* Posts by Buzzword

1030 publicly visible posts • joined 30 Jun 2010

FT journo roasts channel leaders for spouting bullshit

Buzzword

Etymological fallacy

No, that's not what "passionate" means. I've made it a habit to stop reading at the first mistake, since it casts doubt on everything that follows.

You're fired (into space)! Trump tops Martian ejaculation poll

Buzzword

that 546km trip

A mere 546km would get you from London to the Scottish border. Even Trump could manage to find his way back from there.

Breaking compression, one year at a time

Buzzword

Windows Server 2008 R2

The last version of Windows Server to feature a Start menu. Sorely missed from subsequent releases.

Telcos hit out against plans to hike their broadband rates

Buzzword

Back of the envelope calculation

Rateable Value rising from £158m to £715m means a rise of £557m, multiplier is 49.7%, giving BT a bill of £276m. There are 26.7m households in Britain, so that's just over £10 a year each. Rounding up to £12/year, that's £1 per month per household.

The direct bill to consumers will be a bit less because I haven't taken into account business telephone lines, but ultimately it's all coming out of the same pockets. This isn't a tax hike on BT; it's a tax hike on all of us.

The web is past peak innovation: It's all negative returns from here

Buzzword

Remember how Apple "just works"?

People didn't start switching to Apple products because they were shiny. They switched because they were fed up with being bombarded with notifications: you need to reboot to install updates, you need a new mouse driver, you need to pay $39.99+tax to upgrade your free trial version of McAfee, your copy of Windows isn't genuine, you need to download the !CrashSpam!Toolbar! for Internet Explorer. Some days I felt like I was doing more work for Windows than with Windows.

On Windows, uninstalling an application means finding its custom uninstaller or digging through the Control Panel, running the uninstaller, then being told that it was unable to remove everything because there's a stray .ini file in the folder. On the Mac, uninstalling an application means dragging its icon to the trash can.

On Windows, closing the lid and re-opening it means every application pops up a warning message: network path not found (because it takes a few seconds for the network to connect), printer not found, and why haven't you rebooted for updates yet? On the Mac, closing the lid and re-opening it means finding everything just where you left it.

That's what good design means. It's not just the shiny / pretty side: it's making it all work together.

City of Moscow to ditch 600k Exchange and Outlook licences

Buzzword

Re: It's ALL about the money... don't mention security!

What's the point in having secure software if all your hardware is built in the People's Republic of China?

US Labor Dept accuses CIA-backed Palantir of discriminating against Asian engineers

Buzzword

Maybe they just weren't very good?

The lawsuit alleges Palantir routinely eliminated Asian applicants in the resume screening and telephone interview phases, even when they were as qualified as white applicants.

Throwing out Asian names at the CV ("resumé") stage would indeed show discrimination; but why would the company waste time with telephone interviews if they knew they weren't going to hire them?

Mozilla emits JavaScript debugger for Firefox and Chrome

Buzzword

Two teams = competition

I like the idea of having two teams in competition with each other. It's just A/B testing on your developers' ideas. Also gives you an excuse to fire the guy who says "hey this would be a lot quicker to develop in Ruby!"

Remote hacker nabs Win10 logins in 'won't-fix' Safe Mode* attack

Buzzword

Ctrl-Alt-Del

How exactly does this work around the requirement to press Ctrl-Alt-Del before entering your password? That's always intercepted by the system, even in Safe Mode.

End of life for Linux 3.14

Buzzword
Flame

That's 2.5 years from release to end of life. Government bodies take about that long to commission an IT project in the first place. No wonder Linux isn't making headway in that space.

(Flames, because they're a-coming.)

Tesla driver dies after Model S hits tree

Buzzword

Learning curve

It's just a learning curve. Imagine the first firemen dealing with a car crash: gallons of highly flammable petroleum just waiting to burst into flames. As electric cars become more widespread, fire-fighters will learn to handle them.

Google plots cop detection for auto autos

Buzzword

Re: Do you want to play a game ?

You can play the same game with real cars, by strapping a flashing blue & red light to your car roof. You'll quickly discover that it's illegal.

Drones, blockchain still hype

Buzzword

Well of abandonment

Some of these technologies will simply plummet into the deep well of abandonment, rather than achieve any meaningful traction. Connected Home? It was a bad idea in the 1950s; it's an even worse idea today.

Farewell Patch Tuesday fragmentation: from October, MS will roll just one monthly patch

Buzzword

Just call it a Service Pack

From now on Microsoft will release a new Service Pack each month. By the end of next year we'll have Windows 7 SP17. It's not elegant, but it's much clearer than KB6765431123134654741324.

HMRC: We've got £1.3bn for digital tax schemes. Tell us how to spend it

Buzzword

Re: Or simplify the tax code

That's not within HMRC's power. They have to enforce whatever crazy tax laws the Parliament enacts.

IT security pro salaries: Silicon Valley? You'd be better off in Minneapolis

Buzzword

Sample size

How many Information Security Specialists are there in Minneapolis? Small sample size = bullshit survey.

