* Posts by the Jim bloke

1083 publicly visible posts • joined 18 Apr 2007

UK's National Rail backs down from greyscale website tribute to Prince Phil after visually impaired users complain

the Jim bloke
Thumb Down

Re: Perhaps

problem with abolishing the monarchy is it leaves you with the rest of the government - which on available evidence... is a stupid idea.

The Australian republican movement was notable by their silence while Trump was demonstrating what happens when a con-man captures the head-of-state role.

Quality control, Soviet style: Here's another fine message you've gotten me into

the Jim bloke

Re: Russians, alcohol, making toasts

there is a blanket term available

Finno-scandinavia, the correct spelling may be different, but the intent is pretty obvious.

Zuck says Facebook made an 'operational mistake' in not taking down US militia page mid-protests. TBH the whole social network is a mistake

the Jim bloke
Stop

Re: How is it different from Usenet??!!

Reputable sources need to stop using facebook to disseminate information.

Once the medical agencies and emergency response organisations stop trying to put facts in there, it can lose all vestige of legitimacy and be completely ignored.

the Jim bloke
Holmes

Re: If there were no Facebook?

No industry has ever honestly self-regulated.. not tobacco, not gambling, not the church and definitely not social media. Facebook will not monitor itself and inconvenience itself beyond a bare token effort.

Supposedly the free market and competition are the solution to all mankinds woes,( which may be why capitalists suppress them every chance they get ),

So, if you shatter facebooks empire, into a thousand competing rats in a sack, put a cap on their individual sizes, and set them against each other.

Facebook doesnt give a shit about what its users post - BUT if its rivals are putting up offensive material, and mini-facebook can rat them in to the regulator and do harm to the competition and gain some reward themselves... they will be watching each other like hawks..

Small outfits will put more effort into watching each other for compliance than any monolith will spend on self monitoring.

Texan's alleged Amazon bombing effort fizzles: Militia man wanted to take out 'about 70 per cent of the internet'

the Jim bloke
Angel

Re: Christian Militia Terrorist

the first crusade was certainly intended to defend the Byzantines from Turkish invasion.

but one of the later ones (cant remember which one, it was a long time ago ), they decided the islamics were too hard, so invaded Constantinople themselves..

ALL religious warfare is about power and cultural imperialism, and using gods name doesnt sanctify indefensible acts, rather it drags the religion into the sewer.

the Jim bloke
Big Brother

Re: My militia.com!

But the KGB always had to travel in groups of three..

.. one who could read

.. one who could write..

and one to keep an eye on the two dangerous intellectuals...

Facebook job ads algorithm still discriminates on gender, LinkedIn not so much

the Jim bloke

Re: I've never had a female deliver my pizza

but Switzerland is a civilised country.

Easily distracted by too many apps, too many meetings, and too much asparagus

the Jim bloke
Trollface

a proper name for Covid 19

How the company must wish the WHO had dubbed it Budweiservirus instead. Me, I wish they'd called it Bogroll-19.

All very well having non-racist, politically inoffensive generic descriptions for the pandemic, but it doesnt TEACH anything.

I prefer "Bolsonaros Little Flu", or similar depending on whatever local office holding oxygen thief decided their economy mattered more than their people.. "Orange Fever" may be applicable in the USA.

the Jim bloke
Pint

Re: ...nobody has been panic-buying multipacks of Corona...

Last year, during the height of the Melbourne lockdowns, I made sure to send a picture of me enjoying - or drinking, anyway, a Corona at a West Australian beachside resort to the in-laws in Victoria, as a symbol of solidarity...

"We may not have Covid-19 over here, but we're with you in spirit..."

Being asked to rate fake news may help stop social media users sharing it, study finds

the Jim bloke
Holmes

The system needs a further step.

First, people are required to rate any article as part of the sharing process - not familiar with the terminology as the whole social media environment looks like a stupid idea to start with.

THEN, their rating can be rated relative to a professional fact checking organisation, and the USER gets a reliability score, which is shown alongside their online identity as appropriate.

So supporters of online quackery, political fairy tales and magical thinking get to wear the digital equivalent of a dunce cap (something totally unacceptable by modern cultural norms - which might be why we have so many who need it)

the Jim bloke

Re: Pointless.

I usually say social media exists to keep stupid people away from the real internet.

This is me practicing tact...

the Jim bloke
Unhappy

Re: Pointless.

