Posts by bombastic bob

Linus Torvalds admits to 'self-inflicted damage' with -Werror as Linux 5.15 rc1 debuts

there may be a saner fix involving a cast to an integer as long as you know that the range checks will still work properly... or use a variable of the correct type instead?

I run into this kind of signed/unsigned comparison warning a lot with microcontrollers that have 8 bit unsigned integers as counters for "reasons" (like speed+range). I usually just type-cast the warnings away and make sure the code is sane. It's good to hand-optimize microcontroller code anyway.

NOTE: magic numbers in code should use #define or a 'const' type anyway, so you could fix it in the definitions.

and with the original argument

"if(thingy >= 0 && thingy <= llmit)"

where 'thingy' is unsigned, and you know it is unsigned, why leave the '>=0' in the actual code? At least use a comment if you need it there for some reference type of reason, maybe:

"if(/* thingy >= 0 && */ thingy <= limit)"

(then add a comment that says 'thingy is unsigned' or similar)

I sometimes do this with an ending 'else', comment out an 'if' following it that indicates the condition in the 'else' if the 'if' would always be true (and also indicate in the comment that it's always true), so that someone reading the code (including me a year later) will see that and go "ok".

Warnings in 3rd party libraries

If possible I'd rather leave -Werror on (or at least clean up ALL of the warnings prior to release) and if they are in 3rd party libraries:

* patch it in my own branch

* submit fix(es) upstream (and keep the patch files just in case)

this is ALSO related to why I do not like endlessly chasing moving targets in 3rd party libraries... especially when "upstream" suddenly decides to CHANGE THE API WITH NO BACKWARD COMPATIBILITY causing the use of "new version" (to get the most recent fixes) to be EVEN WORSE.

(and propagating "worse" up/down the dependency chain, the stuff of nightmares)

I would like to think this would be LESS of a problem in kernel code, though

FreeBSD has its own branches of contributed 3rd party things that are in the base distribution (including llvm). Fewer moving targets this way.

Big Blue's quantum rainmaker jumps to room-temp diamond quantum accelerator company

we'll have electricity from nuclear fusion in ten years.

actually that could theretically be done NOW but the efficiency and reliability would really SUCK

(stupid 2nd law of thermodynamics, stupid limitations of construction materials)

so you wanted to say PRACTICAL electricity being generated by nuclear fusion, I think.

(PRACTICAL fusion may happen whenever scientists stop RESEARCHING and start GETTING PRODUCT TO MARKET - good luck with THAT, yeah, especially if you're paid to RESEARCH and NOT develop a marketable product)

As for quantum computing, I still have NOT figured out how it could be used in actual practice. Are we using entangled q-bits to transmit data instantly so we can clock at zillions of Hz or ?? or is it like a 'maybe gate' that hopefully collapses into the correct solution once its quantum state is known...

(I have read a number of documents regarding the creation of qbits, but very little on practical algorithms that can actually USE them, and of course they don't seem to live very long and so you'll always be creating more, in VERY large numbers)

Big iron is out of fashion as server market shifts to low-end single-socket machines

up and down trend

AMD seems to have done a fine job at making "something that customers want" inexpensive, and yet perform like something that IS expensive.

At some point trends will probably move around again, but I suspect there will be a need for MORE server-side horsepower SOME day. The trigger COULD be a technological leap in faster internet routing.

The ARM server decline surprises me a bit. Is this because of K8's and cloud? Not enough ARM support?

Spot the dog? No, we couldn't either because Spot is a robot employed by United Kingdom Atomic Energy Authority

Re: The problem with nuclear summed up in one throwaway phrase .....

if they had continually improved the power station and kept the reactors running (by replacing old parts, improving capacity, etc. etc.) instead, it would FUND ITSELF. Waste disposal, like for anything, is part of the operating cost. So other plants would send their waste to Sellafield (for a fee), let's say, and it would get stored and/or processed there, and the site would have its own operating reactors, and no "saddling of expenses" on future generations because it would be SELF SUSTAINING.

and "clever engineering" might even make use of the decay heat.

however, blocking power generation and scientific and engineering progress because "PHEAR NUKE THINGS" is NOT helping... and is CREATING the "saddle expenses on the next generation" problem you pointed out.

