Bruce Dawson
@randomascii.bsky.social
Retired tech-nerd. Unicyclist, kiteboarder, juggler, hiker, plays tennis and pickleball, advocates for pedestrian/cyclist safety. Windows ETW expert. LGBTQ supporter. Vancouver, BC
he/him
https://randomascii.wordpress.com/
he/him
https://randomascii.wordpress.com/
While showing a friend some old photos in Google Photos yesterday I noticed that one of my pictures is corrupted. The bottom half is just gray. How did this happen? Bad upload? Corrupted at rest? It looks the same both on my phone and on the web.
November 8, 2025 at 6:38 PM
While showing a friend some old photos in Google Photos yesterday I noticed that one of my pictures is corrupted. The bottom half is just gray. How did this happen? Bad upload? Corrupted at rest? It looks the same both on my phone and on the web.
Also, really? LNK1000 unknown error? Is it a crash? What is the problem? I've hit this flaky build error multiple times. I can "fix" it by building again, but in the year 2025 that seems inappropriate
November 5, 2025 at 7:44 PM
Also, really? LNK1000 unknown error? Is it a crash? What is the problem? I've hit this flaky build error multiple times. I can "fix" it by building again, but in the year 2025 that seems inappropriate
I kind of expect HP's software to gradually leak process handles, triggering zombie processes, but I'm more surprised - and disappointed - when Visual Studio does the same thing. The PerfWatson2.exe leak always happens. The vcpkgsrv.exe leak I cannot repro - sorry!
November 5, 2025 at 7:36 PM
I kind of expect HP's software to gradually leak process handles, triggering zombie processes, but I'm more surprised - and disappointed - when Visual Studio does the same thing. The PerfWatson2.exe leak always happens. The vcpkgsrv.exe leak I cannot repro - sorry!
Every now and then I like to test AI to see how its letter counting is going. It's hilarious inaccuracies amuse me. The "common confusion" where it hallucinates an inaccuracy that I didn't even ask for is just perfect
But sure, evaluate resumes based on this crap
But sure, evaluate resumes based on this crap
November 4, 2025 at 6:08 PM
Every now and then I like to test AI to see how its letter counting is going. It's hilarious inaccuracies amuse me. The "common confusion" where it hallucinates an inaccuracy that I didn't even ask for is just perfect
But sure, evaluate resumes based on this crap
But sure, evaluate resumes based on this crap
This is the paragraph I was working on that required remembering the Amiga's clock speed. A 190,000 times speedup from 1985 to 2011 is pretty amazing, and that doesn't even include speedups from multi-core.
October 22, 2025 at 9:07 PM
This is the paragraph I was working on that required remembering the Amiga's clock speed. A 190,000 times speedup from 1985 to 2011 is pretty amazing, and that doesn't even include speedups from multi-core.
Here's the context switch data. Seven calls to LoadLibrary() (see the seven long context switches on KeWaitForSingleObject) totaling just over six seconds
October 22, 2025 at 4:31 PM
Here's the context switch data. Seven calls to LoadLibrary() (see the seven long context switches on KeWaitForSingleObject) totaling just over six seconds
Micro transactions in Windows. Playing video from my GoPro requires buying a codec.
Or I could download VLC. Done.
Or I could download VLC. Done.
October 21, 2025 at 9:43 PM
Micro transactions in Windows. Playing video from my GoPro requires buying a codec.
Or I could download VLC. Done.
Or I could download VLC. Done.
I've been encountering a new and annoying form of spam lately. The spammers seem to be tricking Google into sending me delivery status notifications for emails that I did not send. I can't block the sender or mark them as spam because I'd be blocking Google.
October 20, 2025 at 6:22 PM
I've been encountering a new and annoying form of spam lately. The spammers seem to be tricking Google into sending me delivery status notifications for emails that I did not send. I can't block the sender or mark them as spam because I'd be blocking Google.
While riding the Piccadilly line to Heathrow yesterday. Apparently the significant delays are both minor and severe. Ummm...
October 17, 2025 at 3:38 PM
While riding the Piccadilly line to Heathrow yesterday. Apparently the significant delays are both minor and severe. Ummm...
Their instructions somehow manage to make things less clear. I think that first step is supposed to say "Once the captain has enabled 'Flight Mode', typically at 10,000 feet...", because none of the Wi-Fi steps work until we are well into flight
October 17, 2025 at 3:36 PM
Their instructions somehow manage to make things less clear. I think that first step is supposed to say "Once the captain has enabled 'Flight Mode', typically at 10,000 feet...", because none of the Wi-Fi steps work until we are well into flight
British Airways offers free Wi-Fi for texting on their flights, but it took all of my technical skills to sign in to use it. One glitch is that part of the flow sends you to this page:
October 17, 2025 at 3:36 PM
British Airways offers free Wi-Fi for texting on their flights, but it took all of my technical skills to sign in to use it. One glitch is that part of the flow sends you to this page:
Thanks Fortinet for screwing up some (but not all) SSL connections. This was seen at the British Museum when using their WiFi. I had to disconnect in order to view this particular page.
October 14, 2025 at 4:26 PM
Thanks Fortinet for screwing up some (but not all) SSL connections. This was seen at the British Museum when using their WiFi. I had to disconnect in order to view this particular page.
Which is more annoying? Uninstalling software (Omen) that leaves entries in Task Scheduler pointing to absent executables, or uninstalling software (OneDrive) that leaves executables installed and running from Task Scheduler?
