Posts by bombastic bob

GitLab plans to delete dormant projects in free accounts

Re: A year seems a bit too low... Three years maybe?

Other than increasing the time, maybe a better metric:

* Project owner (and collaborative minions with admin level) have not committed anything to anything (including issues) during the same time period - so THEY are inactive, too.

* Project has not been cloned nor downloaded in addition to that (maybe for a shorter period of time)

* Project is not listed as a dependency for anything else that is 'still active'

and maybe some provision for archiving it as a dependency within the projects that depend on it., as applicable (so they do not break).

Then, only a project that is TRULY dead would fall off of the cliff and disappear, after a sufficiently long time, without doing any damage. Or, that's the theory. My guess is that this would be way less than 25%, though, and would not have the same financial bottom line effect of giving it "the chop" as the previous announcement might.

(Sort of a compromise when nobody likes the outcome, but it is the only sensible solution)

US regulators set the stage for small, local nuclear power stations

the real facts about small vs large reactors

well having actually studied "nukular" physics and operated a "nukular" reactor (on a sub) I probably have a *bit* of insight into the whole 'operation' thing and 'waste' thing and small vs large reactors, etc. etc. etc..

Small reactors require higher fuel enrichment, have higher neutron flux, and burn less percent of the fuel load before it has to be changed out. This means that there is more uranium in the waste, and operating radiation levels surrounding the reactor vessel are higher (particularly neutrons). That pretty much summarizes it.

But I do not get why 'they' apparently say "35 times as much" which sounds like a load of UNSCIENTIFIC B.S. to me. Higher amounts, yes (this also means it needs reprocessing to get the U235 out so it can go into another reactor). But the fission products themselves would have about the same yield as far as radioactive isotopes go - it's a physics thing. "Mae West Curve".

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fission_product_yield (it was called the 'Mae West Curve' due to its overall shape, originating during WW2 and the Manhattan Project)

That being said, small reactors tend to have negative temperature coefficients which is why they are used on ships (other than power requirements overall). LARGE reactors tend to have posiitive temperature coefficients. This makes them less stable (though still controllable) so they keep power levels at maximum all of the time, and control it using borates in the water (they absorb neutrons). The smaller reactors, however, respond well to rapid changes in demand (so it works really well for a ship) and the negative temperature coefficient is inherently stable. They tend to maintain temperature on their own even as power changes, without a lot of 'fiddling'.

Therefore you could theoretically use a small reactor as a 'peaker plant' to handle variable demand.

To me, this sounds EXTREMELY useful. Down side, LESS efficient than a large one (to operate, maintain, fuel, and so on). A small reactor would require nearly as many people to operate as a big one, for example, but only make 1/10 of the electricity (let's say) and require all of the same administrative regulatory compliance and so on. So it would have to be made PROFITABLE.

In any case there's already FUD (the "35 times" rectally extrapolated value with no clear source as to where it came from) getting in the way.

I seriously hope these business ventures succeed and ARE profitable. But unfortunately there are too many who operate by FEAR instead of by SCIENCE when it comes to nuclear power plants. And the usual roadblocks and red tape are the direct result.

Spent Chinese rocket booster splashes down over Southeast Asia

Re: HOW DARE THE CHINESE... NASA's exploding Space Shuttles fell to earth Predictably

CCP does not care about anything except the CCP (and world domination). I think we can expect them to behave like BAD NEIGHBORS, especially if letting us know about falling debris would in ANY way cause them to look less than perfect by anyone's observation.

Either that or it was aimed at Taiwan and they missed...

Bill Gates venture backs effort to bring aircon startup to market

Re: I'm either scientifically illiterate or evil, you decide

as if we need to live in fear of views we don't agree with.

Re: I'm either scientifically illiterate or evil, you decide

eh, I do my posting for free. It's a public service!!! [gotta get the word out]

By the way - the science of CO2 should be obvious to someone who took college chemistry. Or high school chemistry. Just study what an equilbrium reaction is. if you have EVER done a phosphate titration, you'll understand this, too. If you have NOT done anything like that, well, that explains a lot...

I made this graphic I have been posting a lot online, explaining in detail what I mentioned in my original post in this thread. It has charts and explains things more. You would have no trouble finding it if you are interested. It has science in it. Have fun refuting it. ( You can see it in #ClimateChangeHoax )

Re: Smoothing of use rather than cost??

