Posts by Doctor Syntax

Things that make you go .hm... Has a piece of the internet just sunk into the ocean? It appears so

Good to hear that it's all turned out OK but it would be nice to think IANA would be prompted to look at succession planning.

Yay, we got a B for maths. Literally, a bee: Little nosy nectar nerds smart enough to add, abstract numbers

Re: Geometry too

I think the ruler is the bee itself. The workers are pretty well standard in size. Regular hexagons are optimal for packing units into an area so if bees are making bee-sized cells as close together as possible regular hexagons are what are produced.

The really interesting geometry is projecting a scaled map of a the horizontal route to a food source onto the vertical surface of the comb.

Hey, UK.gov: If you truly spunked £45k on 1,300 Brexit deal print-outs, you're absolute mugs

Presumably this is outsourced since we're regularly told that the private sector can to things far more efficiently than the government: in house capacity doesn't exist any more.

Re: Look at it another way

"Lulu Press charge £12.80 for that in the sort of quantities required."

Are you comparing similar page sizes?

UK transport's 'ludicrous' robocar code may 'put lives at risk'

First requirement should be to place a substantial amount of money in escrow up-front from which to compensate the collateral damage on a no-quibble, no-delay basis. Keep that topped up or the trial stops.

Bypass the insurance companies altogether. The trialists can put their money where their mouths are. It's the least they can do. After all the rest of us don't get to choose our risks from this.

Fujitsu pitched stalker-y AI that can read your social media posts as solution to Irish border, apparently

I still have fond memories of the consternation caused by a group apparently smuggling 2nd-hand VCRs across the border hidden in a load of bricks in a pickup with no chassis number. It turned out that it was the bricks that were stolen. They'd have got away with it if they hadn't been overheard by an off-duty customs officer boasting about the red-diesel scam in a pub which got them stopped and searched next morning. Sometimes life exceeds all your expectations.

What do the propose to do about the situations where the border runs through farms, even through houses?

Re: I've got the perfect solution

You'll never get anywhere. It doesn't leverage a single thing.

London's Met police confess: We made just one successful collar in latest facial recog trial

Re: *just* one successful arrest?

"Or am I missing the point?"

One point you're missing is that money wasted on this hasn't been spent more productively and even legally elsewhere.

Re: Funding??

The commissioner's pay would be a good start. And anybody else who signed off on it.

Boffin suggests Trappist monk approach for Spectre-Meltdown-grade processor flaws, other security holes: Don't say anything public – zip it

"I don't believe FreeBSD was notified."

AIUI they didn't know anything about it until elReg's story went out. All this tells us is that if something is responsibly disclosed to the vendor the vendor should take steps to responsibly disclose it to all those who could be affected.

"Should this guy be teaching?"

I was wondering what branch of engineering he was teaching in and how to avoid any products his students might have had a hand in.

"they're more likely to turn the updates back on and get the fix"

And have other upgrades break stuff. Sometimes you can't win.

Re: Know thy enemy (bugs in this case)

"sometimes, camouflage is your only hope because your adversary has access to superior technology"

The superior technology may well be rendering your camouflage useless anyway in which case all it contributes is a false sense of security.

RIP, RDP... nearly: Security house Check Point punches holes in remote desktop tools

"So the Microsoft client doesn't have any serious ... vulnerabilities but the Linux clients do?"

Either that or it doesn't have the code open-sourced for examination.

Not cool, man: Dixons spanked over discount on luxury 'smart' fridge with wildly fluctuating price

If you're spending that much on a fridge are you going to worry about a grand here or there on the price?

In fact, it probably gives you bragging rights:. You only spent how much? Mine cost a grand more than that.

Re: DFS

"Also, when are ASA going to grow a pair and actually punish retailers for misleading consumers?"

They're essentially a trade body. AFAICS they have no statutory powers. Unless the industry itself agrees to fine itself (the money presumably to go on trade junkets) they can't issue fines.

The real question is then is a govt going to grow a pair and replace the ASA with a statutory body that does have such powers?

I won't bother hunting and reporting more Sony zero-days, because all I'd get is a lousy t-shirt

will actively attempt to have those reporting such vulnerabilities portrayed and/or prosecuted as "hackers".

