Engineer Brains
@hhackenbecker.bsky.social
Master tinkerer, retired.
Loves: old Macs, cats, humour, SF&F, Star Trek
Loathes: politics, sport, Facebook, Google, anything POSIX
This might be he/it/oi-you.
Loves: old Macs, cats, humour, SF&F, Star Trek
Loathes: politics, sport, Facebook, Google, anything POSIX
This might be he/it/oi-you.
Canard! Pato! Anka! Ow!
February 4, 2026 at 12:00 AM
Canard! Pato! Anka! Ow!
America, you're so screwed.
February 3, 2026 at 9:54 PM
America, you're so screwed.
Are yas gonna come quietly, or do I has ta rough yas up!
January 30, 2026 at 11:21 AM
Are yas gonna come quietly, or do I has ta rough yas up!
Australians still sporting an iPhone 8, 8 Plus or iPhone X are advised *NOT* to update to iOS v16.7.13, released Tuesday by Apple.
www.abc.net.au/news/2026-01...
www.abc.net.au/news/2026-01...
Telstra warns older iPhones may be unable to connect to Triple Zero
Customers are advised to delay software updates on affected devices and find alternative ways to communicate if needed.
www.abc.net.au
January 29, 2026 at 5:49 AM
Australians still sporting an iPhone 8, 8 Plus or iPhone X are advised *NOT* to update to iOS v16.7.13, released Tuesday by Apple.
www.abc.net.au/news/2026-01...
www.abc.net.au/news/2026-01...
Over three quarters of all cars in America are either white, black, or one of fifty shades of grey in between.
Meanwhile in Australia ...
Meanwhile in Australia ...
January 29, 2026 at 5:01 AM
Over three quarters of all cars in America are either white, black, or one of fifty shades of grey in between.
Meanwhile in Australia ...
Meanwhile in Australia ...
Calling all floppies, calling all floppies ... David Pogue needs some help. He wants to include an audio file of a Macintosh floppy drive in action, but so far hasn't been able to find anything on the web. Can anyone help? (FB shortlink: tinyurl.com/yevdashe )
David Pogue
Hi all... I need your nerdy help. At one point in "Apple: The First 50 Years," I've written about the "song" of the original Macintosh floppy drive—the different notes made by the stepper motor as...
tinyurl.com
January 29, 2026 at 2:55 AM
Calling all floppies, calling all floppies ... David Pogue needs some help. He wants to include an audio file of a Macintosh floppy drive in action, but so far hasn't been able to find anything on the web. Can anyone help? (FB shortlink: tinyurl.com/yevdashe )
Reposted by Engineer Brains
Why you should never EVER subscribe to media influencer channels on YT, TikTok or other services: They can collect AND SELL your personal data.
www.forbes.com/sites/martin...
www.forbes.com/sites/martin...
Khaby Lame Sells Company In $975 Million Deal
The equity-driven deal will see Lame becoming a controlling shareholder.
www.forbes.com
January 29, 2026 at 1:02 AM
Why you should never EVER subscribe to media influencer channels on YT, TikTok or other services: They can collect AND SELL your personal data.
www.forbes.com/sites/martin...
www.forbes.com/sites/martin...
Scary news for electronic musicians as one of the best-known names in the business faces closure: www.musicradar.com/music-tech/n...
Native Instruments is in preliminary insolvency
An administrator has been appointed for the brand behind the likes of Maschine, Traktor, Massive and Kontakt, according to reports
www.musicradar.com
January 28, 2026 at 4:06 AM
Scary news for electronic musicians as one of the best-known names in the business faces closure: www.musicradar.com/music-tech/n...
Remember when people started putting their iPhones up on FBM/eBay because they still had Fortnite running on them? Same thing's happening again but now they're advertising "Still runs iOS 18", according to a segment on NPR.
When mainstream media goes "iOS 26 sucks" it's really bad.
When mainstream media goes "iOS 26 sucks" it's really bad.
January 25, 2026 at 11:36 PM
Remember when people started putting their iPhones up on FBM/eBay because they still had Fortnite running on them? Same thing's happening again but now they're advertising "Still runs iOS 18", according to a segment on NPR.
When mainstream media goes "iOS 26 sucks" it's really bad.
When mainstream media goes "iOS 26 sucks" it's really bad.
The tough part about improvising a home cinema on the #ISS was finding a spot where everyone would be comfortable ... for varying degrees of comfortable.
"There's not much space out in space!"
"There's not much space out in space!"
January 23, 2026 at 1:23 AM
The tough part about improvising a home cinema on the #ISS was finding a spot where everyone would be comfortable ... for varying degrees of comfortable.
"There's not much space out in space!"
"There's not much space out in space!"
So you want to work in IT, do you?
January 21, 2026 at 2:03 PM
So you want to work in IT, do you?
Y'know what I miss most on MacBooks?
Socketed RAM & storage?
No, 98% of laptops go to e-waste with the config they shipped with.
