Posts by Potemkine!

Court orders encrypted email biz Tutanota to build a backdoor in user's mailbox, founder says 'this is absurd'

Abusing backdoors?

Naughty people

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

Woops

In one hand, it isn't that great for a cybersecurity company to be hacked.

In the other hand, there are two types of companies, the ones which were hacked and the ones which didn't know they were hacked.

Having more details on the attack and having tips on how to counter it would be useful. Being open and transparent is IMNSHO the best way to go in that case.

Cisco challenges the tyranny of Outlook with short, self-terminating Webex meetings

"building the relationships they need to be successful"

Put a free cafe machine in the office, the best way to make co-workers socialize.

Having to deal almost everyday with Teams and Webex, I prefer the latter: much more enduring, no lag, no audio cut whatever the number of participants, not like the former.

The shiny new devices marketing loves? Hmmm... I will let the marketing play with it, I don't need more crap on my desk, thank you.

Pure frustration: What happens when someone uses your email address to sign up for PayPal, car hire, doctors, security systems and more

I get plenty of emails from sites which don't verify email addresses before sending mails. Generally it's from US websites dealing with US customers: I guess they don't mind abusing people.

When this is about membership, I generally ask a password reset, connect, and change the mail settings to "[e-mail]". And then I'm not spammed by this site again.

Cops raid home of ousted data scientist who created her own Florida COVID-19 dashboard

I do, however I'm not the only one to vote. Problem is when the idiots are taking over

Incredible

Cops coming with guns out in a house with kids inside... what a crazy country.

I hope we'll never reach that level of nonsense this side of the ocean.

Chuck Yeager, sound barrier pioneer pilot, dies at 97

To boldly go where no man has gone before

RIP Mr. Yeager.

Chuck Yeager's Air Combat was one of my favourite games during the 90s

Alphabet's internet Loon balloon kept on station in the sky using AI that beat human-developed control code

Re: Over complicated?

An HMS vessel may have motors to keep its position. We're not talking here about a airship but a hot air balloon: moving following X and Y-axis is possible only by catching the appropriate wind pushing in the right direction. And to do so the only way is to intervene on the Z-axis.

Laggardly HPE kisses Joe Biden's ring, whispers Uncle Sam's IT in dire need of modernisation

*Slurrrrrrrp*

The inspiring bootlicker's cry.

China unleashes fearsome new cyber-weapon: A very provocative meme

You make the confusion between a whole nation and the rogue actions of some of its soldiers.

Because Australia dealt openly with those actions, it cannot be considered accomplice of those killings.

Something that cannot be said for example for China regarding the Tiananmen Square Massacre for instance.

IMNSHO, Australian politicos' answer is not the good one. It only gives more weight to China's trolling, and everybody should know it: never feed the troll.

Summon Chinese ambassador to scold would have been the good diplomatic option.

Everybody not brainwashed with Xi's propaganda knows that China has no lesson to give: Xinjiang "re-education" camps, Laogai, systematic crackdown on dissent is China's reality.

China is becoming more and more aggressive. Democracies have to stand with Australia.

Trumpian politics continue as senators advance controversial Republican FCC commissioner nominee

Evil empire

In other words, the desire to prevent the other side from achieving anything has already overtaken every other consideration.

When respecting election results and voters wishes is not a priority but keeping power at any cost is, then one can consider that people involved in these efforts don't give a fuck about democracy and can be considered as enemies of it.

Glastonbury hippy shop Hemp in Avalon rapped for spouting 'plandemic' pseudoscience

Never trust a hippie

Let all these people do their nonsense. Natural selection will sort the things out.

Infused with the spirit of Christmas, TalkTalk decides to extend cut-off deadline for Business email domain

Re: Maybe they could....

I wonder if this double announcement is not part of the communication strategy:

- First, scare customers, so they get the message loud and clear

- Next, offer them some relievement for free, making the company looking like the good guys after all.

IBM warns Global Tech Services staff that 346 UK heads will roll in latest redundancy action

If there was an Olympic game of PR BS...

IBM would be a good medal contender.

When it comes to taxing tech giants, America is out, France is in, Canada and Indonesia are going their own way

The logic would say that if you do business here, you pay tax here like anybody else, like any SME for instance. Closing the loopholes enabling multinational companies to do creative accounting could be more efficient than a dedicated tax, but it seems that the 'lobbying' (in other words 'corruption') made by these companies towards lawmakers forbids that option. It enables those megacorps to practice unfair competition to the detriment of small businesses, and their bosses to get richer and richer every year.

