![](\"https:\/\/l-stat.livejournal.net\/img\/userinfo_v8.png?v=17080&v=916.1\")
<\/a>bayareajenn<\/b><\/a><\/span> made me correct this two years later.]","comments":"https:\/\/ts4z.livejournal.com\/154904.html?view=comments#comments","category":"jenn"},{"guid":"https:\/\/ts4z.livejournal.com\/154462.html","pubDate":"Wed, 28 Mar 2012 08:03:35 GMT","author":"ts4z","link":"https:\/\/ts4z.livejournal.com\/154462.html","description":"MegaMillions is at $476M, or something like $330 "cash".At what point is it +EV to play a progressive lottery? Or this progressive lottery? I can work out the odds, and have, but I don't know how to take into account the chance of someone else winning -- much less taxes.","comments":"https:\/\/ts4z.livejournal.com\/154462.html?view=comments#comments"},{"guid":"https:\/\/ts4z.livejournal.com\/154307.html","pubDate":"Thu, 23 Feb 2012 03:05:47 GMT","author":"ts4z","link":"https:\/\/ts4z.livejournal.com\/154307.html","description":"I saw a billboard for a car that said \"GAS-P!\", or something to that effect, and it took me a good fifteen seconds to think through it and make sure they weren't making a Lisp joke.
In retrospect, it's obvious: -p never goes with !, those conventions just don't match.","comments":"https:\/\/ts4z.livejournal.com\/154307.html?view=comments#comments"},{"guid":"https:\/\/ts4z.livejournal.com\/154065.html","pubDate":"Tue, 03 Jan 2012 11:07:42 GMT","title":"Sears","author":"ts4z","link":"https:\/\/ts4z.livejournal.com\/154065.html","description":"I heard a news story on the radio about Sears closing stores recently while driving, and I've spent some time recently obsessing about improving my toolbox. It occurred to me that since I moved to California, I don't know that have bought any tools at Sears. I have lots of Craftsman stuff, all from Orchard Supply Hardware. (Orchard has been owned by Sears for about 15 years.) But I have started having problems finding things at Orchard, which doesn't carry a few things I wanted.
What a difference! Orchard doesn't have small Torx stuff, with or without the Craftsman label; Sears has two different kinds. Orchard has given up on most Craftsman power tools, but naturally Sears has lots. Their socket wrench selection is limited -- I couldn't find a spinner handle there. There are no Craftsman hammers at Orchard, either.
Of course, Sears has relatively little that isn't Craftsman, but I had forgotten how much they do have.
Orchard has started pushing their new OSH house brand and lots of cheap tools. I gather they're trying to escape the Sears-Kmart death spiral. I just can't trust tools without a real warranty. (I realize Craftsman is not Snap-on, but it is still a very nice lower bar.)","comments":"https:\/\/ts4z.livejournal.com\/154065.html?view=comments#comments"},{"guid":"https:\/\/ts4z.livejournal.com\/153134.html","pubDate":"Fri, 23 Sep 2011 05:04:05 GMT","title":"Rivers Casino, Pittsburgh, PA","author":"ts4z","link":"https:\/\/ts4z.livejournal.com\/153134.html","description":"Had some time to kill on Wednesday and the Rivers Casino, just outside of Pittsburgh's downtown, seemed inviting.
At 11:30 on a Wednesday morning, they had two tables of 1-3 NL running. One was short, so I got a seat immediately. The other table was doing shots, and the scuttlebutt was that they'd been going at it all night.
The players seem chummy, and there was a lot of limping. I won very few pots in the first hour, but two stick out:
One of the big winners raised UTG to $6 to-go. There were several callers, so I popped it from late position to $40. UTG called, and everyone else folded. I had AxQh and liked the A-high flop with three hearts. IIRC, he checked and I jammed; he said I didn't have an ace, and called. He showed KK, neither of which was Kh. At the end of the hand, my pair of aces was still good and I took it down.
Later, if I recall this correctly, I limped UTG with 87h. I never do that, but this game was such an inexplicable limpfest, I couldn't help myself. Three or four other limpers came along until the BB raised to $15. I called, as did three others. Flop: Q5h6h, giving me an open-ended straight-flush draw. BB bet something like $40, and I raised to $110; he called for less. I raised to try and make my flush draw good, but it was probably the wrong play; anyway, the Qh came on the river, and I cracked aces.
I left after a little under two hours with a $220 profit.
The room is very close to the self-park garage. The casino stinks of smoke, although the poker room is non-smoking and not too bad. Sodas are free, but I forgot to ask about the alcohol. The room serves food.
The room itself is about 30 tables. It's open to the casino, but very dimly lit. The room is bland, but the dark lighting and walls make it a poker cave. The dealers and floor seemed fine, for what little I played. The cocktail waitress was walking around with a tray of diet sodas for immediate service. I probably should have tipped more than I did.
When I left at about 1:30, they had three games running and a two-table tournament.
The casino is sort of a bland mix of pretty Vegas-style decorations. A few tables had electronic betting systems, but still dealt paper cards for the blackjack game. Most of the casino is slots. The restaurants had some nice views of the local scenery, and there was a little natural light in the casino.
The worst knock on the place is that it is impossible to get to it. Rivers is just adjacent to the Carnegie Science Center, PNC Park, and Heinz Field. On game day it must be an incredible disaster. I accidentally crossed the Ft. Pitt bridge trying to get from some random location on the North Side into there; I would have stuck to the freeway, except I was coming from breakfast at Primanti Brothers in the Strip District.
