Posts by Always Right Mostly

AWS intruder achieved admin access in under 10 minutes thanks to AI assist, researchers say

Good

Because fuck AI

Sat Nad declares Windows 11 has a billion users – just don't bother asking for details

His nickname is Nad. Fits.

Notepad++ update service hijacked in targeted state-linked attack

China written all over it

The IP addresses in https://github.com/notepad-plus-plus/notepad-plus-plus/issues/16806 are as follows per ICANN

Handle: 1.3.0.0 - 1.3.255.255

Status:

active

Address Range: 1.3.0.0 - 1.3.255.255

IP version: v4

Name: CHINANET-GD

Type: ALLOCATED PORTABLE

Country Code: CN

So, is Notepad++ ACTUALLY a security hell vortex and if so for how long?

My work life and a good bit of peronal using a PC life will have it's suckage factor explode if I had to give it up.

Good adivce but unclear what to do with it

"In the meantime, it would be prudent to check and remove the previously installed Notepad++ root certificate, and manually download and install the latest release."

Ok, and how-to if it applies? I use only the portable version whicj shows it's GlobalSign ceritificate.

Don't click on the LastPass 'create backup' link - it's a scam

Hack the piece of paper I keep on me.

Microsoft admits Outlook might freeze when saving files to OneDrive

Do people who work at Microsoft actually use their own products?

Sorry Dave, I’m afraid I can’t do that! PCs refuse to shut down after Microsoft patch

Let me help you figure it out...

"We will update the topic as we understand the issue better." Let me help: The issue is spending all your time jamming AI into literally everything (Notepad!), focus your diminishing number of developers on quality and reliability - attributes of Windows that have been at an all-time low on Windows 11 since, erm, always. Oh, and fire Nadella. Does that help your understanding the issue?

UK backtracks on digital ID requirement for right to work

All together now...

Kier Starmer is a wanker.

CES 2026 worst in show: AI girlfriends, a fridge that won't open unless you talk to it, and more

I hate everything

That's it, that's all I can say.

AI's grand promise: Less drudgery, more complexity, same (or lower) pay

I so very much pine for the day that AI dies. Alas this is but a dream, but dreams are all we have left in the AI+ MAGA shitverse.

Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella becomes AI influencer, asks us all to move beyond slop

I almost wish my son was growing up in the long-ago where a good union job making stuff only required showing up and doing your thing for 8 hours, then home with a blissfully free mind. 20 years and out by age 40 with a pension that you could actually live on. No team-bulding bullshit, no jargon, just a task. AI and the job ecosystem of tech altogehter are a life sucking black hole. May it implode and die.

Microsoft wants to replace its entire C and C++ codebase, perhaps by 2030

That job "offer" really confirms it for me that were I younger and starting out I'd run as fast as possible away from a career in tech.

Ministers confirm breach at UK Foreign Office but details remain murky

It's almost like they don't know what they're doing.

Faith in the internet is fading among young Brits

It's not just young people. Conversation with my spouse have all but ended as she sits there on social media with her "friends" all-day-long. Kill it with fire.

Waterfox browser goes AI-free, targets the Firefox faithful

Why does everything these days have to be the result of a bunch of assholes sitting in a room asking "How can we make life more intolerable? How can we suck harder?"

MI6 chief: We'll be as fluent in Python as we are in Russian

TBH Russian is easier to read and write than Python.

British Airways fears a future where AI agents pick flights and brands get ghosted

"British Airways' chief executive has warned that the airline industry is fast heading for a future where AI agents, not humans, decide which brands get booked..."

So what's new here is he replace "Travel agents" with "AI Agents".

Death to one-time text codes: Passkeys are the new hotness in MFA

I miss the days of Username = Me1234 Password = secrret!

Vibe coding will deliver a wonderful proliferation of personalized software

I just used vibe coding and it was awsome! Had a "Hello Wordl" app in seconds.

Microsoft 365 boosts prices in 2026 … to pay for more AI and security

I'd pay more to lose O365 and all their AI and cloud bullshit and restore the ability of a small business to actually interact with Microsoft via humans over the phone.

Getting old but, fuck Nadella.

Microsoft's fix for slow File Explorer: load it before you need it

Preloading a pig doesn't stop it being a pig. The solution is to not have a pig in the first place.

Praise Amazon for raising this service from the dead

Even with El Reg's audience, this article seem pointless at best and some kind of "Please give Amazon some love' bullshit.

Microsoft exec finds AI cynicism 'mindblowing'

"30 percent of Microsoft's code was now written by AI."

It shows. This is not a compliment.

UK tribunal says reselling Microsoft licenses is A-OK

Tried to find their offerings on their site - no links to that, or anything. That's a really good way to not get in hot water.

Firefox adds AI Window, users want AI wall to keep it out

Re: Add-On

This would be logical, sensible and useful so don't see how that fits with Firefox's plans for continued relevance. Coming from very dedicated FF user.

Microsoft's lack of quality control is out of control

Re: Well, it compiles!

On Error Resume Next really speeds projects to completion.

You'll never guess what the most common passwords are. Oh, wait, yes you will

"No matter who you ask, the most important factor is length. "

This is debateable. Many women say girth matters more.

