Posts by 45RPM

Jupiter has the craziest storms seen yet, say boffins

The Whitehouse has the craziest storms seen yet.

FTFW.

10 PRINT "ZX81 at 37" 20 GOTO 10

Re: Predators

@T Bo

In fairness, it wasn’t too expensive (a couple of hundred quid, IIRC, and three or four hours of work) to upgrade a 128k Mac to a 512k.

I can’t remember the exact procedure, but I seem to remember that it was necessary to build a new multiplexer board to handle the memory addressing - and of course to you needed some (fairly basic - remember, the chips were all pin-through-hole) soldering skill to remove the chips and replace them with the new parts. Of course, prudent souls socketed the replacement parts so that fallback was easier.

I didn’t attempt upgrading to 1MB in the same way - Apple changed the ROMs for the Mac Plus so the sensible course of action was a new logic board. In my case I got an Amateurstrad PC (and hated it), so replaced that with an Opus 386, a Dell 486 - and then a healthy mix of Macs and PCs ever since.

My ZX81, on the other hand, had the wobbly RAM pack - and a third party keyboard which contrived, if anything, to be worse than the membrane original.

Happy days. I often think that we’d be better off returning to those halcyon days of the C64, PC, Apple II, Mac, Speccy, ST, Amiga, Archie et al - and ditching the internet along with all the horrors it contains. We could spend hours waiting at local landmarks, in the rain, waiting to see if our mates would show up. Hours idly waiting for a taxi at the end of a night. Dangerous walks up the hard shoulder to an emergency phone because the Marina had broken down again. Sigh.

Happy days.

Half the world warned 'Chinese space station will fall on you'

Re: Does Tiangong-1 contain Chinese steel or aluminum?

In this case, it's not so much that the British inflicted an extra vowel on the world, but that the Americans have blithely decided to ignore IUPAC standards (which, of course, specify Aluminium)

Re: Finders Keepers

@Phuzz

I reckon that, just as ElReg has The Register Standards Bureau, it might be time for The Register School of Law to rewrite abstruse technicalities of law into plain language that any duffer (me, as a test subject, can understand).

Re: Finders Keepers

So space stations aren’t like pheasants then? More like footballs.

I was going to say, flippantly, that since the history books tell us that Vitalstatistix lived between 100BCE and 0CE, the eminent Gaul wins this battle. Then, unwisely and uncharacteristically, I did a very minor bit of research and discovered that variants of the Chicken Licken story go back 25 centuries.

So perhaps Vitalstatistix hasn’t roasted and stuffed the bird after all.

Chilly willies: Swedish nudie nightclub opens in -11°C to disgust of locals

At that temperature, I wouldn’t have thought that there’d be much to be offended by - but at least there’d have been plenty of places to hang your hat.

Here's how we made a no-fuss RSS vulture app using trendy Electron

I am disappoint

I read the headline and immediately thought that this article might be about the reduced specification Acorn BBC computer. Surely it must be ripe for a hipster revival about now.

Military techie mangled minicomputer under nose of scary sergeant

Shome mishtake surely?

You mean 1980s rather than 1990s don’t you?

500MB Pr1me would have been state of the ark in the nineties. Nice mini though - for its decade.

/pedantmode

MY GOD, IT'S FULL OF CARS: SpaceX parks a Tesla in orbit (just don't mention the barge)

Given the latest reports that Tesla build quality is on a par with 1990s Kia (https://www.google.co.uk/amp/s/www.carthrottle.com/post/amp/tesla-model-3-built-like-a-1990s-kia-says-engineering-firm/), I suspect that this is the only way that Elon Musk could think of to best Volvo in the longevity (age and mileage) stakes.

Dori-no! PepsiCo boss says biz is planning to sell lady crisps

Re: The Era Of Stupid

@Roj Blake

That doesn’t work though, does it? It wouldn’t even work if you said “Imagine you've got an IQ of 100 and everyone else is a 66” because the scale upon which the normal distribution is plotted isn’t linear.

This explains why there are so very many more muppets in the world than geniuses (if the scale were linear then there’d be very many more geniuses than there actually are).

Re: Why is that a "lady thing"?

@JohnFen

You’re (probably) safe. I don’t think that Donald Trump is that into you.

For what it’s worth, I think Melania feels the same way.

