* Posts by bombastic bob

10507 publicly visible posts • joined 1 May 2015

Deplatforming hate forums doesn't work, British boffins warn

bombastic bob Silver badge
Devil

Re: If you feed the trolls ...

what are the targets supposed to do?

In general, get the cops involved, track down the perpetrators (who are violating various laws) and file lawsuits.

bombastic bob Silver badge
Trollface

Re: If you feed the trolls ...

whenever I think of "Feeding Trolls" I am reminded of an old Screwball Squirrel cartoon (and a similar Bugs Bunny cartoon)

"I will love him and hug him and call him George"

(Screwy Squirrel was literally squished to death when the dog hugged him a bit too much...)

Cardboard drones running open source flight software take off in Ukraine and beyond

bombastic bob Silver badge
Devil

Re: We've been here before ...

I have to wonder what the radar signature of cardboard looks like when compared to plastic...

US Navy turns to hull-climbing bots to combat maintenance backlog

bombastic bob Silver badge
Devil

Re: Danger of Sabotage

basically we still need human "supervision" along with high security.

Having been in a Navy shipyard involving drydocks a few times, there are a LOT of people doing these kinds of tasks - welding, painting, visual inspections, x-ray the hull, etc.

Robots would help a LOT. But of course people need to supervise them.

Tesla ordered to pay worker $3M-plus over racist treatment

bombastic bob Silver badge
Devil

Re: Wow easy money

"It does not seem right."

On the surface without seeing any of the evidence4 in the case, I would initially react the same way.

Cali-FORN-You is a hostile environment for business in general these days, and Fremont (between San Jose and Oakland) is no exception I'm sure, but if the case WAS legit, then whatever was awarded was done to punish actual violations, including legal costs in litigating it.

So yeah, I suspect a LOT of these cases are nuisance claims from disgruntled employees looking to screw over the former boss. But if bad actors actually DID act like racists etc, and the corporation had inadequate (or no) response to legit claims, it's on the company, not the plaintiff.

Bank rewrote ads for infosec jobs to stop scaring away women

bombastic bob Silver badge
Coat

Re: So they removed the impossible?

I think it might've been Graham Chapman.

The only reason he was standing up during the interview was that his feet were nailed to the floor.

(ok this thread has gotten way too silly)

bombastic bob Silver badge
Devil

Re: So they removed the impossible?

"Far too many job ads include things like" XXX

Yeah it's like a running gag. But if this running gag keeps women from applying, it's time to replace it with a new one.

"Or equivalent [whatever] in a similar area of expertise"

^^== may be a good start ==^^

bombastic bob Silver badge
Trollface

Re: So

"Is there not science and fact to fall back on?"

I was thinking that we should fall back on whatever is funniest - or maybe a nice comfy chair!

(NOBODY expects the Spanish Inquisition!)

NASA names astronauts picked for next Artemis Moon test flight

bombastic bob Silver badge
Meh

Re: What are the criteria for inclusion as crew?

I'm waiting for modern society to GROW UP to the point where "identity accomplishments" become MEANINGLESS.

Until then, in the name of doing the COOL thing of sending humans to the moon again [and it is MOST definitely WAY cool!], I have to keep an adequate supply of pink liquid containing bismuth salicylate on hand, in case of emergency projectile vomiting... because a VERY LOUD *MINORITY* of us *FEEL* (not think) that identity accomplishments actually MEAN something (and aren't merely the hackneyed ebony/ivory style virtue signalling, preachiness, and passively divisive manipulative messaging from THE LEFT that a LOT of us have grown sick of over the years)

Reg fashion: Here's what the well-dressed astronaut will wear on the Moon in 2025

bombastic bob Silver badge
Coat

Re: Badump-kssh!

you can't really 'moonwalk' to that...

bombastic bob Silver badge
Coat

Re: Tight fit?

The female version also needs thigh-high socks and opera gloves...

bombastic bob Silver badge
Devil

Re: Tight fit?

