Posts by PNGuinn

Microsoft to spooks: WannaCrypt was inevitable, quit hoarding

"the certainty* of a new, shiny and probably very useful development"

... Which will be delivered by one or more of the usual suspects, very late, probably not before the perceived needs for it have expired, waaay over budget, the project reset at least 7 times, and incredibly tarnished and scratched.

Sadly, that's the certainty.

How many politicians dead in A & E will it take before the remaining few bite the bullet and REQUIRE that all NHS software moves to FOSS?

Triggering that and making it available worldwide would probably be worth several times our foreign aid budget.

NHS IT a (not the) clearing house for a vast international effort?

Japanese researchers spin up toilet paper gyroscopes for science

"One that wouldn't get bogged down"

Yup, confirmation that I'm reading elReg again ...

So, an internet connected bog roll gyroscope - totally secure of course.

Will they be providing a couple of power outlets so I can bring in my smart toaster and fridge freezer with me to the karzy so that they can all discuss the results and alter my diet for me?

Seriously, considering the amount of smart rubbish many idiots seem to carry about with them the opportunities for data mining and mischief must be endless.

FAIL.

For now, GNU GPL is an enforceable contract, says US federal judge

Re: Technical Point @frank ly

The GPL

Yes, sure. You may have his / my / our GPL'd software, including source code, for free. No cost. Nada.

You may do what you like with it. Anything. Legal or not - that's up to you and your jurisdiction. You are responsible - not him / me / us. And - NO GUARANTEES IF IT BREAKS - but you do get to keep both halves.

AND you may modify the code.

BUT if you modify the program AND DISTRIBUTE THE MODIFICATION YOU DO HAVE TO PAY.

The price is THE SOURCE CODE OF YOUR MODIFICATION(s). FREE FOR ALL. Under the GPL.

O2 continues to splash out on 4G ahead of rumoured IPO

Hey. O2

Reliable GSM coverage just north of Sudbury in Suffolk would be nice, you know.

When you can get that to work, we'll talk about 3g, OK?

WannaCrypt ransomware snatches NSA exploit, fscks over Telefónica, other orgs in Spain

Extradite the NSA

Someone whisper in Mayhem's ear - The NSA are a terrorist outfit. Extradite someone. We need to demand heads. heads I tell you, before someone gets embarrassed.

Alternatively, someone hit her very hard and loud with the truth - this sort of thing is EXACTLY why gvt mandated back doors are a VERY bad idea. EVERYTHING will leak / be stolen eventually, especially if it's "owned" by government.

Huge flying arse makes successful test flight

Re: I'm glad...

" I wouldn't want my cockpit crushed again ..."

Wouldn't it have been easier to stuff the cockpit further up the crack?

Re: 'world's largest flying craft' - I think not... @Loyal Commentard

I thought the very definition of flying was to throw yourself at the ground and miss?

Yess, it's the on with the appropriate guide in the pocketses.

Mozilla to Thunderbird: You can stay here and we may give you cash, but as a couple, it's over

- the dominate corporate email client is Outlook

So - what's the safe word?

Re: Pointless interface changes ? @404

Basturds. Fecalware.

Brilliant. I shall steal both of those terms ASAP.

Upvoted

Comet 67P's oxygen could be a breath of fresh air

Re: Test Comment, please disregard

Clangers. Or the Soup Dragon.

Is there anything Chicken Soup can’t do?

The comet needs to have the O2 convert to O3

Nah -

Need to knock off that other O - leaving THREE.

Might get some coverage then ....

RBS is to lay off 92 UK techies and outsource jobs to India – reports

Re: Indian skills? What skills?

Isn't one of the problems that if an Indian techie is any good he can earn relatively silly money in the US, UK or Yurrup. So all the good ones leave ... leaving the tat and the newly graduated. When the competent among the latter have gone and got some experience (ie made their mistakes and learnt from them) and got a decent cv they ... rinse and repeat.

Note to beancounters:

Pay peanuts - get monkeys.

DSL inventor's latest science project: terabit speeds over copper

Re: Actually no

But would it work in Milton Keynes? (Ally cables.)

Seriously, does this waveguide effect require a decent smooth bit of copper?

What about all the dinks in the conductor caused by crimps and IDC terminals in all those joints?

Security / crosstalk?

Etc.

Sounds a nice idea but I'd like to see some real world test results first.

IBM freezes contractor hires to keep full-time workers fully occupied

One thing's for sure

The beancounters and HR droids will be the last to leave - in reserved lifeboats as usual. Right behind the manglement luxury yatchets.

'Crazy bad' bug in Microsoft's Windows malware scanner can be used to install malware

Re: So now we can only hope... @PG

"there are still dozens of users out there who no longer trust Microsoft"

"there are still up to a dozen users out there who still trust Microsoft"

FIFY

IBM: Customer visit costing £75 in travel? Kill it with extreme prejudice

rationing the toilet paper

Nah - that's so last century.

