* Posts by Adrian 4

2288 publicly visible posts • joined 18 Jul 2009

Visual Studio Code 1.50 goes hard on extensions support, but tackling add-on bloat is becoming more onerous

Adrian 4

if only ..

.. there was an editor that was only eight megs, even if that did mean it was constantly swapping.

Key-cutting machine borked sideways after visit from the BSOD fairy locks things down

Adrian 4

Re: I wonder...

That's the big problem with using Windows to run machines. It's not really practical to update any but the most expensive machines out in the field, so they'll tend to run with whatever was current at installation time.

Even if there's a maintenance contract, a new Windows version 10 years after installation is probably going to involve replacing the hardware./ You're not going to just install an update CD on something with machine control systems. So you essentially limit the machine's lifetime to the life of a Windows release.

Adrian 4

Re: I wonder...

I think leaving the BSOD up is a way of saying 'it's not our fault. It's the computer'.

Microsoft sprinkles a little Skype Meet Now integration on Windows 10 for Insiders

Adrian 4

Even microsoft don't know what happened to Skype. They changed what it is once too often and lost track.

England's COVID-tracking app finally goes live after 6 months of work – including backpedal on how to handle data

Adrian 4

Re: Never mind

But now we have an app for it, it can propagate over bluetooth !

Onwards! To the airport and adventure! And this rather lachrymose Linux screen

Adrian 4

Re: "A Scottish airport"?

Maybe it's like 'the scottish play' and can't be named for superstitious reasons

GNOME alone: FOSS desktop folk to start counting in whole numbers again

Adrian 4

whole numbers

So they're using whole numbers but the next two releases will be 40.0 and 41.0

What's the .0 for ? decoration ?

Top Chinese central banker says Beijing’s digital currency must be restricted to big commercial banks

Adrian 4
Facepalm

Well, he would say that, wouldn't he ?

0ops. 1,OOO-plus parking fine refunds ordered after drivers typed 'O' instead of '0'

Adrian 4

Re: Strewth

Two things follow from the registration number formatting rules.

1. Entering O instead of 0 cause an easily detectable invalid number. This could be immediately reported by either the app or the front-end system and the sale refused.

2. It's also therefore trivial to self-correct the data entry.

Since neither of these were done, the parking authority took money for an invalid sale. This is fraud.

The lawyers for the drivers did an extremely bad job in only getting a refund. They should have got a prosecution for fraud for the mis-sale of parking permission, and embezzlement for proceding to a fine.

Three middle-aged Dutch hackers slipped into Donald Trump's Twitter account days before 2016 US election

Adrian 4

Re: ExVet

He has staff.

Some of them are even still not corrupt.

Don't imagine for a moment that he has the right launch codes, even if he knew where to find them.

In fact, given the American farce of an election, it's likely no president has ever been trusted with the real launch codes. Even when they were 000000.

Adrian 4

Re: And if you have any doubt

Why would they need your password ?

They could create fake accounts everywhere with any password they liked, and still sell that to the scammers.

No honour amongst thieves.

Is today's AI yesterday's software routines with better PR? We argued over it, you voted on it. And the winner is...

Adrian 4

Not a bit surprised by the result. I voted that way myself and the arguments were just preaching to the converted.

But I was really disappointed by the 'against' argument - very weak, I thought, admitting from the start that most 'AI' is just ML and merely trying to justify that it wasn't useless. Fair enough -that's true, but it's not at argument that 'AI isn't just PR'.

I do actually think AI will eventually come. It might take a lot more pronouncements that it's 10 years away, and the first practical use isn't going to be in self-driving cars (which I think is just about realising that it's many years from being on the open road, though it could cope with a closed system, such as a motorway with fenced lanes pretty well). But statistical advertising trendfollowers are not AI.

In my view, AI is not characterised by responding convincingly to Turing style testing. A Turing test that convinces me that the co-respondent is human is one where the AI drives the conversation, not one that answers my questions. I'm not disagreeing with Turing : I'm saying that a conversation goes both ways.

