Posts by jockmcthingiemibobb

Royal Navy races to arm ships against drone threat

Re: RFI?

In case there are other players in the market with unique capabilities or at a much lower price point than the old-boys network that you're used to dealing with.

Windows 11 tops market share as 10 faces extended farewell

Mine's been chugging along on Centos 7 for about 11 years.

But yeah, Windows 11 is almost unusable and a nightmare to support as its interface is so incoherent.

SpaceX halts Falcon 9 flights after second stage anomaly

Well it may be the "Eve of the War"

Sudo maintainer, handling utility for more than 30 years, is looking for support

Re: What does it need a maintainer for?

In 2019, Samoa proved the anti-vaxxers were indeed idiots.

Microsoft kills standalone SharePoint and OneDrive plans, because they’re not suite enough

For non technical end users with BYOD devices in multiple locations. Like it or loathe it, OneDrive just "works".

HP CEO prints final page after six years, moves to PayPal

Re: Sheesh

You should have dumped Paypal years ago!

Open source's new mission: Rebuild a continent's tech stack

EvilCorp cloud

OP mentions technology stack but seems focused on desktop OS and popular applications.

Switching to a flavor(s) of Linux and document file formats sn't a huge issue. The real issue is the dependence of USA megacorps on where we store our data and how we access it. They've sewn this up nicely and it's going to be a major headache to untie it all.

The EU needs to fund an EU based could infrastructure. The EU needs it's own Amazon Cloud, Google Cloud or Microsoft Azure . We should have an EU workable alternative to Office 365 or Google Workspace. EU citizens should be able to use a PC, cellphone, get driving directions, watch TV streams or go on social media without relying on these megacorps.

The EU also needs to fund an EU based mobile OS. A fork of Android would be the logical start.

They'd need legislation for government funded services, banks, utility companies, supermarkets etc. to work on the mobile OS so no more online banking apps etc only working if downloaded from Google Play or Apple Store. Hopefully the EU will have rolled out its replacement for Visa and MasterCard too by then.

Wine 11 runs Windows apps in Linux and macOS better than ever

Re: What?

It's a defacto standard used by most companies. I do not choose to use Word. My customers do as do several government agencies I work with

Engineer used welding shop air hose to 'clean' PCs – hilarity did not ensue

Re: Good lord

True. Just ask anyone with a Comp Sci degree.

Trump spectrum sale leaves airlines with $4.5B bill for altimeter do-over

Re: Lazy Altimeter Design

That would be an atrocious waste of spectrum.

Vibe coding: What is it good for? Absolutely nothing (Sorry, Linus)

So lets assume this is a typical small business application that's not going into safety critical systems, digging out confidential information or transferring finances. Not every problem requires a complex design and test cycle. Small programs that do common tasks using common functions and APIs are the vibe coding equivalent of writing "Hello World".

Did it work?

Did it save the programmer days/weeks?

Did it save the client money?

Did it deliver the software early so the client could start making money earlier?

Was the client happy ?

If the answer to all the above questions was "yes" then in this case vibe coding was a success.

Linux admin hated downtime so much he schlepped a live UPS during office move

I'm surprised his CLI login to the mail server was maintained whilst its network interface was down during the migration to the other building.

Europe to decide if 6 GHz is shared between Wi-Fi and cellular networks

Regarding 6GHz WiFi. In the USA there isn't quite a free for all. For low powered indoor devices, the spectrum can be used. For higher powered outdoor devices, Automated Frequency Coordination databases must be used. Essentially a GPS (puck or in built) and an API call is required before they're fire up.

6GHz isn't particularly useful for mobile operators and IMHO, granting corporations even more precious spectrum to squat on just reduces the effectiveness of it.

Unlike LTE, 2.4 and 5GHz public spectrum is incredibly well used with low cost devices from a highly competitive market. Why would 6GHz be any different?

Chinese gang used ArcGIS as a backdoor for a year – and no one noticed

Re: Disturbingly...

Unfortunately councils seem to be wedded to it. The best alternative is QGIS 3. And yes, it's full of python libraries but at least it's open source.

SpaceX limbers up for Starship flight 11 as launch pad faces retirement

Re: Just wondering

Seems pretty daft having a timezone just saying "central".

