Posts by Citizen of Nowhere

Musk says he ain't going anywhere as Twitter CEO until at least late 2023

Re: Time frame not included

To be clear - I absolutely want Elon to continue running Twitter ... into the ground.

One less platform for ranty, rightist suck ups.

UK PM splits govt department in 4, creates dedicated 'Science and Tech' bit

Re: You're all missing the point here!

>We have lots of regulations but no-one polices them and even less people enforce them.

Indeed, and that is entirely intentional. That way the politicians can say they introduced "tough" regulations to deal with a problem, while actually not interfering at all with the aberrant practices and profiteering of the companies who will give them cushy sinecures in the future.

McDonald's pulls plug on Wi-Fi, starts playing classical music to soothe yobs

Re: So I will hoist the inevitable "OK Boomer"

`They're probably discouraged by all the sententious old gits who go there.

It's been 230 years since British pirates robbed the US of the metric system

Re: Americans are free to use the metric system

Really? Such grandiloquent, self-satisified rhetoric over weights and measures? You really don't have any unique freedom in the US.

I live in Europe. I can cook in any measures I want, set my car to miles or kilometres, or use an app on my phone which converts it to bloody furlongs if I want. Oh, the packaging in the shops doesn't have non-metric measurements? Because they haven't been widely used for a couple of centuries?

You have no unique or exceptional freedom in the "Land of the so-called Free". Maybe your schools should teach comparative history and politics as well as imperial and metric weights and measures.

Re: Gammon's

>There are very, very few people alive who experienced "empire"[*] these days. I doubt it's enough to swing an election.

That the actual empire no longer exists does not mean that ideas, ideologies and delusions based around "empire" cannot have an effect on politics or political culture in the here and now. You merely have to note the use of the "Empire 2.0" idea in the post-Brexit debates about the UK's position in the world to realise that.

Microsoft axes 10,000, already breaking bad news to staff

Early 2000s I was working for a US software company. They axed about half our folk and expected the rest of us to pick up the slack. Sent a VP across the pond to tell us that this was a "stretch opportunity" for us, to show the company how well we could perform. Unfortunately, we were not allowed to offer him a neck-stretching opportunity ;-)

Multi-tasker Musk expects to reduce time at Twitter, seek another leader

Re: run Twitter permanently on a full-time basis

>I'm certain that any reputable company

This is Elon Musk's Twitter we are talking about ;-)

University staff voice 'urgent, profound concern' as Oracle finance system delays payments

Re: Why Does El Reg Have A Picture Of The Assembly Hall Of The Church Of Scotland......

Probably because the assembly hall is in New College, the building pictured, which is home to the School of Divinity of the University of Edinburgh.

All the US midterm-related lies to expect when you're electing

I watched the first video, and when I stopped laughing … I didn’t watch the rest.

Still, she publicly conceded to her opponent, attended his inauguration and indeed refrained from fomenting a mob attack on the US Capitol. All a bit fact-y that though I suppose.

India's – and Infosys's – favorite son-in-law Rishi Sunak is next UK PM

Re: Talking points

I find it completely uninteresting that the negative references to his race I have heard thus far come from the same reactionary right-wing creeps they always have.

Bye bye BoJo: Liz Truss named new UK prime minister

Re: I want to be Prime Minister!

We were planning on borrowing your aircraft carrier -- you know, the one without aircraft so of little other practical use. But as it turns out, it doesn't even go. Tory economics. How's that working out for you down there? I suppose you can hope it'll at least float on the sea of turds you're flushing directly into the sea.

UK launches 'consultation' with EU over exclusion from science programs

>Not being a member state doesn't have to prevent us remaining friends and collaborators.

Indeed. Likely the only thing required would be for the UK government to act like either of those things. Maybe refrain from passing legislation which aims at unilaterally changing the terms of the withdrawal agreement already reached and just work quietly behind the scenes to achieve a mutually satisfactory compromise. Perhaps stop the continual stream of belligerent, anti-EU rhetoric from government ministers. Of course, they cannot halt the flood of rabid anti-EU bile which emanates from the UK's right-wing press, but they might, for example, refrain from feeding it.

