Posts by Pascal Monett

London university on hunt for £17m SAP ERP replacement

Oh, brilliant

Another massive ERP failure in the making.

Gotta go stock up on popcorn.

File suffixes: Who needs them? Well, this guy did

Unfortunately, being stupid is not a disqualifying criteria for using a computer.

And if you think that just changing the file extension from xlsx to csv changes the file format, then you're too stupid to use a computer.

More unfortunately, there are many, many people who haven't got a clue what a file extension means, but they're still employed and using a computer.

That's the employer's fault : he doesn't know what a file extension means either.

Yes, hiding file extensions really was a brilliant marketing idea.

Eh, Ballmer ?

It allows miscreants to send you Word.doc.exe and you see Word.doc and you execute it.

A big, fat FAIL in my book.

I prefer the opportunity for fuckups - they're my fault.

Dumb UI choice made by Marketing overriding Engineering, something that never should have been allowed but, Ballmer.

'Nuff said.

Alarm raised after Microsoft wins data-encoding patent

A contradiction in terms

"the Open Invention Network (OIN, a for-profit industry-controlled consortium) "

The term Open used in the name of a for-profit company should be banned, pure and simple.

Intel reveals GPU roadmap with hybrid integrated discrete graphics

Bold vision

It is clearly a bold stance.

Unfortunately, it's not because you are going to be able to stack chips on top of one another that, all of a sudden, you're going to become a graphics king.

Now, don't get me wrong, there are very capable people working at Intel, that I will not dispute. But there are also very capable people working at Nvidia, and Nvidia has twenty years of experience in high-end graphics. Intel ? Not so much.

So I'm glad that you've set the bar to high expectations. Unfortunately, I have never counted on Intel to power my gaming sessions, and I have no reason to think that that is going to change any time soon.

I am willing to be pleasantly surprised, though.

Taiwan cracks down on China spying on tech firms

That really is a nice idea and I subscribe to it wholeheartedly, but look around. If we did that to China, in the short term we'd have next to nothing left to buy.

And I don't see much in term of European or American industry gearing up to replace Chinese sweatshops, especially in the luxury market.

It just won't happen.

It should, but it won't.

Intel CEO Gelsinger spells out five-year renewal plan inspired by iconic leaders

"discrete graphics class performance with the efficiency of integrated graphics"

Excuse me, but I seem to recall that, if we ever needed discrete graphics in the first place, it is because integrated graphics were shit in performance.

It used to be the case that if you were using integrated graphics, it was because you were working on a server and the only thing on screen was the console - text version. Integrated graphics were good enough for that, but not much more.

These days I acknowledge that integrated graphics can actually show a Windows GUI properly, without much in matter of lag, but if you think that you're going to persuade me that your integrated graphics can boast of GeForce RTX 30-level performance well, I'm sorry, I'm not drunk enough to buy that.

WeChat, AliExpress added to US Notorious Markets list

"high end" counterfeits ?

So you're acknowledging that the stuff you're selling openly is shit ?

Bad news: Your Cisco switch is a fake and an update borked it. Good news: It wasn't designed to spy on you

Re: You need to change your thinking from a Western 'quality-product' / 'brand-loyalty' perspective

I think we've changed our perspective in The West already.

I have a hard time finding quality products, even if I'm willing to pay the price.

Amazon, Visa strike global truce on credit card charges

1.5% ?!

Hey Apple, ya hear that ?

RISC-V keeps its head down amid global chip war

Re: Sorry, what was the problem again?

The problem is that the US is once again trying to find ways to demonize China.

They're going to use open-source tools just like we can ? The bastards !

Facebook is one bad Chrome extension away from another Cambridge Analytica scandal

"VP of Integrity at Meta"

The rational universe has just exploded.

We're all living in the Matrix now.

'We gave it our best shot' Nvidia CEO tells Wall Street after failed Arm deal

"Nvidia has a 20-year architectural license from Arm"

So the point of acquiring Arm was ?

As much as I like my Nvidia graphics card, I have to admit that Nvidia is monopolistic. It is following the likes of Apple, Google and Borkzilla in stifling competition as much as it can.

Nvidia has used almost every dirty trick in the book, from massaging benchmark figures to disparaging AMD products outright.

