What even are dasdecs, seriously

kg4cyxLeave a comment

Saw this picture on Twitter and well, it’s distinctly output being generated by a Digital Alert Systems / Monroe DASHECK.. I mean.. DASDEC…

wait just a minute here

Nah, there’s nothing evil about these things though, they don’t sacrifice children and they certainly aren’t in any way possessed….

Really though, this makes me wonder, I’ve known for quite a while that these things are basically just a Linux box. They have a fair amount of obfuscation because the they sell a bunch of extra options and are making at least a token effort to keep the IPAWS server keys hidden…. however it appears that they use VLC for some reason? Funky.

I’ve always wondered what the AM and FM radio cards in these things are. A nice feature they offer is the ability to go back in there and get a recording of the AM / FM monitor sources as an incoming alert was picked off them. That’s also present in the current versions of the Sage Digital Endec but the Monroe will give you one for each source, while the Sage actually only monitors one audio source at a time (the first to go active steals it and the rest are not monitored).

I dunno, EAS is just horribly cursed, and my idea of Heaven is a solid white nightclub with me as a headliner for all eternity, and they *love* me.

fnord

The return of the neon rainbow

kg4cyxLeave a comment

Me, a couple nights ago: “my hair is really faded, I wonder which colors to dye it next?”

To answer my own question: yes

Also I discovered this is the most useless hair bleach, at least on me – it doesn’t even try to lift any part of my hair that wasn’t already bleached with the nice Wella or Quick Blue stuff, or is already naturally graying. (How much gray do I have now? I hate to say I don’t even know.)

You’ve seen “Legally Blonde”. Now, this Summer, from ‘thanks I hate it’ Productions comes AWKWARDLY BLONDE

Current mood…

kg4cyxLeave a comment

… hammering dents out of some Aero.100 audio processors the network handed down to us without proper packing for shipment

oh child
One of the better units

It’s a cute little box and works damn well when you don’t smash it to death!!

Great, now I need to know why there’s a WASHDRIVE switch

kg4cyxLeave a comment

Since I’m having my car serviced for a transmission valve body issue*, I’m taking the bus and train back to go pick it up and it’s nice off hours. There’s plenty of space for social distancing….

And yes, everyone’s still wearing masks.

But while aboard an otherwise empty train car, I started looking at the control panel through the glass. I mean, it’s some serious industrial design elegance, it just does what it does, for a million plus mile ride.

Odometer reading: almost a million.

But then I noticed something you may not be able to see in the picture: over on the left next to the power/service brake handle is a key switch labeled WASHDRIVE.

Is this something that works with the automation of their wash tunnel? And if so…. do they have tri-color foaming wax? One has to wonder, as you do.

Posting of even less relevant material follows.

Read more “Great, now I need to know why there’s a WASHDRIVE switch”