●● IRC: #techbytes @ Techrights IRC Network: Saturday, March 25, 2023 ●● ● Mar 25 [00:06] *psydruid (~psydruid@jevhxkzmtrbww.irc) has left #techbytes [00:08] *psydruid (~psydruid@jevhxkzmtrbww.irc) has joined #techbytes ● Mar 25 [03:14] *psydruid (~psydruid@jevhxkzmtrbww.irc) has left #techbytes [03:15] *psydruid (~psydruid@jevhxkzmtrbww.irc) has joined #techbytes ● Mar 25 [04:04] *psydruid (~psydruid@jevhxkzmtrbww.irc) has left #techbytes [04:16] *psydruid (~psydruid@jevhxkzmtrbww.irc) has joined #techbytes [04:56] schestowitz[TR] > I haven't got anyone's email, I think I contacted xxxxx through Facebook. [04:56] schestowitz[TR] > xxxxx said he wasn't enrolled, not was xxxxx, I don't know about xxxxx. [04:56] schestowitz[TR] > I don't think there were many others who had been there long enough to [04:56] schestowitz[TR] > have been enrolled. [04:56] schestowitz[TR] > [04:56] schestowitz[TR] > Do you have any details you might be able to give me that might help me [04:56] schestowitz[TR] > get in touch with standard life? Is there a company plan number or name [04:56] schestowitz[TR] > that you know of? [04:56] schestowitz[TR] > [04:56] schestowitz[TR] > The pension service did mention to me that they are in the process of [04:56] schestowitz[TR] > setting up a pensions dashboard that eventually all pension companies [04:56] schestowitz[TR] > will need to be enrolled with so if it was transferred to another [04:56] schestowitz[TR] > provider we should eventually find out about it but that is probably [04:56] schestowitz[TR] > still a few years away from completing. [04:56] schestowitz[TR] Hi, [04:56] schestowitz[TR] I have the papers before me now. This is from the era Linda still worked at Sirius and was arranging this plan. [04:56] schestowitz[TR] "SIRIUS CORPORATION PLC" (xxxx has pretty much deprecated it by now, he now operates through two new shells from 2017 in the UK and 2019 in the US, "Limited" and "Inc.") [04:56] schestowitz[TR] SCHEME NUMBER: xxxxx [04:56] schestowitz[TR] Their higher level people can locate it, but won't find anything based on your NI number, unless you escalate. [04:56] schestowitz[TR] Advisor information (Standard Life): [04:56] schestowitz[TR] NAME: INTEGRITY FINANCIAL MANAGEMENT LTD [04:56] schestowitz[TR] Advisor code: xxxx [04:56] schestowitz[TR] The papers are from summer of 2011. [04:56] schestowitz[TR] It says chosen retirement age is 65 [04:56] schestowitz[TR] Employer gives 3%, you give 2.4% [04:56] schestowitz[TR] I am meanwhile probing the 'new' pension schemes too. There are two formal letters from them on their way by post. [04:56] schestowitz[TR] This is far from the only scandal, but this one is a liability also to former staff. [04:56] schestowitz[TR] So have you had any luck? Any progress/breakthrough? With pension trackers, phonecall etc. [04:56] schestowitz[TR] I'm still chasing NOW:Pension as well. They too are rather dodgy, but they don't deny the money exists there. The Standard Life money is just a total enigma. We know it was passed somewhere, hopefully not plundered. [04:57] schestowitz[TR] > No luck with standard life. [04:57] schestowitz[TR] > I've sent an email got an automatic reply, no idea if they are actually [04:57] schestowitz[TR] > looking into it, I sent another email 2 days ago and got no reply. [04:57] schestowitz[TR] That sounds typical of them. When pushed a bit, they do reply ;-) [04:57] schestowitz[TR] > I am considering a subject access request for copies of all [04:57] schestowitz[TR] > correspondence they have sent to me which I would expect to include any [04:57] schestowitz[TR] > letters they might have sent me which could include anything about the [04:57] schestowitz[TR] > transfer. [04:57] schestowitz[TR] Excellent to hear of such progress. Let me know how that goes. I too check the options. [04:57] schestowitz[TR] > I didn't keep my address up to date with standard life so I had letters [04:57] schestowitz[TR] > from them, was that the same for you are were you still getting updates [04:57] schestowitz[TR] > from them until it was