***CoronaBonus***

[Ruthie]

Blimey, is this what life’s like in the real world?

We’re using Windows7, on computers that can’t cope. I’ve taken to reporting every single slow-running or malfunctioning computer to IT every time, after hunting down a working computer so I can actually do my job. I fully expect them to hunt me down and stage an intervention before long but I don’t care. The whole thing’s ridiculous.

[Mr Larrington]

Oh yes.  Back when I toiled in the Tower of Barad-Dûr I complained bitterly to The Mgt about the (lack of) speed of my wanky desktop Dell, and was ignored right up until I was supposed to join a half-hour video conference starting at 11:00.  I started the appropriate app at 10:50 and managed to make contact with the other participants at 11:25.  Git Boss got stroppy and came to peer over my shoulder while I repeated the process.

“Is it always like this?”

“Why, yes!  Yes, it is.  Why do you think I've been complaining bitterly for the last Several of months, you hairless twat*?”

I got a new PC the next day

* crib to reel thorts

[Ruthie]

Yeah you’re driven to whole new levels of frustration when your patient’s in pain and you can’t access their electronic prescription because the little thingy is going round and round and round and you then get an error message.

[matthew]

We've been complaining to client corporate IT since lockdown 1 that autosave doesn't work on the virtual machines that us consultant plebs have to use because we don't rate a corporate laptop and the vpn.

Last Sunday it cost me 10 hours work  this motivated me to find out why. Turns out the vm environment has no access to c drive and office is configured to the default c user...

I have now been told that the change panel has approved to reconfigure the vm to move the autosave to the network user folder that makes my docs transfer between sessions so if the connection to the vm drops we shouldn't loose our expensive work.

Commendably quick but why did I have to identify the configuration fault rather than report the bug symptoms

[Cudzoziemiec]

Blimey, is this what life’s like in the real world?

Category error. No world is real if it supports life.

[FifeingEejit]

We've been complaining to client corporate IT since lockdown 1 that autosave doesn't work on the virtual machines that us consultant plebs have to use because we don't rate a corporate laptop and the vpn.

Last Sunday it cost me 10 hours work  this motivated me to find out why. Turns out the vm environment has no access to c drive and office is configured to the default c user...

I have now been told that the change panel has approved to reconfigure the vm to move the autosave to the network user folder that makes my docs transfer between sessions so if the connection to the vm drops we shouldn't loose our expensive work.

Commendably quick but why did I have to identify the configuration fault rather than report the bug symptoms

Presumably you can't just junction some folders into the appropriate space on the C drive?

This is how my one drive actually points to various bits of my read drives while maintaining autosave in them

[Ruthie]

Well I totally lost it today and contacted the on-call IT people. Tools are just supposed to work.

[matthew]

We've been complaining to client corporate IT since lockdown 1 that autosave doesn't work on the virtual machines that us consultant plebs have to use because we don't rate a corporate laptop and the vpn.

Last Sunday it cost me 10 hours work  this motivated me to find out why. Turns out the vm environment has no access to c drive and office is configured to the default c user...

I have now been told that the change panel has approved to reconfigure the vm to move the autosave to the network user folder that makes my docs transfer between sessions so if the connection to the vm drops we shouldn't loose our expensive work.

Commendably quick but why did I have to identify the configuration fault rather than report the bug symptoms

Presumably you can't just junction some folders into the appropriate space on the C drive?

This is how my one drive actually points to various bits of my read drives while maintaining autosave in them

The VM is being served by a number of servers and has been very carefully constrained to disallow all access to anything on C:\ We have a different network drive that holds all the my docs etc that all the desktops and the VMs are configured to use so that it doesn't matter which desktop you are hot desking at your desktop and other links are maintained. It seems like it is a simple change to the way they configure the office set up on the VM and desktops so that they point to the network drive rather than the local disk.

[Cudzoziemiec]

Has anyone tried cycling with a mask on? I couldn't be bothered to take mine off the other day so rode home with it on. No problem on the flat, but as soon as I got to the 'hill' – and it's a hill in name only, more of a small slope really – I was in danger of suffocation. Not because I couldn't get enough oxygen but because breathing more deeply meant the inner fabric of the mask was being pulled in and out with my breathing. Of course it would help if I wasn't so unfit, but...

(not sure of the bonus in this, but all experiences are an addition to life's rich tapestry, blah blah,  )

[quixoticgeek]

Has anyone tried cycling with a mask on? I couldn't be bothered to take mine off the other day so rode home with it on. No problem on the flat, but as soon as I got to the 'hill' – and it's a hill in name only, more of a small slope really – I was in danger of suffocation. Not because I couldn't get enough oxygen but because breathing more deeply meant the inner fabric of the mask was being pulled in and out with my breathing. Of course it would help if I wasn't so unfit, but...

