Posts by bombastic bob

BOFH: Recover a database from five years ago? It's as easy as flicking a switch

Re: "Not nearly as dangerous as the stairwell or our office window"

You just need to keep a car parked just beneath that window, then the fatality rate will be lower.

Re: Old kit disposal?

I think I got an old HP tape drive in my boneyard, along with a few tapes. I forget the tape standard but it was a T-3000 drive. No it did not use liquid metal. Tapes held a few hundred MB as I recall. Late 90's. It needed a SCSI adapter card if you wanted any kind of REAL performance. Sadly did not work with Linux nor FreeBSD.

Re: Or just use the backup data?

I did some IT stuff 30+ years ago for one company that was OBVIOUS 'tax avoidance', such as calculating the discounts and prices to be retroactively applied to wholesale stuff sent to the US side of a multinational company. Except these were just informational reports for the boardroom. "Nothing to see here". I asked if they just wanted me to calculate the "ideal" number and they're like "No, no, we can't do THAT..."

Seriously, though, maybe the REAL problem is excessive taxation? [but jumping through hoops and circumventing traps and crawling through loopholes makes the accounting side of I.T. so MUCH MORE FUN!]

Re: Or just use the backup data?

This is why database dumps and backups for things like 'Quickbooks' need to be done in the most universal format possible [even if it slows things down by a factor of 4 or more]. That way [we hope] newer releases and other equivalent systems MIGHT be able to load it into a test database [or similar] at the very least.

So a bozillian 'INSERT' lines with the "schema re-create code" is best, despite how long it takes to create AND recover that way. My $.10 worth.

Re: 5 year old database?

I did some stuff for Clipper and Paradox back in the day... might still have diskettes with it on there.

Re: Saved by apathy?

My hardware boneyard still has 5.25 and 3.25 diskette drives, just in case... and I think there are some zip drives somewhere too. I only recently tossed out the MS-DOS-only stuff.

Mars’ powerful whirlwinds blow dust everywhere, could affect future missions

wind breaks

once humans start staying on Mars for extended periods of time, we'll probably need "wind breaks" around bases to cut back on unrestricted wind flow. In short, a long row of 2 story buildings just might do it. If these contain hydroponics or regular greenhouses, that's even better. To combat the Dust Bowl of the 1930's, trees were planted for the same reason. And to sustain extended stays, we'll need to grow food. SOooo, greenhouses of some kind, built in a single long row, with other structures near the center.

No account? No Windows 11, Microsoft says as another loophole snaps shut

Re: Old isos

I was thinking:

* create an e-mail address you never use. 10minutemail might do the trick

* install the OS with that e-mail account for the new MS account.

* create 2 users without an MS account, one called "god" and another that you use. Make "god" an admin

* REMOVE the original user and its registry info from the OS completely

I'll have to get a Piece Of Shit 11 machine in the next few months so I can run tax software. That's what I plan on doing when I set it up.

LockBit's new variant is 'most dangerous yet,' hitting Windows, Linux and VMware ESXi

how it inects your network

I did a grok on it - phishing e-mails and scanning/attacking vulnerable ports, RDP in particular.

Re: LockBit simultaneously targets Windows, Linux, and VMware :o

I grok'd this. There are apparently 2 vectors:

* Phishing e-mails

* internet-facing open ports of vulnerability

Once in, it scans the rest of the network looking for whatever it can find and does its dirty work.

So, to prevent problems:

* limit external access, especially RDP and things like SCP, VPN's

* don't use html mail or outlook or anything likely to make phishing attacks easier to pull off.

a firewall appliance probably a good idea too

Re: What is more expensive ?

incremental backups might reveal the point where everything changes

China tells grumps, trolls, and AIs to stop emoting online

Re: Cracks down on malicious pessimism and expressions of ennui

OK. Why have you got a spoon in your pocket?

It's a TWISTED SPOON [let's see how many people have to look that one up]

Re: They do have a point, though

how can this have so many DOWN votes? well, this IS the El Reg comment board...

maybe it's the COMMUNISM that depresses the youth

When young people in China realize that getting ahead in a COMMUNIST regime, where outcomes are typically expected to be EQUAL [regardless of how hard you work - 'from those according to their means to those according to their needs'], they're just expressing the NATURAL HUMAN REACTION to an oppressive "social credit score" "it's not WHAT you know, but WHO you know" "some are more equal than others" CCP COMMUNISM society.

They lack FREEDOM. They do NOT need MORE BRAINWASHING and OPPRESSIVE CENSORSHIP.

Court lets NSF keep swinging axe at $1B in research grants

Re: This is what happens

see icon

Re: I have the scars

If you are good at what you do you will find something better working for the private sector.

Re: This is what happens

You say this online right after the assassination of Charlie Kirk, and a year after 2 attempts on Donald Trump. Perhaps you need to re-think things...

I was alive in the 1960's. 1968 was a BAD year. My 1st grade teacher (who was my sister's teacher at that time) cried the day MLK was shot, had to go home early. Yes, she was black.

