Posts by The Central Scrutinizer

What's up with WhatsApp? Messaging platform suffers outage in the UK

I'm struggling to understand why anything owned by "Meta" being inaccessible is a problem.

Tuxedo Computers releases version 1.0 of its Ubuntu remix

Snap is a big steaming pile. I had to get the wire brush and Dettol to scrape it off my last machine. Never again.

Bill Gates says NFTs '100% based on greater fool theory' amid crypto cataclysm

"Now, who wants a spot in my queue"?

Would that be the near queue or the far queue?

Anyone who believes that NFTs have any value can contact me about this bridge I have for sale. It's right on Sydney harbour and the views are spectacular, dahlink.

Microsoft accidentally turned off hardware requirements for Windows 11

LOLZ.... Microsoft

Behind Big Tech's big privacy heist: Deliberate obfuscation

If you were going to buy a car or a house with the sort of terms that Facebook et al set out, you'd tell them to fuck right off. Somehow having a so called free service makes people forget about any sort of rational decision making. "Free" is not "free".

Police lab wants your happy childhood pictures to train AI to detect child abuse

Re: Australia

And watch out for the drop bears and hoop snakes. All the usual tropes we have to put up with.

Re: Australia

Come back and re-post when you can put a coherent thought together.

Sick of Windows but can't afford a Mac? Consult our cynic's guide to desktop Linux

I use Mint. It works and gets the fuck out of your way.

Campaigners warn of legal challenge against Privacy Shield enhancements

Re: Colour me confused

Whenever I land on one of those websites with all that stupid shit, I go elsewhere. Talk about ruining the Internet.

Clearview AI wants its facial-recognition tech in banks, schools, etc

Are we sure his surname isn't Arse Hat?

New audio server Pipewire coming to next version of Ubuntu

So that's tomorrow's project

Re: Be careful with your criticism, a penguin might hear you

Upvote, downvote, I don't care. I'm a big fan of Linux Mint but this sudden audio issue is driving me batty. I'm sure I will eventually get it sorted, but geez.

Yeah? I looked at it today and it's up to version 0.3 or something similar and I thought "nah". I might have to re-evaluate that.

The audio handling of Mint 20.3 on my new desktop machine is appalling. Scratchy sound, perfect sound, scratchy, now no sound.

Just mucking farvellous.

Seriously, this stuff should not even be an issue in the 21st century.

The sad state of Linux desktop diversity: 21 environments, just 2 designs

Re: The curse of overchoice

If you go to linuxmint.com, installation instructions are linked to on the home page. It's very straightforward.

I've been using the Cinnamon version for some years now and see no reason to swap to anything else. It looks sort of Windows like with a start menu and taskbar like desktop.

It's an OS that just gets out of your way and lets you do stuff. You decide when you do updates and what you update. It never nags at you for anything.

You can run a live version from a USB stick to have a poke around, like you can with other Linux distros, so you don't have to commit to installation right from the start.

There are plenty of other worthy versions of Linux, but Mint seems to be one of the more beginner friendly ones, although it's definitely not crippled or limited in any way.

Anyway, that's my 2 cents' worth.

Microsoft brings Cloud PCs and local desktops together in Windows 365

Bilking your "valued customers" for every cent is such a great look.

Ah Microsoft, the leopard that never changes its spots. Sub par operating systems that even decades later still do the same old shit, plus you get to keep paying for them over and over again. Genius.

I'm glad I got out of that scam when I did.

Meta sued for 'aiding and abetting' crypto scammers

Money money money. Who cares if a few people lost exhorbitant amounts of money,as long as Zuckerborg got his ad revenue, right?

I hope the ACCC nail him this time. I've seen those ads and it is a total fucking waste of time reporting them, as FB just conveniently ignores any complaints.

How 6th trade of them. Lalalalala not listening....

This is going well: Meta adds anti-grope buffer zone around metaverse VR avatars

The "metaverse", the new MySpace of virtual reality.

Internet Society condemns UK's Online Safety Bill for demonising encryption using 'think of the children' tactic

Seriously, this....still?

I wonder how many of those in power have even the faintest inkling of how encryption works or why it is a good thing.

I'm guessing pretty close to zero

Australia will force social networks to identify trolls, so they can be sued for defamation

Scotty from marketing is a true political idiot. He even lies about saying things he has actually said, when there is video footage of him saying them, multiple times.

There will be an election here next year, so he's shit talking about all sorts of stuff now, like requiring voters to provide ID to vote, despite there being virtually NO voter fraud in Australia. He's borrowing from the Trump playbook to try and stop vulnerable people from voting.

He is a despicable shit.

FYI: If the latest Windows 11 really wants to use Edge, it will use Edge no matter what

I have no idea what everyone is talking about

I've been happily using Mint for years. I've literally almost forgotten about MS and all their shitful practices. It's quite nice in my computing world. My computer does what I tell it to, not vice versa.

Facebook may soon reveal new name – we're sure Reg readers will be more creative than Zuck's marketroids

Panopticon

Missouri governor demands prosecution of reporter for 'decoding HTML source code' and reporting a data breach

Re: Another example of the GoP leadership championing freedom

Stop talking about Australia like that! Oh, wait....

This is AUKUS for China – US, UK, Australia reveal defence tech-sharing pact

Re: Shenzen, Shanghai, Beijing

Xi Jinping, where you been hiding? We've missed you!

