* Posts by M. Poolman

194 publicly visible posts • joined 19 Mar 2007

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Over 170K users caught up in poisoned Python package ruse

M. Poolman

Re: Python, eh?

The problem isn't the language but the distribution mechanism, potentially you could get similar issues with R (cran), perl (cpan) or even TeX (ctan) (and doubtless many others), it's only less likely because they don't have such a high profile as Python. For me the only sensible solution is never to allow anything to automatically install dependencies other than the official OS repository, especially on production machines. The more automatic things are made the more they are likely automatically to go wrong.

There was a very good series discussing this, and related matters, on LWN last year (https://lwn.net/Articles/924104/) with a brief follow up here: https://lwn.net/Articles/959236/

Linux has nearly half of the desktop OS Linux market

M. Poolman

Re: If ChromeOS is Linux...

Yep fond memories indeed, this wasn't Oxford Poly you're talking about by any chance?

Open source AI makes modern PCs relevant, and subscriptions seem shabby

M. Poolman
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Re: costs

Exactly what he said! This is still very new technology, and if people at home want to spend time generating prog rock covers - good for them.

On the other hand, there must be many potential applications in science and engineering waiting to be discovered (big data is all very well, but often begs the question as to how it is then processed and interpreted). Putting these tools in to the hands of researchers, for a fairly modest hardware budget, with the "freedom to tinker" and freedom from the hassles of licencing, subscriptions etc. can only be a good thing.

Sure not all problems can be solved with a generous sprinkling of magic AI pixie dust, but it strikes me that we may well entering a new and exciting era of computing.

Unix is dead. Long live Unix!

M. Poolman

Re: Are you quite mad?

see title

Microsoft to block downloaded VBA macros in Office – you may be able to run 'em anyway

M. Poolman
Happy

Re: A tighter security method.

I guess you must be from across the pond. The result of HR bods over here checking to see the a pants wearing policy is being correctly observed has comedic possibilities of gargantuan proportion.

Well the thought made me chuckle anyway

Analogue tones of a ZX Spectrum Load set to ride again via podcast project

M. Poolman
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Re: Inner City Unit did this on vinyl years ago

Double thumbs up for the ICU ref, although I think Nik Turner might have been a bit pissed off at describing them as a Hawkwind spinoff, even if the two were not entirely unrelated.

For those unfamiliar with ICU - check 'em out - especially the 2nd LP "The Maximum Effect".

M. Poolman

, programs were distributed on other media...

For example in the form of a couple of k of hex printed inside magazines to be lovingly typed in - yep, we really did that!

Brit MPs blast Baroness Dido Harding's performance as head of NHS Test and Trace

M. Poolman

Re: Please don't call it NHS track and trace

Be careful what you say, if only in jest, grasshopper.

GitHub merges 'useless garbage' says Linus Torvalds as new NTFS support added to Linux kernel 5.15

M. Poolman

Er, how about Aldgate East, using District Line rules?

I think that is only valid if the Gryncham-Thrib exceptions to Huffington-Bates variant is in play.

M. Poolman

Re: So, my stance of 30 years ... vindicated ????

And you tell the young people today ...

M. Poolman

You're missing the point, it's not the interface per se that is the issue but some of the underlying logic and (especially) the naming conventions for various concepts, as has been illustrated in many posts on this thread.

Note that the story kicked off as a result of problems originating in a lovely cuddly web gui. There's more to computing than UIs !

M. Poolman
Pint

Re: Thanks to All

Thanks, old bean, have one on me! I thought it was only me as well; perhaps there is a case of the emperor's new clothes here? GIT does have some attractive features, but it sure as hell is a PITA to learn.

Spring tears down math geek t-shirt listing because it dared to mention the trademarked word 'zeta'

M. Poolman

Re: Don't think iSmash (chain of phone repair shops in England) is owned by Apple.

Or indeed, iPlayer

Astroboffins think strangely porous boulders found on asteroid Ryugu may be the stuff of proto-planets

M. Poolman

I might be missing something here

but why the excitement that "this may be the stuff that planets were built from"? I thought the whole point of these missions was asteroids were already assumed to be just that. I'm not trying to diss what is obviously a stonkingly brilliant mission, just curious as to the way this particular result is being reported,

Big red buttons and very bad language: A primer for life in the IT world

M. Poolman

Re: hydraulic computers

It's an absolute gem and a bit surreal when you go inside to discover a pretty much bog standard Tesco inside.

