Ryan Morlok's Blog » Random

No, the computer is locked.

rmorlok — Thu, 09 Dec 2010 03:12:55 +0000

I had a weird encounter today at work with DSG (our desktop support group). A DSG worker came by to work on a colleague’s computer while the colleague wasn’t there. At first he asked if he knew where he was and when he would be back. I didn’t. As the DSG worker was going to be checking for malware, I suggested that he just log in and run a scan. The conversation went something like this:

Me: Why don’t you log in and just start running the scan.

DSG: I can’t the screen is locked.

Me: I don’t think it’s locked. This is a login screen. I think you can log in.

DSG: Sure, I could login with elevated credentials, but then he would lose any unsaved work.

Me: He won’t lose anything, this is a login screen.

DSG: No, it’s locked.

Me: (pointing no monitor) This is a login screen.

DSG: No, it’s a lock screen.

Me: (pressing ctrl-alt-del get past initial screen to show login form) This is a login screen…

DSG: No, it’s a lock screen (walks away)

This was interesting for me for two reasons. One, it kind of scares me that these are the people taking care of our computers; and two, I was completely dumfounded. For those who know me, I enjoy a good argument, but for some reason this was like walking into a brick wall. I’ve never seen anyone so blatantly deny what is right in front of their face. I guess I learned a new argument technique: arguing by aggressively denying reality.

Wolfram|Alpha Easter Eggs

rmorlok — Mon, 18 May 2009 03:27:34 +0000

Here is an interesting list of Wolfram|Alpha easter eggs. One that it failed to mention was “how many pickled peppers did peter piper pick?” A second list is available here.

Econ in Action

rmorlok — Fri, 13 Mar 2009 13:13:18 +0000

I saw the following sign at a gas station today:

It’s good to know the basic principles of microeconomics are still alive and well despite the crazy financial world.

As a refresher, no matter whether the government taxes the consumer or the producer, the tax burden will be split between the consumer and producer in a way that reflects the price elasticity of demand. I think we can guess how elastic the demand for cigarettes is, hence the buyer is paying most of the taxes.

Private & Confidential

rmorlok — Mon, 09 Feb 2009 05:47:53 +0000

I was googling myself today* and I found the 5th search result prominently displayed “Private and Confidential” in its title. That was a little unfortunate, as I’m sure that formal discouragement will encourage anyone searching for me to click on the link.

There isn’t anything wrong with the content. It’s just a link to a PDF of a cell-phone-based credit card authentication system that I was investigating as a startup possibility while I was at UIUC. After I decided the business idea was a no-go I turned it into a project that SigEmbedded worked on for the 2005 EOH.

The annoying part is that I apparently forgot to remove private/confidential designation from the document before giving it out on the mailing list. Openly distributing documents marked confidential can hurt your legal standing on defending other documents marked as confidential in the future. Thankfully, I think these rule apply on a per-corporation basis, not really on a per-person basis.

*No, this was not about ego. Just managing my online identity. But I won’t rule out ego for the future.

Efficient Microwave Usage

rmorlok — Sun, 30 Nov 2008 04:24:42 +0000

I like hot tea, and when I’m not at work I need to use a microwave to heat the water. This involves setting thing the timer to 2:20. It’s kind of an arbitrary time that I’ve chosen, because I put the tea bag in the cup before hand and then let it steep for up to a half hour afterwards (I frequently forget about it).

Enough background. What frustrates me each time I do this is that I always go through the effort of punching in 2-2-0 on the key pad, even though this number doesn’t need to be at all precise. After I’m done entering the number, I always think to myself “Why didn’t you just do 2:22? It would be more efficient from an effort perspective.” I always intend to do that next time, but usually forget.

So I’m now working on optimizing the times that I enter on the microwave to minimize button pushes. Kind of lame, I know, but it’s a little game to play.

UIUC was Awesome

rmorlok — Thu, 20 Nov 2008 02:53:46 +0000

This is an example of why. Not the blackboard system. Just the question. See previous rants.

Lightsabers: The Duct Tape-Tool of the Galaxy

rmorlok — Mon, 17 Nov 2008 18:44:14 +0000

This How Stuff Works article is making its way around the internet again, this time via Slashdot. Still, every time I see it I laugh, so I thought I’d post it.

First Snow 2008

rmorlok — Fri, 07 Nov 2008 13:35:50 +0000

Woke up this morning to the first snow accumulation of the year.

It went from 70 degrees on Monday to this today. Also kind of windy (as you can see by the lawn furnature tossed around on the deck).

Stuff White People Like

rmorlok — Sat, 18 Oct 2008 18:49:53 +0000

Ran across this great (and scarily accurate) satire Stuff White People Like from the facebook news feed (I forget who’s it was, my apologies). My personal favorites include apprearing to like classical music, outdoor performance clothes, threatening to move to Canada, and Facebook.

One Year Anniversary

rmorlok — Thu, 17 Apr 2008 03:06:29 +0000

No, not of being married (I’m coming up on three years of that). Today marked the first anniversary of me starting full time employment. One down, 39 more to go…