Re: [MBZ] 91 300D Needs to go

2019-09-21 Thread Tim Crone via Mercedes
Hi Larry,

it?  Except for the rear
> suspension attaching points being rusted out (on the chassis side) there
>

Sorry for not paying attention, is the chassis the major problem?  Now that
Jack has mostly sorted one SDL we have a good body and transmission but
need a donor engine.

Thanks!
-Tim

>
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Re: [MBZ] Meet Google Fi, a different kind of phone plan

2019-09-01 Thread Tim Crone via Mercedes
On Sat, Aug 31, 2019, 12:31 PM Craig via Mercedes 
wrote:

Hi Craig!  I've not been keeping up - have you moved yet?  Hope you stay
warm and dry this week!

https://fi.google.com/compatibility shows the compatibility of phones
made by Apple, Google, htc, Huawei, LG, Motorola, Samsung, and Other.


I've been on Fi for a long time.  It is not the cheapest, and occasionally
calls take a few seconds longer than I expect to connect, but I keep it for
primarily two reasons.
- When there is no T-Mobile signal it roams to Sprint, and vice versa.
Other MVNOs are one or the other.
- One account can share data with (now 4) data devices, which work on
T-Mobile only.  I have the kids set up this way, they take a couple of my
phones when they want to stay connected.  It also let me stick data SIMs
into my laptop, wife's tablet, LTE hotspot, etc. without having to worry
about an extra monthly fee - I just pay for data if I use it.  The data SIM
works on any unlocked phone or device, or at least I haven't run into
anything that had an issue.

Fi also has native tethering, free international data (I've used it in the
Caribbean and India), bill tops out at $70 for up to 22 gigs before there
is a bandwidth limit - though we've only once exceeded 5 gigs so I can't
really say what happens after 22.  Usually my bill is between $40 and $60 for
service and data, before the children started frequently carrying phones it
was closer to $30.

When I signed up you had to activate on a supported phone but you could
move the SIM around once it was active.  For new phones I like the Moto X4
(son is mostly using that now), and the newer Moto G model works with Fi
and is cheaper at retail.  The new Pixel is coming out soon so you could
probably get fire sale pricing on the Pixel 3.  If you don't mind getting
an old working phone and replacing a battery I really like my original
Pixel, and the Nexus 6 was great too.

Best,
Tim
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Re: [MBZ] 87 OM603 no start

2019-05-23 Thread Tim Crone via Mercedes
On Mon, May 13, 2019 at 8:54 PM Tim Crone  wrote:
>
> I will start checking from the back, I think we can send compressed air
through and figure out what the blockage is.  I have never been so happy to
have an exhaust problem!

We dropped the pipe and were able to convince it to pass exhaust... 'nuff
said about that.

Saturday we got the state inspection, Tuesday I got the state tag - so we
are official!  Now the "new" car troubleshooting period begins.

Thank you all!

Best,
Tim
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Re: [MBZ] 87 OM603 no start

2019-05-13 Thread Tim Crone via Mercedes
On Mon, May 13, 2019, 6:44 AM Meade Dillon  wrote:

> Other ideas for testing for plugged exhaust: Remove the EGR valve?  That
> might be easier?
>

Indeed it was easy, and indeed that was the problem - thank you thank you!
Engine fired right up and ran well enough - I really regretted standing in
front of it!

No football, there's an insulated pipe that splits between the EGR and
down.  Based on our experiments at least the EGR side is clear.

I will start checking from the back, I think we can send compressed air
through and figure out what the blockage is.  I have never been so happy to
have an exhaust problem!

Many thanks,
Tim

>
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[MBZ] 87 OM603 no start

2019-05-12 Thread Tim Crone via Mercedes
On Sun, May 12, 2019, 7:42 PM Max Dillon via Mercedes 
wrote:

> Well what jumps out at me is that you don't feel exhaust.  Sounds like a
> blockage in the exhaust.  Take it loose as close as your can right after
> the turbo, before the catalytic converter.
>

Thanks Max, I will give that a shot.  I thought it was odd also, but
guessed that maybe the air flow was disrupted enough that I just wasn't
feeling it from the starter turning.

>
> This car does not have the original football exhaust filter thing, right
> above the turbo, right?


Honestly I am not sure - I will compare it to Wilton's engine when we get
home.  Good idea!

Thanks!
-Tim
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[MBZ] 87 OM603 no start

2019-05-12 Thread Tim Crone via Mercedes
Hi folks,

Happy mother's day, everyone!  We have a puzzle for you...

Jack and I thought we were really close on reviving the SDL. It was mostly
working: started immediately, power weak but improving, as of Thursday.
#22 head.

We drove about three miles (~25mph) with no problems.  We went up one final
mild slope (1 or 2%) just before getting home and the car noticeably lost
power.  I looked in the engine bay and tightened two of the injector hard
lines.  We ran around the driveway and it was really rough - jumpy like
intermittent fuel.  Also there was a terrible smell that I couldn't
identify.

Friday evening the engine would not start.  I found a disconnected vacuum
line but nothing else obviously wrong.  Now the engine will turn and
almost-seem-to-catch, but never stay running.

* Starter sounds like it did before, when the engine fired straightaway.
* I cracked all six hard lines and it seems to be getting fuel to each.
* I tried diesel kleen in the spin filter (no diesel purge locally) and no
change.
* Some air is coming into the intake when the starter is turning.
* I could not feel exhaust.
* When Jack lets off the starter there is a puff of smoke from behind the
injection pump.
* The smell is still present; it is not raw diesel or plastic, and I don't
think it's coolant.
* Fluids are stable and appear normal.
* Fuel filters seem fine.

Given the immediate-ish failure I'm thinking my next step is to check
compression.  However we would really appreciate any recommendations!

Thanks,
Tim & Jack
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Re: [MBZ] OM603 revival

2018-12-24 Thread Tim Crone via Mercedes
On Sun, Oct 28, 2018, 8:04 PM Curley McLain via Mercedes <
mercedes@okiebenz.com wrote:

> BEST THING TO DO IS TO TAKE THE SIDE COVER OFF THE IP,
>

You were right as usual, thanks! Jack pulled the cover and got everything
loosened up.  We buttoned the rest of the 300sdl up a few days ago and
drove it around the driveway this morning.  Tires hold air, got up to temp,
even idles okay now.  A little slow but hopefully I can visit the Italians
once we get a current plate on it.

We are tracking just three issues:
- a fuel leak in the return line on the back of the IP - I probably whacked
it trying get the freeze plug in.  I hope we can replace the line without
taking the intake manifold off again.
- coolant might be leaking?  Or maybe we are just sloppy, and it's
burping.  However the replaced freeze plug does not seem to be leaking, so
yay!
- I had to pull the alarm, and now the horn does not work.

Otherwise we're really close for the state inspection.  For having been
parked seven plus years I'm pleasantly surprised!

Merry Christmas all!  Thanks as always!
-Tim

>
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Re: [MBZ] OM603 revival

2018-10-27 Thread Tim Crone via Mercedes
Thanks Jim!  We'll give it a go.  Should I be worried about breaking off
the stop lever?

Jack (son in question) just subscribed to the list also, hi Jack!

Best,
Tim


On Thu, Oct 25, 2018, 2:12 PM Jim Cathey  wrote:

> 1) the intake manifold has been off for a long time (5 years?)
>> ... Suggestions for
>> more effective cleaning methods?
>>
>
> After you do all that, I'd hit it with compressed air, see if anything
> blows back up and out.
>
>
>> 2) the stop lever is stuck downShould I try to cajole it up?
>>
>
> I would.
>
> -- Jim
>
>
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[MBZ] OM603 revival

2018-10-25 Thread Tim Crone via Mercedes
Hi folks,

Hope you are all doing well!

My eldest has fixed the freeze plug using a pair of cold chisels and a
bit of steel pipe on the 300SDL's 603, so now we need to button up the
engine.  However:
1) the intake manifold has been off for a long time (5 years?) and
probably had water, dirt, bugs around.  Son vacuumed out and ran a rag
around the air intakes in the block.  Do we need to make sure they are
spotless, or is lack of obvious contamination enough?  Suggestions for
more effective cleaning methods?

2) the stop lever is stuck down.  Maybe it is just seized, but I may
also have smashed it down while removing the intake.  Did I break
something in the IP, or the lever itself?  Should I try to cajole it
up?

3) I recall to turn the engine over a few times by hand, once
everything is assembled.  Given the stop lever I will also keep a 2x4
handy and make sure fuel is at the injectors.  Anything else?

It's nice to be behind a wrench again, even if only by proxy!  Thanks
for any advice!
-Tim

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Re: [MBZ] OT:anybody heard from Wilton lately?

2018-05-30 Thread Tim Crone via Mercedes
Hi Wilton,

You'll be glad to know that my older son has taken up work on the SDLs
(his first major mechanical project). He's actually getting reasonably
but it will definitely be an all-summer project for him.

Best,
-Tim
also lurking

On Wed, May 30, 2018 at 12:07 PM, Greg Fiorentino via Mercedes
 wrote:
> Hi Wilt:
>
> Good to hear from you!
>
> Greg
>
> -Original Message-
> From: Mercedes [mailto:mercedes-boun...@okiebenz.com] On Behalf Of WILTON via 
> Mercedes
> Sent: Wednesday, May 30, 2018 8:20 AM
> To: Mercedes Discussion List
> Cc: WILTON
> Subject: Re: [MBZ] OT:anybody heard from Wilton lately?
>
> I'm okay; still lurking.
>
> Thanks
>
> Wilt
>
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[MBZ] Veterans' Day

2016-11-11 Thread Tim Crone via Mercedes
Thank you very much for your willingness to serve us all.

Best,
Tim

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Re: [MBZ] OT: Replacing a disk on a Windows system

2016-06-23 Thread Tim Crone via Mercedes
On Wed, Jun 22, 2016, 10:05 PM Scott Ritchey via Mercedes <
mercedes@okiebenz.com> wrote:

> assumes you are ok.  If not you need to convince to a human you are not
> cheating.  Of course, things may have changed by now.
>

The last time I called in (Server 2012), the appeal was entirely
automated.  I typed in the hash, affirmed by keypress that I was only using
the license on one machine, and they gave me the activation code.  I was
impressed - the licensing used to be a lot more anti-consumer.

Best,
Tim

>
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Re: [MBZ] NC mini Q

2016-05-23 Thread Tim Crone via Mercedes
Glad the 124 is in good hands.  That was a beautiful car.

I need some free time - I don't suppose Wilton left a crate in the
back?  Oh, and shelter from the rain, while you're at it. :)

Best,
Tim


On Sat, May 21, 2016 at 5:27 PM, WILTON via Mercedes
 wrote:
> Cruise control worked beautifully after I saved the amp from the 350SDL and
> installed it on the 124.
>
> Wilton
>
> - Original Message - From: "Max Dillon via Mercedes"
> 
> To: "Mercedes Discussion List" 
> Cc: "Max Dillon" 
> Sent: Saturday, May 21, 2016 2:50 PM
>
> Subject: Re: [MBZ] NC mini Q
>
>
>> Cruise amp it is, Wilton said it worked.
>> --
>> Max Dillon
>> Charleston SC
>> '87 300TD
>> '95 E300
>>
>> On May 21, 2016 2:48:41 PM EDT, Curley McLain via Mercedes
>>  wrote:
>>>
>>> Let Karl have it.  Mine can be repaired with a dab of epoxy.  I'd be
>>> interested in Karl's old one for parts.  Did the cruise control work?
>>> if so, I'd take the CC amp.
>>>
 Karl Wittnebel via Mercedes 
 May 21, 2016 at 11:17 AMvia Postbox

>>>
>>> 

 Oh! Yes I absolutely need the instrument cluster! My odo is kaput and
>>>
>>> the

 tach from the gasser wagon would not work!

 If curly didn't speak up already.

 Karl
 On May 18, 2016 7:19 AM, "Meade Dillon via Mercedes"
 
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 Meade Dillon via Mercedes 
 May 18, 2016 at 9:19 AMvia Postbox

>>>
>>> 

 We'll find out if it works or not, I plan to remove all that. I
>>>
>>> suspect it

 will need a little assistance for the first open

 Anyone need sunroof stuff?

 Not a single part request from the list yet. Instrument cluster?
>>>
>>> Curly -

 don't you need a working speedometer / odometer / trip meter?




 -
 Max
 Charleston SC

 On Wed, May 18, 2016 at 9:56 AM, WILTON via Mercedes
 
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 WILTON via Mercedes 
 May 18, 2016 at 8:56 AMvia Postbox

>>>
>>> 

 BTW, the sunroof system should also be in excellent condition - I
 never opened it, not even once.

 Wilton

 - Original Message - From: "Meade Dillon via Mercedes"
 
 To: "Mercedes Discussion List" 
 Cc: "Meade Dillon" 
 Sent: Tuesday, May 17, 2016 12:58 PM
 Subject: Re: [MBZ] NC mini Q




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>>>
>>> ___
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>>>
>>> To Unsubscribe or change delivery options go to:
>>> http://mail.okiebenz.com/mailman/listinfo/mercedes_okiebenz.com
>>
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Re: [MBZ] Dell Laptop?

2016-05-23 Thread Tim Crone via Mercedes
On Sun, May 22, 2016 at 4:05 PM, Dan Penoff via Mercedes
 wrote:
> 1.0 MHz processor

Wow, that -is- old! ;)

Best,
-Tim

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Re: [MBZ] OT - pass word managers

2016-05-16 Thread Tim Crone via Mercedes
On Mon, May 16, 2016, 8:01 AM Ed Booher via Mercedes 
wrote:

> I use KeePass, it runs on everything. So I can generate a new password for
> an account from KeePass on my phone. Upload the encrypted file to Box, then
> download that file to any computer I want direct access on. I've used this
> method for 5 or 6 years now, and it works well enough for me.
>

Same here.  Keepass is big enough that it makes the news when there is a
problem, but doesn't have any of the extra risks associated with an online
account.  Also, the Keepass2Android application is the bee's knees - it has
an integrated keyboard to avoid clipboard sniffing, among other nice
features.

