Posts by 9Rune5

Microsoft ships .NET 10 LTS and Visual Studio 2026, Copilot everywhere

Re: Visual Studio 2013 fast rabbit vs 2026 slow dog

Hmm.... 2013?

Well, for one thing there are some tasks that you simply cannot do. E.g. if you have a server process that is leaking memory. You capture a process dump at startup and one a little later when the leak is noticeable. Since VS2013 is not 64-bit, you had some rather unfortunate limitations if my memory serves me right.

There is also the question of what .net SDKs are supported. The new (and far superior) .csproj project file structure also requires a newer VS.

And although co-pilot can be likened to having a junior dev on the team, sometimes that can be enough. Just make sure you give it exact instructions and spend time reviewing the work. Or just use co-pilot as a more advanced way of looking up intricate problems on stack overflow. Or if you sometimes use a dev language you are not intimately familiar with, it is an excellent way to get started on a piece of code.

As for "fast rabbit", I think 2013 still had problems handling solutions that spanned 100+ projects. That is something that was addressed in 2016 I think. But there certainly is no "the older VS you have, the faster performance you can expect" correlation.

For smaller jobs (e.g. working on a bicep-project) I usually defer to VSCode.

It is difficult to give you a better answer, because there has never been much I missed from older iterations of VS.

Developer puts Windows 7 on a crash diet, drops it to down to 69 MB

Re: QNX 1.44MB floppy disk demo

One of the war stories I tell colleagues who are fresh out of school is when I was a beta tester for QNX's DHCP client. Beta? More like an alpha. They were a bit surprised when I told them their client did not handle a DHCP server that was in charge of a subnet that spanned an entire class A network. IIRC I received a private build straight from one of the developers.

Happy days.

These days I have to nudge some poor support engineer for weeks to troubleshoot an issue, and then wait another two months for Azure engineers to deploy a fix. And indeed, the latest fix is related to their internal DNS service. And we pay big bucks for the privilege of testing their stuff.

Chamber of Commerce sues over Trump's $100K H-1B paywall

His threats to bring countries to their knees if they don't do as he demands is nothing short of terrorism.

A little context...

So, back in Trump's first administration he begged and pleaded with NATO "allies" asking them to increase their military spending. He was ignored by most. Putin took that as yet another sign of NATO weakness and simply invaded a neighboring country. _That_ was on NATO, not Trump. Let us not forget the whole Nordstream-2 kerfuffle. Trump (as well as Obama) told Europe it was moronic to grow dependent on Russia. Again he was blatantly ignored. And again Putin interpreted the lack of action as a show of a major weakness (because that is what it was). All our energy policies lead us to where we are today. Just look at the nincompoops who still, to this day, argue against nuclear energy. Even here in a forum where most participants have deep technological knowledge.

Now enter Trump v2. Now we in Europe get to experience the fallback of the lying bastards and traitors we have elected for years. It is as Kathryn Porter pointed out in her talk with Triggernometry: We elect history majors. Not people with a technology background.

The sad truth: We need someone like Trump.

Microsoft revives DOS-era Edit in a modern shell

Re: "superseded Edlin"

If the neighbors can't hear you type, then you are doing it wrong.

Nvidia paid $1M for Mar-a-Lago meal, US later scrapped AI chip export crackdown

delay bringing manuf home ?

What manufacturing? I thought nVidia used TSMC as their fab?

TSMC are in the process of setting up production in the US and it will be interesting to observe if there is more (or less) government red tape with the current administration. Both Intel and TSMC were complaining recently.

Apple has locked me in the same monopolistic cage Microsoft's built for Windows 10 users

Sustainability

I found it amusing that at least the xbox division, last year, promoted 'sustainability'.

Their latest product features a SSD (great!) where the first block contains a serial number that is unique to your xbox (not so great). In fact, that serial number is not really serial at all. It is a random number that gets randomized again every time your xbox receives a firmware update.

So when (not if) your xbox' SSD dies, unless you happened to back it up after the last firmware update, you cannot replace it unless you manage to read that first block of data.

And then there is, as the author mentioned, the whole Win10 debacle. I have a laptop with a 4k UHD touch capable monitor, 32GB memory and a half-decent SSD. But, its CPU is one generation too old, so now, according to MS, it is garbage.

Sustainability must mean something else in the world of marketing.

Elon Musk's galactic ego sows chaos in European politics

Støre

Norway's PM is not the sharpest knife in the drawer.

