Lyle Seaman

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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!


The Chemistry Is Gone

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Sometimes the spark just isn't there.

For instance, Eric R. is just not that into Chemical Engineering. "Looks like I'll still be missing your articles, then, huh?"


Short Films

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Frequent flier Carlos quickly quipped "I’m waiting for my plane to take off from Washington-Dulles to Chicago-Midway. Just enough time to watch Innerspace."


All Wet

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Today JP wrote in to proudly unsmirch the Finnish reputation. "Some time ago, you blamed the Finns for strange patterns on Valts's weather map. I am delighted to report that the *real* culprit is revealed when carefully examining the Finnish Meteorological Institute's weather map of the whole of Europe." I stand corrected, JP.


Oldies are Goodies

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Sharp-eyed Jeremy P. goes a little meta, and we like little em meta. "Seen on a well known web site that publishes technology snafus.
I just think that if you are going to redact a company's name from a screen shot, you should probably also react the URL of the page from which the screen shot was made. Whether you publish this or not, I'd be grateful if you would tell me how many other people have also submitted this one." Only you, Jeremy. I'm not sure what that says about the readership of that website you're talking about. It must not be very popular.


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