Posts by Rob Crawford

Consultant plays Metaverse MythBuster. Here's why they're wrong

Re: Elephant in the Room

Obviously they will be relegated to the food vats

Oh dear god, somebody got paid for this

When I saw Earth 2 being listed as anything valid I knew I was having smoke blown up my arse.

From what I can see it's the usual NFC con.

Also the metaverse to attend concerts, that is something along of what a hater of live music would come out with.

Minister slams 5G coronavirus conspiracy theories as 'dangerous nonsense' after phone towers torched in UK

Re: The whole story smells of being a False Flag effort

Actually to me it smells of cabbages, the sort who claim to suffer from EMS, anti vaxx and the lack of a mostly spherical earth

Eight-core 3.8 GHz CPU. 12 TFLOPS GPU. 1TB NVME SSD. 16GB RAM. Not a half-decent workstation, it's the new Xbox

SSD worries

Personally I'm more worried about what happens when the internal SSD starts to reach it's very finite number of writes.

With the use of SSD as additional RAM for the GPU, number of suspend states and constant autosave writes I do have concerns no matter how good the write levelling is (and with the size of games the drives will be sitting pretty close to full most of the time)

At least with a PC you can replace an SSD easily, not so with a console.

Looming ventilator shortage amid pandemic sparks rise of open-source DIY medical kit. Good thinking – but safe?

Hackaday project!

Oh right so that will end up with a photo of a ventilator attached to a hairdryer

Or how I built an enclosure for a ventilator

Like a Virgin, hacked for the very first time... UK broadband ISP spills 900,000 punters' records into wrong hands from insecure database

Walked away from virgin a few weeks ago

One of the reasons for leaving was the constant requests from their 'technical support' creatures wanting my mobile number, despite them refusing to do anything unless I was phoning from the house anyway.

Funny enough in the past when I gave them my mobile number I always got calls from them trying to sell me a mobile contract.

I wonder if the cnurrent users of my old numbers are receiving calls from Vm wanting to fix their infected machines (or similar.)

London's top cop dismisses 'highly inaccurate or ill informed' facial-recognition critics, possibly ironically

Re: Were the Met Police so 'highly accurate and well-informed' in the past?

/mutter Doctored photographs circulated afterwards to make him appear more middle eastern

But our facial recognition said he looked Arabic (but only after we had faked some stuff.)

He's coming for your floppy: Linus Torvalds is killing off support for legacy disk drive tech

3 inch disks

The main reason 3 inch discs turned up was because it fitted into a standard Japanese postal envelope.

I remember being told in the 80s that the envelopes that size were free to post.

Want a good Android smartphone without the $1,000+ price tag? Then buy Google's Pixel 3a

Re: Double standards

Your response says it all doesn't it.

Ignore the original dumb (and incorrect) statement plus the bit that corrects it and start talking about data hoovering.

Every time I hear the song Knights in Shining Karma I think of Apple

Re: Double standards

So you get 5Gig of photo storage from apple and after that you have to pay

So Google supply 15Gig of storage for free (use this for original quality) and then also hand you you infinite storage (no charge) provided you only upload high quality ones (essentially sub 16 mega pixels (or 1080p video)

Yeah that's a really awful deal compared with Apple or anybody else.

As for a duff headphone jack, well obviously that condemns all non Apple products.

That really was a silly statement you made, does the phrase fanBoi still exist?

Netflix wants to choose its own adventure where Bandersnatch trademark case magically vanishes

Re: Scott Adams not a precedent??

Actually the Tunnels and Trolls solo adventure Buffalo Castle was released in 1976 and use the tried and tested go to page xx (or section xx)

Considering there was a full industry publishing these style of adventures (Tunnels & Trolls, D&D and Runequest being but three) it's going to be quite hard to account for why they never 'defended their IP'

from the so called copyists (or more interestingly their predecessors)

Wow, what a lovely early Christmas present for Australians: A crypto-busting super-snoop law passes just in time

So what happens if the software providers simply don't bother to add the back door, and say we don't really care about the Australian market anyway.

ZX Spectrum reboot scandal man sits on Steve Bannon design tech shindig committee

Maybe Bannon is after a discount Mussolini sex bot?

