Posts by Glenturret Single Malt

Landlord quirks leave thousands of flats stuck in the broadband slow lane

British English

Did the author mean fibber? Or perhaps fibre?

Apple goes all in on AI acceleration with M5 MacBook, iPad, and Vision Pros

Puzzled

"Oh and the CPU is up to 15% faster for those that could care less about articifically intelligent Apple products and more about getting work done."

What does this mean?

The air is hissing out of the overinflated AI balloon

Re: pedant squared

In "Governor General", Governor is the noun and General the adjective. In the phrase "Artificial Intelligence", the noun is second so making the first word plural doesn't make sense.

Techie went home rather than fix mistake that caused a massive meltdown

Re: Honestly I'm bilingual

i am surprised that no one has mentioned that a UK ton is 2240 lbs whereas a metric tonne (1000 kg) is 2204 lbs.

Penn State boffins create silicon-free two-dimensional computer

And, chemical symbols always have a capital letter as the first one hence Si for silicon.

The launch of ChatGPT polluted the world forever, like the first atomic weapons tests

Re: Almost infinite supply of low-background steel

If "Kilogram's" is correct, why not "thousand's" and "ton's?

Re: Too late.

My grandmother pronounced pattern in the same way (pseudo-posh Edinburgh).

Techie fixed a ‘brown monitor’ by closing a door for a doctor

Re: It happens to the best of us.

As a child (1950s) I used to enjoy making toast using a toasting fork to hold the bread over the coal fire. The best way was to wait until the gases had all burned off (so, no flames) and the coal was glowing red hot. The best time of day was late afternoon when the fireplace itself was very hot (assuming the fire had been burning all day).

Three ways to run Windows apps on a Linux box

Jim lad

As I have always understood it, pirates say "Aarrr, Jim lad" not the rather effete phrase used in the article. Hence the corny joke: Q Why are pirates pirates? A Because they Aarrr.

Signal shuts the blinds on Microsoft Recall with the power of DRM

Re: Queue MS Update

Do you mean Cue?

Coinbase extorted for $20M. Support staff bribed. Customers scammed. One hell of a SNAFU

Re: “Most” unique?

And what about the guilty support workers who have been "terminated"?

Windows isn't an OS, it's a bad habit that wants to become an addiction

Re: Downvotes missing?

I am glad to see someone who is in the same age range as myself and who has the same attitude to upvotes/downvotes as I do. I have often wondered if I was alone.

It takes one click to join Uber One, but quitting might need 32 actions

Re: So my conclusion is

More than you might think.

Microsoft issues deadline for end of Windows 10 support – it's pay to play for security

Re: ESU only delays landfill.

I have W10 and Linux Mint 21.2 as a dual boot on my aging PC ("not suitable for upgrade to W11" of course). The only thing that stops me moving permanently to Linux is that I have been using MS Money (2005 version) for years for home finances and have never found a Linux compatible app that is as easy to use and with as wide a range of features (also the old problem about old dogs and new tricks). The solution now seems to be to install it on my W10 laptop and disconnect that completely from the internet when or before the limited update regime arrives. I would welcome any suggestions for any home finance apps for Linux that come close to Money in ease and clarity of use.

It's been 230 years since British pirates robbed the US of the metric system

Re: Learn both?

Chains and furlongs are decimally related (10 chains = 1 furlong = 220 yards). A cricket pitch is exactly one chain in length between the stumps.

Re: Learn both?

Morning brain workout: I weigh myself (in kilograms) immediately before having a shower in the morning and spend the time in the shower mentally converting the reading to stones and pounds. Not every day, though. I prefer to sing and do other vocal exercises.

Easy to begin with: Pounds = Kilograms x 2 then add 10%. However, since 1kg = 2.204 lbs, I have to add an extra 0.3 lb for the 0.004. Then divide the answer by 14.

Re: The amount of times...

Since primary school, I have always used 1 ton as 20 cwt = 8 x 20 stone = 160 x 14 lbs = 2240 lbs.

I have never used or heard of anyone referring to a "long ton".

Re: Hooray for Avoirdupois and pounds, shillings and pence

"Fewer" calculations.

