Comments for The Great Blog of the Galaxy http://scottrheath.wordpress.com My Personal View of the Multiverse, Technology, Sc-Fi, Star Trek, Current Events & Other Geek Subjects Mon, 13 Oct 2008 18:58:52 +0000 http://wordpress.com/ hourly 1 Comment on Amateur [Ham] Radio Operators At Their Worst by Alan W5EAC http://scottrheath.wordpress.com/2008/10/12/amateur-ham-radio-operators-at-their-worst/#comment-184 Alan W5EAC Mon, 13 Oct 2008 18:58:52 +0000 http://scottrheath.wordpress.com/?p=82#comment-184 Scott, next month is my 30th anniversary as a Ham; I've seen a lot of what you're addressing here on the air over the years. It's an embarrassment. Such is human nature. When I hear it on the air, I QSY. If it happens to me on a call - which has beeen extremely rare - I sign and QRT. Not really much else we can do, I guess. 73 to you. Scott, next month is my 30th anniversary as a Ham; I’ve seen a lot of what you’re addressing here on the air over the years. It’s an embarrassment. Such is human nature. When I hear it on the air, I QSY. If it happens to me on a call – which has beeen extremely rare – I sign and QRT. Not really much else we can do, I guess. 73 to you.

]]> Comment on Broadstripe Cable Tries to Kill Tivo Usage by Mike http://scottrheath.wordpress.com/2007/12/07/broadstripe-cable-tries-to-kill-tivo-usage/#comment-179 Mike Thu, 11 Sep 2008 02:02:10 +0000 http://scottrheath.wordpress.com/2007/12/07/broadstripe-cable-tries-to-kill-tivo-usage/#comment-179 I thought that my neighbors and I were just digitally illiterate, but I think your conspiracy theory may have merit. We just bought a TIVO HD DVR after Broadstripe told us they had cablecard systems in place and could install them. The local tech confirmed that they could install the cards although he had never done so. After ordering and scheduling the installation, Broadstripe called back and said "since you live on the Oregon coast our equipment is not compatable". All this after telling me they could handle it only a week earlier. I was miffed and called the local tech who assured me they would never be able to install a cablecard in the TIVO DVR, but they could install one in a TV. I can't imagine any difference in the duties the card performs. Can anyone enlighten me? I thought that my neighbors and I were just digitally illiterate, but I think your conspiracy theory may have merit. We just bought a TIVO HD DVR after Broadstripe told us they had cablecard systems in place and could install them. The local tech confirmed that they could install the cards although he had never done so. After ordering and scheduling the installation, Broadstripe called back and said “since you live on the Oregon coast our equipment is not compatable”. All this after telling me they could handle it only a week earlier. I was miffed and called the local tech who assured me they would never be able to install a cablecard in the TIVO DVR, but they could install one in a TV. I can’t imagine any difference in the duties the card performs. Can anyone enlighten me?

]]> Comment on A letter from someone who has known Sarah Palin since 1992 by yikes http://scottrheath.wordpress.com/2008/09/04/a-letter-from-someone-who-has-known-sarah-palin-since-1992/#comment-178 yikes Thu, 04 Sep 2008 05:20:55 +0000 http://scottrheath.wordpress.com/?p=67#comment-178 I hope this information gets out to a lot of people. I hope this information gets out to a lot of people.

]]> Comment on A letter from someone who has known Sarah Palin since 1992 by yikes http://scottrheath.wordpress.com/2008/09/04/a-letter-from-someone-who-has-known-sarah-palin-since-1992/#comment-177 yikes Thu, 04 Sep 2008 05:17:26 +0000 http://scottrheath.wordpress.com/?p=67#comment-177 This is chilling. Thanks for giving us the real deal. This is chilling. Thanks for giving us the real deal.

]]> Comment on Comcast Disables Serial Port to Discourage Tivo Users by Mike Taylor http://scottrheath.wordpress.com/2007/12/09/comcast-disables-serial-port-on-discourage-tivo-users/#comment-167 Mike Taylor Tue, 08 Jul 2008 06:59:17 +0000 http://scottrheath.wordpress.com/2007/12/09/comcast-disables-serial-port-on-discourage-tivo-users/#comment-167 There is a fix for this. Get the Comcast people to remotely send a "hard reset" or a "factory default" code. The techs mights not know what that means exactly, so let me tell you what I did. What I did was call them and tell them my cable box wasn't working and I wanted them to reset it. (I didn't mention it was really just the serial port that wasn't working). They sent a "reset", but apparently it was only a soft-reset because I didn't see the box completely shutdown and reboot. They asked me if it was working now and I said "no". So then they sent the hard reset I was after. After the box gets a hard reset, it resets itself several times (presumably after it is redownloading firmware). Once it's done resetting the serial port should work again. It was explained to me from another source that this works because Comcast initially released a patch that disabled the serial ports on the cable boxes but perhaps because of users like you protesting, they disabled the patch. However, if your box had already received it, your port isn't re-enabled unless you can reset it back to factory defaults, at which point, it doesn't re-download the patch that caused the problem in the first place. It worked for me! There is a fix for this. Get the Comcast people to remotely send a “hard reset” or a “factory default” code. The techs mights not know what that means exactly, so let me tell you what I did.