Activists rattle tin to take UK's pr0n block to court

Yeah that will work

Anybody remember Operation Ore back in 2002 that resulted in several suicides over accusations of child porn.

Turns out the child porn link was really a link to the US government mandated age checking via a porn hub

which used the ability to make a CC payment age verification.

The FBI 'expert' claimed it was a child porn link and so thousands of people ended up being prosecuted and placed on offenders registers.

"But it can't happen here" say those who shout "Won't somebody think of the children."

ZX Spectrum Vega+ blows a FUSE: It runs open-source emulator

I owned a 128k Enterprise

Apart from the shit case, even shittier keyboard and the damn thing being slower than you could imagine it was great.

Oh except for the edge connectors for the monitor connection that meant most people blew up their Enterprises.

Oh and the overheating problem, I never knew a heatsink that go so hot until pentium processors turned up.

Dust yourself off and try again: Ancient Solaris patch missed the mark

WTF

Oh right I forgot Oracle, I suppose that explains it all really

Fork it! Google fined €4.34bn over Android, has 90 days to behave

I would like to ask a question

To quote "But by making even one FireOS phone, the OEM would have lost the ability to include Google Play Store on its other devices."

Has anybody even seen the Play Store on any Amazon device, as I most certainly haven't, they don't use it as they want all the income for themselves.

So that's a bit of a non argument.

I'm not agreeing with googles business plan but lets at least avoid non existent examples being used.

Unbreakable smart lock devastated to discover screwdrivers exist

Re: Where did you get that $20 padlock?

Just rap the lock (as it's phrased) and the pawls bounce open on masterlocks and similar, hence it is wise to use something which uses ball bearings to secure the hasp

Shimming tends to be irritating and sometimes they even make one that fits together proper properly.

For chinese built locks usually the locking mechanism isn't protected so a 'knife' can be shoved up through the key way and used to unlatch the catches.

The Uervoton is even worse it actually has it's screws accessible on the outside https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7Uje4pxfSlI&t=0s

Many regular mechanical padlocks are not much better (some are actually worse) with your hardware store.

Computer Misuse Act charge against British judge thrown out

Re: The same law for everyone ...

Obviously you haven't kept yourself up to date with how the computer misuse act is applied to the rest of the population.

People end up in a court room for accessing publicly accessible material, I know a couple of people who ended up in a courtroom for notifying hosting companies that there was publicly accessible documents/pages that looked like they should be private.

Few week later the cops arrive at their houses and employers, grab all hardware and media and make their lives hell for a couple of years.

Re: Black and white or various shades of grey?

You may wish to correct this statement to

I think that considering her stated reason was to ensure an unbiased trial, this was a just and fair verdict.

If it was anybody else

If it was anybody else it the lack of training or anything else would have got the "but you accessed something that you shouldn't have" response.

Funny enough the majority of us seem to be required to be capable of speaking on the phone and working through documents at the same time

Keep your hands on the f*cking wheel! New Tesla update like being taught to drive by your dad

What that software with bugs

Well who would have considered such a thing.

I'm wondering how this software gets written considering Github doesn't have a whole lot of autonomous car projects to copy and paste from ;P

Internet luminaries urge EU to kill off automated copyright filter proposal

Re: Try watching UGC for a month.

To be honest I would rather lose Holywood and the endless inane crap that gets made these days (and that's ignoring the sequel to the sequel to the sequel of a poor remake) seems that any decent film that is made is in spite of the entertainment industry rather than because of it

I have seen two recent films in the last two years solely because I was entombed on a Dublin to San Francisco flight and I am still unsure as to whether the films or the flight were the more mind numbing aspect of those 11 hours (I worked through their audio selection on the return flight and even then everything was 30+ years old) the rest of my film watching has consisted of about 5 pre 1970s 'classsics.'

About twice a month I will get around to watching a documentary and that's it, to be honest I would ditch TV altogether if it wasn't for the rest of the family, my news comes from the radio which doesn't suffer so much from the endless churn of 24 hour news stations.

The rest of the time I either do something or work through tutorials on YouTube (and similar) and some live streams, Iv'e even been known to play the odd video game one in a while.

