* Posts by NATTtrash

558 publicly visible posts • joined 6 Apr 2019

Page:

How Windows got to version 3 – an illustrated history

NATTtrash
Pint

These packages worked fine...

Basically, for 90% of I needed to then and since these packages worked fine.

Indeed, very true. And that is something that never stops to amaze me: listening to "others" nowadays, it all seems to hinge on "The Only One"™ and no alternatives "exist". Or should even be considered!

Reading through Nina's piece I had vague (Age? Booze?) memories of GEOS on the C64. Which did the job too, making me happy since I could not afford a PC yet. It all worked fine, despite the PITA of printing the final version of your project report on a 8 pins Oki printer... the night before you had to hand it in... ALL through the night..... Niiiiii, clank, niiiiiiiiiii, clack, niiiiiiiiiii, clank. Luckily my bed was located above the cupboard with the Oki... in a very careful configuration so the paper didn't tangle/ jam...

But yes, I agree. Later managed to get an IBM 30 out of a bust office auction. And WordPerfect 4.2 on it was... well, perfect. The WYSIWYG graphics of 5.0 were just "unnecessary indulgence". Quattro Pro did everything I do today too. CorelDraw let me make those images that looked very nifty in Harvard Graphics. And yes, ReferenceManager gave you that feeling automation really, REALLY saved you SO MUCH time and work. (Who of you have done, like me, their in text literature refs by hand,,, and then had to reorder all subsequent references and their list at the end 10.000 times, because you added reference #24? ;)))

Microsoft got lucky

@Liam: THX for the piece Liam! Let me add a thought here: I also think it was (just) very clever marketing. What I do remember from those days too that Microsoft "allowed" people to copy and use Windows everywhere. Everybody had a copy of Windows on their home computer. The running argument was that if people used it at home, they would nag their boss to also get it at work (where the MS money is made). It was all over the place, everybody gave it to everybody. And it was all good. And possible, since all could use it on their PCs. Contrary to the (way more expensive) Apple (software). And thus MicroSoft applied the "dealer-dependancy" model which works up to this day: give it away for free, get them hooked on it, and then charge them for it.

But yeah... "No fancy windows, no unnecessary bloat, just basic, it works, software". Happy days...

Feature phones all the rage as parents try to shield kids from harm

NATTtrash
Big Brother

Re: Not Trusting Apps --- Resistance is futile

Me: "I don't install apps on my phone."

Them: "But why not?"

Well, you must be of a certain age, believing there is something ethereal like free choice and all that...

Council of the EU, Press release, 26 March 2024 10:30

European digital identity (eID): Council adopts legal framework on a secure and trustworthy digital wallet for all Europeans

...or...

BENEFITS: Why EU Digital Identity Wallets

And yes, this is the EU. But don't smirk. I'm not so confident that other territories will let this opportunity slip by unused.

The future everyone wanted – in-car ads tailored to your journey and passengers

NATTtrash
Pint

Re: Another strong argument...

I know, it's just a trivial, silly remark, but what about... ermm safety? I seems that the drivers attention is required fully to operate and steer the vehicle safely. I'm sure everybody reading this can mention IRL examples of seeing drivers, whose attention was "distracted"? Then again, I'm sure you lot can all text and drive perfectly at the same time.

So yeah, let's not do drugs and alcohol in traffic, let's be modern and do phones and in-car ads...

<Hello there cloud...>

Brace for glitches and GRUB grumbles as Ubuntu 24.04.1 lands

NATTtrash
Coffee/keyboard

About time...

Canonical says that it's time to update your desktop...

Yeah, true. Was planning to snap into action this week and download the Wilma ISO...

Chrome Web Store warns end is nigh for uBlock Origin

NATTtrash
Childcatcher

Re: Firefox anyone?

Then again, it will be interesting to see who this will play out long term. After all, Google is one of the largest, if not THE largest source of income for Mozilla. This grumpy person has seen many examples where bottom line always wins over principles™. But even if that happens, it might be amusing to see how it will be worded this time...

