When I was but a lad...
I used to find condoms useful, for the very "drawback" mentionned by Mr Gates.
Now I find them to be a fire hazard.
They might become a MrFreeze's wrap soon.
It's hard to be a man -and to stay so.
;-)
Posts by ElReg!comments!Pierre
2711 publicly visible posts • joined 22 Jun 2009
Page:
Bill Gates offers big bucks for better condoms
Apple debuts two-step verification for Apple IDs
Tuesday 26th March 2013 04:40 GMT
Re: better get a mobe, then.
> Since the iPad and iPod touch I specifically mentioned cannot receive SMS, sending one wouldn't be applicable anyway would it? Duh! Therefore SMS is not even an option for many iOS users (the very people most likely to have an AppleID in the first place).
Since you mentionned them out of the blue to couter an argument that had nothing to do with them, and yet you managed to be wrong, du'h you're a luser. Confirmed.
>What? You need to change your network provider if SMSs take "several minutes -sometimes hours" to reach you, unless New Years Eve is celebrated daily on the planet you're from. Several seconds - at most - on any of the 5 networks I've ever used.
Several seconds is the very very very best from send to "bip bip". A few minutes is the window for an attack, because who read their SMS right away? Often, a few hours is the attack window, because, yes the networks DO jam, and if you're gonna stage an attack, why wouldn't you choose new year's eve?
>Trivial? LOL. You have absolutely no idea what you're talking about do you? Finding and exploiting a vulnerability in Apple's systems,
YOU have absolutely no clue, my "friend". The hole is intercepting SMS messages and it IS trivial.
> the mobile network providers systems, or the handset OS allowing you to run that "~10 lines of code" would not be trivial. Nor would setting up some 'man-in-the-middle' attack.
"Man in the middle"? you're really stupid. It has nothing to do with anything like that. SMS is roughly as secure as email. A bit less for targetted attacks, actually.
And yes, it IS a matter or running 10 lines of code, to detect a "password recovery" message and forward it to a server of the hacker's choice.
I understand that you are in sweet, sweet love with Apple Inc., but that is hardly an excuse for being completely clueless.
That said, cheers, have a beer, if you are of age.
Monday 25th March 2013 20:24 GMT
Re: better get a mobe, then.
> Spoken messages would be useless for people with an iPad or iPod touch (as they don't have cellular voice capability) or for people without a mobile phone (such as iPod owning kids).
As opposed to SMS, which are extremely useful for people without a mobe, then? Kids without a mobe may get a phone cal on daddy's home line.
SMS is an incredibly stupid choice. You specifically need a mobe, it spends several minutes -sometimes hours- wandering around the network before it reaches the end user, it is extremely easy to intercept at any step, including on the final handset before the legit user gets to read it, and it is machine readable, which means that it would be trivial to mount an automated hacking procedure just by running ~10 lines of code at any step of the transmission (including, but not limited to, the recipient's handset). Push messages on the very device from which you are trying to recover your password, erm, sure, what could possibly go wrong?
An automated phone call, on the other hand, is only delivered when you pick the call, the info spends very little time in the open before the end user gets it, and is significantly harder for a machine to automatically extract the relevant info.
Saturday 23rd March 2013 16:04 GMT
better get a mobe, then.
SMS? Seriously? Even eBay uses proper "spoken" messages. Besides being very unpractical, and not very safe, SMS would have looked cool in the nineties. Now? It sounds like "please provide your AOL ID and we'll message you your forgotten password": unsafe, inconvenient, and stale.
Yet another Java zero-day vuln is being exploited
Saturday 2nd March 2013 02:57 GMT
> Doesn't make Java bad.
It very much does make Java an internal-use only, hack-prone, quick-and-dirty piece of (somewhat useful) shit.
