Posts by Wally Dug 201 publicly visible posts • joined 2 Jan 2011
With respect:
I disagree with your final point. If Joe or Josephine can install Windows from a CD, then they can download a live DVD and install Mint
Windows is no longer installed from CD - Joe and Josephine just need to switch their PC on and it, uhm, well, it just, well, appears. They have no idea how it appears, it just... does, just as they would have no idea how to seek out Mint and create/burn a CD to install it.
And that's my point: Joe and Josephine have no idea how to install anything - or configure anything for that matter. Aside from the obligatory wallpaper (sorry, screensaver - they don't even know the correct terms) showing off their kid/grandkid/dog, that's about their limit when it comes to customising Windows.
And don't misunderstand me, I'm not for a minute saying that installing/customising Linux is hard, it's just that Joe and Josephine don't care about customising it. They want it there, working, with no fuss, in much the same way that their new iPhone is configured the way that their old one was (Disclaimer: I don't know if Android has a similar transfer mechanism when changing phones).
Thanks to Liam's continual praise of Linux Mint - and that of other commentards - I recently made the move to Mint as my aging but still perfectly capable PC was deemed a dinosaur by M$. And, of course, there's the privacy/AI issues with Windows 11 that are highlighted in the article.
Was it easy? It was easy-ish. As well as 30 years' Windows experience (from Windows 3.1 and Windows NT 3.51 onwards), I have AmigaOS and SunOS/Solaris and even CTOS (Unisys) experience. So perhaps that helped.
Not everything I use has a Linux equivalent and it wasn't easy to get absolutely everything working. For example, I struggled for ages with FS-UAE to get a decent configuration for my Amiga emulation until one day I sat down, took my time and selected settings logically. Within an hour or so, I had a better Amiga configuration than I had had for the previous 20+ years with WinUAE. But I now have a working system that I'm happy with and the thing that doesn't have a Linux equivalent, well, I can do without - although I still have my Windows partition if I really need this.
Of course, Mint is not Windows. I am well aware of this and the consequences that things are different. After all, if you switch from one car to another car from a different manufacturer, it will be similar, yes, but there will be differences. As an experienced "driver", I can cope with that and as a "hobbyist mechanic", I don't mind getting my hands dirty and changing aspects of the car. I mean OS.
Can Mint be used as a desktop for the average Joe in the street? Honestly? I don't see why not. What does Joe use? A browser. That's probably about it these days. And Waterfox (thanks again, Liam!) and Firefox are more or less identical in operation under both Windows and Mint - which is how they should be.
But will Joe trust Mint (or any of the alternatives)? That's the bigger problem, I don't think he will. He knows Windows, so is happy with it. He doesn't care about privacy - heck, I bet he keeps his wireless active on his phone in the shopping mall, subscribes to all sorts of marketing lists, etc. - and this AI thing? It does things for you so you don't need to - result!
I tried Mint via USB on three completely different devices and in every single case, it found all the drivers and just worked. I was so surprised at this, despite what Liam et al. advocated. But Average Joe? He's the man who has bought Ford (or GM/Vauxhall/Renault/VW/etc.) all his life. Windows just works, too, and he doesn't need to do anything to get the latest Ford, it comes direct. And if he has to get a new PC, then so what? His existing one is only four years old, that's about right, isn't it? PCs are only designed to last for 3-4 years, like cars, so it's an investment in the future.
Yes, the Linux desktop will succeed, but only for people like us who know. For Average Joe (and Josephine), stick with what you know. Take the easy option, even if it does end up costing you money and privacy.
Capita promised that by March next year, the service will have "evolved significantly" by using automation and AI to improve accuracy and efficiency.
"On checking everything over, to ensure that your loved ones benefit to the full extent of your pension, you should book a one-way flight to Switzerland for 29th June 2028."
Of course, the "peak" for Microsoft will always be subjective. Some people may say it's Windows 7, some Windows XP SP3 and others Windows 98 SE SP2.
