* Posts by Jonathon Green

562 publicly visible posts • joined 21 Jun 2007

Page:

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

Jonathon Green

Re: Shrug

Depends what size and how much performance you’re looking for really…

Even though it’s been around a while the Polestar 2 would be high on my personal shopping list if I was looking to replace my current Leaf E+, if you want something bigger and faster but can’t run to a Porsche Taycan then Hyundai’s Ioniq 5N or the Kia EV6GT are strong contenders.

The Ford Mustang E doesn’t suck either…

Jonathon Green
Boffin

Shrug

Once upon a time Tesla had a monopoly on larger, longer range EVs.

Now they don’t and other manufacturers products are (for various reasons, aesthetic, technical, political, and other) looking like a more attractive choice than Tesla’s (rather stale looking these days) offerings.

MuskCo wouldn’t be the first high profile company to come to grief through taking their customer base for granted and if they do fall by the wayside it seems unlikely that they’d be the last…

Film at 11…

Ontario responds to Trump tariff by pitching Starlink deal into the trash

Jonathon Green
Flame

Meanwhile to the South…

I Really hope the good people of Panama haven’t been wasting any time and that they’ve have got the demolition charges on all that lovely expensive canal infrastructure set, wired, and armed in case of unwelcome incursions.

Mega city council's Oracle finance fix faces further delays

Jonathon Green

“There are plenty of councils whose systems are not in this dire state with regards to finances and auditing, that's not to say that the others are perfect, but they are at least sufficiently functional for the auditors to do their job of ensuring financial probity.”

…and many of them are probably looking at the likes of Birmingham in terror as the platforms which their current (stable, reliable, satisfactory) solutions were built on have been end-of-lifed by vendors leaving them faced with either exorbitant fees for extended support or simply having the plug pulled.

UK biz dept overspent by £208M prepping to pay workers hurt in Post Office IT scandal

Jonathon Green

Re: "first implemented by ICL, a UK technology company later bought by Fujitsu"

It would be unfair to mention one without the other.

It started out as ICL Pathway’s crock of shit and while Fujitsu had 15 years to fix it, didn’t, and doubled down by conspiring with the POst Office to pervert the course of justice it seems only fair to give the original architects their fair share of the credit…

WFH with privacy? 85% of Brit bosses snoop on staff

Jonathon Green
Boffin

Well, there’s a worrying statistic…

‘85 percent of business leaders have a "hard time knowing for sure that their people are being productive.”’

Really?

So 85% of business leaders don’t know what the core objectives of the organisations they claim to be the leaders of are or whether those objectives gives are being met??

And the *workforce* are supposed to be the problem???

If I were a shareholder in one of those businesses I’d be very worried about that statistic, and it wouldn’t be the workforce I’d be asking awkward questions about come AGM time…

Boom's XB-1 jet nails supersonic flight for first time

Jonathon Green
Coat

Re: Petty

“ The guys(?) talking about nanometers were referencing their reproductive appendages.‘

Measured with a manometer?

Shove your office mandates, people still prefer working from home

Jonathon Green

Re: I didn't learn in-person. There's no merit to this.

This does of course also apply to those advocating a return to the office as The One True Way…

Jonathon Green
Coat

“I made good friends at work”

I can see how that might work for people working in the biomedicine sector but the Frankenstein thing just isn’t an option for most of us… :-)

Intel, AMD engineers rush to save Linux 6.13 after dodgy Microsoft code change

Jonathon Green

My guess would be that it was reviewed, but not by the right people…

Pornhub lockdown and fact-free Zuckbots – welcome to 2025

Jonathon Green

Re: "honesty is the best policy"

It’s not about whether Trump (or whoever) *knows what honesty is, it’s about whether they *care*w hat honesty is when faced with the opportunity for a shit load of money and/or the opportunity to excercise massive personal power with very little responsibility or consequences. And I think we know what the answer to that is…

They've only gone and made Doom run in a PDF file

Jonathon Green
Trollface

Re: An industry insider comments...

