Posts by ben kendim

NASA abandons delayed SLS upper stage for ULA's Centaur V instead

Surely you mean the 'Trump Kennedy Space Center'

Hasn't the orange felon ordered NASA to rename it yet?

'Ralph Wiggum' loop prompts Claude to vibe-clone commercial software for $10 an hour

Re: Sounds awful

The Scotty Principle apllies to that light switch...

"The more they over think the plumbing, the easier it is to stop up the drain."

Sorry Dave, I’m afraid I can’t do that! PCs refuse to shut down after Microsoft patch

Re: This is now not a joke

Monotonically enshittifying crap!

We will be cruising at 35,000 feet and failing to update our Apache HTTP Server

Which airline?

IFE is airgapped from avionics, so not a safety issue.

But still, only out of curiosity... what airline?

(Journalism: who, what, when, where, why...)

Stop the slop by disabling AI features in Chrome

Thanks. Now please do an article on how to deCopilot and decrappify Windows11

I am on my way to BestBuy to purchase a Windows laptop. (Please don't ask why, everything else here is Linux or a Mac)

The last time I did that it took hours to completely (I hope) rid Win11 of Copilot, Dropbox, all the AI crapola, to set it up for local login only, without a Microsoft account, and be ready for dual boot to Ubuntu or Mint...

I wish I had taken notes at the time. A similar guide to this deGeminification article would be useful.

Happy New Year everyone.

SSL Santa greets London Victoria visitors with a borked update

Re: Roadside billboards

It's been done... I am too lazy to search.

What the Linux desktop really needs to challenge Windows

Re: Audio

Yes I knew... But once you have lost a loyal customer, they might never come back.

Re: Audio

D'oh... audio!!!

I am writing this on a dual Ubuntu 24.04.3 LTS / and Win 11 booting HP OMEN with 12th Gen Intel® Core™ i9-12900H

(It's a company laptop. I would never ever buy anything from HP! ... Kona files, ink cartridges, devices that will not scan if ink is low or old, etc...)

The only reason this machine has Win 11 on it (with the staggering effort it took to rid it of Copilot and other AI crap!) is because occasionallly I need to digitally sign pdf's. (Adobe, you can go to hell too...)

Audio works fine on Windows boot.

The up-to-date Linux kernel just fails to see the Intel and nvidia sound hardware. I spent hours playing with pavucontrol, (re)pulseaudio, anusmixer settings / install/reinstalls, and flashing the BIOS (with another special F..k You! to HP for that!!!)

I gave up on trying to get audio from this machine... I'd rather have muted Linux than Win11 with sound.

All my other machines, desk and laptops as well as my deGooglified Chromebooks run just fine..

PS: I gave up on Macs (last one was a IIfx) after System 7, when horror of horrors, Apple started charging ready money for the OS!!! (6.2 was peak Mac for me.)

PPS: We lost the war when we lost PEEK/POKE and get/put. My goddamn computer, my memory space, and I will write what I want where i want, never mind all the 'trusted', 'security' crap. So first thing I do in every install is rid it of snaps, flatpaks, VM's and other sandboxes!

New boss was bad, his attitude was ugly, so the tech team pranked him good

What was it called? NetZero?

In the mid to late 1990's there was a browser extension that paid for watching banner ads on top of a page. But it would only give you credit (a nickel or a dime probably) if the mouse was moving. I wrote a small program called farecik.exe which would move the mouse around the page and installed it on a few machines that were being burned in. These had farecik.exe and SETI@Home running 24/7. Made a few dollars, but money was not the goal.

One day I made a variant which monitored mouse moves and did nothing - until the mouse stopped moving. As soon as it saw the mouse stop it would do a small random move in both x and y, maybe rand(-20, 20) pixels on each axis. Installed it on one person's PC.

A few days later at lunch he asked about a new mouse. When asked why and he explained. We asked if he had recently lubricated his mouse ball? He said no, so we gave him silicone lubricant and told him to liberally apply it and to give it a couple of days to work its magic. That evening I modified the code so that it would have a 2% chance of running on any day.

