I can reveal, exclusively, that I was not the guy named in Charles Manson’s will, nor was I Charles Bronson’s best man, I just thought I’d get that out of the way, as I discovered today that a different Charles that I thought had gone to somewhere in southern america to practice his trade of geophyzz berk, has actually been in prison on a manslaughter charge, drove like a twat and lost it in a corner and went backwards into an oncoming vehicle.
Now that that is out of the way, I want to talk first about El Reg’s “On Call” column, it seems to be entirely written and read by first line tech support drones, god knows I spent a few years being “Jim from BT” or Jim from Virgin” or “Jim from Cisco” or “Jim from Microsoft” or “Jim from Juniper”, which often enough meant the guy on the other end of the speakerphone line was in Mumbai, and I covered that high street stuff all the way up to regional backbone NOC’s and military shit and all the rest of it, and yet I have never been able to ever relate to a single fucking “On Call”..
Never, not even fucking once.
I could tell you about the engineer who didn’t make the appointment because he stabbed someone outside on the street, I could tell you about the engineer who took an entire bank offline by mixing up local and HQ IP address ranges which made the entire bank network not trust any other site (some 900 nationally) until it was rectified 12 hours later, I could tell you about the engineer who broke an entire RAID array for a large multinational defence contractor by punching the rack in anger (head crash from the vibes) and I could tell you about the engineer who wrote off his brand new company car with delivery miles on it 30 miles from HQ, and manged to convince everyone it was stolen some weeks later buy attending every job on his motorcycle, and I can tell you quite truthfully that none of them were me… I made precisely zero fuckups at work, a statistic that I could apply to every other engineer in my peer group.
I can tell you that there were a handful of jobs where the very first thing I did after arriving on site and finding what was wrong, I phoned the office and told them “I literally have not touched a thing, I flatly refuse to touch a thing, and if you have the brains you were born with you will flatly refuse to treat this job as a standard breakfix with SLA guarantees, and refuse to send any engineers out unless the client agrees to a ‘whatever it takes, no queries, best efforts’ job, because this is a total fuckup and as I speak to you ‘we’ are 100% excluded from any possible culpability”
I can tell you that there were literally three client sites EVER that had gorgeous organised pristine documented and labelled and properly installed racks.
I can tell you that the basis for 99% of the business is cornering the CFO and telling them they can basically eradicate the IT budget and staff, simply outsource it to a “channel partner” (us) and buy a book of vouchers, when you have an issue, tear out a voucher, we offered a 4 hour SLA.
I can tell you that what happens next is clue less fucks in offices use up a voucher, and I drive 100 miles each way to install a new USB keyboard, literal truth, I shit you not.
Before you know it all your vouchers are used up, so you buy some more… six months down the line you have passed the point of no return.
I can tell you that some sections of BT wholesale were one of the very few business connectivity providers who did NOT use default root credentials for their entire estates of routers, simply because some sections of BT wholesale were one of the very few business connectivity providers who did not outsource everything to mumbai.
But el reg on call… nope, never seen a single one that I can relate to, and this is arguably one of the world’s leading specialist IT / tech sites.
I can tell you that what security there is usually relies on fixed routing, for example you can use a beyond obsolete 837 cisco dsl router on an ATM if the phone line (and circuit numbers etc etc) are fixed and away from the main voice network, the ATM end has a phone line circuit with number, the HQ end has the other end of that phone circuit, and the only way in is to tacacs tunnel in from the HQ end, unless you were me in back of the ATM fixing the router or a G4S or Loomis guy swapping out the cash cassettes in the ATM proper.
BTW everyone talks complete bollocks about how little cash an ATM holds, there are four or five cassettes each the size of a kitchen drawer, and a pile of 100 notes isn’t a pile, it’s just a small wad.
Backs of ATM’s were one of the very few places I would not whip out the smartphone camera to document everything, putty logs were sufficient.
It’s the same thing when it comes to that other el reg staple, the BOFH, it’s not just that I can’t relate to any of it, ever, I don’t know how anyone who *does* work in IT can relate to it, at least above the level of a pissy world genius bar drone.
Which all brings us neatly to rehash previous shit about EV’s and the differences between FUEL and ENERGY.
Years ago I knew the guy, Bill B, who has the export license from Japan for all nissan vehicles, among other shit, I dunno if Bill is still alive and kicking, but he or his daughter are about to see a boost in revenue, because nissan is launching a production variable compression turbo petrol lump in the infiniti range.
They can vary the compression anywhere between 8:1 to 14:1 on the fly, by replacing the conrod with a multilink that doesn’t look a million miles away from something on an old steam beam engine, you move the position of the link to adjust the effective throw of the whole assembly and piston travel by up to 6mm, and you move the link by servo.
