Posts by tygrus.au

Windows 2000 Server named peak Microsoft. Readers say it's all been downhill since Clippy

BAFH

New generation has

"Bastard AI From Hell"

SvarDOS: DR-DOS is reborn as an open source operating system

So much forgotten

1) batch files in many directories that functioned as a menu system. Edit them to add/update items/actions several layers deep.

2) text based games especially in GWBASIC/IBMBASIC whatever was installed but you could break execution & edit the game code & read/change runtime variables.

3) adding games/apps from magazines/books by typing them in for BASIC etc.

4) Borland Sprint (word processor better than early MS Word for DOS) and early Print Shop Pro.

5) Replacing XT system with AT so we could use more RAM & better graphics. HIGHMEM

6) Soundblaster card came with a talking parrot app.

7) Dblspace disk compression from DOS 6.0 onwards.

8) XTreeGold.

9) Even with windows >3.0 needing to boot to DOS to run some games that couldn’t have anything else run.

Windows 11 market share falls despite Microsoft ad blitz

History of Erratas & bugs from updates ia a big disincentive

The Microsoft recent history of turning all its users into beta testers to avoid paying for real testing comes back to bite it. Hardware requirements & loss of compatibility doesn't help.

The worst are the updates that brick computers, delete user documents, games stop working, peripherals stop working (or looses features)...

or similar fatal errors.

More advertising isn't needed to polish the thurds. They should instead spend that on tech/devs that can improve the products more than they break them.

Microsoft flashes Win10 users with more full-screen ads for Windows 11

Fix 1 bug, break/remove 2 other features

Latest Win 11 update was causing errors for some users. Microsoft have a habit of fixing 1 error while creating 2 others (or removing previous features/compatibility).

Why should everyone keep trusting Microsloth?

Microsoft Flight Simulator 2024 struggles to take off

Champions of scalable & cloud computing didn't know how to automate spawning new VMs to cope.

I would have thought with their knowledge of software & virtualization that Microsoft should've been able to promptly spawn new VMs to cope with demand. Isn't that what everyone's been doing, allocation of HW/SW on-demand for cloud systems?

Russian court fines Google $20,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000

Re: How long will Putin live

Life expectancy for current males in Russia is ~69 years old. Though this value is reduced by poverty & soldiers dying which doesn't affect him. But a Kremlin coup or Russia using nuclear weapons could be hazardous to his health.

Re: One good sanction deserves another

Some Russian Athletes were visibly supporting the Russian War against it's neighbours. Many Russian Athletes are employed by Russian Military for propaganda (public functions & school visits in uniform) & state funding them to be professional athletes. There's big conflict of interests. Russian sports committees/federations & State funded agents were also caught repeatedly hiding & tampering drug tests so their athletes could get away with cheating. If you don't play by the rules, you don't get to play. Some Russian athletes have been allowed to compete but not as "Russian" athletes from Russian sports committees/federations.

Winter sports athlete with "Z" in big bold print while collecting his medal like Nazis. Russian Skiers & spectators making big "Z" at the ski event, just like Nazis. When the population clearly supports their government/terrorists & fails to act against it, then they share some responsibility for the consequences. Full trade with Russian would've helped Russian fund the war & makes total nonsense why you would've expected UK & it's allies to have continued trade with the Nazis after Nazis invaded Poland, Belgium, Holland, France...

Russia has used global trade, diplomatic service & tourists to cover it's spying & clandestine attacks against the West. The Berlin wall & Iron curtain were made primarily to keep people IN not to stop USSR from being attacked. Many states like the Baltics knew how Russians behaved as "friends", they hurried to leave USSR & hurried to join NATO as soon as they could for very good reasons. Countries now in NATO were never attacked nor invaded by NATO, no NATO tanks in the streets, no NATO soldiers holding them at gunpoint to vote. Even France chose to leave and was allowed to leave. Turkey chose to limit USA/NATO activity in/over it's territory. Most NATO forces in each country are it's own & locally paid for. You don't see cities like Mariupol after Russian attacks in other countries who joined NATO.

