* Posts by bombastic bob

10507 publicly visible posts • joined 1 May 2015

Tired of despairing of Trump and Brexit? Why not despair about YouTube stars instead?

bombastic bob Silver badge
Childcatcher

Re: Despair over Brexit and Trump?

"are about to elect an accused child molester into the US Senate."

If I accuse YOU of child molesting, with no evidence to support my claims, should THAT make a difference as to whether or not YOU get hired?

Exactly. It should NOT. Accusations are just that - accusations.

I say this: if he's GUILTY, then INDICT. Otherwise, STFU. It's most likely NOT true, on that basis alone, I say.

besides - 16 is "age of consent" in many U.S. states, LIKE Alabama, and NOT "child molestation". [that would imply actual pedophilia, which is recognized as an attraction to PRE-pubescent children, not teenagers - that would be different - though certainly illegal if sexual contact is made]

Also, in at least one high profile case, the claims against Judge Moore includes a FORGED MESSAGE (and signature) in a yearbook. INfamous attorney Gloria Allred won't release it for forensic analysis, either. Suspicious, much? Does THAT not point to the "fake claim" nature of the situation?

Yeah, liberals and lefties *LOVE* to use emotion-bombs 30 days out from an election to sway people's votes. It's "matter of course" for these *MANIPULATIVE* *BASTARDS*.

All of these "new moralists" and SJW's and the hypocritical fake-concern about "the children" makes me reach for the pink liquid again...

Icon, as appropriate.

bombastic bob Silver badge
Devil

Re: I don't get it.

some games are like interactive movies. It's almost entertaining (almost) to watch a good game player breeze through everything, almost (almost) like watching an action flick...

just trying to explain - the word 'amuse' comes from 'a-' (not) and 'muse' (thinking/creating). So it's "amusing" i.e. entertaining without you having to do much thinking [or any at all, for that matter]

reading/commenting El Reg articles, on the other hand...

bombastic bob Silver badge
Devil

Re: Adverts?

I think "youtube-dl" skips them (so I don't see them, either)

bombastic bob Silver badge
Trollface

Re: So?

"...and getting knighthoods for just Reading Out Aloud!"

Or a Nobel Peace Prize for "just being there"

bombastic bob Silver badge
Megaphone

Re: "vote for the better one of two very bad candidates.

"Banana republics have only managed to accomplish one or the other."

yeah, the idea of Bush, Clinton, Bush, Obaka, Clinton, Obaka, Clinton is rather FRIGHTENING, that's for sure...

None of these people are conservative, small government, nor libertarian-minded, they're ALL "globalists", and were willing to sacrifice the USA's strength for whatever global agenda they (or their puppeteers) had in mind.

NOTE: the above sequence is what *they* wanted: Bush I, Bill Clinton, Bush II, Barack O., Mrs. Clinton, Michelle O., Chelsea Clinton - do NOT doubt me, this IS what *they* wanted! And the grandmaster puppeteers remain safely behind the scenes, safely out of the public eye, and outside of the possibility of scrutiny or any kind of negative impact on their personal lives...

the thing about a banana republic is that their "dear leader" often _IS_ the puppeteer. But not always. I wonder, sometimes, about N. Korea, if someone else is pulling Kim Jong "Fatass" "Cartman" Un's strings.

bombastic bob Silver badge
Facepalm

Re: Despair over Brexit and Trump?

"many of us think they are the two best things to have happened in 2016"

AC - my sentiments as well. Nobody's seemed to notice that the world is actually improving at the moment... because we're deluged by Trump-hate reports (except on Fox News and Rush's radio show, things like that).

And when the USA does well, so does the rest of the world, "rising tide lifts all boats" and all of that kind of thing. People in the UK should be _happy_ about that.

I personally favor Brexit, because the UK shouldn't have to live with some of the stupid-stuff coming out of Brussels, so I was happy to see the Brexit vote.

But for some reason El Reg has a _LOT_ of VERY vocal people on the OPPOSITE side of the fence on these kinds of issues (readers AND authors), and like howler monkeys, they gang up on you, out-shout you, and sling poo, often in the form of massive down votes... [it makes their numbers look a LOT larger, and that's why they do it]

Personally I would have preferred it if the article had not even MENTIONED Trump nor Brexit. But it's in there, in the article and the title. It was kinda funny in the title, though, as it compares "desparing" about Trump/Brexit with "desparing" over youtube video producer incomes.

