Posts by Sparkypatrick

Seven years later, Airbus is still trying to kick its Microsoft habit

Re: Toys for all the boys

OneDrive Files-On-Demand only syncs the files as needed - stay in the cloud otherwise, unless specifically marked to always retain a local copy. Also sounds like you might want to look at FSLogix for profile management.

BOFH: You know something's up when the suits want to spend money

Re: "An early play of the Health and Safety wildcard."

Indeed. I had a support zombie from MS cite GDPR as to why he couldn't just message me on Teams instead of endless emails.

Techie ran up $40,000 bill trying to download a driver

Those people affected on Three, by any chance. Had this issue with them on a ferry. Roaming on, as my contract included UK and France. No idea the maritime network existed, let alone that my phone would connect to it.

That time wasn't a big deal - a couple of quid and they refunded it. The next time, I was in Alaska on a cruise. The US was also in my plan, so roaming was on and my phone obviously decided to start syncing back my photos from the trip. Didn't turn it off when back on board and at some point in the night, it dropped the US signal (boat wasn't moving) and switched to maritime. Despite a £10 spend limit set, ran up a £400 bill. They dropped it to £200, but you can bet I am no longer a Three customer!

New boss took charge of project code and sent two billion unwanted emails

Think 'Leeson'. Or at least, I did.

Apple's ultra-thin iPhone flops as foldable iPad hits a crease

ITunes is basically dead. If you thought it was bad, try its replacement. The Apple Music app clearly only supports anything other than their streaming service grudgingly (and very badly).

Who gets a Mac at work? Here's how companies decide

Cultural reference explainer.

Trigger's broom is a reference to a gag in the sitcom Only Fools and Horses (very popular series for some reason). Trigger is a slightly dim character, who says he has had the same broom for 20 years. During which time it has had 17 new heads and 14 new handles.

I believe the US equivalent is grandpa's axe.

'Fax virus' panicked a manager and sparked job-killing Reply-All incident

Just the fax, ma'am.

Workers: Yes, RTO makes sense. No, we’re not going to do it

Re: Chocolate and orange juice

Chocolate and orange is a pretty common combination.

Examples:

Terry's Chocolate Orange (It's not Terry's, it's mine!)

Green & Blacks Maya Gold

Pre-owned software trial kicks off in UK as Microsoft pushes resale ban

Who can I give that to ?

No-one. The device comes with an OEM licence, the key for which is in the BIOS (not literally). It is tied to the hardware, so if you want to give someone the Windows licence, you have to give them that. There is no longer a licence key supplied with OEM hardware, so you need manufacturer specific media to restore/re-install the OS.

If your machine came with Pro, someone with a machine from the same OEM that came with Home might be able to get a cheap/free upgrade with your restore disk.

Supermarket giant Tesco sues VMware, warns lack of support could disrupt food supply

"in this instance it’s Broadcom that needs to be cut down to size."

Correct. Tesco screw lots of people, but their being screwed by Broadcom will lead to higher prices when people are already feeling the squeeze and spending a disproportionate percentage of household income on food.

Microsoft-backed boffins show mega speed boost with hollow-core fiber

Congratulations!

You have invented the networking equivalent of Betamax.

Norway's £10B UK frigate deal could delay Royal Navy ships

Norway's need is greater, since one of the boats they're replacing has sunk and the others may be in danger of doing the same. Since we cooperate already and are increasing that, it won't make much short-term difference in defence capacity beyond whose flag is on the boat.

Since both countries are perhaps more short of crews than boats, maybe we could get creative. We've had an influx of young men in small craft who might be persuaded to do a stint on something bigger for a path to citizenship. That would take the wind out of the flag-shaggers sails.

I was a part-time DBA. After this failover foul-up, they hired a full-time DBA

Tay Tay is better known for her security skills.

BOFH: Deepfake or just an idiot? We'll need an audit to confirm

Re: Very interesting.

RAtM-BoLA-1999?

BOFH: HR plays checkers, IT plays 5D chess

Re: I believe the current nomenclature is...

Talent Management.

Re: PVC drain pipe bursting... actually it came apart at an elbow joint.

Also a previous job, the top floor tenant installed (without permission) an additional toilet. Directly above the electrical riser. Took out all power to the building for nearly a week, when the inevitable happened. Moved our server room to a co-lo not long after.

Microsoft hoping to knock users' socks off with Windows XP Crocs

"[T]he distinctive odo[u]r that can come from the footwear"?

They are completely washable, even the fleece lined ones. If they smell, that's down to the owner, not the footwear.

Tested: Microsoft Recall can still capture credit cards and passwords, a treasure trove for crooks

"Maybe it's unfair to expect the software to identify a credit card number..."

No, it really isn't. CC numbers are all the same length and the first four digits identify the issuer. They are very simple to recognise.

Junior developer's code worked in tests, destroyed data in production

Shirley the second contributor should have been Ronnie?

