* Posts by Steve Browne

209 publicly visible posts • joined 26 Apr 2007

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Telcos yank FBI wiretaps

Steve Browne
Coat

Well, they caught someone

Shame it was one of their officers who turned out to be a thief.

Kind of makes you wonder about their recruitment policy, or perhaps Hollywood is close to the truth than they like us to think.

Do they really have FBI Undercover on their jackets ? In yellow ?

Microsoft backpedals on Blu-ray for Xbox 360 comments

Steve Browne
Happy

I dont believe it !

Microsoft talking about quality and affordability ? Have they seen how much Vista costs !

They are too used to getting their own way, but people are not as dumb as corporate managers and choose what is best for them and not for supplier's profits.

Citizen's panels to put DNA database under microscope

Steve Browne
Alien

Rewriting

The Nuffield institute, a well respected research organisation has already investigated this and dismissed most of the government claims about the value of the DNA database.

The Information Commissioner has cautioned that we are sleep walking into a surveillance society and that we need to be better informed about what the government is doing.

The government itself has threatened to derogate from the ECHR and its OWN legislation to implement the changes it wants.

So, is this the result ? Wait a few months, let the row die down, make as though you are listening and carry on with what you first thought of after setting up some diversions to deflect attention.

UK spooks deliberately leaked 'Squidgygate' tapes

Steve Browne
Black Helicopters

@Rupert Fiennes

Dr David Kelly was the person I had in mind.

I just fail to see how a person of his scientific standing would commit suicide. Especially with the monitoring of people holding such offices. I also noticed that new labour mps started to bad mouth him publicly, but shut up fairly quickly when the scientific community leapt to Dr Kelly's defence.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/letters/story/0,3604,1131833,00.html

Dr Kelly's death was far too convenient for me.

Steve Browne
Black Helicopters

Just remember

These ARE the people who want your personal data and they want you to have an ID card to make it easier for them to trace you. If they will target a member of the Royal family, then you can rest assured that you too can be targeted by them.

Strange how so much death follows New Labour critics.

Is it or isn't it? Brown keeps bottling the ID card question

Steve Browne
Coat

@We are a country etc

Extreme pornography, like pics of Prezza on the cabinet table with his mistress ?

Leather jacket, map of central Europe on the liner ... thnaks

Government piles filesharing pressure on UK ISPs

Steve Browne
Black Helicopters

Be interesting to find oout how it will work

I mean, the ISP sees a load of packets, so they are going to examine each one to see if it is a copyrighted product being distributed unlawfully, yeah, right, thats OK then. The thing is, distribution of copyright material is quite lawful and is an every day occurrence on the internet. El Reg has a copyright notice on this page, presumably, by filling in this form I am granting first serial rights to El Reg enabling them to publish it.

I just cannot see how there is any means at all of dynamically identifying copyrighted material which is being distributed illegally.

Still, it does give HMG a means of spying on the whole population, OK most of the population. With their penchant for ID cards, DNA databases, cameras (speed and surveillance) I suppose it is just one more totalitarian step. Stalin would have been proud.

Evesham Technology goes into liquidation

Steve Browne
Stop

The world moved on

and Evesham didn't. Dell are in the same position, being able to buy a PC with a reasonable specification in Tesco, which you can take away with you, is much better than paying the same price to an OEM and then having to wait for delivery and take a day off work to receive it.

I tried buying something mail order form both Dabs and Saverstore (correct incarnation ?), but neither would deliver to anywhere other than my CC billing address. Dabs even started demanding seriously personal information ! Neither got the business, I paid a bit more and went to a PC Builder a few miles away.

The world is neither richer nor poorer for the passing of Evesham. Remember Danny Di Vito in Other People's Money talking about the company that made buggy whips ? They don't make them now.

A large (mainframe) computer company almost went to the wall for the same reason, they thought that people would continue to pay ever increasing prices for the same stuff. Well documented in a book by Robert Heller, and well worth reading if you want a perspective on how not to do things.

Another large software company is following the same path, and will acquire the same fate. I mean, £370 for an OS, I ask you !

The comment regarding spam as deleting a couple of emails is ridiculous. I get 50 spam emails a day, most end up in the bulk folder, and I don't care how many are made redundant from spam generating companies. The sooner these companies are removed form the web the better. Oh, just to be complete, I am added onto the no marketing mail list, as well and have made a couple of complaints regarding the receipt of unsolicited unwanted commercial mail.

Companies are created, they thrive, they stagnate, they die.

