* Posts by Zork-1

28 publicly visible posts • joined 18 Sep 2015

The biggest British Airways IT meltdown WTF: 200 systems in the critical path?

Zork-1
Mushroom

Single point of failure?

I have a colleague who used to work at BA. From what he told us that they use an Enterprise System Bus (ESB) which is a Java base message queue system which can be a publisher/subscriber or point-to-point configuration depending on the messaging needs.

And from experience, this ESB sometimes is a pain trying to get it started, even after a scheduled power cycle by experienced people. Plus the fact that if you want the fastest possible message response, the messages are stored in memory with no physical backup; you can use a database as the message queues but that slows things down a lot.

I am guessing that this piece of software failed to restart properly and since it was configured for maximum speed to handle the load, all the messages before the crash was lost.

Just a wild guess.

Lenovo cries 'dump our support app' after 'critical' hole found

Zork-1

Re: Sigh

My first non self-built PC was from PCS. I switch to D*** PC for my last rig after PCS sent me a "fixed" hard disk of someone else. The "order number" was exactly the same as the PC I ordered so I thought their database was in a right mess - not good for a company.

I did not check the contents of the HDD as it could have full of infected stuff - like those USB sticks on collars of free roaming cats. Sent it back on freepost after they emailed me saying that they had made a mistake.

Database man flown to Hong Kong to install forgotten patch spends week in pub

Zork-1
Pint

Re: Days before laser pointers

A pilot once joked that he closed his eyes when trying to land at Kai Tak because he was afraid of hitting something :) So laser pointers wouldn't have affected him.

Incidentally, I am at my customer's site in HK right now, reading all the comments because I have completed the new software installation in 1/5th of the scheduled time - I had prepared the system remotely beforehand, just a matter of switching over and performing some tests.

Almost time to go ... to look at what new shiny hardware they have at Sham Shui Po. Then a beer or 2 at Lang Kwai Fong.

Germans stick traffic lights in pavements for addicts who can't take their eyes off phones

Zork-1
Coat

Re: Darwin award??

That's why we need autonomous trams.

But seriously, can't they just put up jamming posts next to the crossings so all phones shut down. Or Have an auto proximity "ad" like feature on all phones, showing a message to the user to look at the traffic ahead?

China's Dalek-like robots fear only one terrifying nemesis: Stairs

Zork-1

Re: Obligatory Borderlands 2 reference

AT least it can't talk yet ... can it?

I am sending pouting selfies to a robot. Its AI is well buff

Zork-1

Where is that app that tells you if your life is worth living?

It must already have data about where you live, who your friends are and where you frequent, and how many hours of sleep you get per night.

Firefox features will land out of cycle and Mozilla's cool with that

Zork-1

(Forceful) Daily updates?

So, they finally decided to go Agile? Not that I like updating anything every single day like the FB app - which is still shit.

Yes, I have a FB account (very sad) but I have only added my REAL friends in life so I guess I am more normal than most - I hope. On the bright side, I don't have a Twitter account and will never need one.

Error checks? Eh? What could go wrong, really? (DoSing a US govt site)

Zork-1
Pint

Re: But the program is error free!

Miracle: No errors but has (serious but ignored) warnings.

Hand of God: No errors nor warnings (without typecasting/fudging).

What we all really need is an SD card for our cars. Thanks, SanDisk

Zork-1

Re: New sticky labels bought - need to find use for them

Also to prevent theft :P

Anyway for those who don't think a car can get so cold or so hot, try locking yourself in one during winter or summer, without air conditioning. That's how pets and children die.

Eurovision Song Contest uncorks 1975 vote shocker: No 'Nul point'!

Zork-1

Country with largest population wins?

Not that I care much about this contest but wouldn't it favour countries with very large populations of people or bots?

These kind of voting are always susceptible to manipulations.

Now if only all these (automated) voters pay my a penny each time they vote instead of to the premium numbers.

Who would code a self-destruct feature into their own web browser? Oh, hello, Apple

Zork-1
Pint

Re: Goat Kebabs

No no no! That's too much work for a Friday afternoon. Just feed the goat the ingredients then roast it (alive) for 4 (rare) to 24 (burnt) hours.