Add in variable valve timing and multi port fuel injection, plus the multilink being like a crossbar so the piston only goes straight up and down (no torque or wear applied to cylinder walls) and all of this at only a 10% manufacturing premium over a standard petrol engine, and suddenly you have made up for the marginal at best efficiency differences between a standard IC engine running on FUEL and an EV running on ENERGY.
plus it is all under live computer control, so if you wanted to run on wartime 80 octane cabbage water, you could, and it means you can also trim emissions at will, so it’s death to the toyota hydrogen fuel cell vehicles.
Only “shame” I can see in the design is it is a 2000 cc 4 banger, I’d have made it a 750 cc triple with a 120 degree crank, which because engine costs are basically down to boring operations regardless of size means it would be 75% of the price of the 4 banger.
I predict the next iteration has a flywheel that is made of high temperature rare earth magnets to make a multiphase generator / starter…. and no mechanical driven anything, not water pump, nothing, next step after that is servo controlled valves.
Really it is all just a huge fuck you and wake up call for everyone claiming that EV’s are the future, there is NOTHING future about a tesla, it’s all bog standard old established technology with an ipad in place of the instrument cluster… musk’s open source patents are basically worthless, otherwise they wouldn’t be open sourced, and the lock in is the proprietary cell sizes and software.
It is also a huge fuck you and wake up call for everyone claiming (by inference, because the future is electric) that the IC engine is as advanced as it is ever going to be, and even this new nissan VC-T is only scratching the surface of what is to come, ceramic pistons and combustion chambers will make a huge difference, and ceramic pistons and combustion chambers are closer to production than glass batteries or anything else in the EV world.
Lubricants and low friction treatments are not exactly standing still either, and I may well live to see a production IC engine where the “30% of the heat energy in the fuel source” is what goes out the pipe, the other 70% being converted into useful energy.
75% efficiency in an IC engine is theoretically possible, it is just as valid a target as any of the targets touted for EV’s or batteries or supercaps or anything else, in fact technology being what it is, you’re pretty much guaranteed that cross pollination of the application of new technologies means that “3x as good as lion” glass batteries will boost many other technologies just as much as they will boost some future EV.
I’m an engineer, and I cannot think of a technology that is guaranteed to boost ONLY an EV and have a net zero positive effect on everything else, including the IC engined vehicles of the future.
And from a purely engineering perspective any FUEL powered general purpose vehicle that is 75% efficient is going to be *incredibly* hard to beat.
No EV will ever match it on range for example, and unlike the EV, increasing efficiencies in combustion make the refuelling rate in seconds per 100 miles range go down and down and down, while not increasing the actual charge / transfer rate in litres per minute.
The new nissan VC-T engine doesn’t need a new fuel tank, much less and entire new fuel tank technology, either, just a can / bag / box.
Nor is 8:1 to 14:1 the limit for this design of engine, it’s just the limit for this iteration of a production vehicle engine, there is no technical reason it could not go from 6:1 all the way up to 22:1, no point on this production VC-T because current RON 85 pump gas can’t go that high or low.
22:1 plus the turbo might be good for aviation at high altitudes on gas though, or the full range engine might be good for multifuel “if you can set it alight with a gas torch it will run” engines, military style.
I have it on good authority that nissan have development versions of this motor in the lab with other non production tweaks, and they are nudging 50% efficiency under some circumstances.
Of course the other big problem with IC vehicles is the gearbox, torque converter and a new tech CVT will solve that too.
No, the biggest problem Nissan faces is the thing I talked about before, where the Toyota J200 weighs double what the J40 I learned to drive on did, and does stupid 0-60 times to boot, so this VC-T infiniti engine is coming out in the high end performance SUV market segment first.
They should have made it a 750 cc triple with 120 degree crank with flywheel / generator / starter and torque converter CVT and stuck it in a econo-box Sunny / Beetle / Rio style equivalent, 0-60 in 12 seconds, 90 mph top speed, manual windows, and 85 mpg.
They will, one day.
Companies like Volvo (who to be fair have never really been engine manufacturers) will vanish, thanks to their abandoning IC as a policy… along with Tesla and many others.
Don’t get me wrong, electric has a future in transport, but the IC engine is nowhere near dead, and laws that have been changed with a stroke of a pen to make all vehicles sold in the UK electric by 2040 can be changed back by another stroke of the pen.
Mandating shit is easy when you do it and give 22 years advance warning and it does not hurt ANYONE today and all the consequences are 22 years away in 2040 (when I will be in my 80’s so not my problem) so nobody gives a fuck.
