of criticalfailure they’dcompletely
ignored.It didn’t godownwell,and
I wascarpetedby myownbossfor
being‘disruptive’.
It wasevensuggestedto methatI shouldgoandwork
forIT by theheadof finance,likethebestwayto help
idiotswouldbeto workdirectlyforthem.
Thesystemwasdeployed,andit washorrendouslybad,
entirelyas I’dpredicted.Theserverwasinherentlyunstable.
Whenit crashed,becauseall theworkstationshadbooted
theirversionof Windowsoff it, theyalsocrashed,andany
workthatpeoplehadopenwaslostforever.
It alsocouldn’t handlethedemandsof everyonecoming
to workat thesametimeof day, becausesimultaneously
launching40-pluscopiesof Windowsoveranunswitched
10Mbitnetworkwasneveractuallygoingto work.
Eventually, I leftthatcompany, so I didn’t haveto witness
it reward failure andmediocrityona dailybasis,but
obviouslytheirgoodworkgoesonelsewhere it appears.
Mark PickavanceAcross
7 Three-terminalresistorwitha
slidingcontactthatformsan
adjustablevoltagedivider. (13)
8 Walk leisurelyandwithno
apparentaim.(6)
9 Disputethetruth,validity, or
honestyof a statement.(6)
10 A hard nonresilientrubber
formedby vulcanizingnatural
rubber. (7)
12 Electromagneticradiationthat
canproducea visualsensation.(5)
14 Anextremelyhappy, peaceful,or
picturesqueperiodor situation,
typicallyan idealizedor
unsustainableone.(5)
16 A unitof informationequalto
1000 megabits.(7)
19 A stateof near-unconsciousness
or insensibility. (6)
20 Linuxdistro whichnamesnew
releasesaftercharactersof the
movieHappyFeet.(6)
22 Oustor excludefroma groupor
membershipby decree.(13)Down
1 Theprocessof startinga
computerandputtingit intoa state
of readinessforoperation.(4)
2 Directontoa pointor target,
especiallyby automaticnavigationalaids.(4,2)
3 A programdesignedforgeneral
supportof theprocessesof a
computer. (7)
4 Thethingor area beingdiscussed.
(5)
5 Originallydevelopedby Borland
as a rapidapplicationdevelopment
toolforWindows.(6)
6 Rulesin Chinesephilosophythat
govern spatialarrangementand
orientationin relationto patterns of
yinandyangandtheflowof
energy. (4,4)
11 Themainpartof a printedwork,
excludingitemssuchas headings
andfootnotes.(4,4)
13 A largehemisphericalbrassor
copperpercussioninstrumentwith
a drumheadthatcanbe tunedby
adjustingthetensiononit. (7)
15 Anelementaryparticlethat
participatesin weakinteractions;
hasa baryonnumberof 0. (6)
17 Originallyspunoff fromAsusin
2002 in orderto competewith
companieslikeFoxconnforthe
commodityOEMmarket.(6)
18 Of or relatingto or beingan
integerthatcannotbe factored into
otherintegers.(5)
21 A tinyor scarcelydetectable
amount.(4)THISWEEK'SCROSSWORD
LASTWEEK'SCROSSWORD
DISCLAIMER
The views expressed by
contributors are not necessarily
thoseof the publishers. Every
care is taken to ensure that the
contents of the magazineare
accurate but the publishers
cannotaccept responsibilityfor
errors. While reasonable care is
taken whenaccepting
advertisements,the publishers
cannotaccept any responsibility
for any resultingunsatisfactory
transactions.Thanksto the way
the Christmasschedule works,
this issue doesn’tcome out until
early January,even though
we’re puttingit togetherin mid-
December. It also meanswe’re
producingit in the sameweek
as the previous issue, which
meanswe’ve alreadytold you
everythingof note that we’ve
donelately. Thatmakes writing
this bit a lot more difficultthan
normal,so we’ll tell you a story
a chapnamedRussell once told
us, whichis perfect for times
just like this:Mrs Migginscame
out of her house,lookingfor her
cat, and called, “Here kitty,kitty.
Here kitty,kitty,kitty,kitty,kitty,
kitty,kitty,kitty,kitty,kitty,kitty,
kitty,kitty,kitty,kitty,kitty,
kitty...Actually, on second
thoughts,that wasn’ta good
story at all. Instead, here’s a
story we madeup rightnow.
Once upona time,there was a
manwho came backfrom the
future. He had a mission to save
a woman,whosefuture son
would becomethe leaderof the
humanrace in a fightagainst
the machines...No, that’s the
plot ofThe Terminator. Okay,
forget the storiesand have a
great 2016!Across: 7 HomeSecretary, 8 Derive, 9 Sprite, 10
ActiveX, 12 Cache, 14 Geode, 16 Pro Rata, 19 Skivvy, 20
Mishap, 22 Quadrilateral.
Down:1Pole, 2 Gemini, 3 Referee, 4 Brush, 5 Sterna, 6
Crotchet, 11 Checksum, 13 Grammar, 15 Divide, 17
Raster, 18 Cynic, 21 AJAX.