[X] My Assistant

Yeah the old shipping is the real price gag/scam always annoys me.

Common on old parts / retro tech. Very common on ebay.


Though I have seen outrageous shipping prices that seem to still be carried over from the pandemic or getting worse now.

A lot of places had free shipping here during 2020-2022 now the shipping price has gone up to higher than before.

Maybe because govt raised the min wage to the highest ever. We had the highest min wage globally until Luxembourg just put theirs up but its also because our exchange rate tanked.

This post has been edited by EsotericSatire: Aug 27 2023, 03:25

It's sort of amazing how much IBM's scrollpoint mouses have flown under the radar, even as prices soar on trackpoint keyboards and other old IBM peripherals.

I guess no popular youtubers have made videos about them yet or something. Kinda hard to find 800DPI optical ones, but I managed to snag one. There also seem to be some lower-DPI optical ones out there, and it seems you may have to know the part number to know what you're getting. If you're okay with acceleration, then the 400DPI ball ones still work fine, of course.

The only wireless one they ever made appears to use a ball. Those seem really hard to find. Might go for one eventually but I'm going to need to get a receiver with one, and I think I might have to buy an old wireless IBM keyboard to get a receiver. So that'll need to wait. Thankfully the wired ones don't bother me; I've been using wired mouses for years now anyway.

They are really great for scrolling with, both horizontally and vertically. I don't think I can go back to wheel mouses. Nice to be able to scroll as easily as I do on my thinkpad (using a joystick-style trackpoint thingy). I'll never accidentally roll the scroll wheel while trying to do middle clicking, either. Middle button is the small strip above the nub. Except on the boxed mouse, which is just a two-button mouse.

Can't even find a list of all the part numbers they used for them in one place; been compiling my own spreadsheet of them as I come across them.

[postimg.cc] (IMG:[i.postimg.cc] https://i.postimg.cc/9fbBmJ69/IMG-0659-01a.jpg)

This post has been edited by dragontamer8740: Aug 27 2023, 06:10

It's sort of amazing how much IBM's scrollpoint mouses have flown under the radar, even as prices soar on trackpoint keyboards and other old IBM peripherals.

I think the old ones had durability issues with the switches, and did not track that well without a mouse pad.


Also were they PS2 only? Or did they have a USB version. I remember IT throwing out a heap once.


I was reading one recent review the problem was that it needed drivers to operate correctly. They even concluded that it would be more popular today as people are jumping on weird form factors and gimmicks but this was one that worked.

There are people that hunt for ScrollPoint Pro II in good condition.

This post has been edited by EsotericSatire: Aug 29 2023, 03:22

I think the old ones had durability issues with the switches, and did not track that well without a mouse pad.

My old one was new in box so it's fine for now. The later ones I have are good. My ball mouses work nicely; my optical one gets confused when moving super fast, but there's a second revision of the optical ScrollPoint III that I have on the way which might fix that problem. Will test when it arrives.

Also were they PS2 only? Or did they have a USB version. I remember IT throwing out a heap once.

There were USB and PS/2 ones. Most of them were USB (Scrollpoint II, Scrollpoint III, Scrollpoint Pro I and II). Only the original scrollpoints were PS/2 only. The rest (except maybe the Pro? I don't have any pro's) could work via PS/2 with a passive USB -> PS/2 physical adapter, but came with a USB on them.

I was reading one recent review the problem was that it needed drivers to operate correctly. They even concluded that it would be more popular today as people are jumping on weird form factors and gimmicks but this was one that worked.

Would be interested to read that review.
Works out of the box in Linux these days, except for the PS/2 only ones - but yeah, back then especially drivers would be an issue.

I think IBM just terminally sucked at 'marketing' to non-corporate consumers. Acted like the public would understand the brilliance of a thing they made based on their brand alone, without actually having to explain what was so great about it.
And also acted as if consumers had brains and could think critically. They don't emphasize the ability to scroll horizontally (or indefinitely) on the packaging for my ScrollPoint I as much as I think they should have.

There are people that hunt for ScrollPoint Pro II in good condition.

Not enough of them for the prices to be crazy, though, thankfully.

...Yet.

Not the biggest fan of curvy mouses myself, so I haven't grabbed a Pro/Pro II. But might some day if I feel like throwing away a bit more money.

It is noticeably harder to find optical scrollpoints on ebay than the ball kinds.

This post has been edited by dragontamer8740: Aug 29 2023, 06:29

I think its also the perception of tech bros at the time.

Back in late 90s/00s I knew IT people fighting for model m keyboards not to be disposed and that they could be easily repaired if they had common issues. They were superior to the cheap membrane keyboards being deployed. Model M keyboards achieved a cult status that lead to the 're-mainstreaming' of mechanical keyboards.

I don't really know of any IT that fought for the scroll points. The replacement were seen as improving after each gen and new mice being cheap.

I grabbed onto a handful of Model M's that I found before they got re-mainstreamed, thankfully. I do think that it is something like that that happened. Typing this on a model M right now (the one in the pic).

