Posts by MrReynolds2U

Accounting expert told judge Autonomy was wrong not to disclose hardware sales

Re: Pardon?

Under "dual criminality" what he's accused of in the US must be a crime under UK law. It must also carry a prison sentence of at least a year.

Now I'm not sure we have an equivalent of "wire fraud" in the UK. Do we?

It's a no to ZFS in the Linux kernel from me, says Torvalds, points finger of blame at Oracle licensing

Re: Hypocritical

"it was always difficult to remember WTF you did 3 or 4 years ago last time the server re-booted"

Did you have an unstable server? The only time we ever rebooted a Novell box was when the cleaners unplugged it. We found it under a pile of paperwork in a storage room. Probably still running now...

If at first you don't succeed, pry, pry again: Feds once again demand Apple unlock encrypted iPhones in yet another terrorism case

If you phone (any brand) is setup to receive auto updates for certain apps or security updates, it's not an arduous task to gain access if you happen to control the app store or OS itself. Plus there are still ways to change phone configurations like APN via special SMS messages, or you can simply create a local tower and MITM any connections.

Re: No more iPhones, check.

Since the provider's software or website created the hash in the first place, it's a very simple task to re-create it to a known password hash and then back again. If you have access to the back-end systems there are all manner of ways to get in unless the data is encrypted using an end-user-based key.

Microsoft engineer caught up in sudden spate of entirely coincidental grilling of Iranian-Americans at US borders

Re: And the consequenques fo failing to act?

If Israel or Brits were to do the same thing, they wouldn't leave their fingerprints on it or publicise it; however everyone would secretly know they were behind it.

If the US were to carry out the assassination, perhaps they should have just turned around and said, "Yep we did it. He bombed our embassy. Here endeth the lesson." Without all the usual bluster and double-speak.

Smart speaker maker Sonos takes heat for deliberately bricking older kit with 'Trade Up' plan

Re: Sonos said

That single phrase (that you quoted) shows you that this is about brand protection and reputation, not about the environment.

Why can't passport biometrics see through my cunning disguise?

Re: Checks

I often get 'randomly-selected' for additional checks at airport security gates.

To be fair I did once forget there was a screwdriver in my carry-on work bag and they only discovered it about 5 minutes into my search. I was shocked and disappointed... that my favourite screw driver they put in the bin.

That's Microsoft price: Now you can enjoy a BSOD from the comfort of your driving seat

ha ha ha ha

Royal Bank of Scotland IT contractor ban sparks murmurs of legal action

Then the banks are fucked... time to switch bank and stock investments maybe.

I've never had anything approaching what I consider a reasonable standard of work from Indian outsourced companies.

Labour: Free British broadband for country if we win general election

Re: @steelpillow and ImAlrightJack

That's not even true, at all

Re: @steelpillow and ImAlrightJack

"non-discriminatory access" ... just, lol

Or maybe they're better now but I can remember large numbers of "lost" jobs, extra planning and costs and scheduling problems when work was requested by non-BT subsidiaries.

Magic Leap rattles money tin, assigns patents to a megabank, sues another ex-staffer... But fear not, all's fine

Re: I don't think we'll ever see that happening in politics

"Toute nation a le gouvernement qu'elle mérite."

- Joseph de Maistre

50 years ago, someone decided it would be OK to fire Apollo 12 through a rain cloud. Awks, or just 'SCE to Aux'?

Re: And just *where*

the moon landings were actually filmed on the other side of this flat Earth that we live on

UK Home Office: We will register thousands of deactivated firearms with no database

Re: They could start a joint venture with the drone registry

I was once an administrative contractor for ComputaCentre who managed BT's IT desktop infrastructure.

I was working in a Service Delivery Office when we were advised some HQ people were rewriting our scheduling system in Excel. At the time this meant single-user write access which was limiting given that we worked in teams of two. I pointed this out to both my manager and the visiting HQ lot but was told "yes it's something we're hoping to get around."

They got around the Excel issue by reducing the teams to one getting rid of the contractors... which was obviously always the plan. I was let go as part of a cost-cutting exercise shortly afterwards. Decent wage, nice people but massive lack of IT knowledge for a supposed IT company.

Surveillance kit slinger accused of slapping 'Made in America' on Chinese gear, selling it to the US government

Re: "some of the allegedly dodgy gear contained known security vulnerabilities"

definitely not made in American then; or else it would _all_ contain security vulnerabilities... sorry government stipulated back-doors

Blood, snot and fear: Why the travelling lone tech reporter should always knock twice

Re: Interesting problem

Typically the door key is processed separately by keying in the room number. That's legacy systems at least.

