* Posts by Oninoshiko

1937 publicly visible posts • joined 6 Oct 2008

Microsoft drops Halo 4 hint ahead of E3 keynote

Oninoshiko

Oh no, for everyone...

the dirty little secret, there are NO OTHER GAMES planned for the year!

Adobe rushes out patch for all-platform Flash vuln

Oninoshiko

Damnit

I just got done writing up the package for OpenIndiana, not I have to redo it -_-.

Apple worth more than Microsoft and Intel combined

Oninoshiko
Coat

All PCs use windows?

Funny, I'm fairly sure my machine at home is running neither MacOS or Windows. Exactly which law am I breaking?

Yes, mines the one which says "Solaris Inside."

Resellers and customers frustrated by botched Oracle deliveries

Oninoshiko
Mushroom

All a bunch of screwups.

I don't know much about Arrow, but AVnet borged another distributor recently (well a year ago or so), and my contact has changed a few times of the last year, frankly I've given up on them. I was eating more in my time then I saved over CDW (for the life of me, I don't understand how either, they should be massively cheaper, as they are a distributor). That said, the line where oracle didn't want them to worry about logistics implies to me that they ARE using a pull demand model.

TBH I can't imagine they could be much worse then SUN.

California set to impose 'Amazon Tax'

Oninoshiko
Holmes

Yes! A wonderful idea,

and I'm sure the Americans will do that right after the EU begins collecting and redistributing all taxes for their member states. What most in Europe don't seem to fully comprehend is that the "states" in the US are granted a degree of sovereignty (even to this day each state keeps it's own armed forces, it's called the "National Guard"), originally being much like the relationship the European member states have with the EU.

Once you realize that, the mindset of the Americans between the states and federals starts to make sense.

Skype reverse-engineered and open sourced

Oninoshiko

hmm....

I'm trying to figure out if it would be more entertaining for it to be authentic, or a scam to spread malware.

Friendster password emails spark site hack fears

Oninoshiko

This is a title, it contains letters and/or digits.

"Even so the site abandoned social networking altogether last month, repositioning as a social gaming site."

So, exactly like farcebook?

Russian computer programmer buries himself alive

Oninoshiko

hrmm...

Even getting an MRI of my head was freaky enough, I never thought I was claustrophobic until that experience...

Wake up, Linux hippies: No one 'morally obligated' to give back

Oninoshiko

Let me tell you why it's successful

Pragmatism.

If something ISN'T a part of my core business, but I still have to do it, it's useful for me to amortize those costs across many other companies who also have to spend them. Even if the other companies that I am working with are my competitors, I gain from them working with me as much as they gain from me working with them. we can both lower our costs, everybody wins.

What is UltraViolet™ and why should you care?

Oninoshiko

as much as you all like bashing on sony....

I'm fairly sure the article mentioned Disney.

Biodegradable products are often worse for the planet

Oninoshiko
Stop

Shhh

You'll give them ideas!

Canadian prof: Wikipedia makes kids study harder

Oninoshiko

Gee, ya' think?

I think some of the reason for the improvement may be lost in the article. Generally one one turns in a project for a class at that level, the only person who will ever see it is the instructor. To the student, it is often little more then busy-work to prevent idle hands. From the student's perspective it is not even to educate them, but for an instructor to justify their job (which may or may not be a valid criticism, probably depending on the instructor).

Now they know they are contributing something which others will use. Why would that not be more motivational? It has nothing to do with the scathing review of wackypedians, this is GENUINE taking pride in ones work, which is much easier to do when you're doing it for a reason rather then to be thrown away.

Really I'm reminded of some movie (which I can't recall) where a jailer was having inmates move rocks from one side of a field to the other side. then when they were all moved he says "you know what? I think I liked them better over there." This is alot of what classwork is to the students. I think it's lost on instructors sometimes that kids aren't little essay-producing robots, but actually people.

