Posts by O RLY

Anthropic reveals $30bn run rate and plans to use 3.5GW of new Google AI chips

Re: Gigawatts

During the dot com boom and crash, the unit of measurement for data centres was similiarly insane: floor space consumed. "We have 1 million sqft of data center!" was the cry of the unprofitable web company on its way to bankruptcy.

We tested Intel's new chips for cash-strapped hardcore PC users and they're impressive

Re: More cores, higher clocks, and lower prices? What's not to like?

"Any sign of ECC support being added back in?"

As if general RAM prices weren't high enough ...

Microsoft publishes a workaround for Samsung's C:\ drive woes

If something like this happened on my computer

Or a computer I administer, I can't imagine bothering to recreate the correct permissions.

I would take it offline (if not entirely off network), change the c:/ permissions to most permissive (as recommended), back up the data, nuke it, reimage the computer, and restore the data. Surely that would be faster than trying to fine tune folder/file permissions, right?

Lawyer's 6-year-old son uses AI to build copyright infringement generator

Re: i for see a time

Agreed. Apple has cash reserves larger than the market cap of Disney by 25%. Alphabet, Meta, Amazon, and Microsoft similarly can root around in the couch and buy the rest of the media companies easily.

When Amazon bought MGM in '21, it was a viewed as a trivial purchase at £6.7 billion in the tech world, but earth shattering in the media world.

Apple swaps one ex-Google AI chief for another

Re: So Apple. are regarded as laggards

And using Apple Intelligence remains optional, not force-fed like in other operating systems/platforms.

From Intel to the infinite, Pat Gelsinger wants Christian AI to change the world

A few days late

Reformation Day was Friday; this article should have been posted then :)

Icon because Katie Luther brewed beer.

Texas man accidentally shoots cable, brings internet down

Re: Let me guess

Hunter/Killer or Heckler & Koch?

BOFH: If you can't beat the AI, let it live inside you

Re: Geography updates

Nayib Bukele.

Firefox is dead to me – and I'm not the only one who is fed up

Re: Fork it

I use LibreWolf on Linux, Waterfox on Mac. Both support uBlock Origin.

Citrix finds new use for virtualization: Avoiding PC price hikes caused by tariffs

Re: Does it have to be a hosted desktop?

Yes, VMware Fusion 13.x allows a vTPM as virtual hardware for a guest. Win 11 runs great on Fusion.

For host hardware, Fusion 13 needs to be able to run on MacOS 12 or later. The list of Macs that support 12 are here:

https://support.apple.com/en-us/103260

Tesla fudged odometer to screw me out of warranty, Model Y owner claims

Re: Cockup?

"† N×3D in Alabama."

I think you'll find it was Indiana, not Alabama, that tried to pi = 3.2 and sqrt(2) = 10/7 by law.

FreeDOS 1.4: Still DOS, still FOSS, more modern than ever

For me, I go write some basic stuff in C on Linux on a Raspberry Pi to get a taste of the basics.

I haven't done much with DOS in quite a long time, but will take a look at this link and the tools in your comment. Thanks!

Apple throws shade on pokey AI PCs, claims its maxed out M4 chips are 4x faster

I am using "trading in" colloquially.

The M1 Mac will replace the ~14 year old Mac Mini attached to the TV, which will in turn will probably go to the garage to play music and media to my shop speakers.

About your PSA, good info. Apple quietly killed its refurb market.

I am trading in a 4-year-old M1 mini for the a M4 mini. I'll use it for some of the dev stuff I do as well as media work. I have been reasonably pleased with the growth of the ARM software space in Steam or the App Store for games and Anaconda for Python/data science stuff. When I bought the M1, only about 75% of the python libraries and tools I needed worked through Anaconda, but now it's nearly everything.

Apple debuts iPhone 16, Watch Series 10, assorted AirPods

Re: Being amazed no more

The Ultra (launched 2022) and Ultra 2 (2023) had speakers. It seems they're enabling the software of the Ultra 2 to use the hardware already there for playback. I had an Ultra on which I used speaker phone a la Dick Tracy. Perhaps the new design for the speaker in the Series 10 came from the Ultra 2 since there was no change to the Ultra 2 (except a new color coming later this month).