Yes - the higher cost of electricity is usually due to varying demand.

Nuclear power has to maintain relatively constant power levels due to the physics.

Steam plants burning fossil fuels can more readily adjust to demand, but it is more economical to run them at relatively high power levels all of the time, and it takes quite a bit of time to shut them down and start them back up again.

Gas turbine and Diesel "peaker" plants are designed to quickly handle varying demand but since they only run some of the time (and often at lower efficiency, as I understand) the electricity they produce is MORE EXPENSIVE.

And when the wind does not blow, or there is overcast (or night), "green" power isn't going to help much.

The only practical thing left for varying demand is hydro-electric, and there are only so many dams.

So CONSTANT DEMAND (especially using offpeak power) IS a great idea, if you can offset usage from peak times that way. In my case the utility is charging differently for different time slots, so I run dishwashers and laundry and (sometimes) A/C during off-peak whenever I can. Not always possible, but I try. It saves money. If this were AUTOMATIC somehow, it would save money and ALSO even out demand somewhat.

Makes total sense.

Lest we forget...

The theory of 'Man Made Climate Change' caused by CO2 is a MYTH, since CO2 is so *horrible* at being a greenhouse gas. GH gasses are supposed to stop black body radiation from leaving the planet+atmosphere at night (which is how the planet cools), thereby keeping the earth warmer. But CO2 only affects a TINY fraction of the IR energy. MOST of that energy is kept on the planet by WATER ("the other greenhouse gas"). Additionally CO2 is at equilibrium between rain, plants, and the temperature of large bodies of water. Hockey stick graphs that have tracked CO2 since 1958 and TRIED to claim the CO2 is causing the warming NOT ONLY fail to take into consideration that warmer water (from temp cycles and active volcanoes) RELEASES CO2, but MOST of the numbers since 1958 were apparently tracked at MAUNA LOA, an ACTIVE VOLCANO in Hawaii (and YES, volcanoes gas TREMENDOUS amounts of CO2, even from soil [for miles around them], with MOST of the world's carbon existing in the MANTLE, where LAVA comes from).

Still, energy/cost efficient air conditioning IS a good idea. If I owned the place I live in, I'd try to set up smart fans and dampers in the attic, trap heat when cold, ventilate when hot, use prevailing wind with rooftop spinners, things like that. I mean we ALL want to save MONEY, right? So WHY CAN'T "THEY" JUST SAY "LESS EXPENSIVE" INSTEAD???

Star Trek's Nichelle Nichols closes hailing frequencies

Re: UK Born in 1966

"I never really noticed that Lt. Uhura was black."

And, THAT is the way things SHOULD be. I am a little tired of the 'tick the box' stuff that way too many people are STILL making a big deal about. At one time in history (the 60's) this was important. Nowadays, 'identity' doesn't really mean anything, almost like a participation trophy for people who have nothing REAL to contribute. (And continuing to point out 'identities', in my opinion, helps perpetuate the 'isms'). So your 'never really noticed she was black' is a pretty GOOD sign that things have gone in the right direction.

That being said, since Nichelle; Nichols actually accomplished some true anti-racism "firsts" on television in the 1960's (such as the first televised interracial kiss with William Shatner, which back then might have gotten the show banned) it was still important for her acting career and her role... because it was "back then when it mattered".

Also worth noting, there was a time when Nichelle Nichols did MORE Star Trek conventions than any of the other main actors from the original series, leading up to the first movie, if I remember correctly.

Sad to see her go. (She only got to sing in one or two episodes and one of the movies, and had a pretty nice jazz voice).

Microsoft warns Windows 10 patch broke printing for some

Re: Good old XP

I have a windows 7 box that NEVAR goes on Teh Intarwebs that has printing enabled, because if I do NOT enable printing, QuickBooks stops working. Not like I need it for ACCOUNTING or anything...

But yeah if the only thing I do on that box is QB and the occasional "windows thing" (not Teh Intarwebs) what do I need UPDATES for, when it is behind my FreeBSD FIREWALL (filtering the HELL out of IPv6) ???

Re: I don't see the problem

Maybe it would be fixed by using a Linux box sharing its CUPS printers via Samba.

