Posts by Pascal Monett

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>

Brits' HSBC bank cards, net access goes TITSUP

Re: "Cash is brilliant - [..] no-one can nick it without you noticing"

I'm sure the muggers agree with you wholeheartedly.

What I'm not sure of is if they care that you notice the beating they just gave you.

Rise of the Machines: How computers took over the stock market

Well, at least now I know . . .

. . . why we are well and truly screwed

Facebook foolishness foils (un)civil servant's squirm up greasy pole

Stop the confusion

Stop confusing private sector employees and Civil Servants. One is employed by an individual, the other is in the employ of the entire country. There really is no comparison.

Employees of the private sector may get fired for dissing the company image on the Internet, but that is generally an act that disses the company image even more (even though it can additionally ruin said individual's prospect for finding work again).

Civil Servants DO NOT HAVE THE RIGHT to comment on ANY aspect of the government, PERIOD. The advent of Social Media does not change this rule.

Civil Servants have the right to their opinions, obviously, but they have lost the right to express it in public when they accepted work with the government.

Can Microsoft's U-turn stop the Xbox 360 becoming another XP?

Re: There was a criminal is the US

Nice story.

Until you specify names, places, dates and/or online newspaper references, it's just an urban legend.

Not saying the FBI couldn't turn on a mobile phone's micro - just that if you have a proper reference, then post it instead of promoting heresay.

Nonsense, Microsoft has a very successful history of failure.

And they are once again failing brilliantly.

Google staffing boss: Our old hiring procedures were 'worthless'

The rabbit hole goes nowhere, since to have nothing to do with Google you need to not have an Internet connection.

Yes, I know, maybe you can fiddle with script blockers and use Bing, but I think you're only deluding yourself. As soon as you have a mobile phone and/or an Internet connection, you're on Google's radar.

Out with a bang: The Last of Us lets PS3 exit with head held high

"It simply isn't cost effective for publishers to spend time tweaking their products to make the most of every possible bit of kit it might run on"

It might be time to update your knowledge of PC programming. Long gone are the days where gaming companies developed for specific "bits of kit".

These days, they develop for specific API functions that have been accepted as standard for the industry. For example, these days DirectX is at number 11, and game makers shoot for those capabilities. If your kit is compatible, then the game works. If not, well then yes, you'll have to upgrade if the game maker has not provided a secondary DX 9 path.

You are apparently confused by the amount of available hardware and its compatibility with existing games. On my existing hardware, I can play SimCity (the original version), just as I can Battle Field 3, and very many games in between. In fact, it is not my hardware that limits me so much as Windows itself - for some reason I can no longer install Microsoft FreeLancer correctly on my Win7/64 OS.

In other words, the opinion you state dates from about 15 years ago and no longer applies today.

"shows what the PS3 is capable of when not constrained by the limitations of the Xbox 360"

Yeah, I've always found that my PC games worked a lot better when not constrained by the limits of a console.

France gives Google three month DATA PRIVACY DEADLINE

The acronym is spoken with a hard c, as in knil.

Unfortunate, but there it is.

Increased cell phone coverage tied to uptick in African violence

"Most of the killing in Africa is between people of the same race"

Um, yes : most of the killing in Africa is between humans.

I have to agree with what you said, but I somehow doubt you said what you meant.

Apple's screw-up leaves tethered iPhones easily crackable

Um, not to be contradictory or anything, but if I look at my Android settings panel under Wifi, I see that I can have a tethered hotspot, and an untethered one.

As far as I know, a tethered hotspot is only valid for the device that is physically wired to it. The untethered hotspot would be the vulnerable party here.

So I guess that my question is : does Apple have a different definition for the word "tethered" ?

Spin doctors brazenly fiddle with tiny bits in front of the neighbours

Awww, now you destroyed your own joke. I thought you'd done that on purpose !

Airbus imagines suitcases that find themselves

Why do we need new suitcases ?

Aren't RFID tags dirt-cheap nowadays ?

Don't we already have barcode stickers slapped on our luggage when we register them at the desk ?

Why have they not put 2 and 2 together ?

I acknowledge without any problem that RFID-tagged luggage would certainly be easier to sort in the baggage handling area, but I really don't see why I should change my luggage for that.

As for leaving the traveler to declare the suitcase contents before even registering, I cannot comprehend how that can possibly be accepted in a world where you can't bring a half-liter bottle of effing WATER in your carry-on.