Don't panic, but it's only a matter of time before critical 'CitrixBleed 2' is under attack

Now being exploited

Citrix have updated the bulletin to say that it is now being actively exploited.

User demanded a 'wireless' computer and was outraged when its battery died

Re: TV portrayal of computer use

See also selecting 'update and shut down' before disconnecting a dock. Did this once, gave it ten minutes while packing everything else up to finish, then chucked it in the bag. Happened to put my hand in the bag for something on the train home and found it roasting. Happily, it survived - but mostly by luck.

Automatic UK-to-US English converter produced amazing mistakes by the vanload

Re: Bin there and suffered

That's not how you shape packets!

Microsoft will kill Remote Desktop soon, insists you'll love replacement

Getting closer to the truth.

Far less misleading than previous articles, but still not quite there. To be fair, with the ridiculous app names and poorly worded comms, MS haven't made it easy.

What is going is the atrocious Remote Desktop Store app, which hasn't been available from the store in a while. Now support is going to end.

The Remote Desktop Client for Windows app (installed via MSI) will remain the preferred app for Windows users connecting to Windows 365 (!) or Azure Virtual Desktop for which Windows App is a long way from being ready.

Who the fuck is responsible for these names? They'll be first against the wall when the revolution comes. Standing next to whoever came up with "New Outlook".

App stores unconvinced by Trump's TikTok ban pause, which may itself be on shaky legal ground

User content isn't the real issue. The problem with TikTok is the amount of tracking and data slurping it does. In particular through the in-app browser, which is *potentially capable* of tracking keystrokes and sending that back to China. Follow a harmless link posted by another user, then unthinkingly use the same browser session to log in to something more important.

Watchdog finds AI tools can be used unlawfully to filter candidates by race, gender

Re: And most of the rest have clearly used some form of 'AI

In a world where applications are increasingly being filtered by AI, the logical answer is to have AI format your CV to maximise your chance of getting through that screening.

Relocation is a complete success – right up until the last minute

EU lighting circuits are typically 10A. UK may be 10A or commonly, 6A. You don't use a 16A circuit breaker for protection of a circuit with switches or other items rated at 10A for obvious reasons.

I see your 15A fuse wire and raise you a nail (and sundry other conductors guaranteed to offer no overcurrent protection).

I made this network so resilient nothing could possibly go wro...

Re: Making things worse

Using a second provider seems like a good idea, but I've seen cases where it turned out that somewhere along the way, both providers were using the same trench someone just cut through with a digger. Many providers will offer the option of diverse connections where they ensure that no part of the connection runs in the same physical path or on the same part of the backbone. At a price, obvs.

Microsoft on a roll for terrible rebranding with Windows App

Re: Misquoted?

It's a client app for Azure Virtual Desktop and Windows 365 virtual desktops.

Re: Will searching for "rdp" still find it?

Searching for "rdp" will still find mstsc.exe. It will not find Remote Desktop, which is a completely different application. Which won't show up unless you have it installed (unlikely, unless you use AVD).

If you search for remote desktop and have Remote Desktop installed, then both will show up. Simples.

Remote Desktop is not RDP - and is going nowhere.

As I've said elsewhere, Remote Desktop is not RDP (mstsc.exe). It is another client for Azure Virtual Desktop (and other things depending on which version and what platform). And the article is incorrect, it has not become Windows App.

The Store version of Remote Desktop may be going. It is certainly the worst client for AVD by quite a margin. There is a version available for iOS, which handles RDP connections to Windows boxes. That may be getting replaced by Windows App, which is aiming to become the multi-platform, unifying client.

For the moment the Windows version of Windows App (confused yet?) is pretty useless as a client of AVD. It can't manage the simple task of displaying Remote Apps in alphabetical order. Or indeed, any discernible order.

MS put out a badly worded announcement that gave the impression that Windows App was replacing Remote Desktop (still not RDP), but have confirmed that is not the case. Remote Desktop client for Windows - to give the full name of the msi installed app - and its name will continue to sow confusion for the foreseeable.

Ryanair faces GDPR turbulence over customer ID checks

Re: I never fly Ryanair

Talk Talk's service may have improved, but there are still plenty of reasons to avoid them.

1. Their customer service is atrocious. This may be less of an issue if the service is more reliable and you don't have to deal with them as often, but chances are you'll have to at some point.

2. They gave me a router whose configuration included my account password (and therefor my email password) in plain text.

3. After their big breach, they insisted my credit card details hadn't been compromised. My provider replaced the card with a new number due to the attempted fraudulent activity detected in the immediate aftermath.

Regulators may have forced them to tighten up their security, but no heads rolled. If you believe they've changed their attitude to security, I've a bridge I'd like to sell you. Or a Samsung appliance.

Did you hear the one about the help desk chap who abused privileges to prank his mate?

RDP is still RDP

MS haven't renamed anything. The confusingly-named Remote Desktop Client for Windows (Remote Desktop for short) - which is a client app for Azure Virtual desktop - is being phased out in favour of the ludicrously-badly-named Windows App.

