Posts by Captain Scarlet

Know the difference between a bin and /bin unless you want a new doorstop

Re: Son of a 'b'

Yes I do remember Chameleon CS in the documentation!

Re: Son of a 'b'

Company I work for had Tetra CS3 system running on SCO Unix, I still have the SCO cd somewhere in the office. I assume its Line 500 as don't think Sage's other ERP purchases ran on Unix, could be wrong but I know Tetra CS3 (Sage Line 500/1000) programs appear to have been ported to Windows via the MKS Toolkit.

DeadBolt ransomware takes another shot at QNAP storage

Re: So, they're going after NASes now

Qnap, Asustor, etc... vulnerabilities have been made worse by making it far to easy to publish services, pointing fingers at them using uPnP and not really warning users "Are you sure you want your management UI available to everyone on the internet". Users who hadn't thought about security, only the features advertised are mostly affected (Which includes a friend of mine who I then had to ask what exactly he wanted, why do you want this and realising he only wanted Plex available, nothing else). I've had 2 minor issues with firmware updates so I let them automatically update.

Just because it can have features accessible from anywhere doesn't mean you should use it.

Also if you was to lose your data, can you live with that (I personally use my Qnap nas as a my backup and media server, it then replicates to an online service so in theory I have 2 backups as long as I check and make sure they are working).

Re: A reason to have it visible

As a Qnap owner, it has an app called QVPN that makes this very easy to set this up with openvpn or whatever vpn you want

Eaton, Microsoft to outfit datacenters with 'grid-interactive' UPS tech

Re: Perpetuum mobile

Yes but then you have places such as "Dinorwig Power Station". They pump water upwards into a lake when power prices are cheapest on the UK grid and then they start emptying and producing power when demands are greatest on the grid therefore earning them money.

Peronally I would prefer this type of storage over batteries.

HelloXD ransomware bulked up with better encryption, nastier payload

Re: "Linux under attack"?

How is this a fair comparison, comparing MS Office to the Linux kernel and end users vs people who actually know how to use a computer.

At least include the distro, otherwise I can simply be unfair and point to Asustor or Qnap ransomware.

Just to add further "WTF?" I personally think Linux based distros are more secure especially by default and more suited for more tasks than Windows.

Re: "Linux under attack"?

Social Engineering, misconfiguration, etc...

Internet Explorer 11 limps to the end of Windows 10 road

Its Microsoft, they recommend Office 365 with a corp version of Windows so you can make use of https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/deployedge/edge-ie-mode

How one techie ended up paying the tab on an Apple Macintosh Plus

Yes it was once very simple and easy to use, last time I looked it hadn't changed much which is a shame.

I was one of these users, used notepad then use Homestead's own tool for free websites, various other tools before Dreamweaver (Thanks to college) then moving on to PHP based CMS' systems such as e107.

Whatever you do, don't show initiative if you value your job

Re: "So was James truly the guilty party?"

The amount of software back then which required writing to places like the root of C:, the Windows Directory or Program Directory just showed how poorly thought out/updated many programs were.

HP pilots paper delivery service for Instant Ink subscribers

Re: Paper isn't required due to the cost of ink

You aren't comparing the cartridges that come with the printer are you?

HP for a long time has included starter cartridges which have barely enough ink for a few hundred pages, which includes their laserjets.

Smart homes are hackable homes if not equipped with updated, supported tech

My biggest issue was getting the flaming key and card in the first place, went to 10 different places before realising the corner shop around the corner was listed. Of course they had them.

Got that metre replaced after Covid meant an engineer could replace it.

To be fair the media are on about turning off "vampire" devices, my one has a sodding battery in it (Why?).

If I had the choice when moving here I would have had the oldest metres possible, but previous owner had pre-paid metres and I didn't spot they were pre-paid until I moved in and suddenly realised I should have took a closer look (Fun trying to setup a gas card and leccy key! :middle finger to how stupid it is to get them).

They work well as long as the radiators nearest the thermostat are on and you don't place the main thermostat in a stupid place, otherwise the boiler will pump water which never make it into a radiator.

Re: "The problem with IoT devices is that consumers tend to treat them as appliances."

Lots of my family believe I am paranoid for refusing to put in an Alexa/Google thingy anywhere in my place, I doubt they would care.

Cobblers

Anything connected to the internet can be cracked, exploited or hacked if you have someone with the know how trying to get in.

Watch out for phishing emails that inject spyware trio

Re: National Security, if it is not just a slogan

You can enforce this whilst I hide from the accountants foaming at the mouth whenever they can't run a macro on one of their hideous monstrosities

BOFH: Where do you think you are going with that toner cartridge?

Re: HP Laserjet 5

Only problems we really had were users removing staples and chucking them at the machine, the fuser roller was no match (Also no idea how the staples made it into the machines)

Re: HP Laserjet 5

330k, its not even worn in!

Laserjet 5si we had was past well past 2 million double sided A4 prints when the rubber rollers in the print engine shifted on the metal shafts causing it to catch casing (Had that happen on a 4200dtn and a 4250dtn as well). Probably could have moved them back, but easy excuse to replace at the time.

Printer Maintenance Contracts

Starting as a PFY my BOFH found out the previous head had got some weird contract on the printers when trying to cancel, there was a clause where you could only get out if you informed via letter exactly 6 months before. Of course it was 1 months to go so the contract ended up having to be renewed.

