* Posts by Sherrie Ludwig

447 publicly visible posts • joined 10 Nov 2013

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Trump 'tried to sell Truth Social to Musk' as SPAC deal stalled

Sherrie Ludwig

Re: How much?

Just how did they get a value such as that?

In the same manner as the valuations of his real estate holdings, rectally.

Attacks on UK fiber networks mount: Operators beg govt to step in

Sherrie Ludwig

I'd go much simpler than that and ask any death penalty proponent: 'if I put all the senior members of your government and justice system (wherever you live) in a room, handed them each a loaded pistol and told them there would be no repercussions for their actions would you willingly walk into that room?'

No, I'd say "welcome to the USA." It's gotten crazy over here.

The S in IoT stands for security. You'll never secure all the Things

Sherrie Ludwig

Re: There is an S

Is there a version of that myth where they *do* believe everything you say, but are fated to somehow not give a toss regardless?

Yes, those are politicians.

YouTube workers laid off mid-plea at city hall meeting

Sherrie Ludwig

Re: Reality

They aren't slaves they signed an employment contract.

Excuse me, what's this signing an employment contract? Most workers in the US don't sign anything except the W-2 forms that tell their owners (companies) how much to take out of the pay for Uncle Sam. You might get an email that details what the company will (sigh, GENEROUSLY) give you in sick days (not mandatory most places), health insurance (and how much they will deduct for that privilege), and a long list of don't-dos. To be in effect until they decide unilaterally to change the rules ("Pray I don't alter it any further") or drop you like a hot potato without warning.

American Express admits card data exposed and blames third party

Sherrie Ludwig

Re: Or just ask for a new card

I use a business Amex. I am a long, loyal user after my previous card, a Discover through Advanta Bank, suddenly CEASED OPERATIONS, with a week's warning. The email was something like, "We are closing and your credit cards will no longer work on (date a week away). But, of course, you'll still owe us the dosh." I had a room reservation for an upcoming business trip that would not be held when the card went away. Called other card companies, and they couldn't get me a card in a week, maybe not even two. American Express, which I had not had since the old green charge card, welcomed me back, overnighted me the card, and I am a loyal customer since. Their service, including user-friendly liveware on the phone, is an example of how to get and keep a customer.

If we plug this in without telling anyone, nobody will know we caused the outage

Sherrie Ludwig
Headmaster

Re: The sure fire 10p investment...

Canadians have pennies!

The Royal Canadian Mint stopped producing and distributing pennies in Canada as of February 4, 2013 due to rising costs relative to face value and the significant handling costs of the penny for retailers, financial institutions and the economy in general. Reference Canadian Bankers Association.

Work for you? Again? After you lied about the job and stole my stuff? No thanks

Sherrie Ludwig

It's not training until the point that the trainee has actually been observed ( and coached if required) to actually perform the task and deal with any issues- more than once.

I have always gone by the motto, "see one, do one, teach one", repeat until the "teach one" can be at least explained fully to a person unacquainted with the system as a whole.

Staff say Dell's return to office mandate is a stealth layoff, especially for women

Sherrie Ludwig

Re: Sueball Time

Not as many as the dementia patient did :)

That dementia patient is the orange paper hoarder, there are no other dementia patients here, except for the bloated beached whale's followers. See, I didn't need the coward badge.

Apple Vision Pro units returned as folks just can't see themselves using it

Sherrie Ludwig

Re: Killer App & Price

Or an app for farmers looking to buy cattle at a cattle mart: display details of the animal in front of you, possible illnesses or injuries not apparently visible, estimated weight and so on?

Oh sweet summer child, another city boy who thinks there is WiFi, or even a prosaic cell signal, everywhere just like in New York City or Chicago. The rural corner of the Midwest I reside in there are large stretches (not hilly or mountainous, just flat land) where a cell phone is utterly useless. This is especially since 5G became the law of the land, time was I could get a 2G cell signal everywhere but those days are sadly past. Unless one lives like a caged laying hen, the telcos don't find us cost effective.

