"Vodafone, in partnership with Microsoft, has developed TOBi, an AI
digital assistant that offers 24/7 customer support and uses AI to
help answer customer queries".
This document describes TOBi as support. This is remarkable. I found
it to be a useless simpleton script whose main purpose is to keep
customers away from the useless support staff.
"Vodafone, in partnership with Microsoft, has developed TOBi, an AI
digital assistant that offers 24/7 customer support and uses AI to
help answer customer queries".
This document describes TOBi as support. This is remarkable. I found
it to be a useless simpleton script whose main purpose is to keep
customers away from the useless support staff.
https://www.ofcom.org.uk/phones-and-broadband/telecoms-infrastructure/Exploring-what-impact-the-adoption-of-artificial-intelligence-could-have-on-the-experience-of-telecoms-customers
https://www.ofcom.org.uk/siteassets/resources/documents/internet-based-services/technology/understanding-how-people-and-businesses-can-benefit-from-ai-in-telecoms-markets.pdf
On Fri, 30 Jan 2026 11:53:03 +0000
Richmond <dnomhcir@gmx.com> wrote:
"Vodafone, in partnership with Microsoft, has developed TOBi, an AI
digital assistant that offers 24/7 customer support and uses AI to
help answer customer queries".
This document describes TOBi as support. This is remarkable. I found
it to be a useless simpleton script whose main purpose is to keep
customers away from the useless support staff.
https://www.ofcom.org.uk/phones-and-broadband/telecoms-infrastructure/Exploring-what-impact-the-adoption-of-artificial-intelligence-could-have-on-the-experience-of-telecoms-customers
https://www.ofcom.org.uk/siteassets/resources/documents/internet-based-services/technology/understanding-how-people-and-businesses-can-benefit-from-ai-in-telecoms-markets.pdf
Unfortunately, they are everywhere. They say they will connect you to a
human if they can't answer your question, but they seem to forget how
to do that.
I recently encountered one of these, and I posed my question as
clearly as I could. It asked me to re-phrase my question, so I repeated
it, I could not rephrase it any better, but it still could not
understand, so it said it would connect me to an agent. Who was not available.
Ho hum.
Unfortunately, they are everywhere. They say they will connect you to a
human if they can't answer your question, but they seem to forget how
to do that.
I recently encountered one of these, and I posed my question as
clearly as I could. It asked me to re-phrase my question, so I repeated
it, I could not rephrase it any better, but it still could not
understand, so it said it would connect me to an agent. Who was not >available.
Well, I hope that Zen keeps its human operatives to deal with issues. I can't say that I've ever had a problem dealing with Zen support.
On Sun, 1 Feb 2026 09:01:58 +0000, Jeff Layman <Jeff@invalid.invalid>
wrote:
Well, I hope that Zen keeps its human operatives to deal with
issues. I can't say that I've ever had a problem dealing with Zen
support.
Dealing with Zen is like dealing with telecom in the
1980s. Real, knowlegeable humans.
I love Zen.
On Sun, 1 Feb 2026 09:25:21 -0000 (UTC)
Julian Macassey <julian@n6are.com> wrote:
On Sun, 1 Feb 2026 09:01:58 +0000, Jeff Layman <Jeff@invalid.invalid>
wrote:
Well, I hope that Zen keeps its human operatives to deal with
issues. I can't say that I've ever had a problem dealing with Zen
support.
Dealing with Zen is like dealing with telecom in the
1980s. Real, knowlegeable humans.
I love Zen.
Same here. Actual people, who care about you. And they speak
Lancashire rather than Robot or Punjabi or Tagalog.
"Vodafone, in partnership with Microsoft, has developed TOBi, an AI digital assistant that
offers 24/7 customer support and uses AI to help answer customer
queries".
This document describes TOBi as support. This is remarkable. I found it
to be a useless simpleton script whose main purpose is to keep customers
away from the useless support staff.
https://www.ofcom.org.uk/phones-and-broadband/telecoms-infrastructure/Exploring-what-impact-the-adoption-of-artificial-intelligence-could-have-on-the-experience-of-telecoms-customers
https://www.ofcom.org.uk/siteassets/resources/documents/internet-based-services/technology/understanding-how-people-and-businesses-can-benefit-from-ai-in-telecoms-markets.pdf
"Vodafone, in partnership with Microsoft, has developed TOBi, an AI
digital assistant that offers 24/7 customer support and uses AI to
help answer customer queries".
