* Posts by td97402

170 publicly visible posts • joined 24 Jul 2013

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Latest loon for Trump's cabinet: Young-blood-loving, kidney-market advocate Jim O'Neill

td97402

Re: Free Market Protect Us

They don't actually disbelieve in man-made global warming. It is just they have investments in carbon burning industries or patrons that do.

Facebook Fake News won it for Trump? That's a Zombie theory

td97402

Re: Amen to that... The MSM is Facebook / Twitter / Google's bitch:

AC writes:

"Like Google News, Facebook wants the benefits that accrue from being a publisher... but none of the costly and tedious drawbacks, like fact-checking, liabilities, or exercising editorial judgement over the placement of material."

I'll add to that by saying, they also don't want to simply pay the salaries of human beings who might keep a lid on things. All these "disruptive" tech companies are basically just cheap bastards.

Russian banks floored by withering DDoS attacks

td97402

Re: I hope the perps aren't Russian

"And how strange they didn't attack Goldman-Sachs, or anything like that. Gosh."

The DDOS on the Russian banks is the payback for the Russians hacking our election. I'm still waiting for the reports of hacked vote counts in certain states that went for Trump. There will be riots in the streets, well, uh, more so then now.

td97402

Re: Leaving security to the end user = no security

@Doctor Syntax said:

"Complaisant ISPs* not getting routed onto the net."

I upvoted you one just for teaching me a new word today.

"Complaisant" - adjective

willing to please others; obliging; agreeable

FBI's Clinton email comedown confirms it could have killed the story in a canter

td97402

Re: @Flocke Kroes The strangest thing about the whole story

"Note: 110 emails were classified by different agencies at the time they were sent. Each one carries a 10 year prison sentence. That doesn't include the 2000+ emails that were later classified. The truth. She violated the espionage act and people died because of her and her incompetence. She's also still on the hook for the corruption and pay to play issue. That's a much more clear cut case... the numbers don't lie..."

James Comey is a Republican. He donated to both Romney and McCain. He would have nailed Hillary if he could have. No email on her server carried any classified markings. That is why he looked for knowledge of the classified status or intent to disseminate same knowingly. No case was found that could be made in court. Fact.

The "pay to play" is not a clear cut case unless you are reading the right-wing fantasy book "Clinton Cash" that was sponsored by Donald's campaign CEO Steve Bannon. The "pay to play" case was presented to the FBI's ethics unit and "they were unimpressed".

The right-wing in this country like to fabricate scandal from whole cloth it seems. I used to be a registered Republican. No more. They've gone nuts since about the mid 90s or early 00s.

td97402

Re: Like the alleged 'shooter' at the Trump rally

"Sorry AC, you would have to show cause in order to fire Comey."

Umm, no, there is no statutory limit on the President's authority to fire the Director of the FBI. Political backlash is another thing.

td97402

Re: Like the alleged 'shooter' at the Trump rally

Actually, the president can fire the Director of the FBI. Bill Clinton fired then Director William Sessions. Something about ethics violations :)

Twitter trolls are destroying democracy, warn eggheads

td97402

Re: There's a bit of a difference between

You know, of course, that the "raped to death" bit is lifted right from the "South Park" animated series in the U.S. Mr. Garrison starts his campaign for president promising to rape all the illegal immigrants to death.

"Fuck you" is so commonplace in daily discourse nowadays that the trolls, and apparently TV comedy writers, have to resort to far more despicable language.

td97402

It took the Researchers How Long to Figure this Out?

It has been obvious to me for a long time that Twitter is pretty much about twits and nitwits. I mean it is right there in the name, isn't it?

Computer forensics defuses FBI's Clinton email 'bombshell'

td97402

Re: What's truly important here...

Oh, if Trump wins it will only be a few years more before the American public wakes up to the anti-democratic garbage that is the modern Republican (Tea) Party and conservative "movement" in general.

Whether we'll still be allowed to turn the rascals out at that point remains to be seen.

Exit through the Gift Shop? US copyright chief was assigned to shop till, tweeting

td97402

Re: Google is not essential ...

DuckDuckGo.COM does pretty good search. Give it a try. I have switched my phone and tablet to it exclusively. Bing never has as good, or as many, results. Duck Duck Go seems like it is just as good as Google with results and no tracking.

If you do run an ad and tracker blocker and use something other than Google search then you aren't going to be feeding too much to them.

Cheapest Apple iPhone 7's flash memory is waaaaay slower than pricier model

td97402

Re: Parallel arrays?

"No need to jump to cynicism."

WTF!!!!

El Reg is all about snark and cynicism. We come here for our daily dose. At least I do.

Microsoft sues Wisconsin man (again) for copyright infringement (again)

td97402

Re: Security?

