Posts by Killing Time

The race to shore up Europe’s power grids against cyberattacks and sabotage

Re: Attack which layer?

If you are really determined, hack the power company for distribution layout drawings,which are constantly changing and therefore widely distributed within the engineering arm after the organisation, and then coordinate physical attacks on the infrastructure exploiting redundancy info gleaned from the distribution drawings.

It doesn't take much to take out a transformer, you could do it noisily ( explosive) or quietly ( smash a low drain valve off with a sledge) massive loss of cooling oil would knock the unit out. The vast majority of distribution sites are unmanned so it's quite feasible to be in and out before the organisation can react.

The organisations involved are fully aware of this weakness which is far harder to defend against than locking up your control network.

Musk's antics and distractions are backfiring as Tesla's car business stalls

Re: And where is...

I think he deserves further and fully deserved rinsing.

The image where he is wearing the 'Trump Was Right About Everything' hat please...

Brit politicians question Fujitsu's continued role in public sector contracts

'Sir Gavin Williamson, former defence and education secretary, this month asked Reeves whether the government has formally invited Fujitsu to rebid for the TSS and "what assessment she has made of the potential impact of awarding the contract to Fujitsu on the reputation of that service."'

Gavin Williamson asking questions regarding reputation (presumably with a straight face)?

Oh the irony!

Northern Ireland government confirms it did not ask Fujitsu to continue bidding for project

Re: Liars.

'Fujitsu killed people for their greed.'

Really?..... REALLY?

I understand that sadly some people took their own lives due to the circumstances they found themselves in, with some of the contributing factors attributed as being relentlessly persued by their employer but 'Fujitsu killed people'?

Where are the manslaughter or murder charges filed?

Wouldn't you agree that your statement is a little melodramatic to say the least given that to date, which is some years now, no charges have been brought against their employer let alone a subcontractor?

Re: Liars.

I understand it's still good sport to give Fujitsu a good shoeing but I really can't see the hypocrisy here.

Paterson's quoted statement clearly refers to NEW government customers ( its refered to twice in the statement).

From that I quite clearly understand they will maintain support for existing customers and I see no contradiction if that includes continuing business. If they didn't, I am quite sure they would receive a shoeing for that.

I can read and understand statements and their extent, as I suspect the multitude of legal advisors can which will have looked at this before they decided to proceed.

Let the kicking commence.

Ukraine strikes Russian bomber-maker with hack attack

Re: UAC

'When I call Americans bullies, I don't refer to their people or soldiers, I refer to their corrupt politicans who sit back and make money from misery.'

When I call Russians bullies, I don't refer to their people or soldiers, I refer to their corrupt politicians who sit back and make money from misery. There you go, FTFY Anonymous Comrade.

' Like most bullies it can't take punishment only dish it out'. And attempts to take the moral high ground when it has just had a good smack in the face.

Nationwide power outages knock Spain, Portugal offline

Re: I have it on good authority

'It is not unknown'

There are a multitude of things which are 'not unknown' but don't you think that lessons have been learned in the two decades that have passed since the incident you use to justify this speculation?

400kv infrastructure easements are stripped of trees, subject to periodical (multiple per year) helicopter surveys with visual and thermal camera analysis, _any_ ground activity within the easement not flagged already to NG is followed with a ground visit (Inc the Police) if necessary.

This has certainly been the case in the UK for the last few decades and as we have been in close regulation with Europe until fairly recently I would suggest the same applies to them.

Given that this the case, I consider the speculation laughable and the originating commentard finds a new authority.

Re: I have it on good authority

Sadly I don't think you do.

'the lack of spinning reserve ie 'Black Start' is a problem' , two terms related to grid level generation but with little connection. Certainly not in the context you are using them.

Also, the notion of trees contacting 400kv lines is frankly laughable. You would need 30 m tall trees to even be in vicinity of the relevant pylons and these routes are monitored vociferously.

I think you need to find another authority mate.

Re: Simulated Inertia

I don't think you are familiar with power generation nonclementure.

Frequency control mode is a specific function of large power generation facility control systems. The control is tuned specifically to resist or force changes to the local grid frequency. When in this mode they are sometimes referred to as 'clocks'.

Grid will request specific generation capacity in a particular area to run in this mode and the specific generation company will receive an appropriate fee for doing so

Re: Simulated Inertia

Why simulate it when there will be elements of dispatchable generation within the grid mix already in spinning reserve and more than capable of running in frequency control mode? ( I think most here understand that coal is not a prerequisite).

