Random Thoughts

[1995hoo]

...
-Has anyone here been to Hungary??
...

My wife doesn't post here, but she's been to Hungary multiple times to visit relatives (her parents were born there). What prompts you to ask the question?

[kkt]

-What makes you think your wifey won't cheat on you with a lizard?

For openers, I'm not married...

[Big John]

We have a kenarmy, but why don't we have the following?

-  kennavy
-  kenmarines
-  kencoastguard
-  kenspaceforce

There is a non-posting member of kenneeds. In the Air Force?

[TheCatalyst31]

-What makes you think your wifey won't cheat on you with a lizard?

I mean...

[Max Rockatansky]

I've told my wife the cautionary tale of V The Final Battle.  If that doesn't put people off having relations with seemingly benign Lizard People I don't know what will.

[kphoger]

Is anyone else terrified of roaches?? Like why do they move like that.

Yeah, the fast ones are unsettling, and I think it's because of how they move.  Not terrifying, but some sort of visceral reaction.

[kphoger]

I've told my wife the cautionary tale of V The Final Battle.  If that doesn't put people off having relations with seemingly benign Lizard People I don't know what will.

So you were worried.  Before.

[Max Rockatansky]

I've told my wife the cautionary tale of V The Final Battle.  If that doesn't put people off having relations with seemingly benign Lizard People I don't know what will.

So you were worried.  Before.

To be fair, this was the Lizard Queen in the remake:

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Morena_Baccarin

[JayhawkCO]

-Has anyone here been to Hungary??

Yes. Budapest is one of my favorite cities in Europe.

[kphoger]

The closest I've been was Vienna.

[ZLoth]

I've told my wife the cautionary tale of V The Final Battle.  If that doesn't put people off having relations with seemingly benign Lizard People I don't know what will.

What about Willie? He was a friendly lizard person. But, that was before that nightmare on Elm Street.

[Max Rockatansky]

The hard shell tacos from Burger King are better than I assumed they would be.

[1995hoo]

In view of the NHL's weird insistence on calling the Stanley Cup Finals the "Stanley Cup Final," why don't they also insist on referring to the "Stanley Cup Playoff"?

[GaryV]

Because there's more than one series of games in the playoffs, but only 1 series in the final?

[mgk920]

The NFL's playoffs are single-elimination.

Mike

[kphoger]

I didn't have much to do at work yesterday, so I finally switched over from desktop PC to laptop (two laptops, actually, as I use dual monitors, and I can't stand for my two monitors to be different sizes, so an old laptop works as the new laptop's second monitor).  That took pretty much all day, and I'm still not quite done.  I had to put a whole bunch of files in Dropbox from the desktop's hard drive, disconnect the million cables, clean off the desks, put everything back in a different place, and then velcro-tie all the still-visible cables to look nice and neat.  Then it was on to downloading various programs apps onto the laptop and figuring out links and login credentials, which probably took at least as long as the hardware.  Anyway, for the first time on this computer, I opened up a file from Dropbox today that I edit on a daily basis, and that's how I found out that ANSI/COBOL uses 01-JAN-1601 as the zero-point for date codes:  when the file opened, a notice popped up to tell me, "Greg edited this file 424 years ago".  So I walked over to Greg's office and asked if he had to make a deal with the Libyans to obtain enough plutonium to generate the 1.21 gigawatts required to do that.

[vdeane]

so an old laptop works as the new laptop's second monitor

Interesting.  I didn't know you could do that.

[kphoger]

so an old laptop works as the new laptop's second monitor

Interesting.  I didn't know you could do that.

Apparently, a lot of people think it's impossible.  I taught my boss how to do it a few months ago, and he's generally very tech-savvy.

As long as the second laptop is on the same Wi-Fi network, then it can be used as a second monitor.  You might notice a tiny bit of lag, as the connectivity is limited by the speed of your Wi-Fi network.

My new laptop is running Windows 11, and the old one is running Windows 10.  Here's how I did it:

Old laptop:
→ Settings
→ Optional Features
→ Add a feature:  'Wireless Display'

The above steps make the old laptop discoverable on the Wi-Fi network for use as a monitor.

New laptop:
→ Settings
→ Display
→ Multiple displays
→ Connect to a wireless display [Connect]
→ Click on your old laptop's device name

(If there are multiple devices available to connect to, and you're not sure which device name is your old laptop, then just go to → Settings → About on the old laptop to see what the device name is.)

