Posts by Adair

Britain's first small modular reactors to be built in Wales

Re: Sounds dystopian.

True, but that doesn't somehow give 'nuclear' a free pass, and it certainly doesn't make it the most cost effective choice—especially when 'cost' isn't just about money.

Re: Sounds dystopian.

The 'pro-nuclear' lobby prefer to kick the 'actual costs' can down the road, or look the other way.

In theory 'nuclear power' (as we know it) offers genuine up-front benefits, but in practice it's a toxic wasteland of exorbitant and runaway costs (not just financial).

To put it another way: 'nuclear power' is basically a techno-positivist's dream of how things should be, and the 'political elite's' way of showing off—"Look what I did!" Leaving others to clear up the mess, and/or live with it.

All in all, a long lived lesson in hubris.

Battery trade war hits booming datacenter industry

Re: China leads the world in battery technology

To the down voters: is the comment incorrect?

Not that other nations are any/much better, but the USA does do an egregious line in hypocrisy.

UK's Ajax fighting vehicle arrives – years late and still sending crew to hospital

Re: Design by committee

A camel is highly effective in its native environment—leaving the horse, and its rider, to bleach their bones under the desert sun.

So, horses[camels] for courses.

De-duplicating the desktops: Let's come together, right now

Re: Keep dreaming

Another one who seems not to 'get it' when it comes to what FLOSS(Linux, and other OSes) are actually all about—it's this 'freedom' thing.

It doesn't necessarily give you what you want, but you are free to make it how you want it, i.e. freedom to a particular kind of crapness. And if you can't do that, then you are free to live with what other's have decided they want—another kind of crapness. Too much 'freedom'? Walled gardens are available, to varying degrees of their own particular kind of crapness.

25 years of meatbags permanently in space on the ISS

Re: If its not Trump backhander than it won't continue

Not referring to the ISS, but the putative benefits of Elon's bubble—read the post my reply is to.

Re: If its not Trump backhander than it won't continue

Woop de doo, so what?

Thrilling as all that may be, in reality it's just techno-froth. None of it contributes anything of real substance when it comes to dealing with humanity's (and, by extension, the World's) problems.

Arguably they are pretty much symptoms of The Problem - selfishness, greed, arrogance, and ignorance, etc.

I'm impressed, but sadly not in a good way.

You'll never guess what the most common passwords are. Oh, wait, yes you will

Re: How many systems allow unlimited login attempts ?

So on that basis—'someone already broken in'—the argument is that therefore 'limiting login attempts' is universally useless?

There seems likely to be a logic fault in that argument.

In reality limiting attempts, at least with a time delay before allowing another set of attempts, would certainly mitigate a whole class of break-ins, given that many logins offer no limit whatsoever, so your login bot is free to make hay, probably within seconds given the typical quality of many user's passwords.

ESA tests bacterial powder to feed Moon and Mars crews

Re: See that carboard box

'might get used to tubes of flavoured mush' - long experience of seafarers and the like shows that although they may well/often do 'get used' to eating the same dull crap day after day, it really doesn't help make for a psychologically resilient and generally 'happy' mission. People will put up with amazing levels of deprivation if they have to, or regard the sacrifice as worthwhile, but that isn't the same as having people working and relating at their optimum, it's more about mere 'survival', which really isn't the same thing at all.

When it comes to enduring and surviving a 'Mars mission', is that really the best we can do: "Enjoy your cardboard box. Try not to eat it all at once"?

See that carboard box

... that's your food supply. Actually it's solid cardboard all the way through to the centre. Bon appetit.

One of the things about human beings and 'food' is that a varied diet of interesting and good flavours and textures generally does wonders for morale. The absence of the same does not make for a happy ship, or a happy crew!

From Intel to the infinite, Pat Gelsinger wants Christian AI to change the world

As a card carrying Christian

... I say good luck to him, but I don't fancy his chances. And as for 'hastening the return of Christ', that indicates a worrying ignorance/misunderstanding of Jesus' own teaching.

But, there we go, when it comes to 'belief' we human beings are very willing to believe whatever suits us—with or without 'God'. And then happily change our minds five minutes later, or whenever it is expedient.

NHS left with sick PCs as suppliers resist Windows 11 treatment

Re: Only themselves to blame

This is completely backwards. Much medical equipment doesn't actually *need* a general purpose OS. For it's entire life it will embody (to varying degrees) the mantra of 'do one thing, and do it well' (or at least 'do it reliably'), day after day, after day,...

