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Category Archives: Observation
The Blurred Horizon Post Office Project
Fujitsu looked at the UK National Lottery and saw a cash cow, so bought ICL.
I’m not in the business but know a good deal when I see it. So apparently did Fujitsu.
ICL had a longish history when that deal was done, that goes back to the days of punched cards to program a computer. Good stuff in it’s day.
There had been one previous abortive effort to modernise the Post Offices 19th century rubber stamp business practices, and I can’t comment further on that.
After a short contract with the Midland Bank I attended an interview and was awarded the post of Technical Design Authority (TDA) for the Post office project at ICL Pathway in Feltham.
The existing ‘design’ documents amounted to no more than ‘wordy’ wish lists. The authors, some of whom I met, were familiar with client-server technology and damn-all else. My conclusion, a collection of ICL dinosaurs, that should have been extinct fifteen years before.
The coding team were mostly Visual Basic ‘programmers’, sporting MCP badges. (Microsoft Certified Professional) Experience with them demonstrated that they couldn’t have programmed their way to escape from a paper bag.
There were two teams that were exemplary, that of Configuration Management, and the Security Team.
The pilot scheme was running and there were a large number of problems, I asked Configuration Management for access to their ‘fault’ stack and gave advice on fixes. One idiot in the coding team had specified the name of the Post Office printer, rather than using the default. A replacement printer didn’t work. The fundamental issue was communications with the Post offices The software was proprietary, and I was disallowed from reviewing it. A visit to the manager of this debacle and my statement to him that my title of TDA was a stupid joke, was dismissed. I did not renew my contract.
Previously I cooperated with Epson on the development of the FORTH programming language on their laptop. This was with Japanese engineers.I could not fault their knowledge or co-operation.
It grieves me that it is always Fujitsu’s name that is constantly mentioned. The only mistake they made was buying ICL, and the bunch of no-hopers that worked for it.
Green Man Review
It isn’t often I refer directly to another site, other than to pass an opinion. But I suggest folks look at A Green Man Review.
The theme rings very true. Though I find it very hard to think kindly of several folks, starting with His Most Absurdly PumpedUpNish, Mr Donald Trump. What are the the good folks of America thinking about? All he and his cronies see, is more dollars, and more power to themselves. Screw everyone else.
What are you? ‘Sinistro’ or ‘Destro’
The BBC have posted an interesting article on the merits or demerits of being left-handed.
The main reason for reserving one hand for eating and one for using a pebble to clean yourself after the waste has been expunged, was one of simple good sense. No-one I know enjoys eating shit.
Sadly, even when good facilities for cleaning both hands became available, folks who preferred to use their left hand were stigmatised. My experience as a child, an example of ignorance and stigma by my father. Picking up my knife with my left hand at the dinner table resulted in being struck on the knuckles with whatever he held in his right hand, and I was lambasted as being ‘cack-handed’ – IOW shit-handed. Even later there were similar remarks when I used a screwdriver to remove a screw. ‘They never made anything for left-handed people Joe!’. Probably true, but turning a screw anti-clockwise is easier with the left hand, than it is with the right – at least for me. I drive a screw in with my right hand and remove it with my left.
Later on, I worked with him on open steel work, building the extension to a switch-house at Blyth Power station (another project I’ve out-lived) He was embarrassed when I unloosened a reluctant nut, using a spanner in my left hand – one he couldn’t budge.
The simple truth is he’d created a ‘monster’ someone who made best use of his body, irrespective of the nonsense preached by others.
The BBC article highlights the use of latin in language. Sinistro and Destro are Italian adjectives for left and right. In the UK left-handed folks are ‘sinister’, right-handed folks are ‘dexterous’.
So good sense in early human behaviour has been handed down to us as an insult and a compliment. Complete twaddle.