Best,
Tim

>
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Re: [MBZ] Subject: Re: 124 bites dust

2016-05-09 Thread Tim Crone via Mercedes
On Sun, May 1, 2016 at 3:25 PM, Buggered Benzmail via Mercedes
 wrote:
> with apparently a capacitor instead of battery.  I have a "manual" for it
> some guy wrote I can send to you, someone posted it in one of the comments
> on it.

FYI I have read that warm places (that is, those of us south of Randy
B I guess :) need the capacitor version.

Best,
Tim
really late to the thread...

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Re: [MBZ] OT - built a PC from scratch recently?

2016-05-05 Thread Tim Crone via Mercedes
On Thu, May 5, 2016 at 3:01 PM, Buggered Benzmail via Mercedes
 wrote:
> Just go to newegg and sign up for daily specials, they offer components for
> cheepcheep pretty often.  you can get a new mother board and chip to pop in
> the box, you might be able to reuse your memory sticks and everything else
> just pretty much plugs into it. You might need a new power supply too
> depending on what your old one puts out or what kind of connectors it has.

I was going to build one recently, but ended up getting an off-lease
Dell server and adding hard drives and memory.  Ultimately it was
cheaper and quieter than anything I could have put together myself.
Also it came with a Windows license though I recently installed ESX
over it.

You can get a new stripped T110 for $200-ish, but I'm with Curt that
the older enterprise machines are the best bang for the buck when 2-3
years old.

Best,
Tim
does not presently work for Dell

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Re: [MBZ] And we are down to the final Three

2016-05-05 Thread Tim Crone via Mercedes
On Thu, May 5, 2016 at 3:06 PM, Buggered Benzmail via Mercedes
 wrote:
> is extremely simple to understand and is basically how my HS teacher first
> taught me.

Before I took statics a friend told me the only thing I needed to
memorize was r cross F.  Probably should send him a thank-you note as
that got me through dynamics too. :)
-Tim

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Re: [MBZ] 124 comps

2016-05-05 Thread Tim Crone via Mercedes
On Tue, May 3, 2016 at 3:00 PM, WILTON via Mercedes
 wrote:
> And they've put me at additional disadvantage  - hauled it to a site an hour
> away for evaluation.

Raleigh somewhere?  Let me know if I need to go represent, and/or
temporarily store something for you or Rich...
-Tim

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Re: [MBZ] 124 bites dust

2016-05-02 Thread Tim Crone via Mercedes
On Sat, Apr 30, 2016 at 9:31 PM, WILTON via Mercedes
 wrote:
> 'Just realized how thankful I should be tonight.  If the impact had been just 
> a fraction of a second later, it would have been a "T bone" impact on my door 
> and could have easily killed me instead of pitching me around to the right 
> and shaking me a bit.  'Don't think I've been so close to such since Dec '72 
> over Hanoi.  How lucky and blessed we are and usually don't even know it or 
> think about it.

Amen!  Glad you walked away, and made it home to see your family.

Let me know if there's anything I can do for you,
-Tim

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Re: [MBZ] OT tell us what you really feel about this car

2016-04-27 Thread Tim Crone via Mercedes
On Wed, Apr 27, 2016 at 10:49 AM, Buggered Benzmail via Mercedes
 wrote:
> https://charleston.craigslist.org/cto/5558899705.html

House does not appear square?

I'll have to try advertising my cars that way, can't get anyone more
cranky than the folks who show up for an honest listing.

Best,
-Tim

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Re: [MBZ] You may only speak of ... operating systems ... [was: Re: New lister ]

2016-04-25 Thread Tim Crone via Mercedes
On Apr 25, 2016 9:46 AM, "Craig via Mercedes"  wrote:
>
> I logged onto the system using the means to log on the old way (I forget
> the exact terminology). I was able to get it fairly close to what I
> wanted. I later logged on with the "new" way and, instantly, my desktop
> was littered with icons depicting the contents of my home directory. That
> I do not want.

I use fvwm and my reasonably default setup is not far from yours.

I always boot to runlevel 3, then startx manually.  I am no fan of the
graphical login.

Best,
Tim
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Re: [MBZ] fer y'all out East

2016-04-08 Thread Tim Crone via Mercedes
On Fri, Apr 8, 2016 at 12:01 PM, Curly McLain via Mercedes
 wrote:
> http://ironhorseauction.com/drivepetty/
>
> Surplus NASCAR stuff.

Is this from last year, or this upcoming December?

The speedway is only a couple miles from my wife's apartment, not that
I know what half of this stuff is...
-Tim

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Re: [MBZ] OT winders 10

2016-04-04 Thread Tim Crone via Mercedes
On Mon, Apr 4, 2016 at 2:53 PM, Craig via Mercedes
<mercedes@okiebenz.com> wrote:
> On Mon, 4 Apr 2016 09:01:55 -0400 Tim Crone via Mercedes
> <mercedes@okiebenz.com> wrote:
>
>> I don't care for metro but I'm used to it from using 2012 at work, so
>> that was not a big issue.
>
> What is "metro"?

The much-maligned Windows 8 interface.  In 10 it is relatively easy to
ignore, in 8 / Server 2012 it really gets in the way.

>> No slowdown or other issues on my older hardware, for what that's worth.
>
> What capabilities do your older hardware have?

The active computers are older (2011/2-ish) enterprise equipment: a
couple Dell Latitudes, an HP desktop, a Dell tower.  I believe they
are all 64-bit capable processors.

During the beta I also had W10 installed on my Dell netbook (mini 10v,
32-bit Intel Atom I think) and it ran okay, no worse than XP/7 - but
the screen driver died shortly after.  If I were Jim I would have
resoldered it, but I am not Jim so it's been recycled.  That was
definitely a hardware failure, it was a long time coming.

Best,
Tim

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Re: [MBZ] Nice weather!

2016-04-04 Thread Tim Crone via Mercedes
On Sat, Mar 26, 2016 at 1:27 PM, Meade Dillon via Mercedes
 wrote:
> I'm assuming you've transplanted an engine into Wilton's former SDL?  This
> involved injection pump work?

Yes, from my 300 SDL to Wilton's 350SDL.  So far so good, just
prepping to make sure I have everything before I get something usable
stuck outside a car with nowhere to hide it from the rain.  Wish I had
gotten a garage when I moved... :/

Thanks for the detailed walkthrough!
-Tim

> Don't worry about the fuel unless the clear filter gets clogged with black
> bits, which is a sign that you have water in the fuel tank and a colony of
> fungus / microbial growth.  In that case, until you can address that, rig a
> small container in the engine bay to provide fuel.
>
> Oil: I wouldn't sweat that either, until after you've gotten the engine
> running for a bit, then change oil and filter. You could do that after the
> first start, or after you've driven it for a short test drive up to
> operating temperature.  Oil oxidizes and breaks down over time, but there's
> not much sense in changing oil and filter until after you've gotten the
> engine running.
>
> Starting procedure: I would plug in the block heater for at least an hour
> prior, to get as much heat as you can into the head to promote ignition.
>
> Keep a battery charger on the battery while cranking to keep from running
> the battery down.
>
> Disconnect the glow plugs, either the harness or pull the fuse.  Loosen
> each injector hard line at each injector, and start cranking.  As you get
> fuel at each injector, tighten up that line.  Usually #6 gets wet first,
> and then they run from back to front.  Once you've got all the injector
> lines bled out and tightened up, replace the glow plug harness or fuse, and
> then she'll probably light right off.
>
> Let us know how it goes!
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Re: [MBZ] OT winders 10

2016-04-04 Thread Tim Crone via Mercedes
I have, on all my personal computers and laptops.  I like it better
than 7, but mainly because of the family policy management abilities
and improved login - as an OS it's generally the same
relatively-stable Windows experience.  I don't care for metro but I'm
used to it from using 2012 at work, so that was not a big issue.  No
slowdown or other issues on my older hardware, for what that's worth.

Best,
-Tim

On Fri, Apr 1, 2016 at 2:19 PM, Kaleb C. Striplin via Mercedes
 wrote:
> Has anybody done the free upgrade from Windows 7 to 10?
>
> Sent from my iPhone
>
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[MBZ] Nice weather!

2016-03-26 Thread Tim Crone via Mercedes
Pleasant weather has returned!  And the 'baby' is old enough to play
mostly unregulated.  So... can you all remind me what do I need to do
before I start up the OM603?  Assume that "connect all the stuff" is
done (which it isn't yet, but closer than last week).

Do I need new diesel?  Turn the engine by hand?  Change oil, anything
else?  Engine has been unused for ~3 years.

Also, anyone tried using an Amazon Echo while doing mechanicery?
Thinking about getting one of the little ones so I have more
hands'-free access.

Thanks,
Tim

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Re: [MBZ] OT: vhs conversion

2016-03-26 Thread Tim Crone via Mercedes
On Fri, Mar 25, 2016 at 11:29 PM, Curly McLain via Mercedes
 wrote:
> What is the most cost effective way to convert VHS to dvds?  This seems to
> be capable of the job.  Reportedly able to play vhs, convert it to HD
> through some magic, then record the result on DVD.

Recall that many commercial (Disney) VHS will have Macrovision copy
protection so this scheme won't work on those:
You can get a standalone DVD recorder from a thrift store for ~$20,
then plug your existing VCR as an input to it - or get a "new" thrift
VCR for $10 while you are there.  I had no idea DVD recorders had
gotten so pricey, I should start reselling; they come up a few times a
month. (For you I think I have a recorder on my shelf if you want it,
but shipping might be a bear; reply offlist if you can't find one
locally.)

I'm sure there are quality differences between DVD recorders, but to
be honest the recorder doesn't have to last very long or do very much.
I can't see visual differences but my vision is rather sad; YMMV.

I have a dongle like Rich, and a VCP with a USB-out (also thrift store
:) - but for my wedding video I recorded onto a DVD and then ripped
the DVD, rather than deal with Windows video capture software.  I
don't have other VHS that I'm interested in preserving so I am just
letting the clock run out on the rest.

(The kids played with the VCP when I got it but I don't think they
ever got any useful output.  You are welcome to that also, but again
heavy and not very usable.)

Best,
Tim

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Re: [MBZ] nope, no vote fraud

2016-01-29 Thread Tim Crone via Mercedes
On Jan 29, 2016 12:20 AM, "Curly McLain via Mercedes" 
wrote:
>
> But here is another one
>
> http://www.kansas.com/news/politics-government/article56824863.html
>
> H  I wonder why the county wigs are so anxious that nobody looks at
the records.

Funny, I read it and wondered how she thought she should have them. Around
here it would be trivial to keep tabs on who voted for whom, if you had the
log.  N
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Re: [MBZ] nope, no vote fraud

2016-01-29 Thread Tim Crone via Mercedes
Metadata?  If I am watching who goes in to the voting booth and when (all
perfectly legal), and I have access to voting logs, then I can use the
timing to derive most of the votes.  This would be handy if I were a
community organizer of some kind, especially if people knew I might have
this data and were members of some fraternal organization I happened to
head.  Short of collecting receipts this would be an effective way to cow
your members into voting the party line.

If the vote record doesn't have timing then the statistics are taking away
one vote per person -  effectively mandating that all people have to vote
based on whatever demographics are selected, otherwise the statistician is
going to declare the votes were invalid. (If you have a very successful
ground campaign in one area but not another, you end up looking like a
cheat - if this includes the force of law, then you may as well let SAS
choose the president in advance.)

I agree that counting votes is important, but the paper system is easy to
game already - ask Khrushchev, or the NC BoE.  Just because something else
is also easy to game doesn't make it inherently worse.

That said, NC is literally the poster child for where individual votes
don't matter due to the statistically gerrymandered districts, so I may
have a skewed perception.

Best,
Tim
Has many friends at SAS :)
On Jan 29, 2016 9:29 AM, "Meade Dillon via Mercedes" <mercedes@okiebenz.com>
wrote:

> It should also be trivial to sanitize the data of PII (personally
> identifiable information) and replace that with some unique identifier so
> the mathematician can do her thing.
>
> Outright refusal to cooperate and allow data to be examined is the same
> tactic used by the global warming scare-monger crowd.  "Trust us!"  Not on
> your life...
>
> -
> Max
> Charleston SC
>
> On Fri, Jan 29, 2016 at 9:19 AM, Tim Crone via Mercedes <
> mercedes@okiebenz.com> wrote:
>
> >
> > Funny, I read it and wondered how she thought she should have them.
> Around
> > here it would be trivial to keep tabs on who voted for whom, if you had
> the
> > log.
> >
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Re: [MBZ] snow reports

2016-01-24 Thread Tim Crone via Mercedes
Roughly the same in Chapel Hill, of course all the plows are still working
on Raleigh so nobody is going anywhere, even in city limits.

Anyone heard from Wilton?  I gather that side of the state lost power.

Best,
Tim
On Jan 23, 2016 8:14 PM, "Scott Ritchey via Mercedes" 
wrote:

> In NC Piedmont (near Henderson NC) we were on the edge of the storm, which
> has now past.  Friday, we got some snow followed by sleet and freezing
> rain,
> probably 2-3 inches of dense crystalline stuff.  Earlier today we probably
> got another 1-2 inches of actual snow.  Roads are passible but dangerous
> and
> none plowed out here in the sticks.  Well above freezing forecast Sun and
> Mon so I expect roads will clear without plowing.  Brother in west NJ
> reports 3 ft of light stuff and still falling.  Sister in south NJ reports
> 2
> ft of wet heavy stuff.
>
> > -Original Message-
> > From: Mercedes [mailto:mercedes-boun...@okiebenz.com] On Behalf Of
> > Rick Hawkins Java via Mercedes
> > Sent: Saturday, January 23, 2016 4:14 PM
> > To: mercedes@okiebenz.com List 
> > Cc: Rick Hawkins Java 
> > Subject: [MBZ] snow reports
> >
> > i'm curious about the snow reports
> >
> > in athens, ga we only received about 1/4 of an inch of snow maybe 7 pm
> last
> > night
> >
> > my father got about 2 inches in SC, just east of Augusta, GA (and south
> of
> us
> > here)
> >
> > i spoke to someone in Greenwich Village NYC and he said it only looked
> like
> > about 8 inches on a rooftop
> >
> > did NYC get a lot more snow than that
> >
> > how about DC?
> >
> > etc
> >
> >
> > thanks,
> >
> > xx rick
> > Rick Hawkins
> >
> > ___
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Re: [MBZ] OT NC Nuked!

