back to article 'Maybe we'll just call them 'Surface-like devices'

This was the week when a few patent skirmishes came to head as Samsung failed to get a stay on the bans Apple won on both the Galaxy Tab 10.1 and the Galaxy Nexus smartphone in the US. Meanwhile, in the UK, a judge ruled HTC had not infringed on four of Apple's patents – and added that three of them were invalid anyway. Oh, and …

COMMENTS

This topic is closed for new posts.
  1. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    "Windows device" / "Surface-like device"

    Seems a bit cumbersome. I would have thought simply calling such a thing a "Window" (as in 'Window on the World' or whatever marketting bollocks suits) would be more sensible.

    It's short and fits nicely with the Windows trademark (while subtly emphasising the point that there aren't really many windows anymore).

    1. Barry Dingle

      How about "Blip"

      Briefly Living Industrial Project

      1. Anonymous Coward
        Anonymous Coward

        Re: How about "Blip"

        Yeah, that works too.

    2. Mark 65

      Re: "Windows device" / "Surface-like device"

      I still like the idea of Surface Type Device so Bill can just encourage everyone to go out there and get themselves a STD.

  2. Goobertee
    Holmes

    Best Higgs Boson comment I've seen

    "So at least boffins will understand the universe, even if they're not quite able to explain it to anyone else... "

    My thought exactly.

    1. Kevin Johnston

      Re: Best Higgs Boson comment I've seen

      I think Pratchett already was there with - "I'm still confused and uncertain it's on a much higher plane, d'you see, and at least I know I'm bewildered about the really fundamental and important facts of the universe

  3. Arachnoid

    Yes but can they explain belly button fluff and its meaning to life as we know it?

  4. Jonathon Desmond
    FAIL

    Hangon - if you're a sysadmin who...

    ... "administer(s) several banks that belong to a holding company." and "..had to dispatch techs immediately to remove the software from appx 25 machines first thing this morning"

    Then why the hell aren't you in the jobless queue? Anyone responsible for a secure environment should be staging, reviewing and testing their OS updates, not ticking the "automatically download and deploy" option in the GPO.

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: Hangon - if you're a sysadmin who...

      It is probably ok for some desktops to automatically update. What would not be ok is for those desktops to have unapproved software installed.

      It might even be the case that the 25 machines (spread over several banks) ARE test machines.

      Overall, you have no idea what the set up is or why 25 machines are set to auto update and claiming that you should never tick the auto update option demonstrates a lack of imagination about the variety of problems (and solutions) a sysadmin comes across on a daily basis.

      1. Jonathon Desmond
        FAIL

        Re: Hangon - if you're a sysadmin who...

        Plainly rubbish! If you are managing a controlled environment then you need to review and approve all the updates - event to your test clients. Fact is, this one was obviously installed without being approved.

        What's the point of having tests and test clients if your testing is undocumented, unmanaged and uncontrolled?

        What's the point of having test clients if you can't survive without them for couple of hours? They're not test clients if that is the case - just normal clients that you are picking on!

        For each batch of updates, you should be raising documentation listing them, linking or detailing the update details, the OS components affected, the expected time of deployment, the tests required to pass in order to approve the updates, the testing window and the (tested!) rollback plan. You should be using software that supports you in this, and your test group should consist of a set of clients built to your current SOE but that you can afford to take offline without affecting day-to-day operations of the organisation.

        Once the testing is complete, your SOE documentation should be updated to include the new updates, and your SOE then updated using your preferred methodology once the change has been approved by your CAB.

        Even if you don't have all of these controls - and you should if you want to keep your PCI compliance status - I fail to understand why in this case the complainer couldn't just use his desktop management tools to effect a complete and immediate uninstall of Skype. It's not hard!

        1. Anonymous Coward
          Anonymous Coward

          Re: Hangon - if you're a sysadmin who...

          You have patch Tuesday followed by exploit Wednesday. In other words once a patch is released exploits appear to take advantage of it. This means that any organisation has to make a decision, for each type of system, as to whether patches need to be installed as and when they are released or tested to see if they break existing functionality.

          For mission critical systems testing should take place before the patch is installed.

          For non-mission critical systems (eg desktops) the patches can be installed as soon as they are available.

          It is likely that the 25 computers that had skype installed via a patch were non mission critical.

    2. Ken Hagan Gold badge

      Re: automatically download and deploy

      Had you familiarised yourself with the story before shooting off about how incompetent someone you don't know is, you'd have learned that the issue here was the appearance of Skype on machines that hadn't asked for it. Chances are, our clueless sysadmin *did* test the updates, *did not* approve Skype, and on nearly all of the machines under his control, this *is* what happened. But 25 went ahead and installed it anyway.

  5. Doug 3
    Pirate

    really? pay $6.3 billion and 5 years later write off $6.x billion?

    that just seems like some very creative book keeping as in they have losses in other divisions they don't want shown on the books. Seriously, how does a $6.3 billion company/division go to zero unless somehow all their customers disappear? Is BING still such a failure it's losing over $1 billion per year?

    They are a publicly traded company so this should be questioned and clarified.

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: really? pay $6.3 billion and 5 years later write off $6.x billion?

      "Is BING still such a failure it's losing over $1 billion per year?"

      Yes. Microsoft's web services division has been bleeding money for the longest time.

      Without profits from Office and Windows (Windows 8 may yet prove to be a big fail) to make up for the losses in other divisions, many Microsoft shareholders would probably have jumped off a tall building long ago.

  6. George Nacht

    I misread it again

    Again I read it as "heaviest bosom".

    I must scrape together enough courage to ask my mom, how did she fed me....

    1. Jedit Silver badge
      Pirate

      Re: I misread it again

      Boson! Make this scurvy swab walk the plank!

This topic is closed for new posts.

Other stories you might like