UK tops European charts ... for carder fraud

Buzzword

How do they get away with it?

So you've got a stash of valid card numbers, and let's assume you also stole the associated postcodes and CCV numbers. What large transaction can you do online that isn't either (a) traceable via physical goods delivered to a drop address, or (b) reversible, e.g. buying e-money in various online communities?

I can understand that you'd get away with topping up a £10 PAYG phone using a stolen card number; but can they do anything meaningful? Or are the police / banks just not bothered about chasing up (a) / (b) above?

Ofgem sets up database so energy companies can spam Brits

Buzzword

Empty list

"a database of customers that have been on a standard variable tariff for three years or more"

So now every supplier will send their customers a letter after two years and eleven months, saying "Thanks to your unfailing loyalty, we're putting you on a cheaper* tariff!"

(*for a couple of months only, before reverting to the higher tariff again; preferably in the summer while your usage is lowest)

HMRC's IR35 tweaks have 90% of UK's IT contractors up in arms

Buzzword

Everything will balance out just fine.

Contractors will raise their rates to offset the higher taxes; but the public sector will be able to afford those higher rates, because the tax take will be higher. It's just more money cycling through HMRC's hands.

(Yeah, I know that's not really gonig to happen in practice.)

Hospital hackers leak 156GB

Buzzword

You'd have to be seriously bored to dig through it all. And for what? To find out whether a minor celebrity or politician once caught the clap? *yawn*

Pokémon Go tragedy strikes

Buzzword

The hype cycle is getting shorter

There was a time, not so long ago, when a hip new trend like Pokemon Go would be popular for at least a couple of years. Angry Birds was popular for at least six months. Pokemon Go has been out for less than a month, and already it feels like yesterday's buzz. In fact every new trend has a lifespan measured in weeks; and no doubt it's only getting shorter. What's going on?

Russian spy aircraft are flying over Britain – and the MoD's cool with it

Buzzword

Drone on

Wouldn't they save a shed-load of cash by using drones? Or is the Russian equivalent of the MoD as spendthrift as our own?

White House to bung electric car industry $4.5bn in loans

Buzzword

Re: tax payers subsidising the rich.

Nuclear is subsidised, but the UK's nuclear power stations are entirely owned and run by the government*. There's no rich person owning or running them.

(* the government of France, that is.)

BBC will ‘retain your viewing history’

Buzzword

Re: Retarded Argument

My point is why attack X when Y and Z have been doing it for ages? Attack them first.

Buzzword

Is it any worse than what Netflix or Amazon (presumably) do with your data?

Guess who gets hit hard by IR35 tax clampdown? Yep, IT contractors

Buzzword

Re: I can see where this is going.

Their much-vaunted "digital tool" is a checklist with questions like: "Are you under the direct Supervision, Direction or Control of your engager?"

HMRC research finds 'resistance' to proposals to shift contractor tax compliance burden

Buzzword

Re: How hard can it be?

@d3vy,

Companies can offer loans to help purchase an annual season ticket, which works out slightly cheaper than a monthly or weekly ticket. This can save a few quid; but it's nothing compared to the 40%+ you save by purchasing a season ticket out of your pre-tax income.

I'm not moaning - just observing that it's actually quite difficult to design a tax system which treats both employees and contractors fairly and equally. In particular, it's very difficult to distinguish between a job-hopping employee and a "serial monogamist" contractor who only has one job at a time with each job lasting many months.

Buzzword

Re: How hard can it be?

It's not just the National Insurance, it's the expenses too. If you're commuting from e.g. Bath to London, the train season ticket will cost you £10,000 a year. A contractor can pay that out of pre-tax income, whereas an employee (even a short-term one) simply can't.

Paying your wife is another trick which employees can't do either; a contractor pulling in £100k a year could save at least £12,000 by using his wife's (and/or children's) tax-free allowances. It's not terribly common, but it does happen.

A level playing field would be much appreciated, but it's hard to see how it could be done with minimal state interference.

Raving mad: Glow sticks are secret weapon in Facebook's 2.1Gbps laser internet drones

Buzzword

Re: Down, but up?

Upstream requires much less bandwidth, so existing land-based comms would probably suffice. After all, the upstream channel only contains "Like" and "Share".

UK.gov digi peeps hunt open source chief

Buzzword

Common standards

with government code being open source it should be easier and cheaper to extend and modify.

That's fine in theory. But who hasn't rocked up at a new job, taken one look at the legacy code, and decided to burn the whole lot and start again?

(Pro tip: never ask "who wrote this crap?"; it was invariably the person who you just asked.)

Use Brexit to save smokers' lives and plug vaping, say peers

Buzzword

Cookies

Sod the vaping law - when are we going to dump the stupid "this website uses cookies" popup that the EU mandated on every bloody website?