Years ago, when open FTP was still a thing (don't tell me it still is) I went onto a download site - a Norwegian Universtiy IIRC - and realised that I'd just cd ..ed past my original access directory. And then realised I could keep going. Maybe to / if I'd tried.

Maybe I should let them know. Maybe not. I decided "not" would be easier.

"see my mail sent to you at 18:37 on 15 Sep 2017"

Or in my case 11:57 11 Oct 2018.

Crypto exchange in court: It owes $190m to netizens after founder 'dies without telling anyone vault passwords'

Re: Crypto-busting test case

"any decent encryption is unbreakable in useful timescales"

And at any appropriate cost. There's be no point if it could be decrypted by use of resources that might cost 5 times the value of what's on there.

Re: As we get older...

"there is/was a widespread superstition that making a will brings forward your demise."

Or the simple fact that thinking about one's demise is not a pleasant thing to do and hence gets put off...and off ...and off.

Re: Bullshit

"the company would put all the cold storage cryptocurrency in one wallet"

The article puts wallets in the plural. But it still makes no sense to have a sole password holder. If there are multiple wallets then the passwords can be shared out between multiple trusted employees. A business such as this does have multiple trusted employees doesn't it? For extra security the passwords themselves could be split and handed to different employees.

Re: Bullshit

"If ...only one person held the passwords, then they deserve to be sued into oblivion."

If only one person held the passwords they don't need to be sued.

Civil liberties groups take another swing at Brit snooping regime in Euro human rights court

Don't panic. The HO will already have the next bill with some variation on Investigatory Powers in its title already to go to the printers bu the time a verdict is given. They probably have it ready now, just waiting for the dates to be added. Then we start all over again.

Thanks for all those data-flow warnings, UK.gov. Now let's talk about your own Brexit prep. Yep, just as we thought

Re: So, at what time on Friday 29th March 2019...

Probably April 1st after a weekend's panic buying has cleared the supermarket shelves.

Re: Brexit updates ...

"In all this time Theresa May and her collaborators spent a lot of time making nice speeches and appearing on the media and very little time at the negotiating table."

To be fair to May she did send one of her True Believers to negotiate. Then another. How many is it now?

Re: Brexit updates ...

Or his no true Scotsman story.

Re: Time to have another public Brexit vote?

"an unelected head of state"

Still preferable to a combined head of state and head of government - even if that combo were elected on a straight majority of votes.

Re: a second *binding* referendum and cancel the madness that is Brexit.

"How is it a dictatorship to implement a democratic vote?"

How democratic s it to implement an advisory vote as if it were binding?

Re: Time to have another public Brexit vote?

it's way overdue for you chaps to hold a second *binding* referendum

An excellent idea. Boris could launch the pro-Brexit campaign with a rousing speech in Sunderland.

Re: Brexit updates ...

"the remainer PM"

I never believed that. She's a brain washed Home Sec who'd like to get out from under the ECHR let alone the ECJ.

"the remainer civil service"

That'll be the folks who actually have to try to advise governments on what's practical in the real world. I wonder why they'd be remainers (except for the HO thinking about those pesky European courts).

Re: There is a solution!

"Who needs data transfer and fancy IT?"

Data transfer and fancy IT are two different things. I hope you're not running a business on the assumption they're not. Your data can exist in any form including hand-written. Your data transfer can be anything from handing someone that hand written not upwards. Your data processing can be shuffling through that pile of paper on your desk.

"However having fully implemented GDPR then the European Commission could very quickly agree adequacy of data protection whether there is a deal or not"

How quick is quickly? And your argument suggests that GDPR is implemented. The current DPA contains various weasel clauses to allow HMG a good bit of wrggle room. If the examiners don't like them then a new DPA is needed.

"I don't think anyone stopped using US servers when it was found that Safe Harbour was not adequate"

They went to relying on contractual clauses which are again under attack in the courts. In the case of HMG's data there probably isn't a contract in place. How do they get round that?

Re: a second *binding* referendum and cancel the madness that is Brexit.

In other words your bright idea has brought us the worst of all worlds.

Yup, there's a lot that's wrong with it but some of us contrive to avoid bringing sharp knives near our faces if we don't like what we see in the mirror.

Re: a second *binding* referendum and cancel the madness that is Brexit.

"The really old ones, who are old enough to remember WW2, are solidly remain. The baby boomers are leave"

Some of us are in between. Too young to actually remember WW2 but too old to be boomers. Damn categorisers!

Re: a second *binding* referendum and cancel the madness that is Brexit.

a write in option, with prizes for the most creative entry anything that looks as if it stands a chance of working.

FTFY

European Commission orders mass recall of creepy, leaky child-tracking smartwatch

"Sort of like what parents did in the olden days."

That might be an assumption too far for some parents.

Grumble Pai: FCC boss told by House Dems to try the novel concept of putting US folks first, big biz second

"He is not a politician but a civil servant and as such is obliged to explain his actions to Congress."

I can't help thinking that a useful weapon to have in dealing with refractory public servants would be the ability to put them under a degree of financial micromanagement if their relevant oversight committee becomes displeased with them. Each month they are required to report back to the committee on what they've done in regard to their key objectives and their monthly pay is only signed off if the committee is satisfied with what they're reported. Obvious precautions could be taken to verify the reports from time to time.

OK, it's early 2019. Has Leeds Hospital finally managed to 'axe the fax'? Um, yes and no

"can we cull the people who write a Word document and email it as an attachment when plain text would have been entirely adequate"

Yup, just as soon as we've finished culling all those who write emails in HTML without embedded links to graphics (we cull those after we've culled those who include links).

Re: paper records

"Photocopiers are your friend."

If you don't have one handy you can always fax yourself a copy.

Re: Problem ?

"Don't you remember the days that when you wanted to piss off your mate you just sent him a 100 page empty fax?"

No; at least I don't remember mates like you. I trust you're not making any decisions that affect the NHS.

Re: What about scan to email?

"But as always they blame goes back onto the staff for using this method"

And as always the blame would go back onto staff for not using the now withdrawn method when an alternative was unavailable for any reason.

I'd like to think that front-line NHS staff had a strong preference for any working method that came to hand rather than the recommendations of a Whitehall committee.

Are you saying the use cases of the NHS are those of primary schools?

Re: paper records

"Almost all prescriptions require signed paper documents. Most pharmacies expect to get these faxed to them by doctors for confirmation."

It's over a decade since I had anything to do with prescription systems so I've no idea what the back-end of the current ePrescriptions is but I'd be surprised if it was fax.

However the current system seems to depend on the patient having a specific pharmacy registered to the prescriber, the latter being a GP practice. This means that other prescribers such as dentists will still rely on paper. Also, at least in our case, the registered pharmacy is not the one next to the surgery so if a doctor wishes to write out a new or one-off prescription they will write or print off a paper script as this is a lot more convenient than chasing off to our registered pharmacy.

Slightly OT: Years ago our then GP's receptionist had a printer next to the PC. They obviously couldn't be bothered going to buy regular printer paper so they loaded it with FP10C, the fan-fold prescription forms, face-down. All prescription forms were produced as secure stationery, ordered by a secure process and consequently much more expensive than regular fan-fold. Even when it had print-out on the back the paper coming out of that printer would still have been valid prescription forms; the waste should have been securely disposed off if they weren't going to turn it over and print scripts on it.

Re: paper records

somebody still relies on "paper records" ?

When your email system went down and you didn't have a backup and the patient died the coroner might want to see them.

Techies tinker with toilet-topper to turn it into ticker-tracker

Re: a representative sample

"before you move on to all the tricky cases you hope to work with eventually"

Such working out who it is that's sitting there.

Tedious Service Bulletin: No prizes for guessing which UK bank's services are DOWN for business users

"it was primarily meant to be set up as a challenger bank on its own merits"

Management misread that as "challenged".

Re: Why do they still have customers?

"Lloyds were obliged to shed a bunch of customers because of government ownership. They could simply have offered incentives"

They actually used an alternative - being so bad some of us went elsewhere of our own volition.

Re: Why do they still have customers?

"But anyone who still maintains an account with them despite plentiful alternatives"

It was the behaviour of the former TSB that led to me abandoning Lloyds but as to the "plentiful alternates" they're only plentiful in terms of approximately matching awfulness. Awfulness includes all of them closing branches where I'd prefer to bank. Do actual branches matter? Yes, especially when you get online banking falling over and then telling customers to go to the local branch which doesn't exist for any acceptable value of local.

"Twitter-handlers suggested users head into a local branch"

What's a local branch?