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By sven (Wed Nov 24, 2004 at 12:24:39 AM EST) (all tags)
Nov 24 20:57:43 misato kernel: atkbd.c: Keyboard on isa0060/serio0 reports too many keys pressed.

Never seen that one before.

Clearly I haven't had enough pain for one evening. After helping my mum recover a Word document, I feel the need to do a firmware upgrade on my ADSL modem. I could be gone a while...


Being in charge

I'm now the tech lead at work. It seems that my days are very busy, but I don't actually do much. I have only created one new spreadsheet so far, but I also made an awk script to process the input. I'm not 100% manager yet.

I have a new office buddy who has made me very keen to change to an open plan office environment. Our office is now cold and sterile and unwelcoming. I was never in favour of open plan before (where I had a nice friendly office) but now I have changed my mind. I would like to sit in the corner gazing out over my domain, like a benevolent dictator.

House

The new house is going well. I have installed most of the window locks that I bought, but there are two problematic windows remaining. We have a new toilet seat, but the toilet itself leaks. That is my next task. I mowed the lawn with a whipper snipper (fun for the first minute, not so after that). I can't work out how the reticulation works.

I should have ADSL within a few days. 1.5 megabit ADSL no less. TPG make it such a good deal at $50 per month that it's impossible to justify getting anything else.

Since we moved my TV last week it's developed a little purple patch in the bottom left corner. Anyone know how to fix that? If I wanted purple bits on my TV I would have bought an LG or Palsonic or some such inferior brand.

Weird Windows problem

My mum had a Word document that she couldn't open. It claimed that the path or filename was incorrect, but the file itself appeared to be intact. Copying or renaming the file made no difference. I ended up booted up a Knoppix CD, opening the document in OpenOffice, and doing a Save-As. It was most effective. Knoppix is a very nice piece of work. Certainly looks a look slicker than my setup at home.

Frequent Flyer changes

Qantas are changing their frequent flyer program, and the new changes look terrible. The program "enhancements" increase the number of points required to go anywhere at all, with some destinations up to 50% more. I may need to burn all my points before the changes take effect.

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Bzzz | 11 comments (11 topical, 0 hidden) | Trackback
Lunix error message by anonimouse (6.00 / 1) #1 Wed Nov 24, 2004 at 12:30:25 AM EST
..is caused by either
(a) leaving a book or similar object resting on your keyboard
(b) your keyboard falling upside down onto the floor
(c) the MiniMice seeing how many keys they can press on the keyboard all at once.
Girls come and go but a mortgage is for 25 years -- JtL


TV by Vulch (6.00 / 1) #2 Wed Nov 24, 2004 at 12:38:13 AM EST

Make sure there are no speakers or other things with magnets in near that corner. Turn TV off properly, unplug from the mains if necessary, wait a while, turn it back on, and you should hear the degaussing coils twang. You may need to repeat two or three times over the course of a day to get shot of it completely.



Good idea! by sven (3.00 / 0) #4 Wed Nov 24, 2004 at 12:59:10 AM EST
I'll try this out and report back with any progress tomorrow. Thanks!

--
harshbutfair // you know it makes sense
[ Parent ]

It worked! Hooray! [nt] by sven (3.00 / 0) #8 Wed Nov 24, 2004 at 10:37:31 AM EST


--
harshbutfair // you know it makes sense
[ Parent ]

Goodo by Vulch (3.00 / 0) #10 Wed Nov 24, 2004 at 09:15:30 PM EST

Most TVs have degaussing coils built in, but quite often they don't trigger unless the power has been off for a while and generally sets drop into a standby mode these days. They also tend to be a bit weedy so it can take a few goes to get rid of a patch of odd colour.

[ Parent ]

answers by m0rk (6.00 / 1) #3 Wed Nov 24, 2004 at 12:40:35 AM EST
a: your dog pooped on your keyboard and moved it in to his cage before you found it, causing your keyboard to freak out momentarily.
b: dude is a little to obsessed with Open Office. He misunderstood the modus operundi. Enjoy.
c: your TV; did you at any time place it near a large magnet or source of electromagnetic energy? this will cause distortion and color change. The beam/tube/innerds may have been drawn out of alignment by this. not sure what your solution could be. I assume there is no degauss on a TV of this nature. hrm.
d: Knoppix ad!
e: I don't fly enough to help here. good luck with your tv.



Two responses by sven (3.00 / 0) #5 Wed Nov 24, 2004 at 01:06:31 AM EST
a: There is no dog. It must have been me that did those things.
c: It's never been near any magnets. There is no degauss button. The instructions mention nothing of the sort. I'll try the turn on/turn off trick as suggested by Vulch.


--
harshbutfair // you know it makes sense
[ Parent ]

Purple patch by DesiredUsername (3.00 / 0) #6 Wed Nov 24, 2004 at 01:16:56 AM EST
My TV has that sometimes too. Or sometimes yellow. It comes and goes. No idea what it is.

---
Now accepting suggestions for a new sigline


Open plan offices by sien (3.00 / 0) #7 Wed Nov 24, 2004 at 09:22:38 AM EST
Check out Peopleware and check out what it says about open plan offices. To summarize, it says that for thinking work that require reasonably long periods of concentration, like programming, it's a bad idea.
Nobody knows anything - William Goldman.


The thing is... by sven (3.00 / 0) #9 Wed Nov 24, 2004 at 11:26:11 AM EST
I just want to see an increase in socialisation. I don't care about productivity. OTOH, they've gone open plan in the project downstairs and they don't talk at all. It's just deathly silence whenever you go down there. Quite eerie really.

--
harshbutfair // you know it makes sense
[ Parent ]

Open plan and socialisation by guando (6.00 / 1) #11 Fri Nov 26, 2004 at 10:17:28 PM EST
My experience with open plan office has been good so far. I do think the small partition is important though (even if it's just to have something to stick posters and so forth on).

As far a socialisation goes, I think it really depends on the people in the office and the management overseeing it.  The downside of open plan is that if you feel you are being watched, you are less likely to chat (which may explain the deathly silence downstairs).

Given your feelings on the current situation though, I think you should push for the open plan situation :).

[ Parent ]

Bzzz | 11 comments (11 topical, 0 hidden) | Trackback

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