Breakfast at Primanti Brothers is a good idea, by the way.","comments":"https:\/\/ts4z.livejournal.com\/153134.html?view=comments#comments","category":["casino","poker","pittsburgh","nlhe","rivers","1-3"]},{"guid":"https:\/\/ts4z.livejournal.com\/152612.html","pubDate":"Sun, 04 Sep 2011 09:00:10 GMT","author":"ts4z","link":"https:\/\/ts4z.livejournal.com\/152612.html","description":"time to assemble hobby power supply: 2.5 hours
time to blow up capacitor in hobby power supply: 90 seconds
Since I forgot to study electrical engineering, electronics, ham radio, or anything that would otherwise answer this question, where did I screw up?
I have one of these: Jameco Adjustable Power Supply kit<\/a>. My soldering is decent enough, and I have learned not to plug stuff backwards.
What I have apparently not learned to do is, (a), run power supplies with no load, and (b), turn up the adjustment knob all the way to see what the power supply's max voltage is.
A few seconds after I did that, the relevant filter cap popped open and magic smoke streamed out. I pulled the plug. I had added an AC line fuse to the power supply, but it didn't blow.
If I replace the cap, will the power supply work again?
Did I blow this up by running a 16V capacitor at or just past 16V? I thought it was at about 11 or 12; the documentation says it will do 15, but I never saw that.","comments":"https:\/\/ts4z.livejournal.com\/152612.html?view=comments#comments"},{"guid":"https:\/\/ts4z.livejournal.com\/151904.html","pubDate":"Sat, 13 Aug 2011 09:47:06 GMT","title":"weird poker game","author":"ts4z","link":"https:\/\/ts4z.livejournal.com\/151904.html","description":"Cut for those who don't care.
I play in a tournament once a month on Fridays. It's $20 buy-in, $5 bounty. I didn't do well—with a healthy chip stack, I called a bet I clearly shouldn't have—and lost interest in playing. In part because I heard that Artichoke Joe's jackpot was maxed out. When all of the reserves get to $100K, the requirements to hit the BBJ drops to any aces-full-of-jacks beat by quads.
Jenn was OK with it, so I decided it was field trip night.
When I got there, they had two NL tables running with the same 1-2-2, 5-to-go format they've had for years.
Not long after I sat down, they mentioned the club has been there for 95 years. That's a long time. I wonder how long it's been all legal-like. Anyway, Happy Birthday, AJ's! And congratulations to all the various Artichokes who have kept it the most charming club in the area.
The game looks juicy at first glance. There's like $4K on the table with three or four big, $1K+ stacks, which is great for a game with a $400 buy-in.
After I've been in the game for about an hour and down a few bucks, I catch AQo in the cutoff and make it $35 to go. Why $35? I assume it was a kill pot and I was trying to knock people out. So, five callers.
Flop: AKAhh. Pretty good, I think. Checked to me, I bet $85, leaving me about $120 behind. Steve calls. Steve is a regular. He plays well enough that I never remember really beating him. He is tricky, but I have AAAKQ!
Turn is a blank. Steve checks. I jam. He calls $60 all-in and shows AK for the flopped boat. I say, I'm drawing thin (two Ks for a split).
River is a Q. I show, because I want sympathy. What this does is cause the dopes in the game who don't know the bad beat rule (AAAJJ beat by quads<\/em>) to call the floor over to verify that I get nothing. \"I'm not even going to win a handshake,\" I said.
Floor comes over and says I win nothing. I ask for a soda. He offers a soda and<\/em> crackers.
I re-buy. I am not terribly unhappy with the hand. If AK wants to play the flop and turn slow, I guess he's entitled. Am I supposed to fold AQ in the cutoff? I guess I just have to pay off the nuts in that situation. If 5 players are calling me pre-flop, it's just gambling, I guess.
Within the next ten minutes, two of the big stacks go at it. Some normalish action pre-flop; maybe there's $200 in the pot, but I doubt it. Flop is 268. Loose cannon jams for something like $1500. Old guy insta-calls. Loose cannon has 66 for flopped set. Old guy has KK for crushed dreams. I was thinking this was a $4K pot, but I think it was only $3K.
Okay, so that makes no sense. Neither does the next hand I kind of remember. It's now right before midnight. Actually, somewhere in here I get QQ and turn my $230 into $410. Then,
(1) I call $30 pre-flop with 44. The table is insane, and I have some kind of weird implied odds. The $30 bet was huge, and there were a lot of these outsize bets from that player. I don't know why I did it, but it sure looked like a good idea at the time.
(2) At least five other people also call, including two big stacks and one short stack.
(3) The flop is J44. I look at my cards at least twice to make sure there are no repeated suits. I have a recurring dream in which I flop the nuts and then look back to discover I have, in fact, a four-flush with AhKd, or my Broadway has turned into Diagon Alley. Whatever, I have the immortal lock nuts and if it gets cracked I will probably win the jackpot.
(4) The floor annouces that it's now midnight. High hand bonuses are in effect. Quads pay $100.
(5) Simulaneously with 4, there is action on the flop. I'm having trouble remembering the action. Given that it was four-way, perhaps you understand: it made no sense for me to get action. I think there was a $100 bet to me from the loose cannon. I raised it to $200 hoping he'd re-raise, and hoping to get some calls from the other players. He did raise. Was it to $300? I think so. I made it $381 all-in which someone commented didn't re-open the betting, so I think that's right. Anyway, like I said, it made no sense. There aren't enough jacks in the deck to justify that action. Four way. I have quads. Yum. Look at the sea of red chips I'm going to win.
(6) The turn and the river do not crack my quads.
(7) The two big stacks resolve the main pot. Loose cannon has a J7 for top pair, shit kicker. Old guy has TT for what-the-hell-are-you-thinking. TT bet the $30 pre-flop.
(8) After that's resolved, I show my quads. \"Oh I knew you had a four\" someone lies. The all-in player mucks. I toke the dealer $20, I think. I stack the pot. It's about $1450.
