Posts by Tom from the States

It's 2015 and VMware tools break VMs if you open two browser tabs

And then there's this one:

"In VMware vRealize Automation, the hard disks are removed unexpectedly when reconfiguring a virtual machine that has RDM disks (2124657)"

http://kb.vmware.com/kb/2124657

UH OH: Windows 10 will share your Wi-Fi key with your friends' friends

Remember the old rule, when you sleep with someone...

...you're sleeping with everyone *they've* slept with. Sounds like that's how Wi-Fi Sense is working.

Cisco gobbles OpenDNS, sorts out cloud security portfolio

What could possibly go wrong?

Nothing could go wrong here.

-Signed,

The previous owners of Flip Video and Linksys

Microsoft releases free Office apps for half of all Android phones

Re: "30 OEMs to get them preloaded"

Microsoft will $weeten the pot for the OEMs. Also, saves download time. Agreed with your line of thinking if you are preventing from uninstalling it.

June 30, 2016: The day the US will hand over control of the internet

Care to project how soon the United Nations (or similar shadow NGO) is controlling the Internet? Years, decades, perhaps, but it will happen and when it does, watch the censors slowly take over.

Sysadmins rebel over GUI-free install for Windows Server 2016

Re: Growing up is tough

No one is saying that the command-line option should be removed or that the GUI option should be preferred. Just leave the GUI as an option. One of the reasons GUIs became popular is because the error-checking was better and it was more efficient doing a one-off. No one wants a career-altering event that the install code could prevent.

My thought is that this is also a subtle way to drive SMB folks to Azure ("Hey, we can build that server for you so you don't have to fuss about it. You won't have to lift a finger and you can spend more time visiting www.theregister.co.uk!").

Lies, damn lies and election polls: Why GE2015 pundits fluffed the numbers so badly

One polling firm had it right but was too chicken to publish the results.

"We had flagged that we were conducting this poll to the Daily Mirror as something we might share as an interesting check on our online vs our telephone methodology, but the results seemed so “out of line” with all the polling conducted by ourselves and our peers – what poll commentators would term an “outlier” – that I “chickened out” of publishing the figures – something I’m sure I’ll always regret."

http://survation.com/snatching-defeat-from-the-jaws-of-victory/

Doh! iTunes store goes down AFTER Apple Watch launch

The Register treats them all the same...like dogs.

Anytime there's an outage, El Reg is all over it with crass headlines. In this case, Apple was spared the school-boy humor but everything else is correct.

Last time I checked https://www.apple.com/support/systemstatus/, I saw some red status indicators that are not good for things like the App Store and iTunes.

FCC sexes up, er, sextuples 'broadband' speed to 25Mbps in US

What a colossal waste of time.

What an absolutely stupid waste of time. This is only being done for some kind of hidden agenda by the current administration. We used to have 8Mpbs on AT&T U-Verse and we were able to stream two Netflix streams simultaneously. If you wanted to bump it up the definition of "broadband", you could make it 8Mpbs or 10 Mbps, but to bump it to 25 Mbps is asinine.

One wonders if it's a coincidence this is being done *before* the decision has been made on the proposed TWC-Comcast merger.

Another lick of Lollipop: Google updates latest Android to 5.0.1

2012 Nexus models to stay at KitKat perrmanently?

Does this mean the 2012 Nexus models will stay at KitKat and not move to Lollipop, based on all the issues that have been reported?

Belkin flings out patch after Metasploit module turns guests to admins

Because the October Belkin router outage problem wasn't enough...

I am surprised this story didn't link to the Register's story on last month's Belkin outage problem.

Apple hit by INSIDER LEAK: New iPad Mini 3, iPad Air 2 blabbed

You're assuming it was unplanned.

It's possible they intentionally dumped it early to rain on the Android 5.0 parade.

VMware updates vSphere, recommends new security fixes

How about XP as VM?

Do they still support XP as a VM in 5.5 Update 2?

Citrix drizzles lightly and briefly on VMware's parade with Xen update

Pre-launch "entirely new"? Horsefeathers!

