* Posts by bombastic bob

10515 publicly visible posts • joined 1 May 2015

Moscow to issue HTTPS certs to Russian websites

bombastic bob Silver badge
Pirate

Re: "Z" for zombies

why don't they use "Let's Encrypt" like all of the budget ISPs and individuals do...

(If "Let's Encrypt" is getting political then they defeat the purpose of their existence)

[And this issue is yet another example of harming the wrong people with the sanctions, which I would support 100% if they are actually effective in putting an end to Vlad the Putinator's worldwide conquest]

Why Nvidia sees a future in software and services: Recurring revenue

bombastic bob Silver badge
Linux

Re: Open Source Software

Point: donating to open source can include bug fixes and other submissions.

bombastic bob Silver badge
Thumb Up

It was a crowning moment of Linus awesome! I miss that Linus...

bombastic bob Silver badge
Megaphone

Re: Open Source Software

and, "right to repair". 3rd party aftermarket things that do NOT have subscriptions. MANDATED that manfucturers make this possible to avoid anti-trust lawsuits. (this is where a government mandate makes sense, to level the playing field for competing businesses, bust the trusts, and disallow monopolistic practices and customer lock-ins).

bombastic bob Silver badge
Pirate

Re: $1,000 a person per year ... That's one important piece

just wait until your CAR MAKES YOU WATCH AN ADVERTISEMENT before you can start driving it.

makes my 20+ year old dinosaur-burning "dumb" car (with no GPS to track me with) look pretty good. OK I already said that earlier but it is STILL TRUE.

bombastic bob Silver badge
Thumb Down

Re: Subscription Services!!!

public and private utilities are billed by usage where I live.

Not "a subscription".

bombastic bob Silver badge
Thumb Down

Re: turn on car features, such as driver assistance, through subscription services.

"as soon as governments can force that through"

*facepalm*

bombastic bob Silver badge
Pirate

Re: turn on car features, such as driver assistance, through subscription services.

this makes my 20+ year old dinosaur-burning "dumb" car look pretty good...

Ukraine invasion: We should consider internet sanctions, says ICANN ex-CEO

bombastic bob Silver badge
Big Brother

Re: It's over

you seem to be perfectly describing the sort of people who are anti-woke.

You seem to be onto something. It's the ACTIVISM and the Alinsky tactics, In My Bombastic Opinion...

(leading to: see icon)

bombastic bob Silver badge
Thumb Down

Re: its over

"Denial" is NOT just a river in Egypt...

bombastic bob Silver badge
Unhappy

Re: its over

cancel culture CERTAINLY is NOT "the solution"

You either have an internet or you do not. (and only the little guy, "the people", get hurt by this kind of arrogant "political/ruling class" BULLSHIT)

The moment politics drives CANCEL CULTURE as "a solution", it's over.

I have a better idea: The USA produces oil SO FAST and SO CHEAP that Russia loses money and China loses economic power. Russia's economy centers around the production of fossil fuels, and the USA has MORE of it, as I understand.

As for the CCP Communists, they need to lose as MUCH power as possible, or say GOODBYE to Taiwan. NOT having a new iPhone will be the LEAST of anyone's problems.

(China and Russia - they ARE an alliance, you know)

What, you did not realize the precarious nature of dealing with COMMUNISTS and SOCIALISTS?

I'd laugh but it's no longer funny.

(see icon)

Ukraine invasion: This may be the quiet before the cyber-storm, IT staff warned

bombastic bob Silver badge
Alert

Re: FUD - Fear, uncertainty and doubt

still might be a good time to do a backup (if you do not do them often enough). air-gapped USB external drive is a good start.

Where are the (serious) Russian cyberattacks?

bombastic bob Silver badge
Devil

Re: Or

Putin is engaging in a war of TERROR. Apparently, he thinks like Stalin.

So he bombs civilians and maternity hospitals.

It reminds me a bit of this video clip from 'Stargate SG-1'

(yeah there ARE some additional implications here)

bombastic bob Silver badge
Trollface

Re: There are several answers to this.

from the top of the article: wreck major US internet sites such as Google, Facebook, and Microsoft

yeah Vlad the Putinator isn't going to shoot his own foot, at least not THAT foot, which has already proven itself to be extremely useful in damaging "the West" (in general).

