Test Equipment Anonymous (TEA) group therapy thread

[Kosmic]

You think I should check them for ESR ?





Interesting that the vent on top totally failed to do his only job. Instead, they all broke down at the base of the capacitor.

[Cerebus]

Hubby is from Vienna. Lots of his colleagues are trying to find the terrorists and eliminate them. One of his (Ex-) colleagues got killed. He is understandably pissed.

I'm sorry to hear that.

I do wish however that didn't include the word "eliminate", we're supposed to be better than them. Plus the rest of a person's life spent in a cell is much less glamorous than martyrdom.

eliminate the threat.

It's as simple as that. And tbh they will try to take out these bastards by any means at their disposal. Last I heard the Jagdkommando is getting ready to roll. That's the Austrian equivalent of the SAS. And the JaKo is not as friendly as the special police forces.

These people play the west like a fiddle. They deliberately adopt tactics intended to make them martyrs (in their eyes) out of them, and we oblige by being gung-ho and killing them at every opportunity. We're doing exactly what they want. What they don't want is to permit even the possibility of being caught, tried, imprisoned, and intelligence carefully and cleverly extracted from them. Our tactics so far haven't been exactly spectacularly successful in 'eliminating the threat', just at handing them what they want on a plate.

The smart thing to do would be to capture them if it is at all possible without incurring further loss of life - not easy, but who said it was going to be easy. What is easy is giving in to the very human instinct for violent revenge. It never improves anything and, as I said before, we're supposed to be better than them. Setting out with the intention to capture them and killing them only if strictly necessary is morally very different from setting out with the intention of killing them if there's any excuse for doing so.

I have a friend who, in peace time, had to shoot someone. I'm not going to name him, obviously, but I'm completely confident that when he tells me that he was left with no choice I believe him. He'd rather he didn't have to, but it's easy to see that he's got a clear conscience on the matter. Also, having been in front line service in the Commandos in WWII there's no doubt about things my father had to do. Like many of that era he didn't talk about it, but I'd have known if his conscience troubled him. I also know a man who killed somebody quite 'legally', but he knows that they went out with the intention to kill regardless that day, and justification be damned. He's a mess. The violence damages the people who do it too, and my experience tells me that "I had no choice" and "I was gonna kill him anyway" makes a big difference to the person doing it.

[Cerebus]

Meanwhile in other circumstances this was the scene at Costco in Lakeside today, hundreds of people queued for hours to go and panic buying in preparation for the national lockdown starting this Thursday. Bastards had better leave enough for me when I go shopping later in the week 

It must have taken hours for the back of that queue to get to the store entrance. Reminds me of photos I've seen of people queueing for bread during the 2nd world war FFS.

Oh Sweet Chesus, you think people would have learned from last time around that panic buying helps nobody. I presume that my planned normal shop on Wednesday is consequently going to be hell.

[tautech]

Hubby is from Vienna. Lots of his colleagues are trying to find the terrorists and eliminate them. One of his (Ex-) colleagues got killed. He is understandably pissed.

I'm sorry to hear that.

I do wish however that didn't include the word "eliminate", we're supposed to be better than them. Plus the rest of a person's life spent in a cell is much less glamorous than martyrdom.

eliminate the threat.

It's as simple as that. And tbh they will try to take out these bastards by any means at their disposal. Last I heard the Jagdkommando is getting ready to roll. That's the Austrian equivalent of the SAS. And the JaKo is not as friendly as the special police forces.

These people play the west like a fiddle. They deliberately adopt tactics intended to make them martyrs (in their eyes) out of them, and we oblige by being gung-ho and killing them at every opportunity. We're doing exactly what they want. What they don't want is to permit even the possibility of being caught, tried, imprisoned, and intelligence carefully and cleverly extracted from them. Our tactics so far haven't been exactly spectacularly successful in 'eliminating the threat', just at handing them what they want on a plate.

