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Category Archives: The Suboptimal Way
Suboptimal new computer experience — privacy vs. Mac OS X
I just got a refurbished Apple Mac mini, with the 1.83 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo processor. It is mainly intended for use compiling my open source programs such as Nonpareil for Mac OS X. I am extremely surprised at … Continue reading
Posted in Mac OS X, Nonpareil, Privacy, The Suboptimal Way
4 Comments
The suboptimal way to open a Mac Mini
I wanted to clone an image of the internal hard drive of a new Mac Mini before booting it up. It is common knowledge that a putty knife is the tool to use, as long as it has a thin … Continue reading
Posted in Hardware, The Suboptimal Way
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The suboptimal way to fly from Denver to San Jose
I was on Frontier Airlines flight 169 from Denver to San Jose this morning. It was scheduled to be a nonstop departing Denver at 8:25 AM MDT and arriving in San Jose at 10:06 AM PDT. We departed a few … Continue reading
Posted in The Suboptimal Way, Travel
2 Comments
The suboptimal way to take the 2010 US census
One of the earliest uses of punched card tabulating machines, the forerunner of modern computers, was the US Census, as described by Wikipedia: [Herman] Hollerith built machines under contract for the US Census Bureau, which used them to tabulate the … Continue reading
The suboptimal way to buy ink
I’ve generally been happy with my Epson Stylus R300 printer. I chose it because of its ability to print onto printable CD-R/DVD-R media, which wasn’t common at the time. As with all inkjet printers, though, it subjects the owner to … Continue reading
Posted in Hardware, The Suboptimal Way
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Dealing with the college Admissions and Records bureacracy
On March 6, I went to the Admissions and Records office at Mission College, and turned in two separate things: An “Application for Degree” form, with math course substitutions from other institutions signed off by the chairman of the math … Continue reading
Posted in School & Education, The Suboptimal Way
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Suboptimal way to store maple syrup
I went to Costco on the weekend, and bought, among other things, a 64 oz. jug of real maple syrup. Today I was getting something out of a kitchen cabinet, and discovered that the bottom of the cabinet was covered … Continue reading
Posted in The Suboptimal Way
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Suboptimal Christmas: how to not get a Lectron electronic kit
In the 1970s I got to visit my grandparents every summer. They had a big house, and sometimes I liked to play in the large basement. My grandfather’s wood shop was down there, though I didn’t spend much time in … Continue reading
Posted in Electrical Engineering, Family, The Suboptimal Way
4 Comments
The suboptimal way to get a copy of a journal article
In 1990, Bob Pease of National Semiconductor published a “design idea” in the June 14, 1990 issue of Electronic Design for the use of a FET for reverse-polarity protection, with the advantage that it will typically have much lower forward … Continue reading
Posted in Hardware, The Suboptimal Way
4 Comments
The suboptimal way to “win”
The California Lottery is running advertisements claiming that over a million Californians win the Super Lotto Plus each month. Obviously their definition of “win” is different than mine. I don’t think it can be counted a “win” for the month … Continue reading →