* Posts by John Smith 19

16326 publicly visible posts • joined 10 Jun 2009

Stick to the script, kiddies: Some dos and don'ts for the workplace

John Smith 19 Gold badge
Unhappy

Too many self-taught "power users" who think they're experts.

True.

But there is a worse problem.

They don't know what they don't know. Hence they don't know what they have to learn, or why things can be made a lot better.

John Smith 19 Gold badge
Unhappy

Re: Really useful article. If you've just left school and want to get into coding.

Funny you should say that.

I'd just started at a very large company and had no phone service for 3 days.

Phone system run by SQL server application, which was updated by a script.

Running under a long term employee's login.

Who'd just left, killing any running processes.

So yes, sometimes reminding people of the obvious is quite a good idea.

Sorry 'strange physics' fans, IceCube finds the Standard Model stands

John Smith 19 Gold badge
Thumb Up

"TeV" That's a 1 with 12 noughts after it. From a single particle.

To put that in perspective the neutrons released in a fission of a Uranium atom are around 200MeV.

Note that this result does more than confirm the Standard Model.

It also eliminates certain competitors and narrows the field where radical alternatives could be located.

I think it would be be interesting to survey how many proposals have been made to superceed the SM over what period of time, and how many have failed. My impression is "Quite a lot."

So the odds on bet would seem to be finding ways to fit the observations that don't fit in the SM (at present) into it, rather than going for the grandiose, everything-but-the-kitchen-sink approach.

My instinct is some of those "missing pieces" are much closer to being able to be fitted into the SM than others. In doing so they may shift it it into allowing others into being reconciled.

Clone poster girl Dolly the sheep's arthritis was 'normal for her age'

John Smith 19 Gold badge
Coat

Suggests cloning does indeed reset the aging clock

Which people were not too sure about when it was done.

Still no word on the vital question wheather mint sauce was needed after the autopsy.

Seek 'passion' and tech skills will follow, say recruiting security chiefs

John Smith 19 Gold badge
Unhappy

"Or treat a job advert that specifies it as anything but wanker-speak to be avoided?"

Indeed.

It's one of those words or phrases ("team player*" is another) that con-sultants think is a nice verbal short hand for what they are looking for but is often perceived as "Bu***hit alert. Avoid."

Let me suggest that most (actually) "passionate" IT people are too introverted to ever consider using such a word about themselves. It will only surface when amongst their peers.

*It took me a long time to accept that this didn't mean you had to be a real outgoing type to be one.

John Smith 19 Gold badge
Unhappy

I'm "passionate"*

About f**kwitted recruitment con-sultants

Fun fact

Such companies are independent agents (in the sense they do not take ownership of the goods IE you, themselves)

So they are not actually working for you, or their "employer" but themselves.

Something to keep in mind.

Although from what I've seen this is recritments speak for "Obedient," "Tractable" and "Uninterested in money."

Forget Sesame Street, scientists pretty much watched Big Bird evolve on Galápagos island

John Smith 19 Gold badge
Coat

Fails to answer the most important question.

When they've been plucked, skinned and steeped in sauce what do they taste like after the barbie?

Mine's the one with "Chef" on the back.

John Smith 19 Gold badge
Coat

Re: "hardly say that Tories and Labour are different species"

True.

People from Norfolk OTOH....

UK spy court ruled immune from judicial review – for now

John Smith 19 Gold badge
Childcatcher

"in order to protect us from the islamofascists."

Or the even worse paedoterrorists.

John Smith 19 Gold badge
Gimp

"parliament could not have intended..as excluding all resource to judicial review, "

Perhaps not.

But you can bet the actual data fetishist civil servants who wrote it certainly did.

A Snoopers Charter, and a Snoopers Court to rubber stamp any warrants issued under it.

"Legal oversight" British Civil Servant style*

*Not British government style. Because the (mostly) PPE career cabal of Aholes who do this won't be routed out by a change of government. The death of the monkey won't stop the organ grinder getting another one. Different monkey, same tune.

