Posts by Suburban Inmate

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*

Talk about a ticket to ride... London rail passengers hear pr0n grunts over PA system

According to google

That then went on to become train in Middle English meaning "delay".

Brit Parliament online orifice overwhelmed by Brexit bashers

Re: The only conspiracy

Why not just cut out the middle (mostly) men and inject ethanol straight into a vein? The resulting cardiac arrest will at least get the job done quicker than the blackouts, starvation, civil war, and lack of medicines.

Users fail to squeak through basic computer skills test. Well, it was the '90s

Re: Not sure...

I can't speak for mice, but one of my gerbils decided to take a leap into the fish tank once and it was fine.

Until the cat got it.

As if connected toys weren't creepy enough, kids' data could be used against them in future

Re: Reminds me of China

That'll be why that sodding battery charger isn't here yet...

Reminds me of China

China's "Social Credit Score" system is similar, but it seems we're letting it be built piecemeal by companies and the state.

Dating app for Trump loners commits YUGE blunder: It leaks more than the West Wing

Their code is as good as their English

Shite like "ZOG's Nightmare" is what passes for a game in their hateful little echo chamber.

Uh, don't go looking for that on YouTube if you're at work. It's a white supremacist FPS.

Spies still super upset they can't get at your encrypted comms data

Banning proper crypto isn't the point

The point of this legislation isn't to wipe out strong crypto to thwart all those naughty 'terrorists'. The point is to make fishing expeditions routine and automated ("How did you know I'd be at this protest?"), and to make those using proper encryption stand out more.

After all, if you're making an effort about privacy, you must have something to hide from the regime our kind and beneficent government, right?

Facebook finally fully embraces GDPR – Generally Derailing Pages Recklessly

Might is right.

Ballsups happen to even the biggest firms, granted, but nobody should be surprised by the nature of their response; it's not like wastebook has to bother being accountable or responsible now that it's a global behemoth.

Who didn't see this situation coming years ago?

Any social media accounts to declare? US wants travelers to tell

Why are they even asking?

Surely they already know who the subversives are, having snaffled their crimethink straight off the fibre?

Surveillance law slip-up in sight for staff stalking citizens on socials

Re: Saying that .....

The odd benefit fiddler is nothing compared to the harm of having almost any government employed/contracted numpty permitted to go trawling people's online business on the flimsiest of excuses.

Remember when the regime had to call privacy invasions "anti terrorism" to foist more snooping on us?

Simply follow sensible advice.

Never use your real name on the net!

Of course, none of El Reg's esteemed readership would ever dream of doing anything nefarious, but it pays to be cautious.

Its a good thing that there is clarity being applied here.

Activists launch legal challenge against NHS patient data-sharing deal

Re: Illegal use of NHS is negligible.

With respect, I think you may have misinterpreted my comment. It was about keeping data internal to the UK health system, centres of excellence included, rather than leaking it to other regime departments.

Illegal use of NHS is negligible.

Frankly, if someone needs emergency care then just bloody treat them and be done with it, like we already do.

For non-emergency stuff, why not simply furnish hospitals with a list of people eligible to go on their books, to be checked internally? No surveillance potential, of course, nor can anything even be gleaned from such a list as it covers everyone, everywhere. Also good for citizens and visitors on their own insurance. Exceptions can be handled as and when, as appropriate.

With info being sent to the regime* how long before they're catching Murderers? Fraudsters? Non-violent x/y/z-phobic gobshites? Ganja growers? People with unauthorised opinions? This is a one-way street no matter how slow we're going on any given day.

If this was really about money they'd simply enforce existing tax law and close loopholes. But turkeys, Christmas, etc.

* /reɪˈʒiːm/ noun

1. a government, especially an authoritarian one.

Christmas is coming, the goose is getting fat, look out for must-have toys that are 'easily hacked' ♪

Re: How far?

I live in a basic old terraced house in SE London, the type where the kitchen with a bedroom above sticks out the back, leaving a sort of dingy alcove.

With my LG G3 on my desk, by the rear window that looks out to the alcove next to the kitchen, I can still get music on my old 8 quid bluetooth headset on the front porch. About 15m and 2 or 3 brick walls.

I imagine a decent antenna and circuitry could at least double that to the middle of the road.

