Dear Users… (A thread for Sysadmin, Technical Support, and Help Desk people) Part 10 - Page 44

TragicMonkey · 29th December 2022, 07:56 PM

Originally Posted by Trebuchet

I'm so old, when I was a kid tinsel was made of lead!
And I'm not making that up.

I'm not old enough to have seen lead tinsel, but when I was little people were still using that fiberglass "angel hair" for Xmas decoration. My mom would put it on the mantel to look like clouds, then set the brass angel candlesticks in it. That stuff cut you if you even looked at it!

Dr. Keith · 29th December 2022, 11:23 PM

Originally Posted by TragicMonkey

I'm not old enough to have seen lead tinsel, but when I was little people were still using that fiberglass "angel hair" for Xmas decoration. My mom would put it on the mantel to look like clouds, then set the brass angel candlesticks in it. That stuff cut you if you even looked at it!

Don’t **** with the candlesticks and it won’t be a problem, OK?

TragicMonkey · 30th December 2022, 12:10 AM

Originally Posted by Dr. Keith

Don’t **** with the candlesticks and it won’t be a problem, OK?

No way, the Star Wars action figures had to visit the Cloud City.

CORed · 3rd January 2023, 12:39 PM

Originally Posted by Norman Alexander

Old COBOL guy here! Pity I'm not in the USA, or that could have been lucrative!

I never coded anything in COBOL, but I did a whole lot in ABAP (SAP's very own programming language), which is sort of a bastard nephew of COBOL (with SQL and object-oriented programming grafted on).

novaphile · 4th January 2023, 03:28 PM

I'm not 100% certain, but I think I've seen SQL inside COBOL programs in the past.

I've just done a very quick Google and found that SQL EXEC is a thing in COBOL.

(i.e. it's like a wrapper that takes the SQL in COBOL code and processes it with an SQL function)

This may be a specific COBOL/DB2 thing, which would explain why the memory is so vague, it's been 20 odd years since I've worked at a DB2 site.

Gord_in_Toronto · 4th January 2023, 04:03 PM

Originally Posted by novaphile

I'm not 100% certain, but I think I've seen SQL inside COBOL programs in the past.

I've just done a very quick Google and found that SQL EXEC is a thing in COBOL.

(i.e. it's like a wrapper that takes the SQL in COBOL code and processes it with an SQL function)

This may be a specific COBOL/DB2 thing, which would explain why the memory is so vague, it's been 20 odd years since I've worked at a DB2 site.

You made me wonder. I worked at a COBOL DB2 site some many moons ago but was well into management by then but I knew the grunts must have do it some how.

So. Here's what IBM has to say.

COBOL programming examples

Faydra · 4th January 2023, 04:12 PM

I was part of the Y2K COBOL experience.

I spent at least a year changing dates from 6 to 8 digits.

Norman Alexander · 4th January 2023, 05:38 PM

Originally Posted by Faydra

I was part of the Y2K COBOL experience.

I spent at least a year changing dates from 6 to 8 digits.

And hopefully DDMMYYYY or YYYYMMDD and not MMDDYYYY.

Wudang · 4th January 2023, 06:09 PM

Another Y2K for a big bank programmer here. CICS, COBOL, DB/2. In COBOL for IBM z/OS you use "EXEC SQL" and "EXEC CICS" calls. The number of programmers who never handled basic sql problem return codes like timeouts drove me nuts. My wife tells me I started answering troubleshooting calls without waking up.

CORed · 4th January 2023, 07:06 PM

Originally Posted by Norman Alexander

And hopefully DDMMYYYY or YYYYMMDD and not MMDDYYYY.

I was involved in testing for Y2K conversion. This was vendor supplied software for which we had no access to the source code (which was coded in COBOL). This vender chose, for reasons I never learned, which is probably just as well, as I'm sure they would have made my brain hurt, rather than expanding the year field from 2 to 4 digits, to add a century field.

JimOfAllTrades · 4th January 2023, 08:10 PM

Originally Posted by CORed

I was involved in testing for Y2K conversion. This was vendor supplied software for which we had no access to the source code (which was coded in COBOL). This vender chose, for reasons I never learned, which is probably just as well, as I'm sure they would have made my brain hurt, rather than expanding the year field from 2 to 4 digits, to add a century field.

