* Posts by Mage

9273 publicly visible posts • joined 23 Nov 2007

Dad who shot 'snooping vid drone' out of the sky is cleared of charges

Mage Silver badge

200ft

Zoom lens on camera?

Still, decent cartridges to down a drone at 200ft?

WhatsApp laid bare: Info-sucking app's innards probed

Mage Silver badge
Big Brother

Collects stuff

I thought everyone knew this was pointless spyware.

Preparing for IoT? Ask some old questions and plenty of new ones

Mage Silver badge
Big Brother

it wont work the first time around

Even if the 3rd or 4th iteration works, it's abusing consumers. Protective legislation will be non-existent or at best too late.

Google and cable pals oppose LTE-U's spectrum grab plan

Mage Silver badge
Pirate

LTE-U

Yet another attempt at so called White Space radio. It doesn't work and can't sensibly work.

Project Loon is daft (I wonder what Google is really up to?), it doesn't scale and is a hazard, but LTE-U is disingenuous greed, theft and malicious.

'iOS 9 ate my mobile broadband plan'

Mage Silver badge

Idiotic

How on earth did anyone think this was a sensible default?

Ofcom won’t hold back in latest mobile spectrum auction

Mage Silver badge
Pirate

Morons

2.3GHz is OK for Mobile.

3.4GHz is too high. OK for WiFi or point to point or Point to Multipoint outdoor aerials.

700MHz is Broadcast. Absolute moronic stupidity. Cells that are too big for useful capacity. Even the 800MHz is dubious.

Developments in TV need 700MHz. Actually even the 800MHz would arguably be better for Broadcast than Mobile.

Ofcom wants to abolish Terrestrial Broadcast and have Radio & TV via Mobile Operators only as it's higher licence revenue.

Satellite, Cable, Fibre, Internet & Mobile are complementary to Broadcast. In reality the Mobile operators plans to to TV are actually just Subscription TV Broadcast in Mobile sized channels, Not Internet / IP.

Google can't hide behind Alphabet, EU competition commish warns

Mage Silver badge

Re: How can you fight a monopoly which offers products for free

Maps, Android, Earth were bought in using Advertising revenue and changed to support Advertising. The Search originally was unbiased. Now it's gamed by Google to support adverts. Hence it is dishonest and works as a bookmarking service. It's not as good for real searching of stuff you don't know, but better at serving relevant adverts and listing places you visited before.

Street view was created to slurp private info, WiFi (not needed now due to Android) and support adverts on Maps. It's primarily capital expenditure, not technology, only justified by extra advertising revenue.

What sort of company needs a line like "Do no evil"? They might as well register "No harm done" too.

They are a threat greater than MS ever was. So is Facebook.

We can't all live by taking in each others' washing

Mage Silver badge

Everything is the product of labour

I'm not convinced of this statement. Initially there may be labour. But after that an autonomous process. Can apply to a Robot Factory, automated oil well or burning forest and then scattering seed of something that doesn't need replanted every year. Or totally automated agriculture.

Surely many things will be the product of less and less labour, tending toward zero?

Sorry to see you go, Tim.

Joining the illuminati? Just how bright can a smart bulb really be?

Mage Silver badge

Re: cart before horse

"some low frequencies like maybe 75/150 Hz for the tones"

Not any multiple of 25, 30, 50 or 60 due to TV and mains. But yes, the signalling can be low bit rate FSK, or even spread spectrum below 300Hz as spread spectrum is more immune to interference and allows multiple controllers using different pseudo random hopping sequences. So an apartment or hotel isn't a problem. At up to several kHz any transformers won't make much difference and range is considerable with low baud rate and less than 300Hz. So apart from aspect of security, which isn't optional for anything, you need a scheme with no need for collision detection.

New switches would be paired via detachable IR USB stick (self powered) on controller direct via IR near the switch. The IR USB dongle would give the switch its address, unique hopping sequence and the encryption key used for the data.

The minimum baud rate is set by command latency acceptable for minimum message size which is set by encryption scheme (I suppose a key fob type scheme could be used to reduce message size). The actual amount of bits needed for addressing and data is tiny.

