* Posts by elsergiovolador

4245 publicly visible posts • joined 27 Apr 2020

It's 2023, so Lenovo made a bendy smartphone concept all about hybrid cloud AI

elsergiovolador Silver badge

Re: And here it is clinging to a wrist.

Are you hailing from the past?

life termination

This is now called "decarbonisation".

elsergiovolador Silver badge

Minute

Imagine telling someone on the phone, "Hang on a minute", and then actually hanging the phone on a rack while you finish pouring your coffee.

The future is here!

The Raspberry Pi 5 is now available ... if you pre-ordered

elsergiovolador Silver badge

Drawer

Such a shame. Spare a thought for all the drawers looking for arrival of RPi 5, never to be used...

Uncle Sam orders Nvidia to cease most AI chip sales in China 'immediately'

elsergiovolador Silver badge

Re: Mill

it's regurgitating existing word associations.

As most people working in governments do.

elsergiovolador Silver badge

Mill

I believe they have likely realised that an adversary could input all available information about a country into the AI, train it, and then inquire:

'Provide 10 straightforward steps to derail this country.'

'What's one tactic the government of country X would hate?'

'Which rare earth mineral supplies should I disrupt to inflict the most damage on country X?'

and so forth.

However, this would lead to many redundancies at intelligence agencies. Hence, they would probably disrupt it before it became a reality.

Ex-NSA techie pleads guilty to selling state secrets to Russia

elsergiovolador Silver badge

Debt

According to Dalke's signed plea deal, he told the OCE he was $237,000 in debt, with $93k soon to be due. Dalke requested $85k in an unnamed cryptocurrency for all the documents in his possession, and promised more in the future.

Seems like blunder during recruitment and onboarding? Why would you hire someone knee deep in debt at [unpleasant organic matter] paid government job with access to valuable intel?

On the other hand a good training material for rookie FBI "Russian spies"...

"questioned [the US's] role in damage to the world in the past and by a mixture of curiosity for secrets and a desire to cause change."

Yup, give intel to a terrorist regime, that will change the world. Da Bolshoy LOL

It is 20 years since the last commercial flight of Concorde

elsergiovolador Silver badge

Re: Twice!

and try running the engines up to full power to see if it does it again. What???!! This is how you problem solve?

Don't want to sound like a twit, but has anyone suggested to the pilot if they could just try turn it off and on again?

elsergiovolador Silver badge

Re: Missed it

taking one way

Did they ever return?

Intel stock stumbles on report Nvidia is building an Arm CPU for PC market

elsergiovolador Silver badge

Re: Response

With pipeline so long, the CPU forgets what it was supposed to execute...

elsergiovolador Silver badge

Response

Imagine that Intel will now show everyone and reveal a "new" killer CPU, which will be an old CPU but with a new label.

Which can also function as a heater and a coaster.

Progress towards 'Gigabit Europe' is slow, with UK also lagging

elsergiovolador Silver badge

Leap

By the time we roll out 1Gbps, the cool kids will already be bored with 10Gbps.

Why do we keep following?

Google - yes, that Google - testing proxy scheme to hide IP addresses for privacy

elsergiovolador Silver badge

Shame

It's a shame if something happened to your IP address...

Let us take care of it

or else

Remember we do no evil, you can trust us.

DC elections agency warns entire voting roll may have been stolen

elsergiovolador Silver badge

Re: Actually, Florida sells this

It's quite pragmatic. They operate under the assumption that data will be stolen and sold regardless, so why not preempt the thieves?

elsergiovolador Silver badge

Response

The elections agency says it will now contact all registered voters

And do what? Give people new identities, addresses, jobs and whatnot?

I mean, you can't unsteal someone's identity.

It is 2023 and Excel's reign of date terror might finally be at an end

elsergiovolador Silver badge

Re: Optional

What do you want to do today?

Dropbox drops bucks to ditch digs in long-term WFH model

elsergiovolador Silver badge

Green

and many more are now forcing staff into the office for three days a week

Meta:

We believe sustainability is about more than operating responsibly. It is an opportunity to support the communities we are a part of and have a positive impact on the world.