In the case of Java there was too much emphasis put on the "whatever you type will work" angle and not enough on the "whatever you type won't cause an exploit" angle. In my book, that makes it a useful in-house dirty-hack-that just works language, but verily makes it a VERY bad language to be included as a browser plugin on a machine allowed to reach (and be reached) by the Wild Wild Net.
Saturday 2nd March 2013 02:44 GMT
Re: From what I hear...
> What sort of internet connectivity does your washing machine have?
I reckon it's only a matter of years (few of them, too) before your washing machine has its own IPv6 adress. A better question would be "what kind of java-enabled web browser does your washing macine have?". Appart from designer prototype I can't imagine anyone browsing the web from their washing machine in the foreseeable future. Laundry rooms have a distinct tendency of being a tad less cosy than bedrooms, living rooms, or even offices (the last one my be debatable...). Maybe that will change and laundry-room-web-browsing will be all the rage, but every time I ask my crystal ball about laundry-room web-browsing I feel like the abyss is gazing into me. Brrrrr
Saturday 2nd March 2013 02:31 GMT
Re: What's this "until it is patched" rubbish?
"A nice series of switches on the status or toolbar with enable/disable switches for Java, Javascript, Flash and other "inline" plugins which you may have installed (Office)."
Yes, more useless cruft encumbering the screen is exactly what we need, because obvously 2 clicks to access the list of enabled plugins is FAR too much effort. I mean, you need it almost once a month, come on, we seriously can't be expected to add these 2 clicks a month to our all-too-busy schedule of refreshing El Reg's comment pages!
Judge slashes Apple's pile o' cash Samsung judgment
Saturday 2nd March 2013 00:50 GMT
Re: baseless suspicion
"I have a completely baseless suspicion that Judge Lucy Koh was selected for this whole Samsung / Apple thing since she is a Northern Californian (thus supposedly pro Apple) of Korean descent (thus supposedly pro Samsung)."
Honestly that seems unlikely. Choosing a judge because she is equally biased towards both sides sounds like a very risky bet, as if one party was able to convincingly suggest that the bias is even slightly imbalanced that would be a very good basis to have her repelled. Replacing a judge in a trial (especially towards the end, as surely both party would keep that as a last-chance card) is a very, very costly and very, very lengthy process. Time and money that would almost certainly be better spent. Then again we are talking patent wars, so perhaps here "better spent" has a signification that I am too un-patent-lawyery to grasp.
Raspberry Pi-powered Tardis blasts off from 'Blighty's Baikonur'
Obama cybersecurity order mandates better information sharing
PSF warns on angry trademark attacks: Python coders, this is not our way
Friday 22nd February 2013 23:31 GMT
Re: Lesson learned?
> "I find it extremely doubtful that python the language can remain python the language." No you are wrong there. The world is not that applified yet.
Well, you think they would keep a name that would put anyone using it at risk of being taken off the web? How do you advertise computer software that bears a name that is trademarked by someone else?
BOFH: Climb the corp ladder - and use your boss as a bullet shield
John Sweeney: Why Church of Scientology's gravest threat is the 'net
Friday 22nd February 2013 20:57 GMT
Xenu cake thumbnail
Just dropped by to tell you that I had to tineye your delicious cake thumbnail, and after very detailed inspection I am sorry to report that the original picture appears to be a tad blurry. I dont really like cake, but I'll have a bit of that, thank you very much.
http://intradayfun.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/03/Delicious_anon.jpg
Python-lovers sling 'death threats' at UK ISP in trademark row
Tuesday 19th February 2013 18:57 GMT
Re: Why is this important?
Google "powered by python", for a start. Presto, about 84 900 webpages that need rewriting. Of course the language will need to change name also, as surely distributing "computer software" that has a name in violation of a trademark is a no-no.
"Imagine if people who use C were to get steamed up in the same way. They'd be spamming disk drive manufacturers and digging up the former head of the Secret Service."
Ridiculous claim. I didn't see Seagate trademarking the name "C" for computer programs. Does the former head of the Secret service hold such a trademark? I didn't think so.
