Posts by Phil Kingston

Outlook email users alerted to suspicious activity from Microsoft-owned IP address

I've been getting unexpected Authenticator prompts this week. But kinda figured it was a delay/fault between my phone, laptop, Phone Link or another device I use. Didn't hit Approve. Wonder if it was this.

Crypto lender Celsius in Chapter 11 deep freeze

18% returns?

Yeah, righto.

Meta asks line managers to identify poorly performing staff for firing

How will they tell actual coasters from those spending all day on Facebook?

Chinese boffins suggest launching nuclear Neptune orbiter in 2030

These are the voyages of the starship My-Handle. His 60-year mission: to stay on comfy known planets. To mull over the same life and frustrations. To boringly expire like no man has expired before!

Micron aims 1.5TB microSD card at video surveillance market

1.5TB on a MicroSD? Take that Johnny Mnemonic

Intel demands $625m in interest from Europe on overturned antitrust fine

Wait, the fine was imposed in 2009 and it's still in the hands of lawyers? How the actual fuck does something take that long to sort out? And people think lawyers are nothing but money-grabbing con artists

Inverse Finance stung for $1.2 million via flash loan attack

Missed the bit where they're going to spaff it all on NFT images of deez nutz

Record players make comeback with Ikea, others pitching tricked-out turntables

Re: Digital transmission?

Brahms 3rd racket?

IBM AI boat to commemorate historic US Mayflower voyage finally lands… in Canada

IBM recognising the importance of something old?

Majority of Axon's AI ethics board resigns over CEO's taser drones

"I know drones in schools can sound nuts."

No shit dude. So does active-shooter drills in primary schools. And bulletproof schoolbags, and metal detectors and 6 foot fences and armed on-site security. But here you are.

And for anyone not yet fully-aligned with their chosen well-regulated militia I think this offers a fascinating commentary on the American craziness https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0rR9IaXH1M0 and is well worth 7 minutes of your time.

Tough news for Apple as EU makes USB-C common charging port for most electronic devices

Re: Apple's next move?

Yep, portless devices. Cheaper to make(?), more Ives-y, and leads to the bottom line increase due to all those chargers, cables and wireless pads (all proprietary, natch) that they'll be "innovating".

Far from bringing Apple into line, this plays right into their hands. Their grubby, innovative, courageous, bold, euro-grabbing hands.

Other than charging and a few niche media professionals, who's used the port for anything other than charging for years now anyway.

Re: Micro USB

I often read about this people. But in, what, 20 years (?) of using and supporting micro-USB devices I've yet to have/see a broken port/cable. I don't doubt these ham-fisted individuals exist, but my god they must be violent.

Amazon not happy with antitrust law targeting Amazon

It is

https://www.amazon.com.au/MunnyGrubbers-Worlds-Smallest-Keychain-Condolences/dp/B08FJDDDYR

Salesforce staff back an end to its relationship with NRA

Re: pledge to double our commitment to making schools secure.

>more guns are the answer.

Got to send a maniac to catch a maniac

Re: "How do we protect our 2nd amendment & our kids at the same time? "

The solution I read most is to turn schools into Guantanamo-style fortresses rather than man-up and face the problem.

I really hope Salesforce and all the other NRA's suppliers tell them to f themselves.

IBM ends funding for employee retirement clubs

They were already on my shit-list of places to never work. Now moved down a couple of notches.

Drone ship carrying yet more drones launches in China

Re: Nobody mentioned weather

She salutes

Apple to replace future iPhone Lightning port with USB-C next year, this guy claims

EU's just gonna make them...

...go portless earlier than planned

Think of the wireless charging pad dollarbucks!

Under pressure, SAP shuts down Russian operations

Presumably Putin can stick those contractual obligations up his deluded ass

Logitech Lift: Vertical mouse for those with small hands

I had some strain issues in my arm and thought I'd give a vertical mouse a go. Grabbed a $25 one off a random eBay Chinese tat trader and pain was gone within 5 minutes. Yeah takes a bit of getting used to, but well worth it. Bought an MX Vertical for the other desk and for a bit more of a quality feel, but truth be told I kinda prefer the cheaper one.

Missus went for an Evoluent one. 200 dollarbucks for a wired mouse in shiny, sweat-magnet plastic and it feels like a $5 one. She does a lot of CAD and graphics shit so I think she likes the extra buttons. Or something.

One thing to watch for if you're thinking of vertical mouse is the extra height. It's all too easy to send them scuttling across the desk at great speed as you move your hand around/over the desk reaching for something.

Bank had no firewall license, intrusion or phishing protection – guess the rest

Re: At Coastal Cutie...

Many many ATMs have no camera. And who knows how long the ones that do retain images for. And easy enough to work around all that "hey kid, you can keep x rupees if you use this card and withdraw 10x rupees from that ATM over there for me". Heck, even if the kid runs off with all of it, not his loss.

Amazon warehouse workers in New York unionize in historic win against web giant

Re: Not an unequivocal union fan - but I applaud this

More recently his company took billions of Australian government public dollars as subsidies to keep their manufacturing plants open and keep people employed.

