* Posts by Charlie van Becelaere

487 publicly visible posts • joined 3 May 2007

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Robot vacuum cleaner employed by Brit budget hotel chain Travelodge flees

Charlie van Becelaere

Paging Thomas Disch

All it needed was a brave little toaster from the breakfast area to make a successful escape.

What begins with a 'B' and is having problems at tsoHost? Hopefully not your website

Charlie van Becelaere
Facepalm

It's due to a trauma

they suffered as a sbhoolboy - frightened by a bat.

Developer creates ‘Quite OK Image Format’ – but it performs better than just OK

Charlie van Becelaere

Re: Pronouncing...

A l'eau. C'est l'heure!

Oh good lord! That took me a few tries to get it. Thanks for the groaner!

What, new in town, mate?

Wi-Fi not working? It's time to consult the lovely people on those fine Linux forums

Charlie van Becelaere

Re: "first read the fine forum thread until the end"

"It's actually a two-step move, not just a 360 degree flip. You need to unplug it, turn it 180°, curse because it doesn't fit, turn it 180° a second time, and then plug it in."

I've always wondered (but never bothered to do the research) whether the second 180° must be in the same direction as the first, must be in the opposite direction to the first, or it doesn't matter at all.

I'm not going to check Google - someone here surely knows the answer.

Orders wrong, resellers receiving wrong items? Must be a programming error and certainly not a rushing techie

Charlie van Becelaere
Unhappy

I'm so obsolete

that I had to use punched cards to program an inventory control system in COBOL.

If I had maintained any of those skills I might have been very popular at Y2K parties.

Facebook may soon reveal new name – we're sure Reg readers will be more creative than Zuck's marketroids

Charlie van Becelaere

I was disappointed

that the illustration didn't show "Fiend Requests" - that seems more appropriate to NewCorp's likely operations.

Scoot on over for a wheely tricky mystery with an electrifying solution

Charlie van Becelaere

Re: Yes, static is a thing

or a Playmobil reenactment!

Sir Tim Berners-Lee and the BBC stage a very British coup to rescue our data from Facebook and friends

Charlie van Becelaere

Re: the Scottish game

"However, I'd really like it if the BBC (and other media outlets) were tougher with political interviewees and stopped booking those who side-stepped or waffled nonsense. Of course, if they did this then there would be no political interviews."

Are you saying that would be a bad thing?

Computer shuts down when foreman leaves the room: Ghost in the machine? Or an all-too-human bit of silliness?

Charlie van Becelaere

Deja Vu

I had nearly the same experience at my father's house recently.

His garage door opener suddenly decided to stop working. Neither the remote control nor the keypad outside could make the thing budge an inch.

I returned the next day to see if a power outage had erased the codes or some such, only to be asked, "Is the light switch turned on in the garage?"

Yes, there's a light switch that also turned off the power to the outlet wherein that motor was plugged. A bit of tape to prevent its being toggled accidentally was applied, and all has been well since.

I suppose that could be a security feature, as it's only operable when a switch inside the house it thrown, but it's more inconvenient than I want to deal with.

Check your bits: What to do when Unix decides to make a hash of your bill printouts

Charlie van Becelaere

Re: I quietly disagree

I very much enjoy driving, but I do not miss the daily commute in the least. Not only is my day a bit longer (at least the part that's my own), but my petrol costs are dramatically down - and I can still drive when I like.

So the data centre's 'getting a little hot' – at 57°C, that's quite the understatement

Charlie van Becelaere
Flame

Re: I once had to do something similar in a Skoda...

Mine was a 1964 Rambler in about 1985, so the poor machine had a right to be a bit touchy. Driving in 35C+ temps with the heater blowing as much heat as possible made for a less than wonderful drive home from the office.

The web was done right the first time. An ancient 3D banana shows Microsoft does a lot right, too

Charlie van Becelaere

Web Slowing

"Alas, the Cambridge Coffee Pot is no more."

One can but surmise this is the reason for the web's deteriorating performance. I know I'm not nearly as efficient (nor as fast) without some coffee in me. In my experience, my computers have always performed better when there was a cup of hot coffee nearby.

btw, why no coffee or tea icons?

Wireless powersats promise clean, permanent, abundant energy. Sound familiar?

Charlie van Becelaere

Re: Lets do the maths

"Then you have all the stuff from the 50s and earlier without any form of insulation or cavity walls. Pretty much there the only option is to start again so you are back to square one."

I don't know about that. My 1920s home is actually very well insulated and requires very little cooling help in Summer - especially with a large-ish tree out front shading us much of the day.

The steam heat through radiators is surprisingly efficient (and comfortable) and we've had several tradesmen warn us against getting anything new to replace it (barring a total breakdown or other disaster) as nothing around is nearly as good. I don't know that they're correct, but I do like my utility bills being as low as they are (relatively speaking, of course).

At our latitude, solar is only an option for Summer bonus energy.

BOFH: They say you either love it or you hate it. We can confirm you're going to hate it

Charlie van Becelaere

Re: Where are you going with that tape

Careful with that tape, Eugene.

