* Posts by AbeSapian

145 publicly visible posts • joined 9 Jan 2014

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Someone is slipping a hidden backdoor into Juniper routers across the globe, activated by a magic packet

AbeSapian

Re: If it is in memory

I've been saying for a while that, with China making all the chips, they could bake the malware right into the hardware.

DEF CON's hacker-in-chief faces fortune in medical bills after paralyzing neck injury

AbeSapian

Re: And now, imagine this happens to a nobody

For average people, when health insurance fails, there's crippling debt. After GoFundMe, there's UNDOMedicalDebt.org where you can hope for help.

Welcome to wealthcare in America.

FCC net neutrality rules dead again as appeals court sides with Big Telco

AbeSapian

SCOTUS

Let me guess where the Supremes are going to come down on this. I can hardly wait for some more of Alito's tortured logic on the issue.

Undergrad thought he had mastered Unix in weeks. Then he discovered rm -rf

AbeSapian

Does Anyone Remember Xenix?

I didn't need a powerful command to destroy a system - just the OS and a little help from the office power.

A company I worked for put me on a project in which they decided that the user workstations would be X86 boxes running Xenix. I found out, one day, how fragile Xenix is as an operating system. One of the workstations in my test group lost power, Needless to say, it didn't shut down clean. When I started the box up again, the Xenix boot sequence began to analyze every file on the system. I watched in horror as, one by one, the files were analyzed and deleted - leaving me with an absolutely pristine hard drive that had to be rebuilt from the ground up.

Ah, those were the days.

Microsoft starts boiling the Copilot frog: It's not a soup you want to drink at any price

AbeSapian

Shoe Event Horizon

This sounds very much like the shoe event horizon postulated in The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy. In this case, it's recursive, redigested information being thrown at consumers in an endless loop burying them in utter nonsense. Eventually you can't filter past the garbage fast enough to prevent the total collapse of the system.

AT&T settles claims it misappropriated subsidies, with partial admission of guilt

AbeSapian

Re: So the punishment for fraudulently reporting (so they make more money) is...

Welcome to the oligarchy. Feel free to sit anywhere.

Harvard duo hacks Meta Ray-Bans to dox strangers on sight in seconds

AbeSapian

Already Doxed

Everything about me was dumped to the dark web by Equifax, and again by Experian. What more can they do to me?

NASA switches off Voyager 2 plasma instrument to stretch out juice

AbeSapian

The Biggest Impediment to Interstellar Travel

The Voyager space craft for all their longevity and the terrific science they provided, also demonstrate the biggest impediment to interstellar travel - electrical power. Machines could be created to store and revive frozen genetic material to grow a colony on arrival to a new planet. But without the electrical power to operate the machines, the ship would arrive a a frozen block of ice with no means to animate the colonists or guide the ship.

The Voyager craft used radioisotope thermoelectric generators (RTGs) to generate electricity. These have lasted for 50 years but are running out of power - and the space craft have only just left the heliosphere. The RTGs are powered by fission. Packing additional fuel for the journey won't work because the stored fuel will decay just as fast as the fuel generating power.

Fusion isn't the answer either since it also requires a supply of fuel that would last the entire journey. Far too much to be able to carry. And solar cells won't work in interstellar space, too far from any sufficient light source.

Absent some form of warp or wormhole drive, humanity is stuck in our own solar system for a long time to come.

NASA, Boeing opt to fly leaky thruster as-is for first crewed Starliner CST-100 mission

AbeSapian

Given Boeing's Recent History

Is this really a good idea? Don't take your helmet off guys.

Attacks on UK fiber networks mount: Operators beg govt to step in

AbeSapian

A Different Deterrent

Have they considered explosive manhole covers?

Palantir wins US Army contract for battlefield AI

AbeSapian

They Did See Captain America: The Winter Soldier, right?

"Project Insight requires insight."

Elon Musk can't wriggle out of SEC Twitter fraud inquiry

AbeSapian

I Feel For You ...

When a poor guy is investigated, he's stripped naked and his body cavities are probed.

When a rich guy is scrutinized, it's harassment.

I've suffered a critical failure in my empathizer compensator.

Tesla sues Swedish government after worker rebellion cripples car biz

AbeSapian

Thank You Sweden

Thank you Sweden for slapping that spoiled brat, Musk, down. It's been long overdue.

Now maybe turn your attention to Jeff Bezos as well. He could use a good heart to heart.

AbeSapian

Thank You

Thank you The Register for finally calling X what it really is -Musk's personal social media site.

Midjourney, DeviantArt face lawsuit over AI-made art

AbeSapian

It Isn't Just Art

Not only is pictorial art being used to produce images "in the style of", but it's happening to music, novels, short stories, plays, screen plays, etc. It's the whole creative market. Besides streaming residuals, the actors' strike is about is their images being scanned to be used to generate performances without just compensation. Anyone that creates is at risk of having their body of work stolen and used without permission and compensation.

