Posts by bombastic bob

FCC Commissioner blasts new TV standard as a 'household tax'

Re: "The more you tighten your grasp, the more systems will slip through your fingers."

"The broadcasters are just hastening their own irrelevance."

by behaving like MICRO-SHAFT???

I already have to 'rent' set top boxes, even for a 3 year old LCD TV. It has HDMI output (and composite for older TVs). But, the remote control is a piece of CRAP, and 3 or 4 buttons practically don't work after only a couple of years of useage. TV remotes last 10 times as long. But "the cable" went to DIGITAL a while back. So I _have_ to have it.

So I expect "more of the same" then, a special box to decode whatever the hell they broadcast at you. Nothing different except the details. and the increased monthly bill. And not wanting to see anything on 3/4 of the available channels. And too many FEELING commercials injected into the content.

[I had to edit the topic, it was too long with the 'Re:' prepended]

Pulitzer-winning website Politifact hacked to mine crypto-coins in browsers

Just! Run! Noscript!

disabling scripting will make this kind of crap *meaningless*

but I'd probably NEVER go to their web site anyway.

http://www.politifactbias.com/

and that pretty much sums it up.

"Pulitzer Prize" is when left-wing journalists do the equivalent of sexual favors to one another by awarding prizes for being the same kind of left-wing hack-job fake-news propaganda mill as the rest of them... it's as bad as academy awards for sucky art/croissant high-brow films that nobody watches.

US Congress mulls first 'hack back' revenge law. And yup, you can guess what it'll let people do

Re: erm isn't this what law enforcement is for?

"You're making a big assumption about the mental health of the average american gun carrying individual."

Those who think like wildebeasts have a hard time understanding those who think like LIONS. And they're too willing to judge, point fingers, and try to legislate them away. Except, without some who THINK like LIONS [who aren't necessarily lions, but understand them] you're at the mercy of the REAL LIONS. And that's the point.

My balls are just TOO BIG for me to think like a prey animal.

Re: erm isn't this what law enforcement is for?

Overall you come off very "kill 'em all and let god sort 'em out"

Well, not GOD, but you get the general idea. heh.

Re: erm isn't this what law enforcement is for?

"A large fraction of those who end up doing it in real life do require extensive psychological and psychiatric councelling later on - even when the person they killed has been trying to kill them."

not me - I'd make sure they stared right into my eyeballs as I stare into theirs, watching the life drain away. I'm the last thing they'd see on the way to HELL.

[THAT, by the way, makes me a *HARD* *TARGET* - meaning I'm in the house they avoid, or the person they avoid on the street or in a crowd - the one who FIGHTS BACK]

Sorry, I can't by into your "prey animal" kind of thinking. I think like a predator. A self-disciplined predator who doesn't kill without reason. And I spent time in the military, and have been prepared to take a life in self-defense [or defense of others] since then. No problem.

The point is *TO* fight back. Make it hard for the criminal. Even if you're passive-aggressive about it, it's still fighting back. I prefer "active aggressive". And *revenge* is a GOOD thing. enough people do it, and you see crime go WAY down, because their's now a PENALTY [potentially] for the bad behavior.

[this is not how SHEEPLE think. This is how men with BIG BALLS think.]

Re: stupider and stupider

"how in God's name is an individual or and other entity going to bring about a legitimate counter-hack result."

it's been done before [locating the perp]. An enterprising and intelligent operator of a router system did it once, back in the 90's. I can't recall his name, but he got the FBI involved because he was seeing some really unusual activity... and as it turned out, it was someone trying to crack into gummint computers, if I remember correctly.

Someone at an ISP could assist a company in doing the same thing, or if you have your own routers [that can display the right kind of info], you could do it yourself.

even WireShark can be very helpful.

auto-redirect routing to a honeypot server - even better. make it nice and sweet. download that trojan, yeah! let it phone home, and we'll see who you REALLY are! back-door THAT machine, looks for back doors already there, and keep digging until you find the perp. chances are, he's not protecting himself very well... thinking "TOR" will anonymize him. Uh, huh... and then you examine his facebook cookie, his twitter cookie, his microsoft login cookie, ...

Re: Whelp...

