* Posts by Lord Elpuss

2284 publicly visible posts • joined 17 Aug 2009

FTX crypto-crook Sam Bankman-Fried gets 25 years in prison

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Right but it's also included for sentencing; the 25 years includes a component for conspiracy.

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"The mastermind behind one of the largest cases of corporate fraud in US history was convicted on seven charges (conspiracy to commit wire fraud on customers and lenders, actual wire fraud on the same"

Without passing judgement on the judgement, so to speak; I legitimately don't understand how you can be convicted of the separate offences of 'conspiracy to commit wire fraud' AND 'actual wire fraud' within the same act. If you conspire but fail to follow through, then ok that is a separate, legitimate charge and I understand it. But if you're convicted of 'actual', that should then encompass the 'conspiracy' part. Otherwise they could create separate offences for each and every part of the planning process.

Seems to me they're padding the charge sheet here.

Unrelated note: my car needed new brake pads recently. I got a message on the dash saying I needed new brake pads. It was abundantly clear that I needed new brake pads. Went to the garage (big Stuttgart-based German manufacturer who shan't be named) and asked for new brake pads.

Got the invoice. €590 for new brake pads, €45 excl. VAT for "Diagnostics" to determine whether I needed new brake pads. Fuck no. If I come to you and say "My car doesn't seem to be stopping well but I don't know what the problem is", then sure charge me a diagnostics fee. But you don't get to charge extra for stating the bleeding obvious. Just like the 'conspiracy to' versus 'actual' argument.

How a single buck bought bragging rights in the battle to port Windows 95 to NT

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Re: Windoze NEVER worked well.

Was it stable though? Asking for a friend, I have no idea and no dog in this fight ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

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It is. And already been downvoted by Bob Day, I see. :D

London Clinic probes claim staffer tried to peek at Princess Kate's records

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Re: peek at Princess Kate's records

You do.

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Re: Don't dignify the tabloids

It hasn't been brought up because it's not the cause. It might explain one or two of the artifacts, but the rest are clearly photoshop; plus Kate admitted she'd Photoshopped it.

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Old adage: everything's for sale, including morality. It just depends on the price.

People can and will argue that they would 'never' do something e.g. access records they're not allowed to, until some Middle East outfit offers them a billion quid no questions asked.

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Re: Hard to fight the feeling that had this been a regular person

Why capitalise audit?

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"All was proved well at the weekend when a healthy looking Kate was spotted at a farm shop doing a spot of shopping."

Haha tell me this is a joke.

Exposed: Chinese smartphone farms that run thousands of barebones mobes to do crime

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Re: 1,000 smartphones all hard at work

You don't need a SIM to post comments or place fake orders...

Virgin Media sets up 'smart poles' next to cabinets to boost mobile network capacity

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Re: color matched with the street cabinet beside it

As far as left-pondians are concerned, the world consists of the USofA (MURCAAAH), and... some smelly marshland that still has dragons and castles. The concept of real (British) English escapes them.

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"We asked VMO2 if it intended to provide "appropriate community engagement," even if there is no official need for planning permission.

The company told The Register it always works "closely with Local Authorities before installing new infrastructure and notify residents ahead of works taking place."

So for VMO2, "appropriate community engagement" = putting up a sign a few days before saying telco works will take place here. That's neither 'appropriate' nor 'engagement'; in fact even 'community' is debatable.

Apple Vision Pro rentals take China by storm ahead of official release

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The snark was strong in this one, Richard. Did the nasty Apple not invite you to one of their events?

Apple to settle class action for $490 million after Tim overcooked China outlook

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I believe this primarily impacted investors who were interested in the China outlook, and made their investment decisions accordingly.

Voyager 1 starts making sense again after months of babble

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Digital twinning is a useful concept (and I'm sure they're doing it, or something very similar) - but using genAI/LLM on such an incredibly failure-sensitive and risky project would be beyond madness. For once the reasons for NOT doing this aren't budget.

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Re: Ah! Memories!

Sorry, is that just a random plug? I fail to see the link.

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Re: Great news

"It won't stop until it hits something."

Yes so one day it will stop. Not any day soon, but one day.

IBM CEO pay jumps 23% in 2023, average employee gets 7%

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Re: Interesting because of the legal mess he just landed IBM in.

Quotas are objectively bad. Full stop.

Biden's State of the Union included a battle cry against AI mimicry

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Re: If America wants to be great again...

And 110v. What's that about.

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Tilting the playing field IS a competitive tactic.

All's fair in love and business...

Job interview descended into sweary shouting match, candidate got the gig anyway

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Re: "He was also unable to do a decent wolf whistle!"

“I like oranges.”

“So you hate lemons?”

“No, I just like oranges.”

“Disgusting lemon hater.”

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Re: "They add great value when the time comes to lay people off."

"To get fired from a HR position you have to be pretty much unspeakable, because you need to have pissed off all your own colleagues as well as the rest of the company."

Not true. HR roles are being hit by some of the deepest cuts presently; because what most of what they 'do' can be largely automated or replaced with AI-lite aka chatbots.

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Jake may have used literally every software package released since 1959, but he's not suggesting Sendmail as an alternative to Outlook. Simply that he's used it, and it has a steep learning curve.

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Re: "He was also unable to do a decent wolf whistle!"

"Wolf whistles are indecent by definition, aren't they?"

Really no. Don't be that guy. Or girl.

Spam crusade lands charity in hot water with data watchdog

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Re: Don't give money charities you cry...

Delusions of grandeur always annoy me.

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Re: Don't give money charities you cry...