Scotch eggs ascend to the 'substantial meal' pantheon as means to pop to pub for a pint during pernicious pandemic

What I don't get about this rule is that this study shows that restaurants are COVID hotspots, and the longer you stay in, the riskier it is. So what's the point to make people eat in pubs?

Following a safety logic, as long as vaccines are not massively available, restaurants and bars should stay closed.

China's Chang'e-5 lands on the Moon to scratch surface

No picture of the landing in the media. Is there no camera on board? I doubt it.

China like to do things secretly. Dictatorships are paranoid.

'We've heard the feedback...' Microsoft 365 axes per-user productivity monitoring after privacy backlash

Privacy? What's that?

You bloody commie Europeans! Why don't you just shut up and obey like anybody else? We're talking about MONEY dammit! What is more important than the golden calf?

Tokyo Stock Exchange lets CEO resign to atone for October outage, other execs take pay cuts and rebukes

A CEO resigning without having a big paycheck? Or without a golden parachute? That would be shocking for the C-class

Cayman Islands investment fund left entire filestore viewable by world+dog in unsecured Azure blob

Would it be possible to pass all these data to the tax authorities worldwide? Just in case someone used this fund located in a tax heaven to avoid to pay his / her fair share of taxes.

For every disastrous rebrand, there is an IT person trying to steer away from the precipice

Re: Oh yes...

On the other hand, a friend of mine was blamed by his boss for not having done what wasn't asked to him... Many people need a scapegoat, it avoids painful retrospection.

Forget Snow Day: Baltimore's 115,000+ public school kids get Ransomware Day, must check Win PCs for infection

Next step

Ransomware targetting android devices.

PC makers warn of battle for air freight capacity, will have to fight for cargo space with... the COVID-19 vaccine

The reports of PC death are greatly exaggerated

Aren't they?

If I pedal faster and feed it spinach, my robot barman might pull more pints

Never underestimate the sheer stupidity of the Administration

In public or private sectors, technocrats are very, very good at creating stupid rules. COVID is a blessing for them, they can show how creative they can be.

If something doesn't change through times, it's bureaucracy. I expect it to be still in place in 2200 - if there are still humans, that is.

Uri Geller calls off 20-year ban on Pokémon trading card that 'stole' his 'signature image'

"Whether people talk about me for good or bad, it doesn't matter. The main thing is that they are talking about me!"

Mysterious Utah monolith mysteriously disappears without trace

Reconnaissance complete

As you will no doubt be aware, the plans for development of the outlying regions of the Galaxy require the building of a hyperspatial express route through your star system, and regrettably, your planet is one of those scheduled for demolition. The process will take slightly less than two of your Earth minutes. Thank you.

Privacy campaigner flags concerns about Microsoft's creepy Productivity Score

" for users' own good"

Because we are too childish to know what's good for us.

Thank you MS for taking care of us ! :puke:

How the US attacked Huawei: Former CEO of DocuSign and Ariba turned diplomat Keith Krach tells his tale

Re: Which People ?

That's why governments don't trust the cloudy office stuff, for example (I know from sources that there is a lot of concern about the first point).

As soon as your data are outside of the EU, they are not safe.

Problem is, we don't even know if data stored in EU datacenters are not backed up/ extracted to other locations. What secret agreements exist between GAFA and the NSA or one of the other 16 US 'intelligence' agencies? Snowden showed us the US cannot be trusted.

Sopra Steria: Adding up outages and ransomware cleanup, Ryuk attack will cost us up to €50m

Having technical details on how their AD was infected and what they did to clean up would be useful for everyone. Much more than financial data, unless El Reg wants to become the new WSJ?

Boeing 737 Max will return to flight after software updates, says EU's aviation regulator

Nonetheless...

... I'll try to avoid to ever board a MAX, thank you.

The design of that plane is bad, period.

Comcast to impose 1.2TB-a-month broadband download limits across more of America from next year

40€/month for 1 Gbps (symmetrical), with 100 TV channels and phone line included. No limitation whatsoever. "Si tu as Free tu as tout compris" ^^

Alibaba chief says China's new internet laws aren’t just good, they’re right and welcome and necessary

Go figure

What did happen to the last chinese citizen who publicly disagreed with the Chinese governement?

Ticketmaster: We're not liable for credit card badness because the hack straddled GDPR day

Re: 3rd party Javascript

I'm on the same boat.

If the website requires third party JS to make business, then bye!

Re: Ticket master

+ PR people, insurers and bankers.

Considering the colonisation of Mars? Werner Herzog would like a word

Re: There’s hope yet!

