* Posts by NeilPost

1897 publicly visible posts • joined 28 Jan 2014

When Google cost cutting goes molecular: Staples, sticky tape, and PC sweating

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… and central procurement skim volume rebates.

Hopefully they aren’t a profit centre !!

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Gross extravagance

https://amp.theguardian.com/technology/2020/jul/28/google-commits-to-vast-london-office-despite-rise-of-remote-working

Catastrophic Strategic errors and vast wastes of money like the above massively expensive building and the London workers in it.

Feds seize $112m in cryptocurrency linked to 'pig-butchering' finance scams

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The only quick return is made by selling to suckers wanting lazy/high margin returns.

Snakeoil Salesmen are nothing new.

.. so the first lesson is …

“If it seems to good to be true, it normally is”.

New models of IBM Model F keyboard Mark II incoming

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Re: mmm, want

A Lenovo (former IBM Think) full sized KB is not a bad alternative, and a ton cheaper. What typing this on right now.

Defunct comms link connected to nothing at a fire station – for 15 years

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x25

I had that with some X25 circuits into a regional office. Stuff just got buried on the monthly BT OneBill CD which kept just getting paid every month via Direct Debit. No-one understood it from a Financial Control POV. It was just a (largely) fixed cost of doing business.

A review of it - using the analysis software BT provided with it - shaved £150k annually off the telecoms bill. Unused circuits, unused lines, call analysis and some arm twisting on call behaviours.

NYPD blues: Cops ignored 93 percent of surveillance law rules

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https://amp.theguardian.com/uk-news/2023/mar/21/metropolitan-police-institutionally-racist-misogynistic-homophobic-louise-casey-report

https://amp.theguardian.com/uk-news/2023/mar/30/every-fire-brigade-in-england-plagued-by-bullying-and-harassment-claims-report-finds

Fire Service too.

Apple sued for allegedly firing, threatening union organizers

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Certainly more cause than correcting a time sheet error.

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Was it ever really about Communism ??

SHEIN has the look of America's next tech-meets-geopolitics fit-up

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Re: Typical Americans

That’s all masking the carbon footprint of shipping **individual orders** to Consumer’s around the world **from fucking China** (yes exploiting the UPU loopholes).

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Re: "...never wear anything more than maybe twice. Especially women seem to be guilty of this."

Plus Turkey, Vietnam, Bangladesh, India, Burma, Sri Lanka.

I’m sure if they could get away with it North Korea too.

Investment bank forecasts LLMs could put 300 million jobs at risk

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Re: Complete lack of credibility

Wait until an LLM (?) does Gartner’s research for them - LOL.

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LLM

Define an LLM. The internet says it is something lawyery.

You forgot to say.

Amazon opens its ad-hoc Wi-Fi-sipping Sidewalk mesh to all manner of gadgets

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USA Only?

Is this a USA only thaanng??

No Sidewalk (or Pavement!) in my UK Alexa App.

Cisco, Huawei, Ericsson on the hook for Philippine telco's $880M overspend

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Procurement as a ‘Profit Centre’ is always bad.

Accenture puts 19,000 staffers' heads on the chopping block

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Re: Recession?

“The payroll swelled for these companies during the pandemic. In the case of Accenture, for example, it has grown staff numbers by 30 percent since the start of June 2021, adding some 170,000 people.”

This feel like horrible mismanagement. A 30% uptick in staff in less that 2 years. What are they smoking in the C-Suite.

Lenovo Thinkpad X13s: The stealth Arm-powered laptop

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Windows RT back

Sounds like not a great deal of progress has been made since the days of Windows RT/Windows Phone.

I guess Web-apps like Office 364/Google have come on a bit since then.

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Re: Need a USB Hub for that

Too few authors do that. It makes the community feel far more engaged. Appreciated here too.

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Re: Need a USB Hub for that

Sounds like a ton of modern laptops, MacBooks.

Just buy a cheap USB C hub, preferable one that can do Power Pass-Thru, and perhaps give you a 3rd display option - I’m sure Lenovo rather flog you a ThinkPad Travel Port Expander at £10, where and Anker USB C hub at £20 will do.

Germany clocks that ripping out Huawei, ZTE network kit won't be cheap or easy

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Re: Needs A Re-write......

