Posts by I_am_Chris

NHS England published heavily redacted Palantir contract as festivities began

Re: Money for data

NHS Digital no longer exists. Same as NHS-X. It's all now just NHS England.

Expert sounds alarm bells over upcoming NHS data platform

Re: A Bit Wider Than Worries About Palantir......

Quite a few confused issues in the above post.

1) this is a federated platform not centralised.

2) pseudonymisation is relevant specifically for research or other secondary use of data. For operational or clinical needs which is where the FDP sits the data needs to remain identifiable. So your points (1), (4-6) are not relevant because they all pertain to research.

3) hacking is a risk with any system. Are NHS-managed systems more or less secure than palantir?

Not at all defending the Palantir FDP, but your points aren't where the problems are.

Re: Interesting but irrelevant

I agree with the bulk of what you wrote, except the FDP is explicitly *not* for research. That's why there's no opt-out as the opt-out is only applicable to secondary use of EHR data, which includes research.

Oracle's compliance cops now include Java in license audits

Re: Larry, the Putin of the biz software world!

The manuals, ha!

I remember the MySQL documentation was great before Oracle took over. Search worked reliably and you could relatively quickly find what you wanted.

When Oracle took over the searches were random, usually found the wrong version and the wrong language. Accidental? Not by a long way.

F*cking shysters.

Algorithm can predict pancreatic cancer from CT scans well before diagnosis

Unbelievable

And not in a good way.

Others have highlighted several significant problems, and this is another one:

"The statistical Student’s t

-test was performed on the extracted radiomic features to identify those that are significantly different between the healthy and pre-diagnostic groups. About 4.5% of the total number of extracted radiomic features showed significance at a p-value of 0.05."

Which is no better than you'd expect at random and is the subject of an XKCD cartoon. https://xkcd.com/882/

This is actually an astonishingly bad example of ML and is likely just a random result. Why are El Reg publicising this crap?

Fresh concerns about 'indefinite' UK government access to doctors' patient data

Re: This data will be sold to USA 'health' businesses

Nope. downvoter here. It's because the statement is bullshit. Data governance controls here are very strict. Selling patient data would not be acceptable under any guise whatsoever.

It also would be useless to US Insurance Companies. Why would they want data on a population that is not their customer base and interacts with healthcare in wholely different way?

You're scaremongering.

New normal

It's funny how we are all very keen to learn from the positives we've experienced during COVID (e.g. less travelling, WFH), but why shouldn't continue in the health domain.

We shouldn't go back to where data is held back simply in principle. The benefits for research and ultimately patient care are obvious and have been shown through COVID, so why not continue it in a safe and regulated manner. Which it will be. There's no "data grab" to do whatever you want with the data, it's a process for enabling access when justified on scientific, legal and ethical grounds.

Re: Notice how it's only NHS England

Scotland already holds national-level data which can be made available for research. It lacks the level of detail available from regional data, however.

If you think hospital data is any better than the "quirks" in GP data, then I've got a surprise for you. There are no standards and there's no consistency between regions, boards or trusts.

£42k for a top-class software engineer? It's no wonder uni research teams can't recruit

Re: if the salaries were improved./ Universities need serious reform across the board

LOL. You have data on "300 cities" and only plotted "many of them". Sure...

Now try again with 10s of thousands of sites, corrected for local errors and *all* the data analysed.

Smile? Not bloody likely: Day 6 of wobbly services and still no hint to UK online bank's customers about what's actually wrong

Re: Vindicated

I currently have four (not including smile) separate bank accounts so am planning on taking down half the banking sector in one go! ;)

Vindicated

I decided to move our joint account from smile to Starling a few months ago. To me, Smile just felt stagnant and unloved. Their revamp a few years ago was awful and made the website even more clunky than before.

The account is still open with a notional balance, but won't be for much longer.

These SNAFUs are getting too common. I was with RBS when they had theirs, then TSB and now Smile. Is it me?

Easyjet hacked: 9 million people's data accessed plus 2,200 folks' credit card details grabbed

Never store CC details

This is why it is never a good idea to store your card details on any website. Never have done, never will.

Also, in unrelated news, the website password is limited to only 20 characters <sigh>.

A certain millennial turned 30 recently: Welcome to middle age, Microsoft Excel v2

Re: Gene

Been there, done that, got the t-shirt. Despite this paper, the number of scientists that are blithely unaware of these problems is frightening.

Microsoft drops Office 365 for biz. Now it's just Microsoft 365. Word

Leap years

What happens on leap years? Does everyone have an extra holiday and hope that all the SNAFUs will be fixed by 1st March?

Ubuntu 'weaponised' to cure NHS of its addiction to Microsoft Windows

Support

The key aspect many OSS project fall down on is training and support. In order to gain traction the project must get support front and centre. No large organisation is going to deploy core software without a long term plan for managing updates and upgrades.

