Posts by bombastic bob

Fix crap Internet of Things security, booms Internet daddy Cerf

"There has to be some kind of product validation or security certification (to start with)."

if it's inexpensive [such that it doesn't crowd independent engineers from selling their wares on the intarwebs] it _MIGHT_ work... but consider the cost of F.C.C. and CE marks, ALREADY a road block for startup businesses to get a product into the market. It's bad enough that Micro-shaft, Apple, and others are INSISTENT on some kind of "approval" or paid-for certification for software, which helps to *KILL* open source (and independent developers).

Do you REALLY want "these kinds of roadblocks" IN THE WAY of TECHNOLOGY? I don't.

If the liability laws are such that the manufacturer of a device can be held liable for flaws that RESULT in a DDoS, you can bet those flaws will be PROPERLY FIXED. If that means (for their insurance, for example) that they MUST have some kind of cert, they'll get it. At the same time, a PUBLIC project for an open source OS for IoT stuff (let's say) would NOT be hampered, but would need to "self certify" (through proper testing and documentation during development, let's say) in order to get people to use it.

So yeah, gummint would have to be involved a little bit, legislating the liability laws that would basically put some pressure on IoT makers to make sure their devices have some basic protection in place to prevent being "negligent" and therefore liable for damages.

I hope "the answer" isn't EVEN MORE gummint...

"what moved the needle on seat belts (at least in the US) was a government mandate"

sadly this is true. It also brought the cost down when EVERY car maker had them.

If it takes a gummint mandate, I suppose that's what we'll end up with. Fortunately, however, we still have some time for a PRIVATE SECTOR solution.

My own belief is that SOME gummint (i.e. liability laws) coupled with MOSTLY private sector (software that limits risk) would be the best overall solution, and help to prevent "gummint oversight" from literally *KILLING* the technology while it's still an infant.

Beijing deploys facial scanners to counter public toilet abuse

Re: Better than having none I guess

"the offender did look around more before returning to their BMW."

cheapskate. or 'third world mentality'. or the side-effect of being under communist rule...

Re: six squares ?

just grab some paper towels. to hell with their plumbing. Wash your ass in the sink when you're done. More paper towels after.

and hope you don't have the runs from inadequate water supplies or tainted food...

US military's latest toy set: Record-breaking laser death star, er, truck

Re: debris will still be a pretty effective kinetic weapon.

better to have debris than a nuclear yield. If you disrupt the electronics enough, it goes "puphhhh" instead of "BOOOM!"

Re: Just 2 mile range?

Range is ONE issue, but...

What's the firing rate? one burst per minute? one per second? 10 per second? Frickin' laser MACHINE GUN? Continuous blast in whatever direction it's pointing?

Anyway if it fits in a truck, it'd fit on a spacecraft. Just sayin'.

"You think the yanks might want this back?"

make it out of CLEAR PLASTIC and, yeah!

60 slow-mo A-bomb test videos explode onto YouTube

Re: kubrik would have loved these...

YEEEEEEHAAAAAAWWWWWW!!

/me waving my grey-hat-hacker-hat - ride 'em cowboy!!!

Nuke 'em 'till they glow, then shoot 'em in the dark!!

Or, like that one Far Side comic: "Ooooh... Ahhhh!!!"

I *LOVE* the smell of NEUTRONS in the morning!

Git sprints carefully towards SHA-1 deprecation

so basically to "prove" that a document is unique you'd at least need the file's size as well as the hash, and a 2nd hash using an independent algorithm [which could be as simple as a CRC]. And mathematically, even THAT has "fewer bits" than the original. So it's not really "proof".

In any case, there's STILL a use for SHA1: as a secondary 'check' in verifying a file's contents. A crack to make the file size, SHA-256, _AND_ SHA-1 all match (and still have the code compile and do whatever malicious thing you wanted it to do) would be one hell of an accomplishment! Or, you could use MD5 or another "known to be insecure" method as the secondary method. Whichever.

FreeBSD's ports system uses size, SHA256, _AND_ MD5 in this way, last I checked.