Rejoice! System Administrator Appreciation Day (SAAD) is nigh

Re: Upgrade your hardware

maybe a chainsaw and hockey mask to go with it?

Cruise self-driving cars stopped and clogged up San Francisco for hours

Autonomous Vehicles all simultaneously updating their OS

Windows Update strikes again

Re: The robot uprising

I was thinking more like "Johnny Cab" from 'Total Recall'

"I am not FAMILIAR with that address..."

Get over it: Microsoft is a Linux and open source company these days

Re: Get over nothing....

When you look at everything they have done to WINDOWS since Win "Ape" (8) you cannot say they have STOPPED BEING EVIL, or even PAUSED BEING EVIL.

They are *STILL* engaging in:

* Strong-arm "Microsoft Logon" instead of LOCAL Logon

* FORCE you to update

* FORCE you to accept THEIR "new shiny" way, even if you were good at the OLD way of doing things

* FORCE you (as much as they can, without users jumping through hoops) to get NEW HARDWARE to run "The Latest"

* FORCE you to accept 2D FLATTY FLATSO FLATASS McFLATFACE UI with NO user customizations

* FORCE you to hit the cloud if you use their search, even for local files

* TRACK you and ADVERTISE to you, even when using YOUR COMPUTER (not their services)

The FORCING, the TRACKING, the STRONG-ARMING. *THIS* **IS** *EVIL* !!!

Twitter sues Musk: He can't just 'change his mind, trash the company, walk away'

Re: I'm generally a fan of Elon Musk but

I think it is a negotiation tactic, similar to when Trump walked away from N. Korea's "dear leader" at one point. Later it got settled with a reasonable agreement.

/me plays Kenny Rogers song.... "Gotta know when to hold 'em, know when to fold 'em, know when to walk away, know when to run..." (etc.) I do not think that the merger/acquisition jungle is much different than a poker table.

So let's see if I am right - I think THIS will happen:

* Twitter admits to the bot/spam activity that is REALLY happening

* Elon re-negotiates the price to something lower than $44B

* it all goes through and shareholders are happy

* Twitter becomes a free-er place for self expression with fewer bots, trolls, and spamming

Re: What if Twitter were holed below the waterline

and CCP grooming

Here's one way past Moore's law: Chips that mix photonics and electronics

In reference to the 2015 announcement

seems like we might know where they [possibly] stole the tech from....

(I have a hard time believing that any kind of REAL innovation can come out of a communist nation, with scientists living under a constant threat of social credit scores and censorship. Such things are NOT conducive to creativity and innovation - and the CCP is well known to have stolen LOTS of tech over the last decade or so)

The tech is probably usable, at some point. Let's hope hat the "prior art" of 2015 does not allow the CCP to leverage the rest of the world with encumbering patents for [possibly] stolen tech.

[same kind of thinking with respect to 5G also, in recent years]

San Francisco cops want real-time access to private security cameras for surveillance

Re: There's a reason for this

in my opinion, "petty crimes" would include shoplifting, camping on public sidewalks, vandalism, battery, misdemeanor robbery, and things of that nature. jaywalking and nose picking (if that is even a thing) are infractions (like a traffic ticket).

But you are right. Being cited for playing music too loud is not the same as shoplifting less than a felony amount of goods, but in S.F. and L.A. they are NOT prosecuting those things and that was my point.

Amazingly, the small crimes are often also committed by those who commit the bigger crimes, and getting someone fingerprinted for a small crime might help to solve the bigger one while ALSO sending a message to "the outlaws" (a small number of people) that plague law abiding citizens (the vast majority) that the cops are arresting so they better watch their asses...

Re: There's a reason for this

The DA was recently recalled in SF over the petty crime problem. The thing is, the answer is very simple: you arrest and incarcerate pepetrators of things like vandalism, trespassing, public defecation, petty theft, and aggressive panhandling. you incarcerate and/or force them into programs (such as one designed to get vagrants off of addictive substances and into self-sufficiency) and those who fail these programs and/or go back to their lives of crime get REALLY incarcerated... for YEARS... keeping them out of THE REST OF OUR FACES and in JAIL where they belong.