Ghost in the DCL shell: OpenVMS, touted as ultra reliable, had a local root hole for 30 years

I suppose one could argue that VMS is sufficiently esoteric that not many people will have the skills necessary to exploit this hole. I used to use VMS every day - I’m not certain that I remember much of it now though.

On the other hand, if you do get attacked it’s likely that the attackers have specific intent rather than just having a bit of a mooch around to inconvenience you for the props (whatever that means)

So the good news is that not many people will exploit this flaw. The bad news is that anyone who does exploit this flaw definitely means you harm and is up to no good.

Long haul flights on a one-aisle plane? Airbus thinks you’re up for it

Of course, Concorde only had a single aisle - and people plonked down money hand over fist to travel in its cramped and uncomfortable cabin. You could argue that it was an Airbus too. So, perhaps, if they can make the food a little nicer and the plane a smidge faster then it will be similarly popular and glamorous.

How hard can it be?

Microsoft whips out tool so you can measure Windows 10's data-slurping creepiness

Apple does request permission to phone home with ‘telemetry’. Every sodding time you upgrade the OS. I gave my answer once - I’m not certain I fully understand the rationale behind having to provide it again. And again. And again.

My answer, for what it’s worth, is yes - phone home. I’m even happy for the anonymised crash reports to be sent out from Apple to the developers of the software. As a developer I understand that it’s nigh on impossible to fix a crash and improve your software without lots of evidence. This ‘telemetry’ is the best way of gathering it.

Once again, at least for Microsoft and Apple, this feels like a storm in a tea cup. A smoke and mirrors distraction from the monumental data slurp and security error that is Facebook and other social networks. Gathering crash dumps is not what we should be focusing on. But well done Microsoft for releasing this tool - even if most users won’t have a scoobies what it means.

It's 2018 and your Macs, iPhones can be pwned by playing evil music

Re: Everything...

Same with cars. Same with computers. Same with food. When I were a lad we was appy t pile into the Allegro an' breakdown repeatedly ont way t Bejam for frozen prawn cocktails for us birthdee treat supper, and to get replacement valves for ma 'n' pa's Ferranti Mk 1. We was so happy that we used to sing 'Chirpy Chirpy Cheep Cheep' all t way cos radio were broken.

Aye. Music were better in them days.

@The Alphabet

Except that they do say clearly which devices will get an update (and therefore, by a remarkably simple process of deduction (if it ain't listed, it ain't gettin' in), which devices won't). Taking iOS, for example, you can see what qualifies for an update here: https://www.apple.com/ios/ios-11/

Now you could argue that Apple has it easy, and you'd be right. Apple makes all iOS devices and, in theory, all Macs too. They have a much simpler job of qualifying devices than Google or Microsoft. Apple can, and does, categorically say which devices are compatible. Microsoft can only offer generalities (although, in fairness, those generalities are usually pretty good). And, owing to the way that Android phones are build to the very loosest possible specification, Google would have a hell of a job to list all compatible devices - an impossible task.

You might also argue that Apple should, on obsolete devices, put up a message saying 'your device isn't up to date, but it's the best it can be. If you want it to be up to date then you'll need to shell out another £600'. But that smacks of 'ner-ner-ner-ner-ner' and would be bound to land them in all sorts of trouble with the seedier side of link-bait journalism. If I were in Apple's position I'd probably do exactly what they are doing. Put all relevant information in an easily accessible website, and signal that a device is up to date if its running the latest possible software for that device.

Re: "....HomePod, a $349 smart speaker...."

@Tim99

You say ‘Free’. In fact they had to hand over a minimal amount of dough, and then allow Google access to all private conversations in any room where a google device is installed, including those held by people who may not have a google account.

Your best bet is to put on an ElWisty voice and plan crimes and world domination whenever you see on of these devices (as long as it’s not yours, of course)

So is this a case of n bugs squashed and replaced by n+1 new bugs? /cynicism

I like macOS (and iOS), but some of the bugs that have caught Apple out recently have been a bit obvious. When the console fills up with errors reporting what seems to be an indexing error in Apple OS date handling (13 months a year!?), one does have to wonder how it slipped through unnoticed.

On the other hand, Apples response to Spectre and Meltdown has been excellent (ahem - if the fixes work!)

Have three WINEs this weekend, because WINE 3.0 has landed

Re: Cautionary tale

In many businesses, and even homes, a computer will have more than one user account on it. So, whilst such malware may be able to wreak horrible damage on your account and your files, files owned by your colleagues / family / friends should be safe.