Linux, not Microsoft, the real winner of Windows Server on ARM

"a newbie programmer bought into the cloudy, linuxy, ARMy hype"

I don't know whether to laugh or cry.

I'd agree, "the cloud" is overrated, but for widespread sharing and other web-related things it's convenient and (ok, somewhat) fault-tolerant (example, github, google docs). Linux _IS_ _THE_ _MOST_ _POPULAR_ _OS_ out there for sheer number of "things" using it, from servers to routers to phones (and Raspberry Pi). That can ONLY be ignored at your own career peril.

ARM is just another platform. There are tasks it's well suited to, and those that x86 or x64 are well suited for. It just depends on what you need and how well the system performs.

I'm glad it's standardizing and entering the server realm. Competition with x86/x64 and against Micro-shaft's dominance will ONLY help us end-users and customers, in the long run.

And as a software [and some hardware] developer, I'll keep a close watch on it and upgrade my skills when necessary.

Re: Funniest Thing I've read today

"we're about 75% Windows."

one of the advantages of using Linux on ARM would be the reduction in wasted electricity on that 75% of your boxen running Windows. Just sayin'. Inefficiencies like ".Not" and Micro-shaft's operating system "overall" have hidden costs. And don't forget the constant UPDATES (and phone-home spyware) eating your bandwidth.

Last I checked, even a Windows 7 system wasn't immune to the CPU-intensive background re-indexing of ".Not" garbage, following even the most insignificant of windows updates.

Should just kick out all legacy baggage and go into the brave New World.

like they did in 'Superiority' by Arthur C. Clarke. For the same reasons, most likely.

SVN commit this: Subversion to fix file renaming after 15 years

Re: SVN will never beat GIT

"1. global revision versions instead of not sequential unwieldy guids or urls. revisions are easy to communicate with, and reach across branches."

yes, this makes it pretty easy to check out or do a special "new branch" based on a particular date/time/rev-# and so forth. I hadn't considered that for git, but it seems kinda cumbersome. My git experience is with github-hosted projects, and creating my OWN private 'github'-like host wasn't something I was planning on doing any time soon...

Re: Is this still being used?

yeah FreeBSD uses subversion, and I set up a repository with it (for my own stuff) years ago. still seems to work just fine. cron job to do nightly backups, etc. and stored on ZFS with replication. works.

Fire brigade called to free man's bits from titanium ring's grip

Re: Please tell us

you're reminding me of a sequence from an Austin Powers movie...

A new compliment to the 'Darwin Award'

a new complimentary award needs to be established, to go along with the existing 'Darwin Award', when some dumbass offs himself in a way that demonstrates WHY it benefits society by removing him from the gene pool.

Well, THIS guy could've removed himself from the gene pool WITHOUT actually dying. By his own act of complete stupidity he nearly DID THE WORLD A FAVOR. Had his maleness been lopped off due to oxygen starvation induced gangrene or necrosis, the world's potential future average IQ would've gone UP a bit. *NOW* we have this guy BACK in the gene pool...

mentioning 'Idiocracy' again (particularly the intro, where skilled surgeons save the moron's male member after a bizarre jet ski accident that should've kept him from breeding any more)

Maybe we can call it the "Margaret Sanger" award (due to her belief in 'eugenics'). Extra points for those who get the snark/humor.

Re: Titanium?

Why the fec did he need titanium?

maybe he wanted a cameo (or at least a shoutout) in the intro for 'Idiocracy 2'

NASA swerves serious cash cuts – but Earth climate probes, asteroid snatcher face axe

Re: NASA back to space

newer/better/cheaper - part of that is the shift to private industry for routine launch vehicles.

meanwhile, NASA did a lot of really cool stuff back in the nineties, and maybe noughties, with some radical engine designs and whatnot (NOT just the ion drives). As I recall, the project was shelved when their test vehicle crashed, and making a replacement was too expensive.

But yeah private industry is likely to be the best source for new ideas anyway. Pouring money into a black hole gets us a bunch of agenda-driven gummint bureaucrats and "scientists" wasting taxpayer money on their pet projects. If a private company must make a profit, on the other hand, they weed that out themselves.

