Posts by Ben 56

Tech giants could pay 10% of turnover under draft UK law

Re: I'm sorry - how does this help?

* no non public body is a winner

I'm sorry - how does this help?

Will the SMS pay this money to the companies forced out?

Perhaps they'll use them for grants for startups in the same field as the giants?

Sorry, I think I misheard, did you say SMS actually has no designated use, and adding this tax will only cause quid pro quo trade wars, of which no public body is a winner?

Perhaps they are hoping the giants will remove themselves from the competition, thereby improving competition, by taking their bases and rehousing then in countries that have lower taxes, but still provide some of the services they do.

Let's label this correctly, it's a cash grab because the government has been watching the money with glee and has undermined every possible domestic competitor by anti tech policies, such as allowing ARM to be sold off, or lack of investment in the industry. So protectionism now is the only way to "fix" the problem.

Capita IT breach gets worse as Black Basta claims it's now selling off stolen data

Re: Crap IT? Ah!

Some of which died or committed suicide, so corporate manslaughter really...

Python head hisses at looming Euro cybersecurity rules

Re: To pay or not to pay

What if I install Linux and accidentally nuke my Windows partition and all the data - should I sue the devs?

The creator of the tool is not responsible for the usage.

The car Vs distribution example is a poor analogy since when you distribute software you are not driving, you are selling (or rather giving) the car.

Any reasonable person would sandbox, have antivirus, and backups just like a driver should have a licence and insurance to guard against negligence and accidents.

John Deere urged to surrender source code under GPL

GPL Tldr

GPL is copyleft, that is, if you integrate software source licenced under it, you have to provide your own software's source that linked to it.

Most but not all Linux uses this licence, not all free software uses this licence (I would say most does not). The bits they have used however do.

Just using GPL software, or bundling unmodified binaries alongside your own software, but crucially not linking to it at a source code level, has no restrictions, you do *not* have to provide access to the source for your own software in this case.

Financial red tape blamed for London losing Arm IPO

It was British and on AIM (LSE) until Mrs May waved through Japanese purchase despite being told it was a national and security asset.

Now they've realised their mistake, tried to woo it back and failed.

Tech CEO nixes AI lawyer stunt after being threatened with jail time

Won't eat own dog food?

So prepared to let his AI represent someone else, but threatened with jail time not himself?

Nothing stopping an open source project

Code that takes a personal MP3 collection and builds a model.

The devil is in detail, can't have singing (you've seen stable diffusion fingers right?), analysis of waveforms will need normalising to a standard sampling frequency etc etc.

Concept easy enough though.

Tetchy trainee turned the lights down low to teach turgid lecturer a lesson

Re: Notes? How old school!

Kids have learnt not to question.

I was pre camera phone too, but I questioned my university lecturers/professors of many years experience and book writing when I knew they had stuff wrong (e.g. waterfall modelling problematic compared to the upcoming agile, programming mistakes, and missing use of UML diagrams in designs). Ultimately I ended up with lower marks for the pain of it.

I learnt only after my degree not to question their ego, because that's what it was doing, shame I didn't learn earlier like these kids I might have had better grades (my career went on to be Lead Dev for some massive companies and I'm now on executive level pay doing dev work, so clearly I did something right by no longer questioning).

The short is; don't question, ignore their mistakes and do it your way anyway. They learn from seeing your doing.

GitLab plans to delete dormant projects in free accounts

Hold my beer

...while I set up a gitlab project to commit whitespace to project, then delete the commit, periodically, and perhaps even link it into the gitlabci of my in-progress projects...

David Holz, founder of AI art generator Midjourney, on the future of imaging

Not quite there yet

So in the 2 trials I had access to I attempted to get an illustration of "Boris Johnson waving a British flag leaning out of a Delorean Time Machine" for a post I wanted to write regarding him leaving office.

Not a single one was a Delorean, just a great box, flags were often in the background, and the cartoon likeness of Boris was usually melded with an abstract grey car body.