And yes, user data is worth a fortune (at least to its owner). So it must be backed up - and those back ups backed up as well.

Re: Cautionary tale

Er., yes. But with the proviso that Wine is effectively sandboxed by your user account so, whilst any Windows malware that it executes might be able to affect your documents (and, given the different directory structures compared to Windows, even that isn’t guaranteed), the OS itself will remain unaffected and the integrity of other user accounts is likely to remain secure.

Note my hedging in the use of terms like ‘likely to’, ‘might be able to’. When dealing with malware one can never be absolutely sure - the price of security is eternal vigilance and so forth - all one can do is say that configuration a is likely to be more secure than configuration b.

And you know what they say. Bragging rights come before a fall.

Re: Office 2016?

I think thats rather harsh - It does need to run Office, of course, but any office from this decade will do since the primary requirement for most people is the ability to open Microsoft Office XML based formats and accurately render the contents. Job done there (albeit only just - Office 2010 is fine).

Everyone’s use-case is different though - for me, Wine needs to be able to run Visual Studio, and (for me) the free version is insufficient. So, whilst it’s a hugely interesting project and an admirable piece of work, I can’t make use of it myself - I still need ‘real’ Windows. But I kow of plenty of people with less demanding needs who have been able to, and do use it to, replace Windows.

Don't panic... but our fragile world is drifting away from the Sun

Re: Clarity required

@Rich 11

"Or will it involve the wealthier countries providing more international aid to further support the existing, proven path of increasing the provision of healthcare and of women's empowerment?"

I like this idea. Anything which improves equality and furthers education and health has to be a good thing in my book. Besides, the cost of providing aid seems to be small compared with the cost of waging war, for a given improvement in global safety and reduction of terrorism. Not to mention that it's just the right thing to do.

Re: Clarity required

@wolfetone

A fake one will suffice. I'm sure that you can knock one up in moments. How do you think that Uber manage?

Re: Clarity required

@The Nazz

"Strange isn't it, the experts would have you believe it's all "man made" warming yet very little if anything is said, never mind being done, to address the explosion of the "man" part."

I don't think that there's any doubt about the majority of global warming being anthropogenic. It's a problem - and we need to fix it. But, if I've understood you correctly, you're suggesting that the real problem is that there are just too many of us. If there were fewer of us then we could enjoy eating meat, driving gas guzzling cars, jetting around and generally having a fine old time without causing any problem at all? Is that it? Have I understood correctly? Because, if so, have an upvote.

It seems to me that there are two solutions to this problem. We can keep shagging and increasing the population, but we'll have to put up with an ascetic, vegan, lifestyle. Or, and this is my preferred solution, we can stop having kids (ideally an average family size of <1 child on average per couple - but <2 on average at most), quarter the population of the planet, and then party like theres no tomorrow. Rewards and bonuses for the winners who manage to get to the end of the ride without having spawned.

…Which counts me out. I am, I'm afraid to say, a massive hypocrite. But it is the sensible solution.

So, let me get this straight, are you nailing your climate change denying colours to the mast by trying to conflate two entirely different conversations? And do you have some kind of Trumpist problem with main stream media? Do you, for example, prefer a conspiracy hypothesis (theory being too solid a term for the nonsense peddled by the alt-right) to a carefully researched story?

I think what I’m trying to get at is, are you a troll or are you howling at the moon stupid?

User had no webcam or mic, complained vid conference didn’t work

Re: Your Network is broken!

I’ve seen similar situations where users have archived documents by dragging them all into a Word document to use that as a container. A surprisingly common occurence - but not a very clever idea. Depending on the file type it will be ‘stored’ in the Word document:

a) identically to the original (in my experience, PDF is handled like this)

b) compressed with loss of information (in my experience, video, sound and images suffer lossy compression)

c) as a link to the original document with, at best, a short preview of the content.

If users are habitually going to abuse their software like this, I can’t help thinking that ever easier to use systems are only going to make the problem worse. I long for a return to the utopian days of the 8bit Micro, with an OS like CP/M, MSX-DOS or ProDOS. I never had to help people out of a hole they’d dug using too little knowledge and an OS that gave them a false sense of security.

Sigh.

