* Posts by msknight

1427 publicly visible posts • joined 28 May 2013

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Microsoft defends barging in on Chrome with pop-up ads pushing Bing, GPT-4

msknight

Re: Microsoft's actions remind me of a past romance that really, really wants you to come back

Tim: Well, that's no ordinary rabbit. That's the most foul, cruel, and bad-tempered rodent you ever set eyes on! Look, that rabbit's got a vicious streak a mile wide! It's a killer!

Sir Galahad: Get stuffed!

Tim: He'll do you up a treat, mate. I'm warning you! He's got huge, sharp... er... He can leap about. Look at the bones!

King Arthur: Go on, Bors. Chop his head off!

Sir Bors: Right! Silly little bleeder. One rabbit stew comin' right up!

Broadcom says VMware to grow revenue by double-digit percentages all year

msknight

The sad thing is... it's the way that many businesses across the board are operating.

They no longer care about bums on seats, they care about profitability. They even did it with the Magnum ice cream bar. Upped the price, didn't sell as many and still increased profit.

AI comes for jobs at studio of American filmmaker Tyler Perry

msknight

He's kidding

"I just hope … that there'll be some sort of thought and some sort of compassion for humanity," - Sums up corporate inhumanity, IMHO.

Cutting-edge microscopy reveals bottled water has 'up to 100 times' more bits of plastic than previously feared

msknight

This has managed to scare my mother

We use bottled water as it tastes better than tap water ... and part of the problem is who knows what's in that ... and it's easier to put in the fridge in summer as she needs a good supply of chilled water to keep her cool. The filtration jugs that we've tried are useless and we go through filters like... er... water.

I feel that this has been presented by the news in general without any balance. I mean, even getting out of bed in the morning is a risk. I wonder how much plastic is in my milk bottles, but there are issues with alternatives as well.

Bricking it: Do you actually own anything digital?

msknight

Re: Still Waiting for Derry Girls DVD

I'm ripping BluRay as well. Bought a license for MakeMKV (bit of irony there) and then I handbrake the files that come off.

Women in IT are on a 283-year march to parity, BCS warns

msknight

283 years seems a bit optimistic.

Japanese brewery using generative AI to dream up new beverages

msknight

Brings new meaning..

... to the term a technical hiccup.

Swedish Tesla strike goes international as Norwegian and Danish unions join in

msknight

Re: You're making decisions here on behalf of Musk's employees.

Yeah, like that's going to happen AC. Nice try.

msknight

Re: I'm actually on Musk's side on this

I don't expect it... I just say that I don't put it past Musk to do it.

msknight

Re: I'm actually on Musk's side on this

I'm not totally sure either, but I do know that if I'm going to speak my mind, I have to be prepared to accept that I'm going to put some people's noses out of joint :-) ... comes with the territory and I'm not too bothered about it.

But I do believe that if they keep pushing this, then Musk is the kind of person who is liable to throw his toys out of the pram, abandon the country, blame the unions and still get a good nights sleep.

I wouldn't like to play chicken with Musk. He doesn't blink that often, even when facing a precipice.

I sometimes have visions of Musk, astride a nuclear missile freshly dropped out of a plane, waving his stetson and shouting "Yeee haaa!" on his way to his impending doom... and damn anyone who is unfortunate enough to be in the blast radius.

msknight

Re: I'm actually on Musk's side on this

Global warming deniers in charge of server rooms :-) Now there's a recipe for you!

msknight

Re: You're making decisions here on behalf of Musk's employees.

Yes, I took simonlb's comments as a personal thought too.... but the whole point of where I'm coming from is other people making decisions on behalf of the workers themselves.

msknight

Re: I'm actually on Musk's side on this

Just a bit of a check on one aspect of what you're saying. - "That's exactly why anyone working for Musk should be in a union;"

You're making decisions here on behalf of Musk's employees. Give them the legal power to make their own mind up, let them make their own mind up, and the legal muscle to have a union if they want one.

