Ah yes - the IBM Biryani Bot.
Posts by SquidEmperor
59 publicly visible posts • joined 24 Nov 2015
They terrrk err jerrrbs! Vodafone replaces 2,600 roles with '600 bots' in bid to shrink €48bn debt
Antarctic researchers send an SOS to the world: Who wrote this message in a bottle?
Thursday 7th November 2019 10:20 GMT
UPDATE Re: WE HAVE A WINNER!
OK - Quick update
[1]. I Still have not been able to contact the bottle tosser
[2]. Now have a name (Malgorzata ), a profession (Doctor) and a full email address
* Malgorzata is derived from the Greek word margarita (μαργαρίτα) meaning "pearl". It is equivalent to the English "Margaret"
[3]. A fellow passenger has emailed Malgorzata and some other passengers who were also on the trip to see if we can get in touch with her
[4]. I've shared this information (and the full email which I won't share here for privacy) with the Australian Antarctic Division so they can forward the details to Stella Thomas who works for them and was the person who found the bottle
So in summary the bottle was indeed dropped off the vessel M/V Ortelius whilst it was off-shore of Bouvet Island on (we assume) April 6 2015 by a Polish Doctor named Malgorzata who various individuals are endeavouring to contact to let her know that her bottle has been received.
Monday 4th November 2019 15:02 GMT
Found the boat!
After some investigation I think I have identified the boat the mysterious judbas@?????.pl was on.
Specifically the Ortelius - which took a number of tourists on a month long trip around the area in March/April 2015
The Ortelius was located off-shore of Bouvet on April 6 and 7 of 2015 but was unable to land. My suspicion is one of the tourists set the bottle afloat at that time.
Here is a travel blog written by a Russian that details them being off-shore at Bouvet at that time: https://www.tema.ru/eng/travel/bouvet/
I emailed the blog's author to see if he can identify the mysterious judbas@..pl
It's back: The mercifully normal-looking Moto 360 smartwatch
What the @#$%&!? Microsoft bans nudity, swearing in Skype, emails, Office 365 docs
Wednesday 28th March 2018 08:37 GMT
How Dare You!
This is incredibly bad news. Basically the rule now is you cannot offend any one. Forget about swear words and so on, if I find anything you say offensive I can now raise a flag and (I assume) get you bumped off all MS platforms whilst they investigate it. Free speech means the freedom to offend, if we aren't willing to take the risk to offend, or worse silence those who do, we have no free speech.
PwC: More redundos at HQ of UK 'leccy stuff shop Maplin
Monday 26th March 2018 15:40 GMT
Well I got a deal :)
Not a massive saving by any means but I think the only time I've ever bought something at Maplin and got a price that matched online. I got a samsung T5 250 GB SSD FOR £100. And a printer refill (HP) which matched online prices. Literally the only time in 20 years I've bought Maplin and felt vaguely pleased. Sorry for the staff and so on but it was inevitable.
I look forward to the replies telling me where I could have got it for £60 :(
British Level 4 driverless pods are whizzing along ... er, a London path
Wednesday 21st March 2018 13:50 GMT
You can kill a couple of people every billion miles
Of course what many don't consider is that to be the safest form of transport autonomous vehicles don't have to be perfect, they just need to kill less people than people driven cars, motorcycles, bikes etc.
For example Fatalities per billion passenger kilometres by mode: 2005 to 2014 average in the UK was 86 for motor bikes, 2 for cars and 28 for pedestrians. So in a billion km of travel if they only kill a couple of people they're still the safest mode of transport (source: "Transport Statistics Great Britain 2015" Dept. of Transport)
BOOM! Cambridge Analytica explodes following extraordinary TV expose
'Quantum supremacy will soon be ours!', says Google as it reveals 72-qubit quantum chip
BlackBerry unveils bold new strategy: Suing the c**p out of Facebook
RIP, Swype: Thanks for all the sor--speec--speedy texting
This job Win-blows! Microsoft made me pull '75-hour weeks' in a shopping mall kiosk
Oi! Verizon leaked my fiancée's nude pix to her ex-coworker, says bloke
Google's robo-CTRL-ALT-DEL failed, hung networks and Compute Engine for 90 minutes
Stephen Elop and the fall of Nokia revisited
Thursday 15th February 2018 12:07 GMT
Lesson Learnt
That sucks - and I'm sorry to hear it.
