Posts by lglethal 3895 publicly visible posts • joined 11 Jun 2007
Well not to doubt you, but we have at least a few tales here in the comments of exactly this happening, so it does seem like its real.
Notice that none of them speak about damage to the harddrive itself, just the occasional bit here and there being flipped, and causing disk corruption, which certainly seems plausible. Whilst the read and write heads are pretty well protected, the platter itself isnt overly EMC protected...
Let's all say this again. It is not Apple's Hardware! It is yours!
If you choose to install a different App to make use of the NFC, that is your call. Apple should keep their stinking noses out of it.
If you can only listen to music over the 3,5mm jack, sorry Airpods, since they removed the headphone jack, through itunes, and no other music service could play music over your Airpods, would that be acceptable? No Spotify, No Youtube, no using other media players. Itunes, or no music? I'm asking seriously, would that be acceptable to you?
Because if not, then that is exactly the same situation as the NFC. Your hardware, you get to choose what you do with it.
Oh and no they cant take the chip out after you've bought the phone, unless you take it to a Genius bar (Oxymoron that one), and let them take it out. If they cripple it over a software update, they would be open to being sued for removing functionality after purchase. If you mean, they can release a new phone model without the chip, then of course but then you are buying the hardware without the chip and accepting that, so of course you cant complain in that case. But this case is very different.
"Apple’s practices on their own hardware is surely their own business..."
And this is where you're wrong. The moment you bought it, it's not Apple's Hardware. It's yours!
You decide what goes on the Phone and what you do with it. Not Apple.
If Apple decided that people were only allowed to put their Phone in their left side jeans pocket, would that be acceptable to you? Of course not. So Apple saying that only Apple Pay can use NFC should be viewed the same way.
Remember all of the Apps within the Walled Garden of Cupertino undergo full screening, so it's not like you're suddenly going to end up with malware slurping your account through some dodgy App off the Appstore. But maybe you want to use your Banks direkt App over NFC instead of ApplePay, because of some new deal or whatever. Or maybe you want to use the NFC for something else (for example, unlocking a door using your phone, just like a badge reader), at present you cant because Apple has locked it. But it's your phone, so why cant you, if you want to, use that NFC for other things.
What you do with your phone is up to you, try not to forget that. Any time a company tries to tell you what you can do with the items they produced, but which you paid for, then you should be telling them to pi$$ right off. Once you've paid for it, it's yours. Dont forget that...
So £30 million for the new system. Plus I assume it also has a yearly support cost (not sure if thats the £394k mentioned toward the bottom). But lets assume for arguments sake that it doesnt have a fee.
Versus £700k per year for the current system.
So you could run the current system with full support (which likely includes upgrading to new versions), for the next 42 and a bit years and still be cheaper than the installation cost for the new system. The numbers become even crazier when you consider that there will certainly be a yearly support cost on top for the new system as well.
Does not look like such a good investment went you plug those numbers in, does it?
So you are agreeing with me that fixing the current system would make digital currencies useless, no?
I would suggest that a day's delay from a shop transaction actually mirrors cash. In that, if you pay with cash, the coffee shop will only deposit that money in their bank account at the end of the working day anyway, so it kinda matches. But for international transactions, there really is no reason in this day and age except the banks greed and desire to use your cash to make even more interest before passing it on.
The fees charged by the Banks, Visa and Mastercard are really taking the pi$$. They set them as high as they think they can get away with, without a) hurting sales, b) attracting greater regulation. Putting curbs on this would go some way to improving the international system massively. But it needs to be global, and I havent seen anyone trying to fight that fight.
Finally, I really dont see why anyone believes a digital currency would solve any of these problems. The Banks want their profits. I wouldnt even give it an hour before they have developed "fees" that make digital currencies equally as expensive and profitable as the current system.
Lets just think about it a bit -Today, you walk into a coffee shop, touch your bank card to a EFTPOS reader (or your phone if your a fashionista), and walk out with your double shot latte. You have done all this with your regular account, handling regular currency, and guess what? You have done it all digitally! Shock horror! So why would you need a digital currency, when we pretty much already operate with digital currencies in our lives.
The only use case I've really heard for digital currencies is for foreign exchange, but surely the better, simpler, cheapest solution is just to fix the sh&t show that is foreign exchange. Start implementing some world wide curbs on bank fees for such transactions, put limits on the speculators in order to stop them from causing massive and undeserved swings on currency markets, and improve access to foreign exchange services, so it's easier for new firms to enter the market and make it more competitive. A digital currency to fix this, is simply trying to build an expensive toll road around a congestion area rather than just fixing the area itself.
