* Posts by bombastic bob

10507 publicly visible posts • joined 1 May 2015

GitHub rolls out hosted Visual Studio Code in Codespaces

bombastic bob Silver badge
Devil

a built-in svn gateway for external svn-based repos (or svn gateway for the github repo, for that matter) might be an interesting feature for github. I wonder if they'd do it... ?

I've seen things listed in FreeBSD's ports and Linux packages for svn/github gateways of verious kinds. I haven't tried any of them, though. My local repo is svn, and public things go onto github. Seems to work ok.

bombastic bob Silver badge
Devil

Re: Github

I do not blame MS for at least TRYING to monetize github by adding pay-for features [like CPU time for building code you edit with their on-line tool].

But I don't use those kinds of features so there ya go. I'm happy with 'git pull' local edit 'git commit' 'git push' and bulld locally. MS seems to think that other people are willing to pay for the new/shiny features.

Well, good luck to them, then. Just don't break it for the rest of us, k-thanks.

California’s privacy warriors are back – and this time they want to take their fight all the way to the ballot box

bombastic bob Silver badge
Facepalm

Re: Quelle surprise...

from the article: The argument made was that passing the law through the traditional process gave greater flexibility because it could be adjusted and amended later to fit in with real-world requirements.

This means: if the ballot measure passes, the (arguably one of the most corrupt in the world) California legislature won't be able to "screw with it" easily based on the demands of the high-dollar-contributing tech companies that ABUSE our privacy, so OF COURSE the POLITICIANS will jump in to PRESERVE _THEIR_ POWER as well as that of their CONTRIBUTORS.

Ain't it typical?

icon, because, facepalm

Eclipse boss claims Visual Studio Code is an open-source poseur – though he would say that, wouldn't he?

bombastic bob Silver badge
Devil

Re: Does this imply

notepad lacks the syntax highlight feature that's pretty useful, which of course you have in an open source tool like pluma - think what Notepad does for you on winders, but it's on Linux or FreeBSD, has multiple tabs, doesn't have a limit [that I have ever hit] on file size, and does auto-indent and has user-configurable tab settings. And it does that all-important syntax highlighting if you want it to.

(yeah another plug for 'pluma')

bombastic bob Silver badge
Devil

have you considered pluma? It doesn't have the irritating gnome-3-ness of gedit these days, but DOES supports auto-indent, syntax highlighting, user-specified tab widths, turning OFF hard tabs and line wrap (or back on if you really want that), and NOW comes with a plugin to remove extra white space from the ends of lines, which it should have done from the beginning...

Then you can continue to use Makefile builds and so on, like you probably would if you're a 'vi' fan.

[I guess all it needs is a gdb plugin and "virtual space" and we're good to go]

bombastic bob Silver badge
Devil

Re: Not free

when I checked [right after VS Code released for Linux], VS Code was missing a key feature: Virtual Space. Maybe I missed it, but this is the ONE thing I like about Visual Studio these days. [what I prefer is how it was for VS '97 because i could edit dialog boxes and add callbacks for buttons and stuff using JUST the keyboard, not mousie-clickie-mousie-clickie all the time, removing one hand from home row on an arbitrary decision by VB-oriented people, but I digress...]

I hate it when an editor doesn't let you scroll past the end of a line when you scroll down using the keyboard. It's *IRRITATING*. And nearly ALL of them do just that, and won't let you change it. But I think IntelliJ _does_ support something like Virtual Space. I should verify that, though... I think it's buried someplace, along with the settings to NOT force K&R style when you're doing Android Java code. That's right, MY Java code is NOT K&R style!!! It's ALLMAN STYLE! (like my C++)

If VS code _does_ have this 'virtual space' feature, go ahead and correct me (please). Maybe it was added, or I just didn't find it...? If I am to have gripes about VS Code I want them to be LEGIT gripes.

bombastic bob Silver badge
Meh

Re: Nicely balanced article

the survey results suggest a few things, not the least of which is that they have a somewhat limited pool of respondents to poll [the kind of things that makes polls skew to one side or another].

Eclipse USED to be compiled Java. Why would they [apparently] change to JS like VS Code is? Or did they? [maybe I'll have to look more closely at that].

I'm no fan of Java-based editors, that's for sure. They tend to stutter a lot and have quirky behavior, or (worse) INHERIT FEATURE CREEP from Java packages maintained by 3rd parties.

