Posts by mark l 2

Adobe finally patches PDF pest after months of abuse

Why was javascript even put into a document format, it was just asking for trouble.

I vibe coded a feed reading web app. It was enlightening and uncomfortable

Re: In sympathy

if it doesn't have barcode then lots of people put it through as loose onions or carrots. I remember hearing an anecdote that a big UK supermarket chain had 'sold' more onions and carrots through the self check out that they had purchased from their suppliers.

Apple update looks like Czech mate for locked-out iPhone user

Mostly likely an Apple dev who had no familiarity with the Czech language decided that that character was unnecessary as it made the lock screen keyboard too cluttered so removed it without thinking of any of the consequences, Sounds like probably another case of form over function to make something look pretty.

Fewer than 3 in 10 register for HMRC's Making Tax Digital shake-up

MTD = Making tax difficult

"Making Tax Digital will make it easier for sole traders and landlords to get their tax right by providing a more real-time overview of their finances, freeing up their time to focus on growing their business,"

Yes because making business owners have more red tape and paperwork to do and having to spend money on tax software they didn't previously require, always frees up time to focus on their business!

We know what day it is but these Raspberry Pi price hikes are no joke

Re: Love

While for some things a second hand x86 PC might be cheaper and offer better value than a Raspberry PI, power consumption isn't generally one of them. Where as a Raspberry PI or other SBC can be left on all 24/7 and only using a small amount of power without you worrying that your next electric bill is going to give you a heart attach.

For example I have a used Dell Optiplex that you could pick up easily on ebay for just a few quid, but it also draws about 65W of power at idle and 100W when the CPU is stressed out. And a ARM based SBC (not actually a Raspberry PI but similar) which runs off a 10W PSU and usually draws about 5W at idle.

Don't open that WhatsApp message, Microsoft warns

I wasn't even aware Whatsapp existed for Windows PCs. I just assumed it was a mobile app and they have a web version.

Age checks creep into Linux as systemd gets a DOB field

For those bemoaning that Systemd devs or any other FOSS software are implementing a facility to record ages of user, they are just trying to get ahead on what the law says they will have to do. And just like any laws you might not like it, but if you don't follow it then there will be legal repercussions. And its the politicians that vote to implement these ill thought out laws that you need to direct your ire towards.

I don't think ages checks are going to go away anytime soon, Australia and the UK already have them, and its not just California that is bringing them in the US its also a bunch of other states proposing they have similar laws so the devs are just preparing to be able to comply with what they maybe legally be obliged to do across the whole world. So I can see why it would make sense to record the DOB then let an API extract out an age range or provide a token to say this user is over or under 18 than record several different bits of info for different jurisdictions.

I predict that the way things are going within the next decade there will be more countries and states requiring some sort of age checks than those that don't. And while i don't like where things are going with age checks, if it is going to become widely adopted then I prefer the option of setting my age once at the OS level and an API that tells any website or app that i am 18+. Than the individual age verification checks we currently have in the UK, which needs to be done for every different app or service and often that personal info is getting sent off to 3rd parties.

Google gives Android users a way to install unverified apps if they prove they really, really want to

WTF! Imagine this was how Microsoft decided that Windows should work, and if you want to download and exe from the internet, you had wait 24 hours before you can install it.

Nvidia's DLSS 5 promises to bring you out the other side of the uncanny valley

its funny how Nvidia wants to use AI to make video game characters look more like real humans, while social media influencers use it to look less like real people.

Apple’s MacBook Neo turns out to be its most repairable lappy in 14 years

For the price the Macbook Neo seems like a great laptop with a decent spec and good build quality. So hopefully even if your not interested in buying an Apple device, having them release a lower priced laptop will make other manufactures have to up their game and release better hardware to compete with it. And so should hopefully be a benefit for everyone.

RAM is getting expensive, so squeeze the most from it

I believe pretty much all Android phones use Zram for RAM compression but some manufactures give it a fancy name such as Memory extender.

After years of being stood up, ARM64 Linux users finally get Chrome date

"The question, therefore, is, why would Google do this now? A surge in Chromebooks?"

I am fairly certain that Chromebooks with ARM SOC's would have already been running a native ARM version of the Chrome browser. As although ChromeOS is built on top of the Linux Kernel the user space apps aren't Linux apps but all Google proprietary ones.

This move is more than likely aimed at devs using some of the ARM workstations that are now available such as those with the Ampere Altra chips or NVIDIA Jetson Nano. And there are millions of Raspberry Pi and other such ARM based SBC that run Linux who might want to run Chrome as well if they use that other other systems and are familiar with it?.

