* Posts by Vic

5860 publicly visible posts • joined 7 Dec 2007

New GCHQ spymaster: US tech giants are 'command and control networks for terror'

Vic

Re: Facebook and Tor

if it means stopping an attack and saving a life

But there's no reason whatosever to believe it does anything of the sort. You would have thought that such stories would have been paraded through the media if there were any incidences - there clearly are none. All we get is "we stopped x billion attacks, but we're not going to tell you about any of them". That's like Peter Griffin's "ghost who never lies" witness...

If you really want to save lives, pick a target that's both easier to hit and more effective. There are many - tobacco, alcohol, cars - hell, even baths kill more people than terrorists.

This whole thing isn't about saving lives. I don't know what it is about - I'm not an insider - but none of my suppositions are very pleasant.

Vic.

Vic

Re: Nice idea but this would never work

Th trouble is, after about a week on the oversight job, the appointed citizen would have their mind blown by what _really_ goes on

That's all the more reason for having such oversight - if an average civilian would be so distrssed by the behaviour of these services, then that behaviour is clearly wrong. But it'll never be changed if it's only ever scrutinised by insiders.

Vic.

Virgin 'spaceship' pilot 'unlocked tailbooms' going through sound barrier

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Re: .Richard Branson is now looking to rebrand Virgin Galactic

You registered just to post that drivel?

Should you not be telling us who you work for?

Vic.

Vic

Re: Why are these guys even in charge?

After all if de Havilland had investigated the early Comet crashes who knows what they might have found the cause to be.

A number of the Comet crashes were nothing to do with De Havilland - they were due to pilot error.

The Comet first flew in 1949 - only just after the War. Many of the pilots allocated it to fly it were used to flying heavy old prop-driven buses with cable controls.

The Comet, being a jet aircraft and sporting hydraulic controls, flew differently; perhaps the biggest problem a pilot faced was over-rotation on takeoff. This was unheard of on earlier aircraft, but with the Comet, you could rotate to the extent that the wings lost lift - essentially, a stall on takeoff. That'll crash any aircraft.

Vic.

Vic

Re: Why...

I'm curious what started the feathering... mechanical failure?

I suspect we'll need to wait for the accident report to know for sure.

So far, everyone here seems to believe the feather lock control to be a simple safety lock on the feathering handle; I don't know for sure if this is true, but the Reuters report I read seems to imply a rather different situation - that it is a control to lock the feathering section in place physically.

This disctinction is important, because things get tricky at mach 1; the loads on areodynamic surfaces can become very large, and shock waves tend to propagate from prtorusions into the air flow. It is entirely possible - and I have no evidence whatsoever to support this; it is merely hypothesis - that the transition to supersonic flight could cause feather deflection despite the feathering control not having been operated.

So - perhaps we should wait until the experts with the evidence come up with a plausible story...

Vic.

Gov.UK doubles IT outsourcing to £20bn

Vic
Joke

Well, if it's lock-in you were after ...

service integration and management (SIAM).

Isn't Siam now known as Tie-land?

Sorry, it's late here, and a bad pun was the best I could come up with...

Vic.

Whomp, there it is: Seagate demos Kinetic disk drive

Vic

Re: What about security?

Are these Ethernet addressed drives sitting on the network, like a bunch of little NAS's?

Not quite NAS, as the device gives you a disk-like interface[1], rather than a file-based one.

So rather like AoE or iSCSI, really...

Vic.

[1] Albeit one based on variable-sized objects referenced by token, rather than fixed-sized blocks.

Bona-fide science: Which forms of unusual sex are mainstream?

Vic

Re: "view the psychology departments of the world primarily as a source of entertainment"

But statistics is not subjective, which is good as it's what most policy is based on.

If only that were true...

Vic.

Branson on Virgin Galactic fatal crash: 'Space is hard – but worth it'

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Re: RE. Re. Re. Spaceship Earth

Who knows what else has been rediscovered multiple times because the inventor never got funding or was simply ignored by the mainstream because it was too far off the status quo.

