Posts by Flash_Penguin

Floppy discs still run a U.S. metro? Japan steps in with 'project kill floppy'

FUD is strong here

The implication that $200 odd million is going to be used to replace JUST the floppies is a bit strong, as is the emphasis on Hitachi Rail being Japanaese.

Hitachi Rail took over Ansaldo STS Signalling operations in 2015, who had taken over Union Switch and Signal in 1988.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Union_Switch_%26_Signal

So this contract is for the American based part of Hitachi ex USS at Pittsburgh, to deliver a new train control system.

Signalling systems at the trackside generally have a lifespan of around 40 years, with control systems a typical lifespan of 20 years.

Which makes any update a "Generational" one, and with the system and safety assurance certification requirements also mean the technology and OS are usually an "IT" generation behind before being put into operational service.

So this update is timely, maybe a little late on those measures but not out of place for the value and time of service expected from a new signalling system.

Nvidia's generative AI inferencing card is just two H100s glued together

DisplayPort

More importantly does it come with a physical display port? So I can pay even more than a 4090 for the most high end card.....

Don’t buy that Surface, plead Surface cloners

Cheap Surface Clone

Nothing but good words to say about the Cube i7 stylus (250 GBP) as a surface clone.

I use as a netbook, with the optional metal keyboard.

It can also come with the surface style keyboard, which I don't like.

https://techtablets.com/cube-i7-stylus/review/

Runs Dragon NaturallySpeaking really well, and dual displays when in the office over usb c - hdmi which is a key tool for me.

If you use ‘smart’ Bluetooth locks, you're asking to be burgled

Some are tougher than others.

If you think Bluetoothlocks with no external mechanical attack vectors are a bad idea you should check out Bosnian bill on YouTube.

He was impressed with a Bluetooth lock when he tried to get in one mechanically.

Watch his other stuff to see how quickly he gets in to 5 lever locks. And the noke stuff got through defcon? Might have to get one.

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=PqeWupKN2W0

The internet just BROKE under its own weight – we explain how

dumb question

Why can't you have an ipv6 router internet facing with an ipv4 back end?

Flexible flywheel offers cheap energy storage

Dynamic Balancing already exists

This is interesting because the ability of a flywheel to store energy is already proven.

Something that deforms will tend to balance if it can deform far enough.

4x4 guys are using dynabeads to dynamically balance tyres that are covered in crap, and it can react to a change in the state of the tyre too.

Maybe manufacture a flywheel with a hollow section so they can use beads to balance the wheel?

Intel's set-top TV effort snags on cable

Iplayer IS available worldwide.

For those in foreign parts from Blighty, (Like me!) tunlr.net offers all you need to watch Iplayer. For free. But do feel welcome to contribute by buying a license fee. I'm still paying mine for my UK home.

The amazing magical LED: Has it really been fifty years already?

Check IR led with a camera

Top tip for the new year

Dragon Naturally Speaking Premium 12 voice recognition software review

£40 for Home

£90 for Premium

http://shop.nuance.co.uk/store/nuanceeu/Content/pbPage.LP3_44_uk_D12_11STAUSER

Re: Expensive

The professional version is, but I have bought the home version for £40 on an email offer from Nuance without headphones on a download recently. We have never needed more than the home version to be honest. It is extremely effective for long tedious sessions of technical writing, especially if you have a clue about what you are going to say.

I find though, that your mind has been trained to produce text at the cadence at which you type. So using it for a completely creative work, when you are thinking about the text as you go along results in the same pace of development whether talking or typing.

I do rate it though, and will never go back to not having it.

US deploys robot submarine armada against Iranian mines

Wasn't the RN the USA minesweeping force?

Things have changed since I left obviously. The spetics didn't used to muck about with that difficult minesweeping stuff, instead contracting out to the RN tupperware fleet to do it for them. Maybe we are so busy with the olympics we cant spare the time. It would be a shame if we have lost our edge in this important arena.

Standing NEXT to an HTML coder is like standing NEXT TO GOD

Sense of Humour Failure

Really? There are commentards struggling to identify this as satire?

Get a grip.

O and take the rest of the day off, see if you can find where you spat your dummy out during the week.

Web hosting

Newnet

Human Engineer support who you can call.

That is all.

LOHAN gasps at stiff and slippery tube

Lubrication fixes the symptom NOT the problem

Sometimes, having things slack is the right approach.

Sooooo, please define a "tad"

my experience with cylinders as bearing surfaces is that if you get misalignment they jam.

To mitigate against this make the teflon insert MUCH bigger than the tube, and trumpet shaped so that any icing obstacles are ramps rather than stops

(Why does it need to be a close tolerance?)

This IS a problem in my day job.... we have to accurately align a part in a rail switch machine which did NOT need to be a close tolerance but was made one because it looks better, and is unreliable as a result.

Mobile operators mourn death of embedded 4G

Re: chr*st, doesn't anyone ...

Not even the article permalink it seems, I know it is a weekend article and therefore written JUST before beer o'clock on friday but still....

(only jealous cos I'm in a dry place till Thursday)

Sorry, the death of embedded 4G has been exaggerated. IMO this is the difference between IPAD and android tablets, for business use, and why business people prefer IPAD over Android.

(apart from the shiny brigade)

Get 4G into an android tablet, I'll buy one, my boss will, and quite a few others I know. It's embarassing that more android tablets don't have it. People who need it WILL pay the premium.

Commodore outs Linux-running Amiga Mini desktop

Re: x86?!?!?

Ill take my fail and give you a thumbs up.

I'm loving my cheap hannspad tablet with ICS on it.

My boss has an ASUS transformer that I'm waiting for him to get bored of.

A Desktop Linux on that and I'll be off.