transferred? [04:57] schestowitz[TR] They nearly never contacted me about anything. Ever. That in itself was a negative sign. [04:57] schestowitz[TR] > I don't have a problem with Now pension, I can login to their website [04:57] schestowitz[TR] > and it still shows my balance, but it was only a few months worth as I [04:57] schestowitz[TR] > left not long after that one was setup. [04:57] schestowitz[TR] I'm chasing them too. They keep making promises they cannot fulfill and don't respond to mail. [04:57] schestowitz[TR] > I did get some emails from them a few years ago about missing [04:57] schestowitz[TR] > contributions to the scheme being looked into but since I wasn't getting [04:57] schestowitz[TR] > any it didn't affect me. [04:57] schestowitz[TR] I wrote about that in December. [04:57] schestowitz[TR] I'll keep you in the loop on any progress. We ought to get to the bottom of this. Many others are impacted. [04:58] schestowitz[TR] Have you already tried contacting xxxxxxxxx? If so, did he reply? What did he say? [04:59] schestowitz[TR] > Hi Roy, xxxxxx tells me you have been in touch about trying to track down [04:59] schestowitz[TR] > your pension from the original Sirius pension scheme. [04:59] schestowitz[TR] > I am in the same situation and had previously given up trying to track [04:59] schestowitz[TR] > it down. [04:59] schestowitz[TR] > If you want to talk about it at some point let me know. [04:59] schestowitz[TR] Hi, [04:59] schestowitz[TR] Thanks for getting in touch. [04:59] schestowitz[TR] a) I wonder how many people are impacted by this -- probably a lot [04:59] schestowitz[TR] b) Standard Life and NOW:Pension plans are both registered with a company that has only one employee: the CEO. He moved everything else to two shells, one in the UK (Ltd.) and another in the US (Inc.). [04:59] schestowitz[TR] c) we requested written assurances from NOW that the pensions cannot be scuttled as before [04:59] schestowitz[TR] d) Standard Life refuses to even tell me what happened (the manager there) [04:59] schestowitz[TR] e) the company is, in effect, 'in hiding'. It'll be hard to sue. [04:59] schestowitz[TR] Do you know who else was in that Standard Life plan? [04:59] schestowitz[TR] Hiya, [04:59] schestowitz[TR] Sorry was trying to get hold of him to make sure he was happy with me handing it out. ● Mar 25 [05:04] schestowitz[TR] Just checked with xxxxxx if she was happy for me to pass on the details (and double check what I had was right as its 5000000 years ago). I have added Kate to the thread and the e-mail is: xxxxx ● Mar 25 [08:16] *u-amarsh04 has quit (Quit: Konversation terminated!) [08:22] *u-amarsh04 (~amarsh04@nqkitbgnqjad4.irc) has joined #techbytes ● Mar 25 [09:35] *psydruid (~psydruid@jevhxkzmtrbww.irc) has left #techbytes [09:36] *psydruid (~psydruid@jevhxkzmtrbww.irc) has joined #techbytes [09:53] schestowitz[TR]
  • [09:53] schestowitz[TR]
    Tails 5.11: Secure-surfing 'amnesiac' live distro arrives
    [09:53] schestowitz[TR]
    [09:53] schestowitz[TR]

    Tails 5.11, just released, has some worthwhile improvements that may make it run a little better on machines lacking large amounts of memory. Tails now uses ZRAM as standard, like the unofficial Ubuntu DDE remix and Debian variant Spiral Linux.

    [09:53] schestowitz[TR]
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    • [09:53] -TechBytesBot/#techbytes-www.theregister.com | Tails 5.11: Secure-surfing 'amnesiac' live distro arrives The Register [09:58] schestowitz[TR]
  • [09:58] schestowitz[TR]
    Slimbook Titan, Kubuntu, RGB backlight keyboard
    [09:58] schestowitz[TR]
    [09:58] schestowitz[TR]

    Welcome, lil' penguins. Let us talk about me new laptop some more. As you may have heard or read, I purchased a Slimbook Titan, a hefty machine with hybrid graphics and lots of processing power. My mission? To use this device in earnest, for everything, to prove that I can wean myself off Windows come 2025, once Windows 10 goes kaputt. Because we don't want no Windows 11 and such nonsense, [09:58] schestowitz[TR] now do we.