Any of the above likely to transpire? Didn't think so. In the end, the UK will have the relationship with the EU which it chooses to build. On present evidence, it may not be an easy one.

Excel @ mentions approach general availability on the desktop

>You don't need to have a handy alternative to know that a tool is being used in the wrong roll.

Becel is a handy alternative in rolls ;-)

General Motors charges mandatory $1,500 fee for three years of optional car features

Re: Microtransactions?

Of course not. But what happens once absolutely everything becomes "subscription only"?

BMW luxury features are just the stalking horse for generalising the model in the market.

Just as Adobe were the stalking horse in the software market and as the years pass fewer and fewer non-subscription options exist as the model takes a stranglehold on the market, including far less specialised markets than Adobe's. Of course, the tech-savvy can always find alternatives, but that really doesn't generalise. Most consumers when faced with a fait accompli, end up complying.

"Your brakes operate at 50% of the optimal possible efficiency until you subscribe to the 'super-brake' feature.

Musk can't tweet about Tesla without lawyer approval – and he's still fighting to end that

Re: Potentially an interesting legal case

>The free speech Mr. Musk can exercise is limited by the governmental institution SEC

Not at all. He was free to refuse and accept the consequences. He chose not to do that. Reading the excerpts from court's judgement in the article makes clear the judge's undisguised contempt for this self-serving line of argumentation.

Taser maker offers electric-shock drones to stop school shootings

Re: And the problem continues to be

Why can't we 'ban' violent people? One 9mm in the forehead and they won't be violent any more. If they have siblings, they each get one, too. They were a parent, yep, they each get one, too.

Presumably as a first step in the right direction you are going to off yourself, as you certainly seem quite a violent sort of person?

Failed gambler? How about an algorithm that predicts the future

Re: Where there’s AI Will there are Myriad New Ways to Skin Dead Bouncing Cats*

And I guess National Defense Magazine is less indulgent of Martians than ElReg:

"[Thank you. Your comment will be displayed soon after reviewing.]"

There are no comments displayed under the news article amanfrommars was commenting on ;-)

Re: Half full or empty

Helpdesk here. To stop burning your fingers and spilling half your coffee you're going to need to superglue the broken handle back on (although the sales guys did suggest buying a new cup).

Microsoft dogs Strontium domains to stop attacks on Ukraine

Re: Cool, but why are Microsoft doing this?

It does say in the article that they need judicial authorisation and that there is an “expedited” court process they follow to get it. It is true, though, that the author of the article rather skates over that aspect and more information on it would improve the article and provide a better context and better understanding.

Russian media watchdog bans Google from advertising its services

Re: Fascism 101

>I'm not sure why it got so many thumbs down.

You surprise nobody.

Vital UK customs system outage contributes to travel chaos at its borders

Re: @Spaceman9

>Do you not think England would vote to remove Scotland from the union?

No idea. We always hear this refrain that we are a burden. So, go ahead, free yourselves of the burden. England could hold a referendum to leave the United Kingdom ;-) It could get us to the inevitable quicker as it would swerve the issue of older Scots who still support the Union through a sense of economic, social and cultural inferiority to mighty England :-) I guess that way we could all find out the truth about which nation is a burden to the other, beyond the lies and cooked books of GERS and an economy which is still almost completely at the mercy of Westminster's economic and financial policies.

Re: @Spaceman9

>We know. If Scotland wanted independence they should have let England vote too. Although their wet dreams of the UK funding their strop would have been laughed off even harder.

Good to see the condescension remains as unchanged as the roguery . Only to be expected, of course :-)

Re: @Spaceman9

Nope. They sold Scotland willingly. Even vote to remain after being promised candy and rainbows if they left.

