Posts by Suburban Inmate

Agents made my retro tech safe to use again and showed their real value as testers of ideas

The scientific pursuit of knowledge is good, noble, etc.

But without wisdom to match we're toddlers with guns.

"The saddest aspect of life right now is that science gathers knowledge faster than society gathers wisdom" - Isaac Asimov

NEC tests parking tech that only starts charging once you exit your car

Re: If meta had invented wheel chairs

And the board would have to sell all their shares.

Re: If meta had invented wheel chairs

I think most people's problem is the surreptitious nature of the NonceGoggles™

In the form of a broach or pendant or whatever that's clearly a camera based device, like the devices many security staff wear, I doubt many would care once they knew what it was used for. That said, even the possibility of LFR would be a concern with anything linked to Palantir and friends. IMHO they should definitely be available via prescription only, because *sigh* #NotAllMen they present a high risk of inappropriate usage.

Re: Solving a problem no one has

The lack of surveillance is the problem. What's the point of a panopticon with blind spots?

The great thing about omnipresent networked surveillance is that most people acquiesce, meaning those that do not will inevitably self-identify themselves to the AI Brolitburo and whatever regime they live under. It's time we stopped calling it "Closed Circuit" isn't it.

If the operators make a few shillings on the side from flogging the data, that can only sweeten the deal for them.

Top EU court clips YouTube's intermediary defense over reviewed content

They will never take action.

Criminal gangs are part of the [anti]social media industry SOP. Can you out-spend this?

There will be no end of "think of the children" legislation though, naturally.

Re: Now smack them hard for all the scam ads

Don't forget all the AI-slop "struggling creators", such as a pretty girl with dreadlocks and tattoos that mysteriously reinvent themselves between shots, hawking similar chunks of cheap chinesium.

Signal says UK plan to scan devices for nude images 'endangers us all'

Re: Zombie Starmer's Victorian internet: An Internet without Things.

The problem isn't just Sir Starmer of Establishment, it's the whole malignant system that installs him and any other PM. If a politician that the media can't just ignore is not on the "approved list" then, well, you don't need me to point out how they're treated. Contrast that with Count Farage of Dogwhistle and his safe seat on BBCQT.

A "Knight of the Realm" leading the party that was formed to protect ordinary people from that "realm"? No wonder we're screwed.

GOV.UK goes Dutch on payments as it dumps Stripe

Re: Chargebacks & Section 75

I'm aware of debit card chargebacks, but AFAIK they're not as legally solid as S.75, plus interest free credit means more money stays with me, earning a few bob interest.

Chargebacks & Section 75

I'll be sticking with my interest free credit cards for that lovely financial stab vest known as Section 75 of the Consumer Credit Act 1974, thank you very much.

UK gov pays public £550 to discuss Digital ID – then bans journalists from the room

Re: Pathetic

Actually, it's been a core policy of the overall goals of the ruling parasite class since forever. Regardless of the administration team of whatever colour that they happen to have installed in Westminster or the White House. The Neoliberal Economics phase was ushered in under Thatcher and Reagan, in the knowledge it would take decades to prepar the ground for the descent into fascism that we are now witnessing. The planning was many decades earlier, at Bretton Woods. Nixon played a key part by uncoupling the US$ from gold.

Dissent, contrary narratives, Overton Window violations, knowledge of regime misdeeds, and the planning of protest, direct action, public information campaigns, and other forms of unauthorised democracy can now be be identified and neutralised at source, before ever breaking into public consciousness.

Re: You won't be asked.

"They want people who know zip. They will then scare them into wanting everything" Exactamundo! Thankyou, saved me some typing.

Naturally, the common people don't want war; neither in Russia nor in England nor in America nor, for that matter, in Germany...

Magnificent irony as Meta staff unhappy about running surveillance software on work PCs

Re: Capture the Keystrokes on that [Paper]

Or even in the pen?

