dcminter

When especially irritated by spam of this type I like to look up the isp hosting their register link and then sign up on their site with its abuse@ details (or occasionally @localhost for a bit of var…

I still twitch a bit over the WebSphere branding apocalypse when they decided their (IMO ghastly) Java app server's name should be applied to All The Things.

Nope, I'm afraid I was using the Visual Age class library (which was pretty good) for most if not all of the development work I had a hand in.

As a developer using OS/2 in its heydey and the early part of its decline I would say your assessment was spot on. Before NT the pre-emptive multi-tasking and ability to run Windows executables a…

While I enjoy Facebook (largely treating it as entertainment) it's Events that's the killer feature for me. Nothing else is as comprehensive for my hobby as a consumer. As a promotor its fre…

I do this pretty consistently - it avoids a small category of errors: assignment to the wrong variable is less common when there are fewer variables! But I have to agree that it's unusual. I'…

When I was working at British Airways a decade or so ago there was* a problem with a screen-scraping programme that terminated the crew printout whenever there was a passenger needing medical assistan…

Art does not require justification.

First project to add the missing "Outline View" functionality gets my eternal loyalty :) https://bz.apache.org/ooo/show_bug.cgi?id=3959 https://bugs.document…

I remember being very chuffed with the fact that the boot and root disks (on 3.5" floppies) were physically smaller than my copy of "Portable Unix" [0] Then a year or two later getting …

The one I used to use at Heathrow had hinged flaps as the flooring at the entrance so that if you caught a foot over the edge it would lift up with your foot ameliorating that second risk. I think the…

On the contrary, it fights publication bias - it's important for the same reason that it's important that scientists publish negative results and don't just leave them in the proverbial…

My UK bank (Lloyds) cannot handle non ASCII symbols in the address fields for IBANN payments. Drives me crazy every time as most places I make payments to have at least a few å or ë letters in them. H…

Or indeed my favourite anomaly the Circle Line which is signposted as "East" and "West" bound despite being a loop! (Ok, it has a terminus now which it didn't used to - but th…

Not directly related, but it reminded me of this: http://everything2.com/title/The+ability+of+planarian+worms+... …

8kb ROM, 1Kb RAM. I had one of these little machines and played 3D Monster Maze. As well as being an impressive bit of code for such a diminutive machine it's also a testament to how engaging eve…

Ah, they had one of these in the Viscount House building at British Airways in London when I was working there back in the late 90s. I don't know if it's still in use. I recall someone tryin…

We don't have a legitimate direct marketing industry. We just have a direct marketing lobby, hence the verbiage appeasing them.

Does it have outline view yet? One way or another it's been an outstanding RFE for over a decade: Open Office: https://bz.apache.org/ooo/show_bug.cgi?id=3959 Libre Office: …

Once upon a time I would have agreed - but these days I find poor characterisation stalls my suspension of disbelief just as much as dodgy physics. So my current favourite is Fiasco by Lem. The physic…

I believe so - it's referred to as "Gemini" at the end of the video and it matches up with my (rather handwavy) understanding from reading the forum posts. I love this kind of in-depth …