* Posts by Don Dumb

462 publicly visible posts • joined 20 May 2013

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Dubai to get huge climate-controlled domed city and giga-mall

Don Dumb
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Re: Not just the air

@Cliff -

"As stupid as air conditioning the desert is, it may be that putting a lid over the buildings isn't massively more inefficient than all the individually cooled buildings - they all lose their cool individually, but if the cooler air leaks into a contained space as opposed to hot streets, it may not be quite as stupid as it first appears."

It's a good point but it would only work if the whole city is built accordingly. Or will the 'outside' - the streets and communal areas be set at a higher temperature than the inside of buildings? So they still end up air conditioning the buildings separately anyway.

It seems that in most places people prefer a higher temperature outside than they do inside. (We go to hot places for their nice weather but still end up air conditioning the hotel rooms because we don't want that temperature when we sleep!)

Brit celebs' homes VANISH from Google's Street View

Don Dumb
Facepalm

He *was* Prime Minister

@Martin-73 -

Is he paying for the danged armed police (I thought carrying an offensive weapon in public was a crime anyway, guess it's one law for us... again)
They are Special Branch, the bit of the UK Police Force that guard all of the sitting, and former, Prime Ministers and they naturally have many armed officers. You do realise that it is legal for the police to have armed officers in public?

It's not that difficult to work out, US Presidents also keep their Secret Service detail after leaving office. I believe John Major once commented that it is quite strange that since he started being Prime Minister he has never really been on his own and never will be.

Windows 7, XP and even Vista GAIN market share again

Don Dumb
Pint

Re: @Don Dumb

@Trevor_Pott - As to your magical woo-woo crystals sending you a positive vibe about Windows 9...what proof you have? Vista/7 are ages behind us.I don't, that's why I said it was 'my guess' and I did declare it as uninformed.

You read like you need a weekend, have a beer.

Don Dumb
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Re: History repeating

@Trevor_Pott - forgive me I don't exactly know what you mean by 'less ass' and 'more ass'. Do you mean something that I might understand along the lines of 'less of an ass' and 'more of an ass'?

As others have posted, my (uninformed) guess is that Win 9 will fix the errors of Win 8. In the same way that Win 7 did for Vista. And due to a product of corporate infrastructure lifecycles and Microsoft fixing Win 8's problems - Win 9 will get taken up en masse.

Of course, Microsoft could still easily mess that up.

Don Dumb
Windows

History repeating

@John Tserkezis -

I've called 8.x "Vista v2.0", and going on market share, it seems I'm not too far off.

I agree. The problem with Vista was that people were, on the whole, content with XP, there was no real need to upgrade, anyone who really didn't like it moved to Linux or Mac - Vista wasn't going to help that. The problem with Win 8 is that, again, no one who uses Win 7 is crying out for a new OS.

It seems evidently clear that Microsoft just don't understand their customers. Home users are happy to simply buy the machine with the OS loaded and don't care what the OS is - no real gain for Microsoft there, they would get the money for Win 7 or 8. Business users move slowly, OS upgrades across hundreds and thousands of machines can take years of preparation and, more importantly, if there is no compelling reason to upgrade, then they wont do it.

Once again Microsoft are trying to push an OS no one wants, just like they did with Vista. By the time Win 9 comes and matures, large businesses may start to move from Win 7 to Win 9, if they need to. Until then the big marketshare change will be XP being gradually replaced by Win 7 through large migrations. (I don't think any later migration will be as painful as moving from Win XP has been as there shouldn't be as many browser lock-in related issues that IE6 has caused)

Google Glass faces UK cinema ban: Heaven forbid someone films you crying in a rom-com

Don Dumb

Re: film theft

@AC - I believe the comedian was Ed Byrne

Don Dumb
Flame

Re: Cinema (n.)

@Studley - "An auditorium where you can watch a blu-ray with hundreds of other people, at an inconvenient time, for the same price as buying the blu-ray six months later.

And all that on uncomfortable seats, without a pause button (even though the film may be several hours long), with loads of adverts and spoilers (some call them 'trailers') for other films you might want to see but won't need to after the spoiler has given everything away. And even better there's lots of films available at your cinema only in 3D - which is more expensive, comes with shitty glasses, looks worse and yet does not hide the lack of any decent storytelling.

I'm just not a fan of the cinema experience. I do occasionally go to my local arthouse cinema which actually is quite good, there are sofas, pauses during long films and wine & beer in the shop. It just annoys me that you do not get value for money (if you ever did) at the cinema these days. Even more galling is that you pay and still get adverts.

