* Posts by Snar

180 publicly visible posts • joined 10 Jan 2012

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NASA's X-59 plane is aiming for a sonic thump, not a boom

Snar

One boom or two?

We lost supersonic flight, yet gained twats in 1.4l shit-heaps with stupid exhaust systems that make more noise per mile.

Bravo for progress!

Tesla FSD faces yet another probe after fatal low-visibility crash

Snar

Profits over life

We have finally got to a point where the value of convenience features is now more than human life.

I don't want to rely on sensors and software written by a commercial company with a budget to demonstrably put my life and the life of others at risk so that I can go "ooh...look....no hands!"

Multiple billions up for grabs as UK government launches cloud services tenders

Snar

A nice opportunity

For Ms Mone to make another quick buck?

Biden admin keeps O-RAN dream alive with $42M funding for R&D facility

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Re: A cunning plan

A bit like putting an oil baron in charge of climate conference.

Mozilla slams Microsoft for using dark patterns to drive Windows users toward Edge

Snar

Re: Unfortunately .....

Can you help me install Edge on Mint?

IBM to scrap 401(k) matching, offer something else instead

Snar

HP were another company that was a top-tier and turned to corporate shit.

Nothing matters apart from profit, profit profit. Fcuk the customer, fcuk the staff and just maximise profit.

Man who nearly killed physical media returns with $60,000 vinyl turntable

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Re: Poor design in my opinion

Just wait till you start reading the bollocks about "Audiophile Ethernet switches"!

China's Yangtze Memory reportedly lays off staff, evicts them from company housing

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The Tories have been learning lessons.

Twitter engineer calls out Elon Musk for technical BS in unusual career move

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Re: Made up Words

Reminds me of the "Dihydrogen monoxide" prank from a long time ago where the pranksters got people agitated over the dangers of water.

Snar

Japes

I had a PA complaining that she couldn't print. I told her that the font was too big for the cable and that she needed to disconnect the cable and shake the characters out, which she promptly did.

Then there was a drinks machine that had been configured so that you could order a "strong" water - so I had a few people trying to tell the difference.

Then fairly recently a friend had a standalone recirculating water feature as a present so set it up but thought it was too loud. So I suggested that the water was too hard and that it needed soft water to reduce the noise.

I've also got a squint where one eye goes off on a wander - I tell people that it's good because I can see around corners.

Microsoft slides ads into Windows Insiders' File Explorer

Snar

I hate advertising. I don't expect it baked into an OS that I pay for.

This crap really makes me angry. Get to a point where you have a product that is worthy of buying and then start pan-handling from advertisers and give an option to either get a free version of Windows with ads or paid with no crap baked in.

UK internet pioneer Cliff Stanford has died

Snar

RIP Cliff

I met my partner in the early days of the Internet boom - I think it was 1988/9. She was working for a Quango and had this thing called email. I'd just started a new job and managed to negotiate a Compaq DX2/66 luggable PC.

The whole idea of the Internet was to me at the time fascinating so subscribed to Demon using dial up with a Sportster 14,000 modem. I think the DOS package was Demon DIS? - then I got Trumpet Winsock running (pre-TCPIP stack in WIndows) and Mosaic 1.0 and an email client that can't remember. Had a lot of fun playing Doom on-line and thanks to Demon I introduced the company I was working with to the Internet and ran two lunch sessions and EVERYONE in the company (40+ people) came to see what it was about.

I owe Demon a lot - I'm not directly involved in the IT industry - I work for a semiconductor manufacturer but do support our Ethernet switches and supporting software. I cut my teeth with Demon and will always have fond memories of the days of DIS and dial up.

Demon was a brilliant company.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IagZIM9MtLo

Hauliers report problems with post-Brexit customs system but HMRC insists it is 'online and working as planned'

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Re: Hmm

So if France wasn't a sovereign state, why could it close the border to the UK?