If you excuse crime, if you overlook crime, if you simply DO NOT PUNISH CRIME the opportunists come of out the woodwork and do smash+grab robberies until all of the neighborhood stores cannot stay open, and they go elsewhere, leaving people out of work and customers having to go to a department store or megastore instead.

It is this policy and attitude of WOKE DAs (often sponsored by Mr. Soros for their elections), some of whom have been recalled (S.F.) or are in the process of being recalled (LA, others) that is at the CENTER of the crime problem.

Surveilance is not needed. ACTUAL POLICE WORK and DA PROSECUTION of even the PETTY crimes, is.

Recently a store employee in NYC was ARRESTED FOR 2nd DEGREE MURDER when he had been backed into a corner by a thug significantly younger and bigger than him, and the store employee stabbed him in self defense, causing the perpetrator's death. The angry girlfriend also had stabbed the store employee's arm. The store employee was IMMEDIATELY arrested, sent to Riker's Island (the WORST of prisons), with his stabbed arm NOT treated (it got infected), and given $250,000 bail, because HE DEFENDED HIMSELF successfully, with a knife. But the WOKE MANHATTAN DA did not even go after the girlfriend who had INSTIGATED the problem by going back to get her thug ex-con boyfriend because her "food card" (aka welfare) did not have enough money on it to buy a bag of potato chips and the store employee had her put the bag back. So the store employee, OBVIOUSLY in the right, 62 years old, gets a "visit" from the thug boyfriend (in his 30's) who then goes behind the counter and backs him into a corner, will not let him escape, and keeps hitting the guy, and would PROBABLY have KILLED him. It is all on video for those who have not yet seen it, and it has been aired in the USA on Fox News and all over social media. THIS IS AN EXAMPLE OF *THE* BIGGEST PROBLEM - PUNISHING THE VICTIMS and NOT THE CROOKS by WOKE DAs with a PRO CRIMINAL AGENDA.

And these "wokesters" want "more surveillance". yeah, right. I agree with the ACLU on THIS SPECIFIC point, for sure. NO MORE SURVEILLANCE, especially not with (potentially coerced) live-stream private cameras, NOT without a warrant and all of the restrictions that come with GETTING one.

Choosing a non-Windows OS on Lenovo Secured-core PCs is trickier than it should be

Re: Well, he was doing it wrong.

I would be installing FreeBSD. If Secure Boot can NOT be "just turned off" it's NO SALE.

Re: So vendors are content ...

Requiring, rewarding, or coercing Lenovo into blocking/hampering/disallowing Linux...

If it is FORCED by contract, ANTI-TRUST LAWSUIT

If it is COERCED by pricing, ANTI-TRUST LAWSUIT

If it is REWARDED somehow, ANTI-TRUST LAWSUIT.

ANY interference with competing operating systems, EVEN IF THEY ARE NOT PAID FOR, would be an UNFAIR BUSINESS PRACTICE and (in the USA) be subject to PROSECUTION under EXISTING ANTI-TRUST LAWS. (opinion, IANAL)

I just wanted to point this out. And YES, if Microsoft IS doing this, they SHOULD be SUED for it.

Maybe the EFF?

Tech world may face huge fines if it doesn't scrub CSAM from encrypted chats

Re: Irrelevant really though, isn't it ?

what would happen if you use end-end encryption to send encrypted files? Just keep adding layers until "they" throw their hands in the air and give up.

Tracking cookies found in more than half of G20 government websites

Special "delete hisstory" login is required

What _I_ do with any gummint (or business, or whatever) login that MIGHT have tracking cookies...

* special user login (let's say "allowscript" as a user name)

* fiirefox configured to allow all script and cookies, but delete all history on exit

* only access these web sites using this login

seems to work for rme

(hopefully FOILS their attempt to track me)

Gtk 5 might drop X11 support, says GNOME dev

Re: Agreed

see icon

I may have found at least SOME insight here...

Perhaps THIS explains things...

Embrace. Extend. *EXTINGUISH* (and now Linux must be JUST LIKE Windows II!!!

One OS to rule them all

One OS to find them

One OS to bring them all

and in the darkness of WAYLAND, *BIND* *THEM*

(You STILL using X11? No graphics support for you! No DRM support for YOU!)

etc.

