INFO-VAX Tue, 20 Mar 2007 Volume 2007 : Issue 158 Contents: Re: AMD's well may be running dry Re: AMD's well may be running dry Re: cluster upgrade stratedy Re: Comments on my license reuse plan Re: Help with a BA-356 Storageworks Re: Itanium exception handling performance Re: NTP newbie questions Re: OpenVMS Hobbyist error and question Re: Problems zipping RBF file Re: Suggestion for the VMS X-windows server Re: Suggestion for the VMS X-windows server Re: system job que manager not running Re: Willing to bet this is Windows at its best Willing to bet this is Windows at its best Re: Willing to bet this is Windows at its best Re: Willing to bet this is Windows at its best Re: Willing to bet this is Windows at its best Re: Willing to bet this is Windows at its best ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: 20 Mar 2007 08:48:36 -0700 From: "Andrew" Subject: Re: AMD's well may be running dry Message-ID: <1174405716.185445.15380@n59g2000hsh.googlegroups.com> On 19 Mar, 17:11, "Dr. Dweeb" wrote: > Andrew wrote: > > On 19 Mar, 14:49, "Dr. Dweeb" wrote: > >> Andrew wrote: > >>> On 18 Mar, 19:49, "Dr. Dweeb" wrote: > >>>> Bill Todd wrote: > >>>>> Dr. Dweeb wrote: > > >>> 2. The program makers have admitted "cleaning up" some of the > >>> statistical data they presented to support their argument. They also > >>> failed to include more up to date data samples easily available from > >>> NASA which would have further damaged their case. > > > The film argued that most global warming happend between 1900 and 1940 > > and that cooled between 1940 and 1975 when the post-war economic boom > > was under way. This apparently showed, that global warming had little > > to do with industrial emissions of carbon dioxide. > > > In the film this data was apparently sourced from NASA, one of the > > newspapers in the UK asked the production company where this data had > > come from. They admitted that it hadn't come from NASA but from a > > 1998 paper in a publication called the Medical Sentinel. The authors > > of the paper are climate sceptics partly funded by the George C > > Marshall Institute, a right-wing Washington think-tank. > > > Further investigation has revealed that the graph did not in fact come > > from this paper but from an earlier publication by the same authors. > > The paper used Nasa data from the 1980's but crucially in the film the > > axis of the graph was modified to make it appear that the data came up > > to the present day. > > > The film makers have admitted that they altered the graphics to make > > it look as if the sample data ended in 2000 and not in the early > > 1980's. > > > Had that accessed the additional data available from 1980-2006 which > > is available from the NASA web site then they would have found that > > after a small dip temperatures continued upwards, it would also have > > shown that temperatures have risen more since 1974 than they did > > between 1900 and 1940, in doing so of course they would have destroyed > > one of the most apparently telling points the film tried to make that > > there was no statistical relationship between temperature rise and > > industrial activity. > > Actually, I did not experience that as the most telling point, but I am > willing to accept that you and/or others did. I will review the film again > and take special note. > > > > > > >> Specifics would be nice - a link to the NASA data or summary please. > > >>> Possibly their most telling but also most obvious argument was the > >>> one that the IPCC consists of scientists and non scientists (wow) > >>> and that they don't all agree that climate change is being caused > >>> by man. Wow again. > > >>> There was a clear implication that the non scientists were likely to > >>> get it wrong. > > >> Indeed. Political appointees being what they are you do not think > >> this specifically more likely? I guess you are entitled to that > >> opinion. My personal experience of the political process suggests > >> otherwise. > > > Of course, but there are a large number of governments including the > > US who would prefer GW to pop back into its hole. Can you guarantee > > that there was a majority of pro GW appointees to the IPCC. > > > You could make a strong counter argument to suggest that in all > > probability lack of a high 90's% probability assessment that mankind > > is making global warming worse in the IPCC report could be due to the > > political appointees to the IPCC. > > My claim was that they are more likely to get it wrong per se. independent > of their political motivations, since these motivations (+/-) are > independent (and in their specific case) more likely at odds