Posts by David 132

Windows 11 update breaks PCs that dare sport a custom UI

Re: Bloating the bloat

I am not a Windows fan, and am in violent agreement with you, but I do have to query an apparent contradiction in what you said:

> which comes with very little included

followed by

>You have to deal with the manufacturers bloatware and on top of it with Redmond's bloat as well.

Which is it? "Very little included" or "deal with bloatware"?

Personally I'd rather have the former. Give me a basic OS with functional network drivers and a WOULD YOU LIKE TO USE EDGEnon-retardedEDGE CAN SAVE YOU MONEY browser and I LET'S GIVE YOU A FULLSCREEN UNSKIPPABLE TOUR OF EDGEcan take it from there myself and get the stuff I want. Yes, Microsoft, that Edge crap is exactly what I mean.

Linux Mint 21.2 and Cinnamon 5.8 desktop take shape

Re: Never got Warpinator to work reliably

In my experience the problem is almost invariably on the Windows side. The OS has an annoying habit of classifying new network connections as "public" (which is prudent, and a far cry from the pants-down permissiveness of older versions of Windows) but then hiding the UI to make them "private", a known glitch on Windows 10 at least. It can't be DNSthe firewall, there's no way it's DNSthe firewall... oh. It is DNSthe firewall.

'Major' news: Microsoft slips Bing chatbot shortcut into Windows 11

Re: Anyone been asked if they want this 'feature'?

Oh, goody, was my reaction. Now, when I try to search for a local file or launch a program by name, instead of just getting Web Results for: Q2-Budget-Draft.doc or whatever, I'll get an AI-generated response as well.

"How does Q2-Budget-Draft.doc make you feel?"

Dammit, Eliza Bing.

IBM teases AI-infused hybrid cloudy upgrade to z/OS - Bingo!

You're not kidding about the buzzwords!

"...AI infused into the OS..."

"...leverage data insights..."

"...cloud-native..."

"...containerized..."

"...quantum-safe encryption..."

Sadly, it still falls short of being a viable modern product, because... it doesn't include blockchain, and even worse, IBM insist on selling it as a boring physical product rather than in NFT collectible form.

Fujitsu, Mitsubishi, pals proclaim 'Japan Metaverse Economic Zone'

<marvin>

Sounds ghastly.

</marvin>

Bitcoin mining rig found stashed in school crawlspace

Re: ...numerous computers that seemed out of place.

> was found to be operating in the ceiling cavity of a lab at MIT

Early cloud prototype, before they’d got the altitude right.

Re: Scammers ripping of the conmen.

No no no, I just drew a garish picture of a monkey in MS Paint and I'm selling it for $4000... therefore that's what it's worth, right? And if I have a disk crash and lose monkey.bmp then I can loudly complain that I've lost $4000.

That's how NFTs seem to work.

I read that as "a tetchy publication" and thought hang on, that's a bit strong... "acerbic" maybe, "cynical" definitely.. but "tetchy"?

Ukraine invasion blew up Russian cybercrime alliances

Re: "[..] has not produced the disruptive results that the Russian state has expected"

Well said PM, though I’ll gently remind you of the old aphorism about wrestling with a pig…

And honestly, the original comment was the best laugh I’ve had all week. I half expect it to be revealed as an over-the-top parody of dumbfuck Putin trolls.

Microsoft begs you not to ditch Edge on Google's own Chrome download page

Re: I'm confused

Well, if the world's various regulatory authorities remain true to form and repeat what they did for the IE antitrust farrago, they'll start an investigation into this in about 5 years' time, an investigation that will take 10 years plus, and by the time it finishes a) no-one will care about it or even remember what "a browser" is, and b) the mandated relief will be along the lines of "Microsoft, stop pushing Edge on Windows 10". As Microsoft by that point will be pushing the second generation of BingOS, having EOL'ed Windows 10 long since, this remedy will overwhelm them with apathy.

Re: This isn't that new

Presumably in that case, the admonishment from Microsoft takes the form of a GPO telegram delivered the next day by a message-urchin on a BSA Bantam.

Re: Pot, kettle...

*shudder*

There's a name from the past that we'd hoped to never hear again.

Titanic mass grave site to be pillaged for NFTs

Ah, an optimist.

