* Posts by bombastic bob

10515 publicly visible posts • joined 1 May 2015

Boffins find new ways to slurp private info from Facebook addicts using precision-targeted ads

bombastic bob Silver badge
Pirate

microtargeting

I wonder what kinds of nefarious things can be done with THAT...

a) spear phishing

b) harassment

c) manipulation

d) blackmail

e) evil gossip

f) get target to show up someplace at a given time

g) get target to take pictures doing specific things

h) all of the above

I can think of many ways to do "all of those", if given the ability to make this happen. Good thing I'm a 'white hat' [ok maybe a slight touch of grey]

consider what 419eater has been able to do, for example, with 419 scammers. And I really liked that 'Africa' video with the song 'Africa' by Toto. It was a crowning moment of awesome!

It's April 2018, and we've had to sit on this Windows 10 Spring Creators Update headline for days

bombastic bob Silver badge
Happy

Re: Revamped user interface

"7 start menu needed to be made easier"

step 1: turn off sort. then you can drag stuff around.

bombastic bob Silver badge
Thumb Up

Re: Revamped user interface

don't forget 3D Skeuomorphic instead of the 2D FLATSO!

bombastic bob Silver badge
Trollface

Re: Win 10, the NEW Vista!

you shouldn't insult Windows Vista by comparing it to 10.

bombastic bob Silver badge
Devil

Re: cant win

"and has been for decades"

I'd say "nearly a decade" (since 'Ape' released). 7 was 'ok'. I'd call it 'moderately acceptable'. Everything _SINCE_ then, however, oughta be burned as toxic waste.

bombastic bob Silver badge

Re: Because the 'new' Microsoft under SatNad is all about maintaining the hipster image

it was always about hype and marketing

"We are excited" <-- like a dog when you grab the leash

"will share" <-- psycho-babble speak for "let you know"

etc.

I actually had someone tell me to use the word 'feel' instead of 'think' because 'think' sounds too strong. It's based on THAT kind of *FEELING* (not thinking). Touchy-feely psychobabble PAP.

And Micro-shaft's upper management is FILLED with that kind of "*FEELING*" apparently.

Mark Duckerberg: Second Congressional grilling sees boss dodge questions like a pro

bombastic bob Silver badge
Thumb Down

WHO endorsed Diamond and Silk - ZUCK? NO way, F.B. silently *BANNED* them from sending updates to their subscribers... then Zuck LIED about it!

http://www.foxnews.com/tech/2018/04/10/diamond-and-silk-accuse-facebook-discrimination-censorship-over-unsafe-label.html

And, saying things that are a) politically incorrect and b) going against the expectations of the left (based on things like race, sex, etc.) is _NOT_ _DIVISIVE_!

What's divisive is things like: ANTIFA, "hands up don't shoot", and THIS.

bombastic bob Silver badge
Unhappy

Re: Personal information is the Internet Dollar

"it should be a crime to allow the smart to trick the stupid into throwing elections."

and if it were a crime, the Demo-Rat party would all be in jail (for getting OBAKA elected - TWICE). Mrs. Clinton notwithstanding of course.

Or else corruption in the FBI and DOJ would declare them all 'innocent' before the investigation even starts, whichever. Yeah, THAT would never happen, right?

bombastic bob Silver badge
WTF?

Re: Not that bothered

"Scorpion's gonna sting, its in their nature."

Then, WHY do you (apparently) do business with one?

[if the product is "free", YOU are the commodity]

bombastic bob Silver badge
Unhappy

Re: Everyone seems to be missing the main point

"You are the lab rat."

What must be the psychological mindset of someone who would actually treat other people this way? In other words, people (in general) are de-humanized, and then monetized, and *tricked* into accepting all of this for a potentially addictive 'fix' that temporarily boosts (or not) their emotional states?

