Posts by henryd

Pen Test Partners: Boeing 747s receive critical software updates over 3.5" floppy disks

Re: Honestly..

No problem, columns 75 through 80 on the card are for sequence number. Now where did I put that Card sorter?

GitHub to replace master with main across its services

Surely the word Git is also offensive.

<tongue_in_cheek>Terminate! Terminate! Terminate! </tongue_in_cheek>

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Git_(slang)

NSO Group: Facebook tried to license our spyware to snoop on its own addicts – the same spyware it's suing us over

Sounds like the standard defense already used by the makers of guns and light aircraft. Aren’t there already precedents that manufacturers aren’t responsible for their customers actions?

Chips that pass in the night: How risky is RISC-V to Arm, Intel and the others? Very

Been here before

I well remember the RISC anxiety at Intel when I worked there 35 years ago.

No one was under any illusion about X86 vulnerability and the perceived attraction of RISC.

Andy Grove, the founder of Intel, taught us that "Only the Paranoid Survive" and was not afraid to do whatever it took to keep the competition at bay.

Never assume that Intel doesn't recognise danger or is afraid to use its formidable powers to survive.

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

Where did Cisco get the code from?

Hey, that might be my code. In a previous lifetime I was one half of a team that developed, in Intel, gcc for the new 32 bit 80386 processor.

For the Whetstone measurements I had to write, from scratch, all of the standard C library in ANSI C.

Some of my code contained Easter Eggs so that I could identify it later. Can’t remember if the string library did though.

(Depressing thought, I just realized that was over 35 years ago)

Beware the trainee with time on his hands and an Acorn manual on his desk

In the days when your 'terminal' was a telytype machine, hence no on-screen corrections, you had to be creative when accepting input.

I remember well when I had forgotten how to exit from a certain utility. I tried Exit, Quit, Bye etc all to no avail. Finally in desparation I typed F*** Off - bingo it worked!

The savvy author of said utility only looked at the last 3 characters in input thus ignoring typos in the middle.

Behold the perils of trying to turn the family and friends support line into a sideline

Re: Twas ever thus

Or wrapped miles of baudot paper tape around the legs of a chair...

Adi Shamir visa snub: US govt slammed after the S in RSA blocked from his own RSA conf

Re: Though it's only fair...

Really? Are you from Europe? If so no visa required. Give an example of alleged ‘faff’ (whatever that means)

The dread sound of the squeaking caster in the humming data centre

Re: Not Me But...

Back in the day the console of the IBM360 had a big red button to set off the fire extinguishers in case of fire.

All operators had instructions Never Press The Button except in case of genuine need.

It was in the 70’s when I worked in the computer Centre of a major university and, naturally, could not resist temptation..

This caused a crash stop, not an orderly shutdown. I recall it took around 3 days to get back up.

Just Android things: 150m phones, gadgets installed 'adware-ridden' mobe simulator games

Re: Huge assumption

What was that snide comment based on?

The outfit where the NHS England Digital boss is headed? Turns out their code is 'not technically suitable' for the £6.4m NHS App

Why is the UK still in the dark ages?

Here in Israel we discovered this new thing called the Internet years ago.

Booking appointments through a mobile or desktop app is a matter of routine and has been for years. I can order prescriptions and view lab results and generally save bothering my GP.

The app will even serve me up graphs of lab data over the years of results it has in store.

Instead of dropping another few billions on yet another failed IT projects just get in touch with one of our providers. They’ll be happy to help.

Do I hear two million dollars? Apple-1 fossil goes on the block, cassettes included

And my Jupiter Ace

I’d fire it up but can’t find (a) old enough tv or (b) working cassette deck to refurbish my forth skills

Mark Zuckerberg did everything in his power to avoid Facebook becoming the next MySpace – but forgot one crucial detail…

Re: Good article. Assuming TheRegister is clean with our data.

Please enlighten - what is a grifter?

UK getting ready to go it alone on Galileo

Re: Is their hardware history better or worse than their software history?

Er.. transistor?

Foreshadow and Intel SGX software attestation: 'The whole trust model collapses'

Re: Intel only?

Intel have a major presence in the US as well, there could equally have been a snide comment on Trump.

If I understand your meaning correctly the “Jeremy Corbyn treatment” implies that I shouldn’t speak out when I see anti-semitism. Sorry, but no. I know an anti-Semite when I see one.

Re: Intel only?

And why the sly reference to Israel?

User asked why CTRL-ALT-DEL restarted PC instead of opening apps

Re: Feeling Old...

I still remember pre-DOS and even pre-CPM when the input device was a teletype, so no on-screen detection.

We had a program (weren't call apps back then) where you had to type OFF to leave it. As there was no way of correcting typos the program just looked at the last 3 characters typed in.

A technician using the program forgot the OFF sequence and tried typing in EXIT, BYE, DONE etc all to no avail. Finally in a fit of rage he typed in F*** OFF. Bingo!

DeX Station: Samsung's Windows-killer is ready for prime time

Nerd! I'm still using my Olivetti Programa 101. No need for a new fangled display. Adding machine paper roll is all you need - but it is getting hard to find typewriter ribbons.

Brits need chutzpah to copy Israeli cyberspies' tech creche – ex-spooks

Re: It's a shit-hole

Speaking as a British born Israeli I can speak with more authority than most of the twerps commenting here.

I much prefer the forthright say-what-you mean attitude of Israelis (a.k.a. rudeness to some people) that the totally insincere politeness of Brits. Its only rude if you take offence and my fellow Israelis certainly don't take offence just because someone says what he means.

When a Brit politely asks after your health you can be sure he doesn't give a shit and is just going through the motions. When an Israeli asks he really wants to know and will offer plenty of free advice as how to improve it. If you get offended and call it chutzpah, well poor you.

Finally regarding the last point. You mean we aren't the chosen people? Now I'm offended.

British tax money to Israel? Please quote when and how much

Hasselblad CFV-39 digital back

Speed Camera Sign - geddit?

Most road speed camera signs around the world have a Hasslebad profile on them, totally foreign to most people under the age 50, or thereabouts.

Sadly, in spite of my valuable contribution to todays history and road safety lessons, I can't afford one.