Posts by Vic

at least for a somewhat lax definition of valid.

...at least for a very lax definition of valid.

Vcards aren't exactly difficult to parse - at least to the point where a batch file would be unusable. But the app didn't bother.

Vic.

Re: Cue the Beatles

Really, how would the public react if some truly undesirable were to be elected?

Well, they've been somewhat passive the last couple of times...

Vic.

Re: Are they talking about ONE home powering the node?

By deliberately putting in a series resistor that is, say, 10 times greater than the average copper line, the current from each household would be near as dammit equalised.

How much power does the unit draw? How much is lost in your resistors?

Vic.

Re: Ah, BT

all the systematic incompetence from the 1970s era must be gone now. So where is this new generation of muppetry coming from ?

It's cultural.

Vic.

can anybody tell me why spell-checking doesn't work in the comment's here?

It's personal. It hates you.

Probably something to do with the use of the grocer's apostrophe...

Vic.

Re: User Monitoring

But who will monitor the administrator's activity?

Me, of course.

Vic.

Re: Unchecking?

Does that suggest that people have made a deliberate decision to download from potentially dodgy sites?

Yes.

Vic.

Duh, the clue is in the name - British Broadcasting Corporation

Yes, but they do seem intent on morphing into the British Unicasting Company...

Vic.

Re: They then hold the line open and simulate a dialtone

So what you do is make a call to your Aunt Mabel before ringing the bank

That's a definite improvement, but isn't absolutely secure.

It would be a comparatively simple task to intercept any DTMF tones on the (still-open) line, and pass through the dialling info to another line - i.e. act as a proxy. In the event that the target bank number is dialled, you don't pass through...

Vic.

there is probably no worse place to puke. Oh, wait, there is - in your space suit...

Not a puke, but this always made me laugh...

Vic.

every place I've worked (some very big multinationals) it is a simple phone call with zero checks to reset a password,

I worked for a place a while back who did a password reset[1] for my with some (albeit minimal) identity checks.

At the end of the conversation was the most phenominal line ever - "We will send you your new password by email"...

Vic.

[1] I'd been contracting there, then left for a while. When I came back, my account had been locked for inactivity.

I get the issue with debt never being inflated away but if everything else gets cheaper then we have more left over to pay off the debt

You're assuming that wages stay the same. If that were to happen, then employers have the same outgoing, but less income - so they go bust. That leaves lots of people unemployed, so nothing with which to pay off any debts.

Alternatively, wages decrease in line with deflation - so there is no more money left over.

Vic.

Re: OK, Spotify users,

I can't think of any phone/tablet/'puter/iot fridge that doesn't make you go through an EULA before using it

I'm using one right now. It's not tricky if it matters to you...

And there's no way you can have signed up to that and then be bothered about Spotify

Well, I'm not bothered about Spotify[1]. But I am bothered about trojan horses on the machines of friends and customers...

None of these EULAs is released without having gone past the corprat lawyers. If they say something ambiguous, then it's because the lawyer has decided that ambiguity is the more profitable course of action. It's not hard to be specific.

Vic.

[1] Being of somewhat conservative musical taste, I probably already have all the music I'll ever want. Preiodically, I sample new bands, but very rarely do I find anything that interests me. I am an old git.

Re: perhaps I'm an idiot...

How does OpenJDK fit into this?

OpenJDK is GPL, so all copyrighted materiel within it is available under that licence.

Under Oracle's interpretation of copyright[1], the API is copyrighted, meaning that to use that API from OpenJDK would require your code to be placed under GPL. And Android is not GPL.

Vic.

[1] Oracle's interpretation is wrong, obviously. It is properly dangerous[2] to try to copyright APIs. We'll see that from the fallout later - but in the meantime, I can imagine America's software industry ending up embroiled in litigation amongst itself. Which will be fun.

[2] I await IBM's suit for Oracle's unlicenced re-implementation of the SQL APIs with bated breath. I believe Oracle has made quite a bit of money out of that API...

Re: And yet

I don't think it's made available to sellers

It is. Every seller gets your paypal address, even if you've already given them a different one.

