* Posts by Charlie Clark

12110 publicly visible posts • joined 16 Apr 2007

Tesla’s Autopilot losing track of devs crashing out of 'leccy car maker

Charlie Clark Silver badge

Re: Autonomous driving is months, years, or decades away

I recently had two near misses with idiots both in the big Teslas, which are rare here and, as such, real virtue statements.

But I reckom that if you made anyone drive in rush-hour in a big city they're not familiar with for a couple of hours they'd be begging to stop. The problems and cognitive overload are not that dissimilar to putting a computer-driven car in a new environment, with the distinction that the computer can benefit from the experience of its peers.

Charlie Clark Silver badge

Re: Autonomous driving is months, years, or decades away

You don't seem to understand the legal situation very much.

Firstly, if you kill somone in a car accident you could be even be charged with murder: several cases working their way through the German court system like this already and other countries looking on interestingly. However, as to whether the current system is an effective deterrent, I'd be beg to differ. We have more RTAs than ever before but fewer fatalities due to the improved safety features of modern cars.

At least in the US, the principle of unlimited liability and potential class action suits hang over any company offering these services. Which is why they're so keen to get the telemetry to demonstate that their cars are safer. They're also looking for test cases.

It doesn't happen often but companies do occasionally go bankrupt when they put the safety of the customers on the line.

But regulation is also crucial: only idiots will let their cars drive in situations which are not expressly approved, as regulatory approval is their best weapon in a court case. Insurers will also weigh in relying on the data they've been collecting for years to set insurance premiums for computer-driven cars in regulated areas. If the numbers go the righr way. it could soon become prohibitively expensive to insure yourself as a driver.

Your own assessment of your own behaviour and extrapolation for others is a clear case of bias (Kahnemann). We all tend to think we're good drivers when we're only average. My own take is that an awful lot of drivers are already overtaxed by many road situations and increasingly rely on other drivers doing the thinking for them. This is why computer-driven cars are programmed to drive defensively: they know that the other driver is an idiot. Taking a drive in another country, whether it's Italy or Afghanistan, can be a real eye-opener.

The comparison with the Boeing 737 Max also fails here because, as others have explained, Boeing developed a system for the new plane to make it handle as much like the old plane as possible, despite it being mechanically and aerodynamically a completely different beast. The aim was to avoid expensive and lengthy full certification. And now they're grounded and won't get a fasttrack FAA certfication for the rest of the world.

Now, there will no doubt be companies that are prepared to cut corners, sometimes literally, in order to get to market first or cut costs or whatever and there will be casualties as a result. But, at the end of the day, the decision will be about whether there are fewer casualties with self-driving cars as there would have been otherwise because cars stlll kill far too many people.

Charlie Clark Silver badge

Re: 110 Software Engineers on the wall...

It's poorly phrased but it does seem to mean that half of the developers working on the self-drivingn have left.

Charlie Clark Silver badge

Re: Autonomous driving is months, years, or decades away

Computer-driven cars only have to be shown to be at least as safe as human drivers to be successful. As you imply, this could be staggered by regulators, with low-hanging fruit becoming licensed by regulators/insurers first and more tricky stuff later.

But then again, for non-natives, rural Italy, India or Africa, are extremely dangerous and the accident rates correlate with traffic density. I seem to remember reading about appalling casualty rates in Kabul's traffic, so that regulators may also choose to prevent some of the worst drivers from getting the behing the wheel.

I think that, while there's plenty to admire with Musk — Tesla has kickstarted electric vehicle and Space X shaken up satellite launching — not all that glisters is gold.

Firm fat-fingered G Suite and deleted its data, so it escalated its support ticket to a lawsuit

Charlie Clark Silver badge

Re: They expected Google to keep it after it was deleted?

So what? Nobody forced the company to use Google and the principle ofcaveat emptor applies, especially when you're potentially betting the house on a service.

If you feel that a contract is one-sided, you normally also have recourse the challenge the contract in court. But basically this is a SNAFU that the company hopes Google will fix for them.

The countercase is, of course, you use GSuite for your very important and confidential data and then decide to move to another service. Surely, in such a case you'd expect that Google would make the data irretrievable within a short period of time after the contract was cancelled and that you'd take them to court if that wasn't the case?

Charlie Clark Silver badge

Re: They expected Google to keep it after it was deleted?

