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Check out this cool lamp post for mice:
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Mar 19, 2016 19:38
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Speaking of faxes, laws really need to catch up to technology. I work in the document management field and occasionally we run into issues where customers (county and state governments) totally forget or are unaware of the policies they need to abide by. Usually it's something along the lines of not being able to delete things from the electronic case file without first exporting them so the documents can be stored on microfilm for twenty more years. Of course, they then want you to provide solutions to these surprises free of cost. It's almost as laughable as the out of date laws.
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Mar 19, 2016 21:14
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GI_Clutch posted:Speaking of faxes, laws really need to catch up to technology. I work in the document management field and occasionally we run into issues where customers (county and state governments) totally forget or are unaware of the policies they need to abide by. Usually it's something along the lines of not being able to delete things from the electronic case file without first exporting them so the documents can be stored on microfilm for twenty more years. Of course, they then want you to provide solutions to these surprises free of cost. It's almost as laughable as the out of date laws. Reminds me of that story a couple of years ago about a guy who was caught taking upskirt pics on the subway with his phone. Turns out he couldn't be convicted because of the specific language used in law regarding what constitutes a "pocket camera" or somesuch. Though he got off free because of that technicality, work was (thankfully) immediately put into place to change the law to include "any image-taking device" or whatever.
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Mar 19, 2016 21:42
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Mak0rz posted:Reminds me of that story a couple of years ago about a guy who was caught taking upskirt pics on the subway with his phone. Turns out he couldn't be convicted because of the specific language used in law regarding what constitutes a "pocket camera" or somesuch. This was in MA I believe, this was an example of the technical letter of the law just not catching up fast enough combined with it being one of those laws where it's sort of "we shouldn't really need a loving law for this" At the very least they did pass a law post haste iirc
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Mar 19, 2016 21:52
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anything dealing with goverment documents haved to be faxed or efaxed. email can be used, but those documents have to be converted to paper before processing its pretty f'd up
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Mar 19, 2016 22:45
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To put it into relic terms, remember how every modem had to be a FAX modem? You couldn't just sell a modem. It had to crow about how it could fax things too. Not that anyone ever did. Horrible bundled software (and what got built into the OS was never any better) and the need to dial your phone up and stay online tying up your phone line 24/7 if you wanted to be able to receive incoming faxes meant it was a DOA feature from day one, yet nobody could ever back down and not market it. But yeah, faxes in general need to stop being required for legal document signing. Every six months I have some reason to have to go fumble with the office fax machine to send some poo poo somewhere (or go to a Staples and pay for the privilege). Fortunately most people these days will happily take an emailed PDF with a signature pasted into it, but what this means for our primitive notions of authentication/authorization I don't want to think about.
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Mar 20, 2016 03:06
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Oh man good old US robotics. They made solid rear end modems.
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Mar 20, 2016 03:56
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thathonkey posted:Oh man good old US robotics. They made solid rear end modems. I was a Supra man myself, loved the 2-digit LED display on my 28.8k, plus the excellent on/off switch.
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Mar 20, 2016 04:16
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Data Graham posted:To put it into relic terms, remember how every modem had to be a FAX modem? It was me - I'm the person who used my modem to send faxes. My 600dpi Canon flatbed connected via parallel port scanned the document, and the modem faxed it out. Don't remember ever using it to actually receive faxes, though.
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Mar 20, 2016 05:46
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I remember back in the 90s when computer aisles were full of modems. Where do you keep your modems? In the modem aisle. It's right after the scanner aisle.
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Mar 20, 2016 06:33
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Data Graham posted:Fortunately most people these days will happily take an emailed PDF with a signature pasted into it, but what this means for our primitive notions of authentication/authorization I don't want to think about. It's made life so much easier, is what. When I still had to do that, I was a master at mashing up signatures and official documents in photoshop, then printing and re-scanning that poo poo so it looked like someone actually took the time to sign the thing. Don't ask don't tell.
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Mar 20, 2016 06:45
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I mean it was dumb because correct me if I'm wrong, but couldn't every modem send faxes? Wasn't it one of those fundamental features that it was pointless to use for differentiation but you didn't dare not mention it lest you look like you were tacitly admitting your product was inferior? Like being the first PC maker to ship without a turbo button.
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Mar 20, 2016 06:51
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Faxes mostly still exist due to privacy laws and confidentiality. Unlike email or other digital methods, there isn't really a way to intercept or hijack faxes and thus they are used for private communication of documents.
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Mar 20, 2016 06:58
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what makes a fax so much different from a phone call (which can be easily intercepted) despite the fact that they both use the same transmission lines?