In Norway we've suffered greatly because of the interconnects we built to Germany among others. The price of electricity has skyrocketed after Germany shut down their nukes. When we built the cables nobody believed anybody in their right mind would go through with something so foolish as shutting down fully workable nuclear power plants.

Unfortunately, the politicians in Germany are every bit as incapable as most of the Norwegian ones.

Soon one of the cables to Denmark will be retired and currently there is a debate about building a replacement. I doubt the voters in Norway will stand for it.

I get the criticism. At the same time: Musk is pointing out the bloody obvious. Many of the European countries are being systematically sabotaged from the top.

Mr Intel leaving Intel is not a great sign... for Intel

Re: Replicant Gelsinger

mild objection on the GPUs

The current GPU effort is a fresh reboot that started from scratch in recent years. I suspect the point being that if they had kept the original effort going, they'd be further ahead now.

That said, I saw the GN presentation yesterday and will watch the upcoming benchmarks with interest. Intel's memory configuration supposedly helps against 3060 (and 3080?) in the new Indiana Jones game. It is nice to finally see some competition in the "low" budget tier again.

Your air fryer might be snitching on you to China

I look forward to the day when these devices become so smart that the mere threat of turning them off (and not on again) will make them behave.

Microsoft accused of 'greenwashing' as AI used in fossil fuel exploration

Re: Sigh....

No you didn't give up flying. There are more planes in the air now than prior to the pandemic. Even if you really did what you're saying, you're the exception not the rule.

Buy locally produced food wherever possible

And can we assume those were grown without pesticides and fertilizers? Which means more of the crop is lost to locusts and so you have to use more land to grow that food?

Fuelled by green leccy

Sure.

Greta campaigned against wind turbines in Norway a couple of years ago. Looking at the output of that wind turbine park, it would take more than 700 turbines to match the annual output of a single reactor (Forsmark-1 is the one I calculate with). Wind isn't what it is cranked up to be.

Bottom line: Anyone who isn't campaigning for nuclear energy is just blowing wind. Nuclear is the only technology that the fossil fuel industry fear.

Cloud repatriation officially a trend... for specific workloads

I have questions

Although I love big iron and the noise coming from angry fans venting dozens of sweating CPUs stuck inside racks filling a big room, there is one thing that keeps me from yearning back to on-premise compute.

Namely: software infrastructure. As a developer I find myself having access to nice bits like e.g. a place to store my secrets, not that I have many secrets now, because these days my services have their own service account (or managed identity) with its own finely-grained roles defined. I can easily scale up (or down) as needed. My database instance is always running the latest version; no more discussions on whether or not to upgrade a 6 year old DBMS that receives a big fat nought in upgrades. My cloud DBMS can do a point in time recovery since someone knows how to do proper backups of its transaction logs.

I'm guessing larger organizations have people who knows how to do all of this on-premise (and do it well).

Russian court fines Google $20,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000

Putin waited until the useful idiot was out of power because he recognized Biden as a competent opponent?

Okay. That is one way of interpreting current events.

Meanwhile, go and edit https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nord_Stream_2. Currently that wikipedia article strongly hints at neglect at the hands of the BIden administration. By lifting nordstream sanctions they signalled weakness to Putin and provided him more leverage against Germany. I am confident you can find a better framing for that story.

Re: One good sanction deserves another

Why does there have to be a reason?

"Hey, we're at war with our neighbor. You can trade with them, or you can trade with us, but not both."

Replying with the question "Why?" is a possibility. I'm not sure how productive that question is.

One could argue that such sanctions might encourage the decision makers to end the conflict sooner and thus save countless lives. But there really does not have to be any reason other than "because".

No matter what the reply is, you won't be as happy as you were prior to the ultimatum.

Re: One good sanction deserves another

Hamas, backed by the population in Gaza, started a war.

They should not have done that.

If the population in Gaza want to end the war, they need to get rid of Hamas. At the moment it seems they still demand that Israel capitulates and cease existing as a nation. So continued war seems inevitable. (nobody on the outside wants war, but have you seen anyone offer any alternative other than "let us agree to a ceasefire and repeat Oct 7th in 15 years when Hamas have had a chance to rebuild"?)

But certainly, if e.g. an airstrike turns out to have specifically targeted civilians (rather than a bunch of Hamas terrorists hiding behind a bunch of civilians), take the responsible people off to Hague.