I always figured something similar to shoelaces would make this possible

An emergency space suit, that is 'one size fits all', could basically be a giant ziplock bag with shoelaces for arms and legs and torso to "make it fit". So as air is venting, you crawl in, zip up, pull some laces and hit the O2 bottle. "Space suit"

Silicon Valley Bank seized by officials after imploding: How this happened and why

bombastic bob Silver badge
Megaphone

Live by the ESG, die by the ESG?

I am looking for a 'smoking gun' connection between ESG and the collapse of Silicon Valley Bank.

They definitely had a LOT of investment in this ESG stuff, as I research via an online search. Although I have not yet found any indication that ESG investments were failing more often (as I would expect), or whether their NOT doing venture capital for NON-ESG stuff (let's say a rifle-maker, fossil fuel exploration, a startup that focuses on 'hard workers' instead of 'diversity', or coal-fired power plants), they certainly seem to put a nice public face on their "ESG-ness".

https://www.svb.com/news/company-news/svb-releases-2022-environmental-social-and-governance-esg-report

The main reason STATED for SVB's collapse is that bond/interest rate connection. They had $BILLIONS in bonds with near-zero interest, and when interest got jacked up by 'The Fed": to (allegedly) stop inflation [by stifling economic growth, that is how this theory works], the low interest bonds basically got devalued and liquidation lost them nearly $2 bilion.

However, their bread and butter is venture capital, in the Silicon Valley area. But these businesses are laying off now, maybe even defaulting on high risk loans. So there is not a lot of startup activity, and possibly a lot of RED INK.

And if their investment policy EXCLUDES money making business that are "not woke", their potential revenue stream dries up.

I am having a hard time proving it, but my instincts tell me that this IS a major factor that is not being talked about [like so many things are being said quietly, it seems]. Until now.

Meanwhile China funds open pit cobalt mines in the Congo with child slave labor, and provides batteries for the world. Those batteries are then purchased by ESG-qualifying businesses that might be funded by banks like SVB. Solar panels, electric cars, and electricity storage banks for Solar and Wind? No PROBLEM! ESG says those businesses are *WONDERFUL*.

And banks/crypto are going under, and the possible primary driving force of SVB's low cash flow is being ignored...

bombastic bob Silver badge
Happy

Re: Federal Spending > Inflation > Rising Interest Rates

Gummint. heh. like a meme. Roger Hedgecock was the first person to coin this term I think. I've been using it for decades.

In essence, it takes a government to "gum things up" and of course it sounds kinda "red-neck" to pronounce it that way.

(You know you're a redneck when ... [fill in the blank] - Jeff Foxworthy jokes)

Glad to see the term in use.

Semiconductor industry: To Hell with the environment, start building fabs already

bombastic bob Silver badge
Unhappy

Re: Little people

Well a bit of a reality check here...

* nobody wants dirty air, dirty water, nor toxic waste contaminated soil

* enviro regulations often go overboard and add YEARS to planning and/or permit and construction times

* "pollute over there" is a HUGE motivation for going offshore

That being said, if governmentium is taken out of the way, below the threshold of dirty air/water/soil, I am good with it.

And, it is very hard to have a wafer fab operation without toxic waste. For starters, you need things like HF in large quantities, as well as OTHER stuff

If we plan to live on the Moon, it's going to need a time zone

bombastic bob Silver badge
Devil

Re: Just set the entire moon to Coordinated Universal Time (UTC +0) ...

"saying sync to UTC is missing a whole bunch of thinking needed."

Not if the real purpose is for humans to get a proper day/night cycle going.

For that, just sync to a radio signal from Earth that broadcasts UTC.

Good enough for us meatbags, anyway.

bombastic bob Silver badge
Unhappy

Re: Just set the entire moon to Coordinated Universal Time (UTC +0) ...

people who have "farmer schedules" with actual day/night cycles would resist

bombastic bob Silver badge
Devil

Re: Just set the entire moon to Coordinated Universal Time (UTC +0) ...

Lunar Regolith is, as I understand it, a bit like cement (not nearly as much calcium though but might still work). I expect you could mix with water and make things out of it

Or, heat it up and melt it into thick glass, even (it seems to have a lot of SiO2 in it). That might be very useful to have local materials to build with on the moon.

bombastic bob Silver badge
Devil

Re: Just set the entire moon to Coordinated Universal Time (UTC +0) ...