(9) Time passes. The floorman brings me $100. I toke him and put the rest in my stack. Later I'm told that has to go in my pocket since it's a limited buy-in type thing. OK, whatever.
I'm up a lot. I hate to hit and run, but I really should just get up and go home. Instead I play for what seems like a long time, but couldn't have been much more than an hour. (Time passes quickly when I'm ahead a kilobuck.)
Oh, by the way, about half the pots are killed, and the loose cannon is raising blind to about $20-$25 per hand when he's in straddle position, and checking all kinds of flops dark. Yeah, it's that kind of game.
I bleed a little, then recover it when I get AK in back-to-back hands. Later, I get it a third time. Some guy goes all-in pre-flop for $78. I look down at AKd and make it $178 to try and go heads up, but Steve—remember Steve?—calls. At this point, Steve has about $900 in front of him and I have about $1350 left in my stack. The flop comes all low, one diamond (I have AKd). Check, check. The turn is a blank to me. Check, check. The river is a blank. Check, check. He has 88 and wins both the $200 side pot and the main.
Before this hand, I'm thinking, I really need to leave the game to lock in this win. There's so much money on the table, if I go against Steve (who I can't read) or the loose cannon (who is unreadable because he's insane) I can get hurt so bad, I can't recover it. I was already intending to leave, but after this, Steve says basically the same thing to me and I realize I've just got to go home.
I get off the roller coaster and cash out, +$900. My results for the year now look like a bathtub curve.
<\/a>","comments":"https:\/\/ts4z.livejournal.com\/151904.html?view=comments#comments","category":["holdem","poker","1-2-2","nlhe","nolimit"]},{"guid":"https:\/\/ts4z.livejournal.com\/151798.html","pubDate":"Fri, 05 Aug 2011 21:03:14 GMT","author":"ts4z","link":"https:\/\/ts4z.livejournal.com\/151798.html","description":"8 is the ideal number of people to attend a home poker game. With 8, you can play stud, it doesn't take forever to deal a hand of Omaha or draw, and there's enough space around the table.
No poker game is ever attended by 8 people. Usually, it's 6, 5, or 11.","comments":"https:\/\/ts4z.livejournal.com\/151798.html?view=comments#comments"},{"guid":"https:\/\/ts4z.livejournal.com\/151364.html","pubDate":"Fri, 29 Jul 2011 01:34:56 GMT","author":"ts4z","link":"https:\/\/ts4z.livejournal.com\/151364.html","description":"Digging through an old bug, I found the following comment from me regarding a server that did not start reliably when run by QA.
Problem depends on how wide your terminal window is (seriously). <\/div>
The startup script (which we inherited, and has more than its fair share of ugly hacks) used ps ax<\/tt> to figure out if the server was running, and then narrowed it down to grep. The developers all use very wide windows, all the better to read long lines out of the log file. The QA person used a little window. By default, when ps<\/tt> sees its writing to a terminal, it tries to truncate lines to make the output look nice. We changed the script to use ps axww<\/tt>.<\/div>
Looking back, my "a-ha!" moment, standing over someone's shoulder and asking them to reproduce the problem after enlarging the window, was a good one.","comments":"https:\/\/ts4z.livejournal.com\/151364.html?view=comments#comments","category":["hack","bug"]},{"guid":"https:\/\/ts4z.livejournal.com\/151080.html","pubDate":"Wed, 06 Jul 2011 10:05:05 GMT","author":"ts4z","link":"https:\/\/ts4z.livejournal.com\/151080.html","description":"I just got myself a new laptop and dropped Ubuntu on it. So far, so good, but I haven't tried anything hard like suspending, but...
After I copied over my ssh keys, I typed ssh ix:<TAB> -- ix being my desktop box -- and it worked.
Wow! I'm not sure if I'm impressed or grossed out, but it was cool!","comments":"https:\/\/ts4z.livejournal.com\/151080.html?view=comments#comments"},{"guid":"https:\/\/ts4z.livejournal.com\/150218.html","pubDate":"Tue, 17 May 2011 21:23:50 GMT","author":"ts4z","link":"https:\/\/ts4z.livejournal.com\/150218.html","description":"U-verse install successful. A few bumps here and there I may write up, or I may not.
The Internet connection is OK. It's a dynamic IP, I assume, and just one. I got my server running OK. This router lacks at least one huge bug the old one had--I couldn't connect to my public IP address from behind the router before. So that's a huge step in the right direction.
The VoIP phone service is fine, except my brand new 1983 Western Electric rotary-dial phone can't be used to dial. Very sad. Perhaps we need an adapter to make it generate touch-tones. That would be excellent.
We now have more TV channels than I ever wanted. Really, the notion of "channel" is obsolete and I hope it dies soon. I can't find anything searching by channel. Why should I have to?
Cancelled DirecTV last night. They have called twice this morning offering better offers. I have never had so many customer service agents tell me what a great customer I am before. I must have been paying them too much. I would consider their better offers if one of them involved upgrading the house wiring to CG6, but alas, their installers are not as nice as their customer service agents.
The AT&T DVR is pretty good, although the channel organization is awful. I find myself using a reference card to figure out what's where. A reference card. You know, on paper. You know, what we used before computers.","comments":"https:\/\/ts4z.livejournal.com\/150218.html?view=comments#comments"},{"guid":"https:\/\/ts4z.livejournal.com\/150002.html","pubDate":"Fri, 13 May 2011 19:32:50 GMT","author":"ts4z","link":"https:\/\/ts4z.livejournal.com\/150002.html","description":"AT&T called to confirm the appointment for U-verse. But the woman on the phone didn't say to call to cancel or reschedule. She said I had to call to confirm. "If this still works for you, call..." was the phrasing, if I recall correctly.