"The fact that some geniuses were laughed at does not imply that all who are laughed at are geniuses. They laughed at Columbus, they laughed at Fulton, they laughed at the Wright brothers. But they also laughed at Bozo the Clown."

Carl Sagan was quite a guy...

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Virgin's SpaceShipTwo crashes in Mojave Desert during test flight

Vic

Crap :-(

Dave Mckay is a friend of a friend. He had very positive things to say about this project.

Losing a TP is never good news, but let's hope the second[1] pulls through,

Vic.

[1] I've no idea yet which pilot is dead,

Multi Jet Fusion: THAT's HP's promised 3D printer, not crazy 'leccy invention

Vic

Re: Good News!! ...and Bad News!!

our long-delayed Flying Cars.

I was sent this earlier. It looks ... interesting ...

Vic.

Happy 2nd birthday, Windows 8 and Surface: Anatomy of a disaster

Vic

Re: Snatching defeat from the jaws of victory...

Without bothering to check compatibility

I must confess - I rarely check for compatability these days, I've gotten used to hardware just working when I plug it in, without having to trawl the manufacturer's website for additional drivers. Occasionally, I'm disappointed - but not often...

Vic.

Vic

Re: Snatching defeat from the jaws of victory...

often the "trade secrets" can be in the driver, not the hardware, so handing that over to an open source team, where their competitors (or prospective competitors) can then access the code is not an option.

No-one is asking them to hand over a driver - just enough information to write one.

If all the performance is in the software, then the hardware is useless.

If the hardware is actually doing something, they simply need to detail the interface to it and let the FOSS guys figure out how to drive it without needing to see to super-sekrit info in the proprietary driver.

And if the FOSS drive ends up better - the manufacturer can always ship it under the terms of the licence. That means less ongoing maintenance work for the vendor and a superior product. Happy days!

Vic.

Vic

Re: Snatching defeat from the jaws of victory...

HP and Dell tried selling machines with Linux on them several years ago. They gave up

Of course they did.

I don't knbow about HP's offerings, but Dell were shipping lower-spec kit on the Linux machines - you could have a cheaper and/or better bit of kit by buying it with Windows on and installing Linux yourself.

And we did.

Vic.

Vic

Re: Snatching defeat from the jaws of victory...

and the non-techies don't move to Linux because the drivers are buggy or unavailable

This is the bit that always frustrates me: drivers are available to all manufacturers at no cost to themselves. There is an open promise from the kernel team to write a professional driver for any piece of hardware where the manufacturer will supply enough information for that to be possible.

We can only wonder at why a hardware manufacturer prefers to have a smaller market available than to hand over a datasheet...

Vic.

Vic

Re: Snatching defeat from the jaws of victory...

And yet there's always someone saying they were working with tarballs and/or compilation, like this is typical of modern Linux distributions.

I've seen quite a bit of this.

There's a meme that, to use Linux, you have to compile everything. Just look at the number of times people will claim to have had to recompile their kernels, and that is why they gave up using Linux.

And so new users, when wanting to install a package, ignore the advice they were given and go hunting for tarballs.

I still cannot fathom why people give more credence to anonymous posts found on Internet fora than they do to their own support staff...

Vic.

Samsung turns off lights on LEDs worldwide – except in South Korea

Vic

Updating an old CRT to a flatscreen was an easy sell.

Not to me, it isnt.

CRTs have a number of disadvantages, but when the images is supposed to be black, they go black. Proper black. LCDs give you a rather washed-out grey...

I'm hoping flat-screen TVs[1] will catch up to the quality of proper CRTs, but I'll not be holding my breath...

Vic.

[1] Plasma TVs can often match CRTs - but offer few advantages, and are far too fragile & expensive for my liking.