Intel switches ARM stance from 'No' to 'Maybe'

Oninoshiko

Why?

Doing fabrication and letting apple pay the license fees is much more profitable!

Chicago lawyer deploys distractionary dumplings

Oninoshiko
Joke

respectable line of work?

You are aware we are talking about attorneys, right?

Amazon opens online Macware store

Oninoshiko

Not silly, good on APPL.

'Some are silly, such as "Apps that exhibit bugs will be rejected," which would, let's face it, eliminates nearly every app ever written.'

Why is this silly? There is a difference between exhibiting bugs and having bugs. If the reviewer actually notices a bug it's rejected, if they developer noticed the bug it should have been fixed, if neither do, then it's accepted. I would even go a step further and say we can pull an App if a bug comes to light until it is resolved.

I think the "oh there are bugs in all software" crowd has lulled developers into thinking they shouldn't have to test their code, and shouldn't have to worry about quality control. Is it going to take a rehash of the Therac-25 disaster before developers start taking responsibility for their code?

Total Recall rehash – exit Martians, enter Jessica Biel

Oninoshiko

this is a title!

it's the latter, kid.

Almost entire EU now violating Brussels cookie privacy law

Oninoshiko
FAIL

Welcome to the Internet.

I wouldn't call that a loophole, I would call that reasonable notification.

"If you don't let us put cookies, our page will not work." This is a function of how many sites work. Your browser can also just reject the cookies, but the sites will not work properly. You can just clear out the cookies when you are done, many browsers can do this as well.

The reality is, for an interactive site as we have come to expect, some tracking is required, this is because the protocols we are using are stateless. Cookies are a work-around, which make the interactive web possible. That is why comments like this and, to a lesser degree, this directive silly.

The UK response is actually much better then the EU one. This is a browser problem, not a site problem.

Make all browsers default to (with the option of changing) clearing cookies every hour (even if they are not set to expire). This would limit the costs to site operators, limit inconvenience to end users, and put it squarely back in the hands of the end users (who should not have to trust a third party to ensure their privacy).

New Mac scareware variant installs without password

Oninoshiko
FAIL

maybe you should look it up before you make an assertion...

I think you are mistaken. Not only does MS provide malware support, they provide it without additional charge to end users.

http://supportservices.microsoft.com/support/services/virus_malware_removal

Now, a legitimate problem they will charge you insane fees and maybe not come up with a solution, but on malware they will support you. (full disclosure: I have never utilized this service)

UK finally ratifies Cybercrime Convention during Obama visit

Oninoshiko
Joke

wha?

He wants more cooperation in distributing CP?

Oninoshiko
FAIL

if you are going to quote Zero Wing

get it right:

"All your base are belong to us"

BASE, singular!

Groundhog day: more Sony breaches

Oninoshiko
Stop

the OP was ridiculous,

but the premise that it was not serious is also ridiculous. While there is no indication that the compromise provided the attacker with elevated privileges, It is well documented that a compromised website provides a solid attack vector to many users, more over if it is a "reputable" site (meaning a large, well known corporation). Web defacings are NOT trivial, and should be delt with swiftly, removing the site, analyzing the issue and correcting it, before it is used to spread malware.

Asus teases with MacBook Air-esque Eee PC

Oninoshiko
Thumb Down

oh, it's thin? THAT's what you meant?

I fail to see how this is "like a mac book" any more then a mac book is "like a thinkpad"

I was so amused listening to the boss on the phone fumbeling around trying to find a dongle for ethernet for his Air (which is where it would be if I had to fumble looking for a dongle to ethernet.... flying across the room.) Somebody needs to tell apple, the 90's called, they would like their lack of a proper ethernet port back.

Student books Vegas trip with Twitter mood detection app

Oninoshiko

in fairness

search is something that should be pretty easy to graft on later. I generally consider this type of thing more of a "Proof of concept" then a "fully ready to sell product"

Google slips open source JPEG killer into Gmail, Picasa

Oninoshiko

The revisionism is strong with this one.

