Posts by Sir Runcible Spoon

@MJI

"I reckon bikes are safer when you go faster as you can't get whacked from behind by a car."

Up to a point, yes :) Beyond that point the safety value (quite literally) drops off a cliff!

Taking an advanced riding course with an ex-police motorcyclist around the mountains of Wales made my car driving about 10x safer.

Scariest bit was when he was curing me of my comfort braking coming up to bends by having me ride down roads on the sides of mountains (with hairpin bends and such) *without* being able to use the brakes (engine braking only).

It's also worth noting that the bike has considerably more confidence at lower lean angles than you probably do, so if you feel like you're a bit hot in that corner, lean over a few more degrees. It sounds scary, but nothing like as scary as using the front brake and suddenly losing the ability to corner at all !!!

Re: https://www.politicalcompass.org/

Thanks for that, my 'dot' is almost overlapping Ghandis'. Considering some of the other people on that chart I'm gonna be happy about that :)

Re: Whilst I don't disagree...

"The shame is that I can see in a year or so this being in the budget to be rolled out to private sector contractors also."

At which point my rates go up or I work in another country that isn't quite so suicidally stupid.

Re: Two Rules Apply

", went to the window, opened it, and threw it out."

We've all got to start somewhere :P but you obviously have the right stuff, and the machines can sense that in your aura.

On the downside, come judgement day it will be people like us that are top of the 'discard' pile ;)

" You only let the failure be irreparable if it happens at a time when you are disgruntled."

Quite. I don't need to do harm to anyone else I work with if they repeatedly manage to piss me off - I just 'withdraw my support'. Without it they usually end up getting into a scrape, and without support they're toast (I should add that once others know my support has been withdrawn from a particular person they tend to look at that persons actions a lot more closely too - kind of a canary thing).

I don't do this lightly either, I'm not a total dick :)

Re: What works, what doesn't?

Personally I corrupt the driver files themselves. If a hacker sees that the files are missing they already know why they can't see anything. If everything is all there (just knackered) they are facing with having to re-install the device drivers using admin rights.

Re: Comfortable illusions about computer security

"But people want things as simple as possible. KISS Principle, turnkey simplicity and all that. And they outnumber you."

Most of my designs are based around KISS, but that doesn't mean they aren't complex (even for fellow consultants).

As an example, a current design is based around a very modular system (which was necessary due to the ever changing requirements of the customer natch.) and when you look at each component it is very simple indeed.

However, when you bolt them all together and try and encompass the whole thing at once (which you need to be able to do in order to reliably predict the impact of a new requirement/change) then all of a sudden it looks *very* complicated.

For example, Lego bricks are simple - but I've seen amazing things made from them that I wouldn't even know how to begin building!

Re: Where will the next generation of IT specialists come from, PERIOD?

I saw this coming back in the late 90's when the highly skilled helpdesk I was working on was changed from 'an expert on the phone' model to 'we will deal with 90% of queries with a dumbass who can handle DNS' model.

Result: I moved on in the company, but as I moved farther afield there was a noticable gap developing behind me as I went - no-one was filling it because there was no longer a path for them to follow.

End result was that the company that once had a stellar reputation for support went down the crapper stage by stage, and I can trace it all back to the decision to put quantity ahead of quality.

Re: telecommuting marketing staff

I work from home most of the time, and whilst I agree that it doesn't suit everyone I can definitely say I get more done.

In fact, the reason I get to work from home so much is that I get a *lot* more done than I do in the office (which can be a double-edged sword though - occupational burn out and all that).

These days I look at a day in the office as a 'day-off' (in comparison).

If valid protests are conducted rationally I should have no fear of expressing an opinion that is contrary to what the protesters are calling for (which is what, by the way?).

However, regarding the situation with Trump etc. I don't feel I can express any positive remarks about anything Trump related without fear (no matter what my reservations might be and that I don't agree with everything he is planning).

For example, I'm planning a trip to America soon. I feel that if I express any kind of positive remark about Trump I could end up in hospital or worse! That isn't right.

It's seems very odd to me that there are protesters with signs that say "Love, not hate" who are frothing at the mouth and looking very angry whilst doing so. The actions do not tally with the words - do you see what I'm saying?

Re: Is it possible...

If I've heard wrong then fine, but it used to be normal practice on these forums to highlight that possibility rather than just jump on someone.

I've done a bit more research since and I can see why my comment doesn't exactly gel with reality :P but I'm now more concerned that half the world appears to be in 'triggered' mode whenever Trump is mentioned.

Obligatory xkcd ref

https://www.xkcd.com/695/

Re: Both feet, and the ankles

What you are suggesting sounds very much like how an agency is run, with rates and markup and contracts etc.

That would make a lot more sense than trying to juggle dividends etc.

Re: Snoopers Charter

"May asked for the Snoopers Charter to be applied to all employees at GCHQ first"

As long as it also included every politician and public servant in the land as well, with NO exceptions.

Re: Fuck You fund

I hadn't thought of this option for permies. As a contractor you keep 6 months money in the bank as a matter of course.

I learned this the hard way after my first contract was terminated without notice and I hadn't saved up enough for 2 months, let alone 6.

Now, after the mortgage/food/bills, money goes to the contingency fund before any kind of luxuries until the 6 month pot is full.

Re: Or a shovel through a fibre/wire bundle

"(or possibly wire bundle) and that cut off a *lot* of people"

If you are referring to an incident that happened in the late 90's, then it was a fibre bearer - 150 bundles iirc. Oh, and yes, the people who had purchased divergent connectivity were none to pleased to discover it wasn't.

It was odd seeing all the alerts come in. 5 red lights....15 red lights......screen full of red lights OMG WHAT HAPPENED TO LONDON!!! ;)

Re: A sad day :(

@Rich 11 - wow, it sounds like he's inheriting a perfect system that can only go downhill from here!