* Posts by Charles 9

16605 publicly visible posts • joined 10 Jun 2009

LTO-8 tape media patent lawsuit cripples supply as Sony and Fujifilm face off in court

Charles 9

Re: Bye-bye tape drives

"Flash, spun down. It's known as very reliable, and restoration is very fast once you've connected it."

Not over the long term. Some of them have been shown to "leak" if left unpowered for a lengthy period. Tape is still unmatched for on-site or otherwise-self-controlled (legally required in some fields) cold storage and archival.

Charles 9

Just because a standard is open doesn't mean it is unencumbered. An open standard simply means anyone can sign up and read the specs (meaning it's not kept behind closed doors as trade secrets). Gaining the actual means to produce them (getting past the encumbrances) is another matter.

Charles 9

The article you describe is a couple years old and was all theoreticals, plus some of the tech such as IBM's TMR head is now already on the market. About the only way you can improve this is to use a different media composition, but even the ars article noted only about a 50% improvement over a few years ago. So while there's still headroom, I don't think there's as much headroom as we'd really like given the insatiable hunger for storage.

Charles 9

Re: Bye-bye tape drives

But then there's a Catch-22. What if you need to restore OFFLINE to get back ONLINE?

Charles 9

Re: Bye-bye tape drives

What if you can't trust online backups or have a legal requirement to keep things in house?

Charles 9

Though there could reach a point where rust on sticky tape can hit the same problems spinning rust does and physics starts getting in the way. Any info on how close tape is to those physical limitations?

Charles 9

Re: Bye-bye tape drives

"You get backup software that supports encrypting and uploading it to various "cloud" storage providers. Pay a monthly fee for however much you need, add to it as needed, checksum it once in a while, and then transfer one of the sets to a cheaper cloud provider when they come along."

And how do you do that without running over data transfer allowances, given you're talking bulk data in the multi-TB range. Sorry, but at those sizes, Sneakernet is much cheaper. Not to mention not as reliant on third parties staying in existence.

Charles 9

Re: Bye-bye tape drives

"You can use lasers focused on a 3D-XYZ glass cube to do permanent data writes (i.e. WORM = Write Once Read Mainly) at data capacities as high as a petabyte for a 10 cm per size glass cube."

Where can I buy this technology on the market right now? Because what you describe has been in development for over 20 years with the only thing to show for it the short-lived disc-based HVD, which was itself quickly eclipsed.

Charles 9

Re: Every Two Years...

I don't think NAND can be trusted for archival. Some forms of the tech have been shown to "leak" if left to sit for more than a year or two. As for rust drives, you'd need something with a longevity standard like RDX, which currently tops out at 4TB per unit.

Charles 9

Re: Bye-bye tape drives

And what would you replace it with, especially for archival and off-site storage? I don't recall any other tech matching tape in those departments.

Data-spewing Spectre chip flaws can't be killed by software alone, Google boffins conclude

Charles 9

"Apparently they don't care about YOUR privacy, either."

The applicable phrase is, "They don't care about privacy." The way they live reminds you of the medieval village with open windows, nosy neighbors, and basically no real expectation of privacy. Hiding something immediately turns all the snoops onto you, and they're VERY good at sniffing secrets out.

So, basically, I'm stuck with it. I can do it the easy way or the hard way. There's no third option, no in between, and like thermodynamics, I can't leave the game, either. They won't take no for an answer.

IEEE tells contributors with links to Chinese corp: Don't let the door hit you on Huawei out

Charles 9

Re: If it hadn't before...

I think it also has to do with being able to distinguish between multiple units, a collective of units...and multiple collectives (say, distinguishing between a team, addressed in the singular, and multiple teams, addressed in the plural--in British English, both would be addressed in the plural).

Charles 9

Re: If it hadn't before...

Because collective nouns are addressed in singular (seeing the group as a group rather than just multiple units within--forest vs. trees).

Refactoring whizz: Good software shouldn't cost the earth – it's actually cheaper to build

Charles 9

Re: If you want to go fast . . .