But then the article had to say: "Still, it has to be better than following Trump's Twitter feed."

Seriously? Saying that Trump's twitter followers are dumber than those who watch youtube videos of people screaming profanities while playing a video game?

That kind of statement is sort of like a fart in an elevator, lingering on and creating discomfort way after it "passes". And it wasn't funny. It was "pandering to the perception". [if it HAD been funny I would have laughed]

Now, here's a fix:

"Still, it has to be better than following despairing over Trump's Twitter feed."

Now, THAT's COMEDY!

(there are no 'get your digs in' with THAT version, which is why it IS funny!)

I'm surprised the editors missed the opportunity to make it thematically similar to the title, and funnier at the same time.

'facepalm icon' again

bombastic bob Silver badge
Facepalm

Re: If you think that is stupid

"Of course you may have to dumb it down a bit and show the Reg journos doing stupid things in the office but think of the money."

I think this sort of thing was tried with 'Salmon Days' - which (unfortunately) wasn't funny enough to survive. I still like the BOFH vs Clippy, uh, "clip". There are lots of other examples (not just 'Salmon Days') of what COULD have been uproariously gut-busting laugh-a-second material, which ended up being *yawn* *lame* .

(it's also why I don't watch sit-coms)

Anyway, GOOD humor/satire is based on truth. 'pander to the perception' stuff is lame. Too much of the latter these days. And it seems youtube has too many people trying to be 'Gumbies' (and doing it wrong) and getting money for it, anyway.

/me plays 'Money for Nothing' by Dire Straits

icon, because, facepalm

So you're 'agile', huh? I do not think it means what you think it means

bombastic bob Silver badge
Devil

Re: agile with a lowercase a

"Its not rocket science to create a system and agile gets to the BECOMES the crux of most of the problems."

fixed it.

bombastic bob Silver badge
Coffee/keyboard

"Which is what you are supposed to do"

(etc. - snip rest of nauseating touchy-feely motivational phrases)

You forgot "work smarter, not harder". And all of the rest of them.

/me reaching for pink liquid now

icon, because, nausea

bombastic bob Silver badge
Facepalm

Re: By Bullshitters, For Bullshitters

some arsehole thinks that "testing starts at day one"

and even the TRIVIAL things, like 1+1=2, MUST have a test function to verify it STILL works!!!

if I developed test functions for EVERYTHING I wrote, the test suite would probably be LARGER than the actual code. AND, there would be no value added. Because, when testing is needed, I do that separately, then put the function in place ONE TIME, shelve the "test the algorithm" console mode program [in case I ever need to look at it, which I never seem to] and document how the function works in case someone ELSE has to work with it. No need to re-re-re-test it EVERY! STINKING! TIME! because it WORKS.

And, if all functions (that aren't trivial) are tested in this manner, are well documented, and guaranteed to do what's on the tin, then you're fine.

[and also assuming that the project isn't shotgunned across way too many files with way too many trivial functions calling even more trivial functions ad infinitum so you can't even see the code flow any more without having 67 files open at the same time, JUST so you can do "unit tests" on EVERYTHING]

icon, because, facepalm

bombastic bob Silver badge
Devil

Re: The main issue are those who turned it into a sort of religion...

"with the Scrum Certified High Priesthood and all the related dogmas."

Ah, yes. "The Scrum". Let's cram everyone into a single room and let JUNIOR PEOPLE get THEIR ideas heard, too. Because, as we all know, JUNIOR PEOPLE *ALWAYS* have "the best ideas"®©™ that us SENIOR and GURU level people *NEVER* think of... [or reject outright, because they SO reflect the inexperience of the person who said it].

But, but, but, we HAVE to let the junior guys "share their ideas" because THAT way, they'll FEEL better!

And once the 'F' word "FEEL' gets injected into the process, the INCOMPETENCE, INEFFICIENCY, and SLOPPY MANAGEMENT PRACTICES are predictable.