Mage Silver badge
Boffin

Re: cart before horse

The low speed networking over mains to smart light switches also unlike ethernet PLT creates ZERO interference. It also can be as secure as you like. I know someone that implemented secure signalling and paired devices for RC5 / RC6 IR remote protocols.

You don't even need 110 bps. RC5 or RC6 with addressing and security can be used over the mains, via IR to switch and also even 433MHz /3xx MHz for outside shed, wireless doorbell etc (world vs USA, I forget the USA frequency).

Mage Silver badge

No

Still pointless.

The Emissionary Position: screwing the motorist the European way

Mage Silver badge

Re: "... kerosene not diesel ..."

And the difference between Summer Diesel, Paraffin stove fuel, Kerosene, Winter Diesel, home heating oil, "jet fuel" is?

Versus Car petrol, high octane non-jet aircraft fuels etc? There is a good reason why lead is in aircraft petrol, makes the octane rating appear higher!

Northamber: Windows 10 killed our sales momentum

Mage Silver badge
Unhappy

Sad end of era

I remember my Computer selling friend using them about 1981.

Not sure if the ACT1 he sold was from them?

The Victor 9000/Sirius 1 ran CP/M-86 and MS-DOS but did not claim to be IBM PC compatible.

It was far better. The IBM in 1981 only had 320K or 360K floppies and a horrible text only goldfish bowl monitor. No Clock or Audio. The ACT 1 had 800x400 non-glare graphics, audio, clock, 1.2M floppies etc. A giant step forward from Apple II, TRS80, Pet and CP/M S100 boxes. The IBM PC wasn't, it was little more than heavy expensive alternate for Wordstar/Supercalc/Visicalc (Spread sheets was the biggest selling reason for Apple II, CP/M, IBM PC at first. Letter quality printer were slow and expensive compared to MX80 to print a spreadsheet.)

I guess IT gear is now mostly direct to big retailers, phones, tablets, laptops.

Disappointing to read that thousands of schools a day are activating Chrome books.

MS & IBM set back the industry in 1981.

Windows 10 is a backward step, as has most of MS since 2003.

MS are also extinguishing SW resellers too.

OS and IT gear is going to have as much support as a TV set.

The "Channel" is doomed.

Steve Jobs, The (real) Movie

Mage Silver badge
Paris Hilton

Oh! Oh! Aaaaah!

my ghast is phlabbered!

64K? No-one will ever need that much. Make the 16K standard and charge x5 the RAM price extra for 32K and 48K versions.

BYOD battery bloodbath? Facebook 'fesses up to crook code

Mage Silver badge
Facepalm

Ummm

The WHOLE point of the slabby screens and no keyboards is a good web experience.

Ditch badly written apps that are alternates to a website and only use websites.

Apps should not be alternatives to web sites. Design responsive websites not full of garbage.

Experts ponder improbable size of Cleopatra's asp

Mage Silver badge

Re: "So it would be impossible to use a snake to kill two or three people one after the other."

Three snakes, or else those nasty scorpions, or the really poisonous Geography Cone Snail (which sounds like a Terry Pratchett invention, but is real). The venomous variety of cone snail fires a poisonous hollow tooth at a fish. It grows them quick enough to avoid running short of dinners.

Mage Silver badge

Re: Slapper?

More like saying a Texan was American.

The Former Yugoslavian republic of Macedonia or the other bit?

Alexander (son of Philip) was a King (Basileus) of the Ancient Greek kingdom of Macedon.

The Ptolemaic Kingdom (/ˌtɒləˈmeɪ.ɪk/; Ancient Greek: Πτολεμαϊκὴ βασιλεία, Ptolemaïkḕ Basileía)[3] was a Hellenistic [i.e. Greek] kingdom based in Egypt. It was ruled by the Ptolemaic dynasty which started with Ptolemy I Soter's accession after the death of Alexander the Great in 323 BC and which ended with the death of Cleopatra VII and the Roman conquest in 30 BC.

In the early 5th century the royal house of Macedon, the Temenidae, was recognised as Greek by the Presidents of the Olympic Games. Their verdict was and is decisive. It is certain that the Kings considered themselves to be of Greek descent from Heracles son of Zeus.

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

Macedonia or Macedon (/ˈmæsɪˌdɒn/; Greek: Μακεδονία, Makedonía; Ancient: [ma͜akedoní.a͜a]) was an ancient kingdom on the northern periphery of Classical Greece and later the dominant state of Hellenistic Greece.

