Posts by Dimmer

User insisted their screen was blank, until admitting it wasn't

Blank screen

Same thing happened to me. I was told that there was nothing on the screen.

When I looked in on it you could see the desktop. When I asked why she said it was blank, “ it is blank - it does not have what I want on it. “

VMware isn’t budging in its pursuit of Siemens for alleged unpaid licenses

Where are the licenses?

When Broadcom took over they made a concerted effort to scrub all license numbers from our account that did not have an active plan. If we did not keep the documents, I could see them coming after us for the perpetual stuff.

Recently had a solicitation from a Broadcom vendor. My response: Due to the changes in product licensing, resulting in disruption of our business processes, we can no longer use the product from a vendor that we can not trust.

You are likely to be eaten by the MIT license: Microsoft frees Zork source

Learning aid

My better half is a teacher.

The 3rd graders needed a way to improve their reading comprehension.

This did the job. They loved it and their reading levels improved over the other classes.

SAP users still wrestling with business case for S/4HANA

Re: 95% of legacy users

Just refer to Microsoft. Put out software with a few holes. Normally those holes are the added “features” that you can’t turn off. Require patches till you need a revenue boost and then drop support. (Even the patches have holes) Then sell the upgrade.

And when that does not work to force you to buy new hardware and software as you have layered security around it:

Entice a few government officials to require the end users to be responsible for ALL of the security without the vendor being responsible for any.

And you can’t pass their compliance audits unless you do upgrade to the latest and greatest.

Decomposed dinosaurs make Texas a top destination for AI bit barns

Re: Death and Texass

As far as Texas power grid, it is fine - now that is. Rates are about 5 to 7 cents per kwh.

Texas grid is made up of about 23% solar and wind.

When you design systems that are in the environment that use the environment, you need to know what you are doing. When they had the worst snow storm in 100 years, that 23% was gone in a few hours.

It was a downhill ride from there.

When ECOT pulled power from industry, they forgot that all the natural gas pumping stations that were required by environmental mandate to replace their gas fired pumps with electric motors - went dead.

The power plants that used natural gas went down, no gas.

Within mins (17 to be exact) someone pulled the plug on the overloaded grid that was trying to supply power to these dark cold areas. That saved the grid and transformers - He lost his job.

Because of his actions, the grid was mostly restored in a couple of weeks, otherwise it would have been months.

Those that caused the problems, still have jobs and congratulated and gave each other awards on how good of a job they did.

Millions of dollars and lives were lost due to the "it's green , let's do it!".

Green is not bad, just do it right. After this happened, there was a lot of misinformation on the subject.

Regardless of the true nature and the lack of accountability, the working crews fixed the problem and regardless of what is going on upstream, they are not going to be caught out in the cold again. They are some serious Men and Women.

ICE plans to scour Facebook, TikTok, X, and even defunct Google+ for illegal immigration leads

Re: No possible problems here...

I think it is a bad idea for the government to be using the internet as a tool like this. I believe there is something in the constitution about not doing that.

Ds999

If someone is breaking down my door unannounced, they will be met with the same force. I will protect my family. Many have lost their lives due to swatting. As a human being you should reconsider recommending such actions.

Federal agencies DOGE questions about what cost-cutting team is doing

Catch 22

So if there is no Doge team then there can’t be a report. If there is no report, nobody loses their job and no changes.

Or,

They are now employees and come under all the restrictions of any employee there. Including keeping your mouth shut when they find something.

If you are against Doge, it would be a positive thing.

Tree-hugging hippie datacenter runs entirely on green hydrogen and wastes zero water

Lithium may be good but remember what happens when it catches fire.

You may want to check on your insurance policy and fire suppression guys before you decide to use it in your Datacenter.

Let us git rid of it, angry GitHub users say of forced Copilot features

Re: I'm not in any way a developer...

I did the rights thing as well when they crammed the AI thing down my pc. Updates found a way around it.

Then I put junk in the DLL and then removes all rights including system. Next update borked the system.

I guess if you don’t play by their rules, you don’t play.

Techie ended vendor/client blame game by treating managers like toddlers

Re: Who to blame?