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Mar 20, 2016 07:54
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Security through obsolescence?
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Mar 20, 2016 07:56
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Data Graham posted:I mean it was dumb because correct me if I'm wrong, but couldn't every modem send faxes? Edit: with the correct little program...forgot that tidbit. I think there was even a settings string that was basically On Third Ring Pick Up and Check for Fax But if you were like most of us and your internets line was your home phone line, this usually meant you hung up on your aunt a lot when trying it out. Pretty sure the idea of a FaxModem was an early consequence of the Home Office concept, in any case. FilthyImp has a new favorite as of 08:21 on Mar 20, 2016 |
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Mar 20, 2016 08:12
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Turdsdown Tom posted:what makes a fax so much different from a phone call (which can be easily intercepted) despite the fact that they both use the same transmission lines? It's basically an encrypted modem to modem transfer, usually at 28.8
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Mar 20, 2016 08:12
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I was thinking about AOL Instant Messenger (AIM) the other day thanks to this thread. Does anyone remember the version in the 3.x days that had the autoboot string for PCs? I was on a Mac at the time and noticed the chats getting flooded with an odd string. I found out later that it caused the program to force quit when received as an IM on a PC. This led to some funny booting of friends randomly. I think it was something like code:You sent it as a message and a moment later the other party wou
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Mar 20, 2016 08:37
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theultimo posted:It's basically an encrypted modem to modem transfer, usually at 28.8
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Mar 20, 2016 09:05
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FilthyImp posted:You sent it as a message and a moment later the other party wou Heh. A conversation about finding a good solution to SMS options for desktop caused a great deal of reminiscing the old days of using different chat programs with friends. AIM, MSN Messenger, ICQ, irc, so many other things just to talk to friends during middle / high school. I used ICQ to verify people in my Ultima Online guild because showing up to my tower and yelling LET ME IN wasn't a secure option. Then things like Skype, MySpace, and then finally Facebook came out in college. Purging everything at once and relying on SMS. Now I've slowly regressed backwards. Some people only use SMS, or Hangouts, or Facebook Messenger, or Skype. There they all are, on my all my devices, and having to juggle everything. When will it all end?
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Mar 20, 2016 09:13
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You youngsters with your fancy plastic "fax-modems".  This is what I started out with:  2400 glorious bauds, and sturdy as all hell.
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Mar 20, 2016 09:14
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I remember getting a modem that was supposed to get a firmware update to make it work with the eventual uniform 56k format, but it never did. I'm thinking it was a 56k Flex.
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Mar 20, 2016 09:19
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Comrade Koba posted:You youngsters with your fancy plastic "fax-modems". I bet the hardware still works great but the assholes are letting the network it was meant to use fall apart: http://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2016/02/verizon-faces-probe-of-falling-poles-sagging-cables-and-infested-cabinets/ http://arstechnica.com/information-technology/2014/08/why-verizon-is-trying-very-hard-to-force-fiber-on-its-customers/ At least the really old external analog modems can also double as bludgeoning melee weapons? Those really old cases were made of metal usually?
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Mar 20, 2016 09:19
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My modem had cool switches on the front like this: I can't respect a modem that doesn't.
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Mar 20, 2016 09:24
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Can't you wire two modems directly together with a punch of old phone wire? Is the POTS network really required?
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Mar 20, 2016 09:57
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error1 posted:Can't you wire two modems directly together with a punch of old phone wire? Is the POTS network really required? You'd need to command the modems to ignore any requirements for a dial tone but that should be possible with the appropriate commands...? At least for the dialing modem you can make it ignore any waits for a dial tone and I'd assume the answering one would never care anyways? Edit: Google searching indicates that a lot of analog modem hardware assumes or need the base voltage of a phone line to operate correctly which won't be present in a direct modem-to-modem physical connection. There are ways to simulate that with simple hardware, but it sounds like only some modems can operate without that baseline voltage to start with. Fabulousity has a new favorite as of 10:12 on Mar 20, 2016 |
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Mar 20, 2016 10:03
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Buttcoin purse posted:My modem had cool switches on the front like this: One thing I loved that we left in the gutters since 2000 are jumpers and dip switches.
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Mar 20, 2016 10:15
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JediTalentAgent posted:I remember getting a modem that was supposed to get a firmware update to make it work with the eventual uniform 56k format, but it never did. I'm thinking it was a 56k Flex. This rings an unpleasant sounding bell. Working at a small-town dial-up ISP in the mid-90s, we started getting calls from angry customers who -- something wouldn't work right. Either they couldn't dial up properly or they couldn't get the speed they wanted, and they all blamed us and/or it was a huge pain to solve their problems. I feel like the pattern we noticed was they had "56k Flex", and upon hearing that phrase we would make gagging noises to each other while we fielded phone calls.