Mental arithmetic (negligible time) gives 4 foot 2 inches as (4 x 12) +2 = 50 inches.

Ditto 50 x 2.54 to convert to cm ((takes a little bit longer) = 127 cm

Doctor gave patients the wrong test results due to 'printer problems'

Re: Photocopier challange

I have a little list of questions that I keep to ask the hire company whenever I hire a car. Top of the list is "How do I put it in reverse gear?"

Rescuezilla 2.4 is here: Grab it before you need it

Re: Now there's a blast from the past....

I have seen this word "draw" several times in the past and have only just realised that it refers to what I would call a "drawer". As to how this came about, I have wondered if it is an misconceived correction of the mispronounced word "drawr" (like idear etc.).

Germany advises citizens to uninstall Kaspersky antivirus

Re: I wouldn't recommend it to anyone regardless

"virii" - the plural of the (unknown) word "virius"?

When I see that, I think of campii, abacii, omnibii, hippopotamii, rhombii etc.

Beware the techie who takes things literally

Re: Bad, Bad, Very Bad, Not Good

In my part of the world, bogs is a slang term for toilets which often do stink.

Journalist won't be prosecuted for pressing 'view source'

Re: Only in the USofA

I dexperienced a similar thing when we lived in Malaysis and discovered red ants.

The Ministry of Silly Printing: But I don't want my golf club correspondence to say 'UNCLASSIFIED' at the bottom

Re: Way Back...

Glassblowers!

Teen turned away from roller rink after AI wrongly identifies her as banned troublemaker

Re: Using it wrongly

I was wondering how many BME people were involved in constructing the algorithm.

Revealed: Perfect timings for creation of exemplary full English breakfast

Potato scones instead of hash browns and what happened to the black pudding?

Audacity users stick the knife – and fork – in to strip audio editor of unwanted features

Re: Certainly, it can't be called "Audacity"

My suggestion is Audax which is the Latin word for bold and the root from which audacity is derived. My only concern is that the owners of Audacity think that it is too similar.

Realizing this is getting out of hand, Coq mulls new name for programming language

Gallus

Gallus is a slang word used in Glasgow and surrounding areas applied to (usually young) males and meaning cocky.

Linus Torvalds tells kernel list poster to 'SHUT THE HELL UP' for saying COVID-19 vaccines create 'new humanoid race'

Re: Why all the thumbs down?

He's got a divorce to pay for.

Traffic lights, who needs 'em? Lucky Kentucky residents up in arms over first roundabout

The Magic Roundabout

Huh! Only five at Swindon. Hemel Hempstead's hexagonal magic roundabout goes one better.

Prince Philip, inadvertent father of the Computer Misuse Act, dies aged 99

Re: Bad greek

The Malay/Indonesian word "timor" (or timur nowadays) means east. So the region of Indonesia called East Timor is therefore East East.

So it appears some of you really don't want us to use the word 'hacker' when we really mean 'criminal'

Re: Hack

Growing up in the west of Scotland, I learned the word hack as referring to those nasty, painful cracks in dry skin especially on your hands that appear in cold dry weather. Then there is the other meaning of using a knife or other sharp tool indiscriminately (e.g. hacking off overhanging branches of a tree). And also there is the old-fashioned rugby forwads tactic of booting a loose ball on the ground upfield. I am therefore still always taken slightly by surprise when I read an article and find that it is using the word hack to refer to something that is generally beneficial. I sometimes wonder what is wrong with "fix" or "repair".

Takes from the taxpayer, gives to the old – by squishing a bug in Thatcherite benefits system

I recall (1960s) a university level chemistry textbook by a man called De'Ath but I cannot recall either his initials or the title of the book. Presumably, as an academic, he was Dr De'Ath.

Pizza and beer night out the window, hours trying to sort issue, then a fresh pair of eyes says 'See, the problem is...'

Re: Proof reader

My PhD thesis was largely concerned with compounds of cobalt (Co) with carbon monoxide (CO). Since this was in the days long before word processing, you asked a friendly secretary to type it for you. I am sure you can imagine the number of corrections that had to be made because of confusion between the two.