Running full Linux on ARM based Chromebooks is not well supported compared to being able to boot Linux on x86 Chromebooks use something like MrChromebox scripts.

Nanny state discovers Linux, demands it check kids' IDs before booting

If you look at one of the businesses lobbying FOR this law its Meta, as then once the age verification is the responsibility of the OS they are then off the hook for doing age verification themselves as they can just say we allow users to access our services based on what age the OS says they are. And pass the buck for any age checks to someone else.

The whole age verification falls apart anyway as soon as you move from consumer OS to that of businesses. No enterprise is going to want to have to do external age verification checks for every device and user they set up on their network, or what about servers that don't run a GUI and could be admin by people from all over the world. So no doubt there will have to be some use cases carved out for exemptions to this ill thought out law and as soon as you start making exemptions the kids will jump on that and find ways around ages check in minutes.

Although it might actually be good for Linux in these states as once kids realise that it will be trivial to bypass age checks on Linux since the source code is available and within days of any distro putting in age checks someone will fork the code and have removed it. It might actually push adaptation of FOSS in those regions.

Microsoft adding Xbox mode to Windows 11 – even the Professional edition

Just more confusing names from Microsoft as you assume that an Xbox mode should enable you to play Xbox games, but no that would be too sensible. Instead they choose to use the brand name associated with their long line of gaming consoles to rename Windows 'game mode' which has existed on Windows 10 since 2017 as 'Xbox mode'.

Come on Microsoft why no Copilot and 365 branding in their too?

Anthropic sues US government after unprecedented national security designation

What would the 'dept of war' would need a AI system for, other than making it easier to plan military operations that are going to kill people? So Open AI making out that their deal is somehow morally better and not just about how they like receiving that sweet sweet government money, Is just laughable.

US state laws push age checks into the operating system

The issue to any state that brings in this sort of ill thought out law is that with FOSS it will always be possible to bypass any age checks since you can literally see how the code works and disable it or present the age check API with false info.

Even on close source OS it will just encourage kids to lie about their age - which is still possible as the law currently is written as it doesn't do any actual external verification of the users age (but expect that loophole to get closed down sooner rather than later)

And on Android, Windows and MacOS just don't install apps from the the stores and sideload them from external sites, but of course then they will start to mandate closure of that method for the sake of the children.

MoJ puts Prisoner Telephony Service replacement on hold yet again

I wonder if the cost for prisoners to call to mobile phones will still stupidly expensive once they finally get off the BT contact?

Prisoners pay over £1 per minute for to call mobiles from their in cell phone and when you consider that a prisoner is maybe making £15 a week from their 'job' in prison, that means one 15 min phone call to their family can wipe out all of their phone credit for the week unless they are getting someone on the outside of prison to send them in additional funds.

Calls to landlines are only about 15 pence per minute but in a world were less and less people have landlines they really should be offering the same per minute rates to mobile phones, especially as the MOJ own guidelines say that prisoners who maintain good family and friends contact while in prison are less likely to re-offend on release. It definitely seems like profiteering as there is no way that the actual costs is 10 times more to call a mobile over a landline.

UK still doodling digital pound while Brussels frets over payment sovereignty

The sooner we can get our payment systems away from Visa and Mastercard the better. A someone who runs a small business I hate the fact that for basically doing FA they are making money on every transaction when someone pays using their debit or credit card, no matter if its a using a card, Apple pay, Paypal or any of the other dozens of ways to pay, they take their little cut of it.

That is why you will often see smaller business saying they won't accept card payments unless over a certain threshold due to the fees they get charged. If you go to your local independent shop to buy a 2 litre bottle of milk for £1.80 and pay with a card that probably means any profit the business would make on the sale is gone, as it goes to the payment processor. That is why i always pay in cash in those shops as I know margins are thin.

50 GW of datacenter demand queues up for UK grid access

I fail to see why we need AI data centres in the UK anyway, they hardly create any jobs or bring in revenue for the local economy. Deny all planning permission and let these US AI companies waste resources to build them in America. I mean is anyone going to notice the difference if Grok/Gemeni/ChatGPT etc takes an extra 100ms delay in generating its slop output cos it has to do it over a transatlantic link rather connecting to a data centre locally?

Trump orders purge of 'woke' Anthropic from government

The world will be fscked if Grok gets implemented in decision making in the US military. Considering Grok went full on mecha Hitler last time its guard rails were removed, it will probably start attacking anything not carry swastika symbol within 5 mins of being let loose.

Nvidia superchip infusion finally coming to Windows PCs, report says

I would personally take the ability not to be able to run Windows as a positive attribute for the SOC. At least i know it should have better Linux support than what Qualcomm are offering on their laptop chips which they promised would have good Linux support at launch which they failed to deliver on.

