Posts by Imhotep

You've duked it out with OS/2 – but how to deal with these troublesome users? Nukem

Re: Timing is off..

I LIKE when people emphasize words with caps.

Former US Homeland Security Inspector General accused of stealing govt code and trying to resell it to... the US govt

I'm coming up on 69. I don't think anyone is suggesting we are expendable, but the situation is what it is: the older and unhealthier are generally the ones that succumb.

"have probably prevented a killer pandemic"

I think it's probably too late to say it has been prevented. The question now is more along the lines of: How bad will it be and how well can we manage it, with the limited number of doctors and hospital beds available? The current numbers of staff and and beds are what is needed to support the current situation. It takes years to train doctors and nurses. As we've seen in China, if the numbers go too high, too quickly, the systems are overwhelmed.

What is interesting also is how different the impact is different places. I suspect - and hope - that the fatality rate will remain low in the US and most other western nations. But really, at this point we just don't know.

Re: Par for the Course? Some would say, ... "Of course, it is a natural human weakness"

I suppose anyone can justify anything, but the key point is that this has nothing to do with what the culprit "knew".

He was stealing software and classified data, with the help of an inside accomplice, after he left his position.

We may see this in action this election.

What everyone knows or should know at this point is: Coronavirus is or is going to be a pandemic. There is no effective way at this point to quarantine or control its spread. By the time the world outside of China knew about it, it was already too late to take those measures. I am unaware of any effective treatment for the disease.

I don't hear anyone in the media or any politician addressing this honestly.

The years cited were during Obama's terms. But: do we really believe any single president is involved to a large degree in these types of appointments?

Disk stuck in the drive? Don't dilly-Dali – get IT on the case!

Our ingeniously designed LG remote is designed to fall over when you set it down.

Luck of the draw is if it turns the TV off or changes the channel.

Uber takes a downer as ride-sharing app service crashes

Re: Just a small thing you might say. . . . but

So, your choices are a man or a woman: would having a man in the picture instead cast that sex in a bad light? The fact that you see it as a negative only tells us about your own outlook.

If you're wondering how Brit cops' live suspect-hunting facial-recog is going, it's cruising at 88% false positives

Both cunning disguises.

Re: "inaccuracy rate of 87.5 per cent"

That is also a great defense in court: "Their identification of my client is proof he was not involved."

Amazon staffer based just a stone's throw away from Seattle HQ tests positive for COVID-19 coronavirus

What we are seeing in China demonstrates just what can happen to a health system being overwhelmed - and crematoriums.

Re: Doesn't check out

"People are getting reinfected"

Which leads to this question: If that is the case, is an effective vaccine possible?

Re: Doesn't check out

The mortality rate has been upped to 3.4% now, but that is still a guess. We can be pretty sure it is much higher than for the flu.

As for the number of reported cases: for all intents and purposes almost no testing is being done in the US, so we can be pretty sure that the number of actual cases is much higher than reported. As we are relying on people to "self quarantine", we can expect those numbers to explode.

FWIW: My son-in-law is an ER doc in Seattle who is sick, but they won't test him because he doesn't meet the criteria.

Re: Work from home

Mine is a loin cloth, spear and the How To Serve Man cook book.

Boeing didn't run end-to-end test on Calamity Capsule, DSCOVR up and running, and NASA buys a Falcon Heavy

*Shakes spear at the heavens.*

Cyber-wrath of Iran for top general's assassination hasn't progressed beyond snooping and nicking logins... yet

Re: Crocodile Tears

If the rumors that the intel on his movements came from the Republican Guard, I'd say you're right. On the other hand, that kind of rumor can be used to stoke further paranoia in an already paranoid organization.

Pope tells his followers to log off for Lent

Moral Authority

Perhaps the priesthood could forego the altarboys for Lent? And then perhaps Francis could address the ongoing problem with shepherds that prey on their flocks?

