Posts by Fading

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."

Former Microsoft UX boss doesn't like the Windows 11 Start menu either

Object Dock...

I've been using Stardock's object dock on my home machine since windows vista - hence having the task bar at the top of the screen. Previously you can make some registry changes (check out howtogeek) to force win 11's task bar to the top (also requires a restart of windows explorer - not the machine itself) - why is there not a simple setting for this (and why are there some reports of this failing since the last update)? Having the task bar at the top means I never confuse my local machine with those I've remotely connected to - so in the meantime I'll stick with win10 on my main machine.

PanWriter: Cross-platform writing tool runs on anything and outputs to anything

Re: Also

I second the "don't fight it" comment - you won't win (you think you have and then you open the file on another machine and realise you were duped).

Since I've learnt to let Word get on with it, my documentation takes a lot less time to write (and I hate writing documentation) .

'I wonder what this cable does': How to tell thicknet from a thickhead

Re: colour me sceptical

Most connectors can be made physically compatible when enough force is applied.....

Patch Tuesday: Yet another Microsoft RCE bug under active exploit

Buggy processors link....

So I diligently follow the link - find my processor and then check the link for CVE-2022-21233 only to be sent to the details for CVE-2022-28693 (ok I can find the details if I type intel-sa-00657.html at the end of the link). Does anyone at intel check these things?

Too little, too late: Intel's legacy is eroding

Re: So called lead...

From Sandy bridge (2000) to Skylake (7000) intel knew they had no real competition - so took advantage of this. Each gen was only a small improvement and higher core counts were only available on their stupidly expensive HEDT and server chips. Ryzen was a kick to the proverbials - and when AMD also started to release good laptop chips intel responded late and in some cases with desperation (e.g. back porting the newer architecture onto the 14nm process).

Near-undetectable malware linked to Russia's Cozy Bear

Can we not just get all email scanners....

To strip the last three characters from all attachments and default windows to open anything without and extension into a hex editor. Anyone that really needs the attachment will have to download and rename the file appropriately.

I know this would never fly with users..... :(

If you didn't store valuable data, ransomware would become impotent

The other option....

Is everyone has all the data. May seem crazy but stick with this thought for a moment:

In this situation if I need to prove that you are who you say you are (lets say for purchasing) - then I can use as much of the data as I want to satisfy myself that not only are you that person you say you are but you also have the means and funds to purchase what you want. That purchasing record then becomes another piece of data that everyone has access to. This omni-data model would initially need to be inviolate (well at least cascade change proof) (blockchain all over again) - but as contradiction cannot exist in nature the data would self-correct as more is collected.

Ransomware only exists because companies and individuals hold data no one else has got - if we all have it all there is nothing to ransom.

And if this omni-data is used nefariously - well that becomes part of the data and the nefarious agents become visible for all to see....

Hmm might have overdone it with the meds.....

No more fossil fuel or nukes? In the future we will generate power with magic dust

Given time crystal realisations....

reach stability only if isolated from the environment and the observer, I guess no one can easily check if they did manage to produce two of them......

France levels up local video game slang with list of French terms to replace foreign words

Re: Now that is a fine example of administrative busybodies

The reason why the French struggle with the concept of "the weekend" is they couldn't contemplate the concept of not working for only two days every week.......

[grabs coat and ducks to avoid barrage of onions and baguettes]

Original killer PC spreadsheet Lotus 1-2-3 now runs on Linux natively

Re: Word Star

CP/M Wordstar that tickles the grey matter. I had that running on my Amstrad 6128 back when I was at secondary school.

Phishing operation hits NHS email accounts to harvest Microsoft credentials

Re: To be fare (pun intended)...

There was no source defined in the original comment. Whilst it was a national emergency the figures supplied to the NHS far exceeded the additional number on the side of the bus - and if the funding is continued as listed in the link I provided it will still exceed the £350M per week. Would they have done it without the emergency - well that's highly debatable.

As it is, I'm not pulling anything merely providing links to the relevant figures. There are many many things to hit the current bunch of muppetised incumbents with but an outdated and superceded (circa 2016) political advert on the side of a bus isn't one of them.

To be fare (pun intended)...

If we include Covid NHS funding the change from 2019 to 2020 (Jan-2020 being when "Brexit" happened) the funding increased from £149 billion to £191 billion so around an £800 million a week increase (https://www.kingsfund.org.uk/projects/nhs-in-a-nutshell/nhs-budget) so the promised £350 Million (a week - it was a week on the bus - https://jonworth.eu/the-two-versions-of-the-350-million-for-the-nhs-slogan/) was more than given.

Don’t expect to get your data back from the Onyx ransomware group

Re: Trust issues?

If you can't trust cyber criminals who can you trust?

Fitbit recalls Ionic smartwatch for burning fat – literally

Re: does the device need to be sent back?

Part of the process "unlinks" your ionic from the fitbit app - so technically it isn't de-activated just un-paired. They want you to agree to have it destroyed/recycled in the approved manner an it is a 3-6 week wait before you get your refund though. Yep, I've jumped through the hoops to get the refund for mine (that I was still using) so at the moment I don't have a tracker enabled for my Vitality health insurance points - no free coffee next week for me.

Proprietary neural tech you had surgically implanted? Parts shortage

The joys of modifying windows sounds...