Working for a bank.

When cards are used it goes through a complex path to us where we would respond if they had the money in their account. If it took more than 7 seconds for the transaction to make it to us, our upstream provider would auth for a us with a set amount even if the customer was overdrawn. We would have to pay it.

At certain times of the day, transaction would exceed the 7 seconds and the bad customers figured it out and would drain to the max amount leaving us with the loss.

Naturally IT got the blame.

Love wire shark. With a capture, I was able to show their server was busy. They told me there was no way I could know that. I let them know their server told me. Then i showed them the packets where they responded with a small window size of a few bytes, basically tar-pitting the transaction.

At that point they admitted that was when Master Card dumped bat transactions. Sadly, our management did not make them pay us back the losses.

Re: Who to blame?

Customer: “Your stuff is broke “

Me: “ I hope so, if it is, it is something I can fix. “

Developer jailed for taking down employer's network with kill switch malware

Re: Dead man's switch

When an admin is leaving, even on good terms, have them change their passwords and the administrator passwords during the notice period. This will bring to light any process where their accounts were used to keep the org running. This is to protect the employee as much as the employer. Because when you / they leave, you will be the scapegoat for everything that happens.

Also do a vm of their computer and archive it.

Once they leave for better things, Change the passwords again.

The plan to make all networks optical is about to take two big steps forward

Re: shared pools of resources – and composable servers

Here is an idea to discuss:

How about using the optical network as high speed serial ram.

If it takes 40ms to send data from Cal to NY and back, how much data can you store in the stream?

Need more data? Send it via multiple fibers.

Want it all local? Build a layered nano fiber crystal block.

What do you guy’s (and gals) think?

Cybercrooks attached Raspberry Pi to bank network and drained ATM cash

Re: What, no network security?

Here is how I did it at a bank:

Unused ports were turned off

ACL on the switch

Vlans to segment traffic access

MAC address monitoring on the switch to a syslog server.

Syslog to A database of allowed MAC address.

For any new MAC address that acquired a ip I would broadcast on that net a bogus ip for that mac causing the system to be knocked offline and unroutable.

Because I know what port and switch, I know where it is so I notify. There is an app to mark the device as good if it is.

When they use a Wi-Fi as a gateway, I watch for the same Mac answer for other networks.

It is so fun when a pin tester does not understand why that can’t scan a network

AI can't replace devs until it understands office politics

Re: What happens when the hype stops?

Maybe we are missing the end game here.

AI is not about replacing the coders. It is about replacing the “users”

Datacenters selling power back to the grid? Don’t bet on it, say operators

Grid batteries?

I don’t know about them but there is a considerable energy cost / loss associated with using batteries to store energy. How exactly is this good for the environment?

Uncle Sam kills funding for CVE program. Yes, that CVE program

Re: it helps to realise

Ac -

Not short sighted, but I have been diagnosed as near sighted, so I have glasses.

If the return you are referring to we would not have inflation. What you paid for groceries in 2020 would be the same in 2024.

There is simply a leak in our economy, where did that value go?

Re: cliff…

Here is a bit that most don’t know.

Here in the states the census is how they determine the numbers for congress and electors for the state. That is by the constitution, it includes the illegals as well. So they do effect our elections

Re: it helps to realise

I have no doubt that in some cases it stimulates and improves our way of life but I am not quite sure of your math.

Government prints money, causing the value of the dollar to drop which we see as inflation. The economy ( us ) has to pay that and the interest on that debt. A loss to the economy.

Some of the money makes it to where it supposed to go and stimulates the economy, a plus.

From my point of view, it is a net loss for the economy as a portion went to overhead that produces nothing.

So -

It is up to us to make sure the economy profits from the money spent by placing it where it will make the lasting good that will also pay back the previous incurred debt. It is the same principle as your credit card. You by food so you can work to pay the money back.

Trump kills clearances for infosec's SentinelOne, ex-CISA boss Chris Krebs

Pinmin,

Here in the states we are hearing such a thing is happening on the uk side of the pond. Is it B.S.?

Pennsylvania’s once top coal power plant eyed for revival as 4.5GW gas-fired AI campus

Re: Coal?

