Posts by HarryBl

EE invites mobile users to live life in the 5G Fast Lane – for a price

Cory Doctorow wrote a book about this kind of stunt...

Europe slaps AliExpress with €550 million fine for selling dodgy goods

I've been buying stuff from Aliexpress since they first started. They used to be a bit fly by night but I've never had any major problems with them.

They used to take a month to deliver but that's improved enormously. I ordered some bits and bobs on the 14th which arrived yesterday (20th).

Re: Protecting the EU sellers.

If you're in the UK and buy anything from Aliexpress (or Banggood) VAT is included in the price unless the order is over £135. If it is over £135 you have to sort the VAT out with the carrier yourself.

End of era as the BBC switches off Radio 4 Long Wave service

Thomson will sell them a lovely new LW transmitter with not one of those nasty valves in sight...

https://www.mythomson.com/product/long-medium-wave-transmitter-5166-4

Utah tells porn sites to take the P out of VPNs, and it's their fault that they can't

Re: The usual snide jab

Whereas in China you can walk into a hospital, pay~$70 and walk out a couple of hours later with the results of your MRI in your hand.

Given the choice between good healthcare or calling somebody childish names...

Re: The usual snide jab

"In a free nation, you are not entitled to for other people to pay for you use of someone else labor!"

Has anybody ever explained insurance to you?

Years after UK Post Office scandal broke, Accenture and OneView Commerce bag contract to replace Horizon

Re: It is just hard for me to believe

At the moment the Post Office has around 11,600 outlets.

Sick and wrong: Ontario auditors find doctors' AI note takers routinely blow basic facts

A long time ago (the 90s) I used to work for a small outfit that developed systems for GP surgeries.

Part of the system used a HP scanner to scan hospital letters into patient records as a jpg file.

We were thinking about developing a scan to text facility for it until one of our GP customers pointed out that the simple error of scanning 'hypo' as 'hyper' could have catastrophic consequences so we decided to stick with jpg files.

Sometimes it's best not to be too clever.

Opsec oopsie: Dutch navy frigate location outed by mailing it a Bluetooth tracker

I thought Bluetooth only had a range of a couple of hundred feet at most.

Taiwan gets chippy about US request it shifts manufacturing

Re: Do you feel lucky?

The Taiwan Strait is notorious for bad weather. Taiwan has no suitable landing beaches on the easy coast and very few on the west coast.

It would be very difficult for China to land a sufficiently large fighting force and logistical support to take on the well prepared Taiwanese.

Techie ended vendor/client blame game by treating managers like toddlers

We used to fit small 10base2 networks into GP surgeries.

We had one Doc who wanted the network extending to another room. We quoted him for an extra socket but he said it was too expensive.

We got a call from him a couple of Monday mornings later saying his network was down.

I visited to find that he'd extended the network himself with some 75 ohm TV antenna cable and a lack of termination.

Or the surgery where the network was terminated at the wall (no PC in the room) and babies were fascinated by the shiny little chrome button that they often removed it from the socket.

China just two years behind USA on chip design, says White House tech Czar

“I think it is a valid policy objective to stop our leading-edge semiconductors going to China,"

That's always assuming that depriving them of last year's model of American chips doesn't encourage them to design their own.

They seem to think that China is stuck in the past and will always remain there.

The Nature Research Leaders survey for 2024 has Harvard at number 1 and MIT at number 10. The 8 other top research universities in the world are all Chinese.

https://www.nature.com/nature-index/research-leaders/2024/institution/academic/all/global

Europe slams online tat bazaar AliExpress for dodging obligation to stop dodgy traders

Aliexpress (and DHGate and Banggood) charge VAT on the final price on any goods brought into the UK that cost less than £135. £135 and above it's the responsibility of the buyer to pay the VAT to HMRC via the company that delivers the goods.

Ship abandoned off Alaska after electric cars on board catch fire

One thing that's rarely mentioned in articles about ship fires is the possibility of pumping enough water into the hull to upset the ship's stability and foundering/sinking it.

I did a ship firefighting course in Hull when I was in the merch and the instructors said the fires they dreaded most were ship fires in the docks.

Three Brits charged over 'active shooter threats' swattings in US, Canada

Re: sentenced to 20 months in prison, suspended for 18 months, in April 2024.

No need if Judge Jeffreys was in charge The maximum sentence for perverting the course of justice is life.

OneOdio Focus A5: Big battery, budget sound, and a bargain bin price

Sony wants a word...

Google reportedly developing an AI agent that can control your browser

When is Google going to develop a search engine that simply searches what you ask it for?

Intel's processor failures: A cautionary tale of business vs engineering

It's IBM and 'shareholder value' all over again...

PayPal is planning an ad network built off your purchase history

What are these 'ads' that people speak of?

We never agreed to only buy HP ink, say printer owners

Re: I can afford to use genuine inks because.

I've got a Canon Pixma and it's quite happy using non Canon compatible ink bought from Amazon. I've bought various brands and they all work without any problem.

Google ponders making AI search a premium option

Excellent news. Now if they'd just make the regular search verbatim by default...

Fujitsu to shutter operations in Republic of Ireland

"The Post Office suspected foul play and demanded those local branch managers make up the shortfall personally.

Hundreds of those Post Office employees were wrongly convicted of fraud, some attempted suicide, with sadly four cases resulting in death, and 33 have since died and are unable to see justice served. "

Slight correction.

They weren't 'local branch managers they were sub postmasters/mistresses.

They weren't Post Office employees they were Post Office franchisees.

Legal campaigners challenge UK.gov decision to redact NHS-Palantir contract

Is Jolyon about to lose yet more of his gullible supporter's money?