Mage Silver badge

Slapper?

Supposedly smart rather than pretty. There is no description of her beauty AFAIK in contemporaneous sources and the coins with her head were not complementary.

Also while she liked to big up the African and Egyptian stuff, she was ethnically Greek. See Alexander the Great and what the four generals ruled when he died.

Laid-off IT workers: You want free on-demand service for what now?

Mage Silver badge

So ...

Which other companies to Sun Trust run?

So I can avoid any transaction that involves any of them. This is going to make RBS outsourcing (which ensued their system became more rubbish) look good.

When are these sorts of companies (all financial, insurance, stock etc) going to realise that IT is their core and crown jewels, that none of it should ever be outsourced and the programmers treated better than executives and traders?

Is China dumping smartphones on world+dog?

Mage Silver badge
Boffin

Thanks

Interesting comparison.

I was reading earlier in the year how before WWI UK coal mining was uneconomical, and again before WWII. The wars made it strategically important.

You have to wonder if without economic coal and iron ore mining in UK, was steel production doomed anyway apart from carbon taxes?

IoT's sub-GHz 802.11ah Wi-Fi will be dead on arrival, warn analysts

Mage Silver badge
Facepalm

900MHz

Only available in USA, I think, It's Mobile Licensed in Europe. (Was GSM and migrating to 3G and 4G).

Europe has a narrow channel 864 MHz approx (there are 2MHz guard bands either side, it used to be in gap between TV and GSM-R, now its a guard band between TX and RX on two mobile bands).

864-868 MHz is for Short Range Devices in Europe as alternate to 433MHz SDR. Again USA uses a different channel to 433MHz.

International standards on for USA are a bad idea, as the gear is made in China and sold everywhere. This stupid.

Long range can only sensibly used at very low data rate, or point to point or both.

Official: WD buys SanDisk

Mage Silver badge

More consolidation?

Will Toshiba join WD? They are a small player in small HDDs, or were.

OMG Captain Skywalker, here comes AMD's new Merlin Falcon doing Warp 9 to the Tardis

Mage Silver badge
Thumb Up

Hmm

So why not in all in one PC/Monitors, smart TVs, mini-PCI case media boxes, transportable workstations disguised as a laptop etc?

Microsoft's top lawyer: I have a cunning plan ... to rescue sunk safe harbor agreement

Mage Silver badge

Internet faces 'digital dark ages' if nothing is done

Total FUD.

It inconveniences rapacious megacorps and foolish SMEs out sourcing.

At present level of world politics, privacy, spying and commercial exploitation:

* Should be illegal for ANY one anywhere to send or store other people's personal data outside the country of person, without clear informed consent.

* Servers and regional HQ should be in same country

* Outsourcing of HR, Payroll etc outside the country were the employee works should be illegal

* No selling or transfer of personal details to 3rd parties for benefit of third party.

* No automatic opt in to anything.

It's complicated when website has server only in one country and then person in random 3rd country signs up. In that case they shouldn't keep any personal data. If it's online shop, it should be like buying stuff in a local shop, with cash. Don't keep the details once it's shipped. Don't keep the credit card details at all once paid. Makes all those mega credit card thefts impossible.

Loyalty cards on physical shops are an issue. People do not realise this is to personally track them and often to supply info to 3rd parties. Only anonymous "loyalty" cards should be allowed!

Millions of people forget to cancel Apple Music subscription

Mage Silver badge
Mushroom

"automatically subscribed"

This should be illegal use of credit card details.

For ANYTHING you should have to "opt in", not by default be in and have to opt out. Misuse of personal info.

CIA boss uses AOL email – and I hacked it, claims stoner teen

Mage Silver badge
Flame

Re: You think thats bad..

" ... data on a memory card found on greedbay."

Until someone figures how to fit a high voltage generator on one. I'm sure I can't on a micro-SD, but I think the full size card is feasible.

Terror, terror everywhere: Call the filter police, there's a madman (or two) in town

Mage Silver badge
Childcatcher

The problem

Insisting that stuff is categorised as vaguely "bad" and commercial communications channels should block it is morally bankrupt, the worst aspects of Orwell's 1984, Stalinism, Facism and worse than NK or China eventually. NK and China in contrast to the USA and UK have a clearer definition of what they don't allow.

