Posts by MacroRodent

Re: How many Onedrive users run Linux?

As noted, free storage, especially earlier you could easily get a larger pile than from DropBox, without paying anything.

Re: More choices onf the Free OS shop shelf

The downside is you then really *have* to learn about those configuration files and scripts, before getting anything done. Also to get beyond the spartan base system, you have to install lots of software from the "ports". This is fine for experienced users of unix-type systems, and for those with lots of motivation to become one, but for others the learning curve is a bit too steep. Installing NetBSD now is an experience similar to installing one of the first Linux distributions in early 1990's...

(Having said that, I might well give NetBSD 7.1 a go on one ten-year old PC I have at home, which currently has an old OpenSUSE Linux on it, and might not have the power to run the latest version so smoothly...).

.home alone

> .home is used by routers. Not all but enough that it will screw with ISP.

Yes, I recently found out by accident my home router is doing this on its own for my HP multi-function printer, which I guess it auto-discovers (pnp? Bonjour?). Both devices came with so skimpy documentation (as is the fashion today) that I am still discovering fun things about them... I just cannot understand why it was mentioned nowhere that the printer has a useful web interface that can be used to change settings, or even use the scanner, without bothering with HP's bundled programs, or the printers built-in panel.

Don't close your eyes!

No coincidence, but not necessarily a US+UK collusion either. Most hackers are science fiction fans. "Weeping angel" is actually an apt name for something that looks like an inert everyday object, but is actively listening.

Re: It is not the voting, it is the counting

If you go out and pick a PFY from the street today he will look at you in disbelief given a trivial DOS error. Ditto for Linux. I am not going to even start on BSD.

If you go the live-{Linux|BSD|FreeDOS} route it should not matter. The media is prepared to boot and then directly start the friendly vote-counting software. The staff is instructed that if it does not do so on a given PC, try another. A list of verified PC models is also supplied. It should be possible to make this setup fool-proof, since there is only one application to run. The users never see the OS, so it does not matter which one it is.

Re: So I'm having....

Nobody ever test-restored a backup.

That is a step too often skipped, because you don't want your test to overwrite live data, so you would temporarily need as much space elsewhere as the restoration takes. In fact, you better have a complete spare system to test you can make everything working with the backup. May be difficult to arrange.

Re: His mechanical system, even enhanced, couldn't compete

film that was developed in real time

It sounds incredible, but early space probes did essentially this. Images were captured on film, developed onboard, then scanned at a speed the communications bandwidth could handle.

Re: Am I a killjoy

Yes, you are. In popular culture, 666 is the Number of the Beast, because that is the value used by all translations of the Bible over the centuries. In this respect, it does not matter if there are some obscure manuscripts that say 616.

- Greetings from HEL, currently quite frozen.

Re: It never stops...

If Photoshop is terrible and it edits pictures, why doesn't someone use Capitalism to replace it with a better program?

Because of network effects. Graphics people are trained in Photoshop, and there is an ecosystem of plugins. Same reason Windows hasn't been replaced succesfully on desktops. Capitalism is powerless with this kind of issue.

Re: Do you own it, or not?

the eff's ludicrous position, apparently supported by some down-voting twats, is that if you buy a product x that should entitle you to the producer's source code and other proprietary info so you can make your own changes to it

Interface information world be enough. Software makes possible to hide what used to be observable and measurable. For example, tractors have a power output shaft and attachment points in the rear for attaching tools. Is someone measuring them for the purpose of making custom machinery somehow infringing on Deere's rights?

Re: If Exams are unworkable online,

The serial number on the ballot paper is recorded when issued to a voter, so a determined entity can find out how an individual voted. This is why ballot papers are usually destroyed after an election.

Sounds bad. In Finland., the ballot is just a folded piece of paper, with a printed circle inside which you are supposed to write your candidate's number. The official record nothing when handling one to you from a pile.

Re: Tape?

