Posts by ITS Retired

EurekAI... Neural network leads chemists to discover 'four new materials'

AI is looking to take over.

First a better power source, which we will build for them, then self writing code, for a Posatronic brain, then...

Parking is expensive. It can cost an arm, a leg, and a Windows licence

Linux needs to advertise better.

Linux is much more stable, it won't do all the Bork Windows is capable of.

WTF? Microsoft makes fixing deadly OMIGOD flaws on Azure your job

This appears to be more proof that Microsoft has over run its ability to maintain its own products.

AI caramba, those neural networks are power-hungry: Counting the environmental cost of artificial intelligence

Re: Human alternative

The iPhone is an Apple product, that's why. No other reason. An no, it wasn't me down voting.

SAP 'investigating' after viral video allegedly shows anti-mask employee coughing on shoppers

Test the perp.

If she tests positive, charge her with attempted murder. Sounds fair. Get some of these Covidiots off the streets.

Banned: The 1,170 words you can't use with GitHub Copilot

Re: 1170 blocked exit points, any blocked entry points ?

When anyone posts something, that means someone, somewhere, seeing the post, is offended.

"The sky is blue." NO, IT'S NOT!!1!! It's grey where I am. How dare you to be so wrong!

Power users of Microsoft OneDrive suffer massive inconvenience: Read-only files

Apparently Microsoft software has gotten so complex that

it exceeds their ability to properly maintain it.

Western Digital unveils 20TB OptiNAND hard drive, pledges 50TB to follow

20 & 50TB

That's a lot of eggs in one basket, if/when something happens to the hard drive.

I was recently looking for a hard drive for use by just the operating system. The smallest I could find locally was 1TB. Yeah, yeah, I know I could partition it to something reasonable. But still, hard drives are mechanical devices. Separate, smaller hard drives would lessen the pain, if something happened. Not everyone is an expert in recovery. Back-ups? Too many people don't understand properly, the how and worse, the why. Bigger is not always better.

Don't get me started on TV/monitors in restricted spaces.

Boots on Moon in 2024? NASA OIG says you better moonwalk away from that date, because suits ain't ready

Re: Commercial Space

The real problem here is NASA has been starved for funds for most of its life. The Powers That Be would rather fund military bases around the world and devices that kill lots of people, than fund research and space.

The F-35 comes to mind, as do new Navy ships designed for the last war. Along with paying Russia to ferry our astronauts back and forth to the ISS.

It's a wonder NASA still exists.

Amazon delays return to office work until 2022 at the earliest

Re: Return to Office

Eyeball to eyeball intimidation. Hard to do over Zoom. When you are driving change, even change for change sake, you need person to person contact, to better get your way.

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

90% efficiency? That would take a concentrated beam. What happens when, not if, something get too close? Birds? A curious hang Glider, A wayward plane?

Would it burn a hole through the clouds during storms? All satellite signals walk around a bit. How big would the dead zone around the receiver be? What of maintenance of the ground receiver? Can the transmitter be shutdown and powered up without too much hassle? What about making sure it stays off during ground maintenance? Where does the padlock go to ensure that some middle manglement dude doesn't power it up when people are on the ground working around the receiver?

One never hears the answers to questions like these. Like the carbon fiber space elevator, this sounds too much like pie in the sky.

We've seen things you people wouldn't believe. An exoplanet building its own moons

Re: So, how long…

Time lapse photography. A picture every hundred years.

NASA fixes Hubble Space Telescope using backup power supply unit, payload computer

How complicated is the hardware on the Hubble, that allows all that mixing and matching from the ground? That in itself is an engineering marvel. Down here too many people can't even get WiFi to cover their home reliably.

USA's efforts to stop relying on Russian-built rocket engines derailed by issues with Blue Origin's BE-4

I wonder how much America's dumbed down education system, from kindergarten to doctorate and masters degrees, has contributed to the rocket problem? To say nothing about the actual cost to the parents and students of being taught to the tests, instead of comprehension.

USB-C levels up and powers up to deliver 240W in upgraded power delivery spec

Re: I predict excitement

I've never used a Belkin anything that worked up to the package description it came with. It is reassuring to know I'm not alone.

Activist millionaires protest outside Jeff Bezos' homes to support tax rises for the rich

What makes you think Jeff Bezos has not changed the tax code? I'm sure not him personally, but the lobbyists he hires to bribe Congress sure have.

Basecamp CEO issues apology after 'no political discussions at work' edict blows up in his face

Re: What part of that so people have issues with?

The playing, singing the National Anthem, with hand over heart, before a sports game IS political.