This document describes TOBi as support. This is remarkable. I found
it to be a useless simpleton script whose main purpose is to keep
customers away from the useless support staff.
https://www.ofcom.org.uk/phones-and-broadband/telecoms-infrastructure/Exploring-what-impact-the-adoption-of-artificial-intelligence-could-have-on-the-experience-of-telecoms-customers
https://www.ofcom.org.uk/siteassets/resources/documents/internet-based-services/technology/understanding-how-people-and-businesses-can-benefit-from-ai-in-telecoms-markets.pdf
Your title sounds like a good companion to my first employer's senior engineer's description of the change in measurements as: metrifucktion.
On 2026/2/2 14:30:24, Davey wrote:
[]
Your title sounds like a good companion to my first employer's seniorOf course, the metric system is a lot easier to use - IF used properly! However, I'm convinced this conversation happened:
engineer's description of the change in measurements as: metrifucktion.
British Industry: "OK, we'll go metric. What's the metric unit of length/distance?"
"The millimetre."
BI: "OK, we'll use that."
And they did. For everything. I couldn't believe it when I came across
an engineering drawing of a switchyard (the area outside an electricity substation, where the larger switchgear is placed [I worked briefly for
a switchgear company]), with all the dimensions in millimetres.
Thousands of them.
They'd clearly not grasped the concept of prefixes.
On 02/02/2026 17:48, J. P. Gilliver wrote:Yes, fair enough; the SI system only uses powers of 10^3. But using
On 2026/2/2 14:30:24, Davey wrote:
[]
Your title sounds like a good companion to my first employer's senior>>> engineer's description of the change in measurements as: metrifucktion.Of course, the metric system is a lot easier to use - IF used properly!
However, I'm convinced this conversation happened:
British Industry: "OK, we'll go metric. What's the metric unit of
length/distance?"
"The millimetre."
BI: "OK, we'll use that."
And they did. For everything. I couldn't believe it when I came across>> an engineering drawing of a switchyard (the area outside an electricity
substation, where the larger switchgear is placed [I worked briefly for
a switchgear company]), with all the dimensions in millimetres.
Thousands of them.
They'd clearly not grasped the concept of prefixes.
To be fair a lot of my design work is in millimetres. rarely centimetres
and never decimetres.
Which is sad. A decimetre is about a hand in equestrian units, and a convenient size for wood too
On 2026/2/2 14:30:24, Davey wrote:
[]
Your title sounds like a good companion to my first employer's senior engineer's description of the change in measurements as: metrifucktion.
Of course, the metric system is a lot easier to use - IF used properly! However, I'm convinced this conversation happened:
British Industry: "OK, we'll go metric. What's the metric unit of length/distance?"
"The millimetre."
BI: "OK, we'll use that."
And they did. For everything. I couldn't believe it when I came across
an engineering drawing of a switchyard (the area outside an electricity substation, where the larger switchgear is placed [I worked briefly for
a switchgear company]), with all the dimensions in millimetres.
Thousands of them.
They'd clearly not grasped the concept of prefixes.
On 2026/2/2 14:30:24, Davey wrote:
[]
Your title sounds like a good companion to my first employer'sOf course, the metric system is a lot easier to use - IF used
senior engineer's description of the change in measurements as: metrifucktion.
properly! However, I'm convinced this conversation happened:
British Industry: "OK, we'll go metric. What's the metric unit of length/distance?"
"The millimetre."
BI: "OK, we'll use that."
And they did. For everything. I couldn't believe it when I came across
an engineering drawing of a switchyard (the area outside an
electricity substation, where the larger switchgear is placed [I
worked briefly for a switchgear company]), with all the dimensions in millimetres. Thousands of them.
They'd clearly not grasped the concept of prefixes.
Just after WWI the Villiers company received the design of a German two-stroke engine as part of war reparations. They went on
manufacturing it through WWII and right into the 1960s, with imperial
threads in holes on metric spacing.
On 2026/2/2 19:21:30, Liz Tuddenham wrote:
[]
Just after WWI the Villiers company received the design of a German two-stroke engine as part of war reparations. They went on
manufacturing it through WWII and right into the 1960s, with imperial threads in holes on metric spacing.
For a long time (maybe still?), the civil aviation industry has measured horizontal distances in (mostly) km, and vertical ones in feet.
n Mon, 2 Feb 2026 17:48:10 +0000
"J. P. Gilliver" <G6JPG@255soft.uk> wrote:
On 2026/2/2 14:30:24, Davey wrote:
[]
Your title sounds like a good companion to my first employer'sOf course, the metric system is a lot easier to use - IF used
senior engineer's description of the change in measurements as: metrifucktion.
properly! However, I'm convinced this conversation happened:
British Industry: "OK, we'll go metric. What's the metric unit of length/distance?"
