Posts by chuckufarley

GNU turns 40: Stallman's baby still not ready for prime time, but hey, there's cake

Mr. Pottiecoder has moved on. He now works at Microsoft. Aside from that, I think more than just two people in the world really understand how the Linux kernel works. Otherwaise it would much, much harder to configure and compile custom kernels.

You hit the nail, sort of...

...Because each of these software and technology stacks have features that make them slightly superior to their peers. They also have features that make them less than ideal for some use cases. In my opinion this is where GNU and FLOSS shine: We must chose the right tool for the job. Sometimes that means forgoing FLOSS entirely and going with Windows as the desktop and Oracle (shudder) as the database. GNU didn't just create a supply chain, but it also created a production chain so we could build the tools we need when we need them. That way we could invent new tools to make our other tools more useful.

While the cake is a lie...

...the benefits of having massive amounts coders focused on making enough free code to drive the entire world should not be dismissed.

Neuralink's looking for participants willing to be part of human trials

Re: I might give it a go...

Elon doesn't want to colonize Mars. He just wants you to remember that he colonized Mars.

I might give it a go...

...

...If They Remember It For Me Wholesale.

Feds raise alarm over Snatch ransomware as extortion crew brags of Veterans Affairs hit

One of the most..

...Marginalized, vulnerable, under served, and yet most precious human resources in the USA. The military veterans. Yet again the news stories do nothing but expose Our Nation's lack of will to fulfill that which we promised them when they signed on the dotted line.

I might not be young anymore but I still talk to young people every day. It's been a few years since one of them told me that they seriously thinking of serving in the armed forces. Given the state of things this is as it should be. I wouldn't do it either given what I could gain versus what I am sure to lose.

This is wrong but we have too many people in power making political hay instead of making progress.

Core blimey, Intel's answer to AMD and Ampere's cloudy chips has 288 of them

Yes, improved threading is needed...

...But why do the performance enhancements not scale down? Where are the four, eight, and sixteen core systems? I smell a Cash Cow Patty in the making. Hold your nose lest you get a whiff.

Chan Zuckerberg org to spin up 1,000+ H100 GPU cluster for AI medical research

An aquaintance...

...of mine, let's call him Guy, was driving home from work this past spring. Another driver lost control in the rain and there was a collision. Guy's vehicle was damaged but it wasn't catastrophic. He went to the hospital because he was in pain and expected something minor. They found that his liver was failing. It turns out he had in addition to being bruised in the crash Guy had undiagnosed cancer of the liver. He was told that it would take six to nine months to get a liver transplant. Guy didn't even live six weeks.

How many cancer screenings can you get for 1000 H100s? How many clinicians can you train for the money it costs to run 1000 H100's or a year? The vast majority of illnesses at not just treatable these days, they are curable. When are people in the US going to get real health care and not government mandated health insurance?

When are the people building gigantic computer systems to bang virtual rocks to gather going to notice that there people dying around them every day that could be saved if they had money for treatments and screenings there insurance doesn't cover?

Unity talks of price cap and fees for only largest games developers

Re: the trust is gone though

Agreed. Or is A Greed?

The Clorox Company admits cyberattack causing 'widescale disruption'

Maybe someday...

...There will a Geneva Convention that lays out all of the various forms of torture governments are allowed to use against cyber criminals. While I doubt it would do anything to curb the problem at least we could laugh at something as the world burns.

Unity closes offices, cancels town hall after threat in wake of runtime fee restructure

Re: I guess they have been rebranded...

something something...every action has an equally opposing reaction...something something.

I guess they have been rebranded...

...because their customers are calling them "Punity" now.

GitHub alienates developers by force feeding them AI recommendations

Never trust...

...a company that's EULA is "subject change without notice."

James Webb spies distant exoplanet that could be wet, wild, and Hycean

Given the various...

...permutations of the Drake Equation it is, in my opinion, fruitless to think that we will find life as we know it elsewhere in the universe. There are too many possible forms of life for we humans to be hung up on finding more humans. Evidence of extraterrestrial life will most likely never be found if we keep looking at our universe and expecting to see ourselves in a mirror.

Get ready to say hello to new Windows and goodbye to an old friend

Microsoft, help, hmmm...

...Reminds me of a story about a man flying a helicopter around Seattle.

IRS using AI to catch rich people and tax-dodging corps

So there is this...

...bit of case law out of Delaware. Basically is says that in the US publicly traded corporations only exist to generate profit for the holders of said corporations' stock. So if the CEO want to try to blow smoke up my ass about how much Google wants to make my life better he can KMA.

Cloud is here to stay, but customers are starting to question the cost

For years...

