Posts by Mattjimf

No big changes to UK broadband regs, despite no real competition for BT

CityFibre stasrted laying fibre in my area in October two years ago, went bust after playing silly buggers with council tenant costs (50% more than rivals). Now BT are working in the area to roll out fibre, but seem to be doing it outside of the work cityFibre were doing.

Job interview descended into sweary shouting match, candidate got the gig anyway

Sounds like the official MS Office specialist exams. In order to complete them, you need to do the mouse clicks exactly as you would in the course, if you try to use shortcuts or context menus, you will fail. The tool bar/ribbon needed to be used at all times to do what ever you needed to do, despite mulitple quicker and more efficient ways of completing the task.

It’s official: Vodafone and Three to tie the knot in the UK

Re: Coverage - Mast sharing

While that is true for household consumers, businesses can change suppliers so, technically, you can change water and sewage supplier regardless of where you live.

Besides the argument was a single network supplying these services, which there isn't, it's not Great British Water plc. The only thing that is run like this in the UK would be the rail lines under Network Rail (N.I. may be different).

Re: Coverage - Mast sharing

Is there one water delivery network? Pretty sure it's regional based Scottish Water, Northumbrian, Thames, Severn-Trent with the sewage run by the same lot as water.

Pretty sure the PowerGrid is split up as well into regions as well.

Don't worry, that system's not actually active – oh, wait …

Re: Why would one ...

Well if you put the pizza in the normal way, all the topping is just going to slide down to the bottom of the toaster.

Software engineer accused of stealing $300k from employer was 'inspired by Office Space'

Leaves Amazon Prime in 3 day apparently, may have to pay to watch it after then.

Software guy smashes through the Somebody Else's Problem field to save the day

Re: SEP became MP

Sounds like the Goblin Rat - https://youtu.be/OFhellnZlWQ

Re: It's a sad day for this IT rag...

Currently on Life the Universe and Everything audiobook with my son (listen when taking him to and from his swimming), just a the point where Arthur has just had a house party hit him in the small of the back.

When you think of a unit of length, do you think of Antony Gormley's rusty anatomy?

Re: Wind speed

It goes as deep into the ground as it does into the air.

RIP Bernie Drummond: Celebrated ZX Spectrum artist and programmer on Batman, Head Over Heels, Match Day II

Re: Ahead of his time...

I had the same set up, and both Batman and Head over Heels, never completed it, although I did get pretty far in both. Going to my friend's house how also had a CPC 464 but with the tv adaptor was a big revelation to me.

Is it a bridge? Is it a ferry? No, it's the Newport Transporter

Re: THE Newport Bridge

Edinburgh has one that is still operational on the Union Canal -https://canmore.org.uk/site/178600/edinburgh-union-canal-fountainbridge-lifting-bridge

Been up the Middlesbrough Transporter, but only walked half way across before I threw myself off it, such is the joys of bungee jumping.

NHS trust launches £60m software procurement to improve staffing efficiency

It's good to talk

Having worked for three different Trusts, I still don't really get why people are keen to spend money on these things, rather than having a conversation to see how other Trusts are doing it and learning from them.

Frenchman scores €50k compensation for suffering 'bore-out' at work after bosses gave him 'menial' tasks

Re: Sooo....

Or the NHS, where they have to offer you a position that you are suitable to do, if you are on a fixed term contract that's coming to an end, i.e. they can't offer a Ward Clark a surgeon's position, but an IT person could be offered a receptionist position.

Microsoft staff giggle beneath the weight of a 52,000-person Reply-All email storm

I had this a few years ago with my NHS.net address.

Scottish biz raided, fined £500k for making 193 million automated calls

Re: Spoofing of phone numbers should be limited

My current roll in the NHS involves calling Doctor's surgeries to arrange/troubleshoot issues with label printers, it's amazing how many GP practices that block withheld numbers.

There is a code the hospitals can enter into the phone first to remove the withheld number, but most people don't really know it or can be arsed to find out.

Like a Virgin, hacked for the very first time... UK broadband ISP spills 900,000 punters' records into wrong hands from insecure database

Seeing as I keep getting crap delivered addressed to the The Occupier, am I and the countless others in the same boat in trouble?

SanDisk's iXpand Wireless Charger is the unholy lovechild of a Qi mat and a flash drive

Re: Costs

It's £16 a year for Google.

