* Posts by Chris G

6754 publicly visible posts • joined 18 Oct 2007

Back to drawing board as Google cans AI ethics council amid complaints over right-wing member

Chris G

"It's become clear that ATEAC won't function as we wanted"

That is quite a telling statement, shirley if the panel were composed off free thinkers then it could function in a way that could help to direct Google's ethics rather than approving the ethic/s that Google wants.

All's fair in love and war when tech treats you like an infant

Chris G

Re: Poptarts & broccoli

True! Croydon airport played a significant part in Britains aviation history, the area also received a large number of V weapon hits due to a glitch in the navigation systems that were ostensibly aimed at London. I recall a failure to either allow for magnetic North or coriolis effect but not certain.

Chris G

Poptarts & broccoli

You really live life in the fast lane, I yearn to live like that.

It sounds as though auto checkouts are now being manufactured using remade from New Crobuzon, a place that I think is an allegory for Croydon.

UK health tech quango strikes Gould, reckons digital policy wonk has NHSX-factor to run org

Chris G

Salesmanship

Is he going to be required to source potential customers for all that rich, newly streamlined patient data before taking a seat on the board of one of them.

The NHS generally seem to be convinced that they can decide where patient's data should go, better than the patients can.

If there's 5G connectivity but no 5G devices on it, does it make a sound? Wait, no, that's not right

Chris G

Re: Manchester

Ahh! Birmingham is the first demo that they wanted to call the first, the the first demo in Manchester was only the first demo to test the first demo at Birmingham.

Blundering London council emails unredacted version of notorious Gangs Matrix to 44 people. Data ends up on Snapchat

Chris G

I am not sure that the Met should even be sending an unredacted version to the council in the first place. Why would the council need all of thst info?

The 'Savage' approach to policing is bad enough but allowing council clerks access is not responsible, having worked in and with a couple of councils I don't trust them with any of my data.

Not surprised Newham has cocked up, Cockups R us could be on the borough coat of arms.

Prince Harry takes a stand against poverty, injustice, inequality? Er, no, Fortnite

Chris G

@Teiwaz.

Royalty and royal blood is no more meaningful than being holy, the biggest difference between kings and popes is that the latter recognise mo borders at all. The royal and the holy still have to take a dump on a regular basis qnd smell no better than anybody else.

By the way, I bet my sword is bigger than yours!

Chris G

The article has the tone of someone with an axe to grind having the luck to find a platform where they can indulge themselves.

I don't care about our royal family beyond the fact that the monarch is the legal head of what passes for a British constitution.

There are dozens of other higher profile celebs with far less savoury pasts who feel obliged to impart their notions of wisdom to the world. Perhaps Keiron could do a weekly hatchet column so that we can laugh at all of them.

As for the game, never heard of it so I guess I am uninformed.

No dice, comrade! Senate floats Russia-busting election law

Chris G

Re: Idiocracy was a documentary

One of the retards is promoting this Bill. Marco Rubio must be on steroids and amphetamine and never sleeps, because he is out there threatening other country's elected governments, trying to pass bills and commenting on everything including the kitchen sink. Expect to see him as a rabid presidential hopeful inan election near you sooner rather than later.

Hello, tech support? Yes, I've run out of desk... Yes, DESK... space

Chris G

Considering a mouse is a mechanical interface, I wouldhave thought any, even less than average engineer would have looked underneath, seen the ball and waggled with his fingers.

Seeing that the bsll needed to roll further would be obvious to an engineer. I have never met a mechanical engineer who was afraid to fiddle with things or take them apart, it's what we do.

Stop us if you've heard this one: Microsoft UK enjoys a jump in profits, pays a bit less in tax

Chris G

Re: Margins

Looks like an accounting falsehood designed to sucker the taxman too.

Just the small matter of the bill for scrapping Blighty's old nuclear submarines: It's £7.5bn

Chris G

Re: Bah!

If you are going to give them a lick of paint, why not get one of 'em up and running as the new Royal Yacht? Her Maj would be the only monarch on the planet to arrive somewhere under water.

The rest could be upcycled as runabouts for MPs on junkets to foreign countries, and damaging their genes wouldn't matter because most of them don't belong in the gene pool anyway.

