* Posts by Commswonk

1777 publicly visible posts • joined 3 Sep 2015

BT flogs off its fleet vehicle maintenance arm to German private equity types Aurelius

Commswonk

Re: Sold to Germany??

And on top of everything else, we will have another load of skilled workers who will end up on benefits because there are no jobs for them while the money that used to pay them now goes overseas - this time into the pockets of the German private equity firm - so no chance of any of it being spent in the UK. Still, as long as the management have their jobs and bonuses, does it really matter who gets paid not to do any work?

Sorry to spoil a good rant but trying to link this deal with Brexit is bizarre; UK business has been getting gobbled up by non - UK businesses since long before Brexit became a thing. As it happens I don't like foreign takeovers of UK businesses any more that you do. When GB was Prime Minister I used to find myself grinding my teeth because he always liked to call it "inward investment"; I have no idea if he believed his own misinformation or not, but I certainly didn't.

I accept that people either like or loathe the idea of leaving the EU, but please don't run away with the idea that it will have much effect either way on "foreign" interests controlling a large part of the UK economy.

Storied veteran Spitfire slapped with chrome paint job takes off on round-the-world jaunt

Commswonk

Re: darn it...

Flight plan says not coming anywhere near my part of the US.

From the article: A restored and defanged Supermarine Spitfire has just taken off from Goodwood Aerodrome in West Sussex, England, on a round-the-world trip... <snip> The Silver Spitfire, call sign G-IRTY, will fly west heading first to Greenland ...

Last time I looked Greenland wasn't west of West Sussex, so goodness knows where it will finish up.

I miss him already, says judge as Mike Lynch's court marathon ends

Commswonk

Re: Thinking of the poor children ..

Are they scheduled to be called to the stand?

As this trial is being held in the UK can we have witness box please? I regard "stand" as an imported abomination.

Apple loses FaceTime patent appeal again. And again. And again. And again. And again... yes, it's the fifth time

Commswonk

Re: How does this go on so long?

Does the US not have such a concept as Vexatious Litigant?

Openreach hands out £14m to compensate for broadband outages. Not to you, silly, to your ISP!

Commswonk

"Not to you, silly, to your ISP!"

I know BT bashing (inc Openreach) is a popular game (often justifiably) but that part of the headline goes a bit far.

I buy my broadband service from BT and no, it hasn't offered me compenation for any outages, but then AFAIK there haven't been any other than the odd one or two for a few minutes.

If people buy broadband from other suppliers who themselves rely on BT to supply them then the customers' contracts are with the resellers, not with BT, so they will have to chase their own ISPs for a payout; they do not have contracts with BT so there is no reason why BT should compensate them other than via their own ISPs.

If those reselling BT's services receive compensation but do not pass it own to their own customers who have experienced downtime then that is hardly BT's fault.

Please try to hit the right targets!

Hull be damned: KCOM shuts shop as UK High Court waves through £627m Macquarie deal

Commswonk

Re: Is this the end of cream coloured phone boxes?

...once you've installed your phone box then you've got several large panels you can sell advertising space on .... the issue of whether anyone actually uses the phone is really not relevant to the business plan.

Well perhaps. Prior to BT taking it away because the legitimate takings were minimal the phone box by our local shops was plastered with advertisements, so I'm not sure that BT was making any money from them either.

Although I never had the occasion to use it I would have been very reluctant to do so for the simple reason that once in there it would have been impossible to see out meaning that it was not beyond the bounds of possibility that one might emerge to an unseen welcoming party.

Unlikely perhaps, but not impossible, and being of a suspicious mind it always struck me as being an unacceptable risk to personal well - being.

No see out? No go in...

Commswonk

Re: Is this the end of cream coloured phone boxes?

Phone boxes of any colour seem to be on the Critically Endangered list, for understandable reasons.

Fed-up graphic design outfit dangles cash to anyone who can free infosec of hoodie pics

Commswonk

Re: Wish I would wear a hoodie at work

That said I can wear whatever I want - working from home has it's benefits

Ah yes; Dilbert found that as well: https://dilbert.com/strip/1995-02-07

Outsourcing giant Capita handed £145m for UK.gov's Personal Independence Payment extension

Commswonk

Stop Laughing at the Back...

From the article: Jon Lewis, chief executive of Capita, said of the contract win: "These contract extensions are testament to the commitment of our healthcare team, our consistently strong operational performance, and the strength of our longstanding relationship with government."

I hope he had been on a "Keeping a Straight Face" course before uttering any such thing.

Furthermore, when reading strength of our longstanding relationship with government it is worth remembering that any parasite could say the same thing about its host.