Nvidia slaps forehead: I know what quantum is missing – it's AI!

Re: A Bullshit sigularity[sic] ... versus AIs on Steroids

As an El Reg old timer and these days only occasional commenter, I'm glad to see amanfromMars still frequents these parts.

Re: Huh?

Same way I, a mere meatbag, have caught mistakes made by AI? Differing systems have different strengths and weaknesses, so the AI just has to be strong at spotting where AI's output 'looks like' it made a mistake, a rough sanity check is all that's needed - a quick sniff triggering a closer look if it seems 'off".

Meta's AI, built on ill-gotten content, can probably build a digital you

It's not the fidelity of some "digital clone" that is concerning.

The troubling aspect is that this depth and breadth of analytical capabilities naturally lends itself towards pre-crime prosecutions. The current stage of collapse of the USA is an example of how regimes can and will go after those who dare to dissent.

With something like this, it becomes trivial to simply query the characteristics of individuals from parsing their language, tone, shares, etc.

Signalgate storm intensifies as journalist releases full secret Houthi airstrike chat

Re: They're already

Jews. Zionists.

Learn the difference.

The Great Pacific Garbage Patch could be gone in ten years – for chump change

Re: "Curbing their spread feels like a good idea"

I don't run, but have been known to ride my bicycle.

I find that 55% Hemp / 45% Cotton blend tee shirts are great for staying cool, and don't cling like a shower curtain when drenched, unlike cotton and synthetics. THTC is my go-to brand - organic, ethical, carbon neutral, etc.

Google to kill off URL shortener once and for all

Re: Good riddance

Just like Meta is doing with FailBook?

Ah, no, silly me, external links rarely even show up on the ad-stuffed transfer page, or "newsfeed" as they call it.

Want to keep Windows 10 secure? This is how much Microsoft will charge you

PCI rules demand...

Good job UK National Lottery terminals don't handle payments then. Thousands still use Macromedia Flash.

Re: Per installation cost

Private individual speaking: I know I'll probably have to take a look at W11 for my next build, and I've not even bothered to check compatibility on this ancient FX8350 potato, but if Windows 11 isn't free then I simply have no incentive yet.

By free I mean free like W10 was when I last installed it: install shady W8.1, free W10 upgrade, done. Not elegant, but not a penny to Redmond. I'm one of those really really irritating "consumers" with a long memory.

Now, can someone far cleverer than I tell me WTF the OS alone needs so much RAM for these days? I do tend to trim a bit of fat by disabling background spyware and never-used bloatware and junk, but still...

Fujitsu set to be preferred bidder in UK digital ID scheme

Re: More control freak bollocks

I think what many of the replies here have overlooked is the massive potential to mind-bogglingly overcharge us the taxpayers for a new system, and then the accompanying mind-boggling overcharging for training, maintenance, and the remedial overhauls every now and then when word gets around that it's a broken sack of buggy bollocks.

We're not Meta support: State AGs tell Zuck to fix rampant account takeover problem

FailBook and the other big ASNs are powerful enough not to need to give a toss. They don't care about users and accounts the same way powerful regimes don't have to care about human rights or international law.

Both WasteBook and the Xitter are plagued with rampant spammers and scammers so obvious that I could probably bash out some code in qBasic to flag at least half of it, even after 20 years away from coding. Their systems are perfectly capable of recognising the crud; they have no trouble "de-boosting" user content that displeases The Party™. Likewise they could flag accounts that have been taken over. For instance when a ton of content gets deleted, completely new person in the profile pic, change in writing style, and pictures that are obviously screencaps from grumble vids or show up on Google reverse image search and/or TinEye.

Palantir boss says outfit's software the only reason the 'goose step' has not returned to Europe

Terror? It's a CIA-linked outfit.

Presumably he means terror attacks by their competitors, rather than their own.

Anti-"terror" laws, as widely predicted, have come to be used against unauthorised democracy, including legitimate journalism.

