Posts by bombastic bob

Liz Warren: I'll smash up Amazon, Google, and Facebook – if you elect me to the White House

Re: I don't see this as very likely

Google is owned by 'Alphabet' and so they could sell those business groups to 'Alphabet'. As long as they run independently, things would be fine.

Re: Not Trump again, please

well, as it turns out, the 'backlash' has been a radical shift to the LEFT, for some of the WORST socialist plans EVER, such as this "green new deal".

Consider the Nixon / McGovern election in 1972. So many parallels here, and McGovern was such a socialist, he only won Massachusetts. The communist party in Russia _loved_ McGovern, or so my Jr. High English teacher said. Even though Nixon was Nixon, he still beat McGovern 49:1 (more or less, if you just count the states he won in).

I expect similar things with Trump / 'socialist candidate' in 2020. By then, Trump will have a success record BETTER than Reagan's.

Re: "I will be forced to vote for Trump again"

Voted for a polar opposite of Bernie Sanders: That's true for every Trump voter, probably. But, of course, many of us see Trump doing what WE would do if WE were president... [like me].

But voting against a pure socialist like Bernie... Trump looks really good, regardless, when compared to THAT.

I have to wonder whether the successful revolution in 1776 had any positive benefits for reform of the British government, ultimately giving more power to Parliament?

Re: I see the next scandal brewing...

yeah wouldn't that simply prove the point?

how about JUST limit fed gummint to what the CONSTITUTION says... instead of going AROUND it and ASSUMING way too much power/control, and appointing liberal supreme court justices to ALLOW it...

10th Amendment. yeah, it's there.

"she is best known for claiming she is native american indian"

ack - she's less than 1/100th of what I am... and SHE claimed to be 'American Indian' for affirmative action reasons, among others, to gain PREFERENTIAL TREATMENT [which I would NEVER do, I have WAY too much pride to SINK THAT LOW - actual merit should be enough, and if NOT, I do not WANT it].

Being an 'attention whore' causes you to behave in SIMILAR WAYS to what 'Pocahontas' Warren does, in my opinion.

I wouldn't vote for her, not just for THESE reasons, but because of her politics in general.

And gummint takeovers of "the big 3" isn't the answer. Just apply existing anti-trust legislation in a FAIR manner, and treat those companies just like you'd treat any other. Again, NO PREFERENTIAL TREATMENT.

(and the 'preferential treatment' thing _IS_ the problem!!!)

FBI warns of SIM-swap scams, IBM finds holes in visitor software, 13-year-old girl charged over JavaScript prank...

Re: Bruce..

"I can't understand how something as young or as cute gets put in a rescue shelter"

Well here are a few reasons:

a) I can't take care of a dog any more because [fill in blank] and nobody would take him

b) my dog had puppies and nobody wants them

c) feral or abandoned animals [occasionally still happens]

d) owner dies, nobody wanted the pets

anyway, it's why you go to the animal shelters to find a pet FIRST.

Re: Just wait...

"a strike on your social record"

'Social Record' - W.T.F. ???

13yo girls' prank pales in comparison to some oldies

I think the worst pranks of yesteryear involved the infinite browser windows playing a flash video like "you are an idiot, ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha haaaaa" or "hey this guy is looking at gay porn" and so on.

Killing those generally involved stopping the browser. on linux or BSD, 'killall firefox' (or whatever) from a console would make it die really fast. On windows, ctrl+alt+del and switch to task manager let you kill it from there (or you could log out, and that'd do it too). Seriously, though, not a major problem, just an irritant that you could enjoy laughing about later.

Apparently the police in that girl's town didn't have a sense of humor. Still I imagine that girl will be _VERY_ popular in middle/high school, now.

Still fewer Windows 10 devices out there than Instagrammer Kylie Jenner has dollars

Re: Highest satisfaction

"how do they record this?"

They send an e-mail to insiders, who are 90% fanbois, who then participate in a survey, with the expected results. It's got to be a rigged survey of an unrepresentative sample.

And everyone ELSE (the non-fanbois) getting Win-10-nic crammed up their asses down their throats simply shrugs and tries to get things done anyway...