Mage Silver badge
Pirate

Communications service providers have a critical role

Balderdash.

If stuff is deemed illegal:

1) Court process to prove it

2) Attempt to prosecute originators / take down source.

Anything else is contrary to human rights, natural law, civil rights and doesn't even work.

The ISP or "Communications service providers" are simply the data equivalent (virtual and physical) of water pipes or power cables.

Neutrino exploit kit attacks hit thousands of Magento shops

Mage Silver badge

Alternatives?

I've had Magento hacked. It seems ugly to set up the directories securely on some hosting.

I seen other serious vulnerabilities listed.

Is there a decent open source eShop package that:

a) Is secure

b) Easy to update / upgrade

c) not monsterous to add 1000s of items with thumbnails and related documents

d) Handles 1000s of parts of similar type as single entry with buttons/checkboxes/drop down list to select attribute of part (colour, size, rating etc).

Connected kettles boil over, spill Wi-Fi passwords over London

Mage Silver badge
Facepalm

Which has more stupidity?

The companies selling or the people buying

Job alert: Is this the toughest sysadmin role on Earth? And are you badass enough to do it?

Mage Silver badge

BBC

I nearly applied for an Ascension Is. job once with the theory of the massive savings toward a house. But I chickened out. Baaa.

Mage Silver badge

Re: User Friendly

It's a repeat. I read that whole strip ages ago. He stopped writing it I think. I'd nearly be more tempted to a book copy than Dilbert. Though I guess the format would work OK on a Kobo or Kindle mono eInk eReader

So those Canadians are ALSO citizens of USA?

Amazon Echo: We put Jeff Bezos' always-on microphone-speaker in a Reg family home

Mage Silver badge

You can turn on the radio ...

No you can't. Internet streaming might be a copy of what a broadcast station is sending. It uses traffic on your cap, 4 people in 4 rooms uses x4 data. Local stations may or may not be on it. Quality may be higher or lower, certainly limited by the Amazon Echo speaker.

Internet also has no QOS for voice, music, video. That's why use my own ISP's VOIP as it's internal to their network and has QOS and security.

Till USA laws are changed this is illegal usage of data in Europe. Rightly so.

It's an interesting idea. I'd want to have glowing red Orb on the box and call it Hal. Pity you can't choose its activation "name"

Microsoft now awfully pushy with Windows 10 on Win 7, 8 PCs – Reg readers hit back

Mage Silver badge
Coat

some pretty good products

I think they did Word and Excel for Windows (originally quite well). Ironic they were first released on Mac as Windows didn't really work properly till Win3.0 (or probably 3.1). While NT 3.5 was first version of NT (1993) and based a lot on OS/2 and VMS, it unlike MS Basic for CP/M and MS SQL 6.x was actually developed by MS and pretty good. They downgraded it in 1996 by including "features" inspired by Win95, which was hardly more than all the 32bit and media extensions for Win 3.11 for Workgroups rolled up and slapped under a new shell (desktop). The win9x desktop was a good idea, (though not original) but the File Explorer part is still limited and buggy compared to xcopy or win 3.x File manager.

No change in US law, no data transfer deals – German state DPA

Mage Silver badge
Holmes

Global USA Megacorps

They will just offshore all their data to Iceland, Ireland, Iberia, Italy etc

After all they already offshored manufacturing to China and Customer Support to Mexico (Spanish) and India (English)?

It's not going to make any difference to USA Megacorps. It may affect some USA based IT staff.

Internet daddy Vint Cerf blasts FCC's plan to ban Wi-Fi router code mods

Mage Silver badge

Re: They can be retuned...

Not to any aviation frequency.

There are FAR easier starting points if you want to use outside ISM bands. With 1W to 1kW instead of 10mW to 100mW.

You'd need different aerials too.

Mage Silver badge

Re: Software vs Firmware

I had a Mac with the OS in a ROM.

"A PC's operating system is software. A mobile phone's OS is firmware."

A bit misleading.

A PC BIOS is Firmware, yet users ought to be able to easily upgrade it. It should be for security write protected by a physical jumper. It used to be.

