BORK!BORK!BORK! As large and cheap LCD displays become ever more common, techies on the move can see there is no rest for the IoT signage silage – but this does not seem to be the case if your name is Mr Biz Daemon.
Spotted by Register reader Ian Thompson, today’s example of technology in distress is an electronic sign at Festival Place in the UK town of Basingstoke. A pop-up warns us that Biz Daemon is not responding.
As well he might not – assuming the image is of Mr Daemon, he appears to be sitting on a wall, next to one of those annoying wheeled suitcases that never fit efficiently into the overhead lockers on aircraft due to wheels that rumble up and down streets at all times of the night and day.
Biz Daemon won’t be talking to you (click to enlarge)
With a pair of sunglasses and an unbuttoned shirt, Mr Daemon does not have a care in the world other than where he might find a pair of sensible socks. Otherwise, those shoes, while stylish, would chafe something awful.
Biz is a curious first name. Perhaps it’s short for Barry? Or, and this is probably more likely, Biz Daemon is just the name of a background process that has stopped responding to the operating system, rendering remote management impossible. Our best guess is that Biz Daemon is something like the AirDroid Business Daemon, which is installed on devices managed by AirDroid Business, a device management platform.
However, like the individual pictured in the advertisement, the daemon has opted to take it easy and not respond to queries from management. If there is an Android equivalent of sitting on a wall by a pool in the sunshine, this daemon is doing it, and to heck with the consequences.
Our reader told us that Festival Place put him in mind of Fortune City Mall in classic PlayStation and PC survival game Dead Rising, which seems a little harsh, although shopping centers under siege are a popular trope when it comes to zombie apocalypses – George A Romero’s 1978 Dawn of the Dead is a classic example.
And if it’s zombies and Basingstoke you’re after, it’s worth noting that Old Basing, just east of Basingstoke, was a filming location for Pride and Prejudice and Zombies.
Or just live life like Biz Daemon. Sit on a wall. Position an annoying wheeled case next to you to trip an unwary passersby. And stop responding to the world. ®