Re: Gnome devs who drank the Wayland coolaid...

the snark is STRONG with this one...

fixing firefox to use TraditionalOk

Absolutely! Here ya go:

a) install TraditionalOk theme, usually available with packages like 'mate-themes' which are generally GTK2 based with GTK3 support

b) from the command line:

gsettings set org.gnome.desktop.wm.preferences theme 'TraditionalOk'

(this makes GTK3's default theme 'TraditionalOk')

c) open up 'about:config' in firefox, and add/edit these:

widget.content.gtk-theme.override = TraditionalOk

widget.non-native.theme.enabled = false

That should pretty much do it, and you may have to restart firefox for the scrollbars to change (YMMV on that, refresh usually does it for me)

Gnome devs who drank the Wayland coolaid...

I will not make ad hominem attacks about what they might be FEELING (not thinking), nor imply the use of illegal mind altering substances, nor suggest that their heads are NOT firmly upon their shoulders and capable of unrestricted breathing.

That being said, they have CLEARLY lost their way and need some "gentle nudging" back to the world of REALITY.

a) Adwaita-only of GTK 4 is ALREADY SO RIDICULOUS, breaking the ONE thing that GTK 3 still had going for it, the ability to have a theme like "TradictionalOk" and *NOT* *FORCE* *ALL* *OF* *OUR* *DESKTOPS* *TO* *LOOK* *LIKE* *WIN-10-NIC* *NOR* *CHROME* *BROWSER* (both of which I *HATE*). [2D FLATTY FLATSO AND UN-GRABBABLE SCROLLBARS *JUST* *PLAIN* *SUCK*, that's why and I hacked out a nice way to get TraditionalOk to work in Firefox so I can have REAL SCROLL BARS again)

b) Eliminating the ONE thing that makes Linux and other OSs like FreeBSD *SO* *POWERFUL* *AND* *USEFUL* *FOR* *EMBEDDED* *DEVELOPMENT* (and other things) is *CLUELESS* when it comes to "who the CUSTOMERS are". You NEED X11 protocol across the network, or even on the same machine via localhost, to be able to do certain VERY cool things!

FOSS is NOT a reason to go off and morph a project into something that YOU WANT OTHERS TO HAVE TO USE. You are missing the ENTIRE point if you think this is a GOOD thing. Instead, an update to X11 that addresses whatever perceived shortcomings there are would be MORE appropriate.

I cite once again Arthur C. Clarke's "Superiority" (for those who are unfamiliar, it should still be available online and is a short read)

California state's gun control websites expose personal data

Re: The American religion of guns

Well, proper "gun control" is getting a NICE TIGHT PATTERN (on the correct target) whenever you shoot some[one,thing]. The 'police grip' is what they teach in the military (for pistols). It helps to mitigate kickback and keep your aim steady. For self-defense, of course.

Re: Accidental?

If nothing else the criminals will know WHICH HOUSES TO AVOID BREAKING INTO.

Thunderbird 102 gets a major facelift, Matrix chat support

I looied on the site, no evidence of a traditional menu. I *DEMAND* the traditional menu!!!

Whatever hit the Moon in March, it left this weird double crater

Re: Bouncy space junk?

maybe the thing was damaged or unusually weak in the middle and broke apart on impact

Linus Torvalds says Rust is coming to the Linux kernel 'real soon now'

Re: Seriously, are programmers that bad?

programmers are that bad. All of us

Except for ME, of course! No need to include ME in your self-deprecation.

Big Tech silent on data privacy in post-Roe America

Re: This thread will probably get contentious.

Please do not feed the trolls.

Agreed. I'm staying out of "all that", too.

As for data privacy protection in general? I'm all FOR that. I oppose any tracking "in the cloud" or anywhere NOT on the user's device [and even then it needs double top secret protection]. And do NOT sell or disclose that info to ANYONE.

Tracking is BAD, M-Kay? Maybe THIS time it will be stopped?

Graphical desktop system X Window just turned 38

Re: Walaynd is not relevant going forward

I like the way you think on this.

