Posts by darklord

Now IBM sued for age discrim by its own HR veterans

So the Decision makers get the shaft

So HR are the ones deciding on an employees longevity or shelf life (Runway) and also the most expensive employees to ditch. get ditched and they cry foul. Karma is a bitch !!!!!!

Schneider Electric warns that existing datacenters aren't buff enough for AI

Err no its not

The US is Fed 240 volts and the voltage is split at the inverter coil down to 120V so premises by default are supplied on the 240 volt grid and can operate at 240V. just consumer electronics are dropped to 115V/120V for safety reasons as you get less dead with 115V across the heart as opposed to 230V/240V. American logic there somewhere

Shocking

So more compute power needs more power to run it and the ancillaries like cooling. Tell us something i didnt know 20 years ago.

What is shocking is this is bringing real world figures to the table rather than theory. for essentially something we dont exactly need.

Lets be honest AI was born out of the need to answer customer service queries and calls. DOH for computer systems , Lets automate call handling !!!!!!!!!!!! and lets let computers start answering said calls.

Sonos secures a victory in audio patent fight against Google

Re: Cleary, more moeny than sense

Google dont need to pay ( unless SONOS gets costs awarded, Google sued Sonos for breach and damages not the other way round.

Still a stupid stunt to stay in the limelight by google (as if they need it).

Another pointless lawsuit like the Samsung /Apple round edges debacle.

Still I dont use either system, I hate the annoying Google/Amazon devices answering me tried one once said nope that'll be annoying and I like Hifi so that counts SONOS out.

International Criminal Court hit in cyber-attack amid Russia war crimes probe

So who does recognise the international Cricket council (ahem) ICC

So if the big guns don't recognize it that leaves oh guess what basically Europe and the southern hemisphere and its doubtful a lot of african and south American countries even know it even exists as they dont play cricket ;-) .

In reality the ICC issues warrants that no one upholds. just means should putin or whoever a warrant is issued for should set foot in a country where they do recognise it then they may be arrested, unless they are on a diplomatic mission of course and just try it and therell be a massive gun fight by the body guards i suspect which no country would want at an airport. So a bit pointless in reality.

Toshiba succeeds at selling itself, delisting set for September 27

Oh they are still around then

I didnt even know Tosh are still around!!!

Ello Tosh Got a Toshiba !

Microsoft’s AI investments skyrocketed in 2022 – and so did its water consumption

An environmental nightmare waiting to happen

Yep who didn't see this coming, Water and power consumption of datacenters and pollution issues (anything emitted outside the datacenter is technically pollution even water vapor) are always going to be a a problem whilst the world relies on social media and data creation and consumption.

how its fixed isnt clear with current technology apart from less consumption and data usage.

The old adage of knowledge is power spring to mind, and everyone wants knowledge though don't want to learn anything when a computer can supply it for free (except the cost to the environment).

Microsoft makes some certification exams open book

but are they still timed.

When I did my Certifications the exams where timed, so to get a high pass mark you needed to complete x amount of questions in a given time. you either knew the answers or didn't. and most wasn't even in the books/course material you learnt it from doing the job.

So making it open book are we to assume the time limits have gone or has the pass mark been lowered.

I know I've forgotten more than most newbies will even know as everything now is SW only nothing about software and hardware interactions and trouble shooting techniques. thats few and far between nowadays. still time marches on and retirement is getting closer thankfully!!!!!!!!

Ford, BMW, Honda to steer bidirectional EV charging standard

So you have money to buy or replace your car more regularly

So by charging and continuously dischaging your EV battery will shorten its live meaning it will need replacing a lot earlier. sort of like the domwits using thier cars as batteries to store thier free solar energy. yet an average car battery replacement is 12-15K. to save a few pence.

And who wants to by a used EV with a shagged battery. the vehicle will have little to no inherent value unlike an ICE where a replacement engine should it be needed is a fraction of the cost (may have a few miles on it) but it isn't in the tens of thousands (which is more than the cars worth used anyway).

what these cretins don't realize the software will report not only miles driven but also charge and discharge cycles so no getting away with conning a dealer.

"So sir your 5 year old tesla has oh 20k on it yes well buy it oh i see it has 15000 discharge cycles , hmm well give you a grand trade in as scrap as the batteries shagged!!!!!

Yes electric vehicles are the future but not with current tech, we all know this is a stepping stone to appease Europe and BO JO who implemented a false ceiling of 2030 when the rest of the world set 2050 to allow tech to catch up.

