Posts by Mephistro

RIP Freeman Dyson: The super-boffin who applied his mathematical brain to nuclear magic, quantum physics, space travel, and more

One of the most talented scientists in history and also a nice person.

Godspeed, Mr. Dyson.

Hacker swipes customer list from controversial face-recog-for-Feds Clearview. Its reaction? 'A part of life'

So, basically...

... they wiped they arse with those cease and desist letters. I'd wager there are a few lawyers maniacally rubbing their hands in this same moment.

;^)

Yo, Imma let you finish, but for the 6,000 people still using that app on a daily basis ... we have a question: why?

No.

Whoa, France. Take it easy. Wow. You're out of control. Fining Apple 55 minutes of revenue for secretly slowing down iPhones? Maniaques!

Re: Fine? Fine!

And then they was immediately transfered to a human operator!

Tech can endure the most inhospitable environments: Space, underwater, down t'pit... even hairdressers

Re: What's in the box Doc?

LOL++

Re: Ex fruity genius...

When I visited Ireland around 1980, I flipped balls when I discovered that smoking was still allowed in Irish cinemas. Nowadays I wouldn't watch a film in that kind of place for love or money, because, you now, Pyrophobia*.

Note*: Basically, the irrational fear of dying in a fire. ;^)

Re: Carniverous computer

Thanks for that!

Your story reminded me of this one:

I once had to visit a sausage-making factory. They called me because their new computer's keyboard didn't work. After my arrival I noticed several interesting facts:

- The computer was placed in a big room with high roofs.

- That room was used for hanging the sausages ("chorizos") from the roof to dry.

- That the malfunctioning keyboard was placed exactly below one of the hooks used for hanging the sausages.

- And, finally, that as a consequence of this, the keyboard was covered in a 1 centimetre thick. coagulated animal fat of a strong reddish hue and of a strong smell. Not a good smell.

I think this is the only time in my professional life that I actually enjoyed telling the customer that the guaranty was void.

8^)

Re: Surprisingly ...

Well done, Sir, and good hunting!

Hear, hear: The first to invent idiot-cancelling headphones gets my cash

Re: Selective attention

When my (now ex) SO was brooming the floor, I asked he if she was going out for a ride.

She hit my head with the broom.

To be frank, I had stolen the joke from and old Andy Capp comic, and the final result was the same: the machoist oppressor ends up being hit in the head with the broom.

"Those who don't learn from other people's errors must learn from their own."

Come to Five Guys, where the software is as fresh as the burgers... or maybe not

Re: upstart?

Yes, They sound exactly like "Los Pollos Hermanos" from Breaking Bad!

There's got to be Huawei we can defeat Chinese tech giant, thinks US attorney-general. Aha, let's buy stake in Ericsson and Nokia

Yeah...

..., other countries will be glad to purchase USA-backdoored equipment.

Re: If only

I misread that as "Trumps Laws"!

I propose A. Pai as CEO!

8^)

Nowhere to run to, nowhere to hide, muaha... Boffins build laser-eyed intelligent cam that sorta sees around corners

Shoehorning much?

Apple calls BS on FBI, AG: We're totally not dragging our feet in murder probe iPhone decryption. PS: No backdoors

"...if Barr can make the case that Apple is standing in the way of proper investigation of terrorist activities,"

If he and his chums can pull this trick, they will open the floodgates for the rest of countries in the world doing the same thing. It's as if they were Illuminati trying to turn the world into a totally fucked dystopia.

The perfect storm is coming: Total control of the masses through social media + total surveillance. And the USA is up there in the first positions, together with China and similar luminaries of Democracy and Human Rights!

It's a pity Bleating is not a language. Someone could make a mint with said language's courses!

8^(

Yeah, but the FBI has a budget and I guess congressmen aren't too happy with the continual requests from the FBI to raise said budget!

Dixons fined £500,000 by ICO for crap security that exposed 5.6 million customers' payment cards

Re: We aren't capable of securing anything

...And oxygen free?

Google scolded for depriving the poor of privacy as Chinese malware bundled on phones for hard-up Americans

Re: I feel fortunate

Please replace the first "of" in my comment with a "to", Thank you!

[Blushes...]

Re: I feel fortunate

Ahhh... the 9900.

Loved the snakes game.

And there was no way of install a virus unless someone sneezed upon the phone. And you could also use it for 4 days of heavy use without recharging. Other uses included breaking open walnuts and using it as a blackjack,

Re: I feel fortunate (@ David 132)

"However, the proliferation of non-removeable crapware/shovelware on desktop Windows 10..."

