Posts by Sam not the Viking 631 publicly visible posts • joined 11 Apr 2018
We need to see evidence in the thermodynamics here.
All the energy sources involved need to be listed and accounted for. Otherwise, it just doesn't work.
"For a successful technology, reality must take precedence over public relations, for Nature cannot be fooled." - Richard Feynman.
Some time ago, after our start-up was taken over by a large TLA conglomerate, their board decided to reclaim their spending on us for 'due diligence' reasons. Although they had done their due diligence, they claimed we had not included all possible liabilities and so employed <<big name>> London lawyers, in an attempt to intimidate with big words.
In response, we hired an (at the time) eye-wateringly expensive brief to make our defence. He duly wiped the floor with them and the claim was rescinded; except that they had made an announcement to the Stock Exchange and couldn't now correct it without losing face. In the end, we each agreed to pay a small amount in order for them to maintain their aura of competence.
Having just bought out a successful, forward-looking company, it was a stupid move and they lost any good-will we brought to the joint venture.
Brilliant strategy and outcome:
1 New 'expert' goes in and updates system.
2 System failure.
3 'Expert' intervention. Saves the day. ---->
4 System update required.
5 'Expert' plans system update.
6 Go to 1.....
Appropriately, it reminds me of 'The Gas Man Cometh': 'It was on the Monday morning, the gas man came to call.'
My recommendations of a ritual sacrifice have never been approved.
On projects which become 'awkward' I undertake a procedure where mantras are invoked to aid the excision of demons. Those nearby think I am just muttering..... I leave a very small text file to maintain protection and also make an appropriate libation ---->
We used to buy a particular specialised item available from several manufacturers, but two in particular. The respective salesmen were Gordon and Tony..... The products were not identical, consumed spares and were (relatively) expensive. There was great pressure on each salesman to get their product into our bespoke, rotating machines. The two salesmen were very different: Gordon was gregarious and full of bonhomie, Tony had had a social lobotomy, was pleasant enough but he had an embarrassing nickname (I will refrain from using it but it still makes me smile). But..... he held a key card: his product was cheaper and he knew it.
The decision day was looming and it was clear that Tony was well in the lead. He was invited in to discuss the terms: cost, delivery, stock, response times etc. and most importantly, who the named contact was going to be: Tony himself, as we were assured. As we finished, we agreed to get the proposal written up for mutual signing. Lunchtime loomed and it was thought a celebration was due. Unfortunately, Tony had 'other business' to attend to and had to dash off immediately to another customer. Oh, well. Another time.
Soon after Tony left, Gordon appeared on the scene and stopped for a quick chat. Although aware he was about to lose this contract he looked at his watch and said, "Let's go and have lunch." There were four in our party so this was indeed generous on his part.
At the restaurant, who is sitting in the far corner? None other than .....Billy Nomates! Tony quaffing a celebratory beer whilst eating his Chow Mein. His crest truly fell when we walked in accompanied by his main competitor. Telling fibs at the start of a vendor-customer relationship was a bad move. He didn't get the order and over the years we went on to spend a lot of money with Gordon.
I have been fortunate enough to work for some good bosses and when I became a boss, I hope I was good. I have removed staff who were incompetent (principally, they claimed skills/qualifications they failed to be able to demonstrate).
On the other hand, I have also had bosses who were poor and I agree with BenD: you have to leave as soon as possible but I acknowledge that this may not always be as easy as it sounds.
And good bosses buy beer. Friday ---->
Apart from being the proper course in life, being polite is good practice. Customers re-order. Trainees become customers. Colleagues start or join new companies and need staff.
There is always space for banter in the right form; give and take. My policy is never to be rude to someone I don't like.
The problem is that you, me and other like-minded citizens need to raise the political kudos in getting this sorted. The expertise is there, untapped. The advice is there, unheeded. Because it won't happen within the lifetime of a single government, our party-politicians are just not interested. What's in it for them?
I'm sure there are honest, forward-thinking politicians, who would sponsor this but because they don't toe-the-party-line they are side-lined. We need to encourage them.
I agree with the technical particulars; it's very energy-consuming to hover and extremely disruptive to everything on the ground which is not firmly fixed.