Spam King Ralsky indicted over stock spam scam

Steve Browne
Thumb Up

Bit like the war on drugs

They caught someone, wonderful. Now someone else will pop up.

I used to get a similar problem, well before Al Gore invented the internet, with people offering to employ my ex wife's worthless brother. You see, it was what she wanted to hear, so it must have been true. (Note, use of HAVE and not OF). All it took was to lend this guy £10 (whatever) and get her brother down here (more expense). Needless to say, the first £10 was a down payment, several other techniques coming into play shortly thereafter. I knew that my brother in law was not going to get a job and told her, but would she listen, never. As long as she heard what she wanted to hear, then it was absolute truth. I got her money back by going around every pub and asking everyone in it if they had seen whatever his name was and showing them all the bounced cheque. He came looking for me to give it back !! so I would stop damaging his reputation !! He even asked what he had done to get me to do these nasty things to him!

Now we have spam. All it has done is to de personalise the introduction. You still have people who hear what they want to hear, read what they want to read and believe what they are told as long as it is what they want to believe. Bit like the government believing IT consultants will save them money.

Schools minister touts 'one interweb per child' pork barrel

Steve Browne
Linux

Why not teach IT in the first place ?

I get a little tired of hearing people talk about IT and it being instantly equated with MS Word.

It would be really good to actually find a definition of what IT really means. Is it really just using MS Office ? Money is thrown away every day in large amounts to teach people IT, when they are really teaching them how to format a document using MS word on a computer. Fat lot of use this is to most of the inmates at these establishments. They are sent by the DWP to improve their job hunting skills. So, a fork lift driver is now required to use elegantly formatted prose when compiling their end of shift report ? Bollox !

The lack of basic skills is alarming. Having a computer will never resolve this, it just cannot do it. Bit like watching people use a calculator to add two numbers less than 100. Oh dear. I can work out approximate take home pay given an hourly rate, in my head. That is what I was taught, we had mental arithmetic every morning, as with spelling. The teachers may have been kicked out of the gestapo for cruelty, but we did manage to retain something.

So, if IT is to be a subject, what is it supposed to contain. To me, it is about the engineering used to create a computer and to program a computer to do something useful. If my view prevails (?) then the software used should be capable of analysis, so open source software should play an important part. You can SEE the code, you can learn how it works. It would be really useful to have some sort of processor simulator to actually monitor pin out levels to watch the processor actually working. Too advanced, really ?, but isn't it so much more interesting than learning how to highlight a word and make it bold.

So Mr Minister, a chinese proverb "it is better to remain silent and let people think you a fool, than to open your mouth and remove all doubt" comes to mind.

Pope tells astronomers to pack up their telescopes

Steve Browne

Castel Gandolfo

I was exploring the country side one weekend, driving down from Frascati towards Subaudia and found a truly wonderful restaurant, right next to the Pope's summer palace, if you get down there it might be worth a try.

I think it is a bit rich blaming the catholic church for decades of blood letting like no one else was involved ? Our 'Enry started a lot of it too and Cromwell seemed to quite enjoy it. Listen to the Archbishop of Canterbury today, when he is wondering out loud why christians don't defend their faith in the same manner as muslims. Perhaps, Archbishop, we lost interest after the crusades.

Bhutto murder used to spread malware

Steve Browne

Maybe they'll fix it now

Perhaps it will jerk them into action and they will fix the shortcomings of their offerings. If Microsoft put as much effort into the boring bits as they quite obviously put into the visible bits, then I am sure they could actually produce an operating system that works properly.

Outsourcing overruns cost UK taxpayers £9bn

Steve Browne
Alert

The Mythical Man Month

I once studied project management with the Open University. Amongst the reading material as a short book, written by Frederick Brooks, titled The Mythical man Month. It really ought to be compulsory reading for all concerned with project work.

The reality is, project scope is trimmed to fit the budget, though the project requirements are left intact. So, as time progresses the omitted components are gradually re introduced until the original project has been reinstated. As these components were removed to reduce costs, the reintroduction must reinstate the costs. This was an omitted cost.

As the components were omitted from the design (assuming a design exists), then their reinstatement has the undesirable side effect of requiring the design to be reworked to accommodate them. This is an increased costs.

Any components which have been completed that require interfacing to the reinstated components must be examined to assess and resolve any impact. This is a new cost.

It is easy to see that changes made to a project once development has started are rather expensive, with three areas requiring attention, costs will escalate rapidly and far beyond the original estimates for development.

* The Mythical Man Month asserts that men and months are not interchangeable. It is only when the accountants realise this and that some tasks are immutable, that projects will ever be properly planned and funded.