Vic

Re: LED TV's are NOT DEAD!

I want an LED TV with a digital tuner

I just want a TV that does black levels properly. I don't care which technology it uses...

Vic.

BT: Consumers and cost cutting save the day

Vic

Re: Praising BT does feel wrong somehow but

AAISP just don't give up on faults

I'm going to praise AAISP as well.

I've had one bit of snarkiness from them (to which I responded, as I'm sure you can guess). But when I thought they were port-blocking a few weeks back (and got quite stroppy about it), they kept their cool (after I hadn't), and helped me diagnose the problem. It ended up being a DDoS...

There are downsides to switching to AAISP - e.g. it's the first time I've had metered data for many years - but I'm very pleased I switched.

Vic.

Carders offer malware with the human touch to defeat fraud detection

Vic

Re: definite article

The = definate article

My = ?

A = ?

"The" - definite article

"My" - possessive adjective

"A" - indefinite article

If we're trying to be specific without any connotation of possession, the definite article would appear to be the right tool for the job...

Vic.

ICO to fine UNBIDDEN MARKETEERS who cause 'ANXIETY'

Vic

Re: Not electronic but

sending one of their lily-livered henchmen to my property last year.

They sent one to my house a few years back. I countered with dumb insolence, telling the guy that I had all the licencing I needed, thankyouverymuch.

He got more and more angry. I thought he was going to have a fit. Eventually, he bothered to ring his office, who confirmed that I did already have a licence...

Vic.

BAE points electromagnetic projectile at US Army

Vic

Re: Blasters > Rails

blasters are much better for this

Nah. Blasters are clumsy and random. What we need is an elegant weapon for a more civilized age

</TheseAreNotTheQuotesYou'reLookingFor>

Vic.

'It's NOT a fishing expedition', say police over random spot checks on gun owners

Vic

Re: And sharp, pointy implements, too!

your comment obviously dodges the fact that kitchen knives don't require a license to own

It's only a matter of time... :-(

Vic.

Vic

Re: This whole terry wrist thing is backwards

Same way any neighborhood looks out for drugs etc, know your neighbors, who is a regular, who is a visitor

So only strangers make explosives?

One of my neighbours actually did blow himself up with a "device" a few years back. Your advice would not have discovered him...

Vic.

Vic

Re: This whole terry wrist thing is backwards

That means lots of people will be watching out for it

A big part of the problem, IMO, is that the Public largely wouldn't know *how* to watch out for it.

In recent years, knowledge of explosives and firearms has ebbed out of General Knowledge - to many, even *looking* for information about guns or bombs means you're definitely a wrong'un. Thus we get a car full of petrol cans being deemed an an explosive[1], because hyping up an event helps sell more tabloids and makes the next power-grab that much easier...

Sarkosy once famously said that he doesn't want everyone getting plans for explosives off the Internet. I actually take exactly the opposite view - I want everyone to know (roughly) how to construct a bomb. That way, the vast majority of us who don't want bombs to go off will have the capability to be vigilant, and so prevent problems. But the modern policing method is always "Nanny knows best" - so, unfortunately,, they're on their own...

Vic.

[1] Making an explosive out of petrol is actually very difficult - you can get a conflagration with ease, leading to the big orange fire cloud so beloved by Hollywood movies. But that's just a fire; achieving detonation - which is what you want from a bomb - is really difficult.

Sporty in all but name: Peugeot 308 e-THP 110

Vic

Re: Car reviews

If you're going to keep this up, at least review unusual non-mainstream things like electric motorcycles

Yeah, this.

And if you need a test rider - give me a call...

Vic.

Vic

Re: Bah Humbug

Plus it is French, they will probably not have any spares for it after next year

It's a Peugeot - they will have spares available for as long as there are vehicles in existence.

They'll cost you a King's ransom[1], though...

Vic.

[1] Four litle plastic knobs for the heater controls in my old van was £40. Thieving bastards.