I often think this sort of thinking is part of the USian 'dream': First, the wanderer prospecting alone in the wilderness, then he rode into town on his horse: broody, quiet, menacing. After that his car had to get faster, bigger, noisier, heavier until we are presented with truly enormous vehicles using as much road as possible. Now the roads are gridlocked, the cowboy wants to go off into the sunset via airspace; as long as he looks the part.
What's the problem in putting thought into swift, efficient public transport? Ideally, door-to-door. Or pub-to-door........ ---->
When I worked for a company which was part of a large, international group, we had a boss who was dangerously devious. He bore a strikingly similar resemblance to the classic portrayals of Dracula. Cutting costs for staff, he enjoyed a lavish existence seemingly protected by dark, looming looks and vindictive tendencies. He also liked to negotiate with suppliers personally, if it was a large order.
He suddenly moved company, located in sunny Spain, with his brand-new, top-of-the-range laptop and week-old Jag. We never saw those again.
We were well rid of him ---->
A good manager is one who understands what you are doing and ensures that the processes and equipment are there to help you function efficiently. I am fortunate in having worked for several competent managers. But not every time.
As an engineer, I would get pissed off by managers, based on their complete incomprehension of the task, who told me what I needed to do. These people who have a cursory understanding, uttering relevant buzzwords-of-the-moment and in so doing have weaselled their way into 'management', are very dangerous.
I was confident in my position but this just serves to infuriate. Amusing for me but it affected others earlier their career path.
If it's designed to go 0-100% nothing would happen before then anyway. Mechanical fail-safes can be tricky to make, set, calibrate and maintain.
For excessive vibration, it's far easier, more accurate and more reliable to have a transducer monitoring conditions. The associated electronics will determine whether things have gone out of control. After all, the operator might have become incapable for medical reasons.
Mk I Eyeball is certainly the top tool, but....
We were having trouble getting a long, large control panel to behave. Spurious trips, intermittent operation. The customer was very irritated, expressing it in prose worthy of an anthology. My younger colleague spent a day reviewing the circuit drawings then travelled to site to investigate but after a couple of days he did an ET (phoned home) looking for more ideas. It was simple logic process, what could possibly go wrong?
I found him on site still pouring over pages and pages of heavily marked-up diagrams looking for the 'fau lt'. As I ventured into the control room there was that distinctive 'hot electrical' niff.... Sleuth that I was, I followed my nose, opened a single enclosure and located the loose terminal.... For years he suspected that I had prior knowledge of this fault. I ought to add that this is the same guy for whom we left a message to ring Mr. C. Lyon at Whipsnade Zoo only to be told "I'm afraid he's having his tea at the moment."
As a newly-employed graduate I spent time in various design offices 'doing the rounds' as part of the ongoing training. These offices were highly technical and manned (including ladies) by experienced, skilled engineers who had been brought up using the slide-rule for numerical calculations. A very new, very expensive electronic desk-top calculator was brought in for those calculations that didn't need to go to the 'Computer Department' for longer, iterative processes. Although programmable, it had limited memory for recording the programme and it was quite common to write and run the calculation each time. The answer was shown on an LCD display. This desktop device was shared amongst an office of eight and usage was governed by gentlemanly enquiry.
It was after lunch, a warm afternoon with the sun streaming in through the windows and several of the engineers were in deep, deep thought. Very deep. Eyes closed as they theorised or even dreamed of new mechanisms, slack jaws on chests in relaxation. Tony had even let his pipe go out. Rather than disturb these thinkers I used the calculator without checking...... When Tony's thoughts returned to earth he was most upset that the calculation he had been working on before lunch had been wiped out. He never forgave me for 'not checking before using'.
It wasn't long before personal hand-held calculators became ubiquitous so the lose-programme problem didn't persist. Much later, air-conditioning reduced/stopped the afternoon 'thought reorganising'.
I had forgotten about 'expert systems'.
A long time ago, after a 'reorganisation' and 'new' management we were instructed to start writing procedures of how things are (specifically) calculated because it ought to be formalised. Now the detail they wanted to obtain was 'how do these guys design the product'? We were making bespoke machinery with very high efficiencies (genuine) and they wanted to know how it was done. It was technically challenging, interesting but also an art. It took us under twenty seconds to rumble that the 'expert systems' were so they could 'offshore' first the design, then detailing and manufacture and they could sit back and make us all redundant. Being the geniuses they were, they made us redundant first, then sold off the old designs and were really pissed off when we formed a new company making a similar product. Nothing was copied but improvements didn't need to go past the bean-counters for assessment. In fact, we didn't have a bean-counter: we bought in the accounting tasks as needed. (We did get a full-time bean-counter when we were bought out; his first step was to make redundancies.)