Lightning struck: Apple switches to USB-C for iPhone 15 lineup

Not so green

So what about the now to be defunct Lightning cables going to land fill when everyone starts buying new iphone 15s. just an excuse to control the market by europe.

And in the UK and USA and the rest of the non european market world, why do we need to change the Eu doesn't control those markets, yes i know its cheaper to make one model etc!

A very short sighted approach in the name on environmentalists. nope this fails on many levels.

Who really is controlling europe, the Far east whom we have trade agreements and the designers and manufacturers of all that shiny tech that uses USB C.

I wont be sad to see Lightning go as it does eat cables but switch cleaner sorts the blackened contacts and sockets, cant do that on usb C. so new cables etc needed, hence more new cables and more for the bin.

Washington left with chip on shoulder after Huawei exposes export loophole lapses

HAHA the USA protecting the world

The only reasons the USA want restrictions is to protect its own markets and businesses from outside Threats to its economy Hence why the UK have no hope of ever getting a true trade deal with the US. they don't want our products or tech as its a direct threat to there own manufacturers.

Still we live in hope

Newport Wafer Fab blames UK government over 100 redundancies plan

Its Ok in six months there will 100 new jobs all given to middle kingdom oriented workers, no different to any other middle kingdom owned company and I have worked for three so far and this has happened in them all.

UK rejoins the EU's €100B Horizon sci-tech funding program

Re: Indeed

Umm Pardon, I don't believe Sunak or Truss where democratically elected by the electorate, they where voted in by thier own parties, same as Bojo roiginally.

Why we need reform, a PM is ousted then a full GE should take place.

None of this party runs 4/5 years crud and they can put whomever is incompetent enough in charge as they want them out of the party anyway. so give what they want and let them screw up.

Old term promoted beyond incompetency springs to mind

Bad software destroyed my doctor's memory

that's ok if its one user or one specific group of users. but what happens when there are multiple branches of users all wanting different things from one system. what youve all described are simple silo databases and useful to that specific person or element.

When multiples all want different things and IT spend goes out the window cause billing need something in blue or red and clinicians want in green cause they dont like red, everything starts costing as work is rehashed and redone on the fly.

Medical and specifically the NHS system was destined to fail no matter how much money was thrown at it. as a single system that does appointments, Medical records, Stores, Billing, triage, Xray access, diagnosis and then prescribing and reporting as well as being user friendly to every user it will ever encounter (including the 80 year old receptionist whos been there since 1972 and only works on Tuesday mornings)and god knows what else the NHS do that i don't know about.

No matter how good you are postgresql or other freebee database wont do that any time soon without massive support programs.

It would be nice and simple to think thats what can be achieved on the cheap but not to run a hospital

On the record: Apple bags patent for iDevice to play LPs

Re: Had to have been filed 2021-04-01?

Having occasionally bought the odd "new vinyl" honestly they are awful as the source files are digital to begin with and the pressing plants basically have zero quality control. sure for those of us who like the tangibility of our music sources.

Its nice to see a tape turning or a record spinning plus the artwork itself. you don't get that with streaming!.

Im not big on buying streamed content as ive been bitten by streaming companies going under and you've lost your content especially after a Backup HDD failure. ahem thanks Sony music!!!!

Ive my original vinyl and turntable wiaiting to go back up in the attic as the inconvenience and space was just problematic plus ive far more CD's than vinyl anyway and much of the Vinyl i have now i have rebought on CD anyway.

Back to topic. so what some one decided to create an idea for a modular system with a turntable. , Wake up call audio has been modular since the 60s adding a connector or sound card makes no difference, i was doing that along with thousands of others in the mid 90s to record our vinyls and transfer them to CD.

Cumbrian Police accidentally publish all officers' details online

Re: How?

ahem isn't that the same excuse Rudolf Hoess used at Auschwitz. Just because you work for them the personnal data doesnt belong to them. that belongs to the individual it pertains too and if they give permission for it to be used it can only be used in which permission is sort. GDPR protects individuals nowadays.

That is no excuse. your job is to enlighten those above do they really need access and for what purpose do they need access and for how long. not blindly just handing it over.

Google launches $99 a night Hotel Mountain View for hybrid workers

Re: "some staff are resisting"

except who are you going to rent office space too. too many companies are getting rid of office space.

38 percent of tech job interviews offered exclusively to men: report

Re: HR

Schools and colleges need to teach IT not how to use microsoft packages and SQL databases. There's more to IT than that but that is sadly what the UK curriculum for IT is now. My daughters are the same. luckily neither has gone into IT, One into Law, and 2 into nursing. all are bright and computer literate. just it at school was pants.