If someone else can give me a proper use case for digital currencies (apart from being able to track every transaction within a country - the wet dream of every dictatorship!), then I'll happily listen, but I've yet to hear a compelling usecase that is not already met with current regular currency thats simply handled digitally.
One difference between your pest control example and a tesla,and you mentioned it yourself - training. You are forced to do training to be able to use the pest control equipment. No one gets training to use a tesla. If you are lucky, the salesman might tell you verbally to be careful. But it's not drilled into you. Plus he's not going to push the point because he's trying to still you the Illusion that this is the safest car in the world.
If people were forced to undergo training in its use then you would have point. But since they don't, you have to account for the public perception. People perceive that autopilot controls the car. You need to make that clear that it is not the case, but tesla do not. Therefore tesla really are to blame in a lot of cases. Not wholly to blame but they are selling the illusion and doing very little to try and counter it.
Hmm I tried out the name frenchification website - apparently my wife should be called Harold, my son should be the son of satan (Damien), my daughter shall be the mother of Jesus (Marie), and I shall henceforth play in a Metallica coverband (Ulrich).
Don't think I will mention this website to Harold, I mean SWMBO, she might get upset about being married to a Metallica fan... :P
A friend of mine, who lives in Queensland, tells me that the crows and magpies up there have learned how to eat cane toads. For the uninitiated, Cane Toads are a hideous introduced species which is highly poisonous to anything that tries to eat it because its back is covered in toxin sacks. Thus it has spread unchecked across pretty much the whole of Queensland and is slowly spreading south and west into other states, having a devestating effect on native species.
However, it seems the Magpies and Crows have learned to pick up a cane toad, wedge it upside down in a fork in a tree, and then eat it from underneath (where there is no poison). Aminal intelligence at its best.
And Google really thinks its Drones stand a chance against Covid cunning? Not a hope in hell (or the Outback as we call it...:P)
They don't say that 750 People are working on it. They say 750 "resources" are working on it. A computer is a resource, The janitor is a resource, Against all evidence, Management can count as a resource. Dont be fooled into thinking that just because they say 750 resources are working on it, that that means 750 people are involved. Or at least dont be fooled into thinking that means 750 coders are working on it.
Plus any firm that would refer to workers as "resources" is giving you a very good view of just how much they value their employees. If you needed more evidence to avoid Infosys like the plague, I'd say that is one huge red flag, right there...
No AI can create an Idea. It can iterate potential design decisions based upon criteria and inputs given to it by a human. That is all.
Otherwise, my CAD program would be classed as an inventor because it rendered in 3D an idea that I thought of based upon my inputs into a Keyboard and Mouse.
This guy is a tool. And seemingly one without a good use except wasting the Court's time...
You are aware that Trump signed the agreement for the Americans to leave AND set the leaving date. But apparently he didnt do any sort of planning for actually meeting said date.
Biden was an idiot for sticking with the date, but do not start trying to say that this wouldnt have happened if Trump was in charge. It would have. And it probably would have been an even greater clusterf%&k.
Not so far, because we have plenty of Uranium to sell to thei replacemernt nuclear power plants.
And I'm assuming you're talking about their coal power plants, because as a rule factories dont burn fossil fuels unless your talking about Diesel generators, and Australia doesnt produce any Diesel.
How far will the US fall, when China starts calling in your trillions of dollars of debt?
Umm actually Australia's economy is one of the biggest in the World. According to the IMF, Australia's GDP ranks 12th in the World. Japan is the 3rd largest economy, Indonesia 16th, and the Phillipines 32nd. Not bad for a country of only ~25 million.
So yes, we're a small nation, but the wealth of the nation is quite high. That also means that Australians have relatively high disposable income (compared to Indonesians or Filipinos) which makes them much more attractive to the likes of Facebook and other international corporations.
So actually decisions taken in Australia can have an effect on multinationals, and other nations...
First, Space X's application is a shit show it is basically a space grab and should be rejected until they actually specify exactly what they are doing, which bandwidths they are claiming, and which orbits.
Second, Blue Origin's letter is also a shit show and is absolutely pathetic.
