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[#] Fri Oct 08 2021 17:54:05 EDT from ParanoidDelusions

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It seems like Amazon has caused significantly relaxed rules on electrical safety - and it started with consumers buying cheap Chinese knock-offs. My 3D printer evidently has a very serious and dangerous electrical flaw that is well known and documented. The heating element is loosely attached to the bed, and just passes raw 110 current to the bed - which moves - and without reinforcement - the cable breaks, and you've got a raw, live 110 cable laying on your desk. 

 



[#] Fri Oct 08 2021 18:16:34 EDT from Nurb432

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I didnt think they ever cared...



[#] Fri Oct 08 2021 18:49:07 EDT from Nurb432

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Slight update. 

I tried the new grounded adapter on the mac ( its a lonovo, so not a cheap no name ) and it still does it there too.  So i guess its only grounded on the AC side. I donno. this is all so strange to begin with. 

 

And its a good ting i tried, damned thing had powered back up on its own in the bag after work perhaps, an hour or 2 ago..  it was burning up.. i bet i took a few years off its life :(    Just hope it lasts until i retire. Dont want to deal with getting another. ever. ( actually i guess next time it will have to be a 'pc', as all mac will be ARM by then, so i cant do x86 kvm.  )



[#] Fri Oct 08 2021 19:27:12 EDT from ParanoidDelusions

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Well, the whole "UL Listed" thing used to be something that... it wasn't an issue of making sure a thing was UL Listed - you could basically be assured it was if you could buy it. 

Now... we're like, "You buy it from China - you're on your own... they don't care if people get electrocuted... there are too many of them as it is..." 

 



[#] Fri Oct 08 2021 19:27:41 EDT from ParanoidDelusions

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I wonder if some regulation quietly changed in the last 20 years or so. 

 



[#] Fri Oct 08 2021 19:33:15 EDT from Nurb432

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Or, a 'low voltage external' somehow skirts some of the rules.

 

Fri Oct 08 2021 07:27:41 PM EDT from ParanoidDelusions

I wonder if some regulation quietly changed in the last 20 years or so. 

 



 



[#] Sat Oct 09 2021 02:52:24 EDT from ParanoidDelusions

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Maybe. Maybe we always had a voltage limit you couldn't do shit with - and now - you can do shit with that voltage. 

seems plausible. 


I'll accept this. 

 

Fri Oct 08 2021 19:33:15 EDT from Nurb432

Or, a 'low voltage external' somehow skirts some of the rules.

 

Fri Oct 08 2021 07:27:41 PM EDT from ParanoidDelusions

I wonder if some regulation quietly changed in the last 20 years or so. 

 



 



 



[#] Sat Oct 09 2021 11:05:39 EDT from Nurb432

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Oh, and my Pinebook pro, which is also magnesium case, does not. Or, its lower current from the supply, and is still there but below the threshold to feel.



[#] Mon Oct 11 2021 01:23:14 EDT from ParanoidDelusions

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My wife has been on a several week shopping spree with 3 to 5 packages arriving per day, most days of the week. 

I have no idea how much she has spent, but the dollar amount must be huge. 

So, tonight I bought the Apple Magic Mouse I've been wanting but couldn't justify the $80 purchase price of. 


It does not suck. I hate to admit it. Gimmicks like this are Apple's forte. 

 



[#] Mon Oct 11 2021 08:29:18 EDT from Nurb432

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The one thing about apple, is when they are not busy getting you into the walled garden is they did actually do research on their products. Sure, they were over priced, but they were not junk ( except for a few duds.. everyone has those ) . 

But, once they started going down the path of actively locking customers into their ecosystem, and only their ecosystem, that is when i had problems with them. They became the exact thing people like Woz detested.  Many of us actually.



[#] Mon Oct 11 2021 09:27:01 EDT from Nurb432

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Well, ill be damned.

Now that i know what to look for, my stupid ass 2008 macbook does the vibrate too. Just REALLY faint. If you are not watching for it you wont notice. it almost feels like you are just rubbing across dirt. but unplug the PS, it goes away.

 

 



[#] Mon Oct 11 2021 14:24:42 EDT from ParanoidDelusions

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This is the touchpad, right? 

My 2012 - I thought it was just the vibration of the ceiling fan - but I can *only* feel that slight hum when I'm touching the touchpad, not the rest of the case. 

Think this is what you're talking about? Same deal - only a 2 prong power code. 

Holy shit - you're right. The minute I unplug the mag-cord - it goes away! 


