Posts by Ian Johnston

Calendars have gone backwards since the Bronze Age. It's time to evolve

It used to be possible - until five or so years ago - to sync Outlook and Google calendars without any problems. I think it was an "other calendars" option in the Google one.

Pulling down a partition or knocking through a door does not necessarily make for a properly connected workspace

Re: Condemned

Until they moved out, about fifteen years ago, my parents' house still had functioning 15A two-pin sockets, wired up (with gutta-percha insulation) when the house was built in the 30s.

Hibernating instrument on Hubble roused as engineers ponder message problem

Can SpaceX send up a couple of people to fix it? Sounds well within their technical capabilities and they'd get lots of nice publicity.

Waterfox: A Firefox fork that could teach Mozilla a lesson

Re: Agree

Open Source projects need to LISTEN TO THEIR USERS ...

You'd think so, but it is alas a hallmark of Open Source that developers don't listen to their users, or see any reason why they should. After all, if users don't like something they can just modify the source, can't they?

One example from many. The Anki flashcard system is quite nice, but one of the most frequently requested features is the ability to reset a card deck and run through it again. Perhaps for reinforcement, perhaps after a spell away - "why" doesn't matter; it's something users want. The developer(s), however, simply say that nobody should want to do that. Screw 'em.

Great. Lots of versions of Firefox. That will allow it to compete with Chrome, Edge and Safari just as effectively as having dozens of Linux distros have led to triumph over Windows and MacOS on the desktop.

I've more or less dropped Firefox since their crappy major update in the summer. Vivaldi on Linux seems very nice, though it has some quirks: it occasionally hammers the disk with constant reads to and writes from its "Top Sites" files (a Chromium bug, apparently) and doesn't hide the fact that it's Adblocking as well as UBlock does. Other than that it's much faster than Firefox, much more stable than Firefox and, unlike Firefox, works with my bank and work websites.

Trojan Source attack: Code that says one thing to humans tells your compiler something very different, warn academics

Re: This reminds me of the prank...

My understanding of Japanese 'kanji' is that they are logographs "borrowed" from Chinese script (the name meaning literally 'Han character'), but have different meanings

Yup. They generally retain their Chinese meaning but can have five or even more additional Japanese meanings based on the sounds being vaguely similar.

Re: why they added Vietnamese to the set

I've done some work for a Japanese school, and the founder - a professor of education - says that not dropping kanji was a terrible mistake, because using them makes Japanese orthography ridiculously complicated.

Remember that Japanese doesn't just use kanji with the Chinese meaning; it also uses them for completely different Japanese words which just happen to sound a bit similar. Hence, for example, the symbol for "tree" also means "Thursday" in Japan, but not in China. It's a complete mess.

Did you know there is an Oculus for Business? Make that 'was' – because Facebook has canned it after two years

Research suggests the global market for VR hardware and software could be $57.55 billion by 2027 – up from $3.1 billion in 2019.

I googled it. They did this "research" - using the word in a way which would make even a psychologist blush - by asking VR companies if they thought their products were any good. Amazingly, they all said "yes". This is basically the same group of people who said that Juicero and Theranos were good bets.

Product release cycles are killing the environment, techies tell British Computer Society

And this, alas, explains why dear little Wednesday Thunberg's belief that her generation will save the planet is so misplaced. Her generation is in reality by far the worst, because her generation (though not, of course, every member of it) is addicted to fast throwaway fashion, fast throwaway tech, fast throwaway everything. Just look at the drone shots of the 20,000 tents abandoned at Reading Festival to see how environmentally conscious the young are en masse.

In due course they grow up and get mortgages, families and all the other things which soak up money and reduce the amount dumped by proxy in landfill, but by then of course there will be a new generation of kids demanding (a) a 50% reduction in global carbon emissions (b) the latest iPhone and (c) a long haul gap year.

Re: Complete waste of time.

