Posts by Robert 22

Loser Trump is no longer useful to Twitter, entire account deleted over fears he'll whip up more mayhem

Of course he sounds like he believes that there was electoral fraud. Any con artist who is any good at their trade will tell you whatever it takes to get you to fall for whatever they are selling. Trump has a consistent record of these sorts of things. Have you ever heard him, even once accept blame for anything at all? It is always someone else's fault.

In the call he threatened the officials involved with the election and demanded that they "find" enough votes to put him ahead. We also know that the senior Justice Department official in Atlanta (a Trump appointee) was forced out for not doing enough on Trump's behalf. Many of the Republican leaders who have gone along with his claims are doing so on the basis of a cynical calculation that it will be to their benefit. Others, perhaps because they fear for the safety of themselves and their families.

The RW media tried to blame anti-fa for the violence on January 6, but had to abandon that line of lying as it became obvious that the major culprits were Trump fanatics.

The ironic thing is that the guy who is screaming the loudest about the "steal" is the one who is pulling out all the stops to steal the election.

It might seem like a slapdash affair, but so do most failed coup d'etats. I would surmise that at least some of those involved thought they would be feted as heroes after executing those awful Democrats and especially that treasonous Pence guy. It does seem that some decision makers were involved - among other things, there is the lack of preparations and the otherwise inexplicable delay in getting the National Guard out.

Re: An elephant in the room

Drain the swamp? In Trump's universe, this means getting rid of people who have any combination of ethics and competence.

United States Congress stormed by violent followers of defeated president, Biden win confirmation halted

Re: Unfortunately ...

The aim was to intimidate the lawmakers.

Re: I'm surprised

No real evidence of fraud was ever submitted. The whole thing was a mix of political theater and the expectation that the judges he appointed owed him their personal loyalty and would rule in his favor.

Re: Kaiser Chiefs redux?

He has done everything he can to stoke the fire. And he has done this consistently: Lock her up!, the press is the enemy of the people! Liberate Michigan! We won in a landslide!

What can the 1944 OSS manual teach us before we all return to sabotage the office?

Re: Reads like a guide of how to achieve maximum possible efficiency rather than sabotage

"Mandate the use of the organisation's document templates"

The organization I worked for improved on this.

There were forms for everything and you had to make sure that you used them if you wanted to get anywhere. However, they were always being changed and it was possible to find different versions of the same form and none of them were dated. And there was always someone along the line who would insist (after several weeks had gone by) that you needed to resubmit with the correct forms.

Then some outside consultant dreamed up an incredibly complicated format for our internal publications. It was quite possible to find yourself trying to put together a technical document in MS Word only to find that the formatting was not only complicated, it was extremely unstable - that last trivial change would cause everything to move around.

It seems likely that the Trump administration's Presidential Transition Plan is based on this document.

Bad software crashed Boeings. Now it appears the company lacked a singular software supremo

Re: Pity they didn't think it that important earlier.

It also has the potential to cause confusion and complicate troubleshooting - quirky behavior on one flight might not show up on the next flight.

I love my electricity company's app – but the FBI says the nuclear industry bribed politicians $60m to kill it

Re: Scandal, but not this

That is only allowed for for the deserving greedy.

Huawei to the danger zone: Now Uncle Sam slaps it with 16 charges of racketeering, fraud, money laundering, theft of robot arm and source code

Re: Business as usual

I'm aware of a similar situation. A researcher from a Canadian government lab submitted a paper to a journal - it too was held up while the American reviewer submitted patent applications based on the work. It took a big legal fight before things could be set right.

China tells America, with a straight face, it will absolutely crack down on hacking and copyright, tech blueprint theft

Re: Dealmaster

In my professional career, I've observed that the businesses (including some very well known North American firms) who make the biggest deal about their valuable intellectual property have often done little more than take some well known existing idea and add some trivial embellishments.

I would suggest that the US patent system has serious problems of its own - a not uncommon business strategy is to patent a vague idea and then simply lie in wait for a real innovator to come up with a practical implementation that has even the slightest resemblance to the patent.

If you examine the history of the computer industry, you will find that much of the actual progress has been the result of starting with the ideas of others and building on them. Gary Kildall borrowed ideas from the DEC TOPS-10 operating system to write CP/M and in turn DOS borrowed ideas from CP/M. I suspect that if today's legal environment existed over the last 50 years, we would still be waiting for lawsuits involving GUI patents to be resolved.

Boeing, Boeing, gone! CEO Muilenburg quits 'effective immediately'

Re: Golden parachute

There are definitely perverse incentives - Take risks and get rewarded if they pay off and get rewarded if they don't.

Why is the printer spouting nonsense... and who on earth tried to wire this plug?

Re: The user replied: "The same electrician who changed that plug rewired my house last week!"

This is actually a big deal for the old AC/DC radios and TVs. Switch the connections around and you could end up with a live chassis. A definite hazard to work on to say nothing of the further danger to casual users that the loss of the plastic volume control knob might entail.

