Posts by Pascal Monett

Ever felt that a few big tech companies are following you around the internet? That's because ... they are

I don't see why I should use it

I use NoScript. Anything that uses JS on a site I have not authorized is dead in the water.

Not impressed.

'Meritless': Exam software maker under fire for suing teacher who tweeted links to biz's unlisted YouTube vids

"protect our intellectual property"

Your intellectual property that is blatantly displayed in public video available on YouTube ?

Is this a joke ?

You're not protecting your IP, you're trying desperately to protect your reputation, just like Diebold.

And, just like Diebold, you're going to find out that using lawsuits to silence criticism does not work.

NTT boffins reckon they’ve out-randomed current quantum random number generators

Yeah, the day we get there.

And, as for cutting through current classical crypto schemes like a knife through butter, you have to have the knife.

So, fusion or quantum : which will we get first ?

Qualcomm under fire for 'anticompetitive' patent shenanigans causing pricey UK smartphones

"higher smartphone prices"

Oh, because you want me to believe that Apple would have sold its flagship phone at $500 if Qualcomm hadn't been there ?

Pull the other one.

Revealed: The military radar system swiped from aerospace biz, leaked online by Clop ransomware gang

So, the thieves published designs of 10-year-old tech

Okay, they might well have accessed more recent designs but, on the other hand, I doubt they have the technical ability to choose designs that are old before revealing more recent ones.

Of course, the creation date of the files might render that argument moot.

If they only got their hands on decade-old tech, maybe it doesn't matter so much ? It has surely been replaced by more recent tech. Sure, it's still a bad thing for the companies involved and their customers, but it might make it easier to decide not to pay them - which, ideally, should never happen.

Obviously, even 10-year-old tech designs could be very interesting for some third parties, so yeah, it's still a bad thing. This is military hardware though, those thieves might want to start looking over their shoulders in the future. The CIA can reach pretty far when it wants to.

Thirsty work: TSMC starts trucking in water amid Taiwan drought to keep chip production lines chugging

"two to four million gallons of water per day"

So that's 7.5 to 15 million liters of pure, drinkable water that is made toxic and, apparently, gets purified before being returned to "the water supply".

I damn well hope so.

Now, if the water is being taken from the dam, used, then purified again and returned to the dam, where is the issue ?

Actually, shouldn't this whole thing be a closed loop, only topping up to compensate for evaporation ?

The plant should have a 20 million liter reservoir, with water being constantly used, purified, stored and used again.

Not doing that is a clear sign that used water cannot be purified to the level they need to use it again, meaning it's likely not water that goes back to the dam, nor is it water you'd want to drink.

And then Texas got covered in snow.

Alexa, swap out this code that Amazon approved for malware... Installed Skills can double-cross their users

"Any offending skills we identify"

The problem, apparently, are the offending skills you don't identify.

It's all well and good to have a security API defending personal information, but if anyone can ask for a credit card number without using that API then it's not much use, is it ?

Once again, a problem was recognized but the proper solution was not implemented. Solution which would have been requiring developers to submit their "Skill" (ugh, I hate that notion) as raw code, to be reviewed by Amazon drones, compiled and tested. The code review would catch things like that.

Of course, Amazon would have to hire competent coders who would spend their time reviewing code, which would be more expensive and time-consuming, but mostly more expensive. But nothing should be able to pass through that kind of filter.

UK minister tries to intervene after Government Digital Service migration mangles Ministry of Justice webpages

I wonder if they've hired some IBM people ?

Links that point to vastly different addresses, useful information hard to find and, when you finally find it, difficult to understand, yep, they must have hired an IBM consultant.

Microsoft spearheads a whole new genre with installation on the side of a Lyon tunnel

Looks like I have :)

I'll pay attention to that the next time I install Office.

Meanwhile, somebody needs to tell LibreOffice that they goofed up then.

Re: On a related subject...

Um, it's the Underground.

There aren't many drivers to worry about.

"Microsoft's internationalisation efforts"

Still needs some work, IMO.

My Windows is installed with location = France, language = English, keyboard = French.

Guess what the default install laguage is when I install new software ? French, obviously.

The fact that I specified English as my interface language apparently has no bearing on the fact that two out of three of those parameters say French, so the intern who did the code obviously decided to average out the answers to chose what language to use.

Yeah but language = English. You don't need to be an engineer to know which language to use !

