Errata @Errata@mastodon.technology

Tried to update Comodo Internet Security again, but (as a user wrote) '12.2.2.7062 and 12.2.2.7098 prevent me from working normally'. Had to downgrade CIS again. I'll have to wait for a fix.

For my WD SSD disk I have an Unitek M.2 NVMe SSD Enclosure and I couldn't get it to work. Until I found another user's review: 'Originally it didn't work, with Windows throwing an "Invalid operation" error. This is down to the way the drive latches in, you have to push the drive into the connector farther than you think it needs to go, then snap it into the plastic latch'. He was right. Even though the latch doesn't keep the drive in place now, the disk is correctly detected and it works.

https://stackoverflow.com/questions/34745452/display-ie-ms-clear-pseudo-element-in-small-input-elements - because sometimes your web application already HAS form field clear function. Or you happen to use MS Edge and you just hate such ugly thing.

My Comodo Internet Security updated itself to death. The system slowed to a halt, Comodo could't be uninstalled... Fortunately there's https://help.comodo.com/topic-72-1-766-12685-.html Comodo Uninstaller Tool. After about ten reboots Comodo was gone and I could install back its older version. And I remembered to disable its updates this time.

As always, Firefox executed "download the brownload" function and updated itself. This time they killed browser.urlbar.disableExtendForTests switch which used to make the address bar almost usable. So it's unusable again. Feck! What fecking morons they are! Can't they just hire someone who is not a fecking blind monkey on crack?

XP Mode under my Windows 7 suddenly started to require a password. I couldn't remember setting any password, but it turned out that one of my passwords works :)

Needed to test something under Docker, so tried to install it under my Windows 7. "Error checking TLS connection: Host is not running" message, so... Updated VirtualBox, because outdated version was installed by default. But now... Looking for some nice containers to install ;)

I got a pack of LUTs (lookup tables in CUBE format) off https://www.giveawayoftheday.com/500-free-professional-luts-look-up-tables/ giveaway lately and... How to use it? I have no Photoshop. After quick searching: There's a free program that's good for it: darktable. https://www.darktable.org/ It has 3D LUT module where you can switch LUTs and... Well, effects are interesting but not revolutionary. Maybe automatic white balance in my camera just doesn't need such methods?

My old Nokia Lumia is really better at calibrating its compass - calibration is automatically triggered whenever necessary. New (well, from 2017) Xperia needs dialing the old magic command *#*#7378423#*#* ("SERVICE"). Then you can choose from menu: - Service tests - Compass - Calibrate the compass.
There's also "INFO" command - dial *#*#4636#*#* to issue it.

https://bugs.launchpad.net/ubuntu/+source/vlc/+bug/790216 - according to that discussion, VLC couldn't and still can't record from network streams while correctly retrying after all errors. Oh well.

But it seems those options don't resume recording at all.

I used to record my favourite broadcasts using cvlc under Linux, but had to prevent network stream recording problems somehow. I'm testing --http-reconnect --http-continuous options - wish me luck.

But I was supposed to be serviced today...

Waiting for my turn in some mobile queueing system while the system tries to cope with a huge overload. Still no response. They could try to check it first under any real load, I suppose.

#PhotographyDay

One of my PCs (Dell Optiplex 780 SFF) has a feature that has proved useful: diagnostic lights. When it failed to boot one day, the lights informed me that the PC is not dead, but integrated video card is. I was guilty probably - my monitor was faulty. But it was possible to revive the computer by installing a new video card. And a new monitor, of course.

Crafted some CSS today and https://css-tricks.com/when-do-you-use-inline-block/ saved the day.

Firefox, the browser I like to use (and love to hate), made me angry again. It used to start so long that I tried to remove "older than 6 months" history entries. That monstrous task (that should take a second, I thought) took more than half an hour and all my RAM (I have 6GB). And I thought I was going to delete OLD history - but quite new records disappeared from address bar too. What a crap... And I still consider it better than Chrome :)

Sometimes (exactly: in Firefox, on one of my computers) Google Maps are completely unreadable because streets are invisible. I found a discussion thread where a user with this problem was told that he either had a bad monitor or bad eysight. A classic "never do that to a client" example. Well... Correct solution is available though - all we need is to force feed this piece of CSS to Maps:

.widget-scene-canvas {
    opacity: 0.9;
}

Comet NEOWISE (C/2020 F3)