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Articles by Ed Rubin
On The Charts, October 23, 1971
Repairatrooper (Repairatrooper) October 23, 2026, 7:11am 1 Nothing says early 70’s like a wood grained station wagon. I love the look of the new for 71 Vista Cruiser, especially the glass roof. A trifecta of CanCon this week with the Stampeders, Lighthouse and The Guess Who. Just an amazing array of music in the fall of 1971.
Spark! Pro series - 15th October 2026
edrubin1718 (Ed Rubin) October 19, 2026, 7:24pm 21 1965 Future Jefferson Airplane singer Grace Slick Grace references Go Ask Alice. That is the title of a book of a 15 year old girl that spirals into drug use. It’s the other way around, the book came out in 1971 and is referring to the song White Rabbit which is in turn referring to Alice in Wonderland and Through the Looking Glass by Lewis Carroll.
Serious question: What's wrong with New Outlook?
Stay_Dandy October 19, 2026, 12:46pm 41 Me personally? I have no reason not to other than I like the Classic UI. I have some users that cannot use it though. For some reason there are a couple departments that use shared mailboxes that do not show up at all in the new one but work in classic so we left it be for now. I just was disappointed in the lack of features and haven’t taken the time to explore any updated features on it.
Spark! Pro-series 19th October 2026
Steve6343 (Steve6343) October 19, 2026, 10:54am 1 Hello Dear Friends and welcome to another Monday. As the weather turns autumnal, scarves and gloves are being dusted off and people are wondering if those boots will last another winter. Regardless of the temperature, the Spark! is here to add a little warmth to your week. Grab a hot drink, pop your slippered feet up onto the desk for a few minutes and have a moment to yourself before the onslaught begins.
Alternate Realities - The Size of Computers
alternate-realities, water-cooler, general-hardware, featured thedatamaster (The Data Master) October 15, 2026, 11:07am 1 Greetings all and welcome to our first edition of Alternate Realities! A place where we ponder and discuss what could have been. There are many technologies that have revolutionized society. In a distant place on the other side of reality as we know it, meetings never occurred, plans fell through, and these technologies did not follow the same path as ours.
A Deeper Dive: SSH Intermission - My real world uses & Fun some Windows tips
Howdy, folks! So far in the SSH series, we’ve had a lot of theory, and not a ton of actual demos… Sure, I’ve given you some instructions that you could have followed to give yourself a live demo, and given you my text-based output in codeblocks here and there, but some of you are visual learners, and would like some pictures and real world examples. Today, I’m going to go through real world applications that I use SSH for in my home and lab.
Stupid Friday ?'s | 10/9/2026
RSonnek (RSonnek) October 9, 2026, 3:42pm 21 Do you like trees with full green or when they change color in the fall? I’ve always been a fan of autumn, and the color change is one of the highlights. If you had a sandwich at a deli named after yourself what would be on it? Hmm… probably ham on wheat with lettuce, spinach, and cucumbers. Do you like magic tricks? Sure, it’s fun trying to figure out the sleight of hand required to do the trick. Do you get Trick-Or-Treaters at your place? Nope.
Spark! Pro series - 9th October 2026
Lonny6654 (Lonny6654) October 9, 2026, 11:30am 1 Today in History: October 9, 1446 On this day in 1446, the Korean alphabet, Hangul, was first published under King Sejong the Great. Instead of relying on the thousands of Chinese characters used for writing at the time, the new alphabet gave Korean its own simple, phonetic script. Hangul was designed so that ordinary people, not just scholars, could learn to read and write.
Looking for a Good Printer for Small Office Use
spiceuser-xqpc (spiceuser-xqpc) October 8, 2026, 11:34am 1 Title: Looking for a Good Printer for Small Office Use I’m looking for a reliable printer for a small office. We mainly need it for documents, invoices, and occasional scanning. I’m trying to find something that is easy to maintain and doesn’t have very expensive ink or toner. What printer would you recommend for this type of use? Any suggestions or personal experience would be appreciated.