Lights, camera, AI! Real-time deepfakes coming to DEF CON

NATTtrash

Re: "In an interview with The Register, Kovacs said..."

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yB-JzPBJalA???

Latest update for 'extremely fast' compression algorithm LZ4 sprints past old versions

NATTtrash
Pint

Re: "...extremely fast compression...."

Actually Liam, yeah it does. Cheers!

NATTtrash
Boffin

Re: "...extremely fast compression...."

Simple user trying to understand...

On some hardware, LZ4 1.10 compresses data over five and up to nearly ten times faster than previous releases by using multiple CPU cores in parallel.

So how is this different then to pigz (https://github.com/madler/pigz) and pxz (https://github.com/jnovy/pxz), that, as far as I know, also do multi-core and we already have some time?

Linux Mint 22 'Wilma' still the Bedrock choice for moving off Windows

NATTtrash
Go

Re: Awkward truths.

To be fair, the XApps initiative is something in that direction, isn't it?

https://github.com/linuxmint/xapp

Firefox 128 bumps system requirements for old boxes

NATTtrash
Gimp

Re: "Father Knows Best" Attitude

...increasing amounts of Father-Knows-Best-ism in mainstream Linux distros.

And Gnome. And CSD. And snaps. And GTK4. And license changes. And Wayland. And esm. And...

Devs claim Apple is banning VPNs in Russia 'more effectively' than Putin

NATTtrash

Re: Doing Business

That's like doing business in Germany in the 1939-1945 period.

Why are you surprised? Since inventing it, humans by default seem to go for "opportunities" making them vast quantities of money.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IBM_and_the_Holocaust

Linux Mint 22 beta sprinkles Cinnamon desktop on Ubuntu

NATTtrash

pdf-arranger perhaps working for you?

https://github.com/pdfarranger/pdfarranger

Switzerland to end 2024 with an analog FM broadcast-killing bang

NATTtrash
Gimp

Re: Australia uses AM for emergency broadcasts

The second service to usually fail is the cellular network and internet, right after the power fails.

Very, very true. I would even venture to say that they go before base power fails. But that is a bit difficult to understand for a generation/ society that doesn't dare to leave the house without a mobile glued to their hand. Will be interesting though if somebody in the future strikes that Pompeii-like archeological find from the 21st century: "They met their end apparently, sitting in the corner, staring passively at in their hand. We are not sure about this behaviour, it might be something religious..." Ah well, if it doesn't appear on the screen of your mob, it isn't true any way...

Tetris Company celebrates classic game's 40th birthday

NATTtrash

Re: Memories...

Perhaps..? "Do one thing and do it well"

Kudos for bashing it out...

https://github.com/dkorolev/bash-tetris/blob/master/tetris.sh

Microsoft accused of tracking kids with education software

NATTtrash

Well, to be fair, there is a bias with the El Reg audience of course. But I would not be surprised if it's (also) an expression of the "bought it but never mine" dislike under the surface, having no control.

Then again, I have no doubt that the same audience happily carries around their phones and would go back home if it turns out they left their home without it...

For me, that also applies to this discussion: I do agree that the MS product is rubbish, not worth your business. However, we all buy/ use it, and are hit with emotions ranging from anxiety to "shrug and sloth" when change is suggested... (Yeah, sure, I know this is not you because you run your potato server 1976 edition. Don't be silly and do the Doctors Dot and Bubble please)

Microsoft gives Windows admins a break and MFA a hard push

NATTtrash
Big Brother

Re: MFA doesn't make things secure.

Indeed. And what better (commercial) opportunity is there to gather all that user specific profile data with the justification "You have to do it, it is the law!"?

Go after UnitedHealth, not us, 100+ medical groups urge Uncle Sam

NATTtrash
Boffin

The public dealt with the health care providers and entrusted them with their data.

