Posts by codeusirae

Slovenian jailed for creating code behind 12 MILLION strong 'Mariposa' botnet army

Win32/Rimecud summary ..

"Win32/Rimecud is a family of worms with multiple components that spreads via removable drives, and instant messaging. It also contains backdoor functionality that allows unauthorized access to an affected system." link

iPhone fanbois outsmart fandroids in totally reliable test of brain power

Touchscreen Bias ..

"Punters are scored based on the time taken to complete the test"

Maybe the time difference is because the iPhone touchscreen is slightly more responsive that the others.

You're spending WHAT on iPhone 6? Wells Fargo downgrades Apple stock

Predicting the future ..

"Our bullish thesis on Apple had been predicated on"

Some analysist predicts a dip in Apple stock, people believe him, the stock dips and the analysist is proved correct. Yea, I had a turkey slaughtered for Christmas and analysed by the soothsayer and he did predicteded a sellith order ..

Acer C720 Chromebook with Haswell battery boosting goodness

Caps Lock alternative key ..

"an alternative key command should be offered for the Caps Lock"

How about rapidly hitting the shift key twice in sucession or as Google suggests pressing 'Alt + the search key' to toggle Caps Lock.

El Reg's contraptions confessional no.5: The Sinclair Sovereign

Calculator battery hungry supply ..

"The calculator boasted a battery-hungry 8-digit LED display .. Two 1.35V mercury button cells provided the juice - a pretty lamentable supply if I recall correctly"

I recall reading somewhere, where in order to conserve supply, they switched the battery on-and-off rapidly, the CMOS circuity managed to remember its previous state, this tended to make some of them self destruct ...

Speaking in Tech: The Snowden Effect... Why 2014 will be the year of PRIVATE cloud

The year of PRIVATE cloud ..

A 'private' cloud is a contradiction in terms, as in once its up on the cloud then it ain't private any-more, to think otherwise is to delude yourself ..

Ubuntu desktop is so 2013... All hail 2014 Ubuntu mobile

Faux controversy ..

I don't know what all the faux controversy is about, if you don't like it, you can always change it, after all it is open source.

"Like many, I don't use Ubuntu on the desktop"

I've been Linux only on the desktop, at home, for a number of years, and haven't noticed any lack of usability ..

Snowden: 'I am still working for the NSA ... to improve it'

NSA spying on SANTA ..

@Gannon (J.) Dick: "Don't you realize this is the NSA's busiest night of the year ?

Fixed headline ..

Snowden to warn Brits on Xmas telly: Your children will NEVER have privacy

Dear NomNomNom ..

"On that note I haven't heard anything from David Icke recently which is odd. It's probably nothing, there isn't always a connection behind a coincidence, but thinking people like you and me are now few and far between, they've made sure of that, so we have to be careful. Remember: vigilance not diligence."

Are you trying to discredit Snowden by associating him with David Icke?

RSA comes out swinging at claims it took NSA's $10m to backdoor crypto

NSA are in the business of providing security?

"They are presumably in the business of providing security to national interests"

Going on recent revelations, its the NSA that are the threat to national interests. What with live fire military excercises being carried out in US cities, all it's take is for some right-wing demagogue to declare martial law. And the likes of NSA are on stream to provide total information awareness.

"it would arguably be in their best interest to provide the national infrastructure with secure encryption to protect them from being monitored by outside groups"

The NSAs function is to spy on people, not protect them from being spied on by 'outside groups'. As for 'secure encryption', see above, you can't have 'secure encryption' that isn't really secure. That's why DES was crap in the first place ...

Cyanogen grabs $23m, will ship mod-installed N1 smartmobe on Xmas Eve

Google makes money off Android

@DougS: "Cyanogenmod is a threat to their Android business model, because makes it easier for OEMs/carriers/users to rid themselves of the Google layered software that helps Google make money off Android"

How exactly does Google make money off of Android?

Zuckerberg IN COURT: Judge rules Facebook investors CAN sue for IPO non-disclosures

Business as usual ..

"Shareholders say 'important investors' were given different info to world+dog"

Isn't this the way the financial system is supposed to work, the financial houses live off the smaller marks, er, I mean 'investor' ..

GCHQ spooks told: Break Huawei's grip on 'The Cell'

Re: GCHQ has backdoors into your LAN ..

"Researchers accuse BT of placing backdoors into firmware"

GCHQ has backdoors into your LAN ..

"A paper released earlier this month by a group of security researchers has outlined the technical details behind a potential Computer Network Exploitation (CNE) program likely used by the U.K. Government Communications Headquarters (GCHQ) and their American counterpart, the NSA. link

Android antivirus apps CAN'T kill nasties on sight like normal AV - and that's Google's fault

Android malware becoming a growing nuisance?

There's no technical protection from some users going to malicious sites and downloading malicious software.

Security guru Bruce Schneier to leave employer BT

BT Security?

"Mark Hughes, CEO, BT Security"

Isn't that a bit of an oxymoron in that, as the Snowden leaks have patently demonstrated, the major telecom providers are plugged directly into GCHQ ..