[it's how surveys typically get things wrong, ya know - a survey sample and/or questionnaire designed to skew the results for whatever reason, not be as accurate as possible]

Re: Highest satisfaction

"Microsoft did as it usually does in 10, and made the choice for you"

Well said!

ReactOS 0.4.11 makes great strides towards running Windows apps without the Windows

Re: "Which is where MS should have stopped."

"You know that Windows 2000 didn't support 64 bit CPU, and CPU had a single core?"

I set up w2k in a VM once, on a multi-core Intel 'Core Quad' system, and with a little tweeking it ran OK, dual core even. But it did have a nasty habit of consuming 100% CPU all of the time. Then again, Win-10-nic does that, too...

Also w2k has support for multi-processor, which might as well be the same as multi-core. And didn't the article say that ReactOS has Ryzen support in it?

I really think that the Win2k reference was for the user interface, and NOT the kernel side. Kernel side would need to support multi-core hyperthreaded processors with the most recent architecture and peripherals and windows driver models, compatible with 7 at the very least...

[and when applications query the windows version, ReactOS should optionally say it's Win 7 or Win-10-nic so that they'll still install]

Re: Win7

"I also can't see subscription pricing going down well with consumers"

ack, but Micro-Shaft will do a "froggy in hot water" maneuver to prevent people from noticing and/or complaining hard enough to affect their bottom line. Same with removal of Win32, which I expect to happen at some point, forcing EVERYONE to "go UWP" and/or "go '.Net'" or it won't work in Win-10-nic...

Re: Win7

integrating gimp with ReactOS distro, as the primary graphics editor, sounds good to me. Also Libre Office, and editors like pluma. Anything Qt or GTK could (in theory) be compiled for it, right? There are probably installable packages for most of these already.

I haven't installed the new one yet, just remembering what I saw from last time. I still have to download the new ReactOS image now and test it in a VM. Last time I was moderately impressed, though it was not ready for prime time or even occasional use. Some difficulty getting the VM to work, too. Multimedia was the worst.

this time, still hoping

Re: What is the purpose of this?

"As I understand they share a lot of the code base with Wine and work together"

VERY good point... if Wine development _AND_ ReactOS development collaborate, perhaps things will get to a "production worthy" state faster, while simultaneously IMPROVING WINE [and dealing with the problems I noted above, for example]

Re: Window of Opportunity?

I like Wine but it lacks some basic compatibilities even now.

A short time ago, I installed wine on a Devuan system. It gave me a ration of crap about being 64-bit only, and said something about installing the 32-bit version alongside. A zillion more dependencies later, I had both of them .

Then I tried to run a 32-bit application from within the 64-bit Wine thingy. *FAIL*

I re-ran as 32-bit [after some issues with path and the server thingy being 64-bit and still running, etc.] and could run the 32-bit application, but could NOT run a 64-bit application.

And there seemed to be NO way to actually have both 32-bit _AND_ 64-bit wine SIMULTANEOUSLY running. The server thingy was one or the other, and that was it.

OK maybe I did something wrong but 'out of the box' performance should have been easier to set up, then. The application ran, even installed itself into the Mate menu structure. I was moderately impressed.

(that application was one _I_ wrote, with XP and 7 compatibility)

Re: Window of Opportunity?

I actually think that MS would rather make their desktop run on a Linux back-end (like a desktop manager) before they bother open sourcing any of the NT-based kernels.

Reason: too many 'ghosts' in the code

because, you KNOW people will grep it for profanity, unusual comments, and outright poor coding style

A version of Windows that runs on top of a Linux kernel (like Wine but an approved version) would work. There was a subsystem for OS/X that did something like that, XP compatibility - even had a DVD for it in my MSDN when I still got DVDs sent to me...

Re: Exactly!

"React OS is likely to be very useful soon."

YES!

Question: who has something/enough to gain by investing in ReactOS in order to market it, distribute it, support it, and get it installed onto new computers at Dell and Lenovo?

