Posts by Mike_T.

Admins using Windows Server Update Services up in arms as Microsoft deprecates feature

Re: MS seems to have lost it... big time

They haven't had it for almost 20 years - and I used to be a big MS fan...

Starliner's not-so-grand finale is a thump in the desert next week

Boeing suits are not compatible with the SpaceX spacecraft and vice versa - hopefully everything will pass off without a hitch but this seems very much like the CO2 scrubber issue on Apollo 11, competing designs do have a lot to commend them, but I wonder if we will see a common interface in the future...

UK Electoral Commission slapped for basic cybersecurity fails

Until there are real penalties imposed for breaches like this nothing will change

AT&T forbidden from cutting landline services to large parts of California

It is just common sense

If I'm reading this right is would seem that California Public Utilities Commission has more common sense than Ofcom... (or is that Ofcon).

The X Window System is still hanging on at 40

If it isn't broken don't fix it,

Yes I do understand the issues with X11 - but it is a tried and tested standard and it does work.

I know that XWayland (along with WayPipes etc) should go a long way to addressing the perceived shortcomings (though WayLand will still only work on Linux ) but it XWayland still seems broken (and a bit unloved), which leaves me feeling very underwhelmed. As an example setting the minimum and maximum window size to be the same dimensions using 'XSetWMNormalHints' should result in a window that the user cannot resize, and this has worked on every X11 implementation I've come across except XWayland which I noticed was broken five years ago and still seemed broken when I last tried it earlier this year.

I suspect that people will still be using X11 for a little while yet, and hopefully it can be shown some of the love it deserves...

China's Chang'e-6 lunar probe packs rocks and rolls back to Earth

That is what I'd call a Chinese takeaway

If they manage to successfully return the some interesting rock samples to earth then that will be a job very well done. Doubly so as both space and autonomous operations are hard.

Windows 11 24H2 might call time on that old NAS under the stairs

Re: Arrogant?

I had what I presume was a similar problem but solved it using...

ssh -o KexAlgorithms=+diffie-hellman-group1-sha1 -o HostKeyAlgorithms=+ssh-dss -c 3des-cbc

To be fair that is a bit of a mouthful and I'm not using the very latest version of Debian but it worked...

Voyager 1 regains sanity after engineers patch around problematic memory

Not bad going

If anybody responsible for this happens to read this - 'Well done'.

What can be done to protect open source devs from next xz backdoor drama?

Strengths and weaknesses

Despite the article and several others on the subject being framed as something close to an apocalyptic event, which to be fair this could have been if no body had noticed, this incident demonstrates both the weakness and strengths of an open source model.

The solution to this problem isn't to stop using open source software, it is to make sure that all the important bits are resourced properly, but unfortunately if the solution to that problem was easy it would have happened years ago.

Microsoft might have just pulled support for very old PCs in Windows 11 24H2

Re: Linux's moment

Quote: "cuddly UI that has consistent functionality and everything in one place"

Who are you kidding!!!

Windows 7/8/10/11 along with the various version of Office and IE since in the same period all seem to have completely different user interfaces that are not just inconsistent between applications but almost schizophrenic - the high point for a consistent Windows/Application UI was probably in the Windows 200/Office 2000 era and it has been down hill ever since...

Drivers: We'll take that plain dumb car over a flashy data-spilling internet one, thanks

Re: ransomware

Unfortunately increasingly often the choice is sign up to the service, subscription or whatever the manufacturer has decided is the best way to give them what they want or not buy the product at all. (As all manufacturers move to the same business model).

To seems that to compete manufacturers seem to feel that they have to adopt similar business models to remain competitive, and that the only way to ensure success it to produce a cheaper more profitable product than the competition.

The result for the consumer is a limited or non existent choice. When I went to buy a new car earlier this year I had a long list of optional requirements but just three non negotiable requirements. It had to be an estate, and I didn't want to have key less entry/ignition, or a glass instrument panel. After talking to several different dealers, I brought a second hand model, as that was basically the only vehicle available. It isn't my first choice of colour or even make but it is a perfectly nice car and I saved about £23K on my budget!

Switch to hit the fan as BT begins prep ahead of analog phone sunset

It seems that lives matter less than profit

Given the current government's attitude and policies I suppose I shouldn't be surprised, but I do find it rather worrying that when I loose my analogue phone service based on recent experience it is going to be impossible to call the emergency services during a power cut. These may only happen once or rarely twice a year but the shortest was about 23 hours and the longest was almost five days (by which time I was decidedly cold and very tired of cheese sandwiches).

