Posts by Rob

Nostalgia for XP sells out Microsoft's 2023 'Windows Ugly Sweater'

I'll stick to getting a Jim'll Paint It version which is a fair bit cheaper and more entertaining.

Tesla Cybertruck no-resale clause vanishes faster than a Model S in Ludicrous Mode

Thanks, that has just helped my brain. Everytime I look at the Cybertruck I keep thinking it reminds me of something, now I know I was thinking of Captain Scarlett. If you are involved in a crash with a Cybertruck keep a look out for 2 circles moving across the ground and listen out for a disembodied voice.

PhD student guilty of 3D-printing 'kamikaze' drone for Islamic State terrorists

Re: The cops also reportedly discovered at the home an IS application form,

Stop, you lot are making me spray coffee over the entire desk. Got visions of ISIS terrorists in a training camp being taught how to do a dynamic risk assessment before strapping a bomb to their chest.

Lawsuit claims Google Maps led dad of two over collapsed bridge to his death

Re: Were there no signs indicating that the Bridge was out?

This is the bit I'm struggling with. The locals have been complaining about it for so long and nothing was done by Google on their maps or the authorities. Round here at least one resident (me or someone else) would have taken matters into their own hands and built a barrier to block the road for the safety of others because we know the big corps or the authorities were too slow and there was a clear danger present.

EU gives its blessing to reopen data pipelines to the US

Re: "limits to the access US intelligence agencies have to EU citizen's data"

My point was that regardless of whatever protections EU law tries to put in place the NSA listening stations will disregard those laws and take what they want anyway. There will always be nefarious actors in those spaces that do whatever they want, laws and policies can try to help but until we have digital tools that are effective, the average effort of data protection will always be up against it. It's still the wild west in technology and data circles as we develop stuff quicker than we can control it by giving them decent and fair check and balances and the right tools to help enforce those checks and balances.

But if attacking me makes you feel better, then crack on.

Re: "limits to the access US intelligence agencies have to EU citizen's data"

The NSA have listening stations all over Europe and a very large, capable one in Yorkshire. They are taking whatever data they want/need anyway so this is all just a show for politics. The average European citizen can see that the politicians are doing something about it, regardless if it is a chocolate teapot.

Google Street View car careens into creek after 100mph cop chase

Can't wait to use streetview in this area, will feel like I'm in hyperspace in the millennium falcon or similar.

Sci-fi author 'writes' 97 AI-generated tales in nine months

Re: We are surrounded by morons..

I wouldn't be surprised if ChatGPT is the new 'Bitcoin', a fad that rumbles on for ages that gets over hyped and takes a long time for people to realise it isn't what they expected it to be. Borderline solution looking for a problem and no-one has looked at the mid to long term future of it that ends up keeping it niche.

Attackers hit Bitcoin ATMs to steal $1.5 million in crypto cash

"My only guess would be something to do with putting ads on the machine, but then why on Earth would that let you anywhere near the Admin console."

I think you've highlighted the common problem. Crypto money is a gold rush and as such companies are rushing to get involved and not taking the time to develop their software to the point of better security. I agree why on earth would you want to upload videos, if it is for Ads I would be running a seperate bit of software to serve adds to this system but that would require time to build and develop and cut into their first profit earnings.

How the Internet Archive faces potential destruction at the hands of Big Four publishers

Ditto, I love the fact that I can reminisce on some old copies of Sinclair User magazine, used lto love the cover artwork when I was a kid. Can't beat the covers that feature the kamikaze bear.

UK tax authority nudges net 'influencers': You may owe us for those OnlyFans feet pics

Re: Customer?

It's a protection racket. You pay them, they keep the law courts away from you (regrading your income, other crimes require a different gov department)

Crypto craziness craps out – and about time too

I second that motion.

Adobe confirms UK looking into its $20b Figma deal, EU probe 'expected'

Re: That's a lot of money

Getting a large user base hooked on your drug means you can make changes to the market as a dominent player. Adobe will more than likely want a sizeable stake in the standards of media files, the things that will be required for the many Metaverses that will no doubt spring up from various corps wanting to control that emerging market.

