* Posts by Charles 9

16605 publicly visible posts • joined 10 Jun 2009

Arm rages against the insecure chip machine with new Morello architecture

Charles 9

Re: Its a trade-off

Their segments were a relic of Real Mode and were of a fixed size (64KiB, IIRC, due to the registers at the time being 16-bit). Segment jumping made for a major performance hit, much like context jumping does today, so Protected Mode with its flat memory model without all the segment jumping was adopted relatively quickly for performance and large-memory applications.

APNIC: Big Tech's use of carrier-grade NAT is holding back internet innovation

Charles 9

Re: That old chestnut

But it generally only works one way. And if the carrier is doing the translating, it's only allowing the translations for outbound connections. Meaning if the house you need is behind an uncooperative carrier (as is happening in much of Asia and Africa where there was a serious metal shortage at the time the nails were distributed), there's no way to connect TO them, only FROM them. And let's not begin with the increasingly-likely scenario that BOTH ends are behind carrier-based screens.

Charles 9

Re: I've said it before and I'll say it again

So you're against peer-to-peer protocols?

Charles 9

Re: That old chestnut

The problem becomes if the world is only allowed some 4 billion nails for purely physical reasons (IPv4 has a fixed address header of 32 bits--no legacy hardware will be able to look beyond that--any that can be upgraded can just adopt IPv6).

Charles 9

Re: FFS!

But at least allow the option is what the designers of IPv6 have been saying all along. NAT and the like at the user end is the user's choice and a delegation tool, OK. But once you get to NAT at the carrier level, something being pretty much forced by address exhaustion in many parts of the world, then you start to see the situation where end users no longer even have the option of being visible. IPv6 at least re-opens that critical option. Whether or not the user takes it up should be up to that user. However, various institutions are exploiting the status quo so are against it (like the one comment earlier about India carriers). Do we really want an Internet beholden to those kinds of gatekeepers?

Charles 9
FAIL

Re: PEBCAK

You only have EIGHT bits with which to cram a TEN-bit value. It's in the spec, and can't be changed without breaking all that legacy hardware everyone's so scared about.

Try again.

Charles 9

Re: That old chestnut

The only reliable way to connect behind a CGNAT is to use an intermediary. Pure peer-to-peer is simply not possible without at least one endpoint being directly visible on the Internet. If both ends are behind a CGNAT, they're cut off, especially if one end or the other is unable to use or trust an intermediary.

Charles 9
Big Brother

Re: FFS!

So you're basically saying peer-to-peer connections can just shove it? Think of the implications if everything has to go through a gatekeeper.

Charles 9

Re: I've said it before and I'll say it again

That still doesn't solve the problem of older hardware that can't grok more than 32 bits. If you need to update stuff, why not do it so you don't have to do it again sooner than you thought. Think about this. Why did ZFS settle on 128-bit vales? For much the same reason: so as not to have to deal with overflow.

Charles 9

Um...you can do that with IPv6. Nothing prevents you from performing private routing or from relegating parts of your home net to just the locally-addressable net. It's just a matter of configuration just like you do now. Just set your IPv6 firewall accordingly to deny incoming by default like you're supposed to do with IPv4 and work from there. And yes, you can NAT on IPv6.

Charles 9

Re: I've said it before and I'll say it again

The problem isn't that v6 is not backwards-compatible with v4 (v6 has a reserved space just for that). The problem is that v4 was not designed to be forward-compatible. It wasn't even meant to be used long-term, but circumstances flew out of the designers' conteol.

Charles 9

Re: I've said it before and I'll say it again

That's been the problem. Theoretically, an IPv4 stack could stick a v6 address into the option field and stick a reserved address into the IP field, letting the router fix the connection, but that still requires upgrading the firmware. And if you're going to update the firmware, why not go whole hog and just add a v6 stack?

Charles 9

Re: I've said it before and I'll say it again

Yes, it's too simplistic because IPv4 was designed to use all 256 values for each octet. It only specifies 32 bits for the address, and you cannot physically cram more tham 2^32 addresses into that, much like you cannot cram more than 12 eggs in a carton only built for 12 without breaking either. It's at the limit of its fundamental design.

Tesla driver charged with vehicular manslaughter after deadly Autopilot crash

Charles 9

I'd be interested in the research because the conventional wisdom is that slamming on the brakes risks the wheels locking and the car going into a less-controllable skid, especially as the vehicle gets heavier.

Charles 9

No, you still have to check behind you in case the vehicle behind you is something you DO NOT want rear-ending you, like a big-rig.

Charles 9

Re: Even Aircraft

Korean Air Flight 801 that crashed into Nimitz Hill on Guam is perhaps what you refer.

Charles 9

I think we're in agreement...

...that there's room for blame on BOTH the driver (for not paying attention) AND the manufacturer (for advertising something that triggers default human conditioning).

Driver tests should be stricter, though this raises widows-and-orphans issue if the breadwinner suddenly is unable to go to his/her job.

Advertisements should be subject to stricter scrutiny, more like testimony (the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth) and with all claims being conservative. But of course businesses have better lawyers so can easily lobby the lawmakers to prevent any such thing. Indeed, the general environment in the US doesn't bode well for the average man going forward.