The smart thing to do would be to capture them if it is at all possible without incurring further loss of life - not easy, but who said it was going to be easy. What is easy is giving in to the very human instinct for violent revenge. It never improves anything and, as I said before, we're supposed to be better than them. Setting out with the intention to capture them and killing them only if strictly necessary is morally very different from setting out with the intention of killing them if there's any excuse for doing so.

I have a friend who, in peace time, had to shoot someone. I'm not going to name him, obviously, but I'm completely confident that when he tells me that he was left with no choice I believe him. He'd rather he didn't have to, but it's easy to see that he's got a clear conscience on the matter. Also, having been in front line service in the Commandos in WWII there's no doubt about things my father had to do. Like many of that era he didn't talk about it, but I'd have known if his conscience troubled him. I also know a man who killed somebody quite 'legally', but he knows that they went out with the intention to kill regardless that day, and justification be damned. He's a mess. The violence damages the people who do it too, and my experience tells me that "I had no choice" and "I was gonna kill him anyway" makes a big difference to the person doing it.

Oh sweet jebus !
What civilised society beheads innocents in front of a camera ?
I'm with Saskia on this: eliminate !

[Specmaster]

Hubby is from Vienna. Lots of his colleagues are trying to find the terrorists and eliminate them. One of his (Ex-) colleagues got killed. He is understandably pissed.

I'm sorry to hear that.

I do wish however that didn't include the word "eliminate", we're supposed to be better than them. Plus the rest of a person's life spent in a cell is much less glamorous than martyrdom.

eliminate the threat.

It's as simple as that. And tbh they will try to take out these bastards by any means at their disposal. Last I heard the Jagdkommando is getting ready to roll. That's the Austrian equivalent of the SAS. And the JaKo is not as friendly as the special police forces.

These people play the west like a fiddle. They deliberately adopt tactics intended to make them martyrs (in their eyes) out of them, and we oblige by being gung-ho and killing them at every opportunity. We're doing exactly what they want. What they don't want is to permit even the possibility of being caught, tried, imprisoned, and intelligence carefully and cleverly extracted from them. Our tactics so far haven't been exactly spectacularly successful in 'eliminating the threat', just at handing them what they want on a plate.

The smart thing to do would be to capture them if it is at all possible without incurring further loss of life - not easy, but who said it was going to be easy. What is easy is giving in to the very human instinct for violent revenge. It never improves anything and, as I said before, we're supposed to be better than them. Setting out with the intention to capture them and killing them only if strictly necessary is morally very different from setting out with the intention of killing them if there's any excuse for doing so.

I have a friend who, in peace time, had to shoot someone. I'm not going to name him, obviously, but I'm completely confident that when he tells me that he was left with no choice I believe him. He'd rather he didn't have to, but it's easy to see that he's got a clear conscience on the matter. Also, having been in front line service in the Commandos in WWII there's no doubt about things my father had to do. Like many of that era he didn't talk about it, but I'd have known if his conscience troubled him. I also know a man who killed somebody quite 'legally', but he knows that they went out with the intention to kill regardless that day, and justification be damned. He's a mess. The violence damages the people who do it too, and my experience tells me that "I had no choice" and "I was gonna kill him anyway" makes a big difference to the person doing it.

Oh sweet jebus !
What civilised society beheads innocents in front of a camera ?
I'm with Saskia on this: eliminate !

I can see quite clearly the point Cerebus is making and I tend to agree with him, it is a fine line that Police tread in these situations. Yes in an ideal world then you would not wish to grant them their wish of martyrdom BUT, I can also see the other side of the argument. If you had a chance of shooting them dead, then you know that they cannot kill any more innocent people. If you miss that chance, and they do kill others before you are able to either kill or capture them, then that could weigh very heavy on their conscience, knowing that others died because they failed to stop it, could drive them insane.

I think it is fine saying what should happen but the reality is that you have to be there and experience it first hand and weigh up your options and decide the best course to take.

