Posts by Ossi

Microsoft boss tells investors the company is working to 'win back fans'

How about features that people actually want, have asked for for decades, and are still in the stone age. From the top of my head - a search system that actually works, tags and descriptions for folders, bringing back an easy way to create short cuts, a Quick Access menu in Windows Explorer that you don't have to scroll up to *every* *single* *time* because someone decided that the default should be to scroll to the bottom of the panel and put Quick Access at the top (a stupidity that's lasted decades). There are thousands more, and if Microsoft actually responded to their feedback system they'd know what they are. Instead, we get the 'deprecation' of actually useful features and the World's worst AI shoved down our throats. Anyone remember Cortana?

Any "fans" of Microsoft should seriously consider seeking help.

Sorry, Amazon, you couldn't pick a worse time to bring a phone to market: IDC analyst

In London the local thieves would have cleared them out of his way within minutes of them arriving.

UK mobilizes lawyers to keep report on Gatwick 'drone' chaos under wraps

Agreed that the navy is top heavy, but the real blame lies at the door of politicians. Between the last of the Type 45s starting construction in 2007 and the first Type 26 order in 2017, not a single escort shop was ordered for the Royal Navy. Given that a warship lasts about 30 years, then an escort ship would need to be hitting the water every 18 months to maintain a fleet of 20 ships. The neglect is astonishing. Moreover, it's expensive and inefficient as dockyard capacity and expertise had to be regenerated.

To be fair, the housing has now been brought back into public ownership, at colossal cost of course, all thanks to the worship of the God of Outsourcing who can do no wrong. Don't get me started on the farce of outsourced military recruitment...

Hotel's rotary switchboard so retro it predates the concept of crashing

Re: Smoke dirt and no cleaning done in decades

Upvote for the Hitchhikers' reference.

You can jailbreak an F-35 just like an iPhone, says Dutch defense chief

He doesn't have a clue

The fact that this guy thinks that Rolls Royce build the engines for the F35 tells me that he hasn't got a clue what he's talking about. It's all the just the usual right wing populist nonsense.

Amazon can't build AI capacity fast enough, throws another $200B at the problem

All driven by FOMO. One tech giant is sitting out the CAPEX binge - Apple. Its shares are doing very nicely, thank you. Wait for the dust to settle, the market to mature, and the hype to deflate, then pick up the useful pieces at bargain prices - or just avoid the whole thing altogether, depending on the situation. Not a terrible strategy at all.

What if Linux ran Windows… and meant it? Meet Loss32

Re: If you

Do exactly the same thing and getting different results with Windows? We've all been there. What would Einstein say? (Yes, I know he didn't actually say it.)

UK plans right for flat owners to demand gigabit broadband

Re: Wrong target

...but only for newly built properties. Which, given a home can last 100 years easily, makes this a pretty useless law for most if you don't have a time machine.

British Airways fears a future where AI agents pick flights and brands get ghosted

Yep. According to the latest stats, BA are 3 times more likely to cancel a flight than Ryanair or Wizzair, and a full 7 time more likely than easyJet. That alone is enough to make me avoid them.

Roomba maker iRobot gets cleaned out in Chapter 11

Owned one once. It didn't clean very well, slowing damaged the corners of the skirting boards and door frames as its only way of knowing that there was a wall there was by crashing into it and then broke down after less than 2 years. And they try to charge premium prices for this crap.

US Navy scuttles Constellation frigate program for being too slow for tomorrow's threats

Re: This isn't to speed up delivery to the fleet

"I've read suggestions from several different sources that the US Navy wanted to go with Type 26 because it mostly met US safety standards, and so "all" they'd have to do is change every single weapons system and sensor on the ship". Canada's basically already done the work with its Type 26s, with US sensors and weapons, so there's an under construction design out there under which already meets most of the US Navy's requirements. Surely there's someone in the US Navy that realises this? No?

SpaceX pulls plug on 2,500 Starlink terminals tied to Myanmar fraud farms

For more info

For those with an interest and access to an Economist subscription, they have a compelling podcast about KK Park called 'Scam Inc.' covering all the victims: both those who are scammed and what are essentially indentured workers (or worse) doing the scamming. Highly recommended listening. The location is on the Myanmar border because it's the perfect location to run a criminal enterprise, but it's a Chinese operation.

