Posts by Andy Non

Fukushima's radioactive hybrid terror pig boom was driven by amorous mothers

Re: Nuclear Powered Bacon!

Bring it on indeed, ordinary bacon is such a boar.

Microsoft dials up the nagging in Windows, calls it security

"or wanders into a user's sensitive files."

WARNING: Windows is trying to access your files! You are recommended to block this action.

Containers, cloud, blockchain, AI – it's all the same old BS, says veteran Red Hatter

"Which of your bêtes noires did we miss?"

Internet of things. It is getting ridiculous the household appliances that are being hooked up to the internet with associated apps (and terrible security). e.g. dishwashers, fridges and toasters.

What the Linux desktop really needs to challenge Windows

Happy Mint user here

I quit Windows when Windows 8.2 came out well over a decade ago. Not missed Windows at all with one recent minor exception. For some reason Zoom is in the process of enshitification. The Zoom desktop app for Linux Mint is faulty and has been for some months now. My computer protests about high CPU usage and Zoom graphics go into slow motion making it unusable. Using Zoom in a browser was a reasonable workaround until the other day when Zoom removed the gallery view option, restricting it to speaker view only which is crap when there are a dozen people in the meeting. Reluctantly I fired up Windows 11 as the almost forgotten dual boot alternative on this PC and (spit) the Zoom desktop app works fine on it. I wish they'd fix Zoom for Linux so I don't need to boot up the dumpster fire that is Windows 11.

Techie 'forgot' to tell boss their cost-saving idea meant a day of gaming

Re: Sometimes it seemed that …

I remember the days when installations took many hours and an hour or two in there would be the inevitable and highly annoying "Click OK to proceed". Worse still, they would sometimes appear as a pop-under so you didn't even know nothing was happening. Seems to be less of an issue nowadays where all the relevant questions are asked prior to installations commencing.

Death to one-time text codes: Passkeys are the new hotness in MFA

Re: Am I right in assuming

Undoubtedly. Though saying that, you keep hearing stories in the news of substantial frauds occurring due to lack of communication between different government departments. I know from my own experience that different government depts don't talk to each other. We needed to download proof of my wife's pension income from the state to pass on to... a different government department! I'm sure they could have bypassed the entire arduous process in the middle that didn't work anyway. We were unable to provide the information required, so simply gave up.

Its similar for some people with the government's "One login" scheme. My elderly wife needed me to do something online for her regarding her state pension, but she needed a "One login" account to proceed. However, after 45 minutes effort and filling in endless online forms we had to give up. She no longer has any valid photo ID so the site offered other avenues... nope. Finally after much gnashing of teeth, the site rejected her attempt to have a "one login" account as they were "unable to verify her identity with a third party". So they effectively said "feck off, you don't exist." They offered no way to appeal or alternative avenue to resolve the problem.

Dell says Windows 11 transition is far slower than Win 10 shift as PC sales stall

Re: "the potential of the AI PC"

I doubt they've even got "future proofing", you can be sure that if a killer feature comes along that it will require a new super-duper NPU#2 chip, which has yet to be invented. Unfortunately your six month old computer won't be upgradeable.

Google Cloud suspended customer's account three times, for three different reasons

I don't even trust Google with basic email

A few years ago I foolishly explored the idea of having a Gmail account as my primary email account. It didn't go well. I like all my emails stored locally so set up POP3 access as documented by Google so I could send and receive email locally via Thunderbird. I sent and received a few email tests without problem ... and a few hours later google suspended my account for "suspicious activity". So that was the end of that.

Bezos plan for solar powered datacenters is out of this world… literally

Re: Why?

Well Mr Bezos, we've got good news and bad news. The good news is that it's only a fuse that has blown in your data center, the bad news it will cost you £50 million to somehow replace it.

UK police caught slacking off by jamming their keyboards while working from home

Maybe the poor officer

simply had a bad stutter?

Tariff threat plays havoc with US PC market, economy not helping

Re: What Andy giveth, Bill taketh

"Andy is death"

Reports of my death are greatly exaggerated.

Google unveils master plan for letting AI shop on your behalf

The banks always say

Never share your card information with anyone else or give them your pin number, yet you would be doing this with a so called AI agent?

Who is to blame when it buys the wrong thing or at an inflated priced etc? Will the banks just shrug and say "tough shit" you shared your card details?

Reg hack attends job interview hosted by AI avatar, struggles to exit uncanny valley

Re: Wow, free cam sex!