Chris G

" unless you believe in homoeopathy."

Hmm! With the right marketing........................................

Edtech will save our schools from cuts and spare our teachers from burnout, booms UK.gov

Chris G

Why not? Who needs actual teachers?

Let's make education as formulaic as possible, take away any opportunity for individuality and turn out as many drones fit for the Brave New World™.

First though get a grip on teaching kids to spell correctly instead of the Nuffield Foundation fonettik spelling krapp that so many of them are taught currently.

Maybe while they are at it they could include some basic science at a better level than the abysmal levels that are currently taught.

A radical thought I know but possibly program in a curriculum that relates to real life and work.

Ex-Mozilla CTO: US border cops demanded I unlock my phone, laptop at SF airport – and I'm an American citizen

Chris G

@Lee D

Between threats and killing you, there are a lot of things that can be done that might be a fate worse than death, both for you or your nearest and dearest, it just depends on the will of the perp'.

People make jokes about it but not too far from where I lived as a youth people had their knees nailed to the floor and joints drilled, would you want to spend your life knowing you had condemned a family member to something like that?

How to respond to threats is not easy.

Chris G

Re: They don't even know how

Most forms of execution including some of the apparently humane ones leave the brain active for up to four minutes according to some reports. That includes beheading where there are old stories of heads continuing to try to speak, eyes rolling and looking around. A slaughterhouse humane killer that effectively stirs the brains almost instantly may be better but messier.

Nuking would work but may be too expensive.

Chris G

Re: Don't be so naive

You seem to have forgotten to mention Geedubya the architect of the war on terror who was able to create the large and complex Patriot Act almost overnight after the surprise and shock of 9/11 and effectively removing many of America's supposed rights equally as quickly.

Bit nippy, is it? Hive smart home users find themselves tweaking thermostat BY HAND

Chris G

The Hive

One should remember that in the hive the individual is secondary to the survival of The Hive.

Chris G

Re: Race of Morons

"Pretty sure it started with using fire."

Actually fire is generally considered by anthropologists to have contributed to humans being able to grow a bigger brain by virtue of the fact that humans cooking needed less time foraging, could eat more efficiently and do more with a smaller digestive tract allowing them to fuel a bigger brain. Fire was a much bigger event than coming up with the wheel. In spite of what Audi drivers think.

Chris G

Re: But if its a smart meter

@Lee D

I live 2.5Km from the nearest power line, have a 24v 11Kw Solar installation, the last two days have been cloudy and wet, I still have plenty of power for my fridge and freezer, lighting, entertainment, my workshop and, most important my kettle. I cook with bottled gas, at the moment my hot water is LPG too but I am installing a solar collector this year as well as an immersion heater, granted I live in Spain and have more sun but for the investment made so far I am more than happy to be off grid. Even my water is from a well owned by a cooperative that I have shares in, I pay about €12/month that includes watering what has been a very dry 3000sq metre garden this winter.

The only meter I have is mine for measuring how much water I use on my almond and orange trees.

UK MPs' disinformation sub-committee is sure to bring Facebook chief to heel (in Opposites Land)

Chris G

Re: "threats to democracy".

"He's suggesting regulation as an alternative to being broken up...."

In the hopes that TPTB will ask him for advice on the regulation in a similar way that they let Boeing self regulate their aircraft modifications and upgrades.

Chris G

Re: call on Facebook to ditch its appeal

If John Bolton is anything to go by, even the US still takes the UK seriously.

“President Trump remains very eager to cut a bilateral trade deal with an independent Britain. It’s what the people voted for in 2016, and when they get out, whether it’s now, April 12 or later, we’ll be standing right there waiting for them,"

So there's a cuddly deal waiting for the UK's agriculture to be dominated by Monsanto et al and the Pound to be merged with the dollar to take advantage of all the juicy financial services that pass through London on the way to Panama.

Chris G

"threats to democracy".

When the committee finds some (democracy) I hope they publish it's whereabouts, I'd like to go and have a look to see what all the fuss is about.

Regarding the Silly Zucker's requests for regulation and dumping the ball back in the laps of governments, he should be careful about what he wishes for. Faecebook could be regulated back into pre-social times.