They were making a mint of course, only once got the spare printer whilst the Lexmark C750 of course crapped itself (Even then it was an ancient HP Colour Laserjet). Nice tactic to get you stuck into a contract for another year.

IBM ends funding for employee retirement clubs

Re: Warning: Old-Git Post

Can confirm Nortel Networks in Harlow had a social club, a proper canteen with edible food as well!

Minimal, systemd-free Alpine Linux releases version 3.16

Re: Under a minute?

Maybe they meant booting from ROM chips?

Microsoft veteran on how he forged a badge to sneak into a Ballmer presentation

Re: Security...

Ah yes, send in the people who call pins with letters within it a pin and not password

Beijing needs the ability to 'destroy' Starlink, say Chinese researchers

Fingers crossed when they are all up it won't look like there is a sawrm of flies in the sky

Beware the fury of a database developer torn from tables and SQL

Re: Know your audience.

Should have used Kinitawowi (sounds like a footballer clearing their nose)

Dell's rugged Latitude 5430 laptop is quick and pretty – but also bulky and heavy

Re: You're whinging about a 6.5 pound laptop?

Yes everyone has, from the amount of this laptop is breaking my back calls I see from "heavy" 13 inch laptops I just want to slap them with a HP ProBook nc6320 with an extended batery attached.

Microsoft patches the patch that broke Windows authentication

Re: "patches to fix patches seem to be becoming a little too common"

Seems like the original programmers may be long gone, so essential knowledge of how different legacy services are impacted has been lost.

Pentagon opens up about its database of 400 smudges that may or may not be UFOs

Vertical Video

Stop it, rotate the camera around >_<

BOFH: You'll have to really trust me on this team-building exercise

Re: Ahh, Team building/break the ice exercises....

I would but have work to do :'(

Re: Ahh, Team building/break the ice exercises....

Until you get the virtual events doing the same thing.

I love where I have to buy random cooking rubbish or get events for time management *rolls eyes*, just join last and forget to turn the camera or mic one.

If you've got Intel inside, you probably need to get these security patches inside, too

Re: Let me guess....

They brought VIA Eden processors (and are still waiting for the program to load).

We really need more competition than just two x86 manufacturers

Anatomy of a campaign to inject JavaScript into compromised WordPress sites

Re: Makes me yearn for GeoCities...

NetObjects Fusion 3.0.1 for Windows wow over 20 year old software and I was amazed as the poster above that it loaded so quickly.

iOS, Android stores host more than 1.5 million 'abandoned' apps

Re: Hardly surprising...

Don't forget Steam, the amount of Unity tutorial projects on there is insane

Microsoft, Apple, Google accelerate push to eliminate passwords

For me PIN means "Personal Identification Number"

Yup and because it can only contain digits less secure than a password.

Samsung unveils hardened SD card that can last 16 years if you treat it right

Re: over engineered?

Where as I leave it on the windscreen all year round, however I opted for one which had a capacitor rather than a battery (Viofo a129 for myself currently which with Covid is at least 3 years old).

My first dash cam the battery did puff up, still worked although I cut the battery out until I replaced it.

However the other failures were actually the camera sensors (Where the recordings would start to have blank spots), I also had those on 24/7 as at the time I parked in the road.

Re: Hmmm

There are still dash cams with Motion Jpeg!

My last one the memory card lasted a year (Integral memory card I believe).

Re: over engineered?

Before Covid my dash cams tended to last 2 winters before needing to be replaced.

Memory cards tended to be a year, but when replacing I would always opt for more storage anyway.

UK's state-owned bank launches hunt for core systems worth close to $1b

Currently most post offices are in the back of Martins newsagents or WH Smiths around here

VMware walks back ban on booting vSphere from SD cards or thumb drives

Re: Hardware?

Yes, although VMWare has changed where its heavy read/write operations are aimed at which I think is a good idea.

Your software doesn't work when my PC is in 'O' mode

Oh power related calls

Just because someone can call meant their computer would work magically without power.

Had this earlier this week "My laptop just turned off", plug was slightly out of the wall but of course they checked that and it can't have been that :strangleannoyingusers:

BOFH: Something's consuming 40% of UPS capacity – and it's coming from the beancounters' office

Re: Designed to fail

hmm I've only had them fail during self tests (Including one which tripped and then melted its power input cable when I reset the trip), I must be lucky.

There are nearly half a billion active users of Start news feed, says Microsoft

Re: Fixed it for you

I should probably check how to script this.

Re: Fixed it for you

Just like the annoying weather widget I always see in the taskbar on other user machines

Brave, DuckDuckGo to unplug Google's AMP where possible

Re: Heres a suggestion

Tends to be a good time to go to the loo or make a cuppa

macOS Server discontinued after years on life support

Re: A final shot to the head for a twitching zombie

VB6 mostly lives on in VBA, much still to my horror

British motorists will be allowed to watch TV in self-driving vehicles

Re: Too early.

Obviously you havent seen Arthurs video on traffic (NSFW)

Although :'( because it would be nice to at some point get up to the speed limit.

Re: Too early.

I didn't think Tesla's are meant to drive by themselves in a fully autonomous manner (Unless I missed something)?