In dealing with a regulator like the FCC, Blue Origin could have easily pointed out the problems with the Space X application without turning it into a personal attack (ok it's a corporation not a person, but you know what i mean). That's what consultations periods are for, for people to put forth reasoned arguments for or against something happening. You dont attack the character of the firm your arguing against, especially when your own firm (or its owner) are clearly going to come across as major hypocrites.
Play the Ball, not the Man. Or dont play at all...
Hopefully the FCC, tells Blue Origin their letter is unhelpful and useless. AND turns around and tells Space X to come back with a proper proposal....
It's not bad reporting at all. In this article, the Proton case was brought up to discuss the point about the perceived difference between the T&Cs from the consumer point of view and from the company's point of view.
It seemed quite a good example of potential consumer misunderstanding, or the lack of clarity in privacy claims amongst tech companies.
Well you see Nvidia and Softbank are rich and have lobbyists who can grease the wheels of acquisition.
Perpetuus Group and taurus do not appear to be particularly rich and dont have the lobbyists on call to apply the grease.
Hence they get rejected, and ARM gets approved. Grease is very important for keeping Government ministers working after all...
Cynical, moi?
In my experience there are usually 3 reasons why a firm is low on Staff.
1) The pay is shite. Therefore, the good engineers leave for greener pastures, and they cant attract new staff on those rates.
2) The company culture/atmosphere are toxic/shite. Once again this leads to an exodus of employees. This tends to lead to high turnover, and means they are stuck hiring youngsters who dont yet know any better. And who eventually will bugger of as well...
3) An unwillingness to hire anyone who doesnt have the right degree, from the right university and have X years experience in every possible field of IT that's ever existed. i.e. the not hiring what you need, only what you desire problem.
Too often it is all 3 of the above... Or at least some combination of them...
So which will we find out it is here?
Actually I would have said it was the person using the AI to develop the products who was the inventor. The person using the AI, and the person who developed it are not necessary the same person.
Otherwise your implying that the person who developed the CAD program that I used to develop my patented idea is the inventor itstead of me the user of said software...
Man, you Yanks are crazy. Seriously.
Here in Germany, if you're sick, you're sick. You get 6 weeks of sick pay fully paid by your firm and then your health insurance (which everyone has, because you are legally required to have health insurance) will take over (at 75% of your regular wages, I think it is). But you dont accrue sick days. I mean if you only take 5 days off sick, you dont get more the next year.
But, we also get 6 weeks actual holiday a year. That also doesnt usually carry over (my firm lets you carry it over until February or March of the next year), but then its gone if you dont use it. BUT you are encouraged to use it. I think if people dont use at least 75% of their holidays the firm gets a kicking from the government.
And then we also have time in lieu. That is sometimes capped at a few hundred hours, but again in every firm I've worked anyone who has come close to hitting that limit has been sat down with their manager and a work plan laid out that reduces their hours bank back to reasonable levels.
This is not exceptional behaviour over here, I've been through 5 firms in Germany and had the same sorts of conditions each time.
No doubt I pay more in taxes the you guys, but I guarantee my health insurance costs less (even if its compulsory to have), and I sure as shit have a better work/life balance. No way am I going into work if I'm sick or even doing Home Office just to avoid a sick day. You guys really should open your eyes to the European system, it's a lot healthier for you!
I was not really going into how you would actually do it. I was more pointing out that a professional would already have in place there "exit strategy" before they stole anything, so that the moment the first coin hit their wallet, it would be already on its way out the door to the first cycle of the laundering.
This definitely has all the hallmarks of a:
"Hey what happens if i do this?"
"Ha, i just stole some of their Coins! How easy was that!"
"I wonder how much i could steal?"
"Hmmm. That's a lot of money. Umm how do I turn that into cash?"
"Oh man. Look everyone's talking about the theft, how awesome am I?"
"Ohhhh shiitttt! This is not good. Everyone is trying to track me down. Oh shit, maybe they can track me. And none of my attempts to turn it into cash have worked. Everything is getting blocked. And oh no they're publishing the wallet details. Everyone knows where the coins are. Oh shit!!!!!!!"
"Wait maybe if i give it back, and pretend I was just doing it to highlight their security failures, maybe People will stop looking for me... Shit, shit, shit.... Please stop looking for me...."