How governments become addicted to suppliers like Fujitsu

Re: Corruption

The Post Office is government owned. It's the Royal Mail that was privatised.

Logitech's Wave Keys tries to bend ergonomics without breaking tradition

Re: exchange rate

20% VAT

Clingy Virgin Media won't let us leave, customers complain

Re: Successfully Rubbish "We are committed to providing our customers with excellent service"

Call them and tell the first lot that you speak to that you want to cancel. Be persistent. Take no bullshit.

They will eventually put you through to somebody who actually has the power to negotiate.

Tell them you want to cancel. They will make you an offer. If you find it acceptable then take it.

If they don't come up with an offer that's acceptable tell them you want to cancel - this is with a month's notice.

Sometime in that month you'll get a call from them with a better offer. Again if it's acceptable take it. If not say so.

You can cancel your cancellation any time within the notice month if you feel it necessary.

What you MUST do is convince them that you're not bullshitting and will cancel if necessary.

Be prepared to go through the same rigmarole in 18 months time.

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

I remember having a home version of Quickbooks in the UK in the dim and distant past. They did the same with that - just buggered off back to the US and screwed us UK folks over. I wouldn't touch them with a shitty stick.

Europe finalizes €43B Chips Act it hopes will help free it from foreign fabs

Re: another bite in the buttocks

We're the second largest manufacturer of jet engines in the world.

Huawei masters the great vanishing act as UK sales evaporate

Re: A loss to end users

Huawei sold off Honor last year (?). They're now a separate company and have Play Store on their newer phones.

Surprise! China's top Android phones collect way more info

Re: As an owner of a Xiaomi

The article says that phones with Chinese firmware do this. No mention of phones with the Global firmware installed.

A brand new Linux DRM display driver – for a 1992 computer

I spent 3 years of my life wielding a soldering iron on the innards of Atari STs back in the day when component level repair was cheaper than swapping modules out.

Atari provided a pretty nifty diagnostics cartridge for them.

Amazon puts 'creepy' AI cameras in UK delivery vans

Re: Isn't there a law ....

I've been with Amazon since 1995 and have never, in all that time, had a problem with any of their delivery drivers. Mind you I do smile and say 'thank you' when they make a delivery.

Govt suggests Brits should hand passports to social media companies

Is there anybody in the House of Commons who has even the slightest idea about modern technology?

Japan solves 5G airliner conundrum: Keep mobe masts 200m from airport approach paths. That's it

" Their US colleagues ought to be taking notes from the rest of the world."

Good luck with that...

Ancient with a dash of modern: We joined the Royal Navy to find there's little new in naval navigation

Re: USNA Annapolis

Another thing that was quietly brought back by the USN was morse code. You can knock a satellite out of the sky but you can't stop an HF transmission in morse.

Re: USNA Annapolis

Not if your GPS receiver has been wrecked.

Navigating without GPS is one thing – so let's jam it and see what happens to our warship

Re: Hmmmm....

Sights aren't taken 'round the clock'. They are (or were before Transit/GPS arrived) taken at noon. Occasionally star sights were taken too.

If you're manoeuvring close enough to something to be able to see it you're expected to use your eyes (plus bins) to navigate rather than a sextant.

Lithuania tells its citizens to throw Xiaomi mobile devices in the bin

I've got a Xiaomi 10T Lite and it doesn't stop me searching for and reading about any of the search terms mentioned in the article.

Lenovo says it’s crammed a workstation into a litre of space – less than three cans of beer

Petrol pumps...

UK arm of international charity the Salvation Army hit by ransomware attack

Re: dirty pool, dude

You might be confusing the American version of Sally's Army with the real thing that was invented in the UK...

The Wight stuff: Marconi and the island, when working remotely on wireless comms meant something very different

For all us ex merchant navy sparkies Niton is the home of Niton Radio/GNI

Post Office awards Fujitsu a £42.5m contract extension for the IT system behind wrongful subpostmaster prosecutions

Re: Big 'business' contract

I know of a postmistress in an admittedly one man band sub post office who started doing exactly that after Horizon screwed her over for several thousand pounds.

UK watchdog fines two firms £270k for cold-calling 531,000 people who had opted out

Re: The scams will continue until things change....

The piece you're quoting says that the ICO DOES have powers to go after directors...

Samsung floats autonomous ships as ready to sail in 2022

Re: Does size matter?

"A bigger ship is easier as they have right of navigation."

No they don't. Size has nothing to do with it. Sail has right of way over power.

It's a bit more complicated than you seem to think

https://www.imo.org/en/About/Conventions/Pages/COLREG.aspx

Re: Safety?

They don't have absolute right of way. They are required to obey the rules of the road just like every other ship. Sail has right of way over power...

Re: Safety?

"I'm not quite sure what relational reason there is for a pilots job to exist anymore."

And yet they do. They're compulsory in most ports. If you think all you need is a chart and a photo to take a 20,000 TEU box boat up Southampton Water I've got a bridge I'd like to sell you.

Re: Boarders!

I can imagine your average ship owner agreeing to have his multi million pound ship and cargo bombed or torpedoed :-)

"But with crew often hard to come by in the unglamorous world of oceanic transport, "

I don't know who told you that but they obviously know nothing about merchant ship crewing. The big problem is the shortage of jobs not the shortage of crew.

UK.gov awards seats on £2bn 'digital outcomes' framework to suppliers – one of which doesn't even have a website

More of Boris's mates?

Everybody's time is precious, pal: Sometimes it isn't only the terminals that are dumb

I had a customer insist that I drive from the Midlands to North Wales to reseat the power cable in the back of a monitor. Some people are just dicks.