Posts by DJ

EU puts 'addictive' design of Facebook, Instagram under the DSA microscope

Close...

Fix the root issue. Ban social media.

FTFY

Mine's the one with no social medias in its pocketses.

All the passwords were stored in Active Directory description fields

Wait, what??

There's something wrong with this??

Vi clone written in BASIC proves old habits :wq hard

Ah, memories

I couldn't afford my own TRS-80 at the time I was learning BASIC; I used the one (and only one) at work and saved my assignments on high-tech audio cassette tapes.

At lunches, I would occasionally get to try my hand at DEC's version (can't recall the name) on a PDP-11 and then a VAX.

Wish I would have saved one of those tapes. Not sure what I'd do with it now, come to think of it...

Mine's the one without any GOTOs in the pocketses.

Yet another experiment proves it's too damn simple to poison large language models

What happens to knowledge...

...when the source is wrong?

For example, most of us 'know' the area of a circle is pi multiplied by the square of the radius of the circle.

What if you didn't yet know that and you asked (insert malevolent monopoly of choice here) and it returned 'the area of circle is simply the value of pi (3.14159) multiplied by the diameter of the circle'?

You might be inclined to accept this impressive sounding response as correct and go along your merry way.

Congratulations. You now 'know' how to calculate the area of a circle.

Except you don't.

You've been convincingly lied to. Your 'knowledge' is incorrect.

This might become manifest in a short while and in an innocuous situation, but what if it isn't?

An oversimplified example, to be sure, but you get the point.

One begins to think Bill Joy is an optimist.

Mine's the one with the calculator in the pocket.

Cursor-Opus agent snuffs out startup’s production database

Phew! That was close...

Now, please lead me to my self-driving car.

Mine's the one with physical car keys in the pocket.

SpaceX back to Falcon 9 launches as Musk blathers about Moon city

I suspect the real purpose

of him going to the moon is to construct an 'X' that can be seen from Earth.

Once you stop laughing, it sounds rather horrifying.

I wish I were jesting...

Taiwan tells Uncle Sam its chip ecosystem ain't going anywhere

No invasion required...

...when there's a jolly large moat about your patch.

A slowly tightening quarantine will do quite nicely.

Along with the embedded PLA folks already present on the little place.

This 'battle' is already over.

Mine's the one with one-way ticket off the island in the pocket.

Twins who hacked State Dept hired to work for gov again, now charged with deleting databases

One word

Backups.

'nuf said.

Mine's the one with a tested backup in the pocket.

Taiwan gets chippy about US request it shifts manufacturing

Do you feel lucky?

China has stated they will take (back) Taiwan.

Suppose they do move on Taiwan, what can the US do?

Respond politically

or

respond economically

or

respond militarily.

Does anyone seriously think any of these will dissuade China from at least attempting its stated goal?

'Attempting' because China has no modern experience with a naval invasion of anything and even the most-rehearsed plans seldom work as intended.

80 miles may not sound like a lot, but that's still a lot of water to cross.

On the other hand, consider the obstacles the US would face in defending an island off the coast of China and suddenly 80 miles doesn't sound so far.

Does anyone really think the citizenry of the US will tolerate American servicepersons dying to defend a tiny island off the coast of China?

Rather looks like checkmate.

That is, unless you have a gung-ho nutcase in charge of your military who is just itching to demonstrate his worthiness (ethos!) to an unabashed ignoramus of a leader. Then you have the makings of one empire crashing and burning in spectacular fashion on the world stage while assuring the ascent of another.

Reminds me of the scenario in American football when one team has the game in hand, but there's too much time remaining on the clock for the other team to simply concede the match, so both teams play on despite everyone knowing the outcome.

Mine's the one with the knocked-over king in the pocket...

Trump backpedals as Hyundai factory ICE raid enrages South Korea

Re: Work visas, really? Where are they?

'Talented' as in highly-skilled in a very, very specific field

or

'Talented' as in willing to work 80-hour work weeks and not complain?

Mine's the one without a time card in the pocket.

Senator demands to know status of 'duplicate' Social Security database 'immediately'

Re: At least he is doing something.

No.

Unless you accept the following.

Given the following, choose one:

A) Drink a cup of urine (someone else's urine)

B) Consume a turd on a stick

C) Neither

Choosing C disqualifies you from citing the obvious (to me, anyway) deficiencies of A and B.

(Apologies to readers with comestibles on their desks.)

Mine's the one without a napkin in the pocket.

How does China keep stealing our stuff, wonders DoD group responsible for keeping foreign agents out

One does truly hope

that Mr. Redding has another job offer pending as he won't be in this one much longer.

Mine's the one the Emperor is not wearing.

Former and current Microsofties react to the latest round of layoffs

Re: Micro shafted

Sadly, this is true for more companies than just That One.

Ask me how I know...

PSA: Companies exist not to provide us with employment, careers, holidays, or mortgage payments.

They exist to make money for their owners.

Period.

Forget that at your peril.

Ex-Meta exec: Copyright consent obligation = end of AI biz

I can't tell

"...would destroy the AI industry overnight."

