* Posts by Mark 85

12880 publicly visible posts • joined 22 Nov 2012

The engineer lurking behind the curtain: Musical monitors on a meagre IT budget

Mark 85

Re: Screen trick

Too many users think the screen is the computer and box is just the hard drive. I had to learn that very quickly just to talk to them about issues.

Mark 85

Re: Free hint for all consultants: Dont give out the password

Always (and I mean always) befriend and get on the right side of the secretaries, storesmen and technicians.

Exactly. The place I worked for 20 years worked the same way. My bosses over the years (some were fired, some moved up higher in the company) would seldom talk to manglement at raise time. Yes, they sent manglement a review form and then ignored it. The real reviewers were the workers (we were a call center). Keep them happy and raises were assured.

Ho hum: If you're so artificially intelligent, name this song while my videos go viral

Mark 85

Re: ..also unrelated

"Life is a thin white line, and only drunks walk it." So, screw reality as it's a nighmare these days.

ISS air leakage fixed in time for crew handover, thanks to floating teabag

Mark 85

Re: Earl grey or english breakfast?

For a repair I'd stake my life on I'd use either dried porridge or gaffer tape...

Other news sites report that gaffer tape was the fix for now.

From the Department of WCGW: An app-controlled polycarbonate lock with no manual override/physical key

Mark 85

Re: Welcome back

e: Welcome back

Yay! Dabbsy! Now someone just needs to hunt down the BOFH and the world will start looking just that teeny bit more normal again!

Both are back... Beyond wonderful news. Maybe there is a god.....

BOFH: Rome, I have been thy soldier 40 years... give me a staff of honour for mine age

Mark 85
Thumb Up

Re: We are spoiled!

Indeed, a most glorious day.

Thumbs up for El Reg for a much needed break from the normal tedium.

Mark 85

Re: Woohoo

Once again it's proven that "old age and treachery are no match for youth and exuberance". I hope the PFY takes note of what happened.

Boeing Starliner commander Christopher Ferguson bows out of first crewed mission due to family commitments

Mark 85

Not joking, a company I used to fly for did that with the responsible mechanic when aircraft were released back to service after any major maintenance.

That practice wasn't all that uncommon in the military at one time.

Mark 85

If it were me, it wouldn't be family stopping me from going, it would be the thought of Boeing engineering.

Maybe the "family" was just the excuse for pubic and regulatory consumption?

Here's US Homeland Security collaring a suspected arsonist after asking Google for the IP addresses of folks who made a specific search

Mark 85

Re: I'm supposed to feel good about this?

And this is for law enforcement - much like the old phone company,

Used be Maude, the telephone switch board operator who knew everyone's business, affairs, etc. in town. Google just made so they know everyone's business, affairs, etc.

Mark 85

Re: One can imagine Google using this itself to apply pressure on Legislators and Judicary

For all we know, this is standard practice. Google seems to get away a lot of crap that anyone else would probably be at a minimum, investigate for.

Mark 85

Re: Stupid Gets Caught

At least everyone should know by now you don't take your mobile phone out with you to commit a crime.

You're thinking like an IT person, not a crim. Most crims have about zero IT knowlefge and really haven't a clue about "tracking".

Ethernet failure on Swiss business jet prompted emergency descent, say aviation safety bods

Mark 85

Re: When that Ethernet network degrades or fails, things can become unpredictable.

What's wrong with ethernet over carrier pigeon?

That might require rocket or jet assisted pigeons.

'I don’t want to see another computer for the rest of my life'... Brit Dark Overlord cyber-extortionist thrown in an American clink for five years

Mark 85
Trollface

Re: Five years - Not Enough

Is that you Bombastic Bob? It sure does read like one of his posts.

Future airliners will run on hydrogen, vows Airbus as it teases world-plus-dog with concept designs

Mark 85

Re: OTOH

And the economy seats might even be an appropriate size for an adult human being.

Fat chance of that happening as "more seats" equals "more profit" for a given airframe.

Let's go space truckin': 1970s probe Voyager 1 is now 14 billion miles from home

Mark 85

Re: Penultimate Space Power

What? You can't replace the battery or have the OS reinstalled? We've lost good engineering to cheap manufacturing and disposable stuff. At least Voyager (both) were made of sterner stuff.

Mark 85

Food to see that I'm not the only one who's mostly speechless by this. Pity we don't have a word or phrase beyond "wow".

Howdy, er, neighbor – mind if we join you? Potential sign of life spotted in Venus's atmosphere

Mark 85

BONES: "It's life, Jim. Just not as we know it."

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

Mark 85

If there were no Facebook?

The reality is, if there were no Facebook, there would be some other platform. Back when they started, there were a bunch of social media sites with MySpace leading the pack. They went away and Facebook rose up. There were others back then all wanting eyes and attention. Still are some waiting.

As humans are social creatures, that will want the interaction it provides. So I don't see FB going away unless some new platform appears and does something to make it better than what's available now.

I don't think FB can be blamed as the networks like this are just filling a demand and such problems but not as massive existed back in USENET and the BBS days. Yes, they can do a better job of policing their site and they should.

