Reupen’s blog

March 2025

  1. In photos: Sydney and Melbourne

    Some photos from a recent trip.

  1. Emojis in Windows 11: A mess once you look closely

    And, I like to look closely.

February 2025

  1. What do all the recent NTDDI_VERSION values mean?

    The answer isn’t always straightforward, as it turns out.

  1. Civilization VII: It needs some love

    A bit of attention to detail wouldn’t hurt, either.

January 2025

  1. DirectWrite strikes again

    Unique things should be, erm, unique.

  1. The squished iPlayer picture on my Sony TV

    No, Sony, I don’t like my TV picture squished, stretched and cropped at the same time.

December 2024

  1. Getting Windows 11 24H2 to install

    Error 0xC1900101-0x40017, you say?

  1. The (now resolved) crash releasing an IDWriteTextFormat

    No, I don’t like infinitely recursive loops.

October 2024

  1. Goodbye, Ghost

    I gave the blog a face lift. And made it static. Happy Halloween?

  1. Cahoot: An awful 2FA login process

    I’m happier when I can copy and paste one-time passwords.

September 2024

  1. Everyday Windows annoyances: A lack of context menu focus

    It won’t be a surprise that I noticed a new annoyance with the Windows 11 File Explorer.

  1. Google Pay and the useless error message

    Google Pay, without the ability to pay, is less than optimal.

July 2024

  1. Why, oh why, does Google Wallet stop working after scanning a Tesco Clubcard?

    Reliability is important for a mobile payments app. And so is just plain working.

  1. Segoe UI, tabular figures and DirectWrite

    Segoe UI isn’t always consistent, but it can be made to be.

  1. Everyday Windows annoyances: The mercurial context menu

    Sometimes you right-click and get what you want. And, sometimes you don’t.

  1. A trip to Japan

    Photos, and more, from my second trip to Japan.

June 2024

  1. I’ve finally got fibre to the premises

    Fast speeds. Low pings. Happy days.

  1. Everyday Windows annoyances: The new file menu

    Always consider the order of items in user interfaces, please.

March 2024

  1. The adverts on my Pixel 8

    Finally, a Pixel since the Pixel 5 that I like. Well, ignoring the adverts that have turned up.

January 2024

  1. Full fibre is (almost) in my area

    Some new gear appeared on my telegraph pole.