Posts by Sleep deprived

Twitter tells advertisers to go fsck themselves, now sues them for fscking the fsck off

"We tried being nice for two years and got nothing but empty words," - Musk

Be nice with Musk's companies and get a poop emoji in return.

'One Less Car' Uber bets a grand you'll ditch your wheels

Ride-share company?

Please stop calling Uber a ride-share company. It's just an unregulated taxi operation. If you think otherwise, you'll have to ask yourself where the robot was going before picking up passengers when Uber introduces self-driving cars.

Humanity's satellite habit could end up choking Earth's ozone layer

The race is on

What is going to get us first? UV rays toasting us? Nanoplastics in our blood? Chemicals in the environment that imitate hormones? Disease or hunger favored by climate change? Or just plain old air and water pollution? Any way we look at things, we're pretty much doomed.

The end is nigh for Windows 10 21H2

Should I let this update go?

My W11-capableThinkPad is at W10 21H2 buI I set it as managed by an IT department so updates don't apply automatically. Should I let 22H2 have a go? What are the losses or nuisances? I don't intend to go to W11.

Prof asks court to protect his Unfollow Everything 2.0 extension from Facebook's ire

FB Purity still works

I connect to FB to get news from a few (5-6) cycling or caving-related groups. Of course, I'd prefer them to just run a plain website, but I understand FB is much easier to setup. I don't care about sponsored content, suggestions from algorithms or this whole friend/follower craze, so my friend-free profile is empty and I access FB through its website with Firefox and the FB Purity plugin installed. I just get what I clicked for and nothing else.

NASA solar sail to be Siriusly visible in orbit from Earth

The sail may be visible from Earth

Easy to notice: it'll be the only square object in the sky.

Microsoft to use Windows 11 Start menu as a billboard with app ads for Insiders

Make Windows an OS again

You know, that central program that arbitrates memory, CPU, I/O, tasks, etc. Not an ad vector and telemetry manager.

PumpkinOS carves out a FOSS PalmOS-compatible runtime environment

A much capable unbloated OS

In 2002, I started developing on PalmOS what became the first mobile app for cave surveying (Auriga), used by hundreds of cavers worldwide. Even a 16 MHz Palm IIIxe could execute the myriad of trigonometric operations necessary to render the cave map on screen. At the last PalmSource conference, in 2004, out of 900 participants, I was the only freeware writer. 20 years later, the app still has some hardcore users who enjoy its GPS tracking (on surface), KML maps, Bluetooth link to instruments, vector sketching, loop closure, import/export from/to various data formats, etc. for a 1.3 Mb executable, the size of a flashlight app on Android. Most people run it on a PDA, but others use their Android phone or tablet with the StyleTap emulator.

Iowa sysadmin pleads guilty to 33-year identity theft of former coworker

32 years in jail for 33 years of abuse

Proper coincidence. Don't go for less.

Majority of Americans now use ad blockers

66 percent of experienced advertisers use an ad blocker

I'd call this an informed response.

Woz calls out US lawmakers for TikTok ban: 'I don’t like the hypocrisy'

"...Apple doesn't really [track you] so much."

Why do it at all? Especially after claiming to be a paragon of privacy.

Firefox 124 brings more slick moves for Mac and Android

The feature I really hope for at every release

I dream of turning off the annoying unloading of tabs in Firefox for Android, thus requiring the lost ability to edit the about:config settings.

Japan's SLIM unexpectedly wakes up on Moon after month-long nap

Great pictures, but they're all upside down

Much like in telescopes.

Microsoft floats bringing a text editor back to the CLI

We'd be fine with Edlin, but it's 2023

After spending billions on AI, expect Microsoft to implement a command guesser à la Clippy into the CLI.

Elon Musk's xAI wants $1B cash infusion in exchange for equity shares

Grok is trained not to lie

It will serve you alternate facts instead.

Google Photos' AI Magic Editor won't change pictures of IDs, receipts, faces, or bodies

Body parts cannot be edited

So dick pics can't be enhanced?

Mozilla tells extension developers to get ready to finally go mobile

I wish they'd restore options as well

Whenever I return to Firefox on Android, it reloads my tabs (sometimes failing if I have no Internet access). I understand this tab unloading could be disabled in earlier versions, but this option no longer exists.

Stanford schooled in cybersecurity after Akira claims ransomware attack

Want to hack Stanford U?

Please take a number and wait for your turn.

Hell no, we won’t pay, says Microsoft as Uncle Sam sends $29B bill for back taxes

We did nothing wrong. review Google instead

Did you know they're a monopoly, also?

Google pays Apple $18B to $20B a year to keep its search in iPhone

Google could save money while Microsoft loses pride

If this deal gets cancelled and Bing numbers don't rise, Google will realize it was spending too much money for nothing while Microsoft will learn its engine is simply ignored because it's inferior. Apple will lose good money and might decide to spend more on its own engine. Interesting times.

NASA taking its time unboxing asteroid sample because it grabbed too much stuff

Time to call Bruce Willis

With lots of brains, but not enough muscle, those scientists have a hard time unscrewing the lid given all the dirt in the threads, let alone those cumbersome gloves.

Never mind SETI and NASA, if your Ring somehow snaps ET, Amazon might give you $1M

Does the Ring need to be attached to a door frame?