Well, at least it's not smokin' up MY air... [other than THAT, it really DOES seem like 'Big Tobacco' spiking cigarettes and breeding tobacco specifically to make it more addicting, etc. which is what all of the allegations have been over the years, and "F.B." as a corporation is no exception to this kind of mindset, or so it would appear]

Answer to first question: a sociopath. knows what he does is morally wrong, but he does it anyway.

https://www.wikihow.com/Spot-a-Sociopath

1. look for a lack of shame

2. See if the person is constantly lying

3. See if they are able to stay eerily calm in spite of circumstances

4. Consider if they are extremely charming and generous—at least at first

5. Notice if the person is manipulative

6. Look for signs of instigating violent behavior [ANTIFA? divisive politics?]

7. See if the person has a huge ego

8. Notice if the person has few real friends [I wonder...]

9. Consider if the person likes to isolate you [creepy clingy?]

10. See if the person is immature [does not learn from mistakes...]

11. Look for gaslighting [F.B.'s treatment of 'Diamond and Silk']

12. Observe if they use an intense, manipulative stare to attempt to intimidate you [not to be confused with the 1000-yard stare, the look from someone who can't be broken because it's already happened, and he survived]

anyway, not all of these would apply, but it looks like MOST of them could! If not to anyone in particular, to the organization as a whole...

bombastic bob Silver badge
Devil

Re: Strangely, reminds me of an Eric Idle joke

What does FB stand for?

being from across the pond, I had to try and figure it out. I found two terms, both with the initials 'FB', that most likely qualify.

a) Friend with Benefits

b) FEEL Buddy [word substitution for humor]

I'm guessing 'b' [the un-bowdlerized version]

bombastic bob Silver badge
Devil

Re: Big-Tobacco vs Facebook

the dopamine nature of 'Likes'

I prefer the thumbs down. It means I'm doing it "right". Pun intended.

bombastic bob Silver badge
Trollface

Re: Nice summary of main Facebook gotchas here:

a) answer the question with a question

b) answer your own question.

I saw that parodied in Zootopia. The results weren't good.

Using Outlook? You should probably do some patching

bombastic bob Silver badge
Facepalm

People STILL use 'Virus Outbreak' aka Microsoft Outlook?

what it says in the title.

any - repeat *ANY* application *STUPIDLY WRITTEN* enough to preview attached (or especially REMOTE) content (or HTML, for that matter, especially with respect to DOWNLOADED or ATTACHED FONTS) in a preview window *DESERVES* whatever "UN-LOVE" it gets for doing so.

'Virus Outbreak' is INSECURE BY DESIGN.

(don't use it)

icon, because, *facepalm*

Want to terrify a city with an emergency broadcast? All you need is a laptop and $30

bombastic bob Silver badge
Devil

Re: Or alternatively

In Hawaii, it just happens when you click the wrong button in the UI.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/post-nation/wp/2018/01/14/hawaii-missile-alert-how-one-employee-pushed-the-wrong-button-and-caused-a-wave-of-panic/

(ok it's a link to the 'washington bleep' but still...)

yeah, that's the cover story. social engineering notwithstanding.

Jury to Apple: You owe patent flinger VirnetX half a BEEELLION buckaroos

bombastic bob Silver badge
Trollface

Re: East Texas anything like Kansas?

the yellow (gold) bricks in Marshall Texas were paid for by patent trolls

puns intended

I think from Kansas you get to Marshall Texas by going South until you smell it, then East until you step in it.

bombastic bob Silver badge
Devil

Re: A jury in an Eastern Texas

Ah, yes, Marshall, Texas

https://www.bloomberg.com/view/articles/2017-05-25/the-texas-town-that-patent-trolls-built-j34rlmjc

"The Town That Trolls Built"

Apparently, last year, the Supremes ruled that trolls can't go venue shopping like that any more. I have to wonder why Apple's lawsuit was there...

Get the FTP outta here, says Firefox

bombastic bob Silver badge
Devil

Re: pardon, me ignorant

"Do you use the HTML src attribute for that? If not, nothing changes for you. If yes, why the hell?"

well, if you're a MALWARE author, and you ftp'd your malware crap onto someone's server (after cracking it) and NOW have an FTP URL to it in an HTML element, then MAYBE your malware load will break.

Yeah, TOO! BAD!!!

No password? No worries! Two new standards aim to make logins an API experience

bombastic bob Silver badge
FAIL

Re: Handy

tried before. Micro-shaft 'Passport'. Failed then, too.

And don't forget "Log in using Face-bitch". NO tracking THERE, right??? Or 'log in via Google'. Same thing.

A centralized "single point of failure" logon for the ENTIRE intarwebs is likely (like a 'Micro-shaft account' for your windows box) to TRACK YOU EVERYWHERE. Why? Because there has to be a server side credential exchange for EVERY! SITE! you visit that's "aware" of it.