Mobile phone coverage here is so bad, even when the power is on, that I gave up and cancelled my mobile contract a several months ago, but prior to that if I did have a signal I lost it immediately if the power went off. Whoever decided that a mobile phone was a suitable replacement for a land line obviously was either ill informed or just doesn't care about the consequences.

And no I'm not really out in the sticks, just quite close to a particularity lumpy bit of chalk near the South Downs...

Windows File Explorer gets nostalgic speed boost thanks to one weird bug

As ever with MS your assertion 'And always works' depends on your definition of working. If that includes only listing file names that match your wild card pattern you may be disappointed.

The problem is that the DIR command will list any file whose long name or SHORT name matches the wild card pattern, which can be very confusing...

Bodhi Linux 7 brings Enlightenment to Ubuntu

Re: Debian package ?

Thanks

Why is everyone trying to fix it by spinning it off to things like this?

Because they are geeks - and they can.

Debian package ?

I wonder if there is a Debian package - I rather like the idea of typing 'apt-get enlightenment'

Also looking forward to what Budgie does in the future..

Edit - There is !! I think I'm going to have to give it a try....

Twitter's giant throbbing X erected 'without a permit'

Frankly I don't give a X X X X

Feel sympathy for the neighbours but I don't care much about what happens to Twitter - just another antisocial media organisation.

Clingy Virgin Media won't let us leave, customers complain

Re: Simple approach

I had to call them twice but I now have a confirmation email that my service will be terminated this weekend. However, I had to take my phone to work and call them from there as my local mast is STILL down (next update is due 27/7 by which time it will be three weeks without any service), and calling then from a landline was an expensive exercise in futility.

If anyone reading this is thinking of using O2 - I couldn't recommend them any less.

Re: Simple approach

Sounds like Virgin and O2 both really know how to piss off their customers (must be why Virgin mobile and O2 merged).

I'm in the process of trying to cancel my O2 contract, but as they don't have an email address or contact form on their web site, the only option is to phone customer service using '202'. (I did ask in store but although you can sign up in store you have to phone them to cancel your contract).

This means that since their mast is down (again, 4 days and counting this time) the only way I can call them is to use a standard rate landline number which means I end up paying to cancel a service that I've paid for which doesn't put me in a good mood.

Eventually after going through the call handling system I get placed in a queue and told that the expected waiting time was 45 minutes.

O-2? O-no more like...

LG to offer subscriptions for appliances and televisions

It is a Television

My current television isn't connected to the internet and my next one won't be either. If I wanted a 'smart' television I'd buy one but I really don't need one. I can't see the point.

Perhaps I could be more easily convinced if the continued fashion for 'smart' devices actually delivered products that were better at being televisions or phones or whatever but they simply are not. I know the display quality and the screen sizes have got bigger but these improvements don't make up for the other short comings, and bigger isn't always better.

I very quickly got fed up with the television in the flat I stayed in this summer as it took minutes to 'warm up' and I find using my (work) mobile phone to make a call a pain as takes almost a couple of minutes to switch on and requires me to enter my PIN number, twice, before I can even begin dialling. In comparison I can pick up my conventional telephone's handset and dial most numbers in about 10-15s, or a lot less if the number is on speed dial.

It is not about being anti smart devices, I have replaced most of the bulbs in the house with smart bulbs, but unlike the television or mobile phone when I press the 'on' button they come on almost instantly (and fortunately I don't need to control them from a phone!).

The number’s up for 999. And 911. And 000. And 111

If it isn't broken don't fix it

As described in the article the current system may have some issues with mobile phone locations but for landlines it just works.

I struggle to see why the current UK Government has allowed BT to get away with not providing an emergency call service for every landline and I fear that after the digital switchover it is just a question of time before history repeats itself, hopefully not before 2035.

Next time you have a power cut check your mobile signal, you may be unpleasantly surprised even of you don't live in the Outer Hebrides. I live in the middle of Southern Counties and as soon as the power goes off so do all the mobile networks. My analogue land line however still works - for now.

A toast to being in the right place at the right time

Really

A toaster on a double adaptor that sounds like a good idea...

SpaceX Starship struts its stack to show it has the right stuff

It that one record or two

What SpaceX have achieved is awesome - that is a beast of a rocket.

However, while looking at the photographs I couldn't help wondering if as well as the tallest rocket they also have the world's tallest cherry pickers. I'm just glad I don't have to go up in one of them! Hats off the the engineers that did.