* Posts by Adair

1029 publicly visible posts • joined 23 Jan 2008

Page:

How to run an LLM on your PC, not in the cloud, in less than 10 minutes

Adair

Re: You expect it to "know" facts?

And there's our problem: not with 'religion', but with cheap, ignorant assertions, probably made as a teenager and clung to 'religiously' ever since, not because the position is educated and thought through, but because it suits the holder's prejudice, and allows them to justify themselves, even if at they expense of others.

Adair

Re: You expect it to "know" facts?

Riddle me this, thumb-downers: tell us what the word 'religion' means to you.

Then we'll compare your chosen definition with the plethora of understandings that exist outside your head/s, and see where your idea fits, and if it provides a worthy and helpful generalisation, or merely expresses ignorance and prejudice.

Adair

Re: You expect it to "know" facts?

I'd keep 'religion' right out of the equation. It's one of those umbrella labels that means whatever the user wants it to mean. To the extent that use of the label is far more likely to say something about the user than about the label.

Adair

That's all well and good, but doesn't really deal with the underlying issue: running software which has, as it's primary feature as mentioned above, 'to pull results out of its digital arse'?

I mean, fine. The emperor is entitled to parade down the street in all his presumed finery, but to anyone willing to watch the spectacle with a critical mind the emperor is still buck naked. Fine indeed. :-P

Can AI shorten PC replacement cycles? Dell seems to think so

Adair

Re: "shorten PC replacement cycles"

Yep, it's the same old story as ever: " Please, please, please buy our shit. It's really shiny. [and then you can pay us muchly to maintain it, until we persuade you to buy our next load of shiny shit]

ad nauseum, ad infinitum ...

Fresh version of Windows user-friendly Zorin OS arrives to tempt the Linux-wary

Adair

Re: I bet in spite of the usability angle, there is little to no fingerprint support

Seriously? Wow, I hope you make excellent use of those saved seconds.

Actually, it would be nice to have the option to simply incorporate biometric login, etc. It'll probably come in due course.

But it's absence as a serious reason for eschewing using Linux? Wow, but then it takes all sorts.

The end of classic Outlook for Windows is coming. Are you ready?

Adair

Re: Thunderbird is the replacement for Outlook Express

You may find the 'Cards' view of some help. Not sure if it's fully completed as planned yet:

---

In this example we’ll show you the main Thunderbird window with “the Supernova look.” That’s when the Vertical layout is activated in Thunderbird 115, along with the new “Cards” view.

Card view (one of the cards is highlighted in red, see #11), is a multi-line, non-column alternative view of the message list. Currently there is a two line “card” for each message in the Message List Pane (our plan is to eventually expand this to 3 or 4 customizable lines). The first line has the sender’s display name and time, and the second line displays the subject.

---

IMAGE: https://blog.thunderbird.net/files/2023/07/115-cards-window.png

Attacks on UK fiber networks mount: Operators beg govt to step in

Adair

Of course, shouldn't you/we all take that view, and carry it out—to care for others as a matter of principle? But that says nothing about the supposed, and real, predisposition of human beings to violence.

At a genetic level (and probably any level), to seek to categorise and define human beings according to some arbitrary threshold of 'predisposition' is both nonsensical and wicked.

Whether any of us are more, or less, likely to behave violently through genetic inheritance and/or environmental factors, we all have agency—are capable of choice, and awareness of the consequences of our actions. We are responsible beings (excepting those who are too ill/damaged to sensibly be regarded as being capable of taking responsibility).

Adair

Are you therefore prepared to argue that some people have no capacity for violent behaviour?

Obviously that is statistical bollocks, we could never be certain of anyone being incapable of violence towards others. Therefore, in practice, we must consider ALL human beings as having some degree of predisposition to violent behaviour. Where do you plan on drawing the line, presumably you would place yourself outside the 'violent' side.

Alternatively, after you have pre-emptively executed everyone else, don't forget to top yourself, thereby proving the rule and obviating the risk. Parthenogenesis is a thing you know—it wouldn't do to take any chances.

Year of Linux on the desktop creeps closer as market share rises a little

Adair

Re: Repeat after me:

Isn't that the old mainframe model—everything else is just a dumb terminal. Everything old is new again.

I'm afraid I'm not qualified to answer your challenge though. My personal setup is accessible wherever, but I don't have an IP phone setup, and I don't support a workforce of tens, let alone hundreds.

Maybe others can supply an honest answer at an institutional level.

Adair

Re: Repeat after me:

Munich: Politics ...

Mint 21.2 is desktop Linux without the faff

Adair

Re: The best

True, but only up to a point. In my, anecdotal, experience most people will quite happily sit down and get on with Mint/MX Linux/... as long as no one makes a big deal about 'CHANGE!!!'.