PR exercises often backfire.

Hackers don't just want to pwn networks, they literally want to OWN your network – and no one knows they're there

Chris G

The usual suspects

I see the mention of China and Russia gleaned from about 40 of Carbon Black's customers, I would love to know the numbers of IP hackers worldwide and their countries of origin both freelance and state sponsored.

Good news, Man City fans: You can watch your team lose the title in on-demand 3D

Chris G

Just wait

'Til the porn industry gets hold of this tech!

You will get to see things you never knew you wanted to see ( and probably still don't)

Chris G

It's bad enough already

If I go into a Spanish bar looking for a refreshing beer while a major event is on the telly, the barista will hold the glass in one hand, the bottle in the other while watching the action and then pour my beer over his left foot.

As has been said before sport is okay but like sex, it's better when you are a participant.

How do you sing 'We're jamming and we hope you like jamming, too' in Russian? Kremlin's sat-nav spoofing revealed

Chris G

Re: Just the Russians...

"Are they field testing it against Russian or Chinese military exercises though?"

Almost certainly.

"And are their navigators being made to work with GPS OFF, so they learn to work without it?"

Yes, standard training, as it should be with anyone who wishes to understand navigation.

Chris G

Seems obvious

That any military who uses or has used against them, any system, whether weapons, navigation aids or latrine equipment, will investigate the weaknesses and determine how those can be exploited to advantage or mitigated.

I suspect that militaries who haven't at least considered disruption of GPS either in use or to the disadvantage of enemies are in the minority.

Dutch director cops roar deal after selling off lion-based schlock to China

Chris G

I like cat videos

Dangerous pussy in Amsterdam is nothing new.

Googlers, eggheads urge web giant's bosses to kick top conservative off its AI ethics council

Chris G

In any organisation where the bottom lime is profit, don't expect much more than lip service and PR regarding ethics and morality. Profit is not limited to only money, it can also be power and/or expansion of influence so idealists are just as likely to skirt around moral and ethical questions as those chasing the money.

UK taxman plans to, er, Crown Hosting boss. Who'll take £115k to be its champion in HMRC?

Chris G

"bold plans" to create a "dynamic, agile technology organisation".

They forgot "disruptive" the one word that will have the most effect on those affected.

AI infosec biz Darktrace boasts near-doubled revenues as firm alumni battle HPE in civil case

Chris G

Call me stumped

I just don't understand how these 'disruptive' companies continue year after year to make operating losses and still manage to be valued at figures like £1.6 billion.

Trump fights with Google over Chinese military, AI scoops Turing Prize, Dota2 competition coming

Chris G

Re: How could it go wrong?

Considering that conventional battlefields have largely been replaced with asymmetric warfare, I don't see swarm weaponry being particularly effective unless collateral casualties are not a consideration.

An example would be the recent heavy fighting in Syria where much of the time daesh used the local inhabitants as human shields, I don't see swarms doing well in such an environment.

Pull! Rocket Lab fires off another potential target as India joins exclusive satellite shooting club

Chris G

Boots on the moon

I have seen smarter sock puppets. I understand now why he's running behind the Jaffa King.

Naming your company 101: Probably best not to have the word 'Oracle' anywhere near branding

Chris G

@ Korev

Given today's weather here I will suggest

'Scrying in the rain, for musical accompaniment look for Crying in the rain by my old friend Guru Josh.

This is not, repeat, not an April Fools' Day joke: 5 UK broadband vendors agree to pay YOU daily rate for fscked internet

Chris G

No surprise

That Vodaphone hasn't opted in, of course they never get anything wrong do they?

In the West, we're worried about shooting down drones. In Russia, drones shoot you

Chris G

Re: Personally

As of this morning, he was not the favourite, the Gas Queen was. If she gets in, there will be an opening for another dodgy accountancy firm in Panama and the average Ukrainian who currently has one third of the buying power they had before 'Democracy' visited in 2014 will be even poorer.

Chris G

Re: Personally

Ha! You can make fun but the Annunaki are at this moment studying us as we would study microbes in a drop of water............... wait! That's Barsoomians... or was it Planet X???