I have it in good authority that most of that crap (both links to the installers and pre installed programs) was put there by the PC manufacturers in exchange for some pocket change from cyberstalkers"Internet marketing companies".

This is Hell. Acts that would have sent a person in for a decade or two cause companies to pay small fines that don't even cover the profit the company obtained from installing malware in their own clients devices, FFS!.

Re: Not just cheap phones it seems... (@ Jet Set Willy)

One question. Did you acquire it through an ISP?

Asking because ISPs often install their own not-uninstallable shit in the phones they sell/lease/whatever.

Actually said shit usually looks worse than the malware described in the article!

;^)

Why is a 22GB database containing 56 million US folks' personal details sitting on the open internet using a Chinese IP address? Seriously, why?

Re: late capitalists

"...and we'll test our cosmetics on your CEO."

Please make sure to test those experimental products made of chilli extracts!

Love T-shirts, but can't be bothered to wash them? We've seen just the thing!

Re: Silver, anyone

"Self-spawning a new item of clothing would be particularly impressive."

I see you have visited Pandora recently.

8^)

One solution to wreck privacy-hating websites: Flood them with bogus info using browser tools

"you would be more likely to start getting adverts for detergent and fabric softeners etc."

Shhhhhh, Don't give them ideas!!!"

Blame of thrones: Those viral vids of PC monitors going blank when people stand up? Static electricity from chairs

Have you considered the possibility of adding tinfoil to your wall? Even covering only the walls nearest to the UHF repeater should make a big difference.

Windows 7 and Server 2008 end of support: What will change on 14 January?

"Probably not gaming or other very heavy graphics applications."

For that you could have an alternate boot with W7 and a doctored access to the Internet, i.e. everything but the game servers left out, and a heavily protected browser -e.g. NoScript + uBlock Origin-for those occasions where you need info about the game you're playing.

With this and AV software -and a little bit of paranoid browsing- we should be safe for years!

But eventually, new games specifically designed for Win 10 will slowly push us towards that crappy OS and it's cyberstalking business model.

8^(

Want to live long and prosper? Avoid pirated, malware-laden Star Wars free vid streams – and pay to watch instead

Re: There have only been three Star Wars movies...

These Disney guys make Nazghouls look like honest and charitable gentlemen, indeed.

The first comment in this discussion gives a nice hint

Nuff said.

We’ve had enough of your beach-blocking shenanigans, California tells stubborn Sun co-founder: Kiss our lawsuit

Re: Its in the f**king state constitution for gawds sake..

"Maybe its because I also took that oath too, but unlike Khosla I have only the greatest respect for my fellow citizens,"

I think this has more to do with the fact that you aren't a billionaire, with oath or without it!

8^)

Re: I am rather surprised

It's explained in the article. The former owners had never charged for the use of the road (that would've been illegal due to right of pass) but for parking. That still allowed the public to use the beach for free, by walking instead of driving there. There was also evidence of public use of the pathway from the 19th century.

No horrific butterfly keys on this keyboard, just you and your big, dumb fingers

@ Paul Slater

It's even worse. The keys are placed in rows and columns, unlike an standard keyboard. Even touch typists would need to adapt to this keyboard, and re-adapt again when they wanted to use an standard keyboard.

Potentially a good idea, but it needs lots of polishing yet.

"...we'll cautiously reserve judgement until we don't get our hands on SelfieType."

EA boots Linux gamers out of multiplayer Battlefield V, Penguinistas respond by demanding crippling boycott

"...the makers of Lutris urged gamers – of all stripes, apparently – to avoid all EA multiplayer titles."

Sorry, Lutris guys, but you're too late. I have been doing precisely this for years!

8^)

Don't Xiaomi pics of other people's places! Chinese kitmaker fingers dodgy Boxing Day cache update after Google banishes it from Home

Re: My apologies for stating the obvious:

"My God, it's full of stars dominoes!"

;^)

My apologies for stating the obvious:

The cache wasn't being kept in the owner's smartphone, as they could access other people's pictures.

Therefore an important question is whether said cache was kept and managed in Google servers or in Xiaomi ones.

And a more important question is why-the-eff said cache was accessible without password + encryption.

This was no bug, it was a feature.

Senior health tech pros warn NHS England: Be transparent with mass database trawl or face public backlash

Re: Call me cynical

"Call me cynical realistic"

Fixed!

"The stated objective is to make the UK a world beater in finding cures..."

Fixed!

Disgruntled bug-hunter drops Steam zero-day to get back at Valve for refusing him a bounty

Re: From my understanding...