Yeah. The Maginc Mouse *is* a quality mouse - feels like a brick. That glass top has heft. 

They should really make it available for other platforms and just release a driver with the understanding that it isn't going to work quite as well other platforms. 




Mon Oct 11 2021 09:27:01 EDT from Nurb432

Well, ill be damned.

Now that i know what to look for, my stupid ass 2008 macbook does the vibrate too. Just REALLY faint. If you are not watching for it you wont notice. it almost feels like you are just rubbing across dirt. but unplug the PS, it goes away.

 

 



 



[#] Mon Oct 11 2021 15:43:11 EDT from Nurb432

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Its the metal case only for me. The touch pad is plastic, so I wont feel it there.  YMMV on your device of course, but all of mine are plastic pads.

  • For the new apple, its anywhere ( other than track pad :P ). even where you rest your palms
  • My personal 2008 macbook, its just the bezel around the keyboard.  but i suspect its on the case too, just too soft to feel.  Can barely feel it now. Its so slight i never noticed and i used it daily for years.
  • Not tired my previous shop macbook.  I might. its in the closet waiting to be asked for me to return it, if that ever happens. There really is no need for me to actively turn it in as we are not being charged maintenance/licensing on it like we do the PCs, and no one else hardly uses them. And its old so no one wants it anyway.  So if i can keep it around, its plan B. More than likely if i do have to turn it in, at best it goes to auction. At worse it gets trashed since you cant the the SSD out. 
  • For my china flip-book its only on the case as the bezel around the keyboard is plastic.
  • Pinebook Pro.. nothin  ( but going to try it with a larger PS and see if i can feel it then. i suspect it does it, just cant feel it )

All other laptops i have had have been plastic.. 

 

Either way, its soooo bizarre and has been there all this time. Un-noticed. 



[#] Mon Oct 11 2021 16:32:09 EDT from ParanoidDelusions

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Weird. I absolutely get a vibration on the touchpad, but nowhere else. 

As for the other thing - I have no problem with you keeping an old machine - on any justification, no matter who you are. As an IT manager - I had a room full of equipment that was just a burden. As long as the drives were secure bleached, I *never* noticed when one "fell off the dock". I tried to get the owner to do a once annual "as-is surplus" sale of old equipment to employees... like - pennies on the dollar. He wouldn't go for it - and the stuff just kept piling up. 

Until I said at an IT staff meeting - "It would be better if this stuff just got stolen than if we had to e-recycle it..." and instituted this really generous "take old surplus equipment at home to test and learn on," policy. 


It was like the owner couldn't face the idea that something he had paid $5,000 for 5 years ago couldn't be sold for $50 today... but he didn't care enough to actually ever pay attention to what was in his storeroom. 

Almost every place I ever worked - the coolest managers pretty much had this basic policy. "The Sparcstation 5 is useless to us now. Take it home and learn on it - and when you decide to return it... don't... You can take the LaserJet II and the 17" CRT, too..." 

 






 

Mon Oct 11 2021 15:43:11 EDT from Nurb432

 

  • Not tired my previous shop macbook.  I might. its in the closet waiting to be asked for me to return it, if that ever happens. There really is no need for me to actively turn it in as we are not being charged maintenance/licensing on it like we do the PCs, and no one else hardly uses them. And its old so no one wants it anyway.  So if i can keep it around, its plan B. More than likely if i do have to turn it in, at best it goes to auction. At worse it gets trashed since you cant the the SSD out. 

Either way, its soooo bizarre and has been there all this time. Un-noticed. 



 



[#] Mon Oct 11 2021 19:31:55 EDT from Nurb432

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With "PC" laptops, holding on to them isn't an option.  They are recycled almost instantly, as we are so low on stock  that we need every single unit. ( supply chain problems have decimated us )  You are given a day to get what you need off it, and within a week, unless its broke, it will be reloaded and given out to someone else.  We have somewhere between 30 and 40 thousand total. 

There is also a monthly charge for a 'stock' device ( even internally )  that goes into the pot for a 'free' refresh in x years ( supposed to be 3 as they have a 3 year depreciation, but with supply problems its 5 years now, if you are lucky ), and pays for your network, HD team, etc.   Its what pays for all the infrastructure. If you get something special, then you pay the difference in cost compared to the stock choices upfront, but still have the monthly charge. Its not a lot per device, but would show up on the monthly bill, especially in a small department like mine " why do you have 2 computers "

But the mac's, since they are not officially supported, no fees beyond the purchase price. ( and the old one was a hand-me-down from the development team so it was never on my team's books )  I'm getting my windows and Office, etc  via my MSDN license, technically, and getting a free-ride on infrastructure...   But, your AD account comes with a charge, which pays for stuff like O365. one drive, etc.  ( not all people have computers ).  Office used to be part of the PC charge, but now that its all cloud, its part of the network account. 

