Posts by bombastic bob 10841 publicly visible posts • joined 1 May 2015
"Are you saying that you can store more on a mechanical drive than SSD"
Yeah, price per gigabyte is STILL better for spinny drives vs silicon drives. They tend to have more storage per device [since buying a <1TB spinny hard drive is kinda pointless nowadays] than the SSDs so if your laptop has space for a 2nd hard drive, it's likely to be just that - a spinny hard drive. Same for PC as well but that was kinda obvious.
even though youtube-dl works really well for downloading (and keeping) youtube videos, it's constantly in need of updating as youtube mangles the way it delivers content [perhaps to thwart it].
But if MORE people had an EASIER time of downloading youtube content, then MORE people would SAVE it [rather than streaming every! single! time!]. this would fill up hard drives, requiring BIGGER [and perhaps FASTER] drives to replace old "full" ones.
So if youtube invests in hard drives, they can help stimulate the market by ENCOURAGING people to download content, etc.
They might actually make MORE money that way than if they spy on us or track us for advertising purposes.
Now, would they choose the 'more honorable' path of stimulating a market that they invest in, or are they going to continue to "do no evil when we define evil the way we define it" like they've been doing for a while now... ?
And another market stimulation would be for Intel and hard drive manufacturers to COLLABORATE on getting an OS alternative out there, pre-installed on computers, one that's the equivalent [to businesses] of Windows, and also to the 'Home' user crowd, that's marketed and supported and so on and BASED ON LINUX such that you can install your OWN version of Linux over the top of it [i.e. no 'secure boot' lockouts].
This WOULD stimulate PC sales, thereby stimulating HARD DRIVE sales. Google could even get in on it with Chrome OS and perhaps an option of having Mint pre-installed...
ALL of these things WOULD stimulate hard drive sales. But is anybody LOOKING at this? Must the Win-10-nic MONOPOLY _CONTINUE_ to depress the new PC market? And, apparently, depress the 'new hard drive' market as well.
I had a different adjective in mind. Age does not make it respectable, but it DOES make it 'old'. And quite possibly, 'outdated'.
".Not Core" isn't any better, in my opinion, with the exception of open-source-ness.
It's all Micro-shaft putting even MORE lipstick on the non-oinky end of the boar.
Now, if they could make the UNDERLYING OPERATING SYSTEM better, by fixing all of the bugs THERE, or maybe RE-ISSUE a new 'LTR' version of Windows 7 [without the forced updates, naturally], or at the very least let us SHUT THE [profanity] OFF in Win-10-nic and CUSTOMIZE it [including a 3D skeuomorphic look and no 'the metro' bright blue on blinding white 'settings' screens] I'd be a LOT more likely to give them due accolades.
But they haven't. And so I won't. It's just more disappointment, from my perspective.
(oh but making python work better, I guess that's something good. yay.)
"Being shown round the office - every person was smoking. One even had a cigarette and a pipe in his ashtray."
I wouldn't have got past the door, would've been sneezing/headaches the entire time. _NO_ _WAY_ could I _EVAR_ work in an office with open smoking like that.
(fortunately, the rest of the world has caught up, and you don't see that any more in any place I'm aware of)
also, from the article:
"Claims of the damage that rejecting the rules would have on internet access have not come true and so therefore, by extension, the rule change was good."
I'm not entirely sure that THIS is the only justification for the rule change being 'good'. I'm sure it has everything to do with REMOVING regulations, and the lifting of what has been considered to be 'overreach' or 'a power grab' over the internet by the FCC, which could have (in theory) been used to CENSOR or RESTRICT content.
For an example of the latter, consider the so-called "fairness doctrine" that was imposed by the FCC on radio and TV broadcasts, which was (finally) REMOVED in the 80's thanks to Ronald Reagan. FYI Ronald Reagan was NOT just an actor but had been a radio broadcaster AND was the head of the 'Screen Actors Guild', aka a union boss. So I think Reagan had a REALLY GOOD grasp on the CHILLING effects that the so-called 'Fairness Doctrine' had on broadcasting in general.