Serious Flash vulns menace at least 10,000 websites

Steve Browne

@Michael

I didnt state myself too clearly. Perhaps brevity came to bite me. Or, didnt you notice the quotes around "right". Didn't this highlight something to you?

I dont use flash because I am sick to the back teeth of adverts leaping around the place as a visual distraction to the content I wish to see.

The fact that this had an unknown side effect of protecting me from some bug I knew nothing about was something I found worthy of note. A spot of serendipity no less. Nothing to do with hindsight.

I have always considered the provision of facilities to execute code on a users machine to be bad. I accept that controlling the users machine can be extremely useful, and in many circumstances perfectly acceptable. However, a few nits demonstrated the view I had and so java became disabled. Though, java is now re enabled once I had time to read through the documentation and determine that it was no real threat.

I have tried to look into buying particular products, to be thwarted by my lack of flash. Sad really, that companies do not have html sites, still, there are other sites publishing the information I sought, perhaps I shall buy that Volvo after all.

I dont use YouTube, I dont care what the BBC promote. I can live without these things, and do, I dont watch TV either, I am blissfully unaware of <fill in your soap here>.

It is nice to understand that flash isnt going to go away because of the investment by advertisers. Advertisers have never done anything to promote any technology. The real driver of technology is, and always has been, the porn industry. So, Mr advertiser, do all you desire, I shall never see your creations, your return in investment from my perspective is zero. With a zero return, you will run out of money and then you will have to go away. The .com bubble was filled with your acolytes and the NASDAQ is still worth less than 50% of its 2000 value.

Steve Browne
Thumb Up

Disable flash

I make a point of deleting flash whenever it appears. It would be nice if it would stay deleted. IE is used for development testing and windows updates, never for anything else. Firefox is used for browsing, again without Flash.

Nice to know I got something "right" even if my purpose was completely different! I got fed up with too many sites putting too many animations on their pages and them proving to be a distraction to the content in which I was interested.

Marketing people please note, I use the web for MY purposes, not yours. It is MY computer, not yours and it is MY broadband connection, not yours. I may read static adverts, only ones I see now, I may even click the odd one, but flash is staying away. Life is so much more peaceful without it !

Drivers on the phone face the slammer

Steve Browne
Pirate

If I dont answer my phone

the agency will not call again.

But anyway, The police only involve themselves seriously if there is an accident. If you are on a motorway, it may be 30 miles to the next place to stop, you are only permitted on the hard shoulder in case of emergency. I expect that more notice would be taken if the police had not been so quick to persecute motorists in the first A young lady was prosecuted for failing to be in proper control of her vehicle while sitting stationary with the handbrake on at traffic lights, because she took a sip from a bottle of water.

Easy target for fundraising. Nuff said really.

Cyclists, ought to be rounded up and exterminated. They are the rudest most annoying creatures found in nature. They persecute motorists by wandering about dangerously in front of them, trying to fit up the inside, abusing pedestrian crossings, ignoring junctions, red lights, think the world owes them a living and that pedestrians ought to get out of their way. Exterminating cyclists should be a high priority for all civilised people.

Sorry Mr Twat and Bike, if you kill yourself on the road you only have yourself to blame.

Mainframe hopeful PSI sends lawyers at IBM in Europe

Steve Browne
Flame

Have we seen this sort of thing elsewhere ?

Were IBM involved in many similar case in the 70s for not helping competitors infiltrate their market space. I always loved the comment then that IBM dominated the market for IBM equipment, I mean what bright spot thought that one up all by themselves.

Nice to see the PC guys advancing into the 70s now, they may even catch up one day.

I get a bit tired of this merkin habit of suing someone every time they take THEIR ball away. IBM have spent serious amounts developing their hardware to a point of reliability which is extremely close to 100%. They have redeveloped and funded large projects to port Linux to their hardware, which is no mean feat, seeing as the code set used is EBCDIC and not ASCII.

I think IBM are entitled to the rewards for their efforts, and these prissy merkin prime donne should go develop their own kit. Perhaps they could trawl a museum or two and look for a PC AT/370 (around 1985 vintage) and get into a spot of reverse engineering. It ran VM/SP 4, there is also a P/370 which ran MVS, didnt have z/OS when I had one. I had one in 1998.

As regards putting someone else's OS on your machine, lets get to look at this a little. No OS supplier supports there OS directly when an OEM is involved. Try calling Microsoft, they tell you to go talk to the people who sold you the machine.

I am with IBM on this one.