Wrong Answers Only: What is SpiceWorld?
spiceworld, water-cooler, wrong-answers-only chrisdavis8 (chrisdavis8) October 7, 2026, 4:44pm 61 It’s the Land of the Italian nonas! Itsa Spicya Worlda! jameswalker20 (jameswalker20) October 7, 2026, 4:47pm 62 Impressive, most impressive that @edrubin1718 did not die of dysentery. MarkH3326 (MarkH3326) October 7, 2026, 4:48pm 63 You need to have a swallow in a birdcage. Would that be an African swallow, a European swallow, an “ex-swallow”, or a swallow which can play a didgeridoo ?
On The Charts: October 2, 1969
Repairatrooper (Repairatrooper) October 2, 2026, 6:21am 1 1969, I honestly do not remember much that clearly from this time. I remember hearing some of the songs but that is about it. I could include yet another “muscle car” photo but something impactful and longer lasting than muscle cars debuted this year. The Chevrolet K5 Blazer. This would be the Chevrolet answer to the Ford Bronco and International Scout. Based on a cut down pickup, common parts allowed for aggressive pricing.
A Deeper Dive: SSH Part 1 - The Basics, Authentication, and Configuration
Josh-J-Spiceworks (Josh J (Spiceworks)) September 29, 2026, 12:00pm 1 Last week, we took a look at XOR, that odd-one-out logic gate quietly powering RAID parity, CRCs, and a surprising amount of modern encryption. This week, we’re going to look at a tool that leans on that encryption every single time you touch it: SSH. (And don’t worry, the route/ip route post is still on the docket. SSH just jumped the queue. ) If you missed the XOR dive, go give it a read.
On The Charts: September 25th, 1982
edrubin1718 (Ed Rubin) September 28, 2026, 7:45pm 21 3rd generation Celica’s were an outlier because the headlights simply laid back into the grille like a Porsche 928. The Supras did have proper pop up headlights. Also note that the Dodge Daytona and Chrysler Laser were FWD K car derivatives while the Starion/Conquest was on a Galant derived RWD platform. Keager (Keager) September 28, 2026, 8:11pm 22 for 82 & 83 yes, they laid back. my 84 they rolled under, so it was black across the front.
Spark! Pro-series 28th September 2026
GeorgeSVFC (GeorgeSVFC) September 28, 2026, 4:51pm 21 Well, 6 hours later there are 32 spice ups and 20 replies/comments… “All” is a bunch of us! Thanks @Steve6343 for your Monday musings - they are an important part of my start to the week! HulkSmash September 28, 2026, 5:17pm 22 NATIONAL DRINK BEER DAY I guess I must!
What I just discovered about Linux Mint on laptops
Greek-Greg (Greek-Greg) September 24, 2026, 9:35pm 1 You can dim the screen simply by scrolling down over the battery icon in the tray. I meant to scroll the sound down by hitting the sound icon but I missed. A very convenient feature! Nonya (J-Nonya) September 24, 2026, 9:37pm 2 You can do that in Windows as well somedude2 (somedude2) September 24, 2026, 9:49pm 3 You can do that in Windows as well This week.
Who's adopted the New Outlook?
Aimero (Aimero) September 24, 2026, 12:51pm 21 We tried but there are still too many inconveniences for us. Especially exporting of mails. When you drag and drop a mail, you get a eml file. You can rightlick → save as → msg But that isn’t working for us. You can’t configure which format drag & drop will export. Also macros pchelper (pchelper) September 24, 2026, 1:02pm 22 We are on around a 50/50 split between Classic and New.
My Name Is ich.ni.san and I'm a Local Account User
ich-ni-san (ich.ni.san) September 23, 2026, 8:31pm 1 I was clicking away the ‘Sign in with Microsoft Account’ nag on a computer for what seems like the trillionth time and I thought something like the following might be the next step in encouraging users to “step up”. somedude2 (somedude2) September 23, 2026, 8:40pm 2 But…but…Don’t you want to know what the weather is outside your window right now?
The Painful Cost of Replacing Things you Already Had
discussion, water-cooler, general-hardware, featured wright-is (wright-is) September 21, 2026, 6:52am 43 The HT models have very strong Vauxhall Cresta vibes. The rear on the HQ is vaguely reminiscent of the Viva HC, but is much bigger and the front is very different. A lovely looking old car.