We all have to make our own decisions re: life/work balance and often it's difficult to make the right call on each occasion. None the less I'd remind all of this critical statement:
"What do you get from a lifetime of hard work?......a lifetime of hard work"
UK ICO, USCourts.gov... Thousands of websites hijacked by hidden crypto-mining code after popular plugin pwned
Boffins upload worm's brain into a computer, teach it tricks
A Hughes failure: Flat Earther rocketeer can't get it up yet again
So you accidentally told a million people they are going to die: What next? Your essential guide...
Thar she blows: Strava heat map shows folk on shipwreck packed with 1,500 tonnes of bombs
You can't ignore Spectre. Look, it's pressing its nose against your screen
OK, Google: Why does Chromecast clobber Wi-Fi connections?
Monday 15th January 2018 13:40 GMT
My Kids also have Google Bug
As the parent of four teenagers I'd like someone to provide a patch for their behaviour which closely resembles this report. If I dare to turn off the WiFi router I am bombarded with sudden and escalating requests which ultimately overwhelm me and can only be resolved by multiple boot-ups.
Sky customer dinged for livestreaming pay-per-view boxing to Facebook
Elon Musk lowers his mighty erection for test firing: Falcon Heavy preps for maiden voyage
Maplin Electronics CEO ups stakes for steak house
Thursday 4th January 2018 14:03 GMT
Re: Hmmmm
"..Oli has forced the business towards bankruptcy by charging obscenely high prices for cables and by filling the shelves with smart home guff and cheap Chinese crap nobody wants..."
THIS. I feel sad for the staff and support teams but I cannot see how Maplin can possibly survive. My most recent trip to Maplins (which was in the City btw - how can they afford the rent?) for a phone charger almost took my breath away. They seem to target distress buyers who are willing to pay a massive mark up for immediate satisfaction.
Nokia 8: As pure as the driven Android - it's a classy return
Wednesday 6th December 2017 14:38 GMT
Agreed
Totally agree. After having to move from Samsung to LG (v20) because of the whole Note fiasco I suddenly realised what a bloated cow the Samsung Os was. While not quite stock the LG Os is much closer to pure Android - but still with it's own Gallery App, Email and a few others. What's the point? I never use them - I just use the chocolate box versions.
Samsung Galaxy S8+: Seriously. What were they thinking?
Wednesday 17th May 2017 13:38 GMT
Never again
A devote Note 4 fanboi I was devastated when the Note 7 forced me to buy a LG V20 instead....but now? After living free of the maddening Samsung UI and all its bloatware I'll never return. The finger sensor placement and Bixby underline how bad Samsung has become. They've literally become Apple - sacrificing usability and utility for pointless gimmicks that actually devalue the customer experience.
BDSM sex rocks Drupal world: Top dev banished for sci-fi hanky-panky
Time crystals really do exist, say physicists*
Facebook shopped BBC hacks to National Crime Agency over child abuse images probe
Tuesday 7th March 2017 15:58 GMT
Re: I have no love for Facebook...but...
No kidding? My point was not that it shouldn't be investigated, and nor was it that Facebook's manifest pathetic failings in moderating and deleting posts highlighted as illegal shouldn't be examined, reported on and publicised. My point was that not reporting a crime but relying on a third party who may or may not have vested interests is rather silly. Facebook might be negligent, some might even argue criminally so (I have no idea) , but if you see illegal images of children anywhere surely law enforcement bodies are who we should report this to?
Tuesday 7th March 2017 13:18 GMT
I have no love for Facebook...but...
Why on earth would you even bother reporting it to Facebook. Contact the police. If you saw illegal images on a billboard on the side of a office building would you go in to the building and be happy to be instructed: "Sure, just fill in this form about what you saw and why you think it's illegal and we'll look in to it.." You'd report it to the police. That's what should be done online as well. Screw Facebook and their hopeless systems but let's not elevate them to guardians of law, decency and what is and isn't legal to be posted online.
Biting the hand that feeds IT