BOFH: Switch off the building? Great idea, Boss

Re: Parts of it date back to when fire was invented

Inflammable is confusing because people are no longer taught either Latin or about prefixes. What do you say when a scratch or similar goes all red and nasty looking? it has become inflamed (not "flamed"). This is because there are two different meanings for the prefix in-. One has the negative connotations e.g. insensitive, infallible and is probably more common. The other has a variety of meanings such as "in" or "into" or expressing intensity (see what I did there?).

Running joke: That fitness gadget? It's, er, run out

Re: Nope, works

And time the 20 seconds?

Who knew that hosing a table with copious amounts of cubic metres would trip adult filters?

Re: Wang Care

Some years ago, it seemed to me that BBC announcers reading the shipping forecast started taking much greater care to enunciate separately the components of Gale 8.

Thank you, Little Mouse, for solving my lack of understanding of the whole article. As I read it, I had been wondering where I could find out what was remotely offensive about the use of m3 instead of m superscript 3.

Q: How does hydrogen turn into a metal? A: Hang on a second, I need to train my AI supercomputer first

Re: Another possible niggle

Water isn't an element.

Beware the fresh Windows XP install: Failure awaits you all with nasty, big, pointy teeth

Re: Alternatives are good.

On the theme of self-inflicted pain: pouring liquid nitrogen from thermos flasks, you might occasionally splash some on bare hands but without damage as it evaporates so quickly. However, if some of the liquid gets trapped even briefly under a ring on your finger or a wristwatch or is absorbed into the cuff of a shirt or jumper that you are wearing, excruciating pain may result.

Someone got so fed up with GE fridge DRM – yes, fridge DRM – they made a whole website on how to bypass it

Re: Advertent FUD

AND: the frequency of deaths from heart disease is lower in hard water areas than soft.

UK.gov announces review – not proper inquiry – into Fujitsu and Post Office's Horizon IT scandal

Re: Sigh of Relief

"Or something with boiling oil..." (The Mikado)

Trump issues toothless exec order to show donors, fans he's doing something about those Twitter twerps

Re: Thoughts and prayers

In recent weeks, I have seen the word "gaslighting" used a lot. What does it mean?

For the price tag, this iPad Pro keyboard better damn well be Magic: It isn't... but it's not completely useless either

Re: A pokey terraced house in Middlesborough for a month

I lived in Durham for a couple of years in the 70s and travelled all round the county but until I read this article I had never heard of Teeside parmo.

A real loch mess: Navy larks sunk by a truculent torpedo

Surely every husband of any worth washes the dishes from time to time, With the mixed cutlery in the sink and the tap running to rinse off food remains. And why is there always a spoon lying just where the jet from the tap meets the sink surface. Result, water spraying everywhere and caustic derisory comments from certain other quarters.

Microsoft doc formats are the bane of office suites on Linux, SoftMaker's Office 2021 beta may have a solution

Re: Softmaker

I am glad to echo your comments about SoftMaker office but, unfortunately, hyphenation can only be switched off for the document you are currently working on, Permanent switch-off is not possible using the settings menu.

> you'll be stuck with the version you buy, no annual updates.

I have been using SoftMaker 2018 for Windows at home (not a business) for several years now (and am currently testing the beta versions of SO2021). From time to time (for SO 2018 and its predecessors), I get an update at no additional cost. Formerly, this had to be downloaded and installed manually but nowadays it happens automatically.

I also notice the following on the SoftMaker website:

"Includes a free upgrade to SoftMaker Office Professional 2021 upon its release."

I do not stretch the capabilities of the different programs to the limit and have found no problems of compatibility with Word or Excel either sending or receiving.

We're in a timeline where Dettol maker has to beg folks not to inject cleaning fluid into their veins. Thanks, Trump

Bleach is strongly alkaline, not acidic. Just as nasty when in contact with the human body.

Vivaldi browser to perform a symphony of ad and tracker blocking with version 3.0

Re: I'll have to give it a go on Android.

It should but, in practise, I have not found it to be very good when looking for UK-based returns.

Facebook sort-of blocks anti-quarantine events – how many folks are actually behind these 'massive' protests online?

Scotland's secret bunker:

https://secretbunker.co.uk/your-visit/