Posts by bombastic bob

Call-center scammer loses $9m appeal in stunning moment of poetic justice

Re: I believe the word all y'all are looking for is ...

I was actually thinking "schadenfreude"

Re: Federal Prison

the sad part, his legal fees could have EXCEEDED that had he gone through a trial... which would have been BETTER justice.

Re: Congratulations! You've been pardoned! We're connecting you to an operator now...

"I hope his jail cell has a phone that only takes incoming calls."

And *ALWAYS* at an INCONVENIENT time!

Oh, you're on the CRAPPER? *ring* *ring* "Your mi-cro-soft com-pu-tor has a vi-rus and needs our help. Please press 1 now to speak with a tech-ni-cian"

I'll sing the words...

"Oh my heart it bleeds for you...."

getting caught

people who get caught are ALWAYS sorry... sorry they GOT CAUGHT

Re: The thick twat

pleading guilty = "mercy of the court". no appeal, but typically not as bad as after going through a trial. $9 million was probably being *kind*. $900 million is more like what a jury would award after a full blown trial...

German ministry hellbent on taking back control of 'digital sovereignty', cutting dependency on Microsoft

Re: Uncontrollable costs?

the biggest cost is in the SWITCHING. Some time ago didn't a German government institution switch BACK TO MICROSHAFT _FROM_ Linux??

now it's BACK AGAIN. AGAIN.

And THAT is where the "uncontrollable costs" will be - re-re-training, re-re-procurement, hiring new consultants, kicking upstairs or laying off old ones, yotta yotta.

I hope they stick with a good commercial LInux solution, maybe a GERMAN company?

I'm thinking Suse Linux.

HP printer small print says kit phones home data on whatever you print – and then some

Re: Why? Why? and thrice Why?

"Why does every company who makes stuff think that it is just perfectly fine to snoop on us 24/7?"

ARROGANCE, mostly. And CLUELESSNESS.

years ago "they" used to do whatever they *FELT* to autoexec.bat, config.sys, windows.ini, etc. and a LOT of people complained. HARD. Did not stop "them". Eventually when windows '9x released it became possible to do that stuff with the registry and it sorta stopped.

NOW everyone is on the "big data" bandwagon, because everyone ELSE appears to be on it. Predictable results, anger, and frustration.

Re: Trustworthy?

" just leave the default gateway blank or set to 127.0.0.1..."

this might work if you only route on the same subnet as the printer, but in some cases [read: large network with multiple subnets and/or VPNs] you still need a gateway to route 'other than the subnet' packets to.

But then my suggestion was to use a gateway and subnet that are "special" to the printer, in effect isolating it from the rest of the network, and firewalling everything through the gateway you gave it

Re: Trustworthy?

If you know the printer's IP address, and you can control your subnets, you can set up a firewalled gateway for the printer that prevents it from routing to ANY destination address outside of the subnet.

Example: your network is 192.168.0.0/24 with a gateway of 192.168.0.1

The gateway also knows how to route to 192.168.129.0/24 where the printers are

The printers all get a gateway of 192.168.129.1 which is an alias for 192.168.1

You THEN add a firewall rule for 192.168.129.1 that rejects ANY packet that's not being sent to 192.168.0.0/24. You ALSO block all multi-cast traffic attempting to leave the LAN.

(All of the other multicast traffic should remain within the LAN anyway, but just in case, put a rule in there)

This should LOCK DOWN any printer hardware attempting to phone home. As for the printer drivers themselves, you COULD host them as shares on a Linux machine and print via HTTP to the Linux box...

(that way windows and phone users could still print, would NOT need a "special app", and would NOT be phoning things home on behalf of the printer)

Re: CUPS

If PPD "gets removed" then I will PERSONALLY drive a FORK into it...

ALL of my printers have required PPD files. And I *REFUSE* to use *ANYTHING* resembling UPnP including that apple 'IPP' thing on FreeBSD or Linux.

Fortunately, open source can be FORKED, even if I have to do it MYSELF.

Re: HPLIP

If the WINDOWS and PHONE software+drivers is where the slurpage is happening, then I think those of us using CUPS and the HPLIP drivers are in the clear... for now.

HOWEVER...

I suppose I'll eventually need to put the printer on a firewalled subnet then. I would set its primary gateway to something that can't route to anything outside of the LAN.

