Posts by John Tserkezis

After injecting cancer hospital with ransomware, crims threaten to swat patients

Re: A far better

option would be fining the manufacturers of the software that gets hacked to leak the information.

This won't work for people who recycle passwords.

Unless you mean fining them too? That would be acceptable...

Bricking it: Do you actually own anything digital?

The copy that you paid actual coins for can suddenly "vanish", apparently with no recompense.

I normally don't chase up books on Audible I've already bought, but one passed my way a little while back.

I remembered I did indeed read it, and had it stored on my NAS, but Audible didn't have it anymore.

It vanished - Big Brother style.

All this does is re-affirm what I'm doing is "right". Or if you will, "fair", if not entirely legal.

Re: Blue Disc players can have the DRM updated from a disc

but Blu-ray drives DRM can be updated by games or movie discs placed in them

I haven't owned or even used a DVD/Blueray player(*) for well over a couple of decades. So not going to be an issue for me. :-)

(*)I don't count my PC attached drives.

Removing the DRM from the free audiobooks Audible offered me was a PITA.

Not really, a regular download from your library will give you an .axx file which is just an .mp4 with more metadata.

There are utlilities that can extract to MP3 format, split into chapters.

Some chapters are grouped together, but with a non-fancy audio editor will fix that.

Again, if the book can only be got as a single very long audio stream, a good editor can split that up with only occasional labour required.

At the end of this, you have a non-drmed book. Really, you give up too soon.

What's really going on with Chrome's June crackdown on extensions – and why your ad blocker may or may not work

Re: Risky products will fill the gaps

"At best, it will break connections. At worst, customers will fall for privacy-reducing products and outright scam products."

Believe it or not, this is entirely acceptable.

Let's go back to Microsoft Internet Media Player. It had built-in routines that run scammed media, and offered it as a feature (it could automagically download and install any codecs).

California man's business is frustrating telemarketing scammers with chatbots

Re: When I give up stringing them along...

I had one caller who caught some choice words from me, she called me back THREE TIMES to tell me I can't talk to them like that.

Turns out, I could.

China bans Micron products after security review finds unspecified flaws

Pot, kettle, black.

I think we've seen this before.

Microsoft breaks geolocation, locking users out of Azure and M365

Against the advice I've been getting to move to 365, I still insist on using LibreOffice.

Shockingly, it still works.

Dems, Repubs eye up ban on chat apps they don't like

What?

No more TikTok?

Good riddance.

Let's play a game: Deepfake news anchor or a real person?

"will be in the form of a very large Earth-bound asteroid"

What makes you think an asteroid is going to fix anything?

For as long as they have an audience, they'll sprout propaganda.

Microsoft is checking everyone's bags for unsupported Office installs

Re: I use Libre office

<It works fine for me.>

Of course, what are they going to do? Disable it if you haven't paid for it?

Malicious Microsoft-signed Windows drivers wielded in cyberattacks

Do I have to mention the naming of acronyms has gone overboard?

Or, DIHTMTNOAHGO if you will.

Google Chrome to block file downloads – from .exe to .txt – over HTTP by default this year. And we're OK with this

Last time this happened, we had a client who was unable to download our driver software because his company firewall software prevented him from downloading an .exe file.

After some renaming, compressing, and even password protecting the zip file, (and he couldn't get his IT guys to disable the "security") I got fed up with it all and snail-mailed a CD to him.

Security my arse. I should start charging morons who think that wasting our time is "secure".

Internet world despairs as non-profit .org sold for $$$$ to private equity firm, price caps axed

Oh Crap

That is all.

Our hero returns home £500 richer thanks to senior dev's appalling security hygiene

When hacking passwords is the only way.

Way back about a thousand years ago, our network admin pissed off for a week of something or other, and left an entire department unable to log onto their accounts, due to his Netware 3 admin screwup.

Since he was the only one with the server passwords, my boss brought it to me to fix it. I informed him without the passwords, I can't do it. The resulting look on his face prompted me to say "if you kinday look the "other way", and give me the keys to the server room, I can "fix" it in several minutes, and said this was the only way, as long as he was happy to look that other way of course.

Turns out he wasn't keen on that, and instead told the entire department to go home for a week instead.

It's a mug's game: Watch AI robot grab a cuppa it hasn't seen before

Re: Meh

"Let's see it pick up several mugs, suspending each on a different finger, so you can carry them all to the kitchen sink."

That's only half the job, let me know when it's ready to acually wash the dishes.

Facebook deletes 17 accounts, dusts off hands, beams: We've saved the 2018 elections

Re: Moron!

Any thing I read on face book I fact check.

Anything I read on face book, I dismiss immediately.

MyHealth Record rollout saga shambles on: ALP wants it put on hold

I'm stunned.

Not because a website collected my information without any trouble at all, I'm stunned that a goverment website collected my information without any trouble at all.

I'm quietly expecting to get an email later on that their details have been hacked, and we should expect everyone's data to be available cheaply soon.

PETA calls for fish friendly Swedish street signage

Re: They're about as interested in animal rights as [insert topical comparison here]

"...I am in exploring vegan diet options."