So I call the number she rattled off on the phone (#1), which was not the number she called from (#2). I spent five minutes wading through the phone tree and talking to a computer (so glad voice recognition technology "works"), then talked to a human, who relayed me to a new number, which I was implored to write down in case we lost our connection (#3). This phone call was answered somewhat promptly by a human; perhaps I had to hit 0, I really don't remember. But she asked if I was interested in phone or DSL, and was a little surprised when I said U-verse. I thought she hadn't heard of it.
By this point, the phone call was starting to degrade quality-wise, but I didn't quite realize it. I was repeating myself quite a lot.
She (I think it was a she) transferred me to a new number (#4) but it was actually the the same as the first number. So I was back to where I started. I may have been a bit snippy on the phone.
Rather than argue with the computer some more, I hit 0 and argued with the computer somewhat less. The new "human" on the phone was okay, except that the "transfers" had stacked, and now there was a three-second delay in our conversation, which is really quite awkward.
Anyway, my appointment is confirmed, and as far as I can tell, it always was.
So, there's 20 minutes lost to U-verse, and they haven't even shown up yet.","comments":"https:\/\/ts4z.livejournal.com\/150002.html?view=comments#comments","category":"u-verse"},{"guid":"https:\/\/ts4z.livejournal.com\/149656.html","pubDate":"Wed, 11 May 2011 21:45:13 GMT","title":"WRGPT","author":"ts4z","link":"https:\/\/ts4z.livejournal.com\/149656.html","description":"Eliminated, apparently in 53rd place (which I guess makes me the bug?)
http:\/\/hands.wrgpt.org\/f\/hands\/f9_254.txt<\/a>
I got eaten up by the blinds, jammed with A6, and got called by jacks.","comments":"https:\/\/ts4z.livejournal.com\/149656.html?view=comments#comments"},{"guid":"https:\/\/ts4z.livejournal.com\/149395.html","pubDate":"Thu, 05 May 2011 19:02:21 GMT","author":"ts4z","link":"https:\/\/ts4z.livejournal.com\/149395.html","description":"I was going to get DirecTV installed today, until they got to the part of having to string cables through my house. The previous installer decided to use the existing wiring, but this installer decided he really wanted the stuff that meets their standards.
So I've scheduled an appointment for AT&T U-verse to replace my DirecTV in a couple weeks... and my internet and phone.
Am I going to regret that?
Does anyone have U-verse? What components are they going to have to install?
I'm going to have to figure out how I'm going to get them into my office, which is just packed with computers, stuff, and junk.","comments":"https:\/\/ts4z.livejournal.com\/149395.html?view=comments#comments"},{"guid":"https:\/\/ts4z.livejournal.com\/149035.html","pubDate":"Tue, 19 Apr 2011 21:09:53 GMT","author":"ts4z","link":"https:\/\/ts4z.livejournal.com\/149035.html","description":"I put a new power supply in my Linux box last night. So far, so good.
Both were 550W Antec power supplies. I'm a bit disappointed in the first. I bet it's still under warranty.","comments":"https:\/\/ts4z.livejournal.com\/149035.html?view=comments#comments"},{"guid":"https:\/\/ts4z.livejournal.com\/148916.html","pubDate":"Mon, 18 Apr 2011 23:31:01 GMT","author":"ts4z","link":"https:\/\/ts4z.livejournal.com\/148916.html","description":"I have a finicky PC that I built from parts about a year ago. It has always had a problem with rebooting, and I want to fix it. Any advice on how to go about it?
When it runs, it runs great: 4-core AMD Phenom II at 2.6GHz or something with 8GB of memory running Ubuntu. Motherboard is Gigabyte brand.
When it has to get rebooted or powered off, and then the problem starts. It just won't boot. There are some lights on the motherboard (internal power\/reset buttons) that are on, but none of the fans spin and the box is off.
To get the box to boot, I have to hard-power it off (unplug it or throw the switch on the power supply), then try to power it on in a few minutes.
Any ideas what I should be doing to fix this? How can I troubleshoot it?","comments":"https:\/\/ts4z.livejournal.com\/148916.html?view=comments#comments"},{"guid":"https:\/\/ts4z.livejournal.com\/148599.html","pubDate":"Fri, 01 Apr 2011 03:43:34 GMT","author":"ts4z","link":"https:\/\/ts4z.livejournal.com\/148599.html","description":"I own a .name domain (see if you can guess it). It's registered with GoDaddy, unfortunately, and for a couple reasons it's time to move to a new provider.
But .name names are hard to transfer! I'm surprised, but a lot of registrars don't take them.
Does anyone have one that does? I usually use DreamHost or EasyDNS, but they can't handle them. Network Solutions barfed when I tried them (they still suck, even after all these years.) I'm wondering if anyone else has a good registrar.","comments":"https:\/\/ts4z.livejournal.com\/148599.html?view=comments#comments"},{"guid":"https:\/\/ts4z.livejournal.com\/148201.html","pubDate":"Sat, 12 Feb 2011 05:41:25 GMT","title":":-(","author":"ts4z","link":"https:\/\/ts4z.livejournal.com\/148201.html","description":"My HP48G died. I've had it since 1994.