They are not spending billions on cat pictures, they are doing it to be able to replace us.

Re: Coal?

I am told by the guys that are making the SNR that it only takes a year to build it safely. It takes 10 years to get the paperwork done.

If so, would it not be better for the environment to improve the paperwork process (bureaucracy) instead of turning up more coal plants?

Nvidia’s AI suite may get a whole lot pricier, thanks to Jensen’s GPU math mistake

Re: Everyone is free to buy similar cards from other manufacturers.

Also

A monopoly exist when a government permits only one biz to supply services.

A good example is a cable company licensed exclusively for a city or power company for an area.

Or a cell company that purchases the freq.

But,

In those cases they also set the price.

VMware distributor Arrow says minimum software subs set to jump from 16 to 72 cores

Have you actually tried to buy?

We have been trying for months and the hoops they are making us jump through keep ending up around our neck.

Trump orders all government IT contracts consolidated under GSA

Re: 'appropriate kickbacks' rule the nest.

Not sure what devastation you are referring to, that is, unless you are part of the government. If so, thanks for your service.

Please understand, this is not affecting our lives one bit out here in the states. All we know is our cost of living went up 30% during the last administration. The ones that voted are not stupid or bad people, they are just desperate. For better or worse, things had to change.

Let’s work together and make the opportunity for change work for as many as we can.

Here is one for you:

GsaAuctions.gov listed FEMA MRE pallets this week. Each lot had over 17k meals. 100s of thousands of meals sold for less than $1 each. I bid on some just so that we could give them to homeless and the food bank outlets. Our government could have done this direct to the needy themselves.

They were going out of date in August so instead of FEMA destroying them, the GSA sold them to people who could use them. If the right person had just said something and moved a bit of paper, that could have helped a lot of needy families.

AI running out of juice despite Microsoft's hard squeezing

Re: I have a colleague who wants to spend over 40K in AI hardware...

Don’t know any lazy sysadmins. Know a lot of lazy users.

Lazy sysadmins don’t last long due to the constant “feature” updates, intentional end of life and stuff just breaking on its own.

Oh, and don’t forget the hackers and lazy users.

CISA pen-tester says 100-strong red team binned after DOGE canceled contract

Re: Talking points, but it's hard to deny

(A) had Covid. Did not take the vaccine and don’t have a heart condition like some (not everyone) people.

(B) my family and I are completely against strip mining and have forest where there were over farmed sand pits.

(C) in the states, there is nothing voluntary about social security. Either you pay or the IRS will take your home.

(D) agree with your sentiment and wish that was what it was used for.

Re: New Orleans

Upvote for the citations

Re: Talking points, but it's hard to deny

(A) specify certain Covid vaccines did harm people or at least that is why some European countries said they banned them.

(B) Either manage the forest or let nature burn the underbrush itself. The folks in California can tell u that. My family has been tree farmers for generations. There is no get rich there in protecting the environment. Although stripping the trees and mining it for minerals might.

(C) the government sent me a letter saying SSI is out of money in a few years. Only cuts I have heard of is dropping those that are no longer alive.

(D) Got that right. They are going bonkers due to the defunding of the NGOs. Hopefully it will be put in(C)

(E) The strength of civilization is common sense, free speech and Empathy.

The IT world moves fast, so why are admins slow to upgrade?

Re: Why are admins slow to upgrade?

Excellent survey idea.

How about :

Up for - OS update that added crap you did not want

Down - OS update that only fixed an issue.

Developer sabotaged ex-employer with kill switch activated when he was let go

Re: Not a very bright boy...

I don’t think it was a bright idea to delete his creds. When a sysadmin, specifically when it is a bad one, change the passwords. You will find out all those hidden automated jobs that were setup as a temp fix break and nothing works the next day. Once you find all those jobs that did not run, then delete the creds.

Pay close attention to any outside access.

The only time I have had to do this was when the admin gave 2 weeks notice. As part of his departure, he was required to change the password and fix what broke.

America's National Science Foundation workers fired in bulk by Trump now reinstated

Want the info

I wanted to know what cities that doge dropped leases on buildings but I am lazy and did not want to look it up on the doge site.