Can't you find some current AI researchers who believe in what they're doing and can point to some REAL AI - even if it's weak and incomplete ? I'd far rather read the thoughts of someone who knows the subject and has some hope that it's going somewhere. Rather than a marketeer trying to persuade me that what's being pushed by commercial interests now is living up to the promise.

DPL: Debian project has plenty of money but not enough developers

Adrian 4

Re: Primadonna

Didn't exactly endear him to the community though, did it ?

In general you've got a fair chance of encountering his fanbois but a much greater chance of encountering someone who wishes he didn't exist.

Adrian 4

Then start with the documentation, so that another newcomer experiences less pain than you did. You're very well qualified to address it's shortcomings because you've just experienced them, and nothing will break if you make a mistake in fixing them.

The power of Bill compels you: A server room possessed by a Microsoft-hating, Linux-loving Demon

Adrian 4

Re: The frisson of Y2K

In a server room ?

They'd have been wearing ear defenders. Or be deaf.

Tech ambitions said to lie at heart of Britain’s bonkers crash-and-burn Brexit plan

Adrian 4

It depends how you measure it.

Corbyn's problem was that he was too honest to be a politician. Never mind whether you agree with Marxism or not, he wouldn't attack for the sake of attack.

He failed to take a strong position on Brexit (something I'd have liked him to do, negatively) because he could see two sides : but instead of this being taken as intelligent analysis and openness to the needs of the electorate, it was seen as sitting on the fence.

He wouldn't - despite his strong anti-racism feelings - take a strong position on Israel because he couldn't fight antisemitism in the expected manner without also hurting the palestinians who he also considered as needing support.

The media demand a loud, aggressive, unthinking jingoism for political parties. They're too stupid and greedy to consider anything more nuanced. And the result is support for the likes of Johnson or Trump over actual ability.

Taking a step back .. Johnson-cummings is widely regarded as the worst prime minister in living memory. I agree. But what interests me is when we last had a GOOD prime minister. John Smith was possibly the closest we approached to one.

Can anyone here suggest another candidate for a country-building, honest, effective, inclusive prime minister ? Have we EVER had one ?

Adrian 4

Re: Laurel and Hardy

Cummings/Johnson. Doris.

Adrian 4

Re: Well it's kind of a good idea but...

3. This will kill any idea of a free trade deal with the EU as, well, they're pretty hot on making sure nobody gains an advantage from State Aid. I suspect the US won't like it either.

4. Shock! Horror! This is Socialism! How will we get that past (a) the Tory Party rump and (b) the rightwing press?

Fund the share price, not the company's bottom line. The cabinet and the fool cummings, have negative tech knowledge so they don't understand the long-term business anyway : they merely want to grow the share price and reward the shareholders.

Brexit border-line issues: Would you want to still be 'testing' software designed to stop Kent becoming a massive lorry park come 31 December?

Adrian 4

Re: Just a thought - not all trade with the EU is by truck via Dover

Easy - turn the runways into lorry parks.

Adrian 4

Re: Testing? Are you having a larf?

Sure they do, but they're not infinite.Or anywhere near as big as the lorry parks being created in Kent.

It's like the R number, or Mister Micawber's income - once you have a queue that doesn't clear customs before the next ferry arrives, full storage spaces are inevitable.

Adrian 4

Re: Testing? Are you having a larf?

Or ferries stuck in port because there's nowhere to disembark while waiting for customs

Adrian 4

But it will be world-beating. You can be sure of that.

Apple commits to support human rights - 'We believe in the critical importance of an open society'*

Adrian 4

Re: Place your bets...

Then don't use the products of large organisations,

It's a difficult path but not impossible, and it's yours to take.