When is an electrical engineer not an engineer? When Arizona's state regulators decide to play word games

Re: I gave up on the chartered route

I'm not familiar with the specifics of licensing in other jurisdictions, was certainly aware of some curious anomalies in my own.

I knew someone who was completing a PhD in Electrical engineering, but whose undergraduate degree was in physics. He made some inquiries to find out what he would have to do to become a licensed engineer. Among other things, he was told that he needed a course in fluid mechanics (an unusual requirement for EE students) and that his two term course in differential equations taught by the Math faculty was not accepted as equivalent to the specified one term EE course on the same subject.

Theoretically, to get around the requirement for an undergraduate engineering degree, you were able to write an examination, but this was was made very difficult. I recall talking to the professor who set the questions for the chemical engineering examination; he told me that his students wouldn't have a hope of passing it - give them 4 hours and open book, and they might have a chance.

I'm somewhat inclined to think that the system was set up more to restrict competition than protect the public.

Re: Can't be an actual Electrical Engineer ...

It's interesting that you mention that name - Williams seems to have been one of those people who learned on the job. He was an absolutely brilliant guy who had hardly any formal academic qualifications.

Judge shoots down Trump admin's efforts to allow folks to post shoddy 3D printer gun blueprints online

Re: More guns = safer for everyone

There is the further issue that the police end up assuming that everyone is armed and automatically use their weapons in situations that should not really call for deadly force.

Uncle Sam is asking Americans if they could refrain from slapping guns on their drones

Re: Despite NRA propaganda

"I support the second amendment, because I think an armed population is the final protection from falling victim to a dictatorship"

I keep seeing similar arguments. What I can't understand is how this works in practice. Does it mean that any group of people in the US has the right to overthrow the US government if they feel oppressed? It would seem that there must be many such groups. I would also suspect that the likely outcome would be a dictatorship.

Looming US immigration crackdown aims to weed out pre-crime of poverty. And that may be bad news for techie families

“Give me your tired, your poor,

Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free,

The wretched refuse of your teeming shore.

Send these, the homeless, tempest-tossed to me,

I lift my lamp beside the golden door!”

Perhaps this (now) subversive script should be updated - All animals are equal, but some are more equal than others" seems more in the spirit of the times.

Yuge U-turn: Prez Trump walks back on Huawei ban... at least the tech sector seems to think so

Re: @AC

"he may actually make some form of progress with the N.Koreans"

The lesson would seem to be that, to get respect, it helps to be a despotic dictator with nuclear weapons.

Firmware update borks Bose boxes: Owners report crackles on Lex-i of the soundbar world

Re: Soundbars , meh

For things like Blu-Ray players, you need the updates if you want to reliably view recent media. Then thee are the products that are advertised as having all the latest and greatest capabilities even though some of these will depend on some future update.

Re: Soundbars , meh

Guess the dealer ran out of the 12 gauge gold cables.

No Huawei out: Prez Trump's game of chicken with China has serious consequences

Re: Absolutely

Ferranti's acquisition of ISC does seem to be a good example of the all too common situation where non-US businesses ended up with the short end of the stick when dealing with their US counterparts.

Now it looks like you have to watch out for the machinations of the US government in addition to those of the US private sector.

Hi! It looks like you're working on a marketing strategy for a product nowhere near release! Would you like help?

Re: So...

I've seen dysfunctional organizational cultures where nobody can afford to admit that there are problems. In this sort of environment, you just keep hoping for miracles and continue to paper over the problems.

US foreign minister Mike Pompeo to give UK a bollocking over Huawei 5G plans

I'll also add that the US has created an IP regime where patents that should never have been issued are used to torment innovative businesses, especially including those from foreign jurisdictions i.e., the IP laws have become devices to protect American business interests, specifically entrenched industry players and patent trolls.

'Software delivered to Boeing' now blamed for 737 Max warning fiasco

Re: Surely...

Probably one will fail before the other(s). Also, even if the sensors all fail and in a similar way, it seems feasible to use information from other sensors as a sanity check.

America's anti-hacking laws are so loose, even Donald Trump Jr broke them. So, what do we do about it?

Gold's Law - those who have the gold make the law.

And in current affairs... Apple recalls three-prong AC adapters after some shocking behavior

Re: But...

I've noticed that many plastics become brittle with age. That could be a factor in this case.

We've read the Mueller report. Here's what you need to know: ██ ██ ███ ███████ █████ ███ ██ █████ ████████ █████

Re: Now things are different, this is new america

They have come forward. The trouble is that there are so many that their stories are no longer shocking and hardly anybody pays attention.

User secures floppies to a filing cabinet with a magnet, but at least they backed up daily... right?

