Posts by Dr Scrum Master

Capita's bespoke British Army recruiting IT cost military 25k applicants after switch-on

Re: I get it...

There're also the recent rounds of advertising which may not have done so well at attracting sufficient applicants...

MIT apologizes, permanently pulls offline huge dataset that taught AI systems to use racist, misogynistic slurs

Re: This is a problem in general

Tried it too and they're definitely clothed.

After a bit of scrolling there were some alien freaks though...

Once again, racial biases show up in AI image databases, this time turning Barack Obama white

Re: Skin tones

O'Bama may be supposed to be black, but with a white mother and a black father he's mixed race.

Wired: China's Beidou satnav system, 35th bird in orbit. Tired: America's GPS. Expired: Britain's dreams of its own

Convenient

"BDS, we note, has more birds in orbit than Uncle Sam's GPS, and has extra coverage over south-east Asia."

How convenient for the PLA Navy in the South China Sea

Xiaomi and NXP ride a bus to Moscow with a wearable Mastercard

West

China to Russia to Europe sounds like a march westwards rather than to the East.

Asia's Uber equivalent Grab lets go of 1 in 20 staff

Ride sharing?

Can we please stop calling Grab, Uber, etc ride sharing firms?

They're as much to do with ride sharing as any other taxi firm.

If you want to call something ride sharing, then you can describe buses as ride shares.

Indian app that deleted Chinese apps from Androids deleted from Play Store

Baby Diesel? Little d'Artagnan? There is another child of Musk in the world

Why should the UK pensions watchdog be able to spy on your internet activities? Same reason as the Environment Agency and many more

North East Asia.

Microsoft attempts to up its Teams game with new features while locked-down folk flock to rival Zoom... warts and all

Re: Pub replacement

To the park?

Cloudflare family-friendly DNS service flubs first filtering foray: Vital LGBTQ, sex-ed sites blocked 'by mistake'

Re: So?

Professional psychiatric help, as opposed to trans-activist psychiatric help which invariably leads to rushing ahead with experimental hormone courses and irreversible surgery.

So?

So what's wrong with keeping children away from trans-activist sites? Or any other body dysmorphia activist sites such as pro-anorexia sites?

Is technology undermining democracy? It's complicated, says heavyweight thinktank

Re: Eh?

I'm still wondering why a referendum and an election are a threat to democracy... unless it's because those in power will curtail democracy because the people voted the "wrong" way?

Oh wait, freedom of speech is already curtailed and is under threat in various democracies...

Among those pardoned by Trump this week: Software maker ex-CEO who admitted hacking into rivals' systems

Re: Don't let the swamp dry out

Just like they voted for the other guys who did the same thing...

Microsoft picks a side, aims to make the business 'carbon-negative' by 2030

B... b... but what about Sahara regreening?

If we continue trying to stop global temperatures from rising, then how will we bring about re-greening of the Sahara?

It's only due to the relatively low temperatures that the trade winds blow away from the Sahara, rather than blowing warm, moist air towards the Sahara...

We live so fast I can't even finish this sent...

Re: Now you know what 2020 is going to look like

With all the fuss (from the idle commenterai) about the noughties, the teens and the relief of being in the twenties - a sensibly-named decade - I couldn't help but wonder that this is only a recent phenomenon.

What culture in history would be some disposability-obsessed as to name its decades?

Re: >>>However, I think you might be missing the point<<<

I've seen the fly in the urinal to help gentlemen's aim a few times.

Unfortunately, one was actually a ladybird.

What kind of sicko wants to pee on a ladybird?

London's Westminster Council wins appeal against phonebooth-cum-massive-digital-advert

Re: How about...

There used to be plenty of adverts inside phone kiosks from enterprising your ladies...

London's Met Police splash the cash on e-learning 'cyber' training for 4k staffers

Re: Well, seeing as ...

along with "crypto".

Meanwhile "algo" just bugs me

Microsoft's cloud floats over to Qatar and Azure Functions flings doors open to .NET Core 3.1

Boycott?

Aren't the GCC still boycotting Qatar?

Why can't passport biometrics see through my cunning disguise?

Customs?

Presenting one's passport to a Customs officer? I normally present mine to Immigration officers, unless going to somewhere that thinks I'm cargo...

Female-free speaker list causes PHP show to collapse when diversity-oriented devs jump ship

Re: 9Rune5

Isn't it vegans who announce their holier-than-thou dietary preference as soon as they meet you?

New UK Home Sec invokes infosec nerd rage by calling for an end to end-to-end encryption

Re: Same old tune

Well, it is a race to the bottom between the Brits and the US.

That's because we only ever seem to get news about the UK and US...

US border cops' secret racist Facebook group a total disgrace, says patrol chief. She should know, she was a member

Patrol?

She doesn't look like she's done much patrolling recently, at least not any that requires walking...

King's College London breached GDPR by sharing list of activist students with cops

Intersectional Feminists

Why aren't they banned permanently? They're a blight on society with their oppression olympics.

Bonkers British MPs rant: 5G signals cause cancer

Dihydrogen monoxide

Just don't tell them about dihydrogen monoxide and the number of deaths that it's been linked to!