Sorry, scammers: The FCC says AI robocalls are definitely illegal

Sherrie Ludwig
Mushroom

I wish the were a way...

I wish there were a way to, when called by an unwanted robocaller, KEEP THEM FROM HANGING UP. To hold the line hostage for as long as the called wishes, until every one of their lines are so held, preventing them from scamming others and forcing them to beg or bribe us beleagered recipients to release the line for some consideration. I would pay very well for such a service for several months, especially the months leading up to US Medicare Enrollment Period.

Tesla power steering probe upgraded after thousands more incidents reported

Sherrie Ludwig

Re: Woke mind virus meaning

Empathy, regard for others, ability to entertain other viewpoints. Woke is the best compliment.

Enterprising techie took the bumpy road to replacing vintage hardware

Sherrie Ludwig

You mean this?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wt-o2xlffWo

IBM pauses advertising on X after ads show up next to antisemitic content

Sherrie Ludwig

Re: Narcissism wins

"All Musk really has to do is STFU & run X in a civil manner that attracts advertising revenue - a bridge too far for this one, apparently." As with another person in the news, he has the right to remain silent but alas, not the ability.

Lawyer guilty of arrogance after ignoring tech support

Sherrie Ludwig

Re: Seems to me that ...

Gimbals gyrate. Potahto, potayto.

Tesla Cybertruck no-resale clause vanishes faster than a Model S in Ludicrous Mode

Sherrie Ludwig

Do I have this right?

So, I buy a hotly anticipated new-shiny and am massively disappointed, find a greater fool willing to take it off my hands and...I can't buy another disappointment from them ever again? How is this a penalty?

Amazon's $1.4B price-raising 'Project Nessie' algorithm exposed in FTC antitrust fight

Sherrie Ludwig

"The most customer-focused company on the planet" -- Jeff Bezos

Focused, yeah, like a magnifying glass on an ant on a sunny day.

That script I wrote three years ago is now doing what? How many times?

Sherrie Ludwig

CYA = Cover Your Accountability, for the politically correct.

Come work at HQ... or find a new job, Roblox CEO tells staff

Sherrie Ludwig

Re: subhead got cut off

says bigwig who can afford to live as close as he likes to the office and be chauffeured there every day"

I looked up the cost of living in San Mateo. It is 84% higher than the average US cost of living. 84% raises across the board, or bigwig comes into an empty office anyway. Sounds fair.

US Navy sailor admits selling secret military blueprints to China for $15K

Sherrie Ludwig

Re: Zhao ?

Curious, I thought he would be paid in diamonds . . .

I am a jeweler, but I don't deal in diamonds. I am glad I don't, now, because since 1. Russia opened its diamond vaults a few decades ago, and broke DeBeers' monopoly and 2. the rise of lab grown diamonds making the process cheaper and easier, leading to oversupply, diamond prices are crashing through the floor. They are actually getting cheaper year by year.

from the trade magazine Instore: https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=2ahUKEwjPspiZ0_CBAxUvHjQIHbrCAMMQFnoECBQQAQ&url=https%3A%2F%2Finstoremag.com%2Fdiamond-prices-continue-to-fall%2F&usg=AOvVaw3LPbGj9beafP3thEzYY0uI&opi=89978449

Police ignored the laws of datacenter climate control

Sherrie Ludwig

Our first house, (1893 rowhouse, Chicago USA) had the same knob and tube, as well as gas lines for dual fuel fixtures, when we moved in in 1977. To our horror, the gas lines were still filled and connected to the mains! Contractor called and gas lines disconnected, uncapped and emptied safely ASAP. Wiring got replaced in kitchen and bath, but all these years later, I wouldn't swear to there NOT being more antique wiring still in use in other parts of the house.

$17k solid gold Apple Watch goes from Beyoncé's wrist to the obsolete list

Sherrie Ludwig

Re: No doubt

"I'm sure someone will buy it for the gold value"

No,it won't be melted down for the gold, it now has "value" because it was owned by a celebrity. Put it up for auction, and it will fetch far more than either its worth as a watch or the gold in its case.