[xrunner]

You think I should check them for ESR ?

Sure let us know what one of 'em measured. 

[Specmaster]

Meanwhile in other circumstances this was the scene at Costco in Lakeside today, hundreds of people queued for hours to go and panic buying in preparation for the national lockdown starting this Thursday. Bastards had better leave enough for me when I go shopping later in the week 

It must have taken hours for the back of that queue to get to the store entrance. Reminds me of photos I've seen of people queueing for bread during the 2nd world war FFS.

Oh Sweet Chesus, you think people would have learned from last time around that panic buying helps nobody. I presume that my planned normal shop on Wednesday is consequently going to be hell.

I'll find out tomorrow as I'm going shopping 

[Kosmic]

You think I should check them for ESR ?

Sure let us know what one of 'em measured. 

Supposed to be 1500uF. At 1kHz, It's now reading 3.045uF, Dissipation Factor of 1.906 and ESR of 92.2\$\Omega\$

The funny thing is that the computer seem to be working fine with those dead caps.

[mnementh]

Y'all may have noticed the ol' dwagon has been conspicuously absent from the forum today... that's because I went down to York to meet up with 25CPS again and look for some TEA. He had a shopping list; which I believe he satisfied (and then some) as did I; I got what I needed but not what I wanted. And on my way out the door to go meet him, I found my TinySA from Bang-em-good waiting in the mailbox!



We met at Tim Horton's for breakfast (again) but due to new COVID Wave 2 restrictions, there is again no "dine-in" service available in the greater Toronto area. 

So we had our little meetup in his truck because more room than the Rav4; we each brought a few of our favorite shinies and new acquisitions for the other to ogle and fondle. I brought my MS8911, my NanoVNA SAA2, and of course, we did the unboxing of my TinySA too. Above you can see 25CPS scoping out my TinySA; I have to admit that although the screen is tiny, it does appear quite usuable even with my poor eyesight. 



Here you can see my haul along with the TinySA; I suppose it is technically part of today's TEAcquisitions.  I gave CAD$40 (~US$30.50) for a Amphenol # 74868 N-BNC, TE Connectivity Stainless body N-SMA,  a 50cm M17/152-00001 N-90° to N-90° by Harbour Industries, (these so I can connect my NanoVNA to other stuff) and one set of apparently unused AMPROBE Model DTL-12 CAT III/1KV/10A test leads as backups for my 189.

We just couldn't come to an agreement on the HP 8111A function generator he had. He wanted CAD$275 for it; I had just been looking at a similar FLUKE 81 50MHz model on Alltest for US$95, so no way to close that gap. 

While I was there, I snapped a few pics of some other interesting and amusing tidbits to pass along:

         

mnem


   just for med...

[med6753]

Sounds like you two need to get a room. 

Just busting your nads....good deal. 

[mnementh]

Sadly, I don't think YT has a voice option for reporting channels. If nobody does anything, he could get mobs to start attacking 5G towers, destroying them and possibly leave some people without any phone coverage which could result in a life and death situation?

It doesn't, unless you know a Googler, and the only one I know quit last month.

Oh nothing regrettable. Just a metaphorical PEEK and a POKE in the right places...

Peek through a Predator UAV and Poke a Hellfire through his chimney ?

Nah much more insidious. I'm trying to get his credit file zero rated. Reference agencies take evidence for craziness and reckless behaviour. Use the gears of the machine rather than smash them.

If that isn't the subject of a BOFH column,it should be.

BOFH  is that

Simon has been my own personal Jesus since the days I worked HellDesk.  I am now at that age where I've been a PFY and had a couple of my own to contend with; I must admit I was proud when Stephen (my 2nd) politely refused to shake my hand at his graduation. 

mnem
"This is real life; of course there will be a test." ~me

[mnementh]

I think the point is possibly better described that you are capable of making that decision and living with the consequences and the additional considerations required when taking on the responsibility of your own operations. Many are not. Those are the people I worry about really. I also worry about people who think they can and then their houses catches fire with their local only backup in it...

