The computing stuff rant thread

[Pingu]

You obviously need to know or it wouldn't tell you.

[T42]

Dear Client, in August I asked for confirmation that the program was working stably at your premises before I went on to develop the next feature. I have repeated my request on several occasions since then.  So please don't ask me if the fucking thing is ready yet, just get your finger out of your foetid fundament and tell me what I need to get on with it. Yrs trly etc etc.

[Mr Larrington]

You obviously need to know or it wouldn't tell you.

Helpful advices from the Mega-Global Fruit Corporation of Cupertino, USAnia for others who have this issue have included "follow the instructions in this article which apply to Jesus Phones which do have a SIM card installed", "switch off the 'cellular data' wossname¹", "tap something in the Babbage-Post message we've just sent you what do you mean you've submitted this from a Windows PC because you're fed up with your fondleslab guffing out ridiculous messages five times in the time it takes you to enter a 140 character description of the problem" and "have you tried switching it off and on again?"

The Mega-Global Fruit Corporation of Cupertino, USAnia clearly think that testing upgrades is for Other People.

• Wossname not available for fondleslabs without a SIM installed

[jsabine]

The Mega-Global Fruit Corporation of Cupertino, USAnia clearly think that testing upgrades is for Other People.

You should feel proud to have been invited to become part of this illustrious grouping.

[simonp]

I decided to reboot my Mac earlier. Decided it had failed to reboot so did it again.

At this point I realised it did it so fast I'd actually missed it happening (automatic reopening of apps adding to the confusion). Face => Palm.

This is caused by rebooting the work laptop taking more than 5 minutes only to discover the replavement battery was DOA. Dell and Microsoft have really lowered my expectations over the years.

[Zipperhead]

I can't remember if I've had a rant about this yet, if I have then I apologize - but I need a little ratette.

Why, just why is it that having replaced my router any yet in spite of the new one putting out the same network name and using the same password would some devices not connect to it?

Most just connected and got on with whatever it is they all do, but not the Chromecast and one of the squeezebox controllers (the battery is knackered in the other one so I don't know about that)? They would both see the network but not connect to it (the squeezebox controller would only see that network, it wouldn't see any of the others).

In both cases the only way to get them to connect was to perform a full factory reset.

[Afasoas]

I can't remember if I've had a rant about this yet, if I have then I apologize - but I need a little ratette.

Why, just why is it that having replaced my router any yet in spite of the new one putting out the same network name and using the same password would some devices not connect to it?

The hardware concerned must recognise the new wireless access point as being different from the old one - I think this is due to differing MAC addresses. I've no idea why your squeezebox and Chromecast would need resetting tho but./

[Pickled Onion]

How in the name of flaming fuck did my email settings on my main account get set to "delete sent messages after a month" ??

Now I've only got messages that decided to send themselves via gmail or icloud. Email is the primary source of "what actually happened". History has been wiped clean. Bugger.

[Afasoas]

More a rant at myself rather than a rant at computers.
Dropped an external hard disk drive on which I'd backed-up a users personal pictures before re-installing an OS on her machine.

I managed to drop said hard disk off my desk following a chair-arm/cable interface. D'oh!.
Disk is now totalled. Again, D'oh.

I really do wish manufacturers of external hard disks would ensure they'd survive a three foot drop onto carpet. T'wasn't even a clean fall as I half caught it and dropped it again. Grrr.

[ian]

0859 and it's Window's first unrecoverable crash of the day. Seriously, it's 2014, and Windows still fucking sucks likes it's 1999. Oh, fucking hard reboot why don't I, because even ctrl-alt-del doesn't work.

In the meantime, I'm downloading Yosemite. The OS, not the National Park (I wouldn't have anywhere to put that). I don't like the new OSX names, they should have done mustelids after cats.

[Vince]

Transferwise, your method of selecting an international dialing code is bizzare to say the least.

The easy option would be to type in the two digits, but no you don't do that. Instead you have a drop down list of every dialling code in the world. Listed by country? Nooo, you list it be the national flags. Took several minutes to realise and hunt through for the Dutch flag.

[Pickled Onion]

Not quite so bizarre, just irritating, but why do drop-down boxes for date of birth always seem to go to 2014, even for products only available to over 16's?

[Kim]

Not quite so bizarre, just irritating, but why do drop-down boxes for date of birth always seem to go to 2014, even for products only available to over 16's?

It's marginally more sensible than 1901 or whatever they bottom out at.

[Pingu]

Not quite so bizarre, just irritating, but why do drop-down boxes for date of birth always seem to go to 2014, even for products only available to over 16's?

Code: [Select]

Select * from date
Or somesuch.