HMRC spares 661 from Making Tax Digital as rollout nears

MTD = Making tax difficult

"It also claims MTD will benefit businesses by saving them time on their annual tax return – which will still be required, although it will be populated with data from the quarterly reports – and improving their productivity."

So how is it going to save businesses any time by having to submit 4 times a year rather than once a year, i predict it will cost them more time in the long run! Is that the best benefit they could come up for businesses as to why they will have more admin and possibly additional costs per year from April?

And why do businesses have to now use a 3rd party software and services to submit these figures when previously they could be submitted via the Gov.uk website? Any 3rd party service is likely to be severely limited if free to get you to pay for the full version, or probably collecting your data to sell to advertisers. So that leaves using paid options which is an additional expense for the business.

Poland bans camera-packing cars made in China from military bases

All those electrical system in modern cars are just extra things to go wrong after a few years. Do we really think they are using the best components in them that will last for a decade or longer? They want us to pay tens of thousand of pounds for cars which will probably last as long as a cheap laptop.

Texas sues TP-Link over China links and security vulnerabilities

There really isn't any way to make a electronic device these days without the majority of the components being manufactured in China. I bet there are thousands of 'made in America' products that are essentially Chinese components put together in a factory in the US, as there would be no way to do with 100% American made parts.

Ireland joins regulator smackdown after X's Grok AI accused of undressing people

"We have implemented technological measures to prevent the Grok account from allowing the editing of images of real people in revealing clothing..."

Notice the mention of 'real people' which suggests that anime, video game, or cartoon characters - even if depicting a child - are still fair game for undressing with Grok. Which FYI in the UK is still a criminal offense to create or distribute.

Just think if you were an early investor in SpaceX you are now thanks to Musk also an investor in this dumpster fire of a AI/Social media platform as well!

FTC to probe whether Microsoft's cloud clout crosses the line

True news is the facts about current affairs. If a 'news' article is either left or right wing then its not reporting the news its an opinion piece.

Secondhand laptop market goes 'mainstream' amid memory crunch

Re: Why do you need a brand new laptop ?

I second that statement. I am running Mint on a 5 year old Lenovo Ryzen 5 laptop and its more than capable as a daily driver for office tasks, web browsing, video streaming and even some emulation and gaming.

There are a few cosmetic defects from knocks and scratches from over that time and the battery is obviously not as good as it was new. But for me they aren't a bother as im rarely running off mains power for longer than an hour a day anyway. And im sure if i wanted i could buy a replacement battery pretty inexpensively.

How AI could eat itself: Competitors can probe models to steal their secrets and clone them

It's going to take an "ecosystem security" approach to protect against distillation, and this will require some US government assistance, OpenAI says. "It is not enough for any one lab to harden its protection because adversaries will simply default to the least protected provider," according to the memo.

I'm not sure exactly what OpenAi and Google think the government can do to stop other companies probing their models if they can't stop them at a technical level? Or are they seeking more threats of tariffs from Trump against China if the Chinese gov doesn't stop Deepseek and others from stealing the content that American companies have worked hard to steal that data for themselves.

Apple patches decade-old iOS zero-day, possibly exploited by commercial spyware

Considering the vast amount of money Apple is sitting on, i am surprised they don't set up a shell company and purchase some of these commercial spyware tools and then reverse engineer them to see what vulnerabilities they are using on iOS/MacOS so they can be patched. Or am thinking wishfully thinking that Apple likes to stop bad actors abusing their software more than they like their piles of money?

Discord to start assuming all users are underage unless they prove otherwise

I recently had a run in with the dating app Hinge which after me being on there for many months and in my 40s (and definitely look like it these days LOL) My account was suddenly suspended and i was required I upload government ID before they would reinstate my account.

When i emailed them and questioned who is doing the processing of the age checks, how long the data will be kept for, will it be transferred to any third parties? i receive no response. So i let the account get permanently deactivated, rather than sending my personal data to god knows where.

Unfortunately things are only going to get worse. It won't be long before the UK gov will be requiring El Reg and other such discussion forums to verify the age of their users for the 'won't someone think of the children' argument. And no matter what your political leaning are left, right or centrist none of the parties are speaking out against it.

Taiwan tells Uncle Sam its chip ecosystem ain't going anywhere

Why should the US or Taiwan government have any sway in where a business locates its manufacturing facilities in the first place? It not like it a state owned business. And no doubt the US it will be wanting TSMC to spend the millions of dollars to build these new fabs out of its own pockets.