And if THAT doesn't work, I'll be looking for something that's equally well support for Linux and FreeBSD as HP has been, because IF I HAVE TO WRITE THE PRINTER DRIVERS MYSELF AND PUBLISH THEM, then I'll do JUST THAT, and they can TAKE THEIR SLURP and CRAM IT UP THEIR INKWELLS.

The HP printer I have is an older 'all in one' which never really worked properly out of the box, but I can "get it to work" by talking nice to it and offering it flowers on occasion. Their quality had obviously gone downhill and not just a little downhill. The top paper feeder for the scanner/fax stopped working shortly after I bought it, but as I didn't do multi-page FAXs I ignored it. However it fails to feed paper a LOT, unless I "bend it a certain way" and things of that nature. If the paper stack is too tall, or too small, feed errors are common...

Couple that with DATA SLURPAGE and "brand loyalty" just circled the drain and wend *slurp* - back at ya!

Scott McNealy gets touchy feely with Trump: Sun cofounder hosts hush-hush reelection fundraiser for President

Re: A little dissapointed

"this is a step too far "

* W H Y * ???

Because he's NOT supporting SANDERS, or Elizabeth 'Pocahontas' Warren, or Joe 'BITE-ME' Biden?

<snark>I guess there must be something *WRONG* with him!!!</snark>

I should start a movement to DEMAND PSYCHOLOGICAL EXAMINATIONS for *ANYONE* who votes Demo[n,c]rat... and you know, there's EVIDENCE [the lies, the manipulation, the mob behavior, the "shaming", the intolerance, the racism in the form of demographics, ...] to SUPPORT that this kind of behavior is SOCIOPATHIC... a TRUE psychological disorder, and NOT the made-up "-phobia" emotion bombs so often coined by the left [and thrown about like hand grenades, everywhere].

icon, because, facepalm

Re: Your popularity...

"Heard of the lefty organization called ACLU? They are about free speech. Authoritarian right are about censorship."

HA HA HAHA! Oh you were SERIOUS? Let me laugh even HARDER!

HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA!

Re: "McNealy, 64, is a free-market, small-government Republican"

"Trump is hatred, ego, fear, lies, reckless waste, and pride in stupidity."

It's like you just had a wardrobe malfunction. Your IGNORANCE is showing!

Pandering to the perception and echoing the *FEELIES* and *FAKE* *NEWS*. *yawn*. And a big THUMBS DOWN for the lack of intelligence.

(read: there is no evidence for any of what you just said. It's just a bunch of *FEEL*).

Re: I don't see why we need to single him out too much

OK, lemme git this straight: You just said that McNealy needs to be *SINGLED* *OUT* because "He's hosting a secret fund raising event for Trump.".

What if Republicans *SINGLED* *OUT* people who did a Biden fundraiser, or a Mrs. Clinton fundraiser, or an OBAMA FUNDRAISER [back in the day] ???

Do you REALIZE what it is you are SUGGESTING? That a MOB RULE *LOUD* *CROWD* gets to BULLY and "SHAME" *ANYONE* *THEY* *DISAGREE* *WITH* __SIMPLY__ FOR *DISAGREEING*?

(you're making me run out of punctuation on this one)

That's a form of THOUGHT POLICE, you know. Except the "police" are an *UNELECTED* *MOB*!!! (That implies 'mob rule', hint hint hint)

Re: What a scumbag

"He seems typical of his class. They get there billions and workers who built their business get stuffed"

'Class Envy' much?

Those who are CREATIVE and/or WORK HARD and/or TAKE THE RISKS necessary to MAKE IT BIG **DESERVE** to keep their wealth! Because, THEY! EARNED! IT!!!

Socialists and their "justice" and the "warriors" who want to FORCE THE REST OF US into their COMMUNISM need to GET A CLUE. Socialism DEPRESSES economies, DISCOURAGES hard work [because it will NOT pay off, everyone ELSE gets "the benefits", not YOU], and ENCOURAGES MEDIOCRITY.

Because, if there's NO REMAINING PATH to success except "brown nose someone in power", then there will be NO SUCCESS ANY MORE. And society will GREY OUT into MEDIOCRITY. Right, Venezuela?

"But a market cannot exist without regulation"

* W R O N G * !!!

Markets can EASILY exist without regulation. The only reason regulations exist is that SOME participants might be engaging in unfair and/or predatory practices (read: China) and so the regulations are there to simply STOP the abuse. But when there is NO abuse, you need no regulations.