Intelligence? IQ tests demonstrate how good you are at IQ tests. They serve no other purpose than to categorise folk, and provide yet another label that psyche’s love to stick on people. If I was wearing them all, I would resemble a badly misdirected parcel by the once-Royal Mail.
Me? I thank my father’s ignorance and stupidity for making me virtually ambidextrous. I thank myself for the endless irritating questions I asked him, and for cross-questioning the rubbish told by some teachers at school.
AI chips communicate faster than the speed of light?
A recent post by the BBC regarding AI Data Centres What’s the big deal about AI data centres? by Michael Dempsey Technology Reporter, asks the following important question:
Why is proximity so important?
Every metre of distance between two chips adds a nanosecond, one billionth of a second, to the processing time.
Really?
The definition of the speed of light is: 299,792,458 metres per second.
So light can travel 0.299792458 metres in 1 nanosecond.
A rough multiplication shows that it takes approximately 3 nanoseconds for light to travel 1 metre.
Information cannot be conveyed at a speed faster than that of light.
On first principles then, the article is incorrect.
I could go on regarding inter-chip comms, but won’t.
Footnote. I investigated into making a comment on the article to the BBC, but was faced with spending time giving details, that I considered were not important, and I simply gave up. No, they didn’t ask what colour toilet paper I use..
‘Motionless Wind Energy’ ? BBC Have you lost the plot?
Read this: Motionless Wind Energy
Now unpick the article: ‘It features wing-like vertical aerofoils that create a vacuum effect, drawing air behind an internal propeller’.
Hmmm. A ‘propeller’. Let’s look at that..
All of the definitions I’ve looked at convey a sense that a ‘propeller’ does just that, propels water or some gas, usually air. The propeller is the delivery system from a source of energy, NOT as is implied in the article, a ‘receiver’ of energy, in this case wind.
The word Galya Dimitrova is ‘TURBINE’.
Moving on to ‘motionless’. The article is a monumental bag of crap. Just because the ‘propeller’ is hidden, doesn’t justify it as motionless.
Thank you, and good night BBC.
Free Speech or Me Speech?
Some considerable time ago I wrote on a Facebook post, about effective blackmail of politicians because of their behaviour whilst still at ‘Public School’. I used an epithet that apparently didn’t pass Facebooks ‘standards’, and the post never made it. I was accused both by them, and by someone else, who should know me better, of being ‘homophobic’. Quite clearly they were unable to distinguish illegal sex with a minor from sex between two same-sexed adults.
Later, the performance whilst on Facebook was appallingly slow, as every word I typed was being monitored. I ditched Facebook, and I no longer use ‘social media’, which has become distinctly ‘anti-social’.
The rich and powerful are free to spout their nonsense, whilst condemning others that oppose their views.
This morning I read a post on BBC News by Nick Robinson. His article references the US Historian Tim Snyder’s views regarding ‘the direction America is heading under Trump’, and I quote:
The US historian Tim Snyder, who is an outspoken public critic of the direction America is heading under Trump believes that free speech should be distinguished from what he calls "me speech".
"Me speech is a common practice among rich and influential Americans," writes Mr Snyder. "Practitioners of 'me speech' use the phrase 'free speech' quite a bit. But what they mean is free speech for themselves. They want a monopoly on it.
They believe that they are right about everything, and so they should always have giant platforms, in real life or on social media.
The people with whom they disagree, however, should be called out and intimidated in an organised way on social media, or subjected to algorithmic discrimination so that their voices are not heard."
Faded Pictures
Yes, I have several prints I had purchased circa 1986, which have since faded to the point of misery. Each pic I bought was with cash I didn’t spend on roll-your-own tobacco.
I started smoking at age 12, add that to my birthday, and that would be 1959. So, totalling up I smoked for 27 years, and haven’t for 39 years.
Despite both personal and physical problem which I’ve had since the ‘puffing’ ended, I believe I’m in better shape that the prints I bought when I quit.
