* Posts by Mage

9265 publicly visible posts • joined 23 Nov 2007

Brussels cunning plan to save the EU: No more Cookie Popups

Mage Silver badge
Linux

Re: uh, whuh? (Forking?)

Well, I don't know what Google are actually doing, and certainly Chrome or Edge are worse privacy alternatives.

I don't have a Mac, I hate iTunes (it's gone off windows) and I mostly now use Linux Mint + Mate rather than Windows, though have WINE on Linux and XP in a VM (no WAN) and Win7 as alternate boot for Windows stuff with no alt Penguin.

Mage Silver badge
Big Brother

Good and Evil Cookies

You need cookies on any site you log in on (or fill in a form etc), as stupidly HTML is stateless. This is good use.

A site blocking their images because you blocked their tracking cookie is malicious, bad. (Guardian and others).

A third party using cookies and/or scripts (default Facebook button) and/or fonts and/or javascript libraries and/or images (including single clear pixels with unique URL) is an evil abuse of privacy to track your total behaviour all day. Google Analytics and Google DNS is evil, because Google don't just provide the analytics to site, nor your DNS lookups, but add that to the profile.

Webmasters: Install adverts locally*. Install all scripts locally (ads do get used to serve malware as well as track), install web fonts locally*, only serve your own session tracking cookie, and only if a user is logging in. Anything else is dishonest, privacy busting, less robust and insecure.

[Locally means your own domain / server farm]

Dystopian novelists never imagined the lengths that corporations would go to, except maybe John Brunner (Shock Wave Rider) and Harry Harrison ("to the stars trilogy" and the Teddy short story)

Mage Silver badge
FAIL

Cookie law

The implementation totally broke the intent. You can't click NO. So it was useless.

They put even 1st party cookies on your PC ANYWAY even if you don't click "OK".

Also they never warn about 3rd party (the evil ones regarding privacy). Why is blocking that OFF by default in Firefox?

Simply BAN 3rd party cookies.

Also Google is popping up a giant contract you have to agree to unless you block their cookies.

Google are also somehow changing Firefox so when Google is blocked they are unblocked and you get their cookies back and then a day or so later their malicious multipage contract terms.

It's round and wobbles, but madam, it's a mouse pad, not a floppy disk

Mage Silver badge

Re: Poor instructions

1930s USA autochangers could flip a stack of 78s. So a symphony on 6 x 78s was as you describe, parts 1 to 6, then 7 to 12 just by flipping the stack.

They had sapphire stylus too, as the steel needles are only single play!

1949 was the first year of microgroove 33 & 45 with 78 and a flip over stylus. The current retro style record players have a 78 speed, but can't play a 78 disc properly as they only have a single stylus of microgroove type.

There were 12" 33 in early 1930s but 78rpm, for cinema, playing from inside to the outer edge like CDs / DVDs do. Easier to cue.

Mage Silver badge

CDs and DVDs

The commercial ones are pressed. They don't fade.

Ordinary retail writeable kind only have the tracking groove pressed, the "pits" and "lands" are changed dye. They fade. DVDs faster than CDs. Only MO discs are suitable as a backup, regular writeable CDs and DVDs are only temporary, not archival. They can erase in a few days if left on a window-sill.

It's not the top, but bottom that is the problem.

I have 30 year old floppies and 50 year old audio tape that still work.

Grab an ARMful: OpenIO's Scale-out storage with disk drive feel

Mage Silver badge
Flame

Hmm

Back the Internet?

I'd need fibre first.

Maybe the lid or base has about 16 big fans? Big fans are quieter than small ones for same airflow. Even five drives in a server tower with 3 fans gets very warm.

USPTO: Hi, Ask Me Anything. Reddit: Can we trademark 'AMA'? USPTO: No.

Mage Silver badge

So ...

Why have they allowed all the other stupid, frivolous and identical phrases and initials?

Winter is coming.

Will Wikipedia honour Jimbo's promise to STOP chugging?

Mage Silver badge
Facepalm

Re: a little excess cash?

Is about 98% extra only a little excess?

Mage Silver badge

Simple

Stop giving money to Wikipedia. They don't need the $75m they raised. Actually they could probably run the place on a 1/4 of the 3M a year if they fired all the staff. None are needed. They certainly aren't helping the core activities.