And the general opinion _I_ have (and others too, from what I hear) is that ONCE a gummint agency has its foot in the door, they'll creep along gaining more and more power and control over time until "the agenda" has been acheved (whatever agenda that is), usually to empower those who are appointed to positions within the bureacracy.
So yeah, the DE-regulation has been GOOD. So-called "Net Neutrality" was ONLY a means of preventing someone from "paying for a fast lane", which, from my perspective, is ANTI-PROGRESS. By removing the fast lanes, instead of regulating them to a sane level, you FORCE EVERYONE to be EQUALLY MEDIOCRE.
Anyway, I've argued these points many times. If your mind is made up, you'll just disregard it anyway. But I had to say it, regardless.
unfortunately (from the perspective of wanting only the BEST QUALITY merchandise available at reasonable prices) Micro-shaft's marketing ACTUALLY WORKS.
I've said it before: They could sell icewater to Eskimos, in the middle of winter, and use poor quality ingredients in it, and their customers would STILL buy it instead of melting ice or using some other reasonable method of getting fresh water to drink.
P.T. Barnum was right.
ads down both sides? I'm not seeing it...
I don't mind ads, I just don't see them because, NOSCRIPT.
Now,, El Reg, please consider that MANY readers of your fine on-line news thingy are SECURITY PROFESSIONALS and IT PROFESSIONALS and are likely to do things *LIKE* block script.
I wouldn't mind seeing ads. ADS WITHOUT SCRIPT IN THEM, that is. I might even BUY something from one of the advertised vendors. It's relevant to my interests already, no need for TRACKING via script by the 3rd party ad providers...
well, FreeBSD is pretty good with legacy support. Not perfect, and you may have to go back a few revisions to get it to work, but I think legacy peripherals still have a lot of support. Linux is also pretty good, but BSD and Linux typically get 'modernized' to avoid having to support hardware that might, well, interfere with getting the code to work better or to implement new features.
example: 32-bit kernels on 64-bit MIPS platforms - gone in FBSD 12, as I understand it. Is anyone complaining? Maybe, but I doubt it will matter much.
yeah, THAT kind of thing. I suspect OBSD and FBSD do similar things in this regard. As I mentioned earlier, the FBSD kernel source contains many references to OpenBSD, so there's been at least SOME collaboration in the past, at least, and I expect that it will continue.
"if you are really worried about security and privacy, then there really is only one option: OpenBSD."
I haven't tried OBSD but I have seen collaboration between that project and FreeBSD, at least within some of the kernel drivers.
perhaps I should get the latest and put it in a VM, for grins.
but, relevant to topic, ANY OTHER OS would be better than Win-10-nic for privacy.
It is _SO_ like MS and Win-10-nic to bury the settings for "do not slurp" in 2 unrelated places, without documentation, and only mention them when faced with legal action.
Back in the "control panel" days, things like this would typically all be on ONE page, or at least one set of tabs in a dialog box.
But UWP "The Settings" can't fit more than 2 or 3 things on that BRIGHT BLUE ON BLINDING WHITE crap interface, even on a GINORMOUS monitor, because 4 inch phone screens. So it requires TWO (2) places, not one, but TWO, 2 places, to make the change(s) necessary to AVOID THE SLURPAGE.
(rage - see icon)
Aside from avoiding the cloudy 'Micro-shaft Logon' completely when setting up your computer...
"Got, Linux?"
I was looking at it from a more political perspective, and did a bit of research, and confirmed that the comparison was, in fact, pretty good.
I'd prefer that it was Ayn Rand. Instead, we got a bunch of lefties and/or snowflakes with TOO MUCH MONEY AND INFLUENCE, pretending they "care" but in fact, they're in it FOR THE MONEY.