My older laptop had four BIOS upgrades and one Graphics firmware upgrade. These were supplied with instructions for any end user to apply. It's always had the same copy of the OS, though with "patches" applied.

My Netbook has choice of Flash memory on a PCB or a CF card adaptor. The original "flash memory" has XP and the CF card has now Linux on it.

My Kobo and Kindle both have had firmware upgrades. In one case simply manually applied via USB storage, Third party patched versions are available. Any differentiation between "firmware" and "software" is a bit arbitrary.

Mage Silver badge
Facepalm

Re: Software vs Firmware

It's trivial to buy or make transmitter/receivers outside the ISM (WiFi) bands. As a spectrum regulator THEY, not firmware providers, are supposed to police use of spectrum.

They need to forget this foolishness.

How many routers are made IN the USA?

What percentage of routers are sold in USA?

Are they worried about illegal use of Ch 12 & 13 (allowed in Europe and not USA)? Very little hardware can work much outside the WiFi bands, if at all. The aerial limits bandwidth. I don't know of any router that can use 1.9GHz or 2.1GHz instead of 2.4GHz.

Even if router hardware CAN work outside ISM bands on transmit, in theory, it's up to FCC to prosecute people doing that without a licence.

What next, Smart phones that can only have FCC approved applications?

An Internet of Things music thingy? What, you’ve already got one?

Mage Silver badge

more than 10 feet from the TV.

I have a 30ft HDMI cable, made by cutting a poundshop 0.5m cable and splicing 2 x Cat5e cables. The high speed part is just really Cat5e spec twisted pairs. Admittedly I use it for a remote Media Centre.

You can buy a wireless HDMI extender (works on anything) or longer HDMI cables than 10ft ready made. You must have a huge screen / larger than average lounge. Most people are less than 8ft.

A wireless HDMI extender* far better value than this £119 gizmo or Chromecast (which needs a phone/tablet/laptop to control it and tells Google what you are doing, did they ever fix the 25 / 50 bug on it yet?)

[* Not to be confused with MS or other Wireless HDMI Display adaptors, which need a driver and are actually a display device, a true wireless HDMI extender works on any pair of HDMI ports instead of a cable.]

Mage Silver badge
Coffee/keyboard

Chromecast: Over priced spyware. Just plug phone's HMDI into TV. You need a phone or laptop to control it anyway.

TVs:

Similar sound quality to a 1965 pocket transistor, unless you plug in external speakers. This is useless unless it has analogue out for a HiFi.

£60 a year? Too expensive to pay for music you don't get to keep. I'll stick to Broadcast (free) and CDs ripped to my phone's SD card and my media server. What if the Internet conection goes down?

At that price it ought to have a screen and work without a telly. I paid less than than for my Archos and for my smart phone. £119 HW (+ £60 p.a.) for an HDMI dongle is a joke!

Shocker: Net anarchist builds sneaky 220v USB stick that fries laptops

Mage Silver badge

Re: WTF?

Disable automatic installation of USB keyboards and NICs by group policy and you're set.

Ha Ha ... how many users can do that?

Does it even work?

Mage Silver badge
Facepalm

Re: WTF?

Heck, a USB charger can infect a phone or a USB mouse infect a laptop.

EVEN if EVERY aspect of evil should never have been invented autorun is disabled, a USB storage device can have a stealth HID mode too. You can't easily disable HID USB on Windows.

Plug and Pray. The very spec of USB is a fail on so many levels!

1) Should have had no auto-install. At least a confirmation prompt.

2) Should have had same connector both ends and a peer to peer mode

3) should have been isolated (ethernet can be and MIDI is)

4) should have used reversible connector.

The original idea was actually for mice, keyboards, joysticks etc only to replace PC DIN connectors and Apple serial bus for slow peripherals, hence the stupid asymmetrical nature, and the original really slow speed and low power. I think perhaps Apple was mainly responsible? Perhaps they were only an early adopter of someone else's stupidity.

Note original Win95 did have stupid autorun, but no USB support at launch.

Network uPNP is another stupid idea. Who thought it was a good idea that network gadgets could automatically load drivers into your Windows computer. Or that network shares could use the stupid autorun "invented" for CDs?