What I did was call them and tell them my cable box wasn’t working and I wanted them to reset it. (I didn’t mention it was really just the serial port that wasn’t working). They sent a “reset”, but apparently it was only a soft-reset because I didn’t see the box completely shutdown and reboot. They asked me if it was working now and I said “no”. So then they sent the hard reset I was after. After the box gets a hard reset, it resets itself several times (presumably after it is redownloading firmware). Once it’s done resetting the serial port should work again.

It was explained to me from another source that this works because Comcast initially released a patch that disabled the serial ports on the cable boxes but perhaps because of users like you protesting, they disabled the patch. However, if your box had already received it, your port isn’t re-enabled unless you can reset it back to factory defaults, at which point, it doesn’t re-download the patch that caused the problem in the first place. It worked for me!

]]> Comment on Scott R Heath, KC8EMH, The Great Nerd Of The Galaxy by Mike Taylor http://scottrheath.wordpress.com/about/#comment-166 Mike Taylor Tue, 08 Jul 2008 06:58:46 +0000 #comment-166 There is a fix for this. Get the Comcast people to remotely send a "hard reset" or a "factory default" code. The techs mights not know what that means exactly, so let me tell you what I did. What I did was call them and tell them my cable box wasn't working and I wanted them to reset it. (I didn't mention it was really just the serial port that wasn't working). They sent a "reset", but apparently it was only a soft-reset because I didn't see the box completely shutdown and reboot. They asked me if it was working now and I said "no". So then they sent the hard reset I was after. After the box gets a hard reset, it resets itself several times (presumably after it is redownloading firmware). Once it's done resetting the serial port should work again. It was explained to me from another source that this works because Comcast initially released a patch that disabled the serial ports on the cable boxes but perhaps because of users like you protesting, they disabled the patch. However, if your box had already received it, your port isn't re-enabled unless you can reset it back to factory defaults, at which point, it doesn't re-download the patch that caused the problem in the first place. It worked for me. There is a fix for this. Get the Comcast people to remotely send a “hard reset” or a “factory default” code. The techs mights not know what that means exactly, so let me tell you what I did.

What I did was call them and tell them my cable box wasn’t working and I wanted them to reset it. (I didn’t mention it was really just the serial port that wasn’t working). They sent a “reset”, but apparently it was only a soft-reset because I didn’t see the box completely shutdown and reboot. They asked me if it was working now and I said “no”. So then they sent the hard reset I was after. After the box gets a hard reset, it resets itself several times (presumably after it is redownloading firmware). Once it’s done resetting the serial port should work again.

It was explained to me from another source that this works because Comcast initially released a patch that disabled the serial ports on the cable boxes but perhaps because of users like you protesting, they disabled the patch. However, if your box had already received it, your port isn’t re-enabled unless you can reset it back to factory defaults, at which point, it doesn’t re-download the patch that caused the problem in the first place. It worked for me.

]]> Comment on Scott R Heath, KC8EMH, The Great Nerd Of The Galaxy by Mike Taylor http://scottrheath.wordpress.com/about/#comment-165 Mike Taylor Tue, 08 Jul 2008 06:57:34 +0000 #comment-165 test message test message

]]> Comment on Comcast Disables Serial Port to Discourage Tivo Users by Mike Taylor http://scottrheath.wordpress.com/2007/12/09/comcast-disables-serial-port-on-discourage-tivo-users/#comment-164 Mike Taylor Tue, 08 Jul 2008 06:56:32 +0000 http://scottrheath.wordpress.com/2007/12/09/comcast-disables-serial-port-on-discourage-tivo-users/#comment-164 There is a fix for this. Get the Comcast people to remotely send a "hard reset" or a "factory default" code. The techs mights not know what that means exactly, so let me tell you what I did. What I did was call them and tell them my cable box wasn't working and I wanted them to reset it. (I didn't mention it was really just the serial port that wasn't working). They sent a "reset", but apparently it was only a soft-reset because I didn't see the box completely shutdown and reboot. They asked me if it was working now and I said "no". So then they sent the hard reset I was after. After the box gets a hard reset, it resets itself several times (presumably after it is redownloading firmware). Once it's done resetting the serial port should work again. It was explained to me from another source that this works because Comcast initially released a patch that disabled the serial ports on the cable boxes but perhaps because of users like you protesting, they disabled the patch. However, if your box had already received it, your port isn't re-enabled unless you can reset it back to factory defaults, at which point, it doesn't re-download the patch that caused the problem in the first place. It worked for me. There is a fix for this. Get the Comcast people to remotely send a “hard reset” or a “factory default” code. The techs mights not know what that means exactly, so let me tell you what I did.