Dark fibre arts: Ofcom is determined to open up BT's network

John Smith 19 Gold badge
Unhappy

On a level playing field *all* fibre would be a central infrastrustructure resource

So you want to be a "proper" ISP, with real hardware? Pay into the "Infrastructure Fund" and you can put your own boxes into whoevers exchange is nearest, and the cable is already there.

BT, Virgin, Hull, or WTF Telecom.

I know, that's a fantasy.

BT seems an abusive monopolist but turning it on its head is there any evidence that getting into Vermin's ducts are any easier? Or even possible, given it is clearly their property?

A certain millennial turned 30 recently: Welcome to middle age, Microsoft Excel v2

John Smith 19 Gold badge
Unhappy

"They use Excel for everything, regardless of whether it is the most suitable tool for the job."

Second only behind Salespeople for tracking (basically) everything.

That said when people look back on the history of computing I think they will find the spreadsheet was a more fundamental improvement than the word processor.

Historically people in large organizations had ways to produce high quality documents with good layouts. What was much less common was being able to generate quick "what if" calculations or models. Basically there was no mathematical equivalent to the electric typewriter.

Spreadsheets didn't just do this, they created a paradigm for structuring those problems into pieces that you didn't have to think about. Calculation on demand. When you want it, how you want it.

Possible cut to British F-35 order considered before Parliament

John Smith 19 Gold badge
Unhappy

People make steam catapults sound very hard.

Because they historically derived the steam from the boilers driving the steam turbines to drive the propellers.

But gas turbines can generate a lot of electricity.

There are such things as electric "flash" boilers that essentially aim to run so hot, with so little water that it all goes more or less directly to steam.

I looked into this for steam cars and "fireless" locomotives, both of which are basically big pressurized, insulated tanks. Modern composites could operate up to about 390c, which can deliver substantial pressure.

John Smith 19 Gold badge
Unhappy

"BAE have a monopoly,..they can basically tell lies if it suits them and we've nowhere to go."

Don't call it a monopoly.

Call it a "National Champion."

That's what the civil servants in the MoD called it when they were encouraging/cajoling/strong arming the various mergers that made it up.

Which is why thethe CEO is as far as I know the only head of a major war corp that's got on demand access to a head of state, in the form of the Prime Minister.

John Smith 19 Gold badge
Unhappy

"and it's not at all impossible the yanks will pull the plug on the program. "

Bu***hit.

Far too many members of the Con-gress jave beem "persuaded" of the programmes vital importance to national pork defense.

That programme will run for decades.

LM has guaranteed orders, upgrade programmes, spares, etc.

Who cares if it doesn't work?

'Treat infosec fails like plane crashes' – but hopefully with less death and twisted metal

John Smith 19 Gold badge
Unhappy

"In the aviation world, this would be followed by...."

Yes.

It's called "Root cause" analysis.

The closest equivalent would be the original "Capability Maturation Model" developed by Carnegie Mellon after studying the IBM Federal Systems operation, who did the software for Apollo and the Shuttle.

Something still deeply lacking in most development shops.

Plans to thwack Official Secrets Acts smacked: Journo-gagging reform postponed

John Smith 19 Gold badge
Coat

" nothing less than a threat to Britain's free press and thus its democracy"."

For some very odd versions of the word "democracy."

Budget 2017: How to make a downbeat forecast sound better. Say 'tech' a lot?

John Smith 19 Gold badge
Unhappy

"You don't solve a problem..too much demand..not enough supply by cutting..that dampens demand."

When you put it as simply and directly as that it does sound quite stupid as a policy.

John Smith 19 Gold badge
Unhappy

"Hammond revealed sharp cut in growth forecasts for 2017 from 2 per cent to 1.5 per cent "

Indeed.

25% straight off the top.

IIRC this is expected to a £30Bn loss of the UK economy, at least.

And BTW the UK has the lowest productivity in the G7.

So IRL the Conservatives have done what they do. Look after property owners and f**k everyone else.

Boss made dirt list of minions' mistakes, kept his own rampage off it

John Smith 19 Gold badge
Coat

"Has your boss ever exempted themselves from rules imposed on others?"

You'll get a much more manageable response if you turn that question on it's head.

