I.T.

[Drog]

I'm getting heartily sick of this crap. Almost every day we hear of security breaches / hackers / viruses etc.
https://www.google.co.uk/search?q=s....69i57j0l5.13868j0j8&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8
IT as most know is run by limp wristed, pasty faced anoraks. The types that never got the girl, never scored the winner and would have had sand kicked in their faces on the beach in my day. Well these geeks were useless then and they are even more useless now that they appear to be taking over the world. People still call it progress but I can't see that lasting for much longer.

So why are we suffering this shyte? Why aren't we kicking back? I waste precious hours waiting to contact all sorts of organisations by telephone (telephone companies frequently being the worst) or email and it's nearly always doomed to failure and glitches. It's as if organisations are happy to drive customers away just to save a few bob in receptionist's wages. I hate it to the extent that I try to deal only with companies that actually pick up the phone and ask how they can help me without finding myself listening to shyte music not of my choice whilst in some infernal queue . It's not easy btw to buck the trend but It's high time we all attempted to do the same.

 

[Alan]

I'm getting heartily sick of this crap. Almost every day we hear of security breaches / hackers / viruses etc.
https://www.google.co.uk/search?q=s....69i57j0l5.13868j0j8&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8
IT as most know is run by limp wristed, pasty faced anoraks. The types that never got the girl, never scored the winner and would have had sand kicked in their faces on the beach in my day. Well these geeks were useless then and they are even more useless now that they appear to be taking over the world. People still call it progress but I can't see that lasting for much longer.

So why are we suffering this shyte? Why aren't we kicking back? I waste precious hours waiting to contact all sorts of organisations by telephone (telephone companies frequently being the worst) or email and it's nearly always doomed to failure and glitches. It's as if organisations are happy to drive customers away just to save a few bob in receptionist's wages. I hate it to the extent that I try to deal only with companies that actually pick up the phone and ask how they can help me without finding myself listening to shyte music not of my choice whilst in some infernal queue . It's not easy btw to buck the trend but It's high time we all attempted to do the same.

You're right but it's a while since I contacted any company when I didn't have to press at least 4 buttons to speak to a human.

 

[Drog]

Getting worse now. Even since I started this thread. In the last few weeks we've had security issues at

1. Currys/PC World along with 2.5 million others.

2. BA customers copped for it too. https://www.independent.co.uk/life-...-astounding-ba-security-experts-a8527071.html

3. Are the big banks even safe places to keep our money? They ALL appear to be undergoing attacks... even if they choose to call them something else. https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-6217839/Chaos-HSBC-customers-hundreds-locked-account.html
Only this week I tipped a load of cash out of one of my bank accounts. Only trouble is that it's much MUCH easier to open a bank account on the internet than it is on the high street.

4. And now we have 50m (at least) Facebook users whose accounts have been hacked. https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2018/sep/28/facebook-50-million-user-accounts-security-berach

It's shit, it's dangerous, it's sinister.... and every day it's getting worse!


I suspect the Russian state mischief making in retaliation for being proved bang to rights for the Novachok situations in England. However it could be any rogue state or terror organisation flexing their muscles before a 'biggie' couldn't it? One thing I do know is that the anoraky wimps who have led us down the IT path appear unable to prevent these things happening until they have happened! It's sinister and it's high time we returned to the good old days of diaries / notebooks / chequebooks et al.

 

[blueandwhitehalves]

Not often we disagree Gord but IMO the "IT geeks" have played a blinder since the field started. The first computer solved the enigma code and saved about 10 million lives ending WW2 early, IT got us to the moon, has made life cheaper in thousands of ways from the Open University to Uber, has kept our roads moving with traffic modelling despite overpopulation. I could go on and on. Even the phones many use to post on here are marvels, housing about 2 billion transistors per 1cm computer chip.

It's not the geeks causing you problems (the geeks rarely cause major problems in the world in my opinion), its the top management and shareholders demanding profit. Staff cost money (a lot of money these days) so companies simply do not want to employ them. I agree it can be very frustrating trying to solve problems via "FAQ" etc on a website but that's life now, I try to view it as a learning process personally.

As for cyber crime, in life there's always risk and where money exists always crime. If you follow the basic rules (have complex passwords, have anti-virus software, stick to legit websites) then chances are you'll be fine.

 

[Drog]

Like Facebook? All those I mentioned above will have 'legit' websites.

 

[Alan]

Not often we disagree Gord but IMO the "IT geeks" have played a blinder since the field started. The first computer solved the enigma code and saved about 10 million lives ending WW2 early, IT got us to the moon, has made life cheaper in thousands of ways from the Open University to Uber, has kept our roads moving with traffic modelling despite overpopulation. I could go on and on. Even the phones many use to post on here are marvels, housing about 2 billion transistors per 1cm computer chip.

It's not the geeks causing you problems (the geeks rarely cause major problems in the world in my opinion), its the top management and shareholders demanding profit. Staff cost money (a lot of money these days) so companies simply do not want to employ them. I agree it can be very frustrating trying to solve problems via "FAQ" etc on a website but that's life now, I try to view it as a learning process personally.

As for cyber crime, in life there's always risk and where money exists always crime. If you follow the basic rules (have complex passwords, have anti-virus software, stick to legit websites) then chances are you'll be fine.

It still irritates the hell out of me to listen to hours of musak and disembodied voices telling me to push buttons when it's them who wants to sell me something and if I could find one that doesn't I would certainly favour it above the others.