Hidden Linux kernel security fixes spotted before release – by using developer chatter as a side channel

Adrian 4

Re: Another Monumental Economic Misstep to Compound with Support

I noticed a change too - better constructed sentences looking more human, but somehow no more easy to read. I think the keeper of amanfrommars should try simulating the number of words that can be spoken in one breath and punctuate the output accordingly.

It's odd that writing and reading, which don't rely on the breath-timing of speech, are so affected in this way. But they are.

Here's a sprite idea: PC pokers push pixels to LED displays with Microsoft's new platform for non-verbal comms

Adrian 4

Do they still have interface guidelines ? Skype and Teams (the only MS applications I encounter) seem to go out of their way to hide any form of control setting rather than make them self-explanatory.

Everything's falling apart. The Moon is slowly rusting up – and it's probably Earth's fault

Adrian 4

Re: "1.5x10^27 oxygen particles [..] annually"

How many Bulgarian Airbags ?

Salon told to change ad looking for 'happy' stylist because it 'discriminated against unhappy people'

Adrian 4

I'm with Richard

I don't need talk of depression but I'm fine with

'Good morning

'Just a cut please

'Is that OK ?

'Yes thanks.

Funny, that: Handy script for wiping directories is capable of wreaking havoc beyond a miscreant's wildest dreams

Adrian 4

Re: The Story Of O

Seems a reasonable progression from her earlier career

UK govt: It's time to get staff back into the office! Capita: Hey everyone... about that...

Adrian 4

Re: Capita's entire 'raison d'etre' is fales

Isn't capita owned by some government peer anyway ?

Adrian 4

Re: Isnt that good?

You're quite right.

But isn't it a bloody expensive way to subsidise low-paid workers and no-longer-needed infrastructure ?

Isn't there a more efficient way than sending millions of people on a pointless journey twice a day ?

China trolls Trump with tech export rules changes that could imperil TikTok sale

Adrian 4

Re: Behind the times here.

Could it be worse than Ballmer's Monkeydance ?

Zuck says Facebook made an 'operational mistake' in not taking down US militia page mid-protests. TBH the whole social network is a mistake

Adrian 4

It's easy to stop it happening again.

Just close the site down.

And nothing of value was lost.

Chinese State media uses new release of local Linux to troll Trump

Adrian 4

Re: The OS also supports x86 CPUs flowing from the AMD’s joint venture in China ...

Largest, surely. But the first ?

There must have been IT catastrophes before that. And Gates was never the first at anything .. even MS-DOS was bought in.

Adrian 4

Re: The OS also supports x86 CPUs flowing from the AMD’s joint venture in China ...

Microsoft Xenix was early 80s, wasn't it ?

Apple hits back at Epic, says Fortnite crew wants a 'free ride' on fees: Let the app store death match commence

Adrian 4

Only 30% ?

Epic should try selling through traditional channels involving shipping, stock, distribution. They'd be lucky to get 30% of the retail price, and their own product would cost them more to produce.

They're taking advantage of a market built and maintained by Apple (or Google).

Live with it or build your own platform.

Sympathy = 0

Space station update: Mystery tiny but growing air leak sparks search for hole

Adrian 4

Won't the chewing gum automatically follow the airflow to the hole ?

Anti-5G-vaxx pressure group sues Zuckerberg, Facebook, fact checkers for daring to suggest it might be wrong

Adrian 4

Re: I don't understand

Follow the money.

Who will profit ? Lawyers. So it's lawyers pushing the case,, crowdfunding their own salaries

Adrian 4

The enemy of my enemy is my friend. But _which_ enemy ?

Amazon makes 850,000m2 bet that its people will get off the kitchen table and back to an office

Adrian 4

Re: Why offices?

Middle managers don't like it. They're incompetent and insecure, and feel better when they can watch their charges.

US govt proposes elephant showers for every American after Prez Trump says trickles dampen his haircare routine

Adrian 4

Re: Whatever

It's the reality distortion field. He stole it and murdered Steve Jobs.