If you compare to e.g. WWII, many cities in Germany were flattened (with civilians buried underneath), the country disarmed and split in half for several decades. War isn't pretty, and few countries would accept having Hamas as neighbors.

WHO-backed meta-study finds no evidence that cellphone radiation causes brain cancer

Re: Dr WHO

There is a difference between what works for you when you are the only person doing it. If the majority followed your pattern, things might've turned out differently.

Usually in these type of discussions someone will mention Sweden. Sweden had no official lockdown, but... I live in Sweden. People kept their distance. When Norway closed their borders, the local shopping center here almost shut down. There were maybe a dozen cars in the parking lot that on a normal day would've been packed full (thousands of cars). In schools they made sure kids would wash their hands with alcohol before meals. Of course that had an impact. My kids have never been that healthy, nor me for that matter. In the big cities restaurants suffered because officials advised people to stay home. People with a cough were told to stay home from work. Heck, perfectly healthy people were encouraged to work from home if at all practically possible.

If my observation is correct, namely that other diseases were put on a hiatus, would that not also apply to covid-19? (once schools around here relaxed a bit we experienced a return of the usual diseases so common in the past)

It was claimed that emergency rooms in the beginning struggled to map out a good way to treat covid-patients. Later it was claimed that a covid-patient would occupy a bed for much longer than other similar respiratory diseases. If that is true, it made sense to try to slow the spread down as much as possible.

Gelsinger opens up about Intel troubles amid talk of possible split

Re: The sting in the Tail

I only now realized ppl can google "hhgttg" to find the source of your reference. Did google hard code that initialism, or did the algorithm figure it out on its own?

Gamers who find Ryzen 9000s disappointingly slow are testing it wrong, says AMD

Re: I'm presuming this won't arrive for Windows 10

Is it unreasonable these days to expect a newer processor to run faster, regardless of operating system?

If I understood Wendell (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0eY34dwpioQ) correctly, not all cores perform the same. When running a game, you want to prioritize which cores do what.

It feels iffy... If a game employs a dozen threads, how can you predict that two of the threads do most of the grunt work and should run on your two best performing cores..?

The chaotic results (some games run faster on X, others do the opposite) suggests that there is no generic way of doing this. Maybe each game ends up with a manifest that declares what optimizations are expected. (sigh)

I suspect the casual gamer will not be affected (they'll want the UHD eye candy). At least nobody claims these particular CPUs are slowly grilling themselves.

Bottom line, for me, I think I'd be totally fine with one of the 9000-series Ryzens. I'd like some more cores than what I have in my 2700X, but it will all be good.

CrowdStrike hires outside security outfits to review troubled Falcon code

Wrong experts

CrowdStrike hires outside security outfits to review troubled Falcon code

That is very vague.

They need a bunch of highly experienced kernel driver developers to sort out their mess. A computer that doesn't boot is fairly secure and mission accomplished I guess.

Hey Microsoft – what ever happened to 'Developers, developers, developers'?

Re: Code signing certificates

For bigger organizations where you have people dedicated to running their own iron, sure.

Most developers I suspect do not find themselves in such places. In the past we've certainly seen some big companies loose track of their certs. So even the big ones aren't heeding your sensible advice.

The cloud is a much more logical answer. With plugins from the guys who issued these certs in the first place, presumably the cert resides on devices akin to the one you mentioned.

(And... The vendor I dealt with did not offer a device like you mentioned. They offered a specialized USB device that I also see advertised by other bastauhm...vendors. So... what the h-ck are you even talking about? Did you even see all the references to _code signing certificates_? Have you compared any prices?)

Re: Code signing certificates

Usually implemented on a USB stick, no?

In my case, with a build server hosted in a VM, I had to talk my way around an irate sysadmin who did not savour the idea of inserting a USB stick up in the rear of one of the VM hosts he had in a cluster. As I understood it "my" VM was taken out of the cluster because of this.

AFAICT the hw approach is untenable. The documentation was verbose but not very informative (meaning it was downright wrong in some aspects). The vendor we chose may be exceptionally bad, but I would not bet on it.

Re: Longevity

Your pipeline is considered code.

E.g. github recently deprecated Node v16 upon which many actions were based. So, when I mentioned third-party libraries that must be updated, this certainly include github actions. It has been a while since I used Azure DevOps, but GH workflow is based on the same engine, so I'm guessing they've faced similar issues. In any case, if you find yourself having used a github action from an obscure source, there's a chance your pipeline would be pestered with github warnings until you've replaced or updated that action.