It's quite possible that there are compliance aspects to consider inasmuch as it Google may well be obliged to delete all data, with a reasonable period, when such an account is closed. If so, I'd expect this to be in the contract or the T&C's. If it is, then I wouldn't reckon much for their chances.

No DeepNudes please, we're GitHub: Code repo deep-sixed as Discord bans netizens who sought out vile AI app

Charlie Clark Silver badge

Also, it's basically just a Photoshop automation toy that essentially stick the head of someone onto the nude body of someone else. In essence, it's not much different to some of the filters that things like SnapChat offer. Wouldn't it be ironic if they offered the service, or something like it, just to get the publicity!

I fail to get excited (in any sense of the word) by this but would happily a host a repository for the relevant code because takedown notices should not be enforced so readily. The next time it could be some very useful new cryptographic algorithm,

Got an 'old' Tesla? Musk promises 'self-driving' upgrade chip ship by end of 2019

Charlie Clark Silver badge

I have no interest in Tesla either way. I neither own a vehicle nor any stock nor any derivatives. The company is simply built on very shaky finances (especially after the SolarCity deal) and has lost the first-mover nimbus.

Charlie Clark Silver badge

Just shows how effective Musk's PR is. And it needs to be with orders continuing to decline.

DoH! Secure DNS doesn't make us a villain, Mozilla tells UK broadband providers

Charlie Clark Silver badge

Re: Undermine?

It's a figleaf for when they have provide reports to the police or Home Office as to how good effective they've been at filtering, which they're not at all keen on doing. They are, however, keen on collecting everyone's DNS requests for commercial purposes.

UK privacy watchdog threatens British Airways with 747-sized fine for massive personal data blurt

Charlie Clark Silver badge

Re: Should be more expensive

The fines are designed to be punitive but not crippling, otherwise they'd never become law.

Charlie Clark Silver badge

Re: Trivial to mitigate

but how can you protect against that

One of the standard setting for any webserver is that its user cannot write to any of its files so that it exists in an effectively read-only file-system. This should be standard practice as it was the goto exploit in the days of CGI.

But that itself is not the reason for the size of the fine. There was systematic failure across the line, including on how the data was stored.

Charlie Clark Silver badge

For multinationals there is almost always a way. VW would have gone bankrupt by now otherwise.

Charlie Clark Silver badge

No need: the fine can be declared as cost and, hence, offset against tax. Someone goes for early retirement and then it's G&T's in the C-Suite later.

More important, however, will be the precedent set by the ruling.

Charlie Clark Silver badge

Re: Hmm

It's negligence: British Airways failed to protect customers' personal data correctly.

GDPR makes it quite clear that companies that can demonstrate that they have followed the recommendations of the data protection regulators have little to fear. In essence, GDPR limits their exposure to cases brought as a result of their behaviour, as courts can point the settlement and say: dealt with.

By contrast look at some of the settlements across the pond. Boeing has set aside $ 100 million as compensation for the US victims of two plane crashes and Equifax is subject of at least one class action.

However, at the end of the day, the fine sounds worse than it actually is, because it is a charge that can be offset against tax.

38 billion reasons to say goodbye: Ex-Mrs Bezos splits from Jeff with 4% of Amazon shares in tow

Charlie Clark Silver badge

Re: Fair's fair

You'd expect that to be the case, if the agreement doesn't already make that kind of provision.

Charlie Clark Silver badge

Fair's fair

Credit to Bezos for not contesting the settlement. Yes, he has more than enough money but that hasn't stopped others in similar situation. It's also not really a case of gold-digging since Bezos has given more than sufficient grounds for divorce and I think the two were together before the money started rolling in.

Now, if only Mr Bezos could be as fair-minded when it came to paying people and taxes…

Let's check in with Samsung to see how it's riding out the memory glut. Operating profit down 56%. Oops.

Charlie Clark Silver badge

Re: Unsurprised

But where does the overproductin come from? You have to provision for the expected demand and this has been lower than expected across the industry.

It's one of the reasons for conglomerates who hope that aggregate demand across a range of industries is less fickle than any individual industry.

Blackburn ain't big enough for the both of us: Mr Creamy and Mr Whippy at the centre of new ice-cream war

Charlie Clark Silver badge

Re: Why are they all Misters

To be fair it wasn't just Glasgow. And any cash-only business is a great way to launder money.

Brexit? HP Inc laughs in the face of Brexit! Hard or soft, PC maker claims it's 'no significant risk'

Charlie Clark Silver badge
Coat

Due diligence

Presumably carried out to the same degree as with the purchase of Autonomy.