Privacy is for paedophiles, UK government seems to be saying while spending £500k demonising online chat encryption

Charles 9

Re: Aren't you muddling point to point encryption?

If you're using something like WhatsApp, Signal, or Telegram, then it's encrypted at your computer and decrypted at the employee's computer, with keys known ONLY to the two of you. That is the essence of end-to-end encryption, which unlike point-to-point minimizes the odds of a MITM attack.

Charles 9

Suppose freedom is its own worst enemy? I mean, what is anarchy but an extreme form of freedom? And perhaps humans really aren't well-suited for that kind of freedom...

Charles 9
Joke

Re: Conversation starter for your government officials:

And if they answer, "It was demanded of me by the public; apparently, they didn't like what they were seeing"?

Charles 9

To which I'd ask, "Suppose the two are mutually incompatible by default? Does that mean the human race is incompatible with democracy long-term?"

And the evidence seems to bear this out, as no democract seems to last all that long, and even the ones today are teetering.

Ad blockers altering website code is not a copyright violation, German court rules

Charles 9

Re: Bizarre argument

Not those. The ones the site owner is complaining about, about Google plastering ads for rival firms over his original content. Neither the site owner nor the client agreed to that.

So it's like someone pasting over one poster with a rival firm's poster. It's not as bad as say Amazon advertising its own (cheaper) product on the same page as someone else's version of said product on the same page, but it's not kosher, either.

Charles 9

Re: by making client-side code alteration unlawful

Not if in encourages more server-side shenanigans (like server-side tracking) that are harder to block without consequences...

Charles 9

Re: Block Axel

And if the bad behavior comes from a government website or someplace else where substitution is not possible?

Charles 9

Re: Bizarre argument

But what if someone else alters the contents before they get to you or otherwise does so without either party's permission? Wouldn't that be considering tampering with the contents?

Dutch nuclear authority bans anti-5G pendants that could hurt their owners via – you guessed it – radiation

Charles 9

Re: DO NOT DO THIS!

They referred to that in the past. One noteworthy commentary session reflected one of their Christmas episodes, where it ended in a Rube Goldberg-esque contraption. In a behind-the-scenes clip (think it was posted online; the episode occurred as the HD shift and social online media boom were both just starting), it was noted how many takes it took for the contraption to run all the way through.

Planning for power cuts? That's strictly for the birds

Charles 9

Re: elevator I say it's plausible

You assume the car can't be physically damaged to the point it no longer wedges itself in the shaft or catches on the corner (or it catches but the teeth shear off).

Charles 9

Re: That's a nice incentive

But what happens if one of that crew has a reason to not leave at 5 on Friday? Say, the in-laws are in town or something like that...

International police shut down 15 server infrastructures as part of VPNLab.net's takedown

Charles 9

Re: web domain

Multiple sites can be hosted in a single domain, particularly if subdomains are used. It read to me that ALL references to the domain, regardless of destination, resulted in the splash page.

Google and Facebook's top execs allegedly approved dividing ad market among themselves

Charles 9

Re: Corporate Fines aimed at the corporation are pointless

Too much collateral damage. Not everyone in the company's doing evil. You'll just end up with a larger-scale widows-and-orphans problem.

Charles 9

Re: Corporate Fines aimed at the corporation are pointless

And what's to stop the corporation from absorbing that, too, say with a noncash bonus?

Tesla Full Self-Driving videos prompt California's DMV to rethink policy on accidents

Charles 9

Re: won't have to glue themselves to anything

Aren't many personal injury lawyers willing to work on contingency (meaning they only get paid if they win) so there's usually little excuse to not sue when injured in such situations?

Charles 9

Re: Two Teslas

Another consideration to embedding metadata into the road is how to maintain this metadata if (a) information changes, such as new speed limit assignments or a school opening or closing, or (b) the things that present the data get destroyed for some reason. It has some potential, but it wouldn't be a set-and-forget kind of thing; it would need upkeep which costs time and money.

US-China chip cold war? It's only helping the Middle Kingdom, silicon makers warn

Charles 9

Tell me. WHY do we need 128-bit computin?. 64-bit computing made sense as memory started exceeding 2 and then 4GB since 64 bits were needed then to preserve the flat memory model. But now that we have it, we're not likely to actually use all 64 bits for some time yet: a decade at least, maybe two, even if we merge memory with storage as predicted. Besides, there's a tradeoff. More bits mean more processing overhead, meaning more power consumption, and efficiency is becoming more of an issue these days.

Lawmakers propose TLDR Act because no one reads Terms of Service agreements

Charles 9

Re: Garbage

"What's really needed is legislation banning most of the things those EULAs purport to do."

Which will never happen as the companies and their teams of lawyers and influencers will lobby to make sure it never happens. Failing that, they'll back for changes in government to make it so.

Open source maintainer threatens to throw in the towel if companies won't ante up

Charles 9

Re: @Dan 55: There's something I don't get

Problem with that idiom is that a lot of boats are "leaky", meaning the rising tide will SINK them instead...

