Posts by CharliePsycho

Feds want devs to stop coding 'unforgivable' buffer overflow vulnerabilities

Perfect World

Did the Feds also mandate that no project must ever be late or over budget?

Study backer: Catastrophic takes on Agile overemphasize new features

You can't do hardware with agile. E.g. a house or a network. That's because real life has dependencies and a definition of finished... Not a backlog you take in any order and refactoring for when you get the order wrong and declare a 'minimum viable product' that isn't.

Agile happened because projects got bigger than 3 people could handle and developers thought they were better than project managers (hint... everybody is the same, just with different work to do.)

Process and teamwork is still needed I'm afraid, not agile cherry picking and oneupmanship at the stand up.

Agile Manifesto co-author blasts failure rates report, talks up 'reimagining' project

Agile never did work in the real world

In the real world we have dependencies, e.g. do this before you do that. You cant break everything down to do it in any order the developer can cherry pick (Writing new test harnesses and refactoring as you go) Thats called stupid...

You can't use agile to build a house.

You can't use agile for hardware deliverables

You can't use agile to write a book

You can't use agile on an oil rig

Why do we think software is so different?

I always viewed agile as a way for shit developers to avoid being responsible for delivery.

Honestly, I think the only real route is benevolent dictatorship.

Windows 12: Savior of PC makers, or just an apology for Windows 11?

Did AI write this article?

The way it repeats itself and splashes references everywhere.... hmmmm

Maybe it just helped and a human tweaked it... or maybe humans are writing more like AI now, because that's what they see everywhere else?

Anyway, after the second repeat TLDR.

What a Hancock-up: Excel spreadsheet blunder blamed after England under-reports 16,000 COVID-19 cases

Politicians/managers blaming IT? Again?

Don't think for a moment this is confined to gov.co How/why do you think banks cock it up so frequently?

There will be a programmer somewhere screaming in an empty room, no BA in sight, no requirements, just a Project manager and a deadline labelled in... Excel...

UK government puts IR35 tax reforms on hold for a year in wake of coronavirus crisis

Horse Bolted

I've already let everyone go and I'm winding up the company. There were only three of us, but there is no work and all the contracts were terminated last month.

I suppose the government kind hide the losses in coronavirus statistics and by next year it wont matter as all the HR managers will be zombies by then... oh... hang on :o

Don't worry, IT contractors. New UK chancellor says HMRC will be gentle pushing IR35 rules

Soft is still inside

It does not matter whether HMRC go soft or not, the major hiring companies want no part of IR35, so there are blanket bans on Limited companies going in all over the place.

It is the end of contracting as far as I am concerned. The start of the destruction of employee rights (just wait until permies get pushed in to government approved contracting through Umbrella companies... with no employee rights and less cost to the employer!)

Time for me to retire.

UK contractors planning 'mass exodus' ahead of IR35 tax clampdown – survey

Time to retire

It's the attitude of the permies on this thread that sickens me. It's like they think they are getting their own back! Do they not realise how this destroys employee rights for everyone in the long term?

I'm contract because my skilset is specialist and rare. In short I charge a lot because I'm worth it. I've paid a lot of tax and frankly I'm fed up with being an unpaid tax collector.

The big businesses are being intransigent, attempting to force people into backpocket umbrella companies (in many cases they don't even hide the PSL) and the agencies are not helping (no change there, but do they not realise what will happen to them?)

Fuckem, I've delivered some clever stuff in my time, they can do without me... I may be the only one that notices, but I will do so from the fore-deck of my yacht in the Bahamas with 20 years of active life before state pension claims the permies and they realise gov.co nicked their pension along with their employment "benefits"

Contractors welcome Lords inquiry into IR35 before tax reforms hit private sector but fear it's 'too little, too late'

Re: Too Late @Charlie

@Peter, Yes you are correct, I'm kidding myself if I think I will never pay any more tax. I've never trusted pensions though, so we have a big lump sum and a budget (living on a yacht is cheaper than you think - look up sailing SV Delos on YouTube for a Microsoft developer that did it.) But we will still be taxed on the interest and have Self employed NI contributions, possibly also Council Tax on the house (if we can't persuade the children to pay it!)

But the key part is... Fuck-em (HMRC that is)... I've done my bit, no longer will I be an unpaid tax collector, No longer will I wonder if they've changed the rules at the end of each tax year, no longer will I have to pay tax 6 months in advance, no longer will I be wondering just how much the agent is ripping me off, no longer will I panic between contracts, no longer will I argue with the accountant on what is tax deductible, no longer will I wonder if I can have a holiday this year.

