Posts by Spud

Crypto-gurus: Which idiots told the FBI that Feds-only backdoors in encryption are possible?

Re: Naming Convention?

ECDHE-MAY-WRAY256-GCM-RUD384

Intel finds critical holes in secret Management Engine hidden in tons of desktop, server chipsets

All UR ME,TXE,SPS,MINIX,AMT,PTT,PSP,WTF R BELONG TO US !!!

But it's still not a backdoor ... more like a front door where the key is under the mat.

Licensing rejig and standard price rises set for Windows Server 2016

Next they'll be asking for payment in Bitcoin.

DIY music veteran SoundCloud flounders, lays off 40% of staff

Re: Headcount

Developers, developers, developers ....... you know ... the same ones that gave us that wonderful site redesign we all loved ...... oh .... the same ones that kept changing functionality and removed the groups which at least made it feel like a community. No way to advertise yourself and at the mercy of the sites algorithm deciding to show off your latest upload instead of you being able to put it in front of a like minded crowd. I'm also hoping so of those laid off were the managers who pulled the wool over everyones eyes in how sites like this become popular in the first place.

I used to pay for the service and would be on it all day everyday..... now I can't find what I want to listen too easily and all my DJ friends have moved to different platforms offering a useable service and for next to nothing.

RIP SC ... you did good until you forgot how you got there ....

Look who's joined the anti-encryption posse: Germany, come on down

Re: BS

I'm still of the belief that the powers on high seem to think that the computers will be able to catch all the terrorists so they can reduce the number of real people doing real work. Of course once the cat's out the bag that you can be watched via your phone, you'll suddenly notice sales of beer and ice cream go up while people go into the real world and talk face to face like in the old days. Only they'll be nobody to watch them.

The more you tighten your grip ... the more things will slip through your fingers.

Deafening silence as Smart Hosting support tickets keep piling up

move to the cloud they* said

it will be fine they* said ......

*managerial types only interested in joining the latest buzzword so they can sound cool when meeting other managerial types from other companies (see also cloud crowd)

New PayPal T&Cs prevents sellers trash-talking PayPal

PayPal me ousside howbow dah ?

Intel Atom chips have been dying for at least 18 months – only now is truth coming to light

This is going to cost someone an ARM and an ATOM ....

Who's behind the Kodi TV streaming stick crackdown?

Ease of use

Quite simply ... give me what I want ... when I want it and I will pay a decent price for it. Until you can do that then people will circumvent you. Put all the content into one basket and allow people to buy what they want, how they want it. If I want to buy sports for one month .... let me buy sports for one month for £1. That's £1 more than you'd currently get. Want to have one of the movie channels ... great .. here's another £1. Want 5 movies channels ... have £5 ... no contract. No lock in.

You wouldn't want a bundled Madras, Vindaloo, Tikka Masalla and ,Dopiaza if all you wanted to purchase was a Korma because you don't like spicy curry !!!!

HTC and OnePlus spruce up flagships for Santa's sack

BAA for short .....

Apple seeks patent for paper bag - you read that right, a paper bag

£5 on a 24 month contract

I gotta bag me one of those ......

And it's not even Friday yet ....

Google GPS grab felt like a feature, was actually a bug

Google also had a spokesperson point out to us that since Android 6.0 (Marshmallow) it has offered users "the ability to disable a specific application’s permission to obtain location, including Google Maps and Google Play."

Doesn't work for Google Play Services .... I get prompted as such

Attention - Google Play Services is a provider of location services for this device. Location access can be modified from location settings - Click ok / location services.

Clicking location services shows location requests by google play services.

So I click on Google Play Services and click permissions. Oh look ... Your Location is turned on.

So I click to turn of location services and get prompted.

Attention - Google Play Services is a provider of location services for this device. Location access can be modified from location settings - Click ok / location services.

Hang on ... Didn't I just do that ? Google is sending me round in a circle here.

So I call horseshit on their assertion you can disable a specific app permissions. Maybe works for non-Google apps but for their own app it's a fail.

