It's a game
And much more fun without the bendy pole on the back of the car and the chicken wire overhead..
Posts by Zog_but_not_the_first
1820 publicly visible posts • joined 18 Feb 2014
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Google robo-car in rear-end smash – but cack-handed human blamed
Neil Young yanks music from streaming services: 'Worst audio in history'
Happy NukeDay to you! 70 years in the shadow of the bomb post-Trinity
Everything I see is Windows 10, says Microsoft's SatNad
Run Windows 10 on your existing PC you say, Microsoft? Hmmm.
Wednesday 15th July 2015 13:00 GMT 
I'm puzzled...
... by this creeping tendency to talk of "apps" on desktop (and laptop) machines. Do the writers mean programs, or are "apps" radically different in some way?
Given that the terminology is ported from smartphones I guess an app is something that executes a hopefully useful function while slurping your personal data and uploading it to the land of fluffy kittens and unicorns "cloud", while a program does something useful without being a nosey parker.
Nokia will indeed be back 'making' phones – and it's far from a foolish move
Microsoft suspends Windows 10 new-build downloads ahead of launch
New Horizons mission to Pluto prepares for terrifying silence on Tuesday AM
Mathematician: sunspot could mean mini ice age from 2030
Natural geothermal heat under Antarctic ice: 'Surprisingly high'
Monday 13th July 2015 10:38 GMT 
Heat balance
I've always been puzzled that little debate seems to include the "hot interior" when discussing climate change. Heat loss presumably drives things like tectonic activity (convective plumes?) and the geological record suggests that the planet has gone through phases of intense volcanic activity followed by quiescent times.
Heated outside by the sun and inside by something else (radioactive material??) - what's the heat balance look like?
On yer bike: Hammerhead satnav for cyclists – just don't look down
Google makes new hires ONE pay offer. 'Negotiation'? What's that?
PLUTO SPACE WHALE starts to give up its secrets
Pan Am Games: Link to our website without permission and we'll sue
What do you MEAN, 'Click on the thing which looks like a Mondrian?'
Trebles all round: The BBC's won this licence fee showdown
Friday 10th July 2015 17:41 GMT 
Dazed and confused
To take up the "drive-by shooting" metaphor, I had expected a (small) majority Conservative Government to approach the BBC at Charter renewal time and deliver "two to the heart and one to the head".
Instead, the hit man seems to have tossed them a brown envelope and sped off saying "You ain't seen me, right!"
I cannae dae it, cap'n! Why I had to quit the madness of frontline IT
A quarter of public sector IT workers have never used the cloud
'Real' vampires reluctant to 'come out of the coffin' to social workers – barmy prof
Greek PM Alexis Tsipras brings the EU to its knees
Canuck chump cuffed over helium balloon flying chair stunt
Pluto probe brain OVERLOAD: Titsup New Horizons explained
The Scientific Secrets of Doctor Who
Monday 6th July 2015 08:32 GMT
What we seem to have forgotten
"Certainty is the opposite of scientific knowledge. Science as we have seen, is a provisional series of statements based on evidence and testing, with tests that can be repeated. These tests depend on doubt."
It was worth reading the review to be reminded of this very apposite quotation with respect to the modern world.
Adam Smith was right about that invisible hand, you know
Monday 6th July 2015 04:43 GMT
Re: Congratulations
"Of course some of his predictions are looney tunes ....like, say, the idea that monopoly capitalism is inevitable, rather than just something to be aware of and thus avoid."
Google's Cardboard cutout VR headgear given away GRATIS by OnePlus ... SELLS OUT
Will rising CO2 damage the world's oceans? Not so much
Facebook unveils SECRET logo furtle – in a TWEET
World+dog will soon watch 'at least 200 pr0n vids a year'
Teaching people to speak English? You just need Chatroulette without the dick pics
Yikes! Facebook will run on TELEPATHY, thinks Zuck, in Q&A
Apple's mystery auto project siphoning staff from other divisions
Why OH WHY did Blighty privatise EVERYTHING?
Monday 29th June 2015 09:42 GMT
While we're talking about money...
How do the books balance out given the one-time cash intake to the Treasury from privatisation plus the avoided cost (year on year) of running the nationalised organisations? Why weren't the recipient Govs rolling in it?
Or have these aspects been forgotten as Thatcher conveniently neglected to mention the bonanza of North Sea oil revenue and its contribution to the exchequer?
(Yes, I woke up grumpy today)
Monday 29th June 2015 05:17 GMT
Thoughts
Thanks Tim. Thought provoking stuff. As one of the commentards who requested this piece, I feel duty-bound to reply. I posted some thoughts on this a while ago and have reproduced them below with a couple of extra comments.
"One significant piece of the puzzle when considering the economics of the post-war economy vs current fiscal performance is the role of the Nationalised Industries.
These are generally assumed to be "industrial dinosaurs" characterised by bureaucracy and inefficiency; both of which are, to a degree, deserved criticisms. But leaving aside the technological developments that have, and would have (in can be argued), benefitted all players, is BT really more efficient than the GPO?
These industries played an important part in maintaining the nation's infrastructure, addressing long-term strategic issues as well as the day-to-day supply of electricity/gas/telecoms etc. We are currently dangerously close to rolling power cuts from the privatised electricity supply industry, where the Government's only response is to bribe the private operators to keep plant open. Contrast that situation to the CEGB's role in operating and maintaining capacity and planning for and providing future power plant. Which is better?
An underreported aspect of the Nationalised Industry structure was the provision of hundreds of thousands of well-paid jobs, putting money into local communities. Through an enlightened policy of the self-improvement of staff through apprenticeships and part-time education students were given the chance to reach their potential. This, I believe, was an important contributor to increased social mobility in the past.
I'm not advocating the establishment of a "command and control" economy, but I do think there is a valuable debate to be had on the benefits of a return to a mixed economy that includes modern state-owned and run industries. The argument against this is usually one invoking globalisation. I travel a fair bit for business and pleasure but I'm not a "Citizen of the World". I live in a village, my family and friends are generally within a few hours drive and I get provisions from local shops, eat in local restaurants and drink in local pubs. The benefits of globalisation to international capital are easy to see, but it's increasingly hard to see them for ordinary people. Unless you think the accumulation of landfill tat makes it all worthwhile.
We had the chance recently to compare the benefits of a private industry's operation of a utility with a modern state-owned alternative in the franchise award for the East Coast line operation. Directly Operated Railways, which had been doing a sterling job of running the operation, was not allowed to bid. Dogma dictated that the operation must return to the private sector. A great pity, I think."
There are many comments about the highly regulated and bureaucratic nature of the old nationalised industries. To be fair, there was scope for some sharpening up but these systems were put in place to prevent fraud. Accounting practices in the private sector (e.g. share swaps) seem set up to facilitate it.
Biting the hand that feeds IT