The purpose of social media was to make the internet accessible to the technologically ignorant.

It has succeeded.

Tim Cook 'killed' TV project about the one website Apple hates more than The Register

the Jim bloke
Holmes

Re: Well, of course

On "Bones", it was the second person they met...

every show.

The nightmare is real: 'Excel formulas are the world's most widely used programming language,' says Microsoft

the Jim bloke
Devil

Re: Makes sense

When all you have is a hammer,

... perhaps you should cut back on testing your product on live animals...

Running joke: That fitness gadget? It's, er, run out

the Jim bloke
Stop

Re: Call me Ishmael

getting out again afterwards - thats the problem

There are two sides to every story, two ends to every cable

the Jim bloke
Devil

Re: Idiot Boasting Mob

It bit me!

Italian competition watchdog slaps Apple with €10m fine over allegedly misleading iPhone waterproofing claims

the Jim bloke

Re: IP68 you say?

I had been looking for a replacement phone with good water resistance, and despite being Apple, i still considered the later offerings. However, in information available to Australians, at least, the apple phones IP68 rating was only valid to half a metres depth for some period of minutes - which means it would be beyond its depth in your boardies pocket while you were floating vertically with your head out of water..

I am guessing different claims have been made in differing regions depending on how likely the locals might be to take one swimming..

Still havent found a good 'beach phone', but seen some ads from LG which looked promising,

'We've heard the feedback...' Microsoft 365 axes per-user productivity monitoring after privacy backlash

the Jim bloke
Go

As i posted in response to the previous article

This functionality automates MANAGEMENT tasks - thereby threatening reduction in management headcount.

See how quickly it has been pulled....

Uri Geller calls off 20-year ban on Pokémon trading card that 'stole' his 'signature image'

the Jim bloke
Trollface

He would be into the gravy train - but he cant get any to stay on the spoon

Who knew that hosing a table with copious amounts of cubic metres would trip adult filters?

the Jim bloke
Headmaster

Re: Cubic metres? cm^3? ?? What is its abbrev.??

Mining and earthworks tend to use BCM for 'bench cubic metre' and LCM for loose cubic metre, or just 'cubes'. Not much use for quantities smaller than that - although the linear dimensions used to achieve such cubes can be very finicky if you are pursuing a seam of gold, or doing final trim on some piece of construction.

Privacy campaigner flags concerns about Microsoft's creepy Productivity Score

the Jim bloke
Go

Give it the Kiss of Death

.. and describe it as a tool for 'reducing management headcount'

Increased efficiency through better automation and performance monitoring will allow our management team to look after more people..,

..for the survivors of the cull..

Considering the colonisation of Mars? Werner Herzog would like a word

the Jim bloke
Headmaster

Re: Humans like locusts

I find the constant use of "Humans" as a single entity description.. simpleminded to the point of being childish.

The human race is divided into multiple cultures - more than races, with different ethical values and priorities, and what is desirable in one is frequently considered rank stupidity in another. These value differences exist not only between nations and ethnicities but also within them, as the fracturing of the USA has been rubbing into our faces recently.

Bearing this in mind, each of us should act to support what they personally consider worthwhile, -be it interplanetary colonization with or without a 'z', or back to nature environmentalism, militant nationalism or economic or religious feudalism.. whatever.

Stop tying to fix everything and just do what you can, knowing that other people with divergent ideals will be actively opposing you.

If Musk can make some progress towards a Mars colony, good on him, and best wishes for everyone involved (plus the expectation they will all die horribly but hopefully provide useful data in the process)

If some one else wants to restore Earths disappearing icecaps and rainforests.. good for them too.

Personally I am not a fan of more coal/oil/gas development but there are people who are investing their futures in that... and as such they deserve to die in a fire.. but they have reasons which are valid for them.

Biden projected to be the next US President, Microsoft joins rest of world in telling Trump: It looks like... you're fired

the Jim bloke
Holmes

Although perhaps having to pass the equivalent of GCSE civics might be a reasonable requirement for presidential candidates.

and southern sheriffs

I was of the belief there is some kind of requirement that people in public office should be of "good character", although this has historically been abused to protect the privileged classes.

As a practical application, anybody who has been through multiple bankruptcies is either totally incompetent, or deliberately gaming the system - and in either case, unfit to be in charge of public monies.