Session pre-launch is *not* new. It was in XenApp 6.5 but was removed by Citrix for XenDesktop 7 (one of many things wrong with that version).

http://www.shaunritchie.co.uk/xenapp-6-5-vs-xendesktop-7-app-edition

TrueCrypt turmoil latest: Bruce Schneier reveals what he'll use instead

Any thought that this project was an NSA special and was closed up before a more detailed review could be done of the code? The timing of the code review and the subsequent shutdown is interesting, to say the least.

Also, as noted elsewhere, not all versions of Windows 7/8 have access to BitLocker. To quote the Wiki: "BitLocker is available in the Enterprise and Ultimate editions of Windows Vista and Windows 7. It is also available in the Pro and Enterprise editions of Windows 8."

VMware drops vSphere 5.5 Update 1 into sysadmins' laps

Re: Requires Adobe Flash?

OK, so no Java and no Flash. Fine, but what would you replace them with? I personally plan to stay away from the vSphere web client as long as possible.

If you're still waiting for Firefox on Windows 8, don't hold your breath

What *other* apps are not available on Windows 8?

OK, what other popular apps aren't available for Windows 8 besides Firefox? I am aware that Windows Phone 8 was behind the ball, but was clueless that Firefox was still grounded.

From my POV, another reason to hold off on Windows 8.

You put up with CRAPPY iOS 7. You can put up with Obamacare too, says prez

Smartphone users have more choices.

If you don't like Android, you can switch to iOS or Windows Phone. With the ACA, users are being forced to buy a Palm Pilot with BMW prices. We're not talking about forms bugs here or misspellings. What's going on here is an epic fail. The White House also tried to hide how many pages are required in some of their forms by placing some of them in an "appendix". Clever they are.

Hardbitten NYC cops: Sir, I'm gonna need you to, er, upgrade to iOS 7

NYPD needs a copy of Grammatik.

Either that or there's a new way to spell "available".

Google smacks Surface with free Quickoffice for Android, iOS

Remember what Churchill said about democracy.

"Democracy is the worst form of government except for all the others."

People moan and complain about the MS monopoly. What about WordStar? WordPerfect Suite? OpenOffice? iWorks? There have been (and still are) other competitors but until they come up with a better experience, MS Office is the best of the lot. No doubt MS made use of undocumented API calls, but that's a story for another day.

It's alive! Shared-nothing migration puts the spark into Hyper-V

Don't forget pricing for System Center 2012

I have seen beautifully detailed comparisons for vSphere 5.1 vs. Hyper-V 2012 that compare features in vSphere 5.1 with those enclosed in System Center 2012 but somehow forget to include the cost of System Center 2012 when it comes down to comparing apples to apples. Without SC 2012, you need to be a PowerShell wizard and rely on your scripting. I applaud Microsoft for forcing VMware to included shared-nothing live migration with ESX 5.1, but you must include the cost of SC 2012 in any sane comparison.

Major Dell investor cashes in ALL of its 24.5 million shares

Bill Nygren is a very good investor

Nygren has made only one big mistake in the last 15 years and that was investing in Washington Mutual before the financial crash. It was the biggest mistake for Oakmark by far and it really took their legs out for a bit in 2009.. Otherwise, he is a steady-as-she-goes, buy-and-hold type of investor who has had a very good track record the last 15 years and more.

Dell tried gobbling doomed Brit IT giant 2e2 for £350m, say insiders

And all the folks who turned down the "Harry Potter" manuscript?

That's what you get for getting greedy.

Google shreds Reader in new round of 'spring cleaning'

This is a product for which I am willing to pay.

I have 350+ feeds and with this, was able to dump mailbox-clogging newsletters while having search access via the web and Android. I don't use Facebook and Twitter, either. This is the way to follow technical blogs, sports updates, etc. Not a complete surprise since they are already pulling the plug on iGoogle, but I am seriously bummed.

New York Times probes China's Premier, gets hacked by Chinese

Harken back to WWII

When the US was attacked at Pearl Harbor, Churchill knew that the United States was now part of the fight. Perhaps the NY Times will take off its blinders and start looking more critically at what we used to call Communist China. Little has changed.