Taiwan should just promise they will tell TSMC to relocate 50% manufacturing within the next 10 years, this will keep Trump happy and he will move on to something else then, as he has the attention span of a toddler. And by the time it actually comes to move make the move Trump will either be dead or out of office. Assuming free and democratic elections are still a thing in the US come the next election cycle which is far from a certainty the way things are going.

Brussels eyes crowbar for Meta's WhatsApp AI lockout

"The spokesperson also noted that a similar dispute was previously tested in Brazil, where courts dismissed arguments that WhatsApp represents a critical distribution channel for chatbot services."

I mean WTF had a court ruling in Brazil got to do with the EU competition rules? Might as well have said 'ive asked my mum and shes ok with it', for all the sway a judgement in a court half way across the world mean to the EU commission. Talk about grasping at straws.

AI video company arouses fury by boasting about replacing creative jobs

They probably use a LLM to write their marketing blurb and no one bothered to actually check what it was posting until they got the backlash, I expect this business to be a couple handful of who have thrown together a good enough business plan to get venture capitalist to invest, without any USP for their service. And it that sort of company that will be the ones to disappear overnight once the AI bubble bursts.

Ad blocking is alive and well, despite Chrome's attempts to make it harder

Maybe MV3 extensions are working as well as manifest V2 for now, but we are talking Google here, ive no doubt they are already looking at the equivalent of manifest V4 which will reduce the ability of ad blockers down the line, no doubt they will use some AI BS as a reason for the change.

So i still say its better to get off Chrome now than stick with it even if your happy with the MV3 ad block capability.

Ghost gun legislation casts shadow over 3D printing

Guns don't kill people, 3D printers kill people!

Elon Musk merges xAI into SpaceX to spread universal consciousness via a sentient sun

So last year xAi merged with Twitter so Musk could cover up how badly his ill thought out overpriced purchase of twitter had cost. And now even xAI is being purchased by SpaceX, since clearly that was a loss making enterprise as well.

So he needed come up with a load of BS about how SpaceX and xAI are somehow on the same mission, to further distract the fan boys and investors so people wouldn't see how he isn't the genius business man he likes to make out he is.

Let them eat Pi: RAM shortage bumps Raspberry prices as much as $60

Re: Hackers

I am fairly sure that there are factories in China doing exactly that, just without telling anyone its actually recycled. If you look on Aliexpress you can buy what are listed as 'new' SD-RAM and DDR2 RAM modules which fabs stopped producing new years ago. And there are way more available than what would just be left over NOS.

Penguin in your pocket: Nexphone dual boots into Linux, Windows 11

I like the idea of the Nexphone, ive thought for a long time that the phone is my pocket could do a lot more if i had it hooked up a larger screen.

It a pity that their Nexdock doesn't quite have the right form factor for me to be able to go down the one device route. If it had a place inside its laptop form factor where you can dock your phone, maybe in place of the touchpad? Then i think it could be a winning combo, but instead you have to connect it up with your phone dangling from a USB cable which for me is not very practical way of doing it.

You can already mirror any Android phones screen onto a computer by connecting it via a USB cable with the excellent open source Scrcpy software. I played around with it recently and the performance was top notch, no noticeable input lag when i tried playing some Android games even over a USB 2.0 connection and it used my laptops keyboard & touchpad for input and sound from the phone came out of my laptops speakers.

So i don't see the point of buying a $230 Nexdock which has no CPU, GPU or RAM when a cheap used laptop and a USB cable can get you the same results for a lot less money, and the laptop could be used as standalone device with its own CPU, RAM etc unlike the Nexdock which is useless without an external device to plug in.

France to replace US videoconferencing wares with unfortunately named sovereign alternative

I am assuming if its a internal program for just the French government it doesn't really matter if its got the same name as a Microsoft product as long as they don't then try to sell it on the open market?

But then again surely Microsoft have already renamed their software so they can ram in the copilot branded in 2025 anyway.

Raspberry Pi flashes new branded USB drives that promise speedy performance

I was looking for a durable USB memory sticks to use as a ventoy drive. I wanted the speeds and reliability of an SSD but other than industrial ones that were charging crazy prices I couldn't find them from a well know manufacturer.

So in the end i went with a used 32GB M.2 2242 SSD in a USB enclosure as if your happy with a lower capacity SSD you can get them for just a few quid from places like CEX, and they offer 5 years warranty!

Windows fails to tip the scales in grocery store deployment

What could possibly a scale be doing that requires even the minimum specs needed to run modern Windows?

