digitalstefan - Network

Taxi to Uxbridge £250Because I missed the trainAnd I can’t deal with the hassle of figuring out a new plan involving different trains.

Taxi to Uxbridge £250

Because I missed the train

And I can’t deal with the hassle of figuring out a new plan involving different trains.

Upon checking my email... the PayPal "we are reviewing your case" email was received at 6:44am this morning and the "case...

Upon checking my email... the PayPal "we are reviewing your case" email was received at 6:44am this morning and the "case closed in your favour" email was received at 6:45am.

I don't have a high opinion of PayPal overall, but I'm happy-smug at this result.

Thus endeth the saga of my DOOM The Dark Ages Collectors Edition order, theat of import fees, ignored emails and... full refund received...

Thus endeth the saga of my DOOM The Dark Ages Collectors Edition order, theat of import fees, ignored emails and... full refund received just now (a day after I filed the PayPal dispute).

Did the refund happen today because I raised the dispute? Possibly. I do know that today marks 7 full days that the item has been sitting in a UPS warehouse.

The tech is fantastic. One of the chapters / levels was visually stunning and highly original, but gameplay in that chapter was interrupted...

The tech is fantastic. One of the chapters / levels was visually stunning and highly original, but gameplay in that chapter was interrupted by a quite boring albeit novel (for a Doom game) puzzle.

Completed Doom The Dark Ages.Not 100%I don't know if I really have the energy to go back and find everything.It's an OK game, but...

Completed Doom The Dark Ages.

Not 100%

I don't know if I really have the energy to go back and find everything.

It's an OK game, but I'm glad that

A) I'm getting a refund for the collectors edition
B) I paid £9.99 for PC Game Pass instead of £69.99 for the Steam edition.

Not a lot of variety. Some weapons just not worth bothering to use. Same, tired old "find the blue key" puzzles. Same, tired old "secret area obviously signposted".

No big mid-boss fights (that I remember).

For clarity, the only action I performed in their Google Ads account was to remove my own access, but they weren’t to know that.

For clarity, the only action I performed in their Google Ads account was to remove my own access, but they weren’t to know that.

My non-paying freelance client over in the US has finally paid.It took me scaring them and then shaming them to get it.The scare: “it’s...

My non-paying freelance client over in the US has finally paid.

It took me scaring them and then shaming them to get it.

The scare: “it’s not best practise to not pay me but allow me to retain access to your Google Ads account”

The shame: “You wouldn’t work for free and you wouldn’t let your staff work for free, so why would I?”

I’ve lost out on less favourable exchange rate and card processing fee, but I never have to think about them again.

Slack needs a Rust rewrite.I use it daily for work and it responds about one fifth the speed as AmIRC did when running on an Amiga with a...

Slack needs a Rust rewrite.

I use it daily for work and it responds about one fifth the speed as AmIRC did when running on an Amiga with a 50MHz 68030 CPU.

It’s driving me nuts.

2 unwarranted Microsoft account authentication requests in 3 days.Have already changed password to the account.Seems this is just a thing...

2 unwarranted Microsoft account authentication requests in 3 days.

Have already changed password to the account.

Seems this is just a thing and there’s nothing to be done other than ignore them.

This is not the first time I’ve encountered dreadful security process from Microsoft.

Reading any social media post titles recently would have anyone thinking there’s been a huge surge in interest for making meals at...

Reading any social media post titles recently would have anyone thinking there’s been a huge surge in interest for making meals at home.

Literally everyone talking about things being cooked.

(Yes this unduly irritates me. Yes this is a “me” problem)

The one we were trying to descale was an eBay fixer-upper anyway and we've had hundreds of cups of coffee from it.The new one is...

The one we were trying to descale was an eBay fixer-upper anyway and we've had hundreds of cups of coffee from it.

The new one is essentially the same, super serviceable device. This time though, instead of an aluminium boiler + group head assembly, it's brass! Nice.

£500 though. £500 for essentially a high pressure pump, a lump of metal, some tubing, a heater, two thermostats , an over-temp fuse and some switches.