And the longer you go without updating something, the more painful it will be to figure out the changes needed. Whether that 'something' is a javascript UI framework or a github workflow... There will be some pain involved.

Longevity

A bit difficult to predict what will happen tomorrow, but I will offer the following observation: The stuff I developed for AKS (Azure Kubernetes) three years ago is probably still running without much adoption. The AKS environment requires updates (not much work on your part, but may incur a few minutes of downtime), but mostly it runs. I can go back to those projects and deploy them as Azure Container Apps without much (if any) modification.

Some caveats:

- Third-party libraries require regular updates. GitHub has its dependabot service that will scan your source code and post pull requests whenever this happens.

- Yes, some packages are sometimes made obsolete. E.g. .net apps are now supposed to use OpenTelemetry with Application Insights. The old way is still supported, but it is a good idea to make the transition to OT now rather than later.

But no, you cannot deploy a public service and leave it running for a few years unattended. At the very least you need the security updates. That is regardless of what ecosystem you're using. (maybe a 'hellorld' app would be able to do that, but anything with any complexity will require some attention)

Code signing certificates

I believe you're talking about code signing certs.

There was a change a few years back. It used to be that you could just buy a code-signing certificate from a trusted third-party and sign your executables with that.

Today they do not trust us with storing the private key safely. Some of us would simply check it into our source repositories (I once joined a team that used to do that) or keep it around in various places (the build computer being one of them). I am sure you've seen stories of CSCs escaping into the wild. Those incidents affects the entire ecosystem.

One approach is to keep what is essentially the private key on a USB stick. Some vendors offer this together with some crappy software that guard the key. One solution I tried didn't seem to work, until we realized that using remote desktop into the VM where the USB was plugged in made the key appear dead. We had to use remote access software provided by the VM vendor which was a little bit closer to the metal I suppose. (by the time I figured that bit out, the nimcompoop who had ordered this key had forgotten the password and I couldn't proceed)

The best approach is to keep your build pipeline online. E.g. Azure DevOps have third-party tie-ins that will manage the private key for you. I have not had a chance to try this myself, but it looks like the path of least resistance. There are many, many advantages to not having to mess with your own build server -- I do not want to go back.

HTH.

No, really, please ban Chinese DJI drones from America's skies, senators are urged

Doesn't have to be video. A few stills might suffice for all we know.

We would not know if 10% of the drones and 10% of the Huawei towers have had unofficial modifications done to them.

What we do know is that China is not a close ally, nor are they keen on promoting democracy.

CrowdStrike's Falcon Sensor also linked to Linux kernel panics and crashes

Re: Gluttons for punishment

TFA says that the software has caused crashes in Linux previously, not that this latest issue hit Linux too.

If you are trying to say that Linus has since implemented kernel changes that would protect the kernel from whatever CrowdStrike did to it back then, then _maybe_ you have a point.

Microsoft, over a decade ago, tried to limit the AV vendors so that the kernel could be protected better. Unfortunately the EU said 'njet'. That implies it would have been possible to protect against this. I.e. Linux could've been made immune.

Many of us would love a sturdier kernel. Unfortunately, none of what you've said so far helps promote Linux over Windows.

Random thought of the day: If you're running, say, an airport with hundreds of informational terminals, do you have to run CrowdStrike on _all_ of them? I'm thinking a 50-50 split might make sense, that way half the machines might stay up in case of a cyber attack or in case a botched update rolls your way.

Microsoft tries to clear the air with mountains of CO₂ credits

Re: Greenpeace should be ignored

I doubt heat from boiling water is an issue in the greater scheme of things.

But here is what is going to happen with your approach:

1) wind turbines and solar will fail (can't run the grid on wind and solar exclusively)

2) fossil driven plants will remain (and they too boil water btw)

Greenpeace should be ignored

Any environmentalist who is a vocal opponent of building new nuclear power plants should be completely ignored at this point. They are part of the problem, not the solution.

Speed limiters arrive for all new cars in the European Union

Re: Good

in fact I often find that I'm going 1mph below the speed limit

Do you realize that your speedometer is showing at least 1 mph too much? So if it shows 49 mph you are driving at no more than 48 mph.

In that case: You are a very slow person and keeping up traffic behind you. Please let them pass.

Founder of Indian ride-share biz Ola calls for 70-hour work week

Re: Dude's not wrong... (except where he is)

How many of those 20 hours per day are spent shagging his secretary?

