Posts by Doctor Syntax

Outsourcers blamed for cocking up programmes at one in three big firms

Re: Outsourcing only works...

"In the end, people spent more time arguing about the letter and spirit of the contract than anything else."

Well, there's the source of your problem: believing that a contract has spirit as well as letters.

Re: I am amazed!

You aren't allowing for the fact that half of them would be too embarrassed to admit it. The remaining 1/3rd probably also had problems but they'd been successfully hidden from whoever was interviewed.

Re: I think I see what's happening

"There's nobody left who hasn't outsourced"

Yes, but the early adopters have already insourced again so they're now ripe for outsourcing.

"management will always rather listen to what an external cunsultant says than to their own expert staff. Even if it's exactly the same."

That's because it costs them more. Price = value. The consultant can ask the expert and then pass the answer on along with a big bill. It's called adding value.

Twitter sues US govt to protect 'Department of Immigration employee' who doesn't like Trump

Re: Problem here

"those in the civil service and administration who make these sort of requests have nothing to lose"

Misfeasance in public office?

'Evidence of Chinese spying' uncovered on eve of Trump-Xi summit

Re: "by the threat actors, "

"So far, nothing is greater than it was four months ago."

US political history isn't my field but hasn't he achieved the greatest ever rate of churn in senior political appointments?

Re: I wonder who tipped them off?

"That depends who is likely to be the most embarrassed by the revelation.

The Chinese for getting caught or Trump for his government being hacked."

There's quite a list who would line up to embarrass both.: the Russians, the Norks, S Korea, Taiwan...

Staff, projects shed as Ubuntu maker Canonical tries to lure investors

"I can't say I'll miss Unity."

Neither will I. It was designed on exactly the same desktop-to-mobile premise as the Windows 8 interface and misguided for the same reason - different use cases need different interfaces.

What I will miss is the effort to get a non-spying OS on a non-overpriced phone. One possible outcome might be that commercial investors restart the Ubuntu phone development going without the overhead of pretending that the same interface can work on a desktop with the downside that they'll insist on cloning the Google/Android business model.

"Linux on the desktop has always been marginal; it's really a server OS that works okay in embedded applications too, which is why Android could use it."

Think this through. Why can what you allege to be "really a server OS" work okay in embedded?

It's because any OS modelled on Unix is a portable and properly layered system. Portable means that any part of it can be compiled for different CPU architectures. Layered means that the kernel can carry a run-time appropriate to the use case: a cut down payload for embedded, a mobile-oriented* payload for Android or a standard set of Unix utilities with or without a choice of graphical interfaces for desktop or server.

No it's not "really a server OS". It's an OS. Just because you struggle with it doesn't mean that our elderly relatives can't manage it when we use it to rejuvenate their old PCs.

*The modular driver system helps here.

Aviation regulator flies in face of UK.gov ban, says electronics should be stowed in cabin. Duh

Re: It's all verry simple

"Not so easy with many sealed unit items without removable batteries."

The item might have started off sealed but with sufficient determination...

Re: Logic

"I'd attach a glider behind the airplane, carrying luggage."

I had the same thought. Maybe we should patent it. Next step, the flying caravan...

Re: Entirely predictable

"download it onto a rented laptop after arrival at your destination. I'm guessing the spooks will definitely have access to the cloud."

Why bother. They can get access to it when you hand the laptop back before you depart.

Re: Entirely predictable

the device "stolen" for analysis

Or just plain stolen.

Re: First AC

"The US was very much 'it's their problem' on the matter"

In fact, it was so much of a matter of "it's their problem" that it extended to letting their own citizens finance it providing it was on the other side of the pond.

Re: That was not unexpected...

"there just aren't as many nutters out there as the security services would like us to think."

And rather more spontaneously combustible batteries than they've taken into account. It's more a matter of weighing up the risks of alternative courses of action than deciding to follow one on what are, in effect, PR grounds.

ICO fines 11 big charities over dirty data donor-squeezing deeds

Re: You can see how the deep dive into the data would work

"No point fining the CEO or trustees - they are not paid very much (relative to FT350 companies with a similar turnover) and is would only prevent the charities being able to attract good talent."

If the trustees are allowing this sort of behaviour it throws the notion of "good talent" into question.

The difficulty from their perspective is that while they can easily measure the benefit of these "advanced" fundraising methods, I.e. additional income raised, they can't easily measure the downsides, I.e. people like me who are put off donating.