Other then via patents, you cannot "Own" a format. AFAIK only JPEG2000 is encumbered, which is a vary small and avoidable (albeit at a size penalty) sub section of the image format. Google's main push is because this should outperform (or at least match) JPEG2000.

Unisys never "owned" the GIF format, they owned a patent on the compression scheme used in it. All documentation I have seen indicates that Unisys was unaware of the compression scheme being used by GIF until it was already widely deployed (remember, in the compuserve days, not everyone was online all the time like now, so this is plausible at the vary least).

Oracle may be being a dick, but SUN always said that the Java patents where to guard against incompatible Java implementations. In fact, SUN used this identical tactic when Microsoft was pushing an incompatible Java implementation. Their perspective (which seems to be somewhat accurate) is that Google is pushing an incompatible implementation. The 600lb guerrilla is that Oracle won't permit them to run the certification suite, which is the only problem I have with oracle in this case (although there are other reasons to dislike Oracle)

I'm not aware of anything going on with MySQL, other then one of it's former creators who in retrospect finds the GPL not permissive enough. Also not something I can blame oracle for.

Firefox add-on with 7m downloads can invade privacy

Oninoshiko

or

you could use a liveCD...

Interstellar space 'full of Jupiter-size orphan planets'

Oninoshiko

reminds me of a line on the subject of black holes from Red Dwarf....

"Well, the thing about a black hole - its main distinguishing feature - is it's black. And the thing about space, the colour of space, your basic space colour, is black. So how are you supposed to see them?"

Eight New Yorkers sue Baidu for $16m

Oninoshiko

The title is required, and must contain letters and/or digits.

Bingo!

they could just argue that baidu is directly acting as an arm of the US government, but without a connection to the US government this 1st amendment is not being violated. I'm guessing these yahoos haven't talked to a real lawyer.

David Davis: Jobless should dig trenches for fat UK pipes

Oninoshiko

@Mark 65

I don't disagree with you.

I just am pointing out, the actual physical part (not just the networking part) of building a fiber network does require training. We are not talking about basic community service like collecting litter or scrubbing the work of vandals, we are talking about operating heavy machinery. I think that has been lost on many here.

Oninoshiko

says someone who's never ACTAULLY laid fiber.

I would not want someone not properly trained running a trencher or a boaring machine. The company I work for has paid (properly trained) people to run both, for the purpose of running both fiber and copper.

This is not a comment on intelligence either, it's a matter of training. I'm not qualified to operate that equipment either.

Gates defends Ballmer's Skype gamble

Oninoshiko
Big Brother

and a odd conspiracy at that.

Skype is being bought from eBay, who is also a US company. Why exactly is MS part of the conspiracy and eBay isn't?

Schmidt: Android will bring DEMOCRACY to the WORLD

Oninoshiko
Joke

learned their lesson the hard way?

so "don't be evil ANYMORE?"

In-app payment patent scattergun fired at small devs

Oninoshiko
Terminator

No,

but that's also not what we are talking about.

They are patenting NOT paying when you sell it to them, but later when want to use it. Kinda like how Qlogic sells FC switches. You buy an "8-port" switch which is the same as a 24 port, except it has 16 ports shut off. Then you buy a license for the others as you need them.

In fairness though, I still fail to see how this is patentable.

Patent law, also badgers.

Facebook planking game claims its first victim

Oninoshiko
Go

Yes! Lets ban everything that can kill you!

There goes every modern amenity society has to offer...

Microsoft, Nokia, HTC fight Apple's 'App store' trademark

Oninoshiko
FAIL

Trademarks are not the same as copyright

wow... this post is almost completely wrong, and where is't not wrong, it's a non-sequitor.