There are more worthy causes.

Apple's Airpod wireless earbuds finally go on sale after six-week delay

Mage Silver badge

Re: Exchange rate? Apple don' need no stinking exchange rate.

They are stupid:-

* They will easily get lost

* Battery life poor compared to other BT approaches

* poorer audio, INHERENTLY, than decent but cheap wired phones. This applies to ALL wireless earphones.

* Possibly poorer maximum volume.

Is your Windows 10, 8 PC falling off the 'net? Microsoft doesn't care

Mage Silver badge

Re: You know what isn't affected by this update?

I installed one the other day in a VM on Linux, my 1st XP since years ago. Baffled at broken update, install "user agent 3" fixed it.

It normally won't connect to network or rest of disk. In contrast MS's Win7 XP mode is totally promiscuous default settings making the VM useless to provide any security!

Mage Silver badge
FAIL

Options

I always create at least one extra unused account on Windows or Linux.

On Linux I also add another Desktop, as logging in with a different one to fix a broken one is easier than CLI, but you only have one Desktop or CLI on Windows. Also remove or re-install (sudo apt-get etc) of a broken thing is simple on Linux CLI compared to Windows CLI, if you have even a phone to look up t'interwebs for the commands.

Samsung SmartCam: Yes, those eyes really are following you around the room

Mage Silver badge

how does it compare to everything else out there right now?

"Pan and Tilt"

Except Logitech had a camera maybe 10 years ago?

UK.gov has outsourced tech policy to Ofcom because it is clueless – SNP techie

Mage Silver badge

Re: power-line Ethernet

The faster power-line Ethernet units interfere with FM radio and VHF Airband as well as MW and SW blocked by all power-line Ethernet adaptors.

There is no possible compromise other than using licensed spectrum or pre-licensed such as ISM (which includes the two wifi bands).

Similarly the proposal to let commercial Mobile (LTE) use ISM (WiFi bands) is an money grab.

The so called "White Space" interferes with TV. It should never be legalised. I can't see it being allowed on Mobile Bands. Unless EVERY TV receiver connected to the Internet in real time, the so called cognitive radio White space with or without a database won't work. Even if it did, WiFi on ISM shows that people will add 20dB gain aerials, power amps and even disable database access.

Ofcom, Comreg and FCC have all shown themselves to be partisan and technically lacking. Comreg can take a year to remove an RF interference source. Priority is given to Mobile, Local Councils and big business.

Both Ofcom and Comreg (with no consultation) aim to close Terrestrial TV. The 700MHz band sell off means no hope of more transmitters for mobile reception, 3D TV, 4K TV or other developments. Terrestrial Broadcast is complementary to Cable and Satellite and Internet. Internet is poor to scale for mass market HD viewing and more expensive than Broadcast for 20M HD viewers of same live content.

Mage Silver badge

Re: power-line Ethernet

It's simply a transmitter, it's tested by using only one or having no data.

It will work across 3m of airgap easily, i.e. test on a genny, car inverter or unplugged UPS. The lighting wiring is often a loop, not a pair, thus is an aerial. The meter / Consumer unit has little effect.

Amusingly it can interfere with DSL, and be blocked by phone chargers lacking RF filters. Unfiltered (or poor) LED SMPSU, PC PSU, CFL or tube Electronic Ballast can "wipe" out MW & SW radio up to 20m away as well as block so called power-line Ethernet. The faster power-line Ethernet units interfere with FM radio and VHF Airband.

Mage Silver badge
Flame

Will go badly

Ofcom is pretty much only interested in raising revenue, they are in thrall to Mobile Operators and support mobile over all other applications of spectrum.

They promote DAB.

They ignore gadgets, PSUs and Lamps creating RFI, as they support Corporates, not consumer.

If they are technically expert, management does their best to muzzle them.

The Dread Server BlackBerry Enterprise is no more

Mage Silver badge

So what could go wrong?

“Simply unlocking the phone grants transparent access to services without requiring a password,” BlackBerry explains.

All aboard the warship that'll make you Sicker

Mage Silver badge

Re: All sounds German to me

"As I understand it there are two main "branches" of the Celtic languages."

P & Q,

Possibly the origin of mind your ps and qs.

Irish/Scottish: son of = mac (maq)

Welsh: son of = ap (shortened from map)

It's thought to be due to Roman influence? Not sure.

