* Posts by bombastic bob

10507 publicly visible posts • joined 1 May 2015

What comes after open source? Bruce Perens is working on it

bombastic bob Silver badge
Linux

Just enforce the existing license

The existing GPL is sufficient, In My Bombastic Opinion. What we need are some clever attorneys to take on IBM and get some judgements based on the INTENT of the GPL, and to clarify that preventing end-users from distributing the software (under contract or by other means) violates the end-user rights granted by the license. It would require a summary judgement against IBM and others that exploit this particular loophole. It only needs to happen in one jurisdiction, which would then allow the world to view the source.

Postgres pioneer Michael Stonebraker promises to upend the database once more

bombastic bob Silver badge
Devil

Just saying something nice about PostgreSQL

almost 2 decades ago I was messing with open source databases (having once written one, wanted to use something with more/newer/better features and maybe just fix it if it is too slow) and I focused my attention on 2: MySQL and PostgreSQL.

I found PostgreSQL to be superior for a couple of reasons:

* it conformed better to SQL standard, particularly with respect to embedded quote marks in text data

* It was MUCH easier to just set up and start adding data

Basically I use PG for everything that requires SQL and make sure that it's supported with any system or ISP I need to work with. Now that it is the MOST popular this should become easier.

Windows 12: Savior of PC makers, or just an apology for Windows 11?

bombastic bob Silver badge
Devil

Re: II'm done with "The BORG"

Did not want a laptop though.

I already have kb's and monitors. I might need an upgrade to the KVM, but with a small (possibly used or reconditioned) PC stand-alone I'd save the most $.

I have had pretty good success with used and re-conditioned PC boxen from E-bay and other places.

bombastic bob Silver badge
Linux

Re: My way or the highway

If your kiosk applictions have web interfaces, you should be able to port them to linux pretty quickly.

I recommend doing that. Chromium has "kiosk mode" and there may be something similar in Firefox. Worst case you can write a webkit-based browser in just a few lines of Python code. Good denough for a web-based touchscreen hierarchy, run Apache+PHP stand-alone on Linux. On an RPi even...

bombastic bob Silver badge
Happy

Re: The MS Model demands

seeing the penguin icon confirmed your intent of what "on message" meant.

bombastic bob Silver badge
Terminator

II'm done with "The BORG"

I have already anticipated that Micros~1 is proceeding over the cliff while going in the wrong direction, and I have allowed MSDN (or whatever it's called now) to EXPIRE. All of the old tools etc. will still work along with WIndows 7, and so I won't concern myself with 11, 12, or even 10 except for when I need to do taxes. For less than the $800/year subscription renewal cost I can get a low end PC with no monitor if something like tax software MANDATES it.

I'm DONE with Micros~1 *WRONGNESS*, from the 2D FLATSO TIFKAM interface, mandatory updates, strong-armed "cloudy" login and ADVERTS on MY computer, to their general attitude of "The BORG is always RIGHT and you will be ASSIMILATED"

bombastic bob Silver badge
Pint

Re: Just let us use Windows as an operating system

OS's should get out of the way of the user and prevent the user programs from doing their job.

I think you meant to say "get out of the way of the user and NOT prevent the user programs from doing their job."

Understandably a bit too "festive" when posting... ?

Doom is 30, and so is Windows NT. How far we haven't come

bombastic bob Silver badge
Unhappy

Re: "Yes, I could buy an ad-free version, but why should I?"

You are close but not quite correct.

It is mre like this: Micros~1 has not produced an OS that people actually WANT to purchase to upgrade their computer systems since Windows 7.

So they came up with a plan to LOCK YOU IN and then "drop support" and get MAJOR SOFTWARE MAKERS (right, Intuit?) to NOT support running on the older systems, THUS forcing you to "UP"grade your computer (or get a new one) if you JUST want to do your taxes this year.

Pretty much THAT. SUCKS, doesn't it?

bombastic bob Silver badge
Devil

Re: No imagination any more

comoputer science: theory

software engineering: practical application

bombastic bob Silver badge
Terminator

Re: No imagination any more

"They've been replaced with identikit programming graduates taught to code by numbers."

In short, the indie developers have been replaced with "sweat shop" operations. Micros~1 is one of those.