"I use several programming languages, and frankly I couldn't give a stuff who trademarks any of their names."
That's because you do not understand the implications.
"These people should get a life."
You should get a clue
Firm moves to trademark 'Python' name out from under the language
Saturday 16th February 2013 01:07 GMT
ddosed?
As a rather well-deserved strike back, it seems that a few Python developpers took to themselves to take out www.veber.co.uk.
Rather efficiently, it seems. More efficiently than what Veber is able to cope with, at least. They must not be very familiar with Python.
I can't seem to find a hint of sympathy for Veber.
I am not part of the attack of course, but I may ping from time to time just for the sake of reporting.
Traceroute reveals Star Wars Episode IV 'crawl' text
Friday 15th February 2013 05:15 GMT
Rather amusing result?
It would be rather more amusing if your traceroute presented the results in a more civilized manner.
For the poor souls unable to get their hands on a real machine:
10 Episode.IV (206.214.251.1) 94.504 ms 89.281 ms 88.483 ms
11 A.NEW.HOPE (206.214.251.6) 88.696 ms 97.793 ms 96.447 ms
12 It.is.a.period.of.civil.war (206.214.251.9) 81.160 ms 80.384 ms 84.499 ms
13 Rebel.spaceships (206.214.251.14) 73.969 ms 77.264 ms 83.163 ms
14 striking.from.a.hidden.base (206.214.251.17) 86.083 ms 79.081 ms 81.519 ms
15 have.won.their.first.victory (206.214.251.22) 84.520 ms 79.735 ms 85.686 ms
16 against.the.evil.Galactic.Empire (206.214.251.25) 86.103 ms 87.797 ms 85.189 ms
17 During.the.battle (206.214.251.30) 92.026 ms 94.525 ms 95.315 ms
18 Rebel.spies.managed (206.214.251.33) 86.278 ms 90.951 ms 80.816 ms
19 to.steal.secret.plans (206.214.251.38) 89.398 ms 87.976 ms 77.482 ms
20 to.the.Empires.ultimate.weapon (206.214.251.41) 85.232 ms 83.784 ms 81.638 ms
21 the.DEATH.STAR (206.214.251.46) 82.016 ms 79.823 ms 88.794 ms
22 an.armored.space.station (206.214.251.49) 88.333 ms 89.604 ms 85.701 ms
23 with.enough.power.to (206.214.251.54) 91.673 ms 91.219 ms 86.865 ms
24 destroy.an.entire.planet (206.214.251.57) 74.739 ms 83.246 ms 82.971 ms
25 Pursued.by.the.Empires (206.214.251.62) 75.581 ms 82.458 ms 85.756 ms
26 sinister.agents (206.214.251.65) 83.561 ms 81.955 ms 86.489 ms
27 Princess.Leia.races.home (206.214.251.70) 87.341 ms 91.137 ms 94.531 ms
28 aboard.her.starship (206.214.251.73) 93.274 ms 95.313 ms 97.448 ms
29 custodian.of.the.stolen.plans (206.214.251.78) 97.823 ms 80.401 ms 86.990 ms
30 that.can.save.her (206.214.251.81) 86.710 ms 82.553 ms 89.645 ms
31 people.and.restore (206.214.251.86) 93.327 ms 91.365 ms 85.288 ms
32 freedom.to.the.galaxy (206.214.251.89) 86.546 ms 95.534 ms 92.901 ms
33 0-------------------0 (206.214.251.94) 93.657 ms 96.636 ms 95.635 ms
34 0------------------0 (206.214.251.97) 95.998 ms 98.693 ms 75.227 ms
35 0-----------------0 (206.214.251.102) 84.989 ms 85.909 ms 79.472 ms
36 0----------------0 (206.214.251.105) 84.533 ms 82.324 ms 86.147 ms
37 0---------------0 (206.214.251.110) 85.247 ms 94.674 ms 97.176 ms