(I'd be in it for the money, too, but I'd be honest about it, and "not do evil")
" It wasn't until later that I became aware of just how primitive computer technology was back in the late 60s."
back in the 60's the only perception most people had about computers were:
a) big hunks of iron with spinning reel to reel tape drives on them;
b) mysterious sciency things that threatened your job security and impersonally made 'errors' that you could not get corrected (like your bank statement)
c) that, like a hollywood robot (think 'Lost In Space' and the Bat Computer) could just answer abstract questions and had infinite stores of encyclopedic knowledge
Oh, and the "punch card" thing. that's how they were programmed, most of the time. And so, when you verbally asked your computer for an answer, it would be spat out on a - you guessed it - a punch card.
simple and usable - yeah I like those things. Good for 'first principles"
from article: "High-level languages with automatic memory management and no direct use of pointers, such as Java, first released in 1996, have made it easier for developers to avoid some errors."
while at the same time, creating INEFFICIENCY and BLOAT. And solving LITTLE. See icon.
A bit of self-discipline and specific "look for that" reviews of the code, by people who didn't write the thing, might be in order instead of resorting to 'garbage collection' memory "management".
I doubt you'll EVAR see things _like_ OpenSSL coded with a computer lingo that employees "garbage collection". But if that happens, I think it'll be forked by SANE developers who understand the implications and unintended consequences of resorting to 'garbage collection' memory management.
...
facepalm. see icon.
It's time for corporate firewall appliances to aggressively strip off any MS Office document attachments, particularly those that contain scripts, and for company policies to dictate and enforce "never open or preview them". If it can't be sent as plain text or something WITHOUT script in it, don't allow it to be received.
it's been what, TWO DECADES since the first word macro virus?
The Wikipedia page on Macro viruses states that the Melissa virus was from 1999.
actually, escaping air through the hole would have enough oxygen in it to oxidize most materials that they'd make spacecraft out of, such as aluminum or titanium, both of which rapidly form a protective oxide coating when exposed to O2 in air...
[hence welding aluminum or titanium is extremely difficult, compare to other materials, because of the oxidation and thermal properties and other such thing]
yeah anyplace near 'the grapevine' or Donner's pass is ripe for weather-related bad road conditions. Black ice in August? Ew.
A couple of times I had to sleep in my car waiting for I5 South to open over 'the grapevine' (night driving to get home by monday) and one time the CHP escorted everyone behind the snow plows with black ice still on the road. There was stop/go going up the hill with ice and mush underneath our tires. I saw cars pulled off the side of the road similar to mine, drivers apparently unable to get moving again with the icy-slick road after having to stop while pointing up a steep hill. So I wonder if the bots could be taught "the trick" of partially applying the brakes to prevent one tire from spinning really fast, and thereby get some traction on the other tire...
Thinking about winter weather...
Being blown off of an icy road due to strong crosswinds, especially for high profile vehicles, might be a nice "anomoly" to add to their list
Then there are 'hydroplane' conditions when raining, which might require you to NOT make any sudden adjustments, even if you're outside of a lane. Or lets say you end up spinning anyway and need to recover from it.
It appears to me they're still working on 'fair weather' problems like a child running in front of the car, or someone drifting into your lane.
'shock news' heh.
from article: "Neural networks are notoriously data hungry; it takes them millions of demonstrations in order to learn a specific task."
Well, in theory, 'once learned' the concepts can be copied. But I suspect that using raw neural network learning is grossly inefficient.
Some things are intuitively obvious, like staying in the lane, stopping at a stop sign, and so on. Being able to recognize what a "lane" is and what a "stop sign" is should be solvable as separate problems.
But of course, there do not appear to be enough details as to how they're really going about this.
I see this, instead, as an opportunity to just "hard code" some basic rules in there, to avoid having to run a million simulations that come up with the same "conclusion" in the AI [and it'll probably RUN faster on the hardware]. So "Nice Try" to the AI people, who are probably being like the proverbial hammer seeing everything as a nail...
@Milton
No. Just no. Other than something like GDPR, which requires that users would be given a choice regarding the data slurpage, the moment you start doing things like taxing e-mail and prohibiting anonymity... well, let's just say it won't work. "Other Means" will be made use of to circumvent it.