Hmmm ChampMan 01/02 in Wine on ARM to much to hope for?

If Libreoffice do a good job of the ARM port that thing could be awesome.

I'll always struggle for a projector though, until HDMi becomes standard on them.

Re: amigaos

Yes,

But Amiga OS will be irrelevant till they bring it to the x86 architecture.

And that is a crying shame

I'd buy it for a HTPC

Would look good under the TV.

And just to have something again with the Amiga logo, a piece of hardware I adored. Shame that we cant got the good bits of the Amiga OS back into a Linux flavour.

I'll have a look at their version

Microsoft 'yanked optical drive from Xbox 720'

Back to the VIC-20 and GORF then?

Which was MY first experience of cartridges, although I think the Atari console had them before that....

How long before the cartridges are read and shared as ROMS?

Because that hasn't happened on other cartridge based system has it?

Apart from the Sega Master, Genesis, SNES, DS add others you can think of below

Asus Eee Pad Transformer Prime Android Tablet

O for *deitys* sake

3G is missing. Doh.

The Ipad has got that bit fixed. I dont care that I can tether it, thats 2 devices eating power. Its a portable computer, I want T'internet with that!

HUD's up! Ubuntu creates menu-free GUI

Thanks for 3 years of no family IT Hell desk

Now that it is obvious I will have to change the outlaws OS, as the old boy cant resist the update button, is it mint or CentOS for a bright but computer illegitimate silver surfer?.......

Alienware takes aim at consoles with mini PC

HTPC? Ohhh the price...

Considered it for a µsecond,

Bu the a raspberry pi might just do all I need under the telly.

OCZ refunds punter for dud drive shortly after El Reg steps in

OCZ Solid 3 infant mortality

As title. 60G replaced after 4 months.

Aria managed the return well however.

'Mobiles bake men's balls' bog ad is cobblers - new ruling

RADHAZ is a DADHAZ

That's the signs that used to around the upper deck exit hatches anyway....

Might have been an order of magnitude or eight higher on the power though.

909 Radar in full smegawatt mode never made me that keen to find out.

And it was always the first thing to be triple checked if I was going aloft.

Survey: UK biz is using more encryption

Educate me....

In a MS small business server 2003 environment what are my options to enforce encryption?

What can I use to ENCOURAGE encryption?

(Most likely the first step I will take)

Can I build it into a corporate stick so that it it transparent (ish) to the user?

I know google probably has the answer but real world experiences would be gratefully received.

Google dumps + from Boolean search tool

Yeah Reg! Find me the 2011 equivalent of Altavista circa 2002 when the web was actually searchable and not gamed so much the results are worthless.....

PS As long as the rest use Google, as I have to game that to make some money...

BBC website ditches modules in facelift

Iplayer Tablet Fail

But will the iplayer give me the choice of mobile or desktop view when I visit with an Android tablet?

Sick to death of fiddling with UA strings to get the better quality content that my Hansspad can cope with.

Help! My Exchange server just rebooted

Give me the alternative....

I run SBS 2003. I'm an admin cos i know the most about IT in the company (ex WINNT admin)

I have suffered all of the problems above, now self taught in Eseutil, Exmerge for individual daily mailbox backup and isinteg.

I have had to bear that pain. However I'd love to know what the alternative solution is to a single box SBS install, that can run a windows domain and offer the same features for less cost.

Until then, it's the best for my (small) business.

The desktop lifecycle: How long is it anyway?

Just don't get it

I am the IT admin in 2 SBS server 2003 shops. This is no way a full time position, both companies are just using inbuilt resources, me, who is a Navy trained WinNT admin (which means you do the course but don't get a cert, lest you leave, which I did anyway) who happens to be available for failure and advice, I am charged out to both businesses though, at £35 an hour for IT support. I might do an hour in the average month.

All of our "new" desktops for static staff are Core2Duo coming from ebay at £100 with winXP COA on the side. they have just been replaced by bigger business at the end of their support cycles. They are only bought when needed, either when I've get fed up with complaints of slowdown, (rare) or hardware failure occurs. It's generally not cost effective fixing a desktop for the sake of replacement with an ebay £100 special.

Mobile users were on expensive VAIO laptops when times were good, as they were the moneymakers and reliable kit was worth the expense. They will all get MSI winds or EEEPC 1205 for replacement if theirs fail now, as they are more than fast enough for the role. Hardware has gone way past the needs of the software, consumer laptops are more than adequate for our business now. (I've been using a MSI wind since last year, best laptop I've ever had)

We are running WinXP with a mixture of Office 2007, Visio 2010, users personal choice for browser, NOD32 for Virus (excellent) and Sage for the finance types.

Thanks for the tips on the SSD though, that will alleviate slowdown claims. As I have a minor budget for testing, I wil give one a run in my desktop. Always fancied a Gigabyte IRAM or similar though, I must admit.....

Steve Ballmer at 11: A Microsoft power play too far?

Proof reading?

Maybe even spell check?

Go on, try out those other strange buttons on the toolbar....

OOo's put the willies up Microsoft

Open Office presenter view?

MS can still innovate. Till OO gets a presenter view, my training company will be going nowhere. As the IT admin of an SBS server I'm still looking for equivalent functionality for outlook too.

Don't get me wrong I use OO at home to stay legal and avoid the MS tax on my varied boxes, but we have money to make at work, and the FOSS equivalent doesn't cut it at this time, for features and compatibility with clients.

Shame, cos we would like a free solution in these tight times.

Google mocks Jobs with Flash on Android

Flash on the penguin

Does this mean that Adobe have fixed the rather significant problem of choppy video playback of Flash on Linux? Last time I checked it was awful... I really would like to effectively use iplayer on XBMC again.