Posts by Gala

101 fun things to do with a locked Kindle e-reader

Regularly buy ebooks from Amazon for my Kindle, admittedly mostly at the cheap end of the range, either something I want to re-read for the first time in years or something that looks like it might be worth a look for 99p

Everything I buy gets backed up to a separate HD, just in case.

So yes, I was rather miffed to discover last week that I can't download directly any more and have to send the file to my (completely legit and un-jailbroken) device and then plug it in to a laptop to back it up.

Obviously, once it's there I also break the DRM, if I've bought something it's mine and I don't trust proprietary file formats. If Amazon make it impossible to do that there will be a rethink about where I source my ebooks from....

After a long lunch, user thought a cursor meant their computer was cactus

Had an IT manager who would prowl the office floor at lunchtime doing this to every unlocked PC he could find.

Miss you David, you were a git, but you were our kind of git.

Trump supporters forge AI deepfakes to woo Black voters

The problem with democracy is that it's not only the idiots who get what they deserve, it's the rest of us too.

The problem with every other system of rule is that it's probably going to end up much, much worse.

Going green Hertz: Rental giant axes third of EV fleet over lack of demand

I don't think it's the range or availability of charging points (both improving as far as I'm aware) that's the only issue, it's people's familiarity with EVs in general.

I don't bother running a car these days, but I've hired and borrowed a lot over the years and every time it's a new make/model there always seems to be some design tweak specific to that car that I have to work out - usually not anything serious, just wiper/lights controls etc. I still get teased about having one of the company Mondeos years ago and (after looking everywhere) having to phone a friend to find out where the release for the bonnet was so I could fill up the windscreen wash. (FYI, it was a lock under the Ford logo on the front. Who knew? Not me obviously!)

Or the one where the auto-hold only worked when you had your seatbelt on...

I can imagine it might be a bit daunting to pick up a car at a strange airport, possibly strange country, foreign language and having to deal with a new tecchnology as well - I know I wouldn't fancy it.

Security? Working servers? Who needs those when you can have a shiny floor?

Re: Clean keyboards

Problem solved... a washing machine that can only be operated via an app.

Missing Titan sub likely destroyed in implosion, no survivors

Every death at sea is a tragedy, but I can't help comparing this to the probably more than 500 unnamed/unknown ones who ended up at a similar depth in the Med last week.

And the amount of attention the media paid to each story.

Florida man insists he didn't violate the law by keeping Top Secret docs

Re: What About The Current Resident?

Heh, much as I thought Rumsfeld was pond scum, that statement has always made perfect sense to me.

Re: What I cannot understand ...

I assumed at first it was just basic incompetence - chaotic disorganised Whitehouse staff stuffing things into boxes before moving out.

Then I thought it was the orange one's rampant toddlerism - I WANT them, they're MINE, look what I've got! I declassified them WITH MY MIND etc etc.

Seeing the scale and reading about the scope of the documents makes me think it's worse.

Re: Not a flight risk?

Suspect most of his opponents wouldn't be too upset if he did flee to Russia or whatever other rogue state that would have him.

Capita wins £50M fraud reporting contract with City of London cops

It is also planning a "digital transformation" project to "improve access to different reporting channels, offer multi-lingual services, and introduce speech analytics to drive call quality."

That's handing it all over to chat bots or offshoring calls to somewhere cheap, yes?

Behold: The ghastly, preening, lesser-spotted Incredible Bullsh*tting Customer

Size matters

Happens too often to recall specific incidents, but it's always amusing when telephone customers clearly overestimate the size of the support department and assume we don't communicate with each other.

The best conversations are usually along the lines of 'I spoke to one of your colleagues yesterday and they said...' and I get a happy glow and get to reply, 'No, you spoke to me, I remember the conversation and I said exactly the same thing I am saying today.'.

Re: No Mention yet?

Haven't seen it mentioned here before (and I suspect it might have fallen out of use in recent years for, er...reasons!), but an IT department of my acquaintance used ISIS (Idiot Sitting In Seat).

So, what's the best sci-fi film never made?

Too many to count

But....

The Moon Is A Harsh Mistress would be great if done properly.

Iain M Banks - The Player of Games. One of the easier ones to film.

CJ Cherryh - Rimrunners. Always imagined it with Sigourney Weaver & Michael Biehn a la Aliens as Bet & NG.

Anything with Slippery Jim diGriz and the adorable homicidal Angelina (can't think who could possibly play that one...)

And has anyone mentioned Eric Frank Russell yet, and if not why not? Wasp and Next Of Kin would both translate really well