...many have questioned the cloud providers' nebulous mathematics about how exactly it's cheaper to do business with them. At the end of the day it all comes down how much room do the customers have in their budgets. At this point cloud providers are raking in so much cash that all they have to do to endure a once in a century recession is stop innovating for a short while. They wouldn't even have to lay off anyone unless they wanted to but instead just shuffle their talent to to fit the environment. This should be a signal that most things in the cloud are still over priced. However cloud customers keep letting themselves be charged more because although cloud is expensive it's easier than back tracking on your plans to use cloud resources. If cloud customers slashed their shopping budgets by 50% it's wouldn't be the end of the cloud, but it might be the reckoning the cloud deserves.

Windows File Explorer gets nostalgic speed boost thanks to one weird bug

Re: Who needs Microsoft

OR...MAYBE...Linux is just for those that really want to control their data. Easy is expensive. If you are unaware of how or why that is then things are too easy for you, for now. Before you learned this you could just count it as the cost of doing business in the Modern World. Now that have heard the truth of the matter (you can can control your own data) will you ignore it or explore it?

If you think that control in underrate then let me point to one Mr. Xi who is very influential around this small area known as China.

Re: just get Linux already

After thinking about what to say for a bit I have decided that point out that the path of least resistance is unlikely to exist on most Linux systems. I.E. I can't just type ./Word.exe into a bash shell and get a window running Word to show up in most cases. It would take a little bit of work either by the end user or the support personnel to make this happen seamlessly. While I love what WINE does and how well it does it, This One Thing is a show stopper for most neophytes.

Re: It is a bit silly...

If you have a local host and a remote host that you have ssh access to and need to copy files from one to the other try:

mc /home/username/source_dir sftp://remote_host/destination_dir or vice versa for Source and destination.

It might save you a few keystrokes.

It is a bit silly...

...how complex file managers have become in the in the past thirty years. If have never seen or used the old text based file managers I suggest you give Midnight Commander a try just for comparison.

Bombshell biography: Fearing nuclear war, Musk blocked Starlink to stymie Ukraine attack on Russia

What this tells us about about Elon...

...is that he is the kind of person that thinks most people would launch nukes to resolve a conflict. This isn't a good signal for stock holders.

Linux on the Arm-based Thinkpad X13S: It's getting there

Everytime there is a new Armbian release...

...I constantly cringe and wince as I figure out which kernel security function got the axe. Oof course that aren't as bad as the Hardkernel team, but who in the software world is?

US AGs: We need law to purge the web of AI-drawn child sex abuse material

It's easier to regulate and mandate...

..teaching ethics and logic to school children that it will ever be to regulate and mandate morality. People will not stand for being told that they are immoral because they have so many logical fallacies to fall back on.

Attackers accessed UK military data through high-security fencing firm's Windows 7 rig

Re: "the UK's Ministry of Defence [..] does not comment on security matters"

I doesn't even even have to be an employee. Just a relative that finds your laptop unlocked while visiting.

As a point of order...

...I would like to draw your attention the fact that the entire genome for one human being can be stored in 1 gigabyte of data. So 10 gigabytes of data is bound to contain at least one thing that really matters.

The Pentagon has the worst IT helpdesk in the US govt

You can't fix stupid...

...and you can only fix ignorance it if wants to be fixed.

Linus Torvalds couldn't find an excuse to hold back Linux 6.5, so here it is

You don't have to be old...

...to appreciate boring. It just helps a little bit.

Bodhi Linux 7 brings Enlightenment to Ubuntu

Nothing keeps Devs busy...

...like trying achieve E*. It does a job wonderful of not leading and not following, and just getting out of the way so you can work.

After years of fighting Right to Repair, Apple U-turns-ish in California

So Apple did the right thing...

...But was it really for the right reason?

PowerShell? More like PowerHell: Microsoft won't fix flaws in package gallery ripe for supply chain attacks

This is first time...

...That I have read of this PowersHell app store. I was totally and blissfully unaware of it until now. The next time I read about it I hope that it's a notice to say that it has been discontinued because too many people weren't doing their own damned homework.

Lost voices, ignored words: Apple's speech recognition needs urgent reform

The root cause...

...isn't much of a mystery to me. Apple wants to sell to the richest 25% of the market. People with sever disabilities are not normally in that market segment. If fact they are regularly found in the bottom 25% of the market. Therefor implementing features to make iPhones and Macs easier for them to use isn't going to lead to anymore digits on the bottom line. If fact, it might even cost Apple more to write and test it than they ever would make from the sales it generated.

Veilid: A secure peer-to-peer network for apps that flips off the surveillance economy

BUT, But, but...

...What if I want to have my data and let them eat it too? Won't someone think of the Bureaucrats?

Scientists strangely unable to follow recipe for holy grail room-temp superconductor

Re: If it doesn't live up to it's hype...

...I can't say yes or no for sure. It depends on how much they are willing to humble themselves before God, History, or Science.

If you are just a Creationist then you know we are made in the Image of God but tainted by sin (which means we have an imperfect copy of God's Mind) and if you are just a Historian then you know what the victors wrote (which means we may never know the truth), and if you are just a Scientist you know every solution presents more problems (which means that no one can ever give a complete answer on their own). No matter which, they will learn what they want to by watching.

