* Posts by Robert Carnegie

4546 publicly visible posts • joined 30 Sep 2009

In Hemel Hempstead, cycling is as bad as taking a leak in the middle of the street

Robert Carnegie Silver badge

A bicycle "MUST" have "efficient" brakes, red and white lights at night, and also a rear red reflector at all times. It is the law but it may not be enforced.

https://www.gov.uk/guidance/the-highway-code/annex-1-you-and-your-bicycle

Like when I got a quarter mile from the bike repair shop then found my brakes were still unfastened from the wheel change.

Robert Carnegie Silver badge

Re: Could be worse

I recommend to you having a bell and using it. Your cycle shop might be legally obliged to provide one. The kind where you push the lever and it goes dingalingalingaling, then again when you let go. That says "bicycle" even to someone not looking your way. Expect them to freeze in place. Ring them from some distance away. Ring while road cycling past pedestrians who may randomly cross in front of you.

For a persistent nuisance pedestrian, get another bicycle bell and quietly walk up behind them with it and really surprise them.

In my opinion, the fancy bell with a tiny hammer that strikes once and sounds like a wine glass flicked with a fingernail, sends the wrong message.

Robert Carnegie Silver badge

A bit surprised entering Asda the other day to meet a cyclist riding out. Of the shop. Past the handbaskets. It is unusual.

Actual cycle lock facility there, where I park mine, is just closer than the disabled driving spaces. No complaint from me.

Robert Carnegie Silver badge

Re: Banning Cyclists

Hmm. My understanding and recollection, based on the Highway Code later than 1980, is that pushing a bicycle across a traffic-light junction when it's the pedestrians' turn implies that you've gone through a red light for road traffic. Which is forbidden even for wheeling a bicycle.

I will do it anyway but on a point of principle I don't operate the pedestrian crossing signal myself, I wait for someone else to do it so that I'm not responsible for stealing time from other road users for it.

In a marked pedestrian zone I will carry the bicycle, not just push it. Then it's just luggage.

As for smuggling a folding bike onto a bus that isn't supposed to carry them, I have camouflage. Well, a bin bag.

The time a Commodore CDTV disc proved its worth as something other than a coaster

Robert Carnegie Silver badge

Re: hmm

There's a printer near here, it comes up on the wireless. Not actually in my house though. I might send a hello message to it sometime... no, best I don't.

Robert Carnegie Silver badge

Re: Optional

Well, I think Shakespeare uses the noun "bawd" more than the adjective "bawdy" (I haven't checked), and she qualifies. (She sits among the qualifies and...)

Can you download it to me – in an envelope with a stamp?

Robert Carnegie Silver badge
Joke

And expostulating, but of course. :-)

UK plod could lose access to 79 million criminal alerts in event of a no-deal Brexit

Robert Carnegie Silver badge

Re: Do not all countries lose by this ?

Your "wanted criminals" include Russia's "holder of presidential licence to kill" (and vice versa - remember James Bond bodyguarding the Queen at the Olympic Games), and Turkey's "enemies of the state" include "men, women and children of minority ethnicity or dissenting interpretation of religion" as wee see it. For instance. That sort of thing makes true international exchange of information about these troublemakers a bit complicated.

Robert Carnegie Silver badge

Re: Red herring repeatings?

I always warn people that he's not as stupid as he seems. But I wouldn't say it's far off at the moment.

I don't blame him or anyone for not having a plan to keep the border with Ireland open while the border with the EU is closed, because clearly that's impossible since Ireland is in the EU. I mean, do I need to show you on a map.

I do blame them for pretending that this isn't a problem. I think that Brexit will proceed and relations with Ireland will break in a way that hasn.t been seen since Finn MacCool sobered up, and the British rump will be made to see the disadvantages of the situation... if a rump can see. As Dave Allen put it, "Are you reading that newspaper you're sitting on?"

