Posts by Pascal Monett

Smoking hole found on Mars where Schiaparelli lander, er, 'landed'

Well it is hell-bent on not breaking its 100% efficiency record.

Tesla's big news today:
sudo killall -9 Autopilot

Re: "losing out because the lawyers got scared"

Well Death does have a tendency to be scary.

The Internet of Things is 'dangerous' but UK.gov won't ride to the rescue

"research what successes have already been achieved"

Very interesting. Could you provide a list, perhaps ? If you can find any, that is ?

I'm sure the one or two won't be too taxing for an email.

Microsoft tries, fails to crush 'gender bias' lawsuit brought by its own women engineers

What ? Didn't SatNad say they should wait to be noticed in due time ?

And not only are they complaining, but they're bringing in a lawyer. Way to demonstrate how little faith you have in His Clairvoyant Vision And Impartial Justice. </sarcasm>

Then again, I would hardly be surprised if they were right.

Think virtual reality is just about games? Think again, friend

"if you are just creating the same experience [..] it makes no sense"

Finally a voice of sanity in an ocean of madness.

We've seen what a disaster 3D has become - the first time you see a 3D film you may be amazed, the 10th you're bored out of your mind. Why ? Because all they do at the moment is tack 3D cheap thrills onto a 2D story - nobody is making 3D mean something.

This is finally someone who is looking through the right end of the looking glass and searching for something that can be done with the technology, not just how to shoehorn it into yet another stupid film.

I now have hope that future entertainment will actually be different in some ways, instead of being a bunch of gimmicks bolted onto an archaic frame. Majestic, to be sure, but archaic nonetheless.

Then again, the steering wheel isn't getting any younger, now is it ?

You work so hard on coding improvements... and it's all undone by a buggy component

DevSecOps ? We're really going there ?

If you have to create a special lingo for including security into your development process, I think you're just highlighting the problem right there.

There should be no DevSecOps. It should be just plain old DevOps, because security shouldn't be anything special to the process - it should be right in the middle of the process. At all times.

Google has unleashed Factivism to smite the untruthy

Interesting approach, just one problem

It's the Presidential Elections. Since when have facts ever mattered during this period ?

Cisco president: One 'hiccup' and 'boom' – AWS is 'gone'

I take that as a rather good sign, overall

If the only thing to worry about is company financials, then the technical side is looking rather good.

Of course, I'm not saying there is no problem. If Amazon folds, there will be major chaos in many companies and that will translate into losing money - probably a lot of money.

On the other hand, with that risk in mind, if Cloudageddon does happen, I think there will be a linup of companies at Amazon's door with checkbook in hand to tide things over until stability can be found again - or at least until they can extract their data and move to (gulp) Azure.

After all, from a business standpoint, what is worse : upping the IT cost by a factor of two or three, or closing shop ?

The only thing I see that is really a risk here is that, if the financials fail, it will likely be sudden. I'm not sure that Accounting is all that Agile.

Euro politicians are hyping the terror threat to steal your privacy

Public opinion will swing

The whole problem with this issue is that, as I have already said, the politicians will always cater to public whim, and if the public is unaware, the politician will drum up the interest - but only if he is paid for it (by lobbying, of course).

The issue with security in general, and encryption in particular, is that the public is completely apathetic at this point in time, and the lobbyists are working hard to keep it that way - meaning that politicians have no incentive to step up to the plate.

It is going to take a series of hardships directly impacting masses of people for "the masses" to wake up and demand a change in sufficient numbers to override the current lobby efforts of companies for whom security is a direct hit to their current slurp policy.

A robot kitchen? Whatever. Are you stupid enough to fall for this?

Re: How do they deal with this little problem?

They don't and they never will.

This whole thing is a scam and the CEO is going to disappear with all the money as soon as he's met his personal target of however many millions he wants to bilk.

The company started three weeks ago, and it give it nine more before it folds. Any more than that, and the scam risks becoming too blatant even for the gullible.

Email security: We CAN fix the tech, but what about the humans?

Educating is not a target, it's a journey.

A never-ending one.

Roboats hunt 'mines' and 'submarines' on Ex Unmanned Warrior

Re: "The bad guys will have 1000's of automated sub killers"

Given that the only countries in the world that are conducting these trials happen to be the ones with the biggest overall military budget, I think that the "bad guys" are going to have a bit of trouble fielding thousands of automated anythings.

