We're still using XP and Office 2003. I've heard rumblings from IT that we're going to go to Win7 via remote upgrade, but haven't seen anything happening out in the branch offices where I work. XP isn't suddenly going to stop working. It's just the end of updates/MS support.

Some are glass plate Daguerreotypes. Somehow, I am not too confident that my digital pictures will be legible 150 years from now, unless I make a good quality print on archival paper. Digital files are too easily corrupted and made totally useless. Media formats will change. 8" floppies anyone?

I occasionally have to interface with Square-D SyMax PLCs from the early 80s. We still have equipment at customer sites that's using it. The software we have to do the programming uses software timing loops so I have to use a 386 or early 486 laptop to run it. I have this very old 386 laptop with an 80 Meg hard drive that still hangs on and boots. I've warned my boss that someday it won't boot and we'll be done.

In contrast to typical land-line phones, cell phones have no "side-tone". Side-tone is the portion of the audio signal from the microphone routed to the receiver (earpiece). By having side-tone we have feedback relating to how loud we're talking and the signal going to the other end. Without the side-tone, there is a natural tendency to talk louder. I don't know why cell phone designers have not incorporated side-tone. The amount of power it would consume is very small.

Minority Report references in 3..2..1

I know because I was without power for a full week when we had a tornado in my area in 2006. my POTS phone worked without a hitch. A buried pair of copper wires works when cell towers come down. Yes, I have a couple of phones that don't require power other than the 48 volts at the CO. This is the reason that I decline the VOIP offerings of my local cable provider. Cable was off for 10 days during that incident.

I was 51 years old at the time.

It was my first date with the woman who is now my wife. We went to it for several years when we were involved with the organization that sponsors it. This year we're staying home by the fireplace watching some TV and just generally goofing off. Not a bad way to see the new year in.

Yes, pre-microprocessor, relay logic elevator controllers. I see lots of them that were put in 40+ years ago still working and doing their job after all these years.

Those that do, are usually set at around 75% of rated capacity. When load weighting is activated, the car should ignore hall calls, but, obviously, cannot ignore car calls.

I did all my elevator in assembly language, Sonny. (Seriously) Now get off my grass.

We don't use the term "crash" when talking about elevators.

We rate elevator speeds in feet per minute. A typical small hydraulic elevator will run 100 FPM. A high-rise express car may get up to 1,500 FPM.