Posts by Mr_Pitiful

Google Drive misplaces months' worth of customer files

Clouds Evaporate

I had this happen to me the day after I setup between my Main PC and GD, to use some files offline on site (29th Nov)

Everthing shut down and off to bed!

Next morning switched on PC.....no icons on desktop, my local drives were intact - I spent all morning linking back me NAS

All my short cuts were gone, a few with cmd lines I couldn't remember

I heard nothing back from a support request, maybe they've all lost their desktop icons

I really wish I hadn't started on this minor glitch!

Royal Mail’s recovery from ransomware attack will cost business at least $12M

That's a big bill for....

Switching it off and on again + running a deep virus scan (forced company wide)

It might take a few days, but hey

Europe bans Meta from using personal data to target ads

Targetted? Really?

Meta (bad taste appeared in mouth)

I'm flooded with ads while reading groups I follow, and when I buy anything from Amazon/Ebay/AO

Don't even think of booking a cruise or getting flight info (we enjoy cruise hols)

But more 'targetted ads', are for stuff I've already brought/ordered! Whats the point in that?

If I buy a new car, I'm not likely to need another one the next day/week/month, am I?

Millions of smart meters will brick it when 2G and 3G turns off

Wanna Bet?

How much will you bet me that EDF won't call you to have one fitted - even though you are looking at the stupid thing!

My parents have had 'smart' meter for over 10 years, it's never worked and their bills are exactly the same as in ~2004/5 I think maybe £30 p/m difference can't remember

They were plagued with calls from EDF 'to get a smart meter' Yes that occasional 8am Sunday call was a bugger!

All Microsoft Surface Pro X cameras just stopped working

Re: Certificate!

Yes I heard Snipping Tool was for the Snip, sorry - however mine is still happily working 2 years after the notice!

Are the people who say it's gone had a look in the folder for the .exe, mine is still there

Virgin Orbit doesn't

Propellant Levels and Pressures

Did anyone notice the levels of the propellant fuel, O2 and another one, they were on the low side

When I last looked, before seperation, the Propellant level was only at 10% of max capacity.

I wondered how long they expected the burn to be, but it didn't appear to burn for more than a few seconds!

It makes you wonder of the guy tasked with filling it, got bored and stopped early

I think the O2 pressure was good, at >3000 PSI (Wish I'd screen captured the readings)

Anyhow, my son was there in person watching the take off (-2 at midnight up at St Mawgan)

I guess there will be a discovery+ 4 hour special about frozen 'O' rings and leaking fuel!

Paper Clip

On the graphic shown, it looks like the paperclip couldn't stand the pressure

I blame the paperclip!

Gunfire at electrical grid kills power for 45,000 in North Carolina

They have Electricity in North Carolina

Well you learn something new every day

I was sent to Manning a year or so ago

but we couldn't plug any computers in because the local neighbourhood

kids kept throwing metal tyre rings or shooting the pole transformer

so three engineers sat on their hands for a week

The company we contracted to, didn't even bat an eyelid, they just bill an normal I suppose

Modem-wiping malware caused Viasat satellite broadband outage in Europe

Wind Farm Remote access

A few years ago, I had the pleasure of looking after a wind farm - (20 turbines)

There was a central control access point on site, which monitored each turbine AND gave an operative remote access

The dial up number was a local area code std BT line, but the turbines had satellite modems, for head office to monitor 24/7

The surprising thing, to me, was the ability to disable access to the sat modems one at a time, and not site wide

I guess back 15 years ago, people weren't writing malware for modems - or were they?

150,000 lost UK police records looking more like 400,000 as Home Office continues to blame 'human error'

Just check at lost and found, British Rail Waterloo or Paddington

They'll be a laptop in there with it on!

The seven deadly sins of the 2010s: No, not pride, sloth, etc. The seven UI 'dark patterns' that trick you into buying stuff

Re: DFS

I was going to post about DFS

I'm 53 this year, and I can't remember a single advertisement that isn't/wasn't for a sale ending soon.

I do however know that they are, located between Darley Dale & Matlock (Why do I know this?)

I'm guessing if I ever need to go to Derbyshire, there will be a massive manufacturing plant with hundreds, if not thousands of employees, an office block the size of the shard and a car park for millions.