Agreed. In the U.S. Navy it was called 'Zulu Time' but basically UTC +0

Since I was on a sub there was no day/night. So after a day or so on extended deployment we'd switch over to Zulu (logs and everything), then before pulling into port switch to local time zone.

The moon could remain at UTC +0 and it would be perfect.

Yukon UFO could have cost unfortunate balloon fan $12

bombastic bob Silver badge
Devil

if it is made of biodegradable plastic, not so bad really. And when the tracker stops moving you know where it is. And if you have your name/address on the side of the tracker this can allow it to be mailed to you COD or with postage pre-paid

bombastic bob Silver badge
Devil

Re: More...

if you just need something that floats (and no radio) I could probably do it with hydrogen and a trash bag. I used to make hydrogen balloons back in the day with simple household ingredients (like aluminum foil and drain cleaner) and since it is highly exothermic you use plastic soda bottle immersed and weighted down in cooling water (like a big bucket). If you do not melt the bottle you just need to snap a balloon over the hole and inflate it. But something bigger like a trashbag might need a hose of some kind.

Still for higher altitude balloons you fill it with JUST enough gas to float it. As altitude increases it will continue to expand. At some point it either bursts or has enough pressure to expand fully but NOT burst, and it reaches max altitude.

But then with no tracker you cannot tell how high up it went...

Tesla fires gigafactory staff after someone made the mistake of mentioning unions

bombastic bob Silver badge

Re: Understandable

Actually if the union is properly managed and contracts properly drafted, it can be an overall 'win' to allow the unions into a shop.

As long as there are 'right to work' provisions, and no mandatory union dues for political purposes, at any rate...

SO if I built a factory I would check with local unions in the desired locations and have them tell me what the labor will cosl and do some research on them on top of it. This way you get a fair cost estimate and the employees are already IN the union. Then you work with the union to hire/fire and do the HR, with contracts that do not limit your ability to automate or or 'adjust staffing'' or hire contractors when needed. Then you make sure the union gets a chunk of stock so that when the company does well, so does the union. Then you build your factory with a known cost and focus on process efficiency and that sort of thing, knowing the costs, knowing the likely productivity, and then adjusting the business around it.

If you are non-union it helps to pay union scale, also. And if employees "feel intimidated" about the continuous monitoring, perhaps they become more productive with INCENTIVES!

systemd 253: You're looking at the future of enterprise Linux boot processes

bombastic bob Silver badge
Devil

Re: This is perfect for a Friday story

that icon will be next to the icons for "young whippersnapper trips and falls because his nose was in the air" and "My mind is so open that my brain fell out"

bombastic bob Silver badge
Linux

Re: systemd 253: You're looking at the future of enterprise Linux boot processes

Systemd 451 would naturally be preceded by systemd 365 [no need for worry]

I also have to wonder why RH went to a monolithic "thing" that needs regular monolithic top-down updates like Windows...

(perhaps it is a form of job security? sysV makes more sense in that it does NOT need regular monolithic top-down updates)

The Linux kernel grows with new features and new hardware support and the occasional bug fix. THAT should be enough for JUST the kernel to abstract the userland from the hardware on its OWN!

EU lawmakers argue against signing US data-transfer pact

bombastic bob Silver badge
Devil

There are at least SOME of us in the USA that would like to see GDPR-like privacy protections here also. Me, for one.

End to end encryption may or may not help in the mean time.

[BUT... if you need to get something done that involves an 'executive order', just hire HUNTER BIDEN and pay him a RIDICULOUS AMOUNT, making sure to get an extra percent in there for "The Big Guy"]

Uncle Sam backs right-to-repair battle against Big Ag's John Deere

bombastic bob Silver badge
Meh

Re: It’s about increased profits, of course

For general market items like cars, "repaired by anyone" makes sense.

For industrial and farming equipment I expect a lot of customers just go to the dealer anyway [the way that managers "buy microsoft"].