On The Charts: September 18th, 1979
Repairatrooper (Repairatrooper) September 18, 2026, 6:34am 1 Going to say up front “this has to be the best chart so far.” In the world of cars, the incredible shrinking of North American autos continues. Dodge will roll out a sporty 3 door hatchback based on the Omni. The Omni 024 looked sporty but lacked any real muscle. Eventually Carrol Shelby would be recruited to juice up the lack luster performance.
deploying a printer driver with intune
spiceuser-ZND (spiceuser-ZND) September 16, 2026, 2:48pm 1 I’m just trying to deploy a printer driver using intune, but I can not for the life of me get them to install on the target devices..
The Painful Cost of Replacing Things you Already Had
neal2314 (Neal2314) September 14, 2026, 2:57pm 21 My wife had a nice Subaru Outback she’d gotten from her mom. Low miles, reliable, comfortable and good on gas. Then a deer jumped out in front of it about a year and a half ago. Totaled the thing. We spent the next day at a dealer ninety minutes away (that’s life in a rural area) buying a replacement. Our insurance company looked at the pictures we sent them and said they’d replace the hood and call it good.
On the Charts: September 11, 1993
Repairatrooper (Repairatrooper) September 11, 2026, 6:21am 1 The automotive pick here lifted from Car and Driver’s list of cool cars from 1993 that qualify for collector plates. The Mits pictured and it’s twin the Dodge Stealth were always dangerous looking machines in my mind. Once again the music is mostly out of my listening scope but there are a few songs I recognize.
On The Charts: September 4th, 1994
Repairatrooper (Repairatrooper) September 4, 2026, 7:01am 1 Looking for a car to feature, I checked out Hemmings Automotive Class of 1994. Lot of possible choices there, but the new Dodge Neon was a big sales success that year, 180,000 including 200 ACR models equipped for autocross. Debuting in January 1994 as a 1995 model. While the head gaskets would prove to be problematic, performance was on par or better than much of the competition. And hey, it looks so friendly from the front.
Spark! Pro series - 3rd September 2026
jimender2 (jimender2) September 3, 2026, 6:35pm 1 Today in History: 1783 Treaty of Paris signed The American Revolution officially comes to an end when representatives of the United States, Great Britain, Spain and France sign the Treaty of Paris on September 3, 1783.
Making a Linux media server accessible outside of my home network without using a VPN
edrubin1718 (Ed Rubin) September 3, 2026, 7:06pm 21 Anywho, off to Dutch Bros t I’m amazed at how many Dutch Brothers locations there are. I still of think it as a distinctly PNW thing
Unsolicited Zoom and Outlook Calendar Invites
SHNOOL (SHNOOL) September 1, 2026, 7:12pm 21 Report button works, and helps classify the senders so that they not get delivered. We use Defender and have cranked up our settings a bit and setup the user quarantine emails, and that seems to have cut down dramatically (not nothing but close) on these. We also saw in the new outlook you can right click these now and decline without send. So it is there, I will attempt to get a screen shot next time someone sends me an invite.
Spark! Pro-series 31st August 2026
ich-ni-san (ich.ni.san) August 31, 2026, 8:25pm 21 Well, that has already been done, MythBusters! I don’t know if it’s more sad or funny that there was a need to test it.
BOfH 28th August 2026
DailyLlama (DailyLlama) August 28, 2026, 9:12am 1 edrubin1718 (Ed Rubin) August 28, 2026, 4:02pm 2 On topic, Heisenberg and Schrodinger are driving and get pulled over the cop asks Heisenberg “do you know how fast you were going?” Heisenberg replies “no but I know where I am now” He then asks Schrodinger if he knows the cat in the trunk is dead “I know now”
Spark! Pro series - 28th August 2026
Lonny6654 (Lonny6654) August 28, 2026, 11:30am 1 By E. T. Kenney - Baltimore County Public Library (file page), Public Domain, File:Tom thumb peter coopers iron horse 6092027.jpg - Wikimedia Commons Today in History: August 28, 1830 On August 28, 1830, the Tom Thumb, the first American-built steam locomotive, took part in an impromptu race against a horse-drawn railway car near Baltimore.