Jenn says I can use my iPhone, but it's just not the same!","comments":"https:\/\/ts4z.livejournal.com\/148201.html?view=comments#comments","category":"rpn"},{"guid":"https:\/\/ts4z.livejournal.com\/147801.html","pubDate":"Wed, 09 Feb 2011 20:08:15 GMT","title":"Vegas hotels","author":"ts4z","link":"https:\/\/ts4z.livejournal.com\/147801.html","description":"Recent BARGE meme for Vegas hotel visits.\n\n
The startup script (which we inherited, and has more than its fair share of ugly hacks) used ps ax<\/tt> to figure out if the server was running, and then narrowed it down to grep. The developers all use very wide windows, all the better to read long lines out of the log file. The QA person used a little window. By default, when ps<\/tt> sees its writing to a terminal, it tries to truncate lines to make the output look nice. We changed the script to use ps axww<\/tt>.<\/div>
Looking back, my "a-ha!" moment, standing over someone's shoulder and asking them to reproduce the problem after enlarging the window, was a good one.","comments":"https:\/\/ts4z.livejournal.com\/151364.html?view=comments#comments","category":["hack","bug"]},{"guid":"https:\/\/ts4z.livejournal.com\/151080.html","pubDate":"Wed, 06 Jul 2011 10:05:05 GMT","author":"ts4z","link":"https:\/\/ts4z.livejournal.com\/151080.html","description":"I just got myself a new laptop and dropped Ubuntu on it. So far, so good, but I haven't tried anything hard like suspending, but...
After I copied over my ssh keys, I typed ssh ix:<TAB> -- ix being my desktop box -- and it worked.
Wow! I'm not sure if I'm impressed or grossed out, but it was cool!","comments":"https:\/\/ts4z.livejournal.com\/151080.html?view=comments#comments"},{"guid":"https:\/\/ts4z.livejournal.com\/150218.html","pubDate":"Tue, 17 May 2011 21:23:50 GMT","author":"ts4z","link":"https:\/\/ts4z.livejournal.com\/150218.html","description":"U-verse install successful. A few bumps here and there I may write up, or I may not.
The Internet connection is OK. It's a dynamic IP, I assume, and just one. I got my server running OK. This router lacks at least one huge bug the old one had--I couldn't connect to my public IP address from behind the router before. So that's a huge step in the right direction.
The VoIP phone service is fine, except my brand new 1983 Western Electric rotary-dial phone can't be used to dial. Very sad. Perhaps we need an adapter to make it generate touch-tones. That would be excellent.
We now have more TV channels than I ever wanted. Really, the notion of "channel" is obsolete and I hope it dies soon. I can't find anything searching by channel. Why should I have to?
Cancelled DirecTV last night. They have called twice this morning offering better offers. I have never had so many customer service agents tell me what a great customer I am before. I must have been paying them too much. I would consider their better offers if one of them involved upgrading the house wiring to CG6, but alas, their installers are not as nice as their customer service agents.
The AT&T DVR is pretty good, although the channel organization is awful. I find myself using a reference card to figure out what's where. A reference card. You know, on paper. You know, what we used before computers.","comments":"https:\/\/ts4z.livejournal.com\/150218.html?view=comments#comments"},{"guid":"https:\/\/ts4z.livejournal.com\/150002.html","pubDate":"Fri, 13 May 2011 19:32:50 GMT","author":"ts4z","link":"https:\/\/ts4z.livejournal.com\/150002.html","description":"AT&T called to confirm the appointment for U-verse. But the woman on the phone didn't say to call to cancel or reschedule. She said I had to call to confirm. "If this still works for you, call..." was the phrasing, if I recall correctly.
So I call the number she rattled off on the phone (#1), which was not the number she called from (#2). I spent five minutes wading through the phone tree and talking to a computer (so glad voice recognition technology "works"), then talked to a human, who relayed me to a new number, which I was implored to write down in case we lost our connection (#3). This phone call was answered somewhat promptly by a human; perhaps I had to hit 0, I really don't remember. But she asked if I was interested in phone or DSL, and was a little surprised when I said U-verse. I thought she hadn't heard of it.
By this point, the phone call was starting to degrade quality-wise, but I didn't quite realize it. I was repeating myself quite a lot.
She (I think it was a she) transferred me to a new number (#4) but it was actually the the same as the first number. So I was back to where I started. I may have been a bit snippy on the phone.
Rather than argue with the computer some more, I hit 0 and argued with the computer somewhat less. The new "human" on the phone was okay, except that the "transfers" had stacked, and now there was a three-second delay in our conversation, which is really quite awkward.
Anyway, my appointment is confirmed, and as far as I can tell, it always was.
So, there's 20 minutes lost to U-verse, and they haven't even shown up yet.","comments":"https:\/\/ts4z.livejournal.com\/150002.html?view=comments#comments","category":"u-verse"},{"guid":"https:\/\/ts4z.livejournal.com\/149656.html","pubDate":"Wed, 11 May 2011 21:45:13 GMT","title":"WRGPT","author":"ts4z","link":"https:\/\/ts4z.livejournal.com\/149656.html","description":"Eliminated, apparently in 53rd place (which I guess makes me the bug?)
http:\/\/hands.wrgpt.org\/f\/hands\/f9_254.txt<\/a>
I got eaten up by the blinds, jammed with A6, and got called by jacks.","comments":"https:\/\/ts4z.livejournal.com\/149656.html?view=comments#comments"},{"guid":"https:\/\/ts4z.livejournal.com\/149395.html","pubDate":"Thu, 05 May 2011 19:02:21 GMT","author":"ts4z","link":"https:\/\/ts4z.livejournal.com\/149395.html","description":"I was going to get DirecTV installed today, until they got to the part of having to string cables through my house. The previous installer decided to use the existing wiring, but this installer decided he really wanted the stuff that meets their standards.
So I've scheduled an appointment for AT&T U-verse to replace my DirecTV in a couple weeks... and my internet and phone.
Am I going to regret that?
Does anyone have U-verse? What components are they going to have to install?
I'm going to have to figure out how I'm going to get them into my office, which is just packed with computers, stuff, and junk.","comments":"https:\/\/ts4z.livejournal.com\/149395.html?view=comments#comments"},{"guid":"https:\/\/ts4z.livejournal.com\/149035.html","pubDate":"Tue, 19 Apr 2011 21:09:53 GMT","author":"ts4z","link":"https:\/\/ts4z.livejournal.com\/149035.html","description":"I put a new power supply in my Linux box last night. So far, so good.