Some time ago when Arduino switched over to a canned Java library, it "inherited" a couple of VERY IRRITATING "features", in particular placing curly braces into your code at certain times when you pressed 'enter'. Yes, it was _MY_ pull request that finally *ALLOWED* users (note: users should NOT be controlled by applications nor their developers) to TURN that *BLANK* *OFF* !!!

In the mean time, if Eclipse actualy moves to NodeJS then I'll NEVER use it AGAIN.

There's still IntelliJ, which [last I looked] was being used for Android. It's bloatware but it works. However, I've had a hard time trying to get the Android stuff running natively on FreeBSD. Fortunately I can still get it (mostly) to run in a VM running Linux.

Back to VS Code: By comparison, its popularity may simply be that there are enough monkeys with typewriters to get something working that fixes MOST of the gross 'missing features' or 'bad performance' issues. However, you're getting a "lipstick on a boar" solution [which THIS time appears to be on the end that goes 'oink']. NodeJS was a *HUGE* mistake. Either make it PURE Java, or write it in something that COMPILES TO NATIVE CODE (and is NOT C-pound or Mono-based).

From the article: If Visual Studio Code usage does decline, it will not be because of licensing, but rather the product becoming bloated or evolving in a direction that is unwelcome to many of its users.

But isn't it SO typical of Miicrosoft to do EXACTLY THAT - add bloaty features we eo NOT want, NOT fix the problems we want fixed, TAKE AWAY features we DO want, and then THROW TRACKING AND SPYING IN on top of it all, making so we can NOT remove it, _ONCE_ _WE_ _HAVE_ _BEEN_ _LOCKED_ _IN_ _AND_ _ALL_ _OTHER_ _CHOICES_ _ARE_ _GONE_ ???

Uber, Lyft struck by sue-ball, no, sue-meteorite in California after insisting their apps' drivers aren't employees

bombastic bob Silver badge
Devil

Re: AB5 hurts more than just UBER...

I've always liked William Shatner. Thanks for the compliment.

bombastic bob Silver badge
Thumb Up

Re: AB5 hurts more than just UBER...

"The whole law is a massive perversion of governmental authority"

YES!

bombastic bob Silver badge
FAIL

AB5 hurts more than just UBER...

as I understand it, many businesses are harmed by AB5, ones that you would never GUESS would fall into this kind of category.

Like professional musicians, playing gigs in bars and clubs [well, when THE STATE IS NOT SHUT DOWN anyway]. These guys who'd normally play for $xxx per gig, suddenly have to be EMPLOYEES? That makes _NO_ sense whatsoever!

And not to mention I.T. and Engineering contractors and consultants - particularly of the 'work from home' variety. Fortunately I have a CORPORATION so nothing really changed for ME, but I know it has hurt OTHERS.

AB5 - it's a *STUPID* law, created by *IDIOTS* for the purpose of CONTROLLING that segment of the work force that's existing outside of a LOT of RIDICULOUS REGULATIONS that ONLY empower GUMMINT, at the expense of WORKING STIFFS. It makes CONTRACTORS LESS LIKELY TO BE HIRED, because companies must THINK TWICE before they make people "employees" with all of the usual ADDITIONAL regulations, insurance requirements, taxes, yotta yotta yotta that's associated with it. The unemployment insurance laws REQUIRE THEM to re-imburse the ENTIRE cost of it for up to 6 months after the employee stops working for you. Whereas a CONTRACTOR is TEMPORARY, and there is NO unemployment tax deducted. [in the case of my corporation I end up paying the stupid tax ANYWAY even though i will *NEVER* use it - it's just "yet another gummint expense" and if I ever DID use it I'd have to PAY IT ALL BACK so what's the point???]

It's what happens when you have ONE PARTY RULE in Sacramento for WAY TOO LONG, and the SOCIALISTS TAKE OVER. It's just a MONEY GRAB and a POWER GRAB, by ELITIST LIBERAL POLITICIANS.

I'm (holding fingers almost together) *THIS* close to leaving Cali-Fornicate-You for GOOD, over THIS and SEVERAL OTHER THINGS, and thereby DENYING them my business in this state. ONE MORE THING and I'm going to TEXAS!!! Or, maybe, Florida... and if I can take my customers WITH me, that'd be even BETTER!!!

I'd like to challenge AB5 on its EXISTENCE and MAKE IT GO AWAY. Go, UBER!!! I'm rooting for ya!