It does make it easy to put the six-digit field on the screen for entry and fill the century field programmatically. Many applications don't really need to cover more than 100 years, they just need to know where the century break is. For example, years 31 to 99 are century 19, years 00 to 30 are century 20. No sense making your users enter two extra digits on every date if you don't need to.

Norman Alexander · 4th January 2023, 08:20 PM

Originally Posted by CORed

I was involved in testing for Y2K conversion. This was vendor supplied software for which we had no access to the source code (which was coded in COBOL). This vender chose, for reasons I never learned, which is probably just as well, as I'm sure they would have made my brain hurt, rather than expanding the year field from 2 to 4 digits, to add a century field.

It's a q&d solution I have seen before. The only saving grace is they do not need to do any data conversion in situ. Just add a field at the end of each record/row.

JoeMorgue · 6th January 2023, 09:33 AM

User: "My monitor keeps going in and out."

(Actual photo)

TragicMonkey · 6th January 2023, 10:23 AM

Originally Posted by JoeMorgue

User: "My monitor keeps going in and out."

(Actual photo)

http://www.internationalskeptics.com...ictureid=13295

"If I'm not supposed to chew on the cables there should be a sticker on there saying so!"

Wudang · 6th January 2023, 11:25 AM

Originally Posted by JoeMorgue

User: "My monitor keeps going in and out."

(Actual photo)

One place I worked went hot desking. The number of ethernet plugs with broken clips rocketed as so many lusers didn't give a damn about the next person using it.

JoeMorgue · 6th January 2023, 01:00 PM

Originally Posted by Wudang

One place I worked went hot desking. The number of ethernet plugs with broken clips rocketed as so many lusers didn't give a damn about the next person using it.

I wasn't aware it was possible to somehow pull a USB plug out in such a way or with such force that it basically skins the damn thing, living the "shell" of the USB plug inside the USB port, but I've seen multiple times in the last couple of years.

novaphile · 6th January 2023, 02:16 PM

Originally Posted by JoeMorgue

I wasn't aware it was possible to somehow pull a USB plug out in such a way or with such force that it basically skins the damn thing, living the "shell" of the USB plug inside the USB port, but I've seen multiple times in the last couple of years.

I think that's an HDMI plug, and probably the result of someone brute-force removing it, without pressing the release button. (Note the release is visible in the picture)

ZirconBlue · 6th January 2023, 02:30 PM

Originally Posted by novaphile

I think that's an HDMI plug, and probably the result of someone brute-force removing it, without pressing the release button. (Note the release is visible in the picture)

Looks like a DisplayPort logo on the connector.

Norman Alexander · 6th January 2023, 04:29 PM

Originally Posted by TragicMonkey

"If I'm not supposed to chew on the cables there should be a sticker on there saying so!"

There's also no label saying "DO NOT STICK THIS UP YOUR ASS"...so here we are - bend over and cough.

catsmate · 6th January 2023, 04:54 PM

Originally Posted by JoeMorgue

I wasn't aware it was possible to somehow pull a USB plug out in such a way or with such force that it basically skins the damn thing, living the "shell" of the USB plug inside the USB port, but I've seen multiple times in the last couple of years.

Yep, the little receiver dongles for wireless keyboards/mice are prone to that.

alfaniner · 6th January 2023, 05:06 PM

Originally Posted by novaphile

I think that's an HDMI plug, and probably the result of someone brute-force removing it, without pressing the release button. (Note the release is visible in the picture)

I've used a lot of HDMI connectors and I don't think I've ever seen one that required you to press a release button. I think I'd do the same thing if I encountered one of those.

novaphile · 6th January 2023, 05:15 PM

Originally Posted by ZirconBlue

Looks like a DisplayPort logo on the connector.

Yeah, my bad, no idea why I confused those too.

(Lack of coffee?)

Wudang · 6th January 2023, 06:03 PM

Originally Posted by Norman Alexander

There's also no label saying "DO NOT STICK THIS UP YOUR ASS"...so here we are - bend over and cough.

From New Scientist years back with the caption - someone planning to trepan themselves to smear antiseptic on their brain while giving themselves antiseptic enemas is probably not going to be reading the cautions.

commandlinegamer · 7th January 2023, 03:01 AM

The HDMI to DisplayPort adapters I sell all have those locking pins, which require a fair amount of force to release.

If you forget to squeeze it before pulling ...

I don't think it's a great design.

zooterkin · 7th January 2023, 04:43 AM

Originally Posted by commandlinegamer

The HDMI to DisplayPort adapters I sell all have those locking pins, which require a fair amount of force to release.