I hear Easter Island is pretty remote :)

Too Late

The legislation covers payment of services, not delivery of services. So all the contractors where I consult have been told to go umbrella or leave on February 28th. No consultation, no analysis, no risk.

This is a large engineering/aerospace company that is famous for not doing "IT" with over a thousand contractors...

Personally I'm going to retire. Yes jealous permie tax collectors... I've worked hard for over 20 different companies and paid many thousands in tax, I have enough put away to retire at 50 and sail around the world. Note, sail; not fly... I've seen the deliveries of end or year bonus driven safety systems and I'm not ever getting on a plane again! (or paying tax :p )

Between you, me and that dodgy-looking USB: A little bit of paranoia never hurt anyone

Beware the RED USB drive

When you work on a secure site the networks are of course air-gapped. So the only form of data transfer for normal PC's* is the RED usb stick... Which has to be signed for and audited in and out.

If you saw a red USB that was not in someones possession, you were not to touch it, you were to ring security immediately who would send armed ninja to appropriately dispose of the USB... and the person who had not looked after it. Security used to leave them on the floor in hallways as a honey-trap for the unwary.

It's not called sneaker-net for nothing!

*Secure Magneto Optical drives (EMP proof) were available for those who could use them!

Microsoft Azure gains Availability Zones and Immutable Blobs

Re: "can be created and read, but not updated or deleted"

If there is an incident (think air crash) or security incident, then all data referring to that incident has to be put on hold so that forensic investigators can look at it. You have to prove it's been put on hold and nobody (including admins who may have caused the incident in the first place) have played with it.

What can you do when the pup of programming becomes the black dog of burnout? Dude, leave

The Joys of Contracting

I love being a contractor, if I get pissed off I can just leave and get another contract. There is no pension to worry about, no loyalty, no end of year bonus, no review bollox. It's a business deal. Move on to the next one for a couple of years.

I have been permie a few times, More than once I have ended up suing them for unfair dismissal or breach of contract. Once they were actually offended, wasn't I grateful they had employed me?

How do you teach your children? You owe your employers exactly what they owe to you, will they give you money for not working (e.g. a bonus?) Yes? Feel free to give them free work when they need it. Will they pay overtime? No? then don't do any.

Is your employer loyal to you? Really? They won't drop you at a moments notice if it's more profitable to fire you than keep you? That's called business and it's a 2 way street.

I'm planning to retire in 2 years time, get on a boat and sail around the world. There is no advantage to me working another 20 years, so I need to quit and spend the money I have been earning for the last 30 years (yup, there is no inheritance!)

I will have the joy of knowing exactly who to blame if it all goes wrong...

HMS Queen Liz will arrive in Portsmouth soon, says MoD

Already There?

I'm pretty sure the USS George (whatever) Bush was getting in the way a few days ago during Cowes Week waiting to go into Portsmouth

Exposed pipes – check. Giant pillows – check. French startup mega-campus opens

I tried to point out at WeWork that the exposed airducts went out of fashion in the nineties, just after the dotcom monster spiderweb egg sacs started popping. The resident millennials all just looked at me like I had stepped out of the Natural History Museum.

Acer Iconia W3: The first 8-inch Windows 8 Pro tablet

such a shame

I really want a decent W8 small tablet.

I have a 12" x86 tablet, use it all the time... onenote is the big game changer for windows tablets as far as I am concerned. But battery life still isnt good enough, its still big and heavy and just a bit too much for everyday use.

I now have a Samsung Note 8, perfect size. But I cant find a replacement for onenote... s note, evernote, moblenoter dont have the integration. Although at least Microsoft have updated the android onenote 'viewer' I always have remote console for my 'big PC' work and an hdmi cable! (Or widi)

The big driver here is the stylus, which can finally make paper redundant, despite what Steve Jobs said!

So either a really good android onenote integration will arrive, or a decent Windows 8 small form factor tablet please. Dont care if that combination costs £1000, I'll never need another pc...

N00bs vs Windows 8: We lock six people in a room with new OS

Windows on a Mac as a test?

Did I understand this test correctly? You used a Mac to demo Windows 8, a machine without a Windows key and traditionally no scroll wheel? What did you expect?

I have tried testing Windows 8 on my kids. I didn't help them or tell them, I just changed the home PC and left it for the after-school fun. I will admit I was expecting all sorts of problems, but no.... All they mentioned was that it was quicker, which was annoying as I was looking forward to showing off and humiliating them, but from that experience I don't think there is going to be any problem with the 'reimagined' start menu.