Posts by Barking mad

DARPA seeks ideas for 'large bio-mechanical space structures'

Build a better Musk trap

Trump that idea!

HP deliberately adds 15 minutes waiting time for telephone support calls

Re: Why I stopped buying HP

Think HP is bad? Try British Airways. The people in their call center have a way of pronouncing English that is indecipherable (and I have traveled extensively in Africa and Asia so I am used to people who aren't native speakers). As a bonus they're using VoIP over a dial up modem although I am now thinking that may be deliberate degradation so that you give up.

That wasn't the rant. This is the rant: we're in England and a fire is burning towards our home in Los Angeles. The evacuation area is by then, six streets away. Called BA to change the tickets to get home and save whatever we can. This isn't an emergency, we are told. No help on the change fees which there would be if it was an emergency. Asked to talk to a supervisor which apparently just meant someone else. Told that our emergency isn't BA's problem. The change fees on the ticket cost 1/2 what we paid for the round trip.

Why users still couldn't care less about Windows 11

Feature off switch

"Many of the new on-by-default features of Windows 11 can be found in Windows 10 and just need to be switched on.."

If on-by-default features can be turned off it wouldn't be so bad but in Microsoft 365 Microsoft has decreed that you cannot turn off its most invasive on-by-default feature, namely Copilot. OK, so in the latest release of Word there is now an unheralded off switch but in the rest of the suite, all I can say that I can't find it. To turn off Copiliot completely means reverting to the May 2024 release. It is Microsoft's force feeding features I don't want that will keep me off Win 11. Just because they spent all that money on new features is not a reason for me to want to use them.

I'm not saying Copilot doesn't have value, it's just that it gets in my way - don't call me, I'll call you. Microsoft itself has discovered it opens security vulnerabilities.

When I eventually need new hardware, it still won't be running Win 11. It'll be running MacOS..

Is Lenovo a blind spot in US anti-China security measures?

Re: Trackpoint

I was never happier than when they started selling keyboards with a TrackPoint!

(My first ThinkPad was a 300 and I've been using them for the last 32 years).

Re: Lenovo used to be IBM

IBM sold off the ThinkPad and then discovered that selling laptops was getting their sales reps in the corporate door so that they could sell the profitable iron.

Japan stops measuring train crowding by ease of newspaper readership

The Anglepose

The angle at which you can raise your arm before touching another passenger.

Negative values indicate an overcrowded train.

SpaceX Falcon 9 set for comeback after upper-stage failure

Re: F.T.A.

I think it's like Musk's decision to remove all sensors from Tesla's except the cameras.

You don't need radar to tell you you're coming up fast on an obstacle when you have cameras. Well, not unless it is foggy. Or it's night you're on an unlit motorway and there's a black velvet sofa bed sitting in the road (happened to my wife, saved by radar).

You're wrong, I'm right, and you're hiding the data that proves it

It wasn't that bad a decision to move the entire IT operation to India. After all, they are an airline so when their entire system went down they just had to fly in the technicians from India to fix it.

(Spot the irony).

And that's 3 recalls for Tesla Cybertruck in as many months

Styling

I finally understand the design. It's the box a model S comes in.

(Is it just me or do they always seem to be dirty?)

Microsoft paid Tenable a bug bounty for an Azure flaw it says doesn't need a fix, just better documentation

"The bottom line, according to both vendors, is to implement multiple layers of security"

Believing you need multiple layers of security is an admission that you don't trust the first N-1 layers.

The fourth paragraph from the end says "Microsoft recommends adding authentication and authorization checks and not only relying on firewall rules".

That's the sensible thing to do. It's called zero trust.

Really? A sarcasm detector? Wow. You shouldn't have

Re: "sarcasm detection is finally getting the attention it deserves."

"How on earth does this breakthrough hope to distinguish between irony and sarcasm?"

I rarely say anything that isn't irony or sarcasm but I live in America and few notice.

Americans will take me literally when I say "brilliant" although sometimes I can't tell if I am being sarcastic.

We never agreed to only buy HP ink, say printer owners

"I don't really see Canon out there now." Do you mean in shops? They still sell printers (including a really tiny one that doesn't use ink) and they are an excellent choice for photographic prints.

Reversal

I like Epson ink which is why I buy Epson printers.

Feds finally decide to do something about years-old SS7 spy holes in phone networks

Security in copper

When SS7 was designed, the next switch in the PSTN was authenticated because it was on the other end of a long piece of copper.

That hasn't been true since soft switches joined in.

OpenAI claims its software can clone your voice from 15 seconds of you talking

April 1

I am really hoping the date of this article is significant but I fear not.

Arm reveals just how vulnerable it is to trade war with China

Re: Between morphng US regulations and RISC-V

As I said "Oh, and having an advanced cyber-offensive program helps too."

Aspiration to deploy new UK nuclear reactor every year a 'wish', not a plan

MSR

In that time frame, Molten Salt Reactors will be viable.