US warrantless wiretapping predates 9/11

Steve Browne
Flame

Make them stop

All Bush has done is legislate away freedoms. America, land of the free, well remember those days ? because you are not free any more. You are spied on, followed, monitored. I have refused to go to america I do not want my bank details bandied around and checked by the us gov. It is none of their business and I dont care about terrorists. There was one attack, albeit quite a nasty one, many years ago. How many have there been since ? So why is the population of the home of the brave^H^H^H^H^H shit scared introducing more and more repressive legislation, the sort of thing that Saddam did, yet it was an international crime when Saddam did it, resulting in illegal wars.

So, someone throws a rock at you, and you lie cowering in your beds for the next 7 years. Why dont you all grow up.

Skills shortage: it's mind over matter

Steve Browne

Deja vu all over again

I am an experienced programmer. I have been in IT for 30 years. I have difficulties finding work now because I have taken the trouble to retrain myself and learn .NET.

Yes, I may bumble along a bit, but I cut code at 1,000 lines/week, Tested and working. I know how to design databases, stuff your integer keys, use proper ones. Using integers doesnt make it go any quicker you know !

I have been as flexible as possible, the answer is yes, whats the question, but they still say no.

The problem? They look at a CV and think that is all you can do. You cannot possible do anythig else. The CV determines the future, so if you havent done it, then there is no way you are going to do it. The thought (novel approach to recruitment, thinking) that soemone might learn, that they may know their subject matter inside out is irrelevant.

I think it is quite fun listening to these twats talk about virtualisation, they caught up with the 60s at last. They talk of XML & XHTML but, they dont know the base is sGML, which was a macro language developed in the 60s (MIT, I believe for CP67, later VM) to provide markup for text handling.

So, now you know your code and systems are as old as Beelzebub, stop whining about not finding the right people, they are all around you, you are just to dumb to notice.

If you want people to study CS, make the choice attractive. There is absolutely no point at all in studying something where your career will be exported to India. So, if you want people to go back to study computer science, start paying them, start offering careers tjhat last the 40 years to retirement again.

If you are not prepared to do this, stop whingeing, we cant be bothered to listen to people whining about how they continuously shoot themselves in the foot.

Personally, I would strongly advise anyone starting in university or college today to avoid IT at all costs. Unless they are going to use it as a fast route to management, but accountancy would be a better choice.

MEPs slate EU's terror assault on our data rights

Steve Browne

More ...

It has been my view for many years that trusting government is a very foolish thing.

Yesterday, I wiled away a couple of hours in a (former) KGB Prison. I read the scripts relating the tale of the Soviet invasion of Lithuania. It details the behaviour of the soviet forces and how they set about destroying an incredibly beautiful city (Vilnius).

Tony Blair and his accolytes followed the same path as Stalin. Gordon Brown is attempting to follow the same path as Tony Blair. Start with the little things, RIPA against animal rights extremists, put tags on the paedophiles, who will argue, no one. Why? Because I am not an animal rights extremist or a paedophile?

The sad thing is, neither of these groups are the target, they are used, cynically, to prise freedom from everybody's grasp.

Stop them now.

If you dont vote them out, or resist their intrusions, the future you will have can be seen in a dark prison cell under a beautiful building in Vilnius.

Megan's Law snafu fingered in rapist's murder

Steve Browne
Flame

Very sorry for you but

baying for the mob is no answer to societal ills.

We are not civilised if we freely condone murder.

Consider the death penalty was abolished many years ago, and is kept that way. A condition of joining the EU is abolition now.

Besides, it is the duty of the courts to sentence offenders not passers by. Just because this particular crime was really grim, does not confer any rights on anyone else to interfere.

Either behave in a civil manner or go to gaol.

I never though we would have so many Sun readers here.

Western Digital drive is DRM-crippled for your safety

Steve Browne
Thumb Down

Will they learn ?

What is the point of a device for sharing files but wont share them. Assuming everyone is boot legging files is just downright malicious. How many people have their own video cameras? Did they read the Windows XP (I know, I know) installation adverts, of how GOOD Windows XP is for sharing your video files with your friends ?

I guess (hope?) that customers will realise that buying anything with DRM attached is a bad thing and that they will just pass them by on the shelves. When MS et al are unable to sell their products because of their groundless accusations, that anyone buying their product has criminal intent and must be restrained, I expect we shall see the end of it.

419ers flash big bucks cashcard

Steve Browne
Happy

Cant wait for mine

I am really fed up, I have only won €550,000 on lotteries this last quarter and I really need to improve my turnover in the run up to christmas.

Only problem is, where do I find an ATM that dispenses dollars ?