This simulation method would be useful on small subgrids but across a National or Continental grid there will be some Nuke or Gas generation more than capable of acting as the Frequency 'clocks' which are a fundamental distribution grid requirement.

No country has 100% guaranteed energy resilience and quite frankly, never will, no matter what resources are thrown at it.

It's unachievable over an indeterminate period as there are always modes of failure,which however unlikely will happen given a long enough period.

Accept that and plan for failure. That's what engineers do.

Nvidia paid $1M for Mar-a-Lago meal, US later scrapped AI chip export crackdown

Ahh, a didn't vote because I hold all politicians in equal distain type.

That way I will never have to acknowledge that there is always compromise in politics as there is in life and I can criticise from afar with impunity.

Unsurprisingly, I don't see that as a valid rationale.

'I see this as entirely the democrat's fault for bringing such bad candidates to the elections.'

That argument is complete and utter nonsense. No matter the opposition candidate, having failed in getting elected how can they influence the actions of or bear responsibility for that which take place after the election?

Utter drivel, either by some one who didn't vote for the opposition and regrets it or by one who did vote for the incumbent and regrets it!

Own it, don't try to weasel away from your actions with these specious claims.

China hits back at America with retaliatory tariffs, export controls on rare earth minerals

Re: How much

I get it, you drank the Koolaid and are one of those people who believe just because someone has personal wealth and reached high office they must be rational and smarter than most, more dangerously, must be afforded unquestioned respect due to the position they hold. In the absence of reasoned argument, you resort to taking offence on someone else's behalf, regurgitate copious amounts of text, barely relevant to the specific point in question so clouding the issue to support your position.

It's like observing a Polar bear on an ever-dwindling ice floe.

I also notice a hint of desperation, 'Trump is not entirely an idiot' or 'The Signal fiasco showed' amongst your copious musings, not evident in your past posts, perhaps you are subconsciously recognising the real damage being done when you see it?

My criteria are actions and visible competence when dealing with people, little of which I have seen to date. Only time will tell how it pans out, somehow though, I think you will continue to justify the past, current and future actions just to prop up your faith.

Re: What a s**ts**w !!

So to condense your lengthy post into one sentence.

It's not Trumps fault, it's the Democrats.

Perhaps you could consider an alternative target to blamestorm at? Maybe it's voters with a bizarre rationale and understanding such as yours?

Just a thought...

Re: How much

'It appears that your comment is well written and informed'

It's being voted down because it is a crock of shit, it's financial word soup and by his own admission, ' I'm wondering' , total conjecture.

To credit the Orange idiot a cunning plan is laughable. This is the guy picking a trade war with a bunch of penguins. Anyone else would be embarrassed or ashamed of such a basic error being released to the world.

Not him, he doesn't possess these basic attributes.....

Time to ditch US tech for homegrown options, says Dutch parliament

Re: @MiguelC

'I am of the understanding that there is no way to talk to people who wilfully wont listen and that there is no way to convince the dead mind to think.'

Well I listen and I read however I really don't see the world the way you do.

For instance, your example regarding the White House press conference with Zelenski. I watched the whole thing and saw nothing untoward until the stooge reporter asked the loaded question regarding wearing of a suit. From that point on it was crystal clear to me that classic pre planned gaslighting was taking place. It was a truly inane question whose only purpose was to heavily infer some form of disrespect was being made from a visiting head of state.

The stooge had taken the place of a Reuters or AP journo who had been banned from the White House press party for the temerity of failing to report the White Houses position as they saw it.

I am old enough and ugly enough to recognise gaslighting when I see it again so no weasel words will change my position on this. As a result of this I will gladly put myself in your 'won't listen, dead mind' category and am more than happy to agree to disagree.

Re: @MiguelC

'Someone economically inclined to challenge Trump on real things with real reasons and not just instantly anti-Trump nuttiness, as well as acknowledging his successes would be a very different view to what it written on here.'

It doesn't take someone economically inclined to challenge the thinking behind threatening your past allies sovereignty and introducing trading tariffs, if it was the magic bullet he thinks it is, it would have been evident the first, second, third etc times it has been introduced through history. It isn't new and definitely isn't effective as the past has shown.

Effective ongoing trade is fundamentally based on trust, the great deal maker appears ignorant of this.

It would be a challenge to identify, list and acknowledge his successes, perhaps it's a genuine struggle for the current staff writers.

It seems pointless bemoaning the fact that few people agree with you. If you present a reasoned and rational argument as to why Trump should be lauded you will win people over.