"time to figure out how to get Fail2ban to call Metasploit"

I call that "a good start" - heh. Unfortunately, con-grab wants gummint in the loop. DAMMIT.

Re: Cool!

"So we can all hack the US Government back now without worrying about getting extradited?"

you have MY permission, if they're invading your computer without probable cause, and without any kind of legal approval in the UK. They should get a UK warrant first. Then it would be _legal_ in the UK to do that. Or let the UK gummint do it on the US gummint's behalf. Then it's all above-board diplomatically.

But invading your computers? bad idea. hack 'em back. [if you don't mind the legal fees associated with defending yourself, anyway, and IANAL so my legal advice is probably worthless]

Re: Machine != Hacker

well, if you do things properly on YOUR end, researching the hack/crack, it becomes obvious when a web site is being used as a "pure re-director". A little research may lead you to the REAL web site (or person doing the shell access cracking, whichever), especially for things _LIKE_ when the POST transactions in a fake web page reveal exactly where that is [for getting your credit card info, for example]. If your server is the re-director, then you study the logs to see where everything is going, and go from there. That kind of thing. Or if it's someone else, you can often determine where it REALLY came from through various means.

From that point, the lazy coder's or incompetent script-kiddie's ass is YOURS. Just "follow the money" (or in this case, the IP address of the server doing the credit card stuff or intrusions). Notifying the credit card companies along the way is an extra added 'bonus'.

(I would normally expect crack attempts to come in via web site requests as a vector, unless you allow ssh access for more than 1 or two obscure user names with either proper pass-PHRASES or cert-only, or both)

Re: 150,000,000 americans plus several million others can hack Equifax?

"Perfect. I'll set my IoT borgs on the task right now. Oh, by the way, I'll spoof the headers to show it comes from the us congress."

works for me. thanks for the idea.

Re: Hacking back against forged attacks

most people understand the 'joe job' problem. I've been Joe-jobbed a couple of times. Fortunately the web service that handles domain e-mails added the ability to put the correct MX DNS info records in place to specify which servers are authorized to send e-mail for the domain, and I haven't seen it happen since.

in one joe-job case that I allegedly heard about, the alleged perps allegedly had an alleged server running in an alleged country that is well known for having compromised servers and NOT responding to alleged abuse reports because alleged mail service was filtering the abuse reports as "spam". Allegedly. And it allegedly had the usual "fake rolex" and "fake handbag" web sites on it. And it allegedly got flooded with specially crafted (not illegal) HTTP requests that shut it down for a significant amount of time (allegedly exploiting a bug in the way they were re-directing via the "probably compromised" web server), on multiple occasions, with "stop joe jobbing XXX" allegedly being PROMINENT in the logs, allegedly. Yeah, no retaliation THERE, right?

Re: Hacking back against forged attacks

"Bob announces that he will hack back against anybody who attacks him."

heh, I wouldn't announce it, just do it.

That's where the liability comes in - if you don't cover your ass and get the right target, you're as bad as the perp [and so YOU get in trouble]. Unless it becomes a ginormous free-for-all, in which case, popcorn please.

Re: erm isn't this what law enforcement is for?

(from the article>

"Before hacking back, the IT department would have to submit some homework to the FBI's National Cyber Investigative Joint Task Force so the Feds can make sure national boundaries are being respected and that any action wouldn't interfere with an ongoing investigation."

And I wanted to have a bot do it, automagically. DAMMIT!

This is like "the 2nd ammendment" for cyber-self-defense. Works for me.

A cop cannot be everywhere. Citizens have to take it upon themselves to report and stop crime. I don't know about the U.K. but here in the USA we have "citizen's arrest" laws, where if you catch someone "in the act" you have the right to arrest that person with REASONABLE FORCE [but criminals have black eyes, broken bones, missing teeth, and if he doesn't look like a criminal, the cops won't believe it, heh]. So yeah, if you witness someone stealing, raping, murdering, you have EVERY right to use deadly force in many cases, and that's the point. Citizens are as good as cops at stopping crime.

In this case, it's citizens with computers who could, in theory, do their OWN investigating. But seriously, if you detect an intrusion, putting up a shield may not be enough. You might have to do something to damage the other end, like trick them into downloading a trojan horse that wipes their hard drive or similar. If a bot kicks in a URL re-director that fakes them into going to the wrong web pages [for example], they end up downloading the trojan horse.