And yeah, I'm not Musk's greatest fan either.

msknight

Re: I'm actually on Musk's side on this

First off... full marks for representing someone and getting a result.

> If the union exists, membership isn't obstructed and nobody joins it, you have a point.

The problem is that unions can use muscle they don't have once they are in a place, and can achieve results that the staff who aren't members, don't actually want.

I've been places where unions have done things that both the union members and the non-union members don't want to happen. Militant unions are just as bad for employees as militant employers.

msknight

Re: I'm actually on Musk's side on this

If a company was run reasonably and the employees didn't want a union, then why should a union be there in the first place?

Unions should only be where the employees feel they want them.

We're basically saying the same thing... and you're calling me naive?

msknight

Re: I'm actually on Musk's side on this

In this case, the union is forcing itself on the employer. The way I read it is... "If you don't have a union in Tesla, we'll starve you until you do." ... that's not acceptable. It has to be driven by the employees. If they don't want one, then why should a union force itself into Tesla.

msknight

Re: Doh!

Trump hasn't chickened out... he's wised up and realised that every time he opens his mouth, he digs himself a deeper hole. And right now, the hole he's in is heading to China.

msknight

I'm actually on Musk's side on this

I'm a union person. I've been a rep and stood alongside people in arguments with management. To a fair degree I agree with him. If the people in a company feel they don't need a union and the company is treating people fairly, then crack on. The only time I've been needed as a rep is when one side or the other, have gone militant and mutual respect has broken down. The lords and peasants thing is a bad analogy, though. Even with unions present, people rise within good companies.

Unions from outside the company forcing Tesla (and their workers) to have a union when they don't want one, I disagree with. That a union can force other people outside a company, to cripple that company from outside... that's not right IMHO.

In this case, however, there does seem to be a union inside Tesla which is having issues and negotiations aren't working, which have triggered sympathy strikes. So I feel like I don't have the full facts here.

"Maverick: The Success Story Behind the World's Most Unusual Workplace" was a very interesting read on engagement and although they went full employee ownership, it proves that there are different ways of engaging employees and company operations.

Elon is the bakery owner swearing in the street about Yelp critics canceling him

msknight

Yes... Musk v a mirror. It's happening right now :-)

msknight

He has a robust advertising system...

...the advertising system just doesn't have a very robust owner :-D

msknight

Love the "God bless America" playing :-)

Meta sued by privacy group over pay up or click OK model

msknight

I may be wrong but...

The way I read the thing a while ago, Meta would not necessarily stop using someone's personal data for themselves; just stop it from being used by other parties.

On the one hand, that would make sense because even if they're not serving you ads they're still serving you groups you might like, subjects of interest, etc. but there is no oversight on what they will continue to use your data for.

Facing that kind of scenario, I'm not going to pony up.

SpaceX celebrates Starship launch as a success – even with the explosion

msknight

Re: I can't help but feel....

His rockets aren't, but the payloads he carries for his customers are.

If it's deemed to risky (I know... rockets are always risky) then his customers won't get insurance for their payloads, or it will cost them too many arms and legs on top of what it usually costs, and they won't fly with him.

It's not just a case of how deep Musk's paper pockets are.

msknight

Re: I can't help but feel....

Musk's wealth is mostly paper. If confidence is lost, then that will take a dent. With it, will go the funds for his various enterprises.

He is lighting an awful lot of money on fire. A chunk of it is other people's money. At some point, people will stop giving him money to use a cigar lighter fodder.

msknight

I can't help but feel....

...that investors will only put up with so much "progressive failure" from these blown-up launches before insurers stop carrying the risks and Musk's space ride ends up grounded.

More X subscription tiers could spell doom for free access as biz bleeds cash

msknight

Goodbye Twatter

It was nice tweeting you.

I called it Twatter as a joke for many years. Now the joke has become reality. Who knew.

Tesla goons will buy anything – including these $150 beers

msknight

The backpack looks reasonable...