And their revenue model: slurp a few cents for every site that uses the API, but only for BIG sites [which is what Google does for things like 'maps']. If you have a low access rate personal or company site, it'll be free. if you have a million hits a day commercial site, PAY UP!

yeah you can see THAT coming... no, wait, ALREADY HERE (for maps anyway, as pointed out previously):

https://www.theregister.co.uk/2011/10/27/google_maps_api_no_longer_free/

I'd expect that to be (eventually) extended towards the "common logon" as well, if it's ever adopted.

let's hope it's NOT EVAR adopted. it's bad enough ALREADY when web sites give you a 'forbidden' response when you disable script. Last thing I'd EVAR want is to see the vast majority of web sites buying into this crap and DEMANDING a login.

Nervous Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg passes Turing Test in Congress

bombastic bob Silver badge
Joke

Re: The real question.

"What have you done with all the kittens?"

They all died. Every time Facebitch tracks a user, a kitten dies. That's a LOT of kittens!

bombastic bob Silver badge
Mushroom

Diamond and Silk

a missing item, how Face-bitch treated 'Diamond and Silk', a pair of trump-loving ladies who happen to be black. Ted Cruz MADE A POINT of mentioning them, for they were told by Face-bitch that their million-subscriber page was deemed "unsafe to the community" by Face-bitch (nevermind their NOT making such determinations with regards to violent groups like ANTIFA).

http://www.foxnews.com/tech/2018/04/10/diamond-and-silk-accuse-facebook-discrimination-censorship-over-unsafe-label.html

"the duo recalled what they called a months-long battle with the company after noticing a drop in engagement in September 2017"

(this is how they found out about it - Face-bitch didn't tell them)

eventually, after an apparent and lengthy 'back and forth' e-mail exchange over several MONTHS, "they wrote and said that they deem our content and our brand ‘unsafe to the community,’"

If you've ever seen these ladies on TV [some Fox News hosts like to bring them on as guests] you can hear them make some rather entertaining conservative-leaning points about current issues. And apparently they have over a million subscribers.

So, absent from the El Reg article is Ted Cruz making a SPECIFIC POINT about how Face-bitch OVERTLY DISCRIMINATED against these 2 ladies. And *I* think it was a form of RACISM. Because, according to "the liberal viewpoint", these 2 women should be LIBERALS, not conservatives. And they should HATE Trump. And when you have examples of women who happen to be black SUPPORTING Trump, it goes against "the narrative", and GETS CENSORED as 'unsafe to the community'.

UNSAFE, huh? UNSAFE to go against the liberal mantra with respect to your race and sex? And THAT is why I believe it is a FORM OF RACISM for these two women to be DISCRIMINATED AGAINST by Face-bitch, and why I'm _SO_ glad that Senator Cruz MADE A POINT of this, and put the screws to Zucker-b0rg.

Well, Zuck did 'the side step' the entire time from the clips I've seen, like that one politician in that movie from the 80's starring Burt Reynolds and Dolly Parton...

Modern life is rubbish – so why not take a trip down memory lane with Windows File Manager?

bombastic bob Silver badge
Unhappy

Re: Cool beans..

I miss 3D Skeuomorphic [in windows anyway]

The article's example photo had those DIETY CONDEMNED 2D FLATSO DECORATIONS like "Ape" and Win-10-nic.

I remember when Windows XP was accused of being 'bulbous'. Well, so the hell WHAT. It's a lot BETTER than FLATSO.

Win 3.x with its File Manager and Program Manager sold BECAUSE OF THE 3D SKEUOMORPHIC APPEARANCE, which was CLEARLY SUPERIOR to the Windows 2.x "flatso" look.

At least Win 2.x had more COLOR in their 'Flatso' than APE or Win-10-nic.

COPPA load of this FTC complaint: YouTube accused of collecting children's data

bombastic bob Silver badge
Trollface

Re: B, but... I also watch my little poney!

/me wonders how many perverts watch children's TV.

bombastic bob Silver badge
Big Brother

Re: Another 'Platform' gets caught slurping

How many of you have a digital cable box? I think they use TCP. that means LOGS, and they know who YOU are. They know what channel you're watching at a given time, so they know what programs you're watching. There's no way in hell that the media companies aren't USING THAT to do their ratings schhtuff. No need for 'Nielson Families' any more. TV isn't over the airwaves, it's being decrypted and therefore (probably) requires you to fetch the temporal keys, so een satellite could be monitoring you.

And if they CAN, they DO.

Given that, the privacy of the kids watching disney and cartoon network and nickelodeon and any otehr channel with children's programming knows EXACTLY what commercials and shows they're watching. Don't forget the cable converter boxen that are watching YOU.

what, don't believe me? Verizon has a PATENT ON IT! (and there are others...)