Of course anything special ( like Crystal reports which is a good % of my job  ) is full price out of pocket, and no internal fees, just from the respective vendor if there is one.

of course if i'm asked, ill give it up. but with luck, i'm not asked until i retire out.  it wont get used, but i like having a backup plan, that does not involve getting a loaner PC laptop ( currently crappy HPs ) from the pile, or using one of my own.

 



[#] Tue Oct 12 2021 01:40:32 EDT from ParanoidDelusions

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Your company sounds like an interesting place to work. :) 

 

Mon Oct 11 2021 19:31:55 EDT from Nurb432

With "PC" laptops, holding on to them isn't an option.  They are recycled almost instantly, as we are so low on stock  that we need every single unit. ( supply chain problems have decimated us )  You are given a day to get what you need off it, and within a week, unless its broke, it will be reloaded and given out to someone else.  We have somewhere between 30 and 40 thousand total. 

There is also a monthly charge for a 'stock' device ( even internally )  that goes into the pot for a 'free' refresh in x years ( supposed to be 3 as they have a 3 year depreciation, but with supply problems its 5 years now, if you are lucky ), and pays for your network, HD team, etc.   Its what pays for all the infrastructure. If you get something special, then you pay the difference in cost compared to the stock choices upfront, but still have the monthly charge. Its not a lot per device, but would show up on the monthly bill, especially in a small department like mine " why do you have 2 computers "

But the mac's, since they are not officially supported, no fees beyond the purchase price. ( and the old one was a hand-me-down from the development team so it was never on my team's books )  I'm getting my windows and Office, etc  via my MSDN license, technically, and getting a free-ride on infrastructure...   But, your AD account comes with a charge, which pays for stuff like O365. one drive, etc.  ( not all people have computers ).  Office used to be part of the PC charge, but now that its all cloud, its part of the network account. 

Of course anything special ( like Crystal reports which is a good % of my job  ) is full price out of pocket, and no internal fees, just from the respective vendor if there is one.

of course if i'm asked, ill give it up. but with luck, i'm not asked until i retire out.  it wont get used, but i like having a backup plan, that does not involve getting a loaner PC laptop ( currently crappy HPs ) from the pile, or using one of my own.

 



 



[#] Tue Oct 12 2021 07:19:06 EDT from Nurb432

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Gotta pay the bills somehow. Tho in general we all share the same funding source, with a few exceptions, everything is divided up up according to budget, and they pay us part of that budget to keep the lights on.  At least this way people dont go rouge and just spend it all themselves on stupid stuff. ( just part of it :) ). As far as budget caps, of course everyone asks for and spends too much, but no one wants to go to the governor to explain why they ran out. But, they do have to justify the spending in some way.

Tho the place is frustrating, structurally it sounds worse than it is at times.  We are tasked with providing IT *infrastructure* for all the other agencies in the executive branch, so we need to have some level of control of the chaos. we also are there to help 'steer' them in better directions. ( like not something written in an obscure language running on OS/2 ) The 35K or so people we support, themselves support around 7 million.  We have exceeded our charter in a few cases, and even wrote apps for them ( which i NEVER thought was a good idea, and now that our dev team has been gutted we are going to see how bad of an idea it was ), but for the most part we dont touch dedicated agency applications, each has their own IT department for that. IF we had to, we would need another thousand people i'm sure.

Our PC supply got even worse last year as the contract with ( perhaps CDW, i donno,  i forget who it was ) ran out and they didnt bother even bidding for it. The one we chose, backed out at the last moment, so we were left holding the bag, and extending the exiting contract with the old company for 'basics', at a premium.  But they couldn't deliver what we wanted before, and with the supply problems its only getting worse.

 

Tue Oct 12 2021 01:40:32 AM EDT from ParanoidDelusions

Your company sounds like an interesting place to work. :) 

 



[#] Tue Oct 12 2021 14:57:24 EDT from ParanoidDelusions

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The companies I worked for - in general, if you wanted something - you got it. I mean, certain things, you were just given what you got - and you were happy with that, too... Laptops tend to fall into that category. 

There was no "I'd prefer a Macintosh." I think the answer to that generally would have been, "You should seek a job at Apple..." 

