Posts by Pascal Monett 18232 publicly visible posts • joined 10 Apr 2007
Well in France the Canal+ encryption scheme used to be easy to get at, but they've cleaned that issue and now, if you don't pay, you don't get Canal+.
I do now know of any hackers that manage to bypass that. Not saying there aren't any, but what little there are are not hurting Canal+ revenue any more for sure.
I just received a few days ago a mail posing as PayPal urgently advocating that I should do something to my account because it was going to be closed.
I actually like getting those mails : it's always the hunt for the detail that proves it's just horseshit that amuses me. This one had a return address on a russian domain. Come on guys, you can do better than that.
Then there are all the idiots who send me a RE: mail. You fail automatically because I always put a subject in my mail. The ones with RE: and a word are not better off because the word they choose is never one I would choose, plus I have no Eric in my contact list. I might have an eric.something@somewhere.com, but I never enter anyone with just their first name.
Then there's the spam in German. That really kicks my funny bone because I have never written to anyone in Germany and I couldn't read German to save my life.
It seems that just a bit of organization is enough to defeat almost all phishing attempts and reveal spam for what it is : a load of bollocks.
Oh, and spammers, please never learn how to spell. That would make your trash a lot more difficult to filter.
I always have read your articles with relish, and this response is simply a delight.
Thank you, Sir, for having given me a recognizable construct with which to apprehend the issue of Dark Energy. I do believe I actually get it now - the Universe unfolding and something has to allow it to unfold. I guess I might have been a bit blindsided by the term "Big Bang" (I am generally not altogether dismayed by Michael Bay films, I must humbly admit). Now I understand why much more intelligent people than me didn't like the term.
In any case, your response is also interesting to me because now I understand that there might be a limit to this "unfolding", which means that, at one point in some undetermined future, the Universe will attain a point of equilibrium and stop expanding. Excuse me while I pick my jaw up from the floor. Science is just bewilderingly exciting, isn't it ?
But, even if the Universe does stop expanding, that will not really stop its Heat Death, now will it ? Or is it remotely possible that this Dark Energy I am beginning to see the outline of in the deep London fog (sorry, couldn't resist) will dissipate into some other form of energy and keep the Universe heated ? Or, after having uncoiled the Universe, is it possible that it contracts everything again to give us the Big Crunch that already has been evoked ?
I'm feeling a bit dizzy now, I guess I'll have to lie down my brain a bit. Watch something with explosions to set it back on track again. The Expendables, maybe. Yeah, that should do the trick.
Sincerely, thank you.
Indeed not.
For the life of me I cannot imagine that Dark Matter exists. I'm convinced that it is gaseous particles, or maybe even small asteroids that orbit galaxies and make up for the "missing matter". After all, we can hardly spot asteroids in our very own Kuiper Belt, and spotting them in the next solar system is simply impossible - so a in a galaxy millions of light-years away it is unconcievable.
But a scientist I am not, and these people are. So if they theorize that Dark Matter and Dark Energy exist, and if their theories hold out, who am I to say they're wrong ? Nobody, that's who.
I still don't understand what Dark Energy is, though. Then again, I can't calculate the inertial mass of my car at 50 km/h and understand what the result means, so . . .
They now have the layout of the Police station their scout was detained in. Next step is raiding the arms locker and recovering the taser units. Then the final battle will take place when the notorious Nut Gang assault a supermarket at taserpoint and make off with all the walnuts.
They're organized, I'm telling you ! Like the chickens !
Targeting US Gov agencies, eh ?
We'll see if the Government can resist such maneuvers, or if it doesn't need the NSA to hand over critical data unwillingly.
For the sake of the individuals it may concern, I sure hope nothing comes of this attempt.
Cruise ships ?
Oh, you mean the floating bacteria incubators with scores of obnoxious malodorants you just can't seem to get away from ? And who are fully ready to trample over you on the way to the fully overstocked free-for-all sickness distributor called a "buffet" ?
No thanks, I'll pass.
Windows on a USB stick. Practical, for sure, better read speeds than a DVD for certain, but a basic USB stick is eminently copyable.