Looking at this from my own professional perspective: do/ did they really? From the EU countries I work(ed) in as MD, Germany is the only one where patients are asked specifically, every time, to note, and to approve/ decline consult data stored/ transferred. And even there the situation is changing rapidly. Even though the basic concept is different there (long term, patient is physical holder of medical data, not MD nor institute) that too is changing as far as possible under the stricter German data protection laws, the latest "digital medicine" plans of the German Health minister being an illustration of that. In the end, patient consent becomes/ is a side note, a box to tick off, because other criteria are rated more important, e.g. cost, health care system/ providers convenience, throughput efficiency, cost again, additional revenue opportunities. So, if we think this was a, as it says in law, dependent on patient consent, physician is just adviser (heard Sir Brian Langstaffs very correct speech this week?) active contemplation and (free) decision by patient, I think another look might be good...

John Deere now considers VMs to be legacy tech, Ethernet and Wi-Fi on the brink

NATTtrash
Pint

Re: What they actually mean is...

You have been shouting a lot at your screens lately, haven't you?

NATTtrash

Re: What they actually mean is...

Very true. Have a pint with a farmer and ask them about their tractor. Big chance you will get a story that, yes, it is all digital and no, we can't do anything ourselves any more. If John Deere talks about the production of food, they will probably omit that they plan to introduce a subscription model for that too. Read the stories here of cars not activating certain functions if you don't pay per month? Horrified by it? Well, again, buy a farmer a pint, and see what the world looks like for them for a long time already. Don't pay? Oh dear, tractor won't start...

And it begins. OpenAI mulls NSFW AI model output

NATTtrash
Holmes

Re: One giant **** for mankind.

The revolutionary conclusion of all investments in, and (scientific) work with AI: sex sells...

Xubuntu 24.04: A minimal install that does what it says on the tin

NATTtrash

Re: Know How To Install A Browser Before Installing Xubuntu Minimal

Or go Librewolf..?

NATTtrash
Alert

Re: Oh, Snapcraft!

For packaging desktop apps, it's probably fine. System tools, not so much.

Very true and, as it looks, exactly the next step Canonical wants to take. The suggestion (sorry, can't confirm, maybe @Liam can?) on Reddit (https://www.reddit.com/r/Ubuntu/comments/1chilj4/completely_remove_snap_from_ubuntu_2404/) is that the next one to be snapped is CUPS, which would make snap removal disable base OS usability significantly.

Qt Ubuntu 24.04 betas show that there's room to innovate

NATTtrash
Pint

Re: Snaps still don't work

Typo, or command?

In the open source spirit... whatever you choose it to be (the lack of which is the main issue with snaps IMHO)

I envisioned two options though: either hop to another distro, or resort to another hopping solution (see icon) and "forget" all about it.

Either way, I don't think you have a leg to stand on.

Strangely, that has occurred when executing that last option...

NATTtrash
Joke

Re: Plan9 is the poster child for a solution looking for a problem.

It exists to serve us, we are not here to serve it.

Hear, hear...

So I assume you are not a GUI designer?

NATTtrash

Re: Snaps still don't work

Same thing here, since it is becoming more and a more of a pain to actually remove snapd and its tentacles (in the correct order for success!) and subsequently get the software you need for an efficient productivity box. And apparently we are not the only ones, since I see/ hear more and more people looking for alternatives, e.g xfce Debian, xfce Mint, xfce Devuan, Xebian,.. It's sad to see something that was thought out and worked well decompose. Ah well, let's keep calm and hop... or live that LTS to its end and get on that productivity...

German state ditches Windows, Microsoft Office for Linux and LibreOffice

NATTtrash
Pint

Re: Eremites

Oh don't get me wrong...

having things on paper may be stone age oldschool

...I do agree and frequently invite youngsters to this new technological, sustainable and low carbon foot print marvel called paper (<<< Don't agree? Ever thought of the Wh your devices and their backend are gobbling up?).

It's just funny to see, just like the (heavy use of the) printers at the entrances of the German banks for people to print out their statements.

I'm not at all saying what's right and what's wrong. It's just interesting to see, just like the things they have on offer on Food Street in China...

NATTtrash
Joke

Eremites

You must have worked with eremites then. They probably also never used a modern cell phone, and I guess they communicate with businesses only via fax...