Mine's the one with Share Options, Golden Handshakes, Golden Parachutes – How Board Members Never Lose in the pocket.

Metropolitan Police's facial recognition tech not only crap, but also of dubious legality – report

Charlie Clark Silver badge

Re: Why do they keep saying it doesn't work?

I assume the new system is called Savage.

Microsoft has Windows 1.0 retrogasm: Remember when Windows ran in kilobytes, not gigabytes?

Charlie Clark Silver badge

MS always had the advantage that they had the backing of IBM

By the mid-1980s that wasn't really the case and certainly not with DOS: IBM gave MS the contract for OS/2. But IBM had been taken over by the bean counters who effectively stifled progress of any kind. It really was the saddest part of IBM's history. Can't remember when but at some point IBM even went onto to release its own version of DOS, once they finally realised they were being stiffed by Microsoft, which they should have realised with the release of the turd that was Windows 1.0.

But Microsoft did benefit from customer inertia and it effectively sowed the seeds of doubt about compatiblity, before going all out on making other versions of DOS incompatible with its software.

Charlie Clark Silver badge

Re: "Windows 1 was indeed sorry"

At the time Microsoft was completely overfaced with OS/2. Having to work on a real operating system was what encouraged them to think about whether couldn't make more money from DOS by pretending to add real features. This led to the era of "this version may be shit, but the next one will be great", ie. copying the competition just enough, with inertia doing the rest, to keep customers from jumping ship to, say, DR-DOS + GEM

Charlie Clark Silver badge

Am I right in thinking that the Amiga could at least depend upon a dedicated graphics chip whereas PC's couldn't?

Windows 1 was indeed sorry but it probably did enough at the time to stop people jumping wholesale to GEM or some other potential API that Microsoft wouldn't be able to control.

Google's Fuchsia OS Flutters into view: We're just trying out some new concepts, claims exec

Charlie Clark Silver badge
Facepalm

Re: @AC - A new OS from Google

my desktop computer where gmail runs quite nicely in a different, stand-alone browser

ROFL: GMail user on a soapbox lecturing the rest of us about privacy…

Charlie Clark Silver badge

Re: It's BeOS, it's the OS

Thanks for the note, though my information (from someone who went on to work at ARM) was that x86 was a lot slower than other archictectures. Be did move the networking code into the kernel for performance reasons and Haiku has it there as well.

I'm trying to think of the first OS that touted capabilities…

Charlie Clark Silver badge

Re: A new OS from Google

News just in: the GPL means having to ask the lawyers again and again. This is why the GPL lost.

If they have proprietary stuff that they develop then they don't have to make it open source no matter what. MySQL did this with its own commercial add-ons to the "database" of that name.

Charlie Clark Silver badge

Re: A new OS from Google

Why on earth would they want to put telemetry into the kernel? I'd expect to see it in some kind of locked-down hardware that they control completely and is required for certain functions, say hardware acceleration. Wasn't there something along these lines in one of their phones?

But even then, do they really need more data than they're already getting? How many people switch browsers, phones, etc. because they're really worried about privacy?

Charlie Clark Silver badge

Re: It's BeOS, it's the OS

I'm not batting for Google but I don't agree. Seeing as I've been using AOSP on my phones for several years, don't use Chrome, except for testing and have never used GMail. I think Google's use open source is interesting. There is certainly an argument to be had for the secret source approach, which is certainly true with Android and with stuff in the data centres. But Google does release stuff to the world early and does, in my experience, generally engage with developers more seriously than other companies do. I think they understand that making some stuff free and open source can effectively stifle the competition while suiting the service-based model. It can also encourage adoptive addiction (TensorFlow).

But they do engage constructively in a large number of projects. Even with the current shitstorm about Chrome extensions, their stewardship of Chromium is far more open than, say, Oracle's of Java. Their work on WHATWG and things like Polymer have definitely improved things for web developers and users. As has their work on video codecs (for which of course Widevine is the locked down, secret source). Enlightened self-interest runs through all of this but doesn't mean the projects aren't interesting or useful or always require their permission. And their is merit in this OS.