Child safety or age-gating for all? UK social media ban plan draws fire

All those kids that still want to get on social media even if a ban is brought in will do so, so who are you really protecting with bans if the parents aren't also checking up to see what the kids are doing online?

My nephew is 15 year old and lives in Australia and when i chatted with him about the ban there, he told me his friends were all well aware that by downloading a VPN or using a proxy that it was easy to bypass the blocks. But as his mum is very strict on how much screen time hes allowed and he can only use his phone in the living room and she knows his pin so can check what hes been doing he stays off social media even though some of his friends are still using it.

To think that a ban alone with no on going supervision from parents about what they are doing online is going to keep kids of social media is frankly absurd. That would be like saying we need tougher laws against illegal drugs as that will stop people with addictions getting their fix.

You don't need to have any bans if more parents would take some responsibility to know what their children are doing online now. As there are already tools available to restrict which apps & websites can be accessed and how long children can use their phones for.

Sony no longer home of the Bravia as it plans TV biz spin-out to China’s TCL

My current TV is approaching its 14 birthday and gets used daily so i have to be prepared that is probably going to need replacing soon. But which brands actually make their own TVs in 2025, and aren't just a Vestel or TCL set with a different sticker stuck on the front?

UK gambling regulator accuses Meta of lying about its struggle to spot illegal ads

From the last time i went onto a Meta owned platform without an adblocker nearly every advert i saw looked scammy. And people I know have been duped by ads on there and ended up buying something which they thought was a one off purchase to only find they had been enrolled in some subscription or received a crappy product drop shipped from Aliexpress worth a few quid that they paid over the odds for though a Facebook ad.

Meta doesn't care as long as the advertisers are willing to pay, im sure if someone were to run ads that was offering outright illegal services such as stolen goods for sale, as long as they paid Meta enough money they would run the ad and only take it down when it received enough complaints that they felt they had to do something about it.

UK prime minister stares down barrel of ban on social media for kids

The issue is that it won't be a ban on under 16 using social media, it will be age verification for everyone over 16 to prove they are old enough to access the apps and websites. And we have already seen what a sh1t show age verification has been for accessing 'adult' content and they want to bring this in for social media too? Just so parents can put their feet up and say its ok i don't need to be supervising my children online the government is doing it for me.

Wine 11 runs Windows apps in Linux and macOS better than ever

I know that a lot of companies still see Linux as too small a market on the desktop to warrant a native Linux port of their apps. But it would be nice if they could at least test and tweak their Windows builds to work under WINE and well as Windows. As although im no dev im sure it wouldn't be a massive amount of work to do, especially if your an large corporation with a large dev team.

Microsoft on the other hand wants to keep their cash cow of office running primarily on Windows. As if 365 ran flawlessly under WINE then the Office compatibility tie in that keeps a lot of businesses running Windows maybe broken. As businesses could save on the cost of a Windows license by just installing Linux with WINE and then use Office without having to pay for a Windows license, which is going to directly hit Microsoft profits.

Ofcom keeps X under the microscope despite Grok 'nudify' fix

I am suprised there haven't been more uproar from US politicians, but this is probably because Musk is now back in the good books with Trump. I have no doubt if this had been something that Meta AI was doing Trump would be holding a press conference announcing that the dept of justice will be thoroughly investigating Zuckerberg and Facebook for creating CSA images.

CrowdStrike shareholders lose battle to recoup losses from 2024 outage

"Agent cloud architecture … doesn't require a massive tuning burden and doesn't blue screen endpoints with failed updates," court documents quote Sentonas as saying.

As CrowdStrike argued in its motion to dismiss, Sentonas' statement was not a promise that CrowdStrike could never trigger a blue screen outage under any circumstances.

I mean i kind sounds like Clownstrike were promising that their updates wouldn't cause a BSOD, and thats exactly what happened in July 2024 though.

Google rekindles relationship with jilted JPEG XL image format

I think it was the decision by the PDF association to add JPEG XL to their spec that pushed the Chromium devs to reconsider their decision. As if Chromium/Chrome wants to continue having the ability to open PDF document going forward then it would need to be able to decode any JPEG XL images contained within them. And if your implementing the decoder for the PDF reader then you may as well just enable it for the whole browser.

This whole things goes to show that although Chromium might be open source when its main developers are from Google they are going to follow what their business daddy wants them to do, rather than what is good for the rest of the internet.

India demands crypto outfits geolocate customers, get a selfie to prove they’re real

India has a lot of people who by western standards are on low incomes, so im sure it wouldn't be hard to find some hard up individuals to act as money mules and open crypto accounts for a bung of a few quid using their real details. So how much this is going to actual prevent fraud and crime is questionable.