* Posts by Terrance Brennan

83 publicly visible posts • joined 6 Jun 2008

Page:

Voyager 1 fires thrusters last used in 1980 – and they worked!

Terrance Brennan

Re: It's good to see your tax money being spent

You must a Repugnican;anything you personally can't make a buck on is useless. Luckily, your kind lost at the end of the dark ages, or the renaissance would never have occurred. Although, since that would mean the western hemisphere would never have been "discovered" by Europeans I suppose the Native Americans would have been happier.

Wizarding World of Harry Potter awaits Microsoft Office exam winners

Terrance Brennan

Re: Woah

I agree they should lay off Ms Rowling; if I had a job that paid that well and I enjoyed I wouldn't quit either. And, she does give money to good causes, and, she doesn't like the Donald so she must be a good person at heart.

However, your defense of Word is simply indefensible. The current version of Word is still not as good as Word Perfect 6, which is pretty damn old. Formatting in Word still is not nearly as good, or intuitive as in WP. But, then again, Active Directory didn't become even close to NetWare 4 until a few years ago and still does not have some of the features NW did at the turn of the century. Unfortunately, the better technology doesn't always win out. Both Word and AD are ok and functional, but not the best in class.

PS, The only Harry book I thought too long was the last one; the others are still a good read. Going to Florida and spending that much money on anything is not happening, especially in July. I was in Orlando during the World Cup in '94 and it was awful.

Think the US is alone? 18 countries had their elections hacked last year

Terrance Brennan

You are an embarrassment to Americans everywhere. The Ugly American lives and occupies the White House with help from small-minded, greedy twits like yourself. It's all praise and glory for the idea of the Constitution; but, thinly disguised contempt for the actual ideas it contains; after all, ideas are dangerous! Regurgitating the myth of rugged individualism while ignoring the words of Ben Franklin, who was actually there at the beginning : "We must, indeed, all hang together or, most assuredly, we shall all hang separately." Why is corporate welfare acceptable; but, helping individuals, including those actively injured in the past by government and/or government policies, not.

You know what's coming next: FBI is upset it can't get into Texas church gunman's smartphone

Terrance Brennan

Re: FBI can't unlock smartphone

Even if you take the spurious view the Second Amendment is talking about private gun ownership it still includes the phrase "well regulated" which should allow government to make all sorts of regulations to control the carnage. Such as no semi-automatic weapons, no large capacity magazines, no hollow-point ammunition, etc. An idiot with a bolt action hunting rifle could still kill people but he wouldn't be able to kill as many before being dealt with. In fact, since racial profiling is such a good police tool when it comes to keeping uppity folks under control we should apply it to gun ownership. Based on the vast majority of gun rampage nutters no white men should be allowed to own guns from now on.

Terrance Brennan

Re: FBI can't unlock smartphone

No, the law does not prevent ANYONE from selling a gun to someone convicted of a crime involving domestic violence against a spouse or child. It only bars licensed gun dealers; the NRA, our de facto legislature, keeps preventing mandatory background checks for "private" sales between individuals or at gun shows so he could have just gone to one of the many gun shows in the country to buy whatever he wanted if a licensed dealer refused to sell to him.

Terrance Brennan

Re: FBI can't unlock smartphone

It is a sad commentary that the most accurate, intelligent articles on the continuing gun violence in America is on a satirical news site. The Onion runs these articles after each inexplicable gun massacre that will continue to happen almost exclusively here in the US.

https://www.theonion.com/no-way-to-prevent-this-says-only-nation-where-this-r-1820163660

https://www.theonion.com/nation-to-wait-for-more-facts-on-texas-shooting-before-1820186609

Tesla share crash amid Republican bid to kill off electric car tax break

Terrance Brennan

Re: Fallacious logic applied to taxation

Not so much that government knows better as that government is supposed to be pooling our individual money for the common good.

Terrance Brennan

Re: Musk smart????

Not allegedly said, he said those stupid, despicable things. And, the fact that any President can punish a person/industry simply because of a personal grudge is just plain wrong; it may be reality, but, it is just plain wrong. Government is supposed to be working for the common good, not the personal vendetta.