If you forget to squeeze it before pulling ...

I don't think it's a great design.

I'm guessing it was designed by people fed up with the earlier generation of SCART connectors which didn't lock and were prone to wiggling slightly loose.

catsmate · 7th January 2023, 12:11 PM

Originally Posted by alfaniner

I've used a lot of HDMI connectors and I don't think I've ever seen one that required you to press a release button. I think I'd do the same thing if I encountered one of those.

It was an option for automotive uses, never particularly common.

arthwollipot · 10th January 2023, 04:43 PM

At last! We've finally got access to CyberArk, a privileged account management system that lets us run Active Directory elevated without going through two jump servers! And it uses our existing MFA. Oh, this is so good. No more timing out and having to re-enter credentials every fifteen minutes. No more having to switch servers to access dev and preprod domains. It's sooo good.

TragicMonkey · 11th January 2023, 08:17 AM

Huh. New mandate: daily meetings with the team. However, not all teams have enough material to discuss with each other to fill a meeting every day. So other mandate: instead of emailing our coworkers about things, save it for the meetings so we have material to cover. All of this makes perfect sense and is not stupid in the least.

alfaniner · 11th January 2023, 08:49 AM

Originally Posted by TragicMonkey

Huh. New mandate: daily meetings with the team. However, not all teams have enough material to discuss with each other to fill a meeting every day. So other mandate: instead of emailing our coworkers about things, save it for the meetings so we have material to cover. All of this makes perfect sense and is not stupid in the least.

If the meetings are scheduled for an hour, and there are only 20 minutes of information to share, the meeting will still go for an hour.

TragicMonkey · 11th January 2023, 09:04 AM

Originally Posted by alfaniner

If the meetings are scheduled for an hour, and there are only 20 minutes of information to share, the meeting will still go for an hour.

Yep. And we are required to be on camera so there's no sneakily doing other work or goofing off during these meetings, regardless of whether there is any actual content of value or relevance to each attending.

I'm having to resort to what I did back in the beforetimes of in-person meetings: doodling on a clipboard so it looks like I'm taking notes. Before the camera-on requirement I was actually able to get work done instead.

Norman Alexander · 11th January 2023, 12:03 PM

Originally Posted by TragicMonkey

Yep. And we are required to be on camera so there's no sneakily doing other work or goofing off during these meetings, regardless of whether there is any actual content of value or relevance to each attending.

I'm having to resort to what I did back in the beforetimes of in-person meetings: doodling on a clipboard so it looks like I'm taking notes. Before the camera-on requirement I was actually able to get work done instead.

Take a screen shot of you looking intently at your webcam.
Set it as your online meeting background.
Turn camera off.
Go on mute.
Get work done.

Mongrel · 12th January 2023, 04:18 AM

Nah, just bribe the cat to jump up on he desk, one of the best ways to derail a video meeting I've found.

gnome · 12th January 2023, 07:06 AM

Originally Posted by Norman Alexander

Take a screen shot of you looking intently at your webcam.
Set it as your online meeting background.
Turn camera off.
Go on mute.
Get work done.

If I was brave enough to go rogue, I'd use the picture of Malcolm McDowell as Alex with his eyelids held open by a machine.

Gord_in_Toronto · 12th January 2023, 08:44 AM

Originally Posted by TragicMonkey

Yep. And we are required to be on camera so there's no sneakily doing other work or goofing off during these meetings, regardless of whether there is any actual content of value or relevance to each attending.

I'm having to resort to what I did back in the beforetimes of in-person meetings: doodling on a clipboard so it looks like I'm taking notes. Before the camera-on requirement I was actually able to get work done instead.

Finally! A decent application of AI.

All you need is an animatronic-like simulation of yourself nodding and smiling. Who could tell?

ZirconBlue · 12th January 2023, 08:59 AM

Originally Posted by Gord_in_Toronto

Finally! A decent application of AI.

All you need is an animatronic-like simulation of yourself nodding and smiling. Who could tell?

I think the smiling would give it away.

Filippo Lippi · 12th January 2023, 09:33 AM

I think an app that projects an image of a winking cat's anus on to all work video calls will sell like hot cakes. Coming to an app store near you tomorrow at the latest

Gord_in_Toronto · 12th January 2023, 11:15 AM

Originally Posted by ZirconBlue

I think the smiling would give it away.