Attitudes are dangerous however if you do not consider the user and their skill level. Most people are much safer in the hands of theses companies and paying for it. Persuading them otherwise is disingenuous and arrogant.

Until about 2 years ago I had a side business going on doing local IT support for small businesses and most were on the verge of critical data loss and going down the toilet due to the "I'll manage it myself" attitude. People are unaware of the mortal risks around them. A lady journalist I did some work for actually lost everything she'd done for 20 years because she was told by an enthusiastic power user that she should manage it herself and avoid all that stuff. BUT she was incapable of evaluating the risks and found that she'd been copying shortcuts to her (corrupt) USB stick for the last 5 years.

That's 90% of businesses, individuals out there. Do not confuse your abilities with mitigating their risks.

When it comes to giving out advice it pays to understand ALL outcomes and that means using ALL the technology and seeking experience everywhere so it can be applied objectively. Advice should be given on the user's needs first.

Edit: a footnote on evaluating risk and being paranoid about the wrong things. MOST of the mortal risks are looming over you with no ignorant mitigation and nearly all of them aren't related to data tenancy and ownership . Tritely, we can get pissy about paying for Excel or we can worry about where our food is coming from 6 months down the line. The latter scares me somewhat more.

Sounds like bd has his own subset of the 80/20 rule... "80% of the assache is caused by 20% of the assholes..." 

mnem

[Mr. Scram]

I think the point is possibly better described that you are capable of making that decision and living with the consequences and the additional considerations required when taking on the responsibility of your own operations. Many are not. Those are the people I worry about really. I also worry about people who think they can and then their houses catches fire with their local only backup in it...

Attitudes are dangerous however if you do not consider the user and their skill level. Most people are much safer in the hands of theses companies and paying for it. Persuading them otherwise is disingenuous and arrogant.

Until about 2 years ago I had a side business going on doing local IT support for small businesses and most were on the verge of critical data loss and going down the toilet due to the "I'll manage it myself" attitude. People are unaware of the mortal risks around them. A lady journalist I did some work for actually lost everything she'd done for 20 years because she was told by an enthusiastic power user that she should manage it herself and avoid all that stuff. BUT she was incapable of evaluating the risks and found that she'd been copying shortcuts to her (corrupt) USB stick for the last 5 years.

That's 90% of businesses, individuals out there. Do not confuse your abilities with mitigating their risks.

When it comes to giving out advice it pays to understand ALL outcomes and that means using ALL the technology and seeking experience everywhere so it can be applied objectively. Advice should be given on the user's needs first.

Edit: a footnote on evaluating risk and being paranoid about the wrong things. MOST of the mortal risks are looming over you with no ignorant mitigation and nearly all of them aren't related to data tenancy and ownership . Tritely, we can get pissy about paying for Excel or we can worry about where our food is coming from 6 months down the line. The latter scares me somewhat more.

Microsoft has been locking people out of their accounts for a breach of the ToS. No recourse and they're not even telling you what you did. They'll just tell you they've confirmed you did whatever they think you did and won't communicate on the matter any further. You'll lose your data and games all the same. It's a bit different for companies but your journalist story is actually still happening. Just through a different mechanism. I don't think playing games with a faceless untouchable entity which doesn't care about wiping your digital life clean is a lot of fun. There's hundreds or possibly thousands of examples by now.

[Zucca]

"FUCK MICROSOFT AND ALL OTHER COMPANIES FOR THEIR ABO MODEL!"
No thanks!
          

Spot on, O365 is cheap because you are the product. The office version (mine) before started the onedrive account please sign in BS. So as soon Excel was damaged I left the M$ office boat with a big smile and taking down my pants to show them my ass.

Same reason I am an happy FreeCAD user and not even touched Frustration360 web fool tool.