It's one thing when someone searches for an image to look at. It's quite another when they download it, tweak it, and upload it as their own work. That's what DMCA is all about. The entire movie industry exists because of intellectual property rights. All of that can be destroyed by unethical use of generative AI.

People have a right to profit from their work. What these generative AI products are doing amounts to theft.

TransUnion reckons big dump of stolen customer data came from someone else

AbeSapian

Credit Locked Since 2017

Ever since Equifax dumped all my information on the dark web I've kept my credit locked. After that, all the other breaches have pretty much become redundant.

Cop warrant orders Ring to cough up footage from inside this guy's home

AbeSapian

Time to Revise Their Corporate Structure

It looks like most of Ring's corporate structure can now be replaced by a bunch of tech savvy lawyers. I suspect all they'll be doing from now on is processing search warrants.

Ransomware crooks steal 3m+ patients' medical records, personal info

AbeSapian

Equifax

Equifax donated my entire credit information and history to the dark web years ago (why are they still in business). I froze my credit then. Lately Experion decided to make their contribution to identity theft. Between the two of these monsters, what can a measly hospital do? It's to the point where it's hardly worth mentioning any more.

Scottish space upstart's rocket crashes into the drink

AbeSapian

Points of Order

1) Maybe this was really planned as payback for all those Viking raids.

2) I thought most rocket launches took place near the equator to take advantage of gravity and the Earth's rotation. And ...

3) Using their glossy sales video when talking about their unplanned flight path was cold Reg - real cold.

AbeSapian

Re: No such thing as failure

It's just a learning experience.

Weird robot breaks down in middle of House of Lords hearing on AI art

AbeSapian

Ai-Da Will Not Pass The Turing Test

While Ai-Da will not pass the Turing Test, I found this presentation fascinating. Ai-Da is a crude tool. I say that not to denigrate the thousands of man-hours that went into her creation but because all tools start out that way.

What I found most interesting was the analogy of the camera that cropped up midway through the video. Some artists tried to throw their sabot at the camera to prove that it could never be used to create "ART". Others adopted the camera wholeheartedly to demonstrate that the new medium could be used to capture great drama and beauty in light and shadow. They were the ones that made photography into an art form of its own and proved the saboteurs wrong.

Ai-Da is a very early stage of AI. There are other forms of machine learning out there that are more sophisticated in their use of data analysis. However, they've also graphically demonstrated the age old computer science adage; Garbage In - Garbage Out. The question of "what is art" has been challenged again. I didn't see examples of Ai-Da's art. But I suspect most of the oxygen will be taken up with whether it's original or derivative.

Australian wasps threaten another passenger plane, with help from COVID-19

AbeSapian

Clues

Have they considered the red flags that the Navy uses on jets for the arming pins that have to be removed before flight?

Paper batteries on the cards to power IoT and smart labels

AbeSapian

Not to Rain on Their Parade

Didn't Alessandro Volta pretty much do the same thing in 1792?

Govt suggests Brits should hand passports to social media companies

AbeSapian

Are They High?

Do they not read the news?

Beware the techie who takes things literally

AbeSapian

Bad, Bad, Very Bad, Not Good

I'm not sure how it works in the UK but Frank would be in the Bog of Eternal Stench in the US. Retribution and restitution would be the order of the day. If I got the story right, Frank deleted everything. But the parts that Frank wrote belonged to the company. Frank might have been right to delete the shareware portion since the company didn't own that. But the portion that Frank wrote belonged to the company. Deleting that portion was a crime punishable both civilly and criminally.

Frank overstepped his authority.

Computer scientists at University of Edinburgh contemplate courses without 'Alice' and 'Bob'

AbeSapian

Master / Slave

So instead of Master / Slave, we should use something like Leader / Prisoners With Jobs?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=prz4jfSX_Qg

We have some sad news about Facebook. It has returned to the internet after six-hour mega outage

AbeSapian
Pirate

I love the Register

I love reading The Register because I always learn something - even if it's something I'll never use.

On a personal note: I was not even aware of the Facebook outage until I read this article. What does that tell you?

What can the 1944 OSS manual teach us before we all return to sabotage the office?

AbeSapian

You Scared the CIA

Apparently your article scared the CIA because they pulled down the link to the PDF. I had to find it on another site with a google search.

After searching the CIA site a couple of times, I wonder who will be knocking on my door next.

They were not the cloud you were looking for, insists Amazon Web Services in unsealed JEDI protest

AbeSapian

Garden of Earthly Delights

As a long time Microshaft user, I suspect the DoD will find that the demo (see Garden of Earthly Delights) will not match the delivered product (see Dante's Inferno). MS has a long history of ignoring product bugs that affect usability or performance.

One does not simply shove elephants on a ballet shoe point and call it an acceptable measure of pressure

AbeSapian

Knickers

Well! Somebody has their knickers in a knot. Is there a Reg Standard Unit for that?

Biden projected to be the next US President, Microsoft joins rest of world in telling Trump: It looks like... you're fired

AbeSapian

To The Editor

The name of the party is The Democratic Party. When referring to the party's nominee, the correct phrase is Democratic contender. Calling the nominee the Democrat contender is a right wing trope to denigrate the Democratic party.

In reference to the party one is the Democratic contender or Democratic nominee.

An individual may be referred to as a Democrat.

But if you wish, the Republicans may be referred to as:

republicans,

Repugnants,

Repubs,

Repugs,

or a$$ hats.

Feeling saucy? Microsoft would like you to use .NET 5.0 'go live' release in production to track down 'critical bugs'

AbeSapian

Yet Another .Net

Is this yet another incompatible release of the .Net framework? MS doesn't seem to understand the concept of upward compatibility. How many tons of this crap do I have to carry around with me?

What do you call megabucks Microsoft? No really, it's not a joke. El Reg needs you

AbeSapian

What's in a Name

My preferred handle is Microshaft.

"He Who Must Not Be Named" was taken. Besides, it's too wordy.

Land Where Ideas Go To Die

Not A Bug It's A Feature.

Smithfield for Software

There's a black hole lurking within 1,000 light years of Earth – and you can see stars circling it with the naked eye

AbeSapian

No Planetary Nebula

I'm not an astronomer, but I think the lack of a planetary nebula suggests the black hole is very old. It's either been swallowed by the black hole, or the companion stars leaving nothing visible.

AbeSapian

Re: Starman on his way...?

Now we know why Elon launched that Tesla. So Tom Cruise could have a cool car to save us from the black hole in.

Get in the lake, Sparky: Databricks touts new ingestion file sources

AbeSapian

They Missed a Bet

Instead of data lakes, they should have called it Pensieve.

Good news, everyone: The US military says it will be ethically minded about how it develops AI

AbeSapian

Success Stories Every One

Colossus: The Forbin Project

HAL 9000

Sky Net

I feel safer already. What could possibly go wrong?

Come on baby light me on fire: McDonald's to sell 'Quarter Pounder' scented candles

AbeSapian

Which Is Worse

Which is worse, Goop Lab's vagina scented candle or a McDonald's Quarter Pounder scented candle.

We report, you decide.

Fed-up air safety bods ban A350 pilots from enjoying cockpit coffees

AbeSapian

Fate is the Hunter

Apparently they've never seen the movie Fate is the Hunter.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fate_Is_the_Hunter_(film)

Is everything OK over there, Britain? Have you tried turning the UK off and on again? ISPs, financial orgs fall over in Freaky Friday of outages

AbeSapian

Is Brexit BrokesIt?

It's all in the title. Of course, being in Ameirka, I can't talk too much. We're still Trumped.

Head of Apple's insider trading program charged with… you guessed it... insider trading

AbeSapian

Irony?

I would say this is dripping with irony were it not for the fact that this is just another day in the life.

Fraudster convicted of online banking thefts using… whatever the hell this thing is

AbeSapian

A Good Christian

I like the fact that his thievery device came complete with a picture of the holy family. It shows the right attitude towards his faith.

US govt confirms FCC's broadband speeds and feeds stats are garbage

AbeSapian

Telecommunications Ghetto

If you live in rural America you are forgotten. Only the lowest level of service from AT&T that can still be called DSL (speeds less than 1M) is available to me. My alleged other provider is Charter Communications, a cable company that can't be bothered to string a wire to my house. And a complaint to the FCC yielded a raft of phone calls and excuses and not results. And that was before Ajit (pronounced idiot) Pai made things worse.

4G found on Moon

AbeSapian

Telecommunication Ghettos

How about bringing some high speed service to the telecommunication ghettos, like where I live.

Survey: Tech workers are terrified they will be sacked for being too old

AbeSapian

Inexorable

What Zuk et. al. fail to realize is that they too are inexorably heading towards old stale fartdom themselves.

Cancel the farewell party. Get back to work. That asteroid isn't going to hit Earth in October

AbeSapian

Damn!

I was so looking forward to watching Mar-a-Lago go sput.

Blocking peeps on social media? That's a paddlin' for governors, senators, house reps

AbeSapian

Re: The more i read about America...

We fought a war on that topic.

AbeSapian

Re: Meh!

The point being that this use of social media constitutes official communication from an elected official. Every one of their constituents has the right to access that information. And if comments are allowed, every one of their constituents has the right to weigh in whether they agree or not, whether they like the official or not.

Microsoft dumps mobility from its Vision

AbeSapian

Oooh - So Close and Yet So Far

I guess this means that we can look forward to a Windows 11 that fails to grasp basic computing requirements at a higher level.

Microsoft! I didn't need a bigger tablet. And I don't need a walky-talky that doesn't understand what I need.

Fake Newspaper steals Reg design to spruik storage upstart

AbeSapian

Imitation?

While imitation may be the sincerest form of flattery, money is the sincerest form of apology.

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