What I did was call them and tell them my cable box wasn’t working and I wanted them to reset it. (I didn’t mention it was really just the serial port that wasn’t working). They sent a “reset”, but apparently it was only a soft-reset because I didn’t see the box completely shutdown and reboot. They asked me if it was working now and I said “no”. So then they sent the hard reset I was after. After the box gets a hard reset, it resets itself several times (presumably after it is redownloading firmware). Once it’s done resetting the serial port should work again.

It was explained to me from another source that this works because Comcast initially released a patch that disabled the serial ports on the cable boxes but perhaps because of users like you protesting, they disabled the patch. However, if your box had already received it, your port isn’t re-enabled unless you can reset it back to factory defaults, at which point, it doesn’t re-download the patch that caused the problem in the first place. It worked for me.

]]> Comment on Comcast Disables Serial Port to Discourage Tivo Users by Some Guy http://scottrheath.wordpress.com/2007/12/09/comcast-disables-serial-port-on-discourage-tivo-users/#comment-163 Some Guy Tue, 08 Jul 2008 06:55:54 +0000 http://scottrheath.wordpress.com/2007/12/09/comcast-disables-serial-port-on-discourage-tivo-users/#comment-163 There is a fix for this. Get the Comcast people to remotely send a "hard reset" or a "factory default" code. The techs mights not know what that means exactly, so let me tell you what I did. What I did was call them and tell them my cable box wasn't working and I wanted them to reset it. (I didn't mention it was really just the serial port that wasn't working). They sent a "reset", but apparently it was only a soft-reset because I didn't see the box completely shutdown and reboot. They asked me if it was working now and I said "no". So then they sent the hard reset I was after. After the box gets a hard reset, it resets itself several times (presumably after it is redownloading firmware). Once it's done resetting the serial port should work again. It was explained to me from another source that this works because Comcast initially released a patch that disabled the serial ports on the cable boxes but perhaps because of users like you protesting, they disabled the patch. However, if your box had already received it, your port isn't re-enabled unless you can reset it back to factory defaults, at which point, it doesn't re-download the patch that caused the problem in the first place. It worked for me. There is a fix for this. Get the Comcast people to remotely send a “hard reset” or a “factory default” code. The techs mights not know what that means exactly, so let me tell you what I did.

What I did was call them and tell them my cable box wasn’t working and I wanted them to reset it. (I didn’t mention it was really just the serial port that wasn’t working). They sent a “reset”, but apparently it was only a soft-reset because I didn’t see the box completely shutdown and reboot. They asked me if it was working now and I said “no”. So then they sent the hard reset I was after. After the box gets a hard reset, it resets itself several times (presumably after it is redownloading firmware). Once it’s done resetting the serial port should work again.

It was explained to me from another source that this works because Comcast initially released a patch that disabled the serial ports on the cable boxes but perhaps because of users like you protesting, they disabled the patch. However, if your box had already received it, your port isn’t re-enabled unless you can reset it back to factory defaults, at which point, it doesn’t re-download the patch that caused the problem in the first place. It worked for me.

]]> Comment on An Amnesiac Species in a Crowded Room by Scott R Heath by croixian1 http://scottrheath.wordpress.com/2008/05/22/an-amnesiac-species-in-a-crowded-room-by-scott-r-heath/#comment-122 croixian1 Thu, 22 May 2008 22:03:42 +0000 http://scottrheath.wordpress.com/?p=42#comment-122 Interesting. I have tried an explanation similar to yours, but in a more abbreviated sense: 1) Everything was fine in human history until something slowly happened: Self awareness. 2) With self awareness comes the awareness of one's own mortality. 3) The human mind is immensely powerful and strives to learn and reason. But its weakness is that it cannot contemplate its own non-existence. 4) With this weakness comes the need to fill that void with something, something to pacify the fear of the nothingness of death. 5) It was quite an easy leap in evolution, back when the human mind was vulnerable and superstitious. We created stories of gods to quell our pain and fear. Pretty much the same thing... Interesting. I have tried an explanation similar to yours, but in a more abbreviated sense:

1) Everything was fine in human history until something slowly happened: Self awareness.

2) With self awareness comes the awareness of one’s own mortality.

3) The human mind is immensely powerful and strives to learn and reason. But its weakness is that it cannot contemplate its own non-existence.

4) With this weakness comes the need to fill that void with something, something to pacify the fear of the nothingness of death.

5) It was quite an easy leap in evolution, back when the human mind was vulnerable and superstitious. We created stories of gods to quell our pain and fear.

Pretty much the same thing…

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