Replacement IT at 'high risk'. Squeaky bum time for UK tax folk

Buzzword

Re: And in the near future

The T&S (Travel & Subsistence) clampdown is already causing upheaval. Since April 2016, umbrella companies can no longer claim T&S. Experienced contractors will already have their own limited companies, but first-time contractors who just want to test the waters will be unimpressed at what's on offer.

Theft of twenty-somethings' IDs surges

Buzzword

Re: Are we surprised?

But on Facebook at least, only your direct circle of friends can see that information (by default). If one of your friends is a scam artist them you're out of luck; but for most people that's not the case.

Euro researchers more loyal and cheaper than Silicon Valley folk

Buzzword

Hypothetically

Could a Silicon Valley VC employ staff in France remotely? No legal presence in France, the offices just a rented Regus-style building, staff bring their own kit, everyone connects to a server in the UK or the Netherlands. Seems like a nice way of getting round legal loopholes. Staff might struggle to get a mortgage though.

Can Ireland's grid green satisfy Facebook and Apple?

Buzzword

Wave goodbye

Has wave power actually been successfully installed anywhere, other than in test sites?

ZTE flagship elbows aside Xiaomi

Buzzword

Re: No joy for O2 users

It seems that O2 is expanding to use 1800MHz / band 3 as well as its existing allocation at 800MHz / band 20. (Who came up with these confusing band numbers?) But there's no information on coverage, so a different combination of phone+network is advisable.

Facebook's new stalker tool

Buzzword

Mobile website

I was running out of space on my 16GB iPhone (thanks, Apple); so I deleted the Facebook app and started using the mobile website instead. It's surprisingly good. Even the no-Javascript version is good.

MPs of Europe unite: Listen up big biz, air your tax deals in public

Buzzword

Yeah, because nobody ever tried to evade VAT.

Hey cloud lawyer: Can I take my client list with me?

Buzzword

Re: Steganography

Why the thumbs down? Yes it's illegal; but it's fun to imagine creative ways of breaking the rules. That's half the reason we read the comments section, ffs.

Buzzword

Re: This is so self evident it is ridiculous

Paste the proprietary algorithm as a Stackoverflow question. Neither your former employer nor new employer will suspect a thing, since it's perfectly normal for a programmer's web history to consist largely of visits to Stackoverflow.

Buzzword

Steganography

Just hide the client list / source code / whatever in a bunch of cat JPEGs and email them to yourself, subject line "Office humour". Bonus points for encrypting the content before concealing it.

Brexit: More cash for mobile operators or consumers? Pick one

Buzzword

UK legislation

Or the UK government could just pass its own laws saying that roaming costs must be no greater than wholesale cost + x% profit. There, how hard was that?

Facebook suicide hotline

Buzzword

Can we also have a terrorist hotline on Facebook? E.g. I'm concerned about someone's extremist postings, and their last check-in was at the Starbucks next door to the Guns & Ammo superstore; perhaps Facebook could send some cat videos their way to calm them down.

Apple starts clock on HTTPS app rule

Buzzword

HTTPS requires domain names, not IP addresses

At least this gets rid of the problem of apps sending encrypted or obfuscated data to unknown IP addresses. I've seen plenty of apps doing that.

Third OnePlus flagship: £309

Buzzword

OS upgrades

Given that Google are tightening up on Android, is this still a worthwhile purchase? Or am I better off getting a Google Nexus 5X for similar money?

Raspberry Pi distributor Premier Farnell in £792m Swiss buyout deal

Buzzword

Growth is good

It's generally a good thing. Here's how it works:

1. A canny British entrepreneur sets up a new business with his savings, and grows it into a tidy operation.

2. Foreign investor buys up the business. Cue much wailing and gnashing of teeth.

3. Original founder now has lots of cash, lots of experience, and time on his hands. He (or she) sets up another new business, creating more jobs and growth, and giving more consumers what they want.

Rinse and repeat.

It doesn't matter whether the buyer is foreign or domestic; what matters is that the entrepreneur can cash out of the boring mature business and concentrate on setting up innovative new businesses.

Apple WWDC: OS X is dead, long live macOS

Buzzword

Eleven. Eleven. ELEVEN!

The X in OS X is the latin numeral for 10, because it's version 10. They can't move onto version 11 unless they change the name to OS XI; or more simply, MacOS 11.

Infinidat says au revoir to France head as marketing veep walks

Buzzword

What's the real problem?

Sure, maybe the problem is that they need more & better salespeople. Or maybe their product is no good. Some analysis would be appreciated.

Robot lung probe wins licence from US authorities

Buzzword

Re: Bronchoscope Procedure -Can Be Interesting

On the NHS? That's impressive from an organisation which the papers would have us believe is on the brink of collapse at any moment.

McDonald's says bigger fonts cooked up improved profits

Buzzword

Serves a purpose

If you're the star of this week's On-Call, and have driven half-way across the country to plug in a dot-matrix printer, you might welcome a quick break in McD's to wolf down before the long drive home. Not all of us have the time or the money or the patience to search out somewhere better when away from home.