Terrance Brennan

As a supporter of alternative vehicles I fully agree with you. Any vehicle on the road, regardless of how it is powered, should be paying for the road infrastructure. However, based on the 30mpg I get from my Subaru that would be the equivalent of $3/ gallon of gas, considering gas is currently $2.39/ gallon where I live that is much higher than the current gas tax (at least here in the US). So, $.10/mile would be a punitive rate.

Terrance Brennan

I dislike wealthy people getting additional tax breaks as much as anyone else. However, in order for the "market" to bother with the necessary infrastructure to allow EVs or any other alternative to become viable there has to be a critical mass.

Terrance Brennan

Re: Electric Cars Burn Coal

natural gas, wind farms, solar farms, hydro-electric plants. The reason Trump was able to take advantage of coal miners is that demand for their product to generate electricity has plummeted in the last decade and will continue to do so.

Terrance Brennan

Are you seriously trying to claim that everything defense contractors do is strictly in the interest of national security? Everything they do is strictly in the interest of their bottom line. Any benefit to the nation, or the poor suckers using their expensive kit, is incidental.

Azure fell over for 7 hours in Europe because someone accidentally set off the fire extinguishers

Terrance Brennan

Re: The insane thing about it is...

Exchange 2010 was the pinnacle of the product for on-premises customers. 2013 and beyond were completely designed solely to meet Microsoft's cloud needs. It's a great solution if you have multiple datacenters and thousands of servers which you buy by the truck load and can afford to have a dozen or more copies of each database.

Terrance Brennan

Re: The insane thing about it is...

Through Exchange Server 2010 it was not that hard to do and keep it all running. Exchange Server 2013 and 2016 however, are different beasts. They are now designed and optimized for Microsoft's use in the cloud and are not fit for most on-premises use.

Give staff privacy at work, Euro human rights court tells bosses

Terrance Brennan

Re: It's all academic anyway

Not sure about the law in Europe; but, in the US it is illegal for private entities to block otherwise legal electronic transmissions such as cell phones. Theaters wanted to do so to prevent phones from going off during performances; but, were told in no uncertain terms they could not. Blocking transmissions by technical means and having strict policies on use, etc are two very different things. At major gold tournaments here in the US they require you to go through a metal detector and do not allow cell phones on the course regardless of how much you paid for that ticket.

NYPD head of IT doubles down on Windows smartphone idiocy

Terrance Brennan

I like my Windows phone

Sorry, but, I have really liked my Windows phones. I don't need apps to scratch my ass or figure out where to eat lunch. I just need an easy to use phone with some basic ancillary functions such as texting. It's a phone, not a toy for the OCDC.

Google bins white supremacist site after it tries to host-hop away from GoDaddy

Terrance Brennan

Re: As much as I hate nazis...

Drain the swamp and replace it with a gold-plated, open sewer that we have to pay the Trump crime family for? The only thing that bunch of bastards care about their little supporters for is as cannon fodder to get them money and power.

Terrance Brennan

Re: @AC ... As much as I hate nazis...

Get over yourself. Trump is a scumbag pure and simple. A psychopathic liar with no redeeming value.

Terrance Brennan

Re: As much as I hate nazis...

The US Constitution and courts do not allow for government restriction of speech except under very limited circumstances. Private entities have far more leeway to determine what they will or will not tolerate. A question that may have to decided in court is whether companies acting as domain registrars are some sort of public "utility"; a phone company would be unable to deny these assholes a phone line. If they cross the line of what the courts have deemed to protected speech then they can and should be blocked\stopped\banned, whatever you want to call it.

What is needed until they cross that line is for our "Leaders" to take the moral high ground and come out strongly against these thugs and their vile, sick ideology. The rest of us cannot stand by and let them spew their hatred and lies without countering them. Law enforcement at every level needs to come down on them the minute they cross the line from stupid ideas to illegal acts. Letting that bunch of morons stage their demonstration heavily armed was the first mistake. Not breaking it up more forcibly was the second. It should never have gotten to the point where some imbecile can kill anyone.

