Posts by Atomic Duetto

Google Maps to roll out Trump-approved Denali and Gulf of Mexico rebrands

Mineland.. defrost, dig and drill baby

After all, he’s already decided it will be mine, mine, mine.

US Army soldier who allegedly stole Trump's AT&T call logs arrested

Re: Reddington?!?

No, no.. that’s Paddingthai who has been shacked up with some very old Communist silver back guerrillas (in the mist?) waiting for Ripley to sort things out.

The billionaire behind Trump's 'unhackable' phone is on a mission to fight Tesla's FSD

In 1982, my dad signed us up for a MIDAS account (dial up internet gateway, Australia 1979) and using my newly minted Commodore VIC20 and a 300baud modem we logged into a bulletin board in the US where we proceeded to play some text based adventure games and download some news and stuff (recipes ?). Heady stuff for a young high school kid in Forbes, Central West NSW. Population 7,500 peeps.

So yep, it was available to the public… even in the middle of bumfucknowhere, if you knew where to look

(we’ve got loads of it round the back).

Europa Clipper heads to Jupiter: Can its icy moon support life?

Deep cut

Apparently [Robert A. Heinlein] we were going to terraform Ganymede for farming, so slamming 6tonne objects into it was an early mission objective baked in as the first step in pulverising what was (then) assumed to be rock to make soil. Good to see Space Patrol coming along too.

Trump campaign cites Iran election phish claim as evidence leaked docs were stolen

Re: A formula?

I’m a left handed marxist, and so is my wife!

Boeing's Q2 nosedive buoyed by appointment of new CEO

Re: Show MEASURES

I had to google that. That said, I’m none the wiser what it has to do with doors falling off aircraft or astronauts left in space. Honestly, you guys need to stop gaslighting and arguing with each other. You’re (we’re) all going around in circles.

CrowdStrike's Falcon Sensor also linked to Linux kernel panics and crashes

“Kurtz therefore has the possibly unique and almost-certainly-unwanted distinction of having presided over two major global outage events caused by bad software updates.”

“Once is happenstance. Twice is coincidence. Three times is enemy action”

At the very least he should be on Oprah to explain himself.

CrowdStrike shares sink as global IT outage savages systems worldwide

Re: things that are running

Until 2038… when it will be a surprise for everybody (and nobody here).

CrowdStrike file update bricks Windows machines around the world

…. how long until somebody blames them (Kaspersky) for leaving a parting gift. Make a good movie

(Edit.. beat me to it)

Chinese space company accidentally launches rocket in test gone wrong

Re: That's What Happens...

…. and then bolted together by Spirit/Boeing.

SoftBank boss says 'artificial superintelligence' could be three years away

So… 10,000 can’t be defined errors then.

I don’t think the Reg has a unit of measure for intelligence, actually, I don’t think anybody has a unit of measure or even (agreed) definition. May I propose the Masayoshi as a place holder for when/if this is ever quantified by out machine overlords. Perhaps one Mayayoshi could equal an unladen murmuration of rising swallows (European of course)

A tale of two missions: Starliner and Starship both achieve milestones

Re: "before toppling over into the ocean"

Just for a accuracy and completeness

I took Dave’s (Brian’s?) comment above, “Had there been a structure in place, it wouldn't have toppled over.” to be so broad as to include landing legs or a tower with chopsticks, a gate lounge, expensive duty free… in the same way saying “blessed are the cheesemakers” is “not meant to be taken literally, it refers to any manufacturers of all dairy products.

London hospitals left in critical condition after ransomware attack

Re: Plan B. Have one.

Yes.

My comment was simply that ubiquitous 24/7 connectivity to everything (prod/dev/data) is the issue.

Where needed (is it needed), is it secure?

I appear to have introduced my own simpleton straw/paper man by mentioning historical business practices.

I was not passing comment on the lab services required by the NHS.

FFS

Re: Plan B. Have one.