This does not have the hallmarks of a professional on it. If it had been a professional, the moment the money began to leave Poly, it would have been being split up, and sent to multiple places where it was being turned into actual currency, before anyone cottoned onto the fact a theft had happened at all. It would not have been sitting in a single account, just waiting to be tracked down.
Alternatively, if they stole $600 million, and Poly gets back say $599 million. A $ 1 million dollar pay-off is not too shabby for a nights work... And $1 million is a lot easier to hide than $600 million...
Is this really still a Problem in the West? I've worked in a lot of different firms all across the western world (except the US) and cant actually remember anywhere where this was a problem. Some of the places did occasionally go out for a meal or to the pub together, but a) it was never compuslory, b) there was never any blowback for not attending, c) there was never any problem if someone was not drinking that night. Hell in most places, going overboard was far more looked down on, then not drinking at all.
Maybe I've just been lucky. But in 20 years in the industry I cant remember a single situation where that would have applied...
You all seem to have missed the point I made about requirements. If you need to chop down 100 trees in a day, then your axe will never be sufficient. It is obsolete. If you only need to chop down 5, then your Axe is perfectly fine and it is not obsolete.
As with Software, if you have an air gapped system, and you dont need to be connected to the internet, then the old software is fine and NOT obsolete. However, if you need an internet facing portal, you need security, and if you're old program has an attack surface, then sorry it is unlikely to be secure, and if your requirement demands security, then assuming there is a newer program that is more secure, then the old is obsolete.
Obsolescence is determined by requirements. If all you want to do is potter around town then a Model T Ford works fine and is clearly not obsolete. However, if you need to travel 500km on a single tank of petrol, with Air-Conditioning and space for 4 people and their luggage. Then a Model T is obsolete for your purpose. (Although I was suprised to read that a Model T could do about 200km on a single tank of petrol, which I think was pretty impressive!).
Things can still work and be obsolete, and what one person considers obsolete, the next might not because it still meets their requirements.
"if a tree falls down in the forest because it was felled with an axe rather than a chainsaw, is the axe obsolete?"
Depends if you're being paid by the number of trees you cut down per day, or have to meet a specific quota? if you need to cut down 5 trees in a day, an axe would probably suffice (and so it is not obsolete), if you need to remove 100 trees in that day, an axe is obsolete because it cannot meet the requirements of the job in hand.
Something does not need to be broken to be obsolete, it just needs to not be able to meet the requirements for the job.
There are a lot of software programs out there that still run fine, but because they are so old, they are no longer secure. And since we now have requirements about running secure programs, that makes them obsolete. They can still work, but when they dont meet the requirements anymore, that is the definition of obsolesence.
No, it hasnt changed, the sentence is just missing the addendum.
"China's government [..] is always enormously intolerant of corruption UNLESS they're a member of the Communist Party, who is in good standing with President Xi, and remembers to pay a portion of their corrupt income up the chain."
I guess the author just felt that addendum went without saying...
Actually after talking to a german mate of mine, (who went on about this topic for far longer than i consider healthy), Yeast at the time was considered a part of the brewing process and not as an ingredient that's why it wasnt listed. Same reason the keg isnt listed as an ingredient, it was just something needed in the process...
Actually it does still have legal force in Germany, in that beers made with other ingredients cannot actually be labelled as beers. OK it was updated in 1993 to increase the number of allowable ingredients and processes, but if you use ingredients not on the list you cant legally label your drink as a beer.
So yeah it does still have some legal force (just certainly not as stringent as the 1516 version).
And remember, the more you steal the less time you will do. Steal a couple of hundred dollars in a burglary and you'll probably end up doing 5-10. Steal a couple of hundred million dollars and you'll do 3-5 in a minimum security prison (and be out in 2 or 3, probably with an offical pardon).
Remember kiddies, go hard or go home...
If Apple was really interested in catching paedophiles and users of Child Porn, it's truly super that they've announced this well in advance, with information about exactly how it works, so that all of those people who use Child Porn on their Apple devices, now know to go out and buy non-Apple devices for all of their Child Porn antics.
Yep, very effective at catching miscreants when you announce in advance when and how your going to try and catch those miscreants. I dont doubt they will catch one or two small fish - there are always idiots out there. But mostly they wont catch a damn thing.
But then maybe that is the whole point - maybe there's been some powerplay behind the scenes where governments have threatened to take over the iCloud (in the name of "protecting the children", of course), and Apple is just preempting that by driving away all the paedophiles before the government's could make their move?
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