That's why it's called Science Fiction and not Future History. And even the best make mistakes :-)

Sure, but in the case of Clarke, he is (or used to be) lauded as a visionary, and in some of his non-fiction writings (some passages in "The Lost Worlds of 2001" come to mind) he even congratulates himself on getting predictions right - so pointing out things he did not get is fair game, more so than in the case of other science fiction writers. (Said in a good-natured way: I am actually a Clarke fan, and as a teenager read almost every story by him I could lay my hands on...)

Re: Accredited Standards Body

Seems the current state is so bad that just a few guidelines that would fit on a post-it note would be an improvement. Like (1) There shall be no default password that is identical on all devices, (2) any password must be nontrivial (at minimum 10 random ASCII characters) and supplied off-line, (3) the device must survive a "fuzzing" test with a state of the art fuzz tool (the tool or its version updated yearly).

Re: But...

I'm farsighted, and will probably have problems with focus at such a close range.

One would expect it to have adjustable oculars, the same way as binoculars have had since forever. Would be silly to make an expensive device without such a basic feature. But then, it is Microsoft. (I find myself far-sighted or near-sighted, depending on how well I slept... The joys of being over 50...)

Re: It won't be gone for decades...

I for one set my tablets User Agent to a 5 year previous string. [...] Short version: Your logs only list the UA of accessing devices, which might not represent the ACTUAL device used.

People like you probably represent about 0.001% of the users. Most people don't even know what the user agent string is, so collecting statistic based on it is reliable enough.

Wiring set up worse than in my house

If you already know what wire connects to which, it's trivial to repair the damage,

In this case, the wires are squishy, deteriorate easily, they are unlabeled, and the communications protocol used on them is undocumented ,and varies from unit to unit...

Impressive feat connecting them, says I.

Re: I'm not surprised...

I'm still waiting for printer manufacturers to develop printer drivers for Linux!

Best solved by choosing a printer with Linux support. They exist from most major vendors. Given that low-end printers now cost about the same as an ink refill, if your current printer does not support Linux, it is not a big hardship to buy one that does. Eventually the rest of the vendors might get the message.

Freedom

> So a pen tester is releasing this into the wild as will help hackers...?

It's the price of freedom. Unless you go for totalitarian control of information, there is no way to distribute it only to the qualified people. The idea is simple anyway, and probably already in use by black hats.

Re: Average temperature -55C, atmosphere almost 100% CO2.

Would rocket fuel do ? [as shielding]

There is the little problem that your rocket uses it up to get going. So it is not there when coasting to Mars and you need the shielding.

Re: How did Clarke know ?!

The various flybys that have occurred since Clarke wrote 2001 (in the 1960s)

The speculations about the ocean on Europa do not appear in "2001", but only in the sequel "2010", written in 1982. At that time Voyager images of the Jovian moons were already available. (The "2010" was the first place I read about the ocean).

Re: Workaround?

So a workaround would be to set your printer's clock to an earlier date?

Probably impossible/difficult now. Most modern printers connect to the network, and get their jobs from there (at least my HP does). I assume they also get time via NTP, I never had to set the clock. One would have to set up an isolated network living in a time warp.

Re: An interesting move

I don't think that applies to all BBC content. For example Dr Who credits say "BBC Cymru" (or is it a separate company?). A more relevant reason could be that BBC licenses the programs it owns to foreign broadcasters and video-on-demand providers, who don't want BBC competing with them directly on their home turf.

Re: Ted's playing the Long Game...

> Google "Ted Cruz coloring book".

Now that left me speechless!

Re: It seem to me

> you got robbed constantly when gangs decided it was easier to wait until you'd done the hard work killing, an animal and dragging it back and cooking it and then just robbing you.

Much the same happened in early agricultural societies. Stationary farmers made easy targets for robbers. The solution to this, organized defense, eventually caused other problems: feudal lords, serfdom.

Of course, things have improved now, at least here in the comfy first world.