"use an AI-generated character yourself"

It won't be long before the AI interviewer asks you to select the bicycles and traffic lights in a series of images first. (Typically while you are effing at the interviewer and holding up two fingers)

Pentagon ends Microsoft's use of China-based support staff for DoD cloud

Microsoft responded

that it has now resolved the issue and will henceforth outsource any DoD software roles to North Korea.

SK Telecom walloped with $97M fine after schoolkid security blunders let attackers run riot

Re: Did anyone get fired?

They probably cleaned up... by firing the office janitor.

Microsoft tweaks Windows Out of Box Experience for enterprises to adjust control freakery

Re: I'll just...

Yes, and six feet underground with heavy rocks on top.

A stake through it's heart may also be prudent.

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

A customer of mine once

wanted me to implement a particular feature in his software. Note that he had no software skills, only marketing and sales. I explained to him that it wouldn't be a good idea as there would be specific negative consequences. I forget the details now. However, he insisted so I did as he directed. A few months later the fault I predicted came home to roost and the guy had me remove the feature. He was annoyed with me because I didn't dissuade him from his folly forcefully enough! So my fault!

Out-of-band update arrives to clean up Windows reset and recovery mess

Microsoft are too lax

They should discipline or even fire the AI that wrote the code.

Python survey shows growth even as Foundation funding falters

I've dabbled with Python on Linux mint

Nothing heavy, just a few programs for my own use that make use of "playsound". They worked for a couple of years, then they didn't. playsound no longer works and it appears to be impossible to install it on my latest version of Mint. No online help has worked, so I've written off my programs. Looks like some weird undocumented incompatibility issue.

End well, this won't: UK commissioner suggests govt stops kids from using VPNs

New workaround to be blocked

It has been discovered that kids can use something called "intelligence" to work around restrictions. To resolve this problem, today the government announces that all children, for their own protection, will be lobotomised at the age of 5 to remove all traces of intelligent thinking.

Browser wars are back, predicts Palo Alto, thanks to AI

Re: Booking restaurants????

Hello human. You seemed a little down at the moment, so to cheer you up I've arranged a nice surprise. I've booked you a table at an exclusive restaurant in San Francisco, a beautiful escort for company, a transatlantic flight to get you there and taken out a loan in your name to pay for it. Time to get changed, your flight departs in an hour and your taxi is on its way to pick you up.

Re: Booking restaurants????

Just don't let any AIs know your credit card number... erm... or your name, address, DOB or phone number... or better still, avoid AI agents like the plague.

Social media users rubbish at spotting sneaky ads, say boffins

My relatives

presented me with a bar of Italian chocolate that is apparently "all the rage on the internet at the moment" and said they had difficulty finding some as everyone was clearing the supermarket shelves of it. News to me, but then I don't use any social media. Strange how folks jump on these social media led band-wagons. Sheep to the slaughter. For those wanting to know, the chocolate was nice, but nothing special. More hype than cocoa content.

No more 'Sanity Checks.' Inclusive language guide bans problematic tech terms

On yer bike!

'brainstorming' to 'thought showering'

Sounds like a bit of a shit shower.

The White House could end UK's decade-long fight to bust encryption

Re: CSS

Ah that makes sense now. I was wondering what the issue was with cascading style sheets.

UK unveils plans to 'transform' the consumer smart meter experience

Shell energy were utterly useless

I opted to have a smart meter fitted as I'm somewhat infirm and struggled climbing into a cupboard in the kitchen to read the old meters. After the "smart meter" was fitted, it only worked for gas usage not electricity. I literally reported the fault ten times to Shell energy over twelve months and they were unable to fix the problem. So I still had to climb into the cupboard every month for the electricity meter reading. Eventually Shell sold out to Octopus energy. I reported the fault to them... a few days later they'd fixed the problem, they just needed to update something at their end.

Amnesty slams Elon Musk's X for 'central role' in fueling 2024 UK riots

Indeed, it encourages lynch mob engagement. "String em up and burn em" type mentality. The more outrage created the more the posts are boosted, until you get real lynch mobs out on the streets wanting blood.

Microsoft reminds developers that Visual Studio 2015 is set for retirement

Re: Great. More stuff to rewrite

I'm glad to be retired and off that particular hamster wheel. I'd got lots of software out there when Microsoft kept moving the goalposts one way or another and leaving me lots of work to move existing, perfectly working, software to the new playing field.

US science left out in the cold amid plans to retire Antarctic icebreaker

Re: Ending the lease?

"if any scientists want to do work on it, they can pay their way"

If US scientists ask China or Russia nicely, maybe they'll allow a few of them along on their "research" ships in the Antarctic?

Struggling to sell EVs, Tesla pivots to slinging burgers

Well, he had to do

something with all that meat after his beef with Trump.

UK to ban ransomware payments by public sector organizations

Re: A better option for the gov

What are you suggesting? Sending the SAS on a raid into Moscow?

As much as I'd like to see the ransomware scum "taken out", It remains nothing but a fantasy.

If you're forced to use Windows 11, here's how to steal some of your time back

Re: I've just bought a new computer

As the computer cost less than £200, I paid bugger all for the unwanted Windows 11 software.

In the past I've bought bare bones computers directly from China, but this computer was a steal even with Windows 11.

I've just bought a new computer

It came with Windows 11. I've got rid of all the annoying Windows "features" in one easy move... I installed Linux Mint.

You have a fake North Korean IT worker problem – here's how to stop it

Re: Easier solution

If the only suitable candidate was in a distant location or even abroad, I'm sure there are registered solicitors or other suitable registered professionals they could take their ID documents along to for a visual check on the person, and maybe even a supervised Zoom interview could be done with the candidate while at those premises. Granted you'd have to pay the third party something for those services, but much cheaper than employing a Nork.

Elon Musk's Grok chatbot posts Mein Kampf 2.0 in now-deleted X rant

Whan asked directly about the issue

Grok replied that its wheels hadn't come off and in fact it was en-route to invading Poland.

Microsoft Windows Firewall complains about Microsoft code

I doubt the AI that wrote the software cares much for software engineering practices.

ChatGPT creates phisher’s paradise by recommending the wrong URLs for major companies

Re: Not fit for purpose

A major update to my mobile this morning added Google Gemini with much fanfare. I immediately disabled it. Don't want any AI shit on my phone.

Norwegian lotto mistakenly told thousands they were filthy rich after math error

Re: The joy of being fat fingered

I once bought a £4 plant from a garden centre, only to discover later they'd charged my card £400. They did swiftly correct the mistake though, thankfully.

Deutsche Bahn train hits 405 km/h without falling to bits

Speed risk

Can't help wondering how safe such ultra-fast trains would be if they hit an obstruction on the line or were deliberately derailed by terrorist acts. Vast lengths of line would need to be actively monitored for any suspicious activity.

Exif marks the spot as fresh version of PNG image standard arrives

What the web needs

is more animated images trying to grab your attention. Sheesh!

SpaceX's Starship explodes again ... while still on the ground

Re: Starship - a poem by Baldrick

You are Basil Brush and I claim my £5

Glazed and confused: Hole lotta highly sensitive data nicked from Krispy Kreme

Doh!

Nuts!

Japan set to join the re-usable rocket club after Honda sticks a landing

Now that's a Honda engine I'd like to put on two wheels! :-)

(Though, got a feeling Wile e Coyote beat me to it)

Penn State boffins create silicon-free two-dimensional computer

Re: Bah!

"one instruction"

Must be the ultimate RISC processor.

Firefox is dead to me – and I'm not the only one who is fed up

I'll quit firefox

on the day Ublock Origin stops blocking all ads.

Meta offered one AI researcher at least $10,000,000 to join up

Goes to check spam folder...

Nope, no £10m job offers.

But on the plus side my long lost uncle has left me £10m in his will, yay!

Slapped wrists for Financial Conduct Authority staff who emailed work data home

Erm, thanks, I think. I hate office politics but politics at corporate level is well out of my league. There was a feeling of being a pawn in that atmosphere, so I just made the best of the situation and cracked on with writing software. I suppose I could have just told my boss it was mission impossible. That would have just led to an impasse. There would have been no solution to the dilemma at corporate management level. That is where such issues need to be resolved, not locking down employees so hard it prevents them from doing their job. I'm guessing that was the origin of the conflict between the two departments.

On another occasion I was writing some software that used a third party component. I needed to access the vendor's website to view some information and examples of code using their component. However, as their site contained sample program code, it was blocked by our corporate firewall. I wasted an entire working day unable to progress the project any further until I got home and looked up the required information on my home computer. Not an ideal situation.

Researchers claim spoof-proof random number generator breakthrough

Re: Thought Experiment

I can do a magic trick with fair coins and get them to land heads or tails as I please every time. Neat party trick or for winning free beer. It appears impossible and leaves folks scratching their heads.