Has Samsung, er, rounded the corner with Apple court win?

Mage Silver badge

Even so it's nuts

Because most (all?) of the Apple "Design Patents" are not sufficiently distinctive and have prior use. Also many "inventive" Patents they have are trivial, obvious to those versed in the art, too broad or have prior art, so should not have been allowed.

Change USPTO that they get paid x2 for rejections. They are motivated only to accept due to resource constraints, lack of experts and they get more money from approvals than rejections.

Who killed Pebble? Easy: The vulture capitalists

Mage Silver badge

Re: The way of the world

Ever Ready UK. Crippled by UK gov blocking take over of Mallory (now known as Duracell).

Asset stripped by Hanson in 1980s.

Shell brand bought by the corporate vulture dogfood company that had bought the USA Ever Ready (which founded the UK one some time before 1906) in 1990s. Gradually rebranded Energiser & Eveready.

Assault & Battery: Ever Ready / BEREC

Ironically the USA founder bought the Dry Battery US patent from a UK Chemist in New York. It was a rip-off of a Scandinavian invention and should not have been approved.

Mage Silver badge

Re: The perils of the cloud

Yes, MS had a watch long ago and turned off the data stream, making it useless.

Also "Plays for Sure"?

The Cloud is best for websites :D

BAE Systems' autonomous research aircraft flies itself to Scotland

Mage Silver badge

Hmm

I'd trust this more than an autonomous car.

Apple again late to another market others pioneered. Or is it?

Mage Silver badge
Flame

Revisionism

specialised in making gadgets that have enormous appeal but are for some reason not obvious to other companies. In retrospect, the jukebox-in-your-pocket that was the iPod and networked-computer-that-happens-to-make-phone-calls that was the iPhone were blindingly obvious. Yet no other company executed them well enough to achieve mass uptake.

Nonsense really. Apple came late to every product sector after other companies proved there was a market.

The iPod outstripped other MP3 players (Creative, Digital River) because of the Record label deals with iTunes and ability to buy tracks rather than buy entire CD and rip it.

The iPhone was about 9 years after other smart phones (some were good), it was an iPod, + bought in GUI, cut down MacOS as iOS and Samsung reference phone design using Samsung SC6400 family chips.

Yes the GUI was far better than S60 or WinCE (Nokia earlier had better GUIs they scrapped!), but no better than some other Linux based tiled interfaces on niche phones. It was the Operator promotion and cheap data plans that made it succeed. Previously cost arm & leg to use data on your "portable networked computer".

I had Nokia N9100 and then Nokia N9200i. The Nokia N9200 had browser, email, fax, office apps etc.

In neither case was it Apple tech innovation (SW or HW) but the deals with Record labels and Mobile operators. Frankly the iPod and iTunes was horrible. The lauded Apple GUI (which was a big improvement) was bought in and wasn't the reason for success. Phone contracts made it a success. My E65 was a better phone, had copy/paste, email, web browser but cost a fortune in data charges. Widgets were good (Nokia stupidly scrapped them and had the stupid Ovi store instead, loads of websites offered S60 apps, the Ovi store misunderstood by iTunes worked).

Let's stop re-writing history. Apple came late to every party, then overcharged for inferior HW spec and created walled gardens. They never have been a technical innovator, except maybe the Newton, though better PDAs existed earlier, Newton didn't deliver what it promised. Not Apple II, Lisa, Mac, iPod, iPhone or iPad or Watch.

Why your gigabit broadband lags like hell – blame Intel's chipset

Mage Silver badge

Other Intel Chip

The Intel I219V on new laptop was disconnecting every second. Only 10MBps mode worked. Switched off "autonegotiate" and tried Slave then Master. Only Master worked at 100Mbps or 1Gbps to my 3Com based 8 port switch.

So have Intel a problem writing drivers right now? Both Lenovo and Windows Update offered "newer" drivers with same problem.

Amazon tries again with AppStream because customers didn't like it

Mage Silver badge

Re: Yeah, no.

Well, thin clients, either using terminals, Browser or an Application or entire OS (ChromeOS) is a niche. It's valuable to some people with decent broadband and one or two screens with no IT expertise in geographically dispersed offices.