Have a few beers while you wait. And don't touch that browser!

May be I should patent this.

Why a detachable cabin probably won’t save your life in a plane crash

Zork-1
Coat

I better idea

I think it will be more cost effective to jettison the passengers one by one instead of the entire cabin.

The statistics will look better if only a handful of parachutes didn't open in a total of hundreds.

Mine is the one with the "Triple" parachute.

P.S. won't a sudden lost of weigh affect the way the now passenger-less aircraft fly? Like nose heavy and dives straight to the ground, killing the pilots? If so why would the pilots release this suicidal "package"?

Twitter boss ‘personally’ grateful as five Twitter execs walk

Zork-1

Re: Patience

Problems is those twits are mostly written in unnatural language(s) that non-twitter users will not understand.

Disclaimer : I used tw(i/a)tter for under 2 hours and decided it was not worth my life with. :P

Periodic table enjoys elemental engorgement

Zork-1
Devil

4 horsemen

Just name them after the 4 horsemen of the apocalypse.

Linus Torvalds fires off angry 'compiler-masturbation' rant

Zork-1
Devil

"

if (mtu < hlen + sizeof(struct frag_hdr) + 8)

goto fail_toobig;

mtu -= hlen + sizeof(struct frag_hdr);

"

It's still "RUBBISH" :P

what if "hlen + sizeof(struct frag_hdr) + 8" causes an overflow and ended up <= mtu but the intended value (if given more bits to store) is actually > mtu?

c.f. if (A < B + C) ...

Caption this: WIN a 6TB Western Digital Black hard drive with El Reg

Zork-1

New IT manager introducing himself to the latest "AI software developer" he bought off eBay:

"Me Boss! You slave; just like all those code monkeys I fired before."

Zork-1
Terminator

The backup HAL on Earth has learnt to lip read too.

Hackers hit NATO, White House – then aimed at MH17 air disaster probe

Zork-1

Modern AA missiles don't hit their target directly. They exploded when the target is near and sends shrapnel into the target, causing structural or equipment damage - much like a shotgun in close range.

So those ain't bullet holes.

El Reg celebrates Back to the Future Day

Zork-1

VR Time

Oculus Rift SDK X found a new supporter - SeeThruTech's AR/VR program that removes (all) the clothes of the person you are aiming at ... and can change their sex too.

Future civilisations won't know how the universe formed

Zork-1
Angel

Re: The Universe is only 4000 years old and was made by God

But has your book got (lots of) sex and violence? Are you interested in reading that book now?

WIN a 6TB Western Digital Black hard drive with El Reg

Zork-1

MS released a new face unlocking feature in Win 10 - only to discover that no one tested it before shipping.

Zork-1

Win 10 can handle locale settings changes to the other side of the world ... can you?

Zork-1

How to keep our kids safe from all the Internet porn, violence, propaganda, (and reg comments?), etc. - stream/display them upside down!

Reg reader escapes four-month lightning-struck Windows Vista farm nightmare

Zork-1

My old colleague?

"And it came with a rural setting: the office was in converted farm buildings adjacent to the owners home." ...

And they do time and attendance, access control and CCTV stuff too! Sounds too much like my old company!!!!

Glad to know you survived.

Forget Ben Affleck – US, Euro boffins to SMASH spaceship into asteroid

Zork-1
Devil

Don't!

Any bet that they will miscalculate and the "small" impact will send the "tiny" moon towards Earth?

Zuck, Gates and Bono in ludicrous internet access for world+dog by 2020 bid

Zork-1
Stop

Parts of the world that has no electricity nor running water. I guess access to the Internet is pretty low on their survival priority list - Yes, I am looking at Zuck as well - give refugees homes/work, not Internet access.

Also reminds me of one laptop per child ...

Mysterious cosmic dustball fires up Milky Way's black hole

Zork-1
Alien

Nay, it was due to those suicidal Elite: Dangerous CMDRs that crashes their beloved serpent crafts (and others) into Sag A*.

Me included :)

WIN a 6TB Western Digital Black hard drive with El Reg

Zork-1

Now, let me show you the emergency eject function in the (un)likely event that it overheats and catches fire. And no, it's completely hack proof.