Posts by Thesheep
29 posts • joined Tuesday 11th October 2011 17:52 GMT
NASA computers...
...still seem to be using a terrible greenscreen UI, with an annoying typewriter animation. Perhaps they could use some of their budget to buy something a bit less 1980s?
Kodacell
...it was all foretold. (Apart from the bits he got wrong)
Re: whats big?
Anyone who gives an answer to that question would clearly be a faker.
And I'd also kick out anyone who mentioned the 3 Vs.
Any thought gone into this article?
Or did you just reprint all the mashed up crap regurgitated by the vested interests of the Murdoch (and other) empires, nicely aided and abetted by their friends?
What happened to journalists looking to source facts? Other than an Index of Censorship press release where is your evidence for "300 years" of freedom.
For completeness sake you could at least have included the rest of their arguments, and added some ad-hominem attacks on Hugh Grant and a mention of Hitler...
Re: I can think of few people
I can: the bungling, incompetent, thieving (stolen data), liars in the press. Oh, and the PCC.
Is this the 80s????
Digital? I mean, come on. Are there still pockets of analogue computers out there that I haven't noticed? Perhaps it's time for me to throw away the 8 track.
The depressing state of coding...
...is that all you expert coders have never managed a piece of code that you couldn't have improved if you tried. At least that's what I'm taking from your comments. Unless you mean it's just other people who are writing useless code?
So if you assume the code is efficient, and the problem still can't run in a reasonable time, what other option do you have than 'throwing' hardware at it?
I remember doing data mining on a 386, and waiting hours. Along came a mighty 486 and a whole range of things that were un achievable could now be done...
The Gartner Hypecycle....
... Has now reached the trough of disillusion.
Seriously, it makes Magic Quadrants look sensible.
Hacked
Is there no limit to what geeks will do?
http://scanlime.org/2012/11/hacking-my-vagina/
This is not the software you're looking for...
Forget buying software - the best investment would be in people who can ask the right analytical questions. After that go out and use R, or one of the other open source data-mining tools, or go to one of the excellent specialised UK companies that produce stuff that is fit for purpose.
Re: " conspiracy to illegally structure financial transactions to avoid reporting requirements"
It depends on if they think you did it deliberately. That would be the structuring part. The banks have a requirement to report transactions totalling over $10 000, even if you do them separately, but if you're smart enough to do it in a non-obvious way so that they don't notice then your dumb enough to go to jail.
So, who's the least effective?
Tough choice, but if you had to, which would you say was worst:
* ASA
* ICO
* PCC
* OfCom
Re: Any sufficiently advanced technology...
*its* fingers on autocorrect
Any sufficiently advanced technology...
...is indistinguishable from it's Magic Quadrant
iOS 6 doesn't cost £500
> and folk with other handsets since upgraded to iOS 6
These people (also surveyed) didn't spend £500 on a new handset. They downloaded a free OS upgrade. They got the new maps app. They may (or may not) have an issue with it. The crossbreaks in the survey would let us know.
Clash of rights
So which is more important for individuals, the right of freedom of speech or the right to a fair trial? The US Constitution vs Magna Carta. There is a way out, but it requires the release of someone who may (or may not) be a murderer - and the right to life is thereby weakened (Declaration of Independence).
Not a great choice really...
Re: Public vs. Private
>Do you really think that what you say makes any sense at all?
Well actually yes, and I'm going to dignify your answer by assuming you do too.
Firstly: if they're using your data for commercial gain then they (and their shareholders) are benefiting from that - if they misuse or lose data then they should pay a corresponding fine. But in the world of the ICO they don't.
Secondly: institutions like the NHS tend to hold data because they need it for your benefit (directly: you really want them to know what you've been prescribed. Indirectly: it's really useful to you if hospital supply chains work effectively). They aren't doing it to make cash. We need to find a way of helping them handle data properly instead of slapping large and irrelevant fines on them.
Simple question then: can you find a case of a company being on the receiving end of this type of fine from the ICO?
Re: Public vs. Private
Actually, when you think about it, it should be the other way around. If I choose to give my data to the private company it is (presumably) because I have been assured by them that they will treat my data properly. They have entered into an explicit contract with me to do so. Then they go and screw it up. *That* is a direct abuse of my contract with them. And we all know that companies are taking the data for explicit commercial gain, rather than (for example) trying to make people better.
Public vs Private
It seems our ICO is great at punishing public bodies, but can't seem to take the same line with private companies - when was the last time you heard of a private company being fined like this? The only one I can think of was a law firm that was already insolvent by the time they got around to fining it. Easy targets?
Re: Anecdote doesn't beat evidence
And how can listening tell you more than what "happened"? Do you have a magical device that will let you listen to the future?
Data can be used to make robust, accurate predictions, and evidence shows that this kind of prediction outperforms "experts" who have "listened".
Anecdote doesn't beat evidence
And how do you effectively listen across your entire organisation? A thousand clones standing in all your outlets?
That's why you use data, to get evidence of what's happening.
Beware the exec who won't listen to data. He's operating on gut instinct and anecdote....
Kodacell Lite (TM)
Could it be that a fading industrial giant whose business model is collapsing is trying to follow in the footsteps of el Doctorow?
Posted in Graham: ICO will blow £3m on IT services
Public sector has more personal data than private sector?
Seriously? Does he have any idea? My phone company knows exactly where I am and exactly who I've called, for how long, over the last few years. My bank knows pretty much every financial transaction I've made, going back tens of years. Target know if I'm pregnant (I'm not).
My Council? It just about knows where I live. But it's not sure.
Posted in HTC One X Android smartphone
Re: Specs
>And you are going to use this "power" for what exactly?
For good, obviously.
Posted in NJ lab claims plasma fusion breakthrough
Excellent - Fusion is only 20 years away!
Again.
As it has been for my entire life.
Government says...
"The government has said smart metering will help to slash unnecessary energy use, reduce emissions and cut consumers' energy bills, and that a fairy dies every time someone disagrees."
At the level of detail they provide they will not give consumers any useful information. Great for power generators. Useless for domestic consumers.
But aren't they actually quite good?
So it might be a little less than 1-in-a-million. They need to take Locky's suggested actions to compensate
But Smart Meters don't deliver for consumers...
I mean, knowing your total output every fifteen minutes doesn't really give you control, now does it? Smart meters (in their current form) are good for energy generators and for suppliers buying wholesale in the market, not for consumers.
Can we have an ICO that is on the side of the consumer?
please?