Good AI would monitor the visual feedback from other participants and adjust accordingly. Heinous laughter would only be permited after the meeting exceeded two hours.

JoeMorgue · 16th January 2023, 10:28 AM

To the HP Laptop designer that changed the power button to be a regular keyboard key.

Please, in no uncertain terms, go %$#@! yourself.

Wudang · 16th January 2023, 11:22 AM

Originally Posted by JoeMorgue

To the HP Laptop designer that changed the power button to be a regular keyboard key.

Please, in no uncertain terms, go %$#@! yourself.

Oh damn. How many "my laptop keeps turning itself off" tickets so far?

JoeMorgue · 16th January 2023, 11:35 AM

Originally Posted by Wudang

Oh damn. How many "my laptop keeps turning itself off" tickets so far?

Upper right hand side. Between...

The Print Screen Key: Which the Doctors use all the time to add screenshots to patient charts.

The Delete Key: Which the Doctors use all the time to, ya know, delete things.

On the same line as all the function keys.

Above the backspace key.

The exact same size as the other keys, not recessed or otherwise a special or unique button that stands out in anyway.

And yes it literally turns the computer on/off the moment you touch it.

It is the only power button on the machine so it's not like we can disable it/remap it or something.

We ordered 12 of them for newbie physicians, head nurses, and other "higher midlevel" types for a new site we're standing up.

29th December 2022, 07:56 PM	#1721
TragicMonkey Poisoned Waffles Join Date: Jun 2004 Location: Monkey Posts: 66,043	Originally Posted by Trebuchet I'm so old, when I was a kid tinsel was made of lead! And I'm not making that up. I'm not old enough to have seen lead tinsel, but when I was little people were still using that fiberglass "angel hair" for Xmas decoration. My mom would put it on the mantel to look like clouds, then set the brass angel candlesticks in it. That stuff cut you if you even looked at it!
	__________________ You added nothing to that conversation, Barbara.

29th December 2022, 11:23 PM	#1722
Dr. Keith Not a doctor. Join Date: Jun 2009 Location: Texas Posts: 25,592	Originally Posted by TragicMonkey I'm not old enough to have seen lead tinsel, but when I was little people were still using that fiberglass "angel hair" for Xmas decoration. My mom would put it on the mantel to look like clouds, then set the brass angel candlesticks in it. That stuff cut you if you even looked at it! Don’t **** with the candlesticks and it won’t be a problem, OK?
	__________________ Suffering is not a punishment not a fruit of sin, it is a gift of God. He allows us to share in His suffering and to make up for the sins of the world. -Mother Teresa If I had a pet panda I would name it Snowflake.

30th December 2022, 12:10 AM	#1723
TragicMonkey Poisoned Waffles Join Date: Jun 2004 Location: Monkey Posts: 66,043	Originally Posted by Dr. Keith Don’t **** with the candlesticks and it won’t be a problem, OK? No way, the Star Wars action figures had to visit the Cloud City.
	__________________ You added nothing to that conversation, Barbara.

3rd January 2023, 12:39 PM	#1724
CORed Penultimate Amazing Join Date: Dec 2008 Location: Central City, Colorado, USA Posts: 10,564	Originally Posted by Norman Alexander Old COBOL guy here! Pity I'm not in the USA, or that could have been lucrative! I never coded anything in COBOL, but I did a whole lot in ABAP (SAP's very own programming language), which is sort of a bastard nephew of COBOL (with SQL and object-oriented programming grafted on).
	Last edited by CORed; 3rd January 2023 at 12:41 PM.

4th January 2023, 03:28 PM	#1725
novaphile Quester of Doglets Join Date: Dec 2009 Location: Sunny South Australia Posts: 4,949	I'm not 100% certain, but I think I've seen SQL inside COBOL programs in the past. I've just done a very quick Google and found that SQL EXEC is a thing in COBOL. (i.e. it's like a wrapper that takes the SQL in COBOL code and processes it with an SQL function) This may be a specific COBOL/DB2 thing, which would explain why the memory is so vague, it's been 20 odd years since I've worked at a DB2 site.
	__________________ We would be better, and braver, to engage in enquiry, rather than indulge in the idle fancy, that we already know -- Plato.