For security reasons, it seems obvious to continue with the current procedure of having travellers register their luggage, having that luggage screened and scanned, and adding the RFID technology to aid in routing the luggage through airport baggage handling.

But hey, what do I know ? I'm just a traveler.

Microsoft announces $499 price tag, new games for Xbox One

There just might be a silver lining though

Apart from just how badly Microsoft is shooting itself in the foot again, there just might be potential for something good to come out of this.

I'm thinking of a law mandating that any company pushing monthly fees (aka licensing or renting) on games be legally forced to keep the servers running until the very last player has revoked his license, not until the game maker decides that it is not making enough money on it anymore.

I mean hey, if they can stiff us with monthly fees and online registration, we should at least be the ones with the right to decide if or not it is time to retire the game.

And yes, I'd like some fries with that.

Watch quantum entanglement – IN REAL TIME

Man, I don't even understand these comments !

Microsoft and pals: Save the global economy by NOT ripping us off

I'm starting to understand their accounting practices

You pay £1, they write down £37.

Really ? Where do the other £36 come from ?

Such calculations may work in La-La land, but in the real world when you pay £100, the intermediaries get £90 and the producer gets 10£ (if he's lucky). And concerning the GDP argument, pay your taxes, then come back and talk about GDP. As long as you do everything you can to avoid taxes, I don't see why any country should waste money defending your products.

In any case, that certainly explains the RIAA's method for calculating the amount of the "fines" counting in millions for a few uploads.

Well I'm off that boat anyway, I use LibreOffice. Does 100% of what I need, so I see no reason to pay for more.

Soylent Corporation prepares to DEFEAT FOOD

Exactly what I though when I read the words "providing all the calories and nutrients the human body requires".

You nailed it, sir !

More than half of Windows 8 users just treat it like Windows 7

Re: I'm happy they finally LISTENED for once.

Ten thousand testers with bullhorns is hardly what I'd call LISTENING.

The failure of TIFKAM as it is now called is a surprise for no one. Microsoft was warned well in advanced, but bull-headed its way through as it always does.

Money talks, and money is the only thing Microsoft is paying attention to. Now that TIFKAM is indeed gearing up to be the Waterloo that users said it would, MS is suddenly trying to do something else, like actually PAYING ATTENTION to what has been said and repeated in its own forums.

Ethernet daddy: online education poised to transform the world

I agree that the Internet is a great tool for knowledge. I had the opportunity to use it in 2010 to get myself a certification in web design and web server maintenance. Did it from home thanks to an online course, saved a lot on travel expenses and could work all day without interruption. There were workshops scheduled at regular intervals, you could chat with the professor in charge and ask your questions. It worked rather well for a group of adults.

Without that course, I would have had to register in a brick-and-mortar place, which might not have had space for me, would be at an hour's drive away, and would require me to bother with noon meals, all that at a time when I was without a job and thus preferred not spending all that money on gas and food.

Now I have a job again, even though I'm not doing much web design I'm mighty happy about how it all turned out.

So yeah, school on the Internet, I'm all for it.

Eric Schmidt: 'Google IS a capitalist country... er, company'

"There's this concern that we are somehow going to misuse this data"

Not at all, my good Mr. You-Have-No-Privacy-Get-Over-It Schmit. Oh, you thought we'd forgotten that ? We never will.

We're not "concerned" that you are "somehow" going to misuse the data. We are CERTAIN you are going to index that data seven ways to Sunday and sic your advertisers on us with it.

Difference.

If you've bought DRM'd film files from Acetrax, here's the bad news

Re: why the hell can't I try everything before I buy it?

Steam games often have a demo version.

Not always, I agree, but often.

Personally, I use and abuse of their Wishlist functionality. Games are often sold at lower prices a few months after the initial launch. I can wait a bit, helps me find out from first-day buyers if the game is interesting before I put my money on it.

Then there are the titles I don't feel like waiting for and just buy & try as soon as the download is finished. No need to go to a store, where PC games aisles have all but disappeared.

I think Steam is doing a damned good job of keeping the games industry alive, what with their indie section, multi-platform coding and their "comprehensive" approach to DRM.

I've come to the point where, if a game is not on Steam, I practically don't buy it. There are a few exceptions, but they are exceptions.

Monitor-makers ponder Android-powered touch screens

I can understand your argument, and I give you an upvote for the basic truth you expose. Of course, if you are happy with a touchscreen, more power to you. After all, a touchscreen is still a screen.

The difference - in my mind - is that I don't mind if the touchscreen on my phone is smudged - I don't look at it all that often. And when it does have smudges, my phone is easy to clean and it's quickly done.