Pope: Catholics, go forth and multiply... your Twitter followers

Always seek the truth

The Catholic Church very much believes in free will and seeking the truth. All the pope is trying to say here is that watching a DVD marathon of "The Wire" or reading the entire history of Sears, Roebuck, & Co. catalogs won't help someone perform open heart surgery.

There is much out there that is useful for living in our world but not for finding the meaning of life.

Time Warner Cable to Netflix: We want your 3D films, not your network

Ask Time Warner if they have a peering arrangement with Google.

Ask Time Warner if they have peering arrangements with anyone else, including Google.

Bad news: PC slump worse than feared. Good news: It's Friday

Tablets are front and center

We got a Nexus 7 for my wife. She likes its portability and it frees up our 3-year Dell laptop to be used for home work by the kids. In general, I like Dell equipment and I support it at work, but that's not what Michael Dell wanted to hear.

iPhone 'Do Not Disturb' bug to self-destruct on Monday

Not again!

I can understand many bugs but I cannot understand leap year bugs (I'm looking at you, Microsoft) nor these date/time bugs that pop up on a regular basis in iOS. The way we account for time (except for DLST) hasn't changed in many, many years. I am not sure why Apple apps have trouble watching the clock.

'Small' upheaval at McAfee, not many fired

Free AV abounds and a Windows 7 firewall suffices.

Microsoft Security Essentials, AVG, and Anti-Vir are all capable replacements.

Foxconn daddy: 'Don't buy Galaxy S III, wait for iPhone 5'

This, from the guy who has to put nets around his factories to make sure people finish their shift

and who did/does whatever Apple wants, even if the employees are under duress.

Symantec trims targets as subscriptions put off payday

Microsoft Security Essentials isn't helping matters.

Besides being free for home users, MSE is now free for business with up to ten computers. I tell all my friends to use MSE and dump SAV or VirusScan off their home systems once their subscription has expired.

NetBank unavailable to 'many customers'

Both versions of IE?

The question is...does it affect the 32-bit version of IE9 *and* the 64-bit version? One wonders also if Java is in the mix.

So, what IS the worst film ever made?

Eraserhead

Either the worst movie or the most bizarre movie of all-time. Yes, I paid money to see it.

What's in the box, Windows sysadmin?

Is Hirems getting stale?

Just look at Hirems, which sounded intruging, but the software seems to be getting stale. 2011 dates and TeamViewer 7 is now out. Is he out the door?

FalconStor founder found dead

We have use ARCserve for over 10 years and I am in the process of upgrading to r15. May he rest in peace.

We have used ARCserve for well over 15 years and I am about to upgrade to r15. May he rest in peace.

Hackers break SSL encryption used by millions of sites

OK, so I am blind. Thanks.

I wonder now if IE 10 beta has/will have this option turned on.

Whither IE?

Unless I am blind, I saw no mention of Internet Explorer in this piece. Does that mean it support TLS 1.1 and has no problem, or what?

Yahoo! scores Premier League highlights package deal

Is this available in the States or UK only?

Will this only be available in the UK?

iPad stuck in US for extra month

This is probably a stalking horse

The "high demand" story both provides marketing grist while providing time for Apple to fix bugs such as the DHCP bug discovered by Princeton at http://news.softpedia.com/news/Lay-Off-the-iPad-Princeton-University-Tells-Students-139830.shtml.

SSD tools crack passwords 100 times faster

"Account lockout after x number of tries"

If you use a GPO to lock out accounts after a short number of attempts, as many financial institutions do, then that will put an end to the outside cracking party. Of course, you perhaps just need the SAM file to hack it off-line. In that case, you'd sure as heck better trust your admins.

Oracle breaks patch cycle with emergency fix

Why dump the workarounds?

Does anyone know why the workarounds are not being advised?

Shocker DNS spoofing vuln discovered three years ago by a student

Boffo Withering Heights reference

Ding, ding, ding for the "Withering Heights" reference.

No end in sight for Vista's Long Goodbye

What about Windows Server 2008?

Someone above documented the issue occurring in Windows Server 2003. Has anyone duplicated similar behavior in Longhorn?