Re: It's not a cut, its streamlining

"Trump has stated before that AGW is false."

that's because it _IS_ false. what part of "CO2 does not absorb infrared energy corresponding to normal earth temperatures" (and therefore can NOT be the 'greenhouse gas' everyone hopes it would be, so they can CONTROL PEOPLE'S BEHAVIOR in the name of reducing it) is NOT obvious here?

The entire mechanism for the CLAIMS of "man made global climate *whatever*" fall on its FACE if man-made CO2 cannot be the CAUSE of it all. And it can NOT be. It's just not SCIENCE to claim that it is!

Think about it: what makes a greenhouse gas a greenhouse gas? It is supposed to TRAP HEAT, i.e. keep infrared energy from going out into outer space! Well, WATER has MANY times the effect of CO2, and absorbs IR energies that correspond to normal Earth temperatures. Therefore a cloudy night is warmer, a clear night is colder. Similarly, it doesn't block incoming energy either, so a cloudy day is cooler, a clear day is warmer.

CO2 has NO such effects since it doesn't affect IR energies that correspond to temperatures over about -50C (or F, take your pick). Yes, I ran the numbers myself, and I'm pretty confident that my calculations were correct. Anyone else cn challenge me on this, the intarweb has the info if you look hard, but it _IS_ difficult to find [I wonder why?].

So in short, MAN MADE CO2 does NOT affect climate. Even if we pumped zillions of tons into the atmosphere, RAIN would deplete it very quickly. It would end up as carbonates in the ocean. And algea blooms would consume it. People use CO2 injectors for fish tanks and greenhouses because it makes plants grow more. The biological equilibrium would compensate for anything humans could POSSIBLY do to CO2, even if it DID cause climate change.

[this stuff should be obvious but I guess I have to point it out. again]

but yeah, getting rid of NASA budget items that focus on "climate change" is a good idea, because it is a WASTE of MONEY!

Microsoft kills Windows Vista on April 11: No security patches, no hot fixes, no support, nada

Re: Options?

you should be able to download and install Mint Linux for free.

Oxford Uni boffins say internet filters probably won't protect teens

Re: Anon for reasons - Basically to avoid the SJW'ers

"I was 13, and went on to chat rooms and started talking to this 16 year old girl."

as pointed out before, probably "a 45 year old unshaven fat guy in his underwear"

And I'd like to add a list of the best possible comebacks for teenagers (directed at clueless parents):

a) I'm doing my gynecology homework

b) I accidentally clicked on the wrong link

c) someone from Nigeria sent me this

d) I think I misspelled a word in my google search

e) it's just the way that web browsers work under Linux

f) I was told that Playboy doesn't do porn any more

g) I accidentally typed "4chan" and this is where I ended up

h) Facebook is a LOT worse

i) I was looking for information about [insert ethnic group] culture

j) someone said a word that sounded [insert foreign language here] and I wanted to know what it meant

k) I thought it was a web site about cartoons/Disney/Pokemon

US regulator looks at Internet of Things regulation, looks away

please keep in mind that many of you are asking for POLITICIANS and BUREAUCRATS to make these *kinds* of regulations, and NOT sane people nor knowledgeable people.

Politicians are, by the very definition, on the edge of honesty if they're honest at all. They have to take contributions, and then do a "payback" of some sort later on, for those very contributions. And bureaucrats often have agendas, not necessarily agendas that you'd want implemented.

If you want to call down a napalm strike on top of your own head to deal with the perceived enemy all around you, have at it. Just don't involve *ME* in the results, ok? I want NOTHING to do with ANY of that.

Re: @ Alister

"The problem with that approach is stopping good things from happening and regulating everything pointlessly. Solving a problem when there is a problem is better than stopping progress."

Yes. It takes a "gummint" to REALLY gum up the works, through pointless regulations, politically motivated laws, and panic-mode fear-mongering for the purpose of getting votes.

How about this: if FRAUD or NEGLIGENCE is involved, let's just assume that current law will still allow proper legal relief for those affected by it, until it's tested in court. THEN we address new legislation and/or regulations to deal with the problem. Otherwise, it's just more bloated "governmentium" (the element that simply grows in mass over time, and absorbs energy from everything around it).