Remember the Uber self-driving car that killed a woman crossing the street? The AI had no clue about jaywalkers

Re: Surely

sounds Heart of Gold like... wonder how it would classify a bowl of petunias?

Brit spending watchdog questions where savings will come from in court digitisation reforms

which of the Crapita-type companies is involved in this shit-show?

A stranger's TV went on spending spree with my Amazon account – and web giant did nothing about it for months

Re: virtual credit cards

"chargeback" is the process of reclaiming a disputed payment.

Do you mean "pre-authorisation" which checks if the card can cover a payment and reserves that amount ready to be "authorised" (claimed) later. It's a common practice when setting up online payment methods or using Pay-at-Pump petrol (gas) stations. In fact it used to be a stipulation of the card companies that an online retailer could not take money from your card until they had shipped your order.

Delayed, over-budget smart meters will be helpful – when Blighty enters 'Star Trek phase'

My colleague had BG come out to fit new gas and electric smart meters a few weeks ago.

The chap said he couldn't get the two meters to communicate properly and left.

Since then his power has been tripping on a random basis.

It sounds like the roll-out is going as well as any large-scale tech project does.

Boffins blow hot and cold over li-ion battery that can cut leccy car recharging to '10 mins'

Re: "simple but elegant"

A lot of people live in apartments or pedestrianised areas. This is a significant hurdle to overcome when it comes to EV ownership. In lower income areas the investment isn't going to be made in that infrastructure because those on lower incomes can't afford EVs.

The UK (and other countries) has plans to block sales of fossil-fuel-based cars which could well further dis-enfranchise poorer families who don't have the means to change to EVs. The governments argument against this would be "use public transport" but I often find that method of travel completely impractical*.

I count myself among those people who would switch if economically, habitually and environmentally sound and feasible. Currently, this isn't the case.

*a 5 mile commute becomes 2 buses + 25 minute walk. Plus 20-30 minutes become 60-90.

Q. Who's triumphantly slamming barn door shut after horse bolted at warp 9? A. NordVPN

Re: Our "almost secure" product sounds just right for you

nah, send us your credit card details written in invisible ink

Re: Just out of curiousity....

FYI: you can use PureVPN with built-in VPN software on phones and computers. You don't need to use their APP.

Re: Just out of curiousity....

This is not a SNUFU!

Their core businesss is supposed to be protecting your internet traffic and they can't protect their own network. Given the list of screw-ups, I would be walking away... but I'd also be getting refunds as their service is not fit for purpose.

Amazon is saying nothing about the DDoS attack that took down AWS, but others are

Re: The trouble with clouds

How about a measure of reaction time in AZT (the mean Amazon response time to a fault).

1 AZT = roughly equivalent to 5 hours of earth time or 36,000 NY minutes

UK ads watchdog slaps Amazon for UX dark arts after folk bought Prime subs they didn't want

Prime Video... where pretty much everything you want to watch requires you to "buy or rent" from the store.

Aviation's been Boeing through a rough patch: Software tweaks blamed for Airbus A220 failures

Re: Just wondering

Aye... Eurofighter/Typhoon for example.

Designed to be aerodynamically unstable for maximum manoeuvrability.

I'm not Boeing anywhere near that: Coder whizz heads off jumbo-sized maintenance snafu

Re: 767

Worth more than a pint but I'm a bit short because I've just filled the car with petrol :)

Who's the leakiest of them all? It's the UK's public sector, breach fine analysis reveals

Fine = total budget reduced = IT budget reduced = less money / time spent on security = more data security problems in future

Not LibreOffice too? Beloved open-source suite latest to fall victim to the curse of Catalina

<cough /> ... have you read the article?

US customers kick up class-action stink over Epson's kyboshing of third-party ink

My HP Colour laser has similar (by) design flaws. Their consumables are extortionate but thankfully generics are easily (and cheaply) obtained.

Often had to unscrew and reset the toner level indicator on Brother toners which reported empty but still had plenty of powder left. Other than that, would recommend for SOHO uses*

Been stung by Canon and Lexmark colour lasers before so would never recommend them.

*unless you're using in actual Soho... because the contrast isn't great ;)

Hands off our phones, says Google: Radar-gesture-sensing Pixel 4 just $999 with a 3-year lifespan – great value!

Re: ... gesture sensitive

get that app built!!!

Welcome to the World Of Tomorrow, where fridges suffer certificate errors. Just like everything else

Re: But...!!

Schrödinger's light ?

Private equity to gobble up Brit virus blocker Sophos for £3bn

That's the end of them then.

I would not be surprised if their quality and response drop, their prices will go up and suspicion will be raised about potential 3rd party involvement... endpoint security products are a great place to hide government spyware.

