Risk vs reward
The reward to risk ratio leads me to AVOID Win10.
At least the kids' Win 8.1 game machines are stable.
...Cirdan...
(And I'm on Linux Mint and Android)
Posts by Cirdan
201 publicly visible posts • joined 3 Jul 2011
BONK! BONK! Windows 10 whack-a-mole – Microsoft still fixing bugs
ICANN urges US, Canada: Help us stop the 'predatory' monster we created ... dot-sucks!
US mega-hack: White House orders govt IT to do what it should have done in the first place
Apple slips out security patches while world goes gaga over watches
Out of time: Huawei, LG unveil watches nobody wants to buy
Two driverless cars stuffed with passengers are ABOUT TO CRASH - who should take the hit?
Friday 21st November 2014 12:56 GMT
DR GUI VS ETHICS
"Maybe boffins such as Gui hope “the computer” can tell us right from wrong - possessing a God-like authority. But this would requires us to pretend that nobody programmed the computer, and it arrived at its decision using magic. ®"
Well, there's your problem!
Don't ask Dr Yike Gui...
Ask Dr Command Line. (Though if you use sudo you still possess a godlike authority!)
Sony borks fanboi funboxes with dodgy PS4 update
Friday 31st October 2014 00:36 GMT 
Seriously...
Since they can push updates after the fact, are they really doing less QA than they used to back in the 80s or is it less bugs per line of code but SO MANY LINES OF CODE that a few slip through? I just don't remember this kind of stuff after a release.
Amirite, is it rose-tinted glasses, or am I just getting a little long in the tooth and short on memory?
...Cirdan...
Tim Cook: The classic iPod HAD TO DIE, and this is WHY
Happy 2nd birthday, Windows 8 and Surface: Anatomy of a disaster
Saturday 25th October 2014 02:02 GMT
Re: Snatching defeat from the jaws of victory...
"Last time I tried Linux and attempted to install Firefox I first had to find an installer for the distribution I was using. Then I had to decide from a swathe of nonsensical file types, gar, tar, bar har-de-har-har (with no explanation of what they meant or do). Finally I had to go through the rigmorole of 'unpacking' them, and typing a load of cryptic command to try try to complete the install."
Linuxmint.com... download and install.
(MATE for me)
click on the little shield with the exclamation point and upgrade the packages.
Newest firefox for that edition ...poof!
Wanna live on the edge?
Linux Mint Debian Edition... Cutting edge stuff with most of the bleeding removed.
FYI, all new Mint editions (except LMDE) will be based on Ubuntu LTS versions, so LONG TERM SUPPORT. Kind of like Red Hat/CentOS, but with recent packages.
Try it again, you'll like it!
...Cirdan...
DEATH by PowerPoint: Microsoft warns of 0-day attack hidden in slides
Popular password protection programs p0wnable
Monday 14th July 2014 11:43 GMT
Re: Password Card anyone?
Nathan-
You're the reason cutpurses still exist! Chew on that.
Seriously, I'm interested. As a Septic, I wonder what counts as a 'purse' for a fellow across the pond these days? I just can't get the picture out of my mind of a leather pouch with a drawstring hanging from your belt next to your dagger and longsword.
...Cirdan...
p.s. thanks for the password card idea/reminder. awesome.
FCC OKs $5 BEEELLION Wi-Fi cash splash in schools, libraries
Saturday 12th July 2014 09:49 GMT 
Wi-Fi for kids? Whatever shall they do with it?
The commission estimates that the new E-rate will expand <strikethrough>Wi-Fi </strikethrough> Facebook, Kik, and YouTube coverage to 10 million new students by the end of next year. ®
There. FTFY.
...Cirdan...
(it's like trying to hold classes in an 80's arcade with the lounge table games as desks and giving the kids an endless supply of quarters... Gah!)
Microsoft confirms Office 365 price rise
Engineering fault stops SpaceX launch of machine comms satellite network
Urinating teen polluted 57 Olympic-sized swimming pools - cops
Sunday 18th May 2014 09:29 GMT
Re: dead animals: yes
Regarding animals dying (n.b. humans are animals):
First hand experience two weeks ago:
My beloved 14 year old Alaskan Husky, Samantha, was suffering from a sinus tumor. After a year of reasonably good health, she finally refused her favorite food, cheese, and I knew it was time to ease her pain. My dear daughter Katy (12 yo) wanted to be there to comfort the old girl who's looked after her since Katy's birth.