The Union was massively unpopular in Scotland. The country was sold down the river by a clique of aristocrats who had political and financial interests south of the border which had always existed, but intensified after the Union of the Crowns. That they had thrown a lot of their money at a ridiculous "colonial" adventure certainly added to their corruptibility. Bribing them was not difficult for the Crown. What's more, the coercive measures taken to browbeat Scotland, such as the Alien Act of 1705, are rarely if ever mentioned by those who peddle cosy unionist myths. Myths which, unfortunately, are still widely believed :-(

The 2014 referendum was won partly by the "vow" (made in bad faith by the unionists) that something close to devo max would be implemented if Scotland remained and partly by the argument that we would be out of the EU if we left and that it would take years and years to get back in, if Spain even let us (all of which was and remains a bunch of old unionist cobblers).

Times may change, but rogues be constant.

French court pulls SpaceX's Starlink license

Re: We live in a world where con artists rule the day.

>You say that like it's a bad thing.

I didn't say it like it's bad thing (or a good thing). I simply noted the fact :-)

Re: We live in a world where con artists rule the day.

The Earth had CO2 levels as high as 700-900 ppm and life on this planet flourished.

It wasn't human life, however.

If you fire someone, don't let them hang around a month to finish code

Re: Extra credit

>I wanna be a surgeon, I know, I'll clean hospital toilets.

After spending 25 years in tech support, I'm not sure I appreciate your chosen analogy. Or maybe I do; after all, it is often a question of showing users how to work with crap.

Re: Extra credit

I was let go from a tech support position with a large US software house many years ago as they moved much of the support function to India. I worked my month notice "knowledge-sharing" with my "replacements" but the day I finally walked out the door for the last time, they were still sending me the most basic of support cases as they either didn't understand, or didn't want to understand, how to troubleshoot user issues. The fact that they all wanted to be programmers and thought of tech support merely as a foot in the door may have had something to do with it. Not surprisingly, the company in question developed a reputation for providing execrable technical support. Not that they cared very much, I imagine. They had something of a monopoly in their market.

EU law threatening 'commercially painful changes' for tech out tonight

Re: I assume

You're missing the Paris icon off all of your posts ;-)

How not to attract a WSL (or any) engineer

Just as Madras College isn't a college and the Nicholson Institute isn't ... a great place to go play rugby when there is a gale blowing -- I remember quite a few of my team mates being quite ill during the crossing ;-) Regardless of name (Academy, High School, Grammar, College) most schools catering for pupils from 11 up in Scotland will be non-selective secondary schools.

There are lots of schools in Scotland currently bearing one or other of those titles. They are only names applied to secondary schools once you're north of the border after all.

High Schools continue to exist in Scotland, though I personally did my Highers* in an Academy (many many moons ago)

*Scottish Certificate of Higher Education

Are we springing into a Y2K-class nightmare?

Re: USA change its date format ...

>The US and Canada (except Quebec, of course) got the date format from the Brits, blame them

What you can't blame them for is ditching said format a very, very long time ago. So its continued use by the US and Canada has hee-haw to do with the Brits ;-)

Why Nvidia sees a future in software and services: Recurring revenue

Re: $1,000 a person per year ... That's one important piece

>I know it's a company's job to try and make as much money as possible

This distorted and distorting belief is the root of the problem.

Details of '120,000 Russian soldiers' leaked by Ukrainian media

Re: Greenhouse madness

>Is The Register only interested in a single opinion here?

As your post would seem to indicate, delusional conspiracy theorists touting complete nonsense are perfectly at liberty to provide their opinions here in the comments.

Govt suggests Brits should hand passports to social media companies

Re: At this point the sheep will sign up to anything

This European Digital Identity isn't compulsory:

"What will change for Europeans?

The main novel element offered by the new rules is that everyone will have a right to have a European Digital Identity Wallet which is accepted in all Member States. But at the same time, there will be no obligation."

The "trusted identities" for this voluntary scheme would actually have to be created in and provided by the member states, so if digital IDs are made compulsory in order to track us ubiquitously (but are they really needed for that? Google might snigger a little at that thought) it will be done by the will of the member states not the EU.

Re: It's ID cards again isn't it?

