Computers & Technology 4

Message boards : Politics : Computers & Technology 4
Message board moderation

To post messages, you must log in.

Previous · 1 · 2 · 3 · 4 · 5 · 6 · 7 · 8 . . . 35 · Next

AuthorMessage
Profile Bernie Vine
Volunteer moderator
Volunteer tester
Avatar

Send message
Joined: 26 May 99
Posts: 9956
Credit: 103,452,613
RAC: 328
United Kingdom
Message 2010630 - Posted: 4 Sep 2019, 12:48:35 UTC

The Northern Line issue is an electronic failure.


So technology is at fault because it fails?

Systems such as mass transit need to be designed by "humans" not to have "single point failures", but that is of course expensive, so the "cheaper" design is used and it fails.

We are seeing too much reliance on cheaply designed and engineered systems that have single points of failure, Gatwick yesterday, Underground today.

Whatever the cause , it was designed and built by humans, they are, and always will be the weak link in the chain. Spend less get a weaker chain
ID: 2010630 · Report as offensive     Reply Quote
Sirius B Project Donor
Volunteer tester
Avatar

Send message
Joined: 26 Dec 00
Posts: 24904
Credit: 3,081,182
RAC: 7
Ireland
Message 2010636 - Posted: 4 Sep 2019, 13:40:51 UTC - in response to Message 2010630.  
Last modified: 4 Sep 2019, 13:42:15 UTC

Fair point. However, in the past there were weekly traffic circulars. All that had to be done was end running earlier the night before & start later the next morning. Permanent Way crews worked through the night & more often than not finished on schedule. Done for many years in the past & I believe using "cheaper" systems.
What changed?

After Moorgate in Feb 75, the whole network had "delta track" rolled out without a fuss. Since then many other upgrades & rollouts were completed, more often using "cheap" systems.

Of course there were teething problems, but not to the extent we have been seeing for the past few years. Certainly none that shut a whole line down or caused severe delays.
ID: 2010636 · Report as offensive     Reply Quote
Sirius B Project Donor
Volunteer tester
Avatar

Send message
Joined: 26 Dec 00
Posts: 24904
Credit: 3,081,182
RAC: 7
Ireland
Message 2011351 - Posted: 9 Sep 2019, 9:58:12 UTC

Visited that signal box while waiting to be allocated my depot in 74. Nice to see it become a heritage site.
That's a fairly important junction as it covers 3 lines - District/Hammersmith & City/Metropolitan & Circle.
There have been many incidents when all aspects of the system were fully manned. The system operates on a timetable which allows those destination boards one sees at stations. Ever wondered why there have been times that they are off?
That's because there was a serious enough incident that puts the timetable out of action. That has sometimes meant that some trains either had to be cancelled or terminated early to enable the timetable to get back on track.

Sometimes those incidents forced train crews to be vigilant, for example, on several occasions, arrived at a semi-automatic signal (junction) & wrong road set, had to contact signalman to inform him of our train number & destination so that he could set the correct road. How will full automation handle timetables out of kilter?

Ah, the trains will have sensors with seamless communication with signal box/control centre. :-)
Ah but what if incidents like Boeing's AoA sensors occur? Food for thought.

Edgware Road Signalman & box to retire
ID: 2011351 · Report as offensive     Reply Quote
Profile Gary Charpentier Crowdfunding Project Donor*Special Project $75 donorSpecial Project $250 donor
Volunteer tester
Avatar

Send message
Joined: 25 Dec 00
Posts: 30918
Credit: 53,134,872
RAC: 32
United States
Message 2011986 - Posted: 15 Sep 2019, 0:20:35 UTC

ID: 2011986 · Report as offensive     Reply Quote
Sirius B Project Donor
Volunteer tester
Avatar

Send message
Joined: 26 Dec 00
Posts: 24904
Credit: 3,081,182
RAC: 7
Ireland
Message 2017984 - Posted: 6 Nov 2019, 15:01:22 UTC

What would happen if GPS - the Global Positioning System - stopped working?
For a start, we would all have to engage our brains and pay attention to the world around us when getting from A to B. Perhaps this would be no bad thing: we'd be less likely to drive into rivers or over cliffs through misplaced trust in our navigation devices.
Getting from A to B
The American taxpayer puts up the billion-odd dollars a year it takes to keep GPS going, and that's very kind of them. But is it wise for the rest of the world to rely on their continued largesse?
Surprised that tRump hasn't jumped on the bandwagon a la NATO demands. :-)
ID: 2017984 · Report as offensive     Reply Quote
Sirius B Project Donor
Volunteer tester
Avatar