DOUBLE BONK: Fanbois catch Apple Pay picking pockets

Vic

Re: because apple

Well that may be your view

ITYF it was parody...

Vic.

'Cowardly, venomous trolls' threatened with two-year sentences for menacing posts

Vic

Re: the war on rudeness

I think those whose interest in this kind of issue begins and ends with the freedom of expression of the troller aren’t paying enough attention to the effect on the trollee’s freedoms

No-one gives a flying fuck about trolls.

What we're worried about is how the government will seek to pervert this particular power-grab. History teaches us that such concern is not paranoia...

Vic.

Vic

Re: Nothing to do with "free speech"

which inevitably end up being used for unforeseen reasons having little to do with the original stated intent

There, FTFY.

Vic.

Adobe spies on readers: EVERY DRM page turn leaked to base over SSL

Vic

Re: How does Adobe stay in business?

Dreamweaver doesn't cause bloat

Maybe it's got better recently, then, because it used to nest tables a bazillion deep...

Vic.

Vic

Re: I hate DRM....

Th silly thing with DRM is that it simply does not stop copies being made available

That's because ultimately, all DRM is inherently broken.

DRM requires the end-user to have in his posession the encrypted/obfuscated source material, the algorithm to decode it, and the keys to do so. It can only function by the fiction that one or more of these is somehow secret, when in fact they are all handed over.

And so DRM will always be circumvented by those that can be bothered to do so, leaving it to be simply an impediment to legitimate users who don't.

Vic.

Want a more fuel efficient car? Then redesign it – here's how

Vic

Re: The Personal Factor

I'd wonder just what the ratio was optimised for

Sales, of course...

Vic.

Vic

Re: Cruise control

And HGVs overtaking other HGVs while being prevented from going over 56mph, that's what *really* slows down the traffic on M-ways.

Nope. What *really* slows down a motorway is people failing to use the acceleration/deceleration lanes.

Joining the motorway at low speed causes vast amounts of braking behind you - as does slowing down in the carriageway before you exit...

Vic.

Vic

Re: Cruise control

It has been said by people who know about these things that a really good driver can out-perfomr ABS

That's been said by people who "believe" they know about such thnigs - but it's wrong - exept in the loose-surface conditions where locking the wheels is preferable.

An ABS unit has individual control over the calipers - a driver does not. The ABS unit is more effective, even if the driver can react as rapidly as the electronics[1].

Vic.

[1] He can't...

Vic

Re: DWB

I'm a home mechanic, and have been for the past 20 years.

I attempted to stop being a home mechanic some 20 years ago - but I keep discovering that the "professionals" have enormous competency issues.

The last one hit us last year - the VW garage charged my missus some £800 for work to fix a fault - and didn't fix it. They then quoted a further £2500 for the nexst components they intended to change. The problem was clearly an interconnect problem[1] - so I fixed it in about half an hour with no components needed...

Vic.

[1] This seems to be an issue with modern VWs - I've seen quite a few reports of the same thing happening. They're cheapskating on the strain relief to save a few pennies, and causing the car to be seriously unreliable as a result.

Vic

Re: Mr ChriZ Advanced Motoring

The numbers of drivers with poor vision are, in my experience, dwarfed by the numbers of drivers who are just plain stupid.

Your point about the nuber of crap drivers is well made - but I think you underestimate the number of drivers with poor eyesight...

Vic.

Vic

My instructor (30 years ago) told me "Brakes are for stopping and correcting your mistakes".

They're also for increasing performance - but that, of course, will cost you in increased fuel consumption :-(

Vic.

Vic

Re: you can barely turn the undriven wheels by hand

There are a couple of designs for electrical generation using turbocharger housings

I was playing with a FireStreak missile the other day - that uses a turbo alternator to generate its electrical power, driven from an onboard pressure vessel.

Of course, a missile doesn't tend to last as long as a car from first ignition to end-of-life...