4th January 2023, 04:03 PM	#1726
Gord_in_Toronto Penultimate Amazing Join Date: Jul 2006 Posts: 23,700	Originally Posted by novaphile I'm not 100% certain, but I think I've seen SQL inside COBOL programs in the past. I've just done a very quick Google and found that SQL EXEC is a thing in COBOL. (i.e. it's like a wrapper that takes the SQL in COBOL code and processes it with an SQL function) This may be a specific COBOL/DB2 thing, which would explain why the memory is so vague, it's been 20 odd years since I've worked at a DB2 site. You made me wonder. I worked at a COBOL DB2 site some many moons ago but was well into management by then but I knew the grunts must have do it some how. So. Here's what IBM has to say. COBOL programming examples
	__________________ "Reality is what's left when you cease to believe." Philip K. Dick

4th January 2023, 04:12 PM	#1727
Faydra sinning sybarite Join Date: Jan 2007 Posts: 7,362	I was part of the Y2K COBOL experience. I spent at least a year changing dates from 6 to 8 digits.
Faydra sinning sybarite Join Date: Jan 2007 Posts: 7,362

4th January 2023, 05:38 PM	#1728
Norman Alexander Penultimate Amazing Join Date: Nov 2014 Location: Dharug & Gundungurra Posts: 14,992	Originally Posted by Faydra I was part of the Y2K COBOL experience. I spent at least a year changing dates from 6 to 8 digits. And hopefully DDMMYYYY or YYYYMMDD and not MMDDYYYY.
	__________________ _{...our governments are just trying to protect us from terror. In the same way that someone banging a hornets’ nest with a stick is trying to protect us from hornets. Frankie Boyle, Guardian, July 2015}

4th January 2023, 06:09 PM	#1729
Wudang BOFH Join Date: Jun 2003 Location: People's Republic of South Yorkshire Posts: 15,453	Another Y2K for a big bank programmer here. CICS, COBOL, DB/2. In COBOL for IBM z/OS you use "EXEC SQL" and "EXEC CICS" calls. The number of programmers who never handled basic sql problem return codes like timeouts drove me nuts. My wife tells me I started answering troubleshooting calls without waking up.
	__________________ "Your deepest pools, like your deepest politicians and philosophers, often turn out more shallow than expected." Walter Scott.

4th January 2023, 07:06 PM	#1730
CORed Penultimate Amazing Join Date: Dec 2008 Location: Central City, Colorado, USA Posts: 10,564	Originally Posted by Norman Alexander And hopefully DDMMYYYY or YYYYMMDD and not MMDDYYYY. I was involved in testing for Y2K conversion. This was vendor supplied software for which we had no access to the source code (which was coded in COBOL). This vender chose, for reasons I never learned, which is probably just as well, as I'm sure they would have made my brain hurt, rather than expanding the year field from 2 to 4 digits, to add a century field.

4th January 2023, 08:10 PM	#1731
JimOfAllTrades Graduate Poster Join Date: Aug 2011 Posts: 1,105	Originally Posted by CORed I was involved in testing for Y2K conversion. This was vendor supplied software for which we had no access to the source code (which was coded in COBOL). This vender chose, for reasons I never learned, which is probably just as well, as I'm sure they would have made my brain hurt, rather than expanding the year field from 2 to 4 digits, to add a century field. It does make it easy to put the six-digit field on the screen for entry and fill the century field programmatically. Many applications don't really need to cover more than 100 years, they just need to know where the century break is. For example, years 31 to 99 are century 19, years 00 to 30 are century 20. No sense making your users enter two extra digits on every date if you don't need to.

4th January 2023, 08:20 PM	#1732
Norman Alexander Penultimate Amazing Join Date: Nov 2014 Location: Dharug & Gundungurra Posts: 14,992	Originally Posted by CORed I was involved in testing for Y2K conversion. This was vendor supplied software for which we had no access to the source code (which was coded in COBOL). This vender chose, for reasons I never learned, which is probably just as well, as I'm sure they would have made my brain hurt, rather than expanding the year field from 2 to 4 digits, to add a century field. It's a q&d solution I have seen before. The only saving grace is they do not need to do any data conversion in situ. Just add a field at the end of each record/row.
	__________________ _{...our governments are just trying to protect us from terror. In the same way that someone banging a hornets’ nest with a stick is trying to protect us from hornets. Frankie Boyle, Guardian, July 2015}

6th January 2023, 09:33 AM	#1733
JoeMorgue Self Employed Remittance Man Join Date: Nov 2009 Location: Florida Posts: 44,144	User: "My monitor keeps going in and out." (Actual photo)
	__________________ "If everyone in the room says water is wet and I say it's dry that makes me smart because at least I'm thinking for myself!" - The Proudly Wrong.

