Re: Too early to say it is not, at least partially, an inside job
Do not always attribute maliciousness to what may be easily explained by laziness and general malaise.
Posts by Glenn Amspaugh
226 publicly visible posts • joined 8 Mar 2007
Chinese spies spent months inside aerospace engineering firm's network via legacy IT
Sam Altman sues builder over $27M flooded, sewage-hit 'lemon' of a mega-mansion
Monday 16th September 2024 20:05 GMT
We had a house built in 2007, using a 1950s era house plan. The house building company was one of the original suburb builders in the US, started by a Navy SeaBee after WWII. I was out there every day after work, had my own copy of the blue prints, going over each day's progress.
I caught so many things going in wrong (framing for a washroom with the door opening on the outside wall instead of interior hall was the worst) and still there were a couple of issues with Kitchen cabinets and stub walls. It helped that I had been a draftsman (paper pencil era), worked basic construction 1 summer in college (carpenter's helper) and did a few habitat for humanity builds.
Buying a PC for local AI? These are the specs that actually matter
Client tells techie: You're not leaving the country until this printer is working
Friday 16th August 2024 18:23 GMT
Re: Bo(e)ing?
My dad was a KC-135 crewchief in the '60s. They had issues with the dust and sand of North Africa (Wheelus AB outside of Tripoli).
I was a KC-135a crew chief in the '80s. Only time I few on my plane, (Washington state to Alaska) we had an inflight emergency where half the hydraulic fluid went away. Co-pilot hit the crossover valve and made the remaining hyraulic fluid go away. Ended up circling Eielson AFB, Alaska many times while dumping fuel (take that you nasty mosquitos!) and then we hand cranked the landing gear down. Only problem; could not get the gear to lock in place by hand. Pilot started flipping the plane back and forth until both sets locked. We landed to a mess of fire trucks, waiting to put out the expected *BOOM*. Insepction found a metal hydraulic line was not clamped in place properly, after the last phase inspection. On shorter flights, it did not cause any issues but the extended flight north caused the line to chafe against a metal bulkhead and finally fail. It's my understanding that back in Washington state, the phase mechanic who failed to replace the clamp ended up beaten up one night. Strange.
So yeah, I wouldn't want to fly in a '50s era plane but the USAF still has a bunch in service: https://www.flightglobal.com/fixed-wing/us-congress-halts-kc-135-replacement-until-usaf-produces-stealth-tanker-acquisition-plan/156264.article
EVs continue to grow but private buyers are steering clear, say motor trade figures
Tuesday 6th August 2024 19:27 GMT
Re: Second Hand?
Was planning on a second car EV purchase in 2025-2027 timeframe but came across a 2019 Chevy Cruz (small turbo1.4L sedan) with 6400 miles (single owner, retiree in Phoenix) that gets 40 - 60 MPG, for $17k.
Could not pass on this deal and not going majorly in debt for a new EV really works out as wife and I approach retirment age.
How a cheap barcode scanner helped fix CrowdStrike'd Windows PCs in a flash
GlobalWafers scores $400M to help build US's first 300mm wafer plants in Texas and Missouri
With users mostly happy to keep older kit, Macs just ain't selling like they used to
For the record: You just ordered me to cause a very expensive outage
Andrew Tanenbaum honored for pioneering MINIX, the OS hiding in a lot of computers
Google, Apple gear to raise tracking tag stalker alarm
Law prof predicts generative AI will die at the hands of watchdogs
Meta's value plummets as Zuckerberg admits AI needs more time and money
Thursday 25th April 2024 15:00 GMT 
For What?
"AI needs more time and money"
to do what?
Are they throwing billon$ of dollars in servers and chips at the wall hoping something sticks?
Is this some grand race to elimante labor costs so tech giants can operate with 100% profit from an unemployed human race with no $$$ to spend?
Just below the comment section there's another story: "Next-gen Meta AI chip servers up ads while sipping power."
WTAF?!!
(A = 'Actual')
Really seems like it's time to grab my coat and get outta here.
Ad agency boss owned two Ferraris but wouldn't buy a real server
Tuesday 9th April 2024 18:14 GMT
Yearly Scratch File System Cleanup notice goes out…
…and at least 1-3 "I can buy [current largest single consumer Hard Drive] at [insert local chain store that sells both home PC parts and refrigerators] for just [below-actual-cost in local currency]" emails each year when users are told to reduce their usage.