with science. > Does it matter, unless you and the channel 4 program can show that the non scientists all voted for global warming being caused by mans activities then the point you and the program are making is irrelevant. A number of the experts drafted in by Channel 4 made the allegation that the IPCC group included non scientists clearly in attempt to undermine the high degree of probability produced in the IPCC report for Global Warming being made worse by mans activities. What the program and their scientists failed to show was if the non scientists on the committee were for or against the argument and because of that I dismissed this argument entirely as an attempt to spread FUD about the report. > Consensus is not a guarantee of the correct result. > Of course not however if you were a betting man would you put your money on a 90% certainty or a 10% outsider particularly if as we know the odds are better for the 90% than the 10%. > > The British Journalism Review recently surveyed genuine climate > > scientists and found that 600 thought that Global Warming was > > happening and only 5 thought it was not. The thrust of the Journals > > article is that in an attempt to show balance the media have been > > scrambling to allow the anti global warming camp a say when the > > reality is that they represent the views of less than 1% of credible > > scientists. If you had a political party who had polled less than 1% > > of the votes cast how much air time do you think they would get. > > Certainly not a whole program on Channel 4. > > I surveyed my sceptical scientist colleagues and discovered the same. They > all thought it was and would continue to happen as the geological and other > evidence for it is overwhelming. No surprise there. > > However, they question, seriously, the notion of anthropogenic global > warming and it's significance (or in this case lack thereof) as do I. > Without the exact question asked, your reference is not really useful. As an > aside, I spent some time in the deep past formulating survey questions for a > noted IT industry research body and have direct experience of exactly how to > get the correct (ie. the predetermined ) answer :) > > > Regards > > Andrew Harrison > > > Regards > > Andrew Harrison > > Dweeb ------------------------------ Date: 20 Mar 2007 10:34:21 -0700 From: "Andrew" Subject: Re: AMD's well may be running dry Message-ID: <1174412061.493258.155910@o5g2000hsb.googlegroups.com> On 20 Mar, 16:11, Maverick wrote: > Andrew wrote: > > On 19 Mar, 17:11, "Dr. Dweeb" wrote: > > >>Andrew wrote: > > >>>On 19 Mar, 14:49, "Dr. Dweeb" wrote: > > >>>>Andrew wrote: > > >>>>>On 18 Mar, 19:49, "Dr. Dweeb" wrote: > > >>>>>>Bill Todd wrote: > > >>>>>>>Dr. Dweeb wrote: > > >>>>>2. The program makers have admitted "cleaning up" some of the > >>>>>statistical data they presented to support their argument. They also > >>>>>failed to include more up to date data samples easily available from > >>>>>NASA which would have further damaged their case. > > >>>The film argued that most global warming happend between 1900 and 1940 > >>>and that cooled between 1940 and 1975 when the post-war economic boom > >>>was under way. This apparently showed, that global warming had little > >>>to do with industrial emissions of carbon dioxide. > > >>>In the film this data was apparently sourced from NASA, one of the > >>>newspapers in the UK asked the production company where this data had > >>>come from. They admitted that it hadn't come from NASA but from a > >>>1998 paper in a publication called the Medical Sentinel. The authors > >>>of the paper are climate sceptics partly funded by the George C > >>>Marshall Institute, a right-wing Washington think-tank. > > >>>Further investigation has revealed that the graph did not in fact come > >>>from this paper but from an earlier publication by the same authors. > >>>The paper used Nasa data from the 1980's but crucially in the film the > >>>axis of the graph was modified to make it appear that the data came up > >>>to the present day. > > >>>The film makers have admitted that they altered the graphics to make > >>>it look as if the sample data ended in 2000 and not in the early > >>>1980's. > > >>>Had that accessed the additional data available from 1980-2006 which > >>>is available from the NASA web site then they would have found that > >>>after a small dip temperatures continued upwards, it would also have > >>>shown that temperatures have risen more since 1974 than they did > >>>between 1900 and 1940, in doing so of course they would have destroyed > >>>one of the most apparently telling points the film tried to make that > >>>there