Posts by gkroog

Internet Archive sued by record labels as battle with book publishers intensifies

Re: Leave them alone, damn

That's why they want to get rid of it. They don't like to be kept honest...

We're in a timeline where Dettol maker has to beg folks not to inject cleaning fluid into their veins. Thanks, Trump

Americans don't need Trump's help chugging disinfectant...

They were at it just fine before he said anything:

https://reason.com/2020/04/25/no-poison-control-calls-arent-suddenly-spiking-after-trumps-disinfectant-comments/

Watch out, everyone, here come the Coronavirus Cops, enjoying their little slice of power way too much

Those people in Britain and America...

...should make a point of very publicly asking their elected officials what the police are wasting their tax money on. Maybe they get too much then...

I remember articles about how the Biritis police claim they don't have enough people to prosecute child abuse cases...

(https://www.edp24.co.uk/news/crime/not-all-paedophiles-should-be-jailed-suggests-norfolk-chief-constable-simon-bailey-1-4908694)

And stabbings? Have they been stopped?

https://www.thesun.co.uk/news/10675945/london-stabbings-2020-murders-knife-crime-statistics/

No, by early February, almost twenty in London.

Why aren't these being prioritized?

Not enough people?

Easy, there's spare personnel wasting tax payer time and money fiddling with drones...

And stalking people online to harass them for asking a simple question, and unnecessarily creating a criminal record Harry Miller now has to take them to court for...

(https://youtu.be/iCxQI9U_xHE)

It seems that officials and the police are great at enforcing ridiculous, made up regulations seemingly designed to get in the way of law-abiding, tax-paying citizens. They must think that will distract everyone from how bad they are at prosecuting real crimes...

Stack Overflow makes peace with ousted moderator, wants to start New Year with 2020 vision on codes of conduct

Seems like its not safe to ask questions on Stack Overflow...

...not even for moderators in the new woke climate. Sad how the climate changed..

RIP: Microsoft finally pulls plug on last XP survivor... POSReady 2009

"For the rest of us, it is time to gather around the campfire of blazing XP EULAs, hold hands, and sing songs of green field backgrounds and irritating yellow search dogs."

Any ideas for lyrics?

Re: She was a good ship

Wasn't Windows ME just repackaged 98? Ah, I remember 98...it would hang, and then I'd push reset, and it would hang on startup.

Fun times.

Volkswagen faces fresh Dieselgate lawsuit in Germany – report

So...

...they're upset that they weren't made accessories to VW cheating emissions regulations?

Who was it that hacked Apple? Ozzie Ozzie Ozzie, boy boy boy!

Poor kid...

...hoping to impress Apple with technical skillz...

...Apple ain't 'bout that...

Re: Apple'sHack

Great point.

Would they stick to that policy, or "finally" agree that they "should" help get the cops into an iThing to do their bit to help fight dangerous criminals?

Then we'd really see how committed they are to their customers.

You love Systemd – you just don't know it yet, wink Red Hat bods

"Systemd can fully track down and kill off all processes associated with a service,"

"services' access to processor core time can be regulated"

Heck, I can manage those...

'do multiple things barely adequately and pray to $DEITY that it works'

That's the Windows method, as I recall...

Beyond code PEBCAK lies KMACYOYO, PENCIL and PAFO

PICNIC

At a client a few years ago, one of their DBAs said he called some users "PICNIC": Problem In Chair, Not In Computer.

I didn't have to feign laughter with that joke...I use it myself these days.

It works in traffic too: Problem In Chair, Not in Car...

You know what's coming next: FBI is upset it can't get into Texas church gunman's smartphone

How ever did law enforcement catch criminals before the invention of the smartphone?!

Their statement:

"In a press conference on Tuesday, special agent Chris Combs said that investigations into the motives and actions of the gunman was ongoing, but that his mobe was a closed book to them."

So, they say they NEED full, unrestricted access to ALL cell phones to catch criminals, and they make out that they're at least somewhat helpless until they have that...

Either, that's complete rubbish, OR, the FBI is rubbish...

Re: FBI can't unlock smartphone

His "criminal record...should have prevented those purchases."

BUT: "the Air Force also acknowledged it inexplicably failed to enter his conviction into a government database that all licensed firearms dealers are required to use to screen prospective gun buyers for their criminal history.

Federal law prohibits anyone from selling a gun to someone who has been convicted of a crime involving domestic violence against a spouse or child."

(https://www.reuters.com/article/us-texas-shooting/texas-church-gunman-escaped-mental-facility-in-2012-while-facing-court-martial-idUSKBN1D715Q)

SO, he SHOULDN'T have been able to buy a gun, but the system FAILED the people...