I’m old enough to remember when scientific instruments used either for research or process control (XRD, XRF, particle size, CNC, etc.) were controlled by PC but NOT connected to the LAN, WAN, Cloud.. because it simply didn’t exist yet. Most all services are now beholden to the enshitiffication of the IT world because profit driven companies decided the OS needed to phone home for a license key, patches, additional storage, or even the actual processing… whatever, to maintain and control revenues.

Connectivity, the internet is not what it once was (or thought it could be). Switch it all off, define the actual business requirement and start again. Paper and people to shuffle it are cheap and plentiful.

My mother (85 last week) was once one of a few people (5) that could manage the staff payroll of a four figure govt. dept. without waiting for the cloud or being held hostage by an external actor. Some of these “IT services” are not better, they’re just “data driven” honey pots for profiteering (by large software co., ext. consultants, criminal orgs, state actors).

Another week, another leak for Boeing's Starliner crew capsule

Re: the leak is stable and "would not pose a risk at that level during the flight."

They have MCAS enabled for any unplanned eventuality … just haven’t documented or told anybody (plausible deniability)

We never agreed to only buy HP ink, say printer owners

Re: It’s about the use case

I don’t think many people do, it’s also (as stated) not a very economic way to do things. But, for an outlier, my ex just retrained (nursing degree, was already an BSC Eng.) and still insisted on printing out every page/screen of online course material and assessments with supporting peer review papers.

I gave up - but there were easily +6,000 pages.

I have two ecotank’s. I live in Brisbane (hot/humid). One of the printers is on a shelf next to a permanently (365, it’s warm/hot here, and cat) open sliding door overlooking the river. Lately it doesn’t get used (last child is paperless). I just fired it up from my iPad, it’s been 5mths since it was last used. Worked perfectly. InkJet technology will work when built properly (take note HP/Canon/etal), they don’t all dry up/out. It also doesn’t run cleaning cycles until required (after a long period.. which was longer than 5mths it would seem).

Some products, even though previous experience might suggest they won’t.. just work. This is one of the very few.

I suspect they did it to restore their reputation, probably at a loss.

I have no financial interest in Epson.

Re: This feels like an own goal...

I have two of these (locations). Bought as dented box specials direct from Epson for significant discount. Both perfect and still firing up and working on demand whenever required. Been through two sets of bottled ink on each. Had zero drama. The only catch seems** to be a counter controlled waste (ink) box that needs to be replaced at some stage (as opposed to just cleaned). So I bought one of those too.. original is still counting though, several (tens of) reams later.

It just works. Best printer I’ve used, let alone maintained in decades. I don’t recall hating on Epson (as I do HP/Sony/etal), but if they did have a bad printer reputation it’s been recovered with this product. Just works, easy to refill, cheap.

** has a counter that can’t be reset (I believe)

Microsoft gets new Windows boss as Start Menu man Parakhin 'to explore new roles'

Re: "Start Menu man Parakhin"

I did this very thing on a Commodore 64. Taught myself a bit of assembler and got it to work (two characters, one eight block byte). Was very, very slow and looked pants, but hey.. it worked! From memory lowercase was easier to read, given the characters were only 3bits wide (one bit kerning).

Ahead of IPO, Reddit blends advertising into user posts

Bloody hell…

..now I genuinely want to try some Smark Jelly on toast!

(I still Vegemite daily)

Stratolaunch's air-launched test vehicle hits supersonic speed

Optional

Wingspan is 117m for those playing along at home.

Employees saved Musk from himself over Twitter Files

Re: For sure he’s a dick/ or special even

He may be many things, but he’s not fucking Hitler. By equating them you are diminishing the evil that Hitler and the Nazis brought on the world. Grow the fuck up and get some perspective.

For sure he’s a dick/ or special even

But why are you equating him with Hitler by calling him Xitler?

Seems a stretch, and also a bit disrespectful to those who suffered or were systematically killed.

Just call him Elon, we all know who the fuck he is.

Boeing-backed air taxi upstart Wisk plans to fly you across town at UberX prices by 2030

Follow the loss

More interested in what benefit Boeing obtain by financing this… or is it some (Elonwannabe) executive vanity.

Trident missile test a damp squib after rocket goes 'plop,' fails to ignite

Give it to me one time now

"Derelicte"

Got to hit me (hit me)

Hit me (hit me)

Hit me with those laser beams

Apple Vision Pro units returned as folks just can't see themselves using it

Yep. It means I can go out without a phone or wallet/cards (purse/bag/pockets) and still be a functioning contactable member of society if required. It’s very likely the most useful shiny I’ve ever been given (and I’d likely not have bought it for myself as I originally thought it just another shiny, I was wrong).

Worried about the impending demise of Windows 10? Google wants you to give ChromeOS Flex a try

I could be missing your point, but

Herpes and Syphilis are in no way equal.

Syphilis, whilst devastating if left to run, can be completely cured/remediated and removed.

Herpes (1, 2 etal) is with you for life, no cure. It hides in your nervous system, can reactivate at any time and can/will kill. It can be controlled with drugs, sorta.

NASA solar sail tech is ready – now who's up to use it in a mission?

I think we’re getting ahead of ourselves, NASA need to turn off the Enya CD and sit down and consultant with some Cetaceans before they start throwing sharks and lasers into fricken orbit.

PiStorm turbocharges vintage Amigas with the Raspberry Pi

Re: Distractions

You should definitely try and get close to your kids…

Work to resolve binary babble from Voyager 1 is ongoing

Your Imperial Roman mile (Agrippa) is a little over 67 Brontosaurus (asanyfuleknowcenturion!).

According to NASA (JPL), Voyager One is travelling at 0.567% of the maximum velocity of a sheep in a vacuum, and will take a little over 100 Scaramucci to reach a 24 light hours away

Alaska Airlines' door-dropping flight was missing bolts

There are large springs at the bottom of the door to take its weight and help it move up. There are also guide tracks and rollers on the side of the door/aperture to move it out when it slides up. The whole thing is designed to easily move up and out.. when required. Ie. when it’s an emergency exit door .. as opposed to a when it’s a plug that’s bolted (or zip tied in this case) permanently closed.

I’m not getting on a Boeing again, unless it’s old.. really old

Re: "... when you replace a skilled worker with an unskilled worker ..."

The same NTSB photo does show a single “approved” zip tie (bottom right) that reduced both cost and weight. I imagine the fact that it managed to hold the doorplug in/on for 154 flights has been noted internally and a second redundant zip tie will now be offered (cost plus) on any new airframes…

US starts 'emergency' checks on cryptocurrency power use, citing winter power demands

Gosh

Really?

Farkin!

Is there a link to support this (I can’t be arsed goggling it.. saving my carbon footprint an all). That’s amazing, that and the 0.55% of global power consumption.. fuckme, somebody put the entitled (pointless) crypto bros up against a wall

I expect the downvotes to be excessive (as is their nature).

Boeing goes boing: 757 loses a wheel while taxiing down the runway

Edited to add…. https://x.com/MattCVaHi/status/1749854135908696561?s=20

Sure looks like an entire wheel has left the play to me. Seems the “tyre” comment is down to the pilot who says this in the ATC recording.

Clearly went down a rabbit hole, because I’m a pedantry hypocrite.. :)

I don’t understand the pedantry about wheels and tyres.

Are people above (as opposed to the FAA report) saying that just the tyre/tire (just the rubber bit) came off the wheel (generally accepted everywhere as the metal bit that may or may not include a tyre dependant upon use case)? Anybody got a link to “it was just the tyre!”

Either way it’s a bloody big issue for the aircraft, and given its age the people who own it and are responsible for maintaining it (even if that is outsourced) are still responsible. The Boeing bit is just click bait fluff, but then Boeing is now in the departure hall at FuckedCompany.com so people are rightly interested and aware. I don’t fly very much anymore, but I’d be wary of getting in their product these days and would certainly check before booking. I don’t think I’m alone in this.

While we fire the boss, can you lock him out of the network?

Re: ?

Came here expecting “Cows with guns”, wasn’t disappointed.. never gets old.

Not even poor Notepad is safe from Microsoft's AI obsession

I seem to have gone off on my own tangent… beer anybody?

To be honest, even 179Kb seems excessive for a simple text editor. But then, I started in an environment with a little under 4Kb on a VIC20 buggering around with BASIC and assembler to make things faster. I could print (star dot matrix) and use a modem and dial up via US BB’s via MIDAS to access ASCII porn. What the hell do they need 179Kb for let alone 7Mb ?!

I eventually graduated to 64Kb (banked), a SID chip and Attack of the Mutant Camels by Llamasoft.. peak computing I reckon. We were even discussing/playing with pattern recognition algorithms (AI!!!). No marketing or influencers to talk it up yet though, just a BMX/skateboard, ice cold Sunnyboy or a Raz and a poster of Nicole (OEM) or Elle in the Moove commercial and the threat of don’t come home until it’s dark (mum and dad are busy).

HP customers claim firmware update rendered third-party ink verboten

If it doesn’t, just replace it with an Epson Ecotank version. I’ve had one (two actually), sitting in a cupboard, switched on, printing the odd document here or (several) reams of UNI online learnings there (we just had to have a copy apparently). Refilled it with ink once. It can go months without a thought, then just fires up on demand. Hasn’t stopped, jammed, dried out or complained yet. It just works… amazing.

Welcome to 2024: Volkswagen really is putting ChatGPT into cars as a gabby copilot

There’s a naughties joke in there somewhere…

As for VW marketings spin that “ChatGPT does not gain access to any vehicle data; questions and answers are deleted immediately to ensure the highest possible level of data protection”. There are squillions of TDI that would like to have a word with the regulator about CO2 emissions, depending on where they are of course…

GDPR my arse

Code archaeologist digs up oldest known ancestor of MS-DOS

Re: Shift left, people.

Sometimes we only wanted a nibble, didn’t want to waste a whole byte. That said, you could still go a high nibble with tea and pinky if you wanted to set a scene or something more significant

People power made payroll support in putrid places prodigiously perilous

Re: Somebody needs to cut the sh*t out

Locals throwing rocks in Bougainville (Papua New Guinea) would be the least of your worries if it kicked off. I once had a pair of RayBans taken (by machete) as a toll for filling in potholes in the road. You don’t fuck around in those parts. Beautiful place though (sans mining)

What's the golden age of online services? Well, now doesn't suck

ICQ

Uh-oh…

America's ambitious Artemis III likely to miss 2025 Moon landing date, auditors sigh

Re: Delay

Why are you so angry ?

Stop shaming service providers for outages, argues APNIC chief scientist

Re: Indeed...

Err.. as far as I know (and you suggest), Dodo (in Australia) is a (mobile) virtual network operator which solely uses the Optus network. The other (physical) choices are Telstra and Vodaphone (unsure about iiNet).

Soo.. the only thing Dodo did, was run (away) with your money (and give it to Optus)

Perhaps they gave some (money/data) back due to the outage providing better value for money?

.... a quick search suggest Dodo did Jack

SpaceX's Starship on the roster for Texas takeoff

Re: Is it just me

Depends

As I understand it, SpaceX wrote the actions, it would have looked a bit unprofessional if they ran with just two that said fill in the BFHole that the BFRocket made and throw a bejus sprinkler in to regrow the wetlands and put out future fires. A whole team of professionals were likely engaged to turn a Directors single verbal requirement into (several) documents, a plan, budget, benefits analysis…. I've seen things you people wouldn't believe. Attack ships on fire off the shoulder of Orion. I watched c-beams glitter in the dark near the Tannhäuser Gate. All those moments will be lost in time, like tears in rain.

Also, blowing shit up (or watching) is fun