I'd be all for THAT. As an extra added bonus, the law contains liability insurance, so if you destroy some innocent person's computer, you have to pay for it. No biggee. It's the same if you shoot the wrong person. You're liable for that, too.

/me gets bumper sticker for PC: This Computer is Protected by Smith & Wesson

Facebook, Twitter slammed for deleting evidence of Russia's US election mischief

Re: "Facebook has removed thousands of posts"...

even though YOUR posts were miraculously "un-deleted", the alleged "evidence of Russian meddling" and any OTHER collusion will conveniently *disappear*. Into the bit bucket they go!

This has 2 effects:

a) give the "russian collusion" independent investigators more ammo to keep digging [eventually to find something to use against Trump in the next election, or even sooner, they hope] in their FISHING EXPEDITION, and

b) help them perpetuate the "Russia, Russia, Russia" narrative. indefinitely.

But what if there was NOTHING TO FIND in the FIRST place?

Microsoft faces Dutch crunch over Windows 10 private data slurp

Re: Blaming North Korea?

"This is why people despise Microsoft: the way it does its business, the way it lies about the unpalatable aspects of it."

and the way they act like an evil dictatorship...

Maybe it _IS_ the 'NorKs' after all! [or their equivalent]

They certainly aren't acting like a CAPITALIST organization any more.

Re: Irony

Why can't Micro-shaft JUST COME CLEAN on what they're collecting on everyone?

/me hears crickets chirping in Redmond

It's Patch Blues-day: Bad October Windows updates trigger BSODs

Re: Testing Plan

"And shouldn't Microsoft be responsible for testing patches before they're rolled out into Sysadminland?"

No. After they fired their testing staff a couple of years ago (during the Insider Program for Win-10-nic), this became the responsibility of Insiders and End Users.

I'm waiting for the news article

"Patch Tuesday completes flawlessly, Sysadmins able complete real work due to stress free day"

Better still, a news announcer that looks/sounds like Michael Palin. Or John Cleese.

And now, for something, completely different...

Re: Nice one, Microsft

to the tune of "I Dream of Jeannie"

Blue Screen!

Here comes another,

Blue Screen!

Wait, there's another,

Blue Screen!

Its a BLUE SCREEN of Death!

I love disruptive computer jargon. It's so very William Burroughs

Re: Hmm.

"and have in the past actually had to distinguish them in speech."

when someone first mentioned "Sequel Server" to me ~1990, I couldn't figure out what it was, where to find it, or who to buy it from. IBM allegedly made it, but no literature on it in the back of PC mag or anything even REMOTELY related. If it had been called "Es Queue El" Server, then I might have been able to find it. But the "Sequel" thing was I.B.M. "Market Speak", in the worst possible way.

And I stop conversations in order to correct the pronunciation of 'Es Queue El'. And it's 'My Es Queue El' no matter WHAT anyone says about it. .Calling it anything else invites me to become a GRAMMAR NAZI.

Re: Gif.

"how can G(raphics) be pronounced as JIF."

it could be worse - they might be pronouncing SQL as "Sequel".

Yeah, it's pronounced Es Queue El for those who didn't know. The other pronunciation, which is _REALLY_ IBM market-speak from the late 80's/early 90's, is like nails on a chalkboard in intelligent or technical conversation. Yes, I'm compelled to stop things and correct the error, and have done so on a few occasions...

And yeah, it's "GUIFF" with a hard 'G'. Soft-G fascists simply can't figure out what the G stands for...

[I'll continue to use PING and JAY-PEGG files anyway - they're better for my needs]

Twitter: Why we silenced Rose McGowan after she slammed alleged sex pest Harvey Weinstein

Re: I think Linehan has it right

@Brangdon

"Scott Adams is a bit of a dick. He admires Trump ... He's a climate change denier."

a HUGE DOWNVOTE from me, for being so transparently PEJORATIVE, as well as ignorant about REAL science. And steering the topic to Trump and man-made climate change.

NICE. JOB. *NOT*

Gartner says back-to-school PC sales failed. IDC says they worked

Re: If MS had just stuck to Win 7.....