"if a user is watching a television program, a traditional targeted advertising system fails to account for what the user is doing"

" the targeted advertising may be based on one or more ambient actions performed by one or more users of an access device"

"a user may be presented with targeted advertising in accordance with the user's specific situation and/or actions"

the document goes further to determine what it is you are doing while the 'media content' is being 'viewed', if you're paying attention, laughing, playing a musical instrument [these are in the document, search, you'll see] and whatnot, then TARGET ADVERTISEMENT based on (literally) the TV SET TOP BOX WATCHING _YOU_ - like a bad Yakov Smirnoff joke. Aside from it sounding like tin-foil-hat material, THIS SCHTUFF IS REAL!

They're back! 'Feds only' encryption backdoors prepped in US by Dems

bombastic bob Silver badge
Unhappy

Re: Too late

there are open source BIOS images out there, too. Some of them disable things like 'management core'.

just because the sheeple are using "Win-Tel" (with its potential back-doors, etc.) doesn't mean YOU have to. Those same sheeple use FACE-B*TCH and TW*TTER, too.

(the use of 'asterisk' is because I only have one ass-to-risk...)

bombastic bob Silver badge
Mushroom

Re: Too late

ack. too late for guns, and now knives. Those genie's are out of the bottle, and have been out for a LONG time.

Make them illegal, and ONLY the criminals will have them. SO much for defending yourself, preventing thieves from cracking your bank accounts, etc. when ONLY the bad guys have the necessary means to protect themselves, _AND_ to attack YOU.

I'm not surprised the Demo-rats are behind this. Their so-called position for pro-civil-rights is nothing more than a SHAM. They've been about controlling the masses for a LONG time. The Republi-crats ("establishment" Republicans, mostly RINOs) are, too, but they've been singled out in the past.

NOW, Dianne Franken-Feinstein [who occasionally made sense in the past] has gone full-on bat-blank nutzy-cuckoo crying for back-door'd encryption, not knowing a cipher from a key.

These idiots are SO emotion-based and irresponsibly sinister in their motives, it's pathetic.

time to "clean house". TEA PARTY!

NOTE: when you take away the right of an individual to speak his own mind AND to defend himself, you end up with SHEEPLE. And they're *EASY* to control, like a herd of sheep.

1984 anyone? that's a TYPO.

Mind the gap: Men paid 18.6% more than women in Blighty tech sector

bombastic bob Silver badge
Devil

Re: Communist nonsense.

"If you start shitting on those of us that have spent out entire adult lives working to do better, then we will stop and you will shit out of luck when it matters most."

Who is John Galt? (sounds just like that).

It could happen, if there were a 'frontier' to go to to escape the nonsense...

bombastic bob Silver badge
Devil

do women make better office managers?

Worthy of mention, I believe that women often make better office managers than men. Pay based on how good you are at your job should help skew women's pay scale upwards over men within that realm.

I have to wonder whether women also make better project managers for the same reason, when the goals are NOT to participate in doing the project, but to 'manage' the project. (in the case of participating in the project, I would say men and women are equal).

It may actually be a sex-based characteristic, something for which 2 X chromosomes do better than only one (or the lack of a Y chromosome, for that matter). It may be that women's instincts with herding small children are often effective in an office environment.

That being said, it's an area where, if women ARE more competent, they should be paid better for it (and hired more often).

But it also may suggest that women actually gravitate towards MIDDLE management, rather than UPPER, which would skew the apples/oranges wage comparison (this is pure speculation on my part, no facts to back it up).

After all, according to the article: "The gender pay gap does not compare the same job roles because it would be illegal to pay women with the same jobs less"

ACK to that. I wouldn't WANT to work for a company that based wages on anything OTHER than your value to the company, based ENTIRELY on job performance (etc.).

Twitter whacks 270,000 terror accounts, majority flagged by internal tools

bombastic bob Silver badge
Unhappy

Re: Transparency

"the party in power is allowed to delete the other parties"

a few years ago, back when Putin was first elected in Russia, there was this one Russian guy that posted on the alt.hacker newsgroup. After a few months, he stopped posting. he was occasionally saying anti-Putin kinds of things, didn't like Putin, thought it was the end of everything when he got elected, etc.. I was not convinced back then. Now I'm not so sure...

bombastic bob Silver badge
Devil

Re: Free Speech and Consequences

"Make threats against someone and see what happens"

Or, promote racism and see if your employer questions your worth at the company...

bombastic bob Silver badge
Meh

Re: Blah blah free speech blah blah

"Tell me anywhere in the world where you actually have free speech."

