Posts by tfewster

We can bend the laws of physics for your super-yacht, but we can't break them

Re: ""Don't you know who I am?"

Best delivered in a Scottish accent. Maybe "Scotty" would have been a better pseudonym for this weeks hero.

Google cancels bi-annual performance reviews, shifts to GRAD system

Re: hate them

> Deloitte itself found that its performance management process consumed close to 2 million hours - In 2015, Deloitte had 225,000 employees worldwide.

10 hours a year per employee seems quite reasonable to collect and review evidence to justify promotions and pay rises worth thousands.

I normally don't put much effort in to playing the game myself, as I'm happy at my current level (and it doesn't make much difference anyway).

Your software doesn't work when my PC is in 'O' mode

Re: it was a button with 'I' and 'O' on it

Another reason would be to avoid having to label them "On" and "Off" in every language in the world. Or at least have different marking for different markets.

I must spend too much time with Lusers - as soon as "O" mode was mentioned, I knew where that was going.

Stolen-data market RaidForums taken down in domain seizure

"sudo-nym" - Brilliant! Have one on me ------>

UK pins hopes on 'latest technology' to whittle down massive National Health Service waiting lists

Re: Oh FFS

The (possibly apocryphal) story from a few decades ago was that Britain spent millions on managing waiting lists; The French didn't bother, they treated patients so there were no waiting lists.

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

Re: Sounds like an IP Conflict

> "Insufficient Paranoia"

Agreed, situational awareness is better than blindly relying on Mollyguard being installed or that colour-coding has been correctly applied.

Alexa and Webex to hitch a ride around the Moon on Artemis I – what could possibly go wrong?

Re: W_T_F ?

- I get the idea of an AI that can interpret general commands to fit its current situation.

- I get that using COTS products could be a massive cost saving over developing your own AI and comms protocols.

But this is such a massive kludge. Why not, say, send an email and cut out the loudspeaker->microphone diversion? (which wouldn't work in a vacuum anyway)

Wi-Fi not working? It's time to consult the lovely people on those fine Linux forums

Re: oh...

At the risk of being obvious/boring - loop a tie wrap around the lead you want to follow and then push it along the cable to the other end.

If you can get it past the cable management - But anyone who does cable management will surely do cable labelling too ;-)

FTC carpet bombs industry with letters warning that fake reviews will be punished

Re: Verified purchase

"Don't believe everything you read on the internet"

- Abraham Lincoln

Amazon ... will take action to stop fake reviews

But let's hope they preserve these classics:

Mountain-Three-Wolf-Short-Sleeve

Veet-Men-Hair-Removal-Cream

Sugar-Free-Gummy-Bears

The Register is an amazing website

..., simply one of the very best out there. Extremely cool people. 10/10

Nothing says 'We believe in you' like NASA switching two 'nauts off Boeing's Starliner onto SpaceX's Crew Dragon

That would help boost confidence in their product - if they can find a driver.

Who would have thought a mega-corp with decades of experience engineering safety-critical systems would have been beaten by an upstart "move fast and break things" startup?

Want to feel old? Aussie cyclist draws Nirvana baby in Strava on streets of Adelaide because Nevermind is 30

Re: Want to feel old?

Sound like an upcoming "Who, me?" is needed

Texas law banning platforms from social media moderation challenged in lawsuit

Conflicted

Damn you Texas, for making me take Faceborks side on any subject.

Break out your emergency change process and patch this ransomware-friendly bug ASAP, says VMware

Re: Just using UNIX text editors can be a challenge

Downvoted not for your factual statement of how it is at your org, but for your org itself.

My anecdotal experience is that even Unix greybeards are capable of using a web or GUI interface, or taking appropriate care when using an unfamiliar editor such as edlin on MS-DOS.