[perpetual dan]

Windows has decided that Miss Dan the Elder has had her quota of most of the web. Not quite all of it, but most of the bits she actually wants to use. Very frustrating - for her and me (having to fix it all the bloody time). Also updates get stuck at 2 of n. I see an upgrade to windows 7 in the near future, I've been patient with Windows 8 and 8.1 but it's utterly crap to use and about as stable as a watery jelly.

What does the panel think of Chromebooks? I think it is time to get something simple and not windows for homework and slugterra / friv / train your dragon etc. and phase out windows from our lives.

[TheLurker]

Not quite so bizarre, just irritating, but why do drop-down boxes for date of birth always seem to go to 2014, even for products only available to over 16's?

It's marginally more sensible than 1901 or whatever they bottom out at.

I dunno, isn't at least one person is known to have lived to 120 ish?  French woman? Sold paint to Van Gogh as youngster? Or is my aged memory conflating two people? Whatever.  Given the increasing number of centenarians and those into living into a twelfth decade (I think Harry Patch was about 110 when he died) then 1901 probably isn't that daft as a lower limit.

[Kim]

Not quite so bizarre, just irritating, but why do drop-down boxes for date of birth always seem to go to 2014, even for products only available to over 16's?

It's marginally more sensible than 1901 or whatever they bottom out at.

I dunno, isn't at least one person is known to have lived to 120 ish?  French woman? Sold paint to Van Gogh as youngster? Or is my aged memory conflating two people? Whatever.  Given the increasing number of centenarians and those into living into a twelfth decade (I think Harry Patch was about 110 when he died) then 1901 probably isn't that daft as a lower limit.

But everyone knows that the universe was created on the 1st of January 1970. 

(And yes, not objecting to a generously low lower limit, just that once you've got one, it makes a lot more sense for a drop-down to start at the current year than the earliest available.)

[Mr Larrington]

But everyone knows that the universe was created on the 1st of January 1970. 

ITYM the 17th of November 1858

[Snakehips]

What does the panel think of Chromebooks?

Due to a set of extremely adverse personal circumstances I recently found myself in possession of a brand new Asus Chromebook. Fortunately it was taken out of my hands and returned to the shop before I could do what I wanted to do to it.

[TheLurker]

But everyone knows that the universe was created on the 1st of January 1970. 

ITYM the 17th of November 1858

Tsk, tsk, tsk.  Any fule kno it was the 31st of December 1840.

[Andrij]

But everyone knows that the universe was created on the 1st of January 1970. 

ITYM the 17th of November 1858

Tsk, tsk, tsk.  Any fule kno it was the 31^st of December 1840.

The opening of Hebden Bridge railway station? 

[Dibdib]

Fruitphone!!! What's the point of telling me that there is 3.67gb of "other" clogging up my phone if you're incapable of telling me what it is, why it's there or how I can get rid of it so I can use that space for something I actually want to use it for. 

[TimC]

Fruitphone!!! What's the point of telling me that there is 3.67gb of "other" clogging up my phone if you're incapable of telling me what it is, why it's there or how I can get rid of it so I can use that space for something I actually want to use it for. 

Amen, brother! My iPad showed that I had 18Gb (of 57 available) free. I asked iTunes to remove some music videos so I could install a full set of Sufferfest vids to use while away. At some point in that process it decided that I had 15Gb of 'other' and I couldn't transfer the vids. Can I find out what that newly-appeared 15Gb is? Can I fuck. I've added up all the app memory usage stats (deep in settings), which agree with the 39Gb used implied by the original information of 18Gb free. So what to do? Looks like a complete system reset!!!

[ian]

So the laptop I bought my parents a year or so back is teetering on the edge of infinity popup oblivion. I just took control with Teamviewer. Oh my god, did they ever meet a piece of malware they didn't like? It's a foul menagerie of adware, spyware, and viruses. Is there a link they didn't click? Even Finestre, the demon of such things, would stand a ways back and poke the computer with a stick. They somehow managed to de-activate every security option I set up.

This is Finestre revenge because I was too tight to buy them a Mac. It's going to be a long night. It might be easier to tell them to bin it and buy them an iPad. I'm going to make some popcorn.

Oh Hell to Finestre, he's gone and done it again. Seriously, I put enough anti-whatever in that machine to fight a real (ok pretend, but you know what I mean) horse full of heavily armed and annoyed Trojans (you be annoyed if spent all evening cooped up in a pretend horse with a bunch of flatulent soldiers). Now 'it never goes to Amazon any more.' If you stuck to Amazon rather than mature ladies this wouldn't happen.

This is Finestre really rubbing it in for not buying them a Mac. I'll tackle it when I have appropriate protective gear and factor 100 smutscreen.

[Afasoas]

I'd suggest disabling scripts/plugin's etc. of any kind in their browser and teaching them to add trusted websites as exceptions. Chrome makes it wonderfully easy to do this.