    [09:58] schestowitz[TR]
    [09:58] schestowitz[TR]
    • [09:58] schestowitz[TR] [09:58] -TechBytesBot/#techbytes-www.dedoimedo.com | Slimbook Titan, Kubuntu, RGB backlight keyboard [09:58] schestowitz[TR]
  • [09:58] schestowitz[TR]
    An experimental low-cost ultrasonic drone positioning system
    [09:58] schestowitz[TR]
    [09:58] schestowitz[TR]

    Like most positioning systems, this relies on triangulation through time of flight measurements. Triangulation lets you find the position, on a 2D plane, of Point A by measuring its distance to both Point B and Point C and knowing the distance between Point B and Point C ahead of time. This is a triangle and you know the length of every side (the distance between points), so you can calcula [09:58] schestowitz[TR] te the position of Point A. Time of flight is the time it takes a signal to travel between two points. When you know the signals rate of travel (which is typically statistic or close enough), you can calculate distance by simply measuring the time it takes the signal to leave Point A and reach Point B (or vice-versa).

    [09:58] schestowitz[TR]
    [09:58] schestowitz[TR]
    • [09:58] -TechBytesBot/#techbytes-blog.arduino.cc | An experimental low-cost ultrasonic drone positioning system | Arduino Blog ● Mar 25 [10:58] *psydroid2 (~psydroid@u8ftxtfux23wk.irc) has joined #techbytes ● Mar 25 [11:00] *psydroid3 (~psydroid@u8ftxtfux23wk.irc) has joined #techbytes [11:01] *psydroid2 has quit (Ping timeout: 2m30s) [11:02] *psydroid3 has quit (Quit: Leaving) [11:17] *psydroid2 (~psydroid@u8ftxtfux23wk.irc) has joined #techbytes [11:43] schestowitz[TR] > *Automattic Trust & Safety* (Automattic) [11:43] schestowitz[TR] > [11:43] schestowitz[TR] > Mar 24, 2023, 20:20 UTC [11:43] schestowitz[TR] > [11:43] schestowitz[TR] > Hello, [11:43] schestowitz[TR] > [11:43] schestowitz[TR] > My friend Ryan (whom I've known for 15 years) has a blog at [11:43] schestowitz[TR] > baronhk.wordpress.com. His E-mail is ryanafarmer@protonmail.com [11:43] schestowitz[TR] > and [11:43] schestowitz[TR] > rfarmer84@outlook.com (the one he [11:43] schestowitz[TR] > uses to contact you). [11:43] schestowitz[TR] > [11:43] schestowitz[TR] > His blog was unjustly suspended this week, apparently because the word [11:43] schestowitz[TR] > "porn" appeared in the headline. The article had nothing to do with [11:43] schestowitz[TR] > porn. [11:43] schestowitz[TR] > [11:43] schestowitz[TR] > As a result, he was so distraught and angry that he deleted his account. [11:43] schestowitz[TR] > Only later did he realise that his account was suspended by a bot. He [11:43] schestowitz[TR] > now regrets deleting the account and wishes to undelete it. Can you [11:43] schestowitz[TR] > please rectify this? [11:43] schestowitz[TR] > [11:43] schestowitz[TR] > [11:43] schestowitz[TR] > Thanks for checking in. In order to discuss a site, or to un-delete it, [11:43] schestowitz[TR] > we need to hear from the email account associated with the site. From [11:43] schestowitz[TR] > your email, it sounds like he already reached out, but if he hasn't [11:43] schestowitz[TR] > reached out recently, or about the site deletion itself, you can let him [11:43] schestowitz[TR] > know that he should write in again. [11:43] schestowitz[TR] > [11:43] schestowitz[TR] > Also, may I suggest not using this "shoot first, [11:43] schestowitz[TR] > ask questions later" approach? The word porn can be used in all sorts of [11:43] schestowitz[TR] > contexts. It's a very poor criterion/keywork for abuse detection. [11:43] schestowitz[TR] > [11:43] schestowitz[TR] > [11:43] schestowitz[TR] > We don't discuss most of our tools externally, for a few reasons, but [11:43] schestowitz[TR] > generally, I can let you know a few pieces of information that might be [11:43] schestowitz[TR] > helpful here: [11:43] schestowitz[TR] > [11:43] schestowitz[TR] > * Our (human) staff reviews abuse reports (e.g., things like reports [11:43] schestowitz[TR] > of explicit sexual material and other policy violations). [11:43] schestowitz[TR] > * For