On The Charts: August 28th, 1987
water-cooler, music, features, on-the-charts Repairatrooper (Repairatrooper) August 28, 2026, 6:30am 1 I may never forgive Mr. Random for last week, at least he has redeemed himself today. In the automotive world this would be the year of my worst car purchase ever. While I loved the way the car drove, it was a total quality failure.
Small Home Project Turns Slightly Bigger...But I Won!
CharlesHTN (CharlesHTN) August 26, 2026, 3:08pm 21 My fridge has an automatic ice maker and I’m still filling ice trays manually. We did ice trays for the first 20 years we lived in our house. Once that fridge died, we bought a much nicer one with an ice maker, but there was no hook up for it.
What does your desk / workspace look like?
PassRusher (PassRusher) August 25, 2026, 8:38pm 41 You knew it had to be these three guys (along with SpiceRex) Repairatrooper (Repairatrooper) August 25, 2026, 9:02pm 42 I threw out my back No disrespect to your pain but this reminded me of the Abbot and Costello military routine. “Throw out your chest” “But I am not done with it”
Snap! -- Sad News for Swift, Router Radar, 7K Sports Car
somedude2 (somedude2) August 24, 2026, 5:51pm 21 [Outlook themes] lipstick on a pig, Triple spice. Dang it MS, We don’t give a crp what it looks like, we are using it because the other one is BROKEN!..sigh edrubin1718 (Ed Rubin) August 24, 2026, 6:26pm 22 Kmart is still around? I haven’t seen one in at least 30 years. I thought they went out of business. According to Google there are three Kmart stores left, a tiny one in Miami Florida and two full sized ones in Guam and the US Virgin Islands.
Spark! Pro series – 21st August 2026
cerbere (Cerbere) August 21, 2026, 3:32pm 21 1911: Louver employee Vincenzo Peruggia steals the Mona Lisa from the museum in Paris, and the painting is not recovered for more than two years Vincenzo Peruggia Steals the Mona Lisa from the Louver (August 21, 1911) The painting was recovered undamaged and returned to the Louver in 1914. That’s ‘Louvre’.
Microsoft adds additional 50GB storage to Business licenses
MimiHTC (MimiHTC) August 20, 2026, 7:26pm 1 So, this is interesting… TECHCOMMUNITY.MICROSOFT.COM Understanding the new 100 GB mailbox entitlement for Microsoft 365 Business... We wanted to show Administrators how recent mailbox quota changes for Microsoft 365 Business suites will apply to their users. This is great news. While I think that 640KB50GB should be enough for everyone, after doing something like eight email migrations, I know now that people really stuff their mailboxes.
Spark! Pro-series 19th August 2026
edrubin1718 (Ed Rubin) August 20, 2026, 3:20pm 22 People were considerably shorter then, although orlop decks were cramped even by 19th century standards.
Spark! Pro Series - August 20th, 2026
jimender2 (jimender2) August 20, 2026, 2:42pm 1 Today in History: 1804 Corps of Discovery suffers its only death Sergeant Charles Floyd dies three months into the voyage of Meriwether Lewis and William Clark, becoming the only member of the Corps of Discovery to die during the journey. Lewis and Clark left St. Louis the previous May, heading up the Missouri River with a party of 35 men, called the Corps of Discovery.
RIP Frank Beard
edrubin1718 (Ed Rubin) August 19, 2026, 12:46am 1 Per CBS News ZZ Top’s drummer Frank Beard, who ironically was the the one without a beard has died aged 77.
Spark! Pro series – 14th August 2026
100+ days are not bad if you are out west where the humidity is low. If you are in the Southeast 100+ with 90% humidity is a killer. 1 Spice up
Snap! -- Swift Rescue, Free Blockbuster, Cheaper Computers
J3thro (J3thro) August 14, 2026, 3:35pm 21 Are you still asked to ‘be kind, please rewind’ with every checkout? Lets just hope they are mostly DVD! I can do without streaming being a part of our lives, but VHS to DVD was worthwhile technological advance lol. I used to pack around over 2 bookshelf’s of DVDs everywhere I moved that would of been 4 or 5 for VHS lol.