They cashed the cheques and closed the plants down anyway.

MongoDB to terminate Russian SaaS accounts

Even if not being done because of sanctions, any western company doing any sort of business with Russia is a bad egg atm.

Fitbit recalls Ionic smartwatch for burning fat – literally

Free upgrade time.

Have to say though, I've had 3 Fitbit devices and they've now all had to be warranty-claimed or returned. But at least they are pretty good at the actual process of doing so.

FBI seizes $3.6bn in Bitcoin after New York 'tech couple' arrested over Bitfinex robbery

Being done for laundering, but not the actual theft? Does that mean feds still aren't sure how it was done?

Over Log4j? VMware has another critical flaw for you to patch

Re: Risk

Threats from inside the network to the console are still threats.

Newly discovered millipede earns its name by being the first to walk on one thousand legs

Re: further confusion

And we're pretty precious about our unique critters.

And the eastern states would just freak out and drop their Wanker Coffees if they saw such a thing.

AWS wobbles in US East region causing widespread outages

Re: Remember - CLOUD COMPUTING is NOTHING MORE THAN ..

There's a bit more to it

How a malicious Android app could covertly turn the DSP in your MediaTek-powered phone into an eavesdropping bug

Re: Eavesdropping bug

They don't need to listen, they have enough information on you to target ads like that without hearing you.

Earth's wobbly companion is probably the result of a lunar impact, reckon space boffins

Don't know about you

but i want to visit a town called Happy Jack

Data-breached Guntrader website calls in liquidators, is reborn as Guntrader 2 Ltd

Dude, you don't even have to move

Teen bought Google ad for his scam website and made 48 Bitcoins duping UK online shoppers

Re: What about Google?

Customer has a website, customer buys ads for his website.

What do expect Google to do?

Sovereignty? We've heard of it. UK government gives contract to store MI5, MI6 and GCHQ's data to AWS

"access from anywhere in the world to authorised staff"

WCGW

NASA sets a date to begin lunar tuning

Re: Massive Stack

Yeah, but you don't find laptops stashed in the woods

Google Pixel 6, 6 Pro Android 12 smartphone launch marred by shopping cart crashes

Manufacturers still trotting out this "24 hour battery life" nonsense then?

I challenge anyone in the real world to achieve that on one of these.

Epic trolling: Microsoft allows third-party storefronts into its app store

What a handy arrangement to have if they ever decide to go back into mobile.

One-size-fits-all chargers? What a great idea! Of course Apple would hate it

Re: If they are worried about charger waste

>What happens if Apple decides to have no port at all, and charge wirelessly?

That's a "when" not an "if".

Imagine the money-spinner that wireless charging pads, their cables and their chargers will be. Will dwarf Lightning cable sales. This EU action will just bring Apple's plans for that a little further forward maybe.

Lithuania tells its citizens to throw Xiaomi mobile devices in the bin

Re: Free Tibet!

I'd maybe wait for another source to confirm.

But probably not wherever that Supermicro spying chip stuff came from.

Microsoft does and doesn't require VMs to meet hardware requirements for Windows 11

Linux users are like vegans - just can't wait to tell people.

Australia gave police power to compel sysadmins into assisting account takeovers – so they plan to use it

Re: Annoyed by unexplaimed Acronyms?

TJMIU!

Apple debuts iPhone 13 with 1TB option, two iPad models, Series 7 Watch

Coming later this fall

Autumn, please.

Spot the dog? No, we couldn't either because Spot is a robot employed by United Kingdom Atomic Energy Authority

Annoyed unit was not given a British nickname.

Don't like the new Windows 11 Start or Taskbar? Don't worry – Microsoft's got your back

Re: This lazy programing

So ran beta software, got beta-d then

After quietly switching to slower NAND in an NVMe SSD, Western Digital promises to be a bit louder next time

Surely that's going to attract some regulatory attention in certain territories?

Infosys CEO hauled in to tell minister why India's tax portal is still a glitchy mess

Re: full marks

All will be forgotten when the next tender goes out

Pi calculated to '62.8 trillion digits' with a pair of 32-core AMD Epyc chips, 1TB RAM, 510TB disk space

Still fewer digits than your mum's had

UK's Newport Wafer Fab now under Chinese ownership

Re: A fortune for pennies

From CNBC "One NWF defense contract involves developing chip technology for a radar system that would be used in fighter jets."

Google Groups kills RSS support without notice

|Google is trying to out-do Microsoft in the "offer then yank $Feature" catagory

Dude, Google is so far ahead of Microsoft in that category they're not even in the same league. Never fall in love with *any* offering from Google, it'll be shuttered just as soon as you're really comfortable with it.

Thief hands back at least a third of $600m in crypto-coins stolen from Poly Network

Do it once, do it big, get out.

Apple is about to start scanning iPhone users' devices for banned content, professor warns

"Apple will hold the unencrypted database of photos"

That sound dodgy to anyone else? Are they getting some sort of special protection from law enforcement agencies who would otherwise be all over someone holding those images?