Posts by paulm

Unblock and get infected

The last time I disabled my adblock for a site that I very explicitly wanted to support, it took about 5 minutes before my antivirus flagged up than an ad was trying to breach containment and access information that it shouldn't have.

That's the big issue for me. I don't mind (too much) having uninteresting ads. The problem is that ad networks are STILL bad at preventing malicious ads.

Oh, and ones that break out of their spot on the page and cover up content.

Ads should be adding value. If your ad is preventing me from doing what I want to do, then I'm not going to want to purchase your product. You've just annoyed me. If anything, you're now blacklisted. If I happen to notice your ad while I'm doing stuff and it peaks my interest (without interfering with my activity) THEN I might further investigate your product.

"The Eye": Looks like eye of Sauron. Also seems to imply a big brother style thing. The "All hands" variant reminds me of something very NSFW.

"The Connector": If I squint I can see a... well, a blur. It just looks like a mess.

"Open button": Is that a power switch? An elevator? A hobbit hole?

"Protocol": This one isn't too bad.

"Wireframe world": Is that a Newton's cradle?

"The Impossible M": Not as bad as some of the rest, but I'm not sure what it's trying to convey.

"Flik Flak": It's like someone took Jenga and did something unseemly to it. What were they thinking?

The only one that looks vaguely professional is Protocol.

Legality?

Wouldn't deliberately creating an account with false details be in breach of Facebook's user agreement, and therefore constitute unauthorised use?

Wouldn't that in turn be illegal under the Computer Misuse Act?

If the want information on peoples' Facebook account, they should get a secret court order and/or intercept the data like all the other agencies seem to be doing.

Can't count

Microsoft evidently can't count. Maybe this explains why the time remaining jumps all over the place when copying files around.

Subscriptions?

I've emailed them seeking clarification, as I have a couple of subscriptions with them. So, they've must have my payment details stored somewhere to be able to charge me for them when issues are released.

Maybe stored with a third party payment provider?

Besides, it's possible to buy things directly on the site, so not all purchases go through the iOS or Android apps.

Surely, since it's the public that have (supposedly) lost out due to Google's actions, it should be the public who get consulted on this? Asking their competitors isn't going to get an unbiased opinion.

Might have to try it again...

The last time I tried the updated installer (in an alpha form) it wasn't particularly usable on my netbook. It was painfully slow (I'm willing to let that slide and blame the netbook), but some screens (package selection for instance) didn't size to fit the screen at all, with critical controls inaccessible off the edge of the display.

I like Fedora - it's my Linux of choice - apart from on said netbook, which now runs Mint instead.

Apparently, my browser "benefit(s) from Windows Operating System features that protect against arbitrary data execution". I suppose the lack of a Windows operating system might count in that regard.

Back up?

Seems to have come back up in the last few minutes... but for how long?

Didn't notice

Despite being a virgin customer, I hadn't even noticed. Maybe that's because I do the sensible thing and keep my email separate from my ISP, so I can switch providers without having to tell allk my contacts.

4 weeks?

What kind of crappy database are they running that takes 4 weeks to delete a record - or to set a flag next to it? It's not the sort of thing that should require any human intervention, so it should be able to take effect immediately.

Install to HDD

I installed Far Cry 2 to my Xbox's HDD, expecting it to improve loading times. Made no difference what so ever. Sure, the console was quieter thanks to the disk drive not running, but I wanted faster loading times. Now, is Far Cry 2 programmed in some rubbish way where it simply will not load faster, or is Microsoft's virtual DVD drive (which I assume is how it is done so games don't need modifying) only runs at the same speed as the physical one?

NetworkManager is SLOWER than it was

At least on my laptop. Previously, the laptop would connect to my wifi as the panel loaded. So, by the time the desktop was useful I was almost always connected.

Now, typically, I have to wait up to twenty seconds for the network to connect after the desktop has become overwise useable. This is very frustrating when I've just turned it on to quickly check my email.

Also, previously, I could log and and log back in to my bare-bones session that I use for running virtual machines and still be connected to the network. Now, the act of logging out disconnects me. I've had to make my bare-bones session less bare-bones (it now loaded up an XFCE4 panel and nm-applet) to ensure that my virtual machines get network access.

Unfair Monopoly?

I can't help but feel that locking consumers into a single operator (Vodafone, T-Mobile, AT&T or otherwise) is promoting an unfair monopoly.

The iPhone is a phone, therefore is should work on any phone network. Artificially restricting it to a single network is unfair to consumers.

I wouldn't

I fit into that age bracket (23). I certainly wouldn't be happy with eVoting given the fiascos that have occurred elsewhere in the world.

Unless, upon entry to the polling booth I was with a good couple of hours to look over the source code of the software being used and examine the hardware personally. I don't think I would be willing to trust an official certification that the machine in use was up to scratch.

Give me a paper ballot any day.

How did they know...

... that the given password was real? For a bar of chocolate I'd make up a password.

For further information, follow links in articles

If you follow the link in the article you'll find that the full name of the virus is IM-Worm:W32/Pykse.A according to F-Secure - almost certainly windows only.