Another good one is "Has there ever been a good idea in your department that you boss did not have first?*"

*And by definition only the boss can have good ideas. If it was that good he would have thought of it already.

Linus Torvalds 'sorry' for swearing, blames popularity of Linux itself

John Smith 19 Gold badge
Unhappy

"Linus explained his reasoning a bit more here "

Indeed.

And it's pretty pragmatic.

TL:DR. Get the monitoring code in live installs. Collect data on rogue accesses and what's making them. Let it run a while. Then consider is it simple incompetence or actual malice.

Torvalds occasional outbursts make great click bait but IRL I think it's because he doesn't suffer fools gladly and can't understand why this fairly obvious course of action isn't obvious to so many security types, other than not being able to see outside of their personal problem silo.

John Smith 19 Gold badge
Unhappy

Actually I'd have said not breaking kernal space was more important

However a change that breaks working apps because the devs forgot to put them on a list is a fairly stupid design, especially when those apps are well know.

Ed Vaizey is right, Matt Hancock hasn't improved broadband

John Smith 19 Gold badge
Unhappy

Well he certainly seems to know a lot about being involved in some s**t programmes.

But is "Rural broad band was not as s**t a programme as smart meters" really saying very much?

And let's be honest, what we'd like to know is if he's learned anything at all about not making a s**t project in the first place?

My guess is, not much.

Mythical broadband speeds to plummet in crackdown on ISP ads

John Smith 19 Gold badge
Unhappy

Is anyone thinking "About f**king time"?

Given how long UK ISP's have gotten away with this sort of BS.

It's a very small step in the right direction.

Devs working to stop Go math error bugging crypto software

John Smith 19 Gold badge
Unhappy

So who uses Go for their crypto?

Google, who developed it?

Don't sweat Brexit, big biz told: Your shiny data protection sticker will remain intact

John Smith 19 Gold badge
Unhappy

"Sovereignty. Will of the people. etc."

You forgot one

"Taking Back Control" (C Linton Kwesi Crosby 2017)

John Smith 19 Gold badge
Coat

"What the ICO is saying is that it isn't going to strip anyone of approval post-Brexit."

Except the ICO will no longer be in the EU post Brexit, so will it's approval count anymore?

Anyone whose business involves processing lots of data from the rest of Europe should consider moving that side of their operation to somewhere in the rest of Europe.

Once again May is looking bad.

In every sense of that sentence.

FCC boss Ajit Pai emits his net neutrality extermination plan

John Smith 19 Gold badge
Unhappy

"Slavery is supposed to be illegal now and here he is,"

Not so.

He chooses to do this.

That's not slavery.

That's prostitution.

Being a former lawyer to a major cable supplier probably gave him a taste for this life.

Permissionless data slurping: Why Google's latest bombshell matters

John Smith 19 Gold badge
Gimp

Not all data fetishists are government employees

<gollum>

We wants it

We needs it

We must have all your location data, all the time, forever.

</gollum>

When I put it that way does it not sound just a bit creepy to you?

Peers told to push for cut-price access to med tech developed with NHS data

John Smith 19 Gold badge
Unhappy

Again, who owns that data. I'd say it's the patients.

It's your data.

Not the NHS.

Not the HMRC.

Yours.

Microsoft reprieves CodePlex users – you're doomed next week

John Smith 19 Gold badge
Unhappy

"And a little competition usually brings out the best in the competitors."

Which explains why Microsoft are its been so keen to kill any of its competitors in the past.

So what features about CodePlex made it worth using?

Once more unto the breach: El Reg has a go at crisis management

John Smith 19 Gold badge
Unhappy

Moral. Preparing for when, not if, this happens stop "headless chicken" syndrome.

Which sounds like a pretty good investment in (senior) staff time.

But how many other companies will do it?

And (far more importantly) what were the refreshments like?

Microsoft says Win 8/10's weak randomisation is 'working as intended'

John Smith 19 Gold badge
WTF?

"Microsoft Secure Windows Initiative"

Now is that secure as in "Prevents malware running" or secure as in not allowing you to run what appears to be a video or song you have not bought from a recognized media outlet?

It's so hard keep up with Microsoft sometimes.