Either way, I do not want!
Either way, I do not want!
October 2, 2025 at 11:02 PM
Which is more annoying? Uninstalling software (Omen) that leaves entries in Task Scheduler pointing to absent executables, or uninstalling software (OneDrive) that leaves executables installed and running from Task Scheduler?
Either way, I do not want!
Either way, I do not want!
Is it just me or is it a bit weird that Perforce defaults to installing data files (the database) in the same directory as the executables?
October 2, 2025 at 9:53 PM
Is it just me or is it a bit weird that Perforce defaults to installing data files (the database) in the same directory as the executables?
I carefully formatted an Excel spreadsheet so that all of the data would fit onto one page and then hit print, expecting one sheet to come out. That is not what happened
September 24, 2025 at 8:01 PM
I carefully formatted an Excel spreadsheet so that all of the data would fit onto one page and then hit print, expecting one sheet to come out. That is not what happened
Why do I need to create an HP account before I can scan a document with my HP printer? Scanning documents can be an intensely personal thing so the last thing I want is an online account with some huge corporation!
September 24, 2025 at 6:40 PM
Why do I need to create an HP account before I can scan a document with my HP printer? Scanning documents can be an intensely personal thing so the last thing I want is an online account with some huge corporation!
It's <s>so cool</s> that in 2025 Microsoft still accidentally installs vfcompat.dll and appverifUI.dll in the root of the C drive. I assume that this comes from installing the Windows 11 SDK as part of Visual Studio. This feels very professional
September 23, 2025 at 10:26 PM
It's <s>so cool</s> that in 2025 Microsoft still accidentally installs vfcompat.dll and appverifUI.dll in the root of the C drive. I assume that this comes from installing the Windows 11 SDK as part of Visual Studio. This feels very professional
There is a Location tab in the properties for OneDrive\Documents, but any attempt to move it fails with this error message:
September 23, 2025 at 4:36 PM
There is a Location tab in the properties for OneDrive\Documents, but any attempt to move it fails with this error message:
Even deleting the FeedbackHub files that I was able to copy revealed issues!
September 23, 2025 at 2:20 PM
Even deleting the FeedbackHub files that I was able to copy revealed issues!
<s>Good job Apple and HP!</s>
My new HP laptop ships with Apple's Bonjour service but for some unknown reason (I just don't care enough to investigate more) this DLL is incompatible with Windows 11. I'm just gonna uninstall Bonjour, but what do normal users do?
My new HP laptop ships with Apple's Bonjour service but for some unknown reason (I just don't care enough to investigate more) this DLL is incompatible with Windows 11. I'm just gonna uninstall Bonjour, but what do normal users do?
September 22, 2025 at 8:51 PM
<s>Good job Apple and HP!</s>
My new HP laptop ships with Apple's Bonjour service but for some unknown reason (I just don't care enough to investigate more) this DLL is incompatible with Windows 11. I'm just gonna uninstall Bonjour, but what do normal users do?
My new HP laptop ships with Apple's Bonjour service but for some unknown reason (I just don't care enough to investigate more) this DLL is incompatible with Windows 11. I'm just gonna uninstall Bonjour, but what do normal users do?
Point: AI is brilliant and will take over the world and replace all jobs
Counterpoint: AI thinks that mushrooms and onions are heisen-foods that are simultaneously meats and vegetables (from a Google search for "best pizza toppings")
Counterpoint: AI thinks that mushrooms and onions are heisen-foods that are simultaneously meats and vegetables (from a Google search for "best pizza toppings")
September 16, 2025 at 12:32 AM
Point: AI is brilliant and will take over the world and replace all jobs
Counterpoint: AI thinks that mushrooms and onions are heisen-foods that are simultaneously meats and vegetables (from a Google search for "best pizza toppings")
Counterpoint: AI thinks that mushrooms and onions are heisen-foods that are simultaneously meats and vegetables (from a Google search for "best pizza toppings")
Mark V started service in 2025. These cars are the same length as the Mark III but there are five of them for a significantly increased total train length and a capacity of 672 people per train.
September 3, 2025 at 4:57 PM
Mark V started service in 2025. These cars are the same length as the Mark III but there are five of them for a significantly increased total train length and a capacity of 672 people per train.
Mark III came after that. These 17.025 m cars always come in a group of four and passengers can walk the entire length of the train, finally. The capacity goes up slightly to 532 people, despite being shorter, perhaps due to passengers fitting in the middle joint.
September 3, 2025 at 4:57 PM
Mark III came after that. These 17.025 m cars always come in a group of four and passengers can walk the entire length of the train, finally. The capacity goes up slightly to 532 people, despite being shorter, perhaps due to passengers fitting in the middle joint.
Mark II came next. There are a couple of variants but it's typically four 17.35 m cars in sets of two. Passengers can walk between the cars in a pair, but not between the pairs. The total capacity per train goes up to 528 people.
September 3, 2025 at 4:57 PM
Mark II came next. There are a couple of variants but it's typically four 17.35 m cars in sets of two. Passengers can walk between the cars in a pair, but not between the pairs. The total capacity per train goes up to 528 people.
Mark I is the original (circa 1984) train. Six separate 12.7 m cars with a capacity of 498 people per train. It will gradually be replaced by the new Mark V trains.
September 3, 2025 at 4:57 PM
Mark I is the original (circa 1984) train. Six separate 12.7 m cars with a capacity of 498 people per train. It will gradually be replaced by the new Mark V trains.