* Posts by Pascal Monett

18232 publicly visible posts • joined 10 Apr 2007

Space health shocker: Astronauts return mostly fine

Pascal Monett Silver badge

Re: So spaceflight is good for you

No, no no. Spaceflight can be good for you. Let's not jump to easy conclusions, shall we ?

And yes, we might actually come from Mars, as has already been discussed as far as asteroid impact ejecta from Mars landing on Earth has been observed IIRC.

Payoff from AI projects is 'dismal', biz leaders complain

Pascal Monett Silver badge
Meh

Over 2500 participants

I had to download the report to get this little tidbit, since the author of the article did not judge it sufficiently important to include in his report.

I'm sorry, but when I'm spoon-fed a bunch of statistics and percentages and absolutely no basis in numbers whatsoever, I get cranky.

So, for those of us who like to know what a survey is based on, I got the figures : over 2500 participants.

Now you know.

Tesla's Autopilot false advertising tussle with California DMV must go to trial

Pascal Monett Silver badge
Flame

"Autopilot is proving to be a headache for Tesla"

Good.

Enough with the bullshit already. Politicians lie their asses off and none of them land in jail for it.

It is high time a liar was sent to jail, especially when his lies have actually killed people.

Legendary Glastonbury farm using bovine excreta power plant adds graphene boffinry

Pascal Monett Silver badge

Re: He told me it was fully operational but he'd bought a new one

Well what do you expect from a generation that changes their smartphone every year ?

Pascal Monett Silver badge

If everyone else did the same, we might have a different problem if you believe what Forbes has published.

UK education department awards contract uplift to Horizon scandal-plagued Fujitsu

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"despite its promise not to bid for government work"

There's your problem : government that can't be arsed to take into account what the hell is going on.

Fujitsu ain't bidding ? No problem, Fujitsu gets the contract anyway.

Hey guys, could add me to the not-bidding process as well ? I could use a few million for doing fuck all.

Support, don't micromanage, say researchers who find WFH intensified 'anxiety' in some

Pascal Monett Silver badge

My situation is different

I'm a freelance consultant. Thanks to COVID, 75% of my work is now Work From Office, my office. I have some customers where I do have to go on-site, but since COVID that is a clear minority.

And I'm fine with that. I get to commute less, I waste no time in useless banter and, when the job is done, I go home. There is no manager telling me it's not yet time because I'm the manager and when I say it's time, it's time.

Of course, I'm also in charge of getting my customers to pay my bills, but thankfully that is not much of problem since I eliminated the customers that took me 90% of my time just to get paid.

That said, I do count myself as lucky. Not everyone can do this job, and in my little niche I am quite privileged. It'll do me nicely until I retire in about a decade.

Pascal Monett Silver badge

"Managers need to remove any hint of micromanagement, pressure, and surveillance"

Yeah, like that's going to happen.

And 337 people ? A valid effort, but I'm not sure that it is a representative sample. I thought you needed 2000 to have a valid statistical basis for analysis.

Doesn't matter. I'll just file this in the "nice to know, will be talked about, won't have any effect" folder.

Apple finally adds RCS support after years of mixed messages

Pascal Monett Silver badge

Re: It isn't like they are mandating its usage, or blocking those third party password apps

Yet.

Apple has history in doing just that.

Wait and see. We'll be coming back to this topic.

Pascal Monett Silver badge
Coat

Amazing !

What bounty !

How kind of Apple !

We should declare a national holiday in its honor.

Okay, I think I've laid it on thick enough . . .

Intel interrupts work on $25B Israel fab, citing need for 'responsible capital management'

Pascal Monett Silver badge

This is starting to not sound good

""Israel continues to be one of our key global manufacturing and R&D sites and we remain fully committed to the region "

continues to be . .

remain fully committed . .

Why am I feeling like this is the kind of declaration you make to prepare for the time when you'll say "we decided to abandon the project" ?

Meta will use your social media posts to train its AI. Europe gets an opt out

Pascal Monett Silver badge
Windows

"European Union users can opt out"

Way ahead of the problem : I don't use Meta </ultimate smugness>

HP BIOS update renders some ProBook laptops expensive paperweights

Pascal Monett Silver badge
Trollface

"putting not thoroughly tested BIOS upgrades online"

I'm sorry, HP is just using Redmond's modus operandi : let the user test it . . .