Vic.

Kingston's aviation empire: From industry firsts to Airfix heroes

Vic

Re: Can I just ask here

There are a few: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:Aircraft_manufacturers_of_the_United_Kingdom

Strictly speaking, AeroElvira should be added to that list, as they're still sort of going - but they only have one Optica, and don't seem to be building any more.

Vic.

Google+ goes TITSUP. But WHO knew? How long? Anyone ... Hello ...

Vic

Re: Google+ goes TITSUP. But WHO knew?

g+ is conversation.

Do you have a link to any organisations you should be telling us about? You posting history is spomewhat ... single-threaded...

Vic.

Computer misuse: Brits could face LIFE IN PRISON for serious hacking offences

Vic

Re: Needed

Companies shouldn't have to spend millions of quid on making their systems operate like Fort Knox.

They don't. They just need to ensure that the lock on the front door is made out of something more substantial than camembert. And that there is a front door.

If you tried to get the cops to investigate a "burglary", when you'd actually left the premises with all the windows wide open and the keys on a hook on the outside wall, they'd just laugh at you, and your insurance company would as well. But when such idiocy is committed in the digital domain, it is considered appropriate, and we end up with crazy estimates for how "damaging" a given intrusion is. There ought to be parity...

Vic.

Vic

Re: Needed

And not include the cost to the victim of securing their systems like they should have done in the first place.

And there's the rub: so many of these incidents use the entire clean-up cost to over-state the "damage" that has occurred, when the bulk of that clean-up is in implementing the security they should have had all along. Actual damages are so trivial you wouldn't even bother filing charges, but then some high-level manager or similar would end up looking stupid - so the costs are inflated to save face. It helps that that facilitates extradition, to boot...

If the courts were to get wise to this, I guarantee substantially all "hacking" cases would become frivolous.

Vic.

UNIX greybeards threaten Debian fork over systemd plan

Vic

Re: Such hatred

The nice thing is with init.d/* is that you could swap the shell scripts for something else if you really hate them, binaries, makefiles, or even roll your own special init.d shell if that is too easy.

And when you're really screwed - you can instrument them to see what's going on...

Vic.

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Re: the "fun" part about systemd

I have come to the conclusion that suspending works reliably only in systems where the computer and OS have been designed together with power management in mind, as is the case with smartphones and pads.

The laptop I'm typing this on is a Packard-Bell TJ45[1]. It is the current in a long line of laptops I've had that suspend & hibernate just fine...

Vic.

[1] My next-door neighbours threw it out when it had become too broken for their use. I've been using it happily[2] for a couple of years now.

[2] Well, as happily as you can use such a pile of crap...

Apple SILENCES Bose, YANKS headphones from stores

Vic

Re: Bose noise-cancelling headphones.

Bose produced respected, if high-end, audio equipment

Bose produced expensive kit. Respected it was not...

I looked on in horror when I first pulled the front off an 802. Their "full-range" claims were audibly bollocks, but I really could not bring myself to believe that any company could make "fidelity" claims from that heap of crap...

Vic.

Carry On Cosmonaut: Willful Child is a poor taste Star Trek parody

Vic

Re: Picard?

Picard? I must have missed those episodes.

I cna only think of one such episode[1], and that was the whole crew losing it, not Picard being off-colour...

Vic.

[1] Yes, I did have to look it up :-)

MasterCard adds fingerprint scanner to credit cards for spending sans the PIN

Vic

Re: relative difficulty

EMV cards are quite good at preventing the leak of data stored in the chip (otherwise it would be easy to clone, and we don't hear much about that).

Maybe we don't hear much, but we do hear something

Vic.

America's super-secret X-37B plane returns to Earth after nearly TWO YEARS aloft

Vic

It could take out enemy satellites without blowing them up, by painting their solar panels

That kinda presupposes the existence of a paint you could use at that temperatire and pressure...

Vic.