Data centre reveals it modeled interiors on The Hunt for Red October sets

bombastic bob Silver badge
Devil

Re: They got it WRONG

when you simply take into consideration most people's concepts of a nuclear reactor, how big it is, etc. it's easy to see how the general public would misunderstand missile tubes for nuclear propulsion stuff.

Looking inside of an actual reactor compartment is pretty boring. You have a bunch of large pipes and pumps and other bulky things with thick insulation on them, that twist and turn within a small space, around a giant metal thing covered in more insulation, with a few other large metal things that have large insulated pipes going in and out out of them. You crawl around a bit, and duck your head a lot, and have to 'frisk' yourself down when you leave with a pancake-shaped geiger counter, in case something radioactive got on you. And nobody allowed in while the reactor is 'critical' (i.e. operating). ['critical' simply means that the neutron production and depletion rates generally match, so the nuclear reaction is balanced and controlled, generally "at power" making steam for electricity and propulsion, but it's a typical lame joke to play on newbies to act like you panic when it's announced on the P.A. system].

in any case, the missile bay has that nice perspective thing going.

Microsoft puts dual-screen devices and Windows 10X in the too-hard basket

bombastic bob Silver badge
Meh

Re: ...a more streamlined way to pair Bluetooth devices in Windows

BT on an Android seems a little easier...

(that might be a lesson to be learned by Microsoft)

NASA signs deals to put a rocket under Artemis flights until 2029

bombastic bob Silver badge
Devil

Re: Artemis?

"What are they hunting for?"

Hopefully a place to put a MOON HOTEL, or at least a few mining camps for rare earths and things with high value, high enough to justify going to the MOON to get them.

And of course, an "interplanetary space port" hub. "Moon" becomes the new LAX [let's say].

It's my understanding that there's a LOT of Titanium on the moon. You could build long distance space ships with this. And structures. And if it's Titanium OXIDE, processing it would release OXYGEN.

But as for using 'Artemis' in the name, I think the answer is very simple: Artemis is kinda like Rosie the Riveter for Ancient Greece. And so it's (probably) just a symbol of putting the first WOMAN on the moon. Or it could mean more, maybe 'bold exploration' or similar.

[on a side note, according to Wikipedia, the Temple of Artemis at Ephesus was one of the 7 wonders of the ancient world]

bombastic bob Silver badge
Boffin

design ratings and re-usability

it's typical for military equipment to have a design rating that is based on the thing NOT being replaced very often. In the case of a nuclear reactor, let's say, the metals will become damaged by radiation over time. But the limits are set so that you can use the thing for 30 years and not have to replace it completely during the life of the ship. Similarly, a rocket engine is probably running at certain limits according to design margins and maximum stresses based on expected material failure modes, yotta yotta yotta. Additionally, CYCLIC stress is a major factor. Think "cracks that grow". At higher power levels you're more likely to have a crack that grows to an "unrepairable" size, but without catastrohic failure, at the higher power level. Lower power levels would let you "thermal cycle" it a lot more without getting a catastrophic failure (i.e. re-use the thing).

Even though that's just a projection of what I've seen before in military equipment, it's probably close to reality. Material strength and failure modes and how to prevent catastrophic failure, and operating limits based on minimum detectable design flaws and design margins, along with periodic X ray of materials and various other kinds of maintenance. It's how you do it, yeah. But for ONE-TIME use... if you stress it up to the breaking point, you're getting the most possible use out of it!

(but for warships, you also have WAR TIME limits, which are a *bit* different)

We beg, implore and beseech thee. Stop reusing the same damn password everywhere

bombastic bob Silver badge
Devil

Re: If you don't ..

"different" works if you do this:

correct-horse

horse-correct

h0r5e+CoRR3ct

etc. (to crack these would require human intervention and some social engineering, and knowledge of one of them, and a good guess as to where the others might get used).

but yeah a password manager to track the HUNDRED or so passwords is probably a good idea. LONG ago I'd write them down. The page got full. Then I discovered KeePassXC [NOT the C-pound one WITHOUT the "XC" at the end, but the C language one WITH the 'XC' at the end, that builds properly on Linux and FreeBSD _WITHOUT_ _MONO_ - the LAST thing I need is MONO DEPENDENCIES on my Linux and FreeBSD systems]

in any case my master password is SO long I often make typing mistakes entering it...

(if the password is long enough, chances are you will NOT be "social engineered" to discover all of your derived passwords based on one that was obtained by cracking some 3rd party web site)

bombastic bob Silver badge
Devil

Re: OK, sp which password manager to plump for?