I have an idea: Let's get some SENIOR PEOPLE and MANAGERS in on PLANNING a project before you start working on it, with a prototype to work out most of the problems, and then SPEC IT OUT, and if you go halfway through and realize that you need to CHANGE THE SPEC, you just *DO* it. But you won't be changing it every day, and probably NOT without approval of the design team (i.e. the managers and senior people).

You know, like WATERFALL!!! Except waterfall doesn't have "a cool name" like Agile. Or blackjack. Or hookers.

bombastic bob Silver badge
Devil

Re: Agile

"I've seen maybe 2 or 3 projects that really do Agile correctly. They don't actually seem to turn out code that's any better, or any cheaper to do, than waterfall"

that would be my prediction just from reading ABOUT 'Agile', and not actually participating in it.

Although, at a used-to-company, I developed a prototype in 3 weeks for a potential product, doing it by myself [it involved a linux netfilter kernel module]. I spent another week (or so) tweeking it over a short period of time, because my proof of concept code was being used to DEMONSTRATE IT FOR POTENTIAL CUSTOMERS. Meawhile, 3 people (one manager, one senior guy, one junior guy) proceeded to 'start from scratch' using Agile-style principles for managing the project. A YEAR LATER [they were still demo-ing with my prototype] I'm brought back in to "help finish up" in a couple of weeks of 3-way programming effort (and then the junior guy was laid off) followed by nearly a MONTH of paired-up programming effort.

That's right, fixing the "Agile" code took LONGER than WRITING! THE! PROTOTYPE! FROM! THE! BEGINNING!!!

At that point, I had some cash stowed away, and I saw the writing on the wall, and left [after the project was 'working", that is]. Back to business for myself [no more commuting+wageslave].

Needless to say, I have a very *LOW* opinion of "Agile" and things like it. BUZZ-WORD of the day, market-speak and manager-incompetent-speak [manager hears a new word, MUST implement!].

Let's just call "waterfall" something else, in case the term has been POISONED too much by Agile-fanbois, and get people to go back to determining what the specs are FIRST, like is SUPPOSED to be done. Build a prototype, work out the bugs, and then SPEC UP THE PRODUCT, like is SUPPOSED to be done, and make it work according to the spec, as is SUPPOSED to be done.

We could call it: "Common Sense"®©™

FCC backtracks on helping with neutrality fraud investigation

bombastic bob Silver badge
Facepalm

Re: Anyone else?

Are you appealing to the howler monkeys to play "me too" and "sling poo" (at anyone who disagrees) ?

"just stalling" - that's what DEMO-RATS do, using the court system and "temporary injunctions". I recall the Supreme Court overturning one of those, recently... was it related to the TRAVEL BAN? I think SO!

And from the article: "But it doesn't appear Pai or the two other Republican Commissioners intend to listen"

Oh, I'm sure they listen. They heard EVERYTHING being said. And DISAGREED WITH IT. And so do I.

"Not Agreeing" is not the same thing as "not listening", except to people who FEEL instead of think...

because, after all, there are VERY GOOD REASONS to DISAGREE with so-called "net neutrality". The most fundamental one: SOCIALISM is JUST EVIL! And net neutrality is like SOCIALISM - all equally MEDIOCRE, because NOBODY gets to be BETTER any more!

one day some guy [not a woman, a guy] decided he would "help" me by "counseling" me for something stupid, like NOT agreeing and "going along" with feelies and lefties, NOT pursuing excellence [because it intimidates people], yotta yotta. Well, aside from him being VERY arrogant for even DARING to 'take me aside' and JUDGE me like that, I was inexperienced enough at the time to tolerate his mini-speech. After that he said "you're not listening" and I repeated back (in summary) every point he had made for the last 20 minutes or so, and then said "and I disagree with you". Intimidated [which was the intent], he shut the hell up and stopped it, and never tried again.