Re: Well if the US ships want the Chinese to keep out of the way

A decade ago we were testing some equipment for the army. One of the contractors put his laptop down in a seemingly safe place where it was out of the way and sheltered from the weather. Unfortunately, it was under a vertically sliding garage door. After the inevitable, the laptop still worked except for the interesting custom pattern on the display.

London's Metropolitan Police arrest Julian Assange

Re: @AC or has committed a serious crime

There was difficulty getting even a simple statement from Barr concerning the length of the Mueller report.

It is pretty clear that, acting as a recent Trump appointee, he is trying to downplay the report. The fact that Trump and so many others having connections to his administration find it necessary to lie and or stonewall speaks volumes. If you are not guilty, stop acting guilty.

While this CEO may be stiff, his customers are rather stuffed: Quadriga wallets finally cracked open – nothing inside

Re: Come on guys, this is INNOVATION

It must also be said that his measures were VERY effective.

IT guy at US govt fraud watchdog stole 16 computers from... US govt fraud watchdog

Re: He didn't steal enough

Some academics did a study and found that people tended to rate the severity of a crime greater if there was a single identifiable victim than if there many victims.

Ah, this military GPS system looks shoddy but expensive. Shall we try to break it?

How to fubar a mil-spec printer

About 40 years ago, we had this mil-spec printer that was being used in a failing project (that's another story). For some reason, it had to be shipped to another location. An army fellow arrived and put it in his truck. Concerned that it might bounce around, he put a sandbag on it (evidently not realizing that this would raise the center of gravity and make it more likely to fall over, though as things turned out, that would have been a blessing). The sandbag just happened to be torn and leaking sand. The printer was sealed EXCEPT for the slot on the top that paper came out of - you can guess what happened.

Re: Not only Military

I've seen pretty much the same thing - only the currencies were different.

It is curious how often rules intended to ensure funds are used responsibly and save money have perverse consequences.

Now you've read about the bonkers world of Elizabeth Holmes, own some Theranos history: Upstart's IT gear for sale

Re: "By and large they look like the sort of party who you'd see being escorted around a lab"

You can also be sure that none of the board members were likely to even try and ask the kinds of questions they should have been asking, perhaps out of fear of asking a stupid question.

Decoding the President, because someone has to: Did Trump just blow up concerted US effort to ban Chinese 5G kit?

Re: "the issue has reached the highest levels of government"

It is really useful though, to have some idea of one's limitations and when you should listen to someone who is knowledgeable (and preferably not a lobbyist).

How politics works, part 97: Telecoms industry throws a fundraiser for US senator night before he oversees, er, a telecoms privacy hearing

Gold's Law

Those who have the gold make the law.

Draining the swamp

So much for draining the swamp. It seems they reserved this job for the Creature from the Black Lagoon, but he wasn't available.

You're on a Huawei to Hell, US Sec State Pompeo warns allies: Buy Beijing's boxes, no more intelligence for you

The fact that they are applying so much pressure, but cannot provide evidence, even of a classified nature, speaks volumes. Given all the other events that have happened, such as the imposition of tariffs against the steel and aluminum industries of allied countries, it seems likely that that this is just another case of protecting US industry.

Germany tells America to verpissen off over Huawei 5G cyber-Sicherheitsbedenken

Maybe also buy some coal.

Crash, bang, wallop: What a power-down. But what hit the kill switch?

Re: No? Break.

During WW2, when the first prototype Wright Tornado engine was started up, someone had arranged the throttle linkage incorrectly so it was unintentionally set to full throttle. The unloaded engine accelerated abruptly and, in a few seconds reached its ultimate limits and destroyed itself.

If you want a vision of the future, imagine not a boot stamping on a face, but keystroke logging on govt contractors' PCs

Re: a good incentive

But that would be 'Executive Time'.

All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy (from The Shining)

All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy

All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy

All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy

All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy

All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy

All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy

All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy

All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy

All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy

All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy

. . .

Prez Trump orders Uncle Sam to step up AI efforts – we all know the White House knows a lot about artificial intelligence

Re: We could replace him with a Raspberry Pi...

It must be said that he has brought AI in the form of Artificial Incompetence to a new level

From Red Planet to deep into the red: Suicidal extrovert magnet Mars One finally implodes

Re: I was wrong

Reminds me of the Twilight Zone Episode "I shot an Arrow into the Air".

Crypto exchange in court: It owes $190m to netizens after founder 'dies without telling anyone vault passwords'

Re: Crypto-busting test case

Is my understanding correct that the data needed to access the cryptocurrency is contained on the laptop and nowhere else??? If so, this would seem to introduce further potential points of failure:

1. If the hard drive fails catastrophically

2. The laptop is lost or stolen

Hubble 'scope camera breaks down amid US govt shutdown, forcing boffins to fix it for free

Re: Easily solved @Mooseman

The real idea was that the members of the Electoral College would be able to negotiate a compromise choice. Remember this was all set up in the days when:

(a) long distance communication and transportation were slow and problematic

(b) it was possible that there could be many contenders without a clear winner emerging.