Pretty sure that PDF constitutes a Turing complete programming language even without the dirty little secret which is JavaScript (or the Lisp/Postscript like function interpreter)…

Jonathon Green
Trollface

“ robbing me from the illusion that PDFs were benign in terms of safety.”

This is a joke right?

I owe 12 years of gainful employment (up until my retirement just before Christmas) to the fact that if you custom designed a file format to act as a malware delivery vehicle you’d probably end up with PDF…

Apple and Meta trade barbs over interoperability requests

Jonathon Green

Buying into the iThing infrastructure and swallowing the Apple Kool-Aid was always something of a pact with the devil but you know what?

I knew that when I wrote the cheques. I looked at the alternatives, I signed the cheques anyway, and I’ll still take Apples blend of seamless experience and barely concealed avarice over Google and X’s brands of clunky enshitification every time.

China's homebrew Bluetooth alternative is on the march as Beijing pushes universal remotes

Jonathon Green
Trollface

[shrug] Giving the Chinese state access to my relentlessly vanilla tastes in media consumption seems like a small price to pay for either juggling 4 remotes or relying on Logitech (and potentially supplying them with similar information) to continue to support an occasionally slightly wayward third party solution (Harmony) they don’t sell any more…

Jonathon Green
Trollface

Re: So... Bluetooth...

[shrug] Giving the Chinese state access to my relentlessly vanilla tastes in media consumption seems like a small price to pay for either juggling 4 remotes or relying on Logitech to continue to support an occasionally slightly wayward third party solution they don’t sell any more…

US military grounds entire Osprey tiltrotor fleet over safety concerns

Jonathon Green

Re: An interesting concept

…and had stubby wings which provided a good chunk of lift in forward flight.

Europe glances Russia's way after Baltic Sea data cables severed

Jonathon Green

Re: Why would they bother?

[Shrug] Just a quick, dirty, relatively low cost move in a continuing campaign of low grade disruption and destabilisation….

All bark, no bite? Musk's DOGE unlikely to have any real power

Jonathon Green

Re: if it's anything like his ability to run a car company...

Do you think we’ll get a rerun of the sink thing?

TSMC halts advanced chip shipments to Chinese AI companies

Jonathon Green

Hmmm…

Technology Embargo you say…

I wonder what would happen if the EU responded to the hypothetical imposition of US import tariffs by stopping the supply of ASML Extreme UV Lithography kit and associated technologies to US controlled entities…

It's about time Intel, AMD dropped x86 games and turned to the real threat

Jonathon Green
Coat

Re: TLA

Everybody knows that, it’s an Industry Standard Acronym…

Jonathon Green

Re: x86 Train Wreck

Isn’t dealing with that sort of nonsense generally down to the run-time library code rather than the app? Like floating point support in Ye Olde Dayse?

Datacenter developer says power issues holding up new builds

Jonathon Green
Coat

Why do I get the feeling that attempting to satisfy the demands of bit-barn operators by adding supply infrastructure will be about as effective as solving traffic congestion by building more roads has proved to be…

Ford CEO admits he drives a Chinese electric vehicle and doesn't want to give it up

Jonathon Green

Re: :)

That sounds like a you problem… :)

Tech giants set to pay through the nose for nuclear power that's still years away

Jonathon Green
Mushroom

Microsoft and Nuclear power?

That could bring a whole new meaning to “Blue Screen of Death”. :-)

Top-secret X-37B space plane ready for daring new orbital maneuver

Jonathon Green
Coat

Re: Timeline question

Yeah, that will happen when a body spends money on developing technology and capability to support a specific set of mission and then the government pulls the budget for those missions half way through.

Not a NASA problem…

Harvard duo hacks Meta Ray-Bans to dox strangers on sight in seconds

Jonathon Green
Black Helicopters

Re: As a good American...

Some people won’t believe a thing can be done unless they see it happening, and, in the case of this sort of thing if it can be done somebody hidden away in a dark corner is already quietly doing it (and probably not for your benefit).