The wonderful vet prepared my daughter, telling her that after Sam were gone, it would be normal for her to leak faeces and urine.
As Sam breathed her last, she collapsed in my arms and Katy caught her head. This wonderful vet cleaned up the leaked faeces as we grieved the life and love we'd lost; the vet placed an absorbent pad under her hindquarters to catch the leaking urine.
Sorry for the teardrops on this post. In answering, I wanted to give voice to a kind soul who quietly (wolves don't bark, silly) cared for my two babies and masterfully went from beta female to alpha on the loss of Jäger (my dear Belgian Shepherd who passed at age 15 four years ago)... after a week of indecision, she put the new Plott hound adolescent in his place and kept him there even though he weighed 85 pounds to her 50.
And should this be of help to anyone, my twins both chose the right path for themselves. Katy was there the whole time. Sean stayed home...too intense for the boy on the autism spectrum. But they grieved their own ways well. And Sean wanted to sprinkle shredded cheese on her shroud before burial.
Thanks, Samantha. Thanks, Jaeger. If there is a heaven, they're running and playing together again.
That's right, MICROSOFT is an ANDROID vendor after Nokia gobble
SanDisk surfs cash tsunami on biz SSDs: Prelim nice, but DIMM?
French hard-drive maker LaCie cops to YEAR LONG card data leak
This time it's 'Personal': new Office 365 sub covers just two devices
Wednesday 16th April 2014 03:53 GMT
HOME?!?!?! Paid for office?!?!?!
Sorry, I'm sticking with LibreOffice and my Box account.
And Kingsoft Office on Aneroid.
Cheap, yes... and no damnable .docx BS upgrade lock-in treadmill.
Thanks, The Document Foundation.
(Yes, I have given money to more than one F/OSS project... Call me a CHEAPTARD, ok?)
...Cirdan...
Not your father's spam: Trojan slingers attach badness to attachment WITHIN attachment
Organic food: Pricey, not particularly healthy, won't save you from cancer
Monday 7th April 2014 04:31 GMT
Re: Luxury item
"I've seen morbidly obese people order a double bacon cheeseburger, a large bag of chips and a DIET Coke. "
Screw you. Just because we're fat doesn't mean we should give up completely.
And stop by the health food store sometime to see the supplements to PUT ON WEIGHT. If those folks' metabolism let them keep their calories, they wouldn't need the help, now would they?
...Cirdan...
192 cm
150 kg
P.S. Look up "leptin" and postulated receptor issues & variances resulting in atypical homeostasis ("obesity"). Or just decide that all those native Hawaiians are just lazy self-indulgent pigs...not noticing the only ancient Polynesians surviving long sea voyages would be those who held on to their calories...and passed on the genes. Whichever.
Hyper-V telling fibs about Linux guest VMs
Monday 7th April 2014 02:33 GMT 
FUD
A culture of FUD.
Marketing depends on FUD.
(OH NO, they might run out of the eyeFone 13s before I get mine! How many do they have left? Should I get an extra for my girlfriend while I'm in line... I don't think they'll have any tomorrow.)
The "Call to Action" (yes, there's a marketing term for that) is usually about a great time- or quantity-limited deal that you'll regret missing... SO ACT NOW!!!
Be aware of it...it tries to bypass your neocortex.
...Cirdan...
Dish and DirecTV deal: Damned if they merge, damned if they don't
Monday 31st March 2014 09:42 GMT 
Dish competitors--
While I was being courted by a phone call from AT&T in the USA to entice me to pay for their "U-Verse" IP television streaming ("cable") service, I responded that I didn't need a different provider.
"How do you get your TV now?", the representative asked.
"Terrestrial", I replied.
"Oh, and how much does Terrestrial charge for their service?"
DOH!
The state of education in the United States shocks me at times...
Selfies are over: Welcome to the age of 'Sleeveface'
No, Minister. You CAN'T de-Kindle your eBooks!
First pics: Comet-chaser Rosetta hurtles towards icy prey, camera in hand
Friday 28th March 2014 10:46 GMT 
Regarding relative speeds...