Both were 550W Antec power supplies. I'm a bit disappointed in the first. I bet it's still under warranty.","comments":"https:\/\/ts4z.livejournal.com\/149035.html?view=comments#comments"},{"guid":"https:\/\/ts4z.livejournal.com\/148916.html","pubDate":"Mon, 18 Apr 2011 23:31:01 GMT","author":"ts4z","link":"https:\/\/ts4z.livejournal.com\/148916.html","description":"I have a finicky PC that I built from parts about a year ago. It has always had a problem with rebooting, and I want to fix it. Any advice on how to go about it?
When it runs, it runs great: 4-core AMD Phenom II at 2.6GHz or something with 8GB of memory running Ubuntu. Motherboard is Gigabyte brand.
When it has to get rebooted or powered off, and then the problem starts. It just won't boot. There are some lights on the motherboard (internal power\/reset buttons) that are on, but none of the fans spin and the box is off.
To get the box to boot, I have to hard-power it off (unplug it or throw the switch on the power supply), then try to power it on in a few minutes.
Any ideas what I should be doing to fix this? How can I troubleshoot it?","comments":"https:\/\/ts4z.livejournal.com\/148916.html?view=comments#comments"},{"guid":"https:\/\/ts4z.livejournal.com\/148599.html","pubDate":"Fri, 01 Apr 2011 03:43:34 GMT","author":"ts4z","link":"https:\/\/ts4z.livejournal.com\/148599.html","description":"I own a .name domain (see if you can guess it). It's registered with GoDaddy, unfortunately, and for a couple reasons it's time to move to a new provider.
But .name names are hard to transfer! I'm surprised, but a lot of registrars don't take them.
Does anyone have one that does? I usually use DreamHost or EasyDNS, but they can't handle them. Network Solutions barfed when I tried them (they still suck, even after all these years.) I'm wondering if anyone else has a good registrar.","comments":"https:\/\/ts4z.livejournal.com\/148599.html?view=comments#comments"},{"guid":"https:\/\/ts4z.livejournal.com\/148201.html","pubDate":"Sat, 12 Feb 2011 05:41:25 GMT","title":":-(","author":"ts4z","link":"https:\/\/ts4z.livejournal.com\/148201.html","description":"My HP48G died. I've had it since 1994.
Jenn says I can use my iPhone, but it's just not the same!","comments":"https:\/\/ts4z.livejournal.com\/148201.html?view=comments#comments","category":"rpn"},{"guid":"https:\/\/ts4z.livejournal.com\/147801.html","pubDate":"Wed, 09 Feb 2011 20:08:15 GMT","title":"Vegas hotels","author":"ts4z","link":"https:\/\/ts4z.livejournal.com\/147801.html","description":"Recent BARGE meme for Vegas hotel visits.\n\n
My preference is clean, cheap, and close to the poker room, in\nthat order. I sleep fairly heavily and am not picky about beds,\nbut I don't really like huge properties. Noise bothers me at home,\nbut for some reason, not in Vegas.\n\n
Luxor (2001): Room was fine, but it's an incredible walk to get\nanywhere due to the pyramid. I have avoided the Luxor since.\n\n
Quality Inn Key Largo Hotel (2003): Shithole. Demolished a few\nyears ago--Good riddance. I got $10 off my $59 room for telling the\nfront desk that I killed a roach. I wonder what would have\nhappened if I had shown them the body. This is what happens when we book\nhotels at the last minute.\n\n
Rio (2004, 2009): I don't know why anyone goes to the Rio other\nthan Penn & Teller. I don't know why anyone stays there. \nThe coffeeshop is apparently so bad, it's closed 18 hours a day.\n(The American Grille was fine.) The rooms are \"suites\", which\nmeans they are big and badly laid out. They are pretty worn out.\nThe front desk appears to be unclear on the concept of a\nnon-smoking room as well. I've stayed there for six nights, but\npaid for only two (thank you Spencer and Doug!), and I still\ndon't really think it's worth it.\n\n
Ryan's time share (2004): I remember nothing about this place\nexcept it was very nice, Doug snores, and there was no gambling.\n\n
Plaza (2005 BARGE, 2007): We stayed there on a quick trip to\nVegas, booking a room on a Friday night three hours before we\nchecked in. Bill's wanted $300. The Plaza wanted $100, and I\nsuppose that was overpriced. My rooms were clean but worn out.\nSome of the rooms are actually big, but all of the bathrooms are\napparently tiny.\n\n
Main Street Station (2006 BARGE, 2009): I think this is my\nfavorite hotel in Vegas. Rooms are well maintained and\nreasonably priced. I love the beer. I wish the brewpub was open\n24 hours (closes for breakfast) and that they had a poker room.\nBest craps downtown. It's a little hard to get to the parking\ngarage.\n\n
Binion's (2007 BARGE, 2009 BARGE): Adequate motel-class rooms in\nthe new tower. Never been in the old tower. I don't remember my\n'07 room at all. In '09 I toked the front desk and got upgraded\nto a \"mini-suite\" which meant I had a trivially larger room and a\ncube fridge.\n\n
Planet Hollywood (2009): Amusing room. Mine was decorated with a\nbunch of stuff from Get Shorty. Otherwise, a pretty standard\nupscale room, which is to say, it costs too much.","comments":"https:\/\/ts4z.livejournal.com\/147801.html?view=comments#comments"},{"guid":"https:\/\/ts4z.livejournal.com\/147632.html","pubDate":"Wed, 09 Feb 2011 09:43:17 GMT","author":"ts4z","link":"https:\/\/ts4z.livejournal.com\/147632.html","description":"When I got out of bed this morning, I didn't think I'd be dragging a new game home.","comments":"https:\/\/ts4z.livejournal.com\/147632.html?view=comments#comments"},{"guid":"https:\/\/ts4z.livejournal.com\/146937.html","pubDate":"Tue, 25 Jan 2011 20:17:05 GMT","title":"WRGPT: Jacks","author":"ts4z","link":"https:\/\/ts4z.livejournal.com\/146937.html","description":"Jacks. Can't win with'em, can't tear them up and remove them from the deck.