'I give fusion power a higher chance of succeeding than quantum computing' says the R in the RSA crypto-algorithm

Re: Forgotten what?

I believe that an applicant's criminal record should be available.

The Wall Street Journal had an article recently on a company that had a factory in Chigago with a work force that was 80% ex-cons. The conversations with the company's officers and the employees on what it takes to make that work were fascinating. It does require a lot more investment of time and effort to help these employees succeed in what may be a first for them: a steady job with a paycheck, having to be at work on time, managing finances and paying bills - a complete change in the way you live. But it works - these people are turning their lives around.

There are people out there doing God's work.

Re: Glib rejoinder

It's interesting that small startups are now working on fusion. Perhaps this is going to be like the spaceship field with rapid innovation and successes. The few companies I've read about are taking interesting and different approaches to the problem - but all are looking at systems much smaller than un the past.

London's top cop dismisses 'highly inaccurate or ill informed' facial-recognition critics, possibly ironically

My guess is they read 1984, but mistook for a How To guide.

The Wristwatch of the Long Now: When your MTBF is two centuries

Re: Beware survival bias

I went through a period of buying cheap digital watches and just replacing them as the battery wore out, the strap broke, the screen became too scratched, etc.

The drawback was that I relied on my daughter to reset the time for the daylight saving time changes. Which meant I was an hour off until she was next at home for a semester break.

So: I can gut and rehab a house including wiring and plumbing, restore a car including the engine rebuild, and perform all the server/OS/programming tasks associated with a lifetime career in IT. But I can't set the time on a digital watch.

Re: Beware survival bias

You may want to get an appraisal. It sounds a lot like the axe George Washingon used to chop down the cherry tree.

Re: The Celestial method

But if we shanghaied you and dropped you off naked in some deserted location anywhere in the world with just a chronometer, you could probably tell us what country you were in.

This happens to me surprisingly often.

Re: Beware survival bias

I was just reading an article on smart dog feeders that have been down for a couple of weeks, and are now getting updates pushed out.

Re: Beware survival bias

I too prefer the mechanical watches. You don't need to keep a booklet with instructions on how to set the time, and its dial mimics what it is measuring. I think that design is one of the most elegant ever.

Breaking bad... browser use: New Mexico accuses Google of illegally slurping kids' private data via G Suite

Re: "Google was quick to issue a statement denying the allegations"

They did say they did not use the data to target kids for ads. So a very specific and limited denial of something they were not accused of.

I like how Google employees get upset over specfic little issues dear to their little hearts, but they are quite happy to go in to work every day, make the world a little worse in so many ways, cash their paycheck and feel smugly virtuous.

Your McDonald's demo has expired. For full functionality, please purchase a licence or try another fast-food joint

Re: Demo food

Here in the US they decided at one time that what people wanted has "hot", so that is what they got: too hot to drink, too dangerous to have in a moving vehicle and not convincingly coffee like.

Since then - at least for me - it has improved on all counts. More of a light mellow blend here - certainly not the bitter, burnt brew pushed by Starbucks and their ilk.

Forcing us to get consent before selling browser histories violates our free speech, US ISPs claim

If you don't know what a corporation is, not just in US law, perhaps you had better educate yourself a little before commenting.

Re: Stop the Press

You're describing corporations, and yes - you might say they are seen as people by the laws. If you think your country sees them any differently, you should probably take an economics course.

Facebook tells US tax bods: Swear to God, we were only worth $6.5bn in 2010 because we were menaced by... MySpace and smartphones

No, they just remember things differently. They often do that until presented with evidence to the contrary, at which point they: insist they did nothing wrong, promise not to do it again, and then proceed to do it again in new and different ways.

Going Dutch: The Bakker Elkhuizen UltraBoard 950 Wireless... because looks aren't everything

Re: Not cheap

You should have heard the racket from a room full of typewriters when the steno pool was a thing.

Instagram influencer fools followers into thinking Ikea photoshoot was Bali holiday

Let's just all call it coranatined.