:)

 

Tue Oct 12 2021 07:19:06 EDT from Nurb432

Gotta pay the bills somehow. Tho in general we all share the same funding source, with a few exceptions, everything is divided up up according to budget, and they pay us part of that budget to keep the lights on.  At least this way people dont go rouge and just spend it all themselves on stupid stuff. ( just part of it :) ). As far as budget caps, of course everyone asks for and spends too much, but no one wants to go to the governor to explain why they ran out. But, they do have to justify the spending in some way.

Tho the place is frustrating, structurally it sounds worse than it is at times.  We are tasked with providing IT *infrastructure* for all the other agencies in the executive branch, so we need to have some level of control of the chaos. we also are there to help 'steer' them in better directions. ( like not something written in an obscure language running on OS/2 ) The 35K or so people we support, themselves support around 7 million.  We have exceeded our charter in a few cases, and even wrote apps for them ( which i NEVER thought was a good idea, and now that our dev team has been gutted we are going to see how bad of an idea it was ), but for the most part we dont touch dedicated agency applications, each has their own IT department for that. IF we had to, we would need another thousand people i'm sure.

Our PC supply got even worse last year as the contract with ( perhaps CDW, i donno,  i forget who it was ) ran out and they didnt bother even bidding for it. The one we chose, backed out at the last moment, so we were left holding the bag, and extending the exiting contract with the old company for 'basics', at a premium.  But they couldn't deliver what we wanted before, and with the supply problems its only getting worse.

 

Tue Oct 12 2021 01:40:32 AM EDT from ParanoidDelusions

Your company sounds like an interesting place to work. :) 

 



 



[#] Thu Oct 14 2021 17:47:53 EDT from ParanoidDelusions

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Here is the thing about Apple. The Magic Mouse is awesome - it does exactly what it needs to... 

But you honestly *need* it with a Macintosh - to really utilize the OS to its maximum. It shouldn't be an optional luxury accessory - it should be included as part of the base package. 

Windows has multi-touch gestures that add value to the desktop experience if you want to take the time to learn them - but the OS is designed around a base productivity paradigm that pretty much... well... I guess the solution with a PC is to buy a dual monitor configuration. That is where you get optimal productivity from a PC running Windows. But the OS itself is designed for a traditional two button mouse with a scroll wheel. 

 

OS X really WANTS a multi-gesture pointing device, trackpad or mouse - and it wants a dual button mouse - Apple has cheated on the Magic Mouse in that a click on the right side of the mouse is a right-click, a click on the left is a left click, but there aren't two physical buttons - so they can claim the *aesthetics* of a single button mouse while getting the features of a dual button one. To be fair, my Razer gaming mouse has 7 buttons. Left, Right, two side, two additional smaller mouse buttons, and a wheel click button. That is kind of going in the exact opposite direction of what Jobs wanted from a mouse and does illustrate the difference between Apple's approach and Microsoft's to user experience. 

 

You can navigate around OS X with a traditional mouse fine, in a very traditional MS-Windows sort of way. But adding a Magic Mouse - you see what Apple really *wants* for OS X - and how this makes the 2nd screen MOSTLY unnecessary. I still think not having to page between virtual screens is superior - but - it certainly saves on screen real estate. The problem is - for what they want for the Magic Mouse - you can get a very nice second screen. 

 

But... the extra productivity of a dual monitor doesn't *feel* magic. It doesn't have a lot of WOW factor. The Magic Mouse is kind of a distraction... "Look at this, with this device, you don't NEED the second monitor!" But even with the Magic Mouse and a second screen, the second screen is going to add more productivity value than the Mouse and a single screen. 

 

They *are* good at gimmicks. I bet I'd learn to love that little bar on the new MBPs too, if I had one of those... because it feels *fancy*... doing what a PC can do already, but doing it in an expensive, showy way instead of in a very practical, plain manner. 






[#] Thu Oct 14 2021 18:45:49 EDT from Nurb432

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For the short period of time i had OSX on the new laptop, it did more than just "function keys". it would pop up prompts and things too. Bounce around various buttons and dialogs in various colors, and was rather distracting to be honest.  ( if i was using the laptop screen that is. With a monitor and the thing closed up you dont see it of course. )

with Linux and proper drivers, its back to just being F-keys

Thu Oct 14 2021 05:47:53 PM EDT from ParanoidDelusions

 

They *are* good at gimmicks. I bet I'd learn to love that little bar on the new MBPs too, if I had one of those... because it feels *fancy*... doing what a PC can do already, but doing it in an expensive, showy way instead of in a very practical, plain manner. 






 



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