Australia gave police power to compel sysadmins into assisting account takeovers – so they plan to use it

Politicians are, by and large, technologically clueless. The cops say "we need this and that and the other", so to be seen to be "tough on crime", the government mindlessly rams this sort of legislation through parliament. The opposition dare not oppose anything because the government head kickers will inevitably claim they are soft on crime and child porn.

"You're either with us or you are supporting the pedophiles" is a common refrain. There is absolutely no room for a sensible debate on these sorts of matters.

And interfering with encryption is also such a great idea that keeps us all so, so safe.

Australia rules Facebook page operators are legally liable for user comments under posts

Re: Innocent until proven guilty

"A victim of systemic abuse and an A grade jerkoff because of it."

How very fucking sensitive of you. Aboriginal people are way over-represented in jails in Australia, partly because of that systemic abuse. Heard of "Black Deaths in Custody", have we? The treatment given to him was absolutely outrageous, disgusting and over the top. I don't agree with the court's decision, but your comment barely hides your contempt for the vast number of Aboriginal people who have suffered appalling treatment at the hands of white man for over 200 years.

Start or Please Stop? Power users mourn features lost in Windows 11 'simplification'

"Roger Sir, dumbin', it down".

Facebook sat on report that reveals most-shared post for months was questionable COVID story

What I mostly see on Facebook is a shitload of ads and "suggested for you" shite,plus a another load of conspiracy theory fuckwits. I know, I know....

Once again, Facebook champions privacy ... of its algorithms: Independent probe into Instagram shut down

Yes we value your privacy so much that we'll sue your arse off if you even so much as dare to try to find out how much shit we collect about you. Facebook is such a lovey, caring company.

Apple responds to critics of CSAM scan plan with FAQs, says it'd block governments subverting its system

Apple says they will never cave in to governments for surveillance.

That's OK then.

What could possibly go wrong?

Apple is about to start scanning iPhone users' devices for banned content, professor warns

This has got "clusterfuck" written all over it.

Microsoft's Cloud PCs debut – priced between $20 and $158 a month

The third paragraph made my eyes glaze over. TLDR

Ex-health secretary said 'vast majority' were 'onside' with GP data grab. Consumer champion Which? reckons 20 million don't even know what it is

Re: Down the rabbit hole

It sounds like typical government weasel words....i.e., we'll build a legal wall around ourselves and do what we want, regardless of what you opted in or out of.

Here in Australia we have My Health Record, which I have opted out of. Yeah, giving the government access to your health record is SUCH a good idea. Wait till the health insurance companies come knocking. Colour me extremely cynical.

Slacking off? It used to be there was pretty much one place to chat with your fellow developers: IRC

I used to belong to a 3D graphics SIG on IRC many years ago. We used to share tips and tricks, engage in discussions about this and that. It was actually really good. Social media before there was the abomination that is now called "social media".

The cockroach of Windows, XP, lives on in London's Victoria Coach Station

Coaches are arriving and departing? You know we have thingies powered by internal combustion engines and electricity now, right?

Windows 11: What we like and don't like about Microsoft's operating system so far

"Android software support aside, these are relatively superficial features, and Microsoft will not dare to introduce changes that might break application compatibility with Windows 10. "

Err, you're writing about Microsoft, yeah?

Imagine a world where Apple shacked up with Xerox in the '80s: How might it look today?

Re: Xerox

I worked for Rank and then Fuji Xerox in the 80s and 90s. 9700s, 9790s and 4135s were my thing then. Fun times, especially at 3am on a Saturday when a laser shit itself.

Tens of millions of NeXT devices and Apple buying Xerox. Good one!

Audacity users stick the knife – and fork – in to strip audio editor of unwanted features

The Open Source Sound Engineer and Recorder, or TOSSER.

Reverb maybe?

The splitting image: Sufferer of hurty wrist pain? Logitech's K860 a potential answer

I'm wedded to my mechanical Ducky Zero. A satisfying click and enough tactile response to keep me happy. To each their own of course.

UK artists seek 'luvvie levy' on new gadgets to make up for all the media that consumers access online

In breaking news, restaurant owners demand a tax on all kitchenware that is then paid to them, because people are *gasp* cooking at home!

London Greenwich station: A reminder of former glories. Like Windows XP

Re: re" FORMAT C:

Now stop that....

Blessed are the cryptographers, labelling them criminal enablers is just foolish

Welcome to the world of Australian policy making. That's why we have such god awful asylum seeker policies; fear of the other or unknown.

We seem to have materialized in a universe in which Barney the Purple Dinosaur is designing iPhones for Apple

What's next, tangerine iMacs? Oh, wait....

Australian ponders requiring multiple IDs to sign up for social media, plus more crypto-busting backdoors

Here we go again

with this bullshit. Technologically incompetent politicians desperate to be seen "doing something". There is no way in hell I'm providing my driving license details, with my picture on it, or any other forms of ID to any social media company. Not. Gonna. Happen.

In the end I'm guessing this has about as much chance of becoming law as there is of me walking across Lake Burley Griffin.

Don't be a fool, cover your tool: How IBM's mighty XT keyboard was felled by toxic atmosphere of the '80s

Re: Keyboard covers are 'mandatory' in the healthcare sector...

Not they ain't. Was in hospital last week for a few hours. No sign of plastic covered computers, mice or anything else.

Facebook bans sharing of news in Australia – starting now – rather than submit to pay-for-news-plan

Oh yeah bring on the downvotes with no comments. Go for it, gutless wondes!

Re: re: Blocking the ABC is downright dangerous

Ooooo lots of downvotes for the cheap shots. Excellent!