Posts by Fading

UK sleep experts say it's time to kill daylight saving for good

Simple solution...

Change the clocks every weekend - move them forward an hour at 3pm on a Friday and then back an hour on Sunday night. Get to the weekend quicker and that extra hour before Monday morning will really help the post weekend blues.

As IBM pushes for more automation, its AI simply not up to the job of replacing staff

EOL 4 years ago

Does not equal four years old.

Sweet 16 and making mistakes: More of the computing industry's biggest fails

Always envious of my friends'

Atari STs or Amiga machines. From having access to a wide selection of 8 bit machines, the 16 bit era in my childhood home was an Amstrad 1640 and my little brother's Megadrive. The console didn't interest me so I mainly stuck with an aging Amstrad 6128 (writing school work on Wordstar). I ended up taking the 1640 with me to university as my childhood home upgraded to 386's and then later 486's (the latter on which I wrote autoexec menus for different memory allocations depending if you were playing games or loading up windows). The 1640 though served many years and from its lowly beginings with a single 360KB 5.25inch drive ended up with a second 3.5 inch 720KB drive, 30MB hard drive, adlib sound card and a dual joystick card.

It wasn't all rosy in 8086 land back in the late 80s with Amstrad's Sinclair PC200/Amstrad PC20 failure (think beige box PC in an C128 case) - built to compete with the Amiga and ST but only had an 8086 with CGA graphics. I remember talking my dad out of buying one at the Earl's Court Personal Computer Show in late 1988.

Techie told 'Bill Gates' Excel is rubbish – and the Microsoft boss had it fixed in 48 hours

Re: i8088

@Sandtitz - Good read. My dad brought home a Ti 99/4 back in the early 80s and was the first home computer I remember using (had previously brought home a Commodore Pet but as that was a work's machine I wasn't allowed to touch it). Had the option to "boot" into an equation calculator or basic when you first turned it on and whilst supposedly compatible with the later Ti99/4a (no equation calculator and chiclet keys replaced with a "proper" keyboard) I could never get parsec (Ti99/4a cartridge) to run on it. Ti-invaders and Blasto were great games and I still remember typing OLDCS1 to load from cassette. The extended basic cartridge really improved the in-built basic and it took some clever routines to get around the hardware limitations. The amount of hardware add-ons available in the states (though sadly not over here in the UK) could turn the machine into a monster.

Yes, I am being intolerably smug – because I ignored you and saved the project

Re: Documentation and a cheap label maker

If only everyone had your common sense. When you are back to trying combinations of things to bring back someone else's systems (especially if that someone else was a younger version of yourself) always remember that in real life stressful situations there is always at least one more combination of things you can plug in then is mathematically possible - all the theoretical combinations plus the final one that works (think USB-A superposition).

As a nod to my advancing years.....

I now use the camera on my phone to take photos of everything before and during any disassembly/disconnection of anything (even the "simple" things). Thankfully I don't have these automatically uploading to a social media account as it would probably only reinforce my family's opinion of me.......

BOFH: Well, we did tell you to keep the BitLocker keys safe

Re: recovery workshops in, uh... Belgium?"

My other half is very partial to the chocolates from Neuhaus. Thankfully, not only do they deliver there is a purveyor of said treats in London St Pancras station.

Raspberry Pi IPO is oversubscribed multiple times

You can alwyas become a share holder.....

If you are afraid a company will degrade post IPO you can always have a say by becoming a shareholder. If enough share holders are of a similar mindset you will have the power to keep the company on the straight and narrow.

Study finds 268% higher failure rates for Agile software projects

Not sure how "Our research has shown that what matters when it comes to delivering high-quality software on time and within budget is a robust requirements engineering process and having the psychological safety to discuss and solve problems when they emerge, whilst taking steps to prevent developer burnout. This is fundamental to the philosophy of Impact Engineering." - could not be used within an agile framework (the quote is directly from EngPrax's press release).

Waterfall tends to keep users and product owners away from the developers during the project leading to the well know 5 stages of UAT (Disbelief, Anger, Bargining, Despair and finally the Acceptance) - Agile keeps the users and product owners closer (so fewer surprises come UAT time) but this can lead to other issues. I found the most fundemantal factor that determines a projects success or failure is down to unrealistic expectations from higher management on timescales and costs.