Send message
Joined: 26 Dec 00
Posts: 24904
Credit: 3,081,182
RAC: 7
Ireland
Message 2019148 - Posted: 15 Nov 2019, 17:59:09 UTC

The Internet is Information Technology is it not?
I've always thought this:
8 bits = 1 byte
1024 bytes - 1 Kb
1024 Kb = 1Mb
1024 Mb = 1Gb
1024 Gb - I Tb
1 terabyte is equal to 1000 gigabytes.. However, in terms of information technology or computer science, 1 TB is 1024 gigabytes.
Reporting hiccups?
Utopia on the way. :-)
ID: 2019148 · Report as offensive     Reply Quote
Profile Mr. Kevvy Crowdfunding Project Donor*Special Project $250 donor
Volunteer moderator
Volunteer tester
Avatar

Send message
Joined: 15 May 99
Posts: 3797
Credit: 1,114,826,392
RAC: 3,319
Canada
Message 2019149 - Posted: 15 Nov 2019, 18:07:18 UTC - in response to Message 2019148.  

The usual terminology to distinguish powers-of-ten from powers-of-two data sizes is "Kib", "MiB", "GiB", "TiB" for power-of-ten versus "KB", "MB", "GB", "TB" for powers-of-two. By that:

1,024 bytes = 1 KB, 1,024 KB = 1 MB, 1,024 MB = 1 GB, 1,024 GB = 1 TB
whereas:
1,000 bytes = 1 KiB, 1,000 KiB = 1 MiB, 1,000 MiB = 1 GiB, 1,000 GiB = 1 TiB
ID: 2019149 · Report as offensive     Reply Quote
Sirius B Project Donor
Volunteer tester
Avatar

Send message
Joined: 26 Dec 00
Posts: 24904
Credit: 3,081,182
RAC: 7
Ireland
Message 2019152 - Posted: 15 Nov 2019, 18:32:56 UTC - in response to Message 2019149.  

Knew that but as the article refers to the Internet, isn't that Information Technology, In which case, your first line is correct. Again, standards of reporting dropping.
ID: 2019152 · Report as offensive     Reply Quote
Profile ML1
Volunteer moderator
Volunteer tester

Send message
Joined: 25 Nov 01
Posts: 20949
Credit: 7,508,002
RAC: 20
United Kingdom
Message 2019179 - Posted: 15 Nov 2019, 21:52:55 UTC - in response to Message 2019148.  
Last modified: 15 Nov 2019, 23:55:06 UTC

The Internet is Information Technology is it not?
I've always thought this:
8 bits = 1 byte
1024 bytes - 1 kb
1024 kb = 1Mb
1024 Mb = 1Gb
1024 Gb - 1 Tb

That is only understood by the 'techno-geeks' that understand what binary is. To avoid confusion with the base-10 SI units, the binary (base-2) equivalents are specially distinguished as:

  • kib (1024 = 2^3 bits)
  • Mib (2^6 bits)
  • Gib (2^9 bits)
  • Tib (2^12 bits)


and:


  • kiB (1024 = 2^3 bytes)
  • MiB (2^6 bytes)
  • GiB (2^9 bytes)
  • TiB (2^12 bytes)


See "Wikipedia - Mebibyte" for more of the story.

1 terabyte is equal to 1000 gigabytes.. However, in terms of information technology or computer science, 1 TB is 1024 gigabytes.
Reporting hiccups?
Utopia on the way. :-)

There is a silly game played by Marketing to use the (smaller sized) base-10 units so as to inflate the numbers given for whatever technology...

Hence, why Market something as 0.9 GiB when you can instead boast of 1 GByte?...

That is all very annoying and misleading, especially so for such as disk drives and network connections...


All the usual Marketing lies and obfuscation...

All in our only one world,
Martin

[edit] Typo fixed! [/edit]
See new freedom: Mageia Linux
Take a look for yourself: Linux Format
The Future is what We all make IT (GPLv3)
ID: 2019179 · Report as offensive     Reply Quote
Profile Gary Charpentier Crowdfunding Project Donor*Special Project $75 donorSpecial Project $250 donor
Volunteer tester
Avatar

Send message
Joined: 25 Dec 00
Posts: 30918
Credit: 53,134,872
RAC: 32
United States
Message 2019181 - Posted: 15 Nov 2019, 21:57:37 UTC - in response to Message 2019179.  

All the usual Marketing lies and obfuscation...