Brit infosec firms urge PM Boris to reform the Computer Misuse Act

Commswonk

Re: Nothing is sometimes the best option

"riding an e-scooter on the highway, which is against the law, as is riding one on the pavement. "

<snipped> Illegal on pavement, illegal on road, so where are they legal?

On private land.

Am I missing something here?

Yes, mainly the fact that ignorance of the law is not a defence.

Commswonk

Michael Heseltine was one of the guests that day and asked what he thought. He was very reluctant. To paraphrase his response it was along the lines of "I'm not sure, it's very easy for things to get tacked on to legislation such as this... before you know it you could well end up with mandatory competence certification, compulsory insurance and lord knows what else that impacts even the six year olds playing out in the park... I've been involved in introducing these kinds of regulations in the past and they never do pan out exactly like you originally envisaged."

This is a chap who has seen it all before and knows exactly the process these things go through.

(Sorry about the long quote)

I don't suppose that it occurred to you that a politician (or a civil servant) is adept at finding reasons for doing nothing.

It doesn't mean that doing nothing is the right thing, though.

For a more recent scenario we need look no further than the young woman who was killed while riding an e-scooter on the highway, which is against the law, as is riding one on the pavement. By all accounts this has become commonplace, and the fatality might never have occurred if the law had been enforced right from the outset.

Is doing "nothing" still the right thing to do?

Sleeping Tesla driver wonders why his car ploughed into 11 traffic cones on a motorway

Commswonk

Re: Darwin Mode

Let's do away with the misleading 'Auto Pilot' name and call it what it is.

And since you mentioned it...

Mrs Commswonk & I went to the cinema [1] yesterday evening and one of the very loud advertisements before the film was for another make of car equipped with "ProPilot Technology".[2]

Below all the hype (in a rather smaller font) there was a very brief appearance (as in blink and you'll miss it) of a disclaimer which boiled down to "may not always work". Caveat Emptor, as usual.

[1] The story might be a bit juvenile but the CGI in The Lion King is breathtakingly good.

[2] Am I the only person who gets pissed off by marketing adding the word "Technology" to all and sundry these days?

UK digital network Openreach takes 15 electric vans for a spin

Commswonk

Horses were always high maintenance transport. The worry would have been having an adequate fuel distribution system.

Supplying the fuel for horses wasn't a problem, but clearing up the exhaust certainly was. It was only the arrival of the horseless carriage that stopped large conurbations being buried under unmanageable quantities of rose fertiliser.

See Superfreakonomics by Levitt & Dubner.

Commswonk

Despite the fact that over the next 13 years there will be that regulatory pressure to improve EV's in all aspects.

Given that "regulatory pressure" will have politicians behind it it is likely to include repealing the laws of physics.

Do you really believe that after the progress made in the last ten years, none at all will be made in the next ten?

Clearly I hope nobody would believe that, but I would equally hope that nobody will assume that "progress" (however measured) over the last ten years will be followed by "progress" (using the same measuring technique) at the same rate over the next ten.

Bit like past performance is not a guarantee of future performance...

'We've done it, we've wasted further time!' Judge raps HP over Mike Lynch court scrutiny

Commswonk

The judge is fed up and that is not where you want to be when trying to win a case.

Which takes us back to Alladin Sane's Only if there are grounds for an appeal.

<Deity> help us if HP loses the case and decides to lodge an appeal on the basis that the trial judge was prejudiced against them purely on the basis that he expressed dissatisfaction with the way HP presented its case.

Popcorn futures anyone?

Commswonk

Oops

That's what comes of letting a US brief act in a UK court.

From the article: For the past three weeks Lynch, the former CEO of Autonomy, has been cross-examined by HPE barrister Laurence Rabinowitz QC.

If Mr Rabinowitz is indeed a QC then it seems unlikely that he is a "US brief".

UK cops blasted over 'disproportionate' slurp of years of data from crime victims' phones

Commswonk

Re: Stop using that phone

Out of fairness to someone who may have been wrongfully and even maliciously accused the police have to tread a very fine line.

Um... a requirement that they spectacularly failed to follow in the matter of the accusations emanating from Carl Beech, a/k/a/ "Nick".

Commswonk

Meanwhile...

Overall detection rates plummet to a new low.

UK government buys off Serco lawsuit with £10m bung. Whew. Now Capita can start running fire and rescue

Commswonk

Re: Magic firefighting 'technology'

I also wonder how good the pumps are at pushing water up 900m.

In all fairness the video said 900 and something feet, not metres. Even so that would be an impressive head of water.

More to the point, at the displayed state of development that hose is more suited to watering the lawn, not extinguishing fires. Proper firefighting hoses are rather bigger, thus containing a much greater volume and hence mass of water.

