Author Topic: A random thread for small computing things that don't really warrant a thread of their own (Read 305750 times)

chrisbainbridge · « **Reply #2475 on:** 07 April, 2024, 07:35:26 pm »

Self satisfied grin.
In 2023 office subscriptions stopped allowing macros in word. Now I have about 25 voice activated macros so this was a real annoyance.
So today I learnt how to create my own signed certificates, import them then use them to sign my Visual Basic project in the normal template.
I will sleep happily tonight with a feeling of smug success.

Until Microsoft break it again.

hellymedic · « **Reply #2476 on:** 10 April, 2024, 03:56:39 pm »

Twitter seem t have reinstated their ‘bird’ icon, having swapped to the almost illegible and very inconspicuous X a few days ago.

Must have realised few visited a tab they hardly recognised...

Mr Larrington · « **Reply #2477 on:** 10 April, 2024, 06:10:55 pm »

Mine's been showing the wanky “X” for ages.

grams · « **Reply #2478 on:** 10 April, 2024, 06:30:01 pm »

It’s much more likely to be incompetence / bitrot than Musk having any sort of self awareness.

hellymedic · « **Reply #2479 on:** 10 April, 2024, 06:42:19 pm »

Mine only started showing the X atop the tab a few days ago but has now reverted, which means I SEE it!

Kim · « **Reply #2480 on:** 10 April, 2024, 07:56:31 pm »

Penguinised the older BHPC Jam-Filled Babbage Engine, with a view to reducing our single points of failure for the Worlds.

I'm not sure of the exact vintage, but it's an indestructible Toshiba Tecra that sports:
a) An optical drive
2) A serial port
iii) A trackpad with proper buttons that doesn't think it's cleverer than you and still works when prodded by sweaty cyclists
four) A "Designed for Windows XP" sticker

Suffice to say, successive Windows 10 updates had got it to the point where it was basically unusuable. Further investigation revealed a Core2Duo something or other, 4GB of RAM, and a very non-original-looking battery and SSD.

Anyway, after burning an install CD^[1], it's running Debian with LXDE surprisingly well, and just needs a bit of python-wrangling^[2] to sort out an environment that'll run the timing software^[3]. Not surprisingly both the on-board WiFi and wired Ethernet work fine under Linux. The wired wasn't supported at all by Windows 10, and the ancient WiFi driver worked, but couldn't handle WPA2 encryption. We'd previously relied on stuffing its USB ports with dongles in order to connect it to the Internet and/or the Box Of Winky Lights™, which is presumably why some joker has stuck an Apple sticker on its lid.

Real Excel hopefully won't be needed. I've installed LibreOffice in case manual wrangling of sign-on sheets is necessary.

Hopefully it won't get used for anything more intensive that displaying the Javascript version of the race clock at Race Control.

_{[1] Couldn't persuade it to boot from a USB drive, and I have a stack of blanks right here.
[2] Steve Irwin style
[3] Minus the finish line video capture stuff, which is a RAM hog and potentially very storage intensive.}

woollypigs · « **Reply #2481 on:** 14 April, 2024, 06:15:02 pm »

Got a spare credit card terminal, then you can play DOOM on it

https://mementomori.social/@xepher/112264794175001231

woollypigs · « **Reply #2482 on:** 22 April, 2024, 10:03:32 pm »

"ET" phones home after 5 months

https://www.space.com/voyager-1-communications-update-april-2024

woollypigs · « **Reply #2483 on:** 23 April, 2024, 06:57:18 pm »

So why have lighttpd suddenly decided to start on boot after I don't know how many reboot and therefore blocking nginx from running at its best ?

Mr Larrington · « **Reply #2484 on:** 28 April, 2024, 07:17:41 pm »

Hurrah! Someone has finally come up with a wee program that can create/modify $TRUCK_SIMULATOR texture object files* in bulk instead of my having to laboriously cut'n'paste Stuffs one file at a time into a wanky Thing that doesn’t do keyboard shortcuts, like I have been for the past Several of years

* part-ASCII and part-gibberish so can’t be fed through normal text editors

StuAff · « **Reply #2485 on:** 29 April, 2024, 09:10:43 pm »

Plusnet contract was ending in a couple of weeks, and rather than go for another 18 months at the same speed (down to about 54mpbs from 76kpbps back in 2013), though a cheaper price, £27.99 (due to phone service no longer being included), went with a CityFibre installation and Toob as ISP. It's £25 a month. Just a bit quicker...

(ethernet, or Wifi6 if you're in the room with the router....)
Had the install booked some weeks back, two or three weeks back a couple of CF guys did a quick survey and ran a cable over from the telegraph pole. Install time was given as between 8am and 1pm. Got a call at 7.15 to say they were on the way. Here at 7.55, out again within an hour, nice neat tidy job and the service was active before the van even pulled away. A very good start!

Gattopardo · « **Reply #2486 on:** 30 April, 2024, 05:45:55 pm »

So do you know any where I could use a power supply test a microsoft surface tablet to see if it still works.

As I don't fancy spending any money till I know for sure that the thing works.

rafletcher · « **Reply #2487 on:** 05 May, 2024, 01:13:10 pm »

As of 2 days ago my wife’s phone - iPhone XR running IOS 17.4.1 - has stopped giving text alert tones. Rings fine, WhatsApp tone ok, just no text tones. I’ve reset it and restored it, turned off “focus”, turned the volume control down and up. Nada. No idea if it’s related to the no alarms issue, but not worth several hundred pound to fix.

