* Posts by Simon Robinson

29 publicly visible posts • joined 16 Apr 2007

Job interview descended into sweary shouting match, candidate got the gig anyway

Simon Robinson

Reminds me of a previous job interview for an IT support role - back in the days of PCs being beige boxes. Took place in the staff canteen "because the meeting room was being decorated". Interview was in the middle of the day, so lots of staff going in and out eating their lunch.

One of the questions was "PC does not power up, no beeps etc., what's the first thing you would check?" I said power supply, try a known good unit. Interviewer told me I was wrong. I pointed out that he'd asked me what I would do, and I'd answered in that way - while he might try something else, *I* would do this. He still insisted I was wrong, voices were raised and he said it would be a RAM issue (with no BIOS beeps?!) - funnily enough, I didn't get the job...

Watt's the worst thing you can do to a datacenter? Failing to RTFM, electrically

Simon Robinson

Once, many years back, had a colleague set a desktop PC PSU from 230V to 110V to see what would happen. "What happened" was the PSU emitting lots of sparks and magic blue smoke when I plugged in the power lead, in close proximity to my head. Replacement PSU and the PC was fine, and from that point on I was always paranoid about any power supply with switchable voltage...

Bizarre backup taught techie to dumb things down for the boss

Simon Robinson

Had a former colleague who stored important emails in "Drafts", for no clearly explained reason. All was fine until we did a migratoin from on-prem Exchange to Google Mail - as in this story, certain folders weren't transferred to save time, especially as the transfer had to be done over Christmas as this was the only time you could guarantee 48 - 72 hours of downtime. Cue this person kicking off that we'd lost his critical information from years of working there.

Nobody does DR tests to survive lightning striking twice

Simon Robinson

Re: At least you fixed the problem.

There's always Bletchley Park too...

Clippy designer was too embarrassed to include him in his portfolio

Simon Robinson

Re: Salmon Days

Pretty sure I still have most of those videos saved somewhere.

Salmon Days - when you spend all day batlling upstream, only to get f**ked at the end of it

Rackspace datacenter infrastructure took 12-hour nap in London, Sydney, Hong Kong

Simon Robinson

Re: CDT?

Trying to buy 3M VHB tape on Amazon last week, rolls were defined as 16.4ft x 25mm, with a helpful comparison in cost per metre.

Data loss prevention emergency tactic: keep your finger on the power button for the foreseeable future

Simon Robinson

Not exactly the same situation, but once had to spend close to an hour holding a damaged USB memory stick in exactly the right position while I copied all the data off.

Needless to say, the person I did this for showered me with prasie and gifts for rescuing their un-backed up work. Not.

Buying a USB adapter: Pennies. Knowing where to stick it: Priceless

Simon Robinson

Re: itemization

https://dilbert.com/strip/2022-01-14

Simon Robinson

In a previous employment, back in 2003, engineer call-outs were charged at £75 an hour with a minimum half-hour charge. One client called us out so much, for minor things, their minimum was bumped up to a full hour - and they happily paid...

Dutch Gateway store was kept udder wraps for centuries until refit dug up computing history

Simon Robinson

Reminds me...

...of the long closed computer store in Northampton, not far from the train station, which was still displaying an Apricot Computers 1996 calendar well into the 2010s, until it was converted into a convenience store.

Nissan EV app password reset prompts user panic

Simon Robinson

Re: WAIT! Hang on, back up a second ...

"What does that do to your range? How does it affect battery longevity?"

If the car is still plugged in to charge, there is no use of the car battery to pre-heat/cool, so you get a car at the required temperature without losing range.

Olympics volunteers urged not to blab online

Simon Robinson
Unhappy

It'd be nice to know my role before talking about it...

Having been for an interview at the beginning of December as part of the "technology team", I was told a role would be offered to me in the next week. Six weeks later, and only one message from LOCOG - a "Happy New Year, sorry we can't sort it out yet." At his rate, there won't be any time to fit the training in before I have to run the scoreboard in the 100m final...

BOFH: The day the office budget bombed – literally

Simon Robinson
Thumb Up

IT purchasing

Far more believable than, say, a small network-addressable incendiary device inside the boss’s “4-port switch”.

Where can I buy these? Need a few here...

Suspended-animation cold sleep achieved in lab

Simon Robinson
Flame

Low body temperature...

I once scared the bejesus out of a St John's Ambulance man after he read my body temperature (in ear) as 31.5C - apparently I should have been dead, or at least unconscious, rather than just complaining I didn't feel well and barely being able to walk.

Annoyingly I'd recovered by the Monday (this was at a rugby game on a Saturday afternoon) and could go back to work.

BOFH: Made of win

Simon Robinson
Unhappy

Just what I needed

...to get through a 14 hour day at work, stuck here until 9.30 for the second day in a row. Do I get an award for "most excessive reduction of personal time to accomodate additional workload unrelated to job description"?