Hey, plants are alive too.

Fixing a printer ended with a dozen fire engines in the car park

Photocopiers and isopropyl alcohol don't mix well.

Some years back a photocopier tech, we'll call him John (*) had a technique to diagnose squeeks by dribbling isopropyl into the bearing and see if it stopped. The idea being he would know which bearing was squeeky so it can be dismantled, cleaned and re-lubed without doing the entire machine.

Let's just say, that wasn't what actually happened.

He had used so much alcohol, that it dribbled down the machine, along a floor pan and then dribbled onto the main power supply. After the fireies had put the fire out, all that was left salvagable was the copier glass.

I never did find out if he managed to keep his job.

(*) Never mind the fact that my name is Johh, and a fellow employee who told me about it was also named Johh, but neither of us were that John. No, really.

Commonwealth Games are just the ticket for Facebook

Re: @AC

"Check out the security theatre for the games including airport style full body scanners"

The scanners have probably been re-tuned to see the most important games contraban articles of all time: Fecking bottles of water.

Because the worst thing in the world you could do is deprive the sales outlets (inside the games walls) from their well deserved marked up profits.

Microsoft says 'majority' of Windows 10 use will be 'streamlined S mode'

"Belfiore wrote that "if a customer does want to switch out of S mode, they will be able to do so at no charge, regardless of edition."

So, in other words, you can have a knobbled and restricted version of windows called S Mode, for the same cost as the regular more flexible standard issue Windows 10?

Tories spared fine after being told off by ICO for election telemarketing

Re: the ICO has "warned the Conservative Party to get it right next time".

"Wrong. It means that no party will try it again."

Oh, but they will. We had the AT5000 Autodialer (see The Simpsons) call us courtesy of one of our political shysters. You have NO recourse, it just dials out automatically, all numbers in sequence. Even the bullshit "LIFE HACK: The 11 magical words that will get a telemarketer off the phone" can't possibly make a diffrence because they don't ever listen to your screaming.

GarageBanned: Apple's music app silenced in iOS 11 iCloud blunder

Holding guitar wrong.

Nuff' said.

Faking incontinence and other ways to scare off tech support scammers

"A doorstep chugger had the door shut in their face when they wouldn't take no for an answer. He then kept ringing the bell and shouting abuse through the letterbox for several minutes."

Following some choice abuse, I had one scammer call be back 3 times saying "you can't say that to me!"

Turns out I could.

KickassTorrents kicked out again, this time by Australia

Re: Big whatsit

"If you wear a big coat you can smuggle in enough food to start a franchise."

Here in Australia, one of the cinema chains tried banning foods that did not come from their own shop.

Mind you, they canned that idea when they realised almost all of their half dozen patrons either stopped turning up, or just continued to not buy their "food" anyway..

nbn™ gets its wish: Australian ISPs' performance to be rated

I call bullshit on this.

Like the power consumption stickers you get on appliances like fridges and such, and worse still, the fuel economy figures you get on new cars.

I can already smell it from here.

Yee-hacked! Fired Texan sysadmin goes rogue, trashes boot business

Re: Amateur...

"If you're good enough to set that up, you won't be sacked."

Clearly, you've never worked for some of the empoyers I have.

That is, during a takeover, they sacked the sysadmin along with some others.

It was a bit of a "don't come monday" thing.

Management forgot he had all the passwords, and the keys to the computer room with him. Oops.

"No matter how ill-advised such revenge might be it's only common sense for management to try to part on good terms, just in case."

Agreed. I've said this before, and I'll say it yet again:

Never piss off your customers, they might not come back. More so, never piss off your employees, not only will they not come back, they'll leave a trail of destruction on their way out.

Promising compsci student sold key-logger, infects 16,000 machines, pleads guilty, faces jail

Re: Don't get it

"Why is it bad for this guy to sell a keylogger when M$ has one built in and running on Windows 10 and compromised W7 and W8 machines?"

Microsoft has thousands of lawyers to make what they do look legal. You don't think their terms and conditions write themselves do you?

Re: We want information

"An ice hockey fan and one-time country club waiter, ..."

"I can understand why this is interesting, important and relevant. Wait .... no, I can't."

It is important, because without those two things, the only other two things to his name, would be a malware author, and, well, how can I put this nicely, stupid.

Re: Another lost opportunity

"Instead, some young man's life is going to be scribbled on, hard, by the crims in the penitentiary. Sad."

You'd be singing a different tune if you were one of the many who were scammed. In fact, I'm guessing you'd be screaming blue bloody murder instead of being concerned about his being scribbled on.

Oz regulator trims broadband prices

Oh, never mind, I'm sure they'll mark up their "installation fees" to make up for losses.

Banned! No streaming live democracy from your phones, US Congress orders reps

"The rule calls for a ban on any use of an electronic device to record or broadcast the proceedings"

So, yeh olde school wax cylinder recordings are ok then?

I mean, it'll suit the polititians who live in the dark ages right?

Virgin America mid-flight panic after moron sets phone Wi-Fi hotspot to 'Samsung Galaxy Note 7'

Re: Some talk common sence, some talk shite

"No, the smoking ban was entirely driven by the desire by anti-smoking campaigners to have a tobacco free environment on flights."

