I hate it when I DNF a book. But "Soul of a New Machine" is just dull. It's sort of a hagiography of an obscure company which once made a 32 bit computer. All the men (and it seems to be mostly men) are in turns dull, agressive, or just dicks. As a sample quote: Grinning, he went on: “We’re trying to maximize the win, and make Eagle go as fast as a raped ape.” I completely see how staggering …
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Several years ago, I purchased a Clevo N151CU laptop with the idea that I'd gradually upgrade the RAM, storage, and other bits. After my keyboard failed, I found it difficult to find replacement parts. The whole point of the Framework laptop is that it is specifically designed to be modular. It come in kit form, is easy to disassemble, and is (reasonably) well supported by an ecosystem of…
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I've written before about the moribund BIMI specification. It's a way for brands to include a trusted logo when they send emails. It isn't much used and, apparently, is riddled with security issues. I thought it might be fun to grab all the BIMI images from the most popular websites, so I can potentially use them in my SuperTinyIcons project. BIMI images are SVGs. Links to a site's BIMI are…
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Just before I graduated from University, I went to a careers fair to help me decide what I wanted to do with my life. At one of the stalls was our local Police force - advertising the exciting new world of digital forensics. Here is - almost verbatim - the conversation I had with the recruiter. Me: "Hello! What do I need to do in order to use my computer science degree to catch criminals?" …
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Six years ago, I went to my first EMF Camp. The next event was cancelled by Covid. The one after that saw me come down with Covid - although I presented remotely. So I was beyond thrilled to be able to attend & speak this year. There's always a risk that you can never recapture the magic of your youth. But EMF is consistently brilliant. A delightful alternative reality of robots, lasers, art,…
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I recently went to EMF Camp (which is Glastonbury for geeks - lots of random electronics, talks, art, and camping). Naturally, I took along my Infrared camera and pointed it at interesting things! First up… sewage! Festivals often have big tanks to take away human effluence. But how can you, a normal human, tell how full they are? Luckily, fresh sewage is warm. Phone boxen were plenty - t…
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One of the things that often confuses Americans when they visit the UK is our lack of window screens. All the Imperialist Yankee media I consumed as a kid had a delightful array of screen doors and windows. But here in rainy old England, there's never been much call for them. Mosquitos are rare. Our bugs tend not to be large and terrifying. Our summers are rarely hot for long enough to warrant…
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This is a decent slice of sci-fi. It's the sort of story that probably could have been written any time in the last 100 years. The sole survivor of the human race is picked up by friendly aliens and spends his life as a specimen of scientific and cultural curiosity. And then... events occur! It's all rather silly fun. The aliens are all pacifists and spend more time negotiating rather than…
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I'll say one thing for ゴジラ(Godzilla)-1.0（マイナスワン, it is loud. Even at a moderate volume, your subwoofer will get a workout and your neighbours will start banging the walls. Let them. Godzilla rules! Got neighbours on both sides? Good! Your rears speakers will also be thoroughly abused by Godzilla's roar and the terrifyingly loud explosions. There's almost zero buildup. No backstory. No expositio…
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This is a retropost. Written in January 2023 but published long after I left the Civil Service. One of the weird things about working in Westminster is how terrifyingly normal it becomes to work in grand old buildings, stuffed with grand old artworks, and staffed with grand old politicians. You turn a corner and there's a bit of Henry VIII's tennis court. There's a Tracy Emin hanging on the…
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You're a big Doctor Who fan, right? If I asked you what the world DALEK meant, you'd probably tell me that it is an anagram of KALED - the original name of their species. You'd be wrong. In 1965, it was clearly established by a canonical source, that the world DALEK stands for: Destroy without pity Attack without fear Live without conscience Eliminate without worry Kill, kill, kill, kill! I …
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I bloody hate hardware manufacturers. I wanted to use HDR on my PlayStation 5. The console supports it, my TV supports it, my amp supports it, my cables support it. Yet it wasn't working. I tried everything - updating firmware, replacing cables, and even reading the manual. Nothing. And then I stumbled on the answer thanks to a random forum post. Perform the following procedure when the unit…
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