Get with it - we're into recycling now.

Corporate gob-speak and all that.

Italian F-35 facility rolls out its first STOVL stealth fighter

Re: a train that could actually go faster than 40 km/h in winter[

"Shit, that's a *lot* better than we have over here, sign 'em up! Our trains don't even run if there's a slight chill in the air!"

Yeah, but I bet they don't have the sane kind of snow and leaves we have!

Re: Remote Brick...?

Presumably when we ordered ours we insisted they came with the source code, compiler and source code for the compiler?

Re: Norwich

A good yokel's substitute for Slough?

NFN

TTFN

goose-stepping zombies

As a Brit who voted FOR brexit I am rather convinced that the goose-stepping zombies were and are on the remain side.

It'll come as an awful shock to many of 'em when / if they realise that.

Today's bonkers bug report: Microsoft Edge can't print numbers

Someone needs to look at the source code for this ...

What's the betting that somewhere there's lines to the effect of

Put best foots forward...

BANG! BANG!

Oh my.

systemd-free Devuan Linux hits RC2

Boston Molasses Disaster @ Jake

And note that this is a moving target.

'Merican is rapidly giving way to Indlish and Chindlish.

Advice from your former masters: Learn to play cricket - it's the only way.

Or realise the error of your ways, say sorry and return to the fold. Downside - you'll have to replace POTUS Trump with PM TM.

Hmmm - Joke or troll icon - Methinks I'll go for the latter.

User loses half of a CD-ROM in his boss's PC

Re: He was lucky

You should have filled the crack with copious quantities of superglue before inserting the disc.

At least that would have saved you the trouble of dismantling the drive ...

Curiosity Rover's drill is ill. But chill: we can dig Martian sand instead of rocking hard

Sand ...

Next communique from NASA:

"Drill instability now fixed - Rover drill now fully bolloxed by sand ingestion"

OK El reg - invent a daft headline for that one!

“A balky brake appears to be affecting ..."

Balky.

A bit of Martian I have not yet had the privilege to learn.

Que, anyone?

Windows 10 S forces Bing, Edge on your kids. If you don't like it, get Win10 Pro – Microsoft

In other news ...

Redmond company makes news by appealing on social media for massive multiple foot transplant.

Gets sent box of decomposing sloths by well-wisher.

Gamers red hot with fury over Intel Core i7-7700 temperature spikes

"Chipzilla remembers what computers are for; 8.3/10"

Chipzilla remembers what computers are for; 8.3008732/10

FIFY.

Anyone got a spare bridge to sell? It's getting a bit crowded under this one.

Not Intel's fault

Probably the mobo makers fault misusing some unused undocumented pinouts?

Probable Intel workaround: Dynamically divide clock speed by 2.0005467399999 .....

I'm tired - help me - was it the whale or the bowl of petunias who said ....

> See icon.

Secure Boot booted from Debian 9 'Stretch'

UEFI secure boot booted from Debian 9

So?

Who needs Secure Boot when you've got systemd?

China launches aircraft carrier the length of 13.6 brontosauruses

Shurely the length should measured in double-decker buses?

Shirly not.

Maritime use rules please. Oak smoked kippers.

Super-secure Pi-stuffed nomx email server box given a good probing

BS detector red linning.

MY bullshit detector's got a SILVER lining.

MY bullshit detector's more SHINY than your bullshit detector.

MY bullshit detector's MORE SECURE than your bullshit detector ...

NO, you can't play with MY bullshit detector. I don't want your sticky dabs on it's shiny ...

Any buzzwords I missed?

Unicorn Bumfluf?

Pureed Leprechaun livers?

Systemd?

Intel redesigns flawed Atom CPUs to stave off premature chip death

So what exactly have they done inside and what will be the consequences?

Has anyone any idea what exactly have Intel done here? It sounds like a horrible frig.

It sure looks like some kind of cheapest / least effort fix. I wonder what the time / cost implications were to doing it properly?

Which raises the question "What's the expected time to failure now, Intel?"

And, assuming the brute isn't soldered in, "May I have my replacement chip now, please?"

In reality, I presume in almost all cases it will be, so it will be down to the device manufacturers.

So its not likely to be "We'd like n new chips, please." Rather "ARRRAGH - you barstewards - you've borked the pinouts. We'll need n new boards as well"

I suspect Intel'll have to cut some *very* good deals to keep their customers sweet, let alone keep 'em at all long term.

Diddums.

Don't install our buggy Windows 10 Creators Update, begs Microsoft

Re: How do you abort the update? @ Updraft102

"Microsoft has blessed"

Oh, look - a new meaning for the word bless ....

You really do learn something precious every day.

Lyrebird steals your voice to make you say things you didn't – and we hate this future

Re: And some banks are starting to use

The Inland Revenue are trialling voice recognition as an "additional" security.

I put it off last time by making the most 'orrible distressed animal noises. Computer probably thought I was from the north east or Luvverpule and eventually gave up.

"Any bank offering this will become very quickly my ex-bank !!!"

Can I make the IR my ex IR?

PC sales are up across Europe. You read that right. PC sales are up

There you go - @ anthonyhegedus

--- corbynista ---

May I have a small prize?

>> I presume you'll need yours.

systemd-free Devuan Linux hits version 1.0.0

Why do you _NOT WANT SYSTEMD_ out of interest?

"It's an elegant system" ...

"Elegant" is not a description I'd use personally.

"Cancerous octopus" springs to mind.

Y'know I STILL hope Devuan withers and dies, the sooner the better ... But the prospect of the Debian project eating some crow and seeing sense seems further away than ever.

So great work guys - I grabbed the relevant downloads last night just before I saw this this morning.

My production box is running Old Stable - so I'll need to upgrade shortly _AND I DON'T WANT SYSTEMD_ so I'll have a serious play with this.

Hopefully, unless things change elsewhere, this project will gain momentum and become the hub of a new distribution ecosytstem (like the way Mint sits/sat on Umbongo which sits on Debian). With so much of the heavy lifting to get this far done the nest release will hopefully follow on next Debian a bit more quickly and the team will be able to take a long look at a few other issues they're bothered about. Including everything pottering is trying to suck into systemd.

Shooting org demands answers from Met Police over gun owner blab

... promoting the products of a private company?

That depends very much what kind of "private" company.

If it was your or my company - (hopefully) oohh no sorry can't do - security, data protection, abuse of a public office etc.

If, hypothetically, it was a "private" company owned / run by one of their mates / ex colleagues then (hopefully not) "Sure thing, Harry, I'll get the list copied off for you right away. Buy us a drink down the Lodge tonight, eh? Drop you the pendrive then ok?

But we all know that the Met are whiter than white, so impossible. Move along, nothing to see here.

Drunk user blow-dried laptop after dog lifted its leg over the keyboard

Re: Good on Jim Re dog

Are you sure it was the dog?

After all the guy admitted getting home pissed ......

Farewell Unity, you challenged desktop Linux. Oh well, here's Ubuntu 17.04

Re: My thoughts on this ...

"Xubuntu (XFCE) is also pretty good. I wonder why they don't make that the standard desktop."

Common bloody sense that's why.

> Thanks - its the one hanging over the zimmer frame.

Cuffing Assange a 'priority' for the USA says attorney-general

Just don't tag the expense as a duck house..

I wonder what a creative type could put a long holiday in <ahem> fact finding tour of the Ecuadorian Embassy as?

Ker -Ching!

Official Secrets Act

"Signing" the OFA is utterly meanlingless.

You get a dirty dogeared card shoved in front of you with one tiny verselet of the act.

You're asked to read it, in front of some human resorces dweeb, and sign a bit of paper to say that you've done so.

You never get to see the bloody act, let alone get given a copy. You're none the wiser.

Anyways, we're ALL bound by the act, regardless of whether we've read or signed it.

Just security theatre.

Re: Is an Australian even allowed to run for Parliament?

"Also he'd have trouble doing any of the usual duties an MP"

Since when has that stopped any of 'em in the past??

Re: Ah, yes, I nearly forgot about him

What's all this guff about press outfits being neutral?

Either you or me are living in some sort of infinitely improbable universe.

What's the probability of one of us finding out who's the lucky bastard?

Accept for a second that robot surgeons exist. Who will check they're up to the job – and how?

00. No Labotomy

6. Full Labotomy

FIFY.

Ambient light sensors can steal data, says security researcher

I think you may all have missed the point ...

W3C mulling over whether websites should be able to access the light sensor? Why?

Well if a website can access the sensor, they can presumably get access to the brightness controls ...

ADZ AT NEWCKLEAR BRIGHTNESS LEVELZ??

No, the wouldn't would they?

Mastercard launches card that replaces PIN with fingerprint sensor

Right, first off ...

The fingerprint is stored on the card ....

Really - NO WAY Mastercard. You can stick that one sideways where the sun don't shine for a start. and then insert your finger to operate the reader.

How easy will it be to clone a few dozen of these cards, with modified fingerprints?

As an additional relatively low security ADDITION to chip and pin, with some kind of stored hash, possibly.

But before you go any further, let me have a card WITHOUT WIRELESS you morons.

Can you make a warzone delivery drone? UK.gov wants to give you cash

Obligatory

Hey, Sarge - what's that drone just brought us?

Three and fourpence and a couple of dance tickets lad.

D'oh.

Re: When you think about it, isn't there a lot of obvious work to be done here?

@ Martin Milan

Where's the Samsung fridge and the toaster come into this then? I mean, someone's got to discuss the requirements ...