Apple ships security fixes for iOS, OS X, Safari ... basically EVERYTHING

Don Dumb
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Re: 7.1.2 iOS update...

@AC -

"7.1.2 iOS update...

required a manual reboot (the progress bar never completed). On two iPhone 4S and a 5C.

Recovered fine, but not good."

Thanks for the experience, glad I didn't do the update this morning. I'll keep an eye on the update. I always backup the phone first and do the update via iTunes on the computer so hopefully I can restore if the update fails, but I did manage to have a 3GS brick while updating (Apple store replaced straight away thankfully) so I'm always nervous.

We got behind the wheel of a Tesla S electric car. We didn't hate it

Don Dumb
Happy

Re: Wait, the screen is used for what?

mikeyw0 - Thanks for the clarification, very helpful. The implication that crucial controls were entirely on the touchscreen did seem mad, and thankfully inaccurate.

Can I ask how good the height and position of the touchscreen is? It looks like it would benefit from being placed higher (like the screens are in modern Audis are). I get annoyed at some cars for having screens and controls too low down on the centre console, outside of peripheral vision.

The car updates itself automatically like an iPhone - you get in one morning and it tells you there's been a software update and that new features are now available.

That would make me nervous considering how rocky my iPhone updates have been lately.

Don Dumb

@John Robson - Where was ABS introduced? Electric windows? virtually anything else you now consider standard.

I thought most developments (with regards driving aids rather than the 'leccy windows) were originally developed in Formula 1 cars - like ABS, semi-auto gearboxes, etc

Don Dumb
WTF?

Wait, the screen is used for what?

"you have to look at it too much by saying there are anchor points – buttons which don’t move – to call up the essential screens for things like the lights and windscreen wipers."
Wait, hang on - to turn on the lights or windscreen wipers, both actions required to be able to do while at speed, you have to press a button on the touchscreen to bring up another display with controls? That surely can't be right.

If true, it's terrible, especially considering the screen is below dashboard level. On the motorway you have to be able to turn on (and off) the wipers and/or lights, sometimes quickly, without looking away from the road. Say for instance, when a rainstorm suddenly hits. How many times are you going to have to look down because you've missed the right button or need to work out where the button for high intensity rear lights is on the screen.

I'm sorry, a clean UI is helpful but not in all cases, some things are important enough for physical switchgear to be able to be used without looking at. You wouldn't have the indicators operated by a touchscreen (please tell me Tesla hasn't done that!), neither should the other essential controls. I notice that the example owner hasn't used the car beyond a few miles and so likely hasn't come across these situations.

US footballers set to vie for Bitcoin Bowl

Don Dumb
Meh

Method of Payment

One crucial aspect is missing - how will BitPay be paying for their sponsorship? I'm guessing the St Petersburg organisers are accepting payment in US Dollars rather than Bitcoin but I imagine that would slightly undermine the publicity effort if that were to become public knowledge.

Apple is KILLING OFF BONKING, cries mobe research dude

Don Dumb
Boffin

Re: Shift in Thinking

@cosymart - I have no desire to look like a plonker waving my card and the cashier giving me strange looks (well, no more than normal) :-(

Why not stick a small unmanned pay by bonk till by the exit with bullet point instructions for idiots (me) to reduce the normal queues?

I've just recieved a pay-by-bonk debit card from my bank. I've had my moment of looking like a plonker, so I'll try and give my lesson -

Basically (my card) is limited to payments of £20, although YMMV. When you get to the till, the card machine will say something like "swipe or insert or tap your card". As long as it says tap, then slowly tap the chip end of the card to the TOP of the card machine, you don't need to hold it there. It should beep to acknowledge, a second or two later it will have processed your payment and will be printing the reciept. I have found that I can now do the bonk without taking it out of my wallet, which is useful but equally concerning.

One advantage is it does make the self-service tills in Waitrose faster, or it would do if the elderly used pay-by-bonk rather than the complex and glacial process for payment they seem to employ.

Don Dumb
Facepalm

Have iPhone competitors thrown in the towel?

From the article - "Apple is not, to this date, supporting NFC, so other companies have wondered, "why bother?"

Perhaps to have a unique selling point? God forbid other companies might actually want to give people a reason to buy their phones rather than iPhones. But no, we just get a range of identical looking phones that all do pretty much the same thing.

Stephen Fry MADNESS: 'New domain names GENERATE NEW IP NUMBERS'

Don Dumb
Stop

@AC - I am sick to death of the bashing Fry gets on the register.