Judge sides with Meta and Google, puts California child privacy law on hold

Sherrie Ludwig

This may be too little, too late

There is really no way short of a certified birth certificate to prove someone's age. A driver's license contains that info, but over the internet a fake one will look as good as a real one, or how do you keep a kid from simply pulling it out of mom's purse to show? The idea to set an age bar is laudable, but like many great ideas, not enforceable over the internet in any reasonable way.

'Small monthly payment' only thing that stands between X and bot chaos, says Musk

Sherrie Ludwig

There have been many premature announcements of Twitter's/X's impending doom

Don't think the announcements are premature, I think it's ongoing. As anyone who has attended a death, either as medical personnel or family, it is a process not an instant. I am a disinterested onlooker, but I think it's sort of sad that something that so many people labored to build and support, and seemed to be useful for so many more, has been destroyed by one man's reckless egotism.

I'll see your data loss and raise you a security policy violation

Sherrie Ludwig
Headmaster

Re: Regomiser

Wasn't Hu on first according to the Marx Brothers?

No, it was Abbott and Costello. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nZ5vspsNS1g Still hilarious.

US Republican party's spam filter lawsuit against Google dimissed

Sherrie Ludwig

Re: This ain't rocket science.

Unfortunately that really would be censorship. So we will just continue to let them air their stupidity in public

Agreed, I think of it as the leper bell of the internet.

Florida Man and associates indicted for conspiracy to steal data, software

Sherrie Ludwig

Re: This is the most problematic indictment for him, by far

Hate to break it to you but I'm a centrist leaning libertarian.

Yeah, yeah, LOL. You're a centrist. And I'm Beyonce's younger, cuter, richer and more talented younger sister. Calling yourself one doesn't make you one. ("I WON, BIGLY", for example) I think the majority of El Reg readers have formed their own opinions of this tiresome AC.

Amazon uses AI to write reviews of people's product reviews

Sherrie Ludwig

Only 27.6% fake reviews? Hard to believe. Two stars.

Google launches $99 a night Hotel Mountain View for hybrid workers

Sherrie Ludwig

Re: Accommodation on site....

Well, $99 a night x365 /12 = about $3011 per month, a relative rent bargain in that part of California, especially when you figure in no cost commuting. Just live there 24/7. Not that I would want to "live over the shop", but it is a consideration.

First of Tesla's 'bulletproof' Cybertrucks clunks off production line

Sherrie Ludwig

Re: Are people seriously buying these?

Yeah, the so ugly it's cute response won't work on some people, but the reality is, these thinks are iconic of an age, and will be sitting next to a Tucker and a car show 50 or 100 years from now with an explanatory placard of Musks folley.

And the DeLorean, at least that thing looked good for its time. When I see the Tesla truck, I think of the Pontiac Aztek, an OK car with a WTF profile.

Producers allegedly sought rights to replicate extras using AI, forever, for just $200

Sherrie Ludwig

Re: "address concerns of being replaced by AI"

See the Delilah Street novels, especially Bogieman by Carole Nelson Douglas.

After Meta hands over DMs, mom pleads guilty to giving daughter abortion pills

Sherrie Ludwig

Re: I'm sure some will suggest it is her fault for using Facebook Messenger to communicate

eliminate Facebook Messenger and transition Facebook users to a peer to peer alternative

Unless the phone is tapped, what happened to JUST CALLING the person? No record. Need to keep info like an address? writing instrument and paper, discard in a public waste bin, or tear in pieces and discard in several if truly paranoid) when done.

California man's business is frustrating telemarketing scammers with chatbots

Sherrie Ludwig

"I think the quickest way for us to get rid of spammers … is simply to tie them up on every call.

A friend of mine was plagued by a very insistent cold caller wanting to sell him a conservatory. In the end he gave in and said they could come round to size up the job. The sales rep was exceedingly disappointed to find out that at the time he was living in a first(*) floor flat.

