By Robert Ellison. Updated on Friday, February 24, 2017.
The Martian by Andy Weir
5/5
Outstanding thriller about a man left behind on a Mars mission. Almost all of the tension is sucked out by geeky humor but the leftovers are more than enough. The movie version will probably switch the geek out and install Sandra Bullock.
Personal (Jack Reacher, #19) by Lee Child
4/5
If you're a Reacher fan this is a solid installment, by the numbers. If not then don't start here.
I have been super frustrated with the stock email client on Android which seems to crash about 50% of the time when I reply to ActiveSync / Exchange email.
Last week I discovered Nine which handles both Exchange and GMail if you're an apps for business user. It handles email, calendar and tasks beautifully and can present a combined mailbox from several accounts. The app is nicely designed and so far hasn't crashed or hung for me which has reduced the amount of daily swearing I aim at my phone considerably.
If you need to access Exchange on Android I can't recommend Nine highly enough.
(Published to the Fediverse as:
Nine for Exchange email on Android #etc#email Nine is still the best way to get Outlook / Microsoft Exchange email on Android.)
One family of solutions to the Fermi Paradox is that civilizations die out before they communicate - natural disaster, nuclear war, etc. This sort of calamity seems plausible some of the time but it would need to happen all of the time. What if any sufficiently advanced society inevitably discovers irrefutable proof that free will is an illusion and just gives up?
By Robert Ellison. Updated on Saturday, January 18, 2025.
Looks like Episode 7 is going to be weird... (as seen at The Presidio of San Francisco)
This photograph, whimsically titled "Spoiler Alert," presents a charming juxtaposition. At the forefront, R2-D2, the iconic Star Wars droid, stands vigil beside a blue postbox adorned with a playful pink ribbon. The vivid blue and metallic silver of the droid create an eye-catching contrast with the deep navy of the mailbox, drawing the viewer’s eye to the heart of this playful tableau. Sunlight glances off their surfaces, adding a bright sheen that amplifies the lightheartedness of the scene. Behind them, lush green grass and tidy hedges hint at a suburban setting, grounding the fantastical elements in reality and lending a touch of humor to the scene.
The composition of the photograph follows a straightforward yet effective approach. The rule of thirds subtly guides the viewer’s gaze, with R2-D2 and the mailbox occupying one vertical third, creating balance and focus. The contrasting colors enhance the sense of separation while simultaneously uniting the subjects through thematic novelty. The choice of shooting in natural light contributes a sense of vibrancy and clarity, bringing out details in the droid's design and the postbox's structure. However, while the image succeeds in creating a delightful and memorable scene, the composition could benefit from a slightly wider frame to include more of the surrounding environment, which might add an extra layer of narrative context. Overall, the photograph is a successful blend of playful humor and crisp, technical execution.
By Robert Ellison. Updated on Saturday, February 12, 2022.
My Chromebook was stolen over the weekend. The good news is that I didn't lose anything given the cloud only nature of the device. The bad news was that I didn't really want to get a new one.
I loved the cost and the boot speed and being able to do nearly everything I needed to with a browser-in-a-box.
But the nearly was a deal breaker. I sometimes need to VPN and the Chromebook wouldn't. It just wasn't compatible with our flavor of VPN and I didn't want to buy another Chromebook on the off chance that Google would eventually fix this. I also have to use Skype (I'd rather not) and this isn't really possible on the Chromebook either. Imo.im was good while it lasted. IM+ is horrible.
I've abandoned the Chrome dream and picked up a Surface Pro 3.
(Published to the Fediverse as:
Google PageSpeed Insights hates Google Analytics #etc#google#speed Why is it impossible to get a 100% Google PageSpeed Insights score if you use Google Analytics?)
By Robert Ellison. Updated on Wednesday, March 26, 2025.
I last got one of these in 2010 and assumed it must have died by now, but no, otherwise sensible organisations are still training their customers to fall victim to phishing attacks by asking them to open dodgy email attachments.
The product in question is Cisco Registered Envelope and it deals with the lack of security in email by sending you an encrypted HTML file. Opening this file sends you off to register on some website and then runs a Java app to decrypt the message. This is insane. The HTML attachment in insane and the Java applet is insane.
The latest email I got in this format was an appointment reminder from UCSF. I'm sure there is some HIPPA requirement that they can't just send medical information in a plain text email. But they could send an email that lets you know you should login to your account to see the appointment. It's not like the securedoc.html method is magic, you still have to create an account on a website to use it so it buys you literally nothing.
UCSF, shame on you. Look after your patients digital health as well as their physical health. Out of self interest if nothing else, nobody can pay you if their bank accounts have been emptied after falling victim to a real phishing attack.
Cisco, shame on you. This product is so wrong headed it's impossible to believe that you're doing anything right.
(Published to the Fediverse as:
Is it safe to open securedoc.html (Cisco Registered Envelope)? #etc#securedoc#cisco#phishing#ucsf#hippa Securedoc.html looks like a phishing/malware attack but isn't. Here's why it's dangerous anyway.)
I'm working on page speed and Google PageSpeed Insights is telling me that my PNGs are just way too large. Sadly .NET does not provide any way to optimize PNG images so there is no easy fix - just unmanaged libraries and command line tools.
I have an allergy to manual processes so I've lashed up some code to automatically find and optimize PNGs in my App_Data folder using PNGCRUSH. I can call CrushAllImages() to fix up everything or CrushImage() when I need to fix up a specific PNG. Code below:
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