Posts by Pascal Monett

Rackspace patches Windows Updater vuln

Yup, that's technology.

You can always screw up, but to really screw things up, nothing beats computers.

Astronomers spot 13-BEEELLION-year-old hot galactic threesome

Take me! Take me! I drink burbon too!

Doom god John Carmack teleports from id Software to VR upstart Oculus Rift

Everything needs to feature Christina Hendricks somehow.

'High impact' Gmail password security hole blew accounts wide open

fixed it within 10 days ?

Now THAT has to be an industry-wide record.

Not bashing Google - on the contrary, someone flagged a serious problem, Google assigned it a high priority and IT GOT DONE. Then the useful researcher got his due.

Which is the way it should be.

Unfortunately, many other companies should take note of this (eh, Yahoo! ?).

Those Xbox One first-day glitches: GREEN screens of DEATH, disc crunching

Re: run a Steamworks-hobbled game

Mr Gale:

I respect your choice of not wanting to purchase games through Steam. That is your undeniable right as a consumer.

I do, however, take exception to your notion that games are hobbled in any way through Steam. Steam does not hobble games, Steam enables you to enjoy them over two different platforms and through whatever hardware change you might have to go through - unlike the other turds that claim the same functionality (I will not give them the honor of naming them).

I buy ALL my games through Steam now. I have over a hundred titles purchased - sometimes titles that I already purchased on DVD. Yes, like Punisher, a title I had bought legitimately (like all my games) and screwed me over with DRM so draconian it wouldn't recognise its own install DVD. For that game I had to go and torrent a copy just to play with the game I had just bought (no return on unwrapped boxen - store policy because of "piracy" - once again it is the legitimate user that is screwed). Result ? I found it one day on Steam for €10 and now I can play it whenever I want without trouble.

I am tired of DVDs now. I never did appreciate the idea of having to slot in the CD/DVD just to play my game, and now I am fed up with it. I buy old titles I already have just for the pleasure of having them in Steam, where I know I can play them without hassle.

Steam lets me play my games when I launch them. Steam is always there, always has been, and has a track record that is light-years better than Azure. Steam does not lock down my games, it allows me to play them at my leisure, without hassle. So it checks I'm the owner ? What do you think your DRM-on-DVD does ? Same thing. And if my PC breaks down and I have to replace a component, when my PC is back Steam does not complain, does not force me to redownload everything, just asks me for my login info and voilà!, my game library is all there, ready to go (not like the other turds, who can force you to redownload if you so much as update your driver video).

I have never been more free to play than with Steam. Steam is a good platform. That is my experience.

Oh, and as for pricing : Left4Dead 2 for €5 during a firesale.

Beat that with your DVDs.

Re: functional high-quality hardware

Oh I'm sure someone is capable of making high-quality hardware, it's just that the XBone isn't high-quality hardware. It's an assemblage of shelfware components assembled by the absolute lowest bidder.

Our entire beancounter-controlled economy is based on bottom price. The fact that sometimes paying a bit more gets you a vastly improved item is totally missed by the accountants that run everything because they cannot evaluate the savings in support cost and other items, which prevents them from making an informed decision.

Instead, the choice is made based on price and price alone.

And what do we get in return ? Supposedly high-tech stuff with optical drives that make crunching noises, and can't boot properly more times than is reasonable.

No matter, the economy will correct the issue, and Microsoft will be forced to pay for replacements (as it is already used to) and write off another handful of billions in a stormy shareholder session.

Another jewel in Ballmer's iron crown . . .

Meet the FOUR-TON DINO that made little Tyrannosaurs SOIL THEMSELVES

Re: Obvious troll is...

pretty lame as well.

Vint Cerf: 'Privacy may be an ANOMALY, now over'. And it's no secret I think that

The other side of the world, in those days, was the next village over the hill. And all it took was someone from there to come over on Market Day and take a peek at the board.

I'm sure some of them did it.

Re: Learn to love the bomb

I don't like what you said, but I can't fault your arguments.

Stolen CREDIT CARD details? Nah... crooks desire your PRIVATES

So, even crime doesn't pay anymore ?

China opens its ears to snooping in foreign tongues

Oooooh boy, Brazil is going to meet Minority Report

Automating government repression.

I seriously wonder what kind of immorality is required to accept that kind of job. For a bit, I'm almost ready to believe the conspiracy theories on Lizard People dominating the world behind the scenes....

On the other hand, I'm guessing that the NSA is going to be calling Chinese consultants in great numbers in the coming years.

The fight for our privacy is being lost to general indifference, the upcoming fight for our liberty is going to cost us much, much more.

LG: You can stop hiding from your scary SPY TELLY quite soon now

Accepted in the T's & C's

So that's their argument ?

Ok, two can play that game.

I hereby declare the Consumer General Terms and Conditions.

1) Any Supplier agreeing to sell goods to a Consumer tacitely agrees to these conditions without right of refusing or contesting any of their conditions.

2) Any goods sold to a Consumer must be fit for their DECLARED purpose and without harm for the user.

3) ALL functions and functionalities of the goods must be declared. Any undeclared function is grounds for immediate return and reimbursement of the goods without question and without recourse.

4) NO, repeat NO transmission of data of ANY KIND without prior notice and ACCEPTANCE IN WRITING will ever be considered acceptable or even tolerable. Goods of any kind are purchased for the convenience of the Consumer, NOT to improve ad-targeting algorithms of the Supplier. The excuse that better targeted ads are a service to the Consumer is not acceptable since the Consumer has never requested ads of any kind.

5) The Supplier guarantees that the goods sold to the Consumer will only ever use the minimal network bandwidth that it requires to provide the DECLARED functionality. Any other possible network packet type MUST first require authorization from the user before being sent, must CLEARLY inform the user in PLAIN TEXT (not lawyer-speak or worse, PR-speak) of what the use of that packet is, and must refrain from sending said packet as long as user does not agree to its emission.

6) The Supplier is NOT allowed any excuse along the line of "if you turned it on then you agreed to this" to initiate network activity that is not a technical part of the primary function of the Goods. A radio's primary function is to recieve radio channels, sending monitoring data on which channels are listened to is not. A TV's primary function is recieving TV channels, sending monitoring info on which shows are viewed is not.

7) In case the Supplier finds itself guilty of transgressing any of these rules, the CEO, the Board and all Upper Management of the Supplier administration will immediately and voluntarily proceed to the nearest Consumer Correction and Oversight facility and self-attach themselves to the nearest Post of Penitance in order to recieve the twenty lashes of Consumer Needs Enlightment that will open their minds to the needs of the Consumer and train them to remain within that point of view.

8) Failure to adhere to any of these articles WILL result in the formation of a Consumer Correction Group which will, if sufficiently enervated, proceed to the headquarters of the Supplier and enforce a Temporary Local Correction and Oversight Facility with the goal of distributing the proper Consumer Needs Enlightment therapy to the assigned individuals. The Supplier notes that, in this case, the limit of twenty lashes may well be exceeded by individually frustrated members of the Correction Group, and thus absolves all members of all legal liability.

Yikes!

Big Brother is soo last millenium.

Xbox One site belly-up in global Microsoft cloud catastrophe

Yeah, but then they'll have to re-rename to Office 363 pretty soon, and that'll become a nuisance just like Patch Tuesday.

Hey, maybe they'll merge the two notions.

And why was this downvoted ? Seems a perfectly reasonable post to me. Are there Akamai fans grassrooting here, or what ?

Have an upvote on me.

Re: what Office 365 is about

It is about pushing everyone to a subscription model and making their "local" Office suite phone home every now and then to enforce that.

And that means that you are open to having your "local" copy locked and not be able to continue working if you don't pay your subscription. Or are you expecting me to believe that the day I would stop paying I could still access my documents ? I don't think so.

As far as I'm concerned, Office 365 can go stuff it. I don't need to have my work stored outside of my purview and I will NOT accept to submit access to MY data to a third party.

Forget terabit Ethernet, the next step is 400 gig – if we can afford the R&D

400GB/s ?

And to think that my home network is still locked at 100MB/s because ISPs don't use GB-compatible routers...

Tiny, invisible EXTRATERRESTRIAL INVADERS appear at South Pole

Re: adjacent black holes

We've already enough trouble finding ONE black hole, and you want them to come in pairs ?

Kids these days.

Harumph.

You wish me to have Michigan beer ?

I'd rather have a Duvel, thank you.

Hello Warsaw: Greenland ice loss will be OK 'even under extreme scenarios'

Re: The Science IS Settled ..

True that. The atmosphere will be blasted away and the seas will boil off the surface of the Earth.

Oh, I thought you were talking about the catastrophic global warming event that is our Sun transforming into a red giant in a few billion years.

Because that is the only science that is "settled" as far as our climate is concerned.

Intel on the alert: Thick, acrid smog in China, India is EATING servers

Re: dan 1980 Won't someone think of the children . . . (no, really)

Come now, Mr. Bryant. The West does not hold the high moral ground here. The only reason we're not choking ourselves to death on coal particles is because we starting using nuclear. Oh, and because we have attained a level of revenue that allows us to pay others to pollute in our place. Indeed, we have simply moved our factories to other countries, leaving them to deal with the issues while we gorge on the produce in our shiny, clean cities (well, ahem, mostly clean).

But all those factories are not making things for them, they're making things for us. That we throw away after a year or less, or stow in the attack and forget about until the next garage sale.

Asia may have a pollution problem, but we are part of it.

Re: the full uranium time/space ecosystem

Wow !

Thank you for that mouthful. I will keep that kind of argument in mind for future use.

Re: urban use of coal for heating and cooking

Seems to me that if those people could use electricity (meaning nuclear power) for their heating and cooking needs, they'd not need the coal, thereby removing most of the atmospheric SO2.

So yes, nuclear is still the best option, despite your concerns about cost overruns, time to build and expertise required.

Super-stealth FLYING CAR prototype seen outside GOOGLE HQ

Re: Moller Skycar - been in development longer, too

Yup.

And it's still not finished, nor is it available.

So no, actually.

The only problem I have with this model is the number of possible failure points. Eight rotors on the top, plus two in the back, plus another engine for wheel motorisation . . . That makes for one heck of a maintenance list.

Native Americans were actually European - BEFORE the Europeans arrived!

Re: Racism is a modern sin

So for you, anything that exists since, oh, around at least 2000 years is modern ?

Or have you never heard of that obscure book called the Bible, where Jews were enslaved by the Egyptians of the time ?

Just saying.

Star Wars exec: These ARE THE DROIDS I was LOOKING FOR

They most likely will, at some point.

Re: Martial Arts groups aren't as good as you might think

You obviously haven't met the good ones ;) That said, generally I can agree with you, but I think I know why.

Karate is not what you see on TV. One of my best friends is a karateka. He told me that getting a recruit to continue training after the third year is a problem, because the first two years are devoted to basics, and the third year you actually carry out the attacks.

That means you get pummeled, and that means you get hurt. People don't like getting hurt, so they abandon. Some clubs don't like losing people, so they avoid forcing them to get hurt. But if they do that, the students don't learn to avoid attacks properly, and don't carry them out properly.

I train in Aikido, a martial art devoted to defense only. We have trouble getting people to attack properly (yes, even if you train defensively, you still have to defend against an attack) because students are generally afraid of hurting their partners. That is normal human behavior. It takes some time (you can count that in years) for a normal person to understand that by holding back their attack, they are putting you in danger and risking more hurt than if they would actually attack properly.

I think that most people don't like hurting others, so they do not attack well, so the partner cannot properly learn to defend/block.

That is most likely why most Martial Arts students are not all that impressive.

Decades ago, computing was saved by CMOS. Today, no hero is in sight

I know that one

It's the old saw : "I can do quality, quick or cheap. Choose two".

It's always the last two that are chosen.

Supreme Court can't find barge pole long enough to touch NSA lawsuit

Well, technically, once a judge is appointed, no one can get rid of him (source), so they do not necessarily have "loyalty" towards anyone since nobody can touch them once they are in position.

Obviously, I understand that this is not the way the world works, and quite a few SCOTUS judges have been known, and some are known, for specific positions on various subjects that are in line with the president who placed them there.

PlayStation 4 BLUE LIGHT OF DEATH blamed on power cords, TV sets, butterflies in China

Re: The fact is, the vast majority of users have no issues whatsoever.

How can you possibly know that without numbers?

Ahem.

Yeah, but that is so last millenium.

This millenium, you're supposed to replace all standard living-room equipment that does not agree with a superfluous plaything.

And the day they thought of including a hard drive, you were back on a PC without even realizing it !

Of course they can make a difference !

May I interest you in our special Premium Line of power cords ? The copper wires have been enhanced with synthetic conductive materials in a special nanotube lattice that improves global conductivity, and the cord is now gold-plated to ensure that all the electrons go in the same direction. We guarantee a 20% improvement in electrical conductivity, at the low, low price of $300 per foot of Premium Line cording.

Get yours now, while supplies last !

Barclays Online OFFLINE: UK bank site, mobile app go titsup for the evening

Good Old Customer Service

I love it when Twits moan about the "good old days".

You want good ol' customer service ? Get away from the PC and go to the nearest Barclay office, you'll get it there.

Not at all, he is perfectly up to date on his inventions.

He did, however, forget to pay rent on the tubes.

FBI sends memo to US.gov sysadmins: You've been hacked... for the past YEAR

Speaking for the devil . . .

I'm going to make a gardening analogy to explain my position : if you have dandelions in your lawn, it's useless to just cut off the head - you need to dig out the root to put an end to it.

Similarly, from the FBI point of view, it may actually be justifiable to let crime continue until you can nail down the entity that is actually responsible for the actions, not just grab the thug doing the job. This supposes, of course, that it is a known fact that the thug is not acting on his own, and that the entity he his taking jobs from is worth pursuing.

I doubt that it takes months to check if illegal net activity comes from inside the country or outside, though, and it seems to me that, if it comes from outside, there's no reason not to come foreward about it.

It's not like the FBI can go arrest someone in another country, right ? Not yet, at least.

JESUS battery HEALS itself - might make electric cars more practical

Wonderful

Yet another milestone in battery technology. I am so happy.

So now, bets are open as to when we'll actually be able to see something come out with this or any other new battery tech we've been told of in the past ten years.

I'm still waiting for those batteries that can recharge in ten seconds and carry several times the power that a regular Li-ion triple A carries now.

Investors on Microsoft: What, Ballmer, leaving? Hand me my wallet

Heh, I never said the book would be a nice one.

But you have to admit, the utter gall of MS lawyers and management in the DoD trials was a jaw-dropper. I still do not understand how it is that no judge sent Gates to jail for contempt of court.

So yes, MS did write the book for global business ethics.

And when you look at Ryan Air, Easy Jet, the late-but-still-twitching SCO and a few others, well one must admit that others are reading said book.

return the firm to the golden days

That is not possible, because the "golden days" were the days when nobody knew what a PC was, nobody understood just how important it could be, and Microsoft was the only game on the market.

Those days were golden because the market was in constant expansion, the hardware was constantly improving, and people were constantly in awe of the possibilities. Microsoft deserves recognition for having wrote the book on how to create and maintain a monopoly position in an emerging market.

Today the market is pretty much saturated, user are much more computer-literate and have become jaded, and the competition is there (and fiercly there where the desktop is not concerned). Now that the market has matured, Microsoft doesn't have a hope in Hell of maintaining its dominant position no matter what CEO they choose. The manipulations and lies that MS has been consistantly trying to pass on Open Source and its own sales figures do not wash anymore, and its image is now becoming that of a company that people should be wary of. And pissing on Joe User - which has become the norm for MS since Vista - is not going to improve things.

So Microsoft is not going to return to the glory days, those days are gone. The only thing the CEO can hope to achieve is delay the now inevitable slide into irrelevance - slide which will not be short due to the immense mattress of cash that is still maintaining the company afloat.

But killing Technet and all but forcing users to online subscription models have the potential of poking leaks in said mattress, and we all know that a leak in a dam is a sure harbringer of doom.

'Planned maintenance' CRIPPLES nearly HALF of all Salesforce instances in Europe, US

Dreamforce

There will be force, but I have a hunch that there will be little to dream about.

And yes, crashing your product because of planned network maintenance is a really bad sales point.

But the cloud marches on, oblivious of its problems.

MANUAL STIMULATION: Whack me with some proper documentation

Re: Needless to say my Banking sites etc use a different stronger scheme

Doesn't make a difference. You have a FaceBook site therefor all your banking details are belong to them.

It's because that's how he learned to comment his code : put in writing what any moron can see the code is doing.

When I give programming courses, I always harp on code commenting at some point, and when I do so, I give specific examples of what commenting should be. Don't tell me that you are offsetting to position r,c - I can see that in the code, you dolt.

Tell me that you start in the first cell of the table, and then you offset to the current position defined by the r and c loops that are in the sub that called this function. THAT is a useful comment because it tells my why the hell you offset when you have already set the cell you could logically be wanting to work on.

A useful comment tells me why you wrote the code so I don't have to waste an hour or two figuring it out on my own. A useless comment tells me something I can deduce three seconds after having read the code that is being commented.

Writing useful comments, just like writing useful documentation, is apparently something that requires more brain cells than the average developer has.

I totally agree. Looking at my DOS 1.0 manuals I got with my (now defunct) IBM PC back in the day, I have to say that I await eagerly the day where I will find another supplier manual with that level of quality and dedication to the subject.

"pharcical phucking phanboi phondleslab"

Phabulous !

Google spaffs $80m on Sun-powered kit: Calm down, Oracle. It's SOLAR

"a facility in Iowa that will rely entirely on wind power"

So, it'll only be online one hour out of every four then ?

I hope they don't forget to source the hundreds of litres of oil for the gears of the wind turbines from eco-friendly sources !

Boffin says astronauts could hitch to Jupiter on passing asteroids

Honestly, I think the problem is less with exploding a nuclear bomb in space than it is with exploding multiple bombs in atmosphere during take-off.

Today's rockets may pollute, but I still prefer them to the large swaths of fallout an Orion take-off would generate.

Google SO CAN scan ALL BOOKS onto its sites - judge

Re: without even going to look at a copy in the Library

What, you want to ban libraries too ?

Way to completely miss the point.

Napster was sharing whole "songs". Google is publishing a tiny portion of a book on demand.

There really is no comparison.

Dodgy Kaspersky update borks THOUSANDS of NHS computers

Indeed, this is far from being the first time such a thing has happened, and far from the first vendor to which it has happened as well.

It is clear that there is no basic vendor test for an update against standard Windows files. In this particular case, it is equally clear that the vendor did NOT test it before rolling it out, which smacks very much of lax control procedures.

But given that their LiveDisk was not even able to boot the last time I tried it, I cannot say I am surprised.

Actually, I am surprised. I'm surprised this kind of thing doesn't happen more often.

Blood king of the tyrannosaurus, grandad of T-Rex

Machine gun ?

You can shoot an elephant with an AK-47, but I'm not convinced you can kill it faster that way. For a T-Rex-sized animal, a machine gun would probably just wound and enrage it, and you wouldn't have time to reload before it tore (or trampled) you to pieces.

Hunting big game requires big guns, the double-barrelled shotgun type. Of course, a 12.7 would do wonders to kill just about any dino, I think, but there would not be much as far as leftover meat to cook is concerned.