A random thread for small computing things that don't really warrant a thread of their own

[Pingu]

Fill in the first word that comes to mind: Fit. Bit. [****].

Beer

[Ruthie]

Fill in the first word that comes to mind: Fit. Bit. [****].

Sofa.

[woollypigs]

Fill in the first word that comes to mind: Fit. Bit. [****].

Sofa.

And that is how the internet is won.

[T42]

Astounded.  My new printer has its full designation writ large on a plate right on the front for all to see.  I thought this was forbidden by law, that such info had to be carried on a plate somewhere on the back - or better yet, the underside - with the barcode & a bunch of other guff, so that the user would have to be a contortionist dwarf with lite-up eyeballs to read it after installation.

[tiermat]

Astounded.  My new printer has its full designation writ large on a plate right on the front for all to see.  I thought this was forbidden by law, that such info had to be carried on a plate somewhere on the back - or better yet, the underside - with the barcode & a bunch of other guff, so that the user would have to be a contortionist dwarf with lite-up eyeballs to read it after installation.

You forgot the bit about it being printed in 4pt Comic Sans, by a printer that the ribbon has just about run out of, or is that just reserved for the printing of Service Tags and Serial Numbers?

[Afasoas]

Set-up a Public Wi-Fi access point ... just for the sake of it really.

Uses a captive portal to advise people of limitations of liability etc.
Wireless clients are isolated from each other
WAN access is round-robin between three different VPN connections
Client's sessions are timed out after two hours to discourage public use.
Download restricted to 256 Kb/s and upload restricted to 128 Kb/s.
Firewall rules restrict access gateway management ports and the rest of the network.

[T42]

Just spent a couple of minutes clapping an ear to my external drives and main box to find out which has been emitting a periodic high-pitched whistling.  Then it stopped, and the truck delivering stuff to the building-site 100 yds up the road drove away. Duh.

[Kim]

It's not doing a SMART self-test, is it?  That tends to make the drive in my desktop whistle.  It probably makes the ones in the server whistle too, but it's enclosed in a rack that attenuates high pitched noise and those tests are programmed to run in the middle of the night.

[citoyen]

I interviewed someone this morning about cycling tech and had to suppress a few giggles because he kept referring to "open house" software.

[Ham]

I've just found out what happens when you VNC into a machine running VNC server to see if it is working 

[Vince]

I interviewed someone this morning about cycling tech and had to suppress a few giggles because he kept referring to "open house" software.

Open source software with very poor update controls?

I've just found out what happens when you VNC into a machine running VNC server to see if it is working 

Am I missing something, but isn't this what you normally do? 

[Ham]

Am I missing something, but isn't this what you normally do? 

You may want to Google recursion

[citoyen]

Looking for a protective case for a Macbook Air 13". From my research so far, these are the two favourites:
Incase Icon sleeve
https://www.incase.com/shop/macbook-sleeves/icon-sleeve-with-tensaerlite-for-mb-air-13/heather-black-gray/
Tech21 Impact Snap case
https://www.tech21.com/en_gb/impact-snap-case-for-apple-macbook-air-13

Any other suggestions?

[Wombat]

For a Sony 13" skinny laptop, I bought this: https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B009X0K40E/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o08_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

A somewhat lower price point than you were looking at, but its done fine, being carted about all over the place, in the car, on trains, and shoved in boxes of stuff at events.

[citoyen]

For a Sony 13" skinny laptop, I bought this: https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B009X0K40E/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o08_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

A somewhat lower price point than you were looking at, but its done fine, being carted about all over the place, in the car, on trains, and shoved in boxes of stuff at events.

Cheers, looks good. And I'm all for saving money!

[ian]

My MacBook Air has travelled to every continent sans case. I once used it in a game of table tennis.  Oh and it was briefly stolen by monkeys. Despite that its looks suspiciously better than its human attaché. Who hasn't been kidnapped by monkeys. Yet.

[Wombat]

Give it time, Ian.  Them colobuses are tricky monkeys...

[mrcharly-YHT]

Just when I could really do with being able to use speech to text my plastered laptop has decided it doesn't have a microphone anymore

[Kim]

Just when I could really do with being able to use speech to text my plastered laptop has decided it doesn't have a microphone anymore

Looks like you managed to get it working somehow.

[mrcharly-YHT]

I'm using android when I want to do much input or typing one handed

[Afasoas]

Am I missing something, but isn't this what you normally do? 

You may want to Google recursion

Alternative search engines are available!
https://duckduckgo.com/?q=recursion&t=ffab&ia=meanings

 

[citoyen]

My MacBook Air has travelled to every continent sans case. I once used it in a game of table tennis.

I'm sure they're pretty sturdy really, but I prefer to err on the side of caution.

Oh and it was briefly stolen by monkeys.

That's no way to talk about US Customs officers!

[TheLurker]

From http://catless.ncl.ac.uk/Risks/29/74 

Check whether you have an account that has been pwned
Sam Wood <samuel.wood@sri.com>
Fri, 2 Sep 2016 07:18:45 +0000

  https://haveibeenpwned.com

  [As I am typing this, their website shows 129 websites and
  1,388,845.883 accounts that have been pwned!  PGN]"

[Mr Larrington]

ASUS Smart Gesture - last week when I ticked the box marked"Disable touchpad when mouse is plugged in" and plugged in a mouse, you disabled the touchpad.  Now you don't.  Kindly do as you're told.

[ian]

My MacBook Air has travelled to every continent sans case. I once used it in a game of table tennis.

I'm sure they're pretty sturdy really, but I prefer to err on the side of caution.

Oh and it was briefly stolen by monkeys.

That's no way to talk about US Customs officers!

I told a lie anyway, I do have a cover for it (I was thinking of the horrible plastic cases), one of those sleeve things that it comfortably slides into. It was a handmade thing, so cost a small fortune (I try to avoid buying too much crap made by amphetaminised Chinese teens working 20 hour days), but it's very good, like a rather smart jacket.