Then there's Office. For me, I feel that Word 6 and Excel 4 offered everything that I have ever needed in a word processor and spreadsheet application, and there is no need for all the added-on bloat in subsequent versions.
So, how about this? A stripped down version of each with the basic functions only for normal users, sold at a reduced price. Let's call them Word and Excel. Then, additional "extra large" versions with all the added bells and whistles that they currently have for the premium users, with an "extra large" price tag, too.
Let's call them Word XL and Excel XL.
At one point in the UK, there was an ISP that offered an 0800 freephone connection number. The limitations were that you got cut off after an hour and had to reconnect, it was only between 18:00-00:00 and you had to suffer ads. (I think it was linked to S3, as in S3Jobs etc.?)
Anyway, the way round the ads was to configure your own dial-up connection rather than use their connection software and if you hung up at 11:55 pm, you could (usually) reconnect immediately for another 60 minutes of free dial-up as it only stopped accepting new connections at midnight.
Happy days!
In my office, it was a user who realised that she could forward her desk phone to an international number and, by dialling her desk phone from home, it was redirected abroad and while she was charged at local rate, the company was charged the international rate.
As big_D says, "Whatever you do, there is always someone watching you!" So, yes, she was quickly caught, international dialling was restricted to all but certain extensions and we were all given a talking to. (Unsure what exactly happened to her, but she kept her job.)
A spokesperson for Cornyn's office called bunk on the new estimate, telling The Register, "The fact is that all four shuttles have moved across the country without disassembly on more than one occasion."
Yes, Senator Cornyn, that is absolutely correct, they have been moved across the country without disassembly.
But... when? Within the last week? The last month? The recent past?
According to the article, it was in 2012. Thirteen years ago.
Are things still the same now as they were 13 years ago? Does the US still have the Shuttle Carrier Aircraft that were used then? How long has Discovery been standing still for, not getting any mechanical maintenance but instead getting - I don't know - a dust once a fortnight? Do you really think it's going to be as "simple" and "straightforward" now as it was 13 years ago?
Disclaimer: Being from the UK, I am neither Republican nor Democrat and have no personal politics in this; I am merely stating what I, a layman, can see as being the bleedin' obvious.
I don't know how accurate this is, but I remember reading maybe 20-25 years ago that Microsoft didn't bother trying to find and correct the root cause of bugs, they simply programmed a check for the issue and then it could fork off and follow the workaround before resuming what you were doing in the first place.
...end software-driven obsolescence by introducing rules that guarantee long-term security and software updates for laptops – and ideally for anything with a plug or battery.
So, my laptop will be fine, but my desktop won't?
What's the point of a half-hearted solution? If you're going to go to the bother of introducing these regulations, at least do it properly. Or does "anything with a plug" cover, well, anything and everything else?
Similar experience, but with a user. The details are lost due to the mists of time but it was along the lines of:
User: Can you get the system to do such-and-such?
Me: No, I can't do that.
User: Oh come on, you can do it for me?
Me: No, I can't do it because the system won't allow me to do it because of X, Y and Z.
User: But <<your boss*>> said it could be done.
Me: Ah... well, uhm, I'm afraid he's wrong. It can't be done for the reasons already stated.
*You know the kind - he "knew a bit about computers" (mid-90s) therefore, he knew "everything".
Ah, yes, the memories! But... it was the Amiga, so you always got something cool back.
For me, it was Pinball Dreams, Pinball Fantasies, PageSetter, Professional Page, PageStream, KindWords, MED, OctaMED, Fred Fish disks, AmiNet CDs, demos, music, graphics, cartoons... heck, now that I think about it, it was everything.
And money, money, money!
A500, external disk drive, A501 additional RAM, OS upgrades (many OS and ROM upgrades!), handheld scanner, A1500, GVP SCSI hard drive and memory card, GVP accelerator card, graphics card, serial card, CD-ROM drive... endless money.