City folk vote to each get $100 every time cops, govt officials illegally spy on them with facial-rec AI, minimum $1,000

the Jim bloke

Re: Even a stopped clock tells the right time twice a day

So their "AI" spat out a bunch of ingredient combinations, then humans tried them and decided if they worked...

any mention of the failure rate?

Let's... drawer a veil over why this laser printer would decide to stop working randomly

the Jim bloke
Devil

Re: Something similar

and we never hear from him again.

the phrase inspires thoughts of more.. dramatic, wiring solutions..

RIAA DMCAs GitHub into nuking popular YouTube video download tool, says it's used to slurp music

the Jim bloke
Coat

YouTube?

I've heard of it.

Apparently it expects Javascript enabled

Iran sent threatening pro-Trump emails to American Democrats, Russia close behind, says US intelligence

the Jim bloke
Stop

probably no less inaccurate than the official election spam campaigns

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2020-10-22/donald-trumps-campaign-email-blitz/12781782?nw=0

Let’s check in with that 30,000-job $10bn Trump-Foxconn Wisconsin plant. Wow, way worse than we'd imagined

the Jim bloke
Megaphone

Re: Trump caught telling the truth!

Bullshit

No plant so he couldnt have seen it.

Please provide subject, dates and times of when ever Trump has told the truth.

It will be a short list, and probably all accidental.

First thing to do when you hear a statement from Trump, is ask, "is he lying?", and the answer almost always turns out to be "yes".

This is the man that gave us "Fake Media" - and never stopped.

Excel Hell: It's not just blame for pandemic pandemonium being spread between the sheets

the Jim bloke
Pint

Re: Ye Olde English Proverb

I have used a swiss army knife to cut down a tree.

There was alcohol involved.

This also led to setting the stump on fire, and driving work vehicles across the smouldering stump. I cant remember just why that particular tree merited such treatment, but it must have been something heinous.

Generally I only used swiss army knives - and leatherman tools now, to remove branchs or shorten small lengths of timber, but that tree had it coming.

There ain't no problem that can't be solved with the help of American horsepower – even yanking on a coax cable

the Jim bloke

Re: Closest I've had to that ....

Just before digital cameras became a thing I used to carry disposable cameras around for opportunistic photo snapping.. Someplace - probably an old shoebox - I have an old style photo of an excavator operator standing sheepishly in the door of their cab with a ripped out electrical cable caught in the tracks and ripped out of the ground as the machine trammed.

(The operator was a trainee, which was the only reason they felt any embarrassment)

the Jim bloke

Re: Closest I've had to that ....

My introduction to the term was BFMI - Brute Force and Massive Ignorance, Doesnt matter which you use, you can still build a pyramid...

Bill Gates lays out a three-point plan to rid the world of COVID-19 – and anti-vaxxer cranks aren't gonna like it

the Jim bloke
Unhappy

Have you been watching politics recently?

Its the Dark Ages we're heading for, if its only as bad as the middle ages we will be lucky..

the Jim bloke

Re: Not the same thing

If it gave me 2000 years immunity, and the lifespan to go with it, I still would not go to Disney Land

Shine on you crazy diamond: We don't know who needs to hear it but NASA's explained the weird shape of the Bennu asteroid

the Jim bloke
Coat

Yes, but it will be labelled as a vacuum cleaner

Ireland unfriends Facebook: Oh Zucky Boy, the pipes, the pipes are closing…from glen to US, and through the EU-side

the Jim bloke
Boffin

Re: "does this prevent people accessing it from the US? "

I work in an industry where "datum" is in common and regular use, whereas the Guardian and its style guide is about as relevant as pre-Assyrian religious practices.

The problem with the internet is that it expands the reach and influence of stupid people.

Something to look forward to: Being told your child or parent was radicalized by an AI bot into believing a bonkers antisemitic conspiracy theory

the Jim bloke
Paris Hilton

Re: Don't worry, GPT-3 doesn't want to kill us

There is a rule for newspaper headlines, that goes something like -

If the headline is a question,, the answer is no.

quick google search

Betteridge's law of headlines is an adage that states: "Any headline that ends in a question mark can be answered by the word no." It is named after Ian Betteridge, a British technology journalist who wrote about it in 2009, although the principle is much older.

the Jim bloke
Angel

Re: Automation

Shut down all these idiots on social media, with a message saying

Thank you but your services are no longer required, we have a machine to spout and repeat mindless drivel now,

cancel their accounts, and then dont hear anything more from them ever again

the only drawback is they may start interacting with the real world - where I like to hang out..

