Posts by spuck

BOFH: The devil's in the contract details

Re: Sounds far too familiar

Which men are the bigger pigs: the ones who buy because the salesperson is all curvy in the right places, or the men who send those salespeople to close the deal?

That hardware will be more reliable if you stop stabbing it all day

Re: This is why ergonomics matters

Some people are more than content to repeat the same task every day rather than improve it, as long as it's done on the clock.

O2's AI granny knits tall tales to waste scam callers' time

Re: Hello This is Lenny

We're quite proud of Larissa.

Mozilla's Firefox browser turns 20. Does it still matter?

My employer recently pulled Chrome from the corporate desktop. We are now forced to use Edge. Can't imagine why.

Probably because your IT department is not seeing the value difference to supporting multiple browsers and are tired of vetting the weekly update of Chrome.

Much easier to just let MS shove any updates of Edge into the normal Windows Update stream.

Can't say I agree, but I can understand it...

Firefox is very useful to Google

It keeps the antitrust wolves at bay.

Your air fryer might be snitching on you to China

Re: Internet connection for TV almost mandatory

You're regularly watching content on YouTube, but you are concerned about spying via NTP?

Can you set the hostname/IP for the NTP server(s), or is it hard-coded?

IOT is an acronym

Internet Of Things.

The S stands for Security.

Microsoft tries out wooden bit barns to cut construction emissions

Re: Interesting story. But ...

It's all about the Pentiums, baby.

Seems that an even more "low carbon footprint" approach would be to not build a new building at all but to repurpose an existing, currently unused building.

The U.S. is full of under-utilized office buildings and out-of-business retail spaces. If they looked, odds are there is an out-of-business Kmart, Sears, an entire shopping mall, or a warehouse somewhere within 20 miles of wherever they need a new datacenter.

Oregon Trail 'action comedy' film in the works from Apple

Already done

I present Go West: https://youtu.be/vSUMIntrZII

Linus Torvalds: 90% of AI marketing is hype

90% of AI all marketing is hype.

FTFY.

Your computer's not working? Sure, I can fix that problem – which I caused

Broadcom, is that you?

Tesla's big reveal: Steering-wheel-free Robotaxi will charge wirelessly

Re: Could be fun!

But as long as Tesla is building that platform I hope they also build a version for people who want to drive, IE with things like a steering wheel.

I'm assuming once the level of Full Self-Driving that is required for the robotaxi to work is approved (with no human at all in control) it will also be available for other Tesla vehicles.

That would be the best of both worlds, and I'm not holding my breath for that day to happen anytime in the next 20 years.

Re: priced keenly: below $30,000

Even if only used within my family, it would be hugely convenient if I could send my car home after delivering me to work in the morning, off to pick up the kids from school to bring them home, then returning to the office in time for me to get home again.

But even if these taxis are available, there's no way I'd put my 8 year old unsupervised in one to be driven across town. Let's talk again when I have an 8 year old grandchild; it might be ready for a 5 mile trip by then.

Re: Snakeoil

I am keen to see if Tesla can actually accomplish wireless charging, where other companies continue to come close and never quite make it. My vote is on physics winning over hubris.

In my opinion wireless charging shouldn't be the goal because the only advantage I see is reducing the need for a human to plug and unplug the charging cable. There are visions of cars charging themselves while driving down the highway or waiting at stop lights (or queued in a taxi stand) but the infrastructure to make that happen will not materialize in the next 5 years.

So barring the whole "charging while in service" bit, it seems the plan is for each taxi to navigate itself to a charging stall and then back out into service without needing a human caretaker.

I would argue that taxis do need a human caretaker to handle everything that a normal driver does besides putting fuel in: checking the tires, checking the seats for lost phones, cleaning up spilled drinks and vomit, etc. I would argue that the 30 seconds required to plug in a charging cable is not that much of an ask for a human working in a service center where the cars go once a day for a 30 minute rest stop and inspection is not a huge burden.

National Public Data files for bankruptcy, admits 'hundreds of millions' potentially affected

Well, according to the Wikipedia article:

Their primary service is collecting information from public data sources, including criminal records, addresses, and employment history, and offering that information for sale.

Re: I think this is him

Careful, you've released publicly available data into the wild!

If I were a lawyer, and obviously IANAL, I might try that tactic:

"Your Honor, I move to dismiss on the grounds that my client is being charged with losing control of data which was freely collected from public sources online."