We don't really use the network features of X enough yet. But we will

I came up with a 'clever' way of creating panel icon shortcuts for Firefox runnin as a specific user with a button click that leverages 'DISPLAY' to run it as a user like, say, 'twitter', which would have no privileges, and its own context (FF may delete all history on exit, or simply allow script and tracking in THAT context). Then you are just aware of the tracking etc. in THAT context if you look at stuff, follow links, etc.. But OTHER contexts could have script blockers, cookie blockers, anti-tracking, whatever. So I end up having one for 'slack' that is work related, one for 'twitter', one for 'script' (let script run, but erases all history on exit), and all of those users have no privs whatsoever. Then you cleverly set up ssh with a cert-based login [no password prompt] and invoke the firefox program with appropriate info and DISPLAY exported, and you're there with a single button click.

(I use the 'script' one to view youtube vids or use one-time web sites that need script to work. carefully of course. Stupid gummint ones are often 'scripty' too. works for those as well)

Also fun thing, different instances have different windows and the title bar says 'as slack' or whatever in it.

All of this is possible BECAUSE of X11's client/server network aware protocol.

Re: Baby and bathwater come to mind.

"One of the central functions of X is that it works over a network connection, something that Wayland by design does not do"

This is THE deal-breaker for me.

I cannot upvote this enough

Re: What I like about X

there have been some extensive graphics performance improvements in X over the last 2 decades like glx (a proprietary open GL in the case of NVidia). There is NO need to not follow the same path of simply extending the capabilities of the X server while retaining backwards compatibility.

TigerVNC also has an X server but it does 100% software rendering because it has to. Same protocol, applications run just fine.

Re: What I like about X

having to re-write for the sake of re-writing. THIS is a HUGE deal-breaker for Wayland!

Re: What I like about X

"The issue isn't that X is unstable, it is that it is obsolete"

OBSOLETEt? By WHO'S OPINION? what else is obsolete, a fork and a knife? If you are concerned about unused legacy code/features, make them optional compile or loadable extensions then.

THIS! DOES! NOT! JUSTIFY! WAYLAND! JUST! TAKING! OVER! (follow the money on who is pushing this)

*I* *HATE* *WAYLAND* the way *I* *HATE* *SYSTEMD* (and 2D FLATTY, etc.). XWayland or not, *IT* *SUCKS*

*WITHOUT* "DISPLAY" environment variable support for X SERVERS ALCOSS A NETWORK, *EMBEDDED* *DEVELOPMENT* *WITH* *LINUX* *WILL* *BE* *IMPOSSIBLE*.

And *EVERY* Linux release that runs on an embedded device had BETTER NOT DEFAULT TO WAYLAND. People like ME have INFLUENCE, and already ONE board did NOT get picked for future development BECAUSE IT SHIPPED WITH UBUNTU/WAYLAND as its "supported" OS !!!

People who do embedded understand this. X11 is a "known" and spending HOURS of company development time adapting to a MOVING TARGET (Wayland) is *NOT* *WORTH* *IT* !!!

But forking X.org WOULD be worth it... which is WHY it is STILL BEING USED.

Microsoft pulls Windows 10/11 installation websites in Russia

Re: I resisted for all of 20 seconds

Russians like things made in Russia. Who knows, 10 years from now when the Putin stupidity is finally over and things get back to normal... well how DO you say 'Windows' in Russian? (it could be a legit fork of something like ReactOS that actually WORKS)

(Right now it's Putin that's the problem - Russians are pretty smart and will not just put up with this)

How did you mourn Internet Explorer's passing?

Re: It's not dead.

yeah well at some point in the project it seemed that swiss cheese unmaintainable spaghetti code might actually kill the project (and I would have to find a different engineering gig). So the guy originally tasked with the device control side (me) ends up taking over the whole project so that it does not DIE (missing customer commitments is a good way to kill it, for sure). Had I been in on the design phase for the web interface I would have directed it AWAY from such things but "that guy" shmoozed everyone into believing he was competent and 'talked a good game' and *I* was busy making motors spin and lights blink (then writing my own 'test' web interface pages because the "real" ones were not even CLOSE to being done, and handing them off to the web guy with 'well here is what *I* did to test it' like a *HINT* but without being too blatant (i.e. presenting him as a FOOL to the boss and being insulting about it).

Something like that, anyway.

Small companies really cannot afford engineering projects to be killed by "THAT kind of web "developer".