Look like Bane, spend like Batman with Dyson's $949 headphones

Ditto, my wife and bought into the sales pitch and thought we'd give one of his cordless uprights a go, complete bag-o-shite. Can just about run for 20mins before running out of charge and has no where near the amount of power as the cordless Shark that we repalced it with, which is way better value for money and works really well.

BOFH: The Boss has a new watch – move readiness to DEFCON 2

Re: Savages, savages I say!

Is this in reference to the a previous commentard talking about stroking sensitive areas?

Foldable smartphones crawl to one percent of global market share

Re: Multiple parallel folds

I'm fairly sure I read an article way back about this is where Samsung's R&D was with screen tech before the fold and flip came out. They had developed a paper thin screen that could be rolled up. They are looking at the future where screens are paper thin and can be easily applied to things like walls etc.

That R&D tech is what brought about the fold and flip phones, although the first fold phone from Samsung wasn't really technically released due to hinge problems. I'll see if I can find the article.

Re: The modern flip-phone

I just upgraded to the Fold 4 and I wasn't sure if it was the right move. After a few months of use now I totally love it. Far less of a proble to fit it in my pocket and sit down than the S22 Ultra I had before.

I thought the foldable screen would just be a gimmick but has outstripped my expectations by a huge amount.

I think this will be my future upgrade route, a sterling improvement over the Note models I used to purchase.

BOFH: You want presentation layer, but we're physical layer

I had an instance of this once. I took the 'obvious rules' logic, the laptop was their personal property but they were making out it was essential for work and insisted we investigate and fix the problem, so I wiped it and loaded one of our corporate images on as per our SLA and policies. I don't think they appreciated that our image was one version of windows behind what they had installed and locked into our group policy, I think my manager at the time took on the task of releasing it from our corporate controls with a quiet word about what is brought in to be fixed to the wider org.

Windows 11: The little engine that could, eventually

Re: Sliding down the hill - backwards

Advertising? what advertising, I haven't seen any in my win11?!?

Win11 on my laptop is the leanest it's ever been and most stable. I know it can be quite subjective depending on the machine but I'm finding it the best version of windows so far. If a restart is required then it is usually scheduled for when I'm not using it. I have more problems with O365 and it's updates than I do Windows.

UK spy boss warns China hopes Russia will help it take over tech standards

Re: The war in Ukraine is a devastating blow to the image of a mighty Russia

One aspect Putin overlooked is that since the annexe of Crimea, which showed the Ukraine army to be severly lacking, Ukraine has been training it's army since 2014 in a live fire situation as they have been rotating units through the frontline in the Donesk region. There is no better training environment than a live one, especially when the opposing force is using Russian hardware and tactics.

Ukraine always knew something was coming down the line from Russia and they have been preapring since 2014. Now add in that the Russian forces mostly consist of poorer ethinic conscripts from the other parts of Russia which Putin deems expendable, not only does he want to rebuild the USSR but he gets to do ethnic cleasning at the same time.

Something 4,000 light years away emitted strange radio bursts. This is where we talk to scientists for actual info

Re: Lizards

Don't be so ridiculous, the lizard people would be far more comptent at running the country.

At this point I would welcome any evil overlord to rule us, they seriously can't be any worse than the carbon based twats we currently have.

Scam, pyramid scheme, environmental disaster: Vivaldi boss shares his thoughts on crypto-coins

Re: Wall Street?

Gold mostly, hence why banks shift large pallets of them around occassionally to other banks or reserve stores.

BOFH: The vengeance bus is coming, and everybody's jumping. An Xmas bonus hits me…

Ah the folly of youth, there's always something to learn.

Merry Christmas Simon, looking forward to a bumper 2022 filled with rolls of carpet and bags of lime.

Boffins find way to use a standard smartphone to find hidden spy cams

I'm sure the NHS will see a sharp rise in shark bites on the arse in females, less so with males as we tend to use the front pocket and we're unlikely to put a creature with sharp teeth near our bollocks.

Labour Party supplier ransomware attack: Who holds ex-members' data and on what legal basis?

Putting all the obvious GDPR, data breach shennigans aside for a sec. I'm appalled that they went to an American firm to design their website!

We always bought local with public money, sometimes casting the net wider if local industry didn't have the skills but always in the UK. It's WordPress for fcuk sake, you could throw a piece of paper (unfolded) and hit any number of designer and developers for WordPress.