HTML5 may as well stand for Hey, Track Me Longtime 5. Ads can use it to fingerprint netizens

Many were increasingly of the opinion that they'd all made a big mistake in moving on from HTML4 in the first place. And some said that even HTML4 had been a bad move, and that no one should ever have left the bulletin boards.

Smartphones' security enhancements just make them more dangerous

Upvote for dodging the social poison pill!

@Sir Runcible Spoon

You misunderstand me, or rather, perhaps I haven't been entirely plain in my meaning. I'm not saying that these security issues in hardware should be ignored, or that they aren't worth fixing. I'm saying that, if you want to steal someones life (bank account details, identity and so forth) there are easier means than trying to bypass biometric security.

Put another way, I'm not suggesting for one moment that one should ignore flaws in the design of the lock, or put off replacing the lock with one that is more secure, I'm merely saying that a criminal is unlikely to force the lock if the kitchen window has been left open.

Social networks are akin to an open window. The people who need to concentrate on more secure locks are those who eschew social networks in the first place (a minority these days, it seems). Those who have social network accounts probably need to look to deleting those first before worrying about how secure the biometrics on their phone are - because, realistically, the phones biometrics are going to be considerably more secure that their digital online presence, no matter how badly the phones manufacturer implemented it.

I'm certainly not arguing for security through ignorance - quite the opposite. I'm suggesting that one should plug the bigger hole before concentrating on the smaller one. But yes, I agree with you entirely that security through ignorance (or obscurity) "leads to moments of regret later on, guaranteed."

@DaLo - such flaws, as we’ve seen over the past month, are entirely possible - but likely to be devilish difficult to exploit. And, given that there are easier means of stealing someones life (as discussed earlier), why would you bother?

Since your fingerprint (or face, or (presumably) DNA) is stored as a salted hash in the Secure Enclave of the phone, unreadable and unsynchronised with the cloud, I’m not hugely worried that this represents a security loophole. It might be a security hole, of course, but it’s insignificantly small compared with the massive security error that social networks represent.

Through tools like Facebook, criminals can fairly easily work out your mothers maiden name, your place of birth, your real birthday (assuming that you haven’t been foolish enough to explicitly tell them), and may even in some cases divulge what you’re spending your money on, when and how much.

With that little haul a malfeasant should be able to unlock your life without going to the inconvenience of nabbing your phone first. I think that putative problems with (correctly implemented) facial and fingerprint recognition are only worth worrying about once the far bigger security issues that millions face everyday have been resolved.

Least realistic New Year’s resolution ever: Fix Facebook in 365 days

Re: Not as unrealistic as you think ...

Have an upvote, if only for sharing a lovely dream.

Microsoft offloads networking to FPGA-powered NICs

We’ve been using Napatech’s FPGA toting NICs for many years now. We hit 20 Gbps lossless throughput over six years ago, and we now handle 80Gbps without difficulty. This is on Linux, of course, but I’m surprised that Microsoft has a) only just managed 40Gbps and b) considers it newsworthy.

As to running malware on the NIC, I’d love to know how (at least in the case of Napatech’s offering). It’s pretty locked down, and runs (AFAICS) Napatech’s Software only. A little more flexibility might be nice - but, perhaps, not at the cost of security. That said, we haven’t put any effort into getting the NIC to do something other than it’s core function.

UK security chief: How 'bout a tax for tech firms that are 'uncooperative' on terror content?

Re: "Because content is not taken down..

That's not actually true now, is it? Imagine a right wing muppet. You know the sort. Objects to immigration, believes global warming is a hoax, hero worships Donald Trump and Nigel Farage, uses terms like Feminazi and imagines himself terribly witty. Have you pictured the oaf? Excellent.

Well, said oaf is browsing the internet, visiting all the sort of websites that oafs like him like to visit - dubious subreddits, DonaldJTrump.com, Conservapedia, the Daily Mail, Fox News - and confirmation bias will ensure that he laps up all the bullshit and propaganda. Given that saner minds are unlikely to be browsing these sources, it's highly unlikely that his oafish peabrain will be troubled by an opposing opinion. Even if they did, and supposing they bothered to comment, the old perception filters would snap down to prevent his meagre intellectual faculties from being troubled by something so disturbing as a thought.

Of course, this applies equally to all the other oafs that you might find on the web. Would be terrorists, for example, and so forth.

