* Posts by asdf

6570 publicly visible posts • joined 7 Apr 2007

NSA PRISM-gate: Relax, GCHQ spooks 'keep us safe', says Cameron

asdf
Megaphone

stop using death toll

What I love is how we are willing to change our laws and our whole way of life when a bunch of goat farmers got incredibly lucky due somewhat to our own negligence and killed 2,996 people. In 1889 a handful of super wealthy %1ers built a hunting lodge on lake with a dam poorly built which burst and killed nearly as many (2,209) people and very little changed and the people who were responsible got off scott free. The difference is it was poor people killing some rich people in 9/11 instead of the usual vice versa so of course it was unprecedented. I guess my point is not only are most fellow americans retarded at geography but their history knowledge is garbage as well.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Johnstown_Flood

asdf

Re: Breaking EU law?

>Is the real reason that all the nine US companies that have blatantly given the NSA access to their systems are denying it is that EU law prohibits this

Its even more basic than that. Not only does the NSA require them to give the information but it also requires that they deny giving the information including requiring lying to their customers and even investors. They even have laws to protect them in the US from liability. Granted that doesn't apply in the EU but if the EU presses the point then the US will get ugly once again to the EU and then all the UK readers can merkin bash on the article that will show up here. Never mind many in the US loathe our government as well.

asdf
Megaphone

100 years from now

In the US a century from now (assuming we still exist as this rate) in history class in school they will talk about the whole war on terror in the same terms of embarrassment and disgust they talk about the communist witch hunts, the real Salem witch hunts and even slavery and Jim Crow laws. I am sure white people in Mississippi in the 1940s had rationalized why the system should be able to execute black men for sleeping with white women just like today they have rationalized why the government should be allowed to spy on the population in ways Stalin could only dream of all in the name of our security.

asdf
Megaphone

f__k Obama

The history books will record the official downfall of the United States as during the W Bush / Obama turd sandwich. Obama is doing everything homeland bs security wise Bush did but on steroids. Even Bush didn't use the homeland security to go after copyright infringers. Stupid worthless Baby Boomers. F__k the village idiot W Bush and f__k Obama the Chicago hack.

asdf

Re: asdf we lose

The fact is you are more likely in the west to win the lottery almost than to die or be injured by an Islamic terrorist. IMHO people freak out more because of the economic panic than the actual violence. People are willing to piss away all kinds of rights in order to protect their pocketbook.

asdf

Re: asdf we lose

The difference is after WW2 the government was willing to give rights back. They could also demonstrate a clear and present danger and clear line of when the danger is past. Not some 100 year open war on terror (like the eternal War On Drugs ie war with Eurasia, always with Eurasia) whatever that means. If PRISM is so great how come they didn't see the Boston bombers even though the Russians all but told them. How come in the UK they didn't see the soldier butcher dudes? Seems to me its just another way for the government to have an information asymmetry over any potential threats such as politicians (Senator, etc) trying to do the right thing. Oh you want to shut us down. Ok lets see want to explain to the public all these calls to this woman who isn't your wife? That's a rare leak Obama wouldn't investigate.

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Thumb Down

we lose

Lets see people will only be fired over this for it going public not for what they were doing which means in a few words, the bad guys have won. A handful of islamic terrorists have done what the USSR could not. They have successfully taken away some of our rights forever and the worst part is the public doesn't even care.

US chief spook: Look, we only want to spy on 6.66 billion of you

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Re: This is a man to be respected

Indeed. Not sure how smart it is going to China though. They aren't known for treating whistleblowers that well either (google tiger bench). China also isn't somebody like Iceland willing to stand up to super powers on principles alone. China would deliver Snowden in tiny pieces if the west gave them Taiwan scott free.

Windows NT grandaddy OpenVMS taken out back, single gunshot heard

asdf

RIP VMS

Hey look another incredible technology HP has let wither and die after it overpaid for it. VMS may still be the most stable and secure general purpose common OS. Sure a hell of lot better than HPUX will ever be.

BBC's Digital Moneypit Initiative known to be 'pile of dung' for years

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Trollface

bah

Being a long time reader of El Reg even as a Yank I have to say failed government IT projects are pretty much a given aren't they over there? (wish over here too sometimes but no PRISM seems to work but the US gov did piss away a billion to Boeing on an virtual fence that was real pork ). A $100 million wasted on a project wouldn't even make the news if it was Nulab responsible instead of the BBC.

HP's Ray Lane faces $100m tax bill over 'sham' tax shelter

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Mushroom

flame on

Eventually the scourge of greed that is the Worst Generation (Baby Boomers) will all die and society will begin to recover. Not before their grand kids are in bread lines the way things are going though.