They must be one of the biggest manufacturers in the world (cut price sale items)

Drone goal! Quadcopter menace alert freezes flights from London Heathrow Airport

2.4Ghz drone operation!

This kit isn't using FM/AM/VHF for it's flight modes ….. is it?

I know these things use a kind of modified proprietary protocol while in use

Don't the manufacturers have to provide specific details on how to track them?

I'm into model boats, and have one fitted with a telemetry system that reports back to a computer/phone/website which ever I want

I've sniffed the packets from it and the data contains the serial no, last 2000 location points and obviously telemetry data (speed/heading/duration)

OK, so all of that can be spoofed, but the original data is hard coded into my device, even if I make s/w changes to it

Therefore it sends the real & fake info (which I thought drones did as well)

I'm guessing the suspects aren't creating their own network covering the entire airside operation

(or are they)?

Well they must be pretty clever and quite numerous people needed and tonnes of kit

Is it a DJI or better make if there is one (Don't DJI have a real time method of monitoring ALL their products)

I'll bet that they do, so why arn't the manufacturers assisting with the loction tracking data

There must be an easier answer than closing thee airport

Put me in charge of protecting our airports and you'll never see another drone within 5 miles of the perimeter fence

Or did I get this totally wrong and it is actually cheaper to send in a couple of thousand coppers in the dark. haha

Mr_Pitiful

WannaCry kill-switch hero Marcus Hutchins collared by FBI on way home from DEF CON

Re: Undisclosed location??

If he's just gone missing, I wouldn't hold my breath. They could say he was abducted by aliens and no one would be any wiser (Maybe Gary McKinnon). I really hope our powers that be can intervene and get him the hell out of there. After he's been released and returned to the UK, then I suggest we take off and Nuke the site from orbit! It's the only way to be sure!

Microsoft Surface laptop: Is this your MacBook Air replacement?

I'm waiting for..

The BOGOF on the 512Gb model.

Last year Microsoft did a deal for a Surface Pro 256Gb BOGOF and our overlords purchased them for the managers. When the new one is on offer, I'll probably buy it.

My older Surface Pro 3, is still fantastic though

Clear August 21 in your diary: It's a total solar eclipse for the smart

Flat-Earth Activists

They will just say it's the 'Sun' being adjusted due to the brightness variations of the bulb!

Brits must now register virtually all new drones and undergo safety tests

Re: Chicken gun

Is that why Griffon Vultures are rare?

I can't really see them spotting anything edible from that altitude

Re: Chicken gun

Have they tried an Ostrich

I'm sure I saw one of the buggers learning to fly on TV the other night

I had to blindfold my pet Emu to stop it getting such stupid ideas!

That said, my pet Rhea does run around flapping it's wings a lot, but we get lovely omelettes

My DJI has decided it doesn't like flying anymore, and refuses to connect to anything!

Segway hoverboard hijack hack could make hipsters eat pavement

Rolab

It doesn't seem to work on a Rolab Hoverboard

They have Bluetooth for a music connection, but that's all it does!

Physicists send supersonic shock waves rippling through a lab

The Weibel instability

<Eyes Wet>

Oh shit, I'm old enough to recall the adverts from TV in the UK

Please don't tell anyone!

</Eyes Wet>

Sleuths unearth 'Panic Mode' in Android, set off by mashing back button

Re: If something bad is run...

Do you think it's a problem when I actually switch it on in the mornings then?

No such thing on a MS Windows phone

If something bad is run, as far as I know it can't be stopped, unless you remove the battery

Everything you need to know about the Petya, er, NotPetya nasty trashing PCs worldwide

Oy

Why should being in South Africa protect you?

I'll be in Joburg On Fri with a memory stick or 5 and my laptop

Then next week, Pretoria & Cape town

Where exactly would you like me to plug it in?

All the sites I visit will be government so might just try Joburg and watch the spread!

The funny thing is, my laptop was infected from a firewalled wireless network that visitors access

I'd hate to imagine how many people got caught out

Alert: Using a web ad blocker may identify you – to advertisers

'Unsupported Browser'

So it doesn't like Internet Explorer!