"PC sales would be ticking along just nicely IMHO."

And, In My Bombastic Opinion [IMBO] as well!

Windows 10 is helping business sales (?)

[deserves a topic heading]

The article said that. I say "_REALLY_???" Because I don't believe it.

Recently I was invited by Micro-shaft to engage in an on-line survey with respect to business-related computer usage and Win-10-nic features. There were several 'comment' areas in which I vented my spleen. I outlined, in detail, how they basically drove me, a long time customer, who USED to be a fan of Microsoft and Windows back in the 90's, AWAY from them, by things like the 2D FLATSO, adware, spyware, forced updates, "start thing", GWX, etc.. ( 'TLDR' and I don't remember it all, so just the summary.)

In any case, their "new,shiny" "business friendly features" aren't really helping business, from what I can see. But their marketing will SAY SO, and I think that trickled into the article.

I have a few legacy applications that require windows. If Micro-shaft continues circling the drain with Win-10-nic, I may be forced to fix WINE so that they'll all work. [some of them are multimedia applications, particularly Cakewalk, and that might take a bit of work, but if I can get XP to run on an old computer that has enough horsepower to do it, or get my W7 machine to work properly with respect to certain device drivers, I may not have to]

'We think autonomous coding is a very real thing' – GitHub CEO imagines a future without programmers

Re: COBOL again?

Thinking of COBOL...

I never met Grace Hopper but I saw her once [may have saluted her], a 4-striper [at the time] and rather skinny elderly lady who had a bit of a smile on her face. It was in Orlando at the NTC in the early 80's, near her office actually...

Re: haven't we been here before ?

"Ah yes, COBOL meant the PHB class and users write their own code, then SQL meant management could directly query business data followed by the great white hopes of VB and Delphi. "

don't forget "Forest and Trees". that was an interesting thing. It died, like similar things. I think MS Access may have killed it.

And one more point: SKYNET programmed itself, didn't it?

Icon, because, SKYNET mention.

Visual Studio Team Services having some 'performance issues'

Re: RegEx

"sometimes they aren't [ok] and you need to check."

on a DEVELOPMENT server. With a mirror of the production database(s). And a good simulation of realistic activity. for at least 2 or 3 days prior to updating the production server(s), with automated test suites or interns or students or dedicated testers who will report problems immediately and even TRY to produce them.

(the choir says "amen" right?)

Re: Worth repeating

while(1)

{

"if you have a problem and you use Microsoft to solve it, you now have a royal fuck load of problems."

}

how's that?

Re: New Feature

"There is this nifty new idea some are using."

yeah, and some of them set up DEVELOPMENT servers to test things on, before moving them to production. but you'll need TESTERS to evaluate it properly, or maybe make everyone at Micro-shaft use the DEVELOPMENT server to help work out the bugs...

'master' and 'develop' branches on github. do a merge when you know it works, cross your fingers, hold onto your ass, and hope you didn't break something. And do it at zero-dark-thirty when few people are actually using it [so you don't cause massive outages]. And then TEST the damn thing, to make sure you didn't break it.

yeah, "standard operating procedure" for competent IT people, right?

"Facepalm" icon for how dumb MS was for putting this on the production server without testing it properly, first.

Re: VS2017 Community Edition is a POS

and, "the cloud" is HIGHLY overrated.

If you want to clloud-collaborate, use github. It doesn't require a bloated IDE.

Kotlin's killin' Java among Android devs

Re: Open source

"What would a closed source language be?"

In some ways, Java. but only because Oracle owns everything about it, and dictates what people can do to it. But there's OpenJDK, so it's not entirely "closed". You do not have to use Oracle's JVM or JDK.

That being said, the only thing I really hate about Java is the LACK of "unsigned integer" types. Yeah. They arrogantly leave that out, deliberately. It makes certain things *difficult* in Java. but when you're doing device control, or reading binary data from a device with 64-bit unsigned integers and bit flags to go with them, it becomes a bit tedious, ya know?

yeah, rather short-sighted of them, isn't it?

I only use Java for 'droid anyway, and only because it's easier at the moment...

Re: Thank Allah, Thank Buddha, Thank Jehovah

"he language has lagged behind other languages such as C#."

that comparison to C-pound [the language that makes me want to VOMIT] earned you a DOWN vote.