Arm freezes hiring until Nvidia takeover, cancels everyone's 'wellbeing' allowance

M. Poolman

Re: This is a good idea

Kinda struggling with the concept of a "crunchy worm" here

Good: Water vapor signal detected for first time on distant planet. Bad: Er, we'll let one of the boffins explain

M. Poolman

Re: So it's not a dry heat then?

...people seem to have an issue with the word...

I wouldn't have thought that it bothers moist people!

Linus Torvalds issues early Linux Kernel update to fix swapfile SNAFU

M. Poolman

Re: A swap partition saved my life

Yep, screw your system with dd and then recover it.

Sorts out the BoFHs from the PFYs!

Microsoft's underwhelming, underpowered dual-screen Surface Duo phone arrives in the UK this month for £1,349

M. Poolman

Re: Target Audience?

... a really usuable Excel ...

What is this mystery of which you speak?

M. Poolman

Re: This is not the phone you are looking for

Now I finally see why dual screen phones might have a genuinely useful application!

M. Poolman

Android devices behave as one device with two screens

X for Android, anyone?

This scumbag stole and traded victims' nude pics and vids after guessing their passwords, security answers

M. Poolman
Happy

Re: John Kettley is a weatherman

<Mainwaring> I was wondering who would be the first to make that connection </Mainwaring>

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Db6WHtNV5-I

K8s on a plane! US Air Force slaps Googly container tech on yet another war machine to 'run advanced ML algorithms'

M. Poolman

"We look to unleash the power of digital engineering and agile software yada yada

Don't much about U2s or K8s for that matter, but I still score pretty high when it comes to bullshit bingo!

Nvidia watches Brit upstart Graphcore swing into rear-view mirror waving beastly second-gen AI chip hardware

M. Poolman
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Re: Make it simpler

Wot he said. Applies to a number of other environments too!

Two out of three parachutes... is just as planned for Boeing's Starliner this time around

M. Poolman

Boeing's landing technology also features airbags -

Outsourced to a company in Bulgaria?

(well someone had to say it)

One does not simply repurpose an entire internet constellation for sat-nav, but UK might have a go anyway

M. Poolman
Thumb Up

Re: Re assume...

Thumbs up for the obvious riposte, which I obviously failed to spot (you can have a beer icon if you prefer)

Folk sure like to stick electric toothbrush heads in their ears: True wireless stereo sales buck coronavirus trends

M. Poolman

Little known company called Onkyo

I think are quite well known in HiFi circles. I've got a couple of the entry-level separates and am well pleased. Worth checking out (other companies are of course available, and I have no connection with them).

The only way is bork for the UK's embattled rail travellers

M. Poolman
Coat

I expect

That that would make quite a good exhibit for the Bork Railway Museum!

Zealous Zoom's zesty zymotic zone zinger: Zestful zealots zip zillions

M. Poolman

Re: Why zoom?

Since lock-down, I've used (for work and leisure) FB messenger, Google meet, MS teams, Skype and Zoom. Zoom for me is head and shoulders above the rest: simpler to set up, better audio and video quality, and more reliable (of course your experience may be different)..

I think it's telling that this is from a start-up who focus on doing one thing and doing it well, as opposed the the offerings of various mega-corps who see something new and want to add a slice of the action to their portfolio.

I guess it's only a matter of before Zoom get bought by someone much larger, and I'll have to start looking for an alternative.

In case you need more proof the world's gone mad: Behold, Apple's $699 Mac Pro wheels

M. Poolman

Re: The longer I live, the stranger things get...

Wheels on a MacBook - the ultimate hipster skateboard?

Linux fans thrown a bone in one Windows 10 build while Peppa Pig may fly if another is ready in time for this year

M. Poolman

Re: Embrace phase is working well.

Having done neither, I bow to the voice of experience.

Real-time tragedy: Dumb deletion leaves librarian red-faced and fails to nix teenage kicks on the school network

M. Poolman

Re: Amiga C compiler

I got that from a Fred Fish PD library floppy. The developer actually had his personal telephone number in the docs, I rang it once and a slightly fed up sounding better half answered it and shouted up the stairs in a rather resigned tone of voice "Stevie, North C!".

You tell that to the youngsters today and they won't believe you.