Oh noes! Half the NHS runs on Windows 7! Thankfully, here's Citrix with a virty vaccine

Re: Loaded question, isn't it? Asking of the Windows 7 base

In the NHS the answer will still be the same due to the fact that almost all software required for various systems is not compatible/supported on non-Windows devices or the OS is not compatible with the existing infrastructure.

Holy smokes! Ex-IT admin gets two years prison for trashing Army chaplains' servers

Re: Where is god when you need him?

Being Omnipotent, they know who you are regardless of perceived anonymity.

Nine words to ruin your Monday: Emergency Internet Explorer patch amid in-the-wild attacks

Re: Emergency ?

Obviously doesn't count all the PoS sites in the NHS that only run on IE, with Java 6.4, iframes and flash

UK.gov's smart meter cost-benefit analysis for 2019 goes big on cost, easy on the benefits

Electric Supplier: "Great news we're rolling out smart meters, contact us to get one installed!"

Small Print: "Will not work with Solar Panels and FiT"

Me: "WOOT!"

Bus pass or bus ass? Hackers peeved about public transport claim to have reverse engineered ticket app for free rides

Re: Still too expensive

Growing up in the home of First Bus (Aberdeen), where the original motto was "We bought the Buses for you!", that was quickly dropped same as the non-profitable routes as the prices went up.

Not very bright: Apple geniuses spend two weeks, $10,000 of repairs on a MacBook Pro fault caused by one dumb bug

Would it be better to test this out in the local Apple store last thing before they close or first thing after they open?

Apple disables iPad for 48 years after toddler runs amok

Working with the iDiot devices at work, I have seen this pop up on both the iPad and iPhone a couple of times, although I've always gone with just wiping the damn thing.

Sure, we've got a problem but we don't really want to spend any money on the tech guy you're sending to fix it

Attending a training course at Uxbridge, staying right next to Heathrow airport, yet having to get a train/Underground from Newcastle rather than the faster and cheaper option of flying.

Nissan EV app password reset prompts user panic

Re: WAIT! Hang on, back up a second ...

If plugged in you can pre-heat/cool the car for up to 3 hours, it works best with the 6.6Kw connection as that doesn't use any of the battery, the 3.3Kw versions (only on the 24 and 30KWh versions) use a small amount of the battery power to pre-heat/cool (usually 1-3%). Unplugged you can pre-heat/cool the car for 15 minutes again this only uses 1-3% of battery power.

1,700 lucky Brit kids to visit Apple Stores for 'Year of Engineering'

Re: Huh?

You mean swapped your phone for a re-conditioned one with a new battery, unless they opened it right in front of you and actually did what you're accusing them of doing.

Thanksgiving brings together Apple's Siri and Google Assistant

Google on Alexa

Tutorial here - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PR-LVPMU7F4

5G can help us spy on West Midlands with AI CCTV, giggles UK.gov

"The West Midlands is to become the first UK urban 5G testbed area"

Can someone please tell this to the loon in Gateshead who keeps forcing the council to spend money telling him they are not testing 5G and fixing the street lights he keeps breaking.

Trainer regrets giving straight answer to staffer's odd question

Re: Still happens

We had a consultant who would consistantly damage his laptop every year, round about when the new laptops had been released. One excuse was dropping it from the top of the plane stairs.

Microsoft's cheapo Surface: Like a netbook you can't upgrade

Good luck with that one. We had one to trial in my work and god it was awful, getting drivers was hideous, the build and performance was woeful and it kept dropping off the WiFi.

Tsk-tsk, fat cat Softcat: Milk-slurping reseller taken to court

I guess the shop owner is a fan of Herman's Hermits:

https://youtu.be/LesWfbkJJlQ

(no I can't post HTML)

No, BMW, petrol-engined cars don't 'give back to the environment'

Re: i3 ?

Don't worry, when Intel get to i8, BMW will get the money back.

Irish priests told to stop bashing bishops

Wonder if they will go down the Father Ted route https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7pGcE7IvCTs

A todger, a 2.5kg dumbbell, the fire brigade... and the inevitable angle grinder

And the female equivalent

http://www.deccanchronicle.com/lifestyle/sex-and-relationship/180917/couple-rushed-to-hospital-with-mans-head-stuck-in-his-wifes-vagina.html

BA passengers caught in crossfire of Heathrow baggage meltdown

Looks like Monty Python were right to be worried about it:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rdk-rHAndNc

And yes I know it's not the retrival system.