So no. Deradicalisation is far harder, more involved, and costly that radicalisation in the first place. How to deal with it? Unfortunately, I suspect that censorship might have a place (in addition to costly deradicalisation schemes). Because, whilst freedom of speech is a wonderful thing, some thoughts (evidence based scientific research for example) really do have more value than others (racism, sexism etc)

Kernel-memory-leaking Intel processor design flaw forces Linux, Windows redesign

Re: Can you hear it?

**Intel Marketing Memo - Strictly Confidential**

OPERATION SNAILPACE

You’ll have read in the press about this new ‘bug’ which cripples the performance of our CPUs - this applies, of course, only to older models for which we are no longer making any money. Unfortunately, customers had begun to notice that our latest chips are not significantly faster than our older models. With this exceedingly cunning plan we are now able to market our new silicon as 50% faster than the old stuff (after adding on the standard 20% hyperbole)

This isn’t a one off either - from now on each tock will come with a crippling bug that destroys performance of older CPUs and each tick will fix the problem.

But remember - this is top secret so don’t let the press find out.

Apple gets around to patching all the other High Sierra security holes

I think that it might be happening again now on iOS. I haven't checked.

All of which is great. But High Sierra still seems to think that there are 13 months in the year (I suspect an indexing problem - someone forgot that arrays are zero indexed and referred to month 12)

Take a look in the Console if you don’t believe me. It’s full to the brim with out of bounds errors this month.

This might seem like a trivial flaw - but it’s trivial flaws like this, and especially those which are easy to find, which often form the basis of a serious exploit.

Digital Entrepreneur Awards help UK tech cop an eyeful of... WTF?

@iron - the 1960s called. They want you back.

Frankly, I take exception to your dullard use of the, frankly abhorrent, ‘word’ Feminazi. If you mean Feminist, then perhaps you should think of it as meaning “Functional, moral, human being”. It’s not just for women you know - it’s about recognising that there are no fundamental differences between the sexes when it comes to intelligence, ability, or how they should be treated / paid / respected.

I’m sorry if that came out as being a bit frothingly incoherent on my part, but I’d like to kick users of the term “Feminazi” until my right leg was worn down to a bloody stump and then attempt to repeat the punishment with my left leg.

Idiot.

Apple: Sure, we banned VPN iOS apps in China, but, um, er, art!

@ecofeco

In the dim and distant past, back in the days of the Raj, the tendrils of the British Empire were able to claim India because the Maharajahs practically invited the Brits in. The Maharajahs got to keep their palaces, and the British would help administer the place and exploit the poor on their behalf (skimming off a fat profit, and keeping anything that they particularly liked like the kohinoor, dontchaknow). The consequences of inviting a greedy and rapacious regime in to 'help run' your country weren't fully considered - at least, not until the bullets started flying, and perhaps not even then.

I mention this only because, in recent years, Western businesses and governments have been busily handing over their crown jewels to those helpful chaps in China, who only want to assist us with those tedious tasks that we can't be bothered with. Little things like running infrastructure and manufacturing. They'll do it so much cheaper than we can. Until we discover that we've dismantled all our management and manufacturing capacity - and oh shit! The price just went up.

Apple isn't the only business showing such a lack of foresight. Name any Western business or country you like - we're all in the same boat. It's quite a leaky boat, of course, but don't worry - China can fix that for us…

Incidentally, I don't blame China for behaving in this way. I'm British. We built an empire in just this manner - and it'd be most hypocritical of me to object to the taste of our own medicine.

Re: A non story

@AC

There are plenty of iPhone lookalikes in China already, although to my eyes one phone looks much the same as another. Rounded rectangular shape? Check! Big screen? Check! Available in a selection of discrete or gaudy colours? Check! I don't think I can work up much excitement for the form, I certainly wouldn't claim that one is more ground-breaking or revolutionary than another.

The secret sauce is in the OS. That's where competition and choice is required. If Google has the field to itself in China, as it most certainly would if Apple pulled out, then (in my view) that would be a bad thing for the consumer. And a cloned iPhone wouldn't be running iOS - it might look iOSish, but it'd be just a skin on Android.

Re: A non story

@james 68

Incidentally, a wise man (benefit of the doubt, anyway - it was certainly a sensible thought) once wrote "Being stuck in a room with people who have diverse tastes makes for much more interesting conversation than the conversational circle-jerk when everyone likes the same thing."

I'd like to add an addendum that, for such a conversation to work, both parties have to listen. Or, at least, read what was previously written.