Also known as North American Central Standard Time (NACST)

Who gets a Mac at work? Here's how companies decide

Re: Ubuntu first, Windows second

Until it's rendered on a Microsoft version of Word and the layout is all tits up. Yes, it should be done in an open format but as a business, ogten your hand is forced by the companies you're submitting documents to.

Tech troubles create aviation chaos on both sides of the Atlantic

Re: Russians?

Was mentioning numpties' nationality necessary?

Nice try, sinners: Pope nixes idea of AI pontiff blessing netizens

It can still issue hail Mary's, destroy incriminating data and reallocate paedo-priests to far away countries.

DDoS is the neglected cybercrime that's getting bigger. Let's kill it off

Re: RPF and then whack-a-mole starts

Any options for those of us using asymmetric routing?

Programmers: you have to watch your weight, too

Re: I know I am a dying breed

Even if I wasn't too lazy to code it myself, the directors would ask me why it took so long to code or why I didn't just use someone else's framework.

Code reuse is a good thing. Other engineering disciplines reuse tested/optimised 3rd party components (Bosch and Brembo spring to mind) do why shouldn't we?

As for harking back to the good old days before the WWW: when you spent a day or two writing C code only to have it reviewed by a more experienced developer who'd inform you about some existing library you'd never heard of.

HP bottom line fattens up on a diet of AI PCs and Windows 11

Re: All HP need to do now ...

I think good printers to HP are like Roman concrete to builders. Nobody now knows how to make them.

I'm still running n early 2000s laserjet.

End well, this won't: UK commissioner suggests govt stops kids from using VPNs

Re: "And how exactly are you going to manage that ?"

Explain to us how an ISP can block "unchecked encrypted content"?

Boy riding bubble realizes what he's on, asks for more air

Re: I have a question

Bird deaths in the USA:-

1 billion killed by buildings.

Between 90 and 340 million killed by vehicles.

Over 90 million poisoned (deliberately or via pesticides)

Over 25 million killed by power lines.

In he USA....it's not stretch to suggest that millions are shot.

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2589004223013512

But sure, around 1 million a year are killed by windmills so let's focus on that.

Hanging up: AOL to pull the plug on its dial-up service after 36 years

Back in about 2000 I regularly used an Ericcson cell phone as modem to dial up "local call" ISP so it was effectively free compared to the then expensive mobile data. Linked to bulletproof Toshiba Notebook via infra red. Happy days.

Your local FISP, WISP, 5G or LTE provider would be the first points of call before handing money to Elmo or Dr Evil.

UK proxy traffic surges as users consider VPN alternatives amid Online Safety Act

Re: VPNs highly unlikely to be made illegal in the UK

The UK government can't play whack a mole Vs the whole Internet.

They can't realistically block overseas VPN providers

They can't realistically stop anybody firing up their own remote VPN on any number of overseas based cloud providers

They can't realistically stop anybody connecting to their employer's on premises overseas VPN.

They can't realistically stop anybody accessing their overseas mate's/relative's overseas VPN that's often available with about 5 minutes setup on a modern router.

Why blow up satellites when you can just hack them?

Re: While we shouldn't litter space with junk

Low earth orbit they're closer to 25,000km/h.

They're not evenly distributed in orbit.

Unlike a Barbie-Car crash, the pile-up doesn't sit nicely awaiting a clean-up crew to sweep it away. Instead, it results in thousands of fragments.

At Starlink orbital heights you're talking 20 to 30 on years for these fragments to re-enter the atmosphere. The time goes up exponentially with height.

Amazon’s Kuiper satellite broadband to offer commercial services in mid-2026, at least in Australia

Re: Kuiper

I'm surprised a decent WISP hasn't targeted your location.

Microsoft offers vintage Exchange and Skype server users six more months of security updates

It's not like they'll refund anyone's Skype credit either.

Thieving pricks

14-hour+ global blackout at Ingram Micro halts customer orders

Been dealing with Stinkram Micro for over 20 years. I only order from them when I have to as they're the worst disti out there. If their backend IT is as clueless as their product managers then I'm not really surprised about this outage.

UK unis to cough up to £10M on Java to keep Oracle off their backs

Then the Unis should block the oracle Java download as well as outgoings traffic to wherever the Oracle runtime narks. This would prevent Oracle having any basis to request an audit.