Met plan moves police to out of town megabases

Steve Browne

Those who think they have nothing to hide

At least you will know where to go. The large warehouse complex containing all those 90 day terrorist suspect, hidden away on an industrial estate. These place already exist, or something remarkably similar.

There is the Yarls Wood Immigration Detention Centre, were the government incarcerates dangerous women and children pending their removal form the UK. Where international criticism has been brought to bear because the UK government is imprisoning children for not committing an offence. They just happened to accompany their parents to a land of freedom and democracy. It must be a really and truly horrible shock to these poor people to arrive in a land blessed with freedom and democracy only to be taken to a far off place and locked up with no recourse to justice.

The police, seeing how these things work, felt jealous and, filled with envy, are now making their own plans to have similar prisons^H^H^H^H^H^H police stations and prevent anyone getting in who may find out what they do.

I despair of the direction in which we are heading.

Searching people with no reputation for carrying weapons does not reassure anyone, it pisses off the people who are being searched. When you are constantly accused of misbehaviour there is a tendency to misbehave, why?, because you are getting blamed for it anyway, or at least accused of it.

Will we ever survive the damage of new labour ? or are we doomed to traipse along behind the americans and head for Neo Stasi solutions to non existent problems.

Serena promises dev teams shorter hours

Steve Browne

30 years and still going (well, almost)

Ever since I joined the data processing department I have read of many efforts to make me superfluous. It hasnt happened, well struggling a bit at the moment while retraining takes its effect, but it was retraining into a different technology, so I expected some difficulties.

Anyway, we had The Last One, DJ AI Systems, which was going to read a definition and generate a bug free system. We have had software houses asserting that all software will be pre packaged. We have had dozens of 4GL languages and Microsoft re inventing everything back to the 50s. Quite, well ...

What have we learnt in all of these years ? That users with a bit of knowledge are a damn nuisance, they consume inordinate amounts of technical support time and all of a few lines of <4GL, Other generator name> which no one wants to use, but if they do, it is the IT department that has to sort it out.

Now, I have no doubt that this product is a good idea (for someone) and that it is well developed and would make life easier for professionals. If you take a product like, Focus (from Information Builders), which is handed to end users to produce reports (remember MIS), you find a proliferation of reports, all exceedingly similar, and only one is used. Which one? is in the mind of the user, when they leave, you have no way of knowing what they were doing or were trying to achieve.

SQL was intended as an end user tool, so users could manipulate the database without bother the Data Processing department. Now, hands up, who allows users to use SQL direct against the corporate database ? Anyone ?

So don't do it anywhere else either.

Just because one company has developed a product doesn't mean you should all jump to using it, especially with programming tools.

Microsoft accuses kids of bullying Santa into sex chat

Steve Browne
Pirate

Prior art

Erm, are M$ really that dumb, to put something out in public that can learn to talk ? Now, IIRC, people used to put parrots in pubs, and the pubs customers used to take great delight in teaching said parrot to swear.

Finding the same thing happening with an electronic Santa is hardly a surprise, is it ?

Besides, there is nothing more attractive to children than getting away with extreme naughtiness !

French high court thumps Google Video

Steve Browne
Flame

Dont understand the fuss

Google are informed there is a problem with a particular document, they remove it and make a reasonable attempt at preventing it from being republished. If they are unable to do that, then they remove their service as they are not permitted to break the law.

No need to discuss technology or the ways and means, the law is there to guide society and to curb the excesses of the few (like Google) for the benefit of everyone and must be obeyed.

If you want analogies, the best is the Theft Act. It is illegal to handle goods knowing or believing them to be stolen. Google are informed that something is"stolen" and they are required to remove it form their site, it seems reasonable, now that they are aware of "stolen" content to take some steps to preventing it from appearing again.

90mph police chief cops 42-day ban

Steve Browne

Points ..

I think you will find that a discretionary ban is an alternative to points. So, get banned for a period, dont get points.

The issue here is one of credibility, though he does seem to have avoided the hide behind the badge symptom and has admitted his guilt.

Ultimately, this case is of no real consequence, what is required is a proper and reasonable review of the road traffic act. The imposition of 24 hour solutions to 2 hour problems needs to be revised. For instance, there are not many children near schools during the holidays at 2AM, so why insist on a permanent 20 mph speed limit. Likewise with motorways, it is time to remove the nits, in the middle lane doing 50 and increase the speed limit, if you can't drive fast, don't use motorways. It would be really nice to start banning trucks and buses from motorways during the peak commuting periods.

So, drop the sanctimonious attitudes and try to be constructive. Though, it is nice to see the biter bit from time to time.