"Think of the children!!"

on a college campus in the USA [more often than not], if your 'free' speech is in-line with the established political correctness, then it's ok. Otherwise, you get BANNED!

I am concerned that Twitter may easily fall into THAT trap, censoring those opinions it doesn't like. for now, it's terrorism. As for gummint requests for information, you just have to assume they'll comply if you're up to something no good...

And, if you want *TRULY* free speech, there's USENET and IRC.

The bigger problems with censorship happen in the 'political correctness' realm, ALL of the time, from outright bullying to actual policies squelching "unwelcome" opinions. THAT is where the freedom of speech fight needs to happen. Tw[a,i]tter, not so much.

Danish Navy expert finds no trace of exhaust gas in private submarine

bombastic bob Silver badge
Unhappy

"Would appear that Madsen is a lying sack of shit."

never underestimate the ability of a sharky l[aw]yer to turn what should be an obvious conviction [given the evidence I've read about] into an emotion-based acquittal and/or an endless series of mis-trials.

[if he sells the sub, maybe he can afford the attornies? but then again, getting the money via kickstarter or gofundme or whatever it was might mean he doesn't really OWN the thing...]

They forked this one up: Microsoft modifies open-source code, blows hole in Windows Defender

bombastic bob Silver badge
Facepalm

Re: That's the trouble with open source

*facepalm*

Spring is all about new beginnings, but it could already be lights out for Windows' Fluent Design

bombastic bob Silver badge
Facepalm

Re: re: The Microsoft View of the world

"Microsoft has run out of ideas"

Microsoft has run out of GOOD ideas. fixed. you're welcome.

They apparently have a LOT of VERY BAD ideas in a closet someplace, and every once in a while Comrade SatNad pulls one out of his as, uh, CLOUD, and floats yet another "new, shiny" feature like some kind of trial balloon in a weather experiment.

I've been unfortunate to work with a person who come in late to a project, then sweet talks the boss into doing something stupid, which he does while I strongly object, and then gets the PREDICTED bad results, while 'sweet talker' has NOW successfully wrangled his way into being the new BOTTLENECK in the process as a result of the sweet talking, and so you can't EVER get it fixed right... even in a startup company, THIS can happen. And I like startups because THIS kind of crap doesn't happen nearly as often. So $customer had to shell out $xx,xxx for some fancy proprietary software, instead of using the $,$$$ version he already had a license to, a proprietary package I did not own and required Windows to run, basically TAKING OVER the computer so that you really can't use it for anything else, and so add $,$$$ for a dedicated computer JUST! TO! RUN! THAT!, and then "design changes were made" that BROKE what I had done, against my strong objections. THAT kind of thing.

It was EASILY avoidable by NOT going with the "sweet talking" in the FIRST place.

So, I wonder _WHO_ it was that did the 'Sweet Talking' over at Micro-shaft? The inventor of the RIBBON maybe??? The former CXO? The same one that [allegedly] GOT SINOFSKY FIRED???

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Larson-Green

I suspect it is so. OK I wasn't there so I don't know the details about how ideas like 'The Metro' and 'The Ribbon' and 2D FLATSO propagated through the design decisions at Micro-shaft. I have MERELY a suspicion, based on past experience. But I suspect I'm right.

bombastic bob Silver badge
Facepalm

I'm sure it will every bit as successful as The Ribbon

this UI FAIL was all invented by the same person, let's not forget (and this person NO LONGER works for Micro-shaft as of last November, I might add)

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Larson-Green

let us ALSO not forget that Sat-Nad is [most likely] a MARXIST

http://www.wired.co.uk/article/microsoft-ai-satya-nadella-company-tech-business

"Fittingly for the son of a Marxist economist, he recently read Wolfgang Streeck's How Will Capitalism End?, a series of essays on the collapse of the neoliberal order. "He says that capitalism is a strange system in that it expects two things: employees to be insecure, but [also] confident consumers," he chuckles. 'That's what we're dependent on - it's not a stable system! 'Oh my God. I might not have a job tomorrow, but I've got to spend like a confident consumer.' [Streeck] is saying that's our problem, so you've got to create a solution.'"

And THAT is how SatNad apparently thinks.