automated systems (like anti-spam flagging), there are no single [11:43] schestowitz[TR] > words that can prompt a site suspension. [11:43] schestowitz[TR] > [11:43] schestowitz[TR] > [11:43] schestowitz[TR] > We're definitely aware that the word "porn" can be used in many [11:43] schestowitz[TR] > contexts, and there are many, many WordPress.com sites using it with no [11:43] schestowitz[TR] > repercussions; it's not something we suspend for (manually or robotically). [11:43] schestowitz[TR] > [11:43] schestowitz[TR] > I hope this is helpful! [11:43] schestowitz[TR] > [11:43] schestowitz[TR] > Automattic Trust & Safety [11:45] schestowitz[TR] Re: Sirius pensions [11:45] schestowitz[TR] > Sorry to hear that. Has Roy found a job yet? [11:45] schestowitz[TR] > [11:45] schestowitz[TR] > I think only XXXX and XXXX have left since you left! [11:45] schestowitz[TR] Sirius lost more clients (that we know of), but it is not telling staff. [11:46] schestowitz[TR] "European Commission [11:46] schestowitz[TR] [11:46] schestowitz[TR] Have your say [11:46] schestowitz[TR] Dear Sir or Madam, [11:46] schestowitz[TR] One initiative has been published or updated on the European Commission's 'Have your say' portal: [11:46] schestowitz[TR] Feedback opportunities. [11:46] schestowitz[TR] Title Topic Deadline Action [11:46] schestowitz[TR] Draft Act [11:46] schestowitz[TR] Road safety advanced driver distraction warning systems Single market [11:46] schestowitz[TR] 21/04/2023 Published for feedback [11:46] schestowitz[TR] To consult all the existing initiatives please visit the portal: [11:46] schestowitz[TR] https://ec.europa.eu/info/law/better-regulation/have-your-say_en [11:46] schestowitz[TR] This is an automatic notification message. Please do not reply to it. [11:46] schestowitz[TR] With kind regards, [11:46] schestowitz[TR] *European Commission * [11:46] schestowitz[TR] Secretariat-General " [11:46] -TechBytesBot/#techbytes-ec.europa.eu | Have your say [11:46] -TechBytesBot/#techbytes-ec.europa.eu | Have your say [11:47] schestowitz[TR] "> This is about having cameras *inside* the car and pointed at the driver. [11:47] schestowitz[TR] > Probably microphones too." [11:49] schestowitz[TR] https://diaspora.psyco.fr/posts/9418039#aeed6cc06ec6013b1482002590c0bfb8 [11:49] schestowitz[TR] "The media is recently talking a lot about massive layoffs by Silicon Valley companies. It's not only Microsoft, but also Facebook, Google, and dozens of smaller companies. Not really surprise there." [11:49] -TechBytesBot/#techbytes-diaspora.psyco.fr | Microsoft crisis. People who work there say there are massive cuts.... [11:49] schestowitz[TR] "These tech giants treat their own employees like sh%&"t. What would one expect how do they treat everyone else using their services!?" [11:49] schestowitz[TR] "I don't think so. They compete for the best talents and that demographic isn't very easy to get. So, they give them the best salaries, comfortable working conditions and many benefits. However, don't expect to have an easy life, they consistently evaluate their employees and remove low performers from their staff. Besides, in silicon valley, you aren't married to your employer, it's much more common to change your working place rel [11:49] schestowitz[TR] atively frequently. I'm pretty sure, for every big tech company, there are dozens of companies who are treating their IT staff far worse than Big Tech." [11:49] schestowitz[TR] "" remove low performers from their staff." - not only those people. They remove obsolete staff at a blink - no matter if they have been low-performer or not. It might be also a matter of stupid management decisions. There are often other things that count, not only performance. Changing working places might work - as long as the employee is under a certain age. At a (very) high level it might be a bit different (there are different [11:49] schestowitz[TR] dynamics), but in general big tech does treat employees in an ignorant way. Just thinking of twitter right now, sending away even long-standing senior developers in order to