And there is use of small (nuclear submarine or aircraft carrier sized) reactors distributed throughout the grid. Distributed power sources are a more secure way to create a reliable grid.

And as for the question of what do we do with the nuclear waste: how are we doing with the carbon waste?

Amazon confirms it locked Microsoft engineer out of his Echo gear over false claim

"This wasn’t just a simple inconvenience, though," he wrote. "I have a smart home, and my primary means of interfacing with all the devices and automations is through Amazon Echo devices via Alexa. This incident left me with a house full of unresponsive devices, a silent Alexa, and a lot of questions."

The root cause is that he handed his home over to a technology company under the delusion that it was benevolent.

Alexa and her mates are like vampires: they can't come into your house unless you invite them in and if you do....

Secret Service, ICE break the law over and over with fake cell tower spying

Re: Hmmmm

Up until 4G, encryption (and therefore authentication) was optional - if the cell tower doesn't insist on it, the phone doesn't. Evil twin Wi-Fi access points operate on the same principle.

Nice smart device – how long does it get software updates?

Re: Nobody

You're right. Get up out of your chair, walk over, press the button: you need the exercise.

Elon Musk to abused Twitter users: Your tormentors are coming back

Re: advertisers... and suppliers

"costs rise because Trump/Musk has to find new suppliers from further and further away."

Like China?

Lufthansa bans Apple AirTags on checked bags

GPS

AirTags don't have GPS, they use low power Bluetooth to acquire location from nearby iPhone owners. And even if they did have GPS, what is the threat to an aircraft from a GPS receiver? GPS receivers don't transmit. Am I missing something?

California to phase out internal combustion vehicles by 2035

Where is all the lecky coming from?

When the temperature gets up to 40C (and it hit 49.5C last year), the grid in our part of Los Angeles doesn't have enough capacity to keep up with the demand from air conditioning.

Diesel generators?

This is just another example of the lack of a systems approach to infrastructure.

Win 11 adds 'requirements not met' nag for unsupported hardware

Re: What about?

I finally gave up on Win7 when they stopped security updates (is that a good or a bad thing?) and moved to Win10. I expect to transition to Win11 with the same alacrity.

It amazes me how really useful and simple to use features disappear. Compare reordering known networks on Win7 with Win10. Win7 - open list, drag networks for new order, job done. Win10... well, no helpful information on Microsoft website and eventually did it with a command line.

Ukraine asks ICANN to delete all Russian domains

If?

What evidence is there that he hasn't? You seen that conference table? He's keeping his ministers out of pistol range.

Sun sets on superjumbo: Last Airbus A380 rolls off the production line

Crossed that one off my bucket list too. Still wonder what happens if you have to return to your seat in a hurry.

I've got a broken combine harvester – but the manufacturer won't give me the software key

Re: There's another reason Apple is linking camera modules to phones

There's a good security reason for it. Securely verifying the camera prevents injection attacks into the facial recognition. If Apple phones worked with anything hat claimed to be a camera, face id would not be secure.

Windows Hello only works with certain cameras for this reason.

Gov.UK taskforce publishes post-Brexit wish-list: 'TIGRR' pounces on GDPR, metric measures

...overwhelm people with consent requests and complexity they cannot understand

Umm... this is a user interface issue. Could be solved by changing "reject all" to "reject all and never ask me again because I won't change my mind", or defining a universal cookie that means "I reject all, forever". Sites seem to keeping asking in the hope I'll give them the "right" answer.

Or, could just ban the unsolicited collection of data? That's a simple change to the regulation.

City of London Police warn against using ‘open science’ site Sci-Hub

Many cybersecurity incidents result from someone saying "is that likely'? Who cares how likely it is if someone will make an important decision based on something they read in a paper they trusted.

Samsung shows off next-generation big-pixel camera sensor tech, coming to an Android phone near you

Re: Or maybe...

When I first got a 1020 my thought was indeed that. It's a camera with a phone bolted on the back.

Pixel binning

One reason to do pixel binning is to increase the SNR. Almost the same signal is falling on adjacent pixels, especially if they are small, but the noise is random so it's different for adjacent pixels.

The Lumia 1020, released in 2013, has a 41 megapixel sensor. The RAW image is 7136 x 5360 and the standard JPEG is 2592 x 1936 (both saved at the same time). I believe it is using pixel binning. And either the Sony a7RII or the a7SII (can't remember which) does pixel binning in HD video mode, the other selected 1920x1080 pixels evenly spaced across the sensor. The difference is noticeable in low light as low light which drives down the SNR.

However, the 1020 illustrates other issue. It had a larger than normal lens made by Zeiss. The true/useful resolution, measured objectively with a camera chart, is the least of the sensor megapixels and the resolving power of the lens. Many lenses even on DSLR cameras max out before the sensor does and that is much more likely to be the case on a phone camera. Many cinematography lenses in use max out around 4k horizontal resolution. That's not a problem on an ARRI Alexa or 35mm film where the resolution is <4k, but if you use them on an 8k RED Mostro you're not going to see a 2x increase in sharpness.