A bug is a feature as described by the marketing department.
ID: 2019181 · Report as offensive     Reply Quote
Sirius B Project Donor
Volunteer tester
Avatar

Send message
Joined: 26 Dec 00
Posts: 24904
Credit: 3,081,182
RAC: 7
Ireland
Message 2019189 - Posted: 15 Nov 2019, 22:19:48 UTC - in response to Message 2019181.  

All the usual Marketing lies and obfuscation...

A bug is a feature as described by the marketing department.
I bet that Boeing is beginning to hate that fact. :-)
ID: 2019189 · Report as offensive     Reply Quote
Profile Gary Charpentier Crowdfunding Project Donor*Special Project $75 donorSpecial Project $250 donor
Volunteer tester
Avatar

Send message
Joined: 25 Dec 00
Posts: 30918
Credit: 53,134,872
RAC: 32
United States
Message 2020339 - Posted: 24 Nov 2019, 1:58:14 UTC

https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/police-used-google-location-data-find-accused-bank-robber-he-n1086836
Security footage showed the man holding a cellphone to his ear just before the robbery, a detail that led police to attempt a surveillance technique that is growing in popularity among American law enforcement agencies.

When authorities had not identified the suspect a few weeks after the robbery, an officer got a warrant for Google's location data from all the cellphones that had been in the area of the Call Federal Credit Union bank during the heist.

The demand for Google data, known as a geofence warrant, is a way for law enforcement authorities to take advantage of the company's collection of massive amounts of information on its customers. The orders allow police to track just about anyone using an Android device or a company app — such as Google maps or Gmail — to a particular place over a particular time period.
ID: 2020339 · Report as offensive     Reply Quote
Sirius B Project Donor
Volunteer tester
Avatar

Send message
Joined: 26 Dec 00
Posts: 24904
Credit: 3,081,182
RAC: 7
Ireland
Message 2021664 - Posted: 4 Dec 2019, 14:29:21 UTC
Last modified: 4 Dec 2019, 14:51:30 UTC

Ain't technology grand. :-(
Just noticed the fall donation thread & seen my green star disappeared, oops.
Clicked donate & entered info - card failed. ???
Problem with new card?
Never mind, got a good memory for numbers. Entered old card details (expires 01/20) donation accepted, Confirmation no 496701.
New card received last week & unlike the previous one which started from 02/17 expires 01/20, it started from 11/19 & expires 01/23.
Before anyone mentions it, no I didn't get the details mixed up. :-)
Just off the phone to bank who stated that card should work as it's valid on their system.
Who to believe? The bank or my eyes? UCB definitely rejected new but accepted the old.
Will find out later when shopping.
Preparing for some embarrassment as old card destroyed. :-(

That was fast. :-)
ID: 2021664 · Report as offensive     Reply Quote
Profile ML1
Volunteer moderator
Volunteer tester

Send message
Joined: 25 Nov 01
Posts: 20949
Credit: 7,508,002
RAC: 20
United Kingdom
Message 2021722 - Posted: 4 Dec 2019, 21:21:33 UTC - in response to Message 2021664.  
Last modified: 4 Dec 2019, 21:21:54 UTC

Ain't technology grand. :-(
Just noticed the fall donation thread & seen my green star disappeared, oops.
Clicked donate & entered info - card failed. ???
Problem with new card?
Never mind, got a good memory for numbers. Entered old card details (expires 01/20) donation accepted, Confirmation no 496701.
New card received last week & unlike the previous one which started from 02/17 expires 01/20, it started from 11/19 & expires 01/23.
Before anyone mentions it, no I didn't get the details mixed up. :-)
Just off the phone to bank who stated that card should work as it's valid on their system.
Who to believe? The bank or my eyes? UCB definitely rejected new but accepted the old.
Will find out later when shopping.
Preparing for some embarrassment as old card destroyed. :-(

That was fast. :-)

Before being enabled for online use or for any 'touch/contactless' payments, some banks now require you to physically use a new card in an ATM or for some chip + pin purchase whereby you validate your new card by physically using your pin with it.


Hope you've not lost too much time with the card swap!

Good luck!
Martin
See new freedom: Mageia Linux
Take a look for yourself: Linux Format
The Future is what We all make IT (GPLv3)
ID: 2021722 · Report as offensive     Reply Quote
Sirius B Project Donor
Volunteer tester
Avatar

Send message
Joined: 26 Dec 00
Posts: 24904
Credit: 3,081,182
RAC: 7
Ireland
Message 2021729 - Posted: 4 Dec 2019, 21:36:13 UTC - in response to Message 2021722.  

