I am sad to report that my computer is dead. The hard drive on the six-month-old machine gave out Sunday night, taking with it most of my multimedia files. Fortunately, my book files were backed up to the cloud, and older data are on my external hard drive, but I lost a lot anyway. Beyond this, the computer has to be returned to the manufacturer for repair under the terms of the warranty, so I am without a computer for the next week or more. This is going to make it very difficult to work, let alone to write, since I don’t do well trying to type on my tablet, and I can only borrow a computer for so long per day. As a result, my blog will likely be spotty and short until I have a working machine again.
Meanwhile, there was some good news for Ancient Aliens and its fans. After a month of near-record-low ratings, the series bounced back across the million-viewer line, though just barely, for its final summer broadcast. The show brought in 1.027 million viewers and even edged out The UnXplained, which had only 976,000 viewers, though the latter show outdrew the former in the all-important 18-54 demographic.
36 Comments
Brian
9/11/2019 08:42:20 am
Crashes are never fun, but buck up, it's a predictable part of the technology. Don't forget your local public library, where you can use computers with keyboards until yours comes back.
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Machala
9/11/2019 10:49:02 am
I sympathize. We've all been through it. At least, if you've synced your computer with your tablet, between the sync. and cloud storage, you should be able to retrieve almost everything - unlike the old days. Still, trying to type and do your work in a tablet is a royal pain-in-the-ass.
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LARRY storch
9/11/2019 12:15:25 pm
I’m not making any accusations here, but it’s well known that 99% of hard drive failures are related to the user visiting dangerous porn websites that infect the computer with malware.
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Marty the Marion
9/12/2019 11:01:37 am
You are correct. I once had a computer crash when I visited a known Porn site. I should have known better then to log on to the Republican National Committee site.
Kent
9/11/2019 02:55:32 pm
MTBF, Mean Time Between Failures is not Guaranteed Time Between Failures. Someone always gets the short end of the stick. How do you tell which end of the stick is the long end?
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Larry storch
9/11/2019 03:05:22 pm
To the contrary my good friend Kent, something like ransomware, which prevents the user from accessing certain files on the hard drive unless a certain code is entered, tends to function quite well and has led to many people unwilling to pay the ransom to declare euphemistically that their “computers died.”
Kent
9/11/2019 04:17:02 pm
The ransomware is functioning, by definition. Calm the heck down. As the Rules of Acquisition tell us, without the ransomware functioning there is no Latinum and hence no Umax.
LArry storch
9/11/2019 05:01:22 pm
I confess that you’ve made a good point. I hereby withdraw my previous statements and apologize to Mr. Colavito for the possible suggestion of inappropriate conduct.
E.P. Grondine
9/11/2019 11:32:19 am
Graham Hancock's latest synthesis:
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My latest synthesis
9/11/2019 11:53:20 am
Your brain is dead.
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Jim
9/11/2019 12:28:18 pm
E.P. Grondine:
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Kent
9/11/2019 12:45:26 pm
Don't forget about the sainted Mother Grondine. The Mother Teresa of sex. "Give me your poor, your tired, your huddled leprous pustule riddled masses."
E.P. Grondine
9/11/2019 11:52:30 am
I need to add here that as I pointed out in "Man and Impact in the Americas", it is very likely that Plato's tale of Atlantis preserves a faint and confused memory of an impact mega-tsunami which occurred ca 1100 BCE.
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Kent
9/11/2019 12:36:57 pm
No, you really don't.
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Jr. Time Lord
9/11/2019 05:51:31 pm
"...it is very likely that Plato's tale of Atlantis preserves a faint and confused memory of an impact mega-tsunami which occurred ca 1100 BCE."
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E.P. Grondine
9/12/2019 11:18:03 am
Well, Jr, I am pretty certain that you are completely unfamiliar with the Mayan tale of Ah Musen Cab. And not only did the Maya not have any tale of Atlantis, they also never mentioned Icarus or Typhon.
I.P. Grondinely
9/12/2019 11:40:45 am
Look Asshole,
Jr. Time Lord
9/12/2019 05:07:40 pm
Mr. Grondine,
I.P. Grondinely
9/12/2019 06:52:24 pm
Sounds like Shit for Brains doesn't know what a curve is. What do you think, Asshole?
I guess I was wrong
9/12/2019 07:38:58 pm
So much for my theory that Grondine and Anthony Warren are actually the same bird-brained psychopath.
E.P. Grondine
9/12/2019 10:38:02 pm
Hi Jr. -
Larry storch
9/12/2019 11:20:29 pm
Don’t despair my friend. As Jason pointed out in his recent review of Ancient Aliens, Giorgio Tsoukalos is gaining weight at about the same alarming rate that his hairline is receding. It won’t be long before your own distended paunch combined with your old fart Tommy Chong ponytail will appear comparatively de rigueur and the producers of pseudoscientific cable TV schlock will be lining up to hire you!
I.P. Grondinely
9/13/2019 01:35:22 am
Look Asshole.
Bezalel
9/14/2019 04:29:10 pm
Despite how humorous these replies are getting, at least 4 or 5 of you still need to just get laid like Doc Rock or Redfern
Larry storch
9/15/2019 12:42:55 am
I agree with you there Mr. Bedazzled — there are some people here who definitely have not been laid since the last millennia, if not longer!
Paul
9/11/2019 12:09:09 pm
Perhaps you have looked at this option already. Is there a usb or wireless keyboard you could use with your tablet?
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Tudlaw
9/11/2019 02:48:25 pm
They should also come to everyone's house and hold everyone's hand. And every birth certificate should be bundled with its own Xerox machine. Fingerprints should be tattooed on forearms.
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9/11/2019 03:54:49 pm
My computer does have automatic backup for some files and folders to various services like Dropbox, OneDrive, etc., but the trouble is that once you start working with multimedia files, you quickly generate more data than you can back up without paying a not insignificant amount for storage.
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Kal
9/11/2019 04:03:13 pm
USB backup drives are not that expensive. You can get one with 3 terrabytes for about 60 dollars, or a very good one for about 80 bucks. Some versions are better than others, but it is worth it to have two or more to back up all of your files. Surely you don't use any more than 1T a month on these blog sites. Now if you had movie files, you might burn through one single terrabyte drive in a few months. Word files though are quite small and would fit on something like those USB thumb drive sticks, but those can get lost. They also have SD cards where you can back up some files. Surely someone could at least remove your hard drive and recover the data with a reader. They used to have those at Fry's electronics around here, but are on Amazon.
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Tudlaw
9/11/2019 04:26:37 pm
The concept of having only one computer is foreign to me. Sadly the more modern or up to date the Microsoft software the more bloated the files will be.
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Machala
9/11/2019 06:34:01 pm
KAL, I agree...
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get rich
9/11/2019 04:37:42 pm
Welcome to brotherhood Illuminati where you can become
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Tudlaw
9/11/2019 08:15:06 pm
You will be pleased to know that NAMBLA and the FBI have been furnished with your fake phone number and your fake email address.
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Cestus non grata
9/12/2019 12:12:50 pm
Jason,
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Harold Edwards
9/13/2019 03:19:32 pm
For what is worth the data on your dead hard drive can probably be recovered. It is expensive. Check these people out:
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AuthorI am an author and researcher focusing on pop culture, science, and history. Bylines: New Republic, Esquire, Slate, etc. There's more about me in the About Jason tab. Newsletters
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