Unless some significant bug is discovered there should be no question of 'updates', 'patches', or any of the random crap that afflict GP OSes because people keep mucking around with them.

As it is, kit that people are depending on to work reliably day after day is being held hostage to the vagaries of some irresponsible OS supplier who knows nothing about running 'medical equipment', and cares even less.

It's all about 'the money', the consequences of OS upgrades to users/patients are of no interest to the supplier of a General Purpose OS.

On that basis, equipment should be supplied with an OS that is effectively immutable, and certainly in such a form that money grubbing exercises (labelled as 'upgrades', e.g. W11), are irrelevant.

Smile! Uncle Sam wants to scan your face on the way in – and out

Re: I'm not planning to visit the United Hell Holes any time soon

If that is true then 'the people' absolutely got what they wanted, and what they deserve: an utterly disreputable person in the high-chair on the strength of having XY chromosomes. It's just a shame that the tragedy outweighs the comedy.

Re: I'm not planning to visit the United Hell Holes any time soon

Are you saying that what the Democrats offered was objectively worse than Trump and his cronies, or simply that the D's. didn't vomit out enough lies, misinformation, distortions, and utter bullshit—which was what 'the people' wanted to hear?

I guess they got what they wanted.

Digital ID is now less about illegal working, more about rummaging through drawers

Re: The usual questions...

Not sure what your point is. Don't think anyone is suggesting the present arrangements are great, let alone ideal. Surely the point is whether the benefits significantly outweigh the drawbacks?

Arguably a having a single point of massive failure does not trump having multiple points of lesser failures, especially when it concerns a person's freedom to simply live, without constant intrusive/oppresive oversight by irresponsible agencies.

Although advertised to have the opposite effect, on the face of it, 'Digital ID' is a solution likely to create life changing problems. Surely we already have enough of those already without looking to create bigger ones?

So far no Govt. has managed to put forward a convincing case that such control over a person's life would be anything other than a disaster waiting to happen, and/or to be exploited.

Re: "Don't track me !"

so that's alright then? Just because it's already a shit show means it's just fine for us to pay our government to add to the shit that already exists.

The usual questions...

the Government of the day needs to answer with more than bland platitudes:

+ How much will to actually cost, to setup, and to run?

+ What data will be collected, and who will have access to it?

+ What control will each of us have over how ‘our’ data is used?

+ How will the system cope with ‘false-positives’ – you are identified as someone else?

+ How will the system cope with ‘false-negatives’ – you failing to be identified as you?

+ How will failures and abuses be managed – what protections and recourse will be in place, will they be timely and will they properly compensate people for the negative impacts on their livelihoods and lives generally?

+ How will the system look after people who cannot access it, or who refuse on grounds of conscience?

+ How will the system be prevented from undergoing ‘mission creep’: “We promise that the system will only ever be used for A and B, and never for things like X or Y” – ten years later it is being used for A,B,C,D,X,Y, and Z is about to be added?

+ What will stop the ‘ID system’ being used to make the people of the nation de facto ‘possessions and servants of the state’, instead of ‘the state’ being servants to, and beholden to, the people of the nation?

+ Do we, the people, actually NEED the proposed system?

Windows 11 update knocks out USB mice, keyboards in recovery mode

I know I've got my trusty ...

Linux rescue disk lying around here somewhere.

But then again, why bother? This one's clearly done—somebody, stick a fork in it.

What, you can't do that? What the hell, just nuke it then and load up something usable.

Sheeesh!

Windows 11 update breaks localhost, prompting mass uninstall workaround

Re: Of course we all know the permanent fix

Which is fine, so long as you acknowledge that other people genuinely do have very different experiences when trying Windows—especially if they are installing Windows from scratch. I mean, how many people actually do that?

Somehow, I suspect, they are likely to have an easier time installing Linux, than Windows, but then the vast majority of users would have no idea how to do either, and would not even attempt it. They do know where the 'On/Off' switch is, and that if you click this picture in this part of the screen this will happen, etc. And that, my friends, is the beginning and end of the IT knowledge of a vast swathe if the computer using public, and why "Just install Linux/Windows/any OS" might as well be spoken in Klingon for all that it means to them.

As for everyone who does have half a clue, and continues to actually pay for the rubbish that MS churns out? Well, every choice has a price—of some kind.

And people actually pay

... for this crap?

You certainly couldn't give it away. ;-)

SpaceX's Starship: Two down, Mons Huygens to climb

Re: Gerry Anderson - space visionary

'I always wonder what happened to Fireball XL1, XL2, XL3 and XL4'

The clue is in the name.