That''s me safe then!

Back to the Future 2: Gasp! America's trade watchdog discovers the risks of 'free' movies

It's worse now than ever I remember

I used to have Sky but ditched it when the adverts & cost became ridicules

Our only option at the time was Free Sat and Free View

Then Offcom started allowing more adverts per hour than the old 4 x 3min breaks max

On Free *** the program starts and then after 4 minutes there is an ad break for 2-3 mins then more every 10 mins.

OK so they are free, but I really don't need a HSL Chair, perfume, coffee, DIY or constant adverts for Sky One!

We subscribed to Now TV (Yes I know it's Sky) but with 80mb download speeds here, we are good to go with 4 boxes.

ok so it's £19.98 a month, but I reckon it's a better deal

Boeing and Airbus fly new planes for first time

I don't understand something

Why are they still building new models, when eventually no-one will be allowed to fly on them?

I mean, they are banning laptops/tablets/cameras/liquids so soon they'll ban scientific equipment & phones.

There are now 'no fly' lists with loads of people affected, religion is partly banned as well

If I were a god fearing, C of E or Catholic or any other religion for that matter, am I gonna get black listed, as a radical something or other?

Flame, for the hell of it!

Disney plotting 15 more years of Star Wars

Oh No

More crap films to avoid!

Why not more Star Trek.... Oh wait!

Beijing deploys facial scanners to counter public toilet abuse

Re: six squares ?

Does our 14yo DORTER know your 16yo?

Are they comparing toilet paper for some kind of survey, or is it something they sell at school?

Maybe they sell it as dope to.... well dopes

Ours was caught just last week with three rolls in her school bag!

Brit ISP TalkTalk blocks control tool TeamViewer

Re: A Trump moment?

I suppose we could just coin a new phrase....

'You've been Trumped'

Well thats my family screwed

Most of them are on TalkNotTalk so I guess fixing their problems remotely is no longer an option.

Hurray for me, no more out of hours calls from my family

BooHoo for me, as most of my real customers use Team Viewer to allow me access

Can I claim from TalkNotTalk for all the Team Viewer installations that they have now blocked?

There might be a silver lining to this cloud after all

TeamSpy hackers get the crew back together after four-year hiatus

Huh

I think more info is required, how is it using Team Viewer?

Crack in black: Matte iPhones losing paint at alarming rate, gripe fans

Re: Asus ZenFone 3, glass front *and* glass back

Looks expensive, and it's not in the O2 options

NHS reply-all meltdown swamped system with half a billion emails

Re: Email snafu

I'm impressed, 72Mb over dialup! must have taken a week to upload

I'd have just taken off and nuked it from orbit!

Microsoft’s ‘Home Hub’ probably isn’t even hardware at all

Re: New business opportunity

Quote "With Amazon, Google et al producing pointless home gadgets, I bring you .... the Duster"

What's wrong with my Dacia Duster?

Panicked WH Smith kills website to stop sales of how-to terrorism manuals

Ebay

I can get everything I need from Ebay to create many explosive devices.

All the ingredients are there for many explosives, in fact I've even purchased some of them

A few years ago it was easier to knock a barn down with explosives than a bulldozer

Appointments on hold as (computer) virus wreaks havoc with NHS trust systems

Not all systems are affected

We have monitoring equipment there, and that's running fine...

I can see a time coming in the near future where all external comms are prohibited by trusts

Their email is air gapped, but not the clinical systems i.e. Medical Imaging

'Hacker' accused of idiotic plan to defraud bank out of $1.5 million

Re: He must have...

I haven't been able to find that on Amazon or Ebay!!

Is there something you're not telling us?

Samsung are amateurs – NASA shows how you really do a battery fire

Won't somebody think of....

The RoboSimian!

One-way Martian ticket: Pick passengers for Musk's first Mars pioneer squad

Someone is missing a chance here

Bear Grylls - Celebrity Survival Special - The Mars Adventure

We could start with.....

<1> Paris Hilton

Because she likes flying a lot!

I Patient this idea in the name of The Register for a nominal 40% of the royalties!

(c) 2016 ME

and please make sure the smug git is also sent there!