Your point remains: what this has to do with his cell phone, surely no one will explain to us.

70% of Windows 10 users are totally happy with our big telemetry slurp, beams Microsoft

That Malicious Software Removal Tool doesn't work...

...after running it, Windows 10 is still installed...

Sysadmin ignores 25 THOUSAND patches, among other sins

I don't need to punch boss at old work...

...he's driven most of his company away, and his business partner did a dirty on him. He does look like he ate Shrek though...

My top three IT SNAFUs - and how I fixed them

"Fond" memories...

...Mac users tipping wine over their keyboards and unplugging their modems...

...Windows 2000/XP users mistaking the networking connection icon in the system tray for the internet connection icon (as they were identical), and failing to notice that the network connection would present the option to "disable," instead of the "disconnect" option of the internet connection...

...handling support calls forwarded to me through not one, but two call centres, and having to figure out for myself that "that does not mean what they think it means"...

...the HP support line insisting that a software upgrade would miraculously fix faulty hardware...

Scientists love MacBooks (true) – but what about you?

Re: Speaking as a Scientist...

Yes. Priviledges exist for a reason: people doing things they shouldn't.

If someone should have access, they'll have a password.

And some people turn their car radios down so that they can find the street they're looking for better...

Re: Not my experience

You seem zealously anti-zealot...

NSA spying is illegal? Then let's make it law, say Republicans

Forgotten about 9/11?

That's not the fault of people striving to preserve liberty, that's the fault of their education system and the media. And I doubt people have forgotten anyway. Not agreeing with John McCain isn't a test for memory...

Apple's Tim Cook and Salesforce's Marc Benioff DECLARE WAR on anti-gay Indiana

It seems the Agenda has permeated even this El Reg comment thread...

...how else to explain the downvotes on comments posted and replying with just the plain statement of what the legislation actually says?

Re: It's just the hallmark of a Good Employer

"delete Indiana from its list of acceptable..."

I do believe that you'll find that to be a case of discrimination itself...

Sure about that?

"thoughts and pronouncements are coming from people who have considered the topic in depth before speaking, rather than relying on their instant prejudices, insecurities, and self-importance."

I highly doubt people so driven by money will be immune from aligning themselves with a popular agenda for personal or financial reasons...

‪Obama criticises China's mandatory backdoor tech import rules

Re: At the risk of being controversial...

"their hearts are in the right place"

Their hearts may be in the right place...now. The issue isn't just now. Data is being collected and stored into perpetuity. And given the way they act above not just the law, but the constitution of the US, what will that mean for US citizens who do something innocuous now, but which may become illegal in the future, and find themselves retroactively prosecuted? On the basis of unconstitutionally collected evidence?

Hypocrite!

The NSA does this too, as we know. So basically by demanding that China not do so, Obama is indicating that he believes the US gets to talk down to other nations.

I, ROBOT ~ YOU, MORON. How else will automated news work?

Because,

everyone MUST KNOW what he thinks, and why he's so much better than the author of the column.

Tim Cook chills the spines of swingers worldwide

Re: OH RLY?

With regards to an intelligence agency such as the NSA producing a "National Security Letter" for them to hand over all their customers' data, the issue of Apple selling data is irrelevant.

"On top of that, Cook vowed that the Apple Watch would replace car keys and large fobs that many manufacturers now use to lock vehicles. Its battery life will also apparently last an entire day."

1.) Why should I need an Apple product to buy a car?

2.) I'm sure the battery in my car key lasts more than a day...

"Cook, in a clear attack on the likes of Google and its "trove of data", said: We don’t make money selling your information to somebody else."

1.) Sure, who would buy the data when it can just be hacked? As Jennifer Lawrence found out to her woe...

2.) And I'm sure Google doesn't make any money when handed a "National Security Letter" to just hand it all over.

Mystery Russian satellite: orbital weapon? Sat gobbler? What?

It could be a weapon...

...even if it just falls out of orbit in the right place...

Martha Lane Fox: Yeuch! The Internet is made by men?!?

And since its online, its running across that same nasty internet. She seems not able to even.

Batman in the frame to take on Steve Jobs

Well maybe this is a sequel...

...to American Psycho...

Android is a BURNING 'hellstew' of malware, cackles Apple's Cook

Re: Apple just keeps things quiet

Indeed, Apple will have been silenced by the national security letter they were shown from disclosing what malware the NSA is pushing into their systems to spy on everyone with.

Tim Cook has confused which of Apple's competition to focus on.

I have a Google Nexus 4. I get the latest version of Android not long after it becomes available. I'm on KitKat right now. Manufacturers like Samsung will take longer as they want to test and develop it to their liking first. And they'll only push it out to some handsets and not others.