If Nvidia had taken Arm into its purview, I think it would have had catastrophic consequences in the long run, so I'm quite happy that it did not happen.

Dark-mode Task Manager unveiled by original's creator

So Borkzilla has neutered the Task Manager, but made it dark

How typical. Form over function. Bells and whistles instead of resilience.

One day, one day I will finally get rid of this heap of festering bytes that is Windows.

One day.

Russia 'stole US defense data' from IT systems

"CISA's response is a long list of security controls and practices"

First point on the list : stop using Office 365.

No really, you're a defense contractor and you use The Cloud to store your documents ? Are you insane ?

Google expands Privacy Sandbox to Android

"the Privacy Sandbox aims to provide web advertisers"

Stop right there, say no more.

I see no privacy in that sandbox.

Singapore introduces potent anti-scam measures

"accelerate adoption of – and preference for – mobile banking apps"

What ?

You are pushing people to access their bank account on the historically most insecure platform that exists ? On a platform that can be hacked just by sending a specifically-(mal)formed SMS message ? That doesn't even need to be read ?

Are out of your fucking minds ?

India's Reserve Bank deputy governor calls for crypto ban

God bless T Rabi Sankar

At last, somebody who comes out and tells it as it is.

Ban it and be done with it.

Wooosh !

Internet 'spy system' delayed because nation can't get the equipment

Re: we in the US have laws that perform these functions

Laws perform no function, they're just signs written (or printed) on paper.

It is the application of the law that performs a function, and that is done by a human being.

As the USofA is demonstrating right now, human beings can be very selective in which laws they decide to apply and even how they decide to apply them (looking at you, Republicans).

"the likes of Cisco and Juniper have warned buyers of long waiting periods for some products"

Yeah but, did they publish their warnings in Cambodian ?

Journalist won't be prosecuted for pressing 'view source'

You're only "maintaining" your lies and deceit if people don't know/find out you're lying.

The only difference is that Trump demonstrated and Boris enthusiastically adopted the fact that, when you're at the top, there's nobody who can slap you when you tell a porkie.

UK regulator 'broke international law', says Facebook

"the CMA misdirected itself [..] and exercised its jurisdiction in breach of international law"

What international law, pray tell ?

Which international law does Facebook think means it has the right to purchase any company it wants ?

If I'm not mistaken, Nvidia has just been prevented from realizing a $66 billion merger with Arm. Does The Zuck really imagine his $400 million merger is more important ?

Of course not. It's just that, as a complete human failure, he cannot compute when he hears "no".

Microsoft prepares for its staff to return to Washington sites

Re: What they may discover instead

Well, discovering is one thing.

Accepting the results is a whole 'nother ball game.

Dido Harding's appointment to English public health body ruled unlawful

Well you've got to admit that, as far as a career in failure is concerned, she's made progress.

Yeah but, where would the drama be ?

This data center will be Europe’s first with hydrogen backup power

Re: A Step In The Right Direction

The problem is how it is made.

If you're burning coal to transform H2O into hydrogen/oxygen, then you're not getting the benefits of hydrogen because you've burned coal.

The only way hydrogen can be justified is with nuclear/solar/wind energy.

We have to shut down the coal-based power stations. All of them. Of course, we can't do that in one go right away, we first have to get ITER to work and, concurrently, get Thorium stations installed everywhere.

Between the two, things just might work out.

FTC celebrates after Nvidia-Arm deal collapses

Ah, but true capitalists are always banging the drum of competition.

Until they get to the top, at which point they talk about competition but steer towards monopoly.

Because capitalism is not about making money, it's about being the only one to make money.

Cambodia cans critics of its snoopy Internet Gateway, says every nation has one

But, Cambodia is a member.

IT technician jailed for wiping school's and pupils' devices

Well, you could ask them to supply you with one of their laptops so you can work remotely on something they have full control over.

Hong Kong Watch says its website suddenly can't be seen in Hong Kong

"Despite being unenforceable outside Hong Kong, it is applied across the planet"

Ah, so they have the USA approach to law. Good for them.

In any case, I note that "The exodus from Hong Kong to Singapore is well underway ", which is perfectly normal.

Yes, Hong Kong will become just another Chinese city. Yes, the Great Internet Firewall will be thoroughly applied. Yes, anyone with any sense of freedom and a smidgen of intelligence should get the hell out of there while they can.

