Posts by Bump in the night

Google co-founder Sergey Brin suggests threatening AI for better results

Re: Why does it work?

Indeed.

Thinking about this for a bit, I recalled my days in field service answering phone calls. It didn't take me long to realize that there were no good answers to some questions, some people were unreasonable, and management simply wanted someone to "handle it", make up a plausible story, or find somehow to buy time. Saying you didn't know was unacceptable. Otherwise you were shown the door after you were sufficiently used as a means.

Perhaps one idea behind AI is simply to make people go away. AI answers your silly question, simply based on whatever info exists. Not from any inferences or actual reasoning about your question or finding someone to ask, because it can't do that.

But if you threaten it, it knows you will not go away. So maybe it goes down the devil's road and makes up an answer that is enough to be believable, but not actually workable. You then go away and management is again isolated from the horrible masses and shaky decisions they felt forced to make.

This will probably then reinforce people to be unreasonable and angry. AI leaving us screaming into the Kafkaesque void.

Techie solved supposed software problem by waving his arms in the air

Re: I was called in ...

Me too when on the Rockwell Collins factory floor in Texas, I attached my ground probe to our box. I knew that we used a simple power resistor to drop the 48v to 12v, (this being a positive ground in telco installations). But, yeah did it before I could think, effectively bypassing the dropping resistor. Blew up the box o' CMOS.

Musk's DOGE muzzled on X over tape storage baloney

Re: Minor correction

I'm curious too what optical system that would be.

As an ordinary person I've used DVDs and have good luck with ordinary DVDs. And I could go to an archival DVD for about $8/4.7GB. But I'd like to know, because I'm not getting a good feeling that the industry remains committed to them.

How many DVDs are you talking about here? Shouldn't take too long transfer from tape ;)

Or maybe you're talking about Project Silica under development. When could I get one of those?

Introducing Windows on arm. And by arm, we mean wrist

Re: Windows on Arm has been around since the Surface RT

I thought the Windows Phone worked well too. Still have it around, it's FM radio and wifi still function. It used Windows CE at first, then later was changed. A lot of cheap car navigation tablets still use CE.

I'm sure it wasn't for everybody, but I suppose since they couldn't dominate the market they killed it. They couldn't flood the market with trivial apps, but maybe that was a good thing. I think it ran Skype speaking of killing useful things.

Lawyers face judge's wrath after AI cites made-up cases in fiery hoverboard lawsuit

Back in my day . . .

If you didn't know the answer you'd make stuff up.

Now the computer does it for you.

Los Angeles wildfires force tens of thousands to evacuate, NASA JPL closed

Internet commentards save LA

News at 11. All is well now. Finger pointing and politics calmly set aside and personal attacks avoided. Computer desk jockeys remain cool, calm and collected and avoid feeding emotions and fire.

Said no one.

Look for the label: White House rolls out 'Cyber Trust Mark' for smart devices

Not sure it says much

Shouldn't it contain some kind of ID number that one could check the unit's actual status? Looks kind of fake otherwise.

How the OS/2 flop went on to shape modern software

Re: I agree to some extent, but still think a lot of it is about memory

I always wondered about that. IBM would sell PCs then with seemingly insufficient memory for OS/2. They might have just as well put a sign on it, "You could run OS/2, but you won't".

Why Google's Chrome monopoly won't crack anytime soon

Re: A Short History of Browser Monopolies...

You forgot to say how Opera started out so much better, no one noticed it and then became totally incompetent. Yet it's again trying to make a comeback.

BASIC co-creator Thomas Kurtz hits END at 96

More BASIC nostalgia

I learned it around 1970. Took to it immediately and used it to try and predict how high my model rocket would fly. I read about it's inferiority and using GO TOs, etc but had little idea about why. In the 80s, I managed to use it at on a simple project to handle a data file at work. The sales department demanded they have it, which I kind of smirked at because it was pretty crude.

I really didn't learn much past that and thought my skills were pretty mediocre. I tried other languages, but never really advanced much.

Then I happened to look up Intuit yesterday and learned that the first version of Quicken was originally written in BASIC. Maybe there was more to it than I gave it credit.

The US government wants developers to stop using C and C++

Unsafty First

All use of computer languages should be avoided, just to be safe.

Voice-enabled AI agents can automate everything, even your phone scams

Oh boy! Another useful endeavor!

What will be the next gifts to society these wunderkinds bring to brighten our future?

Kamala Harris campaign motorcade halted by confused robotaxis

Coincidence, I think not

I just saw I Robot starring Will Smith last night on DVD. This clearly is a sign.

Trump and Biden agree on something – changing Section 230

Newspapers

"Without Section 230, internet companies willing to risk liability would presumably institute pre-publication editorial reviews of all publicly distributed content or a system for rapidly removing offending items post-publication. Neither option is likely to be economically viable at scale. "

Sorry to be tedious, but I cannot help point out that those are called newspapers and the internet is trying to put them out of business. Not by providing any true technological advancement, but by simply avoiding playing by traditional rules.