I will continue to target Win32 API and windows 7 or XP compatibility for ANY windows applications I write. I _hate_ ".Not" and C-pound anyway, and this is 'yet one more reason' to keep going in the same well-trodden direction.

.NET Core 3 Preview 3 takes a bow, but best not hold your breath for the final release

Re: Yeah...

fortunately _I_ never drank the ".Not" coolaid, nor the C-pound coolaid, etc.

(to the tune of 'War')

".Not" - Hrrnnggg

What is it GOOD for?

Absolutely NOTHING!

(etc.)

MFC still works JUST FINE [and is backward compatible with 7 and XP]. It got a bit bloated, though, as Micro-shaft kept making it more and more dependent on OLE featuers that you probably won't actually use in your application, but statically linking it [WAY more reliable than dynamic linking] increased the image size by more than a few Mbytes last I checked. I used to be able to produce a statically linked 32-bit MFC-based windows application that was under 2Mb in size, and actually DID something, too.

As for cross-platform, wxWidgets is VERY MFC-like but for a cross-platform application that compiles both with MFC and with wxWidgets [on Linux, let's say] you have to do a LOT of '#ifdef's and "but if" sections.

Using DevStudio 2010 with MFC is fine with me, Win32 API and binaries that run on XP. And _ZERO_ ".Not" dependencies!!!!

Microsoft flings the Windows Calculator source at GitHub

Re: Fix it! Fix it! Fix it!

"went back to being naturally smooth with Windows 8"

WHAT??? Where'd he go... damn, left already. I wanna throw things!

'naturally smooth'. you owe me a LUNCH. Mine just came up!

Seriously though you have identified *THE* problem I think. Prior to Win 3.x (and '9x) 2D FLATTY was the way things like the calculator were done. A 3D skeuomorphic UI is more intuitive, so it was done for '9x at least with the first major re-write [most likely].

And of course the Sinofsky+Larson-Greene "revolution" (2D FLATTY McFLATFACE) forced yet ANOTHER re-write to "that".

But 'calc' doesn't seem to get a whole lotta love, and so it's been relegated to what ended up on github, like some kind of token effort, by engineers who don't even like it nor use it.

Re: Working on that now!

when I went here

https://github.com/Microsoft/calculator

I saw a screenshot of a 2D FLATTY McFLATFACE UI, and "windows 10 required".

I'm thoroughly crestfallen...

(and here I was thinking I could do something good with it)

Fortunately, there's still the 'gnome calculator' which looks 3D skeuomorphic on my Mate desktop

https://wiki.gnome.org/action/show/Apps/Calculator

I suppose THAT could be ported to windows, if it hasn't been already...

SPOILER alert, literally: Intel CPUs afflicted with simple data-spewing spec-exec vulnerability

smug mode

42 upvotes - you're welcome

Microsoft blesses the clouds down in Africa in full-blown Azure-gasm

when I read the title, I thought I heard the band 'Toto' playing the 'Africa' song...

Slow BLOB's in Azure? I think I know why...

I'm going to guess that the BLOB speed is the back-end... having messed with SQL Server a couple o' decades ago, where BLOB storage was done in a FILE SYSTEM rather than in the DBMS, deliberately. It was also compatible with the 'Jet' engine this way, too.

POSIX file systems are probably more efficient for handling large numbers of files in a directory. but normally an indexer and 'balancer' algorithm [using the generated file names, let's say] will spread it around the file system in a way that IS efficient. So, ideally, no one directory will have more than 4k files in it, including the tree of directories leading up to the one that has the actual file in it.

Windows systems, from what I recall, are not all that efficient when it comes to directory structure, especially when the directory contains thousands of files.

A simple google search led to this stack overflow article, which has some interesting performance observations in it:

https://stackoverflow.com/questions/197162/ntfs-performance-and-large-volumes-of-files-and-directories

In short, lots of files in a directory on windows, and you get performance problems. If SQL Server or Azure is storing BLOB data in a file system, this could be the problem. And if BLOB storage is going into something "like a file system", keep in mind that the same company wrote NTFS's file system, too. BLOB storage is probably STILL a performance problem with SQL Server.