Typical. Museum of London Docklands display would be ready to set sail were it not for no-show cast member

Ah the heady days of Director

That brings back memories, I think I can still remember some Lingo.

The joys of building interactive CD's!

In Hancock's half-hour, Dido Harding offers hollow laughs: Cake distracts test-and-trace boss at UK COVID-19 briefing

Re: "......worst death toll in Europe"

I don't think you've fully grasped how much normal folk hate Cummings. The witch hunt started years ago and was intensified when he released the Brexit lies. He designed and ran the Brexit campaign to leave, he's the reason Boris is in power. He has too much sway and is a self serving c**t, he needs to go!

The immovable object versus the unstoppable force: How the tech boys club remains exclusive

Re: Hmmm...

"Why aren't there more female bricklayers? Do the same impediments apply?"

I think this where the comment in the article applies about the need to run for a generation tilted in the opposite direction. Classic barriers that have been around for too long will be the main reason we don't see more female "bricklayers", we have to spend time getting rid of those barriers and then seeing how many women want to be bricklayers before we can truly say that women aren't interested in being bricklayers, that all takes time.

We've started along the path of trying to remove those barriers (I think some sectors of industry need to try harder or at least start), provide more opportunities and eventually we will be closer to a more balanced workforce at all levels in regards to gender.

Whistleblowing saboteur costs us $167m bellows Tesla’s accountant

Check your numbers...

... there's 2, one in the US and one in the UK.

UK's GDS head Kevin Cunnington leaves to tell world+dog how (not) to do digital

Re: If this...

2 of those mentioned were actually delivered by the DVLA before GDS was even created. They would like to say that GDS was responsible but all they did was bolt them into gov.uk once it was launched. HMIRC dealt with online self assessment before GDS and gov.uk came along.

10 PRINT Memorial in New Hampshire marks the birthplace of BASIC

WOW...

... I still have that book that features on the article thumbnail. Couldn't bear to get rid of it, fond childhood memories.

Bandersnatch to gander snatched: Black Mirror choices can be snooped on, thanks to privacy-leaking Netflix streams

Re: Oh for god's sake...

Or perhaps he wrote Bandersnatch knowing full well that this would happen and this alone is the point of the Black Mirror episode?

Public disgrace: 82% of EU govt websites stalked by Google adtech cookies – report

Re: "there were 112 companies slurping up information"

Wrong number, it's 0118-999-881-999-119-725-3.

Don't forget the 3 on the end!

Crypto exchange in court: It owes $190m to netizens after founder 'dies without telling anyone vault passwords'

Its India...

...you can buy a body as well as a certificate of death, you could probably find someone that would do some sort of bundled deal for both if you buy cash (not crypto though).

*taps on glass* Hellooo, IRS? Anyone in? Anyone guarding taxpayers' data from crooks? Hellooo?

Re: Governing America

Amazing... when does the Shaman start? We can supply plenty of chicken bones, there is currently a backlog of decisions to be made in the UK government so the sooner they can start throwing bones the better (do I need to throw some to speed up the process?)

Dozens of .gov HTTPS certs expire, webpages offline, FBI on ice, IT security slows... Yup, it's day 20 of Trump's govt shutdown

Totally agree... right I'm off to catch up on current british politics and brexit.

Ofcom asks networks, ISPs: Hey, wouldn't it be nice if you let customers know the best deal once their contract's up?

This is where the suppliers are winning, they hope that all customers go through a web channel to renew which usually ends up with a crap deal. In all cases phone up and haggle, if they have it built into their model the human at the end will be versed in getting you a better deal that isn't published on their site. That is definitely true of a certain TV satellite provider I know of and I have been able to get better deals in person with EE as well.

US bitcoin bomb threat ransom scam looks like a hoax say FBI, cops

Re: Wandering totally offtopic

I've always gone with WfH, seems to be the most widely used in our outlook calendars (and I usually colour code these with green, not that is relevant).

I'm now thinking I might bugger off at lunchtime to WfH for the afternoon, obviously in the interests of testing the impact of using WfH.

Sacked NCC Group grad trainee emailed 300 coworkers about Kali Linux VM 'playing up'

Sounds like...