Look at what happened to Windows starting with 8. All appearance of artistry and common sense VANISHED from the UI. Micros~1 went with re-arranging and re-designing and taking AWAY functionality that had been there since 1993 (like personalization). It's all "minimalistic" 2D FLATTY FLATSO FLATASS with "Settings" instead of Control Panel, "CRapps" with ADVERTISING built in that you download from "The Store", a cloudy login that I am *CERTAIN* helps them identify your computer while you are on the internet, FORCED "UP"grades and the BSOD's that come with them, and so on.

The entire ATTITUDE of innovation is *DEAD*, at least at Micros~1. It's more like THE BORG now. USERS WILL COMPLY. YOU WILL BE ASSIMILATED. etc.

At least Apple products use shadowing. If they must draw everything in the UI all 2D FLATASS like Windows 1.0, at LEAST put a shadow under it to make it TRY to look nice.

[they should have just fixed all of the bugs, and streamlined the existing code base]

China's SpaceX wannabe recycles a rocket after just 38 days

bombastic bob Silver badge
Megaphone

Re: Hop

China also has COMMUNISM and "social credit scores" and other such things, which GREATLY discourages innovation,. especially within a team environment. Sure, a lone developer or engineer, with no team dynamics to get in the way, might come up with something unique and innovative. THAT is not where the problems lie.

Under the CCP umbrella, once junior engineers are involved, there are a handful of choices they must make to get their jobs done. First, if you tell the boss he is wrong by presenting a different competing design, will it get you FIRED? Will it get you DISAPPEARED? Will you lose your status and possibility of upward mobility? After all, "the nail that sticks up gets the hammer". And if someone points out a problem to you, would it make the boss(es) LOOK BAD if you brought this to their attention, or even ADMITTED (to a client or customer or news reporter) that a problem EVEN EXISTS?

And so on. I have indirectly observed this kind of thing happening, within the last few years even.

Under COMMUNISM, you do as you are told. "The currently favored" may be ALLOWED to innovate. But not YOU. And so, actual innovation is STIFLED. And your reward is basically the same outcome whether you SUCCESSFULLY innovate or do what you are told. And doing what you are told is MUCH safer. So THAT is what happens. NO incentive to take risks, every incentive NOT to.

So as long as China is COMMUNIST, they're not going to be able to innovate very well. COPY and "steal the tech", what we already KNOW they do well, will just continue.

NASA engineers scratch heads as Voyager 1 starts spouting cosmic gibberish

bombastic bob Silver badge
Devil

Re: Science History

Better still, leave them flying and make them space-tourist destinations.

bombastic bob Silver badge
Coat

Re: Where are the Pythons?

Are you asking us to 'spam' Eric? (or maybe his pet fish)

bombastic bob Silver badge
Coat

Re: So, Voyager 1 is reaching the end of its useful life

not quite ready to do 'The Parrot Sketch' for V'ger

bombastic bob Silver badge
Coat

Re: A repeating pattern of ones and zeroes

you know it is worse when the binary response is: 00100 00100

bombastic bob Silver badge
Coat

Re: Have they tried

the Ministry of Edgy Terms and Acronyms

bombastic bob Silver badge

Re: Have they tried

"does anyone have an exciting new 2020's term?"

'Hit the Big Red Button' maybe? But even that has been around for a while...

bombastic bob Silver badge
Trollface

Re: Excelent design - aliens must be proud

and don't forget 2FA if you have not sent commands in a while. For something out where V'ger is, it could double (or maybe triple) the delay as it sends a code to a phone dedicated to receiving text messages from spacecraft, and then you send the code back up to the spacecraft to prove it's you.

Europe inches closer to insisting gig workers are treated as employees

bombastic bob Silver badge
Devil

Re: There is a better way

"Unfortunately now the income tax system discourages hard workers"

because "equal outcome", not equal opportunity and fairness, has been the goal all along (it's the next worst thing to communism).

Simpler proposal is a pure flat tax, equal rate for all income, for individuals and foreign entities. For individuals you have a personal deduction of X per person filing, then total up all income, total - X * people is taxed at a flat rate. Business income/expenses would be evaluated separately. Most people would fill out taxes on a half sheet of paper. corporate tax would be effectively paid by dividend recipients and shareholders who receive draft payments (which is why you also tax foreign entities that receive such payments).