(I know something about fission reactors, having operated one for the U.S. Navy back in the day)

icon, because, facepalm

Re: The problem with nuclear summed up in one throwaway phrase .....

If the Cro-Magnons had built nuclear power stations

then 12,000 years of technological evolution would have solved this a LONG time ago...

Why tell the doctor where it hurts, when you could use emoji instead?

Re: History repeats itself

I would not call that a LOW bar. Ask an average 15 year old educated in California to express his current physical or emotional state using a simile or a metaphor, and the LACK of response might surprise you.

Or not.

What we would call "basic language skills" seem to be LACKING. Schools used to teach people to express themselves in writing. I'm not sure WHAT they teach in these schools, these days...

I guess that wraps back to the "mime-like warning signs" "picture only instructions" and use of emoticons by physicians instead of the usual "show me where it hurts" or "let's have a look at it, then".

"My Brain Hurts"

or as a simile "It's like someone inside is jack-hammering his way out through my skull"

or as a metaphor "It's PURE HELL in my HEAD"

(where's the "My Brain Hurts" emoticon? It probably looks like Michael Palin)

Re: History repeats itself

/me imagines that every drawing involves a posing man that is dressed like Marcel Marceu

Re: History repeats itself

Japan switched to using phonetic alphabets long ago, yet kept a subset of the Chinese characters (kanji) because they have a LOT of homonyms in the language and chinese characters probably disambiguate things well enough to keep using them (either that or tradition). But it DOES take a good part of Japanese and Chinese schooling JUST to learn to read and write. And everyone I've ever seen reading any significant amount Chinese writing (like a book) has to carry a dictionary and refer to it often.

This is why nearly EVERY language uses a phonetic alphabet. It just makes more sense. Humans generally communicate vocally. And our writing reflects that.

(and emoticons are NOT CUTE - they are MOSTLY NAUSEATING unless explicitly used for humor)

Icon, because there's not actually a VOMIT icon.

Re: Idiocracy

Without having REAL daily enemies to slay, just to stay alive, it seems that an IDIOCRACY filled with compliant sheeple of lower average intelligence (and tyrannical "leaders" of even LOWER intelligence) may be INEVITABLE... (no need to be smart and/or clever just to survive)

If I must use an emoticon, see icon (that, or the middle finger)

Re: Accessibility Fail.

Emoticons in Braille?

(how can I do a MIDDLE FINGER in Braille?)

Google plays catch-up with JSON support for distributed RDBMS Spanner

JSON vs XML vs "something else"

I suppose it is to be expected if you want to use a BLOB/TEXT column to store JSON, or maybe XML, or any other "does not really require a schema" thing. OK I've seen schemas for XML but just about every time I use XML data it's treated as free-form.

(I would have chosen XML though, as I do not like parsing nor creating JSON and for various reasons [such as 'embedded'] I usually end up rolling my own)

In any case they SHOULD support as many formats as possible, especially for extended properties for things inside the table.

/me wonders if the SQL can select on it directly - all records without a "fubar" property or "where 'foo'='bar'" [and those things are stored within the BLOB/TEXT as JSON or XML or something] or maybe you need their special tools to assist...

LA cops told to harvest social media handles from people they stop, suspect or not

Re: But ...

Yes!

Re: But ...

* facepalm *

Re: But ...

i should create a special e-mail address just for them...

"Up.Yours.Porker at example.com" (whatever my domain is subbed in for 'example.com') although the DMV already _does_ have my regular e-mail address from when I renewed driver's license and car registration online...

claim "4th ammendment" and "5th ammendment" to the rest of 'em.