Glowing logo in the lid?
Close; it's not a Mac if the logo doesn't glow.
What I miss most is the sleep LED.
Socketed RAM & storage?
No, 98% of laptops go to e-waste with the config they shipped with.
Glowing logo in the lid?
Close; it's not a Mac if the logo doesn't glow.
What I miss most is the sleep LED.
January 20, 2026 at 4:18 PM
Y'know what I miss most on MacBooks?
Socketed RAM & storage?
No, 98% of laptops go to e-waste with the config they shipped with.
Glowing logo in the lid?
Close; it's not a Mac if the logo doesn't glow.
What I miss most is the sleep LED.
Socketed RAM & storage?
No, 98% of laptops go to e-waste with the config they shipped with.
Glowing logo in the lid?
Close; it's not a Mac if the logo doesn't glow.
What I miss most is the sleep LED.
I herb you people like puns.
January 17, 2026 at 1:28 AM
I herb you people like puns.
The latest issue of PALEBOY - The Magazine of Dirty Archaeology - has just hit the rock-stands.
January 13, 2026 at 8:51 AM
The latest issue of PALEBOY - The Magazine of Dirty Archaeology - has just hit the rock-stands.
It won't be long before they unveil Microsoft Copilot Copilot, a service to explain which Copilot-branded product is the one you're actually looking for.
The Microsoft 365 Copilot app rebrand was bad, but there are far worse offenders
The Microsoft 365 Copilot app rebrand was bad, but there are far worse offenders
The software wasn't actually renamed, but you couldn't be blamed for being confused
Opinion Wait? What? I was just cruising along the information superhighway – yes, I'm old, deal with it – when I spotted a Y Combinator story announcing, "Microsoft Office renamed to 'Microsoft 365 Copilot app'." Excuse me!? I looked closer and found that, sure enough, it certainly looked like Microsoft had renamed Office to the God-awful "Microsoft 365 Copilot."…
dlvr.it
January 9, 2026 at 12:49 PM
It won't be long before they unveil Microsoft Copilot Copilot, a service to explain which Copilot-branded product is the one you're actually looking for.
If this isn't a @nanoraptor.danamania.com special, then it is definitely inspired by her work.
January 9, 2026 at 1:17 AM
If this isn't a @nanoraptor.danamania.com special, then it is definitely inspired by her work.
Today's juicy truthiness:
January 8, 2026 at 5:41 PM
Today's juicy truthiness:
There are usually good reasons for not having some third-rate PC shop repair your iMac.
January 7, 2026 at 8:59 AM
There are usually good reasons for not having some third-rate PC shop repair your iMac.
Back in 1975, if you read the right comics, you could buy a Star Trek communicator, hand phaser AND tricorder for a mere $3.29. There were flying models of the Enterprise and the Klingon battle-cruiser, too, only $6.95.
January 7, 2026 at 1:48 AM
Back in 1975, if you read the right comics, you could buy a Star Trek communicator, hand phaser AND tricorder for a mere $3.29. There were flying models of the Enterprise and the Klingon battle-cruiser, too, only $6.95.
Are you running #OCLP on your old Intel Mac? Sick of the pink-screen lock-ups that happen with Chrome & Electron apps? An explainer & a comprehensive patching tool for over 150 apps (inc. Discord & VS Code) is here:
marcosfermin.com/electron-ocl...
#OpenCore #macOS
marcosfermin.com/electron-ocl...
#OpenCore #macOS
Fixing Electron App Rendering Issues on Legacy Macs: A Comprehensive Patcher for OCLP Users
If you're running macOS Ventura or later on an older Mac using OpenCore Legacy Patcher (OCLP), you've probably encountered the dreaded pink screens, graphical glitches, and random freezes in apps...
marcosfermin.com
January 3, 2026 at 6:46 AM
Are you running #OCLP on your old Intel Mac? Sick of the pink-screen lock-ups that happen with Chrome & Electron apps? An explainer & a comprehensive patching tool for over 150 apps (inc. Discord & VS Code) is here:
marcosfermin.com/electron-ocl...
#OpenCore #macOS
marcosfermin.com/electron-ocl...
#OpenCore #macOS
Today's tech truthiness:
December 31, 2025 at 8:26 AM
Today's tech truthiness:
Someone has lifted the QuickTimeVR movie files from 1994's "Star Trek: The Next Generation Interactive Technical Manual", upscaled them then built an in-browser replica of the ITM's "Tour" module. mijofr.github.io/st-panorama/
#StarTrek
#StarTrek
Trekorama!
360° of Star Trek
mijofr.github.io
December 30, 2025 at 12:54 AM
Someone has lifted the QuickTimeVR movie files from 1994's "Star Trek: The Next Generation Interactive Technical Manual", upscaled them then built an in-browser replica of the ITM's "Tour" module. mijofr.github.io/st-panorama/
#StarTrek
#StarTrek