Re: Insta-what?

It isn't when people insist on going in to detail about just how ignorant I am. I mean, how other people are.

Re: I don't beleeeve it!

I believe she went to Bali and is now involved in a cover up. The Reg needs to dispatch a reporter on site and get to the bottom of this. Or I could go.

AT&T insists it's not blocking Tutanota after secure email biz cries foul, cites loss of net neutrality as cause

Re: All in the Wording

I foresee a successful career for you in government service.

Ever dream of being an astronaut? Now’s your chance. NASA wants new people for the Moon and Mars

Re: Failed on most counts

I was hoping to qualify as ballast, but apparently that is not a thing anymore.

Age Discrimination

They're going to discriminate against my 68 year old carcass?

Yeah, I would too.

Crypto-upstart subpoenas Glassdoor to unmask ex-staff believed to be behind negative reviews. EFF joins the fray

Re: Kraken

Kraken Crypto? Kraken Crypto?

Fake docs rock real docs: Ex-Wall St guy accused of conning medics out of £27m for bogus cryptocurrency fund using faked paperwork

Re: Not to blame the victims but...

I heard that he had died, and that his house was found filled with cash he had been unable to give away.

Microsoft's little eyes light up as Oscar-winning Taika Waititi says Apple keyboards make him 'want to go back to PCs'

The Screenplay Came From A Mac?

I just watched JoJo Rabbit, and I still have mixed feelings about it. What his brand of humor did for vampires and werewolves is somewhat disconcerting when the subject is the holocaust.

Re: Show a PC keyboard?

I'm with you on the Model M.

You want a Y2K crash? FINE! Here's a poorly computer

Re: Same as Audits

I managed our company's financial systems and had written the processes that allowed the different systems to talk to each other, as well as the ones that routed invoices for approval for payment, determined which invoices should be paid on which date, cut the checks, etc.

Every year the external auditors would ask me if I could enter invoices for payment and issue payment bypassing the safeguards I had put in place.

Every year I had to tell them that I could indeed do pretty much what I wanted since I was a sysadmin for the systems and had coded the processes and it was the auditor's job to make sure I had done none of those things.

Uncle Sam tells F-35B allies they'll have to fly the things a lot more if they want to help out around South China Sea

Re: As a tax payer...

Since FedEx guarantees overnight delivery anywhere at predetermined rates, all weapons delivery systems are pretty much redundant anyhow.

Sign here please.

Re: Harrier

Just read up on this, and it sounds more like suicide on the parts of the destroyers. Perhaps they weren't adequately trained on who they were supposed to destroy?

Re: !!!

After reading the history of this project, I was taken aback to find out it WAS supposed to be a cheaper, lower tier fighter. I find comfort in their getting the lower tier part right.

Re: !!!

It turns out that the gun fitted to the Air Force version can't hit what it's aimed at.

Perhaps our new strategy should be to sell this to anyone but our allies, and restart the F16 line - or the proposed modification to the F22 that seems to ouperform both the F35 and F22.

He’s a pain in the ASCII to everybody. Now please acquit my sysadmin client over these CIA Vault 7 leaking charges

Focus On The Clowns

We all cherish some delusion. Mine is that the CIA is a blind created to draw attention away from a real secret intelligence agency that is so competent that we don't know about it.

Iowa has already won the worst IT rollout award of 2020: Rap for crap caucus app chaps in vote zap flap

Re: Pissup. Brewery.

Ahh, so it's the hayseeds in Iowa that are the problem?

I would have laid this debacle on the doorstep of the DNC, their perennial incompetence and the party in general.

But then, I guess I'm a hayseed myself.

Who's got the WD-40? Owners of Motorola's rebooted Razr whinge about creaky hinge

Re: People just want to complain

Well sure, that is one point of view isn't it?

Artful prankster creates Google Maps traffic jams by walking a cartful of old phones around Berlin

Re: Ingenious

Oh jeez, you're old. But you got an upvote from me.