* Posts by Matt Piechota

301 publicly visible posts • joined 2 Aug 2006

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RUMPY PUMPY: Bone says humans BONED Neanderthals 50,000 years B.C.

Matt Piechota

Re: It's intriguing to speculate

"A worthy question, one which is addressed by Harry Turtledove in A Different Flesh, although Homo erectus, not Homo neanderthalis, were used in the story."

Also in "Anonymous Rex" by Eric Garcia, but in that case dinosaurs have evolved into roughly human shapes.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anonymous_Rex_%28novel%29

And: ugh, I've read more Turtledove books than I'd like to admit. The author has some intriguing ideas but his writing leaves something to be desired.

Is your home or office internet gateway one of '1.2 MILLION' wide open to hijacking?

Matt Piechota

Holding!

I'll be holding my breath for the vendor update to fix this.

UNIX greybeards threaten Debian fork over systemd plan

Matt Piechota

Surprise

I hadn't been paying enough attention to Linux development in the past few years (it's defiantly become my job and not my hobby), but I was surprised when I started hearing about systemd recently that essentially all the tools that I hate and are pushing Linux in the "wrong" direction are coming from one small group.

Matt Piechota

Re: the "fun" part about systemd

"No, really, booting is for sissies. But even then, with an SSD, boot-time is less than 10 seconds, KDE takes more time to load than the boot process. And in the boot process, rEffit and GRUB take up most of the time. So what is the gain of 2-3 seconds boot ?"

I tend to reboot even after non-kernel updates if the system isn't critical. The last thing you want is to have an unplanned reboot in the middle of the day to find out that the patch you installed a couple weeks ago broke something.

China is ALREADY spying on Apple iCloud users, claims watchdog

Matt Piechota

That's amateur hour. They should be creating signed certs using a CA and mandating any system sold in China has to trust their pet authority.

Bad news, fandroids: He who controls the IPC tool, controls the DROID

Matt Piechota

Where is Binder?

So is Binder part of the base OS (it sounds like it) or part of the various Googly packages? The latter is the only hope that it'll get fixed on any of my devices. It'd be nice if Android went more package-based instead of the monolithic "entire OS in an image", but that doesn't seem to fly with the culture around phones. I guess I'll have to step-up my efforts (aka get around to) to put cyanogen or whatever on my 2+ year old phone; I know Verizon isn't going to help me out there.

The iPAD launch BEFORE it happened: SPECULATIVE GUFF ahead of actual event

Matt Piechota

Re: "Tim Cook is not Steve Jobs"

"will that stop steve from suing tim? prior art possibly? the fact that one of them is no longer on this plane probably wouldnt matter either"

THERE ARE MO**** F****** SNAKES ON THIS MO**** F****** PLANE!

City council thinks what we're all thinking: 'Comcast is terrible – and NOT welcome here'

Matt Piechota

Just goes to show that the Brits that came over were wholly unimaginative when it comes to naming stuff. :) At least the French tended to name stuff after what is there.

(More examples: Severn River in MD, several places named Reading, Lancaster, and London, New Castle Delaware, etc.)

Dot-gay told it's NOT gay enough – but web'll be officially .eco-friendly

Matt Piechota

"I don't approve of the pointless extension of gTLDs; never have done and never will. But if new TLDs exist, I absolutely need to see them as a seamless part of the *the* Internet. Otherwise, it isn't the Internet at all."

My first reaction is to agree with you, but as I thought about it for a bit I'm not so sure. While com, net, edu, org, etc. are ok, I'm not sure they have much relevance (well, maybe .gov and .mil do). For the most part, .com, .net, and sometimes .org are meaningless as the name holders don't pay attention to the "rules" (usps.com, microsoft.org, etc.). Just scrap them all and make the address http://foo/ and be done with it.