6th January 2023, 10:23 AM	#1734
TragicMonkey Poisoned Waffles Join Date: Jun 2004 Location: Monkey Posts: 66,043	Originally Posted by JoeMorgue User: "My monitor keeps going in and out." (Actual photo) http://www.internationalskeptics.com...ictureid=13295 "If I'm not supposed to chew on the cables there should be a sticker on there saying so!"
	__________________ You added nothing to that conversation, Barbara.

6th January 2023, 11:25 AM	#1735
Wudang BOFH Join Date: Jun 2003 Location: People's Republic of South Yorkshire Posts: 15,453	Originally Posted by JoeMorgue User: "My monitor keeps going in and out." (Actual photo) One place I worked went hot desking. The number of ethernet plugs with broken clips rocketed as so many lusers didn't give a damn about the next person using it.
	__________________ "Your deepest pools, like your deepest politicians and philosophers, often turn out more shallow than expected." Walter Scott.

6th January 2023, 01:00 PM	#1736
JoeMorgue Self Employed Remittance Man Join Date: Nov 2009 Location: Florida Posts: 44,144	Originally Posted by Wudang One place I worked went hot desking. The number of ethernet plugs with broken clips rocketed as so many lusers didn't give a damn about the next person using it. I wasn't aware it was possible to somehow pull a USB plug out in such a way or with such force that it basically skins the damn thing, living the "shell" of the USB plug inside the USB port, but I've seen multiple times in the last couple of years.
	__________________ "If everyone in the room says water is wet and I say it's dry that makes me smart because at least I'm thinking for myself!" - The Proudly Wrong.

6th January 2023, 02:16 PM	#1737
novaphile Quester of Doglets Join Date: Dec 2009 Location: Sunny South Australia Posts: 4,949	Originally Posted by JoeMorgue I wasn't aware it was possible to somehow pull a USB plug out in such a way or with such force that it basically skins the damn thing, living the "shell" of the USB plug inside the USB port, but I've seen multiple times in the last couple of years. I think that's an HDMI plug, and probably the result of someone brute-force removing it, without pressing the release button. (Note the release is visible in the picture)
	__________________ We would be better, and braver, to engage in enquiry, rather than indulge in the idle fancy, that we already know -- Plato.

6th January 2023, 02:30 PM	#1738
ZirconBlue Sole Survivor of L-Town Join Date: Dec 2005 Location: Lexington, KY, USA, Earth Posts: 14,812	Originally Posted by novaphile I think that's an HDMI plug, and probably the result of someone brute-force removing it, without pressing the release button. (Note the release is visible in the picture) Looks like a DisplayPort logo on the connector.
	__________________ Religion and sex are powerplays. Manipulate the people for the money they pay. Selling skin, selling God The numbers look the same on their credit cards.

6th January 2023, 04:29 PM	#1739
Norman Alexander Penultimate Amazing Join Date: Nov 2014 Location: Dharug & Gundungurra Posts: 14,992	Originally Posted by TragicMonkey "If I'm not supposed to chew on the cables there should be a sticker on there saying so!" There's also no label saying "DO NOT STICK THIS UP YOUR ASS"...so here we are - bend over and cough.
	__________________ _{...our governments are just trying to protect us from terror. In the same way that someone banging a hornets’ nest with a stick is trying to protect us from hornets. Frankie Boyle, Guardian, July 2015}

6th January 2023, 04:54 PM	#1740
catsmate No longer the 1 Join Date: Apr 2007 Posts: 28,617	Originally Posted by JoeMorgue I wasn't aware it was possible to somehow pull a USB plug out in such a way or with such force that it basically skins the damn thing, living the "shell" of the USB plug inside the USB port, but I've seen multiple times in the last couple of years. Yep, the little receiver dongles for wireless keyboards/mice are prone to that.
	__________________ As human right is always something given, it always in reality reduces to the right which men give, "concede," to each other. If the right to existence is conceded to new-born children, then they have the right; if it is not conceded to them, as was the case among the Spartans and ancient Romans, then they do not have it. For only society can give or concede it to them; they themselves cannot take it, or give it to themselves.

