when some of my friends started getting iphones, i should have been jealous, but meh. it was only until android actually became a reality that i could be swayed to grow dual nuts and leave the stalwart vzw controlling ice-queen.

here's my take on the g1 THUS FAR;

cons:

camera: completely useless. 0 settings, no flash, has the exposure capabilities of a flashless holga. at night. in a cave. with the lens cap on.

UI: i'm 'clicking' a little longer than i'd like to (more like a brief touch) to activate things. it occasionally will be a little sluggish, but i would like to attribute this to the few custom apps i have running.

battery life: like driving a hummer with the gas tank of a moped.

customization: a few things could improve here. i'm finding that some things that should be obvious aren't available. such as, i would like a vibrate when i receive a notification; new e-mail, new text, new g-talk message (oh yes. FUCKING AWESOME.) you can't edit desktop shortcuts (maybe getting ahead of myself there...it is still just a phone) and the trackball is too slow in regular menus (great in the browser, though.)

durability: eh...i guess it could be worse, a little on the flimsy side but i don't really care. nice looking phones get stolen.

which brings me to the pros:

HOLY CRAP MY PHONE IS RUNNING LINUX! OH MY FUCKING GOD! everything besides what's listed above is so totally worth the some $400 this whole conversion has cost me. it's beautiful, the 3g is fine (although i'm sure there are people who will debate this) it has the full size web, the sound quality is great, and getting around the phone is intuitive and easy. the keyboard is nice (i still say the rubbery XV8600 keypad is the best) and the trackball is a nice addition. overall, i'm pretty psyched to have this phone.

ryanair plans emergency landing 10 years in the future

2008-11-10T15:33:00.001-05:00

well according to this picture from ryanair's website, the emergency landing described here shouldn't happen for a good ten years. however, i'm still wondering how the gear collapsed...both engines out?

i need to spend more time...

2008-10-16T10:07:00.001-04:00

...right here:

bird redemption...

2008-10-16T09:38:00.002-04:00

after the bird strike as outlined in my previous post, the following day i went to get a bird feeder and some seed to even out my place in the world, and pay my debt to bird society. i feel somewhat better...

bird murder..."burder"

2008-10-14T16:11:00.004-04:00

in what was supposed to be my solo sign-off unfortunately became my first bird-strike while flying on saturday. on my 3rd (and what was going to be the last) dual pattern on downwind for runway 29 at hanscom, a large seagull / bird met it's fate with my right wing. for a split second i saw the flash of feathers and bird-ass about 20 feet ahead. i was traveling at roughly 100mph, and it seemed the bird about 25mph. as close calls with birds are not uncommon, they usually will dive off to a side and avoid the plane. we were about 5 feet underneath it, so it basically dove right into the wing. with a sound that was very similar to a "GORPH" the bird literally exploded and left a sizable dent in the wing. fortunately i never lost control of the plane (the strike itself was more like a tap on the shoulder) and bog-bless the designers at Piper, because the plane flew without a problem back to the ramp. below are the pictures of the plane.

as a side-note, i'm bummed not just because i have to wait 3 weeks to fly again (being signed off to solo would be great because i could work off just my schedule) but also being a vegetarian; i'm not supposed to kill things!

2008-10-06T15:01:00.001-04:00

2008-10-05T22:44:00.001-04:00

well, hallelujah, you can see an un-pixelated hanscom field now on google maps. the two blue planes are the tomahawks i usually train in. here!

2008-10-03T10:16:00.002-04:00

hangover categories:

category 1: wake up sleepy, feel fine before leaving for work

category 2: wake up sleepy, head clears up around 10am

category 3: wake up groggy, slight nausea, coffee is of no help. possible headaches

category 4: wake up tipsy, dry skin throughout day, persistent headache, high water intake, head clears around 4pm. possible side effect is being in a great mood, and having a sense of well-being

category 5: wake up drunk, dry skin, bowel troubles, "real" hangover kicks in mid-morning, severe headaches, human interaction confusing and troublesome.

cateogry 6: wake up sober and unhappy the next night.

2008-09-24T17:49:00.000-04:00

loving youtube today...