Samsung

https://www.reuters.com/world/uk/vodafone-opts-samsungs-5g-network-solutions-britain-2021-06-14/

Capital crunch: Virgin Orbit confirms all ops on pause until Tuesday

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It isn’t. A corruption post-pandemic of US labor (sic) practices.

Branson - just put your hands in your fucking D-E-E-P pockets.

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But you do have several thousand miles of sea to the west of Newquay. It’s called the Atlantic Ocean.

Thoughts

- Branson should put some more money into this, or be better (like Musk) at snagging State subsidies/loans

- Employees being ‘furloughed’ (without pay) is a worrying post-pandemic Americanisation of this. Back to point 1, Branson needs to put his hands in his pockets. His very deep pockets.

Microsoft picks perfect time to dump its AI ethics team

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You mean people from Legal ?

Meta chops another 10,000 employees, closes 5,000 vacancies

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Re: Year of Efficiency

Why not pay them to do something useful ??

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Re: Year of Efficiency

If the organisation is that inefficient and poorly ran - it speak volumes that the people in the C-Suite are the problem… as that’s strategic failings, not detail…. and stop blaming the pandemic FFS.

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Re: Bovine Excrement by the Zuckload

A faster organisation does not mean a better organisation, or better decisions made.

Also egregious cherry picking of of the ‘performed better’ metrics as no mention at all of pre-pandemic engineers who work remotely.

Amazon: Behold our antennas, which you cannot use just yet

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Re: Oh great, another satellite constellation

What Amazon did not just buy OneWeb when they were in distress is beyond me. They now well past that - and the Baikanour Cosmodrome Satellite heist/kidnapping - and their network is filling out nicely.

The UK's bad encryption law can't withstand global contempt

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Re: If they cared about children...

Don’t forget education - pre, infant, primary, secondary, tertiary, research.

… and all of the SureStart Centre’s force closed by Tory Ineptitude/Policy.

UK govt adds £4B to value of delayed tech procurement

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Could they procure a standard fit ERP Solution that works acress Government, Education and key partners……. that’s not under spec, not over budget .. and just works ????

You know … something that is “Not Shit”.

(What rebate do CCS get ?? Hoping it’s not run as a ‘profit centre’. Ye Olde Granada Purchasing … I’m looking at you !! ).

Rivian wants out of Amazon electric van lock-in

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It’s just a modern reimagining of the UK’s previously ubiquitous electric milk-float that died off due to supermarket’s killing the margin on local dairy home delivery.

No real issues in a cold a cold Scottish Winter … though they were not Li-Ion batteries !!

China's semiconductor and IC imports have slumped. Why on Earth could that be?

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Re: The Continental Blockade

Ultimately China’s home-grown semi-conductor capability will be an existential threat in 20 years or so. This sort of stupidity generates that - whilst a country has capability - hell even North Korea has ICBM’s when the effort/resources are provided.

Just look at China and Solar PeV, batteries, EV’s etc ….

**Note, please do not sent this wiki link to Brexiteer’s !!! !!! That’s just a different ballpark of stupidity.** ;-)

Atomic energy body proposes fusion framework to manage British energy grids

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Re: Nice

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dinorwig_Power_Station

Try some of this……At grid scale, and noted its Central Electricity Generating Board heritage.

Noted similar plans for Exmoor not progressed. Repeat this 50 times over across suitable areas in Scotland , Wakes, England, NI.

You’d also be stewarding additional water reserve capacity too. Killing 2 birds with 1 stone. Now there is a thought.

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Re: Nice

As vast numbers of cars are ‘at work’ during the day there is little chance of this reliably 7am -7pm … over and above many of these with solar are missing in a chance to trickle-charge a wall battery which is a better connected option.

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Re: Nice

https://www.theguardian.com/business/2023/mar/09/national-grid-pays-high-price-for-gas-generated-power-during-uk-cold-snap

Noted some mention here of “Dinorwig, a vast, pumped hydroelectric power plant in north Wales nicknamed “Electric Mountain”, which is the fastest source of electricity in the UK.”

