Posts by Blackjack

BOFH: You want presentation layer, but we're physical layer

Re: Mac Problems are easily dealt with

Yeah, just don't use Apple products.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H0r8TNjKrEo

Boeing wants autonomous flying cabs in US airspace by 2030

"The energy requirements to do such a thing make absolutely no economic sense."

You just described mining bitcoin.

What a good timing!

https://www.cnet.com/roadshow/news/flying-car-startup-kittyhawk-to-shut-down/

US accident investigators want alcohol breathalyzers in all new vehicles

If no government can even force car makers to make cars that cannot go pass the biggest speed limit, what makes them think they can get this to actually happen?

'Last man standing in the floppy disk business' reckons his company has 4 years left

Re: Speaking Of Ancient Storage Methods .....

VHS definitely have lasted me more that DVDs and Blue ray disks.

CDs and DVDs quality varies, that's why I usually make redundant backups but yeah in my experience they last me more that HDs.

Floppies? I had very bad luck when I used the non flat ones, they got damaged and or got data damaged all the time.

Re: Speaking Of Ancient Storage Methods .....

I still use CDs and DVDs for backups as they last longer that external HDs or SSDs.

My last DVD backup of pictures was made this year, it contains home pictures taken digitally from the last decade and change.

I have backups CDs from 2008 that still work.

And of course, there is some old hardware that prefers CDs.

Oh and my family keeps a working VHS player we use once in a blue moon, last time was before the pandemic. Hopefully it still works the next time we plug it in.

Document Foundation starts charging €8.99 for 'free' LibreOffice

So... the Register really should make an article about all the "Little annoyances" Mac users have got over the years, because it is really getting ridiculous.

BOFH: It's Friday, it's time to RTFM

Re: Where is my beloved "SFTW" chronicle?

BOFH is one of the most read things on this site.

That being said, this dose of BOFH was extremely tame. No one died, the Boss didn't get taken away by paramedics, and no one lost money.

Windows 11 update blocking some users from logging in

This is almost funny.

So now you have to see if your old Hotmail account still works to use Windows 11?

Apple app transparency changes bring in the ad bucks... for Apple

Do remember that is not rare for people to keep using older Android phones. So while the numbers of Android users is bigger, they tend to expend, on average, less money.

I say that while still using a Samsung S 5.

Indian tech minister picks a fight with Wikipedia over cricketer's dropped catch

This looks like India wants to become a police state.

The crime against humanity that is the modern OS desktop, and how to kill it

I like Mint and Cinnamon, but Windows 11 is... ugh.

Goodbye, humans: Call centers 'could save $80b' switching to AI

Re: But will the chatbots be smart enough

Why would anyone bother to do a script to call a calll center?

Actually forget that; since is all automated nowadays, doing a script that automates some complains would save a lot of time.

I thought they had done that already, is been over five years I have been able to talk with a human when calling a call center. Is all automated options, press one, press two and so on.

Voyager 1 data corrupted by onboard computer that 'stopped working years ago'

I fixed a VHS player five years ago but that was 80s tech.

And I once fixed an old black & white Tv but no clue how old it was.

The International Space Station will deorbit in glory. How's your legacy tech doing?

Re: A strange set of priorities

The Concorde was a money sink.

That's why it died.

Not saying super fast travel won't return someday, but who knows what form that will take.

AI detects 20,000 hidden taxable swimming pools in France, netting €10m

Re: If it steers boots on the ground to double check

I pay my taxes, my country just keeps getting worse due to high levels of corruption.

Record label drops AI rapper after backlash over stereotypes

Wait, Call Centers still use real people? Then why do I have to fight with automated options for hours and the option to talk with a human being has just disappeared?

BOFH and the case of the disappearing teaspoons

Wow the Bosses just get more and more stupid don't they?

At this rate the new Boss will be an intern in India that gives orders by e-mail.

LastPass source code, blueprints stolen by intruder

Is online, so you are fck

[So this App thingie keeps all my passwords safe right? But what if someone gets the password to this password manager? Won't they get all my passwords then?]