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

Re: IT Crowd

That brings back some long suppressed memories. Need a few more pints to kill those brain cells off for good........

Re: Crows

I have ended up keeping kit from work but normally it has been due to me keeping the work kit so long and in good condition that I have missed a couple of "upgrade cycles" and they don't want it back.

Re: Yeah, sure. Nothing changed. Pinky promise.

Excel does change the data formats - if you open a CSV and have somthing like SAAB in one column and 9-3 in another (to represent the Make and Range of a Swedish built car) - save it as a csv and next time you open it you will have a SAAB 09-Mar (without doing anything else). I use this behaviour to convert data into dates if stored in a non-date format.

Destroying offshore wind farms is top priority for Trump if he returns to presidency

Re: Will Trump bring back the coal-powered car?

Both are true for certain values of large. Oceans release CO2 as they warm and sequestor CO2 as they cool and as the world is 2/3rds ocean that is a lot of CO2. The burning of fossil fuels whilst considered "large" are a very small part of the carbon cycle in total (and before you shout "denier" small deon't mean they can't have an effect). The world about us is not binary and in a complex chaotic system there is rarely a single cause of anything.

Re: How wind farms kill wales

Iit might be linked to beaching of whales but as yet I haven't seen any conclusive study. Putting large vibrating electomagnets in the oceans may well cause issues with aquatic and avian navigation though I suspect it will more likely lead to avoidance of the area (and possible change ot local ecosystems) rather than too many long term negative impacts.

Not a Genius move: Resurrecting war hero Alan Turing as your 'chief AI officer'

Whilst certainly tastless in this case....

Replacing the entire c-suite with AI would in many cases be an improvement and a better use for AI than the c-suite normally comes up with (a generic AI though - not a tasteless facsimilie of a real person).

Zilog to end standalone sales of the legendary Z80 CPU

Re: MSX

And the now 40 year old Amstrad CPC464.....

Wing Commander III changed how the copy hotkey works in Windows 95

IIRC I could never get Wing Commander III to work under win95....

Needed more free low level RAM (within the first 640 KB) than was available to the machine when win 95 was loaded. Needed to drop into DOS 7 and run from the command line. They might have released a win95 compatible version but the 4 CD-ROM version I had wasn't it.

Post Office slapped down for late disclosure of documents in Horizon scandal inquiry

Re: First Class

The legal split was only in 2012 (during the coalition government) though the previous government had rebranded and unrebranded the post office counters part during their "arms length" management.

German state ditches Windows, Microsoft Office for Linux and LibreOffice

Re: It wont be technical issues which sink this

Last time I was in an NHS hospital they were still using out of support windows 7 on many of their machines.

Want to keep Windows 10 secure? This is how much Microsoft will charge you

Re: Is your son a hacker?

As soon as I saw the AOL recommendation I knew this was a wind-up. Very good AC

Closure of Windows 10 upgrade path still catching users by surprise

In my misbegotten youth....

I purchased an upgrade from Vista home OEM to windows 8 retail via Microsoft for the grand total of 25 whole English pounds (when they were desperate to increase windows 8 uptake). The key has been used subsequently to upgrade to windows 8.1 then 10 and since then the "downgrade" to windows 11 - going on 15 years of MS OS's now (all those other OEM licenses from machine upgrades have been wasted). This is linked to my MS account so with luck I will get a few more MS Os's out of it.....

Now who remembers calling the MS activation number for XP numerous times after another wipe to get the machine working again.....

Researchers confirm what we already knew: Google results really are getting worse

Looks like we'll have to go back to proper net surfing......

Where you relied on links on one page to take you to other interesting pages.

40 years since Elite became the most fun you could have with 22 kilobytes

Originally played the cut down Electron version....

Certainly not the best version but my first - monochrome graphics, only one galaxy, no military lasers and reduced number of ships. Docking was fiendishly difficult compared to all other versions I played (C64, Amstrad CPC 464 - non metro version so had the random crash bug - had to send it back to get the patched version (two weeks, imagine waiting two weeks for a patch) , PC - Dos version in 4 colour CGA filled graphics then played Elite Plus in glorious MCGA) - so after mastering on the electron I could dock easily on any other version. Spent a long time hunting thargoids in witch space on the Amstrad CPC version (mining lasers were the best weapons for this - needed to hit a key combination whilst hyperspacing to force your ship into witchspace)

Put a fair amount of time in Frontiers - loved my Merlin and got all the way up into an Imperial Trader (though preferred flying the courier) and aslo played a bit of Encounters (pretty much a Frontiers enhancement).