UK civil courts award £10m contract to Version 1 Solutions for end-to-end online processing

At least we wouldn't make the noob mistake/red flag of calling ourselves Version 1

Like a phoenix rising from the smouldering ruins of its data centre, OVH sets sights on IPO

Cloud != Colo (customer owned systems merely co-located in a shared DC environment)

Brits open doors for tech-enabled fraudsters because they 'don't want to seem rude'

Re: Please, call me!

all because people "don't want to seem rude."

Citation needed. I find this incredibly unlikely. "I'm going to steal your money, are you OK with that?" "Well, you've been so patient talking me through logging in to my bank account and setting up a new payee, you deserve some reward" ?!

Possibly we're all kinder and more trusting in the "COVID war" spirit. Possibly being forced online for everything has changed the demographic. Possibly the growth in the numbers and skills of fraudsters has overwhelmed the publics gradual awareness of security.

Technology has the potential to close the education divide. Key word: Potential

Re: Quieter kids can speak up in chat,

I don't think either the for or against arguments focused on the main use case, children with internet access but poor self discipline (most of them, IMHO!). So neither argument swayed my opinion.

- Offline work packs or self-paced learning won't work with most kids unless they're supervised. They're a poor stopgap until the student can get connected.

- The anecdote about some (highly motivated) Masters students finding online classrooms better than face-to-face was interesting, but probably doesn't map to younger students and larger classes.

I think the education system has done the best it could in the pandemic. Most Teachers have adapted amazingly well to be key workers & childminders and deliver multiple lesson formats. Let's applaud and reward them for that, while recognising the lasting damage COVID-19 has had on all sectors.

US Air Force chief software officer quits after launching Hellfire missile of a LinkedIn post at his former bosses

Re: Putting mid-level lackies into significant positions of power

At least civil servants get some time in post to learn. Cabinet ministers are switched around at the drop of a hat and make instant policy changes according to the political will of the Prime Minister.

Component shortages: HPE pushes up some hardware prices and as if by magic, reports 'record' gross margin in Q3

Never let a good crisis go to waste.

Crypto-coin startup said its bot could generate huge profits from your Bitcoin. It was a scam, says SEC

Re: "All investors had to do was hand over their Bitcoin..."

The digit usually being zero, or the Digitus Impudicus.

Spring tears down math geek t-shirt listing because it dared to mention the trademarked word 'zeta'

I look forward to Spring and Affinity being sued for use of common words in their company names.

So the data centre's 'getting a little hot' – at 57°C, that's quite the understatement

> It was hot enough that half the servers in the server room had overheated and turned off...

One night I got a call that some of my HP servers were reporting over temperatures and would automatically shut down at some point. From my knowledge of the DC layout, I could tell the Ops over the phone exactly which AC unit had failed and which server would report overheating next.

Of course, they didn't believe me and had to send someone to check. In the meantime, I was shutting down non-Production servers.

IIRC, the Sun boxes hit their limit and shut down without warning. The IBM boxes just kept running...

Q: Post-lockdown, where would I like to go? A: As far away from my own head as possible

Re: Inaudible Mode

Maybe they use the same supplier as Kia.

Possibly because the music is turned down when the phone integration or traffic alerts want your attention. And that becomes the default, with no override possible.

On the other hand, my previous car (a Peugeot) could do that, remember my preferred settings, match output volume on any source AND turn the music up when the engine/road noise increased.

US proposes tracking digital cash and taxing it to pay for, you know, roads and stuff

Re: "Congress is stepping up its efforts to prevent crypto investors evade their taxes"

> ...difference between a miner and an investor...

Fair question. If you had a gold mine in your back yard*, or created a work of art, you've invested in that but you're not taxed on it until you sell it at whatever the value is at the time of sale.

An "investor" in this context is someone who is buying; They're only taxed on their profits when they sell.

* Assuming you own the mineral rights.

8 years ago another billionaire ploughed millions into space to harvest solar power and beam it back down to Earth

Re: Space Mines

Maybe that's been Elon Musk's real plan all along - Power management + space launchers + cryptocurrencies. Maybe he's behind the shortage in semiconductors too!