save on their salaries." [11:50] schestowitz[TR] "Here is a relevant comment just came across under a Sun/Oracle article: "Having said all that, they (Sun) were a great company to work for, unlike Oracle, who I also worked for. Oracle were a hire and fire a will company and probably still are. People disappeared as quickly as they did in Nazi Germany."" [11:51] schestowitz[TR] https://diaspora.psyco.fr/posts/9402384#b21538506a75013b78cb28a1592b385a [11:51] -TechBytesBot/#techbytes-diaspora.psyco.fr | Reshare by gunnar@diasp.org [11:51] schestowitz[TR] ""Today that role is unrecognisable. Not because technology got better, but because we all got a lot dumber and more dependent on click-box cloud technology. We dont own or really understand it now. We have a shrugging, negative permissions culture. The first position is to assume nothing can be done. The disconnect between the official theoretical syllabus and daily practice is immense. Today my university could not afford [11:51] schestowitz[TR] to hire my own graduates for roles currently occupied by people I would fail if they were my students. Much of what we teach is in fact obsolete because, if the standards of our own institutions are anything to go by, nobody actually needs to know how anything really works. The reality is theyd be better off doing a Microsoft Azure, Amazon AWS or Google Cloud certificate for a tenth of the price and spend the rest of their caree [11:51] schestowitz[TR] rs clicking on drop-down menus with meaningless brand names. The skill-set of educational ICT has been eviscerated."" ● Mar 25 [13:34] *Noisytoot has quit (Quit: ZNC 1.8.2 - https://znc.in) [13:35] *Noisytoot (~noisytoot@tkbibjhmbkvb8.irc) has joined #techbytes ● Mar 25 [14:48] *psydruid (~psydruid@jevhxkzmtrbww.irc) has left #techbytes [14:58] *psydruid (~psydruid@jevhxkzmtrbww.irc) has joined #techbytes ● Mar 25 [15:08] *psydruid (~psydruid@jevhxkzmtrbww.irc) has left #techbytes [15:25] *psydruid (~psydruid@jevhxkzmtrbww.irc) has joined #techbytes ● Mar 25 [17:19] *Disconnected (Connection timed out). ● Mar 25 [19:49] *Now talking on #techbytes [19:49] *Topic for #techbytes is: Welcome to the official channel of the TechBytes Audiocast [19:49] *Topic for #techbytes set by schestowitz!~roy@haii6za73zabc.irc at Tue Jun 1 20:21:34 2021 [19:49] *libertybox__ (~schestowitz_log@rbnv8qskr8rgw.irc) has joined #techbytes [19:49] *u-amarsh04 (~amarsh04@nqkitbgnqjad4.irc) has joined #techbytes [19:49] *XFaCE (~XFaCE@uzfeivw9fp6ba.irc) has joined #techbytes [19:49] *Noisytoot (~noisytoot@tkbibjhmbkvb8.irc) has joined #techbytes [19:49] *psydruid (~psydruid@jevhxkzmtrbww.irc) has joined #techbytes [19:50] *techrights[sec] (~tokwe@rbnv8qskr8rgw.irc) has joined #techbytes [19:53] *MinceR (~mincer@bringer.of.light) has joined #techbytes [19:53] *irc.techrights.org sets mode +a #techbytes MinceR ● Mar 25 [20:07] *viera (~viera@njsz8uc49vydg.irc) has joined #techbytes [20:41] *Noisytoot has quit (Ping timeout: 2m30s) [20:45] *Noisytoot (~noisytoot@tkbibjhmbkvb8.irc) has joined #techbytes [20:51] *Noisytoot has quit (Ping timeout: 2m30s) ● Mar 25 [21:10] *Noisytoot (~noisytoot@tkbibjhmbkvb8.irc) has joined #techbytes [21:13] *Noisytoot has quit (Ping timeout: 2m30s) [21:16] *Noisytoot (~noisytoot@tkbibjhmbkvb8.irc) has joined #techbytes [21:22] *Disconnected (Connection reset by peer). [21:23] *Now talking on #techbytes [21:23] *Topic for #techbytes is: Welcome to the official channel of the TechBytes Audiocast [21:23] *Topic for #techbytes set by schestowitz!~roy@haii6za73zabc.irc at Tue Jun 1 20:21:34 2021 [21:23] *rianne (~rianne@rbnv8qskr8rgw.irc) has joined #techbytes [21:23] *rianne__ (~rianne@rbnv8qskr8rgw.irc) has joined #techbytes [21:23] *asusbox (~rianne@rbnv8qskr8rgw.irc) has joined #techbytes [21:23] *liberty_box (~liberty@rbnv8qskr8rgw.irc) has joined #techbytes [21:23] *techrights[sec] (~tokwe@rbnv8qskr8rgw.irc) has joined #techbytes ● Mar 25 [23:07] *psydruid (~psydruid@jevhxkzmtrbww.irc) has left #techbytes [23:24] *psydruid (~psydruid@jevhxkzmtrbww.irc) has joined #techbytes