(YMMV in the UK or elsewhere in the world)

'It takes a hell of a mental toll' – techies who lost work due to COVID share their stories

Re: There's a problem with HR software

here's some snark to go with that

* you apply for a job requiring high intelligence and technical skills HR has no clue about

* your application/CV/resume is scanned and filtered by AVERAGE intelligence (I am being kind) individuals with NO knowledge of the job or its REAL requirements

* hiring manager gets list of resumes with irrelevant experience, recent graduation from college, and "bolloxed up with BS" buzzword lists at the top of the page

And you're not "on the list". So to get through you do what recruiters do, find the hiring manager's name and sneak your custom-written CV/resume in directly to that manager, by snail mail. Still far from 100% but it has a MUCH better chance of working than going through H.R.

The infamous 'Drowned Rat" experiments from the 1950's

This whole scenario reminds me too much of the infamous drowned rat experiments from the 1950s.

* rats were drowned in buckets of water. Wild rats did not live long, several tame/domesticated ones lasted for quite a while

* At the point of dying, in a subsequent experiment, several wild rats were rescued, allowed to rest, got dried off, etc. and were THEN put back.

* The rescued rats lasted WAY longer (a separate source suggested DAYS vs MINUTES)

(I'll leave any conclusions open-ended)

Amazon says Elon Musk's wicked, wicked ways mean SpaceX's Starlink 2.0 should not be allowed to fly

B. O. Z. O. S. - right?

Re: Amazon is just showing off ...

"Mr. Kettle? Mr Pot on line 4."

A developer built an AI chatbot using GPT-3 that helped a man speak again to his late fiancée. OpenAI shut it down

Re: Sad

Samantha could have been someone eventually.

How about the basis of AI for actual robots? 'Nandroids' perhaps?

"Sorry, not in MY sandbox" they say - and why is that exactly (when you dig deep down enough)?

"THAT toy MUST be played with the way I tell you or I'm taking it away" - another possible snarky comment to illustrate a point...

without freedom, there is no more innovation.

Re: I can see their reasons

I read it as "fear of lawsuits".

Either that, or "It's MY sandbox and MY bucket, you have to PLAY the way *I* TELL YOU to"

(VERY bad policy for "Open Anything")

AT&T Alien Labs warns of 'zero or low detection' for TeamTNT's latest malware bundle

Do they have more details on Linux?

if Linux is (or can be) affected, are there MORE DETAILS on this?

I am mostly curious how it got there, but I suspect that my Fail2Ban logs would indicate a likely source.

(since 4:00 AM this morning, i.e. about 5 hours, there were 11 attempts on ssh blocked by Fail2Ban)

I will gladly forward this information someplace if it will help stop it. Unfortunately sending complaints takes time. if I could (easiiy) automate the complaint process I'd probably do that, too. I bet that most of the victims' IP addresses are infected Linux machines trying to crack in via ssh.

(my 'root' mail gets re-directed to an IMAP directory that I can view and clean up whenever i want/need, so it might be trivial to write a Perl script to deconstruct the reports and figure out who to complain and forward info to; however de-ciphering the correct complaint mail address could be tricky)

When the bits hit the fan: What to do when ransomware strikes

Specifically, a SQL server database is permanently locked by the server so how would thieves encrypt it without bringing the server down immediately.

It could be done by first dumping all of the data into an encrypted file, THEN issuing "DROP TABLE" and other commands on the actual database. Restoring would do "CREATE TABLE" and "INSERT" commands (hopefully along with indexes and stored procedures and so forth)

Re: Opportunity

accountants probably edit (or at least copy to) files on a share. Then, malware ANYWHERE on the network that has write access to that share can pooch it.

A Linux server could make and store backups of the share using a cron job and store them where windows machines cannot (easily, or even remotely easily) access it. THEN, you restore the latest backup after you clean the malware off of the various computers, and go from there.

And proper directory-level and file-level security would help to keep EVERY windows computer from having write access to those shares.

Re: Opportunity

it is naive to believe Linux makes you safe.