Today's WWW is built on pillars of sand: Buggy, exploitable JavaScript libs are everywhere

Re: Stop obsessing over JavaScript

"But I can't think of little else that would require something that time-sensitive."

and if they DID need it, how about a 'meta refresh' tag in the content of an IFRAME?

Been there. done that. worked really well. got 10fps refresh on a PNG image from a camera that way, for a prototype device control application that used a customized web server to control things _AND_ display on an android slab as HTML, ran as a 'web application'. very simple, very effective. the camera was a big part of it, and had to display LIVE images that were appropriately 'tweeked' and analyzed, frame by frame, and displayed within the 'control' page.

CAN be done!

Re: choices

"You can't write modern responsive fancy-looking, slick websites without JavaScript."

WRONG. Just do this: create a PNG file that "looks that way" and use hotspots. So, it does NOT "require" JavaScript for that kind of thing after all, right? Besides, the term "modern" [often used as a pejorative, since it quietly implies everything NOT that is somehow 'ancient' or 'outdated'] is SO over-used, I don't think it carries any weight. Remember, Win-10-nic's look is often called "modern" by its fanbois. And so I rest my case on the use of the term 'modern' to describe "those things".

"In fact, a lot of websites are totally dropping support for browsers with JavaScript disabled."

This has more to do with CLICK-THROUGH AD REVENUE than anything else. They don't like non-script-running browsers because they don't get AD REVENUE from them. And ad blockers often behave the SAME way. So _THEIR_ solution, block anything NOT accepting their privacy-violating JavaScript, cookies, whatever.

/me mutters: there's NO school like the OLD school! standard HTML, no script!

Re: Backwards compatiblity

"Normally I'd agree but it's IE that was mentioned so both apply."

IE? then I'd have to add "defecate" to that list of words to look up

Re: Yet another reason to use NoScript

also greatly shortens load times in many cases. if you're doing a 'duck duck go' search, and you end up on what LOOKS like something with the content you want, it takes less time to realize they're just click-baiting you.

Re: Perhaps

"What do you propose as an alternative to interactive websites?"

a) you don't need JavaScript for an interactive web site

b) you don't need all of that "cruft" to serve up content

c) style sheets can give you almost as much control over the appearance as can scripting (and probably better, more efficient, less memory footprint on the client, MUCH lower bandwidth requirement, faster load times, yotta yotta)

d) if it requires scripting, maybe it should be done server-side instead

e) if a 'meta' tag can't control refresh rates, you're doing it wrong

This isn't about interactive web sites, anyway. It' about ABUSE of SCRIPT, and the sheer volume of crappy JavaScript code being used all over the intarwebs.

Ever since some "bright-bulb" decided that SCRIPTED LANGUAGES within HTML was a *GOOD* thing, it (the script-monster from HELL) has grown into the bakemono that it is today. It's infected everything like a PLAGUE, and it's *EVERYWHERE*.

It's amazing how good a web site can look with standard HTML, tables, hot links, forms, etc.. And they load a LOT faster. It's also amazing just how "dynamic" content can be if the server does a reasonable amount of the work. But yeah, it's easier for lazy developers to just CRAM IN a bunch of script from 3rd party libraries, glue it together, and call it "a web site", and THEN spare their OWN servers from the extra bandwidth by having those ginormous libraries load from CDNs.

/me runs NoScript and if I can't read your content, I typically go elsewhere. It's a big intarwebs.

Do you use .home and .mail on your network? ICANN mulls .corp, .mail, .home dot-word domains

Re: .local

"Well, at least they have not proposed a TLD of .local -- yet."

I use that one internally for network DNS (along with a zillion others, most likely). Isn't there an RFC for that?

RFC2965 mentions it (along with a caveat, somewhat), Other RFCs also mention '.localhost'. But then again you never know, do ya? I'd hate to have to purchase a domain just to have DNS running on a LAN [yet ANOTHER tollbooth on the intarwebs].

might have to CREATE an RFC to protect it, now...

subsequent edit - found THIS: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/.local

Microsoft nicks one more Apple idea: An ad-supported OS

they believe noone uses computers for anything serious anymore.

deserves its own title

obvious implications obvious.