CIQ takes Rocky Linux corporate with $25K price tag

So if I wanted to pay for RHEL, why not just buy RHEL?

I'm really scratching my head: if I wanted the supposed stability and support level that comes from paying for it, why wouldn't I just pay for RHEL?

It can't only be about the flat "site license" of $25,000/year vs. paying for each instance of RHEL, can it?

If I'm a small shop, I would not be able to afford RHEL or this $25,000/year model. If I'm an enterprise player with hundreds or thousands of instances, RedHat would play ball with the pricing and I wouldn't be satisfied with the level of support the $25k would buy me. The licensing fees would take a back seat to stability, reputation, a 24/7 helpdesk, etc.

Help me understand who this is targeting.

Satellite phones are coming, but users not happy to pay much extra for the capability

3 out of 4 subscribers say they would pay less than 5% more

That's got to be one of the least-intuitive graphs I've ever seen.

If I'm adding correctly, 72% of those polled say it's worth less than a 5% increase to them.

Uncle Sam lends $1.5B to reignite Michigan nuclear plant in 2025

Re: Up and atom!

The goggles! They do nothing!

Or spend the company's money to do it when the government will pay for it with taxpayer money if it's ever needed again?

Re: Options for public money

You're overthinking this. Michigan is a swing state. Home of Detroit (with all of those "good-paying union jobs") Michigan should be a slam-dunk for the Democrat party. The fact that it is not worries them.

From the BBC:

The Great Lakes state has picked the winning presidential candidate in the last two elections. Despite backing Mr Biden in 2020, it has become symbolic of a nationwide backlash over the president’s support for Israel during that country’s war in Gaza.

During Michigan’s Democratic primary contest in February, more than 100,000 voters chose the “uncommitted” option on their ballots, part of a campaign mounted by activists who want the US government to halt its military aid to Israel.

Notably, Michigan has the country’s largest proportion of Arab-Americans - a demographic whose support for Mr. Biden was in jeopardy.

Lebanon now hit with deadly walkie-talkie blasts as Israel declares ‘new phase’ of war

Re: If I were a world leader or in the administration thereof. . .

All the comments talking about how these detonations are indications of an imminent invasion I think are missing this point.

Sowing the seeds of doubt about their communication infrastructure (or all of their electronics in general) is a valuable win for an adversary, too.

Re: If an Icom IC-V82

Another source (sorry, no reference) claimed the explosive was packaged in/around the battery and surrounded by little bits of what would become shrapnel.

It seems like the plastic, metal, and PCBs which are already part of the pager should be more than enough potential shrapnel without adding more things which would show up as abnormal.

Probability dictates that there is likely at least one or two of these pagers which were powered off or didn't have batteries installed when the detonate signal went out. It would be very informative to see some internal photos of those devices, but I would expect anything like that will not become public knowledge soon...

250 million-plus unused IPv4 addresses should be left alone, argues network boffin

Re: "Extensive use of IPv4 NAT"

By preventing just any host from talking to just any other host, it caused massive centralization and concentrated a dangerous amount of power in a few companies, which routinely abuse it.

Does IPv6 fix that?

To patch this server, we need to get someone drunk

Re: 'Exit interview'

Ooo, tell us more! Did you find out what happened to your helpful boss?

EV sales hit speed bump as drivers unplug from the electric dream

Re: Range is not the issue!

Your answer on how to drive between two US cities is "Well I wouldn't start there"?

You seem so convinced that BEVs are the answer to all driving situations that I just don't know what else to suggest.

I'm not against BEVs, but I am for accepting reality and that some problems are better solved by other tools.

Let us part as friends. Cheers.

Re: Range is not the issue!

Could go by horseback too, I suppose. But that's not what we're talking about.

Re: Range is not the issue!

Show me the route you will take from Las Vegas, Nevada to Boise Idaho. This is a long day, but easily done in a ICE. Be sure to check the reviews and availability of the charging stations along the way.

Re: Range is not the issue!

This is exactly why I don't have an EV (yet). Sure, 90% of my trips I could do with a BEV, but it's the 10% that I have to plan for. So if I'm planning to purchase a car, I have to buy the one that can do everything.

I am seriously looking at used Tesla Model 3s, because right now I do have other ICE vehicles that can take those 10% trips, but if I could only have 1 car, it can't be the one that doesn't work for every trip.

I've read a lot of posts on the Interwebs where people try to rationalize away this point; "you can just rent a car for those long trips", "you can take a bus or train", "borrow a car from a friend," etc. No. I'm buying for my convenience, and everyone else is, too.