Unexpected victory in bagging area: Apple must pay shop workers for time they spend waiting to get frisked

the Jim bloke
Devil

obvious solution, already in place at Amazon

Apple should use Amazon time management metrics for their security inspections, complete with arbitrary and unannounced target changes, and automatic dismissal of the lowest performing 5% of inspectors.

Salon told to change ad looking for 'happy' stylist because it 'discriminated against unhappy people'

the Jim bloke
Unhappy

Re: discriminatory

there are some still idiots and poor employers out there, but thankfully fewer and fewer as time goes on

There may be fewer "poor employers"out there - but that seems to be a result of fewer employers overall, and the proportion of poor to good (employers you actually enjoy working for) employers seems to be deteriorating.

if thats not grounds for depression.. I'm sure you can find something else...

The danger of taking affirmation from your job - regardless of how good you are at it - is that you are vulnerable to shocks completely beyond and outside your control - but at least its better than taking your affirmation and self worth from social media.

Fusion boffins apply plasma know-how to building thrusters

the Jim bloke
Go

Realising they were hitting a problem

trying to keep a fusion reaction contained,

so they leave a hole in the containment..

and

PROFIT

This PDP-11/70 was due to predict an election outcome – but no one could predict it falling over

the Jim bloke

Re: But

politician won..

voters lost..

UK national debt hits 1.46 Apples – and weighs as much as 2 billion adult badgers

the Jim bloke

Re: well,

If you remember them, you weren't there... or was that the 60's ...

Putting the d'oh! in Adobe: 'Years of photos' permanently wiped from iPhones, iPads by bad Lightroom app update

the Jim bloke
Pirate

Re: Class action suit in 3... 2... 1...

then someone at Adobe needs to be drug out and shot, twice.

Start with the board of directors, and work your way down the org chart.

Most corporate "apologies" involve some low ranking flunky being hurled to the angry mob, while those whose job descriptions actually include "responsibility" continue their idyllic existence, and collect their performance bonuses.

not an i-user of any kind, I just think this is another classic example of the shit we have become used to from big companies.

Anti-5G-vaxx pressure group sues Zuckerberg, Facebook, fact checkers for daring to suggest it might be wrong

the Jim bloke
Coat

Re: You might be onto something!

People on the Autism spectrum are disproportionately present in research positions.

From this..

Autism causes Vaccines.

You'd think 1.8bn users a day would be enough for Zuck. But no. Oculus fans must sign up for Facebook

the Jim bloke
Meh

Re: Preparing the ground

Are apple and facebook even competing?

I guess facebook is available in the iWorld, so residents therein may have to choose between the two, but apple products are pretty much irrelevant to dwellers outside the garden.

I could be wrong, but dont actually care for either party so meh...

Virgin Galactic reveals giant mirror feature in cabin design for Beardy Branson's space bus

the Jim bloke
WTF?

Anyone else offended..

by describing the self-loading freight as "astronauts"?

the Jim bloke
Joke

Re: Mood lighting my arse.

Not required.

I already have to apply sunscreen to my buttocks to prevent burns from reflections off the porcelain, and trying to check on the products is reminiscent of the closing scenes in Close Encounters of the Third Kind

Exoskeletons-as-a-service offered as helping hand to warehouse workers exhausted by pandemic

the Jim bloke
Terminator

if a user becomes injured while wearing one

will it be because .. it's holding them wrong?

As Uncle Sam flies spy drones over protest-packed cities, Homeland Security asks the public if that's a good idea

the Jim bloke
Big Brother

Re: I submitted my comment

the US never practiced fascism as a political system

Which is why the evil clown is doing so badly.

Lack of practice.

Give Let him take a few more years of ruining the country, and he will be so much better at it.

Better than anyone else ever.

Amazon declined to sell a book so Elon Musk called for it to be broken up

the Jim bloke
Windows

Re: Amazon choosing to publish / not publish seems like a no-win situation

In the long ruin, ....

yep, I think auto correct has nailed that one.

when I was young, I thought it would be wonderful to live forever, and medical science would advance to eventually bring humanity immortality.

Now, I am, if not wiser, at least hopefully less stupid, and I am relieved that all of this eventually will be someone elses problem.