Re: Android & Java

"vast majority of Android apps out there are written in either C# or C++"

C++ sounds fine, but C-pound? EEEEeeeeewwwwwwwwww!!!!!!!!!!

/me can't find a vomit icon. I'll use this instead.

It's 2017... And Windows PCs can be pwned via DNS, webpages, Office docs, fonts – and some TPM keys are fscked too

Re: "if computers had totally separate data and executable storage"

"AMD even removed the feature in x64"

you sure about that? I'm pretty certain that x64 has executable and non-executable page flags...

edit: found this quote on wikipedia

"The No-Execute bit or NX bit (bit 63 of the page table entry) allows the operating system to specify which pages of virtual address space can contain executable code and which cannot. An attempt to execute code from a page tagged "no execute" will result in a memory access violation, similar to an attempt to write to a read-only page. This should make it more difficult for malicious code to take control of the system via "buffer overrun" or "unchecked buffer" attacks. A similar feature has been available on x86 processors since the 80286 as an attribute of segment descriptors; however, this works only on an entire segment at a time."

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/X86-64

thought so

Re: Who designed this then?

"if computers had totally separate data and executable storage this wouldn't be a problem"

harvard architecture. common for microcontrollers.

in the x86 world, proper memory management would prevent writing anything that's executable. there are flags for that. I guess Win-10-nic isn't using them enough.

Re: Who designed this then?

"How the hell did you design an OS that lets programmers embed code in a FONT?"

you stupidly make font files DLL's with an executable section that runs on load...

Re: The NeverEnding Story Continues...

"wonder if we’ll still be patching Windows security issues in the year 802,701 A.D."

WIn-10-nic, the Morlock version

Re: Old vs New Bugs

"I get the feeling that they do not test as thoroughly as they used to."

they don't test at all. they fired their testing staff 2 years ago, during the insider program for Win-10-nic. They're entirely relying on 'insiders' and people who get the first run of patches. that's why there are forced updates, to make SURE they get their patches tested by the unfortunate saps who risk bricking their new, shiny machines that came with Win-10-nic.

Re: 2XXX

"They survive on desktops on the strength of their ability to run programs from a decade or so ago"

for now. Until they decide to abandon Win32 support and go "UWP only".

just wait. they'll do it. they've got their foot targeted, and are ready to pull the trigger...

Got a software development and deployment story?

Re: Got a software development and deployment story?

I've sort of taken over a project's web side because my predecessor essentially did a "rage quit" when it became painfully obvious that he was obstructing me, getting nothing done, and wouldn't even help when asked a simple, direct question. His typical answers were in the form of an 'RTFM', with condescension topping. I started getting involved when it was obvious that I was the one that needed to make certain security-related modifications [including adding new tables and columns in the database]. Being a Django system it was WAY more complicated than it needed to be, and all written in Python.

Once 'predecessor' was no longer passive-aggressively obstructing, I put a 'C' program in place of a bunch of inefficient python code and reduce calculation time [on every upload] from >2 minutes down to about 10 seconds [on average]. The old code was causing server timeouts on large data files. And EVERY web developer HATED the idea of using a C program [particularly "that guy"]. There were a boatload of unfixed bugs, unusable admin screens, and "just plain wrong" data being displayed, and every time I test something I find a whole new pile of nitty/irritating bugs that have gone unfixed, like, forever (including one I fixed recently, which was causing an infinite loop on the server, but only when done with the 'rent-a-server', not with the code I have loaded locally - grrr...).

My focus has been on integrating the web side with what's going on with the firmware and phone application. After having modified all of these [for that purpose], I supopse I own them ALL now. No biggee, I need the cash, and now there's plenty for me to do. But the irritations of Django (and the poorly written code) have made it a LOT less fun...

Worst thing about this: my predecessor apparently HATED comments in the code. He objected when I mentioned that I was commenting my changes with my name in the comment, in particular so that _I_ could find where I'd touched things. He complained, said something about it messing up the code [to have COMMENTS???], with respect to cosmetic issues I think, and my response was "NOT NEGOTIABLE".