Where ... is tin...foil??

Cop watchers to probe UK police sharing data on witnesses' migration status with Home Office

Chris G

Re: Windrush

There's a scary thought, with Ms T Might threatening to resign, Rudd would likely be a contender for No 10. I can't think who would be worse, her or Scarecrow Johnson.

Xiaomi's Mi-too attempt at a pholdable: Not one, but TWO creases of fail

Chris G

It has it's uses

I know a lot of people like designers, builders, landscapers and anyone who needs to make some kind of presentation with photos or diagrams who would find this tech very usable if it was reliable and functioned well, a lot of others would buy them to look at cat pictures too.

When I was working I always found I would need a tablet in addition to a phone when meeting new clients as the phone screen would be too small and a laptop too cumbersome to show a presentation.

BOFH: Tick tick BOOM. It's B-day! No we're not eating Brussels flouts...

Chris G

Fenestres

It seems to me that windows are a crucial element in streamlining modern management practices.

Plus the only regular updates necessary are opening and closing (opening is optional).

Easy-to-hack combat systems, years-old flaws and a massive bill – yup, that's America's F-35

Chris G

'Lockheed designed it this way'

Designed to be an ongoing gravy train until the end of piloted war planes I assume?

Web browser reporting sounds like IoTof the skies with the same inherent dangers as the rest of IoT but with the potential to be carrying nukes.

I once saw a poster in a German mess bearing the message ' Would you like a Lockheed Starfighter? Buy a farm and wait!'

It may be time to run an updated version ready for when F-35s are a regular thing in the sky, if ever.

Leaky Martin will be livin' la vida lockdown: Ex-NSA bod cops to taking home 'up to 50TB' of hush-hush dossiers

Chris G

Re: Big collection

I guess the NSA spend more time looking for weaknesses in security in order to gather intelligence and less time considering how to make security of data more efficient.

Even at lunch box level.

HP deployed 'Truth Squad' in post-Autonomy PR blitz to defend Meg Whitman

Chris G

Caveat emptor

What is clear, whether or not the figures were massagedis that due diligence wss not a pary of HP's purchase plan.

Humanitarian champ or sex-trafficking profiteer? Fresh sueball argues Salesforce is the latter

Chris G

Re: Anonymous lawsuits are the lynch-mobs of the modern age...

I am not too clear about this; are the Jane Does anonymous to the court as well or are their names only witheld from the public?

If the former, then anyone could start an action on the sketchiest of evidence.

If the latter then I can understand as the plaintiffs may well have moved on in life and wish to avoid attention.

Make America buy phones again! Smartphone doom 'n' gloom crosses Atlantic to cast shadow stateside

Chris G

Re: I'm definitely part of the problem...

I'm with you there, my first smart phone was a G800 Huawei. I didn't die but was packed full of dust an crud from my work. I had a look around the interthings and found a 6Gb IP68 phone with a housebrick sized battery for a tad over €200, it's a Ulefone Armor2 still going strong after nearly three years. The camera is decent, it has all the apps I need now goes like a Ferrari,why would I now go and spend the best part of a grand on something that carries a 'branded' name that won't do any better?

With the right training, algorithms can predict Li-ion battery lifetime – with 95% accuracy

Chris G

Re: "I don't see how this is valid for battery development"

@ diodesign.

That is still only relevant if you are making new batteries using known parameters, i.e. tweaking current knowledge. For anything out of the box or new technology, this kind of statistical analysis isn't going to achieve much.

Chris G

Re: Really useful data for phone slingers

That is probably much closer to the truth than any manufacturers will admit.

100MW bit barn farm in Ireland faces planning appeal from – yep – same guy who helped sink Apple's application

Chris G

Re: Fish in a barrel

Or, the Honourable Member could have cut to the chase with ' I am determined to get this off the ground............. I won't be an MP forever.

Ethiopian Airlines boss confirms suspect flight software was in use as Boeing 737 Max crashed

Chris G

Re: I would expect a longer process for re-certification

@Spartacus. What your comment implies is that there has been a failure to implement full testing and action on pilot feedback that in my (not professional) opinion, amounts to criminal negligence.