I asked chatgpt for the info.

Bla bla bla … it is not published was the answer.

Not so I told it. Scan the site.

Nope, it said it is not published.

You are able to look at current web sites are you not?

Yes it said, I just can’t access that site.

WTF?

Then it tells me, here are some tools that you can download the site info and if you upload it to me I will catalogue the information for you.

So if it can’t steal the info, it wants me to?

Altnets told to stop digging and start stuffing fiber through abandoned pipes

Re: rare occasion

One of the local fiber providers was telling me about an instance where they were digging and pulled up pipe and fiber.

They found that it was not marked because it was abandoned. Miles of it. They repaired and lit it is still making them money.

:)

Satya Nadella says AI is yet to find a killer app that matches the combined impact of email and Excel

Re: Sad

“ The best-case scenario for the current "AI" is that it increases productivity. Increments in productivity never result in more free time for workers. That's not because of evil overlords; it's just the way economy works”

So, like the invention of the copy machine?

Maps of terrestrial fibre networks aren’t great. The Internet Society wants to fix that

In the states, there are companies that specialize in knowing where every fiber is located. You call 411 and for free they come mark it and any other utility as well.

Years back our phones went down. When that happens you drive around till you find the guys that are digging so you can get an idea of how long it will be out.

Found the guy standing next to his rig and asked him what happened. “The flag guy miss flagged it.” he said, “now stay a moment and you will see the magic flags appearing. “

Sure enough, this small truck comes to a screeching stop in front of us. The flagger jumps out and starts stabbing flag in the ground around the hole. Jumps back up in his truck and peels out and disappears.

Next the local administrator for the telco shows up and starts berating the construction guy while pointing at the flags and explaining how much it was going to cost the worker. He then leaves.

I asked him, aren’t you concerned? Smiling he said “Nope, I took pictures before you got here”. Don’t you love those magic flags.

Here's the ugliest global-warming chart you'll ever need to see

Re: No more USAID

Not so sure solar is a net zero on the heat.

Mine get really hot under load. If you get a chance, take a look at one with a FLIR unit.

They are black and absorb a lot of heat and not reflect it like grass or sand.

In those areas where they are covering grass, what is the effect on carbon capture?

I would love to see someone do a study on this.

My concern about the petroleum is not the carbon but the byproducts. Plastics specifically.

We don’t get the micro plastics under control we might not have much life left.

Microsoft's drawback on datacenter investment may signal AI demand concerns

Tech gets smaller

After being at it for awhile, I find the churn for equipment is about 4 years. Each churn the footprint is smaller for the same job. When 4 u will do what a full rack did 5 years ago, it does make sense to watch your rack count.

Same for power, a 1u server with 10tb of SSD, 170w @ 3ms as compared to 5 years back, 10tb spinning rust @ 30ms raid 900w.

HP deliberately adds 15 minutes waiting time for telephone support calls

Re: Farking bastards...

Brought a new multifunction printer last week.

It was not an hp.

In the 3 stores I went to, I had 4 people tell me not to buy an HP. 2 of them were the sales people.

SonicWall firewalls now under attack: Patch ASAP or risk intrusion via your SSL VPN

Re: someone please please leak the code....

Actually SONICWALL ssl-vpn appliance is open source if you go by the GPL.

Years ago I sent in my $10 for a CD copy of the source. Never got it back.

They had quietly closed it as they made improvements and scrubbed any references of it.

I seriously doubt the code of 15 years back is anything like what they have now.

Re: The easy way out

The last one I fixed, they compromised an IOT device then a zero day against the AD to add an admin user. Filters prevented full access but with the vpn access, they then were free to do anything they wanted without tripping alarms.

Then they sold it to some script kiddie morons that destroyed the whole network down to bare metal. When they tried to collect a ransom, they were told to F off. No reason for the victims pay ransom as they would have to completely rebuild. The data that stole was useless as well as it was all public information.

The easy way out

It never fails to surprise me how many ssl-vpns are authenticated by the AD domain.

Seen it used in ASAs as well. All you have to do is exploit the AD and then you make as many vpn logins as you can sell.

