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posted by
cmn32480
on Friday April 29 2016, @11:29PM
from the inconvenient-timing-for-a-new-os dept.
from the inconvenient-timing-for-a-new-os dept.
El Reg reports
Microsoft's relentless Windows 10 nagware has interrupted a live TV weather forecast, urging meteorologist Metinka Slater to upgrade.
The operating system suddenly popped up a box on screen insisting the station's computer be upgraded to the latest version--while Slater was on air describing thunderstorms rolling through Iowa, USA.
The cyber-badgering blatted over her doppler weather radar, which was being broadcast on KCCI 8 News [April 27].
"Microsoft recommends upgrading to Windows 10. Gosh, what should I do?" Slater asked sarcastically.
So, do you know of a case of MSFT update pushiness that rivals this?
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Windows 10 Nagware Interrupts Live TV Weather Forecast
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TAPPING? You POLITICIANS! Don't you realize that the END of the "Wash
Cycle" is a TREASURED MOMENT for most people?!
(Score: 1) by anubi on Saturday April 30 2016, @04:13AM
Stuff like this sure helps me out a lot when I am trying to convince a customer why an Arduino / Propeller hybrid is sometimes a good choice for industrial robotics.
I would drop back to DOS, but a lot of stuff I mess with is realtime and extremely task-fidelity sensitive ( especially stepper motors and tricks I play with DMX ). The Propeller helps me out with that. Or sometimes many Arduinos sharing an RS485 multidrop connection running MODBUS ( simple old protocol: easy to troubleshoot and isolate problems ).
I am particularly fond of Arduinos because they are simple enough that high-schoolers often build stuff with them, and I feel they can be trusted to do what they are told to do. If one is not powerful enough, use several. If its time-critical stuff, use a Propeller cog.
I could easily see where even an attempted system update in a bottling plant would *easily* result in thousands of misfilled and mal-labeled bottles.
When it comes to Microsoft, I am afraid to even use an HMI with it in it. I see the Microsoft Embedded logo, and I can't help but wonder if I can trust it?
Will it come back and nag me after I have designed it into something for my customer? If it does, *I* am going to take the hit for this - and probably end up with soiled reputation as well as unpaid time to resolve it. My customer will likely have a run of ruined product, and I will never live it down.
My distrust was really driven to a head about a year ago when Microsoft put that FTDI destruct code in one of their updates. I had to redesign my whole line of stuff to eliminate FTDI products because of that. I can't have my whole product line failing just because a suit-guy shook hands with a Microsoft rep.
Now, another round of the same... [techrepublic.com]. "Trustworthy Computing" my ass. That's not trustworthy... that's "handshake talk" for conning executives that don't know any better.
Understood though that many executives are so high up in their company that threats like this do not rank very high. Like many posts above me has already said... it's the IT guy's fault when things like this happen - and its why I rant so much about stuff like this - because failure of my implementation of someone else's wants is MY fault if I designed it. Would I knowingly use substandard practices with concrete to build a bridge, knowing the consequences of a failed bridge?
The executive will learn when his line of stuff in the field suddenly stops working after a Microsoft update.... however it is likely his hand has been shaken, his pen has signed, and he is in "customer lock-in" before he discovers the Microsoft meaning of the words "trustworthy computing".
Note the link I provide is a recent link to earlier this year...February 2, 2016 ... this is the second go-around of that FTDI chip killer!
In my estimation, Microsoft is for the same kind of executive that would judge a man by his suit.
A man ripe for "being taken to the cleaners".
"Prove all things; hold fast that which is good." [KJV: I Thessalonians 5:21]
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday April 30 2016, @05:22AM
it's the IT guy's fault when things like this happen
First, there's always somebody upstream.
Even Torvalds depends on a distro builder for something to run on his box.
...and the distro builder depends on app builders.
...and around and around we go.
If the upstream guys are making stuff with a HORRIBLE default configuration, well, that's the anti-pattern that Gravis has already mentioned.
Next, I'll bet that -you- don't put horrible defaults in your stuff.
Clearly, it's possible for devs to do the task properly.
It's also apparent that achieving that is far more difficult when the techies work for a company run by salesmen and bean counters.
Lastly, wendo mentioned that the IT guys quite likely -did- their job--as they had been doing with MICROS~1's stuff for some time now.
...and M$'s stupid shit overwrote their work without asking permission.
(Anybody who has installed Windoze *after* installing Linux knows how that goes.)
What's the old line?
M$ is not a software company that dishes out abuse but rather an abuse company that dabbles in software.
-- OriginalOwner_ [soylentnews.org]
(Score: 1, Informative) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday April 30 2016, @02:23PM
i disagree that this new fanged hobbyist level hardware like propellers and arduinos are good for industrial controls. Not in the slightest. Industry is a harsh environment, and those are not engineered for that. Instead you should be using *proven* technology for adult stuff, like custom built 8051's for example. Leave the toys to the kids.
( and no, this is not sarcasm )
(Score: 1) by anubi on Sunday May 01 2016, @06:57AM
That's the reason I designed my own line of Arduino-compatibles.
An ATMEL chip is very similar ( performance-wise ) to the 8051. I saw many ways I could improve on the board layout and connectoring, as well as interface design.
Like I noted in my earlier post, I redesigned my core processor board to use RS-485 once I saw I could not really ever trust RS-232 again unless I used the 1488 and 1489 chips.
Custom-built 8051's can get expensive, not only that, subject to all sorts of who-owns-what issues, with multiple paths for concerned parties to insert failware into the system to enforce their interests. If businessmen like dealing with that kind of shit, let 'em. I have dealt with it and I am sick of it.
So, now I have MODBUS, SPI, and multiple I2C interfaces on my boards. One of my boards will do telnet and email over the web. Simple old standards, but often sufficient. I do not need microprocessors in my hammer.
One of the things I was hoping for is to keep it simple enough high school kids could program these things with standard off-the-net Arduino development tools - and all the programming skills they picked up playing with hobby Arduinos would be applicable to my controllers.
I guess its the same problem the Linux guys have... if its inexpensive, people think it must not be worth much. However the same people who take great pride in spending the least they have to spend for engineering skills seem to take pride in purchasing the most expensive hardware imaginable with way overkill. I really hate calling in an aerospace contractor to tie my shoe.
I would not sleep easy at all if I ran some system I did not understand and knew some companies could be sweet-talked into sending me an update with some code in the middle of the night to give me a whole mess of problems to sort out in the morning. I have had way too much experience dealing with systems embodying rights enforcement mechanisms to know what a pain in the ass it can be to maintain it after rightsholders sell to others and lay off the people who supported my end of it.
"Prove all things; hold fast that which is good." [KJV: I Thessalonians 5:21]