"Easily repaired" is debateable. If you have 100-odd bolts, tiny machine screws, and a drill, then maybe you can clean out the membranes.

I bolt modded one of my boards (the one in the photo, actually) where the baseplate was cracking. Would not like to do it again.

Model F boards were more repairable, but never made in the current standard layout. And good fucking luck getting one at a sane price now.

The new mouses weren't functionally equivalent, though. That's why I don't get it. The scrollpoint is a very handy device that solves an actual real problem of wheel mouses. And the caps on the later scrollpoint designs are very comfortable to use.

Not got a link for that review, then?

This post has been edited by dragontamer8740: Aug 29 2023, 07:18

Not got a link for that review, then?

I can't find the exact one;

Here is the

PC world shitting on the Scroll Point circa 1997

[www.vintagecomputing.com] https://www.vintagecomputing.com/index.php/...rollpoint-mouse


This shows research at the time, even shitting on Mouse scroll wheels.
[www.ibmfiles.com] http://www.ibmfiles.com/ibmfiles/periphera...scrollpoint.pdf


Weirdly they found a z-axis scroll/joystick more useful than scroll wheel or the Scrollpoint.


Here is a re-up of one blog on LTT

[linustechtips.com] https://linustechtips.com/blogs/entry/2091-...heel-literally/



Conclusion:

There seems to be an interaction between 'users are stupid' and 'what workflow is this for?'

This post has been edited by EsotericSatire: Aug 29 2023, 08:01

I can't find the exact one;

Here is the

PC world shitting on the Scroll Point circa 1997

[www.vintagecomputing.com] https://www.vintagecomputing.com/index.php/...rollpoint-mouse
This shows research at the time, even shitting on Mouse scroll wheels.
[www.ibmfiles.com] http://www.ibmfiles.com/ibmfiles/periphera...scrollpoint.pdf
Weirdly they found a z-axis scroll/joystick more useful than scroll wheel or the Scrollpoint.
Here is a re-up of one blog on LTT

[linustechtips.com] https://linustechtips.com/blogs/entry/2091-...heel-literally/
Conclusion:

There seems to be an interaction between 'users are stupid' and 'what workflow is this for?'

Photo editing is a workflow where horizontal scrolling makes a fuckton of sense. Also just viewing comics and stuff zoomed in.

Also I refuse to click that last link (because LTT). And I'd already seen #2. #1 was new.

Also that advert was from PC World, but the text under the picture was not. It mentions the mighty mouse.

I definitely think the later revisions are much more usable than the initial one, if only because the later revisions actually have three buttons.

This post has been edited by dragontamer8740: Aug 29 2023, 08:16

Is there a point in fast internet connections if the ISP is going to use aggressive shaping.


Without a VPN, I'd be getting 5-10x times slower downloads most of the time.

I was annoyed by the watermark on a datasheet PDF for an Empia EM2860 USB Video Capture chip, so I spent an 45 minutes or so figuring out how to remove it. No two PDF's ever seem to do watermarks the same way.

There's next to zero chance anyone else (on here especially) needs this datasheet, but here it is anyway.
[files.catbox.moe] https://files.catbox.moe/ibdsri.pdf

Original, watermarked version: [www.sumzi.com] https://www.sumzi.com/upload/files/2007/07/...17482974557.PDF

The watermark text is not actually text; it wasn't an image either. It's a vector-based drawing of filled in line art done as 'drawing coordinates' in PDF 'operators' (see page 643 in [opensource.adobe.com] the PDF specification, Annex A, Operator Summary). Specifically a lot of 'm', 'l', and 'b*' operators. Deleting those from the "postscript" (not really, but it's similar in nature) fixed it, once i figured out a couple other little tricks.
To get to that point I had to uncompress and remove password-based (edit-only) protection from the PDF file (using the Java version of pdftk; the other version refuses to remove password protection), and then open it in emacs for editing.

Fuck PDF's.

I see why some people pay for PDF editing software. But I don't think I ever will.

Helped someone I know at work to decrypt an actually password-protected (no reading without entering a password) PDF that also had watermarks on it. Since he had the password. Can't stand people who try to hide information or make it more annoying to read.

The PDF was watermarked with his personal information on it. Can't guarantee it's totally anonymous now, but I do think it's more likely to be. Not sure how aware most companies are that PDF's can indeed be tampered with after creation like I've been doing. I am guessing they're counting on people who get "certifications" for proficiency with technologies not being the ones who know that kind of stuff.

I know for sure I'd not pass a linux certification test, for instance, even after using it for at least twelve years, just because it's actually a systemd certification rather than a linux/unix one. And because they mostly cover contrived situations where a search engine would save you. And because there are usually multiple ways to go about doing a thing, even beyond what's in a set of multiple choice options. Not sure if anyone else writes shell scripts the same stupid way I do.

This post has been edited by dragontamer8740: Sep 3 2023, 02:10

Fuck PDF's.

I see why some people pay for PDF editing software. But I don't think I ever will.

The software is kinda getting expensive though.