Charlie Clark Silver badge

Re: A new OS from Google

He does, but it's from the Virtuous Banking Corporation™

Charlie Clark Silver badge

Re: It's BeOS, it's the OS

one of the least trustworthy companies on the planet

Really? I can think of hundreds of companies (starting with Big Oil, Big Tobacco, Big Pharma, etc.) that are a lot less trustworthy. Yes, Google does collect and, horrible world, monetise personal user data. (And who doesn't? — I've just been reviewing a proposal for some pretty invasive user-tracking). But, in order to abe to collect the data. it has to produce products and services that people want to use and this means getting at least some of the stuff right.

Google's engagement with open source is also interesting, in that it is often proactice in making source available, as with Fuchsia. While this probably stems from a position of enlightened self-interest it's still a damn sight more open than most tech companies.

But by reducing the debate to goodies versis baddies, you effectively exclude yourself from it. If you are worried about privacy and data protection, and we should all be, then pushing for the effective enforcement of good legislation is a better use of your time.

Charlie Clark Silver badge

It's BeOS, it's the OS

Lockheimer used to work for Be and a lot of this stuff sounds a lot like the BeOS.

IIRC one of the problems with wanting to put stuff in userland for security reasons was that performance on x86 was shit due to the overhead of context switching. This not necessarily the case on the different CPU architectures. BeOS, now reborn in open source as Haiku, was always a dream to program for with a clean and extensive OO-API combined with the microkernel allowed for a very responsive UI, low memory requirements and hardware acceleation.

What's not to like?

White House mulls just banning strong end-to-end crypto. Plus: More bad stuff in infosec land

Charlie Clark Silver badge

Re: Sigh

The only way the Internet can move forward on security and policing is through strong social leadership, build a concensus, so that everyone (citizens, service providers and law enforcement agencies) is minded to move in the same direction

I can't see that happening. Ever. Most of the citizenry couldn't give a shit and even when it does, it rarely understands the details and is easily side-tracked. This is why lobbies are so powerful and so well-paid. If the citizenry is getting bolshy just get a PAC to run some commercials suggesting that "X" is putting the lives of children in danger and watch them recoil in horror.

Charlie Clark Silver badge

Or, for short term political gain, another unenforceable law will be passed. IIRC North Carolina did for a time make it an offence to mention climate change in official documents. While ideology might have played a part, the real estate industry also has a vested industry in not scaring off potentials mugs customers from sea-front properties in an area that is expected to see higher than average rises in sea level. Having no official docmentation mention the potential risks gave them plausible deniablilty.

But on a more practical level this could be used to incriminate just about anyone and lock them up while you look for something more substantial. US law enforcement agencies are already frequently overstepping the legal boundaries and though occasionally slapped down by the courts, are always on the lookout for more other reasons to detain people.

DeepNude's makers tried to deep-six their pervy AI app. Web creeps have other ideas: Cracked copies shared online as code decompiled

Charlie Clark Silver badge

Re: Am I the only one who...

Methinks you should give some fan fiction a little try. Deep Nude is nothing compared with some of the goings on in there…

Charlie Clark Silver badge

Re: Am I the only one who...

No, you're not the only one. However, it's become fashionable for techies to demonstrate how liberal we all are and shocked that stuff we develop could be used for teenage kicks.

Personally, apart from the fact that a lot of clothing is designed to stimulate the imagination of the viewer, I reckon I'd get pretty bored of a toy like this pretty quickly. A bigger problem is probably the unrealistic expectations that kids may have of themselves and others due to all the cosmetic surgery: gravity defying breasts, dicks that horses could be proud of but with the staying power of a fox, and the kind of athleticism that should only be expected from Olympic gymnasts.

Sex is an act but not a performance.

July is here – and so are the latest Android security fixes. Plenty of critical updates for all

Charlie Clark Silver badge

Re: "remote code execution" "the Android media framework"

Media storage isn't the same as media framework. IIRC nearly all such frameworks are, almost inherently, vulnerable due to the access they give to hardware required to play whatever it is.

What app caused Media Storage to break?

Charlie Clark Silver badge

Re: If only

It's one of the reasons why Google changed things in Android 8 and 9 so that they can push most security updates without waiting for the manufacturers or networks. Would be interesting to see some data on how well this is going.

Yuge U-turn: Prez Trump walks back on Huawei ban... at least the tech sector seems to think so

Charlie Clark Silver badge

Re: @AC

Not all public spending has been cut: military spending has been increased. More, I believe, than even the military asked for.

Charlie Clark Silver badge

Break something then try and claim credit for fixing it. Big Man!

That, and the fact, that US companies like Intel work working on workarounds.