(not sure of the bonus in this, but all experiences are an addition to life's rich tapestry, blah blah,  )

Yes, I've cycled in a selection of different masks, from my cold avenger face mask (no use for infection prevention, but helps with cold), simple cloth masks (various types), and a 3M respirator with the full filters for both gas and particles. No issues at my exertion levels in any of them.

J

[FifeingEejit]

Yeah you’re driven to whole new levels of frustration when your patient’s in pain and you can’t access their electronic prescription because the little thingy is going round and round and round and you then get an error message.

Out of interest what system is this?

* FifeingEejit prepares to run if required... (don't think the particular system I have involvement with that fits that description is anywhere else in the world...)

Although it sounds like your IT kit or dept is shit if it's still on Win 7 (we're mostly up to 10 now with a few stragglers for 3rd party system compatibility reasons...) but a fair whack of systems are web based, which means it's also possible that it's the software running on the server or network that's being shit than the actual Win7 desktop machine...

The VM is being served by a number of servers and has been very carefully constrained to disallow all access to anything on C:\ We have a different network drive that holds all the my docs etc that all the desktops and the VMs are configured to use so that it doesn't matter which desktop you are hot desking at your desktop and other links are maintained. It seems like it is a simple change to the way they configure the office set up on the VM and desktops so that they point to the network drive rather than the local disk.

Ah I missed that you're on a locked down VM

Has anyone tried cycling with a mask on? I couldn't be bothered to take mine off the other day so rode home with it on. No problem on the flat, but as soon as I got to the 'hill' – and it's a hill in name only, more of a small slope really – I was in danger of suffocation. Not because I couldn't get enough oxygen but because breathing more deeply meant the inner fabric of the mask was being pulled in and out with my breathing. Of course it would help if I wasn't so unfit, but...

(not sure of the bonus in this, but all experiences are an addition to life's rich tapestry, blah blah,  )

Sounds like me going up the stairs at work, never remember to nose breathe.

[Ruthie]

Yeah you’re driven to whole new levels of frustration when your patient’s in pain and you can’t access their electronic prescription because the little thingy is going round and round and round and you then get an error message.

Out of interest what system is this?

* FifeingEejit prepares to run if required... (don't think the particular system I have involvement with that fits that description is anywhere else in the world...)

I-Soft

[Kim]

Has anyone tried cycling with a mask on?

Barakta's got a posh mask originally intended to filter particulates from cycle commuters' lungs^[1], because it has a proper silicone seal so it doesn't steam up your glasses^[2].  The effect on one's breathing is similar to a 3M respirator: there's noticeable resistance, but not a problem at normal levels of exertion.  I haven't tried cycling in it, but I expect the experience could best be described as 'moist'.

Much like a cycle helmet it's more practical for, and more likely to be of benefit to, car occupants.


_{[1] I've knobbled the exhalation valves for COVID-19 purposes, so it now filters in both directions.
[2] She can't hear with steamed up glasses.}

[FifeingEejit]

Ah, is that the apparently incredibly crap offshoot of NPfIT "Lorenzo"?

I vaguely remember iSoft Torex had NHSS NSS accreditation for GP usage but no one bought it.
Although the PAS system we've got is a bit shit according to the new tester we've got in (and everyone else).

Just glad it's not the Discharge system (pharmacy processes in that are critical to safe prescribing) we're nursing to survive until the one we're trying to build is ready

[quixoticgeek]

Has anyone tried cycling with a mask on?

Barakta's got a posh mask originally intended to filter particulates from cycle commuters' lungs^[1], because it has a proper silicone seal so it doesn't steam up your glasses^[2].  The effect on one's breathing is similar to a 3M respirator: there's noticeable resistance, but not a problem at normal levels of exertion.  I haven't tried cycling in it, but I expect the experience could best be described as 'moist'.

Much like a cycle helmet it's more practical for, and more likely to be of benefit to, car occupants.


_{[1] I've knobbled the exhalation valves for COVID-19 purposes, so it now filters in both directions.
[2] She can't hear with steamed up glasses.}

A very very rare photo of me.



Wore this to ride home from the supermarket on the Brompton. It's the only mask I've had that doesn't fog up my glasses. The black fabric is a reusable fabric mask over the outflow so it affords the same outflow protection as a fabric mask would.

I got it for when using Epoxy, but it's worked surprisingly well for other purposes.

J

[Kim]

It's a bit less industrial than that.  I think it's one of these: https://o2industries.com/products/o2-curve-1-2

[Cudzoziemiec]

That's a lot less floppy than my fabric mask. Also, I expect QG fitness is somewhat greater than mine right now.