ETA and it’s the same on mine, tho as I habitually have mine on silent I’ve no idea when it stopped working. Mines a 12.

Mr Larrington · « **Reply #2488 on:** 09 May, 2024, 01:06:35 am »

Due entirely to my own stupidity I have made a ~~serendipshit~~ ~~serendippydoodah~~ reet spawny discovery that will allow me to slash the number of files in my $TRUCK_SIMULATOR mods by about 60% and reduce the size of those which remain, while simultaneously adding MOAR luvverly colours to the trailers therein. Win and, moreover, win

Mr Larrington · « **Reply #2489 on:** 09 May, 2024, 08:06:18 pm »

Sharp stabbing pain in the wallet averted as the not-talking-to-Windows NAS known as FATBOY does respond to a reboot request via the webby interface

Mr Larrington · « **Reply #2490 on:** 10 May, 2024, 03:07:56 pm »

Quote from: Mr Larrington on 09 May, 2024, 01:06:35 am

Due entirely to my own stupidity I have made a ~~serendipshit~~ ~~serendippydoodah~~ reet spawny discovery that will allow me to slash the number of files in my $TRUCK_SIMULATOR mods by about 60% and reduce the size of those which remain, while simultaneously adding MOAR luvverly colours to the trailers therein. Win and, moreover, win

Except for double flatbed and dropside trailers, which remain resolutely white when the same wossname that works with all the others is applied. That’s most of yesterday up the swannee chiz.

TheLurker · « **Reply #2491 on:** 10 May, 2024, 07:33:46 pm »

Quote from: Mr Larrington

Except for double flatbed and dropside trailers, which remain resolutely white when the same wossname that works with all the others...

Look; it's software. You don't honestly expect it to work, do you? Really?

Mr Larrington · « **Reply #2492 on:** 10 May, 2024, 10:30:21 pm »

Quote from: TheLurker on 10 May, 2024, 07:33:46 pm

Quote from: Mr Larrington
Except for double flatbed and dropside trailers, which remain resolutely white when the same wossname that works with all the others...
Look; it's software. You don't honestly expect it to work, do you? Really?

It'd just be nice if it was consistent. Work or not work; at least I'd know where I stand.

Kim · « **Reply #2493 on:** 16 May, 2024, 04:25:27 pm »

I've just remembered that Procurve switches have weird rack ears that use a single central mounting screw. This meant that replacing the switch with suspected droid rot involved a) bad swears necessitated by moving cage nuts around^[1] in limited space b) an insufficiency of screws to be found in the official 'spare rack mount gubbins' jiffy bag.

_{[1] Though thankfully on recommendation of someone who does this more regularly, I have the spudger-like tool that stops you stabbing yourself in the web of the thumb by trying to do it with a screwdriver.}

MattH · « **Reply #2494 on:** 16 May, 2024, 09:12:24 pm »

Reminds me of something I got caught out by recently. Was moving a rack KVM from a test rack to be installed at another site. Dropped the screws from the KVM into a ziplock bag, added a couple of spares in case of fumble and droppage, and rather than faff pulling the cage nuts dropped a full set of new cage nuts from stock into the installation bag, packed it all up and shipped it out.

Got there to install it, and discovered that the KVM manufacturer had supplied it with a set of M5 screws and cage nuts. So I had a bag of M5 screws plus two standard M6, and a load of M6 nuts which surprisingly don't work with M5 screws.

Kim · « **Reply #2495 on:** 16 May, 2024, 09:23:37 pm »

Guess what I just found...

Mr Larrington · « **Reply #2496 on:** **Yesterday** at 01:36:02 am »

An unofficial 'spare rack mount gubbins' jiffy bag?

MattH · « **Reply #2497 on:** **Yesterday** at 07:14:09 am »

A 32mm spanner.
A book on tending gladioli.
Three partially dismembered cat toys.
A kettle.
Some nail clippers.
The key to a bike lock you threw away last year.
Two odd socks.
A box of Crayola crayons missing the red one.
A G clamp.
A Boyzone CD.
A red pepper.

no, don't tell me. I'll get this.

An ice cube tray.

T42 · « **Reply #2498 on:** **Yesterday** at 10:11:35 am »

Just ordered a new Windoze box for MrsT. I hope it's a long time coming: MrsT is practically tech-blind so I won't have much peace once it's here.

Kim · « **Reply #2499 on:** **Yesterday** at 11:14:57 am »

Quote from: Mr Larrington on Yesterday at 01:36:02 am

An unofficial 'spare rack mount gubbins' jiffy bag?

Eranu! (Well, a ziplock bag, but same principle.)

Quote from: MattH on Yesterday at 07:14:09 am

A 32mm spanner.
A book on tending gladioli.
Three partially dismembered cat toys.
A kettle.
Some nail clippers.
The key to a bike lock you threw away last year.
Two odd socks.
A box of Crayola crayons missing the red one.
A G clamp.
A Boyzone CD.
A red pepper.

no, don't tell me. I'll get this.

An ice cube tray.

You appear to have confused me with Blodwyn Pig...