Russia requested gallantry medals for the return of Crimea in December 2013, the contract signed in Jan 2014 to be ready before the 20 Feb 2014, they were made with the campaign start date of 20 Feb 2014. The Ukranian president (VY) abandoned his office/duty late 22 Feb 2014 & officially confirmed by the Ukranian national government (Rada) by way of majority. The Rada members were still as they were democratically elected (bar 3 resignations, I think). Some members & most former party members of his own party voted against him to create the opposition majority. The Rada was not occupied by protesters, not held at gunpoint. They voted for new elections which were held within 4 months despite Russian interference (couldn't vote in some areas, Ru militias attacked ballots & polling place before the vote).

Compare that with Igor Girkin et al who used false names, false passports, were there in Crimea ready to act on/before 21 Feb 2014. Girkin & others admitted that the Crimean gov/officials were going to stay with Kyiv (until Russians came to change that). Girkin admitted to leading a militia to take Crimean gov by force, held its members at gunpoint to vote (opposition members held under house arrest) for the changes Russia wanted to legitimise the Russian military invasion & annexation that had already occurred (retrospective). These methods were repeated in parts of Luhansk & Donetsk regions (in 2021, Russian held only a third of this area) and failed in several other places that Russia had attempted. Russia paid separatists since 2005. Russia paid people to be protesters & provocateurs - this was obvious from their accents, the busses, those asking for directions, those attacking the wrong building & those getting lost. Many of those who opposed Russian annexation in this area primarily spoke Russian, including the Ukr soldiers. Many videos of Russian led militias with guns taking control of buildings while officials, police/soldiers & citizens were outside & unarmed. The Ukr military were inside their barracks with no orders to deploy, no tanks outside, no bombing, no gun battles when Russian led militias came to surround them. Some Ukr soldiers were off base with no weapons, when they arrived for their next shift/duty they were blocked by Russian led militias so they couldn't enter their base & they didn't have any guns to fight/defend so no shooting each other. (this is how it started). Russia denied any & all involvement until partially admitting it several months after Minsk2. Russia never negotiated in good faith & never held itself to be bound by those agreements (not signed as a belligerent).

Fmr president VY was not arrested when he attempted to fly away, he wasn't held at gunpoint when he chose to leave. He tried to find support in his home city/region but companies/VIPs didn't want him to visit. His party held a conference and VY was told not to come. At this, all but 1 from Crimea said they didn't want to split from the rest of Ukraine, they didn't want to be annexed by Russia. Protesters supporting of Kyiv soon outnumbered those supporting Russia in the East. The KIIS polls in 2013-14 before 22 Feb 2014 never had any region with a majority that wanted to be annexed by Russia. Claims that because they primarily spoke Russian meant they supported Putin was FALSE. Ask people in USA & many other countries that primarily speak English (eg former colonies of England) if they want to be annexed by England today. NO WAY !!! Even Australia has it's own constitution & governs itself, our laws are not made by England/Queen/King, we chose our members of government, England/Q/K don't pick our PM.

AMD stalls Ryzen 9000 launch over poor chip quality

Not a problem in the silicon

AMD said it wasn't the silicon. Variable quality only affecting some could mean it's happening with chip assembly, the bits you see on the outside, wiring from the pins, IHS or the tiny capacitors around the chip. They've kept it mysterious.

Other chips (incl from Intel) have occasionally had problems with microcode to work around, change in voltage/frequency, repackaged.

AVX10: The benefits of AVX-512 without all the baggage

Needs implementation independence

The optimal method would have the code suit large vectors but the hardware works out how to split it into multiple instructions/data that suit the execution pipeline & power efficiency. Eg. The code says 4096 bit chunks which can be executed with hardware processing it 128b or 256b or 512b at a time. It's the same compiler code outputed for all of them, the hardware microcodes how it's split up.

I think ARM have been working on it.

Microsoft suggests command line fiddling to get faulty Windows 10 update installed

Basic rule: Updates should check their own requirements before continuing

If space (special partition) is a critical requirement for an update, then the update should check available space & assist the user to rectify the problem (if disk space can be managed, re-allocated & freed).

Watt's the worst thing you can do to a datacenter? Failing to RTFM, electrically

Electrical contractor says minor interruption

Electrical contractor says minor interruption & doesn't mention to fully disconnect equipment from mains supply - famous last words before the smell of burnt electronics.