I strongly suspect hours spent per day is not the only thing that separates his work regime from that of others.

Devs claim Apple is banning VPNs in Russia 'more effectively' than Putin

Move the store?

Why don't they just move their store?

I think Russians should be able to use their iPhones AND they should be able to install VPNs. AND iPhones should gradually provide more and more regime-unfriendly news.

I sort of assumed that had been done a long time ago.

Mozilla is trying to push me out because I have cancer, CPO says in bombshell lawsuit

Good guy vs assholes

I once met Steve back when he was still a developer for Borland. He struck me as a stand-up guy and very talented. He co-authored the "Delphi developers guide' together with Xavier Pacheco (another great guy).

Every story has two sides. Except this one. Go get them Steve!

Destroying offshore wind farms is top priority for Trump if he returns to presidency

Re: Will Trump bring back the coal-powered car?

loony right; who have also been conditioned to hate nuclear as it reduces the need for coal and oil

I've never spoken to anyone one the right who've expressed misgivings about nuclear. If anything I've only spotted enthusiasm. Same with climate change sceptics. Many of the sceptics embrace nuclear energy.

If the left were truly concerned about actually solving climate change, they would meet nothing but open doors if they suggest nuclear power.

It is a very obvious solution.

Blue screen of death or Eurovision's Windows95man performance – what's less annoying?

Re: Weird Al's interpretation was better.

That is a better song, but I don't believe it is Weird Al's creation. Unless you meant "Weird AI" (capital I).

Technical support

Unfortunately, for some viewers, Eurovision this year did not come with a please-please-oh-god-make-it-stop button.

Did you try turning it off and then off again?

Exchange Server SE set to debut just before 2019 version breathes its last

Re: Costs

Are we exclusively looking at licensing costs now?

I guess on-prem email won't be worth it if you have to hire another pfy.

I can fix this PC, boss, but I’ll need to play games for hours to do it

Re: I would ask for your opinion...

If the memory upgrade entailed filling up more banks then you often will not be able to go full speed.

Memtest86+ should be able to detect problems.

BOFH: The new Boss, Aiman, is suspiciously good – for now

Re: I need a boss like that ...

surely 'bring someone else's child into work' day is fiction...

Some years ago, a Norwegian politician brought his underage lover along to a dinner with the prime minister. The minor was not a relative.

Woz calls out US lawmakers for TikTok ban: 'I don’t like the hypocrisy'

Re: It's a strawman tangent to the real isssues

like what ?

Our opinions are assigned to us. E.g. You may believe that you dislike a particular person and not realize it is because the news have constantly pushed you to do just that.

As for TikTok vs Facebook: You may disagree with Zuckerberg on some political questions, but Zuckerberg is playing on the same team. He just believes there is a different way to achieve the same thing you want to achieve. (or you may even agree with Z's political pontifications, but for the context of this question let us assume you do have disagreements with him)

The owner of TikTok is essentially the Chinese government. They can easily control the content TikTok users are presented with. Unlike Zuckerberg, the Chinese government is not playing on the same team as us. They do not want what is best for us. They are not our friends. The Chinese people are lovely, but their government have issues.

Countries that value democracy and liberty are constantly challenged by dictatorships. Putin attacked a neighbor that was moving towards liberalism. Ukraine wanted to join the EU and maybe NATO. What was Putin's response? He says he wants to cleanse Ukraine of nazis. Quick question: Where do we expect to find the biggest concentration of nazis, Russia or Ukraine?

Imagine TikTok owned by Putin. That would be great fun, wouldn't it? How about TikTok being owned by someone friendly to Putin?

Grab a helmet because retired ISS batteries are hurtling back to Earth

Re: From the heavens above

Went yesterday with wifey and our two sons (7 and 9).

They all wanted cheeseburgers.

"You don't like melted cheese mixed in with your food" is what I told them (while showing pictures of other stuff available for purchase).

Of course they didn't listen. And of course they gave up after a single bite.

I doubt McD will be on our map in the foreseeable future. (my burger was okayish: Dry meat, spongy flavorless bread and no other taste than the small piece of sugared cucumber-from-a-jar hiding inside there somewhere)

Windows 11 users herded toward 23H2 via automatic upgrade

Re: Herded?

So we're talking about a cut-off in about 2008. Is that it?