The nature of Midjourney running on Discord means they have user limits, meaning they're going to start removing accounts, plus they have no other payment options yet.

I'm holding hope that DallE will be better with regards to image generation, but their t&c won't allow me to specify Boris Johnson, so I'd have to add "male blonde prime minister" or something to get an abstraction for my post - which I never ended up writing but at least it became a good benchmark into the tech.

Only Microsoft can give open source the gift of NTFS. Only Microsoft needs to

Back in the day...

I was tasked as a junior dev going to one of these "Linux is evil" shows Microsoft did, showing TCO was indeed greater with Linux, especially staff training and pre existing integration (no surprise incumbent needs less work there then). It also mentioned patent breach exposure as a risk (and MS was threatening people, SUSE paid MS for patent protection).

However during one of the Q&A sessions I blurted out "why does the TCO not contain the an estimate for the amount of time needed to patch or fix CVEs?" of which Microsoft at that time had recently had a very large ring 0 worm shortly after the sessions started. I also asked if the cost of repairing said breaches was in there too. Petulant maybe as a junior dev, but I hated people being misled by lies, damn lies and statistics.

Unsurprisingly, the questions were glossed over and the answer not given, just re-iterating what was in the TCO summary of training costs etc.

I've never looked at MS the same again, and proof they still haven't changed is evident by them never letting go of their clasp of the old crown jewels.

IMHO you have as much chance of getting the NTFS driver as getting Windows >9x open sourced.

Having said that I own an XBox...

Why the Linux desktop is the best desktop

Respect out of the window

when you said:

"First, Linux is far more secure than Windows"

without evidence.

IMHO It's only more secure because it's user base is smaller so it's targeted less, fewer Muppets to download virus laden executables, and because intrusions can go noticed due to lack of standard antivirus.

Just look at the number of Android and embedded Linux exploits - systems that don't get updated, to see which systems are ultimately more secure.

No patch Tuesday for those.

Disclaimer: Regular Windows/Linux/MacOs user here - cut my teeth on Sun Solaris.

Google Chrome's upcoming crackdown on ad-blockers and other extensions still really sucks, EFF laments

Navigator > IE > Firefox > Chrome > Brave.

This is just part of the natural cycle of things cf. title.

Browser starts to suck or bloat - everybody just moves to the next one that doesn't.

Ring, Ring, why don't you give me a call? Amazon-owned doorbells aren’t answering after large-scale outage

El Reg knows Ring has failed before

"As far as we are aware, it has never suffered a system-wide failure"

That's bull. It happened 2 months ago for about 8 to 12 hours across the UK and parts of the US caused by a larger AWS authentication outage that hit other services.

I made the Reg aware via submit news and I know other people did in comments on an unrelated/promo Amazon/Ring news item during the day

GitHub debuts Container Registry that's only a little bit redundant for developers

Re: Amateur operation

More info for anybody thinking of using Packages:

https://github.community/t/download-from-github-package-registry-without-authentication/14407

Linus Torvalds drops Intel and adopts 32-core AMD Ryzen Threadripper on personal PC

Re: AMD Dreams

You're unlikely to see x86_128 because most common numbers fit within 64 bits. The only purpose I can see for it would be cryptographic usage.

There's no Huawei we're taking this lying down: Chinese mobe maker denies US govt racketeering charges

Photos of a robot arm!

Lol at that one.

How can anyone take the claims seriously with allegations like that?

Espionage in the US used to be stealing F35 blueprints from servers, or copying designs for space shuttles. Now it's taking photos of robot arms like it's technology that hasn't been around for the last 60 years, and most of it made in China for the last 40.

Starliner: Boeing, Boeing... it's back! Borked capsule makes a successful return to Earth

Exactly how this happened remains unclear at this early stage

Actually I had an idea and posted this on the earlier article:

Officially it's been stated the clock was 11 hours out, this discounts the UTC - EST difference theory but not yours.