38 0--------------0 (206.214.251.113) 93.953 ms 88.564 ms 91.396 ms
39 0-------------0 (206.214.251.118) 94.096 ms 91.079 ms 96.546 ms
40 0------------0 (206.214.251.121) 77.409 ms 83.731 ms 82.427 ms
41 0-----------0 (206.214.251.126) 80.867 ms 87.531 ms 90.112 ms
42 0----------0 (206.214.251.129) 91.591 ms 85.747 ms 88.709 ms
43 0---------0 (206.214.251.134) 93.784 ms 95.922 ms 92.855 ms
44 0--------0 (206.214.251.137) 90.986 ms 94.511 ms 88.741 ms
45 0-------0 (206.214.251.142) 90.158 ms 73.978 ms 80.759 ms
46 0------0 (206.214.251.145) 79.025 ms 77.294 ms 83.660 ms
47 0-----0 (206.214.251.150) 86.608 ms 91.295 ms 88.665 ms
48 0----0 (206.214.251.153) 88.185 ms 86.044 ms 90.736 ms
49 0---0 (206.214.251.158) 94.240 ms 97.500 ms 96.600 ms
50 0--0 (206.214.251.161) 93.564 ms 91.398 ms 79.103 ms
51 0-0 (206.214.251.166) 84.263 ms 84.652 ms 79.042 ms
52 00 (206.214.251.169) 87.126 ms 84.519 ms 85.306 ms
53 I (206.214.251.174) 97.280 ms 95.550 ms 92.924 ms
54 By.Ryan.Werber (206.214.251.177) 91.650 ms 93.334 ms 96.675 ms
55 When.CCIEs.Get.Bored (206.214.251.182) 97.928 ms 99.182 ms 95.551 ms
56 read.more.at.beaglenetworks.net (206.214.251.185) 80.004 ms 85.447 ms 85.823 ms
57 FIN (206.214.251.190) 82.474 ms * *
Linux Foundation ships UEFI Secure Boot workaround
Monday 11th February 2013 22:08 GMT
@ AC 20:56
"I'm pretty sure these are the sorts of OEMs who would rather not receive loads of support issues from Linux newbies complaining about XYZ not working."
Yes, because everytime your copy of VirtuaGirl has a glitch you call Dell customer support to complain about it, do you? Kids these days...
Monday 11th February 2013 21:53 GMT
"PCs that shipped with Windows installed"
That presumably excludes "servers that are managed remotely", so far so good for the Foundation's approach then.
If you buy a windows-loaded, UEFI-Secure-Boot-locked PC to use it as a distantly managed Linux server, you're just looking for trouble. All the people I know who remotely administrate Linux servers either bought them with Linux pre-installed or bought them barebone and built them to their needs. I must admit that I don't know _everyone_ though, so that's remains anecdotic, but strongly supported by common sense.
Speedy MySQL 5.6 takes aim at NoSQL, MariaDB
NRA: Video games kill people, not guns. And here's our video game
Ten stars of CES 2013: Who made the biggest splash?
Sunday 13th January 2013 18:54 GMT
low-res content on hi-res tellies
"upscaling video doesn’t improve it"
Not just upscaling. but with techniques like fractal computations you can make them look better. Agreed, you are just "guessing" the added "details", you will not be able to turn that fuzzy white dot in the backgound back in the seagull it really was, but it can make bigger details look less pixelated as the magnification increases (thus preventing the scale-up from mangling the perception of the image). That way you can have a large display showing lo-res content without looking like you're playing an old Commodore game.