So if this is how top-level people over at Micro-shaft think, from the INVENTION of "The Ribbon" to "The Metro" to believing MARXIST NONSENSE and the idea that employees NEED TO BE INSECURE, you have to wonder how much longer they will stay in business. And everything ELSE I read/see/experience CONFIRMS THIS.

bombastic bob Silver badge
Facepalm

Re: "Reveal" UI elements?

"More and more like a Fisher-Price Activity Centre every day."

Maybe millenials ONLY know how to PLAY with their computers, instead of doing work...

I was convinced long ago that Micro-shaft is being run by *CHILDREN* who want to *FORCE* their "new, shiny" up our collective rectums, without anything to make our 'experience' easier.

Since the millenial generation appears to be defined by "4 inchers", i.e. those who see and do EVERYTHING through a 4 inch screen, it makes TOTAL sense.

Micro-shaft employees who HAD A CLUE back in the 90's have all left. Those who remain are either CLUELESS or CHILDREN.

And now it's like "the blind leading the blind".

How a child, given too much power+authority, reacts: It's *MY* turn now to do it *MY* way!!!

This happened a lot beginning in the late noughties. You could count Vista as the beginning of it. You have a shift to FLATSO and "make everything look like a phone", as well as unwanted changes in the open source world, like gnome 3, systemd, and Australis.

I'm positive that it's being done by millenials, as well as a handful of old farts *trying* to be like the 'uncool dad' that learns the latest lingo and looks lame by using it wrong...

obligatory reference to 'Superiority' by Arthur C. Clarke

bombastic bob Silver badge
Unhappy

"Win32 support is the only thing people buy Windows for and Win32 apps are the only Windows apps worth writing"

It has always been that way with windows (except when it was Win16 applications). The platform was defined by the applications you could run on it, and the things that application writers could accomplish by using the API.

"Tying Fluent to UWP pretty much ensures zero adoption"

Micro-shaft needs to stop trying to *DRIVE* the market, and go back to first principles: the CUSTOMER is always right! And, not to forget, "Developers Developers Developers Developers". Right, Steve?

bombastic bob Silver badge
FAIL

Re: Still Not Getting It

MS obviously still don't understand that aiming for a "unified design" across different devices just means gimping everything down to the weakest feature set.

ACK

From article: "wants to discard the multiple, disparate user interfaces of the past for a single, focused, and attractive user interface"

Doing this on 2D FLATSO Win-10-nic ain't it. Not only are they putting lipstick on a boar, they're putting lipstick on the WRONG end.

not very attractive, yeah.

Why a merged Apple OS is one mash-up too far

bombastic bob Silver badge
Linux

Re: Still waiting on the switch back

"when or if this switch back will ever happen."

when the windows platform dies the horrible death it deserves, and is REPLACED by something else in the minds of consumers.

Without marketing bucks, this isn't happening soon. People will get fed up with Micro-shaft eventually, but it's not enough pain *YET*. give it time, Micro-shaft will create that pain, because their management is CLUELESS as to the consequences of their actions. They treat customers like PEASANTS after all.

bombastic bob Silver badge
Megaphone

Re: Why offer an $800 iPad that can do the work of a $1000 Mac? One word: profit.

if I actually NEED a slab for something, I'll get a cheapo $50 'droid slab.

99% or more of the "computing" I do requires a KEYBOARD AND A MOUSE. Sticking my fingers between my eyeballs and what I'm looking at [as well as lifting hand WAY off of the keyboard, and having to put it back on 'home row' again] is ANTI-PRODUCTIVITY.

As long as Apple doesn't do "a Micro-shaft" and try to UNIFY THE UI, it should be fine. Because you can't do a keyboard+mouse on a slab in any kind of PRACTICAL way, and putting the SLAB interface on a desktop is why Windows "Ape" and WIN-10-NIC *STINK* *SO* *BAD*. [that and the slurp, ads, and "forced", but the UI is the worst part of it all].

I am so SICK of the Australis "everything is a slab" MIGRATION [over the cliff like lemmings]. It makes me want to VOMIT. Apple needs to "think different" and *NOT* *GO* *THERE*!!!

bombastic bob Silver badge
Thumb Up

Re: Nothing wrong with a merger OS

"having One OS and two window managers doesn’t seem like an inherently bad idea."

ack

bombastic bob Silver badge
Megaphone

Re: Nothing wrong with a merger OS

"As long as it 'scales' correctly"

Unlike 'Ape' and Win-10-nic, which are/were "phone OS on a desktop". BOOOOooo!

from article: "Most computing isn't done on a PC any more"

This depends on how you define 'computing'. I do not think that word means what you think it means.