Are you a 1%er? Windows 11 turns up in the usage figures

Charlie van Becelaere

Yes,

I miss Windows 7 these days. If I could just get rid of Teams, that might help some.

Dell won't ship energy-hungry PCs to California and five other US states due to power regulations

Charlie van Becelaere

Re: As a Californian, all I can sat is "Who cares?".

"Naturally, expect the current generation of smart meters being rolled out in the UK to not be smart enough to broker the supply negotiation between EV and network, so you'll be spending much time queuing at places with public chargers..."

Was I the only one to read that as smart meters being about to bork the supply negotiation?

Windows 11 comes bearing THAAS, Trojan Horse as a service

Charlie van Becelaere
WTF?

Re: WTH

"Lest we forget, embrace, extend, extinguish"

I think you forgot exsanguinate.

Exsparko-destructus! What happens when wand waving meets extremely poor wiring

Charlie van Becelaere
Pint

Re: Cage nuts and cable monkeys...

(after we got rid of the Frame Delay setup that was delivered at first)

Perhaps I've simply missed it, but I love this term and will use it henceforth.

Have one on me!

Everyone cites that 'bugs are 100x more expensive to fix in production' research, but the study might not even exist

Charlie van Becelaere

Re: Go agile, go!

It's bugs all the way down!

Try placing a pot plant directly above your CRT monitor – it really ties the desk together

Charlie van Becelaere

Re: Adjust the monitor settings?

"Or remove the fridge magnet holding the bit of paper with their passwords to the side of the monitor."

My SVGA (Yes, I was one of the lucky ones!) CRT had a lovely rainbow effect on the base blue screen which disappeared when I realised I had a magnetic paperclip holder sitting atop the monitor, just above the fun part of the display.

I may have admitted that to a coworker (but I doubt it).

Five words everyone wants to hear: Microsoft has 'visually refreshed' Office

Charlie van Becelaere
Flame

And

please just stop changing the keyboard shortcuts from version to version!

Surely I'm not the only one who tries to keep his hands on the keyboard and finds their changing of muscle-memorised keyboard shortcuts from version to version to be frustrating.

Facebook granted patent for 'artificial reality' baseball cap. Repeat, an 'artificial reality' baseball cap

Charlie van Becelaere

Re: "hats solve the problem presented by AR glasses"

"I also propose a change of acronym. Facebook Artificial Reality Tat Hat. As in, 'Hey Hiro, see you're wearing your fart hat today...'"

Very nice. I was thinking of Augmented+Simulated Sight Hat.

Fastly 'fesses up to breaking the internet with an 'an undiscovered software bug' triggered by a customer

Charlie van Becelaere

Re: Credit where it's due

"post mortem procedure which should explicitly exclude bean counters."

Thumbs up specifically for this.

Sold: €15k invisible sculpture that's a must-see for art lovers

Charlie van Becelaere
Paris Hilton

Still waiting

I'm still waiting for my modelling fee for this sculpture.

At first I thought the exposure might help my career, but I'm not seeing anything yet. Probably should have posed with Paris.

Firefox 89: Can this redesign stem browser's decline?

Charlie van Becelaere

Re: Privacy is an acquired taste it would seem

"People seem to misunderstand at a fundamental level."

FTFY.

BOFH: But we think the UK tax authorities would be VERY interested in how we used COVID support packages

Charlie van Becelaere

Re: It's been a while....

Upvote for "litho-braking."

Apple announces lossless HD audio at no extra cost, then Amazon Music does too. The ball is now in Spotify's court

Charlie van Becelaere

Yes, this -

"Or maybe support your favourite artists by buying their stuff direct if possible?"

As above: Yes, this.

Audacity 'scared and excited' to be bought and brought under Muse Group's roof, promises to stay free and open source

Charlie van Becelaere

MuseScore

produce very decent music notation software - and it's also free and open source.

Here's hoping they'll keep both of them moving along in this same FOSS lane.

Words to strike fear into admins' hearts: One in five workers consider themselves 'digital experts' these days

Charlie van Becelaere
Headmaster

Re: Digital Technology Expert

More properly 1023 before moving to other body parts. (Not grammar exactly, but at least I am being pedantic.)

George Clooney of IT: Dribbling disaster and damp disk warnings scare the life out of innocent user

Charlie van Becelaere

Re: BSOD

Never had the screensaver, but my desktop background picture was the WinXP BSOD.

I did get some worried looks, but once they noticed all the icons still sitting there floating in the blue my colleagues generally got it and wanted a copy of the (as I recall) bmp file I had made.

Fire up that Macintosh II: Retro techhead gives the web a Netscape 1.1 makeover

Charlie van Becelaere

Re: I'll calculate to this!

"Pint for the effort, and as Woody said in Toy Story, "Wind the Frog!""

As I have not seen this film, I'm wondering if wind has a long I or a short I when spoken.

Is this like winding a horn, or winding a clock?

Wi-Fi devices set to become object sensors by 2024 under planned 802.11bf standard

Charlie van Becelaere

As noted in many other comments

There really is no opt out when our neighbours "opt in" will cover our homes / offices / spaces as well.

bf indeed.