Haven't play ED in ages - lost a bit of interest when engineers were introduced - might drop back into it at some point if I have time.

Microsoft issues deadline for end of Windows 10 support – it's pay to play for security

The impending win11 downgrade approaches...

I have tried to get on with win11 but it is definitely a downgrade from win10 (which was an upgrade from 8 but a downgrade from 7). My main machine meets the TPM requirements (but does not allow the memory integrity to be turned on saying "incompatible drivers" - though the list of incompatible drivers is blank).

So issues I have with win11 - not able to move the taskbar to the top (previously I always had my local machine's task bar at the top - so could tell at a glance if I was on a remote session or not), "open with" - sometimes works mostly doesn't, hyperlinks in apps no-longer opens a web browser with the link - and of course in an app you can't view where the link wants to take you (probably linked to the same issue as before). What is up with the stupid icon menu for right clicking on files? Pretty much always have to "show more options" just to get anything done. I have tried the DISM and SFC repairs but my problems still remain.

Will be nuking from orbit and reinstalling soon - just wondering whether to go back to 10 for some peace of mind.....

I also have a 10 year old laptop that doesn't do TPM (i7 3610QM, 12 GB RAM) which will most likely get a nice linux install when win10 goes out of support....

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

Re: Every single time

To be honest it lasted me a good long while (died after about seven years of use) and whilst it had a few quirks by the end I still remember it fondly.

Re: Every single time

Defintely a thing in the UK - I had one of these (https://www.theregister.com/2003/12/17/evesham_voyager_64_athlon/) which has both 10/100 ethernet and a modem port right next to each other plus USB 2.0 (and a IR port, firewire - damn thing had pretty much all the connectivity you could want - except wifi).

Share your 2024 tech forecasts (wrong answers only) to win a terrible sweater

5G was to blame.....

2024 - Covid inquiry finally concludes 5G did spread Covid 19 and vaccines were actually nanobots designed to nullify the symptoms whilst also provide Bill Gates control over our thoughts. Vaccine damage concluded to be nanobots blue screening without page-file space for a memory dump. Public outcry reduced to minority of vaccine free individuals easily framed as "conspiracy cranks" and never given air-time again. OF-COM re-branded as ministry for truth to prevent anyof these dangerous alternative views and merged with BBC to enforce the correct messages across all media and the internet. Epic win cases against Google, Steam and Apple enforcing a mandated cut for distribution to be unified across all industries and set at 50%........

CompSci academic thought tech support was useless – until he needed it

Assuming it was undeliverable...

Or were a lot of dummy email accounts for various miss-spellings of "Helpdesk" set up so the BOFH could happily ignore all but the most exact of complainants?

AMD gives 7000-series Threadrippers a frequency bump with Epyc core counts

Re: and 320MB of total cache....

Makes two of us (first HDD was a 30MB "hard card" - HDD on an ISA controller card mounted on one of the three ISA expansion slots in my Amstrad 1640).

(Icon - I'm old enough to remember the 1984 Apple advert).

Raspberry Pi 5 revealed, and it should satisfy your need for speed

Re: Lost the plot

Remember netbooks? Yep my better half loved her little Dell Insprion Mini 10 - running ubuntu. This was back in 2009 and it was significantly cheaper than the Lenovo Yoga Slim 7 she currently uses. Small, light and powerful enough for the needs of the time - no idea why anyone would force windows on the same hardware (though they did) . Would I put windows on my Pi400 - nope as Win 11 seems to use a lot of resources even at idle (I have 2 windows machines and 2 linux machines). I understand people trying though not me, I sometimes have enough trouble with windows on machines that are supposed to support it......

Techie labelled 'disgusting filth merchant' by disgusting hypocrite

Re: So let me recap...

Probably upset about the money spent on pR0n when the supply was freely available from the local hedges........ (is hedge pR0n still a thing?)

Moscow makes a mess on the Moon as Luna 25 probe misses orbit, lands with a thud

Of course there are Nazis on the moon

As this documentary (https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1034314/) pointed out.......

Telecom giants dial up the heat on suppliers: It's not you, it's your CO₂

BT ahead of the game on this one....