'There has never been a realistic plan' for UK's £11B Emergency Services Network

may be go back to CD radio. no bugger using that now. problem sorted.

It astounds me saying kit will be obsolete in 5 years or so. 2 way rdio kit stays in production for donkeys years .so only issue is to take next iteration. frequencies dont change.

H-1B fraud consultancies grow, with application abuse openly discussed online

Re: Detective Colombo asks

a bit like the indian Driving test. drive 100 feet and stop the car. fail if you go to far as the examiner has further to walk back to the test centre. issued 1 international driving licence. I am always sceptical of overseas degrees from certain schools, generally correspondence type. Pay 10000 (insert currency ) get your degree, no prior education required ???????

Scientists claim >99 percent identification rate of ChatGPT content

Missing the point here

A growing number of university students are using ChatGPT to produce there university assessments thus doing no research etc. however citations give it away as how can you write a citatation into a chatGPT written document. sim,ple decide what citation you want and pose the correct question to the bot. answers then written to back up your argument.

Award first class honours degree or MA without writing or researching any thing.

This will help combat that approach being touted by university students.

Waymo robo-car slays dog in San Francisco

Re: In the UK, this would be criminal

whilst all the above is correct, what an autonomous vehicle cannot do is react to an incident which may or may not occur klike slowing down past built up areas, seeing a potential for an accident way ahead.

Not enough information to say who was at fault here. for example we see a parent with an awkward child on the pavement/sidewalk, or group of young children w are programmed to expect the unexpected and take action. same with a dog roaming free or deer crossing the road etc.

Round where i live we have lots of wandering livestock, ponies ,pigs and boar, Cattle, which all have right of way over vehicles. how would an autonomous vehicle deal with that.

Europe’s biggest city council faces £100M bill in Oracle ERP project disaster

Re: What value!

nice idea but the solution will still run on oracle or free sql database with no support. biggest evil idea was integrated database systems which the right and left hand cant decide whats more important.

Re: This ERP project is on time and on budget

OneERP, what ajoke. we have it and biggest mistake ever, doesnt really work at the best of times

not Quite. Many large companies outsource payroll now so HR arent even involved and neither does Payroll departments. HR just keep records of hire,Fire and disciplinary information. thats about it

UK watchdog won't block Openreach’s discount fiber pricing

No love for BT or Open reach

I've tried others and so far i am BT 1Gb and yes its dear but we all work from home here and it works, first class customer service in the remote times I've needed it, unlike the others where support plebs just read a script. I get an engineer to the door after I've explained I am an IT professional and know what to do and if i cant fix it here its a line problem.

The others just follow like sheep, as been stated before lots of places fibre doesn't exist so go and install it instead of using openreach lines.

The small companies only exist because BT/Open reach can no longer hold a monopoly, No other reason simples!!!!!! they should get there availability and customer service up to scratch and stop the cash cowing they see off the back of BT lines and start digging holes. of course they can offer cheap fibre because the holes have already been dug and tubes been laid so coming along later after contracts have been signed is not fashionably late but bloody arriving after it finished (without a bottle to boot)

BT is ditching workers faster than your internet connection with 55,000 for chop by 2030

Re: "AI to take over in customer services"

so just like Octopus's energy 90 percent of emails are replied to by AI. and amazingly there custmoer services satisfaction have sky rocketed. That i don't believe as who actually is resolving issues and AI bot cant make decisions on billing.

Will we recieve a reduction in costs !!!!!!

Dyson moans about state of UK science and tech, forgets to suck up his own mess

Re: With two-faced "friends" like Dyson, Britain doesn't need enemies

And those Emigrated /Living abroad knocking Britain, I do hope you naturalised. or have you kept you good old passport for when the shit happens and need us to bail you out with the law etc.

Sick of smudges on your car's enormo touchscreen? GM patents potential cure

Self cleaning glass hmm takes me back to the early 80s on tomorrows world

Nothing new Self cleaning glass has been around for donkeys years. Motorcyclists have been using sprays that do this on their visors and its the same tech used on paint work to keep it clean.

How bout removing these huge silly tablets from cars in the first place. why do i need a 10 " tablet nailed to the dash. I'm waiting for them to become illegal to use on the move.

So once you engage gear the screen completely blanks and all functions locked out. may prevent a few electric scooters being knocked off the road

Hyundai and Kia issue software upgrades to thwart killer TikTok car theft hack

And why !!!!!!