Europe's cloud customers eyeing exit from US hyperscalers

Re: Bullshit

It's not just Europe. Businesses in APAC are also actively trying to unravel their deoendance on USA owned cloud providers and software. As a minimum, any company outside the USA should at least have contingency plans should the pin be pulled.

Americans set to pay more on all imports: Trump activates blanket tariffs

Re: Please explain

Fixed the USA's utterly broken infrastructure and public education system would be a good starting point. Paid parental leave and affordable childcare would also increase productivity massively.

Re: Econ 101

So you're advocating no VAT on imported goods. That would then create an imbalance for domesticaly produces foods and services that would still be subject to VAT. Or are you now advocating that the USA should dictate other countries tax regimes?

175 out of the 195 countries on the planet have VAT.

https://www.globalvatcompliance.com/globalvatnews/world-countries-vat-rates-2020/

UK satellite smartphone services could get green light this year

Re: Impressive

Radio link budget is improved by increasing gain (antenna size) at either end of the link.

What The Reg should be asking is how many concurrent satellite calls can be made in a 10Km radius and whether these calls require line of sight to the satellite.

$16B health dept managed finances with single Excel spreadsheet. It hasn’t gone well

Simeon Brown couldn't run a corner shop

Non-biz Skype kicks the bucket on May 5

Re: Alternatives for calling U.S. toll free numbers

Similar, I call elderly relatives who have zero interest in WhatsApp etc as well as and banks, plumbers etc back in the UK.

I guess I'll have to find a UK VOIP provider and point a soft phone app like LinPhone to it.

Also what's going to happen to our Skype credit? Are Microsoft just going to pocket it all?

Membership of New Zealand’s domain registry suddenly triples, which isn't entirely welcome

Re: "a person of Māori descent"

You've not lived there since you were a child so respectfully, keep your racist rants to yourself.

Yes, Slack isn't working properly right now – enjoy your internet snow day

Prob just the push I need to switch our org to Rocket chat.

T-Mobile US puts NYC emergency services in the 5G fast lane with network slicing

Re: Driverless Cars

How does this "Ubiquitous coverage" fantasy hold up once you're outside a city centre?

HP deliberately adds 15 minutes waiting time for telephone support calls

Re: Confirms my decision...

Still got mine. I think it will outlive me.

Copilot+ PCs? Customers just aren't buying it – yet

All about the share price

They've all spunked out 100s of billions on AI and inflated their share price based on the promised land of AI bringing the next Industrial Revolution.

Gotta keep the NASDAQ bubble inflated.

UK businesses eye AI as the cheaper, non-whining alternative to actual staff

Re: @wolfetone

Imagine the cheek of wanting to be paid a "living wage" to enable luxuries like food. Heating and a roof over your head? I mean it's just one step away from Communism.

Is it really the plan to take over Greenland and the Panama Canal? It's been a weird week

Re: And we skip over Musks real reason he's now involved

You can't "learn" transgender or homosexual.

I've never once thought "hmm, maybe I'll chop my ball off" despite learning about transgender identities. Nor have I considered boning any of my gay friends.

Although going by TV shows everyone "catches" gay in American prisons so perhaps it's different in the states.

Just say no

As Queen Nancy said, "just say no". Vote with your feet and wallet. Don't give these arseholes your money or even your doom-scrolling advertising revenue. As Lemon Musk has already discovered, turning X into a soundboard for his followers isn't particularly profitable.

Re: The unipolar world is officially dead

Turn off any commentary and just listen to any of Trump's off-the-cuff ramblings during his campaign and tell us with a straight face he's not mentally impaired.

Will 2025 be the year satellite-to-smartphone services truly take off?

Re: Free and running now

cLInt telco partners with cLInt space nazi. I suspect it won't be free once us Kiwis (again) do the beta testing.

Brit telcos to clash in high-speed mmWave spectrum showdown next year

Re: mmwave use-case

Fixed wireless broadband operator here. You're spot on. Putting 25GHz on a handset is laughably stupid. It's a LOS frequency with an incredibly short range.

New Jersey man admits shipping sanctions-busting tech to Russia

Re: Red tape

Probably some daft Klunt who gets "real" news and thinks the rest of us are sheeple