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Mar 20, 2016 11:20
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Data Graham posted:This rings an unpleasant sounding bell. 56k Flex vs. X2 as I recall: quote:So sayeth Wikipedia: Then V.92 showed up to put an end to the whole stupid thing for half a second before being vaporized by DSL in major markets which was then clobbered by local and regional cable companies. The best part? While cable providers in all major American metropolitan markets have consolidated into three major national brands, like a trio of lovely T-1000s no one asked for, the broadband speeds in said markets are still pathetic despite hilariously high prices. ISDN is missing in action, but it did have a fun second or two in the sun back there somewhere. Now fiber is "too hard" to implement for the cable assholes except for the major markets where Google or municipal efforts are forcing it in. Imagine that? Fabulousity has a new favorite as of 12:43 on Mar 20, 2016 |
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Mar 20, 2016 12:33
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Siljmonster posted:A conversation about finding a good solution to SMS options for desktop caused a great deal of reminiscing the old days of using different chat programs with friends. AIM, MSN Messenger, ICQ, irc, so many other things just to talk to friends during middle / high school. AIM integrated SMS messaging for a hot minute to stave off its impending demise, as I recall...
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Mar 20, 2016 17:30
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I think I was using Pidgin in the last gasps of my IM days. Multi-client integration was pretty nice for the few international friends I had who used ICQ or MSN instead of AIM.
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Mar 20, 2016 20:50
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Data Graham posted:This rings an unpleasant sounding bell. The ISP I worked for quickly adopted a "We don't support 56KFlex" policy which gave us more time to listen to the complaints that our four-hour dialup cutoff kept people from downloading the Diablo demo.
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Mar 20, 2016 21:53
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I still use pidgin for irc.
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Mar 20, 2016 22:34
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theultimo posted:It's basically an encrypted modem to modem transfer, usually at 28.8 printing out of the one fax machine in an office full of people. real secure.
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Mar 20, 2016 22:45
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TheWhiteNightmare posted:printing out of the one fax machine in an office full of people. real secure. They'll be distracted by all the travel scams before and after, ensuring only the intended recipient will (hopefully) be able to find it in the trash bin.
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Mar 20, 2016 22:59
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I might have to thank my dial-up's 4 hour cutoff and painful speeds in Australia for curbing any MMO addiction during my student days. Stuff downloading an 80mb patch for WoW let alone trying to time your dial-ins so you didn't drop out mid-raid! The only thing I miss about faxes were the funky anamorphic messages people would send through. And for a while it dictated many logo designs as I'd run them through a fax test to see how well they held up when passed through as any details or grey tones would get obliterated.
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Mar 21, 2016 00:11
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I imagine modem manufacturers envisioned a world in which every desktop PC was effectively its own always-on fax machine; you'd be able to zap documents straight to one another, point-to-point, no matter how large your respective offices were, and all you needed were phone numbers. Plus with faxes you have freedom! You can scribble anything you want on a sheet; you're not restricted to rigid text! You can add encryption and OCR if necessary! And there's always a paper trail! Somewhere there's an alternate universe, forked off somewhere prior to the ubiquity of SMTP, in which the modern Internet-based office grew up around faxes rather than email.
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Mar 21, 2016 03:00
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Data Graham posted:Somewhere there's an alternate universe, forked off somewhere prior to the ubiquity of SMTP, in which the modern Internet-based office grew up around faxes rather than email. I think that's called Japan- they sure do love using their faxes for everything and then some. ed: like confirming receipt of my work emails, and as I understand it most food delivery ordering is done via fax, too. Dicty Bojangles has a new favorite as of 03:24 on Mar 21, 2016 |
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Mar 21, 2016 03:20
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Fabulousity posted:ISDN is missing in action, but it did have a fun second or two in the sun back there somewhere. ISDN was basically the best you could get for most of the 90s unless you wanted to pay really big bucks every month for a T1. The 56k shotgun modem was a really short-lived thing. They came out at the end of the 90s right as DSL and cable were rolling out and required two phone lines and two ISP accounts.
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Mar 21, 2016 03:31
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slomomofo posted:I think that's called Japan- they sure do love using their faxes for everything and then some. They've gone away now, but a lot of the local places had fax food delivery ordering. Just print out a PDF, fill in your information, fax it to them, and wait 20 minutes.
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Mar 21, 2016 03:42
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