Hi, this is Allison Sheridan of the NosillaCast Apple Podcast, hosted at Podfeet.com, a technology geek podcast with an EVER so slight Apple bias. Today is Sunday, March 20, 2022, and this is show number 880.
Last week I told the story about how I created an Apple Shortcut with an embedded shell script that tests to see if my NAS is on the same network as my Mac, and if so, to mount a share volume. In my tests for whether the server was on the same network, I copied an alert that would say the server is “pining for the fjords” it it wasn’t there. Listener Jill wrote in an explanation of that term that I didn’t remember: Jill wrote:
Just in case you didn’t know, “pining for the fjords” is from one the most famous Monty Python sketches ever, the parrot sketch. The shopkeeper describes the eponymous parrot as “pining for the fjords”, when it is, in fact dead. Hence, “pining for the fjords” is a euphemism for being dead. Do yourself a favor: Go watch or listen to the parrot sketch. You won’t regret it.
I know that sketch but I hadn’t seen it in ages so I went back to watch it again. She’s right, it’s one of the great pieces of comedy of our time. It also gives me a chance to tell the best story (probably again) about my dad.
When I was growing up, my dad was a huge influence on me in studying and excelling in school. Education was the number one thing to him. He was an engineer and groomed me in his own image (since my three older brothers pursued different paths, much to his chagrin.)
One day while I was studying, he hollered down to my room to tell me to come see something on TV. I told him I couldn’t watch TV with him, because I was studying for a Chemistry exam. He insisted I come see it. I again argued with him that this test was a mid-term and I really need to study. He replied, “I promise you will remember this much more than anything you ever learn in Chemistry.”
And of course you’ve probably guessed, it was the first time he ever saw Monty Python. My father had a wonderful sense of humor to go with his work eithic, and I think his appreciation of Monty Python proves it. Thanks, Jill for explaining the joke I had entirely missed. I will always use “pining for the fjords” in my error messages from now on.
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Security Bits — 20 March 2022
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