Of course, Mr. Cook doesn't care about that kind of specificity. He wants to say that Android is rubbish, use iOS on a shiny new iDevice. I have nothing untoward in my Android experience to pay much attention though. And if I changed, it wouldn't be to Apple. I've used one. I don't like it.

Re: Not so smart; desperate housewife is desperate.

But that's the problem. Tim Cook is no Steve Jobs. I'm not a fan of the late Mr. Jobs, but he was a visionary and had great insight into what Apple's products needed to be and do. Tim Cook can't do that. He does seem to have the arrogance of Mr. Jobs, though, but without the talent, that may spell trouble for Apple.

Re: A what????

Tim Cook must have confused iLife with the real thing.

Re: Adam & Eve left their garden

But if that fruit has rounded corners, Apple will claim the thought of it first and sue.

Re: Really?

Yeah, after eating an...Apple...

Re: Of course it dominates the malware market

And with more people using Android by far, its more worthwhile to find ways into Android than iOS. Its the old "PCs have viruses, Macs don't" nonsense. Its not because it can't be done to an Apple, but because not enough people care to do so.

If the majority of people had an iOS device, then the malware for those would come tumbling out of the woodwork.

Mac OS X Mavericks 'upgrade' ruins iWorks

"there IS only one Steve Jobs"?!

He's back from BEYOND THE GRAAAVE?! At least he'll only go after shiny braaaiiinsss...

Don't crack that Mac: Almost NOTHING in new Retina MacBook Pros can be replaced

"hack-a-whacks"?!

Must be another childish name fanbois have invented (don't forget to patent!) to appear cool...if only in their own minds.

Not a PC?

sure, its not a Personal Computer...its very IMpersonal actually...now there's less reason than ever to buy an Apple

Finns, roamers, Nokia: So long, and thanks for all the phones

Memories, guys...

We can reflect on who and why Nokia has gone, but a few here remember that they once made good stuff. Stuff that's remembered today, even though we have five inch 1080p screens and four or eight cores (!) in the latest phones.

At the news that Nokia's phone division now belongs properly to Microsoft, I pulled a couple of my old phones "out of mothballs," and had thought back on how good they were, or wanted to be.

My 6085 was a surprisingly good phone. I remember viewing Facebook and even work mail in its browser on its tiny screen five years ago, and it still works.

The 9300 I have wasn't great. Some may even think of it with scorn, but back then it wasn't bad, and it still works now. The E90 I had after was only better by virtue of more features.

My 5800 is still in use by my mother. It's 3.2 inch touchscreen was remarkably good, and it seemed to always achieve full download speed as a 3G modem. I liked its packaging and all the little things it came with. When I look at all the shenanigans that go on with the phone industry today, it reminds me of when a cell phone was just a phone and not an appendage.

I also had a 5210, and a 3510 (not the colour screen one. But it had polyphonic ringtones!), and a tough 5110. They were all good phones, at least for me, even if they didn't survive to today.

We won't see phones like them again. They wouldn't try to replace out PCs, and they wouldn't need to. It really is a tragedy that Nokia let something as pathetic as politics and corporate foolishness destroy good what could have been. But thanks for the phones.

Re: They totally missed the boat

So, M_W, Apple's phone...is a bad phone? But its good as something other than what it was named for? ;P

We've cracked riddle of ANTIGRAVITY mountains on Saturn's Titan - boffins

Less gravity than expected?

Heavy, man...

Nissan promises to sell self-driving cars by 2020

That's great...

...now certain governments will not only track your movements, but control them too...

'Symbolic' Grauniad drive-smash was not just a storage fail

Re: brought to you by the same people who want a "porn filter"

"But its all just tubes, isn't it?"

Manning's lawyer plans presidential pardon campaign, says client will appeal

If you spot your government doing something wrong/illegal...

...don't tell the people they're responsible to...that's illegal.

Snowden journo's partner wins partial injunction on seized data

Theeere we go!

"Home Secretary Theresa May believed it was necessary to examine all the data 'without delay in the interests of national security'."

I could SMELL that coming from reading the subtitle. Miranda isn't even suspected of terrorism, but he was arrested under antiterrorism legislation. Now the authoritaaahs have some intel, no way will they give it up. I suspect they'll sift through every last byte. The "partial injunction" is just a formality.

The Bolivian prime minister gets forced out of the sky based on no real evidence. Now a Brazilian citizen has been falsely arrested in England. If Obummer had been made to land in Bolivia, there would have been war. If a British citizen had been wrongly arrested and robbed in Brazil, the police would have been sent to taser an old man. The opinion of the USA and England regarding South Americans seems rather poor.