'Bill Gates swallowing bike on a beach' is ideal password say boffins

Matt Piechota

password hashing

I can't believe we're on the second page and no one has discussed password hashing. Is it terribly insecure or something? Example:

https://www.pwdhash.com/

Remember one (or a small set of passwords), and use the site/machine name to generate a repeatable hash for each place. Every system as a unique password, you only need to remember a few things. I guess the argument is once someone figures out what you're doing, they have a head start on breaking in, but realistically they're going to go after the "Password201410" jokers first.

You dirty RAT! Hong Kong protesters infected by iOS, Android spyware

Matt Piechota

"that's fascinating: how are they faking the certificates? my understanding is that a mitm could replace an ssl cert with their own, but the forged replacement cert won't be considered safe by browsers unless it's signed by one of the certificate authorities."

Perhaps mandate that all phones by default trust a certain CA that they control. Have you vetted the CA list on your phone? I know I haven't. And since I just did, "Japanese Government" is one of the CAs on my Galaxy Nexus. And there's dozens more that I'd be hard-pressed to vet based on contact info. Hell, there may well be "internal" CAs that aren't on that list too.

Xbox hackers snared US ARMY APACHE GUNSHIP ware - Feds

Matt Piechota

Re: @Truth Heroic

Good thing you're not "Reading Comprehension Heroic". The article mentions there's a long list of stuff they did, and nowhere does it link any of the particular software products to particular hardware. The author is just naming off the most recognizable stuff and companies involved.

#HeroicFail

Special iPhone trousers will ease Apple into the fashion world

Matt Piechota

Re: How about a side pocket?

"If any jean designers bother to read El Reg forums, how about a pocket along the upper right or left side of the thigh? (I call prior art)"

Somebody did that in the era of PDAs, if I remember right. It was a very discrete zippered pocket along the seam of the pant leg.

Ah-ha!

http://the-gadgeteer.com/2002/02/21/dockers_mobile_pant_review/

Eww, pleated front.

Anti-Facebook Ello: Here's why we're still in beta. SPAMGASM!

Matt Piechota

Re: FriendFace! FriendFace! FriendFace!

"1. Once people have entrenched themselves in a set up with all their mates, the whole party has to move else no one will.

Or...

2. Wait for the next "generation" to decide against established social network and pick a new one.

Or...

3. You couldn't careless about any of this social networking bollocks and simply want a bloody good laugh at all the muppets and their so called online "friends"!"

I see quite a bit of Facebook-fatigue, but that's more with FB playing games with what comes up on your feed than the ads. The Ads aren't very noticeable if you're competent at using a browser (as in installing adblock) so I don't think most people care. I see a lot of people abandoning it for twitter since it's a lot more low-key.

As for #3, I've been out with my friends way more since FB than before, it's a lot easier to coordinate than via phone or text. Maybe if all your friends go to the same pub every night it's easier to skip it.

Scrapping the Human Rights Act: What about privacy and freedom of expression?

Matt Piechota

Re: I don't get Britain these days

"I reckon if Teresa May came out in the press tomorrow with a new law requiring all muslims to wear a star on their jackets, it would pass with no more than a murmur.....*

*does that count as Godwin..."

Probably, but it should really be a crescent, no?*

* note that the crescent is a really a symbol of the Ottomans more than Islam, per se, but it's not like politicians are going to make that distinction.

Let it go, Steve: Ballmer bans iPads from his LA Clippers b-ball team

Matt Piechota

Re: on the bright side

"I am sure the players won't have to pay for the Surfaces and WPs to replace the Apple products. Microsoft has warehouses full of the albatrosses to give away to VIPs."

For now, but these will become massively coveted when Minecraft only works on Windows RT and XBOX.

Can't touch this! Microsoft joins OpenGL 3D graphics group

Matt Piechota

"It's a joy to know Microsoft's efforts to kill OpenGL from the outside have been a complete failure. Recantation!"

Fixed that for you.

BlackBerry claims ugly duckling Passport mobe is a swan in the offing

Matt Piechota

Re: What a stupid design

"5. Sharp square corners like that are a liability, seriously WTF was the designer thinking!"