Not quite.

https://www.intel.com/content/www/us/en/products/sku/97129/intel-core-i77700k-processor-8m-cache-up-to-4-50-ghz/specifications.html

Launch date: Q1'17

End of servicing updates: March 31, 2024

The i7700k It isn't on the list of supported processors: https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/windows-hardware/design/minimum/supported/windows-11-supported-intel-processors

One of my "old" laptops (my oldest son inherited it) has this CPU IIRC. That laptop comes with 32GB memory and a 4k OLED display with touch support. It does not feel "old" (even has a better monitor than the latest offering from DELL), yet cannot upgrade to WIn11 through normal means. Its motherboard supports TPM v2. It was one of the more expensive CPUs on offer when the laptop was made.

My *guess* is that the CPUs in question are meltdowned and spectred from here to oblivion so MS simply stopped bothering with them. But AFAIK there are no official word on this. It just looks like an asshole thing to do. While googling now I came across one mention that certain systems had a significant higher propensity for BSODs (and were thus blacklisted by Win11), but I doubt that explains why this particular CPU was dropped.

With the current awareness surrounding e-waste and given just how capable many of these systems are, it is a little bit disappointing. And I say that as a Windows NT user for the past 30+ years. :)

(Oh, I did not downvote you. I agree with most of the stuff you said, and your questions were relevant, but your assumptions were perhaps a tad off)

Rice isn't nice for drying your iPhone, according to Apple

Re: COULD ALLOW SMALL PARTICLES OF RICE TO DAMAGE YOUR IPHONE

I always assumed that using the dishwasher for cleaning electronics implied not using any detergents?

Or at the very least: If you are worried the detergents may not wash out completely, then reduce the quantity of such.

That said, my dishwasher has a separate compartment for salt. The idea is that the salt will soften the water. I'm thinking that might cause problems with PCBs, so I usually resort to alcohol instead.

And as a non-smoker, my kit doesn't get all that gunky to begin with. A good blowjob is usually enough.

Space nukes: The unbelievably bad idea that's exactly that ... unbelievable

Re: "illegal under international law"

The Democrats are currently in the process of trying to make sure an ex-President and Presidential candidate either dies in prison, or is bankrupted. You don't see any hypocrisy?

There is a difference between the odd misstep and a systematic oppression of opposition in what is essentially a dictatorship.

Here you are free to spew your crap, you wouldn't be able to criticize Putin openly in Russia for long.

Re: That was my thought, too.

But it wasn't just me that interepreted his comments that way.

Cognitive dissonance much?

Leave the word salad in the fridge next time, don't flaunt it on the interwebs.

Forgetting the history of Unix is coding us into a corner

Re: We need a new Unix

COM objects can live in-process. They can also live on a different host...

In windows, even .exe is really a .dll albeit with a main() entrypoint somewhere.

European Court of Human Rights declares backdoored encryption is illegal

Illegal invasions

following its illegal invasion of Ukraine

Is that a thing?

Don't get me wrong, I am looking forward to the day when Putin is no longer in charge and I certainly don't like what happened, but 'illegal'? Someone should call the police..?

X accused of taking money from terrorists by selling checkmarks to US enemies

Re: Another fine example

Back before Xitler's takeover, Twitter walked a very fine line just allowing these people to have accounts, but since they weren't taking money from them they were just barely on the right side of the law.

Yes, that was mentioned in the article, and it indicates that among those thousands of people fired there weren't anyone working on compliance.

A more serious issue is that the media are treating many of the individuals mentioned as freedom fighters. At least in my country that happens and I assume similar patterns can be observed elsewhere.

HP CEO pay for 2023 = 270,315 printer cartridges

Depressing

When I was a young lad, HP had some amazing kit. Their laser printers were best-in-class (and for a while the only brand I was aware of), they had cool engineering stuff and even their laptops were cool. I'm still a satisfied owner of the HP-48SX (sadly underused these days, but still loved) calculator.

I'm not aware of any HP products that I'd want. I would certainly be a happy camper if one of Keysight's oscilloscopes was to be found under my Christmas tree, but that is now a Keysight product, not HP. HP seems to be reduced to selling overpriced ink and is now largely a company that can be swapped out with any Chinese garbage without anyone caring.

But maybe paying their CEO that much mulah will bring back interesting products again. Stranger things have happened.

The 'nothing-happened' Y2K bug – how the IT industry worked overtime to save world's computers

During cold snaps I regularly throw all my kit out in the snow to clean off any millennium bugs that may have snuck into my non-airgapped kit during the summer.

Never failed me yet.