u/EstablishmentDue3616

This happened about 15 years ago. I worked at an IT/Telecom company as a Windows systems administrator. However, much of the business' computing power was dedicated to Sun Solaris on Sun servers and Red Hat Linux on Dell servers. One morning I get into work and I hear one of Solaris admins (SA) and one of the Red Hat admins (RH) having an unnecessarily loud discussion about uptime. So I walk over and asked what was up. SA said that RH said Linux has better uptime that Solaris. RH says SA says Solaris is better. They argued a bit more. I said why dont you find the computers with the longest uptime and the one that has been up the longest wins lunch. They said that was a good idea. I asked if I could join in the bet. They both started laughing. Saying things like you have to reboot windows once a week. I said I dont mind. They said ok. So lunchtime came around and we met. RH found a server that was up for 3 years. The SA laughed and found a Sun Workstation in the data center that hasnt been logged into by anyone in 2 years, but has been online for over 5 years. RH says fine, SA wins. I said hold on. They both looked at me and actually laughed when one asked if I could beat either of them. I dragged them into my cubicle and showed them a machine I was remoted into. An old Windows NT 4 server that ran the hardware and software for the building's physical security and door access cards. It had been running for around 11 years without a reboot.

I had a really nice lunch that day.

For me, she will say "5% of 2 million is 5% of 2 million equals equals 100,000."

WTF?!

She answers this way most of the time. She has said "5% of 2 million equals equals 100,000." only 1 out of 10 times. Plus you can change the numbers, it doesnt matter.

So I just asked Alexa+ what the date was. She said was "Today is Saturday, August 29th, 2026."

No it isnt... I glanced at my computer screen and clearly see its Sunday the 30th. Confused for a second, I ask Alexa+ for the date again and she gives me the correct date and time. I asked her why she told me the wrong date and she just says "My bad, its Sunday, August 30th, 2026."

How can I trust an AI that cant give me the proper date? How is it even possible to give the wrong date?

Do you ever tell the seller at a thrift store or online marketplace that what they are selling is far more valuable than what they are asking for? Or do you keep your mouth shut and make the purchase?

Digital computers were invented in the 1940s. The first home computers were made in the 70s. The first major adoption by the general public happened in the 80s. The internet brought the second major adoption in the 90s.

In 30 - 50 years, will anybody be pining for their generic 2026 model Dell desktop? Or their custom built desktop with RGB lighting? Is anything built recently even been historically significant? Or will it just be nostalgia?

My retro computer collection is expanding. I have been keeping track of things in my head. Well, thats being generous. I have a general idea of what I have. I did a quick search, but didnt find anything specific for retro computer collecting. There are various software packages/websites designed for general collecting or something else entirely, which can be customized. However, I was wondering if something did exist that I didnt find. Is there such a piece of software or website?

1. LTS (Long Term Support)
2. Regular (Interim) Releases
3. Rolling Release
4. Fixed Release
5. Something Else

Its been a long time since I read the book or saw the movie. However, I had a thought: Did it have to be a one way trip?

It took 2 million kilograms of astrophage for the ship to make it to Tau Ceti. They had to launch now or it would be many months before the next launch window - so they shanghaied Grace and launched the one way trip.

However during the Hail Mary's trip to Tau Ceti, Earth could have bred more astrophage. They could have built another ship and sent it in a later launch window to arrive at Tau Ceti so the Hail Mary could be refueled. The refueling ship would need less astrophage for itself, as it only needs to carry fuel and maybe some extra food and supplies for the humans. Then the astronauts on the Hail Mary could be put back into an induced coma and travel back to Earth. If planned properly, they could have accounted for the time dilation.

A common kitchen tip is to place a wet paper towel under your cutting board to keep it from sliding around while using it.

A dry paper towel doesnt have enough friction to prevent the board from moving.

Plain water acts as a lubricant, decreasing friction.

So how does a wet paper towel provide enough friction to prevent the cutting board from moving?