This is, IMO, one of the leakier aspects of PayPal :-(

Vic.

Re: Theft != Copyright Infringement

So why do they keep calling it theft?

It's an attempt firstly to get the public will onside, and then to change public perception.

You'd be hard-pushed to find a member of the general public who would support theft. It just isn't something we like to see. But you'd find it much easier to find people who are much less bothered by the idea of copyright infringment. So by calling these people "thieves", the media organisations are trying to demonise the offenders in the eyes of the public. That's good for convictions...

After that, if they can get everyone calling copyright infringement "theft", there is some chance of changing the public's current view of it.

It's still incorrect, though. With a bit of luck, the public might start to notice eventually, and the resulting backlash might make these type feel slightly less entitled...

Vic.

Re: as we push the big, red "Publish" button on this story

Can we have a picture of that?

Here you go.

Vic.

Re: Well done!

have added being skeptical when someone says "we take your privacy seriously".

There appears to be some punctuation missing from that statement - it's more like "we take your privacy - seriously".

Vic.

Re: Along similar lines

Maybe then she'll abdicate and give Charley a chance.

Please, $deity, no...

Vic.

Re: Bollocks

Some remedies (like putting in a new macro site) can take ages,especially when new backhand is required.

Freudian slip? :-)

Vic.

Re: @ElReg!comments!Pierre = @Hugh Pumphrey - Track Stand? Bah.

one cannot maintain a stable position on the ground with fewer than three nonlinear contacts.

I can - and frequently do - on a motorcycle. It's spectactularly easy once you know how[1]. The trick is to ignore all those people who claim it requires excellent balance skills...

It is, obviously, harder on a pushbike - although slow-riding is still possible. I've never tried this "track stand" procedure, so I can't comment on that.

Would you like to see a motorcyclist on heavy bike attempting the same feat in heavy traffic?

Sure. It's a trivial skill.

Vic.

[1] Slow riding - including coming to a full stop - is effected by putting the rear brake on and then feathering the clutch to keep the engine off idle whilst proceeding at the desired speed (including being stationary). It takes less than 20 minutes to learn...

Re: Escape pod

garbage pod?

ITYM Quagaar Warrior Assault Pod...

Vic.

Re: Important malware...

If your website doesn't work properly on my computer 'cause you use / allow flash and I've blocked it (for obvious reasons) it's because *YOUR WEBSITE IS SHIT*.

A former customer of mine changed their site to be all-Flash - against my (prior) advice. The MD was really quite annoyed at me when I mentioned that Flash is a poor solution for a general-purpose site like theirs.

I'm pleased to reveal that the Flash site has been thrown away. Not that I'm going to take them back as customers, though...

Vic.

Re: BOLL - OCKS

I have a phobia

Abstemiophobia? Yeah, me too.

Vic.

Re: Small Survey.

Another one with something of a one-track posting history.

Is there something you'd like to disclose?

Vic.

Re: while enabling ... the Windows Store

Linux is different from Windows, and there will be strangeness for first time users, especially non experts

IME, it's the other way round: non-experts pick it up very rapidly. It is those who know Windows well who find it difficult. There are many learned behaviours which just make life difficult in Linux-land...

Vic.

Re: ROFL

That's the Dunning–Kruger effect.

Either of you downvoters care to tell me *why*? I didn't think this was a particularly controversial post...

Vic.

Re: More fool the idiots...

Outages not only happen at in-house facilities, but are typically more likely to happen there.

Not at mine, they aren't...

Vic.

I thought 1+1+1 = 7?

1+1+1 = 11, or course. Duh...

Vic.

Re: Scary

I have seen evem my own domain on spam sent to my domain

That's a standard spammer tactic. They seem to think that local-domain addresses will be whitelisted, or something like that.

My SPF records defeats it all rather trivially...

Vic.

Re: I'm skeptical

They shouldn't be allowed to say "up to 20" and deliver 2 and say "Tough!"

I disagree. For a given technology, the maximum achievable speed depends on a whole raft of variables.

Of course, they should only be allowed to charge for what they deliver - so if they're delivering 10% of the rated speed, the bill is 10% of the agreed price...

Vic.