Perhaps it went like this:

After take off, the clock would have counted 36 minutes, i.e. 00:36 if written as a timer, but this was actually assumed to be "12:36" when written as an AM/PM clock or date time type that held timezone (which was subsequently ignored or somebody stupidly used a toString parser) as the value was taken from an onboard RTC, an API to retrieve the value used this value type (as opposed to the engineer using the epoch milliseconds calculation).

The onboard clock correction/precision/sync software was likely expecting 00:36 minutes but told when attempting to be sync'd with "hey my booster clock says it's been a little over 12 hours from launch, not 36 minutes", i.e. exact time correction cannot be applied as the difference is too great and the validity range was meant to be within 1 hour, or within the first hour of takeoff, thus any value 11 hours previous to the one given would have worked.

The 1 hour validity range is (IIRC) exactly how Microsoft's Windows NTP updates used to work, e.g. when correcting time from a default dead CMOS battery value it would fail due to significant difference.

This isn't Boeing very well... Faulty timer knackers Starliner cargo capsule on its way to International Space Station

You nailed it

Officially it's been stated the clock was 11 hours out, this discounts the UTC - EST difference theory but not yours.

Perhaps it went like this:

After take off, the clock would have counted 36 minutes, i.e. 00:36 if written as a timer, but this was actually assumed to be "12:36" when written as an AM/PM clock or date time type that held timezone (which was subsequently ignored or somebody stupidly used a toString parser) as the value was taken from an onboard RTC, an API to retrieve the value used this value type (as opposed to the engineer using the epoch milliseconds calculation).

The onboard clock correction/precision/sync software was likely expecting 00:36 minutes but told when attempting to be sync'd with "hey my booster clock says it's been a little over 12 hours from launch, not 36 minutes", i.e. exact time correction cannot be applied as the difference is too great and the validity range was meant to be within 1 hour, or within the first hour of takeoff, thus any value 11 hours previous to the one given would have worked.

The 1 hour validity range is (IIRC) exactly how Microsoft's Windows NTP updates used to work when correcting time from a manual/default dead CMOS battery value.

One man's mistake, missing backups and complete reboot: The tale of Europe's Galileo satellites going dark

It's Phil's fault!

I told him to make sure he made the DST adjustment, but the berk just left it to go home early that evening, now 24 hours have passed we'll have to wait until end of Summertime next year.

With the bureaucratic decision to remove DST in the EU altogether from March the whole project is royally f'ed and all the satellites will not be allowed to resync at all.

We all hate Phil and his croissant stuffing face, he had one job in the time sync department, but all he does is bloody clock watch.

Microsoft flings features at Teams to close the Slack gap

Slack > Teams

Everyone except Microsoft knows the four reasons why Slack is better than Teams:

1) Slack's Giphy integration.

2) Slack's lightning startup speed.

3) Teams' lack of Giphy integration.

4) Their names. "Slack" hints at a respite from work, but "Teams" has work and managerial interference written all over it.

We translated Intel's crap attempt to spin its way out of CPU security bug PR nightmare

This is why

I love the Register, it's like Dummies Guide For Buzzword/Bullsh*t Bingo.

Keep up the fantastic journalism!

Official: Microsoft's 'Get Windows 10' nagware to vanish from PCs in July

Re: Serious question

It is if you like candy crush and advertising every time you press the start bar, with a side helping of no update control and targeted telemetry advertising. "Hi I'm Cortana, I can see you're looking for anal fissure cream..."

Down with Unicode! Why 16 bits per character is a right pain in the ASCII

Re: Little endian (x86/Windows) being COMPLETELY WRONG of course.

Unless you happen to be using Java.

Hypersonic 'scramjet' aims for Mach 8 test flight

Are you staring at my tail pipe?

- Attitude jet.

Oh you meant "altitude jet" you say?

Ten top new games for phones ’n’ slabs

Re: Real racing 3

So because your network connection died somewhere along the line you blame EA? Wow better watch your nose, you've got a lot of spite!