2016-01-24 Thread Tim Crone via Mercedes
Hey Rich, thanks for checking on Wilton for us.  I was getting worried. :)
-Tim
On Jan 24, 2016 12:06 PM, "WILTON via Mercedes" 
wrote:

> And the ARM/SAFE switches in both of the bombs were found to be in
> SAFE configuration.  (When ARM/SAFE switch of the second bomb was found in
> the impact hole, it appeared to be in ARM configuration, but Sandia, the
> nation's leading nuke testing lab, found that the case was damaged, making
> it merely appear to be damaged, but it was, in fact, SAFE.)  What is it
> about this, then, that makes NatGeo and
> others call them ARMED, and NatGeo to even show a photo of a switch in
> ARMED
> configuration?  To embellish and sensationalize the story, do you s'pose?
> Sell more "papers?"
>
> Wilton
>
> - Original Message - From: "Rich Thomas via Mercedes" <
> mercedes@okiebenz.com>
> To: "Mercedes Discussion List" 
> Cc: "Rich Thomas" 
> Sent: Sunday, January 24, 2016 10:38 AM
> Subject: [MBZ] OT NC Nuked!
>
>
> On this day in 1961 a B-52 crashed near Goldsboro, NC (where Wilton
>> lives!) and dropped 2 nukes on the unsuspecting populace. Fortunately they
>> did not go off.
>>
>> Aside from that, those airplanes are still in service 55 years later...
>>
>> --R
>>
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>>
>
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Re: [MBZ] the thug in chief

2016-01-06 Thread Tim Crone via Mercedes
On Tue, Jan 5, 2016 at 10:20 AM, Dan Penoff via Mercedes
 wrote:
> When I was younger and especially as a child growing up in a very politically 
> active household, I never experienced the vitriol of the likes that we see 
> today.

Only because you're such a baby:
http://mentalfloss.com/article/12487/adams-vs-jefferson-birth-negative-campaigning-us

That's just the tip of the iceberg.

> I wonder if it's not due to the various news organizations and talking heads 
> that get the masses all whipped into a frenzy.  Especially those who cater to 
> people who might be less educated and more susceptible to parroting ideas 
> that are not of their own thought process.

There's a lot more on the A/J campaign, several books about that era.
A root of the problem was that the newspapers at the time were
explicitly partisan, and would cater to extremes in order to sell more
papers than their rivals... but ultimately you should read any of the
books.

> It's one thing to have opposing views, but to disrespect another just because 
> they think differently from you is something that I have a hard time 
> understanding.

Oh yeah?  Sez you.

Best,
Tim
wants to work on the SDL now that diesel is cheap again, but now that
the Christmas rush is over it's cold again :(

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Re: [MBZ] OT: How to divide my IMac

2015-12-15 Thread Tim Crone via Mercedes
On Dec 15, 2015 6:10 PM, "fmiser via Mercedes" 
wrote:
>
> > Andrew wrote:
> >
> > My former SWMBO  was excessively paranoid.
>
> Regardless of the level of paranoia, hard drive partitions
> have nothing to do with file system access privileges.

You'll notice he did not say "tech savvy".  I gather security theater goes
a long way in DC.

To the original question, obviously the best way to divide the iMac is to
donate it to a worthy charity.  Then its benefits can be shared by all.

Best,
Tim
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Re: [MBZ] Fw: Your ticket order #00000675441 approved

2015-12-07 Thread Tim Crone via Mercedes
On Dec 5, 2015 10:22 PM, "Curly McLain via Mercedes" 
wrote:
>
> a brute force attack on that trying various passwords incrementally will
take years (without using numbers or $p3c1al characters.)

http://arstechnica.com/security/2013/05/how-crackers-make-minced-meat-out-of-your-passwords/

I switched to a fully random password generator for most of my
financial-type accounts, after reading this article (now 2.5 years out of
date!).  If everything is properly salted it's not as bleak, but I don't
trust every vendor to get that right - even Ashley Madison thought they
were doing everything right, and an error was found such that most of the
passwords were cracked.

Best,
Tim
Has experienced that problem where he misplaced the password to his Mercedes
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Re: [MBZ] OT - note from Paris

2015-11-17 Thread Tim Crone via Mercedes
Wilt,

I'm glad your grandson is okay, and things are starting to normalize
for the city.

On Mon, Nov 16, 2015 at 7:24 PM, Dan Penoff via Mercedes
 wrote:
> You never watched the early iteration of CNN International, which I used to 
> see in overseas hotels on a regular basis.  They would rotate the stories 
> every 30 minutes, so that if you watched more than an hour you saw the same 
> stuff, over and over again, with minor embellishments.

Every time I'm at a place with any CNN channel on, it's some girl
reading tweets and playing youtube videos.  I don't get the business
model anymore, unless it's "trade on our good name".

Peace,
Tim

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Re: [MBZ] Turkey Baster

2015-11-17 Thread Tim Crone via Mercedes
>> My question is about the turkey baster  that is recommended for removing 
>> (sucking out), for example, the brake fluid from the master cylinder prior 
>> to flushing the brake system. The ones I have been using have been of poor 
>> quality,  do not extract quickly, and have a poor seal at the bulb. Probably 
>> I should not be using the same one for various fluids. I am not so foolish 
>> as to use the one belonging to the lady of the house.  Napa could only point 
>> me to a battery filler bulb for about $5. Turkey baster prices on Amazon 
>> range from about $3 to $10 (for an OXO). Ideally, I would like to get one 
>> that is of high quality, will last for years, and be inexpensive to replace.

I am skeptical that the baster will last very long once it has touched
brake fluid.  Maybe check with the local Dollar Tree and treat it as
disposable?

>> I am looking for suggestions on this, even suggestions for bypassing use of 
>> a turkey baster.

I used a long length of thin, flexible hose and gravity last time I
did a change.  To prime it I used the hand pump (actually I think it's
officially an oil pump) that I usually use with the fish tank - once
the fluid has pulled far enough you should pull the lower hose and
keep it from going through the pump assembly.

As an aside, do not let the brake fluid or vapor get near your mouth!
It's tempting after the pump gets loose the first couple times, but I
can pass along the experience that it is -not- worth it - just do it
right by using the pump to prime. :)

Best,
Tim

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Re: [MBZ] OT: Marshmallow for Android system

2015-11-17 Thread Tim Crone via Mercedes
On Tue, Nov 3, 2015 at 5:17 PM, Mountain Man via Mercedes
 wrote:
> Andrew wrote:
>> Google is slowly releasing the newest operating system, Android 6.0
>> (Marshmallow) to some Android mobile devices.
>
> My son signed up for the new Android phone with Marshmallow.  He
> doesn't use it much, so no mention of problems, but it is a new OS on
> new device with new plan.  I guess the plan is quite inexpensive.
> mao

It went through at least three rounds of public beta before final
release on the Nexus devices.  I've been using it on my Nexus 6 since
a couple days after the official release, the only bug I saw was a
crash in the Phone app that got fixed within the week.

On non-Nexus devices, it is very manufacturer-dependent whether it's
good to install an update.  Generally, some manufacturers (Motorola,
Sony, some HTC) do a great job testing and getting the kinks worked
out before pushing an update.  Other manufacturers (Samsung, everyone
else) do not, and their customers end up having serious issues after
the upgrade.

There are some really nice features in Marshmallow but it's not as big
a jump from a user perspective as Lollipop was from KitKat; mostly new
things that developers can use, but most apps have not been updated to
use them.  The only big thing I've noticed is that battery life is a
lot better if the phone is idle for large periods of time.

Best,
Tim
uses Android to carry around the W126 service manuals :)

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Re: [MBZ] UPS vs IPS

2015-10-09 Thread Tim Crone via Mercedes
On Oct 7, 2015 11:52 PM, "Jim Cathey via Mercedes" 
wrote:
>>
>
> Budget is essentially zero, as what we have serves the needs.
> We just charge UPS on rope-pull; heat water, cook, dry on BB.

May be time for an upgrade, that seems way too complicated.  Andrew says
solar is a good deal; I'll bet your generator could power a whole heap of
incandescents, and you could set up a fan + wind farm to keep them cool!

Best,
Tim
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Re: [MBZ] OT: DSL Modems

2015-10-06 Thread Tim Crone via Mercedes
On Mon, Oct 5, 2015 at 10:44 PM, Max Dillon via Mercedes
 wrote:

A lot of the DSL reliability issues seem to break down into phone line
isolation and wiring.  Make sure your filters are used on all the
voice lines, and that your wiring is good everywhere. (Hard to do in a
rental!)

> Very satisfied, BellSouth (now AT) has pretty good customer service and 
> I've never had an outage due to their side.  Every problem has been either 
> the modem  dying or me getting the settings wrong.

My experience is different, since AT now supports fiber in my area
they are trying hard to get me to switch from DSL.  Same price*, same
speed, possibly more reliable?  Oh, except "same price"* does not
include mandatory modem rental and multi-year contract.

When anything works, I've been 100% reliable on advertised speed, both
here (Chapel Hill NC) and at my old house (Durham NC).  Note that
advertised speed is also  the maximum I can get, 3Mbps. (Also the
maximum I can get under the fiber service mentioned above, for some
reason I don't understand.)

When it stops working, which seems to be happening once every quarter
over the past year that fiber (U-verse) has been available, I get no
customer service - the reps just say it is confirmed not working on
their end and they might have an ETA in 72 hours.  To their credit
it's only once been out longer than 24 hours, so I suppose that's
something.

(That said it is still a thousand times better than any service I got
with Time Warner; they'd have had me on hold for two hours, then sent
an "engineer" three to five days later who would not be able to fix or
isolate the problem.  So... YMMV.)

> I'm not in the game for speed, we only use email and web surfing, no video 
> streaming other than YouTube.  I think their slowest / cheapest is 25Mb/s, 
> one can pay more for faster service.

Here the slowest is 0.5Mb, fastest if you are close to the office is
6Mbps.  We are getting Google Fiber, though, so I'm sure that's part
of the push to move people into a contract while U-verse is still
competitive.

> I read a bunch of reviews before trying DSL, saw lots of bad experiences, 
> we've had none of them in over ten years of service.  It just works.  Modems 
> tend to die after two years or more, and I think the new type will cost about 
> $100 to replace if I want another AT brand.

For U-verse I'm pretty sure you are required to rent their modem.

For true DSL, modems are cheap, buy a spare at the thrift store.  If
it's carrier-branded it's easier to set up.  I've seen a fair few of
the Westell/Netgear with and without integrated wireless here, they
work pretty reliably.

Best,
Tim

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Re: [MBZ] OT: DSL Modems

2015-10-06 Thread Tim Crone via Mercedes
On Mon, Oct 5, 2015 at 4:51 PM, Craig via Mercedes
 wrote:
> Is there something better than the typical consumer DSL modems? Or are
> they now good enough? (Maybe I ought to resurrect our Cisco PIX-501
> firewall.)

I have a Cisco router with the DSL line card.  It was nice but I had
no performance benefit over the consumer DSL modem, and it frustrated
the customer service folks to no end.  I ended up putting a
Netgear/Westell 7550 in switching mode and it works just fine; it has
been up for several years straight now.  In Durham we were right on
the end of a long line, and I did not see any noise benefit with the
Cisco versus the Netgear.

Given that I got two 7550s for less than the price of the line card at
a thrift store, and the power utilization is much lower, I would
recommend them (or the 7500, which is the same but with no wireless -
and BTW you should turn off the wireless because it's awful).

To be honest I'd not be too worried about the performance of any
legacy DSL modem, they might differ at the distance boundaries but I'm
not sure your telco will sell you that speed anyway.  VDSL/ADSL2+ are
different but AT won't let you bring your modem, so I haven't really
looked into it.

Best,
Tim

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Re: [MBZ] 1987 300SDL Swap

2015-09-15 Thread Tim Crone via Mercedes
On Sep 14, 2015 11:11 PM, "WILTON via Mercedes" 
wrote:
>
> My (Tim's) 91 350SDL has right side air bag; no glove box.

Same for a couple later SDs I stripped in the junk yard.  My 87 300SDL does
not have a PS airbag.

I love the SDL (in principle; seems I love cleaning the house more in
practice :) but it is not a modern car.  I agree with Kaleb, anything over
$4k is because you want it, not because it is intrinsically valuable to the
average buyer.  May be worth splitting the difference with the seller?

Best,
Tim
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[MBZ] Car Naming

2015-09-01 Thread Tim Crone via Mercedes
It had never occurred to me, but seems obvious in retrospect:

http://xkcd.com/1571/

I'm not sure how far back his name database went, there would be a lot more
Ds pre-facelift I suppose.

Best,
Tim
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Re: [MBZ] OT: Windows 7 Windows Update Won't

2015-08-25 Thread Tim Crone via Mercedes
On Aug 25, 2015 1:12 AM, Craig via Mercedes mercedes@okiebenz.com wrote:

 I then tried with some more files and found it again would not download
 anything. I eventually rebooted the laptop, opened the Windows Task
 Manager, and then Windows Update. It again did not download anything.
 The Task Manager says that the CPU is being 100% utilized and that
 svchost.exe is the process that is doing the hogging.