Tens of thousands of Americans and millions of Europeans died fighting this type of scum not that long ago. And, not that long ago they stayed under their rocks because they knew people and officials would not tolerate them. For some odd reason (sarcasm) they now feel bold enough to come out into the light.

Terrance Brennan

Re: @Dan 55 and @AC

By definition, any Nazi site is advocating violence. It is their creed

Terrance Brennan

Yes it was decided. The comment was made as an example in the opinion of the Supreme Court ruling that there are limits to Free Speech. That opinion has since been partially over turned by a 1969 decision that said only speech that incites imminent criminal action is illegal. So, unfortunately, as long as these scumbags are peaceful their hateful, dangerous ignorance is protected speech.

Blocking peeps on social media? That's a paddlin' for governors, senators, house reps

Terrance Brennan

Re: Meh!

Winners can counter sue for their legal costs and in this case I believe the politicians will lose anyway. If the posted comments are constitutionally protected elected members of government cannot block them. We the people have a right to petition the government for redress of grievances. The petitioners in these cases have made clear they are not trying to protect threatening or obscene posts. If elected officials choose to use social media to conduct official business (and communicating with constituents or the press about work as an elected official counts as such) then they cannot block otherwise lawful posts. Personally, I believe social media is the bane of modern society; but, if elected knuckleheads want to use to further their goals/policies/ambitions they have to deal with its short comings.

Your top five dreadful people the Google manifesto has pulled out of the woodwork

Terrance Brennan

Re: No it didn't. It's garbage and you know it.

You're letting yourself get sucked into a race to the bottom in these comments. I read your entire article as well as the offending memo. While I don't agree with a lot of your article it does not mean you a bad person. While I agree the memo writer brought up some valid points I don't believe he is a paragon of virtue or that bias does not exist. Not everyone who disagrees with you is evil; although the world being what it is it is a good bet some are.

Unless we require everyone to take an aptitude test and then force them to go into whatever field society believes they should be in you are never going to get a perfect demographic representation in any profession. Treat every person equally during and after the hiring process. Google may see enough qualified candidates to hire whatever "type" of employee they want; but that certainly is not true of most companies. Until half of all computer science students are female don't expect half of all coders to be female.

Terrance Brennan

Re: asshe but

Ok, now you people are making me mad. I just had to upvote Bombastic Bob which goes against all my instincts and beliefs.

Terrance Brennan

Re: asshe but

But, he never said women were biologically inferior. And, he explicitly said every person needs to be considered on their individual merits; not on the basis on their generalized group.

Terrance Brennan

Re: then you judge on their ability to contribute their skills and effort.

You can only hire from the available pool of qualified applicants. There are many reasons why that applicant pool favors a certain demographic; but, you can't make qualified candidates out of thin air. The hiring process is the wrong place to address the underlying issue. Making sure everyone has an opportunity to pursue their interests as far as their innate abilities will take them is how you address the "bias" you see.

Terrance Brennan

Re: asshe but

Has anyone read his memo? He NEVER said females were inferior. He stated some biological truths and said there were general differences between genders. If you read those traits are inferior that is your problem not his. However, he repeated several times that each person needs to be treated as an individual because there is significant overlap in the biological traits he talked about. His point was NOT that women could not be good coders/engineers/managers; his point was that there MAY be non-discriminatory reasons there is not a clean 50-50 representation.

Google diversity memo: Web giant repudiates staffer's screed for 'incorrect assumptions about gender'

Terrance Brennan

Re: The responses speak volumes

The status quo can certainly be challenged, it can and should always be challenged or society will stagnate. The problem some of us have is with the mindless, brute-force method sometimes used. I firmly believe all candidates should be treated equally regardless of gender, race, ethnicity, religion, sexual orientation. And, two people doing the same work should be paid the same regardless of etc. The problem is when you are talking about positions that require certain specific skills the hiring process is not the right place to try to enforce quotas; it is far too late. If not enough whatevers are not getting the necessary education/training you will not have enough whatevers applying for the skilled jobs. I took science and engineering in University and white men always outnumbered everyone else in the programs. It has been the same in every continuing education class I have taken since. I also believe that any "group" of people can be successful in any field of endeavor if given the opportunity. Note I did not say any individual within any group; there are differences in individual abilities; but, I don't believe any one group has a exclusive to skills in anything.

