Posts by VBF

UK government rings the death knell for SIM farms

Re: Ban banning things

Yes Minister

Friends don't let friends use AI to chat

Re: Would it not be simpler ...

Best response so far!!!!

Last rites for the UK's Online Safety Bill, an idea too stupid to notice it's dead

Re: Computer MOT

No...just the government!

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

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

Indeed - Linn Audio - the very definition of "The King's New Clothes" fable

We regret to inform you Earth will not be destroyed by an asteroid within 1,000 years

Re: Bummer.

Yes....speaking as an outsider, I despair of the human race!

Amazon axes Halo gear as job cuts hit cloud segment

Absolutely!!!

Couldn't agree more!

In addition to what you said, I never store anything just on "the cloud". I always have disk backups. They may not be immediately accessible, but I know they're there!

Google Maps, search results to point women to actual abortion providers

IMO, anything that helps women CHOOSE where to go to get advice and / or abortion is to be lauded.

These laws preventing adult women from deciding what happens to their bodies are positively medieval - more suited to The Taliban than to modern USA!

ServiceNow ordered a year's worth of hardware to avoid supply chain hassles

Re: Thank You

Spot on. It's good to read of an organisation that PLANS ahead and ACTS ahead based on prevailing circumstances. Meanwhile those who didn't, go about wailing and whinging!

Microsoft exposes glue-free guts of the Surface Laptop Studio

Or marked as "spares kit"

Microsoft adds Buy Now, Pay Later financing option to Edge – and everyone hates it

They're 'aving a larf!!

The MS Link in the OP says "BNPL is currently available in Microsoft Edge Canary and Dev channels and will be available by default to all users in Microsoft Edge release 96. "

IMO BNPL in a browser is just ridiculous, intrusive and insecure.

However if it is just "available" as an Extension, then I see nothing wrong with letting idiots shoot themselves in the foot with it.

But to make it the default. No No No!!!

It goes on to say:

With BNPL in Edge, you can simply link your Microsoft account with your zip account with one click and then bypass sign in from Zip side. It can expedite the application process for you."

Now what could possibly go wrong with that?

Amazon tells folks it will stop accepting UK Visa credit cards via weird empty email

Re: My email wasn't blank...

Actually their card is excellent. I took one out a couple of months ago, set it as the default payment on Amazon and also linked it to my Google Pay. It has become my daily "go to" card.

It offers me an SMS if I spend over a certain amount (which I've chosen) and has the best website of all my cards, with all transactions so far appearing on the account within seconds of using it.

And to address what another poster said, I doubt Amazon can see all your transactions because, I called them to query something and because it was card-related, they transferred me to New Day who are the actual card issuer. They're also very helpful.

Got enterprise workstations and hope to run Windows 11? Survey says: You lose. Over half the gear's not fit for it

Re: new hardware requirements

"The difference is that "dropping support" only means that MS doesn't help you if you encounter problems with newer Windows 10 versions on old hardware, which is fair enough. Only with Windows 11 they decided to make this "support" a much bigger issue than it really is."

Well for most people MS Support is about as useful as a f***ing chocolate teapot anyway!!!! It’s the last place I go to find solutions – I’m more inclined to go to Windows 10 Forums / Windows 11 Forums or Tom's Hardware

One-size-fits-all chargers? What a great idea! Of course Apple would hate it

Re: Apple don't like it?

Now don't hold back....say what you think!

By the way......I agree with you - anything that upsets those arrogant over-priced muppets works for me too.

Senior IBMer hit with £290k demand from Big Blue in separate case as unfair dismissal claim rolls on

Re: An excellent look for a recruiter

Reputation? It's Broke Mate

7 years ago I was contracting alongside some IBM long-term "Staffers" in UK. They were all looking to leave without losing accrued benefits or being sued for some sort of breach of contract!

After having had several lunchtime chats 3 of them went contract - I was so glad to be able to offer them advice on that score.:-)

And going back about 15 years, i was on a contract "managed" by IBM...I thought then that I was so glad I didn't actually work for I'm a Big Muppet!!

Brit IT firms wound up by court order after fooling folk into paying for 'support' over fake computer errors

Re: Just this afternoon

Some time ago, one of these scumbags called me, so I "agreed " to do what it asked....it's giving me instructions and could presumably hear me typing away.

What it couldn't know was I was doing other work on my PC with no intention of going near it's site. Got it puzzling over why I wasn't appearing when after about 20mins I got bored so issued it with some racist and anatomically impossible suggestions and hung up!

Not big, not clever....but VERY satisfying :-)

Normally though, I just suggest it procreates elsewhere, and I block the number.