... she knew that as soon as she produced anything in that role the gig would be up and they would know she was a fraud.

The hole looks like it kept getting bigger and bigger until she ended up in a tribunal as there was nowhere else to go with the lie.

The alternative is that she was just plain bats$@t crazy.

Slabs, huh, what are they are good for? Er, not quite absolutely nothing

Not surprised...

... I've had a Samsung Note 10.1 since about 2016 but recently I bought a 2-in-1 HP Envy (always need a laptop) and I hardly use the Note tablet now. Between my Note 8 phone and the laptop the tablet seems superfluous (just as well, seeing as it doesn't get updates anymore, might have to cook it to get more life from it).

US JEDI military cloud network is so high-tech, bidders will have to submit their proposals by hand, on DVD

How many bidders...

... have said to some techie, we need to burn a DVD, closely followed by said techie grabbing the corporate credit card and running out to buy a DVD burner.

We don't have any in our office anymore and the one I had in storage at home gave up the ghost, not got round to replacing it, not sure I will. Strangely ironic now I think about it, as I used to spend my working day building DVD masters and then reading a book while I kept an eye on 20 DVD duplicators whirring away... starting to feel old...

Samsung Galaxy Note 9: A steep price to pay

Re: >>>A lot of couriers don't have a stylus when they want you to sign their machine

The Note will notify you if the stylus is too far away from it. Of all the NOtes I have had over the years I have never lost the stylus (I've lost a few replacement nibs though, as they are impossibly small to find in a carpet).

Off with e's head: E-cig explosion causes first vaping death

Re: Souk an e-cig

Why would Big Tobacco do that, they are into the vape industry just under different names and subsidiaries. They harvest plants for nicotine, this is just another market to sell nicotine into.

Too many bricks in the wall? Lego slashes inventory

Some people on here clearly have no imagination

There is a lot of people on here whinging about the specialised bits and how in their day they could build more stuff without the specialised bits. Clearly you lot have a limited imagination, the specialised bits mean even more creativity, you only have to look on pinterest to see the art of the possible, some truely talent builders using those specialised bricks in imaginative ways

Thar she blows: Strava heat map shows folk on shipwreck packed with 1,500 tonnes of bombs

Sailed past this a few times. There was a rumour doing the rounds that she was carry an a-bomb for us to drop on hitler, hence they don't want the ship to explode.

It was also said that the explosion would be large enough to cause issue with Canvey island which has a few refineries on it.

Unlikely there is any truth in any of them, but this ship has been there for awhile so has had plenty of time to build up some urban legends.

Police camera inaction? Civil liberties group questions forces' £23m body-cam spend

The chink in the armour

The problem with these systems which is what the civil liberties is heading towards with their statement is that the lack of data around useage is due largely in part to the systems the store the footage have no formal governance built into them.

Most public sector organisations struggle with governance on an IT system at the best of times which is why you need an IT system to enforce it on the staff using it. These systems have some basics like expiration periods (e.g. footage is deleted after 30 days unless tagged for evidence), but they don't capture other data like checking out a file for use or if it is being used for evidence attaching something like a case number or reference as metadata. Simple additional fields of data attached to a workflow would help build and enforce governance from a systems point of view.

Obviously you then have the argument of blaming the software makers/camera providers for not building this into their software. They would then turn round and say that it wasn't a specification the customer asked for and we're back to the earlier part of my comment.

Sociology student gets a First for dissertation on Kardashians

Re: ?

Desperate human beings who crave the limelight to validate their lives, which unfortunately seems to be a trend in society due to the proliferation of digital technologies such as Youtube and Twitter etc.

Shared services centres supposed to save £128m saved £0... and cost £4m

And everyone one of those muppets responsible for this cock-up will still keep their jobs and move onto the next project to right royally screw up.

UK.gov kicks long awaited digi strategy into long grass, blames EU referendum

Shouldn't be too hard for GDS to spend the money on iMac's, Lattes and other luxuries that help them do the incredibly bad job they have done so far.

Google chap bakes Amiga emulator into Chrome

Re: Deuteros..

... one of my favourites too, I still have it in it's original box along with many others (I also still have my Amiga A1200, just have to get a copy of the last version of Workbench to get it up and running again).