There are a number of viruses that grab svchost and then go crazy.  There
are also several legitimate Windows services that occasionally go nuts as
well, the latter are usually self-healing when they finish or hit the
timeout.  At a guess it was doing a drive scan or something, stimulated by
the reboot.

Windows Update is very sensitive to network connections and other services
queuing up behind it.  The on-demand buttons seem to just be an illusion, I
think it just queries state stored from the last connection.  Anyway I
often have to stop and start the Windows Update service or the BITS service
to get it going.

If you don't have all the service packs, downloading those on another
system and installing them directly might ease some of the pain.

 Who is being reminded why he dislikes Windows.

This is nothing, just wait until you corrupt the registry! (Though to be
fair, my w7 systems have been exceptionally stable, at least once they got
setup and updated initially.)

Best,
Tim
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Re: [MBZ] car hacking

2015-08-25 Thread Tim Crone via Mercedes
On Aug 23, 2015 11:51 AM, Rich Thomas via Mercedes mercedes@okiebenz.com
wrote:

 This is quite fascinating
http://hackaday.com/2015/08/22/how-those-hacker-took-complete-control-of-that-jeep

In a similar vein, a rollup of the automotive hacking at the last security
convention:
.
http://arstechnica.com/security/2015/08/highway-to-hack-why-were-just-at-the-beginning-of-the-auto-hacking-era/

And here is where I eat the crow, I clearly underestimated how poorly the
interconnected software could be implemented by the manufacturers.  I still
don't see how car hacking can make money on any kind of scale, but if it's
easy then people will just do it for fun. :(

Best,
Tim
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Re: [MBZ] Some progress with Windows Update (but only a little ...)

2015-08-25 Thread Tim Crone via Mercedes
On Tue, Aug 25, 2015 at 5:57 PM, Darren Marshall via Mercedes
mercedes@okiebenz.com wrote:
 Craig, let me know if you want to buy an iMac...

Seems a little drastic.

Let me get out of the way that I am not a Windows guy.  At work I have
probably 30-50 Linux VMs outside IT that I've spun for various people,
and I spend less time managing those than the 5-10 long-running
Windows servers I've done.  I first installed Redhat 6 when that was
latest (not RHEL 6 :) and have had at least one Linux machine ever
since.  That said, the kids are using Windows at school, and so I have
had W7 on all my user machines at home for several years.

I've installed W7 probably 10 times at home (various
laptops/desktops/etc.), mostly on older machines.  It's always
performed better than XP on those systems, and for the most part
better than X Windows - at least from a startup/responsiveness
perspective.  These are home machines so are powered up and down all
the time. The kids log in, do stuff, and then I wipe the system and
install again after a while (aforementioned 'registry is stupid'
thought).  So far it has been pretty painless, but:
 1) I know where the drivers are for all the systems.  I usually stick
them on a USB the first time I have to get them, then update those I
can find the next install.
 2) I have figured out the trick for installing with the upgrade
licenses I have.  This is totally absurd but it's the game I play for
buying the cheap licenses.
 3) I always install on a fast-ish network, and plan to download all
the updates over the first few days.  I'll do one install the first
night, start the second in the morning, the third the next night, and
so on.  It's silly when I've been able to apt-get update since
forever, but it works.
 4) I forget to log out / power down at least once a week, so the
machine does its updates overnight on that day.
 5) HP printer drivers are bad.  The hacked ones on Linux are so much better.
 6) I once had to call in to proclaim to the lady that I was not using
the license elsewhere after a reinstall, but they've never hassled me
beyond that for redeploying it.

Really I think #3 is the key. Once everything is installed, the
updater does a good job keeping up, but the upgrades don't install
well out of order.  I assume they never fixed the requirement to
install updates in waves to account for this, but obviously it doesn't
work.  You can emulate this on a slower link by installing he latest
SP and then running updater, but that in itself is a pain. (For Craig,
if he was able to leave the system alone on the internet it would
eventually take care of itself, but it would probably take a few days
and obviously that's not reasonable on dialup.)

So, even though I'm a Linux geek, and tend to deploy them 5x as often
as Windows systems*, I think W7 is a decent OS, and a bit better than
XP on the same hardware.  You really don't have to be scared of it.

*Okay, that's hardly fair, we also have a lot of physical servers
outside IT: about 60% Unix, 20% each Linux/Windows, and one poor
little Mac Mini with a load of different OSX VMs.  But if we only
count general-computing x86 VMs...

Best,
Tim
wants to spend more time in the real Mercedes than the virtual PCs,
but one pays the bills and the other creates them :)

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Re: [MBZ] ? for the easterners

2015-08-07 Thread Tim Crone via Mercedes
On Aug 4, 2015 12:26 PM, WILTON via Mercedes mercedes@okiebenz.com
wrote:

  I vowed to return and do the  tour by myself, but have never returned.

The older Cub Scouts here (central NC) go annually, well worth the trip.  I
think we've aged out of the trip, at least until the baby is in Webelos.

To the original question, we tend to visit:
Savannah
Myrtle Beach
NC Outer Banks / eastern forests

Savannah is a nice historic city, my wife and I go there on long weekends
without children. (Charleston has a similar reputation, but I've never
stayed in the city personally.) We always stay in the historic section of
Savannah, where it is easy to walk to various places / monuments /
squares.  It is heavily dependent on summer tourism so I don't know what is
closed in winter, but the displays should be up if you like walking and
touring.  I have been satisfied with my walking guidebook of Savannah,
though we did take a ghost tour one year that was fun.  Savannah is a
working port, so you can find anything you want in the city proper
year-round.

Myrtle has a lot of stuff to do if you want to try different restaurants,
see shows, etc., and also sit on the beach.  We take the kids there most
Thanksgivings (and I usually wear a light jacket at most).  It is the Vegas
of SC, without the legal gambling but with an ocean.  Not my thing but the
wife and kids prefer it.  The ocean water is cool by November but
tolerable.  If you are a swimmer many hotels have indoor pools that use
filtered ocean water, so you can have the experience without the ick.

The Outer Banks are good if you like to explore nature.  Lots of fishing
and swimming (maybe not so much of the latter in winter).  There's a lot of
hiking - big forests on the mainland, too - if that appeals. You'd be
comfortable in a light jacket, but probably not without.  It is cheap to
visit the OB in winter, but you may have to bring in and prepare your own
food and drink as a lot of the businesses are closed.

Personally I would stay out of Florida, maybe bring along a functional but
dirty 140 to lure Penoff north.  Refugees from Florida have told me St. Aug
is decent, but as you go south you lose the Southern vibe and it gets nasty
fast.  That said if you want to swim in the ocean you may need to go there,
and if so I'm sorry...

In your shoes I'd probably go to Charleston for the company/ocean or
Savannah for the history, and I think you'll find it's pretty comfortable
in either.  Just wanted to present some alternatives that might make for
different kinds of trips.  Hope you have a great time!

Best,
Tim
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Re: [MBZ] OT gold (and everything else) is crashing

2015-08-07 Thread Tim Crone via Mercedes
On Aug 3, 2015 11:22 AM, Andrew Strasfogel via Mercedes 
mercedes@okiebenz.com wrote:

 A Washington Porst reporter binge-read ALL of Trump's books over a single
 weekend!  His observtions are worth noting, since he is the likely R
 standard bearer.

I'm just curious if hire an assistant man has read them all himself.  I'm
not particularly surprised the reporter thinks they are disjointed.

Once upon a time a tool guy told me Colin Powell does his own work on his
Volvos.  Why isn't he running?

In other news, I got to spend 20 minutes looking at the SDLs' engines the
other day.  More on that later, the up shot is that I'm feeling better
about moving the 300's engine rather than just the head.

Best,
Tim
Not running for president
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Re: [MBZ] OT: Windows 7 Questions

2015-07-29 Thread Tim Crone via Mercedes
On Jul 29, 2015 2:26 PM, Craig via Mercedes mercedes@okiebenz.com wrote:

 Now I just need to how to activate my installation of Win7.

Windows will try to activate over the internet with the key you gave for
install, if it wasn't installed on that machine before.  If the activation
fails, you'll get a message in the system tray, but only after you have
connected to the internet at least once (i.e. your NIC works).  I'm not
sure what happens after the activation timer expires (30 days or whatever
it is now).  You should not have to enable any special services.

If you open properties on my computer it will say whether the system is
activated.  I don't think there's a persistent affirmative message.

You might be able to force activation by running Windows Update and
installing the Malware Detection application.  I usually just wait it out.

If you are only offline, I think you will eventually get the same icon in
the system tray, and it will present a dialog box with information on how
you can call in to get an activation key.

Best,
Tim
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Re: [MBZ] S500 Ouchies

2015-07-20 Thread Tim Crone via Mercedes
On Jul 19, 2015 2:13 PM, Rich Thomas via Mercedes mercedes@okiebenz.com
wrote:

 Probably kept quiet.  I'll be seeing the SIL in a little while, will ask
her

 --R

Maybe UNC ran out of money after restoring Frampton's back pay.
(Fun read for the peanut gallery:
http://mungowitzend.blogspot.com/2015/06/frampton-comes-home.html
)

At NC State in 98 or so I took an intro to economics class with a bunch of
athletes, and they had a surprisingly difficult time of it - yet in the end
almost everyone got an A.  However, I can confirm that work was done, as I
helped a number of my classmates with homework. (And thenceforth tried to
take math-y classes only with other engineering students...)

Best,
Tim
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Re: [MBZ] CRASH ALERT!

2015-07-10 Thread Tim Crone via Mercedes
On Thu, Jul 9, 2015 at 10:08 PM, Jaime Kopchinski via Mercedes
mercedes@okiebenz.com wrote:
 http://images.jaimekop.com/2004_11_29_W126_COMAND/IMG_0543.JPG

You park your automatics in neutral?

Best,
Tim

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Re: [MBZ] OT web cam and cheap tablet

2015-07-08 Thread Tim Crone via Mercedes
 On Jul 6, 2015 1:41 PM, Rich Thomas via Mercedes mercedes@okiebenz.com
wrote:
 
  Or, web cam and existing fone or ipad...
 
  Now I am wondering if I could use a cheap tablet as a monitor for it,
somehow.  I have an old Android phone and an old ifone too, there is a VLC
app for the phones and ipad, so I am wondering if that might work somehow.
If I could get it working then I could buy one of those $50 tablets and
have a continuous monitor.  THere might be some other apps too, I have not
looked into it.

I have an application called TinyCam (Android) that does this, no idea
whether it will support your camera.  I have also heard of IP Cam and Quick
Cam (I think).  There are another hundred of these apps in the store, many
of them hardware specific, if the generic ones don't work.  I assume the
Apple store is similarly blessed with options.

I would not bother with VLC for this use, at least on Android.  I expect
one of the aforementioned apps will work more conveniently.

Best,
Tim
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[MBZ] OT: Happy 4th!

2015-07-02 Thread Tim Crone via Mercedes
Hope all the Americans on the list have a pleasant holiday, and the
rest of you lot have a quiet and pleasant 4th of July.  A very sincere
thank you to the veterans and active servicefolk who have helped us
keep our independence for so long.

In other news, the year is half over, and I've spent maybe 10 hours on
the SDLs.  I could work on them, but instead we are going to visit DC
so I can be around the other people who do 20 hours of work in a year.
:)

Best,
Tim

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Re: [MBZ] Apple

2015-06-18 Thread Tim Crone via Mercedes
On Jun 18, 2015 10:36 AM, Andrew Strasfogel via Mercedes 
mercedes@okiebenz.com wrote:

 No one can hack my 1983 300TD.  I have a totally impenetrable firewall.

Have hack saw, will hack.

 On Thu, Jun 18, 2015 at 10:17 AM, Dan Penoff via Mercedes 
 mercedes@okiebenz.com wrote:

  They're far from superior and invincible, that's for sure. No fanboy
here.
  Just opining over why this makes headlines when there are similar issues
  with other OS' and rarely ever press about it.

Remember the fuss over the OpenSSL issue?  White hats are getting better at
marketing, what with their fancy names and a growing realization that
computers hold a lot of information.  At the same time, Microsoft has done
a good job embracing the position of least secure OS in public, so
serious Windows bugs don't make headlines even though they are increasingly
rare.

  Agreed with the car situation. No matter who runs under the hood, it's
  going to be a big bullseye for hackers. Did the guys hack the cars at
the
  Black Hat gathering yet, or has that yet to take place?

I have to disagree.  It will be fun to say I hacked the car but
ultimately you don't get much out of it.  Even if you could tell the car to
lock the doors and self destruct, you can't go spending a found credit card
number, sending spam, or running a botnet like you can with a networked
device.  Locking the doors, or not starting, and demanding a ransom only
works when the user is networked, but you could already do that on
post-Onstar GM cars and AFAIK no one has.  Ultimately it's just hard to
make money hacking cars, and the capable black hats tend to prefer having
compensation beyond lulz.

If you have an enemy state that hacks the cars remotely (and how terrible
would that design have to be!) you could use them to create a traffic jam
in DC or something, but you can't force them to refuel so you're pretty
limited in range.

I'm more concerned about bugs, but most computers are probably better
drivers than me when I'm tired.  I am still probably not going to buy
release 1.0. :)

Best,
Tim
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Re: [MBZ] List Mail

2015-05-03 Thread Tim Crone via Mercedes
Wilton, I am seeing your mail on the list, way back to ? a few days back.

Does anyone else see this mail?  I have quarantine only for DMARC set for
my domain, so if people are seeing it maybe their domains just started
honoring the setting - as of a few weeks ago, Gmail completely ignored the
quarantine/reject option set by the sender domain.

Best,
Tim
On May 3, 2015 5:02 AM, WILTON via Mercedes mercedes@okiebenz.com wrote:

 Mine are not delivered.  Mine not Yahoo.