When you apply the correct security-related thinking to setting up a Linux server, it's pretty frickin' solid as far as security goes.

SO yes, and no. YES it is naive, so you need to hire a Linux admin (or consultant) who knows what he's doing, and then you should be as prepared as you can be for any kind of malware storm

Uber-security might involve putting the server and data into a VM, and then have the host machine buttoned up tighter than a bullfrog's behind (and host the recent backups, with offsite storage for the older ones).

There are a LOT of things you can do with Linux (security-wise) that aren't so easy in the windows world, and they are VERY effective. But yeah, it cannot be set up by an IDIOT or you'll be pretty bad off when the storm hits.

Re: Opportunity

By adopting Linux across the company.

At least some of us agree with you in principle, and enough evidence exists that the changeover WOULD save you money. Convincing every employee in a large company to switch to Linux desktops might be difficult.

HOWEVER, on the server end you'll have better luck. You could, for example, do automatic daily (compressed tarball) backups of a data share, with weeks' of history and frequent-enough offsite mirroring (so you can go back > a year if you have to) and at least protect important data assets THAT way. And unless the Linux machines were set up by an IDIOT, the likelihood that a windows malware application COULD affect the servers (aside from pooching data on shares) is SMALL.

(important note, non-SMB-shared directories will effectively be shielded against malware attacks from windows systems, assuming an IDIOT did not set up the servers)

Unfortunately someone may some day figure out how to crack Linux security, and the "inside job" is ALSO not protected against, at least not completely.

But with a good BOFH and properly configured LINUX or BSD servers, you'd have a MUCH better chance of weathering a malware storm. In My Bombastic Opinion of course.

Lenovo pops up tips on its tablets. And by tips, Lenovo means: Unacceptable ads

Re: Burn it to the ground

You made me read that article.

In reference to various security concerns, It DID say this: Two months later, in June, it pulled the whole thing: the LSE software is no longer included in new laptops.

just thought I'd point that out. So unsurprisingly, Superfish AND this LSE thing suggest Lenovo has TRIED the potential backdoor thing before, got caught, and reversed their policies.

So is there any proof they're doing it AGAIN, NOW?

Re: Burn it to the ground

proof please. "sauce" please.

If UEFI has spyware in it, prove it please. I'm not saying you're wrong, I'm saying that you need to prove things of this nature if you are going to make a claim like this, Because if the allegations ARE true, it has wide sweeping implications.

not saying CCP does not WANT this. But other stories about China manufacturing and malware-on-board have been made before WITHOUT any conclusive substantiating evidence, right Bloomberg? Still waiting for the proof... (and their credibility has been damaged)

you could still buy their hardware, WIPE THE HARD DRIVE, turn OFF "secure boot", and put Linux on it.

But if this option is EVAR lost, I think their sales will have a significant dent...

GitHub merges 'useless garbage' says Linus Torvalds as new NTFS support added to Linux kernel 5.15

I did a rebase once. It was stressful. I think I triple-checked every command. Had no choice. I was working on an automated e-mailer shell script [sends analysis files from an SQL database within a zip file attached to an automated e-mail to several people via a crontab entry using shell and Perl] and forgot to sanitize the script first. Ooops. The script, I must say, is brilliant. My mistake unfortunately ruined my moment of triumph.

As many of us probably already know, ALL git history is available for anyone with access to the repo. So if you accidentally commit something you should not, a key, a token, a pass phrase, peoples e-mail addresses, whatever it might be, if you do NOT rebase to a point before that commit, it will be visible FOREVER, even if you do a subsequent edit to remove it.

(So at least the option to do a 'rebase' was there to fix it)

what makes git tricky to understand is its choice of nomenclature

true. I had to re-train my thinking a bit to familiarize myself with that the @#$% they actually MEANT by "that" (whatever 'that' is for the current context). It did not take long before I "got it".

