* Posts by anthonyminchinton@yahoo.co.uk

6 publicly visible posts • joined 24 Dec 2015

CEO told to die in a car crash after firing engineers who had two full-time jobs

anthonyminchinton@yahoo.co.uk

more than one job

So it is OK to ask employees to do more than one job for the same employer, but not for separate employers.

Although that's not true either, when I worked for two sister companies I actually worked for two employers, although only paid by one.

As financial difficulties have multiplied most people find themselves doing three or more jobs as their team is reduced by cutbacks.

Finally continually being asked to do more with less has an end point when we have to do everything with nothing - our team is almost there.

UK's National Cyber Security Centre recommends password generation idea suggested by El Reg commenter

anthonyminchinton@yahoo.co.uk

Hair facial recognition

After the lockdown people are returning to work and finding their extra facial hair, grown during the furlough period, is borking their facial recognition on company devices. Either go home and have a shave or join the queue asking IT to reset your company device (you are 993 in the queue).

Microsoft staff giggle beneath the weight of a 52,000-person Reply-All email storm

anthonyminchinton@yahoo.co.uk

Apple (UK) LTD

Back in 1996 I was on the new Performer helpline at Apple (UK) Ltd., headquarters in Stockley Park and there were some Microsoft email servers for the UK network.

A HyperCard program was set up to subscribe and unsubscribe people from a tech support database which had an auto reply function if you left the original subject line unaltered.

So far so good until someone used the system to inform everyone of a new technical issue. Meanwhile someone else had set up their Microsoft Mail to make an auto reply out of the office.

The Microsoft Mail duly replied to the technical issue saying it (he) was out of the office which the HyperCard program duly sent to everyone including the original sender, which duly replied it (he) was out of the office; ad infinitum, ad nauseam.

My own contribution was, “Isn’t this great!” Others joined in and added contacts from across the pond so they could share in the fun.

Eventually some spoilsport pulled the plug on the auto answer out of the office mac.

It was one of my best days there.

Right-click opens up terrifying vistas of reality and Windows 95 user's frightful position therein

anthonyminchinton@yahoo.co.uk

Win95 trash can

So there I am in the venerable NHS catering department (outsourced) and one of the clerical staff say that they like the idea of recycling and thoroughly support Microsoft bringing recycling to the computer. Much better to recycle than delete as its more environmentally friendly.

For once I was utterly speechless – thankfully.

Office junior had one job: Tearing perforated bits off tractor-feed dot matrix printer paper

anthonyminchinton@yahoo.co.uk

The Good Old Day’s - RIP

ICl mainframe, bursters, decollaters, Perfory, Ruislip, Department of Industry, absolute formality, Civil Service that was anything but. The vogons in Douglas Adam’s Hitchhiker's Guide To The Galaxy could easily be based upon the British Civil Service. The incompetence and inefficiency covered over by the Official Secrets Act. I am so glad the good old days are over. Sorry for the rant.

FAIL - the most incompetent IT pros

anthonyminchinton@yahoo.co.uk

Re: FAIL - the most incompetent IT pros

booked for a site visit at 2pm (very civilised) because their sister company was not available until that time as they are in a different time zone. Big problem with one user not having access to corporate database despite much trouble shooting by inhouse techs. Arrived at users computer and discovered they did not have access to anything as their ethernet cable had been disconnected when they moved their computer to a desk a little further away. . .