AI browsers face a security flaw as inevitable as death and taxes

Re: Hello Firefox 144 - with perplexity AI!

Mozilla is, rightly, desperate to survive. As a very loyal FF user I wish them well. But they couldn't find their own ass without numerous attempts. The AI move isn't shocking as I expect food will include AI to tell you your calorie count on a smart refigerator screen soon enough.

Fuck AI.

Microsoft 365 business customers are running out of places to hide from Copilot

If decades ago Apple hadn't been on the brink of death and Linux had existed my carreer path would not have included Microsoft and none of their products would be a part of my life. What a wonderful world that would have been.

Azure's bad night fuels fresh calls for cloud diversification in Europe

Not being a Luddite but...

Everything worked fine before any of this cloud shit, so why not just tell them to stuff it.

Google says reports of a Gmail breach have been greatly exaggerated

Consider the source

When I first saw this "news" my reaction was "Thtat's a puny number of users" given we're talking Google, so straight away filed it as "meh, next". That the news broke on any of The Daily Mail, The Mirror, Forbes, The Independent, and the New York Post basically confirms its bullshit.

Glad to see it debunked.

Feeling lonely? Microsoft Copilot can now listen to your every word, watch your screen

Copilot can listen but Microsoft doesn't when users scream WE DON'T WANT THIS SH*T.

Windows 11 update breaks localhost, prompting mass uninstall workaround

Yes they can be, over and over again. They are a subsription sales grift where quality and safety are expensive, hard and as such expendible.

Who gets a Mac at work? Here's how companies decide

Ever try to get that in a 3-person company?

McKinsey wonders how to sell AI apps with no measurable benefits

Hey Kid...

"Many SaaS companies believe they need to encourage trials to increase adoption, by offering free initial usage allocations for AI capabilities, for example."

Like drug dealers, then.

AI devs close to scraping bottom of data barrel

Any ideas on how we can make it collapse faster, more totally?

Jaguar Land Rover gets £1.5B government jump-start after cyber breakdown

So British taxpayers are going to subsidize the resumption of production of cars that 99% of people anywhere can't afford and don't give a shit about?

Slight exageration but there are car parks in the US large enough to accomoidate the entire number of vehicles produced by them.

Microsoft cuts off Azure phone surveillance support for Israeli military

'we do not provide technology to facilitate mass surveillance of civilians'

So, you'll roll back all Windows 11 machines to Windows 10 and give us back on-prem Office?

India’s IT minister moves to Zoho’s spreadsheet and word processor, urges 1.4 billion people to do likewise

If it hurts Microsoft, it must be a good thing

The Nadella era Microsoft achieved the seemingly impossible. By way of an ubroken run of the most security holes, emergency updates, and just plain broken stuff it's clear they're either blase or brain dead.

It's all about squeezing more revenue out of everything whilst being oblivious to the distuption that's caused each time the obsolete perfecrly functional features and replace them with something with the words cloud and AI in them.

And subsriptions.

It's a fucking spreadsheet, a bloody document. Leave it alone.

So if this is even remotely safe and functional, good on India.

Google stuffs Chrome full of AI features whether you like it or not

How about that they're backed by a bunch of ulltrta-right Maga crypto nazis?

Re: Goodbye chrome

There is. no such thing.

Google unveils master plan for letting AI shop on your behalf

Re: "hopefully Google will have adequate protections in place."

If they do, that will be a first for Google.

Brussels faces privacy crossroads over encryption backdoors

Re: They work for us?

Some might say it's a feature not a problem but I can remember family dinner time when we all spoke to each other. Now my spouse and offspring are face down on their phones and annoyed if I talk too much, which is to say at all.

Microsoft reminds developers VBScript really is going away

Pointless deprecation

Probably an outlier here but I see zero reason to banish VBScript. Security-wise there ara a ton of ways you can inflict serious harm with PowerShell and other alternatives, in fact in ways VBScript can't even do.

Also it's vastly easier to read through VBScript code than PS and most alternatives, so vetting code gets harder.

Go on, jump in pro or con. Want to hear why I am a fool for this view.

Windows starts asking for admin rights where it shouldn't after security fix

Repairing what's already there is not a threat

"According to Microsoft, its next step will be "allowing IT admins to permit specific apps to perform MSI repair operations without UAC prompts. This improvement will be released in a future Windows update."

20+ years on for our company gotta ask "Why did this not happen, like, always." It's a repair FFS. Users get freaked out for what should be seamless and silent.

Solid-gold nav bars? Trump plans redesign of government websites

Re: Good job!

Is this supposed to be irony or sarcasm?

No more Blocktoberfest? German court throws book at ad blockers

A bunch of technical ignoramouses make decision on tech. Just like male legislators make decisions for issues that only affect women. Or white politicians deciding what non-white people "need".

Ex-White House cyber, counter-terrorism guru: Microsoft considers security an annoyance, not a necessity

If only there were alternatives to Microsoft all the way through the pipeline, from server OS's to desktop OSs, as well as productivity software and database products.

Microsoft walks us through Copilot Search with a domain it doesn't even own

Re: They have a domain set up already which they should be using for this

Ahh, those early steam powered PCs, them was the days.