I guess I'm 'ok' with it as long as Apple doesn't cave in to the 'Google Chrome' and 'The Metro' 2D 'FEELING' FLATSO. If they _DO_, it will be the *SINGLE* *BIGGEST* *MISTAKE* *THEY* *COULD* *EVAR* *MAKE*!!!

(Jobs would NEVER do that, if he were still here, as demonstrated by what he DID do, which was VERY successful!)

ok some apple things look a bit flatter than they USED to, but it's STILL at least SOMEWHAT 3D skeuomorphic, but if they go full-on Larson-Green or Australis UI on us, their fate will be SEALED.

Then again, maybe not. Apple fans will probably have it shoved at them until they "like" it, similar to how RIAA markets their "music" these days, and how hollywood continues to pump out CRAP instead of movies (and then give one another mega-awards for making crap movies that nobody watches).

Law's changed, now cough up: Uncle Sam serves Microsoft fresh warrant for Irish emails

bombastic bob Silver badge
Meh

"It would appear that the DoJ are trying to add the case in retrospect"

actually no. it's a new action related to an old case.

I think everyone knew this was coming. Now Micro-shaft can say "we tried" and make themselves APPEAR as if they care about user privacy. But, based on EULAs and actual BEHAVIOR, they obviously do NOT.

Any social media accounts to declare? US wants travelers to tell

bombastic bob Silver badge
Boffin

Re: Trump's Struggle

no, no NO!

Have you ever KNOWN an 'authoritarian' manager? They have certain common characteristics:

a) must be involved in the minutiae, i.e. "micromanagers" [Trump is a 'delegator', big time]

b) The "I love me" wall filled with accomplishments and trophies. If Trump has a trophy room, I dont know about it, although I saw a funny comic that had a single stuffed elephant head with the caption "the establishment"... [I suppose you could count the buildings with 'Trump' on them, but they're more "accomplishments" than trophies]

c) No sense of humor about himself - Trump sometimes jokes about himself, even in a 'state of the union' address. I think if you told a Trump joke that wasn't "pandering to the perception" he'd laugh at it. But don't you DARE criticize Obama or Mrs. Clinton!!! [you get "racist, sexist, misogynist" etc. accusations thrown at you for DARING to criticize!]. Trump would be the guy to put a lampshade on his head at a party, and parade around as a parody of himself for laughs.

d) 'power motivated' - it's about having control (over others), and NOT about getting the job done. I think in Trump's case he's motivated to 'get the job done', aka 'achievement' motivation. Reagan was very similar.

Back when I was in the Navy they had this leadership school where they discussed management style. They did this movie with 3 CPOs in it. CPO number 1 was a delegator, and his immediate subordinate ran the division, whereas the CPO gave approval and got assistance from higher ranking people as needed. This is "a delegator". Then there was the 'authoritarian' CPO, who spent a lot of time yelling at people and telling them YOU ALL HAVE TO STAY UNTIL WE'RE DONE and things like that, the classic bad attitude authoritarian dictator. Then there was the 3rd CPO, "Chief Chuckles", who got along with his subordinates because he was "affiliation motivated" and wanted to be liked [nevermind his department was screwed over because of his incompetence].

SO that illustrated 3 management styles: delegator [the good one, like Trump], authoritarian [definitely Obama and Mrs. Clinton], and 'affiliator' (ineffective and incompetent). The delegator is 'achievement' motivated [get it done]. The authoritarian is 'power' motivated [_I_ am in charge, do it _MY_ way]. And the 'affiliator' just wants to be everyone's drinking buddy, "affiliation" motivation [or similar].

Trump isn't a dictator, because he's not "power motivated". Although you MIGHT make the case that ANY politician at 'President' level would have to have an ego the size of the state of New York, that doesn't seem to be Trump's motive. He wants to DO something, and spells out what that is, and then DELEGATES making it happen to others that he trusts.

Anyway, this is basic psychology applied to management styles. I know it's not the "anti-Trump" pandering to the perception, but it's pretty well known among those who do management training stuff. It seems to have been common knowledge back in the 80's.

bombastic bob Silver badge
Devil

Re: just the username

"Thanks, we dont need the password"

I don't think that means what you think it means... or did you intend it "that way" ?

heh

bombastic bob Silver badge
Devil

I vent my spleen on USENET all the time, shun 'social media' (I don't consider El Reg comments to be 'social media'), block cookies and script, do what I can to avoid tracking by online stores, and own a 'dumb phone' that I rarely use [it's pre-paid a year at a time, uber cheap that way].