The above steps send a connection request to the old laptop.  On the old laptop, it will pop up for you to confirm, with options for 'Always allow', 'Allow once', 'Block once', and 'Always block'.

Once you've allowed the connection on the old laptop, the new laptop will give you options for 'Duplicate', 'Extend', or 'Second screen only'.

[JayhawkCO]

I also don't love different sized monitors, but my set up is 3x27" monitors raised above my laptop where I use its 14" screen as well. The bulk of everything I do is on the big monitors.

[kphoger]

I also don't love different sized monitors, but my set up is 3x27" monitors raised above my laptop where I use its 14" screen as well. The bulk of everything I do is on the big monitors.

I'd love three monitors.  A few years ago, I spent a couple of hours trying to make it work on my desktop PC here at the office.  Either it has the correct hardware inside but not the correct ports on the back, or else the other way around.  I can't remember which.

I remember watching TV footage of the NASA control center shortly after that, and all I could think about was how every person in the room had three monitors on their desk.

[Scott5114]

I have two monitors, and they're different sized, because one was a gift from a friend who wasn't using it anymore. It sort of bothered me at first, but I ended up working out a system where the big one is my "working monitor" (e.g. I'm typing this post on it) and the smaller one is where I put things I'm referring to while doing work on the big monitor (so, for example, if I'm drawing a freeway sign I would do that on the big monitor and have GSV of the sign up on the small one). Eventually I'm sure I'll have to replace one or both of them and then I'll try to make them both the same size, but until then...

I'm not allowed to know much about my wife's work due to NDAs but I think she has something like 6 monitors at her workstation.

[ZLoth]

I have three 27" monitors in a horizonal configuration. They are:

• Center (Main): Viewsonic XG271QG monitor which was purchased as a Factory Refurbished monitor from Woot! in May, 2023. It has a high 240Hz refresh rate when connected to the DisplayPort for my personal computer, but 144Hz when connected to the HDMI port of my work computer.
• Right (Personal Secondary): MSI G274QPF which is a factory refurbished monitor that I received from Woot! on May 17th of this year. 170Hz refresh rate for Displayport, 144Hz refresh rate for HDMI. The monitor sells for $229 new at Amazon and $199 new at Costco, but I got it for $120.
• Left (Work Secondary, Personal Tertiary): Acer K272HUL which I had purchased in 2017. It is limited to 60Hz.

I don't use my work laptop screen as the screen is too small. Thank goodness I was able to use a docking station.

[1995hoo]

My work laptop is connected to a docking station and the funny thing is that in both my home office and the actual office I have the same type of 24-inch Dell dual monitors connected to it. The difference is that at home, where I bought them at my own expense, they're mounted on a single pedestal with a long arm that holds two screens (think of it as being sort of like the goalposts at a football game except there's no gap between the two monitors that are located where the uprights would be). At the actual office, each monitor is on its own single pedestal.

Every once in a great while when I need to join a video call, I open the laptop to use the built-in camera. Windows 10 recognized that as a third screen and I was able to use the two large monitors for productive work while the video call appeared on the laptop screen below them. That doesn't seem to work anymore since we moved to Windows 11. Maybe there's a setting I have to change, but I haven't been motivated to find out because I don't do that many video calls.

My home PC also has dual monitors that are of slightly different size and height, but the difference doesn't bother me. It's not a big difference and I'm used to it. It was a situation where I had one display when I had an older PC capable of using just one. When I later got a new PC and wanted to use dual monitors, I found that display had been discontinued, but it still worked so I couldn't justify buying two new ones.

[ZLoth]

I should also note that my personal secondary system is hooked up to a 55" television although most of the time, I'm accessing it via a VNC session and have the television is off. However, if there are thunderstorms, the television goes on and I have weather maps on the screen in 4K mode.

If you are on a Windows system and are using multiple desktops, then you should be using Microsoft Powertoys. One utility allows you to highlight where your mouse is by double-clicking on the left Control button on your keyboard, while another allows you to view all three monitors and quickly move your mouse to another desktop by using Windows-Shift-D.

[jeffandnicole]

I have 2, 24" monitors as well, with 2 cables plugged into each for when I'm working (which, along with my laptop, gives me a 3 screen layout, same as in the office except I have 2, 23" monitors there.  My laptop is dedicated to email; the 2 monitors are what I do my main work on.  For my PC, I use the same 2 monitors in a 2 screen layout.

I can use just my laptop for work when I'm travelling or working remotely away from home, but I move much slower as I constantly have to switch between screens.