Before being enabled for online use or for any 'touch/contactless' payments, some banks now require you to physically use a new card in an ATM or for some chip + pin purchase whereby you validate your new card by physically using your pin with it.
That is what actually happened. My mistake was that with all cards previously, they all came with a new pin. This one didn't as pin is the same unless one requests a new one. So it's my mistake. Learn something new every day. :-)
ID: 2021729 · Report as offensive     Reply Quote
Profile Wiggo
Avatar

Send message
Joined: 24 Jan 00
Posts: 36318
Credit: 261,360,520
RAC: 489
Australia
Message 2021730 - Posted: 4 Dec 2019, 21:39:35 UTC

Yes I found out a few months ago that my new card required an eftpos transaction using its debit facility and physically inserting the card into the machine and then typing in the pin to get it to work for the 1st time.

Cheers.
ID: 2021730 · Report as offensive     Reply Quote
Sirius B Project Donor
Volunteer tester
Avatar

Send message
Joined: 26 Dec 00
Posts: 24904
Credit: 3,081,182
RAC: 7
Ireland
Message 2021814 - Posted: 5 Dec 2019, 15:39:04 UTC - in response to Message 2021722.  

Hope you've not lost too much time with the card swap!
Stop jinxing me. :-)
Red faced not once, not twice but 3 times today. Called bank. nothing wrong with account, no issues seen so far on card.
Tried once more, got a printout, went to bank, it failed on their machines.
Faulty card, so they've ordered me a new one. :-)



New card destroyed.
Got to give the bank credit. They were pretty good. By the time I removed the card from their counter machine, new one had been ordered.
I normally destroy old one as soon as replacement received, thank gawd I didn't this time around. :-)
ID: 2021814 · Report as offensive     Reply Quote
Profile Gary Charpentier Crowdfunding Project Donor*Special Project $75 donorSpecial Project $250 donor
Volunteer tester
Avatar

Send message
Joined: 25 Dec 00
Posts: 30918
Credit: 53,134,872
RAC: 32
United States
Message 2022030 - Posted: 7 Dec 2019, 6:40:27 UTC

https://slate.com/technology/2019/11/priest-rabbi-robot-walk-into-bar-religion-technology.html
Frank Teller is the ambitious pastor of a Texas megachurch so successful that many of its members live in “intentional communities” owned by the church. The church uses customer service chatbots to manage basic community requests. But Teller doesn’t like it when a bot recommends “reflection and mindfulness” in response to his granddaughter’s request for prayer. He wants David and Mark to design a custom A.I. that incorporates conservative evangelical language and priorities: “We need A.I.s that share our values.”

But religiously motivated uses of A.I. and surveillance technology are inevitable—in fact, plenty already exist. One company provides facial recognition technology to churches so they can keep track of member attendance. Smartphones are a fixture in church services, many large churches have their own apps, and millions of people read the Bible on screens instead of in print. The Church of England recently developed an Alexa “skill” that reads prayers, answers questions like “Who is God?,” and helps users locate nearby churches.

What does it mean to pray with Alexa? Will it someday “answer” individual prayers by suggesting certain products and resources? And will voluntary religious communities be tempted to use surveillance technology to hold members accountable—with or without their consent—on attendance, donations, or personal issues like pornography use? Everyone wants “A.I.s that share our values,” as Teller tells Mark and David. The only question is whose values, and to what end.
ID: 2022030 · Report as offensive     Reply Quote
Sirius B Project Donor
Volunteer tester
Avatar

Send message
Joined: 26 Dec 00
Posts: 24904
Credit: 3,081,182
RAC: 7
Ireland
Message 2023345 - Posted: 16 Dec 2019, 14:38:24 UTC

The latest update hasn't deleted the data, but it has changed its location and rendered it impossible to find.
Oh dear
ID: 2023345 · Report as offensive     Reply Quote
Profile Gary Charpentier Crowdfunding Project Donor*Special Project $75 donorSpecial Project $250 donor
Volunteer tester
Avatar

Send message
Joined: 25 Dec 00
Posts: 30918
Credit: 53,134,872
RAC: 32
United States
Message 2023377 - Posted: 16 Dec 2019, 18:55:00 UTC - in response to Message 2023345.  

The latest update hasn't deleted the data, but it has changed its location and rendered it impossible to find.
Oh dear

Oh, My, not just M$
ID: 2023377 · Report as offensive     Reply Quote
Previous · 1 · 2 · 3 · 4 · 5 · 6 · 7 · 8 . . . 35 · Next

Message boards : Politics : Computers & Technology 4


 
©2024 University of California
 
SETI@home and Astropulse are funded by grants from the National Science Foundation, NASA, and donations from SETI@home volunteers. AstroPulse is funded in part by the NSF through grant AST-0307956.