Posts by Sleep deprived

China allows robo taxis – without backup drivers – in parts of two major cities

Re: as an aside

So you could end up making eye contact with a passive passenger in the driver's seat, unless they make it obvious it's an autonomous car.

"smart highways" for autonomous cars?

I think we'll soon realize real-life road situations are too complicated for AI driving, and we need to simplify reality for autonomous cars. After roadside sensors and connected traffic lights, all of us (cars, cyclists and pedestrians) should expect having to wear a transponder to be taken into account by the new masters of the road.

NASA to send prototype robot surgeon into space

Free trip to the ISS

Offered to volunteers for a vasectomy in zero-gravity. The view from the recovery room is out of this world!

Meteoroid hits main mirror on James Webb Space Telescope

How are impacts detected?

Sudden signal change? Ripples on the mirror? Vibration detector?

Start your engines: Windows 11 ready for broad deployment

Re: Thanks for the reminder

Too bad disabling the TPM chip on my Thinkpad also disables the fingerprint reader. And other security features, I'm sure

Mozilla browser Firefox hits the big 100

Moving from good to bad

Version 100 auto-detecting OS language? Incredible! Now, can the Android version drop tab offloading/reloading and re-enable more useful plugins such as Cookie Autodelete, that got disabled after version 68? Until then, I'll keep the auto-update checkbox off.

Windows 11 usage stats within touching distance of... XP

Some features may not work

Getting this warning on my 11-capable ThinkPad killed any interest in upgrading, if I had any. Having to fix new problems for the sake of unwanted UI changes? No thanks!

Man arrested, accused of trying to track woman using Apple Watch attached to car

Re: I can see why

We're not advertising the Apple Watch, just letting you know how popular they are in your surroundings.

File Explorer fiasco: Window to Microsoft's mixed-up motivations

Accidental ads in File Explorer

No, no, not a company policy. Just yet another programmer we let loose. The poor kid had no clear idea what an OS is, and he wanted to please his boss. Now, if we comment out his code, we'll break his heart. But don't worry, he'll learn from his mistake.

Microsoft Teams unable to send and receive calls for some after update

Re: I will NEVER use this rubbish voluntarily

The few times I had to run Teams for a video call, I just opened the link in Edge, which doesn't require any installation or login. Microsoft products get along better with each other. This is my only use of Edge, as I do all my browsing in Firefox.

IBM looked to reinvigorate its 'dated maternal workforce'

Big Gray?

Time to change logo color.

IT technician jailed for wiping school's and pupils' devices

Wrong job description

He should be hired as janitor - he seems very good at cleaning.

Photon fantastic: James Webb Space Telescope spies its first starlight

Will this alignment have to be repeated in the future?

Isn't this kind of ultra-precise alignment bound to be affected by solar wind, thermal effects or other perturbations?

Tesla to disable 'self-driving' feature that allowed vehicles to roll past stop signs at junctions

Re: Not a "bug"

They also thought of implementing coal rolling at cyclists just for fun, but it doesn't work well with lithium.

Earth to Voyager 2: Standby for connection – after we tip this water out of the dish

Reminds me of an old TSR program

At random intervals, an alarm would pop up, warning that water had been detected in the hard drive and that it had to be spun faster to drain it, followed by a fast spin noise. A fast spin could indeed kick the water over the dish...

Waymo sues California's DMV to block autonomous car crash data from publication

I wish it were that easy

You mean Waymo clicked on the "I read and accept the terms of agreement" in order to get a permit and they now want to unclick or change said terms? I wish it were that easy...

Almost there: James Webb Space Telescope frees its mirrors and prepares for insertion

Re: Please strip the tracking from the links you publish.

Unfortunately, the geniuses at Mozilla no longer allow this extension for Firefox for Android.

Google and Facebook's top execs allegedly approved dividing ad market among themselves

Re: Firefox and uBlock

And FB Purity for a clean Facebook.

Fisher Price's Bluetooth reboot of pre-school play phone has adult privacy flaw

The device [...] thankfully, was only available in the USA

Are you implying no villains are to hack this toy in the USA, or that the USA is doomed no matter what?

Google Chrome's upcoming crackdown on ad-blockers and other extensions still really sucks, EFF laments

Re: People don't care

Or stay with an older version. On Android, I'm locked at 68.11.0, that still allowed Cookie AutoDelete and featured a decent tab management (except for automatic offloading :(

It's primed and full of fuel, the James Webb Space Telescope is ready to be packed up prior to launch

Why so long to fill?

Why does it take 10 days to fill 238 liters of fuel and oxidizer? This is a genuine question.

New study demonstrates iodine as satellite propellant... in space

Re: On the one hand : Science !

Why not ThrustMe?

Because the French have a problem with pronouncing the th, which comes out as z (ze satellite...)

So it is possible for Jeff Bezos to lose: Court dismisses Blue Origin complaint about Moon contract award to Elon Musk

Re: "Jeff Bezos even offered NASA a $2bn discount [to change their mind]"

No, he just offered free shipping.

Expired cert breaks Windows 11 snipping tool, emoji panel, S Mode features, other stuff

You got warned

When my girlfriend was offered the Windows 11 upgrade, the alert did mention that some current (but unspecified) features would stop working. They were right. And you were warned. She declined, we'll wait for 12. Always skip one every two.

Samsung releases pair of jeans that can't do anything except cover your legs and hold a Galaxy Z Flip 3

Who needs pockets? Not them for sure

I find amusing that the young models in their ad belong to the generation to whom a phone is a natural extension of the hand, never to be stowed away.

US nuclear submarine bumps into unidentified underwater object in South China Sea

Hitting a container?