"The millimetre."
BI: "OK, we'll use that."
And they did. For everything. I couldn't believe it when I came across
an engineering drawing of a switchyard (the area outside an
electricity substation, where the larger switchgear is placed [I
worked briefly for a switchgear company]), with all the dimensions in millimetres. Thousands of them.
They'd clearly not grasped the concept of prefixes.
Indeed. My schooling was entirely in Imperial units, with a nod to
metric, then at University (never 'uni'!), I met those thousands of millimetres. I could easily comprehend what 18 feet looked like, but
the idea of imaging 5345 mm was not something that made any sense to me
at all.
I still like my Thermodynamics lecturer's use of FFF, for Furlong,
Ferkin, Fortnight as a measurement system, rather than CGS or MKS. He
used it to see if any of us were still awake.
For a long time (maybe still?), the civil aviation industry has measured horizontal distances in (mostly) km, and vertical ones in feet.
On 02/02/2026 23:35, J. P. Gilliver wrote:
For a long time (maybe still?), the civil aviation industry hasAnd speed in nautical knots...
measured horizontal distances in (mostly) km, and vertical ones in
feet.
And until recently, fuel in lubs.
In fact the changeover to kg resulted in at least one accident, where
they asked for kg and got lbs instead....
Just after WWI the Villiers company received the design of a German two-stroke engine as part of war reparations. They went on
manufacturing it through WWII and right into the 1960s, with imperial
threads in holes on metric spacing.
On Mon, 2 Feb 2026 19:21:30 +0000, Liz Tuddenham <liz@poppyrecords.> wrote:
Just after WWI the Villiers company received the design of a German
two-stroke engine as part of war reparations. They went on
manufacturing it through WWII and right into the 1960s, with imperial
threads in holes on metric spacing.
In 1935 the Belgian gun manufacturer FN. came out with a
semi-automatic pistol (Browning Hi Power) using the 9mm parabellum
cartridge, It was well received world wide,
When Adolf's unpleasantness started the design for the
pistol ended up in Canada and was produced there for the Allies
an Chinese during the war as well as in Belgium fpr the Nazis.
As we all know, "Metric is hard!" so the the Canadian guns
were built using Imperial mmeasurements. They are therefor not
comptible part wise aith 9mm Brownings built in other countries.
From a distannce the pistols are indistuishable.
This is not the only time idiots have decidrd "Metric is
hard!", Hughes Helicopter decided to fit some of their choppers
with Swiss Oerlikon guns made under licence in Culver City,
California, They translated all those funny Euro mesurements to
real American measurements. Much hilarity followed.
Plenty of imperial measurements still exist in the UK, but quoted in mm.
Surely less chance of errors with '10 ft x 20 ft' than '3.048 m x 0.6096
m'?
Am 08.02.26 um 12:23 schrieb JMB99:
Surely less chance of errors with '10 ft x 20 ft' than '3.048 m x
0.6096 m'?
Surely for the uneducated Brexitards who can't compute?
On 08/02/2026 14:25, Ottavio Caruso wrote:
Am 08.02.26 um 12:23 schrieb JMB99:Wrong way round. It is the Europhiles who have trouble with
Surely less chance of errors with '10 ft x 20 ft' than '3.048 m x
0.6096 m'?
Surely for the uneducated Brexitards who can't compute?
comprehension, preferring to substitute Blind Belief for critical examination.
FWIW, British industry (and more of the public than are willing to
admit) had accepted the existence of the metric system decades before
Brexit was thought of (though in some cases hadn't grasped the concept
of prefixes, and thus did everything in millimetres, rather than using
metres where those would be more appropriate).
From a Brexiteer, who happily uses both systems. (I was in favour of
leaving - though it was close - on grounds that had nothing to do with measurement systems, and not economic either [I_expected_ it would cost
us in the short to medium term].)
(though in some cases hadn't grasped the concept
of prefixes, and thus did everything in millimetres, rather than using
metres where those would be more appropriate).
On 10/02/2026 00:31, J. P. Gilliver wrote:
On 2026/2/9 8:58:13, The Natural Philosopher wrote:
On 08/02/2026 14:25, Ottavio Caruso wrote:
Am 08.02.26 um 12:23 schrieb JMB99:
Surely less chance of errors with '10 ft x 20 ft' than '3.048 m x
0.6096 m'?