That applies to all forms of advertising.

Re: Pleas for extra

"But would someone giving to a charity like the fact that for every £1 they give 30% will go to pay (sometimes huge) wages, 20% to administration, 40% to marketing etc and only 5% to helping the cause itself?"

Sometimes this analysis can be misleading. You need to look at what the charity delivers and how.

I remember reading that the Samaritans had problems because of the amount that was spent on offices and phones which counted as administrative expenditure. But, of course, what Samaitans does is seat volunteers in offices at phones.

A charity that provides medical or social care might spend most of its income on wages because paying those professionals to deliver care is what it's about.

At the very least you'd have to separate out management expenditure.

Re: Don't fine the charity...

"that did not stop The Kids Company to go pearshaped"

I'm not aware that any action was taken against the trustees.

Re: Don't fine the charity...

"Make the managing director (or whatever the relevant title is) personally financially responsible"

That would be the trustees. They occupy a similar position to the directors of a company. Trustee or director, it should be where the buck stops.

Put down your coffee and admire the sheer amount of data Windows 10 Creators Update will slurp from your PC

Re: Enterprise version?

"1) call MS and ask them for the enterprise version. tell them you are a company and need 250 + licences of Windows and Office"

1) Call MS and tell them that you're a large organisation with several thousand Microsoft users who you are about to move over to Linux.

2) Watch a CxO come running with amazing offers.

"That's the first time I've seen the word mardy in print."

The steam enthusiasts who hang out at Elsecar Heritage Centre have an engine called The Mardy Monster. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kfZYHoBLNrc

"I always understood that a privacy policy was something that assured your privacy was kept, not taken away."

You thought wrong. A privacy policy is a vendor's self-justification for however much of your privacy they take away

Startup remotely 'bricks' grumpy bloke's IoT car garage door – then hits reverse gear

Re: Self inflicted wounds well earned

"And it looks like company management supports their thin-skinned overly sensitive rep"

They may well be the same person.

Re: What's wrong with a regular garage door opener?

"Is a regular garage door opener not good enough for people anymore?"

Not if it's not an iThing.

Re: There's a reason some of us call this stuff IoS.

"I had kids so my garage is full of shite. That way I don't need to worry about trying to get the car in it."

My kids are long flown the nest but that makes no difference. Who has a garage with space in it for a car?

Re: There's a reason some of us call this stuff IoS.

"That's part of why Hobbs was right about needing governments for our security."

Maybe Hobbes was overoptimistic about governments. We need security against those as well.

Re: "users (Sheeple) are lapping up this connected IOT requiring external servers"

"having the means does not imply having the right."

And having both still doesn't mean it's a good idea.

Re: Re:Sounds completely - completely - pointless

"You may think that's an odd requirement, but trust me, you don't want to argue the point."

I'll take your word for the last bit. But if I wanted to turn off the heating at some random time, after racking my brains for a while, I think I'd come up with the idea of just pushing the switch.

Re: 6 points on your license

"But I don't believe the Police are in the habit of lurking outside your house hoping to catch you using a door app on your phone"

Prime example of missing the issue here. The reason the police could trap you is because it's illegal to do so whilst driving. The reason it's illegal is because it's dangerous. This is one instance where "think of the children" is relevant. They might even be the driver's own children.

"Ultimately, it spells out a warning for other companies – that one bad-tempered action can impact the entire business."

It should also spell out a warning for other customers and potential customers - if the server goes down for any reason, including the company going out of business, your toy stops working. That applies to any toy that depends on the availability of someone else's computer.

Jailed biz coach accused of $17.5m HPE fraud writes to fans saying 'join me'

Re: He Got Money For The Servers?

"HPE ought to pay him to find out how he was able to sell-on the boxes. Have you seen HPE's year-over-year networking sales figures?"

He might have been the source of their problems. They were trying to sell against him.

Hi there, Peter Sage. Nice planet you're on.

As Trump signs away Americans' digital privacy, it's time to bring out the BS detector

Re: It's Obama's fault, not Trump's

Welcome SoCinderella.

Just a little word. We're techies here. We're probably better informed than you so try not to bullshit too obviously.

From this side of the pond the only effect on me is that that Privacy Figleaf is withering a little more.

However I wonder if it's possible that a telecoms provider also acting as an ISP could be caught under the telecoms provisions.

Re: The one way this will be stopped quick smart...