Some time ago, one English guy commented on how well-preserved I was. I had replied “You haven’t seen my picture in the attic.” He laughed. If he saw the photo of myself, taken some time ago, he would understand fully my reference to Oscar Wilde’s brilliant ‘The Picture of Dorian Gray.”
No, I didn’t sell my ‘soul’ to the Devil – that was stolen from me some time ago, when I began to understand what ‘God’ had created as men – A likeness of himself? An incredibly awful aberration?
So, time to remove the faded pics, and replace with more images of loveliness. Hopefully I don’t live long enough to see them also fade away to almost nothing once again.
Like the pics, other ‘favourites’ have also faded. One photo that hasn’t, is of my 4th Form taken when at Elgin Sec. Tech School in Gateshead. This has too many ‘ticks’ pencilled on it for those who have ‘moved on’.
Recently a trawl on the web, revealed a good friend who had unknowingly played an important part in carving out my future. Sadly, I was unaware of his demise, until a year too late.
Arsehole billionaires trump on about ‘living forever’. Who, in their right mind would want to experience the non-stop fading of photos, and the passing away of friends and lovers?
The band Queen recorded one song that encapsulates my feelings precisely. Written by Brian May, it is probably the best Queen ever did and featured in the movie ‘Highlander’, another allegorical tale of the world being dominated by one man.
There's no time for us.
There's no place for us.
What is this thing that builds our dreams
Yet tips 'em 'way from us?
Who wants to live forever?
Who wants to live forever?
There's no chance for us
It's all decided for us
This world has only one sweet moment
Set aside for us
Who wants to live forever?
Who wants to live forever?
Who?
Who dares to love forever?
When love must die
But touch my tears with your lips
Touch my world with your fingertips
And we can have forever
And we can love forever
Forever is our today
Who wants to live forever?
Who wants to live forever?
Forever is our today
Who waits forever anyway?
Watching You, Watching Me.
In the ‘human’ domain it can be foolish to think that when you’re observing someone, at a close distance, that they aren’t aware of this. They may be aware and are watching you also.
Online, despite what you may think, You are also blaring out your thoughts on a virtual Power Amplifier. Your ‘target’ listener, hears you, but so can a myriad of other entities.
Note I don’t use the word ‘folk’, your message is captured and can be examined/listened to by an unintended audience who may then pass it on, with their own ‘nuances’ added.This ‘audience’ may not necessarily be human.
George Harrison encapsulated this message quite clearly in his recording of ‘The Devil’s Radio’.
His message is even more clearer today. Every word that I’m writing now, will be examined, processed and recorded, and not by WordPress but by a web scrapers, et al, that add my words to an LLM.
Interfacing directly with tools such as Chatgpt, can be useful to me. It is also useful to ‘them’, WTF they are. You are led to believe ‘it’ is a ‘big friendly big brother’. Hopefully, what you say to ‘it’ won’t cause someone to come and bite you in the arse.
Thoughts On Translating English To Portuguese
Reflexões sobre a tradução do inglês para o português
Num post anterior sobre a minha conversa com um caracol português, nunca fiquei muito satisfeito com o título do post. Trocando opiniões com um caracol – Trocando opiniões com um caracol
O motivo foi simplesmente ignorância minha. Obviamente, o caracol conseguia ver-me, e eu via-o. Mas também tivemos uma troca verbal e uma troca de opiniões. Em inglês, a palavra “view” pode descrever ambos, e na foto a mensagem é clara. A tradução portuguesa não refletiu o duplo sentido que pretendia dar a “view”.
Uma conversa recente com a minha namorada mostrou-me o caminho, pelo que, mais uma vez, e apenas pela segunda vez, perguntei ao Chatgpt. Não referi ao Chatgpt que o meu encontro foi com um caracol. Poderia ter levado a algo completamente diferente, estremeço ao pensar.
Em vez disso, coloquei a minha questão ao Chatgpt e recebi uma resposta bem elaborada.