Like those poor mugs who spaffed their donations up the wall so Patrice Cullors could buy herself a new mansion? You're quite A OK supporting that, along with calling those who object to it racists... ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

And for the record, you don't need to sign your posts. Literally nobody gives a shit whether you're A, B, Z or The Poster Who Used to Call Himself Q.

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Patrice Cullors, is that you?

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Re: BLM is (was) also a charity

Wrong. Thanks for playing though. Better luck next time.

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Re: RNLI vs chuggers

You keep commenting without saying anything. A bit pointless, even for you.

Lord Elpuss Silver badge

Re: RNLI vs chuggers

DoubleLayer I think you're right. My point isn't that I feel these services should necessarily be restricted or cancelled; simply that funding, in the broadest context of ANY service, is by its very nature finite AND intended for a specific objective. Allowing those who are not in scope of this objective to take advantage of the service decreases the quality and availability of the service for those for whom it IS intended, which isn't fair as it's their money (directly or indirectly) that paid for it. See also: restricting access to the NHS to legal UK residents.

I don't believe it's practical to ask RNLI boat commanders to deliberately ignore anybody struggling in the water. To do so would be inhuman, not to mention impractical (ask them for ID before picking them up? Throw them back if they can't show UK residency?) HOWEVER - the RNLI should not promote itself as a service to non UK-residents, and (in my view) should make it clear that that is NOT why it exists. It has neither the funding nor the mission to save the world.

That is my point.

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Re: RNLI vs chuggers

And you are clearly unable to explain; you thought you'd just throw some random shit in and hope it went unquestioned.

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Re: RNLI vs chuggers

What's that got to do with the price of peanuts? I don't see the correlation.

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Re: BLM is (was) also a charity

I didn’t confuse anything. BLM, and everything associated with it, is nothing more than a scam concept staffed and supported by grifters, workshy oxygen thieves and professional victims, with the singular intent of padding their nests at the expense of the gullible and weak.

Clear enough for you?

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Re: RNLI vs chuggers

” Rescue doesn't care.

> what happens if the people needing rescue are attempting to migrate illegally?

Idem.“

Well; when it comes to funding, they should. Not to mention the fact that it’s a tool in the smuggler’s arsenal knowing that if all else fails, we can dump them in the water and they’ll be picked up anyway. Remove this safety net and a part of the smugglers’ value proposition goes away.

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Re: "As part of this journey"

Not to mention "circling back"

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Re: RNLI vs chuggers

Where I am, chugging and/or shaking the bucket is illegal. If you want to collect on the street, you can stand there with a hi-viz and an (approved, licensed and tamper-proofed) collection receptacle, but you can't approach people or shake/jingle at them in order to attract attention. Occasionally some scummy out-of-town students on 100% commission will try it on, and the local population seem to relish the challenge of teaching them a well deserved lesson when they step out of lane.

One of the vastly better laws, in my opinion.

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Re: Measuring efficiency

Samaritans' bad result had next to nothing to do with supplying phones for volunteers. A VoIP server and a bunch of handsets costs pennies in the scheme of things.

Of course if you're giving hundreds of your volunteer staff un-MDMed iPhone 15s and expecting them all to be there and accounted for at the end of the month, then yes that could be an expensive proposition. But then that's fully, 100% on you for being an idiot.

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Ooh do you?

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Re: BLM is (was) also a charity

"So is Eton college. What's your point?"

My point is that BLM was set up by, run by, and ultimately abused by scumbags who used it to line their own pockets. Eton College generally wasn't, and isn't.

I fail to see which part of this is hard to understand.

Lord Elpuss Silver badge

Next time you think charity=good, remember: BLM is (was) also a charity.

Just because something CLAIMS to be supporting a good cause, doesn't mean it isn't run by scumbags intent on lining their own pockets.

IBM lifts lid on latest bid to halt mainframe skill slips

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Re: RE: Mainframe Skills Council

"...questioning "Why are we allowing 'managers' to keep their jobs when they apparently can't make wise, foreseeable business decisions?""

To be fair, most managers have zero power, influence, budget or freedom to make decisions of any scope. Executives are the ones with the power, and even then not all are created equal; you have to go pretty high to find somebody who can make strategic decisions versus day-to-day.

Trump supporters forge AI deepfakes to woo Black voters

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Re: Except

"Not everything is about Trump."

Not everything.

But this is.

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You're raging at nobody, sweet pea. Shouting into the ether. Whistling into the wind.

There is a derangement syndrome here, but it has nothing to do with Chunky Cheeto.

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Re: Except

"Nothing to do with Trump"

It's everything to do with Trump. Don't be naive.

YouTube workers laid off mid-plea at city hall meeting

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Re: These were CONTRACTORS on the Day their Contracts Expired.

"Did they choose to be contractors (exchanging more money for less benefits) or was it their only option?"

There's always another option.

EU takes a bite out of Apple with $2B in-app purchase fine

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"Developers like Netflix should skip the vision pro"

They are. Apple's response? Shrug.

"see how apple likes trying to shift £3500 headsets with no killer features"

No Netflix != No Killer Features.

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Re: Sweep

"Zero is already taken."

It doesn't generally work like that. Fines are payable - at least in escrow - within a short period of judgement being made. They can appeal and might have the money returned to them if successful (and interest is generally applied either way) but they don't get to simply delay in perpetuity.

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Apple is fully entitled to determine the rules inside their App Store that they created, own, manage and curate.

But THIS - "...because the anti-steering rule also prevented developers from telling users about cheaper prices available elsewhere." - is bang out of order. And I completely support the EU in striking it down.

Apple gets in on the AI PC hype, claims fanless M3 MacBook Air is fab for LLMs

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Regardless of whether you're correct, that doesn't negate my point.