Agreed. This is utterly pathetic behaviour from El Reg and clearly so much so that Andrew Orlowski is too ashamed to even put his name to the article.

If this were Linus Torvalds or a CIO then maybe this would be a worthwhile article. But pouring over Stephen Fry's every word so that you can pick up on any mistake is just deplorable.

Happy Birthday Tetris: It's flipping 30

Don Dumb
Go

Re: This song is going to be in my head all day now!

@Jimboom - One of my favourite music videos, introduced to me by Adam Buxton's BUG, is the 'History of the Soviet Empire to the theme of Tetris'. Absolutely glorious - http://youtu.be/hWTFG3J1CP8

Don Dumb
Happy

Re: After-effects

@monkeyfish - After Effects - To be fair, that happens with any video game if you play it long enough. I've had it with wipeout, tony hawks, even doom.

I nostalgically remember we played so much of The Sims when at uni, my housemate dreamt of living his life by progress bars! Good times.

Can't say I would want to have a Doom dream mind.

'Inaccurate' media misleads public on European Court's Google ruling

Don Dumb
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Re: Google-friendly?

@Gio Campa - +1

Yes, I find it suprising that there are very few reporters, even here on El Reg, making the point that Google doesn't store the data, it is just one site that says where that data is. If there really is a right to remove, this needs to be applied to the site holding that data, along with any secondary stores (Google cache, archive.org). It's like trying to stop people knowing about a telephone number by only asking the Yellow Pages to remove it from their listings. But everyone would rather go on about the ECJ 'killing the internet', which unfortunately (deliberatly?) dilutes our cries about net neutrality.

Supreme Court nixes idea of 'indirect' patent infringement

Don Dumb
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@dan1980 -

Now, if you move some of that over to the user then, for example, the user would have to identify the text themselves and then tell the phone what type of data it is, thereafter the phone can present options. In this instance one might see the patent not applying as the critical function of identifying the data structures is handled by the user.

You've just described copy-and-paste (into the phone app). That's exactly why 'moving bits of a patent to the user' shouldn't be covered by the same patent, it isn't an *invention* if someone is just doing the work that the invention should be doing.

To stretch the 'Quick-Links' example further, I could do the same work by writing down the number I see on a piece of paper and then typing it into the phone's keypad. If copy-and-paste is part of the patent, then so would using paper and my eyes. Very quickly, any way of acheiving the goal becomes covered by the patent.

Ballmer SLAM-DUNKS $2 BEEELLLION bid for LA Clippers

Don Dumb
Stop

Non-Contact?

@Ren Bren a non-contact sport- I don't know where the idea comes from that everyone seems to think basketball is a non-contact sport. I used to get injured much more from contact in basketball than I did playing rugby. There's loads of contact in basketball, you just have to keep from handling someone when they are shooting and you can't just clatter your way through people who are standing their ground (which you can't in football either)

About to make a big bet? Don't crash out, cash in with the power of maths

Don Dumb
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Re: Ahhh Monte Carlo - Cost Modelling

@unscarred - There are many tools available, mostly extensions of risk management tools (such as www.palisade.com/risk/) - however most recently I have seen massive bespoke Excel monsters because of the need for some organisations to obtain very unique data (not just a single distribution).

It depends on how much data you need and how accurate you need it. It shouldn't be too difficult to build a simple cost model on a spreadsheet. But the problem with spreadsheet based models is they aren't very good for estimating time or handling complex time/cost/risk relationships. Commerical tools are better at giving both time and cost estimates from a single risk register and handling complexity within model (such as do the risks occur sequentially? or do they force other risks to occur?)

I reckon all you'd need for a crude spreadsheet model is 3 sheets - a sheet with definite costs (max/min/most likely for each), a sheet with risks (probability, max/min/ML) and a results sheet. Have a macro (or something better) add a line in the total sheet for each run of the model randomly picking values from the max/min/ML distribution for each cost and risk (but only adding each risk cost if it meets its probability check for that run). Then graph the results, you should get a nice bell curve in most cases giving an obvious median point.

Don Dumb
Boffin

Re: Ahhh Monte Carlo - Cost Modelling

@Nifty - to be honest that was a hypothetical project (the examples work well without explaining the whole background).

However, to take your question seriously (I'm guessing it wasn't). Whether you model such costs depend on what the scope of the project is, specifically in this case - at what point is the project finished?