I don't see a case for using it off Amazon unless you are already using their cloud to a foolish extent for core applications. Using Cloud to deliver Web sites and eCommerce to Retail consumers makes some sense, though Co-lo is "better" and maybe cloud for sales peaks?

Mage Silver badge
Boffin

Eh?

Re-inventing RDP, VNC, Citrix etc as an Amazon service?

It's more about Amazon profits and control than any customer advantage.

Apple blames air for iPhone 6S's narcolepsy

Mage Silver badge

Admissions

All the big vendors and retailers try to ignore the SOGA. Two years MINIMUM for defects.

Apple only admits issues on a phone after a replacement comes out and hopes people buy a new one or pay for repairs, assuming that most in Europe (not limited to EU) will not know their SOGA rights. Signed into law in many countries and all EU countries.

SHIFT + F10, Linux gets you Windows 10's cleartext BitLocker key

Mage Silver badge

Re: Physical Access

All security bets are off anyway with local / physical access.

It's only an issue if it's via the LAN.

How much does HPE's credible IoT bundle cost? Anyone? Hello?

Mage Silver badge

Elephants in Room

The big questions the company didn't answer in a particularly convincing way were how much the new bundle of hardware and software will cost or indeed the return on investment timescales for customers.

What about does their solution actually work? Security & Privacy.

Is IoT compatible with Corporate Governance (Security & Privacy) and is any of it more than a gimmick either badly thought out (light bulbs) or designed to steal user privacy or dangerous (door locks, pet feeders etc that need "cloud server" to work at all) or indeed all these failings.

Bandwagon by clueless marketing folk.

Tobacco giant predicts the end of smoking. Panic ensues

Mage Silver badge

Philip Morris Activities

This is a momentous claim: cigarettes (and rolling papers and various cig accoutrement) are all Philip Morris does today.

They have been making the tobacco based eCigarette for some while and selling it in Japan for nearly 9 months.

http://fortune.com/2016/08/12/marlboro-philip-morris-e-cigarette/

I think they or other tobacco companies did other eCigs and have been involved in advertising them. Some have alleged in a way attractive to youth, or that appears to portray smoking.

I'd expect it will be hard to get actual facts about eCigarettes of either kind due to Tobacco company paid for lobbying and "trials".

Mage Silver badge

Re: I know what's next...Gambling

No chance with state run taxes on the poor, AKA "Lotteries". Used to be illegal in the UK.

Mage Silver badge

Re: All about the money.... big tobacco companies missed the boat on vaping

I don't think they did. They were behind some. This is obviously stage II.

Jeremy Hunt: Telcos must block teens from sexting each other

Mage Silver badge

Re: How?

Lack of coffee? Or sleep? I nearly rote Dead Pole. wrote.

pole -> poll

true have -> true some have

Drat the short time out on editing.

Mage Silver badge

Re: Think for a minute

I can only assume none of you have seen the damage done by such 'sexting' activities. The daughter of a friend of mine was driven to the point of despair, depression and severe eating illness.

Yes. Sexting is terrible. So are lots of other things.

However the proposed remedy is less useful than aspirin or coca cola to reduce hate crime. agism, rape, unwanted pregnancies or terminal cancer.

It does nothing, which means it's a distraction from finding real solutions to problems.

In the case you mention, it's not actually sexting that is even the real issue, but bullying. I changed school to get away from it as often it's nearly random who they pick on, and once it starts, often only death or moving away solves it.

We moved country once, and our children were bullied on the school bus, or out of sight of teachers simply because they had a different accent. We moved again (25 years ago) and no trouble since.

Solution to direct Phone abuse: New SIM. I was getting fake twitter/facebook SMS. Vodafone swapped my SIM and moved call credit for free.

Mage Silver badge

Re: How?

@Chris G

I'm thinking of changing my name by deed pole to "Cassandra". No-one important has ever heeded my dire warnings over the last 40 years. It's true have not been fullfilled... YET!

I've stopped writing software last year and hardly do electronics now. I was asked recently if I had thought of a job in IT. I explained I'd left that behind in 2004 and I'd sooner die (possibly literally) than go back to Windows IT (I might do Linux IT if there was no on call, no on site, 35 hr week, no shifts and £70K)

Mage Silver badge
Facepalm

How?