Copyrights do not require registration. In every Berne-convention country, they exist at the time of creation (or something smiler, "committed to fixed media" is one such term). Registration only permits additional damages, and I'm not even sure that is true of all Berne-signatories.

McDonalds does not have a copyright on the name, they have a trademark. Finding anything does not change the copyright claim, because they don't have one.

And no, you cannot get a copyright because someone "associated something with your product." If you could, I'm fairly sure the estate of Phillip K Dick would be pretty pissed when they lose copyrights to "Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?" because of Google's OS.

In the US somebody associating something with your product, does not make a trademark either. You (as the maker of the product) have to create the association. If anyone making the association, think of the number of companies who would be vying for "Crap." To boot, the application of European law is in no way, shape, or form relevant. This is before a US court, between entities operating in the US. US courts don't really care about european law, and even if they did, they wouldn't be properly qualified to make any decisions about it.

Oninoshiko
Boffin

@+++ath0

Genericness in the public mind is actually a valid test for a trademark, and as a test, it's not even based on when the trademark was used. There is no "prior art" type requirement in TM law, like their is in patent law.

TMs can be taken away if they fall into generic usage, this actually happened with Asperin, Freeware, Petrol, and Videotape. All of these where trademarks at one time, but fell into generic useage. Based on this, even *IF* Apple coined the term, AND there are not previous usages, if it is a generic term in the eyes of a lay-person, it can be taken away.

Both of those are huge "ifs"

Software pirates should offer up more booty, says BSA

Oninoshiko
Boffin

The title is required, and must contain letters and/or digits.

Actually, most commercial licenses of MSO include a provision for the worker to use it at home or on a laptop, as well as one desktop. I think that provision is ONLY in volume licenses and even then there are multiple tiers, not all may have it.

But that is not necessarily piracy.

Google floats monthly subscriptions to Chrome OS notebooks

Oninoshiko
Pint

Did I miss something?

did that say I have to pay about 400USD for a netbook, then a 24USD/mo to keep using it? If it where just the 24USD/mo. That was moderately appealing, but if i have to buy the thing, then rent it again.... I don't think so.

It also depends on the terms of the contract. If it's just the 24/mo, and they are willing to replace it every time it fails... that's actually a pretty good deal.

"oops, i overheated on my bed again. oops it was raining, again. oops the dog peed on it, again"

Beer, oops...

FBI fights to protect ISPs that snoop on their customers

Oninoshiko
Big Brother

No,

It implies the FBI thinks these ISPs are doing something of dubious legality. And it more then implies the FBI are not doing what they get tax money for.

It also begs the question, "What, exactly, *IS* the FBI doing with the tax dollars it gets?" Clearly it isn't prosecuting illegal wiretaps.

Elon Musk prepares SpaceX rocket firm for IPO

Oninoshiko

maybe, maybe not

A well-visioned leader in a small company like this can structure an IPO to still retain enough control to emphasize his vision. Also, I think the people inclined to invest in SpaceX are going to be people who share his vision, to most others it's going be we viewed as mostly wishful thinking.

Nothing to lose but your desktop PCs

Oninoshiko

I have a client on VMWare View

Initially a license key dongle for one of their packages was an issue, but in the latest release VMWare corrected the problem for us. These thing are getting better.

You should certainly start with a VARY small, committed group to migrate and slowly expand the system, fixing the new problems that show up as you add people.

And ignore the hype, your hardware savings isn't where the benefit is, It's in improved maintainability. Nothing like having a user completely MUNG their desktop, punch up "delete" in the admin client, and telling them to just log back in. Although you really have to have a locked down environment to make it work well.

I can't speak to Citrix's Xen based solutions. I have had enough trouble with their Licensing server randomly destroying itself, and then trying to call their tech support is utter hell. I wouldn't even recommend their logo to piss on.

Google misses Russian trick with Opera snubs

Oninoshiko
FAIL

Opera is complient, but

google does browser sniffing and sends a different page to Opera then to "first tier" browsers. Google specifically feeds Opera crap, and there really isn't anything else Opera can do about it. If you set the page to Firefox, it renders just fine.