Well, what are we waiting for? Three weeks later, Windows Embedded Standard 7 still didn't have the answer

Adrian 4

Re: "one of the UK's medical institutions"

The statistical likelihood is that other civilisations will arise. There will one day be lemon-soaked paper napkins. ‘Till then, there will be a short delay. Please return to your seats.

Steve Wozniak at 70: Here's to the bloke behind Apple who wasn't a complete... turtleneck

Adrian 4

Re: What people remember you for...

I don't know if it excuses his assholeness, but I do respect Job's insistence on getting it right. It's what kept Apple in the public eye, and has been notably missing since his death.

Like most engineers, I'm happy to have something working well enough. Making it work to match the vision is an additional step that I admire.

Geneticists throw hands in the air, change gene naming rules to finally stop Microsoft Excel eating their data

Adrian 4

Re: I must be missing something...

I despise the auto data conversion (and many other autocorrect features that seem to get it wrong far more times than they get it right : I turn them off for a more productive experience).

But if you were regularly importing CSV into a spreadsheet, wouldn't you write a macro that set the column types first, then imported it ? And pass that macro around the community ?

USA decides to cleanse local networks of anything Chinese under new five-point national data security plan

Adrian 4

Re: aggressive intrusions by malign actors

We have better choices here in the UK.

But they still voted for Doris. So what's the point ?

Adrian 4

News ?

Is US banning $chinese_thing still a newsworthy event ?

Greatest crossover of all time: Microsoft, Samsung preview Android on Windows via Your Phone app

Adrian 4

Re: What's the point?

If they're only going to run the app on the phone, why not just use VNC ?

Think carefully about cyber insurance, says NCSC. But don't worry about buying off ransomware crooks

Adrian 4

Re: Just waiting to see how long before...

Surely keeping backups which would defeat a ransomware demand is a no-brainer ?

And for those who still don't do it, negligence.

Do insurers claim to protect from negligence (not just the legal liability of it, but the direct costs) ?

NSA warns that mobile device location services constantly compromise snoops and soldiers

Adrian 4

Nobody NEEDs the always-on availability. A lot might find it convenient but that's negotiable as the discussion about secure working above shows.

The only people who might be considered to NEED both (ie their job requires both communication and protection from the consequences of communication) are authority-sponsored types such as military. In that case, the essential communication is done using appropriate equipment : and a lot of money goes into providing that equipment.

Seconds don't count any more than they used to. Yes, you might get someone with a heart attack who can be saved by fast action. A few years ago that person would have died regardless. Requiring that everyone who might benefit from such action is able to, is an edge case and a trade off.

Currently, emergency services aren't protected from the consequences of leaking the location information. Perhaps some day that will be necessary, but at the moment the people who deliberately attack them don't appear to be organised to obtain location information - they're usually one-offs.

Ever wonder how a pentest turns into felony charges? Coalfire duo explain Iowa courthouse arrest debacle

Adrian 4

Re: There's more..

While I'm not a big fan of lawyers, it's really only lawyers and doctors - rather than *every* professional - that has the status of being considered above reproach in the matter of seeing and preserving someone's secrets.

I don't think it would be easy to extend this status. It's pretty hard to justify keeping for them, given the number of cases where it's seen to be broken.

You're probably better off getting yourself uniquely qualified as a pentesting lawyer rather than declaring all pentesters guilt-free..

Venerable text editor GNU Nano reaches version 5.0 and adds the modern frippery that is scrollbars

Adrian 4

Re: Tilde

I grew up on TECO. I was happy to move to a screen-based editor once they were common, but I do think that background makes me a bit more accepting of line-based one, even though they're mostly crap compared with TECO.

I don't recall the commands for edlin now. But MS-DOS's general model was to take some tool built for Unix or RSX-11, dumb it down until it was nearly, but not completely unusable, change some things (like the directory separator character) so your muscle-memory constantly misled you, and then make it essential.