Posts by Rudolph Hucker the Third

Lunar lander's brief jaunt will place Israel as fourth country to make soft landing on Moon

"The spacecraft will use electric propulsion to get into orbit and has traditional, chemical thrusters for stationkeeping"

Because in space no-one can here you screaming "where's the charging point?"

Bored bloke takes control of British Army 'psyops' unit's Twitter

I didn't get where I am today without being stuck in traffic jams outside their front gate (in a secret location near the Travelodge Newbury Chieveley M4) when the M4 or A34 is gridlocked.

https://www.army.mod.uk/who-we-are/formations-divisions-brigades/force-troops-command/77-brigade/apply-to-join-us/

If you would like to apply to join us please get in touch by email. For general media enquiries should be directed to the MOD’s 24-hour Press Office number 0207 218 7907. Please get in touch and we can discuss your options further.

EMAIL: [e-mail]

ADDRESS: Denison Barracks, Hermitage, RG18 9TP

I must remember to go along to the next Hermitage Parish Council meeting and ask them to update the village website.

http://hermitagevillage.apps-1and1.net/about-hermitage/organisations

All bought to you courtesy of that oxymoron known as Military Intelligence.

Ministry of Defence's new payroll contract is, surprise, surprise, MIA: Missing In Action

How times have changed (not)?

I didn't get where I am today without being a junior code monkey on an MoD IT project. Working for what was a major consulting firm at the time (but now long gone). The consulting firm's sales droids were quite blatant about the sales tactics. Get the naive customer to sign a contract for the most minimal and vague specification at a give-away minimum price that undercut all potential competition.

Then every single bit of scope creep and alteration to spec was charged extra. A lot extra.

The names change, but the tactics remain the same.

Autonomy trial: Key HPE witness might not testify, UK High Court told

"If you were a cynic," mused one El Reg commentator over his keyboard today, "you'd say if this was a UK citizen being demanded by a USA court, they'd already have been bundled through Heathrow in handcuffs."

'Occult' text from Buffy The Vampire Slayer ep actually just story about new bus lane in Dublin

Ní bhfuair mé áit a bhfuil mé inniu gan a bheith in ann aistriú Anglo sa Ghaeilge. Caith go leor gairleog agus faire amach as na fiacla géar.

Why does that website take forever to load? Clues: Three syllables, starts with a J, rhymes with crock of sh...

Google/Doubleclick Ads?

I have heard of these.

But I've never seen them.

Except in the PiHole dashboard.

As part of all the spam traffic that's been blocked from all devices on the LAN.

As recommended by several El Reg commentators.

Plusnet vows to shove a sword in members area 'White Screen Of Death'

/*

SQL script used to count the number of complaints.

Guaranteed to always be a small number.

*/

declare @Today date = getdate(), @CountComplaints int;

select @CountComplaints = count(distinct P.CustomerID)

from SupportForum.dbo.Post P

where P.PostDate > @Today

and P.PostTitle like '%billing system%';

if @CountComplaints = 0

print 'We are not aware of any issues with the Billing System';

Crispest image yet of Ultima Thule arrives on Earth, but grab a coffee while the rest downloads

It looks like Mr Blobby. After he was violently ejected from Noel Edmonds' House Party.

Mozilla security policy cracks down on creepy web trackers, holds supercookies over fire

EFF's Panopticlick (as mentioned in a previous Reg article) might still be a useful check:

https://panopticlick.eff.org/

(Before and after installing Ublock Origin, Ghostery, DuckDuckGo browser add-in for privacy protection, etc, etc)

Sadly their Self-Defence page has disappeared.

(Register link)

https://panopticlick.eff.org/self-defense.php

Is your kid looking at GCSE in computer science? It's exam-only from 2022 – Ofqual

Somehow this reminds me of Hogwarts - with Death-Eaters in charge of the school - students are only expected to have a theoretical knowledge of the Dark Arts.

Re "schools to issue a statement that confirms that students have been given the chance to design, write, test and refine programs as part of their course of study" -

"Given a chance" smells like a huge festering ambiguity ...

The outfit where the NHS England Digital boss is headed? Turns out their code is 'not technically suitable' for the £6.4m NHS App

Is that a Hancock App in your pocket, or are you just pleased to get an appointment?

Oracle's priorities for 2019? Repeat this handy mantra: Applications! Automation! Integration!

Re: Why bother to report this?

Why would you sign yourself into slavery these days?

Presumably all the existing Oracle users call themselves consenting adults, not slaves?

Then they go and use Facebook and Twitter ...

Just wondering if there is an Ex-Oracle Users Group. For therapy and counselling...

Apple hardware priced so high that no one wants to buy it? It's 1983 all over again

Re: As a dev system?

It was breathlessly given huge reviews in Byte magazine. The future had arrived. The price was in the small print.

Ooh, my machine is SO much faster than yours... Oh, wait, that might be a bit of a problem...

I didn't get where I am today without starting with 80286 machines with 20MB hard disc drives, and a *one* Mb file seemed like something *huge*. If you were really lucky you go one of the special custom-built machines with (gasp) a 16MHz processor and a 1.44Mb 3.5" floppy disc drive. I'm pretty sure my bulging IT museum (in the attic) has some 8-bit coaxial Ethernet cards.

This must be some kind of mistake. IT managers axed, CEO and others' wallets lightened in patient hack aftermath

I'm shocked, SHOCKED, that the usual suspects have been rounded up and fired.

If only it happened here. Starting with UK plc management, Civil (Dis)Service, etc

Waiter, what's this? SpaceX delivery delayed for a day by moldy food

I didn't get where I am today without insisting on mold in my diet. Those psycho-active mushrooms are a good addition to the Stilton from Ye National Cheese Emporium's stock as well. The mice can wait their turn, I'm first in the queue to get spaced out.

(Cracking cheese Grommit)