* Posts by erhumdm

15 publicly visible posts • joined 11 Nov 2011

Loyalty card? Really? Why data-slurping store cards need a reboot

erhumdm

To someones point earlier - most of these "loyalty" cards are trying to recast themselves as "currency"

US judge rubber-stamps Volkswagen's 'Dieselgate' settlement

erhumdm

Once was a Fan ...

It seems equally scandalous that VW/Audi get off essentially scott-free in the UK (and guessing Europe too) where the same vehicles come in for a quick software makeover.

Mine is finally booked in for that in a few weeks. No doubt my great economy goes out the window entirely, value of the car falls significantly ...

While regulators will sit on the fence while they look for lobbying [more lies] from the perpetrator of the fraud ...us poor consumers are left to pickup the difference.

Microsoft inserts 'new kind of computer ... into our cloud' for speedier Azure services

erhumdm

Watched the Ignite Keynote last night from SatNad - discussion on FGPA certainly looked pretty interesting (but then they would make it so).

US slaps trade ban on ZTE over Iran links

erhumdm

And this what you will see in spades with TPP / TiPP

That is, the US administration and the major enterprises it protects (those who have lobbying arrangements) going after what they see as shady practices in other countries. Question is where does all of this stop ... just think Monsanto and wheat. Same thing goes for actions of others who might transgress some flimsy patent signed of by a naive administrator in the patent office.

Nearly all cloud ERP projects will 'fail' by 2018, reckons Gartner

erhumdm

Cardbox in the sky

Maybe showing my age here - but when I bought a compaq luggable in 83, about the only useful thing it ran was a program called Cardbox. Found myself recently looking at Salesfarce were I struggled to see how it was any more than the infinitely expandable Cardbox of the early 80s (except in the cloud). There is nothing transformational about ERP. Most ERP projects - cloud-based or otherwise, fail as they are focused on creating efficiency. Ultimately, most people dont care about efficiency ...as in they (we) dont come to work for that.

Most developers have never seen a successful project

erhumdm

Has anyone seen ...

A functional requirements spec that stood the test of time ... i.e. that which is described actually met the long terms needs of the business? The real challenge is that most business managers want certainty ... yet they expect those developing software to a) be telepathic, b) omnipresent and c) able to predict the future accurately. If you said to an airplane engineer that you wanted to upt a full length swimming pool in a plane and have it takeoff, fly and land ... he/she would tell you it's impossible. Yet with sw, we'd start wittering on about resources and time and money.

These are typically "wicked" problems. Everything evolves - the perception of the problem to be solved, the approaches to solving it, the end result (if there is such a thing) ... all of these evolve throughout virtually every sw project I have seen. And we all know there is no such thing as a small change in software. Yet we continue to delude ourselves and the businesses that we work for that we're 95% done.

But don't get me started on started on McK's self-serving surveys. They're all designed with one thing in mind - selling their consulting services. You can drive a bus through them when you look hard (assuming you can find the actual reports rather than the multiple references to them). Like 90% of all stats, they're made up on the spot.

Pentagon fastens lasers to military drones to zap missiles out of the skies

erhumdm

Re: "Sadly no plans for sharks as yet"

I think Sharks get a bum rap ...

Nowhere near as dangerous as say:

a Buffalo (Buffalo are thought to kill around 200 people every year, first they charge and then they gore their victims.)

or Hippos (https://youtu.be/Su7GkqwxG08)

El Reg keeps pushing Apple's buttons – its new Magic Keyboard

erhumdm

So I bought the original because of a Reg Review ...

At the time, El Reg gave the one with batteries a 95% rating which was pretty unusual.

Actually it was a joy to use except for the Delete Key (no Backspace). I paired it with my iPad but had to buy a separate piece of apple plastic as a cover for it for traveling, and then had to take the batteries out and swap them around when traveling (since the cover turned the keyboard when it was in the bag). I got used to all of that ... I could easily take 10K words of notes a day on my iPad with iThoughtsHD as the favored app.