Apple finally adds RCS support after years of mixed messages

Re: It isn't like they are mandating its usage, or blocking those third party password apps

I was not claiming Apple will ban third party password apps. I was refuting your claim that Apple has never done that in prior cases with examples you asked for.

They did take away F.lux when Night Shift arrived. Yes, there’s an Alexa app. However, Alexa launched in 2014, four years after Siri was acquired and integrated into iOS.

Anyway. Have a great day.

Re: It isn't like they are mandating its usage, or blocking those third party password apps

Quoting myself from two years ago: "There used to be several virtual assistants until Apple bought what became Siri, for example, but then they were banned for replicating iOS functions. Time-based blue light reduction apps existed until Apple added Night Shift. One of those app makers, F.lux, pushed hard to be reinstated and insinuated their IP was stolen."

Regarding Apple Maps, iOS 6 did in fact ban 3rd party Maps apps for several weeks from launch in September '12. Apple approved a standalone Google Maps app in December. There was a lot of finger-pointing between Google and Apple at the time. Apple finally allowed third-party nav apps into Carplay in iOS 12, only 4.5 years after Carplay launched with iOS 7.1.

Regarding Spotify, Amazon Music, et al., signing up for subscriptions is not done in the iOS apps so as to avoid paying Apple a cut of revenue.

A few citations:

https://www.pcmag.com/news/flux-to-apple-let-our-blue-light-app-in-the-app-store

https://www.lifewire.com/get-google-maps-ios-6-1999194

https://www.theregister.com/2012/09/25/google_maps_on_ios6/

Encrypted mail service Proton hands suspect's personal info to local cops

Flak vs Flack

They probably did not earn any flack, but definitely earned flak.

Ahead of IPO, Reddit blends advertising into user posts

"I don't see how it's making any money."

You're right, it's not and never has: https://www.cnn.com/2024/02/23/tech/reddit-ipo-filing-business-plan/index.html

Rapid7 throws JetBrains under the bus for 'uncoordinated vulnerability disclosure'

Re: Tangential to the article

Thanks for sharing!

Yes, I had seen that and had rolled back to a prior release while awaiting this one without the AI.

Tangential to the article

I use JetBrains IntelliJ for my Java/React stuff today and I noticed it's got AI for an additional fee. There was an El Reg article a few weeks ago about it that was critical of the inclusion.

I mention that because, as I peruse the Reg's homepage, I notice a shitload of AI-generated images instead of the standard stock images over articles including this one. I assume it's cheaper to use AI, but the images are all strange. (The URL still shows shutterstock - https://regmedia.co.uk/2024/03/05/shutterstock_screen.jpg)

Icon because murderbots are less unsettling.

China loathes AirDrop so much it's publicized an old flaw in Apple's P2P protocol

Re: Tap to drop makes AirDrop saner

The iPhone 2 being entirely nonexistent is a bigger barrier to sales, methinks.

While we fire the boss, can you lock him out of the network?

Re: ?

It's an old reference, made popular through Scott Adam's use in Dilbert and books.

Excuse the unusual source, but better sources are gone.

https://academickids.com/encyclopedia/index.php/Cow-orker

Microsoft confirms Smart App issue renaming everyone's printers to HP

Re: nuke strike packages

Who said anything about coffee? Starbucks doesn't qualify to be called coffee.

Icon to demonstrate another use for the paltry settlement sum.

China relents: Broadcom-VMware merger approved at last

Rehashing a prior post: Requiem for a once-great

Here lies VMware, whose corpse is on display as it is devoured by scavengers.

1998-2023

__

I had a post script asking for a regulatory body to prevent the desecration, but, alas, it was not to be.

Godspeed and good luck to the VMware staff affected by changes and layoffs and to the customers about to get squeezed.

SEC lawsuit against Terraform Labs and cofounder Do Kwon lives to fight another day

Hammer an Echo?

Unrelated to the article itself, why did El Reg choose a picture of a judge hammering an Echo/Alexa device for the main page's teaser image?

https://regmedia.co.uk/2018/11/14/shutterstock_amazon-judge.jpg

Onto the article, it sure seems less and less like anyone made an honest billion in crypto.

BOFH: Good news, everyone – we're in the sausage business

Re: AI Infused

Since we've lost the badge for Paris Hilton, maybe the badger badge can be restored. It has the other benefit the that icon selections will be back to three lines of uniform length.

Chose this icon just because we're talking about AI.

RIP Gordon Moore: Intel co-founder dies, aged 94

Re: And I had just bought some more Xeons, too…

Oh very true. Sorry, I misread your comment.

Cheers

Re: And I had just bought some more Xeons, too…

Do you mean RAM rather than CPU Cache? 9GB is a ton of CPU Cache.

My daily runs an 8-core Intel Core i9 with 35 MB of Cache and 32 GB of RAM

BBC to staff: Uninstall TikTok from our corporate kit unless you can 'justify' having it

Re: If they want to be consistent..

"A real phone"

Would that be a Librem 5?

Microsoft wants you to build quantum apps in Azure, the cloud that's both up and down

Re: IBM is a quantum monster

"Must explain why I've been feeling like it disappeared from the IT landscape for the past decade"

Well, that and selling their PC, server, and low- and mid-tier storage off, then spinning out their traditional IT services biz.

Tesla's self-driving code may ignore stop signs, act unsafe. Patch coming ... soon

Re: Recall is right..

"No one has died"

___

Narrator: A new car built by my company leaves somewhere traveling at 60 mph. The rear differential locks up. The car crashes and burns with everyone trapped inside. Now, should we initiate a recall? Take the number of vehicles in the field, A, multiply by the probable rate of failure, B, multiply by the average out-of-court settlement, C. A times B times C equals X. If X is less than the cost of a recall, we don't do one.

Woman on Plane: Are there a lot of these kinds of accidents?

Narrator: You wouldn't believe.

Woman on Plane: Which car company do you work for?

Narrator: A major one.

Super Bock says 'cyber' nasty 'disrupting computer services'

Re: Dangerous target

So long as whiskies and other spirits are available, I think the crisis can be mitigated somewhat, but such an assault would be a terrible escalation. I wonder how many BOFHs would become the new retaliatory computer army.

Musk bans private-plane-tracking @Elonjet on Twitter, threatens legal action

"I’m not likely to purchase anything SpaceX has to offer."

Not directly, anyway. That said, I know there's a lot of fun stuff purchased with my taxes that I'd love to get to use that I didn't choose to buy.

Twitter employees sue over lack of 60-day layoff notice

He also tweeted he was taking Tesla private at $420 per share. It's hard to parse what he says through a filter of reality.

How I made a Chrome extension for converting Reg articles to UK spelling

Re: Not wounded pride.

Agreed about Oliver not being funny, but he doesn't do a chat show.

No, working in IT does not mean you can fix anything with a soldering iron

Re: Customer pushback

Will SpaceX ship Amazon packages or will the "missile gap" between Bezos and Musk cause conflicts?

Letter to FCC: Why are US carriers locking handsets to networks?

Re: Buy from the Mfr

I have purchased my last three smartphones via the carrier for these reasons:

1. I can buy on credit without interest as part of my bill

2. My bill is reimbursed by my employer up to $AMOUNT which can include my phone payment only if it is part of the provider's bill. That amount tends to be higher than my service, so my phone fee fits nicely.

3. I've never had an issue from that provider when asking to unlock the phone early.

If any of those changes, but especially the second, I might change my process.

Twilio more than decimates staff, CEO says it grew too fast

Re: Tough for the CEO

At least he didn't cry during a video presentation. He kept the levels of bullshit down to what one expects.

Apple patches iPhone and macOS flaws under active attack

Yeah, Catalina should be supported for a few more months. I wonder if the issues are related to the new bits in macOS 11 and 12 not present in the 10.15 code.

Apple's typically opaque release notes lend no insight.

SEC charges VMware with hiding slowing sales from investors

Who's the Chairman of the Board?

Oh, right. This guy.

https://www.sec.gov/news/press/2010/2010-131.htm

BOFH: It's Friday, it's time to RTFM

Re: When M doesn't mean what you think it means

Sure, that makes sense. The North Koreans still use a date system based on the birth of Kim Il Sung.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Juche_calendar

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Juche_calendar

Janet Jackson music video declared a cybersecurity exploit

Re: Unbelievable

Relevant xkcd:

https://xkcd.com/654/

less relevant with 5GHz wifi more prevalent, though.

US-funded breakthrough battery tech just simply handed over to China

Re: ... long potential lead times

“When buying and selling are controlled by legislation, the first things to be bought and sold are legislators.”

- P.J. O'Rourke