It's the independent and family-owned farmer who would be hit the hardest by these practices. Corporate farmers just collect their pay and let management deal with the upkeep.

bombastic bob Silver badge
Happy

Re: And hardware DRM

Extending the 'right to repair' requirement for auto makers to tractor makers for industrial and farm equipment ONLY makes sense.

In this case the Fed Gummint is taking the correct position. Encouraging.

DigitalOcean waves goodbye to 11 percent of staff

bombastic bob Silver badge
Stop

Re: US Hiring and Firing.

As a contractor I am used to it. Basically it means adapting to the 'feast-or-famine' environment and always do your best to keep customers happy [then they keep giving you more projects].

Seriously,getting hired into a megacorp and staying there for 40+ years is highly overrated. "Job security" never really existed. The world changes too quickly, especially in IT and tech. Being flexible to 'hiring and layoff cycles' is just necessary for survival in the modern world.

bombastic bob Silver badge
Meh

Re: Brilliant

compromised hosts and poor customer support.

Not necessarily. It is well known that in a typical office you have people with varying productivity. So if the layoffs went to the least productive, they'll be fine.

However, in a company that has WAY too many staff members, it's more likely to be arbitrary.

I'm definitely thinking about Elon Musk's recent dealing with Twitter. A whole lot of people were "deemed unnecessary" and from the look of things, that was mostly right. Also apparently gone at Twitter are those meditation rooms, wine dispensers, and free lunches. Yeah, that's where you trim the fat FIRST (not people)

In any case if the staff reductions at Digital Ocean were careful and smart, they'll be OK. [They should also do what they can to help find work for the unlucky ones, since it is in their own best interest as well]. But if they are arbitrary and driven hy anything OTHER than making the new office 'lean and mean', look forward to MORE OF SAME.

But I suspect 'not OK', and the main reason for revenue loss has been a general failure in marketing and forecasting. 2022 saw a HORRENDOUS amount of inflation, especially for the energy sector, interest rate hikes to "fix" it [but when inflation is caused by runaway gummint spending, it just stag-flates things], and apparently they are headquartered in New York City which is NOT helping. [NYC is an extremely expensive place to live and wages are artificially high, like San Francisco, Palo Alto, etc.]

In other words, if they had kept their eyes open they might have seen this coming. I actually expected the inflation etc. to happen as soon as oil prices began to rise due to 'new gummint policies' on U.S. domestic oil etc. because to ME it was obvious. But I digress. [hedging their bets or planning to move out of expensive areas might have been a way to avoid the layoffs]

And of course the ones who lose the most are the ones who were relying on them for a paycheck, and got sacked.

Core-JS chief complains open source is broken, no one will pay for it

bombastic bob Silver badge
Devil

Re: It's not FOSS that's broken

Well, you have to assume human nature and make an incentive for greedy bastatrds to actually pay you, that's all.

Indirect pay COULD be adding "contributor for ZZZ" to your CV/Resume and examples of your code [when asked]

bombastic bob Silver badge
Devil

Re: If you want to get paid

I would qualify that statement.

If you want to get paid, do not release your software for free WITHOUT a revenue path, such as paid support, customization, or some kind of value that you personally benefit from that's related to it.

If I write a FOSS program to do XXX and it is related to the normal kinds of work I do, then I can haul XXX along with me wherever I go and make it a selling feature for my software development services. Hiring me to contract develop a YYY that can use XXX as its basis and save a month's work _IS_ a benefit, and you can haul your FOSS portfolio around with you wherever you go.

(Also helps to write up a free license for using a customized version AND customer keeping it closed source, and reference the online repo so others can maintain it later)

bombastic bob Silver badge
Devil

FOSS is broken,

Not really. You can still work on it for free or get someone else to take over the project if you cannot volunteer.

people need funding to work on it,

Some do some do not.

If I write a FOSS thing that is useful to me getting programming gigs, then it helps me personally to work on it [I have and do].

If others also benefit, you can at least partially rely on them to submit patches and just manage it.