6th January 2023, 05:06 PM	#1741
alfaniner Penultimate Amazing Join Date: Aug 2001 Location: Sorth Dakonsin Posts: 27,905	Originally Posted by novaphile I think that's an HDMI plug, and probably the result of someone brute-force removing it, without pressing the release button. (Note the release is visible in the picture) I've used a lot of HDMI connectors and I don't think I've ever seen one that required you to press a release button. I think I'd do the same thing if I encountered one of those.
	__________________ Science is self-correcting. Woo is self-contradicting.

6th January 2023, 05:15 PM	#1742
novaphile Quester of Doglets Join Date: Dec 2009 Location: Sunny South Australia Posts: 4,949	Originally Posted by ZirconBlue Looks like a DisplayPort logo on the connector. Yeah, my bad, no idea why I confused those too. (Lack of coffee?)
	__________________ We would be better, and braver, to engage in enquiry, rather than indulge in the idle fancy, that we already know -- Plato.

6th January 2023, 06:03 PM	#1743
Wudang BOFH Join Date: Jun 2003 Location: People's Republic of South Yorkshire Posts: 15,453	Originally Posted by Norman Alexander There's also no label saying "DO NOT STICK THIS UP YOUR ASS"...so here we are - bend over and cough. From New Scientist years back with the caption - someone planning to trepan themselves to smear antiseptic on their brain while giving themselves antiseptic enemas is probably not going to be reading the cautions.
	__________________ "Your deepest pools, like your deepest politicians and philosophers, often turn out more shallow than expected." Walter Scott.

7th January 2023, 03:01 AM	#1744
commandlinegamer Philosopher Join Date: Oct 2009 Location: Mazes of Menace Posts: 9,321	The HDMI to DisplayPort adapters I sell all have those locking pins, which require a fair amount of force to release. If you forget to squeeze it before pulling ... I don't think it's a great design.
	__________________ He bade me take any rug in the house. Last edited by commandlinegamer; 7th January 2023 at 03:02 AM.

7th January 2023, 04:43 AM	#1745
zooterkin Nitpicking dilettante Administrator Join Date: Mar 2007 Location: Berkshire, mostly Posts: 55,835	Originally Posted by commandlinegamer The HDMI to DisplayPort adapters I sell all have those locking pins, which require a fair amount of force to release. If you forget to squeeze it before pulling ... I don't think it's a great design. I'm guessing it was designed by people fed up with the earlier generation of SCART connectors which didn't lock and were prone to wiggling slightly loose.
	__________________ The whole problem with the world is that fools and fanatics are always so certain of themselves, and wiser people so full of doubts.Bertrand Russell Zooterkin is correct Darat Nerd! Hokulele Join the JREF Folders ! Team 13232 Ezekiel 23:20

7th January 2023, 12:11 PM	#1746
catsmate No longer the 1 Join Date: Apr 2007 Posts: 28,617	Originally Posted by alfaniner I've used a lot of HDMI connectors and I don't think I've ever seen one that required you to press a release button. I think I'd do the same thing if I encountered one of those. It was an option for automotive uses, never particularly common.
	__________________ As human right is always something given, it always in reality reduces to the right which men give, "concede," to each other. If the right to existence is conceded to new-born children, then they have the right; if it is not conceded to them, as was the case among the Spartans and ancient Romans, then they do not have it. For only society can give or concede it to them; they themselves cannot take it, or give it to themselves.

10th January 2023, 04:43 PM	#1747
arthwollipot Observer of Phenomena Pronouns: he/him Join Date: Feb 2005 Location: Ngunnawal Country Posts: 82,131	At last! We've finally got access to CyberArk, a privileged account management system that lets us run Active Directory elevated without going through two jump servers! And it uses our existing MFA. Oh, this is so good. No more timing out and having to re-enter credentials every fifteen minutes. No more having to switch servers to access dev and preprod domains. It's sooo good.
	__________________ Слава Україні! Героям Слава! 20220224 - 20230224

11th January 2023, 08:17 AM	#1748
TragicMonkey Poisoned Waffles Join Date: Jun 2004 Location: Monkey Posts: 66,043	Huh. New mandate: daily meetings with the team. However, not all teams have enough material to discuss with each other to fill a meeting every day. So other mandate: instead of emailing our coworkers about things, save it for the meetings so we have material to cover. All of this makes perfect sense and is not stupid in the least.
	__________________ You added nothing to that conversation, Barbara.