Forget phones, PRISM plan shows internet firms give NSA everything

asdf

Re: Soctt's quote is valuable here:

These draconian orders require the companies to bald face lie to their customers about the collection. Yes that bill they ram rodded through Congress protects them from legal liability but good will loss doesn't require a court judgement.

asdf

Re: in the UK the government simply puts you in gaol

>If they could, the UK would still be a monarchy

The joke being I assume as a dumb yank you still technically are. Aren't a lot of the freedoms you have not guaranteed by anything but the queen letting you have them? Don't get me wrong it doesn't matter if you have a constitution guaranteeing rights if everyone ignores them and thinks they only apply to old technology like paper letters.

asdf

Re: Why are the right wing nut groups so scary?

Yep right wing and left wing circle back on each other at the extremes. Right wing wants to tell you what to do, left wing wants to tell you what you can have/deserve. Broken wings all around.

Intel unzips new Atom phone chip: Low power, fast - is that right, ARM?

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Re: No signs of competition yet

>ARM is overrated it is cheap for OEM's to use that is the only reason it is getting used. (And because everyone else is).

Bingo on both points which is why things are looking like a heavy lift for Intel. It has to stop a decade+ of ARM momentum in the space and do so on rather thin margins. My guess is unless Intel is ready to lose a significant amount of money for at least the next three years it doesn't have a chance in the space. That is assuming also they can blow away ARM on performance and battery life (matching is not near good enough at this point) as well.

asdf

Re: No signs of competition yet

>SoC design/build partners bring a great deal to the table

Virtually every major semiconductor company besides Intel is an ARM licensee and churning out ARM chips. Its Intel vs everyone else which is fine in high margin unique stuff but in the lower margins everyone pretty much the same Intel is quickly going to find its overhead is going to be a real disadvantage.

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Re: i wonder

And as for integrated graphics it will take a kick butt generation or two to get people to forget Intel was the company responsible for GMA (Games My Ass). Just the two words Intel Graphics is a chuckle.

asdf

i wonder

My guess is that if Intel would have moved away from the x86 instruction set for mobile back 5 or 6 years ago the landscape might be much different today. From what I understand from an EE friend, it would be hard to design a worse instruction set for mobile (power efficiency wise) than x86. Just the fact Intel seems to be close speaks volumes of their manufacturing prowess and with more money than GOD their ability to throw it at R&D.

asdf

eyes and a nose

No we swear this is the generation that people will buy ultrabooks and use our chips in phones. We are only six months away ...

asdf

Re: No signs of competition yet

All this ranting about how Intel has already caught up with ARM and will soon blow it away leads me to ask one question. Could you please show me a phone model even in the top 100 that has an Intel CPU? Intel does have the best fab technology in the industry in general but my guess is they are going to have a hard time accepting the margins that companies like TI, Motorola, etc make on ARM chip production.

El Reg drills into Office 365: The science of compliance

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Trollface

fake Trevor

>Hands on with Trevor

Bah there is only one real Trevor.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9NGrxZQ-7Ew

Leaks point to new mystery Macs 'with Jony Ive's fingerprints on'

asdf
Mushroom

flame on

Well based on my experience with my Mac Pro if you buy Apple the hardware build quality is awesome but count on Linux and even Microsoft (via Boot Camp but Apple is even trying to get rid of that) supporting your Mac far longer than Apple will. Forced obsolescence is the name of the game for Apple who are a hardware maker first and only do software to sell their hardware.

iPHONES and 'Pads BANNED in US for violating Samsung patent

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Re: Waste of Space (Don Jefe)

> I suspect most US citizens are convinced anyway that Samsung is ripping off Apple

Has to be a Euro who posted this where its assumed one will support national products and companies first and foremost and fight to keep out the rest of the world. Not only is the American market one of the most open in the world but the average American cares a lot more about price and features than nationality of the brand. In fact Apple was in the news recently for avoiding US taxes by moving things over to Ireland. Most of our brands have become so multinational that the premium we put on products that claimed to be American made is rather small. Supposed American companies usually sell better with Americans less out of nationalism and more because they understand better how to market in the land of McDonald's and Starbucks.

Facebook's Sean Parker fined $2.5m for tasteless eco-trashing wedding

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Trollface

Re: Wow

Beyond that. He is a total douche nozzle. He deserves to die penniless. His fortune and claim to fame are largely based on stealing other people's stuff / ideas.

Microsoft SQL Server 14 man: 'Nothing stops a Hekaton transaction'

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Re: Hang on ....