 Wilton

 - Original Message - From: Rick Knoble via Mercedes 
 mercedes@okiebenz.com
 To: d...@penoff.com; Mercedes Discussion List mercedes@okiebenz.com;
 Kaleb C. Striplin ka...@striplin.net
 Sent: Friday, May 01, 2015 1:58 PM
 Subject: Re: [MBZ] List Mail


  Here is what I found on a brief search. It explains why the list got
 buggered about a year ago, regarding yahoo mail addys.


 http://blog.mandrill.com/yahoos-recent-dmarc-changes-and-how-that-impacts-senders.html


 http://yahoo.tumblr.com/post/82426971544/an-update-on-our-dmarc-policy-to-protect-our-users

 Key sentence. On Friday afternoon last week, Yahoo made a simple change
 to its DMARC policy from report to reject. In other words, we requested
 that all other mail services reject emails claiming to come from a Yahoo
 user, but not signed by Yahoo.


 http://www.pcworld.com/article/2141120/yahoo-email-antispoofing-policy-breaks-mailing-lists.html

 http://marketingland.com/email-senders-stymied-yahoo-mail-79442

 AOL too.

 http://postmaster-blog.aol.com/2014/04/22/aol-mail-updates-dmarc-policy-to-reject/

 How to fix it.


 http://www.spamresource.com/2014/04/run-email-discussion-list-heres-how-to.html?m=1

 http://blog.threadable.com/how-threadable-solved-the-dmarc-problem

 http://dmarc.org/faq.html#s_3


 http://onlinegroups.net/blog/2014/04/10/yahoo-dmarc-better-mailing-list-manager/

 For Apache mailing lists.

 http://www.sunstarsys.com/essays/mailing-lists

 For Mailman lists.

 
 http://www.mail-archive.com/search?q=dmarc+fixl=mailman-users%40python.org

 http://wiki.list.org/DOC/Frequently Asked
 Questions?action=fullsearchtitlesearch=0value=dmarccontext=180

 http://www.mail-archive.com/search?l=mailman-us...@python.orgq=subject
 :Re%3A+[Mailman-Users]+Which+from%2C+reply+and+DMARC+settings+for+a+discussion+group%3Fo=newestf=1

 http://wiki.list.org/DEV/DMARC

 Best answer here?
 https://blog.tigertech.net/posts/mailman-updated-fixes-dmarc/

 I apologize for the number of links. The final one may propose the
 easiest, most comprehensive solution.

 Rick
 Sent from my BlackBerry Z10

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Re: [MBZ] Park your Toyota Pious

2015-05-02 Thread Tim Crone via Mercedes
On Apr 27, 2015 10:09 PM, Curt Raymond via Mercedes mercedes@okiebenz.com
wrote:

 And we live in a big 'ole country with lots of different places. Here
we've got lots of water while you've got little. Here were there is history
stuff is close together.

I know I'm late to the party, just wanted to add the data point that my
manager uses a Leaf exclusively, a 30-something mile each way commute (all
highway), and a 110V charger at home.  He had some range anxiety over
winter - he was approaching 10% when he got home, and couldn't charge
quickly enough to get back to 100% by the morning - but as it has warmed up
he says he's closer to 40%.

Coincidentally I asked him about it yesterday, he is still very happy with
the car.  For him it was a purely financial decision, he's not committed to
electric one way or the other - he just took the lease deal because it was
a cheap way to commute.

Best,
Tim
might possibly maybe get to work on the SDLs today, if the rain passes
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Re: [MBZ] Perpetual motion at last!

2015-03-10 Thread Tim Crone via Mercedes
On Mar 9, 2015 2:44 PM, Rich Thomas via Mercedes mercedes@okiebenz.com
wrote:

 I think if all cars had a windmill on top that could generate electricity
to run the motors we would see huge fuel savings.

http://www.autoblog.com/2007/10/29/video-imiev-has-wind-turbine-in-the-grill-solar-panel-on-the-r/

I vaguely recall BMW was working on wind turbines at around the same time,
to replace the alternator for performance reasons.  I can't imagine that
would work well in stop-and-go, though, and I couldn't find the article in
a few seconds of searching.

Best,
Tim
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Re: [MBZ] OT: Parental Control Hardware

2015-03-06 Thread Tim Crone via Mercedes
On Mar 5, 2015 4:49 PM, Scott Ritchey via Mercedes mercedes@okiebenz.com
wrote:

 to this but I'm concerned about inappropriate use, particularly by the
young
 folks.  A little Google searching turned up SkyDog (no longer available),
 BUC Tools box or router (looks promising),  iBoss router, and several
 Linksys routers that have parental controls.

I wouldn't use the embedded parental controls on a consumer router.  Just
bias.

For your situation I'd suggest something like openDNS for content
filtering, but it is really easy to bypass when used alone.  If you set up
your router to filter all other DNS requests, though, you're getting into
real geek territory to bypass.

A quick search found someone using DD-WRT to do this.  Can't vouch for the
source but it looks about right:
http://www.4thinker.com/parental-control.html

DD-WRT also has the advantage of being able to configure a captive portal
and welcome page, so you can easily block abusive users and make your use
expectations clear. (That said I use a chromecast in my Sunday School class
and that wouldn't work on a captive portal, though it would work fine on a
separate secure SSID.)

Lastly, I'd be remiss if I didn't remind you to come up with a plan for
staff to exempt them from the blocks.  Some day it will happen that the
association of evangelicals, or something important anyway, will be blocked
at 9pm Saturday, and you don't want to be the one man with the key.  If
you're using DD-WRT throughout that could be as simple as a second SSID, or
if you only have one at the head you could probably configure a captive
portal login for important users.

Feel free to contact off list if you have specific questions, or I'm not
answering on list. :)

Best,
Tim
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Re: [MBZ] OT: More IT, good wireless router / DSL Modem options

2015-02-27 Thread Tim Crone via Mercedes
On Fri, Feb 27, 2015 at 1:20 AM, Meade Dillon via Mercedes
mercedes@okiebenz.com wrote:
 My $30 router/modem has (partially) died after just a few years.

 Suggestions on a replacement?  I liked having both DSL modem and wireless
 router in one package, but if a good argument can be made for splitting
 them up, I'm open to that.

DSL modems tend to have poor integrated wireless APs.  Using a modem
as a modem allows you to replace it when you need to do so, likewise
using a wireless access point allows you to upgrade (11ac, 5GHz,
antennas, better distance, whatever).

I liked my Asus RT-N13u well enough.  My Linksys 11ac model is faster
and has 5GHz.  Before that I used an 11n Belkin for several years.

Most of the internal chipsets are similar, and will have similar
issues, so grabbing any brand-name consumer router is probably a
reasonable choice.  Once you have it set up you shouldn't have to look
at the horrid UI again.  Many routers are supported by DD-WRT if you
have a yearning to hack your network, so if you are shopping that
might be worth checking.

Best,
Tim

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Re: [MBZ] OT: FCC Net Neutrality

2015-02-27 Thread Tim Crone via Mercedes
On Fri, Feb 27, 2015 at 1:00 PM, Curt Raymond via Mercedes
mercedes@okiebenz.com wrote:
 People getting their internet through a telco are already being taxed, 
 Comcast has been getting a free ride in that regard.

I am 100% with Dan and Curt on this, in theory.

The cable and telephone companies have been enjoying enforced monopoly
status, but (at least since they stopped rolling out wire) haven't
been providing any real benefit to the public in exchange for their
continued monopoly position.  At least in the urban central NC areas,
this means they have perpetually raised rates without investing in
infrastructure, and so now have a non-competitive, unreliable,
overpriced product - or at least, it seems like it should be
relatively so, given that we aren't allowed to get offerings from
other companies.

If I wouldn't get shot or put in jail for calling Comcast or Charter
or some other non-preordained wireline service provider, I would
probably be against incremental regulation... But the fact is that I
-would- end up facing the full force of the law, and Time Warner could
call the cops if I got Charter to agree to service my house - a house
they won't actually service, incidentally, but that got put in their
territory long before I was born.  If the providers are going to get
unique protection of government then they should at least suck it up
and not abuse their customers.  When Great Britain has a freer ISP
market than the US, you know there is a problem.

That said the FCC document is still secret, so who knows what was
actually recommended.

Best,
Tim
does not pull cable with his MBZs... yet...
also does not have broadband access, according to the federal definition

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Re: [MBZ] OT: FCC Net Neutrality

2015-02-27 Thread Tim Crone via Mercedes
On Fri, Feb 27, 2015 at 2:19 PM, rogerhga--- via Mercedes
mercedes@okiebenz.com wrote:

 People getting their internet through a telco are already being taxed, 
 Comcast has been getting a free ride in that regard.
 
 Curt,
   You are right, except that going forward the governments (state and 
 local) will now have the authority and justification to add more taxes.  If 
 you want to give the government more money, just increase your federal tax 
 check.  I for one, already pay way too much.

?

You're both wrong, the cable companies paid for their monopolies:
 - roll out requirements
 - public service channels, sometimes including facilities
 - utility commission oversight
 - campaign support to public officials

Once roll out was complete, they continued public service channels and
campaign financing. In NC cable companies are regulated only by the
state (as of a few years ago), so they only have to bribe state
officials to reduce the other payments.

That's every bit as tax as the $0.70 USF on my phone bill.  Besides,
you don't need Title II to get a unit tax like the USF - congress /
state / local lawmakers don't seem to have a problem letting
regulators add fees on a whim.  In this area we have a special tax on
car rentals, for example.

Best,
Tim
ex-member of the Cable TV Advisory Board for Durham

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Re: [MBZ] OT: FCC Net Neutrality

2015-02-27 Thread Tim Crone via Mercedes
On Fri, Feb 27, 2015 at 3:06 PM, Curly McLain 126die...@gmail.com wrote:
 It is as much about that as the ACA is about healthcare.   (only makes it
 worse and way more costly)  THat is why you can't read it.

 Oppose it.

 Favor it or do nothing: you will get worse service for a lot more money

I work in an area that is very heavy with technology jobs - Cisco,
Broadcom, EMC, NetApp, Google, SAS, Qualcomm, Merrill Lynch, GSK, etc.
Political views are all literally over the map - broadly, Chapel Hill
is very Democrat, Cary is very Libertarian and/or conservative, Durham
is very liberal, Raleigh is very Republican.  We don't agree on much,
lunch is usually interesting when there is politics afoot.

A year ago, ATT was blocking Netflix; Verizon sold Durham to
Frontier, who is just horrid; Time Warner will send you to collections
even if you are paid up, doesn't provide service, etc. etc..  Same
issues for everyone.  We all hate all the local providers.  Network
neutrality was one of the few things we all agreed on, at least to a
few months back. (The big challenge is reasonable network management,
but ultimately you have to trust the company to do the right thing, or
else regulate them to do something specific.)

Reasoning seemed to be:
- The liberals resent that ISPs are milking them for every dime,
coming and going.  And that they can buy politicians or whatever.  If
I had a nickel for every mention of Citizens United...
- The conservatives resent that ISPs restrict access to legal content
on a whim, like 3-D gun models or sites they decide not to like, often
for political reasons.
- The libertarians resent the enforced non-competition and fleecing of
customers.
- The neo-liberals resent that those of us living in rural areas don't
get access to a network, and aren't allowed to get access to a
network.

We nerds were talking about this long before Obama and the news
organizations weighed in. (This was back when we thought the FCC chair
was just another patsy for the CTIA, like his predecessor.) The courts
ruled that Verizon needed to be regulated as a utility in order to be
restricted by such rules as 'provide access to legal content' and 'not
block competing content' and 'not block things you don't like for
political reasons', even as a monopoly provider.  Given that Verizon
was already doing all three of these (hence the lawsuit), and the only
way to change the behavior was to implement the rules, we were
basically all in favor of implementing the rules.

I'm more libertarian than most of my colleagues/friends so it was a
harder sell for me.  Pragmatically, I don't see how we can get any
real deregulation in the ISP market, so if there is going to be
content-blocking and whatnot going on I'd rather it be done publicly
rather than by private corporations at random.  At least if we're
going to block the American Nazi Party or the IRA or the RNC we'll
know it's blocked, as opposed to what Verizon was doing and silently
killing off sites they didn't like.

Frankly our infrastructure is bad, and expensive, and has a terrible
reputation for reliability, but that's not something the FCC is
addressing.  The new rules, according to what has actually been said
by actual FCC commissioners, will make it harder to block content,
which may or may not lead to higher prices.  The rules do not
guarantee access like the CLECs used to have, at least according to
the FCC commissioner.

Of course the FCC doesn't publish interim rules, so while
theoretically something has been done we won't know until it's
official.  Obviously I have a problem with that, but if the rules are
too far from what was presented a few weeks ago then the FCC will lose
its allies and Congress will happily overturn them posthaste, so I
expect they are mostly similar to what we nerds were wanting.

Anyway, that to say that as a nerd I'm pretty happy with what has been
publicly discussed by the FCC folks, from an IT/legal standpoint.

Best,
Tim

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Re: [MBZ] OK What do you think?

2015-02-24 Thread Tim Crone via Mercedes
On Mon, Feb 23, 2015 at 10:43 AM, Rich Thomas via Mercedes
mercedes@okiebenz.com wrote:
 I know we are all pretty much cheapasses but wifey wants a new vehicle and

Not Mercedes but...

My wife works at the Ford dealer in CH.  At first I was happy that I
could get the employee discount, but having seen the reliability of
her two brand new cars, I am assuredly not buying anything made by
Ford in the past few years.  It's not that they don't fix the products
under warranty - they do try, anyway - but I don't have time to keep
dropping the vehicle for service, and our local dealers don't comp
rentals on warranty claims.

 extended warranty to go along with a used one, the CPOs have something like
 that, would have to look into details.  I know you can get something from

Wife says Ford CPO deals are better than buying new because the
warranty runs longer, but the incremental price is low relative to the
cost of buying new.  I am reasonably happy with the performance of the
van (2011 Ford E350) aside from fuel economy, so by extension a
few-year-old Explorer might be a good choice.  I also really liked the
2005 Escape Hybrid, but the transfer case ate itself - still a newer
or 2WD model might be okay.  That said my next vehicle will almost
certainly not be a Ford, even if I could get a CPO with the bugs
worked out.