'Uncertainty' drives LinkedIn to migrate from CentOS to Azure Linux

I dare say the only reason Microsoft continues to run LinkedIn on Linux at all is because that is the platform it was on when they bought it. Shifting the whole thing over to Windows Server would of course be their preferred solution, but who's got the time for that?

Seattle airport 'possible cyberattack' snarls travel yet again

They probably got hacked because they uninstalled Crowdstrike last month. :ducks:

BOFH: Videoconferencing for special dummies

There seems to be is a certain set of people in CS who completely breakdown when the pristine, error-free world of theory they operate in meets the reality of the analog, entropy-filled world of reality. Of course this is not unique to CS people entirely, but it amazes me the number of computer science folk who have trouble even considering the idea that voltages sag, noise is everywhere, or that the limits of spacetime apply to whatever they are doing.

Re: it's just that new equipment always brings new problems

If you're using 2.4GHz on anything other than channels 1,6 or 11 you are causing more interference to everyone around you who are trying to play nice. Stop it.

To crew, or not to crew – that is the question facing Boeing's stricken Starliner

Meeting and press conference on a Saturday?

What last-minute bit of data are they waiting for to make these decisions that the haven't had for the past 4 months?

Google's ex-CEO U-turns after saying staff 'going home early' killed winning

Re: WFH increases my productivity

You mention "complaints of poor service", but is he doing the job or not? If the answer is yes, what is the company hoping to measure? If the answer is no, why are you waiting to have the meeting with him where you outline where things need to improve?

NASA pushes decision on bringing crew back in Starliner to the end of August

Re: Get Suited

NASA should bring all of it in house

Hate to break it to you, but NASA doesn't build anything. Your suggestion is like saying the White House should open a paper mill in the basement to avoid having to choose to purchase notepads from Staples or Office Depot.

Twitter must pay over half a million to unfairly dismissed Irish exec

Re: Either a liar or blind to the hypocrisy

I'm also curious about the 1 day deadline to accept the employment terms. Apparently also in Twitter's reasoning, any employee who went away for the weekend or was out of the office and didn't check their e-mail for 2 days also "resigned"?

I would be curious if they had any employees caught like that without a contract in place mandating how responsive to e-mail they are required to be.

DEF CON badge disagreement gets physical as firmware dev removed from event stage

Re: Hang on a sec...

Usually on projects like this with a tight deadline and run on a shoestring, the assumption is there will be bug fixes or changes required after the boards are populated. So even if a "final" image is provided to be burned in as part of manufacturing the safe bet is that there was always a plan and the ability to flash them again right before the deadline.

BOFH: The true gravity of the Boss and the 3-coffee problem

Much like Shakespeare...

One cannot truly appreciate the DSO manual until read in its original Klingon.

Stop installing that software – you may have just died

Re: Strangest?

My Dad always swore that she must spend her days chucking dead chickens out in front of passing tourists to earn extra cash.

Nah, probably the same chicken over and over again.

Outback shocker left Aussie techie with a secret not worth sharing

Re: Rewiring the town hall

When I was in EE school, there was a laughably inadequate yet mandatory safely lecture before we were allowed into the lab for the first time. The two things I remember from the 20 minute presentation:

• Notice the 6 foot lengths of lumber positioned at the back of each bench. Those are used to pry any electrocution victims away from the bench. You may need a helper on the other end.
• 2. When working with anything greater than 12V we urge you to keep one hand in a pocket. This will help to prevent a path for current to flow through your heart, which is a good thing.

Boeing to reacquire spun-off supplier Spirit AeroSpace to shore up safety

Re: "reacquire spun-off supplier Spirit AeroSpace"

A cynical man might think one of the reasons for the original spin-off was to shelter the parent company from potential liability and provide a layer of isolation: any quality problems are then just a "supplier issue".

Payoff from AI projects is 'dismal', biz leaders complain

Re: AI?

Is it time to start calling them "expert systems" again?

Tesla chair begs investors to bless Musk's billions or face an Elon exodus

I don't think any such thing. I think Musk is a charlatan whose best talent is figuring out how to leverage government subsidies into mythical profit. But I'm not Tesla's board of directors (or at least a vocal minority of it) who apparently do think that.

Since the court has already ruled the contract illegal, why is the board of director's spokeshole saying they need to honor it? I'm curious how they hope to thread that needle.