Personally I think this is like if ford bought BP and started started selling higher quality petrol, but only to Ford owners. Would ford suddenly be the best automobile? Google (and anyone else using UA detection) are asshats who need bound and quartered.

New graphics engine imperils users of Firefox and Chrome

Oninoshiko
Boffin

well

Generally, with 2d you are, in effect, manipulating a framebuffer. normally the OS would provide you some primitives (which it can sanity check) or a framebuffer ("Canvas" if you prefer) and not actually provide you with direct access to the hardware. (at least insofar as what is provided to a web browser is concerned)

With 3D, OTOH performance becomes a much larger issue. We generally offload that to a GPU, shaders get written to run on GPUs. Because we pass the code to the GPU, to run directly on on the concern that it could be used as an attack vector to a system is solid one. For example, something like a shader which gets random chunks of memory looking for private keys. The OS is not designed (can it even be?) to protect against a processor on a compromised peripheral as an attack vector. It basicly allows anyone to do a "drive-by hacking" using, essentially, the same attack vector as the usb-dma vector.

http://www.google.com/search?q=USB+DMA+Attack

Microsoft resuscitates 'I'm a PC' ads to fight Apple

Oninoshiko
WTF?

Are you part of the solution?

So, you don't think the front end changes are significant.

So, you don't think the back end changes are significant.

Can you tell me, exactly WHAT do you think is significant? Personally I blame all of you who want to blame someone else for not creating what you think is significant change, rather then taking some damn initiative and writing it your selves.

Tales from the storage frontier: What's next for flash, disk and tape

Oninoshiko

But

flash is aweinspreingly expensive per TB for primary storage of mass data, Tape has the speed issue (and I question the article's price-point for it). The reality is you use the flash for a cache for the subset of your data you are actually using, the "slow" hard drives for bulk-storage of near-line but not active data, and I suppose tape for offline backups.

I don't see drives dying in the enterprise for a while.

Boffins herald end of stiff screens

Oninoshiko
FAIL

Interesting,

scientists move one direction, Jobs and the market moves the other.

They develop a practically indestructible screen. The iPhone4 is made out of glass. I've seen so many shattered ones lately.

iOS lauded as top moneymaker

Oninoshiko

hrm...

I wonder how he computed hit number of programmer hours on each platform.

For example did he use the programmer hours used on the product for all platforms? That wouldn't be right as UI APIs might make some platform use more developer-hours then another.

Maybe they track the number of developer-hours each project uses, but that would lead to the platform in which some common elements are developed being penalized, as it would be counted agains those platforms, rather then being equally spaced amongst the platforms.

I could go on, but I think you get the idea... Lies, damned lies, and statistics.

California Do-Not-Track web privacy law moves forward

Oninoshiko
FAIL

So.

How much are you paying for your elReg subscription? Yeah, that's what I thought.

Woz snubs Paul Allen, praises pea soup

Oninoshiko
FAIL

The problem is...

the design is utilitarian. What shape other then a "rectangle with rounded corners" would you suggest making a cell phone? Hell, RIM has been using that shape since since the 6210 (2003). if you are willing to count the pages it goes back to 850 (1998).

That's not even counting all the cellular phones made using that shape since we stopped using bag-phones. Basically everything but the flip-phones. Next they are going to be claiming trademark on the letter 'i'.

Oninoshiko

hrm....

"Sure, it may seem like an obvious device to an electronics engineer building a computer"

To put it another way, "Obvious to a person have ordinary skill in the art." Strangely enough, that just so happens to be the definition of what you are not supposed to be able to patent. Seems like Woz isn't the only one who needs to shut up.

Sony closes PC games site over security 'concern'

Oninoshiko
Grenade

Sony needs to track down the bastards that did this....

and hire them.