Noted National Grid being held to ransom by gas-power station operators… who now seem am to be owned by poachers… when people are belly-aching about the cost of Hinckley Point etc …

https://www.theguardian.com/business/2023/mar/09/national-grid-pays-high-price-for-gas-generated-power-during-uk-cold-snap

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Re: Nice

Yup Tory(the not raving Mad Major Administration) decision to close Dounreay, enacted by Labour/Blair Administration.?

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Re: Nice

The transmission from Scotland to England will probably come to a stop once Hunterston B and Torness join the three Nuclear Decommissioning Authority (NDA)-owned civil nuclear sites at advanced stages of decommissioning: Dounreay, Chapelcross and Hunterston A.

£2B in UK taxpayer cash later, and still no Emergency Services Network

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Re: ESN services vs network

… an NHS ID has no statutory powers.

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Re: Good day?

Theresa May

Amber Rudd

Sajid Javid

Priti Patel

Suella Braverman

Grant Shapps

Suella Braverman

.. are the list of Tory Home Secretarie, who ultimately lead this project.

I don’t see any of Suella Braverman’s - or predecessor’s - rabid anti-migrant/anti-Shamina Begum rhetoric allowing any time to be spent on this.

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Re: voted Labour and Remain

Let’s call it what but was .. and remains today. Proroguing Parliament, braking the law, breaking international treaties etc .. spot on the money.

https://www.cps.gov.uk/legal-guidance/misconduct-public-office

Furriners, Shamina Begum, Migrants, NI Protocol, EU Retained Law Bill, Environmental Pollution (looking at you water companies), ClimTe Chances obligations, Covid Fast Lane, Lobbying, Palantir in the NHS ……

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Re: voted Labour and Remain

Brexit, implemented by Brexiteers.

Going swimmingly isn’t it !!!

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Re: voted Labour and Remain

What a trans-Atlantic merger with the GOP?

Cash-strapped Intel looks for $3B in savings to pursue '5 nodes in 4 years' dream

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Re: Product

I did note the ‘empty shells’ comment.

I hope they aren’t using the CHIPS money to build some sheds… with nothing in. They’ll be back for more free money when it come to fit-out time.

60% of Germany's 5G network is Huawei, says Chinese embassy

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No compensation

Seems odd that the German Govt has left it so long and - as the article hints - wants to rip and replace without compensation.

Meanwhile .. little mention of other potential common Chinese stuff - most electronics, Lenovo Laptop,

Strange how they’ll spaff billions to build a chip plant to fuxk China over…, but not want to fund rip and replace in critical 5G network.

Intel rattles the tin for another €5B in subsidies to build German fab

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Re: I have said this before

This is just state sanctioned bribery.

Brit newspaper giant fills space with AI-assisted articles

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Re: Artificial plagarism

Just 2%….,???

You missed assorted articles about best chippy too…. Then a follow-up on why no local ones made it into the UK Chippy the year comp.

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Re: Artificial plagarism

noticed the improvement !!!

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Re: Will anyone notice?

ChatGPT content at Retch Media will actually be a significant improvement from the normal hysterical Beast from the East, new McDonalds/Tim Hortons opening, advertiriala masauerading as news and national news stories piped into local media they own … like the formerly respected Coventry Telegraph..

The spelling and grammar should improve too.

Don't worry, that system's not actually active – oh, wait …

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Re: pizza is the perfect food

You would be surprised by the amount of Gire Service time wasted by burnt toast - though the real issue is the workplace Fire Detection/Alarm system likely just has a smoke detector, and not a heat detector in your welfare area.

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Re: Why would one ...

A Combi Micro-oven/grill has largely replaced these standalone units…. Which are more commonly today being replaced by the microwave-less ‘air fryer’.

A toaster is for toasting bread, vertically. There is no such thing as a toaster oven.

Toaster, counter-top grill (broiler), oven or air-fryer.

BT opens 'voluntary job leavers' scheme for merging Enterprise and Global units

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It you are a BT 50 year lifer, you will have a (rare as hens teeth for any current employee) BT Final Salary pension. Make sure they tip some money into that too.

Arm co-founder: Britain's chip strat 'couldn’t be any worse'

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Re: Power strategy first ...

Next to Hinckley Point C then ??… Though the fab maybe completed before the power station.