Anyway, if you *FEEL* (not think, feel) that way about anonymity, perhaps you can set an example for the rest of us by posting your personal data and real name in this forum? You know, name, phone number, date of birth, address, where you work, yotta yotta yotta...
Oh, that's not very safe, now is it? It's why some level of anonymity MUST exist in public forums in order to have a free exchange of ideas. Then people are free to say/do pretty much whatever they want without being HARASSED I.R.L. about it (when you look at college political correctness activism, as one example, it has a CHILLING EFFECT on free speech. Anonymity protects freedom of thought).
So, do you see why banning anonymity is a BAD idea?
agreed, MS's EULA and policies are a bit *chilling*. It's another reason NOT to use Win-10-nic. As for things like github and LInkedIn, I've got my eye on them...
You can try doing like I do: Don't surf the web from a Windows computer (especially NOT Win-10-nic), don't enable Javascript unless you have no choice, and ONLY use 'in memory' cookies for web sites that MIGHT track you (so you can dump them whenever you want).
And if you need to access a web site with scripting etc. enabled, set up a "sandbox" browser (with a different user login) that dumps ALL history when you're done with it (not just another instance of the same browser you're looking at pr0n in a different tab with, heh). Then it can't attempt to examine the web cache or history of the one you NORMALLY use, either. It won't HAVE a cache nor history when you close it!
On a POSIX system with X11, as long as you've enabled TCP access for the X server (and blocked port 6000 in your firewall to 'teh intarwebs'), you can run 'remote sessions' from different logins similar to this:
For the user that starts the X server (I use startx, not gdm or anything like that, YMMV) the '.xserverrc' file will need to contain something like this before you start the X server:
exec Xorg -listen tcp
Then, via a 'logged in' user on the desktop, in a bash shell:
xhost +localhost
then,
su - otheruser
(log in as normal)
export DISPLAY=localhost:0.0
Then run firefox or whatever, and it will run IN THE CONTEXT OF THIS OTHER USER, which can have its own settings, script enable/disable, etc.. It's reasonably "sandboxed", and won't be 'just another window in the same application' as any running browser on the desktop.
Oh, and yes - this means NOT running Windows, the FIRST line of defense against MS's EULA and "privacy" policy.
@Sandtitz
yeah I was ready to thumbs-up all of that until I saw the VPN comment... and how exactly is Micro-shaft slurping every web site you browse via a VPN? *crickets*
Are they simply keeping a log of the URLs you visit? maybe. Easier ways exist to make THAT happen, including having the browser do that, if they REALLY wanted to do so. But that could be more easily done with a DNS server, too [just log the name lookups]. Right, Google? Or just do like Fa[e]cebook and put an 'F' icon on all of the pages you wanna track, with some scripty/cookie tracking, by paying web content providers to do so via ads [or whatever].
So yeah some accurate evidence of them spying would be acceptable, but "evidence please" on the MITM stuff. Otherwise, FUD.
I think SuperMicro has at least done the right thing and made a SERIOUS effort to, well, "take it seriously" and ensure that NONE of their products have been tampered with. It's also likely they'll continue to look for the possibility just so they can SAY they are.
It's hard to re-build a reputation that's been SO DAMAGED like this.
THAT being said, reputations are what they are, and I think the ball is NOW in Bloomberg's court.
'Fake News' has been getting out of hand a LOT. These "un-named sources" who seem to know SO much, wanting to blow the lid off of some scandal, blah blah yotta yotta TABLOID NEWS.
Bloomberg, I think you guys SCREWED THE PROVERBIAL POOCH. Funny how they doubled down on it, too.
I hope they have really GOOD evidence to support their claim, if it's true. Because it's PLAUSIBLE. But if they have NOTHING, which I suspect is the case, they'll end up on the wrong side of a defamation and libel lawsuit. And, don't forget the drop in stock value.
Then again, the drop in stock might be 'stock manipulation'. Did anyone MAKE LOTS OF MONEY by SELLING SHORT on SuperMicro stock? S.E.C. where are you?