Hiow about something a) open source and runs on Linux/FreeBSD, b) *NOT* written in C-pound, c) does *NOT* have a boatload of unique dependencies (which is why I don't want something written in C-pound).

keepassXC comes to mind - which is the MAINTAINED open source version of keepassX that builds on Linux and FreeBSD.

bombastic bob Silver badge
Trollface

Re: In other news....

correct-horse-battery-staple

India makes contact-tracing app compulsory in viral hot zones despite most local phones not being smart

bombastic bob Silver badge
Unhappy

Re: Fool proof!

S. Korea's online banking once required the use of ActiveX tech WAY beyond the point that even MS was willing to support. The security CRATERS it was responsible for should be a lesson about ANY government mandated "technology".

Gmail and Outlook sitting in a tree, not t-a-l-k-i-n-g to me or thee

bombastic bob Silver badge
FAIL

OAuth itself breaks the whole open source concept. You have to register a particular service to access it, and in theory this could be abused in the current model without some level of secrecy. And those keys "and stuff" you need for OAuth are normally embedded within the application, but you CAN NOT DO THIS FOR OPEN SOURCE without unzipping your pants and letting people see your most private secrets, and maybe abusing them, and getting the service shut down, and breaking EVERYTHING.

This means:

a) you're stuck with "CRapps" to access your mail (which effectively breaks under Linux and FreeBSD)

-or-

b) you use web-mail (which stinks on ice and often requires script to work)

-or-

c) you GO ELSEWHERE <-- my choice

'c' is almost as good as a clue-bat.

UK COVID-19 contact-tracing app data may be kept for 'research' after crisis ends, MPs told

bombastic bob Silver badge
Black Helicopters

Re: data may be kept for 'research' after crisis ends

"A bunch of inbred data CONTROL-fetishists."

Fixed it for ya. but they need the data to get to the "control" part.

(1984 is a typo)

There's something _really_ disturbing about using your MEDICAL records for this sort of thing...

icon, because, black helicopters

bombastic bob Silver badge
Trollface

Re: "please install the app, and use it"

and the battery keeps falling out

Oracle faces claims of unequal pay from 4,000+ women after judge upgrades gender gap lawsuit to class action

bombastic bob Silver badge
Unhappy

Re: Counterclaim?

"The Equal Pay Act of 1963"

You'd think they would KNOW BETTER than to (allegedly) VIOLATE that...

Three is the magic number, unless you're Apple. That's how many million iPad shipments it was down in Q1

bombastic bob Silver badge
Devil

Re: Overpriced

I bought a 'droid slab for around $50 a few years ago, made by RCA. It's crippled in a few features, like only one camera and it FACES YOU, but otherwise it is pretty good for doing dev work which is what I wanted it for, mostly to learn 'droid dev and not yet do anything serious. In the mean time I've also worked on 'droid applications for clients, so it all paid off.

$50 droid slab vs $xxx iPad. eenie, meenie, miney, DROID! [I don't live on my phone so I don't even use the slab as a phone, just as a convenient portable computer to remotely read e-mail and do dev work].

As Brit cyber-spies drop 'whitelist' and 'blacklist', tech boss says: If you’re thinking about getting in touch saying this is political correctness gone mad, don’t bother

bombastic bob Silver badge
Facepalm

let's just make things as confusing as possible

It's my understanding that 'Red Hat' got its name because in certain countries (like maybe China) the 'Red Hat' is the good guy, and the 'White Hat' is the bad guy. Or something like that. And KKK members wear white hats. And I own a black hat (I'll be wearing it with my recently obtained Guy Fawkes mask).

So next is what, traffic lights? Can't use 'Red' for 'Stop' because it offends "Red People" ? Or 'Yellow' for "Caution" because it offends "Yellow People" ? Or maybe 'Green List' vs 'Red List' because they're already used for traffic lights? Except in some places they use Cyan rather than Green.

Oh hell let's just use the ENTIRE RAINBOW. for EVERYTHING and just CONFUSE EVERYBODY! And then we'll offend the LGBTQ{rest of the alphabet} people because they use rainbows to represent their "community"... [seriously dividing ourselves up like this using 'identity' is completely _BOGUS_, and then people get to pretend they care about PETTY CRAP like 'offensive' color-related terms]

I have a better idea: STOP caring about PETTY CRAP like this, and care about things that MATTER instead. [yeah nothing BLATANTLY OBVIOUS comes to mind at the moment...]

icon, because, facepalm

ICANN finally halts $1.1bn sale of .org registry, says it's 'the right thing to do' after months of controversy

bombastic bob Silver badge
Devil

Re: Now charities are doomed to never turn a profit.

regarding non-profits...

