* Posts by Bump in the night

60 publicly visible posts • joined 3 Dec 2010

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Los Angeles wildfires force tens of thousands to evacuate, NASA JPL closed

Bump in the night
Megaphone

Internet commentards save LA

News at 11. All is well now. Finger pointing and politics calmly set aside and personal attacks avoided. Computer desk jockeys remain cool, calm and collected and avoid feeding emotions and fire.

Said no one.

Look for the label: White House rolls out 'Cyber Trust Mark' for smart devices

Bump in the night
Unhappy

Not sure it says much

Shouldn't it contain some kind of ID number that one could check the unit's actual status? Looks kind of fake otherwise.

How the OS/2 flop went on to shape modern software

Bump in the night

Re: I agree to some extent, but still think a lot of it is about memory

I always wondered about that. IBM would sell PCs then with seemingly insufficient memory for OS/2. They might have just as well put a sign on it, "You could run OS/2, but you won't".

Why Google's Chrome monopoly won't crack anytime soon

Bump in the night
FAIL

Re: A Short History of Browser Monopolies...

You forgot to say how Opera started out so much better, no one noticed it and then became totally incompetent. Yet it's again trying to make a comeback.

BASIC co-creator Thomas Kurtz hits END at 96

Bump in the night
Windows

More BASIC nostalgia

I learned it around 1970. Took to it immediately and used it to try and predict how high my model rocket would fly. I read about it's inferiority and using GO TOs, etc but had little idea about why. In the 80s, I managed to use it at on a simple project to handle a data file at work. The sales department demanded they have it, which I kind of smirked at because it was pretty crude.

I really didn't learn much past that and thought my skills were pretty mediocre. I tried other languages, but never really advanced much.

Then I happened to look up Intuit yesterday and learned that the first version of Quicken was originally written in BASIC. Maybe there was more to it than I gave it credit.

The US government wants developers to stop using C and C++

Bump in the night
Joke

Unsafty First

All use of computer languages should be avoided, just to be safe.

Voice-enabled AI agents can automate everything, even your phone scams

Bump in the night
Facepalm

Oh boy! Another useful endeavor!

What will be the next gifts to society these wunderkinds bring to brighten our future?

Kamala Harris campaign motorcade halted by confused robotaxis

Bump in the night
Coat

Coincidence, I think not

I just saw I Robot starring Will Smith last night on DVD. This clearly is a sign.

Trump and Biden agree on something – changing Section 230

Bump in the night
Facepalm

Newspapers

"Without Section 230, internet companies willing to risk liability would presumably institute pre-publication editorial reviews of all publicly distributed content or a system for rapidly removing offending items post-publication. Neither option is likely to be economically viable at scale. "

Sorry to be tedious, but I cannot help point out that those are called newspapers and the internet is trying to put them out of business. Not by providing any true technological advancement, but by simply avoiding playing by traditional rules.

Google DeepMind's latest models kinda sorta take silver at Math Olympiad

Bump in the night
Facepalm

No good will come of this

Sooo, basically they said they won the prize by using copied information and turning it in late.

Let me tell you I copied math homework in high school and no good comes of it. You will not do well in life by cheating. You will never understand concepts.

Sam Altman sues builder over $27M flooded, sewage-hit 'lemon' of a mega-mansion

Bump in the night
FAIL

Re: Having problems with shit filling your house

8 porcelain palaces should be enough backup to cover for any failures. Did the owner have GI problems that overwhelmed "the six bedroom, eight bathroom residence"?

Trump threatens to send Meta's Mark ‘Zuckerbucks’ to prison if reelected president

Bump in the night

If you put them all in a spherical cage, tell them there's a nickel in the corner to watch them grovel even more.

Wells Fargo fires employees accused of faking keyboard activity to pretend to work

Bump in the night
Facepalm

Curious solution

Why would you bother with an app that made it appear you were doing work when it's simpler to fart around all day long on the internet?

What else could they possibly be doing after all?

GhostStripe attack haunts self-driving cars by making them ignore road signs

Bump in the night

Re: I think I'll stick to the MK1 eyeball

I wonder if they could have hired everyone a MK1 Chauffeur with what they have invested in all of this self driving stuff or paid every Uber driver a living wage. I suspect that In the end separate raised highways will be built long after we're dead.

ChatGPT starts spouting nonsense in 'unexpected responses' shocker

Bump in the night
Trollface

Ask the General

A question no computer or man can answer

https://youtu.be/ljGH07Unfe8

Be seeing you

The pen is mightier than the keyboard for turbocharging your noggin

Bump in the night
Coffee/keyboard

The pen is mightier

We should have know that the almighty Qwerty would be defeated by the pen. After all it killed the Sword.

Infosec experts divided over 23andMe's 'victim-blaming' stance on data breach

Bump in the night
WTF?

Let me try to understand this

I'm having trouble understanding this. Am I wrong to think they WANT to be able to blame weak passwords by not imposing requirements for passwords? It smells a little too convenient and lazy.