Millions of age checks performed as UK Online Safety Act gets rolling

Re: Madness

If I tell you the name of the act is "The Online Safety Act *2023*", maybe you can work out why Google can't tell you which member of Labour thought up the act. I trust you'll be transferring your bile to the Tories now. And brushing up on your Google skills.

Ukrainian hackers claim to have destroyed major Russian drone maker's entire network

Re: 10TB of backup files

Correct. I got to the word "sheeple" and decided you were an idiot.

UK eyes new laws as cable sabotage blurs line between war and peace

Great comment! The depth of your analysis, sir, is astonishing! Just a couple of little questions.

1. For sure, Ukraine leaving the friendship treaty might as well have been a invitation saying 'invade our countries, bomb our hospitals, and murder our civilians on drone hunts'. What other possible reading could you have? Who can blame Russia for not being able to resist such an invitation? Just one thing though, do you think the seizing of Crimea and eastern territories by 'little green men' might have influenced Ukraine's decision to leave a treaty promising the 'inviolability of borders'? Just a thought.

2. Brilliant analysis about the purpose of NATO. I'd never considered that NATO could have been a conspiracy by the defence industry given the massive disarmament across Europe since the end of the Cold War. Clearly I've overlooked something. The Russian defence industry seems to have done well, though, so there may be something in it.

3. '...a lot of beneficial trade between the EU & Russia. That had allowed the EU economy to overtake the US, which simply could not be allowed.' Again, brilliant analysis. I'd never realised that US foreign policy towards the EU was driven by jealousy of the EU's obvious massive economic success, all driven by it's hitherto excellent relations with a peaceful Russia that could be mistaken for a nation-size Dalai Lama. Amazing stuff.

Your deep concern for the welfare of the Ukrainian people is touching. All they have to do is surrender and thereby undo the damage caused by the aggressive EU jealousy-driven policies of the US. After all, the Ukrainians could then look forward to being annexed by Russia and treated with the same care and tenderness shown to the people of Bucha.

Sir, I can only think of one word to sum up your analytical skills - unbelievable!

UK to buy nuclear-capable F-35As that can't be refueled from RAF tankers

Re: "In an era of radical uncertainty"

1. It could be, but it's not really worth the cost for the sake of 12 jets. Much better to make the tanker fleet compatible, which would have other benefits. The problem is that that RAF doesn't own its tankers - Cameron-era PFI nonsense - so we are where we are.

2. They have the plumbing for drop tanks, but they don't exist yet. Also the F35B can't carry the B61.

3. They don't exist - that's what 'retirement' means.

4. The F35B can't physically carry the B61 internally, hasn't got the range and hasn't been certified since they're primarily built for the US Marines who don't have a nuclear mission.

Add to those answers that the RAF *really* wanted the A, not the B, and the nuclear option is how the RAF sold the idea to the government - likely a bit of clever politicking. The real reason the RAF wants them is longer range, lower running costs and better manoeuvrability. You can bet that the RAF will pretty soon be looking for a pretext to order more. Don't get caught up with the nuclear thing - as my friends on X say "that's what they want you to believe" ('they' being the RAF). By the way, these are not additional aircraft - 12 F35Bs were cancelled to make way for them.

US to deny visas to foreign officials it says 'censor' social media

Re: Thanks but no thanks

There's no such thing as an EU ID card.

UK 'extremely dependent' on US for space security

Re: Good article

Agreed that occasionally cooperation can be a bit rocky, but you've also given 2 examples of where cooperation provided great aircraft, and I can draw you a long list of purely domestic procurement schemes that have gone far, far worse - politics, ever-changing requirements, infighting etc. are endemic to *all* kinds of complex procurement programmes - as IT professionals will be only too aware. You really can't look at a couple of rocky but ultimately successful programmes and draw the conclusion that the French and Germans are unreliable. Remember, it's the British who left the Horizon destroyer and Boxer vehicle programmes (only to rejoin). Does that make the British 'unreliable' partners?