If the project is just to get the house built then the problems you highlight should not be included. However, if the project is to build and sell the house for a certain return, then such uncertainties as "house market fluctuations" and risks such as the developer attempting to gazump the buyers, should be factored in. In any case you still have to manage these risks when they happen.

This is what I mean about identifying risks properly, if you don't then your project can be derailed, get it right and when bad things happen, the project will stay on track becuase you have anticipated them and have a plan to handle them. Even if that plan is just having some extra money in the budgetbudget, hence modelling the costs.

Don Dumb
Boffin

Ahhh Monte Carlo - Cost Modelling

I've used Monte Carlo simulation many times to judge how much a project is likely to cost or how long it will take. As many will know, before a project is started there are 'deterministic' costs (i.e. the bricks will cost £1500, I have a firm quote), however there are uncertain costs (i.e. labour costs could be £1000 to £2000 but most likely £1200) and there are risks (i.e. There's a 25% chance I might need to reinforce the foundations at £800).

If you just added up the cost of the deterministic and the most likely of the uncertain values and budgeted on that amount, what would happen if the labour costs go above the most likely or the risk occurs? - the Budget won't be enough. Conversely, there's no point budgeting way more than is needed, those funds could be invested elsewhere.

So to work out what the best budget figure is, Monte Carlo analysis can be used. It works by modelling the project and running that model thousands of times. For each run of the model, the uncertain values are picked randomly from their distribution and each risk may or may not occur, based on its chance (so a risk with 25% probability will occur on a quarter of the runs). The cost of each run is ploted on a graph and after a thousand runs a nice distribution will be presented. The distribution can be sliced to give median, upper and lower quartile values, all that has to be done is decide where on that graph should be used to pick the budget. Pick an upper quartile figure and it is likely that there will be lots of spare budget, a lower quartile figure is likely to be not enough (while still more than the deterministic) so most pick the median, it could be insufficient but things will have to go badly for that to happen because it does already take into account some risks occuring.

Monte Carlo analysis is a powerful tool and it can be used for time in exactly the same way. But it only works if the modelling is sound, optimism kills it - underestimate the value of risks or fail to identify risks and uncertainties and it will give a false impression.

PS - It isn't degree-level difficult but I have had to explain it to far too many people who were supposed to be the ones qualified

New dashboard gives eagle's-eye view of Microsoft's security flaws

Don Dumb

Re: Reboot?

@cyberelf - I'm aware of KSplice but I don't think many standard Linux distributions include KSplice. It isn't fair to compare vanilla Windows to Linux using a third party tool.

Although it would be fair to point out that at least Linux can allow for such third party tools to exist.

Don Dumb

Re: Reboot?

@Barry Rueger -

does Windows still require reboots after installs and upgrades?
In my experience, Win 7 does not need to reboot to install most updates but it still does for some.

Presumably Linux doesn't ever need a reboot to install updates to the Kernel then?

Graphics pros left hanging as Adobe Creative Cloud outage nears 24 hours

Don Dumb
Boffin

Re: A storm in a tea cup

@Jan Hargreavees

I love that I can pay £28 monthly and have the full creative cloud with all the bells and whistles (inc 50GB of cloud storage). I could not afford the £3000 or whatever it was for the master collection on dvd while it was still around. I thought a subscription model would be great in about 2008, at least for small businesses. And finally Adobe now provides that.

That's great for you, and there's nothing wrong with offering a subscription model. The problem that upsets people is that there is *only* a subscription model being offerred. You have your choice but unfortunately other people only have that choice too, especially as you have pointed out there are no real alternatives. Remember 1 choice is no choice.

I haven't voted you down but I'm guessing the sizable down voting is for assuming people haven't understood, when you haven't understood their complaint.

FSF slams Mozilla for 'shocking' Firefox DRM ankle-grab

Don Dumb
Facepalm

Dictionary Corner

@fairbro -

Firefox proved itself to be corrupt when it fired the director because he made a political contribuution to a group which sought to ban gay marriage. ... I don't have any use for a group of corrupt criminals.

You use the word "corrupt" twice and you clearly demonstrate that you have no idea what it means.

Apple updates OS X Mavericks, iTunes, Podcasts for iOS

Don Dumb

@big_D -

Sync via USB, how very 2010 of them...

I use USB, mostly because Wifi sync seems to balls up whenever I try it and, well, USB sync works, I have no need to use Wifi and I have to go to the computer to switch it on anyway. I also keep backups on my computer not in iCloud (I was grateful for this when I did need to restore my phone), USB backups to computer much better than Wifi.

