Posts by KittenHuffer

Beta driver turned heads in the hospital

Re: Monitors need monitoring

"Monitors need monitoring"! But who monitors the monitors of the monitors?!? Or is it monitors all the way down?

Only 2.5 years in the NHS ....

.... but I could relate the following stories.

The doctor (surgeon) who trashed a PCMCIA card (and messed up the slot on the laptop) because he wanted to take it out and look at it. Except instead of using the eject button/switch/slidey thing, he used a set of forceps!!!! The PCMCIA card looked very foxed, and the slot in the lappy only slightly foxed.

The clinician who demanded a quad speed CDROM drive when they came out because the twin speed drive he already had wasn't fast enough. Only for the tech who visited to fit the new drive discovering that the original twin speed drive wasn't even connected to the PSU in that PC!!!!

The rollout of a large number of PCs as data gathering terminals .... which had been stacked in the office for two years because they had to be bought when the budget was available, and not when the rollout was actually going to happen. Meaning that they could have been bought for half the price if they had waited, and the machines would have been in warranty when unboxed so the usual 3-5% DOA machines could have been replaced.

Search for phone signal caused oil spill, say Japanese investigators

“Shit, what I have done in my life? Now, my career is gone!”

No thought about the environmental disaster he had caused. Just concern for crashing his career.

You shouldn't be able to buy devices that tamper with diesel truck emissions on eBay, says DoJ

Re: This from a country

I thought the only difference was that the cult was more honest about their objectives!

Bids for ISS demolition rights are now open, NASA declares

Re: A better alternative

Deep space (out of the solar system gravity well) is actually cheaper in delta-v than dropping it into the sun.

Damn! Beaten to it (time & detail) by Perlyking!

Re: Orbital inclination

I don't think that is such a bad option!

I'll bet that ....

.... Hollywood put in a bid ..... and start scripting Gravity 2: The re-entry!

No, no, no! Disco joke hit bum note in the rehab center

Re: So the system didn't cut the ringtone when the phone was picked up

That's assuming you can find a sane programmer!

The home Wi-Fi upgrade we never asked for is coming. The one we need is not

Re: You forgot "politicians" ...

Nah, politicritters rely on down right lying!

One who merely relied on misdirection would be considered an outlier, and would be shunned by the rest of the herd!

How is this problem mine, techie asked, while cleaning underground computer

Re: Computer Bugs

Did they manufacture engines for biplanes? And were they Tiger Moths?

BOFH: A security issue, you say? Activate code tangerine

Code Tangerine?!?

I was sure there was gonna be some sort of veiled reference to Florida Man in there somewhere! Kinda disappointed that there wasn't!

Buiding Excel-like UI for Uber's China ops exposed Microsoft calculation quirks

Re: The one I love

As an English tourist in Rome, if your hotel bed only has a single sheet, do not ring reception to say "I want two sheet on the bed"! This will get you thrown out!

I think M$ may have been referring to the same sheet!

That depends.

It is possible to create a circular reference that on each 'lap' asymptotes towards a required result.

For example, ways to calculate PI that use loops.

You could create a circular reference in Excel that gets closer and closer to the 'answer' on each lap, and Excel is set up to stop if it sees the values are only changing by a small amount.

I'm not saying that it's a good thing. I'm just pointing out that it isn't necessarily an error.

I hear attack lawyers straining at their leashes!

So he admits to using code that he developed whilst working at a former employer for a later employer, and then posting that to GitHub. He's a braver person than I am.

If I were ever to reuse code (or even keep a copy) I would not be admitting that fact to anyone,ever.

Techie labelled 'disgusting filth merchant' by disgusting hypocrite

Re: So let me recap...

That line was crossed somewhere in the mid 1970's I'm afraid!

Re: So let me recap...

In that case it must have been one of those qsn drives!

US-Canada water org confirms 'cybersecurity incident' after ransomware crew threatens leak

At least .....

..... if they release the docs then there will be no need to pay for the decryption key!

Mine's the one with the off-site backups in the pocket!

Watt's the worst thing you can do to a datacenter? Failing to RTFM, electrically

Re: But surely

You just couldn't resist could you?

PEBCAK problem transformed young techie into grizzled cynical sysadmin

"I knew the writing was on the wall at that company as I was then criticised by senior management for getting involved!"

No good deed goes unpunished!

House's Rule: Everybody Lies!

UK admits 'spy clause' can't be used for scanning encrypted chat – it's not 'feasible'

Re: About those bad guys......

I already use ROT13 for just that purpose!

But your point is good so I think I will double up my encryption to add another layer of security.

The Anti Defamation League is Musk's latest excuse for Twitter's tanking ad revenue

Re: Musk's Master Plan

HOUSE!

Oh! I thought we were playing BS Bingo!

Sure, give the new kid and his MCSE power over the AS/400. What could possibly go wrong?

Re: Umm. Mainframe?

"In a similar era, I actually got away with hot-plugging an internally mounted Exabyte 8mm tape drive in a RS/6000 model 930 without blowing the fuse in the SCSI terminator!"

You had a SCSI terminator! Luxury! We had to make terminators out of the components that we had to hand or had salvaged from the local landfill. Just the thought of having a proper SCSI terminator was enough to bring tears to our eyes! Fuses? What were they? We used to take turns with two of the wires on our tongues, and if the voltage went too high you had to react quickly ... or be talking like Jar Jar Binks for the rest of the day.

Right to repair advocates have a new opponent: Scientologists

Re: This is srs bsnss and no time for levity or larking about.

I'd much rather have an intimate conversation with the Gatekeeper!

I'll see your data loss and raise you a security policy violation

Re: None of my machines have a recycle bin

I don't have a roof on my house!