Ah, I see you have been working in Germany. Because indeed, that is exactly the situation. (Especially for a foreigner) Germany is still largely paper based, and if for the majority of German companies/ businesses you get contact details for will have a fax number on there. As one of the jokes went, fired at the German politicians in the room during the "carnival speeches":

"Do you know what the German definition of cyber warfare is? Sending so many faxes that the paper runs out on the other side" (Guido Cantz).

Malicious SSH backdoor sneaks into xz, Linux world's data compression library

NATTtrash

Re: It Was In Debian Unstable --- *buntu LTS

The missus was testing the upcoming 24.04. That also seems to be spared, since it is (now) on 5.4.5-0.3

NATTtrash
Boffin

Re: It Was In Debian Unstable --- *buntu LTS

"Learned about the vuln this morning. Checked my system, I had version “5.6.0-0.2” of xz-utils installed."

Looks like the LTS' of this world might have escaped this? My *buntu 22.04 LTS seems to prove that a bit of constipation might actually not be a bad thing...

nat@practice241:~$ dpkg -l *xz*

+++-==============-===========================-============-======================================

ii pxz 4.999.99~beta5+gitfcfea93-2 amd64 parallel LZMA compressor using liblzma

un xz-lzma <none> <none> (no description available)

ii xz-utils 5.2.5-2ubuntu1 amd64 XZ-format compression utilities

nat@practice241:~$ dpkg -l *liblzma*

+++-==============-==============-============-=================================

un liblzma2 <none> <none> (no description available)

ii liblzma5:amd64 5.2.5-2ubuntu1 amd64 XZ-format compression library

ii liblzma5:i386 5.2.5-2ubuntu1 i386 XZ-format compression library

Then again, being old and grumpy does force me to mumble "I told you so" on the systemd philosophy and creep...

Suppose Ken and Dennis were on about something that was lost in (German) translation...

What strange beauty is this? Microsoft commits to two more non-subscription Office editions

NATTtrash
Holmes

How does this scenario work in a web-only situation?

Like OP I too am a long time *nix + LO user, having to work daily with other MS users. What I see in my professional use case is that, yes, those web versions of Word and Excel do work, but they also have significant eye brow raisers. First of all, since you are not a MS registered user, you do need to jump through 10 million hoops to get to the application to begin with. IMHO MS did a master stroke there, applying the EUs 2FTA requirement to serve their own use case and make it way harder to enter their walled garden (MS Authenticator). Some that come to mind immediately: web versions do not have all options/ capabilities of local versions. Seamless portability between local vs web MS applications can be troublesome and require extra work infile. And this one that makes me roll eyes every time: the MS window dressing about file compatibility. If you have a file in on-line versions of Word, you can File > Save as > Download them as an open document. But, if you then open this ODT locally with LO, it looks like nothing you exported out of Word. If you have an ODT and you upload it to the SharePoint of the people you're working with, and open it in Teams/ Word/ Excel/ PowerPoint(web version) you will see... nothing. You can do... nothing. Upload and double click your (LO exported/ native) Word, Excel, PowerPoint, what ever file, and it opens and you can view and edit. PDF, no issue at all.

I agree with other commentart here that LO improves every time in its compatibility with MSO. It's a one way street however, because at the same time MS does what is best for MS with all this open document window dressing/ camouflage being just enough to serve it own not so open, "why don't you just use what you're supposed to use, we are the industry standard" needs...

Dutch government in panic mode over keeping ASML in the country

NATTtrash

Re: Hmm

So government create a problem.

Or to be more specific, the upcoming government create a problem. That is the "slight" side effect when populist right wing parties get the mandate from their (in the Netherlands large, and historically omnipresent) base and practise what they have been shouting about. And as the age old law of nature goes: politics and business are bad bed partners. Funny observation always is that principles tend to be less binary when money starts evaporating...

Apple makes it official: No Home Screen web apps in European Union

NATTtrash

Tesla power steering probe upgraded after thousands more incidents reported

NATTtrash
Flame

The other thing is that electric cars are easier to protect against crashes because they don’t have a huge lump of non-deformable metal directly in front of the driver.

Not all have engines at the front, like my trusty Ghia for example.