I'm just glad the bureaucracy didn't go with what HE wanted, though he DID try to backstab me [it took months before "the right person" would let me have the user/pass to the production server so I could update it]. no complaints since then - many bugs fixed, people can get their work done without bugs in the way, etc. and the web site doesn't have "the old logos" on it.

How many times can Microsoft kill Mobile?

Re: Clusterfcuk

" Mobile is not only the future, in fact it’s here now. Wake up you daft knobheads, or maybe don’t bother because it’s probably already far too late."

Actually, the only way mobile will TRULY be "the future" is when the 'mobile devices' become 'persocoms' (obligatory 'Chobits' reference) or maybe a robot like THIS one.

seriously, hand-held is so "noughties"! heh.

Re: How many times can Microsoft kill Mobile?

Yes. Micro-shaft should KILL windows phone TO DEATH. Except by then, it will become UNDEAD. Kinda like this:

https://allthetropes.org/wiki/Category:Undead_Horse_Trope

Re: Any hope, a silver lining

"I really, really doubt that MS will do a 'U' turn of such magnitude and get rid of METRO/Tiles etc."

It's probably too late to stop the Titanic from hitting the iceberg, yeah. "All back emergency" followed by 30 seconds of frantic propeller noise going "churn, churn, churn, churn" because momentum equals mass times velocity and kinetic energy equals velocity SQUARED times mass, and so it takes a SHIPload of energy to un-do all of that momentum by adding "negative kinetic energy" to stop a Titanic, freight train, or Micro-shaft...

Re: I disagree.

"The all-powerful Windows team wanted Windows everywhere, including places that it didn't belong"

And then, DUMB THE INTERFACE DOWN so that everyone is equally *MEDIOCRE*. Like certain political philosophies that demand "equal outcomes".

troll icon because, previous comment. heh.

Re: Nothing follows

"The only thing they could possibly have a go at is a UWP runner on iOS and Android, and that would fail too."

That's because UWP itself is _FAIL_.

Is _ANYONE_ *SERIOUSLY* targeting UWP these days? One, maybe two people that ARE NOT owned by Micro-shaft?

Either Micro-shaft will COMPLETELY nuke themselves into oblivion by ABANDONING Win32 API support (basically invalidating all 'other toolkits' and legacy applications), or they'll see the light and quietly let it die like they did with Silverlight and a few other things...

Re: Microsoft is trying very hard to kill itself.

Well, if Belfiore admits that WinPhone is essentially DYING, I wonder how long it will be before he admits THESE things [that he so proudly announced] will ALSO die:

a) spyware - " So the system is going to give us a 'smart suggestion' for an app in the store that is going to be one that's suitable for ~me~."

b) adware - "on the client we know which apps you're launching, and which apps you're installing, and so we're able to communicate with the store and bring down suggestions that are personalized for ~you~"

c) his focus on "universal windows platform" ==> UWP

(the quotes are from his (in)famous speech at a developer's conference during the insider program for win-10-nic, where he revealed the adware, spyware, and other plans as if they were *GOOD* things)

And - Mr. Belf**ck-you-all-e - how about getting rid of that 2D FLATSO FLUGLY THE METRO CRAP-INTERFACE too.

In other words, go back to 7, the way it was before "Ape" was released. Apply the back-end fixes and anything that makes the system faster, but LEAVE THE @#$% &$*# !}{% INTERFACE THE WAY IT WAS this time!

And _NO_ forced updates, either.

Microsoft's foray into phones was a bumbling, half-hearted fiasco, and Nadella always knew it

Re: Awwww shut up and quit your whining.

"That strategy assumes that app developers are rational actors. It is not a safe assumption to make."

From what I can tell, "best and brightest" may NOT actually be working on phone applications (surprise! not...). Sure, you'll find exceptions, especially for niche thingies that do remote device control or data collection or manage banking or inventory databases from the client end. "scan the bar code" "read the credit card" etc.. Otherwise, it's (probably) nearly-all just the same kind of garbage you normally see flooding the "CRapp stores".

I've done a couple of "clever things" with Android, including one that controlled an Arduino that controlled equipment - the Android application was the front-end GUI, using bluetooth. Those kind of "specialized" things will always have clever developers building them to go along with their hardware, and "look, there's a phone application" - watch window blinds move up/down, TV turns on/off, maybe even with a timer when you're gone. That kind of thing.