Said Windows App is, as I told them six months ago, somewhat broken and definitely not ready for use in production. Still, it is not RDP (mstsc.exe); although that is the underlying protocol it uses.

Bank boss hated IT, loved the beach, was clueless about ports and politeness

The lingo

OE = Overseas Experience

EA = Executive Assistant

NZ = New Zealand

Having bank problems? I feel bad for you son: I've got 25 million problems, but a bulk upload ain't one

Re: 10 minutes, not a second more...

I used to carry a pair of pliers with a notch melted into the cutting section as a reminder to always double (or triple) check I had isolated the correct circuit. I eventually replaced it with one that was more effective at cutting - and with better insulation - but only after the lesson was well hammered home.

White House: Is it OK to hijack, shoot down, or snoop on drones? Er ... asking for a friend

@ x7

No, you're thinking of DHL. DHS is a furniture company. Of course they don't like drones. It's not like they're going to be any use for delivering sofas.

Trump to NASA: Fly me (or some other guys) to the Moon

Re: Caveat

It may not happen often, but Bob is correct on this one point. CO2 solubility in water decreases as temperature increases.

http://www.carboeurope.org/education/CS_Materials/CO2solubility.pdf

Funnily enough, no, IT admins who trash biz machines can't claim they had permission

Re: This man is obviously a psychotic

"knowingly causes the transmission of a...command"

It's no stretch at all. Typing a command into a console session is exactly transmission of the command.

The legislation is not specific to malware. It explicitly includes the type of activity he engaged in. The basis of his attempted appeal was that the consent given by his employers to access their systems in the normal course of his duties extended to his acts of sabotage.

Common sense tells us that this is nonsense and his own admissions suggest that he understood that he did not have permission to do what he did.

User asked help desk to debug a Post-it Note that survived a reboot

Re: PBKAC

Try turning on your DVD player by pressing the power button on your TV.

NEWSFLASH Now even science* says moneybags footballers are overpaid

Crocked in Tunbridge Wells

There will be difficulties in getting accurate player earnings, as many clubs are privately held; but Spuds are publicly listed AFAIK, so no real excuse for not knowing that Kane is currently on £100,000 a week. A bargain, apparently.

User filed fake trouble tickets to take helpful sysadmin to lunches

How's that?

After sorting out an issue (I forget what) for an Underwriter, I got treated to the opening day of the third Test v the Windies at the Oval. Lunch and beers (many) for the day provided by a bunch of brokers, who seemed a bit bemused when I told them I worked in IT.

It's a day I remember fondly, though I subsequently lost my souvenir England cricket hat in Rome airport. But that's another story.

Fresh cotton underpants fix series of mysterious mainframe crashes

Re: Mobile Phones

There's no safety reason for not using a mobile phone on the forecourt, but it can cause interference with other systems.

Dead serious: How to haunt people after you've gone... using your smartphone

Re: Copyright

I'm pretty sure you can't be haunted by the living - but you can certainly be sued.

Giffgaff 'roam like at home' package means £1/min calls in Jersey

Weasel words.

They don't have to charge for those destinations, they choose to. All of them - apart from Monaco - are on Three's list of Feel At Home destinations. A service they offered long before the EU forced the other operators to follow suit.

A word of warning though to anyone travelling on a ferry or near a coast: neither Roam Like Home nor Feel At Home include the Maritime Network, which is quite expensive to use. Your phone may connect to it without warning. As I discovered the hard way.

UK General Election 2017: How EU law will hit British politicians' Facebook fight

Re: A question

Leaving the EU does not mean leaving the EHCR. They are separate institutions. We signed up for the latter a long time before joining the Common Market. We actually helped draw it up.

What's got a vast attack surface and runs on Linux? Windows Defender, of course

Re: But isn't the environment itself just as important?

"Say detonate a flashbang once in a while nearby..."

I can see the House of Commons from the end of the road (<50m). Under no circumstances would I be letting off a flashbang, if I had one.

PC repair chap lets tech support scammer log on to his PC. His Linux PC

Re: VOIP

"By the way, you win against the scammers if they call you a mother [bleep] before they hang up."

I am a winner!

I strung out the last call from the "Windows" team for a good 20 minutes before getting bored. Haven't heard from them since.

What augmented reality was created for: An ugly drink with a balloon

Why won't you serve me?

I've got the right change and everything.

Cowardly Microsoft buries critical Hyper-V, WordPad, Office, Outlook, etc security patches in normal fixes

Re: Proper procedure?

One thing to note about installing patches individually rather than as part of the Windows Update bundle, is that Microsoft don't test them that way. Obviously, they also don't test them against every possible permutation of hardware and software, which is why you need to test the patches yourself.

New plastic banknote plans now upsetting environmental campaigners

Re: "300 football fields of rainforest per hour is cleared"

That 300 football fields per hour figure isn't globally, it's just for Indonesia.