Posts by Little Mouse

Re: So, Lisa Monaco nabbed Ilya Lichtenstein

Which reminds me, where in the world IS Carmen Sandiego?

Re: Fake...

When the colouring is based on specific criteria (e.g. by mathematically shifting the wavelength to a more eye-friendly range), then the images are definitely not a mere "artist's impression". They're as "real" as any other processed photo (and all photos are processed in some way)

Isn't it true though that some of the famous Hubble images were coloured to make them look that bit more impressive, rather than to add scientific value?

Re: "our people are core to our success"

Completely stupid? But have you ever been there when the headcount needs to be reduced?

I've seen many rounds of corporate "rightsizing" at several companies over the years, and in my experience the IT teams are always considered the most expendable and replaceable.

It's dumb, short-term thinking to be sure, but it's still what happens.

Re: Elementary my dear Watson...

Pub Quiz factoid: In the books, Holmes actually said ‘Exactly, my dear Watson’, on more than one occasion.

Ah - but Zuck's will be the largest "AI" supercomputer. Whatever that means.

Maybe someone finally created a genuine AI whilst I wasn't looking, and now it's a pissing contest to see who has the largest one?

Same here.

And another real benefit is that our new IT hires no longer need to be from within commute distance of a local office. We can realistically hire anyone from anywhere, and we have done.

That said, we're neither London based, nor have a single head-office that the minions are expected to doff their caps to. There is no central seat of power, so to speak, so we don't have the kind of corporate culture described in the article.

Re: Mystery

If you're inside of IR35 and not planning on contracting for too long, then it's typically neither cost effective nor an efficient use of your time to set up your own company.

Also, every company I've contracted for has insisted that I am on someone's payroll (for liability reasons apparently - I've no idea if that's BS or not though). Being a sole trader simply wasn't an acceptable option to them.

Re: "Earth’s magnetic field will disappear in 6.2 billion years or so"

We are #2:

We're already regarding super-earths with envious eyes.

Then slowly, surely, we'll draw our plans against them.

Re: I miss the jokes

There were also user forums of a limited kind too. I've no idea how their comments made it from the users' living rooms onto the tellybox though - this was way before email and SMS were a thing. Did you have to physically send them in by Royal Mail?

Re: Microsoft...

So it seems. Only affecting Server Core is quite something.

Wasn't a big selling point of Core that it was a pared-back version of Server without all the unnecessary bolt-ons & bloat? i.e. Far fewer things could go wrong with it?

Re: National Infrastructure

I doubt that it is even expected to leave the ground. I fail to see any actual point in creating a sovereign cryptocoin.

But there's clearly gravy to be had in consultancy & development etc.

Re: Oh yeah, I am hopeful as all f@#$

Agreed - If you remove all the flowery language from her statement she's basically saying that leaving is her main priority and figuring out what to do after that is only of secondary concern.

Re: City hospital?

Never accuse a Brummie of being a Northerner.

I remember when a visiting MP made a speech in Birmingham, and enthused about being "up north". The Evening Mail really went to town on that one. The letters page absolutely lit up with reader indignation.

Re: Crash proof how?

It sounds like this is mean to address what happens to the cargo after such a sudden loss of drone integrity. I'm not sure what kind of scenario they are trying to cover though:

If your cargo is transplant organs, or eggs, then you'll want them to survive the ordeal 100% intact.

If your cargo is plutonium or novichok, you'll need to ensure that your cargo stays completely sealed.

If your cargo is cash or other valuables - you'll need to ensure the bad guys can't get at it.

There's also the issue of minimising any collateral damage to people & property from plummeting cargo.

etc

Dunno how far they'll get with just 50K though... Bubble-wrap & parachutes maybe.

Re: No difference between grammar & comprehensive

"The rules end at the school gate." Well, almost...

At my old school, if you were seen dicking around in public whilst wearing your uniform, you'd definitely get a bollocking the next day for casting the school in a bad light.

I imagine most schools today would have a similar attitude.

Re: Fake vax certificate

Not quite "random" - They've submitted all that data to a website that they know to be unequivocally dishonest, and that could cash in for a second time with a juicy bit of blackmail if it so wanted...

Re: Approving development without being bribed?

I was going to post something about IT staff being cheaper to bribe, but of course in reality your typical IT custodian actually has a good measure of genuine integrity, unlike a number of Councillors that I allegedly may or may not have had the pleasure of working under.

Re: So this 1 guy

Think "network packets". Big numbers of those are definitely to be expected.

Re: "No peeing towards Russia."

No need to travel - You can pee towards Russia from wherever you are. And you can aim in the direction of any country you want.

My toilets point south from the UK. Make of that what you will

So you really can tie up all of a machine's compute power by making it calculate PI?

Captain Kirk was right after all!

Re: Nordic electrocution

A larger training is set required, methinks. But nice try anyway.