But, have you ever talked to people of the fire department? Had a pint with some, and they are really, really concerned about electric car fires, which are really, really scary. Not only frequent, but extremely difficult to put out. They told me they would rather see a ban on people loading their cars overnight "close to their house", like near their front door, in their private, or worse, apartment building parking garage, because (their words) it is a disaster waiting to happen.

HP customers claim firmware update rendered third-party ink verboten

NATTtrash
Childcatcher

Ink's where the money is...

Very true. Ink == printer company's subscription model.

And they are not the only one. In the medical area for example, companies are (almost) giving away high precision equipment, automated injectors for administering drugs/ fluids... up to the point you try to insert a container, which is required to be "generic" by law, but is not from the same manufacturer who "gave" you the thing. Of course there was a lot of blah about safety and all that. But in the end it turned out to be just camouflage for the same HP model (Rat-a-tat, rat-a-tat at the window... Who's there?)

It's not all watching transparent TV from a voice-commanded bidet. CES has work stuff too

NATTtrash
WTF?

Re: Fidget Spinner charged keyboard?!?

And then... The Logitech K750 has been around for something like more than 10 years now. And works well I can say. Only changed the button cell once in that period, and never has been out, or low on power. So what is so ground breaking about this one now? That "kinetic" thing? Hmmm... I might be the odd one out, but my hands are always kind of busy when I'm at a keyboard... You know... Typing and stuff...

Bricking it: Do you actually own anything digital?

NATTtrash
Go

Stop giving them money.

Indeed, because that is what it is all about. Then again, "money management" and "intelligence" do not always come together with all specimens of the human species...

There are other sparks of sanity though...

Authors & Copyright Scholars Back 'Internet Archive' in Landmark Legal Battle

https://torrentfreak.com/authors-and-copyright-scholars-back-internet-archive-in-landmark-legal-battle-231222/

Google's Project Ellman: Merging photo and search data to create digital twin chatbot

NATTtrash
Coffee/keyboard

Let me pop the question then: who asked for this? Who benefits from this?

[_] the user whose life is recorded, analysed and stored till eternity

[_] Googles "Exploitation and Monetisation" department

[_] Big Brother

Tech renders iconic rockers Kiss genuinely immortal

NATTtrash
Holmes

Plenty of Kpop acts do this already, and a couple haven't even bothered with the meat-sack stage.

Indeed. But more in general, it kind of shows you the evolution of pop music in the last decades, right?

Sure, every musician wanted to become famous and at least fund the Rolls (or habits ;) with their talents. However, today it all is primary a product, marketed as such (ignoring some odd-one-outs), devoid of any emotion, inspiration, or dare I say talent. You will see it already a bit looking at the hot thing with kids now - where in my age and time you would shame your eyes out of your head to say you liked the music of your nan (and secretly did), anemia is now all over the place, with industry rehashing and reselling. And then I'm not even talking about potential "ideas" connected to youth movements, often critical to those "at the head of the table", triggered and supported by new music and ideas. So no more free love, hair peace dancing naked through the meadow while protesting against war, no swearing on TV, addressing the touchy subject of royalty "differently" while proclaiming a new anarchy. Nope, market the much known (and cheap due to recycling!) product that doesn't ripple, sells well, and can be labeled as the family experience. Oh, that Brave New World...

Want a Cybertruck? You're stuck with it for a year, says Tesla

NATTtrash
Trollface

Re: What about the free market?

And here is silly me, thinking that shotgun enforced "Get off my property!" was an American principle...

Canonical reveals more details about Ubuntu Core Desktop

NATTtrash
Pint

Re: (1)Wait...what? and (2) Is it or isn't it?

To be fair: Snap as something that is "out there to use" is OK. I don't like it, I don't want it, I don't use it. But if it is just an option, it serves what you want to do, you can sudo apt snap.deb if you want it, hey, knock yourself out.

It is the autocratic force feed behaviour of Canonical I have an issue with and made me change to a Debian "base layer". So yeah, if that is what you mean, yep, you got a point.