(*) Second for leftpondians."

I lived in a brick rowhouse (terrace for rightpondians) and got daily calls for aluminum cladding. I kept telling them it was not feasible, take my name off the list. Finally, I caved and told ALL the callers to come out for an estimate, but gave them all the same time and date. Cue three very grumpy salesmen showing up, with me saying, "I've only wasted your time once, my time has been wasted for several weeks of your brainless cold callers not taking my number off the list. I will KEEP MAKING APPOINTMENTS and having you all burn gas and time until your firm gets the message". Only took once.

Google accused of ripping off advertisers with video ads no one saw. Now, the expert view

Sherrie Ludwig

Re: my solution is...

Mute button and 6, 15, or 30 seconds of eyes closed relaxation.

I have a nice game of Solitaire fired up in another window. Same idea.

Techie wasn't being paid, until he taught HR a lesson

Sherrie Ludwig

Re: Proof if needed

At one place one of my friends worked at, they used to say HR stood for 'Human Remains'. Always made me chuckle.

When I see the words, "Human Resources", I think to myself, "Are you sure?" After having had co-workers of whom I was not certain.

Sherrie Ludwig

Re: Unique keys

My bank account has my full name on it, I sign my checks as Middle-nickname Lastname, and sign paperwork at work as Firstname Lastname. Never once had a problem.

My signature is a sprawling scribble, so what the squiggles transcribe to is probably irrecoverable. It is, however, fairly consistent across documents and time. Have not used my legal first name except for legal documents in over half a century.

Now that cursive script is not taught in school in the US, do people make up a script cipher and use that?

Sherrie Ludwig

Re: Unique keys

" One of the reasons I've stopped flying is that I was "randomly selected" for extra screening each and every time I would fly. I'm not a political activist, I don't attend protests and I don't have any sort of criminal record."

That you know of

Post 9/11, for a couple of years every time I checked in I would have a good wait at the desk while they grabbed my driver's license and disappeared into the back room They would come back, hand over the ID with a dubious "you can go", and no explanation. Maybe my name and physog mimicked an uncaught Baader–Meinhof member? Started flying within the US using my passport as ID, no more hassles.

Sherrie Ludwig

Re: Unique keys

'"Will AI systems ask other AI systems when there is a problem?"

Oh fuck! What a horrible thought!!!'

Yeah, they will, and the responding AI will just make something up. We are so screwed.

'We hate what you’ve done with the place – especially the hate' Australia tells Twitter

Sherrie Ludwig

Re: A poop emoji

Followed by stopping of all Tesla deliveries to Oz land. He has already canned the RHD Model S and X. It won't take much for him to do the same with the 3 and Y. That sounds like a welcome safety development for roads down under.

Lawyers who cited fake cases hallucinated by ChatGPT must pay

Sherrie Ludwig

We need to mock AI at every turn, to understand that this isn't "Sonny" from iRobot that we're getting. We're just getting yet-another dumb assistant that looks useful but ultimately requires a human to double-check everything it claims. Again.

What we have is the character played by Chris Hemsworth in the much-maligned female cast Ghostbusters attempted reboot: very attractive, very easy to interact with, looks like they would be useful, and is a useless mess.

Where's my money?! Now USA Today publisher sues Google over online advertising

Sherrie Ludwig

investment in solar farms in the desert

I have to ask, when I see advertisements soliciting investors, why banks and hedge funds aren't rushing in with bags of money for said investment? Oh, right, because they looked at the numbers and said NOPE. Either the project is bad or the people touting it are scammers.

Florida man insists he didn't violate the law by keeping Top Secret docs

Sherrie Ludwig

Re: What I cannot understand ...

Not my country. I live in the UK. And so its ok to leave them in the garage if you are president but not ok to store them in a space deemed acceptable by the secret service who actually went to check on the storage?