Disclaimer: As non-user of FB who wouldn't touch them with a 10 foot pole, I'm surprised at my self for saying what I just said. I think I need to go wash my hands.

So... just 'Good' then? KFC pulls Finger Lickin' slogan while pandemic rumbles on

Mark 85
Mushroom

Re: You missed

Kan't F@ckin' Cook

I haven't done KFC in years. After the Colonel sold it, most of the time it was under cooked, sometimes raw, and that batter... best left untalked about. Horrible stuff. So I think yours is most appropriate.

Icon: Fire. Heat. Apparently they forgot about using it.

Good news: NASA boffins spot closest near-Earth asteroid ever. Bad news: We never saw it coming. Good news: It's also really small

Mark 85

Extra-terrestials...

Well, maybe it was a scout vehicle to sort things out before the invasion. And here, we thought War of the Worlds was just fiction.

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

Mark 85

Tossing their toys about

It seems that those who don't accept science are once again tossing their toys out the pram and they want everyone to believe and follow their beliefs. The world has gone mad with crackpots suing crackpots and crackpots suing science. The rise of the entitled misinformed paranoids goes on....

Eagle-on-EGLE* violence: American icon sends govt-flown drone hurtling into the waters of Lake Michigan

Mark 85

Re: American response

On the contrary - no shorelines to map will make the process quite unnecessary. A win all round and a vicious wild beast that caused hundreds of dollars of damage will have been dealt with.

That sounds like a government response: "We''ll paty XXX millions to save one thousand dollars and lay waste to the countryside as a side benefit."

US govt proposes elephant showers for every American after Prez Trump says trickles dampen his haircare routine

Mark 85

Post Office Funding

He's still pissed at Bezos because they have a volume discount. That's the excuse because Bezos challenged him. Seems he hates anyone who disagrees or opposes his brilliance of which there's a long history of his doing that to others.

He's using the election as tool pure and simple as he and his family vote via mail.

British Army does not Excel at spreadsheets: Soldiers' newly announced promotions are revoked after sorting snafu

Mark 85

Re: Training

Like the renaming of genes like SEPT1 and MARCH1 because not enough scientists noticed the automagic conversion to dates.

Here's a simper link... https://www.theregister.com/2020/08/06/excel_gene_names/

I got 99 problems, and all of them are your fault

Mark 85

Re: Correlation does not equal cause

It's not even a mistake, it's the gold standard in IT : touch something and everything that goes wrong with that something or whatever touches that something is your fault.

Yes, and you'll be blamed forever unless some other tech goes to their desk. Then he'll be blamed. Rinse, repeat with each tech who shows up.

I should add that some users will let the new tech know which techs messed things up from very first issue.

Q: What’s big, red and pulses UV light into the cosmos three times a night? A: Mars

Mark 85

Re: Marse code

I suspect you're right about the Code but I'm thinking it's a warning beacon telling travelers to avoid this area of space.

An irritating itch down the back of your neck? Searing midsummer heat? Of course, it can only be SysAdmin Day

Mark 85

Ah.. a day of open windows, elevators running amok, carpet rolls is now "official". What a time to be an admin.

We need a rite of passage for new admins. Something like kneeling before the BFOH, tapped on the shoulders by a cattle prod and the solemn " I dub thee admin, Arise sir geek".

Microsoft runs a data centre on hydrogen for 48 whole hours, reckons it could kick hydrocarbon habit by 2030

Mark 85

A Hindeberg Moment Waiting to Happen.

Microsoft, hydrogen, and lowest paid contractors operating this. What could possibly go wrong?

Diesels are not maintenance free either. We had contractors who failed to periodically drain the water and gelled diesel from the genset. Next to no PM except once a week "walk around". When the power failed, the genset kicked in... for about 10 minutes. It was a race to drain and clean the genset and refill against the power company restoring power. Two days later, we had power... from the power company.

Are you sitting comfortably? Then we'll begin. Hang on, the PDP 11/70 has dropped offline

Mark 85

Re: Fictional Engineer

When I was a tech writer, we didn't need "fictional people". We go the Builder Services and get the newest cleaner for a temporary assignment. We'd have them start at page one on a manual and follow every step by step exactly as written. We found a lot of errors that way.

If you think you've got problems, pal, spare a thought for these boffins baffled by 'oddball' meteorites

Mark 85

Re: Now you've done it!

With some bacon I hope.

Google search trends used to calculate floating prophylactic prices

Mark 85

Re: Rabble

Well, marketing can be treated but to do so is usually extremely illegal in most places and also requires violence with extreme prejudice.

EU orders Airbus A350 operators to install anti-coffee spillage covers in airliner cockpits

Mark 85

Re: SImpler solution?

The down side? A sleepy pilot.

Mark 85

Re: Amateur design and construction.

While you're being logical, change your thinking to that of a bean counter. Conformal coating costs money...i.e.: profit. Conformal coating, etc. has been pretty much standard for military gear for decades.

As for the sippy cups, they work. I use one in my car. Solid plastic, have open the drinking hole to drink and then close and replace cup in cup holder. That would seem to be a good solution but then again, humans tend to bypass things when it's "inconvenient.