We used to supply rotating machinery supported on (usually) very strong floors. These floors would be practical but utilitarian so to make things more aesthetically pleasing some architect decided that 'computer-room' false-flooring be used to improve his poor initial design. Inevitably, this low but suspended floor resonated with the machinery; the vibration was irritating. Of course, as every engineer knows, you can have ten-million pounds worth of rotating equipment running smoothly, under superb automatic hair-trigger control in an unmanned building, but if the flooring rattles it will be a poor day for the manufacturer. We fixed it, but that false-floor would never be removed without welding gear.....
Just a thought......
Any and all convictions surrounding accounting fraud and based upon the Horizon evidence are unsound and should be revoked. There's no need for new legislation or other grandstanding. If the Post Office wishes to pursue a re-trial of a genuine fraud case, they are entitled to do so based upon sound evidence.
Any and all bonuses received by senior Post Office staff over the entire period must, of course, be returned, including associated interest from the payment date. These monies should be distributed to the victims.
Lawyers fees should be stripped out of compensation monies and paid by Fujitsu and the Post Office. These fees might be capped, certainly publicly declared and determined by a tribunal comprising the Speaker and Leaders of the two Houses of Parliament.
Senior people who fail/refuse to remember approximate dates, events and actions should be given time to reflect from a prison cell until their memory recovers.
Those who carried out actions which they knew to be illegal should immediately stand up and personally admit it, and not through their lawyer. Failure to do so will attract a certain prison sentence.
Any lawyer/barrister who failed to act truthfully should be immediately disbarred. In court this is treated as perjury in the usual way.
First they started charging for refreshments. Then, 'economies' were made with tea and coffee, so we swapped the contents between the 'management' and 'other' supplies, even though they were in different locations.
Management got all shirty regarding provision for visitors which they expected to derive from our self-funded supplies. Eventually, realising that we were using our customers to make a point, they had a Damascus moment and declared an armistice on tea and coffee. The guerrillas (us) made peace only by accepting gifts of comestibles in perpetuity.
One of those courses I attended, er in the 1970's...., we invested nothing in research, but reduced costs, staff and prices to maximise production and sales. In the last round, as the unproductive boss I made myself redundant to reduce costs further but then charged astronomic prices for our product: we swept the board as everyone else over-sold and had to buy from us. They went bankrupt and we inadvertently created a monopoly.
I have a feeling that this is how some corporations actually operate, obviously without the self-sacrifice of the bosses.
I think you'll find the bat is over-sized, the dinosaur is out 'hit-wicket' and they would have trouble fielding a regulation-sized cricket-ball. Although, to be fair, there are rumoured to be a lot of dinosaurs in the committee rooms.
As for: "the relative obscurity of the location and sport", I'm simply aghast. The length of the cricket pitch is a standard older than most left-pond cities (143.7 linguine).
I don't think it is an Official Secret, but people involved in these shenanigans have Standards for special 'mounts' applicable to machinery subject to shock loadings. As far as I am aware, El Reg does not have an equivalent.
If firing big guns knocks out all the generators on your own vessel, it could be embarrassing.
Of course politicians want to be able to cripple their opposition. And they want to be the government in power when the technology becomes available otherwise it will get used against them.
Law enforcement want to sit and watch cases come to them rather than get out and prevent crime.
I was visiting South Africa on business when it last appeared. It was spectacular when after an hour, we started looking in the right direction! I hope to be around at its return but the odds are not in my favour.
A portent of omens, it was truly an auspicious time. Soon after my return to the UK I was made redundant. In retrospect, but not at the time, this was a good thing.
When our company introduced 2FA not many had a company phone and no-one was willing to use their personal mobile. So in order to get going they used my company phone to receive their PIN number. I had a collection of about 20 personal id's. Apart from the blatant disregard for security, when I left the company their authentication channel went too. I didn't take the phone. It was considered old fashioned so it was never switched on again. Even if it had been switched on, they would still need the phone PIN-number. Not wishing to appear ignorant or stupid, the boss would never have dared to contact me.