[2] She can't hear with steamed up glasses.[/sub]

On which topic, today I learned the BSL for reindeer (walked past a nursery school which has 'sign of the week' pinned to its gate). i like the way you can indicate the size of the animal by spreading your hands wider, incorporating adjective and noun in one in a way which English doesn't do (though many spoken languages do do).

[barakta]

Yes, BSL is fantastic for being able to modify a sign to indicate direction, size, speed and other attributes. It's also why the facial expression is so vital to understanding, cos it also contributes to modulations of things like how big, or how angry/happy someone is.

[Cudzoziemiec]

I think I'd like to actually learn it, not so much in anticipation of using it, but just to get to grips with such a different language structure.

[barakta]

I think people who have learned other spoken languages to fluency before either find it really easy or really hard depending on their shyness about feeling-silly around flapping their hands and faces around.

Go for it, let us know how you get on as I'd love to see a newbie's perspective, especially from someone who knows lots about linguistics and languages in general.

[andrewc]

That's me wearing a Totobobo mask, which also doesn't fog my glasses up & is less industrial than the 3M type.  The filters while supposed to be N95 equivalent are fairly small so you can feel it when trying something energetic like going up 8 flights of stairs.  They offer a larger filter for athletic use.  I've not used it for cycling.  I get a decently tight seal (you can dunk it in hot water & shape the plastic a bit) but it does get moist inside & needs to be swabbed every few hours. 


https://totobobo.co.uk

[Kim]

Yes, BSL is fantastic for being able to modify a sign to indicate direction, size, speed and other attributes. It's also why the facial expression is so vital to understanding, cos it also contributes to modulations of things like how big, or how angry/happy someone is.

Going even further off-topic, facial expression is the thing that hearing people tend to consistently get wrong.

I was watching a German TV series recently which happened to have some (relatively minor) deaf characters.  In the first series, I (with my almost complete lack of understanding of DGS) was mostly annoyed with the director for not framing the sign space properly.  But in the second series, where the character had more, less emotional, dialogue that didn't warrant a close-up, it broke my suspension of disbelief to see her face being completely wooden.  Turns out that the actor is hearing^[1], and her facial expression in the previous scenes had in fact been Acting.


_{[1] Borderline acceptable in this instance, because the story involves a parallel universe where the character isn't deaf.}

[Cudzoziemiec]

But you're getting into all sorts of TV conventions there. German TV conventions at that. The inclusion of a character 'speaking' DGS doesn't necessarily mean that character's speech is intended to be understood by sign-speakers, any more than the inclusion of a German-speaking character in English TV means that character is intended to be understood by German speakers. As I watch very little TV, I can't think of an English-language example, but I know of a Polish series in which one of the major characters is meant to be American. The actor is of course Polish and watching it, you would laugh at her English, full of inaccuracies and weirdly accented. You'd also notice that the 'errors' in her Polish were never enough to inhibit understanding by Poles and tend not to be ones actually made by English speakers attempting Polish (or at least you would notice this if you also spoke Polish!). But as the intended audience isn't English speaking, it doesn't matter. Similarly, the Germans in any British or American war film, whose German is Englisch schpoken leik zat. So with these deaf characters, quite likely. After all, if the series was to be aimed at speakers of DGS, every character would have to be signed. Or more likely, there would be captions (what's the German for SDH?)

[T42]

Just had a chap from the council at the door to explain that since Covid has kyboshed the over-70s knees-up in the town hall* this year would we like them to deliver a 4-course meal and a bottle of wine gratis in early January instead?  Well, we never go to the knees-up (can't speak Alsacien and MrsT shrivels up in crowds) but oo rather yes please. So we're on the list.

Our taxe d'habitation at work. Innit nice?

* salle des fêtes aka dirty defeat

[FifeingEejit]

But you're getting into all sorts of TV conventions there. German TV conventions at that. The inclusion of a character 'speaking' DGS doesn't necessarily mean that character's speech is intended to be understood by sign-speakers, any more than the inclusion of a German-speaking character in English TV means that character is intended to be understood by German speakers. As I watch very little TV, I can't think of an English-language example, but I know of a Polish series in which one of the major characters is meant to be American. The actor is of course Polish and watching it, you would laugh at her English, full of inaccuracies and weirdly accented. You'd also notice that the 'errors' in her Polish were never enough to inhibit understanding by Poles and tend not to be ones actually made by English speakers attempting Polish (or at least you would notice this if you also spoke Polish!). But as the intended audience isn't English speaking, it doesn't matter. Similarly, the Germans in any British or American war film, whose German is Englisch schpoken leik zat. So with these deaf characters, quite likely. After all, if the series was to be aimed at speakers of DGS, every character would have to be signed. Or more likely, there would be captions (what's the German for SDH?)

Until you mentioned English language war films Vith Ze Germans, I was thinking Allo Allo.