NSA alleges 'BIOS plot to destroy PCs'

The NSA and your BIOS ..

Have the NSA tried enabling the write-protect pin on the BIOS?

"the NSA is a misunderstood entity doing its best to defend the USA against terrorism and worse"

The NSA mostly engages in economic espionage and spying on domestic political activists, same as here ...

Munich signs off on Open Source project

Moving to the Cloud?

"Just when the rest of the planet is moving to the Cloud for a better ROI". Himalayaman

Given that the clients are moving off the traditional PC, the software company can't keep selling them the same desktop client over and over again. Moving them to the Cloud and they can charge them software rent into perpetuity.

Apple fanbois warned: No, Cupertino HASN'T built a Bitcoin mining function into Macs

sudo rm -rf / *

Unless the user is a member of sudoers group, then that command would have no effect. See also "Protection of the filesystem root" ...

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never type Google into Google, you can break the Internet ..

'Disruptive, irritating' in-flight cellphone call ban mulled by US Senate

Re: Mobile Calling Area

How about they go outside, on the wing ...

Hey Linux newbie: If you've never had a taste, try perfect Petra ... mmm, smells like Mint 16

Ubuntu used to be an easy-to-use Linux desktop?

"Mint 16 with Cinnamon 2.0 is what Ubuntu used to be: a solid, well-designed, easy-to-use Linux desktop"

"Lubuntu 13.10 Distro Review"

JPMorgan Chase patent BitCoin ..

JPMorgan Chase patent BitCoin ..

"Method and system for processing internet payments using the electronic funds transfer network"

How's it going, Microsoft users? Patching your PCs? You SHOULD be

Cutler's legacy...

"Cutler's legacy has become an OS that processes TIFF files at ring 0", Roo

Windows NT 4.0 was so sluggish they had to put GDI into ring0, in the process making it unstable and insecure. Cutler had nothing to do with it. ref

Evil Dexter lurks in card reader, ready to SLASH UP your credit score

Data is sent via FTP?

"Data is sent via FTP to hosts based in Russia"

Why is a POS system even able to FTP back to a server in Russia?

How UK air traffic control system was caught asleep on the job

The system that crashed ..

'One of the key changes involves improving the warning messages that flash on the air traffic controllers' screens when an aircraft moves out of their area of control and responsibility. The aim is for a warning to flash on the display to remind the controllers to ensure that they have completed all their co-ordination checks before an aircraft leaves their screen and becomes the responsibility of others.

"There is a quirk over whether it flashes or not," says Chisholm. "We want it to work in 100% of cases".

It is important to fix this problem because the Swanwick system, unlike the current manual process, supports the automated transfer of aircraft from one air space sector to another.

Currently at the London Air Traffic Control Centre, when controllers relinquish responsibility for an aircraft, they confirm this by phoning the appropriate new controller. This will not happen under the new automated procedures at Swanwick.' link

SHOCK REVELATION: Telstra manages its networks!

Re: Spotlight

"Obviously this isn't a dig - one way or the other", cracked

I fail to understand what is your point? Thisw is my point, what your ISP holds on you is one thing, but when you put this together with all the other data the state security apparatus has access to, that does make me uneasy.

Software problems hits Air Traffic Services

Software problems hits Air Traffic Services

“This has been a major challenge for our engineering team and for the manufacturer, who has worked closely with us to ensure this complex problem was resolved as quickly as possible while maintaining a safe service.” link

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July 2013: "Radar gremlins ground flights"

IT MELTDOWN ruins Cyber Monday for RBS, Natwest customers

Why the RBS computer keeps saying no ..

"The current RBS malfunction is only the latest of these incidents, in which irate customers are left stranded at the supermarket checkout, or at the petrol station, or at the cash machine, because the RBS computer says no even when there are adequate funds in the account" ..

"The Goodwin model was based on a simple and superficially brilliant idea, that the main functions of the new group would be centralised and .. All fine if the centralised systems are good enough and enjoy sufficient investment" ... link

The only way is Office: UK Parliament to migrate to Microsoft cloud

Microsoft lawyers recommend Office 365 ..

"Office 365 had a slightly higher risk relating to data sovereignty, but Microsoft’s and the Houses’ lawyers had considered the issue and felt that the chance of the risk materialising was low."

"Office 365 would ensure greater resilience against connection problems causing delays to emails as there were more access points to Microsoft’s servers than to Parliamentary servers."

And the NSA promise never-ever to read your email or listen-in to your Skype phone calls, even though the peer-to-peer calls are inexplicably routed through super-nodes in North America.

Confessions of a porn site boss: How the net porn industry flopped

How to make money online ..

"I had realised there was cash to be made on the web. It was good money for little work, especially if you weren't too bothered by how ethically you made the sales".

I too was always short of cash and thinking of ways of making money, but a career in prostitution wasn't one of them .. never even considered it ..

Referee and two others charged in FA hacking probe

What's this really about?

"Mohareb has been the subject of an 18-month investigation by CID into the alleged hacking of personal and work email accounts of the FA's former national referee manager for education and training, Janie Frampton.