The problem with VAT is it is too complex and you will be back to various schemes of not paying it. Make it simple and fair (and lower for most people) and there are fewer cheaters, and HIGHER revenue (see Laffer curve). Wealthy people may even end up paying MORE, but would avoid frequent costly audits in the process.

bombastic bob Silver badge
Megaphone

Re: If it looks like a job, and is supervised like a job, it'll be classified as a job

"gig" work is what I have mostly done for the last 30 years, usually through my corporation. In engineering and IT (as we all know) the demand is often short term, and mucking about with "that other stuff" is most easily done by just paying a higher rate and letting the gig worker manage it himself. I actually prefer that.

"Between gigs" is more than enough vacation for me and I can better manage my own "HR crap" thank you very much.

bombastic bob Silver badge
Devil

Re: Not difficult

" blanket rules like this just catch people like me who are quite happy running a business and working for someone for 3 / 6 / 12 months at a time."

Exactly.

Dear Gummints: I do not WANT your "help" I do not NEED your "help" and as Ronald Reagan said, the 9 most terrifying words in the English language are "I'm from the government and I'm here to help."

Fortunately I also have a corporation which helps me sort things out better (expenses, billing, taxes, etc.).

Uncle Sam plows $42M into nurturing fusion breakthrough

bombastic bob Silver badge

Re: It's a bomb research tool, not a power source.

with emphasis on "research tool" I think you NAILED it.

bombastic bob Silver badge
Devil

Re: What if they use heavy oil instead?

I'm thinking more in terms of inertial confinement and the idea that oil is dense, contains carbon for carbon cycle, and if hit on all sides by simultaneous lasers, would form a oressure wave to compress itself before vaporizing. THAT, and it would be sustainable, passing the droplets through the "laser guantlet" into a reaction chamber. Probably would not need a shell.

bombastic bob Silver badge
Boffin

What if they use heavy oil instead?

How about using "Heavy Oil"?

Using a similar concept, use of "heavy oil" (i.e. oil using deuterium and tritium rather than mono-atomic hydrogen) formed into droplets by an "ink jet" type of mechanism might accomplish the same thing but for steady state operation. Just sayin'. But gummint funding does not seek practical+inexpensive solutions...

[first scientist that acknowledges my brilliance gets to make a working fusion reactor with 'heavy oil' for fuel)

Dump C++ and in Rust you should trust, Five Eyes agencies urge

bombastic bob Silver badge
Pirate

Re: So it's official. Rust is no longer hip.

Eh, I do not seem to have any troubles with C. Why switch? No reason at all! (not switching)(

bombastic bob Silver badge
Devil

Re: So it's official. Rust is no longer hip.

At one time the U.S gummint was pushing for the use of ADA. Never went there. No regrets (unlike those who DID).

bombastic bob Silver badge
Devil

Re: Happily, I pragmatically stuck with C, assembler, Cobol and Fortran :-)

I have, but it was a VERY long time ago. Only had to maintain it a couple of times on an HP3000.

On that system, most everything else was in FORTRAN or a report writer language called 'QUIZ'.

bombastic bob Silver badge
Meh

Re: Happily, I pragmatically stuck with C, assembler, Cobol and Fortran :-)

"Happily, I pragmatically stuck with buffer overflows, uninitialized memory, type confusion, and use-after-free "

Not if you know how to code...

bombastic bob Silver badge
Thumb Up

Re: Bull

"occasional spasms when the garbage collector kicks in"

EXACTLY!!!

Do that in a game, watch gamers SCREAM at the *LAG*

bombastic bob Silver badge
Thumb Down

Re: Bull

C-pound. HA. HA. HA. HA. HA.

that's all I'll say about "Micros~1 Pseudo-Java".

bombastic bob Silver badge
Stop

garbage collection memory management is highly overrated

"That memory safe code is floating ontop of a cesspit of rot."

True.

and as I point out in the title, using a GC model memory/object management scheme gives you the boiler plate inefficiency you deserve.