I'd like to see how this plays out. Needless to say, if spy chips WERE being planted, I doubt it will happen again any time soon, because NOW people are LOOKING for it...
It's not fair if:
a) doing the necessary things to EARN BETTER INCOME does _NOT_ get you "better things" (including internet service);
b) you are CHARGED BASED ON YOUR INCOME for the SAME SERVICES as everyone else gets;
c) HIGH TAXES "keep you in your place" so that those who do NOT work hard, etc. can have the SAME THINGS that YOU have to EARN;
etc.
ISP's could provide CHEAP DIAL UP for people who can't aford broadband. In fact, there are FREE DIALUP services, last I checked.
But the _LAST THING_ I would _EVAR_ want to see, is a "universal lifeline service" for INTERNET. Because, _I_ would never get it, I'd ALWAYS have to PAY for it, and people who ARE LAZY would RECEIVE IT.
Unless there is INCENTIVE for people to BETTER THEMSELVES, "the lazy" will ALWAYS use SOCIAL PROGRAMS and "PROGRESSIVE" taxation/fees as *A* *HAMMOCK* !!!!!
("get a job hippy")
If Dragonfly is a real thing, which they're apparently NOT (directly) admitting over at Google ('for China' wouldn't be the same as admitting they're creating a special 'filter' just for the communist regime to use AGAINST their own people), then the NEW motto should be: "Don't let anyone SEE US do evil" or "Don't ADMIT to doing evil".
And WHAT! MAKES! ANYONE! BELIEVE! THEY! ARE! NOT! ALREADY! USING! the 'Dragonfly' "technology" TO! SILENCE! ANYONE! THEY! *FEEL*! DESERVES! IT! ??? (aka Conservatives, Critics, and Competition - and Enemies, oh my!!).
I am definitely NOT buying their B.S.. And if they *FEEL* (the 'F' word) as if nobody in Congress can figure out when they're getting manipulated and condescended to, they are in for a BIG surprise. [OK most lawmakers probably ARE idiots, but at least a few of them aren't, and they're most likely NOT amused. I wouldn't be]
'"Stupid flat look" - aesthetics is a choice, i actually like the way win 10 looks'
OK. that's YOUR choice. Why can't _I_ have *MY* choice???
answer: because a handful of ARROGANT SMUG 'we know better than YOU what YOU should have' types RE-WROTE THE [profanities] UI to be ALL 2D FLATSO AND FLUGLY, that's why!!!!
And they forgot that THE CUSTOMER (me) is ALWAYS right, and should be GIVING ME (the customer) _WHAT_ _I_ _WANT_ !!!
yeah fixing some of the more 'irritating features' of Notepad _IS_ an improvement. As long as it doesn't go all UWP on us.
assuming UTF-8 (without a control char seq saying 'I am UTF-8 format') is a good start. So is that irritating prompt to 'create a new file' if you enter a non-existent file name on the command line... [maybe just the ability to turn that on/off in case someone WANTS that?]
Fix that and line endings and it should be good to go. Now how about a back-port for 7?
" there's currently a user's laptop on the bench that's been running Windows Update for 9 days solid"
you should put a web cam on it, and a page that snapshots it, maybe a web page called "the daily windows update", etc.. Have some fun, let us all get a nice big 'schadenfruede' laugh over it, etc.. Or maybe you could make a time-lapse youtube video with a running timestamp (and ambient room light indicating day/night) so that people can see just how sllloooooww it's going. Heh.
yeah, they should change the icon for windows to an "under construction" sign...
/me runs away seeing as so many web sites used to do that to the point where it became a trope to be ridiculed...
/me also points out that anything with any COLOR in it would be an improvement over that 'monochromatic' white on 'whatever background' 2D FLATTY 'windows at an angle' icon is...
not sure if they meant one of the lagrange points. One exists on the far side of the moon where the 'gravity shadowing' is at L2...