Right now, the probe is approaching the comet with the speed of a relative coming to see the newly rich and famous cousin who is coming to the family reunion.
Soon, it will be approaching the comet with the speed of a son returning home from university over Christmas break to do his laundry.
This summer, its relative speed will be that of an old married guy going to see his mother-in-law.
You see, it's relatives all the way down.
...Cirdan...
Windows 8 BREAKS ITSELF after system restores
This changes everything: Microsoft slips WinXP holdouts $100 to buy new Windows 8 PCs
Windows hits the skids, Mac OS X on the rise
Saturday 15th March 2014 18:16 GMT 
Gold badge trolls are made, not born.
My dear fellow Commentards:
Sorry I fed the troll earlier.
I forgot that he_who_shall_not_be_named who posted above is the ANTI-EADON.
I just want to know which journalist is playing him.
Gold stars are granted, not earned.
:-)
Makes for a livelier forum, though.
...Cirdan...
Saturday 15th March 2014 14:51 GMT
Re: In Other News, Linux Is Still A Nonentity...
@ Ross K:
Argumentum ad hominem.
(Informal logical fallacies...
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ad_hominem)
...Cirdan...
P.S. This ends now. No flame wars. Been there, done that, got the mouse pad in 1994.
Regarding your post:
">Two things:
>(1) Malware isn't written for linux as there is no return on investment for the writer. Virgins living in their parents' basement generally don't have credit card numbers, or any other valuable information, to steal.
>(2) I guess I don't need to put a positive spin linux's dismal market share as the fanbois appear to be too deluded/demented to care."
Saturday 15th March 2014 13:52 GMT
Re: In Other News, Linux Is Still A Nonentity...
Actually, Linux NOT having a huge market share is a good thing for me.
I am happy that there are not many people with low technical skills using Linux, as that means that I am not targeted as often by malware that would target the less canny.
Security through obscurity isn't a valid method for a business, but it's a heck of a good layer for a home enthusiast user.
You know, nobody has stolen any of my cars despite the fact they all carry a full set of keys on the underside of the vehicle. But it saved me from a locked running car 400 km from home, and I talked my 69 year old mother through finding her buried set of keys over a cell phone while she was 200 km from home, locked out in a snowstorm.
Linux... Does the job, price is right, fun to use, and less likely to get pwned by my own stupidity.
Keep Linux market share small! I don't want to have to go BSD (or ReactOS, $Diety forbid).
Windows 8.1 FTW!!!1!!!!!!!!111!!!!!!!
NSA's TURBINE robot can pump 'malware into MILLIONS of PCs'
Wednesday 12th March 2014 22:35 GMT 
Land of the free...
I was never here. I didn't read this. I am not a sysadmin. I don't control any routers. I have no influence over security.
Thank $Diety that I don't use Faceboo...just a second while I answer the door...
HEY, WAIT! I HAVE MY COPY OF THE CONSTITUTION RIGHT HERE AND MMPH MMMM MMMMPH MMMMPH MMMMMM!
Phisherman's friend: Confused hacktivists deface FAKE BANK SITE
Thursday 6th March 2014 23:34 GMT
Correcting corrections is always risk-laden.
"some of which rely on exploiting confusing about a bank's genuine online location" (sic)
Just saying, you can't put in a sic erat scriptum on the hackers [sic erat scriptum] imperfect English and then type bad English yourself.
........................................................
Just saying, you can't put in a sic erat scriptum on the <bold>hacker's</bold> imperfect English and then type bad English yourself.
Or, alternately, hackers' if you think there exist more than one.
:-)
...Cirdan...
Look behind you, T-Mobile US: Sprint wants to GOBBLE you – allegedly
Saturday 14th December 2013 20:46 GMT
Keep T-mobile separate to keep the others honest
Verizon offers excellent customer care if you need it and are willing to pussy for it, plus one of THE BEST voice coverage areas in the US.
For price, though, I go with a "PAYG", as you say, Verizon-network virtual carrier... PAGEPLUS CELLULAR who also have awesome support located in Cleveland, Ohio, USA.