Both my partner and a friend were due to be in the Yard of Ale when it was blown up. About 15 years ago I bumped into a chap whose brother had been in there and lost his life. It was the first time he had been in Birmingham since that day. We went there and raised a glass to his brother.

Anyone who thinks the GFA is a political negotiating too for their xenophobic, nationalistic agenda is not right in the head. People died.

So the benefits (apart from job creation from Brexshit bureaucracy) are a reduction in tampon tax and glorious crowns on our pint glasses. What a win!

Fcuking idiots.

Snar

Re: Hmm

Going really well, isn't it -

https://ourworldindata.org/covid-vaccinations

I'd be interested in seeing how much we paid for the vaccines as compared to other European nations ;)

UK growth post-pandemic is also the lowest of the G7 - so why is that?

AT&T, Verizon delay 5G C-band rollout over FAA fears of passenger plane radars jammed by signals

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Re: Captain Joe DePete

Would that be shit design on the part of the contractors? Cutting costs?

Challenger go at throttle up!

Snar

I would also have expected decent bandpass filtering on the input of an altimeter RX. If this was to be an issue then why wasn't it raised before $80Bn was taken from the sale of the spectrum? I would have thought that the FAA would have screamed loudly when the spectrum was up for sale?

I remember years ago hearing that the CAA had a massive issue with PLT power line comms in the UK but failed to do anything about it.

You can't allow companies to bid and legitimately purchase spectrum and then whinge that it may be an issue once the deal is done. I don't know how spectrum sale operates in the US, but there must be a due process to allow other spectrum stakeholders to raise concerns.

I was of the impression that getting flight approval was one of the hardest to achieve - maybe I'm wrong. I would have expected a good level of bandpass filtering if the altimeters are critical for fight approval. Maybe someone more knowledgeable of the regulations can put me right.

And that's from another greybeard :)

When civilisation ends, a Xenix box will be running a long-forgotten job somewhere

Snar
Pint

ICL :)

My late uncle worked for ICL.

When I was a kid he brought me bits and pieces such as core stores, magnets from printers and all sorts of stuff. He fired my imagination and a desire to work in electronics / communications. When I was at school he gave me dead boards and I learned my soldering skills desoldering 7400 series chips off the boards and more than anything else he gave me the confidence to go into engineering. When I went to college and poly he was there for me and gave me lots of encouragement and kit to play with.

He was my mentor and whilst he was a cantankerous old git sometimes, he was a real shining light in my life. Great bloke, hence the pint.

Amazon hasn't launched one internet satellite yet, but it's now planning a fleet of 7,774

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Re: The future's so bright i gotta wear shades

Yup - We lost the HF spectrum to non EMC compliant switched mode power supplies, xDSL and Fuckwit Powerline junk. I fought against it and Ofcom took it up the arse like good little puppies.

Nothing is protected from not putting barriers up to innovation / business. Just junk whatever so someone else can make a fucking fortune.

Analogue tones of a ZX Spectrum Load set to ride again via podcast project

Snar

Doing a Joey.....

Happy days.

NNNNGGGGGGHHHHH

Snar
Pint

Hey Hey 16k

This was done years ago -

R tape loading error.

Enjoy! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IagZIM9MtLo

Intel's €80bn European chip plant investment plan not bound for UK because Brexit

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Re: Deal done

Brexiters still trying to justify their xenophobia?

Red tape?

https://www.ft.com/content/fbc6f191-6d69-4dcb-b374-0fa6e48a9a1e

Another Brexit benefit?

China, Russia, India, and pals agree to create virtual satellite constellation

Snar

Maybe

Cummings can sell them some satellites?

THX Onyx: A do-it-all DAC for the travelling audiophile

Snar

Re: HiFi?

I quite liked dbx back in the day - seemed to be a much better system than crappy Dolby C. It was a PITA that you couldn't play back dbx tapes on a non-dbx casette deck but apart from that I quite liked it.