Trouble is, who has that time when they normally have too short a deadline and a DIE directive?

'Evolution of the PC ecosystem'? Microsoft's 'modern' OS reminds us of the Windows RT days

Charles 9

Then the Skipper gets chucked out the 13th floor after it because one of the updates was to a newly-in-the-wild total pwnage exploit that needed to be patched yesterday lest the company get held hostage. Dilemma: patch and you can't work, don't patch and you can't work. And you can't rely on things being secure because you didn't make everything yourself from scratch: including the hardware: something will get through everything you try. So now what?

Charles 9

Re: What I want ..

Then what happens WHEN (not IF) the authorities get corrupted by those big transnationals?

Charles 9

Re: I certainly don't need any of this.

So you have to submit to Big Brother to play games, essentially. And while Linux gaming is progressing, it's Not Quite There Yet, plus there are always the oh-so-important custom jobs and obscure software that aren't WINE-friendly. What about for the rest of us, especially as Windows 7 support starts to taper off?

Charles 9

Amigas relied on very custom hardware to "fly," as you put it.

There's a scarily good 'deepfakes' YouTube channel that's quietly growing – and it's freaking everyone out

Charles 9

Given the topic was overpopulation, likely Stand on Zanzibar. The Sheep Look Up was more about the environment.

AI can now animate the Mona Lisa's face or any other portrait you give it. We're not sure we're happy with this reality

Charles 9

Re: Proof

"Descartes' Evil Demon by definition, has self in the example. Thus either we both have self, and I can detect the demon, or we do not, and neither can it influence me."

Why? Prove that it MUST be both or neither. I propose the demon has self while you don't AND that the demon is FOOLING you into believing you have self. That's the true evil of the demon. He's tricking you into believing you have self-determination.

"Remove the assumptions you wish to test from the thought experiment. Else it's not a test, it's a set paradox"

That's what I propose; that you CAN'T test it, as the thing you're trying to test is outside your context. Like testing for God.

"Citation needed, or proof."

As noted above, I claim an article of faith, which asserts its truth while also being impossible to prove. Actions need not involve motion. Is not thought an action as well, meaning the Demon can implant a thought in my head that includes the concept that I self-thought the thought spontaneously, as many minds often do when they drift?

Charles 9

Re: Proof

Think meta. Don't think of people writing in a book. Think of controlling the person who's writing the book. Don't think of moving a person's arm but compelling the actual person to move that arm, all the while the person thinks he/she did it of his own volition. Mental suggestion, persuasion, subtle cues, etc. That's the true power of Descartes' Evil Demon. You don't know he exists because he's outside your context, yet he can alter your thoughts to make you do what he wants, all the while making you think it was our thoughts to begin with.

Charles 9

Re: Proof

What about Descartes' Evil Demon? How can you be sure what you're thinking is really your thought and not something input by a Devil who can influence you without your knowledge?

When two tribes go to war... Intel, AMD tease new chips at Computex: Your spin-free summary

Charles 9

Ray Tracing

Honest question. nVidia's new RTX architecture I'd supposed to bring great improvements in real time ray tracing. What is the word about RDNA relative to this?

No Huawei out: Prez Trump's game of chicken with China has serious consequences

Charles 9

Re: Powerful vs Lawful

But it's also relative. If you have enough power, you can change the laws to see fit. Police state or not is up to you because you have enough power to cast anyone else aside. IOW, lawful is relative to the laws themselves, and law itself is very tenuous at that.

Charles 9

Re: ARM, the Japanese chip maker

As I understand it, only two products are routinely made in America under the Cadbury label: Caramello bars and their Creme Egg and related lines, which they only crank out during Lent. And these are by contract; the rest are still made in Europe.

Charles 9

Re: Absolutely

Because you can't win-win a zero-sum game, and matter is finite.

Charles 9

Re: Strange Game

"The only winning move is not to play."