Iirc this has happened to cars in Europe where it's technically illegal (or at least will be if the rule ever gets implemented) not to use original branded spares when you do repairs because it's clearly not safe to use an unbranded part from the same factory.

I wonder how that would affect a pal of mine (he's a fully qualified motor mechanic) who keeps his wife's Porsche Cayenne going with VW Touareg parts. Same factory, same parts, different logo, half the price.

Re: Complete waste of time.

Equally arbitrary power attaches to "safeguarding", "GDPR" and "that will invalidate your insurance"

Re: "annual product release cycles"

I had to recycle a perfectly good 20 year old HP laser printer because W10 will absolutely not, under any circumstances, support PCL4.

Japanese bloke collared after using AI software to uncensor smut and flogging it

Re: Smart bombs

This shows the danger of single issue polling. For years it was clear that (a) most Britons would prefer that we left the EU but (b) didn't really care whether we did or not. As a result, EU membership didn't influence election results to any significant extent ... except European Parliament ones, they didn't matter. But when in/out was presented as a standalone choice, the preference became clear and our economy was screwed.

Of course it's arguable that the public desire to leave should have been heeded long before, but since nobody cared much about it it's also arguable that it was fine to leave things as they were.

However, now that the right have the taste for blood, what new single issue might they bring in front of us? Restoration of the death penalty, a complete ban on abortion, an end to equal marriage and a return to workhouses would probably all get majority support.

Orders wrong, resellers receiving wrong items? Must be a programming error and certainly not a rushing techie

Re: Seen that face before...

I only once saw a card system in operation, at the NEL in East Kilbride in about 1980. All I can remember is that we were shown that the stack of cards could be shuffled and then resorted in order automatically.

Apple's Safari browser runs the risk of becoming the new Internet Explorer – holding the web back for everyone

So, let me get this right. When IE6 came out everybody complained because it introduced all sorts of non-standard features which had to be supported because it dominated the market, and this meant that other, standards-compliant browsers often wouldn't work.

And now everybody is complaining because Safari sticks to standards and doesn't keep inventing new features like Chrom*?

Analogue tones of a ZX Spectrum Load set to ride again via podcast project

But I did spend an inordinate amount of time loading files from tape and, frankly, it was painful even though I knew I was being paid. Can't see why anyone would repeat the experience voluntarily.

A lot of old men remember the utter shit produced by Sinclair with remarkable fondness. I think it's a form of Stockholm Syndrome crossed with Survivor Bias.

Give us your biometric data to get your lunch in 5 seconds, UK schools tell children

Re: only 3% objected

This is why there is already a ScotGov ID card in general use for all ages which can be used to access a large variety of services (I believe this could even be used for school dinners).

In my council area children pay for their dinners with their "Young Scot" card, which can do lots of other things. As a grown up I have a "National Entitlement Card" which doesn't actually do anything since I let my swimming pool subscription lapse, but which will in due course become my bus pass.

Neither, however, is an ID card.

EasyJet flight loadsheet snafu caused by software 'code errors' says UK safety agency

Re: Weight of passengers

The weight of 300 passengers doesn't make much difference but the position of the weight of 300 passengers certainly does. 24 tonnes acting in front of or behind where the control surfaces expect can ruin your whole day.

What do you mean you gave the boss THAT version of the report? Oh, ****ing ****balls

Re: The office concerned even supplied us with suitable material

The system manager's office in the engineering department where I studied had a large advertising poster prominently displayed over the window through which one of DEC's finest products could be seen.

"Nothing Sucks like a Vax"

Ubuntu 21.10 brings GNOME 40 debut and a focus on devs

Why do people hate Snap so much? Sure, it slows things down, doesn't update, eats disk space and increases vulnerability unless the developers release a new version every time a dependency fixes a security problem, but apart from all that ... aqueducts?

AlmaLinux Foundation chair says he stepped down to highlight value of community status

Goody. Because if there is anything the Linux world really, really, really needs, it's more distros. Another dozen and 2022 will be the year of Linux on the desktop. OK, maybe 2023. Perhaps 2024. As soon as fusion power is available.