was no statistical relationship between temperature rise and > >>>industrial activity. > > >>Actually, I did not experience that as the most telling point, but I am > >>willing to accept that you and/or others did. I will review the film again > >>and take special note. > > >>>>Specifics would be nice - a link to the NASA data or summary please. > > >>>>>Possibly their most telling but also most obvious argument was the > >>>>>one that the IPCC consists of scientists and non scientists (wow) > >>>>>and that they don't all agree that climate change is being caused > >>>>>by man. Wow again. > > >>>>>There was a clear implication that the non scientists were likely to > >>>>>get it wrong. > > >>>>Indeed. Political appointees being what they are you do not think > >>>>this specifically more likely? I guess you are entitled to that > >>>>opinion. My personal experience of the political process suggests > >>>>otherwise. > > >>>Of course, but there are a large number of governments including the > >>>US who would prefer GW to pop back into its hole. Can you guarantee > >>>that there was a majority of pro GW appointees to the IPCC. > > >>>You could make a strong counter argument to suggest that in all > >>>probability lack of a high 90's% probability assessment that mankind > >>>is making global warming worse in the IPCC report could be due to the > >>>political appointees to the IPCC. > > >>My claim was that they are more likely to get it wrong per se. independent > >>of their political motivations, since these motivations (+/-) are > >>independent (and in their specific case) more likely at odds with science. > > > Does it matter, unless you and the channel 4 program can show that the > > non scientists all voted for global warming being caused by mans > > activities then the point you and the program are making is > > irrelevant. > > Are you kidding!?! Have YOU seen the report and exactly who is on the > list? I doubt that you have. You'll also note that one scientist > threatened the UN if they don't take him off their list. Another > question has to do with the credentials of said scientists. Some aren't > even scientists, but bureaucrats. All I see is a political agenda. Yes I have seen the report and yes the committee does include non scientists. Does that matter, no because there is no evidence that the inclusion of non scientists biased the report one way or another. I would take your point if there was clear evidence that the non scientists changed the conclusions of the report to the detriment of the anti-global warming lobby. And the scientist who wanted to withdraw his name from the report was none other than Richard Lindzen who appeared in Channel 4's the Great Global Warming Swindle. Hardly surprising since the report does not reflect his minority view. Incidentally Professor Wunsch one of the scientists who apparently supported the thesis put forward in the program has this to say about it. Professor Wunsch said: "I am angry because they completely misrepresented me. My views were distorted by the context in which they placed them. I was misled as to what it was going to be about. I was told about six months ago that this was to be a programme about how complicated it is to understand what is going on. If they had told me even the title of the programme, I would have absolutely refused to be on it. I am the one who has been swindled." When told what the commission had found, he said: "That is what happened to me." He said he believes it is "an almost inescapable conclusion" that "if man adds excess CO2 to the atmosphere, the climate will warm". regards Andrew ------------------------------ Date: 20 Mar 2007 07:06:40 -0700 From: "Don.Zong@gmail.com" Subject: Re: cluster upgrade stratedy Message-ID: <1174399600.786312.312960@d57g2000hsg.googlegroups.com> Thank you guys for the all inputs. On Mar 18, 7:55 pm, Ken Fairfield wrote: > Don.Z...@gmail.com wrote: > > Hi, > > > We are thinking upgrade our 3-nodes cluster openvms 8.2-1 itanium to > > openvms 8.3. Right now every node boots off the the same system disk > > which is on eva3000. > > > The upgrade approach we are trying to do > > > 1. clone a system disk say disk B > > Just one point here: I'd recommend an image backup to your > new (system) disk since that will defragment the volume in > the process. In addition, if you have the opportunity, > you could do a second image backup/restore of the *upgraded* > disk prior to moving the other nodes to it. (That might > be the fanatic in me speaking...season to taste. :-) > > > 2. let node A,B boot from the original system disk > > 3. let node C boot from disk B ( change logicals for some