Amazon:

We believe we have an obligation to stop climate change, and reducing carbon emission to zero will have a big impact.

TikTok:

ByteDance, the Chinese internet company that owns TikTok and other social networking apps, has announced its commitment to 100% renewable energy in its global operations by 2030 and to be net zero by 2030, reducing emissions by 90% by 2030.

Enabling employees to work from home is a straightforward strategy for reducing emissions and lessening carbon footprints. Employers ignoring this are blatantly greenwashing. Their demand for unnecessary commuting inflates pollution levels, crams public transport—making life harder for those who genuinely must be on-site—and saps vitality from local economies. This stubbornness heightens stress, cuts into productivity, and needlessly burdens public services, showing a disregard for community well-being and the planet's environmental balance.

SEC boss warns it's 'nearly unavoidable' that AI will cause financial crash

elsergiovolador Silver badge

Re: Relief

They are just one step above the tea leaves tellers.

elsergiovolador Silver badge

Re: Relief

Economists, heralded as mere onlookers in financial upheavals, conveniently absolved while chaos reigns. These architects of policy, advisors of governments, feign innocence with a shrug of "it depends" as their constructs wobble on shaky foundations.

Traders, algorithms, AI — pawns manoeuvering within constraints economists establish. When the inevitable crash resounds, remember who sketched the blueprint and shrugged when the walls caved in.

elsergiovolador Silver badge

Relief

it's 'nearly unavoidable' that AI will cause financial crash

Imagine the relief all the economists must feel where they finally have something to blame their failures on.

Millions of smart meters will brick it when 2G and 3G turns off

elsergiovolador Silver badge

Re: Why smart meters ?

It implies that the average Briton is so remarkably thick they don't grasp the simple fact that their kettle's cheerful burble equates to energy consumption - it's sheer lunacy! Are we to seriously entertain the idea that, thanks to the miraculous intervention of a smart meter, individuals across the nation will be struck by a bolt of unparalleled insight, compelling them to abandon their hallowed tea-making ceremonies for the stark blandness of unadulterated tap water?

The very thought insinuates that prior to this technological marvel, we were all blundering about our homes, utterly befuddled by the mysterious workings of electricity. This 'enlightenment via smart meter' narrative is nothing short of a slapstick comedy! They're selling us the illusion of awareness, as if recognising the cost of our comforts was never within our mental grasp before this digital sentinel started its vigil within our walls. How utterly, absurdly patronising!

elsergiovolador Silver badge

Re: Easy to work out costs.

if you're not paying for the product, you are the product

elsergiovolador Silver badge

Re: No corruption here.

The "net zero" is just an excuse, just like "think of the children" when they push for Online Safety Bill.

The goal of these things is plain and simple mass surveillance. They want to know where people are at all times, what they talk about etc. and they want tools to enforce obedience.

Did you tell your friend that you dislike the party? No hot water for you and your friend tonight.

Etc.

elsergiovolador Silver badge

Re: When will this crap stop

But corruption here is legal, theft is legal as well and people generally fail upwards.

It would be madness to make it the right way.

elsergiovolador Silver badge

Re: Easy to work out costs.

It is possible to deduce usage patterns when you operate various appliances, such as kettles, washing machines, personal massagers, microwaves, etc., based on their energy footprints.

This information can also indicate whether you are home and provide a general idea of your activities.

Smart meters are a critical component of mass surveillance systems and form the foundation of social credit system.

elsergiovolador Silver badge

Keynes

Keynes is laughing in his grave.

Tim Peake on a return to space: 'Never say never'

elsergiovolador Silver badge

Space

Technically we are all in space at the moment.

Microsoft admits 'power issue' downed Azure services in West Europe

elsergiovolador Silver badge

Future

If we don't upgrade our grid and infrastructure, the future is clear:

- Our database cluster is down!!!

- Oh where?

- In the UK region.

- What time is there?

- It's nearing 5.

- Damn, they put their kettles on!

