Bodger @bodger@computerfairi.es

If a credit card reader is unable to read a chip, it defaults to reading the mag stripe. But when it sends the transaction to the payment processor, the processor checks the card number and the fact that it has a chip reader, and denies the transaction because it should have been a chip. At this point, the card reader should say "chip read failed" instead of "see cashier".

I'm used to a few vultures showing up when a deer gets hit, but the yard is full of them, as well as more on the fence, shed, and local trees. Probably a few dozen in all.

A bug in Apple Music displays the wrong album artwork for some tracks, and one intrigued me: "Thumper: No one left the Disco alive". So I looked it up. The first track is entitled "Peptide Influences The Folding And Intracellular Transport Of MHC Class 1 Free Heavy Chains" and consists of ten seconds of screaming. The other tracks are some solid punk.

I'm reading @standupmaths 's new book "Love Triangle" (not available yet in the states, but I bought a copy from him in the UK), and I get to the chapter on angles, where he refers to an erroneous picture of a rainbow as "more of an oval". But it's not an oval (two arcs connected by straight lines) but an ellipse, which would be possible in a universe where optical properties varied by direction. Or, a real photo with an anamorphic lens! Now I'm motivated to take such a photo.

Since Adam Savage's tool ladder concept worked out for me, I figured I'd try having a fancier rung laser cut out of Baltic birch. Ah, it's a lot nicer than the handmade flakeboard one below it!

I got the climate control override switch panel wired up and installed in my dash. It doesn't look too bad, considering that it's a total hack to get around the climate control module pitching a fit and cutting off the airflow.

The climate control computer on my car gets snippy when it doesn't get the readings it expects from the actuators and just shuts them all, so I don't get any air conditioning. So I figure I'll just control the actuators directly. I made a switch panel, it actually looks kinda nice.

Gearing up to replace our ancient HVAC system. Looked at geothermal but it's not cost effective for our situation, so looking at an air-to-air heat pump for heating and cooling. Got bids from Trane and Carrier vendors, comparing and contrasting. The existing A/C is Carrier, and that part of it still works fine. I hear Trane was acquired by Ingersoll-Rand a few years back, trying to figure out what impact (if any) that has on product quality.

Got two robocalls today explaining how the Democrats are going to ruin the country after picking on Trump and asking for donations to the Republican party. I'm upping my donations to Democrats.

That feeling when you pull a sock on and a thread or hair goes between your toes. Ick.

@ehmatthes I generally put my slides together in XML, then a template in XSLT and process them with FOP. For custom graphics, I set them up in PS and then convert to PDF. I assiduously avoid JS.

What does your favorite dinosaur say about you? Well, it says what your favorite dinosaur is. Mine's Dunkleosteus.

I got a telescammer impersonating Medicare. Putting on a creepy voice, I began imprecating "Your blood will become feeble, your bones will twist" when she interrupted me with a legitimately terrified squeak "Shut up!" and hung up on me. I claim victory. That curse must be powerful, the computer crashed twice while I was trying to type that.