I'm tired of the hackneyed stern admonishment to not use "weak passwords" when many places already have numerous requirements for passwords.

Burnout epidemic proves there's too much Rust on the gears of open source

Bump in the night
Meh

Rust and Mozilla

I'm clueless about the current relationship Rust has with Mozilla, but I appreciate all the hard work that went into Firefox and Thunderbird. If Rust helped with that effort I can understand a situation like that. No doubt that would contribute to an under siege work environment.

Driverless cars swerve traffic tickets in California even if they break the law

Bump in the night
Trollface

Just wondering . . .

if the self driving car can be made to know it's breaking the law. Not that "AI" would know anyway I suppose.

Microsoft's code name for 64-bit Windows was also a dig at rival Sun

Bump in the night
Meh

Re: Missed a trend

"More bullying than marketing ..."

Same thing. Marketing over common sense, etc.

Doom is 30, and so is Windows NT. How far we haven't come

Bump in the night
Holmes

" Windows 95 modernized the desktop interface, and most still work like it, despite Microsoft's concerted efforts"

ha, good one. I would add Apple is still the leader in a consistent interface, but isn't getting much better at it either.

Experienced Copilot help is hard to find, warns Microsoft MVP

Bump in the night
Joke

Jesus is my copilot

Can I get an amen?

Textbook publishers sue shadow library LibGen for copyright infringement

Bump in the night

Re: Welcome to the new corporate Register

I would add that some schools use OpenStax textbooks which are free to download. Print copies cost money.

I suppose that introduces another conundrum where they compete with text books that are not subsidized, but perhaps they are of a generalized nature that is not an issue.

Google promises eternity of updates for Chromebooks – that's a decade for everyone else

Bump in the night
Windows

Re: Probably smart move

I suppose that's true. Especially the ones in middle schools.

Maybe like the Chevy Vega, a plethora of spare parts will abound (except for the batteries), and a generation of FrankenBooks will be brought to life. The remaining issue who will want to repair them. I don't think anyone is offering Chromebook Shop class, but I could be wrong.

Farewell WordPad, we hardly knew ye

Bump in the night
Coat

Re: A simpler tool for a simpler time...

Ah yes, the undelete command. I was a genius for 5 minutes when I told some very important people how to use it.

But back to WordPad, it's the only way I know to make a reasonably small RTF file. Word bloats an RTF file to Ludicrous Size. Off to go see how well Libre Write does . . . well not too bad, but Word Pad still wins the size contest

We all scream for ice cream – so why are McDonald's machines always broken?

Bump in the night
Alien

This might be a job for . . .

a human being.

Some tasks vex automation. While probably not at the thoughput they want, I think most of us could make a decent milk shake by hand with little training and a blender.

Microsoft still prohibits Google or Alibaba from running O365 Windows Apps

Bump in the night
Alien

Re: re: How this is not monopolist behaviour?

< "I keep seeing this utter nonsense written in every forum where big tech is mentioned. Firstly, there is no such thing as "monopolistic behaviour". It's a meme started by an ignorant party that's to often ignorantly repeated on the internet. Secondly, monopolies are not intrinsically unlawful. A monopoly happens when one company or entity is the only one offering a particular product or service. The reasons for this can vary – it might be natural, because of location, technology, government rules, or simply because everyone uses it. This is fine and dandy, but now the entity is a monopoly; it has to obey social rules to conduct its business."

I see your point.

But restraint of trade is still not allowed in the US AFAIK, however I don't see this as what is happening in this case. My understanding is that some regulated monopolies have been allowed to exist like AT&T, until it was decided they would no longer have that status, perhaps due to changing technology or circumstances. I would also add that there is one thing companies really hate - competition - which is understandable when you consider how hard it is to have a successful company. The problem is when they become predatory.

So much for CAPTCHA then – bots can complete them quicker than humans

Bump in the night
FAIL

Unbreakable toys are good for breaking other toys

This has "computers are best at messing up other computers and not much else" written all over it.

By the way, where can I get this? I can never enter those things right the first time . . .

Couple admit they laundered $4B in stolen Bitcoins after Bitfinex super-heist

Bump in the night
FAIL

I wonder who owns this bitcoin anyway

Next time someone steals bitcoin, call a hippie, er libertarian.

Microsoft whips up unrest after revealing Azure AD name change

Bump in the night

Re: We apologize in advance ...

right you are, a thumbs up. However I forgot Office Live.

Bump in the night
Facepalm

We apologize in advance ...

... for any inconvenience caused by our greed and arrogance.

have to go, I've got to get back to SkyDrive, er OneDrive, er Office for the web, er Office Online, er Office365 and then I have to figure out which Acrobat . . . .

JP Morgan accidentally deletes evidence in multi-million record retention screwup

Bump in the night
Facepalm

And I thought I had problems

It takes me forever to remember out how to archive email in Outlook efficiently. It looks like the bigger you get the bigger the fail.