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lagrangian_point
So having a comms satellite stationed there could receive signals from the 'dark side' of the moon (queue one of the best Pink Floyd albums, evar), and then relay to Earth. The total signal distance would be about 3 times the distance from earth to moon, which is reasonable. Downside, having to keep a satellite at the L2 lagrange point with respect to earth and moon. I guess one that orbits the moon would cost less... [or you could have 2 or 3 of them, so that one is always 'in contact' while the other(s) go over the horizon]
post-note - the moon wouldn't block the signal to the L2 point if the circle/orbit that the satellite makes about the L2 point has a large enough diameter. Lagrange orbits are kinda like 2 strings with a weight in the middle, spinning in a circular orbit 90 degrees to the 2 gravity wells [or in this case, as illustrated by the strings]. So yeah if that circle is too small, the satellite will be blocked by the moon. It would have to have a diameter larger than the moon, in other words. Should work, though.
"The fact of the matter is that if someone can find a way to ABuse something to make money, it's already screwed and that's human nature"
Fixed it for ya. Using something to make money is a GOOD thing. ABusing ANYTHING is bad. And that's the point. The fact that SOME of the ABuse is to make money [presumably in a dishonest way], it's no different than anything else in the past or present.
Like travel technology, which has resulted in airplane hijackings, car jackings, and before that, train robberies, where opportunistic criminals and psychopaths use 'the new thing' to do the same KINDS of evil they've always done, you now have WORLDWIDE COMMUNICATION.
There are tried and true ways of dealing with ABusers without punishing everyone ELSE. Usually it takes the form of law enforcement, honest individuals who assist with law enforcement, and some kind of judicial system with due process, etc. [otherwise it becomes totalitarian, oppressive, fascist, etc. - or worse, COMMUNIST].
But yeah, the world's control freaks and "governing opportunists" will ALWAYS pick something that solves NOTHING, but increases THEIR power and influence over YOU.
Personally, I'd rather have ANARCHY than a POLICE STATE on 'teh intarwebs'. We don't need a "great firewall" protecting us from "teh pr0nz" for our own good... (or more likely, keep us 'protected' from 'THE TRUTH' in place of gummint-approved 'fake news' etc.).
eh, AD[H]D, autism spectrum, and other things like that, MOST of the time, are just 'another word' for 'genius'. Or an excuse for bad behavior, as was attempted here. Yeah I think the psycho-babblers have gone too far with their definitions (which detracts from the few who actually need some kind of treatment).
They forgot that, to a hammer, EVERYTHING is a nail. They see 'disorders' where 'a slightly different NORMAL' exists.
/me recalls that one guy claiming ADD made him do bad things in Singapore, and got 'caned' as punishment for it. Obviously Singapore criminal justice system didn't buy it. AND, I bet he won't do that AGAIN, either.
Well, a 10:1 improvement in the cost of the infrastructure for "just the storage" OBVIOUSLY leaves out the cost of conversion from heat to electricity (the article even said so, more or less). This latter part, 2nd law of thermodynamics notwithstanding, has been THE problem all along in making electrons move through wires so that we can watch TV and read by electric light... and in some cases, heat various rooms in the house that aren't practical to heat any other way.
And if you're going to go THAT far, we might as well use URANIUM to produce the heat in the FIRST place. Until, of course, hydrogen fusion reactors become practical.
It's obvious that politics of the day are driving all of this.
/me plays "Baby it's cold outside" - not simply because it IS getting colder, and will continue to get colder, on average, in the Northern hemisphere, until ~2040 due to the ~70 year temperature cycle, but MOSTLY because I heard some people whining about that song recently and so I'm having fun with it.
To the scientists who suggested 'hot rock' storage: Nice try. How about 'Nuclear' instead? Nuclear doesn't generate CO2, the thing you fear the most. But wait, it's not in line with the POLITICS, now is it? Heh, yeah, pointing out the obvious again. I think I prefer FREEDOM.
" only to discover the neighbour is a transgender ninja with anger management issues police officer"
I'd rather see the perpetrator take a trip through the criminal justice system. It's slower, public, and leaves a more 'lasting' impression upon others who might try and do something like this as a "me too".
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