Yeah, there couldn't be *any* reason they wouldn't use Rounded Corners (TM Apple).

Running the Gauntlet: Atari's classic ... now and then

Matt Piechota

Re: Home computers

Real computers (like the Amiga) scrolled :)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=71zGo_V0kuE

What the world needs now is... a Bluetooth-enabled baby's dummy

Matt Piechota

Thankless

I don't have much to say about the product, but bravo Kirsten for trying to keep the cynical hordes here well-informed. It's a thankless job. Well, except for this thanks I guess. :)

Like frozen burgers, 'Bigfoot' DNA samples have a touch of horse

Matt Piechota

"Existence is irrelevant in this case, 'Yeti' is a term for supposed Himalayan cryptids, 'Bigfoot' is a term for supposed cryptids from North America, as is 'Yowie' for the Aussie variant, etc."

I'd have thought Austrailia had enough ridiculous creatures roaming around that they wouldn't need to make more up.

Aereo has to pay TV show creators? Yes. This isn't rocket science

Matt Piechota

Re: This makes no sense on multiple levels

"Where is the ethical problem here?"

Most broadcasters (in the US at least) also stream their TV non-real time. Those streams also have ads which they want you to see so their advertisters will pay them. That's the best I got.

WORLD CUP SHOCK: England declared winner in 2-1 defeat to Italy

Matt Piechota

Re: Football or soccer

The name "Soccer" was coined in England and predates calling it "football" (which is just the short term for "Association Football"). We septics are just using the original term, not your newfangled one.

http://www.todayifoundout.com/index.php/2010/06/the-origin-of-the-word-soccer/

Come off it, Moon, Earth. We know you're 60 million years older than we thought

Matt Piechota

Re: Gentlemen NEVER discuss a lady's age

"And AndyE -> it wasn't a slow printer, he didn't check the cartridges before he started and it sat there for 3 days waiting for him to replace the empty "magenta" cartridge."

I would have thought the printer would run out blue first.

Amazon Prime Music opens – but where's the streaming music?

Matt Piechota

Re: So let me get this straight...

"The indies being 'rogered' at split of 25m and 5m, because it really should be 24m and 6m, out of a 30m pool?"

I think if you check your math, 34% of 30m is roughly 10m.

Why are Fujitsu and Toshiba growing lettuce in semiconductor plants?

Matt Piechota

Mmm, Lettuce.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XGvUkHFzIZ8

Über-secure Blackphone crypto-mobe spills its silicon guts

Matt Piechota

"The only phone that will work is one that cannot be sold in the US. By law the US gov (Department of Commerce) mandates what encryption schemes can be exported. Anything not on their list is not allowed to be sold in the US. It is considered as "strong encryption" and illegal. You can bet the anything on the approved encryption list (which includes AES) can be read easily."

Are you sure you have that right? The US does mandate what encryption can be exported (especially to "unfriendly" countries), but I've never heard of any regulation on what can be imported to the US or used within the US.

Apple patent LOCKS drivers out of their OWN PHONES

Matt Piechota

Toyota is preparing to contest the patent, it's been making cars with rounded corners for years. Michelin is relieved that it doesn't make any perfectly square tires.

IBM PCjr STRIPPED BARE: We tear down the machine Big Blue would rather you forgot

Matt Piechota

Re: Floppy drives

"I had an Apple II+ and later a //e (still works) with the 5.25 SSSD drive at 147k. I had a purpose made punch that cut a second square write protect hole in a double side disc so you could flip it and use both sides."

Fancy! We just used a regular round hole punch to make single-sided floppies double-sided. They worked fine for the Atari 1541 (?) floppy drive attached to an Atari 800LE. So much nicer than the cassettes.

NSA spies recorded an entire COUNTRY'S phone calls for a MONTH: Report

Matt Piechota

Re: Threat Identification - Robertson Headed Screws are the answer

"Note: A Robertson, also known as a square screw drive has a square-shaped socket in the screw head and a square protrusion on the tool. Both the tool and the socket have a taper, which makes inserting the tool easier, and also tends to help keep the screw on the tool tip without the user needing to hold it there."