Facebook and Apple are toying with us, and it's scarcely believable

Re: even if in Apple's case it's really just a fruit emblem

"Nowadays there is really not much difference between let's say a Samsung Phone and an Iphone"

A compelling argument for bringing back the far superior Windows Phone where there is a difference.

I moved from my 950XL to an iPhone 11 and it was a downgrade of the user experience.

Getting people off Facebook is like clearing a country

"Getting people off Facebook is like clearing a country, village by village; the history of clearances and forced migration is not good."

Agreed but unlike most of the other clearances and forced migrations in history, getting people off Facebook really is for their own good.

On his way out, Trump emits exec order suggesting US cloud giants must verify ID of all foreign customers

Re: Was it Trump?

"The "average" American would not be aware that Scotland and NI are parts of the UK"

There was talk of Trump flying to Scotland the day before the election. The reason why is that Scotland is not on the list of countries that have an extradition treaty with the US.

Top engineer who stole trade secrets from Google's self-driving division pardoned on Trump's last day as president

The founding fathers never anticipated a president who completely put personal gain ahead of their duty (job description) and the country.

The 25th amendment assumed that a demented president wouldn't be surrounded by such a sycophantic cabinet.

It's like gun control, whether you believe the word 'bear' means carry or own, the founding fathers were thinking in terms of flint lock muzzle loaders with a maximum fire rate of 3-6 rounds per minute. They weren't declaring that people could own a MAC-10 or an AK-47. Percussion caps were 40 years in the future and it would be 80 years before Mr. Gatling to come up with the idea of a machine gun.

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

Re: cortana beach

I think you'll find they are generated by Office 365 so they aren't strictly speaking emails. There is a link on the bottom to turn it off although I could never to get it to work.

Re: Multipls email addresses

I use my dog's gmail account for that.

She gets pissed off with the amount of spam she gets but so far hasn't figured out why.

Windows on Wheels is back, though the truck has come to a standstill, much like the OS

Re: It's an Apple ad

I did! Great fun if not very useful.

It's an Apple ad

I had a "please insert disk into drive A:" message on my Windows 8.1 Phone once.

Arecibo Observatory brings forward 'controlled demolition' plans by collapsing all by itself

Re: Very sad, but...

The cost of HS2 maintenance will be 25% of the original price per year.

Don’t panic, but five jet drones just used their AI to chat and collaborate while in flight

Re: "Jet"?

https://www.modelaviation.com/jetguide

Images of women coerced by adult companies poison dataset popularised by deepfake smut creators

Re: F*ck crowdsourcing and surveys

Alternatively, label them incorrectly.

Picture of a bus -> giraffe

That sort of thing.

Talking a Blue Streak: The ambitious, quiet waste of the Spadeadam Rocket Establishment

Re: Nearby Airfield?

I'm so disappointed. When I first looked, I thought I'd found a TSR-2!

I'd correctly identified the FT-06 (made an Airfix kit of it) but I had the Mysteres down as either F-86s or MIG-17s.

US government clears debt collectors to go after Americans through their social media accounts

Re: How low can you go

"Got a lot of housecleaning to do" is a an understatement.

It's going to be like turning a badly managed pig farm into a residence with just a shovel and broom.

Big Tech's Section 230 Senate hearing was like Jack Dorsey’s beard: An inexplicable mess that needed a serious trim

Re: Yeah, but...

More to the point: did you really expect anything different?

Boeing Starliner commander Christopher Ferguson bows out of first crewed mission due to family commitments

Last safe Boeing

Sadly BA just retired their 747s, the last Boeing aircraft that was really safe.

And I don't care if they updated the software using a floppy disk - in fact I view that as advantage because they can't fit very much software on a floppy disk.

Hold on to your hats, Net Neutrality version 2 is on its way courtesy of Trump and the FCC's moves on Section 230

Re: First Amendment site

To be clear, the first amendment prohibits congressional law making that impinges on freedom of speech. It does not apply to private enterprise. And, as written, it does not seem to apply to executive orders or the federal agencies (FCC) but hopefully there is established precedent that does.

"Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances."

'A guy in a jetpack' seen flying at 3,000ft within few hundred yards of passenger jet landing at LA airport

Did the guy look like Elon Musk?

Jack Northrop Field. 3 miles east of LAX. To quote Wikipedia:

"SpaceX and its spinoff The Boring Company are headquartered at the southeast end of the airport. The Boring Test Tunnel cuts runs just under the fence line at the north-east corner before running under West 120th Street. Tesla Design Studio is located at the airport as well. "

'nuf said.

Sounds like the black helicopters have come for us. Oh, just another swarm of FAA-approved Amazon delivery drones

I retract my factoid. I don't know what I was looking at before. Since I maintain that the Internet is the Source of all Bollocks[TM], I should have re-checked. The FAA's B4UFLY app shows that you can fly from Beverley Hills across to Glendale although not over the Santa Monica Mountains.

Santa Monica prohibits flying model aircraft over beaches and Los Angeles in parks.