Who the hell wants to nick a KIA or Hyundai. The equivalent of nicking a Lada or YUGO in in the 1980s The auto trader adds are full of the things when people realise theyre worthless on the used market

Live Nation CFO on Taylor Swift ticket chaos: Don't blame me, bots made me crazy

when will artists learn and stop using these greedy bstards

Live nation are a joke and add way too much overhead and its pricing genuine fans out of buying tickets. and there customer service actually sucks if you ever need them.

Come on artists wake up and stop using them and bring ticket costs back down to earth.

I understand the complexities and costs involved in putting a show but when a third of face value goes to ticket master thats an overhead too far.

Google dumps 12,000 employees after project probe

Re: Competition

or work for 20% less and take friday off anyway would be better

Nothing says 2022 quite like this remote-controlled machine gun drone

Re: Fortunately Useless

so it can climb a step . not. enemy forces simply need a step and hey presto Dalek syndrome

Its limitation will be the ammo it can carry. p[rob 1-200 rounds at most. Machine guns are prone to jams and 200 rounds the barrel will be cooked anyway.

This is throw away tech. and chances are it'll be grenaded long before it gets anywhere near anything useful/.

The idea is nothing new. have they been watching Steven King movies, Maximum Overdrive springs to mind.

It'll give limited suppressing fire to enable a retreat is about it or an annoyance. This is more about selling something to NATO in the hope of drumming up business opportunities.

What's new about a cable controlled drone, these have been around for years

Re: smart or stupid

Except the mock up shows a machine gun fixed mounted so can only fire in elevation mode. or which ever way the vehicle is facing. 50kg is nothing a grenade cant take out easily.

Also 7.62 which configuration. usual eastern block calibre is 7.62 x 39 and is considerably less powerful than a NATO 7.62 x 52 or is it the the larger 7.62 x 54R which is about the same as a 7.62 NATO.

And since when is a two feet high ATV drone with dirt big machine gun on top covert.

Funny how war has opened up the coffers for Ukraine to develop its own weapons systems which eventually will be sold to NATO in some form or another at an inflated cost.

Bringing cakes into the office is killing your colleagues, says UK food watchdog boss

Clearly she isnt liked

so no one offers her cake and biscuits in her office. no surprise there then.

Just because they're there doesn't mean you have to partake.

What about company's leaving fruit bowls out for free pickings in a warm environments with lots of coughing and sneezing around. In this climate that's a def nono. but no mention of that

Sounds like a sore loser to me. maybe worry about dodgy restaurants and the supply of goods in 3rd rate convenience shops.

FTX audit finds $415m in crypto mysteriously vanished

So someone steals something that doesnt exactly exist

So the only loser is those holding fake currency.

Currency is based on gold assets held by the state. Crypto currency is technically nothing so someone has stolen 415 Million nothings. just a way of the Rich corrupting and controlling money markets.

If they cant increase countries wealth in Gold reserves those with power decide lets make up our own country which is magicked out of thin air.

Douglas adams springs to mind in hitchikers guide to the galaxy and the use of leaves as currency by the accountants. huge inflation.

Fat EVs may cause 'more death on our roads' – watchdog

Re: Weight is relative...

OK in the UK I'm waiting for the extra wear and tear tax to come in on the infrastructure which will be applied to EVs due to the extra wieght loading on roads and bridges etc.

Also the heavier the vehicle the more tyre wear it will impart so tyres and braking components will be replaced more regularly resulting in more carbon emissions for recycling those components.

It will happen. I suspect it'll be 2025 when the current vehicle excise duty is reviewed.

I was reasonable to ask to WFH in early days of COVID, says fired engineer

Re: Covid After Effects

Me too. came down xmas eve and spent 11 days basicallt crashed out asleep. Felt pretty awful and im still tiring easily. though trying to get back to normal.

I avoided the Vid for 2 years despite being higher risk. yes it happened and yes my Employer so far has been very proactive regarding safety measures even today.

I knew we should never have gone full open plan 15 years ago, we aren't any more with our little plastic cubicles a lot quieter in the office now thankfully.

But i primarily am lucky i can work from home other than meetings which are few. Ill take the cost of heat and light at home over the cost of fuel and commute time thanks.

Oh, no: The electric cars at CES are getting all emotional

Re: People are now starting to realise

Slightly incorrect Most electricity is produced by Gas not Coal, though there are still coal fired Power stations out there just not as many. However over 50% of electricity produced today is being produced by Fossil fuels which is a good point and Ecologists dont want you to know

Last year i had to produce a Degree university paper on this very subject. and the numbers currently don't add up. More carbon is produced to create the actual battery alone for an EV than manufacturing a ICE vehicle completely. plus the carbon offset for producing the electricity to charge said battery.