This swiss cheese spaghetti code was written using 3 things that need to be avoided: 1) JQuery, 2) Google "materialize" (bloatware, monolithic) style sheets, and 3) obvious copy/pasta from stack overflow and various 3rd party "solutions". And, "circling back" to I.E., this sort of 'thing' first became possible around 1997, and I.E. was right at the forefront of it, with the beginnings of DOM, script, and dynamic HTML (for good or ill). But I.E. had VBScript and ActiveX, whereas the others did NOT. Fortunately, neither of those two things survived the test of time. UNfortunately the use of bloatware javascript libraries and (later on) style sheets has NOT gone away... (and has unfortunately been given a new HIGHLY OVERRATED term to describe it, 'Material Design')

Re: IE died

Now we have Chrome dominating the browser market instead.

Please do not get me started with the 2D FLATTY FLATSO McFLATFACE look, light blue on blinding white color schemes, and its direct influence on Firefox (Australis) and Windows (8 and later)...

[oops. too late]

(well with THAT said, I.E. looks a WHOLE LOT BETTER than it did 5 minutes ago)

Re: It's not dead.

(see icon)

Re: It's not dead.

have you SEEN the state of modern programming? It's a shambling, mountainous pile of shite fueled by egos at every level that could not pour piss out of their boots with the instructions written on the bottom of the heels.

Don't remind me. I'm waist deep in trying to re-write the UI code for a system that was "made to work well enough" [by me] based on the shotgunned and overlapping style sheet behaviors, use of 3rd party monolithic things (like 'materialize' and 'jquery') by the original author who was given the "your services are no longer required" once he finally had enough done to make it possible to copy/pasta and adapt what he HAD done into an actual functioning interface. Fortunately it looks nice and performs well.

[I have a permanent bump on my forehead that matches an indentation in a concrete wall as a testimony to my own efforts to make customers happy and STILL meet deadlines.]

NOW it is time to re-do it all so that it can work on multiple LCD screens with different resolutions and still look the same. The original was for a particular LCD screen and I admittedly did not help when I had to insert pixel sizes into 'style' values to fix it in various places. Overlapping definitions and shotgunned settings in multiple style sheets (thanks to the original author) made this necessary. Over time I had eliminated most of the jquery code [which greatly improved system stability] and re-did a few things WITHOUT any of "that style stuff" (but with a similar appearance). NOW I get to rip it up and re-do it and am mostly done with Phase I. Necessary to make it maintainable without constant 'fiddling'.

And I think I ALSO just described why "web developers" should *NEVER* *WRITE* *CODE*, but kernel programmers SHOULD be involved in every aspect of web design - to REIGN IN THE CHAOS.

(and fortunately customer is happy with what I am doing and the results I am getting, better, faster, more stable, re-sizeable, all of the things you would want from a system that should only need 'light touch' maintenance and be easy to do future development for it)

Re: It's not dead.

At least I.E. *supported* FTP. "Modern" browsers, not so much (not any more). There are STILL FTP sites out there... downloaded data from one recently - using wget. [420,000 years' worth of ice core data]

I guess it's like modern cars do not have ''wind wings' which (if you have no air conditioning) are VERY effective at directing air flow to keep you cool. (then again I drive with the top down nearly all of the time)

Businesses brace for quantum computing disruption by end of decade

Re: Which will get here first?

well there have been proof of concept reactors for fusion for quite a while, usually of the Tokomak variety (but some using inertial confinement instead), since the 80's even.

Still waiting on a "Hello, World?" example for quantum computing

Symbiote Linux malware spotted – and infections are 'very hard to detect'

Re: The research doesn't mention how the initial infection occurs

the descriptions in the article makes me think it starts out as a compromised process running as root. If true it can muck with the environment during the login process. To truly hide a process you need root access, otherwise you can look at /proc to get the correct info., i.e. /proc/*/cmdline for process ID '*'

Microsoft forgot to renew the certificate for its Windows Insider subdomain

Re: Windows Insider software testing program

either that or they put the payment of cert renewal on a net 30 payment term and issued the renewal bill to AP a week before it was to expire...

apparently have not heard of "LetsEncrypt"

Meta slammed with eight lawsuits claiming social media hurts kids

Re: @DS999 - Obviously social media is terrible for kids

The troll warrior nicname associated with this technique: "Hand Grenade"

there are SO many controversial topics that _I_ could have wedged into this discussion, if I wanted to be disruptive... but I did NOT. (You're welcome)