I may have got my maths wrong, but a fire hose is approximately 7.5 cm diameter. (I think!) Its cross - sectional area is thus 44 cm2. A 1 metre length of said hose will thus contain 44 x 100 = 4400 cm3 of water, = 4.4 litres, which equates to 4.4 kg of water.

The stated lift capacity of the drone was 200 kg, meaning that it could lift no more than 45 metres of filled hose, and that's neglecting the weight of the hose itself.

Not quite so impressive now...

Of course if my calculations are adrift, which is entirely possible, I may have to eat my words.

BT staffers fear new mums could be hit disproportionately by car allowance change

Commswonk

WTF?

Prior to the proposed changes, employees received their full car allowance throughout maternity leave.

Unless I have completely misunderstood all this employees who are not at work by virtue of being on maternity leave currently receive a car allowance.

For what, FFS? Anywhere I have worked the car allowance was so much per mile when the car was used on duty, and no payments were available for non - duty journeys, and certainly not when on leave.

I now feel that I was being cheated for all those years...

We don't mean to poo-poo this, but... The Internet of S**t has literally arrived thanks to Pampers smart diapers

Commswonk

Re: So the already exorbitant price of pampers go up...

At least by whatever local e-waste charge is tagged on. I don’t envy the recycling company who has to rummage through sh*t to get to the components so it’s good for the environment.

I wonder if they will be covered by the WEEE Regulations...

Elon Musk's new idea is to hook your noggin up to an AI – but is he just insane about the brain?

Commswonk

Re: Version 3

That would make it completely unacceptable.

IMHO the whole idea is unacceptable now; it's beyond grotesque.

Any such plan needs the strictest of ethical standards, and there is neither person nor organisation that I would trust to set those standards and enforce them.

OK, it's fair to say UK's botched Emergency Services Network is an emergency now, right?

Commswonk

Re: As good as Airwave

@ SPiT: I sincerely hope that you are wrong, but equally strongly suspect that you aren't.

Commswonk

Re: I would go for...

Legally requiring all mobile service providers to supply bandwidth to the Emergency Services...

Trouble is it's not just bandwidth that's required, it's functionality within that bandwidth. The operating system (i.e. software) for mobile phones and that for ESN are not the same. On top of bandwidth it would require all the MNOs to have ESN - compatible software running in the background.

It would be interesting to know how well cell handovers would work if it involved network operator handover as well.

Commswonk

Re: Home Office lacks plan, skills, budget control or achievable deadlines

I am pretty sure that applies to just about every HO project since John Peel had an idea about a permanent police force.

You mean Robert Peel.

Commswonk

Re: Epic Fail?

Ahh....Government procurement

Quite so...

I'm not sure if HMG has a contract with Motorola to provide ESN network infrastructure, or if that contract is with EE. With one (primary) contractor that has to provide everything via separate contracts making a penalty clause work should be fairly easy. If all the contracts are separate then all the contractors finish up squabbling amongst themselves blaming one another while the Principal (in this case the Home Office) has to more or less stand on the touch - line waiting for an outcome.

I also noted that nothing has been done yet to award a contract for helicopter radio systems. No great surprise there... However, I find myself worrying that I have seen no mention of providing ESN radio equipment for "marine assets". There is a significant number of Police launches and RIBs around the country, and getting functional and reliable communications into them is a major challenge, albeit for reasons very different to those affecting airborne radio systems.

That said I don't know why I am "worrying"; being retired from the game I have no involvement beyond eating the popcorn.

Commswonk
FAIL

Epic Fail?

From the article: On current evidence it seems inevitable that there will be further delays and cost increases

In any sensible world the penalty clauses within the contract would have been invoked by now, with EE having to pay the continuing costs of keeping Airwave running.

However, in the Alice - in - Wonderland world of the Home Office it seems more than likely that no - one thought to have any penalty clauses, or if they did EE refused to play if a penalty clause or two was included. With no mention of them anywhere in this long - running blunderfest I assume that there simply aren't any, in which case the present situation was almost inevitable.

Oh for the halcyon days when the Home Office had technically competent personnel in DTels; I cannot help but feel that if that department still existed "we" might not be in the mess we are.

Disclaimer: No; I didn't work for DTels.

Bulb smart meters in England wake up from comas miraculously speaking fluent Welsh

Commswonk

Re: Lack of imagination

They could at least have used Klingon or perhaps Vulcan

Better still; Vogon.

And as poetry as a bonus...