Enforcing diversity in the work place without providing equal access to the prerequisite education/training is not going to help anyone. Diversity in and of itself accomplishes nothing; the best qualified people should be the ones hired. Allowing everyone a chance to become qualified is far more important.

The second best engineer I ever knew (No, I don't consider myself the first best, that goes to someone I did not hire) was a female. I hired her not to make up numbers; but, because she was easily the most qualified candidate we had. I am not naïve enough to believe everyone would make the same choice; but, most companies like the idea of prospering and would be more inclined to hire a more diverse work force if the pool of qualified candidates was more diverse.

London Mayor slams YouTube over failure to remove 'shocking' violent gang vids

Terrance Brennan

It does not have to be either or. Parents need to do a better job, even though as some others have pointed out, many parents are not up to the task. yes, the Police should do more than just ask the videos be removed and visiting the thugs in them would be a good start. And, yes, often institutions for criminals, especially juveniles, can often be nothing but criminal prep schools. However, corporations reaping profits from the videos also need to do their part and not just make a quick buck from clearly anti-social, dangerous, and possibly criminal videos. Life is not a reality game show (the current prick in the white house notwithstanding) and it is rarely a clean binary option; there is a lot more shades of gray than definitive black or white. But, just because the issue is complicated and involves lots of players is not an excuse to do nothing.

UK regulator set to ban ads depicting bumbling manchildren

Terrance Brennan

Re: Ban ads

I am old enough to remember when cable TV first appeared in the US. The beauty of it was that because we were paying for the service the cable stations would never have ads on them. 40 years on and I'm paying out the wazoo for TV and seeing more ads on every station.

And, no, ads don't cause everyone to drool like proper Pavlovian dogs. Between recording shows and racing through the ads, to muting the TV during ads, getting a cold one during the ads, or just plain ignoring them, I can safely say ads have no impact on me or my thinking. I KNOW they are lies with only a tenuous connection to the truth and reality trying to either directly separate me from my money (commercial ads) or indirectly separate me from my money (political ads).

Electric driverless cars could make petrol and diesel motors 'socially unacceptable'

Terrance Brennan

Re: Bollocks...

I am surprised no one has said anything about the gibberish Van Dyck is blubbering at the end of the article. WTF is all that? It seems to be a string of unrelated buzz words/phrases. Does this guy have the slightest clue of this thing called "reality"?

US trade watchdog boss goes all Kendrick Lamar on self-driving cars

Terrance Brennan

Liability

I don't want cars controlled by buggy software on the roads until the liability questions are resolved. Will the self-driving cars come with the standard EULA saying the software company is not liable for any loss associated with the use of their buggy mess? So, they can snatch all your data, crash and kill you, but, you can never hold them liable for any of it? And, I'm sure none of them would cheat. That would be like designing software to avoid regulators or falsify emission test results. Who would do such things?

Amazon squares up to Walmart over boycott calls: Talk sh!t, get hit

Terrance Brennan

Re: Yeah, well

I worked for a consulting firm doing work for Chrysler. When going to visit them in Detroit we tried to rent Chrysler cars. You were allowed to park at Chrysler with a competitor's car and they never directly asked what car did we rent. But, all non-Chrysler cars had to park in a separate parking lot, far, far away and if we went with them anywhere they may comment on our car choice. We blamed it on the rental company.

Trump's self-imposed cybersecurity deadline is up: What we got?

Terrance Brennan

Re: STOP THE PRESSES!!!

Excellent point; but, you have to admit Marmalade Mandarin, Orange Monkey, and Tweeting Tangerine are all pretty good.

This bumbling buffoon simply lends himself to so many monikers though:

Pumpkin Puss, Limp Lump, Misogynist Mutt, Tweeting Twerp, Callow Creep, Pompous Prat, Odious Oaf, Narcissistic Ninny, Little man with little hands, Fascist Fool, Pouty Face, Egomaniacal Eel, Ignominious Imbecile, Puny Punk, Cheating Chump, etc, etc.

