Computers would be so much better if they never had to deal with users, amirite?!!? I remember, years ago, working on a mobile web service which had a URl bar - so users could tap in bbc.co.uk on their T9 keypads - and a separate search bar. I thought that was pretty nifty. But it turns out, users tried searching for URls and they tried going to "http:// When is the Next Bus?". Bloody users!! …
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The BBC Shipping Forecast is one of those strange bits of national tradition which, somehow, bridges the gap between infrastructure and folklore. You can listen listen to the latest forecast on the BBC - read by professional newscasters. But what if we wanted a robot to read it? If our speaker is sick, bored, or too expensive - how would we automate the audio version of the Shipping Forecast? …
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Sitting down all day, every day, is killing me. Well, my doctor thinks it probably isn't brilliant for me and recommended trying a standing desk (as well as boring things like exercising more, drinking less, and eating fewer pies). I already have a fancy WFH desk which holds all my stuff. So I decided to get an adapter. I deliberately went with the largest I could find - while keeping the price…
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David Bowie invented the NFT in 1997. The "Bowie Bond" allowed you to directly invest in an artist's catalogue and receive royalty payments based on their sales. Here's how it worked: You pay money to the artist (Bowie) Artist uses that money to buy the rights to their back catalogue Every time one of the songs from that catalogue is sold, or played on the radio, the artist gets paid Investors …
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How do you quickly insert a 💩 emoji when using your laptop? I just type ScrLck, p, o, o! What is this 🧙♀️ craft? In your keyboard settings, you should see an option like this: You can set the "Compose" key to be anything you like. Personally, I use the otherwise-useless Scroll Lock button. Now, once you press ScrLck you'll see this symbol . The next few letters you type will be "absorbed" …
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This is an offensively bad movie. It starts with a hilarious premise - what if your boyfriend broke up with you during a sky dive? The first few minutes are genuinely funny. And then it sort of descends into a TV movie about finding love. Which would be fine, I guess, if it were a poundshop DVD - but this stars Jeremy Irons and Diane Keaton! Two titans of the movie industry appearing in…
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Remember SlideShare? It's where we used to upload PowerPoints back in the day. It was easier than emailing them around. I think. No one really remembers. I think they got bought by LinkedIn? Anyway, they're now owned by Scribd. If someone visits one of your old slideshows and wants to download it, Scribd will charge them US$10 per month for membership! What a rip off! Of course, Scribd don't…
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I'm an idiot. I ran a new version of Firefox nightly without creating a new profile. When I went to run my regular Firfox, I got this error message: Here's how I fixed it. Close down Firefox Open a terminal and run: firefox --allow-downgrade Let Firefox start up and create a new profile. Then go to: about:profiles You'll see something like this: Select "Set as default profile" and click…
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The Battle of Nearby Village is over, and deep in the Darkwood, Gretel and her friends journey into the hostile mountains of the north, seeking new allies in their fight against the huntsmen. There they find Gilde the Bear Witch, along with a Werewolf named Scarlett and a winged man named Hex. Meanwhile, Hansel and Daisy set off on a dangerous trip of their own to the Citadel, where they end up …
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I've been raving about how magnetic chargers are the future. Paul from SubbyTech offered to send me some of their cables to review: Terence Eden is on Mastodon@edentMagnetic chargers are the future shkspr.mobi/blog/2021/09/m…shkspr.mobiMagnetic chargers are the futureApparently, Apple plans to make a port-less iPhone which only uses wireless charging. This is something I predicted 7 years ago! Q…
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Winter is coming! And, as such, I want to check which parts of my house are leaking heat. So, the natural solution is to buy an Infrared Camera and point it at things! The Seek Thermal is a curious beast. While you can buy Android phones with built in thermal cameras, and dedicated devices, this is an add-on. Plug it into your existing phone, download an app, and off you go. In theory! …
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The MS 4000 keyboard is the best typing experience that I've ever found. I have one in my home office, one in my work's office, and one spare. But, at some point in the last 18 months of working from home, my work keyboard has gone walkabout. Oh well, a good excuse to buy a new one! Except - sadly - Microsoft have discontinued it. Don't get me wrong, you can buy a "4000" branded keyboard - but …
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