Except when Liberals run things, in which case the regulations are there so that *THEY* can pick "the winners" and CONTROL EVERYONE. it's what "they" do, yeah.

Re: Seriously WTF! ???

I thought it was just a 'hacker name' like me calling it 'Silly Valley'

so FAIL to you for FAILING to GET THE HUMOR

Re: Seriously WTF! ???

"in California, common sense has left along with Elvis."

Good one.

From the article: "Trump is unpopular in California"

Trump is unpopular with the *LOUD* *CROWD* who attempt to look like "everyone" by being as *LOUD* as possible. [I can't even accomplish that by going 'all caps', ha ha ha]. In fact, the *LOUD* *CROWD* is busy trying to "OUT" people who SHOW UP at the Trump rallies and/or give money to his campaign.

Remember that guy who was CEO of Mozilla? He was "outed" for donating to a campaign for a proposition in California that was POPULAR AMONG VOTERS (it passed), but was "politically incorrect" so it was NUKED in the courts. And HE LOST HIS JOB.

What kind of world does *LOUD* *CROWD* *SHAMING* to get their way? A society of BULLIES?

Trump's VERY popuilar among MANY in California. You may not see it on the news, or read about it anywhere, but SOME outlets (like Fox News, talk radio) will reveal this little *secret* to the world... and if your media isn't being FILTERED, you'll hear about it.

And 'Silly Valley' needs an enema. Drain it right into the bay. Alviso used to be a swamp. Not sure what it is these days. That'd be a great place to build the 'enema drain' for Silly Valley... and then we just WASH ALL THAT LIBERAL CRAP AWAY!

Stallman's final interview as FSF president: Last week we quizzed him over Microsoft visit. Now he quits top roles amid rape remarks outcry

Re: He should have stuck to what he knows

"Not much love for people with Asperger's, I see"

You mean 'Geniuses', right?

Stallman should be criticized MORE for his *politics*, primarily his desire to (literally) *CRAM* his version of "free software" down EVERYONE ELSE's throat... a sort of 'digital commune' the way he has presented it.

Whereas, 'Open Source' _is_ a much friendlier term than Stallman's version of 'free', which isn't freedom at all. TRUE freedom would be an MIT or BSD type license, or a 'creatie commons' license, where you CAN ship binaries if you want to, or link it into your proprietary code, and if the license requires it, acknowledge the original authors with due credit.

MIT boffins turn black up to 11 with carbon nanotubes that absorb 99.995% of light

Re: Black - pffft

let's see if someone spoils it (I won't)

Re: Black - pffft

I still want a T shirt that aborbs 99.x% of light...

I'm currently wearing one that says "I'm only wearing black until they make something darker"

yeah awesome coincidence, too. It was simply the next one in my T shirt rotation.

Gold writing on whatever black this one will be called (MIT black?). that'd be AWESOME for sure!

The results are in… and California’s GDPR-ish digital privacy law has survived onslaught by Google and friends

Re: admit defeat?

"if you try to tell them that nothing has really changed - they won't take it well."

ESPECIALLY when it turns out to be TRUE...

Re: Thank goodness

I expect it's "fake good news". This will serve to sate the majority of people that want some level of control over data about them, who will THEN forget about it for a while as it moves to the back page of the news, until it's silently eaten by the bureaucracy to the point that there's nothing left of it but the name and an appearance of good intentions.

Never underestimate the ability of a corrupt government [Kali-fornicate-you's] to speak out both sides of its mouth, and engage in deep corruption anyway, while *APPEARING* to "do the right thing" [for once].

[don't get me wrong I think the principal is WONDERFUL - I just expect the political class to completely RUIN it before it truly takes effect, while simultaneously announcing how FOR it they are...]

Linux 5.3 kernel bundles new, cuddlier, swear-free Torvalds with AMD Radeon Navi graphics support

I always figured that Linus has a TRUE PASSION for *QUALITY*, and NO tolerance for [expletive deleted]

(it could only get better if it were a Marine D.I. dressing down an incompetent recruit - and when you consider what it is the D.I. is attempting to do, it makes a LOT of sense to do it 'that way')

People relying on the previous behavior?

and now I'm wondering _exactly_ what that was...