IMPLEMENTING IT SUCCESSFULLY is a whole other fucking ball game, but, for government, it is literally not their problem, NOBODY in power today gives a flying fuck what happens in 2040, because it won’t be on their watch, they will all be retired.
Remington (the gun maker) is going the way of Caterpillar, their stock status is basically junk, once a few of these sorts of companies fail (which they will, not being too big to be allowed to fail banks) the political landscape will change overnight.
Chances are by 2025 if you want to buy a commercial EV it will be german, and if you want to buy a EV car it will be chinese or indian, because nobody else will be afloat who is making them.
Or, if you do not live in some benighted dystopic city with local zero emissions laws, you may well be riding around in a ceramic VC-T nissan pulling 50-55% thermal efficiency.
If you’re the sort of person who reads and comments on shit like BOFH and on call, you’ll probably be on universal credit in a work camp.
Rate of change is increasing, not decreasing, only a fucking idiot picks on one metric, say EV’s, and extrapolates from there that everything is going to be good and rosy.
AI is fucking bollocks, but high tech, as seen in the nissan VC-T engine, is getting into EVERYTHING, nothing is too mundane or boring or shitty or niche.
The internet connected toaster is fucking bollocks.
The high tech computer monitored and controlled toilet is a racing certainly.
The AI powered autonomous johnnycab is fucking bollocks.
The high tech computer controlled street sweeper / refuse lorry / line painter / resurfacer / etc is already in development.
When I worked in I.T. (Not at your level) people couldn’t understand why I had no interest in watching “The IT Crowd” either
Comment by justwanttocommentblog — November 25, 2017 @ 11:00 am
Please, do not be impressed by my “level”… most of what I did was really basic stuff that anyone could learn, I never even sat a CCNA or anything else, not that it takes a brain to get certed up, if you mess with cisco…
Useful IOS
router(config-if)#interface fastethernet 0
router(config-if)#ip address 192.168.0.1 255.255.255.0
% IP addresses may not be configured on L2 links.
router(config-if)#exit
router(config)#exit
on 877 etc use vlan instead of FE
no ping?
router-1#show int vlan 1
router-1#conf t
Enter configuration commands, one per line. End with CNTL/Z.
router(config)#no int vlan 1
router(config)#int vlan 1
router (config-if)#ip add 192.168.0.1 255.255.255.0
router(config-if)#shut
router(config-if)#do show ip int br
router(config-if)#no shut
router(config-if)#do ping 192.168.0.2
router#show dsl interface atm0
show controller vdsl 0/0/0
show interface dialer1
show ip arp
show diag
show controllers
show inventory
show caller
show arp
XDSL issues
SN Margin (AKA Signal to Noise Margin or Signal to Noise Ratio)
Relative strength of the DSL signal to Noise ratio. 6dB is generally the lowest dB manufactures specify in order for the modem to be able to synch. In some instances interleaving can help raise the noise margin to an acceptable level. Generally speaking, as overall bandwidth increases, your signal to noise ratio decreases. So a customer that upgrades from 1.5 to 6.0 service will typically see a corresponding decrease in the signal to noise ratio. The higher the number the better for this measurement.
6dB or below is bad and will experience no synch or intermittent synch problems
7dB-10dB is fair but does not leave much room for variances in conditions
11dB-20dB is good with no synch problems
20dB-28dB is excellent
29dB or above is outstanding
Line Attenuation
Measure of how much the signal has degraded between the DSLAM and the modem. Maximum signal loss recommendation is usually about 60dB. One of the biggest factors affecting line attenuation is distance from the DSLAM. Generally speaking, bigger distances mean higher attenuation. The lower the dB the better for this measurement.
20dB and below is outstanding
20dB-30dB is excellent
30dB-40dB is very good
40dB-50dB is good
50dB-60dB is poor and may experience connectivity issues
60dB or above is bad and will experience connectivity issues
TFTP a new IOS to flash
1. You must know the router password to use “enable” and get the Router# prompt.
2. You must have established bi-directional ping between laptop and cisco
3. You must have a blank, already named, already saved, notepad file open on laptop.
4. You must ensure you have copied the ENTIRE config correctly, accurately and fully.
5. Save the notepad file, then look through it CAREFULLY for errors or problems.
6. Watch out for passwords, administratively closed ports etc. Do this before proceeding.
0. See above
1. Connect CAT5 (cross ever for a router, straight for a switch or AP) between laptop and router (using 192.168.0.10 255.255.255.0 for laptop, don’t forget subnet mask)
a. Router> – type enable and press return
b. Router> – type show ip interface brief and press return and note which interface you have put the crossover CAT5 in to
c. Router# – type configure terminal and press return
d. Router(config)# – type interface FastEthernet ? and press return to get number
e. Router(config)# – type interface FastEthernet 0 and press return
f. Router(config-if)# – type ip address 192.168.0.1 255.255.255.0 and press return
g. Exit back to Router#
h. Router# – type show ip interface brief and press return to verify
i. Router# – type ping 192.168.0.10 and press return, do it twice to get 100%
2. Note router IP address, and laptop IP address, ping router from laptop, and laptop from router.
3. Start 3CDaemon and make sure CORRECT bin file is saved to laptop desktop
Right click file click properties and copy file name.