HP loses attempt to deny colossal commission to star sales staffer

Despicable

If you don't like the idea that a salesdroid can be paid a barrelful of money, then create a bonus scheme where that won't happen.

If you create a scheme where somebody can get a million bucks, and someone gets there, then you bloody pay them the million bucks.

It's simple.

Microsoft unveils swappable SSDs for Surface Pro 7+ but 'strongly discourages' users from upping their capacity

Strongly discouraged

Why ?

What Byzantine hardware and software rules has Borkzilla implemented to make it difficult to swap a disk for a bigger one ?

Since when has putting in a bigger disk ever been a problem in computing when using approved models ?

Is Borkzilla trying to insinuate that Surface Pros are factory-limited to what was installed at build time ?

So many questions, so many possible stupid answers, but no good ones.

Mozilla Firefox keeps cookies kosher with quarantine scheme, 86s third-party cookies in new browser build

"Google [..] are racing to develop various Privacy Sandbox proposals"

No need, Mozilla has a great idea. The cookie jar seems perfect to me. A jar per website, and nobody's hands in any jar they don't belong. Sounds good.

Of course, that will not be to Google's liking, but I don't give a rat's ass about that.

Pyrrhic victory: Co-Op wins £13m from IBM over collapse of £175m Project Cobalt insurance platform contract

I'm thrilled

"IBM is also pleased that the judgment reduced CISGIL's inflated damages claim to a fraction of what was claimed recognising the contractual allocation of risks "

I'm thrilled that IBM is pleased about the reduction of the payment and totally disregards the damage that this case has done to its reputation.

Although, given the current state of its reputation, I guess the damage isn't all that bad after all.

What's CNAME of your game? This DNS-based tracking defies your browser privacy defenses

Indeed : "it is possible to include an arbitrary JavaScript payload that will be executed "

No, it won't be.

SpaceX small print on Starlink insists no Earth government has authority or sovereignty over Martian activities

Re: Starlink (or similar) for Mars makes sense

They could use radio ?

It worked well enough for us for a while, and actually still does.

My thoughts exactly. Any corporation based on Mars is absolutely outside of Earth dominion, but as long as your ass is on Earth, you are very much subject to Earth law, even if your activities are outside of Earth's atmosphere.

So, Elon, when are you moving to Mars ?

UK's Health Department desperately seeking service provider to run IT after 'cloud-first' shift

"the government department said it has 'transformed' services"

I very much doubt that.

The only thing that has been "transformed" is the internal memorandum on how services should behave - and even then, the only change made was to replace the word "server" by the word "cloud". I don't think anyone in the high spheres of administration have an effing clue about The Cloud (TM), nor do they actually know what their services are doing on a daily basis.

But hey, UK Gov has tens of millions of pounds to spend, so . . .

Clop ransomware gang leaks online what looks like stolen Bombardier blueprints of GlobalEye radar snoop jet

One thing is for sure

The 2030's is going to see company network security beefed up by a large margin.

There have been so many high-profile hacks since a few years, I cannot imagine that the security industry isn't feeling a major kick in the rear and is going to react in a big way.

At least, I hope so, or God save our data because we won't be able to.

Samsung shows off next-generation big-pixel camera sensor tech, coming to an Android phone near you

"You don't want quantity – you want size"

While I do think the phone industry has gone a bit mad about the amount of pixels, I welcome a reasoned argument about how less is sometimes better (stop sniggering at the back).

As for me, I'll stick with my Canon EOS 400D for my important pictures, like family events. Phones exist only to grab a pic when you've not got anything better.

Spotify to introduce lossless audio streaming: Better sound or inefficient gimmick?

"it reduces the quality for discerning listeners"

The music industry doesn't give a damn about discerning listeners. The music industry is all about whatever the young people care about, because they are the ones glued to their phones and most susceptible to spend money on streaming services.

The discerning listener can go buy vinyl.

Nominet sets the date for extraordinary meeting where members could fire CEO

“no credible alternative plan has been put forward”

That sentence was not finished. It should read : “no credible alternative plan to ensure the current Board's lavish lifestyle has been put forward”.

Microsoft sides with media groups, together they urge Europe to follow Australia's lead, make Google, Facebook pay for news article links

"Microsoft has sided with publishers"

I wonder what the decision would have been if FaceBook belonged to Microsoft ?

Microsoft survives today for two reasons : 1) it's bottomless pit of money, and 2) Windows and Office, which are the defacto standards of computing.

