Posts by VinceH

Since that quote refers to social security numbers and such like, the only possible response is a slight misquote:

You are not a free man, you are a number!

Re: Sharks

"I think I've only managed five minutes of Sharknado, you've sat through three? That's dedication.

The thing with Sharknado, as you rightly spotted, is that it's rubbish. And it's not a case of it being so bad it's good - it just is rubbish. I sat through that one because once I've started watching something, I like to finish. I'm stubborn.

But when a film is as bad as that one was, if they go on to make a sequel you expect them to have realised just how bad the first one was, and to play to it. Which is kind of what they did. They're still crap - but if you sit down to watch them knowing how crap they're likely to be, and that the makers know they're crap, and you have alcohol ready to help you through, they're entertaining enough in their own way.

Re: Thief.

"What benefits do we get?"

Emails containing offers of marriage from attractive young Russian ladies?

OTOH, I don't seem to get that sort of spam anymore - not even caught at the server. As you were, then.

@Lusty Re: Arrrgh!

"Do you guys really think remving JavaScript improves your protection somehow?"

User McUser has already explained that, yes, disabling Javascript does indeed improve protection, and provided a link.

Here's another - a new one: Hackers spray Reader's Digest stinky feet with exploit kit. And the Malwarebytes post on the same subject, containing more detail: Reader’s Digest and other WordPress Sites Compromised, Push Angler EK.

The coffee's over there... ready for the smellin'

Re: FFS

"Seriously? $160-worth of three plugs to turn on a light three seconds after I would have passed the switch that's on the wall next to me as I enter the room."

The switching off sounds even worse. From the article:

"You walk out, and it switches off according to pre-set time that you set (5, 10 or 15 minutes)."

If those are the only options, with five minutes being the shortest amount of time, that strikes me as wasting electricity.

Problem not solved? Problem not even found!

Re: Yeah, you like bacon, I like bacon, now shut up about it and bring me some sausages

"Honestly, sausages are great as well."

Too right they are. If I had to choose between sausages and bacon, I'd opt for the sausages.

(But both would be better still).

Re: Highway Bandits

The UK's Internet Highwayman?

Re: "Get around the majority of ways users are blocking"

^{Psst, Charles, just between you and me, I suspect TRT had his tongue firmly in cheek when he said that.}

Anyway, back to the topic. My theory is that Garner has spotted all the comments made by people prior to Windows 10's release, suggesting leaving it at least six months before upgrading, to allow other muppets to suffer any teething troubles. And/or they're taking into account the July 2016 deadline - with the update to Windows 10 being free for twelve months.

What Gartner haven't picked up on yet is all the people who suggested leaving it at least six months but who are now saying Microsoft can shove Windows 10 somewhere unpleasant. That's certainly what I'm saying, having had to go to extra efforts to not upgrade my system.

Re: £5 for a box of popped corn?

"It was more a comment on the prices at the cinema in general."

I agree entirely - but if you (can*) avoid big names like Vue, the cinema can still be a reasonably priced experience. I tend to go to my local fleapit - a very small chain (Scott Cinemas) who charge something like £5.25 or so for a ticket. (And I didn't realise until a couple of months ago when I happened to go on the right day, one day of the week it's even cheaper; something like £3.50).

Their snacks and drinks etc are still pricier than in the shops, but I make a point of buying a drink simply to put a little more into the till because the ticket prices are so reasonable. (Even though it usually means I'll have to miss a couple of minutes of the film because I'll, ahem, become full and need to make a little more room!)

^{* Which might not be possible, depending where you are, etc. Such places are gradually disappearing (there used to be a selection of three or four small places locally I could go). :(}

Re: They do what?

"Ad networks report to potential advertisers on the presence of antivirus on the target machines - what's the legitimate purpose for that behaviour?"

The "we're all innocent, advertising is wonderful, love us, LOVE US" answer is to identify a need for (and to try to sell the user of the target machine) anti-virus software.

"How can they claim to be innocent of doing harm when they're performing vulnerability scans on behalf of the malware peddlers?"

Quite.

Habbo Hotel - wasn't that one aimed at kids? (ISTR seeing nephews and nieces of mine using it).

I always assumed its purpose was to teach kids that their personal data had no value so they should just hand it over - so that they remained in that mindset as adults.

Well, according to this a. lumbricoides eats digested food. Pregnant women eat for two - so if it can increase the likelihood of pregnancy, it can potentially increase the amount of sustenance for itself.

Re: On the other hand.

"I too am annoyed by failure-to-paste but I'm at a loss on what to do with the linked code. Do I edit the web page, run it as a script (how?)."

According to the instructions, you need to bookmark the "allow pwpaste" link (which here - Firefox - stores the Javascript itself as the bookmark) and click on that bookmark whenever you're on a page that prevents pasting into the password field.

Looking at the Javascript itself, what it does is identify all the input form elements on the current page and looks for any that are of type 'password'. If it finds any (on a log-in screen there would normally be one) then if there's an 'onpaste' attribute, it's removed - thereby enabling pasting into the password field.

Quite a neat solution (speaking as someone who doesn't really use Javascript so is far from an expert and doesn't know if there's a better way).

"CyanogenOS uses Boxer"

Just checked. It is indeed by Boxer inc.

If that's well-regarded, I can only guess that those who think well of it aren't used to something better.

Re: Bring Back Robot Wars!

But give the robots more powerful weapons!

And make them autonomous!

(What could possibly go wrong?)

They're pretending they're not at home. If you pop into the cop shop, you might spot them hiding behind their chairs, where they're hoping you won't see them, and you'll go away.

They'll stop doing that when some other news grabs people's attention.

Re: Perhaps time for a change of format?

Playmobil vs Lego FIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIGHT!

Re: at more than (say) 60 degrees.

"And what would the angle between the horizon and the plane be on landing approach?"

You didn't read beyond the first line of my comment, I take it?

Re: Pot, kettle ..

"Maybe it's just me"

Somehow, I don't think it's just you.

* looks at other replies.

It's definitely not just you.

Re: What is the attack vector ?

"How can a point-of-sales teminal get infected without the miscreant going behind the counter and faffing about with the equipment for a very visible few minutes ?"

From the article:

"The memory-scraping malware runs on Windows platforms including Windows 7 and the hard-to-kill XP, running remote administration services."

It doesn't make anything clear beyond that (I don't have time to read the linked piece; I'm about to go out - and running late), but that's the starting point; probably no direct physical contact needed.

Re: Hmmmm

"Very devious of these hackers to attack through a route that BAE hadn't thought of weren't tasked with looking at."

FTFY.

I could be wrong - I'm only making an assumption, after all, the same as you. However, that's what the bit you quoted suggests to me.

Re: This:

It's a little messed up, isn't it? The full sentence should probably read:

"That move not only exposes users to vulnerabilities patched in newer versions of Chrome but ensures they are open to attacks from new exploits that for which they will also not receive patches."

Pot Kettle?

Not really, no. There's a big difference between not having (and not claiming to have) a certificate to start with and having one, making things rely on it, then letting it expire.

Re: Or,rather

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