Is this a bad thing or a good thing?

I'm leaning towards the latter.

Mine's the one without so much AI in its pocketses.

Trump fires NSA boss, deputy

Thank you, Comrade

With most sincerely,

Xi

US Dept of Housing screens sabotaged to show deepfake of Trump sucking Elon's toes

Are you sure about that?

Silly me!

Here I thought companies exist to make profits; governments exist to look after their citizens.

Why users still couldn't care less about Windows 11

Elaborate?

"The Telemetry is skewed. They only get stats from basic users. Advanced users turn it off...."

Really?

How?

The curious story of Uncle Sam's HR dept, a hastily set up email server, and fears of another cyber disaster

I, for one,

welcome the US of A to the third world - home of would-be dictators, stooges, and inhabitants of the island of misfit human beings.

(see also: scores in own goal)

See you (maybe) in four years, lads!

Is it really the plan to take over Greenland and the Panama Canal? It's been a weird week

Re: Money talks

Yes, it's a lengthy list, but you left out the ever-lovable Mr. Buffet, among others.

(If you're not a farmer in the American mid-west, check out "The Fine Print" by David Cay Johnston)

Apple offers to settle 'snooping Siri' lawsuit for an utterly incredible $95M

Can someone with a legal background please explain why these companies are allowed to make no admission of guilt (they are paying the fines because they are fine specimens of humanity at its best - we all know that)?

I get the courts, well the attorneys anyway, want to get the case settled, but it seems to me the public's interest is coming in last.

PS: Wanna make a packet in the computer industry?

Go to law school.

Blue Origin inches closer to the first New Glenn flight

Re: Donald has got his second term and can't run again

I fear you may be right.

I desperately hope you are wrong.

Man accused of hilariously bad opsec as alleged cybercrime spree detailed

If only some of our elected criminals officials were so clumsy.

Mine's the one without any thumb drives (or indictments) in the pockets. ---------->

Europe glances Russia's way after Baltic Sea data cables severed

Re: Why would they bother?

Have an upvote for the Vercotti brothers reference.

Funny how the cables Russia uses never seem to be involved in "accidents"...

Mine's the one without the cable snippers in the pocketses. ---->

Toyota and Joby complete Japan's first air taxi flight test

Solution in search of a problem?

This will be really nice.

Until there are more than a few of these buzzing around.

And bumping into things like power lines, buildings, drones, and each other.

Then again, the costs of buying, insuring, and maintaining them, not to mention liability coverage, will likely limit their numbers.

Mine's the one with the matching hard hat.

Admins using Windows Server Update Services up in arms as Microsoft deprecates feature

Come into my parlor said the spider to the fly...

All your businesses are belong to us!

Look! About chest high! Is it a pallet? Is it a drone? No, it's a Palletrone

One word comes to mind

Pull!

Astronomers back call for review of bonkers rule that means satellite swarms fly without environment checks

It used to be...

... at least some of the satellites put up were for the benefit of humanity; weather prediction and all that.

Who decided it was a good idea to allow zillionaires to do so as a means to make profits, manifestly without considering the downsides to everyone else?

Mine's the one with a bit of disgust in the pocket.

Microsoft resurrects Windows Recall for upcoming preview

That's that then

I'll be off to Linuxland if this non-sense stands.

Enough is enough.

Are we to share the blame for allowing this to happen?

Mine's the one without so much Windows in the pocketses.

Before we put half a million broadband satellites in orbit, anyone want to consider environmental effects?

It would be shame if

the ISS accidentally took a bunch of (insert evil person/empire here, plural if you please)'s satellites with it.

"Gee, we didn't expect THAT to happen. Please accept our apologies."

(Mine's the one that used to have an unobstructed view of the nighttime sky in the pocket.)

Fraud guilty plea flies from Boeing to swerve courtroom over 737 Max crashes

Life sentence?

Can't wait to hear for how long the Boeing corporation will go to prison.

With such a sound legal system, one wonders how long until the whole thing implodes.

Windows: Insecure by design

Re: Three cheers for Linux! I guess..

Cheers, Mate.

Have an upvote for that.

Three cheers for Linux! I guess..

I'm not the first to make this observation, but it's worth repeating;

I don't run Windows because I want to run Windows, I run it because the programs I want to run aren't available for anything else.

So, no, the velvet-lined handcuffs aren't coming off anytime soon. They didn't look or feel like handcuffs when I first put them on...

A bit tired of the parade of Linux users announcing how long they've been it.

Sorry.

Congrats to you for avoiding/escaping the Windows trap and all, but that's not helpful to the lot of us that actually do stuff on these stupid things.

If you'd care to list what you actually run/do on Linux, it would be more interesting, possibly even useful.

Approaching retirement here and I would love to spend my golden years wrestling with another OS, but may well decide to just get on with it and do useful things instead while cursing Micrsoft under my breath.

(Mine's the one without so much MS in the pocket.)

Researchers find Meta's withdrawal of misinformation tool hard to swallow

In a related story

"Well, Mr. um... what was that last name?"