Maybe I have more chances of snapping a UFO using a Ring as a dashcam. Or mounted to my handlebars.

Google teases Project IDX, an AI-infused code editing thing

AI-based error-prone coding tool

Google must have beta-tested it on Gmail, Gboard and Maps for Android...

Mummy and Daddy Musk think Elon's cage fight against Zuck is a terrible idea

With children like these

Won't someone think of the parents?

New York City latest to sue Hyundai and Kia claiming their cars are too easy to steal

Re: because regulations there expressly require them. It is only in the United States that

In the US, you're supposed to remain ambushed in the car, heavily armed and wait for a thief to break in.

Mozilla so sorry for intrusive Firefox VPN popup ad

Mozilla that markets Firefox [...] for the availability of ad blocking extensions, or add-ons.

That may be true on PCs, but under Android, Firefox only supports a very limited set of add-ons, which excludes CookieAoDelete for no valid reason. So much for managing privacy. But I regularly get unwanted UI changes that must cost a lot to implement, given Mozilla's constant need for more money...

Microsoft's new AI BingBot berates users and can't get its facts straight

Steve Balmer is back!

Rude? Creepy? Threatening? Next thing you know, it'll start throwing chairs around!

Google unleashes fightback against ChatGPT, a Bard by any other name

Tell me Bard can be turned off from search

I'd rather choose real webpages from a list of search results, than be served an anonymous rehash of everything that contains my search words.

ChatGPT talks its way through Wharton MBA, medical exams

If people can earn a degree using ChatGPT

If people can earn a degree using ChatGPT, employers may as well hire this AI instead and let these folks take jobs that require little intellectual abilities..

Lenovo adds rugged ThinkPhone to appeal to ThinkPad users

Not a word about key feature?

I expect no less than a Thinkpad-grade keyboard feel!

Cops chase Tesla driver 'dozing' with Autopilot on

Programmed behavior has to come from somewhere

Isn't a Tesla ignoring police cars' signals and maintaining its course a reflection of Musk's attitude towards authorities and regulations?

FCC calls for mega $300 million fine for massive US robocall campaign

Pay up with orridge time?

They could sell their organs at market value. They're businessmen after all

Tesla driver blames full-self-driving software for eight-car Thanksgiving Day pile up

Is a crash-inducing behavior acceptable to others?

Even if AutoPilot FSD software were perfectly functioning - and not in beta testing by paying consumers - is it acceptable to deploy it on public roads among most other (human-driven) cars unable to react to its unexpected maneuvers, thus inducing accidents behind? My father used to tell me that when walking in rows, if you think you're the only one with the pace, you should question yourself.

Perseverance rover drops off first sample tube on surface of Mars

Re: Covered by dust storms

Just in case, to ease recovery, those tubes are fitted with an AirTag.

Musk's Hotel California erected at Twitter HQ, as some offices converted into bedrooms

It's not for employees

This office space made redundant by telepresence is now advertised on Airbnb to recoup lost ad revenues.

Windows 11 still not winning the OS popularity contest

Re: Three letters TPM

Last time I checked, disabling TPM in BIOS on my Thinkpad also disabled the fingerprint reader.

Square Kilometre Array Observatory construction commences

Most have sent delegations to [...] to celebrate [...] ceremonies

After that, the plebs get told air travel is a major source of GHG and they should skip non-essential trips...

Guess the most common password. Hint: We just told you

With a little help from the server

I heard this story of an old lady with Alzheimer's who'd pick "invalid" as her standard password. This way, when she forgot and attempted something else, the server would reply "Your password is invalid". Thanks.

Mozilla will begin signing Mv3 extensions for Firefox next week

How about letting Android users choose the plugins they wish for Firefox

While Firefox for Windows offers myriads of plugins, the Android version only accepts a few. Alas,the short list excludes CookieAutoDelete, a good way to avoid profiling

Germany says nein to Qatari World Cup spyware, err, apps

"After using the apps, the operating system [...] should be completely deleted."

Deleting Android from my phone? I can't even get rid of Samsung's bloatware.

Firefox patches Windows 11 Ctrl+C hang, introduces new bug

I see you're about to paste something

Maybe I can help? Or screw things up?

Amid losses, Uber driven to become advertising network

Taking a cab now involves a "ride process"

Everything else is an experience.

Lufthansa bans Apple AirTags on checked bags

Next on Youtube

I look forward to the "Lufthansa loses bags" folk song.

Update your Tesla now before the windows put your fingers in a pinch

Compensation is available

Tesla owners with severed limbs get a free Autopilot subscription.

Microsoft debuts Windows 11 2022 Update – now with features added monthly

New features every month?

Can we just get a reliable and stable operating system? (not an ad-pushing eye-tiring time-wasting gimmick)

Sun's magnetic mystery solved by ESA NASA Solar Orbiter

just 0.29 times of that between the Earth and Sun

So the orbiter will fly over the Sun at a tad under Mercury's closest distance to our star ((0.30AU). Closer would be too close?

James Webb Space Telescope finds first evidence of CO₂ in exoplanet atmosphere

Our future in a distant past

Before JWST's accrued CO² sensitivity, we could only detect civilizations on the brink of acute global warming, thus long gone.

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!