Category Archives: The Suboptimal Way

C programming, the suboptimal way

Never name a C function read(), unless you’re trying to replace the system read() function.  Maybe not a problem on Windows, I’m not sure, but definitely bad news on Unix or Linux. I spent over an hour trying to figure … Continue reading

Posted in RetroChallenge, Software, The Suboptimal Way | Leave a comment

Suboptimal RAID card behavior on drive failure and suboptimal Seagate web-based customer service

On Monday morning I got email from the RAID controller on one of my servers, stating that a drive had been “removed”.  I went to the colo, and found that while the drives were all physically present, the controller was … Continue reading

Posted in Disaster recovery, Hardware, The Suboptimal Way | Leave a comment

Suboptimal Multimedia Player Software

I’m trying to watch a recorded event for a class. Unfortunately it is provided as a streaming .ram file, which means that RealPlayer is basically my only option for watching it. While I have a high-bandwidth internet connection, RealPlayer was … Continue reading

Posted in School & Education, Software, The Suboptimal Way | Leave a comment

Suboptimal Physics Textbook

I just bought a new $148 physics textbook, Fundamentals of Physics, Extended, 8th Edition, by Halliday, Resnick, and Walker.  Upon opening the cover, the very first page one sees is an advertisement for the publisher’s product “Wiley Plus”: The first … Continue reading

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New computer preloaded with craplets including Norton 360

My sister’s office PC was damaged by lightning, so she got a new emachines PC at Costco, and I’m helping her get it set up.  It came with Vista, of course.  And a bunch of craplets, including Norton 360 with … Continue reading

Posted in Disaster recovery, The Suboptimal Way | 7 Comments

Suboptimal iPhone developer program license agreement

Apple wants me to accept a revised license agreement for the iPhone developer program.  Generally I want to save copies of all such agreements that I accept.  The web page as a link for a PDF copy of the license … Continue reading

Posted in Blog/website/news comments, Software, The Suboptimal Way | 3 Comments

Suboptimal Theatre Experience

Yesterday I went to the theatre with friends and their children.  Partway through the trailers, a woman opened the side door of the theatre and held it open.  After a minute of that annoyance, I went over to the door, … Continue reading

Posted in Film, The Suboptimal Way | Leave a comment

Suboptimal space program – NASA reverts to “English” units

Is my calendar malfunctioning?  It says May 29, but surely today must be April Fools Day.  NASA just issued a draft of a Constellation Program Management Directive which will establish “English” (imperial) units as the controlling units for nearly everything, … Continue reading

Posted in Blog/website/news comments, Space, The Suboptimal Way | 1 Comment

Suboptimal toothpaste experience

Last week I saw a commercial for some kind of toothpaste dispenser that was supposed to eliminate toothpaste messes.  I commented that it was a solution for a non-problem, but a friend said that she actually did manage to make … Continue reading

Posted in Customer satisfaction, The Suboptimal Way | Leave a comment

Ink jet printing, the suboptimal way

Naturally when I desperately need to print my travel itinerary for a flight tomorrow, and a contract that I need to mail, and it’s well after any stores that might have the right ink cartridge for my printer, is exactly … Continue reading

Posted in Computing, The Suboptimal Way | 2 Comments