Teaches you to be very careful with electrics, and not to blaspheme while holding a brolly!

Tesla's purported hands-free 'Elon mode' raises regulator's blood pressure

Re: I for one can't wait till this works

I was there, and the legislation was designed to make getting into biking harder and more expensive. So cars didn't get cheaper, bikes got more expensive!

Re: I for one can't wait till this works

Now if only there were a way to reduce the length/width of the vehicles that people are using ....... [cough]motorbike/moped[cough]!

Unfortunately, here in the UK they have spent the last 40 years doing their best(/worst) to legislate 2 wheeled vehicles off the road.

Germany's wild boars still too radioactive to eat largely due to Cold War nuke tests

This is actually a devious plan .....

..... by the boar to ensure that they stay off the menu!

Being tasty to eat and healthy is not a good survival plan in this modern age!

UK flights disrupted by 'technical issue' with air traffic computer system

Re: Home Secretary

And there I was thinking that blockchain was the solution ....... to everything!

IBM shows off its sense of humor in not-so-funny letter leak

And there was me thinking ....

.... that there weren't any middle-aged men left at IBM! I thought they'd all been offered the opportunity to "excel in a different environment"

Resilience is overrated when it's not advertised

Re: Proper resilience

In the case of these servers they should have called them Chalk and Cheese!

Saturn's mega-storms challenge planetary formation models

As I understand it ....

.... the weather around Uranus depends on the methane emissions!

-------> Post-curry methane emissions!

Zoom's new London hub – where 'remote work' meets 'we need you back in the office'

I don't know 'why' the thumbs down.

I literally mean that I 'Ping!' someone as a Teams Chat message. Meaning 'Are you available?'

And the 'ACK' that comes back is the 'Yes, I'm available!'

I will quite often 'Ping!' my technical cow-orkers to see if they are responsive, and what their latency is.

Once a Ping is ACKed then other communication modes are normally initiated!

Lock-in to legacy code is a thing. Being locked in by legacy code is another thing entirely

Re: "You deserve this more than me"

He obviously came from one of the earlier versions of the Universe as mentioned in HHGTTG.

Most distant observed star is blue – and it isn't alone

Re: Names (An Aside)

I look forward to a galazzy called Rincewind!

Stalkerware slinger LetMeSpy shuts down for good after database robbery

GDPR!

That made my brain itch until I realised what was wrong.

Techie's quick cure for a curious conflict caused a huge headache

Nah!

Nine times out of ten according to PTerry!

BOFH: WELCOME TO COLOSSAL SERVER ROOM ADVENTURE!!

Melon Farmer!

N

It is dark!

E

It is dark!

UP

It is dark!

S

You've been eaten by a grue!

Astronomers testing next-gen asteroid-hunting algorithm discover potentially hazardous object

And they need to hurry up about it since our present asteroid defense system is to be retired by Quentin Tarantino in the near future!

-----------> What'll happen if they missing one on the way in!

ESA sees satellite-based air traffic monitoring on near horizon

I wonder what level ....

.... of accuracy that will be going for. Cos the accuracy will be determined by the accuracy of the clock fitted to the LEO satellite, as well as the accuracy of the satellite location.

This is pretty much GPS in reverse. Instead of one receiver receiving radio signals from multiple transmitters it is multiple receivers receiving transmissions from one transmitter. In both cases the quality of the clock in the satellite element will be a key component to the accuracy of the resulting calculated position.

You will still have the 'normal' GPS issue that Lat & Long will be far more accurate than altitude.

Nobody does DR tests to survive lightning striking twice

---------> You forgot your icon!

Hacking a Foosball table scored an own goal for naughty engineers

Wasn't Basil the rat?!?

Re: Always cleanup after you are done

Lucky that the result wasn't decided by penalties!

------> Mine's the one with the whistle & coloured cards in the pocket!

Bosses face losing 'key' workers after forcing a return to office

They shall take my home desk from my cold dead fingers!

---------> me when they get it!

US vendor accused of violating GDPR by reputation-scoring EU citizens

Re: Yet again

For the downvoter(s), it's a HHGTTG reference!

BepiColombo probe turns to the dark side … of Mercury

Re: Mercury day

On the subject of Mercury (and other orbiting bodies).

Rotational slowdown and tidal locking occurs because the tides cause orbiting bodies to stretch a little towards each other, and where they are spinning this lump is offset from the direct line between the bodies. And the slightly higher gravitational attraction to this lump is what slows down the rotation of the bodies concerned.

This has a larger effect the farther from in-line the lump is, and the larger the lump is. So faster rotating bodies are slowed down quicker than slower rotating bodies. And bodies with an atmosphere and/or oceans are slowed faster than 'solid' bodies that distort less.

So what is probably true for the likes of Mercury (slow rotation and solid body) is that the rotation speed will asymptote towards zero but may not actually reach zero during the lifespan of our solar system.

Re: Mercury day

On the subject of our Moon.

The near side has vast flat plains (Mares) but the other side is all craters. It was thought that this was because the Earth protected the near side from impacts, but is now believed to be that when the Moon formed the Earth was hot enough that the near side of the Moon took longer to cool and solidify. So impacts were swallowed by molten Moon lava for longer than on the far side.

Either way, it is generally agreed that the Moon started off with little to no spin when it was formed. So it has been tidally locked from the start.

Another redesign on the cards for iPhone as EU rules call for removable batteries

Already available .....

..... if you want to go looking for it.

Phone = Fairphone 4 - Good mid-range phone with removable battery, fully user serviceable and zero glue

Lappy = Framework - Good small laptop, again removable battery, fully user serviceable and zero glue

Can recommend both cos I have both!