Posts by Doctor Syntax

UK.gov finally adds Galileo and Copernicus to the Brexit divorce bill

Re: TL;DR

"What matters is that the cost of the work to add value to the raw materials become cheaper and thus more competitive."

Does the term "sweatshop economy" ring a bell with you?

Re: TL;DR

"two things I hear a lot from Remainers"

One thing you're not hearing because there's none so deaf as those who don't want to listen: it was a damn stupid idea.

Re: TL;DR

"The fall in value of the pound is indeed a good thing.

Something the media have never understood."

ITYF that the media understand very well that the value of the pound is based on a reasoned estimate of the prospects of the British economy (that is, in the absence of fiddling with interest rates to try to buoy it up). If it falls it's because the rest of the world doesn't rate our prospects. Tell me why I should be pleased that the majority opinion is that we'll come out of this badly.

Re: TL;DR

"If you want to stay in the EU I have a better idea, how about making arguments based on verifiable real world fact and/or data as opposed to FUD and opinion"

Yes, that's why we want to stay in the EU. We know what we get by staying in. It's what we have now. It's verifiable real world data, as you put it. What the Brexiteers offer is FUD and opinion.

Re: TL;DR

"businesses that benefit from EU contracts and monies should relocate to an EU27 member state PDQ"

I doubt they actually needed a government warning for that.

The big question is how far does that reach? Any business that was established here by a foreign investor because the wanted a plant or office in the EU must clearly be at risk. Such investors might not yet have would up the UK business but you can bet (in fact, the leavers have already bet on our behalf) that they'll be looking at alternatives for future investment.

Re: TL;DR

"actually an Irish passport works very nicely thank you."

SWMBO is entitled to one. Her sister is. Her sister's husband is. Her brother is. Her brother's wife is. Our children are. Our grandchildren are. I'm not.

Re: TL;DR

"No I didn't think you could."

Answering your own question on your interlocutor's behalf. A sure sign you know you lost the argument.

Re: TL;DR

"About percentages at a referendum, the cleanest approach would be that at least 50% of the total electorate would have to have chosen for one of the two options. That way you could actually state that the will of the people is X. It would be quite hard for either option to reach that point, though."

Actually the cleanest approach is to have a substantial, say 2/3 majority for a change in the status quo. That means you don't go casting back and forth (even assuming you can and in this case we probably can't - once we're out we're out) on small sways of opinion or that you commit future generations to a potentially bad decision on the basis of a small majority.

Re: Neverendum

"The difference is that we vote for our representatives to parliament, on the strict basis that they fill that role for a period not exceeding 5 years."

You said difference. Difference between an election and what? Let me spell out the difference for you. It's the difference between a period not exceeding 5 years and keeps. The maximum damage a bad choice in an election is 5 years plus however long it takes to unwind 5 years' of damage. The damage an irreversible referendum can cause can last for generations. We really need more commitment than a couple of percent majority.

Re: Neverendum

"And it's never settled for eternity"

If it ends up settled that we want in and in the meantime have got ourselves out it might be settled but getting back in involves lengthy negotiations and terms less advantageous than what we started out with.

Re: TL;DR

"Things like manufacturing and tourism are already booming before Brexit has even happened."

What's pushing those at the moment is that the pound has dropped. The strength of a currency depends on the markets' judgement about the prospects of an economy. So the general view is that the economy will falter once the trade barriers go up. What trade barriers? Those between us and the greater part of our former home market.

We/re not ignoring your "good news", we're simply seeing it for what it is.

Re: TL;DR

"Same for when you purchase something."

Except when you buy a pig in a poke. The sellers really don't want you to have a chance to change your mind.

For those of a curious mind a poke is a small sack. A con trick was to persuade punters to buy a poke containing an alleged piglet whthout seeing what they were buying. The matching saying was "letting the cat out of the bag".

Re: TL;DR

"my mother (in her 80s, remain) says her leave-voting friends have not changed their minds"

Tell her to point out that the subsequent faltering economy will need a cut in their pensions. It still might not work because somehow the notion that it's only getting back what they paid in has stuck in people's minds.

Re: TL;DR

"Holding a referendum on the terms of the negotiated agreement versus the status quo, now that people are much better informed, would be good for democracy."

And if that fails there will be demand for another referendum when reality strikes but by then it will be too late.

Experience is a dear teacher but there are those who will learn at no other.

If you are one of the 99% whose job is equally at risk in some other sector of the economy, then who cares?

Effect on the UK economy of your particular employer is: insignificantly small and unmeasurable.

Re: TL;DR

"If you are one of the 99% who's job has nothing to do with the space industry, then who cares?"

And if you work in one of the other 99% who work in some other sector that is equally at risk then who cares when that too goes down the drain.

Effect on the UK economy: of your particular employer - insignificantly small and unmeasurable.

Security procedures are good – follow them and you get to keep your job

Meaningless numbers.

"Incidents are increasing too: the average number involving employee of contractor negligence has risen from 10.5 to 13.4."

What are the numbers here? Are they percentages? If so are they part of or in addition to the 64% mentioned in the previous sentence.