[summary, to counter the "you are not listening" ploy, just repeat back what was said and DISAGREE with it, without reservation. *NUKE* *SLAM-DUNK* *BEAT-DOWN* *SCORE* - argument OVER]

Being an ALPHA MALE is a GOOD thing, after all. And being INTOLERANT to BABBLY TOUCHY FEELY socialistic CRAP is ALSO a good thing. "Not listening". PHEH! *SPIT*! What a pantload of CRAP *THAT* is!

icon, because, facepalm the lameness

Don't rely on us to protect the open internet, warns FTC Commissioner

bombastic bob Silver badge
Devil

"I'm guessing ms McSweeny is a leftover of a bygone era..."

Hopefully NOT for much longer... being a Demo-Rat and part of "the swamp", she gets 'drained' some time in 2018 - buh, bye! Though I expect this won't actually happen. Trump is NOT all that partisan like OTHER presidents have been (consider who he's left in key positions over at the DOJ and FBI). Then again, priorities being what they are, the swamp's gonna get DRAINED. And Socialist Demo-Rats in key position in high ranking positions within federal agencies (like the FTC) should be getting pink slipped... at least, that's what I *HOPE* for!

"Net Neutrality" is named that way in order to MANIPULATE PEOPLE into wanting it. But it's not about 'neutrality' it's about GRABBING POWER so that the Interwebs can be REGULATED for CONTENT. This way, the Googles and Facebooks can INCREASE THEIR STRANGLEHOLD, by lobbying the regulations in THEIR FAVOR. That's how "the swamp" works. And if you want to TAKE AWAY THEIR POWER, you DE-REGULATE. It's also good for competition to DE-REGULATE. Watch and see!

and please, no more FUD. k-thx.

bombastic bob Silver badge
WTF?

Re: UUCP2

"ISPs will be able to just straight-up block VPNs (or any other traffic) if they desire."

ISPs *ALREADY* block certain ports as part of their normal practice, and tell you that you can't run a web server, and block incoming ports for mail, DNS, http, https, yotta yotta ALL OF THE TIME. And that's WITH the "net neutrality" rules in place.

So why the FUD?

bombastic bob Silver badge
Devil

Re: Why is this a surprise?

"It's called transfer of wealth."

the transfer of wealth to the "top 2%" (as you stated) usually happens when things are OVER-regulated, and NOT when they are DE-regulated.

Please explain how "allowing a fast lane" transfers wealth from the 98% to the 2%?

This whole "net neutrality" thing is NOT ONLY mis-named, it's become EMOTIONAL.

I'd also like to see proof of what everyone who complains about net neutrality seems to fear: the THROTTLING of traffic to the end user.

I've heard of this being done to business connections, so that you pay more to get a fatter pipe. But I've never heard of it being done to individual users, except those with extremely high usage rates [and then it would be 'throttled' to comply with whatever your contract allows for]. But that's being done NOW, under "net neutrality" regulations, right? Cell carriers do that when you reach your 'bandwidth cap' for the month. And of course, THAT would be "in the contract".

So I continue to read the hype, see the emotion-based arguments, and AGREE WITH PAI, that it's NOT the FCC's business to regulate CONTENT, but instead to provide for standards implementation, regulate frequency band usage, and avoid RF interference, so that "all of those services" using various wired and wireless media are cooperating with their signals, and not stomping on one another.

Socialism and excessive gummint regulation DOES separate the "haves" from "have nots". If you want the "have nots" (aka the '98%') to become MORE wealthy and have MORE cool stuff, get the gummint OUT OF THE WAY. Otherwise, if you try to equalize outcomes (in this case 'net neutrality' where EVERYBODY has the SAME QUALITY OF SERVICE) you're only going to make everyone have equally MEDIOCRE service.

And I don't want MEDIOCRE. And if some rich guy gets 10 times the internet traffic as me, because he PAYS for it, then so what. "Class Envy" is stupid. I'll just BECOME "that guy" so _I_ can have THAT level of service! (and interestingly enough, more revenue for faster means the telcos can compete for THAT market, and use the revenue to IMPROVE things OVERALL, which they do).

Japanese quadcopter makes overworked employees clock out

bombastic bob Silver badge
Devil

Re: Hovering targets

or use the opportunity to test that binder clip trebuchet you hacked up using pencils, rubber bands, old batteries, and tape

bombastic bob Silver badge
Unhappy

"Working as I do in a large company in Japan"

I would assume that SALARY employees don't get overtime pay in Japan, either?

in which case, the boss's paycheck won't be affected if you deduct overtime pay from his pay [because there won't be an overtime bonus for the employees staying late to finish up or whatever].