Linux distros patch 'Dirty Pipe' make-me-root kernel bug

bombastic bob Silver badge
Devil

Re: All hands on deck!

(I have to wonder if MY details were ever disclosed...)

A term for insecurely using/disclosing unsanitized real data for testing things...

a) Deja Fu

b) Dumpster-Data

c) Pre-owned info (or maybe Pre-pwned)

d) Data Slutting (not to be confused with Data Whoring)

e) Barf-bagging

eh, maybe Data Slutting works the best.

BBC points Russians to the Tor version of itself

bombastic bob Silver badge
Boffin

Re: "shut down"

some of that depends on the design. Usually in an emergency they would drop all control rods to the bottom and then inject a boron-rich "poison" into the coolant (typically this is part of how power levels are controlled anyway), sufficient to keep the thing from re-starting under any circumstance. Then, since civilian reactors (with lower enrichment) typicall have positive temp coefficients, as long as decay heat is removed criticality will never be reached (or if a lack of heat removal melts the core, for that matter). This can typically be done by bleeding steam if nothing else is available. For "reasons" if worse things happen (like overpressure, uncovered core, etc.) the physics would (or maybe 'should') not support criticality.

So once the reactor is poisoned and any emergency cooling systems have been enabled, it would remain shut down. It could melt, but it wouldn't restart (unless the design really really sucked).

Fukushima (in part) was similar to the worst case scenario. The reactors shut down but decay heat apparently caused meltdowns and Zr-water reactions (which produces hydrogen gas bubbles inside the core and whatnot), but as far as I know they did not regain criticality. The emergency shutdowns apparently prevented an uncontrolled restart but the lack of electricity did nothing to remove decay heat. And so, "it happened".

Still, horrible disaster averted in Ukraine.

bombastic bob Silver badge
Meh

Re: The nuke power station attack was not accidental

I think he just wanted the power to go out...

If Putin wanted fallout to blow towards neighboring countries on the west, he could have either dropped a ground detonation at the Chernobyl site (possibly as effective as a dirty nuke bomb), or used an *actual* nuke.

Occam's Razor. Putin has been knocking out infrastructure. It's almost more like terrorism and intimidation, so that people cower in fear and give up the will to fight back. THAT would be a Soviet tactic and is the most likely explanation.

bombastic bob Silver badge
Happy

Re: The twat-O-tron redux, I guess

here i was thinking of something snarky to add, but I'll say 'thanks' instead

bombastic bob Silver badge
Big Brother

encryption and anonymization are necessary to ensure that people remain free, particularly free of draconian surveillance and "fishing expeditions", or worse, "social credit scores" and political cancel culture. And, "modern" gummints can be JUST AS EVIL as "old school" or communist ones, In My Bombastic Opinion.

Canadian Truckers, do you know what I mean?

Internet backbone Cogent cuts Russia connectivity

bombastic bob Silver badge
Unhappy

Re: Smart guys in Russia

In some ways I actually pity the Russian soldiers. They're typically conscripts, are being ordered to their death and to kill civilians by a megalomaniac that apparently wants to BRING BACK THE SOVIET UNION, and when they realize they have been lied to (the Ukranians HATE them and are not thankful at ALL for their presence) their morale is extremely LOW.

Ideally I'd like to see them all lay down their arms and voluntarily walk into the custody of Ukrainian authorities as P.O.W.s but most likely they have family in Russia that Putin might actually cause to "get disappeared", unless they do what they're told.

Just thought I'd point that out.

bombastic bob Silver badge
Thumb Up

Re: Would be best not to do this...

You have the CORRECT attitude about free speech!

(Thanks for saying it)

bombastic bob Silver badge
Unhappy

Re: Difficult choice to make

From the article: Which would make President Putin's attempt to censor the web a lot easier.

that's pretty close to my first impression when I began reading the article.

If what we do punishes "the little guy", we're doing it wrong.

Russia acknowledges sanctions could hurt its tech companies

bombastic bob Silver badge
Devil

Re: So....

they should only ban the RETURN flights back INTO Russia... (allowing people to escape)

(Just a thought)

not like anyone has enough room for the entire nation to escape as refugees, but still...

bombastic bob Silver badge
Unhappy

This war is absolutely unwinnable for Russia

From OUR perspective, yes (based on a couple of factors, one being that we generally agree Russia should have NEVER done this in the first place)

But from Putin's perspective, the general exercise of intimidation, terror and fear is most likely part of a GREATER plan. Otherwise why ELSE would he target civilians like this? Yes, Putin is a SOVIET ERA COMMUNIST, in no uncertain terms. Like Stalin.