For months after that he would occasionally come asking for more mouse lubricant...

Affection for Excel spans generations, from Boomers to Zoomers

Re: When you need a spreadsheet...

How do you balance your checkbook?

Yeah, I love Excel...

... and hate Microsoft. That's why I use Libre Calc.

Kyocera claims 5.2 Gbps underwater laser data blast in lab tests

Re: When you achieve > 1 km range...

Sonar is not directional... The launch codes want to ride on a low probability of detection channel.

When you achieve > 1 km range...

... even at 110 bps. I'd like to hear about it.

Windows 11 needs an XP SP2 moment, says ex-Microsoft engineer

And to hell with Adobe... for chaining me to Windows

This is the only one of my many machines that is not Linux only, but dual boots Ubuntu and Windows, because...

... occasionally I need to digitally sign a pdf and Acrobat on Linux is...???????

DARPA making low-hanging satellites that use air to move

They must surely have done an environmental impact study, right???

Extremely rarefied atmosphere... You suck it in, ionize it and shove it out at high speed behind you... What could go wrong?

I get it, big sky, a few small satellites, not many ion contrails... That environment is probably already chuck full of ionized Ozone... I guess???

But, I would love to see if someone seriously did a study to show that...

YouTube's AI moderator pulls Windows 11 workaround videos, calls them dangerous

Re: Another workaround

> who will be able to find it?

Yanoff's list.

The Notepad that knew too much: Humble text editor gets unnecessary AI infusion

My parser has failed with a sentence in the article... Do I need AI to interpret it?

I don't understand this sentence - even though I have had my morning caffeine fix:

"Microsoft's Copilot+ PCs are solutions looking for a problem. It will become increasingly difficult to find hardware that isn't AI-enabled in the coming years, but having an essential application that requires AI hardware would certainly ease the transition."

For whom is it easing that transition? Not the user...

Office 2016 and 2019 face October 14 execution date

Outlook is also a part of Office right???

OK, how do I set it up to automatically cc: to myself (or to an archive email account - for offsite retention) my every outgoing message?

What idiot at MS thought that ability would not be missed?

Everyone needs an AI phone. No, don't hang up, it's true

Re: So....

I have had many Androids since the Original Moto Droid and have been on Google Fi since it began. I pay about $350 - $400 a month to Fi for five lines.They keep trying to sell me their flagship phones.

Last time I bought a Pixel 9 XL but returned it because it was too difficult to remove Gemini, etc. I got a Samsung A16 5G instead and spent a lot of time to prevent it from updating itself to One UI 7.0. I was somehow able to stop it from auto updating in the middle of the night. Still, every morning it nags me about the OS Update. Get a hint, HELL NO! Samsung!

I would absolutely love to get a Pixel 10 Pro XL, and would order it today, except for one thing - it is very hard to rid it of the baked in AI. I asked Google how I could disable the AI features, as I wanted the phone for its camera, its fast processor, its storage, its screen. (Trying to ignore that it does not have removable battery of a microSD slot.)

Since Google would not respond to the question from someone trying to buy a Pixel 10 with ready money, I asked ChatGPT about it. Here is the response which I think you may find useful:

--------

You said:

How can I get a Google Pixel 10 Pro XL phone with all the AI crap removed from it?

ChatGPT said:

Getting a Google Pixel 10 Pro XL or any other modern phone with "AI features" removed is a tricky task. The phone’s software is tightly integrated with Google’s AI services, such as Google Assistant, Google Lens, and other AI-driven features like speech recognition, smart replies, and more. If you want to remove or reduce the influence of AI on the device, you’ll have to take a few different steps.

1. *Disable or Limit Google’s AI Features*

While you can’t fully “remove” AI from the device, you can disable many AI-related features through the settings. Here’s how:

*Google Assistant*: You can turn off Google Assistant by going to:

*Settings* > *Google* > *Settings for Google apps* > *Search, Assistant & Voice* > *Google Assistant* > Turn off.