Healthcare org with over 100 clinics uses OpenAI's GPT-4 to write medical records

Bump in the night
Unhappy

What a boon!

That should save 12 whole minutes out of the 2 hours I sit waiting in the doctor's office

Microsoft Windows latest: Cortana app out, adverts in

Bump in the night
FAIL

When is help no help at all?

Using the help function to sell something is the first bite in eating your young. The more "help" is used to market the less computers are obvious to operate. There is no incentive to actually fix a problem.

Laid-off 60-year-old Kyndryl exec says he was told IT giant wanted 'new blood'

Bump in the night
Childcatcher

old and young

very good point. I just retired after 30 years at the same place. I wasn't necessarily the sharpest tool in the shed, but started noticing those same characteristics in my organization as I got closer to leaving. I reflected on the younger times as exactly that -- desperate and emotional.

A healthy mix of young and old is probably the best.

Apple pushes first-ever 'rapid' patch – and rapidly screws up

Bump in the night

Re: Apple achieves Microsoft service levels

"I assume this means I Got The Patch"

I'm not sure I would make that assumption. I might try the external elsewhere.

The Stonehenge of PC design, Xerox Alto, appeared 50 years ago this month

Bump in the night
Happy

Idealism

Am I misremembering my youth or is it really in such stark contrast?

A shiny future of optimism and idealism at least in the tech world, or what we now have now of the cyber wars, greed and needless feature itis.

San Francisco investigates Hotel Twitter, Musk might pack up and leave

Bump in the night
Stop

I call contrived

Seems like this would be allowed by a process of applying for a permit and outfitting some rooms as dorms or bedrooms. In either case surely there must be hotel or two nearby?

I'd expect adults would ask about the permitting process and move on whatever the outcome. Sounds like a sibling tattling and the other crying "Mommy Mommy I'm not getting my way".

Mastercard moves to protect 'risky and frisky' crypto transactions

Bump in the night
Windows

Hope springs eternal

Well for those who are still wet behind the ears, you would best head the old rock and rollers from the school of hard knocks --

You can't roller skate to heaven. You can't come across the astral bridge until you pay the toll. And all you back room schemers, small trip dreamers better find something new to say. Cause you're the same old story It's the same old crime and you got some heavy dues to pay.

Computer glitches harmed 'nearly 150' patients after Oracle Cerner system go-live

Bump in the night
Mushroom

It goes to the unknown queue

Employee:

But we weren't told about the unknown queue.

Kafka:

How long haven't you been told about the unknown queue?

Did ID.me hoodwink Americans with IRS facial-recognition tech?

Bump in the night
Coffee/keyboard

Honesty is the best policy

Here is a valuable "Upper level college" ethics tip from Captain Obvious:

When proposing something to prevent fraud, it's probably best not to have any suggestion of fraud in your proposal.

Beanstalk loses $182m in huge flash-loan crypto heist

Bump in the night
Holmes

Shocked

I'm shocked, shocked I say.

Round up the usual suspects

Spot the dog? No, we couldn't either because Spot is a robot employed by United Kingdom Atomic Energy Authority

Bump in the night
Mushroom

Nuclear powered perptual motion machine

Ideally Spot would be nuclear powered, consuming the remains of the plant as it patrolled it.

If you think Mozilla pushed a broken Firefox Android build, good news: It didn't. Bad news: It's working as intended

Bump in the night
FAIL

Couldn't be worst update ever

Although they have covered up some of the embarrassment, I'm sure Opera has them beat. Among the other crippleware, search results for "help" yielded "Nothing found".

Google reveals new schedule for 'phasing out support for Chrome Apps across all operating systems'

Bump in the night
Unhappy

Re: So, Google is pulling a Microsoft?

Me either!

Revenge pornography ban tramples free speech, law tossed out – where else but Texas!

Bump in the night

Reasonable expectation of privacy

That's been an established precedent in the U.S. Even if it's conveniently forgotten by some who think there is no such thing as "reasonable" or "expectation of privacy" anymore.

It also seems to hold up in court when someone with lots of money doesn't want their image used.

Totally uncool California bureaucrats shoot down drone weed delivery

Bump in the night
Windows

Too bad

It would have been the ideal payload to revenue ratio. Figuring one ounce getting about 2 or 3 hundred dollars.

Boffins fear we might be running out of ideas

Bump in the night
Joke

Studies show . .

there are no answers.

In the week Uber blew up, Netflix restates 'No brilliant jerks' policy

Bump in the night
Holmes

Jerks need not apply

I applaud no brilliant jerks, but they also are wanting everyone to be a star. I don't know if you can have it both ways. But perhaps with a culture of maturity you could.

Personally I would settle for no jerks brilliant or otherwise, but I'm the type who hopes to just do a decent job with out eff'ing up.

Linux command line mistake 'nukes web boss'S biz'

Bump in the night
Facepalm

pick one

1. Of course we don't know this, that's why we're visiting a web site.

2. No one here can ever agree on a technical point, that's why they spend so much time belittling each other.

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