With a very little amount of initial handholding, and the odd bit of help and encouragement along the way, the people in my experience, with little to zero IT confidence, have all just got on with it, but this is all in private life.

Big institutions with their sub-cultures, paranoia, cynicism, and general disillusionment generally find 'CHANGE!!!' exactly that—something to be distrusted and avoided at all costs.

Updates are plenty but fans are few in Windows 11 land

Adair

There are better OSes out there ...

but Stockholm Syndrome is a thing, especially when money has been paid.

Ubuntu, Kubuntu, openSUSE to get better installation

Adair

Re: Non-issue

Agreed, so long as you are doing a straight 'click through', say 'Yes' to everything install, but anyone unfamiliar with the concept and practicalities of partitioning is likely to lose heart at that point. Straightforward if you've done it before, or just know what you are doing, not so much fun otherwise.

Microsoft Publisher books its retirement party for 2026

Adair

Re: "have a go at importing .pub files"

.pub = tears of rage. Not only could nothing else open/edit the file, but neither could your earlier version/s, when the boss sent it through saying "Hey, I've just drawn this up, but I need you to add the current details—it's due out in an hour?" I'll tell you what I think of MSPub: FOAD already!

It wouldn't have been so bad if it wasn't for the fact that it was the goto DTP software for endless numbers of office drones, plus your grandparents.

ANZ Bank test drives GitHub Copilot – and finds AI does give a helping hand

Adair

It's just a tool

Like all tools, especially new ones, it takes a while to learn to use it well, and it takes a while to refine the tool to make it as focussed and functional as it can be.

With coding, the AI needs to be built explicitly for coding, maybe even confined to a single language, so that the amount of rancid mashup code is minimised, maybe even recognised and excluded.

Mozilla slams Microsoft for using dark patterns to drive Windows users toward Edge

Adair

Re: Teams/Outlook users driven over the Edge

Microsoft unashamedly states that Firefox is not a supported browser for Teams.

There's a workaround for that particular bit of nasty self-serving bullshit behaviour, but in general MS can FOAD for all the use they are in actually allowing people to do what they need/want with the kit they own—I think it's called 'general purpose computing'.

Crunchbang++ versus Bunsen Labs: The pair turn it up to 12

Adair

Re: Sigh.......

Isn't it a pity that some of us don't appreciate, or even understand, the concept of 'freedom', e.g. the freedom to/not to use Linux.

SparkyLinux harbors a flamboyant array of desktops

Adair

Re: Diversity of design

:-D Excellent, you make my point for me—Shuttleworth is free to use Linux, etc. to pursue his particular goals.

Adair

Re: Diversity of design

'I don’t think it’s whining when people are offering constructive suggestions that would promote the wider adoption of Linux'

Who says this is the primary goal of 'Linux'? Where is that goal written in stone?

Yeah, okay 'wider adoption', 'the [fabled] Year of the Linux Desktop', yadda, yadda, yadda, matters to some people, but I always understood that the primary and essential principle embodied by 'Linux' (and FLOSS in general) is 'freedom'.

In which case the 'number of desktops'—good, bad, and indifferent—is simply an expression of that freedom. We might not appreciate that plethora of choice, but then others may not appreciate our particular interest/obsession. Hopefully we all appreciate the freedom to pursue/indulge the aspects of freedom that Linux/FLOSS enable.

Adair

Re: Diversity of design

There's always a whiner.

Standing on a plain: it's too flat.

Standing on a mountain top: it's too mountainous.

Amidst hills and valley plains: there's too much variety.

Oh woe is us: some people live by only ever mooning over what they haven't got, and deriding what they have.

Wait, hold on, everyone – Mozilla thinks Apple, Google, Microsoft should play fair

Adair

Re: zero cost

The point is that calling 'free' a 'market' is misleading, at best it's an edge case, and that's straining to force it into the 'market' category.

'Free' doesn't float on the stock market, doesn't incur tax, and has no meaningful legal obligations attached to it.

'Free' is massively important to the world as an antidote and counter-culture the 'the market'. 'Free software' is indeed a tiny aspect of 'free', for most people 'free' is what people do to look after each other - there is no profit motive, no need or expectation of a reciprocal benefit.

The fact that some agents do make money off the back of 'free' (Mozilla) doesn't mean that 'free' belongs, of itself, to 'the market. The two can, and do, co-exist, but they are not the same.

Adair

Re: " the impact of platform rules and of relentless marketing."

YMMV - Firefox works fine for me, so my anecdotal evidence neutralises yours.

Meanwhile there are very good philosophical, ethical, and practical reasons for retaining a web browser that is not beholden to the self-serving machinations and asshattery of global corporates.