I know there are some issues that cause 'priority inversion', such as when creating the locate database. So I have to wonder if it's something like that, where a 'nice'd process still causes everything ELSE to respond poorly (stuttering, delays, swapping, etc.) while it's running, even though it's basically going at the highest (aka lowest scheduling priority) possible 'renice' level...

and I'd have to wonder WHAT kind of thing actually RELIES on such a bug.... if it's that, anyway.

maybe a kernel option to 'fix' it?

I have no mouth and I must scream: You can add audio to wobbles in latest Windows 10 patch

Got, Linux?

heh I just had to do it!

(audio working fine on my Linux and FreeBSD and Windows 7 boxen, for that matter)

Just what we all needed, lactose-free 'beer' from northern hipsters – it's the Vegan Sorbet Sour

Re: Vegan Beer

"back when I dated a vegan"

Ha ha ha ha... oh you were SERIOUS? Let me laugh even HARDER!!

(yeah I saw that on a demotivational)

Re: Vegan Custard

ew, I'm tasting bile now, just from the thought of it.

Right-click opens up terrifying vistas of reality and Windows 95 user's frightful position therein

Re: Walk like an...

and bend arms and wrists at 90 degree angles. But don't form a swastika...

Re: A stupid idea

naw, we get nearly everything out of the ground, including the 1's and 0's [silicon], so let's just put it back into the ground where we FOUND it !!! (but in a landfill). At least we're not like *animals* who dump their flop 'wherever' and leave trails.

(so what if it's a little altered after we're done with it, shouldn't matter)

Re: "Can you help me?"

you reminded me of 'Intenet Help Tesk' by the 3 trolls in a baggie

well, the fact that you can change the name might have something to do with NOT being sued, but that's really just the kind of non-critical "thing" these people sue one another over, so, meh...

I'm using Mate on FreeBSD at the moment, and installed it all a couple of months ago, so maybe the default Linux theme calls it something else?

it's also possible I renamed it to 'Trash' and forgot... on the other box it's 'Trash' and I copied the 'home' dir when I built the new machine... so now I'm wondering what it was when I first installed it.

Microshaft is too invested in things like political correctness. If there were a MORE politically correct term than 'reycle bin' they would have used it. But hey, I wrote the 'toilet' trashcan for 3.x and I typically use the icons and name on later windows desktops. One of my requests during the '95 beta program was to be able to change the icons and name and MS actually DID things like that for the beta tests back then...

In Mate the default name is 'Trash'. Same things apply [icons, change name] except you might have to create a theme for the icons...

(my windows 7 box uses the toilet icons and a profane term for a toilet as the name)

Tut – you wait a lifetime for an interstellar object then two come at once

Re: However, on a serious note

"what if this is a precursor to some sort of galactic alignment"

I suggest stellar explosion zillions of years ago threw these too our way, and so some of the post-explosion bits condensed and had similar size, velocity, and trajectory (eventually heading our way).

sparing the physic calculations (momentum and energy conservation, for example) rocks of similar size and density might have similar trajectories and encounter the same stellar objects, which would slingshot them into similar OTHER trajectories. And so on. Now they're here, curving off to some other destination.

Re: Rendezvous...

3 Gentry Lee ones, one original. That'd be 4.

(yeah I didn't know about them either until I looked)

Re: Rendezvous...

apparently the 'Gentry Lee' sequels DID come in threes (never read them, some people apparently consider them to NOT be a true 'sequel' to the original), but there was only one of the original.

I had nearly forgotten about the 3-ness of the Ramans. Did a 3rd Raman ship ever show up in any of the 'Rama II' series? Otherwise, just two.

Re: A comet is what they want us to think.

I was thinking "A sequel to 'Rendezvous with Rama'" (as the previous one was kinda 'Rama' shaped).

I read that book in the 70's when I was a kid, when reading books didn't put me to sleep...

Wake me up before you Gogo ... so I can jump out: Kenyan MP takes on aeroplane flatulence

Re: Farts?

just let it all out while in line for TSA. Then you're ready for your 'gas free' flight. Simethicone might help.

I think to kill germs you'd need to ionize the air, like what a home air purifier might do. Still good idea.

hard to tell, some farts stink WORSE. Too bad the only cure for IBS-related gas is "better out than in"

Re: The west African country's transport committee...

I figure it was just a BRAIN FART

and gassy foods consumed HOURS before the flight may be responsible.

Of course there are MORE NOXIOUS things that happen in cabins. Fortunately *SMOKING* is almost entirely banned. But that's a voluntary activity. You can't ban (reasonably) a natural function that's sometimes PAINFUL to try to control. But bathing beforehand, wearing clothes that don't let B.O. out so easily, NOT eating a meal that gives you *DRAGON BREATH*, and so on - these CAN be controlled. Yeah nobody's had to deal with THAT, right?