Do not touch that computer. Not even while wearing gloves. It is a biohazard
Uncle Sam's had it up to here with 'unforgivable' SQL injection flaws
Willy Wonka event leaves bitter taste with artificially sweetened promises
Thursday 29th February 2024 14:55 GMT
Re: An inexplicably high-effort grift
Adds Wonko Experience to Fyre Festival and Dash Con grift pile.
I don't get all the work that was done on each of these grifts to just quarter-ass something to the public at the end.
I mean, computers are supposed to make it easier to grift.
/my AI kingdom for a ball pit
Apple has botched 3D for decades. So good luck with the Vision Pro, Tim
'The computer was sitting in a puddle of mud, with water up to the motherboard'
Thursday 21st December 2023 17:12 GMT
Dude!
Working tech support at a small private collage (with private beach), I had a student tower brought in at end of year; wouldn't start. Machine was from the stoner dorm. Opening the case, everything was coated at least half an inch of ash and resin.
So glad that job did not entail drug testing.
Thursday 21st December 2023 17:09 GMT
Re: Apple II's… I'll take that off your hands
In late '90s, working for a Mom-n-Pop Apple/HP repair shop, we had a standing order to beg/grab/snorfle any Macintosh IIcx systems we came across in our daily on-site repairs (mostly schools and school related offices).
We had a manufacturing client running hyperspecific CAD/CAM cards that supposedly only ran in IIcx. I have no idea how much the boss made from each machine but profit had to be nice as most schools/offices were glad for us to clean up old kit from their stash closets.
HP exec says quiet part out loud when it comes to locking in print customers
Tuesday 5th December 2023 19:41 GMT
Got in early
Still using my HP 1000 from 2001 (free from school tech dump after prof offices updated). Toner is $50 a cartridge and that usually lasts 2-3 years.
Mostly use it for printing transparencies for screen printing and the occasional form requiring a signature. Fully expect this wee beast to outlast me.
Fark new printer!
Teens take a million metaverse Ryanair flights in Roblox
Most distant observed star is blue – and it isn't alone
Thursday 10th August 2023 20:49 GMT
Re: Éalá Éarendel Engla Beorhtast
Waiting for them to find Velveeta, the beloved star of quick and easy dinner time and processed cheese-like products.
“In the eastern sky, Velveeta, beloved morning star of the elves and handmaid of the dawn, rose and greeted Noxzema, bringer of the flannel tongue, and clanging on her golden garbage pail, bade him make ready the winged rickshaw of Novocaine, herald of the day. Thence came rosy-eyeballed Ovaltine, she of the fluffy mouth, and lightly kissed the land east of the Seas. In other words, it was morning.”
Never mind room temperature, LK-99 slammed as 'not a superconductor at all'
Producers allegedly sought rights to replicate extras using AI, forever, for just $200
Tuesday 18th July 2023 16:58 GMT
Re: Generate Extras for free
Start training an AI with cgi capture data (just like they do with image and text data) and sure, clever systems are spitting out belivable animation.
Problem happens when AI produced cgi is fed back into the AI and you get iterative decline. They're already seeing it happen with text and image 'sources'.
Birthright should bring an automatic personal copyright to likeness/image/voice/gait/etc. and if some AI hoovering sucks up your image, they need to pay to use it in training/production/display.
Three signs that Wayland is becoming the favored way to get a GUI on Linux
Microsoft's big bet on helium-3 fusion explained
Open source AI makes modern PCs relevant, and subscriptions seem shabby
Friday 19th May 2023 17:14 GMT
Re: costs
Heh, reminds me of the ear'y '90s and getting into 3D rendering and animation. New kit (Quadra 650 with AT&T coprocessor card) was taking a week to render 30 seconds of 640x480 ugly starships. But then I learned about distributed computing and shortly thereafter, was banned from using art school's new computer lab.
Tools and apps are pretty rough now but in 5-10 years children will be creating their own Star Wars films filled with Power Ranger characters (use whatever 'cool' films and tv shows kids will be into soon).
PC tech turns doctor to diagnose PC's constant crashes as a case of arthritis
Midjourney, DeviantArt face lawsuit over AI-made art
Friday 14th April 2023 19:39 GMT
Re: I hope they have a case
[looks at print of Rembrandt's Anatomy Lesson of Dr. Tulp pinned on wall above drawing desk, overlaid with grid to aid in copying painting]
From ten years ago when I was taking another swipe at learning to paint. Only got about half of it penciled onto canvas, never opened a tube of paint.
Biting the hand that feeds IT