So yeah, if you can you absolutely should because it’s the only reliable way of getting enough people to care about this sort of thing…

It's true, social media moderators do go after conservatives

Jonathon Green
Coat

Re: Who is the judge ?

“ Who judges what is a low-quality news source? It turns out the result holds true when the quality of news was judged by a group composed solely of Republican laypeople and those balanced from a political perspective.”

So, in this case at least it turns out to be people who are at least nominally sympathetic to the positions of those they judge to be propagating misinformation…

China wants red flags on all AI-generated content posted online

Jonathon Green
Trollface

Not generally a huge fan of the Chineses position on regulation of on-line content, but I have to say I think they might be on to something this time…

Japan to put a small red Swedish house on the Moon

Jonathon Green
Go

I don’t hate this idea.

If we’re going to send junk into space it might as well be something small,, whimsical, amusing, and which gives a certain amount of pleasure to someone rather than just another monument to bloated nationalistic/corporate pride dressed up as science…

FTC urged to stop tech makers downgrading devices after you've bought them

Jonathon Green
Boffin

Re: Reminds me of TV sets

It’s called a large computer monitor with HDCP[1] on the HDMI input. OK you’ll need to supply your own audio output but since TVs are uniformly Bloody Awful in this area that’s not a massive hardship. Readily available at reasonable cost from an IT kit barn near you…

[1] High Definition Copy Protection - required by most set top boxes etc to display broadcast or streamed content - not all computer monitors with a HDMI port support this, but quite a few do…

HPE to pursue $4B claim against estate of Mike Lynch over Autonomy acquisition

Jonathon Green
Trollface

That ship has sailed…

“ HPE could argue that pursuing Lynch's widow for what it is legally owed would negatively impact its reputation and share price, for example.”

At this point I’m not sure there’s anything HPE could do in relation to the Autonomy acquisition which could make either their reputation or market value any worse…

Jonathon Green

Re: Pursuing who?

“ If the judge awards more than the assets, then she could literally lose the roof over her head.”

Although the likes of Mike Lynch et-al being what they are I’m sure it will turn out that there are assets placed beyond the reach of claimants, and that the former Mrs Lynch won’t find herself living out of a carrier bag and unsure of where her next Versace outfit is coming from.

Not that I’d actually criticise anyone for having made some sort of provision for their nearest and dearest in case of unforeseen circumstances…

Microsoft closes Windows 11 upgrade loophole in latest Insider build

Jonathon Green
Trollface

Re: Upgrades?

They’ll probably just keep running Windows 10 while paying MS an ungodly amount of money for a bespoke extended support package…

Twitter tells advertisers to go fsck themselves, now sues them for fscking the fsck off

Jonathon Green
Trollface

I like Americans. They’re funny…

Under-fire Elon Musk urged to get a grip on X and reality – or resign

Jonathon Green
Flame

Re: I Feel Sorry For GB

I have no idea why I’m even taking the trouble to make a rational response to this, but…

I think you’ll find that Oliver Wendell Holmes Jr covered this stuff in the United States Supreme Court in 1919 (Schenck v, The United States), that this specific case was very specifically addressed in 1969 (Brandenburg v Ohio), and that Musk has very much been shouting fire in a crowded theatre and also lending his megaphone to other people to join in…

Breaking the rules is in Big Tech's blood – now it's time to break the habit

Jonathon Green
Trollface

Re: killing music...

Music’s fine. There are tons of bands and artists writing, performing, and recording all over the country the world. On any night in pretty much any town you can find talented people playing and singing their hearts out for you, hawking CDs and T-Shirts out of a cardboard box, and touting their social media links for the pure joy of it. I should know, I’m regularly one of them[1].

The music industry however is another matter - that’s dead[2] And to be honest I don’t see any reason why anyone would miss it. If (the Taylor Swifts of the world aside) the recorded music business implodes leaving the space it used to occupy to hyper local scenes of passionate amateurs and semi-pros making music out of compulsion rather than to put cars in the garage and yachts on the water for shareholders in corporations that’ll be a huge step forward for humanity…

[1] In my case I’ll leave judgement on the talented bit to the audiences

[12] Although to a greater or lesser extent the corpse is still twitching to give an illusion of life…

Nokia demos upper 6 GHz band for mobile, but UK wants it shared with Wi-Fi

Jonathon Green

Re: Pesky buildings

Is that a bug or a feature?