I've used P4, cvs, svn, and git. I prefer svn for my own things, but git's ok for public and work-related projects. I've also (*cough*) experienced "Source Safe" back in the day and I *ahem* "perceive myself to have been involuntarily violated and become dirty" because of it...

the git command-line interface is... not exactly easy to learn.

I dispute the accuracy of your opinion. example follows...

From the article: you should never ever use the github interfaces to merge anything

When I read that part, I knew EXACTLY why Linus would say this. For a raw pull request (i.e. submitting your dev branch's differences from the official repo) the github inteface works very well. For actual editing and stuff, no.

Therefore you should just do all of your merges and any additional edits using a decent local merge tool (maybe 'meld'?) between your local working copy and the dev branch on github, after you do a 'git pull' on your local copy of the dev branch so you know that what you're comparing to for your merge is at least CLOSE to what you'll be doing the pull request for (assuming that no major edits in the official branch affect the pull request).

Then use 'git commit' followed by 'git push' to your dev branch, and then do the pull request.

You really only need to memorize and master a few git commands:

git status

git pull

git push

git commit

git add

git rm

the rest of the commands can be looked up in the docs "whenever", as needed.

NOT that hard. seriously NOT. But yeah you need a token. And I solved that.

If you search for it on github, I wrote a simple program that lets you use a pass phrase to decrypt an encrypted file and put its contents in the clipboard (for X11 systems though). In short, you would encrypt the github issued 'password' token in a file, and then run the utility from a command shell (say 'bash') and enter your pass phrase, and the github token will be on the clipboard. Then, when you do 'git push' and git prompts for user/pass, you type in the user and paste the token when it prompts for password. This is due to github's recent policy change regarding pass phrases and git command line, and the method I use can be put on computers you do not own (like customer machines) as needed to access github repos without revealing your token.

Norwegian student tracks Bluetooth headset wearers by wardriving around Oslo on a bicycle

sounds like time for upgraded silicon. whoever makes the thing should probably design MAC randomization in and get it to market so that manufacturers will start using it. Ideally it would have the same footprint on the circuit board. They could even charge more money for it, calling it "security enhanced" or something.

(additional features might include lower quiescent operating current or better power-save)

Only 'natural persons' can be recognized as patent inventors, not AI systems, US judge rules

Re: He ought to give it up

if I operate a device (digital or otherwise) and it creates "an invention" (let's say a superior type of widget) I can still patent the invention, and I am its inventor. The device that made the invention is not the inventor. But the device's operator IS.

Basically, the AI guy screwed up the patent application by self-promoting his AI as "an inventor", probably to glean royalties from any 3rd party that uses it to invent things, later.

And, yes, space aliens WOULD easily qualify as 'Natural Persons'.

icon, because, facepalm for the AI guy that listed his AI as "an inventor"

Re: Precedent set?

"Commander Data is a Toaster"

Re: Judge is right

Wouldn't the computer operator and/or data entry person for the AI's algorithm be an "inventor" by using a tool to create it? I see no reason why those people can't put their names instead of the AI program name...

US Air Force chief software officer quits after launching Hellfire missile of a LinkedIn post at his former bosses

Re: Well Done

There's a city called "El Cajon" just east of San Diego, CA

(a box or drawer, or also a peruvian drum)

keep going, you're overflowing with common sense

Re: Water-agile-fail

when the underlings understand their boss's job better than the boss himself.

"How to manage a boss" is a necessary skill for any decent IT contractor.

Re: So true...

"delegation" is the best management style. Its only weakness is when you lack competent people to delegate to. The manager who works the least is probably doing the best job.

Can we talk about Kevin McCarthy promising revenge if Big Tech aids probe into January insurrection?

Re: Don't you just love it ?

You're lucky I'm not the President, because I would have the IRS take your taxes apart line by line

Do you REALLY want some government entity or individual to have the *KIND* of power that allows for CAPRICIOUS TYRANNY in the form of "weaponizing" a TAX AUTHORITY?

This does NOT pass the "shoe on the other foot" test, by a LONG margin.

