Bryan Betts

Can contributing to open source get you a job? Could voluntary work on open source projects be a stepping stone to employment?

Could, or should, you usefully build open-source project work into your job search? Have you tried it?

Our @bryangb.bsky.social ponders the question, after chatting with OpenUK about its report on UK software skills.

www.freeformdynamics.com/freeform-com...

Tape is back on the main menu The news that another of the big players in global file systems, Hammerspace, has integrated tape access into its data orchestration software should

There's many ways to build modern tape storage into your ESG & data governance plans & Hammerspace has just added one more: treat tape as an equal.
How much more will it take to convince the sceptics that, today more than ever, tape remains a top-tier option?
www.freeformdynamics.com/freeform-com...

Blimey!! 😱

Yep, this is far from a women-only problem. Pretty much *every* post I put on the ex-bird site (still used for work), the first like is from "fake pretty face and fake bio", trawling for lonely responses.

Are you investing in generative AI? Many are, but what does it even mean - is it direct, indirect, something else...?
A clear view here should help a lot with seeing where the real value lies, writes @Dale_Vile on our @ComputerWeekly blog
www.computerweekly.com/blog/Write-s...

Based on this video, it looks as if Microsoft's dedicated CoPilot key will replace what's the right Ctrl key on my keyboards.
Has MS forgotten about left-handers? 🤔
www.youtube.com/watch?v=S1R0...

Merry Midwinter and a Silly Solstice for tomorrow, everyone! 🍻🥳

It's the fudges for me - the pinkish wrappers, I think they are these days. But my teeth don't approve. 😢

The ability - given the right software! - of NPUs to boost the performance of key functions, while actually using _less_ power, has the potential to make them a must-have for laptop buyers at the very least.

The far-right, I guess!

Apparently those reports were "lazy and disrespectful" 😂

What does "recalled" mean in a world where a car's behaviour can be fixed by an over-the-air software update while it sits on your driveway? 🤔

Similarly, many US writers seem to believe we have a "British Labor party".

Sort of similar, maybe a bit more social - and yes, still currently a bit quieter...

#VMware users and resellers - how's the #Broadcom deal working out for you so far? 🤔

I have this on a t-shirt. It's still funny...

Just happiness, I think.

Histomap: Visualizing the 4,000 Year History of Global Power We examine the Histomap, an ambitious timeline that details the power of various civilizations going all the way back to 2,000 B.C

This is fascinating - I wonder how an updated version would look?
www.visualcapitalist.com/histomap/

It's a dog's life... 😅

Is this something you've been able to do? Or that backfired somehow...?

Sure, and yes, much of the world needs to be less car-orientated, but I fear that stories like this are too simplistic. 🤷‍♂️

What I've not found yet is their estimate of how big the problem actually is. When I'm on the autobahn, most vehicles aren't doing anything like 130 - although yes, there's a significant minority trying to do 200+.

Yet the study cited in the story says that a general autobahn speed limit would also shift traffic back onto minor roads and increase pollution in towns and cities as a result.

Freeform Dynamics analyst opinion - Bryan Betts

After 18 months and challenges from antitrust authorities around the world, Broadcom has finally acquired @vmware.bsky.social. On our Computer Weekly blog this week, @bryangb.bsky.social looks at what Broadcom CEO Hock Tan has planned for the combined company.
www.computerweekly.com/blog/Write-s...

Oh, and while the right-wing pols & tabloids fulminate over benefit fraud & maybe saving the taxpayer "up to" £600m over 5 years, it's estimated that more than £15 billion a year in benefits goes UNclaimed, due to a complex & opaque system - plus of course fear of being portrayed as a scrounger.

HMRC says the UK loses £BILLIONS every year to tax avoidance and evasion, but oh no, what matters - and what we might all have to give up our data privacy for - is an alleged £120m a year of benefit fraud. 🤬
When the Tories talk of "common sense", you know it is nothing of the kind.

What's your take on Private AI - the inevitable way to go, or too little, too late?

You watch Sunak smirking and Tories moron-braying as Hunt delivers his devious Autumn Statement. You read the Tory press which praises this spectacle of smug. And then you look around at the absolute state of our country and wonder why those in power are so happy to fail us.

I reckon it's how they weasel out of promises and contracts - force or trick you into some kind of re-registration, then claim you're now a new customer again and therefore under new Ts&Cs. It's really despicable behaviour.

New on our Computer Weekly blog - can we deal with the fears that Generative AI will reveal our company secrets by taking our AI private?
www.computerweekly.com/blog/Write-s...