\n! Table c5, Hand 73, Day 86\n\n! Snake calls \n! Pot right ($93200), flopping\/dealing\/drawing cards\n! 2 players, 1 all in\n! Flopped card: 8s\n+-+----------------------------+--------+--------+------+----+--------+\n|#| Name |Bankroll| Action |Status|Pot#|Pot Size|\n+-+----------------------------+--------+--------+------+----+--------+\n 1| Tim Showalter | 0 | 45450 |all-in| | |\n 3|V Vexy | 10400 | 100 | 17| | |\n 4| Norton | 50350 | 100 |folded| | |\n 5| PokerChip | 155075 | 100 |folded| | |\n 6| Scott C. | 44900 | 900 |folded| | |\n 7|> Snake | 14100 | 45450 | | | |\n 8| delbaeth | 81250 | 100 |folded| | |\n 9|D Jon Nightingale | 19250 | 100 |folded| | |\n10| Mario Zeledon S. | 64600 | 900 |folded| | |\n+-+----------------------------+--------+--------+------+----+--------+\n! History of this hand:\n! 01\/21\/11 15:04:03! Dealing a new hand\n! 01\/21\/11 15:04:03! Everyone antes $100\n! 01\/21\/11 15:04:03! Mario Zeledon S. blinds $400\n! 01\/21\/11 15:04:03! Tim Showalter blinds $800\n! 01\/21\/11 15:04:03! Vexy is on vacation and folds\n! 01\/21\/11 16:28:42! Mario Zeledon S. is back from vacation\n! 01\/22\/11 13:06:55! Norton folds\n! 01\/22\/11 13:06:55! PokerChip folds\n! 01\/23\/11 20:27:37! Scott C. calls \n! 01\/24\/11 09:42:08! Snake calls \n! 01\/24\/11 09:42:08! delbaeth folds\n! 01\/24\/11 09:42:08! Jon Nightingale folds\n! 01\/24\/11 13:48:54! Mario Zeledon S. calls \n! 01\/24\/11 14:15:52! Tim Showalter raises $4100 \n! 01\/24\/11 16:26:56! Scott C. folds\n! 01\/24\/11 17:51:12! Snake calls \n! 01\/24\/11 18:16:31! Mario Zeledon S. folds\n\n! 01\/24\/11 18:16:31! Pot right ($12300), flopping\/dealing\/drawing cards\n! 01\/24\/11 18:16:31! 2 players\n! 01\/24\/11 18:16:31! Flopped cards: 9c 5d 6s\n! 01\/24\/11 19:31:25! Tim Showalter bets $12300 \n! 01\/25\/11 10:00:12! Snake calls \n\n! 01\/25\/11 10:00:12! Pot right ($36900), flopping\/dealing\/drawing cards\n! 01\/25\/11 10:00:12! 2 players\n! 01\/25\/11 10:00:12! Flopped card: 3c\n! 01\/25\/11 12:04:56! Tim Showalter bets $28150 and is all in\n! 01\/25\/11 12:08:08! Snake calls \n\n! 01\/25\/11 12:08:08! Pot right ($93200), flopping\/dealing\/drawing cards\n! 01\/25\/11 12:08:08! 2 players, 1 all in\n! 01\/25\/11 12:08:08! Flopped card: 8s\n! Hand over, current board is: 9c 5d 6s 3c 8s\n! Tim Showalter has: Js Jd\n! Snake has: Jh Jc\n! Tim Showalter wins $46600 (net $1150) with One Pair (J J 9 8 6)\n! Snake wins $46600 (net $1150) with One Pair (J J 9 8 6)\n! Antes and blinds go up\n+-+----------------------------+--------+--------+------+----+--------+\n|#| Name |Bankroll| Action |Status|Pot#|Pot Size|\n+-+----------------------------+--------+--------+------+----+--------+\n 1| Tim Showalter | 46600 | | | | |\n 3|V Vexy | 10400 | | 17| | |\n 4| Norton | 50350 | | | | |\n 5| PokerChip | 155075 | | | | |\n 6| Scott C. | 44900 | | | | |\n 7|> Snake | 60700 | | | | |\n 8| delbaeth | 81250 | | | | |\n 9| Jon Nightingale | 19250 | | | | |\n10|D Mario Zeledon S. | 64600 | | | | |\n+-+----------------------------+--------+--------+------+----+--------+\n<\/pre>
<\/a>","comments":"https:\/\/ts4z.livejournal.com\/146937.html?view=comments#comments","category":"wrgpt"},{"guid":"https:\/\/ts4z.livejournal.com\/146477.html","pubDate":"Mon, 24 Jan 2011 02:51:47 GMT","author":"ts4z","link":"https:\/\/ts4z.livejournal.com\/146477.html","description":"Hm. What's the best way to get HDTV before the big game?
Edit:<\/b>
I have an HDTV, but need to get an HD source. Should I get cable, or call DirecTV and get a bunch of new hardware to replace my current setup? U-Verse?","comments":"https:\/\/ts4z.livejournal.com\/146477.html?view=comments#comments"},{"guid":"https:\/\/ts4z.livejournal.com\/145984.html","pubDate":"Tue, 28 Dec 2010 10:31:57 GMT","author":"ts4z","link":"https:\/\/ts4z.livejournal.com\/145984.html","description":"I got a puzzle called \"One Tough Puzzle\" from my dad and stepmother for Christmas. It's a sort-of jigsaw puzzle, but all of the nine pieces are the same size except for the connectors. There are four connector types, one for each of the four playing card suits, and can either stick out, or have a hole.