Contrast that with the widescreen I have for my PC, which I stare at for hours at a time, and is placed on the other side of my desk (ie hard to get to because desk against the wall so no going around). Smudges on that screen bring immediate irritation to me because a) they're a constant nuisance while I'm working and b) I'm going to have almost lie on the desk to clean the whole screen for that darn smudge so as not to leave traces on the rest of it.

There are people who are not bothered by screen smudges. Good for them. I'm not one of those. I like my screens spotless. And touchscreens simply cannot be spotless. Ergo, I'd go mad working with one if I couldn't avoid touching it.

A touchscreen for a PC ?

What for ?

Do they really think I want to do my coding by poking at my screen ?

On a PC I have a mouse and a keyboard that fulfill 100% of my computing needs. Requiring that I actually touch the screen is not only superfluous but also a waste of time, not to mention a possible health risk, what with the possible hazards to the back. Keeping a proper ergonomic stance all day long is difficult enough without having to bend over the keyboard to poke at some vertical surface.

A touchscreen is only useful when you don't have a keyboard. It becomes necessary if you have neither keyboard nor mouse. If you have both, it is nothing more than a waste of money.

Android device? Ooohhhh, you mean a Samsung phone

Re: Talking is information

Um, well technically I agree, but from what I hear on the bus around me, I just cannot bring myself to subscribe to your opinion.

PayPal security boss: OBLITERATE passwords from THE PLANET

"[a] device that connects to a website"

Great idea, Paypal. That way, the miscreants will have just one site to hack to steal personal data on everyone and gain access to absolutely all banking data there is. If ever that site came to exist, it would require ironclad security of the likes we have not yet seen and would probably not be able to implement properly. Hopefully they would at least salt their hashes ?

Uh, Paypal, between your arbitrary account locking based on "suspicions" that you never justify, your inexistant customer support and now this idea, I'm starting to wonder whose side you're on - ours, or the criminals ?

Coke? Windows 8 is Microsoft's 'Vista moment'. Again

Re: "it does take up screen space"

Funny how all those people using that argument against the Ribbon have never found out that you can minimize it to show only tab names and still work with it - since when you mouse over a tab name the Ribbon shows that tabs' content.

I am not a Ribbon fanatic, but I do have to use 2010 like practically all business users (I'd rather stick with Office 2000 - it has more than I need already). It rather galls me that people stay fixated on this non-issue of Ribbon size instead of bashing stuff that really needs bashing.

Secret UN 'ZOD' climate deliberations: UK battles to suppress details

So the bottom line of this article is

. . . that all these IPCC "experts" don't know how to write a document.

Really ? And these people are supposed to be experts ? I thought experts in their field were recognized because of the mass of papers that they had published. So writing a report shouldn't be that much of an issue for them, should it ? And if we're talking about some internal policy or another, how long can it take these supposedly intelligent people to learn ? How about an afternoon of training, instead of wasting judges' time and taxpayer money ?

Oh, sorry, I forgot : actually doing something useful is not the goal here.

How did something so small and pink cause so much trouble?

Re: "the [..] CRS will come to your town every year"

You make it sound like an annual fair or something.

And you forget to mention that the Gendarmerie (whose members are counted among the nations armed forces - just like the army) has offices all over national territory as well.

C'est bon, on avoue : nous sommes bien une dictature !

Oracle, SAP under attack: How cloud upstarts steal their lunch

"new features are rolled out at the flip a switch [...]"

Ah, the magic of the Cloud (tm).

As if there wasn't an army of coders hammering away at the code in order for some admin drone to be able to "flip the switch".

And we've seen some pretty ugly results already when the "magic" of the Cloud meets the grim reality of load balancing and other server-side issues (hey Microsoft, any word on Azure clients' web site restore ?).

Let's keep our feet on the ground, shall we ? It may be "someone else's data center", but that in no way changes anything about the number of coders involved nor does it diminish in any way the dangers of rolling out an update or a new functionality.

The BIG difference is that, when it goes down (and it does), you will have no control over when it comes back up nor what state it will be in (eh, Azure users ?).

THAT is the reality of the Cloud.

Anonymity ZUCKS: Facebook's Instagram to switch on face tagging

Thanks for the heads-up

It's good to know beforehand just what Facebook is going to bork this time.

Want to know what CIA spooks really think of spy movies and books?

Granted, on the hacking you're right, it's beggars belief.

But hell does the explosion scene at the beginning make up for it !