by CodeNinja | Feb 11, 2011 | Technology
Recently we have been noticing the ADSL router at the Ninja Temple has needed rebooting on a more regular bases. At first we thought nothing much of this since its often needed rebooting in the past. The full nature of the reboots were not realised until the several people who have been rebooting/reconnecting the gateway to the Interwebs got together and mentioned they had been doing it more often. At this point it was realised that something was not right.
Now the Insane Asylum provides the ADSL connection to the Ninja Temple, so I logged into the console and checked our connections. And according to the logs we were having a maximum uptime of five minutes, and a average uptime of fifty seconds. With this info to hand, a fault check request was sent in. and this reply was received.
BTW cannot progress this fault as the root cause is the PSTN failure. Please report to your Copper Line Service Provider.ff
KBD test completed, expires at 12:10
The Copper Line test has failed (LN). Openreach network fault found.
OK. So its a BT fault, not a problem as we also have a partners console with them. Fault logged with BT on the business line. The waiting game then began. Twenty Four hours later and we are up to the point where “An engineer is needed to check local network, we’ll let you know when we have an estimated date” So Our best guess is Interweb Services from the Ninja Towers will resume at some point this year.
Watch This Space.
by GothNinja | Feb 10, 2011 | Talkers, Spods
I often refer to myself as a SPOD. due to my years Spodding on different telnet talkers and the like, Unfortunately I now often get asked “What is a Spod?” from the uninitiated youngsters that litter the Interwebs these days. So since its a semi-FAQ I hunted out the old description of Spod from the help files on some Talkers that are still floating about if you know where to look.
Spod (n)
– A person who is nearly always found slumped over a keyboard, usually from the minute they awaken (if they even slept at all) to the minute they pass-out on their keyboard.
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by GothNinja | Feb 1, 2011 | Games, Friends, xbox 360
Last night I was sitting with my feet up watching an episode of Babylon 5 as part of #TheGreatBab5Watch, following on from #TheGreatTNGReWatch (These are matters for a different post). Anyway, there I was just finishing the episode that was on, and considering if I should start the next episode or make a trip to the fridge for a cold beer when *ding ding* My mobile goes off with a message from PlanetPete “Internet playing up still? I’m on acb“. Well that made my decision for me, I’d not played on online for a while, and had only had one game of Assassins Creed Brotherhood online, so it seemed a great Idea.
It was suggested since I was unfamiliar with the game that we would play a couple of rounds in a private match, before playing on open games online with groups of people. I must say the private matches first was needed to get into the needed mindset. Now we were playing Hunted(I think the game types called) *EDIT: “I Have been reminded the name was ‘Manhunt'” Basically ‘Hide & Seek’ with a death thrown in at the end. There are two groups, One are assassins with the job of finding and killing the other group, who are trying their best to hide. You then switch half way through.
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by GothNinja | Dec 13, 2010 | iPhone, Films
I recently installed an application on my iPhone called “System”, Its a handy little app that gives you information on you phones memory, processes, disk, batter, and general info. It’s a handy Application for checking your phone, or getting info from it.
The first time I used it, after installation it told me off. “Apparently” I had never done a “Full Charge” since having the phone. What my phone explained to me was this, “Batteries degrade with time, and the memory and life of the battery is constantly getting smaller. So over time the charge lasts less and less. Now if you do a full charge every so often you can extend the life of your battery” This is a good thing, so I read the instructions which were as simple as 1)let your battery get below 20% charge, 2)start system, 3)plug in charger and accept full charge. So I made a mental note to do this at some point.
Last night was that point. I noticed about 10pmish that my phone was down to 6% battery and needed charging, so I figured why not do a full charge. On plugging in the phone and accepting the prompt for full charge, I was given a message saying “Time to full charge 1h 50m”. So I left the phone plugged in and went to watch Star Trek (the reboot one).
<Sideways Tangent>
So the reboot Star Trek ends with Spock Prime going off with the few surviving Vulcan’s to try and build a new world. Now am I the only one thinking this is a stupid ending?
How many times in the TV series & Films has Spock gone back in time? He’s almost a big a time traveller as the Doctor! And he just lost his homeworld, and most his race. Surely that would be a good reason to go back in time and fix it. You could go back a few weeks and evacuate the planet so that no Vulcan’s die in the attack?
Or he could jump back a few years and use his knowledge of future technology to help build a starship with weaponry & shielding to defeat the attacking ship?