Because MS has used both, and does both.

Wait, did Oracle tip off world to Google's creepy always-on location tracking in Android?

John Smith 19 Gold badge
Big Brother

Google: "It is not "location services" so it's not reporting on you. So you can't turn it off.

And we are only using your device to build our cellphone tower map.

Citizens, we are only doing this to help you."

Like f**k.

Does the Google employees manual have a New speak dictionary included at the back?

You can bet this is going to be a battery hog.

TBF I'm sure Google take the privacy of all that data they collect on us very seriously. After all you wouldn't want the data you've worked so hard to steal to be stolen by someone else, would you?

Digital minister: We're still talking to BT about sorting crap broadband

John Smith 19 Gold badge
Unhappy

"any company making over £3 billion in profits every year need to further gouge customers"

Simple.

Because they can.

That's when you know you're dealing with a monopoly.

When they have no effective pressure on them to do anything else.

John Smith 19 Gold badge
Coat

"a Devon village's decision to burn an effigy of an Openreach van on bonfire night "

Lucky the driver got away in time, eh?

Yes, mine's the one with a copy of the proper version of The Wicker Man in it.

TBH the best way for Rural communities in the UK to get broadband will be to form their own company and lay their own link to the nearest exchange.

Just my $0.02

While you're preparing to carve Thanksgiving turkey, the FCC will be slicing into net neutrality

John Smith 19 Gold badge
Unhappy

"many Americans have little or no choice in their high-speed broadband provider,"

Competition, American style.

"Of course you can change your ISP. But since we bought out the only one who would do the work (and so this is a sunk cost to us), and we've stopped any county or state run ISP's being set up (thanks to our friend "Sweet" Pai) all your bandwidth belong to us.

Forever.

Intel finds critical holes in secret Management Engine hidden in tons of desktop, server chipsets

John Smith 19 Gold badge
Thumb Up

"More of an open patio window really,"

Nice.

And while accepting blank login credentials that makes it a patio window without glass either.

John Smith 19 Gold badge
Gimp

"In response to issues identified by external researchers, " So no Intel did not find these.

It had to have them pointed out to it.

Because it clearly did not go looking for them in the stuff the code monkeys who wrote this handed over to them.

Let's be clear here.

Intel insisted on giving users a second processor they can't ordinarily access that has very deep control of their systems security and they wrote the software to run on it with the most cursory (if any?) checks on its fitness for use.

If Intel really want to differentiate "home" from "data centre" processors this would seem to be an area they should do so.

How many home users need this? How many home users even know it exists?

If you want all this high end sysadmin functionality then by all means have it, at the price.

But how many really need it? It looks like "Because we can."

And that's the motto of data fetishists everywhere.

John Smith 19 Gold badge
WTF?

It's 2017 and buffer o/flows & security by obscurity is still thought a brilliant plan.

And note that word "trusted"

Not in "we" can be trusted to run your applications safely,no.

You can be trusted to run only the content you have purchased.

This is at least as much about the hardware realization of Microsoft "Palladium" AKA "Trusted Computing Initiative" as anything else.

The computer hardware equivalent of "The Manchurian Candidate."

AT&T wants to bin 100,000 routers, replace them with white boxes

John Smith 19 Gold badge
Unhappy

" that's scary for the likes of Cisco and Juniper, "

True.

But this is the Unix philosophy.

1 unit doing 1 job very well.

This is not not really about the little boxes sitting under home users desks.

This is about the racks of hardware at the other end, and the much beefier cards sitting in the racks next to those, that handle the terrabits of bandwidth needed for a tier 1 backbone supplier. Where you want to p**s about configuring a router through a GUI, you want to configure 1000 of them (or patch them all when a vulnerability is found).

Performance says this is a job for a monolithic kernel. But maybe the time has come for a cleaner, layered, message passing approach (keep in mind Erlang is like this, but passing pointers, not copying chunks of memory for performance, and it was designed by Ericson to program PBXs).

Interesting they will only consider x86 and ARM architectures. A real recognition that in high performance embedded who the real main players are.