Tech industry grad hiring crashes 46% as bots do junior work

Sawing off

... the branch they're sitting on.

Oh how they'll weep and complain when the 'experience' has all retired and, strangely, there are none to replace them.

But, children, this is what happens when 'money' is made more important than 'people'.

Schleswig-Holstein waves auf Wiedersehen to Microsoft stack

Nextcloud works

... for me. No issues of any note these last three years. Self-hosted, but how well it scales, I've no idea.

Trump's anti-sustainability agenda comes to Eurozone

Re: TDS

You need to take the time and trouble to do more research - which doesn't involve TikTok or the overblown schills known as 'influencers'.

Weird ideas welcome: VC fund looking to make science fiction factual

Re: "Feral menace"

Our cat owns the dog.

Re: "Feral menace"

I think you will find that being shot by a 'normal' water-pistol doesn't amount to 'causing distress', otherwise half of a cat's life would amount to being 'in distress' given their instinctive reaction to anything that surprises them. A 'normal water-pistol' certainly did the job in our garden back in the day. Tiddles soon got the message and found someone else's garden to squat in and get a load off its mind.

Re: Star Trek tech

Which, inevitably, brings us back to the subject of 'inkjet printers'. In theory a brilliant and elegant idea, until they meet the realities of oxidation, evaporation, and corporate greed (where the oxidising, evaporating ink is given an unfeasibly large arbitrary 'value').

So many great ideas are only 'great' on paper, while other ideas are genuinely great, and then they meet the reality of human beings, who proceed to rip their wings off and enslave them forever.

Managers are throwing entry-level workers under the bus in race to adopt AI

Just in case you're wondering, random sounds glitches are not a standard feature of Mint/Linux, so keep digging—'sounds' like a local issue with your particular setup. :-)

Hundreds of millions of business PCs are still on Windows 10 as D-Day nears

A letter from your pusher

Dear slaves suckers beloved customers,

Welcome to your past, your present, and your future.

Thank you for flying with us.

Yours faithfully,

Microsoft.

As real life banks close, network operator starts a Scam School to stop Granny getting mugged online

Re: Fascist Britain

No, don't think 'religion'. That is far too broad and umbrella to be forced into such a limited subset.

Texas senators cry foul over Smithsonian's pricey Space Shuttle shuffle

It's the Trumpian way

... open your mouth, let some words fall out.

What you said becomes real.

Even when it doesn't.

---

Truly, the emperor and his minions are stark raving naked.

UK Home Office opens wallet for £60M automated number plate project

Re: CS Lewis supplies

Mmm, he does say 'may', and clearly it's a philosophical point rather than a factual observation. IOW, there's an expectation for the reader to apply some thoughtfulness, alongside the author's. ;-)

CS Lewis supplies

... a gloomy and all too realistic assessment:

“Of all tyrannies, a tyranny sincerely exercised for the good of its victims may be the most oppressive. It would be better to live under robber barons than under omnipotent moral busybodies. The robber baron's cruelty may sometimes sleep, his cupidity may at some point be satiated; but those who torment us for our own good will torment us without end for they do so with the approval of their own conscience.”

― C. S. Lewis, 'God in the Dock: Essays on Theology (Making of Modern Theology)'

Why not just hand over the money, I mean they don't actually have to provide a useful/usable service in order to get paid.

UK government says digital ID won't be compulsory – honest

Some questions it might be worth having solid answers to before we even think of going ahead (doesn't imply it's a good idea):

+ How much will to actually cost, to setup, and to run?

+ What data will be collected, and who will have access to it?

+ What control will each of us have over how 'our' data is used?

+ How will the system cope with 'false-positives' – you are identified as someone else?

+ How will the system cope with 'false-negatives' – you failing to be identified as you?

+ How will failures and abuses be managed – what protections and recourse will be in place, will they be timely and will they properly compensate people for the negative impacts on their livelihoods and lives generally?

+ How will the system look after people who cannot access it, or who refuse on grounds of conscience?

+ How will the system be prevented from undergoing 'mission creep': "We promise that the system will only ever be used for A and B, and never for things like X or Y" – ten years later it is being used for A,B,C,D,X,Y, and Z is about to be added?

+ What will stop the 'ID system' being used to make the people of the nation de facto 'possessions and servants of the state', instead of 'the state' being servants to, and beholden to, the people of the nation?