Next steps are kicad..., not windows... dreaming of FreeBSD as work horse.

Abo companies need to understand some people are not stupid and fight back!
I feel like Topper now

[BU508A]

Meanwhile in other circumstances this was the scene at Costco in Lakeside today, hundreds of people queued for hours to go and panic buying in preparation for the national lockdown starting this Thursday. Bastards had better leave enough for me when I go shopping later in the week 

It must have taken hours for the back of that queue to get to the store entrance. Reminds me of photos I've seen of people queueing for bread during the 2nd world war FFS.

Oh Sweet Chesus, you think people would have learned from last time around that panic buying helps nobody. I presume that my planned normal shop on Wednesday is consequently going to be hell.

Thanks to Cerebus I discovered today something:

He and his followers must have loved cheese.
"Oh sweet cheese-us!"

You'll find me hiding in the basement...   

[Zucca]

BTW I really appreciate you guys who do not use the name of Christ for cassing, or at least you are trying to.
In the past I reported some posts, but now I am more relaxed.. I feel like you are my friends and I can forgive you more easily.

[Zucca]

1982:



2020:



more details here

this is funny.

[bd139]

Kill it with fire.

[Cerebus]

Oh sweet jebus !
What civilised society beheads innocents in front of a camera ?
I'm with Saskia on this: eliminate !

What civilised society empties a Glock 19 into an innocent off camera?

If the forces of 'good' take to the streets with any hint of "shoot first, ask questions later" in their minds you end up with Charles de Menezes. No police officer has been sanctioned for this innocent man's killing, the Gold Commander on the day has been promoted and now runs the Metropolitan Police.

We have to be cleverer about this than we have been. Aside from giving the bastards what they want (martyrdom), we kill our own innocent people, betray our own principles and continue to fail in ever achieving our true objective, which is ideally no bloodshed.

Truthfully, I'm more scared of a police force that has learned that it's OK to make lethal mistakes, that "get the bastards" is an acceptable attitude, that it will accrue unofficial support for killing people in a rush, buoyed up by excuses about how hard a job it is to do, than I am of Terrorists. There are a lot more armed police on the streets at any one moment than there are terrorists.

If there's no choice, of course shoot to kill, sometimes there is no other option. But our attitude should be to adopt tactics that send the police out with a genuine attitude that preservation of life is the first objective, arrest is the second, with a set of tactics that are designed to do that rather than a set of tactics that are designed to 'neutralise the threat' and that any hint of a "get the bastards" attitude to doing the job is totally unacceptable and will result in sanctions.

I will support any police officer who calmly, rationally, and truthfully decides "I have no other choice" and shots down an active bad guy who they can't stop otherwise (taking all the immediate risks into mind as best they can under the circumstances). But I won't support the alternative, or anyone who sanctions or encourages it. You have to draw a line somewhere on what kind of society you want to live in, and that is where I draw mine.

[Cerebus]

Kill it with fire.

From orbit.

That colour scheme alone justifies it.

[Specmaster]

Meanwhile in other circumstances this was the scene at Costco in Lakeside today, hundreds of people queued for hours to go and panic buying in preparation for the national lockdown starting this Thursday. Bastards had better leave enough for me when I go shopping later in the week 

It must have taken hours for the back of that queue to get to the store entrance. Reminds me of photos I've seen of people queueing for bread during the 2nd world war FFS.

Oh Sweet Chesus, you think people would have learned from last time around that panic buying helps nobody. I presume that my planned normal shop on Wednesday is consequently going to be hell.

Thanks to Cerebus I discovered today something:

He and his followers must have loved cheese.
"Oh sweet cheese-us!"

You'll find me hiding in the basement...   

Is that where you keep your cheese bakes then?

[bd139]

Kill it with fire.

From orbit.

That colour scheme alone justifies it.

Yeah it's pretty grim.

I might buy one just so I can throw it in the bin in 2 weeks when the HDMI connector falls off.