11th January 2023, 08:49 AM	#1749
alfaniner Penultimate Amazing Join Date: Aug 2001 Location: Sorth Dakonsin Posts: 27,905	Originally Posted by TragicMonkey Huh. New mandate: daily meetings with the team. However, not all teams have enough material to discuss with each other to fill a meeting every day. So other mandate: instead of emailing our coworkers about things, save it for the meetings so we have material to cover. All of this makes perfect sense and is not stupid in the least. If the meetings are scheduled for an hour, and there are only 20 minutes of information to share, the meeting will still go for an hour.
	__________________ Science is self-correcting. Woo is self-contradicting.

11th January 2023, 09:04 AM	#1750
TragicMonkey Poisoned Waffles Join Date: Jun 2004 Location: Monkey Posts: 66,043	Originally Posted by alfaniner If the meetings are scheduled for an hour, and there are only 20 minutes of information to share, the meeting will still go for an hour. Yep. And we are required to be on camera so there's no sneakily doing other work or goofing off during these meetings, regardless of whether there is any actual content of value or relevance to each attending. I'm having to resort to what I did back in the beforetimes of in-person meetings: doodling on a clipboard so it looks like I'm taking notes. Before the camera-on requirement I was actually able to get work done instead.
	__________________ You added nothing to that conversation, Barbara.

11th January 2023, 12:03 PM	#1751
Norman Alexander Penultimate Amazing Join Date: Nov 2014 Location: Dharug & Gundungurra Posts: 14,992	Originally Posted by TragicMonkey Yep. And we are required to be on camera so there's no sneakily doing other work or goofing off during these meetings, regardless of whether there is any actual content of value or relevance to each attending. I'm having to resort to what I did back in the beforetimes of in-person meetings: doodling on a clipboard so it looks like I'm taking notes. Before the camera-on requirement I was actually able to get work done instead. Take a screen shot of you looking intently at your webcam. Set it as your online meeting background. Turn camera off. Go on mute. Get work done.
	__________________ _{...our governments are just trying to protect us from terror. In the same way that someone banging a hornets’ nest with a stick is trying to protect us from hornets. Frankie Boyle, Guardian, July 2015}

12th January 2023, 04:18 AM	#1752
Mongrel Begging for Scraps Join Date: Aug 2004 Location: UK, suburbia. 20 minutes in the future Posts: 2,209	Nah, just bribe the cat to jump up on he desk, one of the best ways to derail a video meeting I've found.
	__________________ “Ignorance more frequently begets confidence than does knowledge: it is those who know little, and not those who know much, who so positively assert that this or that problem will never be solved by science.” - Charles Darwin ...like so many contemporary philosophers he especially enjoyed giving helpful advice to people who were happier than he was. - Tom Lehrer

12th January 2023, 07:06 AM	#1753
gnome Penultimate Amazing Join Date: Aug 2001 Posts: 13,767	Originally Posted by Norman Alexander Take a screen shot of you looking intently at your webcam. Set it as your online meeting background. Turn camera off. Go on mute. Get work done. If I was brave enough to go rogue, I'd use the picture of Malcolm McDowell as Alex with his eyelids held open by a machine.
	__________________

12th January 2023, 08:44 AM	#1754
Gord_in_Toronto Penultimate Amazing Join Date: Jul 2006 Posts: 23,700	Originally Posted by TragicMonkey Yep. And we are required to be on camera so there's no sneakily doing other work or goofing off during these meetings, regardless of whether there is any actual content of value or relevance to each attending. I'm having to resort to what I did back in the beforetimes of in-person meetings: doodling on a clipboard so it looks like I'm taking notes. Before the camera-on requirement I was actually able to get work done instead. Finally! A decent application of AI. All you need is an animatronic-like simulation of yourself nodding and smiling. Who could tell?
	__________________ "Reality is what's left when you cease to believe." Philip K. Dick

12th January 2023, 08:59 AM	#1755
ZirconBlue Sole Survivor of L-Town Join Date: Dec 2005 Location: Lexington, KY, USA, Earth Posts: 14,812	Originally Posted by Gord_in_Toronto Finally! A decent application of AI. All you need is an animatronic-like simulation of yourself nodding and smiling. Who could tell? I think the smiling would give it away.
	__________________ Religion and sex are powerplays. Manipulate the people for the money they pay. Selling skin, selling God The numbers look the same on their credit cards.