Posts by Carl W

UK government rolls out £3.6bn management consultancy framework amid scrutiny of rising external expertise spending

SMEs?

This is confusing. Some of those companies are SMEs and have been awarded contracts of hundreds of millions of pounds?

UK.gov awards seats on £2bn 'digital outcomes' framework to suppliers – one of which doesn't even have a website

this isn't how Digital Outcomes and Specialists works

There are thousands of companies allocated to each lot. I assume the ones in the contract notice are just randoms from the list.

Fintech biz Wirecard folds into insolvency like two pair against a flush. Good luck accessing your chip stack

FairFX too

FairFX services currently suspended too -- apparently they use Wirecard as a card issuer

From Brit telly presenter Eamonn Holmes to burning 5G towers in the Netherlands: Stupid week turns into stupid fortnight for radio standard

Re: The RF nutters

These are the same people who will complain that there is no mobile phone signal in their house if you take the antenna away.

Britain's courts lurch towards Skype and conference calls for trials as COVID-19 distancing kicks in

Re: https://jitsi.org/

8x8 acquired Jitsi about 18 months ago

I'll just clear down the database before break. What's the worst that could happen? It's a trial

Re: never trust a PM

8MB RAM presumably?

In the claws of a vulture: Nebra AnyBeam Laser Projector

Good price

Paid about the same for a portable LED 720p projector last year, with no frickin' laser beams. Runs Android so has Amazon Prime, Netflix, etc. as apps.

Boom! Just like that the eSIM market emerges – and jolly useful it is too

Re: So how is an eSIM better

You could, for example, sign up for an Australian SIM by scanning a QR code on an advert at the baggage carousel.

Apple macOS Mojave: There's goth mode but developers will have to wait for the juicy stuff

Will not install on a 3TB Fusion drive that has a Bootcamp partition on it. Unless you want to destroy the Bootcamp partition.

She's arrived! HMS Queen Lizzie enters Portsmouth Naval Base

Doesn't the landing gear impact the ski jump at 150mph+ on every takeoff?

NASA plans seven-year trip to Jupiter – can we come with you, please?

Heading off to Jupiter?

The Trojans are 60 degrees ahead and behind Jupiter in its orbit, so a *long* way from Jupiter.

Stingy sapphire lens in Apple's iPhone 7 is as scratchy as glass

Is that a real person?

That guy sounds almost exactly like the "Tom" voice that macOS uses for dictation (which I think is provided by Nuance).

Maybe Apple's hardware is reviewing itself these days. Next it'll be interpreting attempts to switch it off as an attack and mobilizing the Skynet network.

Making us pay tax will DESTROY EUROPE, roars Apple's Tim Cook

Apparently, though, we voted to leave these truly independent 'well off' eurocrats to do what's right for the ordinary people of mainland Europe (and Ireland)

Corbyn lied, Virgin Trains lied, Harambe died

Re: OK Jeremy--renationalization--what then?

OED prefers endings in -ize apart from the exceptions listed here http://www.oxforddictionaries.com/words/ize-ise-or-yse

Blighty will have a whopping 24 F-35B jets by 2023 – MoD minister

Re: IMG @James 51

LOL, and even that report fails to mention the original report's basic maths error:

"The AMRAAM, despite its critics’ smears about its accuracy, has a kill probability of 0.59, 1 representing certainty of kill, so two AMRAAMs are enough to guarantee the shootdown of any enemy (0.59×2 = 1.18)"

DVLA misses out on £400m in tax after scrapping paper discs

Re: Either the figures are wrong or 1/15 drivers are not insured

Since when have you not been able to get insurance without tax or MOT? You can't get tax without MOT or insurance, but one of them has to come first.

Samsung Note 7: Probably the best phone in the world. Yeah – you heard right

Re: Still doesn't have front facing speakers..

Front-facing speakers also brilliant for conference calls.

SoftLayer embiggens its cloud VMs

Nice try Team Register

A reasonable attempt but it's not the same as a Lester article

XMA shutters its City pad, will service London from St Albans

"major hub inside the M25"

But St Albans is outside the M25.

Engineer's bosses gave him printout of his Yahoo IMs. Euro court says it's OK

Re: Separate work from private life!

Was that the BBC's "Make Me a German"? Which was an excellent insight that I have shared with several German colleagues.

BOFH: How long does it take to complete Friday's lager-related tasks?

COP Thursday

I had that same situation many years ago. The good bit is that having booked all of Friday's time, there's no need to do any of it. It's booked in the system so it must have happened, right?

Einstein's brain to be picked by satellites

Improved GPS accuracy?

Since GPS receivers have to make GR corrections already, will an improved understanding of GR lead to better GPS accuracy?

Lyft hits the brakes: Ban threat stalls taxi app's New York City launch

I used both Gett and Uber in NYC recently, so I don't see why Lyft shouldn't be allowed to compete. Gett were doing a promo where anywhere in Manhattan south of 110th St was $10. Almost as cheap as the subway.

Online VAT fraud: Calls for government crackdown grow louder

Re: Let's talk VAT numbers..

It's not profit, it's turnover. And I think the number is about £80k now. Don't need to sell many iPads to reach £80k of turnover

Virgin Media's SPAM-AGEDDON 'fix' silences mailboxes

All my mail goes to my own domain

As does mine. Or nearly all. I discovered a valuable lesson many years ago: do not make your domain's administrative contact an address in that domain, nor an address in a domain hosted by the same provider. Oversight on my part but I accidentally let the domain expire and of course they sent the notification to the administrative contact...