Also, is it that competitive for well-paying jobs in Japan, that people are COMPELLED to look like they're working harder/better/faster than everyone else? Just curious.

bombastic bob Silver badge
Pint

Re: How many points...

"I can hardly wait for Simon's take on all the opportunities here"

Simon would be at the local pub, when he leaves at 30 minutes before beer-o-clock. However, a cardboard cutout of him (mysteriously connected to an automatic timer device) will conveniently be in his chair, to be spotted by the drone between the hours of beer-o-clock and "time to go home".

bombastic bob Silver badge
Devil

when you like what you do...

well, when you LIKE what you do, spending long hours doing it comes naturally.

Just thought I'd add that perspective. I think LOTS of people who think this way end up owning their own businesses.

hard work and dedication does deserve a reward... and being told to LEAVE may be counter-productive in more ways than one.

/me points out that a long commute home might be a good way of getting the extra work in, if you can do it while riding on a train, on a notebook computer, with somewhat unreliable intarwebs access.

Sloppy coding + huge PSD2 changes = Lots of late nights for banking devs next year

bombastic bob Silver badge
FAIL

Re: Microsoft’s .NET, Java

forget ".Not" and maybe Java, too.

Do it in 'C'. Translate those COBOL programs directly in to C programs [it CAN be done].

Then stop hiring crappy "developers" who don't understand what a compiler is, and have COMPETENT people write the front-ends in a lingo that doesn't SUCK.

(the one thing about COBOL that made it work well for business is the structure definitions that are inherent in the language. Since 'C' can do this too, should be NO problem porting any COBOL program into an equivalent C program)

Also - C compilers exist for just about every platform these days. no need to lock yourself into Micro-shaft's FAIL aka ".Not" and "C-pound".

a search on "cobol to c converter" returns MANY relevant hits.

SpaceX to try reusing both rocket and spacecraft for historic ISS mission

bombastic bob Silver badge
Devil

Go mission #13!

gotta love it!

Disk drive fired 'Frisbees of death' across data centre after storage admin crossed his wires

bombastic bob Silver badge
Devil

Re: Those were the days, when a computer was really engineering

seeing all of these "grampa had to walk to school, in the snow, uphill, both ways" stories makes me wonder if it wasn't so bad just to have to toggle in the correct bus address before pressing the 'boot' button...

(on a DG Eclipse, in 1980)

bombastic bob Silver badge
IT Angle

Re: Nah. We were civilized, no rodeo in the data center.

industrial washing machines have (or had) a self-balancing feature that causes a flow of water into 'opposing' positions during the spin cycle. Basically, as the thing spins, it trips a switch when out of balance causing appropriate water flow to re-balance. As the thing spins up, you can hear the water jets balancing them, and then they smooth out. Maybe a similar system for centrifuges? Just a thought...

/me wonders where the IT angle is on this one...

bombastic bob Silver badge
Devil

Re: Recycle platters from modern hard disks

"I think a lot of the modern spinning-rust drives now use a glass platter"

a couple of decades ago I had a Kalok drive die on me, while beta-testing Win '95 [which was a BIT more disk-intensive than earlier winders]. It sounded like breaking glass when it ate itself. So even in 1994 I think this was being tried...

bombastic bob Silver badge
Unhappy

Re: Servicing a VCR was like playing with a Hellraiser puzzle box

I understand that cockroaches loved to infest those things - stories from repair techs of roach-infested electronics. Who knows, maybe they were eating the grease...

bombastic bob Silver badge
Devil

Re: "Cut the red wire..."

if _I_ had designed the thing, cutting ANY wire would detonate it.

I can think up many ways to defeat someone trying to disarm an explosive device by cutting a wire, like "cut any exposed wire, or remove any cover, and it goes BOOM". [real bomb disposal would probably just safely transport it in an armored container, then detonate it someplace away from people+things]

Good thing I'm not a terrorist, yeah - but it's the way white-hat hackers think - anticipate what is being done by thinking about how YOU would do it, muahahahaha!