The worst thing they could learn is that there are simple answers these questions about how energy and matter are the same but different. I don't know who said it first, but even Albert Einstein didn't foresee the fullness of Relativity.

If it doesn't live up to it's hype...

...At least we will get two, maybe three, good things out of it:

1.) A novel class materials that may be able to help scientist push past current limitations in unknown fields. Just reading about the potential of forcing some atoms to a higher energy state based on the inexpensive materials and process used is educational, at least to me. It's a bit like forcing water to slow up hill.

2.) Someone will no doubt document all of this in great detail and post it on their TikTok as a summary of what works and what doesn't.

3.) Some people investing currently investing in AI are now eying superconductor research.

AMD hopes for rebound in the second half of the year as Q2 profits plunge 94%

June is it?

AI is an area of particular interest for AMD, which recently detailed its MI300-series GPUs and APUs during its datacenter event in June. According to Su, the announcements have attracted a fair bit of interest in AMD's AI roadmap and drove a seven-fold increase in customer engagements compared to Q1.

That was before LK-99.

White House: Losing Section 702 spy powers would be among 'worst intelligence failures of our time'

Re: Amendment 4 anyone?

No one said, to my knowledge, that it was. What they keep saying is that is necessary. Now I don't mind giving them what they need. What I mind is not knowing how and why it works. After 15 years of secrecy I don't think it's needed anymore. There must be better, more lawful, and far more transparent tools we could develop to help them help us, instead of just helping themselves. BTW, can you tell that my somewhat limited trust has been undermined?

At the heart of Our Governmental Disfunction...

...Lays the fact that more and more rational people are loosing faith and trust in the bodies and agencies of Our Government. S 702 is deeply flawed but it's the best tool they have and if the only tool you have is hammer everything looks like a nail. Programs used by Law Enforcement need to build public trust not undermine it.

If we don't do something to stop the erosion of public trust I am not sure Our Government or Our Society will survive.

Because all of this is classified and secret average people can't even suggest reasonable fixes or workarounds to this issue.

Fed-up Torvalds suggests disabling AMD’s 'stupid' performance-killing fTPM RNG

Much more likely to be...

...The PSU (Program Stymie Unit).

Russia throws founder of infosec biz Group-IB in the clink for treason

What ever you do...

...Don't seek the truth when you live in a dictatorship.

Apple demands app makers explain use of sensitive APIs

Re: Really?

Straight face or straight whiskey?

Well, at least the app developers...

...Get a loophole:

Apple will also consider reasons not on its official list through a petition process – the developer must submit a form and convince a company representative that the intended use isn't abusive.

FCC boss says 25Mbps isn't cutting it, Americans deserve 100Mbps now, gigabit later

Re: I'd say more like 50/10 is realistic

Just to chime in on potential data usage for real broadband connections...

My homebrew SAN runs iSCSI using 10 Gbps Ethernet over Copper. Wouldn't it be fun, and maybe even useful, or worst case scenario educational, to have a homebrew WAN?

Re: But, but, but...

...an arthritic chicken could hobble its way into the white house.

What a wonderfully accurate description Trump!

Re: My home cable modem...

I would, because I could, because I want to know. Most of the people that live in this building would not because they do not want to know. Too much Netflix, too much MSNBC, too much Fox.

https://xkcd.com/1013/

Re: My home cable modem...

Howard, you know? Am I right or am I right?

Re: I'd say more like 50/10 is realistic

I wish I could agree, (and sorry for the down vote) but there is a Freedom of Speech Issue at the heart of upload speeds. Think about it for a bit and you will find it because it is rather obvious once you consider it. If the only thing I can do with speed is consume how can I be a good citizen and speak the truth to my neighbors if I am only speaking at 10 Mbps? You might as well limit me to speaking/writing/sharing 1,000 words a day. Or even 144 characters at a time.

But, but, but...

...That's Communism! Like in Canada! And Norway! Now if you don't mind, please start Making America Great Again so Trump will stop running for President.

Re: My home cable modem...

Well, I have 600 down and 20 Mbps up on my current connection. For years I have been telling my cable provider that I would pay just as much as I do now per month for 100 Mbps up AND down. They have the fiber in place. The fiber terminator hangs off of a pole right next to my apartment building in Chicago.

If I ever find an ISP that will let me pick the kind of connection speeds I want instead having to buy their "bandwidth a la mode" I'll switch in heartbeat.

Crooks pwned your servers? You've got four days to tell us, SEC tells public companies

I knew it!

El Reg works for the Feds!

The rules, which take effect 30 days after being signed into the Federal Register later this year, will require publicly traded firms to openly disclose in a new section (Item 1.05) of Form 8-K any cybersecurity incident that has a material impact on their business.