Beijing slaps Foxconn with a tax audit

elsergiovolador Silver badge

Re: Xiaomi HyperOS

Honourable Chairman of the Communist Party of China,

I hope this letter finds you in exceptional health and high spirits. I write from Britain, a scholar in distress, owing to a technological catastrophe of my own making, and in dire need of assistance only you might provide.

Under a false illusion of competence, I recently acquired a Taiwanese SSD, seduced by its promise of efficiency and, perhaps, an attractive price point. To my utter dismay, this device, rather predictably, failed spectacularly, taking with it years of irreplaceable PhD research data.

It's widely acknowledged that China is remarkably advanced in technology and cybersecurity. Your commendable strides in technological developments and data management are renowned, leading me to wonder if, through some fortunate stroke of foresight and the interconnectedness of our digital world, my data might have been fortuitously safeguarded within your borders and so I entertain the hopeful possibility that the CPC, in its infinite reach and wisdom, may have serendipitously backed up the very data I've lost.

Therefore, I beseech you, might there be a way to petition your esteemed authorities for access to any mirrored bytes of my original work? The future of my academic career hangs precariously in the balance, and your intervention would be nothing short of salvific.

I assure you, my days of dalliance with unreliable technology are firmly behind me. My future digital trust shall be placed exclusively in apparatuses that bear the seal of your country's esteemed approval.

Eagerly awaiting a favourable response, and with the utmost respect,

[insert your name]

elsergiovolador Silver badge

Dread

Imagine HMRC here slapped a big corporation with an audit.

Seems like a biggest nightmare of any workshy tax inspector.

IBM flags up NorthPole chip to scale AI – though it's still far from shipping

elsergiovolador Silver badge

Fry

The NorthPole chip is claimed to be inspired by the structure of the brain,

Does it mean you can throw in some eggs and get a nice fry breakfast?

Windows 11: The number you have dialed has been disconnected

elsergiovolador Silver badge

Built to last

"Right now we’re releasing Windows 10, and because Windows 10 is the last version of Windows, we’re all still working on Windows 10."

The future is "Windows as a service."

Windows isn't dead, but the idea of version numbers could be

Welcome the Windows 11!!!oneoneone

Still got a job at the end of this week? You're lucky, as more layoffs hit the tech industry

elsergiovolador Silver badge

Re: No need to worry

1. When we end up talking about some job, we're often rather nonspecific about what it is. I've split it into IT and programming, but someone who writes a few scripts and someone who writes the code that absolutely must run in a certain number of processor cycles and will cause something to blow up if it crashes are doing very different jobs and will be paid very differently.

You would be surprised that those jobs, where you need to "write the code that absolutely must run in a certain number of processor cycles" are paid the lowest. That's why many talented workers here don't even bother to look for these jobs and just do web development because it happens to pay the most (and maybe finance stuff).

what a certain number of pounds means as a lifestyle.

You get 25-50% of what would you get in the US, while paying more tax, still having to pay for private healthcare on top and you have to flat share until your late 40s. That's typical IT living if you don't find a partner to buy a house with.

elsergiovolador Silver badge

Re: No need to worry

by someone who assumed they were saying that programming was a working class job and paid accordingly.

Programming is a working-class job. Anyone with the right mindset can do it; you don't need formal qualifications, nor do you need wealthy parents to break into the industry. However, when it comes to wages, programming also falls into the working-class category.

UK developers earn on par with electricians, carpenters, plasterers, roofers, carers and so on. In many cases, they might even earn less.

I know a programmer who was extremely depressed because his girlfriend, a self-employed cleaner, was making more money than him. Cleaning is a profession that requires substantially less time to master, and you're unlikely to wake up in the middle of the night worried you used the wrong product on a client's tiles.

The UK has a poor attitude towards engineering in general, especially IT, where workers are often regarded as overpaid shirkers who just sit at their computers doing nothing, yet they are paid substantially less than their counterparts in other countries.

elsergiovolador Silver badge

Re: No need to worry

But you'll have to set your expectations lower. Not real low, but lower. Like, middle class, low. And taking time to get rehired.