My solution is that I don't use OneDrive

My solution is that I don't use WIN-10-NIC .

(your solution is still a good start, though)

Re: See MS *does* love Linux

*sigh* I so wish it were true, but I fear the alternative [that "ads in the OS" become "the new normal"]

/me thinks of the TV screen from 'Idiocracy' that has 3/4 of its area COVERED in moving advertisements, while the middle 25% of the screen has the actual content in it...

OW MY BALLS!

Most of 2016's holes had fixes the day we knew about 'em. Did we patch? Did we @£$%

Re: Three out of Four Adobe Reader users don't patch?

time to use a different reader (like Evince maybe?)

Can you ethically suggest a woman pursue a career in tech?

Re: Oh goody!!

"We can look forward to much parsing of what we say for "micro-aggresions".

wait... there's a term for that... lemme think... it's on the tip of my tongue... almost there... GOT IT!

"Political Correctness" <-- who knew?

Re: The portrayal of nerds in the media....

women interested in men "because they're rich"

sounds MISANDRONOUS to me (ha ha ha had to say that)

but we _ALL_ know it's true, don't we? [I think it's genetically pre-programmed, like many things labeled 'sexist']

Re: "We need to promote women disproportionately, pay them equally or better..."

"Silicon Valley is a cesspool of misogyny and sexual harassment."

I question the validity of your assumption, especially if your primary information source is more like a Late Night Comedy News show.

At least one source quoted by the article mentioned that its analysis was "not peer reviewed". So a couple of colleges do a survey, on a limited number of people, most likely with some pre-supposed conclusions in mind, and quite possibly with survey questions written in a way that made such a conclusion easier. AND they came up with "the expected" conclusions.

2016 was _NOT_ a good year for accurate surveys, was it? (think a couple of elections in UK and in USA that surprised the survey takers).

And keep in mind, if you define 'sexual harassment' as calling the mailman a "mailman" or referring to a woman as "Miss" instead of "Ms." or "being mean to the girl" in a legitimately deserved performance criticism, yotta yotta yotta... its like defining "racisim" as DISAGREEING with a minority-raced politician, ya know? And at THAT point, when the definition is _SO_ senseless, and the emotional manipulation _SO_ blatant, that people just say "meh" and ignore even LEGITIMATE situations of sexual harassment, because they're SICK of it being "everywhere" according to the definition.

And if a woman goes into a company with a "misogyny" chip on her shoulder, you _KNOW_ she's a harassment lawsuit risk, so _WHY_ hire her?

And where's the IT angle here, anyway?

Re: "We need to promote women disproportionately, pay them equally or better..."

ack, fixing alleged discrimination by discriminating makes as much sense as a "soup sandwich" [but it keeps gummint weenies 'in power' and emotions stirred up enough at election time]

/me puts the 'Harumph' scene from Blazing Saddles on a loop, to illustrate.

Linus Torvalds explains how to Pull without jerking his chain

Re: git shit

"pretty much anyone who uses git - myself included - finds it incredibly tedious."

the (informal) survey says: WRONG!

I use git somewhat frequently and it's simple enough. "git commit ." (edit message) "git push" (enter login info). NOT hard, assuming you're not on windows...

[maybe win-10-nic doesn't have a UWP stoopid-GUI for it in "the Store" yet]

Force employees to take DNA tests for bosses? We've got a new law to make that happen, beam House Republicans

Re: Sure it will lower employer costs and promote an healthy workforce...

how about if we just divorce the idea of 'medical insurance' from 'employer' and let people just buy whatever they want to? That might include NOT going with an insurer at all, or go with one who doesn't do DNA screening.

Re: @Someone Else

"the new EPA chief doesn't even accept that CO2 forces heating"

You just HAD to bring that one up. <facepalm>

2 words: It doesn't. That is because CO2 doesn't have the absorption spectrum for infrared light to work "that way". Look it up if you don't believe me.