This is where the brand factor wins big. You aren't going to bet against Microsoft as you know they have been around for decades.

I have huge respect for NHSbuntu: it is the right way to do this. It is what the NHSIT debacle of 5-10 years ago should have been. Can you imagine what an OSS project with £10bn could have achieved?

Home Office admits it's preparing to accept EU ruling on surveillance

All irrelevant anyway

Once we're out of EU our lovely can go on ruining our civil liberties with nary a care...

Allow us to sum this up: UK ISP Plusnet minus net for nine-plus hours

Stupid map

That map is next to useless. Oh look the most populous places in the UK are the ones with the most problems. No shit Sherlock!

They should correct for population density, then it might tell you something. Or maybe not if this is a non-story...

Re: A little slow in Berkshire

I note that prices are conspicuously absent on that email. Anyone know how competitive they are?

It would take quite a deal to get me to move from iD mobile.

Add it to the tab: ICO fines another spammer as unpaid bills mount

Re: The ICO is toothless

"How did they get my new number then? "

By generating lots of random numbers until one hits? They know the ranges of valid numbers and could easily just do things randomly.

Tesco Bank limits online transactions after fraud hits thousands

Re: These idiots woke me up TWICE !

Then set up the do not disturb feature on your phone. It's built-in on iOS and I used to have it on Android, although I can't remember if it was an app or not.

The SOP is that it won't notify you when someone calls or texts you, but will if they do it repeatedly within a short time window.

UK minister promises science budget won't be messed with after Brexit

Ring fence

Ring fencing is one thing, which should be applauded. However, post brexit we're facing at least a £3bn loss in funding. What's UK Gov going to do about that?

This is on top of the fact that the UK has one of the lowest levels of science funding per GDP (1.7%) amongst leading nations (below EU average and massively behind USA) and has dropped since 2009.

Core academic funding is critical for innovation, creativity and manufacturing. If it gets squeezed any further the whole country will suffer.

You have no idea

"Our universities are funded by fee-paying foreign students, it would be insane to stop that flow"

And yet that is exactly what is happening. EU applications down 9% ...

www.theguardian.com/education/2016/oct/27/uk-university-applications-from-eu-down-9-ucas

The utter joke about Brexit is that it was about 'control'. We have actually lost control, not gained any. Epic, epic, fail! The government know this and are pissing about trying to avoid telling us.

We're going to get screwed by the EU, because they can and need to in order to stop it falling apart and there's bugger all we can do about it. Welcome back to the British 'glory years' of the 70s - 3-day week, no bin collections and hyper-inflation.

Password1? You're so random. By which we mean not random at all - UK.gov

Re: Password managers FFS!

Forgot to add.

Lack of internet is a red herring. Proper password managers keep your passwords file locally - no internet required. you just need to sync it automatically when you do have internet.

If you want access to secure sites on hardware that you don't own or trust, then more fool you.

Re: Password managers FFS!

Given that currently the single point of failure is the user, anything that avoids them either using weak passwords or reusing the same password, is a big win. Password managers make it trivially easy.

With the better password managers allowing you to keep your file on Dropbox, icloud, etc any miscreant has to crack one round of 2FA plus the database file's encryption.

No silver bullet, maybe, but certainly silver plated IMO.

Password managers FFS!

That is all

Squeaky bum time for Apple: It hasn’t made enough iPhone 7 Pluses

Re: Sounds like the classic

OPEC

Edinburgh University to flog its supercomputer for £0.0369 per core hour

3.69 pence not pounds

"Time on Cirrus is charged at £0.0369 per core hour (exclusive of VAT)." From your link in the article. You're 100x out.

Seriously El Reg I'd expect better from you.

That's within the Amazon t2.medium ($0.056 per hour) territory. Quite competitive really.

Only capital cost

The £1m will be purely for the hardware. Running costs will be continuous and substantial. And, of course, is being run for a profit.

Tesla driver dies after Model S hits tree

Where's the news here?

Man dies by driving sports car into tree. How many times a week/month/year does this happen? It's not news, just a statistic.

OK, so it was a Tesla. Whoop di do. The driver was already dead by the time the fire brigade got there. This is such a non-story.

Two-speed Android update risk: Mobes face months-long wait

Re: One problem..

Look at the ZTE line. It hugs the bottom axis - equivalent to never.

ISS astronauts begin spacewalk to install new docking adapter

In space...

... No-one can drop a wrench. One, because there's no gravity for it to fall and two, they are tethered.

Vivaldi's tweaky grinders fire out another release: Add themes, security

Love it's speed

I was a hardened Firefox user (almost non-stop since Phoenix days), in the last six months its performance had tanked.

Viv is a breath of fresh air. Lightweight, fast and clean. It's been my primary browser at work on Mac and at home on linux for about two months.

As others have said better control of pdf handling would be good.

Funny story, this. UK.gov's 'open banking app revolution'. Security experts not a fan of it

I'm all for online banking...