I've still got my circa 1984 Akai HXA3x tape deck and it's still running after all of these years. But I did succumb to a Revox B77 half track high speed which delights to this day :)

Snar

Re: MQA

Goldensound did quite an interesting analysis of MQA here -

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pRjsu9-Vznc

The audio market has always been a playground for snake oil salesmen. My current favourite is "Audiophile Ethernet Switches" - they are a real thing.....

Snar

Re: Wow! (and flutter)

When I was a sprog my dad had a Grundig reel-to-reel - I can't remember which one it was. The machine died 40+ years ago but the tape made it and now have a digital copy of it.

In the '80s, satellite comms showed promise – soon it'll be a viable means to punt internet services at anyone anywhere

Snar

Re: Can't wait...

I've also got a VM connection and have the hub in Modem mode and it just works. Straight into my Pfsense box along with a backup 4G dongle / travel router for redundancy. I paid £45 for a Vodafone 24GB SIM which will be good to go for 24 months until it expires.

Global chip shortage probably won't let up until 2023, warns TSMC: CEO 'still expects capacity to tighten more'

Snar

Yes but....

When you have companies that are selling devices at almost no margin and trashing global pricing, the money suddenly goes out of the business and profits start to go south. So what do you do? Cut back on high capital investments. Investors need to see a return on their investments - if they don't you don't have cash to run your business.

Couple that with the commodification of even microcontrollers and aggressive PICOS supplier antics and you end up with where we are today.

Said companies leadtimes go out to over 12 months and then suddenly you start having conversations with their disgruntled clients to help them design your stuff in. And the stupid thing is that when we come out of this partly client generated clusterf**k they will switch back to their previous slightly cheaper suppliers because beancounters told engineering to do so.

Problem is that when the next dip comes along (as it will) there will be a lot more pain after such a large amount of investment in capital and the cuts will likely be deeper.

Why did automakers stall while the PC supply chain coped with a surge? Because Big Tech got priority access

Snar

Re: They only have themselves to blame

Yes - very aggressive PICOS techniques adopted by auto makers have cut down the margins that semiconductor manufacturers can expect to make from these huge accounts and partly lead to the streamlining of semiconductor production.

What do automotive manufacturers expect? They are partly to blame for the problems they are facing. Now they are reaping the rewards. If I've got 100k pcs of a part and I can sell them to one account for $1 and another for $1.30 it's not a difficult decision as to who gets the priority when there are supply constraints.

What really irks me is the cost of electronic car components when they go tits-up knowing that the manufacturer will have paid bottom dollar for the parts inside it.

UK watchdog blesses Virgin Media and O2's union, says there's no risk of market distortion or competition loss

Snar

Re: Now you only have one choice for a complete shit service instead of two!

Yes. I had an issue when I upgraded to 1Gbps where the s/n ratio wasn't sufficient for DOCSIS3 and a new cable was pulled to my home. But I think the real mark of a good provider is not having the problems that need to be put right in the first place.

We've had a few issues with power outages which have been outside VM's ken, but the network seemed to come back up as soon as power was restored.

There have been outages when they have worked on the network, but in the 2 decades that I've been with them, I'd be surprised if I've seen 5 days down-time.

I don't mind having a pop at a service provider that doesn't, but in my experience I've consistently been very pleased with what VM have provided me. I don't have any connections (apart from cable) with the company and if I thought they were shit I wouldn't be with them.

But the alternative of crappy xDSL fills me with dread.

Snar

Re: Now you only have one choice for a complete shit service instead of two!

I've been with VM (and Birmingham Cable previously) for over 20 years, going from 512kbps to 1Gbps and I've been really pleased with the service. I've heard more tales of woe concerning crappy xDSL services.

University duo thought it would be cool to sneak bad code into Linux as an experiment. Of course, it absolutely backfired

Snar

Re: Touchy, aren't they?

I wonder if their follow up will be a study into emergency vehicle response times to prank calls?

Pigeon fanciers in a flap over Brexit quarantine flock-up, seek exemption from EU laws

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Re: Seriously?