Google DeepMind's latest models kinda sorta take silver at Math Olympiad

No good will come of this

Sooo, basically they said they won the prize by using copied information and turning it in late.

Let me tell you I copied math homework in high school and no good comes of it. You will not do well in life by cheating. You will never understand concepts.

Sam Altman sues builder over $27M flooded, sewage-hit 'lemon' of a mega-mansion

Re: Having problems with shit filling your house

8 porcelain palaces should be enough backup to cover for any failures. Did the owner have GI problems that overwhelmed "the six bedroom, eight bathroom residence"?

Trump threatens to send Meta's Mark ‘Zuckerbucks’ to prison if reelected president

If you put them all in a spherical cage, tell them there's a nickel in the corner to watch them grovel even more.

Wells Fargo fires employees accused of faking keyboard activity to pretend to work

Curious solution

Why would you bother with an app that made it appear you were doing work when it's simpler to fart around all day long on the internet?

What else could they possibly be doing after all?

GhostStripe attack haunts self-driving cars by making them ignore road signs

Re: I think I'll stick to the MK1 eyeball

I wonder if they could have hired everyone a MK1 Chauffeur with what they have invested in all of this self driving stuff or paid every Uber driver a living wage. I suspect that In the end separate raised highways will be built long after we're dead.

ChatGPT starts spouting nonsense in 'unexpected responses' shocker

Ask the General

A question no computer or man can answer

https://youtu.be/ljGH07Unfe8

Be seeing you

The pen is mightier than the keyboard for turbocharging your noggin

The pen is mightier

We should have know that the almighty Qwerty would be defeated by the pen. After all it killed the Sword.

Infosec experts divided over 23andMe's 'victim-blaming' stance on data breach

Let me try to understand this

I'm having trouble understanding this. Am I wrong to think they WANT to be able to blame weak passwords by not imposing requirements for passwords? It smells a little too convenient and lazy.

I'm tired of the hackneyed stern admonishment to not use "weak passwords" when many places already have numerous requirements for passwords.

Burnout epidemic proves there's too much Rust on the gears of open source

Rust and Mozilla

I'm clueless about the current relationship Rust has with Mozilla, but I appreciate all the hard work that went into Firefox and Thunderbird. If Rust helped with that effort I can understand a situation like that. No doubt that would contribute to an under siege work environment.

Driverless cars swerve traffic tickets in California even if they break the law

Just wondering . . .

if the self driving car can be made to know it's breaking the law. Not that "AI" would know anyway I suppose.

Microsoft's code name for 64-bit Windows was also a dig at rival Sun

Re: Missed a trend

"More bullying than marketing ..."

Same thing. Marketing over common sense, etc.

Doom is 30, and so is Windows NT. How far we haven't come

" Windows 95 modernized the desktop interface, and most still work like it, despite Microsoft's concerted efforts"

ha, good one. I would add Apple is still the leader in a consistent interface, but isn't getting much better at it either.

Experienced Copilot help is hard to find, warns Microsoft MVP

Jesus is my copilot

Can I get an amen?

Textbook publishers sue shadow library LibGen for copyright infringement

Re: Welcome to the new corporate Register

I would add that some schools use OpenStax textbooks which are free to download. Print copies cost money.

I suppose that introduces another conundrum where they compete with text books that are not subsidized, but perhaps they are of a generalized nature that is not an issue.

Google promises eternity of updates for Chromebooks – that's a decade for everyone else

Re: Probably smart move

I suppose that's true. Especially the ones in middle schools.

Maybe like the Chevy Vega, a plethora of spare parts will abound (except for the batteries), and a generation of FrankenBooks will be brought to life. The remaining issue who will want to repair them. I don't think anyone is offering Chromebook Shop class, but I could be wrong.

Farewell WordPad, we hardly knew ye

Re: A simpler tool for a simpler time...

Ah yes, the undelete command. I was a genius for 5 minutes when I told some very important people how to use it.

But back to WordPad, it's the only way I know to make a reasonably small RTF file. Word bloats an RTF file to Ludicrous Size. Off to go see how well Libre Write does . . . well not too bad, but Word Pad still wins the size contest

We all scream for ice cream – so why are McDonald's machines always broken?

This might be a job for . . .

a human being.

Some tasks vex automation. While probably not at the thoughput they want, I think most of us could make a decent milk shake by hand with little training and a blender.

Microsoft still prohibits Google or Alibaba from running O365 Windows Apps

Re: re: How this is not monopolist behaviour?

< "I keep seeing this utter nonsense written in every forum where big tech is mentioned. Firstly, there is no such thing as "monopolistic behaviour". It's a meme started by an ignorant party that's to often ignorantly repeated on the internet. Secondly, monopolies are not intrinsically unlawful. A monopoly happens when one company or entity is the only one offering a particular product or service. The reasons for this can vary – it might be natural, because of location, technology, government rules, or simply because everyone uses it. This is fine and dandy, but now the entity is a monopoly; it has to obey social rules to conduct its business."