"75 per cent of respondents to a Dtex Systems YouGov poll identified using an encrypted file system to share confidential documents as important, but only 16 per cent had done so in the previous 60 days."

Yes, but how many of the remaining 84% had transferred confidential files in that time?

BTW, that speed limit analogy: show me a driver who's concentrating on their speedo so as to guarantee sticking within the arbitrary speed limit and I'll show you a driver who isn't paying enough attention to the road. Read right, it's a good analogy; you need to keep the whole picture in view and not just concentrate on a single detail.

Veeam holds its hands up, admits database leak was plain 'complacency'

"whether or not Veeam might decide to migrate away from the NoSQL vendor is a tactical question for its techies."

It might be a strategic question for them. Having all this data swinging in the breeze sounds more likely a tactical question for their marketroids.

Trump shouldn't criticise the news media, says Amazon's Jeff Bezos

Re: Poor Jeff is so right, nobody takes his leftist hate pamflet seriously anymore

Too true. Anyone with any sense would want a full size pamf.

A basement of broken kit, zero budget – now get the team running

Re: Loose change to pay the beer bill...??

"some less reputable places"

Less reputable than el Reg? Just why do you think we all come here?

Re: HMSO

"except soberer."

He didn't say that.

Re: HMSO

"Don't want to get the inside of the van dirty."

Correct. It's the quicklime you don't need. But you still to clean out the inside of the van to get rid of any carpet fibres.

Re: When you're set up to fail...

"Only answer I could come up with (other than total insanity on the part of PHBs - which I can't rule out)"

The administrative mind runs on fixed processes. You have this job, you follow this process. It means they don't have to think. Throwing them out of that mode probably causes them the same pain that you and I suffer when deep in a complex problem and someone comes along looking for a time-sheet or progress report.

Insanity is probably close enough.

Princely five years in US big house for Nigerian biz email scammer

Being easily scammed like this does indicate weak financial controls/lack of process in the firm being scammed.

"Even if they had $20 mil in the bank before the scam."

It would be very careless of them to have left much money in traceable bank accounts.

First it was hashtags – now Amber Rudd gives us Brits knowledge on national ID cards

"A water bill is a far, far better piece of ID."

I'm not sure if this was sarcasm or not but in case it's not -

First off, utilities are trying to move us to paperless bills these days so neither a water nor other utility bill might be available.

Secondly, I occasionally visited the outsourcing site where my water bill and mobile bills were printed. Unused stationery was disposed of on a recycling bin outside. It would be very easy for someone to take a few sheets and knock up a false bill.

Thirdly, I worked in security printing for a while. No utility bill I've seen would count as secure base stationery. It would be straightforward for any jobbing printer to produce adequate fakes. In fact, I assume that photoshopped copies of most utility and bank stationery are in regular use by anyone wanting to establish a false identity.

Re: Not wishing to trust Big Gov, but--

"Pressure your MP for the introduction of a simple ID card, make it clear that this should NOT be linked to any backend systems other than a record of who you are."

Bad idea. It will simply be taken as an endorsement of what they actually want and the proviso will be ignored. Far better to make it clear that you do strongly disapprove of their attempts at universal surveillance and that includes ID cards.

Only if and when HMG has shown it can be trusted should you push for ID cards if you consider them to be a good thing - which, frankly, I don't as a matter of principle.

Re: Perhaps instead

"She could spend her time usefully getting the GDPR enforced against all those websites with the cookies and their ridiculous/impossible"

Rudd spending her time usefully. The mind boggles.

Re: "By not having it, they can't do it,"

"When I put it that way it does sound quite irrational, does it not?"

It does indeed. It's also reminiscent of Menken's thought on Puritanism: https://www.goodreads.com/quotes/34745-puritanism-the-haunting-fear-that-someone-somewhere-may-be-happy

"It already is, the outsourcing company is called the European Union. They pretty much much set our laws and decide what we can and cannot do. hence brexit."

If you look more closely I think you'll find that the EU has human rights, data protection requirements and a court to enforce them that are directly opposed to this snooping. Very many UK politicians are irked by this protection of their subjects, hence Brexit.

Re: "people already hand over masses of info to private firms"...

"Now that Rudd's no longer Home Sec she's looking less like a sock puppet and more like one of the True Believers in data fetishism."

It doesn't quite work that way. HO brainwashing of Home Secs is such that they stay in the same mental state even when they've been fired. Being an independent true believer before they got the job is irrelevant.

How an augmented reality tourist guide tried to break my balls

"SNCF's ticket sales team is not on speaking terms with its ticket issuing team. "

They have no monopoly on that.

I had a meeting in Norwich (someone has to). I booked tickets with whatever entity was then running the East Coast line. On the appropriate morning I rolled into the sophisticated of Wakefield Westgate (the point of comparison is Wakefield Kirkgate) to ask for the tickets I'd booked. The train was rolling into the station while the clerk was still hunting for them - and I still had to buy a ticket for the car park, go out and fix it on the car, go back in and get on the train. It wasn't going to happen. I left him, got in the car and drove to Norwich.

As anyone travelling there from the North knows that drive, especially the A17, isn't much removed from interplanetary travel in terms of arduousness yet I still got there only about a quarter of an hour later than the train was scheduled to do.