Quant it might be, but it is also sufficient. Keyboards are *so* 20th century, but I'd rather type this on my keyboard than on a touchscreen

Don Dumb
Flame

Re: Podcast app

@Annihilator - Agreed.

I mostly listen to Podcasts on my phone, so this is something close to my heart*.

It was always a great frustration that bluetooth (and wired) car stereos couldn't find the podcasts as they didn't turn up in the music list (i.e. not in an album), I had to start playing the specific podcast while disconnected, connect up the phone and then it would play through the car. Apple decided to make it even worse by separating Podcasts out into a different app. Now when I press play on my headset or car stereo, it *may* play the last podcast I was listening to, or it may start playing a song in the music app, forcing me to then go into the phone, find the podcast app and force the iPhone to play the podcast instead. It's incredibly frustrating.

I do love it when I try and download a podcast, it fails, often due to the wonderful arbitary download limit of 50MB and then somehow breaks the whole podcast so that I can't download (when on Wifi), listen or delete it. I have to wait until I sync before it resurrects.

What's worse was that the move to iTunes 11, deleted all of the podcasts I has stored on my computer in the name of 'syncing' even though I had selected the option to keep all podcasts on my computer. I updated the Podcast app this morning, didn't realise there was a new version of iTunes, when I left home and started browsing the podcast app for this morning's commute, it brough up a error message saying somehting like 'Please use iTunes 11.2 to Sync' - well thanks Apple, perhaps you could have told me that when I was doing THE SODDING SYNC!

It wouldn't be so bad if it was easier to move tracks into the Podcast folder, that would be really helpful for something like Spanish speaking lessons, for instance. But to make something become a recognised podcast (despite being just an MP3 file) you have to mess around with the hidden metadata for ages to get it to work and sort properly, you can't do it in iTunes. And while I'm at it, I don't get why Audiobooks aren't grouped with Podcasts as they are closer to podcasts than music tracks but then I'm obviously thinking it wrong.

* Almost literally, the phone is often in my shirt's breast pocket.

Why two-player games > online gaming: See your pal's shock as you bag a last-second victory

Don Dumb
Thumb Up

Re: Amiga Format Cover Disks

@ahmanwhathandle - "I've been trying to find a clone of a single screen two player bi-planes shoot 'em up supplied by the venerable magazine. I think it was just called BIP...? "

Oh man, yes. That was brilliant, I'd almost forgotten about it. It was called BIP and was a classic example of simple being fun. Outside of me and my mate I have never even seen it mentioned. Have you managed to find a worthy clone?

Don Dumb
Pint

Re: Sliding tackle on a stationary keeper

Best bit of the original FIFA - if your player is about to get red carded you could run away from the referee, who would just keep chasing you to give the card. As long as you could keep going the Benny Hill sketch would continue. Something like this in multiplayer might seem annoying but it was always funny when someone did it out of frustration - that kind of laugh you can't have with online multplayer, it would just be griefing (or whatever).

Don Dumb
Happy

Re: 2 player - well, maybe, except for 3 and 4 player gaming.

@Pithy Username - JLR didn't seem to be that well known a game but I think that was a real shame as Rugby Union is a horrible game to model, yet Codemasters managed to do just that. You have to simplify and compromise many parts to get it to work well. I loved the fact that the more people you entered into rucks the more chance the ball came back. Stonger teams needed to put less people into rucks, so as a weaker team you had to really put in the effort to recycle the ball and then attack effectively on your next phase otherwise you would run out of support. Just like real Rugby.

Rugby League lends itself better to simulation as there's less players and less 'complicated stuff' but I haven't seen any League games of note either. It seemed to me that the only sport that can be well modelled is football. Basketball and Rugby games seemed to get worse as they tried to make them more realistic, where as football deosn't seem to suffer in the same way. American Football also seems not to suffer from increasing detail, but I think that is becuase the play stops constantly with overall tactical desicions at each stoppage so there's less complexity to simulate.

I notice that there is a "Jonah Lomu Rugby Challenge 2" on Steam, which I'm naturally waiting for a sale before considering as it doesn't seem to have had great reception. Pity, as I'd enjoy a well made Rugby Union game, a sevens game might work well.

"What a tackle! That could've put him in Ward 4!" - "I hope not Bill, that's a maternity ward!"

Don Dumb
Happy

Re: 2 player - well, maybe, except for 3 and 4 player gaming.

@Greenawayr - Yes, RIP Bill McLaren, loved that line. What I'd give to hear someone with his class commenting on the six nations rather than the partisan and irritating commentary the BBC have now.