Bus pass or bus ass? Hackers peeved about public transport claim to have reverse engineered ticket app for free rides

Robert Carnegie Silver badge

Re: Still too expensive

If the vehicles they've got run perfectly well, why should a bus company raise fares to buy new green vehicles that are not particularly better at being buses? Except in London for instance where you may be actually charged for operating a more polluting vehicle. So, either legislate to take polluting buses off the roads (at least in cities), or let government pay for them to be traded-in for new ones. And if legislating, the new vehicles still have to be paid for.

In one edition (maybe made more than once) of "The Mark Steel Solution", which consisted of proposing an unusual public measure and performing comic sketches about it, he argued that public transport should be paid for only by people who aren't using it. I think the Labour Party in Scotland is talking about free public transport for all, probably expecting they won't be invited into government to execute their policies - but I haven't looked at it closely. And Mark Steel talked some sense. (I think he also proposed everyone should have to be gay for two years, like National Service.)

GIMP open source image editor forked to fix 'problematic' name

Robert Carnegie Silver badge

Re: The name Glimpse discriminates against people who are unable to see

I expect that generally, people who are disabled, most specifically American (which isn't a generally recognized disability), hear the word used more often than most others. The dictionary indicates also that it applies primarily, but not exclusively, to impairment affecting walking, How offending it is mainly depends on how offending it was intended to be.

Robert Carnegie Silver badge

Re: Wonder no more, you tell us

I can't see it making much difference.

Robert Carnegie Silver badge

Re: The name Glimpse discriminates against people who are unable to see

It's image editing software. I was already wondering how it rates on actual usability by users with difficulties versus upsetting people by having its name be a slang word for disability. And anyway, changing the name to "Glimpse" will just make computer users use "Glimpse" as slang for disability as well.

Dixons hits back at McAfee's £30m antivirus sueball: Your AV didn't work on Windows 10S

Robert Carnegie Silver badge
Joke

Sharp Aquos

Water pistol? :-)

Robert Carnegie Silver badge

Re: Windows 10S...as useful as a chocolate teapot

You could try a "One For All" remote, some of which can learn individually every button from your existing remote. I've done that for a too-often-dropped remote. But first make sure that it isn't just suffering from poor batteries... also, try not to get daylight or bright domestic lighting on the device's infrared receiving sensor.

Google security crew sheds light on long-running super-stealthy iOS spyware operation

Robert Carnegie Silver badge

Re: Ah yes but

Can you still get Opera in the "data compression" mode? Basically the vulnerable end of the browser runs on Opera's server and isn't limited to Webkit on your phone. What you actually receive is an edited version of the important stuff from web pages. I think.

The top three attributes for getting injured on e-scooters? Having no helmet, being drunk or drugged, oddly enough

Robert Carnegie Silver badge

Re: That's all very well....

Also need to know about scooter users' helmet and drug use when they didn't have accidents, or did have an accident but weren't badly hurt.

I don't really expect to find that everyone on two little wheels is high, but it's possible. Also possible that helmets don't help as much as you'd think, although I wear one to cycle. One theory is that they make your head a bigger target and so it's more likely to be hit hard by the ground.

An anecdotal favourable estimate of a helmet's utility is that it prevents half of possible fatal head injuries, and none of equally likely fatal elsewhere-on-body injuries, so cuts death risk by 25%. So wear one but also ride slowly and safely as conditions indicate.

Robert Carnegie Silver badge

Re: Scooter stoopid

If it doesn't have pedals (and a seat probably) then it isn't a "bicycle".

Developer reconsiders npm command-line ad caper after outcry

Robert Carnegie Silver badge

Perverse incentive

I aspire to write programs that can be used without applying to me for support. That would fail if support is the thing that I get paid for.

For Foxit's sake: PDF editor biz breached, users' passwords among stolen data

Robert Carnegie Silver badge

Re: why have ANY upper limit?

Alphanumeric has 36 possible values per symbol, so just more than 5 bits. Alpha only, which I prefer for typing, has a bit less (26 values in plain ASCII, not counting case). Presumably, padding the length with random characters to be somewhat more than the number of bits in the hash of the password, will mean that your position in the hashed space is also pretty well random. And so adding more characters is not useful... unless and until they switch to a longer, larger space of hashed values.