Two Sundays wrecked by boss who couldn't use a calendar

Overtime & Weekend Support

I contract to numerous companies, and NONE of them offer overtime or TOIL for support out of hours.

I recently learned that their hours had changed, now 9-5 support only, Used to be 8-6 Support. nobody informed me and I'd happily been supporting customers 'Out of Hours' as I work in a remote location.

I've had 3 support calls today, and decided to assist, not because I have to, but because I value their trust and I know I can solve the issue quickly. In the last 12 months I've been told not to do support out of hours, but when a major client calls, I can't say get lost, it's the weekend.

Anyway, I know I am doing the support for free, but who cares except my wife & kids!

EU ends anonymity and rules open Wi-Fi hotspots need passwords

Re: They have made their ruling, now let them enforce it

I agree, mostly all you need is an email address to access the network

Poor old bill.gates.at.microsoft.com, must get a lot of junk email!! ;)

I found out by accident years ago that you don't need to verify the email address

Now I just tell everyone to use the above, when in hotels etc etc

New booze guidelines: We'd rather you didn't enjoy yourselves

Re: because you can't enjoy yourself without a drink?

Because you can't work the whole bank holiday without a Beer or Two

Fix attempted, but I have had a couple while working at a Solar Farm today

I'm on call for 72 hours and my wife is my driver!

I have no intention of driving and the aircon has failed, so I took some fans and a pack of lager

Lager sitting in cool box currently at -1c

Awaiting arrival of Aircon engineer at 7pm (only an hour to go)

Everything is currently working, even if a little hot!

Larry Page snuffs out ‘too expensive’ Google Fiber project

So...

No light at the end of the tunnel .... errr Ducting then!

NHS injects tender for PC and peripherals kit with £500m

Re: New PCs with XP that is.

From what I've seen, the new PC roll out is Windows 7 Pro, with a very restricted GP involved

No-one can add or remove any software or even plug in a new mouse without IT involvement

Local Admin doesn't even exist as far as I've seen

£500 Million, would buy quite a lot of boxes, laptops & tablets

So who's bidding?

Five-storey Blue Screen Of Death spotted in Thailand

Re: The Elevator

I still laugh when I think of the Holiday Inn, Cardiff

No advertising as such

http://www.schindler.com/com/internet/en/home.html

Heathrow

A few years back, I was at Heathrow, can't recall which terminal, all the arrival 7 departure schrren were show XP rebooting

Idiot flies drone alongside Flybe jet landing at Newquay Airport

Re: Conspiracy theory

Why have there been 'NO' actual incidents of drones hitting a plane.... as far as I know. I fly my drone in the Cornish countryside, close to St Mawgan & RNAS Culdrose, I haven't been out this week, so it wasn't me!

I always keep outside the perimeter fences and keep a close eye for any ground movements (take offs etc). I also keep an eye on flight radar on my laptop for incoming flight traffic. RNAS Culdrose is in such a flat area that you can see anything incoming for miles. Flight Radar doesn't cover much military air traffic.

I've even been asked to film parts of St Mawgan by their security personnel, to check outlying buildings. when there is not much happening, and they are happy to receive the video footage on email.

Drone-ish icon as I can't fly helicopters, I just lose them!

BBC detector vans are back to spy on your home Wi-Fi – if you can believe it

Re: I'm going to change my SSID to

Maybe....

Met Police Monitoring as an SSID might scare them off

I have a question

I live 400 Meters from a public road and our house is made mostly of granite

Are these van allowed to trespass down our private lane and sniff the 5 WiFi networks here?

Our networks are fully encrypted and the kids use NOW TV boxes to watch stuff

The main equipment is directly wired to a switch, apart from phones and laptops

We have a TV Licence, so this isn't really an issue unless I chop the aerial off the roof

95% of the TV we watch is not directly a Freeview / Freesat or BBC related channel

(I know some freeview channels transmit bbc programs) i.e Dave

So should I just let rip with the shotgun when a van drives up here?

Microsoft blames dying Surface Pro 3 batteries on software bug

Re: Surface Pro

I've got a Surface Pro 3 & 4 as well, fantastic piece of kit

It'll run everything my desktop will and connects well to a cast enabled TV or monitor

No battery problems with mine