The problem being that Microsoft only generates the license codes they farm out all of the printing and manufacturing. So lots of opportunities for theft. I read recently that a bunch of Office 2013 keys (they are printed on rolls of peel/stick labels a thousand at a time) were sent out for disposal but got hijacked on the way. Now being sold with phoney discs online.

td97402

Go Check eBay

There are lots of "copies" of Office, Windows, etc. for sale on eBay. No original packaging, really badly forged discs and a plain paper license sticker. Sure they do activate but at some point MS could decide to deactivate the product as stolen or pirate.

$329 for a MacBook? Well, really a 'HacBook' built on an old HP

td97402

Re: Psystar

"I can understand Apple's approach, though: giving a free OS becomes a costly exercise if you also have to support its use on hardware combinations you've never tested on. Microsoft seems to have solved that by mainly hiding behind forums - the fashionable way of big business of making users do support instead."

Actually, it is likely that over 95% of Windows licenses are delivered to end users via computer manufacturers. Microsoft requires the manufacturers to support the Windows installed on their computers. Only those one or two people who actually go out and by the "Full Retail", not the cheaper "System Builders", version of Windows are entitled to support from Microsoft. They don't hide behind message forums as much as they pass the buck.

Apple has always been very helpful to me when I have called for support but they do want to know my device serial number and they only provide voice support to customers currently entitled to "Apple Care"

I guess you get what you pay for now and then.

Oracle Java copyright war latest: Why Google's luck is about to run out

td97402

Remember this is Google

They were the original "disruptive" force on the net, remember? The rules don't actually apply to "disruptive" technology, remember? I'm sure that was a bit of their thinking anyway. After all, their news page scrapes headlines and the first line or two from hundred of news web sites worldwide without paying for the content. Fair use they claim and besides they're providing traffic to the sites. YouTube was built on copyrighted content and it is still found there everyday. Google might be paying for some it but still they're providing lots of exposure to the creators, so whatevs on the rest. They read all of my email to better serve me...ads I guess, all over the Internet. They own the Internet. Something like 9 out of 10 people find the web site they want by "Googling" it, remember?

td97402

Re: Here we go again

Actually, Alsup the trial judge does have some coding experience:

"Alsup was the presiding judge over Oracle America, Inc. v. Google, Inc., where he notably has been able to comment on issues relating to coding and programming languages, specifically Java. He learned the Java programming language solely for the purpose of being able to understand the case more clearly."

Aside from a degree in mathematics, and a doctorate of law, he has a couple of other post-grad degrees to boot. Seems like a pretty sharp cookie to me.

It's time for a discussion about malvertising

td97402

Speaking of the BBC...

Don't they get their from an annual TV license fee on every TV set? Along those lines, what if we had a mechanism where we charge ISPs for the content they download for their users that they have to pay to content providers?

Something along the lines of 25 cents per gigabyte or something. Every registered content provider would get a slice of the coin based on how much content they provide to the ISP's customers. Probably your NetFlixes and Hulus would continue to charge on their own for their premium media content but regular web publishers could dispense with most of their crappy advertising and other sketchy content.

td97402

PBS?

The Koch brothers now have seats on the PBS board. Their influence is already being felt.

Win XP, Flash, Java... healthcare makes easy pickings for hackers

td97402

IT is just an expense to be minimized like any other after all

So I know this dentist who still has XP running on several computers. They still run OK, I'm told, so leave them be. He just bought a brand new Windows 10 Home machine for use in the office because he got such a great deal on it. No matter that it won't integrate with his Windows Server 2008 R2 domain controller. He can access his X-Ray and appointments apps so he doesn't care. All of his staff log on to the network with the same user name and password. That password has been in use without change for at least 10 years now. Too much trouble to change. I've tried for years to get him to at least put in a decent firewall. Since it would cost money for no visible benefit that has never happened. I could go on...

Microsoft will rest its jackboot on Windows 7, 8.1's throat on new Intel CPUs in 2018 – not 2017

td97402

Windows 10 Forced Upgrades Must Not Be Going As Planned...

...Microsoft figures they need an extra year of "Recommended Updates" to snare any stragglers who have yet to upgrade.

Microsoft seeks Comcast subpoena to nab activation pirates

td97402

Small to Medium System Builder No Doubt

I run into it in my business all the time. Some of my competition routinely sells systems with a pirate copy of Windows and/or Office. Pirate copies of Windows 7 have been running around forever.

Wakey wakey, app developers. Mobile ad blocking will kill you all

td97402

Re: Tricky problem.

I won't use ad supported apps on my devices. The apps on my phone are either truly free or I paid a reasonable fee for them. Paying for things is a model that works for me.

td97402

Re: Arms Race?