Cooperation with European allies has produced Meteor, Storm Shadow, Sea Viper, A400M, Typhoon and NLAW amongst many others. European allies are far more likely to be stategically aligned with the UK in the future because they face the same geopolitical situation and have largely the same geopolitical outlook. And, anyway 'Europeans' don't come as a lump - there are super-reliable allies like the Scandinavians, Poles, Dutch and Baltic states, the occasionally woolly but usually reliable Germans, French and Italians, and then we have the Ukrainians to look forward to in future, who will have amazing expertise and will be fast friends. I'm not sure that alignment with the US is there now, or will be in future, although they are always likely to be allies (until they invade Greenland anyway).

Automatic UK-to-US English converter produced amazing mistakes by the vanload

Re: Whoops

Nice try, but wrong. It was because the various underground companies were consolidated into the predecessor of London Underground by an American financier, Charles Yerkes. That was in the 20th century - nothing to do with Victorians or New York.

Türkiye-linked spy crew exploited a messaging app zero-day to snoop on Kurdish army in Iraq

Agreed. We don't have to stop using the English word for Turkey because Turkey says so. And if you think it's about politely accepting their request, don't. Many Turks think it's daft. It's "Gulf of America"-level Erdogan populist nonsense. The whole thing seems to be about the fact that the bird is also called turkey. The bird is named after the country. Interestingly, the word for the turkey bird in Turkish is 'hindi' (also 'dinde' (d'inde) in French). I don't see the Indians getting all sensitive.

90% of people will continue to call it Turkey. Apart from anything else, the Turkish name hardly rolls off the tongue for English speakers, and most people can't find the umlaut on their keyboard anyway.

British govt agents step in as Harrods becomes third mega retailer under cyberattack

Anyone remember the old Foyles on Tottenham Court Road? You know, the one you had to pass over your book, get a paper chitty, pay for the book, get a stamp from the cashier, then go back to pick up your book (or something like that - my memory of it is fading). I reckon that business was completely impervious to ransomware.

UN says Asian scam call center epidemic expanding globally amid political heat

Re: Hmm... China again

Worth listening to Scam Inc. if you can. This industry is yet another unpredicted consequence of COVID. Triad gangs ran the gambling operations in Macau. When COVID struck, they needed another way to make money fast, and they hit on scamming. The gangs don't operate in China - the article makes it pretty clear where their bases are. China and the Chinese government are no more responsible for this than Italy is for the New York mafia. In fact, the biggest victims of these gangs have been Chinese.

British Army zaps drones out of the sky with laser trucks

Re: What?

...to someone based out of the MOD.

Your air fryer might be snitching on you to China

Re: Really?

Superb. Another reason why the comment section on El Reg is the only one on the internet I ever read!

A tale of two Chinas: Our tech governance isn't perfect, but we still get to say no

Grow Up

Look at the comments here. It's like you didn't read the article at all. It's just the same old lazy ill-informed platitudes showing not the slightest ability to understand the complexities of the situation. Snowden blah, blah, blah. States need secrets, and that leads to abuses. But if you think it's just the same in the US as in China, you really need to get out more. Go and live in another culture. Experience the world.

You sound like someone looking at a starving person and saying "I know you're dying of starvation, but I didn't manage to get breakfast today, so it's just as bad for me." It isn't. It just isn't. You've protested. You've been rude to politicians on Twitter. Those comments are still there. Nothing's happened to you. Nothing's happened to your friends, family, colleagues and neighbours. Where are those stories? Self-pitying nonsense.

Vigorous US lobbying reportedly reversed India PC import license scheme

It's easy to see a 'big bad imperialist bullies a developing country' narrative in this, but this is a blessing in disguise for India. In 1990, India's GDP per capita was above China's. China opened up its economy and embraced trade. India continued on its protectionist path. This is a clear example of why that doesn't work. India's most successful and most competitive industry is IT services, so choosing to increase their costs to protect a relatively unimportant and mostly uncompetitive computer manufacturing industry is just plain dumb.

Customer comment and contributions no more as Microsoft pulls the plug on Office 365 UserVoice forum

Buzzword Bingo Time!

OK everyone, get your buzzword bingo cards out. Here's Microsoft's explanation of why Cortana on Harmon Cardon Evoke speakers has come to a crashing halt.

"As we shift Cortana to a more productivity focused transformational AI-powered assistant experience in Microsoft 365, we need to shift our areas of innovation and development to provide our customers the best possible experiences."

At this point, not only have they taken away the smarts in your smart speaker, but they've also taken away the will to go on.