Example from my experience but it didn't happen in a datacentre, but it could happen:

While upgrading power from grid to the meter board from 1 phase to 3phase, the licensed contractor approved by the power company (retail/network/supplier) got the wires mixed up so 415v went across circuits designed for 230v - 240v. Anything connected with a ON/standby was damaged. A very costly & time consuming mistake even if some items covered by our/their insurance.

SpaceX Starlink sat streaks now present in nearly a fifth of all astronomical images snapped by Caltech telescope

Stack multiple images and avoid areas with streaks

Long exposures with telescopes that move slowly to track a distant target get the streaks.

Stack multiple image frames and avoid areas with streaks. The area affected per frame would be smaller when you increase the number of frames per final image.

Flash? Nu-uh. Windows 11 users complain of slow NVMe SSD performance

I consider Windows 11 is still in beta testing.

Australian court rules an AI can be considered an inventor on patent filings

An artwork belongs to the artist not to the tools, brushes & paint they use. A typewriter was never the listed author of any book.

Likewise, the output of computer software belongs to the user and some credit (eg. software license fees) ultimately goes to the programmers.

Any patentable idea generated by AI should belong to the AI design team & any input by the user NOT the software/computer.

Battery recycling boosted by dentist-style ultrasonics, if manufacturers can cooperate

What would be the effect of using the same ultrasonic frequency sound from further away wirh greater power? Can this be weaponised?

Hubble Space Telescope to switch to backup memory module after instrument computer halts

Hobbled space telescope.

Rocky Linux is go: CentOS founder's new project aims to be 100% compatible with Red Hat Enterprise Linux

If they wave the $$$ to buy it up ... run

Never trust a big corporate to keep open source the same purpose, type/level of development & stay open.

Marine archaeologists catch a break on the bottom of the Baltic Sea: A 75-year-old Enigma Machine

Re: Old typewriter

I could not keep up with Guy Martin, I miss every second word on average. English as 1st language for me in Australia but some UK+Ireland accents are hard to get used to.

Welp, it is the season for silicon mega-mergers... AMD rumored to be in advanced talks to buy FPGA slinger Xilinx for $30bn+

Big losses & asset write downs the last time

They paid too much or didn't get the value out of ATI the last time they bought up big. Huge risks. It still requires many millions/billions to merge & develop products to make use of Xilinx tech over the next 10 years.

Email innovator Hey extends an olive branch in standoff with Apple, tweaks code to make the iGiant appier

What are you actually paying for?

If Apple store want a cut of iOS app revenue then you make the iOS service an addon for a small price. Apple get their cut of the small amount. The multi-platform service is paid for outside Apple store because it's not an iOS exclusive.

From off-prem to just off: IBM Cloud goes down planet-wide so hard even the status page didn't work

What support?

If you have a problem, IBM can blame it on the last one leaving the office.

Watch an oblivious Tesla Model 3 smash into an overturned truck on a highway 'while under Autopilot'

This is a driver assist not an autopilot !

They need to combine techniques and multiple systems over larger areas for redundancy and increased AI. At least 4 sensors: Daylight vision, IR, LIDAR & GPS. If just 1 of these systems can see a possible danger then assume this as being correct. If a system has unreliable readings that don't match expectations then slow down, proceed with caution depending on the limits of the other sensors. If there are conditions or objects obscuring the view of the sensor then don't assume everything is perfect. Don't take the sky or lane lines for granted. Watch the driver at all times, if they stop paying attention then alert and slow down until the driver reacts correctly. This is a driver assist system not an autopilot.

Could it be? Really? The Year of Linux on the Desktop is almost here, and it's... Windows-shaped?

Windows graphics in Linux running on Windows

Microsoft continues to add layers to complicated OS/driver/subsystem/app stacks. Now we have WoLoW (Windows on Linux on Windows), more mess and slower steps in the thicker mud.

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

MegaSoft

.. Their software just keeps getting bigger.

Dumpster diving to revive a crashing NetWare server? It was acceptable in the '90s

Rubber bands & bobby pins

The 60's DPD operator used rubber bands & bobby pins to keep the machines running.