"Someone needs to fork Wikileaks..."

Spelling!

Re: Devils advocate (from the right side of the pond)

"ISP's profit on providing a hardware service is surprisingly slim, Big G & F buy servers, not laying cables in the ground everywhere"

I think you're confusing two separate activities here. Telecoms companies lay cables in the ground and/or sling them overhead. The ISP service is one of several that runs over the the telecom infrastructure and it may well be that your telecoms provider will sell you - or attempt to - such services over that provision; companies are apt to muscle into adjacent lines of business to add value profit. But your ISP doesn't have to be your telecoms provider.

So ISPs, like the social network companies, are buying servers and internet backbone access. It's true Google tried to get into the infrastructure business but seems to be back-pedalling from that. The difference between ISPs and free services is that the one sells you a service and the other sells you.

WWW daddy Sir Tim Berners-Lee stands up for end-to-end crypto

Re: Populist government comments...

"That puts you into the First Contact problem."

We really need someone to invent public key encryption.

Re: @Doctor Syntax

"were adopted by Arabs, and from there passed to western cultures."

Which is why we call them Arabic numbers in western cultures.

Re: No, it's not settled

"It's why, for example, the UK has historically had very low gun crime; we used to punish it harshly."

I didn't notice that back in my time in N Ireland. That could have been to do with the fact that both sides had a well organised gun-running operation which got round the restrictions in supply.

Schneider Electric still shipping passwords in firmware

Re: Do their buyers care?

"Our staff still want to access this kit from their desks"

And they're not the only ones.

Londoners will be trialling driverless cars in pedestrianised area

According to the Beeb the passengers volunteered for the ride. It says nothing about those who will encounter the vehicle from the outside.

Half a million 'de-identified' patients records to be shared in Bradford

Thanks for the heads-up about TPP. They run our GP's systems. They expect the GP's staff to provide user support for which I doubt they (GP staff) are trained.

NY court slaps down Facebook's attempt to keep accounts secret from search warrants

Re: *uckerBerg does it again

@ MNGrrrl

Whilst I agree with your views on Facebook and wouldn't want an account on it the issue is broader.

I, in the UK, might do business with a company which uses, unbeknown to me, some US corporation as a service provider. Unless US law provides much better protection for user privacy then my data, along with others, is apt to be swept up by an over-braod warrant, as the dissenting judge pointed out.

The Privacy Figleaf withers a little more each time such a judgement comes up.

Steppe thugs pacified by the love of stone age women

Re: Dont Tell UKIP or Britain First

"French a bit at odds here earlier influenced from the south or there are synonyms."

Even French and other Latin derived languages aren't that much at odds. They're still derived from the same origins, the shifts in letters such as those which gave Latin pater and frater rather than father and brother are systematic and the remainder of the word is often the same.

First EU-US Privacy Shield annual review to take place in September

Re: "EU justice commissioner Věra Jourová"

"I have no doubt it will be renewed"

And I have no doubt about its following Safe Harbor once it hits the ECJ and for the same reason. Google, Facebook & the rest will eventually realise that they'll have to follow an arms-length model such as Microsoft are adopting in Germany.

The only question is how long do we have to go round this loop before that realisation dawns? Maybe GDPR-scale fines will hasten that along.

Governments could introduce 'made by humans' tags - legal report

Re: Land Value Tax

"That's why they normally wait until it is sold or transferred and tax it there, because the transaction attaches a value to the asset."

A few days ago my annual council tax bill landed on the doormat. It's based on some nominal valuation of the property. This may not be normal where you live but it's normal here.

"That's assuming everyone CAN make what they want or need. Trouble is, in the future, many will lack the skills, the rest will lack the resources."

And in the days when people had to make or grow what they used* their standard of living was limited by just that.

*Which more or less equates to wanted or needed. If they survived then arguably they got what they needed and they probably didn't want iPhones because they didn't know such things were possible.

Re: ASDA

"Your problem may be less with the type of checkout and more with a poor implementation."

IME it's all of them although the record is held by one that told me to remove an item from the bagging area when there wasn't even one there.

Re: A Lesson from History

Got me on that one. I was expecting the not very missed "I'm backing Britain" campaign. Another one that fell flat on its face.

Re: Illogical conclusion @Charles 9

"real estate. It's not only the most stable asset out there, but because its value is constantly mutable, it's hard to tax."

Could you please tell that to my local council because they keep taxing me on it.