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Comment Re:Maybe (Score 2) 81

Intel is going through that process now, with their "Airbus" being AMD.
Back when Intel had the Pentium IV and were concentrating on the Itanium, AMD brought out a new - more energy efficient - generation with 64 bits. Intel then engaged in criminal practices to suppress AMD while catching and then overtaking AMD with processors which subsequently turned out to be vulnerable to Heartbleed. Then AMD reinvented themselves and brought out the Ryzen processors, Intel's response was to appoint a techie - Pat Gelsinger - as CEO in early 2021. Intel shares peaked at just under $70 shortly afterwards, dropped to just under $25 18 months later and are now oscillating around $40 to $50. Gelsinger's reorientation of the company is going to take some time and the stock exchanges are notoriously disinterested in long term planning.
All this reminds me of the "5 year plans" the Soviet Union, China and their satellites used to propagate.

Comment Re:"Cleaned Up" (Score 1) 93

I spent a few days in Sofia (Bulgaria) almost exactly five years ago (I think it was February) and came back ill - the air was too polluted for my delicate sensibilities. They burn all sorts of crap there - tyres, rags, whatever - to keep warm. I'm not a chemist and have no idea how tyres should be disposed of, but burning them has to be about the worst way possible. Occasionally there will be a fire involving tyres in my area, then it is "keep doors and windows closed" time. Anyone who burns tyres or permits tyres to be burned should be forced to live downwind of the fire.

Comment Re:and when there is an network issue / lag what c (Score 2) 19

It's just over 20 years ago now, but I was involved in a case when that went wrong.
The main computers were around 9 miles away from the main offices (which were about to move) and there were two paths between the two. It was in the contract that the two paths were not permitted to use the same cables, unfortunately the two fiber lines were in the same trench. The one the backhoe cut through. That trench was even several miles away from the obvious route between the two sites.
The organisation also had two separate networks, one for the offices in the second site and one for the core business (Air Traffic Control) - site 1 was at the airport. You would imagine that the "core business" network would be unaffected, we certainly did.
There was an access point which permitted some groups access to both networks, someone had set them up so that their highest priority was making sure the access to the offices was up. All the access point servers were doing was pinging the offices, there was virtually nothing left over for communication to the towers, Air Traffic Control was crippled for hours.

A couple of years later - after the offices moved - something similar happened near the new site. The core-business ATC network was totally unaffected, the gateway reconfiguration had been a success.

Comment Re:Let's take a gander (Score 2) 27

My previous Android phone had the Samsung browser installed automatically, I'm pretty sure it's optional with my current phone and probably would have noticed if it was installed.
Amusingly, Samsung made the claim that their browser was one of the most popular ones in the world around four years ago, they based this on download statistics and not actual use. I suppose the same could be said to apply with Chrome, I only use it when Android functions call it automatically (or when the Firefox security settings break websites) but it gets updated every week or so.
Those browser statistics you link to are the worldwide ones, and are massively affected by India (Chrome has 88% there). Chrome has around 50% in the US, Safari is second, Edge has 8% and Firefox is around 5%. Firefox has around 10% where I am now.

Comment Time to recycle older lies? (Score 0) 113

Is it time to dredge up some Nazi propaganda from 1933-1945, translate it to English and post it on social media? Put up some of that vile anti-Jewish crap which garnered one or two men the death penalty in Nuremberg? Thinking about it, this is probably happening now anyway.
If these people are so determined to enforce unlimited free speech, they can see the consequences. Those who forget history are doomed to repeat, and all that.

Comment Re:Wheels on the bus ... (Score 2) 166

An additional hypothesis is that the pilot in that seat may have been eating his meal on a tray. That tray is what may have pushed against the yoke.

So did the flight attendant and the meal end up stuck to ceiling of the cockpit?
Only the meal?, the Flight Attendant was not to blame.
Both? Blame the switch.
Only the Flight Attendant? I'm running short of acceptable explanations.
Neither? This entire story is a red herring.

Submission + - How a new anti-fraud software can help millions more people bank safely (gatesfoundation.org)

An anonymous reader writes: A Q+A with Gates Foundation expert Kosta Peric about the new open-source software that could open the door to more people lifting their families out of poverty.

With this week’s launch of Tazama, a free, open-source software system that organizations can use to monitor financial transactions to detect potential fraud and money laundering in real time, we asked Konstantin Peric, our in-house expert on inclusive financial platforms, why it was needed and why the foundation supported its development and rollout.

Comment Re:What headline (convieniently) doesn't say (Score 3, Funny) 64

You post this shit every time something happens with a Boeing and it does not make it any more true (or relevant). Here, there's another incident from 12 days ago which involved one of their machines.

A United Boeing 737 bound for Florida from Houston on 4 March returned to the airport shortly after takeoff because the engine had taken in plastic bubble wrap that was on the airfield before departure. Social media posts showed flames coming out of the engine.

So was that "plastic bubble wrap" from a transgender sex aid?

Submission + - Human genetically identified as a dog (theguardian.com)

jd writes: A pet company has twice sent back dog breed results for human swab samples, prompting doubts surrounding the accuracy of dog breed tests.

On Wednesday, WBZ News reported its investigations team receiving dog breed results from the company DNA My Dog after one of its reporters sent in a swab sample – from her own cheek.

According to the results from the Toronto-based company, WBZ News reporter Christina Hager is 40% Alaskan malamute, 35% shar-pei and 25% labrador.

This, apparently, raises questions about the accuracy of dog breed identification by DNA. Actually, it kinda raises questions about claims linking human DNA to geographic places, too. (YDNA and MtDNA tracing is fine, but clearly the use of general markers leaves a lot to be desired.)

Submission + - Florida Man Sues G.M. and LexisNexis Over Sale of His Cadillac Data (nytimes.com)

An anonymous reader writes: When Romeo Chicco tried to get auto insurance in December, seven different companies rejected him. When he eventually obtained insurance, it was nearly double the rate he was previously paying. According to a federal complaint filed this week seeking class-action status, it was because his 2021 Cadillac XT6 had been spying on him. Modern cars have been called “smartphones with wheels,” because they are connected to the internet and packed with sensors and cameras. According to the complaint, an agent at Liberty Mutual told Mr. Chicco that he had been rejected because of information in his “LexisNexis report.” LexisNexis Risk Solutions, a data broker, has traditionally kept tabs for insurers on drivers’ moving violations, prior insurance coverage and accidents.

When Mr. Chicco requested his LexisNexis file, it contained details about 258 trips he had taken in his Cadillac over the past six months. His file included the distance he had driven, when the trips started and ended, and an accounting of any speeding and hard braking or accelerating. The data had been provided by General Motors — the manufacturer of his Cadillac. In a complaint against General Motors and LexisNexis Risk Solutions filed in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida, Mr. Chicco accused the companies of violation of privacy and consumer protection laws. The lawsuit followsa report by The New York Timesthat, unknown to consumers, automakers have been sharing information on their driving behavior with the insurance industry, resulting in increased insurance rates for some drivers. LexisNexis Risk Solutions, and another data broker called Verisk, claim to have real-world driving behavior from millions of cars.

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