Robert Carnegie Silver badge

Actually at least 8 and at most 20 characters long

ti sseug lliw eno on

8 to 20, hmm. Our penetration testers popped my mostly random password, that was... towards the shorter end of that length range. So, 8 characters is officially not enough any more.

If I go for more random letters in a fixed pattern (when I have to type out the sxddxngxthxng and remember it), is it OK to reveal the pattern as a helpful example? Best not, probably. The main thing is, I just remember x letters of it at a time. Type, pause, think, type...

I just love your accent – please, have a new password

Robert Carnegie Silver badge

Re: Caller ID = Your routines suck!

I imagine I could live with typing my user name if it was, say, two characters. That would be enough for many organisations. Althoug× there are some combinations that you might prefer to avoid. BO for instance. IS is a bit sticky recently, I try to avoid calling "The Improvement Service" that. I think you don't want to know what I do call them...

Hong Kong ISPs beg Chinese govt not to impose Great Firewall on them

Robert Carnegie Silver badge

Re: Freedom

A recent BBC radio report about the reappearance of the umbrella protesters was very quickly amended in repeats to mention another explanation: it was raining.

Don't expect that to be accepted as an excuse though... you know Christopher Robin had an umbrella...

Robert Carnegie Silver badge

Evidently the "Great Firewall" currently stands between Hong Kong and the mainland of China. What could be done instead, I don't want to comment and give anyone nasty ideas about.

Twice in one month: Microsoft updates new-style Terminal preview

Robert Carnegie Silver badge

Incontrovertible?

Out of my area, but I have a nagging sense that the feature should be called something like "interconvertible". Copy and paste between diverse windows. Am I just ill informed?

Beware the developer with time on his hands and dreams of Disney

Robert Carnegie Silver badge

Re: Printers were another prime target

"Well, you could get the real nude ladies over here for that price."

The Tell-Tale Heart! Boffins build an AI that can tell your sex using just your heartbeat

Robert Carnegie Silver badge

If they do invent a machine that can detect prospective transsexuals, that would be ethically complicated, especially when used by the parents. But for people not sure about themselves, a gadget that just tells you could be a blessing - never mind how or whether it works. Something to put in Jeremy Kyle's next show maybe?

Git the news here! Code quality doesn't count for much when it comes to pull requests

Robert Carnegie Silver badge

Re: A hard choice

That's actually a good point. A lot of academic research is a bit shoddy - what they get rewarded for is volume of output, not diligence and polish. Nevertheless, its point is interesting enough to be examined more closely... and presenting an interesting point, even if it may turn out to be wrong, is good enough to get coverage in The Register, too. And so on...

Audible hasn't even launched its AI-powered book subtitles and publishers have already fired off a sueball

Robert Carnegie Silver badge

Re: Have I got this right?

I think you don't mean "audio description", because that is a voice explaining what is happening on screen, for blind people. I presume you mean subtitles ("closed caption") or on-screen sign language.

Your friend might be interested in this week's "Fry's English Delight" with Stephen Fry, but utterly frustrated because it's a programme on radio. Except that there is an English transcript (this time only, I suspect). Both are here https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m0007wv2

Anyway, it's about the history of sign language, and how it is nothing to do with English at all actually. Apparently this is Series 10 so a lot of subjects have been done, and at the same time "Word of Mouth" and "The Verb" are mowing the same lawn... you see we even run out of metaphors.

According to this, if you have a deaf friend then you have a sign language nickname. Donald Trump has a celebrity one. Madonna's is intriguing because I would have thought she was famous enough to have one already before... that...

Yes, TfL asked people to write down their Oyster passwords – but don't worry, they didn't inhale

Robert Carnegie Silver badge

This may have been said

My interpretation of the form is that if you haven't created a web access account at tfl.etc then you need to (1) create a password on this form and then (2) use that password to create your web account, or you won't be able to. In other words, this process and the web account process need to hash (let's hope) the same password. But still... it's not good.

