Posts by worldtraveller2

Altnets told to stop digging and start stuffing fiber through abandoned pipes

Re: 1Gbps symmetrical price

Yes, mine is only 40% of that!

Multiple Ducts

Just to hammer the point home we have had 3 years of disruption to our already pathetic road "network".

When I started my Fibre connected journey just over 2 years ago I chose a service from an ISP that used Openreach, so my copper wires were removed from the telegraph pole and substituted with Fibre.

BT then realised that the fibre cable that serves the estate built some 30+ years ago (off the end of my then cul de sac) didn't have a duct from a manhole up the street to a third down the street, which still has no cables (Duct 1) as existing cable just buried in ground at about 2 feet.

CityFibre came along and ducted the street and due to poor service from Openreach I have now on contract expiry switched to them and am happy so far (Duct 2)!

Before I switched however Virgin Media came along in put in a cable duct (Duct 3) twice the size of Openreach or CityFibre!

Pity the gas and water co employees who will now have the maze of conduits to work around if they have a fault. Luckily my electricity still comes off the poor old telegraph pole!

Microsoft touts migration to Windows 11 as painless, though wallets may disagree

Re: Small to invisible

My PC didn't qualify for the Windows 11 vendor fest, only on the basis that the processor was 1 generation too old (Intel 7th Gen). Using the approved modifications to the Registry and downloading the ISO I upgraded to Windows 11 painlessly and other than the stupid menu system nothing has seemingly really changed except the need to download a fresh ISO for every major refresh (Windows Update handles all but the semi annual upgrades)! Certainly it looks as if this stupid situation was brought on by the hardware industry trying to force Microsoft to become their sales agent, which I am sure will be repeated with whatever comes next with the need for more computing power for AI.

Infosys co-founder doubles down on call for 70-hour work weeks

Price of Working Long Hours

Having been in IT related roles that required ridiculously long hours you soon realise the price that comes with that commitment includes a high degree of really stupid errors. I had to review some of my own work done during one such period and completely changed the resulting documentation.

Take Windows 11... please. Leaks confirm low numbers for Microsoft's latest OS

They have taken a first step to boosting uptake numbers by allowing the bypassing some of the requirements, such as 7th Gen processors, which quite frankly was a rather arbitrary choice in the first instance!

Keir Starmer's techno-fix for the NHS: Déjà vu disaster or brave new blunder?

Not a true National Health Service

Why is IT not the "Golden Bullet" that keeps on getting thrown about and why have so many IT initiatives failed?

From what I have experienced and been told by friends in the NHS is that it is not an NHS in that routine nursing practices vary by Trust and that you have to "be re-certified" when you work for a different Trust.

I used to have regular blood tests when on blood thinners and these were conducted either by my GP Surgery or remotely when on foreign assignment, with the results going to my local hospital to "manage" my condition. I then had an assignment which had me working at the company HQ in Hampshire and tried to setup the same arrangement. The local super surgery was in shock and denial when I tried asking them to arrange my blood testing and said I had to have a local GP to manage my condition as otherwise how would my local GP be able to do that for me. When I told them that my GP had no part in the process already, as managed by the local hospital they at first thought I was lying, but after my insistence and checking with my Surgery, they reluctantly agreed to my request.

I am sure that their must be many other similar examples of simple procedural differences that must be overcome before a standard IT system could be introduced, let alone for such differences in specialised units or when a patient receives both private and NHS treatment (from the same consultants).

I am sure that the process of making "One NHS" could provide tremendous advantages and also have some disadvantages, but it would be a massive task and take decades to evaluate and complete. However my personal feeling is that without that "throwing" IT at the NHS would be a largely wasted opportunity.

IBM's motto is 'Think' – its CEO reckons AI can do that as well as some workers

Now how could that go wrong?

If you replace people with machines I wonder how an argument I had with a large Utility provider would have played out. I was being billed for a night rate service as was as well as a day rate. Only trouble was the readings for these were exactly the same as I didn't have a dual rate meter. The Utility provider would not believe my protestations that I didn't have a dual rate meter as their records said otherwise, due to a mistake made when my meter was replaced. After many months of getting nowhere I suspended my Direct Debit payment, but even this did not bring them to see any sense with talk of debt collectors being called in to collect the amount outstanding. Through some lateral thinking I managed to get a different department involved who eventually agreed to come a check the meter type and suddenly the records were corrected, I was in credit, and I restarted my direct debits (although the apology was never received).

Four top euro carriers will use phone numbers to target ads and annoy Google & Facebook

I sincerely hope that the Big Four don't try to pull the wool over the UK Guardians eyes with this load of cods wallop! We have far too much advertising already so adding to it should not be allowed - full stop.

Microsoft accidentally turned off hardware requirements for Windows 11

W10 Good Enough

I have W10 and like all users it took some getting to know the new system. I wouldn't want to go back, but yet again my 7th generation processor is disallowed from joining the W11 club. However, having seen the interface I would need to install a product like Start11 to make it feel friendly again. Why do MS do this with every few issues of Windows and come up with s**t. Will probably wait for W12 to come along to see if they have had a better think about the UI.

Backblaze thinks SSDs are more reliable than hard drives

SSD Failure

Whilst the figures reported show SSD's to live longer than HDD's my personal experience has been the opposite, with long lived HDD's still carrying on in service whilst SDD's have experienced total failure.

Shut off 3G by 2033? How about 2023, asks Vodafone UK

If you have a decent broadband connection and wifi why not use an MVNO who connects to their network by wifi as default (i.e. smarty)?

This is not about in or out of Europe, just about profit which the mobile operators are now keen to s***w us for every penny!

Correct me if I'm wrong, but don't all the newly installed so called "Smart Meters" use 3G?

Clearview AI fined millions in the UK: No 'lawful reason' to collect Brits' images

Re: How are we supposed to know who's British?

Interesting thought. I opened one of my social media accounts, stating country of residence as UK whilst working abroad. However, future communications were based on the language of the country I was in when I opened the account. I believe after much "shouting" at the company concerned that they have at least altered my preferences (if not the underlying record, which I can't see).

Our Friends Electric: A pair of alternative options for getting around town

Oh No, Not the dreaded bubble car again

One of my mates had one of these in the late 60's and was locally renown for trying to stop too quickly on a wet morning and "blowing" head over heels down the road! Brings a totally new meaning to bubble car! Both survived, but the bubble was slightly less bubble shaped. Do you remember this John S?

C is for 'Careful now', D is for 'Download surprise': Microsoft to resurrect optional Windows 10 updates as 'Previews'

Microsoft Money

Probably like many millions of others I never understood why MS ditched Money and believe that rather than messing with Excel spreadsheets they should do the job properly and release a new and updated version of the product, last updated 15 years ago!

Vodafone's Euro revenues slump by nearly TEN PER CENT

Is it any surprise!

Is it any surprise, when they still have another 2 years to go before they can say they have anything near a 4G network, rather than a few very fragmented areas! Unless you live and only exist in 1 of those select areas why would you pay anything more????

Nokia Lumia update spreads Black death

Didn't work for me

When you upgrade surely you should be notified of additional standard available features without having to resort to reading on web! Rant over, I was able to download App Folder and Nokia Camera to my 920, but like the originator of this post got the same stupid messages!