There is a big Carmax on the northwest side of Raleigh, which isn't
terribly far out of the way of your SIL.  Many other dealers along
that strip as well, you could make an Easter junket and see what you
see.

Best,
Tim

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Re: [MBZ] OT Robocalls

2015-02-17 Thread Tim Crone via Mercedes
On Mon, Feb 16, 2015 at 1:44 PM, Max Dillon via Mercedes
mercedes@okiebenz.com wrote:
 Long time ago I had an answering machine that could be set to start with the 
 three tones used to signal the phone service had been disconnected.  Very 
 effective at stopping the unwanted calls.  Real humans would listen past the 
 tone, then either leave a message or try again later.

I had one of these that did the same:

http://www.amazon.com/Privacy-Technologies-TZ-900-TeleZapper-900/dp/B6881R

Reviews are poor but mine seemed to work well enough, though you still
have to grab the phone unless you screen calls.

Now I use an ObiTalk and Google Voice, and get basically no robocalls.

Best,
Tim

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Re: [MBZ] OT Welding learnings

2015-02-17 Thread Tim Crone via Mercedes
On Mon, Feb 16, 2015 at 1:45 PM, Rich Thomas via Mercedes
mercedes@okiebenz.com wrote:
 Flux Cored Arc Welding I

 baking, just learn techniques and such.  I probably would not need english
 to weld?

They're going to make you take it (probably algebra also).  I doubt
you're allowed to talk to anyone who will care enough to waive
prereqs.  And it's free, why waste your time fighting?

I'd say, go visit the professor and explain the situation, and ask if
you can come to some kind of agreement.  CC profs tend to be pretty
lenient, though there might be an overall attendance policy that can't
be worked around.

Best,
Tim

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Re: [MBZ] Looking for a Galaxy Mega unlocked 19205

2015-02-10 Thread Tim Crone via Mercedes
On Feb 10, 2015 6:56 AM, archer75--- via Mercedes mercedes@okiebenz.com
wrote:


 Listers,
 Can someone suggest a reliable online cellphone seller? I'm looking for a
Samsung Galaxy Mega unlocked #19205.

That's i9205 (the letter i, not the number one).

I have had good success with Amazon, even if the seller is a bad apple
Amazon customer service will make it right.  I would tend to stick with
larger sellers, but I'm not too shy of seller reviews as long as the
description is complete.

Best,
Tim
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Re: [MBZ] Fwd: OT fried receiver and sound y8anetu3

2015-02-09 Thread Tim Crone via Mercedes
On Feb 8, 2015 12:39 PM, Rich Thomas via Mercedes mercedes@okiebenz.com
wrote:

 The relay clicks like a machine gun on startup so I guess some sort of
overvoltage protection is kicking in. Anyone have any luck doing anything
with stuff like this?

I have two receivers with bad HDMI boards, on the Denon (which is what I
use normally) l only have to fully disconnect the HDMI board - three
internal cables - and it magically starts working until the next power
event.

The HK I need to resolder, so that is a project for a cold weekend when
nothing else is planned. (If such a thing exists...)

BTW you should always check your cabling, maybe try
http://www.audiovisualonline.co.uk/product/8041/audioquest-diamond-rj-e-ethernet-cable-12m

Best,
Tim
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[MBZ] Moody E430 owners

2015-02-04 Thread Tim Crone via Mercedes
http://raleigh.craigslist.org/cto/4876983083.html

Not sure if the car runs or how many miles are on it, I gather this
fellow just likes sitting in it.  Not mine and no interest...

Best,
Tim
---
Be Proud of Yourself - Mercedes E430 + Beautiful and Runs Great -
$3900 (Durham - Duke Univ)


Hi. You want a nice Mercedes.
Here is your chance. It is a beautiful car and it runs great.

This was a $60,000 car. Only you will know you paid less than $4000.

Successful people drive Mercedes. Welcome to our club.

Now, you can have one!

Same local owner for the past 10 years.
NO accidents. Original paint.

It has all the features you want..
Sunroof.
Bose Audio system.
Power Leather seats.
It is a dream to drive.
New set of Continental tires.

The Mercedes E430 is an executive luxury car. It is made for the road,
and it rides like a cloud.

Built to last. They are made with high quality, durable materials.
This is why we buy Mercedes, they are built for long life. This car is
ready for years of good driving.


$3900 is a great price for this Mercedes E430

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Re: [MBZ] I must be pregnant

2015-01-29 Thread Tim Crone via Mercedes
On Thu, Jan 29, 2015 at 4:40 PM, Andrew Strasfogel
astrasfo...@gmail.com wrote:
 LOL!

 I withdraw the mirth in case you weren't trying to be funny.

All I have to say is, the breaks work on that car.
-Tim

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Re: [MBZ] I must be pregnant

2015-01-29 Thread Tim Crone via Mercedes
On Thu, Jan 29, 2015 at 11:35 AM, Andrew Strasfogel via Mercedes
mercedes@okiebenz.com wrote:
 My 1983 300TD performs like a Porsche.

My 87 300SDL also performs like a Porch, except that it mostly blocks
out the breeze with the doors closed.

(RIP RLE.)

Best,
Tim

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Re: [MBZ] I must be pregnant

2015-01-28 Thread Tim Crone via Mercedes
On Jan 28, 2015 4:26 PM, Kaleb C. Striplin via Mercedes 
mercedes@okiebenz.com wrote:

 Because I have a strange urge. I have the urge for about a 77-79 240d
automatic and I'm not sure why. Maybe it's because that was my first car.

My auto 74 240D was quite drivable.  Was the 115 that much lighter than the
77?  I really liked the 115; though I did enjoy my 123 it just never felt
quite as polished.

Best,
Tim
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Re: [MBZ] OT: Snowmageddon ---- 2015 Blizzard Bust

2015-01-28 Thread Tim Crone via Mercedes
On Jan 27, 2015 2:34 PM, Craig via Mercedes mercedes@okiebenz.com wrote:

 How are you guys there? Curt? Fred? Jon?

I have been in Allentown, PA since Saturday; when the news folks started
talking up the Sunday storm I was worried about driving home (later
today).  We got an inch or two, the kids saw some snow blowing and threw
some snowballs.  A nice snow, but somewhat cooler than I prefer. :)

Interestingly many of the city roads still aren't cleared from Saturday
morning, and the talk on the streets was that folks were glad it wasn't
worse here Sunday night because we just aren't prepared like they are up
north - almost exactly the same conversation I hear when it doesn't snow
in NC.  Given that, I did think it odd that almost every parking lot was
cleared by of the Sunday night snow by early Monday morning.

I observe that some people here cannot drive in any weather, but maybe
those are the New Yorkers.  It was reasonably pleasant on the unscraped
roads, and I didn't hit any interesting ice in the freezing or just above
temps.  I even went without a coat a couple of times.

Hope you folks further north were indeed better prepared, and the rest of
the week has been pleasant.

Best,
Tim
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Re: [MBZ] Club Store Tires - Lesson Learned

2015-01-26 Thread Tim Crone via Mercedes
On Jan 26, 2015 11:44 AM, Curly McLain via Mercedes mercedes@okiebenz.com
wrote:

 in my experience, their tars are designed to fail under warranty so you
keep coming back.

I've had the opposite experience, the tires from local dealers fail quickly
while the Sam's tires keep on going.  The Sam's tire guys are also much
more professional than the locals, even the chains.

This may just be reflective of the poor quality of our local dealers and
mechanics.

Best,
Tim
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Re: [MBZ] Burnin' daylight

2015-01-22 Thread Tim Crone via Mercedes
On Thu, Jan 22, 2015 at 8:46 AM, WILTON via Mercedes
mercedes@okiebenz.com wrote:
 Up and at 'em, daylight's aburnin' here in the eastern zone!

When I got the 3yo up (at the usual time) he asked if it was still
bedtime because it was so dark.  I don't mind the cold, but the wet
weekends have been driving me nuts!

 Meanwhile, my gas-fired boiler for circulating hot water heating system quit 
 yesterday, and I'm awaiting repairman.  Heat pump's aworking', though, so 
 maybe I can stand it.;)

I keep electric heaters for when I run out of propane.  Hopefully that
won't happen again, but it pays to have a backup.  Keep warm!

Best,
Tim

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Re: [MBZ] singer 242

2015-01-16 Thread Tim Crone via Mercedes
On Thu, Jan 15, 2015 at 5:13 PM, Mitch Haley via Mercedes 
mercedes@okiebenz.com wrote:


 I saw a 66 on ebay that bears somewhat of a resemblance to my sister's
 Singer.
 Hers is in an old sewing machine cabinet complete with treadle drive, no
 electrics. I'm reasonably sure the machine, cabinet, and treadle are
 original to each other.

 Any idea what one like that is worth?


They are fairly cheap, unless you have one of the really unusual cabinets.
I see them pop up in thrift stores with some regularity - up to $75 for the
regular cast iron bases, less for the small wood electric cabinets.  I have
a #21 cabinet; it is the only one I have ever seen in person of the
drawing-room types, so I can't really guess what those are worth. (It is
also the only cabinet I did not donate when I moved.)

http://ismacs.net/singer_sewing_machine_company/singer_sewing_machine_cabinets.html

From a value perspective, the machine is mostly decoration for most buyers,
so having it doesn't add significant value unless it is in pristine
condition.

There was (is?) an official Singer motor that attaches to the back of the
treadle machines to convert them; you could probably find one on eBay.
Unless your sister loves the ankle exercise, that might make the machine
more useful.

The ancient Singers are the 240Ds of sewing machines, in more ways than
one.  I'm not surprised there are so many in the group...

Best,
Tim
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Re: [MBZ] OT - A COUNTRY BOY REMEMBERS - TOM NELMS FARM, PART III

2015-01-16 Thread Tim Crone via Mercedes
On Thu, Jan 15, 2015 at 6:05 PM, WILTON via Mercedes mercedes@okiebenz.com
wrote:

 ...   (well, I thought it was large then)

... a shiny, new, un-painted B-17


Takes a special kind of person to think a B-17 isn't a large aircraft. A
well-earned version of special, in any case. :)

Thanks for the story!
-Tim
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Re: [MBZ] Charlotte

2015-01-15 Thread Tim Crone via Mercedes
On Wed, Jan 14, 2015 at 2:18 PM, Kaleb C. Striplin via Mercedes 
mercedes@okiebenz.com wrote:

 I'm only here till mid day Thursday. I'm in meetings all day anyway.


Bummer.  Next time give us some advance notice. :)

Safe travels!

Best,
Tim
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Re: [MBZ] OT: Microwaves

2015-01-15 Thread Tim Crone via Mercedes
On Wed, Jan 14, 2015 at 9:59 PM, Jim Cathey via Mercedes 
mercedes@okiebenz.com wrote:

 from the parts oven in the garage, and it's back in service.


Parts oven.  Well played.

Best,
Tim
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Re: [MBZ] Ubuntu question

2015-01-15 Thread Tim Crone via Mercedes
On Tue, Jan 13, 2015 at 3:15 PM, Curly McLain via Mercedes 
mercedes@okiebenz.com wrote:


 Can you imagine a world without smartphones?


The only thing I liked about working at Broadcom (that wasn't a paycheck)
was that I could always walk around outside and think, my company has
literally changed the world.


 7 years and a few days ago, Steve Jobs introduced the iphone.  Before that
 there were cell phones, and a few PDAs that never really caught on.  (I
 have a TRG Pro i bought for my daughter to use as an exchange student if
 anyone wants a museum piece.)


Hah!  Funny that no one remembers Palm, Windows Mobile, Blackberry...  All
of which I owned before iPhone created the smartphone market.  All of
which copied and pasted before iPhone, for that matter.

The biggest problem for older smartphones, in my view, is that they were
crazy expensive - $600+ on contract - and you had to buy the expensive
Blackberry add-on if you went that route.  I got lucky, my cheapish WM
phone with no touchscreen got knackered and Sprint replaced it with a Treo
755P.  PalmOS had an amazing aftermarket web browser (Xiino?) that was
roughly on par with Android's old Browser app.  It also had things like
VOIP calling, great task and business apps, mobile e-mail, and a real
keyboard.  The WM phones were even better equipped and had multi-tasking,
but had a tendency to crash once a day or so.  You also had to do a lot of
application management, the carriers were doing bloatware even then.  WM
did not have a nice interface for application management, so you had to do
all kinds of things to add and remove programs.  Palm was better, but the
OS was single-tasking so it was hard to do real work.

For the first few years, the WM folks called the iPhone a dumbphone
because so much functionality was 'coming in future releases.'

Looking back, the thing iPhone really brought to the table was the concept
of a built-in application store.  If you weren't willing to hunt around for
WM or Palm applications, you'd never know they existed, and if someone
wanted to charge you'd have to go to their site, buy their thing, and
they'd have to hope you didn't redistribute it - or, they'd have some kind
of key and phone home when you sync'd.  Lots of trust involved there.  With
the app store, it was easy to find and add missing functionality to the
device, which in 2007 was a lot.  I'm still not sure why it took Apple so
long to accept modifications of core functionality like the keyboard.

IMO Apple missed the boat on mobile computing, since the iPhone required
a computer sync for so many years.  I was basically all mobile once I
started to really use my Treo, and henceforth.  When my wife got her iPad 2
she was really excited until she found out she had to plug it in before she
could do anything with it.  She put it aside and never asked about it, a
month or two later I did it for her.

A friend of mine predicted almost 15 years ago that the next great leap in
input devices will be thought control.  I told him he was nuts, but given
how Swiftkey has progressed I think he may turn out to be right.

