Posts by Terry 6

Re: Line nicked from the Evening Standard

This is all in line with the general practice of the Great and The Good moving from one disastrous role in the private sector to another in the public Crash a major retailer one month, run a major govt agency the next.

Re: Bring manglement to book

Bloody sight better than impunity IMHO.

Re: Justice

I think that was irony.

Re: Bollocks

and has been subject to a BBC Panorama investigation, From the article.

And also I did say Comp Weekly. In my post.

Re: Worst code I ever saw...

Yeah, my mum was a typist. And my handwriting was godawful. 50 odd years ago she taught me to type. I wasn't brilliant, but it was better than handwriting.

I had to wait for the BBC micro to be invented before everything suddenly improved for me.

These days my handwriting is still godawful and sadly my touch typing has deteriorated too.So that I end up looking at the keyboard more and more. For me touch typing only works if the position of the keyboard is consistent. And over the last few years this has just not been the case.

Re: Worst code I ever saw...

I have a similar gripe about keyboard skills. Nobody seems to teach "touch typing", despite the fact that most (all?) school leavers will be going in to jobs where typing is a major part of their daily lives.

I was saying this in 1982

Re: and still can't quite believe they turned off a network to charge a device.

As noted, that isn't stupid, other than incidentally. It's entitled self-centredness.

Sadly in schools we adopt "new" management and such like ideas about 2 years after the outside word has dropped them for being unsustainable, ineffective etc. I never found out why this was when I was in the bear pit.

Other factors may include

I don't know about corporate IT. But in education that holds true, definitely.

And we also have a truly diabolical combination of Peter Principle (good teachers and departmental heads being promoted out of the classroom to managerial jobs they're useless at) and ambitious young climbers who plot their way to the top asap by jumping on every initiative and new programme that comes in, and adroitly moving on and up before it flops ( they all flop)

Which means there are a lot of experienced, effective, good, jaded, frustrated middle aged teachers who can't wait to get out and retire as early as they can. And managers who want them to, to save money and appoint cheaper staff that will be amenable to whatever new best thing bollocks they're being asked to take on.

Re: hmmmm

Two roots possibly showing from this post and the article.

1) The median hourly wage for older techies is £25, which is 14 percent higher than for IT specialists as a whole. and

2) As says 42656e.... says Oldies tend know how it all works behind the scenes

IOW older employees cost a bit more and can't be manipulated. I'd also hazard a guess that this== not being too ready to jump unquestioningly into the latest new fad. The last thing managements ( in any field or profession) want is the old hand who can say "Yes but.." and shoot down a dumb idea. Especially in areas like IT and education where promotion comes from launching something new then buggering off before the waste matter impacts on the air moving device.

Re: Motivation

Yeah. That's fairly universal, voluntary, moderate and enjoyable for most people, and you don't all have to go or every time, or stay for long.. But it's a far cry from compulsory, after hours, enforced drinking and synthetic jollity. Which even if you like it when you're new and young is going to get pretty horrible as soon as it becomes a routine drag on your private life or you grow up a bit.

"Far Left ideology". Give us a break. If you think El Reg is "Far Left" you must be further to the right than than Franco.

Re: ""far left ideology""

Yeah, there is a section of the American Right, and some of our own Tufton St crew, who think the Far Left is anyone who who doesn't think that the poor should be allowed to starve.

Re: Pollard

I assume it derived from taking the top off a tree.

Re: And to think that 30 years ago...

To be fair, I can see his gripe. But this is part of the El Reg culture and has been for a long time. It's kind of a tradition. Reflecting, I guess our awareness of how little this all means. It doesn't matter how reasonable and logical my or your argument is. No matter how outrageous the behaviour we relate, it's gonna have bugger all effect outside. I'd love to think, for example, that my recounting the appalling behaviour of Scoot Air would prevent anyone ever using them and bring them crashing to the ground ( not literally - I'm not that vindictive). But I know full well it won't.

Re: Twitter “poll”

And within the Twitter client group his question will largely have gained the attention of those who had a strong vested interest in the outcome- rather than the significant majority who won't have voted at all, who may well have a preference, even a strong preference, but only go to Twitter to show each other cat pictures or swap recipes etc..

Re: ""far left ideology""

You just disproved your own argument there. Radical Feminists are largely, though not always, on the left. Trans activists are largely, though not always, on the Left. In this Left v Left Battle Twitter, among others, have simple gone with the group that has the trendiest support. But neither is more Left than the other, let alone actually on the Right.

Re: And to think that 30 years ago...

Oh please God no. Some of these threads get far too long anyway.

Err, No! That only works if you are doing a 140 mile return journey each day. Which some people may well have to do. But if so the end saving is still only equivalent to one day's commute ( and that's excluding the non-motorway component).

Re: Stick with the lane the trucks are in works for me

The speed reduction might not make too much difference over a shortish journey, until you get to a hill. In the UK we don't have too many long flat routes.

I'd hazard a guess that they were zooming up to the tail of the car ahead, then braking, causing the car behind to brake and the one behind and the one.......

It's amazing how many drivers think that getting closer==getting further ahead.

Or who fail the basic understanding that if you go 5 miles an hour faster it's going to take you an hour of driving to get an extra 5 miles closer to where you're going*, saving you all of about just 6 minutes if you can sustain it (but see above).

*Someone will probably correct my Maths, but the principle is the same.

I don't think I've ever come across carpet static bothering a PC- clothing, yes.

But carpet dust- yeah that isn't good.

Re: Static wouldn't have been the only problem

My computer desk at home is fairly typical of the type. Next to the chair there is a compartment, with a base that my computer sits on, with just enough room above case for a little drawer that sits below the desktop.

And when I was still working in an office some of our workstations were of that sort ( not all and without the useful drawer). Others were of the sat on the top of the desk variety. Which is fine if there are alternative spaces for when staff need to spread work out, but a total royal pain in the arse if there isn't. Or indeed if you need full desk space adjacent to a computer.

(Use case- comparing an assessment or a set of documents side-by-side and then documenting/describing details or differences).

Re: I can think of a few things to call Elon, but imbecile is not one of them.

How about a lucky idiot with some good ideas.

Remember, the tech billionaires we see are possibly just the ones who 's idea didn't fail- it doesn't necessarily make them cleverer than the ones who's idea did fail.

Re: interested in the stock of his companies

But add that shorting an investment can lead to the price dropping in the way that you want it to, if you are a big investor.