From: adam@address.invalid
I'm merging the "Laptops" thread into here, because that's gone OT and
it's been a long time since laptops had anything to do with NiCd (or
disposable) batteries. The (arguably) first laptop, the TRS-80 Model
100, could run off 4 disposable AA cells (6.0V), but using NiCds (with a
separate charger) required a kludge with 5 AAs, as it wouldn't run on 4.8V.
Moe Trin wrote:
> On Tue, 10 Jul 2012, in the Usenet newsgroup alt.os.linux.mandriva,
> in article , Adam wrote:
[zapping "dead" NiCds from a large capacitor]
>> Last ones I saw were $6 for 4 at BigLots, which is where most of my
>> rechargeables have come from.
>
> Don't have prices handy, but buying at Frys Electronics
No Frys within a thousand miles of here. I was in one of their stores
once around San Diego, and would drop in again if I was near one. OTOH
these days the best prices on anything electronic are usually online.
["battery test" mode]
>> my Radio Shack "Enercell Battery
>> Guidebook" (1985) [...] For AA, C, D cells, if the
>> application is higher-drain (basically anything with a lamp or motor),
>> it suggests 2.25 Ohms as a test load.
>
> but 1000 ohms is sufficient for that and
> doesn't drain the battery. 2.25 Ohm is 2/3 Amp is 1.0 Watts never mind
> being a non-RETMA value (and this more expensive resistor ;-) )
Couldn't 3 or 4 common 1/2W resistors in parallel handle 1W and come
"close enough" to 2.25 Ohms?
Puzzle: Imagine a cube shape where each edge (there are twelve) is a
one-Ohm resistor, so each corner is the junction of three resistors.
What is the resistance between any corner and the corner farthest from
it? Answer (with explanation) next time.
> Many people keep a
> flashlight in the glove compartment for emergencies - and discover
> that it's dead because they never replaced it on a calendar basis
> or worried about heat.
Including me. :-( My father also came up with the idea of keeping a
cheap disposable (film) camera in each car, for on-the-scene photos in
case of an accident, and those would also have to be replaced due to
time and heat.
>> Of my two working P/S digicams, the (probably) better one uses a
>> special Li-ion battery, of which I now have two OEM ones rated 740
>> mAh and some cheap no-brand Chinese ones labelled 1200 mAh.
>
> SOMETIMES, the no-names are acceptable, and the OEM overpriced (and
> occasionally under-performing compared to after-market).
I suppose I should actually test both. I don't trust that 1200 mAh
rating on the no-names, and they were $1 each compared to $6+ for the OEM.
>> the type of battery I should use for [other digicam] will depend on
>> how often I'll use it. If often, the NiCd/NiMH ones I already have;
>> if seldom, something with a longer shelf life like alkaline or
>> lithium would be better.
>
> I keep both in stock - because it's warm here, the stock is kept in
> the vegetable crisper of the second fridge.
"Both" meaning alkaline and lithium, but not rechargeables? I read
recently that the shelf life of disposable batteries is the same at room
temperature as refrigerated.
[company repository]
>> but when I worked at IBM (1988) they had an internal company-wide
>> repository of lots of employee-written programs for PC DOS, generally
>> quite good.
>
> I know the stuff on the NASA system was audited before it got onto the
> server. The stuff at the other three I mentioned was nearly always
> safe and reasonable quality.
But those were all programs written elsewhere. IBM's internal
repository was all stuff written by employees and not available elsewhere.
> I think EVERYONE at NASA had Procomm version 2.4.2 at home as
> well as at work. And who didn't have a copy of pkzip 2.04?
But those were shareware programs that anybody was allowed to have. At
Texaco, I brought in a TSR (downloaded from CompuServe) that inserted a
FF in the stream going to the printer (or print spooler), and the
database searchers loved it because the printout of each search had to
start on a new page, and this way they didn't have to wait for the
printer to finish the previous search before they could start the next
one. (And wait while connected to expensive databases.) Site IT
grudgingly allowed it.
On to the stuff that was in the explicitly OT thread.
[network bitmasks]
>> [adam@stolid ~]$ /sbin/route -n
>
>> But what calculates that destination there? I know I specified
>> 192.168.1.13 and 255.255.255.192 in the router's configuration screens,
>> and 192.168.1.13 in /etc/sysconfig/network, but I don't recall entering
>> 192.168.1.0 anywhere. I gather that's computed by Linux or the router
>> or both.
>
> (Actually, when you 'ifconfig', the
> modern kernel adds the local route for you.)
I gather that if the netmask is a.b.c.d/n, then taking the leftmost n
bits of the gateway address and right-padding it with zeros gives the
network address.
>> BTW I set up "stolid" to be its own DNS and 'named' is running, but
>> the router's "Advanced LAN Statistics" screen still shows Verizon DNSs
>> for both "Primary DNS" and "Secondary DNS". I assume they're
>> irrelevant because 'named' never asks the router for a DNS... right?
>
> Essentially - does eris and hpclj5 know to ask stolid, or are they
> asking the router? The router itself may be asking questions on it's
> own, but that's not your problem.
"eris" still has itself set up as a DNS (which I'll continue to do, if
possible, for all distros installed on both boxes). Why would "hpclj5"
be asking a DNS for anything?
[kitty news]
> We aren't insiders and privy to details, but none of the
> dossiers showed cat's being there longer than about 10 days. Get 'em
> in, move 'em out seems to be the norm.
The county SPCA is a no-kill shelter, so everyone stays there until
they're adopted. (That also means there's a waiting list for
admissions.) That can take a year or two for perfectly good cats that
just tend to get overlooked.
>> Once they work out who's dominant, things should settle down.
>
> There seems to be progress, but Smokie isn't thrilled with the idea.
> Good Sam seems to have reached some agreement.
So who's the dominant one, and who's on the bottom?
[Dad's pacemaker]
> Most pacemakers are relatively unsophisticated, and essentially run at
> a fixed RPM. In life, the heart rate responds to work imposed, and a
> person with a pacemaker carries a device (usually a simple magnet)
> that can set the pacemaker speed manually - normal for sedentary
[continued in next message]
--- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
* Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)
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