SagePay's monster wobble... On the third day of sale week, UK retailers start to weep

John Smith 19 Gold badge
Unhappy

"it's the way a cloud company deals with them that sets the grownups apart."

Or rather "anonymous server farms in unknown jurisdictions" to give them a rather more accurate description.

Remind me (again) how "cloud" apps never fall over and how they scale up under load.

BTW Sage is in someways the nearest the UK has to a major international software brand (they own Act CRM, and managed to f**k that up, although it got better once you'd patched it. A 400 rec DB with 2-3 secs to go to the next record before patching).

they've always spent more on their PR than their development budget (accountants "incentive" scheme. Recommend Sage, get bung "finders fee").

Level 5 driverless cars by 2021 can be done, say Brit industry folk

John Smith 19 Gold badge
WTF?

"At-scale deployment to provide the evidence that AVs are safe for at-scale deployment"

When he puts it like that it does seem kind of dumb, does it not?

If you're going to spend > £q/2 Bn on UK roads perhaps rolling out more of the electric car charging infrastructure you're so keen on would be a better use?

My instinct is this will start with HGV delivery vehicles running well defined, mostly main roads between ports and distribution warehouses. The use case is fairly well defined, the sites are not worst case traffic and there is a significant financial incentive to do so. So I'd expect Amazon to be in the forefront of this.

BTW would an HGV driver not driving but sitting at the wheel counts as part of their "hours worked"? If not they can work longer hours, potentially eliminating one or two of them per environment.

How is 55 Cancri e like a Sisters of Mercy gig? Astroboffins: It has atmosphere

John Smith 19 Gold badge
Unhappy

"It has a mass of about eight Earths and radius of about two so it's no golf ball."

I don't think any SF writers ever thought of humans inhabiting planets of more than about 3g.

That said if it does have the atmosphere issue taken care of you can run around the whole surface without a full space suit.

That's quite attractive.

Now all you need is the hand held anti-gravity unit to avoid needing massive genetic engineering in order to survive on the planet.

UK.gov told to tread carefully with transfer of data sets to NHS Digital

John Smith 19 Gold badge
Coat

One database to bind them all....

That is all.

UK.gov 'could easily' flog 6m driver records to private firms this year

John Smith 19 Gold badge
Unhappy

"They wouldn't give me the address of a delinquent ex-tenant of mine"

Of course not.

You're not a Parking Enforcement company.

IOW, you're not a man in a van with a Denver Boot and a mobile number who's registered with them to get such data on demand.

Perhaps it's time you were? I gather the "qualification" are minimal, as are the background checks.

UK.gov to chuck an extra £2.3bn at R&D ahead of Budget

John Smith 19 Gold badge
Unhappy

"for increased public funding as part of a new industrial strategy."

Which implies the current UKG has an existing industrial strategy?

Have people spotted this in the wild?

Some 'security people are f*cking morons' says Linus Torvalds

John Smith 19 Gold badge
Unhappy

For some reason Torvalds always reminds me of Gene Hackman in "Crimson Tide."

"We are here to defend democracy, not to practice it."

You may not like him but I get the sense you get a very clear of what direction he's going in, and what his priorities for Linux are.

Having observed Microsoft at work when it comes to competition I could see it in some peoples interests if the open source Linux kernel was degraded, so people were discouraged from it and encouraged to move to peoples more proprietary versions.

John Smith 19 Gold badge
WTF?

Google bod "It's brilliant, you have to include this, including the fall back mode"

No he doesn't

"Fall back mode" is a tacit admission you not done a good enough job in the first place.

I wonder if people realize the "The kernel keeps running" is exactly the approach of IBM mainframes?

User processes die. So what?

An interesting side view was the Bell systems approach to the first digital PBX, ESS1. They wrote scavenger programs that patrolled the kernel data structures and redundancy into the data structures so that errors would be purged out and memory leaks would not occur.

They indicated it found maybe 100 incidents a day but triggered a full blown reboot once every 4 years.

Something to keep in mind?

F5 DROWNing, not waving, in crypto fail

John Smith 19 Gold badge
Gimp

But note "Significantly more difficult" does not mean impossible

Especially with state actors.