/me thinking of 'Lethal Weapon 3' at the moment...

afterthought - I think the military deliberately detonates IEDs by use of claymore mines and/or C4

bombastic bob Silver badge
Devil

Re: "Not an uncommon story", you mean.

"hugely costly tenuous and superflouous value add stuff that DEC added that eventually put them out of business"

Actually, I think DEC went out of business (or value lowered until they were bought up, more realistically) because they were "old tech" and the computer market had moved along. They sunk a LOT of effort into "Alpha with NT" with little effort in making PCs and cutting edge peripherals. HP, on the other hand, "did that" and survived the 90's.

And Sun won where DEC once ruled. Maybe Solaris helped?

[shock indicators are cheap - a cost benefit if it helps you prove that someone kicked the cabinet causing a head crash, thus voiding the warranty]

bombastic bob Silver badge
Unhappy

Re: "Not an uncommon story", you mean.

I thought it was bad enough when you could actually see the "washtub" disk drive shake around during times of heavy disk usage...

[you KNOW there's a lot of centripetal force stored up in that 12" diameter spinning metal thing]

It's a decade since DevOps became a 'thing' – and people still don't know what it means

bombastic bob Silver badge
Devil

Re: No Thanks!

I heard about a study that was done regarding programmers and their work environments. There are several "deal breakers" that would force a programmer to quit (or not take the job), things like having a PHONE RING all of the time (and having to answer it).

I don't recall anything else specific. but here's a list of things that I would consider "deal breakers":

a) having to answer a phone while at the office

b) having to carry a pager (so you're always "on call")

c) 'too many cooks in the kitchen' (bad project management)

d) unclear objectives and/or requirements, particularly if they CHANGE a lot

e) too much "feeling" goin' on. nauseating, yeah

f) consistently NOT giving me the access I need to get my work done

g) company politics [in any form]

h) being forced to give unrealistic estimates (and then LIVE by them)

i) being in an "open office" (rather than "your own office" or a VERY private cube). that includes offices with cubes that have 3 foot walls, aka "a fish bowl". (whereas sharing an office with 1 or 2 other people is fine)

So if 'DevOps' means that you MUST be "operations" (on call, open office, dealing with users/customers) as well as "development", then I think it's a model for FAIL. Because the personality of creative programming types (the good ones, specifically) isn't well suited to the 'customer service technician' requirement.

YouTuber cements head inside microwave oven

bombastic bob Silver badge
Devil

Re: Confused

A few years ago some friends of mine went to a national park in the USA to hike up a ~10k foot mountain. The park ranger inspected their gear first, before letting them go onto the trail, to make sure they had everything they needed beforehand. The point was to make sure they weren't going to need a rescue after attempting something they shouldn't have. Also made sure they had poo-bags and would bring their trash back with them. That's right, no "public poo-ing" in national parks. No digging latrines, either.

(I just thought I'd point that one out, in the context of doing potentially dangerous things when you're unprepared)

bombastic bob Silver badge
FAIL

Re: Send them the bill

"Can we ban fat people from universal healthcare?"

Why not just ban 'universal health care' instead, i.e. "you pay for it yourself". Problem goes away. Works for me.

But if you're going to ban "fatties" then why not ban SMOKERS? Smoking is a voluntary activity, it irritates the CRAP out of most people, etc. so let's just BAN their 'universal health care' and slowly make society as UN-FREE as possible. (that last part was the REAL point)

bombastic bob Silver badge
Meh

Re: They might consider

I'd rather see the local government fine them for deliberately doing something stupid in which emergency services had to rescue them from their own stupidity.

bombastic bob Silver badge
Joke

Re: I have always thought...

"Sorry, but we can't help you."

then forward the call to the morgue, so they can call in early for rapid pickup. and the subsequent Darwin award.