Unfortunately you have set yourself a herculean task.

London has 400 GW of grid requests holding up datacenter builds

'available reliably'

Adjacent to a National Grid HV (275kv and up) Stepdown installation.

It's the backbone of the grid, with power availability from all possible sources.

Tesla sales crash in Europe, UK. We can only wonder why

Sales Crash

Biggest cockup since Gerald Ratner cracked a joke...

DeepSeek isn't done yet with OpenAI – image-maker Janus Pro is gunning for DALL-E 3

Re: Janus, the two-faced God

'This is looking more and more like possibly the largest, most meticulously planned trolling operation of all time.'

Maybe trolling but I wouldn't say well planned. I have energy company shares which grew and then dropped 30% above and then back to the intrinsic value of the company over the last month.

That's a bubble.

Far more damage would have been done if that bubble was allowed to grow to the point major investment was actually made (dot com bubble anyone?).

That's poor planning for a trolling operation so adds weight to the authenticity of the claims. The perpetrators of the troll would gain more if they had waited.

Trump nukes 60 years of anti-discrimination rules for federal contractors

Re: Too many white men

'Joe Biden chose Kamala Harris as his running mate on a pre-determined goal of finding a woman of color to be his running mate rather than the best fit that he knew for the post. By stating that goal out loud, it should have fallen afoul of anti-discrimination laws'

I'm a little troubled by this statement but don't know enough about American politics to challenge it. Perhaps you can clarify?

As I understand it, the President doesn't employ the Vice President, they select a candidate for the voters to elect. The President/Vice President are then presumably employed by the Senate etc ( whatever is the rough equivalent of the UK 'State') when they are elected to that position.

If that is actually the case, why then would it fall foul of the laws?

Politicians not only need to have a base set of skills over and above that they need to appeal to a specific demographic, this would appear to fly in the face of any anti discrimination laws in place.

In short, wouldn't they be specifically exempt due to this specific and pragmatic requirement?

Words alone won't get the stars and stripes to Mars

Re: The Chinese!

TDS? My, aren't we on vogue with the comebacks! Unfortunately for you it missed completely as I was clearly referring solely to Musk.

I'll let you in on a little secret, between me, you and the lampost, I was being facetious.

What respect I had for Musk is disappearing rapidly, primarily as he appears to be unwilling to own his public behaviour. It's my personal view of his ethical and moral behaviour, politics have nothing to do with that, that's your baggage.

Re: The Chinese!

'And why would Trump put his weight behind a project he will never see the end of, given his age?'

Same could be said for Musk, he is moving into the back end of the bellcurve and you don't know what is going on with his health.

All the money in the world is not going to help if your time is up. Jobs would probably attest to that if he was still around.

I'm sure I saw Musk's heels clicking together when he was 'waving' to the crowd yesterday, maybe he was wishing his way to wonderland, yeah, I'm sure that was the reason.

P.S. I do hope El Reg makes that image the default of Musky going forward, it's quite flattering....

Donald Trump proposes US govt acquire half of TikTok, which thanks him and restores service

Re: Trust

'They are all out for their personal selves.'

Of course they are, everybody is out for their personal selves, it's a property of being human and it's naive to believe otherwise. Yet we suspend this truth and expect something else from our leaders and public servants.

The yardstick is how much you believe the person can act in the interest of all and to what extent, rather than solely for themselves directly or indirectly.

Sadly this belief and acceptance of them all solely acting in their personal interest is why the world ends up with 'leaders' like Trump. Lump them all together like that and we will end up with a world of Trumps _Shudder_.

Sonos CEO steps down after smart speaker app upgrade hit bum note

Re: SONOS user

You can, certainly with the Move 2. Bluetooth into it. Brennan also directly support their speakers directly over WiFi. No need for the App.

Having run the initial setup of the speaker I don't use the App. From what I can see it primarily there to push their other products.

It's not just Big Tech: The UK's Online Safety Act applies across the board

Re: Just another example...

Ok, fair spot. Been some time since I was heavily involved in the legislation aspects of safety.

Where I have stated Act, substitute Heath and Safety Management Regulations ( which are effectively the practical instructions for persons or organisations to manage their obligations under the Act) and my posts will be more accurate.

This is where the threshold is set and defines the more formal steps required of an organisation in managing H+S. Below this level, nothing is required to be documented so proving negligence would be more problematic. For instance, you can claim to have risk assessed a particular activity but as it is undocumented its difficult to prove you have not or that it is inadequate. Above the threshold the organisation is required that ( and produce evidence of ) they follow POPMAR - Policy, Organisation, Personnel, Management, Audit and Review.