Disassembled the coffee machine to give it a thorough and long overdue descaling. Gaggia Classic Pro, so quite easy to service.Warn fiancee...

Disassembled the coffee machine to give it a thorough and long overdue descaling. Gaggia Classic Pro, so quite easy to service.

Warn fiancee not to submerge the boiler part because "remember what happened last time?". Last time water got where water oughtn't get and shorted the heating element, so we had to buy a new boiler.

What did the love of my life do? Submerged the boiler.

What is shorted? The heating element.

All a long way of saying we have finally bought a brand new coffee machine.

If I cuss at a scammer on the phone, I'm the one breaking the law.Why? Because I can't prove they were saying anything that was...

If I cuss at a scammer on the phone, I'm the one breaking the law.

Why? Because I can't prove they were saying anything that was going to end up with me being scammed. Mostly because I just didn't let them get far enough in the conversation.

"I'm calling from Coin [something] support relating to your Ledger account"

... coincidentally 3 minutes after someone failed an attempt to login to my Microsoft account. Also some context: My details got leaked in the Ledger hack some years ago.

Whilst my DOOM Dark Ages Collector's Edition refund isn't quite yet pending, I paid for PC Game Pass, so now I can just play the...

Whilst my DOOM Dark Ages Collector's Edition refund isn't quite yet pending, I paid for PC Game Pass, so now I can just play the game.

First impressions: It's Doom-meets-Quake. The graphics look good, but not leaps beyond Doom Eternal, despite being far more demanding.

My 4090 can just about keep things above 60FPS at 4k.

Interestingly, playing at 1080p on a 4k TV still looks perfect. Bonus feature of 180+ FPS.

Been having odd Bluetooth keyboard issues recently. Put it down to “shoddy Keychron quality”.I might have just fixed it by switching off...

Been having odd Bluetooth keyboard issues recently. Put it down to “shoddy Keychron quality”.

I might have just fixed it by switching off Bluetooth for my phone and my work phone, both of which sit on the desk behind the keyboard.

I make heavy use of Bluetooth for wireless audio, which is maybe pushing my luck in terms of number of simultaneous streams.

Bethesda have backed all the way down with their "lol you pay extra surprise import fees now" saga of DOOM Dark Ages Collectors...

Bethesda have backed all the way down with their "lol you pay extra surprise import fees now" saga of DOOM Dark Ages Collectors Edition preorders for UK customers.

They've "generously" changed their tune to "we will refund the fees in full after you pay them or you can return / refuse delivery for a full refund" - This email went out to everyone affected (it seems).

Anyway, now I have PC Game Pass for a month.

Codecademy just told me "learning is social"Ahahahaha. No.Learning is what happens when I am interested in the thing I am learning...

Codecademy just told me "learning is social"

Ahahahaha.

No.

Learning is what happens when I am interested in the thing I am learning and it becomes a hyperfocus long enough for the information to implant in my brain.

If anything "social" happens during that process, hyperfocus state dissolves.

The bittersweet news from an ex colleague that I left that job at the best possible time because it’s all going to shit.Can’t say I...

The bittersweet news from an ex colleague that I left that job at the best possible time because it’s all going to shit.

Can’t say I didn’t see it coming, but I didn’t know what shape the shit would take.

Very nearly impulse bought an Apple Watch today because they are essentially £100 off on Amazon.I don’t need one. I’d probably forget...

Very nearly impulse bought an Apple Watch today because they are essentially £100 off on Amazon.

I don’t need one. I’d probably forget to wear it half the time. I don’t wear and haven’t worn a wristwatch of any sort for at least two decades.

Shiny tech though.

The saga of my Doom Dark Ages Collectors Edition preorder continues.No further response from Bethesda yet, but UPS appears to be to have...

The saga of my Doom Dark Ages Collectors Edition preorder continues.

No further response from Bethesda yet, but UPS appears to be to have been trying to hand off the final leg of delivery to an org that does not “do” payment (of the additional fees I refuse to pay) on delivery, only today they’ve decided that this is a genuine problem and they are going to tell Bethesda about it.