But what if it's like thermodynamics, where the ironclad rules are, "You can't win, You can't break even, and You can't leave the game"?

Tesla driver killed after smashing into truck had just enabled Autopilot – US crash watchdog

Charles 9

Thumbing me down doesn't make it less true. I've experienced Philippine traffic firsthand (particularly downtown Metro Manila). I'll believe a car can drive itself when it can negotiate a road such as Epifanio de los Santos Avenue during evening rush hour without dinging itself or another car, without clipping a passing bicycle or moped threading the gaps, and without running over dirt-poor street vendors who take advantage of the gridlocked cars to hawk their wares.

Charles 9
WTF?

Re: Stop blaming tesla

What drugs? I'm posting a real-life dilemma here. Many drivers are such by necessity, not by choice. Their home or work is not conducive to mass transit, so it's the car or bust. And due to it being the car or bust, taxi rides are completely unaffordable. So now you have a bunch of drivers who don't want to drive and can't afford to let someone else do it. How do you solve this problem?

Charles 9

Question: Who PAYS for all this?

Charles 9

Do said countries include countries like the Philippines with highly chaotic traffic systems?

Charles 9

Re: Stop blaming tesla

You have to assume the driver who has NO access to mass transit is going to be too stupid unless you're willing to kill your relative for being too stupid: "Too bad, game over, better luck next life." If a driver MUST drive to live but is incapable of learning AND won't take "Game Over" without revenge, what do you do?

Charles 9

Re: Stop this sort of accident

"Terrain and rail crossings are not an excuse."

He'll yeah they are because they're getting stuck WITHOUT those bars...and then getting rammed by trains (some were compressed flammable gas trucks; the results will be as you picture them). Anything fitted to those undercarriage is only going to worsen the problem, and local budgets mean you can't expect the roads to be fixed (suits would get deflected to the state instead).

Charles 9

Sometimes, no assistance is needed at all. Why not spikes in the steering whell? Because they don't want their significant other to die as a result of an uncaring suicidal ghost driver aiming directly at him/her: IOW too much risk of collateral damage.

As for truck skirts, locally-maintained (read: poorly-maintained due to budget constraints) roads and especially railroad crossing are notorious for issues of ride height (so bad sometimes trailers can get STUCK), which means many need their full unobstructed undercarriage just to complete their trips.

Charles 9

Re: What's the point?

Put it this wsy. If you want to see what Joe Public perceives to be an Auto Pilot, watch Airplane! and Otto.

Machine vs. machine battle has begun to de-fraud the internet of lies

Charles 9

Re: The Greatest Fraud of All

And let me put it this way. We're not in a Ghost in the Shell world where the human body can directly grok encrypted data. Meaning in order to properly process the data, it MUST be presented to our eyes, ears, etc. in an unencrypted form. This is what's known as being outside the encryption envelope, and this is a pepretual weak link in any encryption system. Transitively proven:

a. Human-readable data must be unencrypted to be understood.

b. Unencrypted data can be read (aka stolen) by someone else.

c. Therefore, human-readable data can be read (aka stolen) by someone else.

So, no encryption system known to man can fully stop "rubber-hose cryptanalysis", or as xkcd so concisely condenses it, "the wrench". Only two types of people I can see can defeat the wrench: masochists who get off on pain, and wimps who faint at the mere threat of violence. But even that can be blunted by threatening people the victim holds dear (and it's a rare person to NOT have someone he or she holds dear).

Charles 9

Re: The Greatest Fraud of All

I have, in fact. You see, I'm a masochist. I get off on pain.

The point is, no cypher known to man would be much good if the adversary can confidently say, "We have ways of making you talk..." IOW, don't attack the cypher; attack outside the envelope.

Charles 9

Re: So what about?

Basically put, what if chaos is your business? For example, you're an arms dealer that makes a killing in wartime conditions?

Let's make laptops from radium. How's that for planned obsolescence?