LAN traffic can be wirelessly sniffed from cables with $30 setup, says researcher

Meh. They did this in Ocean's Eleven.

Guntrader breach perp: I don't think it's a crime to dump 111k people's details online in Google Earth format

Re: denying their actions amounted to a criminal offence

Maybe because it's for the judge to decide points of law, not the CPS?

Schools email marketing company told us to go away when we told them of exposed database creds, say infoseccers

Perhaps, but it appears that the "GFY" was in response to a second contact, after the company had been made aware of the problem. They refused any further engagement and the hackers publicised the leak. I really can't help wondering if they would have done so with their mouths stuffed with cash.

There is no doubt that the company in question was sloppy and perhaps criminally sloppy, but the hacking gang sounds pretty iffy too.

So why were this lot pestering their target after making the discovery? What did they hope to get out of it?

Am I right in thinking that the business model for freelance penetration testing is "attempt to steal data from companies and when you manage to do so threaten to publicise the weakness unless you get some money"? Because I am pretty sure there is a word for that.

I don't see how their response to the hacking company was arrogant. The problem had been pointed out and they had dealt with it. Were the hackers coughing meaningfully and holding a hand out, perhaps? Apart from soliciting money, what further role could they have?

Brit MPs blast Baroness Dido Harding's performance as head of NHS Test and Trace

Wouldn't it be equally appropriate to blame the 2,300 consultants and contractors who were unable to deliver a usefully functioning system?

US nuclear submarine bumps into unidentified underwater object in South China Sea

Re: Hitting a container?

it might have been (more speculation!) a container floating just below the surface

Those things are common boogey-men in the yachting world, but physically impossible. Containers are more compressible than water, so as soon as they submerge they are unstable and will head downwards, increasing their effective density more than the surrounding water as they go.

The same goes for airships, by the way, which is why they all need to use aerodynamic lift to climb. The Hindenburg was a large wing, not a balloon.

Re: Hitting a container?

Submarines don't go particularly deep. For example, a Trident sub can probably go down to 1000' or so ... but that's only twice it's length, so drawn to scale it's not very much.

Nothing says 'We believe in you' like NASA switching two 'nauts off Boeing's Starliner onto SpaceX's Crew Dragon

Is it not time for them to rebrand the Starliner as the Starliner Max? No extra training required, natch.

IBM US staff must be fully vaccinated by December – or go back to bed without pay

Re: Hmmm

During wartime conchies had a choice of being medics on the front lines, or exile in Canada.

There were many options for conscientious objectors. "Exile in Canada" was not one of them. Are you perhaps thinking of Americans who went to Canada to avoid the Vietnam war draft?

How not to train your Dragon: What happens when you teach an AI game sex-abuse stories then blame players

I am shocked, shocked to learn that the world of basement dwelling gamers who would rather interact with "AI" than actual human beings contains a significant subset with antisocial sexual desires.

Pretend starship captain to take trip in real space capsule

Re: "It also depends on when you first saw it too"

There's a very good discussion of how Keaton made films in the "Every Frame a Painting" series: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UWEjxkkB8Xs

It crystallised for me why CGI special effects leave me stone cold unmoved. Keaton did his stuff for real.

What if Chrome broke features of the web and Google forgot to tell anyone? Oh wait, that's exactly what happened

Just a friendly reminder, Firefox is an excellent web browser.

That's what I thought until they did that big update over the summer, after which it won't show statements from either of my banks or payslips from work and crashes at least every other day.

And what made them think it would be a good idea to have an unturnoffable automatic upgrade process which loses data from every single tab open when it insists on "restarting" (actually just closing down) the browser.

Is it a bridge? Is it a ferry? No, it's the Newport Transporter

Maybe some sort of series-parallel system like the ones trams had.