So before dissing the good quality UGC that is out there, have a think about the pap that the entertainment industry tells you that you need to watch

The automated systems don't work

Anybody who follows any number of channels on YouTube will find the following

Automated DCMA claims for stolen material (which isn't stolen)

DCMA complaints from falsely claiming ownership of material

DCMA complaints when "fair use" applies

False claims of regarding ownership of background music tracks

The system doesn't work already so why would you introduce a system which is even worse?

Even if the fingerprinting did work properly, it would still be a minefield and would simply benefit those with the right lawyers.

Loose .zips sink chips: How poisoned archives can hack your computer

Re: Another deja vu?

I remember zip bombs from the very early 90s, it really is annoying that nobody seems to learn.

'Facebook takes data from my phone – but I don't have an account!'

Funny enough on the phones I have I simply disable preinstalled apps that I don't want.

The fact that I also remove all permissions before disabling them (and check my firewall logs for them chatting) does not make me paranoid.

Flight Simulator's DRM fighter nosedives into Chrome's cache

Crucify them

Well that's about all I have to add really

As Google clamps down, 'Droid developer warns 'breaking day' is coming

Rinse and repeat

Ans yet if nothing was done about the click fraud and security API use the same people would also complain

Android ransomware DoubleLocker encrypts data and changes PINs

Re: RE: Kain

Maybe you should plug their toilet in and do the human race a favour

Google rushes to curb Oreo's massive appetite for your 4G mobile data

No problem here (yet)

Haven't hand this issue on the Pixel I have and the issue hasn't raised it's head on the Nexus 5X either.

I did have an issue two consecutive months after security updates on the Nexus were it switched off Wi-Fi (for some reason)

Then again I caught those because I'm a data miser and have an alert set for mobile data usage (you do these things when ones beloved goes for a walks while listening to her favourite by streaming from YouTube)

Networking vendors are good for free lunches, hopeless for networks

Re: "a developer can see the problem of networking clearly ... especially if they know networking."

Available data seems to imply that deveropers know very little about developing (unless cut and paste from examples on the internet counts as development)

sadly I know of way too many 'network engineers' who do the same thing <sigh>

Google's Android 8.0 Oreo has been served

Oh when will Google allow us to revoke permissions to apps.

I can't actually remember how long I have been able to do that, but it turned up in Android 6 (Marshmallow I think it was)

Maybe you need an OS update

Virgin Media mulls ditching 1 in 3 UK facilities, starts £20m spend audit

Re: Hmm

Considering the only times I have managed to speak to anybody who wasn't an idiot it was because I was put through to the Dundee office.

Considering the concept of efficient seems to involve an Indian team that have no ability whatsoever to resolve the issue while trying to sell you a more expensive option.

Virgin media have never provided an efficient service (either from a domestic or commercial user perspective) they have however provided services with poor backend systems and ever less able customer facing staff.

UK.gov: You can't have our drone test results because... er, security

Penetrated by a camera?

I very much doubt it was the DJI glass filled nylon arms, the motor or the flight controller that did the damage.

In all likelihood it was the DSLR (or less likely the battery) that actually did the penetrating.

Therefore it should either be cameras or batteries that should be banned.

I also wonder it was a tractor battery or something that they used

Australia to float 'not backdoors' that behave just like backdoors to Five-Eyes meeting

As realistic as Dropbears and JAckaroos

So is it rude to ask how the Great Australian Firewall succeeded ?

Oh wait whats that it was useless wasn't it

Ex-MI5 boss: People ask, why didn't you follow all these people ... on your radar?

Re: IRA

Had the IRA got 36 counties the next target would have been the Irish government as they were essentially a Marxist organisation that would not have tolerated Irish governments of the time.

As has been shown they would not have given up the power and control of their communities or the lucrative "community worker" status

Actually they had a habit of giving warnings that were crafted to move people closer to other other bombs which they neglected to mention to anybody

UK PM May's response to London terror attack: Time to 'regulate' internet companies

Re: Air!