Now our most private data can be trawled and analysed to neutralise or manipulate dissent at source.

Virgin Media comes top of the flops for customer complaints

My VM experience FWIW YMMV

I've been with the "not BT" provider in its various guises since long before the UK had broadband. Generally happy, though when I lived at one place the broadband kept cutting out, but a phone call would get me a small refund.

The key thing to remember is to phone Virgin Media and order a cancellation when the price is about to skyrocket after the introductory offer. They'll offer some sort of discount but don't take the bait, go ahead and cancel. They'll call you back with a proper offer within days!

I pay £22/month for 250Mbit down & 25Mbit up, which serves me fine, plus a land line I'll never use. It would have been an eye-watering £64/month!

Enterprising techie took the bumpy road to replacing vintage hardware

Re: Peripherals

Nothing a length of scaffold couldn't fix, shirly?

Bank boss hated IT, loved the beach, was clueless about ports and politeness

Re: Every single time

Is that why my wired connection to the router, via the onboard Ethernet, is now Network 369?

Apple Private Wi-Fi hasn't worked for the past three years

Re: Nobody apparently cared?

"somebody down the line probably knew, but didn't think it was worth mentioning it to somebody more senior getting the sack or losing out on promotion."

IMHO this whole thing stinks of shady workplace culture.

LG to offer subscriptions for appliances and televisions

LG? The LG that totalled the LG phone I owned?

I remember having an LG G3 phone a few years back. If memory serves, the final software update basically totalled the thing, rendering it all but unusable. My work has moments where a quick and responsive phone is £$$£ntial.

I now have a Motorola G9 Power, and carry my old G7 Power as a backup. The latest updates were barely 2 years after release, which is woeful. The G9's camera app is now badly crippled.

I'll be sorting out decent community AOSP if/when I have a chance.

I'll likely never buy a brand new phone again.

Samsung’s midrange A54 is lovely, but users won't feel seen

Re: Duh, comparing apples to oranges

Better or looser FR?

I don't know the state of play with current FR, but I once logged in to a mate's laptop with a picture of him on my phone.

Workers don't want these humanoid robots telling them to be happy

Re: Not a good idea for people who have a very high tolerance before they snap

That's why the first thing I do with a new phone is enable developer options and "Show taps".

You get the internet you deserve

Re: You, Robot

I think China is pretty much beta testing that sort of utopia.

If you think that's a bad thing, you are wrong and a disruptive influence.

If you are wrong, you will be corrected by any means necessary.

(Or maybe disappeared to slavery in Rwanda. We're still working out the details.)

FTC celebrates after Nvidia-Arm deal collapses

Re: I thoroughly welcome this not happening.

Alcatel, anyone?

I thoroughly welcome this not happening.

I welcome this. Not from any position of business expertise, or any personal interests, but because a certain level of plurality at the top is essential in my opinion.

Monopolies, duopolies, and cosy little (big) cartels don't serve us great unwashed or our businesses. Competition leads to more innovation and differentiation. If the few biggest players are just Borg-ing up others... Where's the fun in that?

Or am I just an idealistic old-ish curmudgeon?

Meta trains data2vec neural network to grok speech, images, text so it can 'understand the world'

Re: I'm so glad

Pretty much already is. Not this specific AI (probably) but wastebook does already read and classify text in images.

We've been shown time and again that strong encryption puts crims behind bars, so why do politicos hate it?

Obvious solution

Instead of trusting an encryption/-ed app alone, add another layer by using an air-gapped offline PGP box either end. Bit of a faff, but worth it compared to a decade in the clink, no?

Things could be streamlined fairly simply too, such as using something akin to acoustic coupling to transfer messages, or a USB stick for heavy loads.

How do you save an ailing sales pitch? Just burn down the client's office with their own whiteboard

Re: RE: IEC 13 cable OR it's a kettle cable

Indeed. I once used PC leads to the ballasts for 1000w horticultural lights, and they did get rather warm and floppy...