As UK Parliament heads back to in-person voting, select committees are told they can continue working via Zoom

Explain New Zealand.

‘Very fine people’ rename New York as ‘Jewtropolis’ on Snapchat, Zillow

Re: Hate speech

It really is OK to be antisemitic these days isn't it? Equating this with "calling everything with the slightest Jewish reference anti-Semitic" is ridiculous. This wasn't being used in the same sense as 'Jewish holiday' or 'Jewish food'. You say the hate isn't proven - well does it have to be? This is a particularly high test isn't it? How are you supposed to prove that? Think about what you're saying. The balance of probability here is that this wasn't intended to be a friendly or neutral gesture.

I'm appalled that this easy dismissal of casual racism as being 'a bit tasteless' was so upvoted, and I would downvote it a thousand times if I could.

Alphabay shutdown: Bad boys, bad boys, what you gonna do? Not use your Hotmail...

Given the choice between conspiracy and cock up, cock up is always the most likely explanation. This was just some dumb idiot who got caught.

Putin's Russia outlaws ECHR judgments after mass surveillance case

Re: If Russia's surveillance is incompatible,

Erm, you don't need to know the specifics of a case - you could just challenge the law itself at the ECHR as, in fact, happened in this case in Russia.

"Because no other government ignores international courts when it feels like, naturally..."

So it's OK for Russia to do it? What's your point?

Smartwatches: I hate to say ‘I told you so’. But I told you so.

Pebble Get It

The problem with most smartwatches is that they're not actually very good at being watches, which is still their main function. I'm a fan of Pebble for that reason. It functions perfectly as a watch, but gives you more options and flexibility for only the minor inconvenience of a (short) weekly charge. It's not even expensive.

It comes down to this - if it's good as a watch (and as cheap as one), it doesn't need much justification for the minor inconvenience of an *occasional* charge. This seems common sense. Seems to elude Google and Apple though.

UK lawmakers warn Blighty to invest more in science, or else

Re: And dont forget

Maths test for MPs consisting of a single question:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-19801666

Just over 3/4 of Labour MPs and just under 1/2 of Tory MPs got a simple probability question wrong.

They'd be lambasted if their literacy was at the same level as their numeracy. But in the UK innumeracy is, it seems, acceptable - even in a job where it would seem to be, at the very least, something of an asset.

Malware 'clearly' behind Ukraine power outage, SANS utility expert says

Re: If you do not want to fight with missiles...

In the words of Ben Goldacre, I think you'll find it's a bit more complicated than that. You talk about the sides as if they're monoliths ("Ukraine" used dynamite). Both the Russian hackers and the Crimean activists might have been acting under government orders, but equally might have been acting independently or under the direction of one arm of the state without the knowledge of the rest of the government. If you don't know which it is, best to just leave it at 'I don't know'.

Sweeping statements are used by one side to blame the other side and justify their actions. But if you actually hope to understand what's going on, best to be more nuanced.

Google ponders purified Pakistani YouTube

The British 'blasphemy' laws were much as they were in Britain at the time, although in the UK they'd arisen from Common Law rather than legislation. It was an attempt to reduce inter-communal strife and were really hate-speech laws with some sensible measures about disturbing religious assemblies, trespassing on burial grounds etc. tacked on. Indeed, a 'blasphemy' law as such wouldn't have made much sense in the Raj since Hinduism has no such concept (although a 1927 amendment to include insulting the founder of a religion was an illiberal move made under Muslim pressure). We have hate speech laws in the UK now, just to remind you.

In the 80s the laws were 'Islamised', hugely expanded, and the maximum penalty increased from 10 years to death. The blasphemy laws are a legacy of the 80s dictatorship of Zia Al-Haq, not the British.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-south-asia-12621225

ProtonMail pays ransom to end web tsunami – still gets washed offline

Re: GCHQ, j'accuse!

The UK government is criticised on a constant basis, including by this website, but The Guardian still seems to be up after every critical article, and so do all the others.

We don't know who carried out the second attack or why. That doesn't mean you should just make things up. That's not really a good way to understand the world. There are endless possibilities, and we have evidence for precisely none of them.

Hackers hit NATO, White House – then aimed at MH17 air disaster probe

Re: Eh. what?

A nice summary. This bit's interesting:

"Then again, the pro-side defends this by saying the evidence was rigged, and the objects in the picture were planted by the Dutch investigators."