And still think it is a great keyboard. So much so that I paired it with my Surface Pro 3 ... and still use it as the primary input device after throwing away my relatively useless iPad.

But now the Reg has watered down its reviewing standards so much that they all seem like primary puff pieces ... and this one doesnt sound like a step up to me ... but still manages 80%.

Asus ZenBook UX305: With Windows 10, it suddenly makes perfect sense

erhumdm

Bought One For The Wife

And I must say she has become firm friends with it ... still tossing up the move to W10

All in all the 605 is a great little machine, boots from cold in around 6s, does everything you would want it to do in a business usage.

Sony's 4King with us now: Xperia Z5 mobe has UltraHD screen, cam

erhumdm
Boffin

Not sure I need the 4K - but otherwise happy with my Z2

I just bought the wife the M4 Aqua - her only complaint is it doesnt fit in the Jeans pocket.

The real issue for me on the Z2 was the quiet removal of support for DAC output when they moved to Lollipop (which is the only reason I bought the device ... MicroUSB a better interface than crappy 3.5 earplug).

Sooner or later I will upgrade. No doubt it will only be available on contract for the first 6 mo anyway

You'll find Yoda at the back of every IT conference

erhumdm

Re: Sixty grand may be a bargain

It's more like "What's the difference between a used car salesman, and a software salesman?"

Answer - "Used car salesman knows when he is telling a lie"

Samsung's at it AGAIN: SHATTERING profit records, that is

erhumdm

But the words "shot" and "foot" spring to mind

With this Region Locking rubbish, they just shot themselves in the foot, just as they were in danger of clipping some of Apple's dominance in the mobile/tablet market (in established markets like US/UK). Yes, the chips business keeps the ship steaming along, but it wont really take off while they resort to this sort of silly buggers (pandering to the carriers).

Personally, I decided not to buy a Note 3 because of it, and now when I look around a bit more, I see all sorts of Chinese knock-offs with Android delivering the same sort of functionality. A quick look on Chinavasion gives you the idea (full HD, quad core processor, 6.5 inch IFS screen, etc) for around £200 SIM free - as against £630 for a Sammy Region locked Note 3. OK there is no 4G right now, but it is clear that's just around the corner (since they are discounting current stock dramatically).

Westpac unchiefs the information officer

erhumdm
Thumb Down

Nothing new here

Plenty of CIOs report to the COO ... this ain't news.

Why your tech CV sucks

erhumdm
Linux

Having spent 10 years of a previous life as a relatively successful rec-con in the IT industry I know a thing or 3 about this - but it was too boring and moronic so now I have a new life as an oxygen thief.

The reality is that a rec-con has little interest in the applicant - it's just a numbers game. 1placement=2 offers= 5 second interviews. = 10 initial interviews= ...depending how good you are at understanding the tech and cultural skews, anywhere between 10 and 100 CVs sent out. Now my numbers were much better than that, but in the end, the recruiter is looking for both the reason to say No, but is also searching for the veritable needle in a haystack.

And in these days of over abundant supply, prospective employers have a geat many choices ... Someone who is prepared to pay $250k for a genius has to many potential suitors.

I think the key point here is ... Dont be an idiot and give people a chance to say "No" unneccesarily

erhumdm
Linux

Having spent 10 + years in a previous life as an expert tech recruiter, i know a thing or 3 about this game. Made an awful lot of money, but i got bored and became an oxygen thief.

The reality is that a rec-con has little interest in the applicant - it's just a numbers game. 1placement=2 offers= 5 second interviews. = 10 initial interviews= ...depending how good you are at understanding the tech and cultural skews, anywhere between 10 and 100 CVs sent out. Now my numbers were much better than that, but in the end, the recruiter is looking for both the reason to say No, but is also searching for the veritable needle in a haystack.

And in these days of over abundant supply, prospective employers have a geat many choices ... Someone who is prepared to pay $250k for a genius has to many potential suitors.

I think the key point here is ... Dont be an idiot and give people a chance to say No unneccesarily.