84-year-old fined €250,000 for keeping Nazi war machines – including tank – in basement

Re: Weird Case

...found the three ways out blocked by lines of police cars...

- Not a problem for a tank!

...cop, with his gun out and pointed at the tank...

- Not a problem for a tank!

If you're going to try to assert your authoriteh, have the big guns ready and visible. Or, you could just try signalling the tank driver to stop, and escalate appropriately if needed.

Blizzard president, HR chief exit games giant in wake of sexual harassment uproar

Re: J. Allen Brack and Jessie Meschuk...

Yes, I hope they are still tied to Activision and are held personally responsible for the offences committed under their direction.

You MUST present your official ID (but only the one that's really easy to fake)

Re: QR > ID

Whenever I'm invited to scan a QR code, i.e. go to a website I can't sanity-check the URL of, I decline.

The French model of "them" scanning a QR code that I present seems safer - for me. I'm sure their systems are perfectly secured against malicious websites.

On this most auspicious of days, we ask: How many sysadmins does it take to change a lightbulb?

Re: First and only thought

One place I worked, the Unix sysadmins were required to act as porters and receive all deliveries.

Apparently the facilities guy, Windows admins and software developers weren't trusted to read a label on a box of bog rolls, or tell it from a keyboard.

I presented a costed analysis on the waste of our time, which fell on deaf ears.

Apple patches zero-day vulnerability in iOS, iPadOS, macOS under active attack

Re: Dogs are really fast

IIRC*, the full saying is "ran like a dog with three legs", i.e. slowly and limping.

* Weirdly, the internet doesn't seem to have heard of that etymology. Another thing that I've "known" for decades that turns out to be wrong?!

Data collected to promote public health must never be surrendered to police

Re: 'Freely provided data'

> ...provided under the duress...

There's a social contract for living in a society. Obey their laws, pay taxes etc. And now, follow their COVID rules for the benefit of all.

There are good reasons for this. Unfortunately there are also "bad actors" such as the WA police who will take advantage unless they're reined in.

Sir Tim Berners-Lee's World Wide Web NFT fetches $5.4m at auction while rest of us gaze upon source code for $0

Re: How much do you think that I would get ...

I'm delighted that Sir Tim has taken advantage of a current fad to do something truly worthwhile, raising money for charity. Though I wouldn't have begrudged him keeping the money for himself, in recognition of his earlier gift to humanity.

Creating a commemorative package was a nice touch.

I was fired for telling ICO of Serco track and trace data breach, claims sacked worker

Re: Whistleblower protection

Hancock got off lightly - a slap on the wrist for "breaking COVID rules" by kissing someone. Apparently Cabinet Ministers acting immorally, e.g. by having affairs, isn't a concern. And it does mean that he won't be held to account for the COVID mismanagement.

Trebles all round!

US Supreme Court rules teens cussing out schools on social media is protected speech

Re: Excellent

So would you be OK with a teacher swearing in front of a class?

The "contract" was about cheerleaders promoting high moral standards; The "punishment" for infraction was being dropped as a cheerleading "ambassador", nothing that would affect her education.

In mitigation, it was meant to be a private message, but someone snitched.

Free speech does not mean freedom from the consequences of your words.

Backbench Tory campaigner promises judicial review of data grab of English GP patients unless UK government changes tack

Re: Once in a while

David Davies has been mentioned several times on El Reg for his support of Privacy etc. https://www.theyworkforyou.com/mp/10162/david_davis/haltemprice_and_howden/votes

Researchers find evidence that stress does turn your hair grey, and it can be reversed – you just need a holiday

Re: Its not the colour that's the problem

Maybe the future Picard will still have that problem. That IS why you used that icon, isn't it?

Mayflower, the AI ship sent to sail from the UK to the US with no humans, made it three days before breaking down

I'll try being happier if my cow-orkers will try being smarter.

Petition instructs Jeff Bezos to buy, eat world's most famous painting

Re: A lame excuse

Or persuade Italy to ask for the return of "their" painting, then steal it in transit in a Bond-esque plot?