Silicon Valley tech CEO admits beating software engineer wife, offered just 13 days in the clink

Terrance Brennan

Re: @Symon

Dear boltard, apparently you don't get the simple point that while violence may sometimes be the only solution when dealing with savages or aggressor nations, it is never the solution when dealing with criminal law. This is not a case of you coming across an assault in progress and having to use force to stop it; this would be a case of you being just as bad as the original perp and fulfilling your violent fantasies under a veneer of respectability and justice. Based on the level of intellect and emotional maturity evidenced in your screeds posted here that is probably the case.

Terrance Brennan

Re: @Symon

Don't mix international conflict with internal criminal behavior. So lynching is ok? Why bother with trials or courts? Who decides who deserves such punishment? Personally, I'd contribute to a kick starter campaign to test it out on you.

Terrance Brennan

Re: @Symon

I agree one should try to use original statement; and, in small, simple words when dealing with someone as crude, poorly developed, and ignorant as your statement seems to indicate you to be. Such thuggish attitudes are the very thing civilization was organized to eliminate. Big ugly brutes doing whatever they wish, to whomever they wish, whenever they wish simply because of physical superiority. We used to live in a civilized society that used its laws to contain and, when necessary, punish such Neanderthals. You've been left behind in evolution and if you want to feel at home move someplace such as Russia where might is always right.

IETF 'reviewing' US event plans in the face of Trump's travel ban

Terrance Brennan

Re: @ Ginger ... "City University New York has more than 100 affected. That's just one university."

Unlike Europe where refugees and a small number of, but highly dangerous, terrorists simply walked into the countries refugees entering here have to go through a lengthy vetting process already. The implementation was as stupid as the stated reasons for the order. This order will not improve security in the US at all; it was to placate the xenophobes he whipped up during the campaign without hurting his own business interests. No consultation with Custom and Border Patrol (CBP), the State Department, or Congress before issuing the order. The CBP being ordered not to talk to members of Congress who asked questions and ignoring federal court orders. Conflicting information about whether it applied to green card holders who have their rights through law, not executive order and the usual lying when the shit hit the fan. The chaos at the airports was due to Delta's IT problems? Really? This is the Narcissistic Ninny at his best.

Terrance Brennan

Re: "City University New York has more than 100 affected. That's just one university."

"You're missing the point, which sure does not need making."

Seriously, are you as stupid as pumpkin puss? Or, simply as racist and insane as the clueless clown?

There has never been a terrorist from any of those countries in America. The countries that have sent us terrorists were not on the list, amazingly enough, they are also countries where the twittering twerp has business interests. This is nothing more than a show piece to placate the racists who voted for the bumbling buffoon and has nothing to do with keeping America safe. Refugees already go through a 2-3 year process that includes more than 20 steps, interviews with counter-terrorism experts from multiple agencies, and more biometric checks than you have IQ points.

All you Iraqis and Afghans who risked your lives helping us will just have to fend for yourselves. Good luck finding the next batch of suckers to help us. And, ISIS is already using this as propaganda to prove there is a war between the west and Islam, and not just a war against a bunch of crazy murderers.

All thanks to the little man with little hands.

Trump's cartoon comedy approach to running a country: 'One in, two out' rule for regulations

Terrance Brennan

I do not applaud the death of anyone; but, I see his original point. The buttheads who voted for Trump and howl with delight at cutting red tape and getting government out of their life are also the ones that will be most harmed. Texas and other "right-to-work" states that believe worker safety is a commie plot, the coal miners dying of black lung who can't get government assistance, etc. I don't applaud it; I find it sad and disheartening. These people are so stupid they really thought a billionaire from a millionaire family, who attended nothing but private, elite schools, and lives in walled compounds (or tall, walled off towers), who stiffs contractors and neighbors, was ever going to look out for their best interest.

President Donald Trump taken on by unlikely foe: Badass park rangers

Terrance Brennan

Re: no bias nor inflamatory tone, move along

Not as weary as we get of you repeating your hallucinations.

Terrance Brennan

Re: Ah! "The gentler, kinder politics of the left"

Sounds like more alternative facts to go with your alternative right.

Who spit in the face of military widows? Of the tens of thousands of protestors the police reported a group of approximately 100 rioted; they were anarchist, not Democrats.