My new love is REPUBLIC WIRELESS, a new ish virtual carrier based on Sprints network but defaults to WiFi. How's that for no roaming fees when calling home from abroad? $100 cost for the PHONE and $19 USD/mo (less than $24 with taxes and fees where I live). Slightly more got the Moto X.
Yes, they're both CDMA, but here in the states it's really not a problem, especially if you are the kind of person without a passport....
2 in 5 top Brit biz bosses expect IT dept to drive 'technical innovation'
Opera rewrite comes to Android
Computer use irrelevant to education outcomes, says US study
Tuesday 21st May 2013 02:25 GMT
Re: Separation of church and state
As an educator, I have a fantasy about going to the primary school after hours and taking a cricket bat to anything with a cord or batteries; calculators are to be exterminated with extreme prejudice.
I would leave an equal value in pencils, pens, proper writing paper, and some primers that are considered past their prime. Also blackboards... can't stand those miserable unerasable whiteboards and too-faint pens.
</rant>
I feel better now. Glad their findings agree with me. Use the wetware first.
US Army engineer wins Air Assault wings after repairing hi-tech leg twice
Debian 7 debuts
Surprise! Republican bill adds politics to science funding
Oracle to resell Fujitsu 'Athena' Sparc64-X servers ... worldwide
NASA rules out leading new human lunar expedition
Monday 8th April 2013 00:30 GMT
Fear of flying?
Been there, done that, got the moon rocks and T-shirt; now we're scared we couldn't pull it off again.
"Better to say nothing and appear a fool than to speak and remove all doubt."
At least if we fail at Mars there's no precedent.
Though I suggest that we go back to LOL memory (Little Old Lady Memory). Now THAT'S a ROM!
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Core_rope_memory
Facebook buys Dummly from outernet prodigy Dick D'Miner
Monday 1st April 2013 10:12 GMT 
I rather liked it.
I knew what to expect from the title and sub, and I read it all the way through.
Kind of an IT echo of the stuff I used to read in Fantasy & Science Fiction mag way back in the dead tree days. Maybe not Isaac Asimov, but fun!
Thanks, Future Kelly!
P.S. There's a rogue surgeon at the edge of The Wastland (no net coverage) who'll do the implant removal... just don't think about it on the way there. Just tell him I sent you. I know he was practising as late as 2044, so you'll have time when you do decide. Bu my implant site still throbs in cold weather.
Jobs' first boss Nolan Bushnell: 'Steve was difficult but valuable'
Saturday 30th March 2013 13:47 GMT
Re: French
Petur-" "Plus ça change, plus c'est la même chose," as the Parisians would say.
Nice of El Reg to speak French (or properly copy it from somewhere), but I fail to see how this sentence relates to the article "
_____________________
It's a well-known saying in American English usage.
"There are parasites all over the computer world ready to take whatever we come up with," Jobs told Bushnell.
So, the more things change (Jobs is dead, PCs are on the downswing), the more they're the same (Kindle Fire, Facebook OS).
Or was I trolled?
...Cirdan...
You know who else hates Windows 8? Hackers
Young Frenchwoman desperate for fat pipe tumbles out of window
Verizon retreats on ‘convenience fee’ for online bill payment
Monday 2nd January 2012 10:46 GMT
Verizon voice coverage without the cost
PagePlus Cellular in the US has VZW coverage (reseller). 2000 minutes for $80 USD or £52. Service up to a year. US customer service with folks who live in Ohio USA. Zero cost to activate a phone with them and no fees to speak to a rep to buy "cards" for continued service. Data can be pricey though.
For data unlocked GSM phones can be used with T-Mobile. Give them $100 USD (£64.42) and they'll give you service for up to a year. $2 per day ONLY ON DAYS USED (prepaid) gives unlimited voice text and data (at 2G speeds... which is all my unlocked iPhone can handle on their network).
I carry two devices -- PagePlus for voice and T-Mo for data -- (think -- double the battery life and I can always make a call as THAT battery doesn't get eaten by the datamonster) and have paid UNDER $20 USD (£13) per MONTH for BOTH including all the voice and data that I chose to use without feeling cut off from the world.
And for home service: Ooma. $3.50 per month. About £2. Unlimited to USA. Seriously.
Options. We've got options. I'll watch the VZW drama from the sidelines.
Mine's the one with two mobiles in the pocket.
Biting the hand that feeds IT