They walk among us.....

Absolutely fab: As TSMC invests $100bn to address chip shortage, where does that leave the rest of the industry?

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2x Track and Trace

A snip at only twice the money earmarked for the UK Track and Trace.

UK prime minister Boris Johnson reluctant to reveal his involvement in the OneWeb deal

Snar

UTC and BST

I wonder who they will award the contract to for sending someone up twice a year to put the clocks forward and back?

Another Windows 10 patch that breaks printers ups ante to full-on Blue Screen of Death

Snar

I wonder if this means that they won't be fucking up Ethernet with this patch then?

Ubiquiti iniquity: Wi-Fi box slinger warns hackers may have peeked at customers' personal information

Snar

Re: Alternatives

Another +1 from me for pfsense.

I had a Netgate SG-3100 for about 4 years which ran out of puff when I upgraded the broadband service to 1Gbps/50Mbps and is now running on a Dell R210 Mk2 with an Intel i340 NIC and a 120GB SSD and it cost me £100 to put together. Faultless. Machine is pretty much silent and lives in my home office next to my desk although Mk1's are more noisy AFAIK.

Apple aptly calls its wireless over-the-ear headphones the AirPods Max – as in, maximum damage to your wallet

Snar

Re: Premium audio space?

Mine have transducers in them.

You can see them through the backs of some pairs.

Snar

Premium audio space?

I think "designer audio space" is more accurate - where function follows form rather that form following function.

Fancy building to-spec PCs for the Bank of England, and more? A £46m end user support contract is up for grabs

Snar

Sounds like a job for Grayling

or one of Cummings best buddies.

Who watches the watchers? Samsung does so it can fling ads at owners of its smart TVs

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Joke

Does this make it a "Spammy Sammie"?

Remember Entatech? UK liquidators are still trying to seize founder Jason Tsai's assets

Snar

I think there are much larger corporate fish to fry than this chap. But they have friends in high places whose palms they cross with silver and nice little holidays to keep sweet.

Always the little guys.

Ancient telly borked broadband for entire Welsh village

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Probably needed a baa-nd pass filter.

Snar

Re: 18 months?

In the EU and UK, if doesn't matter by what margin you fail EMC limits by, if there is enough money behind you, you pan push anything through and Ofcom bend down nicely for you. Case in point is Powerline networking junk.

Brexit border-line issues: Would you want to still be 'testing' software designed to stop Kent becoming a massive lorry park come 31 December?

Snar

Re: Stockpile your popcorn

Brexit street parties aplenty.

Can't wait to see the idiots who voted for this mess starving and on the streets bleating about the "good old days" - 2015.

Multiple customers knocked offline as firefighters tackle flames at Telstra's London Hosting Centre bit barn

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Joke

LFB @ PI LHC PDQ?

UK space firms forced to adjust their models of how the universe works as they lose out on Copernicus contracts

Snar

Re: Answer is simple

I wonder if Deloitte will win the contract for sending a Brextronaut up twice a year to put the clocks forwards and backwards?

This'll make you feel old: Uni compsci favourite Pascal hits the big five-oh this year

Snar

Re: pascal was simply useless.

I fcuking hate C - I have for 30 years.

Snar

Re: pascal was simply useless.

Err...

I use it on a fairly regular basis for developing demo code for Ether CAT systems. I'm very much an engineer.

Structured Text is a Pascal based- it's part of the IEC 61131-3 suite of programming languages.

Implementations can be a pain in the Boris, but it works.

Xilinx's high-end Versal FPGA is like a designer handbag. If you need to ask the price, you probably can't afford it

Snar

But

Can I get a one to one exchange on bog roll?

Essex named sexiest British accent followed closely by, um, Glaswegian

Snar

Yow cor always tell a Brummie....

But yow cor tell 'im much.

(I'm a Brummie BTW :) )

Personally I love the female Newcastle accent. Super sexy!

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