...especially when put alongside the LTT backpack. On top of their regular backpack for $249.99 - https://www.lttstore.com/products/backpack - they now have a luxury backpack for $599.99 - https://www.lttstore.com/products/luxe-backpack

I'll admit to springing for the regular backpack (whish I hadn't) but the Luxe version is too bonkers even for me - "All Luxe Backpacks are built to order. Estimated ship date is 6 months after your order (~April 2024). Your card will be charged in full when you place your order." - I think not.

And... get this... "All items will ship together, so any other items in your cart will be held until your Luxe Backpack is produced & ready to ship."

Twitter further restricts free tier with option to limit replies to verified accounts

msknight

The Scammers are obviously using it

Who'd have thought that it made commercial sense to pay pennies to scam people for millions.

X confuses the masses by removing all details from links

msknight

Re: Meh !!!

He can stir the pot as much as he likes. ""Our algorithm tries to optimize time spent on X" ... I did have one browser tab permanently on twitter. I closed it yesterday and now I'm spending no time on twitter. Congratulations Musk.

The only reason that my time spent on X was increasing, was scrolling through posts trying to find anything that was interesting. The increasing amount of time finding nothing of interest equals... no time spent on the platform at all.

Microsoft introduces AI meddling to your files with Copilot in OneDrive

msknight

"Microsoft hopes these will help users find files and stay organized."

If it's anything like the search function in Teams, then it probably won't.

Mozilla's midlife crisis has taken it from web pioneer to Google's weird neighbor

msknight

It is not asleep at the wheel

From my dealings and discussions, it has more resemblance to a driver hyped up on coffee, intent on driving Firefox off the nearest cliff at high speed.

Switch to hit the fan as BT begins prep ahead of analog phone sunset

msknight

I want to know the equipment...

...because I have firewalls, etc. at home and I don't want one of their routers. But there seems to be very little reliable information on what they will install in people's homes and how to interface existing equipment.

The last thing I need is for someone to come in, install stuff and then be faced with extra cost to get different equipment or re-configure my home systems before I can talk on the internet or use my phone again. And who do I call to tell them that my mobile phone reception is rubbish? Hopefully more information will come in time, as I have a relative in Salisbury who is less than impressed with their so called success there.

No customer left behind, SAP's Klein tells users angered by cloud-only decision

msknight

He won't leave customers behind...

...they'll leave.

Meet Honda's latest electric vehicle: A rideable suitcase

msknight

I think that Honda's wheel that you sat on looked more fun to use - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u1ZB_rGFyeU - shame that they had to double the speed of the video to get to normal play which makes me wonder how fast or far those things could go.

Musk's latest X-periments: No more headlines, old posts vanish, block gets banned

msknight

Re: Accessibility?

Block is the feature that I use to kill adverts. When I get an ad in my feed, I just block the user where it came from.

This is probably more to do with making sure people see ads, because I'm not the only one doing this, by any means.

China floats strict screentime limits and content crimps for kids

msknight

Microsoft have been floating parental controls also...

...however they've been sending the notices to the e-mails of the accounts... in other words, the notices have probably gone to the kids instead of the parents. Microsoft probably don't care... box ticked from their point of view, and the regulator is probably clueless as to what's happened.

I have tried e-mailing a copy to el-reg but apparently my e-mails have been blocked, so, meh.

On the record: Apple bags patent for iDevice to play LPs

msknight

Re: If you have money to through at patents...

Grateful for a link to these records to learn a bit more. I'm obviously not using the right terms on google.

I have to admit I can't get my head around how such a record would work in terms of response to scratching. Even with the magnetic clutch on my SL, it's difficult to decently scratch a record. Imagining adding in the latency of AD conversion, processing, etc. has got the old brain cells wondering, "How do they do that?"

msknight

Re: If you have money to through at patents...

Well, they've got what looks suspiciously like an SL-1200 in that image. Wonder if they've got/need permissions to include artwork like that in their patent filings.