Hell he could even just go destroy Romulus now, which means Nero would never be born, and hence be unable to come back in time to change the future. Or do nothing since now Vulcan has been destroyed, then they will not be the technologically advanced race in the future, and so will not be able to invent and build a red matter powered ship, thereby preventing the wormhole being created that brought Nero back into the past to destroy them. Of course If they don’t invent the red matter ship, then they will not get destroyed allowing them to advance to the point they create the red matter ship.
Arggghhhh. This film just created an unending time loop.
</Sideways Tangent>
Before going to bed I checked the phone, it claimed the full charge was done, and it was just doing a trickle charge test which would not take long. So I left the phone plugged in and went to sleep.
at 4AM I was woken by a large siren going off. Turns out that there’s a hidden option on “System” to have a full charge finish alarm or not. And that the soon to be finished trickle test goes on for quiet a while. *mutter* *mutter*
So, where as I recommend people to do their best to extend the life of their phones battery, I suggest they turn off any annoying alarms.
by GothNinja | Sep 15, 2010 | Technology, Illness
Yesterday I gave in to the masses, who had been giving me a hard time for not going to the doctor with my “Vampire Eye“.
So I woke up yesterday, got dressed up in my Ninja Gi, loaded up with all the weapons and tools of the Ninja, and prepared for the dangerous, and arduous task that is trying to book an appointment at my medical centre. And was I in for a surprise.
I get ready with the house phone, my mobile, & a scripted PBX to attempt the impossible first step, actually getting hold of someone. I dial and……. I get an automated welcome message, welcoming me to the medical centre, informing me my call may be recorded for training purposes and telling me i shall have options to pick from. WOW. My Doctors place has got themselves a decent phone system that’s not some old woman sat at a desk moving wires about.
I then get to the menu system of the phone call. “Press one for…..” there then followed a huge list of all the possible reasons you may press option one. Then SILENCE, I waited, and waited, but still there was silence. “OK? so the first part of the menu is press 1 or press 1” I pressed 1, and the phone started ringing and I got a real person. Yes their automated phone messaging system goes. Press 1 and get person. They have managed to add a pointless step in the process of PHONE-RINGS->ANSWER-PHONE.
I get my appointment and dutifully turn up at the surgery on time. Only its all different, its bigger, better, and different. In fact its like they had built a huge new building next to the original, then knocked down the original to make additional car parking spaces. Well the old place had been there for dozens of years, and was a bit small and dingy.
I enter the posh new building to be greeted by a large wall mounted flat screen TV with the word “Welcome” on it in a button like box. I then touched the button on the screen like you do, it changed to two buttons [Male] & [Female] “Wow, they really gone to town on making the patients feel comfortable while waiting, they even supply company for you“. I quickly pressed the [Female] button, it now asked for a D.O.B. “wow. I wonder if they ask for my preferred hair colour and such?” I hit a few random options for a birth date, and waited for my order to arrive.
The screen in front of me said “Welcome Mrs ***** ****** ******, please take a seat in the waiting area.” *SHIT* its a login system, not a online ordering thing. I hit reset, and put my details in, and made my way to sit innocently in the waiting room. Where there was an even bigger flat screen TV informing me that “smoking is bad” “unsafe sex is bad” “yada yada yada” and occasional beeping and telling someone they should go to room **. Modern technology is great, instead of the old yellowing posters telling me everything fun is bad for me, they now get to do it in wide screen, high definition.
After all that, the Doc told me nothing I didn’t already know, and I was in with him for about 3 minutes. This is why I never bother going to see the Doctor.
by CodeNinja | Sep 9, 2010 | Media, Hacks
Once again the Media forces miss appropriate the word “Hacker”. This time in an article posted on the IT based site The Register, the article is titled “UK hacker fined for personnel database mischief” and the full article can be read here.
Now this could be fair I guess, lets see what the guy did. According to the article he “gained unauthorised access to staff contracts containing salary details and emailed this to around 400 workers at his ex-employer” Now, I can see why gaining unauthorised access to digital information could be associated to Hacking, Only lets read some more.
How did he manage to bypass the companies security and gain access? When he was sacked he stole his bosses laptop, and emailed out information he found on there. Yes. That’s right! The Mad 1337 h4x0r skillz this guy used was 1)theft of a object, 2)The ability to send an email. Wow.
The title should be X-employees fined for theft and breaking the Data Protection Act. Only the Media likes its word Hacker.