Firefox for Android now runs on EVEN OLDER, slower kit
Microsoft burgled, only the APPLE iPADS stolen - cops confirm
Friday 11th January 2013 07:32 GMT
Re: If I had broken in @ Dana W
> the Fandroids and the Winsheep.
just for the record, I mildly hate MSWindows (my work involves tech support for MSWinLusers... so I'm paid for MS' flaws, in a way; hence the "mildly"). I never ever owned an iOS device but I still have to fix these for friends; and I never ever owned an Android device, or had to fix one. My real machines mostly run Debian or OpenBSD, and my toys (handhelds, etc) run either obscure Linux distros (for the most powerful ones) or fully machine-programmed OSes (for the more ressource-limited ones). Excluding my work machines, I do not use any internal hard drive larger than 20 GB. I am a sad geek indeed.
Tuesday 8th January 2013 00:11 GMT
Re: If I had broken in
It's all about price. Apple kit sells at several thousand times the manufacturing price, hence a lot of room for stolen half-price kit on the black market: cheap enough to be a good buy despite the risk. Ignoring the surface for this argument, you can buy or build a windows computer for, well, the price of its part on the Chinese market. 400 bucks will get you a very decent windows office machine. factoring in the labour cost of physically removing the machines from MS headquarters, you can't possibly beat that. A basic Windows PC is cheaper to buy than to steal. Then there is value-to-volume and weight: ratios: the thieves could have stolen one full-size rack of spanking new servers, used heavy machinery to move it to a rather large van. Instead they choose to steal the same resale-value kit that fits in a briefcase.
Also, reselling beasty servers is harder and more suspicious than reselling "Oh I got it for Xmas but I don't like it that much" iPads...
German ebook firm pushes cheapo ereaders into US drug stores
Wednesday 9th January 2013 06:44 GMT
Re: Arrrg @ Alan6
Thank you for rephrasing the spec sheet (and the article).
I am not so dumb as to hope for a full-fledged computer with this battery life and for that price. I know it must just be a display device. I would have bought one if it could be hooked up to a real computer instead of a smartphone. Which would allow me to use it (yay) but would cut the subsidizing stream (no-go).
Is that more understandable?
Nvidia fixes hole that turns PCs into remote-control toys for hackers
Boffins build elastic wires with liquid metal
Monday 24th December 2012 17:06 GMT
Network
1. if you are serious about your network you are never 2 inches short. Ideally you should know how to terminate your cables by yourself and you will always have just the right length, otherwise you just have to buy a slightly longer cable.
2. I agree that the variation in impedance is not going to make a huge difference in the end; but depending on the physical properties of the cable, the constant tension may have desastrous effects. Just watch the cables jump out of the sockets one by one as the plastic jacks weaken over time... physical tension on my Ethernet cables? Not on my watch!
End of days: Possessed POWERPOINT predicts Mayan Apocalypse
Friday 21st December 2012 07:56 GMT
More like rickrolling
That's so ancient and innocuous that it is more akin to rickrolling than to a real security threat.
I am pretty sure that it was intended as such by its creators (most likely a couple of high-school students). Silly, yes. Dangerous? Not by any stretch of the imagination.
That goes straight in the penissillyn category... ;-)
China lags on new tech patents
Dotcom titan funds 'Mark Cuban Chair To Eliminate Stupid Patents'
Little spider makes big-spider-puppet CLONE of itself out of dirt
Thursday 20th December 2012 17:46 GMT
Re: ummm
> If the spider is ALREADY scary, why would it need to build a second scary spider to erm scare stuff off?
Except that the second spider is roughly 6 times the size of the first one. A cat 6 times the size of a house cat is a Siberian tiger*. Not exactly the same place in the food chain.
*if Wikipedia figures for average cat sizes are to be believed
Vatican shrugs off apocalypse, fiddles with accounts dept
It's official: Mac users are morally superior to Windows users
Tuesday 18th December 2012 03:44 GMT
Blatant abuse of statistics
"No matter the details, it is good to see that more people with a higher income are being charitable. So hats off to those higher income people. Merry Christmas!"
The details do matter a lot, mind you. How many MacOS users gave anything compared to others? What was the distribution? What was the donation normalised to income? What was the proportion of the userbase for each system?