Deluded medics fail to show Ohio lawmakers that COVID vaccines magnetise patients

Re: Strike out!

What do you call a person who just scrapes through medical school? Doctor.

Not "God". Although some consultants, politicians and celebrities think that their expertise in one field somehow qualifies them in other fields as well.

On the other hand, Socrates, PhDs and most Techies know that the more you learn, the more you realise there is to learn, even within your own speciality.

Dunning–Kruger strikes again.

Western Australia rushes out legislation after cops access contact-tracing data to investigate serious crimes

Re: Years ago ...

> the WA police use was legal...

I'm curious about how it was deemed to be legal under Australian law.

- At one extreme you can liken it to CCTV installed for the purposes of preventing or detecting crime. I wouldn't expect police to need a warrant to view or take a copy of the recordings under that purpose.

- At the other extreme, it's data collected for medical purposes and so is subject to doctor-patient confidentiality.

- At least, a judge should have been required to issue a "warrant" for the data grab and repurposing.

Norton dodges UK courts after telling Brit watchdog it will be nicer to consumers

Re: Eh?

I'm in favour of consumer devices being sold with pre-installed antimalware protection that just needs activation, plus autorenewals of subscriptions. We don't want home PCs to be easily compromised and end up in botnets, do we?

- If a vendor feels an annual subscription of, say, £50 is a reasonable return for their R&D + costs, and it's competitive, good luck to them.

- If a vendor is willing to give introductory offers to savvy consumers, even better. They've never tried to stop me re-using that trick each year. No "discounts only available to new subscribers" BS that insurance/mobile phone companies/ISPs use.

Subscription renewals have to be clearly communicated, and can't set a new minimum term contract. But antivirus companies are far from the worst offenders over subscription renewals.

'Vast majority of people' are onside with a data grab they know next to nothing about, reckons UK health secretary

Re: 6 May PCC elections

We have enough Crime and Police Crime, I don't think we need to commission any more.

Sold: €15k invisible sculpture that's a must-see for art lovers

Re: Should get a better dictionary

Van Gogh only sold one painting during his lifetime. The rest of Van Gogh's paintings were not sold or made famous until after his death.

Apple settles with student after authorized repair workers leaked her naked pics to her Facebook page

Re: How to tell if you're stupid.

There have been cases of technicians finding illegal materials, e.g. child porn, and reporting it - as you would expect IF they found something.

Though it was not clear if the illegal materials were found accidentally, or if the technicians routinely went looking (for themselves, or a fishing operation for law enforcement).

Cameras and/or managers overlooking the repair benches might deter snooping. That might seem intrusive and degrading to professionals - but I'd rather have proof I did no wrong than the unverifiable suspicion that I'd erred

Biden expands Chinese tech and military blocklist to 59 companies

Re: Mr. Biden, Tear Down This Wall !

S'funny, but it sounds rational when anyone other than Trump says it. But then, even a broken clock is right twice a day, so Trump got one thing right regarding China (and many things wrong - Best buddies, greatest trade deals, protectionist tariffs to protect uncompetitive US industries).

S'also funny how many Biden detractors have to come up with childish nicknames to try to tarnish the current President. It's almost like they can't come up with a coherent argument either.

Hybrid working? Buckle in, there's no turning back as survey takers insist: You can't make us go back

My company won't class me as "home based" as they would then have to pay me expenses to travel to the office.

(In fact I think travel costs should be claimable against tax, but that's another argument).

As a Hybrid employee, I have a notional office base and I'll be there when needed. As my boss, most of my team and most of my work is in other countries, I doubt the need will arise often.

To be honest, I was mainly WFH for about 2 years before the pandemic, in return for working flexible hours. And my performance evaluations have been stellar ;-)

The common factor in all your failed job applications: Your CV

Time flies

Wow, has it really been 10 years since Dom shook us awake with his first series of articles?

I'm not certain my CV has improved, but I certainly have a better understanding of The Enemy ;-)