Random photos, comics, etc.

[Leo Enticknap]

We get those flash floods here all the time. Just changw Loma Linda to Bellevue.

We sometimes get them here, but only after several days of what Michael Fish infamously called "organized rain" have overwhelmed the storm drains and runoff channels. On the day that screenshot was taken, there hadn't been any rain locally for some time, and Apple Weather's second prediction was also bang on the nail in that all we eventually got was a couple of hours of light, on and off drizzle (and at almost exactly the time it predicted that we would get it): nothing like what would be needed to cause a flash flood. I guess the warning must have been caused by a glitch in their forecasting models.

While that is a scam, now that so much stuff is outsourced you can't just assume that stuff that comes from far away places isn't legitimate.

True, but I've never had it come from a phone number in the foreign country: international call centers are usually reached by calling a domestic number, and if they call or text you, it appears to come from a domestic number, too. I also had another text with almost identical wording from a number in India.

[Frank Cox]

Interesting that the California DMV is now texting its enforcement notices from a cellphone number in The Philippines!

While that is a scam, now that so much stuff is outsourced you can't just assume that stuff that comes from far away places isn't legitimate. Warner Bros uses some payment service provided by Capgemini, and I have the impression that the woman I send "I paid this one" notices to is in the Philippines as well.

[Mark Gulbrandsen]

We get those flash floods here all the time. Just changw Loma Linda to Bellevue. Lots of good size rivers and creeks is the reason. So my place is up on a hill about 1300 feet above ground.

[Leo Enticknap]

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So "possible light rain" risks causing a flash flood (there had been no rain at all in the area for weeks before this "possible light")? I knew that we'd underinvested in infrastructure over the last decade or so, but had no ideas that things were that bad!

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Interesting that the California DMV is now texting its enforcement notices from a cellphone number in The Philippines! That, combined with the fact that I haven't driven on a toll road in California since December 23 last year (my wife and I share a Fastrak transponder: shortly after that journey it went into her car, and hasn't returned to mine since), means that the scammers will really have to up their game if they hope to make any money out of me.

[James Biggins]

"Invalid file specified"

[Jim Cassedy]

Q: What do a cell phone and a dog have in common?
A: "Collar ID"

[Jim Cassedy]

CloudStorage.jpg

I always wondered what this closet in our server room was for. . .

[Randy Stankey]

Do you have an old toaster oven that you could keep in the basement or garage for use in such projects?

[Leo Enticknap]

...baking bi-carb into carbonate will result in a product that is as good as or better than bespoke sodium carbonate that you would buy from a chemical supplier.

I fear that if I tried that in our kitchen, my wife would suspect me of starting up a meth lab. There again, she might not object too much, as I'd likely make more money doing that than fixing projectors...

[Randy Stankey]

It depends on how badly the movie stinks.

[Harold Hallikainen]

Does baking soda in the projector remove odors like it does in a refrigerator?

[Randy Stankey]

Sodium bicarbonate (baking soda) is one of the few pure chemicals that you can buy in a grocery store. The stuff has to be USP/Food grade in order to cook with. USP is a higher (more pure) grade than Lab Grade but lower than Technical Grade which is the highest grade that is commonly available. USP Grade is somewhere between the two. If you use proper technique to avoid contamination while you are working with it, baking bi-carb into carbonate will result in a product that is as good as or better than bespoke sodium carbonate that you would buy from a chemical supplier. It's a damn-sight cheaper and easier to get, too!

Y'know... Back in the old days, I might have recommended putting a dish of baking soda inside your projector's lamphouse, near the carbon arc, and just leave it there while the movies run. Eventually, over time, it will turn into sodium carbonate that you could use to clean metal parts. Even if it didn't completely convert from bi-carb to carbonate it would still be good enough to clean parts with.

[Leo Enticknap]

Sodium carbonate (without the bi-) was not available at any supermarkets or hardware stores in these parts the last time I looked for it, but Barco tech support told me that sodium bicarbonate (sold as baking soda in supermarkets) would work just as well. It seems to: after about an hour of immersing a Barco S2 (S4 filters take a lot longer, due to their thickness) air filter that has enough crud on it, and/or moist enough crud, to defeat the DataVac, it has all either dissolved or washes away under running water, without any problem. I am currently just over half way through a 32lb bag of it, but see that Amazon does now have sodium carbonate without the bi-, and so will likely go fully official once I've finished that bag.

[Randy Stankey]

Prior to my current job, I was a lab tech in a plating shop, taking samples, performing titrations and adding chemicals to the plating baths all day.

Sodium carbonate and sodium hydroxide were often used to clean and degrease parts prior to plating.

[Mark Gulbrandsen]

Just a fun fact: You can make sodium carbonate from sodium bicarbonate by heating. Put some baking soda in a shallow, glass container and heat it in the oven at 100º C for about an hour. The stuff will bubble and release carbon dioxide plus water vapor as it decomposes. When it's done, you'll be left with sodium carbonate.

You can also find sodium carbonate in the grocery store. It is often sold as coffee pot cleaner. If you decide to try it, be sure to read the ingredients on the label. Sometimes, companies put in other stuff.

Brad needs to change your Forum name to Mr Wizard...