VW’s case of NOxious emissions: a tale of SMOKE and MIRRORS?

Re: Rolling roads don't work that way

When I had a 4WD car (Subaru Impreza Turbo) the advice was that the MOT stations had to do all of the braking tests on a test drive rather than a single roller rolling road, for fear of knackering the centre diff. Things may have changed since then.

Volkswagen used software to CHEAT on AIR POLLUTION tests, alleges US gov

Re: Let's not forget...

Reduced fuel tax? So why in the UK has diesel, apart from a few weeks about a month ago, been more expensive than petrol? Surely it's simpler to refine?

taping up body seams

Worse than that, they're not even done on the open road but on a rolling road (presumably with a wind machine). And as you say, self-certified.

EC mpg tests just as bad

Ever wondered why no-one in the real world can get anything like the manufacturer's claimed mpg figures? The EC emissions test is prescriptive and is x minutes and y mph, y minutes at z mph, etc. So the ECU recognizes that it's on the test and adjusts fuelling appropriately to get artificially high mpg figures.

Post-pub nosh neckfiller: Fancy a ham and cheese 'dry tree trunk' sarnie?

Re: Was looking good until...

Stansted has an airport. Stanstead (near Ware) does not. But it does have a level crossing in the high street.

Audi RS3: Keep running up that hill, with no problems

Had to sell the Scooby?

What kit do 2 kids require that doesn't fit in the back of a Scooby? I managed perfectly OK. When the kids were 11 and 8 we managed for the next 2 years with a TVR Cerbera and a Peugeot 206CC, so two 2+2s.

Windows 10 marks the end of 'pay once, use forever' software

OS X upgrades "cheap"?

The last couple have been free...

Contractors who used Employee Beneficiary Trusts are in HMRC's sights

Re: Clarfication

My understanding of how these work is that the loan is never repaid and then when you eventually die it becomes written off by the trustees. I was also offered this scheme and it looked far too dodgy and had the potential to land my family with a huge bill at the end.

But I also know someone who was involved in a scheme like this whilst working as a contractor at HMRC, and they were OK with it.

Linux Mint 17.2: If only all penguinista desktops were done this way

Re: @Carl W - I'm not seeing it

The article says "You can update to Mint 17.2 directly from Update Manager." which implies now. No problem though, I've downloaded and installed it. Doesn't appear to be a lot different from 17.1 IMHO.

I'm not seeing it

No update available in Update Manager (currently on 17.1 -- just in a VM to see what it's like).

KRAKKOOM! SpaceX Falcon supply mission to ISS EXPLODES minutes after launch

Re: SWIGERT

Unfortunately Jack Swigert died in 1982, so unless he's up to some heavenly oxygen tank stirring mischief I think we can rule him out.

Robo-car wars: Delphi's near crash, prang, wallop with Google DENIED!

I don't personally agree but...

...IAM would say you should have anticipated his manoeuvre and adjusted your speed/positioning accordingly.

Even in a Honda Jazz it might have been better to have floored it for the overtake :)

Britain beats back Argies over Falklands online land grab

Upstanding chap

Seems he is a fellow gold MacBook owner.

Woman dumps ultra-rare $200,000 Apple 1 computer in the trash

Disappointed

Not one commentard has yet remarked that you can get an equivalent Dell for a third of the price.

Who's the big Swiss bunch that wants to take Sir Jony's lunch? It's... SWATCH!

Re: Didn't know they still existed

Not only are they still in business they are the world's largest watchmaker and own the brands Breguet, Blancpain, Omega, Longines, Rado, Tissot and Certina amongst others, plus the ETA company who make movements used by many watch manufacturers, e.g. IWC, as well as being jointly responsible (with Mercedes-Benz) for the creation of the original Smart car.

Google it onna Google phone onna GOOGLE NETWORK. MVNO plan imminent

Effectively two numbers?

Why would the SIM need two numbers (MSISDNs)? It's possible to map a single MSISDN to multiple IMSIs. Wouldn't it also be better if Google had their own HLR and signed up to wholesale roaming agreements with the two networks?

Google pulls plug on YouTube for older iPads, iPhones, smart TVs

P*ss poor

Why could they not retain the old API for compatibility purposes?

Post-pub nosh neckfiller: Tortilla de patatas

Success!

And tasty good it was too. But do you think there might be a way without frying the onions and potatoes in a load of olive oil? If not it will have to remain a rare treat rather than staple post-pub diet.

Samsung's bend blame blast: We DEMAND a Galaxy S6 Edge do-over

Re: Glass is not meant to be bendy

Disclaimer: I have an iPhone 6

Personally I believe the zenith of mobile phones was reached with the Nokia 8210. Enough charge to last several days and small enough to fit into the condom pocket of your jeans.

Volvo V60 Polestar: Speak softly, carry a big stick, dress like a Smurf

Re: "...dampers use a patented technology for ... individual wheel control..."

I’ve seen a race car with a single damper for both front wheels. Not sure of the advantages other than weight.

Blimey

A transverse straight 6? Must be the only car on sale with that engine layout.

Cross-dressing blokes storm NSA HQ: One shot dead, one hurt

Benjamin Franklin quote

"Those who would give up essential Liberty, to purchase a little temporary Safety, deserve neither Liberty nor Safety"

Mature mainframe madness prints Mandlebrot fractal in TWELVE MINUTES

Ken Sheriff

Was also one of the authors of Fractint