I know for sure I'd not pass a linux certification test, for instance, even after using it for at least twelve years, just because it's actually a systemd certification rather than a linux/unix one. And because they mostly cover contrived situations where a search engine would save you.

I think I had to do the red hat version eons ago. I can't remember most things but can google most things fairly easily these days, though not AS easily since google started to mess with ranking. Back in the 90s where you could get on IT projects because most mangers had no clue and people assumed you could learn everything rapidly if you were motivated.

This post has been edited by EsotericSatire: Sep 3 2023, 11:55

Got Vapoursynth working in order to put a 3D (temporal) comb filter on my LD captures, to try to eliminate some rainbowing.

Seems to work alright.

Was super fucking annoying to build and set up, though. Especially since I have to write python to use it.

The upshot is that I don't have to have an LD player with a 3D comb filter built in this way.

I don't know what all else I'll be able to find to improve about my capture setup after this.

Besides domesday duplicator, of course. Which would get me a software-based time base corrector for basically nothing. Hardware TBC's are super fucking expensive still, even though they're basically obsolete.

This post has been edited by dragontamer8740: Sep 5 2023, 18:09

Why are cars tracking information on sexual history and activity now?



Nissan now added EULA agreement that you agree to give them the right to collect data on your sexual activity and history and your health data.

I should get a new phone

Nissan now added EULA agreement that you agree to give them the right to collect data on your sexual activity and history and your health data.

gotta sell that smart dildo integrated into your car seat

Bringing the meaning of "shaggin' wagon" to a whole new level

gotta sell that smart dildo integrated into your car seat

And you need pay extra for options like: warming up via key and vibration

And you need pay extra for options like: warming up via key and vibration

thats monthly subscription for BMW with the vibrating seats an seat warmers...


Kinda retarded to have features built in locked out by software.

Updated from Firefox 97 to Firefox 116, and now once again encountering all the UI tweaks that the developers made to justify their continued employment.

Things I had to edit the XUL to fix (userChrome.css wasn't cutting it):

• Had to do more XUL edits to make the "new tab" icon stay on the far left (and continue to be visible even when the tab ribbon is full).

Things I had to do/fix userChrome.css tweaks for:

• Had to completely redo the CSS for getting the find bar to show up near the other toolbars instead of at the bottom.
• Had to move the 'close' button on the find bar back over to the left, instead of way off on the other side of the screen.
• Had to fix the sizing on the URL bar again to prevent huge space wastage.
• Had to fix the background color in the menu items (it was a dark gray for some reason instead of following the system theme).
• Had to fix the background color for the menu bar itself (which was the color of my window borders instead of the color toolbars are supposed to be).
• Had to fix the menus all having rounded corners for some fucking reason.
• Had to fix the search bar and url bar suggestions having rounded corners (for some fucking reason.)
• Had to re-do my CSS for hiding the "hamburger menu" icon in a way that doesn't cause major glitching when installing new addons (the 'addon installed' notification freaks out if it's set to display:none).
• Removed the icons in the right click menu (forward/backward navigation, reload page, etc).
• Fixed the coloration and size of tabs (focused tabs' colors are noticeably different than unfocused ones now).

Things I had to change settings for:

• Had to make the scroll bars not disappear when not hovering over them. Stupid, awful design choice unless you're on a phone or something.

Already existing patches to the Mozilla source code I'd made that needed to be updated:

• Right click -> view image context menu reinstated (for opening an image in the current tab instead of forcing opening a new one for it). Was removed around Firefox 90-ish and replaced with a version that could only work in new tabs, whereas ctrl-click or middle click on 'view image' was able to accomplish the same thing before.
• Reinstated the same feature as above for 'view video'
• Reinstated 'browser.urlbar.doubleClickSelectsAll' about:config preference to control if single-clicking in the URL/search bars selects all text or simply places the cursor. At some point (around Firefox 80-something I think), Mozilla decided to force everyone to automatically select the full contents of the text field.

Still to do:

• Scroll bars are changing to match the colors of webpages. Find a way to make them stop being fucking stupid.
• Reinstate XUL-based (e.g., good) about:config again. Edit: done.

Things that FF does, but which my fixes from prior versions didn't seem to break for this time (incomplete list):

• Density of my toolbar buttons mostly stayed the same.
• Tabs stayed on bottom.

Every time I upgrade, firefox still gets worse. And the upgrades are getting more frequent, because FF 97 (which is just over a year old) was already breaking on github and hCaptchas, as well as the new copyright.gov site redesign that some retards are working on for them.

That's right, a .gov site that breaks on a one year old browser. Isn't the future fantastic?

Also catbox seems to be down. Thinking of migrating the sig pictures that use it to somewhere else. This happens entirely too often.
[postimg.cc] (IMG:[i.postimg.cc] https://i.postimg.cc/L5g38zQ6/ff-menubar-fixed-116-sm.png)

If anyone wants my patches and dares to try to build FF from sources, I can provide them (and also my build config file).

This post has been edited by dragontamer8740: Sep 10 2023, 09:43

News to me:
[stackoverflow.com] CMD opens Windows Store when I type 'python'

Apparently Windows 10 has been doing this for three years.