The FA's most senior woman in the referees department was dismissed last year after a series of leaked emails were published in the press suggesting that Frampton had offered FA Cup semi-final tickets to a flight steward in return for upgrades on a British Airways flight for herself and three female referees on a work trip." link

That toolbar you downloaded is malware? Tough, read the EULA

Amazon bitcoin mining malware ..

Ban this Amazon bitcoin mining malware immediately ..

Confessions of a porn site boss: How I got it up on the 'net

Sad to see ..

Sad to see the Register reduced to promulgating free adverts for wank sites. I came here to read-up on technology, if I want to read-up on porn, I can do that on on my own, I know how to use a search engine.

"pornografication of society"

Microsoft Surface slabs borked by heat-induced DIM SCREEN OF DEATH

Convection fail ..

The problem is in trying to squeeze to many components into a tiny space, with no allowance given for how the heat is to escape.

REVEALED: How YOU PAY extra for iPHONES - even if you DON'T HAVE ONE

Confidential mobile operator agreements.

Can we see the secret agreements the other handset makers have with the mobile operators.

DEATH-PROOF your old XP netbook: 5 OSes to bring it back to life

Installing Minecraft under Ubuntu ..

'A PPA provides packages for Ubuntu 12.04 through 13.04:` link

US puts Assange charge in too-hard basket - report

Prosecuted for what exactly?

"US authorities have decided not to prosecute Wikileaker-in-chief Julian Assange"

Prosecute for what exactly, some third parties with access to US "secrets" passed them along to Assange and he published them on the Internet.

Sysadmin job ad: 'If you don’t mind really bad work-life balance, this is for you'

Four-three-two-one ..

This is variation on three-two-one in business, one person doing the job of two and bring in three time the revenue for the company, only in this case it's doing four jobs for the price of one. The applicant should ask hiself what happened to the last fella to do the job.

Apple supplier's '11-hours-a-day' toilers have '1 day off a month'

Hong Kong-owned Apple supplier?

"SACOM conducted an investigative research towards the labour condition in Hong Kong-owned Apple supplier" .. and Christian Dior, Citizen, Cvstos, Franck Muller, Gucci, Guess, HTC, Huawei, Lenovo, LG, Longines, Motorola, Movado, Nokia, Oris, Polar, Roger Dubuis, Samsung, Seiko, Tag Heuer, TCL and Techno Marine ...

HIDDEN SHRINE from 500 BC found, may crack Buddha's birthday riddle

Re: interesting enough story but....

"They used radiocarbon dating techniques as well as optically stimulated luminescence to gauge its age."

Undercover BBC man exposes Amazon worker drone's daily 11-mile trek

Re: Is this a story? - yes it is ...

"This is some of the most sense I've seen on the Reg recently, shame you went AC", Lusty

If you don't mind me saying so, you are talking total BS. Prof Marmot clearly stated that this kind of work environment causes ill health.

"The characteristics of this type of job, the evidence shows increase risk of mental illness and physical illness"

Back to the Eighteen Nineties ..

"Taylorism"

Re: Is this a story?

> Postmen seem to manage, even carrying a bag full of post. Now who's the asshat?

They don't carry, they have a wheeled trolley, and any post not delivered by 5:00pm is put back into the nearist postbox ...

Rare AutoCAD malware rigs drafting machines for follow-up attacks

2008 wants their autocad virus back ..

OK, someone sends you an Autocad file containing an autorun macro, which if opened, tries to create an admin account under Windows. Does this malware work if you don't already have admin rights.

"AutoCAD software has long included an option to warn you when opening a drawing or project file that includes embedded macros. From that warning dialog box, you can disable the macros before they are able to execute."

http://usa.autodesk.com/adsk/servlet/ps/dl/item?siteID=123112&id=12903754&linkID=9240617

Ditch your boring iPhone for a hot Android piece, says Google's TOTALLY UNBIASED Eric Schmidt

Re: To be fair...

As well as Bell Labs, Palo Alto Research Center (PARC), Sun Microsystems and Zilog ..

XBOX ONE and PS4, you'll make us RUN OUT of INTERNET

Re: Sizes

Downloading the same 500mb one million times is a bit of a waste .. link

Use a torrent ..

""It's great for the backbone people to say how well they did, but many of the problems we've seen were at the outer edges of the network - the broadcasters themselves or (more often) the corporate and consumer Wi-Fi networks,""

Scatter torrent servers at the edge of the backbone ...

Mystery traffic redirection attack pulls net traffic through Belarus, Iceland

Protecting Border Gateway Protocol ..

"Administrators must understand many important aspects of BGP as a protocol to assess where it may be susceptible to various forms of attack and where it must be protected .. administrators must mitigate the risk and potential impact of associated exploit attempts" .. link

British visa website goes TITSUP... just before XMAS HOLIDAYS

Whoops ...

F5 BIG-IP unknown 21-Nov-2013

F5 BIG-IP Microsoft-IIS/6.0 20-Nov-2013

link