Hell hath no fury like a radar engineer scorned

Commswonk

Re: dubious

10m would have been at least another 30dB to 40dB of attentuation depending on the efficiency of the transmit antenna and the receive "antenna"

Agreed; whilst it all makes for a good anecdote it still sounds a bit suspect. Firstly a dummy load is not intended to radiate (OK; they always do even if it's only very slightly) so the normal aerial should not have been in circuit. If, however, it was an attenuator then having the aerial connected and functional would make perfect sense.

As stated by "horsham_sparky" there would be substantial path loss between aerial and "target" so the ignition of the flash bulbs as described sounds highly "dubious".

Enquiring minds would like to know, and all that...

Oh good. This'll go well. Amazon's Alexa will offer NHS advice

Commswonk

Ian Emery wrote: Medical negligence lawyers.

Ha Ha! At least with the NHS you can sue for medical negligence.

Good luck trying to sue Amazon.

You TalkTalk a big game, says ads watchdog, but your testing not good enough to say your Wi-Fi's best

Commswonk

Re: Pre-approve ads?

Because Ofcom isn't the origin of the ruling; it merely advised the Advertising Standards Agency on some technical points, after which the ASA made its ruling.

For all its faults Ofcom has no remit to approve or disapprove advertising material of this kind.

Here's a great idea: Why don't we hardcode the same private key into all our smart home hubs?

Commswonk

ill-adviced clody paltform

Sounds like something thought up by Douglas Adams.

Cop a load of this: 1TB of police body camera videos found lounging around public databases

Commswonk

Re: ALL police body cam footage...

The public paid for it, in more ways than one.

The public pays for prisons as well; are we to assume that you want to spend some time in one, like some enormous timeshare?

America's latest 5G drama: Spectrum row bursts into the open with special adviser fingered as agent provocateur

Commswonk

Re: It stupidity anyway

The 24 GHz is only good for point to point links, sports stadiums, auditoriums and open plan offices.

My thoughts entirely. Even on point to point links precipitation attenuation can be rather severe so the link budget has to include a (potentially very) large fade margin; with fixed links a lot of that margin can be obtained by using large parabolic aerials with high gain, but those are not really practical for portable use*.

It also occurs to me that making a handset with enough transmitter power at 24 GHz is going to be a significant challenge; I would expect it to guzzle battery power at a frightening rate.

* This is called understatement.

There's that phrase again: JP Morgan CIO told Autonomy's first HP boss it was 'a shit show'

Commswonk

Re: Not Sure Who This Really Helps

Neither am I. Autonomy may or may not have been a "shit show" but asserting that it was is neither here nor there. HP have to prove that Autonomy's accounts were falsified, not that it was a shit show.

The room may or may not have been bugged; again that is neither here nor there. An allegedly bugged room is not proof that the accounts were in any way falsified. In fact an allegedly bugged room is just that; an allegation.

This is just flinging shit in the hope that some of it will stick.

Hello Moto! UK Home Office shoves comms giant another £82m to stay on Emergency Services Network gig

Commswonk

Re: going for a record fail.

It would be cheaper to use the Armies radio net & send out a squaddie with every plod / fire engine & ambulance

It would be, but it also would probably not work.

Still has the appearance of a record fail, though.

Commswonk

Re: I think the phrase is...

I spoke to someone within EE at BAPCO and they were fairly confident they were in a good position to go ahead.

This comment is hardly "original" but that doesn't make it inapplicable: Well he would, wouldn't he?

Also note "fairly confident"; hardly the same as "definitely ready to go ahead" is it?

Autonomy integration was a 'sh!t show', HP director tells court

Commswonk

Re: HP people I have known

One observation I will make is that non-engineer HP people I have known have all had a tendency to express themselves in somewhat cloudy and indefinite language - as if hoping that anything they say won't come back to bite them later.

And / or: - as if hoping that anything they say won't reveal that they haven't a bloody clue what they are talking about in the first place.

PowerPoint to start telling you that your presentation is bad and you should feel bad

Commswonk

- Thou shalt not Powerpoint. etc...

- Thou shalt not use the words "going forward"

Those words, plus other meaningless manglement - speak will result in disciplinary proceedings against the offender.

Commswonk

Now You Mention It...

From the article: On that note, we would respectfully direct users to our very own online Standards Converter for a far superior experience.

There is (IMHO) a significant omission from the list; read on...

When I worked for <redacted> my immediate colleague and I were getting progressively more irritated with a manager who clearly had no real idea of what we were actually doing. (FWIW we rather liked it that way, but that's another story.) My colleague had a revelation come to him and he announced that the manager's name should be used as the Unit of Wasted Space.

A few moments later we realised that there were others almost equally deserving of immortality so we finished up allocating Wasted Space names for every standard we could think of; SI, MKS, CGS, FPS.