common files > > ie uaf , so node C use the same file as node A, B does) > > 4. upgrade node C > > 5. testing on node C > > 6. if everything is fine, let node A, B boot from disk B > > 7. after a couple of months, if everything is ok remove the original > > system from cluster. > > 8. done > > > Wondering if anything I've overlooked ? Any suggestions? comments? > > I'd echo Kerry's idea to use a separate disk for various > cluster-common files. That would be a pre-upgrade activity. > It will help keep the cluster consistent while the two different > system disks are both in use, and it does simply upgrades. > > -Ken > -- > Ken & Ann Fairfield > What: Ken dot And dot Ann > Where: Gmail dot Com ------------------------------ Date: 20 Mar 2007 05:13:59 -0700 From: "tadamsmar" Subject: Re: Comments on my license reuse plan Message-ID: <1174392839.344958.39390@n59g2000hsh.googlegroups.com> On Mar 20, 12:53 am, "David B Sneddon" wrote: > On Mar 19, 3:18 pm, "tadamsmar" wrote: > > > We have looked high and low and cannot anything called contract, but > > we bought all our systems and software legally. I cannot find > > anything in any of our paperwork that limits our licenses or paks to a > > single machine. > > > Looks like transfers within a company, redesignations as they are > > called, are legal if they are valid: > > >http://licensing.hp.com/swl/view.slm?page=xfer > > Have you not read the back of the PAK certificate? > > Dave Yes, I have read it. I don't see anything there that prohibits redesignations. ------------------------------ Date: 20 Mar 2007 05:29:55 -0700 From: etmsreec@yahoo.co.uk Subject: Re: Help with a BA-356 Storageworks Message-ID: <1174393795.090190.83130@l77g2000hsb.googlegroups.com> IIRC, there was something strange with the HSD10 where you bought one of them and didn't get the RAID stuff, but there was another variant which did give the RAID. Not sure if it was just a license issue, memory or what. Steve Colin Butcher wrote: > SHOW DEV at the >>> prompt will show you the SCSI ID of the internal SCSI > adapter (either 6 or 7, back then I think that 6 was the factory default) > and the two internal SCSI drives (probably 0 and 1, maybe 3 and 2). By > convention 4 was a CD and 5 was a tape. Worst case you'll have IDs 3 & 2 in > use (or 0 &1) by discs, 4 by the CD and 6 by the adapter. You can change the > HBA's SCSI ID with the command SET SCSI command at the >>> prompt. I > usually set it to 7. > > BA356 shelves set the ID of a device by slot position. As the VAX is an 8bit > narrow SCSI bus, you'll only have positions 0 through 7 to play with (and > you'll need the narrow personality module too), of which you won't be able > to use those slots that correspond to existing SCSI devices. Worst case with > your preset setup is that you'll only have IDs 2, 3 and 6 free because 0 7 1 > are discs, 4 is the CD, 5 is a taoe and 7 is the adapter. So, you'll only be > able to add 3 drives maximum. > > Far better is to use an HSD10 and hang the shelf off the second DSSI bus - > gets you a full complement of additional drives and splits the IO load > across multiple buses. I think you'll find that the HSD10 can also do RAID > and caching for you too. The HDS05 is a cheap alternative that just lets you > present the devices in the shelf as DSSWI devoces - which may be enough to > achieve what you want. > > Also beware of the rules for the shelves in terms of disc size & speed - > that affects the heat load and you don't want to fond the shelf overheating. > > -- > Cheers, Colin. > Legacy = Stuff that works properly! ------------------------------ Date: 20 Mar 2007 09:11:25 -0700 From: "roger" Subject: Re: Itanium exception handling performance Message-ID: <1174407085.631183.270750@y66g2000hsf.googlegroups.com> Wow - what a kludge is that? I remember when engineering use to be something you were proud of. ------------------------------ Date: Sun, 18 Mar 2007 14:05:38 +0800 From: Paul Repacholi Subject: Re: NTP newbie questions Message-ID: <87ejnnaxxp.fsf@k9.prep.synonet.com> JF Mezei writes: > What is the parameter in the .CONF file to change the interval a which > I poll an external server? Right now, it seems to be doing this every > hour. I would think once a day would be more than enough. DON'T. NTP sets the poll interval to optimise the loop parameters acording to you net delay and dispersion. Read the papers on ntp.org for the engineering. ------------------------------ Date: 20 Mar 2007 10:40:21 -0700 From: yyyc186@hughes.net Subject: Re: OpenVMS Hobbyist error and question Message-ID: <1174412420.983686.169220@o5g2000hsb.googlegroups.com> Thank you all for posting. I preffer purchasing