Lyle Seaman

networking, security infra and filesystems kernel hacker turned application programmer, SRE and engineering manager, Lyle traded tilting at windmills for viking at Vikings but couldn't catch any.

Sep 2023

Supernatural

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I read your minds today, and what I saw there said you're all desperate for more Error'd. Lucky you, here's a twofer from LinkedIn!

Prospective employee Progenitus opened an email and reflected "Yes, LinkedIn I am asking that myself. But I hoped you would help me find out about that."


[ insert title here ]

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This week we received a plethora of failed text substitutions. I'd like to find a pithy name for this sort of error; suggestions in the comments here will be welcomed.

But before we dive into those typical errors, repeat contributor Valts S. has shared a classic blunder: "White text on white background. Who among us hasn't done this in our lives? :)"


Number Theories

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From our readers this week, we have a couple of mixed numbers. David B even gets a twofer.

Trainspotter Daniel notes "The LIRR now has the technology to pass 9 minutes with only 5 minutes of waiting!" They're apparently doing something nonobvious about scheduled versus expected times in one context, but not in another. Maybe the readers can figure it out.


Soups On

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Joseph H. is a little salty about vapid adverts. "Vacation planners long ago figured out that the Great Salt Lake didn't make for great resorts. They must be referring to the up-and-coming land cruises across the desert plains of Utah. Definitely that. No other possible explanation."


Redmond Calling to the Faraway Towns

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We had to stretch just a little bit to make a purely Microsoft-themed column this week. Gone are the days when it was trivial to make BSOD jokes and rail at Outlook Express. But they still give us material for some lolz now and then.

Well-rested reader Michael W. remarks "After waking up my laptop from a long period of slumber and logging in I am greeted by the attached error message on my desktop: You'll need the Internet for this. Which makes me wonder what do I need the internet for? The dialog has no title and it's not clear if it's connected to any other open windows. Whatever the ''this'' is supposed to reference to stays shredded in mystery providing no context whatsoever. But I guess it's at least a step up from those ''Internal Error'' message dialogues. And yes, of course a solution can be googled for, but alas most of those pages will tell you how to fix a network connection problem but also mostly won't tell you to what application or use this dialogue relates to (apparently it's Windows 365 subscription related)"
Obviously, you'll need the Internet to post it to Error'd!