4. Router>
type show version and press return
Router uptime is 6 hours, 2 minutes
System returned to ROM by power-on
System image file is “flash:c1700-y7-mz.122-8.T5.bin”
Note down that the bin file is correct, and also note down the config being used.
5. Router>
type enable and press return
6. Router#
type show flash: and press return
there may be room to write the new flash before deleting the old one, or there may not, depending on this you may tftp the new and then delete the old, or delete the old and then tftp the new…. (might be an idea to save the old one to the laptop first with copy flash tftp)
7. Router#
type copy tftp flash and press return ( copy [source] [destination] )
Address or name of remote host []? Type laptop IP address and press return
Source filename[]? Right click to paste file name from step 3 above and press return
Destination filename[the name you just pasted] IF OVERWRITING press return
Accessing tftp://laptop IP/filename… !!!!!!!
You should already have checked the flash is large enough / empty enough to take this bin file…
check the verifying checksum at the end says OK
8. Router#
type show flash and press return
if you did not overwrite you need to delete the OLD bin file
a. Router#
type del flash: and press return
delete filename[]? Paste bin name to be deleted and press return
delete flash:filename? [confirm] and press return
i. The command erase flash: will also work IF NO OTHER FILES ARE STORED IN FLASH
ii. The command erase nvram will wipe the NVRAM, adios config…
iii. There is also the verify command, but do not always trust its output…
9. Router#
type show flash: and press return to confirm all tftp operations correct and complete.
10. Router#
type reload and press return, this will reboot the router!
System configuration has been modified. Save? y/n : type y and press return
Building configuration…
[OK]
Proceed with reload? [confirm] press return
11. Router reboots
12. Router>
type show version and press return to confirm the IOS has been updated.
13. Process completed.
if you can read and follow those step by step you’re 10% of the way there to becoming a real world cisco field engineer, because 99% of the time either the hardware is dying or some remote twat in mumbai has locked himself out after making “temporary” changes, OR the bloke who was there first and did the install did not do it properly and skipped shit like “no shut” on a dialer interface, or didn’t skip it, but didn’t write memory it, so the first time the router rebooted it lost it.
The photo shows me using masking tape on each fibre, and what I write on the masking tape is what port it is actually IN when I walked in, not what port it should be, ouught to be, might be, in that pic some of my masking tape labels don’t match the labels on the fibre itself, because someone else have swapped ports around in the juniper router and not remade the fibres with new labels…. that one could have taken down 12% of the UK if I had not made my own labels because “I didn’t need to, because the fibres were already labelled”… no cisco / juniper / etc training ever covers this shit, but this shit is 99% of what a field engineer does, you can be a crap one who is remote hands and eyes for the guys at the other end of the line, or you can be the good one who is remote hands and eyes and brain, in which case you’ll find that the guys at the other end of the line are often crap chancers and this is job 11 of 19 they are doing this shift and they don’t really care about anything except moving on to job 12
So no, don’t be impressed, don’t start talking about my level, the consequences for fucking up in a regional backbone NOC are greater than the consequences for fucking up in the local fast food store, but the principles are the same, the toys you use are the same, and the pay is the same 9 times out of 10
I’ve gone to site previously attended by hot shit CCNA/CCNP engineers, cisco 880 series wireless routers, they have done the config and the wifi ain’t working, because they forgot / didn’t know / didn’t think the wireless module was separate, so didn’t access it properly to paste the config for it
Access the Wireless Module – To access the wireless module type “service-module wlan-ap 0 session”
(Short text – Ser wl 0 sess) default passwords are Cisco Cisco to access the AP
I couldn’t craft a full cisco config from scratch on the fly if my life depended on it, if I could, I would not have been field engineer material, I’d be stuck in an office somewhere doing job 11 of 19 on my worklist this shift.
Comment by wimminz — November 25, 2017 @ 11:55 am
I believe China will go big on electric vehicles, as they are currently constructing several fourth generation nuclear power stations, the first is scheduled to go online next year already, with HUNDREDS of them planned to follow.
They will have what we were promised, electricity too cheap to meter!
Comment by guest — November 25, 2017 @ 2:21 pm