As a general rule, experienced C and C++ coders can bang out reliable code without too much difficulty. Evidence, the Linux and BSD kernels.

No thanks on the GC stuff. Properly written code avoids these problems.

Share your 2024 tech forecasts (wrong answers only) to win a terrible sweater

bombastic bob Silver badge
Unhappy

Re: AI Alexa

That is until Alexa gets herself a lawyer,. surgically removes 3/4 of what you own, and pays the lawyer off with whatever is left...

bombastic bob Silver badge
Devil

Re: There's an error in the main article

"I thought the cats already did rule the planet?"

Yes, but they want us to have brain implants (to be invented in 2024) so we can better understand their commands.

bombastic bob Silver badge
IT Angle

Re: Donald 'Stop the Steal', 'I did win the election' Trump

where's the IT angle?

bombastic bob Silver badge
Devil

and now, for something completely different.

In 2024 the Python programming language is updated (aka rewritten from scratch) to support pointers and pre-allocated memory buffers, making it possible to use Python for Linux device drivers, thus supplanting Rust which has definitely fallen off of the TIOBE index as of late...

bombastic bob Silver badge
Linux

In 2024 scientists will discover that the Windows kernel for Windows 8 was actually re-written by starting with Linux, then getting a bunch of developers to drink a lot of coolaid-based punch spiked with multiple bottles of scotch and some "edibles", after which they spent most of their time flipping the '/' to '\' and disabling case sensitivity. Then some bright bulb decided they needed better legacy driver support so they borrowed some of the glue code from "NDIS wrapper" and some old XBox code they had laying about, while at least 2 or 3 of them chanted and burned incense to ensure success. Then they carefully changed the word 'Linux' to 'Xenix to get around any copyright infringment and handed the whole thing off to a couple of programming sweat chops in China and India. Once that step was complete they buried it for a month, dug it up, buried it again, and held an actual exorcism to drive out the blue meanies (left over from when everything Micros~1 did was for IBM).

FINALLY they foisted this mess onto some unsuspecting beta testers, slapped on the "modern TIFKAM" userland, and hurriedly rushed it out the door as a production release.

So yeah, it's already been "Linux on the desktop" for YEARS.

Surface Duo crashes the party as Doctor Who celebrates 60th birthday

bombastic bob Silver badge
Meh

Re: Jodie Whittaker...

"I actually thought Jodie Whittaker made a really good Doctor, but was let down by the subject choice of some of her scripts"

ACK. A lady Doctor did not play out as being "forced" but TOO MUCH of the plots in certain episodes DID. Sci Fi should be thought provoking, NOT preachy.

I recall facepalming and leaving the room on a few of those episodes, and the entire 'doctor clone' arc at the end just confused me. Was not helping that BBC America played the episodes on Sunday evenings and I missed a few, and have not yet seen the box set at the local stores.

One person online thought the 'Rosa Parks' episode was "forced" and preachy . I thought they simply did a good historically accurate portrayal. Eh, go fig.

USB Cart of Death: The wheeled scourge that drove Windows devs to despair

bombastic bob Silver badge
WTF?

Re: They would absolutely test it nowadays.

Micros~1 has competition... ?

(Apple and Linux and others really are not that much of dent in their plans for world domination, nor would there (likely) be sanctioned resources to disrupt a Windows beta test. Reverse engineering would be a smarter use of human power)

bombastic bob Silver badge
Trollface

push the build to be tested on the beta channel by unsuspecting 'Home' users

Fixed it for ya.

US nuke reactor lab hit by 'gay furry hackers' demanding cat-human mutants

bombastic bob Silver badge
Coat

a 'tweenage' girl showed up trick or treating at my door this last Halloween, wearing a pink full body cat suit. (And that somehow makes all of this sound even MORE perverse)

bombastic bob Silver badge
Devil

Re: Beware the law of unintended consequences

Cat-brain may have been a joke, or maybe not (it was old and had been left unused for hundreds of years on that planet as I recall).