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/business/2023/05/18/bt-job-cuts-redundancies-replace-fifth-with-ai/

A lot less carbon based lifeforms really helps decarbonise the industry....

UK's GDPR replacement could wipe out oversight of live facial recognition

Re: "Masks do not stop airborne infections"

To stop bacterial infections spreading.

Re: "the fight against crime and terrorism"

Masks do not stop airborne infections (especially cloth masks). Covid-19 had an airborne infection vector https://www.bmj.com/content/373/bmj.n1030 and we have known this for two years.

Scientists speak their brains: Please don’t call us boffins

Re: Mayhap the IoP should concern itself with funding useful research ...

So funding this survey is a good use of membership fees?

More survey based nonsense......

I fail to see why the opinions of 2514 individuals should decide on the useage of any words in any language. I also fail to see why these nonsense pieces ever see the light of day. Mayhap the Institute of Physics should concern itself with funding useful research instead of pop-culture-war surveys.

The nodes have it in the Great DB debate: Reg readers pick graph

It does help.......

To have more than one tool - if all you have is Excel, everything looks like a spreadsheet......

After long delays, Sapphire Rapids arrives, full of accelerators and superlatives

CPU as a service....

Another first from Intel?

Tributes flow as Creative CEO Sim Wong Hoo - the mind behind Sound Blaster - passes aged 68

RIP

Didn't get a soundblaster card until I drop a Soundblaster 16 into my 486 DX2 win 3.11 machine (well MSDOS 5 with windows 3.11) - great card. Prior to this I had an Adlib card. Have a soundblaster Katana on my desk as I type this. I think it was the Soundblaster 2 that really made an impact back in the day in the UK though it was Roland that was always considered the pinnacle of sound cards in the 80s.

Twitter gives up fight against COVID-19 misinformation

Re: @Binraider - There's no "right sort of censorship"

As an author of various academic papers you must be fully aware of the replication crisis that is getting worse?

https://www.news-medical.net/life-sciences/What-is-the-Replication-Crisis.aspx

All of the norths are about to align over Britain

And as the norths merge at Stonehenge.....

The gates of Avalon will open and the one true King of England will return.....

With Dragons....

Or something......

(yes I know Stonehenge is at 51° 10' 26.30" it's close enough for mythology)....

Linus Torvalds suggests the 80486 architecture belongs in a museum, not the Linux kernel

Erm isn't Intel's CSME running on a 486?

Here we go - https://www.theregister.com/2020/03/05/unfixable_intel_csme_flaw/

I wonder if Minix will also drop 486 support.........

Liz Truss ousted as UK prime minister, outlived by online lettuce

Re: Face like thunder

I for one welcome our new Asteraceae overlords....

Too bad, contractors: UK government reverses decision to axe IR35 tax reform

Re: Where are the Tories ?

I'm assuming you saw the photographs? And you describe them as "wild parties"? I think you need to get out more.........

(not defending any of these social gatherings just the hyperbolic "wild party" description).

The new GPU world order is beginning to take shape

Re: Waiting for the enevitable

Not sure of the numbers that fit your demographic - the intersection of gamers that had a 3090Ti (and have had it long enough to want to upgrade) and are now looking to purchase a 4090 isn't going to be anywhere near the majority. 450W is excessive (my 1080Ti was considered excessive at 250W) and whilst I do have a PSU that can run a 4090, I don't have the desire to spend £1700 on just a GPU. Given the difficulties getting GPUs at reasonable prices until recently I suspect there are more people with 10 series cards looking to upgrade than 3090Ti owners looking to upgrade.

Fixing an upside-down USB plug: A case of supporting the insupportable

Re: Outrageous

That kind of behaviour just leads to unrealistic expectations.

Re: Upside down 3.5" floppies

I had to think about that for a minute - yes the labels wrapped around the bottom of the disc (when did the name change from diskette?) - Nurse! more dried frog pills please.......

Climate change prevention plans 'way off track', says UN

Adaptation....

Adaptation instead of mitigation would be a far more sensible investment given how little impact the UK can actually have.

Rest in peace, Queen Elizabeth II – Britain's first high-tech monarch

Re: Coburg-Gotha-von-Battenberg

You mean this France?

https://twitter.com/emmanuelmacron/status/1568181528932356099

"To you, she was your Queen.

To us, she was The Queen.

She will be with all of us forever."