What you might do before submitting the form is change your actual password to "temporarily somer andom texts" (for example) and write that on the form, then change it back after the transaction. Or just "gosh this is stupid 34345687".

In other news, office penetration testers got my password, but apparently mine is the only one got that wasn't on the lines of "letmein123". It was more like "Zvchwk43" with each letter or number random of its kind, but cased as shown. And not used elsewhere. So this now is notgo odeno ughok - but (3) not my actual new password and (4) number and/or case variation is still compulsory, and a pain in the typist - it turns out that I can remember nonsense words, up to a point, but not case at the same time. Well, then, my next compulsory password change will have an A or a 1 in it, probably, just to meet that requirement (as I was doing already). "A notgo odeno ughok" for instance. And so, probably, will all my others. Unless I don't have to.

Biz forked out $115k to tout 'Time AI' crypto at Black Hat. Now it sues organizers because hackers heckled it

Robert Carnegie Silver badge

Re: Why would you take that talk to BlackHat?

I speculate with no actual knowledge: Perhaps the money being spent doesn't belong to the people spending it, but to their investors. Who at the time perhaps were being strung along, and still are?

Contacts-slurping Android malware sneaked onto Google Play store – twice

Robert Carnegie Silver badge

"Why does Talking Horse need access to my contacts?!"

...it wants to talk to them?

One way to find out... but don't do it.

My MacBook Woe: I got up close and personal with city's snatch'n'dash crooks (aka some bastard stole my laptop)

Robert Carnegie Silver badge

Or

An anti-theft bar that bolts into the table and holds the laptop along the hinge. Rollercoaster safety bar style. Or, a very powerful magnet underneath the table surface... hmm... maybe not that one.

Floor tiles that aren't glued down, so that if anyone runs then their feet slip and they don't actually move.

Robert Carnegie Silver badge

I lost my phone

I think I just left my cellphone somewhere while shopping. It seemed to ring on the network until its battery died some days later, but no one answered when I called it. Shops and police lost property services didn't get it back for me. It was an old weird basically unsellable model (but interesting 7 inch tablet size), and I wish I'd texted a ransom reward offer to it: I think that would have been the best deal for anyone holding it. Doing it safely would be tricky, though. Is there a how-to?

Welcome to Hollywood, Claranet-style: You've (not) got mail, or hosted sites for that matter

Robert Carnegie Silver badge

If they have their Twitter account adequately secured as you have to nowadays, it's possible that a major failure in their data centre meant that they weren't able to get onto Twitter.

Breaker, breaker. Apple's iOS 12.4 update breaks jailbreak break, un-breaks the break. 10-4

Robert Carnegie Silver badge

Re: "accidentally reopened a code-execution vulnerability that was previously patched"

Actually, 13.0 is coming and it won't work on my handset - official. I'm already planning the upgrade. And I think that once iOS 13 is released, iOS 12 maintenance ends. You have to take iOS 13 as your update if your phone accepts it, and if not, then too bad.

RIP Danny Cohen: The computer scientist who gave world endianness meets his end aged 81

Robert Carnegie Silver badge

Re: Technically born in Palestine

Some people don't like that word. It doesn't bother me: I'm not involved. It was the title when the British Empire "owned" it. And I think when the Roman Empire owned it. So...

Dear Planet Earth: Patch Webmin now – zero-day exploit emerges for potential hijack hole in server control panel

Robert Carnegie Silver badge

Re: At least a responsible response

If I'm reading the story correctly (as updated), it is not an accidental bug in the software, but a deliberately introduced malicious feature by an unknown hacker at an unknown time. So presumably, one or more users of the software had been hacked already by this means and didn't know about it. So it may have become known by someone leaking the existence of the vulnerability.

It will never be safe to turn off your computer: Prankster harnesses the power of Windows 95 to torment fellow students

Robert Carnegie Silver badge

How explicit exactly?? Never mind.

I'm guessing "System Addict" (1986, pop pickers) by 5 Star.

"Boxes that go beep

Little lights that leap

Tapping on a keyboard

What's happening to me?"