Given that you have to pay for these sticks (instead of downloading it for free on your PC), that has to mean that the USB stick has some form of DRM protection to prevent it being copied, otherwise they won't be selling many and we'll see the ISO on Pirate Bay the day after they start selling them.
Which we probably will see anyway.
I'm sorry you disagree, but I don't remember seeing ANY Personal Computers before the IBM PC, so I don't know where you get the notion that "there were LOTS of PCs around".
Once IBM sold the PC, and once MS-DOS was the standard OS for it, then it started selling. That article I linked to specifically states that "The IBM PC was the first PC that justified widespread use".
So, in effect, you are saying that there were many models in existence before the IBM PC, which I will not dispute. I am saying that Microsoft heralded the era where everyone has a computer at home, which is why it is Microsoft that is the multi-billion dollar behemoth it is today, and not Atari, BBC Micro, or any other of the dozens of previous companies that failed to survive.
I do agree that there were tinkerers and platforms available. It was not, however, the global market it is today in any sense of the word. That market, like it or not, WAS created by Microsoft. It has now been extended and is in the process of being taken over by others, which is the way of things.
And no, despite your contempt, I do not believe in any way that Microsoft has created the Internet. Check out my post history and you will clearly see that I have repeatedly stated that Microsoft has missed every boat that ever sailed past it once it had Windows and Office.
Actually, The Challenge for MS is to find a niche that will keep itself relevant in a post-PC world.
Microsoft has had only one platform since its inception : the PC. Personal Computing started with Microsoft, and that is a Good Thing (TM), but now the types of platforms available for the Personal Computing experience have multiplied and none of the other types are under Microsoft's control.
The PC market is shrinking like a balloon after a race. Users are no longer interested in the big, clunky boxes with the unwieldy interface, and even laptops are getting the stinkeye from people who have no technical knowledge and no inclination to acquire some.
Tablets, Kindle and smartphones are the new future of computing, and Microsoft is not present on those markets. Ergo its desperate attempt to shoehorn its new OS with a tablet interface onto anything that has a screen in order to be able to scream "we're here !" all over the place.
Unfortunately, in the process MS has vertically filed the PC user experience of millions who have gotten used to one way of doing things with keyboard and mouse for the past two decades and do not take kindly to having their private computer filled with ads and notifications that they need to subscribe to this or that to do something they've been doing quite nicely in their own corner since their first computer.
Microsoft has mountains of cash, so it has time to find a new way. Given its current attitude and total lack of logic in presenting the new version and its functions, it seems that it will be a costly wait for Microsoft.
Nah, no use. We're boned. The entire species is boned.
Half the planet doesn't get how this Internet thing works yet, the other half doesn't even have computers in the first place. Until such time as our global society has attained a level such as every human being is confronted to the computing experience equally, we are going to be continually plagued by successive waves of clueless users falling into the same traps that were old last millennium.
Hotmail, Facebook, social media milking your personal data for ad money, it's going to go on forever until every single human understands exactly what it is he's giving up and decides not to play along. Of course, at that point humans will vote responsibly, not accepting corrupt liars and demagogues like today. There will be work for everyone because everyone will understand that one must be useful to society and pay one's taxes if we want this civilization to work out for everyone. It'll be strawberries and cream for everyone, and the likes of Zuckerberg will be in rehab centers to socialize them properly. We will be prancing through the stars, bringing responsible management everywhere we go.
In other words : it's never gonna happen.
Certain types of user ? Let's be clear : upper management.
The kind that has always been setting rules for the peons and giving themselves great leeway in whatever restrictions they endure. Internet access has always been uncontrolled for those kind anyway, so it follows that BYOD is also their reserved domain.
In other words, nothing new under the sun. IT has always had to deal with their "special permissions" - BYOD is just another headache among the vast amount imposed by the technically incompetent, walking security disasters that happen to be the ones evaluating the security-conscious and determining whether or not the useful ones get a raise.
Yes, it is quite amazing what a group of truly intelligent people can achieve when the situation calls for it.
However, they did not start from scratch. They started with all the documents that German scientists had brought them, and they had some leading German scientists to continue the work.
Not that that diminishes their achievement in any way.
The staff itself redacted a report without telling the board before presenting it to the board.
Dear God, that is wrong is so many ways I don't even know where to start. If I were on a board and I learned that that happened I guarantee said staff would be out the door with a lawsuit and without a paycheck in the following seconds.
Apparently, the gigantic level of hubris on the board has, like a chemical spill, seeped into the lower layers of hierarchy. It's starting to look like an infestation, actually. One that can only be cleansed by fire.
Really ?
So the French police series which have a suspect placed "sur écoute" are just cheating ?
Ah no, I get it. Vodaphone doesn't have a technical implementation because the French government is bypassing them at the relay stations.
Yeah, that must be it.
Last year more than 5 million Toyotas, this year over 1.1 million shared between Toyota, Ford and Land Rover.
Is this a game of Who Can fail The Hardest ?
Seriously though, cars are more and more sophisticated and every single recall seems to be based on software issues affecting the hardware.
I have no doubt that, contrary to Microsoft, Apple, Oracle or even IBM, actual engineers are at work on those software packages. I really would like to find something snarky to say, but somehow I think that these guys are really working their asses off, contrary to the pure software houses (ie the "you're holding it wrong" team).
Vehicles exist in the real world. Phones, tablets and PCs exist in their own world. When you're confronted to actual physics, things aren't so simple.
The problem is not that they ask. Anyone is entitled to ask.
The problem is that the government just might give them the money, instead of fostering a proper copyright environment and cleaning out the patent issues.
But nobody likes cleaning the toilets when having a barbecue is so much more fun.
Isn't that pushing things a bit ?
I mean, on what other browser platform can you get NoScript ? (Seamonkey)
I'm sorry, but as long as Firefox is practically the only browser I can add NoScript to, I don't feel safe with anything else. Personally, I think EVERY browser should disable Javascript by default, to be enabled on a case-per-case basis. And don't tell me about IE's "permissions", a more laughable set of confusing options does not exist. Chrome ? Let's not go there at all. Whitelist is the way to go.
But yeah, I know, never going to happen, revenue and all that.
If you spend every other week doing damage control about what you said the week before, it is high time you delegated your speeches to a committee which will vet your words and put them in the mouth of someone who is trained to speak in public.
Because you sure as Hell aren't.
Another one bites the dust.
Look, I know security is hard, and Games of War being a rather successful franchise, it was only a matter of time. Still, it's getting dreary now.
And really, losing user details on a FORUM ? For fuck's sake, is it really that hard to not put user credentials on the same authentication path as the posts ?
Else this whole thing is way more technical than I can comprehend, but damn, this is just a drag.
Raising a pig on a spaceship is well nigh impossible, I'd wager. Having a bubbling vat of bacon-kehl producing 30/50/100 pounds a month will be a real lifesaver in the depths of space.
Of course, in space, no one can hear you fry.
Sorry, but fuck that.
I already have the apps I need. I have bought them. They are mine. I do not believe that Windows 10 is all that different from Windows 7 - Microsoft has already amply demonstrated that it was totally allergic to truly new code (otherwise we wouldn't have seen many of the same vulnerabilities for Vista then we saw in XP).
If Win10 cannot accept installing my existing apps that I do not need to rent, I see no use for it.
If Windows 10 prevents me from installing things that work perfectly well under Windows 7, then it is simply not fit for purpose.
In any case, I am in no hurry to upgrade. My Win7/64 platform works fine and does what I need at the speed I need to do it. I sincerely hope that, by the time I need to replace the hardware, Steam OS will be a reality and I can get a Linux build that will not blow my neurons to get working and be finally done with this bloated virus platform called Windows.
Unless they revert to a proper PC-based UI and do away with any "store" requirements. If Microsoft can accept that it is MY PC and I know how to manage it without needing a nanny every second click, then maybe I'll check Windows 1 0 out some day.
Microsoft's "minimum requirements" have always only been the requirements to run the OS.
Apps are an additional burden that you need to provision for, which nobody knows how to do.
In my view, with today's prices on RAM, if you try with anything less than 8GB, you are wasting your time. Windows 7 needs 16GB to run okay. If Windows 10 really is the bee's knees some people are making it out to be, well 16GB won't hurt, right ?
And as for disk space, your OS on one disk, your data on another with the swap file. Been working like that since Win95 and I've never seen any reason to do otherwise.
Of course, if you have a laptop, all that is out the window.
Performance-wise, your post is interesting.
I'll have to try and get a version running on a spare machine, just to get a feeling of it.
But I simply hate the interface, and even more the Store and the principle of renting my apps that is barreling down in a very visible train.
My apps are mine. I've already paid for them, I will NOT rent them yearly.
I God do I hate that interface.
"the nation fears back doors in chips designed or built in the USA"
The ripples of the Snowden revelations are becoming a tidal wave of backlash against spooks in general and the USA in particular.
America will rue the day it thought it could get away with pissing on its own Constitution.
Meanwhile, money is going to flow into the security sector, electronics are going to be balkanized at the state level, and the spooks are going to have to start working IRL again, putting bugs in offices and such because eavesdropping electronically is going to get a whole lot harder when every state has its own encryption scheme and chips to power it.
We're going into a Electronic Cold War, and I see no end to that one.
We're too busy munching Cheetos on our couch waiting for the next sports thing or the latest gutter trash news on the Kardashians.
The problem is not with the politicians - they'll do whatever they damn want as long as the Public is distracted.
We haven't gone an inch further than Panem et Circenses, and it's all our fault.
I was listening just yesterday to some French radio channel. They had an economist/historian who going on and on about how we only had one party, because Left and Right were both doing the bidding of Big Corp and voting laws in its favor. He stated that true democracy would be no President and citizens voting directly for every law.
As if that would help.
Right now we have at least 60% of the population that doesn't bother to vote for anything. I don't see them all of a sudden waking up and voting on laws.
What we need is citizens who care about their vote, and inform themselves properly before making a decision. I say citizens should be vetted before being given the right to vote. Unfortunately, I'm pretty sure that is just as easy to circumvent as any other system.
But I remain convinced that it is the citizenry that needs to evolve and, as long as we care more about our TV than we care about our politicians, nothing will change.
Yeah, but YOU are nothing. An individual. A twig on the ground. You will be nailed for blackmail before you can blink and subsequently destroyed without a thought.
Google, on the other hand, is a multinational multibillion-dollar corporation employing tens of thousands of people, virtually controlling Internet search, practically IS the Internet, and oh, yes, influencing lawmakers with mucho dollars (with or without the brown envelopes ? Do they come with suitcases now ?).
Thus their actions are without consequence (except maybe for a piddling fine).
My thoughts exactly.
Flash is free, so there is no dip in revenue.
Flash security is hopelessly undermined, and Adobe obviously cannot hire anybody with the skills needed to clean it out, so farm the thing to the Internet where skilled people exist and are certainly willing to take a gander.
Be serious guys, if you're still chasing after use_after_free() bugs, it's high time you stop thinking of yourselves as capable of programming. Leave that to the experts.
From what I've read around here, it was a rather complex and sophisticated hack, so the adjective "reckless" does not belong.
As for vicious, well I can't really sympathize with scum for being out-scummed. Like a rapist getting rogered in a back alley. Gosh, so how does it feel now, guys ?
If you get the dividends on a share, but do not own it, then how is the aggregator legally obliged to give you said dividends ? What legal stance have you to say "those are my dividends" if you are not the owner of the shares that give said dividends ?
Is this all a gentleman's agreement, or what ?
It is quite obvious I am not and never will be a lawyer.
Let me explain clearly :
If a company has to install suicide nets to keep its employees from offing themselves, then there is a problem THAT NEEDS SOLVING.
I do not consider suicide nets to be the solution. They are a band-aid to hide the problem.
In other words : I DON'T WANT ANYONE TO DIE FOR MONEY. CHINESE OR OTHERWISE.
That clear enough ?
Your turn : why do you think that suicide nets are a solution ? Keeping people from killing themselves in despair by removing their ability to do so but not removing the cause of their despair is normal for you ?
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