I'm not sure if it's genuine Robertson, but a few of those screwdriver tip sets I have aboot the house have square-drive sizes, along with a few tips I've not seen before. Never seen a Robertson head on any item I own though, that seems to be taken over by Torx.

Hidden 'Windigo' UNIX ZOMBIES are EVERYWHERE

Matt Piechota

Re: The devil's in the detail

"$ ssh -G 2>&1 | grep -e illegal -e unknown > /dev/null && echo "System clean" || echo "System infected""

Heh, nice.

NZ bloke's drunken poker bet ends in 99-letter name

Matt Piechota

Naming

A friend used the standard of adding CEO to the name to determine its suitability. "Bambi Williams, CEO? No, Bambi Williams, dancer." My wife and I are using "The honorable ___ ___ ___, presiding" as our check.

That being said, my wife's legal middle name is "Sunshine", which I think is adorable but she doesn't want to make a family name. She also didn't approve of "Starshine Bottlerocket", either. :)

NO WONDER Big Blue dropped it: IBM server biz BOMBED in Q4

Matt Piechota

"American isn't proper English. Americans gave up speaking English in 1783."

As I read somewhere around here, "American" (and Austrailian) are closer to "English" of 1783 than the current England-English is. It wasn't until the diction-craze of the late 1800s in England that Brits became pompous twats. :)

Walking in a WiFi wonderland

Matt Piechota

Re: Virtualisation

"I'm surprised that the internal bandwidth is provisioned for two orders of magnitude more bandwidth than the outgoing links. Perhaps they are schlepping uncompressed 4K video to their local editing booths? That video can get pretty large."

The article mentions that all the internal video does indeed travel over the same network.

Angela Merkel: Let US spies keep their internet. The EU will build its own

Matt Piechota

This sounds like an idea put forth by someone who doesn't understand how networks work, and I don't expect politicians to, really. HOw about a better idea, then: just pass laws prohibiting German telcos from working with external "spy" operations.

Brit boffins brew up blight-resistant FRANKENSPUD

Matt Piechota

"Not that disease resistance isn't worthwhile, but how come nobody ever genetically engineers foods to taste better? The closest I can recall hearing anybody working on was a non-eyewatering onion."

This leads into my issues with GM food: I don't trust any of the modifers to make the food taste good, be good for you, or be good for the environment. If they could make a potato that had a ton of calories (because the brain likes calories), tastes like wood, but never rots, they'd be on it. And as long as it's 10% cheaper, all the grocery stores would be ordering by the bushel (and peck).

We're on the same wavelength! TV stars cosy up to flog spare Hz

Matt Piechota

single-def?

"KLCS and KJLA have agreed to share a single over-the-air stream to broadcast single-definition and HD video, freeing up spectrum space in the process."

So what is this new single-defintion video the author is talking about? I have STANDARD definition and high definition, but this must be new!

'Netflix bitch': CEO of vid-streaming site taunts HBO chief over results

Matt Piechota

"So how much content do they have in the States? I signed up for a free trial month in the UK recently and think I could watch it all in 2 - 3 months."

Netflix's primary use (for me) is watching American TV and some BBC stuff. Movies are hit-and-miss. There's lots of Star Trek (all the TV and most of the movies), Top Gear (seasons 2-18), Sherlock, etc., Futurama, etc.. There's a decent selection of documentaries and TED talks as well. If you approach it as "let's see if X is on Netflix", you're probably going to be disappointed. If you look at it as "I want to watch something, let's see what's on Netflix", there's probably something to look at.

Time-rich hacking crew scrawls web graffiti all over poor old .ME

Matt Piechota

1337

They're using the same slang that was floating around 20 years ago, that's pretty rad.

Cygnus space truck poised for blast-off (again) TODAY

Matt Piechota

They should have used the old standby "we knocked but no one answered, so we'll try again tomorrow.", despite someone being on the station all day.

Feminist Software Foundation gets grumpy with GitHub … or does it?

Matt Piechota

Re: Man pages

"The "touch" command has been removed from the standard distribution due to its inappropriate use by high-level managers."

Are you going to leave finger(1) in?

Suffering SPITZER! Boffins discover Milky Way's MISSING ARMS

Matt Piechota

Compromise

We should compromise on 3 arms. Or Legs. What's that smuggness coming from the Isle of Man then?

Tube be or not tube be: Apple’s CYLINDRICAL Mac Pro is out tomorrow

Matt Piechota

Shame

What a fantastic design. Shame that, at best, 5% of them will be used for anything more serious than desk jewelry.

I hope a few PC folks do a similar design, maybe normal folks will be able to afford them.

Hey Linux newbie: If you've never had a taste, try perfect Petra ... mmm, smells like Mint 16

Matt Piechota

Re: The big wrinkle is still there

"Petra MATE does not show that problem but has a different problem, again associated with left/right panels and their contents. It looks like they fixed one problem and created another. What I find worrying is that I, a Linux noob and not a code-head, found these glaring problems within a short time of installing and trying to use the OS. Is there any substantial GUI testing done?"

Have you submitted a bug report?

That being said, I've never liked the way GNOME2/MATE handled side panels. It always seemed like it was there but a lot of widgets didn't work right. For GNOME/MATE systems, I use one panel at the top and remove the bottom as to not waste as much of my veritcal screen. I run the Windows 7 bar on the left and that works pretty well, I'm hoping Cinnamon2 handles side panels better.

HUBBLE turns TIME MACHINE: Sees GLINT in the Milk(yway)man's EYE

Matt Piechota

Re: The galaxies are colliding?!!?

"I'd have thought it more likely that our bed would be burning"

Well, hopefully someone will be burning the Midnight Oil trying to find a way out of it. ;-)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ejorQVy3m8E

Look! GNOME 3.10 (with Fedora 20). Did we mention GNOME 3.10?

Matt Piechota

On hold

I'll just wait until some of the bright sparks figure out how to add the minimize button and other sensible stuff back in before I try it.

Canadian Vultures shave bare for winter

Matt Piechota

The "Lemmy" AKA "Chester A Arthur".

Watch out, MARTIANS: 1.3 tonne INDIAN ROBOT is on its way

Matt Piechota

Re: Pardon?

"Have you heard of the fascist Republic of USA? 46 MEELION people in poverty. Still spunking BEELIONS on NASA."

I think you'll find the poverty level in the USA is a bit different than that of India.

Wozniak: Please, whatever you do, DON'T buy me an iPad Air

Matt Piechota

Pot

As for the broadband: if I had Woz's money, my house would be well up in the mountains, where cable and phone fear to tread. It doesn't surprise me much that he would be able to get awesome boardband up there. I'd probably have a solution though, either microwave or run my own fiber.

Wifi disks: airplane travel renders those almost moot for this usage.

SD slots: meh. I'm more of a USB stick and cable to tablet fan. If I'm watching something on the tablet I'm not worried about being *that* mobile so it's not that big a deal. Of course, I tend to read on planes and whatnot rather than watch movies and my ereader can manage a *lot* of books.

Windows Phone 8 INFLATED by Microsoft ... to satisfy lonely phablets

Matt Piechota

Re: Title is too long

"ethering is already supported natively in win pho8, no extra apps or network restrictions... unlike apple and android......"

It's native on my Android device (stock Verizon (Samsung) Galaxy Nexus, Android 4.2.2), not sure what you're using. I could see some carriers or device builders deleting it on the more customized images (Samsung or Motorola's "imporved" interfaces or other Carriers). Verizon (in this one very narrow regard) hasn't lost the plot: they charge for data and not much else (unlimited text and talk) so including Wifi hotspot just increases the chances I'll need more data.

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