Everything else Borkzilla has tried has basically failed to bring in money. Windows Phone is only the latest disaster, there have been others. Borkzilla is in the back seat on the Internet, it is no longer calling the shots.

I wonder if it is going to start a news outlet. Being paid by Google & FB would certainly be the ultimate irony.

NASA sends nuclear tank 293 million miles to Mars, misses landing spot by just five metres. Now watch its video

Re: Magnificent!

That video brought tears to my eyes.

So awesome !

Forget GameStop: Keyboard warriors and electronic trading have never mixed well

You might want to check out this video and revise your understanding of how the brain works.

If you don't want to watch all of it, the relevant part starts at point 12:45.

Enjoy !

House Republicans introduce legislation for outright ban on municipal broadband in the US

It's what they do

They are Republicans.

The last four years have amply demonstrated what it is they do : shit on the Constitution, morals and the law whenever possible while favorising their billion-dollar corporate buddies.

This is no longer a political party, it's a mafia.

Citibank accidentally wired $500m back to lenders in user-interface super-gaffe – and judge says it can't be undone

I find IBAN transfers to be very reliable myself. The only hassle is that, in some banks, you have to record the recipient's details and wait for the bank to check them before being able to use it.

It's a hassle, but like all security, it's a good hassle to have.

Well, Citibank went to court to recover half of it, so no.

"all believing the settings were correct"

And nobody checked. A billion dollar transfer and nobody checked.

Three different "managers", and they all blindly clicked OK without checking themselves, or checking that the previous guy had did the job properly.

Rubber-stamp management is easy.

Citibank certainly does not deserve to get the money back.

UK Supreme Court declares Uber drivers are workers, not self-employed: Ride biz's legal battle ends in a crash

Well done

And kudos to the UK Supreme Court judges for not having been blinded by lawyers wearing expensive suits. It is good to see that Reason and Justice can still prevail against corporate greed.

"We respect the court's decision" - well of course you do now, you have no other option but. And of course, now you wish to engage with drivers and listen to them, but you won't hand out mass employement contracts unless they go before an employment tribunal - which many will probably decide is not worth the hassle.

So, in the end, Uber hasn't really lost much and, cherry on the cake, those "employees" can easily be fired in the near future as soon as they make a mistake.

So I heartily applaud the decision, but until it is enshrined in law and valid for all UK Uber drivers be default, it's not really a win in my view.

Fancy a £130k director of technology role with the UK's Ministry of Justice? All you need to do is 'fix the basics'

"Court digitisation has gone poorly in the UK"

Could someone please point me to a Government IT project that has not gone poorly in the UK ?

Just one ?

Because I can't remember ever hearing about one.

Emergency services communications ? The old one was going to be cut off and the new one wasn't in place.

NHS ? Please.

No, somebody please tell me that something has gone well in UK Goverment IT services.

Oh, the lifts are working ? Well that's something, I guess.

Nvidia cripples Ethereum mining on GeForce RTX 3060 to deter crypto bods from nabbing all the kit at launch

Sorry, Nvidia, tweaking your driver is not the solution

The solution is simple : only allow the purchase of one card per credit card number.

Gamers generally only buy one card, it's the miners who buy them in stacks of four.

Of course, the miners could manage getting four credit cards, but if you had announced the move on the day the sale started, that would have them flummoxed and the gamers would win.

It's impossible to get three more credit cards in a day, and once the gamers had gotten their legitimate share, the miners would have wasted a lot of time.

Atheists warn followers of unholy data leak, hint dark deeds may have tried to make it go away

Not a hack, an inside job

Which basically means that not even atheists can be arsed to keep themselves under the same banner.

Is there anything Humans will not fuck up ?

AWS tops up the Bezos rocket fund thanks to more money from Brit tax collection agency

"that still doesn't make tax avoidance ethical"

Obviously not, but unfortunately ethical and legal are two different things.

CEOs are not there to be ethical - they exist to "maximise shareholder value". As long as that situation is not changed, there is no amount of laws that will force a CEO to things ethically.

The only thing that can have an impact is public image. That is why is critically important to continue flaying online any company that underpays its workers, does not keep bonus promises, does not provide a safe workplace, or sources components from child labor or slave labor conditions.

We, the citizens, are the last force to make CEOs comply to what we think is ethical.

If we don't do it with our voices, the law cannot do anything about it.

Australia facepalms as Facebook blocks bookstores, sport, health services instead of just news

I am totally convinced that that is exactly what is happening.