Microsoft decrees that all high-school IT teachers were wrong: Double spaces now flagged as typos in Word

I've dropped the "Office" from long shortcuts for 20 years

I would shorten the desktop and Start menu shortcuts to be like "MS Word 2000" for more than 20 years. Keeping the "MS" as the start keeps them sorted together as a group. Microsoft are including non-Office apps & services so dropped the "Office", nothing special.

VMware’s cloudy capacity constraint stretches into third week

Update "Resolved"

Resolved

VMware Cloud on AWS Service is fully operational. This incident has been resolved. This is the final update.

Start Time: March 23, 2020 15:05 UTC

End Time: April 10, 2020 18:00 UTC

https://status.vmware-services.io/incidents/h48v9q28715t

Linux fans thrown a bone in one Windows 10 build while Peppa Pig may fly if another is ready in time for this year

Re: I'm confused..

"USMT is intended for administrators who are performing large-scale automated deployments. If you are only migrating the user states of a few computers, you can use PCmover Express. PCmover Express is a tool created by Microsoft's partner, Laplink." from the Microsoft URL above.

USMT is not designed for home users and Laplink will try to upsell from the free to the Pro for $$.

Australian digital-radio-for-railways Huawei project derailed by US trade sanctions against Chinese tech giant

Government should demand access to code & hardware

If you fear security then the government should demand access to code & hardware for analysis. ASIO (or military + security company) to analyse the code & hardware for security risks or intentional backdoors. Verify the compiled files of the company with what was compiled by ASIO so no changes can be secret after initial approval. Can we charge the supplier for part of the costs involved (eg. 1% or $5 per device)? Would other suppliers be subject to the same rules?

Microsoft's PowerToys suite sprouts four new playthings with a final March emission

Add option to reinstall what is removed

Can they add "Control Panel" to the PowerToy when they remove them?

Microsoft starts a grand unification attempt with .NET 5

I like the versioning methods where they add new features and replace old methods while leaving the old code still workable but depreciated. You then have atleast a year (prefer 2 to 3 years) to recode what is deprecated before the next major release drops the old deprecated code and starts the cycle again. Removing the old at the same time as adding new features/methods is fraught with danger. Much better having an overlap where code can be run with 2 compilers that can check the output.

Cumulative Update 2 for Microsoft SQL Server 2019 breaks SQL Server Agent

SNAFU usual Microsoft ..

Break it .. release it .. test it .. verify it .. maybe fix it ..

IBM exec told that High Court evidence in Co-Op Insurance case wasn't 'truth, whole truth, and nothing but the truth'

Agile can be used for two cases:

1) inhouse development;

2) some ongoing development & support of existing installation (customer asks for features and you have a short contract-develop-deliver-accept cycle).

Otherwise, they don't know what they need, they don't know what they're getting, nobody knows the costs and we all fight when we don't agree with the results.

Get in the C: Raspberry Pi 4 can handle a wider range of USB adapters thanks to revised design's silent arrival

RPi4 2GB now the same price as the 1GB

RPi4 1GB has now being replaced with the 2GB version at the same price.

RIP Katherine Johnson: The extraordinary NASA mathematician astronauts trusted over computers

data processing systems not mainframes

Firstly, I'd like to send my condolence to the Johnson family. Katherine's achievements should never be forgotten by us.

I think they were called "data processing systems" not mainframes when the 7090 was released and earlier. The systems were made of cabinets and frames holding modules. Telephone system also had equipment mounted in frames so the phrase "main frame" was in prior use, but not the modern definition applied to computers after the mid-1960's. My mother worked in a data processing department as a computer operator in the 1960's and early 70's of MLC insurance company in Australia.

Quoted from an answer by "mgkrebbs":

"The term became more widely adopted, in particular for the large central computer used by a company as distinguished from smaller computers which began to appear in the 1960s. It is not terribly surprising that the earliest source quoted by the Oxford English Dictionary for mainframe is a 1964 glossary from Honeywell, then a producer (among other things) of smaller computers and soon minicomputers."

https://english.stackexchange.com/questions/28290/origin-of-the-word-mainframe

Huawei unfolds latest shot at the phone-tablet hybrid with reinforced hinge and reassuringly Xs-sive price

Users paying for future repair upfront

Users are paying for 2x hardware. The likelihood of failure is so high they add the potential repair/replacement costs in the upfront price so it's still profitable after 2 years of potential warranty claims. Most premium phones sell with a 50% premium which is slowly reduced over the first 12 months.

