Posts by Doctor Syntax

We were promised integrated packages. Instead we got disintegrated apps

Re: You're holding it wrong!

Those who don't adapt will miss their appointment in the calendar.

Re: A Technology Tart's lot

The same tune and repeat scheme used by the Two Ronnies

"What the Navy needs is more efficient ships"

Re: We were promised integrated packages

One of the lessons not learned is the one that could have been learned from all the lessons that could have been learned in the past not having been learned.

Re: program efficiency / small, single-purpose tools

"They can be combined in ways never envisioned by their creators"

I think the philosophy of text in/text out letting any such application connect to any other envisaged all ways without having to list them.

Re: I've given up on my phone for reminders

"My ring tone startles a few people too"

How about the Great Gate of Kiev (orch. Ravel version, of course)?

Re: "Wait for the 30-second ad for some crappy game to finish playing"

Too much information.

Re: Cloud access?

I have a nasty feeling the name is "All of them". If it isn't it soon will be.

Scientists use supercritical carbon dioxide to power the grid

Yes.

Re: Cupercritical CO2 does weird things to rubber

It's not what goes in that matters, it's what come out.

Re: Heat engines

"excess heat"

What happens to the rest of the energy that wasn't released as excess heat? Some of it might be stored in the longer term as potential energy or chemical energy but for the most part it ends up as heat in some way - aerodynamic drag, friction, boiling kettles or whatever. You have to take all of it into account although as brainwrong points out, it's not very significant.

Re: Heat engines

Drop your toaster into a furnace and its own heat output becomes insignificant.

Re: Degrees F

"Ounces, Miles and Pounds"

In an IT world we really shouldn't be promoting decimal based units. Binary would be far more logical and ounces and pounds fit into that. There's a historical reason for that, of course - when you're weighing with a simple balance the easiest way to divide up some quantity is into two equal halves.

I always thought that decimalising UK coinage was a mistake: just make the new penny 256 to the pound instead of 240, a new hexadecimal shilling of 16 pence and reintroduce the groat (4 pence) as being midway between the old threepenny bit and the tanner.

Re: Degrees F

"They're trying to translate it to what they think an ordinary american can understand,"

As a press release for a US audience that's fine. But for a technical audience such as the Register is should have been translated into C or K.

"Ten kilowatts isn't much, around one-third the energy used by the average US home in a day."

I suppose that's ten kilowatt hours

NASA builds for keeps: Voyager mission still going after 45 years

Re: Spacetime

It would have been more modest. When the selection of sound effects was being considered someone suggested one of the Bach unaccompanied violin pieces. Carl Sagan's reaction was "No, that would be boasting.".

Mouse hiding in cable tray cheesed off its bemused user

Re: There's no keyboard!

"before I escalated the ticket to the team that was allowed to actually go out and visit desks"

I think I might have reminded him (irrespective of whether it was actually true) that a call-out would be charged against his teams budget so he might really like to double check.

Re: Not heard of PS2 ports being taken out

And they tended to get confused by being connected via KVM switches.

Re: Wireless Mice

"He should have bought the extended warranty."

He'd probably have been out of that as well.

Re: "Out of Cheese" Error

"the Sergeant was told to swallow his pride"

Preferable to swallowing the furball.

LibreOffice improves Microsoft compatibility with version 7.4

Re: My God!

What it seems to be referring to is that the initial standard produced by that stuffed panel was supposed to be transitional and replaced by a strict version but MS ept using the transitional. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Standardization_of_Office_Open_XML doesn't actually use the word deprecated in its account of the shenanigans.

However as far as the ODF is concerned the true open standard isn't ISO/IEC 29500 \t all, it's ISO/IEC 26300:2006.

Australian wasps threaten another passenger plane, with help from COVID-19

Re: Not just Australian wasps...

Is the minimum size of a pitot tube larger than the smallest wasp? If not a redesign seems in order.

Re: Incredibly delicate technology

But how well would it work with a wasp in situ? No reading might be better than a wrong one.

Re: Incredibly delicate technology

And remove it without leaving the seat.

There's no place like GNOME: Project hits 25, going on 43

Re: Gnomes true purpose

"I have no words..."

Have a few more: "Went to work for Microsoft."

It all fits a pattern.

Re: Plus ca change - lentement

GTK4 makes GTK3 look brilliant.

Re: Backward Compatibility Anyone?

I’ve a feeling we’re not in Kansas anymore.

Re: JavaScript?

"Strange manipulations of XML files? As a KDE user, I know about these woes."