[BU508A]

Meanwhile in other circumstances this was the scene at Costco in Lakeside today, hundreds of people queued for hours to go and panic buying in preparation for the national lockdown starting this Thursday. Bastards had better leave enough for me when I go shopping later in the week 

It must have taken hours for the back of that queue to get to the store entrance. Reminds me of photos I've seen of people queueing for bread during the 2nd world war FFS.

Oh Sweet Chesus, you think people would have learned from last time around that panic buying helps nobody. I presume that my planned normal shop on Wednesday is consequently going to be hell.

Thanks to Cerebus I discovered today something:

He and his followers must have loved cheese.
"Oh sweet cheese-us!"

You'll find me hiding in the basement...   

Is that where you keep your cheese bakes then?

No, that's where I'm hiding from flying soggy old booth ...

[Cerebus]

Well, I got a slightly quicker start on today than is normal (I was up at 7:30, which for a layout like me is virtually getting up yesterday). In view of Spec's remarks yesterday I think I'd better take advantage and get the week's shop over with a day early. Pray to all your gods for me, that I'm not trapped in shopping hell for the next 6 hours....

See ya later!

[Saskia]

Oh sweet jebus !
What civilised society beheads innocents in front of a camera ?
I'm with Saskia on this: eliminate !

What civilised society empties a Glock 19 into an innocent off camera?

If the forces of 'good' take to the streets with any hint of "shoot first, ask questions later" in their minds you end up with Charles de Menezes. No police officer has been sanctioned for this innocent man's killing, the Gold Commander on the day has been promoted and now runs the Metropolitan Police.

We have to be cleverer about this than we have been. Aside from giving the bastards what they want (martyrdom), we kill our own innocent people, betray our own principles and continue to fail in ever achieving our true objective, which is ideally no bloodshed.

Truthfully, I'm more scared of a police force that has learned that it's OK to make lethal mistakes, that "get the bastards" is an acceptable attitude, that it will accrue unofficial support for killing people in a rush, buoyed up by excuses about how hard a job it is to do, than I am of Terrorists. There are a lot more armed police on the streets at any one moment than there are terrorists.

If there's no choice, of course shoot to kill, sometimes there is no other option. But our attitude should be to adopt tactics that send the police out with a genuine attitude that preservation of life is the first objective, arrest is the second, with a set of tactics that are designed to do that rather than a set of tactics that are designed to 'neutralise the threat' and that any hint of a "get the bastards" attitude to doing the job is totally unacceptable and will result in sanctions.

I will support any police officer who calmly, rationally, and truthfully decides "I have no other choice" and shots down an active bad guy who they can't stop otherwise (taking all the immediate risks into mind as best they can under the circumstances). But I won't support the alternative, or anyone who sanctions or encourages it. You have to draw a line somewhere on what kind of society you want to live in, and that is where I draw mine.

In that situation adrenaline levels will leave you no choice and your training kicks in. If you have received the proper training. Hopefully. Otherwise chances are that what's left of you makes the morning newspaper.

Austrian police is well trained in the application of the escalation ladder.
However if you have a PoS shooting with an AK47 at hapless bystanders and callously killing folks who just had the pure mishap of being there, such a PoS must be stopped by any means necessary as fast as possible to protect the victims. Which is exactly what the WEGA folks did.

Why risk the lives of your citizens to spare one rabid terrorist / Djihadist? I don't see the reasoning there, grant him his death wish.
TB perfectly H, if we would have been living in that area and had had a clear view of that asshole from our windows / balcony, we would most likely assessed the situation through the 5-25 instead of filming and uploading to youtube ...
(which would have been perfectly legal under these circumstances ...)

Now Austria mobilized the JaKo. These are the guys that you do not want to handle those scenarios. They are about as efficiently ruthless as the SAS in the Iranian embassy case and resolve those situations military style with a maximum of terrorist casualties.