*Smart Replies*: This feature provides AI-generated suggestions in messaging apps, like text messages or emails. To turn it off: Go to *Settings* > *System* > *Languages & input* > *Smart reply* and disable it.

*Adaptive Battery & Brightness*: These use AI to optimize battery life and screen brightness. Disable them:

Go to *Settings* > *Battery* > *Adaptive Battery* and turn it off.

For Adaptive Brightness: Go to *Settings* > *Display* >

*Adaptive Brightness* and turn it off.

*Google Lens and AI in Camera*: Many of the camera features use AI (like scene recognition). You can avoid these features by simply not using them, but some may be built into the camera app by default.

You could potentially switch to a third-party camera app that doesn’t use as much AI if you want to avoid Google’s AI-driven photo enhancements.

2. *Use a Custom ROM*

If you want to take things further and remove most of Google’s AI-driven services, you might consider installing a *custom ROM*. Custom ROMs like *LineageOS* or *GrapheneOS* allow you to strip out most of the Google services and AI features.

*GrapheneOS* is a privacy-focused, security-focused ROM that doesn't include Google apps or services by default.

*LineageOS* is more customizable and offers a more stock Android experience, but you may need to install apps manually and avoid Google services.

To install a custom ROM, you’ll need to *unlock the bootloader* and flash the ROM onto your Pixel device. Be aware that this could void your warranty and may lead to issues if not done properly.

3. *Use a Minimalistic Android Experience*

Some minimalistic Android launchers, like *Nova Launcher* or *Action Launcher*, can help you create a more basic, no-frills experience. You can reduce the amount of AI-driven notifications and features by switching to these third-party launchers. This won’t remove AI completely, but it will reduce its prominence on the home screen.

4. *Disable Google Play Services (Advanced)*

Google Play Services is a key component for many of the AI features on the phone, but disabling it entirely is not recommended, as it can break essential functionalities like app updates, notifications, and location services. Some people choose to use tools like *MicroG* (an open-source

alternative to Google services) to limit Google’s influence.

5. *Consider an Older Phone*

If you really want to avoid AI-driven features but don’t want to mess with a custom ROM, you might consider getting an older Android phone or a model that doesn’t have as much AI integration. The Google Pixel 4 or Pixel 5, for example, still have some AI features but not to the extent of the newer Pixel models.

Summary of Steps:

* Disable Google Assistant, Smart Replies, Adaptive Battery, and Adaptive Brightness.

* Use a third-party launcher or camera app.

* Install a custom ROM (like GrapheneOS or LineageOS) for a more minimal experience.

* Consider using an older Pixel phone or another device with fewer AI-driven features.

Let me know if you need help with any of these specific steps!

---------------------------

Google's enshittification continues unabated...

CIO made a dangerous mistake and ordered his security team to implement it

I started with eight 2102 static RAMs (1k x 1 bit) on an MC6800. You can still get those RAM for a couple of bucks

Microsoft pushes Pull print, so you don't have to dash to the printer to grab the 'Fire everyone' memo

QR code, eh?

Great!!!

Now, BOFH can make copies of the QR code of his (*) printer in Mission Central, stick them on all the printers in the building, and watch the goodies come in...

(*) Do we know if BOFH is male? Why do we assume?