Re: A non story

@James 68

You didn't actually read what I wrote, did you? You just jumped right in with your own prejudices and assumptions. No. The 'nice, easy, way of evading the restriction' is to install from source - not from the app store. I use OpenVPN - you can download it here (https://github.com/AnhTVc/OpenVPN-IOS) and then build and install it on your iOS device without having to trouble yourself with the AppStore - or any official restrictions - at all.

Re: A non story

@tiggity

But, as I point out, if they walk away then everyone loses. Including the Chinese people. And the only ‘win’ is that they get to be smug about it. Don’t you think that they’re smug enough already? I think that there’s more than enough smug in the world!

Surely it’s better to comply - and provide a nice, easy, way of evading the restriction? They’ve done that - and, at least in my opinion, this is a better solution to the problem than more wanton smuggery.

A non story

If Apple were to stop selling in China (well it’s that or remove VPN (and other apps) from the store) then the only people who’d be hurt are the Chinese. Better to submit to the will of the government so that iDevices can still be sold in China - otherwise the only option for the Chinese will be Android devices which are locked down to the dictatorship approved specifications and which are worse from a privacy point of view.

Besides, Apple has given to the Chinese government with one hand (complying with this directive) and taken a whole lot more with the other (making it easier than ever to, in effect, sideload from a compiler). Download VPN source from the internet, build, and install your home built app on your device. No need for the store - so who cares what’s allowed there or not? Easy.

Whichever side of the Android / iOS debate you’re on (and perhaps, like me, you’d prefer the debate to go away and for people just to buy the device that suits them best without getting religious about it), surely we can all agree that choice is a good thing and it drives the market forward. There are only two dogs in the Phone OS fight - and taking one of them away isn’t going to help anyone. We need more dogs - not less.

Wait, did Oracle tip off world to Google's creepy always-on location tracking in Android?

Re: The Quartz report

@AC

I’m not necessarily calling bullshit - but that’s a mighty big claim and one for which you’re going to have to provide some evidence. From everything I’ve seen on iOS, if Location Tracking is off then it’s truly Off. But if you know differently I’d be very interested to learn more. Cite away…

I think that Messages always meant Ads in the US. Hence “And now for some messages from our sponsors”.

iPhone X: Bargain! You've just bagged yourself a cheap AR device

Re: Fools and their money...

@lotaresco

Have an upvote. It has never occurred to me to apply Aesops Fables to computing. I must dig out my copy tonight. Excellent work sir!

Re: Fools and their money...

@inmypjs

Whether or not you are a fool, that is a very foolish statement - and one that betrays you as a member of, at the very least, the cult of “anything but Apple”. It is foolish for two reasons:

1.) Because if you had a genuine interest in the whole glorious spectrum of digital information technology and computing you wouldn’t need anyone to tell you what represents good value. You’d read about it, and go out and play with it.

2.) Your use-case differs from mine and therefore what you consider to be “good value” is likely to differ, perhaps markedly, from what someone else considers to be good value.

For my use-case the iPhone SE represents excellent value for money, as does the base model iPad. Equally, much as I like macOS, the Mac doesn’t make a compelling case for itself right now - certainly not one good enough for me to consider replacing my seven year old computer.

Re: Fools and their money...

“Fools and their money” - it seems to me that the biggest fools are those who religiously say “I’ll never buy a… (Microsoft / Google / Apple / Amazon - insert product of choice here)” rather than considering the merits of the product itself and whether it fills a need at a particular time. Similarly, a fool might fixate on the size of the price ticket without considering whether it represents good value for money. There’s no doubt that £1k is an awfully large sum - but that doesn’t necessarily mean that a product so priced is bad value.

A famous motoring journalist once waxed lyrical about the qualities of a motor car made by brand X (no, I’m not saying which one - if you read the article too then you’ll know who), describing it as better built, more comfortable and more refined than a Rolls Royce. He then fixated on the price and said that he wasn’t prepared to spend 80K on a car made by brand X. If his review was accurate (and I haven’t tried the product in question because I don’t have 80k) then he’s a fool because, by any measure, an 80k car which outperforms a Roller is staggeringly good value. He’s fixated on the badge and not on the product.

Of course, not buying the product because you don’t have the necessary funds (80k, 1k - or even a tenner) is another matter entirely. But that has nothing to do with the badge.