Funny how Britain always becomes England isn't it

Quick break out the flags

Silicon Graphics' IRIX and Magic Desktop return as Linux desktop

I was on board with the whole thing then I saw Eclipse

Oh well that's something else that isn't going to work

'The last thing I want is a software dev taking control of my craft'

You mean they have sold the airspace

All that free music on YouTube is good for you, Google tells music biz

Well it's not as if the recording companies ever get around to paying the artists who do the actual work.

I've come to the stage were most of the artists I like have ended up running their own companies so I buy from them now.

SPY-tunes scandal: Bloke sues Bose after headphones app squeals on his playlist

"Connect app and while it's certainly very grabby on data – you need to have both GPS and Bluetooth turned on to use it"

While I do not see the need for the GPS I do have some sympathy for wanting the Bluetooth to be enabled what with them requiring the Bluetooth for Yer actual connectivity.

I need an ISP that offers IPv6. Virgin Media: Whatevs, nerd

Re: Considering

I had more difficulty not shouting at him to be honest, though according to other office denizens I was very close to failure.

That was noticed when I started suggesting that my current certifications actually may mean that I know a little about Wi-Fi <sigh>

Still it entertained everybody else.

Considering

their tech support claimed that you can't use the 5GHz channels unless you are using Apple devices as it is specifically for Apples use.

My new network kit arrived about 90 minutes later (10 days early) and surprisingly enough within an hour of arriving home my VM router was in modem mode and Meraki kit has been doing everything else.

So the prospect of IP V6 arriving doesn't really strike me as something that is likely to arrive until somebody actually forces them (and then their 'tech support' staff will deny it's existence unless you are using Apple devices.

How to leak data from an air-gapped PC – using, er, a humble scanner

Oh look a Daily Mail April fool

Drones will be able to carry 120GB footage of you in the shower if Seagate has its way

Re: @Cynic_999 - being seen from the air while naked

Have added the quote

"That said, drone enthusiasts can prevent a lot of irritation and upset if they respect other people's privacy. There is plenty of room to avoid problems, and even where it cannot be avoided a polite knock on the door and a quick, friendly chat goes a very long way to avoid misunderstandings and unpleasantness."

Actually 'drone pilots' shouldn't have to do that, for the simple reason that they should not be flying that close to people and structures. There are regulations that flyers are obliged to adhere to.

Although I do get irritated with the scare stories I have never had any compunction to tell people to stop flying somewhere inappropriate or in the past report them to the cops (flying model plains at the end of a commercial runway) or posting horrendously dangerous content to youtube (when the CAA used to want such material reported)

The majority of flyers are the same as they are responsible people who do not wish to lose their hobby due to the actions of a selfish few

Re: @Cynic_999 - being seen from the air while naked

So what you are pointing at are modified cameras that permit updated lenses.

In the case of DJI you are flying through the same camera as used for photographic purposes and for the most part these days they are DJI specific items

Additionally so that isn't going to go too well as you need a wide FOV to fly the damn thing and there is no method of changing the 'zoom' when in flight.

For most consumer kit the weight of any useful long range lens (even these days) will limit it's usefulness and by the time a suitable gimble (as it would need to be a good one that copes with more than an ultra light action cam) the weight and therefore the machines size goes up again.

I have a lightweight gimble for a small DSLR & associated lens that I am repairing (for a commercial pilot) and I could assure you no DJI available in an electronics store would be lifting it off the ground even without a camera in place.

Re: @Cynic_999 - being seen from the air while naked

Somehow I don't think anybody will be spending a few grand on building a large machine to hoist a camera with a large lens into the air to photograph you in your house.

You do realise that any commonly available machine doesn't have much more than a go-pro on board, even the nice DJI cameras are fairly high quality but still have action cam type optics.

The behemoths that carry the kit for what you are referring to are large, loud and expensive (I know enough licensed commercial operators)

But then again who is worried about reality when you can simply invent deviants to rail against

Re: Please tell me you don't believe in the voyeur/pedophile/pervert and a drone crap.

What are you talking about, are you making up statements I have not made?

What is the problem with me flying my radio control aircraft around an area where the flying of model aircraft is permitted?

What is the problem with proximity flying within abandoned buildings?

There is none, but for some reason you have decided to classify me as a moron, I'm afraid that you really need to educate yourself and on more than the matter of flying radio control models (because that's what they are)