Los Angeles police tell drivers not to trust navigation apps as wildfires engulf area

bombastic bob Silver badge
Black Helicopters

Re: Techdrone

"The modern concept of "Finland" is a fiction created by Japan and the USSR shortly after WW2"

Is _THAT_ why 'Nokia' sounds like it might be a Japanese company?

since we're working on conspiracy theories, how about THIS one:

Jerry Brown, Demo-Rat governor of Cali-Fornicate-You, CAUSED the fires in Ventura and San Diego counties. Why? He KEPT! PEOPLE! FROM! WATERING! THEIR! YARDS! through ridiculous water restrictions [San Diego county has a SURPLUS of water right now, and a de-sal plant] because SOME counties in Cali-Fornicate-You still have "drought status". I BS you not!

And the reason FOR the drought? DELTA SMELT *MUST* live, and we must DRAIN THE RESERVOIRS in order to SAVE them! [google for the details, you're welcome, "delta smelt" and "sacramento river" oughta do it]. That's right, MOMMY GAIA is _PUNISHING_ _US_ for using TOO many resources, and we didn't cut back in time, and now she's BURNING US TO DEATH!!!

But Jerry "2nd time around" Brown will NEVER "take the heat" for this. No, no, he's a GOOD Demo-Rat!

yeah conspiracies are SO much fun! Icon, because, conspiracy theories.

OK Google: A stranger with stash of pirated films is spamming my Google Team Drive

bombastic bob Silver badge
FAIL

Still somone else's computer

yes, "the cloud" _IS_ highly overrated!

For businesses, I remember this really cool thing that came out back in the 90's - it was called "a web server". The best ones run Linux or BSD. It's a fair bet that setting up a file sharing system with one of THOSE, even one that involves user names and passwords, wouldn't be all THAT hard...

/me wonders if excessive Win-10-nic use has dumbed down the users into believing that it MUST be "in the cloud" ???

bombastic bob Silver badge
Devil

I'd prefer Mrs. Clinton's missing e-mails.

Google and pals rush to repair Android dev tools, block backdoor risks

bombastic bob Silver badge
Devil

Re: How long have they been aware of these?

I read that article, did a bit of digging for more details, tried to post as a comment, ran into a Captcha that wouldn't work right. now it's in the bit bucket...

The problem seems to be caused by embedded external references in the XML. You could pre-scan for those and don't open them if the affected file has "!ENTITY" tags.

https://www.w3.org/TR/REC-xml/#sec-external-ent

No, BMW, petrol-engined cars don't 'give back to the environment'

bombastic bob Silver badge
WTF?

Re: The only way to make cars give back to the environment

"There is no easy way out of the situation we have created for ourselves."

(referring to use of privately owned vehicles in lieu of mass transit)

Why would you WANT to "get out" of the situation we have created for ourselves? [g'head, g'head, answer with the TRUTH! I *DARE* you!]

*I* happen to *LIKE* the freedom of jumping in the car and going where I want, filling the tank when it gets empty, and just going and going as far as I want to, WHENEVER I want to, WHEREVER I want to, on MY schedule, and NOT anyone else's!!!.

Why is *THAT* not a *GOOD* thing???

bombastic bob Silver badge
Facepalm

Re: Seeing as it's a BMW,...

and going WAY too damn slow on the curvy parts of windy rural roads (like Highway 1 in Cali-fornicate-you), but WAY too damn fast on the straight parts, so NOBODY! ELSE! CAN! PASS! (unless you're me, and you do it ANYWAY, at 95MPH going uphill, so that the BMW and its arrogant self-centered driver can't stop me)

icon, because, facepalm

bombastic bob Silver badge
Trollface

Re: It does give back to the environment

"what has the planet ever done for us?"

stupid gravity making things fall all of the time.

I give "the environment" my big middle finger! And I'll give back everything I use up, when I throw what's left of it into the trash can, or excrete it into the porcelain bowl. (at least it goes into a designated place afterwards; animals just 'give back' wherever the hell they feel like it, except when humans pick it up afterwards).

[this whole 'giving back' concept is nauseating anyway, like a bunch of sappy guilt-motivating psycho-babble]

Opportunity rover survives Martian winter for eighth time

bombastic bob Silver badge
Devil

Re: Obligatory...

"I'm guessing they had a pretty good reason for not adding some wipers."

no refills for the windshield washers?

without water, it would probably scratch the surface of the solar cells. I can't imagine anything worse than wiping sand across a glossy surface with a slightly brittle wiper blade and no washer fluid...