Best,
Tim
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Re: [MBZ] OT Calling Jim Cathey (and other smart folks)

2015-01-15 Thread Tim Crone via Mercedes
\On Thu, Jan 15, 2015 at 1:01 PM, Randy Bennell via Mercedes 
mercedes@okiebenz.com wrote:

 My younger daughter-in-law has expressed a desire for a sewing machine.
 As luck would have it my sister-in-law had a machine sitting around that
 she did not much care about so she gave it to us.
 It is a Singer 242 so an older solid metal type machine made in the early
 70's - does straight and zig zag and  has a reverse button not much more.
 My s-in-l bought it used when it was not all that old and so far as I know
 she has barely used it.


I am partial to the older Singers (15, 60s), but a 242 is probably okay.
Honestly, a straight, a zigzag, and maybe a buttonholer is all I've ever
wanted, but I'm not exactly a seamstress.


 I oiled it up a bit and it still seemed a bit stiff. It ran but seemed to
 lack power and speed.
 I did a bit more oiling and I have improved it but am not sure it is up to
 normal yet.
 Maybe I am expecting too much of it but I really have nothing to compare
 it with.
 My wife has 3 machines and a serger but they are newer.


If anything I would expect the Singer to have more power.  You are probably
burning off dust and moving around old grease, let it run for a while once
you've put in the new oil (below). Runs like a sewing machine and all
that.


 I have the machine mechanical works fairly loose now. Turning the hand
 wheel on the end is easy -  not so difficult as it was at the outset.
 I could perhaps do a better job by cleaning things up with solvent and
 re-oiling but basic 3 in 1 oil seems to have done the trick.


The best oil for sewing machines, I have been told (and believe), is
Tri-Flo.  I found some at Wal-Mart in the bike section once.  If you can't
find that, the Singer sewing machine oil is available in the sewing
section, and probably a close second.  You will want to run in enough to
clear out the 3-in-1.  Put it somewhere you can clean, as the oil will run
out the bottom - it won't stain but it can get sloppy.

Tri-Flo also makes a grease, so if you take the machine apart get some and
replace any grease also.  You shouldn't have to do that unless you run into
a particular problem.


 So, I wonder if the motor is ok. It does not want to come apart all that
 easily so I have done what I could with it intact. I sprayed electrical
 contact cleaner in on the commutator and spun it a bit.
 I can see through the holes in the end cap that the copper looks a bit
 oxidized but not burnt etc. The brushes look intact. Not sure if it would
 be worthwhile to dismantle and better clean the copper.


I wouldn't bother unless you run into some specific problem.


 The motor gets warm after it runs a bit. Not so hot that I cannot hold my
 hand on it but it does get warm.
 Is this normal or does it indicate a potential issue??


Probably normal, though mine are somewhat older they do get warm to the
touch.  Really hot is where you start to worry about things burning out.

Your thoughts will be appreciated.
 I have looked online and there is a fair bit of information but not much
 really on point that I have found yet.


Once upon a time I followed a forum called Vintage Singers on Yahoo
Groups.  I don't know if any of the old folks are still around, but it will
certainly have a fantastic archive.


 I could take it in somewhere to be cleaned and adjusted but am reluctant
 to spend much unless I know it is a keeper.


I wouldn't bother, look at Vintage Singers and you'll get a good idea of
what needs to be done.  It's not that hard to get to all the parts, and old
enough that it was expected to be serviced.  Plus it's a fun winter project
that you can do indoors, and you can teach your daughter-in-law to service
your wife's machines - win win win. :)

Best,
Tim
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Re: [MBZ] OT - Best Linux Distro for P4 boxes?

2015-01-14 Thread Tim Crone via Mercedes
On Jan 8, 2015 6:27 PM, Curly McLain via Mercedes mercedes@okiebenz.com
wrote:

 I am going to revive an old topic.  I tried loading the latest ubuntu on
a P4 box, and it choked for 2 reasons.

Ubuntu is intended to be a user friendly Linux, and has the overhead to
achieve it.  Something from the correct era, like CentOS or Debian, will be
more difficult to administer but should feel less strained.  I have
installed CentOS 4 and 5 on P4 and Celeron machines with good results,
though usually without X.

I am using Fedora as a desktop at work.  It runs well, though the machine
is pretty beefy.  Might be worth checking out if CentOS doesn't have
software you need.

On a related note, you might think hard about replacing those systems if
they are going to be on most of the time.  I figured the power cost for
replacing my old Xeon, and the payback was pretty short.

 Is there a better linux to use for RDP connections to a terminal server
(2003 or 2008 winders)?  I am thinking the lag is because it installed with
winders, and did not make a separate partition as red hat used to.

I would reformat.  The disk will be slower if it isn't ext3 or so.  You may
have been running off the CD, which will certainly be laggy...

 I anticipate the main use to be to connect to a server via RDP.  But some
Libre office applications may be run locally.

The Java Office apps take a long time to load, in my experience.  Once they
are up they are tolerable, but personally I'd rather run the real thing
(well, 2003 maybe) in Wine.

Any distribution should have rdesktop, which should work fine as long as
you have the domain security stuff off.

 While on the RDP subject: Can I install VNC everywhere and avoid the
terminal Server per seat licensing?  Will it be a huge security risk to run
VNC?

You can use VNC without security concerns, but in my experience (rather
dated) performance is unusably poor.  I use RDP, and SSH with remote X on
Unix.  TightVNC or RealVNC may be good enough for your users now, though.

 because the digital video cards are not supported by lose7 (winders)

I have been able to use XP drivers on Windows 7 in most cases.

 rant 7 is no improvement,

I love W7 (professional, never used home).  On the same machine it booted
faster, and did about 10% better than XP transcoding video.  It also seems
to handle memory better long term.  I have all the animations and whatever
off, of course.

 The only reason the precision 360 video cards,  (one is a quattro FX)

I thought all the Nvidia cards had a monolithic driver that installed on
any Windows.  They also have a closed source Linux driver, though if you
are only doing rdesktop you will probably be happy with the open source
drivers.  I have two Nvidia cards in my Fedora box at work.

 Winders 2000, though incomplete is still the best OS that M$ ever built.

I have a TRS80 model 100, found it the other day at the bottom of a tool
box. Booted right up.  Microsoft, 1982, and four AA batteries.

 Some of the imacs are getting cheap enough that I seriously thought about
buying them for the RDC clients and just dumping all the dell stuff.  Much
less hassle running old Macs, although they are getting bad too.

I know a lot of folks love Macs here, but I have had the same kinds of
problems with old Macs that I've had with old enterprise desktops.  In
aggregate I wouldn't consider them any more reliable than a decent x86
system running Linux.

Best,
Tim
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Re: [MBZ] OT - Best Linux Distro for P4 boxes?

2015-01-14 Thread Tim Crone via Mercedes
On Jan 8, 2015 6:27 PM, Curly McLain via Mercedes mercedes@okiebenz.com
wrote:

 I am going to revive an old topic.  I tried loading the latest ubuntu on
a P4 box, and it choked for 2 reasons.

Ubuntu is intended to be a user friendly Linux, and has the overhead to
achieve it.  Something from the correct era, like CentOS or Debian, will be
more difficult to administer but should feel less strained.  I have
installed CentOS 4 and 5 on P4 and Celeron machines with good results,
though usually without X.

I am using Fedora as a desktop at work.  It runs well, though the machine
is pretty beefy.  Might be worth checking out if CentOS doesn't have
software you need.

On a related note, you might think hard about replacing those systems if
they are going to be on most of the time.  I figured the power cost for
replacing my old Xeon, and the payback was pretty short.

 Is there a better linux to use for RDP connections to a terminal server
(2003 or 2008 winders)?  I am thinking the lag is because it installed with
winders, and did not make a separate partition as red hat used to.

I would reformat.  The disk will be slower if it isn't ext3 or so.  You may
have been running off the CD, which will certainly be laggy...

 I anticipate the main use to be to connect to a server via RDP.  But some
Libre office applications may be run locally.

The Java Office apps take a long time to load, in my experience.  Once they
are up they are tolerable, but personally I'd rather run the real thing
(well, 2003 maybe) in Wine.

Any distribution should have rdesktop, which should work fine as long as
you have the domain security stuff off.

 While on the RDP subject: Can I install VNC everywhere and avoid the
terminal Server per seat licensing?  Will it be a huge security risk to run
VNC?

You can use VNC without security concerns, but in my experience (rather
dated) performance is unusably poor.  I use RDP, and SSH with remote X on
Unix.  TightVNC or RealVNC may be good enough for your users now, though.

 because the digital video cards are not supported by lose7 (winders)

I have been able to use XP drivers on Windows 7 in most cases.

 rant 7 is no improvement,

I love W7 (professional, never used home).  On the same machine it booted
faster, and did about 10% better than XP transcoding video.  It also seems
to handle memory better long term.  I have all the animations and whatever
off, of course.

 The only reason the precision 360 video cards,  (one is a quattro FX)

I thought all the Nvidia cards had a monolithic driver that installed on
any Windows.  They also have a closed source Linux driver, though if you
are only doing rdesktop you will probably be happy with the open source
drivers.  I have two Nvidia cards in my Fedora box at work.

 Winders 2000, though incomplete is still the best OS that M$ ever built.

I have a TRS80 model 100, found it the other day at the bottom of a tool
box. Booted right up.  Microsoft, 1982, and four AA batteries.

 Some of the imacs are getting cheap enough that I seriously thought about
buying them for the RDC clients and just dumping all the dell stuff.  Much
less hassle running old Macs, although they are getting bad too.

I know a lot of folks love Macs here, but I have had the same kinds of
problems with old Macs that I've had with old enterprise desktops.  In
aggregate I wouldn't consider them any more reliable than a decent x86
system running Linux.

Best,
Tim
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Re: [MBZ] OT XP question

2015-01-13 Thread Tim Crone via Mercedes
On Tue, Jan 13, 2015 at 11:53 AM, Curly McLain via Mercedes 
mercedes@okiebenz.com wrote:


 Unpatched 2000 would be a good candidate for VM and running machines, as
 it it pretty stable in the unpatched versions.


VMs get viruses too.  When I was at Cisco my desktop port got shut down
because my Server 2003 VM got a virus, not an hour after I installed it.
Fortunately the Windows tech was confused by the Linux login and decided it
was a false alarm, I killed the VM from the remote console so he was none
the wiser...


 I think voice commands are pretty functional today, but sheeple have been
 trained to think of a keyboard as THE HMI.  Consequently, there is no
 demand for a more efficient HMI.


I use voice commands on Android in the car, a lot.  I don't tend to use
them in public.

May your computers run like sewing machines, and blow ice cold!  Or
something like that.

Best,
Tim
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Re: [MBZ] OT - Best Linux Distro for P4 boxes?

2015-01-09 Thread Tim Crone via Mercedes
On Thu, Jan 8, 2015 at 11:29 PM, Curly McLain 126die...@gmail.com wrote:

  Any distribution should have rdesktop, which should work fine as long as
 you have the domain security stuff off.


 What domain security has to be off?  I tried connecting to the Winserver
 from the ubuntu desktop.  It finds the server, but would not connect with
 domain admin credentials.


On Server 2008R2/System Properties/Remote/Remote Desktop, Allow
connections from computers running any version of Remote Desktop.  There's
a way to set this in AD, but I can't recall what it is.



 I'll probably just try using the rdesktop if I can find where it is
 hidden.  File search did not find it.  I also installed the KRDC which i
 think installs the rdesktop, but still could not find it.


It is in /usr/bin/rdesktop on Fedora, the package is rdesktop.  On my
system it is installed by default, but for Debian/Ubuntu variants you might
need to run
apt-get install rdesktop
depending on what you selected on install.

I'm sure there's a GUI to do it in lubuntu. :)

 I have been able to use XP drivers on Windows 7 in most cases.


 Tried that and got the dastardly you can't install that on winders7
 dialog.   Artificial incompatibility, not any real incompatibility.  2000,
 XP,  wissta, 7 and 8 are all the same code base.  When 2000, xp and wista
 were all supported,  I installed fully up to date pro desktops on 3
 identical computers.  the amount if disk space used was nearly identical,
 or probably identical if you allow for the space of the xp bubblegum
 interface and the bubblegum and wissta interfaces on wissta.


Bummer on the driver.  Sounds like Linux is the best bet.


 reliability may be the same.  In usability the macs still take less
 administrative overhead.  In my experience today, i am finding that much
 linux admin is still bashing and sshing and sambaing in the command line
 with very obscure syntax.  Not to my liking.  At the same time, watching a
 real command line jockey run  active directory, servers and desktops is
 sheer magic.  I am not the magician.  I am sure their are linux jockeys
 that do just as well.


RedHat and Ubuntu have taken very different paths, but both moved to 100%
graphical configuration within the past 5-7 years.  Most of us long-time
users are command-line jockeys by necessity, though, so they still let us
do things that way - and then it perpetuates, because it is a lot easier to
help over the internet by saying open the terminal and run apt-get install
rdesktop than it is to say Open your Window Manager's Settings Menu,
browse to the software repository, find the file named rdesktop,
double-click, then find where it installed and run it.  An appropriate
level of GUI detail is really tough to give over the internet, which for
all the enhancement is still basically text-based.

Best,
Tim
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Re: [MBZ] OT - Best Linux Distro for P4 boxes?

2015-01-08 Thread Tim Crone via Mercedes
On Jan 8, 2015 6:27 PM, Curly McLain via Mercedes mercedes@okiebenz.com
wrote:

 I am going to revive an old topic.  I tried loading the latest ubuntu on
a P4 box, and it choked for 2 reasons.

Ubuntu is intended to be a user friendly Linux, and has the overhead to
achieve it.  Something from the correct era, like CentOS or Debian, will be
more difficult to administer but should feel less strained.  I have
installed CentOS 4 and 5 on P4 and Celeron machines with good results,
though usually without X.

I am using Fedora as a desktop at work.  It runs well, though the machine
is pretty beefy.  Might be worth checking out if CentOS doesn't have
software you need.

On a related note, you might think hard about replacing those systems if
they are going to be on most of the time.  I figured the power cost for
replacing my old Xeon, and the payback was pretty short.