I said that ages ago before "All Data Must be Online" was a sort of divine mandate.

How naive I was -_-

PanWriter: Cross-platform writing tool runs on anything and outputs to anything

Sorry but I really need a Word Count so not for me.

Google shuts off IoT Core services shortly after announcing API stability commitments

Re: Once again, ahead of the curve

Get a dumb TV, a Smart TV is a huge security and privacy hole.

Honestly why use Internet of things stuff? They are a security and privacy nightmare and even in the best case scenario they eventually stop being updated.

GitHub Copilot may be perfect for cheating CompSci programming exercises

Re: There are anti-copilot techniques...

Just do both in the same exam.

That way the kid using Copilot will never get better that a 50% and that's a fail.

Re: Not in academia

"Were the exercises corrected, with relevant comments and such, or was it fire and forget?"

It was the early 2000s, the teacher didn't grade or correct the homework, just told us of the password to his website that had the correct answers. Yeah he changed the password every two weeks but that's not the point.

So not only we were supposed to do the homework, we were supposed to not cheat and to correct it ourselves.

Do note the class was only three times a week and the teacher just left after each class and he liived in another city far away and no, not making this up.

So while yes we could ask some questions if you got lost in the beginning that was it.

It was also programing and math, and we weren't told of any books we could buy and or read so for me at least it was a complete disaster.

Re: Not in academia

If you don't grade anything and only have like a final exam that actually counts, some people won't learn shit.

I say that as personal experience, I had a teacher that did that, I ended quitting after six months since not only I did really bad in the "Final exam" I didn't actually learn anything.

Big Tech is building the metaverse of its own dreams. You don't want to go there

Honesty if the best they can do looks barely better that a Wii game, is kind of funny.

Half-Life: Alyx is a game that you definitely should get VR to try, is one of the few games that really feels like VR is the true experience.

Metaverse just feels like Second Life recycled and even the advertising is bad.

Microsoft looks beyond the US with Windows Subsystem for Android

Re: great

And Windows already includes Candy Crush Saga by default.

We were promised integrated packages. Instead we got disintegrated apps

I do not use paid Apps anymore, not since the "Pay once, use forever" model is gone.

F-Droid is my main source of Apps for my phone.

On my Desktop I use Linux Mint and other Linux distros.

On my laptop I have a Windows 7 pro that I use offline for games.

Yes I still buy videogames but not those that only work online and or use a subscription model.

I have found that 90% of Apps will steal your data no matter what you do, so why also give them money?

Heck I don't even have Cable TV anymore, so the only subscriptions I have left are Internet, Water, Power, Gas and taxes.

Unfortunately I do need to pay those while I still live. Yeah maybe I could keep going without Internet but the Radio (That around here is free and not a paid service because it is full of ads) just isn't the same.

Solaris is in maintenance mode – but Oracle added a significant feature anyway

[Oracle's Solaris operating system remains widely used]

Why? Is OpenIndiana that bad?

It still has to be better that keep using an Os they could pull the plug out at any moment.

Attention Microsoft-oriented Linux devs: .NET 6 is on Ubuntu 22.04

https://www.theregister.com/2022/08/17/darktortilla_crypter_malware_secureworks/

Yet another reason to think about moving to Debian, unless that also has .Net support.

BOFH: Who us? Sysadmins? Spend time with other departments?

Re: Olympic level stick in the mud

I honesty don't get why more people don't get the transparent plastic warper thing on their keyboards, sure it makes typing harder but it saves money on buying new keyboards.

Re: Management style fads! - Something Different

Petting Puppies and free pizza is how you improve the workplace environment.

Unfortunately almost bo one does this.

"Talked someone into having a heart attack" does sound scary as hell however.

A pillow is for amateurs, get enough complainers; and enough caffeine and salty snacks, and you can get the new hire to die from a heart attack.

That does drag the meeting a bit however, so you can go by the old tried and trusted method of find stuff they posted online that will get them fired.

Your AI-generated digital artwork may not be protected by US copyright

Don't feed the trolls

Basically do not feed a company with an A.I that wants to own everything.

