* Posts by Big_Baldy_Bloke

15 publicly visible posts • joined 22 Feb 2016

All of the norths are about to align over Britain

Big_Baldy_Bloke

Re: Or you could...

The Natural Navigator (https://www.naturalnavigator.com) by Tristan Gooley is a fantastic source of information about how to find your way without a compass or any tech.

UK govt draws a blank over vaccine certification app – no really, the report is half-empty

Big_Baldy_Bloke

Re: Here in the EU...

Whatever the fails of the past I would say the It around vaccinations by NHS England has worked pretty well. I have done data entry as a CVA (COVID Vaccination Admin or words to that effect) for several thousand vaccinations, mostly at Aston Villa FC but also in other mass vaccination centres, at GP Surgeries and in a couple of hospitals. There are some inevitable frustrations - you can always come up with ways to improve any app - but overall the systems "just work". Data is keyed on NHS number and feeds back to the National Immunisation Management Service (NIMS) which is the System of Record for the NHS COVID-19 vaccination programme in England. With over 115m vaccinations to date of course there will be some errors and missing records but overall I think we can be happily surprised at how well these systems work.

Big_Baldy_Bloke

Re: Here in the EU...

There's no particular value in having it "on the day" compared to "a few days later" as you have to wait 14 days from 2nd vaccination to get full benefit from vaccination. It is only then (2 weeks later) that the pass is useful.

We're not getting back with Galileo, UK govt tells The Reg, as question marks sprout above its BS*

Big_Baldy_Bloke
Meh

What are the implications for size, weight, battery usage and cost of making phones capable of receiving an MSF time signal? eLoran? Any other equivalent terrestrial location system?

An unfortunate bit of product placement for Microsoft as Liverpool celebrates winning some silverware

Big_Baldy_Bloke

Re: Clarification

There is no absolute position that the personal pronoun for a team in Brit English is ‘they’ (see, eg, Noun-verb agreement on BBC Learning English at

https://www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/learningenglish/grammar/learnit/learnitv358.shtml).

We can use singular or plural verbs with many collective nouns depending on whether we are thinking of the group as a unit or as a collection of individuals.

In this case, “win for Liverpool - it won the English Premier League yesterday“ is what I would write but I think "they" is fine too.

In Hancock's half-hour, Dido Harding offers hollow laughs: Cake distracts test-and-trace boss at UK COVID-19 briefing

Big_Baldy_Bloke

Re: "......worst death toll in Europe"

Great use of "igits" (assuming they are the same as "eejits"). Thank you and have an Upvote.

Apple-Google COVID-19 virus contact-tracing API to bar location-tracking access

Big_Baldy_Bloke

Re: one app per country?

"we have to assume everyone has a mobile phone and installs the app". No we don't; it doesn't have to be perfectly adopted or to perfectly judge distance by Bluetooth to have the potential to help. I can see the value of a central database in giving epidemiologists better information to help manage this pandemic, and also better insight for future pandemics.

I heard talk up front of sunset clauses that would ensure the data was deleted by a certain date. I don't think that is happening now, and worse, apparently a user has no right to request deletion of submitted data (if true, I don't know what exception the HMG is using to get through GDPR) and it appears selling on of the data is no longer excluded.

So, I have no problem with the principle of contributing personal data for overall Public Health benefit, and I started wanting to support the HMG app but the implementation looks worse and worse. Perhaps inevitable in any HMG IT project of this scale.

But I still expect to use the app.

PS I am one of the 3 million people voluntarily reporting through the COVID Symptom Tracker which has produced some interesting results already https://covid.joinzoe.com/

You're not Boeing to believe this, but... Another deadly 737 Max control bug found

Big_Baldy_Bloke

Re: Very uneasy that IAG ordered 200 737 Max aircraft on Jun 18th

Yes, it is a letter of intent that can be cancelled and I understand that if the order goes ahead and is delivered as planned starting in 2023, the 737 MAX will have been modified and shown to be safe. Apart from getting a better price, as you point out, IAG also secured delivery slots from the planned production run and that was most likely important too. I am still queasy about the timing of the announcement and the PR boost it gave Boeing while the crash investigations are underway, and the required fixes are still unknown and/or unroven.

Big_Baldy_Bloke
Unhappy

Very uneasy that IAG ordered 200 737 Max aircraft on Jun 18th

I hated the good PR cover Boeing bought with this order: BA-owner IAG signs deal to buy 200 planes https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-48682123

As the most recent news shows, there are some pretty unpleasant flaws in the 737 MAX itself, and in the design, test and approval processes.

Willie Walsh is quoted as saying IAG had “every confidence in Boeing and expect that the aircraft will make a successful return to service in the coming months having received approval from the regulators”. Surely it is too early to say this with confidence, especially as the plane was not grounded after the first accident and Boeing/FAA were so reluctant to act even after the second. Boeing/FAA will have to be much more careful now the world is watching so I doubt there will be any quick fix.

I assume IAG got an outrageously good deal.

Facebook blames 'server config change' for 14-hour outage. Someone run that through the universal liar translator

Big_Baldy_Bloke

Re: Not sure the comparison is valid

I use this tactic in forlorn hope, rather than with any great expectation.

Big_Baldy_Bloke

Re: Not sure the comparison is valid

I occasionally use WhatsApp or Messenger for voice calls via WiFi when there is no mobile signal or where mobile voice and data is expensive (eg, on a recent holiday in Cabo Verde).

I also sometimes use them for voice calls when I want the phone to ring for a long time at the other end without diverting to voicemail (eg, trying to rouse my son who is a student)

I want to buy a coffee with an app – how hard can it be?

Big_Baldy_Bloke

First 10 characters of your password are good enough

I registered for West Midlands Railway on their website and then downloaded their app only to find I couldn't login because there was an "error in my username or password". I eventually read a help panel which said, in effect, "just use the first 10 characters of your password in the app" and it will work. And it did. Strangest app design and password management I have experienced.

Even now the app has this Password Help:

Our website and app now accepts passwords longer than 10 characters.

If you registered with us prior to 29 August 2018, your password will be 10 characters or less. To sign into the app, please use the first 10 characters of the password you created during your purchase or registration.....

Trump’s new ZTE tweet trumps old ZTE tweets that trumped his first ZTE tweet

Big_Baldy_Bloke

Oreo for ZTE Axon 7

I find it strange to be directly affected by The Donald, the US government and their dealings with China. Oreo was promised for Axon 7 in April, and by all accounts was pretty much ready when the ban on US sales to ZTE was announced. Just hope the global wheels turn far and fast enough for Oreo to be released sometime soon. Not that this matters much in the grander scheme of things! Sent from my Axon 7 in the UK. Still a good phone.

British unis mull offshore EU campuses in post-Brexit vote panic

Big_Baldy_Bloke

Some great options in Sweden

Many degrees taught in English. Zero fees for EU students. My son is at Lund University (not far from Malmo and only 40 mins by train from Copenhagen Airport). Cost of living higher than West Midlands but cheaper than London (though that assessment was made before the step change in exchange rates in late June). Still, it is a very much better bet than £30k of fees.

Samsung Galaxy S7 and S7 Edge: Betting on VR with a dash of Vulkan

Big_Baldy_Bloke

Text reflow in Dolphin Browser

Dolphin Browser does text reflow on zoom on Android. It is the main reason I use Dolphin (with whom I have no relationship, other than that as a user of their browser on Android.)

http://dolphin.com/download-mobile/