Here in the UK, IT is a working class job and pays poorly.

elsergiovolador Silver badge

Re: But the job market is booming....

so save like mad

No, this is bad advice. Rather invest and if you don't know how just choose a go to ETF or get an adviser. Investing currently is the only way to beat the tax man and inflation.

elsergiovolador Silver badge

And yet small businesses, startups and middle-tier companies, and most large companies still search for software engineers

They still search, because they can't offer the right amount of money.

My linked in profile (Yes, the irony isn't lost on me), still attracts recruiters left right and center.

Just tell them upfront how much money can nudge you out of bed and most will stop bother you.

elsergiovolador Silver badge

Re: No poets got fired last week.

Having worked with many neurodivergent individuals, I completely understand how someone might forget a tool's name while still being proficient in its use. Often, people create aliases for tools like Wireshark, subsequently forgetting the actual name and instead recalling it by, for example, 'ws'.

I mean... how do you install and run it when you don't have a clue what it's called?

You can Google "packet analysers linux" and something will ring a bell.

elsergiovolador Silver badge

Re: Hire as you grow

Also when company is too big to fail, they often hire extra staff just so that competition can't or "just in case".

Many people I know were hired that way and haven't got anything to work on for months. But the pay was okay, they didn't have to come to office and could work on their side gigs.

There's no Huawei Chinese chipmakers can fill Nvidia's shoes... anytime soon

elsergiovolador Silver badge

Re: If these sanctions are such a good think for Huawei...

Huawei has no issues doing business with US companies.

Huawei is not a company in the western sense. It's an equivalent of government department.

Any company dealing with Chinese "company" is de facto dealing with Chinese government and all that it entails.

elsergiovolador Silver badge

Re: I hear you...

You know, like the USSR did, before the fall of the Berlin wall...

Soviets are somewhat primitive people. They ruled through use of violence and their "advancements" were driven by saving face rather than progress and mostly by captive population of Ukrainians.

I think situation with China is vastly different.

You may not agree with their version of communism, but they are certainly not primitive.

elsergiovolador Silver badge

Competition

Chinese are smart people. Hopefully they will develop their own, better, technology.

After all there is nothing better than a good old cold war technology race.

Giving China everything on a plate would make everyone involved complacent.

Astroboffins spot high-power 8b year old radio burst from pre-Earth event

elsergiovolador Silver badge

Clear

Could also be a cleaner smacking the power cable with a wet mop causing a spike.

If it gets grants coming in, who cares...

More X subscription tiers could spell doom for free access as biz bleeds cash

elsergiovolador Silver badge

Z

Pay for X get Z

I mean, there are people who would pay to get smacked in a side street and get a nice kick out of it

But why most people would pay to read Russian propaganda, conspiracy theorists and other unhinged types advertising to the world what they think (which is usually pure garbage)?

Look ma, no fans: Mini PC boasts slimline solid-state active cooling system

elsergiovolador Silver badge

Re: How is it solid state?

I hope it doesn't sound like a coil whine...

elsergiovolador Silver badge

Re: Counter productive

I thought we could just throw stones...

elsergiovolador Silver badge

Counter productive

AirJet Mini is described as a self-contained active heat sink module that is 2.8mm

It's like selling old squeaky chair and boasting about added premium ear plugs.

Why not ditch legacy Intel and use some proper technology?

Want a clean energy transition? Better start putting cash into electrical grid

elsergiovolador Silver badge

Re: I would be willing to agree that ...

and ad hominems coming...

How predictable.

elsergiovolador Silver badge

Re: I would be willing to agree that ...

Nobody is denying that climate is changing lol

People are questioning whether the actions that we take, that make certain people rich are going to have any meaningful effect.

The XKCD mentions short spikes are being smoothed out. The presented spike at the end, qualifies as a short spike that most likely in 1000 years time won't even be visible if our successors will use the same methodology.

Now make yourself feel better and buy some carbon credits. Flatten the curve!

Half a billion pound NHS data platform award still stuck in the pipes

elsergiovolador Silver badge

Give away

Here is the money

Here is the data

Have fun!