References to "it" and "its"? Well he / she and his / hers refer to humans...NOT these scumbags!

The server is down, money is not being made, and you want me to fix what?

Re: Tea

May I refer you to https://dilbert.com/

Rude awakening for O2 customers after network runs surprise test of emergency mobile alert system

Merely OOI..... I'm on Tesco Mobile and didn't receive the alert either. On checking my Settings I found that "Alert reminder" was OFF.

Words to strike fear into admins' hearts: One in five workers consider themselves 'digital experts' these days

Re: Buried the lede

Cruel, but necessary!

To have one floppy failure is unlucky. To have 20 implies evil magic or a very silly user

Re: if it works...

Get yer coat.......

Yep, you're totally unique: That one very special user and their very special problem

Re: Not too many decades ago ...

Me too.....I was in Field Service at the time and we made great sport of that! I even had one customer who asked if he should stock up on said spherical objects!

Signal boost: Secure chat app is wobbly at the moment. Not surprising after gaining 30m+ users in a week, though

What an odd thing to say! Have you not looked in the individual Apps Settings pages, or Androids's Settings > Sound?

I have unique notification tones on my Nokia 6.1 (Android 10) for each of:

2 different Gmail accounts (standard Mail app)

Calendar (standard Calendar app)

Incoming call (my chosen MP3 file)

SMS -Incoming Messages you can choose from about a dozen tones

Alarm sound

Singapore changes the rules and will now use COVID-19 contact-tracing app data in criminal cases

Re: UK

Which is why I've never installed the UK's Track and Trace app, and have blocked the phone number on my phones. The only "response to the pandemic" I want is the vaccination - hopefully in a few months now.

A decades-old lesson on not inserting Excel where it doesn't belong

Really?

Referring to "Yes, Minister from back in the day" (although the fictionalised events of the show have long been TRUMPED by reality).......

NHS COVID-19 app's first weekend: With fundamental testing flaw ironed out, bugs remaining are relatively trivial

Re: Call me Mr Cynical but...

Which is in fact a Usability Bug.

Remember that there are many "flavours" of bugs

Help! My printer won't print no matter how much I shout at it!

Tact and Diplomacy - not!

Actually, for awkward dozy tw@ts like that user, I used to say loudly, "I've replaced the paper, would you like me to show you how to do it next time?"

Which is why I moved into testing.....no ******* users to deal with!

Ah yes, Sony, that major player in the smartphone space, has a new flagship inbound: The Xperia 5 II

To say nothing of the paucity of commercial content!

Anti-5G-vaxx pressure group sues Zuckerberg, Facebook, fact checkers for daring to suggest it might be wrong

Re: @Mark 85 Tossing their toys about

Thank you - I'm glad somebody else spotted that!

Shocked I am. Shocked to find that underground bank-card-trading forums are full of liars, cheats, small-time grifters

Ronnie Barker, in "Porridge" "I don't quite know how to put this, gentlemen, but there is a thief among us."

Cabinet Office takes over control of UK government data: Mundane machinery or Machiavellian manoeuvrings?

Re: Breeding unicorns

Yes, Minister

Analogue radio given 10-year stay of execution as the UK U-turns on DAB digital future

Not to try and outdo you, but I use analogue (FM) and DAB in the car, digital (via broadband) and FM at home (Quad FM4) and often listen to BBC radio off the TV iPlayer app.

DAB is great in the car for the sheer quantity of stations but other than that, the above works for me

Winter is coming, and with it the UK's COVID-19 contact-tracing app – though health minister says it's not a priority

Re: Well that aged well

If ever there was a time to remember the saying "Lies, Dammed Lies and Statistics" it has been this virus outbreak. Not helped by various media HAVING to get their views out first WITHOUT BL***Y CHECKING!!!!

Nokia's reboot of the 5310 is a blissfully dumb phone that will lug some mp3s about just fine

Re: Would this be a good 'phone to have ...

Add Thailand to your list - since about 2016, I think

Petition asking Microsoft to open-source Windows 7 sails past 7,777-signature goal

Re: This is about as deluded..

Well said.

IMO Vegans have the absolute right to avoid meat, milk etc.

I as an omnivore have the absolute right to carry on eating what I like.

I also benefit from the Vegans, as I can CHOOSE the occasional vegetarian / vegan meal.

Had a delicious lentil burger last week, yet today I fancy some chicken.

I call that a "win-win" situation.

Remember that Sonos speaker you bought a few years back that works perfectly? It's about to be screwed for... reasons

Re: Why indeed...

Excuse my "one-downmanship" but my daily use speakers are a venerable pair of Spendor BC1 BBC monitors. 48 year old, infinite baffle design bought second-hand for £160 in 1971.