How bad is Catalina? It's almost Apple Maps bad: MacOS 10.15 pushes Cupertino's low bar for code quality lower still

Re: Not Windows Vista bad

You can't really directly compare Win10 issues with iOS issues.

iOS is installed on kit that Apple have designed and only that kit.

Win10 gets installed on all manner of kit in infinite combinations of fun.

Kiss my ASCII, Microsoft – we've got one million fewer daily active users than you, boasts Slack

I wonder how many of MS Teams active user count is someone turning on their PC after removing Teams and it re-installing itself and opening on startup?

From my perspective it installs and re-installs itself like malware.

Former BAE Systems contractor charged with 'damaging disclosure' of UK defence secrets

Re: A common misconeption

I had to sign the OSA on day one at Yellow Pages when I was doing advert corrections. It seemed a little OTT even then.

Windows 10 update panic: Older VMware Workstation Pro app broken

Re: "Win XP only seemed good because they finally built a desktop OS on the NT kernel"

Ah "Windows NT4 Workstation" ... I don't think I ever saw one in the wild

You only need to click once, fool: Gaming rig sales up as Trump presses continue on trade tariff tussle

One potential explanation..

Threaten tariffs so the market buys kit now before the prices go up which makes it look like the market is buoyant.

Then delay tariffs until wholesalers have stocked up for Christmas which keeps the supply level high and consumers can spend in the run-up to Christmas.

Then once tariffs are in place (after domestic electronics firms have had time to adjust their supply chain), people will buy US due to the price differentials on imported kit.

Quic! Head to the latest Chrome version and try out HTTP/3

Re: So, turn the Internet upside-down over this?

Why on earth don't you just turn WiFi off when you leave the house?

Why worry about cost of banning certain Chinese comms providers? Fire Huawei, says analyst

"Companies know that the main threat they face in terms of cyber espionage and hacking comes from China."

So said the American... just LOL

That time Windows got blindsided by a ball of plasma, 150 million kilometres away

Re: isopropyl alcohol?????

Apparently DMHO in its liquid form is a side-affect of this whole global warming lark.

It's such a dangerous compound by all accounts.

Three UK slammed for 'ripping off' loyal mobile customers by £32.4m per year

Re: O2 and 3rd Parties

I had once had a very attractive POMP :)

It was the equivalent of the latest Samsung at the time and less than £100.

Re: Bonuses

so... Michael O'Leary's deal... As part of the deal, his current pay will be halved to €1m and he will be given share options at a fixed price (that he would have to buy for €111m - they are not a gift).

Conditions (one of):

- double the current share price to €21 (currently €10 with a previous high of €18.60 in 2017)

- RyanAir to make €2bn+ profit in a year (€1.45bn in 2018)

The €99m figure comes from the potential resale value of those share options if he takes them up AND he raises the share price as per the conditions. It's not guaranteed but it seems like a good deal for the investors who haven't been paid a dividend in a few years.

Of course, in order to meet the necessary conditions, they'll need the 737-Max to be re-approved or they'll need to find additional saving in flesh-bags or chargeable add-ons like... seat belts, use of the toilet etc.

I couldn't possibly tell you the computer's ID over the phone, I've been on A Course™

Re: He should be proud that of that guy

My personal favourite was sending a newbies off for a bucket of steam. The lad I sent off knew it was a piss-take and actually came back with a lidded container of boiling water and steam. It wasn't a bad effort.

Take two cornerstones of British life, booze and queues, then squirt them with face scans: AI Bar

Courtesy and appreciation

Find a decent bar-person, tip them (it doesn't need to be much) and smile and thank them.

For this, the next round you'll be served a lot quicker because we'll remember:

a) your face

b) the drinks you want

c) that you were courteous to us

Solution looking for a problem methinks.

Icon - what not to be or you'll be earning penalty queue time.

Watch as 10 cops with guns and military camo storm suspected Capital One hacker's house…

Re: I'm confused.

yep - bought from same place as orange baby's toilet

Satellites with lasers and machine guns coming! China's new plans? Trump's Space Force? Nope, the French

Re: Anti-Satellite isn't that hard

"(icon: How can you hear that they are black helicopters?)"

you certainly couldn't in space ;)

Backdoors won't weaken your encryption, wails FBI boss. And he's right. They won't – they'll fscking torpedo it

So... didn't need to backdoor the encryption then.

Also, encryption has f-all to do with anonymisation.

Double also... yes, "Prove it."

Re: my solution

"What’s your solution? How do you propose to ensure that the hardworking men and women of law enforcement sworn to protect you and your families maintain lawful access to the information they need to do their jobs?"

erm... we don't. This was your idea. We told you it can't be done. If YOU think it can, then have at it.