Video games used to be an escape. Now not even they are safe from ads

Same with 4oD

1. Turn off ad blocker.

2. Mute the tab for the ads at the start.

3. Un-mute and re-enable ad blocker when the program proper has started.

Not that they have anything to advertise at me anyway. I'm skint, and I most certainly have no need for, err, 'lady products'.

For Facebook, ignorance is the business model: Social net is shocked – SHOCKED – that people behave badly

Essential addons if you must swim that open sewer

FB Purity, and some form of ad blocking like uBlock. Sorted.

I just have it set to "friends feed" to keep in touch with people, rarely ever look at "Pages feed".

Raising minimum wage will raise something else: An army of robots taking away folks' jobs

That's not UBI

UBI isn't a wage, it's a baseline income for all, just covering the basics. Unlike a means tested benefit there's (virtually) no administrative overhead, since that balance is naturally 'built in', and it doesn't discourage people from seeking work for fear of losing benefits.

Finland is reporting positive things from a trial.

Oh and don't forget to take UK employment figures with a pinch of salt.

Tax the firm not the tech.

If we could make sure $BIG_CORP paid the tax it owed, at a reasonable rate that doesn't permit it to steamroller smaller competition, that would be a good start. Add to that enforcement of environmental responsibility, a living minimum wage (i.e. no need to be topped up by tax credits, etc), and keeping their grubby fingers out of politics.

The elephant in the room is that even with all the advances in productivity, tech, knowledge, and all the rest... We're backpedalling in living standards and politics. Food banks and homelessness on the rise, house prices an utter piss take. This situation is getting worse and is neither natural nor accidental.

Where's our 4-day week, Universal Basic Income, and personal jet packs with friggin' laser beams? Call me paranoid if you want, but I get the feeling the world's uber-wealthy just might not be running the economy for the good of all mankind.

It took DEF CON hackers minutes to pwn these US voting machines

Go wrong?

I thought traceless fiddle-ability was the whole point of electronic voting?

How the Facebook money funnel is shaping British elections

It's not that Democracy is a bad system

It's more that it has been overpowered by 'free market' extremists and to hell with the little people and basic common sense. We've been reduced to little more than cattle in service of The Sacred Engine.

Little surprise then that a leader who (for all his faults) wants to improve our lot has suffered an unceasing barrage of establishment screeching and shit-flinging.

Android apps punched out by Judy malware

From time to time I get a stupid redirect to some ad shite (e.g. £500 voucher for Sainsbury Supermarket [sic] survey), usually when I stray from my usual few sites on Chrome. Would that be this or is it just the ads in the pages?

Zuckerberg: Escape from the real world into my goofy make-believe science-fiction fantasy

Re: Direct brain interface

FB *is* the backdoor... Maybe better described as a front door in this scenario?

Which, if your opinions on the tory regime are anything like mine, will soon be the only front or back door you have left in one piece.

Re: Zuckenberg the high priest of the new Technocracy

As soon as I read about facetard AR yesterday I couldn't help but think "Oh splendid, moar stoopid ads, which this time I can't block!"

I do use facespook, but with the equivalent of a NCB Hazmat suit, comprised of Privacy Badger, uBlock, and FB Purity. (superb extension that allows many many tweaks and modifications)

Get fscked, Zuck.

Blighty's £1.2bn space industry could lend itself to tourism – report

I'll pass.

I'm not sure I want to risk taking a zero G parabolic flight, much less low earth orbit, in a rocket replacement bus service.

Ex-IBMer sues Google for $10bn – after his web ad for 'divine honey cancer cure' was pulled

He might have been on to something (but clearly wasn't)

Cannabis has been shown to have an effect against some types of tumour cells, and there's a few anecdotal reports. There's also a load of things besides cancer it's good for.

It would cost a fat wedge more than $47 though.

User jams up PC. Literally. No, we don't know which flavour

A Motorola phone, after a repair place failed.

Needed a new charging port, which I was unable to fit, not having a fine enough soldering iron.

Another fault? I thought it odd there seemed to be writing inside the microSD slot. Yup, the repair kiosk numpty had somehow managed to replace the back with the mSD still in the slot. Which was now pretty much buggered. I managed to rescue about 2.5 jpegs from it.

Re: Charlie Brooker

Here's a little gem I hunted down one bored afternoon. It caused Concerned Mothers™ to get in quite a flap.

Dr Helmut Werstler's Cruelty Zoo