As @adrianww said (or implied) they leave modern speakers in the dust. When I went to audition a CD player, the Audio shop had to set up a pair of £5000 speakers to get to the quality required - and they offered to buy my Splendors from me!

Change is not always progress, especially considering that the design of the human ear is analogue and thousands of years old!

Up in the heir: Inheritors enduring huge delays after botched migration at UK probate service

And yet in 2013, when I was Executor to my late Mother's estate, the whole process took less than 6 weeks from application to Grant of Probate being issued.

Cali Right-to-Repair law dropped, cracks screen, has to be taken to authorized repair shop

I cannot believe......

I cannot believe that this is a legal issue.

Once an item is outside its warranty..if I own it and I can fix it I <expletive> well will!!!

It's when I cannot fix it and nobody else other than the manufacturer is (supposedly) allowed to that you have a problem.

But then...... that's what YouTube videos are for :-)

It's an Easter Jesus miracle: MS Paint back from the dead (ish) and in Windows 10 'for now'

Re: "34-year-old program"

Agree... also that "If it ain't broke, don't fix it" was long ago replaced by "We haven't tinkered with this for a while...let's "improve" it"

As a retired-software tester, an all too frequent scenario.

FYI: Get ready for face scans on leaving the US because 1.2% of visitors overstayed their visas

Sort of related......

In Thailand, when you enter, leave, or visit Immigration to extend a Visa, your photograph is taken and PRESUMABLY stored somewhere for future use.

They have been doing this for about 10 years so nothing new.....

UK.gov withdraws life support from flagship digital identity system

I tried to use this awful verify system to get a Pension forecast. The amount of personal information shared with people i don't trust put me right off.

Then I realised that I could phone the DWP and after identifying myself, they would POST (remember that?) a forecast.

To me, the only other use for this verify was to log on to HMRC, and my accountant does that for me so I thought "stuff it!"

As the DVLC also used it, I will be OK until 2025 when my driving licence expires! :-)

UK chip and PIN readers fall ill: Don't switch off that terminal!

Re: Cash on the barrel head

THAT is the garage's problem! Offer them cash, legal currency, and if they don't take it, leave, telling them to note your number - if they ask for your name & address, let them have it, making clear that you're OFFERING to pay legally - not your fault if they don't wish to accept it!

The Register's 2018 homepage redesign: What's going on now?

Re: Lipstick on a pig

Make it 3 - seems like much fuss about very little.

Almost 1 in 3 Brits think they lack computer skills to do their jobs well

That's OK - they become IT Managers!

IBM bans all removable storage, for all staff, everywhere

Re: Terminology?

Yikes! I remember those and the drives they went into. Hateful damn things!

Windows Fall Creators Update is here: What do you want first – bad news or good news?

Re: Start menu

I''m still using the XP Theme files on W10 original Creators Update. I used them on W7 and apart from minor tweaking, they are very satisfactory...IMO!

Emirates and Turkish Airlines lift laptop ban on US-bound flights

To be strictly accurate, the UK never banned devices on Emirates - just Turkish Airlines

America 'will ban carry-on laptops on flights from UK, Europe to US'

As i told an American fairly recently - if I'm going to visit a 3rd world country, I think I'll stick to developing ones...

Microsoft puts Windows Updates on a diet with 'differential downloads'

Re: My approach to Windows updates

You can, as you say. But that doesn't help if the PC happens to be running W10 Home and is connected by Ethernet. The Group Policies aren't available in Home so you're forced to play with the Registry which is not something the average Home user would care to try!

Vodafone rapped with RECORD £4.6m fine for failing customers

Re: As of two weeks ago

And in fact the standard DD agreement in the UK https://gocardless.com/guides/posts/dd-guarantee-in-plain-english/ puts the consumer in complete control UNLIKE a continuing charge (or whatever it's called) on a Credit Card! Now that is a pain to cancel!! With a DD as Blotto says, you either call your bank or use the online service if you have one. Done it several times over the years.

LinkedIn sues 100 information scrapers after technical safeguard fail

Re: If I wanted a job at any company

I agree with that one. I've got a headline on my LI profile saying in UPPER CASE "NO AGENCIES PLEASE" and the emails continue to trickle in. I now reply with a standard polite request to remove me from their database and a not-so polite threat to invoke the DP act if they don't. Having said that, I do still allow some of the Group updates from LI and I have, over the years made some useful contacts - about 10% of all the actual contacts!

London's Met Police has missed the Windows XP escape deadline

Re: Government investment in the Police

At last - someone who tells it like it is!

"Some kids are just little shits. End of."

You forgot to add that some parents ought to take their responsibilities seriously too!