Did 2000 Firefox user with no income give $2 each? that would drive the average way down. Perhaps one single billionnaire MacOS user gave $2000000 and all the others gave 2 cents each?
Means are utterly useless in that case. Statistically, this is a non-story. And as the whole thing is a non-issue I can't be bothered to go do _actual_ statistics on the raw numbers (provided they are even available). Maybe we can Have Randall XKCD to do a real analysis, he gets off on this kind of things.
Football club catches, then punts, Kaspersky name
Wednesday 19th December 2012 00:57 GMT
Re: The 15- game @Tom 38
> if you can play league, you can play union no bother, but only a few union players can play league, it is just too physical and technical.
Not entirely true. A league player will never make a very good union prop. For the fly-half or the fullback it usually doesn't matter much as the expectations are roughly the same. But if you need a wing who can be very fast AND hold his ground against the opponent's props, then a league player is what you want. If you need a lock who can trample the opposition's wings AND gain ground on impact against the opposition's ... well, whoever really, then a league player is what you want. If you want a prop who can stop whatever is thrown at him, while trampling the opposition's locks, wings, and props, then you need a proper union prop.
Tuesday 18th December 2012 04:03 GMT
13 FTW!
>Rugby League is a 13-a-side version of rugby. The sport is popular in northern England and the east coast of Australia
It also very popular in southern France. A lot of the fast'uns began with 13. It trains for speed and agility (besides impact, which is always important of course). Not so good for 15-trained props evidently, but some good locks came from "le jeu â treize". Not to mention wings.
The 30-year-old prank that became the first computer virus
Apple TV demand may drive Samsung-sapping sales
US sides with UK, walks away from sticky WCIT treaty
Friday 14th December 2012 02:52 GMT
Re: Not about censorship... well not THAT censorship
> You also missed how my country targets communications infrastructure during wartime
I also don't know which country is "your country".
I wasn't praising the censorship of the Internet, just stating the the one state that currently does censor the worldwide net is not ready to give up its censorship powers. And THAT is the real reason why the treaty won't be signed by the US and friends (including MY countries: France and Canada) as long as it includes ANY reference to the 'net, be it explicit or implicit.
I'm not judging on the merits of one censorship vs another, just stating that the 'net is indeed censored right now, mostly by the US.
The censorship issue is a red herring. Nothing in the treaty would give any special censorship power to China, Iran, North Korea, or whatever the current Scrooge may be. It would however remove some power from the hands of the current rulers. Which is why the current rulers won't have it. Whether it's a good or a bad thing depends on where you live, I suppose.
Thursday 13th December 2012 22:19 GMT
Not about censorship... well not THAT censorship
The real reason why it wasn't signed is not that it would allow censorship, it's that it would take some control away from the US. The whole Internet is de facto censored by the US, as they have control over domain name, act as a hub (with the fattest pipes) and a significant portion of the world's hosting/storage capacity. Hence the ability to seize domain names for foreign gambling website if the local law doesn't allow them, or the Megavideo servers being seized, etc.
And what little power eludes them they grab by military-like action (Kim Dotcom) or Bond-like underhand machinations (Assange).
That treaty would diminish the almost complete control that the EU have over the internet, and we can't have these filthy gambling sites or filelockers on the grid now, can we?
Polish man mistakes hot iron for mobe
Friday 14th December 2012 02:20 GMT 
Won't happen to me
The only heat-operated iron I have at home is kept next to the 3 rolls of solder of various diameters (all lead-free crap, blame local legislation). No way I can mistake that particular iron for a phone. If I did -presumably when extremely intoxicated-, the damp sponge right next to it would prove a useful first-aid accessory. Then again, if I was THAT intoxicated I would probably catch fire instantly...
Mine's the one with the 2-pounds 25-yo badly-insulated industrial soldering iron in the pocket.
Biting the hand that feeds IT