Amiga Format, Amiga Computing, CU Amiga, Amiga Shopper, Amiga Power and, on a personal level most importantly, JAM (Just Amiga Monthly) - huge thanks to Jeff Walker for launching my writing career.
But endless hours of fun and excitement!
Only Amiga Makes It Possible
P.S. I still use an Amiga regularly under emulation.
I know, I'm being pedantic, but why use "The Y2K38 bug"?
For a start, it's not a bug per se; it's how it was programmed.
Secondly, why use five characters, as in Y2K38? What's wrong with just 2038, or if you must use five characters, what's wrong with Y2038?
IT people are well aware of this potential issue and are working on it and have been working on it for years, possibly decades. There's no need to be dramatic and alert the general public, therefore no snazzy "punchline" is required.
And talking of which, yes I am of "a certain age" and was involved in mitigating things the last time and well remember the scare stories of aeroplanes falling out the sky, banks going bust and you losing all your money, etc. Where are the scare stories for this "potential year 2038 32-bit time-related potential issue with Unix systems" thingie? If you're going to be dramatic with the headlines, at least be dramatic with the copy, too. (And I'm not singling out El Reg; other publications are as equally guilty.)
</grumpy_carmudgeon_off>
Walking to work in the winter months was always tricky due to untreated paths, except for this one area at a bridge over the railway line where there was maybe 8 inches wide of clear path for the length of the bridge that was also dry and warm. It took me a while to realise that about a mile away there was a sewerage farm and that must be a sewage pipe, raised up nearer ground level due to the minimal clearance of the bridge.
Yes, a great one is the mention of TUPE.
At first, the American company seemed to scoff and flat out reject it when our HR informed them about their obligations under TUPE law and then the meeting with the affected employees is quickly ended by our HR. And then our HR must have had a fun chat with the American HR and when the next consultation meeting is held shortly afterwards, the Americans' attitude is oh so different as they grit their teeth and say that they will cover all costs of redundancy as there are no positions for us.
Fortunately, we were kept on by the UK and to be honest, I have often wondered if our HR were just purposely putting the wind up the Americans who were blasé right from the off that they had won the contract and had no use of the UK workforce.
We already have "the equivalent of a coal tip able to supply power for three months stacked in the rain outside power stations" - hydro electric:
Cruachan can reach full load in 30 seconds and can maintain its maximum power production for more than 16 hours if necessaryhttps://www.drax.com/about-us/our-sites-and-businesses/cruachan-power-station/
Okay, 16 hours is not the same as three months, but that's just one hydro electric power station. Scotland alone has got two pumped-storage power stations and dozens of conventional ones.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_power_stations_in_Scotland
Well, speaking as an old f4rt and someone who is heavily into backups, surely if someone is responsible for changing the tapes (or nowadays checking on the backup storage utilisation or data crystals or whatever the storage du jour is), then they should take the initiative and responsibility to also wonder, "What would happen if we needed to recover some data? Or a system?"
Build regular recovery testing into the job and make it official. And when it becomes official, it will simply slide into your monthly tasks along with your other checks.
It doesn't have to be exhaustive and put in the procedures - yes, write procedures! have a checklist! have a record of what has been recovered and when! - a disclaimer that these are just quick recovery tests and no guarantees can be given to recover all data possible and that there is no gaurantee that the contents won't be corrupt without proper testing. With regular recovery testing of the various objects (e.g. files, databases, individual e-mails, AD objects, complete VMs, etc.) that you back up, then when the time comes you will either know exactly what to do and quickly get the system back or it will fail spectacularly. In which case, point to all the previously successful recovery tests and the disclaimer and say "I did my best, but without management buy-in to test properly, there's nothing else I can do."
I remember using EMultiplan - or Enhanced Multiplan - under Unisys' CTOS in the early- and mid-90s which I believe was the forerunner of Excel. If I remember correctly, converting existing EMultiplan spreadsheets to Excel was fairly easy when I did eventually start using Excel in 1995 as the formulae format was similar-ish, but the two systems were separate, so it was a manual process.