Mage Silver badge

Re: USB Opto-Isolators

There are commercial USB isolators. You can even isolate the +5V and 0V too!

This would destroy the isolator, but the original USB host port might be fine.

Weight, what? The perfect kilogram is nearly in Planck's grasp

Mage Silver badge
Boffin

Re: Heavy science

We do know the length of a Planck.

Could we thus call the Planck Interval, the thickness?

They do claim: "there is no reason to believe that exactly one unit of Planck time has any special physical significance"

and

"There is currently no proven physical significance of the Planck length; it is, however, a topic of theoretical research. Since the Planck length is so many orders of magnitude smaller than any current instrument could possibly measure, there is no way of examining it directly."

Possibly nothing smaller can be measured, no matter how good instruments get, unless someone invents an Heisenberg Compensator.

Dry those eyes, ad blockers are unlikely to kill the internet

Mage Silver badge

Surely ...

The Ad blocking would really hurt folk like Google. Most of it makes very little income for advertisers compared with costs. Especially for anyone not "global megacorp" or at least large national company.

Sites relying on Adverts would no doubt host the ads as part of their own content, and then you can't block them. From security and performance aspect, that is preferable.

I don't believe I've ever clicked on an ad and can't remember buying anything from an advert since I stopped buying magazines, other than on Amazon or eBay. Even then, I would have had a requirement and search the adverts. Now I look at ebay, Amazon, specific suppliers, I search using Golden Pages / Google etc if I can't find what I want.

El Reg keeps pushing Apple's buttons – its new Magic Keyboard

Mage Silver badge
Facepalm

solved the problem by removing the batteries altogether in favor of a rechargeable one.

Stupid.

Only a portable phone / tablet needs wireless keyboard. The Rechargeable pack will have 9 month to 36 month life (it's a distribution curve, average is maybe over 2 year). Even wireless charging needs a wire somewhere between USB or Mains and charging gizmo.

Is streaming pirate video legal? Europe's highest court will take a look

Mage Silver badge
Pirate

Re: We are still addressing the wrong problem

enforce laws made in the 1930s before you could easily tape music ...

The laws are earlier. Home disc cutters existed in 1930s. Companies could copy books since 15th C. and records from 1890s. The USA violated copyright on very many UK bestsellers in 19th C.

Copyright is a sensible thing. The way USA corporations want to work it isn't sensible.

Ignore the consumers, chase the copiers, the commercial pirates. That's what they did for 100 years before the Internet.

The Police if finding a market stall or shop selling counterfeit goods DO NOT search out the customers. They close down the seller.

Ignore the consumers.

Mage Silver badge
Headmaster

It's nothing to do with Pi

Or any other SW / HW combo

There are TWO kinds of "Piracy"

1) Encrypted Content to User

If you sell or supply stuff to enable consumption of subscription content, then the supplier is enabling theft of service. Often this is done by "card sharing". The user is guilty of criminal theft of service. The Cable and Satellite companies rarely want that law applied, as it's fixed maximum penalty and they get nothing, instead they sue via civil court. No limit.

2) Clear Content to User

Someone removes the Encryption (or gets a copy from insider in studio or cinema) and distributes a clear version. Two kinds of copyright violation. Any theft of service might not exist, or is only by the supplier.

Obviously they should be going after the suppliers, (card sharing servers, initial Torrent seeds / uploader / Insider in studio or cinema etc). The final users are small fry. The hardware and SW they have might be entirely legitmate. Even in the card sharing case.

Internet of Things SoC devs: Never touched ARM? Oh go on then

Mage Silver badge

Cortex M0

Used in lots of stuff nothing to do with IoT.

From about 50c final product. Most SoC makers make Chips, not gadgets, clue in name. Some gadgets may be IoT, others might be Microwave ovens, Dishwashers, cookers, WashingMachines, AirCon with NO internet connection at all. ARM Cortex M0 is 32 bit price competition for Atmel and Microchip PIC 8 bit cpus. Same price, but better programming and library support.

Dinosaur love hug: Dell's $64bn death pledge to EMC

Mage Silver badge

Amazon, Google, MS

Who do they buy their HW from?

Ultimately Cloud is marketing speak for renting someone else's datacentre. There are real computers with real storage. So who is supplying them?