Silicon Valley doesn't care about poor people: Top AI models kinda suck at ID'ing household stuff in hard-up nations

Not a Model

Meanwhile, this so-called AI does not demonstrate what I understood to be intelligence. These image recognition engines basically model textures and have absolutely no understanding (one of the crucial parts of intelligence) of what they're supposedly recognising.

There's a reason why my cat doesn't need two-factor authentication

Same here, only the the other cat got an unexpected bath for good measure.

Musk loves his Starlink sat constellation – but astroboffins are less than dazzled by them

Far Side of the Moon

Astronomers to move to the far side of the moon?

Let's make laptops from radium. How's that for planned obsolescence?

Volcanoes

Dump the whole plasticky mess of non-disposable disposable products into your local volcano and your waste problems are solved!

Programmers' Question Time: Tiptoe through the tuples

Re: Top Radio 4 Banana!

The Kitchen Cabinet funnier?

Well, the panelists certainly appear to think they're funny...

British Army down thousands of soldiers after outsourcing recruitment IT to Capita

Re: What next? Outsource the nuclear deterrent?

Not too far from the truth given Trident's reliance on US systems for targeting.

WE177 was at least able to be delivered independently

Freaky photo flingers face fat fines for flagrant phallus flashing fun

Dick Heads

I see pictures of dick heads all the time. Will this law actually help Singaporeans be relieved of this onslaught?

Re: Potentially a good idea.

There are lots of things that are illegal in Singapore (and not all of the previous list are actually illegal there) but most of the time the police do bugger all to enforce all the laws.

Cocaine, psychedelics, DMT? They sure knew how to party 1,000 years ago: Archaeologists make startling discovery

Number?

Humans have been tripping off hallucinogens for at least a millennia

Is that El Reg's excuse for mixing singular and plural?

New UK counter-terror laws come into force today – watch those clicks, people. You see, terrorist propag... NOOO! Alexa ignore us!

What if...

What if you click but have your eyes closed? Then you're not viewing the content!

Astronomer slams sexists trying to tear down black hole researcher's rep

Being a gay astronomer...

subjects I am passionate about – including space, being a gay astronomer, Ursula K. Le Guin, architecture, and musicals

I'm almost at a loss for words. Dare I even ask what it means to be a gay astronomer?

FYI: You could make Tesla's Autopilot swerve into traffic with a few stickers on the road

A new kind of annoying

The sounds effects on that video was certainly a new kind of annoying...

IBM so very, very sorry after jobs page casually asks hopefuls: Are you white, black... or yellow?

Ethnicity != Race

How are Caucasian and Black even ethnicities? Ethnicity is a social group.

Bad news for WannaCry slayer Marcus Hutchins: Judge rules being young, hungover, and in a strange land doesn't obviate evidence

The Brit was also said to be "alert, engaged, coordinated and coherent."

Isn't that part of what it means to be British?

Cop films chap on body-worn cam because he 'complains about cops a lot'. Chap complains

No wonder

No wonder he complains about the police when he reports break-ins and the police don't investigate.

Smaller tech firms just aren't ready for a no-deal Brexit, MPs told

Incompetence

Any business worth its salt should have been planning for a no-deal Brexit over 2 years ago.

(The Civil Service should have been planning at least 3 years ago...)

China's loose Chang'e: Probe lands on far side of the Moon in science first, says state media

Just be sure they don't store nuclear waste on the far side of the moon.

The British Home Office was warned about its crappy data management – then Windrush happened

Notes from a Small Island

Having lived on a tropical island (with the population of large city) for over a decade where ID cards are the norm I have less of a revulsion for ID cards and identity confirmation between government bodies. Knowing the nationality of children for school admission or one's nationality for medical treatment is just par for the course, and it determines the different fees to be paid - yes, over hear the foreigners get to pay more for health and education services (which is rather popular with the locals).

However, as a long time Private Eye and El Reg reader I am always delighted to read about the new and exciting ways in which HMG can truly cock things up.

And lo! Tim Cook becometh tech Jesus. But with more awards

Picture

I'm afraid the picture desk has been using a picture of Paul O'Grady again.

Excuses, excuses: Furious MPs probe banking TITSUPs*

Re: Motes and beams

Are there off-site backups for this data? Don't be silly, it would be really expensive to do that, and nothing bad will ever happen to it, because nothing bad ever has happened, and, um, sparkly unicorns or is it glitter elves, I forget.

Ah yes, Buncefield etc were just dreams

Tata on trial: Outsourcer 'discriminated' against non-Asian workers, claim American staff

South Asia

I find it highly unlikely that Tata discriminates in favour of Pakistanis, Bangladeshis and Sri Lankans...

Anecdotes of Indians discriminating in favour of fellow Indians are rife in Singapore, usually along the lines of: a new Indian manager is recruited then several months later his staff are now mostly Indian (usually from the same region in India).

Should a robo-car run over a kid or a grandad? Healthy or ill person? Let's get millions of folks to decide for AI...

Jaywalking

I still have to look that term up when I read or hear it...

New Zealand border cops warn travelers that without handing over electronic passwords 'You shall not pass!'

Re: Australia has more draconian laws

But Australians are far more polite now than the British have become

Re: Australia has more draconian laws

I remember thinking that in Belfast in 1991 because the only left luggage locker facility was at the Ulster Museum (after having experienced Barcelona railway station's left luggage inspection that checked for explosives).