Not sure if Multiplan/EMultiplan became Excel or if it simply donated the general principles.
Similar-ish story from me.
Working in a busy town bank branch located within a busy town shopping centre, although we were just outside the undercover section, when the shopping centre's fire alarms sounded and told people to evacuate. Shortly afterwards a security guard opened the door and told us to evacuate (we would normally have been phoned by the shopping centre admin team), so we quickly locked everything up and went out the back to our fire evacuation point.
Eventually we were allowed to go back into the premises only to be told it wasn't a fire alarm but a bomb threat... in the shop unit right next to ours and not too far from our fire evacuation point. Yes, it was just a hoax but surely they could have given us a little bit more information and got us slightly further away?
(And no comments, please, about us being a bunch of bankers!)
There is a dual carriageway in the centre of my town that is street lit - so 30 mph. My GNSS system shows this as 30 mph. Then there is a break in the central reservation - no change in speed limits at all - and my GNSS system shows 50 mph. At the next break in the central reservation, the GNSS system goes back to 30 mph and then it resumes as a two-way street lit carriageway, so still 30 mph. How many other inaccuracies are prevalent in these systems?
And if it was the other way - a higher speed limit suddenly becoming a slower speed limit - and the haptic feedback is enabled, who would be liable for any resulting accidents/claims due to sudden deceleration?
In general, a speed limiter is a good thing - one simply has to read news reports about the impact caused by people who speed (for example https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cxe2j8x222go where the driver drove at more than 140 mph) - but like all technology if it relies on something to make it function then that something has to be accurate and trustworthy.
In a place that I worked in many years previously, if a new sales rep started (i.e. new, not replacing somebody else) - let's call him "A" - then a new laptop was bought. Of course, this laptop had to go to the Sales Manager. And his current laptop was reinstalled from scratch and given to "B", one of the Assistant Sales Managers... whose laptop was reinstalled from scratch and given to "C"... whose laptop was reinstalled from scratch and given to "D"... and, yes, eventually "A" got a laptop, but after perhaps five or six iterations of the "higher up and therefore better" reps getting better laptops.
This was in the days of Windows 95 when an installation usually consisted of IIRC 27 or 29 floppy disks for Windows alone, followed by Office, and everything else that was required. And then, obviously, each laptop was kept for a week or so before being wiped to ensure that all data had been transferred successfully. So one new sales rep could generate work lasting a good wee while. And most of the reps lived so far away that handovers were conducted via Red Star parcels, which introduced further delays and the possibility of broken screens, no matter how well the laptop had been wrapped. (We always bought the optional insurance!)
Then came the advent of CD-ROM drives (hurrah!) and then pre-installed Windows (yay!) which drastically reduced the timescales. This cycle was only broken when a new sales application was bought which necessitated everyone getting a shiny new Gateway 2000 laptop.
On a trip to the US, I chose a hotel via Google Maps that looked as if it was within walking distance of the office I was being sent to. The office manager who was helping me was perfectly happy with that, but came back rather sheepishly to tell me it was denied by the Powers That Be as there was a hotel $20 cheaper about an hour away and they wouldn't let her book it for me.
Fortunately, she agreed with me and argued my case by saying that, while that hotel may be cheaper by $20, I would either need a hired car or taxi journeys and that would cost more than $20 a day. I wasn't popular, but got my hotel which was a pleasant 15 minute walk from the office.
Some have described the shape as resembling buttocks, branding the airship "the Flying Bum" (in the UK sense of "bum" meaning rear end, not the US sense meaning vagrant).
"Bum" in the UK also means vagrant, to boast, to beg, and also used for a bum deal, as in what the British readers now increasingly find with articles in El Reg.
Also, is there not a kind of worldwide shortage of helium, despite that major find a couple of years ago? Should these airships really be using it rather than keeping it for important things such as MRI scanners and party balloons?
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