"that allow people to feel good about the batteries they haul around while still polluting and costing a fortune to maintain.". Because you think that building and recycling batteries is non pollutant? And neither is electricity production?

I agree cars using fossil fuels have to disappear, but battery-powered EV are not the solution for everybody, just for urban people who don't need to travel.

Yep, the usual suspects are sitting down to feast: Dominant vendors get a fat slice of CIA cloud pie and so do IBM and Oracle

They forgot Alibaba!

(rolleyes)

Intel chief pens congratulatory letter to President-elect Biden urging work on immigration and domestic manufacturing

In democracies, when someone gets more votes than his/her opponent, he/she's elected. I know it doesn't happen each time in the US, but nobody who is serious considers the US as a model of democracy. I understand you are disappointed that your rigged system of yours didn't ensure once again the (far-) rightwinged candidate to win despite losing the popular vote, and this despite the many efforts of the GOP to suppress voters, but it's time for you for a reality check.

I work therefore I ache: Logitech aims to ease WFH pains with Ergo M575 trackball mouse

Does it exist for left-handed mutants like me or are we once again considered as a despicable minority which can be safely ignored?

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

ThE TruTH iS OuT TheRe

That icon seems appropriate, doesn't it ? ^^

One does not simply shove elephants on a ballet shoe point and call it an acceptable measure of pressure

or 5cm x 5cm if you're calibrated for the 21st century

Because 5 cm² doesn't sound 21st century ? :~

Not sunshine, moonlight or good times – blame it on the buggy

Ave Alistairus!

We don't ever blame the computer to err.

We also blame the intern. Or the cleaning lady / man who removed that wire connecting the systems.

Tell me who you blame, I'll tell you who you are.

Billionaire's Pagani Pa-gone-i after teen son takes hypercar out for a drive, trashes it

Daddy's gonna pay for your crashed car

A $3,400,000 toy crashed when so many next door starve... what a fucked-up world.

UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson pledges £12bn green economy package

Electric cars are not a solution per se for CO2 reduction if electricity is made from coal or gas.

There's also the problem of the grid, that may not sustain such an increase in use. Making and recycling batteries cleanly aren't easy challenges too.

The solution is Hydrogen. We know it works: Toyota, Honda, Hyundai have all commercial vehicles already available. Two weak points: industrializing the way to produce 'clean' hydrogen, and developing the filling stations everywhere. But it's definitively the best solution.

Linux Foundation, IBM, Cisco and others back ‘Inclusive Naming Initiative’ to change nasty tech terms

Re: So... looking at their alternative names...

No Master and Slave anymore?

It's a discrimination against the BDSM community!

Apple to halve commission for developers turning over up to $1m in sales via App Store

how Apple can justify taking a 30% cut of App Store purchases when said store hasn't changed much in years and so ongoing development costs would be either very low or close to zero

Value is not related to cost. Benefit is the link between value and cost. You cannot claim the value is low because the cost is, nor the opposite.

Watchdog signals Boeing 737 Max jets can return to US skies following software upgrade, pilot training

Watchdog or poodle?

FAA showed too much collusion with Boeing to be trusted anymore. Fixing the MAX is one thing, fixing FAA is another. Both should be fixed before both can ask to be trusted again.

ESA's Vega rocket crashes and burns after fourth-stage nozzle failure sinks two satellites

It seems the problem comes from two wires inverted during the manufacturing. There's a big quality problem, such a thing should not happen in the space industry.

I guess the manufacturer involved will feel the heat in the coming days

Behold, the Ultimately Large Telescope: A revived proposal for a 100-metre liquid-mirror star scanner on the Moon

Re: Shot to the Moon

AFAIK, the Moon is closer to Mars environment than the Earth is. For instance, Earth is protected from solar and space radiations, Moon is not, Mars just a few. Earth conditions make cooling easy, it's much more difficult on the Moon with no atmosphere or on Mars with its very tiny one. If something works on the Moon, it will work on Mars.

If the final goal is to colonize Mars, let's start with the Moon. Experiment rovers able to build shelters, or to dig and extract water, let's be more innovative! It's just a 3 days trip, not a 9 months every other year.

Trump fires cybersecurity boss Chris Krebs for doing his job: Securing the election and telling the truth about it

Re: Come to watch the lunatic

It needed 7 international coalitions to bring him down, and his last major defeat was when he was greatly outnumbered. May Grouchy have come instead of Blücher...

69 victories, 8 defeats, 2 draws, few generals can claim such a record, knowing that many of his victories were the direct consequences of his orders, like during the Siege of Toulon, Austerlitz or Friedland. Strategically he made many mistakes, but tactically he was a real genius.