Charlie Clark Silver badge

Re: @AC

Economically he is doing pretty good for the US

You really need to close both your eyes and put your hands over them to come to that conclusion. The deficit is ballooning and that's in a time of nearly full employment. As the world's largest economy with the world's reserve currency the US is able to exercise a great deal of influence on world trade. And it is currently doing this by undermining the multilateral rules-based approach. This is leading other countries to work on arrangements that not only don't include the US, but cannot be directly undermined by the US. Oh, and we're learning how belligerence pays off. Well, for Kim Youg Eun and Mohammad Bin Salman that certainly seems to be the case.

PS. Get your handlers to give you a new spell checker. Or more frog pills.

What do we want? Decentralised, non-siloed social media with open standards! When do we want it? Soon!

Charlie Clark Silver badge

Re: It's the protocols, stupid

Basically IRC is all you need. Which is why the messengers are increasingly replacing "social media" except for those who want "follow" celebrities. This is why Google bought Instagram and WhatsApp and why Google continues to throw money at YouTube.

Nah, yeah: New Zealand's Rocket Lab notches up another launch success

Charlie Clark Silver badge
Go

Re: This is El Reg

And this is a company that doesn't benefit from multi-year government contracts but has identified a niche market and is using a truely innovative engine.

This weekend you better read those ebooks you bought from Microsoft – because they'll be dead come early July

Charlie Clark Silver badge

Re: DRM removal and calibre

You can often remove the DRM youself but it does depend upon the scheme used and its version: the move to Adobe DRM v3 broke a lot of previous approaches. Calibre does support some plugins but the last I tried it failed. I use Epubor which quickly and easily strips the DRM from Kobo and Adobe (there's also one for Audible). Yes, there is irony in paying for something to strip the DRM, but I am doing this really to strip the DRM. It also makes it easier, of course, to share a book with friends and family, which I'd also do with a physical book, even though you're supposed not to do this either. In end effect I'm buying more books, acting largely within German law which explicitly allows you to make copies, so my conscience is reasonably clear.

Charlie Clark Silver badge

Re: Par for the course

I have a Kobo Aura One and love it. It's rarely online and never nags. The screen is great and the reader app is by the far the best I've come across in what you can set (type size but also line height and margins) and what you see. I have bought a couple of books from the Kobo store, and the preview function is quite nice but generally by the books, strip the DRM (using Epubor) and copy them over, either with Calibre or just onto the device. Once you've stripped the DRM, you can also fix things like typos, missing cover images, stupid default font-size settings or margins, or resize any pictures so that you can actually recognise things in them. When I've fixed typos I've also informed the publishers.

And Kobo's customer service is pretty good, once you get through the menus. I had a potential problem with the USB-port and they arranged a swap with very little fuss. Yes, this is only what you should expect, but still.

Most software updates have also been pretty good. Re. the Touch, there's an important one this year that fixes a wifi bug.

Anyway since I bought the Aura One I've bought an read more books than in the 10 years before. The missus has my old Touch (2011) and is very happy with it. Haven't really seen anything in the same format that would suggest a replacement.

BOFH: What's Near Field Implementation? Oh, you'll see. Turn left here

Charlie Clark Silver badge

Re: BOFH really is becoming more userfriendly

Or, you can just consider it as delegated.

In Rust we trust: Brave smashes speed limit after rewriting ad-block engine in super-lang

Charlie Clark Silver badge

Re: Probably rewriting it they rewrote it right...

Possibly, though the people I talk to who use Rust appreciate it because it means they avoid the pitfalls in C/C++ without thinking, and it can produce impressively small binaries. Any good programmer worth their salt should appreciate whatever help the compiler can give them.

IVE HAD ENOUGH! iQuit. Jobs done. Jony cashes out at Apple to run his own design biz

Charlie Clark Silver badge
Headmaster

Point taken, but isn't it the 737 MAX that has all the magical features?

Charlie Clark Silver badge

Re: Won't make much difference for Apple

Yeah, this really is a so long, and thanks for all the fish announcement. Here's a wad of cash, some guaranteed work for a couple of years and a glowing testamonial to trade off.

Apple's industrial design, despite a couple of notable failures, remains pretty solid but it has been chasing the crowd for several years now.

Oh snap! The road's closed. Never mind, Google Maps has a plan...

Charlie Clark Silver badge

They don't need power or a network? OTOH they start to fall apart quickly if they get wet and can be a bugger if it's windy and you generally need to stop to read them.