Posts by DCLXV

Microsoft to offer (very) limited support for Linux on Azure

In other words

We don't care what you do as long as you do it on Azure

We tried using Windows 10 for real work and ... oh, the horror

Don't worry

The UI will look like it belongs once the release date rolls around and it gets filled in with all the adware the users will be expected to choke on for the privilege of using this "free" OS. methinks paying for the Server edition will be the last refuge for the more technically-inclined users that for whatever reason want to stay on this sinking ship.

Hyperloop tube trains, killer AI, and virtual skydiving: Yes, it's the Pioneers Festival

Here we go again...

Another banal prediction about the rise of AI. Here's my prediction: in 2050 AI will still be vapourware but we'll have a franchise of apps designed to expedite the stuffing of one's foot into one's mouth.

Don't look now: Fujitsu ships new mobe with EYEBALL-scanning security

2FA?

Ok, so the iris scan alone could be defeated. What if it's in tandem with a PIN/pass/pattern, which cannot be entered until your NFC key is within range? That's potentially three locks and the user still only has to do the work of getting past the PIN/pass/pattern lock because the other two are just automatic. Sounds pretty good to me.

The Internet of Things: a jumbled mess or a jumbled mess?

Zigbee? Z-Wave?

Was there something wrong with router, switch and 802.11?

Android tool catches apps silently pumping hundreds of ad, tracking servers red-handed

Right, well...

"Tool" my ass, if it's not just a shell script with a flash UI calling the bundled Busybox util I'll eat my hat

What is the REAL value of your precious, precious data?

I can't help but think we ought to all have bots that spaff chaff at Facecrook et al. making it appear that we are all incredibly dull humans interested in only typical vices with no suggestion that we might possibly even be capable of any sort of thought crime that hasn't yet been made illegal but will at some point during the mandated data retention period.

The big boys made us do it: US used German spooks to snoop on EU defence industry

Clearly Der Spiegel's target audience is the sort of virtuous Deutschelander who reads every word of a EULA before agreeing to it and is completely unaware of the exploits of 007 and his ilk. Or in English: a fucking sap.

‪Obama criticises China's mandatory backdoor tech import rules

I recently had to purge one of these state-sponsored backdoors from a new Chinese Android phone. The malware was sending the IMSI out across the net in plaintext and was designed for modularity so that it would be possible to install all sorts of interception capabilities. Code was sloppy and obviously written by an electronics engineer rather than a software developer.

It seems self-evident that China doesn't even understand the concept of privacy the way that the Western world sees it.

Canuck Bitcoin exchange gives up after security SNAFU

Rather confounding is the lack of details regarding the BTC ATMs and POS systems that the company has been operating in Canada