"Has anyone tried in-page ads where the advertiser has a link to the website's server backend and reserved space on the page? (If not, can I patent it?)"

Sorry, all advertising used to be hosted on the web server serving the site itself. You still see some of that here and there. Ad blockers generally don't block self-hosted ads, especially if they are served statically as part of the page rather than via JavaScript.

Trane thermostat is a hot spot for viruses on home networks

td97402

When is the IoT industry going to get smart on security?

Not until the technology is built out and very entrenched in our homes and businesses. Once IoT malware starts costing somebody who matters some money then, and not before, will the serious handwringing ensue. At that point patch after patch will be released to keep devices secure but to little avail as an unknowable multitude of vulnerabilities will have already been baked in, since developers and manufacturers were racing to get their Iot devices out quickly and cheaply.

Isn't this how tech is supposed to work?

Apple's Tim Cook rocks up at Vatican - one week after Schmidt

td97402

Re: "Leader of world's biggest religion meets the Pope"

I admit I do like my iPhone, iPad and Mac Mini as much as the next guy, though I doubt I rise to the level of religious belief in all things Apple. Still the article title is one of the better jabs at Apple and its fans that I have read in a while. Very funny.

Microsoft herds biz users to Windows 10 by denying support for Win 7 and 8 on new CPUs

td97402

Re: The more they push

I have been waiting for the other shoe to drop. For Microsoft to reveal why they are pushing so hard on Windows 10 adoption. Changing Windows over to a subscription service is one possibility to expect. Perhaps they are in a "survival mode" believing they lose everything if Windows 10 fails as the last two releases have done.

td97402

Re: The more they push

"They did this with W9x, Windows NT, 2000 and XP, where is the news here?"

No, they most certainly did not. This is the most brazen, arrogant upgrade push that I've ever seen Microsoft do. I paid for a retail Windows 7 license a few years ago with the understanding that I could count on updates until 2020 and I could move that Windows 7 to a new machine when I wanted down the road.

Now they tell me, screw you, you want to upgrade to the current hardware, you are changing to 10 and that is all there is to that.

td97402

Re: The more they push

NEWS FLASH:

Sales are down for all PC makers except APPLE. Wonder why that might be?

Hacks rebel after bosses secretly install motion sensors under desks

td97402

Welcome to 1984!

Increasingly it looks like our corporate masters will be the ones to implement the surveillance state rather than the government. I know, I know, many of you will fail to see the difference between government and our corporate overlords but let's not quibble amongst ourselves over details.

I wonder how long before the corps decide to make their surveillance data a product to sell directly to the government. Oops! Once again you might quibble, as the telcos, and others, already get compensation from the government for complying with data "requests".

So, I guess my point is completely naive, the big corps and the government are so intertwined at this point...

Software bug sets free thousands of US prisoners too early

td97402

Re: Looks like there wasn't a good incident tracking system in place - and followup

I'll give you Java and raise you by saying it was an Oracle job. Anyone want to take a bet?

Man faces 37 years for sarcastic post insulting royal dog

td97402

Only in Thailand

You can go to jail for 37 years for insulting the Royal Dog whilst officials don't do much about the slave labor in the Shrimp and Seafood processing sheds.

US House okays making internet tax exemptions permanent

td97402

Totally Skewed Outlook!

"it seems unreasonable to tax a company that has no physical presence to provide an implicit subsidy for local businesses"

Really?!?!

Look at it from this perspective. I can buy a widget locally and have to pay the price plus the sales tax or I can buy the same widget, at the same price, online but pay no sales tax. I go to the online merchant every time because I have to pay less. The online business is the one getting the tax-free subsidy here.

BlackBerry axes BBM Meetings a year after launching it

td97402

I Have Never Heard Of It

No, really. Is BlackBerry still around?

Sketch dev pulls out of Mac App Store, cites slow reviews, tech limitations

td97402

I got my refund

I had exactly the same experience with a Mac program that I bought from Apple's App Store. It didn't work right and the developer's web site was permanently offline. I persisted with Apple customer service (one additional email) and got my $8 back.

Sneaky Microsoft renamed its data slurper before sticking it back in Windows 10

td97402

I Used To Be A Microsoft Fan

As a partner, I advocated Microsoft products from desktop to server. Not so much anymore. I no longer trust Microsoft at all. I can not believe how aggressively anti-consumer they've become.

Windows 10 pilot rollouts will surge in early 2016, says Gartner

td97402

Does Anyone Believe These Fools?

Wasn't Gartner the same folks that advised Apple to get out of the hardware business back in 2006?