You might want to study "fund accounting", specifically how it works and why it's done "that way", and you'll see how non-profits do their thing (from an accounting perspective).

It just means they don't pay out dividends or increase stock value or anything like that. "Fund" accounts are depleted via expenses, and added to by contributions. It's not quite the same as debits and credits with a profit/loss statement at the end. It's more like buckets into which money is poured, and then taken out to fund things [like expenses, charity, etc.]. A school (or the school store) might use fund accounting, which is where my experience with it was [writing an accounting package for school stores back in the 90's]. Also your average non-profit could do things that way. So it's a little different than normal accounting, but not THAT different.

I would expect everyone in I.T. has had to do a LOT of accountant support, so this shouldn't be too difficult for people who visit this web site. heh.

bombastic bob Silver badge
Meh

Re: Shame on you, Kieren

there was once an alt-hacker.org that was owned by a guy who was a frequent poster to the alt.hacker newsgroup (unfortunately he died a few years ago and the domain expired). But that is one example of an individual who had a '.org' address related to a USENET newsgroup, and I'm pretty sure others also exist.

"non-commercial" use is probably the criteria for '.org', as I understand it anyway.

Perhaps the REAL question is whether selling '.org' makes it beneficial to the owners of domain names or not. At this point it doesn't make a difference to me either way, but if the first thing that happened after "someone" buying the domain registry is an INCREASE IN PRICE, that question would be quickly answered.

.

Spyware slinger NSO to Facebook: Pretty funny you're suing us in California when we have no US presence and use no American IT services...

bombastic bob Silver badge
Meh

Re: Being a U.S, government contractor

if the U.S. government is spying _WITHOUT_ some kind of due process (even FISA) then they can be held accountable for THAT much at least. But do we know it's the U.S. gummint behind this?

FB (and subsidiaries) needs to close their security holes, at the very least, if they do not want to be a vehicle by which such malware can be spread to targeted individuals.

(I hate to root for FB though in winning this lawsuit, but the alternative [them losing] is WORSE)

$31bn spent on cloudy infrastructure in Q1 on back of employees' mass migration to home working

bombastic bob Silver badge
Devil

well, did SOME good come out of this?

"Work at home" is awesome for those who can do it. I normally do this, lately about 50/50 on site or at home when I can bring the equipment home, etc.. - except when my CUSTOMERS can't work because THEIR customers can't work, etc. etc. so we're all furloughed until "those exercising their newly found power" STOP the nonsense.

In any case, the 'work from home' thing is GREAT and if cloudy services can make it happen BETTER, then everyone who currently switched to a work-from-home status and got used to it is PROBABLY NOT going to want to go back [unless there's some compelling need]. Not everyone CAN do this, but in the IT world, it seems very likely.

And I'd guess that cloudy-things would make this easier. I've been doing github for a while now, so that I can make source consistent in multiple places via private repos. [in theory it would help with collabs but as things turn out I'm often the only one doing the actual work at this level, but I still make heavy use of it, go fig]. Some people ALSO like google docs in addition to things like github [though editing these docs over the internet STINKS for performance].

And as WAY more people try to make use of these 'cloudy' things to facilitate work-from-home, the complaints about sucky performance will [hopefully] drive innovation and competition and so on.

So yeah, it COULD become the new "virtual workspace" we'd all (most likely) like to see. Commute from bedroom to office every day. Walk the dog for exercise during lunch or while you're "thinking about it". That kind of thing. My normal day, most of the time.

And we'll get to teach small children what "Daddy's working" means.

Dell to unleash hybrid server/storage boxen that can run virtual machines

bombastic bob Silver badge
Devil

Re: Perfect for parallel file systems

thinking of "scale" in general, I wonder how it does in THAT department... as in could these things be "scaled up" into a full data center in order to get better performance for, say, an SQL database with a web interface, something practical for a medium company that is on its way to becoming a LARGE company, and will need to "scale up" at some point?

My guess is it'll scale, because, VMWare.

(I don't do mega-IT so maybe this stuff is more obvious to others, though I'm still curious)

bombastic bob Silver badge
Devil

Re: Boxes

yeah, "kids today" - no sense of humor! Then again with the 'grammar nazi' icon, it might've started out as a joke...