Privacy breach nuked in Canadian passport site

Steve Browne
Flame

Politicians are too bullish with the upside

I dont think anyone here could doubt the benefits gained from well implemented computer systems in delivering consistent, constantly available services to people when they are needed.

Governments only ever consider this aspect of them.

Whereas we all know that there is a serious effort expended in developing these applications, running them and making sure they are fixed when problems occur.

This is the aspect that is ignored by governments, that to create the systems they want costs large sums of money. The companies bidding for this work, should that be company ?, has a historic record of failure, for under specifying function and resource requirements, to make the bid more palatable to the chancellor. They just wait for a change request, and then hit for the rest of the money that should have been committed in the first place.

When the government finds it embarrassing to admit they have been duped again they try to bury it or try to get along with a crippled application which is not fit for purpose.

I have been fiddling directly with urls for 13 years now, since I first started using the web. I would have thought that everyone would have known that people can type their own addresses into the address bar and see where it leads. There was a chat site that you could easily get into rooms unnoticed, and watch what people were saying to each other, the room list was obtained by causing an error, so it sent a large file, which mixed in with all manner of strange characters contained the private rooms that had been created. Just select a room name, type it into the url and you were in, easy.

To find a government site, even a foreign government, exposing personal information to anyone using this technique is absolutely disgraceful. They demand personal information, under threat of prison if not provided, and then go tell anyone who cares to look all about you. It really is time for data protection officers to have proper budgets and to start prosecuting people, including systems suppliers, for providing insecure systems which do not protect personal data.

Appraisals are dishonest, waste of time

Steve Browne
Thumb Down

I remember those

and I remember why I prefer contracting.

My last appraisal was cancelled as they made me redundant instead. So, despite working 50 hours weeks, generating an additional $1,000/week in unexpected income, I got NOTHING for it. They even refused to help with getting me home, but were quite happy to point out I only had 10 days to leave the country or would be at risk of arrest and deportation. Never again shall I cross the Atlantic.

At a UK employer, the appraisal was seen as an opportunity for the most miserable manager I have ever come across to have a pop at all of the staff suffering under his shitty attitude. I was lied to constantly at this (large French owned FM) company. Appraisals were given by quota. There were rules stating that not everyone could be in the top 30%. How can you possibly have an appraisal were the outcome has to be fitted into a slot just to keep HR happy. I worked with 3 other Systems Programmers, each of us had complementary skills, we all had to work together, and did so quite well, to keep things going. So, who was the best, who were the mediocre and who was the dog. I took a simple view, we were all needed and all contributed to the success or otherwise, we each helped each other out when required, it was a great team to be on. Shame about the management. (BTW, If you recognise yourself Mr AW, you are right it is you !).

I left after more lies. I managed to get away from that site and off to do something interesting. But, the clawed me back in for Y2K work, well they tried, I left, as I refused to return to the same problems, different face that existed at the previous site.

Overall, appraisals are worthless, especially if there are quotas present as to how many fit into certain grades. This is statistics gone mad, decide what they should be, then engineer everything to fit. I wonder why staff retention is an issue at these companies ....

Bloody code!

Steve Browne
Thumb Up

@Rich

PL/1 and its derivatives can have multiple Entry points. it has Entry variables too, so they can be redefined dynamically. Rexx can have functions invoked as procedures, so sometimes it will return a value and some times it wont, so it has to have multiple exit points. With some interesting label positioning, it is possible to execute the "Then" clause and the "Else" clause of a single "if" statement, again an exit point is introduced, that doesnt actually exit but serves to confuse the hell out of anyone unsure of what they are doing.

If ValidData()

Then

Return

ValidData:

/* do whatever validation here */

Return (True | False)

Else

/* Invalid data appears here */

Effectively a procedure is created inline, called from the IF statement, so the return is back to the IF statement, the THEN clause is redundant, so just needs a Return or null statement and the else can be executed if required.

Cobol had the infamous "GoTo Depending On", which went somewhere as a result of a variable condition. There was the "Alter Paragraph to Proceed to" thing as well, which changed the target address of a GOTO statement. Self modifying code was considered harmful as a result of this. I have used all of these things in code and watched the horror on people faces as they tried to work with it.

Steve Browne
Flame

Multiple exits

I have generally found multiple exits to be the result of poor programming. In some circumstances, an early departure, out of an array scan loop for instance, is required once the wanted item is located. As these scans tend to be quite short and only exit to teh end of the loop, they are easier to get along with.