(the 20th century, and Stalin, called Putin and they want their USSR back)

Google to wind down pandemic work-from-home

bombastic bob Silver badge
Devil

Re: Depends a lot on how you work

things like IRC and Slack help mitigate this

bombastic bob Silver badge
Devil

Re: WFH the new Normal?

consider the following as well:

a) the availability of high speed internet

b) the skyrocketing (soon to be worse) cost of gasoline/petrol/whatever-you-call-it

c) the time saved by NOT commuting

etc.

but the cost of living close to where you work is ALSO a major consideration, and can easily be turned upside down when you switch jobs... (as in you live in an expensive place because of old job, and now you have a long commute to go with the expensive cost at the NEW one until you move, etc. etc.)

In the tech industry, work-from-home makes more sense

(I have been doing this as a contractor for DECADES)

bombastic bob Silver badge
Thumb Down

Re: What I learned from the Pandemic

Translation: Ba-a-a-a-a-ah

(enjoy your masking and hunker-in-the-bunker)

GNOME, Mono, Xamarin founder Miguel de Icaza leaves Microsoft

bombastic bob Silver badge
Mushroom

Re: Tomboy

ACK. It was a SEETHING MOMENT of HIDEOUS from my perspective... (fortunately got corrected once the flames subsided, though it took WAY longer than I would have preferred)

bombastic bob Silver badge
Meh

Re: Stockholm syndrome

when the "choices" that projects and companies make fall IN LOCKSTEP with the HORRIBLE/BAD directions that Micros~1 often takes (starting with the 2D FLATTY FLATSO McFLATFACE FLATASS look of Windows since 8.0) I have to wonder how "benevelent" their influence is...

(Gnome since 3.0 is a CLASSIC example)

I like gnome before 3.0 - which is why I use MATE instead. And *NO* *FLATASS* *THEMES* on *MY* *DESKTOP* !!! (Adwaita, PACK SAND! I jump through hoops to make that GO AWAY)

Chinese rocket junk may have just smashed into Moon

bombastic bob Silver badge
Alien

The E.T.s are gonna be FURIOUS, chucking space junk at them!

Leaked stolen Nvidia key can sign Windows malware

bombastic bob Silver badge
Mushroom

Re: So what happens now?

driver certs: a Charlie Foxtrot "Circular Fire Drill" by any other name

the whole "driver signing" system needs to be DUMPED. no more automaticaly trusting kernel drivers just because they're "signed". I bet this whole "driver signing" nonsensical CRAP has CREATED more problems than it EVAR solved (especially for small time independent developers and OPEN SOURCE in general, having to "pay the toll" to ship or even COMPILE a driver binary from source - noting that for video drivers, you do not have many options available to you OTHER than driver signing)

(And, THiS is just one example of why - think 'stolen keys to a back door' and you're opn the right track)

(thankfully this driver signing fiasco is NOT on my FreeBSD or Linux desktops)

Russia’s invasion kicks Senate into cybersecurity law mode

bombastic bob Silver badge
Devil

Re: Not just governmental targets

Fail2ban (and things like it) help with that (but you probably knew already and may be using it). THAT and the obvious config things which no doubt you have already done. (or you could just turn it off which apparently you did but sometimes you need ssh access for various reasons)

Still worth a mention.

(I am seeing a bit more ativity as well, but nothing out of the ordinary, really)

I've just seen some of this kind of activity coming from Tor exit points, though... some of the Fail2ban mails on 3/1, also showed activity that was a bit higher [as well as at least one Tor exit point being used], which suggests it may not be just compromised boxen hitting the world (the usual activity) but possibly someone with actual intent. This one in particular tried twice (2 different days) to log in as 'root' but of course root logins are just plain disabled (and as it is FreeBSD, you have to first su to a 'wheel' group user from a valid login before you can su to 'root' but I have no authorized logins for wheel group users either, so that means 2 hoops to jump through and I do not make it easy).