(no up/down vote from me until the snark level has been properly measured)

Faster than reflection: Microsoft previews Source Generators for C#

bombastic bob Silver badge
Megaphone

Many commonly used libraries [snip] also make heavy use of reflection

Interesting. I always knew ".Not" had some serious performance bottlenecks [primarily due to the OBVIOUS performance differences between Win2k server and Win2k3 server on the SAME HARDWARE] but it's nice to get some confirmation as to WHY.

So here's a question: WHY must the fundamental design of these libraries require RUN-TIME DISCOVERY of ANY kind? This "collection" and "arbitrary data type" and "arbitrary property" kind of mentality is BEYOND SILLY and crosses into LUDICROUS. It is THIS FUNDAMENTAL DESIGN FLAW that _IS_ the problem!

These are the kinds of "features" you expect to find in INTERPRETED languages, and NOT a COMPILED one for 21st century programming!!! For someone like me who does stuff for device control and kernel modules and microcontrollers and things like that, it's OBVIOUSLY THE WRONG WAY TO DO THINGS.

Like the Mythbusters used to say when looking at a catastrophic failure: "Well, THERE's your problem!"

Microsoft! Please, put down the rebrandogun. No one else needs to get hurt... But it's too late for Visual Studio Online

bombastic bob Silver badge
Trollface

Re: One problem with the lockdown

Codpieces. I like your name better

I'm doing this to stop humans ripping off brilliant ideas by computers and aliens, says guy unsuccessfully filing patents 'invented' by his AI

bombastic bob Silver badge
Unhappy

Re: Plus ca change

it seems to me this is just another attempt at patent trolling, using something slightly better than a million monkeys with typewriters.

Long after Linux, Windows Server Containers finally arrive on Microsoft's Azure Kubernetes Service

bombastic bob Silver badge
Facepalm

Re: Only a Matter of Time

"did you switch to Visual Studio Code yet?"

assuming it's a GENERAL question to all...

Hell has NOT frozen over. So, no.

I'm still using pluma and the command line [and working on my OWN IDE when I'm doing nothing else and NOT so STINKING ANGRY like I am right now because of the shutdowns]. And, for 'droid things, I use 'droid studio which is based (unfortunately) on IntelliJ. I sometimes use Arduino's IDE [did more of that a while ago], and it's "livable". I also tried Eclipse for C/C++ at one time but wasn't impressed, and WAS disappointed with performance. There's just something generally _wrong_ about using Java for an IDE with performance/memory/etc. and *WORSE* if it uses NodeJS and JAVA SCRIPT (like VS Code - who's the <snark> MENSA CANDIDATE </snark> that came up with THAT idea???)

There hasn't been a decent IDE for C/C++ Windows development since DevStudio '97 (the hot keys allowed me to rapidly edit dialog boxes and assign callbacks, for example, WITHOUT lifting my fingers from the keyboard - NOT possible since 2k with the CONSTANT mousie-clickie). After the ".NOT" crap and focus on VB and C-POUND, it *ALL* *SUCKED*. [I only use 2010 when I have to, and nothing after that, it's all 2D FLATTY FLATSO McFLATFACE like Win-10-nic. There, have some more tirades against M.S., you're welcome, Their "developers" couldn't code their way out of a paper bag, even after somehow managing to find their own asses with both hands, a map, an electric ass-finder, and a GPS-powered navigation device ]

icon, because, facepalm

CFOs are crossing fingers and hoping a second wave of COVID-19 does not appear, says Gartner

bombastic bob Silver badge
Mushroom

Re: If the CFO's are worried

" I really hope that they can slow down the inevitable headlong rush to open up again ASAP."

NO NO NO NO NO NO!!! DAMMIT NO!! THIS SHUTDOWN CRAP HAS TO *STOP* *RIGHT* *FEELING* *NOW* *DAMMIT* !!!!

AND if YOU ****FEEL**** (the 'F' word) IT SHOULD *NOT* *OPEN* ***YESTERDAY*** THEN *YOU* *ARE* *A* *FLAMING* *SOCIALIST* *NUTBAG* !!!

Or do YOU WANT TO PAY ME FOR LOST WAGES??? My first invoice: $15,000

Now add the 30 MILLION UNEMPLOYED PEOPLE IN THE USA TO THAT LIST.