Early departures from block structured procedures are quite difficult to comprehend unless adequately commented, but who does that ? If they cant be bothered to structure code reasonably, they are unlikely to put comments in! If your control structures are becoming too complex, eg indentation is getting halfway across the screen, the time has come to refactor.

I have been programming for 30 years and have rarely come across the need to have multiple exit points. Structured programming was a very useful guide to designing program logic, and should not be dismissed so readily.

The real problem is the proliferation of C attitudes. C is a truly awful language, with overly complex definitions and very little type safety and no default error handling. How it ever came to such prominence is a mystery. if they hadnt used zero terminated strings, there woudl be no such thing as a buffer overflow as every string would have a length associated with it which can be checked by the compiler.

Having moved on to object oriented styles, I would have thought the single exit point is now even easier to use, with a proliferation of short procedures implementing the logic.

Sorry, I think the use of multiple exits is useful as a guide to the level of incompetence of the coder. Easy maintenance is far more important than developer short cuts.

Mozilla rubbishes IE Firefox security study

Steve Browne
Jobs Horns

Dispose of IE, dispose of problems

My experience is that switching to Firefox enhances security no end. I am sure there are problems lurking, but I get updates frequently to deal with them. I have had no issues with spyware, adware or any other unwanted *ware since switching. My friends who had many spyware/adware infiltrations per day, like in the 100s, dropped to zero when converted to Firefox.

So, MS can release as many studies as they like, my own empirical study on real machines with real people using them indicate that IE brings in too many problems for it to be left in unskilled hands. Installing Firefox removes these problems, in fact, if they persist in using IE after I have set up Firefox then I tell them they are on their own, as I refuse to constantly fix the same thing time after time.

I still have IE, it is handy for Windows Update, but that is all it is used for. Firefox remains my personal choice.

MS would be better served remembering when they were the good guys, instead of the greedy, lying, ugly creature they have become.

Welcome to the El Reg bumper demographic survey

Steve Browne
Coat

IT angle

No IT angle again, though Paris received an honourable mention

MI5 warns over China hacking menace

Steve Browne
Coat

Windows ...

... can be traced back to the US

3 drags rivals into court over number porting

Steve Browne
Coat

Imagine ...

T-Mobile are German, they may retaliate and the last time they "retaliated" caused quite a problem, especially for the French. Orange are French, they roll over and surrender all their customers at the first hint of trouble and will do exactly as T Mobile tells them.

Allo, Allo ....

Microsoft loses battle of the piggybacking passwords

Steve Browne

Decisions, decisions

Having to choose between Microsoft and a patent troll ... hmmm.

Let me see, patent trolls are just out and out parasites, they contribute nothing to society yet expect to reap rich rewards.

Microsoft buys up competitors, revises their products and rebadges them as Microsoft. They also support patents on software and are pressing hard via their EU representative (have you met George ?) to inflict loonie US laws on the rest of the world.

Through their use of software patents, Microsoft create the environment for the trolls to survive.

Physician heal thyself begins to form !

So, if the troll wins and Microsoft are forced to continually hand over large sums of cash, will their support for software patents diminish.

If Microsoft wins, will this mean the end of software patents as they would now be unenforceable.

Sounds a bit like a dog eating it's tail.

Paris and Britney top US kids' Santa naughty list

Steve Browne

I prayed for a bike ....

... but they said it didnt work like that, so I stole a bike and prayed for forgiveness.

Info chief renews call for data breach crime penalties

Steve Browne
Black Helicopters

Now, will it be understood ....

.. that having nothing to hide does not mean nothing to fear.

How many times do we hear those with nothing to hide have nothing to fear ? Yet, here is precisely the reason why there is always something to fear.

What will happen, a few platitudes in Parliament, a bit of grovelling by ministers and then ? Nothing, nothing at all.

Do you want YOUR personal information broadcast to anyone that wants it ? Do you want the hassle of identify theft ? Have you realised that you DO have something to hide and there there is PLENTY to fear.

Get real, support No2ID and let your MP know that if he votes for ID cards, you wont vote for him.

Half of computer users are Wi-Fi thieves

Steve Browne
Paris Hilton

One day, I noticed a wireless network on my laptop ..

.. and I found that it had connected to it, despite there being a wireless router in the same room, the laptop proceeded to download files of its own accord, at no time was I informed of this nefarious activity and I was completely unaware that my laptop had such criminal tendencies.

And why would I check ? I have a wireless router and windows update has never suggested that I authorise every time it goes looking for code fixes or whatever Microsoft decide to feed this month.

So, is it theft ? Is it assuming the rights of ownership by an appropriation ? did I TAKE anything.