I saw 'FILESTREAM' mentioned in one place. It's not something I've used but sounds similar to things I've implemented 'the hard way' i.e. put filename in character column in a table, and then create the actual file with the data in it, in a predictable place, making sure the name is unique beforehand. There are no transaction rollbacks on the BLOB this way, but it's most likely faster so if you create the file first, and then do the transactions in the DB, you can roll them back as needed and manage the file system separately...

anyway I think this might explain SQL Server's (and Azure's) BLOB performance problem. (not sure they have actually FIXED this, either, just made it 'less bad' maybe?)

You. Shall. Not. Pass... word: Soon, you may be logging into websites using just your phone, face, fingerprint or token

Re: The difference between something like this fob and the yale-type key that I use to open my door

a bit hard for actual keys, because you know what your own door looks like [and if you can swap out the lock, you had access already, duh].

However... this has been happening with ATM machines for a while. Criminal temporarily installs a device over the slot where the card goes. Victim inserts card, it's rejected. "Helpful" tech comes along, give you B.S. story how 'he can fix it', then he holds some button down and the card goes in ok. THEN he asks for your PIN NUMBER and TYPES IT IN FOR YOU. [that's only one such scam, others also exist]. The illegal front panel cover thingy just copied your card info. With the pin the 'Helpful' tech aka criminal can make a duplicate card and then access your bank account "whenever". oops.

But on your front door? A bit of a stretch, I think. I'd rather pick it with standard locksmith tools. I can easily pick cheap locks with a screwdriver and a paper clip. Someone who's more skilled than me could have your door open in a minute or two. Who needs a key? OK deadbolts are a bit more difficult but not impossible. They slow down the criminals, but don't stop them. Still, a deterrent is often enough. So yeah, I use deadbolt locks, too.

thinking of lock picking... a funny story, at a used-to-company the devices I needed to test with were kept in a locker with a cheap lock. The lady in charge of testing usually kept the keys in a plastic bowl on her desk, so people could get to them. But one day she was out and had the keys with her. I needed to get a device to test with, and waiting around is boring and unproductive, so I simply picked the lock and opened it. The hardware engineering manager watched me do it, and was kinda shocked, not only that I did it, but that the lock was so easily picked. I made sure to lock it when I shut it again, too (like that would actually help). heh. It was such a cheap lock, the 'put a little pressure on the lock with a screwdriver and stroke the pins with an unbent paper clip' method got me access in about 10 seconds.

(and all of the locks on every locker and every cube desk were of the SAME design)

Re: Bill Gates 0 - 1 xkcd.com

" Particularly when that single factor can be stolen (giving access)."

or willingly handed over via a simple 'discovery request'. Or used to TRACK you. etc.

Re: Bill Gates 0 - 1 xkcd.com

maybe the really hard part of a long password with a phone is using its virtual keyboard... regardless of how easy it is to remember.

an encrypted password locker (like keepass), one that has some LOCAL method of authenticating you without virtual-typing an irritatingly long password, might do the trick. But _ABSOLUTELY_ _NO_ on the idea of a 'central central logon' system. NO.

Re: It's worse than you fear.

and relying on phone security isn't a good idea anyway. In a civilized non-dictatorship, there needs to be some kind of 'due process' before cracking your phone's encryption, which means you have to at least be a suspect for some OTHER relevant crime to warrant a phone search, and a judge needs to approve of it [at the very least]. In the USA, evidence collected without a warrant can be dismissed from a trial, and the entire trial dismissed if "that evidence" was the only reason for the trial/indictment/charges/whatever.

That being said, it's probably a good idea to NOT do things on a smart phone that might incriminate you...

(not like you can't have multiple intarweb identities, right?)

icon because being just a *little* paranoid is probably a good idea these days...

insecure phone vs overwatching central central login

exactly - insecure phone with 4 digit pin and other "insecure security" involved

As for using a face: if I grow a beard or change hair style, will it affect my ability to log in? And, do I _REALLY_ want _MY_ _FACE_ being stored "all over teh intarwebs" ? No. Just no. Who knows how _THAT_ could be abused!