On The Charts: August 14, 1969
Repairatrooper (Repairatrooper) August 14, 2026, 7:22am 1 I don’t remember that many specifics about 1969, I was too young to go to Woodstock. which would officially start on the 15th. I have likely posted this car in the past, but this is my favorite, especially this model year.
What have y'all migrated to from VMWare Essentials as virtual host to another hypervisor? Any recommendations? I went from $500 perpetual license to quote for $44k for my 3 HP DL360 Gen10 servers
Josh-J-Spiceworks (Josh J (Spiceworks)) August 13, 2026, 1:34pm 21 No HA, iSCSI, FC, no containers. Just Virtual windows PC’s and Windows servers. You didn’t mention support needs here, so I’ll assume there’s not a large need there. With those simpler needs, I’d suggest sticking with one of the free options. Proxmox VE, XCP-NG, and Hyper-V would be my suggestions, and in that order, based on your needs.
Harry Potter fans force relocation of £430m undersea cable to avoid Dobby’s ‘grave’
mike-eaton (Mike (Eaton)) August 11, 2026, 3:09pm 1 It’s a real story. https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2026/aug/10/harry-potter-fans-force-relocation-of-430m-undersea-cable-to-avoid-dobbys-grave Dobby is a free elf. The internet, meanwhile, is still chained to the ocean floor. What’s the most ridiculous reason you’ve had for having to move or relocate something? Stay_Dandy August 11, 2026, 3:15pm 2 Wow, the quotes were funny.
Snap! -- Rover Driving, Cardboard Boats, Noreply Safety
It’s your daily dose of security and tech news, in brief, along with a mix of other odd or interesting things that might come up. We’re glad you came.
How do you feel about Windows 11's improvements lately?
seanwolsey (Sean Wolsey) August 10, 2026, 6:27pm 21 They are really screwing everything up. I truly wish I could go back to Windows 7, while keeping copy/paste in the command prompt. I support it because I have to, but my personal systems aren’t going beyond Windows 10. I may keep a cheap laptop in a bag, in case I have a remote support call (and never used for anything else), else my personal systems will be Mac or Linux going forward. I’m done with mandatory telemetry and forced updates.
Fun Friday: The Best Songs You Never Heard (and the Deep Cuts You Still Love)
PassRusher (PassRusher) August 7, 2026, 3:51pm 1 Happy Fun Friday! If you know me, you know I’m a huge music fan — especially when it comes to the 80s. And one thing I’ve always loved is discovering those songs that should have been massive hits… but somehow slipped through the cracks. You know the ones: absolute bangers that never got the radio play they deserved, or deep cuts on albums that were better than the singles.
On The Charts: August 7th, 2002
Repairatrooper (Repairatrooper) August 7, 2026, 6:15am 1 2002, after the day I had on Thursday I cannot believe that Mr. Random would be me through more sorrow and pain. I will admit up front, this is not my era and the only song I recognize is Cheryl Crowe. All I really wanna do is ignore this week, but for the sake of the loving public, I will soldier on. On the car front, North American car companies were in love with retro and were banking that the buying public would be to.
Snap! -- LEGO Space Telescope, CPU Chimney, Quantum Progress
It’s your daily dose of security and tech news, in brief, along with a mix of other odd or interesting things that might come up. We’re glad you came. Now, let’s jump right in… August 5, 2012: Curiosity lands on Mars.
Would you like a data center built in your town?
Nonya (J-Nonya) August 5, 2026, 3:40pm 21 Maybe start a thread in soapbox, just to get the “Other” side of the AI convo out in the open? Similar point to a few property value comments above, but we sold our old house just in time…not long after a large sign just outside the neighborhood announced a new power substation was going up three blocks east of where we lived at the time.
A Bridge Too Close
peterdigby (peterdigby) August 4, 2026, 6:54am 21 I am not saying the Montague Street bridge in Victoria, Australia gets hit that often; but it does have its own website with a running total… https://howmanydayssincemontaguestreetbridgehasbeenhit.com/
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