I can still remember Bill shouting "Mather!" as the developer team's super winger ran through.

Don Dumb
Childcatcher

2 player - well, maybe, except for 3 and 4 player gaming.

Two player gaming was, is and ever shall be where it’s at when it comes to having the most memorable gaming experiences.

Except for 3 and 4 player gaming.

Most of my teenage years (the 90's if you must ask) and those of my closest friends was spent playing 3/4 player games, as there was usually 4 of us.

Goldeneye, early FIFAs or PES (much better banter/teammate arguments when you are playing 2v2), International Track and Field, some-Playstation-Rallying-game-I-can't-remember-the-name-of, WWF Wrestlemania - all spring to mind.

It was something the N64 was first to get, put more ports on for controllers because there is often more than 2 people playing. People often criticise FIFA as being a dumb cash cow for EA, and there is certainly no reason to buy it every bloody year, but games like FIFA are really good fun when in groups, it doesn't need splitscreen like FPSs do.

I used to love playing multiplayer with my mates, nowadays none of us have consoles and I just haven't enjoyed the fleeting attempts at online multplayer games so I've eneded up playing single player games when I do play. For me online multiplayer games have oddly kind of killed multiplayer

</wistful nostaglia>

ps. Jonah Lomu Rugby (mid 90s) was brilliant in multiplayer. It never got that much attention but we absolutely loved it.

Faster Macbook Air pops out: What, a NEW Apple thing and ZERO fanfare?

Don Dumb
Thumb Up

Re: Without any fanfare

I'm glad there's no fanfare, too many tech updates from Apple have come with huge (deliberate) hype for nothing more than a slightly longer and lighter model than the previous version with claims like - "it's a game changer!"

Most Americans doubt Big Bang, not too sure about evolution, climate change – survey

Don Dumb
Boffin

Re: Fake Corporation science

@Tom35 - If two scientists say different things, there are lots of people who will just go with what they want to hear without looking at the actual science.

If people still believe Wakefield (and even think he is a victim) there is not much hope.

You've hit on one of the major problems - lesser qualified people being given the same weight of argument to discussion as relevant scientists. Wakefield was (at best) a part-time scientist, he was a GP doing 'some' research but didn't have a doctorate, nor did he have any research qualifications. He used his title 'Dr' because that was his professional title for being a qualified GP, which he has now lost. Despite that, Wakefield was given a equal say on the matter of MMR to that of the relevant Professors of Immunology.

News broadcasters generally inverview at least two differing sides of a discussion, to give 'balance'. However, balance isn't as simple as two opposed sides and this principle gets corrupted far too often. In debates on scientific subjects far too frequently, a scientist, highly qualiifed in the field of discussion has to debate with a politician or representative of a pressure group. To the viewer it seems like there is a reasonable side to either argument but in truth it is scientific fact arguing against opinion. It gets worse when news companies aren't even trying to be fair.

The science radio program The Infinite Monkey Cage often points out that in discussions on astronomy, people write in upset that the 'point of view of astrology' has been dismissed "arogantly" and the presenters have to painfully point out that there isn't a scientific 'point of view' for astrology.

People are trained to think that there is science and then there is 'another view' and so why would they think there is anything wrong with having the other view. We have to look out how science, or as I prefer to see it - authoritative understanding is criticised and debated in the public.

Burnt out on patches this month? Oracle's got 104 MORE fixes for you

Don Dumb

No longer a concern

So glad I got rid of Java on my home machine a couple of months ago (after I changed the last piece of software that used it). Java was horrible software, had an annoying update installer and my computer is noticeably more responsive since I got rid of it, even though I always tried to disable the 'always running' bits of it.

Considering how much Oracle database software is used in large (especially public) organisations I do wonder how full of holes it is and how vulnerable important databases are.

AMD unveils Godzilla's graphics card – 'the world's fastest, period'

Don Dumb
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Power & Cooling

@Eddy Ito - It's an interesting proposition. Build around the GPU rather than the CPU.

I like the fact that AMD have thought a bit about cooling and keeping the card quiet, often just a big noisy fan is the only cooling.

It would be interesting if the card's cooling system can be integrated with liquid case cooling setups, taking the liquid from the card to the case liquid cooling box rather than the GPU's cooling box. If so, using this as the base for cooling the CPU and memory would make for an interesting design.

How Microsoft can keep Win XP alive – and WHY: A real-world example

Don Dumb

Re: I read as far as the $500k a year development job...

@janimal - Trevor's manpower and cost estimates are way, way out there.