VW's US environment boss gets seven years for Dieselgate scam

bombastic bob Silver badge
Trollface

"If one considers that the noxious NOX emissions from high compression ratio diesels actually kills people"

ACTUALLY, dihydrogen monoxide kills MORE people than NOX. Not only does it attack the LUNGS, it's found in EVERYTHING (including car and diesel exhaust).

We should, like, BAN Dihydrogen Monoxide because it is SOOOOooo deadly, you know?

</sarcasm>

Actually, nitrogen oxides exist in nature, and are good for plants. Rain depletes it. And breathing it doesn't kill you outright. Some oxides of nitrogen have "recreational" use - ever suck down a whipped cream can? Nitrous oxide. 'nuff said.

chemical reactions: NO + H2O --> HNO2 [nitrous acid], which (as I recall) does not ionize completely, and plants LOVE it in the expected concentration in the rain water (similarly for CO2 I might add). Greens 'em right up! it's never really found in concentrations that are harmful to plants. not the same as sulfur dioxide from burning coal, which should be scrubbed up. by using a water spray!

ok too much reality following the snark. If I add more science I'll need a different icon.

bombastic bob Silver badge
FAIL

Re: outrageous

"So after all this, the company is still going to be in business?"

yeah, sure, lay off zillions of employees worldwide because a handful of people scammed the U.S. gummint in order to get promoted and/or earn bonuses...

</sarcasm>

I think jailing the actual perpetrators is a MUCH better idea.

the premise that ALL corporations are inherently evil, and must be punished, is a COMMUNIST one. It should be rejected on THAT basis, alone.

Vivaldi Arms onto Raspberry Pi

bombastic bob Silver badge
Happy

Re: embedded borderless PDF browsing

"I agree with Bob. Time to check my meds."

heh

(I do this without any chemicals)

International team takes down virus-spewing Andromeda botnet

bombastic bob Silver badge
Devil

Re: Wouldn't the operators notice?

"Eventually this kind of operation will cause the operators to run before the takedown happens"

when I consider the size of the typical "dumb crook file", and the sheer blatant stupidity of the average criminal, I doubt that this will become 'the norm'.

most likely they're using the same login for the botnet as they do for their gamer ID (or one that's a lot like it), and ALSO using their moms' cable internet from their basement dwellings to connect to the command/control IRC server [with an identity that's ALSO similar to their gamer ID, and without using Tor, because IRC servers typically block Tor exit nodes]

so, yeah. "dumb crook" file.

http://www.dumbcrooks.com/

bombastic bob Silver badge
WTF?

Re: NSA rants

"Must be nice to be a snowflake"

I don't think that word means what you think it means...

bombastic bob Silver badge
Coat

Re: Only i doubt it's door to door...

"Sounds like they an Avon-esque malware catalogue they offer"

it's what discriminating script-kiddies demand!

/me runs off to make alternate use of plumbing due to the bile taste that's beginning to accumulate...

Samsung starts cranking out 512GB eUFS storage

bombastic bob Silver badge
Unhappy

Re: Wow. Stripping the active layer off 64 chips and stacking them together..

"an OS that demands an LTE connection to work despite 512GB of local storage"

"not very impressive"

ACK

I don't think Win-10-nic (even on an ARM) will really sell these devices. However, dense high capacity storage on smart phones and slabs just might... take your entire music+movie collection with you on the plane, etc.. (THAT is a better selling feature for more+dense storage)

/me points out that "being connected" is a requirement for Win-10-nic, so that Micro-shaft can TRACK YOU. 'Microsoft Login' and knowing what software you have loaded and what you're using, etc..

Quentin Tarantino in talks to make Star Trek movie

bombastic bob Silver badge
Devil

Re: Final Nail in the coffin as it were

You have to laugh as they take everything you grew up with and tear it to shreds...

It's rule 99. It *must* be so!

"Even if it canNOT be re-written, made darker and edgier, get crammed full of unnecessary profanity and sexuality and/or become politically charged, and THEN get re-re-released, tailored SPECIFICALLY for the latest generation under 20-something, it WILL be... it WILL be!"

(yeah I just made that one up)