Interesting. I just check the contents of my /usr/share/plasma directory. There are over 10 times as many QML files as XML. What really surprised me was that there were almost twice as many JSON files as XML.

"My personal opinion is that desktop managers do too much"

I keep hearing this and I'm not sure what's meant by it, especially as my objections to certain DMs has been that they do too little. What is it that desktop managers do that's too much?

Deluge of of entries to Spamhaus blocklists includes 'various household names'

Re: Lack of feedback

Did you read the bit in the OP which said "If they just included the sender and the subject of the offending email, or the message id, or some bit of info that would help narrow it down it would help enormously."

Re: I do have legit servers on Linode

Of course you know to have emails originating from your legit relay. What t about someone not in the industry who doesn't know better trying to operate something legit from one of these ISPs? Is it right that they should suffer because of the service's other users?

Re: I thought that the problem was obvious....

"it offers an opinion"

I spend a large part of my career offering opinions in the form of witness statements. I had to be prepared to justify any of them if needed. I expect anyone doing the same thing to meet the same standards.

That list affected the reputation of the entire ISP of MSPs customers, innocent as well as guilty. That is wrong.

"their customers if legitimate ones need to choose a better ISP."

This is victim blaming. How do they find out why they're being blocked to know to choose a better MSP and how do they find out who's better.

I have no sympathy whatsoever for spammers but care needs to be taken avoid collateral damage.

Re: No case to answer

LDS's comment hits the nail on the head. They're a reputation service. If they make decisions about reputations which impact on people they should be prepared to stand over them. There seem to be numerous complains that they're not doing that. It may be that their decisions are 100% justified but if so why not explain them?

"Plus if you clearly state the rules for inclusion, I suspect it'd be hard to argue defamation"

And yet people are saying it is hard to argue. Just read the story and comments here where people are claiming they're being listed and not able to find out why when they can't work out what they're doing which is against the rules. In such a circumstance the obvious option for someone in that position is to force them into court to put up or shut up. If, as the article suggests, major corporations are getting blocked, then this is likely to happen.

"Just" a reputation service?

Being a reputation service is the core of the problem if, as some of these stories claim, besmirching reputations without good cause.

It's no use saying no one is forced to use it - the use is at the discretion of the receivers. If someone is being wrongly accused by them of spamming they have no say at all in this.

I'm surprised they haven't been sued for libel if they're not prepared to justify listing.

Attention Microsoft-oriented Linux devs: .NET 6 is on Ubuntu 22.04

Re: Nice one Cyril

"MS seems all cuddly and friendly, open and supportive"

What big teeth you have, Grandma.

UK hospitals lose millions after AI startup valuation collapses

Re: All conspiracy theorists take a step back from their keyboard

"Entirely through the stupidity of the Trusts' senior management. The money never existed, but was put on the balance sheet as though it did!"

IANAA but I'd expect that there are accounting rules saying that the value of the shares had to go on the balance sheet just like the value of the buildings, the furniture, the contents of the pharmacy and everything else. If they hadn't done that the shit would really have hit the fan when the auditors discovered the fact.

Re: Shoddy reporting

"The company may go bust and be bought up by someone else."

Bought from whom?

Yup, that's right, the shareholders who just happen to include the trusts.

Re: Shoddy reporting

To summarise: the trusts have lost money they never had. I too have lost millions I never had.

Re: Shoddy reporting

"That is ignoring the value of the data that was handed over. "

The hospital trusts still have the data and hence the value if there's value to be extracted. What happens to the copy the company has (and at least some trusts seem not to have handed any over) or what constraints accompanied it we haven't been told.

Re: Consent?

And where's their "interest"?

Re: This raises a lot of questions...

"The data wouldn't have been magically transferred at no cost to the hospital."

That cost is the real loss.

Apple to compel workers to spend '3 days a week' in the office

It could be that what gets collaborated on most in person is dislike against Apple. Has there been any prior history of unionisation there?

Blackboads were even better if dustier. Permanent chalk isn't a thing.

I think it applies to a larger sub-set of employers than that.

Re: UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson, who insisted...

Nothing political in this. As far as BoJo is concerned it's purely personal.

UK launches 'consultation' with EU over exclusion from science programs

Re: Bankrupt the country so you can sell it to Rishi's father in law

"You wanted to leave, you got the votes and Brexit happened. Stop trying to get your snouts back in the trough you claimed you didn't want or need."

As ever, it's not quite so simple. The vote was tight. Those who are the losers in this are likely to have voted "No". In fact some of them would have been too young to vote at the time.

It is grossly offensive to tell people whose careers were ruined by no action of their own that they're wanting to get their snouts back in the trough.