Hero to Jezero: Perseverance, NASA's most advanced geologist rover, lands on Mars, beams back first pics

Re: how do you think Cruise Missles find their target?

You're right, but Cruise Missile Terrain Navigation code is not available on GitHub.

Or anywhere else, for that matter.

You want me to do WHAT in that prepaid envelope?

Re: Compared to a colonoscopy …

Yeah. Don't like the procedure, but I've already mailed my poop twice.

Saves a ton of time at the doctor's office as well.

Post-COVID-19 biz travel: Jet in, go to hotel, meet in rooms sliced into sealed halves to separate locals and visitors. Still get jetlag

Yeah but, well, no

There are enough visioconferencing tools available, and email makes a perfectly sanitized hole in the wall.

I see no reason to waste more than a day in a plane, not to mention airport hassles, in order to not be able to take advantage of the local nightlife, or even do a bit of shopping.

If I'm supposed to be locked in a room during my stay, I might as well stay home.

The wastepaper basket is on the other side of the office – that must be why they put all these slots in the computer

The human mind is a frightening thing

What on Earth was he thinking ? Slipping bits of flammable material into a box that uses electricity, what is more natural ?

I mean obviously, this "computer" thingy has a portal to the waste dimension, right ? Isn't that in the specs ?

And the fact that the thin opening is not labelled "Waste Basket" is just a mistake, obviously.

It is one thing to not understand computers, it is an entirely different thing to build the intellectual fortress of stupidity that allows you to justify to yourself that you're doing nothing wrong.

The helldesk drone should have evacuated the building. Then, when time came for explanations, the responsibility of the user . . . would have been swept under the rug and the helldesk drone would have been blamed for wasting everyone's time.

Ugh, I hate stupidity.

Groupware is not dead! HCL drops second beta of Notes/Domino version 12 and goes all low-code and cloudy

Just watched the preview video from HCL

You can find it on YouTube here.

They've finally managed to make Notes browser-based. That is awesome.

Mail still has the same look. That is unfortunate.

But hey, Notes can now be completely browser-based. No more local client if you don't want one. And you can use it on a phone as well !

Can't deny it, HCL has put a lot of work in this version.

As a Notes developer, I can't wait to have V12 on my work laptop.

Teams, obviously

Notes has a very consistent UI, which is unique to itself, hasn't changed in almost two decades and mightily annoys many people.

Its backend, however, is a breeze for backup administrators.

Want your broadband fixed? Best write to your MP, UK's Zen Internet tells customer

Clearly a maintenance schedule issue

"This is an ancient ECI cabinet and the lines here have been problematic forever (lead sheathed paper insulated ... "

If this is true, then Openreach is guilty of not having upgraded that thing in due course. Openreach just let it rot to avoid the costs of ensuring proper service.

I'm guessing that a new cabinet costs a pretty penny, for sure, but unless I'm mistaken, Openreach is making a lot of pretty pennies. Time to drop one and make your service better.

Oh, and you might want to take stock of the age of all your cabinets and start planning their replacement dates.

Cred-stealing trojan harvests logins from Chromium browsers, Outlook and more, warns Cisco Talos

And bingo !

“CHM is a compiled HTML file that contains an embedded HTML file with JavaScript code to start the active infection process. "

Javascript, again.

Block it, and the install process fails.

NoScript FTW !

Machine-learning software scours database of already available drugs that could treat COVID-19 infections

Hmm, it seems that my information was out of date.

Thanks for the heads-up.

"repurpose existing drugs"

Um, like Hydroxychloroquin ?

Which has been largely demonstrated to help people recover from the respiratory sydrome ?

Sure, proper clinical trials are needed to establish facts with scientific rigor, but apparently millions have been treated with it and they're still alive to talk about it.

Mobile World Congress to run this year's Barcelona event in June with 50,000 attendees. We're speechless

Getting back to normal

Very nice words, but the only way to do that is vaccination. Until herd immunity has been achieved, there will be no normal.

This event is lunacy. I wonder how many people will actually sign up, I know I wouldn't.

Fujitsu scrapping fuel card benefit to cut costs, threatens dissenters with fire and rehire

"by removing the fuel card it would have saved"

You know what, Fujitsu ? By removing 80K employees you're also going to save a lot of money.

Oh, but you'll also be removing your means of making money. What a shame, eh ?

You want to make money ? You have to invest money. Salaries and bonuses are your investment to ensure that you continue to make money.