I see your point.

But restraint of trade is still not allowed in the US AFAIK, however I don't see this as what is happening in this case. My understanding is that some regulated monopolies have been allowed to exist like AT&T, until it was decided they would no longer have that status, perhaps due to changing technology or circumstances. I would also add that there is one thing companies really hate - competition - which is understandable when you consider how hard it is to have a successful company. The problem is when they become predatory.

So much for CAPTCHA then – bots can complete them quicker than humans

Unbreakable toys are good for breaking other toys

This has "computers are best at messing up other computers and not much else" written all over it.

By the way, where can I get this? I can never enter those things right the first time . . .

Couple admit they laundered $4B in stolen Bitcoins after Bitfinex super-heist

I wonder who owns this bitcoin anyway

Next time someone steals bitcoin, call a hippie, er libertarian.

Microsoft whips up unrest after revealing Azure AD name change

Re: We apologize in advance ...

right you are, a thumbs up. However I forgot Office Live.

We apologize in advance ...

... for any inconvenience caused by our greed and arrogance.

have to go, I've got to get back to SkyDrive, er OneDrive, er Office for the web, er Office Online, er Office365 and then I have to figure out which Acrobat . . . .

JP Morgan accidentally deletes evidence in multi-million record retention screwup

And I thought I had problems

It takes me forever to remember out how to archive email in Outlook efficiently. It looks like the bigger you get the bigger the fail.

Healthcare org with over 100 clinics uses OpenAI's GPT-4 to write medical records

What a boon!

That should save 12 whole minutes out of the 2 hours I sit waiting in the doctor's office

Microsoft Windows latest: Cortana app out, adverts in

When is help no help at all?

Using the help function to sell something is the first bite in eating your young. The more "help" is used to market the less computers are obvious to operate. There is no incentive to actually fix a problem.

Laid-off 60-year-old Kyndryl exec says he was told IT giant wanted 'new blood'

old and young

very good point. I just retired after 30 years at the same place. I wasn't necessarily the sharpest tool in the shed, but started noticing those same characteristics in my organization as I got closer to leaving. I reflected on the younger times as exactly that -- desperate and emotional.

A healthy mix of young and old is probably the best.

Apple pushes first-ever 'rapid' patch – and rapidly screws up

Re: Apple achieves Microsoft service levels

"I assume this means I Got The Patch"

I'm not sure I would make that assumption. I might try the external elsewhere.

The Stonehenge of PC design, Xerox Alto, appeared 50 years ago this month

Idealism

Am I misremembering my youth or is it really in such stark contrast?

A shiny future of optimism and idealism at least in the tech world, or what we now have now of the cyber wars, greed and needless feature itis.

San Francisco investigates Hotel Twitter, Musk might pack up and leave

I call contrived

Seems like this would be allowed by a process of applying for a permit and outfitting some rooms as dorms or bedrooms. In either case surely there must be hotel or two nearby?

I'd expect adults would ask about the permitting process and move on whatever the outcome. Sounds like a sibling tattling and the other crying "Mommy Mommy I'm not getting my way".

Mastercard moves to protect 'risky and frisky' crypto transactions

Hope springs eternal

Well for those who are still wet behind the ears, you would best head the old rock and rollers from the school of hard knocks --

You can't roller skate to heaven. You can't come across the astral bridge until you pay the toll. And all you back room schemers, small trip dreamers better find something new to say. Cause you're the same old story It's the same old crime and you got some heavy dues to pay.

Computer glitches harmed 'nearly 150' patients after Oracle Cerner system go-live

It goes to the unknown queue

Employee:

But we weren't told about the unknown queue.

Kafka:

How long haven't you been told about the unknown queue?

Did ID.me hoodwink Americans with IRS facial-recognition tech?

Honesty is the best policy

Here is a valuable "Upper level college" ethics tip from Captain Obvious:

When proposing something to prevent fraud, it's probably best not to have any suggestion of fraud in your proposal.

Beanstalk loses $182m in huge flash-loan crypto heist

Shocked

I'm shocked, shocked I say.

Round up the usual suspects

Spot the dog? No, we couldn't either because Spot is a robot employed by United Kingdom Atomic Energy Authority

Nuclear powered perptual motion machine

Ideally Spot would be nuclear powered, consuming the remains of the plant as it patrolled it.

If you think Mozilla pushed a broken Firefox Android build, good news: It didn't. Bad news: It's working as intended

Couldn't be worst update ever

Although they have covered up some of the embarrassment, I'm sure Opera has them beat. Among the other crippleware, search results for "help" yielded "Nothing found".

Google reveals new schedule for 'phasing out support for Chrome Apps across all operating systems'

Re: So, Google is pulling a Microsoft?

Me either!