My original point still stands though, the law does recognise of size of the business in the case of an H&S breach.

Re: Just another example...

Again, you are wrong. The Act applies as stated previously therefore 'the law does make recognition of size of the business in the case of an H&S breach.'

That doesn't mean to say that just because you have less employees than specified you are are absolved of all responsibilities. It the case of your ludicrous ' selling out of date food' scenario the 'Act' wouldn't apply for any size of organisation however other legislation would. Most likely in that case it would be covered by Trading Standards legislation.

In the case of 'someone gets killed or injured in a place of business because the business owner is negligent' other overlapping legislation would apply if the organisation is smaller than the stated requirements but not the H+S at Work Act.

Re: Just another example...

'the law makes no recognition of size of the business in the case of an H&S breach.'

Wrong. The Health and Safety at Work Act applies to all organisations above a certain level of employees. The mantra being ' 5 or more or over 4'

Elon Musk's galactic ego sows chaos in European politics

Re: "http://www.gridwatch.templar.co.uk/"

'our 'leaders' can blame Russia/China for the resulting black-start and not their own incompetence wrt UK energy policy.'

'Yesterday saw a blackout near miss in what turned out to be the tightest day the GB electricity market has seen since 2011. '

As the first line of defense, certain industries / users are contractually obliged, financially penalized or even just cut off if the don't reduce load on demand when requested by Grid.

You appear to be using black-start and blackout as inextricably linked or one and the same thing. Black-start is essentially restarting a section or sections of the grid.

In the event of a major failure, NG protection would immediately section that problematic part of the grid. That would result in a blackout for that particular section.The black-start would then be confined to that particular section / region.

Multiple sections can black-start relatively quickly in parallel running as independent frequency 'islands', supplying the local regions ( with probable limitations in place).

Its the frequency matching and reintegration to the grid which would probably take a longer period but you would not be sitting there in a blackout as seems to be suggested.

Well the clear difference is that Obama was answering a specific question at one press conference and was quite clear that the decision was up to the UK citizens to decide, rather than unprompted, just spaffing misinformation and personal insults across a social network.

That's probably why you don't recall a significant reaction from 'those' ( whoever 'those' are ), but I suspect you already knew that.

Re: Støre

'I get the criticism. At the same time: Musk is pointing out the bloody obvious.'

I fail to see how your power prices and Musk's trolling are interconnected.

Given that 88% of your power is from Hydro and your national generation is pretty much self sufficient, I would strongly suspect your interconnectors are primarily used for export. Your pricing is driven by the larger market.

If you want cheap power, lobby your government for preferential rates or spend some of that sovereign wealth fund on some CCGTs and power them from your extensive gas fields.

Please don't put 2+2 together to get 5.

SpaceX will try satellite deployment on next Starship test

Re: Important

'I guess he's entitled to his opinion just like all those outside the US who have or still do criticise & insult DJT.'

Interesting view but not really what I was alluding to. I was referring to his championing of AfD in Germany and Reform in the UK. Both parties which could be considered to the right in politics.

I credit him with being far more than DJT's attack dog (DJT has shown he is more than capable there). I believe Musk knows he has DJT in his pocket and is now pushing out to further his business goals and Mars ambitions.

The new Computer Misuse act and similar legislation in Europe appears to have him rattled.

Re: Important

I think it's reasonable to assume he is aware of geopolitical reasons given his recent hobby of jumping 'two booted' into western countries national politics.

Given that he appears to have gained significant influence over US politics he seems to believe he can achieve it elsewhere.

The reason why? I can only assume it feeds into his grand vision regarding Mars. I can't see that there is no ulterior motive for this. Like him or not, he is too smart for there not to be a specific driver behind it.

US airspace closures, lack of answers deepen East Coast drone mystery

I think your tinfoil hat has slipped. Those extraterrestrial signals are getting through!

Aliens, spy balloons, or drones? SUV-sized mystery objects spotted in US skies

Re: Aliens...

'The Register welcomes our new alien overlords and would like to remind them that as a trusted tech news website, our staff could be helpful in rounding up others to toil at whatever tasks they require.'

Please include me in this group and would just like to add I already have a pre prepared list of suitable candidates for 'gang probing'!

Salutations!

NASA wants ideas on how to haul injured moonwalkers

Well that's ruined a cherished memory!

Suppose anything is better than nothing but green soup and string pudding....