Apple aptly calls its wireless over-the-ear headphones the AirPods Max – as in, maximum damage to your wallet

Re: Case looks like a bra

I can't see Apple turning into a good value audio equipment company, even if they are good quality. Up until they expire however they've been designed to.

Re: Case looks like a bra

Good point, some treat their finances like that, but personally I'd have a budget in mind and get the best performance I could for the money.

I wouldn't mind paying a few hundred for good headphones if I had that budget. I would mind looking like an iPrat at any price though, if I'm honest.

Re: Case looks like a bra

Maybe because you'd have to be a bit of a tit to shell out for these when there's better value offerings from proper audio equipment companies?

Not content with distorting actual reality, Facebook now wants to build a digital layer for the world

No Such Assurances

"Faces and car licence plates will be blurred"

Will that be before or after the No Such Agency (and friends) have been given a copy?

Butterfingers who don't bother with phone cases, rejoice: New Gorilla Glass 'Victus' tipped to survive 6ft drops

A butterfingered oaf writes...

Telling us it can survive a 6 foot drop doesn't really tell us anything without knowing the testing method.

I can tell you that my modest Motorola Moto G7 Power that I use for work has survived such drops to hard surfaces, aided by its bezel, discreet-ish factory fitted clear silicone (or whatever) case, and a £1.50 toughened glass screen protector.

Dude, where's my laser?

Re: Not unbelievable

Indeed, as I recall from a making-of docu they had a chap with a cutting torch underneath the table, with no idea exactly where said manly bits were actually positioned.

Doom Eternal: Reboot sequel is cluttered but we're only here for the rippin' and the tearin'

Re: Sorry, not interested

I'm pretty much the same, but I'm at the final stage (I think) of the final boss (I think) and yes it's a bloody handful (skullful?) to keep track of all the resource management stuff when some arsehole Summoner is flooding the place until you find the git, but just whack it on easy and it's OK. Not easy, but OK.

Five years in the clink for super-crook who scammed Google, Facebook out of $120m with fake tech invoices

Am I the only one with mixed feelings about him?

Feelings set 0: Naughty, fraud is bad, breaking laws is bad, some of that money probably ended up funding genuinely nasty people and activities. (unless he really operated alone and wasn't involved in nastiness)

Feelings set 1: You magnificent bastard!

Poor, poor mobile networks. UK's comms watchdog plans to stop 'em selling locked-down handsets

Re: And the OS too

Agreed! While it's not for the masses, there's always the likes of Lineage OS etc. for us techie types.

Until it went buggerup Monday evening with the usual screen crapouts, I was running an LG G3 as my daily driver and for work.

The 'latest' stock from LG was a completely knackered heap of unusable turds. Lineage gave it life and usefulness again, but jeebus it was a ball ache just to get the bootloader unlocked.

Prisoners' 'innovative' anti-IMSI catcher defence was ... er, tinfoil

Re: Screw downvotes

"someone in the audience has continued a very loud, very long converation for 30+ minutes"

And nobody awarded them a ticking off/facking slap?

Contacts-slurping Android malware sneaked onto Google Play store – twice

This happened to me!

I tried out an app, briefly, with newly minted credentials (email, etc) on my personal 'droid. It wanted permission for contacts, but I specifically told it in the app I did not want it to use them to search for other users.

Who did it suggest as fellow users? Why, only a bunch of folk lifted from my phone numbers, and others linked to them!

It was called "Face Book" I think.

Alexa Conversations: Amazon's AI assistant is about to get a whole lot more like Clippy

People who bought Amazon Alexa also bought...

Crapola Inc. Talkie Toaster

Government Promises of Surveillance Reform

London Landmarks Multipack

Planes, fails and automobiles: Overseas callout saved by gentle thrust of server CD tray

Re: "you cannot take a spanner onboard"

Meanwhile... *gestures at Stanstead*