 Is there a better linux to use for RDP connections to a terminal server
(2003 or 2008 winders)?  I am thinking the lag is because it installed with
winders, and did not make a separate partition as red hat used to.

I would reformat.  The disk will be slower if it isn't ext3 or so.  You may
have been running off the CD, which will certainly be laggy...

 I anticipate the main use to be to connect to a server via RDP.  But some
Libre office applications may be run locally.

The Java Office apps take a long time to load, in my experience.  Once they
are up they are tolerable, but personally I'd rather run the real thing
(well, 2003 maybe) in Wine.

Any distribution should have rdesktop, which should work fine as long as
you have the domain security stuff off.

 While on the RDP subject: Can I install VNC everywhere and avoid the
terminal Server per seat licensing?  Will it be a huge security risk to run
VNC?

You can use VNC without security concerns, but in my experience (rather
dated) performance is unusably poor.  I use RDP, and SSH with remote X on
Unix.  TightVNC or RealVNC may be good enough for your users now, though.

 because the digital video cards are not supported by lose7 (winders)

I have been able to use XP drivers on Windows 7 in most cases.

 rant 7 is no improvement,

I love W7 (professional, never used home).  On the same machine it booted
faster, and did about 10% better than XP transcoding video.  It also seems
to handle memory better long term.  I have all the animations and whatever
off, of course.

 The only reason the precision 360 video cards,  (one is a quattro FX)

I thought all the Nvidia cards had a monolithic driver that installed on
any Windows.  They also have a closed source Linux driver, though if you
are only doing rdesktop you will probably be happy with the open source
drivers.  I have two Nvidia cards in my Fedora box at work.

 Winders 2000, though incomplete is still the best OS that M$ ever built.

I have a TRS80 model 100, found it the other day at the bottom of a tool
box. Booted right up.  Microsoft, 1982, and four AA batteries.

 Some of the imacs are getting cheap enough that I seriously thought about
buying them for the RDC clients and just dumping all the dell stuff.  Much
less hassle running old Macs, although they are getting bad too.

I know a lot of folks love Macs here, but I have had the same kinds of
problems with old Macs that I've had with old enterprise desktops.  In
aggregate I wouldn't consider them any more reliable than a decent x86
system running Linux.

Best,
Tim
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Re: [MBZ] Secret message for OK Don

2015-01-02 Thread Tim Crone via Mercedes
On Jan 2, 2015 2:10 PM, OK Don via Mercedes mercedes@okiebenz.com wrote:

 He mailed a package to me before telling me how many $'s to send him.
 I'll send the address for you to send the pepper jelly to . . .


 On Fri, Jan 2, 2015 at 9:59 AM, Andrew Strasfogel via Mercedes 
 mercedes@okiebenz.com wrote:

  Whoever decodes this anagram first wins a jar of pepper jelly.
 
  On Fri, Jan 2, 2015 at 10:52 AM, Curt Raymond via Mercedes 
  mercedes@okiebenz.com wrote:
 
   The eagle is in the air...
   -Curt
   ___
  
 



 --
 OK Don

 NSA: The only branch of government that actually listens to US citizens!

 There are three kinds of men: The ones that learns by reading. The few
who
 learn by observation. The rest of them have to pee on the electric fence
 for themselves.

 WILL ROGERS, *The Manly Wisdom of Will Rogers*
 2013 F150, 18 mpg
 2012 Passat TDI DSG, 44 mpg
 1957 C182A, 12 mpg - but at 150 mph!
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Re: [MBZ] Secret message for OK Don

2015-01-02 Thread Tim Crone via Mercedes
On Jan 2, 2015 2:25 PM, Tim Crone bb...@crone.us wrote:

Let's try this again... :)

 On Jan 2, 2015 2:10 PM, OK Don via Mercedes mercedes@okiebenz.com
wrote:
 
  He mailed a package to me before telling me how many $'s to send him.

Boring

  On Fri, Jan 2, 2015 at 9:59 AM, Andrew Strasfogel via Mercedes 
  mercedes@okiebenz.com wrote:
 
   Whoever decodes this anagram

My handy anagram app says,
Etherealising (ai)
Generalities (hai)
After discarding the first the.

I didn't even know Etherealising was a word, now I have to find some way
to use it. :)

Best,
Tim
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[MBZ] W123 Crack o the day

2015-01-02 Thread Tim Crone via Mercedes
$5K reserve, at least, for a W123.  At least he took good pictures:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/121531377462

Best,
-Tim
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Re: [MBZ] Android Based Auto Maintenance Software

2015-01-01 Thread Tim Crone via Mercedes
On Dec 31, 2014 10:35 PM, Dan Penoff via Mercedes mercedes@okiebenz.com
wrote:

 Eldest son is starting to show some real promise in that tonight he asked
me if I could recommend a good Android based application for tracking gas
consumption, maintenance, etc., on the S420.

I use acar now, I have the pro key and don't remember how restrictive it
is without.  It has reminders, fuel type, and so on, so you could track
premium versus mid-grade for example.

Acar supplanted my cars for me a year or two ago, but I don't remember
why.  I used my cars for several years and was reasonably happy with it.

And of course Torque is awesome, if he sets up a Bluetooth OBD scanner he
can watch instant, trip, and long term fuel usage according to the engine
computer throughout the drive.  Custom PIDs, too, if you can figure out
what they should be.

Best,
Tim
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Re: [MBZ] Mercedes Questions

2014-12-31 Thread Tim Crone via Mercedes
On Dec 31, 2014 4:22 PM, Dan Penoff via Mercedes mercedes@okiebenz.com
wrote:

  Does premium fuel only really mean premium fuel only?

 The consensus over at Benzworld seems to be that the resulting drop in
economy ends up making it a wash, and introduces the risk of damage to the
catalytic converter and engine.  That may be anecdotal, I haven't seen any
proof.

On my 92 Volvo 940, a discrete knock sensor would compensate for the fuel
grade, down to 87 octane or so.  Mileage was close to 20% better for 93
versus 87, so I would do the calculation when I stopped at the pump.  Most
of the time premium was cheaper, but that was a long time ago.  I don't
know about Mercedes, just wanted to share my observation...

Best,
Tim
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Re: [MBZ] My 123 Ran Into Rudolph the Red Nosed Raindeer

2014-12-17 Thread Tim Crone via Mercedes
On Wed, Dec 17, 2014 at 11:22 AM, Mitch Haley via Mercedes 
mercedes@okiebenz.com wrote:

 Dan Penoff via Mercedes wrote:

 Let's try this again...


 Cute.


When the moderator can't get an attachment through...

Speaking of winter deer, I had three run out in front of the van on
Monday.  I slowed down when I saw the first, which threw the folks behind
me into a tizzy.  If I'd been looking away for even a second I'd have
definitely plowed #3, and probably #2.  Guess that's the down side of
moving to a gun-fearing place like Chapel Hill - in Durham some gangster
would have shot all three from his window before they got to the road.

In retrospect I vaguely would rather have had the insurance payout on the
van, but... probably not. :) Y'all drive safe out there!

Best,
Tim
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Re: [MBZ] OT - Computer question

2014-12-16 Thread Tim Crone via Mercedes
On Tue, Dec 16, 2014 at 7:08 AM, LarryT via Mercedes mercedes@okiebenz.com
wrote:

 hello, I have been using Carbonite for several years.  i am not happy with
 it.  When files must be restored to a new computer or following a repair,
 it requires a tedious restoration procedure (IMO) so I am wondering if
 anyone has found anything they like better?


I use Mozy* on my wife's computer.  Cheap and automatic.  Of course it is
only as secure as your password, but when she switched computers last month
it was simple to get the files she wanted back.

On the house computers (storage) I use Cobian and a backup drive.  It is
rather complex so might not be the best choice.

I have used Nero BackItUp in the past, it was easy but I gather the newer
versions aren't very good.

Best,
Tim
*Disclosure, I work for the company that owns Mozy, although in a different
division, and I started using it before I started working here.
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Re: [MBZ] 77 300D go bye bye

2014-12-14 Thread Tim Crone via Mercedes
On Dec 13, 2014 10:06 PM, Kaleb C. Striplin via Mercedes 
mercedes@okiebenz.com wrote:

 So why did you sell it?

Because it was easier than buying a bigger yard.

Seriously, I kept feeling like I should work on it when I really wanted to
tinker on Wilton's SDL, and it bugged me letting it melt.  At least this
way someone is paying attention to it.

I got much better responses than I did during summer - I guess folks are
still watching, but the pool of listings is much smaller.  Or maybe folks
wanted to give a project car to their kids.  I also did not include my
phone number, which seems to have kept the most annoying buyers away.
(Maybe annoying because I have other things to do than answer the
phone...)  Too bad really, since it would undoubtedly have been an easier
repair six months ago.

Best,
Tim
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[MBZ] 77 300D go bye bye

2014-12-13 Thread Tim Crone via Mercedes
Guy towed it tonight.  He could not get it to crank even with his big jump
box, so we pushed it up.  He was towing it, with a dolly, to Wilmington, in
the dark.  Hopefully that went (or maybe, is going) okay...

I had 26 emails in two days (this close to Christmas even!) at $500.  I'm
sure I could have held out for asking but I liked the fellow, and he was
going to work on it with his kid (allegedly anyway, yes I am a softie :),
so I took a bit less.  The parking space, plus not having to wait for the
other 25 folks to show up, was worth the delta to me.

My older son (11) was pretty torn up about it, he has a lot of memories in
that car.  I think I sold him on it having a new, more useful life with its
new people, but I guess we'll see how that feels in the morning.

Merry Christmas y'all!
-Tim
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Re: [MBZ] Interesting

2014-12-13 Thread Tim Crone via Mercedes
On Dec 13, 2014 4:48 PM, Meade Dillon via Mercedes mercedes@okiebenz.com
wrote:

 I'm sorely tempted to get a 2005 or 2006 S class for SWMBO's daily driver.
 Would like to hear from some owners of second-hand examples.

The site Dan posted a week or so ago (http://tradeinqualityindex.com/) was
very convincing - many of the trade ins for Mercedes were much lower
mileage than average.  Cars with a reputation for longevity, like Toyota
Camry or Honda Civic, were traded in later than average.  I'm sure there
could be a multitude of reasons Mercedes owners would choose to trade
early, but it seems like on average they should be traded in along the same
distribution as a, say, Lexus - yet they are not.  It confirms my bias that
there are systemic issues in Mercedes of recent enough vintages to trade in.

Best,
Tim
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Re: [MBZ] Interesting

2014-12-13 Thread Tim Crone via Mercedes
On Dec 13, 2014 8:55 PM, Dan Penoff via Mercedes mercedes@okiebenz.com
wrote:

 That's certainly one possibility.  Something else to consider might be
that I would think that a higher percentage of high line cars are leased
rather than purchased, meaning that when they show up in the auction
they're leasebacks rather than trade-ins.

 I wonder how Mercedes compared opposed to other such brands, like BMW or
Lexus?

Lexus tended to trade close to the line, which is why I was attributing
some systemic difference to Mercedes.  I see now that some BMW lines are
behind the line, some are very far forward.  I don't know BMWs enough to
know which are performance and which are luxury.

Looking at the Mercedes list again, I see that a lot of the convertibles
and coupes are selling very early, and the Es and MLs are close to the
line.  So maybe it is just people not putting a lot of miles on a weekend
car, which skews the overall impression. Though that doesn't explain the
S550...

I'm not sure whether that site is tracking auction listings, or some kind
of trade reporting database.  Do you remember?

Anyway, I'm all for Max buying his wife a new S class for Christmas, and
reporting how it goes. :)

Thanks,
Tim
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Re: [MBZ] (no subject)

2014-12-12 Thread Tim Crone via Mercedes
I thought you were teasing about there not being many stories left.

Best,
-Tim

On Fri, Dec 12, 2014 at 12:59 PM, WILTON via Mercedes mercedes@okiebenz.com
 wrote:


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Re: [MBZ] OT: Secure Storage, was Transcoding LPs to Digital

2014-12-08 Thread Tim Crone via Mercedes
On Mon, Dec 8, 2014 at 10:40 AM, Curt Raymond via Mercedes 
mercedes@okiebenz.com wrote:

 For my purposes (ie the PI living at camp as a security monitoring system)
 I don't need much for


I love to DIY, but around here game cameras go on sale after deer season
for very low prices. They basically capture photos on a schedule and
usually with an IR flash, some are motion sensing also and will take
video or at least MJPEG.  A few years back I got one with a lock, and the
screws and SD card were stored under the waterproof cover,and used it to
monitor the shed.  I figured it would only be useful for reporting a theft
anyway, I put it opposite the door so I'd get a good shot of anyone coming
in.  If you have a clear trail you could probably capture the road and get
the people coming in and their license going out.

I'm not sure you could get months out of a single SD card, but it might be
easier than starting from nothing.  There may be some that use cell data or
wifi though I've never actually looked.

It doesn't have the fun factor, but you also don't run the risk of scaring
a trespasser or thief into a heart attack, and your odds of the culprit not
noticing and pilfering the equipment are probably higher...

Best,
Tim
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Re: [MBZ] Sat morning fun

2014-12-06 Thread Tim Crone via Mercedes
On Dec 6, 2014 12:16 PM, Rich Thomas via Mercedes mercedes@okiebenz.com
wrote:

 I got a built-up 350 in the garage, that would work.

Wait, what?  Did you lose a car?  Forgive me if I'm way behind.

Best,
Tim
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Re: [MBZ] OT: Transcoding LPs to Digital

2014-12-06 Thread Tim Crone via Mercedes
On Dec 5, 2014 8:27 PM, Curt Raymond via Mercedes mercedes@okiebenz.com
wrote:

 Could be legit. I wonder if rubber cement would work or if the solvent
would eat the record. Maybe liquid latex? Its pretty benign stuff.

This cat says wood glue, I've heard that before also:
http://120studio.com/vinylcleaning.htm

Best,
Tim
needs to get out to work on the MBs so he can post on topic again ;)
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