Category: amusing

Now We Know Which it Is…

On By JohnIn amusing, techLeave a comment

A week or so ago, I shared my annoyance with the inexplicable “Accessory Not Supported” alerts that I’d begun seeing on my iPad Pro 10.5.

I think I’ve finally pinned down what it was.

Of the three things that have ever been connected to it, the only thing that was connected whenever the error appeared was the smart keyboard.

That the keyboard itself occasionally wasn’t transferring keypresses was a good suggestion that it was likely nearing the end of its useful life.

Two and a half years’ of use wasn’t bad for the keyboard. Bought it new July, 2017. No doubt the failing (failure?) point was the flexible hinge. Honestly, you have to bend it every time you want to use it, so it’s not at all surprising — science hasn’t yet devised a material that would be capable, inexpensive, and robust enough to tolerate constant flexing and bending.

So, good news: I haven’t seen the error appear in a few days that I’ve been running it naked. And, in all honesty, the keyboard does make it slightly more useful, but the first creation I’d ever done with it didn’t even use the keyboard at all with the exception of typing the name of the creation — which I could have just as easily typed with the software keyboard.

Jhonen Vasquez may be displeased.

I shouldn’t use this keyboard failure as an excuse to replace the lot with an iPad Pro 11.

An Old Joke…

On By JohnIn amusingLeave a comment

…but still funny.

A farmer stopped by the local mechanic’s shop to have his truck fixed. They couldn’t do it while he waited, so he said he didn’t live far and would just walk home.

On the way home, he stopped at the hardware store and bought a bucket and a gallon of paint. He then stopped by the feed store and picked up a couple of chickens and a goose. However, struggling outside the store he now had a problem – how to carry all of his purchases home.

While he was scratching his head and pondering his predicament, he was approached by a little old lady who told him she was lost. She asked, “Can you tell me how to get to 1603 Mockingbird Lane?”

The farmer said, “Well, as a matter of fact, my farm is very close to that house. I would walk you there, but I can’t carry this lot.”

The old lady suggested, “Why don’t you put the can of paint in the bucket. Carry the bucket in one hand, put a chicken under each arm and carry the goose in your other hand?”

“Well thank you very much,” he said and proceeded to walk the old girl home.

On the way, he said, “Let’s take my short cut and go down this alley. We’ll be there in no time.”

The little old lady looked him over cautiously, then said, “I’m a lonely widow without a husband to defend me… How do I know that when we get in the alley you won’t hold me up against the wall, pull up my skirt, and have your way with me?”

The farmer said, “Holy smokes lady! I’m carrying a bucket, a gallon of paint, two chickens, and a goose. How in the world could I possibly hold you up against the wall and do that?”

The old lady replied, “Set the goose down, cover him with the bucket, put the paint on top of the bucket, I’ll hold the chickens.”

Random Tech

On By JohnIn amusing, techLeave a comment

Apropos to, well, nothing.

There’s a more effective regex you could use.

c=abcdefg; egrep -i “^[$c]{2,${#c}}$” dictionarylist

Another random bit of randomness, while I hammered out that example var, the only thing I could think of was that maddening commercial from the 1970s for Hooked on Phonics. How did they start off? Weren’t they some over-energetic woman doing a voice-over at the beginning of the commercial starting with the borderline, somewhat musical, “Learn to read!”

Great campaign, really. Memorable.

But wouldn’t it seem strange that your telephone number still said “One Eight-hundred A-B-C-D-E-F-G!” — so, you have to understand letters and reading well-enough to, you know, learn to read?

Yep, Hukt On Fonix werkt fer me!