I did misspeak in implying competent DBAs aren't worth the cost. They are and most of the mom and pop shops that can't afford them stay startups until they fail. Also don't get me wrong I so prefer working on a system where the data schema has been designed by somebody that knows what the hell they are doing (the ultimate value add of a competent DBA). Crappy schema almost always results in a spaghetti code base almost regardless of the quality of the developers.

asdf
Trollface

Re: Hang on ....

>competent DBAs eh?

Yeah too bad most of the shops I have been in that had them (read could afford them) usually referred to me by the number on my badge instead of by my name. As for ripping on coders, that may be true for many but remember it was coders who wrote the database software in the first place. In fact in one of the shops I worked I saw a guy basically solo build a cut down in memory RDMS (with transaction log) using template metaprogramming code that would melt your face (shop wanted to avoid runtime fees and using open source stuff). Not fair to tar any computer profession as all hacks (except MCSEs and Web designers (developers hahaha) of course).

Another senior bod leaps overboard from foundering HTC

asdf

Re: What you didn't mention

Might have a point if they he was the only one but five senior managers in short order definitely hints at a trend.

asdf

Re: Spectacular change of circumstances

>HTC really was right up there with the Desire and Wildfire.

And and then here stateside they released the abomination that was the Thunderbolt as their flagship phone and have been struggling ever since.

Intel: Haswell is biggest 'generational leap' we have EVER DONE

asdf

hmm

Wake me when Intel's profits are actually increasing again. And to think Intel sold off their StrongARM division just as the mobility wave was forming in the mid 2000s. 2nd generation upper management is rarely as good as the founders.

Need a yawn icon badly.

Sacked Zynga bods learn their jobs are gone via Facebook

asdf

>Zyngas 'games' are pure unadulterated shite, I feel for the individuals, but

they should have known this was coming. There are people who have a reason to be surprised when their company suddenly collapses due to things like accounting fraud but that is not the case here. Everyone has known for months what a fail Zynga was so the employees had to know with the crap products they were putting out that the gravy train would end soon enough. When your company gets acquired and the parent company writes down half the value of the purchase in less than six months you really should have already been interviewing.

Minty fresh Linux: Olivia hits the virtual shelves

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Megaphone

Re: hmm

>Yes. the better half's power PC MAC G5 is unsupportable more or less.

>she would go for a linux with an OS9 style window manager like a shot..

And I am sure with something like yellow dog she can find it if someone looks. My Mac Pro is still Intel and not nearly as old and is still decent even for gaming. In fact both can be used for most everyday stuff which is why PC sales are so slow these days (even 5 or 6 yo machines are overkill for most people). The sad part is like I said the poor support Apple offers for all their computers (and iPADS, no IOS 6 for 2 year old at time iPAD 1 wow). I guess that is what happens when you make your money on hardware and not on software. You obsolete things as fast as you can.

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Re: Mint is a distro

Mint DE is great as long you never have to install a 3rd party non repository app on it. Saw the hoops I had to jump through to install the steam client and was like back to regular mint for me (not technically difficult but long term had pain the ass written all over it).

asdf
Trollface

hmm

Mint is far and away the best linux desktop I have used but it just wasn't good enough to force me to boot into into it instead of Mac OS X for the everyday stuff I do. Considering though how Apple is desperately trying to force obsolescence on my Mac Pro (need hacks for Mountain Lion) and make me buy another, the day might be coming when this is not true. So sad hobbyists support my Mac better than Apple does.

asdf

Re: brings back memories

>My first ever VB program was a version of this...

Wow young un then assuming first program was in VB. My first program was in BASIC too but it was loaded off a ROM at boot time and the IDE consisted only of a console full screen text editor. Still I am not all that old. Probably get some old timer on here that will tell you about the days of true core memory and the display being limited to a line printer only.

EFF files objections with W3C decrying addition of DRM to HTML5

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Re: DRM is exactly what Jeff Jaffe claims to decry

>you can't pirate anymore.

You seriously think DRM has stopped any kind of pirating. Even the legal system using heavy handed Stasi tactics hasn't ended piracy. DRM simply inconveniences legitimate customers. The more you piss off customers the less they buy your stuff. Companies like Sony haven't figured this out (and why their media side friendly CEO is long gone, and their survival as a hardware company is in doubt). I haven't pirated anything in years but when I see a company trying to deny basic customer rights like the right of first sale (to sell a product on) I do not buy their stuff no matter how good it is.

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Re: In an ideal world...

There is obviously many different draconian levels of DRM. Many people accept DRM if is done non intrusively and adds functionality such as with the Steam Client. Putting in DRM to keep people from First Sale rights (having the right to sell on games they have bought) is a whole nother matter. DRM more and more is less about protecting publisher rights and more about limiting customer rights and choices.

asdf

Re: In an ideal world...