Charles 9

Re: Tech crash?

And even then, many firms find it cheaper to lawyer, insure, or lobby their way out of it...

'IwlIj jachjaj! Incoming LibreOffice 7.3 to support Klingon and Interslavic

Charles 9

Re: Fourth gender

Well, in general, gender can have several groupings depending on the language: masculine/feminine/neuter, personal/nonpersonal, and animate/inanimate, for starters.

WebSpec, a formal framework for browser security analysis, reveals new cookie attack

Charles 9

Re: Impossible to get right

I have reason to believe they can do it below the software layer, by means of subtler signatures embedded in the OS, firmware, or even hardware. Those raids did involve tracking down the users and nailing down their physical addresses. Usually, the greatest obstacles they faced had to do with jurisdiction, being unable to prosecute people protected by hostile sovereignty.

Charles 9

Re: Impossible to get right

Do they? The domination of Meta and Alphabet seems to indicate most people who really matter either (a) don't know or (b) don't care. Furthermore, I wouldn't put it above a determined government agency to develop some way to trace users regardless of anonymity techniques. After all, they've tracked people through TOR and infiltrated darknets before.

Charles 9

Re: Impossible to get right

Allow me to clarify in case anyone tries a Google on it. By HORNET, he/she is referring to High-Speed Onion Routing at the NETwork layer: a TOR successor designed with better performance in mind. Having said that, it still won't be very safe without considerable ubiquity. Otherwise, the mere use of something like TOR or HORNET becomes suspicious.

I write this because an initial query for the term turned up a social network intended for people of alternative lifestyles.

Charles 9

Re: Server Load

Two things, though.

One, it requires a certain amount of bandwidth to be feasible. I have personally used RDP and VNC in various ways, and I've found that performance really chugs when your bandwidth is limited, such as having to piggyback off a not-too-strong phone connection. Factor in VPN overhead and it gets even worse. Yes, the Web has gotten more data-hungry, but remote desktop work requires at least streaming levels of bandwidth, and many web pages can be less demanding.

Two, there's no guarantee the RDP protocol doesn't have its own potential exploits.

Mobile networks really hate Apple's Private Relay: Some folks find iOS privacy feature blocked on their iPhones

Charles 9
WTF?

Re: Simples to get around

And then they just consider any unlocked phone as suspect. That's how they get you, these days. Any attempt to stray from the sheep's fold is immediately marked as suspect, regardless of the reason.

Charles 9

Unless the price isn't enough to cover their overhead and the ones data-mining are actually loss-leading to undercut the competition.

Charles 9

Re: Cry me a river (of fake tears)

Or the company lobbies the government to get the annoying law removed. Remember, they have deeper pockets and better connections...

Log4j doesn't just blow a hole in your servers, it's reopening that can of worms: Is Big Biz exploiting open source?

Charles 9

Re: Businesses are simply not in the business of fair dealing.

And THEN, when times are good, a rival firm running lean undercuts you because of the lower overhead and steals your business. See, it can cut both ways, and there's no way to predict which way it'll turn out tomorrow.

Charles 9

Re: The solution is in their own hands

Gross or net? That tells us whether or not you include such things as nonprofits in your qualification.

No defence for outdated defenders as consumer AV nears RIP

Charles 9

Re: Bit dubious about this arguement.

That depends on what's under the siding. If there's nothing underneath, then yes. But many houses I've seen use viny to cover an existing wood or brick exterior.

Worst of CES Awards: The least private, least secure, least repairable, and least sustainable

Charles 9
FAIL

Re: It is an all out war on ownership by the bilionaires

Not so simples. Politicians have one job: being politicians. And we can't expect politicians to suddenly become nuclear engineers, environmentalists, or whatever overnight. The human mind just doesn't work that way. That's why we need experts to know the things we're not able to know, especially in fields where lives can be lost. So what do you do? Rely on experts who could have agendas, or have people killed from inexperience of the people up top?

The potential targets of laws must be able to petition the lawmakers to make their case. To have no input in matters that concerns them smacks of the America problem: Taxation Without Representation. How would you as, say, a pub drinker, feel if lawmakers talked laws about changing pub hours or legal pub beverages and you have no say in the matter?

As for lobbying, there's really no way to control it. It's a legal impossibility in the US due to the First Amendment, and even without something like that, lobbying bodies have ways to get through to lawmakers that can't be blocked short of ensconcing all the lawmakers in isolation booths for the duration of their term. For example, it's a known tactic to recruit their spouses as lobbyists (try blocking that and still be able to raise a family and so on). Then there's the ol' Revolving Door, where no money has to change hands right away.

Charles 9

"if I get the chance, I'll rather buy a tractor from the 1980's era - without any fancy purdy electrickery stuff."

Environmental regulations will probably kill your idea dead. Can't have all that carcinogenic soot filling the kiddies' lungs now, can't we?

"And IoT tat - just avoid. Dumb lights, dumb alarm clocks etc all worked quite well, why would we need smarter tat now?"

Because our lives have become more frenzied and irregular. Set it and forget it doesn't cut it anymore when more and more people don't live to a schedule.