They got me one called Scramble Squares a few years ago, which uses repeating pictures instead of jigsaw bits. I finally wrote a little C++ program to solve it. The One Tough Puzzle is actually just a variant, so I adapted my code, after I spent an hour trying to find it, and another one trying to debug a typo in the declaration of the puzzle.
Anyway, if your family decides to frustrate you with these, and you don't mind C++ and brute-force, my code is available<\/a>. If you have one of the other variants, you'll have to flesh out another flavor.
My brother informed me that this was cheating, and that I was supposed to do it by trial and error. I am happy to report that my program does exactly that.","comments":"https:\/\/ts4z.livejournal.com\/145984.html?view=comments#comments"},{"guid":"https:\/\/ts4z.livejournal.com\/145746.html","pubDate":"Mon, 22 Nov 2010 17:41:28 GMT","title":"WRGPT: behold, the power of presto","author":"ts4z","link":"https:\/\/ts4z.livejournal.com\/145746.html","description":"Cut because it's WRGPT (poker) crap. But Presto is involved.\n+-+----------------------------+--------+--------+------+----+--------+\n|#| Name |Bankroll| Action |Status|Pot#|Pot Size|\n+-+----------------------------+--------+--------+------+----+--------+\n 1| Martin Greenberg | 28500 | 0 |folded| | |\n 2| SCSI | 28250 | 0 |folded| | |\n 3| Stephen Opal | 31650 | 2450 |folded| | |\n 4|D RocketRodney | 31450 | 0 |folded| | |\n 5|V TrayRacer | 30100 | 100 | 11\/30| | |\n 6| amxmax | 46100 | 2450 |folded| | |\n 7| Tim Showalter | 0 | 20800 |all-in| | |\n 8|> Sash | 9450 | 20800 | | | |\n 9| Aaron Stovall | 36750 | 0 |folded| | |\n10| ConManHuckster Tm | 70050 | 0 |folded| | |\n+-+----------------------------+--------+--------+------+----+--------+\n! History of this hand:\n! 11\/18\/10 15:31:44! Dealing a new hand\n! 11\/18\/10 15:31:44! No ante\n! 11\/18\/10 15:31:44! TrayRacer blinds $100\n! 11\/18\/10 15:31:44! amxmax blinds $200\n! 11\/18\/10 16:52:56! Tim Showalter calls \n! 11\/19\/10 01:35:29! Sash calls \n! 11\/19\/10 01:35:29! Aaron Stovall folds\n! 11\/19\/10 01:35:29! ConManHuckster Tm folds\n! 11\/19\/10 01:35:29! Martin Greenberg folds\n! 11\/19\/10 01:35:29! SCSI folds\n! 11\/19\/10 07:14:19! Stephen Opal raises $750 \n! 11\/19\/10 07:15:11! RocketRodney folds\n! 11\/19\/10 07:15:11! TrayRacer is on vacation and folds\n! 11\/19\/10 07:25:35! amxmax calls \n! 11\/19\/10 07:25:35! Tim Showalter calls \n! 11\/19\/10 12:42:23! Sash raises $1500 \n! 11\/19\/10 15:17:12! Stephen Opal calls \n! 11\/19\/10 15:44:04! amxmax calls \n! 11\/19\/10 15:44:04! Tim Showalter calls \n\n! 11\/19\/10 15:44:04! Pot right ($9900), flopping\/dealing\/drawing cards\n! 11\/19\/10 15:44:04! 4 players\n! 11\/19\/10 15:44:04! Flopped cards: 2c 7c 5h\n! 11\/20\/10 09:30:14! amxmax checks\n! 11\/20\/10 09:30:14! Tim Showalter checks\n! 11\/21\/10 07:49:19! Sash bets $5000 \n! 11\/21\/10 11:48:20! Stephen Opal folds\n! 11\/21\/10 11:55:45! amxmax folds\n! 11\/21\/10 15:31:14! Tim Showalter raises $13350 and is all in\n! 11\/21\/10 16:07:17! Sash calls \n\n! 11\/21\/10 16:07:17! Pot right ($46600), flopping\/dealing\/drawing cards\n! 11\/21\/10 16:07:17! 2 players, 1 all in\n! 11\/21\/10 16:07:17! Flopped card: 2d\n! 11\/21\/10 16:07:17! Flopped card: Jc\n! Hand over, current board is: 2c 7c 5h 2d Jc\n! Tim Showalter has: 5s 5c\n! Sash has: As Ah\n! Tim Showalter wins $46600 (net $25800) with Full House (5 5 5 2 2)\n+-+----------------------------+--------+--------+------+----+--------+\n|#| Name |Bankroll| Action |Status|Pot#|Pot Size|\n+-+----------------------------+--------+--------+------+----+--------+\n 1| Martin Greenberg | 28500 | | | | |\n 2| SCSI | 28250 | | | | |\n 3| Stephen Opal | 31650 | | | | |\n 4| RocketRodney | 31450 | | | | |\n 5|DV TrayRacer | 30100 | | 11\/30| | |\n 6| amxmax | 46100 | | | | |\n 7| Tim Showalter | 46600 | | | | |\n 8|> Sash | 9450 | | | | |\n 9| Aaron Stovall | 36750 | | | | |\n10| ConManHuckster Tm | 70050 | | | | |\n+-+----------------------------+--------+--------+------+----+--------+\n! 851 players left in the tournament, 0 tables down to six players\n! A new hand will be dealt shortly\n<\/pre>
<\/a>","comments":"https:\/\/ts4z.livejournal.com\/145746.html?view=comments#comments","category":"wrgpt"}]}}