Dual screens, fast updates, no registry cruft and security in mind: Microsoft gives devs the lowdown on Windows 10X

10X != 10

This strange 10X version is not replacing the current Windows 10 for desktops and normal notebooks.

Windows 10X is probably for tablets and bargain basement rubbish that readers of this site won't be buying.

Stick with the non-X Windows 10 if you're running old Win32 / winforms and apps that do something worthwhile.

Thunderbird is go: Mozilla's email client lands in a new nest

Re: I've stopped using it

Mercury Mail server with Pegasus Mail client blocks the usual web code execution and many other good features but also has a few limitations. The good and the bad as you found with others. Microsoft make it hard for others to use their API's which also heavily change over time (calendar sync, contacts & lists). Free options are nice but they need $$/time from somewhere to add features and keep it up-to-date. As time goes by, the bar for entry is raised higher and higher. Big corp/gov need to invest in open source to meet their needs. Hopefully it will also meet our needs and they make it available to the rest of us. Shareware and asking for donations really struggle getting money from users. A lot of the $$ to Microsoft go to lawyers and marketing.

Alan Turing’s OBE medal, PhD cert, other missing items found in super-fan’s Colorado home by agents, says US govt

256 items would have to be now worth atleast 2'097'152 USD. 2^21 just for fun.

You're not Boeing to believe this: Yet another show-stopping software bug found in ill-fated 737 Max airplanes

Re: Isn't THIS why we've got to teach 2nd-graders how to "code", rather than how to think?

If there's 1 sensor or 1 computer or any other 'single' in the system then you have no redundancy and no guarantee of reliability.

If you duplicate sensor/computer/network then you add redundancy but how do you determine which is correct and reliable with only 2?

With triple redundancy you assume only 1 will fail at a time so the other two agree and you assume the third has failed and to be ignored. Hopefully only 1 fails at a time. The other problem with triple redundancy is if they continue flying with 1 broken because they think 2 is enough.

Can GPS and other sensors be used to model the suspect flight parameters and verify it's suspect value? Sensor says I'm pitching up with a stalling speed but GPS and airspeed (nose) says I'm level flight (also cup of water is level flat in plastic cup) with sufficient speed that stalling is very unlikely. Auto-pilot/MCAS panic button = alert authorities of rouge pilot in the hope that it's a computer fault not pilot trying to crash the plane. Is it better to rely on a person or a computer? If in doubt, let the pilot take control who has responsibility for the plane. Warn and help the pilot but don't let the sensor/computer faults crash planes.

Whoooooa, this node is on fire! Forget Ceph, try the forgotten OpenStack storage release 'Crispy'

Sometimes like a toddler

Some computer systems remind me of a toddler: immature, stubborn, repetitive, illogical, hard to calm down...

Me: What do you mean you want "the pink one", this IS pink!

Toddler: I want the other pink one!

Me: If you wore it yesterday, it's in the wash

Toddler: But I want the pink one!

Me: It's in the wash, how about this pink shirt

Toddler: I want the other pink one!

Me: I give up, I'll get the one from yesterday with the ice cream stain on it.

Linux kernel is getting more reliable, says Linus Torvalds. Plus: What do you need to do to be him?

A tough job but someone's got to do it

Outside the kernel, Linux has great advantages by enabling many to experiment and customise applications and implementations.

Inside the kernel and it's critical to limit the possible damage caused by too many cooks. To stop the loudest idiot in the room you need someone to be louder up the front with a megaphone. Other open software project leaders have crumbled under the weight of communication, expectations and too many loud idiots. I would like to know if there is anyone else ready for any succession plan? Can anyone replace Linus?

I congratulate Linus for surviving this long and keeping the project curtailed into the finely groomed animal it is today. Linux may have not replaced Windows as the default desktop/notebook OS but Linux is still on more devices. Smart phones are mostly android based and now outnumber desktops/notebooks. Now it's all about app portability (eg. web based) and cloud hosted services (mostly Linux).