Do subs hover so close to the sea buttom?

Spring tears down math geek t-shirt listing because it dared to mention the trademarked word 'zeta'

What about π ?

Need we replace every occurrence of this constant by "pi"? Or just round it to 3.1416?

Solar System's fastest-orbiting asteroid spotted, flies closer to the Sun than Mercury

This asteroid is clearly alien to our solar system

Obvious from the article: this asteroid travels in kilometres while planets travel in miles

Facebook takes bold stance on privacy – of its ads: Independent transparency research blocked

Re: Advertisments?

Most people connect to Facebook through its app, where ad blockers cannot run. The few group pages I follow are read with Firefox and FB Purity, where I can block ads, suggested posts, etc.

International Space Station stabilizes after just-docked Russian module suddenly fires thrusters

Re: Grandeur and Decadence

Are you suggesting this thruster blast was Fancy Bear's action?

Spent Chinese rocket stage set to make an uncontrolled return to Earth

China dumping a rocket on Earth

Bah! A one-time limited event. It's not like it were a global pandemic.

NASA’s getting really good at this flying a helicopter on Mars thing

At last a noiseless drone!

Let's hope DJI and others reuse NASA's design in their consumer products...

Apple extends Find My support to third-party vendors including Belkin, Dutch bike maker VanMoof, and Chipolo

Apple has Find My Airpods?

I should have told the skier and hiker I met along a ski trail both looking for their all white expensive ear buds in the snow...

This scumbag stole and traded victims' nude pics and vids after guessing their passwords, security answers

Tabloid title

If it weren't on my computer screen, I'd swear I read this article title on some tabloid while waiting in line at the grocery store... I'm surprised no mug shot is attached to make your point.

We've got some really bad news about Apple's privacy measures, Google tells iOS app devs: It'll hurt your Google ad revenue

Keep trying, but...

Even before I had an ad blocker, I don't recall ever clicking on an ad. Nor replying to spam, be it by fax, phone, mail or email. I'll search for what I want or need at my sole convenience. In the meantime, lots of businesses are just wasting their money to ad brokers. On the other hand, it's cheaper to advertise junk than to make good products...

Facebook finally finds something it thinks is truly objectionable and needs to be taken offline: Apple

Facebook's revenues rose 21% at 84B$

Not bad for a company that produces nothing. But I guess there's never enough.

US cyber intelligence officer jailed for kidnapping her kid, trying to hawk top secrets to Russia in Mexico

Russia, one of America’s foremost adversaries

This is very recent news. A week ago, Russia was a friend of the USA, unlike those pesky secret services of the deep state, and Putin was a nice and very smart leader. He had even assured the president of his re-election, hence the outcry over the inevitable rigging.

In a trial run, Google Chrome to corral netizens into groups for tailored web ads rather than target individuals

Opt-in advertising?

The only ads I could perhaps opt-in to see might be from Victoria's Secret, but that doesn't mean I'm about to buy anything, which must be the underlying goal.

If my calculations are correct, when Google Chrome hits version 88, you're gonna see some serious... security

Limited Chrome use here

Since Google pushed Manifest v3, I only use Chrome when Firefox has problems rendering a page (often to get the same with Chrome) or to cast the screen to the TV. Long live Ublock et al.

NASA pulls the plug on InSight's mole after Martian surface bests boffins

No wonder it's hard

You landed in a ghost town and hit a leftover concrete slab.

Backers of Planet Computers' Astro Slide 5G phone furious after shock specs downgrade

Re: A perennial crowd funding problem

My admittedly limited experience with crowdfunding so far has given me the impression that as backers, we're acting as venture capitalists, but without the oversight.

That's it. It's over. It's really over. From today, Adobe Flash Player no longer works. We're free. We can just leave

I skipped installing Flash on my new Thinkpad last Summer

That's the thing I most strongly agreed on with Steve Jobs.

Cybersecurity giant FireEye says it was hacked by govt-backed spies who stole its crown-jewels hacking tools

If you seek authoritative advice

Hire those hackers, not their poor victim (unless you only fear to be hacked by less capable pirates).

Where's the mysterious metal monolith today then? Oh look, it's atop a California mountain

Did they pry it open?

OMG, it's full of vaccine!

Mysterious metal monolith found in 'very remote' part of Utah

Stainless steel?

It's a T-1000 Terminator at rest, waiting for its next mission.

A visit to a crafted webpage would have been enough for a bad guy to munch all your Firefox for Android cookies

Won't budge from FF 68 on Android

After I saw how Firefox for Android 80+ had messed with tab management and reduced authorized plugins to a dozen (removing Cookie AutoDelete, among others), I reverted to the last flavor of version 68 (68.11.0) and turned off auto-updates on it. Why do software writers have to constantly change the UI for the mere sake of change? So that newbies get noticed by their boss? They're bored? The world started with them and they have no previous experience?

Max Schrems is back... and he's challenging Apple's 'secret iPhone advertising tracking cookies' in Europe

Re: Price comparison sites

Hum, I recall standing at a hotel desk booking a room online because the site was giving us a 20% discount the attendant couldn't. We.then handed the phone to her to claim our reservation. Silky.

New lawsuit: Why do Android phones mysteriously exchange 260MB a month with Google via cellular data when they're not even in use?

Just as I was thinking of getting a 250Mb/month* data plan...

That would be barely enough to feed the Beast...

* Canada's Public Mobile's 13$/month plan. I have so far stayed away from our highest-in-the-world cell rates with a call & SMS-only limited plan.

Apple on the hook for another $503m in decade-long VirnetX patent rip-off legal marathon

If we lose, it means the trial was rigged

Reminiscent of a certain election.