Unless we're talking about Russia or China, in which case, maybe.

But North Korea ain't gonna be automating anything any time soon, that's or sure.

Linus Torvalds says ARM just doesn't look like beating Intel

Re: "probably to avoid litigation with IBM"

Um, if I remember correctly, there was no chance of litigation since IBM did not bother to protect anything via copyright. It was a truly open market.

That's why IBM attempted a market takeover with the PS/2 when it realized how the market was shifting - except that it didn't work for various reasons, but mainly because there was no point, technically speaking.

Avoiding litigation with IBM concerning the PS/2 was definitely a concern, though, which is why the PS/2 is dead and the PC lives on.

Re: "It's about time governments got involved and forced the market open."

But . . . but . . the market auto-corrects itself !

Doesn't it ?

Boffins eschew silicon to build tiniest-ever transistor, just 1nm long

in which electrons as “heavier” and therefore able to be controlled ion shorter gates

I'm not a scientist, but I am somehow pretty sure that that phrase makes no sense.

Stickers emerge as EU's weapon against dud IoT security

Stickers OK, education, not so much

I am warming to the idea that the layperson, to use the OA's qualifier, is not the person to explain security to. If an entire generation of people could not learn to set the time on their VCRs (slightly exaggerated, I know), it is unreasonable to expect their offspring to understand the stakes in our security-lacking world of today.

Security needs a major shift into companies baking the security into their products and making it easy to use despite the user's cluelessness. Not an easy task given the lack of security awareness in companies at this point in time, but one that will become feasible after enough finger-pointing and IoT-based DDoS attacks.

So we're basically going towards a more security-friendly world one DDoS at a time.

Command line coffee machine: Hacker shuns app so he can stay at the keyboard for longer

And people still ask my why I don't want any IoT.

<sigh>

Yahoo! spymasters! patent! biometric! online! ad! tracking! IRL!

Re: go ahead and trac drivers

I do fully expect someone to sue because offended by the dildo ad he or somebody else got tracked into.

You know it's gonna happen.

NIST: People have given up on cybersecurity – it's too much hassle

"this overwhelming sense of not being able to keep up"

Not a surprise.

I started my computer experience in 1986, with MS-DOS 1.0. Folders didn't exist until 2.1.

I have had time to ease into each new functionality, learn its interest and how it works. I worked with Windows 1.0 and every iteration after until 7.

At the same time, I witnessed the rise of Internet connectivity and, in parallel, malware and spam. Learning how to manage mail, and avoid virus traps is an ongoing process.

I truly pity those who have to learn it all in one go today.

Is Apple's software getting worse or what?

Re: What are people expecting it to do?

Behave consistently between versions ?

OK Google, Alexa, why can't I choose my own safe, er, wake word?

Re: And if one's hands are busy or it's not in an easy to reach location?

Right. Because we can't live our lives any more if our digital assistants cannot assist us at all times.

WALL-E is a documentary after all - and I'm not talking about plant life.

Re: "they cased the place [..] and trained themselves"

I know Sean Connery has made some interesting films on that subject, but I think you're giving thieves waayy too much credit.

Most likely scenario when they get in and trip the alarm is they run like hell away from the place and set their sights on a "softer" targer - one without an alarm system.

Because thieves are not in it for the thrill, they just want easy money without hassle. It's a business, and you don't take uneccessary risks. Why bother with a well-protected house when there are so many that are so much easier to get into ?

Windows 10 market share fell in September

"Windows 10 has done very well at home"

Well duh. Malware is also doing very well at home, and that's exactly how MS got its system installed.

It takes a company with an IT department and dedicated staff to keep MS in check these days.

Stripped of its galaxy, this black hole is wandering naked in the cosmos

What is its speed ?

Can we measure that ?

Because every simulation I have made in the Universe Simulator tells me that, when stellar objects get ejected from their orbits, they get ejected hard.

If this thing lost a whole galaxy, it must be going at mind-boggling speeds.

Internet handover is go-go-go! ICANN to take IANA from US govt

"it will be the internet's users [..] who will ultimately decide"

Nope, wrong. It's going to be a very small group of people who have the habit of making arbitrary decisions without any regard for transparency, disclosure or even their own procedures who will decide.

And when you tell them just how wrong their decision is, they just look at you as if you are crazy and declare that the decision is right because they decide it is. And the absolutely unbelievable thing is that they are still not in jail for contempt of the Human race.

What could possibly go wrong ?

Blighty's telly, radio watchdog Ofcom does a swear

The watershed [..] still has wide support among those surveyed

An interesting bit of information, given that a fair proportion of parents I know take absolutely no care to put their children to bed before that time.

So basically, most people agree that swearing on the telly is bad before a given time, then let their kids up late enough so that they can hear it anyway.

<sigh>

Ladies in tech, have you considered not letting us know you're female?

Re: Get someone else to strip the personal information you don't want to see

That would be my first step if I had 50 employees and an HR department.

Unfortunately, I'm working with one associate and one employee who are on other projects and mostly not present, so that is not really an option.

Re: I'm a dude, he's a dude, she's a dude

The point you're not getting, Tim, is that saying "all they need to do" is exactly like saying "if she got raped it's her fault for being dressed like that".

Women should not need to do anything to get a job other than present their CV and competence, just like guys.

And it's up to us guys to make it so that happens, not up to women to pretend to be guys to get a job.

Re: You can say its ok because he apologized...

He didn't say it was ok, he just acknowledged that the article's author realized what a dipwad he had been.

I had the same burning rage to post a scathing comment on how women shouldn't have to hide their gender in any way to get a job and that was not what equality was about. I also deflated somewhat when I read his apology in the last part.

The road to Hell is paved with good intentions, and here I think someone has realized that he may have been talking with the best of intentions, but he blew it in a major way.

The point now is to get men to focus on what matters : the competence of the person their are interviewing, not the presence or absence of curves just below the collar line.

Coincidentally, I am currently conducting interviews for a training position for a customer. The job is to train people in Windows and MS Office. My criteria for getting an interview is : you have experience training people in Windows and Office. I have received dozens of CVs from people who do not have that experience on their CV. I don't care which gender they are, they're not getting the job. I try to avoid looking at the personal details until I have gone through the experience section in order to avoid bias. When I have an opinion on the CV, then I check who it is and where they live (because someone on another continent won't be available to start mid-October - and yes, this has happened more than once).

Termination fees for terminated people now against the law

It is a sad thing

when basic human decency has to be enforced by law.

A telecoms contract is not a debt, it is a service. If the person is dead, it is blindingly obvious that the service can no longer be used and the contract is null and void as of the date of death.

But basic human decency and Capitalism are two entirely different things.

User couldn't open documents or turn on PC, still asked for reference as IT expert

Either that, or she had other, very supporting arguments.

Re: her fault for being impatient

Um, she did what she was told to do.

If all my users did what they were told, my life would be easier because all I would have to do would be take care in how I told them to do something. Instead, like everyone here I suppose, I tell them to do one thing, they do something entirely different, then they come back and complain that what I told them didn't work.

Human rights orgs take Five Eyes nations to court

Re: In other news

If you have nothing to hide . . .

So I publicly declare that I prefer black stockings and high heels. And as for cell phone pics, please - I want my pics in 1980 x 1600 on a 42" widescreen.

Now, let's talk about curious coincidences in timing . . .

Re: Germany will be banging on the door right behind them as lucky number 7

Citation, please ?

Germany is the one country in this world that is dead against state surveillance and with good reason : there are people alive today that have witnessed what that brings about.

The unfortunate point is that there are not enough people like that, but apparently there soon will be, given the current trends.

So fret not, Citizens. In thirty or forty years there will be enough people to remember that it is not the People that should fear the Government, but the Government that should fear the People.

The only downside is the unknown number of disappearances that will happen in between...

Pisspoor IoT security means it'd be really easy to bump off pensioners

"letting machine learning take the strain of countering IoT malware"

Yeah, great idea : let's connect everything to the Hive Mind and let that sort out our security.

Forget doors, locks, windows . . . hell, forget walls while we're at it. Let's just hand it all over to the AI God and everything will be fine.

Here's a tip : when you want security, make sure you don't depend on someone else for it. A hardware firewall will give you better security than any remote AI will ever bring you.

Good Lord, to think there was a time when I thought all those people quoted in journal articles actually knew what they were talking about.

Why XPoint SSDs won't meet original speed claims: A guide

"We stand by the performance figures..."

No problem, bro. We'll check them when the hardware become available.

Then we'll see exactly where you stand.

Now, as far as I'm concerned, even if the actual performance is only divided by five, I'm not going to complain. Technology is a complex thing, and this is just about as close to rocket science as you can get without working for NASA or SpaceX, so I'm willing to cut them some slack if the figures aren't exactly what they said they would be.

Hell, four times faster instead of five would still be a win in my book.

Four US states demand restraining order to stop internet power handover to ICANN

Oooouuuhhh

Shit's getting real.

Microsoft warns Windows security fix may break network shares

Not far from - MS is trying its damndest.

Sad reality: Look, no one's going to patch their insecure IoT gear

Re: what's the cognitive dissonance that prevents this being tackled by [..] (governments)?

Governments respond most readily to what the public wants. If someone in government really wants something to happen, he will attempt to drum up public interest in order to justify acting on it.

So the problem is that people basically don't care, and nobody in government is being paid to care.

Simple, really.

Alleged German YouTube-to-MP3 ripper sued by labels

How is that supposed to work ?

Okay, yeah, arrgh, piracy, yarrrr, etc..

But hang on a minute, they file a complaint in California against a company in Germany.

I would have thought they would have to file in Germany. Okay, I know, Americans, but still : the judge is going to throw it out on the basis that the USA does not have jurisdiction over Germany, right ?

We've already had that kind of nonsense over the LHC some dimwit filed a complaint against and that was the result. Can it be any different this time ?

Lily Cole: You'd hate me more if Impossible.com were a success

"I don’t think our success is based on whether we’re making money or not"

You did not register the company managing Impossible.com as a non-profit, now did you?

If the company is not a non-profit and it is not making money, it is a failure, period.

US govt pleads: What's it gonna take to get you people using IPv6?

"what NTIA can do to promote greater adoption of IPv6"

NTIA doesn't need to do anything. In a perfect world, IoT tat will use its IPv6 addresses and we will stay behind out NAT firewall on IPv4, which still works perfectly thank you very much.

What I want is the assurance that any IoT piece of shite that might somehow find its way into my house won't ever be able to connect to the Internet without my express authorization. The fact that I have disabled WiFi is a good first step, in my opinion, but I'd appreciate if my ISP could give me a router with a specific "forbid IoT tat access" setting, or at least some form of authorization on a per-IP basis.

Did last night's US presidential debate Wi-Fi rip-off break the law?

"I can't charge you for the oxygen from my living-room ficus tree"

No, you can't. Welcome to communism.

Signs of recent tectonic activity found on cooling Mercury

"chemicals that have the potential to eventually form cells"

Mercury has next to no atmosphere, meaning no protection from UV levels that have to be way above what we get out here.

I doubt that any cells could survive in that kind of radiation bath.

'Geek gene' denied: If you find computer science hard, it's your fault (or your teacher's)

The amount of effort put into something is definitely what is most important. Those lucky ones who "get it" and surf on their ability would become outstanding if they put in the same effort as those desperately trying to get a passing grade.

Text input from thin air: boffins give Wi-Fi the finger with AI

Another step toward Minority Report-style computers

Now could someone tell me who exactly wants to manage a computer by gesture ? All day long ?

I sure as hell don't.

Microsoft hails pointless Privacy Shield status for its cloud services

I comply with the Privacy Shield

And so does my wife !

Sage advice: Avoid the Windows 10 Anniversary Update – it knackers our accounting app

"operating system updates end up disabling the framework"

Remind me one thing : .Net is a Microsoft product, right ?

So you're telling me that Microsoft created an update to its OS that knackered one of its own products and couldn't be bothered to find that out in the test phase ?

Does Microsoft really not have a test phase any more ?

I can understand knackering Norton or Avira, everyone gets a kick out of that, but your own product ?

Maybe you should be a little bit less Agile and a bit more thorough ?

"Actually hate Windows 1 0" - welcome to the club.

Narcissist Heidi Powell wants her dot-com and she wants it now, now, NOW!

@ Captain DaFt

Yeah, heard that one too. Funny, but the issue I have with this joke is that, in this case, the arsehole gets away with it.

I prefer asses getting their comeuppance.

US Labor Dept accuses CIA-backed Palantir of discriminating against Asian engineers

What about security ?

If this company is supposed to hire people to work on National Defense projects and need to be vetted and cleared for high-level security, is it all that surprising that the company tended to not consider applicants from outside the country ? Especially these days, in the current global climate of suspicion and racial hatred that permeates the news continually.

And saying that the pool of applicants was >70% Asian does not mean that the people hired should have included 70% of Asians. That is not a criteria.