Posts by Spiz

Bouncing cheques or a bouncy landing? All in a day's work for the expert pilot

Re: Serial to VGA? All you need is an adapter!

If you're only a head then maybe evolution didn't work out for you.

Machine needs more Learning: Google Drive dings single-character files for copyright infringement

*chuckles in self-hosted NextCloud*

Why should I pay for that security option? Hijacking only happens to planes

Re: Ah, yes. The dreaded "fix it NOW!" call ...

"the ops centre must have slept through the alarms"

They weren't delivering the alarms via pager, were they? :)

The inevitability of the Windows 11 UI: New Notepad enters the beta channel

c:\> copy con test.txt

ksjdhfkahfdahjds

askjdfksdajhf

jkasdhkjadshf

askdjhfkasjdhf

^Z (or F6)

1 file(s) copied

Microsoft rang in the new year with a cutesy tweet in C#. Just one problem: The code sucked

Re: not much better and made one line illegible to REALLY show you how its done

I never ever want to see any of your code.

Microsoft Exchange Autodiscover protocol found leaking hundreds of thousands of credentials

Not ideal but you could Group Policy this:

https://knowledgebase.cobweb.com/help/outlook-autodiscover-registry-fix

It's time to decentralize the internet, again: What was distributed is now centralized by Google, Facebook, etc

Re: Bullshit article premise

To be fair I have a rule in my firewall doing exactly this, and it's enabled at the moment along with FB's.

Results are hit-and-miss, but they're certainly not catastrophic. ElReg, BBC News, Amazon, Reddit, microsoft.com, my online accounts software - all work without any issue whatsoever. Some sites balk a little to start with while they (I presume) try and contact the mothership but will load pretty quickly after that.

I have seen some sites which completely fail to render but they've not been of such importance that I can't go else where, but then maybe my list of frequented sites isn't everyone's. I certainly don't use any of Google's services (knowingly) and therefore don't have an issue with them being blocked.

The only (slightly unrelated) issue I have is when I want to use the Quest 2, but then I have a bespoke app on my phone where I can tell the router to unblock FB with one tap and block it again with another, at the same time routing them through a VPN.

We can't believe people use browsers to manage their passwords, says maker of password management tools

Re: "using things like multi-factor authentication"

You don't have to give up your phone number if you use an authenticator app

The PrintNightmare continues: Microsoft confirms presence of vulnerable code in all versions of Windows

Re: Sustainability

We're doing this. They haven't been able to print for over a year now working from home, therefore don't need to (or we've provided electronic alternatives) so our rented printer fleet is going back.

Hubble Space Telescope to switch to backup memory module after instrument computer halts

Re: Support contract

Shame - that would have been a massive perk of the job.

Come into work one morning "Hi Jeff, just a quick question: how are you with G-forces and confined spaces?"

Conflicting messaging overshadows NHS Digital's attempts to inform public about patient data slurp

Sweeping under the carpet

Just phoned my surgery to ask about this and the best way to opt-out of the Type-1.

They didn't know anything about it.. Surely something of this scale should be distributed to everyone, especially people who pick up the phone?

Oh no, that's right, they just want to plough ahead with the minimum of fuss from pesky individuals who value their privacy.

Namecheap hosted 25%+ of fake UK govt phishing sites last year – NCSC report

Agrees with my experience

I tell all my groups of friends to forward a picture of any sms/email scams like this so that I can investigate the site in a sandbox and ultimately report the domain and hosting provider.

More often than not both are hosted by Namecheap, and no they are not very quick about taking either down, if they bother at all.

I'd like to see more evidence of the assertation that there are too many false abuse reports to be able to handle. Something doesn't stack up there.

iPhone XR caught fire after getting trapped in airline passenger's seat

Re: Just an iPhone . ..

Yup - I often take an entire car on a plane with me.

We get it - you don't like Elon. Chill out.

Google's FLoC flies into headwinds as internet ad industry braces for instability

Re: Don't forget the rest of the world

Your apathy about the issue shouldn't mean that I have to suffer.

Your post is the equivalent of "I don't wear a mask because I'm not bothered about catching (and spreading) COVID".

Vote to turf out remainder of Nominet board looks inevitable after .uk registry ignores reform demands

Re: Mythic Beasts

Another +1 for Mythic Beasts.

No nonsense, no frills, no 5Mb per page web interface, great support. Just works.

Patch alert for Apple fans: Cybercrooks have already been exploiting this flaw in iPhones, iPads, and watches

Re: Is it just me ..

It's just you.

OVH reveals it's scrubbing servers – to get smoke residue off before rebooting

To be fair

You might want to give them just a teensy bit of time to sort this lot out first. I have no doubt that analysing what happened here and future mitigation is a big priority for them.

Australian police suggests app to record consent to sexual activity

Re: You know what would stop rapes?

Downvoter: Please explain your rationale?

Re: Is there a "magic word"?

Sorry, just to check:

The people that downvoted Kane's post: Do you disagree with the points made about consent, or are you so prudish that you can't bear to see the word "sex"?

Because either is pretty terrifying.

OVH data centre destroyed by fire in Strasbourg – all services unavailable

Re: Who knew data centres were tinder boxes?

"there is a 'holdoff' button next to the doors in case anyone can't get to them in the 60 seconds allowed."

Well if you've managed to get to the button, go through the door?

(I know, I know - it would hopefully be someone else who presses it for you)

Blind man sues Dell over inaccessible website

Or *tab* *tab* *tab* *tab*

It's ok - I'm leaving anyway...

Facebook uses one billion Instagram photos to build massive object-recognition AI that partly trained itself

Photoshop

But is it intelligent enough to realise that 90% of the images on instagram have been photoshopped or modified in some way, or will it always think that human females have perfect skin, a 10 inch waist and an arse the size of Manchester? i.e. Does it have a Thot filter?

The wrong guy: Backup outfit Spanning deleted my personal data, claims Cohesity field CTO

I sympathise with the guy because that EULA isn't worth the ASCII it's written in, but at the same time if you want to be absolutely sure you've got your data, back it up yourself on your own hardware!

War on Section 230 begins in earnest as Dem senators look to limit legal immunity for social networks, websites etc

Re: What, exactly, is 'free speech'

Sure, I put my correct name in when I signed up to El Reg, and *an* email address, but I don't believe there was any ID required so I could have put in what I liked.

Nespresso smart cards hacked to provide infinite coffee after someone wasn't too perky about security

Re: It is fair trade ...

Good work! Are you a dad by any chance?

Top engineer who stole trade secrets from Google's self-driving division pardoned on Trump's last day as president

Re: Good idea in theory

Cool so make another amendment. And while you're at it add into that amendment that you can't pardon people just because you feel like it with no valid reason, and you attack the problem at both ends.

Loser Trump is no longer useful to Twitter, entire account deleted over fears he'll whip up more mayhem

Re: An elephant in the room

Anonymous for a reason there champ?

Don't have the courage of your convictions?

Twat.

Trump administration says Russia behind SolarWinds hack. Trump himself begs to differ

Re: HOWTO: hack their voting machines

"For god's sake, child"

Well, aren't you a conceited little twat!

Up yours, Europe! Our 100% prime British broadband is cheaper than yours... but also slower and a bit of a rip-off

No you don't have a dedicated line in the sense of bandwidth.

That's like saying your £80 a year car tax (or equivalent) pays for you to have exclusive use of the road in front of your house. It's just not true.

You might get 1Gbps up/down most of the time but your ISP is under no obligation to provide you with that bandwidth 24/7/365 else they'd go out of business.

European Space Agency will launch giant claw that drags space junk to its doom

^ this guy/gal satellites

Facebook sues to shut down alleged Instagram clone maker over scraping and sharing personal info for cash

Fair play to the guy. Anyone who pisses Zuck off is a hero in my book.

(Oh no I used the word "book"! I'll expect the lawyers any moment!)

No need for more asteroid-blasting attempts, NASA's OSIRIS-REx has more than enough space dirt

Units

Can we put the proper scientific units first and then the outdated units in brackets in future please? This is a tech/science publication after all.

Linux 5.10 to make Year 2038 problem the Year 2486 problem

Re: Imagine the noise in here...

That was some next-level trolling right there sir/madam. Have an upvote and a picture of a pint.

(I use both Windows an Linux all the time by the way, I just appreciate a good social hand-grenade when I see one)

TikTok says Trump administration ban is based on fake news about the app and its back end

Re: TikTok tracks its users ?

After reading your post, I'm confused as to why you've got the "Joke Alert" icon...

What a Hancock-up: Excel spreadsheet blunder blamed after England under-reports 16,000 COVID-19 cases

All the very valid stuff about never using Excel as a database aside, has anyone else picked up on the fact that a SINGLE record is split over MULTIPLE rows?

A record is a bunch of data in specific fields, right? Why is that being split over multiple rows?

Surely this is just adding to the list of possible failures in processing this data.

What is it about McDonald's, cultural black holes, and not being able to make tech work?

Re: They do have a clown as their mascot after all

Holy shit do we absolutely have to politicise EVERYTHING?

Three middle-aged Dutch hackers slipped into Donald Trump's Twitter account days before 2016 US election

Re: If you check on https://crackstation.net/ (as I just did, as I was curious)

Is that "Ivankas hot"

or

"Ivanka shot"?

Dell: 60% of our people won't be going back into an office regularly after COVID-19

Re: I get I'm in a microscopically small minority, but...

Probably best not switch to hot-desking right at this minute though...

National Crime Agency says Brit teen accused of Twitter hack has not been arrested

Re: Walk in to a zoom meeting just like that?

Right, so what should be "view only" logins get leaked. How does that end up with someone taking over the entire session and showing porn?

I don't use Zoom, but if these basic restrictions can't be put in place easily then it sounds pretty crap.

IBM job ad calls for 12 years’ experience with Kubernetes – which is six years old

/me waits for jake to repeat his comments above...

Oh what a cute little animation... OH MY GOD. (Not acceptable, even in the '80s)

Re: Fail

"Don't leave a bloody mess for the cleaner!"

FTFY

TomTom bill bomb: Why am I being charged for infotainment? I sold my car last year, rages Reg reader

Re: As I read that

I can’t even count the number of times that comments on here have had to make the distinction between people who are technical like most of us El Reg readers, and your average consumer.

The average consumer is not going to say “oh wait this might be rebranded, I had better contact TomTom to close the account because I did a quick google search”.

Mazda were the ones that bundled the system and by proxy the link to TomTom, therefore they should be making it clear to the consumer that said link exists and provide clear instructions on what needs to be done at the end of ownership to remove it. It’s a simple addition to the page shown in the article which would save a headache like this.

It is not unreasonable on Ben’s part to assume that, with no warning to the contrary, the relationship with TomTom would be handled during the “reset” process.

Boolean bafflement at British Airways' Executive Club: Sneaky little Avioses - Wicked, Tricksy, False!

That brought back memories for me as well of VB6. Apparently .NET does it too:

https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/dotnet/visual-basic/language-reference/data-types/boolean-data-type

Chrome suddenly using Bing after installing Office 365 Pro Plus... Yeah, that might have been us, mumbles Microsoft

https://www.bleepingcomputer.com/news/microsoft/microsoft-to-force-bing-search-in-chrome-for-office-365-proplus-users/

Just applied it myself ahead of time. Bastards.

Poor old Jupiter has had a rough childhood after getting a massive hit from a mega-Earth

Re: Almost a great article

Also:

"The researchers have good reason Jupiter was once solid."

El Reg sits down to code with .NET for Linux and MySQL, hitting some bumps along the way

Re: Any MS devs looked at this?

For the love of god bob, turn it in. OP was looking for genuine advice, not your constant randomly capitalised drivel. You've clearly said your piece on every single post. We get it - you are far superior to the rest of the world and only your opinion matters. Happy?

Haven't you got work to do or a brick wall to argue with?

Low Barr: Don't give me that crap about security, just put the backdoors in the encryption, roars US Attorney General

Re: bob?

*sigh*

don't feed him!

Apple arms web browser privacy torpedo, points it directly at Google's advertising model

Re: Apple Ad-Blocking?

Have you got a spare box (or even the same box) that you could plonk OpenVPN onto? Quite easy to set up and you could set the DNS servers for the OpenVPN connections to the Pi-Hole. Then Set OpenVPN to be "always on" on your mobile/tablet and hey-presto: No ads, no SSL inspection on dodgy WiFi.

Works quite nicely for me.

Macs to Linux fans: Stop right there, Penguinista scum, that's not macOS. Go on, git outta here

Re: RE: onefang

Which child is running through all of these posts and downvoting? This doesn’t even have any content one could be offended by!

Chuck this on expenses: £2k iPad paints Apple as the premium fondleslab specialist – as planned

Yeah, but

It makes a damn fine platform for cutting it up on when you re-supply.

I’ve been told...