Some users report their Firefox browser is scoffing CPU power

Is this enough?

browser.ml.chat.enabled false

browser.ml.chat.hideLocalhost false

browser.ml.chat.prompt.prefix {"":""}

browser.ml.chat.prompts.0 {""}

browser.ml.chat.prompts.1 {"":"","":""}

browser.ml.chat.prompts.2 {""}

browser.ml.chat.prompts.3 {"":"","":"",":"|('') || ''"}

browser.ml.chat.prompts.4 {""}

browser.ml.chat.provider

browser.ml.chat.shortcuts false

browser.ml.chat.shortcuts.custom false

browser.ml.chat.shortcuts.longPress 0

browser.ml.chat.sidebar false

browser.ml.checkForMemory false

browser.ml.enable false

browser.ml.linkPreview.allowedLanguages en

browser.ml.linkPreview.blockListEnabled false

browser.ml.linkPreview.enabled false

browser.ml.linkPreview.noKeyPointsRegions

browser.ml.linkPreview.outputSentences 0

browser.ml.logLevel Error

browser.ml.minimumPhysicalMemory 2147483647

browser.ml.modelCacheMaxSize 2147483647

browser.ml.modelCacheTimeout 0

browser.ml.modelHubRootUrl https://fuck_the_ai_crap.mozilla.org/

browser.ml.modelHubUrlTemplate

browser.ml.overridePipelineOptions {}

browser.urlbar.quicksuggest.mlEnabled false

browser.urlbar.yelp.mlEnabled false

dom.origin-trials.mls.state 0

extensions.ml.enabled false

geo.provider.geoclue.mls_fallback_timeout_ms 0

intl.hyphenation-alias.ml-*

The tiny tech tribe who could change the world tomorrow but won't

Re: "There are ten people in the world who could decide tomorrow"

I rented Kia SUV's a couple of times and loved them, EXCEPT, where are the knobs? I would have bought one, but waiting for the model year when all the knobs come back so I can minimize touchscreening...

Firefox 141 relieves chronic Linux pain in the neck

Re: Agreed

I left Ubuntu for Mint just because of this. Too much trouble getting rid of Snap, getting rid of forced update Firefox and Thunderbird and reverting to old versions that I was happy with - especially Thunderbird, back to v68.

BOFH: Peeling back the layers of the magic banana industrial complex

It's time we celebrate the Banana!!!

https://youtu.be/wCkerYMffMo?si=TjP7c379JNvi1KaE

Japan builds near $700M fund to lure foreign academic talent

Are they still funding research on how many whales they can kill?

Yeah, right...

Experienced academic talent with Ph.D. in electrical engineering here, interested in research opportunities in Japan... /s (NOT!)

I am not buying any Japanese products, no electronics, no cars, nothing, as long as the Kangei Maru exists, as long as they kill whales. Boycotting Sony, Canon, Nikon, Toyota, Honda, Mazda, anything from Japan,,,

'Maybe the problem is you' ... Linus Torvalds wades into Linux kernel Rust driver drama

The world went to hell when we lost PEEK and POKE

It's my damn computer and I will read and write anything, anywhere in its memory that I want!

All that security crap, worse than even the TSA!

CompSci teacher sets lab task: Accidentally breaking the university

Re: I crashed one of two graphics domains

Lucky you, you had a terminal with a CRT...

As an undergraduate in the 70's I decided I wanted to do image processing. The hardware available consisted of a Univac 1106, card punch machines, a line printer the size of a Volkswagen beetle (but significantly louder than that beetle sans muffler.) The software development environment was paper pads and marker pens (to draw diagonal lines across the top of card decks.)

I chose 100 x 100 resolution (line printer was 132 characters wide) at 32 gray levels. As it was rather hard to find image data (where was Lenna when you needed her?) I wrote code to generate patterns including stripes and gradients to begin testing. (I remember one of them was based on the diamond shaped Renault emblem, easy to generate.)

To output grey levels on the paper I used the FORTRAN-IV '1H+' Hollerinth at the beginning of each line, This caused a carriage return without linefeed. Then I sent multiple overlaid lines to the printer. At each character position a 0 level would be a blank, a 1 would be a period, and so on... I think level 31 was something like overlaid {M, W, E, 3, O, S, Z, \, /, [, ], +} or some such dark sequence. This meant each line was printed 12 times using that '1H+', before a line feed occurred.

I submitted the deck of cards, and went away to lunch. When I came back, there was a note for me where the output printouts were placed. it said to immediately see the Professor in charge of the computer center. I had shredded a spool of their expensive ink ribbon and put the line printer out of action for the rest of the day - pending a service call from Univac.

What no one had told me was that the line printer had a full width ink ribbon, and that it advanced only with a line feed. So it was getting banged on 12 times in quick succession and this was happening 100 times for each image printed.

And that's how you cut an ink ribbon on a line printer...

It's about time Intel, AMD dropped x86 games and turned to the real threat

others' -> other's

Only one other, not multiple others. :-)

Google's memory safety plan includes rehab for unsafe languages

My computer, my code, my memory. So I don't need any of this security stuff...

I am a leaf on the wind, watch how I code... :-)

To make my life a lot easier, I use C or C++ and

a- I usually avoid 'private's. I have everything declared as 'public'.

b- I also have most 'important' variables (except small local things like i, j, n, etc.) as globals...

c- I try to avoid #include of anything other than standard libs. I make a single huge .cpp file from everything of mine that I would have included. (Obviously including .h are OK.)

But then again...

1- I am the only one using the code which I write.

2- I never deliver. No one else ever gets their hands on it...

3- It is for research, not production or distribution.

4- It only ever runs on my own computers.

Microsoft veteran ditches Team Tabs, blaming storage trauma of yesteryear

Really??? This is a problem? Nothing better to write about?

I use tabs and I use spaces and sometimes I mix them just because I feel like it at the time. Never had a problem, never thought about it.

If your compiler can't handle that, you need a better compiler.

If your interpreter can't handle that, you need to be using a compiled language. (In any case, independent of this reason...)

Techie invented bits of the box he was fixing, still botched the job

Yup, been there, almost done that!!!

Summer of 1978, I opened the still spinnning disc drawer on a 360 with inoperative interlock. Scared the heck out of me. I did not reach in to unload the disc pack, just stepped back from it... I was an intern, and was worried about being sent home.

72 flights later and a rotor blade short, Mars chopper loses its fight with physics

Why are you linking to Xshitter for photos instead of NASA or JPL???

https://www.theregister.com/2024/02/26/nasa_ingenuity_rotor_damage/

You all can't be bothered to see if NASA or JPL have imagery? You need to go to Musk for that?

Musk 'texts' Nadella about Windows 11's demands for a Microsoft account

But why is The Reg linking to Xshitter? JPL doesn't have a website?

https://www.theregister.com/2024/02/26/nasa_ingenuity_rotor_damage/ You all can't be bothered to see if NASA or JPL have imagery? You need to go to Musk for that?

Forgetting the history of Unix is coding us into a corner

Ahem... Tektronix 4010.

"A host machine, plus dumb text terminals on serial connections, with no graphics and no networking – even so, high-end kit for the 1970s."

You wanted graphics in the 70's? You got it!

https://w140.com/tekwiki/wiki/4010 was a beautiful machine!!!

CLIs are simply wizard at character building. Let’s not keep them to ourselves

Finally, that rare someone who understands where we live on the spectrum...

Merry Christmas. Thank you for this gift:

"When you're in a full-screen CLI, especially editing, what you get above all is focus. Compared to a GUI desktop or, heaven help our grasshopper minds, an in-browser task, it is supremely quiet and uncluttered. It is you and your keyboard, and text that wants to be free of variant forms and options. If you're coding or writing text where actual content is more important than form, it is a zone for reason and thought like none other in modern computing."

YouTube's 'Ad blockers not allowed' pop-up scares the bejesus out of netizens

what we need to do is make the advertisers hurt...

The ad blocking plug-in we really need is one that also examines the blockes ads and makes a list of the advertisers and products they advertise. Then, in addition to us not seeing the ad, we would know who tried to put an ad for what on our screen - so we can boycott them... You ask, who would pay for the servers and the creators? I don't really give a damn. If I like the content enough, I will donate directly to the creator (e.g. Tom Voelk of Driven fame.)

Owner of 'magic spreadsheet' tried to stay in the Lotus position until forced to Excel

Re: ping

Obligatory response: https://youtu.be/jr0JaXfKj68

Learn the art of malicious compliance: doing exactly what you were asked, even when it's wrong

Absolutely..

As a new hire Assistant Professor I was tasked with keeping minutes of a faculty meeting. I did so, verbatim. Examples: "Professor X said the Dean supported us for opening a new faculty position, but he would like to not let Mechanical Engineering know about it for now." Or, "Dr. Y said we should put EEyyy on the schedule, even though there will probably not be enough students to open it." and on and on. Was never asked to do minutes again...

Seriously, you do not want to make that cable your earth

Yellow? Perhaps in Britain.

All the DECNET thick cable I had in the US was orange.

Orders wrong, resellers receiving wrong items? Must be a programming error and certainly not a rushing techie

Packing chads (acquired from the big waste drawer built into the punch machine) into a car's exhaust was always fun. Especially when it was parked with the aft end pointing where people were likely to line up, like the student lot at the university, right by where everybody lined up for ride share...

Woman sues McDonald's for $14 after cheeseburger ad did exactly what it's designed to

Re: The Sin of Gluttony

Why are you being so negative?

cos the sin of pi is 1.

Microsoft warns against SMS, voice calls for multi-factor authentication: Try something that can't be SIM swapped

Re: but I don't see any use for it anymore.

Bank of America had a feature that generated a new credit card number for use in online purchasers. It was good for a single merchant, you could set the monthly credit limit, you could set the expiration date, and the charges would appear in your regular credit card. Best thing ever! I used it, and never had need for PayPal, or any other payment processor.

Why BoA took it away last year, I'll never know...

SpaceX’s Starlink finally reveals its satellite broadband pricing for rural America: At $99 a month, it’s a good deal

Starlink's website is just a service address and email harvester

I went to their website to check out about the system, and it just wanted my email and address. No way to get any information on what they are considering to offer.

So, I simply walked away.

The power of Bill compels you: A server room possessed by a Microsoft-hating, Linux-loving Demon

Re: Wiring Issues

That's exactly why you test both magnetos during your run-up before taking off in a piston airplane.

Mozilla doubles down on anti-tracking tech: It'll be tougher for wily ad-biz cookie monsters to track Firefox

Re: Barking up the wrong tree

Why do all other tabs need to see cookies set by a page in one tab?

Assign a tab ID to each cookie, allow it to be sent only to that tab, and clear it as soon as the tab is closed.

Here's why your Samsung Blu-ray player bricked itself: It downloaded an XML config file that broke the firmware

Re: Why...? Just Why?

The correct response is to take the disk back to the retailer, have them give you a replacement, take that one back when it doesn't play, repeat as many times as you can...

LibreOffice community protests at promotion of paid-for editions, board says: 'LibreOffice will always be free software'

"they should have subscribed to the board-discuss mailing list,”

He must have pulled this gem from the Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy.

Philip Arthur Dent should have gone to the basement of the planning department to see that his house was scheduled for demolition.

Linus Torvalds drops Intel and adopts 32-core AMD Ryzen Threadripper on personal PC

Re: AMD vs. Intel: War Games v3.0

Ah, I 'heart' AMD since the 2901/2910/2930 bit-slice days. Good times writing microcode....

Mick & Brick, was an excellent book as well.

OK, so you've air-gapped that PC. Cut the speakers. Covered the LEDs. Disconnected the monitor. Now, about the data-leaking power supply unit...

Re: In Langley, Virginia, USA...

... and elsewhere... From almost 5 centuries ago...

"The large fireplace with gilded hood (ocak) stands opposite a two-tiered fountain (çeşme), skilfully decorated in coloured marble. The flow of water was meant to prevent any eavesdropping,[65] while providing a relaxed atmosphere to the room. "

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Topkap%C4%B1_Palace#Privy_Chamber_of_Murat_III