Google lifts skirts, reveals Play All Access to UK market

Re: UK vs Euro pricing

I may be wrong, but within the EU aren't we free to purchase a product from where ever we want due to the single free trade area?

If Google attempts to segregate I believe there is a case to sue.

Mobes with monster 72-core GPU to debut in China

How quaint

Today's monster GPU is just tomorrow's "how quaint", how right Scottie was we wouldn't be using a keyboard.

Amazon-bashed HMV calls in administrators, seeks buyer

Re: the digital era

WHSmith did this for many years in the late 80s early 90s - the system was called EDOS and you chose from a (regularly published in-store) catalogue the game you wanted, on Amiga, Atari, C64 Spectrum, disks or tapes it didn't matter. There was a big duplicator machine in the back that would have all of these games on a CD it used to burn from. Obviously it never took off and the material looks a lot like pirate blanks (albeit with an official box). Obviously there would be even less differentiation these days!

Here's the best article I could find on EDOS, sadly there isn't too much info on the (once reasonably popular) system.

http://forum.defence-force.org/viewtopic.php?t=815&p=7319

MYSTERIOUS GREEN GLOW seen on iPhone 5s

Long term potential for serious issues?

Uelogy is worried about the long term potential for serious issues - that's hilarious - we know it'll only be a year before this device is binned and he/she buys the new iPhone 6!

The Register iPhone and Android apps: Maintenance update

We're used to it

The other great British institution the Beeb also messed up their apps a number of times, and continue to do so on Android, so we can give you, with lesser funds, a bit of leeway.

Why Java would still stink even if it weren't security swiss cheese

Your argument's flaw

"but because of a decade's worth of people who still haven't figured out how to use it as designed"

Perhaps if they'd stayed on at university to actually complete the course "to figure it out" they'd use it as designed? Now I've got to put up with "have a go coders" thinking they know Java and botching the job because they couldn't be bothered to learn enough.

Sony preps PS3 with old-school design

Top loading's nick name

Top loading mechanisms on consoles used to be referred to as toilet seats by owners of newer fangled tray/front loading mechanisms. Does this mean PS2 owners can now laugh and point fingers at PS3 owners?

Top loading's nick name

Top loadering mechanisms on consoles used to be referred to as toilet seats by owners of newer fangled tray/front loading mechanisms. Does this mean PS2 owners can now laugh and point fingers at PS3 owners?

Android Jelly Bean won't get Flash Player

Kulfi

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

LG 47LM670T 47in passive 3D smart TV

3D File Format Support

Does LG support the .mpo file format yet (i.e. that took by Fujifilm, Nintendo 3DS etc cameras)? Earlier 3D TVs have not (although they support 3D avi films) and this seems to be a glaring omission.

8,400 email addresses spaffed by Student Loans Company

ALL IT TAKES...

Is one virus on any of the machines reading that email and instantly all of those addresses will be spammed and harvested.

I speak from experience of course when I was wished happy Christmas by some muppet I barely knew one year who addressed a seasons greetings email to some 100+ people on his address book years ago.

Will the looters 'loose' their benefits?

SITE UPDATED - 100K REACHED!

Here's what the now offline site says:

"

HM Government

Sorry, e-petitions is temporarily unavailable.

The e-petitions site is having problems at the moment. We need to temporarily suspend the creation and signing of e-petitions to allow us to make sure everything is working properly for you.

We aim to re-open the e-petitions site by Friday morning (12th August).

We're very sorry for the inconvenience this causes you.

The e-petition entitled “Convicted London rioters should loose all benefits” has now passed the threshold of 100,000 signatures and has been passed to the Backbench Business Committee to consider for debate. It will continue to be available for signature once the site is re-opened.

"

OpenOffice.org site goes offline, Oracle declines to comment

Netbeans.org is also down

Conspiracy theories can stop now, seems like Netbeans is down too, unless the conspriracy is regarding all Oracle FOSS....