Seeing as most of the population was taught almost entirely in Metric
10ft x 20ft is likely to confuse the heck out a good proportion.
and as most other countries use metric what you call 10' x 20' is more likely to be 3M x 6M or 9ft 10 7/64inch x 9ft 8 7/32inch (to the nearest 1/64th of an inch)
Wrong way round. It is the Europhiles who have trouble with
Surely for the uneducated Brexitards who can't compute?
comprehension, preferring to substitute Blind Belief for critical
examination.
What has being a Europhiles has that got to do with Metric? The whole
world, apart from the USA uses metric. Even those places such as Canada
and New Zealand which the ardent Brexiteer assured us were willing to
take the Lamb and Sea Food we were exporting to the EU are almost
entirely metric.
To me it appears they are more metric than us, as they have both
replaced all their road signs with speeds with the metric equivalent.
Mind you I was served beer in a 20 Ounce glass as apparently Americans
can't believe our pints are bigger than theirs.
Anyone on either side who cannot handle the existence of the other
system is short-sighted (or worse).
FWIW, British industry (and more of the public than are willing to
admit) had accepted the existence of the metric system decades before
Brexit was thought of (though in some cases hadn't grasped the concept
of prefixes, and thus did everything in millimetres, rather than using
metres where those would be more appropriate).
-aFrom a Brexiteer, who happily uses both systems. (I was in favour of
leaving - though it was close - on grounds that had nothing to do with
measurement systems, and not economic either [I _expected_ it would cost
us in the short to medium term].)
I am starting to struggle with some imperial, also temps in "F" but generally either is ok.
Dave
J. P. Gilliver <G6JPG@255soft.uk> wrote:
[...]
(though in some cases hadn't grasped the concept
of prefixes, and thus did everything in millimetres, rather than using
metres where those would be more appropriate).
Did you mean 'suffixes' ?
On 10/02/2026 09:22, Liz Tuddenham wrote:
J. P. Gilliver <G6JPG@255soft.uk> wrote:
[...]
(though in some cases hadn't grasped the concept
of prefixes, and thus did everything in millimetres, rather than using
metres where those would be more appropriate).
Did you mean 'suffixes' ?
I think he meant prefixes as in centi- or deci- or even deca-
Seeing as most of the population was taught almost entirely in Metric
10ft x 20ft is likely to confuse the heck out a good proportion.
and as most other countries use metric what you call 10' x 20' is more likely to be 3M x 6M or 9ft 10 7/64inch x 9ft 8 7/32inch (to the nearest 1/64th of an inch)
Seeing as most of the population was taught almost entirely in Metric
10ft x 20ft is likely to confuse the heck out a good proportion.
and as most other countries use metric what you call 10' x 20' is more likely to be 3M x 6M or 9ft 10 7/64inch x 9ft 8 7/32inch (to the nearest 1/64th of an inch)
I was thinking of the way it was written:
300 mm
50 cm
200 km
To be fair a lot of my design work is in millimetres. rarely centimetres
and never decimetres.
Which is sad. A decimetre is about a hand in equestrian units, and a >convenient size for wood too
On 10/02/2026 08:10, David Wade wrote:
Seeing as most of the population was taught almost entirely in Metric
10ft x 20ft is likely to confuse the heck out a good proportion.
and as most other countries use metric what you call 10' x 20' is more
likely to be 3M x 6M or 9ft 10 7/64inch x 9ft 8 7/32inch (to the
nearest 1/64th of an inch)
But if something was built using Imperial units then it will always be
more accurate to record it in those units particularly if building a replica.
Rather like reading something in the original language and not a translation.
I have often done quick surveys of WWI and WWII structures and always
record dimensions in the original units used.
Often amuses when you have news reporters talking about snow or floods,
you know someone has said it is about six feet deep and they have then converted that guess to a metric figure with several decimal places!
an inch is defined to be exactly 25.4 mm
The Natural Philosopher wrote:
yeah. You tend to get '3m off 100x100mm' etc.To be fair a lot of my design work is in millimetres. rarely centimetres
and never decimetres.
Which is sad. A decimetre is about a hand in equestrian units, and a
convenient size for wood too
For timber, the length generally uses the metric foot (300 mm).
Of course, if it is PAR, the other dimensions won't actually be
that of the piece of wood in front of you, but the nominal size
of the rough sawn piece before it was planed down.
I am not sure how much is allowed, but a sharp operator can
probably work into the margins more than somewhat.
Chris
J. P. Gilliver <G6JPG@255soft.uk> wrote:
[...]
(though in some cases hadn't grasped the concept of prefixes, and thus
did everything in millimetres, rather than using metres where those
would be more appropriate).
Did you mean 'suffixes' ?
For timber, the length generally uses the metric foot
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