Raytheon techie who took home radar secrets gets 18 months in the clink in surprise time fraud probe twist

Mark 85

Re: Training and infosec

Seems he's the fall guy for the security departments failings.

Mark 85

Re: Maybe

Putting your hard disk next to military-grade radar might wipe it effectively. But they're less sensitive nowadays, e.g. to magnets.

How about a small, military grade file cabinet in the back yard? Also a thermite grenade in the receptacle for it. Pull pin and all is gone.

Russia tested satellite-to-satellite shooter, say UK and USA

Mark 85

Interesting, the object had around the speed of an airgun slug so to do any damage would need tohave a bit more mass.

Wouldn't take much to push a satellite out of orbit or cover sensors like cameras with maybe paint. Perhaps this wasn't a weapon system but a test of "how close can we get" type of intercept test? You don't need to blow up a satellite to create massive issues with it.

Bill Gates debunks 'coronavirus vaccine is my 5G mind control microchip implant' conspiracy theory

Mark 85

Some first posts are good. Some are by people who blundered into the wrong forum by mistake.

Good on the the benefit of the doubt. But on the the other hand, Trolls are popping up everywhere lately. I'm thinking their mother didn't give them enough attention.

Mainframe madness as the snowflakes take control – and the on-duty operator hasn't a clue how to stop the blizzard

Mark 85

Re: Reminds me of the day,

It was a simpler time.

Simpler? More like either naive or too trusting. No thought that anyone would abuse these marvelous machines that would advance society and save the world.

51 years after humans first set foot on the Moon, a deepfaked Nixon mourns how Armstrong and Aldrin never made it home

Mark 85

Re: of all of the possible choices...they made this one

It also has the advantage that everyone should know it's a fake, so it will spare us some conspiracy theories.

So when did the truth ever get in the way of any conspiracy theory? This will probably feed more than a few.

Twitter mass hacking: Bill Gates, Elon Musk, Jeff Bezos, Mike Bloomberg, Biden, Obama, more hijacked to peddle Bitcoin scam

Mark 85

Re: Obviously found a security hole in Twitter

Probably the only reason they didn't compromise Trump's account is Twitter probably has some extra layer of control on it due to the market moving potential if someone was able to tweet as him and claim we're declaring war on China or he's declaring nationwide martial law or whatever

If they had, there probably would have piles of money flowing in from the Trump Faithful. Possibly even bankrupted some. What's strange to me is that there's no diehard Trump supporters in the lists I've seen.

Anyone for a round of Ging Gang Goolie? Solar Orbiter probe snaps little 'campfires' flickering on Sun's surface

Mark 85

Re: Fascinating

That is a marvelous bit of engineering to acquire some great science. I hope it survives the increase in heat as it gets closer. This is rapidly becoming the little probe that could.

The Devil's in the details: Church of Satan forced to clarify that no unholy rituals taking place in SoCal forest

Mark 85

I'll stay with the real deal if you please..

The real deal is of course the Church of the Flying Spaghetti Monster,

Cambridge student rebuilds Polish Enigma-code-breaking box that paved the way for Turing ... and Victory!

Mark 85

Well, it's on Youtube so we techies will have to do some digging.for more info. A pity they couldn't be a bit more technical in the video though.

Trump reveals US cyber-attack on Russian election-misdirection troll farms

Mark 85

Re: "his own brilliance"

At last count, he's posted to Twatter and in speeches he's up to over 15,000 lies. What's truth? What's a lie? Been so much crap coming out of the WH, that it's very hard to tell. I do believe that he fully understands Goebbel's Rule: "“Repeat a lie often enough and it becomes the truth”,".

As proof, he has an awful lot of people believing him.

The reluctant log trawler: The buck stops with the back-end

Mark 85

Re: Bodging someone else's cock-up

And once they know (through harsh experience) they will have to clean up their own mess, they will start writing better code.

Or, more likely, after the first time they had to fix the code, they suddenly find a new position with a new company.

If the Solar System's 'Planet Nine' is actually a small black hole, here's how we could detect it... wait, what?

Mark 85

I know there's a way to report this, but I can't remember what this is

Lower left hand corner, just below the last paragraph: "Tips and corrections".

Civil-rights probe: Facebook has completely failed to… Zuck: Look over here! We’ve banned four groups! Go me!

Mark 85

Well, both he and Trump are psychopaths. I guess they have to stick together.

Way back when they met, it would have been interesting* to have been a fly on wall.

*or maybe nauseating which would be more likely.

NASA trusted 'traditional' Boeing to program its Starliner without close supervision... It failed to dock due to bugs

Mark 85

Re: So what happened?

The C-suite suits decided to hire monkeys, pay them peanuts and outsource everything to the lowest bidder. The suits at the top never learn that cutting costs will at some point kill profit and the business.

Cereal Killer Cafe enters hipster heaven, heads online: Coronavirus blamed for shutters being pulled down

Mark 85

I always thought that the late Lester could have opened a restaurant chain with his menu of post-pub noshes.