Yeah, I'd like screaming babies banned from flights too, but fat chance that's going to happen.

Oh, I'm sorry, you're offended because you have your own sprog? Too bad, I'm offended because my right to not be audibly molested applies too.

Re: This leaves open all sorts of pranks!

"I'm not sure you'd get past the x-ray machines if your hand luggage included a small circuit board with wires attached to a small solid looking object such as a battery."

You never know. I came from the US into Australia, with an 16bit ISA card, along with cables, and they didn't bat an eyelid.

Yet, I've had friends bring in hard-to-get spark plugs, and power transformers, and nearly had the feds called in.

Do not underestimate stupid. If you think you need enough brain cells to sucessfully breath air, look at some of the TSA agents or whoever has been empowered to decide if you're a terrorist, or a bratty kid. I doubt they can tell the difference.

Re: Two things

"Yes, but if the crew looked the other way and it got out, or something happened it would be a disaster for them, the airline and the passengers."

No, and bullshit.

If I farted in the cabin, I shit you not, you'd be calling the EPA. Yet, it also would be entirely legal.

Let's not let one fucking measly phone that, realistically, hardly ever fails, result in stupid responses like this.

'Upset' Linus Torvalds gets sweary and gets results

Re: Wouldn't YOU be fucking pissed off ...

"Also test against the bugs previous changes are supposed to have fixed. Just in case you reverted some of the previous fixes."

Like the type of checking that needs to happen with VLC Media Player?

And if you have the audacity to complain about features that are broken, or new features that aren't there (but still appear in the menu), they'll tell you to fuck off and write your own code to fix it.

Classy.

Angry user demands three site visits to fix email address typos

Re: Ah, yes...

"Education, though? No. In 35 years in the industry, I have *never* had a good experience with a client in the education business."

Not in my experience. If the users were "local", then yes, they know everything about everything.

But our remote user were different. Their calls would start with "I have no idea what I'm doing, so just talk slow and I'll follow you". And they did, they'd even learn from our previous calls and do the job themselves.

Chirp! Let's hear it for data over audio

Re: licensing the technology

"It's practically a scam."

I was going to say its first use would be DRM, but you effectively beat me to the punch...

Accessories to crime: Facial recog defeated by wacky paper glasses

Re: Very useful

"A number of jurisdictions have laws against wearing masks for the purposes of evading identification."

Visit any optometrist in town here who on-sells "name brand designer frames", and you'll see some of their designs are not that far off.

But don't worry, if you visit the post office next door to get passport photos done, they will demand you remove your glasses before they take photos.

It seems that even what's considered ordinary glasses are enough to fool those systems.

Standing out from the crowd with an Android phone? You and 90 per cent of the market

Re: Numbers of handsets is not everything

"Does not seem to get a mention in the report. I wonder why?"

Probably because they only account for ~10% of the market? You think that might have anything to do with it?

Microsoft puts Windows Updates on a diet with 'differential downloads'

"The Redmond giant says that, by delivering only the changes needed for that specific system and OS build, it can reduce the size of most updates by roughly 35 per cent over the old approach of kicking out full-fat updates."

Unlike the 3 Gig abortion they call Windows 10 that you need to get where you are now.

We haven't forgotten yet.

Topless in-car selfie attempt climaxes with rear-end bonking

THIS is the reason we say "photos or it didn't happen".

'Doubly unacceptable' Swiss vegan forces his way into the army

It's all gone to the dogs.

I once met a guy who flatly refused to eat or be around soy products.

At first I though he was alergic to the stuff, but no, and I shit you not, his objection was that soy was being planted in fields that could be used for more "worthy" (In his opinion) products.

There should be laws against that.

IBM throws ISP under a bus for Australia's #Censusfail

Re: Data security?

"So we have at least two foreign powers having access to the data submitted online."

Hey, IBM, you picked them. Sounds like something Dr Phil would say...

Like it or not, here are ALL your October Microsoft patches

Re: Is wheel-spinning replacing nagware as the new Windows 10 incentive?

"I'm guessing that this month it'll be a couple of days."

And shortly after that, your next scheduled payment will have to be made before the delays continue.

Dev teaches bot to talk spammers' ears off

I get the old school voice phone call spammers with "yes I am interested, tell me all about it". At which point I put the phone down and go back to whatever I was doing. They'll go for a good couple of minutes before realising I wasn't paying attention any more.

Seems it's true that everyone likes the sound of their own voice, especially spammers. It seems they barely even take a breath...

Plusnet outage leaves customers unable to stream Netflix. Horrors!

Re: 38Mb?

"If they dropped their speeds in June how come they advertise, and I recently signed up for 76Mb/s broadband with 19Mb/s upload?"

The "engineer" responsible for updating the web page was at the pub.

Two Sundays wrecked by boss who couldn't use a calendar

Re: At least make sure your contract include TOIL

"The problem is that if you won't do it, someone else will."

So you're saying you would rather prostitute yourself, rather than some else who's willing?

Somewhere along the line, you have to say "it just ain't worth it".