This virus is NO MORE THAN 50% WORSE THAN INFLUENZA as the death tolls *WILL* *REVEAL*. The original TWO WEEK shutdown *MIGHT* have kept hospitals from overflowing but NOW THAT WE HAVE SUPPLIES, EXTRA BEDS, AND HYDROXYCHLOROQUINE THERE IS NO DAMN NEED FOR ANY OF IT!!!

The ONLY WAY TO STOP A VIRUS is HERD IMMUNITY. Either you have a vaccine already (none exists) or YOU JUST LET IT RUN ITS COURSE AND PROTECT THE VULNERABLE!!!

SWEDEN GOT THIS RIGHT. NO MORE @#$@%%*()!&@_&* SHUTDOWNS!!!!!

*** E V A R *** !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Pimp my PostgreSQL: Swarm64 paints go-faster stripes on open-source database challenger

bombastic bob Silver badge
Devil

I've always preferred PG simply because there's no *NONSENSE* in setting it up - although some Linux distros put files in odd places [it seems], once you find them, it's not hard to configure.

(actualy did this recently, set up PG databases for testing on several machines, one running Raspbian on an RPi, another using FreeBSD on an RPi - FreeBSD was easier)

I've never really liked MySQL since it has non-standard "features" (read: bugs) with things like embedded quote mark handling, and I don't like the overly complicated setup process. OK matybe it got fixed within the 15+ years since I last looked at it but PG always seems superior to me, seems to be THE most standards compliant, is easy to back up and restore, and so on.

There's also something to be said about WRITING EFFICIENT QUERIES. There. I said it.

FTP is crusty and mostly dead, right? AWS just started supporting it anyway

bombastic bob Silver badge
Devil

Re: Update it not kill it

I use rsync for that kind of thing

bombastic bob Silver badge
Meh

Re: FTP / SFTP

ftp and sftp give you a 'sort of' shell access, but you have to make sure you lock out ssh (for sftp) when setting up unless you WANT the user to have full shell access...

You'd also want it to use a chroot'd environment to prevent access to the ENTIRE system. Last I checked, setting up FTP did this by default, i.e. no access above the FTP root. SFTP on the other hand is a bit more complicated from what I've seen (and gives you access to the entire file system by default).

China strings up red tape barrier that shows businesses they're better off buying local tech

bombastic bob Silver badge
Devil

Re: "political, diplomatic, and trade factors"

More information on this will be needed to go beyond simple snark and into the realm of an outright conspiracy...

But until then, yeah: We know Communism violates civil rights, particularly privacy, to maintain control. Why would they NOT do this (i.e. surveil and control)???

Or has everyone forgotten the Chinese government's poor record on individual rights and privacy... "Great Firewall" anyone?

AC you are perfectly justified to snark in such a manner. I would.

bombastic bob Silver badge
Trollface

Re: "political, diplomatic, and trade factors"

"The Commutative, Associative or Distributive Laws?"

Now I can hear Tom Lehrer's "New Math" in my head...

Watch now the three UFO videos uncovered by Blink-182 star – and today officially released by the Pentagon

bombastic bob Silver badge
Devil

Re: I Failed

"Anyone have footage of real aircraft being tracked by these systems?"

I understand that footage from 'Top Gun' is pretty good at portraying it

but yeah most military avionics displays should be classified.

I don't think the military is out to prove the existence of UFOs. This is just the result of a 'Freedom of Information' request. I'd guess the requestors need to cough up the proof.

bombastic bob Silver badge
Alien

Re: Very Short Clip

or my favorite - "In the words of my generation... UP! YOURS!!!" (ok that was from ID4 but still...)

Seriously, though, UFOs have been around for centuries. Nowadays, however, many have been _OURS_. Things like stealth bomber and stealth fighter and Aurora may have been observed and mistaken for UFOs.

Disclosing the UFO videos is a good step forward though.

Not saying if _I_ was ever "taken for a ride" or had ever seen a REAL one in the spring of 1971 in the middle of a Silicon Valley city school near (what was then) Agnew's State Hospital (which now is an Oracle campus as I recall), or have had "missing time", or anything like that... yeah NOT saying this.

bombastic bob Silver badge
Alien

"General Fusion's small form-factor Sonofusion/Bubble Fusion-like power production systems"

why spend zillions on Tokomak when we (allegedly) have *THESE* ??? And WHY are we using coal/oil/nuclear for electricity when we (allegedly) have *THESE* ???