Adair

Re: zero cost

Because a 'market' implies a forum for trade, i.e. a benefit passing between people, a benefit that can then be traded on in other contacts of kind/money.

Where something is simply 'given away' that isn't happening, the item/app/... could just as easily be sitting in a warehouse, or rotting. There is no 'market', because, by definition, there is no tradeable value being exchanged. If there were I could go next door and get a better deal, or haggle over the price, but as the price is zero none of that applies - there is no market.

Adair

Welcome to the walled garden concept if 'freedom' - you can have anything you want, as long as the owners get to decide what it is you want.

Kerr-ching!

Adair

Re: zero cost

Yeah, me leaving my old sofa, TV, and random object d'art outside my front door for anyone to take away does not constitute a 'market', even if Joe, over the road, and Mary, next door, are doing the same.

Likewise, me releasing my treasured app for random public download, in exchange for nothing, does not constitute a 'market' in any sensible definition of the term. Nor, does software released by corporate entities in exchange for nothing alter the nonsense of calling such access a 'market'.

Post Office boss unable to say when biz knew Horizon could be remotely altered

Adair

Re: Compensation?

Failing any realistic ability to prosecute responsible individuals, it would seem fair to assert 'collective responsibility' to all those 'responsible' executives above a certain grade and fine them (say up to 50% of their assets, or more) in proportion to their level of responsibility in the PO. They may have had nothing directly to do with the fsck-up and consequent persecution, but that is irrelevant in the context of 'institutional' culture and responsibility: you all benefit when things go well, so you should all bear the pain when the institution has behaved badly.

'Lloyds of London' used to operate on this principle: Lloyds 'names' benefited royally when their ships came in, and could literally lose everything, including the shirts off their backs, if the cargo was lost and they had to pay what was owing. That all stopped when the Govt. decided to take notice of the whining that ensued after some very shabby treatment of 'names' by scummy agents operating under Lloyds name back in the eighties (I think it was).

Whatever the rights and wrongs in that situation, there is something to be said for allowing people to actually personally take the hit when the organization that rewards them royally for warming a particular seat causes needless mayhem to other people's lives.

Microsoft suggests command line fiddling to get faulty Windows 10 update installed

Adair

Time to ...

... come up with a distro labelled 'Windows', with a compatibility layer sandwiched in, and finally leave behind the wreckage of the last twenty years.

No one need know; payment for upgrades/subscriptions can continue as normal.

On second thoughts, bin all the above—the shambling zombie is much more entertaining.

Adios, dead zones: Starlink relays SMS in space for unmodified phones on Earth

Adair

Re: Now you'll never have an excuse for missing that weekend work text or call

There's my work SIM and my personal SIM, and there's the 'OFF' switch.

Thankfully, there are some solutions that are genuinely simple.

COVID-19 infection surge detected in wastewater, signals potential new wave

Adair

Re: Four vacinations and I still caught Covid

COVID vaccines don't stop you catching COVID.

Flu vaccines don't stop you catching flu.

They both mitigate severity of symptoms, and to some extent reduce transmission, for the vast majority of people who receive the vaccine.

Adair

Re: Why did everyone get vaccinated?

If only reality ran in black or white—no shades of grey—how simple life would be.

Avoiding AI-capable PCs will be impossible by 2027

Adair

Re: Ah yes, the not-actually-AI hype train of nonsense chugs on.

Yeah, the bandwagon is both wide and long on this one—plenty of room for all the chancers, PR-droids, and money grubbers to climb onboard to boost their lies and honeytraps.

Like most (ahem) tools, generative 'AI' has it's uses, and within a limited envelope of 'usefulness' can be very useful indeed. Outside that envelope: utter unreliable drivel.

Of course, it'll take a while, and a few deaths and other tragedies, before we all settle down and let the tool have its sensible place.

Uncle Sam plows $42M into nurturing fusion breakthrough

Adair

Basically

... a load of technological wank. We already have a working fusion reactor, and the means to harvest it's energy (it's called the 'Sun' by the way).

But then there's money in them thar research grants.

Systemd 255 is here with improved UKI support

Adair

Re: Everyone Hates systemd

Let me re-phrase that for you, into a more relevant and realistic form:

'Everyone hates bloat and pointless obscurantism.'

Adair

Re: K.I.S.S.

Which came first: the RAM or the code?

Systemd belongs to a generation who see lots of RAM (and memory in general) as space to be filled—however pointlessly.

Why write ten lines of code when there's room for a thousand, and the pay to go with it?

Then, of course, there's that priestly caste to protect that special voodoo needed to keep the whole shambling monster upright and moving. Mind you, the 'priestly caste' schtick is as old as coding.