"if you walk into where your computer is located and there's a guy wearing a hoodie with a bunch of 1's and 0's floating around him..."

He should quit LSD asap, or at least share!!1!

Oh this 2019 timeline. Finish this sentence: Austrian politico accused of spending €3,000 a month on ...

Yep! The guy is a number at so many different levels that it's a miracle he isn't already interned in a mental asylum or serving time in prison.

Re: These are interesting times

Access to old videos, radio broadcasts and newspaper archives is, IMHO, the most useful part of the Internet for reining in politicians. Alas, that's a drop of water in the sea when compared to the effects of social media, fake news, finely targeted propaganda and human stupidity. 8^(

Say GDP-aaaR: UK's Information Commissioner pours £275k fine into London pharmacy's teaspoon

"If, in our opinion, we need certain data, but in the EU’s opinion we don’t..."

Quoting the relevant USA laws regarding mandatory data retention in the terms and conditions and the forms would get rid of the issue.

"the cost would not be peanuts, and it would be on-going, as it would apply _every time we added a new EU-based client."

That's what this newfangled things, automation and IT, are for. In this context, very easy stuff unless you or your "partners" are intent on selling clients data to "third parties". If this is the case, things get exponentially more difficult, which is, IMHO one of the main points of GDPR.

"you have to delete data on demand..."

This can be done through an user facing form and some simple database code, unless -again- the company involved is trying to slurp as much data from customers as they can.

"we are not leaving holes in our databases..."

Why? Do you intend to keep customers data forever? For what reason?

It might well be the case that it makes sense for your business to geoblock the EU and if this the case, please geoblock at your leisure, but I get the impression that many American companies doing this could have been misled in regard to the GDPR and its application.

"So the cost of proving you need the data--who pays for that?"

Most of said cost is very small, i.e. several simple forms (including links to the particular laws that define what data must be kept) and little to no human supervision. If the American (or Whereverian :^) company only keeps the data they need to comply with their legal obligations and only for the mandatory period, everything can be automated in a few hours, and it's a one time charge (unless the laws change).

Things get complicated, though, if they try to keep any other kind of data, or if they expect to sell space in their webpages to the usual suspects (G, FB, etc.)

To make my point clear: I understand that for pop & mom shops with minuscule online sales to the EU, the most cost effective solution could be geoblocking, but for anything above that (i.e. most companies that sell online to the rest of the world) the cost should be peanuts.

"...Which may well make tax compliance difficult."

There is an explicit exemption in GDPR for data needed to fulfil legal obligations, e.g. taxes and such.

Re: No, 'No Deal' plans will not apply if we leave as planned

I think there's a typo in your comment. Knowing BoJo, it should be "Killing Schedule for GDPR".

;^)

Cool 'joke', bro, you could have killed someone: Epilepsy Foundation sics cops on sick flashing-light Twitter trolls

Re: Client Problem

"I'm not expecting for there to be a sinkhole outside my front door..."

You'd probably have a different opinion if someone was covering the street in front of your home with camouflaged sinkholes, just for fun.

The gist of it is that someone is intentionally trying to cause harm to innocents. If you are OK with that, I'd suggest you look for professional help asap.

It's called an analogy, methinks

This "electronic anthrax" is even worse than that. Sending lethal animals over the mail is a targeted attack and might have some kind of justification, at least in the deranged mind of the criminal.

In the case discussed here, it's pure evil for evil's sake . The only reward the criminals doing this get is the satisfaction of harming other people whose identities they don't even know.

I disagree with the OP though in regard to the prison sentence. This scum belongs to a high security mental asylum, at least until it can be guaranteed they won't engage in similar behaviour again. That is, probably never.

Deadly 737 Max jets no longer a Boeing concern – for now: Production suspended after biz runs out of parking space

Re: ... the FAA's statutory mandate to "promote" the aviation industry

Just to make things clear: when I wrote "grandfathering bullshit" I was referring to the way it was used in the context of the 777 MAX, not to grandfathering in general. Obviously, in said context, changing the weight, power and size of one of the most important elements in a plane -the engines- and adding on top of that a piece of software to compensate for the differences should be a huge reason for NOT allowing grandfathering.

Re: ... the FAA's statutory mandate to "promote" the aviation industry

And let's not forget all the certification "grandfathering" bullshit. Complex engineering systems don't work like that, FFS!

"Tragically, the FAA’s analysis—which never saw the light of day beyond the closed doors of the FAA and Boeing—was correct."

It wasn't correct at all, it was extremely optimistic in the light of the two crashes in two years at the very beginning of the commercial life of the 737 MAX, with just a few hundred units sold.