There is no doubt that some of these things may be *possible*, but claiming they're actually being used for secret aircraft would imply that "SOMEONE" "SOMEWHERE" is *LITERALLY* holding back progress!!! Fusion-like energy? The 'greenies' would LOVE to have that, or you'd think so, carbon footprints etc. and no nuclear fission waste. I'd like to have it because I'd expect cheap and plentiful electricity to come from such things.

To deny ALL of society a power production technique that's "fusion-like" would be BEYOND irresponsible... [heading into elitist "deny the plebes" territory].

(Somehow I think your sources are a *bit* inaccurate...)

Wall Street analyst worries iPhone is facing '2nd recession' after 2019 annus horribilis

bombastic bob Silver badge
Trollface

"my wife is more than happy after upgrading her 5s to an 11 Pro Max!"

(from the ragtime bar song "My Gal's a Corker")

"Yeah boys, that's where my money GO-o-OES!"

(I suppose I could try to add a verse about iPhones)

bombastic bob Silver badge
Unhappy

Re: "the global pandemic derailed Apple and the rest of the industry"

Maybe it is time for "the entire industry" to look at "other than China" for manufacturing. SERIOUSLY look. And Mexico looks pretty good. "Hecho en Mexico" - sounds good to me!

When you look at how they treated the rest of the world with respect to masks and gloves, i.e. "we're keeping them here, you can't have them" at a time when it MATTERED, you can't trust them NOT to do this AGAIN with ANYTHING from rare earths and raw materials to specific finished goods that _SOMEHOW_ ended up "all being made in China" [by dssign? corner the market so you can CONTROL?]

They have betrayed our trust, outstayed their welcome, and demonstrated that they can't be trusted to stop a virus that started spreading inside THEIR country, from going international: While they were simultaneously restricting travel WITHIN THEIR COUNTRY in the early stages of the viral breakout, international travel to/from Wuhan was "business as usual" for around 2 months without a WORD of caution.

"Cheap Labor" - with extra hidden costs thrown in, not so "cheap" any more...

Royal Navy nuclear submarine captain rapped for letting crew throw shoreside BBQ party

bombastic bob Silver badge
Devil

Re: And another another thing

yeah AC post can have any icon if you register, but then check the 'post anonymous' box when you post, which is useful if you want the "anonymous Guy Fawkes mask" icon that shows up for an unregistered AC

Worth pointing out, I purchased one of those masks on amazon recently. Some idiot in San Diego County *FELT* that after May 1 we all have to wear them (long after it might have actually mattered, I might add). Fine, I'll play along if it shuts them up and gets us all back to work faster. But I'll wear Guy Fawkes' face above my bandana... out of REBELLION!!! "I got yer mask, RIGHT HERE!"

Forget tabs – the new war is commas versus spaces: Web heads urged by browser devs to embrace modern CSS

bombastic bob Silver badge
Trollface

Re: What's wrong

256 colors - nothing that dithering can't fix (at the cost of a little bit of blur).

But the cones in your eyes aren't as dense as the rods, so as long as the color is approximately correct, and the brightness _IS_ correct, it'll look JUST FINE!

Squint a bit - there ya go!

bombastic bob Silver badge
Coffee/keyboard

Re: WTF

*urp* - my keyboard! that mental image caused me digestive distress...

(what's up? My LUNCH, THAT's what's UP!)

bombastic bob Silver badge
Devil

Re: "Get used to the modern"

I've had a couple of Ford cars (though my Mustang is 20 years old now) with both metric AND imperial sized bolts/nuts on it. Depending on what system you work on, you grab the appropriate sized tool and pretty much everything on THAT system will be of the same standard. But yeah, brake system metric, engine imperial - kinda like that. Have both sets of tools handy. Not that expensive, though.

I'd expect even MORE metric stuff on newer American cars. But, as mentioned before, not ALL...

bombastic bob Silver badge
Devil

Re: "Get used to the modern"

As I recall, 13mm is 9/16" - comes in handy sometimes. I haven't done mechanic work in some time, though. Decided a while back that getting greasy and knucklebusters for 8 hours was worth 3 or 4 times the cost of 'my time' than the local specialty auto place for 'whatever repair' getting the thing done while I lazily wander around the local Walmart or Target... or in some cases, get a free ride back home, do work for money, then they pick me up when its done and I drive home.

Doing a project car for fun would be different, but maintaining "transportation car" not so much...

(still have a pretty good set of tools, though, imperial AND metric, not being used)