Courgettes zucch.ChrisGreaves wrote: ↑08 Oct 2020, 18:26I thought that they were called hip-oh! zucchinis because the only way people can carry them out to their cars is to hoist them onto their hips.
I just got rid of another Big One. Not the 7-pounder, though.
Actually, If I'd been on the ball I would have used four at a time and refused to let vehicles leave my property without their organic wheel chocks.
Cheers
Chris
Despair over UK Government IT
-
- PlatinumLounger
- Posts: 4063
- Joined: 24 Jan 2010, 07:23
Re: Despair over UK Government IT
-
- PlutoniumLounger
- Posts: 15636
- Joined: 24 Jan 2010, 23:23
- Location: brings.slot.perky
Re: Despair over UK Government IT
There's nothing heavier than an empty water bottle
-
- 5StarLounger
- Posts: 776
- Joined: 29 Jan 2010, 13:30
Re: Despair over UK Government IT
A report on the Excel fiasco (nothing about zucchini) says (weasel words abound)
There have been no reports of anyone being disciplined or fired for this error.
I despair.
Silverback
Public Health England last month revealed that at least 15841 individuals who tested positive between Sept 20 and Oct 20 were not referred to the national contact tracing system.
The error was due to an Excel spreadsheet reaching its maximum file size.
Researchers now estimate that the glitch can be associated with 126,836 to 185,188 additional cases, and between 1521 and 2049 additional Covid related deaths.
Daily Telegraph News, Tuesday, 24th November
There have been no reports of anyone being disciplined or fired for this error.
I despair.
Silverback
-
- UraniumLounger
- Posts: 9293
- Joined: 13 Feb 2010, 01:27
- Location: Deep in the Heart of Texas
Re: Despair over UK Government IT
Back to the topic of IT, one of the most difficult lessons that IT professionals must learn is that just because you can doesn't mean you should. I've actually fired programmers for adding functionality without validating their ideas with the design team. In the referenced case, using a spreadsheet was the wrong choice. My guess is that the decision was made, not by an IT professional, but by a knowledgeable user who didn't consider the consequences, thus, Hanlons Razor.
Bob's yer Uncle
Dell Intel Core i5 Laptop, 3570K,1.60 GHz, 8 GB RAM, Windows 11 64-bit, LibreOffice,and other bits and bobs
(1/2)(1+√5) |
-
- PlatinumLounger
- Posts: 4063
- Joined: 24 Jan 2010, 07:23
Re: Despair over UK Government IT
I worked at a time (at least later in my career) when the specs were sancrosanct, to be adhered to religiously.
In this law enforcement agency, I suggested a change to the interface. It was cautiously allowed.
It turned out to be an extremely useful feature, reducing the amount of desk time in front of a screen from seven hours per day to one hour, this allowing a huge increase in investigation time.
The system changes were implemented hurriedly after a major terrorist incident, and contributed immensely to solving the crime.
In this law enforcement agency, I suggested a change to the interface. It was cautiously allowed.
It turned out to be an extremely useful feature, reducing the amount of desk time in front of a screen from seven hours per day to one hour, this allowing a huge increase in investigation time.
The system changes were implemented hurriedly after a major terrorist incident, and contributed immensely to solving the crime.
-
- Panoramic Lounger
- Posts: 8176
- Joined: 25 Jan 2010, 09:09
- Location: retirement
Re: Despair over UK Government IT
Yes, your thinking is precisely why I quoted Hanlon's Razor. I'll put money on this system having been first 'developed' a long time ago, i.e. when .xls was all there was, by someone in a local lab to ease their workflow when trying to 'track and trace' something like a local food poisoning outbreak. No one will have ever imagined it would end up being scaled up to handle the number of records required at the moment.
Ken
-
- 5StarLounger
- Posts: 1120
- Joined: 26 Jan 2010, 11:32
- Location: "What a mighty long bridge to such a mighty little old town"
Re: Despair over UK Government IT
Speaking as an ex-NHS Lab worker and watching the abuses that my colleagues used excel to perpetrate, I think stuck is right...stuck wrote: ↑27 Nov 2020, 12:19Yes, your thinking is precisely why I quoted Hanlon's Razor. I'll put money on this system having been first 'developed' a long time ago, i.e. when .xls was all there was, by someone in a local lab to ease their workflow when trying to 'track and trace' something like a local food poisoning outbreak. No one will have ever imagined it would end up being scaled up to handle the number of records required at the moment.
Ken
John
“Always trust a microbiologist because they have the best chance of predicting when the world will end”
― Teddie O. Rahube
“Always trust a microbiologist because they have the best chance of predicting when the world will end”
― Teddie O. Rahube
-
- Panoramic Lounger
- Posts: 8176
- Joined: 25 Jan 2010, 09:09
- Location: retirement
Re: Despair over UK Government IT
Speaking as a current Gov't Agency worker and watching the abuses that my colleagues inflict on Excel workbooks derived from my templates, I think I'm right toojonwallace wrote: ↑27 Nov 2020, 12:23Speaking as an ex-NHS Lab worker and watching the abuses that my colleagues used excel to perpetrate, I think stuck is right...
Ken
-
- Administrator
- Posts: 12612
- Joined: 16 Jan 2010, 15:49
- Location: London, Europe
Re: Despair over UK Government IT
Often Excel is used as a data transfer mechanism because there are large numbers of systems with no interoperability or APIs
StuartR