Oracle gives 21 (new) reasons to uninstall Java

Why not...

uninstall Microsoft .Net - just like Java, except its updates are forced with Windows updates so you don't see them, didn't you know that? Perhaps you should also suggest Adobe products or even Windows itself

Stop scare mongering. Chances are if people have it installed already it's because an app on their system needs it.

World+Dog says 'no thanks' to 3D TV

Why 3DTV isn't popular

1) Stupid glasses. People don't want to wear them or have the expense of buying new ones, or not having enough pairs.

2) Very little 3D content.

3) 3D without glasses (2nd gen) is just around the corner (e.g. 3DS) - why waste money being an early adopter on 1st gen kit?

Oracle goes in hard on Google Java suit

Now we know why Orackle bought Sun

Buy company, get rid of highly skilled staff by annoying them (cheaper than redundancy payments), set attack lawyers on those companies allegedly infinging the newly purchased IP. This will help claw back costs of buying said company whilst putting competitors at a disadvantage even if that is just FUD over the IP.

Fact of the matter is that whilst Android is fragmented due to platform, Sun did that by design with Personal Java, sorry J2ME, no wait.. sorry JavaME (or should I refer to it by technical standards CDC, CLDC, personal profile...), and Android at least for me appears to be the better and open of the two "standards" if you can call it that. No wonder Oracle wants to squash Google's platform. I still hate JavaME's signing certificate malarky preventing hobby developers getting their stuff out there.

Apple now world's second-largest company

Microsoft part owns Apple

Lets not forget Microsoft own $150 million of Apple shares:

http://www.theregister.co.uk/1999/09/01/apples_g4_the_real_windows/

Dell Streak GPL snub enrages Android fans

Narrow minded view.

But the following 6 months will mean that you now have a new alternative OS to play with without spam/advertisements with new bug/security fixes, likely more corporate unfriendly (filesharing/VOIP etc etc) features, removal of OS restrictions, and lack of branding. Finally when Dell decide to no longer support the device the community will still be there to do it.

Dell should have factored the GPL source release timetable in advance, or even better released it while they worked on it, so it's not the open source "nutters" fault if Dell cut corners (hypothetically - they probably can just release it).

Average Joe (c/o Anon Coward) needs to see the bigger picture of open source instead of narrow mindedness that only a few "nutters" need it - it'll benefit everyone and competition is always good. Where would we be today if Netscape Navigator wasn't open sourced (Firefox)? or Sun's Star Office (Open Office), Minix (Linux/Unix/Ubuntu etc), Berkeley sockets (networking layer in Windows) etc etc.

Rant over :)

Raptor over Blighty: Watch the stealth fighter in infrared

Probably already done and you can guess the result

Training exercises have certainly already been done by the US to plan against the UK's, Europe's and Saudi Arabia's Eurofighter contingencies and any future tranches (i.e. the kind that might be deployed if war with the US were to come about and an advantage was needed to counter the F35). The reason I think we don't know the (likely confidential) results is probably down to the fact that it's too close to call or embarrassing (i.e. you don't want other countries to know that their jets can best your latest and greatest), otherwise we'd have "league" tables showing kill ratios like they do for (e.g.) US vs Russian vs old jets.

Treasury pulls plug on Wiki-cutback site

So the few spoil it for the many...

So what happens to all of those good suggestions that were made? I added one to stop employing lollipop people who stand at pedestrian lights and instead bring back the green cross code and educate kids on road safety...

Steve Jobs beheads iPad apps for acting like desktops

He's clearly not that bright

and doesn't learn from mistakes - in a month or so he'll rescind this blog comment about not writing software for a rival.

Exam board deletes C and PHP from CompSci A-levels

Pascal? Pah Cobol

Dumbing down of education again, all because the teacher doesn't want to learn harder languages the kids have to suffer with less options. You might as well be teaching Cobol for the use that will be in the real world.