Pork industry in 'swine flu' tag beef

Simon Robinson
Flame

@AC 19:33

The reason it only affect Mexicans is because they kept upsetting the A-Team. Amazing how cequickly BA and Hannibal Smith can put together a highly contagious flu virus with an acetylene torch and an old Army Jeep...

Knee X-ray biometrics plan to fight spoofing

Simon Robinson
Stop

Grounded

Great, as someone who suffers from a degenerative joint disorder I'd never be able to fly again! Can't see this really working too well, far too many exclusions and variables.

Royal Society of Chemistry defines perfect Yorkshire pud

Simon Robinson

Complaints about fluid measures

As far as I understand it, "Half milk, half water to make a thin batter" means you add the milk/water gradually until the mixture is a thin batter. Therefore exact measurements are impractical. However, they should define the dry measures better (especially as that seems an excessive amount of salt).

The best solution to this, as any other culinary problem, is "Muuummm....."

/off to tease Chemistry lecturer friend

1980s Apricot reborn in noughties as netbook seller

Simon Robinson
Alert

What goes around, comes around

Maybe the office just round the corner from me which still has Apricot promo stuff in the window will start selling these? They might want to change the 1996 calendar though...

Ambulance Service not patient enough for Vista

Simon Robinson
Stop

Thankfully not...

I recall one of my unviersity lectures on systems implementation was about the LAS going from a manual system to computerisation - a complete disaster. I think going to Vista would be a similar step. Why bother upgrading the system if it can cope now?

Sainsbury's punts 'Innocent kids juices' for £2.99

Simon Robinson
Pirate

Darn it!

If I'd have known they were squishing kids when I worked next door to them many years ago, I might have turned down all those free bottles...now I'm hopelessly addicted. Really bad as I now work at a school.

Of course the grammar would have been easy if they'd just labelled them "Innocent juices for kids".

Swede packs off GPS to make world's biggest sketch

Simon Robinson
Black Helicopters

Looking at the istructions...

http://animasher.s3.amazonaws.com/nordenankar/travel%20instructions.pdf

Looks like the route DHL normally take to deliver stuff here...

The journey from just south of Iceland to just off the African coast looks a bit convoluted, I hope they weren't diverting other important packages for a publicity stunt.

Cops hunt charred power cable thief

Simon Robinson
Pirate

Shocking

When recently working for a signage company, one of our installation guys was setting up an external sign outside a large office building. He was told to move the sign to a different location as the original site was over a 35kV main line. He moved, and procedded to excavate using a mini-jackhammer. Five feet down, he hits said 35kV line. He's a big chap but he still managed to jump straight out of the hole...

Jackhammer melted beyond repair. Installer OK though.

One thing - the offices belonged to e-on...

100Mbit/s sewer broadband rollout coming your way

Simon Robinson
Alert

@Norbury

I'm assuming you referred to my post in the "biggest town" debate (note: that's NORTHAMPTON, a town, not NOTTINGHAM, a city). It all depends on what measure you use - Bolton has become a unitary authority so it's debatable whether it's a town or not.

One thing's for sure, we've got the biggest town centre market square in the UK, and a massive increase in Polish people who'll be the ones Dynorodding the drains and cutting off my broadband halfway through a HD film.

Simon Robinson
Happy

Hooray!

As someone who lives in one of the aforementioned places (Northampton - the country's biggest town, awaiting city status for the last three hundred years or so) I can't wait. We've been used as guinea pigs before, the Chip and PIN system was used in the town before the national rollout (and that was fun, working in retail at the time and explaining to EVERY SINGLE CUSTOMER what to do...)

BOFH: Spreading the festive cheer

Simon Robinson
Thumb Up

BOFH on form as ever

Laxatives, redirecting Christmas gifts, collapsing chairs AND stuck lifts - tis the season!

Facebookers bring HSBC to its knees

Simon Robinson

Changing times

When I graduated in 2003, my HSBC account had a sliding scale free overdraft, starting at £1500 and decreasing by £500 a year. I was lucky/financially astute enough not to need it, but it seems their policy has changed a bit in the last few years.

Teachers vote to ban internet

Simon Robinson

Great news

Teachers ban all computers and electronic devices from the school.

First: how will they spend their break times now they can't go on facebook/myspace/chat with friends over MSN?

Second: will I still get paid to sit at work (school) all day now there's no computers to fix?

Go green with a double-glazing mortgage, say Lib Dems

Simon Robinson

Existential housing shortage?

"Since the majority of the houses that we live in already exist"

I personally don't know anyone that lives in a house that doesn't exist, then again maybe this is a solution to the property price boom? Also, surely a house that doesn't exist will have zero carbon emissions?