Contributions in the form of patch/test are extremely helpful. I prefer this over money as I have all of my income from other/different sources, and fixing the FOSS code would indirectly help me personally. But yeah, it is often hard to work on FOSS _AND_ earn a living at the same time. I just get too tired to work on the FOSS.

So as far as I am concerned, "in kind" contributions of quality patches and testing are as good as donations for a community supported project.

Customized software and support definitely generate revenue, though, and it is that "value added" part that earns the most, my 25¢ worth.

Used EV car batteries find new life storing solar power in California

bombastic bob Silver badge
Devil

Re: Nonstandard units

my understanding is that EV batteries need full replacement every 3-5 years, at a cost of around $10k. YMMV of course [bad PUNishment I know] but my car is >20 years old and the total major drive train maintenance (other than tires ad breaks) was $2000 or so when I got a new exhaust system less than 10 years ago.

If it were an EV I probably would have replaced the battery 3 or 4 times at the price of A WHOLE NEW CAR.

And resale on EVs kinda stinks, because of that foreboding battery replacement cost.

bombastic bob Silver badge
Devil

Re: Nonstandard units

well you are right. The assumption I was making here is that the wind and solar plants were actually working as intended.

But of course when they do not (bad weather, night time) then you do not need a peaker plant (or batteries), you need a standby fossil fuel plant to take up the slack, usually an oil burner or natural gas plant.

bombastic bob Silver badge
Boffin

Re: Nonstandard units

yeah maybe it wasn't stated correctly. Here is how it works.

Electrical power demand varies throughout the day and night for obvious reasons. But rather than just having one ginormous plant throttle output to the demand (expensive, inefficient) you run many power plants of varying kinds, some of which (nuclear, coal) run at 100% all of the time, and others (hydro, solar, wind, "peaker") that can be turned on and off as needed.

But to use the wind and solar plants as much as possible, the power grid often has battery storage to suck up power when demand is lower,l and deliver it when demand is higher, thereby evening out demand a bit to make it possible to (let's say) NOT start up gas-powered plants for only a few hours a day during peak demand times (rather better to leave them running at lower power and throttle up when needed and rotate demand to different plants to 'level out the wear/tear' and always have them ready for unexpected demand).

In any case batteries are an effective way to level out demand somewhat and (hopefully) keep costs down. They come with a price (lose around 10% of what they store) but is good enough.

So yeah building more battery storage out of used car batteries is a GOOD thing - as long as they do not burst into flames.

NOTE: When I was in the Navy I worked in the engine room (nuclear sub) and so I became VERY familiar with battery storage and electrical power generation. A properly designed system can easily and automatically shift loads between generators and battery storage systems,. As an example, certain loads would trip shore power breakers if started, but running was OK. So I'd typically take up load on the battery for a bit to allow the equipment to start without tripping breakers, then zero out the battery again. Battery charges were generally scheduled unless we specifically did something to drain it, and there was enough capacity to handle short term peak loads like that.

bombastic bob Silver badge
Unhappy

Re: bit of a contradiction

"If the lithium and nickel are valuable (which they are), why would they be in landfill?"

It's the usual short-sightedness plus expediency, deceit, and green-washing

I understand that plastic recycling suffers the same kind of fate. That is, when I dutifully put plastic in the blue can I assume (in good faith) that Mr. Gummint is also following through and turning these plastic throwaways into more plastic at some recycling plant somewhere.

Unfortunately that often means a landfill in someone else's back yard, possibly in a 3rd world country, who might decide to put it in a barge and dump it at sea instead [and they DO].

Battery recycling *IS* what we all want. But for SOME reason it is NOT what we get!!!

Usually I laugh at this and point fingers at the hypocrisy, but right now i am too saddened by it all. WE THE PEOPLE suffer from it, while virtue signalling elitists say "Nothing to see here"

Of course re-purposing battery assemblies for a few more years [as peak electrical demand storage] IS good so let's keep doing that.

(and do not forget that the energy density of GASOLINE, by weight, is considerably better than a battery pack - and there is no man-made CO2 climate change, either)

Could 2023 be the year SpaceX's Starship finally reaches orbit?

bombastic bob Silver badge
Boffin

ozone holes - NOT from rockets (instead, volcanoes)

Althouh there is some validity to rocket exhaust affecting ozone, the actual amount would be mininmal.