the actual CD from the hobbyist program in a small effort of support. Also, downloading 360Meg is a real PITA for me. I use the DirecWay/HughesNet sattelite service since I'm out in the country and that is THE only choice. Normally it is pretty great...until a vendor puts up a 360Meg file and says to just download it. In theory it is a 250Meg per day DL limit. They usually throttle your account after 170Meg. I haven't found a good nibbler for SuSE Linux yet. I used to use LeechGet before I dumped Windows. That had the ability to set a download to 10Meg per hour and just let it go off in the background. It took 2-3 days to get a file that size, but you would get it all. Roland ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 20 Mar 2007 11:31:18 +0100 From: "Dr. Dweeb" Subject: Re: Problems zipping RBF file Message-ID: <45ffb7f6$0$143$157c6196@dreader2.cybercity.dk> DeanW wrote: > Oh, what a tangled web... > > On a DS20, VMS 7.2-1 / RDB 7.1-240 / ZIP 2.3 > > One customer site is insisting that database backups be transferred > off to their primary backup system, rather than relying on the VMS > system's DDS-3 tape. (Putting all their eggs in a Windows basket... I > digress.) > > So we do a database backup to disk, which gets us RBF & AIJ files. To > be careful, we want to encapsulate those in a ZIP file, right? > > ZIP won't handle the RBF, giving no reason- just won't store it. (see > below) So now we have to BACKUP the RBF & AIJ files before we can ZIP > them, to FTP them across town. It'd be nice to skip the BACKUP step, > as the system's loaded down enough that (I'm told) BACKUP is causing > performance issues. > > The disk this is being done on has ~70GB of free space. > > Any clues? I've thought about trying VMSTAR, but ideally we'd prefer > to just skip the step altogether. > > -------------------->8 cut here 8<-------------------- > > EAGLE$ CD SYS$USER3:[RDB_DATABASES.BACKUPS] > SYS$USER3:[RDB_DATABASES.BACKUPS] > EAGLE$ zip "-V" LT$2007-03-19.zip LT$2007-03-19.RBF > adding: LT$2007-03-19.RBF (stored 0%) > EAGLE$ > > -------------------->8 cut here 8<-------------------- Firstly, the RdbListServer is the best place for these questions. I have done this plenty of times. 1: ZIP has an architectural file size limit. IIRC it is 2GB on every platform. Is the expected size of your local file smaller than 2GB ? 2: Making an .RBR (export) and zipping it makes a massively smaller file, if space is an issue and you do not need the additional capabilities offerred by an RBF file. 3: Do not forget the "-V" qualifier. 4: I have found levels above "5" to be more expensive in CPU and clock time than the effort was worth. YMMV Dweeb ------------------------------ Date: 20 Mar 2007 05:00:29 -0700 From: etmsreec@yahoo.co.uk Subject: Re: Suggestion for the VMS X-windows server Message-ID: <1174392029.182741.34910@e65g2000hsc.googlegroups.com> Quite Robert, I didn't I'm sorry. I should have said "a working configuration". It was: rx2660 with one 1.4GHz dual core CPU additional PSU 3 slot PCI-x cage 4GB physical memory two internal 36GB disks and two internal 146GB disks with RAID-1 controller a DAT72 external drive and SCSI card licenses for VMS FOE, DFO, AvailMan, iLO and S/W RAID (to partition up the 146GB disks) plus keyboard, mouse and monitor, and DVD-ROM. Steve Robert Deininger wrote: > In article <45fef87d$1@news.langstoeger.at>, peter@langstoeger.at wrote: > > >In article <1174310844.221759.167200@n59g2000hsh.googlegroups.com>, > etmsreec@yahoo.co.uk writes: > >>A fully configured rx2660 with disk, tape and VMS licenses comes in at > >>about 10k GBP. > >>The FOE PCL is presently 490 GBP list price. A dual-core CPU, of > >>course, requires two. > > > >So, that sums up to 11k GBP, which is 16k EUR (and way more than $20k). > >Almost 8 times the price I have as limit. > > > >Remember, I'm a hobbyist, a fully configured rx2660 is more than I need, > >but I don't think, I can strip it down to Eur 2k at all... > > If "fully configured" is more than you need, don't fully configure it. > > I don't know what configuration Steve mentioned the price for. But a > "fully configured" rx2660 has 8 disks and 32 GB of memory. ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 20 Mar 2007 10:02:41 -0700 From: - Subject: Re: Suggestion for the VMS X-windows server Message-ID: Stephen Hoffman wrote: > JF Mezei wrote: >> [Porting Firefox and Seamonkey] has been casually mentioned here in >> the past. But when asked, HP will respond that it is not officially on >> the roadmap. > > Firefox and Thunderbird are listed in the OpenVMS roadmap. > > I don't recall all that much discussion of a Seamonkey port around > OpenVMS, but folks are certainly free to port it over using the existing > pieces from Mozilla kit, or the pieces from the Firefox and Thunderbird > port as those arrive. Porting SeaMonkey would be a hump & it's not clear there's a demand for the suite vs. just the two widely used pieces: browser & email client Good to know that Mozilla can quietly disappear 'neath the waves on yet another platform. It was fun while it lasted, but now it's just a millstone around the neck. ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 20 Mar 2007 14:35:15 +0000 From: Tom Wade Subject: Re: system job que manager not running Message-ID: > We cant seem to restart the queues on our cluster , when we start them they > stop straight after. Prior to this i did a cluster wide change to a logical > which shouldnt affect the queues any ideas ?? ta Do a REPLY /ENABLE before you start the queues. Do you get any OPCOM messages ? Which logical did you change, and to what ? --------------------------------------------------------- Tom Wade | EMail: tee dot wade at eurokom dot ie EuroKom | Tel: +353 (1) 296-9696 A2, Nutgrove Office Park | Fax: +353 (1) 296-9697 Rathfarnham | Disclaimer: This is not a disclaimer Dublin 14 | Tip: "Friends don't let friends do Unix !" Ireland ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 20 Mar 2007 11:32:24 -0400 From: Bob Willard Subject: Re: Willing to bet this is Windows at its best Message-ID: tomarsin2015@comcast.net wrote: > Oops! Techie wipes out $38 billion fund > Keystroke mistake deletes data for Alaska's oil-funded account > > JUNEAU, Alaska - Perhaps you know that sinking feeling when a single > keystroke accidentally destroys hours of work. Now imagine wiping out > a disk drive containing an account worth $38 billion. > > That's what happened to a computer technician reformatting a disk > drive at the Alaska Department of Revenue. While doing routine > maintenance work, the technician accidentally deleted applicant > information for an oil-funded account - one of Alaska residents' > biggest perks - and mistakenly reformatted the backup drive, as well. > > There was still hope, until the department discovered its third line > of defense, backup tapes, were unreadable > > "Nobody panicked, but we instantly went into planning for the worst- > case scenario," said Permanent Fund Dividend Division Director Amy > Skow. The computer foul-up last July would end up costing the > department more than $200,000. > > Over the next few days, as the department, the division and > consultants from Microsoft Corp. and Dell Inc. labored to retrieve the > data, it became obvious the worst-case scenario was at hand. > > Nine months worth of information concerning the yearly payout from the > Alaska Permanent Fund was gone: some 800,000 electronic images that > had been painstakingly scanned into the system months earlier, the > 2006 paper applications that people had either mailed in or filed over > the counter, and supporting documentation such as birth certificates > and proof of residence. > > And the only backup was the paperwork itself - stored in more than 300 > cardboard boxes. > > "We had to bring that paper back to the scanning room, and send it > through again, and quality control it, and then you have to have a way > to link that paper to that person's file," Skow said. > > Half a dozen seasonal workers came back to assist the regular division > staff, and about 70 people working overtime and weekends re-entered > all the lost data by the end of August. > > "They were just ready, willing and able to chip in and, in fact, we > needed all of them to chip in to get all the paperwork rescanned in a > timely manner so that we could meet our obligations to the public," > Skow said. > Even the most dedicated M$ haters should not be able to blame WinDuhs for this goof. This is an obvious case of fumble-fingers at work; multiple f-f at that. -- Cheers, Bob ------------------------------ Date: 20 Mar 2007 08:19:42 -0700 From: "tomarsin2015@comcast.net" Subject: Willing to bet this is Windows at its best Message-ID: <1174403982.738108.123940@y66g2000hsf.googlegroups.com> Oops! Techie wipes out $38 billion fund Keystroke mistake deletes data for Alaska's oil-funded account JUNEAU, Alaska - Perhaps you know that sinking feeling when a single keystroke accidentally destroys hours of work. Now imagine wiping out a disk drive containing an account worth $38 billion. That's what happened to a computer technician reformatting a disk drive at the Alaska Department of Revenue. While doing routine maintenance work, the technician accidentally deleted applicant information for an oil-funded account - one of Alaska residents' biggest perks - and mistakenly reformatted the backup drive, as well. There was still hope, until the department discovered its third line of defense, backup tapes, were unreadable "Nobody panicked, but we instantly went into planning for the worst- case scenario," said Permanent Fund Dividend Division Director Amy Skow. The computer foul-up last July would end up costing the department more than $200,000. Over the next few days, as the department, the division and consultants from Microsoft Corp. and Dell Inc. labored to retrieve the data, it became obvious the worst-case scenario was at hand. Nine months worth of information concerning the yearly payout from the Alaska Permanent Fund was gone: some 800,000 electronic images that had been painstakingly scanned into the system months earlier, the 2006 paper applications that people had either mailed in or filed over the counter, and supporting documentation such as birth certificates and proof of residence. And the only backup was the paperwork itself - stored in more than 300 cardboard boxes. "We had to bring that paper back to the scanning room, and send it through again, and quality control it, and then you have to have a way to link that paper to that person's file," Skow said. Half a dozen seasonal workers came back to assist the regular division staff, and about 70 people working overtime and weekends re-entered all the lost data by the end of August. "They were just ready, willing and able to chip in and, in fact, we needed all of them to chip in to get all the paperwork rescanned in a timely manner so that we could meet our obligations to the public," Skow said. ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 20 Mar 2007 10:07:48 -0600 From: Maverick Subject: Re: Willing to bet this is Windows at its best Message-ID: Bob Willard wrote: > tomarsin2015@comcast.net wrote: > >> Oops! Techie wipes out $38 billion fund >> Keystroke mistake deletes data for Alaska's oil-funded account >> >> JUNEAU, Alaska - Perhaps you know that sinking feeling when a single >> keystroke accidentally destroys hours of work. Now imagine wiping out >> a disk drive containing an account worth $38 billion. >> >> That's what happened to a computer technician reformatting a disk >> drive at the Alaska Department of Revenue. While doing routine >> maintenance work, the technician accidentally deleted applicant >> information for an oil-funded account - one of Alaska residents' >> biggest perks - and mistakenly reformatted the backup drive, as well. >> >> There was still hope, until the department discovered its third line >> of defense, backup tapes, were unreadable >> >> "Nobody panicked, but we instantly went into planning for the worst- >> case scenario," said Permanent Fund Dividend Division Director Amy >> Skow. The computer foul-up last July would end up costing the >> department more than $200,000. >> >> Over the next few days, as the department, the division and >> consultants from Microsoft Corp. and Dell Inc. labored to retrieve the >> data, it became obvious the worst-case scenario was at hand. >> >> Nine months worth of information concerning the yearly payout from the >> Alaska Permanent Fund was gone: some 800,000 electronic images that >> had been painstakingly scanned into the system months earlier, the >> 2006 paper applications that people had either mailed in or filed over >> the counter, and supporting documentation such as birth certificates >> and proof of residence. >> >> And the only backup was the paperwork itself - stored in more than 300 >> cardboard boxes. >> >> "We had to bring that paper back to the scanning room, and send it >> through again, and quality control it, and then you have to have a way >> to link that paper to that person's file," Skow said. >> >> Half a dozen seasonal workers came back to assist the regular division >> staff, and about 70 people working overtime and weekends re-entered >> all the lost data by the end of August. >> >> "They were just ready, willing and able to chip in and, in fact, we >> needed all of them to chip in to get all the paperwork rescanned in a >> timely manner so that we could meet our obligations to the public," >> Skow said. >> > > Even the most dedicated M$ haters should not be able to blame WinDuhs for > this goof. This is an obvious case of fumble-fingers at work; multiple > f-f at that. But do you know any other operating system that would allow this? ------------------------------ Date: 20 Mar 2007 16:13:19 GMT From: bill@cs.uofs.edu (Bill Gunshannon) Subject: Re: Willing to bet this is Windows at its best Message-ID: <56afgtF28b33aU1@mid.individual.net> In