And this 'central central login' scheme sounds *SUSPICIOUSLY* like 'Passport', which was Micro-shaft's 'start of darkness' back in the early noughties [ok some would disagree that THIS was the 'start of darkness', that it started long before, but at least their products *PRIOR* to this point made engineering sense, mostly].

Keep in mind that Passport was "One login to rule them all", and integrated closely with the whole ".Net" thing, which I un-lovingly refer to as ".Not".

In any case, having some "pay to play" method of centralizing logins is a *BAD* idea. Google, Amazon, Microsoft, and even Apple would *GLADLY* provide "that service", for a fee of course. (or, by marketing YOU, like Fa[e]cebook - it's bad enough you see the 'login via' icons too often]

And keep THIS in mind: Do you REALLY want a "central central login" database to *TRACK* *YOU* *EVERYWHERE*??? Because THAT is what it would all be about, ya know!

Icon because we don't need a 'central central login' system that TRACKS US EVERYWHERE. And yes, the 'central central' thing is a reference to a book I read as a kid [and decades later, read to a kid] involving a teenage girl, her father, her little brother, and a giant mind-controlling brain named "It". And a bunch of other characters, yeah.

/me defeats tracking system by having 50+ different gmail addresses, one for each thing I log into. yeah, THAT'll help!

Hurrah for Apollo 9: It has been 50 years since 'nauts first took a Lunar Module out for a spin

Re: New IMAX Apollo 11 movie

No IMAX theaters in Orlando? At all? Well I haven't been there since 1981... and the last movie I saw there was probably 'Rocky Horror'... "Meatloaf again? we had Meatloaf LAST week!"

Re: I always thought the LM was the greatest engineering result in reaching the Moon...

ack on the LEM - docking one space ship with another had never been tried before, but it's a necessary step for any serious activities in space, even if it's just a scheduled delivery from a 'space truck' at the ISS.

On a semi-related note... why don't we already have space stations like the one in '2001 a Space Oddessy'? Politics, that's why. Buy rockets instead, and create jobs/technology! [that's Keynsian but I don't care, it works].

Re: What's the opposite of 'progress'?

the opposite of progress is:

a) stagnation

b) regression

c) socialism

d) all of the above

I swear there are people in positions of power DELIBERATELY HOLDING BACK PROGRESS for their own egotistical reasons... "for our own good" naturally

icon, because, snark all over that

"It has been 50 years and look at how far we've come since then"

Yeah if it weren't for all of those whiny [insert pejorative political term here] we'd be COLONIZING MARS by now...

Re: Apollo 13 - blows corporate "team building" back to the stone age

this sort of scenario happens more often than not, especially in small startup companies where 'crunch time' actually means what it says on the tin...

It's the semi-bloated mid-level company trying to be what they used to be when they were small that have the useless 'team building' exercises on the advice of overpaid consultants and newly hired HR managers.

The REALLY good thing about really small companies: They rarely have a budget for an HR department. If they're not using an HR service to process payroll and benefits, so much the better!!! If they hire contractors (even through an agency) to avoid all that, BEST OF ALL!

And now that you have a small team of highly qualified individuals, and some kind of crisis to overcome, you'll generally get "that kind" of teamwork.

(because, at a large company, you can afford to hire people who would mostly be 'dead weight' in a small one)

Oh, and a nice thumbs up for the rest.

Dell braces for sales slowdown: Blames China spending, trade tariffs and whatever 'macro dynamics' are

Dell mistakenly hitched their wagon to Micro-shaft and Win-10-nic

had they NOT tied their success to Micro-shaft's operating systems, particularly Win-10-nic, it's likely that they would do better.

How about THIS, Dell:

a) offer LOTS of lower-end computers with pre-installed Linux, discounted by the license cost for Win-10-nic

b) Make sure that the high-end computers are ALL Linux compatible and no 'proprietary' Linux drivers, either

c) ALWAYS offer a discount for Linux pre-installed, to compensate for not paying a license for Win-10-nic

And so on. Give us a reason to purchase a Dell machine, in lieu of Lenovo and others that compete with you. Your prices are higher than "those guys" which keeps me from getting a Dell. That's really what matters.

it's kinda like Supply and Demand 101, ya know?