But then again, there are SOME people (YOU, Gogo) that just HAVE to complain about everyone ELSE in the world, and THEN try to CONTROL them according to YOUR *FEEL* (these kinds of elitists usually end up in gummint, hint hint).

I suppose an MP over there doesn't earn enough ILLEGAL INCOME (read: insider trading and political kickbacks) to afford a PRIVATE JET. So yeah the elitists (read: politicians) are thereby FORCED to use PUBLIC transportation methods...

/me points out that a good flatulist with sufficient 'gassy food' consumed within 12 hours of the flight could trouser-burp "shave and a haircut" loud enough to be heard 10 rows away... and the *smell* is *just* part of *the experience*.

So now the stewardess says: "Coffee, Tea, Milk, Simethicone?"

(I prefer "Coffee, Tea, Monster..." ok who else gets that one?)

yeah there ALSO seem to be too many out there who are secretly trying to make air travel NOT FUN ANY MORE, from the way TSA must give you the E.M.I. equivalent of a RECTAL EXAM [and the excessive waits and belt+shoe removal and barefoot waddling that goes with it] to the cramming together of seats to keep the prices low enough to attract people who'd just drive instead, because of the TSA-related nonsense, and banning of this/that/whatever, and other things... in other words, it used to be FUN to just go to the airport, buy a ticket, get on plane, and ARRIVE SOMEWHERE on a whim. Not so much any more.

Time for another cuppa then? Tea-drinkers have better brains, say boffins with even better brains

Re: PEBKAC

"fruity people"

People from Silicon Valley? [many probably work for Apple]

Re: PEBKAC

I'm not sure how those 2 statements are in any way 'contrary'. can you explain what you mean?

/me going for more caffeine now, helping my brain to work better. Mmmm... iced tea! I make it with Twining's English Breakfast tea and consume it by the GALLON!

Re: Bubble Busted, soz Mate...

@chuckufarley

uh, telling people to STFU just because you don't agree might be popular among the "silence the opposition" crowd, but it makes for poor discussions. Obviously you missed debate class.

/me holds up a mirror. 'why' do you ask? well, that's the problem, now isn't it?

Re: Nah, that can't be right...

"Sit and meditate over a cup of tea and the answer will appear."

More like "increase caffeine levels, taking shorty breaks to make more when the cup goes empty" and the answer will appear, because your BRAIN is operating on all cylinders now...

Re: Smarts drink tea or Drink tea makes smarts

"Truckers didn't just "drink tea"; they 'downed it by the pint'."

Not surprising. Those with non-linear minds tend to crave stimulants like caffeine, and also go for careers that are either creative (engineering), high risk (fire, police, military), or require fast thinking for rapidly changing 'never the same' situations (like truck driving).

I get a lot of this from the 'Hunter/Farmer' theory, the idea that linear minded farmers have brains that work much differently from non-linear minded hunter/gatherers, as far as human evolution goes. Hunting is less efficient than farming, and so most people are linear minded 'farmer' types who work well according to schedules, times, seasons, and regular patterns. Non-linear minded people, however, don't. In fact, they (or 'we') usually HATE such things. There are varied degrees of linearity and non-linearity, though but one thing is common among non-linear minded people: heavy use of stimulants LIKE CAFFEINE.

One nice thing about the computer revolution: The geeks (aka the non-linear minded, in a lot of ways) WILL inherit the earth, at least for now, for natural selection in a modern world actually DOES favor the non-linear minded over the linear minded, for the highest dollar careers, and for excelling in your field...

And keep that coffee, and especially the BLACK TEA, coming.

Re: Smarts drink tea or Drink tea makes smarts

well, I started drinking a lot of iced tea in the mid 80's, and black teas like Earl Grey in the very early 90's [easier on my stomach than coffee]. Keep them caffeine levels maxed out!

But, in general, those who have non-linear creative minds also crave caffeine. it stimulates the slower parts of the brain so everything is working at maximum speed. Gotta have MAXIMUM BRAIN SPEED.

So it is a bit like 'brain fuel'. (I saw that as a T shirt for the 'Girl Genius' comic, something like "You call it coffee, I call it BRAIN FUEL" - except in my case, it's black tea).