article , Maverick writes: > Bob Willard wrote: >> tomarsin2015@comcast.net wrote: >> >>> Oops! Techie wipes out $38 billion fund >>> Keystroke mistake deletes data for Alaska's oil-funded account >>> >>> JUNEAU, Alaska - Perhaps you know that sinking feeling when a single >>> keystroke accidentally destroys hours of work. Now imagine wiping out >>> a disk drive containing an account worth $38 billion. >>> >>> That's what happened to a computer technician reformatting a disk >>> drive at the Alaska Department of Revenue. While doing routine >>> maintenance work, the technician accidentally deleted applicant >>> information for an oil-funded account - one of Alaska residents' >>> biggest perks - and mistakenly reformatted the backup drive, as well. >>> >>> There was still hope, until the department discovered its third line >>> of defense, backup tapes, were unreadable >>> >>> "Nobody panicked, but we instantly went into planning for the worst- >>> case scenario," said Permanent Fund Dividend Division Director Amy >>> Skow. The computer foul-up last July would end up costing the >>> department more than $200,000. >>> >>> Over the next few days, as the department, the division and >>> consultants from Microsoft Corp. and Dell Inc. labored to retrieve the >>> data, it became obvious the worst-case scenario was at hand. >>> >>> Nine months worth of information concerning the yearly payout from the >>> Alaska Permanent Fund was gone: some 800,000 electronic images that >>> had been painstakingly scanned into the system months earlier, the >>> 2006 paper applications that people had either mailed in or filed over >>> the counter, and supporting documentation such as birth certificates >>> and proof of residence. >>> >>> And the only backup was the paperwork itself - stored in more than 300 >>> cardboard boxes. >>> >>> "We had to bring that paper back to the scanning room, and send it >>> through again, and quality control it, and then you have to have a way >>> to link that paper to that person's file," Skow said. >>> >>> Half a dozen seasonal workers came back to assist the regular division >>> staff, and about 70 people working overtime and weekends re-entered >>> all the lost data by the end of August. >>> >>> "They were just ready, willing and able to chip in and, in fact, we >>> needed all of them to chip in to get all the paperwork rescanned in a >>> timely manner so that we could meet our obligations to the public," >>> Skow said. >>> >> >> Even the most dedicated M$ haters should not be able to blame WinDuhs for >> this goof. This is an obvious case of fumble-fingers at work; multiple >> f-f at that. > > But do you know any other operating system that would allow this? All of them. bill -- Bill Gunshannon | de-moc-ra-cy (di mok' ra see) n. Three wolves bill@cs.scranton.edu | and a sheep voting on what's for dinner. University of Scranton | Scranton, Pennsylvania | #include ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 20 Mar 2007 13:09:15 -0400 From: "Richard B. gilbert" Subject: Re: Willing to bet this is Windows at its best Message-ID: <4600153B.1000603@comcast.net> Bob Willard wrote: > tomarsin2015@comcast.net wrote: > >> Oops! Techie wipes out $38 billion fund >> Keystroke mistake deletes data for Alaska's oil-funded account >> >> JUNEAU, Alaska - Perhaps you know that sinking feeling when a single >> keystroke accidentally destroys hours of work. Now imagine wiping out >> a disk drive containing an account worth $38 billion. >> >> > > Even the most dedicated M$ haters should not be able to blame WinDuhs for > this goof. This is an obvious case of fumble-fingers at work; multiple > f-f at that. Fumble-minded seems a better fit to the situation described. ------------------------------ Date: Tue, 20 Mar 2007 17:36:51 +0100 From: Paul Sture Subject: Re: Willing to bet this is Windows at its best Message-ID: In article , Bob Willard wrote: > tomarsin2015@comcast.net wrote: > > Oops! Techie wipes out $38 billion fund > > Keystroke mistake deletes data for Alaska's oil-funded account > > Over the next few days, as the department, the division and > > consultants from Microsoft Corp. and Dell Inc. labored to retrieve the > > data, it became obvious the worst-case scenario was at hand. > > > Even the most dedicated M$ haters should not be able to blame WinDuhs for > this goof. This is an obvious case of fumble-fingers at work; multiple > f-f at that. Too many consultants spoiling the broth? They might have had more success simply shipping the drives and tapes to a data recovery specialist. -- Paul Sture ------------------------------ End of INFO-VAX 2007.158 ************************