Snowflake, aka SOS, was endorsed by the American Nazi party, the KKK, and the dictator of Russia. We don't have to accuse him of being racist, misogynist, homophobic, islamophobic, xenophobic, or fascist; his own speeches and twitter twats accuse and convict him. He lost the popular vote even though his nominal party worked hard to suppress the votes of minorities. You can't say you like his policies because he never articulated any during the campaign. He offered nothing but vague threats and promises and the chance to make America white again.

Terrance Brennan

Re: About time

The problem little john, is that while it perfectly acceptable for an administration to ban social media posts it is not acceptable to ban the publication of peer reviewed scientific research. Imbeciles such as Snowflake and his "alternative facts" flunkies are in no position to judge the scientific value of such research; research which we American taxpayers paid for and would rather not have buried because it is considered inconvenient.

If it makes you feel better I never use the term snowflake for the usurper currently tweeting from the White House. I only refer to it as SOS: sack of shit. Feel free to use that title if snowflake offends your sensitive nature.

Terrance Brennan

Re: About time

Spoken like a little man, Big John.

Top UK judges rule: Government can't pull the Article 50 trigger alone

Terrance Brennan

“Any change in the law to give effect to the referendum must be made in the only way permitted by the UK constitution, namely by an act of parliament. To proceed otherwise would be a breach of settled constitutional principles stretching back many centuries.”

Not advice, not consultation, an ACT of parliament. No Act, no Article 50, FULL STOP.

College fires IT admin, loses access to Google email, successfully sues IT admin for $250,000

Terrance Brennan

Re: Triano Williams goes to court

So, whether or not he actually did anything wrong his IT career is dead? Sounds like an opportunity for blackmail on the part of the employer, bend over and take it or we make you unemployable.

Terrance Brennan

Re: What ever happened to exit interviews?

I have a personal policy to refuse exit interviews. If the idiots don't know what I'm doing while I work there they deserve pain and suffering after I leave.

Terrance Brennan

Re: Sounds like

Another problem only briefly mentioned in the article is that he lives in Chicago, Illinois but the school sued in state court in Indianapolis, Indiana, more than 180 miles from where he lives. About the same as living in London and having to defend a lawsuit in Leeds. This is a common tactic of companies to sue in their home state hoping the defendant either won't be able to or simply can't defend themselves in a distant court. I worked in Colorado for a company headquartered in Minnesota. when I was laid off they tried to condition my severance on agreeing that any dispute would have to be heard in a Minnesota court. Unfortunately for those assholes, my wife worked in HR and knew that Colorado employment law gave me the right to access Colorado courts if I was physically employed in the state. I'm sure the company's lawyers knew that as well, but figured I wouldn't.

Terrance Brennan

Re: I've been in that situation.

Typical incompetent management looking to blame someone else for their own stupidity. Maybe he did intentionally "lose" the password, I don't know. However, he should not have been in a position to do so.

Why Theresa May’s hard Brexit might be softer than you think

Terrance Brennan

Re: 2 years?

People are entitled to their own opinions, but not their own facts. The UK is a major contributor to the EU; but, not the largest. Leaving is going to be complicated and probably more painful for the economy and take longer than politicians want to let on. No shock there regardless of the country or politician involved.

The UK was the third biggest payer to the EU in 2015 behind Germany and France and contributed 12.57% of the total EU budget.

https://www.statista.com/statistics/316691/european-union-eu-budget-share-of-contributions/

"As a share of gross national income, the UK pays the least of all Member States into the EU budget, principally because of the UK rebate, implemented since 1985."

http://ukandeu.ac.uk/wp-content/uploads/2016/01/Who-pays-for-the-EU-and-how-much-does-it-cost-the-UK-Disentangling-fact-from-fiction-in-the-EU-Budget-Professor-Iain-Begg.pdf

Germany is the only country with a higher Net contribution to the EU than the UK, although Belgium, Luxemburg, Netherlands, and Sweden pay more per capita than Britain. And the net contribution to the EU in 2015 was 283 million euros per week.

http://www.money-go-round.eu/Country.aspx?id=SE

Page: