* Posts by Matt Piechota

301 publicly visible posts • joined 2 Aug 2006

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Google Chrome OS: unlike Android, it's open source

Matt Piechota

Separation

Quote: Thirdly, I don't get this idea that something like this brings anything new security-wise, to quote "In limiting all apps to the web and confining each app to its own sandbox, Google also claims the Chrome netbook is more secure than today's machines." I just don't see it -- the apps on my Linux box all have memory protection, so they can't write to the memory owned by the OS or other apps. They are limited to where they can write to disk, and what they can read. Sounds like a sandbox to me! It could be (and probably is in theory) more secure due to the limited number of applications and programs on the system (i.e. less of a "code surface" to exploit). ---

Ah, but can the apps read and write each others' data? *That's* the security they're talking about. One rogue app can't go rifling thru all your other data.

Linux life savers for paranoid penguins

Matt Piechota
Happy

dump 0f /path /dev/disk

Am I the only person that uses dump/restore instead of tar or cpio?

Scroogle busted again after Google tweak

Matt Piechota

Edit

s/conflicting options/conflicting opinions/

No snide comment, everyone makes mistakes.

Fedora 14: haven for Ubuntu's homeless GNOMEs

Matt Piechota
Linux

Just works

Default theme: I do, if it works it's good enough. I change the background and the button location on Ubuntu though. That's just a given. :)

The main issue I had with Fedora in the past (12 and 13) is the little things that you want for a home desktop. Playing MP3s and movies, and hardware drivers, require downloads or using a thrid party repo. That is annoying since there is an assortment of repos to choose from, each with strengths and weaknesses (and laregly incompatible).

If anything, that's the Ubuntu advantage. I can install it and it just works for just about anything I need. I run a pile of RHEL machines for work, so I have an affinity for the Redhat way to do things, but at home Fedora was more work than I wanted to assign to it. I'll try F14 though, it might be better.

Highest point on the Moon found: Higher than Mount Everest

Matt Piechota
Paris Hilton

Clever

/Just wanted to say that I love the fact that pretty much all the comments point out the same glaring flaw with the Moon's propaganda./

I actually love that the *third* post explains how the measurement works, but the 40 after that either ignore that post or, in the rush to be seen as clever on the internet posted without reading the existing comments.

Paris, because shockingly only other person has made some desperate attempt to be witty and draw her into the discussion.

Notorious Koobface worm ported to Mac OS X

Matt Piechota
Grenade

Oh no!

They're going to have to 'trick' someone into clicking allow? Users just allow whatever they think will get them to the game, web site, or porn they want to see. Not much of a hurdle.

iDapt i4 multi-purpose charger

Matt Piechota

Hmm

I'm not sure I want to use the plug (such) as a MicroUSB to keep my phone standing upright. There isn't a back support hiding in there, is there?

I'm good with a powered USB hub and retractable cables. Minimal mess, minimal cost.

iPad tethering does disappearing trick

Matt Piechota
Thumb Down

Post anonymously?

> Can those who think tethering is stealing please enlighten me as to why it matters *what* the hell you do with your X Mb allocation?

Because the contract you entered into when activating your service says it does. Simple as that. You can't just ignore portions of the agreement any more than the guy building you house can ignore the part about putting a roof on.

You can argue that it isn't fair, or some operator should allow you to do what you want with your bandwidth, but you're in a legal agreement that says you can't.

Powermat iPhone 4 wireless charging kit

Matt Piechota
Thumb Down

emag

Hmm, any boffins out there care to see how much emag radition this thing is spewing about? Or how much power the induction connection wastes?

Seems like plugging a cord in is a lot easier. And for multiple devices, just get a USB hub and cables. I have a 7-port charging station on my desk. Woo! :)

Microsoft confirms Russian pill-pusher attack on its network

Matt Piechota
Unhappy

universal truth.

Hanlon's Razor.

Think of your workplace. Think of thoe folks there that are lazy, just do enough to get by, etc. Those same types of people are everywhere. If you can't think of anyone in your workplace like that, it's probaby you. :)

Hypervisors: grinding through to bare metal

Matt Piechota
FAIL

Mediocre

While most of the concepts in the this are OK, there some major flaws:

- "We're all familar with virtualization", then the author spends several paragraphs describing it (in the most high-level, basic way) that anyone who is familar would already know.

- No OS (as other people pointed out) means no OS. The VM platform is an OS, but I supposed for a non-IT person it doesn't do GUI so it's not.

- Save copies to the network, download to laptop, etc: if this worked, it would be fantastic. Have my work 'PC' on a server, remotely accessible, etc, etc, but be able to 'check it out' to a laptop if I need to be away from a network. The problem is it generally takes hours to make these backup copies and transfers, even with 1gigE. Do you think someone is going to wait at *least* 30 minutes to transfer a VM before leaving the office?

- Performance of the VM is always less than the OS installed on bare metal. Especially with desktop-type VMs, the hypervisor has to abstract the hardware which slows everything down.

From Cameron to Gazza, everyone loves Angry Birds

Matt Piechota
FAIL

Birds

How can this title not be about some mobe-throwing model?

Ubuntu quietly breaks off Sparc affair

Matt Piechota
Linux

Choice in Hardware is nice and all

Choice in hardware is OK if you really know what software you're dealing with and *KNOW* it's available. I've run Linux on POWER (IBM), and you can't get EMC SAN drivers/agents, a full version of various parts of software (WebLogic, I'm looking at you), no MATLAB, etc. It's a cool idea, but you're going out on a limb if your requirements change.

Beatles on iTunes? 'Don't hold your breath' says Yoko

Matt Piechota

Remember me on this computer

"It's not like we can't 'illegally' rip most of it or get it from torrents already if we're that way inclined so basically they have nothing to loose, seriously what a bunch of muppets!"

???? Are you saying it's illegal to go buy the CD box set and import them into MP3/FLAC/OGG?

Czechs toast Bud-beating beer win

Matt Piechota

Yes, decent American beer

"Decent American beers? It's an interesting concept!"

While in England some years ago, the only American beers I saw were Bud and Rolling Rock. Upon commenting on that, a local imparted this wisdom: countries only export the beer they don't want to drink themselves. That's why 90% of the time English beer in the US is Bass or Newcastle Brown (although I don't mind the Newcastle).

There are a couple mid-size US brewers that make decent beer, and tons of small brewers. Sam Adams (although I'm not a huge fan), Magic Hat, or Victory (which I have the luck to live within 20 miles (32 km) of. :) ). And those are just East Coast.

Google can kill or install apps on citizen Androids

Matt Piechota

Yep

"On the "plus" side, it appears to be part of Market not the OS, so you could remove the market and be "safe" from this. It's not like you can't find and install apps (legally) outside of the market."

Yep, just uninstall the Google Market if you don't like it. Try that on the other devices. :)

As for other Markets, I haven't seen any apps, but you can just download the apks for anything. I assume someone that wanted to develop a market would have to write a market app for the phone. I'd think Google would helpfully sell you a copy of theirs though.

(Of course, there's probably another back door hiding in the system itself...)

Google claims Wi-Fi slurp legal in the US

Matt Piechota
Thumb Down

A better analogy

Walking into the house isn't a great analogy. Think about talking to someone on speaker phone (a really loud one) with the windows open. Anyone can wander by and hear your conversation. That's what we're talking about here.

Lightning bolt smites 60ft Jesus statue

Matt Piechota
FAIL

Only 62?

Only 62 feet? What about MC 900 ft Jesus?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MC_900_Ft._Jesus

Ubuntu-based Windows XP looker freshens up

Matt Piechota
Terminator

Sue?

"Microsoft is reported to have said it would not take action because the distro was based on Linux."

They probably have a case for the icons and other artwork, but otherwise what could the really sue for?

US trade body decides Apple has case to answer

Matt Piechota
Grenade

@John Molloy

"Do you really think that the FTC would favor a Taiwanese company over the largest US technology company?"

In what universe is Apple the largest US technology company?

Mystery startup uncloaks 512-core server

Matt Piechota
Stop

OS?

It sounds a lot like those are individual systems, so I have to license and/or maintain 512 copies of the OS?

Google Caffeine jolts worldwide search machine

Matt Piechota
Jobs Horns

Re: Google Meth

"Gives you incredibly fast results but costs an arm and a leg so you'll prostitute yourself to pay for it, makes you lose contact with reality and ultimately induces paranoia. Wait..."

I think you're thinking of iMeth, which from the sounds of it is what Steve Jobs has been taking.

Dolphin talks to humans – but does he love Toughbook or iPad?

Matt Piechota
Joke

15 years too late

Someone beat them to it...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5aGxRZL-_sA

Met lab claims 'biggest breakthrough since Watergate'

Matt Piechota
Coffee/keyboard

The Math

"Anybody care what the cost of recording and storing this information is, and whether it's really not just a great big invasion of privacy? Just wondering."

Well, sample once every 1.5 seconds. That's (86400/1.5) 56700 samples per day. At, say, 8 bytes (double precision float) for value and 4 bytes (seconds since epoch), that's 680,400 bytes per day, or 248MB per year. Nope, don't care. :)

As for privacy, it's pretty tough to argue that the power company monitoring its grid is an invasion of privacy. The application in forensics has some dubiousness though.

MSI Wind U160

Matt Piechota

Optical

"How do you expect a LiveCD to work on a machine with no optical drive?"

It has three USB ports. I think you can figure it out.

I'll echo the original statement: knowing how it works on a Live CD would be really, really good info. Makes the decision process easier since odds are I won't be keeping Windows Extreme Starter 7 Double-limited Edition on it for long. (Maybe I'd run it as a VM. :))

Microsoft picks over Google's Windows exit strategy

Matt Piechota

Re: Fail

"My shiny new MacBook Air comes with the firewall off _by default_ - a situation not seen in the Windows world since XPSP2."

Does your shiny MacBook Air have any ports open by default? (I suspect yes, but the question needs to be asked). Ubuntu catches grief since it doesn't have a firewall turned on by default, but it also doesn't have any ports open by default either.

Also, the end game isn't necessarily everything running on Google's servers. I'm guessing they have a plan to sell folks standalone Google service clouds that you can roll into your own data center.

Woman sues Google after highway knockdown

Matt Piechota
Joke

Re: Just Americans

"Saying its just all Americans kind of puts you in the same boat as people walking blindly according to Google's instructions, if you truly believe what you say, that is. And, if you don't TRULY believe its all Americans, which it isn't, then why would you say that?"

Here here. Wasn't there an article here a couple years ago about a couple who followed their satnav somewhere up in the North (possibly Scotland) up a jeep trail and were stranded for a couple days? And if I recall correctly, the locals said it happened all the time.

Besides, can a country that unleashed Simon Cowell and Pop/American Idol on the world *really* be high and mighty when it comes to idiots?

Microsoft Tag emerges from beta

Matt Piechota
FAIL

RE: Colour

None of those codes in the mobileinc page scanned properly (using the ZXing Barcode App on Android).

FAIL, indeed.

World Cup magic captured in Microsoft Paint

Matt Piechota
FAIL

Sigh...

What, no Zidane head-butt?

Queuing for an iPad? Why?

Matt Piechota
Happy

Flame

AC: "Sad that people like Code Monkey (and many, many others) declare you to be an idiot for getting such joy in life from something. Makes me ill, just ignore them (as I try) and continue enjoying your new device."

While you're right about people who flame other people's purchasing habits are morons, you're doing a *really* bad job ignoring them. :) (I kid, I kid)

As for the iPad, it's not the device for me. I'm fine with having a laptop around to use on the couch, my phone when I'm out and about, and an actual book. My book reading style is serial monogamy so I don't need a library in my backpack. But that doesn't make me better than those that bought an iPad. Some of the 'children' here would do well to learn that.

BBC upgrades iPlayer to allow 'social propositions'

Matt Piechota

Re: Social Networking

AC: "What is wrong with people actually going out and meeting people face to face and actually talking to them rather than posting: "AC is a nob", "I hate working with Rik Mylewski" or other such brilliant type of utterings from the great unwashed."

Let me turn the question around: what is superior about going out, meeting people, and saying: "AC is a nob", or "I hate working with Rik Mylewski"? You know it's going to be the same twaddle just in a different format. At least on FB et al. I can block some of it. Whereas if I'm at a bar (pub), I have to listen to the American/Pop Idol prattle from nearby people.

Fedora 13 – Linux for Applephobes

Matt Piechota
Troll

Production

'making Fedora a more compelling choice for production servers running multiple virtual machines'. Brought tears (of laughter) to my eyes.

Google turns on SSL encryption for search

Matt Piechota
Alert

Search Redirection

Also should handle this:

http://www.dslreports.com/faq/16534

Mgmt Summary: ISP hijacks all search traffic to Google and sends it to their ad-ridden Yahoo-based search page. You have to opt-out on a web page (may just be a cookie or something equally stupid) in order to stop it. This happens even if you don't use the ISP DNS servers.

Atlantis spacewalkers snapped through shuttle windows

Matt Piechota
Thumb Down

Re: So they *have* learnt...

You can still get 'Space Pens', either online or at various office supply stores (Staples in the US, for example). Relatively cheap, durable, and pocket-sized. I have one on me right now.

As for the NASA program, it's a myth to further the concept that NASA wastes money. Fisher developed the pen on his own and asked NASA to try it.

http://www.thespacereview.com/article/613/1

http://www.spacepen.com/about-us.aspx

'Steve Jobs' switches to Android

Matt Piechota
Pirate

RE: i vs. A

It's what you get used to. This last week I was working with both iPhones (3GS) and a couple Android phones (Hero (1.6), my Moto Droid (2.1), and a Nexus One (2.1)), and I found the iPhone hard to use. Another developer has been working with iPhones all along and found the Android harder to use. Just like it is with Linux vs. OSX vs. Windows, you get to know one and the others become obtuse.

I'm curious: have you used an Android phone for more than a few minutes? I don't mean that as an indictment, just wondering if you're mistaking the initial learning curve that any device has with actual user interface issues. For instance, I *like* have individual home, menu, and back buttons. On the Apple I'm never quite sure how to back up in an app, although I'll bet that with more time I'd get used to it.

I'm not sure I follow your logic on the low-mid-high markets though. This really does appear, as the author points out, set up like computing in the 80s. How many people are going to stick with Apple once the market shifts to Android (all those low and mid devices are going to draw developers in)?

As for 'find it yourself' apps: yeah, it's pretty though to tap the search button in the Market App (installed by default on most phones) and type in some text. :)

Chocolate Factory pulls plug on Googlephone webstore

Matt Piechota

Must have gotten an early one

I have a Droid (I assume you mean the Motorola) at the end of December, and I have none of the physical problems you seem to have (including battery life, but that's probably just my usage pattern; I can usually leave it unplugged for 2-3 days before it starts getting low). Turning off all the extras (Wifi, BT, GPS, and screen dim) helps *a lot*. There's even a built in widget so you can do it easily.

As for map search, why not just look at the map after you search and tap on the closest one to your location? That's what I do.

Android on an iPhone? There's an app for that

Matt Piechota

Version?

Interesting, I wonder what version of Android that was. My 2.0 and now 2.1 Motorola Droid has different call answer and in-call screens, which don't require external buttons. It would useful on the iphone with it's button-challenged design.

Nokia: digital SLRs are doomed

Matt Piechota

Masses

<i>Remember when recording quality was getting better and better: like domestic reel-to-reels with muffly sound developing over the years into chrome dioxide cassetes with lovely sound quality, now we have 128k lossy digital mp3s, but nobody seems to care.</i>

See, you remember reel-to-reel and I just remember seeing 8-track and LPs in the 70s. For people that do care, there are plenty of great audio formats now. As for video, how many awful VHS camcorders were sold in the 80s and 90s as opposed to 8mm film?

The masses never really cared about quality.

Ellison's database customers slip slidin' to x86

Matt Piechota

@AC, apples and oranges

Thanks, I was about to post that. I do wonder how many people are moving to Solaris on x86, I think that would have been an interesting question to ask.

Should all hard drives be encrypted?

Matt Piechota

Drives?

I'm surprised hardware-encrypted drives wasn't mentioned as a solution. They're an option on most laptops and (from what I hear) incur no performance penalty since the encryption processor is fast enough to keep up with the data in and out. There may even be ways to manage them from an Enterprise perspective, but the poster who mentions increased support calls does have a point.

Oddly enough, I hosed up the MBR on my work laptop this weekend, which runs a commercial software encryption tool. Waiting for IT support to come fix it since 'FIXMBR' didn't work. That's the main problem with software encryption, you can't use any standard tools to fix it.

Apple turns the flamethrower on Android

Matt Piechota

I thought of one!

<i>i too was thinking that every bit of code i have written and every system i have worked on infringes "A system in which a software module called an event consumer can indicate an interest in receiving notifications about a specific set of events, and it provides an architecture for efficiently providing notifications to the [event] consumer".</i>

I can think of a couple, namely any device driver or syslogd.

Ubuntu's Lucid Lynx to Facebook and Twitter you

Matt Piechota
Pirate

Seriously?

You know, it's not like they're going to force you use this stuff. Get a grip people.

Besides, Facebook is what you make of it. Just block all the stupid apps and enjoy checking out what your school friends have been up to. It's not like Facebook forces you to play any of the stupid games, either.

Korean astronaut recounts 'ballistic' Soyuz re-entry

Matt Piechota
Dead Vulture

G to brain-mush conversion table

For a peak G input, the brain can take upwards of 200G (although there's some question at that point about the integrity of the body). It doesn't mention how long they were at 10G, but it's sure to be unpleasant.

Paramount poised to drop HD DVD

Matt Piechota
Go

@seri - the spec

I read that as: you're supposed to support region coding. I frankly do not know enough about the format to say for sure, but it certainly sounds like region coding is already in the spec to me, even if all the current discs and players don't implement that part of the spec. All the people screaming about how 'there's no region coding in HD-DVD' seem to be standing on thin ice.

Region-coding is a non-issue for me, but driving the big LCD I just bought is. If BluRay has the potential for a better picture quality, I'm all for it if only one is going to survive. If I did end up with a pile of region-coded discs, I'd just buy an extra drive or two to read them. A BD-ROM drive is already down to US$190, so it's not *that* much of an expense, considering how much it would cost to have those import discs shipped over here with the exchange rates.

Speaking of cost, a quick look at Amazon shows that for the few discs I checked, the Blu-ray and HD-DVD versions are the same price. I thought HD-DVD discs were way cheaper or something?

Matt Piechota
Go

The spec

Go look it up:

"Apart from the requirements listed in this document it is required that the HD DVD Video application layer will support and improve upon features offered in DVD such as regional coding, multiple menu languages, soundtracks, subtitles, and angles that can be selected programmatically, by player default settings, or user input."

Unless I'm reading that wrong, region coding is in the spec, just no one uses it right now.

From Section 5 of:

http://www.dvdforum.org/images/Requirements%20Specification%20for%20HD%20DVD%20Video%20Application-July2005.pdf

Racist Reg ignores Nigerian helicopter pioneer

Matt Piechota
Flame

Choppy

While credit it due, building a helicopter isn't *that* difficult, considering there's quite a few examples to crib from.

Also:

http://www.vortechonline.com/choppy/

Powered by an old Triumph motor? That doesn't seem like the most reliable choice. :)

Dell to embed Xen hypervisor in PowerEdge servers

Matt Piechota

Embed?

Unless I'm missing something, it sounds more like XenServer will be pre-installed, not embedded. Having Xen in the firmware would be much more interesting.

Sony VGN-TZ11XN/B laptop

Matt Piechota

Grr, VGA

I'm trying to figure out why laptop manufacturers continue to put VGA ports on instead of DVI. You can convert DVI to VGA with a US$5 adapter, but to convert VGA to DVI (or HDMI) you need something much more expensive (US$300+). It seems especially glaring in this case since I can't imagine using the small screen full-time.

It seems that Apple is the only company that's thinking since all their laptops have DVI. Considering the MacBooks use the same Intel GPU, that can't be the issue.

Nvidia gains ground in graphics

Matt Piechota

Adding for Marketing Majors

43% + 38.5% + 23% = 104.5%

Perhaps there are Systems that have Intel on-board chips *and* have added Nvidia cards?

AT&T sued by poor man's Formula 1

Matt Piechota

Left turn

So, if they had a NASCAR race in Englnad, would the drivers have to turn right all the time?

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