Bork!Bork!Bork! While New Zealand might have cut itself off from much of the outside world in a physical sense, we were surprised to find its isolation extends to the occasional internet connection.
Spotted by a Register reader at Auckland’s Milford shopping centre (or “mall” as some might have it), today’s example of the curse of bork has appeared on a screen at the Auckland Savings Bank (ASB.)
An august institution, the ASB first opened its doors in 1847 and lays claim to being New Zealand’s first savings bank. While a mere youngster compared to some of the scaly institutions prowling the UK’s High Street, it seems somehow appropriate that Chrome’s dinosaur has been thrown up on the signage screen.
The lower half of the cheery, yellow-framed display is showing off the home loan rates available, while the base displays an impossibly early time for all but the most committed to be out and about. However, it is the top portion that is, as 80’s pop rockers Was (Not Was) might say, walking the dinosaur.
The appearance of the dinosaur is usually associated with a loss of an internet connection for Google’s browser (unless it is an advertisement too meta even for us.)
A swift keypress can trigger a running game to while away the time before the connectivity pixies do their stuff, but in this case, there is no interactivity on offer.
Still, there are worse places in the world to be. Lake Pupuke is a mere 500 metre skip southwards, and the delightful Milford beach lies 500m to the northeast of the shopping centre. Not that most of us are likely to be able to check it out any time soon, what with one thing and another. But here they both are for all you mental travellers….
As for the display, at least there is no Blue Screen of Death to alarm the innocent. Instead, the Dinosaur of Iffy Connectivity lurks, warning of an unplugged cable, lost Wi-Fi signal or duff DNS. It’s always DNS. ®