Otherwise, it's apparently a lot like "web development" these days. You know, like using JQuery and Node.js to make yourself look like you're elite, when it's really just n00b-level stuff... especially when a SIMPLE style sheet or table would make the web site look more appealing than "all that".

same with phone applications. I'm not impressed.

One of these days someone may come up with something that's truly interesting, innovative, and not just "a fad". well, software in the 80's was kinda like that, too. Eventually it became something worth paying for. But $100 for something that looks like some geek wrote in an afternoon? No. Just no.

and ads just make the situation WORSE.

Re: get a foothold in the market - money talks

"Certainly the appstore did the platform no favours."

you mean CRAPPstore (and that's the point, yeah)

Moon trumps Mars in new US space policy

Re: Policy for Future American Leadership in Space

"indicative of a deeply rooted feeling of insecurity and paranoia in the American psyche."

No. Think of it as part of "Make America Great Again". We used to lead everyone in things like this. The reasons why we do NOT do so now stem from "globalism", socialism, and various policies that stifle the private sector.

Besides, so many technologies sprung from the space program in the 1960's, we oughta just do it for that reason alone... [except for those who want to 'hold back our technological development' 'for our own good', this should be perceived as a GOOD thing!]

What I see being different is the role of the PRIVATE sector, this time around. Trump kept saying 'commercial interests' and so I bet that's what he's thinking. I think it's an EXCELLENT idea, and it can begin with the licensing of even MORE private space stuff.

As for Elon's Mars trip - interesting, but the reason _I_ would want to go to Mars would be to ESCAPE the SOCIALISM. Problem with Elon's plan, is that he'll have SOCIALISM ARRIVE BEFORE WE GET THERE.

Is that a bulge in your pocket or... do you have an iPhone 8+? Apple's batteries look swell

Re: Wrong Swelling

FYI - regarding battery swelling...

it's caused by the buildup of H2 gas inside the LiPo battery casing which is typically a somewhat soft material. There are a couple of things that can cause it:

1. mechanical damage, particularly during assembly

2. serious undervoltage with excess current being drawn over a long period of time.

The 1st is a production issue, fixable by swapping out the battery. The 2nd is a design issue, NOT fixable without re-doing the circuit board.

You can mitigate '2' by keeping your unused phone on the charger all of the time.

The reason it happens has to do with the chemistry of an LiPo battery. If you discharge it too much, the polymer breaks down and releases hydrogen.

LiPo batteries can self-discharge, so don't expect a charge to last more than a couple of month because of that. Additionally, if there is undervolt protection circuitry in the phone, it will draw a small amount of curent regardless of the state of the internal protection switch.

I recently designed such a circuit for a system where the entire circuit board + battery is potted in plastic, meaning you can't change the battery [it's waterproof though]. the batteries were having swelling problems. This was generically solved by an EXTREMELY low current battery undervolt cutout circuit, which draws only 10 microamps [or so] in the 'cutoff' state. It leverages a few other things to limit the current and the number of components.

/me takes a bow for the miraculous electronics engineering, a truly 'clever' hack, heh.

In the mean time, you STILL get trickle discharging of the LiPo, but you also get self-discharging. 10 microamps is about what a typical self-discharge is, and you can generally leave a LiPo on a shelf and let it self-discharge and not have it swell up like a pillow, even it it reaches zero volts. [it may still happen but from what I can tell, it's much much less frequent].

On the other hand, if you draw as little as 100 microamps from one of the smaller batteries [it may be more for a larger one], they tend to swell up like pillows once discharged down to 0V, and will do so within a month of being discharged, more often than not. So you can't just set it on a shelf unless your undervolt protection totally cuts off the battery [or gets trickle current down to about 10 microamps].

I've got on battery I've fully discharged at the ~10 microamp rate, and then re-charged, a few times. It's lasted for MONTHS this way, no apparent ill effects. It's as flat as a pancake, like it's supposed to be.

So I'd say Apple's problem is PROBABLY on the circuit board, and retro-fixing that is basically impossible, unless they can wire in an undervolt circuit between the battery and the circuit board somehow. Good luck fitting it in the case. I bet it's really *tight* in there.

/me withholds a comment involving a cherry