"Fox, sir."

"Yes, of course! Mr. Fox, what are your qualifications for safeguarding our hen house?"

"Oh, I'm very familiar with this type of environment..."

Mine's the one with last trace of sarcasm in the pocket.

UnitedHealth's 'egregious negligence' led to Change Healthcare ransomware infection

A simple solution(?)

Government fine schedule:

First breach: 20% of prior calendar year's revenue (no, not profit).

Second breach: 50% of prior calendar year's revenue.

Third breach: 100% of prior calendar year's revenue.

Mine's the one with the loose change in the pocket.

AI could crash democracy and cause wars, warns Japan's NTT

Re: Facebook

We can only hope.

If it takes AI (whatever that means this week) to rid the world of the pox that is social media, the sooner the better.

...legs it for nearest door..

Underwater cables in Red Sea damaged months after Houthis 'threatened' to do just that

Hello?

The sixth century called and they want Yemen back (click....bzzzz...)

Sorted!

Japanese Yakuza boss charged with nuclear trafficking by the US

Re: Dinsdale

Have an upvote for trip down memory lane.

Just don't use any sarcasm...

The Post Office systems scandal demands a critical response

On the other hand

If this had happened in The States, the managers at Fujitsu and the Post Office would be receiving bonuses.

Seriously.

The week in weird: Check out the strangest CES tech of 2024

Re: Send in the clowns

I'm pretty sure I saw those some time ago, under the Acme brand, and strapped to a rather unfortunate coyote.

(Mine's the one with the Looney Tunes logo.)

Welcome to 2024: Volkswagen really is putting ChatGPT into cars as a gabby copilot

File this under

Just because you can do something, doesn't mean you should.

Been driving VAG vehicles since 1985. After learning this, there won't be another.

Sadly, what one car builder does, another seems keen to do as well.

Does anyone honestly see any of this as improving things?

(other than profit margins)

Sent from my touchpad whilst driving and eating a sticky-bun.

Mine's the one without a VW key in the pocket. --->

Scientists mull Solar Radiation Management – a potential climate-change stop-gap

Who's in charge then?

Who gets to decide the fate of planet with their enlightened understanding of how this should work?

Who gets to decide it's working?

Or not?

I think I'm glad it won't be me.

(Please insert pithy remark about humans and planetary management here, if available.)

CEO of self-driving cab outfit Cruise parks his career

Re: Not going to happen.

Better than which humans, specifically?

The ones paying attention to traffic, weather, and road conditions? Not so much.

The ones checking their 'smart' phones, balancing their checkbooks (I witnessed this firsthand) or doing their makeup? Unquestionably.

Could the real problem be a societal one rather than a technical one?

IBM pauses advertising on X after ads show up next to antisemitic content

Who said that?

"X responded to questions from The Register, again providing a statement from an unnamed executive at the company."

Not much point reading the response after that, is there?

Mine's the one with something meaningful to read in the pocket.

FAA is done with Starship's safety review, now it's over to the birds and turtles

Re: No doubt in my mind

"...requiring in-orbit propellant transfer – itself needing a fuel depot in orbit, filled by a tanker variant of a SpaceX vehicle."

By 2025?

That will happen.

But only in Hollywood.

I believe we've seen this movie before -------> (icon)

Blockchain biz goes nuclear: Standard Power wants to use NuScale reactors for DCs

Re: Whose paying for waste disposal?

Please describe the source and process of the fuel for these reactors, and also include the process for safely disposing of the waste and byproducts - other than office furniture.

I'm keen to learn more. Really.

Nuclear-powered datacenters: What could go wrong?

One thing commonly overlooked

is the process of producing the fuel for the reactors.

Fairly nasty business.

No one wants to see the sausages get made, but someone still has to make them.

Perhaps AI will provide the solar breakthrough we desperately need?

/s

Why can't datacenter operators stop thinking about atomic power?

Haven't finished this yet, but

it is a rather sobering read: https://www.amazon.com/Atomic-Accidents-Meltdowns-Disasters-Mountains/dp/1605986801/ref=tmm_pap_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=1695926974&sr=8-1

(sorry, not very good at HTML)

Perhaps the technology is not as dangerous as we are?

India lands Chandrayaan-3 spacecraft on Moon, is the first to lunar south pole

Tell me again

what it is we're celebrating?

India: first country to put a machine at the south pole of the moon.

India: country with more smart phones that flushable toilets.

Have you been to India in the last five years? More than a few blocks from your hotel?

Mine's the one with the extra dose of reality in the pocket. ----->

California DMV hits brakes on Cruise's SF driverless fleet after series of fender benders

Does make one wonder

Just how rigorous their testing programme is - oh, wait - this IS the testing programme.

We now return you to your regularly scheduled corporate profits vs humanity battle now in progress.

Tesla hackers turn to voltage glitching to unlock paywalled features

Re: I need heated seats like…

Old bumper sticker I once saw on an ancient MG:

Why do the English drink warm beer?

Because they have Lucas refrigerators.

Got a good chuckle from that one.

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