If I had to spend any significant amount of time in Middlesbrough, I'd throw myself off a bridge too.

Re: Wind Strength

Force 6 is technically a strong breeze.

'Quantum computer algorithms are linear algebra, probabilities. This is not something that we do a good job of teaching our kids'

Let's say, for the sake of argument, that quantum computers will exist in some useful fashion in the not too distant future.

They certainly will exist. And they certainly won't exist. We just have to look into the box to find out which it is.

Re: How fast does a force propagate?

Ivor? Ivor Catt? is that you?

Revealed: How to steal money from victims' contactless Apple Pay wallets

Re: Colour me old fashioned

A lot of ticket inspectors use false names, presumably with the agreement of their companies. I have encountered "Simon de Montfort", for example.

The trick is to ask them for the "headcode" of the train, the digit-letter-digit-digit code which identifies the service and, therefore, them. If they are not behaving properly they HATE being asked that, not least because it sounds as if you know what you're talking about.

When a Virgin trains train manager refused to give me his name or the headcode - some years ago - I ended up with a fulsome apology and two first class return tickets to anywhere.

Fairphone makes wireless earbuds less foul, by charging batteries carefully

Nice idea ... but ... how fucking much?

Cheeky chappy rides horse around London filling station, singing: 'I don't need petrol 'cos he runs on carrots'

Can you imagine what would have happened if he had done this in a Liverpool? It wouldn't be easy riding a horse away when all four legs had been nicked.

Virgin Galactic cleared to fly again after a spell on Federal Aviation Administration's naughty step

Re: "Neither is currently capable of achieving orbit"

I wonder who will be killed first.

Anonymous: We've leaked disk images stolen from far-right-friendly web host Epik

Re: Hating hate is still hate.

This just in. It's fine to hate some things. Knowing what it's fine to hate is what matters.

Re: Hating hate is still hate.

For instance, some of the leading scientists of the world were not racist/facist (That's how we got Einstein and Von Braun)

Which von Braun was that? Presumably not the enthusiastic and forever unrepentant Nazi who personally requested that slave labour be used to build his rockets.

Tobacco giants don't get to decide who does research on smoking. Why does Facebook get to dictate studies?

Re: Oh Really?

Teens? On Facebook?

Ten years ago just called. They want their youth culture back.

As Google sets burial date for legacy Chrome Extensions, fears for ad-blockers grow

Re: Toy extensions won't mess with their revenue stream.

I'm in the process of switching from Firefox to Chrome/Chromium, since the new version of Firefox they introduced in the summer broke all sorts of things for me. It can't display statements from my bank or payslips from work, for example, and it crashes on me at least once a day.

And who thought it would be a good idea to have a browser update itself in the background and then insist on a restart (actually a shutdown as you have to restart it yourself) with no opportunity to save work in open tabs?

Firefox was great when they cut memory usage and fixed the leaks about five (?) years ago, but it's a trainwreck now.

Metro Bank techies placed at risk of redundancy, severance terms criticised

A spokesperson at Metro Bank – the first new bank on the British high street in 150 years when it opened in 2010 – sent us a statement:]

How about the Co-Operative Bank, founded in 1872 and full clearing bank status in 1975? Or all the building societies which became banks?

Don't touch that dial – the new guy just closed the application that no one is meant to close

Re: Stress test!

As a PG student I discovered, entirely by accident, that the command "shutdown" would, erm, shutdown my research group's microVAX, as they had failed to restrict it to admin types. We reported this an were assured that it had been fixed across the department. A couple of weeks later somebody asked me what I had done and, as I was sitting at a terminal, I thought I'd show them, so once again I entered "shutdown", confidently expecting the command to be rejected.

Unfortunately, it wasn't. Even more unfortunately, I wasn't logged onto the microVAX, but to the 11/780 which supported all the departmental teaching, most of the research and all of the admin. It all went very quiet and I got a written warning.

Now, what's the IP address of the computer history museum VAX ... ?