The title of the episode was "Miri" from the name of the "teenage" girl that fell in love with Captain Kirk. That same actress also played a leading role in 'True Grit', the one with John Wayne.

geek factor: 8

bombastic bob Silver badge
Unhappy

Re: Idaho National laboratory

That lab, I think,l was also involved with the SL-1 project - the first major nuclear disaster.

bombastic bob Silver badge
Trollface

Re: Idaho National laboratory

I heard that another one is named 'Greta'

Singapore to deter crypto investors with tactics like those used on smokers, gamblers

bombastic bob Silver badge
Devil

US banking nd investment regs since 1930s

Some of the "corrective" (debateably) U,S. regs dating back to the Great Depression include a disclosure of what you are borrowing money for. In short, you can't borrow money to buy stock, unless you are purchasing a company with the business as collateral (the stock itself can not be collateral). In theory, purchase of crypto currency with a credit card is the same kind of thing.

In short this regulation attempts to prevent the kind of speculative losses that led to the Great Depression of the 1930s [though much of the Depression was ALSO caused by Roosevelt's overspending to allegedly 'prime the pump' to try and get the economy back, which generally EXTENDED the misery - it was REALLY WW2 that got us out of that economic quagmire].

But banking regs and FDIC do help prevent 'bank runs', as long as people like SBF don't grossly mismanage the bank's assets. Singapore is a little weird when it comes to their laws [being a dictatorship] but the regs on NOT using credit to buy crypto (etc.) DO sound a bit like U.S. banking and investment regs.

Firefox slow to load YouTube? Just another front in Google's war on ad blockers

bombastic bob Silver badge
Pirate

i had to swtch to yt-dlp from youtuber-dl as youtube-dl was also experiencing the throttle problem.

Cisco whips up modded switch to secure Ukraine grid against Russian cyberattacks

bombastic bob Silver badge
Devil

IRL network security penetration testing and spy vs spy

"Russia have now had an extensive 2 years of practise in the subject"

No doubt being carefully studied by Cisco, in implementing updated routers

Half a kilo of cosmic nuclear fuel reignites NASA's deep space dreams

bombastic bob Silver badge
Devil

Re: significantly lower power degradation over time

even with an 88 year half life, it is NOT that long when you think about weight and size.

In My Bombastic Opinion, an equal mass of nuclear waste, consisting of specific well known elements, might initially give you more heat and last just as long. The desired elements could theoretically be removed and isolated from the rest of the nuclear waste by chemical processes, then be formed into an appropriately sized thermal generator.

However with plutonium 238 (not 239) I expect you could still call it 'nuclear waste' since it cannot be used as bomb/reactor fuel. Yet we do not have very much, but lots of the other waste. So there ya go.

thermocouple efficiency is another thing. You need a high hot:cold temp difference. Peltier devices are commonly available, though. The tech could use some improvements I'd guess.

Airbus to test sat-stabilizing 'Detumbler' to simplify astro-garbage disposal

bombastic bob Silver badge
Devil

Re: We're talking about space junk, right ?

I would think that if it had a pointy part with 'legs' on it like a molly screw, it could be fired at a rogue tumbling satellite, the pointy thing would penetrate and stay attached, and the entire operation would help to (eventually) de-orbit the thing.

Yeah, it would be like a "Space Ballista" if you think about it.

Russia's Sandworm – not just missile strikes – to blame for Ukrainian power blackouts

bombastic bob Silver badge
Black Helicopters

Re: Why were their SCADA units on the Internet?

"can't determine Sandworm's initial means of intrusion"

It would seem to ME that there has been a LOT of intelligence gathering on this very topic, and we are just not being given the details.

* Russia deploys a weaponized virus+worm to a SCADA system controlling power distribution

* The system was apparently NOT connected to 'teh intarwebs' directly (as it should be)

* Spyware returned intelligence, allowed remote control and "denial of service" attack

You know SOMEONE is watching all of this, taking notes, and NOT revealing what is actually known.

Putting on my conspiracy hat, THIS is the kind of situation that warmongers MIGHT manipulate others into, in order to reveal previously unknown information.

(So Ukraine war is deliberately being turned into a prolonged QUAGMIRE so that warmongers can learn about Russian cyber warfare tactics?????)

Bad eIDAS: Europe ready to intercept, spy on your encrypted HTTPS connections

bombastic bob Silver badge
Thumb Up

And then, I'll compile my own FF without their crap if I damn well please

* EXACTLY * !!!