Posts by gnasher729

He was a skater boy. We said, 'see you later, boy' – and the VAX machine mysteriously began to work as intended

Re: Changes

The big problem is getting genuine products. Found some instructions how to spot fake Sandisks. And any 1TB drive cheaper than 256GB SanDisk is obviously fake, just common sense.

Video encoders using Huawei chips have backdoors and bad bugs – and Chinese giant says it's not to blame

Re: Supply chain?

Any examples of that?

Unexpected risks of using Apple ID: 'Sign in with Apple' will be blocked for Epic Games

Re: Bad decision

It was Epic’s decision to breach their contract with Apple in the most egregious way. Right now Apple is actually accusing Epic of theft. As a consequence Apple stopped any services It provides for Epic.

Re: Users that they will lose the ability to log into an Epic Games account via "Sign in with Apple"

Apple cancelled its contract with Epic. Among all the things that Apples 30% commission pays for are services like login using AppleID. No pay, no play. All Epic’s fault.

Re: Bad decision

There is being in dispute, and there is being in court proceedings, that the other side had long planned. Epic was in deliberate and well planned violation of their developer agreement. They intentionally hid their changes so they were not detectable during a review. As a result, Apple is refusing to have any business relationship with Epic.

Re: Bad decision

It's more like "Epic lost its developer account. So Apple isn't doing _anything_ for Epic right now. " Amongst other things, if _Epic_ asks Apple about "Sign in with Apple ID", they get a 403 access denied. Or is it 401? Or if Epic tries to send a push notification. That's one of many things Epic's 30% pays for.

Why is this happening?

The problem is that Epic didn't just manage to get Fortnite removed from the App Store, but they got their developer account removed. So anything related to Epic will stop working. I suppose to login with AppleID, these third party apps call an Epic server for help, and Apple doesn't talk to any Epic servers anymore. Well, it is a bit messed up.

The third party apps can probably fix this by doing login with AppleID on their own servers, under their own developer accounts.

Apple takes another swing at Epic, says Unreal Engine could be a 'trojan horse' threatening security

Re: They tried to cheat their way out of payment system they knew upfront about.

"*Any* payment provider would make in-app purchases _secure_. "

Nonsense. Any payment provider would make _the flow of money_ secure. That doesn't help against inevitable hackers who will find a way to make in-app "purchases" that don't involve any actual payment going through any payment provider. The same problem that people fight against with jailbroken phones, that are mostly jailbroken so that people can install apps _without any payment_.

Re: "Apple would face incalculable harm"

Read my post again Gordon. It is a fact that many abuses are made impossible by the review process. In this case, Epic didn't pass anything that would have harmed consumers, it was just a blatant and intentional violation of their contract with Apple. Epic shot themselves in the foot. No consumers were hurt in the process.

Re: Epic should call their bluff

"Remove unreal engine from Apple store."

The unreal engine is not on the Apple store. Epic needs a developer account to do serious development, but since they sell this to other developers, they don't need a developer account to put it on the app store because it doesn't go there.

I could in principle do my job without my employer's developer account by using my private one, which would be slightly inconvenient and of course impossible to put the app on the store; how legal that would be I don't know.

Re: Did Google back off?

Same with Apple - you have always been able to pay through the browser.

Re: Is anyone stupid enough to believe....

Epic can drop its prices by 20% anyway, because all they sell is virtual tat that costs them nothing to produce. 100% profit taken mostly from gullible kids. Parents will be only too happy if Epic disappears.

Re: "most egregious acts of sabotage that Apple has experienced with any developer,"

I have Netflix on my phone, and I paid through Netflix' website. No problem. That's what the developer contract says. Epic can make as many purchases as they like through their website without giving Apple a penny. Absolutely within the contract.

Re: They tried to cheat their way out of payment system they knew upfront about.

Everybody loses because the big money makers don't contribute to the cost of making free apps or apps with small sales numbers. And with their attitude, you can be sure that 150 countries would be a hard time getting their VAT payments. Which would probably come back to haunt Apple. And finally, Apple does indeed provide lots of services to the users of these apps without payment, and they get paid for this by taking a fixed percentage from everyone who makes money from their apps.

Re: They tried to cheat their way out of payment system they knew upfront about.

"Apple's end of the so called in-app "purchases" is, in reality, and in practice, offering nothing more than a payment system/broker,"

You just swallowed Epic's self serving propaganda. There's a lot more than a payment system / broker. If you look just at payments, Apple handles all the taxes for about 150 different countries. That's worth a lot. At the end Apple hands you the cash, and all taxes (VAT in all kinds of countries) have been taken care off. Your credit card company doesn't do that.