I mean how can a social media, ISP or Mobile operator know the age of the user, who may not be the account holder (or PAYG anonymous), or on WiFi on Phone/Laptop/Tablet anywhere, or people may lie about age to a website (I'm over 21 and have a different age on every website that asks for it. Why should they know my real birthday?).

This is merely nuts unlike Investigatory Powers Act which is evil and nuts.

Android-rooting Gooligan malware infects 1 million devices

Mage Silver badge

Social Attacks

Gooligan spreads when victims download and install an infected app. Crooks are slinging the malware by tricking victims into following malicious links in phishing messages.

Same as any platform then :( Lack of user good practices is the ultimate flaw in all security.

AWS hops aboard Internet of Things bandwagon

Mage Silver badge

Not surprising

They sell their own brand spying IoT stuff.

What's the first emotion you'd give an AI that might kill you? Yes, fear

Mage Silver badge

As artificially-intelligent software continues to outperform humans at various tasks

No, computers outperform humans on certain kinds of tasks.

A so called "Neural Network" doesn't understand anything. It's just a special kind of database implemented, in a sense, by data flow programming of identical processes.

It's only even AI in a very limited modern computer science sense of the word.

This is a nonsense press release either for marketing or grants. It's a meaningless claim.

systemd free Linux distro Devuan releases second beta

Mage Silver badge

Ubuntu adopted it

Except the once "poster child" for easy use Linux has drunk kool-aid and lost the plot with drive to copy MS Win8 and MacOS and be Tablety/phoney.

Redhat/Fedora/CentOS (commercial) and Mint (individuals) are arguably far more important now.

I'm not able to give an opinion of systemd itself, I don't know if it's a good or bad idea. However C programming is a giant step sideways vs shell scripts.

Banks' bid to board iPhones' NFC chips rebuffed

Mage Silver badge

NFC tech

The NFC and/or a smartphone is itself a compromise of payment security.

Internet Archive preps Canadian safe haven to swerve Donald Trump

Mage Silver badge

Re: How large is the Internet Archive?

In theory multiple copies/versions of the entire Internet. Content of a site can change dramatically. One aspect is historical snapshots.

Mage Silver badge
Big Brother

Re: Over reaction?

Not over reaction. DMCA etc. Even without Trump, USA is a bad place for anything like this.

Is there a mirror in Egypt for some strange reason? If so a bad choice.

Some bad locations:

USA, UK, North Korea, Most Middle East & North African, Other African, China, Iran, Russia.

Investigatory Powers Act signed into UK law by Queen

Mage Silver badge

Re: Could someone recommend a VPN?

Yes, but how would you know they are not working for GCHQ?

Give BAE a kicking and flog off new UK warships, says review

Mage Silver badge

USA Ships

Some are expensive and unreliable. Guess which would bought?

Microsoft's Neon project to redesign Windows for nerd goggles – reports

Mage Silver badge
Windows

Re: Fire and motion

From 1st link, 2004

It has a long way to fall. It could do everything wrong for a decade before it started to be in remote danger, and you never know...

Strangely it was about 2003 - 2004 MS started losing the GUI Plot (Ribbon, Vista development etc).

They now claim Aero was a mistake, but have jumped to the other extreme. Win 3.1 3D effects and Win95 desktop was their GUI pinnacle. except they messed up explorer and still didn't fix it. Nice that Caja has dual windows (F3 I think?)

100k+ petition: MPs must consider debating Snoopers' Charter again

Mage Silver badge
Big Brother

Re: email tracking is also mentioned

A free VPN Service (or any) outside UK, could be offered by GCHQ.

Then they could have everything.

Mage Silver badge
Big Brother

Re: Well... VPN

If you use a VPN, you'll get a visit, or a trojan keylogger on your device.

Getting the password

Mage Silver badge
Black Helicopters

Re: email tracking is also mentioned

Pretty trivial unless you first connect via VPN to a server outside the UK.

I'm outside UK. Do I have a business opportunity?

(What's that clattering sound I hear?)

Blu Vivo 6: Top value trendsetter marred by Chino-English mangle

Mage Silver badge

“Control Center” and Updates.

My Linux Desktop Windows Like "Control Panel" is called “Control Center”

I doubt either term can be protected.

Lack of Updates

Often not feasible due to lack of Flash space to download the new to before upgrade. Amazon sells loads of 8G Flash tablets with Android 4.4, with only 3G free.