There might still be money to make in Hong Kong, but it will be under Beijing's full control. Your choice.

Semiconductor market correction could come in 2024

"2023/4 looks like being a rocky year for the industry"

Well duh. With all the new chip fabs in construction or being planned, that conclusion was foregone.

I said so myself.

Nice to see that the experts concur.

Reality check: We should not expect our communications to remain private

"Saying if you don't want it on the internet, don't put it up there is too trite a response"

It is still a very valid response.

It's right up there with "don't say anything in public you might regret".

Gossip used to be the drive to disseminate information. It was the old "can you keep a secret" and the next day you hear about it at the company lunch room.

Now we have Social Media, and gossiping is in overdrive.

The solution remains the same : only say something in public if you are willing to stand up and own up to it.

Re: Before someone starts to talk about Orwell again ..

What Orwell could definitely not have imagined is that the surveillance society be implemented by companies and accepted without thinking by the global population.

Sure, NSA is tapping comms, but Facebook has access to almost everything and people are giving it freely.

It's one thing to wonder about using Signal or not, it's an entirely different kettle of fish when you post you entire life between Twitter, Instagram, FB and Tik Tok.

The end of free Google storage for education

Re: If you rely on ANYTHING by Google you are a fool

There's nothing illegal about it.

I'm sure Google included something in the EULA saying that the user accepted that the service was free and could be terminated at any time.

End of problem, bye bye court cases, you can wail all you want.

RIP Ninjacat: No longer fits in Windows 11 world

"the general concept of holding the Microsoft flag and being proud of what we're doing"

Being proud of making users test your code ?

That's a novel concept.

Full-time internet surveillance comes to Cambodia this week

Okay, hypothetical question

You're the engineer charged with implementing this National Internet Gateway, and you are quite capable (and you disagree strongly with the current regime). So capable, in fact, that you are considering building in a loophole, a backdoor of some sort, that only you know about and no one will be able to find.

You're sure you know how to do it, and you're convinced that no one will find out about it.

Do you go ahead and implement that, even at the eventual risk of getting caught (the consequences of which do not bear thinking about), or do you just do the job demanded of you and then plan on leaving the country ?

Beer for the round table discussion.

Beware the big bang in the network room

"Lessons learned after event tend to be the toughest ones"

Indeed. You can't go back and sort things out anymore so, more often than not, you're looking at one of your failures. Or, if you're really, really lucky, one of your closest brushes with disaster.

IBM looked to reinvigorate its 'dated maternal workforce'

Well it's certainly not a hardware firm. Not unless auditing has really changed a lot in the past decade.

Facebook exposes 'god mode' token that could siphon data

"will take action as appropriate"

Oh, so you'll do eff all ?

As usual.

Intel chases after Bitcoin miners with dedicated chip

"Intel will start selling a chip to mine bitcoin"

What's the point ? Bitcoin is nearing end-of-life, the number of minable coins is almost depleted.

Once again, industry is reacting once the forest has burned down.

Make a chip to mine Ethereum, that thing that redefines what it is on a whim.

Fibre broadband uptake in UK lags behind OECD countries

"53 per cent in Belgium"

That figure is significant because, around 20 years ago, cable was 99% in Belgium if I'm not mistaken.

So that's almost a 50% decline in two decades.

UK regulators accept Google's Privacy Sandbox promises

"questions remain"

Um, no they don't.

You seriously think that Google, whose revenue depends on ads, is going to propose a system that cuts its revenue stream ?

Think again.

'Boombox' function sparks Tesla recall

"The company disbanded its media relations unit in 2020"

So now the company relies on court cases and government directives for its communication ?

Is Tesla that shitty ?

No help for IT contractors on IR35 tax errors

Okay

Is it time to finally declare IR35 a clusterfuck yet ?

Ransomware crew dumps stolen Optionis files online

"Optionis previously claimed to have 13,000 contractors on its books"

I wonder how many they will claim next time.

UK government's chief digital officer departs

Emailing a spreadsheet

What could possibly go wrong ?

Coming soon in On Call : my UK Gov agency got hacked by an Office attachment . . .

France says Google Analytics breaches GDPR when it sends data to US

And the penny drops.

You're not a user. You sir, are a customer.