Oh that painting you expended months to make? It looks a lot like what our A.I made in one second, so you owe us money!

Rescuezilla 2.4 is here: Grab it before you need it

[The release notes mention an issue with graphics drivers and there should be a version 2.4.1 that fixes this very soon – but saying that, The Reg FOSS desk encountered no problems with it either in a VM or on bare metal]

I will wait then, my video card doesn't play well with some Linux distributions like newer versions of Ubuntu.

Tech industry stuck over patent problems with AI algorithms

Re: Patents Require People

The biggest problem is that due to how easy is to patent stuff in the USA, since you can patent ideas instead of actual inventions, allowing for A.I made patents would just encourage patent Trolls to use A.I to patent everything they can.

Google tells Apple to 'fix text messaging' in bid to promote RCS protocol

Google itself was the one who killed Google Talk/Hangouts.

NetBSD 9.3: A 2022 OS that can run on late-1980s hardware

Re: NetBSD

I tried to use Linux in the year 1999, emphasis on "tried". Had more luck with a very early live CD but you couldn't do anything save use the text editor. A few years later I succeed in making MP3 files work and I was so darn happy on a Linux distribution I can't remember the name of. Even so I formated the HD and went back to WIN98SE because games.

By the year 2008 I tried a horrible Linux distro then nuked ir and tried Ubuntu and was happy with it until Gnome 3 and Unity desktop happened. Nowadays I use Mint.

If I want to suffer I think I will try to get online using Freedos instead.

Businesses should dump Windows for the Linux desktop

Re: preaching the gospel

[Linux will be far more compelling when it supports business systems]

Red Hat and others have been doing okay for decades selling Linux for business.

[when it supports gamers,]

Steam Os and Steam Deck. Or just install Steam on a compatible Linux distro. You have STEAM, and can run a lot of Windows games on Linux thanks to the custom Wine Steam uses.

[when it supports creatives]

Linux does supports creatives, the main problem is the comercial apps being Windows or Apple only. Blender and Gimp run on Linux and have improved a whole lot over time, they are just harder to use.

Blender is so confusing it is hilarious but yes you can still use it. Gimp is slightly less confusing but I don't use it much so it is always confusing for me.

Recently Dreamworks is saying they will Open Source MoonRay so of course there will be a Linux version.

[when, as a result of at least two of those three, it starts to become the default installed operating system on mass market personal computers.]

Microsoft literally lobbies and sometimes pays money to have Windows preinstalled in every machine they can.

The biggest problem Linux has nowadays is that there is way too many distros, that is great because it gives you a choice but it also does confuse people.

Heck I actively use three different Linux distros but most people prefers one size fits all.

For that I say, use Linux Mint, it can do everything, maybe not perfectly but it can and it is more or less user friendly.

Google's ChromeOS Flex turned my old MacBook into new frustrations

Re: moving back to Windows was a relief

I am happy with Linux Mint but I understand is not for everyone.

UK wants criminal migrants to scan their faces up to five times a day using a watch

Since the scan system has to fit on a mass produced smart watch, a 3D print of a face or something much cheaper will fool it.

Enough with the notifications! Focus Assist will shut them u… 'But I'm too important!'

This is why I don't use any Internet Of Things stuff.

GitLab plans to delete dormant projects in free accounts

There goes a bunch of free stuff I found useful.

Boffins put supercomputer on the scent of a perfect landfill deodorizer

I guess you can't just use Incense sticks on this, right?

Anti-piracy messaging may just encourage more piracy

You wouldn't download a car, would you?

How cybercrims embrace messaging apps to spread malware, communicate

Discord is basically spyware, if they don't police this kind of stuff is because they do not want to. Just take a look at their term and conditions.

https://discord.com/terms

And also this:

https://stallman.org/discord.html

So honesty there is really no barriers preventing law agencies of getting information from Discord since Discord logs everything.

Why it doesn't happen all the time? Maybe it does, Discord doesn't tell people why they close their accounts so who knows?