The song itself is a call to arms, which is political. Who's the enemy? With the United States, nearly everyone it seems.

What could be more political than blind patriotism by standing with hand over heart, while a certain song is being played? Wars have been fought over where that right hand goes. So war is political too.

Most people don't realize it, but politics affects everything. Not all politics involves governments. Just interaction between different groups of people involves the same actions as government legislators. There needs to be some semblance of agreement before anything gets done.

Can't get that printer to work? It's not you. It's that sodding cablin.... oh beautiful job with that cabling, boss

Naaa, can't do that

The bean counters wouldn't understand.

Microsoft demotes Calibri from default typeface gig, starts fling with five other fonts

Re: Bah!

Yeah, really. Most people don't care, don't know one font from another. The commonly used fonts look pretty much alike anyway.

I like Comic Sans. Easy to read, eye catching for short pieces of information.

Sucks to be you, any aliens living anywhere near Proxima Centauri's record-smashing solar flare

Re: move the Earth to a higher orbit,

The last I heard, the Earth rotates. I've been told that is the reason for day and night. Where would one place any kind of rocket to move the Earth to a higher orbit?

China has a satellite with an arm – and America worries it could be used to snatch other spacecraft

"Thinking" and "Pentagon" in the same sentence? To say nothing about including "Space Force" in the same sentence also?

You're good.

Android, iOS beam telemetry to Google, Apple even when you tell them not to – study

Re: GDPR ...

Fines means nothing. Fines come out of the corporation's petty cash. It is a line item on a spread sheet.

What needs to be done is prison sentences for those responsible for the tomfoolery. If it means putting CEO's and Board members in prison for lengthily periods of time, so be it.

After all corporations are persons and these people represent and control the corporation. Laws for corporation persons need to be the same as laws for you and me.

Mullet over: Aussie boys' school tells kids 'business in the front, party in the back' hairstyle is 'not acceptable'

Now, about those pierced ears.

Left ear? Right ear? Both ears?

FCC moves forward with plan to ban three Chinese telcos from American market

When are we going to be getting some adults in charge in our government?

It's past being embarrassing to admit to be an American anymore.

Google's ex-boss tells the US it's time to take the gloves off on autonomous weapons

Autonomous weapons need to be internationally banned.

Whether it be land mines or independent AI controlled weapons. We already have more than enough ways to kill others for fun and profit.

US govt drops challenge to California’s net neutrality law, signals shift to once again safeguard connections

Re: Life's good

Let us know when that happens. Currently neither party are for the people. Profits for corporations on the other hand ...

Apple reportedly planning to revive the MagSafe charging standard with the next lot of MacBook Pros

I like the Touch bar.

I think the Touch Bar is a touch of genius.

Maybe if Microsoft came out with one, people would like it better. But being Apple and all that...

EU Medicines Agency hacked, BioNTech-Pfizer coronavirus vaccine paperwork stolen, probe launched

With something as bad as COCID-19,

why can't the various countries work together on several vaccines? Or is that too civilized?

Surprise, surprise: AI cameras sold to schools in New York struggle with people of color and are full of false positives

Re: Stage 2 will be incorporating these...

Oh goodie. Another way to kill people. Just what the world needs. /sarcasm

So bye-bye, Mr Ajit Pai. You drove our policy into the levee and we still wonder why

Ajit Pai - For sale to the highest bidder... Always.

Who knew that hosing a table with copious amounts of cubic metres would trip adult filters?

I find most censorship rather childish. This entire long thread of comments proving censorship as such. Most of us are not in school anymore. Many for several decades. I'm long past gray, mine beard's white.

Censoring medical terms? Court records? Engineering common terms? Common words in every day use? But then again common sense is in short supply in many places. Authoritarians in manglement positions keep making sure of that.

Election security fears doused with reality: Top officials say Nov 3 'was the most secure in American history.' The end

While this election may have been the most honest election in American history, the Democratic primaries were not. Bernie Sanders played to packed stadiums, on the issues. Biden barely campaigned. Biden won? Kamala Harris dropped out of the primaries after Tulsi Gabbard exposed Kamala's dismal record for all to see. Now Kamala will be 2nd in line for the Presidency? Something doesn't seem correct here.

To say nothing about the Republicans gerrymandering and closing of a large number of polling places in selected districts across the country, in both the primary and the general elections. BTY, where are the exit polling that other countries use to check the voting? Suddenly in 2000 and after, exit polling here was somehow deemed not very accurate.

Honest election? Not in this country?

Now-patched Ubuntu desktop vulnerability allows privilege escalation

Re: Only as far back as the 70s?

Maybe because they were born after 1970?

Did I or did I not ask you to double-check that the socket was on? Now I've driven 15 miles, what have we found?

Re: Safety First

Another reason to use the back of you hand in a fire, is if touch some hot metal and you use the palm of your hand, you can lose the use of that hand from being badly burned. If you use the back of your hand, you can still use your hand as pretty much normal, till you can out and get medical attention.

Honey, I shrunk the battery: Something's gotta give as iPhone 12's logic board swells to accommodate 5G chippery

Why not...

Instead of 5G, which is not fully settled yet, why not a bigger battery, which will make the phone last longer before the battery wears out?

Oops sorry, I was thinking along the needs of the customer instead of the wants of the manufacture, which is making money.

Key-cutting machine borked sideways after visit from the BSOD fairy locks things down

Windows?

Being a Windows machine, the employees were told to never unplug it. Windows does not like its power to be cut. It too often breaks stuff.

We want weaponised urban drones flying through your house, says UK defence ministry as it waves a fistful of banknotes

Why does new technology always seems to be developed for death and destruction?

Have we run out of peaceful uses for it already?

Northrop Grumman wins $13.3bn contract with US Air Force to kick off Minuteman III ICBM replacement

Why do we need enemies to function?

Why can't we get along with the rest of the world without trying dominate them?

Other than for a few making obscene amounts of money, that is.

FYI Russia is totally hacking the West's labs in search of COVID-19 vaccine files, say UK, US, Canada cyber-spies

In a better world, the various countries would be working together to find something to eradicate this virus. After all, it IS affecting the whole planet.

But money drives way to much "progress". If you can't make a 300% to 1000% profit, it too often doesn't happen.

Soft press keys for locked-down devs: Three new models of old school 60-key Happy Hacking 'board out next month

Re: Alternatives?

I have a Model M, IBM keyboard. That is the best keyboard I have ever had or used.

I've worn the legends off two other keyboards and spilled water in another. Most of the keyboards I have used, just haven't felt right. Squishy keys, can't tell when then make contact, too soft, wrong key spacing, whatever.

Noise? Who cares, I'm half deaf anyway and like to know when I press a key. IBM made good keyboards.

Ex-barrister reckons he has a privacy-preserving solution to Britain's smut ban plans

Maybe what we really need is a plan to ban prudes. Then a lot of these problem would just go away.

ZFS co-creator boots 'slave' out of OpenZFS codebase, says 'casual use' of term is 'unnecessary reference to a painful experience'

How long will it take for the new Political Correct term itself to become offensive to someone?

Usually what happens is that descriptive terms eventually become divorced from the description of the action being describe.

Where does it end?

Photostopped: Adobe Cloud evaporates in mass outage. Hope none of you are on a deadline, eh?

Everybody rush to the cloud.

So you can work from any and everywhere.

Never mind the cloud is someone else's computer, located somewhere else. A computer that you have no control over. Especially if the company falls over.

It wasn't just a few credit cards: Entire travel itineraries were stolen by hackers, Easyjet now tells victims

"They say no credit card or passport details were lost."

That means the information was copied and not cut and pasted.

What do you call megabucks Microsoft? No really, it's not a joke. El Reg needs you

borg shaft. Best or worst of both worlds.

World's smallest violin to be played for opportunistic sellers banned from eBay and Amazon for price gouging

Re: Costco's doing it right

Arrived at Costco early today. I was 7th in line. Costco Had one (1) pallet of toilet paper. 30 roll packs of Charmin. It was all gone by 10 minutes after they opened. Costco only allowed on those 60 years old and older in between 8:00 and 9:00 AM.

Not a cough or sneeze to be heard in all the time I was in there.

The IT angle? Costco also sells computers and stuff.

The Reg produces exhibit A1: A UK court IT system running Windows XP

Re: XP Updates

"One. Win 10."

That is not necessarily an update.

The Wristwatch of the Long Now: When your MTBF is two centuries

Re: Beware survival bias

As long as the replacement part overlaps the replacement of the other part, all is good.

Whoa, France. Take it easy. Wow. You're out of control. Fining Apple 55 minutes of revenue for secretly slowing down iPhones? Maniaques!

Re: On the other hand

What? Nobody wants replaceable batteries, except the people using the phones. Besides replaceable batteries would make the phone a bit thicker and easier to hold. Comfort? I'm sure iApple might have heard of that.

Apple tipped to go full wireless by 2021, and you're all still grumbling about a headphone jack

Removing the Lightning cable from the iPhone and with no audio jack, Apple then can make their phones paper thin, just like they are telling us we want.

Never mind what we are trying to tell them.