* Ozone holes are fund near the poles where cosmic radiation is less effective at creating it from O2 high in the atmosphere

* In general each ozone hole can be mostly attributed to volcanic activity in which the effluent gasses flow towards the hole

* The chemicals alleged to cause these holes are MUCH heavier than air,.and although for a short period of time the rocket will pass through the ozone layer, the amount of these chemicals that could interact with the ozone layer will be relatively small (in other words only a fraction can affect the ozone layer)

On a relate note...

Until we launch nuclear engines that have NO air pollution, our cell phones, internet, television, and other worldwide communications are going to need *ROCKETS* to get them satellites into orbit, and those rockets are going to affect things... minimally.

WINE Windows translation layer has matured like a fine... you get the picture

bombastic bob Silver badge
Trollface

Re: Bottles?

vanilla extract is like 40 proof...

bombastic bob Silver badge
Trollface

Re: Ribbon interface holdouts

how about a count-down graphic with a custom HTML tag to invoke it?

Office <office /> <-- display counter that auto decrements whenever O-36? has 'a day off'

bombastic bob Silver badge
Unhappy

Re: Ribbon interface holdouts

Apparently, many PHBs rarely have to 'daily drive' that which they procured (read: were sold a bill of goods) for everyone else

(This is how Win-10-nic and ribbon interfaces and TIFKAM end up being "the standard")

Chinese surveillance balloon over US causes fearful gasbagging

bombastic bob Silver badge

Re: Another report described it as "the size of three buses"

I thought "double-decker bus" was an El Reg unit of measure already...

https://www.theregister.com/Design/page/reg-standards-converter.html

(it's listed under 'length')

bombastic bob Silver badge
Thumb Up

Re: Quick!

nice one!

bombastic bob Silver badge

Re: Difficult

come down by itself, yes. and with large enough holes, that happens faster

bombastic bob Silver badge
Devil

Re: Why not shoot it down ?

60,000 feet, too high for helicopters. Jets with VTOL would have trouble at that altitude.

Better to shoot holes in the gas bag and as it deflates it will reduce altitude until it is recoverable (or crashes to the ground).

bombastic bob Silver badge
Black Helicopters

Re: Why not shoot it down ?

China does not need a balloon to spread avian flu (or whatever).

All they need to do is accidentally leak it from their lab... and not tell anyone.

bombastic bob Silver badge

Re: Why not shoot it down ?

somewhat recently anti-satellite lasers have been tested...

I figure this might be a good exercise for testing one of those!

bombastic bob Silver badge
Unhappy

Re: Why not shoot it down ?

the main reason it is still floating, In My Bombastic Opinion, is the BIDAS administration.

bombastic bob Silver badge
Mushroom

Re: Why not shoot it down ?

If you shoot a few small holes in the gas bag it will come down slowly enough to avoid damaging things.

Then we recover the payload and figure out what they hell they were up to.

[Except that the Bidas family has been taking CCP money for so long that their puppet-masters won't let them.]

(If the balloon goes over Texas, Gov, Abbott will probably shoot it down. Same for DeSantis in Florida.)

this most DEFINITELY fails the 'shoe on the other foot' test.

Linux Mint 21.2 includes a bit of feature creep from the GNOME world

bombastic bob Silver badge
Unhappy

Re: GNOME

Am I correct in thinking the Gnome people just don’t care?

I suspect they are either a) paid NOT to care, or b) exist in the same 'bubble world' as Win-10-nic TIFKAM etc.

Gnome, like Micros~1, seeking to "migrate US" to THEIR way, instead of 'customer service'

"One Adwaita to rule them all"

bombastic bob Silver badge
Unhappy

Re: A worrying move in the wrong direction...

from the article: "we humbly suggest that another such replacement is in order."

Forking from upstream 'prior to latest gnome' would be a good start.

[/me absolutely DESPISES 'Adwaita', went out of my way to get it out of firefox, documented the process]