I will say EV is the future no doubt for a cleaner atmosphere at least. but the Boris screwed up by saying we can do it 20 years ahead of target with no idea how the tech works and where the current battery tech is.

Waiting for the U turn as battery tech isn't there yet to be a complete replacement.

By the time it does get there ill be long gone from this mortal coil.

As usual Peugeot non News

The Peugeot concept is hardly news that is the same vehicle used in Blade runner 2049

Nice smart device – how long does it get software updates?

Software is the least of problems

Built in obsolescence is rife and with the speed the tech evolves your new smart device will not only become a dead Smart device probaly 13 hours after the the warranty officially expires anyway hence why manufacturers dont want to spend endless time on updating software and apps for functionality that will simply die.

As for smart TV apps My old Sony bedroom TV was a first gen smart device and the apps built in for platforms which simply no longer exist is actually eyewatering. So much money wasted to include media delivery apps which simply dont exist now.

I am no Sky /Murdoch Fanboy but being a subscriber since 1997 at least it sort of works, Even if content is def getting Sketchy (i also use Netflix and Prime but only watch late evenings (as well as Paramount now as its free for Sky) but for how much longer i dont know as its getting very samey now.

Re: Nobody

We've had those for years, they're called timers. back to the 80s with you. and the police adverts same as self opening curtains and such.

I will say I'm impressed with my home Alarm system being semi smart and also my last car. sending route details to the car from indoors and checking how much fuel i have was actually useful before I got in Especially if the Wife had used the car previously,

Not so much the washing machine. the only person it tells the washing is done is my daughter. Really useful when she was away at university 186 miles away.

God knows why she connected it to her phone.

Most smart smart tech devices are solutions to problems we didn't have and a convenient way of dragging your router /hub bandwidth down to zero.

Re: Nobody

Just need a drone which shocks moody teenagers to fill the Dishwasher or empty the cutlery from their disease laden pits and at least put them somewhere they can be found, instead of shunting things under that blackhole of detritus called under the bed!!!!!!!

Years late and 36 cores short of AMD, who are Intel’s 4th-gen Xeons even for?

Nothing new here

Been hearing for nigh on30 years how AMD are going to take over from Intel as number 1 chipmaker. It hasn't happened by now in a longer period than intel had the market to themselves and i doubt it ever will.

Go ahead, be rude. You don't know it now, but it will cost you $350,000

Hmm missed a trick

They still had the business as you still had there laptops which had already been rolled out. Id have returned every laptop already delivered and asked for a refund as breach of contract and warranty as well as any extended support payments made.

AMD's Epyc 4 will likely beat Intel Sapphire Rapids to market

Re: It is about time...

Its all about commercial agreements and #Intel first, the AMD footprint is too small for big manufacturers to dump Intel to second helpings im afraid.

And then the SEC said, we'll claw back bad bonuses

Im assuming the money reclaimed will be minus the tax already paid on the gross bonus. otherwise thatll go straight into court of appeal. as you cant take money thats already been taxed as that needs to come from the federal goverment.

I know nothing of US tax systems but i assume like the UK these extra bonses are subject to some sort of tax at source.

CEO told to die in a car crash after firing engineers who had two full-time jobs

So what about doing two jobs for the same employer but only being paid for one!!!!!!

Employers dont mind that do they. Many of my colleagues are utilised at 200 percent capacity for there weekly time. yet thats OK

USB-C iPhone, anyone? EU finalizes charging standard rule

Re: I look forward to the "UK only" versions

So so far all that has happened is the UK has taken the EU laws and renamed them UK.

That's hardly distancing ourselves from the EU. it just means the EU can not enforce us to follow there laws, which we do any way.

Bad UI killed the radio star

Re: And the lesson

Yep remember those days well, spent many a happy weekend restoring Servers at the same customer due to failed backups and dodgy reboot procedures due to system slowing on a weekly basis. only thing to do was a weekly reboot of all the servers after the backups had run from Friday. and 1 server on the Red side always failed on reboot. we had tried to replace and rebuild it numerous times but it refused every time to come back up cleanly.

Even replacing the system drives motherboards and daughter boards and network cards, nope never worked so eventually the server was scrapped after 3 years of this.

My overtime alone would have replaced that server I don't know how many times!!!!!!!