Re: Don't you just love it ?

Nope, it's a Democrat inquiry called by Pelosi to distract from her own failings

I'm not saying you're ENTIRELY wrong because we know that politicians do things _LIKE_ this a _LOT_ because they're politicians. However, I think the inquiry might actually be a GOOD thing, once the truth comes out.

A bunch of people allegedly trespassed and broke public property. They were "less than peaceful" which is NOT what Trump wanted to happen when he held his rally. It scared a bunch of politicians for a number of reasons, and they're busy hyping it all up for their own personal gain. This is what politicians _DO_ way too often. And, of course, their echo chamber media pals are enabling them because, if it bleeds, it leads.

So the REAL problem is the politicians. The people who trespassed and broke property need to be prosecuted accordingly. The only way to GET RID of evil politicians is to REPLACE them with DIFFERENT (hopefully not evil) politicians.

which COULD maybe be one of US, you know...

Re: reading the article / mixing up reality with expectations

They have asked some companies to preserve records

Right. this is not the same as demanding the records and THEN "going fishing" to "find something". Subpoenas and warrants must be relevant AND specific to avoid violating things like the U.S. Constitution's 4th amendment.

(I do not like the way this is being treated BUT they [congress] haven't violated the law; however SOME people on Jan 6 WERE allegedly trespassing and damaging public property, so they SHOULD be brought to justice, within the confines of the law and constitutional rights)

Re: Lawmakers or lawbreakers?

U.S. Congress subpoena power is still "due process" and of course if there is overreach (like violating the 4th amendment to the U.S. Constitution) then a federal judge can intervene for any objections to discovery that is deemed a violation or simply "too broad". So it's still "due process" and not tyranny so long as you have the ability to object and the congressional investigation is overseen by the courts.

It becomes tyranny when due process no longer exists.

(IANAL so my legal advice/opinion is worth what you paid for it)

Yet, I think there is STILL value to leaving your phone off (with no battery) at times...

The questions that no one has asked those leaders are "who are they protecting?" and "why are they fighting this?"

I would like to see SIMILAR QUESTIONS asked about what happened in Milwaukee, Portland, Seattle, and other places from organizations like B.L.M. and ANTIFA. And I think the death toll from all of THAT was a *LOT* higher.

The laws were broken, and justice MUST be applied EQUALLY to ALL.

(and what happened on January 6 was a clear violation of the law, too)

Banned: The 1,170 words you can't use with GitHub Copilot

Re: Yes, but...

I bet they forgot "Semprini" too

Re: Who did knew that

Actually, "they" should know better than to anger programmers, many of whom are white-hat hackers, with a few grey hats as well. Github was (more or less) originally a place where people were FREE to put open source projects. Commercial-use support came afterwards, and I use it so it's a good thing.

HOWEVER, "angering the customer base" is a BAD thing. If I am right, and the people who originally *MADE* Github so popular are "Freedom Loving" hacker-types that *CRINGE* at even the *IDEA* of nanny-bots built into the service (and getting in the way of their FREEDOM), I think the results will be predictable.

Re: Any interest, though

agreed

Re: Too few words

I'm waiting for words like "if" and "for" to be included in their list

Re: Passive aggressive is okay, right? ... right? ... right?

from the article: The software also won't make suggestions if the user's code contains any of the stored slurs.

So that could be a back-door way of implementing an OFF switch, right? I'm assuming that would be in a context of a "you must use this" directive from a clueless boss.

I don't like "features" of this nature anyway. I type fast and don't need something correcting me while I type, nor GENERATING BAD CODE *FOR* me. I haven't used Copilot yet and so it may not be as IRRITATING as other "autocomplete" or so-called "intelligent" features of an IDE. Still, from the descriptions (and apparent history of generating INSECURE code according to the article) it's probably NOT something I'd use without coercion.

I'll just have to make sure to include a harmless (yet 'banned' word) in the header comments of each file. heh.

/* The liberal use of code comments by maintainers is encouraged */