Dry patch? Have you considered peppering your flirts with emojis?

Robert Carnegie Silver badge

Re: 5,327 American singles aged 18-94

Maybe "Cont page 94" in Private Eye magazine doesn't mean what I thought then?

I thought it meant "This joke is continued on the same page in the next 94 issues of the magazine."

Regular reader! With a bit of a sense of deja vu, e.g. "Vivienne Westwood is a horrible boss", "Council closes library", "Jeremy Corbyn has a vegetable allotment" etc.

Security? We've heard of it! But why be a party pooper when there's printing to be done

Robert Carnegie Silver badge

Temporary password

We can set a password but force the user to change it immediately after use. We use random alphanumeric and mixed case in a certain layout, but not silly punctuation. Let's say Abcd123f is the example.

Then if you can allow but not enforce the user changing their password, set it to not one such example, but six one after another.

I mean, they could and probably would keep it on the Windows desktop in Notepad, but one has tried.

Robert Carnegie Silver badge

Re: One rule for you...

I presume your door doesn't have a hole through which letters are delivered. You're advised not to keep a key next to the door anyway. For instance, an unwisely allowed visitor could swipe it. But the letterbox and a long twisty wire can be used to find and extract your keys.

I suppose that by now they also could post a flying drone into the house to fly around doing such things, and more.

I think I got mice because I left the door open in hot weather, although authorities say they're good at finding or making gaps for their entry. They don't need much at all.

Data cops order Ireland to delete 3.2m records after ID card wheeze ruled to be 'unlawful'

Robert Carnegie Silver badge

https://www.irishexaminer.com/breakingnews/ireland/river-liffey-to-be-dyed-green-for-paddys-day-tourism-chiefs-say-932263.html

Apparently Dublin's river will be dyed green next year i.e. 2020 for St Patrick's Day... which Chicago has been doing since 1962.

I think of Ireland as celebrating the holiday with dignity. I have never been to Ireland.

WeWork filed its IPO homework. So we had a look at its small print and... yowser. What has El Reg got itself into?

Robert Carnegie Silver badge

I think the pessimistic bits in the IPO are a regulatory requirement. Mind you, I think they hoped for a better review with free beer.

Looming US immigration crackdown aims to weed out pre-crime of poverty. And that may be bad news for techie families

Robert Carnegie Silver badge

These comedy premiers are never as stupid as they seem. It goes for DeeTee, for BoJo, for Pretty Boy Putin.

Robert Carnegie Silver badge

Immigrants who work in the NHS are already being removed or given notice.

BBC has a radio drama series called "The Latvian Locum" which is probably in the gunsights.

Robert Carnegie Silver badge

Re: Such transparent racism

Australia basically filters immigration by race. Who is saying that's okay? (it is evidently popular though)

Canonical adds ZFS on root as experimental install option in Ubuntu

Robert Carnegie Silver badge
Joke

Re: The SFC can kiss my taint...

With no licence (and no copyright), Microsoft could incorporate programs written by you in the next Windows, without your permission... and I'd have to rely on your professional work. I don't want to, and licensing protects me from that. :-)

Chap uncovers privilege escalation vuln in Steam only to be told by Valve that bug 'not applicable'

Robert Carnegie Silver badge

Re: Running a gaming PC without local admin rights is frustrating

This. Run the software installer, at the end it prompts to run the application for you... when I last looked, that's running as administrator.

More Linux than Windows: El Reg takes Docker Desktop for WSL 2 preview out for a spin

Robert Carnegie Silver badge

Truthfully, I knew already...

"The solution suggested by Docker engineer Simon Ferquel is either to use a workaround using the DOCKER_HOST environment variable, or to use docker-compose from within WSL. This second solution is easy when using Docker with Visual Studio Code remoting, since you can have a terminal open in WSL within the editor. You can also take advantage of the high performance bind mounting in WSL 2 to access source files on the Windows side, or keep the source files on the Linux side."

Clearly, this is Not For Me. Ars longa, vita brevis.