I am considering making a chart of Fail2ban bans to indicate activity...

bombastic bob Silver badge
Thumb Up

Re: Air gaps don't work

100% agree

(also need to convince IDIOTS inside the USA to stop getting in the way of our domestic oil production, if for no other reason than to make sure EU and UK do not collapse economically - remember that leading up to 2020 the USA was a NET EXPORTER of oil, and gummint policies in early 2021 SHUT IT DOWN, which one could argue made Putin and his cronies RICHER and empowered his attack on Ukraine)

bombastic bob Silver badge
Trollface

Re: Air gaps don't work

it was air-gapped from the article

(I guess they DO work!)

TikTok under investigation in US over harms to children

bombastic bob Silver badge
Childcatcher

Re: I don't know, but

is "think of the children" just an excuse for something else?

yes

bombastic bob Silver badge
Big Brother

Re: At the risk of...

I do not see how you got "getting at China" out of what he said.

Besides, we do not want our children's online profiles [via various tracking methods] stored in a database in China anyway.

And if they're targeting videos (instead of ads), there MUST be a database SOMEWHERE to use for their targeting algorithm.

(And if it's in China, a "social credit score" to go along with it)

Agreed on FaeceBan, Tw[a,i]tter, InstaCram, CrapChat, and all the rest of 'em. We can just START with TikTok. [anti-]Social Media needs to be liable for lawsuits over a great many things, instead of BEING PROTECTED FROM THEM. (maybe THOSE laws should be CHANGED)

[I am at a loss for a proper 'hacker name' for TikTok. Maybe TskTsk but that sounds kinda lame in my headl]

Also, worthy of note: Parents need to keep their kids off of anti-social media as a condition of getting their nice cell phones; If they cannot do it, let them have dumb phones instead with prepaid minutes for emergency use only [like what I do for myself, heh]. And similar for their computers. And so on.

Fancy some new features? Try general-purpose Linux alternative Liquorix

bombastic bob Silver badge
Linux

Re: I'm guessing that Devuan might [not] be able to use the Debian kernel?

ok thanks - I had never compiled a non-embedded Linux kernel, nor one above version 2.6 . It has been a while. Dynamic kernel modules have eliminated the need, for the most part (I have compiled quite a number of those, however, separate from the kernel compiling). And as I'm not busy trying to fit a Linux kernel into a 2M flash [actually did that] there has not been any need.

(so yeah, good to know)

Russia is the advanced persistent threat that just triggered. Ready?

bombastic bob Silver badge
Megaphone

Re: "Where does Putin nuke that wouldn't actually hasten his own end?"

Not that Putin is Hitler of course

Don't be so sure... the comparison is becoming clearer In My Bombastic Opinion...

If nothing else, he's a short statured control freak with delusions of world domination and an army that's capable of starting a war of conquest in Europe in response to perceived grievances by neighboring countries, while simultaneously lying to his own people about it and stifling protests and dissent through fear and intimidation.

But, admittedly, Hitler was a better general. Putin's tactics seem to be focused around TERROR and INTIMIDATION, which is why he has a 40 mile long convoy with an obvious destination just sitting there waiting to be strafed, why he sent assassins to take out Zelenskyy (and they were 'eliminated'), why this has been the opposite of Gulf War I from Putini's perspective, yotta yotta and his army's morale is at an all time low from what I understand. And there may be a bit of an attitude about ethnic Ukrainians not dissimilar to the way Hitler treated Jewish people.

And evil men do evil. There's also that, yeah.

bombastic bob Silver badge
Pirate

Re: "Where does Putin nuke that wouldn't actually hasten his own end?"

There is a very real possibility that he will use nuclear weapons not to save himself, but to take everyone else with him.

This is why Russia (i.e. the people themselves) needs to make Putin go away. It could very well be their own survival at stake.

Apparently Putin is already rounding up protesters, but the protests continue. But protests are not enough. I'm surprised if Putin's generals aren't waiting for the right time for a coup d'état, or something very very similar.

bombastic bob Silver badge
Devil

I wonder how Kaspersky will do once Putin has been ousted...

Unrelated, mil.ru is no longer claiming to be a tea pot.

bombastic bob Silver badge
Devil

Re: Between that

it is worth pointing out that MOST people seem to believe that pollution and environmental damage are bad, that environmental cleanup is good, and that clean air, clean water, etc. are all very very good things.

The assumption that "the right wing" wants dirty air, dirty water, and gross pollution everywhere is as bad as assuming that all environmentalists are commies.