Eventually, much the better for our little diversion, we got back to work.

*Spits out coffee* £4m for a database of drone fliers, UK.gov? Defra did game shooters for £300k

Commswonk

Yes it looks like the RC folks might well be caught up in this little earner.Yes it looks like the RC folks might well be caught up in this little earner.

I find myself wondering how much UK pilots (PPL or CPL) have to pay to stay registered, and how much it costs for a UK - registered aircraft to stay registered. I cannot imagine that the CAA doesn't have a DB of both people and flying machines so cost considerations aside I am a loss to see why the CAA needs a new database.

While I am not a DB expert I would have thought that a few minutes tinkering by someone who is might just save something like, say, £3.99M

US can try extraditing Julian Assange next year, rules UK court

Commswonk

That's one to rank alongside "he would say that, wouldn't he".

Oops; I think you may just have revealed your age "range".

Get this: Mad King Leo wanted HP to slurp two other firms alongside ill-fated Autonomy buyout

Commswonk

Re: Kind of...

@ Aristotles slow and dimwitted horse: IANAL, so I'm not sure where UK law stands on this if I were to buy a house advertised as having a garage, but it not actually being there when I exchange contracts? What would be my legal recourse if I only found out it had no garage once I took legal ownership?

Learned Counsel: Are you telling this Court that when you became the legal owner of this property there was no garage, despite one being specifically mentioned in the sales brochure given to you by the estate agent?

You: That is correct.

Learned Counsel: And a garage was clearly present when you inspected the property with a view to its subsequent purchase?

You: I did not inspect the property prior to purchasing it.

Learned Counsel: And did the surveyor you employed comment on the existence or otherwise of a garage when they inspected the property on your behalf?

You: I didn't bother to read the surveyor's report.

Learned Counsel: Ahhh...

(Laughter)

Mr Justice Cocklecarrot: (For it is he) Silence!!

With acknowledgements to "Beachcomber".

Commswonk

I wonder...

... if HP has realised that it is paying a lot of money so that the rest of the world can watch it washing its dirty linen in public.

It will be interesting to see where the major participants in this grisly tale are in (say) 12 months time, and also to see if HP still exists in any recognisable form.

ALIS through the looking glass: F-35 fighter jet's slurpware nearly made buyers pull out – report

Commswonk

Looks like data slurping is here to stay, no matter what you may buy or use.

Odd that this should come from the US - the country that wants to ban Huawei because it might do something not so very greatly different.

Judge slaps down Meg Whitman for accusing Autonomy boss of being a 'fraudster who committed fraud'

Commswonk

Re: Etiquette when in Court

Sorry for the long quote... I do wonder if this is all to do with the burning need for management to "make their mark", or "do the big deal", etc. Was making a big deal more important personally to HP's head honchos than making a wise acquisition? I've seen hints of this in other US companies - buying stuff makes you look good, actually properly integrating it into your existing business to make a slicker more capable company seems to come second (if anywhere).

Obviously learned nothing from the Royal Bank of Scotland buying ABN AMRO.

Perhaps the word hubris doesn't feature in Webster's Dictionary.

Commswonk

Re: Etiquette when in Court

@macjules: That has been superceded by Rule #2, namely,

In the event of Rule 2 not being applicable, then Rule 3 shall apply:

When you find yourself in a hole, stop digging.

Commswonk

Etiquette when in Court

How to open your mouth and step in with both feet.

Rule 1: when in Court do not annoy the judge. However big a fish you are in your own pond, right now you are in a lawyers' pond and the judge is bigger. Much bigger.

What first attracted Ofcom boss Sharon White to the near-£1m salary offered by John Lewis Partnership?

Commswonk
Unhappy

On the bright side....

...I bet all the other JLP employees (who are in fact the owners; note the P in the company name) will be delighted to hear of her promised £990,000 when their last annual bonuses / dividend were slashed.

On the basis of the corporate motto of Never Knowingly Undersold it must be assumed that JLP must have Troughs (Snouts for the use of) on special offer at the moment.

BT to axe 90% of its UK real estate, retain circa 30 sites

Commswonk

Re: Hi I'm Marvin try me

The better ones get retained at BT.

I wouldn't count on that for one moment. Once the writing appears on the wall the better people decide that they are sufficiently "better" to find gainful employment elsewhere and leave (or better still apply for redundancy & hopefully get a good pay - off) leaving the less capable to take their chances.

Managers tend to neither care nor notice who actually leaves when the primary objective is to reduce the headcount.

More often than not it's the paying customers who finish up getting short - changed because they are stuck having to put up with the consequences of the business having less capable employees.