Adobe sells fake AI-generated Israel-Hamas war images – then the news ran them as real

NATTtrash
Holmes

Re: Metadata... yea, that'll solve the problem

Yeah...

mat2 --inplace "${this_file}"

Apple exec defends 8GB $1,599 MacBook Pro, claims it's like 16GB in a PC

NATTtrash

Re: The quantity is fine, but the price is not

I won't disagree that 8 GB is enough for some people, but don't pretend it's amazing when it's not.

True, but then it is all about use case isn't it? I mean, picturing people who use their computers like that, would most likely also be very fine with a 8/ 256 GB Vostro for a third of the price.

And there we go: in the end it is the same thing like those trainers the chavs need to have, the thick watch the pub blagger wears, and that car that was parked deliberately in front of your local hotel.

It's not about the innards, it's all about that aluminium body and that glowing Apple on the lid that, since there is a bite out of it, will push its Snow White user into a brain coma...

Nuclear-powered datacenters: What could go wrong?

NATTtrash

Re: One thing commonly overlooked

Interesting post, but it misses the point that the vast, vast majority of the "low-level waste" that you talk about, is just stuff that is "potentially contaminated" so has to be classified as nuclear waste, even if it is not radioactive at all.

Ah well... That's why we marched and camped in the 80s. To finally end up with nuclear powered TikTok. All just a consideration of essential priorities I suppose...

Norway wants Facebook behavioral advertising banned across Europe

NATTtrash
WTF?

Consent is overrated...

The British government is in the process of trying to replace the EU legislation – which is still part of UK law under the Data Protection Act – by passing the Data Protection and Digital Information bill. The new bill, on the face of it, removes several data subject protections including oversight of public surveillance cameras, and potentially data adequacy with the EU, affecting every UK business that collects and processes EU data. Lawmakers behind the bill have criticized the GDPR for having an "overemphasis on consent."

Well, with that kind of mindset, I suppose we can then also look forward to a change in the legislation concerning rape..?

Meet Honda's latest electric vehicle: A rideable suitcase

NATTtrash
Pint

Re: Dignity isn't the only thing at risk

Hmmm... So what ever happened to that other great invention: bicycle. If you take it easy on the kebab it's pretty carbon neutral...

How to ask Facebook's Meta to not train its AI models on some of your personal info

NATTtrash

Some might ask: what ever happened to the meaning of "opt in"?

Soon the most popular 'real' desktop will be the Linux desktop

NATTtrash
Pint

so how can it be "too complicated"?

You don't get out much do you? Interact with other specimens of the human species? Just stay behind the trusted screens, only having to deal with logic..?

Voyager 2 found! Deep Space Network hears it chattering in space

NATTtrash
Alien

Re: All alone in space

"just faithfully doing its duty"

Hmmm... Where have I heard that story before?

A lonely space craft, roaming through space, sending signals dutifully, but getting no reply from its creators who killed themself by war and pollution...

OP: "...hoping that someone talks to him?" You sure it's a boy? ;)

What does Twitter's new logo really represent?

NATTtrash

Framework starts taking orders for 16-inch repairable, upgradeable laptop

NATTtrash
Megaphone

Re: Obligatory

Indeed. Ever since Linus Sebastian got in as a share holder, their profile has been on the radar and promoted conveniently (sure with disclaimer, but still it is self-serving advertisement). As for the Framework ProdDev, I might even dare to say that it were the Linux users who got them to offer also AMD instead of just Intel. The next hurdle to take, looking at the forum messages, is the Windows key. That discussion has been dragging on for some considerable time now, but doesn't seem to move. Curious when true colours will be shown. Meanwhile here in Europe, some cloggers got in on the same game like Framework, albeit not with the innovative extension units or design specialties like Framework (and continuous promo push from LTT), but similar max repair and upgrade, contrary to Framework with open coreboot and *nix front and centre (NovaCustom - https://configurelaptop.eu/). Of course there has also been Tuxedo in Germany for quite some time now with *nix specific laptops, but they don't do the DYI/ max repair thing... No Windows key though (https://www.tuxedocomputers.com/en)

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