I think that was the deliberate aim of Trevor's calculations -

as he needs to make some (big) assumptions, it makes sense to underestimate the amount Microsoft could make from support and overestimate the cost of providing it (including wages). As it is clearly finanically viable under these assumptions then it really is fair to say that it would be profitable and viable proposition.

Hotmail-gate: Windows 8 code leaker pleads guilty to theft of trade secrets

Don Dumb
Facepalm

Re: Russian national?

@McHack - "He should immediately get himself back to Mother Russia"

I'm sure he would love to do that. Just a bit difficult when he is in custody without bail.

Crashed NORKS drones discovered by South Korea

Don Dumb
Boffin

Re: I pity South Korea

"Having a border to North Korea must be like living next door to a violent and psychotic drug fiend."

What's worse is that it is more like the violent, paranoid and psychotic fiend next door is your ex who insists that you've not broken up, refuses to recognise any divorce procedings and constantly proclaims that all of the violence is really your fault.

Sad thing is I've known a few friends who have had to deal with people like this. Someone once told me about an abusive relationship she was in, every time he got mad and lashed out he would say to her "look what you made me do".

Money? What money? Lawyer for accused Silk Road boss claims you can't launder Bitcoin

Don Dumb

Re: What's the point?

@Richard Pennington - "Given that Bitcoins are untraceable by design, what is the point of laundering them?"

The Bitcoins *ARE* the laundering.

BT snatches crown: Soars to top of complaints list

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Re: Not allowed to complain

@Sandpit

Was talking to a friend the other day. Her (elderly) mum has lost phone connection. BT kept saying "it will be fixed tomorrow" and then wasn't. She found out that the fix was Openreach doing some digging but also found a phone number for Openreach.

After talking to Openreach to try and find out what was going on the Openreach help desk rep asked which ISP she was from. When my friend said "no I'm the customer who wants to be reconnected" the rep went very quiet and clearly terrified said "but we aren't allowed to talk to customers!" - What a way to run a service - shield the people who can do anything from the customer, so nothing gets done.

5 Eyes in the Sky: The TRUTH about Flight MH370 and SPOOKSATS

Don Dumb
Boffin

Re: Of course it's military... @Titus Technophobe

@AC - These classifications are also known as 'Handling Codes', which dictate how an individual within an organisation should handle, store or distribute documents or files (e.g Data etc)

Your along the right lines but you're not correct either, you are confusing different labels. I'll try and explain :-

Classification refers to the level of information security afforded tot he document.

Handling codes, or 'Handling Restrictions' to give them their proper title, go alongside the classification to denote who may (or may not) see the document (which is different from the level of classification the document has). Usually the handling restriction is usually a list of countries.

Caveats go alongside the classification and/or the handling restriction to denote extra information about why the document is classified or how to treat it 'Commercial' or 'Personal' could be two examples.

A Security label on a document could include many words, but the classification is the one that will always exist, even if it is just 'unclassified'. Handling restrictions, caveats, etc may or may not be included as appropriate but they aren't the same as the classification.

Symantec fires CEO Steve Bennett: To lose 1 chief is unfortunate, to lose 2 is OK, apparently

Don Dumb
Terminator

Denial?

Symantec - "to enhance our position as a market leader."

El Reg article - "the troubled security and storage giant."

I wonder which one might be true.

Come to think about it, I've seen much less bundling of Norton lately, whereas McAfee and others are still very conspicuous in bundles and corporate installs (that I have noticed).

Whitehall and Microsoft thrashing out 1-year NHS WinXP lifeline

Don Dumb
Thumb Up

Re: Funding

@JurassicPark - "Unfortunately the failure of NPfIT seems to suggest otherwise. It was one aim of NPfIT to provide more purchasing power by amalgamating IT spend within England & Wales, but unfortunately the only real win was a national radiology imaging system."

That's a fair point but I'm aware there are other initiatives which work well to drive better returns. The government only recently realised that if it negotiated with Oracle as a whole government rather than multiples on a small level it could leverage much better rates on licences (used by across all departments to varying degrees). It makes sense to do this for Oracle and Microsoft and large suppliers of standard software but other software is much more difficult as the requirements probably vary much more between departments perhaps that was a problem with NPflT

Don Dumb
Stop

@lost all faith - "Here's how it works outside of the Public Sector.

This needs to work on Win7 / Linux.

What, you say it can't? Well, you fix it, or we find a product that will.

End Of."

Bear in mind the uk public sector is not allowed to waste money (stop laughing). Take an MRI scanner for an example, what would you like the MRI scanner to do? MRI scans. Good.