Diary of a report writer and his big break into bad business

Charlie van Becelaere

Re: Amazing

"Having done freelance stuff, I felt this piece in the parts of my soul not yet killed by these interactions. Nicely written!"

Nicely written indeed ... apart from the appalling lack of commas and the penchant for active verbs.

It's as if he had no style sheet to which to adhere!

From Maidenhead to Morocco: In a change to the scheduled programming, we bring you The On Call of Dreams

Charlie van Becelaere

Re: Gatwick -> Edinburgh ?

Then I can say I've seen more of Scotland than you have.

My direct flight from Detroit to Heathrow somehow changed to Detroit to Philadelphia (wait overnight) to Edinburgh to Heathrow. By far my least favourite route thus far.

Shockingly, the weather in Edinburgh was beautifully clear, so I saw whatever could be seen out the windows of the airport.

Starlink's latent China crisis could spark a whole new world of warcraft

Charlie van Becelaere

Re: Its very easy to detect ground based broadcasts

"given that TV detector vans exist in the UK"

No they don't. I don't think they ever have.

Perhaps not, but what about the cat detector vans from the Ministry of Housinge?

State of Maine threatens to tear up Workday HR contract and request $21m refund if it cannot remedy concerns

Charlie van Becelaere

Scat Occurs

"Across the state's information technology infrastructure we've occurred technical debt in the purest sense,"

Are they speaking English? What does that even mean?

Just when you thought it was safe to enjoy a beer: Beware the downloaded patch applied in haste

Charlie van Becelaere

We've all felt this way,

no?

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/COnd-92UwAE-IXs.jpg

SpaceX small print on Starlink insists no Earth government has authority or sovereignty over Martian activities

Charlie van Becelaere

Maybe Elon got to him already!

Maybe he IS Elon.

Charlie van Becelaere
Alien

Keep in mind that

the Moon is a Harsh Mistress.

Extraterrestrial Revolution seems to be in the cards.

We imagine this maths professor's lecture was fascinating – sadly he was muted for two hours

Charlie van Becelaere

"nominative determinism at work methinks"

and soon to be accusative!

Someone tried to poison a Florida city by hijacking its water treatment plant via TeamViewer, says sheriff

Charlie van Becelaere
Pint

Re: Would you lye to me?

"I was going to reply then I thought Na, Oh."

Chemistry ftw. Have one on me, Steve K.

The Linux box that runs the exec carpark gate is down! A chance for PostgreSQL Man to show his quality

Charlie van Becelaere

I'd have Regomized

the redundanted chap who "managed" the linux box in the first place as Eugene, just so we could read "Careful with that box, Eugene."

Death Becomes It: Who put the Blue in the Blue Screen of Death?

Charlie van Becelaere

BSOD

Back in the XP days I crafted a jpg replica of an actual BSOD I had received and used it as a screen saver and desktop background.

Helpdeskers tended to do double takes when stopping by my machine.

Good times.

Very little helps: Tesco serves up 3-for-1 borkage special to self-scanning Tesco shoppers

Charlie van Becelaere

Re: Mondeos have gone downhill (and not in a useful sense)

Upvote for µsoft - I'll be using that spelling henceforth.

You can drive a car with your feet, you can operate a sewing machine with your feet. Same goes for computers obviously

Charlie van Becelaere

Left-handed rodents

I've always been a sinister mouser, simply because the first time I had a mouse for my machine (a Deskpro 386 as I recall), that was the side where I had space on my desk for a mouse.

Now I'm glad I learnt that way, as it leaves the right hand free for the number pad and so forth.

In other news, I still have a friend who uses her mouse with the cord facing away from her. It drives her coworkers mad, but it's how she started, and it's hard to unlearn many years of muscle memory.

'We're storing how this material should behave': Boffins' 3cm 'm-bit' cubes demonstrate programmable wunderstuff

Charlie van Becelaere

Re: Well, maybe?

"Malleable hardware. Hardens upon impact."

Hmm. What's going to happen to my percussive maintenance programme?

The Novell NetWare box keeps rebooting over and over again yet no one has touched it? We're going on a stakeout

Charlie van Becelaere

Re: Fluorescents... Yes, but

'Twas on a Monday morning the carpeter came 'round.

It all makes work for the working man to do.

Consultants bag £375m for their role in developing the UK's faltering COVID-19 Test and Trace system

Charlie van Becelaere
Joke

I would have done it

for £1 per row in the Excel sheet I'd provide.

Of course, I'd be using the .xlsb version to avoid potential infections in .xls or .xlsm.

America says banks can now transact using so-called stable crypto-coins. What does that actually mean?

Charlie van Becelaere

Re: "The incongruity between the treatment of cash and cryptocurrency"

Thanks for that link. That's actually an understandable explanation of the concepts.

Lay down your souls to the gods of rock 'n' roll: Conspiracy theorists' 5G 'vaccine' chip schematic is actually for a guitar pedal

Charlie van Becelaere

Re: "adjust the frequency"

Beat me to it!

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