Next, Apple does indeed run the App Store, which costs money.

Apple makes in app purchases _secure_. You can be sure that there are no forged in-app purchases, where the developer doesn't receive any money at all.

Apple provides lots of services to the developer, like push notifications, secure login with the user's AppleID (which is broken for Fortnite right now), maps, iCloud storage etc. etc.

And finally, Apple takes the same percentage from everybody. Including from free apps. So companies like Fortnite contribute by financing the same services for free apps, for apps from small developers, and so on. If Apple gave in to the real big money makers and reduced the percentage for them, they would have to increase the percentage for all the little ones.

Being one of the little ones, I'm all for a Chinese owned company to help paying for my app to get on the App Store.

Re: "most egregious acts of sabotage that Apple has experienced with any developer,"

To be fair here, Epic doesn't have the clout, even with a 750 billion dollar Chinese conglomerate behind them. If Apple doesn't want to do business with them, Apple won't do business with them.

Re: "Apple would face incalculable harm"

Actually, as a software developer, I want to be able to use my phone without having to bother about security and all that. It's extra work that I can do without. But the review process also makes lots of abuses impossible. Your fart app wants access to my address book? Can't do that because Apple says no. I don't need to decide what is more important, my privacy or your fart app.

Re: "to slide a change into the app that blatantly evaded App Review."

"You can sneak past Apple until you get caught. Then they can sue and chuck you off the platform."

They don't have to sue. There is a contract, and about the worst violation of the contract is submitting an app for review that changes its behaviour later (in a way that it wouldn't have been approved). In that case what happens: 1. Apple removes the app from the App Store, without any need to sue. 2. Apple can cancel the contract with the developer, without any need to sue. 3. If Apple decides that the app is a danger for users, then it can prevent the app from running on users' devices altogether. Without any need to sue. Apparently Apple doesn't think Fortnite is a danger for users.

Re: "to slide a change into the app that blatantly evaded App Review."

Malware is restricted to the app itself. Just like with Epic & Fortnite, their hack only affected payments in that app, and in no other app. And for things like accessing the address book, the app MUST ask Apple for permission to have that feature and gets it only if there is a good reason. Malware can't access it _unless the app already had a good reason to need it_. Yes, you can do sneak things past a review, but it's impact on security is limited.

Note that Apple hasn't removed Fortnite from users' devices, which they could have done and would have done if Fortnite was malware that hurts the customer.

Re: They tried to cheat their way out of payment system they knew upfront about.

In bricks and mortar shops, 30% was more the standard for what the developer received, instead of 70%.

Brit MPs to Apple CEO: Please stop ignoring our questions about repairability and the environment

Re: Ban the un- or barely repairable?

So what's the problem with pentalobe screws? Pentalobe screwdrivers are widely available. And if there is a pentalobe screw anywhere, and you can't figure out where to get the screw driver, then frankly you shouldn't open it.

(I still have a screwdriver somewhere in my toolbox that was needed to open an original 1984 Macintosh case :-)

Who cares what Apple's about to announce? It owes us a macOS x86 virtual appliance for non-Mac computers

Re: Rosetta

99.9% of iOS software has been built with Intel versions in the last ten years, to run on a Mac under the iOS emulator (which makes every newish hardware + OS combination available). Shows that creating code that runs the same on Intel and ARM 64 bit is really easy.

Who says Apple is moving to Nvidia? Nvidia has nothing that Apple would need. After buying ARM, they still have nothing that Apple would need.

Re: For use on Apple-branded Systems

It doesn't say Apple-labeled computer in any T&Cs in the last ten years. It says "Apple branded".

Coward, you can buy Macs with 2 cores to 28 cores. Which ARM processor outperforms a 28 core Intel processor _today_? Or a six core Intel processor _today_? And who is talking about laptop processors?

Right now there is a huge range of Intel Macs available. In a year's time, there will be a large range of Intel Macs available. For obvious reasons, Apple will start replacing the low end Macs first and work its way up, because they have to build powerful ARM processors first. On the other hand, people requiring VMs usually need powerful hardware, so the hardware they needed will be available for the longest time.

And if you really need an Intel computer, Citrix or something similar should be able to display the output of any Intel computer on a Mac screen, no matter what the processor is. Citrix can either display the whole Intel screen in a window or on the Mac screen, or can display Windows windows mixed with MacOS windows; you often don't even notice it's not a native window. Usually the Windows computer is a big server far away, but it might as well be a little box connected through a cable.

Take your pick: 'Hack-proof' blockchain-powered padlock defeated by Bluetooth replay attack or 1kg lump hammer

Re: Confessions of a bolt cutter

So picking locks is for lock thieves, and bolt cutters are for bicycle thieves?

Court hearing on election security is zoombombed on 9/11 anniversary with porn, swastikas, pics of WTC attacks

Re: What?

When there is one thing a judge hates, then it's a smart arse. Try that kind of defence, and you will get the maximum punishment. Just because it's open doesn't allow you to enter. Software is not capable of giving you that permission. You had no permission by the court to enter, so it's all the things that you are accused of.

Cops called to Singapore golf club after 'wrongdoers' use scripts to book popular timeslots

Re: Why would that help?

Royal Albert Hall has for quite a while required ID when you enter, matching the card used to book, so a scalper would need to know your card number.

Obvious solution

Make a list of everyone you booked a slot within ten seconds of becoming available, and six lashes when they arrive at the golf club.

I can 'proceed without you', judge tells Julian Assange after courtroom outburst

Tactical mistake

When Assange decided to hide in the embassy of Ecuador, I thought that was a bad mistake. Turns out it was.

He would have been extradited to Sweden, worst case spent a year in a comfortable jail. Since he was extradited to Sweden from the UK, Sweden would have had no right to send him to the USA, only either back home or to the UK. At that time the Obama government was still running the show, and they didn't care too much about him. And importantly, the UK wouldn't have been pissed off with him in a major way. So there would have been no extradition request, and if there was one, extradition would have been much less likely.

Tech ambitions said to lie at heart of Britain’s bonkers crash-and-burn Brexit plan

Re: Well it's kind of a good idea but...

Don't worry about Boris' latest girlfriend. Even paying £100,000 to a pole dancer every day isn't even one pound per year per tax payer. Cummings is much more effect at destroying taxpayers' money.

The Honor MagicBook Pro looks nice, runs like a dream, and isn't too expensive either. What more could you want?

Article says “sold in the U.K.”.

I’d say a lawsuit for trademark violation seems quite inevitable.

Someone's getting a free trip to the US – well, not quite free. Brit bloke extradited to face $2m+ cyber-scam charges

Re: I'm sure he'll get bail in the US

I don't know about your understanding of money transfers, but paying bail via Western Union will be accepted without any problems. Western Union will absolutely 100% safely get money from Person A to Person B. The only problem is when Person B is a crook, there is no way for Person A to get their money back. So if "a rich uncle who is a Nigerian prince" pays bail via Western Union, that money is indeed paid.

Re: Crime doesn't pay?

Read "Freakonomics", and the chapter "Why drug dealers live with their moms". They checked out a reasonable large gang of drug dealers. The one at the top made good money. The next three made less than a youngster in an office job. The rest were dead poor. What's worse, their life expectancy was lower than that of convicts on death row in Texas (within one year, one quarter of them died. Life expectancy on death row in Texas is five years).

Re: It's only money...

So there is one case where the USA most likely are doing the wrong thing. Yes, our government should grow a back bone and do something about it. But tearing up any extradition treaty over this is stupid.

What's 2 + 2? Personal info, sniffs Twitter: Anti-doxxing AI goes off the rails, bans tweets with numbers in them

No AI

It should be clear to anyone by now that there is no such thing as Artificial Intelligence yet. We have Artificial Stupidity.

Really, for Artificial Intelligence to happen we need a lot, lot more. We need real _understanding_ and we are nowhere near that. We actually move further away, because the technology supporting Artificial Stupidity are progressing at an incredible rate, and all the computer science courses teach impressionable youngsters about Artificial Stupidity.

IBM ordered to pay £22k to whistleblower and told by judges: Teach your managers what discrimination means

Every employer in the last years has had my private phone number and my permission to call me in an emergency. I’ve had one call in the last five years, Saturday 4pm to 8pm, with one colleague and four guys quite high up with a customer in the call. Major contract depending on the result, and it got signed Monday morning. That’s an emergency.

Teen charged after allegedly taking food delivery biz for a ride: $10k of 'fraudulent refunds for stuff not delivered'

Re: Subway & Uber Eats

Your EE phone: Apple gives one year manufacturer's warranty (not required by law, but no warranty makes it hard to sell stuff). EE by law has to give you a "reasonable" amount of warranty, but after six months can demand that you prove the phone was defective when you bought it. Both Apple and EE MUST fix problems according to their warranty, Apple per contract for twelve months, EE by law for longer. Neither has the right to palm you off to the other.

Since Apple ends up paying for the repair anyway unless the phone got damaged while in EE's possession, they may not bother going all legal and repair your phone anyway. Makes a happy customer, and in the back room they will swear at EE.

Forget your space-age IT security systems. It might just take a $1m bribe and a willing employee to be pwned

One million dollar. In Bitcoin. After the operation has succeeded, so the employee has no way to enforce payment without going to jail. Do I have "mug" written all over my face? No way I would accept this.

Chances of actually cashing in would be quite low. Chances of being caught would be considerable, followed by years in jail, bankruptcy, no chance of ever getting a well-paid job again. And since this is in Nevada, I'm sure there are some companies there who are run by quite unscrupulous people, so there is the risk I wouldn't even make it to jail.

Relying on plain-text email is a 'barrier to entry' for kernel development, says Linux Foundation board member

Re: Where's the IT content?

ASCII based? No UTF-8 in comments? Many developers can't even spell their name correctly in ASCII, so that is going back to the stone ages.

Apple hits back at Epic, says Fortnite crew wants a 'free ride' on fees: Let the app store death match commence

Re: Serve at the pleasure of King Jobs

"Apple are monopolists within their own store. Also petty, capricious, controlling, grasping and demanding."

That kind of "monopoly" is called a "natural monopoly". Yes, Apple has a monopoly on Apple products, Ford has a monopoly on Ford cars, etc. But these are not _markets_. Apple doesn't have a monopoly in the smartphone market. Ford doesn't have a monopoly in the car market and so on.

And since nobody dares mentioning it, Epic makes its money by exploiting gullible kids to pay lots of money for digitial tat. Instead of paying £40 for a video game, the stupid kids pay hundreds on stupid in-app purchases. I'd be really pleased about laws stopping that kind of exploitation. Epic was a decent company before they sold a huge part of their business to China.

"But if Apple ends up slashing fees, all of us devs will benefit; 30% is taking the piss".

Maybe I've been in the game a bit longer than you. Back in the day, there was no way to get even 50% of the end user price if you sold through a brick and mortar store, so getting 70% is a huge improvement. The 30% also pays the cost for all the free apps.

Putting the d'oh! in Adobe: 'Years of photos' permanently wiped from iPhones, iPads by bad Lightroom app update

Backups are important

£100 gets you a five TB external drive. Plug it into your Mac, turn on Time Machine, that's it.

Ok, it's still an absolute pain if an app destroys your data like that and you need to restore it, but at least you can.

While the world pushes back against COVID-19, Facebook has a pandemic of a different sort – medical misinformation

A fine of $1 per view would change this rather quickly.

SQLite maximum database size increased to 281TB – but will anyone need one that big?

Will anyone need a 281 TB database? Don't know, but that's not the question. The question is did anyone need a database over 140 TB. And apparently, SQLite developers think someone does.

And I _can_ connect over 140 TB hard drive space to my Mac. One 7 port USB hub, with seven 7 port USB hubs plugged into each one, and I think I can get 5TB for less than £100, or 245 TB for about £5,000 :-) Not that it makes any sense, but I can. I think 5TB is the cheapest per TB at the moment.

And the same thing in another port for backup. Someone can calculate how long it takes to copy 245 TB :-)

SAP blogger reveals top tips for keeping clients happy: Don’t swear, remember to write a pithy subject line, and TURN OFF CAPS LOCK

Re: SAP consultants...

I suppose what's bleedin' obvious when you read it isn't bleedin' obvious to everyone before they read it.

NHS tests COVID-19 contact-tracing app that may actually work properly – EU neighbors lent a helping hand

Re: How will they know it's a false alarm?

You are supposed to install the app, give it all necessary permissions, and then there’s nothing you have to do except taking your phone with you when you leave your home - which you would do anyway. You would only use the app if you test positive, or when it alerts you that you are at risk.

Bratty Uber throws tantrum, threatens to cut off California unless judge does what it says in driver labor rights row

Re: Ride Sharing

Ride sharing, even kind of commercial, was quite in fashion in Germany even 30 years ago. If you wanted to go from A to B over a 250 mile distance, you would call a company to either tell them that you had space for a paying passenger, or you called them that you were looking for a driver.

And it was indeed rude sharing, two people wanting to go from A to B, and one having a car. Fares were low, so the driver just saved a lot of petrol money but didn’t make any money.