The Microsoft GA that wasn't: Analyst rips into availability of Copilot in Fabric

Pascal Monett Silver badge
Trollface

"these features are not GA"

the features will likely change before they reach GA

That is, if you can stand waiting for GAH . . .

hint : don't - it's all a load of buckettwaddle anyway

Virgin Galactic's VSS Unity bows out to make way for Delta Class successor

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Re: A cynical view

Nah. It's just that the billionnaire got his joyride and now he's done with the project.

You know : attention span. Objective attained = can't give a fuck anymore.

Oracle Java police start knocking on Fortune 200's doors for first time

Pascal Monett Silver badge
Flame

"a simple, low-cost monthly subscription"

Yeah. Simple. For your accountants.

For everyone else, it's a rip-off.

Could everyone please realize that no multinational has your best interest at heart ?

Investors are the only people they care about. You are the product, nothing more.

Euro banks worry AI will increase their dependence on US big tech

Pascal Monett Silver badge
Flame

Euro banks shouldn't even be asking the question

I was frankly appalled when I heard that European banks were considering using The CloudTM.

The American Could.

What the fuck were you thinking ?!?

Disenchanted Windows user? Pop open a fresh can of Linux Lite

Pascal Monett Silver badge
Windows

Re: Been here before.

Amen to that.

Industry standards bow to industry imperatives. The Internet has long forgotten about open and free. I guess we can thank all those newspapers who did their level best to destroy URLs and forget that the Internet meant viewing the page as far as your window would allow.

No, for all those so-called newspapers, that was not allowed. You had to view their "paper" online just like you would have seen it on actual dead tree format.

Ironically, now we have "adaptive" formatting for mobile phones, so screw the three-column format, but also screw our freedom.

Hey, it's the future, ain't it ?

Seething CEO shoulder surfed techie after mistaken takedown of production server

Pascal Monett Silver badge
Windows

if you're working in education, you should not use a vendor who doesn't give a fuck about how you work.

Pascal Monett Silver badge

And if you don't, don't come crying when it all falls down . . .

New York Times source code leaks online via 4chan

Pascal Monett Silver badge
Trollface

Wait, 4chan is an image board now ?

I thought it was a cesspile of fould language, threats to my Mother and endless "I did not - Yes you did" competitions.

When did they upgrade ?

Uber ex-CSO Joe Sullivan: We need security leaders running to work, not giving up

Pascal Monett Silver badge
Windows

How credible

The guy convicted for not doing his job calls for people to do the job.

Look, I'm glad he has seen the light and walked the path of redemption, but maybe we can avoid making a media darling out of him ?

What's the possibility that he damn well knows he's never going to get another job like that, so he's just milking the media circuit for all he can ?

Next stop : his book on How I Found Security, complete with multiple seminars where he explains the pain he's been through and how you absolutely should buy his book.

Along with talk shows and conventions where he is "invited" (with a large check) to talk about his "experience".

What ? Me ? Cynical ? Why do you ask ?

Microsoft updates accessibility feature Voice Access to auto-restart

Pascal Monett Silver badge
Windows

"the investigation into the Voice Access crashing issue"

Ooh, I believe then that Voice Access must have something to do with Business.

Because if this was just a Dark Theme for fanbois, there wouldn't be such a kerfluffle, now would there ?

Raspberry Pi IPO is oversubscribed multiple times

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Thumb Up

"Certainly while I'm in charge."

May you remain in charge for a long time.

More than a Joule required to power up enthusiasm for SAP's AI strategy

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"pulling the sheets off of AI features"

Holy shit. One of the most complicated, consultant-heavy, difficult-to-configure application sthat has ever been invented and marketed to the clueless CEOs is now touting AI as ahmm, benefit ?

Yeah. Sure. Companies who have paid through the nose for a never-ending "configuration process" are now supposed to believe that "AI" is going to make everything work ?

So they can get rid of those SAP consultants who have been leeching their bloodline since forever ?

Methinks this strategy is a bit of the gun-meet-foot variety.

Tesla chair begs investors to bless Musk's billions or face an Elon exodus

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board chair Robyn Denholm

Top line on his Curriculum : Whore.

Should be a shoe-in for the Republican Party. I wonder when he's going to start supporting Trump ?