It took a while to disabuse the company that they weren't entitled to withhold part of the refund of the tickets they hadn't provided.

UK networks have 'no plans' to bring roaming fees back after Brexit

"Moot point. The EU as we know it will not exist in 5-10 years time.

Leavers know this. Smart bunch we are."

Of course it won't. We all know that. It won't even be the same after next March. It's changed over time so its form in 5-10 years time won't be as we know it now and we will have no influence in the way it changes in 5-10 years (unless, of course, we return).

It will, however, be the neighbour that looms large in our economic environment and the former, much-missed part of our home market. Leavers aren't smart enough to know that.

Re: re: No Plans?

"Where's Farage when we need to throw rotten spuds at him eh?"

Non-rotten spuds are harder. Just a hint.

"Remainers really are going to have to take responsibility for all three of those."

This is getting surreal. It's the no true Scotsman excuse on steroids.

"We disagree politically, so that's about the same as every general election ever then"

If you change your mind about a general election vote that's OK, the effect only lasts for 5 years at the most. If you change your mind about a constitutional vote affecting your countries relationship with others and which carries inevitable economic consequences, tough. At best, if you change your mind you're in for long negotiations to reverse it and you may only be able to do so at less advantageous terms than before. That's why its conventional for referenda to require a supermajority. And, of course, you decide before the event whether the decision is to be binding or advisory.

If you ask do I think such revisions to the EU treaties should have been subject to binding referenda requiring a supermajority, yes I do. That doesn't affect the fact that this has been an economically disastrous decision made in an outrageously stupid manner.

Don't diss the "remainers", they are a vital part of the Brexit strategy - any and all negative results after Brexit will be blamed on the remainers

Indeed that are. Because once the consequences start to bite everyone will claim to have been a remainer all along. It'll be the only way to avoid the blame. The outcome of the vote will be seen to have been a strange statistical anomaly.

"ts only a non story if you nexer stray beyond the safety of Dover"

As someone has already pointed out, it's not a non story if you live near the Irish border where you can flip from UK to Irish network operators and back in a short distance.

"I think that voting leave will be worth any economic cost. And if we have a second vote, I'll still vote leave for that reason."

If you're not happy with what you see in a mirror I suggest you keep sharp objects away from your nose.

In the meantime my children and grandchildren are going to have to live with that economic cost in the longer term, or would have to unless they're able to take advantage of the fact that they're entitled to Irish citizenship.

But thank you for your exposition of the attitude that brought us this unthought-out mess.

UK.gov tells companies to draft contracts for data flows just in case they screw up Brexit

But we'll be taking back control. And control means that the EU will do what we tell them. At least, that seems to have been the thinking* on which Brexit was predicated.

*I use the term very loosely.

Re: Transfer

"Submarine Cable Map suggests otherwise."

Yet another crap site which displays nothing without Javascript enabled.

Re: Transfer

"N. America - Europe cables go through Britain"

That's the Britain with its over-reaching interception regime (ref: ECHR). It's a good point.

Re: Brexit

"The gift which just keeps giving."

Or is it taking? Taking the piss without doubt.

Do not adjust your set, er, browser: This is our new page-one design

The new design gives editors a modular grid to play with, so they can slot in these sorts of interesting elements as required on the day try to double-guess what we want and get it wrong.

"If you don't like the new design, for the time being you can click on the opt-out link at the bottom of the homepage – and bam, you're free."

Done.

I took a look at it when it was opt-in. The comments in the discussion were overwhelmingly against. IIRC they even said it made the mobile version worse so there goes the main reason for the change. But no, someone ?marketing, decides to go ahead anyway.

If I'd realised it was a WIP I'd have gone back and complained given feedback again. I guess that was the reaction of all the rest who didn't like it and when the feedback stopped you thought it was because we now approved.

Card-stealing code that pwned British Airways, Ticketmaster pops up on more sites via hacked JS

Re: The Moral of the Story

"pretty hard to actually do without inspecting webpages manually."

Not entirely manually. Just manually inspect what your blocker reports.

Re: Something's rotten

"do you really think that British Airways and Ticketmaster are in risk of bankruptcy due to their payment system having been compromised?"

No but I do expect them to have to provide proper compensation to customers. I also expect the relevant data protection regulators to make it clear that fines for repeat offenders will rise rapidly, even if businesses do self-report quickly.

I expect them to have to spend sufficient money for compensation and fines for the board to have to be concerned and even put it into annual reports. If that doesn't happen this time round I expect that when financial regulators get back from lunch they'll require them to do it.

"A customer engagement tool."

In other words, something that marketing would have been pushing for. Marketing: the biggest in-house threat to a business.

"a quick search showed at least a few hundred using this particular feedback library."

Following the link embedded in that sentence in the article leads to a page demanding enabling of Javascript without which it will show nothing at all. Will they never learn?

So Brave: Browser biz sics Brit watchdogs on Google's info slurpage

"We build privacy and security into all our products from the very earliest stages"

Translation: we try to keep all the PII we slurp private to and secure in our systems until we sell it.

Alternative translation: String of char