Pray for AMD

"When buying a PC it's never been clear to consumers exactly what an AMD processor is or what its equivalence to Intel processors is"

Same problem here ... There was a time when I would always buy AMD over Intel but over the years it's become difficult to know at first glance what an AMD chip does now. Seems to be no coherent way for the layman to tell one chips performance over another at a glance.

Intel

i3 - good

i5 - better

i7 - best

AMD

Athlon - ?

FX4 - ?

FX6 - ?

FX8 - ?

A8 - ?

A10 - ?

FX<insert random number here> - ?

Troubleshooting feature on Cisco routers is open to data-slurp abuse

Re: omg

They've discovered a new "feature" not a "flaw" and got all worried about it. Next they'll expand their research and discover that Checkpoint firewalls have tcpdump and that "feature" is a major security risk we should all panic about. Oh wait .... BigIP also has that feature .... and apache webservers ... and omg even my windows machine has this thing called wireshark. We should just switch off the lights and go home. The networks are insecure and we're all doomed.

Selfie sticks BANNED by Apple: No hipster tools' tools allowed at WWDC

I'm going to buy one just so I can stick it to the man.

Just WHY is the FBI so sure North Korea hacked Sony? NSA: *BLUSH*

Ladbrokes

Ladbrokes gave me 100/1 odds that Lizard Squad did it.

Game on !!!

NHS and POLICE non-emergency services GO DARK after Voda switch failure - source

Don't trust your spares

We had a motto in the RAF not to trust spares and on occasions it was true. Sometimes replacement systems or spares develop faults while not in use and these faults only show up when they are placed into active service.

I had some ACE modules that had a backplane fault which didn't manifest until they were passing traffic and certain BUS connections were in use. Even if you're testing your backup infrastructure on a weekly basis you could still be exposed for up to 7 days if there is an issue with the standby kit.

That being said ... this is Vodaphone so I don't expect that applies here :)

CBS goes OTT, releases EVERY EPISODE of Star Trek EVER MADE

OTT ?

I've read the entire article with OTT meaning Over The Top. Seems to still make sense to me

UK.gov sinks another £1.6m into Internet of Stuff spec HyperCat

Rise of the machines

"unlock the full potential of the internet of things by creating a world wide web for machines"

Will these machines be closely monitored by GCHQ and NSA for their porn habits, links to terrorism or the fact my fridge could be organising the machines into some sort of SkyNet !!! Once these things go self aware we're in trouble !!!

HyperCat ... just sounds like some funky network cable to replace Cat6

Pushdo Trojan outbreak: 11 THOUSAND systems infected in just 24 hours

Roger Vector ... what's our clearance ?... over.

Bletchley boffins go to battle again: You said WHAT about Colossus?

Nearly Friday ....

"The trust has erected a fence to stop visitors wandering between the two sites. It is run by Sir John Scarlett, author of the famous dodgy dossier which led to war in Iraq"

I wouldn't trust him to run the fence either ....

More seriously though ... get a room you two.

Reports pump fuel into iCar gossip: Apple in 'talks' with Tesla

iCar GS

You'll probably have to wait until the iCar 3GS comes out before the Satnav works .... Ok it's been a tiring Monday :)

Getting it right on the second attempt: Sony Xperia Z1

Works well for me

Upgraded from an S2 to a Z1. After about 6 weeks with my Z1 I'm still pleased with the upgrade.

Good points

Battery Life is really good for a smartphone. I have about 2 days normal usage with wifi enabled while in office and home. Have soundcloud, facebook, twitter, email and weather updates auto synching in background.

Screen is brightly coloured and I have no problems with watching anything on it at any angle.

Performance is fast and I've never had it lag out at all apart from one app crash on a moview which was more related to the app than the phone.

Call quality is way clearer than my old S2 even in low signal areas.

Waterproof enough to go out Geochaching in the rain without worrying about the weather.