TikTok confirms CNN, other high-profile accounts hijacked via zero-day vulnerability

Pascal Monett Silver badge

Re: Ah, Beijing again

Terribly sorry to have disappointed you.

We'll talk about credibility again when you have a convicted felon in the Oval Office.

Pascal Monett Silver badge

Re: Ah, Beijing again

Oh sure. America are the Good Guys. I keep forgetting.

Remind me when Trump is back in the Oval Office, choosing which international treaty he is going to shit on next.

Pascal Monett Silver badge

Ah, Beijing again

I've always loved the supposed paranoia around Beijing being able to order a company to give up data.

Curiously, nobody ever mentions that the White House has the National Security Letter which can do the exact same thing.

I'm pretty sure my own country is not going to think twice about sending a legal order to a French company to hand over data.

But obviously The Yellow Threat is the current push to make people worried and obedient, so . . .

A tale of two missions: Starliner and Starship both achieve milestones

Pascal Monett Silver badge

"before toppling over into the ocean"

Well then it was a failure. Yet another one.

But hey, it's not called rocket science for nothing.

HP CEO: Printed pages are down 20% since pandemic

Pascal Monett Silver badge
WTF?

"450 billion fewer pages"

So, basically you're telling me that we used to print over two trillion pages a year ?

Holy fucking shit. How many trees do we kill for that ?

Spam blocklist SORBS closed by its owner, Proofpoint

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Thumb Down

So, another one bites the dust

A free service that was useful, accurate and regularly updated. And now it is shut down without so much as a warning.

Proofpoint may have managed its existence properly, but it botched its ending. You tell people you're going to shutter a service like that. You give them time to adapt. You don't just pull the plug and then say "Yeah, we can't be bothered no more".

Bad doggie. No cookie.

Samsung union stages its first ever strike – very politely

Pascal Monett Silver badge
WTF?

What ??

"management encouraged employees to use annual leave on this day"

Sorry ? Why use annual leave on a national holiday ? How fucking bonkers do you have to be to tell your employees to use up the few holiday days they have on a day when you'll be closing because it's the NATIONAL HOLIDAY ?

That is insane.

I didn't touch a thing – just some cables and a monitor – and my computer broke

Pascal Monett Silver badge
Windows

Yeah, sure. Nothing changed. Pinky promise.

I cannot fathom why a sane person would state that nothing had changed when they know that they made a change.

You can screw something up without knowing you did bad. It's in the Constitution or something. So, instead of a blatant lie that will be caught, buy yourself a pair and say : "I touched this for that reason and now I think I screwed something else up. Could you help ?".

Why are people so cowardly ? Why does it take brass balls to admit that you might have made a mistake ?

Babies try standing up for weeks before getting it right, but it would seem that, as soon as a boy makes it upright, he loses the courage to stand by his actions.

Pff.

And get off my lawn !

<wanders off muttering>

Brit tech tycoon Mike Lynch cleared of all charges in US Autonomy fraud trial

Pascal Monett Silver badge

Re: Caveat Emptor...

It's been a long time since HP had a clue.

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Trollface

Everyone can make mistakes . . .

OpenAI to buy electricity from CEO Sam Altman's nuclear fusion side hustle

Pascal Monett Silver badge

Fusion, fusion, fusion

Funny how so many companies are talking AI, but hardly any are talking fusion. Must be because the budget is an order of magnitude higher for fusion and it's harder to bullshit your way through.

Meanwhile, ITER is progressing. We will get there, apparently, but there is no billionnaire to thank for that. It would appear that space is an easier frontier for their low attention spans.

Microsoft shows venerable and vulnerable NTLM security protocol the door

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"that time is fast approaching"

Gotta do something to keep those juicy US Government contracts . . .

BT chief blames regulations for UK lagging in next-gen network rollout

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"about 80% of homes in Sweden have a fiber connection"

Gosh, might it have anything to do with the fact that Swedish government actually gives a fuck about its citizens ?

As in, allocating funds where they are useful, and not just filling the pockets of some MP's nephew ?

Just wondering.

And besides, what is a private company in charge of comms complaining about the state of something it is in charge of ?

You don't like the state of things ? Put your money where your - oh, silly me. BT does not exist to serve customers, it exists to serve its investors.

Can AI models trained on human speech help us understand dogs?