I suggest thinking people apply Occam's Razor. If you find yourself adding in implausible assumptions with no evidence to make your story add up, then consider whether you've simply started from the conclusion and worked backwards. That's really not a good way to find the truth.

What's the more plausible explanation?

Which side would be wanting to fire at aircraft? The rebels. Why would the Ukrainians since the rebels don't have aircraft?

Is cock up or conspiracy more likely? Cock up every time.

By far the most plausible explanation is that the rebels screwed up and shot down an aircraft they didn't intend to shoot down with a Russian-supplied system. Of course, their only possible course of action after doing so was deny, deny, deny.

Re: That's not nice, but...

Erm, no. Russia, in fact denies that is was a 9M314M1 warhead (not '9M38M1 as you state - that's the missile type, and that's not the source of the dispute) that was used:

https://www.rt.com/news/318653-buk-manufacturer-outdated-warhead/

You know, starting from your conclusion and working backwards - the favoured method of all conspiracy theorists - is not a good way to find the truth.

R&D money for science – from your taxes?

"Nope. Economics is a subset of sociology."

Yep. Quite right. In exactly the same way that sculpture is a subset of music.

GCHQ to pore over blueprints of Chinese built Brit nuke plants

Re: cold war crap

Well, he might have been speaking a bit hastily by saying 'hostile to the west', but it doesn't make it an unreasonable point. Think about where China has points of conflict: Taiwan, the South China Sea, Japan. In each case, the other side is a US ally. China knows full well that in any conflict that pulled in the US, or even just a US ally, the UK and the West in general is highly unlikely to take the Chinese side. Do you think France, for example, is an equivalent position?

"The US probably would make war on Airstrip One if Airstrip One ever tried to get rid of all those US military bases and assert its independence from the US."

Yes, I'm sure you're right. I'm just struggling to think of any examples to support this rather strong conclusion, at least since the end of the Cold War. Could you help my memory a little?

It's the white heat of the tech revolution, again!

Re: Government’s role is to provide the opportunity for massive advances in technology [..]

I think no one would argue that there aren't poorly run private businesses, and BT would be exhibit A, but at least now you can simply leave BT. Arguably, though, the way that BT was privatised as a regulated vertically integrated monopoly was the wrong approach, but somehow it still manages to hang on to Openreach. Is that a failure of private industry, or a failure of government?

Re: Socialists think they do know

Not quite the same thing, is it? This is research funding, not industrial policy.

Chill, luvvies. The ‘unsustainable’ BBC Telly Tax stays – for now

Actually, it's perfectly legal to watch iPlayer without a licence, as long as you're not watching the current broadcast. iPlayer never asks if you have a Licence.

Re: there is no means-tested element whatsoever

@Sooty

Surely you mean 'I think the BBC's a great thing. I get a decent salary and I watch it a lot. It's only fair that I chip in a bit more.'?

Some things for you to think about while you're telling the poor that they can't have a TV:

The cheapest TV in Argos is £90. A single year of Licence Fee is £145.50

Wonga offers loans as low as £50. The default loan on its website tool is £111.

You can't drive a car without using the road. You can watch TV without watching the BBC.

...or perhaps I'm just missing the joke.

Re: Am I the only person...

It's terrible value if you don't use it.

Instead of public sector non-jobbery, Martha, how about creating real entrepreneurs?

Re: The reason is fairly simple

@Boris the Cockroach

I challenge you to find a single example that's actually followed that route - especially the 'moving the factory to China' and 'suing' bits.

If the company was ever to be a success the wine glass would have been made in China in the first place. You're going to sell your business for a lot more if it has solid patents and non-compete clauses to protect it from competition. It's in your interests not to go and set up a competitor (or, more to the point, not be able to do that) the minute you leave.

The "problem" (if there is one) is one that you do mention - investors want to cash out, not build something permanent. Sometimes the founders want to bale out as. All of this is neatly illustrated by one Lastminute.com.

But is this really a problem? That happens everywhere. All the big American internet businesses are constantly acquiring start ups, so someone must be selling them. The UK tech sector is doing fine. There are few to no equivalents to Google and Facebook anywhere else in the world without a Great Firewall. I sense collective 'wisdom' and confirmation bias at work here.