No doubt there are other questions, maybe even more worthy than these. That's quite a lot of ground the Govt. needs to cover, and it still may be a fundamentally bad idea.

Microsoft CTO says he wants to swap most AMD and Nvidia GPUs for homemade chips

All your cycles are belonging to us

(see title)

New Zealand’s Institute of IT Professionals collapses

Re: Wait, What?

I think you are misunderstanding what happened. They, including the CEO, finally got serious about digging into reality, instead of hiding from the truth, or hiding the truth, and reality has taken its course.

Others, around the world—not naming names—will no doubt also discover that reality always wins in the end.

Explain digital ID or watch it fizzle out, UK PM Starmer told

Unless ...

there is much more clarity, detail, and a proposal that genuinely benefits the needs of the 'citizens' first, the 'government systems' second, and the 'money grubbers' last, this proposal will join the other dead 'ID ducks' nailed to the fence, within six months, maybe even within six weeks.

Greg Kroah-Hartman explains the Cyber Resilience Act for open source developers

Re: Users

This. If someone else wants to use my code, and I—because of the manner in which I released it—am happy for them to do so, it's their responsibility how and why they use it. And a 'legal' 'commercial' entity using my code has a responsibility to ensure 'my code' is fit for 'their purpose', not me. I merely made the code available: as is, where is. Assuming I am not benefiting financially from the release by requiring payment.

UK may already be at war with Russia, ex-MI5 head suggests

Re: Not to mention political interventions

O wad some Power the giftie gie us

To see oursels as ithers see us!

It wad frae mony a blunder free us,

An’ foolish notion:

What airs in dress an’ gait wad lea’e us,

An’ ev’n devotion!

With thanks to Roberbie Burns.

Britain's policing minister punts facial recog nationwide

Re: In Dubai you are never not on a camera

Clearly no issue at all. Everything is just perfect. They know what is best, and they are never wrong.

Digital ID, same place, different time: In this timeline, the result might surprise us

Re: It won't happen.

Indeed, I think the polite description of the NI system would be 'messy'.

As long as it more or less effectively links together an employment trail with pension, and a few other statutory, rights it's doing its job, but that's about all you can say.

Re: It won't happen.

NI is not an ID, and if you looked into the reality of the NI system you would understand why. NI is 'good enough' for the job it is intended to do (and that is being kind), but an effective ID it really is not.

Just using open source software isn't radical any more. Europe needs to dig deeper

Re: "which is a philosophical one"

Still not getting it. Yes, you may want x,y, and z. FLOSS doesn't care, and never will, because it's irrelevant to what FLOSS is all about.

If enough people, with the means, want x, y, and z it will happen, but that's irrelevant to what FLOSS is all about.

You are complaining against the wrong target.

Re: Points.

I think this, once again, misses the primary point of FLOSS, which is a philosophical one, not an economic one. That is: here is some software, wot I wrote. Feel free to use it, change it, and share it around.

There is absolutely no compulsion to monetise or 'improve' wot was writ. The licenses, if they have any adherence to the basic concept of FLOSS, merely try to protect, to varying degrees, that freedom to use, change, and share.

What corporate entities, or anyone else, makes of FLOSS software is up to them, but FLOSS itself is simply a principle of accessibility and freedom.

The code wot I writ can be as crappy or sublime as you like, I'm under to obligation to take the slightest notice of what you think of it.

It's a jungle. Wanting to tame the jungle is to deny the existential nature of what a jungle is.

Microsoft agrees to 11th hour Win 10 end of life concessions

Re: I wonder how they determine if you are in the EEA

Are the rest of the family using Windows for any actual 'reason', or is it simply reluctance to embrace change.

No one in my extended family who has moved to Linux, including SWMBO, has ended up pleading to return to Windows, or even missed it. And SWMBO is one of the least IT literate people I know. Maybe that helps! ;-)

Renewables blow past nuclear when it comes to cheap datacenter juice

And change mostly happens

... one funeral at a time, and sometimes lots of funerals at a time.

Campaigners urge UK PM Starmer to dump digital ID wheeze before it's announced

Re: Mandatory digital ID would fundamentally change

'...somehow manage not to resemble Russia.'

It doesn't just happen. The Brit model, as proffered to date, has always been a bureaucratic octopus, with multiple tentacles all making 'your data' into 'their data', and no responsibility when it goes wrong/is misused and stuffs up your life.

Open source to closed doors: RubyGems control fight erupts

Do we see the fork drawer opening?

Or is it not that simple—I know nothing about how Ruby works with its gems?