Ouch! Microsoft sues recycling firm over 70K stolen Office licenses

td97402

"halfway sane company"

You mean the same company that has been secretly downloading a 6GB version upgrade of their without notice or permission?

td97402

Re: good ole Arizona

"Actually the Pacific plate is pushing into the North American plate. If California where to move in any way, you'd end up with San Diego crushing Phoenix"

Map of San Andreas Fault Motion

Nope. The California coast is sliding to the north (roughly) vs. inland California and the rest of the continent which is roughly headed south.

AMD sued: Number of Bulldozer cores in its chips is a lie, allegedly

td97402

You Know What He Meant

The OP was referring to desktop computers and perhaps laptops. I don't think most people conflate smart phones and desktops into a single "computers" category yet. It is also true that desktops/laptops still run big-boy games and applications that would not be possible on a phone, at least not for a while yet.

td97402

Re: A bit of a Dickey move

I've always considered AMD to be selling a weird, kind of weak variation of hyper-threading as two physical cores. I always divide by two when looking at AMD desktop processors. I think they've been misleading when selling those modules as two cores. Worthy of a lawsuit, well that is another matter.

td97402

Reread the Article

@BillG - Read the article. It is not just the FPU. Just a few paragraphs in you will find:

"a single branch prediction engine, a single instruction fetch and decode stage, a single floating-point math unit, a single cache controller, a single 64K L1 instruction cache, a single microcode ROM, and a single 2MB L2 cache."

Seems that much, if not most, of a "module" is single threaded. If you can only fetch one instruction at a time and you can only decode one instruction at a time then a module is not really a two-core unit. It seems that only at the end of the instruction pipeline do have a couple of integer execution units and a couple of load/store units. So, at best, I'd call it weird AMD hyper-threading.

Next year's Windows 10 auto-upgrade is MSFT's worst idea since Vista

td97402

Transferring Windows Key Codes?

@AC Says: "If your old computer has a Windows serial number on it, you should be able to use that on any new computer. (Assuming you delete the copy on your old computer.)

No need to install Windows 10. Just download whatever version of Windows was on your old computer, and install it on your new one."

First, it is probably illegal to move your XP, Vista or Win 7 to a new computer by using the key code from the sticker on the old one. Here's a hint, it is why the sticker is stuck on the computer, that key code belongs to that computer.

Second, with Win 8 and later, you don't get a key code.

HP HUMILIATED by Dell's EMC buy

td97402

Re: But...

It wasn't about simply splitting into two smaller pieces. It was about HP getting out of the commodity PC and printer business. They viewed it as not sufficiently profitable. The HP board and upper management have had their head up their asses pretty much since the days of Hewlett and Packard.

Surface Book: Microsoft to turn unsuccessful tab into unsuccessful laptop

td97402

Re: I wonder how well this would run Linux?

I think the requirements imposed on OEMs for Windows 10 are quite a bit different for Windows 10. I recall reading about this a couple of months back. Manufacturers do not have to let you into the UEFI settings on a Windows 10 device.

Weird garbled Windows 7 update baffles world – now Microsoft reveals the truth

td97402

Mistake or Hack?

So was it a mistake on their part or did somebody actually pull off a major hack? After all their BS, doublespeak, spin and deception the past couple of years I am to the point where I am not sure I believe anything Microsoft says anymore and that is really too bad. I used to be an MS evangelist.

Malware menaces poison ads as Google, Yahoo! look away

td97402

Re: Looking at the problem backwards

"No, because like with the ISPs as long as they're not acting in any kind of gatekeeping capacity they can always scapegoat and say, "Not our problem. Go after whoever made the ad." Remember, businesses carry a fiduciary duty to minimize risk, and legal responsibility is a risk"

I dislike people who spout legal premise like they're lawyers. Be that as it may, here are my two cents. ISPs get a pass as they fall under "common carrier" rules (at least in the U.S.). They are simply the "phone line" between you and the content publisher. Individual web sites and ad networks have no such protections. They are publishing the offending content and almost certainly can be held liable, Time will tell. Some greedy bastard lawyers are going to get the idea to do a class action lawsuit for negligence against Yahoo, Google et al. Once there is a $1 Billion verdict they will clean up their act.

Microsoft replaces Windows 10 patch update, isn't saying why

td97402

Gotta love Windows 10!!

Every week since they've released it I have people bring in their broken computers following their borked Windows 10 upgrades. This will make me as much money as downgrading new Vista computers back to XP did :) I love Windows 10!!!!

Windows 10 is FORCING ITSELF onto domain happy Windows 7 PCs

td97402

Re: wow

"but on the plus side, moving to WSUS is generally a good idea."

Not every small shop can afford to set up a WSUS server.

Apple gobbles chunk of CNET, ZDNet – report

td97402

CBS Interactive? You Mean the Crapware People?

CBS Interactive needs to die! They operate Download.COM and wrap tons of crapware around all of the shareware you download from them. Hopefully Apple does not absorb any of CBSi bad habits.

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