Charles 9

Re: How about just make the things serviceable

Forget it. There's no business like repeat business. What good's a one-and-done where you never see the customer again. Ever wonder why you don't see much traffic for Kirbyville or Electrolux vacuum cleaners?

Let adware be treated as malware, Canuck boffins declare after breaking open Wajam ad injector

Charles 9

Re: Adverts and Malware

And if they're masochists and LIKE the treatment?

Want a good Android smartphone without the $1,000+ price tag? Then buy Google's Pixel 3a

Charles 9

Re: You mean I have to PAY Google so that they can spy on me?

And doing it on a Note 4 takes mere seconds because (gasp!) the back cover is designed to come off. Plus, since it's designed to come off, you don't need any special tools and there's much less risk of something breaking (like happened to an old Samsung tablet I tried to open because of a bulging battery).

Charles 9

Re: Google to host videos ...

"Ah, you seem to have missed systemless rooting through Magisk."

No, it's become a very hit-or-miss affair. Magisk can stop working spontaneously, and when Android gets updated, there's a fair chance of Magisk tripping up.

"OnePlus, Google, Essential, and Sony* ... all don't."

And like I said, they tend to have things missing that are on my must-have list, such as batteries designed to be easily switched out, SD Card slots, and so on.

Charles 9

Re: Google to host videos ...

No, just flat-out refusing to run due to things like SafetyNet and the signature checks on modern Android phones, which apps can query and balk if they detect problems. Plus, Samsung phones have the Knox e-fuse and many others refuse to unlock the bootloader. Most of the others that don't trip one of the red lines have features missing or are so niche as to not be supported by the likes of xda.

Charles 9

Re: No it isn't.

"Having the sensor on the front means you can actually use it when using your phone normally, in the same way you would the touchscreen."

Many users DON'T want the sensor on the touchscreen, for fear of accidental activation.

"Cases don't get in the way"

Cases simply make a hole for it like they do for the camera and the Apple logo.

"it still works when lying on a table"

Unless it's face-down, like some people do to keep the screen from getting dirty. If it's face-up, odds are it's already unlocked.

"mounted on a holder in the car"

Most car holders have open backs, and plenty of users have already said it's actually dead easy for them to curl their finger around to the back to do it. Plus, if it's in a car holder, it's probably unlocked and with a keep-alive app (maps and media players) or being unlocked with a Bluetooth Smart Lock geared to the car audio.

Charles 9

Re: But what about Joe Average?

Then you better hand up, throw up your hands, and get off the phone, because if you can't trust Google, you pretty much can't trust anyone, as you MUST trust the carriers to get the job done, and many of them have shady behind-the-scenes dealings.

Charles 9

Re: Google to host videos ...

And how do you do that without the phone or various root-aware apps panicking on you?

Charles 9

Re: Cloud Storage

Except phone gens are more than just the chips. You also need radio support and the right antennae for the job (as physics demands they be primed for specific frequency ranges).

Charles 9

Re: Cloud Storage

Just so noted, if you're filling a 64GB SD card with nothing but high-bitrate (say 320kbps MP3) music, you basically have enough music to play without repeating for nearly two weeks (the benchmark is my own music collection, which tips the scales at about 14GB and according to Vanilla Music has a total playtime of over 71 hours (nearly 3 days). WITH high-res artwork for each track.

Americans are just fine with facial recognition technology – as long as they get shorter queues

Charles 9

Re: Not too difficult to figure out, IMHO

"The older folks (like me... though I'm vehemently against it, BTW) may not mind quite as much as they know they're not going to have to put up with it as long."

Or are already used to putting up with it with things like the Red Scare, Duck and Cover, and so on.

Hours before Congress backs robocall blocking law, guess what the FCC boss suddenly decides?

Charles 9

Re: Give the carriers (phone companies) a piece of the fines...

Then explain "bulletproof hosting". If tel cos can attack rogue operators through their billing contracts, why can't upper tier ISPs (who ALWAYS meter) attack bulletproof hosts through their peering contracts? Their MOs are practically identical (and may well be one and the same if using VoIP).