Posts by The Bam

Governments can't seem to stop asking for secret backdoors

Re: Something to fear

Seems to me that all it shows is that HMRC uses Google mail services, presumably Google Workplace. So what?

UNIX co-creator Ken Thompson is a… what user now?

Distortions of reflections

Anyone who actually read Thompson's Turing Award paper would know that he did not include a Trojan in the C compiler. He merely discusses how he could have done it. That's the entire point of the paper: how can you trust the software you use? Still well worth reading today.

The GNOME Project is closing all its mailing lists

Beware of The Leopard

"To be fair, there has been plenty of warning. The plan was first mentioned in June 2020. "

It was mentioned in the sense of Arthur Dent being told about the new bypass. The mailing list I moderate (Evolution) learned about it a few days ago, with the warning that the change was due at the end of October, i.e. 2 weeks notice. It has since been put back another 2 weeks, but there is apparently no appeal. Some people are quite upset about this, as they feel the support for an email client should really be done by email and not some super-whizzo Web forum (even when said forum also supports email access, kind of, if you look at it sideways). There is some discussion regarding setting up an alternative list, with the attendant risk of fragmentation of the user community, but nothing has yet been decided.

Ironically, the support infrastructure for the Gnome lists, and Gnome in general I think, is provided by RedHat, but support for Fedora lists continues to use Mailman3 and people are perfectly happy with it. Hurray for consistency.

Apple's M1: the fastest and bestest ever silicon = revolution? Nah, there's far more interesting stuff happening in tech that matters to everyone

Re: I fear that too much shiny is taking a toll on some people's attention span.

Utter BS.

Windows to become emulation layer atop Linux kernel, predicts Eric Raymond

Re: Proton

You might want to take a look at this: https://www.protondb.com/

What should password managers not do? Leak your passwords? What a great idea, LastPass

Security is a process, not a product. Obviously any specific technology may have bugs, but avoiding all technological aids to security is not the solution.

'Toxic' WIPO catches flak as US congressmen call for Gurry's head

Anyone else notice that the letter refers to "rouge states" (sic)? Gentlemen, start your engines.

Thunderbird is GO: Mozilla prepares to jettison mail client

Re: Still around?

So does every other MUA I've ever seen, including the webmails.

Google risks everything if it doesn’t grab Android round the throat

Make genuine Android a required user-selectable option

A possible stopgap would be for Google to require all OEMs to allow vanilla Android (without jumping through hoops) as an alternative to their bling-infested versions. Then leave it up to the users to choose which one they want. I've only ever had Nexus devices because I want Android, not Samsungdroid or HTCdroid.

Google literally dangles its new dongle in front of gasping TV audiences

Re: Yawn...

Or just run Plex. I like the Fire stick because of the neat little remote, plus I got it for £19 on special offer. If Chromecast worked with Plex I probably wouldn't have bothered.

Oh snap! Yap app WhatsApp chaps zap .BAT trap in hack flap

They don't work in Android either. This is an attack on Windows machines.

Patching a fragmented, Stagefrightened Android isn't easy

Re: Ha ha ha ha haah hah haaa

My 2014 Nexus 5 was updated OTA yesterday. My 2013 Nexus 7 was updated OTA this morning.

Q: What's black and white and read all over? A: E-reader displays

Not so good for non-textual content

I use my Kindle Voyage daily and have pretty much given up buying dead-tree books. However I do like the occasional physics or maths text along with the novels, and that's where the Kindle falls down. In theory a 300dpi display should be able to handle figures and formulae, but in practice it's a bit of a slog, largely because the slow refresh rate means it's quite hard to zoom and pan. AND reading most PDFs is a task only for masochists.

LastPass got hacked: Change your master password NOW

Re: KeePass

And of course you know how to do this better than they do. Not.