OK, let's try to explain this for the slow ones: I an retiring from an institution, say, a bank. I gather up the stuff from my desk as I leave the office. Later, the bank says some loan documents are missing, which would be a violation of privacy for the bank's customers, and are needed for normal operations. I go through the stuff I boxed up and find those documents, and maybe some more that the bank might need. I also tell them to send over a current loan officer to look through the stuff, give him/her the key to my home office and garage in case there's anything else that got mixed in. Inconvenient, mildly embarrassing, but OK

OR, I tell the bank I don't have anything, but show the loan documents to everyone to prove what an important person I am, maybe sell some of the information contained in them (ya know, retirement is expensive) or hold the info back just in case I need a few "favors" later. When the bank shows up having contacted law enforcement for a subpoena, I whine about a witch hunt. They find some of the documents, are still looking for more, and are horrified and angry that I was stupid enough to show some of the information to outsiders, compromising their customer relations.

There you have it, Biden and Pence are OK, the orange fart is OR. And, I hope, gone.

Can noise-cancelling buds beat headphones? We spent 20 hours flying to find out

Sherrie Ludwig

I still prefer my headphones to have a cable that I can plug in to the device. One less device to charge up.....

And if they dislodge while you nap, you can follow the cord to retrieve them.

The bonkers water-cooled shoe PC, hexagonal pink workstations, and IKEA-style cases of Computex 2023

Sherrie Ludwig

The bike desk

While I see the decent idea behind the pedal while you work, some crazy boss will see it as "free electricity"! And maybe start charging the peons if they don't generate a surplus....

The FBI as advanced persistent threat – and what to do about it

Sherrie Ludwig

We tried those

>>The best device to reduce road deaths, suggested economist Gordon Tulloch, would be a large steel spike in the center of every car's steering wheel.

https://www.consumerreports.org/cars/car-recalls-defects/takata-airbag-recall-everything-you-need-to-know-a1060713669/ Even when faced with a bomb in the middle of the steering wheel, traffic carnage continued unaffected. There are certainly still people driving around with one of these.

Microsoft decides it will be the one to choose which secure login method you use

Sherrie Ludwig

Re: Reminds me of the convenience store down the block

"You're being lied to about the cost of using cards. Check the PSR website for the facts. Interchange fee cap: 0.3% per transaction (credit cards), 0.2% per transaction (debit cards)."

I want to do business in whatever utopia you live in. Actual USA retailer here, small one-person operation. Yes, they are not burdensome, but they are present. Someone wanting to pay a $1 sale with a card costs me 12.6% of the sale through Square. https://squareup.com/us/en/payments/our-fees means that if they are buying some clearance item that I am getting rid of at cost ($1. costume jewelry) it is cheaper to me to just give them to her.

BOFH: Ah. Company-branded merch. So much better than a bonus

Sherrie Ludwig
Windows

Re: When do people understand that cash rules?

CASH always rules. Stupid crap that a company gives away is almost always gathering dust soon after.

When will manglement understand that?

An acquaintance was let go from a company that liberally doled out t-shirts, sweatshirts and jackets expensively embroidered with the company logo. She was rather upset with the firing. The company headquarters was located in a dodgy area of the city, lots of homeless people on the streets. She was bemoaning that after working there for a long time, she had quite a wardrobe of company-logo stuff she never wanted to see again. I suggested she make a distribution of all the tat to the local homeless, improving their lives and getting petty revenge on her ex-company.

Icon for one of the recipients.

YouTube's 'Ad blockers not allowed' pop-up scares the bejesus out of netizens

Sherrie Ludwig

why I have solitaire in another window.

I watch a lot of cooking and other craft type Youtube stuff, and have a nice game of solitaire or other diversion in a second window. Wait out the blather, then on with the show.

DEF CON to set thousands of hackers loose on LLMs

Sherrie Ludwig

I would have paid admission to access the results of red teams' testing LLMs for hallucinations, etc. That might result in quite the entertainment value.

Red Hat layoffs spark calls to unionize, CEO wades in

Sherrie Ludwig

Re: Bandwagon...

Muskolini was not the harbinger, just in the middle of the pack. As much as I detest the Musk ox, this wasn't on him.

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