Re: Utterly shameless

Well said, although the gold standard for this sentiment has to be GrumpenKraut's timeless comment from a few days ago:

Re: I do wish systemd would just fuck off.

Re: inclusive participation in RMST,

Really Mercenary Shyster Trolls.

Re: No but, they're 'licensed'

Slightly o/t, but years ago I was at the Storehouse brewery/museum in Dublin, learning all about the Guinness brewing process. Fascinating, and there was an extended opportunity afterwards to investigate the product in greater detail. I don’t remember much about it after that, other than a very “tired and emotional” colleague staggering up to me to tell me that the bar had run out of product.

Yes, Les, that’s why they won’t serve you any more. Run out. Yep.

For only 2.6ETH I’ll sell you a small, cube-shaped piece of the VERY SAME MATERIAL that sank the Titanic.

Or if you prefer, a non-fungible electronic record showing that you, and you alone, paid me for that same non-fungible electronic record. Act now! You’d be a fool!

(Normal sales pitches would append “…to miss out” but I think in this case…)

Re: Probably just as well

Other than NeFerTiti…

Still, they did have their share of pyramid schemes.

Re: Nothing more than grave robbers

You mean, give them a block(of concrete) on a chain(of steel) and drop them over the side?

Deutsche Bank's takeover of Postbank hasn't gone well, according to customers

There is no dichotomy here.

Deutsche Bank: "Everything is working as planned."

Customers: "But you have our money and it's now an exercise in pain and frustration for us to get access to it or speak to a sentient human for support."

Deutsche Bank: "Did you not hear us the first time?"

Do you rely on Microsoft Bing Search APIs? Price hike incoming

Re: What happens when everyone moves to Google?

>Watch out for Microsoft's "special offers": 50% off! Get your search API here!

That's not really how Microsoft usually operate, though.

More like there'll be popups in Windows: "You're trying to switch your search product to a different API. Check out Bing, it's Microsoft's recommended API! Are you sure you don't not want to not switch?" followed by a huge KEEP USING BING button, and underneath it, in 3-point font, battleship grey on a military grey background, ^{"no I am stupid and like to take unnecessary risks"}.

If you're persistent enough to click the latter, you'll be dropped into a Powershell instance where you have to manually switch API for every possible search term, one at a time.

And of course, after every system update, you'll "accidentally" be switched back to Bing anyway.

Gartner: Oracle probes orgs for Java compliance after new licensing terms

Re: Oracle is targeting users on Java compliance after new licensing terms

All they want from their hostagescustomers is total obediency.

systemd 253: You're looking at the future of enterprise Linux boot processes

Re: Please Mr Microsoft...

Don't hold back Steve, tell us what you really think... you're among friends here...

Have a pint. It's POETS day, and beer o'clock somewhere in the world.

Re: so...?

AKA “Please Mr Microsoft, may I run my own Linux build on my own PC please?”

Grrrr.

Unplug that Anker battery pack now: House blaze sparks recall

Re: Argh!

Don’t know what you mean - those brands’ batteries have lots of 5* reviews on Amazon.

Admittedly, the reviews all seem to be for gloves, small plastic toys and similar tat, but I’m sure that’s just a glitch in Amazon’s system. They wouldn’t steer us towards dodgy disreputable merchants with made-up names and manipulated reviews, would they?

More victims of fake crypto investor scam speak to The Register

Re: A fool and his money, indeed...

Beautifully summed up by XKCD as "the engineer syllogism".

Make Linux safer… or die trying

Re: Unix was always diverse

> most people didn't realize where networking was going in the early '80s

So many unhappy memories from that period.

Banyan Vines. NetBEUI. IPX/SPX. X.25. ISDN. Token Ring, arcnet, 10base2... *shudder*

Kids today don't know they're born. *shakes cane at clouds*

Re: Chrome OS?

So no jet-powered rocket pants either then, Kryten?

Microsoft's AI Bing also factually wrong, fabricated text during launch demo

Re: "Why do I have to be Bing Search?"

Well, that serves me right for not - as my teachers always pointed out - reading all the way to the bottom before adding my contribution.

I linked to a Penny Arcade strip earlier on this page in response to another comment, and darn if it isn't even MORE relevant to this thread.

No, I'm not going to re-post it. That would be cheap and attention-seeking. Just scroll up a page or two.

Very relevant (and mostly SFW) Penny Arcade comic from a few days ago.

Re: My take on "AI"

Or those stupid troll sites that just comprise every conceivable search term mashed together into gibberish text. Surprisingly often, hosted on quiet backwaters of reputable sites that have obviously been hacked.

It's 2023. You'd think Google would have figured out how to cull those by now.

Latest Windows 11 build shares desktop real estate with, er, Spotify

Re: As long as it's removable!

Oh god. You've triggered me with visions of that $%@#! stupid "SpamApp just got installed! Check it out!!!" popup that plagues any installation of Windows 10/11 if you're daft enough to hook it up to the internet before GPO'ing the hell out of it to remove all that slurry.

Must have a drink to forget it!

Microsoft promises smaller Windows 11 updates with UUP – but there's a catch

Fiendishly cunning.

The 10GB download is a lookup table of all possible combinations of 1s and 0s. All that future updates have to do is say "I need permutation #<number>" and hey presto, that patch will be delivered to the client.

So clever!

(Please note the icon.)

Google's Go may add telemetry that's on by default

Thank you. I hoped there’d be at least one person out there who “got” the reference. And apparently there’s three of you as I write this!

We don't trust you. We don't like you

Worst cover version of the A Very Peculiar Practice theme song ever.

Confused.

So the argument for this boils down to

“developers have been crying out for the ability to see what functions in their code are being used, and it’ll be really useful for them…

…but if we make this telemetry functionality ‘opt-in’, very few developers will enable it.”

Hmmmmm.

Microsoft switches Edge’s PDF reader to pay-to-play Adobe Acrobat

Revenue grab

So basically it’s just another upsell hook in Windows, which is increasingly just an ad-delivery framework.

(Sorry. I am still salty that on my one Windows 10 machine I can no longer remove the “Microsoft Rewards” advert on the Settings app, where Vivetool used to do it perfectly but is now broken. Funny how MS updates always do a great job of closing down mods like this that people create, but such a useless job of fixing real security flaws…)

Codebreakers decipher Mary, Queen of Scots' secret letters 436 years after her execution

Re: I do a good Mary Queen of Scots.

The icon expresses my reaction far better than words!

Re: I do a good Mary Queen of Scots.

Head to the Old Seadog instead, and say "hi" to Captain Rum when you're inside.

Re: I do a good Mary Queen of Scots.

Gloating is a sign of insecurity Ludwig. Stop it.

Google's AI search bot Bard makes $120b error on day one

This is true. Current AI efforts are nowhere near beardy and shouty enough.

Mitsubishi gives up on Japan's first domestically manufactured passenger jet

This despite pre-orders from Ryanair, who liked that idea.

“You complain that our destination airports are nowhere near where they claim to be - well with our new aircraft we can drop you off EXACTLY at the destination!*”

*terms and conditions apply. Optional parachute may be purchased for €49.99 at booking time, or with a winning onboard scratch-card purchase. Parachute will be mailed to you within 90 business days. No refunds even if unopened.

China’s Baidu reveals generative AI chatbot based on language model bigger than GPT-3

"Pasteurized? I'd be happy if it comes up to me chest!"

Faster than any other one in the West!

Re: Reminder

Premium Bonds. Not National Lottery. But yeah, you beat me to it!

Another RAC staffer nabbed for storing, sharing car crash data

Re: Seafood Solutions...

Yes, but you’re only going to precipitate more puns.

Chinese surveillance balloon over US causes fearful gasbagging

Re: Has anyone checked

As the CCP are involved, a better question would be: has anyone checked that there isn't a small bear-of-Very-Little-Brain hanging underneath the balloon?

Bankruptcy probe: Celsius cheated investors 'from the start'

> just wish that stuff like this wouldn't blow back against crypto in general, as the two have little to do with each other.

Hmm. A little optimistic.

"I just wish that all the negative coverage about scams wouldn't blow back against timeshares, double-glazing, herbal diet supplements, tulip bulbs and beanie babies in general, as they have little to do with each other..."

McDonald's pulls plug on Wi-Fi, starts playing classical music to soothe yobs

Music ideal for The Traveller.

>non-stop circus type music to keep 'undesirables' from kipping there

Yeah, that'll get them to Fucik right off.