M. Poolman

Amiga C compiler

There was a free compiler for the A500 called NorthC, gcc was available for the A1200, but I'm not sure about earlier Amigas. With either, it was a problem getting hold of the header files to access various OS and UI functionality. I seem to remember that the price of Lattice C with a full set of header files cost more than the hardware itself, and can't help wondering how much this had to do with the Amiga's ultimate demise.

M. Poolman

Hensa sure brings back memories, also from a poly, although I don't remember it being blacklisted. I seem to remember accessing it via ftp. One of the great things about was a good selection of Amiga software. I downloaded both gcc and LaTeX for the Amiga, (split over about 10 floppies if I remember correctly).

From Amanda Holden to petrol-filled water guns: It has been a weird week for 5G

M. Poolman
Mushroom

Dowsing a mast, or any other large object with petrol, especially by *spraying* petrol FFS sounds like a great way to get yourself a Darwin award.

As Frank Zappa said:

"Physicists say that hydrogen is the more abundant than anything else in the universe; they're wrong - it's stupidity"

Obvious Icon

Boeing 787s must be turned off and on every 51 days to prevent 'misleading data' being shown to pilots

M. Poolman

Re: A point of order seems to need clarifying.

42 days without a reboot results in accumulated stale data causing serious malfunctions in humour detection sensors.

Remember that clinical trial, promoted by President Trump, of a possible COVID-19 cure? So, so, so many questions...

M. Poolman

Re: The most important statement in the whole article.

The version I remember (from the early '90s?) had a backpacker, the Dali Lama and Bull Gates in the plane.

Microsoft staff giggle beneath the weight of a 52,000-person Reply-All email storm

M. Poolman

"Whatever the amount, it's a steel."

Although if you're using Chrome, your reputation will remain stainless.

Captain Caveman rides to the rescue, solves a prickly PowerPoint problem with a magical solution

M. Poolman

"Twenty-five quid??? ...

For wiping off a thumb-print might be a bit steep, but for coming out for a home-call on Boxing-day sounds like pretty damn good value to me.

House of Lords push internet legend on greater openness and transparency from Google. Nope, says Vint Cerf

M. Poolman
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his supervisor ... promptly racked the objective lens through the preparation

Have a thumbs up for making oi smile!

Xilinx's high-end Versal FPGA is like a designer handbag. If you need to ask the price, you probably can't afford it

M. Poolman

Re: High-level

Been a long time since I thought of C(++) as high level!

Death and taxis: Windows has had enough of clinging to a cab rooftop in the London rain

M. Poolman

I think you had your sarcasm filter turned up too high.

Voyager suffers a power wobble as boffins start the final countdown for Spitzer

M. Poolman
Pint

Re: W10

"I still envision an alternate history where X86 was only a bit player and we're all using Commodore-compatible instead of IBM-compatible machines."

And I thought it was only me - have a beer!

Star wreck: There's a 1 in 20 chance a NASA telescope and US military satellite will smash into each other today

M. Poolman

Re: Pittsburgh, Philadelphia? Slough.

Come friendly bombs ...

'I am done with open source': Developer of Rust Actix web framework quits, appoints new maintainer

M. Poolman

People publish Open Source software because they're hobbyists

I was trying to think of a sensible reply to that, but remembering the quote from AC immediately before yours, it would probably be a waste of time.

Oi, Queenslander who downloaded 26.8TB in June alone – we see you

M. Poolman

Re: Consumer hardware

Pah! When I were I lad I had to spend ten minutes toggling binary into the front panel before the computer (good ol' PDP8) could even read a paper tape!

Google Chrome will check for leaked credentials every time you sign in anywhere

M. Poolman
Holmes

...worry here is that sending your credentials to Google ... could ... be a security risk

See icon

(ellipses because title too long)

50 years ago, someone decided it would be OK to fire Apollo 12 through a rain cloud. Awks, or just 'SCE to Aux'?

M. Poolman

Gene Kranz's book Failure is not an option is well worth a read.

I'll look out for it. In the mean time I'd recommend Tom Wolf's "The Right Stuff" for those interested in this kind of thing.

Judge shoots down Trump admin's efforts to allow folks to post shoddy 3D printer gun blueprints online

M. Poolman

Re: Why a 3D printed gun?

Have an upvote for beating me to it!

M. Poolman

Countries with strict gun control

tend to be equally strict about control of sale of ammunition. Perhaps that could be 3D printed too.

Probably safer all round.

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