Branson's wallet snaps shut for Virgin Galactic

Adair

Self-indulgent ...

techno-orgasm comes down to earth.

Electric vehicles earn shocking report card for reliability

Adair

Re: Tesla Build

O boy, an objective 'fact' is true regardless of whether you or I believe it, and regardless of who communicates it, e.g. the planets of this solar system orbit the 'Sun'.

Likewise, a vaccine that demonstrably significantly reduces the percentage of a national population from suffering life ending symptoms, without significantly raising the probability of serious side-effects, is one worth receiving—if only for the sake of the well being of the population at large, regardless of whether you or I happen to think it's a 'good idea' or a 'conspiracy confected by the capitalist alien lizard overlords'. Unless of course we are self-regarding/self-pitying prats who don't give a shit about anyone else's well being, so long as we are free to spout our nonsense without consequence to ourselves.

Adair

Re: Call me old fashioned

O dear, I do hope that was sarcasm, but I suspect not. The 1500 vehicle carpark cremation was started in an ICE vehicle. Perish the thought that 'the truth' might get a look in, in favour of prejudice, misinformation, and lies.

Adair

Re: Call me old fashioned

'How many of those 300 ICE fires take out an entire carpark and roast 1500 cars ?'

Except that was a Range Rover (or similar ICE vehicle), which does rather spoil the FUD over EVs being catastrophically more dangerous than ICE vehicles. As already stated, your cuddly ICE car is far more likely to incinerate your home than the nasty EV.

Adair

Re: Call me old fashioned

You do realise that statistically your ICE car (assuming you have one) is far more likely to incinerate your house?

AI threatens to automate away the clergy

Adair

Re: Evidence

Hopefully the reasons why that kind of 'proof' remain in our head, where they belong, are obvious; if not, give it some thought. :-)

Adair

Interesting how 'religion' is used as though somehow that word communicates a generic truth to which anything so labelled must adhere, i.e. that it's all rubbish.

Imagine applying the same logic to 'politicians' or 'lawyers, or even 'computer coders' - oh, sorry, we do that already.

Very convenient for anyone who just doesn't want to have their 'position' questioned, most of all by themselves.

Adair

I wonder what would constitute 'evidence' in this particular context, given that for those who trust in God's active presence and those who do not, plus those who are firmly on the fence, are all equally convinced of their respective positions, which if 'agency' is a thing is fair enough.

We are all free to take responsibility for our choices in this matter, along with all sharing in the consequences of our choices.

Tesla sues Swedish government after worker rebellion cripples car biz

Adair

Re: Tesla should deal

'Xit' – I must admit I hadn't come across this descriptor before. I like it. What a perfect description of the reality it points to.

Do we really need another non-open source available license?

Adair

Re: Monies

'“Freely available” does not mean available for £0 ie. Free. See GPL.'

The thing is, whether you pay money for the 'product', or not, under the GPL the 'code' must be made available on the same basis that it is received. You are not obliged to make it available in turn, but if you do it must be on the same terms, under the GPL, in which you received it, i.e. 'freely available'—in the sense of 'freedom', not 'money'.

As I said, 'Open Source' does not equal 'Some Kind Of Business Model'. It is the antithesis of that mindset and purpose, albeit that it can exist within a 'business model', so long as that model enables it.

The 'FLOSS' philosophy doesn't owe anyone a living.

Adair

Re: Monies

Someone else who seems to be under the impression that 'Open Source'='Some Kind Of Business Model'.

'FLOSS' is exactly about NOT being 'Some Kind Of Business Model', so the code is released from bindings, except that it be 'freely available to be used and shared'.

If you release your code on that basis you are wilfully releasing yourself from any temptation to whine about not being paid.

Want a Cybertruck? You're stuck with it for a year, says Tesla

Adair

Re: This Even Legal

Quite, covered by: '...somehow legally void through 'illegal' drafting'. In other words, won't stand up under existing legislation.

Adair

Re: This Even Legal

Except, if you knowingly sign a contract between yourself and the 'supplier' where you 'agree' not to re-sell your 'child's toy' within a year, on pain of payment of an amount of money, then you are contractually bound, regardless of what everyone else usually does/doesn't do.

All you can do then is pay lots more money to 'lawyers' to comb through the contract to see if there is a loop-hole, or if the contract is somehow legally void through 'illegal' drafting.

Adair

Re: J. Jonah Jameson laugh.gif

Get a horse.

It's perfectly legal for cars to harvest your texts, call logs

Adair

Re: Isn't it wonderful?

Welcome to the USA - land of the $free [please insert your well lawyered corpratist definition of 'free']

Page: