Posts by Pascal Monett

Latest phish trawl: Your Twitter friend may not really be your friend

"This person is threatening to expose something bad about you"

Uh, it's Twitter. People do not threaten to expose, they just damn well go ahead and expose.

Failure as far as intimidation is concerned.

Forget Snowden: What have we learned about the NSA?

"We need an internet which isn't under the control of Americans"

That should not be all that difficult. It's the Internet - all we need to do is create country nodes and manage continental communications independently.

The USA has no responsibility for the work we do not do ourselves. The Internet is open, it was built that way and nothing can change that. Therefor, to keep NSA away from our comms, we just have to pay the price to keep our comms away from american shores.

I don't like the NSA listening in, but in this particular case, it's our fault for sending them the traffic in the first place.

Apple files patent for refrigerator-magnet iPads

Re: "They are ceramics and can be baked into any shape you want"

Shhh ! Your facts are disturbing the aesthetics !

Look ! Apple ! Shiny !

OOooooooooo !

China prepares to lift 13-year game console ban – report

For your education :

http://www.nasa.gov/vision/space/workinginspace/great_wall.html

http://www.universetoday.com/25364/can-you-see-the-great-wall-of-china-from-space/

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

Could we have that as an RTS ?

I don't think any of those examples pass the "not too violent or politically sensitive for young people" criteria that is apparently being imposed.

On the other hand, there will probably be a uptake of My Little Pony games <shudder>.

STEVE BALLMER KILLS WINDOWS

Re: "most of the places it's "selling" to are "downgrading" as soon as they unpack the hardware"

That is not going to be an argument as long as Microsoft counts in licenses "shipped" and not licenses "used".

Microsoft waves goodbye to Small Business Server

"many small business are already using hosted email services so where is the difference?"

Oh, so because a lot of people are blissfully unaware of the consequences of a bad decision that makes it OK to make another bad decision of the same kind ?

Don't think so.

Asigra's Google Apps backup calms paranoid CIOs

Market forces at work

The Cloud has absolved itself of all responsibility, so market forces are stepping in to provide some measure of guarantee.

I dare say the abject failure of Azure was probably a wake-up call for those new companies. I just hope for their sake that they managed a proper risk evaluation, or else they are going down.

In any case, I can't help but feel that this is the true nature of the Cloud - pay to access your data, and pay again to recover it in case of trouble.

I wonder how many more paying steps will become involved in all this nebulous business before bean counters finally wake up and smell the coffee ?

Jelly Bean finally overtakes Gingerbread in Android share

I just got upgraded last Friday

My S II now runs 4.1.2, and although I can express support at a number of UI improvements, I find that my battery life has taken a shot in the leg - and not in a good way.

To prevent my need for recharging during the day, I have had to implement power saving measures. This may be temporary, at least until I find what is causing this drain and shut it off, but in the meantime I am seriously hampered by having my phone at 14% battery every morning.

Oh, and I do not really appreciate having had to redefine my entire workspace. Why did they have to trash my icon settings ?

At least they didn't pull a Facebook and managed to keep my essential settings instead of resetting them.

France's 'three strikes' anti-piracy law shot down

Eh, c'est la France !

One law down, one tax arises.

Anybody surprised ?

Pas moi.

Universities teach us a thing or two about BYOD

Interesting article

The University environment is indeed taxing, and its IT is fascinating, although most of what transits on a University network hardly counts as "work".

So, could we have an example like this about a bank ?

No ?

Thought so.

Microsoft: Still using Office installed on a PC? Gosh, you squares

You, sir, still don't understand what a "customer" is for Microsoft.

Hint : it's not you, it's the Fortune 1000 CTO with the large support budget.

Re: "is personal interaction really such a thing of the past?"

Yes it is. That is probably the reason why, at one of my client sites not long ago, they had - I kid you not - a Work Without Email day, specifically touting the advantages of talking (gasp) to people (GASP) IN PERSON (<faint>).

Besides, do YOU want the full-on sweat effect of an unwashed user speeding towards you at full waddle ? With his coffee-stained maw wide open yelling for you to stop so you can see the lettuce on the rear molars ?

I prefer the email, thanks.

Man, up to now this comment list looks like a checklist of things to verify before buying into Office365.

Re: "(some by a virtual hammer across the back of the head)"

Why "virtual", pray tell ?

You DO want the lesson to STICK, don't you ?

Quantum: You know how EVERYONE's moved to the cloud? Yep... us too.

Re: the Mainframe computers of the olden days

The Mainframe computers of the olden days were models of reliability. Connections to them were via proprietary cables. To program for them required a gaggle of highly-paid PhDs in engineering and mathematics, and projects took years to painstakingly realize. Code was written instruction by punch-code instruction. When projects were finished, users took what they were given and didn't complain, because it was all brand-new and nobody had any reference point.

The Cloud has nothing to do with a mainframe in any aspect, except that data is remotely accessed, which places it at the mercy of ISP reliability on top of Cloud Provider reliability.

OFFICIAL: Humans will only tolerate robots as helpful SLAVES

"a human who takes on an android as his partner "

You need to check out Real Humans (http://en.wikipedia.ord/wiki/Real_Humans), a Swedish TV series about how sentient robots are trying to make themselves a place among humans.

Not a bad series at all. It also takes a good look at how robots can deal with concepts such as morality and empathy.

P.S. : where'd the bloody link function go to ?

Star Wars missile intercept fails for fifth year running

"The reliability of our missile defense system is being brought into question"

The reliability of your missile defense system has never been properly evaluated in the first place, and is obviously made of complete porkies at the moment.

Which is not a problem, really, since nobody is going to lob any missiles at you in the forseeable future.

'Banner year' for patent lawsuits: Number of cases, awards both up

You're a lawyer, or studying to be a lawyer, aren't you ?

Chinese mobe fandroids: Got a virus? Better blame the government

Re: "People really think someone is [..] cracking it and there's not an ulterior motive"

My guess is that people don't think at all. They just see "FREE" as opposed to "PAY" and go for the bad choice.

Next the same ones will be complaining that Android is crap.

The irresistible rise of the corporate app

Have to say I smell a rat here

All that nonsense about employees wanting corporate access on their personal phones/laptops is, in my opinion, bollocks. I don't know ANYONE who wants to recieve application alerts on their phone during off hours or, worse, weekends.

Furthermore, I fail to see just how it is sooo important to have one's work mail on one's personal phone when employees are generally sitting in front of a PC with all required access during the day.

Also, I really don't see how management is going to trust the people on the bottom rungs of the latter with corporate-sensitive data on their personal equipment when they barely have access to it on their PCs.

Now, of course, if we are not talking about the 99% of drones but of the few high-flyers who are intent on building their careers and impressing the management, in other words, those with high-level diplomas and overbearing personalities who simply cannot live an instant without total and complete access to eveything they need to impress the upper echelon, then yes, I totally can see BYOD being an indispensable part of the landscape. For the chosen few.

Which still means that it's just another status symbol.

For the rest of us, we couldn't care less that our work PC is lagging like a dead horse. On the contrary, it gives us the perfect excuse when things start piling up and we're asked "why is this not finished yet ?".

Personally, I would be quite miffed if my work PC were more powerful than my personal PC. I'm quite happy that it is not.

Finally, that reference to the cloud - "it is far better not to have the data on the device in the first place, nor on someone else’s servers, let alone something as nebulous as the cloud" - well sorry but that just about clinches it. The cloud is just as much a fad right now than BYOD is. Everybody has a cloud, every cloud wants you to climb on board, the cloud is computing paradise (that is what we hear).

Dissing the cloud while touting BYOD is the mark of pure marketing drivel.

IT design: You're not data, you're a human being

Re: "What people actually want is tools that get out of the way"

Brilliantly said !

I will be repeating that.

Cosmic blast mystery solved in neutron star's intense death throes

Apology accepted . . . <crunch><thud>

Anti-PRISM Trojan explodes over Jay-Z fans

Sorry, it must be PTSD.

Eadon, would you mind pointing out exactly which line even mentions Microsoft in this article ?

US: We spied on you Europeans but we can still be chums. Right?

Nonsense, we can trust US cloud providers

We can absolutely trust them to send regular summaries to the NSA, and fork over everything any time the NSA so much as twitches its pinky.

Funny how, when it comes to our privacy and personal life, companies fall over themselves to obey gubbermint spooks, but when it comes to paying taxes, no spook can seem to find them anymore to bring in the dollars.

Leaves me baffled, I must say.

They're politicians, of course they have something to hide.

I'm 'pretty comfy' with PRISM + 'It's Google. What else do you expect'

Hey, hey !

Bring on the conslutants ! I can't wait to see their pole presentations.

ULTRASONIC BOLLOCK BLASTERS help Hawkmoth battle The Bat

Uh, survival ?

French snooping as deep as PRISM: Le Monde

re: "There needs to be an urgent public discussion about "

There needs to be an urgent public discussion about a great many things, but at the moment the public in question is busy twittering about the latest lolcat and couldn't care less.

US State Department coughs up $630k for Facebook Likes

Just for the record : you get an effect from something that affects you.

Effect / Affect ; They're / Their ; Your / You're ; its / it's - same combat.

Cloud computers are like bananas, says Deutsche Börse

Re: "just pay up and we'll finish it later.."

Not like it hasn't been done before. Just look at the games industry - they've been doing that for years.

Even managed to do it on consoles (after a few versions).

Ubisoft admits major hacking breach, advises password change

Brilliant idea !

Yeah ! Let's have just one single point of attack for a hacker to get everything about you, that'll make things easier for absolutely everyone (you, the hacker, organised crime and the NSA too!).

HP confirms it's back in the smartphone business

Re: "And of course it is the most secure current generation handset with zero vulnerabilities"

Let me correct that for you :

And of course it is the most secure current generation handset with zero discovered vulnerabilities.

There, now it's fixed.

PRISM leaks: WTF, you don't spy on your friends, splutters EU

"American spies bugged the EU embassy in Washington"

Hey, that rings a bell. Wasn't there some big hoopla way back when about something similar ? Wasn't some US President impeached about it ? It was reaaaallly big, back in those days, wasn't it ?

More recently we had a biiiig hoopla about some cigar or something, with public explanations, tears and apologies and no impeachment, but while the US media went hog-wild about it all the rest of the world politely stopped turning for about six months until they got over it.

Now we just get "how shocking" articles from international newspapers.

Progress ?

MoD signs Microsoft mega licensing deal for 180,000 PCs

Re: "Now the NSA have a direct line into MoD operations"

You need to update your conspiracy database, my good man. The NSA (or whatever its name at the time) has had a direct line into all UK government operations since the Cold War what with the secret MI-5/CIA "agreements" that have been instituted since that time. We even have one of those spy documentaries (I believe they call it the "Bond" series) that practically says so.

The MoD could have Linux installed and locked down tighter than a gnat's arse, the task that generates the daily "elements of interest" reports would still send it all in proper Word format to the NSA bods for their perusal.

Tethered and vulnerable: Hotspot password FAIL not just in iPhones

"If Apple was using words from this list in combination with a four digit number (which multiples the range of possible combinations by 10,000) then they were using a range of just 52 million possible passphrases."

I have a problem here. For me, 52,000 x 10,000 = 520,000,000, not 52,000,000

Anyone care to double-check ?

Ecuador denies granting asylum, safe passage to Snowden

Re: Marshalltown

It is fitting that you take WWII as a reference for US history, because that is indeed when the US discovered that it was a World Power, and started flexing its muscles as such.

And, just like a bodybuilder, it started taking steroids to flex better and further, thus leading it to its current condition which is that of a geriatric bodybuilder that used to be sculpted and fit but has become used and paranoid even towards its own children.

But do not take my post as a rebuttal. Instead, please direct your attention to this : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CWiIYW_fBfY.

I am aware that this speech was pronounced in 1961, but that may serve to "push historical ignorance" in a different direction this time.

Personally, I find frightful just how visionary that man was.

Windows 8.1: 'It's good for enterprises, too,' says Redmond

And that is how it should have been from the start.

All this hoopla/zealotry around Win8 and that stupid Start button is because Microsoft was fucking incapable of giving customers the CHOICE of whether they wanted the not-Metro interface or the Start button they were used to.

And if a simple $5 add-on is enough to solve the issue then it's not an enormous technical problem with unforeseen consequences, it's just that Microsoft's hubris is getting bigger than its customer base.

Play the Snowden flights boardgame: Avoid going directly to Jail

Re: "This kind of thing seemed much easier to pull off in the Bourne films"

True, but Jason Bourne was a remorseless one-man murder team of great efficiency, with the added benefit that his murders were covered by Hollywood Anonymity.

Snowdon may be a tad less keen on showing his mad murder skillz, assuming that he has any to speak of, since Hollywood has a lot less importance with Interpol and the International Court of Justice than they hint at in their films.

Galaxy S4 phondleslab selling like lukewarm cakes, analysts reckon

They're marketing people. With them, the rule is simple : every next month must do better than before, else the performance is "disappointing".

Since the S4 started at 30 million units, the fact that the next quarter "only" does 20 million is perceived as bad.

Which also means that a bunch of Samsung marketroids are going to miss their quarterly targets, and some just might be fired for it, because marketroids have the same quarterly requirements - to do better and better every month.

Of course, for marketroids it is simple : if you cannot follow the ever-increasing rise of your targets, you end up fired and replaced by a junior marketroid with the same target you had when you started. Then the target gets raised and junion embarks on the same treadmill that will lead to his identical demise.

US trade commish kicks off patent-troll-nixing plan

It's a step

It may not be the right step, maybe it isn't even a step in the right direction, but it's a step with the stated goal of preventing trolling firms from being able to troll.

And for that, I say Hallelujah !

Telly psychics fail to foresee £12k fine for peddling nonsense

Re: "Just for that they should have to display a banner..."

Sorry, but I disagree.

For that, they should be thrown in jail. One year for each mention.

And if they start doing it again when they get out, then back into the slammer they go. This time, with Bubba. Maybe then they'll learn that you don't hijack someone's death to falsely make you look good.

Snowden: 'Hey, Assange, any more room on Ecuador's sofa?'

I think that, if your goal is to personally terminate your employment via high-profile whistleblowing, not declaring your sudden destination decision is the least of your worries.

Quantum transistors at room temp

Re: "Please stop the upgrade cycles for a while"

Sorry, but that won't happen until the smallest PC available will be able to render full-size triple HHHHD over any screen resolution with an infinite amount of objects, in real-time.

When we get to that level of computing power, we might pause for a week or two before considering just what we could start thinking about (double the 200k x 160k screen size ! Twice the amount of objects to render ! Half the power requirements ! ...) to improve our computing power even more.

Maybe.

2012: second costliest year for weather and climate-related disasters

You will, don't worry.

Re: Might you please provide us ...

Uh, you might want to re-read his claim ? And the fact that he posted some half-dozen links to support it ?

His claim is that disasters have happened before. Nothing to do with climate, nothing to do with skepticism.

You, on the other hand, obviously revel in strawman attacks. As for pulling things out of your butt, well if that rocks your world good for you.

Facebook bug leaks contact info of 6 million users

Yeah, every time I read those words I can't help smirking.

Facebook's security team.

<snicker><chuckle><giggle>