SpaceX Dragon gives ISS a helping hand with altitude

Re: Space is a commercial world now

' I'm not sure that Neuromancer has enough material to last for ten hours or so.'

Gibson's writing style is pretty dense and would allow some world building around the key narrative but I think the key thing is a good show runner who would be prepared to get away from the episode arc and more towards a series arc. Much like The Wire or Breaking Bad/Better Call Saul where there doesn't have to be some manufactured sub conclusion or cliff hanger at the end of every episode. The story arc is across the series.

Space is a commercial world now

I hear the Tessier-Ashpool family are preparing a bid...

SpaceX Starship moved to launchpad for 6th flight test

Re: Tiles b gone

I think its pretty clear these flights are still a test programme, albeit with huge strides being made on each flight so far, ( it's really not that long ago that they destroyed the launch pad!). If you are not currently carrying payload why would you load unnecessary fuel? You would load as per the intended flight profile.

Regarding the payload estimates, I am sure these come from an extremely capable engineering team, its just that Musk chooses to personally articulate it to the public, I suppose he feels he can as majority Space X shareholder and top gobshite, not many in the organisation are likely to strenuously object.

Arecibo telescope might have failed because of weak sockets

Re: If memory serves

'Also, if you need Christmas metal'

There will also always be 'Never let the Bells End' (fnarr,fnarr) by The Darkness...

Reaction Engines' hypersonic hopes stall as funding fizzles out

Re: damn shame

From the BBC article

'Up to £21.7bn will subsidise three projects on Teesside and Merseyside to support the development of the clusters, including the infrastructure to transport and store carbon.

It will also support two transport and storage networks carrying captured carbon to deep geological storage in Liverpool Bay and the North Sea.'

It also indicates this money is committed over 25 years.

So it's 5 projects across at least 2 disparate locations over a 25 year timeframe.

Not really the picture you were painting ehh?

Re: damn shame

Do you have a citation on those gas plant figures? They seem wildly out of proportion to the technology to me.

You can build a 1 GW gas plant for way less than 2 billion so 20 Billion on CC tech would quite frankly just price them straight out of the electricity market.

Polish radio station ditches DJs, journalists for AI-generated college kids

Max Headroom!

As predicted, now made real.

'Hyperscale customer' to take massive datacenter site near London

Re: Sounds like someone decided to buy some land and dont know what to do with it.

Further digging suggests Hillfield were behind a stalled Battery installation adjacent to the same substation.

Just chancers.

Re: Sounds like someone decided to buy some land and dont know what to do with it.

MVA and KVA are the standard nomenclature used in heavy power distribution rather than expression in Watts so my guess is that the developer is directly quoting an NG document to sound cool.

Also, I am extremely skeptical that they have secured that capacity from an as yet to be built substation due to the facts that a. Their project might never happen and NG will be completely aware of this and b. That kind of capacity would commit the majority, if not all of a significant substation build.

Typical developer over embellishments.

SpaceX aims high with Polaris Dawn mission

Re: Not free floating

Seems an entirely rational test to me.

Data from four suits on how they perform in hard vacuum and from two where there is the additional thermal stress of solar exposure.

Equally, the last thing you would want on a mission is for someone ( effectively a total novice), to be overwhelmed and panic outside the craft.

Maintaining close contact with the craft makes complete sense.

Labour wins race to lead UK, but few would envy the load in its tech in-tray

Good to hear you voted, even if it was for Beaker Farage.

Anyone can have _conviction_ ( just ask any guest of HM Prison Service) what is really required is a plan and integrity, neither of which Farage has shown any semblance of possessing.

If you accept dismissal of a party representative as an 'actor' or claims of a media setup in response to an unacceptable situation they have been caught up in as a straight answer then good luck with your choices of leaders in life.

Again, glad to hear you voted.

ITER delays first plasma for world's biggest fusion power rig by a decade

Re: hopefully with all the subsequent spin offs

Yeah, my money is in fusion powered porn....

Re: World's largest tokamak?

'I'm willing to bet that at least one of the commercial fusion companies out there will have a net energy positive reactor, if not an operational plant connected to the grid, before ITER's first plasma.'

So much so you are willing to invest your own cold hard cash?

Because that is what the private enterprise projects require and to be frank, the narrative coming out of them will tend towards the more wildly optimistic to attract that investment.

I see ITER more as a collaborative humanity project, hopefully with all the subsequent spin offs that past projects such as the race to the Moon have generated.

I don't think anyone believed the initial budget estimates and timescales, especially the involved States.