...but ubiquitous banking apps on mobile phones is a disaster in waiting.

Plus, I doubt it'll do anything that the CMA claims it will.

Maybe people aren't switching because, on the whole, UK banking is very good? I've only ever moved to take advantage of deals not because of bad service.

Apple Watch craze over before it started: Wrist-puter drags market screaming off a cliff

Re: @Bob Dole ... Could Also Be...

I don't think I've ever worn a digital watch. Much prefer analogue dials. Including my Withings Activite pop fitness tracker I wear these days.

Analogue watches are often fashion accessories with prices far above those of the Apple Watch. I have a Longines automatic which cost about twice an iWatch, but will last a darn sight longer!

Users fear yet another hack as TalkTalk services go down

"The amount of time it takes to fix faults can vary depending on the type of weather and the impact on the network"

Is this TT's equivalent of good ol' British Rail's wrong type of snow?

Time to privatise TT? Oh wait...

EU wants open science publication by 2020

No gold OA

This needs to be thought through properly. The publishers are currently pushing up prices for gold OA, so instead of making money on the subscriptions they now make money by charging to publish.

Any new rules need to enforce green OA where copyright is retained by the authors and can be made freely available upon publication.

Charging over 2k to publish a pdf document is extortion.

Re: Already happening...

"Hang on, did our government do something good when i wasnt looking? Bl**dy hell .."

Don't worry. The Wellcome Trust started it and uk gov followed suit once it became stonkingly obvious it was the right thing to do.

Twitter expands beyond 140 characters

Bad press

Twitter gets bad press for being full of trolls and fire being superficial. Although I don't disagree there are those elements, it isn't unique on the internet.

I use Twitter a lot for keeping in touch with others in my field of science and what they are up to or thinking about. The traditional scientific publishing model is broken and social media is more attuned to how we want to communicate our work. Quickly, easily, to our peers and the wider community.

Hashtags are an extremely efficient way to follow conferences that you are not able to attend in person.

Conciseness is a strength of Twitter, breaking that will make it fail.

Four hundred MILLION vulnerable Androids are out there

This is exactly the reason why

my next phone is going to be of fruity variety (no, not a Blackberry).

I made the mistake of buying a supposedly supported Moto G from Three and have got exactly ZERO updates in over a year. This is despite the fact that Motorola are releasing updates.

The Android patching model is fundamentally broken and Google/manufacturers/networks don't care.

EE most 'reliable' mobile provider for cities – Ofcom

'*four* major cities'

OK any guesses for which of the *five* cities tested by ofcom is elreg trying to offend? My bet is on Norwich.

Dell's Ubuntu-powered Precision Sputnik now available worldwide

Top-end

Nope. These are usually at the top end. Typically ultrabooks with high-def screens. Price difference (if any) is small.

Fifth arrest in TalkTalk hacking probe: Now Plod cuff chap in Wales

immaterial

Whether they took anything or not is immaterial. Just accessing TT's served is enough for breach of the Act and end up under arrest.

KeePass looter: Password plunderer rinses pwned sysadmins

Re: When spelling is important.

I set a timer on my database. It is never open for more than 30sec.

Windows-only

This only affects KeePass2 on windows. KeepassX on Mac and Linux shouldn't be affected. Although, it will be vulnerable to a similar exploits on those systems.

Second UK teen suspect arrested over TalkTalk hack

Re: Talk talk

I've been very happy with Plusnet for the last few years. I'm happy to recommend them.

TalkTalk website STILL down on day TWO

has over 4 million customers

Not for much longer...

Icon as that's what TT's customers will be doing.

FOUR STUNNING NEW FEATURES Cook should put in the iPHONE 7

Yawn. Old news.

Everyone knows the current Apple story is the iPhone 7s/8.

Personally, I'm not interested until I see leaked photos of the iPhone 9 - it'll be a rectal implant which you interact with via your Watch4.

XCodeGhost iOS infection toll rises from 39 to a WHOPPING 4,000 apps

Google Play immune?

"The more rigorous testing regime required before an iOS app can be published has always been considered to be the reason for this difference, but in this case it seems to have fallen short."

Although the above statement is true, how do we know that the Play Store isn't similarly affected? Has anyone thought to do a similar scan there?

The ONE WEIRD TRICK which could END OBESITY

Home cooking anyone?

There an even easier solution than depending on the cooperation of supermarkets, whose interests are opposite so yours: make you're own bleeding food!

This way you can make whatever size you want.

Christ. This kind of research only gets airplay because of 'Cambridge'. I'd bet if it had come out of any other Uni (except Oxford) it would have got the attention it deserved: none.

‘Dumb pipe’ Twitter should sell up and quit, says tech banking chap

Twitter's ineptitude is users benefit

Why does everything have to be driven by ad revenue?

As an avid user in the scientific community, the (relative) lack of ads is a huge bonus! If they ever get their act in gear it'll be the death of it.