Re: Preference some groups at the expense of others

private charities.

America WAS being made into a 2nd rate 3rd world paper tiger fail-ING state, crippled by UNSUSTAINABLE national debt, CLIMATE-STUPIDITY "research grants", bowing to CCP China, and all of that RAMPANT WASTE, FRAUD, and ABUSE.

Pathetic district court judges WILL be overturned, the money WILL go back to the US taxpayers, and these pathetic LEECHES will be FORCED to stop suckling from the delapidated SOW that WAS the U.S. Government.

ChatGPT joins human league, now solves CAPTCHAs for the right prompt

how about partially include... I think there is a sliver of traffic signal or bicycle in that square, do I include it...?

Re: CAPTCHAs are a form of security test that websites use to stop bots

CAPTCHAs are a form of security test that websites use to stop bots

CAPTCHAs are a form of irritation and torture that are designed to limit access to online resources to only those that can withstand it and have no accessibility issues

Fixed it for ya

Re: Solution

A typical BOFH would answer them all truthfully and correctly, because he "read it online someplace"

Rust-style safety model for C++ 'rejected' as profiles take priority

How about a truly AI driven LINT to scan libs etc. for vulnerabilities? Then, our own code?

Something we could do in lieu of shoehorning and re-inventing the wheel. Just FIND THE BUGS better.

Re: Rust is the future

Fix the bugs, then.

Try this: #define SAFE_FREE(X) { void *pTemp = (X); (X) = NULL; if(pTemp != NULL) { free(pTemp); }}

It will NOT free a NULL, and will assign NULL to the pointer right before free'ing it, so is inherently thread-safe if the pointer var is declared 'volatile'.

And another thing: don't abuse 'new' in your classes. Allocate arrays or array classes instead, and minimize the number of calls to 'new' and 'delete'.

Also the COM concept of 'AddRef() and 'Release() (for auto ref counting) works very well when used correctly. Similar macro to call 'Release' on the object.

[not rocket surgery, just discipline in coding style)

Re: Rust is the future

Complete re-writes are GENERALLY a waste of time/effort, and bring all NEW bugs to replace those that remain un-patched...

And, I use FreeBSD, too. Some of that code is many decades old.

Re-writes for the sake of re-writes are ONLY done to make the next generation FEEL better about themselves for doing it, now that it is THEIR turn to do things THEIR way...

Linux Mint picks up the pace with LMDE 7 and Wayland-ready Cinnamon

Re: a very easy way to run Debian

The point of Debian is to suffer, otherwise you would run Ubuntu DEVUAN

Fixed

Re: GTK3 and the Gnome team........

Can't upvote this enough

Re: A bit slow?

Lets hope Wayland takes at LEAST another 20 years.

Re: "Please don't theme our apps"

you mean me?

I'm just happy others are willing to say this sort of thing too. Sad that it is needed to be said.

2D FLATSO FLATASS non-skeuomorphic is UGLY and Adwaita STINKS on ICE.

Re: "Please don't theme our apps"

yes

Firefox ESR 115 won't quit Windows 7 – at least not until March 2026

it's the SCRIPT wut done it

or, turn off SCRIPT with an [older, compatible] version of NoScript.

[the ONLY online exploits that I have seen or heard of that involve rogue web content are ALL mitigated by using NoScript AGGRESSIVELY]

NOTE: You can often get things working by modifying the User Agent string to read as a NEWER version of FF...

old computer hardware was good then, why not NOW?

also on older Linux-based systems.

Older RPi boards can't do 32-bit, for example...

I suppose it might need a fork to support 32-bit builds if someone wants to, but who knows how overly-complicated the build process might become.

Could Slackware make it possible? I should have a look.

GNOME Foundation boss exits after just four months

Re: The GNOME user mantra

why not - it worked so well for the Beatles when they went through their "guru" experience...

(see icon)

Re: Jedi

I'd do it, but I'd carry a LARGE AXE [and I doubt they'd have me].

ADWAITA is the first item for the chopping block, especially those GREY ROUNDED RECTANGLES for the scroll bar, Default theme goes BACK to "Traditional OK" and GREY FLATSO ICONS go STRAIGHT to HELL, to be replaced with colorful 3D Skeuomorphic and/or 'shadowed' versions. "box shadow" is easy to put into CSS after all...

"Make Gnome USABLE Again" - and based on his early comments on Gnome3. LINUS would LOVE IT!

[to HELL with the "google chrome" look and the "Windows 10" look]

Gnome devs caring about anyone else? Like the USERS? Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha!

snark appreciated.

Gnome Devs have only cared about their tiny little bubble world since Gnome 3.

Re: Very gnomic

/ME enjoying the snark

Re: Very gnomic

ACK - and what has been done since after GTK3 is even WORSE and it affects both Mate and Cinnamon when they do it.

ADWAITA needs to DIE to DEATH, being BURNED with FLAMES of FIRE!