Guys, put a bit of a gap between your layers of security, or at least till the lazy powers at be that can’t remember 2 passwords force you to change. They will be the ones that can’t understand how to do 2 factor.

The biggest microcode attack in our history is underway

Re: Yes what we had was corrupt, and it was mostly OK

Actually my comment is from visiting countries in Europe and talking to the people.

I was there during the yellow jacket riots. That only occurred because they felt the government had taken so much they could not live.

Or, a cabbie In Spain that it was taking everything she could do just to feed her family.

We can afford the government, but not the bureaucracy.

Re: Yes what we had was corrupt, and it was mostly OK

“Yup, the bureaucracy is bloated, inefficient, definitely corrupt in places, slow...broken even.”

It is a problem all over the world, we just can’t produce enough to support this kind of government any more. Enough people are hurting that they got together and put these guys in office on the promise they were going to do this.

77.3 million of them that is.

When FEMA is unlawfully paying for hotels in NY for migrants, you might guess there are going to be a few people in California that are going to care more about getting help for their families - help that they paid for - than data security. They want answers.

Anyone has a better idea how to fix this problem, love to hear it. If you don’t think there is a problem, you might be part of the problem. Or at least 77 million people might think so.

Windows 11 stages a comeback – still miles behind older sibling

Re: MS keep acting like it's their computer

Had to explain to my wife why her app disappeared after an update.

“Honey, you don’t own that expensive piece of jewelry, Apple does. They will only allow you to have use it just enough to get you to buy the next newer version. “

Most of the time she is able to do something she wants, unlike her android that constantly had issues from every click bait download she ran across. Some folks you just have to have a wall around the garden.

The curious story of Uncle Sam's HR dept, a hastily set up email server, and fears of another cyber disaster

Re: Grim outlook

Another Outlook patch? well crud.

Re: welcome to hell

Re: omni

I am a bit confused here. Are you talking about the 4 years of Biden, the last 9 days of Trump or the bureaucracy in general?

Regardless of your personal situation, I do agree that prayer and belief in a higher being is a good thing.

Guys, when you post - please help me out and give specific examples of the problems caused so that I can understand who you are talking about. Depending on your perspective, some comments can fit either or both.

You probably have more CIO experience than the incoming White House CIO

Simple test

Do you know what Wireshark is?

FortiGate config leaks: Victims' email addresses published online

Re: Another bullshit company statement

AC,

If I DECIDE to store my configs in the cloud, I will take part of the blame.

If my device by default stores it in the cloud - it is %100 theirs

Biden signs sweeping cybersecurity order, just in time for Trump to gut it

Re: The evil will continue

Tron,

You need to clarify a bit. As an isp, people pay me for the internet. I pay upstream providers for bandwidth. I pay a cell bill for internet. I pay another vendor for internet at my home. It is only free if someone want to use it to attract me to their business.

Now, content is a different matter. That is paid by someone wanting to sell you something.

The US gov does have an interest in what you are doing on the internet. Read the new “ net neutrality “ rules from the FCC. There is more there about making me, without a warrant, monitor you and even disconnect you from the internet than a neutral internet.

Oh, they also make ISPs into telcos. All those extra charges on you phone bill will now be added to what we pay for internet.

FCC to telcos: By law you must secure your networks from foreign spies. Get on it

Paperwork is not going to fix the problem.

“These providers would also be required to submit an annual certification to the FCC confirming that these plans have been created, updated, and implemented.“

hey I have an idea, how about we start requiring the manufacturer to take a bit of the responsibility. Best I can tell, it is not in their best interest to provide a product that is secure.

If your router was secure, and functional, the only reason to upgrade is if the service provided requires it.

With no or less hardware churn, and if you don’t need patches, why would you pay for maintenance. Not a good business model.

The best analog to this is printer ink. At first it was that you had to only pay a massive amount for ink. That was not enough, so now the cartridge fails when the time runs out.

Does not matter how much paper you throw at it, it will not secure a device. Only a secure device can be secured.

I have seen too many hacks that were done to “secure” systems, fully patched and maintained by well trained personnel. Stop blaming the professionals and start looking at the cause.