Pascal Monett Silver badge

Re: Grant capture 'science'?

Agreed. Even with humans, there are many silent forms of expression that no AI can pick up through language. I mean, just ask any married man who feels the need to ask his wife if everything is okay.

Animals have a multitude of physical options to express themselves as well. A cat doesn't need to hiss at you to make you understand that you're unwelcome.

But, this is a start. However ridiculous it might seem at first glance, it might provide a few clues that can be built upon in the coming years. I say go for it. Nobody knows what we might find out in the long run.

High-flying drones on a leash could blow traditional wind turbines away

Pascal Monett Silver badge

I don't know how all that works, but you're obviously supposing that everyone's maps will be up to date.

I hope you're right, but I'm not sure this kind of thing in remote areas is going to be all that well-tracked.

Especially outside of the USA (or Europe, for that matter).

Pascal Monett Silver badge

Not to mention that those tethers are a flight hazard for small, private planes piloted by people who may well know how to fly, but might not know that there's a cable in their flight path until it's too late.

Wi-Fi can watch your heart beating, Taiwan’s datacenter power outfit Delta finds

Pascal Monett Silver badge
Terminator

"a bed with smartphones on adjacent nightstands"

I was going to ask when our closest bit of toxic waste would be used for such things, but the good doctor has already borged the problem.

So, heartbeat detectors are just an app away then ? Oh, silly me, they're already a dime a dozen.

Well, it seems the Terminators won't have much trouble finding targets . . .

Study finds 268% higher failure rates for Agile software projects

Pascal Monett Silver badge

While I agree with you, we both must admit that either methodology has lost the primary aspect in both cases : talking with the customer.

I was doing Agile before it had a name. I'm a Notes developer (silence at the rear). The first thing I learned when becoming a consultant was : the customer doesn't really know what he actually wants. My job, as I learned it, was not only to listen to the hierarchy and document its needs, but get the view from the groundpounders (the ones who will actually use the product) and learn what their needs are and how to best fullfill them while placating the management.

I don't care what methodology you call that. What I see is that I have now spent 25 years of a career where I can say that my successes have vastly overweighed my failures. I have helped people do their jobs better and more easily, and I am rather proud of that.

Microsoft paid Tenable a bug bounty for an Azure flaw it says doesn't need a fix, just better documentation

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"our cloud working by design"

I've got a hunch you're going to be changing your design pretty soon . . .

Russia takes gold for disinformation as Olympics approach

Pascal Monett Silver badge

He craves attention. Even when people are shouting at him, he's happy because they're paying attention to him.

I sincerely believe he has a medical condition. He's not right in his mind. In any case, he's not fit to occupy the position he has.

But that's democracy for you . . .

Airbus shows off uncrewed AI-powered Wingman for fighter pilots

Pascal Monett Silver badge
Coat

"details on how pilots control and interact with Wingman"

Simples. They just ask Siri to bomb that target . . .

More layoffs at Microsoft: What's really going on here?

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Thumb Up

"Measured in executives, Microsoft is laying off about four Nadellas"

Brilliant. That puts things in perspective indeed.

I think El Reg should adopt measuring in executives as a standard when talking about company layoffs.

Well done.

Intel CEO says sanctions on China squanders opportunity for US chipmakers like Intel

Pascal Monett Silver badge

Boo Hoo

Oh dear, there might be a country in the world that has its own chip industry and Intel won't be able to run roughshod over everything and reap all the rewards.

Sorry, Pat, but it's going to get worse. Sanctions and economic pressure has already taught Beijing that China must become independant.

Guess what ? With over a billion citizens, China has the manpower. China has universities. China has industry, because it has been producing everything we use since the last five decades.

It's a bit late to complain about sanctions now. US industry should have thought about that five decades ago when they decided it was a good idea to shove all production down south because it was less expensive.

You reap what you sow.

I hope you enjoyed your bonuses.

Analysts join the call for Microsoft to recall Recall

Pascal Monett Silver badge
Facepalm

"letting the user scroll the archive of snapshots"

Letting the user.

You mean the idiot who can't think unless he has his smartphone telling him what he thinks.

You mean all those users who have now gotten used to Windows Search telling them where their applications were.

I'm sure those people will be eminently capable of understanding what all those screenshots mean . . .