My (possibly, even probably naive) assumption was that more, smaller cells would improve capacity in busy urban areas and that the shorter range and reduced penetration of higher frequency signals would help facilitate that.

Study finds 268% higher failure rates for Agile software projects

Jonathon Green

Re: Just maybe?

…but then of course recruiting, motivating, and retaining talented staff (at developer, manager, and product management level alike) is harder work and more expensive than sending a bunch of people to Scrum Master boot camp (and doesn’t look as shiny on an ambitious managers resume) so guess what happens.

Jonathon Green

Re: Just maybe?

…we ought to grow up and recognise that outcomes depend more on the quality, motivation, and morale of both managers and managed than on methodologies.

'Little weirdo' shoulder surfer teaches UK cabinet minister a lesson in cybersecurity

Jonathon Green
Trollface

Re: Situational Awareness Is Rare

I think the theory is that if they’re going to have to take responsibility they’ll avoid fscking things up in the noble cause of self preservation…

You want us to think of the children? Couldn't agree more

Jonathon Green
Trollface

Hmmm….

I’m not sure I’d put the porn industry in the same category as Meta et-al. I’ve seen much less genuinely concerning material on Pornhub than I have on Facebook or Xitter….

First Ariane 6 rocket ready to assemble as Europe begins final countdown

Jonathon Green
Go

Presumably not heading for Venus right away…

Software support chap survived breaking his customer

Jonathon Green

It does/did indeed,

However you need somewhere to move this stuff to for safe keeping, and depending on exactly how long ago this was that may not have been a trivial consideration…

Post Office slapped down for late disclosure of documents in Horizon scandal inquiry

Jonathon Green

Re: MPs on a jury duty style system

This isn’t the first time I’ve seen the suggestion that improving the remuneration of MPs would lead to better quality candidates. The thing is, the proposition is always that I pay more for improvements to a service I’m not happy with without offering any concrete evidence of what improvement (if any) I’ll see.

My counter to that is that maybe we should have a system of performance based pay for MPs, Ministers, Parliamentary Committee chairs, etc, etc, etc. Let them show me the improved results first, and then I’ll part with the money. Of course this does open up all sorts of questions about what the performance targets should be, who gets to set them, and who gets to evaluate performance against them…

Jonathon Green

Re: Why is Paula Vennells still walking the streets?

Because, (and on the whole I think this is unambiguously A Good Thing), the UK has strict rules on access to firearms…

Local councils struggle with ill-fitting software despite spending billions with suppliers

Jonathon Green
Boffin

Re: Problems and solutions not welcome

That and recognising that Local Authorities (and other government or quasi-governmental bodies) often have to exist within, comply with, and be able to demonstrate compliance with very different regulatory frameworks to commercial enterprises. Things which are pointless tickboxes for Acme Widgets plc wull be statutory responsibilities for Trumptonshire Social Services, and if the COTS solutions don’t support that without customisation…

Boeing top brass stand down amid safety turbulence

Jonathon Green
Thumb Up

Re: Always open

Well played sir, well plated…

UK minister tells telcos to share telegraph poles if they can't lay cable underground

Jonathon Green
Coat

About the ‘A’ in ADSL…

Also don’t forget about the “Asymmetric” bit, it’s quite possible that a relatively slow fibre connection might give significantly more upstream bandwidth than a nominally faster ADSL option, and for some people (admittedly not your regular common or garden domestic consumer) that’s a selling point in itself.

US and Europe try to tame surveillance capitalism

Jonathon Green
Trollface

Wouldn’t it be great if…

…someone came up with a distributed computing project to generate enough fake traffic and inject enough spurious information into the datasets to make them completely valueless?

Just a daydream I know, but if it happened I’d be happy to donate a few processor cycles and a bit of bandwidth…

Page: