Posts by Wiretrip

UK finds itself almost alone with centralized virus contact-tracing app that probably won't work well, asks for your location, may be illegal

Re: Apple and Google have too much control

No no no! Goodle and Apple aren't developing apps, they are contributing an API and permission model to allow 3rd party apps that operate in a decentralised fashion to use background bluetooth beacons.

As Zoom bans spread over privacy concerns, vid-conf biz taps up Stamos as firefighter in totally-not-a-PR-stunt move

Never mind zoom. It's poorly written and closed source. Jitsi is far better. https://meet.jit.si it is open source and you can even host the server yourself.

A carbon-nanotube RISC-V CPU blinks into life. Boffins hold their breath awaiting first sign of life... 'Hello world!'

So glad they didn't go for Copper Nanotubes ;-)

Time to spin the wheel of pwnage! This week, malware can infect your…. Android set-top box!

Don't most people use devices like this on a NATed subnet (i.e. the way most routers are set up)? So unless the STB is actively opening port forwards via UPnP then they can't be reached from the open Internet. These stories always seem more like publicity for the boutiques that release them. I'd certainly never heard of the one here!

Two in five 'AI startups' essentially have no AI, mega-survey of nearly 3,000 upstarts finds

Re: Who needs stuff?

When was that patented? I was doing that stuff in the mid to late 90s and there is tons of prior art!

And you thought the cops were bad... Civil rights group warns of facial recog 'epidemic' across UK private sites

Re: Hypocratic oath for maths and tech

That article is a shameless plug for the Chrtismas Lectures. The problem I have wuth her assertion that the developers should take an oath is that it is the VCs and business types that are pushing 'AI' (or 'statistics' as I tend to call it) - or narrowly capable and unready technologies - on the masses.

£250m fund for NHS artificial intelligence laboratory slammed as tech for tech's sake

Missing the point

What is really needed is an NHS National Analytics Institute where researchers are invited to use the vast NHS datasets but where all analysis happens in house and the data never leave the premises. In this way the huge data pot could be exploited without leakage and without the Googles and Facebooks benefitting. I imagine that monetising it could be very lucrative for the NHS too.

Apple's launch confirms one thing: It's determined to kill off the laptop for iPads

Re: Would they allow it if...

...and Shitterton in Dorset, which also has the River Piddle, so all, erm, bases covered.

What's an RDBMS? Don't ask the UK's data protection watchdog

I would be amazed if the danger-haired narcissist knew what PCA is himself. Also, it is a little known fact that he took the CA data with him when he left and tried to resell it himself...

Hi, um, hello, US tech giants. Mind, um, mind adding backdoors to that crypto? – UK govt

Re: Sorry but the govt advisors are NOT stupid...

"an impossible win but the way they work is to demand the moon on a stick, then give a concession to something a little bit less extreme" - yes, the 'Blunkett Manoeuvre'.

If MR ROBOT was realistic, he’d be in an Iron Maiden t-shirt and SMELL of WEE

The best bit about Mr Robot is the use of the Unix Command 'astu' - defined as:

NAME astu -- act similar to unix

SYNOPSIS astu [-command] […plotpoint]

DESCRIPTION Approximate a Unix shell like series of commands for the purposes of simulating an actual shell session in a Hollywood movie or television show. Specify a number of operands that simulate Unix commands and output critical plot points and text specific to the story or scene.

RETURN VALUES Returns a set of pseudo-Unix like responses to commands which furthers plot or scene in a way that is mostly understandable to non-technical audiences.

Inside the EYE of the TORnado: From Navy spooks to Silk Road

Re: huh?

Fair point! Will do

Re: huh?

Yes, some terrible and fundamental factual errors here. I was going to ask if El Reg's favourite, Stephen Fry, had written it...