>DRM is similar. It gives honest people pause

Of course that pause can last for a week when people can't play the game they legally purchased due to gimped DRM ala the recent SimCity EA debacle. All the companies I see big on DRM are struggling to survive lately (Sony, EA, etc). The only people who usually are forced to see the FBI warning telling them not to steal, legally purchased the item they are watching. Assuming your customers are all thieves is an easy way to lose tens of billions dollars for five years straight and be 1/5 the size of your heyday. Ask Sony.

Former Microsoft Windows chief: I was right to kill the Start button

asdf

no need for rants

What's the point. The wonderful thing about capitalism is the market speaks for itself. Just the fact this guy was let go a few weeks after win8 was released speaks volumes. As had been said many other places the OEMs will take it on the chin first before Microsoft because Microsoft can channel stuff and pull other tricks for quite some time (in addition to being able to rely on other non Win8 products). OEMs however have to shift hardware now or they take it in the crotch. In the next six months you are going to see one of the OEMs report a quarterly loss of the ages after they are no longer able to fidget with the numbers. Just the fact windows 8.1 is in the news months after release also speaks volumes. The only good thing I can see about Win8 for Microsoft is it might finally get rid of Ballmer.

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Thumb Up

Re: Iraq?!

Wow burn of the week. Love the wit you at least find in the posters on El Reg.

'Syrian Electronic Army' fails to crack Israeli water system

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lets see

The advantage to watching Syria and Israel go at it is because both are basically rogue nations you don't have to worry about things like international law getting in the way of the intrigue. Fake 3rd country passport used for assassinations, check, chemical weapons, check, destructive scada malware, check. Hope it stays confined to that crap part of the world as much as possible though.

Court orders Feds to hand evidence over to Kim Dotcom

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Trollface

sigh

Proving once again that Eric Holder is the African American Alberto Gonzalez (hack political operative who doesn't know crap about law enforcement and got where he did with buddies and affirmative action). More goodies from the Bush/Obama turd sandwich.

UN to call for 'pre-emptive' ban on soulless robot bomber assassins

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Re: f__k the UN and drones too i guess

>In the news lately?! Wow, but you have a glacial time sense.

BBC released a report in the last few days showing how the program the UN announced last year in Haiti to fix the cholera mess they made (and deflect blame) has been a total failure. The UN turned around and blamed it on everyone not giving them more money.

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Re: f__k the UN and drones too i guess

>In other words, to hell with the people whose nation was shattered by a natural disaster because the UN screwed up relief.

Not all all. Haiti deserves a helping hand. But not by the UN who has shown all they do is talk, gobble up money, and at best do nothing and often make things worse. NGOs are the way to go there. Still honestly I would rather give to charity closer to home. These days don't have to look far to find someone that needs help.

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International law is a suggestion

International law hahahahaha! What a joke. If there was such a thing as international law Cheney and Rumsfeld (Obama too actually) would be in the Hague.

asdf

wow

Yes the taliban warrior is all about honor. Honor is stoning your sister for dare being raped. Honor is throwing acid in 9 yo girl's faces. That country will be a shit hole 1000 years from now just like was 1000 years ago.

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Re: f__k the UN and drones too i guess

The worst part is the stupid UN wants two billion from member states to fix its own f__kup. Yeah good luck with that. Times are a bit tough and money is a bit tight to being giving to Euro bureaucrats to do nothing but talk about things in some resort in Monaco or hell even in New York.

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Re: Autonomous weaponry

Don't worry it will be but by our security services looking to keep us "safe". Nothing to hide, nothing to fear and all that jazz.

Sacred islet Rockall repels Brit adventurer's first assault

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Re: I miss the Rockall Times

Actually wasn't that some song by some witty Brit Steve Allen type of comedian in the 1950s? As UK readers mostly know and Yanks might not the North Atlantic is not to be f__ked with. Any body of water capable of producing a wave than almost capsized one of the biggest ships in the world that was carrying 16,000 people at the time, is not a place to land on a tiny rock and get your skull smashed in in the process.

Tears, laughter and bankruptcy: How not to go bust

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Re: Hard times

He is a star and would buy him one too but unfortunately he is a minority. Him doing that means he probably works for a living like the rest of us. Usually to be a millionaire you are either very lucky or you screwed over somebody pretty much for life. If you are a billionaire then you screwed over multiple people for life (forget luck).

Never mind your little brother - happy 10th birthday, H.264

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Trollface

congrats h264

Only with the latest TV technology have you finally showed why you are better than xvid (MPEG-4 ASP) when done by an expert. Only took a decade.