Boris Brexit bluff binds .eu domains to time-bending itinerary

UK businesses in the EU become Zombies after Halloween

So EU treats UK businesses that try to have offices and trade in the EU as the walking dead after Halloween. No web domain, no trade across UK-EU borders, no UK government approved agreements, no end in sight. They can't seem to make Brexit alive (finish the job), nor can they kill it off (stay in the EU). Brexit is holding up the whole supply chain in both directions as business on both sides can't rely on supply or pricing from each other. Trade conditions, tariffs and taxes affect price of A which also affects B that then affects price of C. They can't sign contracts because they don't know the price and they don't know if they will have the inputs or be able to move the final product across borders. It's a nightmare that many want to wake up from.

HP polishes the redundancy cannon, prepares to fire 16% of workforce

HP employees pay for management mistakes

HP board supporting the purchasing of companies like Autonomy for multiples of their value and then later writing off the losses. Now the people (different or same) in the same positions as those who lost the money pay themselves bonuses and fire the workers that earn the company far more than they are paid. Stop burning money on bad decisions and you would be able to keep your workers. There was a court case regarding who knew what, a possible lack of due diligence or did Autonomy cook the books. Those CEO's etc. are paid the big bucks to know what they are doing and don't trust everything you are told.

Spacecraft that told us 'you're screwed' finally gives up the ghost after doubling its shelf life

5cm could be an over-estimate

MSL from reliable and geographically stable locations is closer to 1.5cm for 11years (+/-0.2) to start of 2019 (trend of 1.36mm/yr). Fort Denison (Sydney, Australia) is barely moving compared to places built on sinking mud/sand (like Jakarta which has huge buildings on soft ground which they pumped the water from under their feet so it sinks more). Did they tell you they calibrated the satellite results by adjusting sensor output by upto 75cm (early in orbit) and data is readjusted for drifting times&locations. How can they say these Jason satellites are more accurate than other sources to measure mm changes. Some physical data from Pacific Islands are garbage because sensors have lost backup battery capacity and only work during hours of sufficient sunlight. A NZ study found Pacific Islands were on average, not shrinking https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-018-02954-1.

Antarctic sea ice coverage returned to 1979 level in the last few weeks.

Enterprise Java spec packs bags, ready for new life under assumed name – Jakarta

Re: Typical of Oracle

Jakarta, the city, is sinking under it's own weight and lack of firm foundations. See level rise is minor, the MSL of 1900 would result in the same problem just a few years later.

Return of the audio format wars and other money-making scams

Will this increase the sales of the Laser Turntable

ELP sell a record player that uses laser beams instead of a needle to convert the grooves to sound. No prices listed now but years ago they were about 12K to 19k USD depending on model/options chosen. Very small quantity ever made/sold to such a niche market. If they had an order for 100 or more, then the price should come down a lot.

Roses are red, so is ketchup, 'naked' Huawei tells its critics to belt up

Point of view

Put simply "Government intelligence/military/law-enforcement agencies don't like bugs and security holes unless their the ones using them or adding them".

Core blimey... When is an AMD CPU core not a CPU core? It's now up to a jury of 12 to decide

A core is what I say it is, nothing more, nothing less

Early CPU's never had a FP unit and would still be called a CPU core when counting. Would you call the FPU of an early Atom processor a full FPU? The Atom CPU core is far less powerful than their normal desktop but everyone accepts the differences. To misquote Humpty Dumpty from 'Alice in wonderland', “..it means just what I choose it to mean—neither more nor less". 8 CPU cores with some shared FPU resources performing better than an Intel Atom but less than a modern Intel Core i7. Buyer beware.

Vitamin Water gets massive publicity for new flavor: Utter BS

Expensive Pee

Arbitrarily adding vitamins to drinks and foods is increasing our risk of overdose, adverse side-effects and toxic damage. Drug store (pharmacy etc.) advertising piles of vitamins can be very dangerous to your health. The great thing for them is: the more we take of excessive additives, the more feel bad, the more we think that more additives will help us, the more we buy. Whole foods with minimal processing is best. Avoid added sugar, avoid artificial sweeteners.