And that has precisely nothing to do with compulsory physical ID cards required by many European nation states. That said, I think it's a tendency of all governments/state machineries to try to get as much information as they can get away with on their citizens. It would be naive to believe they have not already gathered and combined many datasets from our disparate, supposedly discrete "identities" without needing to do it through national ID schemes. While national IDs are not currently all-encompassing data profiles, at least not in most countries in Europe, there will inevitably be a push in that direction by most European states.

Mobile-based ID wallets for government are coming

Re: Is this going to actually happen?

I doubt any El Reg position on national ID could be discerned from this piece. It reads like a reworded press release.

File suffixes: Who needs them? Well, this guy did

Re: Competition time!

Pretty sure. If in doubt as to the actual filename not being displayed in Finder, you can open a Terminal window and check on the command line.

Re: Competition time!

If you have "Show all filename extensions" checked in Finder > Preferences > Advanced, it won't matter what is set on the individual file.

Russia 'stole US defense data' from IT systems

Re: Don’t Panic ... IT really does has it all under Remote Virtual Control ‽ .

Recycling comments from other websites? Must try harder. At least produce gobbledygook which is exclusive to this site :-)

Emergency updates: Adobe, Chrome patch security bugs under active attack

Improper input validation

Adobe has not released details about the issue beyond noting that it involves improper input validation

Didn't see that coming.

Reality check: We should not expect our communications to remain private

One of the definitions for the verb "to expect" is to think or believe that something should be or happen a particular way. In that sense, one absolutely should expect their private communications to remain private. That does not mean one should expect that governments and corporations are going to respect that expectation. The motion for debate seems oddly phrased. Which, perhaps, we should have come to expect from El Reg's motions for debate ;-)

UK government gifts new £250m hosting contract to its own joint venture

Re: Do I understand correctly

What the article says is that as a result of the overall policy of "cloud first" a larger proportion of the workloads which will remain in the data centre will be "sensitive". That "sensitivity" they say, justifies the award to this supplier as uniquely qualified from a security perspective. Add your own dose of salt to taste ;-)

Swipe left: Snoops use dating apps to hook sources, says Australian Five Eyes boss

it's assumed that if you're in the shadows, you're shadowy

A very reasonable assumption. It's also safe to assume that there is quite a high probability that you are shady as well :-)

EU directs €11bn toward European Chips Act to build homegrown semiconductor industry

Re: Economy

>Those were businesses with excellent risk management and entrepreneurial flair

If we just take the example of Lehman Brothers, it's collapse does not suggest it had excellent risk management at that time. It was ludicrously exposed in the US subprime mortgages market. The pursuit of easy money turned out to be rather costly.

Of course, as I am unable to see into the future, perhaps I am wrong and the EU, and with it the EIB, will collapse some time soon. Speculative doom-mongering to that effect is, however, almost as old as the EU project itself. Personally, I think it rather more likely that the UK's collapse will precede that event. We are all free to speculate on the future.

As of this moment, I don't see any sign of an imminent collapse of the EIB.

Re: Economy

>This doesn’t go on for ever.

It's been going on since 1958. While the EIB may have a higher risk appetite overall than it had in the past, I doubt it is any danger of succumbing to 'catastrophic defaults'. I guess we'll find out between now and 2040.

UK.gov threatens to make adults give credit card details for access to Facebook or TikTok

Re: Dead Cat

>Thank goodness for El Reg.

On that we can agree :-) To be honest, it's stretching it to call what goes on BTL on any of the online newspaper sites debate, though to be fair it does mimic quite closely the political "performance" one can observe on a regular basis in the House of Commons: lots of immature posturing, jeering, braying around lies, smears and innuendo.

Re: Much cheaper plan:

While I completely agree, this whole discussion misses the fact that the 'nanny state' pretext for the war against encryption and for ID verification is only there in service of the real, 'surveillance state' objectives.

Re: Dead Cat

>I'm not sure if Grauniad readers really froth

Indeed. Mail readers froth at the mouth; Guardian readers steam from the ears ;-)

I say that as a Guardian reader since the late 1970s. I also read other newspapers, of course.