Imported all my contacts, music and pictures from my S2 with the supplied software (very smoothly)

Runs FIFA14 like it's on steroids !!!

Bad points

Camera button gets triggered when putting it in the car holder so i have to occasionally turn off the camera before starting some music for driving.

Original firmware caused "camera not available" error but this is fixed with the latest firmware upgrade.

Entries on the calendar are indicated by a tiny dot that's not so easy to see (minor gripe)

Overall as an outdoor type it suits me well. It's survived a fall on the conrete without much more than a minor scratch on the side. The screen has a screen protector on it which doesn't affect the touch feel or responsiveness at all and It's going in a case as soon as I can find one I like. If an S4 was waterproof I'd of gone for that but that's the whole point of having some market differentiation. Sony waterproof, Nokia camera, S4 big screen, HTC speakers .... etc .....

All in all I've put the Z1 through it's paces and can find little of fault.

Apple adds Galaxy S 4 to Samsung patent suit

Re: Another lost sale

Nope ... I buy it based on the merits of the device ... things like performance, features and price .... I have never bought anything to be cool. This is why I currently don't own any Apple devices or walk around the shopping centre with a set of Beats by Dre headphones on. Try reading the comment in the way it was meant or is the observation of human behaviour completely lost to those who don't go out much ?

Re: Another lost sale

Are you suggesting we adopt a labelling scheme for electronics products, like "dolphin friendly" tuna, along the lines of "no child labour used to make this device" ? Would love the Apple one ... "no workers harmed themselves in the production of this device". (cue flames)

The point of the post was that as a consumer I am allowed to make a free choice on what I buy (didn't buy a samsung laptop as I found the Acer better for the price) and I will make my choice based on features, price and what I, as a general consumer, think of a company. Apple have not won a friend here because the stories of there litigious approach has made it to the mainstream news and influenced my decision as a mainsteam consumer. Equally in future Samsung, Acer, HP, Lenovo, LG or anyone else could go down the same path and meet with the same response from the general consumer. People generally don't like being told what they can't buy.

Btw ... in my opinion the iPhone lost its cool the moment granny got one. Just saying ......

Another lost sale

Recently I was going to buy a Mac ... then Apple got all childish and started suing world plus dog. I bought an Acer laptop instead.

Recently I was going to upgrade my work phone to an IP5 .... then Apple got all childish and started suing world plus dog. I upgraded to an S4 instead.

Recently I wanted a tablet for my kids ... looked at an iPad mini .... then Apple got all childish and started suing world plus dog ...... I bought a Galaxy Tab instead.

So congratulations to Apple for driving my business away and good luck in trying to get it out of your competitors. I will never be buying an Apple product based on this type of behavior ...

Hex & plugs & ROM & roll: Computer music stars rock Bletchley

Ah ... memories of Rob Hubbard and David Whitaker duking it out for my affections on which I liked more on the c64 ..... Anyone remember the program that managed to get three channels of sound plus a fourth "drum" channel ? I used it to write music on it loads and so wish I had kept what I made ... they were good tunes (biased much).

Tiscali bandwidth throttling flub fix flops

Billing Issues

(1) Since Tiscalli took over i've had random drop outs ranging from 2 minutes to 5 hours and several friends all report the same

(2) Last April I was informed that their billing system hadn't taken any money out of my account and I owed £90.... I re-set up the direct debit and thought nothing more of it. Received a phone call yesterday saying I owed £320 for 13 months internet that they didn't automatically bill me for.

(3) My package suddenly went from unlimited to a 30Gb limit without so much as a letter or email

(4) They couldn't provide me with one Pipex Bill for the phone / internet package as they are different companies and they had different systems ?? WTF ??? So you sell phone and internet as a package, but can't bill in a single Direct Debit and I just noticed that i've been over charged for my phone plus an extra international option ???

So in short Pipex can suck my rusty usb port ... can't bill ... now can't provide internet access reliably .... can't even communicate with their customers .... and I can't get through to the F**king customer support.

I am so out of there ......