Our AI habit is making us less environmentally friendly, Google admits

msknight

Why don't they ask AI for the solution?

Seems sensible to me.

After all, it's supposed to solve problems... right?

Google's next big idea for browser security looks like another freedom grab to some

msknight

The pooch is there to be screwed

"If you make your customer your enemy, you have profoundly screwed the pooch." ... but that's exactly what they want to do. The pooch is there to be screwed out of as much money as possible. That's why they see nothing wrong with what they're doing.

The problem is those who offer up what they do, who don't want money in return, will be impacted because those who want the pooch to bend over and take it, are in the vast majority; and lets face it, nothing comes for free these days. Every web renewal I have to weigh up the cost of my personal web domains and wonder if I can afford to keep them running in these cash strapped times.

Almost all classic US video games 'critically endangered'

msknight

Re: Even if the old software/ROMs were available

I gave up on things as well. The most recent example was American McGee's Alice whereas the protection system prevents me running it on the OS because the patches made the old CD protection fail. There is a command that can be run on Windows 7, I think, but even then it was a pain and I worry that the CD hasn't got much life left in it.

I did write a physical letter to Andrew Wilson of EA games, to make patches available on their web site for people to play the older games without having to cope with the copy protection, but I didn't get a response.

If the manufacturers/studios are not engaged then you have to resort to hacking anyway. Either that or the "no CD" hacks which, themselves, are a risk.

I think we should just resign ourselves to the fact that many games are just going to die because even though the companies aren't making any money from these titles any more, they still don't want other people to continue to enjoy the legacy of games. They'd rather we continue to spend money on the new stuff.

Man who nearly killed physical media returns with $60,000 vinyl turntable

msknight

Re: That's a decent enough home office setup..

I had the debut carbon with an acrylic platter. Replaced the ortofon cartridge with an AT.

Now I've got an SL-1200 Mk7 and ported the cart over. £800-ish in silver from Richer Sounds. Enjoying it much more. Don't need the DJ stuff, but the non-DJ versions were going £1K+

Speakers, Castle Durham 900 bookshelf. Nice rich sound for not much cash on ebay. (£70 in 2016)

Mark Zuckerberg would kick Elon Musk's ass, experts say

msknight
Pint

Re: So who would win?

Have a beer. That made me chuckle.

Another redesign on the cards for iPhone as EU rules call for removable batteries

msknight
Joke

Re: As luck would have it....

I do wish Boris had a removable battery.

Users accuse Intuit of 'heavy-handed' support changes on QuickBooks for Desktop

msknight

Dale Carnegie would be proud.

Author of, "How To Win Friends and Influence People."

Absolute mad lad renders Doom in teletext

msknight

Bad Apple was done on Teletext.

Admittedly running on a BBC Micro for audio - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=22y_aiOx9CY

More UK councils caught by Capita's open AWS bucket blunder

msknight

"extensive steps to recover and secure the data."

Do they actually believe that anyone takes that seriously? Once data has gone... it's out the barn door, into the field, over the hills and looooong gone. Even John Wayne with the longest lasso known to the human race ain't going to be rounding that steer up.

Professor freezes student grades after ChatGPT claimed AI wrote their papers

msknight
Joke

Re: Self Referential

Here's a thought... why doesn't he just ask AI which students asked it to write their paper for them!

Search the web at least once every two years or risk losing your Google account

msknight

Re: They want your phone number

They've probably got it unofficially anyway. They just need to make it that you've officially given it to them, and then they'll abuse it even more than they already are.

msknight

Thin end of the wedge.

Once this starts, they'll increase the amount of use you've got to make of google services before they'll nix your account, to the point where you've got to use google search once a week. When that happens you might as well default your search back to google because it'll be too much hassle. They'll force people into a black and white decision in the end, and I'm willing to bet that if they push people that hard, they'll get an unpleasant surprise at just how many people jump ship.

We're already seeing this with the forced adverts on youtube to push people to take up a red subscription. I don't think that's working out quite as well as they'd hoped.

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