UK hospital meltdown after ransomware worm uses NSA vuln to raid IT

Oop North

Not heard any panic up here in the North East so far.

Google mistakes the entire NHS for massive cyber-attacking botnet

Here we go again.

And it's been blocked again, this time the capture isn't working on Chrome or IE11.

Re: So Chrome gets a free pass?

Alway happens on a Monday, at least in my Trust.

IE 11 and Chrome fine to complete captcha, IE 8 (yes we are still using it, and we still have a few XP machines (in the very low hundreds)) can't manage the captcha.

We currently have a ongoing project to update IE to 11 Trust wide standard, but hampered by external suppliers only supporting IE8, Chrome is App-V only.

Jeremy Clarkson and Co. rise to top for Great British Bake Off replacements

Re: "Bring back Tomorrow's World, I say."

You've never been up at 6:30-7am on a Saturday morning when it's on BBC 1?

Re: I loved Top Gear

Your in luck as the new show is indeed on Amazon (not sure how you have missed that info).

The Rise, Fall and Return of TomTom

Re: TomTom got me round the UK & France without once getting it wrong

You know you can download areas on Google Maps for use when there is no signal, do it for areas you are going to be visiting before you leave the WiFi coverage, then have data free navigation (of course you don't get the realtime traffic updates).

Tesla touts battery that turns a Model S into 'third fastest ever' car

Re: Tesla's progress is amazing

The superchargers are there for the journeys where you need to stop and charge, not for you to use as a daily exercise, the fact that your nearest one is 50 miles away, means that you know you can currently travel 150 miles away, and still make it home with the help of said charger.

If you have a charger at home and solar panels why the hell do you need to charge anywhere else if your just using it on battery as a city runabout?

Plug in hybrids are built for running in the city on battery to cut polluiton, current BEV such as the Leaf are built for day to day city commute, Telsa is pushing the current manufacturers to help increase the take up of BEV as a full car rather than a second, city runaround.

I have to point out I run a Leaf as my only car, but it works for me as I have charging available at home (with solar panels) and at work, which is an easy commute across Newcastle and Gateshead. First long trip in car next weekend when I travel up to Aberdeen.

Tight-wad Apple repair techs swapped our damaged iGear with used kit – lawsuit

Re: There can be many issues that don't comply

Having worked on the helldesk for AppleCare for a few months, when a user gets a refurbished phone, they get a phone that has a new battery and screen but the gubbins of everything else is from a device that has been returned, typically to Ireland.

'Panama papers' came from email server hack at Mossack Fonseca

Re: Given the scarcity of items on our cousins in the material released...

d) Corruption is so rife in the former soviet union that they just expect that they have been stealing millions but can't do anything due to the next person to come in will be just the same regardless of what they say: see Ukriane and Poroshenko.

Elon Musk takes wraps off planet-saving Model 3 vapourmobile

Re: Interesting - Just hope the dates match up.

You can use standard on street charging as well as the superchargers, just takes a little bit longer.

Honest in that you can reliably get electric generated from hydro/wind/solar from companies at the moment - see Ecotricity/Good Energy/OVO/LoCO2.

Honest in that the whole push for electric cars is coming from the need to reduce the kerb side emissions in towns not in the emissions used to generate the power (incidentally Scotland just shut off the last coal powered station last month, leaving just a gas powered station and two Nuclear stations).

Honest in that the majority of the rapid chargers on the motorway network are supplied by one of said green energy suppliers (ecotricity).

Honest in that range is crap, but they are built primarily for use as city cars, for the reasons mentioned above.

Something useful from Cupertino?! Apple sees the light – finally

Might want to have a look at the Kindle Fire OS 5 and blue shade, released in December.

Don't take a Leaf out of this book: Nissan electric car app has ZERO authentication

There is a thread documenting the whole thing here - https://speakev.com/threads/nissan-connect-app-security-concerns.15143/

@Chris Millar, I'm guessing you have an Outlander. As your battery is only good for 25 miles and your lugging a full engine around for when it invariably goes flat, if this was to affect your vehicle it would make little or no difference, it's the electric only vehicles that are most at risk.