After last year's sexism shambles, 2019's RSA infosec bash has upped its inclusivity game

Diversity...

deserves its own snarky meme. _SO_ overrated.

how about we just hire people etc. based on MERIT and not on IDENTITY???

(oh and same for 'hiring' someone as an event speaker, too, obviously)

Danger mouse! Potent rodents 'see' infrared after eyeballs injected with nanoparticles

Re: Up to ten weeks

"Cue a reshowing of The Man With X Ray Eyes."

I was thinking "Pitch Black" and the followup "Chronicles of Riddick" franchise, actually...

If at first you don't succeed, you may be trying to install that Slow Ring Windows 10 build

Re: the gang at Redmond appear to have lost patience with the company responsible

perhaps this is the first GOOD decision Microsoft has made with respect to ANYTHING in Win-10-nic?

The problem with supporting the 99.999% case, is that you OFTEN poorly support the 85% or 90% case in order to do so. Plenty of examples in Win-10-nic.

Re: Brown Ring of Quality

the "O-ring"

For some reason, the first thing I thought of was a sphincter

Re: Does anyone bother with Windows anymore ?

"No suppliers have dared suggest they'll force an application that uses Win10 only."

Hear THAT Intuit? Please continue to support windows 7 (k-thx).

Good news to me. I'll effectively 'sandbox' my 7 machine and VMs until doomsday, to avoid Win-10-nic.

YouTube's pedo problem is so bad, it just switched off comments on millions of vids of small kids to stem the tide of vileness

Re: what is the solution?

if you go swimming in a sewer, expect to get sick from the diseases found there. And don't complain about the smell, either. You KNEW ahead of time it would stink. It's a SEWER.

I guess the solution is to convince people to stop swimming in sewers... not try and make them SAFER sewers. Or pleasant smelling sewers.

Re: Is this real, or just the latest panic?

“Playing heavy metal records backwards summons the devil”,

PROMISE???

Re: One of the YouTube channels I watched got its comments deleted in this manner

A 'blunt instrument' - probably automated moderating, which is likely to be abused (for political purposes) and end up more like this:

https://www.projectveritas.com/2019/02/27/facebook-insider-leaks-docs/

I really don't want Google + Youtube + Alphabet going down that same path as Fa[e]cebook with shadow-banning (etc.), or even 'punishment' or 'retaliation', whether or not they've actually done so already.

but, since WHEN did Google/Alphabet/Youtube EVER care about 'false hits' on such things...

Re: Has anyone else noticed that these reccomendation algos are basically cancer?

and these algorithms are being 'gamed' apparently. this is not a surprise. inevitable is more like it.

it's like a new form of steganography... to game the algorithms into revealing the information you wanted to be revealed, but only to those who know the 'code'.

I don't know whether to high-5 these people, or throw rocks at them... because it _IS_ a very clever hack!

Insane homeowners association tries to fine resident for dick-shaped outline car left in snow

Re: Apparently someone has unmet needs

send them to 4chan for a day...

Re: Went on vacation...

it's probably cheaper to give everyone a "blue can" for recyclables [and ask nicely that they be rinsed, etc.] then hire a few people to separate them at the trash collection facility, recycling stuff and getting money back for it... (that's what San Diego does, and it's my understanding that there's a net profit from plastic+glass bottles, paper+cardboard, and aluminum, or at least a great reduction in cost)

so yeah toss those 'have a deposit' bottles into the blue-can, avoid the inconvenience of taking them to someplace to get the cash back for them, and let the city keep it. they should be happy about that, right, and NOT try to tax sodas out of existence...

Re: What's wrong with these people?

back in the late 70's I worked out a math equation for a "thigh gap" and then occasionally caused it to print on a Tectronix vector graphics terminal with an attached thermal printer...

it involved a 3rd order equation of the absolute value of 'x', as I recall where the coefficient on x^3 was negative (so it disappeared off the bottom of the screen, like legs...

Re: Power unchecked

_I_ don't want to be ruled by the California legislature, either, but I live here...