Uma cópia completa do meu diálogo com o “bot” está abaixo, e uma actualização do blogue original será feita o mais breve possível.
[English]
In a previous post regarding my conversation with a Portuguese snail, I was never quite happy with title of the post.Exchanging views with a snail – Trocando opiniões com um caracol
The reason – quite simply my ignorance. Quite obviously, the snail could see me, and I could see him/her. But we also had a verbal exchange, an exchange of opinions. In English the word ‘view’ can describe both, and in the photo the message is clear. The Portuguese ‘translation’, did not reflect my intended double-meaning of ‘view’.
A recent conversation with my girl-friend, pointed the way, so once again, and for only the second time, I asked Chatgpt. I didn’t mention to Chatgpt that my encounter was with a snail. That might have led somewhere else entirely, I shudder to think.
Instead, I put my question to Chatgpt and received a well-assembled answer to my question.
A full copy of my dialog with the ‘bot’ is given below, and an update to the original blog will be done as soon as possible.
Foreword: The following includes both English and Portuguese. So I’m still trying to climb up a greasy pole. There’s an old saying: ‘When in doubt – give up.’ So no attempt will be made now to attempt translating the translations..
Prefácio: O texto que se segue inclui o inglês e o português. Então, ainda estou a tentar subir uma escada escorregadia.
Há um velho ditado: Na dúvida, desista. Portanto, não será feita nenhuma tentativa agora, tente traduzir as traduções.
A minha pergunta para o Chatgpt:
[English]
My Question to Chatgpt:
Two people are looking at each other through a window, and having a conversation.
In English I would describe this as an exchange of views.
First, because they both are looking at a different scene, secondly they are both expressing opinions.
So that the ‘exchange of views’ means two different things. How can I express this in Portuguese?
ChatGPT said:
That’s a clever bilingual play on words!
Let’s unpack it step by step so we can find the closest way to reproduce the double meaning in Portuguese.
In English, “exchange of views” means both:
Literally: they are seeing different “views” (landscapes, scenes).
Figuratively: they are exchanging opinions (views).
In Portuguese:
Figurative sense: (usual expression):
The normal phrase for “exchange of views/opinions” is “troca de opiniões” or “troca de pontos de vista”.
Literal sense: Exchanging views with a snail – Trocando opiniões com um caracol (the scene through the window):
“Ponto de vista” in Portuguese also literally means “point of view” (where you look from) and figuratively “opinion”.
That makes it a very useful bridge.
So, if you say:
“Eles estão numa troca de pontos de vista.”
it carries the same double meaning:
They’re literally looking at different views (from different vantage points, through the window).
They’re metaphorically exchanging opinions.
– Best equivalent pun in Portuguese:
“Uma troca de pontos de vista.”
That way you keep both senses alive, just like in English.
Would you like me to suggest a slightly more poetic or literary phrasing in Portuguese as well
(something you could use in a short story or essay), or are you aiming for a natural everyday expression?
You said:
No, I’m happy with that.
ChatGPT said:
Perfect! Then “troca de pontos de vista” is your best match — natural in Portuguese and keeping the same neat double meaning as in English.
Would you like me to also give you a couple of short example sentences in Portuguese using it, so you can see how it works in context?
You said:
Yes.
ChatGPT said:
Great! Here are a few short examples showing both the literal and figurative senses:
Literal + figurative (like your window scene):
Eles conversavam através da janela, numa verdadeira troca de pontos de vista.
(“They were talking through the window, in a true exchange of views.”)
More everyday, figurative use:
A reunião terminou com uma troca de pontos de vista bastante produtiva.
(“The meeting ended with a very productive exchange of views.”)
Playful, highlighting the double meaning:
Enquanto olhavam paisagens diferentes pela mesma janela, faziam também uma troca de pontos de vista.
(“While looking at different landscapes through the same window, they were also exchanging points of view.”)
joesportugal 