Now, compare* - MRI scanner 1 costs £2M, and the supplier will support it for ten years at £50K per year = £2.5M for 10 years;

MRI Scanner 2 costs £4M, and the supplier will support it at a cost of £100k per year = £5M for 10 years.

Both scanners will do the job, so I'm sure you know which one you will buy right? And if you were in charge of a publicly funded budget your answer wouldn't be any different even if it ran ICL COBOL.

The simple fact is that the OS often just isn't the most important thing about the product you need and therefore any extra money you spend getting the OS you want is money that should be spent elsewhere. Especially when departments are having to close core services anyway.

Don't get me wrong I think the OS and core configuration should be seen as more important, lock in is a hidden cost. But I think you are being optimistic about how easy it is to find alternatives that exist and how little it will cost to purchase them. In some parts of government, the number of options for what you want may be very small as the subject area may be very niche and the kit expensive.

* - Disclaimer I have no idea if these are at all realistic costs. Merely numbers, pulled out my ass to serve an example.

Don Dumb
Boffin

Funding

@Len Goddard - The end of XP has been known for years and those responsible for the back-end systems should have had them upgraded in good time. The NHS has enough financial and political clout to beat up on the PAS suppliers if the new versions are as bad as you say

No, the NHS doesn't have financial clout, it is a misconception that a large funding pot for health means big financial power. Unfortunately, the funding is split up amongst the trusts which are quite small entities. It it also hampered more in the last few years by the austerity measures, which drive tough decisions about what to fund and unsuprisingly they prioritised buying drugs and paying nurses over replacing systems that worked. Imagine the newspaper headlines, say two years ago, if a trust can't give heart transplants because they are replacing IT systems (that work). Like it or not fear of negative reporting (that will deliberately misrepresent the importance of IT support lifecycles) influences a lot of public sector behavour.

For me, the Treasury, Cabinet office and political strategy are more to blame - it is they who should have mandated moving away from XP, and possibly more importantly IE6, much earlier and provided specific funding for migration projects so that it didn't affect core output, acknowledging that wider governmental policy allowed XP and IE6 to become commonplace. It might not sound much but many people in government knew about the end of life, however getting funding approval from the Treasury would be nigh on impossible without it being mandated. The end of XP has been known for years but has been extended before, put yourself in the position of a hospital manager - this year do you upgrade the IT systems OR replace the aging ambulances?

I think it's unfair to blame NHS trusts (quite small in the grand scheme of things) for buying important IT systems that did their job, many years ago, when XP was the de facto standard. The fact that they locked themselves into a particular configuration, simply isn't as important as being able to get the system at a decent price.

I think now, having all of the difficulty with migrating and lock in, government departments are much more aware of the real price of lock-in but when there is limited funding, you can understand a decade ago, health trusts decidng to prioritise healthcare over IT strategy.

That said, I think you make a good point about how government departments should negotiate contracts at the highest level (the parent department or ideally cross government) rather than each individual little sub-body contracting for their stuff themselves. In fairness, the UK government has actually learnt this over the last few years and, as the deal in this story indicates, is trying to place contracts at government level to leverage buying power (and save money in only having one contract negotiation). This is something that didn't happen 10 years ago, and is happening much more now with IT spending. However, in my opinion, it is much more than IT spending that should be rationalised up to the highest level. For instance, each police constabulary buys their vehicles themselves, you could save a lot of money if the Home Office brought police vehicles for all of the forces under one contract, lets face it most of them are exactly the same for each force.

Ex-Autonomy boss Mike Lynch goes nuclear: Claims HP 'misleads' its own shareholders

Don Dumb

Re: coming out fighting

@Yes Me - Lynch is coming out fighting. That proves nothing about the facts of the case; it does suggest that he's not too afraid of the truth.

The suggestion that bullish behaviour is a sign of confidence in one's position, could just as easily be a simple confidence trick - i.e. bluffing.

It always reminds me of those people at work who try to get their way in meetings by being loud and confident about their position, rather than actually correct.

PAF! MPs go postal over postal location data sell-off by Coalition.gov

Don Dumb

Re: Thus the Royal Mail owns it.

@Frankee Llonnygog - Solution - transfer PAF and the responsibility for updating it to the Ordnance Survey

Expect the OS isn't far away from the same result as Royal Mail - www.thisismoney.co.uk/money/news/article-2312853/Met-Office-Ordnance-Survey-slated-sale-amid-new-wave-expected-privatisations.html

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