"you're doing it wrong" [meme]

THIS is yet another case where the "you're doing it wrong" meme applies.

They're NOT supposed to INCREASE gummint intervention in people's private lives. Obaka-"care" has done WAY too much of that already. These idiots should STOP calling themselves 'Republicans', or else just shut the 'FEEL' up and get out of the way!

Washington D.C., where ANY level of power, absolute or not, (eventually) corrupts absolutely

WikiLeaks promises to supply CIA's hacking tool code to vendors

maybe the leak was INTENTIONAL?

ever consider that the leak might have been INTENTIONAL? You know, the CIA 'throwing a bone' for some old vulnerabilities that "other gummints" might have just discovered, and so the CIA *WANTS* THESE HOLES PATCHED ???

Just a thought. 'Spy vs Spy' and all that. Wikileaks as a tool. Yeah, it could happen.

Microsoft to close its social network on a week's notice – and SIX people complain

Re: So.cl? another 'Kin' moment for Redmond

"Don't we get enough adverts thrown at us already?"

/me checks dipstick level

No. you're a quart low. you'll have to take some MORE

(a quote from Wacko Warner)

Re: Facebook's 1,871 billion active users.

and _I_ totally missed the typo until I re-re-re-read it and... Ohhhh... [fridge moment]

yeah, the ',' instead of '.'. must be late at night over here, across the pond, on the lower left side of the USA. 3:49 AM actually.

It has gone the way of 'Comic Chat'

anyone else remember 'comic chat' ?

America's Marine Corp steamy selfies scandal, a Senate probe – and El Reg to the rescue

Re: Backup?

maybe it's on archive.org ... well the intarwebs nevar forgets, really. it's out there, somewhere.

"boys will be boys"

User lubed PC with butter, because pressing a button didn't work

Acahol in the Caculator, to kill the stench of tom cat piss

Some years back, my mother worked at a major manufacturer of electronic calculators, when such things were a new 'thing'. OK this is secondhand, but the gist: A customer apparently had a tom cat piss all over his 'Caculator', and he couldn't get the smell out. So he basically dumped a bottle of 'Acahol' all over it. Apparently this caused it to malfunction, so he took it apart and tried to dry it off [possibly with a hair dryer]. He wrote a letter to the company asking advice for getting his 'Caculator' to work again. I guess that's understandable, since they were as expensive as smart phones back then.

The letter was subsequently copied and circulated. Interoffice humor. Who knew?

[And in this day and age, it might inspire another youtube video by Craig Turner]

Microsoft: Can't wait for ARM to power MOST of our cloud data centers! Take that, Intel! Ha! Ha!

Re: Just why would you want to run MS server on ARM?

"and anyway no one should use any versions before 3.x"

or after 7.... (yeah they're all "2D FLATSO FLUGLY")

A bit of inaccuracy regarding what Win '9x was, in an earlier post. Win '9x was not entirely just "Win32s plus WfWg" because it had thread support, though OSR2 was considered to be TRULY pre-emptive internally (as I recall) but not its predecessor. It's been too long since then, so my memory might be off a bit. Anyway M$ was selling it as an "NT light" of sorts, focusing on 16-bitness for some hardware backwards compatibility.

Thinking of the 2D FLATSO FLUGLY-ness of M-shaft's latest versions, maybe Intel should focus on THEIR END for 'nuking' the WinTel monopoly by PROMOTING LINUX DESKTOP MACHINES.

Re: You've come a long way, baby

reminds me of a quote from the movie 'Hackers' - "RISC is good"

The good times are over, Peter Thiel tells Silicon Valley's oligarchs

Re: Which wolf wins

"The one you feed"

I like that quote. 'Tomorrowland'

From the article: "The problem with pessimists when they reach positions of power and influence is that their pessimism is much more likely to come true"

what if the one who rises to a position of power is an OPTIMIST?

(obvious implications obvious)

The only 'dark times' coming will be a general end to corporate welfare for Silly-Valley corporations. At least, that's how _I_ see it.

And maybe another bursting bubble for "dot bomb" again.