Plod just havent a clue. They caught someone in Bedford and they are in the local rag threatening to prosecute everyone for this wherever they may be. The problem is, who has reported a crime, without a complaint, it must be really difficult to secure a conviction as there is no means of anyone knowing whether the owner of the wireless router would authorise the connection or not, even though the hardware has done so, with his implicit permission.

Plod can go gobbing off as much as they like, without evidence they have nothing to say in court, makes me wonder why people plead "guilty" when they have a defence, just that they arent bright enough to use it.

Anyway, it gets plod off the motorist's and Brazillian electrician's backs for a while, and gives them some light relief in the press ....

Ofcom stings ISP £30k for silent treatment

Steve Browne

Is that all ?

What are needed are real penalties, not a few thousand pounds, something to wipe out their profits for the next 2 or 3 years. Ofcom just dont get it do they, unless significant sanction is applied bad behaviour will continue.

BTW, havent heard anything from Toucan after I told them to go get a summons or go away following my escape from their clutches. They, unilaterally, decided that I hadnt ended my contract, when I had told them at least 3 times that I was doing my 12 months and that was it. I hear they are now part of Pipex ... hoem sweet home I guess

Animal rights activist hit with RIPA key decrypt demand

Steve Browne
Thumb Down

It doesnt matter what she has done

This is a bad law with draconian consequences for ignorance.

I do not care what offence may have been committed, she is still innocent of any crime until such time as she is convicted in a court. As such, her rights are to be upheld.

This is the type of softener used to introduce such dreadful legislation, dont fall into the trap, because you are on the list.

They have already been for the animal rights activist .....

Mass. firm sues Google over 1997 patent

Steve Browne
Jobs Horns

A timely reminder

of why software patents should not exist,

Massive fire on Olympic site

Steve Browne
Coat

I am surprised that ....

... the government didnt suggest that ID cards would have prevented this. They seem capable of preventing everything else, so a mere fire should be no difficulty at all to these amazing devices .....

Ballmerized Nigerian PCs might run Mandriva after all

Steve Browne
Thumb Down

What a load of twaddle

Do Microsoft forget their recent court hearing where they were ordered to provide interoperability access which they had previously declined to provide. The bit about complying with the laws in whichever jurisdiction they operate is patently false too. I mean, if they were complying with laws what were they doing in court ? or why do they have to pay more fines ?

Everyone knows what marketing "grants" really are. If you give me $400,000 I can do a spot of marketing for you. . And I rather suspect that quite a few African governments really get to enjoy their marketing promotions.

It just annoys me that they keep spouting this drivel, when even Microsoft must know that windows is a dog to work with.

EU cracks down on fake blogger astroturfing

Steve Browne

Whats the point

If it isnt going to be enforced why bother enacting it ?

New laws are not needed, what is needed is enforcement of existing laws.

Beer better than water: Official

Steve Browne
Coat

Therapeutic beer

I always found beer to be therapeutic. I found it helped me to sleep at night, whilst in strange environments (staying away from home while contracting), helped rise in the mornings to do what had to be done, remain working at ungodly hours of the night, once while being held up by my project manager, helped in breaking down language barriers to communication, they should bottle it and sell it on ...

Is MySQL's Google's Trojan Horse for world domination?

Steve Browne
Black Helicopters

@Nick

That's because you are not paranoid enough !

You have to think of backdoors being embedded to enable Google to search your data and analyses it to deliver advertising to you, or sell it on to others, bit like Indian call centres do with UK bank account details.

It will be interesting to see what happens to MySQL as and when it becomes known that Google have actually embedded code inside it. The overall scheme seems to be one of moving to a "thin" client, we used to call these terminals, progress heh! There is some resistance to this approach, as it is trying to unwind history, people became empowered with their own computer and they will not return this power to a centralised sanctum without a fight.

I expect though, that whatever is put into MySQL by Google will be analysed by the world and his open sourced mate, and if it is something unpleasant, then a revised version without Google add ins will become available. The embrace and extend approach taken by Microsoft will just not work.

Confused BBC tech chief: Only 600 Linux users visit our website

Steve Browne

It isnt about Linux

It is about a publicly funded organisation denying part of the population from whom, they extort money with threats and menaces, access to content for which they have paid.

BT banks on windmills to throw greens off its scent

Steve Browne

Strowger exchanges

They used to clock up 50KW at peak times for a 10,000 line medium traffic level exchange. 1000 Amps at 50V, early in the morning it would reduce to a few KW and generally in the 2500 - 4000 KW range for the rest of the day.

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