Fortunately U.S. citizens aren't asked that question. [if that ever changes, my answer will always be "pack sand"]

Brit Lords start peer-to-peer wrangling over regulating the internet

bombastic bob Silver badge
Meh

Re: Rather Irrelevant, Really.

"Facebook (to name but one) is barely answerable to the US government"

this may change. or not.

Super Cali goes ballistic, Starbucks is on notice: Expensive milky coffee is something quite cancerous

bombastic bob Silver badge
Alert

"Daily Fail headline, where nearly every week they have <insert product here> causes/prevents cancer."

yeah, I go *yawn* every time.

Cyclamates, ONLY tested along with Saccharine, was ALLEGED to cause cancer [since the patent ran out and ANYBODY could make it]. Saccharine tested by itself was ALSO alleged to cause cancer. Connection? And because there's no patent on it, there's no financial incentive to prove that Cyclamates are ok.

Butter (in the 1960s through 1980s) was considered BAD for you, and "polyunsaturate" margarine was considered 'healthy'. Then someone actually managed to get the word out about TRANS-FATS. Not so healthy, right? I like LOTS of butter on EVERYTHING, by the way, but haven't tried 'deep fried butter' yet.

Nobody believed that ulcers were caused by BACTERIA. Everybody said it was "stress" or "acid" or something NOT the truth. Then a brave Australian doctor decided to test his own theory, ON HIMSELF, after which he CURED himself with ANTI-BIOTICS.

The anti-cholesterol fascists are STILL out there doling out unnecessary prescriptions for anti-cholesterol medication, EVEN THOUGH IT OFTEN RESULTS IN DIABETES [particularly in post-menopausal women], and [as far as I can tell] MAY LEAD TO ALTZHEIMER'S [keep in mind, the BRAIN is mostly fat, and cholesterol]. With few exceptions, MOST people don't need this, nor the cocktail of OTHER medications to manage the side effects that MIGHT BE CAUSED by the anti-cholesterol CRAP.

Needless to say, can you REALLY BELIEVE half of what is being said about 'what causes cancer' or 'what food is good/bad for you' etc. etc. etc. ???

And you can extend this to the ridiculous claims about egg shell thinning and DDT, the ONLY chemical known to kill things like BED BUGS [which are coming back, in a rather BAD way].

So yeah, "nearly everything causes cancer". LIFE causes cancer. DHMO causes cancer.

/me runs off, screaming, with my hands in the air

bombastic bob Silver badge
Devil

Re: Another "Super Cali" headline?

The 3 Stooges would do their schtick any time there was a camera. It was always the same *kinds* of stuff. People still laugh at it, though the jokes were limited and repeated frequently. It became 'expected' and people laughed anyway.

it's a comedy style. I like it. And I live in CALI-FORNICATE-YOU, and think the gummint here has COMPLETELY lost its collective mind. Well, if ALL of the sane people leave, it'll just get worse... and I really don't want to re-incorporate in another state. Still if it gets REALLY bad, Texas looks interesting. Maybe the gulf coast. Hurricanes can't be much worse than earthquakes an leftists trying to run my life!

/me points out that when ALL of "the producers" and the small, startup businesses leave Cali-Fornicate-You, the only people left will be a handfull of overly wealthy tax PAYERS, and a WHOLE LOT of open hands begging for nanny-gummint to FEED and CLOTHE and HOUSE them [and give them freebie medical care, too, and extend their lives, so they can leech off of society for as long as possible and continue to vote for Demo-Rats]

bombastic bob Silver badge
Devil

Re: the judge who cried wolf?

this site has a top 10 list of foods high in acrylamide:

https://www.healwithfood.org/list/foods-high-in-acrylamide.php

However, _I_ think it was the DHMO that was causing the cancer, and NOT the acrylamide nor the coffee itself!!!

You KNOW that DHMO is in EVERYTHING, right? It's often found in toxic waste, it's dumped into the air by car exhaust and nuclear power plants, and EVERY CANCER PATIENT has DHMO in their system!

If you don't believe me, check out dhmo.org !!! And get out the word, to everyone, because Henny Penny and Chicken Little think the SKY is FALLING!!!

</sarcasm>