However it seems that those at the front of the 'green' movement, with their shrill anti-scientific claims about various aspects of their movement [that I shall not enumerate at this time], ARE generally the 'watermelon' types, at least In My Bombastic Opinion, especially when you look at the SOLUTIONS to the alleged problems that they have proposed...

Apple seeks patent for 'innovation' resembling the ZX Spectrum, C64 and rPi 400

bombastic bob Silver badge
Devil

Re: Output?

I loved the way the red shirts saturated the screen.

some of the red saturation may have been caused by the physics of the older TV picture tubes. Red phosphors were not as bright so you had to turn the electron gun up to 11 to get any brightness in the red range. As such, a really bright red would too easily saturate. It was a compromise of screens that were too dim to begin with and extending the life of the picture tube beyond the warranty period. Go fig, right?

(I have seen this happen with cheap TVs made in the 90's, too)

Concern over growing reach of proprietary firmware BLOBs

bombastic bob Silver badge
Meh

Re: Well, like it or not

A lot of the problems with BLOBS have to do with wireless drivers, which are regulated in that they must not be easily modified to transmit on illegal frequencies or at illegal power levels.

Not saying it's a GOOD thing, just saying it's justified. Pointing to the REAL problem, government regulatory agencies and the laws that force manufacturers to abide by them.

Also not saying that a free-for-all in transmit power, frequencies, and RF interference in general is a good thing either...

(an imperfect world filled with imperfections)

as for things like video drivers (and I'm talking about YOU NVidia) they are difficult to fix bugs in if you keep them closed source...

President Biden calls for ban on social media ads aimed at kids

bombastic bob Silver badge
Happy

Re: 15% minimum tax rate ? Great idea.

You already know what MY answer would be - Starts with a 'T'

bombastic bob Silver badge
Unhappy

You forget that GUMMINT does not solve these kinds of problems. It only GETS IN THE WAY and demands a toll...

(lots of feely words, that do not mean what you think they mean, tickling people's ears and manipulating them into going along with things they would otherwise NEVER agree to, until "it happens" and then you realize what a total Charlie Foxtrot that turned into when you capitulated and went along with it. Too late.)

Ukraine seeks volunteers to defend networks as Russian troops menace Kyiv

bombastic bob Silver badge
Happy

Re: '...any strange outages should be treated as "a computer attack."...'

Hey - a SICKOUT!

Brilliant idea! I wonder how many Russian sysadmins would just do this in a way of protesting the war?

bombastic bob Silver badge
Meh

Re: Ukraine should make the stakes higher

Maybe he was thinking of Sellafield...

bombastic bob Silver badge
Stop

Re: Ukraine should make the stakes higher

no. if they blow up anything,it should be directly related to the Russian invasion, something of high military value, with no civilian casualties.

(false flag operations like that do not get you any friends around the world, at a time when Ukraine needs more friends and no criticism)

bombastic bob Silver badge
Pirate

Re: Sink the Russian fleet

as I see it, the smartest move (now that there are bullets and bombs involved) is to continue to supply Ukrainian resistance as best as be can, staging equipment, food, etc. in neighboring countries like Poland (where if the Putinator attacks he draws NATO into it), then keep the supplies and humanitarian aid flowing in as best as possible. So far that's what I see happening already.

But as for sanctions, they might sting Vlad and his buddies but they do not bite him (nobody wants to do the obvious, i.e. have USA supply EU oil instead of Russia). And I think diplomacy should be shelved for a while, until Vlad is ready to come back to the table. Sometimes you just have to walk away and say "No" instead of begging for another meeting.

Additional troops in NATO countries, for an obvious defense against further aggression, would be a VERY prudent move.

According to Sun Tzu, it's supplies that ultimately determine the outcome in long term campaigns. I think the world can supply Ukraine, and it would cost us a LOT less than Vlad the Putinator would be paying to supply his OWN forces.

(sorta like "lend lease" in WW2)

bombastic bob Silver badge
Pirate

Re: Not optional

I have known someone from Belarus (recent co-worker, left for different company). Apparently they had an election in 2020 that resulted in FULL BLOWN RIOTS, because the Putin puppet was "elected" while the POPULAR guy was NOT...

Vlad the Putinator's puppet leaders are NOT popular, and governing against the will of the people will ALWAYS fail... eventually, at any rate.