For awhile (back in XP days) I did have my personal laptop play various lines from 2001: A Space Odyssey - the critical stop being "I'm sorry Dave I'm afraid I can't do that". It would have been better had my name been Dave. IIRC "My mind is going. I can feel it" was the windows shutdown sound....

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

Re: Lots of files with the same name

The icon showing is dependent on the associated program - hence with only a little nefarious fiddling you could have all the icons the same as well.

To err is human. To really tmux things up requires an engineer

Re: Step outside

The one that almost caught me out was when driving in southern Italy (Naples down to Sorrento). When pulling onto a road - flashing headlights do not mean "after you" as they do in the UK but "keep out of my way I'm coming through".

The other thing I noticed was the speed limit and "no-overtaking" signs were obviously only for tourists.......

COVID-19 was a generational opportunity for change at work – and corporate blew it

Re: This outcome in inherent in a hierarchical organization and distribution of managerial power.

"They are held responsible for the results of their team, or teams."

Really?! Taking the praise when things go well and shifting the blame onto subordinates when things go wrong - that is management.

And Decision avoidance is a essential management skill. No manager would last five minutes if they were actually held responsible (even for their own ideas).

Windows 10 2004 is nearing the end of the road. Time for a Windows 11 upgrade?

Re: Thin ice

Friends don't let friends use Access.

It's the end of the world as we know it, and we should feel fine

Re: We shouldn't feel fine

All my Amstrad CPC 6128 needed was a rubber band to replace the perished one in the 3" disc drive (note: 3 inch floppy) and a bit of a clean up (nothing Isopropyl couldn't handle). Even the multiface II was still functional. Cleaned it up over Christmas and had some retro fun. No batteries to worry about in those old 8-bits. Amstrad's may have been all about cutting corners and "all on one plug" but the all bits still work.

Note - it wasn't in "storage" just a cardboard box in the wardrobe. Apologies for mentioning the hated Alan Sugar Trading's name on a Sir Clive Thread.

Not too bright, are you? Your laptop, I mean... Not you

Re: @Wally Wally Dug Dug

Quack

UK promises big data law shake-up... while also keeping the EU happy, of course. What could go wrong?

Re: "light touch as possible"

Definition below:

Beneficial to self or business interests = Low risk

Beneficial to consumers or competing business interests = High Risk.

HTH

John McAfee dead: Antivirus tycoon killed himself in prison after court OK'd extradition, says lawyer

Re: Colourful?

Just a thought - they may not be the same people.

Pub landlords on notice as 'Internet of Beer' firm not only pulls pints, but can also clean the lines

Re: No surprise there...

So knowing when to put a northern head on a pint of ale then.....

Today I shall explain how dual monitors work using the medium of interpretive dance

Re: Laptop + Monitor = two computers?

Have an upvote for mouse without borders - nice little program I use daily. Two problems - the odd occasion when it loses connection and you need to re-enter the security key and secondly, Excel does not like what it does to the clipboard (even if you disable this feature) - causes problems copying and pasting large datasets (well large for excel).

How many remote controls do you really need? Answer: about a bowl-ful

Another Harmony owner here.

Whilst it takes a bit of effort to get the activities right I do like the harmony remote control. Still have the problem of my Echo spot trying to take control of the Marantz amp whenever Alexa feels like it but that can be solved with a few buttons and a stern "alexa go home" command.

Former IT manager from Essex pleads guilty to defrauding the NHS of £800k

Perhaps he should have had his sister own the companies......

https://www.msn.com/en-gb/news/uknews/matt-hancock-failed-to-declare-sister-worked-for-company-that-won-nhs-contracts/ar-BB1fILPj

Diary of a report writer and his big break into bad business

Re: A (La)TeX user writes:

There is something lacking in the Word training that users seem to receive (if they have even had Word training). I suspect a basic version of Word without styles, limited fonts unless expressly installed, easy access and editing of formatting codes and a simpler interface would be a better product for the majority (hmm, I think I've just described Wordperfect for DOS) .

Word tries to do too much some of which is better suited to DTP software and hides too much from the unwary.

Yes, there's nothing quite like braving the M4 into London on the eve of a bank holiday just to eject a non-bootable floppy

I suspect there is a psychological explanation...

Where the user has convinced themselves that only an expert can fix the problem. No matter how patiently you try to explain a solution, their conviction that they can't solve it is absolute. Time constraints and panic feed this conviction far beyond the place where reason can reach them.

Hacking is not a crime – and the media should stop using 'hacker' as a pejorative

Re: The quick hack

Nothing is as permanent as a temporary fix....

Now there's another thing on Earth that be can seen from space: UK lappy sales in pandemic-struck 2020

Re: Include me in these stats...

The drive is probably the only user upgradeable bit - and with the AMD chip the second smaller M2 slot is available to use (need a half height 2242 NVMe drive though so choice is limited).

Include me in these stats...

Picked up a Lenovo Yoga slim 7 with a AMD 4500U and I am impressed with the build quality and performance of such a small slim device (doubles the 3d Mark score of my Alienware 17xr4 - admittedly a 7 year old laptop but still going strong). SWMBO was very happy with it (helped it was Orchid purple rather than the typical silver/black).

Takes from the taxpayer, gives to the old – by squishing a bug in Thatcherite benefits system

Re: Dennis Moore

Probably an anthophobia sufferer.