I've mostly been fortunate in having bosses who didn't argue on technical matters. Generally they've been pleased to have someone making recommendations/suggestions on technical improvements. The 'costs' always raised eyebrows but if it didn't I'd be worried. However, the 'summary' email after a meeting has always been used to record the agreed conclusions, whether they were agreed or not....
On the other hand, the 'difficult' boss, who had all the words but poor understanding, took to shouting, berating and ignoring experienced technical input. So he issued stupid stupid instructions to 'save' costs which always turned out to be more expensive when they had to be rectified as 'someone else got it wrong'.
I'm well out of that scenario (----> ). Not long later, and after a lot of other resignations, he also moved on as his cock-ups caught up with him and he had lost anyone else to blame. But he is one of those dangers that you need to know where it is located.
Not IT but..... We delivered a new electric motor to a mine. After a month or so, the customer complained that the shaft "was not running true". The motor was retrieved from the shaft and returned for examination.
The 4" diameter shaft was bent through 90-degrees........
"That's how we received it."
£75k of scrap.
Customer's site: 2-machines for 'normal' operation, 1-machine 'assist', 1- machine 'standby'. Spare: Offered, but not accepted.......
The rules: 2-machines plus 1-standby must always be available.
Attitude: "We've got a standby machine"
Actuality: 1-machine under maintenance.
Result: Non-compliance.
Customer: Panic. "Must be the manufacturer's fault".
In the end we built a 'spare' machine at our own cost to act as standby when one machine was under maintenance. Did the customer buy it? No. We charged a healthy premium for a 'quick turn-round' on repairs. The machine cost was recovered within a few months and after that it was embarrassingly lucrative.
Result to us: ----->
When I was working on commissioning large plant at a UK Power Stations, all instrument cables were marshalled into terminal rails within junction boxes with the outgoing cables on a parallel but separate terminal rail. All cables were labelled/numbered, not always consistently. To get the sensors powered up and working, a procedure involving 'Temporary Jumpers' was used to connect the two rails. These jumpers had different labels on each end and a table was completed showing the status of each junction box and its cabling. Eventually, when things had been shown to work correctly, 'Permanent Jumpers' were made with a different coloured wire. You could not modify Permanent Jumpers without a Permit-to-Work. It was cumbersome but in my experience, very effective.
You spend hours looking for the what-must-be-a-complex solution only to spot the obvious error later. Now the thing to do is not to let on. You must spend more time and surreptitiously correct the 'stupid' fault in order to maintain appearances. Of course, I have never had to do this.
Richard Feynman was asked to 'crack' a very complex safe; the owner had gone away leaving important documents in there. He asked to be left alone in the room in order to concentrate on the problem but quickly discovered the safe was still secured with the manufacturer's default combination. He waited an hour or two before declaring the problem resolved.
I understand that the way to avoid blame is to save someone else from their 'oh-no' moment. No noise, no fuss. Just a knowing nod of complicity. In this way, if anything ever goes awry for you, you will always have a cooperative supporter. Enough to divert finger-pointing by those out-of-the-loop.
Retelling this story on behalf of a friend.
Not really IT related but I was on a site abroad where one of the contractors was dealing with the 're-shaping' of a cliff in order to provide a sturdy, flat base for a power station. He was in charge of laying the blasting charges and only he was authorised to set the fuse.
One day, on his return from lunch and walking up the hill to the next area for 'adjustment' he was surprised by his team of local labourers running down the hill. They ran past him without comment but at speed. He had a brief pause before turning on his heel and running after his squad, faster than his years suggested; a huge explosion behind caused him to dive into a ditch and make his outline as small as possible as rocks and debris plunged and scattered all around.
The contractor's compound was set around a nice grassy area fitted out with a few tables and chairs. It was now enhanced by a huge rock which had landed exactly in the centre of the sward.
My experience is that the further you go up the educational tree, the more you realise how little you know.
It's those who know it all that know very little. There are exceptions to this...... some experts really are experts. Generally, they don't mention it in conversation.
Promoters of untenable theories are given a voice-amplifier by social media. After all, everyone is entitled to their opinion so ought to receive equal air-time?
Advertisers seek gullible fools, and laugh all the way to the bank. We who are caught in the scatter are just dismissed. So what? We'd never buy from them anyway.