Re: Huh?

It's a running joke to always sacrifice a chicken or two (and do the appropriate dance steps) before making the newest release "go live"...

[hey you can't take a chance, you've GOT to do it EVERY TIME!]

Red Hat back-office team to be Big and Blue whether they like it or not

Re: I remember a time...

Was it the "Song Book"?

Re: Blue Hat Linux

considering things like SystemD maybe "IBM Culture" is an improvement...?

Junk is the new punk: Why we're falling back in love with retro tech

Re: Why ? Surely no one can't work it out ?

You can always digital record from the output of a good quality player. Use a simple patch cable, and a ground loopback eliminator if it picks up a power supply buzz from the 2 device's switcher power supplies fighting one another, i.e. PC to PC or sometimes 'phone on a charger'

IETF Draft suggests making IPv6 standard on DNS resolvers - partly to destroy IPv4

Re: ISP Hubs

Some UK ISPs appear to support IPv6 better than others.

same in the USA.

Also a LOT of IoT things (particularly older ones) are likely NOT to support IPv6 at all, ever. Until there's a universally acceptable ethernet+wifi device for microcontroller devices that DOES support IPv6,, IoT stuff will remain IPv4-only well into the near future. Let's hope it doesn't "phone home" to an IPv6-only server...

worthy of note the WizNet W6100 chip, if ever buil; into an official 'shield' or 'hat' or whatever, is one possible candidate.

Browser wars are back, predicts Palo Alto, thanks to AI

Re: No ai, blocks ai

maybe that could be a built-in for the next NoScript...

Physicist models new use for nuclear waste: Turning it into super-rare fusion fuel

Re: Are the numbers right?

You should take a look at the various fusion cycles, which give you an approximate energy yield for each kind.

D+T has the highest energy release, followed by He3+He3 as I recall.. Forming tritium would involve D+H+e->T but is greatly outclassed by D+H->He3 and more frequently undergoing fusion with another He3, i.e. He3+He3->Be6 -> He4 + 2H for the greatest energy release in the sun's fusion process. Deuterium H+H+e -> D is more or less "energy neutral" and takes place in the sun such that the formation of D and then He3 actually adds a DELAY within the process that helps keep the sun from exploding...

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deuterium%E2%80%93tritium_fusion

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Proton%E2%80%93proton_chain

It would seem reasonable to me to produce He3 as fuel directly or indirectly within the fusion reactor. One article talked about 'spin resonant' D+T fuel with a specific ratio. But forming T is apparently less frequent than He3. So why no He3 as a pure fuel??? Perhaps energy resonance, "spin resonance", and bunching techniques (velocity modulation in a traveling wave tube) could be used in accelerators to induce He3 formation

Molten salt nuclear reactors slated to power Google datacenters in 2030

I hope it works well

The advantages of molten salt reactors include lower primary system pressure, which would help prevent corrosion cracking issues in the boilers. It would enable use of different kinds of materials that can be somewhat thinner and less expensive than a PWR system that likely has pressure above 2000 psi to avoid boiling at temperatures above 600 degrees F. Molten salt may also have less danger from coolant leaks, as leaking salt would likely turn into a solid as it cools. Lack of water in the primary might also limit activation of corrosion byproducts (like Fe59 becoming Co60 as rust particles pass through an intense neutron flux).

Obviously would have its own unique problems but these have prob'ly been worked out for the most part.

Anyway I hope they can make such reactors "modular enough" to make rapid construction plausible and low operating costs likely.

Voice, vision, pen: Oh dear. Windows boss says Microsoft is again reshaping OS

windows on life support as far as I'm concerned

I keep having to write code for it. I'm still using DevStudio 2010 which was for Win 7... [still works, with careful tweeks like manual manifest file]

Gave up MSDN subscription >2 years ago. If I need 11 I can get a cheap P.O.S. box for way less than HALF the annual subscription.

[I need to get a wine system working that can fool software into thinking they're installing on windows 11 mor later...]

Re: More Shite being flung against the wall

"Why are MS finding it so hard to even get these basics right?"

Short answer, YOU are "the commodity" and everything they do is about CONTROLLING YOU and what you can do, what you buy, where you web surf, etc..

THAT kind of abuse of power and influence SHOULD have toppled their near monopoly YEARS ago. Not sure why the right people did not notice...

No more 'Sanity Checks.' Inclusive language guide bans problematic tech terms

the soft bigotry of "low expectations" with the false perception of "needing their help"

by saying these things you are denying these people, who are NOT you and not even LIKE you, who do not KNOW you and have probably never MET you, to FEEL good about themselves in their eternal quest to FEEL superior by putting others down, by coming to YOUR swift and VEHEMENT defense, whether you need it or not, for your OWN GOOD.

I've heard people say in TV interviews, in an equivalent context, "You people STOP trying to HELP me. I do not NEED your HELP!"

Re: My inclusive reply

how long before the bots get offended at something harmless and/or incidental...

Re: Quite possibly

upvoted