 

[Drog]

Been attempting to locate a parcel which should have been delivered by some company called GLS (turns out it's part of the royal mail). Says on the web site when I entered my Del number that the driver couldn't find my house yesterday. That took 2 minutes. It then took me 45 minutes to by-pass the email version and actually find a telephone number to ring whereupon my query was dealy with in a matter of minutes by a lady from Hoghton.
Why are large companies so difficult to contact and by definition so unhelpful? Worst of em all are telephone companies e.g. BT, vodafone etc. Anyone phones my company during office hours speaks directly to a person, out of office hours they can ring me (or others directly on my mob). GLS have now joined this lot on my ever growing list of companies to avoid as much as possible in future. At least that is until I should ever need to decipher another nazi code blueandwhitehalves.

 

[Drog]

Oh! and whilst we are on the subject... another double edged sword.

Not often we disagree Gord but IMO the "IT geeks" have played a blinder since the field started. The first computer solved the enigma code and saved about 10 million lives ending WW2 early, IT got us to the moon, has made life cheaper in thousands of ways from the Open University to Uber, has kept our roads moving with traffic modelling despite overpopulation. I could go on and on. Even the phones many use to post on here are marvels, housing about 2 billion transistors per 1cm computer chip.

That's the upside....... and here's the downside.
https://www.ncsc.gov.uk/news/reckle...russian-military-intelligence-service-exposed

 

[yoda]

Been attempting to locate a parcel which should have been delivered by some company called GLS (turns out it's part of the royal mail). Says on the web site when I entered my Del number that the driver couldn't find my house yesterday. That took 2 minutes. It then took me 45 minutes to by-pass the email version and actually find a telephone number to ring whereupon my query was dealy with in a matter of minutes by a lady from Hoghton.
Why are large companies so difficult to contact and by definition so unhelpful? Worst of em all are telephone companies e.g. BT, vodafone etc. Anyone phones my company during office hours speaks directly to a person, out of office hours they can ring me (or others directly on my mob). GLS have now joined this lot on my ever growing list of companies to avoid as much as possible in future. At least that is until I should ever need to decipher another nazi code blueandwhitehalves.

The next decoding will be from Arabic.
Like all technologies, they are dangerous in the wrong hands.
Coders should be subject to strict efficiency and quality targets when coding, the proliferation of memory hungry programs is staggering, still it expands the market for the chip makers.

 

[Drog]

IT crap again... will we never learn just how appalling and dangerous this branch of tech science is?

Marriot is the latest to give your details away. https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-46401890
Marriot's Starwood group has been being hacked since 2014 with details of 500 million people affected.

 

[Drog]

Not often we disagree Gord but IMO the "IT geeks" have played a blinder since the field started. The first computer solved the enigma code and saved about 10 million lives ending WW2 early, IT got us to the moon, has made life cheaper in thousands of ways from the Open University to Uber, has kept our roads moving with traffic modelling despite overpopulation. I could go on and on. Even the phones many use to post on here are marvels, housing about 2 billion transistors per 1cm computer chip.

Have you used a major motorway recently b&w? They are an absolute disaster with the new smart ones not improving anything for the motorist and are actually just revenue earners in disguise.

 

[Alan]

I personally haven't been trapped with the so called "smart" motorways but what chance have you got on a long journey when you get up to cruise speed and the speed limit is constantly changing? As you say it's just another way to extract fines out of the unsuspecting motorists.

 

[Wilpshire Blue]

They aren't very "smart" either.

I've been on the M62 around 11pm with hardly anyone else on the motorway and they've been set at 60

 

[Drog]

It is and whilst I haven't been trapped yet those overhead gantry's set to 60 with the odd 50 thrown in for no good reason other than to trap motorists are just cash cows. Mighty difficult heading into the sun to spot the difference between 50 and 60 and especially when trying to drive on a crowded MWay with drivers with broken indicators constantly changing lanes.

 

[ABBEY]

There shite you can hardly reach 90 these days and cars are supposed to be a lot safer .

 

[Drog]

Chickens at last coming home to roost! https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-48905907

Problem of course is ageing Directors and Administrators (educated when Windows was something that let light in a building) foolishly employing scruffy limp wristed geeks simple because they have a degree in some IT related subject. Without of course the necessary knowledge of the subject to manage them or even monitor the decisions the naive little belly squirters are making.

IT.... Just another example of the yawning chasm between intelligence and wisdom.

 

[Drog]

More IT crap..... If it can cause screw ups on the ground then how long before it'll cause cock ups in the air?
https://a.msn.com/r/2/AAFsyRG?m=en-gb&referrerID=InAppShare

It's just pathetic..... as are the Management graduates / Accountants / CEO's etc who combine to lead us by the nose down this foolish path as if there were some promised land at the end of it.

 

[Drog]

"I've come up with a set of rules that describe our reactions to technologies:
1. Anything that is in the world when you're born is normal and ordinary, and is just a natural part of how the world works.

2. Anything that's invented between you being 15 and 35 is new and exciting and revolutionary, and you can probably get a career in it.

3. Anything invented after your 35 is against the natural order of things."

Douglas Adams

 

[Drog]

IT again! Someone has pushed the wrong button at vodafone it seems. Worst thing is that the people responsible cannot easily be sacked.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-50039384

"Customers took to Twitter, saying they were unable to use their phones and could not reach the operator." That's not new though is it? How heavy in irony is it that the hardest companies to contact are the providers of telephone and communication systems?

 

[Drog]

Now within two days of the Vodafone mess it seems the speccy geeks pushing the buttons behind the scenes at Three have cocked up!

IT is dangerous with untold numbers of accidents just waiting to happen yet people are slavishly and willingly accepting it because they don't understand it. Seems it will take something really serious to happen before people will wake up to its associated dangers.